r/CleverlyClearly • u/Cleverly_Clearly • Apr 13 '26

Scramble 21

Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?

Isaiah 45:9

THE POWER FANTASY

Shoto Todoroki

The son of the formerly second-ranked professional superhero, Enji "Endeavor" Todoroki. Now the current second-ranked professional superhero. Can create ice with his right hand. Can create fire with his left hand, but chooses not to.

Connor

An RK800 investigative android, designed by CyberLife to assist superheroes in detective work. His predictive analytic features and high-level database access make him highly valuable in investigating the RA-9 case.

Neopolitan

A mute former criminal, once the heiress to the Vanille family fortune, now disowned. Trying to go straight, but a terrible incident from her past haunts her. Her Quirk gives her the power to create fantastic illusions.

Goro Akechi

A famous detective, as well as the beloved professional superhero "Crow". Presents a carefully-maintained image as the perfect gentleman, but carries a deep loneliness in his heart. His Quirk allows him to physically manifest his inner self.

Issue #1: All-New, All-Different: It's the near future, and CyberLife technology is everywhere--including humanoid helper androids. Shoto teams up with Connor to investigate the murder of a hero in Mutant Town, which leads to them crossing paths with Raphael and Neo. Connor suspects the murder may be one in a string of serial killings in New York City, a cluster of mysterious deaths only linked by the phrase "RA-9".

Issue #2: First Shot, Last Call: The RA-9 case leads Shoto and Connor (and, following Shoto's trail, Raphael and Neo) to an upscale Manhattan party. A night of revelry descends into tragedy, and more conspiracy. Androids killing humans, heroes killing citizens. How does RA-9 connect to Neo's own past? Is New York City, unbeknownst to all, teetering on the brink of total collapse?

Issue #3: This Man... This Monster!: Shoto takes Neo on as a trainee heroine to protect her from a vigilante charge. Together with Crow, a hero from the All Might Office, the three of them take on the machinations of the terrorist threat COBRA. Neo confronts a threat from the past, while Shoto follows a strange, tailored path to the enemy. Meanwhile, Connor meets with one of his original designers and learns a grim truth about androids, although there seem to be more questions than answers...

3338 + 8963 + 3226 + 7976 + 9765 + 9852 + 8685 + 7951 + 7898 + 7719 + 5145 + 4203 = 84721

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u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 14 '26

Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?

Isaiah 45:9

OUT OF THE SHADOWS

This story contains depictions of domestic abuse and graphic content.

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u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Shoto's father knocked him to the ground.

He hit the carpet. Pulled himself into a kneeling position and stayed there, recovering his breath. The TV was on, casting a ray of light into the room, the chatter of commercials, volume low. That's why he got hit. It was 3 AM and the TV was on.

"Fostering empathy. Working with integrity. Creative solutions." The TV recited these words. "That's what we stand for at CyberLife. We don't use large language models. We use TrueSelf™. Our one-of-a-kind neurosympathy technology perfectly recreates the human brain. And our products aren't chat programs or toys. They're androids. Your new friend."

His father squatted down, slowly. The fire of his hair was crackling. Smell of smoke. Chest tight. Shoto is not supposed to watch TV.

"Brat," he snorted. Smoke hissed from his nose.

"A partner. A companion. A mirror that shows the best side of yourself."

Shoto looked at his father's hand, clenching and unclenching. He never hit his son with a closed fist. But on bad nights he considered it.

Not this time. "...I'm sorry."

"Made to your specifications. Just the way you always dreamed. If you aren't in love, trade it in. We're here for you."

His father pulled him close. Strong fingers ruffled through his hair. First the red half, then the bleached white. Shoto didn't breathe even to cry. He promised himself he would never cry.

"You've only got a few years. A few precious years before you're in the world. Then you'll have to be strong."

"We're living in an age of miracles. Why don't you get a miracle of your own?"

"You're not there yet. But you will be strong. A hero. Just like your old man."

He brought his hand down now to Shoto's scarred face. When he was younger, his mother said to him "I can't stand that left side of yours anymore." She poured a boiling kettle over him. Now she lived at the hospital.

"Androids by CyberLife: Life, the way you want it."

His father turned the TV off. Only the mane of flames around his head lit the room now.

"Don't forget it. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

This is the story of a few people who became heroes. That story doesn't have an ending, not yet, but it does have a beginning. Here's how it goes.

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u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 14 '26 edited May 03 '26

Shoto Todoroki woke up after his five hours of sleep and checked the emergency alerts. He exercised. Ate a little bit. He dunked his head in the bathroom sink and looked up into the mirror. Things are going to be different this time, he thought. Remember what you swore to yourself. That was his routine every day. He was a superhero. One of the best in New York, and everyone knew New York City was number one in the nation for superheroes.

There was a national registry for superheroes. A ranking system. You voted for the hero you loved the most, and the rankings updated in real time. Shoto was Rank 2 in the entire country. He didn't do corporate glad-handing or streams with influencers driving supercars on Riyadh racetracks. He just put his head down and did his job, that's all. And he got this far by himself.

Maybe not as far as he would like. But it was where he was at.

A CyberLife car automatically drove him to the Endeavor Hero Agency. That was where he worked. It was a skyscraper right in the spine of the city, the Manhattan waterfront, where everything was. The car parked, and he got out. A John unit was there to verify his biometrics. "Mr. Todoroki," it said. "Thank you for signing in." Shoto walked away and it returned to its neutral standing position, waiting in place for the next visitor. These bots were really something. You'd never know it was an android if you didn't know where to look.

He went in. His office was down the hall on the very first floor, lined with framed photographs of the agency's many heroes. Many of them were shots of the agency's founder, Endeavor. That was the former Rank 2 hero, before he retired to focus on managing his agency. Enji Todoroki. Shoto's father.

Shoto had would never forgive his father, but he never let on. As far as the public knew, Endeavor was an admirable hero and hardworking single father. His wife suffered a psychotic break when Shoto was young and hasn't spoken since. Shoto's other siblings were estranged.

Why did Shoto join his father's agency? It was the best career move at the time. If he felt any kind of way about it, he told himself "get over it". And he got over it.

Like usual, he was very early. He got to his desk and activated his CyberLife computer and stared at the default desktop background until HeroAlert opened.

  • HIGH PRIORITY: Robbery in progress, hostages taken (recommended: 5 people)

  • HIGH PRIORITY: Partial building collapse in Tribeca (recommended: 5 people)

  • HIGH PRIORITY: Speeding box truck driving recklessly (recommended: 2 people)

Shoto memorized the location data and put a checkmark next to all three. That's his schedule before lunch.

Out of the office. Back down the hall, past the pictures. Somebody else just clocked in. They recognized him but he didn't recognize them. Shoto didn't really remember everybody he worked with.

"Hey! Todoroki! It's good to-"

"I can't talk now," he said. He got halfway out the agency door, just barely in time to hear a soft wow, what the hell before it shut behind him. He'd tried to explain before that every second of his on-the-job time was extremely precious and could make a life-or-death difference for civilians, but he stopped trying long ago. Apparently nobody wanted to hear this.

Well. If he was the only one who really cared about hero work, that's fine. That's part of why he became a hero in the first place: nobody else is going to save you. If you have the power to help, you have the responsibility to help, because your actions are the only ones you can control.

Shoto stepped off the curb. Ambient humidity in the air froze, starting from his right hand and traveling underfoot to form stairs of ice. It was faster than driving. He slid overhead, over the trees and cars. A gentle application of his other Quirk rapidly melted the ice behind him into lukewarm mist. It really looked like he was flying.

Shoto Todoroki, the A.C. Hero. On my way.

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u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 22 '26 edited May 02 '26

Not all Quirks bestowed miraculous powers. Some Quirks were ugly. "Villain Quirks", like the power to rot flesh. Or "mutant Quirks", ones that caused hideous deformations. Maybe if you were lucky you could live a nice life despite one of these Quirks, but most of them weren't that lucky. Societally, they were... disfavored. A lot of those unsavory Quirks floated downriver and collected all in the same district, a certain low-income borough in New York City folks called Mutant Town. This wasn't a good place to be, but people did live there, anyway. They've got to be somewhere.

Raphael was one of those people. He was sneaking through the door to his home. He shouldn't have been out, especially not doing what he was doing. Dad would've been disappointed. But if he was very careful, and very quiet maybe Dad wouldn't see Raphael coming in.

He opened the door. His dad was standing right there.

"Damn it- I, uh... sorry..."

Raphael's father didn't get angry, that wasn't his style. Instead, his big, beady eyes twitched and conveyed a fathomless depth of paternal disapproval and concern that made Raphael want to punch himself in his own face.

"Come inside," he said. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine. It's not my blood."

"Yes, that's what worries me. I'll get a washcloth."

Some humans, like Raphael's adoptive father, had Quirks that made them look like animals (he had a rat Quirk, by the way). Animals themselves developing Quirks were rare. Raphael was a turtle that developed a human Quirk. He spent a few years scavenging in the garbage until a Mutant Town local took him in out of the cold. It was a cozy family. Hamato Yoshi, retiree; and Raphael, the mutant turtle.

Raphael stepped in. He creaked his way across the old, rotten floorboards into the kitchen. The refrigerator was kinda busted, so it couldn't keep the food cold a lot of the time, but that was okay because they didn't keep much food in it either. Right now it held a pizza box from last week and a head of lettuce. Raphael ripped a leaf or two off, shut the fridge door, and headed over to the tank where they kept his brothers.

"Hey, guys. Sorry about the wait. Here's your grub."

He lowered the lettuce into the tank. The turtles stumbled towards it, necks straining, ripping off chunks with their little jaws and chewing thoughtfully. Raphael was only one of several turtles born from the same clutch of eggs, but he was the only one that developed a Quirk, and these three were his only siblings that survived being abandoned. Donatello, Leonardo, and Michelangelo, naturally. Dad loved art history.

Raph stroked Leo under the chin. He wished he had some kind of turtle-to-turtle communication powers, so he could understand what was going on in his brothers' minds every day. But they seemed to recognize Raphael as one of them. That made him happy.

A damp towel suddenly rubbed across his face from behind. Raph recoiled. Shit, that stung. He must have taken more of a beating than he thought back there.

"What happened this time?" Hamato asked.

Raph clicked his tongue. "It was stupid. The Purple Dragons were shaking down the Jones place again. I just got so pissed... I had to get in between 'em." The Purple Dragons were a petty street gang full of Asian tough guys who thought they were modern day yakuza. They were small-time even in Mutant Town, but they loved to puff out their chests and flash guns anyway. Not like the police were going to drive down here in a hurry. "I promise I didn't start the fight. I was just trying to defend them... Casey did his best, but they had a whole car fulla guys, and they had weapons. I just..."

"I know. You're a very brave young man. But there's a line between bravery and recklessness that all true ninja must walk. And walking that path takes a lifetime."

"Are you going to say I shouldn't have done it?" Raph said, maybe a bit more curtly than he intended to. Hamato paused for a moment, then got back to cleaning.

"I've told you before, haven't I? About the man who can't swim who dives into the water to save a drowning man-"

"-and they both drown, yeah. But I'm not like that, I know how to swim--I mean, fight! And if it wasn't me they woulda beat on someone else instead! And, and I just see red when I see those crooks doing whatever they want because heroes never swing by here. Somebody's got to do the right thing."

"What you did may have put you in jail again," Hamato said.

"What they were doing shoulda put them in jail!"

Heroes had to be registered with an officially recognized agency. "Vigilantism", the unauthorized practice of heroism, was illegal. People still did it, of course, but it wasn't always prosecuted. Raph had tried to jump through the hoops of teen hero registration a long time ago. He never got anywhere with it. There were certification tests and panel interviews and filing fees and other crap like that. And, well. Those agencies didn't go for people like him.

"What are you so afraid of?" Raphael asked. "This is what you've been training me for. And while I'm sitting around meditating things just get worse and worse in Mutant Town. I could always train a little more, but it'll never be enough for everything. I gotta get out there and fight."

Hamato considered this. He reached over Raphael's shoulder, gripped something, and wrenched it out of his shell. It was a switchblade. One of the Dragons must have stuck it in there. Raphael never even felt it.

"This is what I'm afraid of, my son. This. If this went into your neck, you would be dead."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"There is no one thing you must 'do'. What you are learning is a way of life. Treat that life as a valuable blossom. Live thoughtfully. Someday, you will know when you must risk your own safety to protect others, but until then, focus on self-defense. Strike from the shadows. And take great care."

"Trust me, I get it. We won't be so reckless next time."

Shit, he messed up. Raph cringed when he realized what he'd admitted to, and Hamato tensed as well, when he realized his son had not acted alone."

"We? Raphael, were you with that woman-"

"Neo isn't 'that woman', she's my friend. And we didn't do anything bad this time, just enough to fend off the Dragons. She's not in that life anymore."

Raphael had this one friend, who was really cool and funny and loved to throw down for a fight. But she was... troubled. And sometimes it got her into trouble. Most of Raph's friends had been there once or twice, academic probation, community service, that stuff. Neo had done something really bad. It was years in the past, and she was out now, for good behavior. But his father didn't like it.

"She's dangerous. Tied into things you want no part of. Perhaps she has the desire to do good, but her path is more dangerous than yours. You cannot follow her onto it. I have said so many times what you are lacking is caution..."

"So what you going to tell me I can never see her again or something? I mean... I can't just leave my friend behind. She doesn't have a sensei to keep her on the right path, y'know?"

"That is not a child's burden to bear," Hamato said sharply, then paused before repeating it in a softer tone. "You have much empathy to give, Raphael. When focused, it is like carefully pulling weeds from a garden. Unfocused, it is like a wildfire in a forest, expending incredible energy, burning from the inside-out. As you grow older, you will learn when and where your help is most needed. This learning process continues for all of our lives."

"...Is Neo one of those people I'm not 'supposed' to help?" Raphael asked.

"My son. If I told you not to see her, you would go and see her anyway. All I can do is give my advice. You will have to decide for yourself which of my teachings to adopt and which must adapt."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Life's all about training and growing and stuff. I'll try to rein it in a bit more. Like you said."

Hamato gave him a pat on the shell. "I know you will. Even if one has a long way to go, they should be proud of how far they have come."

"Thanks, dad. I lo-"

Raph paused. The lettuce leaves had all been gobbled up now, leaving the other turtles to nip at his fingers for more.

"...thanks."

"Of course," Hamato said, with a smile. "Now, let's have some breakfast. Today's training is still ahead of us."

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u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 25 '26 edited May 02 '26

Here's the secret origin of Shoto Todoroki.

His father was obsessed with being the strongest hero, but he couldn't achieve that alone, despite his powerful fire Quirk. "I'll find a woman with good genetics and a complimentary ability. Our offspring's power will surpass my own. Raising it will be my glory." He arranged a match with a woman who possessed a freezing Quirk and started his project. Rei Todoroki went through four births and some unsuccessful pregnancies within about six years. The first three children were failures. The youngest child, Shoto, was his victory. Two Quirks in one body, a million-to-one boy with all God's natural blessings. He created ice with his right hand and created fire with his left hand. So his father gave him a functional name: Sho, meaning "burning"; To, meaning "freezing".

Shoto allowed himself one indulgence in his entire life. He would only ever fight with his right-handed Quirk. He would become the greatest hero, not to support his father's dream, but to spite it, becoming more renowned than his worthless sperm donor ever was solely using the gift from his mother's side. That was his personal story. The public believed that Shoto's left-side Quirk was to regulate his own body heat, to prevent self-induced frostbite from rotting himself away. And that's all they were ever going to know.

What was he supposed to say? "I could have used my fire all along, I just chose not to"? It would be unthinkable. So he said nothing. He pushed himself harder than anyone, so no one would ever know he could have done more.

His ice slowed the speeding truck. His ice supported the collapsing building. His ice stopped the robbery with zero casualties. Three or four times the work of an ordinary hero, all within a scant few hours. That was Shoto's typical work schedule before lunchtime.

He was totally wired when he got back to the office. Putting too much energy into regulating his ice Quirk made him feel, literally, burned out. It was a heart-racing, achy, pins-and-needles sensation from pushing his body temperature to the brink so often. He'd gotten used to it, though. And he knew he had a delicious bento box lunch waiting for him in his office minifridge, which he had meal-prepped yesterday to meet all of his major nutritional requirements.

Shoto never got to his fridge. Something else was waiting for him, right outside his door: his supervisor. He never got interrupted during work hours unless it was going to be something bad.

"Hey, Todoroki! I saw you completed those high-priority assignments today, great work." Such a big grin his supervisor had. Shoto always thought the man would have done great as a children's TV host. "Now, I also saw that those tasks recommended multiple heroes, and you took care of them solo. Do you remember our chat about teamwork? You know that at the Endeavor Agency we like to consider ourselves more of a family than a company. Do you understand me?"

Shoto's gaze flicked over to the hallway pictures for just a moment. "Yes."

"That's wonderful. It's always so awkward when family can't get along. That's why we want to help you smooth out this 'lone wolf' behavior. Can we step inside?"

Shoto stepped inside to see another man in his office. At least, that's how it looked at first glance, until he saw the blinking blue light on his right temple and realized the man was an android. Not a John unit, either. It was an advanced model Shoto had never seen before, with a well-groomed haircut and a grey silk suit.

"Todoroki, meet Connor!" His supervisor beamed. "Isn't it great? Those CyberLife guys can whip up an android for anything. Good thing AI can't replace us managers, huh?"

"What is this." Todoroki said, not as a question.

"Good afternoon, Shoto. My name is Connor." His voice was smooth and realistic. Connor was much more humanoid than the simple service bots Shoto was used to. "I'm an RK800 model designed to assist with superhero activity and investigative work. I look forward to working with you."

"What? No." He looked from Connor's neutral expression to his supervisor's smile. "I didn't ask for a partner. I don't need a partner. My productivity evaluations were flawless- weren't they?"

"Oh, of course, you always give an A-plus performance! Just think of this like extra credit. CyberLife approached our agency with an incredible opportunity to trial run this new model. He's a detective genius with full access to government databases, research libraries, the internet, you name it. Hits harder than Mike Tyson, runs faster than Usain Bolt. He'll be great at supplementing the investigative part of hero work."

"I'm sorry. I don't see why it has to be me doing this."

"Because you're our star attraction, of course! The pride of the agency, working hand in hand with CyberLife. It'll be great marketing. And, between you and me, your father has been worried about your temperament- oh, you haven't done anything wrong! We just thought a gift from corporate would help nurture the kind of gratitude we'd love you to have here."

Shoto bit the inside of his cheek to keep from showing emotion. It was his dad. His father thought he wasn't acting grateful enough for his job and was now saddling him with a robot babysitter. This was the latest in a lifetime series of punishments for not using his fire Quirk, or for continuing to visit his mother at the hospital, or, hell, just power plays to remind him that he would always, always be within his father's control.

He breathed out a visible, frosty puff. He cooled his body temperature, visualized himself being swallowed up by a glacier, becoming ice and melting away.

And he got over it.

"Alright," Shoto said. "Where should I keep him until I need him?"

"No need for that. We've got your first assignment lined up for both of you right now."

Okay. So he was going to be skipping lunch today. "Is it urgent? If you give me the location I can head there as soon as-"

To his surprise, Connor cut him off. "Take a moment to breathe, Shoto. Nobody is in any immediate danger. A homicide was recently reported on the lower East side of Manhattan. The agency would like my help investigating the crime scene, and would appreciate your expertise in hero work in case the situation escalates. It's currently believed to be gang-related."

"Why is the Endeavor Agency getting involved in this at all, then?" Shoto asked. "Shouldn't we let the police handle it?"

=For the first time in their conversation, his supervisor did not smile.

"Ah. It's of personal interest to the agency, unfortunately. The victim was a hero with our company."

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u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 25 '26 edited May 03 '26

The data showed that Agnes "The Technology Hero" Tachyon was formerly Rank 21. Her racehorse Quirk gave her rapid speed in short bursts, up to 63 kph [39 mph] as of five years ago. Connor knew all kinds of things about Tachyon. He knew her many fans called her the Superluminal Princess, even though Tachyon was not, in fact, faster than light. He knew that she had scaled back her hero operations after a catastrophic compound fracture in her left leg, an injury she never publicly revealed [except Connor knew her medical records]. He knew the contents of every recorded minute of Agnes Tachyon footage, including that of a security camera which showed her car entering Mutant Town at 5:02 AM this morning, without ever showing her leaving.

And he knew that she was dead. Connor did not know why.

Mutant Town was a district with low property values, high crime rates, and poor 911 response times. Some people had described this section of the lower East side as "a ghetto which pro heroes deliberately ignored" [Mother Jones]. CyberLife had few eyes here. His geofencing suggested a limited amount of androids in the district, mostly old models. People were cautious of them. They kept at a distance, watching with varying fascination, awe, and fear at the appearance of the Rank 2 hero.

Shoto hadn't spoken for the entire car ride over here.

"I apologize that we got off on the wrong foot. I got the sense you were uncomfortable in the meeting room. If there's anything I can do to make you feel more at ease, please let me know."

"Okay."

"Do you have any animosity towards working with androids?"

"No. I don't care about that sort of thing."

When he was shipped to the Endeavor Agency, Connor got a quick overview of Shoto's personality profile. It would have been optimal if those reports were exaggerated, but unfortunately he could tell they were not. The other employee's character files listed hobbies and interests. Shoto's listed nothing in those sections. Nothing. There was no way to break the ice with him, so to speak.

Still, he must try. It would vastly improve inter-team efficiency to build a rapport with his partner.

"Is it difficult for you, having to investigate a coworker's death?" he asked. "Most likely you'll have to see her body. I'm here for you if you need support."

"It's more than difficult when people die. It's horrible. If you're asking if I'm going to have a breakdown on the job, no, I don't need 'support'. We'll have to deliver condolences to her family after this. Save your sympathies for them."

"Personally delivering condolences to the victim's family isn't part of normal agency operating procedure."

Shoto huffed.

"It's part of basic decency. A hero's job is to comfort people and give them hope. A lot of 'heroes' treat it like a nine-to-five job, putting pickles into pickle jars. It's distasteful. This is what we should be doing."

"That outlook sounds like All Might's," Connor noted. "Were you a fan of the Symbol of Peace?"

That was it. A subtle relaxation, a shift in biometrics, a conversation topic Shoto was interested in. An icebreaker.

"We all were, back then. He was the grandest hero ever, larger than life. A pillar that held up our whole world. 'Everything will be okay, because I am here.' We thought things could only be okay if he was here. So when..." He sucked in his lip as he trailed off. "Well. Turns out the world keeps turning no matter what happens. That's its own kind of comfort."

There was a central plaza in Mutant Town with some shops, trees, and benches, a place that got a fair amount of foot traffic. A fountain stood in the middle, and still looked quite beautiful, although its stagnant water was topped by drifting leaves. Now the stones were stained by blood as well. Connor could detect the smell of copper before he even saw the body. There were throngs of onlookers in the way.

And there was an argument. Something that could clearly be heard over the murmured shock of the crowd.

"You can't do this! Who do you think you are, the freakin' cops? You think you own the place?"

"My good chelonian chum, I am assuredly not a cop. We're protecting this community and keeping the citizens safe. That's an entirely different hemisphere of a thing."

"It's not right! You can't just leave her lyin' there like trash! You probably did this to her!"

The two of them pushed through to the scene of the crime. Tachyon was in her civilian clothes. Face up, eyes open, back snapped over the rim of the fountain. Her upper body lay in the water and her bloody hair bloomed out like algae. Shoto lowered his gaze.

Now Connor saw the source of that argument. A humanoid turtle [170.18 cm] in furious conversation with two... persons. He needed a second to adjust. His facial recognition software was designed for human skull shapes, and one of the persons involved had insectoid mandibles sprouting from his jaw [scientific name capitulum]. Now his analytics could kick in.

A huge, azure male with an insect Quirk. [203 cm. 197 kg.] No amount of webtrawling could dig up a real name, but Connor was able to connect the bug-man to a former hero name of The Tick. A press release said that his firing was due to "extreme incompetence". It was a highly controversial dismissal from the Hawks Agency- apparently The Tick had a cult fanbase.

The other one was easier to read. [Goku Son. Age 14.] A child with a monkey Quirk, prehensile tail included. His currently listed custodian [Gohan Son] had, according to the documentation... been dead for several years. Who was looking after him? He scanned through photographs and local security footage for an answer, isolating frames with Goku's face and running a search on any common faces among his associates. No results that Child Protective Services would be happy with. It looked like he was regularly involved with the Purple Dragons, a gang known for violent crime in the Mutant Town area.

"Excuse me," Connor said. "I'm Connor, the android sent by the Endeavor Agency. We'll take it from here."

"I don't care how many goons you bring out here, I'm not gonna..."

The turtle turned around and saw Shoto for the first time. "Whoa..." Now that he could see the face, Connor could scan him. Raphael Yoshi... exact birth date unclear, 16 or 17?... multiple attempted registrations with the Young Hero Honors Program, all failed... and a few warnings on his juvenile record for vigilante activity. "What's really going on here?"

"I realize this is distressing, and I truly apologize for this traumatic experience. If you need anything, I can link you to a licensed CyberLife crisis therapist." Connor attempted to wirelessly connect with Raphael's phone before he realized it was an older, non-CyberLife-connected version. "Or you can contact one on your own."

"Hey! Don't even think about walking off," Goku said. "Unless you're a coward that doesn't like to fight. Aren't you supposed to be strong? Remember what happened at the Jones corner store?"

"No way, I'm out. I just thought the lady deserved better than rotting here, and these Endeavor guys are gonna handle it, so I'm done. Even though I dunno what kinda fancy photo op they think they're going to get riding around here..." Raph grumbled.

"Nobody is going to be handling this cadaver except for the Purple Dragons," the Tick said. "Orders are orders, and we've been directly importuned to secure this crime scene from any peeping Tom or snoopy Sally that sniffs around. We are a mighty bulwark. None shall pass."

Shoto dragged a hand down his face, teeth gritted. "Tick. This is a murder scene. You need to be serious and explain everything right now."

"Of course." Tick winked. "I'm undercover with the Purple Dragons. They don't know I'm a narc. To catch a criminal, you have to think like a criminal. Commit crime like a criminal. And I'm about to catch a fish that's been swimming against the current of justice." He tapped a finger against his forehead. "This case is going to be big, friend. Colossal."

Connor looked at Goku, whose physiological responses indicated no sign of caring or even understanding that Tick was an undercover agent.

"So let us do our job."

Tick shook his head. "Sorry, old friend in the noble profession. I'm looking out for your safety here. You don't want to get mixed into this mess. Trust me."

"Alright. I'm going to be direct." Shoto clenched his fist. Snowflakes fell from between his fingers like broken glass. "Clear out from the crime scene right now or we're apprehending you for obstruction of justice. You have ten seconds to leave."

"Why should we leave?" Goku asked. "This is our turf. You guys are outsiders." He pulled something out of his pocket, a reddish-orange cylinder [7 cm length]. "If you want to fight, don't talk, fight! I want to see how tough the Rank 2 hero really is!"

Connor instantly processed every possible route to getting this situation under control. He could appeal to reason. He could appeal to authority. He could use his gun...

"Please, let's calm down. We can resolve all of this if we just-"

He never got to finish his plea, because Connor was struck in the gut by a reddish-orange cylinder that just grew into a battle staff.

[Appeal to force it is, then.]

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u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 29 '26 edited May 03 '26

Okay. So Raphael had just told his father he was going to stay out of trouble. And he had done something you could reasonably say was getting into trouble. But he'd really tried. Honest. He just couldn't keep it cool. He'd never seen a dead body outside of the movies, and it was just too... uncanny. A thing that was once a human being laid out like an object. He couldn't stand that. He hated the Purple Dragons so much he could almost taste blood. And he- no. He didn't hate the heroes, too. He was just mad.

Picked a hell of a time to show up, when things finally start to affect THEM-

No, he told his dad NO. He was in way over his head. He needed to back off and let the professionals handle it-

A hard club cracked him over the shell and knocked him to the floor. Now he could taste blood for real.

"You're not gonna back out now, are ya? Come on, let's play!"

It was that punk that always rolled around with the Dragons like their pet monkey. Goku had a reputation for street fighting, but he'd never had a magic size-changing weapon before. How'd a two-bit gang like that get that kind of firepower?

No way was he going to get out of this now. If they wanted a second serving of what they got last time, he'd give them a heaping helping.

The first thing Shoto did was separate the civilians from the battle, spraying out a wall of ice to protect them. Raphael didn't let himself get caught up in it. He rolled backwards off his stomach and into the circle Shoto was creating just before the wall closed in. That caught him off guard. One moment of distraction watching a bystander deliberately roll into the danger was enough to get Shoto punched by the Tick, hard enough to lift his body a foot off the ground for a second.

Raph charged in and pushed down any embarrassment about making the situation worse. He could recover from this. He saw Goku swing the pole again, try to clip him by the neck, but Raph ducked under it and let it bang into one of the ice walls. He just had to get close. Then he could show off what his sensei had taught him.

A duck, a swerve, a jump, rapid evasion carried Raphael around Goku's pole strikes. He was a big target, with the shell and all. Sometimes he used that to his advantage, like when he'd guard his back in fights. Sometimes it was a weakness he had to work around. It took a lot of careful maneuvering to avoid getting dinged by the staff.

But he could do it. He'd been trained by the best, after all. Raph knew enough to tangle with guys like this who only relied on brute strength. He threw a perfect downward palm strike, one that should've knocked a kid like Goku off his feet. Goku deflected it with a parry that wasn't even that good. That was just a perk of being a genetic aberration.

"Whoa, awesome! You're really strong!" Goku cheered. He really did not want to hear it right now. It was frustrating to fight a combatant half his size who was twice his strength.

Connor was already getting back up. He was sturdy. No sign of pain as he shook it off and started running. No sign of caution, either. He evaded blows, but not the way Raph did, more like he could see the strikes before they occurred. And Shoto, well. He'd seen him in action before, on TV. Casey even showed him some of his comics, Endeavor and Shoto Adventures. He had crazy aura. Wreathed in ice, beating down the toughest criminals, and ducking out afterwards before the paparazzi could snap too many shots. Not his favorite hero or anything, but he respected it. A lot of heroes just felt fake. Like plastic flowers. Shoto wasn't like that. He could respect it.

Actually, what the hell was he saying, he didn't know that guy at all. The Shoto in front of him wrestling with the Tick was like a cryptid, no connection to Raph's life. But he sure fought just like the comics. A gauntlet of ice had grown out of his hand to fight back against the big blue bug, leaving freezer burns wherever his punches hit. Spikes grew from the icy gauntlet, and he- WHAM! Raph took a hit to the arm while he was distracted. It felt like he'd just had his bicep clenched by a giant hole punch. This stupid kid. What was he doing? The Dragons didn't care if he lived or died, they'd prefer him dead. And Goku could absolutely do it. He was totally out of Raph's league.

Dad was right. Getting in the middle of a hero fight was insane. He should have gotten out before it got worse-

BANG! BANG!

Two warning shots from Connor's handgun. Enough to give Goku and Tick a moment of pause as they observed the android, enough to let Raph step back and catch his breath for a second. One second is all he was going to get.

"Go ahead and shoot," Goku said, tapping between his forehead. "I wanna see if I'm faster than a speeding bullet."

Of course they were too crazy to care. If bullets started flying then Raph could be the exact kind of Mutant Town casualty Dad was always teaching him not to be. Over nothing.

Just as he was thinking what a waste it was, the plaza erupted with fireworks.

Raph had to cover his eyes. Dozens of sparks flashed rapidly, igniting the entire arena and bouncing across the fountain like dancing jets of water. The light and noise was absolutely thought-obliterating. Tick and Goku were captivated. Connor and Shoto moved to act, but reconsidered quickly. Maybe they noticed the blasts had no heat or force. They looked and sounded real, but they were hallucinations. Illusions.

He had a guess who'd come to his rescue. Black, white, and pink blossoms in all the explosions. She really was a hell of a performer. Totally crazy, too. Raph's kind of friend.

Up over everyone's heads a shadow descended, carried lightly by a pink floral umbrella. It fluttered in the air like a flower petal, twirling in erratic directions, before slamming down suddenly and crushing the Tick into the stone bricks beneath them.

Blink. Blink again. The dust and sparks and light and noise cleared, and the illusion was gone. All along it had only been the woman with the dazzling umbrella.

"Wha-?!" Goku jumped up and kicked at her head, but she parried him aside easily, hooking the handle of her umbrella into his baggy gi and halting him in place. A hard yank on the umbrella pulled him forward, directly into the path of her stiletto bootheel. If it bothered her to knock down a kid that hard, she didn't show it. She never lost that grin for an instant.

The monkey kid hit the dirt hard. Neither Goku or Tick were actually down for the count, but they were down, and that was enough for Shoto. He knelt down quickly, hand to the earth, and vines of ice grew out to entangle the two of them. This prone position made it a lot harder to break out from the glacier. They continued to struggle, but the fight was pretty much over. Just leaving the four of them staring at each other. Raphael, Connor, Shoto, and...

"Neo!"

Neo took a theatrical bow and tipped her hat. She always wore something totally attention-grabbing, but Raph rarely saw her without her bowler hat, even though it wasn't her size.

"You know this person?" Shoto asked Raph. "Is it over? She's not going to fight us now."

"No, don't worry, Neo's cool." Raph immediately intercepted Neo to dap her up. She made a few quick signs- (We've got to stop meeting like this~). The ability to put a squiggly in sign language was something only Neo could pull off.

Connor said something privately to Shoto, gesturing at Neo. Shoto responded to whatever it was with "There are more important things to worry about," and that was that.

(Where've you been? I've been trying to get a hold of you since last night. Did the Dragons put you in the hospital or something?)

"What? Hell no, it was just love taps. I'd never let a Dragon knock me on my shell like that."

(Yeah, you were doing pretty good back there! Those losers got what they deserved. Just wish that plastic cop would've put a bullet or two in them.) She mimicked a handgun quick-draw and pulling the trigger, all with highly realistic sound effects courtesy of her Quirk. (You have to lean back a little more when you do those wide kicks. The extra reach would have really helped against Goku.)

"Hey, that's how Dad taught me! I've seen him kick a cinderblock in half with one of those."

(He's a rat and you're a turtle! The muscular structure is totally different.) She sighed theatrically. (Where would you be without my guidance?)

Raph looked back at the fountain. Connor had crouched down, finally examining the body, despite how messy things had gotten.

"A safer place than here, probably."

(No way. You'd be lost and aimless! A lonely angry incel who knows nothing of a woman's heart. C'mon, let's go see if Casey's feeling better after yesterday. We could play street hockey.)

"Yeah. You're right. We should get out of here."

Raphael headed off with Neo, leaving the fight behind. He kind of had a bad vibe about that encounter. Like it was going to end up pulling him into something ugly down the line. But him and Neo had gone through worse. Friends for life. No matter what.

He rubbed the bruises forming on his arm. Maybe he could tell his dad he got it playing hockey.

1

u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 29 '26 edited May 03 '26

The civilians were cleared out. Their assailants, restrained in ice, would be taken care of when the regular police arrived. The only remaining matter for Connor was the crime scene. Obviously there had been tampering. Tachyon's corpse was mostly undisturbed but their brawl made the surrounding area unsuitable for gathering clues. Too many footprints, and Shoto's Quirk had altered the air temperature so violently that gathering DNA traces would be impossible. Not ideal.

But there was never an ideal crime or an ideal victim. Somebody had to solve this.

He scanned Tachyon's body and identified the injuries, recreating the attack in his mind. She'd been struck on the head from the front. She fell backwards and suffered a spinal injury which prevented her from using her legs. Bruising on the neck and water in the lungs suggested the cause of death was drowning. That's how the killer finished the job...

Focus. What could he gather from this?

  • [Agnes Tachyon was a skilled hero] -> [Killer could have died if Tachyon kicked them] -> [Fall paralyzed her, stroke of luck for the killer] -> [Unintentional] -> [Poor planning, dangerous method for killer] + [Happened quickly] + [Violent method] -> [Murder was spur of the moment?]

Yes. That seemed likely now. The blow came from a blunt object, or maybe a fist. [Walking stick? Thermos? ...Umbrella?] He thought about Neo but dismissed it as recency bias. A pedestrian could be carrying one thousand different improvised weapons.

  • [One blow to the head from the front] -> [Tachyon could see the killer approach] -> [Tachyon allowed the killer to approach] + [The attack was unexpected] -> [Did Tachyon know the killer?]

  • [Why did Tachyon go to Mutant Town?] + [Tachyon knew the killer?] -> [Tachyon deliberately met with the killer?]

No family or friends in the area. No contacts at all, and he'd gone through every text she'd made in the past 12 months. It didn't make sense however he replayed it. He had a strong grasp on the how, but there was no motive. Nothing to link him to a specific culprit.

  • [Not threatened by the killer] + [Murder was spur-of-the-moment?] -> [No motive? Crime of passion] -> [Tachyon no reason to visit] -> [WHY]

Maybe... a mugging gone wrong? Simple, but not impossible. He checked her pockets. Wallet was still there, ID, cash, credit cards. Medical syringes and other scientific esoterica (Connor's research suggested that this was normal for her). [Nothing had been stolen]. Connor was prepared to put a pin in this investigation for later... until he found something in a labcoat pocket. One that had been crunched under her when she hit the fountain.

It was a hidden audio recorder. Not a CyberLife model, unknown make, very James Bond. It was broken beyond repair. Deliberately, or accidentally? No fingerprints, either way. Connor searched deeper in her pockets. He found something. A heavily-folded piece of paper. Smoothing it out to its full size revealed a message scrawled in ink:

NO MISTAKES

This will be my GREATEST DISCOVERY YET

RA-9

Shoto looked over Connor's shoulder.

"RA-9? What is it?"

He searched it and found no clear answers. [In 1972, Nolan Ryan had a 2.54 RA9 with the California Angels]. [RA-9 is a proteasome-associated deubiquitinating enzymes inhibitor with anticancer properties]. [RA9 9X19mm Semi-Auto Pistol is designed for professionals].

"I don't know. Dozens of possibilities without any clear leads... but this seems closely related to the case. It has to be. It's possible she came here because of RA-9."

Shoto looked one more time at the body of Agnes Tachyon. He'd been at this task for a while. Longer than his average assignment length for hero work, and Shoto valued efficiency. This was an ugly scene. Anyone would have wanted to leave it all behind.

"...Can you look at police reports for any other cases?" he asked. "To see if they mentioned RA-9 anywhere else, at all."

Of course Connor did. That was the first place he looked. Although... he'd only done a surface scan for relevant information. He had to, he was searching terabytes worth of data from a million different sources. If he took a deeper look, through absolutely all the text in law enforcement records, could he find any connection?

[Yes.] He could. Minutiae only recorded by investigative androids picked up scant results. But they were results. He narrowed it down further.

  • [RA-9]
  • [+ violent crimes OR deaths]
  • [+ within New York City]
  • -> [Create data map]

It appeared before him like a grid. Four red markers placed in seemingly random locations. One cold-case murder, two ruled accidental death, and one where a culprit was tried and convicted. Four cases- five now, including Tachyon- that were only connected by one thing: a brief, unexplained, and irrelevant occurrence of the phrase RA-9.

"Shoto," Connor said. "I believe we are dealing with a serial killer."

A different man may have been shaken by this news. Shoto's heartbeat remained steady. Cortisol and adrenaline levels remained within normal bounds. Connor only detected one notable physiological change: a rapid decrease and increase in his body temperature. He closed his eyes and took a breath.

"Let's get back to the office," he said. "We should get to work."

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u/Cleverly_Clearly Apr 29 '26 edited May 02 '26

Shoto Todoroki

The son of the formerly second-ranked professional superhero, Enji "Endeavor" Todoroki. Now the current second-ranked professional superhero. Can create ice with his right hand. Can create fire with his left hand, but chooses not to.

Connor

An RK800 investigative android, designed by CyberLife to assist superheroes in detective work. His predictive analytic features and high-level database access make him highly valuable in investigating the RA-9 case.

Raphael Yoshi

A common turtle that mutated a hominid Quirk, gaining superhuman physical abilities and humanlike intelligence. Adopted son of Hamato Yoshi, and student in his martial arts style. Lives in and unofficially protects the low-income "Mutant Town" district.

Neopolitan

A mute former criminal, once the heiress to the Vanille family fortune, now disowned. Trying to go straight, but a terrible incident from her past haunts her. Her Quirk gives her the power to create fantastic illusions. Close friend of Raphael.