Three men were fighting against another man.
The man they faced had his entire body covered in a thick layer of grayish stone, and he stood at least two and a half meters tall.
Even so, he was losing.
Although his three opponents looked like ordinary people, each used strange powers that easily countered his brute strength.
"With this one, it'll be three," said the one who seemed to be the leader, smiling confidently.
After his words, a sword appeared out of nowhere above his head, descending swiftly toward the stone man.
But to everyone's surprise, the sword stopped just before hitting him.
In front of them appeared another young man who caught it with his hand.
The leader reacted immediately, with a flash, he made the sword vanish and created another in his own hand.
He pointed it at the newcomer, looking at him coldly.
"Who are you?"
The newcomer wore a tight blue suit, decorated with lightning patterns on the wrists, waist, and ankles. His face was partially covered by a hood-shaped mask that hid everything from his eyes to his nose.
He smiled.
"I'm the prince of speed."
"Prince of speed? Not the king?" asked the leader, intrigued.
But the boy didn't answer.
He simply moved.
A second later, the three men felt a sharp blow to the back of their necks and everything went black as they fell unconscious.
Without wasting time, the boy moved again, appearing elsewhere in the city.
There, a flying hero was fighting an enemy who controlled ice. Just before the freezing ray reached the hero, the positions switched: the villain was trapped in his own ice.
Further away, a trap set to capture a hero was completely dismantled in seconds, leaving him free to face his enemies.
Even a hero who could control fire, who had been stripped of every object he used to spark flames, received them back from the mysterious young man.
Similar scenes repeated across the entire city.
---
That same night, on the rooftop of a building.
"I don't get it," said Alyx, the red-haired girl, staring at him, "Why are you saving heroes? Didn't you say your mission was to kill them?"
"Didn't we already talk about this?" Kaito replied, shrugging, "I'm not going to kill anyone. Not because I can't… but because there's an easier way."
"That still doesn't explain why you help them… or why that ridiculous name."
At the comment, Kaito scratched his neck, a bit embarrassed.
"I also think it's a ridiculous name, you know? But both the name and helping heroes are part of the plan: I want to attract the attention of the 'original.'"
"You could just go and steal the Miraculous right now. Why waste time?" insisted Alyx.
Since discovering there was a chance to save her world, Alyx hadn't stopped pushing him to act immediately.
But Kaito, for the past few days, only kept helping heroes he found in trouble.
"Don't worry," he answered calmly, "From what I've heard, the Lords are planning something big tomorrow. I just have to wait a bit longer."
Seeing she couldn't convince him, Alyx sighed, resigned. She nodded and disappeared through one of her portals.
---
The next day, Kaito didn't take long to find out what the Lords were plotting.
While still patrolling and helping a few heroes, he heard an explosion.
He headed straight for the place, but just before arriving, something clicked in his mind.
A sixth sense warning him something was off.
He stopped and observed carefully.
In front of him stood a huge building with a futuristic look, now wrapped in flames and ruins. People were running away in panic in all directions.
At first glance, he didn't detect anything dangerous, so Kaito focused even more… and finally sensed it.
Since he had learned some magic recently, he could feel mana.
By concentrating on the whole area, he noticed that the entire building and its surroundings were covered by a gigantic dome of dark mana.
Though it seemed weak, he preferred not to risk it and waited to see what it did.
He didn't have to wait long.
In front of the building, a floating door appeared, suspended in the air.
On the other side, he saw a man in a suit, probably the one responsible. He seemed to be straining to keep the door open.
Soon after, several heroes arrived and, without hesitation, crossed through the door.
But their heroic entrance was ruined instantly: instead of landing gracefully, they stumbled awkwardly and crashed to the ground.
Confused, they stood up and began to make gestures with their hands… but nothing happened.
Confusion and fear showed on their faces.
Kaito's face, in contrast, showed understanding.
"So it's a restriction formation… it prevents using abilities inside.
Though it must have a limit, because that man managed to open the door with effort."
"The plan is to lure powerful heroes in and, since they can't use their powers, kill them all…"
But something didn't quite add up. Among those heroes, there had to be some equivalent to at least level 50 compared to the current Lords. Did they really have an object capable of nullifying such a huge gap?
The answer came quickly.
In front of the heroes appeared several armed people.
The heroes tried to take cover behind the rubble, while the attackers opened fire without mercy.
"So it also restricts their own abilities."
Kaito thought.
If even the attackers had to rely on weapons, it was likely that the restriction object affected everyone equally.
It wasn't as powerful as he first thought. That way, it made more sense that such an object could exist.
Kaito stepped forward and entered the formation.
Immediately, he felt an invisible force trying to penetrate his body… but it failed.
All his powers remained intact.
He smiled.
He didn't waste time: he started moving through the place, rescuing people trapped under rubble and carrying them away from the fire.
If he was going to pretend to be a hero… he had to do it for real.
Thanks to his speed, neither the fire nor collapsing debris posed any danger.
In just minutes, he managed to evacuate all the civilians.
He tried to head to where the heroes were, ready to help… but to his surprise, the situation was already resolved.
The shooters lay unconscious on the ground. Standing at the center among them was an imposing figure: dark suit, mask, and various gadgets on his belt.
Knight Owl.
That world's version of Batman.
"Looks like they didn't think there'd be someone among the heroes without powers… or if they did, they underestimated him."
Knight Owl noticed his presence. He turned and eyed him warily.
Kaito didn't stop. He knew that, to break the formation, he had to find its origin: usually, it was in the center.
He ran throughout the building until reaching the underground parking lot.
There he found five people, sitting in a star formation on the ground.
He gave them no chance to react. He knocked them all out with precise blows.
The formation vanished instantly.
Kaito sighed, carried the unconscious men, and returned to Knight Owl.
This time, he didn't leave right away.
He approached.
Knight Owl turned back, staring at him.
"Who are you?" he asked in a deep voice.
"The prince of speed," Kaito answered.
Knight Owl fell silent for a moment, analyzing that answer.
"I didn't know the king of speed had a disciple."
Kaito laughed nervously, a bit embarrassed.
"It's not like that… he's just… my idol. Since I have similar powers, I wanted to honor him with my name. But I'm still a rookie… I can't fully control my speed."
"I noticed" Knight Owl replied, bluntly.
"King would have put out the fire by creating wind, and he'd have arrived earlier by phasing through walls instead of using doors."
He added, never taking his eyes off him.
"Tell me, kid, where did you get your powers?"
"Well" Kaito feigned some discomfort, "They just awakened a few days ago."
Knight Owl watched him for a moment more. Then he nodded, accepting the answer.
After all, a few days ago, many people had suddenly awakened powers.
The bad part was that everyone used them for evil, worse yet they didn't even use them to steal or conquer, but only for a single purpose: to kill heroes.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)