One Month Later
The cheesecake plates were long washed, the blindfold hung neatly in his wardrobe, and Kai's life had shifted into something almost normal—if juggling online culinary school and nightly patrols could ever be called normal.
Every morning he woke up to sunlight spilling across the apartment, Ava's voice reminding him of deadlines.
"Quiz on sauce classifications in twenty minutes," she'd chime. "And no, you can't answer 'ketchup' for every question."
"Blasphemy," Kai would reply, hair sticking out in all directions as he shoveled cereal into his mouth.
By afternoon, he was logged into lectures, apron tied, knives flashing. Culinary school, it turned out, was almost too easy. With his meta memory, fine motor control, and creativity honed by anime-inspired imagination, Kai breezed through recipes that left other students sweating. His instructors raised eyebrows, then raised their grading curves.
By nightfall, the apron came off, and the blindfold went on. The city became his kitchen. Crimes were the ingredients. Justice, the dish.
And Kai? He was the chef who never missed a beat.
Culinary Sorcery
"Kai," his instructor said one afternoon, peering at the camera as if it might reveal his secret. "This dish… is extraordinary."
On the counter before Kai, a plate glistened with an unlikely fusion: miso-infused crème brûlée, caramelized top glowing under the torch, garnished with candied ginger threads. Steam curled upward, carrying a fragrance both sweet and savory.
His classmates stared through their screens. Some jaws dropped. Others typed furiously in the chat: Is that even legal??
Kai tapped the side of his whisk like a conductor finishing a symphony. "Balance," he said, voice smooth. "Every bite should surprise you, but never overwhelm."
Ava whispered in his ear, tone deadpan: "You are literally a food sorcerer. Next week: cursed cupcakes."
He smirked, sliding the plate closer to the camera. "Chef Kai, at your service. Future store-owner-slash-hero-slash-dessert deity."
The instructor cleared his throat, visibly flustered. "You, uh, seem to be ahead of the curve. At this rate, you might finish the program in a year."
"Perfect," Kai said. "Then I can open my own place."
He didn't say a store where heroes could eat safely, where the city could taste peace in every bite. But he thought it. And Ava, always listening, hummed softly in approval.
The Blindfolded Routine
At night, New York became his second classroom.
He stopped muggings on subway platforms with a flick of Blue. He caught runaway cars by weaving Infinity into invisible barricades. Once, he even rescued a cat stuck on the seventeenth floor of a high-rise—an operation that involved three leaps, one startled old lady, and Ava muttering, "This is beneath you," while recording every second.
"Great power," Kai told her, handing the cat back. "Great responsibility. Plus, cats are like mini lions. Respect."
Ava sighed, but didn't argue.
Some nights blurred together. Crimes were random, fleeting. A mugger here, a carjacker there. But what mattered wasn't the scale. It was the rhythm. The trust building in the city's bones. People whispered "Blindfold" now with something like hope.
And always, Ava captured it. Faces logged, evidence uploaded, dispatch notified. By dawn, arrests piled up in precinct reports like neat rows of finished pastries.
"Your score tonight," Ava would announce as he stumbled home, "three arrests, one accident prevented, one stolen purse recovered. Collateral minimal. Grade: A-minus."
Kai groaned. "Do you ever give out an A-plus?"
"Perfection is asymptotic," she said, smug.
Memes and Media
By week four, Blindfold was everywhere.
Headlines screamed:
"Blindfold: New York's Newest Vigilante?""Hero or Hazard? Mysterious Figure Scrambles Cameras, Stops Crime.""Budget Batman or Anime Daredevil? Internet Can't Decide."
Social media, of course, turned him into a meme. Someone edited footage of him warping across rooftops with the caption: When you teleport to the fridge at 3AM. Another stitched clips of his blindfold into a fashion parody: Hot or Not: Justice Couture.
Kai scrolled through them while torching meringue in his kitchen, laughing so hard he almost burned it. "I'm killing the villain game and the meme game."
"Memes are not metrics," Ava said. Then, after a pause: "Though your approval rating among Gen Z appears to be… disturbingly high."
"Disturbingly delicious," Kai said, spooning meringue onto his plate.
Watchful Eyes – Heroes
Far from Kai's laughter, others watched with colder eyes.
Gotham City – Batcave"Blindfold," Batman said flatly, standing before the Batcomputer.On-screen, distorted clips played: a tall shadow in black, blindfolded, warping space with unseen forces."He's reckless," Bruce muttered. "But effective."Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Reckless sounds familiar, sir."Batman ignored him. With a few keystrokes, Blindfold's name joined a long list of vigilantes and metas under surveillance.
Metropolis – Daily PlanetClark Kent adjusted his glasses, scrolling through an article. The footage was grainy, but the story was clear: someone in New York had chosen to stand up.Lois leaned over his shoulder. "Another masked mystery?"Clark smiled faintly. "Not a menace. Just someone trying to help."And for once, he let himself hope.
Star City – Arrow's LoftOliver Queen tossed a news article onto the table. "Blindfold. New York's got style."Black Canary smirked. "Style? The man wears a blindfold.""Exactly," Ollie said. "Ballsy. Gotham breeds brooding. Central has speedsters. But New York? Fashion vigilantes."Dinah rolled her eyes. "Don't get ideas."
Watchful Eyes – Villains
Metropolis – LexCorp TowerLex Luthor leaned back in his chair, watching a replay of Kai catching bullets midair. "Intriguing."Mercy stood behind him, tablet in hand. "An anomaly, sir. No registration. No record."Lex's lips curled. "Then we test him. Every anomaly has a weakness. Find his."
Somewhere in Gotham – Abandoned FunhouseJoker cackled at a TV playing grainy footage of Kai warping across a rooftop. "Blind tricks! Oh, delightful. Gotham may have bats, but New York… New York has blindfolds! Hah!"He leaned closer to the screen, giggling madly. "Maybe I'll pay him a visit. Or maybe I'll send him a pie."
Cooking Reflections
Back in his apartment, Kai whisked eggs with practiced ease. Patrol was done, muscles aching, but his kitchen was sanctuary.
"Balance," he said softly, folding cream into custard. "Fight by night, cook by day. Honestly… it feels right."
"You're thriving under chaos," Ava replied. "But recognition grows. Batman, Superman, Luthor—eyes are turning."
Kai smirked, sliding a soufflé into the oven. "Good. Let them look. I'll serve them something unforgettable."
Closing Foreshadow – Rogues in the Dark
Far across the city, in a warehouse that smelled of oil and ozone, three men gathered around blueprints.
Captain Cold tapped the rolled plans with his gloved hand. "Museum's showcasing prototype tech tomorrow. Cryogenic core. Worth millions."
Heat Wave grinned, firelight flickering in his goggles. "Burns nice too."
Weather Wizard leaned against the wall, twirling his wand. "Central City's crawling with speedsters. Here? Just one blind clown in a mask."
Cold smirked. "Perfect test run." He snapped the blueprint shut. "Gotham's got bats. Central's got the Flash. Let's see what New York's new toy can do."
Outside, banners flapped in the night wind over the museum's glass entrance:
"Grand Exhibition – Tomorrow Night."