Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo felt suffocatingly quiet for a house filled with so much anger, as if the walls themselves had learned to hold their breath, bracing for the inevitable explosion that always followed raised voices.
The traditional wooden structure of the Todoroki estate creaked faintly under the weight of tension, the sliding doors trembling ever so slightly each time a voice was raised. It was a home that should have felt warm, safe, and peaceful, yet tonight it felt cold in a way that had nothing to do with temperature.
In the center of it all stood Enji Todoroki, tall and imposing, his broad shoulders stiff with rage, his red hair almost seeming to flicker like fire under the dim lights. Across from him stood Rei Todoroki, her white hair framing a face that was usually calm but now twisted with anger and pain, the kind of pain that had been building for years.
Between them, on the couch, sat their son, Shoto, small in comparison to the storm unfolding in front of him, his head lowered so that his red-and-white hair hid his expression completely, his mismatched eyes staring down at his hands as if he could disappear into himself if he just stayed quiet enough.
"HE IS A DISAPPOINTMENT!" Enji's voice thundered through the room, sharp and unforgiving, each word striking like a blow. "He got himself suspended from school for fighting! A Todoroki carries themselves with more respect!"
His fists clenched tightly at his sides, his entire body radiating frustration and fury as though he couldn't comprehend how things had turned out this way.
Rei's response came just as quickly, her voice rising to meet his, trembling not with weakness but with emotion that refused to stay buried any longer. "ENJI, HE IS A SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY!" she shouted, her hands shaking as she gestured toward Shoto without even looking at him, as if she already knew exactly what he looked like in that moment.
"He gets bullied because of his hair, because of how he looks! He couldn't take it anymore, so he lashed out, but do NOT call my son a disappointment!" The word "my" hung heavily in the air, drawing a line between them that had been there for a long time but had never been said out loud like this.
Shoto didn't move, didn't speak, didn't even lift his head, but he heard everything, every single word carving itself into his chest like something sharp and unrelenting.
Disappointment.
The word echoed in his mind, over and over again, louder than the shouting, louder than anything else, until it felt like it was the only thing he could hear. His fingers curled slightly in his lap, nails pressing into his skin as if that small pain could distract him from the one growing inside his chest.
He remembered the faces at school, the laughter, the whispers, the way people looked at him like he was something strange, something wrong, and how he tried to ignore it, tried to endure it just like he always had.
But today he couldn't. Today something broke, and now he was here, sitting in silence while his parents tore each other apart because of him. "I expected more from him!" Enji continued, his voice colder now, sharper, like a blade that had found its mark. "He represents this family! Weakness is unacceptable!"
Rei let out a bitter laugh that sounded like it hurt her just to make it, shaking her head as tears threatened to form in her eyes.
"Weakness?" she repeated, her voice cracking. "You think defending himself is weakness? You think being pushed until he breaks is something he should just endure?"
Enji's reply came without hesitation, without empathy, without even a second thought. "Yes. He should have endured it."
That was the moment something inside Shoto sank completely, like a weight dropping deep into an endless ocean where no light could reach it.
Endured it. Of course. That was what he was supposed to do. That was always what he was supposed to do.
Rei turned away abruptly, as if she couldn't stand to look at Enji anymore, her shoulders trembling as she tried to steady herself. "You don't understand him at all," she said quietly, her voice breaking despite her attempt to stay strong. "You've never even tried." The silence that followed wasn't calm or peaceful; it was heavy, suffocating, filled with everything they weren't saying.
After a moment, Rei exhaled shakily and moved toward the kitchen, muttering something about getting Shoto tea, her voice softer now, almost desperate, as if she needed to do something, anything, to take care of him in a way Enji never would. The faint sounds of the kitchen followed but it felt so out of place in a house filled with so much tension.
"I don't need this," Enji said suddenly, his voice low and dangerous, cutting through the fragile quiet like a knife. Rei didn't respond, didn't even turn around, and that only seemed to make his anger worse. "I said I don't need this!" he snapped, striding toward her with heavy, purposeful steps. What happened next unfolded so quickly that it didn't feel real, like time itself had broken apart into fragments that didn't quite connect.
His arm moved sharply, knocking the teapot from Rei's hands, and the sound of it shattering against the floor was loud and final. The liquid inside splashed outward in an instant, and before anyone could react, before anyone could stop it, it landed directly on Shoto.
The pain was immediate and overwhelming, a burning sensation that consumed his face, his eye, his skin, tearing a scream from his throat before he even understood what was happening. "AHHH!" The sound echoed through the house, raw and filled with agony, as his hands flew up to his face, his body folding in on itself as if he could somehow escape the pain.
"It burns! It burns!" he cried, his voice breaking into something desperate and terrified, his breathing uneven as panic took over completely.
Rei rushed to him instantly, her own panic clear as she grabbed a towel, her hands shaking so badly it was hard for her to even hold it properly. "Shoto, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she repeated over and over again, trying to wipe away the liquid, trying to fix something that couldn't be undone.
But the pain didn't stop. It didn't lessen. If anything, it felt like it was getting worse, spreading, consuming him in a way he couldn't control. "It hurts!" he cried again, his voice cracking under the weight of it. "It hurts so much!" And then, in the middle of all that pain, something inside him snapped, something deep and buried that had been building for far too long.
The air around him shifted suddenly, violently, as a freezing cold burst outward from his body, so fast and so intense it stole the breath from the room.
Frost spread across the floor in an instant, crawling up the walls, across the furniture, turning everything it touched into ice. The temperature dropped so quickly it felt unreal, like the world had been plunged into winter in the span of a heartbeat. "It's burning!" Shoto cried, his voice shaking with confusion as the cold clashed against the heat of his pain, and then the ice came, erupting from him in a powerful, uncontrollable wave that consumed everything around him.
Rei and Enji didn't even have time to react before they were frozen in place, their bodies encased completely, their expressions locked in shock as they became still, lifeless statues of ice.
The room fell silent, the only sound left being Shoto's ragged breathing as he slowly lowered his hand from his face, his remaining eye opening just enough to see what had happened.
For a moment, his mind couldn't process it, couldn't understand what he was seeing, and then it hit him all at once, sending a wave of fear crashing through him so strong it made his legs give out slightly as he stumbled backward. "N-no… no, no, no…" he whispered, the words tumbling out of his mouth faster and faster as panic took over completely. "What's going on? What just happened?"
His voice rose with each question, desperation bleeding into every word as he looked around at the frozen room, at his frozen parents, at the destruction that surrounded him. "I didn't mean to…" he said, his voice breaking entirely now. "I didn't mean to do this…"
But before he could even begin to process it, another sensation hit him, just as sudden and just as uncontrollable, only this time it wasn't cold but heat.
It started as a small flicker on the other side of his body, barely noticeable at first, but within seconds it grew into something far more intense, far more dangerous, flames bursting to life with a force that matched the ice.
Shoto gasped as the heat spread rapidly, the fire roaring outward, consuming everything the ice hadn't already claimed, the wooden structure of the house catching almost instantly. The sound of crackling flames mixed with the sharp cracking of ice, the two forces clashing violently around him as if they were fighting for control, tearing the room apart in the process.
Shoto stood at the center of it all, his body split between two extremes, his left side covered in frost and ice while his right side burned with uncontrollable flames, both sides equally powerful, equally terrifying, and completely beyond his control.
Tears streamed down his face as the pain, the fear, the confusion, and the overwhelming guilt all crashed into him at once, leaving him with nothing to hold onto, nothing to ground him.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone!" he screamed, his voice raw and desperate, barely audible over the chaos surrounding him as the fire grew stronger and the ice spread further. "I don't want this! I don't want this!"
His voice broke completely as he clutched his head, his entire body trembling under the weight of everything happening at once. "Make it stop! Please, just make it stop!"
But nothing stopped. The flames continued to roar, the ice continued to spread, and the house continued to fall apart around him, leaving him completely alone in the middle of it all. And in that moment, with everything collapsing, with his world literally breaking apart around him.
Shoto Todoroki let out a scream that carried every ounce of pain, fear, and heartbreak he had ever felt, a sound so raw and so full of emotion that it seemed to shake the very air itself. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
New York, X-Mansion
The X-Mansion felt calm on the surface, but inside the common room there was a quiet tension building, the kind that came from too many young mutants sitting around watching a world that didn't understand people like them. The television played loudly in the background, filling the space with the voice of a news reporter who spoke with that same polished tone they always used when talking about heroes they didn't trust.
Kitty Pryde sat forward on the couch, elbows resting on her knees, her eyes locked on the screen as if she was trying to read between the lines, while Bobby Drake lounged beside her, though his usual relaxed posture didn't quite hide the irritation in his expression.
Colossus stood nearby with his arms crossed, his large frame almost unmoving like a statue, and Jubilee sat curled up in a chair, hugging her legs as she watched with a slight frown, clearly already tired of whatever narrative the news was about to spin.
"And once again, Spider-Man is under scrutiny," the reporter said, her voice calm but laced with subtle judgment. "While some continue to view him as a hero, others are beginning to question whether his presence in New York is doing more harm than good—"
Bobby groaned, dragging a hand down his face before leaning forward slightly. "Man, they really don't give this guy a break, do they?" he muttered, shaking his head. "The dude saves people constantly and somehow he's still the bad guy in their story."
Jubilee rolled her eyes, letting out a small huff as she adjusted her position. "That's how it always goes," she said. "You mess up once or even just look like you might and suddenly that's all anyone sees."
Kitty didn't respond right away, her gaze still fixed on the screen, her expression thoughtful and a little tense, like she was waiting for something else to happen. "Yeah…" she said quietly after a moment, though her tone suggested she wasn't really focused on Spider-Man anymore.
The broadcast suddenly cut, the shift so abrupt it made all of them look up more sharply, the tone of the program changing instantly as the music lowered and the reporter's expression became much more serious.
"We're receiving breaking international news out of Japan," she announced, her voice now carrying a weight that immediately changed the mood in the room.
"The Todoroki family, one of the most powerful and influential families in the country, has reportedly been found dead following what appears to be a catastrophic incident at their estate."
The screen switched to footage of destruction, and whatever casual atmosphere had been in the room completely disappeared. The remains of a large traditional home filled the screen, or at least what was left of it was charred beams, collapsed walls with smoke still rising faintly into the air.
But what stood out wasn't just the fire damage. Large sections of the area were completely frozen, thick ice spreading unnaturally across what should have been burned ruins, the two extremes existing side by side in a way that made no sense unless you understood what they were really looking at.
Jubilee's voice was quieter now, almost hesitant. "What… happened there?"
The reporter continued, her tone steady despite the disturbing images behind her. "Authorities have confirmed that Enji Todoroki and his wife, Rei Todoroki, were discovered at the scene in what officials are describing as ice formations resembling human figures. Investigators have not yet determined the exact cause of the incident."
The camera zoomed in slightly, revealing two frozen figures standing among the wreckage, their forms unmistakable even beneath the thick layer of ice. They weren't just froze but more like preserved, like time itself had stopped for them in their final moment.
Bobby slowly leaned forward, all traces of humor gone now, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Yeah… that's not normal," he said quietly. "That's not just some explosion or house fire. That's… something else."
Colossus gave a slow nod, his deep voice calm but heavy. "That is power. Strong power."
Kitty stood up before anyone else could say anything more, her mind already putting the pieces together faster than she could ignore. "A mutant," she said, her voice firm, cutting through the silence. "That has to be a mutant."
Jubilee looked at her quickly. "You think one person did all that?"
Kitty didn't hesitate this time. "Yeah," she said. "And not just any mutant… someone who just awakened."
The reporter's voice continued in the background, drawing all their attention back to the screen. "Their son, Shoto Todoroki, age seventeen, is currently missing. Authorities have not confirmed his involvement, but he is considered a person of interest at this time."
There was a brief silence after that, but it didn't last long.
Bobby exhaled slowly, shaking his head as he leaned back again, though now it wasn't out of laziness but it was the kind of reaction someone has when they're trying to process something heavy. "If that kid did this…" he started, pausing as he looked back at the frozen figures on the screen, "…then he's not some villain. He's a kid who just lost control."
Kitty glanced at him, her expression serious. "Exactly."
Bobby ran a hand through his hair, his voice quieter now. "And if he really caused it…" he added, his tone dropping further, "…then he's probably scared out of his mind right now. I mean, think about it for one second everything's normal, next second…" He gestured toward the screen. "That happens. He just lost his parents… and he's gonna think it's his fault."
Colossus lowered his head slightly, his voice soft but filled with empathy. "No one should face that alone."
Jubilee nodded slowly, her usual energy completely gone now. "He's out there somewhere, probably thinking he's a monster."
Kitty didn't say anything else. She just turned and started walking toward the door.
"I'm gonna go tell the Professor," she said, her voice steady, leaving no room for argument.
The halls of the mansion felt longer than usual as Kitty made her way toward Charles Xavier's office, her thoughts racing with everything she had just seen and everything it implied. She had seen mutants lose control before, had heard stories even worse than this, but it never stopped hitting hard especially when it involved someone her age. Someone who didn't ask for any of it.
When she reached the door, she knocked firmly, barely waiting a second before a calm voice responded from inside. "Come in."
Kitty pushed the door open and stepped inside, immediately seeing Professor Xavier seated behind his desk, Scott Summers standing nearby with his arms crossed, and Jean Grey beside him, both of them turning their attention toward her the moment she entered. "Kitty?" Jean asked gently, her expression already shifting with concern. "What's wrong?"
Kitty walked forward quickly, pulling out her phone and bringing up the footage. "You need to see this," she said, holding it out so all three of them could watch.
The room fell silent as the video played, the destruction, the ice, the report about the missing boy, all of it filling the space with a heavy, undeniable truth. By the time it ended, the atmosphere in the office had completely changed, the weight of the situation settling over all of them.
"A young mutant," Charles said quietly after a moment, his expression thoughtful but saddened. "Frightened, alone… and overwhelmed by power he does not understand."
Scott's jaw tightened slightly as he looked at the screen again. "If he caused that kind of damage, then he's dangerous whether he means to be or not," he said, his voice firm but not cold. "We don't know how stable he is right now."
Jean shook her head gently, her voice soft but certain. "Or how much pain he's in," she added. "If he thinks he killed his parents, he's not thinking clearly. He's hurting."
Kitty stepped forward, her voice more determined now. "That's exactly why we need to find him first," she said. "Before anyone else does."
Charles looked at her for a moment, then nodded slowly, his decision already made. "You're right," he said. "We cannot allow fear or misunderstanding to reach him before we do."
Scott straightened slightly. "Then we go to Japan."
Jean nodded. "Together."
Kitty added quickly, "I'm coming too."
There was a brief pause before Scott glanced at Charles. "Who else do we take?"
Charles' expression shifted slightly, just enough to hint at his reasoning before he spoke. "Logan will accompany you," he said calmly.
Scott raised an eyebrow slightly. "Logan?"
Charles gave a small, knowing look. "He is the only one among us who speaks Japanese fluently, and in a situation like this, communication will be critical."
Scott nodded after a second. "Alright. That makes sense."
Jean looked between them, her expression soft but resolute. "We'll reach him," she said quietly. "We'll make sure he's not alone."
Charles leaned back slightly in his chair, his gaze steady on all three of them as the weight of the mission settled into place. "Remember," he said, his voice calm but firm, "this is not about confronting a threat. This is about helping a child who believes he has become one."
Kitty nodded, her determination clear. "We'll bring him back." And as they turned to leave, the gravity of what lay ahead followed them out of the room.