Yaguro just shrugged. He figured that someone that had been in the pits of society like that would WANT a hero to come save her from it. He thought she’d fall hook, line and sinker for the pandering; Evidently he didn’t know her at all. Wouldn’t stop him from pretending he did, though. Hopefully his lack of social skills wouldn’t sell him out.
“Believe me, the last thing I want is to be anything like those costumed freaks.” A truthful statement, a rarity for this night.
“Getting a costume isn’t just a suggestion, its mandatory. Half the reason Yaguro retired and gave the mantle to me was that his identity became public. See, with heroes they usually go after the lunatics who are going to square up against the costumes anyway; Cops are protected by one another, so going after them is suicide; But us; All we have is our wits and the weapons we bring with us.”

Cracking his knuckles and neck to stretch out, Yaguro started to head for the side of the building, looking over it to get ready to make an exit.
“Keep your eyes on your phone; Our work out here is far from done. X-Jack is done for, but there are still plenty of criminals out there that need a pounding. I’ll be working on the remnants of his loyalists over the next few weeks, so I’ll text you when you’re needed next.”
Giving her a quick salute, he leapt on top of the buildings edge.
“Keep your head down for now.”
Hopping over the side, the vigilante caught himself on a fire escape, and started back towards his apartment.
“She’s absolutely perfect…I couldn’t ask for a better pawn to use…”

Making his way up to the rooftop, the vigilante made sure Carmen was there before getting himself situated. “More than fine.” Searchlight responded, leaning on the edge of the roof as sirens started up in the distance.
“We operate within our limits. I know it doesn’t seem fair that they receive all the credit, but at the end of the day taking out villains is whats important.” That would be what some glory hog hero would say to the press, and Searchlight felt it made for a good line to toss Carmen for his ‘hero persona’.
As he heard Carmen ask for a cigarette, the vigilante initially started to reach into his pocket for one, but smirked when a fun idea crossed his head.
“No; It’s a bad habit, one I kicked not too long ago. You shouldn’t smoke, especially when you’re young.” The last part was a line word for word that his mother said to him the first time she’d caught him smoking. It was the ‘morally correct’ thing to do.
“Besides, the show is about to start…”




“Where are my guys? Where are my guys!?” Being on the ground with blood gushing from his nose was not a familiar feeling for X-Jack, and it wasn’t a fun feeling either. Hearing sirens meant only one thing; Cops and heroes were coming to take him in. Thankfully it didn’t take too long before one of his men, a bigger guy wearing a tanktop, rushed to help him up. “Boss, that’s way too many sirens for just a routine check; What are we gonna do?”
Getting to his feet, the overweight man picked his handgun up off the floor. “I’ll tell ya one thing, surrender ain’t an option…Where are the rest of the boys?”
Looking behind him, the muscle noticed that only a handful of other goons were rushing to join them. “I dunno…You don’t think they ditched?”
A snarl came over X-Jack’s face as the first armed cops came into view. “Put the word out…” He started, reloading his gun. “Any one of my men that ran is as dead as these fuckin cops!”




As the sound of gunfire started to echo through the streets, Yaguro watched on through his helmet as a couple of brightly dressed heroes arrived, and swiftly turned the battle for the laws favor. Within a few minutes, X-Jack and most of him men were tied up, with the stragglers being chased.
“That’s that.” Searchlight stated, getting up from his leaning position. “Kid, you did good.” He stated bluntly, giving her a thumbs up. “Hows it feel to do something nice for the world?”

“Great, she’s wigging out…” Yaguro thought to himself, grumbling internally as he watched his exit plan run to a corner. Shoving off the harlot who was now on his shoulder, he started making his way through the crowd to get to her.

“Fuck you, you costumed fuck!” Could be heard from the sea of voices from the woman as Searchlight went towards Carmen.
While there were plenty of bar patrons staring at the two, most were thankfully consumed by their booze, women and drugs, and couldn’t care less about the duo.

Getting to the girl, he was ready to start shaking her in frustration, before remembering that tonight he was a ‘hero’.
“Don’t let them get to you, kid.” He affirmed in a confident voice. “That’s what villains like that do; They throw cheap shots to try to get you to slip up.” Nodding to her, he turned to start making his way back to X-Jack’s table, making sure Carmen was following.
“You’re going to do fine, I promise.” Making his way through flashing lights and the scent of cheap alcohol, X-Jack was practically staring a hole through Yaguro’s helmet. Motioning to a few people, he leaned in and whispered in one of his goons ears; When he turned back to Yaguro and Carmen, he had a wide, shit eating smile on his face, and started to actively beckon them over.
Now what could this be about? Could be a trap, but in any scenario it was their excuse to get in close to the target without being pumped full of lead.
Finally getting to the table, Searchlight crossed his arms, and locked his gaze with Jack’s.
“Saw ya gettin a good look at me from ‘cross the room. What are you two supposed to be? Some faggy hero group I never heard of?” X-Jack let out a belly laugh.
“Nah, but you ain’t no hero I’ve ever heard of; This ain’t hero style, this is freestyle; You’re a freelancer, ain’t ya? Have a seat.”
Two of X-Jack’s goons, adorned in black suits and glasses matching their boss, pulled up a pair of chairs. Looking over to Carmen, Yaguro nodded, signaling they should sit down.
“Lemme guess, you guys are just a coupl a’ do gooders, trying to take out some criminals, right?”
“Could be.”
X-Jack’s grin just got wider. “Well you just want criminals gone, right? Whats it matter if its me…Or my rivals? Whaddya say to gettin a little cash for your trouble, AND getting to do your stupid little song n dance?”
Yaguro just crossed his arms, staring at X-Jack.
“Come on, think it over.” Snapping his fingers, a nearly nude woman brought a pair of beers, and cracked the bottles open, setting them in front of the vigilante pair.
“Come on, you can have a drink, can’cha?”
Yaguro was starting to think this was a ploy; Like before, the crook was trying to get him to remove his helmet.
“Come on…” Underneath the table, X-Jack started to reach a concealed handgun; The criminal had no intention of hiring these two, only unmasking them, and killing them.
“The drinks are on me.”
The vigilante could already see X-Jack’s men tensing up; It was time.
“Not yet they’re not.” Jumping up suddenly, Yaguro grabbed the bottom of the table, slamming it forcefully onto X-Jack and his men, sending several bottles of alcohol and empty plates onto them. The blunt force he was applying was severely hampering X-Jack and his two goons, but not enough for the big man to start squeezing his trigger, firing blindly at the ground and causing an uproar.

Various patrons started running, trying to clear themselves out, while others tried to locate where the commotion was coming from.
“You lousy son of a bitch!” The gangster spouted out, still trying in vein to fire from his position.

“One portal on their backs, one outside! NOW!” Yaguro yelled, slamming the table into X-Jack again, pressing him against the wall. Hopefully Carmen could react before another of X-Jack’s men reached for their gun…

It felt like it’d been too long since he’d seen Carmen; In reality it was only a few weeks. Still, it was time to start putting her to good use.

Picking up his old Searchlight helmet, he gazed it over, and remembered the time before his arrest; How good it felt in hindsight to use his quirk. He still tried to activate it out of pure instinct every now and again. Getting his helmet on, he gazed in the mirror at a face he’d long forgotten. Carmen still didn’t know his true identity, so for now it was best to keep Searchlight and Yaguro Shamasu as two separate entities.

“Look at me; A true hero.” Yaguro laughed to himself, trying to picture being in the shoes of one of those ‘perfect’ heroes. What a joke.


Still, he’d have to try his best to emulate that joke if he wanted to keep Carmen in the dark. That meant no firearms this time around, and no baseball bat either. Walking to his closet and rustling around in some drawers, he took a look at some of his old hero equipment; A couple small gadgets that were meant to amplify his light and aim it; Useless now. Still, his old Kevlar laced long sleeved shirt would go back on, with matching black pants.



Geared up, the vigilante made his way to the rally point. It was just a shabby alley, but it was located close by to their target; The Devil’s Hand nightclub. Even being far away from the building itself, Yaguro could hear the blaring music resonating through the empty streets and into his ears.


Sending a message to Carmen on his burner flip phone, he waited for her to arrive.

Their target was simple; a local kingpin that commanded a small gang of thugs. The goal was to apprehend him, take him off the board; While this would be considered ‘heroic’, Yaguro’s main goal was to get his enforcers to disperse from the area. Patrols had become harder with the trigger happy goons around, and if he cut off their paycheck, it’d make things a lot simpler. Now that he had someone with teleport powers, getting in and out would be a breeze…As long as the girl showed up.

Its safe to say that a blood splattered clown was the last thing Yaguro expected to see tonight. It was like something out of a dream, the kind of dream you have after eating way too much spicy food right before you go to bed.
Safe to say, it took the duo of heroes off guard too.

“See, THIS is why we don’t do fun and games.” Blast Corp commented, throwing one of his explosives at the potato, attempting to blow it up midair before it got too close.
He’d then toss his other two explosives at the clown, aiming to detonate them as soon as they got close enough; They’d hurt like hell, but wouldn’t be strong enough to kill.

“Who the hell are you? What the hell is wrong with you! I wanted to score some cash, not commit murder!” Yaguro didn’t know who this freak was, but he knew better than to stick around at the scene of the crime. With no briefcase in sight, it was best to just clear out and let the heroes spend their time fighting a clown.
Turning around, Yaguro started to sprint off, only to get tripped and slammed to the ground.
“Hey-hey-hey, you’re not going anywhere; We don’t just let killers get away.” Zig-Zag stated mid trip. Zagging his way backwards, he stood in the vigilante’s way, making it clear escape was impossible.

"I am not associated with that…” Yaguro glanced over at Chuckles as he got to his feet. “Whatever it is.”
Zig-Zag just shrugged. “Sure looks that way to me, but save it for the judge.” Charging back at Yaguro, the punk would brace himself, and try to hit the hero square in the face with his bat, only to have it dodged, with Zag backing up to avoid the hit.
“Careful swinging that, you could hurt someone.” He taunted.
Yaguro just ignored his words, charging at him full force, bat swinging; Zig-Zag just kept backing up to dodge, making sure to add a “Miss!” For every whiff.
“Look, you’re not gonna hit me with -WHOA!” Not looking where he was going, the hero stumbled and fell over a garbage bin. Yaguro didn’t let the opportunity go to waste, and pounced on him, making sure he couldn’t get to his feet.
“Hey, if you wanted to kiss me, you could’ve just-“
The vigilante’s rebuttal to the annoyance was a headbutt, with the blunt force knocking the hero out cold.
“There…Lord this has not gone well…” Standing up, he’d make sure Zig-Zag was out cold, before turning back to where Blast Corp and the clowny newcomer were.
“Well…Already in this deep. Maybe I can get the briefcase’s location out of her.”
Throwing his bat over his shoulder, Yaguro started to make his way back to where the action was.

Funding; Money makes the world go round. Whether you’re a big hero agency, or just a small time vigilante trying to get by.

In Yaguro’s case, he was the latter; In his targets case, they were the former.

It had been so long since he’d been hauled off to jail by a hero group for just trying to help, but he could still feel the cold bars of his cells, still hear the jeering from gang members he’d locked away; Now, he at least had a chance to get some compensation for it all.

Word through the grapevine had spread around, and Yaguro had discovered an interesting opportunity; Tonight, some bigwig sponsor was going to be meeting with representatives for a hero group; And the rumors said he was bearing cash, and lots of it. For whatever reason, it seemed like the sponsor believed in presenting cash the old fashioned way, physically as opposed to a digital money transfer; And with it being so late at night, probably was going to present them with a trip to a bar as well.


Gazing at the sponsor from the safety of a rooftop, Yaguro quickly spotted a larger briefcase in his hand; It was like a shark looking at a guppy. This was perfect, the moron hadn’t thought to get any security detail; One would think carrying around a bunch of money would constitute that, but Yaguro wasn’t about to argue with the guy’s bad decision.

Sliding down the fire escape of the building he was on, the punk prepared to make his move.

Did he feel bad about robbing this average businessman just doing his job?


No, of course not; This asshole was just another cog in the machine that was the flawed hero system of Japan. If he didn’t want to get mugged, he should’ve picked a more honest line of work. Its not like he was robbing some honest place of business after all. Still, his attire was completely different than what he normally wore, as to not connect his vigilante persona to this action; God forbid Rayder found out.

Biker helmet on and baseball bat slung over his back, Yaguro approached the sponsor and drew his handgun.
“If you’re smart;” He started, drawing the attention of the thinning haired man. “You’ll just give me the briefcase and walk away.”

The sponsor turned around, and started to backpedal. “Hey, hey, wait, you don’t have to shoot me, I promise I won’t be an issue, but-“

“But nothing. Hand it over.” Yaguro was right up in his face now, with a hand on the briefcase.

“No, you don’t-“

Close enough now that the guy could see his reflection in the vigilante’s visor. “Not asking again. Hands off.”

Before the middle aged man he was targeting could spout anything else out, a flash came out of nowhere, and knocked Yaguro to the pavement.



“You get inside sir;” The blur moved sporadically, only going diagonally as it circled back to the sponsor. “Zig-Zag’s got this covered.”



Yaguro groaned as he heard the name; He hadn’t heard much about this no count, but at least knew the hero name. “Really? Cause you move fast in a zig zag pattern? How long did that take you to think of? Two, maybe three seconds?”

The hero was dressed in what seemed like workout gear, with purple and black diagonal stripes on his outfit. “Hey, it gets the job done doesn’t it?”


Yaguro didn’t bother with a reply. Getting up, he squeezed the trigger of his weapon, and watched as Zig-Zag maneuvered around the projectiles, backing up and keeping his distance.

“Maybe you should just surrender yourself now.” The hero offered. “You’re not exactly the first petty thief I’ve dealt with in my career. I mean, I’m happy to do things the hard way, but…”

Yaguro pointed his gun and prepared to fire off a few more rounds; Just as his piece seemed to explode in his hands. When the smoke cleared, the front of his handgun was completely blown off, and the rest looked worse for wear.





“Zag, lets just take this guy in quickly without causing a scene.”

Looking up, Yaguro spotted another hero on the hood of the buildings entrance; This one covered in black bandages, making him almost look like a mummy were it not for his swift movement and dismount from his elevated position.



“You know I just like having fun, Blast.” Zig Zag stated, crossing his arms (in a diagonal manner).

“This guy is dangerous; You don’t have time for fun and games.” The new hero stated in a blunt tone. “You, villain, surrender now or you WILL get hurt.”


Yaguro sighed, pulling out his baseball bat. Seemed like tonight would be a night for close quarters combat. “You’re Blast Corp, right? Your deal is exploding stuff, right?”



Blast Corp snapped his fingers three times in response, each snap generating a small floating orange ball. “If you don’t want an explosion to happen to you, I’d stand down.”



Great, two on one. So much for a simple smash and grab. As Zig Zag started to charge at him, Yaguro raised his bat, and prepared for the worst.

Rayder had really done his homework; He seemed to know just about everything there was to know.
Admittedly, Yaguro hadn’t put much thought into going into the restaurant; In all honesty, he’d figured that he had beaten his partner to the punch in learning secret identities; It was a bit frustrating that the inverse was true.
Of course, the vigilante was starting to get a bit pissed off at Rayder’s string of insults towards him; But he decided that for the time being, it was best to just ride it out, and stay silent; A tactic that paid off.

In his haste, Rayder had revealed some interesting bits; For whatever reason, he was referring to himself as multiple people; At first he thought it was a typo; But the error was repeated…Interesting, very interesting. The best part of all was that he had every single word down to the letter saved on his phone now; That made him feel just a bit better about the Cartographer’s silent rage.

“Alright, alright.” Yaguro stated in a hushed voice, trying to hide his smugness at the thought of discovering one of Rayder’s secrets. “Look, I get it, I fucked up; But we’re both on the same side here. You seem to know everything about me, except that I actually was a true vigilante, someone out to stop these gangs from running rampant. I still am. And if you’re still willing to work with me, I think we can do a lot of good; And I swear on my life to keep our personal lives separate from our…’Work’ lives. That sound good to you?”