Mark of the Multiversal Pretender

"This is the MPD! We have you surrounded! Surrender now or we will use force! We don't want this to get bloody!" The chief police in charge of the police department on Metroville, yelled through his megaphone, following the procedure that is set during situations like this.

Those procedures are, distract the robbers or villains and wait until a nearby Superhero shows up to take them down.

*Dang!*

Barging through the front doors was Larry with the child named Miranda on his arms.

"'We'? There's no 'We' in here, only You! You don't want this to get bloody, right?" As if to back up his words, Larry pressed the barrel of his Glock in Miranda's temples.

Upon this threat, the police officers raised their handguns towards Larry, wanting to stop him from harming the hostage.

"Hold your fires!" The chief police quickly roared to his fellow police officers, halting them from doing something that everyone would regret.

Hearing his order, all the police officers hesitantly lowered their guns, gritting their teeth for being unable to do something to the current situation.

"Name your demand!" Sighing in relief, the chief police shifted his attention back to Larry and asked. Normally in this type of situation, the robbers would ask for a demand in exchange for the safety of the hostage.

'Tsk, buying time huh? You really think I'm an idiot?' Larry clicked his tongue and whispered to himself, already predicting the tactics of the police.

Buy time for Superheroes to arrive.

Unfortunately for them, he's a smart man.

"We need a chopper! And for every single minute that passes, I will shoot one of these girl's fingers, y'all understand?" To prove that he's telling the truth, he used his other hand to grab Miranda's index finger and gripped it tightly to the point that Miranda screamed in pain.

"Gaaahh!"

"Wait stop! We'll immediately do it as fast as we can!" Knowing that they've been seen through by the man and seeing that he's serious about his words, the chief police's face turned grim, realizing that they're dealing with one of the difficult ones.

To him, the most dangerous person in the world is not the strongest in strength or anything related to that, instead it is those who have the brains to pull out their crimes.

Those are the most dangerous and scariest ones.

'Dammit! Where the Superheroes when we needed them!' The police chief cursed in his mind, taking note of himself to file a complaint towards Metroville's local Superheroes after this.

"Chief, what are your orders?" A police officer from his side asked.

"....Forget the procedures, quickly grab a police chopper from the station and get back here as soon as you can! Knowing that man there, we don't have to ask if he needs a pilot."

"Yes sir!" Saluting, the police officer immediately got in his car and drove away, at the same time, he grabbed the radio and called the remaining police officers back in their station.

"Now is the best time for Superheroes." The police chief muttered to himself as he watches Larry grin in satisfaction while dragging his hostage back inside.

***

"Over there look! There's a commotion there!" Arriving at the scene, both Leo and Syndrome were quick to notice the crowd of police and people surrounding the bank of Metroville.

"It's a bank robbery. Who in their right mind robs a bank in the middle of the day? If I were the robber, I would do it at night. It's easier to rob a bank when it's near the closing time." Syndrome muttered lowly.

'Instead of thinking how to save the people inside the bank, you're thinking of how to properly rob a bank. Truly a pure evil villain instead of a broken one.' Leo mentally shook his head as he continued in his mind.

'If he still turns out to be a villain like his movie counterpart....I might need to take matters into my own hands and put him out of his misery.' Unknown to the oblivious Syndrome, a cold glint flashed within Leo's eyes that soon disappeared as quickly as it appeared, as if it was never there in the first place.

"I say, I'll show you what I'm capable of now." Leo replied to the still muttering Syndrome who seems to be mocking whoever planned the bank heist.

"Are you sure you can do it? You know Superheroes are accepted by the world but not vigilantes." Syndrome warned.

"Well, vigilantes are where Superheroes started, right?" Leo smirked, especially after seeing the speechless Syndrome.

"You...have a point. Then what are we waiting for? Let's go and become Superheroes!" Syndrome grinned and excitedly jumped, just as he was about to advance, his collar was held by Leo.

"Hold on for a second, what do you mean 'We', kid I can do this alone. And besides, you don't have any Superpowers, I don't think you'll be of any help, no offence." Leo harshly said however his words were the truth. If Syndrome goes in, the same time might happen as in the movie, Syndrome wouldn't be able to save anyone and would only hold him back.

"But but...." Syndrome uttered, wanting to refuse Leo's words.

"Look, you're smart right, so I'm sure you're smart enough to know that I'm right." Leo then patted Syndrome's shoulders before leaving him alone to think for himself.

A small part of Leo also hopes that he could perhaps fix Syndrome's mindset. Changing him from a notorious villain in the future to a great Superhero who uses gadgets instead of Superpowers, showing that anyone can be a Superhero even without a Superpower.

"I..." Syndrome could only watch Leo's broad back slowly being covered by his black panther suit.

And then, much to the gasp of everyone, a man in a black tight suit that looks slightly similar to a black panther showed up.

His sudden appearance combined with his unique suit made everyone quickly think of him as a Superhero finally responding to the bank heist.

"It's a Superhero!"

"Is that a Superhero? I don''t remember seeing him in Wiki-Heroes."

"He looks awesome! I wonder who made his suit? His cape also looks cool."

"He must be a new Superhero!"

Leo's appearance caused varied reactions from the passerbys and police officers.

'Who is that?' Including the chief police. However his reaction was different compared to the rest. Instead of excitement, he was a bit cautious towards him.

Just as the chief police were about to use his megaphone to call out to him, Leo had already arrived at the entrance of the bank.

Obviously he's not an idiot. He just turned on the cloaking function of his panther habit, turning him invisible.

So in the eyes of everyone including the robbers inside, Leo disappeared from his position.

"Where is he?" Goon #1 asked in surprise, not expecting the newly arrived Superhero to suddenly disappear.

Could it be that the Superhero was actually a coward and became scared after seeing them inside?

Such thought is obviously not the case, especially to Larry who has seen several Superheroes with his own eyes.

"Invisibility! You idiots! Grab your own hostages! If you feel something or someone touching you, don't hesitate to shoot!" Larry quickly realized the 'Superpower' of the newly arrived Superhero and roared at his companions.

The two goons quickly scattered around to grab hostages however, they were already too late. As both goons quickly passed out on the ground after a short tap on their napes.

"Damn it!" Larry muttered a curse, glaring at his useless companions before yelling at no one.

"Whoever you are, don't you dare make any moves! Or I'll really shoot this girl!" Pressing the barrel on Miranda's temples, Larry gulped his saliva out of nervousness.

His remaining confidence is the Glock in his hand.

Unfortunately for him, his mistake was choosing this day to rob a bank.

Leo doesn't need to feel threatened at Larry's threat, after all, he's already behind the man's unsuspecting back.

Beside Larry could react, he felt something heavy in his Glock, so without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

*Bang!*

Everyone in the bank yelled in fear and surprise, already expecting the poo girl's head to turn into pieces of brain matter.

However, much to everyone's shock, Leo slowly materialized in front of Larry and Miranda, his hand blocking the barrel of the Glock.

"Hello there." Smirking inside his mask, Leo snatched the Glock from Larry's hand and threw it aside.

At the same time, he also dropped the bullet that came out of the glock's barrel earlier.

*Clang!*

This was the final straw as Larry knew it was over for him.

Just as he was about to drop to his knees to beg, he saw his vision darkening.

***

Outside the bank, the police officers and the police chief were having a panic attack.

They just heard a gunshot, they're now imagining the worst that could happen.

Thankfully, the front doors swung open and the people including Miranda and her grandmother from the inside came swarming outside with tear stains and happiness filled faces.

As for Leo, there was no sign of him as he disappeared at the same time as he tied Larry and the two goons in the corner of the bank.

"What?! But what about the interviews? Look, there's a news caster over there! You'll become famous!" Currently, Leo just returned to where he last left Syndrome and the kid was now complaining to him for not taking advantage of the situation to build his reputation.

"There's no need for that and it's just like what you said right? I'm just a vigilante for now, so I don't need to answer those interviews. Now show me the way to the Gym for Superheroes."

Although Syndrome wanted to refute his words, he could only sigh in defeat.

***

"Well, this isn't the Gym that I was expecting."

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 102 - Record beater?]