[Narrator]:
June 6th, 2042. 10:46 a.m. Two weeks have passed since Larry decided to beco a hero. Three brochachos have been keeping Ultra City safe—well, mostly Timothy and Raymond, if we’re being honest. Larry’s busy planning for his Hero Association registration. Has it been boring? Absolutely. But hey, not my problem.
Sitting on a Rooftop were the three guys, snacks in hand, enjoying a mont of calm.
"I didn’t think it would be this dull and still manage to wear out." Larry sighed.
"Oh, co on. It’s not that boring, is it?" Timothy told Larry.
Larry replied, "We’ve just been going around beating up the average Joe and his friends. It’s getting tiring."
Raymond didn’t speak at first—he was chewing. Being a man of manners, he wouldn’t talk while eating. But once he finished, he finally spoke.
"Don’t complain too much. Even I know it’s boring. I’ve been here since the day we ford the alliance, but the thought ca to ... This guy has been doing it for five years, so I have no right to complain."
"Well, that’s true. Just wish a random crisis would happen," Larry said.
Raymond replied, "Wait, what? That’s not sothing we should wish for."
They laughed it off, trading friendly banter—from "I knocked out more guys than you last night" to "I’ll be the face of the city in no ti." Their bonds had begun to grow.
***
[Narrator]:
Ah, bonds. It’s just so nice to have them. The author and I could have sothing like that—but no, he’s a loner and a jerk. Larry, like Raymond said, don’t pray for things like that. Not everything cos easy. Alright, let’s dive back into the story.
Across town, Ultra City Zoo buzzed with life. Crowds gathered, children shouted, and deep within the noise, Derick Andrew worked quietly, unaware that today would change everything.
Derick was a zookeeper. He sat on a chair, resting his eyes, his back leaned against a wall as he waited for his shift to end. The children’s noise grew so loud he couldn’t take it. He opened his eyes, ready to tell them to keep their decorum.
The kids were elentary school students on a field trip to the zoo. Derick said to them,
"You guys should pipe it down. The animals hate noise. If you keep it up, they’ll leave their dens and chase you."
"Stop scaring the children, Derick," a coworker said.
"I’m not scaring them. I’m speaking facts. They do hate noise. Where’s your guardian?"
A soft feminine voice answered, "I’m here, sir. I had to use the restroom. Sorry if they caused you trouble."
She left with the kids, but Derick’s eyes followed her. There was sothing magnetic about her the graceful sway of her walk, the effortless curve of her figure, like water flowing where it pleased.
Derick thought to himself,
Damn, she is hot. How can soone be this endowed?
His coworker snapped him out of his thoughts.
"If you keep ogling her, people will see you as a simp. Go talk to her if you want her number."
Derick replied, "I can’t. She probably already has soone. Plus, she’s way out of my league."
"You don’t know until you try," his coworker told him.
"I know, so I don’t need to try," he replied.
Derick glanced at his watch. His shift had ended. Ti to leave. Before heading out, he stopped by the panther cub.
"Hey, little one. Just saying bye before I clock out."
The cub purred. The look in its eyes was like that of a child gazing at its mother. Derick smiled and whispered,
"You see as one of your own, right? Well... I am your mother."
He crouched, placing his hand on the cub’s head. Then he stood and said,
"See you tomorrow."
As he left the room, he muttered, "Look at , talking to an animal. It’s not like it understands what I’m saying."
Derick finally left the zoo. At his apartnt, he went straight for the bathroom.
He had to bend a little to get inside. At six feet tall and broad-shouldered, the poorly built structure was never kind to him. After bathing, he got dressed, combed his short fade cut, and crashed onto his bed.
He let out a sigh. "Just six months, and I’m already sick of the job." Another sigh followed. "Nothing fun happens in this city. I should’ve picked Starc City when I had the chance. Guess I’ll have to endure the rest of my life in this peaceful but boring place."
He picked up his phone to scroll through social dia, only to see seventeen missed calls and eight unread ssages. His eyes widened.
"What the hell, Benson? What could’ve happened?"
He skimd the texts. Please return to work. They are loose.
"What’s loose?" he muttered.
Then he checked a voice ssage. A trembling voice spoke:
"Derick, please co back to work. We don’t know how it happened or who caused it, but the animals are out of their dens. Please, co back."
Derick froze. His heart pounded. Quickly, he put on his shoes, barged out of the apartnt, and leapt down the stairs. At the exit, he hailed a taxi and ordered the driver to drive as fast as possible.
"I’ll pay any amount—just get there quick!"
The driver stomped on the throttle. They sped through shortcuts—illegal ones—but luckily avoided the police.
Finally, they reached the zoo. Derick shoved cash into the driver’s hand and rushed to the entrance. The gates were locked.
"What? It’s locked? Benson better not be pulling a stunt."
He realized it was locked from the inside.
Without further ado, he gripped the steel doors and tore them open like paper. Derick’s strength was unmatched. Inside, silence reigned. Broken glass littered the ground. Blood stained the floor. The animals were nowhere in sight.
He ran until he saw his old friend, Mr. Benson, lying in a pool of blood. Derick dropped to his side, panic filling his voice.
"Hey, Benson! Tell you’re not dead. Please, tell you’re not dead!"
Benson coughed—alive, but fading.
"You ca... Soone released the animals. The kids, the people... they’re not safe. When I saw the snakes loose, I ran to the control room, but it was locked. The perpetrator... would be in there."
"Don’t talk," Derick urged, hands trembling.
But the old man pushed on.
"You think I don’t know... but I do. You have strength, senses—I’ve never seen anything like it. I kept quiet because I knew you had your reasons for hiding your abilities. But now... now is the ti to use them. Please... protect the children. Ta the animals."
Benson’s eyes closed.
Derick carried him into a room and locked the door.
Then he walked back out, a dark frown twisting his face. Only one thought consud him:
Whoever you are, I’m gonna make you beg for death.
He clenched his fists so tightly that blood dripped from his palms. His nails elongated, sharp and curved, no longer normal but claws.
[Narrator]:
"Yikes... I wouldn’t want to be a victim of those claws. You guys better get ready—our boy’s ’bout to cook."
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