White Jack, Blue Dove, and Hero Corporation's Olive Branch

It was July 6, 2026, a sleepless night on Old Dawn Capital Commercial Street.

White Jack crouched silently atop a streetlamp like a white cat, his hollow eyes fixed on Blue Dove.

His head and shoulders drooped. The Magician's Wand in his right hand hung down, swaying back and forth like the pocket watch used by a hypnotist.

Blue Dove straightened and looked up at him.

The two stared at each other in silence, as though they were old friends reunited after a long separation. Hidden paparazzi at the street corner captured the scene.

This was huge news. Quite a few people who understood online trends clenched their fists inwardly. This is definitely going to blow up. How many years has it been since some clueless kid dared to imitate Rain Crow?

As long as they built a story around the keywords "Clockmaker," "Gray Owl's death," and "Rain Crow," online discourse would surely explode once again, just like it had years ago.

Then people would wait to see when this kid got sliced apart by a supervillain—or whether he could escape the curse of fate this time.

The police got out of their cars in a steady stream, intending to raise their guns and provide support. But seeing that two superheroes were already here, they instead began evacuating the crowd.

The pale puppet lowered his hollow gaze and said carelessly, "Oh... look who it is. Our Rain Crow fan club has gained another member. And this one is bolder than anyone else—he actually copied Rain Crow's costume. You should know that ever since that incident, no rookie hero has dared to do that."

"You are..." Blue Dove murmured.

"Nice to meet you. My name is White Jack," White Jack said in a ghostly voice.

"He's a criminal." Gyro Hero stepped forward and placed a hand on Blue Dove's shoulder. "Hey, bro, be careful."

"I know." Blue Dove said seriously, "He's that famous villain—the Dawn Capital Iron Tower, White Perky Buttocks. I spent an entire night scrolling Twitter. The foreign internet was full of parody videos about his ass."

Gyro Hero raised a hand to cover his face. What the hell is going on today? Why do I keep running into all kinds of weird things and incomprehensible people?

White Jack suddenly said, "A Rain Crow imitator appearing among rookie heroes is not a good sign. It means a certain demon is about to arrive... You will bring that demon back to this city, and Rain Crow will be powerless to do anything but watch the tragedy from ten years ago repeat itself."

"You mean Clockmaker?" Blue Dove asked calmly.

"That's right, the villain comrade who chopped Gray Owl into pieces." White Jack sighed. "Back then, our plague crow must have shed plenty of tears. Maybe he wouldn't even have been that sad if his own son had died."

He paused and raised a snow-white finger. "Of course, his son isn't dead yet, so that remains to be seen."

"I won't allow you to insult Rain Crow," Blue Dove said in a low voice. "He's the reason I wanted to become a superhero."

"I know, I know. You're really just a stupid kid who wants traffic and clout but not his life. Everyone told you never to imitate Rain Crow, yet you insisted on doing the opposite just to show how special you are." White Jack spoke casually. "But really, you're nothing, kid."

He chuckled softly. "You're just a little brat wearing a bird-head helmet with no idea of your own limits. Your Uncle Rain Crow will be here soon to teach you a lesson."

"Don't waste your breath on him, bro." As Gyro Hero spoke, he curled his index and middle fingers slightly and flicked out an invisible thread.

He abruptly raised his hand. A fiery red gyro tore through the air and shot upward, hurtling toward White Jack on the streetlamp with blazing fury.

White Jack reacted quickly. He raised his wand to block the nearest gyro while leaping high from the streetlamp. Like a circus trapeze artist, he spun lightly through the air before landing atop a car behind him.

In an instant, Blue Dove suddenly lowered his body and stomped both feet against the ground, turning into a streak of dark blue lightning as he charged forward.

Bang—!

Wrapped in crackling arcs of electricity, he crushed the car's hood beneath his feet and surged toward his opponent like an electric net.

"We will meet again. This definitely won't be the last time." As his words fell, White Jack bared his teeth in a grin. His body suddenly turned into a wisp of pale smoke and vanished without a trace.

Blue Dove immediately stopped, then performed a backflip to put distance between himself and the pale smoke.

Gyro Hero rushed to his side, standing back-to-back with him. Yet the two looked around in confusion and saw no sign of White Jack.

"Who exactly was that guy..." Blue Dove murmured.

"Don't worry about it, bro." Gyro Hero patted his shoulder. "You just haven't been a superhero for long enough. Villains who like spouting nonsense have been around forever."

Blue Dove fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I still have something to do. I need to leave first."

"Wait." Gyro Hero called after him.

Blue Dove turned around and met his gaze.

Gyro Hero's dreadlocks swayed in the wind. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Do you want to join my team? I've been putting together a superhero team lately, but I haven't found any teammates."

"Uh... you know, some people look down on me because I'm Black and don't want to team up with me." He scratched his head. "If you want, you can even be the captain. I don't mind."

Blue Dove looked as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. "Um, I'm curious. How many teammates are in your team?"

Gyro Hero put his hands on his hips and lowered his head, hesitating for a while before finally admitting, "For now, it's just me and my commander. But if you join, there'll be three of us."

Blue Dove sighed and folded his arms. "Then where are you planning to find the other teammates?"

"Recently, Hero Corporation took in a batch of super-species criminals. They're being held at the company. But their crimes weren't serious—just things like 'theft' and 'street fighting.'"

Gyro Hero shrugged as he spoke. "Bro, we can pick two of them and have them join our team."

"That really does sound like a great idea," Blue Dove said with feeling. You've fallen so far that you need to find teammates among recruited criminals? Then I really am the perfect fit for your team.

"Come to Hero Corporation sometime in the next couple of days. Just give them my name and you'll be allowed in," Gyro Hero said. "I'll introduce you to my commander. How about it?"

"Man, let me think about it first."

"I'll wait for you." Gyro Hero watched him with a burning gaze.

"Don't wait for me. I'll come when I have time." With that, Blue Dove bent forward slightly. Watery blue electricity filled his pupils, as though ripples were flowing within his eyes.

The next moment, his body transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot away amid a roar, vanishing at the end of the long street.

Gyro Hero shook his head and sighed. "That was so cool."

He understood that if Blue Dove had not copied Rain Crow's outfit, his performance would have made him a highly sought-after figure after his debut. All kinds of rising-star hero teams would have come knocking with invitations.

But the problem was Blue Dove's outfit. It might draw Rain Crow's archenemy, Clockmaker, here. If that happened, the people at the company would only see Blue Dove as a jinx, and everyone else would avoid him like the plague.

After all, no one wanted to get involved with Clockmaker. That name was practically synonymous with the Grim Reaper.

But Gyro Hero didn't care. He had come all the way from the United States to pursue his dream of becoming a hero, and it had taken great effort to gain even a little footing here.

As long as a single straw dangled before him, he would seize it, even if it might cost him his life.

"I hope this works out," Gyro Hero muttered to himself.

Then he shook his head and glanced at the reporters, who were already in a frenzy.

"Rain Crow's imitator" and "White Jack"—one was a hot topic that had not appeared in years, while the other was a recently famous villain. There was no way tonight's traffic would be lacking.

Gyro Hero waved at them and blew a kiss as he backed away, turning his back on the neon lights and the reporters' camera flashes before walking into an empty alley.