Chapter Text
Hyunjin isn’t dumb.
He really isn’t. It’s just that, with his dirty blonde hair, flawless pale skin, plump pink lips, and overall “pretty” appearance people tend to categorize him into the “pretty but dumb” stereotype on first glance - most do it subconsciously, so he can’t really blame them.
Point is, he isn’t dumb.
Impulsive? Now that was up for debate.
But right now, in this situation, he didn’t really have much choice but to admit that he had indeed made an impulsive decision.
However, as Hyunjin laid sprawled across the marble floors of the KEB Hana Bank - his breath slightly labored, his cheeks lightly tinted pink and his mind running back to a boy with a fox mask while waiting for his teammates to catch up with him - he realized that the decision that he had made on a whim wasn’t one he regretted. Not at all.
You see, when Stray Kids first arrived at the crime scene after receiving a call from the police station, they had been surprised to find themselves standing in front of a bank.
Superhero were rarely ever called in for missions such as bank robberies, and break ins - well not exactly. It would be more accurate to say that, specific heroes are called in on such missions, ones who’s powers fit the description of missions of those kind. There were certain heroes who would be informed of a bank robbery or trespassing even before the police! Those heroes were trained to handle situations like that, and commonly they are good strategists with powers that are easier to control.
Stray Kids weren’t heroes that were cut out for missions involving limited space. They worked better in open environments - they even had certain protocols, and members who are specifically placed to protect civilians who might be caught in the line of fire. Each member brought something different to the table; providing what others on their group lacked. They were the perfect team. They held each other up.
Due to this, Stray Kids were able to take on almost every type of mission. On most instants, it seemed like they always had at least two members who specialized in that field - the others would usually provide backup.
There had been other heroes who also teamed up with the hopes of creating a perfect unit that would have the skill requirements for almost every mission. Lots of then had also been able to gain fame much like Stray Kids had. Groups like Bulletproof Boy Scouts, Super Junior, Mamamoo and many others quickly rose to the light and gained the public’s trust and admiration. However, with each new crime fighting group and individual that made their debut, ten more villains did as well. Seoul was completely infested with crime doers, luckily though it also had its fair share of heroes.
Well, given their versatility and flexibility when it comes to missions, it might not be that big of a shock that they were called in for a bank robbery. However, every member of Stray Kids could quite literally count the number of times they’ve been called in due to a bank robbery - it was only two other times, and both had been when they were just starting out as heroes and were trying to find their place.
As Stray Kids rounded the corner, entering the area where the bank robbery had taken place, a cop immediately walked up to them and started briefing them on the situation, most likely recognizing them due to their flashy outfits.
Hyunjin’s outfit itself wasn’t anything bright or eccentric, yet it served its purpose. He wore a dark, typical superhero skin tight jumpsuit. The material resembled silk with its shine and silky texture, yet its capability to stretch was much higher, and it was tighter on his body. The center point of his costume though was the thick cap that draped behind him. It’s reached until the ends of his knees, and was a striking red that contrasted beautifully against his dark suit and pale skin. It’s was made out of a velvety material and came to wrap elegantly around his neck. It was held together by a single gold clip that held the pieces of cloth to his chest, tilting more on the right side, naturally. His mask was shaped similarly to a mascaraed mask with it only covering the area surrounding his eyes, the ends of the mask were also curled up slightly. The mask was colored a dark navy, almost black, matching his suit. Specks of gold decorated the mask, gold outlining the eye holes as well. Lastly, he also wore a pair of shiny black dress shoes.
What can he say? He was the prince of Stray Kids, his appearance had to match up for that title!
‘A group of seven to eight robbers are inside that bank. They have around a dozen hostages with them and are threatening to harm them if they’re demands are not met; they want to leave the area with all the money they can carry, without being followed. They say that they won’t hesitate to kill the hostages if the cops and heroes don’t cooperate, and or come within a 50 mile radius of the building. We are under strict orders to wait outside and not enter until further notice. We’ve been able to identify three of the men...’
That was all Hyunjin had bothered to remember, that and that one of the robbers had a heat radar power...? He wasn’t quite sure what to call it, but he did know that it immediately eradicated any plans of having Minho sneak into the building while invisible - Jisung’s animals were probably out of the question as well. Hyunjin himself might be able to catch them by surprise if he’s fast enough, but he doesn’t even know where they are - the police officer told them where the villains would most likely be; a spare storage room on the second floor, close enough to the safe in case anything happened, it was also surrounded by windows, exists and even a fire exit in case there was a need for a quick escape - but even then, they couldn’t really be sure - a mistake like that on their part could cost someone their life. They weren’t willing to bet on other people’s lives.
Though he would to worry about the hostages if he had someone with him to take on the bad guys while he rushed towards the civilians.... At that thought, he’s eyes immediately flew to Felix, his power would be perfect for a quick knock out. However, when teleporting Hyunjin can barely take one person with him (two if he’s able to concentrate hard enough, but that usually leaves him close to passing out), on top of that, teleporting always leaves the persons with him dizzy and disorientated, and taking a person with him leaves Hyunjin himself slightly winded, so both of them would be vulnerable for a moments, and the bad guys would undoubtedly take advantage of that. That plan was also off the table it seems.
‘I guess we’ll just have to wait.’
They had no other choice. As the saying goes; better safe than sorry. Even heroes have to play it safe sometimes, especially when it involves the lives of others.
However, any thoughts of playing it safe and waiting for the team to come up with a plan immediately flew out of Hyunjin’s head the minute the sound of a gun shot rung through the air, the piercing sound rising above the loud chatter of the people who had crowded around the scene in order to take a look at the heroes.
Hyunjin’s body tensed and before he knew it, he was already traveling through time and space. For a split second, he was suspend in black matter, his feet weren’t touching anything solid and his hands floated by his side limply. The next second, his feet met the marbled floors of the bank with a soft thud.
His eyes quickly swept the scene, rapidly zooming from one corner to the other. It didn’t take him long to figure out that he wasn’t where he was supposed of be. If his memory served him right, he was on the right side of the second floor, when he should be on the left side - where the hostages were most likely kept. Maybe he didn’t have the building layout down pat as he initially thought...
As soon as he realized his mistake, Hyunjin started sprinting to the other side of the corridor, uncaring of how loud his footsteps were.
‘The radar guy probably sensed me already.’
Plus, he could hear the glass doors of the front entrance being slammed open as well as multiple feet hitting the floors as they rushed in; the rest of the team was right behind him.
‘There it is.’
He skidded to a stop, harshly turning around and hurtling himself inside the room. The sight that awaited him was certainly one he hadn’t expected.
The room was indeed filled with the innocent civilians who had been restrained, blindfolded and a few were even gagged. None of them appeared to be physically harmed though, the observation brought slight relief to his erratic heartbeat. Yet, that wasn’t what made the sight so bizarre.
Two men, obviously criminals from their choice of all black and completely suspicious clothing, were also present in the room - yet they were also “restrained”. Both were in icy shackles, one of them was even stuck to a wall with pure globs of ice keeping him in place. Despite the situation, Hyunjin couldn’t help but find the sight amusing, yet it was much more confusing.
‘Who did this?’
It couldn’t have been anyone from Stray Kids; they had all been with him outside and couldn’t have done this in such a short amount of time. None of them even had icy powers!
Was it another hero? Or maybe a villain? Hyunjin didn’t think the latter was much of a possibility. Why would they hurt the guys on their side...then again, most villains aren’t really big on sportsmanship...also, why would they leave the hostages unharmed? Having a hostage was definitely an advantage on their end...
‘Did they take a hostage with them?!’
Just then, Hyunjin’s panicked eyes caught sight of a flash of black from his peripheral vision.
Without a second thought (something he was doing quite a lot today), he whirled around on his heels, jumping out of the room and just barely managing to catch a glimpse of a dark figure as they rounded the corner.
Within a second, Hyunjin was standing at that very same corner, a split second later and he’s already tackled the dark figure to the ground.
They crashed to the ground. The figure - a man, Hyunjin concluded, it was pretty easy to tell given how close their current position forced them to be - let out a surprise gasp, seemingly caught off guard. He quickly regained his composure, and before he knew it, the guy had somehow managed to switch their position around. The male was still then one underneath Hyunjin, now, however, he was one his back instead of laying on his stomach.
As their eyes met through the masks they both wore - or multiple masks in the case of the “villain” - at least that’s what Hyunjin assumed he was. Hyunjin was pretty confident of that assumption actually, the guy wore the same costume as the other two guys, from the black hoodie to the black socks and even the the black ski mask peaking from underneath his white face mask.
Actually, that mask was the only real difference. The mask was colored a clean white, the eye holes were slanted and winged out, giving the appearance of a very exaggerated cat eye shape. Red marks surrounded the eyes, three strokes were also painting on each side of the mask, giving it the appearance of whiskers. A dark nose was also painted on. The mask even had two pointed ears at the top, the insides painting a rosy color.
‘Fox.’
That was the first thing to pop into Hyunjin’s mind as he analyzed the male underneath him. He couldn’t really pick out any of his facial features, not even his hair length or color; the ski mask he wore hiding everything from Hyunjin’s dark eyes.
“Mercurius” it was a whisper, but with the way he said it, Hyunjin was almost sure the male was smirking behind his mask. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to care about that, his mind far too caught up in other things...
‘He has a nice voice.’
...
Jeongin could not believe the situation he was in! He was somehow managing to maintain his external composure but internally, he is screaming while simountanously thanking - well himself! For making that seemingly unnecessary decision to wear his signature mask. If there was ever a time where he wanted his “appearance” to be engraved into a heroes mind it was now.
‘Too bad I’m not going to be able to do anything memorable.’
If only he hadn’t been as careless, he might have escaped without an injury, and he might have been able to pull of a stunt that would surly earn him a place in Mercurius’ memory. But alas, ‘if only’ scenarios are not reality. Reality was having to get away from one of his favorite superheroes of all time before he lost too much blood and collapsed, at least that’s the plan if he didn’t want to be jailed for life.
He sighs deeply, physically slumping in disappointed. He would to run away yet again, leaving the credit to however the police gifted it to this time. Plus, this time he would also have to abandon a PERFECT chance to be able to speak to and meet one of his idols in person.
Mercurius, one of his idols - along with everyone in Stray Kids, was literally right in front of him! Jeongin had to hold himself back from jumping up and begging the guy to give him his autograph...actually, Mercurius himself was restraining him, he was holding down both of Jeongin’s wrists right above his head.
As of on cue Jeongin began to notice the gradually growing sound of footsteps approaching.
It was times like these he hated not actually being a hero. Not officially, at least.
“I’m a big fan.” He says, willing his tone to betray as little enthusiasm as possible...though he still sounded like an excited kid.
That was safe to say, right? Villains do it all the time...it would just seem like he was trying to mess with his head!
Either way, it provided Jeongin with the distraction he needed. As Mercurius was processing his words, Jeongin brought up his knee, slamming it into the hero’s stomach all the while inwardly shouting apologies and begging for forgiveness while hoping it didn’t hurt him too much - despite knowing that it did, just like it was supposed to.
As the hero attempted to catch his breath from the sudden attack, Jeongin quickly switched their positions. He now sat straddling Mercurius’ torso and for a moment he felt heat rise to his cheeks at this comprising position, but he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. He needed to focus.
Quickly, he brought his hands up to restrain Mercurius’ hands but instead of holding his hands by the wrist like Mercurius had done to him, Jeongin brought his hands to rest directly onto of Mercurius - laying his palm directly onto of the superhero’s after wrenching his fist open. He even intertwined their fingers, despite knowing it was completely unnecessary...
...
Hyunjin could do nothing but watch in thinly veiled confusion and bafflement, as he felt the male, now on top of him, squeeze his hands in an almost comforting fashion. He couldn’t help but wonder why on earth this guy was acting the way he was. Even unacquainted superheroes weren’t this friendly with him!
Hyunjin he stared up at the male, puzzlement shining bright in his eyes as the man on top of him winked, thought it was hard to say due to the two mask he wore, before literally disappearing from sight. Hyunjin still laid on the floor, now gazing at a wall with slight flushed cheeks, and his mind racing to try to make sense of the situation. At this point, the only thing he was sure of was how soft and warm the guys hands had been.
A thought suddenly dawned on him.
‘Did that guy just teleport?’