Kaito Kid is Superhero

Bane smashed his fist through the wall. The TV was still playing footage of Kaitou Kid stealing the Neutron Bomb, the open hole in the field looking like the earth itself was mocking him.

The strongest warrior of the League of Shadows had been duped by a flashy thief—it was an outright humiliation.

One punch wasn't enough to vent his rage. More fists followed, pummeling the wall until the sturdy concrete and brick barrier was torn to pieces.

"You really do look pathetic, Bane of the League of Shadows." A mocking voice cut in. An uninvited guest had arrived.

"Mind your own business, Leopard Head of Liangshan," Bane replied coldly. He clearly knew the intruder.

The one known as Leopard Head from Liangshan was only about one meter forty in height, dressed bizarrely in a red short-sleeved top with white lantern trousers, topped with a purple cape embroidered in gold. She wore pink-soled cloth shoes and her long black hair was tied into twin ponytails draping over her chest. She looked for all the world like a dollish little girl. But this "loli" wore fingerless black gloves and leaned casually on a six-foot-long red spear, the shaft as thick as her slender forearm—clearly not someone to mess with.

"What's Liangshan doing in Gotham City?" Bane asked, towering over her. She barely reached his abdomen. To Bane, she was a toy.

Her big, sparkling eyes held a strange contrast of maturity and mischievous disdain. "Chasing rats is exhausting. And when I saw you humiliated on TV, I couldn't resist showing up. The League of Shadows really is going downhill. Look at you—you're like a monkey in a tantrum."

"Looking to die?" Bane snarled. He swung a fist at the tiny head.

"Click."

Before the punch even landed, the tip of the red spear was already pressed to his throat.

Bane froze. He could feel the razor-sharp point teasing the arteries and windpipe beneath his skin. If he moved another centimeter, it would tear through his flesh. Thank God he was fast enough to sense the threat and halt in time.

So fast. That was all Bane could think. The League of Shadows and Liangshan had both existed for centuries, but they'd only recently started interacting—and their relationship was anything but warm. It was mostly strategic cooperation at best. So the individual members also maintained a delicate and wary distance.

"Kaitou Kid's interesting. Ever think of drawing him out and killing him?" Leopard Head retracted her spear. "I've been bored to death lately. Came all this way and haven't found anything worth playing with. So how about we work together and take him out?"

Bane stared at her. He'd seen her twice at League headquarters. He knew her strength ran deep. If they teamed up, they could probably take Kid down. But Bane didn't cooperate with anyone—especially not someone from Liangshan.

"I can handle Kaitou Kid alone."

"Then I'll sit back and enjoy the show. I don't need to fight to enjoy a good spectacle," she said with a smirk, sitting down and resting her spear on her shoulder with a look that said I'm not leaving until something fun happens.

Bane seethed. But no matter. He was going to find Kaitou Kid and erase his humiliation. That hadn't changed.

So how to draw him out?

Bane chuckled darkly. Since the thief liked sticking his nose into trouble, he'd just take some hostages. No way Kid wouldn't show up.

Crude and simple often worked best. But Bane had a talent for making even crude plans precise.

The plan formed quickly.

Meanwhile—

"Ada-jie, you're amazing. You can stand on the ocean now? That's insane!" Liu A'dou looked at Ada Wong in awe. He realized he really didn't have anything left to teach her. From here on, all that remained was building up her Ripple. And once she had enough, new powers would come naturally.

Ada had never imagined something as simple as changing the way she breathed could lead to such results. "While I was training, I started to sense all kinds of variations between Attraction and Repulsion Ripple currents. Is that normal?"

"That might be the transformation of Ripple into different attributes. Ripple changes depending on the environment. For example, blue Ripple works best in water. The one we use in combat is golden Ripple—also called Sunlight Ripple. Basically, just like our bodies adapt to different surroundings, Ripple adapts too. Besides Water Ripple and Sunlight Ripple, there's also yellow Earth Ripple, green Plant Ripple, and red Animal Ripple. But I believe that's not the limit. With more research and experimentation, we might even discover Steel Ripple or Electromagnetic Ripple in the future."

"There's also the idea of absorbing the inherent Ripple energy in living creatures or fluids to boost your own Ripple strength." Liu A'dou had a wild theory—what if he could tap into Superman's life energy? Would that let him unleash a Ripple that rivaled the sun?

Ada nodded thoughtfully. It seemed Ripple wasn't bound by a fixed form. As long as your imagination kept up, you could draw out tremendous power from this ability.

Watching Ada grow so quickly and skillfully, Liu A'dou knew he couldn't afford to fall behind. As a transmigrator who had read and lived through countless great works, how could he survive in another world without a good imagination?

In the world of Detective Conan, he'd trained himself to be multitalented. In this one, he had to push his potential to the limit. Ripple was a form of life energy, and its core functions were Attachment and Repulsion. Attachment allowed Ripples to link together, while Repulsion spread them across the body for defense. Both effects could be used at the same time—but required exquisite control. Liu A'dou had mastered that already.

Still, he had bigger dreams.

Ripple transmission needed a medium. Water transmitted better than earth, living organisms better than plants. But air couldn't carry Ripple—it didn't even transmit as well as sound. So Liu A'dou had been pondering how to get Ripple to travel through the air. His plan was to use meditation to push out Ripple in waves, hoping to achieve airborne transmission. A difficult experiment, but worth trying.

That day, Liu A'dou lugged over a large box and said mysteriously, "Ada-jie, I've prepared a uniform for you. From now on, as Kaitou Kid's assistant, this is your official outfit."

Ada opened the box to find a sleek black suit inside. She sighed—Kid wore white, she wore black. A'dou really didn't have a creative bone in his body. Then she dug deeper and found a masquerade mask and a single red rose, which made things even weirder. "What's all this supposed to be?"

"The mask hides your identity, obviously. And the rose? That's your weapon. Since you've mastered Ripple, it's perfect. Channel Ripple into it and I promise it'll hit harder than a bullet. From now on, you are my one and only assistant—Lady Tuxedo Mask."

"…Lady Tuxedo Mask?" Was that her codename now? Ada felt a wave of embarrassment crash over her. "I think I'd still rather use a gun."

"Come on, you can't say that. Guns are the least stylish weapon in this world. The rose fits better. With me in white and you in black, we'll be the perfect gentleman-and-lady thief duo. Together, we'll steal from the whole world. Mwahaha!"

"…" Gentleman and lady thief? Ada didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Still, going native and adopting a second identity wasn't a bad idea. By day, she was Ada Wong, the sharpshooter. By night, she became Lady Tuxedo Mask, the rose-wielding rogue. It sounded ridiculous, but this world was ridiculous—and that made it fun. A double life wasn't such a bad deal.

Even if the outfit was seriously embarrassing.

She went to change.

Ada was tall—taller than Liu A'dou—and once she put on the tailored black tuxedo, complete with high hat and mask, she stood a full head above him.

"Fit okay?" Liu A'dou asked, clearly pleased with himself. His estimation of Ada's figure had been spot-on. Of course, actually measuring it with his hands would've been even better… Under his straight-laced exterior, Liu A'dou was extremely repressed.

He also changed into his white suit.

When Kaitou Kid and Lady Tuxedo Mask stood side by side, the visual contrast really hit.

It was oddly perfect—oddly satisfying—oddly…subtle~~.