Walking home from school, a black-haired, blue-eyed, fifteen-year-old boy was strutting down the road with the confidence of a young man who believed he was tougher than he really was. This kid was Conner McClain, and he was feeling great about himself on this Spring day.

|X|

His friend John had been getting harassed for weeks by their school’s biggest bully, Frank. John was known for his brains, so Frank was forcing him to do all the homework for him and his friends.

John hadn’t wanted his friends to fight his battles for him. But yesterday, Conner came across Frank in the middle of strongarming John. As such, he decided to bring an end to the problem.

The young Conner’s upbringing in Hive Town made him consider violence his first solution for the longest time. However, ever since starting high school, he learned the hard way that assaulting his fellow students typically led to more trouble than it was worth. So, Conner’s better judgment won out the day he saw Frank harassing his friend.

Instead of trying to let his fists do the talking against a kid with a good foot on him, Conner instead chose to go to the principal. To Conner’s pleased surprise, the principal actually listened to him and helped him confront Frank.

Now Frank was facing a month-long suspension from school and was out of Conner and his friends’ hair for good. At least, that was what the young man had foolishly presumed.

|X|

Hive Town was a harsh neighborhood to live in. For as long as Conner had been alive, crime had been on the rise. For that reason, most kids of his generation knew how to throw a punch and stand up for themselves. But it was that same reason that so many were lost to criminal violence each year. At least half a dozen kids each year.

Most families of Hive Town who cared about their childrens’ future wanted nothing more than to leave. However, few, if any, had anywhere near the finances needed to pack up and leave.

Conner always felt he’d inherited good genetics for living in such a town. He was no brute, but he was still big enough to hold his own in a brawl, and while he was no genius, he was smart enough to know when to pick his battles.

These above-average brawns and brains weren’t just a boon for Conner but for his circle of friends too. He wasn’t the toughest or smartest in his group; it was Will and John who held those titles. But Conner’s balance of traits always proved invaluable whenever the group had to punch or talk their way out of a problem.

However, it was for these reasons that Conner had grown too comfortable to consider that Frank might seek out some revenge.

|X|

Unlike usual, Conner was alone as he walked home from school. Normally, he’d be with his friends, but Will had a meeting with the Junior Marines, John was busy at the robotics club, Carl had baseball practice, and Lana was in charge of cleanup at the anime club and refused any help.

Because of his friends' preoccupations, there was no one to watch Conner’s back when he got grabbed and pulled into an alley a couple of blocks from the apartment complex he called home.

Getting thrown to the ground by three other people, Conner tried to get up but was kicked in his side. As his ribs started burning, Conner was further debilitated by a punch to his cheek.

As blood poured from his lip, a woozy Conner was grabbed by his shirt and pulled to his feet by a bulky-framed boy.

Conner then heard Frank's deep voice yell in his face, “You think you’re smart, jackass?! Getting me kicked outta school! Do you have any idea how much shit my parents have been giving me cuz of you?!”

Frank then let Conner go. But before he could recompose himself, he felt Frank’s two friends grab his arms as Frank threw a punch into his stomach.

However, once Conner’s mind caught up with the reality of this situation, fury overtook his soul and body. A sudden burst of hysteric strength allowed Conner to suddenly pull free from Frank’s smaller friends as the bigger bully got ready for another stomach shot. Before Frank could react, Conner skull-checked the startled thug, drawing blood from both their foreheads.

“You’re the prick who was messing with my bro!” Conner shouted. Despite the shared disoriantion between him and his foe, Conner still gathered enough wits to ready a punch of his own.

However, Conner’s counterattack was stopped as soon as it began when one of Frank’s pals socked him in his back, knocking him to the concrete ground. The two then grabbed Conner’s arms again and held him down while Franks recomposed himself.

|X|

Wiping blood from his face, Frank stared at the blood on his hand and shouted with hatred, “You shoulda minded your own damn business, scuz-brains!” Frank then threw out another kick.

He’d aimed for Conner’s face but instead hit his shoulder since his vision somewhat blurred from the headbutt. While he’d still injured Conner’s collar, and his friends thought nothing of it, Frank felt humiliated regardless.

Rubbing his eyes to clear up his vision, Frank pulled back and let loose another vicious kick.

|X|

Fortunately for Conner, as Frank aimed his shot, another burst of hysteric strength came through for him. Throwing the other boys off himself just in time, Conner wrapped his arms around Frank’s leg and stopped him.

“What the fu-?!”

Before Frank could get his question out, Conner pulled his leg close and bit down as hard as he could into the larger kid’s calf. With the bully only wearing shorts, Conner easily broke through Frank’s skin and started drawing blood.

“Ah, shit! Get him off me!” Frank screamed as he desperately pulled on Conner’s jaw.

Rushing to his aid, Frank’s friends exclaimed, “Let go, freak,” and started grabbing at Conner’s head.

Letting go of Frank before he ended up tearing through muscle, Conner let the momentum of being pulled on carry him toward Frank’s goons. Using this to his advantage, Conner reflexively elbowed one of Frank’s buddies in his face, knocking him down as Conner came crashing into him.

Blinded by his fight-or-flight instinct, Conner started savagely beating on this kid as quickly as his injured body allowed. Just before he could land a nose-breaking blow to the lackey’s face, though, Conner was grabbed by Frank and the other boy, getting thrown to the ground yet again.

Conner attempted to jump back up, but another kick to his torso put a stop to that. By now, Conner’s wounds had taken their toll, and even if Frank and his one uninjured friend weren’t repeatedly kicking him, he simply couldn’t get back up.

All Conner could do now was curl up and try to minimize the damage he took. To his relief, after a few more seconds, Conner felt the kicks stop coming.

Praying that Frank and his buds decided he’d had enough, Conner uncovered his face and opened his eyes. However, he was instead met with even greater terror when he saw Frank pull out a switchblade.

“Time to dice you, shithead,” Frank seethed.

Looking almost as horrified as Conner, Frank’s non-bleeding friend said, “Hold on, man! You can’t kill him. That’s way too far. We’ll go to jail!”

“Shut up, Lewis!” Frank yelled. “He shoulda just taken the beating! No one gets to bite me like some kinda fucking animal! Now I gotta put him down like one!” With madness on his face, Frank started reaching for Conner with his free hand as he readied his knife, ready to plunge down.

Conner wanted to close his eyes in terror, but he couldn’t take them off the absolutely insane glint on the blood-covered face of this psycho.

Is this ugly shit’s face really the last thing I’m gonna see? I didn’t even get to tell Lana how I feel or say goodbye to my family. I don’t wanna die like this!

Just as Conner thought his life was about to flash before his eyes, something grabbed the back of Frank’s jacket and pulled him away. Conner then heard a cracking noise as Frank screamed and dropped his knife.

Despite his vision having blurred, Conner was able to see clearly enough to make out what was happening as soon as he focused his eyes.

Holding Frank by his shirt collar and now broken wrist was a tall, buff man wearing all-concealing black and yellow body armor, looking like a mix of hockey and military gear. In addition, his hockey mask-like helmet had what looked like a moth or butterfly painted in the center of its face. On this soldier/athlete’s back and belt were an assortment of weapons. This included a metal bat, a shortsword, throwing knives, and even a pair of handguns on his hips.

Having seen this man on the news countless times throughout his life, Conner recognized him even through beaten eyes.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Death Head…” the injured young man muttered as he tried to pick himself up.

|X|

Death Head was one of Miracle City’s handful of Masks. Out of them all, Death Head was probably the most successful at actually bringing down crime rates.

The man had stopped over a hundred known muggings and assaults, one of which even involved ten assailants. Amongst Death Head’s greatest accomplishments was how he had led several operations that coordinated Miracle City’s Masks and police. These strategized efforts brought down numerous crime lords, bringing peace to Miracle City’s most populated districts.

After all his accomplishments, to say Death Head was a living legend to the people of Miracle City would be putting it mildly.

|X|

Throwing Frank aside, Death Head walked over, grabbed Frank’s pals, and pushed them toward him too.

“Now listen up! You punks are just kids, so I don’t want to hurt you, but as you just saw… It’s still an option,” Death Head said coldly through his helmet as he cracked his knuckles.

Trembling in terror of the man they saw as equivalent to a modern-day Hercules, Frank and his friends couldn’t get their legs to work at first.

Noticing the blood coming off of Frank and his other friend, Death Head pointed at them and ordered, “Either go have a doctor look at you, or swing by a drugstore and patch yourselves up. Either way, you brats are gonna want your boo-boos looked at and bandaged.”

Realizing they were being let go, Frank ran away as fast as he could, with his friends following soon after.

Taking a deep breath, followed by a somewhat raspy cough, Death Head walked over to Conner as he tried to sit up. Wordlessly, the Mask gently pushed on the boy’s chest and made him lay back down. He then started examining every part of Conner that was injured with inquisitive hmms and huhs.

After a minute, Death Head told him, “Alright. Some stuff seems cracked, but nothing’s seriously broken. You should still lay still, though. I’m gonna call an ambulance for you in the meantime.”

With his awe outweighing his agony, Conner asked, “Are… Are you really Death Head.”

“The one and only, kid,” the Mask remarked exhaustedly.

“I… What are you doing here?” Conner asked further.

As he pulled out a strange, box-like phone, Death Head explained, “With how violent Hive Town’s gotten over the past few decades, I’ve tried to increase my patrols here. Lucky for you, huh? Now quiet down. I’m making the call.” With a push of a button, Death Head’s phone rang once and was immediately answered.

Putting it to his ear, Death Head was greeted by the other end before replying, “Yeah, it’s Death Head… Yeah, we got an assault victim at my current location… No, it doesn’t look life-threatening, but he still needs to be looked at… Alright. See you then.”

The familiarity of Death Head’s tone suggested that this sort of scenario was standard procedure for him and whoever he was talking to.

Sitting on a crumbled cardboard box, Death Head coughed again before he told Conner, “Alright, kid. I’m gonna keep an eye on you till the ambulance gets here. Gotta make sure those punks don’t try to come back and finish the job.”

“Uh, Conner… My name’s Conner.” He didn’t know what compelled him to correct the Mask, but he said it regardless.

Pulling down the apparently slideable jaw piece of his helmet, Death Head took out an energy drink packet from his belt and replied, “Conner, eh…? Say, Conner. Mind telling me what happened here? Just a mugging, or was it something else? Augh-cough!”

Gathering his thoughts despite his wounds, Conner replied, “I… Uh… I got the big one suspended from school because he was bullying my friend. He and his assholes jumped me for it, I guess.”

Slurping down his beverage, Death Head pointed out, “Ah, I see. And you put up a heck of a fight, Conner. Have you ever had any training? Hack!”

“What…? Uh, no? My friend Will’s showed me some moves, but that’s it,” Conner replied in bewilderment.

Putting a hand to his stubbly chin, Death Head muttered just loud enough for Conner to hear him, “Three-on-one with no real training, and he still managed to fight back enough to drop one of them…? That’s some talent. Ack!”

“Are you alright, Death Head?” Conner couldn’t help but ask after hearing the man cough so much.

Waving his hand dismissively, Death Head told him, “It’s nothing. This job just takes a toll after a bit. Don’t worry about it… Say, Conner, are you interested in becoming a Mask? I’ll teach you once you’re healed if you’re interested.”

“What?!” That was all he could say in response to such an out-of-the-blue offer.

“That a no?” Death Head asked somewhat sarcastically.

Trying his best to keep his mind coherent, Conner sat up slightly as he replied, “That’s not it…! I just… Why are you asking me? I mean, why me specifically?”

Gently pushing Conner to lay back down, Death Head told him, “Don’t move around while you’re hurt. As for why I’m asking… Like I said, crime has gotten worse in Hive Town than anywhere else in Miracle City, so I’m moving my base of operations out here. On top of that, I figured I could use a protege as backup. Besides, you wouldn’t be the first Mask I’ve trained over the years.”

“Uh, um…” Hearing it all laid out like that, Conner’s mind was in a swirl of pain and uncertainty.

Prefaced by another cough, Death Head remarked, “Hey, if you’re not interested, it’s fine. I’m sure I can find someone-.”

Before Death Head could finish talking, Conner yelled, “No…! I mean, yes! Yes, I want to be your sidekick!”

Although he was initially shocked, Conner knew this proposal was something he absolutely couldn’t let slip him by. He’d always wanted to become a better fighter, and the opportunity to be trained by Death Head, the greatest fighter in the city, free of charge was the greatest offer of Conner’s young life.

With a somewhat surprised but happy grin, Death Head replied, “Alright… That’s what I like to hear. You should be fit enough to meet with me here again in a week. But don’t tell anyone. If I see anyone come here with you, you’ll never see me again, Conner.”

“Right! Whatever you say, Death Head, sir.”

Nodding, Death Head went on, “Good. First, I’m just gonna teach you some basic necessities of being a Mask while you’re recovering. In a month, you should be healed up enough to begin actual training. So long as you eat your greens, that is. Got it?”

Smiling despite the blood on his face, Conner answered, “Yes… Yes, sir!”

Coughing again, Death Head took a breath before he told Conner, “Good, good, good. Now, since we still have a few minutes before the ambulance gets here, I’ll need you to inform me of your life here in Hive Town.”

“I… Whatta ya mean?”

Shaking his head, Death Head elaborated, “Just give me a summary of your life so far, kid. I need to know who you are if I’m going to train and work with you.”

Feeling somewhat foolish, though that could be forgiven considering his current state, Conner replied, “Oh, right… Sorry. So, um… Where should I begin?”

“How about in elementary school? That’s usually a good place to get going with life stories,” Death Head remarked half-jokingly.

“Um… Okay, sir. Let’s see…”

|XXX|

Conner was born in Hive Town to Alexander and Ellie McClain, a construction worker and librarian, respectively. By the time he was four, he had a little sister named Leslie.

His family lived in a half-decent apartment throughout Conner’s life. While they made enough money to get by, it was never enough to move out of Hive Town as his father had always promised.

Not only were they slightly financially better off than most other kids in their area, Conner and his little sister also found themselves blessed with parents who actually cared about them. A rarity in this town.

Due to having a general social awkwardness that plagued him in his early life, it was only by late elementary school that Conner managed to make any friends. Before then, due in part to his status as a social pariah and simply the harsh lifestyle of Hive Town, Conner had to face numerous bullies growing up. These tormenters’ tactics ranged anywhere from simple taunting to full-on assaults.

Fortunately for Conner, by the third grade, he had hit a big enough growth spurt that he was able to stand up for himself. By no means did this suddenly mean Conner could take on an entire group of bullies, but he had grown tough enough that he won just as often as he lost in fair fights.

This change was enough of a signal to the roughhousers that Conner was no longer an easy target to be pushed around. Thanks to this, the vast majority of Conner’s school’s bullies lost interest in him as a target. In fact, Conner even became somewhat famous to the school’s student body when he started actively picking fights with his former bullies when they picked out new targets.

Unfortunately, the sheer amount of fights he got in made Conner infamous to the teachers. Because of how much they disliked Conner, the boy started to struggle with his school work as the teachers gave up on him whenever he showed signs of incomprehension of a topic.

It wasn’t until the next year, after just managing to move on academically from the third to the fourth grade, that Conner made his first friend. That friend was the ever-intelligent John Fable. The boys bonded over their shared love for video games and comics when they sat next to each other by coincidence one lunch period.

After the two got to know each other, John started helping Conner with his studies while Conner helped keep bullies off John’s back.

Shortly thereafter, Conner befriended Lana Kristian, a girl even nerdier than himself or John. Having met her when they were both in detention for different reasons, she’d introduced Conner to anime, while Conner introducing her to John. Afterward, the three became a known trio for the remainder of their elementary school years.

During his first year of middle school, Conner met Carl Murphy at baseball tryouts. Although Conner failed to meet the athletic mark, he and Carl still hung out regularly thanks to a shared love of video games, with Carl eventually joining Conner’s friend group properly. He especially got along with Lana.

That same year, Conner met William Rodriguez, a boy two years his senior, when Will got transferred to the same bus as him.

Despite the age gap, Conner was once again able to kindle a friendship thanks to a shared interest in nerd culture. In turn, Will managed to spark in Conner an interest in learning how to fight properly, thanks to Will’s own martial arts training. However, Conner was stuck learning only secondhand from Will whenever he was in the mood, as Conner’s family couldn’t afford lessons for him.

It was also thanks to William’s presence that Conner was no longer the main protector of his friend group from the rougher students in Hive Town.

Although they were separated academically during Will’s first couple years in high school, that hadn’t weakened their bond. In fact, by the time Conner and the rest of the gang reached high school, it felt to them as if they and Will had never separated at all.

However, ever since he started attending Hive High, Conner struggled to find a calling or even a hobby around the time his friends started doing just that.

Will was preparing to join the Marines after he graduated, John had gotten into robotics, Carl was fully dedicating himself to baseball, and Lana managed to start an anime club at school. As for Conner, aside from his geek hobbies, he didn’t really have anything he liked doing outside of spending time with his group. He supposed learning to fight piqued his interest, but Hive High lacked any martial arts or wrestling clubs, and his family still lacked the funds to pay for any classes.

Sure, growing up in Hive Town had toughened Conner up considerably, but he’d be exaggerating if he claimed to be anything more than an above-average brawler. As such, Conner had spent his adolescence thus far drifting aimlessly through life without a goal, fearing that he’d be stuck in Hive Town for the rest of his days.

|XXX|

In the distance, Conner and Death Head heard sirens approaching just as the boy wrapped up his tale.

Standing up, Death Head dusted himself off and said, “Well, that’ll do for now, kid… If you don’t get cold feet, I’ll see you in a week from today.”

Realizing that Death Head was about to walk away, Conner yelled, “I promise I’ll be there!”

Giving Conner one last smirk, Death Head slid his helmet back together and told him, “Heh. I look forward to it. Cough cough!”

After his last coughing fit, Death Head ran toward one of the alley walls before running up it. Using a series of parkour tricks and spikes on his boots, Death Head ascended up the alley until he eventually reached the roofs and vanished from sight.

Awestruck by the Mask’s physical prowess, Conner left his jaw agape until he muttered, “Oh, Hell yes. No way am I skipping out on this.”