Chapter Text
Till was born in an alleyway.
Literally.
His mother gave birth to him all alone in a dark alley in the slums, fully expecting he wouldn’t survive. Miraculously, he did. He was small, just as Io expected. She barely ate after all. Io couldn’t steal as much as she used to with a baby kicking around inside her. She felt guilty, but her little champion pushed through. He made it. She made it. Mostly thanks to her enhanced healing.
Still, guilt wasn’t the only thing she felt. She was proud.
She did it. She gave birth alone and brought into the world the most adorable little thing she'd ever seen. And the best part? He looked just like her. Not a trace of his bastard of a father. That night, despite her exhaustion, Io didn’t sleep. She watched him, held him, fed him when he whimpered. And with his tiny body curled up against her chest, she made a quiet promise: He would have love. And he would have her. Always.
And she kept that promise.
Till never had to wonder if his mother loved him. Not once. But a life full of love doesn’t mean a life free of crime. At least, not to Io and Till.
By six, he committed his first crime.
Io had him pretend to be hurt outside a fabric shop. Wailing and crying for help, a perfect little performance. The elderly shop owner rushed over, and while he was distracted, Io slipped inside and stuffed as much fabric as she could into her bag. When a customer saw her and called her out, she ran, and when the shopkeeper turned around, Till was gone too.
Back at their home, a shabby but cozy (and probably illegal) camp hidden in the woods, Io pulled out an old needle and thread. That night, she made him a pair of pants, a little cloak, and a stuffed bear that looked suspiciously like a rat. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was warm. It was the best she could give.
While other kids were learning how to read, Till was learning how to steal. Food, coins, buttons, threads... Anything he could get his hands on. Io taught him everything. How to run. How to lie. How to survive.
She wanted more for him. She dreamed of another life for her son, where Till could be normal, where they didn’t have to break the law to break bread with each other. She could only dream. Getting a legal job meant paperwork. Paperwork meant leaving a trail, and that meant risking her ex-husband finding her. The only jobs that didn’t care about documentation were too dangerous, too sketchy. She couldn’t afford to get caught in anything messy again. Not now, when she has Till.
So, she kept dreaming. Till, on the other hand, started scheming.
At sixteen, he realized something: if they couldn’t find a safe way to make money, maybe they could build one. A shady business of their own. Maybe a small shop where Io sold clothes she made.
A business, however, needed a capital. So, he robbed a bus. Alone. With a knife he made himself. His mother called him stupid, Till thought it was badass.
He didn’t get far when he encountered trouble.
Encountered a hero.
A man with blond hair and golden eyes stepped in. Luka, the newest member of the Hero Assembly, who has domain over light. Till thought he was done for.
Then, right when Luka reached for him, he vanished. He disappeared. Into the shadows. In a blink, he was gone, whisked away to a different place.
Just like that, he had powers. An early birthday gift from the universe.
The ability to travel through the shadows.
From then on, he made use of it. Robbing left and right. Slipping in and out of the dark like a ghost. It earned him a nickname. “Rat.” Not flattering, but he took it and made it his own. He embraced the theme and built a mask off it. He moved like a rat. Sneaky, fast, hard to kill.
He wasn’t alone, either.
There was Mizi. An orphan pickpocket with no powers, just fast fingers and a sweet smile. She was always hanging around with the twins, Hyuna and Hyun-Woo who could switch places instantly, no matter where they were. They became his friends, with Mizi the closest to his heart. Wherever Mizi went, Till went. Wherever Till went, Mizi followed. Eventually, Till pulled them into his heists, They became a group. The Colony.
They started small, with stores, cars, and apartments. Then they moved up. Malls. Banks. They got good. They got known.
But it wasn’t just for fun or thrill. They were building something real. Everything they stole went toward giving Io the life she deserved. A quiet one. A warm one.
A boutique, Io's dream business. Shady and with no permit, but they lived in the poorer areas of Anakt City anyways, nobody checks there.
On his birthday, one of their heists hit the news. The media mysteriously dubbed him “Unknown.” It must’ve been a placeholder name, but it stuck.
Unfortunately, at twenty-one, Unknown met his match.
A new hero. No mask. No secret identity. Just a guy named Ivan. His ability? Creepy. Freaky, even. If he looks at you, you and whoever is within his sight freeze. As in, you can’t move. At all. Whenever he’s in action, it always looks like he’s playing an odd game of statues with his opponents.
The first time Till ran into him, he was with the Colony, minus Hyun-woo, robbing a museum. Everything was going smoothly. Then suddenly, he couldn’t move. Couldn’t even sink into the shadows. Then, he saw him. Ivan stepped in front of him and smirked. The bastard SMIRKED.
They got away thanks to Hyun-Woo’s last-minute switch, but Till’s pride? Obliterated.
It didn’t stop there. Ivan kept showing up, catching him, always with that same infuriating calm. Till always escaped, but it became a thing. A cat-and-mouse game.
The media called them rivals. Nemeses. They weren’t wrong.
Three years of this crap. Three. Whole. YEARS.
But Till has a plan. Ivan made a huge mistake by never hiding his identity.
Till chuckled darkly at his laptop screen. Mizi side-eyed him from across the table. She didn’t even ask.
A bright red ad flashed on the screen.
“GET A CHANCE TO DOGSIT FOR HERO, IVAN!”
Perfect.