The Judge & Executioner (Preview?)
“Another one?” Eraserhead stepped past the yellow tape, surveying the surroundings in the process.
Deku looked over his shoulder at the familiar voice and hummed. “Yeah, that makes four this week.”
“It’s only Tuesday.” the raven grumbled, quickly using his eye drops before slipping them back into his pocket. “Anyone alive this time?”
“No, we just got an ID on our victim.” A police officer strode over with a tablet in hand, offering it to the two heroes. “Like always, it turns out he’s been abusing his omega boyfriend for a while. There’s two reports filed about the harassment but apparently nothing was done by the police.”
“So they either went to the Judge or the Judge caught wind of it and approached him directly.” Deku mumbled, swiping through the reports before handing it to Eraserhead.
“Regardless of who approached who, this is getting out of hand. I still don’t get going so far as to kill them, playing judge is one thing but executioner is different. I could see beating the abuser’s but..”
“But?”
Eraserhead tapped the screen and highlighted an area before facing it towards the officer and Deku. “Abuse wasn’t the only thing it seems, there was a report filed for rape but it was expunged.”
“So? Does that have anything to do with..” The officer gestured to the body. “This?”
Deku crossed his arms, shifting to lean on one foot. “The Judge usually only resorts to killing if there’s rape involved.” The officer gave a soft ‘oh’ before Deku continued. “Usually if it’s--well I wouldn’t say “tamed”, but if it’s something more simple like abuse or just overly hot headed alpha stubbornness, they get off with a beating. Usually tied up and called in anonymously for heroes to take in.”
“But on cases when rape and heavy abuse is on the table,” Eraserhead chimed in. “That’s when this happens.” he nodded towards the body.
There was heavy debate on whether the vigilante known as the “Judge” was a villain or a hero. Depending who you asked they’d say the Judge was a villain, acting out of authority, taking matters into their own hands with violence rather than legal action. Others would say they were the unspoken hero to omegas caught in terrible relationships or marriages. It was said that an omega in need of help would always magically find a way to reach the Judge.
The Hero Public Safety Commission hadn’t taken particular interest in the Judge for whatever reason, despite the slowly increasing number of cases. Some heroes turned their heads the other way at the mention of the Judge, since they couldn’t voice their honest opinion over the vigilante. While they might’ve not entirely agreed with the Judge’s actions in each case, quite a few had agreed that the reports on omega abuse being brushed under the rug was appalling.
Silent sympathizer groups grew, from civilians to heroes, even the occasional few villains even praising the Judge for acting when the heroes refused to. For taking matters into their own hands to do something to protect the omegas that were assaulted, raped, murdered.
The officer cleared his throat, uncomfortable at the topic. “Do they really have nothing on this Judge person?”
“Nothing.” Deku’s finger tapped erratically on his cheek. He quickly left the two with a mutter of wanting to see the body before they left. Leaving the two alone, Eraserhead was left to explain their lack of findings.
“I can’t say much, but it’s likely due to their quirk that we’ve been unable to get a solid lead on who they are.”
“That or they're just really good at covering up their tracks.” You chimed in, flashing both a smile and your badge to the officer. “Sorry we’re late, there was a detour due to some villain.”
“Ah, fashionably late again Mx Medical Examiner..” Eraserhead glanced lazily at you, of course they’d send you to the Judge’s victims. He glanced behind you and watched the familiar omega stumbling with the heavy bag and clipboard.
“Hey, I had an excuse this time!” With a huff you shoved the badge away and turned to the struggling omega, taking the bag from his shoulder. “I told you if it's too heavy just let me carry it.”
“S-sorry..” he mumbled, pushing his glasses up. He gave a timid bow to the pro hero before heading straight towards the body.
“Body’s all yours.” The officer mumbled, glancing between the three of you with confusion.
Just as you slipped on a pair of gloves, a detective in a long coat came over. “So what can you tell us that we can’t already see?”
“Well at first glance he was strangulated, and stabbed a number of times.” Crouching closer to the body you could see the neck better and hissed. “Jeez, not once but twice..”
“Pardon?” The detective asked.
You shot him a quick glance before using your pinky to ghost over your own neck. “There’s distinct and harsh hand prints.” you explained. “There’s two sets though, the same person probably but angled differently on the neck.” Skimming down the victim's body you plucked up a hand and examined it. “He definitely fought back, or at least tried to.. He’s got a few broken fingers, hard to tell if he broke them in self defense or from torture.”
Someone hissed in pain from over your shoulder, tortured victims weren’t uncommon when dealing with a Judge victim. Even the ones that weren’t killed often had been through some sort of torture.
“Multiple stab wounds, lots of bruising.. It’ll be easier to tell what’s from torture and whats from self defense once I’ve got him laid out on the table.” After giving the victim’s neck another look over you hissed softly. “Yeah once I get him back it’ll be finding out what killed him first.. The crushed windpipe or the bleeding out..”
Deku shuffled closer but still far enough from the body before crouching down. “Can you tell which happened first? The stabbings or the..” he gestured to his neck.
“Um, I can make a guess but I won’t know until I can see where exactly he was stabbed.” The omega assisting you shifted the victim’s shirt around, allowing you to get an idea for the placements. “Given where this one is, it was likely the first..”
Ignoring the feeling of everyone's eyes you shifted to straddle the victim’s waist carefully and put your hands together, holding an imaginary knife. “I’d say he was knocked down, stabbed.. The victim, being an alpha, likely went into fight mode..” you gestured at the hands. “It’s possible the self defense injuries were from before, but if I was trying to take down a large alpha like this I’d likely aim to wound enough to keep him off his feet.”
“Bleeding out would slow him down, but as an alpha that would only set him off further.” Eraserhead huffed, finding the whole thing ridiculous. “What good does making assumptions make? You're wasting time playing here when you could be getting him back and finding out what actually happened.”
You scoffed. To the trained eye you likely seemed irritated at being told off, but you weren’t. “The detective asked.”
“Alright alright, easy.. Take him in and call me as soon as you know anything.” The detective turned from you to the two heroes. “You two--”
You drowned out the rest of the conversation, focused on getting the body moved and ready for transport. Once it was ready to go you shot the group a quick wave and hopped into the passenger seat.
“Do you think he’s suspicious?” Your assistant asked before driving off.
“Who? Eraserhead?” they nodded. “Nah, he’s just got a stick up his ass..” You glanced out the window with a sigh, blowing some hair from your face. “They don’t suspect a thing, and they never will.”