The Darkest Hour Is Just Before the Dawn. is the 20th episode of Tiger and Bunny 2.
Plot[]
Elena tells Yuri that while the robbers where searching the house, they found the cookies she made for Yuri and started eating them. His mother tried stopping them, but they shot her. Yuri tells Elena that the robbers killed all other residents when they robbed other houses, so they would have killed her even without the cookies. Elena shouldn't blame herself and should cherish her life, as all the blame lies on the killers. Yuri leaves, wondering what he did wrong. A vision of his father, Mr. Legend, appears and questions him if he believed a murderer could live in peace forever, and just because his mother forget the past, doesn't mean his crimes are erased.
Tiger and Barnaby are let go with just a warning from the police. They hear on the radio station that the robbers are escaping on foot after causing an incident and injured many, and decide go continue going after them. Meanwhile, the robbers, Lucas and Henry, see a woman and decide he hide in her apartment, but Lunatic appears and stops them. He shoots Lucas and burns him to death. Lunatic then goes after Henry, who throws a box at him telling him stay away. Lunatic then sees the box is full of cookies and jewellery, and realizes he is the one that shot his mother. Lunatic prepares to kill Henry, but Tiger shows up, protecting Henry and wondering why Lunatic appeared now. Lunatic still shoots and slightly injured Tiger's arm. Barnaby then comes and using is power, he engages Lunatic in a fight. However, due to his injured leg, he soon ends up pain and can't continue fighting Lunatic. Lunatic then shoots and burns Henry.
Sigourney is happy about the situation and forces the companies supporting the heroes to make them sign new contracts and monitor them until their time for evacuation comes. If the heroes act on their own as rogue heroes, their contracts will be terminated and they will loose their license for being heroes forever.
Tiger tries to explain that X isn't a disease, but its caused by Gregory, however, the police doesn't believe him. Yuri comes and gives Tiger and Barnaby the new contracts for them to sign. While signing them, Tiger explains that he is frustrated as in times like this, he wants to save people. He shares that Mr. Legend once told him he can use his power to save people and this is why he wants to protect the city as a superhero until the very end. Yuri tells him that if he continues like this, he will become prisoner of his superhero identity and become addicted to power, which will lead to his ruin. He has seen it firsthand as his father was Mr. Legend. Yuri states that Tiger is like his father, who was also troubled by his waning powers. His father started loosing power each time he used his powers, until a day came where he completely lost his powers. Yuri states that Tiger can now only use his power for one minute, but in time it will get shorter and eventually vanish. He wonders if Tiger will then abandon his superhero identity with grace, but guesses not as that's why he came back after he retired. Mr. Legend put pressure on the police to capture L. L. Audun, so that he don't end up having to fight him and loose, all in order to maintain his hero image. Yuri tells them to consider this as taking a break from being a hero, which is a good thing. Before leaving, Tiger thanks Yuri for sharing this with them. Mr. Legend had saved Tiger and what he did is unforgivable, but if Mr. Legend had someone like Barnaby, who could even beat up some sense into him if necessary, Tiger is sure that Mr. Legend, would not have went that path. Tiger promises that he won't turn like Yuri's father, even after he loses his powers and is no longer a hero.
Yuri heads home, where he recalls the good moments with his father and how he slowly turned into the monster he hates. A vision of his father appears and Yuri yells at him to continue tormenting him and blame him for his mother's death, however, he still won't forgive him, even after that Tiger said as people's mistakes don't disappear. Mr. Legend agrees with him and states he doesn't need to forgive him or wants to be forgive as his sins are great. Legend states he ruined Yuri's life and his mother's life. Yuri must stay true to his own sense of justice and no matter what form his justice is, he is approving it. Yuri wonders what's the point in telling him this as what Yuri did, will never disappear.
Trivia[]
- The events of this episode can be considered similar to the film Captain America: Civil War. It is unknown if the episode took inspiration from the film or it is just coincidence.