By Buffy Borgeron
NEW YORK – Clayman, the superhero more commonly known as “Reboot Man” for the numerous “reboots” he’s experienced, was caught in New York today impersonating fellow superhero Muskrat while stopping a convenience store robbery in Brooklyn.
Denied membership in several superhero teams months ago, Ray Denver, now known as Clayman, has been struggling to make a living as a superhero. He declared he would patrol the Northeast, presumably as himself, to build up his profile. Nowhere did he mention he would impersonate other superheroes.
“Ray sometimes morphs into a known superhero to catch bad guys off guard,” read a statement from Denver’s “team,” though most experts believe Denver wrote it himself. “When he does this, it’s just for strategic purposes. Eventually, his clay powers manifest in battle, and it becomes evident that he is Clayman. That is all.”
But the superhero community isn’t buying it. In the past two weeks, there have been several incidents of the superheroes Titana, Muskrat, Professor Stratosphere, Tara Target, and others in New York and Philadelphia, cities these superheroes don’t typically visit.
“It damages our reputation,” said Tara Target from the Quinton School for Young Superheroes. “People will only see part of the battle, and they’ll see me or the Muskrat, and they’ll think it’s us. It wouldn’t be so bad except that Clayman is such a terrible fighter. He puts innocent bystanders in danger on a regular basis. At the school here, our first lesson is to protect the innocent even at the cost to yourself or capturing the criminal. We drill that into everyone everyday, and Clayman completely disregards that.”
These incidents have sent 13 people to the hospital for various injuries. The New York and Philadelphia police departments have put out warrants for Titana and Muskrat, respectively, for their supposed incidents, but given the recent revelation that Clayman has been impersonating superheroes, those warrants have now shifted to Denver.
The incident that revealed Denver’s tactics happened last night when he attempted to stop a robbery of a Brooklyn convenience store. Surveillance cameras show him morphing into Muskrat and barging into the store. The assailants fired at “Muskrat,” and he absorbed the bullets and spat them back. The bullets hit the assailants knocking them onto the ground but also hit a bystander in the back of the store. Everyone survived, but “Muskrat” ran away from the store before police could arrive.
The real Muskrat could not be reached for comment, but his lawyer has said his client is “very disappointed in his fellow superhero”.
