Alex POV:
Midnight, a few days into vigilantism...
The city doesn't sleep. It just quiets down.
It's that exact quiet that amplifies the real noise.
I drop down from a three-story ledge, landing with a thud softened by hours of spy training. I don't bother standing tall, staying hunched, concealing my presence in the darkness. I'm already moving again, low and quick between the shadows.
Ned's voice hums in my earpiece. "Got something for you. 71st and Laurel. Sounds like a mugging. Two guys. One knife."
"On it."
I vault the chain-link fence and sprint through a backlot. The new energy in me hums, ready for a long night.
-o-
12:08 AM
I find them in a narrow alley behind a liquor store. One mugger's got a switchblade, pressing it up to the victims cheek, drawing small amounts of blood. I can smell the copper from here. The other is keeping watch, while the victim, an older man, no wallet, just a bag of groceries, has his hands up, and looks like he's accepted his fate.
I don't warn them.
I jump from the rooftops, landing directly on top of the armed muggers' extended arm. The kinetic energy of a fucking falling bear crushes down on extended arm, probably breaking it.
Just like a famous red-haired pirate once said, once you draw a weapon, you put your life on the line.
The second mugger finally notices me and swings his fist.
I catch his wrist mid-punch and crush it into the wall. I felt his knuckles crack. panicked, he tries to run away. Bad move. I don't hit him hard, but just hard enough to knock him out.
The older guy thanks me like I'm a ghost. I nod, pull his bag from the ground, and press it back into his chest.
"Stay safe, old man. It's dangerous this late."
Then I'm gone.
-o-
12:41 AM
As I'm leaping from rooftop to rooftop, I hear snapping coming from a nearby store.
I quickly and quietly make my way to the noise.
A kid with a pair of bolt cutters is trying to pry open the back door. He can't be more than sixteen.
I sneak up behind him.
"Bad idea," I speak up.
He spins and tries to run.
I grab his hood and lift him off the ground just enough to make him panic, not enough to hurt him.
I can see tears forming in the corners of his eyes before I even say anything.
"Next time you need food, go to a church pantry. Or a shelter. Don't throw your whole future away just for some scraps."
I let him go and vanish into the darkness before he could answer.
-o-
1:12 AM
I slip in through an open fire escape window.
The apartment's a mess. Broken dishes. A man is standing over a woman, yelling, with an empty bottle in his hand. She's cornered and bruised.
He doesn't see me til I've crossed the room.
He lunges.
I don't hesitate.
One step. Elbow to the chest. He stumbles. I pin him against the fridge and lock him in a submission hold.
"You've got ten seconds to think about your life," I whisper. "Because when I let go, you're leaving this place in cuffs. Or not at all."
He thrashes around in drunken rage, trying to kick me, all while yelling incoherently at his wife. Every time he yells, his wife flinches from the ground.
"That's enough." I bash his head into the fridge. His nose probably broke, but I couldn't care less about this wife-beater right now.
I leave him zip-tied by the front door, head hanging unconscious. The woman won't look at me, but looks relieved. She nods.
I nod back, and after calling the police, I leap out of the window.
-o-
1:59 AM
I ran here as soon as Ned reported it to me.
The sky looked black as always, but my enhanced senses made it clear to me that it wasn't the night sky, but plumes and plumes of smoke.
As I made my way closer, I saw the lights.
Thick, black plumes pouring out of the fifth floor of an old tenement near Roosevelt.
No sirens yet.
I climbed up the building as fast as possible, thanking god (or one above all in this case), that climbing skills came in my bear kit.
I made my way up the apartment, making big leaps using the windows as footholds, and when I reach the burning floor and look through the foggy window, I see her.
Inside, a kid was crying. Trapped. Small. Cornered by flame.
I smashed the window with my forearm and reached through. The Glass tinked harmlessly off my vibranium gauntlets.
"Come here," I said, trying to seem as harmless and gentle as possible.
The kid didn't move. Too scared. I stepped into the heat, eyes watering, skin prickling.
Right now, I regret making my costume so intimidating.
Then she ran, Away from the barbarian looking guy and deeper into the flames.
Fuck.
I run after her as fast as possible, scoop her up, and cradle her as gently as possible, while trying to keep her from struggling.
I wrapped her in my arms, turned, and leapt from the broken window. I rolled when I landed. Took most of the hit on my shoulder, but the kid was unharmed.
I told her to stay outside and climbed back into the fire to see if I could find more survivors.
It was 15 minutes later when the firetrucks came, only to see dozens of people huddled outside, talking about some bear man rescuing them, with said bear man nowhere to be seen.
-o-
2:53 AM
I could hear the sirens ring in the distance before ned even alerted me to the crime.
According to ned, it's a similar situation to last time, but this time I don't have Pete with me for damage control.
I think of ways to take control of the situation while running alongside the speeding vehicle on the rooftops.
Just then, my advanced senses pick up a civilian stumbling across the sidewalk a few blocks ahead. The old man looks blackout drunk and returning home from the bar.
The second I saw the civilian, I didn't really care about damage control anymore. My whole reason for becoming a hero in this life was to not allow any kids to grow up like me without any parents.
I jump down from the roof and start running beside the car.
I let my animalistic instinct take over me, and I push myself to run faster than the car. I can't keep up this speed for long, and the civilians are going to get run over if I don't do anything.
And another child would grow up without a father.
I run past the speeding, banged-up Ford truck.
Now it was only a few blocks away from the drunk pedestrian, who still hadn't crossed the road. I look to my side and into the window of the car. The man driving the car was smiling.
Fuck.
I felt anger rage through my veins, and I instinctively slashed at the car while running past.
Instead of the thunk I expected to feel from my fingertips, I heard a sound of screeching metal and leaking air. I look down at my hands, and there are shiny, white claws extending an inch or so from my fingertips.
I look at the car, and there is a large gash running down its side, connecting to the back tire, that is now leaking air.
Now's not the time to think about this, though. Lives are on the line.
With the little remaining energy I had, I pumped my legs as fast as I could, getting myself in front of the car.
I spin around and use all the remaining power I have, forming an X with my wrists, and preparing to block the incoming vehicle with my body.
Hopefully my vibranium gauntlets can absorb this impact...
I brace for impact.
It felt like a herd of bulls ramming into my body, and my breath was ripped out of my lungs.
My feet skid back, but my arms stay crossed in front of my face.
It might just be the adrenaline talking, but it's not all that bad. But I think I need a minute or two to rest after that.
I hear skittering behind me, and the drunk man finally notices us, thanks to the massive boom that sounds across the silent city. He scurries away as fast as his shaky legs will take him.
After the vehicle fully comes to a stop a few meters away from the crossroad, I hear the door of the car slam open, and footsteps scurrying away. I don't go after him yet. I'm too winded. I collapse into a pile on the ground for a few minutes.
Soon, I hear police sirens getting closer.
I should probably get going.
I expand my senses, and I can hear footsteps running away a few hundred meters away.
I make quick work of him and call the police to my location.
As I see the flashing red and blue lights reflecting off the walls of the alley, I climb to the rooftops and make my way out.
-o-
3:22 AM
The rooftops are quieter now. No sirens. No screams. Just the sound of wind scraping along the ledges and even the distant hum of ever-present traffic is mostly gone.
I sit on the edge of my apartment complex's roof, back against a rusted ventilation shaft, watching the city breathe below me.
I stretch out my arms, staring at the glowing moon through my exposed fingers. My legs feel sore. There's a bruise blooming somewhere from when I blocked that car. I'll walk it off. Probably.
I exhale. The kind that you don't notice until you're finally still.
This city doesn't stop. And maybe I don't either. I don't have the luxury.
But for now… just for a second… I let my eyes close.
It's quiet.
I know it won't last, as crime never sleeps.
But right now, the criminals are taking a little break. Nobody's getting hurt.
That's enough for me.