Book 2: HomeFront

Confronting the Nightwatcher

If New York could ever be quiet, I guess you would call this an okay night. In this part of the neighborhood, traffic was down to a minimum for it was all residential. Day workers were asleep at this time of night as the night owls hailed the occasional cab to head off to work. One building in particular withheld some criminal activity that was about to descend. A blonde man dressed in dark grey clothing and a black beanie on his head climbed out the window of a home. He jumped on the platform of the fire escape, holding a cardboard box of items in his hand. In the other, a small handgun angrily pointed at the terrified man inside.

"Don't let me catch you callin' the cops!" he barked. The one being stolen from whimpered with his hands up, hoping the gunman wouldn't shoot and end his life. Before he could think about leaving the scene, something grabbed him by the shoulders. The air from his lungs completely gave out as he was hoisted up towards the roof. "EY!" He yelped. As he was yanked, he dropped his box of goods on the platform on the fire escape. The terrified man peeked his head out of the window and looked up. There was nothing there. The theif and whoever took him had vanished. Nevertheless, he was ecstatic that he had his belongings again as he abruptly brought them back inside, sealing them with a locked window.

Abducted, the frightened theif did't know what to do as he was pulled up to the rooftops without any word or clue who his assailant was. The man's body ached for his body was thrown effortlessly into a door, just missing the brick wall that could have shattered him.

"Didn't I take care of you last week?" Oh no... that voice. He couldn't recognize it filly, but the tone was no less mistakable. As the other began to proceed towards the light, the shining glare from his black motorcycle helmet confirmed his fears. Underneath the sleek helmet, a pair of large shoulder pads rested on his shoulders. On his arms, more pads going down and along his forearm in the colors of black and red, adding a boxing glove into the mix. A series of four belt straps kept in his entire, hulking body. In all honesty, the man looked like trash. For starters, his longsleeve shirt was all an illusion. As he moved his arms, he could see the breaks in both sleeves, meaning his sleeves were apart of another article of clothing. Quite possibly, no sleeved shirt could keep in those hulking biceps he had. Lastly, a cotton rope was tied around his waist, keeping up a pair of long, black pants that covered his legs until his wraps hid his gigantic feet. He could do nothing, for any move could alarm the amazingly strong being. You could not imagine how hard it was not to squirm as he stepped so confidently towards his direction. The former theif could see his own scared expression in the cold glass until his large hand picked him up singlehandedly why the neck of his shirt. "I'm very disappointed in you, knucklehead." The being nearly laughed, clearly having fun with what he does (and this was the good guy, keep in mind.). His fist slowly rose up for the man to see. He flinched, anticipating the hurt. If he were more observable, he wouldn't just notice the massiveness of his hand, but the fact that he was missing a couple fingers. "Guess Nights school is in session."

There was a whistle. The meager little sound grabbed their attention as both theif and vigilante turned towards the source. Some distance away, there was movement against a dark wall. The person was leaning on it, arms crossed and watching the spectacle.

"Hope I'm not disturbing class." The voice was deep, but unmistakenly feminine. The vigilante's stance was altered as he held his victim. "Need any teaching assistance, Nightwatcher?" she asked smoothly and confidently. Wearing all black as well and with what looked like a hijab in the limited light, there was no telling who this woman was. If he could pick out anything, she was pretty tall. Catching that he had stared for too long, the Nightwatcher cleared his throat.

"I-I got this one covered sweetie." Slowly, he lowered the theif. When his feet touched the ground, he was completely confused. This was not the same guy that dealt with him last week. Soon, those assumptions were brushed off when he delievered a clear, hard elbow to his face. He fell to the ground, clutching his nose. Nope, that's him. "Thanks, but no thanks." The woman chuckled, which worried him greatly. Nightwatcher or not, any person would be wise to do such a thing. Instead of engaging, he stood there in bewilderment, wondering where this meeting was going to take him.