Phenomenon

Chapter 29: Patrol

Within half an hour of leaving UA's campus, we had already encountered our first incident. Mindjack and Eraserhead had been swinging from building to building with the aid of their capture weapons whilst I flew beside them as an owl. My enhanced vision and hearing allowed me to notice even the most minute of disturbances in the dark alleyways which filled the city. It was these enhanced abilities which guided me towards the first incident of many that night.

As Eraserhead and Mindjack landed on the roof of another building, I landed beside them and transformed silently. I nodded my head to the alleyway we had just passed and placed a finger to my lip. The two other heroes understood my message and started conversing with me in JSL (Japanese Sign Language).

"What is it Deviant?" Eraserhead signed. The entire hero course was learning how to sign so that they could silently communicate on missions and talk to hard of hearing people whilst we rescued them. It was a vital skill that all heroes required if they wanted to complete their job to the best of their ability. A majority of my class knew the basics and could communicate adequately in JSL, but they had only been learning how to sign for a few months, so they were nowhere near fluent. I, on the other hand, could 'speak' JSL near perfectly. At first, it had just been something to learn since I was bored, but when Auntie Nemuri mentioned that it was an important skill to have as a hero, I doubled down on my studies and brought Kacchan and Kyoka in to learn with me as well.

"I heard a struggle down there. I couldn't really see since I flew over so fast, but it sounded like someone was being harassed or maybe assaulted." I signed back rapidly. Eraserhead nodded his head and stealthily walked over to the side of the rooftop we were on so that he could look down and see if he could see anything.

He remained there for possibly 30 seconds, eyes scanning the ground and ears alert for even the most trivial of sounds. Mindjack and I were silent, both listening intently. I was about to give up and say that I was probably mistaken when I heard it. The silenced whimper of someone in pain.

I whipped around to look at Mindjack, readying my hands to sign, but he beat me to it. "You heard that too, right?" he signed at a much slower speed than both Eraserhead and me. Mindjack was one of the students who were most proficient in JSL, but he was still learning and had to go slower than people who were fluent.

I nodded my head and turned to Eraserhead. He was looking at us as we communicated. When he saw that he had our attention again, he raised his hands. "This doesn't seem to be more than a simple mugging, maybe sexual assault. I'll go and confront the attacker whilst you two guard the entrance into the alleyway. If the assailant manages to slip past me, you apprehend them. Be sure to watch how I deal with this." Eraserhead signed, he waited for both of us to nod in understanding before he silently dropped down into the alleyway, Mindjack and I on his tail.

We all landed in the alleyway with hardly a sound. All three of us were well versed in the art of being stealthy. After all, Eraserhead was an extremely good underground hero and both MindJack and I had learnt from him. Mindjack and I both retreated into the shadows slightly, we were in a position where we could easily take down someone if the situation demanded it, but we were shrouded in darkness, it's unlikely we would be seen.

We had a good view as Eraserhead silently crept up behind a balding middle-aged man in a filthy suit. He looked greasy. Just the thought of touching him to try and apprehend him was enough to make me want to gag.

Eraserhead was nothing but a shadow as he crept up behind the man who was harassing a teenage girl and attempting to touch her chest. The sight of such a despicable act taking place was enough to get my blood boiling and adrenaline rushing through my veins. As much as I desperately wanted to rush forward and knock the sorry excuse of a human out, I trusted Eraserhead to do what he saw fit. He was the pro hero, after all.