Three days had passed since the nephalem’s encounter with the thief. Ever since then, he had often thought about the advice that the masked criminal gave to the hedgehog; they were right, in a way. If things got bad for the hedgehog, it would most likely be passed onto Jamie as well, as he was the only person in the rogue’s life. He had been a little careless lately, he just needed to bide his time until the perfect moment presented itself. You may think that he could just stop, but that option didn’t exist for the vigilante, he never even considered it as he acrobatically leaped from rooftop to rooftop.
In his mind, he moved onto Jamie himself, something was going on between the pair but he just couldn’t figure it out. In all honesty, he glossed over it possibly being love or any other kind of affection. It was as if he quickly crossed out that word on a notepad when looking at the reasons why Jamie had been acting less hard on him. When the nephalem had returned to the border collie's shop on that day, he wasn’t berated as hard as he thought he would’ve been, for coming back with his clothes in such a terrible state, as well as bringing home greasy fast food again.
Instead, Jamie just disappointedly told him to go get changed and hand the clothing over to him so he could wash it himself; he even gave the pizza a chance by taking a small nibble of a slice, before promptly spitting it out into a trash can. Perhaps he should just go ahead and ask Jamie himself, be upfront and all that. Though maybe he should ask more naturally, but how though? Just as unsure as he was about his future as a superhero, he was unsure about how to approach his relationship with the British male. All that would have to be dealt with later. The nephalem shook his head to try and clear his thoughts, he knew he should be focusing, listening out for any activity near him, and keeping an eye on anything that stuck out.
Though it took a while to finally find something, after performing a variety of flips and spins across other buildings, the nephalem landed on top of yet another roof as he began to hear a few murmurs. Looking over the edge of the roof, at a small area that was dimly lit by a few outside lights, and was connected by a series of alleyways, he spotted about seven or so individuals all-around a black vehicle with its trunk popped open.
“Feels like a routine at this point,” Katorasu said quietly to himself as he noted, judging by the difference in outfits, that there were two different groups.
One group was dressed in the mobster attire that Katorasu had gotten familiar with in the past two weeks, while the other dressed in matching streetwear. The latter group seemed to all be part of some gang, judging by how there was a consistent yellow color that cropped upon each of their outfits. While Kato did hear about a few gangs in Station Square, all of them were described as wannabe harmless thugs and very small with no real organization or leadership. He knew that these members were part of the gang that called themselves the Fleetways.
Still though, those facts didn’t calm down the hedgehog as he realized that there were a series of firearms in the trunk of the car, with varying sizes between them all. Almost leaning forward over the edge of the roof, he tried to listen in but couldn’t pick up anything that they were saying, due to the wind mixing with their words. Going into a brisk jog, Katorasu moved over to the right side of the building and hopped off, his body turning into mist as it traveled downward before switching back to land without a sound.
Moving closer to the groups huddled around the car, the nephalem crept behind a dumpster as he listened in on the two factions.
“... if you’re going to war with those scumbags, I suggest a good ole pump-action,” Katorasu peered out from the corner of his dirty cover, watching from behind as one mafia member withdrew the aforementioned firearm from the trunk, “With this bad boy, you can say ‘sayonara’ to anyone at point-blank range, plus it’s a good arm workout too.”
From where the vigilante was at, he was directly behind the two parties. The usage of the cover was a mere safety net for him, now that he thought about it.
“We’re not so sure about… buying these guns,” a gang member spoke up, “Are you sure the others are gearing up to take us and everyone else out?” They sounded quite skeptical.
“Sure? Maybe not for certain, after all, we did hear this through the grapevine, but how can you be so sure that they aren’t doing exactly that at this very moment? Better to be safe than sorry, we’ll even throw in a portion of this batch for free since we’re so kindhearted.” Another mafia member spoke, feigning a generous tone.
It was clear that the street gang members weren’t so sure that coming here was their best decision ever.
The nephalem’s golden eyes focused more on the street gang, as he stopped listening in on the conversation. He took notice of how forcibly ragged their clothing was, how they each tried to keep up a tough act, and how… young they were, all of them. That last detail worried the black hedgehog, his eyes showing a tint of sadness as he thought about how these kids— at least they were kids compared to him— were choosing to head down this path at such an early point in their life.
Feeling it was time to cut things short for the deal, the nephalem stood up from behind his cover and sauntered his way over. There was a bit of tenseness to him though, like as if there was a dash of seriousness to be found hidden within his normally extravagant and outgoing attitude.
Acting as if he was included in the deal all along, Katorasu moved past the mafia members and the street gangsters, “Free’s nice and all, but what about lessons?” He easily captured everyone’s attention, interrupting their conversation as he casually picked up a handgun, “Firearm safety is important for growing teens.”
In his hand, he firmly held the gun by the grip with all his fingers, rotating it to see the intricate design of its exterior. His eyes scanned across the barrel as if he was wiping a finger across it. He didn’t know how to use even the most basic of handguns, aside from knowing that when you point it and pull the trigger it makes a fun bang sound.
From his left, where the mafia men stood, he heard the cocking of the pump-action that was demonstrated before. As he slowly set down the pistol back in the trunk, he urged solemnly, “You guys should be playing video games, not here in some dank area; go home.” With his coat moving with him, the nephalem turned fully towards the dealers themselves.
It didn’t take long for the young gangsters to turn tail and run, their footsteps clustering together to form a cacophony that rang out through the alleyway they escaped through.
“Huh, I thought I heard a thing or two about some crazy hedgehog,” the shotgunner spoke, as he casually aimed their namesake from the hip, “Never even thought about the rumors possibly being true.” His fellow members slowly took a few steps back, so that he was the one in front.
“Welp, I do exist, here I am in the flesh! I’ll even make a lasting impression on you with the ass-kicking I’m about to give you.” Kato’s last sentence had a serious undertone to it, a reverse of his previously chipper tone.
A sudden loud blast erupted from the barrel of the shotgun, as it sent out a barrage of pellets that could rip apart anyone at close range. Despite that though, instead of piercing through Katorasu’s body, they whizzed past a cloud of mist that the vigilante had turned into.
Forming back to his usual self, he nonchalantly placed one hand on the trunk’s lid and closed it quickly. “C’mon, can’t handle a fight with just your fists? I thought you were hardcore gangsters?”
At a moment’s notice, the other three mobsters pulled out their guns as well and cocked them quickly.
“Alrighty then…” He muttered as the three men with the handguns began to fire at the hedgehog.
Never one for wanting to get shot, Katorasu quickly leapt behind the car to avoid the lead that was being sent his way, from there he tried to think of a strategy after having just spent his mist ability. As two mobsters slowly closed in on him, it dawned on him that there was a certain trick he could do that he hadn’t done in a long time. It hurt quite a lot afterward and the morality behind it was rather… bleak, to be honest.
Holding out his hand just before him, he concentrated as best he could as a small spherical crystal formed over his palm. Within it contained a tiny light, that seemed to erratically move all around the inside of the gem. As quickly as he conjured the crystal, he crushed it within his grip, its exterior’s shards dissolving into the air, as a source of energy flowed into his body soon after. He was filled with increased vigor and momentum, even more so when compared to his normal status.
Using this small boost, he dashed to his left and swiftly slid across the hood of the vehicle, and used both his legs to kick into one of the men’s chest. Having sent that one flying towards a pile of garbage bags, he turned towards the shotgun-wielding member as he rapidly moved towards him, feeling very confident with the temporary edge he had.
However, he decided to save the shotgunner for last as he quickly vaulted over him, forcefully jumping off of his shoulders and sending his foothold to the ground for a moment, as he then landed onto a second pistol-wielding enemy. Practically on top of them, Katorasu delivered a swift jab to their face, sending them into an unconscious state. As he began to stand back up, the black hedgehog could feel the back of his head bump into the barrel of yet another pistol.
With another quick strike, he disarmed the second-to-last combatant in a heartbeat, tossing their firearm off to the side as it clattered next to one of the car’s tires. Not even giving them a chance for a retaliation move, Katorasu swiftly wrapped the sides of his legs around the disarmed gangster and spun with them as he brought his face and body to the ground.
Catching himself with his hands, before he could make contact with the dirty floor, he shot back up onto his feet. Following that though, another pump of the shotgun was heard behind him, the wielder had gotten back up fully by this point.
“What?” Kato turned to face the final mobster of the night, “You literally just watched me take down three of your buddies without even trying, you can clearly tell I’m superpowered! Everyone points that out! Just put down the gun, lie down, and pretend you’re unconscious while I call the cops.” He tried to persuade him.
“My boss would, figuratively, have my tail if I didn’t at least try. Even if I wanted to listen, you can see I’m in a bit of a pickle.” He shrugged, aiming the shotgun now as he fired a tight spread towards the hedgehog as he quickly rolled out of the way.
“Yeah, I guess.” He muttered to himself, in a crouched position, before getting a move on and away from the shotgun blasts.
As he moved around his last enemy, avoiding gunshots as necessary, Katorasu could hear the pellets striking and chipping away at the brick walls, as they took the brunt of the attacks while he moved. With a click coming out from the shotgun, indicating that the mobster was out of ammo, Katorasu turned his heels and dashed towards his last opponent. There was an attempt from the shotgunner, swinging his fist in a right hook fashion though the nephalem was quick to duck underneath it.
As fast as he descended, Katorasu shot back up as he performed an uppercut that collided with the jaw of the last mobster. With his boost coming to the end, the last bit of enhanced strength was spent on sending the shotgunner into the air for a moment and onto his back. His firearm had left his grasp during the apex of his launch, allowing the nephalem to quickly catch it as it fell back down with him.
Twirling it around so he held the gun in reverse, the nighttime vigilante slyly walked over to the downed gangster, the aforementioned male was already on his way back up though. He was quickly met with the butt of the gun striking his forehead, that having enough force to knock him out in one blow. After all that was taken care of, Katorasu casually tossed the empty shotgun to his side as he took in a triumphant deep breath.
Unfortunately though, his small celebration was cut short when a sudden pain invaded his body, due to the boost he had had just ran out, “O-ow, ow! Cramp!” The nephalem winced as he hobbled over to the car, leaning up against it for support as he just rode out the pain.
To distract himself from the uncomfortable feeling, he gave glances all around him and at the unconscious mobsters. From the looks of it, he probably didn’t need to tie them up since he did a pretty good job of knocking them out. Still, he wasn’t sure if the cops had been alerted that shots were fired.
Feeling his pain subside, he moved over to the last mobster and dug through his pockets, pulling out their phone after a couple of seconds. Having messed around with the device, he figured out that he needed to get a fingerprint scan for it to open. After pressing the shotgunner’s finger against the scanner, the phone was ready to be used by the hedgehog.
Right off the bat, he noticed how the mobster’s background was that of him with his family: mother and father, one daughter. Feeling a slight tinge of sadness, Katorasu continued anyways and began to dial 911.
“911, what is your emergency?” A somewhat tired female voice spoke from the other end.
“Hi,” the vigilante began, now being able to move around a bit, “I’d like to report a gun deal that was going down, over in the crappy district, you know the one.” His voice was rather nonchalant.
“‘Gun deal’...?” She repeated as if she didn’t understand the words that he just said.
“Mhm, saw a bunch of guys trying to pawn these guns off to some kids, so I did my civic duty and stepped in,” Katorasu had walked over to the guy sitting unconscious in a pile of trash, surprised by how that one double kick knocked him out, “I pretty much did the hard part for you guys, all you gotta do is come down here and book ‘em. Did I say that right?” He asked aloud, remembering the phrase from some old cheesy cop show.
“Sir, if what you’re saying is that you committed an act of vigilantism, you will face severe charges as a result; such as imprisonment. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Her voice became a little stern, alarmed even.
Lowering the phone from his ear, Katorasu became quiet for a few seconds before nodding to himself, as if to confirm with himself what he was about to say.
He raised the device back to his ear and spoke, “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I’m a vigilante; I’m a hero.”
“Sir, what is your name?” She asked, as on her end police officers were already rushing out through the door and to their vehicles.
With a sly smile that only he knew about, the nephalem responded, “You guys know who I am.”
Before the woman on the other end could get a word out, he had already hung up. Having placed the phone back into the pocket of the mobster, the nephalem took a deep breath, as he swore in the distance he could already hear the sirens of cop cars on their way. This whole ordeal was fulfilling for him, he felt as if his career was finally going to change having just stopped one organized crime already. To him, he knew he would be in the big leagues soon, he just needed one big break for him to be accepted.
Though, as with the end of other nights, he would more than happily settle with this for now, as he whistled a tune and left the scene through one of the alleyways.
