Hey guys! I'm going to be rewriting this story :3 My apologies to those who remember it from a few years ago and were following the old story line, but after coming back to this and rereading it, I knew I could do better now as a writer. Prepare to see much more character development, less plot holes, and a much slower plot with more suspenseful encounters! I have a lot more free time on my hands now, so I hope to be posting a new chapter every 1-2 days. Enjoy ;D


It was a frigid night, even compared to the cold weather February had been bringing with it in the recent weeks. Misty breath billowed faintly from under the hood of the figure perched on the rooftop edge, the only difference between a statue and a living being. Late night passersby hurried home from work or meetings with friends, but they were largely ignored. Shroud only had eyes for the building across the street.

An anonymous source had tipped her off about a possible robbery that night, the building in question being a large bank. She had already memorized the layout a few days before, noting any alternate ways into the bank as possible escape routes if it should come to that. Once all the employees were gone for the night, with the exception of the few guards, she would slip in and stand watch. She wasn't too sure about the source of the information here after all, so she wanted to avoid involving the authorities lest there be any misunderstandings about her presence here.

There was another reason that she was being overly cautious though. She was sure that one of the other heroes in the city would show up. Not that there were very many, only 3 others that she knew of. They rarely crossed paths, each covering a different part of Tokyo. But recently a newcomer had arrived, and he had a bad habit of busting in on her investigations and blowing her cover in the process.

He called himself Raven, and he was hugely popular among teen girls for his tall stature and assumed good looks. In Tokyo, it was hard to avoid being noticed by the public and being idolized by some people as a sort of symbol of justice, strength, goodness, the list went on. She had taken great steps to insure her own privacy as much as she could, since being a fairly public figure was impossible to avoid. She was also not as displeased as she thought she might have been otherwise when the media presented her hero persona as male, since it further threw people off the track of discovering who she was.

The outfit she wore as her hero's disguise was simple, a lightweight gray cloak which could easily be discarded, and a loose fitting garment of the same color underneath that hid her girlish figure. A full mask that obscured all but her eyes hid much of her features, the hood of the cloak making it harder still to get a decent glimpse of her. Metal guards on her forearms and shins gave her fairly decent protection from harm when it became necessary to physically confront someone, but she could usually incapacitate enemies long before they managed to touch her.

Raven was flashy in comparison, with his skin tight black leather suit. Another reason he's popular with the ladies, she thought to herself. A belt to hold his favored weapon, and a black half-mask adorned with a single feather completed his look. She personally would have found his outfit uncomfortable and constricting. Hers was designed with practicality in mind, at least. She also found his attitude completely distasteful, though they had only met once or twice face or face before.

He was rude, and sharp with the few words he said. They had instantly disliked each other, and it showed rather obviously. While the tabloids were having a field day with a potential hero rivalry, she was much less enthused about the situation. He was a wild card, new to the city and already on her bad side. An encounter with him while she was on a patrol could take a dangerous turn is anything actually happened, since she couldn't count on him to work with her.

She had never worked with a partner, for that matter. Nothing so serious that she couldn't handle it herself had ever arisen in the Shibuya district, which was her patrol territory. She knew ways to contact the other heroes in immense city regardless, just in case.

Turning her full attention back to the bank, she noted that no one had come out in the past hour. Hooking her belt to the zipline she had set up earlier, she whisked across the empty street and landed soundlessly on the roof of the shorter building. Smiling beneath her mask, she recalled the first time she'd ever repelled like that, forgetting to check the activity on the street below and nearly getting caught. She'd gotten much more experience since then. A simple piece of cardboard stuck in the latch of the roof access door gave her easy access to the building.

She crept down the stairs, passing the third and highest office level, and exited out into the second floor. It ran around he building as one big hallway, more offices on the outer edge, and a large gap in the middle where you could look down into the first floor, where the lobby and vault were. She had noticed a perfect spot between the railing and a potted plant which would be the ideal place for her to settle and wait for the supposed heist to begin.

She didn't have to wait long, only an hour or two. The first sign that something was wrong was when one of the guards didn't come back from his patrol around the building. She heard no sound, so she assumed he'd been taken by surprise and rendered unconscious. Bank robbers rarely wanted to add murder to the charges they were wanted for.

Dark figures with flashlights and bags crept slowly across the floor, giving her time to study them. Almost unconsciously, she also dipped into their minds briefly, to get an idea of what kind of people she was dealing with. Out of the five of them, 3 were pretty standard as far as criminals came. Greedy, but not overtly malicious, with one considering himself the leader. One of them was completely unreadable, the barrier in his mind like a wall of stone to her gentle prodding. She'd have to keep an eye on him, it took training to be able to protect one's mind like that.

The last one made her recoil almost physically. His mind was dark, oozing of violence and a thirst for blood. She thought of the missing guard and worried for him. This was no ordinary bank robber mixed in with this group. This was a monster.

She used a bit more energy to send her awareness throughout the building, relieved to find the guard only unconscious. It took some effort to do this, but it was well worth the reassurance that there hadn't already been a casualty.

The robber who had shielded his mind, cast about with the beam of his flashlight, as if he had sensed her probe. She wouldn't put it past him, she realized, since he was so accomplished at blocking her from reading him. She slunk back behind the potted plant a bit as the light swept over her hiding spot, certain that he wouldn't see her but still not wanting to take even a slight chance otherwise.

"Stop that, you'll give us away before we reach the guard room," the leader hissed, yanking the flashlight out of his companions hands. "I get that you're new, but rookie mistakes like that will get us caught and then we're all screwed." The new member simply shrugged, and continued to look along the second floor. Shroud could see even in the dim lighting that his eyes were startlingly blue, something uncommon to see in Japan. Unfortunately, they were all wearing ski masks, so discerning any other features was out the question. What an original disguise.

They hastily knocked the remaining guard unconscious, before he had to chance to realize they were in the building. She waited for a chance to take them by surprise, moving from her hiding place while they started setting down their bags. When they were opened to reveal explosives, she changed tactics however. Hitting a button on a device attached to her belt, she alerted the police to her GPS coordinates with a distress signal and started focusing on figuring out how to get the guards out of the building. There were enough explosives in those bags to take the whole place down.

While the bank robbers labored in front of the vault, she made her way to the first level and found where they had entered the building, through a back door in an alley. Finding the first guard, she dragged him out as fast as she could. It wasn't easy, she was rather short and lightly built, more used to acrobatics than pulling dead weight around. By the time he was safely outside and she made it back to the lobby, the robbers had already finished unloading the explosives.

As she hid behind one the columns supporting the upper level, she noticed something odd about the robbers. Fear seemed to fill the air thickly, emanating from the 3 ordinary criminals. Then she realized that the man whose mind was dark and frightening had a gun pulled on his comrades, and was ushering them to line up beside the vault door. With a chill she realized he was going to shoot them all, blow the safe, and take the spoils for himself.

She moved without thinking, her brown eyes meeting the blue of the odd robber before she impacted the gunman. Grabbing his arm from behind, she pulled it up just as he fired a shot. Instead of killing one of the robbers, it blasted a large hole out of the ceiling. She pivoted and sidestepped so she was slightly in front of him, and kneed him in the gut as hard as she could. As she'd hoped, the air rushed out of his lungs with a gasp and the grip on the gun loosened. She yanked it out of his hand and swung around just time to face off with the blue-eyed robber, his own gun in his hand.

They faced each other silently. He towered a full head above her in height, nearly twice as wide. She didn't fancy having to face him head on like this. He slowly reached up and removed his ski mask, revealing the second mask underneath. She hissed a curse in surprise, berating herself for forgetting about his existence during the excitement. Of course Raven would be here, infiltrating the band of robbers to find out about their plans.

He regarded her coldly as he dropped the ski mask onto the floor. The expression on his face was sour, probably since he realized she had just saved him from being maimed at the very least. His ego must really be bruised right now, since a shrimp like me came to his rescue. The name he had used for her the last time they met burned in her memory. It had made her quite cross, even though she was much smaller than he. She was technically his senior here, having been patrolling the streets of Shibuya for more than a year before he showed up, and it was completely disrespectful.

Just then something heavy crashed into the back of her legs, causing her to pitch forward. She had forgotten the man she'd taken gun from, a stupid slipped out of her cloak, leaving it grasped in his hands as she rolled to her feet once again. It only fazed him for a moment before he came at her with a knife he'd taken from a sheath strapped to his leg.

Sparks flared to life momentarily as she brought her arm guards up to shield herself. The force of the blow was jarring, and she stumbled back a step. She could feel the bloodlust seeping from his skin as he bore his weight down on her. It took everything she had not to let her arms buckle while she tried to force her way into his mind, render him senseless.

She barely registered the movement beside her, but was relieved when a strong kick sent the attacker flying onto his back a few feet away. She allowed herself to fall into a loose crouch, the muscles in her arms burning from the strain of having to hold him back. Looking up at Raven, she noted with surprise that he was offering her a hand up. She took it, deciding to play nice for at least tonight.

They both faced the man on the floor while he looked at them with wild, crazed eyes. He scrambled to his feet, and darted towards the vault door. Raven started to follow him, but Shroud saw his intentions and grabbed his arm to pull him back. This guy is insane! He's planning on setting off those explosives and taking us down with him!

She pulled Raven back towards the guard room, where the second guard still lay unconscious. Luckily, the other robbers had had the sense of mind to run away long before this. She pushed her rival inside and slammed the door shut, hoping it would be enough to shield them from the blast. Not a moment later, an immense tremor shook the building, the sound that accompanied it making her ears ring and her head spin for a moment. The door shook and rattled against her back where she was holding it closed.

In the silence that followed, she met Raven's eyes once again. They both knew the man was dead, there was no way he'd found enough cover to survive. They didn't move as they heard and felt the building creak as it's structure failed. It was coming down, with them inside it.


That's it for today ;D Hope you didn't mind the suspense of that ending, but it mean it is supposed to be a mystery you guys! Can't wait to get the next chapter up!

(Oh, I'll also be doing rewrites of my other stories as well ;D Good thing I hadn't posted that many yet!)

~SD