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Shadow Over the Bay
The moon was high and as early in the autumn as it was, the air had crispness to it. Leaves danced around in the street, mixing with the trash that was always present. Chris walked down the street, jacket pulled tight around him as the wind picked up.
It had been a long day of work, messing with his various projects without any real success. He was tired and looking forward to going home for the night. It hadn't helped that Sophia had been on monitor duty, so he had to listen to her complain or insult all night. No matter what, if she wasn't out fighting people, she wasn't 'doing her job' according to her.
He stopped into a coffee shop; caffeine was the only way to go when he was feeling this drained.
Sipping his coffee and walking down the near empty sidewalks, he looked up. Clouds floated across the sky, obscuring the moon and what stars that could be made out over the city lights. The night was getting darker in the fall, but it was still early. Maybe he wouldn't go home right away. Walk around a bit. Maybe meet someone.
The area was quiet. A few cafes and bars playing music, but nothing that disrupted the peaceful street. Trees lined the sidewalks and there were few cars. Not completely unexpected for a Wednesday night. Chris made his way down the street, there was a small park he liked to sit in, brightly lit and safer than most.
The area was quiet. And then he heard a scream.
Chris broke into a run, towards where the sound came from. An alleyway between two buildings.
The next thing he knew, he was knocked to the ground, a man and a women stumbling over him. They had run out of the alley, panicked, trying to escape whatever they had seen.
"Oh shit, run! It got him", the man yelled, nearly dragging the woman by the arm.
Instantly, Chris was on his feet and on his phone. "HQ, authenticating Kilo-Whiskey -Zero-Seven-Five. Someone was just attacked. I'm checking it out, but send whoever else's around; I think we'll need them."
"Wards are on their way to your location," the operator replied.
Moving quickly and quietly through the old boxes and trash knocked over by the fleeing couple, Chris made his way down the alley. He could see it. A long black cape spread out from a small alcove. Someone crouched over another body. A knife on the ground a few feet away.
With a steady hand he reached into a secret compartment in his bag, pulling out a basic mask and visor and one of his smaller laser pistols. The clatter of paint cans, knocked over when he put his bag over his shoulder again, echoed loudly in the darkened space.
The cloaked figure's head snapped around face barely visible. A wide brimmed hat as a disguise. The rest of their body wrapped in a long red lined black cape with a high collar. The only thing he could see clearly was a wide, delicate lipped mouth, illuminated by a faintly glowing liquid. A green liquid that covered their chin and dripped from the corners of their mouth.
A beat, a pause that seemed to last forever. They raised their head, eyes covered by a domino mask. Then the cloaked figure was a flurry of motion in red and black, kicking a wooden crate at him, causing him to fire his pistol wide. A rush of shadow towards him and he was thrown into a pile of trash.
The last thing he saw was the shadow leaping up the side of the building and over the rooftop, flowing cape vanishing.
Chris lay there, stunned, before getting to his feet. After a moment he heard a rush of air and Aegis set down beside him. Vista folded space and stepped from the roof across the street to the ground next to him.
"Kid Win, what happened here?" Vista asked while stepping around the trash littering the alley.
"Aegis, they escaped over the roof, going that way," Chris exclaimed, pointing in the direction he had seen the shadow go.
He took to the sky again, shooting over the rooftop.
"Actually Vista, I think a better question is 'what is that'?" Chris pointed down at the alcove, at the body that lay there.
He was dressed in jeans, t-shirt and a brown jacket. Black hair, with an almost olive tinted skin. But his neck, the open wound he had, leaked a vibrant and glowing green.
"I really have no clue. I think it was a mugging, based on the couple that came running out of here. But this, I don't know what this is…" Chris knelt down by the body, checking for a pulse that wasn't there. He didn't really think he would find one based on how little… blood? Whatever it was that came from their neck.
"Either way, I'm pretty sure they're dead."
"I'll let the PRT know," Vista said.
Chris sighed, completely perplexed, "I think they should get Panacea here too, figure out what that is." Because whatever he is, humans don't bleed green."
The two stood on either side of the body while the sounds of sirens picked up in the distance, growing ever closer.