New York City, Manhattan to be specific, West 59th street near the park. A lone figure crossed the street keeping clear of the park, a woman; she quickened her pace and continued to move. Being near the park this late at night wasn't a good idea even near Park West. She slipped for a moment when she crossed the street and broke a heel. She cursed under her breath and broke the over heel to even out the shoes and kept walking. She heard what sounded like some following her and she stopped and turned around. No one was there so she kept walking. What am I worried about, she though, people don't get mugged around here. She still decided to keep moving, and stopped again when she thought she heard something else and listened to the wind blowing nearby. The wind sounded in the alley she stopped in front off, it ricocheted off of the walls and she turned to look at the trees blowing in the park. She jumped as a crash sounded behind her but it was only a garbage can being knocked over from the alleyway next to her. She let out a sigh of relief and began to walk at her brisk pace again when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind. She was spun around and slammed against the wall by the rough hands. She wanted to scream but her head was spinning from the hit against the side of the building. She gathered her strength as she fought against the hands but they were too much.
"Hey baby, I'd calm down if I was you." Came the gruff voice belonging to the pair of hands. Another man stepped from the shadows; she wished he'd stayed there. He looked unkempt, dirty and greasy and he advanced on her.
"What we got here?" he asked the other. The man suddenly stopped and picked up a bottle. This poor woman was now in full fear for her life when to her shock the other man smashed the bottle against his fellow's head. The first man dropped her and she scrambled on the ground away from him. The first man staggered, broken bottle bits littered the ground and the man, who the woman could see was bald, had his hand pressed against his forehead and she could see a bit of blood on his hands.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" he cried. The first man jumped at the second and they suddenly began to hit hard. The woman watched in shock as they began to beat each other senseless. The second man, thrown backwards against a dumpster, swore in a language the woman didn't understand and pulled a knife from his back pocket. He flipped it open and launched himself at the other man.
"Whoa, whoa, hang on a second. I don't need anyone killing anyone," came a voice from above. The two men stopped, in surprise and looked around. "Like I said," came the voice again, it was a woman, they thought, "Nobodies killing anyone." The second man dropped the knife, lowered his head and ran head first into the dumpster flipping himself up and into it. The first man, his legs were visibly shaking now turned to run but didn't make it out of the alley before he grabbed his head again, grunted and fell flat on the ground. The woman shakily stood up. "Oh, geez, lemme help you there." As if out of nowhere but the shadows themselves a girl emerged. She must've been young 16 or 17 at most. "Sorry about that, I'm still kinda new at all of this." The girl took the woman by the arm and helped her up. "And sorry about the late rescue there, took me a minute to get everything working." She laughed a little. "Think you can make it home from here?" she asked.
"I think so, um, thank you, I…thank you." The woman said as the adrenaline finally kicked in. "But, what are you doing out here?" The girl who was now climbing up a fire escape stopped and smiled at her.
"I'm just doing what I can, take care."
The girl was Alison Jones, although she called herself the Mall Rat and she was a super hero. If you could say that, she thought to herself. She ran along the rooftop and jumped off the edge to the next nearest one. She stopped and checked her the time on her cell phone.
"Oh, crap!" she said out loud noticing the time. She looked around the roof and found another fire escape over the side. She quickly scaled down it and started running for the nearest Subway. Queensborough was along ways off for a trip on foot. No more fun tonight, she thought mentally kicking herself for letting the time slip by so quickly. A short run down a flight of stairs and a quick leap over a turnstile later, Alison was on the subway heading a short distance back towards the bridge where she could grab a cab or something and head quietly back into Queens. She slumped down into the seat as she took a breather; she hadn't realized how tired she was until now. She yawned and groaned a little as a group of three young men started heading her way with obvious intentions. She hardly moved and didn't bother to get up. A wave of the hand and one was already on the ground and a moment later the leader of the pack was fighting with the guy next to him. Alison put her hands behind her head and tried to relax the rest of the ride.
"Crap," Alison said again, this time because of the irritating climb. "Wish I could fly," she complained to herself quietly. It was pretty close to One A.M. now and she couldn't walk in the front door without waking her parents. Something that she really didn't want to do, so she was climbing up the side of the house as best as she could so she could quietly slip into her bedroom. She scrambled up onto the roof, making more noise then she wanted to and opened the window. She was almost inside and turning to shut the window when her other leg caught the sill and she tripped and hit the floor with a muffled crash. The lights flicked on and her parents stood in the door way to her room. "Uh, hi." She managed.
"Where in God's name have you been?" he father interrogated. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to your mother, showing up at one in the morning and climbing through the window?"
"Sorry." She said sheepishly.
"Are you drinking? You're not having sex are you?" her mother demanded from behind her father.
"Mom, I'm not drinking and I'm not having sex." Alison replied wanting to roll her eyes but knew she shouldn't. Her parents were the archetype of parents, over bearing, over protective and ready to assume the worst of their kids.
"Then what the hell are you doing out at night? We know that you've been into the city tonight."
"I…" she paused, why hadn't she come up with some kind of story or an excuse for coming home so late. "I can't tell you, you wouldn't understand." She directed her gaze towards the floor.
"If that's how you want to play this then fine, you're grounded. Two weeks," Her father said tightening his bath robe nonchalantly, "Or until you decide to tell us what you were really doing, until then two weeks. After school you come right home and you'll stay here. Good night." He closed the door, and Alison could hear the two of them arguing. She wanted to tell her parents but how the hell do you explain to your parents that, and as far as she knew now, that you were a mutant and to top that off you were out fighting crime at night? Alone and in the city, no less, she was certain her mother would say. She felt like crying or hitting some or at least talking someone who understood what was going on with her, but in the meantime she undressed, turned off the lights and tried to go to sleep.