Darkness is my ally.

It hides me. It allows me to move. To disappear. To pounce.

It allows me to blend into the shadow.

For I am the night. I am the angel who will keep watch over the town at night. When it is most at its most vulnerable, I will always be there for it. I will protect its inhabitants. I will save them when they most need help.

I am Mysterion.

For five years now I have stood watch over this town. I have protected it from everything from crime to the Old Ones. I once hoped that I could retire, that one day the town would not need my help. That hope is gone from me now. I fear the town will always need a guardian angel, and that one day I will not be able to continue my duties.

I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that one day I will need to train someone to replace me. A successor. As averse as I am to the idea of a sidekick, I am ageing. It will only be a few years more before I leave this place, and I have no desire to leave it to rot in its own slime.

But then, what am I to do? My identity is already compromised enough. Too many people know who I am beneath the mask, and to train a successor would only compromise it further. I have considered each and every person who already knows and none are suitable.

I need someone younger, and who can be trusted. That rules out most people I can think of. While it is not an immediate problem, I should very much like to have it out of the way. It distracts me.

I stare out over the town. All seems quiet for tonight, at least. I can see flashing blue and red in the distance, but the lights do not move. Probably just a traffic stop, not worth investigating unless something more serious happens.

It allows me time to consider my problems. My rooftop allows me the privacy.

And I-

"You look like an absolute tit."

…oh, for fuck's sake.

I turn around. "Do you mind not interrupting me when I'm brooding, Craig?" I ask the bastard, not even bothering to do the voice. There's no point. He ruined the mood.

"Nope." I'm not even going to ask why he's up here. Is he following me? He must be, the universe never just lets this kind of shit happen.

Craig just stands there, the smug cunt. He's smoking because of course he fucking is. I walk on over to him and pull the cigarette right out of his mouth. He doesn't react physically, but he does give me a look.

"You know, if you're going to do me for underage smoking, you'd better turn yourself in as well or I'm going to kick your ass."

"I'd like to see you try," I reply, dragging on the cigarette before handing it back. Craig takes it, seeing what I was doing there. He smirks at me but says nothing else - I think he realised I might have a point.

I mean, look at me, I dress up at night and kick ass. I'm the whole reason my house has gotten reasonably peaceful, everyone knows I can take them all on at once and come out on top.

It takes a few seconds of silence for me to give up. I have to know. "What the hell are you doing up here, Craig?"

"I come up here a lot," he answers flatly.

"So do I."

"You're not normally up here at day. Same with me at night."

This is one of the things I hate about Craig. Not only does he have an answer for absolutely buttfucking everything, but he always says it in that goddamn monotone that makes it sound like he's mocking me for not knowing what that answer was. I'm never sure when he's actually going for that effect.

God dammit.

I go back to the corner of the building, trying to get back into that broody mood. It's calming for me and, you know what, it helps me concentrate.

I hear footsteps behind me, then I see a cloud of smoke dissipate just to my right. "What?" he asks.

"What?"

"What are you staring at?"

"The town?" I reply, treating the question like the moron it is.

"Yeah, I can see that, why are you staring at it? It's shit."

"It's my job." I hear a snort of contempt - I let that pass. I try my best to bring that nice darkened broody mood back up, but…

You know what, even his being there is scuppering any attempt. I fucking hate Craig sometimes. It wouldn't even be so bad if he wouldn't let me forget anything I ever do or say that he considers to be funny. For that exact same reason he has a pet name for me that I want to strangle him every time he says it.

Having to be called 'Princess' every time I pass him in the fucking hallways gets really grating after a while. At best it was a fucking phase.

Somehow 'Spaceman' just isn't a good comeback to 'Princess'. I'm dreading the day that the other guys find out. The princess and the spaceman, I'd never hear the fucking end of it.

I can't concentrate when he's around. It's a thing I can't do.

"Craig, do you mind kindly fucking off?"

"No thanks."

"You're here solely to piss me off, aren't you?"

"At last. He's clever." I close my eyes, exhale loudly, and try to at least ignore him, given he's not going the fuck away. He's come up to annoy me. Oh, how fucking special I feel.

"So…" he says.

"Fuck off."

"Don't you have crimes to stop?"

"Fuck off."

"Instead of just, like, standing there all night?"

"Fuck off."

"Looking like an absolute-"

I turn to him. "Fuck off, Craig!"

"Or?" he asks, smirking at me.

"Or I will fucking shove your ass off this building."

He squints at me for a second, then realises that I'm being serious. To my own surprise, I am. And, thank all the gods, he backs down. "Alright."

He turns away. "See you tomorrow, Princess." Because who the fuck didn't see that coming?

"See you, Spaceman," I groan back at him, before turning back. Once I hear the clatter of the fire exit steps I look back out over the town.

I…

Um…

I am the…

God fucking dammit Tucker.

I can't get the mood back. I can't concentrate like this. With a very loud sigh, I jump off the roof, land in a snow drift below, crumple my legs and roll back up. I'm calling it a night. I start running home. It's dark, it's late and there's school tomorrow.

And I'm going to have to deal with that cunt all fucking day. Oh, what fucking joy.