Something was seriously wrong in hell's kitchen, and that was saying something.
The one place in New York where everything wrong was going on every second of the day. And currently the last two nights everyone, criminals and just people trying to make a living were scared out of their minds.
Last night three thugs were found strung up by what remains of their necks, dangling by makeshift nooses for everyone to see when the first lightning of the morning sun rose that day.
More incidents similar to that were found along the streets. Bodies mutilated, ripping apart and limbs completely missing…often found in back alleyways by some scared hobo trying to avoid the scenes of the killings.
Some people whispered about the old myth of the Sin eater.
The demon haunting hell's kitchen and killing off anyone that it deemed a sinner in its eyes.
The only issue was that Sin eater hasn't made a recent killing for the last week, and never this openly done for everyone to see. This was completely different to what had happened before, and it didn't sit well with one resident of the criminal district.
Sitting in a darkened booth, a black clothed bald headed man slowly took a swig of his drink, watching from the window as the few police officers that actually were brave enough to enter the area started taking down the hanged bodies.
Bullseye narrowed his eyes at the gruesome sight, he wouldn't have cared about those thugs, hell he would have killed them himself considering the three were known to go around beating hookers and sometimes killing them to get money from the brothels.
But he wouldn't have made it so public that they were dead, similarly to the other 8 bodies found around the city after last night.
Nothing had happened for the rest of the day to draw the man's attention, and he had a feeling that now that night had fallen again that whatever did this was going to go out hunting again.
He wasn't a saint by any means and would usually only take a job like this if he was hired to do so. But the recent rumors of SIn Eater targeting prostitutes around the place as well as this happening caught his attention.
And he needed some practice since his last few jobs hadn't been in any way challenging for him.
Finishing off his drink, the man made to leave the bar, the other patrons watching him wearily as they knew his reputation around Hell's kitchen. Killing a man with a playing card through the head had that kind of effect on people.
Walking down the street, Bullseye kept his gaze shifting from one alleyway to another, watching as a few groups of thugs hung around the entrances as well as the hookers trying to get their next client for the hour.
While the murders spooked everyone it didn't stop business from continuing. People had to make a living after all.
Going over what had happened, Bullseye made note that all the murdered were male, thug looking types that would probably have spoken openly about killing or beating someone for money. Or worse considering where they were and the lack of actual police activity to even try and help stop it all.
So if he was right, bullseye knew a few places this murder would strike next.
Making his way down the red light district, Bullseye kept an eye on the few groups of thugs hanging around the entrances of the brothels and bars. Seeing a few of them making gestures to the buildings and a few holding a weapon or two.
Usually these kinds of guys would just be egging each other on before they went and bought a girl for the hour or the night if they had the money. But that wasn't what he was looking for, no he was looking for a group that was going to take a few of the girls home.
And right on cue there they were.
Two thugs had grabbed one of the street girls by her arms, one of them holding something to her neck as they marched her down the street. Turning into a darkened alleyway and out of sight from everyone else. Sad to say It was a common sight, seeing a girl being taken away usually not to be paid for what those two were going to do with her.
He wasn't a hero but right now those two were good bait for someone else to hunt down.
And there it was.
It was quick, disappearing over the edge of the roof top before anyone could see, if you weren't a mercenary with a 100% accuracy rating in hitting anything and everything that is. Narrowing his eyes, Bullseye made his way to the corner of the alleyway entrance, watching as the thug went to work on the girl.
It wasn't pretty, that's for sure, but they didn't get very far before it happened. One of them had their hands on the girl while the other was getting his pants off before they were…interrupted.
A figure landed behind one of the thugs, a three clawed hand gripping the man's head and with a quick sickening squelch the thug's head was crushed. Brain and blood oozing between the creatures claws as it dropped the dead man without a care in the world.
The second one didn't even get a chance to scream, a large golden spike of a shield impaling his chest, pinning him to the wall of the alleyway and with a flick, ripping the weapon upwards and sent blood and gore everywhere, covering the poor shock woman that was frozen on her knees in front of this thing.
Bullseye was about to make his move then, at least try and save the poor girl before this beast did anything to her. Only to pause as the thing leaped into the air, disappearing over the edge of the roof top and leaving the girl behind.
"That's…definitely different from Sin eater" he mumbled, giving chase to the creature as he climbed the nearby fire escape to reach the rooftop. Making his way above, Bullseye caught sight of the golden coloured thing leaping across the rooftop.
Following it as best he could, hay he wasn't some superhero with powers okay! Bullseye kept his distance, watching the thing move from roof to roof, diving into alleyways where the man could hear a few shouts and screams before it was silenced…the beast moving on quickly before anyone could get a good look at it.
It wasn't long before bullseye caught up to the thing, watching it land behind a dumpster before something very surprising happened. The golden crowned monster faded away, and in its place was some kid! A kid did all those murders tonight?
Damn they started out young these days didn't they.
Watching the kid for a moment, Bullseye wondered what he was doing…raising an eyebrow as the kid leaned over and threw up behind a dumpster, mumbling to himself about feeling horrible and that he shouldn't have gone so far in saving those people.
What a weird kid.
Rounding the corner, bullseye didn't hide anything as he marched forward, watching as the kid froze in place, eyeing him fearfully as he tried to reach for something. Bullseye didn't give him the chance because a dart flew from his pocket, stabbing the kid's hand before he could do anything.
A second later the kid took off sprinting through the alleyways as bullseye raised an eyebrow.
Why didn't he just transform…oh well time to hunt down a teenager. Didn't think he would ever say that.
Black was panicking, he couldn't even think straight as he ran, ducking in every alleyway he could and making as many turns as possible to try and get away from the bald headed dude chasing him.
Who even has a target tattooed onto their forehead anyway!
Ducking low, Black barely avoided a playing card from slicing into his neck, stabbing a good 2 inches into the wall as he took off down another alleyway. The fuck where those things made of steel!
Making his way around a dumpster, Black paused in fear as he found himself in front of a brick wall, no way to escape except to turn back and hope the guy wasn't behind him already.
He didn't even need to turn to know the guy was standing at the entrance of the alleyway, keeping watch as Black crouched down, keeping himself pressed into the shadows behind the dumpster.
Trying to grab one of his cards, Black tried to transform, anything to get away from this guy before he was killed by this weirdo.
Before he could reach for it with his good hand, another dart soured through the air, pinning the cuff of his shirt to the wall behind him as Blacks eyes shot up in fright, meeting the blades man's eyes as he froze in place.
The man stood only four feet away from him, his fingers holding one of those steel cards as he titled his head, looking at him questionably.
"Okay didn't think I'd meet some winy kid out here when I was hunting for a murder" the man said as Black flinched at his words. He…he didn't mean to kill them, did he? "Hey kid I got a couple questions to ask you" the man interpreted his thoughts, reaching forward and p[ulling the dark out of the wall, hoisting Black to his feet before he could even squeak in surprise.
"Okay first, does the name Sin Eater mean anything to you?" he asked, eyeing Black with a glare as the boy tried to make sense of the question.
"What…what do you mean?" He asked in return only to have the man slammed his elbow into his throat, keeping him pinned against the wall as he struggled to breath from the blow.
"I'm asking the question kid, do you want to get out of here alive?" the man demanded, keeping up the pressure for another for seconds before easing off a bit to let Black breath. Nodding as fast as he could, Black barely regained his breath as the bald man narrowed his eyes, waiting for a response from him.
"I…I don't know I haven't heard of anything like that before okay!" Black stuttered out fearfully as bullseye eyed him carefully.
"Okay you're telling the truth there kid" he said, backing up and releasing the teens neck as Black breathed in, coughing slightly as he caught himself from falling onto the ground. "Next question, why did you kill those thugs?" he asked as the teen looked up at him.
"I…I didn't have time to think, I was just, Hamon was angry, they were going to kill those women and I just, lost it against them" Black said, trying to remember how Hamon had just taken the rains when fighting, and how he let him have his way in what was going to be done with the murdered thugs. "I just…they deserved it and more, so I'm not sorry about killing them" he finished looking into the man's eyes as Bullseye met his gaze.
A few seconds later the bald man was chuckling to himself before clapping the teen on his shoulder.
"You know what, I like you kid your different" he said giving the kid an unnerving smile as Black blinked at his words. What was up with this guy? "See most people with crazy powers like yours try to be all good and shit like that, they never get down and dirty with what needs to be done to keep people safe…you, it was sloppy but you did some good taking those thugs out of the picture" he explained as Black nodded along with him.
Kind of twisted logic there but whatever works really.
"Anyway, you're not who I'm looking for and while you're doing good and getting dirty, you've got some attention on you kid" Bullseye explained further as Black looked up to him with a confused expression on his face. "There's going to be more than just me following your trail if you keep this up, my advice is to head out of hell's kitchen for a while lay low and if you hear about anything called Sin Eater you come tell me okay" he finished as Black sighed to himself.
His life was just getting crazier wasn't it.
"Kinda hard to get in contact with someone without a phone..and what's Sin Eater?" he asked as the bald man stroked his chin in thought.
"Okay I usually head to this bar a few streets down, called blue light, not well known but everyone there keeps to themselves, you can usually pick up a girl for the night if your wanting that too, ask for Bullseye if I'm not there they will get in contact with me till you sort yourself out with a phone okay" he said with a wink as Black shook his head, trying not to think about that kind of stuff.
He wasn't that desperate for a teenager…he had more important things to think about…or did he?
"And Sin Eater, local myth kinda thing, some weird demon going around killing everyone and anyone screaming about how everyone is committing sins and needs to be punished…you can see why I chased you down when you were looking like you crawled out of a B rated horror film" Bullseye joked as Black cracked a smile himself, Hamon really did look like a demon didn't he.
Ignoring the feeling of pride coming from the back of his head, Black turned his attention back to Bullseye again.
"Right now You need to get going okay kid, stay low and as long as no one can piece together how you were involved in these incidents then you won't have a superhero hunting you down okay…don't want that chick in spandex trying to catch you…unless you into being tied up that is" the bald man joked as Black looked away with a bit of a blush on his cheeks.
The suit on spider-woman did little to hide her curves that's for sure. Before the thought could run away in his head, a split jolt of pain made the boy flinch, as if trying to remember something before it disappeared.
What was that about?
"I'll see you around kid, if I need some help I'll find ya" Bullseye spoke up, sauntering out of the alleyway with a wave of his hand. Only then did Black notice a playing card at his feet, a quick address to the blue light bar on it, a little target symbol resting in the corner like a signature.
Did…did he just meet a vigilante?
Ignoring the craziness of all of this, Black made his way out of the alleyway, turning in the opposite direction to his last for murders and making his way out of the red light district. He really needed to be more careful now if he was hunted down that quickly as Hamon.
Retrieving one of his cards, Black looked towards the black rose dragon as an idea came to his head. He couldn't use his new forms to hide but he could use it to get away and maybe grab some new clothes that someone had laying about.
Ducking behind a dumpster, Black felt himself fade away as he pressed the card to his chest, a second later a pair of blood red petal scaled wings flapped before the dragon like figure disappeared into the night sky, flying away from Hell's kitchen, ducking low once to grab a random hoodie on someone clothesline before disappearing into the distance.
Next order of business was food, he was starving and hopefully he could get something other than day old pizza at the bottom of a trash can. Maybe heading back into the city could shed some light on who he was…he wasn't too hopeful but anything could help really.
Life really wasn't going well but he at least made a new…friend? Alli? Ah he would figure that out later.
On one of the far rooftops a dark grabbed figure watched the rose dragon disappearing into the distance, ducking down into the streets to report to their master on what they had seen.
Something like that would be of defiant interest to their current master that's for sure.