Initiative 2030
Moon Knight Rising
Two of Two
The Midnight Mission was a homeless shelter in New York. It was sponsored by 'Stephen Grant' the alternate identity of the first Moon Knight. He had died (apparently) violently and explosively while fighting the villain Black Spectre III.
'At least, that's what they want everyone to think,' Julie Power noted.
"Miss Power," Reese the vampire nodded politely.
Reese had been running the Mission for Moon Knight for years. She was a vampire who refused to harm humans, and only drank bagged blood. She was also the last line of defense for the Mission, other than (maybe) Moon Knight.
"I'll get right down to it," Julie said briskly, "you're aware that Moon Knight is back?"
"If so, they haven't contacted me," Reese shook her head.
"And Hunter's Moon?" Julie checked.
"I talk to the OTHER Fist of Khonshu regularly," Reese admitted, "again, no contact. Might be some nut taking up the costume."
"Would Knonshu ALLOW that?" Julie had to ask her. The Egyptian God had manifested before, once notably fighting the Avengers...
Reese sighed, "Good question."
"Does the Mission need donations?" Julie checked. She politely offered, "I can run a story on it in Front Line."
"No, it's fine," Reese shook her head. "We like to keep a low profile, if we can."
"Fair enough," Julie conceded.
"Sorry I wasn't more help," Reese added, shaking her hand.
"Thank you for seeing me. If you do hear something, let me know," Julie said as she left.
"Yo," Kate Lockley waved, the brown haired Uber driver waiting outside, leaning against her black car.
"Kate, thanks for waiting," Julie smiled. "All day again?"
"I am at your disposal," Kate bowed slightly.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Henry Peter Gyrich did NOT look happy. "Moon Knight? Seriously?" he asked.
John Walker nodded, "We've got confirmed sightings. And not that fake that's running with Roger's Secret Avengers."
"Damn it," Gyrich growled.
"So far, he hasn't hit the news in a big way," John said. He did NOT tell him that Julie Power was digging into it...
"How out of hand has he gotten?" Gyrich asked. He well remembered hearing about the Knight cutting a man's face off.
"For him, very restrained," John admitted. "No deaths, some serious injuries," he added, summarizing his earlier reports.
Gyrich grunted. "Mobilize the registered heroes and Scarlet Spider armors, get him in custody," he said, then cut the connection.
"Easy for you to say," John sighed. "Carlton!" he yelled.
"You could use the intercom, sir," Carlton LaFroyge chided mildly.
"Yeah, yeah," John waved that off. "Updates on Moon Knight?" he asked.
"I've gone over records, turn out we've had reports of a 'spooky white dude' out on the streets for months," Carlton admitted.
"And we missed this because...?" John asked.
"The local cops haven't been reporting him. They apparently appreciate what he's doing, and he's not killed or even maimed anyone," Carlton shrugged.
"Yet," John said dryly.
"I also got hints that a few of the sex crimes and social workers were actively working with 'Mr Knight' as they call him," Carlton added.
"Oh, that's even better," John sighed. He continued, "Is there any chance we can get the cops to help us grab him?"
"I really doubt it," Carlton admitted.
"All right, get the registered heroes out looking for him," John said, "and the Scarlet Spiderr suits. But I want him brought in alive."
"Sir," Carlton nodded, leaving the office.
"Wonder if it really is Marc Spector again?" John mused to himself. He never really bought that he was actually dead...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
'This is a really, REALLY bad idea,' Julie Power thought as she walked, having left her driver behind a hour or so ago.
Her long black wig hid her hair, and she had bought a slightly shabby outfit from a thrift store. With the battered shoulder-bag, she hoped to look 'down on her luck' enough that someone might jump her. And, hopefully, get saved by Moon Knight.
"Hey, babe!" a dude catcalled.
Julie kept walking. Not that she was defenseless, of course... she had her powers as Lightspeed. She could either fly off, or use her acceleration ability to fire pebbles at people.
'Still REALLY dumb idea,' Julie thought.
Still, her looking into Moon Knight had hit a dead end. No photos, no direct evidence, and no interview. If she wanted to do a decent story on him, she HAD to make direct contact.
"Hey momma, wanna play?" another ass called.
Julie sighed and kept walking.
Julie had picked a location not THAT far from the Mission. It was a bad part of town, few cops around, dealers on corners, people passed out in doorways.
(Julie made a mental note to do a story on street crime and crime rates under President Richards. Supposedly, things were getting better, but it certainly didn't look like it. Plus there was the ongoing low grade war between various gang lords in the city...)
"Gimmie a dollar?" the wino asked as she passed.
"No money," Julie answered reflexedly.
"Hmph," the old man subsided.
As Julie walked she felt an odd tingle on the back of her neck, a sense of being followed. Which might be good or bad, of course. Deciding to make herself a more tempting target, she headed down a nearby alley.
"Here, kitty kitty kitty... a rangy looking young man followed her, and produced a knife from his pocket.
"Eeek!" Julie tried to yell as loud as she could.
"Heh heh heh...," the man chuckled.
Without warning, a figure in a white cloak dropped down on him from above.
"ACK," Julie yelped.
The man screamed in terror as he tried stabbing the Knight, and Julie was certain she heard the blade scrape off armor. Moon knight slapped the weapon out of his hands.
Julie got her phone out and quickly snapped a picture.
Moon Knight paused in punching the crook, then tilted their head curiously.
Julie realized her wig had fallen off. 'Moon Knight recognizes me?' she wondered. 'Or just annoyed they were deceived?'
Moon Knight dropped the unconscious man, then turned to go.
"Wait!" Julie called. "Julie Power. Frontline News. Are you the original Moon Knight? A successor?" she asked.
The voice was distorted, "The Fist of Khonshu cannot die."
Before Julie could ask anything else, they were gone.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Ben Ulrich nodded, "The photo is pretty blurry."
Julie sighed, "Yeah. It's a high end phone too, it SHOULD have gotten a good shot."
"Magic?" Ben wondered. "Or cloaking tech."
"Either way," Julie shrugged. "Do we run it?" she asked.
"Of course," Ben agreed, "we can have the image digitally enhanced."
As Julie put the finishing touches on her story, she wondered why Moon Knight had reacted to her like that...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The base was in the upper floors of a business building, bought through various shell companies. There was a remote controlled mini-copter, weapons racks, and suits of combat armor, all with the Moon Knight design.
Moon Knight dropped through a hatch in the roof, then groaned as they stretched. The hoop went down, then the mask was pulled off.
"I guess I should have expected that," Kate Lockley, daughter of Marc Spector and his longtime love Marianne, said with a sigh.
To be continued...
Notes: It's actually canon that Moon Knight's old girlfriend had a kid with one of his personalities, Jake Lockley. Hence why Kate uses that last name.
