Opening Notes: Last chapter we had another training session, but one thing I forgot to do is have Dion find a place to actually stay. There's also the other issue with him having pissed off a gang, so look forward to the aftermath of that.

Chapter 6

…Watch the Cauldron Bubble

New York City, New York

Hell's Kitchen, apartment building

August 31st, 2007, 2:56 PM…

Rebecca Townsend POV…

"Ugh." She grumbled, another long day of college courses behind her. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays were always long days, but they'd all be worth it once she got her damn degree in physics. Originally she had even considered astrophysics, but the Endbringers didn't allow anyone to leave the planet, so that'd gone out the window. While it was a well known fact that the Simurgh had nuked a lunar colony made by some Thinker that'd since gone insane before joining the Slaughterhouse 9, space had always fascinated Rebecca as a kid. So while she'd become resigned to the fact that she'd never get to actually see space up close, physics was still the next best thing, and besides, just because she couldn't go beyond Earth's skies, didn't mean she couldn't dream. She still had glow in the dark stars and planets all over her bedroom ceiling for Christ's sake.

Pulling the strap of her heavy bookbag so it sat more comfortably against her chest, Rebecca pulled her key out of her purse before the front door to the apartment building was open, allowing the landlady to exit with a smile thrown her way. "Hey Ms. Bailey."

"Rebecca, how many times have I told you to call me Greta?" The kindly little old lady retorted with a playful glare thrown her way for good measure.

Rebecca only smiled and shrugged helplessly before saying, "You know me, my mom actually raised a respectable lady."

"Hmph, smartass." Greta chortled as she shook her head at the young lady. "Be sure to welcome the new tenant on your floor when you get the chance." She called out as Rebecca gently pushed past the older woman who had since started for the parking garage across the street from the building.

"Oh? Anyone interesting?" Rebecca asked, having turned to face the departing Greta once more.

"Tall young man, very kind. He helped me get some things straightened out in my home while we discussed the terms of his living here." Greta's explanation earned a thoughtful hum from Rebecca. "Anyway dear, I'll let you get settled after your no doubt long day. Tell your mother I said hello."

"I will, I'll see you later." She called after the old woman who shot her a warm smile before Rebecca turned back to the door and entered the building proper. While the apartment building still wasn't much to look at, it was still a good place thanks to Greta Bailey. As for the little old lady herself, despite being in her early seventies, Greta was quite active and healthy for a woman her age. Not only that, but Greta didn't take shit from anyone. While she'd been unable to do anything truly lasting against Silverstrike, having a shotgun shoved in your face left a lasting impression no matter who or what you were, and even Silverstrike had thought twice about coming around for a good couple of months after Greta had shown a shocking amount of backbone. Even when he came back around, he always made himself scarce whenever he caught Greta looking his way.

Still, with Silverstrike dead, things had gotten a lot more peaceful.

So she was all smiles despite being exhausted from her day of classes as she ascended the stairs up to the fifth floor. Sure, she could've taken the elevator, but there were people in the building that actually needed it. She wasn't one of them, so tired or not, she wasn't about to use the elevator if she didn't have to for that simple reason. Still, she paused and hid a yawn behind her arm before shaking her head, hoping her mom was getting some much needed rest as she finally reached her floor before starting down the hall. She paused though when she saw a stack of boxes in front of a partially open door just across from her own place she shared with her mom. Cocking her head slightly, Rebecca started towards the door, only to hear the elevator at the end of the hall 'ding', and turned her head that way as the door opened to reveal three people inside.

"Hey, is someone there? Could you get the door for us?" One of the elevator's occupants asked, prompting Rebecca to nudge it open the rest of the way, only for the damn thing to start shutting.

"Yeah hold on a sec." Rebecca called out, having since noticed the couch that the three men were having some trouble with. Pulling the door open all the way, she put her back to it to keep it open before calling out to them, "Alright, just be careful."

"We'll be fine." One of them said as they made their careful way down the hall. "Watch your fingers you two, that doorway's gonna be barely big enough for Jason's fat ass as it is."

"Screw you Kevin." Jason shot back with a laugh. "Thanks for holding the door by the way." He called out to her next just as they reached the open doorway before they began to try and squeeze the couch through. She might've said something quippy in response, but Rebecca's brain short circuited when she saw him.

The blonde knight, Bahamut?!

He was moving into their building?!

What sorcery was this?!

Sure, he was out of his fancy costume from the other day, wearing a simple button up white shirt and a pair of blue jeans, but there was no mistaking that handsome face as he helped move the couch along with the two other men. Yet when he caught her staring, he frowned for a moment before his pretty golden brown eyes widened in recognition, a small smile forming on his lips moments later. "I thank you for your assistance, ma'am."

"Y-y-yeah, no problem." Rebecca squeaked before mentally kicking herself. She was older than him for crying out loud, shouldn't she be the one to make him all flustered with a few words? By the time she recovered some semblance of her composure, the three men had gotten the couch situated against the far wall of what was no doubt about to become his new living room, and she somehow didn't stammer out her next comment, "So…can I do anything else besides be a glorified doorstop?" She quipped, earning amused chuckles from the three of them.

"Nah, that should be the last of it. Tall, blonde, and handsome here conned us into helping him move his crap into this place." Jason shot an amused glare towards the only blonde in the apartment.

"You mean you lost a bet." Kevin was quick to remind Jason while the knight merely shrugged helplessly.

"I do appreciate the help, however it came to be."

"Bah don't sweat it, Dion. See you around." Jason said with a dismissive wave before he and Kevin walked out, leaving Rebecca alone with Dion at last.

Who had since turned to her with a grateful look on his face. "I'm also grateful to you for not revealing my alter ego, ma'am."

Rebecca blushed but smiled sheepishly before finding her voice again, "N-no problem. Besides, Capes, especially ones who go out of their way to protect people like me, have a right to keep their two lives separate anyway. So I won't say a damn word, promise." She glanced towards the stack of boxes outside his door though, and asked, "You want a hand moving the rest of your stuff in? I got the rest of the day to myself so I don't mind."

"Are you sure? You look like you just got home." He asked, no doubt noticing the heavy bags she still had slung over her back.

She shrugged though, her exhaustion all but forgotten as her ovaries did exciting jumping jacks, a feeling she tried valiantly not to notice. The last thing she wanted was to give her mom a heart attack by getting herself pregnant, but that didn't stop her from wanting to rip Dion's clothes off. Instead she let her bags drop to the floor next to the couch before moving to pick up one of the boxes from off the floor. At least he took the hint and dropped the subject in favor of doing the same with a smile. "Glad I didn't have to spell it out for ya, Dion was it?"

"Dion Lesage, aye. And you are?"

"Rebecca Townsend, I live just across the hall with my mom, Maria so don't be surprised if you end up with some good food dropped off in front of your door sooner or later." She warned, already certain that her mom would insist on dropping off something to welcome Dion to the neighborhood, especially once she realized he was the new Cape that'd taken out Silverstrike no less.

"Is she a good cook?" He asked as they began to move everything into the apartment proper.

"The best." Rebecca assured him. "She works entirely too hard, but we have a good life here, better now that you took out that son of a bitch. Thanks for that by the way, seriously."

"I'd heard he had a fairly long list of crimes to his name, but you seem to have a history with the man. Was he truly that much of a problem?" Dion asked as gently as he could, but it wasn't necessary as far as Rebecca was concerned. Still, she appreciated the effort not to pry into what might be a sensitive subject for most people.

Instead she scoffed and all but spat out, "He extorted most of the residents for protection money whenever Ms. Bailey, Greta, wasn't around to step in with her shotgun. He might've been a liquid metal fuck, but that asshat was still human at the end of the day, and having a shotgun shoved in your face leaves a lasting impression, especially when the one holding it isn't in the habit of taking bullshit lightly. That and she's old enough to have had lived a full life, something that she made sure he knew until he took off like a little bitch."

"So a coward at heart, but one that still made a nuisance of himself where he was able." Dion sighed before shaking his head. "I imagine that wasn't the only issue you've had with him."

"No… no it wasn't, but he thankfully was never able to get his slimy hands on me." She sighed heavily as she tossed another box his way before he set it on the couch to unpack later. "I've never missed a day of exercise, and some Capes get stupid and lazy, relying too much on their powers. Outrunning him was easy the few times he tried to corner me."

"Even so, I'm sorry you had to deal with that at all."

She smiled appreciatively but shrugged it off. "It's all over now, and like I said, he never got the chance to do more than scare me a few times when he wasn't harassing my mom or someone else for money." Picking up the last box, she sighed and yawned again, before handing it over with a smile. "Welcome to the neighborhood though Dion. And… seriously, thanks for putting that asshat six feet under."

"I won't celebrate another person's death, even his, but that I've given you and yours your peace of mind back is good enough for me."

"Well we'll just have to leave it at that then, but I better get going. Take care and good luck, hero." She called out after collecting her bags, leaving Dion to his own devices. It was only after she had gotten into her place that Rebecca blew out a shaky breath before her legs began to quiver. "Holy fuck! He's even more handsome up close!" She squealed, a little happy dance quick to follow before she shook herself. "Jesus girl, keep your panties on! You just met him, so don't go all creepy yandere stalker or some shit!" She reprimanded herself as she started towards her bedroom, though her homework was the last thing on her mind at that particular moment.

She was so distracted by thoughts of their new neighbor that she completely missed her mom at the kitchen table. "What's this about being a yandere?"

"You're home?!" Rebecca shrieked as she whirled towards Maria, eyes wide as she realized she'd overhead her last comment.

"Yup, don't tell me you aren't happy to see me." Maria teased, a knowing gleam in her eyes. "I take it you've met the new neighbor?"

"Ugh…" Rebecca groaned, wanting nothing more than for the floor to swallow her up to spare her the embarrassment.

"I trust I don't have to give you 'the talk' again?" Her mother asked idly, amusement tinging her words even as Rebecca saw the tension in her expression as amusement warred with worry… and the wish for her daughter not to end up like her.

"Don't worry," Rebecca began as she set her bags down by the kitchen table before moving to hug her mother, "I'm not planning to do anything stupid. Doesn't mean I wouldn't mind sitting on his face though."

"Snrk… to be fair I wouldn't mind either." Maria admitted, returning the hug as best she could before Rebecca pulled back with an amused roll of her eyes. "Now go on, away with you."

"Yeah yeah, I got homework to do anyway."

"Is that what kids are calling it now?" Maria teased, earning a snort of her own this time.

"Shut up." Rebecca giggled even as a part of her wondered if she'd be able to use her vibrator without her mom knowing about it. Probably not, but given Maria's profession, sex wasn't really a big deal for either of them to talk about. Didn't mean she wanted to know what Maria got up to with her clients of course, but it wasn't a huge thing as it might've been for other people. Of course that didn't mean she wanted to get caught in the act either, so she made sure to lock her door before she went to do her 'homework'.

Abandoned Endbringer bunker

The Batties' hangout

4:33 PM…

Shockjock POV…

"Son of a bitch, where the fuck did he go?!" Emma Moore, otherwise known as Shockjock, threw her beer bottle at the corkboard she and the others had set up in an effort to track down the bastard who'd practically swatted Samwell aside like he was a bug on a windshield. Yet there'd been no sign of the white knight fuck since his brief appearance just a few days ago, which likely meant he was with the fucking Protectorate by that point.

"Hey hey, don't get that piss you call beer all over my corkboard!" Prudence shot towards Emma, otherwise known as Soundquake, who began wiping away some of the drink that had splattered across the corkboard. Prudence's shorn head, a face that looked like she'd hit every branch of an ugly tree, and large green eyes that bulged out from her flat face like those of a frog glared at Emma.

"Do you even care Silverstrike's dead thanks to that asshole?!" Emma shouted back while making no move to help Prudence wipe up the beer and the glass shards that were now all over the floor.

"No, and I have no intention to pretend otherwise." Prudence growled back, looking even more like an overly aggressive pug than she did normally as she showed her teeth. "He was a bastard, I don't care that he's dead. I care that he was killed, how he was killed, and what that means for us."

"We all knew there'd be a chance we'd end up in a situation like this." Maxwell Brown chimed in from what passed for a living room in the heavily reinforced bunker they'd taken over after Behemoth's latest attack on the city not so long ago. His dark brown skin glinted briefly in the dim light, his light blue eyes narrowed to slits while light brown hair framed his scarred face. Regardless, Max crossed his thick, muscle-packed arms over his chest as he added, "Besides, Silverstrike was a jackass, but he was also a coward. We're better off without him. But," he cut off Emma's rebuttal before she could begin to shout again, "we can't let this guy get away with what he's done."

The words had barely left his mouth before Dorothy Baker zipped over to the couch, entering the room from the large hole in the wall that doubled as the reason as to why the bunker had been abandoned in the first place. Behemoth's radiation blasts had torn a hole through the structure, leaving parts of it collapsed and unusable, but they made it work out… somehow.

Dorothy came to a skidding halt right next to Maxwell, grinning up at the larger man with an impish smile on her pixie-like face. Her super speed, and amped up ADHD, ensured she never stayed in one spot for more than a few seconds at a time. Her long blonde hair made her appear to be a gold streak when she got going, and her dark green eyes were just as prone to bounce around as the rest of her as she cheerfully said, "Yeah, we should totally bend this guy over the first chance we get, but we ain't got a clue as to where he is or how to get to him!" Just as quickly she appeared next to Emma's side. "I'm with you Emma, but we gotta do this smart or we'll end up fucked over too."

"Ugh… I know." Emma sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose just as Dorothy zipped over to the kitchen to get herself something to eat. "But it's been what, three days, going on four since that asshole last showed his face? We can't hit the PRT without getting screwed every which way, but Max's right, we need to do something about that fucker."

"He won't hide forever." Prudence stated firmly as she tossed the wad of used paper towels she had in her hands into a nearby waste bin. "And if he really is with the PRT, then he'll be on patrols sooner or later. We just have to track him down once he's allowed out of the building."

"And how the hell are we gonna do that?"

"Easy, when he joins up he'll start strutting around like a peacock." Max casually stated as he got up just as Dorothy tossed him a beer which he caught just as easily. "They always do. From there it won't be that hard to figure out his patrol schedule, where he's assigned, maybe even follow the fucker home. We just have to be patient until then, and prepare ourselves in the meantime."

Despite her lingering anger and resentment for the bastard, Emma allowed herself a feral grin at what Max had proposed. "Guess we've got a plan then."

"It's not a bad idea either, boss." Dorothy agreed, though Prudence's frown wasn't reassuring.

"While I'm all for tearing that son of a bitch's head off, pissing off the Protectorate isn't a good idea, Max." She retorted, arms crossed under her chest as she let her gaze fall on each of them in turn.

"True, but pissing off the police or some dumb heroic Cape or another isn't smart either." He shot back. "This ain't any different. We just gotta be smart about it and make sure we don't get caught." His lips pulled into a grim smile, making his face twist into a disgusting grimace as old scars were pulled taut. "What's the matter? You chicken?"

"Fuck you, Max." Prudence growled, but eventually she sighed before shaking her head. "...Fine, but if this goes badly, I'll be sure to say I told you so."

Dion's new apartment

6:18 PM…

Dion Lesage POV…

Flopping onto his new couch, Dion sighed and closed his eyes, feeling content over a job well done now that he'd gotten everything unpacked. There was still a little work that needed to be done before he'd be satisfied, but he'd been on his feet all day between training and getting everything moved into his new place. Most of his new furniture was secondhand stuff, but it was surprisingly comfortable for the most part, and in better shape than he'd been expecting when he'd originally found it all in a department store that'd been having a 'Going out of business' sale not too far from his new place. The only downside was that he'd burned through more of his reserve funds than he would've liked, but the Protectorate was gonna give him a sign up bonus in the next couple of days, so he wasn't too worried on that front. He simply didn't want to get himself into trouble not even a week into his new life was all.

Well, more trouble, exploding Silverstrike had earned him… a mixed reception from the public. While his appearance was being kept out of things thus far, all he had to do was turn on the news and he'd be able to find one news outlet or another that would talk about the new Cape in town that introduced himself to the hero scene by killing a criminal. Thankfully most knew he'd at least tried to de-escalate things, and everyone knew Samwell Bryson had been a piece of scum sucking shit given his previous misdeeds, but that didn't change the fact his detractors were already calling for his head since playing judge, jury, and executioner was heavily frowned upon around here apparently. If he'd been given a Kill Order on Silverstrike that would've been one thing, but there hadn't been, and needless to say he'd left a rather sour taste in the public's collective opinion as a result.

Hell, if he checked online he knew he'd see people arguing in favor of his actions while others condemned them. He'd made no secret on the PHO threads, once he'd made his own account anyway, that he regretted taking Samwell down as he had, but that he had no intention of apologizing for doing the right thing either. As expected, opinions ended up being split, with more people coming to his defense after the fact, but there were still those wanting his head on a platter, metaphorically speaking… mostly. He was fairly sure that a few people on the PHO threads he'd visited were actual villains, and that, at least until the mods had shut them down, had genuinely wanted him dead and buried. Or they just really hated him for practically turning vigilante from the word go. Whatever the case ended up being, he'd do his best to learn from his mistakes and go from there.

Whatever ended up happening though, he was just grateful he'd made it this far without any further issues for the most part outside of the one he had with Astrologer. She… was proving to be a puzzle he hoped to solve sooner rather than later since he needed to be able to trust her. Remembering her shouting about him being too nice made him wonder, again, who had hurt her so badly that she genuinely thought he was up to no good for that same reason. He was no psychiatrist, in this life or his last, but he was no stranger to hardship either.

Because to put it simply, Stephen Morrison's early life had been rough. Oh it could've been a lot worse, a fact he was well aware of, but it hadn't exactly been ideal either. As the youngest child outta seven, with siblings that his dad suspected weren't his since Stephen's mother couldn't keep her legs shut to save her life, Stephen had grown used to having very little that was truly his. While that on its own hadn't been so bad, it was the fact his mom had been a cheating, abusive bitch that had been the real source of problems for him throughout most of his youth. There was also the problem that his dad, Martin Morrison, had suffered a semi-serious injury at his construction job that had left him wheelchair bound for several years, a situation Carol had taken full advantage of.

His dad tried to work from home, to make a good life for Stephen and the rest of his brothers and sisters that hadn't already left the house by that point, but Carol had made that… difficult. Even so, he'd gotten out of that bad situation the first chance he had by signing up with the U.S. Marine Corp the moment he graduated from high school, where he spent the next four years of his life. Those years had been good ones, even if they had been far from easy. As a result though, it was why he hadn't hesitated to put Silverstrike down like he was a rabid dog, even if he'd taken no pleasure from killing the villainous Cape. It was also why he didn't hesitate to impale those holographic enemies during the training exercise either, although he had already resolved to try not to add to his body count as much as he was able outside of situations that required decisive action.

Even with those experiences, he couldn't understand Astrologer, which made him think that whatever she'd suffered through was similar if decidedly different in its own right. It was also heartbreaking to be perfectly honest, that someone had made her distrust everyone who she thought was simply putting up a selfless facade. To be fair, she wasn't entirely wrong about him, just not for the reasons she likely assumed when it came to him. His noble knight facade was just that, a part of his public image to go with his new appearance, but he genuinely was a good and selfless person despite the things he'd been through as a kid. He chose to be a decent person though, to spite Carol mostly, but also because he just didn't want to spread the same kinda misery she had everywhere he went.

That said he had no idea how to convince someone who was dead set on hating his guts. Any attempt of showing that he wasn't as bad as she thought would just be taken as him trying to manipulate her. So maybe it would be best to just act cordial with her, and otherwise do things how he would always do them, without considering what she thought about any of it. Even so, he just hoped a situation didn't come up that he'd need to trust her with his life anytime soon because he would give her even odds of trying to kill him if she saw an opportunity to get away with it. He hoped she wouldn't try to do so of course, but if she did, he'd have to be prepared to knock her flat on her ass. Ugh…this was gonna be a pain, but she had to have a good reason for being so distrusting. So trying to help her get past it would be his priority, even if it took years to pull it off. Besides, he wasn't without his own faults, even despite his efforts to be a better person than Carol in his first life, or his stepmother in this one according to his new 'memories' anyway. Everyone deserved a chance to be better, and that Astrologer was a part of the Wards proved she was trying to do just that.

The army had given him his, so he'd try to do the same for her.

Hell's Kitchen neighborhood

September 1st, 2007, 8:23 AM…

Getting an early start was just habit for Stephen as he left his apartment at around eight the following morning to get some errands taken care of before he had to get to the PRT base later that afternoon to get his biometrics and ID entered into the system. They'd have done it sooner, but the paperwork had taken a little longer to be finalized and uploaded due to a computer glitch or so he'd been told. Personally he just thought there'd been some issues when they'd reached out to his evil step-aunt and his uncle, with the former trying to give the Protectorate the runaround while the latter no doubt had to undo whatever bullshit lies the former had tried to spin about Dion. Whatever the reason for the hold up, it'd resulted in him having to wait to get his application fully realized, but that was fine, it just gave him a little extra time to get himself settled into his new place and to enroll in the local high school as a junior once his paperwork from his old school had successfully been transferred over.

A process that was still ongoing, but Dion, like Stephen, had maintained fairly high grades his entire school career, and better yet, he had an entire life to draw upon now, so he wouldn't be making the same mistakes he had the first time around. So all in all, there wasn't any real hurry to his walk through Hell's Kitchen as he went about his morning errands. All he really needed to do that morning was meet some lawyers, and get some new clothes for his first photo shoots in and out of costume, the former for his Protectorate issued ID, the latter just so he had something for official functions and the like, although he'd likely still wear a mask wherever he could or where it made sense anyway. With that said, he half expected to find a certain law office being run by a blind lawyer and his goofy partner as Dion made his way down a fairly busy sidewalk that was lined with various businesses and store fronts.

He was in all honesty a bit disappointed when that didn't turn out to be the case.

On the other hand, Worm was literal Hell in the grand scheme of the multiverse, even worse than Warhammer 40K since at least in 40K, there was some hope. Here though? This was the world where hope went to die in a fiery inferno without some out of context superpowered person like himself to drag it away from the abyss. So subjecting Matthew Murdock and Foggy Nelson to this shithole would just be cruel and unusual punishment, although that didn't say a lot of good things about Stephen's own mental health considering he was here by choice. Yeah…he should probably keep his mouth shut come to think of it before he jinxed himself.

That said he suspected that the Protectorate's superiors were making him visit these lawyers himself, instead of just having some of them come to the PRT base, or slap some more forms in his face was also a kind of powerplay. A subtle but poignant "You might have superpowers, but you play by our rules." or something like that. Still, over the course of the next two hours he was thoroughly educated on what he could and couldn't do, in which cases he could break the law and expect the PRT lawyers to have his back, and in which cases he would be cut loose, disavowed, and left to rot.

A simple warning, if he didn't pay attention now he'd be screwed later.

Thankfully he had sat through far more boring briefings in his past, so he managed to stay awake, even if his eyes became glassy with the effort of not falling asleep. Legal jargon was always boring though, so the fact he was able to stay awake was honestly kinda impressive, but at least he left a good impression with the lawyers by the end of it. Better yet, most of the rules they'd laid out were common sense stuff for the most part, although the addition of powers made things…a bit more complicated as was to be expected. Thank God he wasn't a Master, although being what amounted to a WMD, even if he hadn't shown off that part of his power yet, would make his life interesting once it became public knowledge.

Still, good impression or not, he was all too happy to leave the PRT owned law offices at his back the moment he was allowed to leave. Which left him with lots of time on his hands… and little idea on what to do outside of finishing his shopping anyway. The PRT had made clear that he was expected to keep a low profile for the time being, but that didn't mean he couldn't patrol and simply act like a Good Samaritan without any powers. He was still a highly trained Marine after all, even if no one knew that in this world.

Besides, it only made sense to familiarize himself with the neighborhood.

He started by visiting the small shops within line of sight of his apartment, he could easily get to any of them within moments if need be, and as it turned out, one of those sold some really tasty Italian. Next up was a small walk through the nearby park, which led to the local supermarket, offering a bit of everything, and within shouting distance to boot of his new apartment… well at least at night when the sound of traffic decreased somewhat at least. Better still was the fact that everyone was friendly and welcoming once he introduced himself to those that asked, telling them he'd moved into the area. If he hadn't already had incentive to protect this part of New York with every breath in his body, he would've certainly had it after so many kind people had made him feel welcome. But like any city, New York wasn't without its issues, and that was even more true in Worm as he heard the sound of an alarm in the distance.

"And I was having such a good day too." He sighed before leaving his bags on a bench right outside of a barber's shop. He wondered for a moment how his watchers he knew were tailing him would react before taking off at a run that was just shy of being superhuman. He ran down the sidewalk before turning the corner without missing a step, using the corner of the building to help get him around it by simply grabbing hold as he ran past. He was just in time to see a masked man and his buddy, pistols held on a jewelry store clerk, start to run towards a parked car across the street, a pack full of their stolen loot and jewels slung over one man's back. Dion wasted no time in ripping the top off a trash can before throwing it like a frisbee, making Captain America proud in the same instant as he followed after his improvised projectile.

The closer of the two gunmen never saw it coming before the trash can lid bounced off the side of his head before Dion managed to jerk the other man's gun up and away by his wrist, slamming his forehead into the second thug's nose. Just as quickly, he swept the second man's feet out from under him for good measure before effortlessly dismantling the man's gun, having snatched the weapon out of his limp wrist as he fell before he kicked the first man across the face when he started to get up. Just as easily he dismantled and disarmed the other pistol before tossing the pieces off to the side, far out of their reach.

Only once he was sure they were out of commission did Dion snatch up the pack full of their ill gotten goods before going to the store the two thugs had come out of, his free hand held up in a placating gesture. He needn't have bothered though as the woman working the front desk came out with a cry of relief when she saw he'd not only stopped the thugs, but gotten everything they'd stolen. "Th-thank you! Thank you so much!" She cried out, hugging him tightly as he patted her on the back with a smile.

"You're safe." He assured her softly, speaking slowly and calmly, doing his best to prevent a panic attack in the woman while those that had witnessed the whole thing applauded his quick takedown of the two thugs. He looked up, past her shoulders into one of the large mirrors at the back of the shop, giving him an unobstructed field of view of the street behind him, just in time to see a seemingly random jogger round the corner and join the onlookers that had already gathered.

Unlike the wide eyed amazement they displayed however, the man merely took it all in with a calculating expression, before turning sideways, mouthing something off into the air. Earwig then, or some kinda subdermal comms device anyway, but whatever it ended up being, Dion was certain that the Protectorate's superiors were being informed of his actions. Oh well, he wasn't about to just stand by and do nothing, so if they wanted to raise a stink about it, then he'd just deal with whatever they decided to do. He had faith they wouldn't be too upset about it though since he'd been careful not to show off his powers outside of his costume, that and he'd done something good here. That should be all that mattered at the end of the day.

Regardless, the shop clerk, while loath to leave his side, at least allowed Dion to lead her back to her shop before waiting for the police to show up where she could see him. He was happy to stay though, especially since it made her feel better, although he was very vocal about refusing a reward for his good deed. "I only did what I thought was right." He stated with a gentle shake of his head. "I'm not about to start taking advantage since that would just defeat the purpose."

"St-still, there must be som-"

"Just live a happy, full life, free of fear." He said with a warm smile towards the store clerk. "That will be reward enough."

"I-I'll try." The woman replied, wiping away a few lingering tears while Dion heard the sounds of sirens in the distance.

"Looks like the cavalry's on its way." He murmured, curious to know if one of the civilians had called, or if one of his watchers had. Not that it mattered he supposed, only that he had a statement to give.

Something told him he'd be doing that a lot in his new life.

End Notes: All in all, this chapter went a lot better than I thought it would, although I owe Nomad-117 crystalwatcher for the help since I got myself stuck a few times along the way. Still, all told I'm a lot happier with this chapter for the most part than a few of the previous ones I've done up to this point. We also got a glimpse of the 'Batties', you can probably blame Silverstrike for the stupid name to their gang lol, as they wait and prepare for the perfect chance to make our boy's life difficult. You can also thank Nomad for their powers and names since, despite his intense dislike for all things Worm, and I can hardly blame him given our shared experiences with the fandom in a previous story I was doing, he was the one to come up with the lot of them after I gave him what information I could about how powers work in this fucked up world. At any rate though, see ya for now folks!

P.S. Also…PHO comments are still more than welcome, especially since I'm sure the Simurgh masquerading as a normal person online would have a few things to say about our boy by now. Just saying! Lol anyway, take care folks!