Chapter 2: The Blur

Arc 1: Out of Shadows

*Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or anything Marvel-related, all I own are my OCs.

November 2009 - New York City

Yesterday was Cedric's first day in New York City and it would definitely be a day that would be etched into his memory for as long as his life would go. He felt that New York was going to be more fun and an overall better experience than what he had in Chicago. It was wrong to say that since he was from Chicago, but something about New York just felt better. The New York-Chicago rivalry transcended more than just their differences when it came to foods like pizza and hot dogs and basketball. For some, there was a mutual dislike mostly because of the pride both had revolving around their star city.

Cedric loved Chicago. He loved the atmosphere. He loved everything about it but he needed to go. It was time to go simply put.

Currently, Cedric sat in his bedroom on the edge of the bed wearing a blue henley sweater with his sleeves rolled up. He wore slim blue jeans with suede brown Chelsea boots, a gold watch with a brown leather strap on his wrist with a gold bracelet on the same wrist. In his hands, he had an 8-point star made of a black granite-like material attached to a black string. He looked down, staring into the palm of his hands.

The necklace was given to him by his mother. It was his father's. The father that was never there to raise him. The father that he never got to see or hug. The father that passed before he was born. Growing up in life without a father was difficult. For multiple reasons. There was no man to teach him how to do the things that a man was supposed to do from a societal point of view. No man to teach him how to shave, how to talk to women, how to drive, etc.

His mom did all that. Her strength, resilience, and drive all made him the man he was today. She was his drive and reason to fight and be a good man. Because of her, he had a fighting chance in the world.

There was a knock at the door followed by his aunt's voice saying, "Cedric, baby, I made a fresh pot of coffee, if you'd like some.".

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be out in a minute." He shouted as he put the necklace around his neck. Placing a hand over the pendant, letting out a deep exhale as he looked down at the ground while collecting his thoughts. Although Cedric never met his father, the legacy he left behind was something that Cedric had to uphold and build off of.

Cedric stood up and grabbed his phone, placing it in his pocket, just to make his way to the door, pulling on the handle and pulling it open. He made his way out of the bedroom and walked through the hallway, making his way to the kitchen.

"Good morning nephew. Did you sleep well?" She asked as she saw him walk around the corner into the kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am. Slept like a baby." He said as he walked towards her giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"That's good. What's on the agenda today?" She asked pouring them both cups of coffee.

"I have a meeting with Miles Maverick at 2. And that's really about it. I don't have to go to the office today so I can chill around the house, maybe go and run some errands and get some stuff done." He walked to the fridge to grab the creamer out the fridge. He gently placed the creamer down on the counter and continued to fix his cup of the caffeinated beverage.

"Well, I'm gonna make a list for you, if you don't mind. Tonight around 8 I got a few of my girls coming over. We're gonna discuss some of the gigs that I have lined up for them." She said as she poured some of the creamer and put some sugar in both of their coffee cups.

"So in other words, leave you alone and stay out of the way." He said mixing it before taking a soothing sip of the caffeinated drink.

"Yeah. And don't try your luck with any of them. They aren't your way through the virgin rite of passage." He coughed as he almost choked on his drink. He wiped his mouth and looked up at her with a confused frown on her face.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"They aren't gonna be the way you lose your virginity."

"And what makes you think I'm a virgin?"

"You are one, aren't you?" He didn't answer and simply raised his mug to his lips taking a sip as she frowned looking at him with eyes of shock.

"You're not? Since when?" She asked before playfully punching him in the arm. And just before Cedric was about to speak, the reporter on the TV took both their attention away forcing them to both look at the reporter on the TV.

"Last night, reports of a mysterious Black-and-Blue Blur were seen stopping an armed robbery. The store owner reports seeing this Blur…" Cedric looked down at the counter as he took a sip of his coffee. He turned his head slightly seeing his aunt staring at him with a look. A look that made him take a deep breath getting ready for the verbal beatdown he was about to suffer.

"Cedric Anthony Harvey."

"Look, I can explain-"

"Explain what?! Explain how you used your powers without deliberately thinking about the outcome?!"

"Well, it seems like you answered your own question," He said earning a glare from his aunt making him gulp before attempting to explain his actions, "What's the problem here? You told me yesterday that I was a gift. That I was a symbol of hope."

"That didn't mean you should go down a path full of vigilantism."

"Relax Auntie, I'm not a vigilante," He said as he looked down at the counter and whispered, "yet."

"Yet? You plan on doing this again?"

"Yeah, I do. I have a chance to help people. There are millions of people around the world who need a hand, who am I to deny them that opportunity." He wanted to help people. He wanted to be that savior that they needed.

"I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like I disagree with you. The thing I'm worried about is your mom. While I can agree with you doing this, she might not. And she'll be furious if she found out that I allowed you to go on with this."

"So just act like you don't know."

"That's gonna be hard. For one, I could never really lie to your mother. And another thing, this is probably gonna be a national story."

"Damn." She was right when she said, he didn't think it through. He just went for it and now he was gonna have to deal with the consequences one way or another.

"Look, I'm gonna suggest a way to handle this. Just talk to her. Tell her the truth and tell her what you wanna do. I'm sure she'll understand."

"I hope you're right. It felt good to help."

"Why now?" He looked down at the countertop as he placed a hand over the star hanging from around his neck.

"I did this before. Growing up in Chicago, I learned how to control my abilities by using them to help people. On the streets, I was called the Chi-Town Phantom." He chuckled hearing the name come from his own mouth.

"It's a stupid name but the name gave people hope. Mom didn't know about it then and she still doesn't know. But since I've stopped, I hear the voices again. Every night," He paused, getting choked up as he fought back the tears.

"I hear the screams of people who need help, who need my help. And I used to be able to tune them out but I can't anymore. I can't let them end up like her," He said as, despite his best efforts, he felt the tears come streaming from his eyes, trailing down his cheeks.

Who is she?"

"Her name was April. April Montgomery. She and I were a thing in my freshman year but it didn't really work out. But we stayed friends. She knew my secret and she always believed in me. Believing that I would always be the one to save her. I moved overseas for a year. During that year, she was alone one night walking through the city." Cedric clenched his fist, letting a deep sigh before finishing his explanation.

"And she got mugged and she tried to fight, screaming my name. Screaming for me to come save her but I was too late. By the time I got there, she was already dead. I was too damn slow and I couldn't save her. I failed to save her. I won't let anyone end up like her." He felt the soft touch of his aunt's hand soothingly rubbing his back trying to make him feel better.

"I have no doubt that you will save the world and everyone in it. But for now, I want you to focus small. Just focus on the city. Alright. Can you do that for me?" She asked, making him lift his head and turn to look at her.

"Yes, ma'am." He answered as she wiped away the tears and leaned in kissing him on the forehead, making him smile.

"Now, if you're gonna do this. We gotta make sure that nobody connects Cedric Harvey and the Black-and-Blue Blur or Phantom, whatever you're calling yourself. So come with me." She said, grabbing ahold of his hand, making him frown in confusion as she started to pull him to the door.

"Where are we going?"

"Consider this a closet make-over." His aunt said as she grabbed her purse and keys from the table beside the door and opened the door still pulling by his wrist as he shook his head and sighed as he closed the door behind them.

After what felt like forever, Our here was finally finished with the shopping spree that his aunt made him partake in. She helped him buy some clothes that she felt would make him look slimmer including suits, button-down shirts, polos, sweaters, and a few pairs of slim-fitting jeans. The purpose was to make him look slimmer so nobody would connect the dots.

After all that shopping, they stopped grabbed lunch, and got a cab to the Maverick Industries Headquarters. Currently, he stood inside the elevator arms crossed as he stood there patiently with a woman with pale skin standing just about a foot or two away from him. She was a tad bit shorter than him, standing about 5'8 with dark brown hair with brown eyes. She was dressed professionally in a black pencil skirt with a white button-up and a pair of black glasses on her face.

He patiently tapped his foot on the floor before the elevator doors opened with a ding.

"Ladies, first.' He said as he held a hand out motioning for her to go first. Manners was something that was sort of like a lost skill nowadays. Most men and women in today's generation didn't really have manners. In a way, it felt as technology advanced, humanity declined in terms of manners and so much more. But that didn't stop Cedric from being a man with manners. That and if he didn't his mother would have his head on a stake. One thing about his mother, she didn't play when it came to having manners, being respectful, or school. She wasn't having it and she didn't care what abilities he had, she was still gonna check him if she felt the need.

The woman didn't say anything and just walked right past him. He sighed as he walked out of the elevator and walked the same way, he remembered going to the office of the one and only, Miles Maverick. On the way, a woman caught his attention. She was a 5'4, blonde woman with a tanned undertone with long blonde hair with sky blue eyes that a man could seemingly get lost in. She was wearing a pair of black eyebrows with a black pencil skirt and a blue button-up shirt.

She looked up at him, flashing him a toothy grin before her eyes went back to staring at the papers in her hands. Cedric smirked as he watched her walk past him, turning his head as she passed him and stopping in his tracks as he watched her walk away. Her head looked up and she turned to look at him once more with a smile. Her gaze on him unfortunately proved to be a distraction and caused her to bump into another co-worker.

"Watch where the hell you're going," her co-worker rudely said as he simply walked past her looking down as she was on her knees trying to quickly grab the papers she dropped.

Cedric saw this and shook his head and made his way to her, to help her pick up her papers. He made sure to thrust his shoulder into her co-worker's shoulder but not too hard, he didn't want to hurt the bastard, he just wanted to prove a point. The man gripped his shoulder as he turned his head looking at Cedric with a frown while Cedric kneeled and quickly reached and started grabbing some of the papers. Their hands reached for the same paper and for a split second, they touched, causing them both to quickly pull their hands back.

"Sorry, I'm a bit of a klutz."

"No, you're fine. I understand completely. That dick should've at least stopped and helped."

"Well to be fair, I was the one who actually should've been watching where I was going. My eyes were too busy focusing on something else or someone rather," She said with another smile causing Cedric to smirk. Cedric stood up and offered her hand to help her up to her feet. She took his hand and allowed him to help her up to her feet.

"My name's Skye Danvers."

"Cedric Harvey."

"Is this your first day here?"

"No, I don't actually work here. I have a meeting with Miles Maverick."

"You're the architect he hired for the new building, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"He sent out a memo telling us that he plans on creating a new building. He listed your name and some of your work and I have to say, it's impressive."

"Thank you."

'"Well, I won't hold you too long, he doesn't like waiting," She said before she started walking away but before she got too far, he quickly reached out and gently grabbed her wrist.

"Do you think it would be cool if I got your number?"

"Yeah sure." He smiled as he reached in his pocket, taking his phone out and unlocking it for her to put her phone number into his phone. He handed the phone back to him and walked away with a smile leaving him with a smirk on his face.

Two numbers in the span of two days, Cedric was beginning to like the woman of New York more than Chicago. He turned and kept going on his way to the office of the CEO of Maverick Industries. He lightly knocked on the door and stood there waiting for a response.

"Come in." He heard, making him exhale before he pushed on the glass door and walked into the office, seeing Miles sitting at his desk looking down at some piece of paper with the same woman that Cedric saw in the elevator standing next to him. Miles looked up seeing Cedric giving him a friendly smile as he quickly signed the paper and handed it to the woman.

"Cedric, I'm glad you could join me. I would like to introduce to you my new assistant, Ms. Eveline Andrews," Miles said, introducing his assistant who looked up at Cedric. He offered a hand for a handshake which she shook and quickly turned her attention back to her boss.

"Would that be all Mr. Maverick?"

"Yes, Ms. Andrews." She nodded and walked past Cedric to leave the office. Cedric peeked over his shoulder as she walked out of the door and turned his attention back to Miles.

"She's quiet, a bit intimidating if I'm being honest," Cedric said as he walked towards the desk taking a seat in one of the chairs as Miles stood up and walked towards his bar to fix a drink.

"You know what I like about her? She's a woman who knows what she wants and is willing to do anything for it. She understands the concept of power. Thirsty?"

"No, thank you." Miles nodded and turned around to fix his glass. "Power is something we all want. Some have it and some don't. The ones that do often find themselves in a fight to always protect it from the ones who don't. But everyone and a while, the scales get tipped and there's a shift. Like when my father tragically passed. God rest his soul, he left me this company and since then I have turned it into a superpower that everyone wants a part of."

"Power can be a dangerous thing. It can ruin good men," Cedric said with a straight face looking at the billionaire.

Miles heard this and smirked as he took a seat in his chair and leaned back taking a sip of his drink.

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. You wanna know the oldest lie in America? It's that power can be innocent. Power has never been for the weak of heart or the good, it's only for the strong, and sometimes the strong aren't good."

Cedric opened his mouth as if he were about to say something but he heard something on the large flat screen TV that Miles had in his office.

"And we've yet to receive information on this mysterious "Black-and-Blue" Blur. But some sources say they remember seeing…." Cedric's attention ended up fading out as he turned to look at Miles who was chuckling.

"That's a perfectly good example of what I was saying. Power isn't for the weak of heart or the good, The Blur being a good man is simply a cover-up. A cover-up for something else. A cover-up for someone else."

"And what if he's actually a good man?"

"If man is all-powerful, he cannot be all good. And if he's all good, he cannot be all-powerful," Miles said, taking a sip at his drink as a smirk snaked its way on Cedric's face.

"I got a feeling, you didn't invite me here just to talk about power and to talk about some vigilante."

"You're right, I didn't. I invited you over here to discuss some ideas that I have."

"Alright, let's hear it," Cedric responded as he crossed his legs and grabbed a pen and a notepad to begin taking notes as the billionaire talked about his ideas.

Finally, Cedric made it home after what felt like an all-day event talking with Miles about not only the new Maverick Tower that he was designing but also hearing the billionaire take on power and "The Blur". Miles made it crystal clear what he thought about "The Blur". Apparently, he had been trying to do some research on "The Blur" but there was nothing but speculated news reports.

This meant that he was going to be under the watchful eyes of Mies Maverick, which meant he had to be extra careful when it came to protecting his identity.

Cedric walked into the penthouse with a frown. He had the place to himself which was a good thing. It gave him time to be able to do a few things before his aunt and her models came home.

One of those things was gonna be to take a nap. He walked through the penthouse to his bedroom, closing the door behind himself. He took off his sweater and threw it into the hamper in the corner of his room and laid down on his bed placing his head on a pillow, closing his eyes, and letting his body sink into the mattress. He took a deep breath as he relaxed into the sweet comfort of his bed and slowly started to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Cedric's eyes slowly peeled themselves open. His dark brown irises set on a red sky. His eyes roamed the sky looking at the clouds that roamed around in the red sky. Cedric rolled over onto his side, feeling an aching pain in his body. He was on the ground. On a ground filled with rubble. He could see the rubble of what looked to be fallen buildings. He sat up groaning as he sat up and continued to look around. He looked down at his body seeing himself wearing a pair of black jeans with a black v-neck and combat boots. He stood up with a frown on his face seeing the destruction around him.

A white M logo managed to catch his eyes, making him look at it with a bit of confusion. He ran towards the logo, grabbing some of the rocks and throwing them off to the side as he saw the Maverick Industries logo making him frown.

"What the hell?" He said as he saw the logo on the ground. He looked up into the sky seeing a being with golden armor and a golden gauntlet with colorful gems in the gauntlet, floating up in the sky.

"You can save them. You can save all of them." He heard making him turn around to see April. The woman that he failed to save. April was a 5'8 African American woman with black curly hair and brown eyes.

"April-" He reached out for her but a blinding white light caused him to groan as he looked away while everything faded away.

Cedric bolted up in fear with a gasp as he panted for his breath. Cedric looked around at the house and immediately brought his attention up to the clock hanging up on the wall seeing that it was 7:54 PM before he ran his hand over his face, obviously still

reeling from his dream.

"Damn." He said, shaking the cobwebs away. It was the nighttime now which meant it was time for "The Blur" to come out and make his appearance. He stood up and walked towards his closet to grab some clothes. More specifically something black and blue. He quickly changed in his room putting on a pair of black jeans and a blue v-neck with a pair of black Air Force 1s. He placed his hand over the star pendant that he had hanging around his neck.

He sighed as he closed his eyes, still thinking about the dream he had. He opened his eyes and reached into the closet grabbing his leather jacket so he could roll out. He put his hand on the door handle and pulled the door, walking through the doorway out into the hallway.

If he didn't have his hearing ability, he still would've been hear the girls from his bedroom. The source of all the noise was coming from the living room. He walked through the hall and into the living room seeing about 6 or 7 beautiful girls all in the room sitting on the floor and the couch as his aunt sat in a seat with her legs folded as she had a pair of glasses and a clipboard in her hand.

"Hey auntie, I'm about to get ready to roll out." He said as he set his eyes on her despite all the beautiful vixens in the room.

"Oh, hey nephew. Before you go, I want to introduce you to the girls. Girls, this is my nephew, Cedric. Cedric, the ladies." His aunt introduced as Cedric's eyes traveled around the room seeing the beautiful ladies.

"Hey." He heard them say in what felt like unison. He could feel their eyes staring a hole into their soul. Practically undressing him with their eyes. He smiled and waved around the room.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm gonna head out for a bit and see the city."

"Okay, be careful," She said as he nodded and turned around almost bumping into a woman that he recognized but luckily he was able to stop himself before he started moving. It was Mikayla. And she looked beautiful, dressed in a pair of skinny black jeans and an olive green crop top with a pair of timbs.

"Hi," He said with a smile.

"Hey. Where you off to?"

"I'm heading out just to see the city. See what the city has to offer."

"Well, have fun. Let me know if you get bored," She said, giving him a wink as she placed a hand on his chest before walking around slowly dragging her hand off his chest. He peeked over his shoulder watching as she walked away with a smirk. He turned around and watched as she walked to her seat, eyes landing on him. His gaze set up on his aunt who looked at him with a frown. She probably didn't like seeing him flirt with one of her models but it was something about Mikayla that was just different and piqued his interest.

His gaze once more found Mikayla and he gave her a wink before turning around to leave the penthouse. He walked out of the front door and turned his head looking to see a door labeled stairs. He walked through the door to the staircase. Cedric's eyes looked around just to make sure there were no cameras. He bolted up the flights of stairs and bolted through the door to the roof. He put on his jacket and walked toward the ledge. He stepped up onto the ledge, looking out over his city dressed as "The Black-and-Blue Blur" getting ready to do some work to help the people of his new city.

Cedric took a deep breath, closing his eyes. As he released his breath, he opened his eyes which were glowing with blue energy. Tonight New York City was about to get saved by "The Blur".

A/N: Alright so it took me a little while to write this chapter, I apologize for that. It's been a long week for me with work and classes and I'm just glad that I was able to get this chapter out this week. Skye is a new OC of mine who is the niece of Carol Danvers and she'll play a part in this story as the story progresses.

Castings:

Skye Danvers - Nicola Peltz

Eveline Andrews - Hailee Steinfeld

April Montgomery - Amandla Stenberg

Later Guys and Gals!