The Maggia!

Adrian watched the news of his deeds of last week with a raised brow. The number of times he was caught on camera was only once or twice, and so far he has only shown the ability to make objects out of light and control shadows. And the name Equinox was indeed quite good, he really liked it.

And he was a bit at peace as well because he literally stopped every single crime taking place around New York. His enhanced hearing wasn't just for show after all. And same for his eyesight and sense of smell. The smoke around was annoying for him, but it didn't stop him from finding what he wanted to look for.

But right now Adrian was more worried about Clark since it was reported that Superman stopped a bank heist and the armed men were actually carrying something similar to sonic cannons. And one thing the weapons had in common was a signature below them, which said Toyman. Adrian certainly didn't expect the first supervillain his brother would face would be Toyman of all people, but since this is the first time for Clark to face these lunatics, he couldn't help but be worried.

But Clark had to fly on his own since that is what it takes to be the future Symbol of Hope. And it's not like Adrian doesn't have his own share of problems. The Maggia, one of the oldest crime families of New York, have imported many weapons, stuff like bombs, hand grenades, and RPGs to deal with what they call 'a freakish nuisance'. Adrian's eye twitched when he overheard their plans, but he knew very well this wouldn't be the last time he would be hearing things like these so it was best to learn to ignore the barking dogs.

As for the import, he decided to deal with them before they even came into the city, while placing hints in NYPD about corrupt cops. The mayor already showed that he made decisions based on money and not a necessity, so he was already on the hitlist. Other than that, Adrian decided to make a bold move. He won't be like the other heroes which only worked in one city. No, he would deal with the ones who have seeped claws globally and couldn't be dealt with just by dealing with one branch off theirs in New York.

But these guys are suckers in his opinion. Finding proof on them was really hard, as they don't associate themselves with the dirty business and have a bright public front. And proving good guys bad was one of the most difficult tasks a many admire them for what they do in the light.

And to collect solid proof, letting Aegis hack their servers wouldn't be enough at all. New York's crime rate suffered a lot because of being neighbors of Gotham and the majority of 'trades' via the docks originated from New York, so that was the first stop for Adrian to cut these drug shipments into the city.

"Aegis, inform me of any development in this department. and also put the development of a non-harmful hallucinogen to replace these things slowly before finding ways to prevent one's addiction" Adrian said, looking at a holographic map of New York in front of him, trying to map out the most dangerous to least dangerous areas.

[Done sir, I would like to remind you that mother asked you to pick gifts for the neighbor's birthday party,] Aegis reminded.

"Will do, how did getting data from STAR labs about the Mother Box go?" Adrain hummed and asked.

[Useless. They couldn't find anything at all,] She said to him.

"And the particle accelerator?"

[Should blow up in about two months,] She replied.

"Hmm, as important as the explosion is to the timeline, we need to find a way to prevent casualties as I'm not sure if absorbing the Speed Force won't have consequences for me and render me unable to help them," Adrian said with a thoughtful look.

[Maybe informing Clark when it starts would be good,] Aegis said her opinion.

"Yeah, should work," Adrian nodded in agreement but stopped after he heard some cries and screams a few miles away.

[Sir, we have a problem,] Aegis said showing a no. armored military cars hijacked by maggia henchmen getting chased by NYPD and the gunfire was continuing through the streets.

In a millisecond of seeing this, Adrian appeared at the exact location of the shootout the next movement as Equinox, flying above the scene, and lifted his hand. The car's tires got trapped by shadows, stopping them immediately. His eyes roamed around the area, spotting any bullets and creating light barriers stopping them, while also placing small barriers inside the mounted guns over the armored cars and the ones the grunts held, stopping the ammo from switching into the fire barrel.

He narrowed his eyes while staring at the scene happening below him in slow motion. His patrol did hit criminals hard so he had no doubt they would retaliate, but he didn't consider them to do it this soon, or rather out in the open, since they preferred to deal in the dark. But what he needed was to get these dragged into the court for their crimes, not just get destroyed people like them are the annoying ones that try again and again.

The shadows seeped into the doors and unlocked them. Hearing the lock opening snapped the men inside and recovered from the stunning state because of the sudden brake. But before they could do anything, the gates opened and shadows leaped at them. They were completely helpless against them and got dragged out by them. The people panicking around finally calmed down, though most of them were still in shock as some saw a literal bullet floating in front of them, its tip collapsed against a silvery barrier.

The police cars also stopped and all men stepped out to see the mafia members getting dragged out by shadows, and some light barriers blocking bullets. It took them no time to figure out who was responsible to stop them, after all, there is only one guy in New York who could control shadows.

Adrian, or Equinox, quickly knocked the guys inside the shadows and threw them out towards the cops, and disappeared from there. He was more interested in Maggia's sudden interest and ways to obtain weapons because even if he involved the FBI to cease incoming weapons in New York, it would be of no use if Maggia attacks them to get it later. And even if he stops them, some deaths would be inevitable.

Sweeping his gaze around to see anyone suspicious, he left before getting spotted by someone. It wasn't the right time to interact with them after all. The police were unable to spot Equinox and apprehend the knocked-out criminals, while more forces came to cease the area and increase the security of the captured criminals. They already had a complicated outlook of Equinox, having powers and making them look useless, but they had to give him one as he stopped them quickly and prevented a chase that might have turned bloody.

Arthur Hall, the captain of NYPD, looked at the footage of the cars getting engulfed in shadows and the men getting taken out o them, which was caught by a dashcam in a police car. "How's the interrogation going?" He asked the man beside him, Lucius Fest, Lieutenant of NYPD 11th Precinct, where the chase took place.

"Except the fact we deduced they are men of the Maggia from their tattoos, nothing," Lucius answered.

Hall silently sat on his chair with closed eyes for a while and asked, "Tell me, Lieutenant, what do you think of our vigilante?" He asked.

"I... have mixed opinions sir," Fest answered. Hall opened his eyes and nodded him to continue. "On one hand he is clearly acting outside the law, taking justice in his own hands. But again, I cannot help but agree with the fact that what he had done since the last week has indeed saved people," He answered.

"I see," Hall nodded hearing him. Then he looked towards Fest's right and asked 'What do you think, Officer Felps" He asked Mark Felps, an officer of the 11th precinct.

"Well sir, he is clearly helping, so can't we count this in citizen arrest?" He gave his opinion.

"Citizen arrest is applicable on one person once, or twice, but again and again is not applicable officer." He told him, "This guy is dangerous, and even if he's helping, it's our responsibility to enforce the law, and he's breaking it," He announced. " Equinox is just that -- a vigilante. Doesn't matter if he's out there to stop criminals or to help them. Even if he is on our side, what he's doing is illegal."

Arthur hall said that to the two people."From now on, whenever any officer spots Equinox, they will arrest him immediately. that's an order," He said standing up, "That's an official order."

""Yes Sir!"" They both said with a salute and left his office. Hall sighed and sat back while massaging his temples. As much as he appreciated the superpowered guy helping the NYPD, he was a Captain and it was his responsibility to enforce the laws, and he couldn't play favorites, or he wouldn't be different from those corrupt officers.

He picked up his teacup to drink but paused seeing a folder below it, which clearly wasn't supposed to be there. And above it was a folded slip of paper. he picked it up and found it to be a message, which said,

'Well said, I admire your devotion to your duty, sir, even if you did order to hunt me down. But I more or less expected that, so don't worry. I would ask you to be patient and not act rashly in case you come across the news of me killing someone because that is crossing too many lines for me, I can assure you that. As to the main reason I wrote this, lets you'll find the file below... interesting

-Equinox'

Hall stared at the letter without blinking. No matter how he looked at it, the letter indicated Equinox heard what he said, and that was just 5 seconds ago. And how the hell did he even manage to get in?

Narrowing his eyes, he picked up the file and started reading it, but the content made his eyes get wider and wider. The file contained information of many corrupt officers with documented as well as some pen drives attached as proof. And not only that, but it also contained information of corrupt members of various charity or welfare organizations, and even people of the Mayor's office, including the mayor himself.

Hall felt like a dam burst in his mind. All the information was too much for him to handle. But he definitely couldn't ignore it, and he knew that is why Equinox gave him that. 'That bastard' Hall thought before shaking his head. For now, he had to confirm if the information on the file was indeed real or not.