4 Chapter 4: Road Rage
(AN: Sorry chapter came a little late, had a morning shift today.)
Right now, Jack was in a major pinch. A moment where he was forced to make a decision that would change his life forever. As he tried his best to keep his eyes up, the enemy was speeding around him at very high speeds, pummeling him from all sides.
It was an old man, and the only counter to his quirk was a terrible one. For the past ten minutes, he tried fighting him blindly but it just wasn't working, the old man was practically a low-grade speedster and while he did zero actual damage to Jack, he couldn't land any proper hits against the old man either.
"HA HA! You're useless in front of my awesome power. Fear me, for I am a mighty god!" The old man had already monologued the weakness of his quirk, but Jack couldn't bring himself to use it.
For you see, the old man was buck naked, his wrinkly everything hanging and flopping every which way. Jack had so far avoided looking at it, but that's actually the source of the problem.
"What's wrong? Afraid to stare at my derriere?" Yes. The counter to his speed quirk, was looking at him. Specifically, his junk, which would halt his movements entirely. And it wouldn't activate at all unless he was naked. Such was the terror of the quirk known as Streaking Angel.
Jack had already tried looking at his eyes, it didn't work. And he couldn't use the Penance Stare outside of point blank range. They were in a meat butchery, if only to add to the grossness of it all, the flobby old man being akin to the hanging cows around them.
Suddenly, as he was staring up, Jack saw a chain hanging from the ceiling and had an idea. Jumping up, he grabbed it. As his hands made contact with it, flames spread across it almost automatically. Swinging it in a wide arc, the old man had nowhere to run as it lashed across his face, scarring it.
Taking advantage of the quick opening, Jack darted over and stared him in the eyes without looking lower. In his eyes, he saw many sick things, including the old man's internet browser history.
Instead of bothering with trying to get the court to make this man unable to go within 600 feet of the local elementary school, he decided to just end him here and now. "There will be no kid diddlers on my watch."
And with that, he left the scene without looking back, chain in hand as it was still covered in hellfire. Judging from what he had seen, he'd need this tomorrow. And a damn good plan too.
Later that night, the poor lady investigating him also had to respond to that scene. The worst part was, the old man had looked at his own crotch right before he died, burning the memory into her mind.
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With a full eight days of activity, word was finally leaking out to the public about a vigilante killing villains. It was mostly rumors, and to a very minor degree, but it was like a kick in the ass to the investigator to get moving and catch this guy.
However, they were stuck with another major problem that even she got pulled away to deal with. Rather, she was partially involved in discovering the problem. As they were investigating the old man's house, she noticed a stack of cash left in a safe. When she touched it without her glove, she saw the history of it.
She always does this upon finding suspicious cash, to see if it was obtained illegally. And this time was no different. The old man had actually secretly kidnapped a few kids and handed them over to god knows who in exchange for a lot of cash. They had no idea when or where this was happening.
What she did know, is that a glimpse of the act was also in his sins reviewed in the stare, though she couldn't make out what it was at the time. The vigilante, whom they refused to name lest they give him any form of recognition, knew about the kids.
And if she knew anything from the guys he had hunted the last couple nights, several of them having known each other in one way or another, it was that he had a way to track them. Find the vigilante, find the kids.
Even in another job, she ended up looping back to needing to deal with this damned vigilante. 'When I find this guy I swear I will bring back the old days of police brutality on his ass.'
Due to the urgency of the situation, and the fact that those kids could be leaving this state any day now, she had several heroes on call to get moving later that night. One of them was coming in to her office right now.
High Flier walked in, and right away she could smell the alcohol on him. She had a feeling he was drinking away his fears from that first night, but this was excessive. Having recently looked back through the sight of the money for any more information, her glove was still off when she shook his hand.
Her ability, Seeing Hand, was basically clairvoyance that activated upon touching inanimate objects, making corpses fit in that category. Sadly for her, the remnants on High Flier's hand from his 'me time' also fit that category, and she nearly slapped him then and there.
With him spending extra time at home, it seems he had a little too much free time on his hands. All over them, in fact.
With this alone, she almost hated High Flier as much as she hated the vigilante. Almost. If she could help it she'd arrest them both some day.
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Once night finally came, Jack put his jacket on and left via the roof. The best way to save the kids would be while they're in transit, and they'd obviously only be moving tonight.
This was his first and only chance, no fuck ups. As he looked around, the city, he could see the silhouette's of several heroes in the distance patrolling the skies. This was way more than usual so he knew they knew something, but he couldn't just leave this to them so he had to join the fray.
First thing's first, he wasn't gonna be able to do this without a set of wheels. Luckily, he knew just the ones to grab. Stopping at a nearby bar, Jack looked over the vehicles parked there and his eyes immediately shot to one in particular.
He didn't know the specifics, but this ended up being a 2008 FXDWG Dyna Wide Glide Harley Davidson. This motor cycle, in all it's silvery shiney glory on the handles and exhaust, with it's body panted black, screamed to him 'Take me.'
And take it he did. The second he mounted it, his hellfire powers kicked in once more as the motorcycle roared to life. Rather than fumes, the exhaust now spit flames, as did the wheels with every turn.
One sniff in the air was all he took to catch the trail of the truck taking the kids, and Jack throttled his new Hell Cycle and took it to full speed, the roar of it's engine catching as much attention as the flames on the road and on his head.
A lot of public attention would be on his head after this, but to save those kids he had to make this move. The sacrifice would be worth it in the end.
The first hero to notice him was the Harpy Hero, Skylar, a lady in a skin tight leotard with large bird wings for arms. Luckily she could transform them to and back, otherwise those wings would suck to live with. "I've got eyes on the vigilante, he appears to have a flaming motorcycle so good luck missing him. He's very fast though, I don't think I can keep up for long."
Sitting in a squad car, the investigator was keeping tabs on all the heroes participating in the operation, and acted as their command. "No need, feel free to keep at your own pace and just follow his general direction. You'll need your stamina for the real fight."
As she slowed down, Skylar could only watch in awe as the motorcycle bobbed and weaved through traffic at full speed, not a hint of hesitation in the person steering it. "I can't believe he's actually a flaming skeleton though. How the heck does a guy like that hide?"
"If I knew that he wouldn't be hiding." The investigator clenched her fist in anger. She hated that she needed to rely on this man, even if it was just following him rather than helping him.
But saving those kids came first and she knew that better than anyone. And the fact that he's out tonight, means he does too. As Jack neared the big semi truck, the drivers noticed in their rear view the oncoming demon. "Holy shit what kind of hero is that?!"
The man in the passenger seat looked back as well and paled. "The kind that makes me think you should floor it!"
Floor it he did, but with the truck's limited maneuverability it could only go so fast. This operation relied on secrecy, they weren't well equipped for chases. Well, vehicle wise at least.
Behind the van, three normal looking cars pulled out of traffic towards the oncoming motor cycle, as quirk users leaned out of the windows ready to attack.
"The fight's started, everyone go go GO! Ignore the vigilante if you can, prioritize saving those kids!" At her mark, several cop cars burst onto the scene, and alongside Skylar, two more heroes took the air, High Flier included, being surprisingly decent in a car chase through a city. Of course, this chase soon moved onto a bridge, so both parties could only go straight.
The blaring sirens and airborne heroes cause Jack's attention as he looked up. Soon, police choppers joined the scene as they watched this all unfold. If this wasn't wrapped up soon, the news would arrive as well but nobody really cared about them.
To his right, a thug started shooting balls of hail at Jack, who responded using the chain he had wrapped diagonally across his shoulder. Whipping it off, he swung it in a circle at high speeds until it blurred into looking like a full, flaming wheel, which blocked all the hail.
Feeling creative, he whipped the chain back, and cracked it towards the car. The built up wheel of flame was thrown out and blew up the side of the car, killing the thug. If anyone else was in the car, they probably died too once it flipped a couple times and crashed into a street pole.
The two other cars were occupied by the cops shooting at them, so they mostly stuck inside the car and took a few potshots every now and then.
"I'm familiar with the best defense being a good offense, but that's just overkill!" Skylar said this as she swooped down towards the truck, only to have to dive to the side as a chunk of road was thrown at her.
A villain had climbed out of the truck and stood firmly on top, and he manipulated the earth around the truck as it drove, throwing bits not only as an attack but to make the road harder to navigate too.
'They planned their quirks out well for a fight like this. I had a feeling this was a little more professional, but this may end up being a big mess.' Not many of the people here had high offensive power.
Most people with good quirks were heroes, which means the police didn't have too many people with quirks that were more useful than guns. And the three heroes that were here, were more mobility focused than offensive.
Airport Hero Jet had the power to fire jets out of his feet, but he more used it for aerial rescue. High Flier, was himself and couldn't really break rocks. To her credit, Skylar was able to fire some of her feathers as projectiles, but they took some time to regrow so she could only destroy so many.
Not willing to coldly let officers in the cars get crushed by rocks, or crash and die, he slowed down a little to keep pace with them and whip the rocks out of the sky with his chain, leaving them to only have to worry about steering around the holes in the road.
Watching a rock right in front of her face get broken apart by the flaming chain, the investigator could only admit that he was more heroic than she had thought.
Sadly, if he had to keep this up they'd be in a stalemate, as he couldn't pull forward while needing to defend them. That's when backup arrived.
"NIN NIN MOTHERFUCKER!" Leaping out of the shadows, a man dressed in a black ninja suit that covered his face, slashed out with his sword and cut apart several rocks. He then proceeded to run along the street alongside the cars, with both arms behind his back.
'Wait ain't that the American Ninja Warrior? God I hate that he named himself after that old show, but at least he actually earns the name.'
Yes, this hero was actually a ninja weeb, with a quirk that actually gives him the right to be one, heavily accelerating his body, reflexes and dexterity.
As for why he wasn't here from the start, Ninja Warrior was actually from New Jersey, and ran over when he received emergency contact from Skylar, who was a friend of his.
"I leave protection duty to you!" With only that sentence, Jack leapt off of his bike.
Not wanting to let a good bike go to waste, Ninja Warrior screamed and actually hopped onto it, and threw shurikens to knock away the rocks instead.
Meanwhile, Jack latched his chain onto the back of the truck, and slammed his feet down into the road, dragging a ditch through it in an attempt to slow the truck down.
The rear bumper was nearly ripped off from the initial pull, and the whole truck jolted backward a bit, but it kept trucking along, albeit at a slower pace. This allowed the air team of heroes some leeway, as they could allocate some of their speed to dodging while still keeping up, instead of needing their full speed just to match the truck.
Skylar was then able to close in, and morph her feet into a bird's talons, slashing at him and knocking off the truck. However, she didn't realize she knocked him back to Jack, and looked in horror as Jack held onto the chain in one hand, grabbed the collar of the ground user in the other, and gave him the Penance Stare after finding sufficient sin.
This wasn't just confirming a kill, but with the old man from last night he knew Penance Stares were great for intel too. And this man gave some damn good intel, as he was clearly the strongest one there and thus the most important.
That's when everyone was reminded that he wasn't a hero like they were. And a few onlookers thought, that he was actually better.
No longer having to worry about the rocks, the police got back to shooting at the other thug cars, and the investigator managed to take out one of their tires, and crash a car.
As the final car, the villains inside decided to go big or go home, as one stuck his head out and threw up acid at Jack, to stop him from slowing the truck down.
Taking this as an offense, Jack unhooked the chain and jumped up, crashing into the hood of the car. He slammed his fist through the front window, took the vomitting driver and slammed his head repeatedly into the dash till both broke, the former spraying blood and acid everywhere.
Once he was satisfied, Jack jumped off the hood hard enough to dent it again and flip the car, and landed on top of the truck. He met eyes with the still terrified Skylar, and walking over to the front, gestured to the door.
"Ladies first." Reaching down, he ripped the door off it's hinges, allowing Skylar to swoop down and rip the driver out with her talons. Quickly, Jack swung over the side and kicked in, knocking the passenger out of the other door, and commandeered the truck to a stop.
Once the truck was stopped, the cops surrounded the vehicle, and the investigator moved to open the door.
"Stop. There's one more inside." Having smelt his sin, Jack was sure there was an ambush waiting and stopped the investigator from getting attacked.
"Well how do you expect us to save the kids then?" Not saying anything, Jack just walked to the side, feeling out the final thug's location. He was right on the side of the truck, in the middle, so shooting at him would mean shooting past a few kids.
So instead, Jack just jumped up and punched the metal side, denting it to the point of nearly breaking through, and hitting his head through the metal, knocking him out. He could have potentially done more, but decided to leave bloodshed out of the sight of children.
After giving a gloved thumbs up, the investigator opened the door, and all the female officers and Skylar helped the kids out. It was common knowledge that women were generally the better move for comforting kids, and this situation was no different, especially since Jack was a flaming skeleton.
After the kids were moved to safety, the heroes and cops remained, still surrounding the truck, or more specifically Jack who was next to the truck. "I was wondering when we'd move to this part. Gotta say, respect the professionalism of securing the kids first."
Ninja Warrior climbed off the bike, which was still flaming, and walked towards him. "You aren't mad we're gonna try and arrest you?"
Jack shrugged. "Nah. I know you're just doing your job. And I know you won't succeed." With that, he ran and dived off the bridge.
As he was running, a couple trigger happy cops shot at his legs, only for them to either hit nothing, or hit bone and do nothing anyways.
Once Jack was diving in the air, no one could stop him. Besides the two heroes that could fly, of course.
"Bad move, baldy." Jet flew down first, only for Jack to whip around pissed at the insult, and whip his chain at Jet's leg. It slammed into it hard enough to hurt like crazy, and when Jet jolted his leg in reflex, he lost control and flew away.
Skylar made to pursue, but actually changed her mind and stopped halfway, giving him a light smile as he fell. 'Wait, she didn't want to catch me? But she was super uncomfortable about my killing earlier. Man I'm confused.'
Once he hit the water, it bubbled for a bit and then it went still. The police watched, but he never surfaced. Of course none of them assumed he died, but they had a feeling he was gonna be long gone by the time he resurfaced.
Once he was a ways away, the flaming motorcycle went back to normal, much to Ninja Warrior's dismay. "Aw man, that thing was awesome."
Reporters flooded the scene soon after, asking for statements. "Who was that man? He assisted the heroes, but murdered the villains!" Everyone flinched, as the media was their worst nightmare, even for the heroes who had practice in managing it.
Before anyone could speak up, the investigator answered for them. "The police have no official statement to make at this time. Please await an official press conference later on, and don't harass our heroes, police or otherwise."
With that, she had hoped the headache for the night was over. But it was far from it, in fact.
(AN: Oh that's right boys and girls, this is actually the start to the first arc! Hence the 3000 word chapter, as several of the introduced heroes are gonna be important for later. Also, Streaking Angel wasn't necessary but I just loved the idea too much to pass him up so I made him the intro to the intro to the arc.)
