'Damsel' in Distress

"Thank you for the dinner, ma'am." It was quite late by the time I decided to leave and well, Gwen's father did suggest that I could crash at one of her brother's room for the night.

But I didn't feel like imposing.

"And thank you for your time, sir."

Thankfully, her father wasn't as strict as I initially thought.

He was still strict, just not unbearable.

"It was nice to have you over, Michael." He gave a smile, somehow it looked genuine.

Don't ask me how I knew, it just felt genuine.

"You can come over whenever you want, Michael." Gwen's mom was lovely, especially the food she cooked.

"I will walk with you to the cab." Gwen offered, but it was quite late.

"It is pretty late." I said, "You don't have to go out." I suggested, "It's not that safe."

Especially after the recent drug cases that I heard of.

"It's fine," She said, "I won't go too far. Just till the main road."

Her father looked at her, "Michael is right. A few drug cases were reported a few days ago and we did catch the suppliers but there might still be some people out there." He said, "So, do not go past the main road."

"I won't, I promise." She showed a bright smile. "So, shall we go then?"

She looked at me with her bright eyes and well, it was difficult to say no.

"Well… Sure, let's go."

It was nice to have a friend.

Moving out of the house, I noticed that the place was a bit brighter than usual.

"They installed more lights." Gwen said, "The place looks quite better now."

It was true.

The place was brighter than ever, and I always enjoyed the night view of the city.

So, this was a welcomed change.

Even if it was thanks to a few drug dealers.

"Thanks for coming tonight."

"I should be thanking you for the hospitality, especially the food." Walking through the pavement, I realized that we were almost at the crossing.

"Although we did not discuss anything about the project, it was still not a bad day."

As she said that, my steps paused.

"We didn't achieve anything, did we?" I felt stupid, I should have asked her about the project from the start.

"It's fine." She assured, "I'll try to think about the project by tonight and I'll text you in the morning."

She was a life saver.

Truly an angel.

"So…" She extended her phone towards me, "I still don't have your number."

"You don't, do you?" This made me chuckle.

It was like I was doing everything in the wrong order. But it was probably more fun that way.

Taking her phone, I immediately gave her my number.

"I believe usually it's a guy that does this, but this is also nice." It was a joke but one that amused us both.

"Probably, but it's not like everything has to follow the boring pattern." She smiled as she saved my number, "So, I prefer it like this."

She was a sweet person and a genuinely nice person to hang around with.

"It will take a while for the bus to come." I said, it was already quite late. "You don't have to wait. Your father must be worried."

"I… yeah." She nodded, "I should probably go."

"Mhm."

She gave a bright smile before walking back. "Thank you once again for coming today, Michael."

"I enjoyed quite a lot too." I really did, "I'll see you again."

"Soon." She nodded, taking slow steps backwards.

University life isn't as bad as I expected.

Minus the projects and deadlines.

She walked without looking, both of us just stared at each other –laughing, till she faded from my sight, leaving me alone.

"Maybe I should walk."

I lied to her, the last bus had already left.

The only vehicles left were cabs, but I didn't feel like taking one.

The city was beautiful so I felt like walking.

This city would have been perfect if not for the crime and the pollution. But that could be said for most cities.

Even the ones that weren't as developed. They all had their own beauty.

The lesser developed ones still had more greenery than this metropolitan beauty. And I prefer that green beauty over this concrete one.

But well, I cannot have everything.

And that was fine.

But.

"Take out everything that you have!"

This wasn't fine.

"Don't you hear, bitch!"

My eyes were immediately drawn to the woman sitting on the roadside bench, not paying any attention to the men shouting at her.

"Is this bitch deaf?!"

She wasn't deaf, she just looked… depressed?

She had her head sulken down, her golden hair covering her entire face.

'Is she drunk?' Doesn't look like it, but she is definitely in danger.

I should possibly just walk, but also I can't just walk away either.

"This skank!"

Yes, nope. I don't have time to think.

Taking out the handkerchief from my pocket and wrapping it around my face, I decided to move.

'System, use the essence of… Nosferatu.'

Who else but the monster of the night to face these trash.

<<Affirmative! >>

…

…

[[Susan Storm]]

'So loud…'

Susan felt exhausted. No matter how much she tries, Reed never bothers to even acknowledge her efforts.

It was as if she only existed to help him with his research. It especially hurt when she walked out and he didn't even bother asking her about her whereabouts.

"Who the fuck are you to ignore us, bitch!"

She finally noticed the three men that surrounded her, each carrying either a knife or a knuckle.

'Just my luck, isn't it?'

She knew that she had to deal with those clowns but she didn't even feel like getting off the bench.

Which she didn't have to do.

"Aren't you ashamed?" She heard another voice, this one was a little younger. "Going after a woman who clearly seems to be having a rough day?"

She saw a man, his face covered with a handkerchief which only left his eyes visible.

"Who are you, cunt!"

Susan felt like she was having a fever dream, but it was real. She was getting robbed, well, almost robbed.

"Can't finish a single sentence without cursing, can you?"

But well there was a masked man in a suit that came to her rescue.

'Why is he in a suit if he is a hero?' Seeing how the man jumped in to help her, she knew he was playing the hero.

She just didn't know if the man was capable of facing those goons.

'Well, if it doesn't go well, I'll intervene.' She couldn't just steal his hero moment either.

That was rule 101 of being a hero.

Do not steal another's limelight.

Taking a deep breath, she examined the man.

"Beat him up, boys!" The man with the knife yelled and the others jumped forward with their brass knuckles.

"Really?" The 'hero' asked, "Knuckles? Not even a gun?"

In most cases, knuckles and knives were more than enough as most civilians were unarmed.

"This is NYC, at least 15% of the civilians have guns and you don't as thugs?"

'Well… he isn't wrong.' Susan mused, 'It is difficult to get guns but if you have been in the crime scene for a while, it shouldn't be that difficult.'

"Shut up!" The men yelled before throwing their punches at him –which he dodged with awful ease.

"Bad form, weak punches." He ridiculed, "Not too experienced, are ya'?"

'They aren't.'

Susan understood immediately from their body movement.

"So, don't cry about this." Saying this, the man immediately threw a punch, making one of the men nearly throw up.

"Bluggh!"

He vomited out, falling on his knees immediately.

"Be glad I wasn't using the other one, or else my punch would have punctured a hole through you."

She didn't understand what he meant, but she specualted that he wasn't using his full power.

"Jacob!" The other man yelled, before trying to hit him.

However, he met the same fate –possibly worse.

"You don't learn, do you?"

"Shut up!" The man yelled and punched, but it was dodged with the utmost ease.

"Well then," Saying this, the masked man threw a left jab followed by a right. "Left, Right, Good Night."

Susan turned her eyes around a little as the blood splattered from the thug's mouth, possibly breaking his jaw.

"Motherfucker!" The man with the knife, unable to see his comrades faint, jumped at him. "You will pay!"

The masked man dodged with no effort, turning only the amount required. But as he kept moving, Susan noticed that his handkerchief came off –revealing a rather decent, possibly even handsome face.

'He is young.' She noticed that the guy wasn't too old, 'Possibly in his early twenties.'

"Ah, shit." He clicked his tongue, "All the effort for nothing."

"Morherfucker, you will die!" But the goon was way too blinded to even care.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter. It's not the first time I have faced goons with my face exposed." Saying this, he pushed the man a little –nearly making him stumble. "But well, let's try this new trick that I learnt."

This drew her interest and that interest turned to surprise as she saw him extending his finger.

"Let me show you how to use a knife." The moment he said that, the knife that the thug dropped started levitating.

'Telekinesis…' This amazed her.

But for the goon, it was horrifying.

"Freak!" He yelled, as he tried dodging the rapid stabs being thrown around by the floating knife.

"See, I am much faster." The man mocked, "But well, that's enough testing."

And before the thug could react –a punch came flying to his face, nearly smashing it in its entirety and making him drop cold on the ground.

"I wasted more time than I should have on these idiots." He chuckled before finally looking at Susan with a smile.

"I am sorry for that display." He apologized, "I hope you are alright?"

It all happened a little too quickly for Susan to process.

"Y-yeah, I guess I am."

At least, she didn't have to waste her breath on those clowns.

__________________________________________________________________________________

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