Postby The Black Falcon » Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:05 pm
"Attention students: We ask that you remain calm and do not panic. Stay quiet and lock your doors and windows. We are in lockdown. I repeat, we are in lockdown."
Adam's eyes flew open. Slowly and groggily, he sat up in bed. These long midday naps were taking a toll on him. Looking out the window, he saw that night had already begun to fall on the college campus. As he got out of bed, he neared the window, faintly hearing panicked yelling from outside. The lockdown message then repeated itself. What was going on??
Opening the door into the hallway, Adam walked into the bright light to see several fellow students running in a frenzy. He walked down the hallway a bit and eventually came to the room of another student, Chris.
"Chris," Adam inquired, 'What's going on?"
"Last I heard, there are some escaped criminals all over campus."
"Escaped criminals? You're kidding me!! Is anyone doing anything about this?"
"Hell if I know, man," Chris shook his head, "I guess the police are trying to do something, but for some reason, it doesn't look like anything's working."
Adam suddenly spotted something nearby on Chris's desk.
"I see," he narrowed his eyes, "I'll talk to you later."
Adam quickly moved back down the hallway to his room, carrying the item from Chris's room in his hands - the black long nose venetian mask that he had worn on halloween. As he looked into the mask, it seemed that another entity had taken over. It was almost as if Adam had completely lost control of what he was doing, acting purely on instinct. His one sole thought was that something had to be done. As he re-entered his room and locked the door behind him, his heart started pounding faster. He quickly looked through his drawers for the darkest, most light clothing he could find. He eventually settled on a black button-down shirt, black dress pants, and black shoes, throwing them on without even thinking of the insanity of what he was about to do. Looking into the mirror, he once again held the mask in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he put the mask on. Spying a black fedora on his desk, he grabbed that and donned it as well. Looking into the mirror again, it was almost as if a completely different person was staring back.
In full costume, Adam silently slipped out of the room. Crouching low, he dashed down the hallway to the stairwell before anybody could see him. As he charged down the stairwell and outside, he began to hear the screams more clearly. They seemed to be coming from the fitness center a short distance away.
In front of the Wellness Center, two men were closely guarding the heavily-packed building, both men carrying handguns to make sure the students they kept penned in wouldn't do anything funny.
"Now nobody move. The boss wants you all right here," one criminal said to the crowd of trapped students.
"Yeah," another thug added, "He'd like you all to see the fireworks..."
"Is it July already?" a voice crooned into the man's ear.
Immediately, the masked Adam wrapped his arms around the criminal's throat, squeezing tighter and tighter until the gunman slipped into unconsciousness. Dropping the criminal on the ground, Adam rapidly dived away, barely avoiding the second gunman's bullet. He crouched low, attempting to circle around the crook. However, the man kept his gun trained on him the whole time. Adam had to think of a new strategy.
Suddenly, a muscular student from the crowd stepped forward and attempted to put the thug in a headlock. While the criminal struggled with him, Adam charged forward, drilling the man with a punch in the jaw, followed by a disabling strike to the wrist, knocking the gun out of his hand. After a few more devastating punches, Adam grabbed the man and threw him down in front of him.
"Who's this boss of yours?" Adam demanded, leaning down low over him.
"You think I'm gonna tell you?"
Adam threw another strike at the man, barely stopping before he hit his trachea, as the man flinched in fear.
"We could always do this the hard way," Adam growled.
"Fine...the boss's name is Johnathan Cray. He's the head of all the crime around here."
"I figured," Adam said, "What's he planning?"
The man laughed, "We've got bombs all over campus. And there's nothing you can do about them."
Adam roughly threw the criminal back down on the concrete and began to walk away.
"Do with them what you will," he called out to the students, "And then get out of here, before these psychos set any bombs off."
Adam continued on down the pathway, looking out for more crooks. Suddenly, he heard panicked footsteps and screaming behind him. He quickly scaled the tree next to him, getting a view from above of what was going on. What he saw was a large man, carrying a girl struggling in his grasp in a short dress and heels. The poor girl was bound hand and foot with ropes. Several pieces of duct tape were plastered over her mouth, muffling her cries for help. Looking closer, Adam's eyes widened. He recognized the girl's brown hair and eyes. One of his friends from back home and a fellow student - Sami.
It took all Adam had to avoid revealing his position and attacking the criminal at that exact moment. However, he willed himself to stay quiet as the man pinned Sami to the tree, looking deep into her eyes.
"You've been a bad girl," he said, "Running away from me like that. Shame I had to tie you up like this, but it's the only way I could keep you still."
"Nnnmmmpphh!!!" Sami responded, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"But now we've got all the time in the world...looks like I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson."
Adam clenched his fists. This was definitely the moment. Diving down from the tree, he threw a hard punch at the man's lower jaw.
"You can always teach me a lesson," Adam growled, "Come on, I'm all ears."
The thug let go of his captive, turning around and walking towards Adam. Showing no mercy, Adam charged forwards and threw several quick punches at the criminal, dodging away and circling him as he tried to hit back. The man eventually lunged forwards, attempting to grab Adam in a bear hug. Charging up to meet him, the young man threw a brutal punch at the man's throat. Clutching his neck, the man kneeled down as Adam threw a rising knee kick at his face. Barely conscious, the man couldn't resist as Adam grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the tree the man had pinned Sami to.
"Where's Cray??" Adam insisted.
"I'm not-"
The crook was interrupted by another punch to the face.
"You know, I'm really tired of hearing that from you punks. Now where's Cray??"
The man coughed, "He's at the construction site."
"Thanks," Adam scoffed, slamming the man's head into the tree trunk and letting his unconscious body slide down onto the ground. Kneeling down, he untied Sami's wrists and ankles.
"I hope you're alright," he said, "But I've got to get going. There's another criminal to catch."
With that, the masked man began to move further down the path. Looking back at the girl, he noticed a look of recognition in her eyes over her gag. As the two locked eyes, Adam had a good feeling that Sami knew who he really was. There was no time to think about that, though, as he turned back around and sprinted down the path towards the construction site.
Night had finally fallen completely, allowing Adam to blend more easily into the shadows as he approached the future site of the new student activities center, still a sprawling three story mass of steel frame and wooden floors. He knew this was the right place, as he could hear the frantic shouting of policemen towards the top of the structure. As Adam swiftly and silently made his way closer and closer, he finally made out the man behind all of this, standing triumphantly at the top of the construction site, holding a detonator in his hands - John Cray. Cray wore a black leather jacket, black pants, and a brown holster at his hip with a menacing-looking silver pistol. Just looking at him, Adam felt a sense of unease. Cray's blue eyes focused on the assorted policemen below him.
"Play nice and easy, boys," he chuckled, "Or this whole school goes up in flames."
Adam drew a sharp breath. This guy was a madman. And for some twisted reason, here he was - a college student with nothing but karate, krav maga, and parkour to back him up - and somehow he was the only one who could stop this man. Adam worked hard to banish that thought from his mind, clenching his fists and heading towards the base of the structure. Working as fast he could, with the pressing knowledge that time was of the essence, he scaled the steel framing faster than he had ever imagined he could.
Eventually, he found himself standing directly behind Cray. His element of surprise could only last so longs, as the cops were beginning to notice him as well. Not giving his actions any second thought, Adam dived for Cray, wrapping an arm around his throat from behind and using his other hand to grab for the detonator. Getting that thing out of his hand was the number one priority. The two struggled for a bit, straining against each other's grip. Adam watched in horror as Cray's finger moved closer and closer to the button on the detonator. Giving one final jerk against Cray's throat, Adam distracted him long enough to throw the detonator out of his hand and off of the construction site. The cops below eagerly retrieved the detonator.
"Find those bombs!!" Adam shouted to them, "I've got this!!"
With a sudden snarl, Cray threw an elbow directly into Adam's stomach, knocking his breath out and causing the masked man to release him. With wrath in his piercing blue eyes, he turned around and punched Adam directly in his face while he was stunned. As soon as he caught full view of his assailant, Cray began to smile.
"Who are you supposed to be?" he inquired.
"Well I could be wrong," Adam breathed heavily, "But I think I'm the guy who just destroyed your well-laid plans."
Cray still retained his smile, but Adam could have sworn he caught a brief eye twitch.
"You think I haven't dealt with idiots like you before?" he advanced upon Adam, putting his hand to his gun holster.
Adam had to react quickly. He knew from martial arts training that if he pulled that gun fully out of his holster, there wouldn't be a second chance. Taking a deep breath, Adam charged forward, nailing Cray with a face punch and two body punches. The man managed to pull the gun out, but Adam threw a sharp strike at his wrist, knocking the gun out of his hands. Expecting Cray to reach for the gun, Adam attempted to kick it out of the way. However, Cray let out a chuckle and uppercut Adam on the jaw, causing him to reel backwards, barely prepared for an onslaught of body punches. Crazy or not, this guy could fight. Kept on the defensive, Adam hardly had any time to block each attack before the next one came. As Cray began to back him up to the edge of the construction site, Adam began to hear reporters and more policemen converging on the ground below.
"The police have found and disabled nearly all of the bombs, and are well on their way to finishing the job," one reporter was saying, "However, one final element is in play. The criminal known as Johnathan Cray, the mastermind behind this attack, is now facing a mysterious masked man in combat - a man the police are now referring to as the 'Black Falcon.' Officers are refraining from firing their weapons, as the combat is so close and heated that they might hit the Falcon. More developments to come."
Adam continued to hold off the barrage of punches, finally managing to counter with a few of his own. Now that he was back on the offensive, the young man was able to move the fight away from the ledge. The fist fight continued, until Cray threw an unexpected shin kick, distracting Adam long enough to wrap his hands around his throat and press him against a wall. Adam struggled against the man's grip, looking directly into his smirking face as the life was being slowly squeezed out of him. Attempting one final move, he threw a shin kick at Cray, causing him to wince and move his attention from Adam's arm, which shot upwards and slammed down on both of Cray's wrists. Now that the madman's hands were away from his throat, Adam was able to retaliate by wrapping his arm around the back of Cray's head and slamming his face into his knee. The smirk disappeared from Cray's face as he yelled out in rage and threw one more punch. Adam dodged away from it, circling around Cray, placing both of his hands on the back of his head, and slamming the man's head into the wall with all his might.
John Cray slumped against the wall, blood beginning to trickle down his face. Satisfied that the fight was over, Adam turned around and faced the cops below. He then heard a chuckle from behind him. Adam was too late to react as Cray withdrew a knife from his belt and, with the last of his strength, made a wide slash across Adam's back. The masked man screamed in pain as Cray prepared to stab downwards into his back. Attempting to ignore the pain, he turned around, blocked the knife with a rising block, and slammed Cray in the jaw with an unforgiving hook punch, knocking the criminal off his feet.
Gritting his teeth in pain, Adam backed up again, this time still facing Cray's direction. However, the crook was too beaten to fight anymore. Instead, he merely laughed.
"You're dead, you know," the man smiled, "You may think that you beat me, but I'll find a way to get out of this. Your friends, your family, your loved ones...they're all dead. Believe me, 'Falcon,' you have no idea what you just did... I'm coming for you, and nothing's gonna stop me. Nothing is EVER going to stop me!"
Adam woke up with a jolt. Lunging for the light switch, he turned it on and stumbled out of bed. He headed directly for his closet, pulling out his Black Falcon mask and holding in his hands, breathing heavily. Since that day he had first donned that mask, he often dreamed about it. But he had never dreamed of that day with so much clarity before. There was only one meaning for this. Somewhere deep down, Adam knew that this was all about to end soon.
Last edited by
The Black Falcon on Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
College student by day. Crime-fighting vigilante by night.