Hey all. Many fictional stories come from the point of view of either the damsel or the villain. However, not many come from the point of view of the hero. To me, the concept of saving a damsel in distress is just as intriguing as kidnapping one. I've said before that my username is the name I'd use if I were to one day up and fight crime. A vigilante alter ego, if you will. I've had several dreams about this Black Falcon alter ego, many of them involving heavy incorporation of damsels in distress. And so I've decided to compile both my dreams and what if thoughts into a series of stories. A disclaimer though: While these stories will have a lot of DID, I'm going to focus slightly more on the actions and situations than usual. Another disclaimer, this story might/will probably contain heavy language. That being said, enjoy!!
Damn it, it was getting late. Plus, my GPS really wasn't helping either. It wasn't the first time that it had taken me on a convoluted route, but I really didn't need it taking me through the sketchy south side of Chicago. I mean, sure, I was prepared. I always made sure to be prepared. In fact, it was plain coincidence that I was wearing my black button down shirt, black pants, and black shoes. I liked to wear those anyways. It's just that after using my Black Falcon identity in Florida, I wanted to take some time to work up to Chicago. Maybe start with my town then work my way closer to the city. After just starting out with vigilantism, it seemed a little dangerous to immediately start with these dark, shady streets. So I kept my headlights dimmed and my head low, just following my GPS home. Until chance caught me off guard.
I passed yet another dark, creepy-looking alleyway...nothing out of the ordinary. However, I saw three figures in it. Two of them were tall, and the third one of them had the unmistakable figure of a female...a female with her hands behind her back. I stopped my car short. Did I just see what I thought I saw? I thought of backing up again to take a better look, but it didn't seem like they spotted me, and I didn't want to take the risk of alerting them. I looked in the mirror. This was crazy. I was out of my mind to do this. But then again, that's what I told myself before every crime back in Florida. I quickly and quietly pulled my black car over on the side of the road, getting my bag of stuff from the back seat. The first thing I made sure to put on were my red contact lenses. One may think that they were overkill, but hey, they were good for hiding my identity, and they helped with the getup. I mean, I was already dressing up to fight crime like freaking Batman, so a little overkill was hardly pushing it. Next was the most important thing: the mask itself. I had handpicked this Venetian doctor mask online, changing it up a little bit when it arrived. The all black mask was certainly terrifying enough, with a sharp beak jutting out under the eyeholes, which were harshly narrowed, showing little except for my red eyes. After donning my black fedora, I got out of the car and moved to the trunk, pulling out a narrow, black, hard plastic carrying case and slinging it over my shoulder, tightening it across my back. Once I neared the alleyway, I began to hear their voices.
"You're not gonna scream, am I right...?"
"HEL-MMMMPPHH!!!"
"That's real nice. I like them silent. And you're a damn cute one if I do say so myself."
As I heard the familiar ripping of tape, I decided to get a better vantage point and strategy. Noticing a fire escape nearby, I began to scale it as quietly as possible. Though the two thugs seemed distracted enough with their victim, I needed to think in terms of safety. Of both myself and the poor girl. Once I got to the top of the fire escape, it was all a matter of blending into the dark July night and getting a better vantage point. I saw them clearly now. Two tall, hooded men - one white, one black. Though it took a bit of effort to make her out, I saw their victim - a girl, maybe around 16, though a bit tall for her age. She had long brown hair that had probably been in a ponytail shortly before. From what I saw, her mouth was plastered with several pieces of silver duct tape. Duct tape had also been wrapped around her torso above and below her breasts. I didn't see her hands, but the jingle of metal and a key dangling out of the white one's back pocket had me infer that her hands were handcuffed behind her back. Her legs were free, yet as she was wearing a tight miniskirt, it didn't take a genius to figure out what these two thugs were about to do. I had to act now and fast.
Taking a deep breath, I let out a sharp call, imitating a falcon. I myself had thought that the idea of a Falcon Call was a little silly at first; but my vigilante partner in Florida, a strange man who called himself 'Fear,' told me that it was the perfect thing to catch criminals off guard. In any case, it clearly worked now. Both men turned this way and that, looking for the source of the noise. While their attention focused on the fire escape, I had already made the jump to the adjacent building, sliding silently down a pipe on the side to ground level. With their backs to me, I let out another warning, making sure to make my voice slightly deeper and harsher.
"Let her go."
The criminals', as well as the girl's attention snapped around to me.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" the white one asked.
"I'm the one who's going to break your goddamn neck in a second if you don't stop what you're doing and get the hell out of my sight."
"Look at this guy!!" the black one laughed, beginning to throw a punch at me, "If he's so tough, why doesn't he-"
By the time the man finished talking, I grabbed his outstretched arm and used his momentum to shove him away from me, a technique I learned from aikido. With him briefly distracted, I placed my palm on the back of his head and smashed his head into the brick wall.
The white one charged at me next, throwing a punch at me. Dodging the punch, I brought my palm up, smashing him on the chin. While he was dazed, I leaped back, blending into the starless night quickly enough to move around to his back and pull the handcuff keys out of his back pocket.
"Alright, you got lucky, kid," the white one said as he and his accomplice surrounded me.
Now was definitely the time.
In one quick motion, I pulled my black sword out from its case on my back.
"The guy's got a fucking sword!!!" one of the thugs shouted.
"He's goddamn crazy!!! Run!!!!" the other one shouted.
The two men turned tail and ran. Satisfied, I sheathed my sword. I didn't want to use the thing unless I absolutely had to. Plain fist fighting normally helped for avoiding legal trouble; the sword was always more for intimidation.
Once the two thugs were long gone, I turned back to the girl. However, she had already taken off running.
"Wait!" I called.
Damn it. What was she thinking?? With her upper body bound and her mouth taped, she wasn't going to come across anything good while she was still on these streets. What if those creeps came back? I took off after her, using the fire escapes and low vaulting points to my advantage. Eventually, I caught up with her, jumping out in front of her. That's when I got a good look at her face. In that one quick flash, recognition dawned upon me. Large, expressive brown eyes dripping tears of fear, running with black eye makeup. Long brown hair messed up from sweat and terror. And those soft lips, barely visible underneath several pieces of silver tape.
Lindsay???
"Mm!!" Lindsay screamed, startled. She started turning the other way, but I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry for startling you; I'm here to help," I said, using my normal voice.
"Mmmph?" she said again, intrigued.
"I've got the key, after all. Let's get back to my car, Lindsay. We can get help from there."
"Mmmmm??" She was even more curious this time, but seemed to relax a bit after seeing that I was not just another crook
As we swiftly made our way back to my car (I didn't want any more thugs to catch us off guard), I uncuffed her hands and carefully used my sword to cut the tape on her torso. Once we were back in the car, I locked the doors and rolled up the windows, despite the stuffy heat. I helped her peel her tape gag off and we took off towards a safer part of the city, where there would be more people.
Lindsay spat out a saliva-soaked ball of cloth.
"Thanks..." she said breathlessly, "I thought....I...they were going to...Oh thank you so much!"
She was beginning to tear up even more now. I parked the car in a nearby lot next to a crowded street.
"Calm down, Lindsay. It's over now. And I'm here to help."
She looked up, "...why...? Who are you...?"
I sighed, taking off my fedora. I shouldn't have done this, but at the time, it needed to be done. I pulled off the mask and let her see my face.
"Adam???"
"Yeah..." I said sheepishly. What else could I have said at the moment?
"I....you're..? Why?"
"It's a...hobby of mine, I guess you could say."
Lindsay managed to let out a chuckle, "I'm speechless right now. Back at camp when you said you were jealous of Batman...I thought you were joking!"
"I thought I was, too..." I got a little more serious, "Linday, what were you doing walking in those streets alone?"
"I don't know...I was walking back home and I lost my way. I'm so lucky you came! Just in time, too..."
I put my hand on her shoulder once more, "Listen: Don't walk alone. You've seen what can happen. Make sure you've got company or at least make sure it's bright enough. I couldn't bring myself to think what would happen if those two creeps had their way with you."
She suddenly went in for a full embrace, "I can't thank you enough, Adam. When my parents hear about this, they'll..."
"Wait a minute," I interrupted her, "I'd like to keep this as much of a secret as possible."
"Then what do I say?" Lindsay inquired, "Who do I say saved me?"
I thought for a minute, "Say it was.....The Black Falcon."
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And that's what I've got so far! Thoughts? I know this part was a little light on the DID, but there'll be more. I just needed time to establish a little bit of exposition. Hope you enjoyed this!