The sounds of forklifts and the many grunts and groans of the workforce reverberated through the warehouse as they moved crates of varying sizes. Russian mobsters worked tirelessly at their criminal enterprise, preparing millions of dollars' worth of illegal weapons and drugs. But amongst the hustle and bustle, one mobster dragged three restrained hostages in ropes around their upper torsos to the boss.

  "Boss, these are our guests tonight. One is a reporter who stuck her nose in the wrong place, the rat who gave her the leak, and a witness to one of our jobs. How do you want me to...take care of them?" The mobster asked in Russian.

  "Shoot them."

  As the mobster heard the order, he grew a sinister smile. He drew his gun, preparing to fire at the hostages. They shared a look of pure terror as he was about to pull the trigger. However, Daniel smashed into the warehouse through the wall on the far right, drawing everyone's attention. And booked for the hostages as the mobster shot at him instead.

  Taking the bullets without harm, Daniel zoomed over and punched the mobster, unconscious, propelling his body into wooden crates.

  "Down for the count without a kill. Thanks, Angel," Daniel thought.

  As the boss saw the attack, he signaled his remaining men. "Kill the freak." And they quickly unloaded an absinthe salvo, a bombardment of green energy bolts, at Daniel and the hostages. Still, Daniel grabbed the hostages, getting them to cover behind a wall. Retaliating, he clapped his hands, calling upon his super strength, creating a shockwave, disorienting the mobsters, and stopping the attack.

  Quickly, Daniel scanned the warehouse, seeing the mobsters either subdued or in retreat. He spotted the boss lying in pain and hurried to aid him. But as Daniel arrived, the boss shot him in the arm with his gun, drawing blood with an energy bolt, to Daniel's shock. However, as he tried again, Daniel crushed his hand and gun.

  Swiftly, the boss looked over at the hostages, pulling out a grenade. He threw it at them, and as Daniel realized, he dashed for the grenade, catching it. However, it exploded in his hands, sending him flying to the ceiling in a green inferno. As Daniel crash-landed, the warehouse began to crumble. He quickly realized that his hitting the ceiling with such tremendous force must have damaged the building’s support and booked it for the hostages. He sprinted towards them like a bullet, nearing the victims by inches, but as he did, the place collapsed in an ear-aching roar of fallen metal and stone.

  The ruins of the Curry warehouse were as quiet as a grave.

  But a massive piece of rubble started to move shakily. Revealing Daniel lifting it with all his strength, keeping it from crushing the hostages. Throwing it aside, they all lay on the ground, panting.

  ***

  Queen Bank was under attack. Elena and Tommy fired their guns at the robbers inside. But they dropped to the floor and took cover behind a desk as the robbers retaliated, shooting energy bolts and destroying public property, a large car, and the front door of an adjacent building, as the bolts blasted through the doors.

  Tommy’s eyes widened as they locked onto the destruction outside. “They need to start teaching this in the academy.”

  "Priorities, Black." Elena groaned. "We can't let them get away with the money."

  Tommy glanced upwards, seeing the sprinklers on the ceiling. "I have an idea."

  Tommy aimed his gun at the sprinklers, firing it. As the bullet hit them, the heavy downpour disoriented the robbers. Elena hurried to them, beating them into submission. She shot a punch in the face to the one on the left and a knee to the stomach for the other on the right. However, as she sighed in relief, an armored car drove up to the bank. And seeing a flash of light from it. "Black, duck and cover." Elena and Tommy took shelter from a salvo.

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  As it stopped, Elena looked for Tommy. And a chill ran down her spine as she spotted his hand lifeless on the floor, fearing he was dead, killed in the attack. However, Tommy slowly got back up, delirious but alive.

  "D—did we die?" Tommy asked.

  As Elena saw him alive, she sighed again, but the robbers regained consciousness unbeknownst to her. One punched her in the face, grabbing the money as they escaped. And as Tommy tried to stop them, aiming his gun at the criminals, they shot first, making him run for cover.

  Tommy ran to Elena, struggling on the floor. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine, Black. Now, come on. There's no way I'm letting that garbage escape. Are you with me?"

  Tommy nodded yes.

  Outside, the robbers jumped into the armored car, driving off like the wind. And as Tommy and Elena saw them, they jumped into their police car, giving chase.

  ***

  Daniel staggered and clutched his ribs in pain, still aching from his fight with the mobsters.

  "Who would have guessed saving civilians, icing illegal trafficking, and pulling a mess of half-dead mobsters out of rubble would be this painful?"

  Quickly, Daniel saw the armored car racing down the street with Elena and Tommy in pursuit. He stepped into the street, blocking it. But as it neared him, the car revealed a battering ram pulsing with green energy in its front bumper.

  “What the h—“

  The car rammed into Daniel with no problem, but as he clung to the hood, the driver shook him off, weaving madly from side to side. Falling, Daniel grabbed the back bumper, clutching onto the street. He stopped the car, but as the ear-piercing screech of its tires laboring to escape his grasp as it scratched against the pavement increased, its roof opened to reveal a Gatling gun that pelted him with energy bolts.

  Daniel lifted the car, throwing it aside. But still functional, it lined up in his direction, igniting its battering ram. And Daniel gripped his ribs, seeing the technological terror. "Bring it." Still, as it charged, the police car drove into it, knocking it over.

  Tommy crawled out of the crashed police car with Elena, half-dead. "I don't care if it worked. We're never doing that again."

  Tommy and Elena saw Daniel and hurried to him.

  "Who the hell are you?" Elena asked.

  "Oh, I'm D—"

  Silence.

  "Well?"

  As Elena pressed the question, Daniel's mind ran through the events that led him to his current moment. He remembered the names of his forefathers that he had learned. The courageous knight, the loving knight, and his father, the honorable knight.

  "I am the valiant knight."

  "Really?" Elena raised an eyebrow.

  "Yes. I was walking by when I came across the trash." Daniel motioned his head at the armored car.

  Tommy looked at Daniel, starstruck. "You took all of them on by yourself—amazing. Thanks so much."

  Elena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but how about you let us do our job? Law and order become flimsy when we rely on freaks like yourself."

  "Okay, here's the deal. We'll split the work in half. Since I did the heavy lifting this time, you guys can handle the cleanup." Daniel pointed to the bank robbers crawling out of the armored car.

  "Stop in the name of the law, filth," Elena said in Spanish.

  Elena attacked the robbers with such ferocity that it was like she wasn't in a car crash mere moments prior. As Tommy saw Elena battle the robbers, he prepared to join her but stopped, turning to Daniel. "Thanks again." Before joining the fight with the same degree of ferocity as Elena. Seeing them handle the situation, Daniel sighed in relief, staggering off, gripping his damaged ribs.

  ***

  Daniel staggered through an alleyway, still holding his ribs, and collapsed beside a dumpster.

  "I can't believe I survived.” Daniel burst into a laughing fit. “I kept my promise to Pop and got Karen back as a bonus. With luck like this, I should swing by the horse track."

  Daniel continued laughing in obscene joy, but his damaged ribs brought him back to reality, squirming in agony until he became motionless.

  "On second thought, I've pushed my luck enough for one night."

  Hours passed for Daniel as he lay beside the dumpster, waiting for the pain enveloping his body to subside. However, he spotted a familiar face walking by. It was a Caucasian man in his early thirties.

  "Is that Larry, the liar? He might know something about the fancy toys the gangs have.” Daniel exhaled heavily. “Forget it. I'm too tired right now."

  Daniel hastily tried to rest, closing his eyes, but he reopened them. Seeing Larry leave, Daniel folded his fists in frustration. "Tired?"

  His body was still in immense pain from his accumulated injuries, but he realized he didn’t care. But what he did care about was upholding his purpose, his meaning. He had to protect the people, stopping the deadly weapons Larry represented.

  An image of himself and the young boy flashed through Daniel’s mind. He was a wall, the solitary defense against a murderous horde, tanking their most vile punishment. Of course, he could have waited until he was better. But every second he took for himself would be the equivalent in blood for an innocent civilian. And so he forced his body to stand up, ignoring the intense agony, giving chase to Larry.