A group of gangsters lounged in a room ripped out of a luxury hotel, complete with a crystal chandelier and designer furniture, eating, drinking fine wine, and indulging in friendly chatter. As they celebrated the success of their criminal endeavors, the men flirted with the one woman and vice versa, discussing the many ways they desired to spend their blood money. But soon, they stopped their celebration as one of their comrades concluded his call on the rotary phone, approaching them.

  "Well, what does the big man have to say?"

  "He says good work torching the neighborhood. And make sure to deliver the film of the weapons test to James after the heat dies down in a few hours. So we have to stay here until then."

  “Stay here? Really?”

  The gangster nodded.

  "With all the delicious food and drink?" The female gangster happily took another sip of her wine. “Orders are orders.”

  An object of immense speed and force smashed into the room through a wall, kicking up a dust cloud. The gangsters coughed violently, clearing debris from their eyes as the attack happened. However, as their vision cleared, they witnessed their enemy, the valiant knight, standing before them. And they all swiftly drew their guns, aiming at Daniel.

  "Valiant knight? But how—"

  "Did I find you? Well, besides the tire tracks outside. Spotting a shady-looking black van racing from the crime scene toward a neighborhood associated with several gangs seemed a bit much to be a coincidence," Daniel interrupted.

  A gangster hastily shot at Daniel with her laser gun. As the green energy raced toward Daniel, he didn’t try to dodge, confident it couldn’t hurt him, but it hit him in the arm and knocked him down. Daniel cursed himself as he saw the blast draw blood. Having gotten used to his superhuman abilities, he developed the habit of forgetting, though few, that there were still things that could harm him. However, as the gangsters unloaded more, the young man evaded their shots.

  With every step Daniel took, the salvo was close behind, but he quickly grabbed a table and tossed it in its path. The table broke into burned chunks. As the smoke reached the overhead sprinklers, the heavy downpour hit the gangsters, disorienting them. They stopped firing, and he didn’t waste a second as Daniel charged them.

  Daniel quickly landed a blow on each gangster, knocking them down.

  However, one got up and ran over to a pair of gloves on a table. The gangster donned the gloves, and two giant hands, comprised of solid energy, appeared in midair. And in control of them, he motioned to slap Daniel away from his comrades

  Daniel crashed into a wall on the other side of the room. One of the hands made a fist, and it raced toward him. But he dodged the attack and jumped at the gangster. The shockwaves from his landing knocked him down. And as he tried to attack Daniel with the gloves again, Daniel punched him in the face.

  "Hey, hero.”

  Daniel turned around and saw a gangster holding a grenade by the hole in the wall he made. As he removed its clip, he tossed it through the hole, and Daniel chased after it in a mad panic.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Daniel fell through the air, trying to catch the grenade as it headed toward the neighborhood below. He managed to grab it. However, as it lit up, he curled around the grenade to absorb the blast. And the ensuing explosion sent the residents beneath him running away in fear.

  ***

  The gangsters hurriedly ran through the corridors of the building. As the explosion from the grenade went off they swiftly realized that the police would soon arrive at their location. The criminals had to flee, bringing along the recording of their weapons test as well as several bags of stolen valuables such as precious jewels. The sounds of the jewels’ weight rocking back and forth echoed through the halls, hindering their escape as they slowly neared their getaway vehicle, the black van.

  “Damn it. I can’t believe we have to go back on the run.” The female gangster shed tears. “The wine in the hideout was so good.”

  “Shut your trap and just get the goods in the van.” The male gangster groaned. “Who has the keys?”

  “I—“

  As the gangsters neared their vehicle, something smashed through an adjacent wall, quickly revealing itself as Daniel.

  “The valiant knight,” the gangsters shouted in unison.

  “I-I can’t believe you survived that blast.”

  “Oh no, I didn’t. I’ve just come back from hell to make sure you regret throwing that grenade.”

  The gangster drew his gun, aiming at Daniel. “I only regret not doing it s—“

  Daniel quickly ran to the gangster, giving him a left jab to his stomach as he was aiming at him. The remaining gangsters hurried to brandish their weapons as they saw their comrade down. However, Daniel swiftly went to them before they could. Daniel unleashed a flurry of punches, kicks, and elbows, subduing all but one of the enemies.

  Daniel briskly walked to his final adversary, the female gangster who bemoaned the loss of her wine, raising his fist to punch her.

  “Wait, wait.”

  Daniel stopped right before her with his fist still raised.

  “Would you seriously hit a woman in the face?” The female gangster cracked a small crooked smile, batting her eyes at him.

  As an answer, Daniel, devoid of the slightest hint of hesitation, punched the gangster in the face, knocking her onto the floor.

  ***

  A large metal pipe restrained the gangsters to a telephone pole as Daniel stood close by, watching his adversaries squirm and fight to free themselves. And as he did, he playfully threw the roll of film into the air, catching it with the same hand repeatedly right in front of them. Taunting his defeated foes with the prize they failed to protect.

  “So what would ladies and gentlemen like you be doing recording yourself torching a neighborhood? This film is pretty incriminating evidence.”

  “Go to h—”

  “Okay, I’ll guess. You wanted to show off your fancy toys to some prospective buyers. Like terrorists or maybe someone in Europe or Japan who's still salty they lost the war,” Daniel interrupted.

  The gangsters shared a look of shock as they heard Daniel. But Daniel saw police cars drive in, and he placed the film in a spot that was easy for the authorities to find.

  “I’m sure the coppers will figure out the details. Enjoy the Grey Bar Hotel.”

  Daniel jumped away, leaping over tall buildings in a single bound from everyone as the police approached. The criminals bellowed obscene swears at him as he left.

  ***

  Later, Daniel walked through an alleyway. He let out a monster yawn and quickly lost consciousness, dropping onto a pile of garbage by a dumpster. Daniel regained consciousness. And his heart skipped a beat as he spotted the time on a clock tower.

  “Holy heck, one o'clock. I’m going to be late for the interview.”

  Quickly, Daniel ran to an old phone booth. As he entered the booth, he left it in a flash, wearing a business suit with his armor in a duffel bag.

  Daniel ran out of the alleyway, past children playing soccer. But, a poor kick sent their ball flying past his head across the street through heavy traffic. Daniel saw the children walk away from their game, sad as they realized where their ball went. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to help even with little time to do so. He tried to force himself to keep running but stopped as he saw where the ball was. Daniel couldn’t look the other way even though their trouble wasn’t life-threatening. He cursed himself for being so soft-hearted, so easily swayed by a trivial inconvenience. Still, Daniel hurried over to the ball and threw it back to the children. And as he saw them playing again, he finally returned to running, his conscience soothed if only for the moment.