Daniel had returned to the city after his harrowing swim. He ran by his and Karen's apartment to collect his armor, where thankfully the Karter family had long since left. And as he became the valiant knight, he began his diligent search for the Santini siblings.

  "Where are you?" Daniel asked.

  Daniel jumped across the city's towering buildings, scanning through the streets' bright lights and vehicle horns below.

  "Santini said they had business on Lemaris Street. And since we were at Black Manta Cliffs, with respect to traffic, the shortest way should be around here."

  Daniel continued the search, increasing his speed as he grew more anxious, becoming a white streak contrasting the black night sky. He pierced the night's chilling air and the immense fog of gasoline flowing upwards from the vehicles below like a bullet. However, at last, as he sped through the sky, his eye caught a glimpse of his quarry.

  "There you are."

  Daniel saw the Santini's limo and their gangsters' truck driving down the street with the truck behind the limo. He swiftly gave chase, leaping towards the two vehicles.

  Inside the limo, the Santini siblings sat quietly, watching the city go by through their windows. However, Ophelia soon took a glass and a bottle of wine from the small cooler next to her, still keeping the scowl on her face from earlier as she took a drink. And the act caught Marco's curious eye.

  "Hey, big sister. By any chance can I have a taste of that w—"

  A loud thud caught Marco's ear, pulling him towards the closest window to see what it was. As he looked out, he witnessed Daniel, standing on top of the cabin of the truck behind them. "What the?" Hurrying over to the limo's emergency weapons locker and pulling out a large laser Tommy gun.

  "What's going on?" Ophelia asked.

  "He's here." Marco shouted, pointing out the window.

  "Who's h—" Ophelia looked out the window on her side, seeing Daniel, and took the gun from Marco. "Give me that."

  Ophelia poked her head out of the window and began shooting at Daniel. Marco followed suit, firing at Daniel through the window on his side of the limo with a smaller gun. Daniel moved to evade the barrage, but as he did, his foot slipped. However, as he fell off the cabin, his hand dug into the side of the truck, allowing him to hang on.

  As Marco saw Daniel clinging to the side of the truck, he aimed his gun for a kill shot. "Die, knight." Still, as he fired, Daniel leapt to the top of the truck again, dodging the attack. Marco screamed out loudly as he missed his foe, but still, the shot did burst one of the truck's tires.

  With one of the vehicle's tires gone, it began to swerve out of control. The truck meandered from side to side, brushing against the other trucks and cars on the street, nearly hitting them. But finally, it pulled too far left and was going to ram into multiple cars. However, Daniel acted immediately.

  Daniel summoned his intangibility, wrapping his energy field around the truck. As the field swallowed the truck, it passed harmlessly through the cars. But the vehicle still kept going as it went through them.

  Daniel kept his intangibility active as the truck kept going for approximately five meters. Many, many screams from the civilians followed its path as it went. It passed through a crowded bank on the other side of the street. As it exited the bank, the vehicle continued forward, out of control, going through another busy street. It further continued its trek, going through a park where numerous children were playing. At last, ending its journey as it went through the swing set where a father was playing with his two young daughters.

  As Daniel reached his limit, his intangibility was dispelled. He dropped onto the cabin of the truck as the extreme fatigue he had grown all too familiar with hit him. Fortunately, the only thing left in their path was an extremely large and thick oak tree. The truck hit the tree with an ear-aching crash, and the force of the blow sent Daniel flying from it for over ten feet.

  As Daniel hit the ground, he lay down on the spot for close to five minutes. He slowly collected his remaining strength, trying to stand up and releasing a pain-filled moan with every inch he moved. Slugishly, painfully, Daniel finally stood on his feet, walking over to the truck to see if the gangsters were well.

  Daniel was mere inches from the truck when one of the gangsters, the driver, came out of it. He gripped his throbbing head as he groaned loudly. Still, as he saw Daniel, he drew his gun, preparing to shoot him.

  Daniel dashed over to the gangster, giving him a backhand and knocking him unconscious before he could fire.

  Daniel breathed out sharply. "Like always, this night will be a lot longer than I thought."

  The Santini siblings continued driving down the street in their limo. Still, now the vehicle increased its speed with the passing seconds, even running through several red lights and drawing the rage-filled shouts of passersby. And Ophelia and Marco kept their eyes open, guns ready, scanning every possible direction as they waited for their armored enemy to return.

  "I don't see him yet," Ophelia said.

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  "Maybe he finally gave up?" Marco asked.

  "I highly doubt that." Andrea cracked his knuckles. "Our friend has the resilience of a nest of roaches."

  "Mr. Santini, do you still want me to bring you to the location at Lemaris Street? Or shall we head home, sir?" The chauffeur asked.

  "I would prefer if y—"

  "Andrea, he's coming back," Ophelia screamed.

  Daniel came running down the street at immense speed, weaving through traffic as he chased after the Santinis' limo. As the siblings saw him coming, they resumed their assault from earlier. Ophelia and Marco took their respective sides of the vehicle and began shooting at Daniel again.

  Daniel maneuvered through the bombardment, going to Marco's side of the limo. As he was close enough, Daniel quickly snatched Marco's gun from his hand and followed up with a backhand to his face, knocking him to the floor inside of the vehicle.

  As Marco screamed out, gripping his face with one hand and continuously hitting the floor with the other, Daniel entered the limo. He ripped the door open, jumping inside. Andrea hurried to retaliate as he saw him, drawing his gun. Still, Daniel struck first, hitting him with a right jab to his face and knocking the gun out of his hands.

  Ophelia aimed her weapon at Daniel, but he lunged at her and grabbed it. Still, she refused to release it, and the two struggled over the gun, accidentally allowing shots to fire through the vehicle. Multiple shots nearly hit the chauffeur as he drove the limo. As Daniel heard the man scream, he crushed the barrel of the gun, stopping the shots. But still, Ophelia quickly broke the deadlock, summoning her reptilian powers and hitting Daniel with one of her headbutts.

  Daniel was knocked to the floor as Ophelia hit him. Andrea recomposed himself and found his gun on the floor, preparing to shoot Daniel. "No." However, Ophelia blocked his shot as she jumped on top of Daniel, strangling his neck and readying to kill him herself with a final headbutt.

  As Ophelia motioned to attack, Daniel stopped her. He grabbed her skull with one hand mid-attack, stopping the assault, and punched her in the stomach with his remaining hand. Ophelia flew to the limo's roof propelled by the force of his blow and landed on top of Marco, still reeling in pain. However, Andrea could now fire without harming his siblings.

  As Andrea aimed at Daniel, the limo swerved wildly, making him miss his kill shot, instead only grazing his foe's shoulder. Daniel immediately retaliated, lunging at Andrea. He tried to fire again, but his efforts continued to be fruitless, only hitting Daniel's cape as he came. And the two soon locked hands in a contest of strength as the vehicle swerved more.

  "Drive steady, you fool," Andrea boomed.

  "I'm trying, Mr. Santini, but there's something wrong with the steering. I think the shots from before must have damaged it." The chauffeur screamed back.

  Daniel took his eyes off his battle with Andrea and saw the limo heading towards a newsstand with numerous civilians around it.

  "Oh no." Daniel swallowed. "There's no choice."

  Daniel initiated a massive gamble. He ignited his intangibility again approximately fifteen minutes apart from his previous usage. Never before had he used the power in such short succession without rest. Daniel could still feel some of the adverse effects from the previous time. But now it was him or the civilians.

  "Here we go," Daniel shouted.

  Daniel activated his intangibility, wrapping the limo in the resulting energy field. The vehicle passed harmlessly through the stand, still making the civilians scream and run away in terror as it happened. The limo continued forward, passing through a nearby building. However, as it left the building, the fatigue hit Daniel mere seconds after using the power, dispelling the energy field. And Daniel dropped to the floor limp.

  Andrea took his gun off the floor, aiming it at Daniel's head. "Victory, at last."

  Andrea was moments away from firing the gun and killing Daniel. But it happened at that very second. The limo, still out of control, tipped over as it hit a fire hydrant. The vehicle flew through the air for several feet, propelling Daniel, Ophelia, and Marco out of it through the door Daniel ripped open. And as the three hit the ground, so did the limo, landing in an ear-splitting crash.

  Daniel was the first to stir from the crash, limping to the Santinis, followed by Marco.

  Marco looked at Ophelia, seeing her lying on the ground. "B—big sister."

  "Nighty night," Daniel said, raising his fist.

  As Marco heard Daniel, he turned around, going into his pterodactyl form. But still, Daniel knocked him unconscious with one punch.

  The limo caught fire. As Daniel saw that it was ablaze, he hurried over to drag Andrea and the chauffeur out of danger. As he arrived by the vehicle, he started his rescue with the driver. Daniel ripped open the door to the driver's seat, ensuring the chauffeur still had a pulse, and gently placed the older man on the ground.

  Daniel breathed out sharply. "Thank...god."

  Andrea struck the back of Daniel's head with a door that broke from the limo. The gangster moved to attack him again with his weapon. However, Daniel grabbed it and pulled it out of his hands. Still, as Daniel went to counter, striking Andrea with the door himself, he slipped under the assault. And Andrea captured Daniel in a headlock, obstructing his windpipe.

  Andrea increased his grip on Daniel, going to snap his neck. Daniel slowly felt a familiar sense of oxygen deprivation. Daniel no longer had the power to simply break Andrea's strangle hold, but he still had options.

  Daniel started another contest of strength. He repeatedly elbowed Andrea in the ribs as he continued to choke him. He did it, hitting the same spot again, and again, and again, allowing the sounds of bones cracking to whisper in his and Andrea's ear. And finally, Andrea released him, holding the left side of his ribs. But not before Daniel landed a final headbutt in his face, sending him staggering back.

  "Enough." Andrea shouted, taking out a grenade from his pocket.

  Daniel readied to defend himself as he saw Andrea unclip the grenade. But instead of throwing at him, he threw it at a near by apartment building. And as it smashed through a window, it went off, engulfing several of the upper levels in fire.

  "You son of a bitch." Daniel boomed, grinding his teeth under his helmet.

  "Its either us or the people, hero."

  Daniel, of course, chose the people, limping as quickly as he could towards the building.

  Daniel kicked open a door, and a flood of smoke hit him in the face like a punch as he entered. As Daniel continued to limp through the black haze and orange embers dancing through the air like fireflies, he couldn't help but marvel at his awful day. The young man had endured pain, humiliation, and the ghosts of his past. And now, the cherry on top, he once again failed to capture the Santini crime family. Daniel wanted nothing more than to return home and sleep with Karen in their bed. But still, he soldiered forward, limping through the fire for the civilians.

  The inside of the apartment building was like an oven, rapidly increasing its temperature. The heat didn't make Daniel's task any easier, but still, he continued undeterred. However, he hastily met a wall of fallen debris, blocking his path. "Here we go." Still, as he took a deep breath, he lifted the rubble and threw it aside. And as he did, he found a large crowd of civilians on the other side waiting for a rescue.

  Daniel coughed and groaned, pointing down the corridor. "This way to safety, people. And you better use the stairs."

  The people began running down the corridor towards the stairs, carrying their children and other such belongings.

  Daniel grabbed one of the civilians, an older woman, by the arm. "Let me ask you some questions."

  "W—what is it, valiant knight?"

  Daniel gestured at the fleeing civilians. "Is this everyone? I mean do you see any of your neighbours missing?"

  "Well, I—"

  The sound of a crash followed by a man screaming came down the corridor.

  "Never mind. Just get out of here." Daniel went down the corridor.

  Daniel scanned the area for the source of the scream. But he quickly found it on the floor. It was a man lying face first, pinned under a large mass of rubble, and struggling to free himself.

  "You can stop squirming now. I'm here to help."

  "T—thank you."

  The man took his head off the floor, allowing Daniel to see his face. He almost jumped out of his armor as he recognized who he was. "Luthor." As he staggered backwards.

  "H—how do you know my name?"

  Daniel took another breath and lifted the rubble off of Luthor, slowly and carefully.

  Daniel took Luthor in his arms, carrying him from the danger. "I'm a big fan of your comicbooks."