Veil One-Shot

I watched them from within the shadows as the two men made the
exchange. One was Kid Rocket, a so-called superhero of the city of
Windfall. He was arrogant and normally he was seen dressed in a bright
costume. His mask was gold, and it covered his face completely. He wore
a bright blue jumpsuit trimmed with gold along the arms and legs. He
wore gold gauntlets on his hands and gold boots on his feet. Tonight he
was just an everyday twenty-something named Richard Pure of Pure
Industries. He had black hair that was closely cut and tanned skin. He
wore an expensive gold watch. He was dressed in the latest trendy
clothing designer's best, from his navy blue t-shirt down to his
fashionably baggy jeans. He wore leather shoes. The second man was a
less savory sort. His name was Donnie Raymell. He was a drug dealer. He
was a scummy-looking young man. He had a shaved head, and his eyes
seemed to have an animalistic quality to them. He wore a wife-beater
and displayed the variety of tattoos on his arms. The tattoos were
mostly gang-related, and the most prominent was a black scorpion, which
stated his membership in the gang of the same name. He wore cargo
shorts and white Reeboks.
I watched the drug dealer leave after he gave Pure the drugs. I
followed the Pure as he made his way to his penthouse apartment in the
rich section of the city. To say that I kept to the shadows is an
understatement. I submerged myself in the shadows. This was my
birthright. I am one with the shadows. They call me the Veil. I didn't
come up with that. The media did. My real name is Franklin Moore. I am
the heir to the cloak of shadows. That's why they call me the Veil. I
hide myself completely within the folds of my cloak.
My mission is to hunt false heroes like this Kid Rocket. By the time I
reached his apartment and hid myself in the shadows of his living room
he had already begun to snort the cocaine he bought. The room's only
source of light was coming from the television, which he had tuned to
Cartoon Network. I watched him and decided his fate. When he made a
call to one of his buddies, I listened intently, and when his friend,
an older white man who was dressed in a flashy fur coat and a top hat,
showed up at his door with an under-aged girl forced to sell her body I
reacted instantly.
I felt my body began to solidify as I emerged from the shadows. I
commanded my cloak to swirl around me, and strike fear into the two men
as the girl ran from the room. My eyes focused on Pure. I didn't see
the other man draw a handgun.
I heard the second man shout to Pure, "Shit! It's the Veil!"
I turned my eyes upon him just in time to see him pull the trigger. A
brief flash lit the room. The bullet pierced my cloak and struck the
armor over my chest. The impact sent me to the ground. I groaned in
pain as the Pure ran for his bedroom.
I couldn't let him get his rocket belt. I knew that was the source of
his powers. I drew my own handgun. It was a PT-92, and it was stainless
steel with rosewood grips. I took aim for the man's leg, having the
ability to see just fine in the dim light cast by the Scooby Doo
episode playing on the television. I pulled the trigger, and watched as
the blood exploded from the man's white pants. I had shot him in the
left kneecap. He groaned and dropped to the floor in pain.
The wall near the bedroom door exploded outward. I winced and ducked
when the fragments of drywall and dust showered over me. Then Pure
stepped out of the newly formed hole. I cursed as I gazed upon his
powerful form. He was still dressed as he was before, except for the
golden belt around his waist. His body rippled with his increased
muscle mass.
I holstered my gun, knowing that he was not vulnerable to bullets in
this form. He stepped forward slowly, balling his hands into fists. He
laughed when I began to shrink back into the darkness.
He stopped laughing and spoke, "Now that I have my powers, you hide.
Coward. You are afraid of Kid Rocket like all the others."
I smiled as the man continued to speak. I tuned his voice out as I
crept unseen within the shadows, and stood behind him. I emerged from
the shadows, allowing my cloak to flow outward and away from my body. I
tapped him on his left shoulder. He whirled around, swinging his left
fist as hard as he could.
He wasn't fast enough to hit me. I ducked underneath the punch and I
responded with a punch of my own. It collided with his stomach, and I
groaned, because it felt like I had hit a steel plate. He laughed at me
again, and kneed me in the stomach. I groaned from the force behind
this attack, and the wind was knocked out of me. I fell to my knees
before him.
He spoke again, "See? Even now you are falling before me as you
weren't meant to."
I shook my head at this arrogant bastard, and he sent a fist into my
face again. I concentrated as he lifted his hand for another attack,
and tried to block out the pain. My cloak began to flow around me, and
I felt it bend to my will as the fist came towards me.
I sent solid darkness shooting outwards toward him. I laughed at him
as they hit him in the stomach, and sent him flying backwards. I shook
my head as he went through another wall, and out of his apartment. I
didn't want to cause so much property damage.
I bounded after him, throwing my body into the shadows again and
flowing along them until I reached the hole in the outside wall. I let
myself become solid again. I looked down to see the busy street below,
but there was no sight of him. I saw something coming towards me in my
peripheral vision, and I turned just in time to see a fist. I fell from
the hole and cursed my idiocy as I tried to clear my head off the pain.
I had forgotten he could fly. I felt like a moron as I fell, and my
eyes traveled upward to see his mocking form floating in the air next
to the hole.
I wasn't going to fall to this loser. I wasn't going to let a
pseudo-hero kill me. I felt my cloak change itself into rope and I
commanded it to hurl itself at the man. He stopped laughing when it
wrapped itself around his neck and began to choke him. I grabbed the
rope in my right hand, and I stopped falling. I swung towards the
apartment building, and landed safely on a balcony. Luckily no one was
home.
I began to pull the rope, bringing the still-choking Kid Rocket
downward. He passed out at some point, because I felt the rope suddenly
go slack. I rapidly tried to pull it in and watched as his unconscious
form plunged downward.
I laughed and commanded the rope to change into a harness and cease
choking him. After a few moments I hauled him over the balcony, where I
threw onto the concrete next to one of those white lawn chairs that the
inhabitant of the apartment had placed out there.
Bile welled in my throat as I looked at the fallen Kid Rocket. Then I
did the only thing that would prevent him from using his powers again.
I took his rocket belt off, and smashed it into pieces. I shook my head
in disgust before reaching for one of his pockets. I pulled his black
cell phone out, flipped it open and dialed the police.
I spoke to the person who answered the phone, "Yes, I'd like to report
a crime?"
--- --- --- --- --- ---
I watched the news the next day in my apartment. I was dressed in a
white t-shirt and black jeans. I didn't have any shoes on. That day was
my day off from my work at the paint factory and I was relaxing.
I remembered watching John Starr, who was at that time a young,
blonde-haired man who was making it big as a reporter in Windfall, as
he interviewed the police chief, who wouldn't give any details on the
arrest of Richard Pure, who was discovered to be the famous Kid Rocket.
I laughed when they said it was the work of the mysterious vigilante
known only as the Veil. I always enjoyed when they threw that part
in.