Vigilante Beginnings

Alarms blared as the glass windows shattered in the front of the building marked with the First Sai Bank logo. This late at night very few people were around, a perfect time to cause problems. These people had to be beginners. Adrian had seen enough movies to know that at night while the cops were probably further away, they could arrive quickly enough. When robbing a bank if you wanted to do it properly you had to be quick, quiet, and do it when you had people to take hostages. Adrian's body was clad in all black, ceramic plates set into place for body armor. He stood there in , grinning as he pulled the porcelain mask into place.

It was a half mask covering everything but his jaw, designed like a human skull. From the forehead a pair of short horns protruded out then up. This combined with the blood trailing down from the tear ducts of the mask. Between the horns on the forehead was a special marking, a circle with others within it. Anyone looking into it might see a symbol representing oneness, or infinity.

"Seven bright stars in the sky I see, seven for those that watch over me. Shine forth your light and protect me." he said as he waited.

He watched them as they came out. They didn't wait long. It looked more like they were there to just grab what they could and run. Or they'd been scared off by something. He didn't care which. They came near and he stepped from the alley, the Devil's Teardrop coming to his gloved hand. They raised their guns as his sword came up cutting through them. The guns fell away as Adrian spun, bashing the hilt against the nearest man's forehead. He went down like a bag of rocks before Adrian drove the blade of his sword through the shoulder of the other man, pinning him to a brick wall. Turning he walked away.

"I am Fu Leng, Dragon of the night. You're lucky today." he said, not looking back.

Adrian waited in the alley across the street. When the police arrived he willed the Devil's Teardrop back to his hand before sheathing the demon possessed blade. He turned and left the scene, disappearing into the night.

(382/250)

In the time since the 'attack' it seemed that East City had become home to the unsavory characters that plagued the lower commons. Leaches moving up the body to more profitable areas. But it didn't stop Adrian's adopted persona. Instead it increased the zeal that the paranormal researcher had for fighting. He grinned darkly as he watched several people moving various electronics in the back of a moving truck. This would have seemed perfectly normal. But the only things they were loading were things that could be sold in pawn shops quite easilly. They were obviously stealing from homes that had been damaged, or abandoned in the evacuation. He settled the porcelain mask into place before he wandered toward them, weaponless. At least that's how it seamed. With the demonic connetion to the Devil's Teardrop he was never unarmed.

"Hey get this. Looks like Halloween came early guys!" one of the thieves said.

"Get out of here freak, before we kill you." another guy said, setting down a television.

Adrian just grinned, the half mask revealing his amusement. This only seemed to piss the three men in front of him off. He'd counted only three of them, probably with a fourth in the cab of the truck as the driver and lookout.

"You got a problem with your brain punk? Get out of here and we'll let you live. Otherwise you're gonna die." the third said, showing a gun.

The three of them stood there, guns tucked in their belts, revealed to try and intimidate them. Adrian's head just tilted as if he didn't understand. But his hand spoke for him. His hand shot out, three times. When he brought it back, he was sheathing the Devil's Teardrop at his hip. The three men reached for their guns. But their guns and pants had fallen to the ground.

"What the fuck!? When did he have a sword?!" one of them shouted.

"You and your kind are such pathetic bastards... Weaklings... Are there none here worthy of my strength?" Adrian muttered to himself out loud.

"Get the fucking chain!" one of them said.

By the time the cops had arrived, the truck was gone, the driver having taken off down the street. They found three broken guns laying in front of the thieves, and several pieces of entertainment and stereo equipment littering the street. The three of them were bound with chains, an ominous sword sticking in the ground binding the chains together. But Adrian had never been far. Instead when the cops arrived, the sword vanished after they'd seen it returning to it's master's hand.

(435/250)

"SOMEONE HELP ME!!"

The scream came from an alley. A woman wearing clothing that would normally be considered ackward was running through the labrynth of buildings laughter coming from all around her. She ran until she slammed into a fence, her body shaking in terror as she turned to look back at what had happened. Adrian dashed down alley after alley, trying to follow the voice of the woman screaming for help.

He came around a corner, and came to a stop, frowning as he stalked toward them. She was backed into a corner of the alley, a fence at her back, and a brick wall on the other side. In front of her was a big man with quite a large gun. The woman's eyes looked to Adrian, silently pleading for help. Or maybe she was more afraid of him than she was of the guy with the gun.

"Those that soil themselves with the blood of the innocent shall be torn completely apart!" Adrian said.

Turning the man fired quite quickly. With the ease of a master shot. Adrian stepped to the left, the bullet slamming into the brick wall down the alley. But as the man took aim again Adrian was moving toward him at a slow steady pace. When a man dodges a bullet shooters panic, might even find themselves confused. But they weren't usually as calm as they normally were. Adrian's pace sped up as the man steadied his gun. But the woman wasn't going to just stand there. Instead she got up and smashed her purse over his head as hard as she could. His shot missed Adrian by inches as the Devil's Teardrop appeared in a swirl of black mist. It came up in a swift strike, cutting through the gun and the man's fingers.

"Thank you." she said, as she moved so Adrian was between her and the thug.

"Go now, woman. Before the dragon of the night turns it's claws toward you." Adrian warned.

He grabbed the thug's ankle and dragged him into the street. Out in the open Adrian kicked the man as hard as he could in the side of the head. He slammed the Devil's Teardrop into the ground beside the thug's head, and grinned.

"You really need to move on with your life... Or I'll take more than your index fingers. This is my city. I am the dragon of night, Fu Leng. And all here are under my watch. I'm letting you go to pass it on to your friends." he said, before walking away.

The thug got to his feet and grabbed the sword with his remaining fingers. Wrenching it free he charged for Adrian, and brought the blade down. But as he did, he found the blade at his throat, as opposed to cutting the man open.

"Attacking a demon with it's own blade? Foolish. Walk away or I'll take your head back to Hell as a trophy." 'Fu Leng' warned.

The man fled, running as quickly as he could away from the scene.

(510/250)

Adrian's sword swung around in a quick easy motion, cutting through the first thug's sword, before reversing directions, his foot catching the man in the chest, forcing him back a step. Adrian's sword twirled in his hand as he set his jaw. He wasn't going to let it go this time. Instead he was going to make them suffer. He cut the second man's arms off at the elbow as he took aim. As the man fell back screaming he grinned darkly, turning to the first attacker.

"Those that soil themselves with the blood of the innocent will be torn completely apart!" he said, grinning as he got closer.

The first man scrambled away as quickly as he could, his body shaking in terror. As Adrian came into view the victim screamed and backed away. To anyone not knowing much of demons Adrian might appear like one, or like a strange man wielding a sword while wearing a mask. He thrust his sword into the man's throat, holding back just enough to slit it before he grinned. He grabbed the man by the hair and pulled, widening the wound as he grinned. The woman ran, forgetting her purse, horrified by the sight. Once the man's bleeding stopped Adrian hefted him up before walking away. He had need of a corpse and would have to make do with this thug.

"This world is unclean. My sword will clean it. Demons, be they hidden in human flesh, or hidden within the woods will be found. I will not lose this city to them." he said.

(263/250)

Fu Leng, the dragon of night and Adrian's adopted persona, watched the group from a distance. He was waiting, as patient as a cat might wait for a mouse. He grinned under his mask as he watched the drug deal go down. Five people, three bodyguards and a dealer, and a buyer. He wasn't sure if one was a cop or not. But he didn't care. He had a job to do when it came to the world around him. He made his way toward them, being as silent as he could. He grinned, his black body armor, and clothing worked well with the porcelain mask he wore. It made him seem ghostly or demonic. That combined with his above natural human abilities made him seem more like the desired spirit. Even if these people were capable of seeing spirits they wouldn't be able to differentiate himself from the other demons around them.

He made his way toward them and grinned, as he summoned the Devil's Teardrop. At the sound of metal scraping against the ground the bodyguards turned. They watched him get closer, before one of them drew his gun and fired. Adrian moved at the last second, his head tilting to the right, as the bullet passed him by.

"Bullets don't stop dragons... I am Fu Leng, dragon of the night. You will all pay for your sins." he said, grinning.

"Man, waste this guy!" the dealer said.

But as the first bodyguard took aim, Adrian's blade flashed out, cutting the gun into several pieces. As it fell away Adrian lept forward, his sword lancing toward the second bodyguard. He sheered the slide right off the gun before he spun, cutting the hand off the third bodyguard.

"Even Buddha only waited three times. But you are all unlucky. I wont be waiting. Your wounded man may leave though. But his hand stays. It belongs to me now. If you want to live you will offer parts of your own body." he demanded, grinning darkly.

Adrian had no intention of letting them go. But he wasn't going to let them know that. He took the hands of each man before he took the dealer's phone.

"When my sword vanishes you will be free to go. But should you even try to leave before then, I will return and kill you." he said, driving his sword into the ground as hard as he could.

He called the cops on the phone and watched from across the street. When they arrived the involved party was still alive. The sword vanished when the cops arrived, returning to it's master once more. Sheathing his sword, he sighed and turned, walking away.

(448/250)