New York, Queens

Queensboro Bridge

20:12

Aaron's eyes were still glued to his phone's screen, unable to comprehend the meaning of the message.

Help...? Where is she? What does she mean? Is she serious or is this some kind of joke?

His mind was full of questions he seemingly had no answers for as he stuffed the device back into his pocket and looked around the chaos of the bridge.

Maybe she can't beat that game we were playing and she's just trying to bait me... I need to focus on the task at hand!

The teenager thought as he realized the importance of the situation as well as his duty. All the while, amidst the chaos, a scream rang throughout the area. And a very familiar one at that.

OLIVIA!

Aaron recognized the voice and before he could process it, his body was already moving. The mysterious creature had just pulled off the back door of a car and was holding a teenage girl inside his massive palm. "Oh no you don't!" Wraith cried out as he landed feet first on the beast's head, causing it to lose balance and let go of the girl.

"Olivia!" Her mother cried out as she bolted out of the passenger door and grabbed her daughter who was kneeling on the ground still in shock. "Are you okay?!" She continued checking her for injuries, as the teenage girl nodded.

"Hey I know this may be too much for you but you NEED to get out of here!" Aaron said in a stern voice as he stood between the family and the monster.

The two women looked at each other in response, as they called out to their other family members "Jack!" "Robert!" Soon the whole family had evacuated the vehicle and were running back to safety.

The creature still hesitated to attack, as it was yet to recover 100% from the previous blow. "Now it's just you and me doggie!" The teenager voiced cockily as he ducked underneath a swing and jumped out of the way in response to another. Landing on a nearby car's roof, he used the higher ground to dropkick the monster in the head yet again, causing it to stagger. "You were a bad BAD boy today!" Aaron waved his finger at him as the creature roared angrily.

"RAAAARRGGGH!" It let out yet another powerful roar before grabbing one of the nearby cars and throwing it his way.

"Wait what?!" Aaron exclaimed as he jumped out of the way just in time. "Hey now that's not fair!" The teenager voiced as he dodged yet another car thrown at him and used his hooks to escape the explosion caused by the car collision. "You seriously need to-" Aaron's breath was caught on his throat as he realized that the car the creature was about to pick up had still one passenger left inside. A heart-rending scream of a child made its way to Aaron's ears as the monster picked up the car next to the bridge's railing.

"STOP IT!" The teenage hero cried out yet again, as he teleported in front of the creature in a split-second and unleashed an uppercut from below, landing just right on his enemy's long and wolf-like jaw. The impact though, was enough for the monster to lose balance and as fate would have it, the vehicle slipped from its grasp. But, instead of landing safely on the ground, it hit the railing of the bridge and was making its way straight to the bottom of the river below. "OH COME ON!" Aaron exclaimed in frustration as he jumped out of the bridge without a second thought. He quickly glued his arms to his body and his feet together, in an attempt to fall faster and catch up to the falling car. When he got in range he grabbed the back of the car with his bare hands and shot a hook at the bridge above his head, causing his fall to come to an abrupt halt, while he was still holding the vehicle with one hand.

"AAARRGHH!" He clenched his teeth in pain as he felt the extreme weight of the car in his arm. Although it had been quite a while since he felt something was heavy, he couldn't also help but feel a numbing sensation throughout his forearm, bicep and also his fingers. Even for his superhuman strength, the weight of a car was too much for just one hand. "Can you hear me?!" Aaron shouted out to the lone boy on the back seat of the car.

"Yes..." The boy replied in between sobs as it was clearly in a state of shock.

"I want you to be brave for me, can you do that?" Aaron voiced in a friendly and encouraging tone.

"...What?" The crying kid said with tears streaming down his face, as he looked at the masked hero through the back glass pane.

"I want you to climb out of the car and grab onto my arm, okay? I can't hold this thing for much longer." The teenager voiced in the same tone as before as the kid shook his head frantically.

"...I can't..." Was his reply as he stood still, grabbing hold of the back seat with his small hands.

"I know you can do it!" Aaron said in an attempt to encourage him.

"But I'm not strong like you Wraith..." The little boy replied with a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

"Hey, there's nothing special about me, look..." Aaron voiced as he removed his half mask with the hand that was hanging from his hook. "I'm just a kid like you." The teenager smiled reassuringly as he squinted in pain.

No matter what, I can't let go!

He screamed inside his head as he gripped the car's edge tighter than before. "That's why I know you can do it!" Aaron said one more time with the same gentle and confident smile. This time, the kid who was crying, wiped his eyes with his sleeve and nodded strongly.

"...Okay." The boy replied in a low but fierce tone. He quickly moved to the door and stepped on the window gap.

"Yes, that's it!" Aaron encouraged him all the way as he found himself standing on the back seat glass. "Only one more step!" The teenager urged him on as the little boy grabbed his wrist and his forearm with both hands. "Good job, I'm letting go now!" He warned the kid before letting the heavy vehicle escape his grasp. The car that was once held up above the surface of the river, quickly found its way at the bottom of it, as its sole passenger was hanging from Wraith's arm.

"Here you go." Aaron said as he picked the kid up properly in his arm and with the other ascended through the mechanism of his hook. After a few more maneuvers the two were soon safely standing at the bridge that was no longer occupied by the mysterious creature from before. "What's your name?" The teenage hero asked as soon as they were both on solid ground.

"I'm Michael..." The kid replied timidly.

"You were really brave Michael. Thank you for cooperating with me." Aaron voiced while kneeling in front of the kid and patting his head gently.

"Michael!" A grown up man shouted worriedly as he ran towards the two, while Aaron adjusted his mask to his face.

"Dad!" Michael cried back to his father.

"I'd better leave you two to it then..." The teenager voiced before running off back into the city.

Where the hell did that monster go?!

He thought as he looked around the bridge while gliding by. "Shannon, call Chief Monroe." Aaron voiced as the AI operating in his suit turned on and a voice echoed through the speaker.

"Yes, sir." It replied in a monotonous and obedient tone, as it started up a call.

"Chief?" Aaron inquired as soon as the other end of the line was picked up after only one ring.

"Ah Wraith I was about to contact you myself! That mysterious monster is still on the loose!" Her voice came off as hurried and somewhat annoyed at the situation.

"Where is it exactly?" The teenager asked yet again as the woman at the other end of the call gave him the details.

...

"So this where you were?" Aaron voiced as he landed at a rooftop and looked down at the extreme state of the street. Police cars were overturned, some even were on fire. Some officers were sprawled onto the floor while others were firing their guns at the monster, which wasn't fazed at all by their poor attempt of an attack. Wraith quickly jumped off of the rooftop and with his hook's assistance landed safely in front of the monster, which looked more vicious and bloodthirsty than ever before. "Uh-oh..." The teenage hero exclaimed as the werewolf recognized him from before and charged at him angrily, mouth foaming. "Woah!" Aaron uttered as he barely dodged the vicious swing of its claws, realizing that the creature had become much faster than earlier.

Did he get a power up or something?! What the hell?!

He complained internally as the policemen fired away at their guns yet again, enraging the beast even more. "How about this?!" Aaron said as he fired a barrage of electrical pins at the monster while teleporting away from yet another dangerous attack. The monster contorted for a second but quickly shook the pins off, looking all the angrier. "Oh come on!" The young man voiced dejectedly in response, without realizing that the werewolf had moved in closer. That gave it the opening that it needed to grab Aaron's wrist and hold him up like a sack of flour, all the while crashing his wrist and of course the valuable watch strapped on it.

"AAAAAAHHH!" He screamed in pain as he was tossed to the side as if he was weightless, crashing onto the glass panel of a store.

Fuck! My wrist! It hurts like hell and I can't even teleport! I didn't even think that monster had intelligence!

As Aaron complained internally he slowly got up writhing in pain.

Come on Aaron this is nothing!

He gave himself a mental pep talk as he shook his head and ran back onto the scene. Just as Aaron joined in, police reinforcements had arrived, carrying with them a ton of loaded machine guns.

"AAAAAHHHH!" A police officer screamed in horror as the monster picked him up and was about to drive his claws straight through his body.

"You need to learn some manners, pooch!" The teenage hero voiced sarcastically as he hooked himself onto the creature's arm and drove his knee on its jaw. Or at least he should have... But the werewolf had blocked the attack by using the arm it had let go off the officer just a second earlier. "You have to be fucking kidding me!" Aaron exclaimed in frustration before the creature slammed him to the ground in front of it with its fist. The monster quickly shifted his attention to him only, as it pinned him to the ground and brought its face closer to him. Aaron's vision was filled with a mouth full of saliva and all he could feel was the stench of a foul breathe. Not wasting a moment the werewolf brought forth its claws, and with a slow and torturing movement run his pointy nails through the surface of Wraith's suit, leaving a crimson red trail behind. "Kggghhhh!" Aaron clenched his teeth in pain trying to hold the monster's claw in place. But his resistance was futile. The claw stopped above his stomach and with a quick movement it drove its nails inside him.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" The teenager let out a heart rending scream as the surface of the creature's nails had pierced his abdomen. As if on cue and miraculously, the sounds of gunfire rang out, but in a more repetitive tone than before. The machine guns were fired, and to the officers' delight, the creature was roaring painfully. The machine gun rounds were hurting him and by judging quickly, it decided to flee the scene, and ran away as fast as possible.

I... need... to get out of here...

Aaron thought as he tried to get up, a burning sensation ran throughout his body. "AAAHHHH!" He shouted out in pain yet again, as even breathing seemed like a herculean task.

"Need a hand?" Aaron heard a familiar voice as his vision started going blurry. He looked up to see that the voice matched a familiar face as well.

Harry from the Black Hawks?

He thought as he gazed at the man in front of him.

"I told you I'd repay my debt to you. Hey boys, load him up!" He ordered his lackeys as he was stuffed inside a car's backseat. "Where are we taking ya?" Harry asked as he sat on the passenger seat.

"84th Avenue..." Aaron replied weakly.

"You heard him... Josh try to help him with that bleeding." Harry ordered yet again as one of his goons patched him up quickly and certainly not expertly. "We're not doctors here so you'll have to make do with that, but at least you're not gonna die on us. I can't take you to the hospital looking like this so patch it up at home or something...." The man on the passenger seat voiced as Aaron felt his consciousness fading.

...

"We're here." He was waken up to what felt like a second later, and he got off the car as fast as he possibly could, in his state, that is. "See ya, Wraith." Harry waved nonchalantly as the car drove off. Something about him pissed Aaron off but he was in no state to complain or protest. Instead, he mustered all of his strength and after going into a lonely alley he hooked himself on his window, clumsily slipping inside.

"I need to treat this..." He voiced weakly as he clutched his hurting stomach, while he felt his hands wet still.

"Don't pass out..." Aaron said while walking out of his room, supporting himself on the wall. Don't..." But his eyelids felt so heavy...

"...Pass out." He could not hold them open even for one second longer as he slid down the wall and fell on his backside.

...

New York, Queens

Olivia's Room

21:10

You won't believe what happened!

Sent 20:20

Are you home?

Sent 20:31

Heyyyyyy!!!

Sent 20:50

"Why isn't that idiot replying?!" Olivia muttered in frustration as she sat on her bed scrolling through her sent messages. "I need to tell him about Wraith and what happened today!" She said while remembering the earlier incident.

It really was him... Wraith was actually there...!

Actually, Olivia was quite the Wraith fangirl. "And he didn't even reply to my "HELP" message although he read it! What's up with him?!" The teenage girl remembered as she kicked up her feet angrily while she fell on her back.

Why did I even text him HELP anyway...? We were being attacked by that monster and the next thing I remember I've pulled out my phone and I'm texting Aaron of all people!!

She thought to herself before shaking her head. "Never mind I'm in a good mood so I'll just tell him in person!" She jumped out of her bed confidently and opened her window before ascending the small metallic ladder of the fire escape.

His window is open...?

She thought while peeking inside the dark room. "Hey I know it's not winter yet but you should properly close your windows at night..." She commented as she noticed the door to the living room was open. "Also where did all the lights go?" Olivia continued with her mumblings as she jumped inside Aaron's room.

I'm inside his room! What the hell am I doing?!

She thought to herself while blushing up to her ears. "I-If you've got a problem with me being here then you should have at least replied to my messages!" She said in an attempt to justify her presence and reassure herself. "Anyway you won't believe..." Olivia paused for a second as she walked out of his room and caught a glimpse of a red drop on the floor. "What is this...?" The teenage girl asked in a trembling tone as she kneeled and ran her finger through the red liquid. Soon her breath was caught on her throat. "Aaron!" She shouted as soon as she recognized the liquid in her fingers and got up to switch on the light. When she did, she came face to face with the person in question, Aaron, who was sitting down against the wall, with the same crimson red liquid all over his torso. But that wasn't the most bizarre thing about him either... He was wearing a suit. A very familiar suit.

Aaron is Wraith!!!!??