Holding Out For A Hero: An Original Superhero Quest

You start dragging the five surviving wounded thugs in a pile near the dead end of the road, healing as you go. Three are knocked out, so you didn't have to do anything for them. One was charred by the exploding van, so trying to stabilize him is pointless.

The worst of it was the sniper. When you get close to him, you smell burnt flesh. He's survived, but he looks dead from the burns. He lies on the ground, moaning in pain, not able to say anything as you work to stabilize him. You don't think you can heal him completely. Especially not in the time you have.

You carry him back to the convict pile, the man groaning as you do so. As you do, you hear a voice from the last man you need to stabilize.

"What do you think you've accomplished? That *******'s probably gonna stab someone before the end of the week" You hear as you carefully lay the man down. You look over to see Mr. 13, hole still in his torso and blood staining his jacket. He speaks with a cold anger.

You look at the bleeding man "If I had a hundred years, I wouldn't have time to tell how stupid you're being. Maybe save your political views for the cops. They should be here in a minute" You say. Jasmine gives you an update on the cop's location. They are close. Closer than you'd like. Still, you start stabilizing 13, making sure that he won't bleed to death.

"What, do you think patching us up You're still aiding in this city's degeneracy" The man says. His face is still covered by his mask, but you can see him glare at you.

"I'm doing this for me, not for you." You say. "I want to help people, but kill them"

"Oh, like you 'helped' Norm?" He looks at the corpse next to the burning van.

"No. Helping the people you're trying to kill" You say. ...Now that you think about it. You think you've done enough for him. He won't bleed to death before the cops get to him. Probably.

He says something else, but you ignore it. You start going in the direction that the (Mexican? Maybe Colombian or El Salvadorian?) man went off to when you distracted the skinheads. At least, you want to make sure he got away, and isn't bleeding out.

You half job half run past the tree line to an empty field, on the other side of which is a set of train tracks and a road. And that's where you see him. The area is dark, only lit with occasional, aging bright green streetlamps, limping on the side of the road. You run to catch up to him, as you do, he looks back as your heavy boots hit the ground. You slowly approach the man. He looks scared, but he doesn't seem to be afraid of you, at least.

" ¿Están ... se han id-" He looks down and shakes his head. "Did you... break, eh... kill them?." He says in halting English. He pauses between words, trying to find the right one.

"If you want, tell him he can speak Spanish. I'll translate on my end" Jasmine says.

You give her the affirmative. After getting a translation, you slowly walk closer to the man. "I'm the Vigil, and I'm here to help you" You say in probably mispronounced Spanish.

"Thank you." The man sighs in relief and speaks to you in Spanish. "My name is Arturo. Those men... those devils... I was staying with my cousin. He- he let me stay here. Those men, they... they killed him. They killed him and Mariella" He starts to tear up. You give the man a second to let it out. But even as you do, you are keenly aware that the police are still on the way. And you are literally standing at the side of the road.

"Don't worry. They aren't going to hurt you again" You say. "I need to go. The police will be here soon. You need to tell them-"

"NO! He shouts. He shakes his head. "I can't talk to police! I called them before because it was the only thing I could think of, but now..." Arturo says desperately.

"But the place you were staying is going to be a crime scene. You can't expect to stay there." You say.

"Yes, but if they get me, they'll kick me out of the country. They'll deport me, and I can't go back!" He says desperately. "...The Three Gardens Apartments... I know someone who lives there. Maybe they could let me stay. Please, just help me get over there, and you'll never see me again. Please!" He says, practically pleading.

You've heard of those apartments. Its a tenement building north of here. and could be charitably be called a shithole. But you suppose, it's better than homelessness. If barely. Its closer to downtown than you'd like, but you doubt you'll get caught in a Hero Patrol if you play it smart.

"Cops are getting close, Sunny" Jasmine says. "If you're planning on leaving, do it now." You can hear sirens in the distance, coming from the south. You need to make your choice fast.

[] Try to convince the man to stay there and give his testimony. (Diplomacy)
[] Help the man get somewhere safe. (Pursuit Riding)
[] Leave the man here. You need to leave now. (Will to resist Citizen Savior)
[] Write in

You tell the man to get the man on the back of your bike. As soon as he's on, you take off. You take off in the opposite direction of the cops and take the narrow, winding roads north of Battery Park and double back west as soon as you stop hearing cop cars. Once you're back in civilization, Jasmine guides you away from the cops on patrol. When you get the chance, you disguise yourself and unsummon your armor. Thankfully, the ride to the Three Gardens Apartments goes smoothly. The outside of the buildings on this block are gray, looking almost like tombstones in a graveyard of other, run down buildings. If it were daytime, you'd see the discolored areas where fire escapes were before they were presumably taken to be sold for scrap and not replaced.

Arturo sighs as he looks up at the building, and it feels like a little part of him escaped with his breath. "Thank you." The man says. "I'll figure things out from here..." He doesn't sound too sure.

"Good luck, Arturo" You say. There isn't much you can do right now. "Here's hoping"

Arturo nods and gets off your bike. His legs are shaking as he walks through the entrance and he pulls out his phone. Maybe he's nervous. Maybe he just wasn't used to the bumps from riding a motorcycle. As soon as you see him enter the building, you take off.

"Looks like we did a good job out there, Vigil" Jasmine says. "Well, mostly you, but still..." There's tiredness in her voice, but it's understandable. It's around 10:30 or so. You're getting tired too.

"Yeah..." You say. "I just hope those fucks get put away for a long time" You say.

There's a pause on the other end of the line for a second. "I hope so too. But at least, if they get out, we'll be able to put 'em down again, right?" She says.

"I just hope that it doesn't have to come to that" You say. "Anyway, I think its time to turn in."

"Alright, Vigil. I'll start heading back to town. Call me if you need anything" Jasmine says.

"Back at ya" You say. "See you later" With that, the line goes down as Jasmine, presumably, is packing up to head back.
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You slowly open the back door of your house as you get home for the evening. It's late. The only lights in the house are a pair of nightlights you have in the halls. One in the hallway near the backdoor, and one in the hallway leading to Gwen's room. You slowly close your door, wincing in pain as you do. Even after casting Heal on yourself, it hurts like a motherfucker. You walk to the living room, plop down on the couch and for a moment, just exist. You don't turn on the TV, you don't check on your outstanding orders, you don't even think about what the events of that night, or what you're going to do tomorrow.

You don't know how long you sit there. Maybe five minutes. Maybe 3 hours. Your body wants to rest, but you can't will your body to go to the bedroom and you can't even close your eyes for more than a few moments.

You'll eventually go to bed, and tomorrow, you, Adrian and Gwen to Blue Bonnet Burger's as a treat for the three of you. But that night, you're planning to...

[] Experiment with your tag and summon spell to see just how large of an object you can summon.
[] See if you can put your bike under an illusion.
[] Formalize a system to get money from your "Sonya" account to "The Vigil's" account so you can buy parts, upkeep the mansion, etc.
[] Find different ways to get to your mansion that avoid cameras.
[] Write in