Within the reddish evening of Southside area, a building is burning and torn apart from the inside. Dead bodies either torn apart, butchered, impaled, ripped to shreds, burnt and blown apart, littered the streets of the Suicide Slum.
And yet, the populace of Southside area are gathering around, not because of the increase of malignancy on their neighborhood, but rather... because of a faceoff between two abnormalities.
A man; clad in black, faceless, shrouded in black mist that seemed ominous, stood tall in the middle of the street is facing another man; flying, wearing blue and red outfit that shows his muscular body, an “S” logo on his chest, and wearing a cape that flows with the wind behind his back.
The scene... it looked as if the Devil being confronted by God; Evil vs. Good.
It looked surreal, yet it’s real, and the several people in the Suicide Slum are watching.
...
“Who are you! What have you done here!” Said Superman, as he slowly descent, but still nowhere near the ground below.
‘Dammit! Why is he here now?!’ Matthias inwardly cursed. He’s did not plan to encounter Superman anytime soon, not like this. And most importantly, he doesn’t want Superman to be his enemy.
Matthias looked up, and then answered with his deep voice, “I’m not your enemy, Superman.”
Superman descended further down, closer to Matthias. His feet touch the ground below him, and then he observed his surroundings; he saw all the dead gangsters around, as well as the destroyed and burning building nearby. Then, his vision stops at one human sized red lump of meat, formerly a human, near Matthias’ feet.
“You... what have you done to them...” Superman’s face frowns as he sees the deeds Matthias has done.
“They are no innocents, Superman. They have been hurting the people in Southside.” Matthias tried to explain.
“And you killed them all like this?”
Superman looked around once again, and then stared at the burning building that is the gangsters’ den. His eyes glows blue as the stares; he uses his ‘X-Ray’ vision to look inside the burning building. His face expresses extreme shock as his mouth went agape and his eyes wide open.
Superman saw even more dead bodies in the torn down building, and returned to look at Matthias.
“You... you butchered them...”
Matthias frowned inside his mask. His action in killing all those gangsters was extremely brutal and cruel, but it wasn’t like it was done without reasons or towards innocents. Those gangsters deserved it, and that is Matthias’ reason of violence. It was his conviction to avenge those children they just killed.
But Superman doesn’t know that fact, and from the view of the outsiders, he’s the devil one.
“Superman, they are all gangsters, scums of the Earth. They were killing children...” Matthias tried to reason with Superman, all while stalling for time.
“... I will have to ask you to stand down, and wait for the police to arrive.” Said Superman as he stood tall in front of Matthias.
Matthias straightened his back, and stood tall just like Superman, as they stood face to face, “I’m sorry, Superman, but I’m not planning on staying.”
“If you refuse to stand down, I cannot help you to give explanation for what you have done here.” Superman stated, as he took three steps closer to Matthias, “I’ll give you a chance to surrender... give it up, or you’ll get hurt.”
Matthias stayed silent for several seconds, before taking out a black switch button from his pocket. He also had his left hand sneakily reaching something from his belt.
“I will...” Matthias pressed the switch, “... have to refuse.”
*BOOOM!*, an explosion blared somewhere nearby, and everyone in the vicinity, including Superman, looked towards the source to see what had happened.
‘It’s good I armed some explosive around that steel bokken sword.’ Thought Matthias. His steel bokken sword he impaled on one of the gangster through a building wall exploded, creating a distraction for Matthias.
It was then that Matthias took something with his left hand from his utility belt; it was a flash bang, and it was Matthias’ special flash bang which he designed to create an extremely blinding flash beyond normal flash bangs, and the noise it create is so deafening and thunderous that it could perhaps reach several kilometers, and Matthias is setting it off right into Superman’s face.
*FLASH!!* *BANG!*
The flash of light so blinding, and the bang so deafening and thunderous exploded right in front of Superman’s face when he got distracted.
“AAAH!” Yelled Superman as he raised his hands to cover his eyes from the blinding flash and moved further back in a reaction from the loud bang.
Matthias used this opportunity to quickly escape by boosting his speed stat and quickly flee from Superman.
Superman grunted for a bit as he regained himself. He touched his eyes and face and shook his head lightly, and then he opened his eyes and went to look for Matthias, who had sprinted away in an inhuman speed.
But this speed is not a problem for Superman; Matthias speed is only comparable to, perhaps, a sports car at top speed, and Matthias knows this. He can’t escape from Superman.
Superman flew upwards towards the sky, and then uses his super vision to locate Matthias. When he finally found him, Superman flew like a bullet towards Matthias’ location.
Matthias is currently trying to sprint away from Southside area, and towards downtown Metropolis. He needs to be able to shake off Superman before he can catch him.
‘Superman’s blatantly overpowered abilities are a pain in the ass. Thank god his no-kill-policy prevents him from outright killing his enemies.’ Thought Matthias. Superman’s no-kill-policy is a weakness, something Matthias can be grateful about. Though... it doesn’t mean it’s any easier to escape from Superman.
Matthias has his right hand holding his phone tablet, and his left hand is on standby on his utility belt which holds his last remaining explosive knives and several other tools.
Matthias keeps sprinting, and as he was about to move past a checkpoint to exit Southside area, Superman flew in front of him, blocking his way.
“Please, do not resist.” Said Superman as he showed his right hand palm to indicate that he wants Matthias to stop.
Matthias react by throwing several knives knives towards Superman, which the latter caught them by his two hands.
“Please cooperate. You can’t stop me by simply throwing these knives.”
“... they’re no simple knives.” Stated Matthias. He pushed his switch, and the knives exploded in Superman’s hand.
Superman got stunned once again, and Matthias took the chance to sprint away some more.
Matthias ran and ran. He spent most of his other stats to go into his speed and stamina, but even then, he’s extremely tired beyond believe.
Superman caught up once again, and he quickly tried to grab Matthias by his arm. Matthias sensed Superman quickly approaching, and fully boosted his black smoke ability to turn himself into black smoke.
Superman’s hand gripped into nothing but the black smoke that is Matthias. Although Superman can’t grab Matthias in his formless black mist form; neither can Matthias run away as he is in this form.
But then Superman suddenly flew upwards, took a deep breath, and then blew a strong wind towards Matthias’ black smoke. Matthias can feel himself being blown away, and he quickly cancelled his smoke ability, and then quickly sprinted away.
Matthias approached the empty part of the streets of downtown Metropolis, and Superman flew in front of Matthias... for one last time.
“This is my last warning: Quit running away, or I will have to use force!” Superman float in front of Matthias, and his hands are on his hips.
... After pausing for a while, Matthias stopped his track. He put his hands above his head, giving an indication that he surrendered.
Superman breathed out as he relaxed, and moved closer to Matthias, “You will have to cooperate with me, and explain to the law enforcement about what happened at the slum. Only then can I help you.”
Matthias, inside his mask, smiled. He knows this Boy Scout is generally the all-around good-guy hero of the DC Universe.
Matthias tapped his thumb on the screen of his phone tablet in his right hand.
“Superman, you are indeed a true hero. I really admire you.”
Superman listened to this shadow man in black he’s been chasing for a while... until, all of a sudden, several drones approached him. They are all beeping rapidly, and are crashing into Superman.
And then...
*KABOOOM!* *BOOOM!* *BOOOOM!*
The drones exploded around Superman. He grunted and coughed as he took the explosions head on.
Matthias took this chance by throwing all of his smoke pellets around him, and then slowly turning himself into black smoke, until only his slightly blurry head is visible.
“Urgh...” Superman grunted, as he tried to regain his senses after being bombarded by several explosives.
“I’m sorry, Superman... but you can’t catch a Wraith.”
Superman flew above and took another deep breath, then blew another strong wind towards all the smokes.
After the smoke cleared, all that is left are explosive residue and the drone’s debris, but this ‘Wraith’ is already gone. Superman uses his senses to look for the where about of this--this Wraith. He looked at where the small remaining black smokes are going, and he found some smoke coming out of a metal grate by the side of the street, bellow the sidewalk that is meant for water drain. He has escaped via the water drain.
“... Wraith... who are you, who do you work for... what have you done back there at the slum...”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Matthias threw his mask to a corner of his secret room. He’s heaving and breathing heavily. His body is extremely exhausted, and his soul is weary. Having the need to use all of his abilities to its fullest potential has been very taxing to him. All he wants now is to clean up, and sleep.
He then went for his bathroom. Matthias, still in his full gear except for his mask, is staring through the tall mirror in his bathroom.
“... What have I done back there...”
Matthias saw someone in the mirror; a tall and handsome young man of eighteen years old, who looked like a younger version of Bruce Wayne...
It’s himself in the mirror, and yet... with all the blood in his hands and clothes, he felt unfamiliarity as he stares at his own reflection.
Matthias stared at his bloody hands, “I just killed them all...”
And then, the images of those deaths came to him... and he pukes on his toilet bowl...
Those dead children, those dead gangsters, those... deaths he caused.
"*Gasp*, eugh... I'm a killer..." muttered Matthias as he stood up and approached his bathroom wash basin.
Matthias need to recollect himself, as he is unsure of his own feelings after slaughtering all those gangsters. He wants to justify this action by telling himself that he’s just avenging those young children they just killed as an entertainment...
Matthias thought of himself killing those gangsters. He was consumed with anger the first time he killed one of those gangsters, and after the first killing, he felt like doing the same to his next target feels... easy.
He did not feel any sort of enjoyment, nor is he regretting having to kill and butcher all of those gangsters, but the thought that he’s getting used to the killings shuddered him.
“There’s no turning back from this point on. This world, the world DC Universe, is a dark and dangerous world. Any form of weakness can and might kill me.”
Matthias went to his bathroom’s wash basin, turned the tap on, took off his bloody black gloves, and started filling his palm with water. He splashed the water to his face, and with this refreshing touch of the water embracing his weary soul, he inwardly declared.
“No more hesitation. No more relying on ’plot armors’. No more doubts. I will kill those who are too dangerous to roam upon this world.”
A good antihero in DC is hard to find. I'm a Punisher fan so Red Hood Jason Todd is 'ok', and Amanda Waller is 'ok' as well. Waller is more of a plot device, and Todd just doesn't make enough impact after his debut killing the gray skull.
Speaking of, I think Waller would appreciate Wraith so long as he only kills known killers. What would Superman and Batman do if he were given a license to kill by someone like Waller? Wonder Woman would understand, hell she's been to war.
Also, considering his Wraith powerset thus far, he's gunna attract the occult members of DC. Which means Constantine may show up. And Ras may be more interested in him than Batman after some time to observe his work ethics.
"I'm sorry, Superman... but you can't catch a Wraith."
I was undecided on the whole 'Wraith' name, but this line makes it worth it.
The cringe one liner! yess!
Good chapter.
Edgy cool one liner (Check)
Thanks for the new chapter.
I wonder what new abilities/powers Matthias may get from the fame from escaping superman.
You know what this means? Brainstorming time for me!
Yay!.. f*ck...
@Samuel_Spader I'm sure he'll be actually bulletproof now, and the mists will probably get an upgrade. Maybe be able to attack with them? Like mist claws or something? I highly suggest having him say something like "be torn apart by the creatures of the mists" and letting him gain the ability to summon things inside them to help him. That'd be really cool.
@FireflyFanatic
Ahhhh! Thank you for the ideas!
@Samuel_Spader Probably an increase in his speed. Bet a lot of people will think you have to be fast to help your escape from Superman.
I also agree with "the things in the mists". Could see the mists surround the bad guys, and depending on the situation, knock them out with the 1960's Batman "SOK, BIF, KAPOW, BAM..." sound effects. Then toss them out in groups to have them land face first with their ass in the air. Or in nicely dismembered gory piles if needed.
@StarLord You could also go full edge lord and say something along the lines " The beasts in the mist are no monsters they are no demons. No, they are the remnant will of those who died in pain and agony, not because of any fault of their own but because someone decided to make them suffer. They are the innocent broken, they are the goodhearted shred by others. And I bare there weight and take their pain as power to be a reconning, and so, I AM THE WRAITH!" You could also give him the power to stun people with his voice, a spectral scream kind of power.
@QuietGragon777 Oooooo a screech. That’d be interesting.