Urban Myth
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(Based on the Moon Knight comic “Scarlet”)>>
The Avengers were out once again on another mission, this time sporting Iron man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and The Falcon. Thor would have joined but he was elsewhere, most likely dealing with other problems. For now, the five of them were having to deal with a hostage situation in a thought-to-be abandoned building. From what they could tell, it would be similar to a video game. Five floors until you reach the girl, each floor getting harder the higher up it is. Currently, they were on the second floor, being surrounded by goons. A bullet grazed Hawkeye’s cheek, and one on Black widow’s arm. Falcon barely dodged one but it hit his pack, leaving him flightless. Iron man was protected by his suit, but a large number of the goons choose to team up against him, obstructing his view and making it difficult for him to aim. Captain America was trying to help his teammates but was stuck with five guns shooting at him.
Just as they thought they were done for, multiple crescent shaped daggers flew across the room and hit several of the men. The few goons that were still alive switched their focus to a white-clad man and started shooting at him. When they ran out of ammo, all the bullets they fired flew back and killed each one of them. The five heroes, now able to move freely, stared shocked at the white cloaked figure, who stared right back at them with cold, glowing eyes. He stood on the staircase above them, the shadows covering most of his body. Before any of them could say a word, the man ran up the stairs. Of course, since this was still a rescue mission, they followed suite.
As they tried to catch up with the man, several dead or currently dying bodies fell from the stairs and down to the first floor. All being horrifically disfigured or simply bleeding profusely. One of the live ones had actually muttered out in fear, “Moon… Knight… run…” before dying. Is that what this man was called? Moon Knight? Whatever his name was didn’t matter, what did matter was the fact that he was killing all these men mercilessly and would most likely harm the hostage.
~~~
After throwing one of his crescent daggers at the man inside the room, Moon Knight creaked open the door and walked inside, immediately spotting a little girl tied up in the corner of the room crying. He walked over to her and swiftly removed the blindfold and gag, then started cutting the ropes wrapped around her.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now.” He tossed the cut ropes away as he spoke barely above a whisper. The little girl wiped her eyes and looked up at him, sniffling a bit. “I’m Mr. Knight.”
“Are you g-gonna take me home?” She sniffed, mouth a thin, shuttering line as she spoke.
“No, but there are some… friends of mine downstairs that will.” He used the word loosely, but knew it was the only way to keep her calm. Then he thought about the bodies. “Stay here and they’ll come to you. Do you understand? Don’t leave this room until you see them come in.”
“How do I know it’s them?”
“Trust me, you’ll know.” With that, he left. Just as he made it to the stairs for the rooftop, he heard the five heroes rush into the room and question the little girl. He sighed, fatigued catching up to him as the adrenaline wore off. At least he gets to sleep in tomorrow.
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…
“Are you Mr. Knight’s friends?” The heroes stared wide-eyed at the little girl, who fiddled around with a crescent dagger that was left on the floor. Black Widow and Iron man were quick to comfort her and answer her questions, as well as ask their own. Falcon held the dagger in his hand as he, Hawkeye, and Captain America stared at it. There was no doubt that it belonged to Moon Knight.
~~~
“Alright, I can’t be the only one who’s confused by this guy.” Sam sighed, now sitting on the couch with the dagger lying on the coffee table in front of him. “First, he’s trying to take some super powerful amulet, then just gives it back to us. Next, he’s kicking Cap in the stomach after pretending to be some innocent bookstore worker. Now, he’s killing a bunch of dudes but leaving the little girl unharmed. I don’t even care what or who he is anymore, I just want him to make up his damn mind on who’s side he’s on.”
“Gotta agree with Birdie here-”
“Excuse me?”
“This moon guy is starting to get on my nerves.” Tony huffed as he walked into the lounge area and sipped his glass of malt scotch.
“He’s starting to get on your nerves?” Clint cocked a brow at him and scoffed. “From what I can recall, he hasn’t done anything to you. I got stabbed in the leg, Nat got her ribs cracked, and Steve got sparta kicked in the stomach.”
“He made a bunch of boxes and crates fall on me and Bleeker Street Magician… Somehow… Back at the warehouse.” Tony pointed out.
“Somehow? What do you mean?” Bruce walked over when he heard them talking about getting hurt.
“I don’t know, honestly. Maybe some weird tech or magic, since that’s a thing now.” Tony was legitimately confused, sipping at his malt scotch once again to show his confusion. “I was trying to rile him up, get him to just reveal himself out of anger or whatever. Instead, boxes and crates just started flying towards me and the wizard.”
“You don’t think that was just a coincidence?” Nat questioned in a flat tone.
“I would’ve thought it was, but then it happened again when he escaped. “And, definitely my words, no one else’s: “Coincidence? I think not.””
“Yeah, definitely won’t get copyrighted.” Sam rolled his eyes tiredly.
“Technically, he hasn’t done any kind of federal offense, so we can’t exactly say he’s a bad guy.” Bruce pointed out, pacing in a small circle.
“So killing people is no longer a federal offense?” Steve questioned, sometimes confused with his teammates morals
“As long as it’s seen as self-defense, yes.” He sighed, stopping in his tracks and staring at his teammates. “Maybe it would be best to question him. Not an interrogation, no attacking, no weapons, and in a public area where he might feel safe.”
“Not to be debbie downer, doc, but even then he might be on edge.” Clint grumbled, stretching out on a loveseat.
“Yeah, Bruce, and he might use the public space to his advantage and take someone hostage,” Nat agreed, sitting next to Clint with a bottle of beer in her hand. “And I think I’ve had enough hostage situations for a few months.”
“Then what can we do?” They all went quiet at that, none of them knowing how to approach this man in a safe way.
“We could catch him by surprise?” Sam proposed in a questioning tone. “You know, when he least expects it? I don’t know how, but maybe something like that.”
Tony smiled as an idea popped in his head. “...I think I know how.”