Prologue

How it began...

It all began on the night before my eleventh birthday. I had to walk home from an after school event. Even though I told my mom about it weeks ago she still wanted me home before ten. That meant I had to walk through the bad part of town. Why didn't she just pick me up from the school, you ask? Well, let's just say we weren't exactly the wealthiest people. It was a huge strain on Mom just to buy me a phone - and it was a used phone from ages ago! Anyway, I'm getting off track...

Even though it was dark out, I could see everything on the street very clearly. Trash bins lined the sidewalk, next to their brethren recycling bins. Old, putrid buildings loomed overhead, an occasional light from a window glaring menacingly into my soul. There were street lights, but most of them were broken and in desperate need of repair. Those that did shine usually revealed a drug transaction. I avoided the street lights.

I looked at my phone, hoping that I had actually received a text and didn't just imagine it vibrated. S**t, I thought, glancing at the battery icon, I'm at 12%... After giving the "No New Notifications" message the stink-eye, I put my phone back in my pocket. Can't have the locals seeing that I have a phone. I heard Alex got beaten up by some thugs and had his phone stolen last week. He always exaggerated everything, but I didn't want to take my chances.

I was about halfway home when heavy footsteps began trailing me. "Hey, little boy," a crackling voice hissed from behind me. I didn't turn around. My pace quickened with my heartbeat. I was not about to deal with crazy people. The man's voice cackled as he sped into a chase. I could feel my heart in my ears as if it were a timpani pulsing to the beat of one of Beethoven's symphonies. I tried running in a straight shot to my house, but the man was swiftly gaining on me. In attempt to shake him off my tail, I ended up turning the corner, revealing a grimy brick wall that stopped me dead in my tracks. I was trapped! I hurled myself behind one of the dumpsters, hoping that he would lose interest or something.

"It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt ya," said the creepy voice, audibly slurping at his cracked lips, "Not too awfully much, anyway..."

I peeked my head out from my concealment. If I could get a look at his face, then I could get him arrested... maybe...

To my horror, the man had already found me, and his head was mere inches from my own. The rotten stench of his breath outweighed that of the trash receptacle beside me. Most of his teeth were missing, and those that remained were covered in black tar. His eyes seemed to glow red in the darkness. In the center of his face was an obnoxiously large nose covered in acne, on either side were wrinkles hidden inside a scraggly beard.

His toothless grin widened, "We're gonna have lots of fun, little boy."

"I don't think so," resounded the powerful voice of a man that could have been none other than the mighty NightHunter, "Back away from the kid."

The thug, cowering in terror, pleaded, "D-don't hurt me! I wasn't doin' nothin'!"

"Tell that to to the judge," NightHunter stated plainly as he stepped into view, my attacker scurrying backwards as fast as he could away from the hero. He wore mostly black with some simple bold-lined designs in a deep blue. On his back was a katana, resting in its hilt attached to a leather strap. His face was concealed behind a mask matching that of his outfit. NightHunter snatched a steel pipe from the ground, creeping towards the thug. At first, I wasn't sure why he wasn't going to use his sword, but when he began using his superhuman strength to wrap the pole around the man I realized that he wasn't intending to kill him. In all honesty, it was probably just because I was there - NightHunter had been known to kill the criminals he dealt with.

"That should hold him," he said, turning to me while the thug struggled to break out of his steel prison, "I'll take him to the police. Do you live far from here?"

I shook my head no.

"Alright. I think you'll be okay then," NightHunter hoisted the toothless man over his shoulder and began walking off, "You should get home soon, kid."

He then leaped about 30 feet into the air and onto the rooftop to my right. It was at that moment that I decided I was going to get into martial arts and train myself to be a hero. Not a super hero, of course. You'd need super powers for that.

And I did end up going through martial arts training: I went through wrestling and kickboxing in highschool, and in my free time I took classes in Karate and Taekwondo. But I never became a hero. Well, not a vigilante, anyway. I became a police officer when I graduated high school. After a couple of years, my investigative skills got me into the FBI, and then the CIA. Just recently, I was asked to be a part of a special task force. I accepted, of course - the pay is way better than that of the President's body guards. The government calls me a Super Human Retrieval Specialist, or SHRS, but the public calls me the Anti-Hero. The reason being; I hunt down and collect superheroes and supervillains.

I'll tell you more about it later. For now, let's take a break.

Reviews

[Jones Crimson]

Taekwondo and Karate might work together but Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu probably won't.

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
-Bruce Lee

You should try to stick to one martial art for the MC and learn more about it. The basic differences in most martial arts are breathing, stance, strikes, and transitions. You would be surprised how different the breathing techniques can be, I personally enjoy Muay Thai because you get a better rhythm if you exhale with each strike but their stance is almost purely offensive so it might not work well against "supervillains" if their own size or strength exceeds yours. Original Jiu-Jitsu or a form of Samba would be better for avoiding the target.

Overall your work is the best I've read on this site so far, I'm sure you'll find publication if you keep at it.

[NightWatch]

I'll definitely be sure to research and revise the martial arts! I was aware that people could learn several different forms of martial arts, but I wasn't sure how they went together. I greatly appreciate the insight and the praise! Thank you for reviewing :)