Lucian resolved three incidents during the day: a convenience store armed robbery, an assault on some elderly people by some teenage assholes, as well as rounding up some escaped animals.
Criminal incidents weren't too uncommon even during daytime, but... he was still figuring things out. Especially since One for All would make him a pretty high-profile metahuman, he wanted to acclimate the people to his presence. So, he would act a lot showier but also much slower during his first few months out.
The first incident end after a short chase; there were two gunmen, and one courier-con-escape driver.
He was just casually strolling around when it happened. [Justice Sense] pointed him in the direction of the incident, and he faintly heard yelling through his enhanced hearing when he focused. He charged in then, having to dodge several wild shots as the robbers tried to escape.
After making sure that the convenience store clerk, the only other person there, was unharmed, he took down all of the perps and wrapped them up in rope taken from the store.
Lucian stuck around while waiting for the police to arrive. As he waited, the clerk called the store's owner. She was instructed to flag down the Manticore before he could leave so he could be given whatever compensation he wanted within reason. He walked away from that convenience store with a bottle of soda, an ice cream cone, and a whole chain of instant coffee packets.
Next, while strolling around at high speeds, his [Justice Sense] pinged him to an assault. Two young men had cornered these old folk, one brandishing a knife, the other a piece of rusty rebar. He quickly dispatched the those two cunts and, seemingly as a reward for helping them out, the elderly had given him some money. It was no more than pocket change, but he appreciated it still. He had a thing for keeping anything he was given, unless it was actually undesirable, or simply unwieldy.
As for that last thing... it pissed Lucian off quite a bit. Some guy on a motorcycle was riding around, wearing a cheap clown mask with his hair dyed puke green. He was hurling debris at people, coming from a burlap sack sitting between his legs. It was a miracle that he hadn't been stopped yet.
At some point, he stopped at a pet shop, where Lucian first saw him and witnessed a brick flying from his hand and into the large floor-to-ceiling window. The Joker wannabe hopped off his bike and entered through the broken window as Lucian crawled down the building he was perched on, the wannabe clutching his sack which contained a few more heavy objects.
He was swinging at a few glass enclosures when Lucian came up behind him and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up and hurling him out. As the wannabe skidded along the sidewalk, Lucian's boot landed harshly on his gut, making him throw up in his mask. That was when he started pleading desperately, which Lucian just really didn't want to hear at the moment. One punch and a broken mask later, and he was knocked out.
Luckily for the animals, none of them had been seriously harmed... a few small housepets for sale had been scratched by glass shards and stuff, but everything turned out fine...
...
After a productive day, Lucian made some purchases before returning to his hideout near sundown. He'd already informed Inigo that he found a new place to stay, so nobody would go looking for him when his coworkers inevitably found the restaurant empty.
The sky above had turned a pale, desaturated orange, fading into a thick, bluish grey expanse, so Lucian returned quickly to his hideout. He then turned on One for All and started speed-cleaning the little apartment that he'd settled into.
By the time he was done cleaning, the place had finally started to look significantly better. The floor, while not sparkly clean, was now free of debris and caked mud. All of the litter had been cleaned away as well. The walls, too, were now free of anything undesirable. Some evidence of grime and weathering still remained, but Lucian could just scrub them out later before painting over.
He'd also cleared the windows and used some 'liberated' metal bars to reinforce them, which were taken from nearby buildings in the deserted zone to install over his windows. He used concrete nails to fasten them into place, since those things were fairly easy for him to carve and pry out of where they had previously been with the help of some loose rebar. As for hammering them in? Stones. He went through a lot of tough stones.
Satisfied with his handiwork, he returned to the gym once the sun had fully gone down for a quick shower, then headed off into the night once again as the Manticore.
◎ ◉ ◎
Bailey was at a loss. Her parents started fighting again. That was nothing new, but her father must have reached a breaking point. Thankfully, neither of her siblings were home, so at least they wouldn't get dragged into this mess.
Still, while her father had always gotten physical with the family whenever his anger boiled over, this time was something else. Bailey stepped out and went to the sidewalk to smoke when the altercation started. Before she knew it, orange light started reaching her, and she realized too late that the apartment they lived in had been set ablaze.
All she knew then was that, aside from losing damn near everything they owned, both of her parents would die. She didn't feel particularly bad about her father, Connor, but her mom...
Paralyzed with indecision, Bailey found herself simply watching from the ground as everything she'd ever known as a home went up in smoke.
Krash!!
Before she could lose all hope, however, someone came crashing down from the darkness. Usually, people would hope for a brilliant white light to guide them during dark times— banish the shadows, so to speak. Maybe a golden flame, or some other grand and glorified imagery.
Hers came from the shadows, jagged and wreathed in jittering purple lightning.
"What happened here?"
Bailey was brought back to reality by a somewhat muffled voice. When she looked beside her, she found a man standing there, glowing violet eyes staring right through her behind a cloth mask.
Stammering, she explained the situation as best she could. She had barely finished elaborating when the masked man leapt up nearly twenty feet to reach the third apartment floor where her family lived. She thought him crazy for a moment, but the more she thought on the situation, the more... 'reasonable' his actions felt. Not quite 'sane,' but reasonable enough.
From the sound of him landing behind her, he surely must have fallen from much more than three floors. On top of that, he must have had some sort of superpower. Who else would be more qualified to enter a burning building other than people like him, barring firefighters?
It didn't take long for him to return with Bailey's mother in his arms. The sight of his return gave her pause— he was walking down the side of the building, backwards to keep her mother above him. The moment he landed, he laid Bailey's mother on the ground, and she ran over before she even realized that her feet had started moving.
Her mother was wounded. No, scratch that. She was in critical condition. There were several stab wounds in her stomach, and she had been burned all over. By all accounts, she had most likely died already.
Suddenly, the man's voice cut through the air, roaring even louder than the flames erupting from the apartment. He demanded to be brought a shirt.
Bailey thought about how weird that request was, then she realized— even if chances were almost zero, she should try anyway. She hurriedly stripped off her own shirt, leaving her in only her sports bra.
Not wasting any time, the masked man took the shirt, folded it up, and pressed it onto the concentration of stab wounds in the woman's abdomen. He instructed Bailey to keep the pressure on the wound, and once she was on that, he leapt right back into the fiery apartment.
Bailey honestly didn't care whether Connor lived or died, but she would've preferred him dead. Still, that was just how these vigilantes worked sometimes. Even Batman brought wounded or otherwise incapacitated evildoers to medical facilities, so she wouldn't reproach this masked man for seemingly following in the footsteps of Gotham's very first dark protector.
An ambulance eventually came to pick up both Bailey and her mother. During the ride, she had to let her siblings know what had happened. Preparing for the worst, she also told them that it wasn't likely that their mother would make it.
...
Returning to the present, Bailey nursed some instant cup noodles, not really having much of an appetite. She knew she had to eat anyway, so she nibbled on it bit by bit. Beside her was her brother, Brodie. He had to walk in crutches, so she insisted that he stay where he was the night before, but he came back home anyway.
"Are you even sure that guy's coming?" asked Brodie, munching on a cheap microwaved burrito.
"... I don't really know," Bailey admitted. "All I got was a thumbs-up while the ambulance drove away. Maybe he already forgot."
Brodie hummed and shrugged, not really caring either way. In his mind, he'd just have to sell harder stuff to make up for losing Connor's income. The old shit never put much back into the family anyway, so it didn't really matter. As for his sisters... Brodie was sure they'd disapprove, but what else could he do?
Slurping on some noodle broth, Bailey thought more deeply about her family's situation. Well, deeper than surface-level, anyway. She made just enough money with her construction job when combined with everyone else's income: Brodie's and Connor's peddling, their mother's prostitution work, and Maxie at that little Mexican diner.
With two sources gone, the three of them would have to pick up some real slack.
Just as Bailey slurped up more noodles, the odd sound of crackling electricity filled her ears.
...
The Manticore's first priority for the night was meeting with that woman— the assault and burn victim's daughter.
Traversing Gotham was much easier now compared to when he'd started out. Climbing buildings was no longer a problem due to his Tiger Climbing Gear. Parkour was much easier because of his vastly improved physique through Penny's empowerment system, as well as the abilities that his classes brought out.
Traveling from the gym by Inigo's restaurant all the way to the burned apartment's location barely taxed his breathing.
He landed on the apartment building's rooftop. Since it had four floors, he only had to jump down twice: once to get to the fourth floor proper, then once more to reach the third floor. Because he'd started to develop a flair for the dramatic, he decided to go in from the farthest point within the darkness, planning to stealthily approach the woman he was meeting.
Creepy? Yes. Fun? Hells yes.
From all the way on the other side, the Manticore could see her sitting on a plastic chair by the charred apartment, eating some noodles. It looked like the fire department managed to contain and extinguish the fire before it could spread to other units.
The woman he was meeting was talking with a slim man who was eating a burrito. Behind him were two crutches leaning against the wall, and even from that distance, the Manticore could smell the lingering odor of marijuana coming off of him. The smell had always bothered him, but he paid it no mind. What did concern him, however, was the lingering odor of stronger stuff clinging to that man.
Putting that aside for the moment, the Manticore decided on his timing.
Moments after the woman mentioned that he might've forgotten to meet with her, he dashed close in what would've been absolute silence to regular people. He turned on his Cloak of Distortion, as well as One for All, making for one hell of an entrance.
"Am I late?" he asked in a heavily distorted voice.
Startled, the woman flinched, nearly spilling her meal. The comparatively scrawny man next to her flinched as well, though he had a much better reaction, which was to grab his crutches to potentially use as a weapon.
"Hahaha, no need for that," the Manticore chuckled, raising one hand in a disarming gesture. As he did, his distorting figure began to stabilize, and One for All's purple lightning faded as well.
"Fuck's sake," the beefy woman muttered. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry," said Manticore, clasping both hands together. As he did, he observed the pair closer.
'Hmm... similar facial structure. Siblings, maybe? Her face is a lot chubbier than his, so it wasn't too noticeable at first— but if I imagine a slimmer version of her, it checks out. Then, there's the guy's hair... it's brown, but hers is orange... wait. Shit. Is this for real?'
Lucian couldn't see the woman's hair color clearly before, as the fire from last time bathed everything in a hot light. Now that everything was much clearer, he'd finally noticed the similarities between this woman and Maxie. Same with the guy, honestly, who had a much closer facial structure, and had green eyes, if a bit dull.
'Shit... Maxie never said anything about last night when we texted... she didn't seem the type to be open with her problems. After the shit with my insisting on helping her... ah, fuck, maybe she didn't know yet? I'm pretty sure the news said the victims' family name was Steele. How the fuck did I not make that connection right then? I gotta keep a close eye on these two now.'
"So," Manticore started, "why'd you ask me over?"
Hearing that, the beefy woman turned serious, almost dreadful in her expression. Nodding, she said, "Alright... first though, my name's Bailey. This over here is my brother, Brodie."
The Manticore nodded, noting the similarities in their names. Maybe their names influenced Maxie's choice of nickname?
"I'll be completely honest with you," Bailey continued. "I want my father dead."
Manticore's head tilted down slightly. He didn't realize, but his eyes gleamed a brighter purple than they usually were, causing Bailey to shudder. "... I'm assuming you want me to make that a reality."
Bailey nodded.
"No." Manticore's refusal came without missing a beat.
Sighing, Bailey slumped her shoulders a little. "Yeah, I figured as much..."
"Is there anything else?"
While Manticore wouldn't have hesitated to kill if he had to, Bailey's father was already in the authorities' custody. Killing him now would only invite exponentially more trouble than letting him die in that fire, or just killing him on the spot. He could have killed him had she asked before his arrest— he could imagine how much of a scumbag he was —but things had mostly been settled now.
"If he ever got out... could you... you know...?"
Manticore let out a small sigh and crossed his arms. "... I might be able to arrange for a disappearance. Still, it's unlikely."
"Alright," Bailey relented. "One last thing... do you, like, know any places we could stay...? We're kinda homeless right now. I've looked everywhere in the morning, but nothing came up."
Manticore cocked his head briefly, then was hit by an idea. "What do you think of squatting?"
◎ ◉ ◎
Maxie spent the morning just lazing around with Tammy. She texted Bailey that she'd gotten sick, and that Joe advised her to stay over for a while. Bailey told her to do just that until she could find a new place with Brodie. The landlord at their old apartment had been hounding them about the damages, so it wasn't looking good for them.
While lying listlessly in bed, Maxie realized that she and her siblings were now homeless. Her mind swam, and it eventually washed up on a peculiar shore— an island containing memories of Lucian. She briefly considered asking to be allowed to stay over at her boss's restaurant. It might have been viable, since Lucian did stay there as well. The only problem with that was...
'That means sorta kinda living in with him...'
She'd have to rely on the same accommodations as him as well— he always used the gym a block over to keep up with his personal hygiene. That meant that she'd have to do that as well if she was allowed to stay at the restaurant. Using the gym itself didn't bug her at all, but the fact that she'd likely have to do her business there with Lucian around...
Maxie didn't want her mind to keep wandering in that direction, so she focused on the logistics. She didn't have much in terms of belongings— all she had now were the clothes on her back and the stuff that Lucian had gotten for her.
'Fuck... if I'd cancelled on going out with him, I'd be so royally fucked right now... probably even dead.'
Recognizing the possibility that her own father might have killed her had she stayed home, a subconscious increase in gratitude towards Lucian wormed its way into Maxie's heart.
On a less morbid note, she didn't have too many school supplies at home, but she still had some. Thankfully, those were just notes that could be replicated by sourcing from her peers. She was sure that a few would let her borrow theirs.
'Luce did want to help me with my academics... maybe I can get him to share the load? But he only promised to help me study... but then again, he also did a lot more than get me stuff last night.'
Maxie's frustration boiled over, and she flipped onto her stomach, burying her face into one of Tammy's extra soft pillows.
"Thinking is so fuckin' hard!"
Hearing the whining beside her, Tammy stirred in her sleep— she immediately fell unconscious again after breakfast —and rolled over to cuddle the warm 'object' beside her.
Maxie, not minding at all, returned the embrace. That was good. It was nice. Tammy was soft, and helped her to stop thinking.
Then, just as she was about to drift off to sleep herself, Tammy's phone rang, the screen lighting up. Since it was propped up on a phone stand on the bedside drawer, she could clearly see the message notification.
boyfie💞: 'Ive got time for you now. come over tonight'
boyfie💞: 'Feel free to bring along any friends of yours'
Maxine's sleepy expression warped into a scowl, and her hold on Tammy tightened ever so slightly.