Nightarrow/Nightshadow: Chapter 1

August 21st 2016. 2:00 am. Downtown Houston, Texas. The usual low life criminal drug deal is going down. This time though, something is different.

“How much??” the first low life criminal druggie said.

“$45.” said the other low life criminal drug dealer.

“What?! That's double what I paid last time.”

“Life of a druggie is an expensive life. Your empty wallet and yellow teeth can attest to that.”

“Yeah whatever. This is robbery, man.” Hands over money.

Taking the money from the desperate druggie. “Nah, I gave up that life after I found out how much idiots like you will pay for half a bag of ruined lives.”

“Shut up.” Looks behind the dealer and shouts, “Hey man, don't bother with this jerk. He'll take all your money for half a high.”

The jerk of a drug dealer looks confused. “Who are you talking to?? I didn't think this stuff induced hallucinations.”

Looking back to the drug dealer, “I'm talking to the guy behind you. He's your next customer right??”

“You're supposed to be my only customer tonight.”

Worried look on the face of the freaked out druggie and points at the figure he was talking to, “Then, who is that??”

The drug dealer turns around cautiously and scared out of his mind. He sees a figure standing in the shadows.

“Are you a cop??” asked the freaked out dealer.

The shadowy figure pulls out what looks like a staff.

The ever more freaking out druggie asks, “What kind of cop carries a staff??”

Freaked out drug dealer looks at the more freaked out druggie, “He's not a cop you idiot.”

As they look back to where the shadowy figure was, they notice he is gone.

“Where'd he go?? asked the druggie

They frantically look around. Each time one of them thinks he sees the figure, it's gone in the blink of an eye.

“There he is!!” shouts the drug dealer.

“No he's right here!!” replies the druggie.

“Oh crap, he's on top of the building!!” shouts the drug dealer

“What are you talking about?? He's behind that dumpster!!” yells the druggie.

“How is he moving so fast??” frantically asks the drug dealer.

“How am I supposed to know??” frantically replies the druggie.

The shadowy figure finally steps out into the moonlight to reveal himself. He holds a staff that is about six feet tall with a mix of gray and black material covering his body to blend into the night. A hood covers his face. At that moment, only with the light of the moon, are the two able to see him. Then they notice it.

“Does he-” says the druggie before he is interrupted by the dealer.

“Oh crap he does.”

They finally realize that this figure has two shadows as the second moves out from behind the first.

“Two shadows. There's two of them” the drug dealer said while darting his eyes back and forth between the two.

The second figure looks almost exactly the same as the other, but along with the staff he has a black bow and quiver strung across his back. All four of them stand there, tension filling the air. Finally, the figure with the bow and quiver steps forward to speak.

“So...is this the part where we fight??” the first figure says with a hint of sarcasm.

“Wha-What??” says the drug dealer.

“Is this the part where we fight?? Do we talk it out first or just go head on??” the figure with the bow says.

“It's a good question.” says the first figure. “We're new at this.”

“New at what??” Says the druggie.

“You know. This. Fighting crime and saving the world.” the second figure with the bow says.

“Oh stop. These are just two, petty druggies. Nothing world saving happening tonight” the first figure says.

“A guy can dream, can’t he??” The second figure says.

“Anyways, I think we should just go fight already.” the first figure says.

“Really??” the second figure asks. “You don't wanna try and talk them out of it??”

“Don't know how well that would work Obi-Wan.” the first figure says sarcastically.

“Would you two shut your yappers and go home to mommy and daddy before they realize that you two snuck out!!” the drug dealer yells.

The two figures glance at the other two, then at each other.

“Fight??” the second figure asks.

“Fight.” the first figure says agreeing.

Before the two druggies are able to ready themselves, the two figures spring into action. The first figure goes for the druggie who is far too freaked out to do anything other than reach for a knife in his back pocket. The first figure dodges a flail of the knife from the druggie. He then swings his staff around, knocking him upside the head and disorienting the druggie. The first figure takes this brief opportunity to slide his staff to the inside of the druggie's knife arm. He braces his body against the druggies and pulls his staff towards his body and snaps the druggies elbow causing him to drop the knife . The figure then delivers a few punches to the throat and nose before sweeping the druggies leg and nailing him on the chest with his staff while he slams him into the ground.

The second figure with the bow goes for the drug dealer who is able to put up a little more of a fight. The drug dealer grabs his knife from his pocket and starts flailing it around. The figure recognizes that he is doing this out of fear and faints by stepping to the drug dealer's right and causing him to lunge with the knife. When the drug dealer lunges, the figure spins on his back foot and swings his staff around, nailing the drug dealer's knife hand right below the knuckles and causing him to drop the knife. He then elbows him in the gut, flips over the dealer, and knocks him out with a swift kick to the head. The dealer and druggie are both out cold.

“Well that was fun.” the figure with the bow says.

“Nice job little brother. You handled him well.” the first figure says.

“Dude, you're like two months older than me. And I'm adopted.” the younger figure says.

“Still counts. Maybe one day you'll listen to your older brother and stop bringing that stupid bow around.”

As this is said the druggie gets up and starts running away holding his limp and broken arm. Before he can take two steps, however, the figure with the bow draws an arrow and shoots it towards the druggie. A net explodes out the tip and ties his legs up sending the druggie to the ground.

“Nah. It's handy when you don't do your job.” he says jokingly.

“Very funny. You put a net into an arrow??” he asks.

“Not me. Hugo did. He added all these new things to my arrows. He’s got tons of other ideas too. Like an electric arrow and an explosive arrow. Can't wait to try them out.” the younger figure says excitedly.

“That sounds incredibly stupid.” the older figure says teasingly.

“Man, this is going to be awesome. Me, Joshua Night, the Nightarrow fighting side by side with his brother Tyler Night, the Nightshadow. The team known as The Night Crew. Here to defend our city against the criminal underworld.”

“Yeah, such a deep underworld here with these drug dealers.” Tyler says sarcastically.

“It's a start.” replies Joshua.

“You and I need to have a talk about all these names too. I think I should have some input on them.” Tyler says as they start walking away.

“Nah, your names are always terrible.” Joshua says jokingly. “Hey classes start Wednesday, right??

“Yep”

“When's your first one??”

“11. Yours?”

“Lucky, I have an 8 am.”

The Night Crew start walking back to their home as they continue their conversation about Wednesday- the day their second year of college at the University of Houston begins.