An Elf, and a Jerk

It was a late night in upper Manhattan, the stars were slightly faded due to light pollution, but the sky itself was clear as glass. The air was warm, yet pleasant and a slight breeze flew by every now and again. A perfect night for a stroll. Or for sitting on a rooftop and enjoying some delicious fast food. A certain Jerome Marquis was partaking in the latter option. Crumpled up bags of what looked to be Burger King littered the rooftop old stone rooftop, and the signs of chewing and crinkling paper filled the air in the vicinity.

The young man in question was of African American descent, with a closely shaved black haircut, and coffee brown skin. His outfit consisted of a black zip up hoodie, dark black jeans, and some steel toed, black combat boots. Around his neck was a black mask, which looked like it would be tied around one’s head. He sat on the edge of the roof, munching away on a half eaten burger, a content look on his dark face.

Jerome had just finished up another successful heist, and using the money he had procured, had purchased his favorite fast food. “Ah, nuttin’ quite like a quiet night,” he would say as New York’s usual late night orchestra of car horns and occasional sirens blared in the distance.

Truly it would be a night to remember.

Panzer checked the paper bag with the Burger King logo on the side, with his free right hand, to assess how much food he had left. He was delighted to see that he still had two burgers left, not counting the one sitting in his left hand, and half eaten. “God I ate three of these already, maybe I should lay off.” The night’s air flew past him rustling his hood a moment, before he cracked a grin and chuckled. “Heh, no way,” he said before taking another bite, relishing in the combination of flavors that pickles, beef, and ketchup created. A sigh left Panzer’s lips. Best night ever.

Eventually, Panzer would finish that sandwich, crumpling the paper, and looking downward. His gaze settled on a trash bin some fifty feet below him. He would take a deep breath and hold it, before raising the crumpled paper, and aiming carefully. Account for the wind this time. Two crumpled bits of paper, littered an area to the left of the silver bin. Aiming more to the right, Panzer tossed it, with what seemed to be a minimal amount of force. However the wax paper shot forward, spinning through the air toward the ground. Then, a breeze of wind came in from the east, shifting the paper more to the left, and with no noise at all, the paper sunk into the silver bin.

Panzer silently did a fist pump  in self congratulatory fashion, before he extended his hand toward the bag to finish off another sandwich. Then the sound of people speaking caught his ear.

He would swing his legs around, and stand up, stretching a bit, his shirt pulling up to reveal his midriff. He then took a slow walk over to the source of the noise, his paper bag clutched tightly in his left hand.

Peering over the ledge on the opposite side of the building, he would groan to himself. What he saw down there made him hate the city he lived in.

One young lady and what looked to be her pet German Shepherd were surrounded by five men. Panzer could only assume they weren’t asking the lady in question where she got her dress.  Grumbling about “Stupid muggers,” Panzer would tie his mask around his eyes, making sure his identity was secure. He would then place the paper bag in his expansive hoodie pockets, the resulting bulge being very prominent. He would then take a deep breath, and plan out how he would handle the situation. Five against one, but he was a superhuman.

I should start with the two behind the one with his hand on her, and then I’ll toss them at the other two morons, and go in for the kill on the leader. Perfect.

Taking a deep breath, Panzer would then slowly exhale through his nose, clearing his head before the upcoming altercation. He would then spread his arms, and take a small leap forward, off of the ledge.

His hood would fly off in the resulting fifty foot drop, though his mask stayed tightly wrapped around his head. The ground beneath him cracked from the impact, though his bones felt nothing from the resulting shock.

Every scumbag in the alleyway would turn toward Panzer, which was the idea, as it gave the woman a chance to break away from the head sleazeball and run.

Reaching forward with both hands, Panzer would grab the two scumbags behind the leader, by the wrists, pulling them to him, before they had time to say “Huh?” He would then release their wrists, switching his grasps to their necks, and slam their foreheads together with enough force to knock them both out, though he probably also gave them both concussions.

Not taking a moment to care, Panzer would then toss both men at the other two mooks, with the force of a skilled baseball player tossing a pitch. The speed at which they flew caught the two men off guard, and soon they were on their backs, each having a grown man on top of them, and groaning in pain.

Panzer would look at the head scumbag, before saying in his most intimidating voice, though it sounded a bit more gravelly than he would've liked, “Get the hell outta here, before I break you.”

Panzer took a brief moment to look over the other vagabonds, before his eyes snapped back to the leader. The bastard had pulled the girl closer and the cry of pain led Panzer to believe he had slit her throat. Panzer’s rage soared. The renegade took a step forward, about to toss this man all the way to Chicago, when things took a… strange turn

The woman shrieked a strange word, and out of the corner of his eye, a large shape bounded toward the scumbag and his captive. Panzer’s eyes must not have fully adjusted to the dark yet, because that couldn’t actually be what he thought it was. Giant wolves weren’t real. But what else could the creature that just bit off that man’s hand have been. It was certainly very hairy, and very large. Panzer shook his head a bit, making sure he wasn’t hallucinating, but things got even stranger when he finished.

His vision would focus on the woman again, who was clutching her throat, she seemed to be saying something, but so quietly that Panzer couldn’t make it out. Then what looked to be a golden needle would appear by her throat and get to work sewing the wound shut.

The sound of rapid footsteps brought Panzer’s attention back to the now one handed miscreant fled from the scene. Panzer gritted his teeth, not willing to let the man get off that easily. The loss of his hand might have been just punishment for some people, but Panzer needed to make sure he never even considered doing something like this again.

Looking around on the ground, he spotted the perfect instrument of justice. A small gray pebble. Reaching down, he would scoop up the small rock, tossing it in the air once, before winding back his hand, and tossing it toward the man’s lower body. A sharp whistle would be hard as it sped from Panzer’s hand, and through the man’s right calf, before embedding itself in the pavement, with a series of cracks,.

As the man fell over, and grasped the now bleeding area, Panzer sighed, before he heard the woman speak of her warning.

“Listen, if you warned him, then there’s not much I can say about it, other than ‘serves him right.’ I’m not exactly a poli-” he would pause as he turned, and took in the magnificent sight of her sitting atop the incredibly massive wolf. Panzer didn’t use the word ‘majestic’ to describe many things, but seeing her blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and lovely dress atop the fearsome, yet intelligent looking beast, he would.

Instead he simply replied to the woman’s thanks with a quiet, “Don’t mention it,” and “Just doing my job,” before reaching into his pocket, and unrolling the crumpled top of the bag.The smell of cooked meat filled the alleyway, as Panzer pulled out one of the remaining two burgers. It was time to reward himself.

Panzer would stare up to the woman, pausing with his mouth agape, and away from the delicious morsel. As she asked where he had received it, Panzer would stare up at her, a little incredulous. He would stretch out the paper bag and holding it in a way that made the Burger King logo quite prominent. “Place called Burger King. Super good, you should go there sometime,” he said before the sound of her stomach growling filled the air.

Panzer would wrestle with his conscience.

I’m hungry.

She just got robbed!

Burger King is closed for the night.

You’ve eaten three already!

When the lady in question would shiver from the cold gust of wind, Panzer would roll his eyes, his generous side winning out against his selfish desire.

“Hold this,” Panzer would say in a low voice, sounding a little exasperated.

Once she had taken the bag, he would reach up to an area in the center of his chest, Panzer would grasp the small metal zipper, and pull it downward, unzipping and removing his black hoodie.

Under the hoodie, was a stark white tank top, that hugged his muscular frame tightly. His shaved black hair would be in full view without the hoodie on, and his black wraparound mask was made even more apparent.

Holding out the hoodie, Panzer would smile.

“Here. It’s cold, and I don't need it.”

Panzer would let out a small chuckle, which sounded strangely pleasant. “No, it’s just a name they use for the store.”

Panzer’s grin would fade as she handed him back the bag, as he had assumed she would assume that she could go ahead and have them. Well this is why assuming has such a bad rep.

As she slipped on the hoodie, Panzer stole some more glances of her face. He felt like a big ugly ogre in comparison to her fair skin and slender frame. Pushing the feelings away, he focused instead on the matter at hand. Reaching into his right jeans pocket, he would fish out his cell phone, and begin to dial 9-1-1.

“Hello, 9-1-1?” he would begin, sounding as serious as possible, while turning away from the young woman for a moment, bag still in his hand. He sounded a little more official than he had before. "I have some muggers here, and they attempted to mug a young lady. Thankfully a superhero arrived and dealt with them. They need to be picked up though.” Panzer would then give them their location, before hanging up and putting the phone back.

Turning back around, his grin would return. He would then take a step forward and say “Here, I got it.” Grasping the zipper, he would click the two holders in place, and drag the zipping mechanism up her body, minding where his hand was, trying not to touch anything he wasn’t supposed to. Once the hoodie was zipped up, Panzer would hold out the bag with a grin, and say “Here, Eat these. They taste as good as they smell. I swear."

Panzer would look up at the woman on the wolf, and nod solemnly. "Trust me, I wasn't planning on sticking around either. I'm not exactly the NYPD’s favorite metahuman."

As he was about to leap up onto the giant wolf's back, the sounds of sirens closing in on the area filled the air. Looking around in a bit of a panic , Panzer did what he did best. He lifted something heavy. Darting forward, he would stick both of his hands into the ground in front of Ryzo, grasping into the solid asphalt, and unearthing a patch of ground beneath the great wolf. Lifting the chunk of ground, and wolf with surprising ease, the African-American would squat down a bit, before leaping forward, with tremendous force.

The ground beneath him cracked as he propelled at an upward slant, reaching higher and higher, while still keeping the chunk of ground level.

Certain that he was causing his two fellow runaways some discomfort, he would call out to the pair. “Sorry! Got a little carried away!”

Unintentional puns aside, the city looked quite pretty from this height up, all of the light forming a sort of small universe beneath them, the lights of cars moving along the greater stationery picture and adding to the beauty. Soon, they began to descend again, this time landing several blocks away, with a resounding crash, scaring a nearby hobo. Panzer would place the chunk of earth back down, and look a little embarrassed.

“Sorry,” he would repeat.

“Wow” Panzer quietly muttered to himself as he recalled the vision of the woman reflected with moonlight and smiling happily.

His head turned back toward her as she accepted his second apology. He tried not to let the fondness he was starting to acquire for her show on his face, before he turned back toward the area they had jumped from. The police in this city knew him very well, and would immediately assume the worst regarding the injured men, and the moved earth.

Putting his head in his hands for a moment, he allowed himself a smile at the sound of the woman enjoying the burger and teasing her large wolf friend.

Panzer would remove his hands at the sound of her question, pondering it for a moment before shrugging.

“I ain’t so sure about ‘warrior’” he would begin air quoting at the word warrior, before carrying on, “but yeah I can toss around a few things.”

Giving her a small grin, he would then look upward toward the Empire State building. It was close. About a block away. An idea started to form in Panzer’s mind.

“Hey, you wanna see something cool?” he would ask casually.

Panzer stared at the woman for another moment, turning his head to grin at the wolf’s licking before turning back with his usual impassive face.

“Well there’s something at the top of that building that I’d think you’d like seeing. Granted, I’d have to jump us up there again. What do you think?” he would ask, hoping she would be for it.