CHAPTER 128: CHAPTER 128: WRONG MAN

[The damage to New York City is massive! I’ve talked to several people, and some of them still couldn’t comprehend what just happened! This was nothing but ceaseless violence! When will we hold these people accountable?!]

[Replica Ricky has officially been registered to the official supervillain registry. But many are saying that all of this could’ve been avoided if the authorities...]

[The damage to New York is said to amount to billions of dollars...]

[Dozens dead, hundreds are injured. This act of violence is...]

[Replica Ricky was hiding within the sewers of...]

[Dozens of registered superheroes in the state of New York, and yet no one was able to...]

[The one who stopped this stampeding onslaught is someone claiming to be a vigilante...]

This is Kitty with ABC-ZBN News, bringing you exclusive footage today on the vigilante calling himself Darkday.

Who is he? Where did he come from? He claims responsibility for the brutal crime scenes we’ve been covering these past weeks—but here’s the question... is today really the first time we’re seeing him?

I dug into his so-called victims. And what I found, y’all, is grim. We already knew Ryan Roman—convicted for sexually assaulting minors. But the others? Turns out, they’re not as innocent as we thought.

Take the student from Mega Academy. Everyone believed she died alongside Officer Mark, who supposedly tried to save her. But records show—Mark wasn’t saving her at all. He was involved with her. With a minor. And worse—this girl? She wasn’t the victim folks painted her as. Witness reports say she bullied other kids, even younger. Not just teasing—violent bullying. Broken bones, choking, hospital visits. I’m sorry to the grieving parents, but this is very alarming. I just uploaded the photos of her victims to my socials. You can judge for yourselves.

Now, let’s talk about Replica Ricky. Did you know he had a history of abuse? Y’all, I’m seeing a pattern here. These people Darkday is targeting... they all carry the same stain.

Which brings me back to the question—is this really his first strike? Or has Darkday been at this for a long, long time? Because when you line up the missing persons reports, so many connected to abuse cases, it starts to look like a trail. A trail that may lead straight to him.

But one thing’s certain. This will not be the last time we see Darkday. In fact, he personally told me that he would have a new victim this coming week. That’s right, y’all... this is just the beginning of the darkest days for these abusers who get away from the law and...

...Wait—what? Hold on—we’re getting something in.

This just in, y’all. Authorities have captured Replica Ricky. Sources are confirming—this is the original. Which means Darkday may have taken the wrong replica.

And—wait a second. Someone just—oh my God. Y’all, I’ve just received a text message from Darkday himself.

What? You’re saying not to read it? No—I have to read it.

It says...

"Thank you."

Y’all. Darkday just sent me a thank you message.

...But why? Why would he... Oh.

...No way.

***

"Look lively, boys! This is going to be rough! A lot of angry people!"

It was twelve in the afternoon, and the sun was blazing without mercy, casting almost no shadows at all across the wrecked streets of New York City.

Wrecked, yes. But still very much lively—this was NYC, after all. Just because people died and most of the roads were closed, it didn’t mean that the businesses would stop. In fact, for some reason, it was even booming.

The people from the neighboring cities all rushed to New York, wanting to see the destruction that Replica Ricky left behind. Most of them were holding their cameras, and some were even streaming and doing vlogs.

There were streetlights completely bent, cars flattened by thousands of footsteps, booths and pop-up stores completely sacked. If the police were being honest with their reports, some of the damages weren’t even caused by Replica Ricky at all, but by the people who took advantage of the situation to steal without being seen.

And right now, these tourists were crowding the task force that had just caught Replica Ricky. There was an armored car and three escort vehicles. The police were trying their best to stave off all the people, but there were really only so many officers they could spare due to most of them offering support to the rest of the city.

As for Replica Ricky, he had just been thrown in the back of the armored van. And unlike the Replica Ricky that Riley had taken, this Replica Ricky was quite... disheveled. His hair was completely unkempt, and there was not a single spot on his clothes that wasn’t covered with dirt. Well, whatever was left of his clothes anyway. Most of his clothes were tattered into pieces already.

He had a shock collar around his neck to prevent him from ever using his abilities. But from his condition, and how he was practically flailed on the floor of the van, there wasn’t any threat of that.

As for the task force, all of them were fully equipped from head to toe—and all of them were supers. And right now, they were on high alert.

"Let’s get moving, boys! Keep your eyes everywhere!" The one leading their task force climbed onto the side of the van, knocking on the roof as they began to drive away. His eyes were of a hawk’s, literally. His pupils were enlarged, not even dilating at all as he scanned the crowd for any potential threat.

[Are we sure we need to be this cautious? This guy’s absolutely done for.]

"It’s not him I’m worried about," the team leader said, squinting as he continued to scan the crowd. "This guy’s destroyed a lot of businesses around here, not to mention dozens dead. There’s bound to be some angry people. And we also have intel that this fucker might be working with the Dark Millennium."

[...Why weren’t we briefed about that?]

"Because it doesn’t change anything. And—Suits!" The team leader leaped from the van as he noticed the police officers not opening a way for them.

"What’s going on here?!"

"We were told not to let you leave yet!" One of the officers stepped forward.

"What? Why?!"

"We received news that Darkday might be coming here. We were ordered to coordinate with you in every way possible!"

"Darkwho?" The team leader’s eyebrows lowered.

[Chief, that’s the dude who fought with Replica Ricky! He’s dangerous!]

"What do we know about the guy?" The team leader’s eyes once again scanned the crowd.

[He’s a powerful TK! He might be here to finish our guy, or maybe take him!]

"...Why?" The team leader raised an eyebrow. "No, it doesn’t matter. Look lively and look at the skies, boys! I think we’re about to have a visitor—"

"Replica Ricky."

The task force all had their eyes up in the skies, but they all slowly looked down when the voice clearly came from the crowd. The team leader squinted again and then watched as a gap slowly opened in the crowd.

The people also looked confused, their eyes wide as they felt themselves being pushed to the side. Before any of them could wonder what was going on, however, they all saw a figure hover past them—a void in the shape of a man.

There were no shadows at all at high noon, but it was as if the light was now being absorbed by the darkness floating next to them.

Before long, however, the crowd snapped out of their shock, specifically the tourists. They all looked at each other, slowly raising their cameras with smiles on their faces.

"It’s... him. It’s Darkday."

"He... looks smaller than I thought. He’s the one who defeated Replica Ricky?"

"Darkday! Please, look here!"

"Darkday, can I take a photo with you?!"

"Can you sign this, Darkday?! I heard you only kill pedophiles?! Is that why you didn’t kill Replica Ricky?!"

The crowd was going wild, causing the team leader to click his tongue. He grabbed the officer next to him, and the man clearly understood what he was trying to get at.

"Men, positions!"

The team leader raised his fist, and the police officers all backed away, while his team quickly scattered, some even climbed up the walls of the buildings to aim a rifle at Darkday.

Darkday, however, only raised his hands in surrender while hovering closer to the team leader, his feet covered by a cloud of dirt and dust.

"I’m not here to make a scene, although I already did," Darkday casually said. "I’m only here to take Replica Ricky off your hands."

"Replica Ricky’s under the custody of the DoSHA now. We—"

A civilian carelessly approached Darkday. The team leader was about to rush in, only for him to stop and blink several times.

How could he not, when Darkday not only did nothing to the civilian...

...he even started taking photos with her?