Threat Level: E

Destructiveness: E

Killability: D

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Might: F

Survivability: E

Recovery: D

Mobility: E

Spark: D

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Powers: Enhanced Sight and Hearing, Sonic Blasts, Durable Arms, Metabolic Regeneration, Desert Jackal’s Reflexes

Classification: Bruiser/Stalker

Danny expected his first time in costume to be under the League’s banner, fighting as an asset next to Druid or Fenrir. The operation was due to start two days following their meeting. Fenrir wanted to start straight away. However, the League had tried assaulting Doctor Flux’s operation in Hackney and things hadn’t turned out well for the heroes. Fenrir needed to assist Vowron for a couple of days to get things under control.

Becca had suggested he use the time to train the sensory abilities more during the time. Meanwhile, Kaka believed the pulsing fists and Desert Jackal’s Reflexes took priority. Danny disagreed with them. He believed researching local gangs and the area’s minor villains took priority. Danny didn’t get a chance to do any of them .

The day after the meeting, all the daylight hours went into recovering from fatigue. After Nyx left his room, Danny lay awake in bed for hours. Sunrise had long passed before he fell asleep. During the day, he woke a couple of times to relieve himself and have a snack before returning to bed. If it were up to him, he would’ve slept well past sunset, too. Unfortunately, his HoloLens forced him awake with a blurring siren.

He had alerts from the ThreatLevel app and Becca.

A RIFT HAS OPENED WITHIN 200M OF YOUR LOCATION.

EVACUATE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY!

Becca: Calling all assets and heroes! A rift has opened in front of Holloway Road Station. If available, report to the site immediately. If your power set allows for prolonged fights, focus on containment. Everyone else should defend civilians and assist in evacuation.

It was tempting to race out of the building in costume. Instead, Danny made a show of helping Kaka shutdown all the gas in the kitchen, before guiding the cooks towards the shelter near Finsbury Park. Much to his relief, no one questioned him about the food-delivery container on his back. Once on the streets, he steadily pulled away from the group and used the crowds to slowly make his way back.

It took Danny ten minutes to work his way towards the back of the crowds. Once the masses of people were spread out enough, Danny ducked into a narrow alley and changed behind a dumpster. It took annoyingly long to return the backpack to its chest armour form. Once done, Danny expelled a pair of eyeballs and raced to Holloway Road Station.

Even though rift outbreaks were reasonably rare occurrences and he’d never experienced on first hand, the thought of them once terrified Danny more than local villains. At the end of the day, malicious supers were still human. They had individual desires, agendas, and fears. Some of them had codes of contact, too.

Creatures that came through rifts had no such limitations. They destroyed and fed. The monsters that led often had the power to level entire neighbourhoods. Reports from Asia and parts of North America detailed creatures capable of destroying cities in a matter of hours. Over the years, island nations and warlord territories in the Middle East, Africa, and South America had disappeared overnight. The League suspected it was rifts that had caused the incidents.

Now that he was a super, the prospect of rifts left Danny’s heart pounding. It wasn’t fear that caused it, but excitement. Fighting rift creatures meant finding essences. Consuming them meant he’d get closer to his ultimate goal.

When the ThreatLevel App told him he was a hundred metres from the rift, he disabled it and let his hand-mouths pulse quietly. The sound was and frequency were no greater than that of a metronome. As Danny jogged through the narrow alleys, one eye floated in front of him. Together, his senses helped map a handful of metres ahead and behind himself.

The rift monsters found Danny before he found them. A white sphere as big as a car appeared just as he turned the corner. It hummed with a deep ohm. A trio of soldiers emerged from the almost blinding light. They wore dirty mediaeval armour with an ugly heart motif and stood no taller than Danny's solar plexus. The metal sections of it were heavily rusted or scratched while the padding in between them appeared considerably newer.

They advanced towards Danny, levelling short spears and raising shields. The trio maintained a tight formation, suggesting military training. Since Danny didn’t know the extent of their martial abilities, he didn’t want to take any risks.

Break their formation.

Danny charged at the trio, making his arms pulse at their highest volume and frequency. As the tempo picked up, the air rippled around them. The soldiers planted their left greaves on the ground with a loud stomp. The tar cracked and their armour shimmered. Danny didn’t slow, and they thrust their spears at him in unison.

Time slowed.

The speed and agility boost from Desert Jackal’s Reflexes helped Danny move one and a half times faster than anyone with ordinary mobility. He still needed to get used to the rest of the essence. He noted how his breathing was under control and his heartbeat hadn’t yet turned erratic. Focus and the threat of imminent danger also appeared to have an effect of activation.

League records spoke of several conditional abilities which needed particular circumstances to work. Certain heroes relied on the moon’s current phase for their strength and healing. Willow produced wisps which did nothing but rotate around her until someone within ten metres initiated an attack. Then the closest of the wisps would shoot at them and set them ablaze. Blademaster’s Controller abilities only let him telekinetically manipulate blades he crafted himself. Danny hypothesised his time slowing abilities only worked when his life was in danger or he believed his opponent could cause him grievous harm. He didn’t have enough evidence to confirm the suspicion, but had failed to activate it during training.

The hand-mouths heard a hum emanating from the trio’s spears. One eye drifted close overhead, warning Danny of their rapid vibrations. Danny doubted his chest armour would survive three simultaneous thrusts. The spearheads would likely rip through him and shatter bone.

The spears were less than an inch from Danny’s chest and shoulders when he leapt. The jump carried him over their heads. Thanks to the slowed time, the weapons failed to follow him. Danny landed behind the soldiers and thrust his open palms into the middle soldier’s back. The metal chest plate warped and denting inwards. His palms heard bones crack despite the loud sound of crunching metal.

When the soldier collapsed, Danny felt the tongues in his arms writhe. He ignored them for the time being. With the formation broken, Danny was sure he’d come out on top, despite the imbalance in numbers. Time resumed its normal pace before he could take advantage of the disorganisation.

The soldier to Danny’s left stumbled forwards while the other spun towards him. The spearhead glowed with a golden light, leaving a luminous trail in its wake. Instead of dodging, Danny stepped into the attack. He caught the weapon’s shaft on his pulsing forearm. The weapon rebounded and Danny felt a bone crack. Before the soldier could recover, Danny released a sonic blast from his left hand. It knocked the man off his feet and into the alley’s wall.

The floating eye overhead alerted Danny of the last soldier’s attack. With the helmet gone, Danny got a better look at his opponent. The proportions were off. The soldier’s head was much bigger than she should’ve been. However, the nose, eyes, mouth, and ears appeared normal in size. The locks of long, flowing hair clung to the skull, giving it an almost heart shape.

When the soldier came at Danny, she didn’t use her spear. Instead, she charged with her shield held up to her face. It covered everything up to the eyes. The metal shimmered gold and the light spread from it. Danny dove out of her way, but the light caught him while he was still midair and launched him along the alley’s floor. Danny rolled and bounced several times before coming to a stop. He rose, feeling thankful for his reinforced arms and shoulders, and the padding along his torso. The attack had rattled his bones, but he rose relatively unharmed.

The soldier gave Danny no respite. He expected she’d be useless with her companions defeated, but their demise appeared to have only empowered her. The soldier’s spear glowed so brightly the floating eyes struggled to look at it directly. If not for the mesh layer over the mask, Danny believed his eyes would have struggled, too. Danny willed time to slow, but Desert Jackal’s Reflexes refused to obey. Knowing he wouldn’t have the time to dodge, Danny pushed off the ground towards her, releasing another sonic blast.

The spear lanced towards Danny. A barrier of light shimmered around the soldier, protecting her from the sonic attack. The rippling air failed to completely divert the spear, and it pierced through his right upper arm, just beyond where his chest armour ended. A guttural scream escaped Danny, and his voice modulator turned it into something much deeper and more terrifying. The soldier backpedalled, her eyes widening. She took the spear with her retreating, but a spike of solid light remained in the wound, burning and vibrating.