The Knight Hawk

Heart Of Fire

Metro City had finally become a more respectable city.  The arrival of the Knight Hawk had continued to suppress the criminal element in the city.  Now a lieutenant, Thompson had strengthened the police force and put together task forces for his assaults on the criminals the Knight Hawk helped him with.  Vivica and Elliot’s news station had finished construction.  They were debuting their news program, “Eye on Metro,” that night.  The city seemed to be at peace.  In Metro, however, that’s impossible.

Vivica was on the phone with Tony discussing the show.

“You’ve got to come to the debut of the show Tony.  It wouldn’t be right without you,” she pleaded with Tony.

“I’d love to Vivica, but you know that I have to do my patrol of the city.”

“You have all night, besides, I’m only asking for an hour of the bird’s time.  Please.”

“Listen, I promise you I will try and make it.  If everything appears to be calm, then I’ll be at the show.  Ok.”

“I guess so.   I’ll see you then, hero,” Vivica closed.

He smiled when he heard her call him her pet name for him.  Tony was glad that Vivica was excited about the show.  He really wanted to attend the show’s debut, but he had to keep his priorities in order.  The city was his first and foremost priority, before all else.  This was the one thing that he knew might cause problems between him and Vivica.  He hoped that she would understand if he couldn’t make it.  He changed himself into the Knight Hawk and exited the mountain in the Sky Hawk.

In the middle class neighborhood of Metro City, a howling siren sounded through the streets.  A fire had been spotted at a two-story apartment complex.  Fire trucks began to race to the site of the fire.  The Knight Hawk had just apprehended a pair of street thugs when he heard the sirens.  He raced to the Sky Hawk and flew toward the apartment complex.  The building was an inferno.  The fire department was busy trying to evacuate the building.  The Knight Hawk watched on from the shadows down on the street.  Inside the apartment, two of the firemen were finishing their last sweep of the apartment.

“Hey Lucious, you see anything over there?” one of the firemen called out.

“Lucious, where are you?” he called out again.

Lucious, who the other fireman was looking for, was standing in the middle of the flames.  He stood, seemingly in awe of the fire.  Lucious, in his disoriented state, did not see the two children near a window in the apartment.  The Knight Hawk saw the children in the window and rushed into the building.  The first fireman was still looking for his friend Lucious when a beam from the roof of the apartment fell onto his back.  When the Knight Hawk reached the second floor, he saw the fireman lying under the beam, unable to move.  The Knight Hawk moved over to him.

“Hey there, what’s your name?” he asked the fireman as he kneeled down beside him.

“I...my name is Carter.  Help me please.”

“I will.  How long do you think this building has left to stand?”

“I don’t know,” he grunted out, “Maybe ten, fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll see you in eight.”

“No, don’t leave me here,” Carter pleaded.

“Trust me,” the Knight Hawk responded.

The Knight Hawk darted off in the direction of the window, making his way to the two children.  As he ran through the building, sparks of fire shot off from burning cinders.  He saw Lucious standing in the middle of the blazes in a daze.  He grabbed Lucious and pulled him clear of the raging fire.    He placed Lucious near a wall away from the blazes and continued on his way to the children.  When he reached the children, they were coughing and hacking from the smoke.  He pulled a pair of breathing masks from his utility belt and placed the masks on the children’s faces.