Broken Masks

Chapter 2 - The Red Hawk

It had been a busy day for TJ. An obnoxiously early morning class, a crashed WiFi network, and to top it all of, a bank robbery.

A bloody bank robbery.

What had his life come to?

The morning classes went like any other. Wake up at stupid o'clock in the morning. Walk into a 7am class. Chug 4 coffees and an energy drink. Try and stay awake. That was the way it had been for him since Klaus dropped phycology.

When they had both been in the class they'd pay little to no attention and talk throughout. But when Klaus got a part time job working the night shift at a cafe, he had to drop the subject due to the fact he could only get a maximum of an hour of sleep before he had to get up again for class.

By 9 o'clock, TJ was fully prepared to face plant the couch and spend the next few hours watching some corny action movie and debate his life choices, but no, the universe was having none of it. TJ, instead of watching a movie, spent three hours trying to work out why the WiFi kept crashing.

Then, 2 hours into a 3 hour sappy drama (yes, he was that done with life), he received a text with the code words 'Artemus 8'.

Artemus: Crime - Robbery

8: Location - Louisa Bridge

Artemus 8: Robbery, Louisa Bridge

As quickly as possible, TJ half sprinted, half flew around the flat grabbing his suit. A red jacket, black jeans, black top, and a metal mask. He got into the suit and became the Red Hawk.

Shoving his mask in his pocket and pulling a blue hoodie over his suit, he sprinted out the flat and mounted his motorbike, before riding to Louisa Bridge.

Parking the bike, ripping off the hoodie and helmet and putting on his mask, he kicked off the ground and started flying. As he hovered above the bridge, he spotted the van speeding around cars and swerving precariously.

He smirked.

Flying towards the van at full speed, he punched the side with both fists. The side of the van dented in and the vehicle rolled over from the force. All the windows smashed and the Red Hawk heard the sounds of bodies rolling around inside.

No seat belts. There's another law broken. He thought. He began to approach the battered van, now lying on it's side. He wasn't even five meters away before something black shot out the gap where the wind shield would have been like a bullet, leaving the Red Hawk stood, seething, as he watched Machiavellian escape arrest once again.

The Red Hawk waited till Lena and what looked like the rest of the force police arrived five minutes later before dragging out the stunned robbers. All teens. The Red Hawk looked down disappointedly. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Tobes." She said in a hushed voice. The Red Hawk smiled lightly, turning round to face Lena before offering her a salute.

"Captain Jones ma'am." Lena chuckled in response. She'd always hated honourifics, especially from the guy she saw as her brother.

"Shut up! Machiavellian got away?"

The Red Hawk nodded. Lena patted his shoulder, having to reach up because of their height difference.

"It's fine. We'll catch him some day, but for now, thanks for stopping these guys." She said, smiling. The Red Hawk nodded again, glancing over at the battered teens being handcuffed. "You can go."

With that, The Red Hawk took flight again, flying back to his bike, removing his mask, and rode back to his flat, his suit hidden once again by the blue hoody.

When he arrived back at the flat, he threw his kit back into the box under his bed and jumped onto the sofa. The WiFi had finally decided to work and TJ watched the last of the drama before Klaus had stumbled in, muddy, limping and obviously from a fight.

After trying to find out if Klaus knew anything about the robbery, he returned to the living room and waited for the police report to file in.

While Klaus showered, TJ received the report, and read through it till Klaus entered, tousling him damp hair with a towel.