Vigilante Files Database: Sport

Chapter 6 - Close Encounters Of The Stoner Kind

       Matt was out buying groceries because it was his turn to run errands when he thought he spotted Damian across the street. Matt quickly threw the bags into the car and then followed Damian after confirming it was him. 'I didn't pack any of the gear, damnit. This would have been perfect.' He tailed him for a few blocks and the stoner was none the wiser to Matt's presence. Matt watched as Damian continued into a more run-down area of downtown and walk into a dilapidated apartment complex. Matt peeked through the window and saw that the place was actually closed, and the interior was stripped of all its wallpaper, exposing the concrete walls with copious amounts of graffiti. He saw a few people that looked even worse than Damian, every one of them having either piercings or dyed hair or both. They loitered around and as far as Matt could tell they were just talking and doing drugs. He made a mental note of the hangout and then jogged back to the car and drive to his dorm.
       "I found that weasel." He told Nick as soon as he got home. "He's smoking pot right now I'm the old district. I feel like I should go get him right now."
Nick looked up from a book and had a concerned face on. "Is that a good idea? It's broad daylight and it's not like what you're doing is legal. They aren't even doing anything illegal because they all probably have marijuana cards."
       Matt knew Nick was right. But it wasn't going to stop him. "I'll wait till night. He probably doesn't have anything better to do so I'll throw on my Sport persona and scare him a bit." Matt thought about it for a few more seconds. "Nah, actually I'm giving that creep what he deserves." He started pacing subconsciously. "He beat you up and was going to do the same to me or even Mom and Dad. He took our money and the more I thought about it he wasn't even after money, he was after me because he hates me for whatever. The money was just him being scum and a bonus for him."
Matt was fuming now thinking about Damian and his druggie squad. Nick was still worried that Matt might be going a little far, but he didn't want to say anything to get on the wrong side of Matt's current anger.
"Hey, no killing, alright? That's super villain behavior. And don't even like give him major injuries. Just promise me that?"
       Matt looked at Nick like he was speaking German. "You thought I wanted to kill Damian? I say that but I don't think I could actually bring myself to murder. Nick don't even worry about that, I just want to repay what he did to you is all. If he pulls a gun on me or something that's a different story but God no, I would never kill anyone." Matt sat down and reconsidered if he was coming off as crazy. But he shook it off because he knew in his heart that killing was unforgivable in any situation other than self-defense. Even then he hated to think about it.
"By the way," Matt turned to Nick again. "Would the magnano ball block bullets? Because of the micro mesh inside of it?"
Nick though about it. "I wouldn't doubt that it's possible, because you definitely can't pop it with a knife. But I'm not sure how it would fare against a speeding bullet. Maybe real low-caliber stuff but probably not anything higher than a basic handgun. I would hope you never come to that but if you do the padded shirt would save you just enough. You'll still have a hole in your chest because, goddamn it's a bullet, but it shouldn't go deep thanks to the padding being one step below complete bullet-proof.
       Matt suddenly got sweaty hands as Nick described getting shot. But he shook his head and moved on. "My healing should take care of me. I'll be fine." Matt remembered that it doesn't make him immune to pain however. He left the room and played around with the magnano gloves for a while to prepare himself for the night.

       When it began getting darker outside, Matt threw on the Sport gear and headed outside. He kept the helmet off to avoid looking like a total weirdo to strangers but still attracted suspicious looks like a magnet. He walked all the way to the spot he followed Damian and peeked inside again. There were less people, but Matt couldn't see if Damian was there or not. There was someone playing rap music on a speaker and the smell of marijuana was a fresh sting in Matt's nostrils, and it made him recoil in disgust. 'I bet everyone in there is so high that if I looked around they might not even remember I was there.'
       Leaving the helmet tucked under one arm and the ball under the other, Matt strolled inside like he belonged there. It was a small lobby and the stairs were caved in, with broken furniture and stained couches strewn about. Matt looked around for the green-eyed bane. He barely collected any glances from the stoners, most didn't even know another soul in the room so Matt just looked like another stranger. Just as he was about to give up he spotted Damian slumped in the back corner between a couch and the back wall. He put his helmet on and experienced butterflies in his stomach as he was about to announce his official presence as the vigilante Sport.
       Matt stepped into the center of the room after clicking his helmet's eye tracker into the menacing slits and spoke loudly. "Where's Damian?" The two on the couch looked at Matt and then each other and snorted in laughter. "What the hell are you supposed to be? Comic Con was last month." They laughed and one shook Damian's head to wake him up. "Hey I think Green Lantern over here wants to speak to you."
       The first thing Damian saw was a muscular man in green staring at him with narrow glowing eyes. It wasn't a pleasurable awakening, and Damian instinctively backed into wall.
"Stand up" Matt told him. He could see those green eyes surrounded by red veins like a crown of crimson thorns. Damian stood and squinted at the figure.
"Who are you exactly?" The initial surprise worn off and now Damian was genuinely confused.
       After dropping the magnano ball, Matt stepped up to Damian, who was a good few inches shorter. "My name is Sport." He grabbed the stoner by his collar and pushed him into the wall while maintaining his grip. Now the two one the couch were up in a defensive stance as the stranger manhandled Damian.
Matt spoke softly to Damian. "Do you think it's funny, mugging a family for a few bucks. Threatening their lives and beating up on someone just because you have a weapon and they don't?"
Now Damian's eyes were wide in fear. Matt couldn't tell if he didn't remember or if he clearly remembered and was now regretting it.
"What are you? Some kind of cop?" The fear was shifting into anger, and Damian spoke loudly and defiantly. "I've never done nothing like that. You gonna arrest me for smoking pot? Because I've got a card for that too."
       Matt picked him up and pinned him against the wall even harder. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. And the younger one told me he beat you up even in a wheelchair."
       Damian was struggling to wrench Sport's hands off of him when he noticed the long blonde spiky hair protruding from the back of the helmet. "Matt?" He spat. Matt loosened his grip in surprise by accident and Damian kicked him in the stomach, causing Matt to stumble back and release his grip on Damian. One of the other druggies came from Matt's right and took a swing at his head. Matt dodged and grabbed the attacking arm, then he rolled into his back and kicked the assailant into the wall behind him.
       Back on his feet, he saw Damian round the corner of the back door. Matt glared at the remaining druggy and he brought his hands up in a motion that said he wasn't looking to get thrown into a wall. Matt ran out the back door after Damian, who was struggling to climb over a chain link fence meant to keep people out of the abandoned building. Matt got close but Damian threw wild kicks behind him. Matt waited for an opening and locked his arms around the leg and heaved backwards, causing Damian to slip from the fence and land flat on his face. He stumbled to his feet and backed into the fence, looking frantically for any escape from the crazy vigilante that stood before him. He couldn't find any options around Matt's wide frame and with a desperate look on his face he threw a heavy punch. Matt sidestepped it and Damian fell again.
       He pinned Damian with a grunt and turned him over on his back. Matt held up a fist and Damian flinched with his hands covering his face. Matt stopped himself from throwing a punch. He thought about what he looked like right now; pinning a helpless stoner in an alleyway about to punch him. He felt like a bad guy right now. He got mad more at himself than Damian in that moment and stood up. Damian still cowered on the ground so Matt lightly kicked him in the leg. "Get up. I'm not wasting energy on you."
       Damian looked up at Matt, and then scrambled to his feet. "You are Matt, aren't you? Only he would be so self righteous as to take pity on me. That's what I hate about you, thinking you're better than-"
       Damian was cut off as Matt socked him in the cheek and he stumbled to support himself on a wall. He held his cheek and glared at Matt, who took zero satisfaction in that punch. Matt felt the 'pang' of a rubber ball hitting him in the back of the head. Matt whipped around and saw the guy he threw in the wall wheel back in surprise that it did nothing. To him the ball felt like a steel sphere that would surely hurt. Once it got within the magnano glove's range and shifted to being bouncy, unbeknownst to the attacker. He turned and ran back through the back door.
       Matt turned to leave but Damian called out behind him. "Hey... how'd you... why aren't you a cripple right now?" Matt turned back to Damian. "I can't tell you that, just know I'm 100% ready to kick your ass if you pull anything again." He flicked the visor back to neutral. "Can I trust you not to blab about my identity?"
       Damian rubbed his jaw. "I don't know, you might wanna guarantee that with an incentive. My jaw really hurts." Matt rolled his eyes because Damian didn't change at all. "How about I give you a hundred bucks as soon as I can so that you forget who I am."
"A hundred fifty." Damian shot back.
"Fine."
"You're a horrible negotiator" Damian told him.
"I don't care. Just forget who I am and I'll give you the money in a few days so you can buy whatever you want."
       Matt attracted the magnano ball back to his hands and left Damian with wide eyes. He walked home in the moonlight feeling horrible about the whole ordeal but at least a little more confident in his skills. 'No more petty revenge. I'm gonna uphold the law the best I can. I'll be the first superhero on the news.' He smiled at that thought as he strolled through the night.