Chapter Text
Blake’s plan to recruit Ren and Nora was similar to everyone else’s plan to recruit new members- finding them while in costume and convincing them to fight. Just how she was going to do that she wasn’t sure, but she knew that she had to do it.
Ren and Nora were both orphans. They each lived with foster families who didn’t care much about them, so they spent most of their time together.
She found them at a local park, just before sundown.
“Hello!” she said as she approached them. Ren stiffened, while Nora waved enthusiastically. “Do you two want to fight monsters?”
“For real? Of course!” said Nora.
“Actual monsters?” asked Ren.
Blake nodded. “Actual monsters. We need fighters, and I think that you two fit that description.”
“We sure do!” said Nora. “We’re in!”
“Great. Come by Beacon Academy next Saturday at sunset.”
And then, because life could never be easy, something melted out of the shadows, something huge.
“Watch out!” Blake shouted, tackling Ren and Nora to the ground as the thing lunged towards them.
The first thing that she noticed was that its eyes burned red. The second: that it seemed to be made of a weird gel-like material. It dripped shadows behind it as it walked, leaving puddles of black as it strode towards them with a growl.
Nora’s mouth dropped open. “Is that one of the monsters?”
“It doesn’t look like any animal I’ve ever seen!” Blake quipped.
Blake pulled out her weapon and threw it towards the creature, slicing into it when her blade hit its mark.
The thing, whatever it was, made a noise of dismay and turned towards her. Its paws turned to claws, scraping against the pavement, and it clenched its muscles, preparing to charge.
Blake settled into a fighting stance, preparing for pain. She had no idea how to fight this thing- she had only ever fought people before.
She activated her aura and braced herself as it began to charge.
Suddenly, Ren dashed out in front of her, a knife in his hand. As it charged, all three of them scattered, and Ren twisted out of the way, stabbing the creature through the top of its head.
It disappeared into smoke.
All three of them stood there for a second, panting.
“Nice work,” said Blake. “So, believe me about the monsters now?
“Okay, we’ll meet you on Saturday,” said Ren.
That night, Blake’s patrol was more interesting than usual. She fought bear-type creatures, boar-like things, and shot at some giant birds that looked more like planes than anything else. After a few tries, she successfully managed to take down the creatures, but ran herself ragged fighting them, ushering people into their homes.
She had decided to grab a bullhorn at some point, and ran around telling people that it wasn’t safe outside.
Some people didn’t listen, or simply weren’t aware of the monsters, and she spent her night trying to protect them.
At some point near dawn, she met up with the other vigilantes. “What do we do? We can’t just keep fighting forever,” she asked them.
“Well someone has to try,” said Red.
“I say we get some sleep and worry about it tomorrow,” said White. “After all, tomorrow is when we meet up with our new friends.
“Maybe Oz will know what to do,” said Yellow.
“We can hope,” Blake muttered. “Because at this rate, society is going to crumble.”
“Nah,” said Yellow. “People are going to die, but everyone else will ignore it and keep living their lives. Humans are remarkably stubborn.”
“Maybe we should think about the future after we’ve gotten some sleep,” said White.
“Fine,” said Red. “Everyone, tomorrow we rise to fight again. But for tonight, we sleep.”