The leader of the group, a burly man with a scar running down his cheek, sneered and stepped forward. "And what're you supposed to be? Some wannabe hero in a cheap Halloween costume?"
Orchid tilted his head, the faint red glow of his eyes beneath the cloak sending a shiver down the man's spine. "No, I am your worst nightmare," he growled, his voice cold and unwavering.
For a moment, the leader faltered, his confidence cracking under Orchid's ominous aura. The faint red glow from Orchid's eyes flickered ominously, like embers in the dark.
One of the thugs attempted to step forward, brandishing his knife. "Big talk for someone who's outnumbered!" he sneered, lunging toward Orchid with overconfidence.
Orchid barely gave the thug any attention. Without even trying, his movements became a blur. Before the thug could even register what had happened, Orchid twisted his wrist, disarming him with a sharp, fluid motion.
The knife clattered to the ground, but Orchid wasn't finished. With a sharp exertion of strength, a loud click cut through the silence. A chilling scream tore through the alley, sending waves of fear into the hearts of the two remaining thugs.
Sweat beaded on their foreheads as panic gripped them. Orchid moved swiftly, sweeping his leg and knocking one of them to the wet pavement. The thug groaned in agony, clutching his injured wrist.
The other two stood frozen in shock. The leader recovered quickly, glaring at the minion beside him. "What are you waiting for? Go get him!"
The thug hesitated, visibly trembling as he stepped forward. His grip tightened on the knife, twisting it nervously in a feeble attempt to intimidate.
Under the mask, Orchid couldn't help but smile. He had no intention of letting the attack happen. As the thug prepared to lunge forward, Orchid's gaze locked onto him. In that instant, the man froze, his resolve crumbling. Without another move, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
A single glance—that was all it took. The thug's mental strength was so weak it felt like he had just used nails to pierce cotton; it was so fragile. But he wasn't surprised; after all, they were normal humans.
The leader's confidence shattered as his lackey crumpled to the ground. Desperation lit up his eyes, and his hands trembled before darting toward the woman huddled against the wall. For some reason, his instincts told him a gun would be useless against the cloaked figure.
In one swift motion, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. She gasped, her face pale with terror, as he pressed the barrel of a gun to her temple.
"Stay back, or she dies!" he shouted, his voice cracking but loud enough to echo through the narrow alley.
Orchid halted. His posture remained calm, almost indifferent, but the narrowing of his eyes beneath the mask revealed his unwavering expression. He took one measured step forward, his movements slow and deliberate.
"I said stay back!" the thug screamed again, his grip tightening on the trembling woman.
Orchid tilted his head slightly, his voice calm and chillingly steady as he uttered a single word.
"Look into my eyes."
His cursed eye spun as magical energy flowed through, immediately piercing the man's psyche. Sharingan: Genjutsu.
The thug froze, his bravado crumbling the moment his gaze met Orchid's. In that instant, everything changed. The gun in his hands disappeared, and the woman he was holding hostage dissolved into nothingness.
The world around him blurred and reformed. He stood paralyzed, unable to move as a mysterious force held him in place. Overwhelming fear gripped his body. Shadows emerged—cloaked figures wielding blades, their intentions unmistakable.
Before he could react, the stabbing began. The pain was excruciating, each strike tearing through him with merciless precision. He collapsed into a pool of his own blood, the agony so intense he found himself wishing for death.
Back in the real world, the gun slipped from his trembling fingers, clattering onto the ground. The woman stumbled free, gasping in relief.
Suddenly, the thug let out a bloodcurdling scream, writhing on the ground in visible torment. His bloodshot eyes darted wildly, as if reliving a nightmare only he could see.
Orchid exhaled slowly, his gaze softening as he turned toward the woman. "You're safe now," he said quietly.
"Call the cops," he added before turning to leave, ready to vanish into the darkness once more.
For a second, the woman stood there, dazed by the possibly once-in-a-lifetime moment. What she had just witnessed teetered on the verge of supernatural. A glance to make people pass out? Yeah, that wasn't normal. She felt the urge to ask who he was.
"Wait a minute," the woman's voice rang out, tinged with curiosity. "Just who are you?"
She wasn't expecting an answer, but she still hoped. Hearing her question, the cloaked figure paused, glancing at her from the corner of his hood.
"You can call me Sage," he said.
Without another word, he melted back into the shadows, disappearing in a flurry of crows as the distant wail of sirens filled the air.
~A Few Moments Later~
The flashing red and blue lights of police cruisers illuminated the alley, casting shadows that danced across the walls. Officers poured out of their vehicles, their footsteps echoing in the aftermath of chaos.
Captain George Stacy emerged from his car last, adjusting his holster and surveying the scene with a practiced, sharp eye. He was a man in his late forties, with a presence that commanded respect.
The woman was sitting on the curb, clutching a blanket an officer had draped around her shoulders. Her face was pale, her eyes wide and filled with the lingering shock of what had transpired.
Captain Stacy approached her, his movements calm but deliberate. He crouched to her level, his tone professional but laced with genuine concern. "Miss, I'm Captain Stacy. Can you tell me what happened here?"
The woman looked up at him. She swallowed hard, trying to find the right words. "It... it was like something out of a movie," she began.
Stacy nodded encouragingly, giving her the space to continue.
"There were these men," she said, gesturing weakly toward the unconscious thugs being loaded into the back of a police van. "They cornered me. They said they were going to—" She didn't finish this part, but the captain knew what she was about to say.
She paused, her gaze darting toward the shadows at the end of the alley. "But then... he showed up."
Stacy's brow furrowed slightly. "He? Who are you talking about?"
"A man in a cloak," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "He came out of nowhere. He wasn't human. At least, it didn't feel like he was. And his eyes—"
"They glowed red. He made one of them pass out just by looking at him."
Stacy leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable as he processed her words. "Glowing red eyes?" he repeated, his tone neutral.
"Yes," she insisted, her voice rising slightly as if pleading for him to believe her. "He... he called himself Sage. And then he just... disappeared. Like a ghost."
The captain remained silent for a moment, glancing toward the alley where she had pointed. He stood, signaling one of the officers over.
"Check the area. See if we've got any cameras or witnesses," he instructed. The officer nodded and hurried off.
Turning back to the woman, Stacy's expression softened slightly. "I believe you're telling me what you think you saw," he said carefully. "But glowing eyes? Disappearing into thin air? That's a little hard to wrap my head around."
The woman's frustration flared. "I know what I saw, and I'm not crazy. He saved me."
Stacy raised a hand to calm her. "I'm not saying you're crazy," he assured her. "I just need all the facts before I can make sense of this."
She took a deep breath, nodding reluctantly. "I... I don't know what else to tell you. He was real. He was."
The captain studied her for a moment longer before sighing and pulling out a notepad. "Alright, let's go over everything one more time. Start from the beginning."
As she began recounting the events again, her voice steadier this time, Captain Stacy couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this story than met the eye.
He glanced down the alley one last time, his instincts telling him that this was only the beginning.