The Dark Matter Sage

Tony's sharp gaze locked onto the trembling woman slumped against the counter, her tear-streaked face pale and eyes wide with fear. Her whole body shook as she clutched her knees to her chest, glancing nervously between him and the unconscious forms of her accomplices sprawled across the floor.

"Stay put," Tony said, his voice low and measured. He crouched slightly, his piercing gaze driving the point home. "If you try to run, I'll come for you. Don't make me come for you."

The weight of his words froze her in place. She nodded frantically, her back pressing hard against the counter as if trying to melt into it.

Satisfied, Tony turned his attention to the teenage clerk, now sitting slumped against the wall, blood staining her torn sleeve. Her breathing was shallow, her tear-filled eyes darting toward him as he knelt beside her. His hands moved instinctively to help, his focus narrowing on the wound.

With careful precision and a pulse of energy he barely understood, Tony stopped the bleeding and stabilized her. Relief flooded through him as she started breathing more evenly, her color slowly returning.

"Just hang on," he said softly, his voice steady despite the storm of emotions roiling beneath the surface. "Help's on the way."

The girl nodded faintly, her wide eyes fixed on him with something between awe and gratitude. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice trembling.

Tony didn't wait for more. He rose swiftly and slipped out through the side door just as the wail of sirens grew louder. The faint hum of dark energy still tingled in his palms as he walked away, blending into the shadows of Koreatown.

Moments later, police cars screeched to a halt outside the store. The red and blue lights flashed against the windows as officers poured in, their weapons drawn, barking commands to secure the scene. They found the robbers where Tony had left them—two unconscious men and the terrified woman sitting exactly where she'd been told to stay.

The lead officer approached her cautiously, his notepad already in hand. "Ma'am," he said, his voice steady, "what happened here? Who stopped you?"

The woman looked up, her hands shaking as she tried to form words. "He... he just appeared," she stammered, her voice a mixture of fear and disbelief. "I didn't see where he came from. He... he moved so fast, like some kind of ghost."

The officer leaned forward, his brow furrowing. "What did he say to you?"

The woman flinched, her wide eyes darting toward the unconscious men before returning to the officer. "He told me to stay put," she whispered. "Said if I tried to run, he'd come for me."

The officer exchanged a glance with his partner, his expression grim. "And you believed him?"

Her head bobbed in a frantic nod. "Of course I believed him! You didn't see the way he moved. He wasn't... normal. I've never been so scared in my life."

Across the store, another officer crouched beside the teenage clerk, who was now sitting up and cradling her arm. The blood on her sleeve had dried, but the faint, silvery traces of her wound shimmered under the fluorescent lights. The officer's eyes narrowed as he noticed the peculiar mark.

"Miss, can you tell us what happened?" he asked gently, pulling out his notepad.

The girl took a shaky breath, her voice still trembling as she spoke. "I thought I was going to die," she began. "But then... he came."

The officer glanced at her arm, his pen hovering over the page. "Who came? Did you know him?"

"No," she said quickly. "But he saved me. He stopped the bleeding, and then—" She hesitated, her fingers brushing over the faint scar. "It's like he healed me."

The officer frowned. "Healed you? How?"

"I don't know," the girl said, shaking her head. "He just... touched me. And the bleeding stopped." She hesitated again, then added, "He told me to hang on, that help was coming."

The officer leaned in slightly. "Did he say anything else? A name, maybe?"

The girl nodded, her voice soft but clear. "Yeah. His name's Tony."

By the time the officers had finished taking statements, a junior detective arrived with a set of bagged items from the scene. He held up a bullet smeared with blood, the metal glinting under the harsh lights of the store.

"Here's the round that hit her," the detective said. "Looks like it passed through clean."

The lead officer frowned, glancing at the girl's arm. "That's not a clean wound," he said, pointing to the silvery mark. "That's... something else entirely."

Another officer nearby motioned toward the security cameras. "We've got surveillance tapes. Should tell us more."

"Good," the lead officer said. "Take everything back to the station. We need to figure out who this guy is."

At the precinct, a group of detectives gathered around as the surveillance footage played on a monitor. The grainy black-and-white video showed Tony entering the store, his movements swift and deliberate. The first robber went down in seconds, disarmed and incapacitated before he even realized what was happening. The second robber met a similar fate—his weapon stripped from his hand and his body crumpling to the floor in a fluid, almost effortless motion.

"Look at him," one officer murmured. "Guy moves like he's in a damn action movie."

Then came the footage of Tony confronting the woman at the counter. The video showed him disarming her in a blink, twisting her arm just enough to immobilize her without causing permanent harm. But it was the next part that drew gasps from the room.

The camera caught Tony kneeling beside the injured clerk, his hands glowing faintly as he pressed them over her wound. The light was subtle, almost imperceptible, but the change in the girl's condition was undeniable. Moments later, he stood and slipped out the side door.

"That's not normal," one detective said, leaning closer to the screen.

The lead officer folded his arms, his jaw tightening. "He gave his name as Tony. Could be the same guy from the Helen Bernstein High School cafeteria incident."

Another officer nodded. "Fits the description. Same moves, same... abilities."

The room fell silent as the footage looped again, Tony's actions raising more questions than answers. The lead officer sighed, rubbing his temples.

"This guy saved a life tonight," he said finally. "But we need to figure out who he is and what he's capable of. He's not just some vigilante. He's something else entirely."