The Ballad of Nocturne




Justice is a interesting concept, for though most my seem it as something
absolute, the truth is that it can be molded by perception. Some seek justice
through altruism while others seek it through chaos. The question at the end
however is, who in reality is right? Such was the struggle between Nocturne
and The Ebony Heart.

The two sought to bring justice into their world through different means.
While Nocturne took a more venerable approach, The Ebony Heart sought to take
a more drastic, ruthless method. This would eventually lead them to a bitter
confrontation that would shape the meaning of justice for them once and for
all.

It all began during a Friday night, when Nocturne set out to solve a petty
crime.

During her nightly patrol, Nocturne spotted a bunch of thugs holding down a
store. Without hesitation Nocturne descended from the rooftops and headed
towards the store. She dropped a smoke pellet which quickly clouded the store
with smoke. Unable to see, the thugs proved no match for Nocturne who could
see them easily thanks to her visor. She quickly neutralized them and tied
them down so that the police could take care of them.

Nocturne taught she was done for the night, but the truth was far from it. As
she prepared to head back home she received a call from May, informing her
that there was a mob of sorts forming at the local park. Nocturne heed her
call and decided to investigate the situation.

It was from this point forward that things would spiral into utter chaos.

Fifteen minutes later, Nocturne made it to the park. May was indeed correct,
from the looks of it a mob was forming and it was following a familiar figure.
Among them stood out a figure clad in black armor, though Nocturne could not
hear it well, it seemed the figure was giving a speech. Nocturne decided to
move in closer to hear better what the figure was saying.

"My loyal followers, I stand before you as your symbol of hope, as the bringer
of light into this decaying city" Nocturne recognized that voice and speech,
it was none other than The Ebony Heart. "No more will you have to suffer
against the troubles that plague you, because after tonight all of those who
continue to bring injustice into this city will suffer our wrath. Their sins
will be cleansed with fire......" The Ebony Heart grabbed hold of what seemed
like an executive man, "starting with those who are at the top of the food
chain!" She began to choke the man.

Nocturne jumped from where she was standing and launched at The Ebony Heart by
tackling her, therefore preventing the death of the man. The man gave his
thanks to Nocturne and made a run for it.

"Well well look who made it to the show, the little slut that goes around
parading herself as a champion of justice" Ebony pushed Nocturne back who
managed to gain her footing fast.

"You got one thing coming for you if you think I am going to let you bring any
harm to the people of this city!" Nocturne stood her ground as she prepared
for a fight.

"Dear me, I am impressed, I taught that after the last lesson you would had
learned your rightful place. Or maybe that's why you are here....knowing the
slut you are I bet you want another lesson" Ebony laughed.

"Last time I was a fool for being overconfident, but don't think I'll make the
same mistakes twice, much less when the stakes are this high!" Nocturne
dismissed Ebony's insults, she was not gonna let her win the psychological
battle.

"As much as I long to break you, I have more important matters to attend to.
See if you can survive the night, if you do then maybe we'll have our little
fight" She then moved her attention towards the crowd, "My loyal followers,
this woman is a threat to our plan, see to it that she is stopped."

The crowd launched at Nocturne, giving The Ebony Heart the opportunity to
escape. Nocturne was in a bad situation, given that the mob seemed to consist
of civilians. That said, her life was at stake so Nocturne had no other choice
but to fight.

She dodged the incoming blows and reaching hands and tried to avoid using
force as much as she could. She made her way through what seemed like a human
maze and managed to escape from their grasp. She quickly aimed her grapnel
tool at the rooftops and made her way out of sight from the mob. Once in the
rooftop Nocturne decided to contact May for help.

"May we are in serious trouble, Ebony Heart is causing a riot on the city..."

"Oh well that explains it," May seemed to had come to a conclusion of sorts.

"Explains what?" Nocturne asked with hesitation knowing she would not like the
answer to her question.

"All these random acts of violence at the same time. There seems to be a
problem with Police HQ and some convicts, meanwhile there also seems to be a
problem at city hall and there have also been reported some gang fights. Hell
has broken down there, you want me to drop by and help you?" May asked.

"No, it's too dangerous;" Hearing how May was about to protest, Nocturne
quickly added, "besides I need you to do a very important task. I need you to
track down Ebony and inform me. I have to stop whatever she is planning"
Nocturne seemed more determined than usual.

"Got it, but be careful ok? You know what happened last time...." May's tone
changed to a more worried one.

"I know, but this time it will be different, I promise. Anyway I'm heading to
the police station now, contact me as soon as you find her!" Nocturne then
hanged up and decided to move out.

Once she made it to the police station, Nocturne was greeted with a very
gruesome situation. The police station was being held under control by a gang
of thugs. With one of the police stations held hostage the city would spiral
into chaos even faster. Police backup had arrived but sadly they were limited
by threats, according to the thugs there was a bomb in the police station that
would trigger if there were attempts to take it over.

Luckily Nocturne was there to help. Knowing that trying to enter the building
by any of its doors would be suicide, she opted for a different approach.
Nocturne made her way into a nearby sewer that connected with the police
station, she then managed to get inside of the police station while being
unnoticed, after all the thugs had not covered the basement or even knew that
the basement had a connection to the sewers.

Once inside, Nocturne made her way to the first floor. The situation was
drastic, she had to take them down without triggering any sort of alarm.
Nocturne blended with the shadows and pulled out her tranquilizer gun, she
shot an incoming thug who fell unconscious three seconds later. She hid the
body in one of the rooms as to not draw any attention and decided to move
forward.

As she made it to the main room of the first floor, she saw the hostages being
held down by the thugs. She was in a bad situation given that there was no way
her dart gun could take down nine guys at at time. Knowing this, she had no
choice but to trust her instincts.

Nocturne threw one of her smoke pellets and the room was quickly clouded in
smokes. Nocturne trusted on her reflex and speed, quickly moving through the
room and taking them down through her strikes. Luckily her instincts paid off
as the thugs prove no match for her. With that settled Nocturne set the
hostages free and decides to check the second floor to see if there were still
any thugs. Just as she expected, the resistance at the second floor was lower
than that of the first floor and just like the first thugs, the three guarding
the second floor proved no match.

With all the thugs taken care of, the police station was back at the hands of
justice. A bomb squad was quickly deployed to investigate the station but the
bombing turned out to be a hoax. False alarm asides there was still a lot of
work to do, but the commissioner took the opportunity to thank Nocturne.

"That was a fine work you did there, Nocturne, we are glad that you were
nearby to help," The commissioner tried to smile but given the circumstances
it was hard for him.

"Don't mention it, but we are not finished yet. I am tracking down Ebony
Heart, but meanwhile I need your men to hunt down the gangs that are fighting
right now," Nocturne remained calmed despite what just transpired.

"It will be done, good luck with your....." the commissioner was interrupted
by a very loud sound that came from a nearby street, "WHAT THE HELL WAS
THAT?!" He yelled.

"I dunno, but I intent to find out," Nocturne quickly speed off to the source
of the sound.

The source of the sound came from a strip club three streets away of the
police station. When Nocturne arrived at the scene, her fears were confirmed
as the building was in flames. Apparently the bombing hoax of the police
station had been a distraction for the actual bombing. People were running and
screaming and worst of all, a woman came out of the club burning in flames.
Meanwhile a sadistic group of people stood nearby chanting "And the sins will
be cleansed in fire, the sins will be cleansed in fire, the sins will be
cleansed in fire,".

A few policemen arrive at the scene right after Nocturne and the latter
motioned them to detain the group of chanters and contact the firefighters.
Nocturne heard screams from the inside and did not hesitate, she went straight
in to rescue the person.

Nocturne made her way through the fire and the hazards, as parts of the
ceiling were falling off. Nocturne scanned the area to see where the sort of
the screams were coming and she spotted what seemed to be a dancer stuck in
one of the main tracks. Nocturne quickly moved the hazards around and looked
for a nearby extinguisher to put out the flames surrounding the dancer. Once
that was done, the dancer managed to make her way out of the track, but she
was not the only one stuck. A bartender was stuck in some debris that had
fallen during the explosion, Nocturne moved the debris away and tried to help
the man stand up but just when they were all about to leave some of what
seemed to be members of the group that was chanting outside cornered them.

Nocturne ordered the dancer to take the bartender out while she took care of
this. Things did not look good for her as there were five of these thugs and
they were armed with knives.

The thugs quickly launched a Nocturne trying to finish her off with the knives
but Nocturne proved to be quite speedy for them as she dodge most of their
attacks. That said, Nocturne was not only fighting the thugs but the
environment itself as the debris and fire continued to intensify. Nocturne
managed to dodge an incoming blow and counter it with a kick to the groin that
stunned the attacker but in her attempt to dodge her cape caught fire. With
the four attackers at her throat Nocturne didn't had the chance to take off
the cape so her only option was to roll around while avoiding the attacks.

While this strategy did put out the fire in her cape it let her vulnerable to
the attackers which quickly ganged up on her with a barrage of punches and
kicks.

Rolling around Nocturne took some heavy kicks in her sides while she moved
away, just in time she pulled her head out of the way to avoid getting stomped
on her face. Nocturne was not going to give up just yet, though, as she lifted
herself from the floor to counter the attacks. She managed to held off most of
their attacks but one grabbed a hold of her cape to keep her in place, while
another one of them used a knife that almost pierced her stomach, luckily she
dodged in time and the attacker only managed to cut part of the fabric of her
costume and make a small cut in her skin. Sadly for the attackers that was the
boiling point for Nocturne as she replied with brute force, knocking two down
by smashing their heads against the floor and using part of the debris to
knock the fourth one. The final one, the one that had cut her had it worst, as
she took the knife from him and stabbed him in a way that ensured he be
paralyzed but not lethally wounded.

Nocturne took a moment to catch her breath but quickly made her way out of the
building and into safety. By now the firefighters had arrived and they were
putting the fires out, she informed the police of the men that attacked her
and they set out to detain them. However Nocturne's job was far from over as
the commissioner gave her a call that would set her out on another perilous
mission.

"Nocturne, are you all right?" the commissioner's tone indicated that he was
concerned.

"Yeah, but I had a run in with a few thugs at the strip club, I suppose you
heard off what happened right?" Nocturne once remained calm.

"So the target of the bombing was the strip club? Makes sense considering who
we are dealing with;" he paused for a moment, "that said I'm afraid I need
your help once more".

"What seems to be the problem, commissioner?" Nocturne once more asked a
question that she didn't want to hear the answer for.

"There is a mutiny at the prison, I need you to help the officers in charge in
trying to calm and neutralize the prisoners," The commissioner said.

"Don't worry, I'm on my way, I should be there in 20 minutes!" Nocturne hanged
up and headed off to the prison.

25 minutes later, Nocturne arrived in her bike. She quickly made her way
towards the officers in charge to see how she could assist them. The situation
was quite drastic, it seemed like a civil war had broken out within the
prison. The police had formed a line with riot shield and were ready to
counter the prisoners' movement. After a brief discussion with the officers,
Nocturne decided to head through a different approach.

While the officers stood at the main gate as the prisoners approached,
Nocturne went the other way and took the prisoners by surprise from the back.
She threw five smoke bombs and the incoming crowd who were caught by surprise.
She then launched at them from the rooftop and began to attack them. The
officers took this as their cue to strike and move towards the incoming crowd
with their shields ready for attack. The fight broke out with Nocturne beating
the ones covered in smoke who didn't even had the opportunity to know that
Nocturne was there. As the smoke faded, Nocturne climbed once more to the roof
while the officers fought the remaining prisoners.

One officer had seemed to lost the battle against a prisoner who was about to
kill him with a kitchen knife, but Nocturne managed to spot the situation on
time. She launched herself once more from her vantage point and struck down
the prisoner with her legs. The nearby prisoners took notice and began to
attack Nocturne, who quickly dodged the incoming attacks. It seemed Nocturne
knocked them down and had the upper hand but while she dodge an incoming knife
attack another prisoner took the opportunity to strike her in the back with a
lead pipe. Nocturne fell down due to the pain and the prisoners quickly began
to attack her. Laying on the floor Nocturne covered up as best as she could as
the prisoners began to stomp and kick her.

All seemed lost for the heroine but the officers managed to retaliate against
the attackers with the use or their shields and night sticks. Nocturne took
the opportunity to recover from the attack and get back on her feet. She would
not give up or flee however, as she quickly began attacking the remaining
prisoners. They did not see her attacks coming as most of them still imagined
her knocked down, this would prove to be their undoing as she quickly
neutralized them.

A few minutes later Nocturne and the officers had managed to bring down the
mutiny. The officers took the unconscious prisoners back to their cells and
the remaining conscious prisoners had already ran back to their cells out of
fear for Nocturne. It had been a rough night for Nocturne, but it was coming
to a close. As she left the prison May contacted her.

"Nocturne, I did it! I found where Ebony is, though I am not sure you are
gonna like it...." May seemed distraught.

"Hit me up with your best shot, after all I been through tonight, I think I
can handle it" Nocturne once more remained calm.

"She is at city hall...." May paused.

"But of course..... I'll make my way there asap," Nocturne sighed.

Things at city hall were not looking good, there was a massive riot and the
police was having a hard time containing them. There was no sight of Ebony
among the rabble which meant she was inside, not a surprise for Nocturne as
she already imagined what Ebony was plotting. Naturally getting through the
crowd would not be easy, at least for someone without smoke pellets. Nocturne
decided used her grapnel to climb up a vantage point. Once in the rooftop she
aimed ten of her smoke pellets at the big crowd. The crowd was quickly clouded
in smokes, which gave the police the edge they needed. With that settled
Nocturne aimed her grapnel at a glass window that looked much like one of
those used in churches. Nocturne then launched herself with speed and smash
through the window, gliding down to the first floor.

Two thugs quickly spotted her, but again proved no match for her as she
smashed their heads against each other. Nocturne continued her way to the
upper floor and into the mayor's office. On the way she encountered a few more
thugs which much like the rest of their kin proved no match. After much
struggle, she was finally there, she had finally reached the mayor's office.
Nocturne did not hesitated as she opened the door hoping to finally end
Ebony's madness.

Just like Nocturne expected, Ebony Heart was at the mayor's office, holding
said mayor hostage.

"I am disappointed Ebony, this was way too predictable, even for you,"
Nocturne smirked.

"Make all the witty remarks you want, the fact remains that I won, this city
is in chaos, the filth has been cleansed," Ebony replied.

"Oooooh you are in for disappointment, sugar, the prison riot? It has been
dealt with. The bombing? Everyone made it fine. The Police Station? Not even
your best shot," Nocturne grinned.

Ebony Heart was caught by surprised as she didn't expect Nocturne to succeed.
"No matter, once I kill this man I will have proven my point," Ebony replied.

"Really? You think killing one man changes anything?" Nocturne was no longer
smiling, her tone had become far more serious, "All these acts prove nothing,
Ebony, you are not better than the common criminal in fact you are worse than
them, because you try to dress your sociopath acts as justice!"

"But I AM JUSTICE! I SEEK TO DEFEND OUR LAWS FROM THOSE WHO IGNORE THEM!"
Ebony shouted clearly frustrated by what Nocturne had said.

"Wrong, if you seek to reestablish the law then you cannot break it. YOU ARE
NOT ABOVE THE LAW! The law was made for everyone by everyone and you have not
right to defend it by going against it. It doesn't make sense!" Nocturne
shouted back.

"GAH! I am done with listening to you! You will never understand!" She dropped
the mayor aside, "YOU ARE MERELY A SLUT, YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND. But no
matter, once I break you, it won't matter at all" Ebony prepared her stance
ready to attack her.

"As much as I enjoy a few spanks, I'll have to decline the offer cause you are
not going anywhere that isn't a mental asylum!" Nocturne grinned once more.

Ebony Heart had enough as Nocturne words had clearly hit her. She tackled
Nocturne with great force, breaking the door while she continued to run with
Nocturne. Nocturne used her elbows to hit Ebony in the back, though it didn't
do much to her. Just as they were about to fall into the first floor, Nocturne
managed to escape from Ebony's grasp, she then kicked her making Ebony fall
into the first floor. Nocturne then glided down her way to the first floor.

"Ok let's be honest, Beth, you know you can't beat her hand to hand while she
has that armor so think of something....." Nocturne looked around and saw a
big statue holding Earth, "Oh I got it, I'll use my surroundings to wear her
down!" Nocturne thought to herself.

The fall hadn't made much damaged to Ebony who quickly launched her attack at
Nocturne once more. Nocturne meanwhile had to dodge as much as she could, two
hits from Ebony could prove to be fatal. Nocturne thought of something, she
would wear down Ebony by making her waste much of her stamina with missed
hits. And so she did, she make quick use of her speed to avoid Ebony's attacks
then she proceed to run around the room while Ebony continued to smash
everything in her path, save for Nocturne.

First phase of her strategy had worked out, now it was time to make it a bit
more offensive. Nocturne threw a smoke pellet into the room clouding Ebony's
vision, she then took the opportunity to aim the grapnel straight at the
chandelier in order to pull it down. The chandelier then fell down on Ebony
Heart knocking her down. Nocturne then pinned Ebony down and began to
forcefully pull her helmet off. Ebony struggled against it, but she was not in
a position where she could hit Nocturne. After much struggle she managed to
pull it off, revealing a blonde woman who seemed to be in her mid 30's.

Nocturne began to punch Ebony right in the face with all she had, punch after
punch she unleashed all the fury she had after Ebony had humiliated. It seemed
like the end for Ebony but with much force she managed to pull Nocturne off
and gain the advantage for once. She began hitting Nocturne, who shielded
herself with her arms. In order to escape she slided down from Ebony's grasp
who was now in an even more powerful rage status. Nevertheless now Ebony had a
weak point and Nocturne was going to make use of that.

She threw her last smoke pellet and began to strike at Ebony's face once more.
Punch after punch, Nocturne continued with her own rage against the woman who
humiliated her, her punches were so powerful that Ebony lost balance and fell
into the ground. She continued punching her however, until the point where
Ebony was bleeding and couldn't stand no more.

It was done, she had done it, she had conquered her most powerful adversary
but she was not over with it yet. Nocturne took the opportunity to strip Ebony
of her armor and tie her down to the statue of the man holding the Earth.

"And now your sins have been cleansed..." Nocturne looked at the defeated
woman with a grin.

"SCREW YOU, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE, YOU'LL SEE! I WILL CLEANSE THIS WORLD!"
Ebony was obviously embarrassed by being stripped of her armor.

"That's what they all say, sugar. But you know what? I wonder what you'll fans
will think once they see you like this...." Nocturne headed off to address the
crowd.

"NOooOoooOOOooO DON'T DO THIS TO ME!" Ebony screamed to no avail.

"Good citizens, the Ebony Heart has been defeated;" Nocturne showed the helmet
to the crowd as proof of her victory, "May this serve as an example to any who
think they can usurp the safety of this city's fair citizens!"

With that, Nocturne shot her grapnel once more to the rooftops. The police
quickly moved in to the building to detain Ebony, while some members of the
crowd took pictures of the defeated woman. All that could be heard were her
screams of frustration. Meanwhile Nocturne contacted May once more.

"May, I did it! Ebony Heart has been defeated!" Nocturne sighed in relief.

"Congratulations Nocturne, I know how much that means to you, considering the
circumstances!" May sounded happier.

"Yeah this is quite the personal victory, but anyway what a night!" Nocturne's
tone was more relaxed than before.

"So what now?" May asked.

"Now I take a bath, watch my favorite show and eat some chocolates!" Nocturne
replied, laughing as she made her way back home for a much deserved rest.