Moon Knight

"Khonshu? Yeah, I know him. He's the son of Atum and all that. Is he someone that interests you?" Raziel didn't know how to approach this situation. Of course, he knew who Khonshu was, Khonshu ruined his life. However, he couldn't just tell her that.

"Yes. Do you believe that he is the only god capable of defeating Apophis?" Layla almost spoke as if she were interrogating him. Raziel could sense himself beginning to feel a bit spooked at that moment. 'Apophis? That's the God of Chaos. Why is she probing about him?' he thought. Keeping a cool head, he spoke calmly to her.

"The God of the Moon versus the God of Chaos? Sounds to me that Khonshu might be outmatched." Raziel knew the history between Khonshu and all of the gods. He knew that despite Khonshu not being as powerful as the others, Khonshu almost always came out on top due to his wits. Despite this, he pretended he wasn't aware of this.

"So you don't believe the stories then? That Khonshu and Apophis are destined to battle each other on the four thousand, six hundred and ninety-thrid year after the start of the reign of the gods?" Raziel knew exactly what she was referring to, exactly that long ago was when the Egyptian gods supposedly came to be. If this theory was correct, Apophis would come to Earth and face Khonshu.

"Well, I know of it. But I don't believe in gods. Not even in Jesus or anything. Do you?" Raziel asked her.

"I do. I believe that the Egyptian gods are real, or at least, were real at some point. I also believe that our planet is in grave danger if these gods end up returning. That is why I am researching Khonshu. I heard that if one prays to him, they could become his avatar on Earth to protect it." Raziel's eyes widened upon hearing this. This woman had conducted insane amounts of research just as he did back when he was a teenager.

"I've heard of this. Do you really think a single person could defend the Earth?" Raziel didn't believe so. It was why he never used his powers a single time in his life. Kain believed that Raziel was incapable of using them, but in reality, he simply did not want to use them so he never had.

"I do. I believe whoever Khonshu's current avatar is, he will be the one to protect us all from Apophis." hearing these words from Layla caused a pit to form in his stomach. 'Me? Stopping Apophis? That's impossible.'

"How do you know there's already an avatar on Earth?" Raziel asked.

"Because I did the prayer to Khonshu exactly as it was written in the legend to become his avatar. It is said that there may only be one avatar at a time, only after death could the mantle be passed on. I want to find the current avatar and help him." Layla had this heroic smile on her face, looking directly into Raziel's eyes as he worked to maintain eye contact with her.

"How do you know he's even in this part of the world? Wouldn't he be in Egypt?" before Layla could respond to this, Mr. Brooks walked over and glared at Raziel. "Miles..." he said like a father. Raziel was still on the clock, after all, meaning he still needed to do what little work needed to be done around the library.

"Sorry, Mr. Brooks. She just had a few questions about some of the books." Raziel laughed sort of awkwardly before getting up out of his seat. "Sorry, I need to get back to work. Let me know if you have any other questions." Raziel was starting to walk away, however, as he did, Layla's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait. Are you doing anything later? Tonight even?" she asked him, sending a shiver down his spine. 'Is this a date? Is she asking me on a date right now? A real, actual date?'

"No, I don't have any plans." Raziel spoke anxiously, but he always did so it was of no surprise to anyone.

"What time do you get off work? I would like to... talk. Not just about Egypt. Well, mostly about Egypt, but I want to know more about you, Miles." this was the first time anyone had ever really expressed real interest in a hobby of his or even in himself. It was a jarring moment for him.

"Seven PM. That's when I'm off." he told her.

"Great. I'll see you then." Layla said as she got up from her seat with her coffee in hand. Raziel watched as she walked past him with a smile and walked out of the library, even Mr. Brooks was surprised, yet he was also proud.

"Well, look at you. I guess you're a ladies' man all of a sudden, huh?" Mr. Brooks teased, embarrassing Raziel.

"I- I guess... I don't know. I should get back to work." Raziel quickly excused himself, grabbing his cart of misplaced books before taking them back to where they belonged. For the rest of the shift, he worked on repairing any damaged books and greeted any customers that came in. If they needed help, he'd help them and then go back to mending his precious books.

By the end of his shift, more books would be misplaced, so he would put them back where they belonged in perfect order, double and triple checking all the shelves before finally clocking out for the day. Once seven o'clock rolled around, Raziel left the building and walked outside, looking around to see if he could spot Layla.

The sun was already down, and the only thing bringing light to the area was the moon and the few lights scattered around. The darkness made it harder to see, but he was certain that he could not see Layla anywhere. Raziel sighed, figuring she must have changed her mind. Raziel then sat on a bench in front of the library, waiting for her just in case. 'I wonder if she's just running a bit late. Maybe she realized I'm weird...' as the young man grew lost in his own thoughts, he could hear Layla's voice.

"Get away from me!" she shouted, it was faint, but he could hear that it was her. He shot up out of the bench and looked toward the source of the sound. It sounded as if it were coming from the side of the library.

Raziel sprinted over and peered around the corner of the building to see that Layla was being surrounded by a group of ten men. They were slowly walking toward her as she slowly walked backward. It looked as if they were saying something to her, but Raziel couldn't hear what exactly they were saying.

"I need to call the police!" Raziel said before pulling out his phone and looking down at the black screen. He looked at his reflection for a second, noticing that it was not him. It was Kain.

"Raziel..." Kain spoke through the reflection as if he were lecturing him. "Relinquish the body and I shall save the woman. You understand that the police are useless and will not arrive until it is too late, don't you, Raziel? I am your only hope of saving her." Kain was waiting for a moment like this, a way for him to finally be released from his prison in Raziel's mind.

Raziel knew that Kain was right. The police wouldn't help, it was up to them to save her. And so, reluctantly, Raziel made his choice...

"Let go of me!" Layla shouted as one of the men pressed her up against a wall beside the library,

"She's a cute one." the thug said, staring at her face intensely.

"Hey! She's merchandise, she'll be worth a lot if we bring her back to the boss in one piece." the men laughed together, knowing they scored big finding this young woman all alone, however, she wasn't the only one in the alley with them.

Like booming claps of thunder, footsteps could be heard behind the ten men, prompting them all to slowly turn around as Layla looked over their shoulders. What they saw was a man wearing an all-white, skin-tight costume that showed his defined muscles through it. His fists were clenched as he continued to walk forward, showing a moon-shaped crest on his chest. His face was covered in a white mask and hood that draped down into a cape that fluttered behind his back with each step forward.

Above him, the moon shone brightly, as did his white luminous eyes that looked forward at the thugs in disdain. A few of the thugs were frozen upon meeting their gaze with his, however, a few of them weren't afraid of the man in the slightest.

"The hell are you? Some kinda discount moon Spider-Man with a cape?" one of the thugs laughed as he stepped forward with a crowbar in hand, ready to take this wannabe hero down with ease.

Taking a few quick steps forward, he swung his crowbar toward the all-white vigilante, only to have it caught in mid-air. Before the thug could even say another word and react to his attack being easily blocked, the vigilante socked him in the face, sending him stumbling into a wall.

As the thug's back hit the wall, the moon vigilante delivered another full-powered punch straight to the thug's face, causing his head to slam into the brick wall. The vigilante then grabbed the man by the shoulder, reeled his fist backward, and began punching him over and over again.

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

Blood began to stain the wall behind him as his legs gave out and he began to slide down the wall, however, the vigilante didn't stop his onslaught.

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

The man's body was then hunched over on the ground and against the wall as the vigilante from the moon started to kick his body as it was down. It was brutal, a terrifying display that did nothing more than send fear into the hearts of those who watched.

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

As he kicked the man's body, Layla watched with large eyes. "It's him..." she whispered. Gaining the attention of one of the thugs as he looked back at her. "Who?" he asked, but he didn't receive an answer he understood.

"Khonshu's Fist of Vengeance." as Layla uttered those words, the Fist of Vengeance looked over at the rest of the thugs as they stood frozen in the same place. They had nowhere to run. The only way out was through him, and he was going to make damn sure that they would not escape.

Knowing they had no other choice, eight of the nine men sprinted toward Khonshu's avatar with their weapons drawn. A few screamed like warriors as they attacked with the intent to kill, however, their intent would not matter to this moon vigilante.

The first victim ran head-first toward Khonshu's warrior, only to be met by a punch to the face that immediately decommissioned him. Just as he hit the ground, two more thugs attacked simultaneously with knives in their hands, only to have their attacks blocked by two crescent-shaped blades by the Fist of Vengeance.

The vigilante pushed both hands forward, stabbing the two thugs in their throats before pushing them down onto the ground to choke on their own blood, which was spewing everywhere and staining the Fist of Vengeance's all-white costume. There were only six thugs left at this point, only five of which were attacking him.

In an instant, those five were reduced to three as the moon-colored warrior flung his two moon-shaped blades at two of the thugs, extinguishing them instantly. He then continued to step forward with his booming footsteps until one of the remaining thugs attacked him with a knife, prompting him to grab his wrist and snap it in half.

The thug screamed in agony before the vigilante knocked him out with a single blow to the temple. The final two thugs that dared to attack him sprinted toward him with a baseball bat and a machete, only to have them immediately disarmed by him. The moon warrior then picked both men up by their throats and held them high in the air, looking into their eyes with the soulless, glowing white holes where his eyes should be.

𝙎𝙣𝙖𝙥!

Using just a single hand for each thug, he snapped their necks before tossing them to the side and walking toward the final trembling thug. "Wh- who are you?" the man asked as the man who destroyed his nine companions continued to stomp forward.

Eventually, the man in the white cloak was face to face with the thug, leaning forward until they were just inches apart. "I am Moon Knight. Go spread the word." Moon Knight spoke in a deep, menacing voice before grabbing the thug by the collar and tossing him toward the other side of the alley.

Quickly, the young man got up and stumbled out of the alley, thankful to be alive. Just as Moon Knight ordered him to, he was going to tell everyone what he saw that night. He was going to let everyone know that Moon Knight had made himself known. He was going to tell everyone that Moon Knight, the Fist of Vengeance, would come for them too.

Moon Knight looked a Layla briefly before his cape took the shape of the Moon itself behind him. Moon Knight then lept into the air, using his cape to glide over the library and disappear behind it.

Just a few seconds later, Raziel appeared around the corner, looking down at the bodies with a shocked expression on his face. "Oh God..." he whispered as if he weren't the one who caused all of the destruction.

"Layla? Are you alright? What happened here?"