Sunshine. Fresh air. The sound of chatter in the wind.
Going to the farmer’s market on the weekends was a nice way to relax. Gabriel jumped at the chance to go there whenever errands had to be run. The atmosphere was pleasant in a way he couldn’t often find in Musutafu, and that one comic shop he liked was right along the way.
He’d just picked up a fresh head of lettuce and was thinking of where he could go to buy some sesame seeds when a sharp tug from his danger sense pulled him out of his thoughts. Almost immediately afterwards, a loud crashing sound exploded a few streets down the block, followed by the panicked screams of terrified passerbys. People ran away from the source and past Gabriel, murmurs spreading through the crowd as word got by of what was going on.
He’d barely managed to catch a wisp of the word “villain”, but he was already on his way. As he walked past an unattended clothing stand, he picked up a jacket and a scarf, dropping a fistful of bills on the counter and muttering an apology to the owner (wherever they might be) before sneaking into an alleyway.
Using his new clothes, he covered up his face and arms, checking his reflection on his phone to make sure this new, improvised disguise properly concealed his identity before flying out of the alley. There, in the air, he didn’t have to struggle against the tide of the crowd, and had a better vantage point that allowed him to see what was causing all the ruckus.
And it would've been pretty hard to miss the withering mass of mechanical tentacles crawling out from one of the store fronts, serving as the countless legs and arms of a comparatively minuscule man at the center of it all. Armed cops surrounded him but kept their distance, seemingly unable to get through the maze of tentacles lashing out at them.
But that shouldn't be that much of a problem for Gabriel, right? He dashed in, before either the authorities or the villain could react to him. Maneuvering around the metal appendages proved relatively easy thanks flight and speed, even as the villain desperately swatted at him, and he managed to get pretty close. But still, he couldn't quite find an opening to attack, always too busy trying to keep an eye on all the possible threats.
In a bid of desperation, Gabriel lurched forward with an awkwardly thrown punch — promptly losing his balance and getting hit right out of the sky, the impact sending him spiraling towards a nearby fruit stall, which he unceremoniously crashed into. For a moment he lay there; dazed, in pain and covered in muck. Was this what being humiliated felt like?