Art by  Libra-11 (Original here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17876629/)

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Crime was on the rise.

This troubled Void considerably. Crime had been on the decline, and at record lows, since he became a known entity in the city. That it was rising again was cause for concern, as well as annoyance. He had actually begun to enjoy the increased time he’d had, but this was a matter he knew was best nipped in the bud. After all, terror hits all the harder when growing hope was still fragile.

A few nights of recon was all that was fortunately needed. It seemed there was a new player in the city, one who was apparently unimpressed by Void’s reputation. Indeed, Void was quite interested in hearing the man’s points as he spoke to his crew. While it was tempting to make his presence known then and there, none being aware of his infiltration of the warehouse, such “jump scares” he found comparatively less effective than his usual tactics.

The crime lord laid out some “simple tactics” to avoid an ill fate with the “demon”, as many had come to consider Void. Like listing bullets points, he explained that if crews always worked in groups, kept their distance, and relied on non physical means of harm by eschewing guns and knives for various tazer devices, Void would be of considerably less threat. That the boss didn’t get more elaborate with countermeasures, as Void knew already that an electric shock would do little to him, made him relieved. He actually wasn’t sure yet how fire or other such means of harm would affect him.

However, it did seem that an adjustment of tactics were in order. They thought him apparently capable of only one means of attack. He would have to show them otherwise, a plan he formulated even as the rising crime lord explained the plan for a hit on the largest bank in the city. A pity that all thought his being in the right place at the right time was due to some supernatural ability and not simply sleuthing.

Void didn’t have to wait long, as the robbery was to occur that very night. It was no hard task to be in place before their arrival, and he even had time to call the detective assigned to hunt him down. A good man, as far as he could discern, and calling him from a payphone made sure the authorities arrived on time, instead of hoping the anonymous tip was acted upon. Of course, he was still anonymous to the detective, but the man had come to know his voice and know his tips were genuine.

The robbery was well planned and well executed, and would surely have gone off without a hitch had he not had knowledge of it, as had several robberies before that had marked the rise in crime. Void waited patiently for the proper moment, waiting for one of the thieves to straggle behind just a little, before making his move. Leaping into the alley from his perch upon a rooftop, allowing his entrance to be noticeable, the unlucky fall behind barely had time to show his shock before Void demonstrated that their knowledge of him was far from complete.

Still some paces from the Wolf, Void opened his maw and released a torrent of his viscous mass at him, a facsimile of fire breathing of dragons from which he took his shape. The Wolf’s nearly incoherent cry of warning to his companions was quickly cut of as the spreading goo quickly engulfed his head, along with the rest of his body. But such did not worry Void; had he wanted to silence the Wolf, he would have aimed for the head in the first place. What came next was not a matter of stealth, but something he wanted the others to see.

The others turned only in time to see the last of their companion disappear from view under the enveloping black mass. It was here that Void’s charade began. He could not physically separate parts of himself, at least not without great pain, and so once the Wolf was completely engulfed, he thinned his stream to just the thinnest thread, hoping the others would not notice in the dim light, trailing it along his mouth and neck until it reached his foot, making for a thin connector between his foot and the now captured crook.

Even with the preparation, the others were no less afraid of seeing the stuff of their nightmares before them, fumbling with their tazers they likely only had the most rudiment of training on in using them properly. It of course didn’t help matters that he was slowly walking towards them when all their instincts were surely telling them to flee. Void was thankful that he did not need to make an immediate assault on the others for the show, for what he was doing to the thief he held required a fair amount of his mass, leaving his defined form feeling rather light. If he were to tackle one of them, he wasn’t even sure he would be able to knock him down. It was a strange feeling, having so much mass outside of his defined form, so much so that that he worked the assimilation process of the engulfed Wolf faster than he originally intended.

This did not, however, seem to diminish the terror factor of his audience, as they watched their comrade go from a struggling black figure to seemingly melting into a puddle of black goo on the pavement. It also somehow did not seem to mar the aim of one who finally got their hands properly on their weapon and fire it, though Void was sure that the fact that it struck him was a matter of pure luck and the fact that he didn’t bother trying to dodge. Void did not so much as flinch, nor feel a tingle, from what would otherwise be a nasty shock. Instead, he simply sucked on the prongs of the device, yanking the weapon out of his hands and pulling it wholly into himself.

“You have two choices,” he told them, his voice carefully constructed to sound unnatural and unnerving, but still clearly understandable. “Turn yourselves in, or join your companion.”

He gave them some credit, as none screamed in panic at having seen their perfect plan stripped bare before them, but booked it to their awaiting van, of which Void was also impressed that the driver had not already booked it. Inside, he smiled as the not only didn’t race off into the street as soon as all were within, but in fact the engine was killed. Pleased with himself, he returned to the mass that was the assimilated remains of the captured Wolf, stepping his paw into it and bringing the mass back within his proper form. He’d need to figure out what to do with this one, now in stasis within him, but he had time to work that out. For now, word of this “new ability” would surely spread, lending a fear of what else he was capable of to compound on the things he was already feared for.

Finally hearing sirens, slightly annoyed at being late be his estimations, Void quickly ascended to the rooftops and out of site. It had been a productive night, and there were other important matters that demanded his attention. Such was his haste in his assurance of the success of his own plan that he did not notice the figure across the street who watched him depart in silence.