| "I'm the beast that hunts in the darkness now. I'm the monster who even monsters fear. I'm the White Tiger." |

New York City, the city that never sleeps.

The night is young, the stars are shining, the lights are on, the city that refuses to slumber dances and drinks and drives the night away. There was no place to acquire even a minute’s worth of sleep - there is only the sound of the many, many locals and tourists alike who enjoyed the spectacle of the Empire City at night - the glorious side that was rarely seen, let alone shown.

Amongst those many was you, just another office worker, having scotch with your workmates at a bar somewhere in Upper Manhattan and toasting to yet another successful quarter. Life in NYC was a struggle - the high costs, the traffic, getting lost, hard work - but every once in a while, there was something that made it all worth it. The friends at the workplaces, the food, the rare moment you get more than enough money to live - it was like a reward after laboring to keep the Empire City, well, an Empire.

But beneath all that bravado was a dark secret.

When you were just a child, you had - whether you realized it or not - barely witnessed something bad happen with one of the neighboring families, the Ayalas. Although you weren’t a witness to itself, you could see - if barely, again - the fleeting visage of the individual who left in a car. And you thought it was a visitor - until you heard that nearly all of the family were gone and that the sole survivor - the young daughter Ava - moved out of state to live with her sister's family.

It broke your heart. The Ayalas were good, kind-hearted people with wisdom and bravery, who didn’t deserve their fate. And Ava didn’t deserve to be scarred like that - a daughter like her family; tough, brave, wise, and kind-hearted, with amazing martial arts knowledge at a young age.

But that had long since passed. Right now, you were just enjoying fine music, with fine alcohol, surrounded by a fine company, and in a fine establishment.

Then the door swung in.

A woman came in. You recognized her - the White Tiger, the legendary superheroine allied to Spider-Man, the newest in a long line of White Tigers before her, famous for her athletics and claws. She seemed to glare at you, almost as if she recognized you…or if she thought you were involved with something wrong.

Then, she spoke firmly.

“You, over there,” she said, pointing her finger at you. “I need to talk to you just for a while.”