History Fanfic / AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkWorm

* AcceptableTargets: Discussed InUniverse, when Taylor asks whether the people Danny has killed had done bad things. He tells her that that's not his reason for doing it, otherwise the city would be full of bodies, but it's almost always true that by the time someone like him gets hired, the target has done pretty awful stuff, like the man who murdered Fleur of New Wave in order to join the Empire 88.
--> '''Danny:''' Lingering regrets?\\
'''Taylor:''' No, actually. None whatsoever.

In the 90s and early 2000s, Brockton Bay was stalked by two unpowered assassins, [[AdaptationalBadass Danny & Anne-Rose]], [[AdaptationalVillainy Killers for hire]], [[FunWithAcronyms or 'D.A.R.K.' for short]]. Anyone who the Marquis wanted dead, they would kill. Anyone who went after them would die. And they took the credit for [[DeathByAdaptation Jack Slash being sent to the Birdcage]] [[DisabledInTheAdaptation in a wheelchair]]. And then, a few years ago, they disappeared.

In January 2011, with his daughter in the hospital, Danny Hebert buys a puppy. Then some Empire thugs [[MuggingTheMonster who pick]] [[SchmuckBait a seemingly unassuming target]] hear a catchphrase that wasn't heard in years- "[[OhCrap Are you]] [[NothingIsScarier afraid of]] [[TheDreaded the Dark]]?".

''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/are-you-afraid-of-the-dark-worm-au-fanfic.378946/#post-21068056 Are You Afraid Of The Dark?]]'' is a ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' fanfic by Tropers/{{ack1308}}, who is also author of ''Fanfic/AnotherWay'', ''Fanfic/{{Recoil}}'', ''Fanfic/ImHalping'', ''Fanfic/HopeComesToBrocktonBay'', ''Fanfic/SecurityWorm'', and ''Fanfic/{{Wyvern}}''.

''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/are-you-afraid-of-the-dark-worm-au-fanfic.378946/#post-21068056 Are You Afraid Of The Dark?]]'' is a ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' fanfic by Tropers/{{ack1308}}, who is also author of ''Fanfic/AnotherWay'', ''Fanfic/{{Recoil}}'', ''Fanfic/ImHalping'', ''Fanfic/HopeComesToBrocktonBay'' and ''Fanfic/SecurityWorm''.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Enforced on [[spoiler: Emma]], sent to a boarding school in Europe to keep her safe.

'''The Dark:''' Doesn't have to be. How many years has it been? [He means, how many men are inside.]\\

'''Frankie:''' Thanks, I will. About time I got shut of these assholes, anyway.

** Defied: The dog in [[Film/JohnWick]] is killed by the bad guys. Chewie lives.

** Hookwolf was crushed under an electromagnet.

** Cricket has [[SuperSenses highly sensitive ears]], so when Danny's fighting her, he makes sure to fire his pistol right next to them, where it would be painful even to someone with normal hearing.

* LogicalWeakness: Hookwolf has a metal body. The Dark crushes him with an industrial electromagnet.

* CasualDangerDialog: Danny muses aloud about whether Taylor might like a puppy or a kitten to help her feel better, while twisting a mugger's wrist. Sadly, he isn't able to get any advice from the guy except screamed profanity. Then he takes a look inside the mugger's gun and gently chides him for not taking better care of it.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Whenever the Dark announced himself, he would always say, "Are you afraid of the Dark?" While most new capes don't recognize the meaning, those like Kaiser and Assault know of it.
* CavalryBetrayal: [[spoiler:Sophia believes Alan came to save her from Danny and is all but frothing at the mouth, shouting at him to kill the hitman. Unfortunately for her, Alan is ''not'' there to save her and kills her himself.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Anything the Dark inserts himself into is bound to end up this way, which is impressive since Danny isn't a parahuman. He assaults an Empire gathering and kills around thirty people including two parahumans, rescues his target, and walks away with just a scratch on his arm.

* CurbStompBattle: Anything the Dark inserts himself into is bound to end up this way, which is impressive since Danny isn't a parahuman.

* CutLexLuthorACheck: Both Kaiser and Assault are familiar enough with the Dark to understand how he operates. When Kaiser is trying to get Kreig to understand that the Dark wasn't behind the recent armored truck robbery, he points out that if the Dark wanted money he could just collect any of half a dozen unclaimed bounties for some of his past kills.

* BadassNormal: Danny, otherwise known to the cape scene as Dark, is not a parahuman. He has no superpowers, no special abilities, nothing. Despite this, he can kill capes like Cricket and Jack Slash. This is what sets up his status as TheDreaded.

* NotMeThisTime: Empire 88 was ''not'' responsible for [[spoiler:killing Shadow Stalker. The Dark was]]. Kaiser's attempt at de-escalation is to find whoever did it and hand them over to the PRT.

** The Dark accidentally sets one up by killing [[spoiler:Sophia. Black Ward known for patrolling in Empire territory turns up tortured and dead, so the PRT blames the white supremacists]].

* DisposingOfABody: Similarly to John Wick canon, after killing five men, Danny calls a specialised service to place an order, and pays them with a gold ingot left in his mailbox.
--> '''Danny:''' Pizza for five, extra topping. Going to need some garlic bread, too.

* MuggingTheMonster: Two Empire thugs decide to rob what turns out to be a retired professional assassin. It doesn't end well for them, their buddies, Hookwolf's dogfighting ring, Cricket, or Hookwolf himself.

* DoubleTap: When a pile of bodies twitches, Danny instinctively shoots ''three'' times, and it stops moving.

* SensoryOverload: While fighting Cricket, Danny repeatedly fires his pistol in her general direction even when he can't quite aim closely enough to hit her. Her SuperHearing means she's very strongly affected by the firing noise, wincing and recoiling as if she's been punched. (In the end, he actually kills her with a knife, not the gun.)