As a boy, Richmond - the man who would one day become Nighthawk - witnessed the senseless murder of his parents. There was no reason for their deaths, no provocation - they were just simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a traumatic event that has left him scarred for life - and turned him into a hero more feared than the criminals he polices. Now, it's happening again...but on a much larger scale. The people of Chicago - men, women and children - are dying in the streets, victims of a monster whose thirst for slaughter cannot be quenched. And it's flashing a killer smile.