It hit the internet before sunrise.
Some college kid on his way home had caught the last minute of the fight, the warehouse door exploding open, a man flying through brick, and a dark, hooded figure stepping back into the rain. The video was shaky, grainy as hell, probably shot on a Nokia Lumia or an iPhone 4S. But it had everything.
White contact lenses glinting in the dark. The rain cascading off a soaked hoodie. A lone figure panting over a pile of groaning thugs and crushed crates.
He looked like something out of a graphic novel.
It started on YouTube at 3:42 AM Dublin time. By 5:00 AM it had hit 25,000 views. By 8:00 AM, it was trending across Ireland. By noon, the UK, France, and parts of the U.S. had picked it up. By 3:00 PM, major networks were running segments. By 6:00 PM, the world was watching.
Reddit threads. Twitter meltdowns. Facebook shares. Vine loops. Tumblr GIFs. Newsreels. And memes. So many memes.
"REAL LIFE SUPERHERO IN DUBLIN??" the first viral title screamed. "WATCH THIS GUY YEET A MAN THROUGH A WALL!"
@JayIRL99: "Just saw a lad in a hoodie murder gravity. He kicked a fella through a fuckin' building. Jesus, Mary and Joseph."
@GalwayWatch: "Local vigilante in Dublin? Cap 2.0 or just some mad lad with a gym membership and issues?"
Even Jacksepticeye got involved: "Top o' the morning to ya — WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH?!"
Within 12 hours, the footage hit 2.3 million views. By the 18-hour mark, it passed 5 million. By 24 hours, it was the most-watched Irish video since Riverdance.
And then someone leaked CCTV footage from a nearby off-license. Cleaner, wider shot. Less shaky. You could see everything: Darren's movements fast and brutal, disarming a gunman like it was muscle memory. One man was launched clean through a steel door.
Frame by frame, punch by punch, he looked less like a guy in a fight and more like an Avenger mid-training.
That's when things really exploded.
Reddit's r/Ireland, r/MarvelStudios, r/Conspiracy, and r/WorldNews all had front-page threads. Theorists compared his speed and strikes to Captain America. A post titled "Ireland's Own Steve Rogers?" got 45,000 upvotes in four hours.
People started calling him "Sentinel." That came from a throwaway Reddit comment.
u/McPunchington: "He stood over them like a fuckin' sentinel. Didn't move. Just watched the rain. Mad."
It stuck.
By morning of Day 2, #Sentinel and #DublinHero were trending globally. Memes flooded Twitter. TikTokers recreated his kicks using trampolines and badly stacked cardboard boxes. Instagram accounts uploaded fan edits and fake backstories. Tumblr had already shipped him with Daredevil.
Local pubs renamed drinks: "The Wallbreaker." "Rain Punch." "Concrete Uppercut."
RTÉ ran a special report titled: "Sentinel: Dublin's Newest Urban Legend?"
[SHIELD EU Headquarters – Berlin, 05:19 AM]
Beneath a nondescript logistics facility on the edge of Berlin, SHIELD's European surveillance hub was running cold and quiet. No chatter. No background noise. Just flickering screens and fast fingers.
The case was tagged: INCIDENT ALPHA-213 – DUBLIN.
Maria Hill arrived just before sunrise. Coat still damp from the rain. No coffee. No small talk.
"Talk to me," she said.
Agent Kwan brought up the footage. Security cam. Rooftop angle. Night vision filter. A hooded figure — masked — dropped between two armed men like a ghost and knocked them out in under seven seconds.
"Flagged at 04:12. Viral by 04:44. No digital footprint. We've scrubbed for filters, AI edits, false overlays — it's legit. No known ID. Young male, Irish accent, estimated 18 to 25."
Hill's eyes didn't leave the screen. "Combat profile?"
"Fast. Fluid. Strikes suggest advanced reflexes. Jump height and impact force… possibly enhanced. Possibly."
Hill turned slightly. "How enhanced?"
Kwan tapped the screen. The next clip played: Darren blasting a man backwards with a kick that dented a van door.
"Strike impact estimated between 3,500 and 4,000 newtons," Kwan said. "Not impossible for a trained fighter — but unlikely."
Hill frowned. "Are we talking serum?"
"We can't say. Could be super-soldier level. Could be mutant. Metahuman. Magical. We've got no sample, no readout, and no signature. Not enough to confirm."
A second agent spoke up from another console. "Cross-referenced his movement patterns with archived footage of Rogers — Brooklyn era and post-serum. There's similarity in footwork and torque, but this kid's raw. No military form. No discipline. It's instinct."
Hill glanced back at the screen. Darren, mid-turn. Hoodie soaked. Masked. Lenses glowing white.
"What about gear?"
"Minimal. No tech confirmed. But," Kwan said, pulling up a still image, "the crate he intercepted was Chitauri. Traced back to Manhattan fallout. Zone C. Someone smuggled alien ordnance into Dublin. He stopped the trade."
"Alone?"
"Five smugglers down. No known civilian injuries. Then he vanished."
Hill exhaled slowly. "So: no identity, no registry, no clear origin, possible enhanced traits, alien contraband, and now international attention."
"Correct."
"Any leads?"
"Too early. We've got voice pattern traces from social media, motion overlays, a few blurred photos that might be him without the mask. Dublin surveillance sweep is underway. CCTV patching in now."
Hill nodded. "I want Rogers' physical benchmarks pulled. Compare DNA blueprints, mutant registry, any unexplained youth enhancement cases over the last five years."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Also bring in Dr. Malhotra. Have him review the footage. If this kid's biology even resembles the serum response curve, I want to know."
"Understood."
Hill turned back to the footage. The figure blurred into shadow. Gone.
She tapped the screen.
"No contact. No pressure. Not yet. But I want eyes on the city. Classify him as a tier-two unknown. Observation only."
"And if he disappears again?" Kwan asked.
"Then we've got a ghost with superhuman potential wandering Dublin," she said. "And we don't let ghosts go unchecked."
[Darren's flat in North Dublin]
Darren Ward lay on his back, phone glowing against the ceiling.
He scrolled through videos showing people reacting to the video of hi,.
He even saw a six-second Vine of some kid doing his kick in a supermarket.
He scrolled, heart thudding.
RTÉ: "Masked Figure Saves Locals from Armed Gang."
BBC: "Ireland's New Hero?"
Daily Mail: "Vigilante or Terrorist?"
Tumblr had made moodboards.
Reddit had started mapping his alley routes.
Facebook had a page: "Sentinel Support Group – Protecting Our Lad."
One tweet had 50k likes: "If America gets Cap, we're keeping Sentinel. Sod off."
He stared at the screen, speechless. The world was catching fire.
He sighed, slumped lower in his chair, and pulled his hoodie tighter over his face like a child hiding under the duvet.
"Shit."