Eddie, Cal, and Skinny were the most infamous thieves in all of Washington, DC. They had been executing jobs for years, and this night was meant to be their most audacious yet. Skinny, a waifish man with a face like crumpled newspaper, was unusually quiet all day. When they probed him about it, he shared an old family tale.

“My grandmother used to speak of the Righteous Judge of the Night,” Skinny began, his gaze lost in distant memories. “She’d say he was a guardian spirit, especially on nights as black as this. He was a figure in pitch-black attire, striding a spectral horse, wielding a whip that could cut through the darkness, and his head… it was always shrouded in an eerie smoke.”

Eddie and Cal snorted with laughter. Cal, the brawn of the crew, gave Skinny’s scrawny shoulder a rough shake. “Sounds like a campfire story to me. Don’t be such a coward, Skinny.”

Undeterred by Skinny’s ominous tale, they set off for their heist that night, clothed in black to merge with the shadows. But Skinny couldn’t shake off the image of the Righteous Judge from his mind.

As their operation got underway, the city felt different. The night was heavier, the darkness deeper. A fog descended, obscuring everything in sight. Then, they heard it – the ominous sound of a horse’s hooves echoing through the empty streets. A chill ran through Skinny.

“The Judge,” he murmured. But Eddie and Cal were not laughing anymore. A sudden whip’s crack echoed in the air, and a voice that sent shivers down their spine resonated. “Those who violate the serenity of the night, brace for judgement.”

Panic-stricken, Eddie and Cal took off in separate directions. Skinny was rooted to the spot. The fog cleared momentarily revealing a fearsome figure in black, his head surrounded by smoke. The Judge.

The spectral whip coiled around Skinny, drawing him closer. An icy dread enveloped him. “I… I didn’t mean…,” he stuttered. “Quiet,” the Judge commanded, “The night has spoken.”

With another crack of the whip, Skinny vanished into thin air. The Judge now turned his attention to the remaining thieves. With a supernatural precision, he hunted Eddie and Cal down. No matter where they hid, the spectral horse found them. One by one, they too disappeared with the crack of the whip and a puff of smoke.

Awoken by the chaos, neighbors had watched from behind closed curtains as the spectral figure pursued the thieves. As the smoke cleared, their sleepy neighborhood returned to its peaceful calm. By morning, the only remnants of the thwarted heist were the whispered rumors that floated through the DC community.

The thieves were never heard from again. Fear spread through the city’s underworld, and whispers of the Righteous Judge grew louder. Some thought it was a ruse, others believed it was a rival gang, but the elderly knew the truth. It was a sign that the bad people in Washington DC’s night could face justice for their bad deeds.