“Okay, so what’s up?” Joy asked as we started walking along the empty beach. The wind gusting in off the water cut through my jeans, though my leather jacket fortunately stopped the worst of it.

  “We’re going out,” I said.

  “For real?” she said, eyes wide. “Have I uh, been trained enough?”

  “You know how to throw a punch?” She nodded and I shrugged. “That plus your power is all you need. Have you practiced?”

  “Just on rats and stuff,” Joy said with a frown. “Don’t like it, messing with animals.”

  “Fair enough, but you can’t exactly try it on people,” I said. I held up a hand when she opened her mouth. “And I’m not falling over myself to volunteer for gravity body slams, not yet at least. We can practice on ones who deserve it though.”

  “I guess,” she replied. “I’ll just stick to two meters.”

  “Okay, cool,” I said, nodding. “You confident measuring distances that precisely?”

  “Oh, yeah, easy,” she said. “I just sort of know, if that makes sense.” I pursed my lips and thought about it.

  “No, that’s fair,” I said, thinking of how a couple other powers worked; Tattletale’s among them. “They’re weird, right?”

  “Yeah,” Joy agreed with a sigh, looking out at the waves. The wind whipped stray hairs from the long braid she was wearing. “Does it get easier?”

  “Actually, sort of,” I answered honestly. “It can be...disorienting at first. Are you settling in okay with Lafayette?”

  “Oh, yeah, she’s great,” Joy said eagerly, tossing me a grin. “You hang out with cool people.”

  “Yeah, Lafayette’s awesome,” I said, scratching the back of my head.

  “Who had the hair first?” she asked lightly, making me snort.

  “Look, it was practical,” I retorted.

  “Sure, and just happens to be the same style that badass stud wears,” Joy drawled.

  “Shut up,” I chuckled. “Not like I was much to look at and besides, it’s just one less thing to take care of. Anyway, we’re getting off topic. You got a name yet, costume?”

  “No, or maybe; and yes, kind of,” she said. “Just a hoodie and sweats, plus a scarf to go around my face.”

  “More than enough,” I said with a nod. “Names are tough though, took me a while to figure out mine.” Several lifetimes even.

  “I...well I got an idea,” she hedged. “Just...not sure if it’s good, or taken, or whatever.”

  “Well we can figure out one of those,” I said, pulling out and brandishing my phone. “And anyway, I worked with a guy called Kid Win, can’t be that bad.”

  “I guess,” Joy said with a small smile. “Okay, so the name’s Nadir; that’s N-A-D-I-R.” I punched it into my phone and waited for the ever-slow data to load the results.

  “What’s it mean?” I asked, glancing over.

  “It’s um, maybe a little weird,” she said. “It’s like, the lowest point, the opposite of a zenith.”

  “Oh, zenith is like, a peak right?”

  “A high point, yeah,” she replied, nodding.

  “Because your power slams people down with gravity.”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “Makes sense.” I studied the results of my search. “Yeah, looks like the last cape named Nadir was active five years ago in Walla Walla. Retired or dropped off the radar for some other reason, so you’re probably good there.”

  “Cool,” Joy sighed. “Guess that’s that.”

  “I think it’s a pretty good name, if that matters,” I added. “Short, punchy, something the bad guys can scream in fear when you show up to a fight.” That got a giggle out of her.

  “Yeah I guess,” she said, a little less tense. “So what’s next, figuring out where to go?”

  “Exactly,” I said, pulling up the maps app on my phone. I led us to a nearby bench as it loaded, and soon we were sitting and looking at the streets of the East End. “So, this was where we met, Whitley and Amherst. Now obviously that’s been taken down, but it’s only a block over from Thirty-third. I’ve heard, and seen, that’s a hotspot for activity. Figured we’d start there, somewhere towards the northern part and work our way south towards the Docks.”

  “Just...going from one end to the other?” Joy asked.

  “That’s it,” I confirmed. “Might sound stupid simple, but that’s sort of how I like my plans. Less moving parts, the harder it is to screw up.”

  “That makes sense,” she said. “Okay, so we just meet up, suit up, and start walking?”

  “Pretty much.” I pursed my lips, bouncing my foot against the ground. “I’ll get a burner phone, some zip ties, medical supplies. Figure you don’t have cash, so I’ll handle the accessories and stuff.”

  “That’s cool of you,” Joy said, leaning back. “Sorry, it’s just sort of hard finding work and stuff.”

  “No sweat, we’re doing something more important that a day job,” I said with a shrug. “If we’re smart about this, bust an operation or something, we might be able to pay you anyway.”

  “Wait, for real?” she said, eyes wide.

  “Sure,” I replied with a smile. “I mean, if we seize a bunch of money it’s only right it goes to a good cause. Can’t think of a better one than supporting a hero.”

  “And the PRT won’t be pissed?”

  “I...don’t think they need to know,” I said flatly. “We’re going to have to work with them though, call them in to pick up the bad guys. I know how you feel about cops and stuff, so I’ll deal with them, okay?”

  “Okay,” she agreed. “Guess it’s important to do this right so we don’t get screwed.”

  “Unfortunately, yeah,” I sighed. “Okay, let’s shoot for Wednesday. Make sure to rest up tomorrow so you’ll be ready, okay?”

  “Will do,” Joy said firmly. “Should I tell Laffy?”

  “Probably, just so she knows where you’re going,” I said. “I’ll be telling my girlfriend for the same reason.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Hey so when do I get to meet her?”

  “Never,” I snapped, then eased my tone. “Want to keep my mask out of my personal life, no offense.”

  “That’s fair,” she sighed. “Just don’t have a lot of friends, you know?”

  “Well if this works out, you’ll have me and Lafayette at least,” I said, elbowing her gently. “You seem cool, I think we’ll get along fine; just don’t want to get people involved who aren’t.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Joy smiled at me, though it looked a little tense. “So fearless leader, what’s my quota?”

  “How you feeling?” I asked, fixing my bright red scarf around my face and head.

  “I think I could give Leviathan a run for his money,” Joy, or Nadir, said shakily as she wiped her hands on her dark pants. “With how much I’m dripping sweat.”

  “It’s gonna be okay,” I said gently, leaning against the wall of the alley we’d changed in. “No one saw us come down here, and even if they did we can take them. Now all we’re doing is going for a walk.”

  “Yeah,” she said, nodding. “Sure, just a walk through the Nazi side of town.”

  “Technically not,” I said. “That’s the south. The Undersiders have been contesting the Wolves here, it’s a little more of a battleground.”

  “Not much for easing my nerves, boss,” Nadir said dryly.

  “Shouldn’t be feeling easy, should be feeling alert,” I countered. “Just not freaking out, it’s a fine line. Don’t worry, it will get easier.”

  “Okay,” she sighed, then took a deep breath. “Okay, so, shall we?”

  We did. I heaved my backpack on, full of our clothes, some medical supplies, and enough zipties to arrest half the city; then we walked out onto the street and started heading south. It was late, or technically early, at half past midnight. The air was chilly, and just going off how bad it was now we were in for a harsh winter. That was at least a ways away yet, we were barely into November.

  The cold meant it was fairly quiet out; and even though the last time I’d been around here the street were dotted with vagrants, this time it was near empty. That wasn’t necessarily bad, fewer people who could be victimized, but also we could go home empty handed. That would be a shame, though definitely not the end of the world. I wanted Nadir to have a good first time though, to feel like a hero.

  I kept my gaze roaming and my ears sharp as we continued our patrol. I felt a little conspicuous, now that I’d switched from my black balaclava to the red scarf I’d bought. That was part of the point though, part of what separated capes from gangsters from civilians.

  Nadir was much more low-key in her costume, wearing a dark kerchief around her face and a black sweatsuit that had thick, red stripes down the arms and legs; a nice coincidence that we matched. She’d pulled her hair back in a tight, braided bun, out of the way. All the fundamentals were there, something that made this feel more real, more viable than before.

  A long, quiet hour into our patrol, I felt a pricking at the back of my neck. My hair stood on end, and a chill went up my spine. I put a hand in my pocket, slipping my fingers through the loops of my brass knuckle. Nadir didn’t have any weapons, but she seemed to pick up on my tension and balled her hands into fists.

  “What’s up?” Nadir hissed after another half-block.

  “Not sure,” I murmured, pausing and looking around. We were at an intersection, totally empty, with a four-way, blinking red stoplight casting eerie shadows on the streets. “Ever hear the expression ‘someone walking on my grave’?”

  “Oh that doesn’t sound incredibly foreboding at all,” she said dryly.

  “Keep your head on a swivel,” I said with a sharp edge. “Not sure what’s up, but I don’t think we’ll—”

  A gunshot cut me off and my head snapped in the direction it had come from. I glanced back at Nadir, who’d frozen with her eyes wide, and barked at her to follow me. That snapped her out of it, and we took off down the road. Another shot rang out, then another, and another. They weren’t coming thick and fast, like a firefight, but I had my thoughts about who would be shooting around here.

  Rounding a corner, a flurry of shots tore through the air. The mouth of an alleyway just ahead lit up with orange flashes. I pulled ahead of Nadir as we sprinted towards it, heart hammering in my ears as loud as the gunfire. I heard whooping and laughter, and coming to the alley saw a group of people standing at the end, smoking and toting weapons.

  “Weapons on the ground, hands on your head!” I bellowed, drawing my knuckle as I halted a few paces from them. My knife stayed where it was, hidden in my pocket. The people, five in all, turned to look at me.

  “Who the fuck are you?” one of them asked, taking a puff of his smoke. “Some kind of queer?”

  I narrowed my eyes, then dashed forward before they could react. The smart-ass went down first, his orbital cracking under a vicious hook. I felt a jab in my back and whirled, hammering a brutal gut punch into the asshole who tried stabbing me. My knee came up and met his chin as he doubled over, the others screaming about a ‘cape’. They seemed to be a little slow.

  I jabbed out, catching another guy in the ribs. His breath came out in a ‘woosh’, but his hands clamped down around my arm. I growled and punched his face with my free hand once, twice. As I drew my arm back to hit him again, someone caught my wrist. Twisting my head, I saw a skinny girl gripping my wrist with one hand and holding a gun in the other. She pressed it to my head and I shut my eyes, holding as still as I could.

  My teeth clicked together as I slammed into the ground hard. My vision swam and faded, and I felt dizzy, nauseous like I’d run around a Vista-powered loop. I wheezed, trying to inhale, but it felt like my chest weighed a literal ton. A second later, the feeling vanished. I sucked in a desperate breath, pushing myself up and twisting my neck.

  “Hey,” Nadir breathed, jogging up. “Sorry I...I froze.”

  “What?” I asked, looking around. The rest of the group were on the ground, groaning in pain. “You...oh, duh, power.”

  “Sorry,” she apologized again. “I saw you fighting and sort of panicked, but then they grabbed you and I panicked again and just sort of drew a circle and—”

  “And took down a few bad guys,” I finished for her, rising unsteadily to my feet. “My fault I was in the thick of things. Come on, let’s wrap them up and call this in.”

  I handed her a few zipties from my bag, then demonstrated on one of the bad guys how to put them on right. As we secured them, I found a couple with some pretty blatant tattoos marking them as Nazis; one with a gothic-script ‘1488’, another with a wolf with a black sun on its head. Once they were bound, I made a call to the PRT for pickup, then policed the fallen weapons. One rifle and a few pistols, unloaded and laid out later, I helped Nadir drag the half-conscious Nazis to the mouth of the alley.

  “Okay, so, how was that?” I asked as we waited for the containment van.

  “I screwed it,” Nadir groaned, rubbing the back of her neck.

  “How do you figure?” I said, a little confused.

  “I mean, I hit you instead of these fuckers,” she said, prodding one of the criminals with her foot. “I should have helped.”

  “You did,” I countered. “If you didn’t notice, I got grabbed. If it wasn’t for you, well, that could have gone a lot worse.”

  “You think so?” she said, raising her head.

  “I do.” I probably could have handled it, but sure not easily. “Next time though, maybe a bit of a warning?” Nadir chuckled sheepishly with me as a wailing siren and flashing lights raced up the road towards us.

  “Identify yourselves,” an officer demanded as half a dozen more piled out behind him, not quite aiming his grenade launcher our way.

  “Amaranth, ex-Ward,” I said, waving, then gestured to Nadir. “And my new partner Nadir.”

  “Amaranth?” one of the others perked up. “As in the attack dog?” I rolled my eyes.

  “You formed a new team then?” the first asked, ignoring his comrade.

  “Yeah, still chasing bad guys,” I nodded, jerking a thumb at the Nazis. “Probably Wotan’s Wolves, going by the ink. Guns are in the alley, I think they were just doing target practice but you can probably nail them on weapons charges if the gang ones don’t stick.”

  “Victims?”

  “None,” I said, shaking my head. “And we’re all good, I think at least. Nadir, injuries?”

  “Uh-uh.”

  “That’s a no then,” I said. “You need anything else from us, statements?”

  He did, and we gave him a brief account of the events we’d seen. After that, the officers took the suspects into custody, took my burner phone number, and headed off with the roar of the van’s engine. Once they were gone, I took a deep breath and rolled my shoulders before turning to Nadir.

  “Well there you go,” I said. “Nazis in custody and not a drop of blood spilled; well, not counting from noses anyway. Ready to keep going?”

  “I uhh, I’m not sure,” Nadir said, leaning against a brick wall beside the alley. Her knees were shaking, I noticed. “I think I’m done.”

  “Fair enough I guess,” I replied with a sigh. I checked my watch and nodded, it was pretty late anyway. “Okay, we’ll change and start heading back. Solid work tonight.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “I don’t know if you’re just being nice or whatever but...thanks. I don’t know, I feel...weird.”

  “Sleep in tomorrow,” I said, reaching up and patting her shoulder. “And if you need to talk, you have my number.”

  “Cool,” she breathed. “Uh, so change?”

  “Yup, then homeward bound.”

  “Oh, I love that movie.”

  “Movie?”

  “Wait you haven’t seen it?” Joy asked as we headed into the alley. “Oh my god it’s so cute, you’ll love it.”

  I sighed and pulled out our clothes as she started telling me all about it. At least she seemed to be feeling a little better. Then again I was feeling pretty good myself. After all, it wasn’t every night a plan of mine went off without a hitch.

  I could only hope the trend continued.