“Okay, where we going this time?” Joy asked eagerly.

  “Same place as before,” I explained, sipping my coffee. We were sitting on a bench, watching waves roll off the beach. “Another sweep. It worked last time.”

  “Won’t they be expecting it?” she said, a hint of nerves colouring her voice.

  “Might be,” I agreed. “The only witnesses got detained, might still be depending. But even if they managed to get the word out, we can handle it. The streets will probably be busier at least, since we'll go Friday, but that shouldn’t cause us much trouble.”

  “Wouldn’t they?” she asked. “Two girls alone on the wrong side of town?”

  “Two capes,” I corrected her.

  “Right, sorry,” Joy sighed.

  “Masked up, people usually don’t want to approach you unless it’s trouble.” I grimaced and waggled my hand. “Or for an autograph. Shouldn’t be a problem in our case. And again, we can handle ourselves. Look at a the other night, five against two and they had guns. That took what, thirty, forty seconds?”

  “It felt like a lot longer,” she said.

  “Mmm, that was your first patrol, it makes sense.” I shrugged and took another sip of my coffee. “Don’t worry, it won’t always be like that. So all that said, we gotta talk.”

  “Um, what about?”

  “If you want to use your power and I’m in the circle, at least warn me,” I said, keeping my tone level. “I’m fine, no harm done, but if we’re in a larger fight that could be it.”

  “Sorry,” Joy apologized.

  “Neither of us knew til now,” I said simply. “I’m more a ‘learn by experience’ girl anyway, means I have to have lessons beaten into me sometimes.”

  “Still, you have to get into the thick of things right?” she asked.

  “Unfortunately so, until they invent a repeating taser.” Or until I got a gun, though I’d rather avoid bloodshed if I could.

  “I could...try and be more precise?” Joy frowned and drew circles in the air, staring out at sea. “Yeah, try and catch you outside it. Won’t be easy but…”

  “We’ll practice,” I said, clapping a hand on her shoulder and offering a smile. “Maybe Lafayette would be down to help.”

  “I guess I could ask,” she said, nodding. “Okay, cool. So, tomorrow, same time?”

  “Yeah, I’ll shoot you the bus stop when I figure it out.”

  “Sounds good.” Joy rose from the bench. “Anything else?” I shook my head.

  “Tell Lafayette I said hi,” I said.

  “Tell your mysterious girlfriend the same,” she said lightly. “See you.”

  I waved goodbye and slowly sipped my nearly cold coffee. This wasn’t nearly as hard as I’d expected.

  “Cold tonight,” Nadir commented as she kept a lookout while I donned my costume.

  “Yup,” I replied. “Winter’s coming.”

  “Ain’t that the truth,” she sighed. “You guys get much snow here?”

  “Not usually,” I said, tightening the knot that kept my scarf around my head. “Last time we had a white Christmas I was...ten, eleven? You’re still going to want warmer clothes, especially since we’re going out at night.”

  “Damn,” she cursed. “Was sort of hoping, if I’m honest.”

  “Sorry to disappoint,” I said with a chuckle. “I think you’ll come to appreciate it when we’re not fighting through snow drifts in December.”

  “Good point.” Nadir fiddled with with the scarf around her face. “Hey, you sure you’re good to go out tonight? Don’t you have a bunch of shit this weekend?”

  “Oh please,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “It’s nothing that important. So I’ll be a little sleepy, big deal. I went...shit, I don’t know, a couple days without back when the Nine were in town. Maybe less, not sure, wasn’t exactly paying attention to the calendar. We won’t be out all night even, so don’t worry about me. Now focus up, we’re going hunting.”

  Whatever her issues, Nadir could listen at least. She fell in behind me as we strode out onto the streets, beginning our patrol. I’d started us a little further up Thirty-third. Our last patrol had been a little short, made so by the fight but still. I wanted to cover more ground this time, maybe get two or three takedowns before we called it. It was Friday, so there should be something going on.

  The streets were certainly busier, relatively speaking. Rather than random vagrants, we passed a few small groups, mostly teens or college kids. They gave us a wide berth, not saying a word to the two obvious capes looking for trouble; a little ‘I told you so’ for Nadir’s worries. I wouldn’t give her shit, but hopefully an object lesson would help.

  Despite how ‘busy’ it was, there didn’t seem to be any loitering gangsters making easy targets of themselves. I eyed the ink on a couple people we passed, but whatever was visible seemed innocent enough. I wasn’t about to start interrogating random civilians either, that was definitely a bad look, not to mention probably less effective than just hunting like we were.

  After nearly an hour without results, I pulled stopped us in an alley for a little break. While Nadir drank from a water bottle from my bag, I kept watch and considered our next move. No success yet, not even a hint that the Wolves were around tonight. Had we scared them so badly last time that they had gone to ground?

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  No, they shouldn’t have any reason to think it was more than a normal bust. Maybe they had just warned their guys not to go around firing guns off at random. We needed a change of tactics. We weren’t far from the warehouse Nadir had triggered in, and had passed the one where Hannibal had been arrested just a couple blocks back. I frowned, considering it as Nadir stuffed her water bottle back in my bag, barely jostling me.

  “Quiet,” Nadir said, leaning against the wall of the alley.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Change of tack. We’re close to a couple places they’ve used before, for gatherings and stuff. We’ll search a three-block radius, start from the outside and work our way in. Makes sense they’d be more likely to hang out around here anyway, if they’re comfortable partying.”

  “Yeah, okay,” she said, a little nervous. “Uhh, what places?”

  “Don’t worry about that,” I admonished her. “You ready to move?”

  She was, so we kept going. I made a turn at the next intersection and we started the next leg of our patrol. The streets off Thirty-third were quieter, not unexpected, almost a tell. If Thirty-third was considered a hotspot, these smaller streets were probably that much more dangerous. Not a problem for us though.

  It seemed a more promising route at least. I saw lots of tags marking up walls, the crossed ‘W’s for the Wolves. We passed a couple skinheads smoking in an alley, leering at us as we passed but making no moves otherwise. Nadir kept looking over her shoulder after we passed them. I was sure we were fine, but appreciated her taking things seriously.

  We finished our first loop and moved a block inwards without incident, barely encountering anyone besides those skinheads really. It was disappointing in a way, my idea not working out. Oh well, we still had a patrol to do. Even when things were as bad as it got after Leviathan, not every patrol ended in an arrest I supposed. That’d be an important lesson too, even if it sucked to learn.

  A homeless guy let out a rattling cough as we walked up the sidewalk towards him, shuffling back into an alley as we got closer. I heard him muttering paranoid nothings to himself as we passed by. Poor guy, couldn’t imagine what that was like, living on the streets while being insane. Hopefully we could make things a little safer around here at least.

  The back of my neck prickled as we moved along, hairs standing on end. I glanced over my shoulder at the alley, a frown growing. It was probably nothing, just some hobo talking to himself, but I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. After half a block, I stopped trying to ignore it and turned on my heel. Nadir hesitated, but followed without a word. At least she trusted me that far. I had her stop at the mouth of the alley, taking a couple steps inside. I could still hear muttering, but it seemed to be a couple voices. Maybe he just had friends…

  “Hey,” I called out, raising my voice. The murmuring quieted down instantly. “Don’t worry, I just want to ask some question. I’m a hero, we’re out here looking for any Wo—” I cut myself off as the guy turned, three others stepping out from an alcove. “Ah.”

  “Gonna guess you’re the little shit that took down Farnsworth and his crew,” the guy growled. He was big, built like Triumph but lacking the armour. A long, glittering knife was held in one hand, and the others had weapons of their own. No guns, but still dangerous.

  “And I’m guessing you’re a bunch of Nazis,” I said dryly, dropping a foot back and raising my fists slightly, knuckle clutched tightly in my left. “Want to counter that?”

  “We’re wolves,” he retorted with a low chuckle. “Means we get to prey on little lambs like you.”

  “Charming,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “Nadir? Introduce yourself.”

  “Nad—”

  Whatever he was going to say was cut off as he and the others dropped to the dirty floor of the alley with a series of heavy ‘thuds’. I laughed, I couldn’t help it. These guys had been prepping for something, an ambush maybe, and just like that we’d turned the tables. They groaned, shifting on the ground, and I knew Nadir had turned off her power.

  “Nice work,” I said as I drove my knee between the first one’s shoulder blades. Big guy or not, there wasn’t much he could do like this. I cinched his wrists together with a zip tie, then handed a couple to Nadir before moving onto the next, shaking my head. “Stupid easy.”

  “Yeah,” Nadir agreed as she mirrored my motions on another fallen gangster. “I...I’m kinda surprised. I thought they’d be tougher.”

  “Nah, Nazis are cowards,” I said. One of them had started to push himself up, and I drove my foot into his side, making him reconsider how comfortable the ground was. I twisted his arms behind him and secured them quickly. “Weak too, hence all the bluster and bullshit. There are just a lot of them, so yeah, guess they are like wolves in that they can’t do shit alone. Maybe coyotes are a better comparison, since they’re just scavengers.”

  “Fuck you,” one of them managed to groan. “Show you weak.”

  “Yeah you already did,” I retorted, prodding his cheek with my shoe. “Appreciate the object lesson. Nadir, keep an eye on them, I’m calling the plumbers to clean up this shit.”

  “Sure boss.”

  I walked towards the street, digging my phone out of my bag. Huh, barely even one, we could probably keep going with how easy this went. I called up the PRT, letting them know where we were and who they were picking up. They let me know a hero was on the way for backup, even though I told them we didn’t need it. Oh well, maybe it would be nice to see an old colleague.

  Despite taking down the problem at hand, the uneasiness from before was sticking around. It had just been too easy. Sure, I knew that unpowered people basically stood no chance against capes, but still. If they’d been getting ready for an ambush, it had been a spectacularly bad one. But what if he hadn’t just been talking to himself or his friends in that alley…

  A rumbled echoed up the street, growing louder until it was a roar. There was a brief squeak of tires, and I could see headlights shining out from an intersection down the road. I bit back a curse, calling out Nadir instead. She exited the alley just in time for a truck to round the corner, a lightbar on its roof washing out all but the silhouette.

  I held up a hand to stop Nadir, then calmly walked into the middle of the road. The truck gunned its engine and I smirked. Who could resist a little attempted vehicular manslaughter? Not the Nazi behind the wheel, apparently. It sped up the road towards me, and I felt my heart drumming rapidly in my chest. As it grew larger and larger, I held out my hand in front of me, palm out. The truck’s brakes squealed, and its back end began to swing out mere feet from me; too late.

  It hit hard, slamming against my hand with enough speed left the rear lifted several feet in the air before slamming back down. I blinked stinging drops of sweat from my eyes, panting as I lowered my hand to my side. Okay...might not do that again. The front of the vehicle had crumpled around my hand, leaving an intact print surrounded by twisted metal. Huh, how was that?

  I shook my head and went around to the driver’s side. Couldn’t worry about that right now, had to take care of the rest of this shitty ambush. The door handle was broken, but so was the window, so I reached inside and popped open the lock, then—

  A flash blinded and blast deafened me, and I felt a bullet strike my face. I flinched away, ducking below the shattered window. Two more shots echoed out, and I saw Nadir ducking into the alley for cover. I turned back to the truck, tearing the driver’s door open and swinging a fist. I struck the driver, slumped against his seatbelt, then ducked my head away from the muzzle of a gun pointed from the back seat.

  I backpedaled to give Nadir room to work, but the Nazis clambered out one by one, untouched. I risked a glance back and swore, she was nowhere to be seen. No way she’d cut and run just like that, no fucking way. I shook my head and faced the ruined truck. Had to focus. Four Nazis piled out, one helping the wounded driver to the ground.

  The one in the lead was shorter than the others, barely taller than me. He was scrawny too, the large jacket he was wearing practically swallowed him. Despite his stature, the others seemed to fall in behind him. As he closed, I saw I was dead wrong, he wasn’t a guy at all. In fact, I realized I recognized her as she drew a long, hooked knife.

  “Hey Cricket,” I said, raising my fists into a fighting stance. “Fancy meeting you here.”