“We’re going,” Fidel said shortly.

  “Understood, good hunting.”

  The line clicked and I pocketed my phone, drumming my fingers on the stock of my carbine. We were waiting in the car, windows open, listening for gunfire. It was a quiet night, and fortunately the snow was still holding off. The suspension rocked slightly as Jeep bounced his foot against the floor. I let him be, we all had our habits before a fight.

  A loud ‘crack’ rang out through the night, and the engine of the car started before I even had to give an order. Like that, we were off, racing down the boulevard towards our target. More shots rang out, louder as we headed into the South End. They were getting busy, and we were playing catch up. Not for long though.

  The tires screeched as we came to a hard stop. I burst from the car and charged towards the house at the end of the road, carbine raised. I heard my team following quick behind me, and a glance told me they were right where they needed to be. We leaped onto the porch and flanked the door. J-Dog brandished a shotgun we’d taken from the cops, and I gave him a sharp nod.

  Two blasts shattered the hinges, and I was first in as always. My carbine barked and dropped a stunned Nazi, his weapon hanging at his side. The concussion hit like a slap in the confined hallway, but it didn’t faze me as I swept through the house. There wasn’t much furniture in here, it seemed set up more like a factory than a home. Made sense, considering who was supposed to be here.

  A quake rocked the house and made a couple of my team fall to their knees. The wall shuddered, the collapsed as a hulking figure forced its way through. And there was the first problem…

  “You little mutts!” Thurisaz bellowed, his voice thundering. He sounded a bit like Richard… “I’ll kill you!”

  I didn’t bother with a reply, beyond pumping round after round into his upraised arm. I fell back as he pushed himself up, shrinking to a more human size to fit into the hall. He collapsed to the ground without warning, and I used the opportunity to get the human members of my team out. This was going to be an ugly fight, one they wouldn’t do well in.

  Thurisaz roared and rocketed forward, smashing through another wall and into the room beyond. I followed through the hole, firing short bursts into his limbs. He wasn’t invincible, I knew from experience. He sure was loud though. A wild punch destroyed my carbine, making me swear and backpedal. I yelled at Nadir to get clear as I raised my arms to meet Thurisaz’s coming charge.

  My teeth clicked together at the force of the impact. It hadn’t gone through my projection, but it hurt all the same. I felt his hand close around my waist and stiffened as I was thrown through the air and slammed into the far wall. I pushed myself to my feet shakily, raising my fists to keep up the fight.

  Thurisaz was gone though. I heard gunfire from outside and a chill went up my spine. No, no not my team. I took three steps towards the noise, then paused. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a door marked ‘WORKSHOP – KEEP OUT’. I bit my lip, then cursed and headed towards it. My team would be fine for now, but we had a mission here.

  I drew my pistol and destroyed the latch. A startled yelp echoed as I kicked in the door, then three shots struck my chest. Alive. I dropped my pistol and dashed forward, lashing out with a pair of vicious haymakers. I struck home and felt cartilage crunch under my knuckles, accompanied by a groan of pain. I shook out my hand and squatted down, staring at my prize.

  “You’re shorter than I expected,” I said flatly.

  The Tinker looked up at me, eyes magnified by a pair of goggles she wore. She was barely taller than me, but huddled on the ground look a hell of a lot smaller. Still, I knew that didn’t make her any less dangerous than me. I grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her to look me in the eyes.

  “It’s your lucky day,” I said, voice frigid. “You’re important enough to spare. So don’t cause any trouble, or I might change my mind, okay?” She nodded hastily.

  “You got it,” she said shakily. “No trouble. Just let me grab a few things would you? I’m sure you want my tech more than me.”

  “Wrong,” I said flatly, pulling her to her feet and forcing her in front of me. “Walk.”

  I pushed her through the hole in the wall her comrade had made, sticking my pistol against her spine so she knew I meant business. We could raid the workshop later, if we had time. If not, I was sure Tinker-tech was at least mildly flammable. When we got outside, I saw Thurisaz struggling to his feet after Nadir had flattened him. With a loud curse, I kicked the back of the Tinker’s knee to keep her in place and rushed to join the fight.

  My pistol barked and made the giant whirl, and he was a fucking giant now. I went low, ducking a vicious swipe that tore into the ground and racing towards his knees. My hand closed around one and crushed it to pulp, and my pistol blasted the other to bloody fragments. Quick healing didn’t mean much when I took away the stuff that needed to be healed.

  Thurisaz roared in pain, then shrieked when I raised my aim to his groin. He fell to the ground, clutching the various holes I’d put in him. I paused for a few seconds, considering just what to do with him. A regenerator, a nasty Brute, and a Nazi on top of it. How could I kill him permanently? I walked up to his head and stared down. Well that was where the corona was…

  With no better ideas, I raised my pistol and fired until it clicked on an empty chamber. Thurisaz’s head practically detonated, barely retaining the shape of his skull at all. I reloaded and kept my aim steady, watching for even the slightest hint of movement. After a long, tense ten count, I relaxed and nodded my head.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Clear!” I bellowed. “Secure the Tinker in one of the cars. Nadir, J-Dog with me, we’re raiding the workshop.”

  My team yelled to confirm they’d heard me, and I ran back to the house. Nadir joined me a second later, and J-Dog shortly after that. We grabbed practically everything that wasn’t nailed down. Most of the devices looked like toys, but we handled them carefully. When I came across a safe, I spent a minute tearing it open. There wasn’t a ton of money in there, but it would cover the ammo at least…

  “Cops are coming!” Jeep yelled from the entrance. “We gotta go!”

  “Then go!” I called back, rising to my feet.

  I followed the rest of my team out, scrambling towards Jeep’s car. I could see flashing lights in the distance and a chill went up my spine. Fuck, they were really close. I would have preferred to burn the workshop, but we couldn’t spare the time anymore. I wiped some sweat from my eyes and turned around to check on my team.

  “Well,” I panted. “We got her.”

  “Now what do we do with her?” Nadir asked hesitantly.

  “Let’s find out.”

  “I’d appreciate if you told me before you brought guests home,” Papa said dryly as he stared at Whatchamacalit, the Tinker we’d captured. “This is gonna cost.”

  “I’ll pay,” I said easily. “And I appreciate you being cool about this. We’ll get her out of here ASAP.”

  “Good plan,” he said with a nod. “Keep it quiet would you? I’m tired.”

  “No sweat.” He walked off and Nadir came over, arms crossed.

  “So, what? Interrogation?” she asked.

  “I guess,” I sighed, shaking my head. “Go check in with the others? I’ll wake her up and have a little chat.”

  “Don’t rough her up too badly,” Nadir warned me. “Unless...we’re getting rid of her?”

  “Not sure yet,” I replied. “Go, shoo, I’ll be nice.” Nadir left me alone and I slapped the unconscious Tinker’s cheeks. “Hey, wake up.”

  “Mmmhh Thurs?” she groaned, eyes squinting. “I...oh shit. You’re not Thurs.”

  “Well at least your eyes work,” I said, rolling mine. “Name’s Amaranth. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a very long time.”

  “I bet,” Whatchamacalit groaned, rotating her neck and popping her vertebrae. “So you’re the rat terrier? That’s what they call you.”

  “So I’ve heard,” I sighed. “What kind of name is ‘Whatchamacalit’ anyway? Not very reich-like.”

  “It’s great and it’s mine,” she said firmly. “Their stupid name for me was ‘Kraftwerk’, like the band, yes. And no they didn’t like when I pointed it out either. Honestly, for a bunch of Nazis their German is awful.” I blinked. She was sort of a motormouth.

  “I see,” I said. “You don’t seem too broken up about being captured.”

  “Well you said it, I’m valuable,” she replied, smiling. “They thought so too, you know? I think they forgot that Tinker-tech doesn’t compare to actual powers. Or gunfire, in your case. Say, were you able to detect the teleportation before it happened? Your team always seemed to know when it was happening, like you could precog it or something.” I pursed my lips behind my mask.

  “No, just lucky I guess,” I said flatly. “So you’re friendly with Nazis. That doesn’t bode well for your future, if I’m honest.”

  “To be fair, I was captured by the Nazis,” Whatchamacalit said, holding up a finger. Her wrists were bound with a zip tie. “Working at gunpoint doesn’t make for that friendly of a relationship. Well, except Thurs, he was okay. Sort of understood that it was all crap, even if he was into it neck deep. How’s he doing?”

  “Dead.”

  “Hm, shame.” She sighed and shook her head. “I told him to run for it. Well some people just can’t listen to reason. But you can, I imagine.”

  “On occasion,” I said. “So why didn’t you just escape? You had the ability to leave anytime.”

  “Leverage,” she said simply. “Which you’ll need if you want my cooperation. Six twenty-eight South London Street. You’d better move fast, before Werwolf decides to take what revenge they can get.” My eyes widened. “Teleportation devices are the triagonal prisms, just picture the address and you’ll go.”

  “What makes you think I’m going to help?”

  “You’re a hero aren’t you?”

  I swore and left her in Papa’s armchair, grabbed a spare carbine and a teleportation device, then joining Nadir outside.

  “What’s going—”

  “Need to pull off a rescue,” I snapped. “Get your gun.”

  “Who?” she asked as she grabbed it from the side of the house.

  “We’ll see,” I muttered, brandishing the prism. “Hold onto your teeth.”

  There was a flash, a bang, and what felt like a punch in the stomach. We were in a small neighbourhood in suburbia. Quiet, pleasant, even well lit. The house we’d been pointed to loomed ahead, windows dark and foreboding. I gestured to Nadir and we moved quick and quiet. The number was right...was it a trap? No time to worry about that now, there was potentially someone who needed help. I tried the handle and found the door unlocked, then pushed my way in silently.

  It was darker inside than on the street, and I took a second for my eyes to adjust. A flash from the kitchen, and I raised my gun as the light spilled out into the hallway. I crept towards it, weapon raised, and rounded the corner in an instant. A skinhead turned around from facing the fridge, drawing a gun when he saw me. Two shots sent him to the floor, and we raced up the nearby stairwell as muffled cursing rang out.

  Another Nazi came out of a bedroom and took aim, then fell under a barrage of fire. I burst into the room he’d come from, greeted by a startled shriek. I stopped and stared at a girl sitting on her bed, she couldn’t be more than ten. I slowly lowered my gun, raising an open hand.

  “Hi,” I said, mouth drying out. God dammit why did I always have to talk? “I’m Amaranth, a hero. Whatchamacalit sent me to…” Well, hopefully rescue her.

  “Whatcha sent you?” she asked, eyes widening. “Really?”

  “Yeah, she’s back at my place,” I replied. “Want to come see her?”

  “Yes please!”

  Well, that settled that. I pulled the prism from my pocket and stood near Nadir and the kid, thinking of home. A flash, a bang, and a punch to the gut later, there we were. The kid groaned and bent double, retching loud enough to make me wince. I patted her back and helped her inside, leading her to the living room where Whatchamacalit was still bound.

  “Rachel!” The Tinker perked up instantly.

  “Whatcha!” the kid shouted, running over and hugging her. “I missed you.”

  “Missed you too gremlin.” Whatchamacalit looked up at me and smiled. “Knew it.”

  “Shut up,” I snapped. “I don’t like people playing me, so you’d better know this wasn’t a favour.”

  “Didn’t expect it to be,” she replied easily, offering her still bound wrists. “But hey, I think we can work together. Counts for something right?”

  “We’ll see,” I said, cutting the ziptie. “We’ll see.”