Monday night

Kedzie Street Rail Yard
Chicago

"Who are you?" I asked again.

"I'm Kick-Ass!" Came the reply.

Wow; I had not recognised him in the darkness. His costume was different; he looked awesome though! I turned as somebody else spoke.

"What do you think you are doing in our city, err..."

"Raven, Red Raven," I offered as my mouth dropped open at the sight of Hit Girl – she wore purple, so it had to be Hit Girl.

"Did you take a wrong turn, Raven? You are no longer in New York; you are in Chicago. Chicago is our City..." Hit Girl continued.

"I meant no harm; I'm looking for somebody..."

"Tell us what you need and we'll see what we can do to help you," Kick-Ass finished.

I was stumped. I had no idea what to say; I was not expecting to meet Fusion so soon and definitely not Kick-Ass and Hit Girl!

"Can I get back to you on that?" I asked.

"Of course," Hit Girl said, passing me a card.

The card was purple; it had 'HG' on one side and on the other side was a number. When I looked up, I was alone. I pocketed the card and ran back to the fence where I found the tree and the light pole. As I dropped to the ground, there parked a few yards from the alleyway where I had parked my Yamaha, I saw a large Suzuki motorcycle that I recognised as a V-Strom 1000.

The rider stared at me – it was obviously a member of Fusion and I suspected that it was Shadow. I entered the alleyway, pulled on my helmet, and then mounted and started the motorcycle. As I pulled out, I noticed that the V-Strom was gone, however, I noticed another machine forming up on me – it was a tan coloured Triumph Tiger 800 XCA.

The rider was instantly recognisable as the vigilante known by Jackal.

..._...

As I headed back to I-55, I noticed several other Fusion vehicles along my route. They were obviously ensuring that I left the area and were letting me know that I could not escape them and that Chicago was their city. Would they follow me all the way back to the warehouse? Should I try to ditch them? Assuming that I even could!

What harm would there be in trusting them – I could trust them?

Couldn't I?

The following morning
Tuesday

After the shock of the previous night – not to mention the worst telling off I had received that side of puberty, I decided to explore Chicago during daylight hours, and as myself.

Uncle John and Aunt Em were doing the same – they said they wanted to meet an old friend who was a cop in the city. I headed into the city and took the 'L' to north Chicago. I began a pleasant walk down West North Avenue, heading east. I was just passing a large building with something called D-JAK and Victoria's Secret when I had the shock of my life.

"Holy fuck! Morgan?"

..._...

I span around at the sound of the very familiar, British accent.

"Joshua?"

I was stunned; it was he – older, taller and much more handsome, but still Joshua.

"I thought you were dead!" I stated simply.

"Why would you think that?" Josh asked, confused and obviously taken aback by my comment.

"I saw Hit Girl and Shadow assaulting your apartment in New York..."

"Oh! You saw that?" Josh asked, relaxing a bit. "They were rescuing me..."

I looked over at the girl who stood beside Josh; she looked very nice; no wonder Josh had wanted her instead of me...

..._...

"You, must be the girl Josh dumped me for..."

"I'm Chloe – Josh never mentioned a Morgan!"

"I don't blame him..."

Then I saw a burst of recognition on the girl's face.

"You're the person who he talked to, when he was all alone in New York – he never said it was a girl that he talked to," Chloe said quietly. "Thanks, Morgan."

"What?" I replied a little stunned.

"Josh told me that somebody in New York helped him talk about what had happened – he even told me that he burst into tears over breakfast in McDonalds!"

"Yeah, that was kind of embarrassing!" I admitted, remembering.

"Not just for you...!" Josh added, looking a little embarrassed and deciding to change the subject. "What are you doing in Chicago?"

For a moment I froze. I had no idea what to say. Finding Joshua alive had been – well, it had thrown me completely.

"Here on a holiday with my Aunt and Uncle," I stammered.

"Fancy going somewhere for a bite to eat?" Josh asked, then he grinned. "I promise not to burst into tears!"

I looked over at Chloe who smiled.

"Have no fear, Morgan – if Josh trusts you, then so do I."

That evening

South Harbour Avenue

As instructed, I rode down the street alone and openly.

I knew that I was being observed; that was obvious. After lunch that afternoon, I had called the number on the card and spoken directly with Hit Girl. She had advised me of a place, the junction of South Ewing Avenue and South Harbor Avenue, plus a time. As I approached the junction that evening, I was riding parallel to the Calumet River and some large brick buildings, there I found my way blocked by a large armoured SUV. From beside the hood, a short vigilante in a red and blue outfit pointed left down South Ewing Avenue, over to my left. The only sign of outward hostility was a hand resting loosely on the butt of a pistol on the vigilante's right hip.

I followed the directions and soon found my way blocked by a monstrous truck that again blocked the road. The armoured SUV followed me as I was directed to turn left into an empty parking lot of a closed business. Another vigilante – this time Shadow, waved me to park beside her own motorcycle. There was no escape, so I followed instructions and once parked, I shutdown my engine and dismounted.

Shadow waved me into the centre of the parking lot.

"Don't move!"

The voice was that of Hit Girl and she walked towards me, a device in her left hand, her right holding a pistol. She walked around me, a full three-sixty before holstering her pistol.

"You can remove your helmet, Raven..."

If their show of force was meant to be intimidating – then it was working!

..._...

Behind me, from the direction of the river, I heard the roar of marine diesels coming to life.

"This way..." Hit Girl said as we walked towards the water.

I had been allowed to keep my pistol, which was a surprise. I was even more surprised when I saw what those throbbing diesel engines were powering... She was beautiful and very purple! I climbed aboard the powerful looking watercraft and Hit Girl joined me, along with another female vigilante.

"We're going for a ride... Your motorcycle will be perfectly safe," Hit Girl grinned. "The Fusion valet service has yet to lose a vehicle to theft!"

Funny bitch!

..._...

Once we were all aboard, the engines cut in and we moved towards Lake Michigan. We rapidly increased speed as we went, and were soon bouncing over the water at a high rate of knots. I was shown into the main cabin and the doors were closed behind me. I received a wave from Kick-Ass, who was driving from the control station up front. Hit Girl waved me to sit down on the large couch. The other vigilante did the same, while Hit Girl lounged on the counter opposite.

"Raven, this is Petra – we want to hear your story..."

"Why the boat?"

"Oh – sorry – this is The Vigilante! I would normally use Safehouse K, only the CIA blew it up – long story!" Hit Girl replied offhandedly.

I began to talk.

Later that night

Safehouse F

"Guess what, Mindy?"

"What Josh," I asked, in no mood to play guessing games; I had just spent two hours on a boat listening to a long story about ravens and murder...

"I just met the girl – the one I knew in New York, just after I got out of hospital."

"Yeah, she's quite hot, too!" Chloe added with a smirk at her boyfriend.

Joshua ignored Chloe and continued.

"We supported each other; she had lost both of her parents to a home invasion when she was about twelve..."

Josh paused as he saw my expression change.

"What?" Chloe asked guardedly, correctly interpreting my expression.

"Interesting... She originally from Miami?"

"Why?" Joshua asked cautiously, his eyes narrowing.

"Dave and I just spoke with a young female vigilante who used much the same story..."

"Not possible...," Joshua stated quickly.

"Why?" Chloe asked.

"I don't know..."

This story is continued in Forsaken, Chapter 255...