With each step I took toward my destination, both my mood and my swarm grew darker.

I had walked about a half-mile from the office so far. The constant pedestrian traffic of the heart of Downtown had given way to one or two people on either side of the street, and the increasingly dilapidated state of the buildings confirmed my drawing nearer and nearer to the Docks. A quick look at the map confirmed that the area Lisa had circled couldn't be more than three or four more blocks away. As I went, I had pulled every bug I could into a swarm which swirled, still mostly unseen, in the sewers beneath or high in the air above. For some reason, my range seemed much wider than normal. I couldn't think about that now.

My stomach continued to churn, and my mind felt only half-present. I didn't even know whether I was grabbing all these bugs in anticipation of a fight, or just to give myself something, anything to do to take my mind off of the conversation Lisa and I might have once I finally found her. Despite everything that had happened, I still didn't doubt that find her I would. But what would I do when I found her? Would I fling the piece of paper in her face and demand an explanation? Would I hug her and say how happy I was that she was safe? I had absolutely no idea. Could I even ask her to explain? It was Lisa, after all. If I gave her the chance, I didn't doubt that she could convince me of just about anything. She'd had ages now to pick out all of my thought processes and subconscious inclinations.

But denying her a chance to genuinely explain herself would be grossly unfair to Lisa, if she really was my friend. But I couldn't stand the thought of again hopelessly clinging to someone who saw no real value in me as a person. How could I know? Which was the right choice to make?

My acrid whirl of thoughts proved distracting enough to keep me blithely ignorant of just which part of town I was currently walking into.

Pain abruptly erupted in my left side as something fast and hard slammed into it and careened off. I staggered backward, searching for my attacker with both my eyes and the smaller, nimbler parts of my swarm.

A high-pitched laugh cut through the air, unmistakably feminine and tinged with anger.

Rune floated down from the roof of a nearby five-story apartment building. She rode on a slab of concrete pavement which looked as though a giant knife had carved it from the sidewalk. Knowing Kaiser, that may well have been the case. Rune stood with her legs apart and her arms crossed, in a pose clearly intended to project strength and authority. I wondered which self-help book she had gotten it from, and then wondered whether spending time with Lisa had made me overly flippant in the face of genuine danger. Lisa. I attempted to push those thoughts aside to focus on the problem at hand.

Rune's lips quirked into a faux pout.

"Knifeproof costume?" she said. "Someone should have told me. How's it do with blunt force trauma?"

I winced as the pain in my side began to coalesce into a throb. Once again, it fell to my full-face mask to maintain my evidently implacable image. I didn't know how villains managed without one.

And yet, here Rune was, with most of her face exposed. Vanity, maybe? I couldn't criticize too much, since the opening for hair in my costume offered no real tactical advantage.

Rune cocked her head as she hovered above me on her platform of concrete. "I know you're not mute, bug bitch. Too scared to talk without your big-mouth friend to do the smart-assing for you, or what?"

I had neither the time nor the inclination for this, but Rune seemed intent on forcing the issue. I began to gather in my full swarm. Thanks to my dispersal, Rune hadn't yet noticed the ones in the air, which circled well above her head.

"I could be wrong," I said, "but it didn't seem like you'd have much interest in whatever I had to say, so why go to the trouble?"

Rune's smile had the width and edge of a meat cleaver.

"Oh, I'm very interested in what you have to say, bug bitch," she said. Two more knives began to orbit lazily about her in a vertical loop. "Specifically, what you'll have to say in about five minutes. I'm picturing some sobbing and begging for mercy. Who knows? Maybe you'll surprise me."

"Now's not a great time for me, sorry," I said. "Anyways, I'm not looking for a fight."

Rune laughed, shrill and cruel.

"Boy, maybe I was wrong! You've got some balls, don't you. Now you're just trying to piss me off. Here's some good news - you're inspiring me to be even more creative." She spun a knife on the end of her finger.

Well, it had been worth a try. She seemed to be holding a grudge.

I pulled my swarm in closer, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. The sewer beneath me positively teemed with insects ready to burst out.

"Again, I'd really rather not, but if you want a repeat of last time, that's your call," I said. "I can probably come up with some new places to crawl them, too. You know, if that would spice things up for you."

Rune clenched her teeth and stiffened her posture, but she couldn't completely disguise her shudder of revulsion. I had gotten to her after all. Lisa would have been proud. Twenty-four hours ago, I would've taken a great deal of satisfaction in that. Now? I didn't know.

Rune gathered herself and rose a few feet higher. Whether out of reflexive self-preservation or a desire to loom over me that much more, I couldn't tell.

"There won't be a repeat," she sneered. "We're going to put you in the hospital for a long, long time."

A serpentine, unmistakably male voice cut in. "Are you finished? I'd like to get started."

"Yeah, enough with the speeches," croaked a modulated female voice in harsh tones.

"Yeah, yeah," Rune said. "We can get to the fun part now."

A man and a woman emerged from an alleyway to Rune's left-my right- about twenty feet away. Both, of course, wore costumes. I had detected them with my bugs during a sweep, so their appearance didn't come as a complete surprise, but I had hoped that they might be just normal henchmen.

Regrettably, I found myself looking at two capes. Having read Lisa's files on the Empire for self=preservation with some enthusiasm after our last run-in with Hookwolf, I recognized the two before me as Alabaster and Cricket.

To say this situation was degenerating would be a rather stiff-lipped understatement. I felt confident in my ability to handle Rune after our last encounter, but I had no practical experience with either of these two. Reading about their powers in a file didn't exactly qualify.

Alabaster, at least, didn't worry me too much. His power, automatic regeneration, wouldn't be too relevant, since I wasn't looking to inflict serious physical trauma on him anyways. It might inhibit my ability to generally distract him with bites and stings, but his lack of any kind of offensive ability could only help me.

Rune and Cricket, on the other hand, would be much trickier. My recollection of Cricket's powers suggested some kind of super-reflexes like Circus, which could make it tough to get any bugs on her. Rune's powers would be even more dangerous to me given her apparent thirst for blood, but, at the least, I could rely on still taking her out quickly.

To that end, I began to gather together my bugs in the sky, as far above Rune's head as my control reached.

Rune cocked her head. "Nothing else to say? That's a surprise. There's still time for a little begging, you know. I might even let you off a little easier if you really convince me."

Cricket rolled her eyes, while Alabaster held the same look of eerie avarice.

"No thanks," I said. "I meant it when I said I wasn't looking for a fight. We can still walk away from this."

Rune laughed and whistled. The third, and last, person I had detected in the alleyway stepped out. A girl, she looked to be not much older than Rune, and wore a tight-fitting red costume. That would be Othala, then. She could grant other capes temporary powers. Or, at least, if my memory of Lisa's files was accurate, she could. I expected I'd find out in a moment.

Othala's appearance meant I could wait no longer to put my plan into action.

Without a word, I turned away from Rune and sprinted back down the block.

"What the - get back here, you cowardly bitch!" Rune yelled from behind me. The swarm I had gathered above her dove through the air and descended on her. Her yell turned into a strangled yelp, and I felt her concrete slab list and slide to one side. The ground-bound component of my swarm boiled up from the sewers and sidewalk cracks to rush the other Empire capes. I focused the charge of my bugs on Othala in particular, who screamed and leapt for Rune. The gnats I had discreetly placed on all four Empire capes during our conversation informed me that Cricket and Alabaster had taken off running after me. I directed a swarm of bees, wasps, and flies at them, careful to send the bees only at Cricket due to Alabaster's regeneration. Alabaster surged forward through the stings and bites as though he hadn't even felt them. With his power, he must have become accustomed to wading through all kinds of discomfort or agony.

Cricket, by contrast, somehow wove through my bugs with the grace of a world-class gymnast. As she flipped through the air, my bugs began to turn sluggish, as though forcing themselves through air which had suddenly become like jelly. My input flow from them distorted, like a glitching radar screen.

That one would have been nice to read about in the file.

I missed a step as a wave of nausea clutched at my stomach. I might have thought it was simple fear, but it felt entirely artificial, as though forced upon me by an outside force. I gritted my teeth and ran through the sensation. I was really starting to dislike Cricket.

My few seconds of sprinting had carried me nearly to the end of the block. Back by Rune, as the two girls thrashed under my swarm, a clap of fire rolled off Rune's body. I lost contact with every bug I'd placed on her. That would be Othala's gifted power, then. Thankfully, my swarm on her remained in place.

With some difficulty thanks to Cricket's power, I coalesced a small swarm in front of Rune to hold her attention, and snuck a few more gnats onto her ankles as she crisped my distraction. Rune took off flying in my direction. Behind me, Cricket gained on me even as Alabaster fell behind. She couldn't be more than twenty feet back, now.

I rocketed around the corner, pumping my arms as I tore down the sidewalk. The few remaining civilians on the sidewalk could be seen scattering for shelter in every direction. Rune's fire blast had undoubtedly alerted everyone for several blocks in every direction that a cape fight was underway.

As Cricket continued to gain from behind, Alabaster picked his pace back up as well. Rune rose above the apartment tower between us and descended down towards my back. I strained my memory to recall just how long Othala's powers actually lasted for, but came up empty. If I couldn't disable Rune, things would get very ugly for me very quickly.

In fact, with Cricket interfering with my bugs, I would be lucky to take out any of my attackers at all, with the exception of Othala, who continued to thrash around on the sidewalk. I scuttled a particularly juicy centipede into her mouth for effect.

No, a change in strategy would be necessary for me to make it out of this with all my limbs intact. And, if I didn't make it out of this, Lisa might not make it out of whatever had happened to her.

I diverted a large portion of my airborne swarm upwards and abruptly sprinted across the street. The skyscrapers of the heart of Downtown loomed in front of me, although they remained blocks away. My change of direction initially gained me a couple of feet on Cricket, but she whirled after me and began to close the gap once more. A grapefruit-sized chunk of concrete gouged the sidewalk just to the side of my left foot. Thankfully, it seemed like Rune's aim wasn't perfect. Still, I didn't want to rely on her missing more than once.

I hurtled through the entrance to a rather dilapidated-looking grocery store to my right, and began to sprint through the aisles with the Empire capes in hot pursuit. It being a weekday, the store wasn't too crowded, but a few startled-looking shoppers still had to scramble out of my way as I ran through the produce aisle. I looked for an emergency exit sign, and found one towards the back. After bursting through a series of doors, I rocketed back outside into an alley, still sprinting at full tilt. My breath came a little harder, now, but I didn't doubt my ability to keep going for a while yet.

My tracker bugs told me that Cricket and Alabaster remained hot on my heels, while Rune had soared upwards rather than entering the building. I ran out of the alley and onto the street. Before I could get more than half a block, Rune had begun to dive towards me once more. As in the store, civilians scattered out of my path in every direction. Nobody in Brockton Bay wanted to be caught up in a cape fight, especially one which involved a cape they didn't recognize.

I had kept the bulk of my swarm below Rune to obscure its purpose from her. As she dove, I shifted them behind and above her, with care that she not get an opportunity to roast them. For experimentation's sake, I broke off a small cluster and attempted to envelop her head once more. Another explosion of flame quickly put an end to their charge. That was a "no" on the pyrokinesis having run out, then. This would be much easier if Lisa was here to tell me the time limit. My jaw tightened at the thought, and I pushed it aside.

Cricket closed in as I reached the end of the block. She couldn't be more than a few feet behind me now. I hoped fervently that my costume would prove as resilient against her sickles as it had against Rune's knives. Alabaster, on the other hand, lagged a bit behind. He must not have particularly enjoyed running. The bugs which surged out of cracks in the sidewalk and sewer grates at my command faltered as they approached Cricket, and she skipped over them with ease. I still had no idea how she was managing that, which worried me.

Rune swooped in from above. Another chunk of concrete slammed into the sidewalk beside me, then skipped along it before slamming into a trash can with a resonating clang. Before I could attempt to dodge, a dully metallic trash can lid, hovering parallel to the ground no more than six inches up, darted in front of my feet and fixed in place. The push-off of my next stride caught on the lid. I stumbled, lost my balance, and careened to the ground, propelled forward to an unfortunate meeting with the sidewalk by my momentum.

Pain shot throughout my nervous system as I slammed into the pavement face-first. Cracks spiderwebbed across my left lens, but it remained intact. My costume prevented the concrete from scraping my skin bloody, but I found it hard to take much solace in that, under the circumstances.

I pushed off the ground and attempted to scramble to my feet. A futile action, as Cricket had caught up to me in the few moments my fall had afforded her. She kicked me back against the stone wall of the store behind me, which gave my back the chance to experience the same throbbing pain currently shooting through my front.

Cricket held one of her sickles against my neck as my bugs rushed over her feet.

"Call them off, or I'll open you up and look for an off switch," she said, her voice harsh and cruel through the modulator.

I nodded, and dispersed my earth-borne bugs back into the nooks and crannies. My aerial swarm, on the other hand, I held in place.

As Alabaster finally caught up, Rune floated down to join us. Her face split into a colossal smirk.

"End of the road, bug bitch," she said. "If you'd just taken it like a good girl, I might have let you off a little easier." A pair of knives floated out from behind her and keened as they slid their blades against one another. "But now you're really gonna have a bad time. Alabaster!"

Alabaster stood a few feet down the sidewalk from me. He turned his sheet-white face towards Rune with lazy indifference.

"Yeah, what?" he said, his tone not nearly as deferential as I'm sure Rune would have liked.

Rune's eyes narrowed. "Go check on Othala," she said. "This freak doesn't have the guts to do any serious harm to her, but I'm not gonna be the one who hears from Victor about how we left his fiancé on the sidewalk with cockroaches crawling up her ass."

Alabaster shrugged with complete indifference.

"Sure, whatever. You two seem to have this under control." He headed back the way we had come with an unhurried saunter, rather than our previous flat-out sprint. Clearly, he didn't hold much personal worry for Othala's well-being.

Of course, he had every reason not to, since I hadn't given her anything more than superficial bites and venomless stings. In fact, I couldn't even sense Othala anymore, as she had passed out of range as I raced down this block. Still, I felt that I had rattled her enough to keep her out of action for some time.

Which, of course, did nothing to solve my much more immediate problem.

With a cruel gleam in her eye, Cricket hooked the suit fabric on my left leg with the tip of her sickle. She tugged. My costume refused to rip.

Cricket's face twisted with annoyance. "Christ, what'd she make this thing out of?" she said. "This is gonna take all the fun out of it."

Rune tapped her chin. "Oh, I don't know about that," she said. She gestured, and the piece of concrete which had shot at me before leapt back off the pavement. I nearly retched as the grapefruit-sized lump of concrete drove into my stomach. Fresh, searing pain exploded over the throbbing from my previous encounters with the sidewalk and the wall behind me. I began to feel like a giant ball of tormented nerve endings.

My breath came in pained wheezes as I struggled to take a full one. Rune smiled in satisfaction.

"See?" she said to Cricket. "Fancy suits don't help so much with blunt-force trauma, do they? And I've got a lot of blunt force."

At this point, Rune hovered no more than three feet off the ground. From my position half-sitting, half-slumped against the wall, her levitating concrete pedestal floated at about eye height, with Rune looming over me on top of it despite her average stature.

Cricket eyed Rune with impatience. It was almost a relief to know that I wasn't the only one who found the grandstanding a little ridiculous, despite the direness of my situation. Lisa would undoubtedly have been bent over laughing by now.

Rune hopped down off the slab of concrete and gave me a savage kick in the ribs. I couldn't stop myself from crying out. I had gone through hell in that locker, but it was an entirely different kind of pain from the sharp, directed agony I experienced now. I gritted my teeth and tried to pull my focus back.

"Wow, that felt even better than I thought," Rune said. "This is going to be really therapeutic, I can already tell. We're going to have a lot of fun together." She placed cooing emphasis on the word.

Cricket moved to backhand me with one of her blades. One of Rune's knives clashed with the sickle and deflected it. The sickle screeched against the concrete just to the right of my head. I winced.

Cricket whirled on Rune with a furious expression. Rune wagged a finger. "Sorry, but this one's mine," she said. "It's personal with this bitch. I'll let you have your fun after I'm done."

Cricket scowled, but said nothing. Between this and the orders she'd given to Alabaster, Rune clearly had a surprising amount of pull within the Empire for a teenage girl. I had imagined that a neo-Nazi organization would be pretty chauvinistic, especially with Kaiser always making a point to use Fenja and Menja as arm candy. Perhaps the strength of Rune's powers enabled her to carve out more respect than I'd imagined.

Through the shooting pain, I thought that I had certainly picked a good enemy to make.

Rune sneered. Her eyes gleamed with predatory cruelty. "Let's see how you do with this one," she said, and gestured. My first run-in with her had shown that her power didn't require physical direction, but she clearly had a taste for theater.

The five-foot-wide, foot-thick concrete slab Rune had flown on flipped vertically, soared about fifty feet up into the air, and rocketed back down towards me. Icy fingers clutched at my stomach. I clenched my fists and set my jaw in an effort to brace myself as I watched the bludgeon rocket toward me.

A blur of white rocketed down into the slab's path. The slab exploded into a cloud of white dust and flying fragments, which clattered off the lenses of my mask. Rune stumbled backwards and fell on her rear. The sight would have been much more gratifying if I were in less pain.

Cricket whirled toward Rune as the dust cleared.

Glory Girl hovered in the air a few feet from my face.

"Hiya, Flutter," she said. "I got your message. Mind if I kick these guys' asses for you?"

"The floor's all yours," I said. Or, more accurately, half-coughed, half-wheezed. A full breath still eluded me, and the fire scorching my nervous system hadn't receded. If anything, it seemed to be intensifying.

"Message?" Rune said. Suddenly, the realization dawned on her. She looked directly up into the sky, where I had marshaled my entire flying swarm into a giant, three-dimensional arrow high enough to be seen halfway across the city by any rooftop Protectorate patrols.

I smiled through the pain. After the last few minutes, I was going to enjoy this.

"You're dead meat, you bug bitch!" Rune shouted. Both her knives shot at Glory Girl. One speared her in the left shoulder, while the other rammed into her right thigh just below the hem of her skirt. Each knife's point shattered on impact. They fell to the pavement, inert.

Glory Girl raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Cricket charged at Glory Girl. Her sickles gleamed in the warm light of the afternoon sun. Glory Girl launched out of her hover and looped around behind Cricket. As she did, Rune scrambled backwards a few steps and reached for a nearby trash can.

I forced myself to focus, and dove my airborne bugs towards Rune as my ground troops swarmed out once more. To my right, Glory Girl grabbed at Cricket, who pirouetted out of the way with a grace belied by her uncouth appearance and countered with a wicked upward slice which would have ripped open the stomach of an unprotected human.

Glory Girl seemed to nearly collapse backward until she hovered almost parallel to the pavement, with her heels only a few inches off the ground. As Cricket's blow whistled upward ineffectually, Glory Girl shot back up, grabbed her arm, and twisted it. I could hear the crack that followed. Cricket howled, and her sickle clattered free to the ground. As she attempted to bring the other around for another blow to Glory Girl, the latter pivoted and, following through on the momentum from her turn, hurled Cricket bodily through the large glass window of the storefront to my right. The bright tinkle of shattering glass filled the air. Yells and cries rang out from inside, including a particularly agonized one in Cricket's unmistakably modulated voice.

I remained slumped against the wall, still unable to regain my feet. Before enough bugs to pose a serious inconvenience could reach Rune, the trash can tore off its base with a screech, and rocketed into Glory Girl's back. The attack caught her unprepared, and though the front of the steel can dented with an audible crunch in the impact, it carried Glory Girl up into the air with considerable speed.

Rune gagged and slapped at her costume as I skittered a particularly large and slimy centipede up inside her dress and towards her mouth. My muscles protested as I heaved to my feet and stepped toward Rune. From above, there came a wail of tortured metal as Glory Girl tore the garbage can in two. The two halves zoomed off in separate directions, somehow still under Rune's control. One dragged Glory Girl further up, while the other zoomed at me at full speed. As it came, a wave of my bugs surged over Rune. She collapsed to her knees, screaming. I took what scant pleasure I could in that as I braced for the impact of the missile barreling towards me.

The sun glinted off something small as it zipped through the air in front of me. Abruptly, the remnant of the garbage can headed for me faltered and dropped to the ground in the middle of the street, forcing a car to swerve around it and very nearly be clipped by oncoming traffic. A few dozen feet above me, Glory Girl angled into a steep dive to catch the half set against her before it could slam into the ground.

Rune's screams abruptly dwindled into a low groan, and she slumped forward onto the pavement in a very undignified pose. A steel quill protruded from her left shoulder.

I couldn't say that I was entirely happy to see that, even if it had saved me from possible disembowelment by a flying trash receptacle, which had to be up there on the list of most undignified ways to go.

"Nice work," sneered a harsh voice from behind me. "Really smooth, waltzing into Empire turf and then screaming for help from the people who actually know what they're doing."

I turned, and came face-to-face with Shadow Stalker once again. This time, at least, the arrows in her hand crossbows had needle-tipped tranquilizer points.

I'll admit, the situation had me at a loss for words, so I gave Rune a few dozen final bites and dispersed my bugs instead.

Shadow Stalker gave me a contemptuous look, and strode over to Rune, to whom she administered a swift kick in the ribs. "Fucking Nazis," she said. She looked at me. Her eyes were still just as cold as they had been that night at the school. "Hey, bug girl. Where's your loudmouth bitch of a partner?"

"Not here," I said. I wasn't going to give up any more than that.

Shadow Stalker rolled her eyes. "You're a real genius," she said. "Try the tough act with me when your friends aren't around to make me bail you out, and we'll see where it gets you."

I hadn't thought it would be possible for me to dislike Shadow Stalker any more intensely, but there you go.

Glory Girl tossed her half of the trash can onto its partner and floated over to join us. As she did, a man in a burnished suit of power armor rounded the nearest corner and ran to join us.

That had to be Gallant. Shamus had told me that the Wards always patrolled in twos at a minimum, so his presence made sense. But why was Glory Girl, a member of New Wave, here alone?

Gallant looked at the sprawled bodies of Rune and Cricket. "Nice work," he said.

Glory Girl beamed. "You always know just what to say," she said, and kissed him on his helmet cheek.

Well, that explained why she was here, I supposed. I never seemed to get the memo about this stuff. Lisa, on the other hand, had probably known about it before it even happened.

Shadow Stalker snorted, and looked at me. "Hey, bug girl."

"I'm called Flutter," I said.

"Yeah, whatever. Did these two have any more company? Not that they would've needed it to take you out, apparently."

Evidently, the passage of time hadn't done much to ease her resentment.

"Othala and Alabaster," I said, choosing not to rise to the bait. "I took out Othala about two blocks back. She could have recovered by now. Alabaster went back to check on her."

Gallant nodded, and stuck out an armored gauntlet. "Pleasure to meet you, Flutter," he said. I shook his hand gingerly, in anticipation of a crushing metal grip, but felt no more pressure than normal for a handshake.

"Thanks for the save," I said. I rubbed at my throbbing side. "These guys seem to really hold a grudge."

"That's where we come in," Glory Girl said. She leaned towards me. "Don't pay any attention to Shadow Stalker," she whispered. "That girl's got a serious attitude problem."

"You can say that again," I mumbled back.

Glory Girl looked around, as though searching for someone. "Hey, where's Shamus?"

I winced behind my mask.

"Long story," I said. "I'm sort of looking for her now."

Glory Girl's eyebrows raised with concern.

"Is it serious?"

"Probably not," I said. "I don't want to distract you guys. You've clearly got enough on your plates already."

"We appreciate the thought, but don't hesitate to let us know if your partner turns out to be in more danger than you thought," Gallant said. "I've heard from Glory Girl here that you two do good work."

"What he said," Glory Girl said. "You know where to find us."

I nodded.

"Thanks, guys," I said. "I will."

A groan came from inside the shop, as Cricket began to stir. Shadow Stalker strode over and fired a tranquilizer dart into Cricket. "Are you all done?" she said.

"Sorry, but we'd better get after the other two," Glory Girl said apologetically. "Can you tell us exactly where you left Othala?"

"Sure," I said. "I think it was at the intersection of May and Woodlawn."

Shadow Stalker fired her grappling hook into the air, and was gone.

Glory Girl sighed. "Nice," she said. She scooped up Cricket and Rune's still-inert bodies like a pair of potato sacks and slung one over each shoulder. "Okay, we're off. And really, if your partner's in more trouble than you thought, give us a call, okay?"

"Thanks again," I said. Glory Girl smiled. "My pleasure." She soared off, with Gallant keeping pace below her.

With any need to look cool now gone, I slumped back against the store wall behind me. My body felt like a steamroller had run me over. Painful complaints from nearly every muscle and body part I knew of, and probably some I didn't, continued to drive their red-hot way into my brain.

Still, nothing felt broken or life-threatening, and I could worry about how to hide the undoubtedly extensive bruising from Dad later. I had to push through and find Lisa. My hand went to where I had stuffed Lisa's file, and tightened over it. I needed answers, and only she could provide them.

After taking another minute to gather my strength, I resumed my march through Downtown, somewhat unsteadily at first. This time, I made sure to sweep wide around Empire territory. I'd had my fill of cape fights for one day. As I went, I swept up all the new bugs I could find to replace the ones Rune had roasted.

Much to my relief, I managed to make my way to my destination without any further incidents.

The block which Lisa had circled on her map stood before me. Nothing leapt out as an obvious target for investigation at first glance. From my position on the corner, I saw a deli, an Asian grocery, and a couple of clothing stores. I decided to loop around to the other side. As I went, I tried not to feel bad about every pedestrian crossing the street at my approach. That was simply common sense, I reminded myself.

While I walked, I swept an array of the most unobtrusive gnats and mites I could find through every building on the block, room-by-room. No building here had more than three or four stories, so a search was actually feasible. Whenever my bug ran into something with the shape or behavior of a possible human, I vectored a few more in to establish an overall shape. In particular, I focused my efforts on arranging my bugs to create a sort of wireframe of the person's silhouette, in the hopes that Lisa was still wearing her fedora and trenchcoat.

My insectoid sweep continued as I reached the far side of the block. Despite the presence of a few shops, a squat, old red-brick factory much like the one in which we'd fought Lung and Hookwolf dominated the street. Judging by its boarded-up windows and chained-off gate, it appeared to be abandoned. My interest piqued. This had to be the place.

I cast my low-profile sweeper net over it. A few people had congregated together on the third floor. Unless I was very much mistaken, one of them wore a fedora on their head.

I took a deep breath, and gathered my swarm together outside the building. Somehow, I felt more nervous now than I had staring down four Empire capes. The person I presumed to be Lisa seemed to be moving, so I could rule out the worst. Unless the worst was that she had led me on the entire time, and was working hand-in-hand with whoever the target of our investigation might be.

More than anything else, I wanted the uncertainty to be over. Just not knowing what had happened, who I could trust - all the old wounds had torn open. I was almost grateful to the physical pain for the distraction.

My bugs had found a gap in the chain-link fence down an alley to my left. I took a deep breath. It was now or never.

With my swarm following in my wake, I walked towards the gap, and towards whatever awaited me on the other side.