Monday, June 26th, 2017

08:00 GMT-7 (15:00 GMT June 26th)

Bella Oceana

Cara Müller had not enjoyed the previous few hours and she had only managed about three hours of sleep.

She had endured a major grilling and a very pointed comment about repeating anything which she had learned that night. Coming face to face with the famed vigilante known as Mist had had a very sobering affect on the young girl. Cara still had no idea how exactly her friend was involved with Fusion, but without the intervention of Fusion, she and her mother would be very dead. Instead...

"Cara?"

"Mom!"

"Where am I?"

"You're at home, Mom – in bed."

"How...?" Rosa Müller tried.

Her mind was blank but a part of her knew that she should not have been where she was – then it all came back to her in a flurry of visual scenes in her mind's eye. She had been injured. She had managed to regain the safety of the safehouse. She had left her daughter a message. Rosa looked under the duvet to find that she was naked but for some large white medical dressings. Who had treated her wounds? Very professionally, she noticed. Then she studied her daughter and she could see the anxiety and the concern. There was something else too – Cara knew.

"What happened last night?"

"You were hurt – I followed your clues."

"Who brought me here, Cara? Who else knows my secret?"

"I . . . I can't say, Mom."

Rosa studied her daughter's expression and she could see fear there as well as honesty. She decided to let it slide – for the moment.

"I am sorry that you had to find out this way, Cara."

"That you are a vigilante who murders people?"

"Yes."

Rosa decided that then was not the moment to discuss semantics such as the difference between murder and execution with a soon-to-be teenager. To be honest, Rosa was a little surprised that Cara had not responded differently. There was so much her daughter did not know about her mother – maybe it was time to come clean and explain everything to her. Rosa could see unease and concern in her daughter's eyes and also some betrayal.

"How bad are my wounds, dear daughter?"

"A bullet passed all the way through and another was stopped inside your armour after passing through your body. You lost a lot of blood which was why you passed out."

Rosa pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing as pain shot through her side.

"You need to take two of these every four hours – you're due," Cara said as she handed over two tablets and a glass of water.

"Thank you, sweetie."

Rosa downed the tablets and the water, then she threw back the duvet and slowly stood up with Cara helping her through to the bathroom.

"How many people have you killed?" Cara asked as her mother peed.

Rosa sighed and then looked over at where her daughter stood just outside the ensuite bathroom.

"I have killed twenty-seven people with my own hands – not including the past few days. Did I murder them? In fourteen cases, yes. The rest deserved to die. Are you horrified by what I am, Cara?"

"When I saw your face beneath that mask, I was horrified. I knew that Carnivora was bad news and that she did bad things. But... I never knew... How long have you been a...?"

"A killer?"

Cara nodded as her mother left the bathroom and lay back down, pulling the duvet over her body.

"I fell in with a bad crowd, at the end of the last century – I was just eighteen and I was visiting Germany – that's in Europe."

"I know!" Cara hissed back.

"I found myself going out at night with some friends – we'd drink and then we'd smash things up. Then one night, things got out of hand and I killed a man who got in our way. I hadn't meant to – it just happened. After the initial shock of taking a life, I found that I liked it. One of my 'friends', she knew somebody – well, I got involved with a group in what had once been East Germany. I killed for them and when I was twenty-two, I met Renke one night in Potsdam. He hired me as an assassin and the following year, I met Dieter in New York. Two years later, I was twenty-five and pregnant. After you were born, I went freelance for about five years before I then returned to Dieter at the behest of Renke. I became Carnivora just a few months back in December – I wanted to give something back and I needed to train before I went after Dieter."

Cara frowned.

"The killings at the Aon Center – that was you?"

"Yes."

"Why are you fighting against Uncle Dieter? You work for him?"

Rosa sighed, wondering if it was time to get into that part of her life.

09:40 GMT-7 (16:40 GMT June 26th)

Oak Pass Road

Madeline Tyler was reflecting on her new situation.

Other than James, nobody had really spoken to her since they had returned in the early hours of the morning. Her injuries had been tended to by a seething Erika who had said very little beyond what was required from a purely medical point of view. That single fact had hurt Maddie more than anything else and it had made her realise how badly she had screwed up – there were mitigating circumstances, but nothing could ever excuse what she had done. Even the twins were pointedly ignoring her. Some days that was desirable, but Maddie could see the contempt and resentment in their eyes. Even Kieran was keeping Maddie at arm's length as he saw her to be toxic and he preferred to keep well out of other people's problems as he considered himself to have enough of his own problems without having to borrow those of other people.

She had not slept all that well, despite being really tired. They had only returned to the house around five that morning after having cleaned up at the safehouse. Cara had been whisked off with her mother before Maddie had been able to speak with her, but speed had been essential to avoid the remaining Panther Brigade mercenaries. Trauma had torched the building to ensure that Carnivora's secrets were thoroughly buried. Erika had decided that protecting Rosa's secret was essential, so she and Chrissy had cleaned her up and taken her home. Maddie had not dared to interfere or ask questions – she knew that the heavens were due to drop upon her, and because of her recklessness, James would also suffer. Had she damaged her relationship with Erika, or worse destroyed it? Maddie had not felt so low in a long time. Her new life had changed her in so many ways – so many good ways – and one of those ways was just squirming around the partially opened door.

"Hi, Maddie!"

The boy looked a little confused and uneasy as he sat down on the end of the bed and looked up at his big sister.

"You messed up, huh?"

"Yeah, Connor, I really messed up."

"Erika's nice – she'll forgive you."

"I don't know; she's really angry with me."

"But she loves you and I think she's really worried about you – Sky tried to explain it to me, but once you filtered out all the bad words I didn't really make sense of what she said to me."

Maddie grinned slightly: her little brother was still struggling with the profanity which Sky tended to use on a fairly regular basis.

10:15 GMT-7 (17:15 GMT June 26th)

Bella Oceana

The vigilante, Mist, had gone through Cara like a ton of bricks, blaming her for putting Maddie in danger, but then she had relented somewhat as she had warned Cara not to say a word about anything she had witnessed.

Mist had also pointed out that they – Cara assumed she meant Fusion – would be watching and listening. The threat was obvious and Cara had complied. She wished that she had had time to speak with Maddie, but her friend had been taken away directly and they had not spoken; Cara had so many questions. Although, in hindsight, Maddie probably could not answer any of them. Would they still be friends? Cara had nobody else; she was generally a loner at school and there were no other kids living close to their home – which made things worse considering there was no school until the fall. Maddie and Kristen were Cara's life, and her best friends. What had transpired that night was so momentous that Cara needed to talk about it to somebody, but who?

Cara did not dare to leave the house, and she was unsure about digging any further into her mother's past life.

That same time...

10:15 GMT-7 (17:15 GMT June 26th)

Main Street

Lieutenant Frank Nielsen stood in front of the burnt down office building and pondered what had gone on.

A single body had been found, burnt to a crisp. Initially, there had been some conjecture as to whether the crisper critter was Carnivora, but the colour scheme identified from the sections of combat suit recovered had been wrong. As well as the burnt out building, there had been nine dead bodies scattered around the street along with three severally wounded men. Eyewitnesses had identified that Fusion had been present which explained the ferocity of the skirmish. The lieutenant had been hoping to close the file on Carnivora, but instead he just had an unknown vigilante to identify. Coincidentally, the skirmish had occurred just a few hours after the attack at the property of one Dieter Mannheim which had occurred a day after the attack on Mr Mannheim's premises in the Aon Center. There was something going on, some underlying something which joined the three attacks together, but he had not been able to put his finger on it.

Ever since Fusion had appeared on the streets of Los Angeles, people were dying. Not that the death rate had increased all that much over the usual desire for those living in the city to kill one another. However, the average death rate had actually decreased slightly despite the fact that Fusion spent their nights slicing and dicing. The very presence of the vigilantes in the city had sent entire sections of the city's criminal society scurrying back into their dark holes with some choosing to rethink their lives and, indeed, to give up on a life of crime. That was a success in the lieutenant's book, even if it was due to the illegal activities of vigilantes. The man was pragmatic, and he had followed the vigilante renaissance in Chicago, and he had seen that the normal avenues of law and order sometimes needed some more unorthodox assistance. The very fact that Hit Girl and her team had morals meant that, in general, the vigilantism was allowed to continue as only those who deserved to die, actually died – in general.

However, Fusion did generally leave a bloody mess behind them when they left!

Early that afternoon...

13:05 GMT-7 (20:05 GMT June 26th)

Marina Del Rey

The sixth floor penthouse suite was very dark, despite the hour.

As Anton Renke stalked the living room in the darkness, he scowled at his boss who sat in a comfortable leather chair picking his way through a cold lunch. All around them men and women were arrayed on guard duty. In fact, the entire building was under lockdown. The apartment complex belonged to Dieter Mannheim and it was currently his bolthole off the grid. All the curtains were closed to prevent a sniper attack, and also to prevent anyone from seeing the wounds their boss had endured the night before. The right side of Dieter's face was covered in white gauze taped in place and the man wore a loose robe which covered the larger gauze dressings which in turn covered the nasty wounds on his back. The room stank of disinfectant and there was the strong coppery smell of blood. Renke was brought out of his thoughts by a female Panther.

"Sir, there's an LAPD cop at the door – he is not alone."

"Send them in," Renke directed.

A few moments later, the two police officers entered the room. One was tall, male, with greying hair, probably in his later forties, Renke thought. He wore a cheap suit which identified him as either local law enforcement or worse, a Fed. The man's eyes were darting around the penthouse suite even as the man smiled pleasantly at Renke and held out his identification folder to the man.

"Lieutenant Frank Nielsen, Robbery Homicide, er..."

"Anton Renke, Chief Operations Officer for the Tomahawk Group – who is this," Renke asked as he frowned at the other police officer.

"Detective Kate Moore," the female officer said as she held up her own ID. "We're here to see Dieter Mannheim as a follow up to the attack in the Hills, Mr Renke."

"This way, Detectives," Ranke said as he waved the two police officers through into the living room. "Mr Mannheim."

Dieter looked up and he studied the two police officers as they both held out their identification folders.

"You have any leads, lieutenant," Dieter asked quietly.

"We believe it to be the same person who went through the Aon Centre the other evening," Nielsen replied.

"That all you got?" Dieter challenged.

"There appears to be a lot of bad things happening to you at the moment, Mr Mannheim," Nielsen responded casually. "Your men killed on Saturday, and then you were targeted last tonight. Do you know of somebody who might want to hurt you or your organisation?"

"Many people want what I have and I have upset many people – it is all a part of being successful."

It was a typical response from men like Mannheim and the two police officers had expected it. Dieter Mannheim was a so-called 'pillar of the community' which did not really mean all that much as men like Mannheim simply bought their so-called status. Nielsen had little respect for men like Mannheim, beyond that which he was expected to give as a police officer. Instead of saying what first came into his mind, the lieutenant smiled.

"Understandable, Mr Mannheim. I understand that you were injured."

"The fucking whore slashed me with her fucking claws!"

"I'm sure a good plastic surgeon would set you right," Detective Moore without empathy.

"I can only hope," Dieter growled.

"Will you be staying in town, Mr Mannheim?" Moore went on.

"I may head up to my ranch," Dieter replied. "Not sure when, but if I am not here, then I will be there."

"Mr Mannheim, have you ever heard of the Panther Brigade?" the lieutenant asked as he turned to leave.

"Heard of what?"

"The Panther Brigade."

"No idea what you are talking about, lieutenant," Dieter persisted, although Moore was certain that she detected a tone of concern in the negative response.

"I may have some more questions for you later, Mr Mannheim; please make yourself available accordingly – good afternoon," Nielsen said as he turned his back on Dieter Mannheim.

Renke saw the two police officers out of the penthouse and then turned towards his boss.

"That lieutenant knows too much," Renke offered.

"He thinks he does," Dieter responded. "When will the ranch be ready?"

"Two, maybe three days."

Dieter sighed as he went back to his lunch.

That evening...

19:56 GMT-7 (02:56 GMT June 27th)

Oak Pass Road

Erika Cho stood out on the grass beyond the swimming pool and she looked to the west where the sun was getting lower and lower in the sky.

Her mind was in turmoil. So much had occurred in her life. She was just twenty-four years old, yet the past two years or so of her life had been truly amazing. Ever since that day when she had seen Big Daddy murdered live on television, she had wondered about her life as she had snuggled into Marty. Her life had seemed so normal, despite her internal turmoil when she had finally realised that there was more to life than sex-craved boys. When she had eventually returned to Chicago and found that Dave and Marty were there along with Mindy, her life had irrevocably changed when she had assumed the mantle of Mist. Becoming Mist had been an amazing transition and she had loved every second of it. But then had come the death of Toni amid the fighting. The only positive outcome had been that Toni had not died alone. Erika had been unable to remain in Chicago, so when Mindy had suggested heading westward, Erika had quite literally jumped at the chance to start anew.

She was not running away, or was she? She had brought together a team and she had created a home for herself and her girls. Girls? The twins were a nightmare but a challenge which Erika enjoyed. Chrissy and Sky were a handful, but they were just what Erika needed to distract her mind from the death of someone so very close to her. Then, Maddie had come onto the scene. Maybe it was simply Erika needing somebody to be close to, but whatever it was, the insolent lost teenager had grown on Erika and the rest was, as they say, history. Once, Erika had asked Chrissy if she or her sister resented the attention Maddie received. Chrissy had shaken her head in response and she had informed Erika that they were very proud of what Erika was doing, and proud of their little sister. Having an all-girl household had been fun and the daily banter was good-natured – at least most of the time. In some cases, Maddie got what she deserved when she wound up the twins, and Erika had been forced to intervene for the younger girl's safety.

Other than Toni, Erika had not thought that she could ever care about another human being so much. Maddie had come into Erika's life a troubled waif in need of help and support at a time when Erika was also needing someone who needed her care and attention – the twins were perfectly happy to look after themselves after all. Maddie had been full of adolescent innocence and she was incapable to looking after herself properly. Indeed, with the help of the devil twins, Maddie had come out of her shell and learned to enjoy life. Maddie had also become close with Sky – Maddie found Chrissy a little too bitchy – and the pair often spent time together. It was good for Maddie to have somebody she could talk to – other than Erika – and Sky was able to connect on the required level. Maddie had managed to make a few mistakes during her time with them, but nothing could compare to what the girl had managed to accomplish in just a few short hours.

The girl had left her home in the dead of night and ventured out into a dangerous city with known enemies on the rampage. She had ridden half way across that city to see a friend who lived with a potential enemy who had actually turned out to be an unfriendly if not an enemy. Then the pair of them had ventured deeper into the city and put themselves at further risk at the beach and then at D-JAK and ultimately they had been attacked by Tornado. If it had not been for the timely intervention of James who had followed his girlfriend, Maddie and Cara would have died. James had also broken the rules by going out alone – he should have woken Erika, but he had chosen not to. Admittedly, James was perfectly capable of looking after himself, as he had proved on numerous occasions. Looking over the evidence, Erika could see that Maddie had been guided by her loyalty to Cara and her desire to help. Neither were traits which Erika could say anything against, and both were admirable. Maybe it had been Maddie's desire to venture out into the field, to encounter what her friends encountered every night. Maddie was always sheltered from the danger, insulated by her computers from the true threats. However, Maddie had taken a pistol with her which had been astute thinking, Erika considered. Having spoken with Cara, Erika had learned that Maddie had tried to shoot Tornado with little effect – but she had tried. Maddie had made use of her limited training to defend herself and her friend. Indeed, that training had kept the two girls alive until James had been able to catch up.

Then had come the discovery of who wore the mask which was Carnivora. Erika had spent so much time with Rosa without ever considering that she could have been something more than Dieter's assistant. There were a lot of blanks in Rosa's past life which pointed towards Rosa being untrustworthy. However, Carnivora picked her fights and she had only attacked Fusion when threatened – as anybody would. If Maddie had not gone to assist her friend then Rosa would have died. Had Maddie acted out of haste or had she acted out of friendship? Had Maddie stayed true to the vigilante code as it was interpreted by Fusion?

It was time, she thought, as the sun finally sank out of sight as part of the never-ending cycle which was day and night.

..._...

Erika turned to find James standing a few feet away.

"You've come to a decision, then?" James asked rhetorically. "Has the sun set on Maddie's life as a member of Fusion – metaphorically speaking?"

Erika smiled.

"Thank you for being there for her. Thank you for keeping her alive."

"I know I could have done things differently, but I stand by my decisions."

"The situation was a difficult one but you did the right thing, I think," Erika replied quietly. "There was a lot going on; complications."

"What's going to happen to Maddie?"

"While she did some things right, she also made some glaring mistakes which included betraying my trust, and almost getting herself killed."

"She's young and she has no clue of the real dangers which we all face out on the streets at night," James commented. "You do know that she's a wreck in there, don't you? She thinks that you might hand her back to the Feds."

"I would never do that!" Erika growled back.

"I know that. We all know that – only Maddie does not. Please talk to her; she needs to know how you feel."

"She showed immense courage facing down Tornado. Twice she put herself between Tornado and Cara."

"If she had died..."

"I know..."

"I could never have forgiven her . . . or myself," Erika said quietly.

"You and Maddie have something special," James responded. "Don't let a mistake get in the way of that. Look, I will train her and I will make sure that she knows enough never to make the same mistakes again. Then I will train her some more until she can look after herself blindfolded. Maddie is really special to me, and she is not just somewhere for me to get my dick wet – I truly care about her."

"I know you do, James. Okay – go find the twins, Maddie, and Kieran. I'll be in the kitchen waiting for you all."

"What about Connor?"

"Ask him to stay in his bedroom, please."

Erika headed for the kitchen, unsure if she was doing the right thing or not.

..._...

Chrissy actually felt sorry for the condemned as the girl slipped quietly into the kitchen doing her best not to draw any attention to herself.

Unfortunately for Maddie, Sky's eyes followed her around the room. Sky felt betrayed by Maddie's actions and had refused to speak to the youngster despite her sister's unusual intervention. Chrissy could see why Sky was upset, but a part of her felt guilt at not having trained Maddie properly to avoid such a situation as that which had befallen their tech nerd. In hindsight, Chrissy knew that Maddie had none of the necessary skills to properly ascertain a level of danger and risk attached to a certain set of actions. Maddie had not sat through the seemingly endless classes on risk identification which the twins had endured, so she had had no idea of the danger into which she had fallen with Cara. But Sky saw it differently, and she had felt the same sense of betrayal which Erika had felt – maybe it was because of their closeness to Maddie. Were they both too close?

"We are here to sentence the condemned," Erika began in an attempt at humour which appeared to fall flat like a lead balloon.

James had been right; Maddie was a state and thoroughly miserable and full of remorse for her actions.

"You put everyone at risk, Maddie," Erika began. "However, you were not the only person at fault here. I should have ensured that you had completed a higher level of training so that you could have properly identified the danger you found yourself in before it was too late. I am still very angry with you, Maddie, but I still love you, and that will never change. James: I am sentencing you to endure six months with Maddie, training her to understand threats and levels of danger. You will ensure that she can look after herself out on the streets without a second thought. Maddie, you will endure six months of training and you will endure two months of being grounded. You fail to complete that training and the tests that follow, then you will no longer remain as Crypto – do you understand me?"

"Yes, Erika."

"I am just as much at fault," Chrissy piped up. "I trained Maddie and I missed so much that I could have taught her. I..."

"No, you can't fall on your sword alone," Sky admitted.

Maddie smiled for the first time.

"Thank you, all of you. I know that I did wrong. I went out without properly thinking things through – I offer no excuse for that. I am not going to shift the blame onto Erika, Sky, or Chrissy. I accept my punishment..."

"Six months alone with your fuck-buddy," Sky deadpanned. "Yeah, that's a real harsh punishment!"

"I promise not to bone Maddie on the mat," James offered.

Maddie's eyes almost popped out of her skull before she then scowled at James who grinned wistfully while Kieran laughed.

Later that same night...

21:00 GMT-7 (04:00 GMT June 27th)

Oak Pass Road

Erika had called in some emotional support.

She walked down the darkened drive full of apprehension – she hoped that it was to be the night. Indeed, Erika had taken a hot shower and applied a little makeup before she had slipped into a slinky dark blue summer dress without any underwear. After a peek to ensure that Maddie was in her bedroom, Erika had said goodnight to a grinning Chrissy and stepped out into the night. The smoky grey Ford Mustang sat out on the road, the roof down and a very, very sexy woman in the driver's seat. Erika pulled open the door and slipped into the passenger seat.

"You are just who I need right now," Erika breathed as she gave the woman a long kiss on the lips.

Katrina Bailey was twenty-seven years old and she had met Erika several weeks previously in a bar in central Los Angeles. Erika had been feeling emotionally low and Katrina had arrived on the scene at just the right moment. Katrina somehow knew exactly what to say and Erika and she had hit it off almost immediately. They would meet up at least twice a week dependent on their schedules and just talk for hours. The time together allowed Erika to forget about Fusion, Mist, D-JAK:LA, Dieter Mannheim, everything. She began to feel the same as when she had been with Toni, except that Katrina was something different and Erika felt entranced by her conversation. The alluring conversation gave Erika emotions which she had not felt in many, many months. It had not taken Erika long to figure out that Katrina was bisexual nor that the woman desired a companion.

As it turned out, Katrina had lived in Los Angeles for most of her younger years before she had then moved with her family to Pittsburgh. Soon after completing college, she had then returned to Los Angeles to complete a degree in engineering. She had never been a fan of boys – she saw them as loud annoying creatures and she refused to lower herself to their level to become their trophy, despite many, many offers from potential suitors. Katrina had been looking for someone new after a string of failed relationships, so meeting Erika had been a dream come true – for the pair of them. A relationship had kindled between them very quickly which had then led to some 'private' time for Erika well away from the animals. Erika had to admit that there appeared to be a lot less talking each subsequent time she and Katrina met – and that observation was not a complaint by any stretch of the imagination. Of course, Sky and Chrissy had latched onto Erika's improved moods and they had quickly figured out what was going on but they had both chosen not to invade Erika's privacy leaving Erika to come forth when she was ready.

As was usual, the kissing escalated and hands began to probe bare skin as they each sought out the others erogenous zones.

22:13 GMT-7 (05:13 GMT June 27th)

Bella Oceana

Rosa Müller paced the living room floor.

Her daughter had said very little during the course of the day before she had then headed to bed. Despite each pace being full of pain from her aching wounds, she tolerated the pain as she struggled to formulate current events in her mind and decide on a way forward. It was far too early in her planning for Cara to have discovered that she was Carnivora – that occurrence had been unexpected, as had been her injuries. However, in hindsight, her going all out on that bastard and his men was probably not her best idea, but she had so wanted that bastard on the run. Instead, Dieter Mannheim was in hiding, according to that creepy cunt, Anton Renke. She had advised Renke that she had been wounded herself, the night before, which had satisfied the man's question as to where she was. Did he believe her? She thought so.

Rosa took a few steps and she climbed the stairs. A few more steps, and she peered into her daughter's bedroom. The youngster was fast asleep. Rosa tried to guess at what was going through her daughter's young mind. Had a rift opened between mother and daughter? Only time would tell. Rosa turned, a little too fast, and a surge of pain reminded her that she had significant wounds to her side and that she had to move gently. Carefully, Rosa made for her own bedroom and her own bed so that she could get some much-needed rest. She hoped that the following day would be better and maybe she would get some answers about what had happened and where her life, and that of her daughter, was going.

Only time would tell, she considered as she closed her eyes.

23:41 GMT-7 (06:41 GMT June 27th)

Huntington Park

Lieutenant Frank Nielsen of the Robbery-Homicide Division was still awake.

Littered around the dining table in his home were dozens of crime photos and numerous typed witness statements. His sons were fast asleep in their respective bedrooms allowing him the time to sip some cheap whiskey and study the disturbing images. There was more to the crime scene than had initially been thought. He rifled through the photos with his left hand while he took another sip of whiskey from the tumbler in his right hand. Then he found the image he was looking for and he studied it for a moment. It was a cheap couch, only there was evidence that someone had been stretched out upon it for the duration of the attack – parts of the couch had sections of ceiling and then burnt residue from the disintegrating building, only other parts of the couch only displayed burnt residue from the disintegrating building. The body found beneath the collapsed structure was still undoing identification but it was known that the dead body was of a female who had been a vigilante, or more likely a hired assassin. Had it been the creature who had attacked Dieter Mannheim and his men? Could she have been wounded? No – she had been seen on the street outside which meant that somebody else had been on that couch. He dropped the photo and fished for a file folder in amongst the paperwork.

"Ha!" he said as he put his glass of whiskey down on a pile of witness statements and flipped open the file.

It was a police report from San Diego of an incident earlier that year. An assassin had attacked what was then a group of vigilantes who appeared to be unrelated to Fusion – at least until they were hounded from the city soon after the attack by . . . what was her name? Tornado! Yes, the colours of the combat suit matched. As he read, he found a thread: a man – actually a sniper – had been found slashed to death atop a building overlooking the fight. Nielsen pulled out a photo of the dead man's autopsy which showed claw-like marks. The doctor had identified them as being similar to the claws of a Panthera Leo – a lion. That had Nielsen digging again through the more recent pile of file folders.

"Ha! Ha!" he said as he began to read a more recent autopsy report.

There it was again: the men killed in the Aon Centre had displayed slashes reminiscent '...of a Panthera Leo...' the autopsy report had detailed. So, Carnivora got around, did she? He had a link – a tenuous link – but still a link. So, who did Carnivora work for – definitely not Dieter Mannheim! Whomsoever it was had something against the man; something worth taking down his entire organisation and risking her life for. The woman was skilled – highly skilled. Where might she have learned to kill so expertly? The military? No, soldiers tended to make use of knives and guns. Were the claws part of some warped martial art, maybe? The woman had not gone after Mannheim directly, no, she had become a vigilante on the streets helping people. It was obvious that she was not related to Fusion as she had been seen fighting Mist.

Why had Carnivora been helping people? Was she out of practice, maybe? Had she needed some time to 'get back into the groove' before she went after her primary target? Was she still out there planning her next strike against Mannheim? Had she been rescued by Fusion? Why might Fusion rescue someone who was seemingly an enemy? Nobody had managed to fully figure out Fusion and how or why they did the things that they did. Nielsen had sworn 'To Protect and to Serve' as the motto of the Los Angeles Police Department went. Did Fusion subscribe to something similar?

Throwing down the file, Frank Nielsen took a stroll through his home and stopped at the bedroom which belonged to his eldest son, thirteen year old T.J. who was sprawled across his bed above which was a giant poster depicting Shadow and Jackal taped to the wall. The man turned to look through the opposite doorway to where his youngest son, who had just turned eleven, was similarly sprawled beneath the poster which bore the images of Wildcat and Psyche. Frank studied the images of the armour-clad girls for several moments trying to figure out what made them tick, what made them kill, what made them heroes to the average man and woman. His mind kept throwing unanswerable questions in his direction: Who was Carnivora? Why was she after Dieter Mannheim? Was she a danger to the citizens of Los Angeles? Was Tornado working for Mannheim? Was she attempting to protect Mannheim? Did T.J. feed the cat? Did the boys do their homework? How were Fusion involved? Were they just being good citizens?

However, his questions were interrupted by his cell phone trilling.

"Nielsen."

"Hi, boss, it's Kate," Detective Kate Moore offered.

"Yes, Kate."

"I think I may have found a tenuous link to an assassin who operated in Europe in the nineties."

"Europe?"

"Yes, boss. This assassin favoured the use of a custom bagh nakh – that's a weapon held in the hand with four claws extending out. The assassin faded away about twelve years ago."

"Tenuous, but it's worth following up, detective – well done."

"Thanks, boss – night."

"Night, Kate."

Another conundrum to be unravelled – could the mysterious European assassin and Carnivora be one and the same?