To Lyger 0: Definitely not one to be trusted!

Only a couple minutes later, Ramus and Roux pulled up in front of Faure's residence, followed by a requisitioned passenger van and two patrol cars, all driven by regular police and their new recruits. Sarsavat "stood" in front of the house, his torso coiled tightly to elevate his head to the same level as the others. He folded his arms, glancing back and forth between the criminals lying at his feet and Minister Faure and his secretary, who sat on the mansion's front steps. Minister Faure stared down at the ground, a hollow look in his eye; his secretary sat, hugging her legs to her chest, quivering.

Mind-Wipe, once again wearing an inhibiting collar around his neck, sat sullenly with his hands bound behind his back, though the edge of a bandage wrapped around his arm was just visible on one side. Dynamus also wore a collar around his neck, glaring up at Elementa, a huge welt on his forehead. Elementa stood directly behind him, holding an enormous paving stone in the air directly above his head. Mistral appeared to be in the worst shape of the three, lying on the ground surrounded by the destroyed remains of her fan suit rig, her arm bound tightly to her chest. However, on the sidewalk a few meters away from them, Ramus' eye stopped on the remains of Elemento, most of his head missing. Forming a half-circle behind the captured criminals, alongside Sarsavat and Elementa, were Albailier and le Tirreur. Albailier's wings rested against his back, and he held an energy pistol tightly in one hand, the other holstered at his side. Le Tirreur carried a long energy rifle slung over his shoulder and rested his hand on the handle of one of his thigh-holstered pistols, eyeing Mind-Wipe with mistrust.

"Are you going to be okay here?" Ramus asked Roux, giving him an evaluating look.

Roux frowned, glaring at the trio of bound prisoners in frustration. Finally he nodded reluctantly. "I'm not going to do something stupid, if that's what you mean," Roux responded. He folded his arms. "Let's just get this over with."

As Ramus shifted the car into park, Sarsavat eyed Faure's secretary worriedly for a moment before moving in that direction. The woman took one look at him, however, and gasped, shrinking away from him. His head dipping lower, Sarsavat slithered away.

Frowning, Ramus stepped out of his car and approached Sarsavat, stopping a few paces in front of Faure and his secretary. "Thank you for agreeing to help out here," Ramus told the alien, watching Faure out of the corner of his eye. "I can't imagine it would have turned out so well without your assistance."

Sarsavat's eyes widened in understanding. "Yesss," he assured Ramus. "I wasss happy to help."

"Minister," Ramus greeted Faure, as a pair of officers approached them. One pulled Faure up off the ground, while the other threw a jacket around his secretary's shoulders and helped her toward one of the patrol cars. "You are safe now," Ramus promised him. With a curt nod, Roux stepped over them and entered the building.

"How the hell did these monsters get so close to me?" Faure folded his arms. "I demand answers!"

Ramus' mouth set in a thin line. "Unless the prisoners divulge that information, I doubt we will know for certain. But we have not been able to keep your location entirely secret." He frowned. "If you wish for greater security, it will only come with a severe curtailing of your freedom of movement."

"Do it!" Faure ordered, glaring at Ramus, his hand trembling.

"It will mean going to a different location," Ramus warned. "Is that acceptable?"

"Um, well, I…"

"The building is in pretty bad shape!" Roux reported, stepping back out of the house. "Walls destroyed, bloodstains all over the place…Not much chance of staying here, either way."

Faure's shoulders slumped. "Fine. Just do it."

Ramus signaled a couple of the regular officers over. "Bring the Minister back to city hall and ask the Prefect to place him in protective custody in the apartment complex just south of there."

"Understood," one of the officers acknowledged, ushering Faure toward the same patrol car where his secretary sat.

As the first patrol car peeled away in the direction of city hall, three more officers fanned out around the mansion; one knelt in front of the bushes. Ramus turned to Sarsavat and held out his good hand. "I take it that they weren't any trouble?" he asked, jerking his head in the direction of the three vigilantes and their prisoners

Sarsavat shook his hand. "Everything wasss fine," he assured Ramus. "No problemsss. Although I will appreccciate returning to your headquartersss."

Turning from him to le Tirreur, Ramus held out his hand once more. "I should thank you for agreeing to help us here," he told him. "And I suppose I should be grateful that I'm not cleaning up more of our escapees off the pavement. Not that they don't deserve it…" he added, giving Mind-Wipe a hard look.

Le Tirreur chuckled sardonically but nevertheless took the offered hand. "You know, I thought long and hard about what you said, and I figured Chrysaor would prefer if I showed a little restraint. So… this is me showing restraint." He kicked Mind-Wipe in the back, right over the bandage on his arm, and Mind-Wipe let out a hiss of pain. "Don't get used to it."

Ramus raised an eyebrow. "Understood."

Mind-Wipe spat up at le Tirreur's face. "Remove this collar and we'll see how you fare against me!"

Le Tirreur ran a finger along his pistol's grip. "Don't tempt me," he retorted. "I might just take off that collar with one shot – and your head along with it!"

"I could just take another lap around the block," Ramus suggested ominously, as Roux removed his handcuffs from their spot on his belt and snapped them onto Mind-Wipe's wrists, cinching them as tight as they would go.

"I told you that you'd appreciate having someone with my skills around," le Tirreur observed, smirking. "Although I did think I'd see Œil de Lynx here, too. I was looking forward to a reunion – and maybe a rematch."

Ramus shook his head regretfully. "I will pass on your offer, but Officer Wilson was needed at city hall for protection duty," he explained. He grimaced. "That is where my entire team was – what's left standing of it, at least. Unfortunately, my team has been seriously depleted by recent events; we appreciate the three of you stepping up in Paris' hour of need to assist us."

Albailier shrugged. "I mean, after fighting that Tarasque-thing, Windy here wasn't all that much of a challenge!" he joked, poking Mistral with his foot.

Glaring up at him, she gnashed her teeth. "Yeah? Let's see how you manage with a broken wing!" she shot back at him, wincing in pain and cradling her broken arm.

"You want a rematch of that two-to-one fight?" Albailier's eyes flashed, and she pursed her lips. "Because I'll take you both down again!" He gave Ramus a repentant look. "I'm only sorry the chick with the flamethrower managed to get away."

"It's a pity you couldn't take out all seven of them in a single go," Roux noted, frowning. "That could still come back to haunt us…"

"Believe me, we know," Elementa interjected. "Chrysaor and Nabatala ran off to start searching for Sandy and Fire-Fly just as soon as we had collected these three."

Le Tirreur frowned. "I doubt that they'll find them," he mused. "Fire-Fly may be a fanatical pyromaniac, but she's not stupid."

Ramus hummed. "That may be the case, but as long as we have these two under wraps, the danger to the city is substantially reduced," he assured them, indicating Mind-Wipe and Dynamus. "I don't know what kind of trouble we would have been in if Mallarmé had remained at large. We can track down Sandy, Fire-Fly, and Monte-en-l'Air eventually."

A regular officer forced Mind-Wipe to his feet and prodded him into the van before doing the same with Dynamus. As he was doing that, two other officers picked up Mistral and half-dragged her into the van, laying her down at the feet of the other two.

Roux gave the van an evaluating look before nodding to the three vigilantes. "Thank you for this. It's–it's been a rough couple weeks for us, at least as much as for you."

"Glad I could help." Elementa folded her arms and pursed her lips, deep in thought. "So what happens now?"

"They go back to La Santé for a little longer," Ramus replied, raising an eyebrow. His eyes flashed in amusement as the three prisoners were manhandled into the van. "The Prison has had a complete refit since the breakout," he told them. "They're not going anywhere."

"That's great, but I mean, what happens with us?" Elementa clarified, gesturing toward the rest of the group. "Are we finished working with you, or are you going to need our help with Fire-Fly and Sandy?"

Ramus raised an eyebrow at Sarsavat in a question.

The alien nodded firmly. "They are to be trusssted," the alien assured him.

Albailier cocked his head in shock. "He speaks French?"

"When he wantsss to."

"Well, if you are offering…" Ramus began, raising an eyebrow.

Elementa shrugged. "I suppose I can keep helping you people. At least until the actual Heroes of Paris return. I didn't mind fighting alongside Chrysaor and Nabatala. And you two, I guess," she added giving le Tirreur and Albailier an amused look.

"Not like there's all that much else to be doing," Albailier agreed. "I suppose things will change if the Heroes of Paris ever find their way back here…"

Ramus met le Tirreur's eye, raising an eyebrow meaningfully.

Le Tirreur sighed heavily. "Fine. But this just goes to prove my point: you people need people like me."

"For today – for the foreseeable future – I don't know if I'm in any position to argue that fact," Ramus agreed, looking over at the van which was just pulling away. He pulled a trio of higher-end two-way radios out of a bag and handed them out to Tirreur, Elementa, and Albailier. "My Department is supposed to liaise between the Paris Police and the Heroes of Paris," he explained. "And if the three of you are working with Chrysaor and you're Paris' heroes, for now… well, I guess that makes you the 'New Heroes of Paris.' Meaning that you're my problem. But at least this way we can contact you if we need your assistance again."