Deplorability 2.5

10:00 AM.

On a Wednesday.

The Gang were in the bar, situated in the back room. Not wanting to be heard by their two customers. The members of the villain group were rubbing shoulders together, trying to make space in the cramped room.

"We all ready?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, Frank." Dennis said "So what is this meeting for?"

"To discuss the plan to rob the bank."

"The plan is discussed, Frank." Charlie rubbed his face. "We go in, we steal the shit, we attack the heroes, what else is there?"

"That's your problem, Charlie, Only thinking in simplistic terms."

"Like that's my fault?" Charlie was speaking with bile.

"It's not because of what you're thinking. You are still capable of long-term thinking."

"And long-term thinking MIGHT be necessary," Dee said. "We'd never done a job like this before. And last time we did anything that came close, we got our asses kicked."

"Right, so this meeting is necessary. We know the attack plan, now let's think about how we get what we need."

"And where's Taylor?" Mac asked. "Shouldn't we have all of our members, Frank?"

"My powers tell me she wasn't comfortable with our usual antics. So we should keep her out of this."

Mac pursed his lips. "Interesting, considering she volunteered to threaten and intimidate the bank hostages."

"She agreed to the bank robbery for money and kicks. And she not afraid to use fear to keep people from doing something stupid."

"Ok."

The rest of The Gang were looking at each other as if that could give them an explanation.

"Now, to start this meeting, We need to lay out everything we need. That's the whole point of the discussion here."

"Guns, for one," Dennis said.

"That's right. What else?"

"Transport," Dee said. "I don't trust you jackasses to use one of my cars."

"It's not like we'd break it!" Mac defended.

"Whatever, we'd need another car. Unless we use Dennis's or Frank's."

"Definitely not." Frank shot the idea down. "We use one of our own. And any garden variety thinker figures us out. No, we have to use another."

"Ok."

"Is that it?" Mac asked.

"There doesn't seem to be anything else." Frank threw his hands in the air. "So let's-"

"A hacker!"

Everyone turned to Charlie.

"One time, when we robbed the jewelry store. The good guys were able to analyze our new strategies because of the camera footage from the security cams. It's how they were able to take out my dogs so easily next time, they analyzed their attack pattern and planned accordingly."

"Sooooooooooo…" Dee trailed on.

"We need someone good with computers. Like a programmer, a coder."

"A hacker," Frank said.

"Yes, something like that."

"We don't know any hackers." Dennis rubbed his chin. "Think we can ask Bakuda?"

"After we kicked Lung's ass?" Mac asked rhetorically. "No, we need another method, some other tinker."

"Are there any other tinkers in the city?"

"There are three tinkerers in this city," Frank said, "and two of them are heroes, Armsmaster and Kid Win."

"Ugh, don't talk about Armsmaster," Mac asked them. "Ok, so those two are out. What about the last one?"

"Well, it might be even worse."

Mac leaned in slightly. "What could be even worse than accepting help from a bunch of heroes?"

Frank sighed. "The White Lovers. One of them is a hacker."

The men stood there silently, their mouths hanging wide open.

"What!?" Dennis shouted. "Those guys are incompetent! They're buffoons! I know you said we're more incompetent than them. But, we're really not. We're way better than those guys, based on the fact that we actually had victories."

"So have they! You haven't been the only dumbassess that have achieved victories."

"But proportionally, we've achieved more," Mac argued. "Cause we've gone out like, 5 times actually, but still had 2 victories."

"Wasn't one of them a…what's the word? When it 'was good and bad for you.'"

"Pragmatic?" Dee guessed.

"Yes! Wasn't one of them a pragmatic victory?"

"It still counts!" Mac argued. "Even if it didn't. That's still 1 to 5 compared to their, what? 2 to 20? They're way lesser! They can't help us!"

"First of all, you're only counting the times you were all together. Not the times you split up or the times you went alone."

"Hey! They always go out as a team! Why can't I count only those times where we do the same things?"

"There's also the fact that they succeeded more than 2 to 20. It was 4 to 20. Which means they have the same odds as you."

Mac put his hand to his chin. "Ok, maybe. But-"

"AND, we need a tinker. And as much as I hate to say it, and I know some of us will hate it, they're the best choice. Considering every other tinker will try to stop us, rather than assist."

Mac rubbed his chin. "Ok, where do we start?"

"We should split up. Getting these things won't cause too much trouble. so we can split up into three groups. Dennis and Mac will get the guns, and Dee and Charlie, the transport. I will deal with the White Lovers."

"What about the customers?" Charlie asked.

"Don't worry, I'll tell them to pay and to just take the drinks. And put the closed sign up. We need to do this now, or else we'll never get it. We'll make more money off this bank heist anyway."

"Ok, not a bad plan," Dennis said. "Just one problem. How are we supposed to get these things without them finding out we got them?"

"That is up to you. Get creative, think outside the box, and do whatever you want as long as you don't. Get. Caught."

"Right." The Gang said at the same time.

"Ok, let's move out. We have a bank robbery to prepare for."

Five minutes later

Dennis and Mac were in Dennis's car. Taking a drive. Thinking about what to do next. not knowing the road that lies ahead of them in their heist.

"Ok, we need to get the guns," Mac said. "How do we do that?"

"Well, we can't just buy them." Dennis pointed out. "Frank said not to get caught and buying guns that could be traced back to us is a GREAT way to get caught."

"So, we steal them?"

"Yes, we just need a way how." Dennis looked down, his hand on his chin, deep in thought. "I could use my power to do so. Control a guy that owns a gun shop? Have him give us the guns. That sound promising?"

"Ehhhh, I think we should avoid using your power like that. Unless you want a kill order on yourself. We already cut it close with you controlling Battery."

"Dammit. So what should we do? We can't buy them."

"And we can't steal them under our civilian-" Mac realized something. "We can do it, in our OTHER identities."

Dennis looked at him. "What're you suggesting?"

"That we rob him in our villain identities. That way, no one will know it was us. We wouldn't even have to go to our apartment! I mean unless you didn't leave your costume in the car."

"I did."

"Perfect, then this can work. Of course, it'll be weird if some supervillains rob a gun store with no prompting. They'll think it was for some mission. And we don't want them thinking that."

"We could rob some money too and just say 'we might as well take these guns.' to throw them off."

Mac clapped his hands together. "Perfect! That'll work dude! Nothing can top that!"

Dennis held up one finger. "Just one problem Mac."

"What?"

"How are we supposed to rob a GUN store with our powers? They're not exactly designed for an offense. Not to mention, what if we get into a cape fight? Only Charlie and Taylor are good in a fight. Which means we'd have to be careful."

"yeah…I wanted to talk to you about that."

"Talk to me about what?"

Mac leaned forward. "Dennis, something's up with Taylor."

"What do you mean? Are you talking about Frank going after her?"

"It's not just that! It's him hugging her, being nice to her, vouching for her-"

"And what do you think that means? That he's emotionally invested in her?"

"What other explanation is there? And that's the weird thing. He's not emotionally invested in anything! Except for his own exploits, selfish bulllshit, and money! Now, I'm not about to judge, only pointing out the inconsistency. What reason could he have for doing it? He's known for being a depraved son of a bitch, not some over-glorified nanny!"

Dennis shook his head. "Isn't it obvious? He's manipulating her."

"What?"

"Oh Mac…oh sweet gullible Mac…". He put one of his hands on Mac's shoulders "he's not emotionally invested in her. He's emotionally manipulating her." He leaned on at a red stop light. "I know Frank well enough to know that he's not emotionally invested in anything. Except for…all the things you mentioned, his exploits, his money, and himself. So the obvious conclusion is that he's NOT emotionally invested in her. He's using her. I mean," Dennis chuckled, and continued to drive, "you don't think any of us could get emotionally invested in anyone that wasn't ourselves, do you?"

It's more than that." Mac took Dennis' arms off of him. "It's Taylor herself. "I mean, Frank being nice to her would cause me to be suspicious of FRANK. But Taylor herself felt guilt over whatever you did to the douchebags at the environmental…campaign, or whatever."

"It was a gathering at a dump for the purpose of recycling trash."

"And you were a shithead to someone, right? You screwed someone over, which I said you do," Dennis rolled his eyes, and Mac continued, "and Taylor felt sorry about it, even though she's a villain?"

Dennis' face scrunched up. He turned to Mac. "What are you trying to say?"

"That there's something wrong with Taylor, something that differentiates her from us. What if we didn't pick up a villain? What if we picked up a hero?"

Dennis put one hand on his chin as he drove. "How would we prove that?"

"We'd have to test her. Have her do some evil shit at the bank robbery like shoot a baby, eat a kitten, become a politician."

"I don't think we should step on THAT minefield again."

"Well, we need something! Or else we are unknowingly working with someone who would sell us out and put us away! Do you know what it's like in prison, Dennis?"

"I know what it's like in prison, I watched The Oz."

"Yeah? And the same thing could happen to us. People dying, everyone dying, even the handicapped guy is dying! Terrible food, cold showers," Mac leaned in closer, "not to mention, anal restructuring, 24/7!"

Dennis nervously laughed. "Ok, I don't think they're doing that 24/7."

"Fine then! 28/23?"

"Ok, you clearly don't know how math works."

"So? If we go to prison, That's what's going to happen! To me! To you! I'm not having my butt filled with black guys ding-a-lings!"

Dennis was about to say something but decided against it. "Wait, why are they black?"

"What?"

"You said the guys raping us would be black."

"Those are the types of guys in prison!"

"Oof!" Dennis shook his head.

"What?" Mac held his hands out. "They're not the type of guys raping people. Just the types of guys, y'know, doing other stuff."

"Other stuff huh?"

"Yes, other stuff!"

"What other stuff are you talking about, Mac?"

"Just other-"

"Murdering and molesting!?"

"Okok, forget about it, forget about it, forget about it. It doesn't matter. We just need to find a way to test Taylor. But first…" Mac looked to the side. They arrived at the gun store. "Let's take those guns."

Dennis nodded. and they put on their masks.

Dennis and Mac took off their clothes, revealing their supervillain outfits underneath, and burst through gun store doors.

"NOBODY MOVE! " Dennis yelled. "THIS IS A-"

All of the sudden, the owner, the customers, and one elderly woman leaving the store with a shotgun pointed their weapons at the two supervillains.

Dennis and Mac froze.

"Oh…We never really did make a plan." Dennis suggested.

The customers cocked their guns.

"Oh shit..." Mac said.

Later

Charlie and Dee were in their supervillain costumes, their legs clutching the side of Judas's body as he rode through the daytime over the building's roofs. Leaping in great bounds and distances in order to get to their destination.

"You gonna tell me where we're going, Charlie?" Dee asked.

Charlie looked at Dee with an exasperated look. "Isn't it obvious?"

Dee leaned in slightly. "No! You haven't told me anything!" Charlie rolled his eyes. Dee continued. "All you told me was to put on my costumes and get on your dogs! I don't know where we're going! What we're doing! How are we going to get that transport?"

"Like this."

Judas finished running, and they ended up at a car shop called Honest Larry's.

Dee facepalmed. "Please don't tell me we're buying from this shop."

Charlie scoffed. "You think I told you to put on your costume to buy a car? No, we're going to steal it. From past experiences, it's easier."

"Ok, so what do we get?"

"We need to get a white van."

"A white van? Why a white van?"

"Uhhhhh, 'cause ALL criminals use white vans? Pay attention, Dee."

"Ok, don't you think we should AVOID getting a white van specifically for that reason?"

"What do you mean?"

Now Dee looked exasperated. "If we get a white van. Don't you think they'll suspect the ones in a white van of being used by criminals?"

"The cars they suspect of being used by criminals are red cars, speeding cars, and ice cream trucks."

"Ok, but-" Dee stopped herself. "Why-why Ice cream trucks?"

"What? You would trust a 40-year-old dude giving kids white ice cream with possible suspicious dressing?"

"EW! That-"

"That could-"

"-Doesn't happen."

"-happen!"

"Ugh! No!"

"The police know about it!"

"you're pulling this out of your ass!"

"Why do you think they drive so slow in school zones?"

"Oh come on! They drive slowly everywhere! There's no way that happens! That is not as big of a problem as you're suggesting."

Charlie blinked. "oh…I didn't know my entire life story was irrelevant to you."

Dee leaned back. "You-you were diddled by an ice cream man?"

"I didn't know you didn't care if children were molested by grown men with big mustaches, tiny dicks, and big hands!"

"Did he take you to the back and shoves cones up your ass?"

Charlie grabbed her. "ALL I WANT IS A WORLD WILL CHILDREN DON'T HAVE TO PLAY WRESTLING WITH MEN THREE TIMES THEIR SIZE AND LOSE EVERY TIME! HAVING TO GET THEIR ASS LICKED, HAVING TO SNIFF FARTS, GETTING DOGS TOYS SHOVED IN UNCOMFORTABLE PLACES, AND DUCKING UNDER A TABLE EVERY TIME THEY HEAR A SQUEAK! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK!?"

Charlie stared at Dee.

Dee replied. "Did you and your mom bone the mailman?"

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING!?"

"Oh! Right, you're right. My bad. It was the Ice cream guy!

"THAT IS NOT WHAT I-Judas?"

Judas started to sniff. When he was done, he walked in a direction and pointed with his body.

"We'll have to settle this later. He got a smell!"

"What? You mean we've been waiting for this dumb dog to smell some white van?"

"He's not dumb Dee, he's smart, really smart. Probably smarter than half of the people on this team."

You mean, you mean the WHOLE team right?" Dee scoffed. "Not just this current one. Cause ain't no way a dog is smarter than me."

"Just get on the damn dog. Let's go."

Charlie and Dee got on the damn dog and streaked off around the car dealership. "I trained Judas to smell different paint. Specifically, the white kind-"

"Woahowoahwoahwoahwoah," Dee said. "Different paints?"

"Yes. specifically the white paint. Which I was going to say until you rudely interrupted me."

"All paint are the same, Charlie! The only way they could smell differently is if they're made differently!"

"And the different colors are made differently!"

"No they're not!"

"Yes they are!"

"No they're not!"

"Yes, it's like the colors are different. So they must be made different, riiiiiight?"

"How are they made differently, Charlie?"

"The food coloring. Different food coloring! That's what works."

"And you think the dog can smell that!? That tiny difference!?"

"Yes! He's running now!"

"You think that's because of him smelling white paint!?"

"Yes! He's running now! Trust me we got this!"

Judas ran into the car dealership, and ran through the shop, when they were riding the beast. They noticed, Red trucks, black cars…

And a white van.

"Hell yeah! Whoo-Hoo! Great job, Judas! You're fantastic! Hey, wait-wait what are you-"

Judas ran right past the white van and went to a squirrel he spotted. The dog grabbed the squirrel with his teeth and tore it to shreds.

"Oooooook so he didn't find the-"

"Hmmhmm."

"-car."

"Yeah, yeah. Who could've seen that coming?" Dee raised her hand and smiled widely.

"Whatever. At least we found the white van. Let's get inside it."

"Get inside it how?"

"We'll use your power. Just go inside the car."

Dee looked befuddled. "How?"

"Sneak in!"

"How am I supposed to sneak in!?"

"Use your power, Dee! It's just obvious! You can sneak into anywhere with your power!"

"I can't sneak into a locked van with my power! It's not like I can teleport! We need a key!"

"Why didn't you tell me that!?

"Because you didn't-"

Suddenly they were hearing noises from somewhere else. Grumbling and complaining.

Larry was coming.

In another location

Frank checked and double checked the address in the apartment building.

8-D. Yeah. This is the place.

Of course, Frank didn't know that for sure. He made a guess with the knowledge at hand and planned accordingly. It took him five minutes to do this, half of the time he had every day to use his power, if not, he'd be back to square one and have to use too much and wouldn't have enough for the next day, during the bank robbery. And if that happened. The Gang would be completely screwed.

He nicked on the door. Hoping the person who opened it would be the right one.

A brown-haired, unibrow'd man opened the door. He had a blunt, butch, face, and average body, that's being displayed by his shirtless and shorts-shorts attire.

Liam Mcpoyle. Frank thought. Ok, I got that right. Let's see how far I got.

"Yes?" Liam asked.

"Liam Mcpoyle?" Frank said.

"Wait a second, how did you know my…hey…I know you…you were with The Gang back when they were having girls go wild in their bar."

Fran smiled. "So you remember me."

"It would be hard not to. What do you want?"

"May I come in?"

Liam stepped out of the way and Frank walked into the apartment.

Messy. Unorganized. Lazy. hates hard work. Rather live a comfortable lifestyle. Disdain for authority that isn't-

No, can't use my power yet. Frank thought. Hold off until I tell them my theory.

Frank sat down on the couch, trying his best not to sit on the stain and mildew. Liam sat on the opposite side of him.

"RYAN! WE HAVE A GUEST!"

The other Mcpoyle came out. He had short dark hair, the same unibrow as his twin, and more dorky facial features.

"Who's this?" he asked.

"You don't recognize him?"

Ryan leaned in. "oh! You're the person that was at Charlie's bar!"

"Yep." Frank stated.

"This isn't about Liam stabbing Charlie is it?"

Liam looked at Frank.

Frank shook his head. "This is about something else. You heard of The Gang?"

"Oh yeah. I heard of them! Word on the street is that Tattletale and the rest are planning a bank robbery."

"I can vouch for that."

Ryan's mouth was open and looked at Liam, who remained skeptical.

"How do you know this?" Liam said.

"Because I am Tattletale."

Ryan kept the same facial expression, as did Liam. however Liam stiffened and his body tensed.

Liam eyed Frank's figure. "Well if you're Tattletale…" Liam made a strange noise. "Prove it."

"My looks aren't enough? There's not a lot of short, older guys in this neighborhood. But ok."

Frank leaned forward. "For starters, you might already suspect this, but I know you two are The White Lovers."

Liam blinked. "Really?"

"And you have a disdain for authority members except for your own family members due to sexual love clouding your judgement."

Ryan's face scrunched up. "I wouldn't say it's clouding our judgment-"

"And you want to live a comfortable lifestyle, And Liam's power is to make anything once. Ryan got most of his moves from wrestling, AND-"

"Yes I get it." Liam said. "Impressive. I assume the knowledge was from your…power.

"Like a thinker?" Ryan asked.

"Yep, Don't ask. Won't tell. Unless you assist us."

"Us?" Ryan asked.

"You're referring to your team? The Gang?"

"Yeah, we need help with the camera at the Bank."

Ryan came to a realization.

"I'm not a hacker, Frank." Liam told him. "I'm an inventor. I could make anything."

"Once."

"I could make machines of dazzling complexity. Machine of supreme elegance. I could make a fleshlight that perfectly simulates a woman's genitalia."

"I can vouch for that." Ryan laughed.

"If you want me to give you a powerful cannon, I could do that. Want me to give a laser drill. That's easy. I could even make something that replicates powers. But hacking? I'm not a programmer like that."

"You made things to hack into other things before."

"I have."

"And you've never done it with cameras. Which means we could easily have you do it here. Just make a machine that can wirelessly hack into the camera."

Liam smiled. "And what do I get out of it?"

"I'll pay you five times what you make out of your youtube videos and your hauls combined, If you help us."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then the PRT might get wind of some of who The White Lovers really are."

Frank knew that wouldn't work. The PRT works by unwritten rules. Don't harm the villain too much, same with the heroes, or else they'll all come after you. But the question was whether or not they'll believe it.

Liam frowned. "Well, can't turn down an offer like that. I'm in."

Ryan looked at Liam. "you sure?"

"I won't be on the fray, Ryan. I will be safe. You need not to worry your tiny head about me."

"Ok, my love." Ryan licked Liam's ears. Which filled Liam with the ecstasy of a child eating a cream-filled pie.

"Ok, the plan is made. I guess it's done. I'll be back in six hours to pick up the device." Frank got up to leave

"Wait, One question."

Frank turned to look. "Yes?"

"Do the other members of the bar know about you bringing us on this mission?"

"No," Frank said. The lie came out smoothly and quickly. Anyone lesser would've fallen for it easily. The question was, would The Mcpoyles fall for it?

Ryan looked at Liam, who raised his chin. "Ok."

Frank smiled. "Well, I'll be going."

Frank left the apartment, closing the door behind him.

Well, that was simple. Frank thought. The others better be doing as good as I just did.

In another location…

"WE'RE NOT DOING AS GOOD AS THE FRANK!" Mac yelled.

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW!? OH SH-" Dennis screamed. Then avoided a bullet that nearly took off his ear.

The owner and customers were firing repeatedly at the two. Including the old lady, who was struggling to pump her shotgun. The two ran after Dennis messed with one of the customer's nerves and caused him to miss and fire a shot. He hit one of the other customers. And Dennis and Mac made a break for it and hid behind their car.

Dennis's and Mac's mind was moving at a million miles per hour. Trying to get their thoughts in order.

Eventually, Denis said, "okokokokok, we need a plan to take out all these guys at the same time! Use your darkness."

"That won't work!" Mac spoke over the gunfire. "I do that, and the second someone touches them, they shoot them! How would we stop them?"

"Shit!"

"Why don't we just use your nerve control?"

"I would have to see them in order for it to work!"

"Well, just because you see them, doesn't mean they can see you."

Dennis stuttered, "If-if peek out my head in any way whatsoever, they're going to shoot me! It won't work!"

"Fine!" Mac thought for a while. "Then we do both. I use my power then they can't see us and you use your power to cause them to misfire! They might even shoot in random directions and kill each other."

"Except they know we don't have a gun, so…unless…"

Mac made a rolling motion with his hand. "Unless?..."

"I GOT A GUN!" Dennis yelled.

"What? Oh! Right!"

Mac covered the area in darkness, the men couldn't see anything and were ready to try to leave the darkness. Until a gunshot was heard in the muffled water-like substance of the darkness. They fired in the direction. Until another gunshot was heard, and then fired in that direction, another gunshot, they fired, another fire, one more, she fired.

There was one left. The old lady.

Until Mac punched her so hard, she was bleeding from her lips and teeth splattered away from her body.

Mac took away the darkness. "Ok Dennis, it's clear."

"Perfect." Dennis stepped over the bodies of the fallen. "Now we can get the guns."

Mac nodded and they went into the store.

When they entered, Mac immediately jumped over the counter and stole some heavy machine guns, while Dennis turned the register over and beat it until it opened.

He grabbed some of the money. "Holy shit, there are, like, thousands of dollars in here."

"What do you expect, Bro?" Mac grabbed another gun. "In this climate, guns are essential. No matter what the unwritten rules say, guns definitely help against supervillains. It's no wonder people are buying them. Ok, I'm done."

Mac grabbed all the guns he could and stuffed them in between his arms.

Dennis took all the money and placed it in a storage bag. "Yep, so am I.

"Then let's blow this place, Dennis!"

Mac and Dennis walked out of the store. And to their car.

"The best part was when I punched the old lady. Man, it felt like cracking an oversized nut!" Mac said.

"Nono, the best part was when I-"

"Hey."

The voice was female, and came from above, directly in front of them. They looked up, and saw…

Shadow Stalker.

"Oh, shit…" Mac spoke under his breath.

"Something tells me you idiots aren't paying for that."

"Well…" Dennis tried to think of an explanation. "Would you believe it's buy one, get one free?"

Shadow Stalker tilted her head. "You must think I'm really fucking stupid."

"You said it, not me," Mac whispered.

Dennis looked at Mac. "She wasn't saying she was stupid, she was saying we think that. So all you're saying is that we think-"

"Don't ruin the joke, jackass!" Mac groaned. "Listen, Shadow Stalker. We paid for these guns. We just did it in our supervillain identities so that no one would track them to us."

"Oh, really?" Shadow Stalker folded her arms. "And-"

"And before you say it. No, we weren't going to use credit cards. that'd be stupid if we wanted to keep our secret identities."

"That wasn't what I was going to fucking say, and I don't think it's any stupider than trying to convince me you didn't break any laws when there are literary bodies behind you."

Mac and Dennis looked at the few people behind them, bleeding and holding their wounds in pain.

"They were like that when we got here?"

Shadow Stalker tensed. "I'm not fucking stupid. I know that you fucking shot them, I know you fucking stole those guns, I know you're fucking lying to me. So you can either come quietly, Or I can kick your ass."

"Woah! Woah!" Dennis swiped with both of his arms at the same time. "We didn't shoot any of them."

"Bullshit."

"I'm serious! I'm actually telling the truth for once in my life! Don't dismiss me!"

"You're pissing me off."

"Oh no! I'm pissing off a psycho! Oh no, I'm pissing off a singular ward! We took on The Protectorate before! You don't fucking scare us!"

"Uhhh, she scares me, dude!" Mac squeaked. "Don't tempt her!"

"Don't worry, you have my help now. We're the predators here. She's the prey."

Shadow Stalked stood there silently, not moving, not talking. Just silently sulking in pure fury.

"Say. That. Again."

"What? The fact that you're prey?"

That was it. Shadow Stalker could no longer contain her blistering rage. She turned into her wispy form and was preparing to shoot at Dennis. Mac stopped her with her darkness, and she cursed to herself. She started jumping between the buildings. And then into the street, firing shots at Mac all the while. Or rather, where she thought Mac was.

Mac dropped the guns and was trying to disarm her, while Dennis got inside the car and placed the money in the back seat.

"Come on Mac, Let's go!"

"I'm a little busy here!" Mac said while avoiding another arrow. "Just use your nerve powers! Make her slip up!" Mac was desperately trying to catch her.

"It doesn't work on her when she's in this form, you're on your own."Why didn't you just shoot her with the guns!?"

"She's transparent! It won't work!"

"I don't think that's how transparency works!"

"Fine! Transexual!"

"No, I don't think that's how that works either!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"What makes you think you can stop her?"

"All I have to do is grab her gun."

"The gun that's INTANGIBLE."

"What's your point!?"

Dennis scoffed.

Mac tried to grab Shadow Stalker repeatedly, only for her to jump to a new location several times. She was moving slower than usual, but not enough to make a significant difference. The fight was like a normal person trying to catch a housefly and failing.

Shadow Stalker jumped from street to street, flying randomly, sometimes stopping, jumping to fire in one spot, only to move again. It was an effective strategy…

Until Dennis shocked her.

She went to her normal form instantly, holding her right side.

"Woah! What happened there?"

"I remember something Frank said. He said, 'Shadow Stalker is weak to electricity. As a matter of fact, as long as the attack isn't physical in nature, like pepper spray, heat rays, or whatever, the negro will go down."

"Really? 'The negro'? He really said that?"

"Yeah, I-I didn't approve of it either.

"Ha! Looks like I won the day this time! What's wrong, Shadow Stalker? You sad? You scared? You angry? you-

Shadow Stalker stabbed him with an arrow in the foot and Mac went down screaming.

"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Dennis grabbed Mac and backed off with him. "What the hell!? You just stabbed one of us with an arrow that is definitely not the training kind."

Shadow Stalker struggled to get up. "I am…going…to…kill…both of you."

"Not likely," the voice said, "unless you want to stay on probation."

The voice was revealed to be Aegis, the leader of the Wards, and one of the strongest members.

Yeah…

"I told you I had this." Shadow Stalker complained.

"There were two of them. Thought I'd give a helping hand."

Shadow Stalker scoffed.

"Aegis?" Mac said. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Like I said. I thought I'd help. What happened to your foot?"

"Oh, well you see-"

"I stabbed him in the foot with a knife he tried to use against me." Shadow stalker said.

"Now stalker, you know how the PRT sees excessive violence."

"It wasn't excessive! It was self defense! They knew my weakness somehow!"

"They did?" Aegis put his hand to his chin. "Must be Tattletale, they've been more successful ever since they had him."

"Th-that is the biggest load of shit I ever heard!" Mac said.

"Oh? So you…HAVEN'T been more successful with Tattletale?"

"Wh-bu-th-not that! I wasn't talking about that! I was talking about-

"We wasted enough time talking." Shadow Stalker said.

"I agree. So," Aegis cracked his knuckles, "which one wants to go first?"

Dennis and Mac stayed silent.

"Oh shit…" Dennis said.

Somewhere else.

"What the hell is going on over here!?" Larry yelled. Walking to the loud noise.

He was storming about, walking in a huff, clearly in a negative mood.

"Never a moment's peace around here. Always something popping off, always something-WOAH!"

Larry found the beast. Found the cause of the noise…

He found one of Charlie's dogs.

The dog growled, ready to attack.

"Easy boy." Larry held out his hand. "I'm not going to hurt you. I won't hurt you."

He took his time walking towards him. Trying his hardest not to agitate him.

"I'm here. You can trust me."

The dog snorted. Larry tried his hardest not to jump. When he made it in front of him, he held his hand out in front of his nose and waited for him to sniff. Ignoring the sudden faintness, he was feeling.

The dog eyed him suspiciously.

Larry gulped. "It's ok, sniff it."

The dog sniffed the hand, then licked him.

"See? You can trust me…it's fine…just…just…"

Larry passed out. And Dee turned off her power.

"Ok Charlie! He's out." Dee called out.

"Really? Great!" Charlie got out of cover, and walked up to Dee. "Whoo-hoo! Let's get his keys!"

Dee searched in his pockets. "Got them." Dee was going to say something, then Charlie spoke.

"Perfect! Let's put them in the van." Charlie took the keys and went to the van.

"But Charlie, how do we know it'll even work?"

"Come on, it has to work because-"

"How do you know? How do you-"

"Because the plan won't work without it! Watch, I'll prove it." He pressed a button.

Another car beeped.

"Uhhhhh…let me try that again."

He did, the same car beeped.

"Let me try one more time."

He did, the same care beeped.

"...one more time."

"It's a different car Charlie!" Dee said. "Doesn't matter how much you press it. It's going to be the same car!"

Charlie paused. "One more time."

"He didn't bring the keys!"

"Maybe it doesn't matter." Charlie walked to the car, Dee and the dog following him. "Maybe it'll still work."

"What will? The keys?"

"Yes maybe the keys-"

"There's no way-"

"-will still work!"

"It'll still work! They're different keys!"

"How many keys and keyholes do you think will be made until one of them overlaps?"

"They won't overlap! They'll never overlap!" Dee was getting increasingly annoyed and exasperated. "You're talking out of your ass!"

"You're talking out of your ass!"

"No, you're talking out of your ass!"

"No, YOU'RE-" Charlie huffed. "Look we're getting nowhere. If you don't think that will work I have another Idea."

"What?"

"Judas! Tear!"

Judas compiled and teared the car door off the hinges, so quick that you would miss it if you blinked.

"WOAH!" Dee said.

"Haha! Perfect! What ya think of that!?"

"You had him…" Dee mimicked the action of someone tearing something. The same way a child mimics a dance, "just tear open the car!?"

"yep!"

Dee paused. "Why didn't you just have him break the window!? And then we could hot-wire it!"

"Dee, be real here. We don't know how to hot-wire a-a car!"

"How does ripping off the door hinges stop us from having to hot-wire it!?"

"Dee, don't question my mind!" Charlie yelled. "We find another way!"

"How!?"

Charlie thought for a second. "He probably left the keys in the sun-visor. We'll check there."

"The sun visor? the sun visor!? Clearly, you don't have above a fourth-grade education. People don't leave their keys in the sun visor. This isn't an action movie! That doesn't happen in-"

"Found them!" Charlie shouted.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well damn."

"Ok, get on Judas, I'll be taking this boy out of here."

"Wait, Charlie, do you know how to drive a car?"

"Of course!" He put the keys in. "Well, I know enough." He turned the keys, "Almost." He put the car in drive. "Kinda." He put his hands on the steering wheel. "How hard can it be?"

"Ok Charlie, if you don't know then just-"

Dee was interrupted by Charlie running over her foot. Dee screamed in agony, holding her foot and jumping in pain. Charlie meanwhile, ran into a car. He put the car in reverse and turned, but he ran into another car. He put the car in drive and ran into another car. He put the car in reverse and looked in the mirror to see if anyone or anything was behind him, there wasn't, so he moved backward.

He still ran into something.

"Oh shit, this steering wheel must be on the fritz or something!"

He put the car in drive and steered with patience, and manages to move without crashing.

"Never mind." Charlie said. "See you at the bar Dee!"

"Wait Charlie! How are you going to leave me here with a broken foot!? Charlie! How are you going to leave me here with-"

He drove away.

"Oh, goddammit!"

Back at the bar. Six hours afterward.

Frank was walking down the sidewalk, proud of himself for a job well done, figuring out who The White Lovers were wasn't easy. But he managed and got them something to hack into the cameras with ease.

Yes, he hasn't been at the bar, he was at Charlie's and his apartment. Taking a load off. For some reason Charlie wasn't there. He figured he must've been at the bar. So he was going there.

He walked through the door. "Hello! I-holy shit."

The scene was strange. Dennis' arm was in a cast, Mac's foot was bleeding, Dee's foot was in a cast, Charlie was bleeding and looking sore.

The only one that looked normal was Judas.

"Frank!" Dennis shouted. "Where were you!? We've been texting you for the entire time we were here!"

"I've been taking a load off! My phone was turned off!" He said. "What happened?"

"Oh that," Charlie said. "That's a funny story."

"Waitwait…don't tell me. Dennis and Mac got into a fight with Shadow Stalker. Shadow Stalker was tased by Dennis, but she stabbed Mac in the foot. Then Aegis showed, then Mac ran away, then he broke Dennis' Arm, THEN Dennis had Shadow Stalker shoot Aegis in the balls…and Dee got her foot run over by Charlie."

"You forgot me."

"You crashed the car?"

"Just a fender bender!" Charlie threw his hands up in a defensive manner. "But the guy I crashed into, had a very VERY short temper. And when one guy jumps on a villain, everyone joins in…"

"And you got away by acting like you were using your power."

"Yes."

"Ok, well, I got the device."

Mac reached down. "Got the guns." Mac held up the guns.

"We got the car. at the expense of my foot." Dee rubbed her foot.

"Well, I think we're ready!' Frank said.

They all nodded.

Dennis smiled. "Let's go do this shit."

Mac's face scrunched up. "What do you mean?"

Dennis looked at him. "I was saying-"

"Isn't it a day away?"

"I know it's a day away!"

"Then why were you-"

"I was trying to say something-"

"-saying 'let's go do this shit' that doesn't make any sense!"

"Interesting, y'know, I was trying to say something cool, Mac!"

Mac gave him a look. "Y'know what? Drop it! drop it! just forget and I said it and move on!"

Frank gave him a look as well.

Dennis avoided his gaze.