The next day, his strength was at about 75%; the pain was a constant, but he could work through it, as he did for the past 2 decades. In fact, in 12 hours he was strong enough to dress himself and wake her. "you ready?"

"what? how?" Cassie said as she forced herself awake. With how sick he was last night she was sure she would out sleep him.

"get on my back" he said, his voice was still weak and scratchy because of the neck trach but that was just how he normally sounded.

"again-what?" she said, but then she realized, if she was no longer sick he could move at a hundred miles per hour so she should probably just go along for the ride. She got her bag, secured it to her back, put her arms around his shoulders like a piggy-back ride, and then clamped her hands together to make sure she didn't go flying off.

Kabal opened the door. "ready?" he asked jokingly.

"sure…" as if she had a choice.

At top speed Kabal exited the room, somehow managed to open, and then dive through a pothole, back to his home in the sewers, all without slowing- or causing Cassie to hit her head on the way down. He took her through several miles of sewer tunnels, making specific turns, as if he had a map committed to memory.

"so, you live like a ninja turtle," she said as the finally landed in the isolated area he called home.

"you're funny..." he said opening a door that appeared to be hand carved in to the wall. He put her down and turned on all 4 lights in the small room. This room seems to connect to several tunnels, all of which had their own metal doors.

"what kind of cell reception do you get down here?" she said putting her bag down.

"I have that covered." He made his way to a pair of crutches then proceeded to limp over to a handmade "fuse box"; a massive box of random wires (some with cords attached, to making calls, electricaloutlets, etc, some with giant cables leading to other rooms). This was where he was stealing electricity, phone and even internet. "I can show you what goes to where, later. Let's continue with the tour." he said, still using the crutches.

"Why didn't you have crutches last night?" she asked.

"I can either move as fast as a car or not at all- and whenever I go to the surface, there's never really a reason to move slow." he said turning on even more lights as they went through the main tunnels. She didn't question it; in the stories her mother told, Kabal's legs were broken and reset for super speed and his lungs and heart were reinforced with mechanical components to allow for circulation (so he didn't pass out every time he used his power); this fit with everything she was seeing.

They walked through the main sewer system, a massive (gross, wet, smelly) tunnel where Kabal could exit via any number of drains or manholes. But then there were side exits that lead to other rooms. These exits were equipped with doors that prevented the rooms from getting flooded, as well as giving a camouflaged appearance for when actual city workers came down.

She was about to ask why there were so many rooms when a manhole cover opened and girl with a large military pack jumped down. "Why is Barbie-girl here?!" asked the red headed the girl from the night before.

"Don't be jealous Kira" Kabal said, helping her take off her pack. She had been on the surface world getting supplies.

"We'll maybe you can make her get your supplies next time." Kira brought had food, medical supplies, along with a variety of illegally obtained drugs and painkillers.

Whatever money he got from fights went towards his addiction to illegal pain killers- but also to his underground charity (so the karma balances out). He would hand over the money to Kira, to go "shopping", and she would return with an abnormally large supply of items.

"The rest is outside." she knocked on one of the doors. Several homeless looking teenagers came out. "Help me bring down the rest of the bags!" she ordered.

That explained all the rooms; Kabal created a system of shelters for junkies, runaways, or simply homeless people abandoned by the world. He had nothing to offer other than a free bed (and whatever supplies he could afford.) He asked for nothing in return, except for his guests to not start fights while in the shelter; only because such noise and/or bloodshed might draw unwanted attention from the city.

"You do not give orders to our guests," Kabal said, "I will return shortly." he lead the small team to gather the rest of the supplies, apologizing for Kira's behavior as they made the climb to the surface.

"So did Kabal train you?" Cassie asked, just to break the uncomfortable silence.

"I trained with Kabal for 5 years; he's like a father to me", Kira said, trying to sound intimidating.

"I can totally see that! I abandon my to father overdose on pain killers all the time!" Cassie added with a sarcastic smile.

"Considering who your father is I don't doubt that at all," Kira smiled back before continuing, "I take care of Kabal. His body is in a constant state of pain; a normal person would have grown numb to it by now, to avoid going insane, but for him, numbness is the same as death. So he self medicates just enough to keep himself focused. In short- this is not the first time he accidently overdosed, he would have been fine! "

"I've seen his body." Cassie said rolling her eyes, "and you seem to be doing a great job taking care of him!"

"That's my problem; you've seen his body, you spent the night wit him in a hotel, " Kira said, looking around to make sure Kabal was not nearby. "He sees something in you, and it's not "talent". " Kira resisted the urge to go further down that path, this whole conversation was not worth her time.

"But if having you here can keep him from going off the deep end-, I'm ok with that," she took a deep breath before continuing. "But if you break his heart I'll break your f*****g face. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to my room." Kira knew this was one fight she could not win, at least not today. If Kabal wanted Cassie here, there was nothing she could do to change his mind. She would have to wait for Cassie to screw things up on her own.

Cassie watched her leave for a room about 100 feet away, then slam the door hard enough to cause a ripple through the tunnel. "I guess I should go see if they need any help," Cassie said to herself.

She went to the surface to see if the group needed any help. They did; Kira had 10 packs full of "stuff" enough supplies for however many guests were housed in the tunnels. "Where do we actually put this stuff?" Cassie asked as they got it all down. The answer was long and complex as there seemed to be over a 100 hidden rooms; each receiving a delivery. They took the supplies to a central location where they were sorted in to packages.

"How often do you have to play postman?" she asked, but it was all actually kind of fun.

"As often as needed." He took over half the packages and used his speed to reach the rooms that were further away.

"I guess I'll see you later then."

After a long day of putting away food, and medicinal supplies, she went to bed in the room she originally put her bag down in; his room.