Three weeks later
Tuesday, June 17th, 2014
City of Chicago
Joshua had just arrived in Chicago, on the Amtrak, from New York.
His reasons for visiting Chicago were two-fold. He wanted some time off, away from New York; a change of scene if you like. He also wanted to see if he could catch a glimpse of Kick-Ass, Hit Girl, and Shadow, in action. He knew that that would probably be impossible, but he would not know, unless he tried. He spent a couple of hours down by the water of Lake Michigan and he enjoyed a relaxing afternoon. He was staying in a very, very cheap 'place'; he would not actually call it a hotel.
He needed space to walk and think not to mention somewhere clean to eat.
..._...
The plan was to go out each evening, not as Feral, but as himself – Joshua. He wanted to search for the team, to see if he could find them – but only to observe, nothing more.
He had to admit that he had absolutely no idea about where to start. Well, that was not strictly true; he had done some research, so he knew which areas would probably not be patrolled by the team. That left other areas, which he would 'patrol'. He went out only after dark, until about one in the morning.
He had to do his very best to keep to the shadows and avoid the police and anti-social assholes.
Three days later
Friday, June 20th
Evening
City of Chicago
Joshua was starting another night of wandering around Chicago.
He was not sure, exactly, where he was, but he knew that he was in the northern part of Chicago and he had a feeling that I was in a bad area.
Then I hit pay dirt!
..._...
It was after ten that night when right there in front of him, he saw a black Range Rover turn into an alley and park up.
That, in itself was out of the ordinary. You did not park a vehicle worth over one hundred thousand dollars in a dark alley at night. Unless, of course, you were Fusion – the boy had seen the registration plate. He kept myself hidden, and he watched, as first Hit Girl, and then Kick-Ass emerged. Kick-Ass went around to the rear and he opened the tailgate, allowing a dog, wearing cool body armour, to jump down to the ground. Kick-Ass picked up the dog's leash and he walked around to where Hit Girl was waiting. The back door of the Range Rover opened and a much shorter vigilante, appeared. That had to be Shadow. He had found them, and they looked fucking cool.
He did not dare move, as they might very well kill him on sight. He lay there and watched the Range Rover. About an hour later, he heard gunfire, but it was some distance away, so I ignored it. Another half an hour later, all three Heroes suddenly reappeared, running hard. Kick-Ass opened the tailgate of the Range Rover, throwing in a large holdall and the dog jumped in beside it, before Kick-Ass closed the tailgate. Shadow dived into the back seat and Kick-Ass jumped into the driver's seat. Several men burst out into the alley and they started shooting at the Range Rover. Hit Girl was shot a few times, as she climbed in. Joshua hoped that her suit would protect her from the bullets.
The Range Rover accelerated away, with a roar and he carefully left the alley, without being seen.
..._...
Wow, those Heroes were something else.
Not just them, but their weapons and their equipment. They all seemed to carry a broad selection of weapons and firearms, including melee weapons.
Joshua was seriously impressed.
He went back to the 'hotel', before heading back to New York the following lunchtime.
Two weeks later
Friday, July 4th
Safehouse A, New York
He found a little surprise that morning, while he was wandering around the internet.
Two very hot, You Tube videos, which had tens of thousands of hits, starring . . . Hit Girl and Shadow. Joshua had to admit, seeing them in action, was FUCKING AWESOME! He watched the video, almost a dozen times and maybe more. Their language was, well, foul. Nevertheless, their actions in winding up the hostage takers was, to say the very east, unorthodox but cool and effective. Joshua hated girls talking about their periods; it freaked him out a bit and was also quite a bit embarrassing. One thing hit him, though, Shadow. Wow. Those damn legs were very long and very hot. They reminded the boy of Chloe's legs; hers were long like that and they were among the many things that Joshua liked, if not loved, about the girl. Overall, Shadow did look a little familiar. Hit Girl was hot too, and with those swords . . .
Well, he knew what he would be thinking and dreaming about in bed, that night.
One Police Plaza
New York
"Hey, Lieutenant, I sent you a link. You might enjoy it."
Marcus checked his email and he found the link. He clicked it and a browser window popped up; it was a You Tube video. He read the title: 'Hit Girl and Shadow show their attitude!'
'Oh God! What has that girl got herself involved with now?' he thought.
A bank heist!
Those two over there . . . that must be the girls. Those men are idiots; they watch too many damn movies. Damn that girl has a foul mouth. 'Compensating, are we?'. That made Marcus laugh; cheeky bitch, she really knew how to piss people off. Now, that was evil, and he was a bit surprised at Chloe for joining in; she seemed such a nice, well-mannered, young girl. Marcus supposed that hanging around with Mindy could change anyone; just look at Dave.
Wow. Chloe has some attitude and a mouth just like Mindy's; maybe he should buy her a swear jar. So, that's why they wanted Hit Girl. Chloe kinda described Hit Girl, very accurately, Marcus thought.
That girl had no shame. Nice response, though.
Now, Marcus had seen Mindy kill before, in that video when he had also lost somebody who he cared an awful lot about: Damon. However, seeing the girl kill, in full gory detail. Marcus had to admit, she was good at it, no wasted movements, swift and clean.
Jesus! Chloe just stabbed the fucker. She almost lifted him clean off his feet. Talk about 'attitude', wow. That move had really surprised Marcus; he did not blame her, but damn.
..._...
Marcus watched the video again and he started laughing; it was kind of amusing in parts.
Although, he thought both Chloe and Mindy owed the swear jar a few bucks. He picked up his cell and dialled.
"Morning, Lieutenant!"
"I see you have been having period problems again," Marcus chuckled, trying not to laugh.
"What! Oh. You've seen the bank video," Mindy said.
"Yeah, just now; impressive. But the language from you two," he laughed.
"It kinda suited the situation," Mindy admitted. "Chloe thinks on her feet, very fast; I was really impressed with her."
"She did surprise me; I'll admit that. Rather reminds me of your first period; now that was an epic saga. Keep forgetting to tell that story to Dave," Marcus teased.
"Don't you dare, Marcus! Honestly . . . I . . . will . . . kill . . . you!" Mindy almost screamed, down the phone, in a panicky voice.
"That the best you've got," Marcus responded, refusing to be intimidated.
"For now, yeah," Mindy replied, calming down.
"Gotta go!" Marcus said with a laugh.
Three days later
Monday, July 7th
Safehouse A, New York
Joshua woke up with mixed feelings that morning.
He was fourteen. Hip, hip, hurray!
However, I was alone.
He missed his Dad, so much that it hurt. Days like that just sucked. Easter was bad enough, but knowing that he had nobody to be with, on that day of all days. Normally, he would have been with his Dad and then with his friends, especially his best friend. He missed her the most, so he had checked out her place, only to find that she had moved. She was the only person that he would have wanted to be with that day.
It was not just his Dad, who he missed; he missed Chloe, too.
Updated: January 2018