We rode the PRT van back to the station, after a short stop at the holding cells.

The villains were a mess. Cricket was mostly fine outside of some bruised ribs, and a mild concussion but I'd dislocated Stormtiger's leg at the hip and knee, something that almost had me cringing in sympathy.

Then again he had tried to decapitate me.

Squeeler and Skids were in simultaneously better and worse shape. Better in that they weren't actually all that injured. Worse in that unless Mush and Trainwreck organised an escape for them ASAP they'd probably start detoxing some time in the following day.

That they'd just quietly gone along with the arrest was somewhat off-putting. Maybe my anima banner had gotten to them, or maybe they just realized it was more trouble then it was worth. Risk/benefit analysis was a skill both a successful crime lord and successful drug dealer required after all.

Then again so was the ability to resist sampling your own product. So maybe there was something I wasn't seeing going on.

Either way it hadn't stopped Skidmark from teaching me a delightful new set of cusses along the way to lock up.

On the bright side Dauntless was doing his level best to try and win his way back into my good books along the way.

Mostly by telling me how to cheat the system.

"So if you sign up with a the set up for an associated independent rather then the provisional membership they'll still give you a basic stipend, but more importantly you'll also still be legally able to tap into the police broadband," he explained.

"Codes and all?" I questioned.

"Ah, that's the trick of it," he said with a knowing grin. "See without being a provisional member you are not obligated to know the codes, but as an associate you can still get an up to date reference book on request."

"Oooooh, I like that," I grinned.

"It's kind of a hold over from the eighties," he explained. "They couldn't obligate non-members to keep things up to standard, but back in the era of the Brockton Bay Brigade they needed a quick and dirty way to keep everyone working together as seamless as they could. Protectorate and independents."

"Doubt it's the only hold over like that either," I smirked working though things quickly. "You're pretty good at this aren't you?"

"I like reading," he said as a simple explanation.

"What? Protocol books?" I asked surprised.

"And law," The Centurion themed hero declared without shame.

"Huh."

"What?" he added, getting a bit defensive, "It's only practical! I mean we live dealing with this sort of thing."

"Point," I consented.

"You should read more about this," he pointed out.

I winced, "Yeah been meaning to get to that."

"Can't put it off forever," Dauntless warned with a serious look to his face. "Protocol's important. Upholding laws, knowing you're limits? That's the difference between a hero and a violent maniac looking for an excuse."

My mind immediately went to Shadowstalker.

Then it shifted a bit as I wondered just exactly where on that access I fell. Probably not as far onto the hero end as I wanted.

"I'll try and make time for it after this gang war's contained," I grunted.

"You mean after you've 'broken down Kaiser's empire underneath him?'" The hero questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Ah, he'd heard of that.

"Take out the leaders, spark an even worse conflict," I rationalized simply. "Got to pull this mess out by it's roots."

"That sort of rationality can lead to some pretty messy consequences," he warned.

"Only if you're obsessed with getting them all," I countered. "If you damage their support structure enough to let it collapse, you can still bring down the organisation with a minimal of collateral damage."

"Assuming you can safely pick your targets," he added pointedly.

"Thinker," I chimed tapping my own temple.

Dauntless laughed, "Right. So long as you got you're bases covered."

"Speaking of that... food?" I asked looking over at him.

"Pizza cool?" he questioned.

I grinned, "Very cool. No pineapples or sea foo-" I stopped for a moment. Right, I wasn't allergic anymore. All allergies burnt out with the new body. "Sorry reflex. Just no pineapples."

"No pineapples, got it!" he agreed as we walked into the station proper.

"Don't suppose you could hold the paperwork to?" I most definitely did not plead.

"No," he said flatly, a grin on his face.

Ah well, it was worth a shot.