Chapter 10-3

"SLOW DOWN! SLOW DOWN!"

"Would you please be silent, Alabaster? She needs to concentrate. Driving a vehicle with only one's hearing is harder than it looks. Isn't that right, Banshee?"

I yanked the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding a pothole while ramming another zombie. The creature was caught by Hookwolf's blades and ripped apart in the meat grinder that has replaced his torso.

"Red, I'm driving a taxi, which I'm pretty sure is stolen, down a ruined street, blind, while trying to ram any zombies I come across. Our only protection is the fact that you somehow convinced Hookwolf to hold on to the hood and grind the zombies into paste as they hit the car. Alabaster kind of has a point here: This wasn't a very good plan."

"I respectfully disagree." Red replied to me, sounding quite offended. "Hookwolf's skill with his power allows us to eliminate dozens of the creatures without damaging the vehicle and your hearing lets you drive, even when the windshield is covered in viscera." She pointed to the window, which was completely covered in horribleness and impossible to see through. It didn't block my hearing, of course, but that wasn't the problem.

"Which is perfectly fine, except I don't actually have a driver's license."

"YOU DON'T HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE?!" Alabaster screamed.

"Learner's permit. I can drive just fine and I can hear obstacles coming my way, so stop worrying already." I decided to ignore the panicking Nazi in the back from now on. Honestly, if he kept this up, I'd have to silence him. "I'm just saying, a lot of people are going to see this as reckless or something. Miss Militia's probably going to shoot you for this."

Red grunted, but didn't reply. The two of us sat in silence for a while.

"You are angry." She finally said.

I snorted in response. "You don't fucking say." I quickly silenced the area around us. No need for our passengers to eavesdrop.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"What? No, it's not you, it's… Look, my life is a mess right now. It's not your fault, it's just…" I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, floored the gas pedal, and listened as another zombie was reduced to a gory mess. Echolocation really was bullshit. "It's all going wrong. I was going to join the Wards and then everything was supposed to be better. Now…"

"Things are not as you have hoped…"

"I know it's naïve to think that the superheroes are perfect and all that, but this… I don't know what to do, Red. The PRT is making mistake after mistake and they just aren't learning. I mean, they want to hire the bitch who threw me in a locker full of shit and walked away. She has powers now, they say. It changed her and now we have to be all accepting and pretend she's an actual human being." I forced myself to breath. Forced myself not to snap the steering wheel in half. "I can't do it, Red. I can't do this anymore."

"And yet, you haven't left…"

I shook my head. "Where am I supposed to go? I can't just stop going out in costume and if I do this alone… How am I supposed to forgive this?" Red suddenly became very quiet and part of me wondered if I'd crossed a line. "Oh, god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"I'm not offended, little one." She calmly replied. "If anything, I think you might have it easier than I do, in that respect. The Corpus are…pure evil. They serve only themselves and hurt others for their own personal gain. No one expects me to forgive them because they are beyond forgiveness. Your demons, though… They have sympathetic sides to them. They hurt you because they are hurt themselves. What they've done to you was never out of malice."

"I can't just forgive them."

"Some part of you already does. If you really couldn't, then you would have resigned already."

"I just said…"

"…that you have nowhere else to go." Red interjected. "If the PRT had really crossed the line, that wouldn't have mattered. You would have hunted them down like animals anyway. It is in your nature."

I did not like the implication. "I wouldn't…"

"Yes, you would. Try to deny it. Try telling me a victim of betrayal would allow a criminal PRT to exist." The smirk on her mask was almost audible. "You are a warrior, little one, but if my time here has taught me anything, it's that not everything can be solved with violence." She sighed and looked at Hookwolf. He was shredding another monster into pieces like a human wood chipper. "If only it were so easy, then our problems would have been so much more managable…"

We sat in silence, for a while. Well, the two of us, that is. Alabaster was still screaming in the back, occasionally rattling the grate between the driver's and the passenger's cabin. Eventually, he got on my nerves and I silenced him with my power. Not that I felt much sympathy for the pale Nazi. He had insisted on coming with us, after all. In case we got any ideas.

He didn't sound so uptight anymore.

"Why did you join the PRT, instead of an organization like the Empire?" Red asked, out of the blue.

"What? How…what does that even mean?"

"Not to say you should, but… Perhaps I should rephrase that." At least she had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. "You obviously despise the PRT, and I do not think you care much for vague and nebulous ideals."

"That doesn't make me a fucking Nazi! Seriously, what the hell? Do I look like a racist to you?"

"The PRT openly bans parahumans from their ranks. The government it works for doesn't allow Thinkers to hold positions of power. Isn't that racism too?"

"That's completely different. That's…" Not all that different, in the end. Fuck. "They're criminals."

"And the PRT has never broken the law?"

I gritted my teeth. Walked right into that one. "It's not the same, okay? Just because the PRT sucks doesn't mean the Nazis are any better."

Red sighed, almost sounding disappointed. "That's not what I meant, little one. I just want to know if you're doing this for the right reason. You shouldn't be working for them because they are, as Assault would say, 'the shiniest of two turds'. Any healthy relationship is built upon mutual trust. You do not trust the PRT. The PRT does not appear to trust you. You have to ask yourself if what you're doing is in anyone's best interest. The PRT will not change for you. How far are you willing to change for them?"

"And signing up with Kaiser is somehow better?"

She snorted. "Of course not. Kaiser is a fool. He desires power and control above all else, but fails to realize is that power is a trap. The more you have, the more you desire and he will spend the rest of his days trying to quench an ever increasing thirst. Hookwolf, on the other hand, has more…realistic desires: companionship, strength, respect of his peers. He has what he wants and is…content. Do not be fooled by his brutish exterior. He is a wiser and more worthy man than he appears."

"Almost sounds like you have a crush on him." I joked.

"I respect his strength, little one, and I would be lying if I said I didn't find him…alluring."

Slowly, I began to realize what she was implying. "Oh, god, you do have a crush on him!"

"Is that a problem?" Red plainly asked, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What? Yes, of course it's a problem. You're Protectorate. You can't go around dating murderous Nazi assholes. That's just…Fuck, why do I even need to explain this?!"

"I have no interest in mating with him, if that's what you're implying. I was simply complementing his strength and expressed my desire to test it."

"Test it? I…" Oh, god, how am I supposed to explain this? "Look, it's just not done."

"You're making it more than it is."

"And you're going to end up disemboweling yourself with one of Hookwolf's blades after he poisons himself to death."

Red looked at me quizzically. "That was a reference to something, isn't it?"

Oh, right. Amnesia. "Romeo and Juliet, with you two being more murderous versions of the lead characters. Look, my point it is…"

Then, the glass broke and a wave of blood and viscera started filling up the taxi. Alabaster was still screaming in the back even as the car became a bloody mess, Red looked at Hookwolf with something that I could only interpret as awe, and my first thought was: 'This is what their wedding's going to look like, isn't it?'

Well, that settles it then. I was officially out of fucks to give.

A giggle escaped my throat, followed by another one. For reasons I could only guess at, I couldn't stop thinking about Red and Hookwolf becoming a thing. I could already imagine Hookwolf in a little rowing boat, trying to give a serenade with a guitar, while simultaneously dodging wave after wave of bullets, missiles, and god knows what else fired from the Rig. It was such an absurd image that I couldn't stop myself from laughing, even as blood and gore started filling up the cabin.

As we came to a halt near one of our forward bases, I tried my best to control myself. Sadly, it didn't work and I was still giggling while I tried to get out of what was left of the taxi. The door jammed, probably from all the blood, and it broke off when I tried to force it open, causing a torrent of god-knows-what to pour over the road. Right in front of my teammates.

Well, shit.

Aegis sat in the back, staring at us in shock. Grue came up behind him, put a ten-dollar bill in his pocket, patted him on the shoulder, and walked away.

Miss Militia slowly walked towards me while looking rather disgusted. "I have a perfect memory." She said, her voice unnaturally calm. "I will not be able to forget this image for the rest of my life. Thank you for that."

I looked down at myself. Yeah, I was kind of a mess. "Umm, it's not…"

"If you finish that sentence, I will shoot you. Repeatedly. In the face. Brute rating or not." She rubbed her brow and sighed. "I didn't sign off on this. What were you even thinking?"

"It was a good idea! We got dozens of them and Red won't let me get hurt. You know how protective she is of me."

Red peeled Hookwolf of the car and threw him on the ground like a wet blanket. "You will not leave my teammates for dead again, understood? I will not be so gentle next time."

Hookwolf just laughed in response. "Sure thing, crazy lady."

Miss Militia shook her head. "Just…get yourself cleaned up. You're starting to smell. Debrief in an hour, when the rest of the Wards get back. I'll bring some barf bags."

I went on my way, ignoring the stares from…well, everyone I met. I even ran into Clockblocker, who jokingly asked if I was auditioning for a slasher movie. It was good to see him smile again, so to speak. After a rather lengthy decontamination shower, I went to the rooftop to get my thoughts in order.

Then, I was rudely interrupted by the sound of grinding metal.

"What do you want, Kaiser?" Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. I'm just a foot soldier. I didn't think I warranted a visit from a crime lord.

"What I want?" He replied, dramatically. "What I want is to see Brockton Bay become the city that it once was. The one my father always talked about when I was a boy. What I want is to make sure my son will rule something other than a rat-infested dump when I finally pass. What I want is a city where a teenage girl doesn't get pushed into a locker because a nigger corrupted her best friend."

My head snapped up and my heart started to race. Before I even knew it, I was on my feet, inches away from calling my glaive and ripping him apart. My power activated and all the background noise had disappeared. He knew. He knew who I was. Must have been the time I rescued Sam. Or Emma. Or he could have done a background check on all the Wards. Or… Never mind, it didn't matter. All that matters is what to do now.

"You know my secret identity." Not a question, a statement. We both knew it was true, anyway.

"It's a pity, really, that so many promising heroes out themselves trying to save someone who doesn't deserve it. Misplaced sympathy really kills in your line of work."

Should I kill him? It was just him and me on the roof, so if he died, I'd be the prime suspect. Truce was still in effect, so getting caught would probably result in my execution or the Birdcage. Yes, he knew my secret identity, but he hasn't outed me to the world at large. He hadn't actually done anything bad enough to justify ending him. Not yet.

I couldn't kill him and the smug son of a bitch knew it.

"What do you want?" I surprised myself at the calmness of my voice.

He turned his back to me and swept his arm over the city below. "I will rule Brockton Bay. It is inevitable. While your organization has made a valiant effort over the years, even you must realize that the Protectorate cannot save the city. The laws, the institutions that you uphold have become shackles, preventing you from doing what you must. My Empire is not bound by such restrictions. I offer the freedom to do what needs to be done, to excise the tumors that are rotting our city from within and usher in a new golden age for Brockton Bay." Kaiser then turned around and looked me straight in the eye. "You are powerful. You are intelligent. You've been beaten down and emerged stronger than ever. I think you would make a fine addition to the Empire."

I twitched. A fine addition to the Empire? Was he… "You're recruiting me." I muttered, dumbfounded. "You're actually trying to recruit a Ward…"

"I believe you have a good head on your shoulders. Sooner or later, you'll come to the conclusion that joining Empire 88 is yours and the city's best interest."

I snickered. Then I giggled. And then I started laughing. Me, a Nazi? Seriously? That's twice today, but though Red wasn't actually serious. I mean, one of my best friends was a Jew, for God's sake! Seriously, had he been sampling his own product or something?

"I suggest you seriously consider my offer."

"I'll consider your offer, but I'm afraid I can't take it seriously." I replied, once I got my breathing under control again. Kaiser, in the mean time, looked as impassive as ever. "You know, I might have bought that if you'd been sincere, but we both know you're not. You only care about power and damn the consequences. I'd rather accept an offer from Outbreak than I would from you. At least that monster genuinely believes the garbage its spewing."

Kaiser frowned behind his mask. "I'm sorry you feel that way. You see, I have something of a problem. Several of my bases have been raided lately and I have reason to believe you are the culprit." He must be talking about Emma's work. Fuck.

"Well, you're wrong. I've been kind of busy containing the zombie apocalypse, in case you haven't noticed."

"Be that as it may, my people have been attacked after the truce has been declared. I cannot leave such an insult unanswered. You might not be responsible, but you know who is. Don't you, little girl?" Once again, I had to quash the urge to hurt him. For all his bluster, he was just another bully. "I need a tribute, be that in goods, services, or blood. You will provide that for me."

So that was his plan. Start off with the carrot, and when that wasn't enough, bully me into submission with thinly disguised threats.

I snickered. Talk about delusional. "Sure, I'll get you what you need. Why don't you swing by the PRT headquarters in about a week? We'll throw in a complementary pair of handcuffs and a one-way trip to the Birdcage for free."

"You're vastly overestimating your position, my dear. I might be willing to negotiate on this, but my underlings, the ones who lost their friends to your little rampage…they might not be so civilized."

"Then I'd advise you to tell them to stand down. You know what I'm capable off. You know what will happen to them if they go after me."

"Killing a monster is not the same as killing a man, Banshee."

"You're right. Aegis doesn't yell at me when I do the former." I took a step closer to him and looked him square in the eye. "Ask the Corpus if you want to know what I'm capable off, then decide if threatening me is still a good idea."

With that, I walked away and jumped off the roof, getting out before I did something stupid. That is, more stupid than challenging the most powerful crime lord in the city.

Oh.

Oh, fuck.