Chapter 20: Trio of Terror

The comedic killer formerly known as Mercury Black laughed hysterically as his trio of minions flew his blimp through the skies of New Rushland. Once they approached the skyline of the city, Trickster, Toe, and Tac manned paint guns and began firing globs of black paint everywhere.

"HA HA HA HA HA!" Trickster laughed. "Why paint the town red, when you can paint it Mercury Black!?"

Suddenly, someone dressed in a pale blue suit flew through the air on a small helicopter-umbrella, spraying white paint over the same buildings and ruining Trickster's work.

"Is this a private party, or can anyone join?" a certain disgraced Schnee jokingly asked.

"What are you doing here, Whitely?!" Trickster couldn't help but call out.

"What's it look like? I'm taking over the city. Oh, and for the record, I recently elected to come up with a moniker for myself that will truly strike fear into Rushland: from now on, call me the Serpent," the white haired man declared with a smug grin.

Trickster angrily aimed his paint gun at the young punk and opened fire, trying to knock him out of the sky. "Get the hell out of here before the colors go from black and white to black and blue!"

"Make me!" Serpent sneered as he used the propellers on his umbrella to slice open the balloon on Trickster's zeppelin.

Thanks to Tic's quick thinking, the crew were able to abandon ship and land atop a nearby roof to confront Serpent and his own henchmen.

"Beat it, small-fry!" Trickster sneered. "I've had it with you! New Rushland ain't big enough for two super-criminals!"

"Count again," a new voice declared as several screens lit up to showcase a brain icon and a certain masked intellectual villainous. "Greetings, gentlemen. IQ is the name, and I couldn't help but notice that neither of you two were smart enough to factor me into your plans."

"Big talk from a woman who's not even here," Serpent snarled out.

"Come now, my boy: surely one of the Schnee siblings would know better than anyone that there is more to fighting then who has the bigger sword?" IQ teasingly asked. "But I digress: I didn't come here to fight: rather I realized that none of us would wish to share in our planned conquest of the city, which is why I come to you two with a potential solution."

"We're listening," Trickster remarked with Serpent likewise nodding.

"I propose a contest." IQ suggested. "New Rushland will belong to whoever can perform the one task never accomplished before; the unmasking of the Crimson Crusader."

Trickster grinned, mischievously. "No matter who wins this competition…"

"... the big loser is Krasnaya." Serpent finished, equally excited.

The Next Day

While the trio's contest hadn't been released to the public, their escape from prison had not. Commissioner Maroon had called a meeting within the precinct to put out an all-points bulletin.

"Alright, everyone, this will easily be one of our toughest jobs to date, but as long as no one does anything reckless - I'm looking at you, Rojos - we should pull through this in one piece," Jane declared. "The most important thing to stress is that everyone proceeds with caution. Trickster was once an assassin for Salem, the Serpent almost used a giant laser drill to destroy Atlas, and IQ nearly destroyed all of New Rushland. Stay in pairs and keep a sharp eye out."

"This isn't going to be easy," Detective Cash remarked. "Having just one of those lunatics walking the streets was bad enough. All three at once will definitely be a problem."

"Meh, we know from Svetlana's testimonies that neither Mercury nor Whitely are invincible, and if the last time you dealt with IQ is any indication, you have good instincts," Rojos said with a smile. "You'll figure out what to do: you always do."

Just as the police chief had said that, Detective Cash felt a familiar vibration in her coat pocket.

"I'm going to go check on something real quick." She announced, softly, and made her way towards the stairwell.

Officer Rojos blinked as Detective Cash left the room in a bit of a hurry. "Did that seem suspicious to anyone else?"

"No."

"Not really."

"I was actually going to check on something myself."

Rojos simply frowned at the negative comments she was getting. "Well I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to have a chat with Detective Cash: see what she's up to when she's supposed to be helping us figure out how to catch those three crooks."

Meanwhile, Cash had answered the call and whispered to her communicator to speak with Krasnaya. "Listen, Red, the commissioner wants to focus on Trickster, Serpent, and IQ, but if you plan on getting involved, I'd stay out of sight. Chief is still gunning for you-"

"I'm well aware," Krasnaya declared. "Which is why we'll need to coordinate a response to the threat to the city without the risk of Rojos overhearing anything."

"Understood: meet me at the warehouse at the corner of 5th and Main in a half hour," Aiysha called out before shutting off the communicator…just in time for Rojos to burst through the doorway with a furious expression, showing that she had heard everything.

"I knew you were hiding something!" Rojos shouted as she grabbed the detective by the wrist.

"Chief-!"

"Save it!" Rojos snapped as she snatched the communicator away. "Don't worry, Detective Cash. You'll still make it to your meeting."

"Uh oh: that's your 'I have an idea' voice," Ayisha nervously remarked. "Last time I heard that, eight men wound up in the hospital…and only two of them were actually suspects that the police were after. You know that the Commissioner told you not to do anything reckless."

"It's not reckless if it works," Rojos growled out. "And as for the rest of your concern, with any luck, only one detective will need assistance going back to their proper residence…or should I say ex-detective?"

A few minutes later, Krasnaya and her side-kicks arrived at the warehouse Cash had told her about and made her way inside, unaware of the trio of villains who had followed her and surrounded the building. The Crimson Crusader stealthily exited the vent and dropped to the floor. As she did so, however, the lights suddenly came on and she found herself surrounded by a squadron of police officers. Cash was handcuffed and being held by Rojos.

"I'm sorry, Krasnaya." The detective sighed.

Outside, several police cars arrived outside, much to the ire of the three rival crime lords.

"What?!" Trickster spluttered. "NRPD beat us to the punch!"

"You mean nobody wins this contest?!" Serpent grumbled.

"Until the mask comes off, the game is still in play." IQ suggested. With that, she took out her laptop and started hacking into the warehouse's light and sound systems.

Meanwhile Krasnaya merely scoffed as she took in the present situation. "About a dozen or so armed men and a hostage to try and get me to surrender: if I didn't know better, I'd assume Trickster was behind this, what with how he tried to pull this exact same trick on me last week."

"Don't you dare compare me to that madman," Rojos growled out. "It's because of you that criminals like him are attracted to this town in the first place."

"Uh, technically Mercury has admitted that he'd come to this town with or without Krasnaya's presence: something about wanting to prove that New Rushland wasn't any better then the original or what-have-you," Azure felt the need to point out.

"I, uh, don't think she cares about the specifics, Azure," Magenta nervously remarked even as he attempted to find a way out of this.

"Heh, for once, one of you vile vigilanties said something that I can agree with," Rojos said with a smug grin. "Now, I'm giving you one chance: surrender and let us take you in peacefully, or resist and be taken out permanently. Please, do try and resist."

"Wait, you want to kill them?!" Ayisha couldn't help but ask.

"To be blunt, yes," Alex declared with a mad look in her eyes. "I'm not about to chance them escaping like all of the criminals associated with them, which is why if they don't surrender now, I'm having them put six feet under."

"I'm sorry, Alex, but I can't let you do that."

"What the…?" Alex called out in response to IQ's voice being heard over the warehouse's PA system. "I thought we had this place locked down."

"Oh, please: the security you've placed on this warehouse was almost insultingly easy to break," IQ mockingly declared over the intercom. "Though as I said, I can't allow you to kill Krasnaya and/or her companions at this time: not until the game that my rivals and I have set up is completed. Just to show that I'm a good sport though, I've set up a different game for you and your fellow officers, Alex Rojos. It shouldn't be too hard, either: after all, I believe even you have heard of hide and seek."

With that the lights suddenly went out, with Krasnaya and her sidekicks quickly switching to the night vision features in their masks as this happens. At the same time, Aiysha elbowed Rojos in the gut and jumped down to meet with the vigilante trio. "I don't suppose you have anything in those belts to get us out of here," she called out as she did her best to get into a fighting stance despite still being in handcuffs.

"We just might," Krasnaya teasingly declared before grabbing onto Detective Cash. "Hang on."

With that, the vigilante trio slammed down some flashbangs that blinded everyone before grappling to safety, their detective ally in tow. Once they were on the roof, Krasnaya used her sickle-remote to summon the Warthog to drive beneath them. Krasnaya once again grabbed Cash and helped her down to the vehicle just before the police caught up and opened fire on the fleeing vehicle.

"Don't let them escape!" Rojos snarled out even as she crushed the communication device she grabbed from Aiysha under her foot.

"Uh, you do realize that we could have potentially used that to track Krasnaya's movements, right?"

"Don't be a fool," Rojos barked out at the officer who had said that. "Now that she knows that we had access to said device, Krasnaya isn't going to be stupid enough to let us hear her plans. In the meantime, spread out over the city: commandeer any place that Aiysha Cash has been associated with. I want her and her vigilante friends captured dead or alive by any means necessary!"

Meanwhile a certain ex-detective was being given a ride in the vigilante trio's Warthog. "For what it's worth, I appreciate the rescue," Aiysha felt the need to say to said vigilante trio.

"It's not a problem at all," Azure remarked with an understanding grin even as she used Mikhail's lessons to pick the lock on the detective's handcuffs.

"So what do we do now?" Magenta couldn't help but ask.

"The same thing we do every other time that we're backed into a corner: show our enemies why that's a bad idea," Krasnaya declared with a serious expression. "Which is why we're taking the fight directly to them."

"But how?" Magenta asked. "We don't know where those psychos are. We don't even have a clue."

"Yes, we do." Krasnaya said, matter-of-factly, as they continued down the road. "Back when IQ took over the sound system, she said we were playing a game of hide and seek."

"So?" Azure shrugged.

"There happens to be an oil rig off the harbor that belongs to Hyde and Zeke's drilling company."

Magenta face-palmed. "You've gotta be kidding."

"I kid you not," Krasnaya declared as she turned down a road, "but as you might imagine, we can't exactly use the roads to get to an oil rig, so we'll be needing to make a quick detour."

Azure handed Magenta and Cash a pair of blindfolds and watched as they put them on before they got to the secret entrance to the mountainside. With the push of a button on the warthog's console, a mechanical door opened up and they drove inside. Another three miles into the mountain, and the group arrived at the cave.

"Welcome home, Krasnaya," Mikhail - currently dressed in his Cat Burglar outfit so as to protect his own identity as well as that of his family - declared as the group got out of the Warthog.

"Wow, so this is what your hideout looks like," Ayisha remarked after she had removed the blindfold she'd been given, feeling more than a little impressed with what she saw.

"My thoughts exactly, but why did I need to wear one of these?" Magenta couldn't help but growl out as he held up his own blindfold, having already removed it. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course we do, but we still don't really know each other's secret identities just yet, so we're trying to be cautious here," Azure declared even as she gripped Magenta's hands in support, causing them both to look away with a blush upon realizing what had happened. "Hey, uh… there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

Magenta sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, me too…"

"... I have a crush on someone else." They both said in unison, only to look at each other with shocked - yet relieved - expressions. "Wait, really?!"

"Uh, yeah." Magenta elaborated with a smile in his voice. "She's, uh, she's cute. And I really wanna see where it goes."

"I feel the same way." Azure bashfully traced her foot on the ground, embarrassed that just thinking about Boris made her so childish. "Wanna still be friends?"

"Yeah, obviously." Magenta nodded.

"Wait, was that the whole conversation?!" Azure gawked at how easy that was.

"I think it was." Magenta chortled.

Meanwhile, Cat Burglar leaned over towards the Crimson Crusader. "Should we tell them, or…?" He asked.

"It's not our place." Krasnaya reasoned. "They'll figure it out on their own."

Shortly afterwards, the Crimson Crusader led the group to the vehicle they had come to the cave for. Dr. Oobleck had been working on a new high-speed watercraft that would be able to travel across or under any ocean.

"Have to give her credit: she really knows how to travel in style," Aiysha remarked upon taking in the watercraft that Krasnaya had led them to.

"Will you be needing my assistance tonight, dear?" Cat Burglar felt the need to ask.

"I don't think so, but I'll be sure to contact you if that changes," Krasnaya declared with a grin.

"I ship it," Magenta and Ayisha simultaneously said with a shared grin, much to their mutual embarrassment especially after Azure snorted in response to this.

Meanwhile Trickster and Serpent watched as IQ typed in some commands into the oil rig's computer. "How much longer is this going to take?" Trickster couldn't help but ask.

"Patience, Mr. Black," IQ called out. "Hacking into the city's main frame so as to ensure that the city is aware when a victor is declared in our game using an off-shore computer isn't an easy feat even for one as smart as I."

"Wait, I just realized: you already know who Krasnaya is: doesn't that give you an unfair advantage?" Serpent couldn't help but ask.

"Au contraire: the game wasn't who could figure out and/or expose Krasnaya's identity, but rather who could unmask her," IQ remarked. "I know from experience that it's much harder to remove that mask of hers than it is to learn her identity."

"Eh, she has a point," Trickster reluctantly pointed out. "If it were that easy to remove her mask, she'd have attempted to do so back when she had Krasnaya captured on live television a while back."

"Quite," IQ said in reply all while suppressing a sheepish blush due to not wanting to reveal that she actually hadn't thought to do that sort of thing at the time.

"Fine, but you better not be doing anything right now to rig this game of yours," Serpent called out with a snarl.

"If nothing else, be assured that what I'm currently doing won't hurt your chances in potentially claiming victory for yourselves," IQ promised with a grin. "Rather everything I've been doing thus far has been to ensure the best chance that Krasnaya loses."

"You thought of everything," Serpent declared with a surprised blink.

"Indeed I have," IQ remarked with a smug grin. "Speaking of which…"

With a snap of IQ's fingers, a bunch of goons suddenly showed up pointing their guns at Trickster and Serpent. At the same time, a pair of cranes suddenly activated, swinging at the latter duo and nearly took them out here.

"What the…?!" Serpent couldn't help but call out as he just barely managed to avoid the trap that had apparently been set up earlier.

"Oops," IQ mocking declared in response to Serpent's surprised panic. "Did I forget to mention that I had set up a few traps on this oil rig three days before I had proposed my challenge? My bad."

"You son of a…you had this game rigged from the start!" Trickster growled out.

"How else was I to even have a chance against someone who was literally known for his tricks and another with the Schnee family's pension for planning?" IQ sarcastically questioned with a smug grin on her face.

Suddenly, a proximity alert rang out and IQ turned her attention back to the computer. She smirked as the surveillance cameras showcased the approach of Krasnaya and company. "Impressive: she actually managed to narrow down my location faster than I anticipated. No matter: I should still have enough time to tie up some loose ends."

With a snap of her fingers, IQ wordlessly ordered her hired guns to take aim at Trickster and Serpent.

"I believe the game has come to a conclusion." IQ smirked as her minions cornered Trickster and Serpent. "Of course, I'd hardly call it a game with such a depressing lack of worthy competition."

Trickster and Serpent backed up as the goons readied their weapons. With seemingly no other options available, Serpent turned to the former assassin with a smile. "Y'know, Trickster, I've been thinking. Maybe there is enough room in New Rushland for two to share?"

Trickster grinned in agreement before performing a handstand gun-kick attack while Serpent used his umbrella's propellers to hover above and take out anyone else. Then, the duo marched towards IQ.

Trickster rolled up his sleeves. "Now, what was that you were saying?"

"About the quality of the competition?!" Serpent added, menacingly.

"I stand by my statement." IQ replied, unafraid, as she wielded her cane. She pressed a button on the topper, remotely activating a trap door beneath Serpent.

Once the white-haired gangster dropped through the floor, Trickster advanced forward to attack. But a grappling hook tore into his left prosthetic leg and pulled him up into the rafters.

"Forget about me?" Krasnaya growled out from where she was holding Trickster.

"Not even close," Trickster barked back as he tried to shoot his adversary with his gun legs…only for Krasnaya to respond by dropping the former mercenary down onto the ground, knocking him out in the process.

"And then there was one," Krasnaya declared as she dropped down to face off against IQ. "Bet you're wishing you hadn't done my job of capturing Serpent for me."

"Heh, you're a fool if you think I need his help to take you on," IQ called out before getting into a fighting stance even as she used her cane to activate a program to trigger several devices on the oil rig, hoping to use them to her advantage. She pressed a few buttons, and three cranes swiftly swung overhead and dropped down.

The vigilante trio dodged out of the way just in time, but IQ wouldn't let up. Fortunately, Magenta stumbled upon the oil rig's computer room. While Krasnaya jumped over spike pits and Azure dodged buzzsaws, Magenta hacked into the rig's system and set up firewalls around IQ's command codes.

"You're not the only one with a brain, IQ," Magenta teasingly declared, having successfully hacked the oil rig's computers so as to disable the improvised traps surrounding them. "Just a few more keystrokes and I'll easily be able to turn those traps against you."

"Too bad you'll never get the chance," one of IQ's goons declared as he entered the room pointing a gun at the young vigilante. "Your story ends now."

"Not yet it doesn't," Aiysha called out before coming in and punching the goon in the face, knocking him out in the process. She then turned to Magenta with a raised eyebrow. "I seem to recall that you and Azure once warned me not to say that things would be easy."

"Hehe, yeah, sorry about that," Magenta said with a light blush before clearing his throat and turning back to the computer. "In all seriousness though, I won't be able to hack this and defend myself at the same time if more goons show up: think you could hold them off for me?"

"It would be my genuine pleasure," Aiysha said with a grin even as she took the gun from the goon she had knocked out, suspecting that she might need it sooner rather than later.

With that out of the way, Magenta cracked his knuckles and went back to typing on the computer. While working to override the traps, he also took a moment to activate the surveillance feeds to broadcast Krasnaya's fight all over the city. Even all over Remnant.

"I'm the last one standing!" IQ furiously declared. "The game is mine!"

As the intellectual villain lunged forwards, Krasnaya swept her leg under IQ and tripped her into falling face-first on her hammer. With the mastermind incapacitated, Krasnaya handcuffed her to Trickster and Serpent for the police to collect them. At the same time, her side-kicks and Cash had disarmed and rounded up all of IQ's men.

"They're all yours, detective." Krasnaya remarked as she shook Cash's hand.

"You did good, my dear: you did real good," Mikhail couldn't help but call out with a voice full of pride as she took in how, thanks to Magenta's hacking, Krasnaya's emblem had been broadcast across the entire city so as to highlight her victory.

Krasnaya turned to Magenta who proudly crossed his arms. "Figured you deserved some good rep."

After the vigilante trio left, the police arrived soon afterwards. Rojos blinked upon seeing the trio of criminals had already been tied up only to frown upon noticing Ayisha was just standing there. "So, you aren't running?"

Ayisha just nodded, recognizing that it was a statement more than a question. "I've got nothing to hide, and if you want to arrest me for my ties with Krasnaya, I won't stop you. Just know that what I did, I did because I felt it was the right thing to do, and I can only hope you do the same."

"Then you won't mind if I do this," Rojos said with a snarl before rushing forward and grabbing Ayisha by the throat before pulling out a pistol and placing the barrel against her former co-worker's head.

"What are you doing?!" Ayisha called out even as her former coworker held her at gunpoint.

"What I must do to get rid of the Red Woman once and for all," Rojos growled out before yelling out into the darkness. "Krasnaya, you hear me?! Then hear this: you want to prove you're a hero? Here's your chance: come out and surrender or I'm pulling the trigger!"

"Wow: even I'm not that ruthless," Trickster couldn't help but remark from where he was tied up.

"Shut up! You're all that's wrong with this city: you and that Red Woman: claiming to be innocent victims of society all while making things more difficult for cops like me!" Rojos snarled out.

"You're crazy." Ayisha whimpered, unable to fathom how far this woman had fallen due to her jealousy and pride.

"That's a matter of opinion," Rojos remarked before turning her attention to the darkness, noting that Krasnaya hadn't come out. "Think I'm bluffing, do ya?! Fine, this will just show the rest of New Rushland how little you really care about the innocent, but just to be certain, you have until the count of five to come out or your partner gets it!"

"You…you wouldn't," Ayisha called out with a gasp.

"Wouldn't I?" Rojos asked even as she took the safety off on her gun. "One."

"Don't do this."

"Do what: expose the vigilante for the fraud that she is? Yeah, not taking advice from a traitor. Two."

"Remorseless, vindictive, and willing to do anything necessary to get what one desires," Whitely mockingly declared from where he was tied up. "We'll make a criminal out of you yet, Rojos."

"When I'm done here, I'll deal with you and your friends next, Serpent," Rojos snarled out, actively ignoring what was being said in favor of focusing on her goal. "Three."

"Please, it doesn't have to be this way," Ayisha declared, hoping to appeal to Rojos' better nature. "Just put the gun down before you make a mistake."

"My only mistake was ever thinking I could trust a crook like you," Rojos growled out with a mad look in her eyes, completely forgetting how she had complimented Ayisha's instincts as a detective earlier that evening and also ignoring the possibility that said instincts were what led her to trusting Krasnaya in the first place. "Four."

Ayisha just sighed, knowing that there was no talking her former friend out of her decision. "Whatever happens next, I hope you don't regret the choices you've made up until this point."

"Oh don't worry: I won't," Rojos remarked with an unsettling grin before starting to squeeze the trigger of her weapon and yelling out into the darkness. "And that was your last chance, Krasnaya! Say goodbye to Ayisha Cash: F…!"

"ALEXANDRA MARIA ROJOS!"

Rojos froze as she noticed Commissioner Maroon stomping over to her position with multiple cops behind her as back up, no doubt having seen the whole thing. "Co…Commissioner: I was just…." …and that was as far as Rojos got before Jane ripped the gun out of her hand and punched her in the face.

"Of all the utterly boneheaded moves you've made, this one takes the cake," Jane snarled out even as she reset the safety on the gun and handed it over to one of the officers accompanying her. "Exactly what were you thinking!? Even ignoring everything else you've done tonight, don't you realize that you were about to kill an unarmed woman in cold blood just now?!"

"It was to draw out Krasnaya!" Rojos declared, trying to salvage her reputation. "And seeing how she didn't show up to protect her, that proves that…"

"What you've proven is your own hypocrisy and short-sightedness!" Jane yelled out, not wanting to hear it even as she grabbed Rojos by the arm. "For all we know, Krasnaya might not even be nearby anymore, so you'd have killed a woman you had taken hostage for absolutely no benefit at all except to appease your own bruised ego, whereas Krasnaya didn't have any reason to help us and yet still aided in the capture of three of New Rushland's most infamous criminals."

"But that's not…" Whatever Rojos was about to say, it died in her throat as she felt a pair of handcuffs secured to her wrists. "Wh…what are you doing?"

"What I warned you about back when we dealt with Emerald and later with Charr Coal," Jane readily declared. "This is your third strike, Rojos, and what a strike it was. For charges of reckless endangerment, abuse of your position as a police officer, and attempted murder, I'm placing you under arrest. Oh, and it should go without saying that after tonight, you're fired."

IQ merely chuckled in response to the shocked look that Rojos gained on her face even as some of the police came over to where she was tied up. "You know in retrospect, pulling a gun on a woman on a platform where you knew cops were going to be showing up? Not your smartest move."

"Am I about to be arrested as well?" Ayisha asked even as the other cops dragged Rojos and the trio that had held the city hostage away to the squad cars. "I have been aiding a known vigilante, after all."

"I think that after all the trouble that now ex-officer Rojos has given you, you've been through enough," Jane declared. "As for your job, it'll take some time and a bit of paperwork, but I think that I could convince the mayor to let you have your old position back as a thanks for your efforts to protect the city in spite of the loss of your badge."

"I won't let you down, boss," Ayisha said with a smile.

"I know you won't," Jane said with a grin. "Now go home and get some rest: you've more than earned it."

Later That Evening

"And that's pretty much what happened," Jane declared, having finished describing what happened to Neon in her office even as she continued to fill out that paper she had mentioned to Ayisha earlier that evening.

"Uh, begging your pardon, Commissioner…" Detective Neon spoke up. "While I agree what Rojos did was out of line, she did have a point about a few things. Detective Cash did resist arrest, flee police custody, and work with a known vigilante."

"That's one way to look at it, Neon." Jane replied as she adjusted her glasses. "Here's another way; Detective Cash successfully helped take down three of New Rushland's most notorious criminals, and exposed a corrupt police chief. Do you really think it's wise to arrest a hero?"

Sam smirked and leaned back in his chair. "Well, when you put it like that, how can I argue? So aside from getting Ayisha her job back, what's our next move?"

"Actually, I've been planning to build a little something for the roof." Jane opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a sketch she had drawn to show off to her detective. Sam nearly fell backwards in shock.

The next week, a massive spotlight with a red glass lens was built atop the headquarters of the New Rushland police department. But the most prominent feature of the spotlight was the black metal frame in front of the lens. Once the sun had set, Commissioner Maroon climbed to the roof and pulled the lever to activate the light. In an instant, a giant pair of red horns appeared in the sky.

"Cute." A voice remarked. This time, Jane didn't even flinch at the sound of the deep voice she knew all too well.

"Detective Cash tells me that the communicator you gave her is on the fritz." The commissioner explained as she faced the Crimson Crusader and her side-kicks. "This was the best way I could think to contact you."

"So, what would you like to say?"

"Good press is hard to come by these days." Jane smiled as she held up the newspaper from that morning. It detailed the exploits of the previous night; how Krasnaya and her companions successfully took down the trio of villains and handed them over to the NRPD for imprisonment. Jane handed the paper over to Azure and Magenta, who both excitedly read the article while Krasnaya continued her conversation with the commissioner. "When I first came to this city, you proved to me that justice isn't just a fantasy in this day and age. And now, you've proven it to everyone else in this city. From this moment on, Krasnaya, New Rushland is fully behind you. And so am I."

Krasnaya glanced back at her partners before returning to Jane. "We usually work best in the shadows."

"That won't have to change." Jane promised. "All I ask… is that you help me continue to make this city a safe place to raise my son."

Magenta smiled under his mask, Azure happily crossed her arms in agreement, and they both looked towards their mentor for her response. The Crimson Crusader stepped forward and shook the commissioner's hand. "For your son, then." She nodded.

With that, the trio of vigilantes made their way to the side of the roof and jumped off into the night, ready for the next challenge.

To Be Continued