That evening
Tuesday
Safehouse F
I was on our bedroom when there was a knock on the door.
"Yeah!"
I looked up to see Chloe come in, followed by Curtis and Megan.
"Should I be worried?" I asked with a grin.
"These two wanted to talk about first kills – I suggested that you would probably be the best person to talk to," Chloe explained. "After all, you helped me through mine."
"Come in and sit down, guys. Ask your questions."
I assumed my story-telling pose – which Chloe always saw as my 'gay pose' and it made her laugh! Curtis went first.
"When did you first see anybody killed, violently?" Curtis asked, tentatively.
"The night at Rasul's. When Little Miss Psycho, sliced and diced, showing off to me!" I replied, thinking back six years. "That really shook me the fuck up! I was ready to give up being Kick-Ass, right there and then. I was in waaaaay over my head and it didn't exactly help when I was visited by two fucking nut cases!"
"Huh?" Megan asked.
"Hit Girl and Big Daddy! They scared the shit outta me, I can tell you!"
"When did you first kill?" Megan's question, this time.
"That night when I rescued Hit Girl, with the Jet Pack and Gatling guns. I shot three of D'Amico's men, from a distance, but it still scared the fucking crap outta me! Then, of course, I blew Frank D'Amico himself out of the window, with a bazooka. There, I was closer and I was able to look into his eyes, as he saw his own end. I felt no emotion, at that point, but later on, it hit me full force. Admittedly, killing with Gatling guns or a bazooka, is not very personal, but both times I did it to save somebody, somebody I owed. At that stage, I felt one hundred percent responsible for Big Daddy's death. I felt that I had to act, to back her up and in the process of that, saved her life... Twice!" I elaborated.
"It took me a while to start to come to terms with what I had done. I never have got over it, really. I always hate having to kill. However, in this line of work, it is necessary. Kill or be killed! Some choices suck, big time. Killing eats away at you, but I have Mindy to talk to and she knows what I am going through. I do not even want to think about how many people have died, at Hit Girl's hands and I have never asked, but I do believe that Mindy remembers every single person that she has killed. However, after more than ten years of killing, she is able to bury those emotions. She can be a real hard bitch, as you know, but that is just her way of dealing with things."
"Now, Curtis. You and your cousin have something in common," I said, indicating Chloe. "Chloe's, or rather Shadow's, first kill was actually a double kill in defence of Hit Girl while they were both rescuing me. She was scared shitless, but she used her training and dispatched those two men with four rounds expended."
"You had no choice, your training took over – for both of you I assume?" I asked and both kids nodded. "That is why Mindy hammers all this shit into us, literally! The training kicks in, as it did for Shadow and now for you, Trojan and for you Wildcat. Between the two of you, you were both able to keep Bradley and Cameron alive until help arrived, which incidentally you had the good sense to call for. Never be scared to call for help – ever!"
Two days later
Thursday
Safehouse F
It had been another bad night, but not just for Curtis and Megan.
I had been having shocking nightmares that all revolved around Curtis, Megan or both of them being killed in ever more spectacular ways. I was a nervous fucking wreck by three in the morning and Dave was doing his best. I think I must have hurt him too; I was gripping him so tightly.
A lot of this was due to the decision that I had not made yet – should I let the two kids become full vigilantes?
I decided to talk to Cathy and Paige, who were both still staying here at night. That did not go well – I ended up in full flood! I felt so embarrassed, despite both of them saying there was nothing wrong with it. In the end, Cathy and Paige sat down with Curtis and Megan, both on their own and together. They asked them if they wanted to become full members of Fusion and therefore vigilantes, not to mention going through the potential downsides of being a vigilante!
I surprised myself by actually being nervous when I saw Curtis and Megan coming towards me while I was sitting in the Command Centre.
..._...
"Hi guys," I said quietly.
Megan glared at me.
"Will ya stop feeling fucking sorry for yourself?" Megan grumbled. "Jeez! Why do I always have to sort you out?"
I laughed. Megan just had this way of phrasing things.
"If you want us, Mindy – we're here to help. Aunt Cathy and Paige explained everything to us. We know the risks – we know what could happen to us, but we have both been part of the way there. Hell, mouthy bitch, here, has already been shot!" Curtis said.
"Hey! Watch who you are calling a bitch, ass!" Megan retorted.
"Anyway!" Curtis continued, ignoring Megan. "I've crossed the line – I've shot a guy – I might as well go the whole way."
I saw something that I did not like in Curtis's eyes. I could see darkness there – killing a man had taken something from him, something that he could never get back – part of his soul. I had also noticed that Curtis had used the word 'shot' instead of 'killed' – might seem a little like semantics, but one sounds much worse than the other.
"Sit – both of you."
..._...
Once they were both seated, I looked at both of them for a minute before responding.
"Now – I want both of you to promise me something. You will do exactly what I say. You will both follow all commands and directions that come from anybody in Fusion – even Chloe, Curtis – or Josh, Megan. Do not take unnecessary risks. Do not ever go out on your own, or as just the pair of you – for now, you will only go out when a senior operator is with you. Senior operator means, Dave, Chloe or myself – understood?"
"Yes," Megan said, nodding.
"Yes, Mindy," Curtis confirmed.
"You get hurt, when you're out – you tell someone, even if it's just a fucking scratch. You break the rules and I'll fucking break you!" I was starting to raise my voice now and I saw Dave and Marty looking at me; Dave looked a little concerned. "I am not fucking around – I am fucking serious. I do not want to lose, either one of you."
I stopped; I felt myself losing control. Megan and Curtis had actually started to flinch away from me and Dave looked even more concerned. It was Curtis, who spoke up first.
"I know that you feel responsible for me having to kill somebody. It was not your fault. You are Hit Girl, but you can't be everywhere and despite what some might think – you are only human."
"Thank you, Curtis," I said with a smile. "I didn't mean to scare you both."
"We really should be used to your strange behavior by now!" Megan added.
"Me, strange? Looked in the mirror lately!" I quipped, looking at Megan.
"I am strange – so fucking what?" Megan replied.
"Come with me," I said cryptically and led the two kids out and down to Level Zero.
An hour, or so later Trojan and Wildcat were ready.
I had ordered additional armour panels for their protective suits at the same time that I had obtained the suits, just in case. The additional panels converted the protective suits into full combat suits.
The additional armour was in the form of grieves, thigh guards and upper arm armour. There were also slim, and therefore light, Type III armour panels for their chests and backs. They both had new, different masks that were based on their original masks, but were both full face and incorporated voice-changing technology, as well as light armour protection for the head. The armour was in the same colourings as their suits.
As they would be going offensive, I decided that they should carry a firearm and both kids had trained with them, so that would not be a problem. I offered Wildcat one of my purple gripped SIG Sauer P232 .380 calibre pistols, which she happily accepted. Trojan, I gave a different pistol – a Walther PK380. Both weapons were small framed, light and had reduced recoil. Trojan also benefited from his pistol having a built in laser designator below the barrel.
..._...
"You will both look after these weapons. I spot a speck of gunpowder in the barrel and you will fucking know about it! I will also have you both cleaning guns for a week – ask Josh about that. You lose your pistols and well... Let's not go there, shall we..."
In addition to their pistols, I had provided other defensive weapons.
For Trojan, there were a pair of Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knives, as used by Jackal. He had shown an aptitude with the knives, so I would give him a chance with them. These knives went on his right thigh; the pistol holster was mounted on his left thigh, allowing the pistol to be drawn across his body.
For Wildcat, who seemed to enjoy close quarters work, I provided a pair of panther claws, which she would hold as if they were knuckle-dusters, but had three seven-inch blades extending out from her fist. These were more than lethal! When not in use they would be stowed in a pouch on Wildcat's right thigh. Wildcat's pistol holster was mounted on her left thigh, just like Trojan's, allowing the pistol to be drawn across her body.
Finally, I provided each of them with a custom bō-staff in blue for Trojan and in brown for Wildcat. These were short versions, very similar in size to the one that I used when I first met Dave, but just as lethal.
I took them both back upstairs and set them sparring together – without the bō-staffs, so that they could get used to the extra weight of equipment – armour is heavy!
Both kids drew quite a crowd as they twisted around the mat, fighting each other. The crowd included Dave, Marty, Kim, Cathy, Paige, Marcus, Chloe, Josh, Sam Fellowes, Cam and Brad. I was acting as a referee, to ensure that they did not injure themselves. The clash of carbon-fibre armour could be heard echoing around the Safehouse.
Then Wildcat performed an amazing, and advanced, move. She performed an almost perfect back flip and as she came back down, she kicked Trojan hard in his left side and he went down hard. Wildcat landed softly, before driving in for another attack, which Trojan responded to by catching the girl's left foot and twisting her over. She hit the mat face down, forcing the air out of her lungs.
Wildcat was having none of it; she immediately jumped up and performed a very good flying roundhouse kick that floored Trojan. I decided to call time and the crowd came over to congratulate the new vigilantes.
"That was way cool!" Brad said to Wildcat.
"Thanks Brad," Wildcat replied in a strange, but intimidating, electronic voice.
"That's, err, weird though!" Cam commented.
"Neat, huh!" Trojan said with his own electronic voice.
"Enough with the voices – masks off!" I called.
The kids needed to cool off after their energetic bout of fighting. Both of them were sweating heavily, as they removed their masks and Paige handed them both a cold energy drink each.
"Megan that was some advanced, err, stuff!" I said. "I'm very impressed."
"She's been saving that to show you – we spent many hours on those moves," Kim said, smiling. Megan looked immensely proud of herself.
"That was impressive – well done, girl!" I said, making Megan blush with pride.
"We start shift at six tonight," Sam Fellowes advised.
"Kick-Ass, Mist and I will be out on our motorcycles tonight. Battle Guy will be looking after the Command Centre with Hawk. Medic, along with Shadow and Jackal will be in reserve here, in case they are needed."
"Not bad, Hit Girl – you've built one hell of an organization!" Sam noted.
"That she has!" Marcus agreed. "SWAT is on alert. If those assholes show up, they're gonna be hit and hit hard!"
"Now that I am looking forward to!" I said with a smirk.
That evening
"Stay between us – okay?" Kick-Ass said to a nervous Mist.
"I'll be fine – thanks for worrying about me!" Mist replied as she started her Streetfighter.
"Battle Guy – we're rolling!" I announced and the three of us accelerated up the ramp.
..._...
Once in the open air, we concentrated our patrol to the west of the main part of the City, this had seemed the best place, with quick access to various parts of the City, if called upon. I sincerely hoped that nothing would happen!