The next morning
Friday
Glenview
"Morning, Marcus!"
"Well hello, my wayward daughters!"
"Problem?" Megan asked innocently.
"Innocence is not your strong suit, Megan, nor yours, Mindy..."
"We've been good girls!" I insisted.
"Mindy – do I look like I just fell out of a monkey's butt?"
Megan smiled and opened her mouth to reply, so I rapidly put my hand over her mouth and replied for her.
"Of course not, Marcus."
"So the cat-like injuries that several living criminals had when they were arrested last night came from...?" Marcus prompted.
"…A stray cat?" Megan suggested deadpan.
Marcus did his best not to laugh.
"Where were you two between eight and midnight? A certain warehouse was found filled with the mutilated remains of many others. The ME used several words to describe the injuries: blast, emasculation, evisceration and decapitation."
"We'd like to plead the fifth on that question!" I replied with a good attempt at an innocent smile.
"Not buying it," Marcus growled.
"I was behind on my biology homework...?" Megan suggested.
Marcus did laugh that time.
"Please control your blood lust – we have enough problems as it is without you two literally carving your way through the city."
I had to admit, it was good to see a smile on Megan's face for a change.
It was obvious what Mindy had done the previous night. She had done it with Joshua when Jack and Natalie had been shot. As soon as I had heard about the rash of cat-like injuries, I knew it was Megan with her damn claws!
Paige was safe and out of danger. Seeing her bleeding out had scared me half to death. She was not alone though. Another six were still in hospital with one Officer already released. The CPD was in an ugly mood and every Officer had a short fuse after such a blatant display at the hotel.
Jack was working hard to find out who and what was behind the outrage. It was going to be a major test of his leadership to keep the CPD together.
The previous evening
Safehouse F
"Stephanie, I want you to watch and learn as we deploy into the City, tonight. Marty will take you through how we operate and show you what goes on at his end of the operation."
"No problem, Mindy," Stephanie replied.
"Hit Girl and Wildcat are two up and ready to roll!" I called as Stephanie headed towards the Control Room.
"Have fun!" Battle Guy replied as I dropped the purple Ducati Multistrada into gear and accelerated up the ramp.
The roar of the powerful one hundred and sixty horsepower, 1200cc engine was intoxicating and it was great to be on two wheels again. Wildcat needed an outlet for her anger and I knew exactly where to go. A mile or so north-west of the Midway Airport was an industrial area and in a certain building was a drug-den that we were fully aware of, but had not had the time to do much about, until that night.
..._...
I pulled up in the shadow of an adjacent building and hid the motorcycle.
"Battle Guy, Hit Girl and Wildcat are moving in!"
"Battle Guy copies – put those claws to good use, Wildcat!"
"Oh, I will, Battle Guy, I will!" Wildcat replied.
I looked down at the younger vigilante.
"Let's move, Wildcat – no risks and don't get hurt..."
"Hey, it's me!"
"That is what I'm afraid of..." I growled as we ran towards the target building.
I was angry.
Some fucking bastard had put my Mom in hospital. There was nothing, I could do about that – for now. The people who did it, were dead, but whoever had ordered the hit on the Mayor had caused the collateral damage that had put eight, including Mom, in the hospital.
I was annoyed that it had taken Stephanie to get my head sorted out, but as she had said, we were partners. She was doing what she could to help me. Being put down by a skinny, British, nine-year-old was a little embarrassing, but that was my life!
I knew why Hit Girl had brought me out; it was to allow me to vent my anger through killing. My mind was in turmoil and normally I hated killing unnecessarily, but I needed to hurt somebody and those bastards that dealt drugs only had themselves to blame.
Hit Girl was ahead of me as we ran through the darkness and I forced myself to focus on the task ahead, channelling the pain and worry in my heart, into energy that I could use to fight.
There was a man patrolling outside a side door.
"Take him!" I growled.
Wildcat approached from behind and then ran at the man, deploying her claws as she ran. She leapt into the air and landed on the man's shoulder. She drove the claws of her right gauntlet into the man's neck. As the corpse fell to the concrete Wildcat rolled off and then back onto her feet.
"Done!" She replied.
I approached the door.
"Code is: seven – nine – eight – nine – nine..." Battle Guy advised and I punched in the numbers.
The door opened silently allowing us access to the facility. In the distance, I could hear aircraft taking off from the airport and more importantly the roar of a powerful motorcycle. The inside of the warehouse was brightly lit, not that we were worried.
"Howdy, cunts!" I growled as we both stepped into the light.
"Holy fuck – its Hit Girl..."
Any other yells of horror were drowned out as a guard opened fire with his pistol. We both braced for the impacts of the bullets. He was a crap shot.
"Not a nice way to treat two ladies!" I growled, flicking a knife into the man's forehead.
More men appeared and more guns with more bullets. I drew both pistols and opened fire on the guards while Wildcat flew at the other men like a demented Angry Bird. The four-foot eight-inch vigilante dug her claws into bodies as she went, leaving a bloody trail behind her. There was screaming and yelling; I loved it!
I ignored the stings of bullets as they collided with my combat suit. I span around, my twin Glock 19 pistols spitting fire in every direction. For the occasion, I had fitted 33-round high-capacity magazines into my pistols allowing me plenty of firepower. As I dumped the empty magazines, I inserted another pair of 33-round magazines and ran after Wildcat. I followed the bloody trail and found her, SIG Sauer pistol in hand.
There were several spent casings beside her and three dead bodies before her. As I watched I saw each bullet count – Wildcat was an expert shot. Her combat suit had blood on it, but her movements told me that it was not her own blood. We worked our way forward, Wildcat deploying her beloved claws and slashing anything that came close.
I was purely along for the ride; it was Wildcat's night.
I had never felt so free.
Normally, Hit Girl kept me under control, but she was letting me run wild. The blood flew and landed on my combat sui; my claws and gauntlets were covered in blood. I smoothly switched from claws to pistol and back to claws again. I was on automatic, savouring the one-sided fight as I made my way towards the offices located above the main floor.
I wanted the cunt sthat ran the organisation and they had an appointment with my Wakizashi.
There were six men guarding the bottom of the stairs that led up to the office.
"You are in our way..." Wildcat announced as she shot the first man dead.
The remaining five fell to our swords – we wanted some good old-fashioned fun! Wildcat had drawn her Wakizashi and advanced on two of the men, ignoring the bullets and severing a leg and then dumping the second man's steaming entrails on the floor before him. The remaining three? One lost his head in all the excitement while the other two would be an interestingly challenging jumble for the medical examiner to rearrange.
..._...
We left bloody footprints as we climbed the steel staircase. At the top was a steel door.
"Open the fucking door!" I yelled.
"Fuck you!"
Not very original! I studied the door, the surrounding wall and the mountings. Time for a lesson – I reached into the small pack on my lower back.
"Wildcat, this is called Detonating Cord. It is a plastic tube filled with pentaerythritol tetranitrate, rolls off the tongue that! Or just call it PETN for short..."
I took a moment to shoot the man who charged up the stairs, rudely interrupting my lesson.
"... PETN explodes at a rate of, near enough, four miles per second or as far as we are concerned, instantaneously. I prefer Primacord with a PETN core, but there are other versions..."
Another two men fell as I turned back to Wildcat, holstering my Glock.
"... Before I was so rudely interrupted... Oh for fuck's sake – I'm trying to teach here!" I growled and pulled the pin from a grenade, throwing it down into the warehouse towards where some bullets were originating.
I ignored the explosion as I continued.
"We need a good blast to remove that door – those stupid cunts fitted a steel door into a standard wooden wall. So instead of removing the door, we..."
"... Remove the frame, with the door!" Wildcat finished.
I nodded.
"We bunch up the cord, taping it in long coils with insulating tape – called double stranding. Then we fix it to the walls with duct-tape – like so – all around the door. Now a remote detonator and..."
I dragged Wildcat to one side before pressing the button on the remote trigger. There was a sharp crack and a yell from inside the office. For a moment nothing more than a cloud of dust and wood splinters erupted. The door was still standing.
"Huh?" Wildcat queried.
"Knock! Knock!" I yelled out and gave the door a firm prod with a single finger.
The entire door and frame crashed backwards into the office. I walked in, my swords crossed in front of me.
"Mind if we come in?" I growled.
I had enjoyed the impromptu explosives lesson.
Hit Girl definitely had a flair for the dramatic! Before us stood four men, all with fear etched on their faces.
"Who's first?" I growled, moving towards the nearest man.
The man was not very brave; he threw down his MAC-10 and moved backwards against the far wall. I moved fast, twisting my Wakizashi and myself in several smooth motions. At first, the man just stood there, but then his eyes rolled back into his head and his body began to collapse. The pile of severed body parts dropped to the carpet and the other three men all looked on in horror.
"Clothes off, now!" I ordered.
I saw Hit Girl glance in my direction; I knew she would be frowning under her mask.
Within a minute, the three men were standing there, naked as the day they were born. I was no stranger to a naked male body; I had seen my first, months before, in Gotham. I felt uncomfortable at the sight, but I continued with Hit Girl watching my every move.
I took a step towards the first man. I placed the point of my Wakizashi under his dick and gently lifted it. The man closed his eyes and grimaced, as his dick visibly shrivelled. I removed the blade gently without causing any damage. I almost laughed as the man let out the breath of relief, he had been holding.
I moved onto the next man and repeated my teasing and then again on the third man.
"Wildcat, we do not have all night – stop playing!" Hit Girl warned.
As the third man's dick sat on my blade, I flicked the sword up and watched as the severed member flew through the air and then heard a scream as both of the man's hands flew to his groin and he fell to the floor. My blade came down in one smooth movement, severing the man's head. Copious amounts of blood erupted across the floor and both of the other men pissed themselves out of fear.
I kicked the next man against the wall and then emasculated him with the tip of my blade quickly followed by cutting his throat from ear to ear. A torrent of scarlet blood flowed down his bare chest and soaking the carpet beneath our feet.
The final man was on his knees and begging for his life. I had had an idea! I dragged the naked man to his feet and threw him down the steel stairs. He screamed as he landed and he kept screaming. He was still alive, good!
I duct-taped the man's legs and arms together, with the man lying on his back, before turning to Hit Girl who had followed me down the stairs.
"Grenade, a foot of Primacord and a remote detonator..."
Hit Girl complied without hesitation. I wrapped the Primacord around the grenade, securing it with duct-tape and I connected the detonator. I rammed the IED between the man's legs at his crotch, pulling the pin from the grenade.
"Night, night!" I growled and we both headed towards the exit.
..._...
As we exited, I was surprised to see Kick-Ass astride his Ducati Diavel motorcycle, with Shadow beside him on her Panigale.
"Hit Girl – hit it!" I growled.
Hit Girl pressed the button on the remote trigger and I heard a large explosion, which rattled the entire building.
"Can't leave you two alone for a minute, can I?" Kick-Ass growled.
"The girl's in pain; I let her have a little fun!" I replied.
"With explosives?" He queried.
"Hey, she's growing up!" I responded with a laugh.
"Move it, Hit Girl – we still have work to do!" Wildcat called as she strode towards the building where we had hidden our motorcycle.
I shrugged and followed the young vigilante into the darkness.
Friday morning
Now Kim and Marty were living at West Ridge, Kim was making a lot of use of the exercise and training facilities.
"I need to get back in shape and get Hawk back out on the streets!" She had told me.
It would be good to have Hawk back with us. We were short of healthy operatives. Josh was still healing, although he was much better. Hailee was hurting from her wounds and the other evening had stressed her wounds a little. I was also a little worried that Megan was going to come unstuck.
The girl had worried me at the warehouse on Thursday night. Maybe I had let her be carried away with her adrenalin rush! However, it seemed that Megan was a lot happier and coping with her Mom's near-death experience. She spent a lot of time talking with Stephanie, which was good for both girls.
Cathy had insisted on talking to Megan to see how she was really feeling. Cathy's report had not been good. Megan was developing some nasty psychotic problems and I had only myself to blame. I just hoped I could control her and stop her going the same way as me.
Lake View High School
I could not resist it; the shot was perfect.
The tenth grade boy and girl were kissing – as usual. The boy was skinny, but muscular and handsome. He had the most adorable British accent, too. Everybody in school knew that Chloe Bennett and Joshua Williams were a couple and a girl went near Williams, only if she had a death wish; Bennett could get very violent!
I aimed and focussed on my targets from less than a dozen yards away, ignoring the other kids as they wandered the corridors. My moment to strike came as I saw Williams' hand move up Bennett's chest.
I pressed the trigger.
I turned at the sound.
"Damn you, Lauren – put that camera away!" I growled, and then I paused. "Any chance of a copy?"
"I'll bring a copy to D-JAK tonight," the girl agreed before running off.
"You want a copy?" Josh asked.
"I've never seen us making out..."
"You are so strange!"