Little Hunter

Nanku left the body behind and scaled her way back to the roof.

The PRT was scrambling on the ground. They'd found some of the bodies Nanku left in her wake. They'd stopped chasing all of her bug-swarm clones, and instead were grouping up. More were showing up in more armored trucks. The normal people were being filtered out slowly, and Nanku weighed how much time she had.

She kept the charade going. Changed the way they moved. Just to keep the armored men a little distracted.

Her swarm spread through the streets wider, covering a larger area.

The brawl with Night and Fog was moving away. Still buying time? What were they buying time for?

What was the plan?

In retrospect, Nanku supposed she could have kept Stalker alive a little longer.

Lifting the phone, Nanku began shifting through the messages. Many were with '2.O.' That had to be Kid Win. Who was apparently named 'Devon.' And he had a brother he apparently didn't like much, except Stalker liked Devon more?

There was a lot of subtext in the texts and Nanku was certain she didn't understand them all.

The most recent were the ones she saw Stalker send. They went right to Kid Win and informed him about Nanku's presence and that Nanku wanted help escaping. Kid Win was supposed to watch her back. He'd sent a message since then, reporting he'd been thrown off course and his equipment was damaged.

Good to know.

Scattered among other messages were a range of phone numbers, but Nanku thought they were all from the same person. It was the thinker. Nanku was certain.

Very cryptic messages. Short and only a few words. Vague enough Nanku couldn't figure out their full meaning. But Stalker had been informed about Nanku's visit to the police station before it happened, and that Kid Win could help her 'make nice.'

0456-666-6687: Just make nice. We'll find a use for someone that bloodthirsty.

Why would Stalker work with the Pure? She had a reputation for violently attacking criminals.

Or was the thinker different in her eyes?

The messages on the phone only went back three months. Whatever was going on went further than that. Nanku couldn't see when the two started talking or why. The oldest messages were mostly Stalker getting help on finding the locations of drug dealers and thieves.

And bitching about the Undersiders 'running the city.'

Maybe Stalker just didn't like the arrangement between the local enforcers and the rest of the bad bloods in town.

Kid Win apparently felt the same way.

…

Nanku wondered if he had a phone.

She swept her swarm around but couldn't find him. The boy must have escaped her range, or he was sticking with the battle with Night and Fog. That fight was still moving away and would leave Nanku's range soon if she didn't move.

Nanku weighed her options and turned Stalker's phone in her hand.

…

The phone.

Nanku opened the text app and looked at Stalker's messages again briefly. Usually sweet and littered with bizarre yellow faces. Nanku had no idea what those meant but she did her best.

SSS: Where are you? .

Nanku started moving her swarm away and rose to her feet.

Dusk flew through the swarm and dove. He snatched Stalker's cloak off the street where it had been left, and Nanku had Dawn remove the hood from her corpse. The Twins carried both away and Nanku dropped from the rooftop.

A reply came slowly, and tersely.

2.O: What happened?
2.O: Where are you?

Nanku replied quickly and simply made it up as she went.

SSS: Can't see shit in here T.T
SSS: She tried to kill me.
2.O: What? Why?

Because she was a coward who attacked unarmed men who couldn't fight back.

SSS: She figured it out XD
2.O: How?
SSS: thinker bitch set me up .

Nanku was guessing on the last one. Either Kid Win would figure out he wasn't really talking to Shadow Stalker, or he wouldn't. In either case, maybe she could learn something.

2.O: Why?
2.O: The nazis are dead. She needs us more than ever.

Nanku started down the alley, thumb tapping against the screen.

SSS: Does she :/

Kid Win's reply was slow in coming. For a moment Nanku thought he'd figured it out, but maybe not.

2.O: shit

It was hard to tell if someone was lying over a text message. Nanku supposed that went both ways.

SSS: yeah .

Nanku crossed a chaotic street under the cover of her swarm and ducked into an alley.

She watched the phone and waited. Another cliff on either side of her. Precarious ledges that could send her falling if she made the wrong step.

What would he do?

2.O: are you hurt?
SSS: Yes :[
2.O: I'm unengaged.
2.O: I can get to you
2.O: worst case we come clean

Nanku looked around, picked a building, and gave him the address.

2.O: I need a few minutes
2.O: hold on

Trap, or not a trap?

No. Not a trap.

Nanku had been in the situation before and the answer was the same. The only way to really know who was trapping who was to spring the trap and see which one worked.

On the rooftop, Nanku gathered Stalker's cloak and threw it on. Just because her cloak didn't work didn't invalidate the principle.

She huddled low in a corner of the roof as if hiding and deactivated her cloak. She continued to move her swarm and lead it away from where she was. Slowly. Enough to trick someone who might find her into thinking she'd escaped 'Huntress.'

Dusk and Dawn tucked themselves into shadows around the building and Nanku settled herself to wait.

Just enough bugs remained around her to see any PRT trucks or capes coming.

Nanku went back through Stalker's messages while she waited.

The thinker set her up?

Nanku wasn't surprised. She clearly didn't care about Iron Rain, and clearly didn't care about the Pure. Whatever Night and Fog were serving as a distraction for also seemed like it might be hard for Night and Fog to get anything out of it.

The thinker liked generating chaos and using others to get it.

0465-616-9954: she only kills criminals
0465-616-9954: to the point of seeing heroes as unassailable
0456-616-9954: you'll be fine

The thinker told her that? Nanku supposed she didn't disagree, but her conception of criminal and hero weren't the same as a human's. Not anymore.

It's almost like she wanted Stalker to die.

She wanted Stalker to die.

She wanted Stalker to get herself killed… Misleading her about Nanku's nature.

The cold feeling was numbed further by the sputtering of air.

Kid Win was back on his board. It dipped and rose unevenly, and he swayed atop it. The rifle he'd used before was in two pieces slung on his back.

Nanku drew herself into Stalker's cloak and tucked the phone away. The thing was in two pieces itself. She pressed her back to the wall to keep the bottom half in place.

"Stalker?"

Nanku adjusted the settings on her mask. Isolated Shadow Stalker's voice and activated the filter.

"Over here," she said. "My leg."

Kid Win lowered in the air and hopped off his board onto the roof. He wobbled as he landed, favoring one side.

He looked back. "She can control bugs. That would have been nice to know."

"Big ones too," Nanku admitted.

"Yeah. Ran into one of those." He left his board behind and shuffled toward her. "Your leg. How ba—"

He turned and started as Dusk fell on him. His jaws clamped tight over the 'hero's' shoulder and dragged the boy to the ground. Nanku jumped up and discarded the cloak—something was poetic in that, but she'd consider it later—and Dawn flew over her head.

Dawn landed behind her brother and grabbed Kid Win's leg with her mandibles. They pulled him in opposite directions, chomping and biting at the armor protecting his body while his arms flailed. One hand crackled with electricity, and he slapped Dusk in one eye.

Nanku felt the jolt of pain through her power. Dusk jumped back with a start, body rattling and head shaking with pain.

Kid Win turned the hand on Dawn, but Nanku had her hold tight. An armored boot struck Kid Win's wrist and Nanku dropped her knee onto his chest. She pinned him and delivered a quick punch to his visor. Then another. And another.

Nanku assumed that's where whatever device he used to see through her cloak was.

It was cathartic to hit it a few times.

In the process, Kid Win became dazed and his body weak. Nanku rose and Dusk grabbed onto his other leg. The twins dragged the boy across the roof as quickly as they could. Together, they jumped and opened their jaws.

Kid Win dropped into the alley below and landed with a crunch.

The drop wasn't enough to kill him. When Nanku looked over the lip, she saw more than a few broken bones. Kid Win tried to move regardless.

Until Nanku stepped off the roof and landed atop his arm.

The armor over his limb cracked and shattered, and the bone snapped. He started to scream but Nanku covered his mouth with one hand. The other pressed her knife to his throat.

The boy's visor was broken from the beating, and she could see his eyes clearly. Bloody, and squinting through a swollen socket.

Nanku tilted her head and drew up a swarm to obscure the recess of the alley from the street.

"Where's"—he gagged and moved his head to one side—"S-Stalker?"

"I'll send you to her," Nanku replied, "unless given a reason."

Through the swollen skin around his eye, his reaction was hard to reason. He tried to sit up, but Nanku leaned her weight against him and snarled.

"Where is the Pure's thinker?"

Kid Win blinked. Shuttered. And laughed.

"You think. I know?" He kept laughing. "She'd never. Tell me."

"You'll see Stalker soon then." Nanku pressed the blade closer. "You're both cowards. You'll get along."

"Says. The bitch." he sucked down a breath. "With a cloaking device."

Nanku refused to be drawn in.

If he didn't know—and she could believe he didn't—then he was useless as anything more than a threat to be removed. Nanku was tired of interruptions. If she couldn't get rid of the thinker, she'd hack off limbs until she had nothing left.

"Get on with it." Kid Win's eye opened enough to show his scorn. "Good luck. When they really come after you. For killing a—"

Nanku turned away as someone stepped into her swarm's range.

Weaver was two blocks away but there was purpose in her steps. There were two other figures with her. One was the right size to be Vista. Despite the distance, Nanku was certain.

Her mother was tracing her exact path, except for traveling along the rooftops.

She was coming.

Opportunity, after opportunity.

Nanku needed to be quick.

Dusk and Dawn dropped from above and Nanku lifted Kid Win off the ground. She searched him but many of the strange slots and pockets in his armor didn't open to her prodding. No matter. Stalker's phone was more than enough to prove they were traitors.

It would get the heroes to look into their own before one of them pulled some other stunt that reduced Rose's life to a distraction.

Nanku wouldn't mind seeing Kid Wins though. Did the thinker set him up too, or was he in on getting Stalker to do something stupid? Nanku—

Turned and held the boy with one hand. He was heavy, but she was strong.

Around her, there was no sign of the PRT coming or not, but with Vista present they could probably arrive anyway. Maybe by other means. Nanku considered that waiting was foolish, but she didn't care.

There were some words she wanted to have with her mother.

But just in case, Nanku tossed Stalker's phone on the ground and picked a route of escape. She drew most of her swarm back, bringing the mass into a sphere around her once again.

The phone began to ring. Stalker's phone.

Nanku raised it curiously and Kid Win grumbled under his breath.

Her mother didn't have a phone in hand and was still some distance off.

So, who was on the phone?

Nanku tossed the device down and had Dawn tap the screen with her talon-tip.

The device picked up.

And Tattletale's voice started talking.

"We're gonna have to make this quick," she said. "You need to let Kiddie Win go."

Everyone with their damn orders.

Nanku started guiding Dawn's talon to hang up, but Tattletale spoke quickly.

"Let him live, and I'll tell you where to find Krieg."

Dawn's claw stopped.

Nanku glowered at the phone. "Why?"

"He's a Nazi. Fuck'um. And I still want to know what the hell happened at the camp. About as much as I don't want a dead Ward on the streets."

Nanku scoffed.

"Stalker wasn't a Ward anymore and no one liked her anyway. Kid Win is another matter."

The games were so tiring.

"You'll tell me where to find him," Nanku said. "Now."

"Come on. I'm not—"

"Fine then."

Dawn tapped the screen and hung up.

Her mother was getting closer. Kid Win tried to reach one of his strangely locked pockets. Nanku punched him hard. She waited, counting to twenty.

The text came a few seconds later.

TT: fine
TT: here

Nanku raised the phone and tapped the link. There was nothing but an address inside. In Boston.

Tattletale had been trying to get her to leave the city. Nanku wasn't sure, but it hardly mattered. If it was a lie, she'd simply come back and insist. Tattletale had to know that.

Nanku recorded the information with her mask and quickly deleted the message.

Her mother arrived not long after. She stopped briefly and waved Vista and whoever else was with her back.

Then she came alone.

She looked different in costume. Part of secret identities, Nanku supposed. The cut of the armor and the lines of the pants made her appear bustier and curvier than she really was. Her waist was a little narrower and her shoulders more sleek.

It was clever, as far as hiding who she was went.

Weaver stepped into the alley and Nanku parted her swarm so the woman could see.

She looked directly at Kid Win but her expression was unreadable with a mask that fully covered her face.

"You need to put him down," she said.

"Who killed my father?" Nanku meant to ask more tactfully, but a heat of anger erupted in her chest. She grit her teeth behind her mask, glaring at the woman who just couldn't stop stabbing her in the back. "Who killed him, and why are you protecting them?!"

Her mother's answer was immediate.

"I'm not protecting him," she claimed. Him. "I'm protecting you."

"I don't need your suffocation!" Nanku roared. "Who is he?"

Her mother flinched, realizing the slip.

"Where is Shadow Stalker?" she asked.

"Where all traitors end!"

"She killed her," Kid Win croaked. "She say—"

Nanku threw the boy forward and slammed him into the ground. Her foot came down on his throat and she drew a spear from her belt. The weapon expanded quickly, and she pressed the tip toward his swollen eye.

She didn't care if Kid Win lived or died—everything dies—but her mother clearly did.

"Name," Nanku demanded.

"No." The reply was unmoved. "It's for your own good."

Nanku had heard that before.

Notably, she couldn't think of a single time Pe'dte had uttered that banal sentiment. She hadn't needed to. It was obvious from everything she did, she wanted Nanku to succeed. Otherwise, she'd have left Taylor at the camp to be found alive. Or simply killed her.

"This has to stop," her mother said. "Killing him won't bring your father back, and—"

"Bring him back?"

Did the woman think she was stupid? He was dead. Nothing dead ever came back. Nanku wasn't a damned child dreaming her father would come back any moment and everything would be better.

He was gone.

Someone killed him.

Someone her mother was protecting from what they deserved!

…

And Nanku realized her mother was never going to understand. She couldn't understand, and it didn't seem like she wanted to.

Why bother?

"Tay—Nanku!"

The swarm pulled in tight into a near-solid mass. Nanku left Stalker's phone. Rose still deserved to be safe and the local enforcers it seemed had their own houses to get in order. Kid Win hit the ground and Nanku left him. She wasn't in the mood and the boy hadn't put up any fight worth caring about.

She left him and walked away.

Her injuries were still there. Ignored because of everything that had happened, but painful all the same. And she was tired. It had been more than a day since she'd really slept.

"Taylor!"

Her mother shouted as she dared to brave the thick swarm. Nanku had to actively restrain herself from suffocating the woman with bugs. Which wasn't helped by how she kept shouting her name.

"Taylor!"

Sleep.

Sleep sounded good.

It had been a frustrating day.