It only took a good hour and a half for Maggie to get herself utterly and completely lost. She glanced up and down the street she was on, cursing her own stubbornness as she tried to re-orient herself to her surroundings. When she and Max had gotten back to the Mayor's Mansion, she'd told him she was going back to bed, and had retreated to the room she'd woken up in. She'd waited for half an hour or so, then slipped out of the house as quietly as she could. She'd spent the first several minutes running, for fear that she might have tripped a security system that would alert the Everharts that someone had left their house, but had gradually slowed down to a walk as her lungs started to burn. From there she'd tried, best as she could remember, to retrace the path she'd walked with Max and Sketch, but she must've made a wrong turn at some point, because the place she stood now was completely unfamiliar.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, she thought, wishing she'd gone along with Max's plan to wait until morning. Even if I do somehow manage to find my way back into town, Max didn't exactly give me an address. How am I supposed to find her? When he'd shown her his glass city, Max had mentioned something about Nova and Cyanide running a shop downtown, so it would make sense for Nova to live downtown somewhere—maybe close to the alley where Maggie had run into Cyanide a few nights ago. But that was just a guess, and it wouldn't exactly lead her straight to Nova's door.
She half-considered turning around and trying to retrace her steps back to Max's, but sheer pride convinced her to keep moving forward. It's fine. I can do this on my own. I'll find my way to Renegade headquarters, and get someone there to tell me where she lives. Then I'll snatch my bullet back from her the moment I'm in range.
And I'll take her bracelet too, for good measure.
By daybreak, she was pretty sure she was on the right track, as the houses around her had started getting shabbier and closer together. Eventually, she made her way into a recognizable section of town, albeit not one she frequented often. From here, it was a straight shot into the downtown district, where Renegade Headquarters was located and—a little further along—where Nova probably lived.
If she turned right, it was also a straight, and much closer, shot to the theater.
Maggie's body was exhausted from the hours of walking, and although her headache from being put to sleep by Nightmare had lessened significantly, it still persisted faintly. She wasn't sure she'd be in her best fighting shape if she did encounter Nova right now.
She turned right, a plan beginning to take shape. She'd go to the theater, sit down and rest her legs for a couple minutes, and then bring Chester with her to find Nova. Nova was bound to be on her guard if she saw Maggie approaching, so Chester would provide the perfect diversion.
A faint smell of skunk odor hung around the outside of the theater as she approached, and Maggie swore under her breath, not in the mood to deal with whatever drama was probably going on between Duncan and Eminya this morning. Unsurprisingly, she heard the low mumble of conversation coming from Eminya's room. The conversation stopped abruptly before Maggie had a chance to hear what was being said.
Zoridel's head peeked out from Eminya's room, then ducked back inside. "It's not him," Maggie heard her say. "It's Maggie." She poked her head back out again and addressed Maggie. "How did things go last night? We were a little worried when you didn't come home, but we figured you decided to stay over at the Everharts' once it started to get late?"
How could she so casually toss out a phrase like "stay over at the Everharts'", like sleeping over at the house of the most famous family in Gatlon City was a normal occurrence for the leader of a villain gang?
Not to mention the fact that staying over had definitely not been Maggie's intention. She couldn't resist an irritated roll of her eyes. "It wasn't exactly my choice," she said dryly. "But you can all thank me for taking one for the team and going through all that garbage just to make sure the Renegades didn't come in here."
The night hadn't all been garbage, she reflected as she stomped to her room on the stage. Most of it had actually been quite nice. Hanging out with Max—
Max who took Nova's side over mine, she reminded herself, and her heart did a little squeeze.
She had barely had time to slip her shoes off and arrange herself into a comfortable sitting position on the bed before there was a knock at her door.
"Go away," she told whoever it was.
Zoridel stepped into her room. "I just wanted to check up on you," she said, her face so open and kind that Maggie almost felt bad for snapping at her. Almost. "What happened? Was it boy troubles, like Eminya?"
Maggie stared at her, then gave her most indignant huff. Boy troubles? What was this, a slumber party? "No," she said stiffly. "It was girl troubles, actually. A girl stole something of mine and then made it very hard for me to get it back." She clamped her lips shut. Why had she told Zoridel that? Zoridel didn't need to know her business.
"What a jerk," Zoridel said frankly. The response surprised Maggie, who'd been expecting something more along the lines of what Max had said, implying that Maggie had just lost the item, or something about how Maggie herself had stolen from others in the past.
"Yeah," Maggie found herself saying. "I know why she did it. I stole something from her before. But that didn't give her the right to take something from me." If Zoridel was going to take her side, she should at least know the context.
"I agree," said Zoridel. "Two wrongs don't make a right."
Two wrongs don't make a right. It was a very un-villainous thing to say, and again Maggie wondered what Zoridel was doing here. Her suspicions about Zoridel being a spy crept back into her mind. Had she maybe been sent by the Renegades to get insider info and throw a huge wrench in Maggie's plans at the last minute?
Maggie didn't want to believe that. Inexplicably, she wanted to trust Zoridel. Zoridel was like… like…
Like a big sister, she realized. The big sister I never had. The big sister I would've had…
No. She shut those thoughts down as quickly as they'd come. She didn't need a big sister in her life, some nosy busybody bossing her around. Especially somebody who might be a Renegade spy.
"If two wrongs don't make a right, why are you helping us?" she asked Zoridel.
"What?" Zoridel's eyebrows shot up.
"You heard me." Maggie regarded her steadily. "We're villains. We have a plan to take over Gatlon City and stake our villainous claim over everyone. You're one of the least villainous people I know. Why are you here?"
Zoridel rested her arm against the cheap wooden dresser set next to the doorway. "I know what you're really asking," she said. "And the answer is no, I'm not here to infiltrate your ranks or pass your plans along to the Renegades or whatever. I believe what I believe, and to me it doesn't really matter whether the side I'm aligning myself with is calling themselves 'heroes' or 'villains.' I want to help you, Maggie. That's always been why I'm here." Her face was earnest, her brown eyes shining with what was either innocence or very, very good acting.
I want to help you, Maggie. Even though Zoridel probably meant the whole gang, the way she'd worded it made it sound like she wanted to help Maggie in particular. And wasn't that what a big sister would do? How old was Zoridel, anyway? Maybe her weird, somewhat contradictory behavior actually made sense. Maybe…
No! Again, Maggie threw up a wall in her mind, furious with herself for even allowing her thoughts to go in that direction. Eating dinner with the Everharts, getting a taste of what it might feel like to have a family, must have really screwed with her head. Zoridel was not her long-lost sister. And she didn't need a sister anyway. What she needed was her bullet.
She stood up, despite her legs' protests. "I'm leaving," she said abruptly. "I have to track down the girl who stole from me." She considered Zoridel for a moment, debating whether to trust her with the next important piece of information. "You're good with hand-to-hand combat, right?"
Zoridel nodded.
"Good. If you happen to see Nova Artino out and about, take her down and bring everything she has on her to me. Even if it seems worthless."
Zoridel's eyebrows raised in surprise again. "Everything? Wouldn't it be easier for me just to take back whatever she stole from you?"
"No," said Maggie scornfully. "Because then she'll know I sent you. We can't just blow your cover like that." Not to mention the fact that she didn't want Zoridel knowing exactly what the important item was that Nova had stolen from her. Zoridel would want to know why an old, used bullet was important, and Maggie didn't want to come across as sentimental. "Is Chester here?" she asked.
"I'm sure he's around somewhere," said Zoridel. "I'm going to go check in on Eminya again. But then I'll head out and see if I can find Nova for you."
"If you find her, take everything," Maggie re-iterated. "And bring it straight back here."
She found Chester in the box office, reading over Kevin's shoulder as Kevin typed furiously into a laptop. "What are you writing?" she asked, momentarily distracted.
"I'm trying to hack into the Renegades' servers so I can get the exact schematics of what the parade is going to look like," Kevin replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. "They just released the news that there are going to be a few extra floats this year, recognizing people in the community who've gone 'above and beyond' in helping out or rebuilding the city or whatever. That might change our original plans of who should be where at what time."
"Right," said Maggie, realizing with a twinge of shame that it had been days since she'd even thought about the parade. "Good. You keep doing that. Chester, I need you to come with me."
Chester's face brightened with excitement. "Really? Cool! I mean, yes ma'am, I'll come with you."
Maggie rolled her eyes, even as she bit back a smile. "Let's go."
"How was your night?" Chester asked, bouncing a little as they walked down Star Lane. "Are Captain Chromium and the Dread Warden good cooks? Did Sketch draw anything cool while you were there? Did—"
"Chester," she snapped. "We're on official business. Stop asking dumb questions."
"Fine." Chester shot a jet of water into the air and caught it in his mouth. "What's this 'official business' then?"
"We're staging an attack on Nightmare."
Chester stopped walking. "Nightmare?" he repeated. "We're attacking her? Right now? Why?"
"Because I need something that she has. Your job will be to distract her by being the annoying little water-squirting pest that you are. Hit her with a lot of face shots, so she doesn't see me coming, but be careful that she doesn't get you with any of her weapons—she carries a lot of weapons. Meanwhile, I'll sneak up behind her and use my telekinesis to take what I need."
"And what if she overpowers us and puts us to sleep instead? Or what if we get arrested? I thought we weren't supposed to do anything crazy until after the parade."
Right. Once again, the parade had slipped to the back of her mind. Get a grip, Maggie, she reminded herself. The parade is what you've been working toward for three years. Ace Anarchy's helmet, remember? Unlimited power.
"It's two on one," Maggie assured him, even though that didn't really mean anything when the one was Nova. "And we'll both stay far enough away that she can't use her sleep powers on us. We'll be fine."
They reached Renegade Headquarters, but as Maggie stepped up to the revolving entrance door, she realized that Chester was no longer walking next to her. She turned to find him frozen a few paces behind, gawking up at the building with an expression that could only be described as awestruck.
She rolled her eyes and walked over to him, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him toward the entrance. "Now is not the time to get all googly-eyed over a big fancy building," she reminded him.
"Sorry," Chester apologized quickly. "I was just surprised how big it looked up close."
She led him quickly into the building and down the stairs, toward the information desk where Sampson Cartwright sat tapping away on a computer. Great powers, was he the only person who ever worked there?
He looked up when he heard Maggie and Chester approaching, and his face broke into his signature smile. "Magpie! You're back! And you've brought a friend! Is your friend here to fill out an application? Or are you here to see the Bandit again? I'm not sure if he's here; I haven't see him today, but I can certainly—"
"We're here to see Nightmare," Maggie interrupted. "Or Insomnia. Whatever she's calling herself these days."
"Ah!" Sampson looked surprised, but just nodded. "Let me see… she's on patrol duty right now, and will be for the next six hours. Can I take a message for her?"
Maggie's hope deflated. "No, that's okay," she mumbled. "Can you tell me where she's on duty? What section of the city?"
"I believe today she's patrolling the Harbor district," said Sampson, and Maggie's heart sank even further. The Harbor district was about as far away as you could get while still being in Gatlon City. It would take her hours to walk there, by which time Nova probably would've already left.
"Is there any way we could get a ride over there? I really need to see her as soon as possible." She liked the idea of taking Nova by surprise by showing up in a Renegade transport van. There was no way Nova would be expecting that.
Sampson's brow furrowed. "You could ask around, but I'm not sure anyone would be available. We've all been working overtime trying to track down and catch Flamethrower."
Maggie's gut clenched at the mention of the villain. Max…
"Are all the Renegades trying to catch Flamethrower?" Chester asked, mild surprise in his expression.
Sampson blinked. "Yes. Of course. Well, I mean, a lot of teams are still assigned to their individual smaller cases, but as a syndicate we're… oh! That reminds me!" He turned his gaze back to Maggie, looking anxious. "I want to apologize for barging into your house the other day. We thought we had a lead on the criminal we were investigating, but, um, turns out that criminal wasn't even in the country at the time, and she has since been caught. So… on behalf of my team, I'm sorry. We're all sorry."
Maggie stared at him, his words not making sense in her brain. That criminal wasn't even in the country at the time… when Sampson and his investigative team had shown up at the theater, they'd been looking for Yasmin—for Dagger. But Dagger had never left the country, and Maggie was pretty sure Zoridel or Chester would've said something if she'd been caught while Maggie was at the Everharts'.
"Dagger?" she asked, to make sure she wasn't misunderstanding.
Sampson nodded heartily. "Yes, that's the one! She was apprehended in Parlow City a few days ago. It just took a little while for the information to be relayed to us."
Maggie's mind was swirling, even as she mentally willed Chester to not say anything that would cause Sampson to want to re-check that information. Zoridel had said that she'd implemented her plan to get the Renegades off Dagger's tail, so this story about Dagger being caught in Parlow City must be the result of that. But how in the world had Zoridel managed to convince the Renegades that that had happened?
"That's… good," she said slowly. "That she was caught. I told you guys I didn't know anything about her," she added, with a little more of her usual vitriol.
"I know," Sampson looked chagrined. "We should've waited for concrete evidence rather than operating on incomplete leads. We'll try to do our research more thoroughly in the future."
Maggie wasn't sure how to respond. She settled for a stiff nod and a, "Yes. Please do." She turned around and started walking back toward the revolving doors. "Chester, let's go."
Chester looked like he wanted to stick around and admire the lobby some more, which was precisely why Maggie wanted to get him out of HQ as quickly as she could. Chester already seemed way too starstruck over Captain Chromium and the Dread Warden; she couldn't risk letting him become awed by their grand facility and deciding to become a Renegade.
Chester reluctantly followed her out of the building. They had only walked a few steps when he burst out with the questions she'd known he would have. "Why does he think Dagger was caught in Parlow City? Do you think he was just saying that to try to catch us off guard so we'd confess?"
Surprisingly, that idea hadn't even occurred to Maggie, but as she mulled it over, she realized that she didn't believe it. "No," she said. "I know Sampson. He's too genuine for that. If he was trying to trick us, it'd be written all over his face. This had something to do with Zoridel."
"But how…" Chester let his unasked question hang in the air.
Maggie shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."