Vanguard City had eruptedinto chaos.
The HeroApp™ couldn’t chime fast enough for the number of crimes being committed. It was as if somebody had rolled out the red carpet for villains. The press team for the Centurions promised that as soon as they were ready, they’d make the streets safer. In the meantime, citizens hid in their homes, terrified of going to the corner market.
I had barely pulled the mask over my head when an alarm sounded. Whether mundane crooks or supers looking to score a quick buck, I’d be sure to leave them tagged and ready for police pickup. As I reached the end of the alley, they laughed. Three voices, each caught in hysterics.
“Kid, you think you’re going to stop us?”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Darting out of the alley, I assessed the situation. One man had a gun, or had a gun before the vigilante kicked it out of his hand. She spun about, ducking low. She wielded her momentum, knocking his legs out from under him. By the time he hit the sidewalk, she was already standing, giving him a swift kick with the toe of her belt.
“Behind you,” I shouted.
A second man had a gun drawn. She couldn’t have been over fifteen. The way she rolled into a backward somersault and drove her heels into his gut bordered on perfection. She spun, one kick, then two. She grabbed his wrist, pushing his arm up as he unloaded the magazine. With a crack of her forehead against his nose and a knee to the groin, he fell.
She held the gun as the crook crumpled on the sidewalk, clutching his manhood. When she turned, I could finally see her homemade costume. The red bodysuit wasalmost dark enough to be called black. The mask was nothing more than a rubber cat mask spray-painted red. It was easy to spot a fledgling hero, but with moves like hers, was it her first time on the streets?
With a few quick clicks, she pulled the barrel off the gun and tossed it to the side. “You nearly got me killed.”
That sounded nothing like a thank you. “Kid. Go home. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
She gestured to the fallen men. “I’m sure they’d disagree.”
“You got lucky.”
“And I’ll get lucky again tonight.”
I thought about giving her an ass-whooping to prove my point. I hadn’t been much older when I stopped my first gas station robbery. She had the raw talent, but that wasn’t enough to survive the heathens of Southland. I had a body covered in scars to prove it.
“They didn’t say there were two of you.”
We paused, searching for the owner of the growling voice. I spotted the shadows by a street lamp creeping along the pavement. Elongating, it moved to the wall of an apartment building. What stepped out was anything but human. If the smoke for robes wasn’t enough, the exposed ribs filled with hellfire were a dead giveaway.
“Your souls will be my bounty.”
First assassins, and now demons from hell? “You work for Trident?”
“Trident?” The girl was green.
“Reports of a hero clad in crimson.” He stepped out of the shadows, the gateway to hell vanishing behind him. “They’ll pay a handsome fee.”
“Assassins that want me dead,” I mumbled to my new friend. I had been so preoccupied with sending her home that I hadn’t caught the fact that we wore the same color costume. “Are you trying to steal my trademark?”
“Don’t kid yourself.” She held out her hand, and a staff telescoped from her palm.
I never thought cleaning up the streets might inspire a resident to take up arms against the villain epidemic. There was no point in berating her. At that age, I’d have already gotten my ass handed to me several times. Protecting doesn’t always mean saving.
“Who put the bounty on my head?”
The demon laughed. I should have guessed. Without a sorcerer or angel to compel him, at best he’d lie. Never thought I’d miss Nails. At least she didn’t smell like sulfur.
“Follow my lead,” I said.
“Not going to?—”
“Follow. My. Lead.” There was no room for debate.
I pulled the batons free. For hellspawn, I didn’t have to hold back. He had found his bounty. I had found my outlet for brutality. Sorry, demon, only one Hellion would survive. I glanced at my new partner. Okay, one and a half.
