Chapter 27

WINNING IS BETTER

Returning to Frank’s workshop felt almost nostalgic for Alexander, though it had only been a few months. Scars from the attack still marked the place. The doorframe around the showroom was blackened. The storage closet had been gutted entirely and roped off.

The biggest change were the laminated printouts taped around the room, each with the same words in bold: Surveillance. Press the button.

He spotted it immediately. A classic red emergency button wired into some ugly contraption Frank had cobbled together. Alexander brushed across it with his senses, letting the machine explain itself.

Some kind of sound-scrambling field generator.

The others waited while he crossed the room and pressed it once. The device hummed, a faint vibration rippling through the air.

He rejoined the group and dropped his pack beside theirs against the wall. Everyone was alert, Auggy’s wand loose in his hand. Alexander pressed an ear to the door.

Muted voices. Frank and someone else. Probably a customer.

The conversation trailed off, replaced by a jingle from the front room, then steady footfalls heading for the door. Alexander stepped back just in time for Frank to push it open.

The old man froze in the doorway, then bowed his head slightly and shuffled in, shutting the door with a click.

“You got some nerve showing up here, boy!” Frank huffed. “Still haven’t paid your tab for getting my shop blown up!”

Alexander barked a laugh as Frank engulfed him in a bear hug.

“What the hell you been eating?” Frank asked, stepping back and giving him a once-over. “And what’s with the eighties vampire-hunter look? You get hit on the head?”

He’d gained a few wrinkles and some extra grey hairs, but Frank’s good humor was the same. His eyes swept the room, taking in the others.

“We’ve been enjoying home-cooked meals,” Annie chimed in, bouncing over. “Chef-Wizard Auggy’s been keeping us fed.”

Frank ruffled her hair as he hugged her. “Good to see you too, Scrappy. Glad you two are still looking out for each other.”

“That’s what we do.” Annie stepped back with a grin.

“And you, Captain.” Frank offered Augustus a mock salute before pulling him into a one-armed hug. “What brings you around, spreading your bad influence?”

“You wound me, old friend,” Augustus said with a smile. “Clearly these two are the bad influences.”

The two shared a chuckle and a look that spoke volumes.

Frank finally turned to Talia. She waited calmly as he looked her over. After a pause, he sighed.

“Can’t say I get why you’re here, lady. But if the kid brought you, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Guess I even owe you a little for calling off that flaming prick.”

“I am glad you’re well,” Talia replied evenly. “But you owe me nothing. It was my fault Flashpoint was involved at all.”

Frank waved a hand, dismissing the whole thing.

“What’s with the surveillance warnings?” Alexander asked.

“AEGIS posted a team across the street, watching my store day and night.” Frank gave a belly-laugh. “I built that interference machine and started turning it on at random. Those fools kept busting into my shop each time and forcing their way back here when I did. Then I sued ‘em for interfering with my business and not having a search warrant. Judge laughed ‘em out of the room! Even managed to get a temporary restraining order, and I haven’t seen ‘em since.”

Everyone laughed.

“So, what brings you fugitives back to town?”

“Heard the city’s been having problems. We figured it was time someone did something about it.”

Across the street, two AEGIS surveillance operators kept half an eye on Frank’s shop.

“Goddamnit,” the man muttered. “That old bastard’s at it again.”

He spun his chair away from the screens. His partner lounged on the couch chewing gum, eyes on a game show about weird superpowers.

“Nothing we can do,” she said. “Note it in the log.”

He grumbled, typed in the report, then submitted his fourth warrant request of the week out of spite.

He’s up to something. And I’m going to prove it.

Back in the workshop, the team caught up with Frank.

He told them about his stint in holding, how the officers couldn’t decide whether to book him or apologize. The charges fell apart when a mysterious fire destroyed half the precinct’s evidence room. Annie laughed at the flimsy cover story.

After that came the insurance fight. The company tried to deny coverage, claiming superhero damage wasn’t included. Repairs had been slow and expensive.

In turn, they told Frank everything: the bounty hunters in the tunnels, Iron Nadya’s assault, escaping to Auggy’s bar just in time to clash with Talia and then Flashpoint. Auggy’s dramatic arrival. Their plan to destroy the evidence and free Frank. Flashpoint’s press conference, painting them as villains. Their retreat from the city.

The months of training that followed, pushing their limits. Preparing for whatever came next.

And now they were back.

For Alexander, it was a chance to see what they were capable of. To Talia, it was an opportunity to see justice delivered to those who deserved it. Meanwhile, Augustus had found a new purpose in having a team to work with again, and was happy even if that meant putting down some bad people.

And Annie? Doing the right thing was its own reward.

Because people were dying. And someone had to put a stop to it.

An hour later, Augustus spun up a portal to meet a contact about a base of operations. Talia went with him. Twenty minutes after that they returned, a bit scuffed and spattered with blood.

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“What happened?” Alexander asked, his concern easing when he saw it wasn’t their blood.

“Ambush,” Auggy said. “My contact thought a quick bounty payout beat a rental agreement.”

“Three chromers,” Talia added, cleaning her face in front of a mirror. “We left them alive, so word will spread.”

“Nice,” Annie said, swiveling on a stool while watching superhero clips. “We’ll be back on the Most Hunted list.”

Alexander ran his fingers through his hair. “What are our options?”

“Could reach out to a different contact,” Auggy said. “No guarantee we won’t run into the same problem though.”

Annie jumped to her feet. “I could find us a place to borrow.”

“I know of an AEGIS safehouse,” Talia said with a faint smirk. “With your power, you could neutralize the alarms without any problem. It’s the last place anyone would expect to find us.”

Annie’s jaw dropped. “Retracting my offer. Let’s do hers.”

Alexander looked at Augustus, who only shrugged. “Thumbing our noses at AEGIS works for me.”

Talia pulled up a map on her tablet, sharing it with Augustus so he could figure out how to get them there.

Frank came in as they were preparing to leave. “Heading off already, kid?”

“Yeah, time to get out of your hair,” Alexander said, eyeing his thinning mane. “What’s left of it, anyway.”

“Punk,” Frank muttered. “Be sure to drop in every now and then. And be careful. Those psychos you’re after? They’re dangerous, kid. Real dangerous.”

“I know,” Alexander replied, giving the old man a hug. “That’s why we’re going after them, but we’ll be smart about it.”

Frank shook Augustus’ and Talia’s hands and gave Annie a hug.

The team disappeared into Auggy’s portal a minute later.

Alexander had expected more from an AEGIS safehouse. Aside from shuttered windows, it looked like any other suburban rental.

While Annie picked the lock, he swept the place with his senses and looped camera feeds and convinced the alarms they were welcome friends. Then he shut down the microphones in the walls and light fixtures, and disabled receivers for the micro-explosives under the flooring. That had been something new.

There were only three bedrooms, which were quickly divided with Annie volunteering to take the couch.

He’d realized something then. She just wants full access to the holo!

Once they’d settled, they regrouped in the living room.

“Tonight’s for information gathering,” Alexander said. “We need a timeline of incidents since the prison break, and a map of their activity. Talia, dig into news reports about the attacks and public records about the villains. Auggy, talk to your contacts and find out what word on the street is. I don’t care if it’s rumor or witness, let’s bring it all together for now. And I’m sure I don’t need to remind you to keep a low profile.”

They nodded.

A ginger head popped up over the couch. “What about me?”

“Track down your sister,” Alexander said.

Annie sat up, startled. “What?”

“You’ve been worried since she stopped messaging. Go see what’s going on.”

“What? I can’t do that! Everyone else is working!”

Talia rested a hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine, Annie. They got to check in on Frank, and I don’t have family here. When you’re back, we’ll know where to begin the hunt. Go.”

Annie’s shoulders slumped. “Thanks, guys.”

She pulled on a hoodie over the eye-catching shirt. Slinging her red jacket over one shoulder, she turned back with a grin. “You better have something for me to hit when I get back!”

Auggy smiled. “We’ll do our best, Scrappy.”

The door shut behind her.

“I’ll be scouring forums and bounty boards,” Alexander said. “If either of you need to head out, take someone with you.”

Auggy and Talia nodded again.

“Let’s get started.”

Hours later, Annie stood beneath a shadowed eave. The warehouses loomed, still scarred from the ambush months ago. She remembered the banshee’s shrieking, and the ease with which the other had tossed her around like a rag doll.

That’s what started all of this.

But it was the destruction of the shipping office that really mattered. It was the last place she’d seen her sister Sasha—

Ash, she reminded herself.

What remained of the building did not look like the aftermath of a forgotten cigarette. The building had been gutted, blasted open from the inside out.

Her chest tightened. Sweat ran down her temple. What if Flashpoint couldn’t find us, so he went after her…

Annie slapped her cheeks. “Focus. I’m supposed to be good at that.”

If Ash were still alive, she would have ditched her electronics and gone to ground in a way that would require days, maybe even weeks, to track her.

There’s nothing I can do now but wait. She’s definitely alive, and she’ll reach out when she’s safe.

The best thing she could do now was to make sure it was safe.

Footsteps pulled her from her thoughts. Two figures moved through the alley toward her, revealing themselves under the flickering lights as they approached.

Annie thought she was imagining things. There’s no way, right?

“Annette Sheridan,” the woman hissed with a synthetic voice. “I knew our surveillance would pay off.”

It was the same bounty hunters she’d been thinking about just minutes earlier.

The wiry man wore new lightweight armor, though Annie’s trained gaze picked out the unguarded joints immediately. The woman had changed far more. She was still tall and stocky, and wearing similar armor to the man. But her upper shoulders, neck, and lower jaw had all been replaced with cybernetics.

Annie laughed. “Wow! I was just thinking about the two of you, and then you showed up. Does that make you my personal devil then?”

“Bitch!” the banshee screamed, the word stretching out and distorting electronically.

Annie’s focus narrowed to a point. The air rippled with the oncoming blast, walls flaking with its passage. Power surged through her. Liquid metal flowed, replacing neck, shoulders, and arms, which in turn morphed into thick, curved blades that scraped across the ground with menace.

Shifting slightly, she swung. One bladed arm swept up in an arc, splitting the banshee’s sonic burst in half and deflecting it into the walls.

“We all know how this ends,” Annie said. “Walk away.”

“This ends with you deeeeeaaad!” Her wail fractured, becoming a high-pitched synthetic screech as the word dragged out.

Sound vibrated down the alley, the frequency and pitch all wrong. It reminded Annie briefly of a synthpunk concert she’d been to.

The man leapt in front, riding the wave like a surfer as it hurtled him forward.

Annie’s eyes narrowed. Oh, that’s new.

Annie slipped to the side, dodging the man’s outstretched, pulsing hands. She snapped out a single punch with a muttered command.

“NUTCRACKER.”

The blow caught the man in the side, ribs cracking under the force. He hurtled sideways, crashing onto the ground and skipping across the pavement.

Annie turned and sprinted for the Banshee. The woman screamed insults and curses, while Annie flipped, dodged, and cut through each sonic blast.

Reaching her, Annie swung for the woman’s neck—

And halted when she dropped to her knees, arms raised to shield her head. Tears streaked down her face. “No! Please!” she warbled in her synthetic voice. “Not again… I can’t go through that again!”

Annie hesitated. I was going to take her out. Just like… She cut the thought off. Now wasn’t the time.

“You set up surveillance equipment here,” Annie said, blade-arm still poised at the woman’s throat. “Tell me what happened to the office building by the docks.”

It was the man who answered, limping toward her with one arm holding his side. “Other bounty hunters found out you had a sister… went after her. Not us! We don’t go after kids. Or innocents.”

Annie turned to him, silent for a moment, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

“Did they…”

“No,” the woman whispered with distorted synth. “We saw her escape on the cameras with a bunch of other kids.”

She looked up at Annie. “We told no one. I… I only wanted to get back at you. I knew you’d return.”

Annie’s arm shifted back to flesh.

“This is the last time we meet,” she said softly. “If you come after me again, I won’t play nice.”

The banshee nodded, while the man murmured his agreement.

Annie stepped around her and left.

Winning is way better than just surviving.