Tonight’s the night. Santiago Skull has committed the crime of running his mouth, and we’re going to make that punk regret it. It’s my fault that we got kidnapped, and it’s my fault we’re in this mess. Nobody only killed Murmur to protect me. Now Santiago Skullfuck has to die. Nobody has placed his trust in me, and I won’t let him down. This mission will be another success. He said I did great last time, and this won’t be any different.

I pull up to the base, excited to see all the changes Kai has made, but it doesn’t look any different than before. He has had three days to transform it, and I expected at least something would’ve changed. I don’t see Isaiah’s car anywhere. He ditched the stolen truck a couple of days ago. He’s got connections to a chop shop, and he sold it to them. He told me that after he took care of the truck, he was going to retrieve the muscle car he’s got in storage. The more time I spend with that guy, the less I understand him. I thought he was a hired muscle like me, but he has so many weird skills that make me wonder about him. What is his deal?

I push on the door bar, but it doesn’t budge. And that’s not the only sign that things have changed. There are two home security cameras above the doorway. I hear them zooming in on me, so I flash a smile and flip my hair. The door makes a thumping sound and swings open. That’s cool as hell. I walk on through, and my jaw drops to the floor. The warehouse doesn’t even resemble the place I saw a few days ago.

Kai fixed all the loose and mismatched welding I did on the windows. The walls are now uniform and go straight up. The warehouse is divided in half by a giant wall with a set of double doors big enough for my shifted form to go through. There are a bunch of windows set into the top half of the wall, so there must be a second floor on that side. All of the broken lights have been fixed, and the holes in the concrete from my fight with Isaiah have been filled in as well. There are two rooms built onto either side of the front of the warehouse. The one on the right has a glowing restroom sign, and the one on the left has a spray-painted piece of plywood that says break room. Everything has been repurposed from the surrounding warehouses. Well, I was completely fucking wrong.

“HEYYYYYY! ANYONE HOME?” I yelled out.

“Why are you yelling?” Kai said, his voice coming from a speaker on the ceiling.

“Aren’t you gonna come give me a tour? Come on, it’s the big night. Don’t be a dick,” I said.

Kai sighs into the speaker and, a minute later, comes out through the double doors. He always looks like a cross between a TV magician and Willy Wonka. After my conversations with Isaiah, I’ve been paying more attention to the way people dress. He’s got white overalls, a sleeveless yellow crop top, black mesh sleeves, and black slip-on sneakers. Do I really look worse than him? I’m wearing leggings, a gym tee, and a hoodie. Oh, fuck, Isaiah was right.

"Why are you yelling? I let you in; now leave me be,” Kai said.

“Don’t be so grumpy. I wanted to come by and see what you’ve done with the place. It looks fucking sweet. The other two won’t be here for another hour at least, so why don’t you show me around to kill time?” I asked.

“No. Unlike you, I have stuff to do. I don’t need to kill time. I have plenty on my plate,” Kai said.

“Come on, don’t be a shit,” I said.

“I said I’m busy, V,” he said rudely.

“Kai, I know it sounded like it was a request, but I was not asking.”

He makes a face but relents. Little prick. Kai leads me toward the double doors, and behind them are the biggest upgrades to the building. He walks me around, showing off the much nicer side of our base. It’s mostly empty, with three doors leading to who knows where. There is a metal staircase to my right that leads to the upstairs. The ceilings are lower due to putting in a second floor, but they’re still taller than my shifted form.

“Welcome to the office. This is where the important people within our group will be and serves as a command center,” he said.

“What’s up with the raised ceilings?” I asked.

“The raised ceilings, as well as the mostly flame retardant materials used in making the office, are because of you. Obviously,” Kai said.

“Thanks, man. You didn’t have to do that, but it’s nice,” I said, smiling.

“Anyways. From left to right: my operating room, a storage closet, and the underground lab. I’ve moved most of my TinkerTech down to the lab, but it isn’t even close to being finished. The construction drones are good, but they need time for more precise creations. I had to make do, given the little time I had. Upstairs is a conference room and a couple of private offices for all of us,” Kai said.

“Where are your drones? I haven’t seen a single one, and I thought you’d be dying to show off,” I said.

“If you must insist, then I guess I can show you a bit of razzle-dazzle. Come to me, my pretties,” he shouted with a witchlike accent.

At the sound of his voice, I hear tip taps coming from upstairs. All at once, eight backpack-sized robots come rushing down the stairs. They have bulky, garbage can-like bodies with four spidery legs. The front of them has the same camera I saw above the entrance to the warehouse. They all have the same murky steel color to their body and limbs. Each one has a spray-painted number on it, surrounded by a heart. His artistic skills clearly don’t match his engineering ones.

“Behold! My glorious creations! Aren’t they cute as heck?” He asked me.

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“I guess? I don’t know, they kinda look like trashcans with legs,” I said honestly.

“Oh, fuck you. What would you know about aesthetics?” He said, eyeing me up and down.

Great, another person insulting the way I dress.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be a bitch. I guess they’re kinda cute. So what do they do?”

“These are just construction drones. I haven’t had much time to really go all out on designing new drones for other purposes. I can’t wait to start attempting to integrate the TinkerTech I’ve acquired with my own creations. There’s also the lack of materials. There’s just so much I want to do and experiment with. Sorry, forgive my excitement. You said that the others are coming soon. Is Nobody arriving as well?”

“Nope. Bossman says I’m in charge of the mission. It’ll be just me, Hotpants, and Rorschach. You said there was a conference room upstairs, right? I’m gonna go up there while we wait for them,” I said.

“Sure, I’ll show you the way,” he said, leading me up the stairs.

The second floor is a long hallway with six doors on the right and a single door at the very end. The entire left side of the hall is glass panes with a glass door located right next to us. Behind the glass is an incredibly long conference table made of mismatched wood types, accompanied by twenty office chairs. The robotic arms that I saw inside Kai’s hospital have display monitors on them and are hanging from the ceiling. This looks professional as shit.

“And with that, the tour is done. Now, if you don’t mind, I'll take my leave,” he said.

“You aren’t staying for the planning meeting? Rorschach is going to give us all the info she’s found in the last week on that gang,” I said.

“V, respectfully, I don’t give a fuck about what’s going down later. It has nothing to do with me in any capacity. Nobody brought me on for R&D and medical expertise, not to be an enforcer,” Kai said.

“We’re all part of the same team. Don’t you wanna hear what she has to say?” I asked.

“Yes, but also no. Nobody’s goal is some kind of company, right? That means hundreds of moving pieces and plans. We can’t all work on everything. I wouldn’t ask you to help me with building drones, and you shouldn’t ask me to help with this. I’m not a fighter, and I’d be all but useless in a shootout. All of us have our responsibilities, and mine isn’t out there. It’s in here, getting the lab built for Nobody,” Kai said.

“I didn’t think of it like that. I guess I’m still thinking of this in terms of a crew,” I replied.

“That’s probably because that’s all you’ve known. I, on the other hand, have never been part of a crew and only worked as a business. I bet you’ll have to correct me at some point,” Kai said.

“I hope not. Because you’re right about everybody having their specialty, and mine is violence. So if I have to correct you, it’ll mean I have to hurt you, and I think I’m starting to think I could grow to like you,” I said.

Kai’s face pales at my words, but he recovers and walks away. I don’t like having to threaten him constantly, but he will definitely step out of line at some point. Crews can’t function without respect or fear. He needs to respect Nobody, and if he doesn’t, he will learn to fear me. I’m alone for now, so I carefully open the glass door to the conference room. The last thing I’d want to do is break something, especially before Nobody can see it. The chairs are all comfy and well-made. I take a seat and test out the rotations of it, spinning around till I’m laughing out loud. This is fun. I’m part of a team of Cowls, and we have a lair. I fought two Capes at the same time and came out on top. I’ve possibly made two friends who don’t think I’m a psycho for liking fighting so much. I’m going on a night raid to teach some skullfucks a lesson. I’m happier than I’ve been in years. From where I’m standing in the conference room, I can see the rest of the warehouse. I don’t have anything to do except wait.

----------------------------------------

“They’re here. I’m letting them in, and they’ll meet you in the conference room,” Kai said through the speaker system.

I stop pacing and take a seat at the table. It only takes a few minutes before I see Isaiah and Rorshach come up the stairs. Isaiah is completely decked out in tactical gear and has a black beanie on. For the first time since meeting him, he’s dressed appropriately. He looks bigger than the last time I saw him. His power is clearly having an effect. Rorshach is wearing a short, strapless, half-black, half-white dress that shows off every inch of her body. Her lips are a glossy black that matches her manicured nails, all while strutting in stilettos that I can’t even dream of attempting to wear. Damn. Do I wanna be you, or fuck you?

“Hotpants, I barely recognize you when you aren’t peacockin’ it up,” I said.

“You flatter me. If only your brain were as sharp as your tongue,” Isaiah replied.

I just know he’s smiling in his head. “Rorschach, that’s an interesting outfit choice,” I said.

“I’m recon; I don’t fight. I am here to find out if Santiago is lying or if your boss is. Then I’m going to kill whichever fucker murdered my friend,” Rorschach said.

“Do not threaten him. Sit down and tell us what you learned about the gang,” I commanded.

“Easy, ladies, we’re on the same team. Rorshach, would you mind telling us what you found? The sooner you do, the sooner we can bring the man responsible to justice,” Isaiah said.

He knows as well as I do that Nobody killed her friend. It’s like everything is a joke to him. I might be working with a psychopath. “It’s like Isaiah said. We’re all after the same thing. Nobody wants this handled, so please tell us all about the skullfucks.”

“Skullfucks suits them better than their actual name, which is Pandilla de los Muertos. Exactly the kind of edgy shit you’d expect from a Halloween-themed gang. They operate out of Broekam Boulevard. It’s several abandoned homes that they’ve transformed into trap houses. There are thirty-six members, including Santiago, and they aren’t big enough to have lieutenants or anything like that. It’s strictly the leader, Santiago, at the top, and everyone else is equal. They believe they’re safe, so there aren’t any guards or anybody scouting. There are no Neuvohumans, only normals, and there is a wide variety of weapons. A total of fifteen semiauto AK47s, twenty glock 45s, and then every member carries at least one hand-to-hand weapon. Some of them have knives, brass knuckles, baseball bats with nails, crowbars, and sledgehammers. The gang doesn’t have many killers. From what I found, only ten of them have bodies. Those ten are the ones allowed to get the body mods and skull face tattoo. Those are the ones that won’t hesitate to shoot. With that said, even as a noncombatant, I wouldn’t consider any of them to be all that dangerous to your shifted form, V,” Rorshach said.

“There’s nothing they could do that could harm her,” Isaiah said.

“Good to know. They have a few rival gangs that they compete with for products, corners, and customers, but there won’t be any reinforcements coming. They are strictly drugs; they don’t do prostitution or protection. They deal in weed, molly, coke, and heroin. All of it is cut, and it’s the cheap shit too. The gang does like to party. They throw one nearly every night: drugs, liquor, and groupies in copious amounts. There wasn’t one last night, so don’t be surprised if there is one tonight. And that’s what I found. When are we leaving?” Rorshach asked.

“Wow, you are good. What, it’s like eight? We can leave now if you two are ready,” I answered.

“Rorschach’s a bit of a bitch, but she’s one of the best at what she does,” Isaiah said as he winked at her.

“I liked you better when you looked like you belonged in a pet shop, you scaly dickhead,” Rorschach fired back.

“Please, formerly scaly dickhead. I’m as smooth as your head, babe. And don’t lie to yourself. I’m beautiful,” Isaiah said.

“Why’d you have to be the only one who survived? I mean, you are somehow more insufferable than Rushdown. And that guy hummed his own theme song on jobs,” Rorschach said.

“As much fun as I’m having watching you two make sexually charged barbs at each other, we have a mission. Let’s go,” I said.

“Ew. Constrictor’s not my type,” Rorschach said.

“I’m everybody’s type; look at me,” Isaiah said. I must be making a face because he quickly adds. “Sorry, everybody who likes men’s type.”

“Okay, enough stalling, let's do this,” I said, walking out of the conference room.

The two of them follow behind me. I go to shout out to Kai that we’re leaving, but I remember what he said. “All of us have our own responsibilities.” Once we’re outside, I see the vehicle Isaiah brought for tonight. A deep blue painter’s van that will blend in under the cover of night. There isn’t a single doubt in my mind that he stole it. Hopefully, he didn’t murder the original owner. Isaiah and I sit in front, and Rorschach sits in the back, along with several gallon jugs full of ink. When did they get that stuff? I know she needs them for her little creatures. We got the car, we got the ink, and I got cans of whoopass to hand out. I will not fail.