I lowered the binoculars down from my eyes and clipped them to my belt. As much as the darkness and night usually sharpened the willpower that I needed to do my work, I currently felt a little off.

Bubble bath was pleasant, but paired with a soft bed, I had found divinity. At first the neutral decor had been pleasant but uncomfortable, but as soon as Clara woke me due to it being dusk, I regretted having to leave that spare room. Clean silken sheets, plush pillows, the way in which the mattress both absorbed and supported my body. Maybe tomorrow I could find the grit to ask Roxy if I could stay again.

Clara had been uncharacteristically nervous about my departure. Gave back the gauntlet, but warned me not to overuse it. Sent me away with a brief hug and a file containing information about the rest of the Five Eyes gang. Warned me that she would be mad if I damaged my cyborg parts, and twice as mad if I made a mess of my fleshy parts - on Roxy’s behalf, no doubt.

I would have to admit it was easier to do my job when I didn’t have such connections. Injury or death was always on the cards, but it didn’t matter because my options were further contracts or eternal peace. Now that I had people that I was close to, it made the prospect of turning up broken and bloodied less fair on us all.

Of course, there was always the option of playing this safe.

Contract was to kill at least one villain, and the item pickup from Boss had four more Sanguine stakes - putting me at five. The techie had dropped me back in the city on the way to her home, and I’d reclaimed my bike. Repainted a glossy dark green that matched my super suit, with some of the trimming and detailing reworked to look more stock.

It sat patiently on the street in darkness, waiting to carry my beaten body back - and if I jumped in to kill just the one Five Eyes member before leaving, then it might make the event simple and grind me down less.

That said, I wanted the money. The three of us had expensive tastes. Clara needed tuition. Roxy desired to break away from the League to start her own group. I could do with having a mouth, I supposed. The technician’s one felt the most feasible at the current stage, and it would take a lot of contracts before I could hit any of the other goals.

Still, shouldn’t count my chickens.

My brief reconnaissance complete, I left the fire escape stairs from the block over from my target. Clara had offered her drone and services, but I declined. It was a slippery slope, and I didn’t want either of them involved with my work. Neither the League nor Boss would be too pleased, and it would only put them in the firing line.

The hideout for the Five Eyes was a trio of buildings next to each other. On the left at the end of that street was an indoor car park. Three stories at least, and most likely a basement floor or two. Beside it was a used car dealership - most of the windows dull or covered up, signaling it was probably closed long term, not just for the night. Finally, on the right, was a set of office blocks. A decent split of lights on and off.

I had watched noisy motorbikes swirl around the ramps of the car park, descending floors before the muffled sound stopped. Couldn’t tell if it was one of the four or just some henchmen, but I leaned towards the latter being most likely.

Drum mag full of normal shot. Ten-mag with Tazer. Ten-mag with Incendiary. Bandoliers with miscellaneous. Gauntlet. Three Sanguine stakes in the sideloader.

Added a few magazines to my Public Defender shopping list, as well as a better belt for holding them. I spent a lot of time looking over H-harnesses and battle plates - just the sight of them caused my brain to ooze unshaped memories - but decided to play it simple for now.

I looked up, thinking I had seen something… but no. Just tall buildings and the night sky. Was quiet around here, most civilians asleep - although a couple structures looked condemned.

Boots took me across the street and over to the car park. It had the least amount of barriers to entry that I could see. The sooner I could get into their den without violence, the more of an advantage I would have. Best place to find any undesirables would be underground.

Rather than go around the building to find the entrance - which may be guarded, I hopped up some discarded trash. The chain-link fence behind shuddered as I stepped on it - before my hand grabbed at the slanted opening of the first ramp. With the boost from my footing, I pulled myself over and dropped to the dark concrete on the other side. A little higher up than anticipated, but a roll absorbed any shock.

Back up to my feet, I looked down into the grim gloom of the floor just below.

And two orbs of crimson stared straight back at me.

“Seems you took a wrong turn, ser superhero,” a voice hissed out.

The owner of said voice became illuminated by dull light, as the caged bulbs on the car park walls slowly came to life. A handful of henchmen stood around a hunched figure of black leather and dark brown fur. Pointed face, wide ears, a healthy amount of disdain behind a sharp-toothed snarl. Behind him, a long tail lashed back and forth in annoyance.

Gregor. The Five Eyes' agility and stealth villain. A ratman with sticky fingers who wasn’t opposed to assassinating the competition - allegedly, of course. Threat Level 46.

[Oh. I’m not a superhero, but I have some information for you.]

The ratman ran his tongue across his sharp teeth before crossing his arms. “Heavily armed for an informant. What information does ser have to give me?”

I was currently undecided on whether leaving my vocalizer on was a good idea or not. I’d broken one of my cardinal rules and wasn’t sure how long I could keep this charade up. While Gregor hadn’t drawn the firearm from his side, the goons he was with each had a weapon in hand, ready to light me up.

[That depends on whether or not you know who killed Barthelemy already.]

His eyes immediately narrowed, and teeth bared. “You’d better come with us then. Ser Grugg will want to hear this personally.” Gregor gestured to his henchmen before his whiskers twitched. “And you’d better not be lying, otherwise you are dead.”

Grugg was the de facto leader of the gang. Not especially bright, but as a ten-foot tall cyclops and strength villain, he often got what he wanted one way or another. Clara’s report said he and the wizard were quite close, which was probably why the latter foolishly sought revenge against Roxy after she arrested the former.

I nodded and followed the ratman as his group formed a loose circle around me. As much as I liked being led to the bigger cheese, taking on more than one villain at once was a tough sell.

We stopped by some worn metal doors that I assumed led into the lower showroom of the next building.

“It be best if ser informant unloads his gun before we proceed…” The long tail of the ratman waved back and forth before he turned to me. “Wouldn’t want to have any accidents, would we?”

[Of course.]

Drum mag ejected, and I clipped it onto my belt. Turned the gun-arm at an angle and opened the chamber to ping out the unspent shell, allowing it to bounce across the dirty concrete floor. Furrowed my brow at the chamber, still open.

[Apologies. Sometimes the tech gets stuck.]

“I understand.” Gregor rolled his red eyes. “One of our own has such parts and they are always having issues.”

My hand opened and closed in faux frustration, before I relented to striking the chamber. One, two, and then with a third it snapped back shut.

[It is a wonder I have not lost a finger to it yet.]

He didn’t respond, but with a nod to one of his henchmen, the doors opened up.

A wide open space beyond, a floor that was probably soft off-white marble at one point, but now was filthy with the telltale streaks of rubber and spilled oil. There were a couple of slightly raised podiums where cars would sit, but they were devoid of anything but loose debris and cigarette ends. Right side of the long room would have been wide ceiling to floor windows opening out to the street - but now had been all but covered with pasted posters and newspaper.

“We’ll go up to the next floor,” Gregor decided for us, arranging his troupe to go toward the cluttered staircase on the left.

I followed, but could hear the tinny shaking of an alarm bell in the back of my mind. Could just be a quicker route to the cyclops, but I had a feeling it wasn’t that simple.

Around and then we were on the next floor up. A similar layout once more, although this one did have a few vehicles on the raised areas. Aged, and they had been stripped for parts. Graffiti lined the various pillars at the edges of the room, and some of the city at night could be seen between the more haphazardly placed coverings.

Gregor led us to the left, flanked by two henchmen as we walked though the center of the room to double doors at the far end.

And then, as we were roughly in the middle, he stopped. As did all the goons around us.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Impressive sleight of hand, ser robot. You didn’t think I’d notice a shell missing from your bandolier, however?”

[That was the hope.]

Gregor turned to face me, a scowl over his eyes. He pulled his firearm out - which I could now see was a high-caliber revolver - and clicked the hammer back ready. “Perhaps you’d best tell me what you’re really doing here, before I change it to ‘bleeding to death’.”

You could cut the sudden tension in the room with a knife - which was unfortunate as Roxy had broken mine. There had been a few melee options in Public Defender, but Clara had talked me out of them. Apparently, the gauntlet was trouble enough with how vulnerable my left arm was. She tried to sweeten the deal by saying the best weapons were the illegal ones, but I was pretty sure she was just trying to cheer me up.

I lowered my arms and relaxed, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. A tough sell.

[Perhaps I could tell you who killed the wizard now, and you can be enlightened.]

His tail thrashed side to side, but he gestured with the revolver. “Speak then. Maybe there’s a way out of this for you.”

[It was me.]

Dense gray burst up around us as the Smoke shell I palmed from my bandolier into the ‘stuck’ chamber erupted from the dirtied marble floor.

I dove to the side immediately, rolling through the fog as a couple of the henchmen fired. Pretty terrible idea when they were standing in a circle. Struck the knee of the closest one with my elbow as I stood back up - shoulder met his face as our respective elevations changed.

Drum mag from my belt and back into the shotgun, as I turned to narrow my eyes at the last panicked muzzle flash. Gun-arm up, I hesitated as I felt the displacement of air behind me.

“Nice try,” the voice hissed.

Sharp pain through the back of my left shoulder. I spun and lashed out, but just struck the smoke, creating a swirling wave. Dark shape loomed to my right, and I turned back and hit the trigger. Blew the head away from a henchman and I rolled away from the position. Another two bursts of submachine gun fire cracked through the space where they thought I was still standing.

Empty bullet casings struck the grubby marble, rattling about before there was silence. I exhaled and closed my eyes. Still in a crouched position, I placed my left hand on the floor. Waited.

There it was.

Felt that presence behind me again and launched backward with both legs, assisted by the V-Force boosted in the gauntlet. Brief pain in my back before I collided with the figure. We tumbled back across the floor, and he tried scrabbling away. He certainly was quick.

I reached out and managed to grab hold of a furred ankle - his left leg. A flick of silver barely missed my face as the hook-ended blade held by his tail instead dug inside my arm that was holding him in place. My grip tightened despite the pain, as the barrel of my gun-arm went up into the back of his knee and fired.

Warmth soaked my forearm as the blade had punctured my super suit and twisted in the wound, scooping a small chunk of flesh out.

I had been ignoring the notifications of damage received so far, but I realized something even worse about the situation.

Clara would be getting the same updates.

Shell ejected out as I loaded in a new shot, my hand releasing the villain with an inert leg so that he couldn't continue to shred through my skin. That should slow him down, at least. Pain radiating up and down my arm, I pushed myself back up to my feet. Smoke was starting to dissipate, and the shadowed figures were coming into view. None of them a hunched and limping ratman, but all obstacles.

“There he is, he’s still-ah!”

First one took the flat of my gun-arm before I turned and shot the second. Used the limp former henchman as a human shield, a burst of light rounds pulsing through his sweat-soaked leather and dark linens. Racked another shot and finished that henchman off. Glared around but saw nobody else, so discarded the held goon.

Two of them had been taken out in the crossfire when the smoke had first gone out, and I-

Loud bang and sudden vertigo washed over me. Clasped my hand to the back of my head and felt warm mush run through it. My brains? No, just loose skin and blood.

“Why won’t you die?”

I twisted as the cylinder on the heavy duty revolver clicked around, a vibration running down my gun-arm as I managed to deflect the second shot. My return fire blew a chunk of masonry from the far pillar as he dropped and rolled to the side. Impressive reactions.

Gregor growled out in pain as his bad leg twisted and slipped on the pooled blood smearing across the marble. It caused him to fire prematurely, the high-caliber bullet blowing a plume of dust from the ceiling a few feet away from me.

As I leaped at him, I lashed out with my muzzle, catching his gun and knocking it from his hand. Flattening him as we collided, I used my shotgun to pin one of his arms down while my hand grabbed at his throat. Tail wrapped around my leg as the blade buried deep into my right calf.

I choked him, and at first his one free hand came up to do the same to me. Claws scrabbled at my cybernetic neck before he realized there was nothing to gain. He gripped at my gauntleted arm, but his nails couldn’t pierce my suit, let alone the plate. Unable to move or use his powers of agility, my strength slowly won out.

[Say hello to the wizard for me.]

Left hand released his neck to grab his woozy head. Lifted it to smack against the solid floor. Again, up and cracked down. Third time I activated the boosters and felt his skull split in my grip. Tail went lax as his eyes lost focus.

Panting, I pushed myself off of him, having to pull the hooked blade from my leg. Stood and stretched myself out, before putting a shell through his broken skull. I would take no chances with supers. Super villains.

Stepped over to the side, thankful for the wave of stims that helped numb the deep gouges his knife had dug. Leaned over to retrieve the revolver. Flicked the cylinder open. Three shots left. Flicked it closed. I wasn’t about to dig around for more, considering it would be a struggle to reload - but it might be handy to keep it ready.

I looked around the room. Smoke all but gone now, just painting the long room with a slight haze of gray. Bodies littering the floor, leaking blood all over the place. One villain killed and twenty-five thousand credits richer.

For what it was worth, I could leave the building, and that would be it. Contract complete.

I rolled my head around on my neck. Still needed to sleep off some of the withdrawal, but I’d managed to postpone it. Like a lot of things.

//Dubs: Roxy.

//Roxy: ARE YOU OKAY

//Dubs: Always. I just wanted to say…

//Dubs: No, nevermind.

//Roxy: You fucker! Tell me!

//Roxy: You’re not about to die, are you…?

Checked the chamber. Normal shot in place. Hadn’t needed to use a stake on the ratman, but he was only a weak speed super. There were two that were more resilient, so I’d be more generous when they showed up.

Oh, yeah. It was already clear that I was going for the full sweep. Barely a question, really.

//Dubs: Not today. Just wanted to make sure you’re training.

//Dubs: Because I’m going to give you everything I have.

//Dubs: In the fight.

//Roxy: I’ll be ready. You’ll be barfing out your internal organs once I’m done with you.

//Dubs: Brilliant. Can’t wait to ask you out on a date after that.

//Roxy: …

//Dubs: Don’t wait up.

She would wait up. Especially if she had any contact with Clara, who had an idea about how injured I was getting. Had almost asked her out on a date right then and there, but she still had to win our duel. Would be unfair for both of us for me to get soppy every time I had a contract and might die. Not that I even knew where we’d go or what we would do on a date. Hold hands, maybe.

Any further amusing thoughts washed away with the cool tide of approaching footsteps. A group, coming down the stairs from a floor two above.

I went and hid behind the rusting ruins of one of the display vehicles.

“…gunshots. Assholes better not be doing target practice indoors again.”

Female voice, so it wasn’t the cyclops. Five Eyes had two women on the roster, and I was keen to fight neither, based on the information Clara had provided me. Started to wonder how I had gone from chewing through criminals to being pitted against those with super powers.

The excitement within my core, despite the trepidation, told me I probably knew the answer already.

I peered out through the broken windows of the vehicle as the footsteps rounded down to this floor.

“Oh, shit.”

A figure stepped into view. Curled red hair, tall and slim, wearing a long dress. Dark gray and black, with a wide fabric belt of crimson. This was Needlepoint. Real name, Claudia. Minor telekinetic villain.

“Go tell Grugg, and you two start rounding up everyone else. We may be under siege.”

The henchmen grunted acknowledgements, a pair going down the stairs and the other returning up. Only a couple remained with her, and they set about checking the bodies and the door on that side of the room.

I held my breath and watched the villain as she stepped over to the corpse of the ratman.

“Gregor, you sinister shitstain. How could it end like this? Who would do something like this?”

Boot took me a step out, and I allowed the flash of Overcharge to answer her question. Sideloaded Sanguine stake rocketed through the air. An early end to this would be…

But there was no spurt of blood or knock back from the attack. Instead, the woman turned to face me, her green eyes alight with fury. The metal stake hovered in the air about a foot away from her before dropping to the marbled floor.

“Looks like I’ll be able to deal with the problem myself,” she hissed.

Her hands raised up and out from her tall boots, two thin blades rose. Foot-long ice picks that twirled and readied themselves toward me as she controlled them with her mind.

I rolled back behind the decaying vehicle. Hadn’t caught her Threat Level yet, but her telekinetic powers were stronger than I had been expecting. Looked like a defensive aura, but perhaps it worked mostly against metal projectiles? Not exactly ideal to have to fuck around and find out.

One of her needles sent out sparks as it scraped along the hood of the car. The second emerged from the side of the door about three inches from me, having no issue piercing through the rusted metal of the entire vehicle. Shotgun chamber clacked back and forth, but this wasn’t a good position to be in.

There was a doorway behind me, presumably leading to the office block. About thirty feet from my current position, with no immediate cover. Being out in the open was a quick way to become a bleeding pincushion, but I was gaining no advantage in staying put. Given that she was intent on killing me and would chase me down, going all out aggressive in a less than optimal battleground was a needless amount of danger for myself. Oh, how I’d changed.

I watched the blades stop their trajectory about a dozen feet away from me in the air, before they turned around, intending on making a return journey. Footsteps from the side of the room moved closer - the two armed guards she had with her. I moved as soon as her blades did.

Dived out from my cover and slid along the floor. Shotgun blast took out the closest guard as the needles traveled through the side of of the vehicle where I had been hiding. To accompany the spray of blood painting the back wall, the revolver in my left hand fired. Inaccurate, but it struck the second guard in the thigh, puncturing an artery.

Empty shell clattered along the filthy marble as I scrambled back to my feet. Turned and took myself toward the door.

“You can’t run from me, asshole!”

Slid and spun to face her again. First needle bounced from my cyborg shoulder, the second one ran through the side of my stomach, emerging out through my back. No point firing back in return just yet, as she was keeping at range. Back up to my feet and I backpedaled, the twin blades hovering around me instead of returning for another charge.

Twisted and deflected one with my gun, while the other skewered through my lower leg.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. I’ll keep you breathing, so that Grugg can deal with you.” A wry grin crossed her pale face.

Threat Level 52.

The blades danced and twirled around me, just begging me to make the next move. Ready to slice and pierce me for the folly. Shouldn’t play with your food, though.

I took my chance.

Fired toward the villain, and the shrapnel didn’t quite meet her - both the distance and her shielding stopped the fragments before they could do any damage. The distraction and split focus of her ability had the blades lagging enough to where my sprint went mostly uncontested.

She recovered and sent the sharp metal toward me once more. Back of my right leg. Second deflected off of my gauntlet. Just a few steps away from the metal double doors now. Shot went through the handle area, hoping to weaken any lock. Surprise on my face to see powdered masonry puff through the holes in the metal.

I slammed into them, realizing at the last second that the doorway beyond had been bricked up.

Turned just in time to see the needle tip crack through my left lense.