She-Wolf prowled across the forest, taking in the thick, earthy smells and scent of fresh kills as light dappled through the leaves. The scent was strong, metal, oils, humans, and things like humans, and She-Wolf chased it South East. The trail was clear, heavy foot prints, stomped over leaves, and shrubs and sticks snapped with their passing. Campfires had been set and snuffed out. Whoever She-Wolf was tracking, at least they were thorough with campfire safety.

“Wolf,” Lady NightRaven said, her voice crackling through the radio, “Have you found anything yet?”

“Nope,” She-Wolf said.

“Are they still going the same direction?” Lady NightRaven asked.

“Yep.”

“Did you find any evidence?” Lady NightRaven asked.

“They made campfires,” She-Wolf said, “They were really safe about it. Dug pits into the ground, found sand and water to smother them, lined the pits with a ring of rocks.”

“That is your evidence?” Lady NightRaven demanded.

“Come on, Raven,” She-Wolf said, “At the very least, it gives us some insight into their personalities.”

“Well, if they were camping, they must have set up tents,” Lady NightRaven said, “Find any loose bits of canvas or polyester?”

“Not a thread,” She-Wolf said, “Not even down from a pillow. How’s the rumor hunting?”

“Eh, nothing groundbreaking,” Lady NightRaven said, “Hard to do when I don’t know what I’m looking for. A cafe owner is now really rich.”

“How rich?” She-Wolf asked, “Like, millionaire? Billionaire?”

“She’s in the high tens of thousands,” Lady NightRaven said, “Reports are conflicting. Some people say a king paid her gold bullion, others say she dug it up in her backyard. There’s a few stories that say a meteor landed on her property, but until they show me pictures of the impact, I’m not believing that.”

“Do you want to check it out?” She-Wolf asked, “Could be a lead.”

“A cafe owner striking it rich is a lead?” Lady NightRaven asked, “She probably just won the lottery.”

“Look, if it’s South East, then I think we should check it out,” She-Wolf said, “It’s more of a lead than what I’m doing here.”

“What if they change direction?” Lady NightRaven asked.

“They haven’t changed direction for-” She-Wolf checked her GPS. “Fifty miles. If it’s on route, we should check it out.”

“Wolf, please tell me this isn’t our investigation plan,” Lady NightRaven,

“These people haven’t changed direction once,” She-Wolf growled, “And I’m sick of crawling through the underbrush. I want a shower.”

“Alright, we’ll check out the cafe,” Lady NightRaven said with a sigh, “And please unclog the drain after you’re finished.”

“You know, I don’t have to be a werewolf,” She-Wolf said, “And I find your comments-”

“You can what!” Lady NightRaven screamed.

“I can,” She-Wolf said, “Maybe if you spent time with me outside of work, you’d know that.”

…

“Well howdy,” Daisy said, suppressing a yawn, “Anything I can get for y’all? Cup of coffee before you start the graveyard shift?”

“Sure,” Elenore said, wearing a simple shirt, jeans and long coat combo rather than her high gothic “Lady NightRaven” costume, “Luna, you want anything?”

“I want answers,” Luna barked, slamming her petit hands onto the counter, “Add some pancakes.”

“Answers?” Daisy asked, “Whatever for?”

“Ma’am, we’re private investigators,” Elenore explained, “You’re not in trouble, but we heard that you recently came onto a large sum of money. We’re trying to find the people who gave it to you.”

“Well, I’m afraid I don’t know them,” Daisy said, “Those strange folk wandered in and wandered out.”

“What’d they order?” Luna asked.

“Musta been awfully hungry, they each ordered three things off my menu,” Daisy said, serving Luna some pancakes, “Now, you can see that I don’t skimp on portions. Them folk ate three meals faster than the hungriest regular eats one.”

“Can you describe them?” Elenore asked.

“Well, there were six of them,” Daisy said, “Dressed real strange.”

“Like supers?” Luna asked.

“No,” Daisy said, “One was dressed like some sort of knight, another was dressed like a wizard, long robe and pointy hat, one wasn’t wearing a shirt. They were dressed like they were going to a convention. Oh! A lady they had with them was dressed normal, just a t-shirt and jeans.”

“Do you have CCTV of them?” Elenore asked.

“See-see?” Daisy asked.

“Closed circuit television,” Elenore explained, “Security footage.”

“‘fraid not,” Daisy said, gently shaking her head, “Never had the money for it. Never had much need neither.”

“Did they say where they were going?” Luna asked.

“They did,” Daisy said, pointing out the window, “An odd girl with them, dressed like some kind of knight, said there was evil off that way and they were going to go kill it.”

“What was so odd about her?” Elenore asked.

“She had long, pointy ears,” Daisy said.

“Like an elf?” Luna asked.

“Elves are short,” Daisy said with a snort, “An’ they make cookies. She wasn’t as tall as the other boys, but she wasn’t short.”

“Did anyone else see them?” Elenore asked.

“Henry did,” Daisy said, “He’s a local handyman.”

“What did you do with the gold?” Elenore asked.

“Did they actually pay you in gold bars?” Luna asked.

“Nah, they paid me in gold coins,” Daisy said, “I sold ‘em to a museum down South. They’re not- I’m not in trouble, am I?”

“No,” Elenore said.

“We think they are trouble.” went unsaid.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

…

“Donnovan is dead?” a chairman asked, “Who exactly killed him?”

Johnny did not want to be here. The dimly lit, smokey room framed the bodies of the three chairmen, second in command only to Donnovan. A pair of hugely muscular men stood by the door, done up in pinstripe suits and dark sunglasses. Heavy pistols hung openly on their waists, with assault rifles in their hands.

“New arrivals,” Johnny explained, “I don’t know how they found him, but six supers butchered Donnovan and his muscle, then took the gold from his safe.”

“The loss of Donnovan is a pressing matter,” another chairman said, “But if they opened his safe, we have lost a lot of power. Without the deeds-”

“They burned them,” Johnny blurted.

“Why,” the first chairman demanded.

“They didn’t want them,” Johnny explained, “They said that- that property is evil, or full of evil.”

“They’re socialists?” a chairman said.

“If they were socialists, they wouldn’t take the gold,” the second chairman said, “They wouldn’t take the money, either.”

Johnny gulped.

“They could,” the third chairman said, “Really, that’s the whole point of socialism-”

“They didn’t take the money either,” Johnny said, his voice cracking.

The silence deafening, and the gazes of the chairmen blinding.

“Explain,” the third chairman commanded.

“They, uh, didn’t recognize cash?” Johnny guessed, “They took the jewelry and gold bars, but they didn’t take the cash. They said it wasn’t magic.”

“We should make contact with magician communities,” the second chairman muttered, “I fear we may be outmatched.”

“Magic can be beaten,” the third chairman said, “We do not need to stoop to their level.”

“They are not someone we can beat without help,” the second chairman said, “We can hire rogue supers.”

“Did they have a magician with them?” the first chairman asked.

“Yes,” Johnny said, “And a-”

“Then why are you alive?” the first chairman asked, the low light glinting off the pistol he drew.

“I- I didn’t fight,” Johnny blurted out, “I didn’t fight, so they didn’t fight me. I think.”

“Why not?” the first chairman demanded.

“I don’t know!” Johnny said, “I mean- I didn’t fight them because they would have killed me, I don’t know why they didn’t pick a fight with me!”

“You expect us to believe that?” the second chairman asked.

“I- That- It happened!” Johnny cried, “Please! It’s the truth!”

“Believe me, I understand,” the third chairman said, raising a hand towards Johnny, “You were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. You were brave, bringing this information to us.”

“Thank you,” Johnny muttered.

“Men like us, we need brave men like you,” the third chairman continued, “And I hope you can be brave for us again.”

“What do you need?” Johnny asked.

“What I need,” the third chairman asked, “Is for you to explain why some of our cash was missing.”

“What?” Johnny asked.

“You took,” the first chairman said, “Our cash. Some freaks took the gold, that’s fine. They take the jewelry, that’s fine. They burn the property rights, that hurts but we can take it. You took our cash, and that’s unacceptable.”

“But-” Johnny sputtered, “But Donnovan is dead!”

“He is,” the second chairman said, “Which is why his authority becomes ours. These are dire times, and we can only hire the best. Get him out of here, and don’t let me see him again.”

The thugs pulled Johnny, kicking and screaming out of the room. As the chairmen returned to their conversation, muted gunshots could be heard outside.

“So, with Donnovan’s death, what is our plan moving forward?” the third chairman asked, “Are we going to hire supers to fight magicians? We have territory to hold, and I’m eager to hold it.”

“Hold on,” the first chairman said, “We need to think about this. Donnovan isn’t just dead, an unknown group of supers killed him. They also found him in his hideout and hacked him to pieces! This isn’t something we can just throw muscle at. We need intel.”

“Do we really?” the second chairman asked.

“If we want to keep our jobs, then yes,” the first chairman said, “What kind of a question is that?”

“Do we really want to keep our jobs,” the second chairman explained, “Honestly, is this something we want to keep doing? Donnovan is dead. No trial, no judge, no jury. He had the best legal team money could buy, for all the good it did him. What stops us from ending the same? If those same supers came here, could we stop them? Gentlemen, let me make this clear, we are outmatched. Our empire was big, sure, but at this point can we even afford to beat the magicians? We don’t even know who attacked us.”

“What are you suggesting?” the third chairman asked.

“What I’m suggesting is what I’ve wanted to do for quite some time now,” the second chairman said, “We cut and run. All of us have enough money to move wherever we want and live in luxury for the rest of our lives. Why, honestly why, are we doing this? What is money to us?”

“We just leave?” the first chairman asked, “All of it? How long have we worked for this empire?”

“Too long to give up after one setback,” the third chairman said.

“This is not just one setback,” the second chairman said, “Donnovan’s death is the result of countless challenges we’ve only thought we conquered.”

“What do you mean?” the third chairman said.

“Gentlemen, make no mistake, we are sorely outmatched,” the second chairman said, “Every other week, some new super shows up. Either a hero who dogs our heels at every turn, or a villain who seeks to destroy the empire that we’ve worked so hard to build.”

“We have capital,” the first chairman said, “We can buy-”

“They can take!” the second chairman barked, slamming a fist onto the mahogany table, “And we can do nothing to stop them! It is their choosing to be bought. Our money is only valuable if we can defend it!”

“We haven’t been attacked like that,” the third chairman said.

“No,” the first chairman said, “We haven’t been attacked like that yet. Donnovan is dead, and we don’t even know who killed him. We need to retaliate, prove we’re still strong, but who do we hit back?”

“This is the calm before the storm for us,” the second chairman said, “A domino effect. If we do nothing after Donnovan’s death, people see us as weak. If we lash out, people see us as a threat.”

“I’ve sunk years of my life into this,” the third chairman said, “You want me to throw all of that away?”

“I say you can keep as much as you want,” the second chairman said, “Just know, the more of this we hold onto, the more those supers who killed Donnovan are going to kill us. We have more money than we could ever spend, and only stand to lose it.”

“So, this is it then,” the first chairman said, “We just… walk away.”

“I intend to,” the second chairman said, “I plan to move to a private island and have beautiful women wait on me hand and foot until age takes me.”

“What if people try to make us squeal?” the third chairman asked.

“If people try to make you squeal,” the second chairman said, “Then you failed to put adequate distance between you and them. Are we in agreement?”

“There’s one more issue,” the first chairman said, brandishing his gun, “Why don’t we make this a winner take all?”

“Why?” the second chairman said flatly.

“Well, then one of us would have all the money,” the first chairman said.

“And what would you buy that you couldn’t already afford?” the second chairman asked.

“I’d buy… a…” the first chairman said, rubbing his jaw in thought.

“Do go on,” the second chairman said.

“All right, fine,” the first chairman said, “I’d be set for life either way. Now let’s get outta here, I don’t want to run into whoever killed Donnovan.”

…

“So,” Lady NightRaven asked, turning the ignition for their van, “Do we have a lead?”

“We do,” She-Wolf admitted, “That diner smelled exactly like them. Looks like they’re headed for downtown King’s Head.”

“That’s gang territory, isn’t it?” Lady NightRaven asked.

“Heavy gang territory,” She-Wolf corrected, “Raven, you sure we want to be messing with these people?”

“It pays the bills,” Lady NightRaven said with a shrug.

“It does,” She-Wolf said, “I’m just worried we’re biting off more than we can chew.”

“Is that a pun?” Lady NightRaven asked, “It better not be. Wolf, you know how I feel about those. And listen, the job was just to investigate them.”

“I know, I know,” She-Wolf said, “But, you saw what they did to the radio tower. Do you think either of us can take hits like that?”

“We just need to get pictures of them,” Lady NightRaven said, “We can report on them, then decide whether we can keep the job or if bigger supers need to be called in. Really, this isn’t going to be some massive disaster.”