Levi bounced along, humming to himself as he walked. A backpack thumped against his back, bulky with clothes but light for the same. He walked through Central Square, not a care in the world.

Already, cops and supers bustled around the space, setting up cordons and preparing for an influx of idiots. Levi tossed a few nods their way as he walked. One of the supers straightened up and waved, giving him a surely-patented smile. He smiled back, sweeping his eyes over the rest of them as well. I don’t recognize any of them. A bunch of no-names, probably not a one over ten points total.

In the center of the square, a few costumed characters prepared for the day, though fewer of them than usual wandered around the planter-adorned concrete island. A furry pink monster waved at the thin passerby as a few tourist children tried to tug their parents toward it. A large cartoon mouse bounced in place, full of energy to take on the day. Beside it, a man in a more modern Alpha costume, this one skintight except for the armored panels here and there, all red except for the white stripes, carried a sign advertising a pizza restaurant on the edge of the city.

Levi raised his brows. His eyes slipped away, and he walked on, still humming to himself. Through Central Square and out the back side, and on, until he completely left the cops’ and supers’ sights.

There, he turned confidently into a back alley, then crouched, pulling out the clothes Maury had handed him earlier. In a few moments, he stripped down and redressed, standing back up in a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeve white shirt, the jeans decorated with a few dozen more belts than was absolutely necessary. White boots with a bone motif clad his feet, the bottoms thin and flexible, like a sprinter’s shoes. A black short cloak hung around his shoulders, only reaching as far as his elbows, save two long tendrils of lightweight, floaty fabric, that dangled to his ankles. A hood obscured his head, while a bird’s skull-shaped mask hid the upper half of his face.

“The Night Sparrow swoops again,” Levi murmured to himself, striking a pose for no one. Shoving his clothes into the backpack, he slung it behind a dumpster. He twisted through the backstreets with quiet precision. Left, right, left, and so on, until he finally reached the sunken entrance to a dive bar. With one last glance around, he descended into the darkness.

A closed sign hung from the greasy, soot-stained door. The scent of old cigarettes hung around the entranceway, mingling with the sickly-sweetness of spilled cocktails. His feet stuck to the last few steps, the concrete a strange brownish-black from the filth layered atop it. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Heads whipped around. Instantly, all eyes on the room landed on him. Seedy-looking men in nondescript clothes sat around, a cigarette dangling from one man’s fingers. Giving Levi a slow look up and down, he took a puff from the cigarette and raised his brows. “Fucking freak.”

“I’ll have you know I’m celibate,” Levi declared. He looked around, then plopped at an empty table. Leaning the chair back, he kicked his feet up on the tabletop. Eyes sweeping the villains, he shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Honestly. Not a single piece of flair. Villains these days are such slackers.”

“You’re the only asshole who thinks he’s a villain,” a ratty-looking man opined.

Levi put his hands behind his head, cocking his neck back far enough to see out the bottom of the bird’s-skull mask. “Good to know the rest of you are delusional, too. It’s usually just me.”

The room fell deathly silent. The smoker lifted his cigarette to his lips.

A pleasant tinkle of bells. Everyone turned, even Levi.

Dressed in neon pink from head to toe, a man froze in the door. He looked around. “Uh. Wrong place?”

Levi’s face split into a grin. “No, no, not at all! Right place, brother, right place. Come, have a seat.” With some effort, he patted the seat beside him without putting his own chair down on all four legs.

The bright pink man hesitated, then stepped inside. He sidled over to Levi, casting a longing look at the other tables more than once. Just before he sat, he hesitated, looking away from Levi.

“What’re you waiting for? Take a seat,” Levi repeated.

Jolting, the man plopped down. He sat bolt upright, incredibly nervous.

Levi tilted his head to the side to get a better look at him. Pink, pink, and more pink, all of it skintight, with a sort of high collar around his neck that collected into a gem at his collarbone. He nudged the pink man. “Hey, man, what’s your deal? Why so quivery?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Pink man glanced at him, then licked his lips. He shook his head. “I’m new at this. It’s, uh, my first…you know. My first real villain gig.”

“You don’t say,” Levi said, looking his outfit over. He adjusted his mask a little, tugging on the beak. “You know, might wanna pick clothes that stick out less. Dark colors. Maybe a few muted reds.”

Nervously, the pink man nodded. He opened his mouth.

“What, like your sideshow getup?” the ratty man interrupted him.

Levi cut his eyes at him. “One more word out of you, and I will end you.”

“Is that a threat?” the man asked.

Thump. Levi’s chair landed firmly on all fours. He pushed himself upright with a groan. Straightening, he shook his finger at the man as he drew his knife with his other hand. “You really had to go there. I warned you.”

The other men all reached behind them, their eyes sharpening. The ratty man raised his brows, unimpressed. “Yeah? You going to kill us all?”

Pink man glanced around, then stood. He backed away, eyeing the door.

“That’s right. Me and my sidekick, Highlighter Pink here, are going to take you all out,” Levi declared boldly.

Pink man jolted. “That—I’m not—my name isn’t—”

Levi glanced over his shoulder. A vicious light glimmered in the depths of his mask, reflecting off his eyes. He raised the knife threateningly. “Isn’t that right, Highlighter Pink?”

“Y-yes!”

“This guy gets it.” Waggling his knife at Highlighter Pink in approval, he turned back to the seedy-looking men. “So… where was I?”

The door behind the bar slammed open. A man-shaped golem made of shale rumbled out, bits of rock dust and pebbles bouncing on the floor around it as it moved. It lifted its hand and put a speaker down on the bar.

“Stand down. We are all here for the same purpose: to avenge my love.”

“Oh, is that why?” Levi muttered. He eyed the ratty man, but sat back down. “Saved by the bell, man. Saved by the bell.”

“Pussy,” the ratty man muttered.

Levi meowed, unbothered. “And you’re a rat. One of us loses that fight, and it isn’t me.”

The ratty man lunged. One of his friends grabbed his shoulder, barely holding him down.

“Silence,” the speaker boomed. “Do not make me regret this.”

Levi flipped his knife and said nothing. He waggled his eyebrows at the ratty man and pointed at his eyes, then at the man, then drew the knife across his throat.

The ratty man wrinkled his nose. With some effort, he turned away.

“My love was murdered yesterday. She was killed in a construction site. Torn apart like trash.”

Levi twitched. He licked his lips and tossed his knife again, glancing to the side. Surely. Surely it’s not her.

“Your mission is to discover who killed her, and bring them to me. Dead, alive, I don’t care. Just make them suffer. Like she did. Her eyes… straight through to the back of her skull, it was—” The voice on the speaker broke off. A restrained sob filtered through.

Couldn’t be me. Haha. Who would do that? Stab a woman in the eyes and abandon her in a construction site? Not this guy. Nope.

A grin played over Levi’s lips. He leaned in, putting his chin in his hands. Now isn’t this interesting. I do think I’ll take this job.

“I have photos and materials. If you’re interested, step forward.”

Behind them, the front door flew wide. Sunlight streamed in, highlighting the motes of dust floating on the air. A figure stood against the sunlight, hands on her hips, chin lifted high.

Catching his knife, Levi eyed the new figure. Across the room, everyone stared, eyes narrowed, hands vanishing to their sheaths.

She stepped inside. A young woman appeared, dressed in dark pleather from head to toe. A cowl covered the top half of her face, and a black cape hung from her shoulders. Her gloves and toe-shoes sported claws, and a stylized white fang in crème pleather sat in the center of her chest. The door swung shut with a clunk. She looked across the room, meeting everyone’s eyes one at a time. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Hurry and take a seat,” the voice demanded.

Levi eyed the woman and raised a single brow. He patted the seat to his other side.

Ignoring him, she sat primly at her own table, one close to the front door. Back ramrod straight, she put her feet forward and cupped her hands neatly in her lap, her eyes cutting across the room and taking in every detail, though her head remained locked straight ahead.

Yeah. That’s not an undercover super. Definitely not.

“If everyone’s done?” the voice on the speaker asked snootily.

“Ought to be. Unless you brought friends?” Levi asked, tilting his head toward the woman.

“The White Fang has no friends.”

Levi barely stifled the urge to snort in laughter. He waved a hand at the speaker. “Yeah, we’re good. Go on.”

“Ahem. Please come to the bar. I’ll distribute all the information I have so far, as well as the number to call to contact me if you find the perp.”

Reaching into its chest, the golem pulled out a set of ten folders and laid them on the bar.

Everyone stood. One group at a time, they moved to the bar and took a folder. On his turn, Levi grabbed the folder and saluted the golem. “Thanks, friend. It’s always a tragedy when a loved one dies. You can trust that I will stop at nothing to find this man.”

The golem lowered its head slightly. No response cane from the speaker.

Saluting, Levi turned away, only to run into White Fang as she went to the bar. She jerked away, as if Levi were red-hot.

“Sorry, sorry. Are you okay? I’m sorry,” Levi said, his face as earnest as it could look under a bird-skull mask. He reached out to dust off her shoulders.

White Fang flinched away from his touch. “I’m fine.”

Levi nodded. With an apologetic bow, he scurried off, back into the sun. And that’s a tracker planted. I’ll know where my undercover friend is headed. If this hit was ordered by another super, she’s probably after him rather than us villains… but you never know. She might be just as interested in killing us as catching him.

He weighed the files in his hand, then tucked them into the back of his belt. That was an interesting diversion, but let’s get back to what really matters: keeping that precog out of Alpha’s hands.