Novels2Search
The Vespidian
Arc 6, To Skin A Cat, Chapter 10 Interlude: Crimson Sweeper

Arc 6, To Skin A Cat, Chapter 10 Interlude: Crimson Sweeper

Hello everyone got a long chapter for you, only 2 more in this Arc. Hope you enjoy, tell me what you think. This one ended up being longer ^^

___

To Skin A Cat, Chapter 10,  Interlude: Crimson Sweeper

Crimson Sweeper sat idly. The thick red trench coat, draping to either side and his gloved hands rested on his lap. His eyes closed behind the thick aviator sunglasses and wide-brimmed fedora was tilted over his face. None of that helped, though, he still saw everything around him, whether he wanted to or not. There were some metals he could not see through, five-foot thick steel, for instance, blocked his vision. Zinc oddly enough was one of them as well. There was another problem with his power, he could not remember faces. For some reason, his mind would blur out the distinguishing features. He could see their expressions and if their eyes were closed, but that was about it. It forced him to look at other parts of the body to remember, identify people. It was his gift, his curse. It was rather hard to sleep at first, unable to close himself off from the world. Always awake, always aware. That was in the distant past and he could sleep whenever he wanted now, with his zinc lined blindfold. He concentrated too little and people would vanish as he saw through them, concentrated too much and things appeared as normal. He could pick and choose what was seen through, currently, he watched the surroundings outside the speeding armored transport.

Around him were roughly twenty cyber swat members. On the outside, they were all identical, save the badge number on the shoulder. Helmeted gas masks with glowing blue eyes. Thick plated armor covered them from head to toe, leaving just enough mobility to bend over. That being said the suits did not weigh them down, in fact, they made the wearer much stronger on par with lower ranked strength supers. The only way to tell apart the genders was if there were boob plates or not and even then if they were not large then it would not be noticeable. Some of the guys had bigger chest muscles than the women had breasts after all. They were more or less Enforcer’s men, granted if you looked deeper they were more loyal to their creator, Neon Nurse than anybody else. They were straight-edged, followed orders to the T, which meant that they were bad at improvising if things went awry. In stark contrast to Sheila, his partner and the only other member on his team. Thanks to her, they had become something along the lines of the oddballs. Her unorthodox methods worked well with his and as a result, they had good synergy.

“Hey, Sweeper you can see through stuff right?” asked a woman across from him. It was not someone that he knew.

“Yes, why do you ask?” he muffled out under the red scarf covering his lower face.

“Well, I don’t know. Just trying to make small talk.”

He tilted his eyebrow, giving her a cursory glance. She was stripped bare under his gaze. Left arm and leg were robotic everything else was organic. She had long ginger hair bundled up inside of her helmet. He gave a nod, noticing the scars on her chest, she had heart surgery within the last year. He could tell since it was not fully healed yet. Ah, he noted as his eyes roamed down to her waist, it seems she likes it all natural from the bush between her parted legs. She somewhat had the mannerism of a man.

“D’s,” He stated, losing interest.

“D’s what is he talking about?” she asked looking around.

Sheila leaned in. Her creased safari hat shadowed her eyes, a band covered in teeth circled the crown. It left her wily white smirk contrasting the tanned skin, “Bloody ell, he’s talkin bout your knockers.”

“What?”

“Your booooobs, fun bags, honkers, you know tits?” she emphasized, cupping her own sizable endowment and making hand gestures to get her point across.

Sheila wore a skimpy tan top that had pockets covering each of her large breasts. It was low cut exposing her toned stomach. Tight tan short shorts barely managed to keep her ass in check. Her pocketed utility belt helped keep anything from shifting on her in the heat of things. It left her tramp stamp of a tiger striped butterfly exposed, just above her black thong. Each arm and leg had throwing knives strapped to them with a little band. She had white socks and combat boots. A 9mm Beretta was holstered on her left side and a big bowie knife was on her right side. A towering anti-material rifle that had been heavily modded canvassed her back. Her power made her sneaky. It was not so much as her turning invisible as erasing her presence and that included sounds, smells too. It made her perfect for being a sniper or as she used to be, an assassin for hire.

The first time they met he thought everyone was kidding about her powers since, they did not work on him. He could see her and no matter how she tried, she could not sneak up on him. Sheila might have been able to silence her movements, but that did not help when he could see her from three blocks away. Her attempts to impress him led to some rather awkward and interesting situations. One time she dove in through his window while he was taking a bath. That was a night to remember, first time they got down and dirty. He nodded a little recalling the details. Very talented, she was surprisingly flexible.

Her outfit and way of speech had been inspired by the Crocodile Hunter, with alterations of course. In fact, it was her favorite show and she nearly had a heart attack when Steve almost got killed by a stingray a few years back. It was a good thing he left the stinger in, no telling what would have happened if it had been pulled out before he got to the hospital. She was born and raised in South Africa, Cape Town. It always bugged Sweeper, how she was a total Aussie wannabe, but that just made it more fun to poke at him. He told her a few times to just be normal since people these days had skin about as thick as a sheet of paper and got offended over everything. She did not particularly care, though, found it very fun to mess with people’s heads and went out of her way to piss people off if they were bugging her.

“You mean he can see through clothes?” The cyber swat member covered herself.

Sheila grinned, tipping her hat to reveal the cold, robotic right eye and the deep scar that crossed her nose, “He sees everything. If he wanted to he could look in your baby maker and see if you was preggers. In other words, nobody has got any nickers around him. It is a real cock up if you ask me. Makes it bloody ard to turn him on.”

The woman looked around awkwardly, “I eh… I am not even going to pretend that I know half of what you were saying there.”

“What is your name?”

“Fire Crotch,” Sweeper coughed slightly.

Sheila slapped her knee, laughing hysterically, “Oh, bullocks really? You pulling my leg. Wait, really? We got a Fire Crotch over here better call the fireman to put out the flames!”

“My name is Catherine!” she yelled back.

“Piss that, you are Fire Crotch from now on. Sheila I is, nice to meetcha’,” she smiled, extending her gloved hand to shake.

Catherine took it, not really knowing what else to do. After a bit of silence, she spoke up, “So, how did you lose the eye?”

“Funny story that. So there I was in Somalia, assassinating this local Warlord who was hiding out by Wisil. He was using these child soldiers you see. The job went without a hitch, blew the cheeky git’s brains all over a wall. So anyway when I was sitting on the side of the road, waiting for my exit plan, I see this kid. Scrawny little bastard probably had not eaten in a week, nothing, but skin n bones. See that a lot over there. You know? I started feeling bad, guilty even since I was munching on a big old Kit-Kat bar right in front of him. He had those empty, soulless eyes. Gave me the heebie-jeebies it did. At any rate, I waved him on over, offered a piece of Kit-Kat and BAM! Rusty spoon in my eye. Bloody wanker ate my god damned eyeball, after spooning it outa me ‘ead. Slit his throat like a stuffed pig for that. Just to rub it in I ate the whole bar in front of him, while he bled out. And that is why I hate kids, you can’t trust the shifty little bastards.”

“Well, might I remind you that our mission is to capture around twenty of the Mad Dogs’ progeny, preferably Glitter Kitten’s. Remember now we are not allowed to kill,” said Sweeper.

“As long as I don’t gotta get within arm’s length, then we ace.”

He gave her a long disapproving look, “Then why did you come with your bunker buster?”

Sheila wagged her finger at him, “Now, now this thing is bloody brilliant you know? Got these shock rounds that will bring down an elephant. Neon Nurse also gave me these here special sleepy time syringes just in case.”

“Just remember not to go on another safari. We have a mission here, also don’t shoot Vespidian if you see her. We are supposed to rescue her.”

“She would not have gotten nicked if she was on our team to start with. I was real gutted over her getting assigned to the Juniors.”

“Well, I did petition for it, but she chose it herself,” said Sweeper, inspecting the syringe gun in his hand.

“I am still gobsmacked that we have not gotten a single new member after Flicker got iced,” Sheila grimaced, remembering that unfortunate event. “Been a little lonely just you and me.”

“Not your fault, wasn’t then, not now. Flicker should not have tried to chase Fold through a portal.”

“I know, but what if we did not get into that kerfuffle right before it happened? He would still be alive.”

“It would have happened eventually, he was too reckless.”

“Well, he was certainly that. Speaking of Fold I am surprised that you were fine with not being on the task force to try and get that wanker.”

“Not for lack of trying. Dreamer said it would be better if we dealt with this. According to the tracker, Vespidian is… not in the Sparkle Kat. I guess that means she is not our problem. For now at the least.”

“This just seems wrong, though, doesn’t it? I mean kids? I might hate the little fucks, but still. Seems a little extreme even for us. I mean we have tortured people before to find out stuff, ‘ell, I used to do that for a living.”

“If what I heard is right, they are getting put into child protective services custody.”

“Why bother? Nobody wants to adopt Subhumans. If anything it is just going to make the poor urchins even more resentful.”

“What, you don’t like cats?” asked Catherine, looking at an image of the kittens happily grinning with their mother.

Sheila looked a little perturbed, it was a fact that she liked cats, well, animals in general and the little furry kids were rather cute. The little whiskers on their puffed up cheeks just made her want to squeeze them. Maybe it would not be so bad. The fact that they were more or less adorable and looked like little animals was giving her far more pause than the fact that they were children.

“Animals are better than people, they don’t lie. If it wants to kill you, it won’t smile and be your friend before sinking a knife in your back,” said Sheila with a slight nod.

“So you got trust issues?” Catherine asked leaning forward a little.

She scratched the side of her face, “You could say that. Well, that is a story for another time.”

Sweeper nodded in agreement, “We are almost there.”

“Alright boys and girls, stop your grinning and grab your linen. We are going into a hot zone, expect extreme resistance. Top priority is containment. Don’t let any of these jumpy fucks escape to sound the alarm. We will sweep floor by floor, calm and orderly. Teams seven and eight will form a perimeter outside, everybody else with Sweeper, I will be securing objectives,” said Sheila through the Overseer system.

There was a very good reason that the cops in there had not been informed and it was a very simple one. They might have spilled the beans if they knew. Everybody knew that anybody who came down here on patrol was more into it for the pussycat time and they were very purrswasive, especially after a few drinks. It had happened a few times before, however, this was a two-way street since they could be fed false information as they had tonight. Every single Lieutenant and squad captain had been informed that they would attack tomorrow, which is why they left the place mostly undefended today.

The ATC ground to a halt a street over from the Sparkle Kat. The boisterous music and drunken patron’s cheers echoed out of the glowing building. Neon strippers shifted with the lights on the surrounding buildings. This was going to be hard and fast. The other teams quickly gathered up. Two teams rushed to each entrance. Sweeper led one and Sheila took to the high ground. He peered through the wall, looked rather full. A ratio of three to one civis to Mad Dogs. The stage was host to several bunny girls and the cat girls were giving lap dances or prowling around the room for a partner. He gave hand gestures, relaying the info. They nodded between one another and the windows broke in from the tear gas canisters. Chaos ensued as people rushed out, trying to escape the gas.

“On the ground! Hands where I can see them!” Shouted the cyber swat members tackling the disoriented and dazed denizens. “For your own safety do not struggle and comply with orders!”

Kicking and struggling died down rather quickly from the civilians. They were swiftly dragged off to the side to keep them out of the way. Two teams stayed outside while everyone else stormed in. The subhumans had fled from the ground floor going both upstairs and downstairs. Their sensitive noses would not be able to handle the gas. It would only temporarily debilitate them rather than causing serious and permanent damage. If he could help it, Sweeper would like to minimize the damages. That being said, if push came to shove, he would not hesitate to kill, not against the Mad Dogs. They had proven time and again to be brutal, malicious, and neither Sweeper nor anyone else could expect them to not go for killing blows. It was times like this that he hated being a good guy, on the books and accountable for his actions rather than a vigilante. Villains did not play by the rules, which made coming into a situation with the intent to capture, not kill, was a liability. Here they were using nonlethal approaches while their adversaries were unrestrained in their options. It is exactly this sort of thing that gets a lot of good people killed for no reason.

The gas had dissipated by the time the ground floor was secured and they prepared to move on. Outside gunfire erupted, in short, controlled bursts. He turned, glancing over the situation. Several of the Mad Dogs had tried to make a break for it, they had been tranquilized and subsequently subdued. Giving a finger wave they continued on. Diving into the belly of the beast. Sweeper led the way, combing for threats. The only real objective was the children, none of the others mattered and as such if they stayed in their hiding holes he would not bother with them. The unimpeded progress did not last long. He watched them, grouping up, reorganizing and getting to defensive positions. Some were even trying to sneak up on them, taking advantage of the shadows. This was going to take a while.

Without effort Sweeper fired off down a corridor as they passed, giving rise to a low thud at the other end. Ahead several cat girls had flipped a table, blocking off the walkway. Their noses were dripping and their eyes were red, clearly, they had been hit by the gas. Sweeper drew closer to the blockade, their fur bristled with anticipation. They lay in wait to the side of the impediment, ready to ambush those who were distracted and attempting to disassemble it. He tossed a grenade in the enclosed space that they were in and the flash blinded all five of them. The cyber swat moved in unison, firing nets on the blinded animal women. They were pinned and compressed, unable to worm their way free. Trapped, they screamed and yowled with rage. He ignored them, moving on.

The next floor proved to be much more difficult. There were werewolves here. He glanced about, neither Den Mother nor Thumper were here, which meant that they were with Glitter Kitten. From what he could see there were no high-ranking members here at all. That made this a lot easier, not that it was going to be simple. They had come prepared, otherwise, this would have been a suicide mission. It seems that the Mad Dogs were not expecting an attack on their base. This meant that the disinformation had been successful. There appeared to only be the pups so to speak watching the place. The hulking dog women charged forward into the hail of tranquilizers. Their skin was too tough and neither the darts nor bullets could penetrate. Nets could not restrain them and were merely an inconvenience, barely slowing their advance. Sweeper pulled out his Beretta, Betsy, ready to fire when the window shattered and the first two dropped to the floor, convulsing with arcs of electricity sprouting from them. The remainder took steps back weary, but it was too late as they dropped from more impacts.

Sweeper waved to Sheila, who was on a rooftop nearby, “You took your time on that one.”

“And you said we would not need the Bunker Buster.”

He nodded dismissively and stabbed several needles into the open mouths, putting them to sleep, “We can talk about it later, building is clear. Get in here.”

“Alright, alright mate, I is coming.”

A hook snagged on the window and it did not take very long for Sheila to haul herself in. She followed along as Sweeper kept an eye on everything. Things were clear for now. Their objective was in sight, the kittens were cowering in the penthouse with the few remaining guards clustered. Everything was going good, too good in fact. Something felt wrong. He stopped for a moment, considering his options. Sweeper always went with his gut and it was telling him to run. He shook it off, not seeing anything around that would give him pause.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

They arrived at the door, Sheila placed charges to breach and they stepped back. He counted down with his fingers and the explosives went off. Fragments of wood and metal careened out, leaving a cloud hovering in the doorway. The Cyber Swat moved in. They brushed aside the stunned guards, injecting them with the sleepy time drug. It worked almost instantly and they dropped like flies. The officers spread out securing the room before Sweeper and Sheila made their way inside. The children were huddled in the bathroom, the three oldest keeping the others behind them. They snarled like cornered animals.

“Stay away nyah!” cried Midnight.

“When mama gets back you will all pay!” growled Rocket.

Snowball gave them the kitty cat eyes, “You are not going to hurt us are you?”

Catherine got a little flustered over that, “Hurt you? No, we came to save you kids.”

“Save us?”

“Yeah, we are going to take you guys to a better place. There will be warm beds and food.”

“Liars! You are just going to catnap us!” scoffed Rocket, giving her a death glare.

Sheila looked around, “Seems like we are the bad guys here doesn’t it? Why did we need the kids again? I am starting have third thoughts on this whole thing.”

Sweeper nodded a little. Talking about taking children from their home and actually doing it were two very different things. He understood perfectly well why Dreamer wanted the children. They were insurance just in case things went horribly awry. If this city was going to survive without Chimera swooping in they needed leverage on the various criminal elements to make them cooperate. Getting Glitter Kitten’s willing or unwilling participation would go a long way toward restoring order in the streets. More enforcement could be dedicated to eradicating the other gangs if the Mad Dogs were no longer a problem. If Burnout got caught as well then all their concentration and efforts could be placed on the Diablos. The reasoning was perfectly sound, which was the only reason Sweeper even agreed to do this. Chimera was bad news, he had seen first hand what they did to people. They made the Nazis look like boy scouts. Sometimes he wondered which side was really worse, Kraken or Chimera. Both are ruthless, cut-throat organizations that plot to take over the world. The only differences were how they were going about it and who would ultimately rule over everyone after the dust settled. It would either be Super Villains or the coalesced world governments. Neither was very appealing to Sweeper.

This had to be done, it was for everyone’s best interest. Besides, it was not as though the kittens were going to be tortured or anything like that. In fact, they were going to be staying at a very nice boarding house on the north side of the city. There would be guards, of course, and they would not be allowed to leave unsupervised, but they would get an education and perhaps in time they would even be allowed to see their mother. That would depend on her and if the suggestions stuck or if she saw reason. He shook his head clearing away the thoughts.

“Alright, now listen squirts you are going to-” started Sweeper before trailing off, staring out the window.

In the distance, an explosion rose up in the telltale signature of a nuke, but it was tiny in comparison to what most people think. All eyes were on the dust cloud. The wind roared by and glass shattered all around as the building shook. It could not have been more than two miles away, which meant it was at the other fight. The coms had fallen into disarray, no one knew anything and it appeared that the command structure had fallen. His eyes scanned the nearby area, during the commotion several of the rabbits had fled. They split into different directions. That was not good. Word of the attack here would get out and reinforcements would come streaming in.

Sheila yelled, “Grab em, tag em, and bag em boys, we are bailing!”

“Just take those three. It will be troublesome to take them all,” said Sweeper, pointing at the oldest.

“You can’t do this!” cried Rocket, fighting the grasping hands that held him and his sisters down.

“Relax kid, you will wake up and it will all be over,” said one of the Cyber Swat members administering the sedatives.

Their struggling subsided and Sweeper nodded before talking over the Overseer, “Kittens are secured, we are pulling out.”

There was a slight crackle before the robotic voice came through intermittently, “Good, be advised… Glitter Kitten on loose… Neon Nurse and the Juniors are missing… I repeat, missing. Too dangerous for rescue workers, all units pulling out.”

He looked over the silent room, “Glitter Kitten has not been contained, which means we need to go now. When she finds out expect there to be blood.

“Should we just leave them?” asked Catherine.

“No, this is precisely why we targeted them. When she comes we can use the children as leverage and with luck we will get out of this alive.”

“Or this is what will get us killed.”

“Either way, I would rather have something to use against her, unless you think you can hit a hell cat flying all over the place at mock 1”

“I am not that good of a shot. I mean it is one thing if it is up in the sky, but when it is down here, turning on a dime and switching directions every quarter second, kinda hard. I am no Reflex Super after all,” said Sheila, spitting to the side.

“Then let us stop wasting time and go.”

Sweeper led the way, glancing all over the place to see any signs of movement or hostiles. To his relief, there was nothing for the moment. However, there was one place he could not see through and that was the basement. From his estimates, the vault down there had nearly ten-foot thick solid steel walls. It was rather large too. He had a bad feeling about that. If possible, it should be left undisturbed, unfortunately, that was quickly shaping up to be impossible since the guards had opened it. Speaking of the guards they seemed a lot stronger than the others that had been dealt with, which begged the question, what was so important that they used the strongest people here to guard it over Glitter Kitten’s children. He did not like not seeing the whole picture. It made things uncertain and Sweeper preferred clarity in all his actions.

He got the answer to that question and it was not good. Of the two guards that went in, only one emerged and she was running like hell. The werewolf bulldozed through a wall and kept loping in a panicked frenzy. He stopped in surprise of this sudden development, carefully watching. That was when they appeared and the blood ran cold in his veins. Six lumbering behemoths that were even larger than Den Mother crawled from the bowels of that place. They sniffed the air and howled with hunger, sending shivers down everyone’s spines.

“What the fuck was that?”

“The males,” replied Sweeper.

“What do you mean the males?!” cried Catherine.

“Wait, you thought there were only women? I mean look that kid there is clearly a boy,” asked Sheila.

“Well, you really only hear about the strippers so, I assumed. Is this bad?”

Sweeper nodded, “They may or may not be rank 5s in something. No telling how strong they are. All that I know is they are big.”

“What should we do?”

“Sneak the fuck outa here that is what. I ain’t sticking round to find out,” said Sheila.

“Ah, they are fighting one another,” said Sweeper, watching as the animalistic monsters turned on one another, swiping and clawing.

The largest soon drove the others away. He claimed his prize, mounting the subdued guard that did not manage to escape. They truly were animals, he shook his head. The only good thing was that the beast was occupied at the moment, frantically thrusting his hips. Sweeper motioned and they moved forward taking careful steps to avoid creating too much noise. They had made it to the base floor where all the stripping poles and performing platforms were. Outside gun fire raged and the crazed howls of the monster men rose up. They were being suppressed, but it was looking bad. He looked away when a cyber swat member was torn in half by one of the rampaging brutes, he was not the only casualty. The outside forces started to retreat.

“Come on they need us out there. Sheila, shoot to kill.”

“On it Sweep.”

She slunk out the door, looking for high ground. There was not much so she just set up the gun on a flat area. It took a few moments, but Sweeper and the rest of them were running interference for her. Their bullets pelted off of the thick hides. The stray bullet taking an eye or plunging into the open mouth while they snarled, charging at their new attackers. Sheila finished up when they were less than twenty feet away, a distance that they could leap with ease. She pulled the trigger and an inferno round pierced straight into the open mouth of the closest one, the head exploded in a rain of melted bone and flaming gore. A heavy thud rang out when the corpse hit the ground. The others back away fearfully, not understanding what had done that. Of course they were scared, they were just animals at this point. Sheila fired again and another dropped, but this time it was not dead. The howl of pain it emitted sent spiders down everyone’s spines. The beast thrashed and rolled clawing at the ground in a frenzy. She put it out of its misery with a round to the gaping wound and everything became still, save the twitching body. The others had escaped loping away.

Regrettable for them, the Alpha male made short work of his mate and the commotion had drawn his attention. Sheila barely had time to throw herself to the side, having to abandon her gun. It was crushed under the wall that came crashing down when the beast came through it like a wrecking ball. She used her power and scampered off, tiptoeing away. She was an opportunist, not a brawler after all. He howled beating his chest with heavy thuds. Sweeper and the cyber swat members backed away guns trained on the towering monster. It snarled, sniffing the air. It was agitated that it could not find where Sheila had gotten off to, circling where she had been since the scent trail ended abruptly. From the raging erection between the legs, it was very clear what it planned to do. Sweeper saw that she was busy shimmying up a drain pipe to get the hell away from it.

He aimed carefully with his trusty Betsy, it used armor piercing rounds. Normally they would not do much, but a certain soft spot was exposed. He fired and the scream of terror and pain the beast emitted from having his dick shot off echoed out. Wild-eyed it turned to Sweeper. Nearly foaming at the mouth and insane it rushed forward through the onslaught of bullets, nets, tranquilizers and tear gas grenades. The damned thing would not go down. An ATV rammed it in an attempt to stop the charge, but it was flung away like a toy and exploded in the distance. Sweeper ran, separating from the others, since it wanted him. He did not want anybody else to get killed because of him.

He booked it down a side alley, but quickly found it was not very likely that he would outrun that thing. The Alpha was gaining on him and fast. Loping on all fours it drooled, slavering as it licked its lips, likely thinking of how he would taste. Sweeper turned and fired, hitting the eye. It reared up screaming and he cursed, the bullet had not hit the brain. Blood and eye matter oozed out of the socket as the monster steadied itself. It had learned and covered its face with a hand to block bullets. Backed into a corner with no options left Sweeper looked around desperately for something, anything to use against this thing. That was when he saw a person, barreling towards them, but he was charging through buildings. 

A figure slammed through the side wall and tackled the bull rushing beast. Dust scattered all around as they wrestled back and forth, punches flying out and connecting between them. The alpha male roared, beating his chest to intimidate his foe, unfortunately it did not work. During the few seconds of concentration laps, the star and striped clad man reached back and slammed his fist into the solar plexus of the furry monster. It flew back from the impact and the man charged, following up the devastating attack with a dive kick. The werewolf groaned as the wind got knocked out of its lungs. Already down, he hit it, again and again, reducing it to whimpers. He wrapped his arm around the neck, choking it until the eye rolled and it passed out.

“Pretty good. Been a while since I had to go all out. You heroes ok over there?” he said, wiping his hands with a broad smile. Everyone was more or less in shock from the unexpected and well-timed arrival. They had been expecting to be massacred after all.

“Thanks for the rescue, holy fuck, thought I was dead for sure. What the hell are you doing here?” said Sweeper, wiping his brow, his life had more or less flashed before his eyes.

Standing victorious the leotard wearing Super did a pose with a peace sign. Sweeper knew exactly who this weirdo was, he was Bronsonman. One of the stronger supers in the city, exactly how strong? Well, nobody really knows since he is a vigilante and just shows up out of the blue in the most random of places. However, considering that he just decked that man beast, he must be at the least a rank 6. The only thing anybody really knew about him was that he seemed like a nice guy. That being said, vigilantes were a problem. They were unaccountable for their actions and that caused problems for the HL since they got blamed for it. If any of these guys went bonkers and started offing people it would inevitably be pinned on the Heroes.

He looked around as though expecting to see someone, but it appeared they were not here, he scratched his chin, “You guys would not happen to know where Mecha Fairy is would you?”

“Why are you looking for her?”

He pat the back of his head chuckling, “We are autograph buddies, so I thought that I should rescue her, since I saw the bad news.”

“She ain’t here. Sorry mate,” said Sheila, climbing down from her hiding hole.

“Not here?” he asked, looking them over, “Then what are you guys doing here?”

Sweeper replied, “Getting these kids out of here.”

Bronsonman seemed dumbfounded for a moment, “Why are you taking Glitter Kitten’s kittens?”

Sweeper replied, “They live in a drug den that is a stripper, whore house, with monsters in the basement. A better question would be why would we not?”

“So, wait you guys came in here to get children? You know, this guy here could be their dad. I have seen worse living conditions, at the least, they are not out on the streets digging through trash to find food. What about rescuing one of your own? Shouldn’t that be your main objective?”

“Mecha Fairy is not here so we went for our other objective. It is not like we just abandoned her, if she is not here then there is nothing we can do about that.”

“How do you know? Have you looked all over, she could be locked up in one of these rooms.”

“She has a tracking device on her.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Wait, so you guys know where she is, but did not go to rescue her and instead came here to kidnap the kittens?”

Sweeper replied, “It is not kidnapping. Trust me, I would much rather be chasing after Fold than doing this. Orders are orders and I can’t very well go against them.”

Bronsonman crossed his arms, “Orders, huh. You know, the Nazis said the same thing when they were gassing Jews during World War two. This is why I won’t join your Hero League, never follow orders blindly, you never know who is giving them and for what reason. If it don’t smell right don’t do it. I don’t care what sort of grand scheme you got going, you are not leaving here with those kittens.”

Sweeper shook his head, “For fuck sake, we don’t want to fight you Bronsonman, we know you are one of the good guys. We are doing this so Chimera does not show up.”

“Yes, I am and I used to think you guys were too. Maybe you should start acting like heroes. Chimera? What makes you think they are not already here?”

Sweeper paused, “Wait, hold on. What do you mean they are already here?”

“Can’t tell you who, since I don’t know, but one of them is running around here in Bronson. There are also several Kraken agents and both sides are plotting something. It looks bad, like LA bad.”

“How do you know this?”

“It pays to have friends in dark places.”

“You… you are one of them,” said Sweeper, pulling out his gun. “Sheila, back me up on this, he is a Kraken agent.”

Sheila raised her hands, “Fuck this. I ain’t getting my gob smacked over this shit.”

Bronsonman looked irritated, “I work alone. I am not a part of Kraken. I was referring to black market information brokers.”

“How the hell can we trust you?” asked Sweeper.

He shook his head, “Alright look. If I was a Kraken agent why would I tell you there are Kraken agents running around?”

“To throw us off your trail.”

Bronsonman thought on it, “Hmm, that is actually pretty smart, never thought of that. Fortunately, you are mistaken, I mean do I look like I am some scheming mastermind? I will admit I am resourceful, but that is a bit beyond me. I am just a guy who runs around and beats up bad guys.”

“I think we should trust him, I mean he saved us. If he really had an ulterior motive, what the hell would it be?” said Catherine.

Sweeper was silent for a long moment before motioning, “Alright, I did not like this, to begin with. I hope you are not lying to us. If you are, the shit is going to hit the fan and this whole damned city is going to go up in flames.”

“So, shall we save Mecha Fairy?” smiled Bronsonman, patting Sweeper on the shoulder.

“Damned straight,” smirked Sheila.

______

Alright there we go, likely not going be another this weekend. :3