The engine of the armoured van roared as it raced, relatively speaking, through the streets. I was packed shoulder to shoulder with PRT troopers, Assault and Battery sitting in their seats opposite me. They spoke quietly with each other as we drove on, probably planning out what the hell we were supposed to do when we arrived.

I was too, for my part. I didn't know where Regent took Shadow Stalker on his little joyride after the raid, but I knew where it ended up. Even then I wasn't totally sure...how. For all I knew, she descended from the sky. It was just as likely as her running up, with someone else in control of her body.

The good news was, Regent didn't unmask her outside to my knowledge, just to her family as if that was somehow better. That meant she'd be obvious, whatever direction she came from. I turned my neck and glanced out the slit of a window that trailed along the side of the van. The thickly armoured glass distorted the world outside, but I could see residential homes passing by, along with tons of debris still clogging the roads.

I tapped my foot impatiently. The fucking restoration crews were focused on the upscale areas first, even though they'd been the least damaged. The Nat Guard was doing their best, but underfunded as they were they lacked the engineering vehicles to clear the roads. So the van was forced to dodge or smash through the shattered cars and debris that obstructed almost every street.

The real question that dogged my mind as we drove was how the fuck was I supposed to stop Shadow Stalker? The girl could go intangible and she was a hell of an athlete, so grappling and chasing her weren't really viable. There were two weaknesses I recalled she had, that I could exploit anyway, and lucky for me I had both sitting on my hip.

The first was electricity. I knew, in her shadow form, it either hurt a shitload and/or killed her. If I could tag her while she wasn't like that, it might make her, or Regent I guess, think twice about using her power. Still, that was an extremely risky play. If I fucked up my timing, or if Regent purposely turned on her power when I was zapping her, Shadow Stalker might bite it. My feelings towards her aside, that was actually a problem. For all of us.

That left my pepper spray. I wasn't sure exactly the effect it would have, but she was still human. I remembered...something, about how the spray made it suck to go into shadow form. It wasn't lethal though, that much I recalled. Problem was, if I flinched then I'd be treated to a bit of backlash from it. Of course, that was the least of my concerns. I could clear the shit from my eyes, if it got in there, and I wouldn't inhale it as long as I didn't move.

Well, that seemed at least viable. If I made it a bitch to use her powers, I could hold her down long enough for the actual heroes to get in and do something that worked a little better. I wasn't sure how her shadow state would interact with my projection either. That was more of a concern for the lethal crossbow bolts she almost certainly had loaded. If one of them slipped through my projection and into me...

I wouldn't let that happen, hell I'd resort to the potentially lethal taser if it came down to it. I wasn't about to let a shitty bitch of a Ward controlled by a shitty bitch of a villain send me back to...whenever the fuck. If it was a choice between life and death, well, I'd had too much of the latter already. She hadn't.

God that was fucked up. I was literally considering the murder of a fifteen year old. It wasn't my fault, not exactly, but the fact that I could even think of doing it was the problem. For normal people, broaching this topic was unthinkable, but it came so easily to mind for me. I couldn't blame my powers for that one, not totally at least.

The van's brakes squealed as it came to a halt on one of many dark, cluttered streets. I rose, but Assault gestured for me to stay where I was. I grumbled quietly, but did as I was told, staring out the narrow slit of vision I was allowed in the back. God dammit. It wasn't like I was faster than Shadow Stalker. I needed every head start I could get on the track star if I wanted even the slimmest chance of saving her from having her entire life fucked up. She wasn't going to stick around here, but maybe I could spare her prison...we needed her, after all.

I slowly scanned the dark street, looking for any hint of her appearing. I could feel my heart already beginning to pound as we waited. I clicked my teeth together, unable to chew my nails without exposing my face. My body grew warm as I got antsier, keyed up for a fight against a girl who'd killed before, controlled by a boy who'd done the same. Well, at least we were all on even ground...

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Suddenly, a flash of movement caught my eyes. I pressed my face to the armoured glass, straining to stare into the darkness of the street outside. There, a streak of purple and black charging up the road. I didn't need more to identify her. I ignored Assault's call for me to stop and popped open the rear of the van, racing out into the street beyond.

She was ahead of me, charging towards a house with all manner of toys strewn across the lawn. I'd have suspected Leviathan, if I didn't see the debris that he left piled to one side. She paused, allowing my headlong sprint to finally catch up. I gripped the OC spray on my belt and pushed myself even harder.

“Shadow Stalker!” I shouted at her a second before I hit. She whirled and, just as she started to become incorporeal, I gave her a blast of the pepper spray.

She shrieked and began coughing violently, her body flickering as it went in and out of her Breaker state. I hit her with another blast of the stuff, just to make sure, before reaching out to grasp at one of her flailing limbs. Shadow Stalker, or Regent inside, struck back with a blow straight into my neck. It would have crushed my windpipe for sure, had I flinched.

Instead it gave me a chance. My hand flew up and gripped her wrist as tight as a constrictor. I didn't crush as I had with opponents before, rather I just raised my other hand and hit her again with the pepper spray. I was betting she wasn't asthmatic, being an athlete, but that had to hurt.

Fucking finally I heard the sounds of the heroes and PRT troopers coming up behind me. They fanned out around me and hit her with a strange something that made Shadow Stalker go limp. I felt my stomach flip and touched my fingers to her neck, sighing with relief when I found her racing pulse. She lived, and no one in the house seemed any the w--

“Hey, the fuck's going on out here?” A young man, built like a brawler, flung open the door of the house Shadow Stalker had been going towards.

“Protectorate business, please stay back,” Battery replied smoothly, practiced. The troopers closed ranks between the house and Shadow Stalker.

“Legs,” Assault snapped at me under his breath. “On three.” He gripped her under the arms, and I grabbed the back of her knees.

On 'go', we lifted because apparently Assault was an asshole like that. We bundled her towards the van as quickly as we could, lifting her up and into the back. Assault fastened a set of faintly glowing shackles around her wrists and ankles, electrified maybe to stop her escaping. I guess they'd had this stuff ready for a long time. I wouldn't complain about it. He coughed as he secured her into one of the bucket seats, wiping at his eyes.

“Sorry,” I said, knowing exactly why. “I um, I didn't know how else to stop her.”

“You did fine,” he said, helping me up into the van as the troopers returned. Battery joined us a minute later. “Next time, wait.”

“I couldn't,” I retorted, crossing my arms and staring at the unconscious Ward. “She...I don't know what Regent would have done in there, but I couldn't just let him.” I was lying. I knew the night ended with Sophia being found with a noose around her throat. Not dead but...

“You also don't know what he could have done to you, Amaranth.” Battery took her seat, buckling in and gesturing for me and Assault to do the same. “Shadow Stalker is highly skilled and extremely dangerous, especially with the ammunition she had loaded.” Battery shook her head. “I don't know where Regent got broadhead bolts, but I've got feeling he didn't have to look far...” I nodded grimly.

“Good work though,” Assault added as the van drove off. “Quick thinking and speedy reactions are vital in this line of work.”

“So is discipline,” Battery countered her husband's attempt at making me feel better. “But...yes, good work.” I nodded, staring at the ground as a smile touched my face.

“Thanks,” I replied, taking a deep breath. “I'll...I'll do better.”

“Now that's what I like to hear,” Battery said with a grin.

The journey back was quiet. Battery spoke in hushed tones with whoever was handling the console back at headquarters. Probably arranging whatever awful conditions Shadow Stalker had to live under before they threw her in prison, or hopefully at another Ward's team. I wondered where she would go when they decided. Ultimately, it wasn't my problem. I'd done everything I could to make it better.

The engine rumbled deeply as the van slowed, pitching downwards and pausing for a moment. Back at the garage, at least I assumed. A moment later, we resumed moving for just a few seconds before the van stilled once more. The doors were flung open and we piled out, Shadow Stalker being carried by Assault. He handed her off to a trio of black-suited troopers who disappeared through a door nearby.

“What's going to happen to her?” I couldn't help the question that escaped my lips. It wouldn't do me any good knowing, but...

“Not sure yet,” Assault replied with a quiet sigh. “Hope she'll be okay but, well.” He shrugged and shook his head. “Anyhow, that's way over your head right now. My advice? Don't worry about things you're not being paid to worry about.” I nodded slowly. Sage advice, though god knew I'd ignore it.

“Come on you two,” Battery called out. “Debrief and incident reports.” We both shared a heavy sigh.

“Welcome to being a hero,” Assault quipped sardonically, following Battery.

I smiled as I followed them. A hero.