10 Second Night Out

After the boys have both gone to sleep, I leave the flat through the window with my 'cape bag' at a little past midnight.

Earlier today, James gave me an idea.

See, I haven't really had much of a plan for what I'm doing. Beyond making some money, my actions haven't really had much purpose.

So why not be what James thinks I am, and just be a vigilante?

It's not like it will hugely impact what I was doing anyway, it just means that I won't be robbing any banks and that I have to target villains specifically.

I can live with that, it's certainly better to be fighting against assholes than innocents.

But ultimately, it doesn't change what I'm planning to do tonight.

Sitting in the middle of some buildings roof with my cape outfit fully donned, I wanted to wear my new cardigan, but decided I would keep that for my civilian identity, so it's just a mask and black cargo pants and jacket for me.

I take out one of my burner phones and a piece of paper that I wrote Hailey's number on.

This is the first time that I actually turned the phone on, since I decided it's best to be paranoid about these things, so it takes a moment before I am giving my... uh, minion? A call.

Ring ring.

Ring ring.

For a moment I wonder if she's just not going to pick up, but right as I think that I hear a 'click'.

"Who is this?" Hailey demands, making me smile to myself.

"My my~ did you already forget about little old me?" My own teasing voice responds.

I hear a sharp intake of breath through the phone before Hailey's far less confident voice speaks up again.

"o-oh. W-what can I d-do fo-for you M-my Lady?" She asks, her stuttering honestly kind of annoying me, but in a cute way.

That doesn't really make sense.

Whatever, it's hardly important.

"Hailey!" I exclaim, "My dearest friend! What's with that tone? We're all friends here, you can call me by my name you know?"

There is a moment of silence before her hesitant voice returns with a positively perplexed tone.

"Uhm, y-you. You never gave me your name?"

Oh. Did I really not do that?

Uh, oops?

Guess I got caught up in the moment, ah well.

"Don't be silly~ of course I told you to call me Tear. You must be forgetting things again.~" I respond, refusing to admit my own mistake.

"R-right, sorry, my mistake." It's kind of boring how quickly she folds but whatever, time for business.

"Well, at least you're acknowledging your mistake. Now! I find myself in need of some money, you wouldn't happen to know a place that has a lot of cash just, say, lying around, would you?"

It's probably bad form to just trust the word of some random gangster, but I'm not stupid, not always at least, and I see this as a win win situation.

After all, either she is afraid of me enough that she will give me a location full of cash, or she will betray me and lead me into a trap.

Now, you would think that's a bad thing, but I 𝘥𝘪𝘥 say I wanted to try being a vigilante instead of a villain, and what better way to prove that than by fighting off some villains?

Then of course, there is the more foolhardy reason that I have simply never fought a cape before and I want to see how I match up, where I stand.

So I am perfectly willing to walk into a trap to test myself a little, and it's not like I'm really afraid to die anyway.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to die, but I'm not going to shy away from the possibility.

I've always believed in 'treat people how you want to be treated', which is why I just try to have fun, because for one it's fun, and for another it means that hopefully when other people interact with me, they will also just be trying to have fun.

Now, since I have already killed a few people and am perfectly willing to do so again, then I should accept the possibility of the same happening to me.

It would be mighty hypocritical of me to kill people and then say that no one is allowed to kill me after all.

Still, I'll do my best not to die.

With that in mind, I hang up on Hailey once she's finished giving me the location to another stash house, but one that should have much more money in.

Apparently the Red Branch focuses most of their 'business' on the drug side of things.

According to James' very simplified explanation, the Irish deal the drugs, the blacks do the racketeering and the rest are just racist.

though, Theo was quick to point out that just because all the Red Branch are Irish, that doesn't mean all Irish are Red Branch, similarly, all Street Saints are black but not vice versa.

The only other major player in the crime scene of Columbus is Famine, who named themselves such purely to insult the Irish, they are mostly white, but are apparently surprisingly ok with Asians.

Apparently there's some nuance there, but I am too ignorant to really know the difference between different Asians, same way I doubt anyone in China knows the difference between a Floridian and someone from Washington.

Anyway, I shouldn't get too absorbed in my thoughts right now, because it is time to make, steal, some fat stacks.

That's what they say right? 'Fat stacks'?

I'm not really sure what a 'stack' constitutes, but I'm going to go with the assumption that it translates to a thousand dollars, unless calling them fat actually denotes a higher number?

Maybe a 'fat stack' is ten grand as opposed to a single 'stack' being one?

Damnit, I literally 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 said I shouldn't let myself get absorbed in thought right now.

Whatever, it doesn't matter.

Focusing ahead, I make it to the location I was given, finding myself in a small warehouse district, suitably shady and out of the way whilst still being a part of the city.

Perfect for criminal enterprising I imagine.

Still weary of this being a trap, I make sure to do my due diligence in scouting the place out first, checking out the nearby buildings to find them mostly empty, bar a few homeless squatters.

When the clock is closer to one in the morning is when I finally decide that I've done enough scouting and should check the inside of the building itself.

I climb up to the roof, using the same method of forcing handholds into the wall through sheer strength and when I get there I am happy to see that there are windows this time.

The roof itself is styled like one of those old factories with a sawtooth roof, and I make my way over to one of the windows.

They are, of course, boarded up with wooden planks and cloth to cover where the wood doesn't, but it's not much of a challenge to reach in where some of the glass is already broken, and tear at some of the cloth to get a look inside.

The first thing I notice isn't actually sight, but scent funnily enough, the lovely scent I have come to associate with humans, but mixed in is some weird scent, it's both good, btu also kind of bad.

Oh well, I just shrug my shoulders and actually look inside.

It pleases me that Hailey seems to have at least been mostly honest, seeing as this is clearly a stash house, just going by all the crates that have people working around, sorting stuff, holding clipboards.

I suppose this is where the 'organised' in organised crime comes from.

There are a few guards standing around with assault rifles of some kind, but I'm honestly not too worried about that, since I already know that bullets only hurt a little.

Other than the main open area, there is also a loft of sorts in the back half of the building, presumably a managers office of some sort.

Overall, there are only a dozen people, only half visibly armed, but I should probably assume they all have guns, not that guns are something I really need to fear.

With that in mind, I'm more confident than I really should have been, which is probably to blame for how things went.

Wanting a 'wow' factor more than subtlety, I don't bother with sneaking in and just get myself a small run up before launching myself into the boarded windows, smashing through them with a crash and a rain of splintered wood.

All movement ceases as everyone stops to stare at me as I land in a crouch on some central crates, my arms spread wide from my fall.

Behind my mask I can feel my mouth stretch into a grin almost as wide as the very mask that hides it.

I've found that I really enjoy the theatrics of all of this.

"Greetings! Evil doers! I am Tear and this is a stick up!" I yell, moving my hands to give them finger guns at the last part.

Only to realise something is wrong.

The first hint was how no one actually seemed all that shocked at my appearance, which I didn't notice at first, the second hint was how all the unarmed guys simply turned and left, meanwhile everyone with a gun raised it at me, still calm.

Then, without any warning or talking, they all open fire at once.

Now, I'm not actually faster than a bullet, and I wasn't really expecting them to go straight to violence, it goes against everything I know.

Where's the witty banter!? The back and forth before the fight?! The cool one liners!?

My surprise in the matter is why I don't react in time to dodge any of the bullets.

Thankfully at least, my body is still as bullet resistant as last time, so I merely have to wait for the hail of bullets to stop, which it does after a few moments of almost pain.

It hurt, but not that much, like getting shot by BB guns.

It's enough that by the time the bullets stop, I am collapsed on the ground, curled up in a foetal position, with my clothes more or less in tatters but my skin unharmed.

It hurt, but that's fine. What's a little hurt anyway? Pain is temporary, it all goes away to become history, so what's the point in holding onto it?

Still hurt though, and as I drag myself to my feet, my eyes must have been expressing how I felt about it well enough if the way the six gunmen take a simultaneous step back is any indication.

"Ow." My voice, lacking any of the playful tilt it had earlier.

It's probably enough evidence of how annoyed I am that I even broke character.

I decided to enter this cape business because I wanted to have fun.

Getting shot without even being given a good reason or a nice conversation for my troubles?

This isn't fun.

Putting a hand on my neck, I tilt my head side to side, enjoying the cracks from working my joints.

"That wasn't very nice.~" I say, attempting to get ack into character, but I think my voice came out a bit more threatening than I intended it to.

Ah well, I guess if they don't want to play the game...

With a sudden movement, I bend my legs and launch myself forward, aiming for the closest of the men, intending to deck him for all I'm worth.

However, right before I am within striking distance, there is a sudden boom and the next thing I know I feel like I've run into a steel wall as the ground shakes and I bounce back on my ass with what feels like a broken nose.

...The fuck?

Looking up from my spot on the ground as my nose knits itself back together, I realise that I may have jinxed myself.

"Ah."

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A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

Fight! Fight! Fight!

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