The Elite pt. 17

Chapter 17: Make 'Em Laugh

In downtown Kirby, Lion Man jumped across the buildings. He scanned the streets before sighing in irritation. He jumped down the side, rolling as he hit the ground to absorb the impact. He got to his feet and looked around, growling in irritation.

“Laura, where are you?”

It had been less than a day since Laura had attacked Roger Ellis. The teenage boy had recently gained the power to control women by letting out a certain pheromone. He had used this power to take control of a number of girls, including Gooey Girl and Sports Woman herself. Upon being released from this control and realizing that his punishment would be light, due to his lack of major damage to any of the girls as well as his cooperative response to arrest, Sports Woman attacked him. Her assault had destroyed his knee, crippling him for life, and probably would have done worse damage if she hadn't been restrained. When the other heroes had tried to confront her about it, she ran off and gave them the slip. Now, they had no idea where she was.

Lion Man saw a newspaper on the street. He picked it up and growled. The headline read 'Local hero assaults unarmed prisoner'. Popular opinion had dramatically changed for the worse in regards to Kirby's first costumed adventurer. As far as the public was concerned, Sports Woman had revealed her true colors as a violent vigilante rather than a protector of the people. The person most disappointed by it, however, was the magazine salesman, Stan. From what Lion Man gathered, the two were acquainted with each other.

“Freaking IDIOT.” Lion Man crumpled the paper and threw it away.

Earlier that day, the team had been dealing with another problem linked with Laura's outburst. Late last night, Roger Ellis had been abducted from his hospital room without a trace. The police had tried contacting Sports Woman for questioning, but Silverback had gone instead, reporting that they could not contact her. He assured them, however, that at the time in question, she was nowhere near the hospital. They were in the park at the time, so she wouldn't have had the time to get to the hospital during the estimated time Roger had disappeared.

After a long and tedious questioning session, Silverback walked out of the police station to meet his fellow heroes.

“Any ideas on where she is?” Super B asked.

“I've been calling her, nonstop, but she's not picking up.” Game Boy stated, “And Radar's been trying to find anything on the net about sightings of her. She's not finding anything.”

“I've been helping. All I've gotten is a ton of people asking why she did that.” Puppet Man said, looking rather saddened by this.

“She won't be found unless she wants to be.” Lion Man stated. Silverback shot him a glare that said 'now's not the time for that attitude'.

“Being the ray of sunshine as usual, Leonard?”

Lion Man sighed in concession at that, “Look, I'll be patrolling downtown again. I'll try finding for her while I'm there.”

“So, the rest of us put that on our list while doing patrol.” Sharpshot said, “Agreed?”

“Agreed.” The rest of the team said in unison.

Back in the present, Lion Man was looking through the streets. A boy, who had a rather distinct Afghan or Pakistani look to him and was probably no older than ten, looked at him with a wide open mouth. The combative hero walked over to him and looked down. He felt a little awkward, not knowing how to deal with people younger than him. He knew how to handle Puppet Man, but they were still around the same age.

“I'm looking for a friend. She usually got a hockey mask and a black shirt on. Have you seen her?” the boy thought before shaking his head, “Alright then. Just hang in there.”

Lion Man walked away. The boy followed after him, a look of excitement on his face. He had met THE Lion Man! The hero who put fear in the hearts of the Baccanos, who reminded them who had the real power in the slums!

“Metahuman detected.”

The boy wheeled around to see a floating, metal sphere with a camera lense in the center, a bright red light that was emitting a red light going across his body, looked rather rough in its design, with random pieces of metal jutting out, and was about the size of a basketball. It was supported by a set of chopper blades on the top, rotating quickly and silently.

“Taking to Master Scraps.”

An arm shot out from the side and jammed onto the boy's chest. Electricity coursed through his body and he fell to the ground. Another arm shot out from the left side and grabbed the boy's unconscious form and flew off.

Just a few blocks away, Officers Tanner and Espinoza were cruising along the streets in their police car, keep an eye out for strange activity. People were being reported as missing downtown, from children to senior citizens. No real connection was discovered yet, but the city still had a duty to its citizens, no matter the location. Espinoza was looking out the window with a disdainful expression o her face.

“Told ya.”

Tanner didn’t even look at her. He had an idea about what she meant, but still thought he should ask, “Told me what?”

“These mask brats were nothing but trouble. I told ya that it was just a matter of time before one of them lost it.”

“One outburst does not a problem make.” Tanner adjusted the rear-view mirror, but saw the look of disapproval in his eye. He had been cautious about trusting costumed heroes, but it was more out of concern for civilians putting themselves in dangerous situations, “The others have been more than willing to-”

“Yeah, ONE outburst. Before long, others will start happening. Who do they answer to? How are we supposed to identify them in the first place? Face fact, Carl, it’s only a matter of time before they realize that they can do what they want and no one can stop them.”

Tanner sighed before changing the subject, “Hear what people are saying about the disappearances? They’re saying it’s some people affected by the meteor.”

“Yeah, that guy they’re calling Kappa.” Espinoza looked at the streets, still having her disdainful look that she usually reserved for the costumed adventurers, “If you ask me, he’s just an urban myth.”

Meanwhile, Lion Man continued looking through downtown. The sun was setting, which was usually his cue to go home. He didn’t make any such attempt to go towards his family’s apartment. He had a job to do. He looked through the city, peering through the low light. Normally, there would have been a few Baccano hitmen out, but they were not present. This had been something he had been hoping for since he began costumed adventuring, but now...it was rather eerie, as if there was something lurking in the darkness, waiting to pounce.

He saw something from the corner of his eye. He bolted after the motion, running until he saw it again, going towards an alleyway. Lion Man ran in it and only saw a black T-Shirt.

“Laura!” he shouted.

His quarry turned around, revealing that, aside from being female, it WASN’T Laura. As unlike Laura as possible. She was a Caucasian girl around Lion Man’s height and had short, spiky blonde hair that was almost white and had black tips, a black diamond painted around her left eye, a black T-shirt with red lining, red elbow-length gloves, black jeans, and white sneakers. The lower half of her face was concealed by a red scarf with a bright blue pattern on the front that resembled a pair of jaws. Her black eyes widened in surprise, as if she was surprised to see Lion Man, but she seemed to regain her composure.

“I’m MANY people, but Laura? Not even on the top ten.” Lion Man looked rather surprised to see that his quarry had turned out to be this girl, who looked like she had gotten lost on her way to a rock concert. The girl, simply shrugged before saying, “But, if I need SOMETHING on my criminal record, just call me Cackler.”

That line seemed to register into Lion Man’s shock, “CRIMINAL record?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” The girl asked. She then laughed, “In that case, I wasn’t the one who just robbed the jewelry store!”

Before Lion Man could react, the girl who called herself Cackler rushed him. She knocked him aside and bolted out of the alleyway. Lion Man growled before running after her. She was already leaving his field of vision when he got out of the alley. Well, his time patrolling downtown wasn’t for nothing. He knew the streets and alleys as well as he did the back of his clawed glove. He darted into an alleyway.

Cackler chuckled to herself as she ran through the streets. She knew this area, inside-and-out, every shortcut, every dead-end in this part of the city. She ran into the dead-end on purpose to size up her pursuer. She could tell he was agile, fast, and good in close-quarters. She would have been more than happy to play with the costumed hero, but she had a deadline and would prefer to get to-

Her thoughts were interrupted as Lion Man came out of nowhere to tackle her off her feet. The two tumbled on the ground before Cackler kicked him off her. She sprung to her feet as Lion Man got on his hands, looking like his namesake, ready to spring.

“What'd you steal and why?” he asked with a growl.

“Diamond bracelet, a solid gold watch, and because they were so pretty, I was broke, and thought 'what the heck?'.” Cackler answered with a snicker.

“Hand them over. NOW.” Lion Man ordered.

“Since you asked so nicely...NO.”

In a flash of light, Cackler was gone. In her place was a spotted hyena, but the size of a horse. The hyena let out its trademark laugh before charging. Lion Man rolled out of the way only for the hyena to change direction and snap at him. Lion Man evaded the bite and slashed with his claws, making four scars on the cheek. The hyena let out a yelp before continuing to laugh, charging into Lion Man before rearing up, clawing at him while biting down on his shoulder. Lion Man could feel the pressure from its jaws and was thankful for his Kevlar vest. He drove his elbow into the jaw before kicking it away. It then spoke in a more bestial version of Cackler's voice.

“Oh, nice kick!”

With that, the hyena turned and ran off at its top speed. Lion Man growled as he bolted after it. However, no matter how hard he ran, he couldn't catch up to the cackling predator. Eventually, it made a sharp turn and vanished from sight.

“This girl's starting to tick me off.” Lion Man snarled to himself.

Elsewhere, Cackler had changed back into her human form. She sighed as she made her way to a series of warehouses. She mentally counted the number of warehouses before arriving at the fifth one on her right. She slid the door open and walked in.

“Yo, Kappa, are ya in?” she called.

With a rumbling noise, the floor opened up, as a panel slowly raised. A shadowed figure looked at Cackler.

“I'm always in, my fair thief.” It said in a deep, croaking voice.

“Good, 'cuz I got something for ya.” Cackler tossed the figure the stolen merchandise she stole. The figure caught the two objects in a scaly hand, “So, what do I get?”

“Removing the shares taken from me and my compatriots...” the figure paused, doing the math in his head, “Six hundred dollars.”

“Tonight?”

“Not a minute after midnight.”

“You've got 'til eleven-fifty, then.” Cackler then turned and left with a casual wave.

When she was out of sight, the figure lowered the panel it was standing on. It led directly to a room filled with discarded machines and twisted, mutilated human bodies. He walked to an operating table with a tall figure stooped over it, where its occupant was screaming in pain.

“Mister Scraps.” The figure said, holding up the diamond bracelet, whose gem glimmered with a blue light, “Are these what you'll be needing?”

The tall man looked over and pulled up a set of goggles, revealing his face. He was a tall, black man with red eyes, a shaved head, black tattoos all over his bare torso, black pants, a belt with metal studs running across it, and black boots. The thing that drew attention most, however, was the fact that his right arm was actually mechanical, made out of what looked like spare parts to various different machines, and with a clamp where the hand should be.

“Oh yeah!” he grinned, taking the bracelet with his clamp hand before removing the stones with his human hand, “This'll work REAL well!”

Strapped to his table and covered in scratches was a young boy with brown skin. Tears were flowing from his eyes, “Someone...anyone...help me!”

Outside, Cackler had just left the warehouse district, whistling to herself. Suddenly, she got knocked off her feet again. She and her attacker rolled on the ground before she was pinned to the ground by a boot. Over her was Lion Man, looking ticked off...then again, he ALWAYS looked ticked off.

“What? Too shy to ask for dinner, Kitty?” Cackler asked, snickering despite her situation.

“Hand over the merchandise.” Lion Man ordered before adding, “And don't call me that.”

“Too late, Kitty.” Lion Man growled as he put more weight on her chest. Cackler, however, grabbed the foot and quickly pulled. The foot flew off and Lion Man, losing his balance, fell off. Cackler stood up, “I just sent it off.”

Lion Man got to his feet and got right into Cackler's face. Maybe it had to do with her boots, but they stood eye-to-eye, “I oughta...”

“Beat the crap outta me? For what, being a modern Robin Hood?” Cackler asked. Lion Man gave a derisive scoff, “Well, okay, not a one hundred percent analogy, but a girl's gotta eat! Besides, I only use forty percent for ME. The rest?” She thought for a bit before shrugging. In a flash of light, she turned into her hyena form and ran off with a simple, “Follow!”

Lion Man watched as the hyena ran off. He wanted as little to do with this girl as possible, considering she was a thief and (more importantly) annoying. VERY annoying. But he sighed in defeat. He took off after her, thinking that if she was leading him into a trap that he could just beat her and leave her for the police.

After running for five minutes, Cackler changed back into her human form in a small flash. Lion Man realized at that point that she must have done something like Silverback, only her animal was a hyena instead of a gorilla. Her run came to a stop as she turned to look at him.

“In here, Kitty.” She gestured to a set of doors.

Lion Man looked over the building they arrived at, “The homeless shelter? I passed this place a dozen times now.”

“Not surprised.” Cackler said, opening the door and walking inside.

“I was taking down drug-dealers.” Lion Man snarled as he walked in.

“Hey, THESE people wish they had it as good as the people from your neck of the woods.” Cackler gestured around.

Inside were men, women, and children clad in filthy clothes. The men were seriously unshaven, the women were unwashed and looked malnourished, and the children were all between the ages of two and six, standing around, looking confused. All of them looked rather tattered. Some were a little cleaner than others, making Lion Man assume that they had been the people who recently lost their homes as a result of the meteor. They looked surprised to see him, but brightened up at the sight of Cackler, giving her cheerful greetings and hand-shakes.

“Don't mind the cat-guy, he's with me.” She said as the people began welcoming Lion Man as well.

“So, the other sixty percent...?” Lion Man asked.

“Use it to get food, clean clothes, hygiene products, and all the essentials for these fine people.” Cackler nodded, “Figured that, since there wasn't a real Robin Hood that I should just BE Robin Hood.”

Lion Man shook his head, “There are other-”

“HOW, Mr. Bigshot Hero?” Cackler snapped, “My nonexistent job? No chance of me GETTING one, either. I haven't been allowed back in school since I did a book report on that one story my teacher was reading because it was apparently deep and interesting! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT WAS PORN?!”

Lion Man just arched an eyebrow, “Seriously?”

“Maybe.”

“MISS CACKLER!” called some toddlers.

“Moment, please.” Cackler walked over to them, sounding cheerful, “Hey! How' the best audience ever?”

Lion Man simply watched as Cackler began entertaining the kids, telling jokes that caused them to laugh.

“Nice lady, isn't she?” a middle-aged man asked, “She doesn't fix our situation, but at least helps us out from day-to-day. Plus, hey, sometimes a laugh is what you need.”

“I dunno.” Lion Man sighed. This girl's morality was a headache waiting to happen...

“MISTER LION MAN!”

The room fell silent as they saw an Afghan woman walk inside. She was short, had graying, brown hair and brown eyes that were a nasty shade of red. The tear marks on her face indicated that she spent much of the day crying. He recognized her—she was one of the people who lived in the downtown area. The mother of one of the many immigrant families in the area. He remembered her name was Mrs. Zadrin.

The Afghan woman fell to the ground, “I tried finding you! I had no idea where you were! My son, Yusuf! He disappeared and I couldn't find him!”

The woman fell to her knees and began weeping. Lion Man put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye.

“Don't worry, I'll find him.” He helped her to her feet and ushered her out of the door. He then walked over to Cackler and grabbed her shoulder, “Cackler, I need your help.”

“Oh, you spend most of the night chasing me and NOW you want my help?! I'm indignant! I'm insulted!” she shouted in mock indignation. Lion Man gave her a 'now's not the time for joking' look, “I'm your guide, let's go.”

The two left the shelter, going into the night. Cackler was humming, happily, and seemed to be skipping through the streets. Lion Man glared at her.

“WHY are you so cheery?”

“I'm not.” Cackler said, sounding happy, “The idea that a kid got kidnapped by any kinda sicko? Makes my blood come to a boil.”

“Then what's with the attitude?”

“Dunno.”

Lion Man sighed at that response. Now, this girl was irritating AND confusing.

They searched everywhere they could, from the slums to the water tower, but to no avail. Lion Man roared as he slashed at a brick wall, sending out a shower of sparks.

“NOTHING!” he roared, “THERE'S NO SIGN!”

Cackler simply waited, looking at him with sympathetic eyes. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a simple pocket watch. Lion Man looked over and briefly wondered if she stole it, “Well, my appointment's coming up. Gotta go, Kitty.”

“WHAT?!” Lion Man shouted, wheeling around to catch Cackler by the collar of her shirt, “A kid's missing and you're wanting to go off?! What kind of sociopath are you?!”

“The kind who's short on cash.” she replied, grabbing his wrist and slowly pulling it off, “Besides, maybe my guy can help.”

Lion Man pulled his hand back and gave a short snort. He then sighed, “Who is he?”

“Ya ever hear of a guy named Kappa?” Cackler asked, “Showed up shortly after the meteor and pretty much chased out the Baccanos?”

Lion Man thought he heard rumors about a man named Kappa making a bid to take over the power vacuum left by the crippled Baccanos. The rumors weren't exactly good ones, but if he was the only way they could find the missing kid, he would have to swallow his pride.

Not long after, the two arrived in the warehouse district. Lion Man was skeptical, but swallowed his pride and went with the thief. He followed her lead as she began counting houses. She halted as she murmured to herself. She then sighed, walked back to the end they had arrived at and began walking down the road, counting with her right index finger. When she came to the fifth house, she turned and walked to the door. Lion Man walked after her, but she held up her hand.

“'Kay, a few rules before ya meet with him.” She held up three fingers, “ONE, don't say anything unless I tell ya to. TWO, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, that's all he asks of thee...”

“You've been practicing that.”

“Yes. I can die happy now. And three, don't stare at him. He kinda got messed up by the meteor. REAL messed up. But, if you follow these three simple rules and you'll do just fine!” At that point, Cackler opened the door and led the costumed hero inside. It was dark and completely empty. Lion Man was about to ask her something, but the thief simply called out, “Yo, Kappa! I'm here for my paycheck!”

At that point, the floor opened up as a panel with a hunched figure slowly raised up. The red light illuminate it. The figure was six-feet-tall and was actually standing fully upright. It was a large, anthropomorphic creature who resembled a large, shelled turtle with a lashing tail, a massive beak, and pointed ears. He wore a pair of khaki pants and had bloodshot, black eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was the Kappa that Cackler was doing business with.

“Cackler, you're later than you said you would be.” He croaked. He then looked at the costumed hero, “And you brought company. I know who you are, boy—the fearsome Lion Man. Your reputation precedes you.” When he realized who they were dealing with, Lion Man's eyes widened and he just stared at this...thing. He noticed what the vigilante was doing, the turtle man's face fell, “Is there a problem?”

Lion Man immediately looked away from Kappa, “No.”

“Good.” Kappa looked over at Cackler, “Now, ma'am, I assume you're here for your paycheck?”

“No, I'm here for laughs, but the money's good, too.” The two looked at each other before Kappa smirked and began to chuckle before laughing. Cackler quickly joined in.

“I do enjoy a colleague with a sense of humor.” the turtle sighed.

“Me, too! Kitty here's WAY too broody!” she snickered, “But seriously, I need my check.”

“Very well. Let's see...”

Lion Man rolled his eyes as the mutated turtle-man began going through some bills. He let his eyes wander until he spotted a doorway. He looked at the mutant and thief—the former was still stacking the bills while the latter was waiting, hands on hips. He could tell they weren't going to stop anytime soon, so he figured that he would sate his curiosity. He walked to the doorway and quietly opened it up. He saw that it led to a stairway and simply walked down. The temperature seemed to increase the further down he went. When he arrived at the foot of the stairs, a stench hit his nose and the sight of what lay there nearly made him vomit.

In a room filled with the flicker of fluorescent lights and a stone floor were rotting human carcasses. Men, women, and even children were lying on the ground, in varying stages of decay. Added onto the rotting smell was the horrible scent of burning flesh. Smoke billowed from their bodies, which had various, jagged pieces of metal placed onto them. His eyes widened as his fingers began flexing. Shock and horror began to slowly be replaced by a feeling of pure rage.

“CRAP!”

The exclamation got his attention. He looked ahead to see an open room. He stalked forward, brows furrowing, the stench of death and smoke losing the impact it once had. He walked into the room to see a lanky, black man with a shaved head, tattoos across his torso, and a mechanical right arm with a clamp where the hand should be. Lion Man approached, peering around him to see that a young, south-Asian kid was strapped to an operating table. However, he clearly wasn't in the same condition that he was that morning—he had a metal patch on his forehead and his arms appeared to have been replaced with smooth, greenish metal replacements. The man was running his remaining hand across his shaved head.

“He passed out!” he snarled before sighing, “Eh, at least he survived this thing. Wonder how a meta with arms made of a metatite alloy will hold up? Guess I'll have to see when he wakes up...”

“DON'T COUNT ON IT!”

Lion Man slashed with his claws, but the man quickly ducked and wheeled around, seeing the angry vigilante just behind him.

“By the looks of it, I'll have to give him a test drive.” The man said, grabbing a trigger with a red button on it, “Time for a little wakie-uppie!”

He pushed the button. Immediately, the boy sat up, but judging by how his pupils had dilated, he was still unconscious, meaning that his body was acting on its own. Green electricity began arching between his fingers as he stepped off the table.

Lion Man only had time to ponder how his life had come to this before a burst of electricity blew him out of the room. He then bolted up the stairs as the kid continued following him.

Back on the main floor, Kappa had bound a few stacks of bills before handing them to Cackler. She took it and shrugged before counting through them.

“You don't trust me to pay you the correct amount for your services?”

“Nah, just gotta be sure, y'know.” Cackler replied, not taking her gaze away from her cash. She began humming 'A Thousand Bottles of Beer' as she continued to count through them.

At that point, Lion Man burst out with a metal-armed kid, who fired bursts of green lightning at him. The vigilante narrowly dodged and grit his teeth tight. If this was a drug-dealer or another psychopath, he wouldn't have any trouble. But this was a kid who wasn't in his right mind. So, he couldn't fight. All he could do was evade the lightning bursts as they were fired at him. He then spotted Cackler and Kappa. The mutant looked at him with  furious expression while Cackler continued counting her money.

“CACKLER!” he screamed as he narrowly dodged another electric burst.

“Two, two-fifty...” she said, not paying attention.

Kappa snarled before looking at Cackler, “Look, I can explain this...”

But it seemed as if Cackler wasn't just ignoring Lion Man.

“Three, three-fifty...”

Lion Man began to feel...scared. For the first time since Stanton City, he was afraid. If he could take down the man with the remote or even Kappa, maybe...

“Four-fifty, five...”

Lion Man ducked under the strike as he spotted Kappa about to leave. He was backed into a corner now...

“Annnnd six hundred. Business' done.” Cackler pocketed the money before shifting into her hyena form. She charged, knocking the kid off his feet before bolting downstairs. She immediately found a man with a remote and quickly put two and two together, lunging at him.

“OH SH-”

Cackler bit down on his metal arm with the powerful jaws of the hyena before promptly tearing it out. The man screamed in pain as the hyena spat his arm out and changed back to her human form, throwing a kick into his chest, knocking him onto a pile of corpses. Cackler proceeded to pull down her scarf just enough to spit at him before turning and running up the stairs.

Lion Man, seeing an opening, charged at Kappa. With a roar, he lunged and tackled the mutated turtle. The two grappled on the ground, throwing punches and kicks at each other in rapid succession. Kappa grabbed Lion Man by the neck and put a foot on his back, pushing down. Lion Man swiftly brought his claws across his hands, shedding chartreuse blood. Kappa yelled as he let go, Lion Man driving an elbow into his reptilian underbelly. He then grabbed onto his arm and swiftly rolled him over his shoulders and onto the ground. He held his claws to the mutant's face, who held up his hands, defensively. Lion Man grit his teeth—this man had caused the suffering of a young boy and the deaths of many before...for what? He raised his claws to deliver a blow to end this man's rule of the underground...

Before he could deliver the killing blow, however, he remembered. Sports Woman attacking Roger Ellis...was this what was best? Killing a man who was unable to fight back?

He halted his strike. He stood up straight, looking down at the shocked Kappa.

“I won't kill you.” He stated, “You'll have to deal with this.”

At that point, the boy was regaining his bearings. Lion Man prepared to resume the fight just as Cackler ran up the stairs.

“Hey, Kitty, I found this!” she called, waving it overhead, “Wonder what it does!”

She pushed the button and the boy swiftly fell to the ground. Lion Man ran over to see he was breathing regularly. Simply unconscious.

“Guess it does THAT.” The thief said, nonchalantly.

The two made their exit after tying up Kappa and Scraps. Lion Man called the police over and the two kidnappers were put under arrest. Mrs. Zadrin hugged her son, covered in a blanket. His arms being metallic didn't matter, only that he was alright.

The hero and the thief sat on a rooftop, watching as everything that happened reached its conclusion. Cackler looked at Lion Man, seeing a hardened look on his face.

“Hey, Kitty, why the face?” she asked, “Ya just saved a kid and stopped two loons...well-paying loons, but still loons.”

“I was trying to find a friend...to save her.” Lion Man sighed, “I couldn't. Someone else I couldn't save...”

“Hey dude, don't be so hard on yourself. You're just human. Just try harder.”

“I...it's hard to get over things like this.” The hero looked at his boots, almost ashamed.

“Then just brood and cry over it. No problem with that.” the thief shrugged, “But hey, just remember the important thing—grin once in a while. Your face gets stiff if ya don't.”

“I'll take your word for it.” Lion Man thought before looking at the thief, “Hey, Cackler, you steal and did dirty work for Kappa, but you use the money to help homeless people and took out Scraps.”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“Just curious...about whose side you're on.”

Cackler put a finger to her chin, thinking. She then smiled, or rather Lion Man assumed she was smiling because he couldn't see her mouth, and answered, “I guess I'm on MY side. Honestly, it's where I wanna be the most.” The shape-changing thief then leaned in close, “I've gotta go now, Kitty. But remember—I saved your skin, so...I think ya owe me a dance.”

Before Lion Man could make a respond beyond a few stammers, Cackler bounded off the rooftop, calling back, “Sorry, but I've got things of a thingly nature to attend to!”

Lion Man just watched her as she slowly vanished from sight. He shook his head. This girl just confused him to no end.

He was taken out of his thoughts by a vibrating sensation on his hip. He pulled out his phone and saw it was Sharpshot calling. He opened the phone.

“Anything?” asked the voice of the gun-slinging hero.

“No, couldn't find her.” Lion Man replied, “But...don't wait up for me. A lot happened today and I need to just think it over.”

“Fair enough.”

Sharpshot hung up at that point. Lion Man put the phone back at his sky before looking at the sky. In one day, he encountered someone who toed that fine line between hero and criminal and had almost killed someone. Had Laura felt the same way when she attacked Roger?

—

Laura Michaels hadn't left her home all day. She had asked her parents to tell her friends that she wasn't home if they came for her. She couldn't face them, not yet. They would want to bring up the incident with Roger Ellis...she wasn't ready to have that scab torn off just yet.

So, she spent most of the day in her Sports Woman costume, sans her mask, just laying on her bed, staring at the wall. Her phone lit up as the ring tone she chose for Ken began playing. Just like the other times, she just let it go to voice mail.

“Laura? It's Ken. I...just wanna talk, but clearly you don't. I'll keep checking in, though. If you change your mind, you'll know who to call.”

The message ended and Laura just grabbed at her face, filled with conflicting emotions—anger, regret, despair.

“Oh yeah, she's also a good source of it...” snickered a girl just outside the house. A girl with wild, gray hair, a red baseball cap, a black-and-white bra, short shorts, mismatched shoes, and evil yellow eyes. Held in violet light of solid despair was Roger Ellis, wrapped around his body like a snake and his mouth, keeping him from screaming for help, but his eyes wide in terror.