‘How did you find us?’ asked Anna. She was on her feet, scanning the room for usable metal. She didn’t really care for the answer, she just wanted to buy some time.
'Hammer knew this place for a long time,' answered the Gentleman somewhat sourly. 'I showed him in case he ever would need a place to hide or rest.'
'Listen, guys,' said the man called Hammer. 'We don't need to fight. You come with us, you gave your name to the boss and that's it. You will remain free.'
'Free to help whoever we want?' asked Anna.
'Free to stay free,' replied Hammer. 'Free to help someone, sometimes. They would even pay you. I know it's not ideal, but it's the lesser evil, trust me.'
'You see, I've seen a movie where something like this happened, and it didn't end well. So thanks but I will pass,' shrugged Anna.
'Yeah,' agreed the Gentleman. 'If I'd think I can do enough as a normal copper, I wouldn't parade in these silly clothes every night,' he probably heard that Anna took a sharp breath because he shrugged and looked at her. 'What? They were obviously listening, they must have heard anyway.'
A skinny, short man stepped forward.
'Look, guys, this is stupid. We are superheroes, right? We are the good guys. All of us. There is nothing wrong with helping the police… It's the police, after all, right? The ultimate good guys,' his voice slid into higher registers every now and then, suggesting that he was still just a kid, probably a teenager. His whole face was hidden behind a red cyclist mask, darkened glasses and a hood. He wore high-quality body-armour over tight black clothes and he had a utility belt full of instant spells with a slingshot to shoot them. That one gave him his vigilante name: the Cannon. He was a halfling like Anna, and she knew that he was almost as fast as a vampire with exceptional reflexes. And he rarely missed a shot.
'That's not that simple,' explained Anna to him. 'We can only stay the good guys if we don't report to anyone. The moment we start to follow orders, we are no longer heroes. No longer good guys, only weapons in McLoad's hands.'
'And even that you can only be for a while,' added the Gentleman. 'McLoad hates us all. She needs us, right now, but a day comes when she won't anymore and on that day we will become a problem. And you don't want to be a problem that McLoad wants to solve, trust me.'
'Enough chit-chat, let's get down to business,' the third figure, a woman said. She was tall and stringy in skin-tight black leather, with a whip that once belonged to a real SRU officer, hence, every touch of it caused paralysing pain. She didn't have anything to cover her face which would have been very attractive with a lot of wavy black hair around it, if it wasn't for the long, thick scar starting left on her forehead, through her cute little nose to end in the right corner of her mouth. It made her mouth uneven as if she was a stroke victim. The woman called herself Noir but everyone referred to her as Scar - behind her back. She was one of those vigilantes who sold her abilities for money to anyone, as long as she could somehow justify the murders and chaos. And she always could: even if a crime lord paid for it, killing another crime lord was a good thing, wasn't it?
'Put down your weapon,' said Hammer, who appeared to be the leader of the group. 'Last warning.'
The Gentleman looked at Anna with his eyebrow raised and the girl nodded slowly. She doubted that she would actually be offered a chance to join the SRU, even if she wanted to. No, they would throw her to jail for the killing of Yarowsky and her helmet would end up on someone more loyal.
'Counteroffer,' said the Gentleman, and the Runes on his boxers lit up. 'You walk away and we won't kick your asses.'
Hammer slowly pushed back the wing of his long coat and took the big warhammer that was hanging on his belt. It had Runes, too, and a long chain attached to it so he could throw and retrieve it. He did exactly that, aiming for the Gentleman, but the hammer changed its course, almost hitting Cannon who had to leap to avoid it and tied up its master with the chain. Hammer might have been a terrifying opponent for most, but a man with a lot of metal directly attached to his body was a piece of cake to Anna.
Scar jumped forward, the whip cracked loudly in the air and Anna had to duck behind a seat. The Gentleman made a move, almost like a punch and a curse knocked Hammer down. Another punch: painful shriek from Scar. Then the whip cut through the air again and tore up the brown vest on Gentleman's chest. He staggered back and fell over a seat to land between it and the one before.
In the meantime Anna rummaged her coat for something useful and drew a short stick. It looked like those glow sticks that had to be bent or cracked to make some light, and it actually worked the same way. Only it didn't glow, but exploded, letting out a glue-like substance that was strong enough to trap a grown man if he was to step into it. Anna cracked and threw it and it would have trapped Scar indeed, if Cannon wouldn't be quick enough to shoot the flying stick with something, making it disappear into the shadows further away, useless.
'Damnit, kid,' murmured Anna. She saw Scar jumping over her cover in her way to get to the Gentleman and Anna reached out to grab the other woman's ankle. She fell spectacularly and even dropped her whip. Anna went to take care of her before she could pick up her weapon again, but an instant spell hit her in the middle of her back. It was a Shocker, something Anna used several times as well: a little spell able to give an electric shock similar to the ones tasers delivered. Anna's coat protected her mostly, but it stung nevertheless. So did the second one, that came seconds later. Anna fell on her knees. A third Shocker hit her shoulder and she groaned. Even with her fast regeneration, she knew that those things will take her out, eventually.
She didn't wait for another hit. The base of all seats was metal, and now she just pushed them away from herself. She was the lighter object so she was the one that moved, backwards. She almost managed to take Cannon with her but the boy was freakishly fast and stepped away. Anna landed on her back in front of the big canvas. She rolled, dodging another instant spell and pulled the tied up and unconscious Hammer towards herself by the metal that covered him. Cannon stood between the two of them and the man's body swiped his legs. Finally, Anna thought. At least the little bastard didn't have eyes on his back. Anna threw him a stunning instant spell but the kid punched it away from his face. Then he leapt on his feet, ready to fight.
'Stay down, kid,' said Anna. 'I don't wanna hurt you.'
'Yeah, me neither,' answered Cannon. 'I mean, you are a girl, after all.'
'You probably shouldn't have said that,' shook her head Anna.
She started with a high kick to the face just to see what would happen and the kid blocked with his arms, in a professional manner. So he knows how to brawl, Anna thought. Another kick, another block. Anna started kickbox back in Hungary when she was just a teenager, more than a decade ago and by now she was good. Very good.
But her opponent, even though he was sloppy and obviously merely more than a beginner, moved with a speed Anna couldn't match. More and more punches reached her and she was sure that at least one of her ribs cracked. She had to retreat slowly. Even if she gave some back, it was clear that she needed a new strategy.
'Stop!' she said and stepped back. One of her arms was up, showing the palm of her gloves, the other was pushed to her chest. 'Ouch! You punched my boobs, you jerk! It hurts like hell!'
Anna couldn't see Cannon's face but she was certain that the boy went full red.
'I'm… I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to, it was just… Aaaaah!'
While he was explaining himself abashed and unaware about his surroundings, Anna made Hammer fly once again. The two men crashed and they both collapsed with the wall. Now Anna had three stunning instant spells ready and they finally worked. Cannon was out cold.
'I regret to inform you that girls can play dirty, too,' said Anna and looked around.
The Gentleman was sitting on the floor, with his back against the wall and Scar stood above him, raising the whip in the air, ready to strike. Her other arm hung on her side lifeless and that's where Anna sent the bearing ball. Scar screamed and turned towards her. Anna didn't know what were the other woman's powers, but fast regeneration clearly wasn't one of them. Better yet, the broken arm was her right one, and as it turned out, she was clumsy with the other. Anna dodged the whip easily, and two quick hooks later Scar laid on the floor, sound asleep.
'Fuck, that was close,' groaned the Gentleman.
'Where are you injured?' asked Anna.
'Where I'm not injured?' he asked back. 'Help me get up, please. We've got to go before the backup gets here.'
The Gentleman was a giant and even though Anna was in a good shape, there was no way she could have lifted him. Fortunately he wasn't in that bad condition as he looked like and he could stand almost by himself.
'I have a car a few streets down but I don't think I can drive now…' he said. 'Here,' he gave a bunch of keys to her.
It took some time but they got out of the building. The Gentleman stopped at the side door and took out something from the rubbish container. It was a coat in a plastic bag. He took off his vest and the scarf that was covering his face. He was younger than Anna thought he would be, barely even forty.
'We will go around, that way. Just like two people walking, talking. You will have to take off your helmet, Li'l Ghost. They will be looking for it.'
'I know,' she said. It's Anna, by the way.'
'Matt,' the Gentleman nodded.
Anna took off the fae helmet and the biker mask under that while the Gentleman… Matt, she corrected herself, threw away his vest and scarf.
'Anything you wanna destroy?' he asked. 'I have this slow spell, it will literally melt the container and destroy every evidence in it after we left.'
The girl put the biker mask and her crash helmet she hid earlier into the container: they were probably full of her DNA. Matt knocked on the metal three times with his boxer and a few Runes appeared, lit up and died out on the surface.
'Okay, let's go,' he said after he put the boxers into his pocket. 'That way.'
'What are you going to do now?' Anna asked once they left the alley and were walking on the main street. Matt limped but managed to walk without help. His big coat covered the bloodstains on his white shirt. Not a soul was around: since the Commissioner died and crime skyrocketed in the city, late nights weren't the times when smart people went for a walk.
'Pack up my family and get the hell out of here,' he said. 'I'm a huge black dude who just confessed that I'm working at the Met… They will ID me in hours, but by then I want to be on my way. I won't tell you where I'm going, though, not because I don't trust you but because McLoad might find someone who is good at mental magic.'
'It's okay, don't worry. Do you have a phone? From the Seer? I could take it.'
Matt scoffed.
'Don't trust in that old geezer, he will use you for his own purposes. No, you need friends, Li'l Ghost… Real friends. Shitty times are coming. I know you won't leave the city, I won't even tell you that you should. But things are changing. Vampires will be the first, they are always the first, but soon people will turn against sorcerers, too.'
Anna nodded. It sounded a little far-fetched, but on the other hand, McLoad did fire every vampire from the SRU. Maybe the Gentleman was onto something, after all.
'That's my car, right there,' Matt said, beckoning towards a black two-seater. 'Scar messed up my knee, you need to drive. You can drive shift, right?'
'Of course, I can,' said Anna while he helped Matt to sit in. He was way too big for the small car. 'I learned it when I was 17.'
'Have you practised it since?' asked the man.
'Sure I have, I had to test three different truck simulators this year for the paper I work for.'
'Reassuring,' nodded the man. 'Okay, let's get the hell out of here…'
On their way out of Camden Town they passed two sirening police cars speeding towards the building of the deserted cinema.
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