"That'll be twenty-four ninety-five!" the cashier said with the practiced smile that came from long term customer service.

Madison bit back a complaint about the cost. This was the third place she'd visited today, and most of the shelves around them were bare. Deliveries were struggling to make it into the city and what little did make it to shelves was quickly being bought or stolen, then either hoarded or resold at extortionate prices.

Huffing, she handed over the cash, picked up the paper bag and left the store, well aware that people were watching her, judging how much she was carrying and when best to jump her. 'And good luck to them,' she thought to herself. She had been mugged twice in the past week and in both cases had walked away richer.

In the pocket of her faded jeans, her phone buzzed and she quickly tapped the Bluetooth receiver that was hidden by her hair.

"Where are you?" Sophia barked the moment the call connected.

"Shopping," Madison snapped back. "I told you last night we needed more food!"

"You should have waited for me, the city-"

"Is safer for me than it is for you." Which wasn't a lie. Even with the PRT leaking her name and face, a blonde wig and some sunglasses was all Madison needed to go unnoticed. Unlike Sophia, she could enter the south side of the city where the shops were better stocked than the rest of the city as they were receiving 'anonymous' donations.

It didn't make the prices any better.

"I found red hot jerky!" Madison said sweetly, blocking whatever tantrum Sophia was working towards.

"...Fine, but don't take too long." with a huff, she hung up and Madison laughed. Honestly, dealing with Sophia was like owning a particularly foul tempered cat. Generally unpleasant unless you knew the right tricks.

Give her spicy food, some Nazis to punch and a warm spot to sleep in, and she would be content enough to endure the occasional petting. 'I wonder if I could convince her to add cat ears to her costume? Would she even notice if I just went ahead and did it anyway?'

Giggling quietly to herself, Madison joined the small group of people standing by a bus stop. Service was limited, but the Mayor had made a big deal about it being a sign of things returning to normal.

He was, of course, talking out of his ass. Even when Lung had still been alive, the gangs hadn't had nearly as much sway as they did now. Coil's purple tank had been parked on the boardwalk only a few days ago and the Teeth had publicly hung bodies from the highrise they had claimed on the west side.

Adjusting her grip on her purchases, Madison stepped onto the bus, dropping some change in the slot and grabbing a seat by the window. The worst of the debris from Leviathan and Valefor had been cleared away, but roads were still a mess of potholes that would force the driver to go slow or risk losing a tire.

Leaning against the window, she resisted the urge to just zone out until she reached her destination. She was still in Empire territory and while it was one of the 'safer' parts of the city, that was only for a given definition of 'safe'.

As if to underscore her point, the bus had barely reached the end of the street before coming to a stop. Outside, several men in Empire colours were blocking the road.

"Fuuuuck," Madison groaned quietly to herself, repositioning her bag to try and hide the contents. Around her, the other passengers were doing similar things with an air of resignation.

These Empire 'checkpoints' had been gradually increasing in number for a while now, demanding food and money from people who passed through their 'territory'.

The police were trying to stamp them out, but they were woefully understaffed and being undermined by Empire supporters within the departments. Occasionally, the Protectorate would send patrols through the area, but the checkpoints would just vanish for a few days or relocate to another area.

Not that it mattered much when the PRT did find one. As long as the Empire capes stayed out of sight, there wasn't much the PRT could do and anyone arrested would be handed over to the Police and would be back on the streets in a few hours.

A man in a red shirt said as he stepped onto the bus, a gold plated pistol in his hands. "Alright, I'm sure you all know the drill by now. There's a twenty dollar charge for passing through so cough it up!" His eyes fixed on an older woman with dark skin and a young girl that Madison assumed was her daughter. "Make it fourty for the niggers."

Madison grit her teeth as another man moved down the bus with a small bag, stopping at each person in turn to collect their money. 'It's only two guys,' a quiet little voice said in her head that sounded worryingly like Sophia. 'You can take them.'

'At which point the guys outside open fire, and someone dies,'

the more sensible part of her mind countered. She wasn't bulletproof and there was nothing she could do to shield the other passengers from stray shots.

As much as it pissed her off, staying quiet and playing along was the better option.

At least, it was until 'bag-boy' reached the woman and her daughter.

"And the rest!" he snapped, holding the bag out.

"I don't, he said-" the woman gasped, looking between the bag and the man with the gun.

"He said Sixty, each." Bag-boy sneered, leaning forward. The woman recoiled, pulling her daughter closer. She glanced around wildly, her eyes desperately looking for help as she stammered out excuses but the other passengers looked away.

'It's not my problem, don't get involved. Someone else can deal with it.' No one said anything, but Madison heard them anyway, just like she heard them when Taylor had screamed for help.

Growling, Madison stood up, doing her best to seem impatient. "Oh for fuck sake," she growled. "Look, she clearly hasn't got any more money, so move on. The rest of us have places to be!"

Bag-boy and Gun-man looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Who the fuck do you think your talking to?" Bag-boy snarled, stepping towards her.

"A pair of idiots who don't know how to do a simple shakedown!" she snapped back, reaching down to pull back her sleeve, exposing the EEE and a pair of lips.

"I've gotta get to work and if I have to tell Louie I'm late 'cause of you, I'm gonna make sure he takes it outta of your ass!"

"Aren't you a little… young for that kinda work?" Bag-Boy asked, giving her a once over.

"Girls gotta eat," Madison said with a snort, letting her sleeve drop before they got too close a look at the 'tattoo'. "So, are we done here?"

The two men shared a look and Gun-man nodded, stepping aside so Bag-Boy could get passed. Once they stepped off the bus, the driver shut the doors and the people blocking the road moved aside.

Madison didn't relax until the group was well out of sight. She was well aware that the other passengers were giving her dirty looks, but she didn't really care.

Reaching into her shopping bag, she pulled out one of the precious chocolate bars she'd been able to purchase, then leaned across the aisle, holding the bar out for the woman and her daughter. Their looks of fear shouldnt have hurt as much as it did, but she pushed on regardless.

"Go head," she said gently. "Don't worry about the tattoo, it's not real. Idiots can't tell the difference between a real one and henna..." she'd painted it herself after she'd spotted it on some of the Empire girls while patroling.

Carefully, the young girl took the chocolate with a quiet thank you and Madison slipped back into her seat with a smile. Pulling her phone from her pocket. She started typing.

WinsomWasp: were hitting the nazi stash tonight.
Huntress: okay, any reason why?
WinsomWasp: I wanna punch some fucking Nazis.
Huntress: fine with me.

Doing her best to seem outwardly calm, Madison looked out of the window, the floating autobot logo still visible in the distance.

##

As the sun sunk below the horizon, what few working street lights remained in the city flickered to life. Windows in nearby homes glowed with light and warmth. This far into Empire territory, power had been restored quickly, ensuring the richer parts of the city would rest comfortably, while the rest were left to simply 'survive'.

Knowing that people less than a block away were burning their belongings just to make it through the night sparked an anger that she had long thought herself too jaded to feel.

It had been weeks since Valefor and Levithan and nothing was being done to help the city. Power would be restored 'soon', water would be back on 'soon', nobody would give a fixed date for anything. All the while, the National Guard patrolled the streets, watching helplessly as villains walked away with what desperately needed supplies made it into the city.

That's why she was sitting on a rooftop on the edge of Empire territory, watching men gather around an old boarded up theatre.

Lowering her binoculars, Sophia checked her phone once more. They had two hours before the Protectorate came through. Plenty of time to get in and get out, assuming she could get her 'partner' to put her fucking phone down.

"I'm sorry," she hissed, looking back at Madison and fighting the urge to rip the phone out of her hand and toss it off the roof. "Is this a bad time?"

"Sorry!" Madison squeaked, her face flushing. "It's just… mom, y'know?"

"No, I don't," she hadn't spoken to her mom since someone had posted that fucking video online after all. "Now are you two sure this is the right place?"

"Oh yes, 'not-friend'!" Teletraan X chirped, drifting down to float alongside her and bobbing in either excitement, or agreement. She wasn't entirely sure. "The tracking device is located inside that building. Its elevation is approximately four meters which would place it in the secon-

"I get it, now be quiet!" She hissed again, glancing at the gathered men. Noise carried further than people realised at night and the excitable metal ball just didnt know when to shut its fucking mouth.

"Sophia, be nice!" Madison snapped, shrinking down to only a few inches tall and fluttering through the air so she could peer over the edge of the roof without being seen.

"Whatev- fuck!"

Sophia ducked down, trying to slip further into the shadows, as a creature emerged between two buildings and started sprinting down the road towards the theater. Its four clawed legs left gouges in the pavement, while its lips pulled back in a snarl that exposed rows of razor sharp teeth.

At the other end of the road, there was a roar of an engine and a van rounded the corner, skidding to a stop and blocking the road. The side door slid open with a clang and a wave of identical screaming men exploded forth.

'The fucking Teeth!'

"I thought they were dead!" Madison hissed, moving away from the ledge and waving at Teletraan to get down.

"We're not that lucky." Sophia eyed the fight below. This would get the PRT's attention, which meant they had minutes, at best, before the Protectorate arrived and the contents of the theatre vanished into an evidence locker.

"Fuck, follow me!" Rolling away from the roof edge, Shadow Stalker pulled her mask into place, snapping a brisk 'stay here' at Teletraan, then sprinted forwards. Moments before reaching the ledge, she jumped and reached for her power. Her dark, shadowlike form shot across the street, unnoticed by the fighters below and passed silently through the thin wood that had been nailed haphazardly over a window.

Snapping back to normal, she rolled to a stop and rose on one knee, crossbow at the ready. The dark room was empty, any guards that might have been inside had likely already been drawn outside by the sounds of fighting.

The Wasp followed behind her, her shrunken body slipping through a split in the wood and hovering just behind Shadow Stalker.

"What now?"

"Find the supplies, grab what we can and get out." Stalker could hear sirens in the distance, but it was almost drowned out by the singing in her veins. This was what she lived for. Wasp shot off ahead; her smaller size and high speed meant she could go mostly unnoticed while Shadow Stalker followed behind.

Sprinting out of the room, she was surprised to find a lone man standing in the hallway, but not nearly as surprised as he was to see her. That moment's hesitation was all she needed and a crossbow bolt lodged itself into his arm, his gun falling from limp fingers as she charged forward and slammed him into the wall behind him.

The noise of the fight was drowned out by gunfire outside, and by the time Shadow Stalker had pinned her opponent down and finished zip-tying his hands, Wasp had returned.

"Downstairs," she said breathlessly, "towards the back of the building. There's dozens of boxes and even a couple of generators!"

Shadow Stalker went to reply, but there was a dull thump as something heavy slammed into the building with enough force to knock dust from the ceiling and the smell of smoke started to fill the air.

"Fuck! Move!" Jumping to her feet, Shadow Stalker waved a hand at Wasp, urging her onwards. If that moron was here, they had even less time to work than she thought.

As they sprinted through the building, the smell of smoke and burning continued to grow stronger, the gunfire outside getting more frantic until a loud sustained blast of gunfire drowned everything else out.

Bullets punched through the decrepit walls, whizzing past her head, and she activated her power without thinking, letting the rest of the shots pass harmlessly through her smoke-like body.

Returning to normal, she barely slowed to turn, shouldering her way through a door and into a stairwell. Jumping the railings, she let her power carry her safely to the ground and followed in Wasps wake.

Smoke was starting to move through the building, thick black tendrils seeping through the doors that led towards the front of the building.

Thankfully for them, they were heading away from the fighting, circling around the building towards a large storage room in the back where only a single confused guard remained.

"This is insane!" Wasp shouted, returning to her full size just long enough to punch a man in empire colours, then shrinking out of sight before he could react. He was still dazed when Shadow Stalker slammed into him, driving his head into the floor and leaving him in a groaning heap.

"How did they know about this place?!" Wasp buzzed through the air, hovering over stacks of boxes that were marked with serial numbers and relief aid logos. There had to be more than twenty or thirty of them, including a couple of generators that had been unboxed but not connected to anything.

"Worry about that later!" Shadow Stalker snapped. "How much can you shrink?"

"Not enough!" Shooting forward, Wasp returned to normal, grabbing a box and shrinking down. She repeated the action again and again while Shadow Stalker watched the way they had come, crossbows at the ready. She could hear the fire now, a dull roar that was growing in intensity and choking black smoke was pouring through the doorway.

After nearly a dozen boxes were gone, Wasp popped back to full size, staggering forward as she struggled to pull her helmet free.

Shadow Stalker scowled behind her mask at both the smell and sound as Madison threw up, but she didn't make a comment. Walking past the girl, she knelt down and started scooping the shrunken boxes up, each was about the size of a match box and slipped neatly into hidden pockets on her costume. As she understood it, they would stay small so long as Madison was nearby.

"We need to leave!" she barked. "Before this whole place goes up!"

"Y-yeah," Madison took a steadying breath and pulled her helmet back on, shrinking back down to only a few inches tall and flying into the air with only a slight wobble.

Times like this, Shadow Stalker actually missed her Ward issued mask and its Tinker-tech sensors that let her see the power lines hidden in walls. Without it, she had no other choice but to run across the storage room towards the only door that led away from the fire.

Not having the time to test the lock, she ghosted through the dry wood while Wasp zipped under it.

A long corridor, two more doors and growing clouds of dark smoke barely slowed her down. whatever guards had been inside were long gone, either from the fighting or the fire, and she didn't care which.

Spotting a glowing green exit sign, Shadow sprinted forwards, crashing into the release bar and opening the door. Gasping in the cold outside air, a vindictive little voice in her head said she should close the door and put a bolt through the look. Let the nazi fucks burn. Or just wait here and shoot anyone who came out after her.

But she could feel the weight of the stolen supplies in her pocket, and Wasp landed on her shoulder with a soft thump and a breathless sigh. She had more important shit to do.

"Come on, let's get out of here…"

Getting away from the building, she scrambled up a fire escape, looping around the inferno that had once been a theater. She could see the flashing lights of fire trucks closing in, but they wouldn't be able to do more than stop the fire spreading as the building burned itself out.

In the streets below, she could see the hulking grey shape of Iron Monger as he stomped his way through the corpses of Spree clones that hadn't yet faded away, smoke still rising from the minigun bolted to his arm.

Nearby, Hotspark was watching over the bound and beaten Empire fighters, his burning skull seeming to float above his black leather jacket with the Protectorate shield stamped proudly on the back.

"Another win for the Protectorate," Madison huffed.

She was right, of course. The PRT would announce this as a big win, a dozen empire thugs arrested and the Teeth driven off. This was something they could brag about. Meanwhile, more than a month's worth of food, clothes and medicine for over fifty people went up in flames.

"Fuck that," she muttered, hopping the small gap between buildings. Teletran was still floating where they had left him, the fire reflecting in his large 'eye'.

"Ah," Teletraan chirped, spinning to face them. "You have returned! I'm so glad you are okay. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I have some bad news… I believe I am now a trap!"

Shadow Stalker froze, her eyes darting about, seeing nothing but the dark shape of some rats hiding in the shadows.

Rats… Shit!

A hand flew to her crossbow, but a tall slim figure was already rising onto the roof, carried by Iron Monger. The pair of them landed with a crunch, the old building groaning under the weight of the oversized power armour.

"You are both under arrest," the slim figure of Rat-man drawled, his voice had a gravelly quality that came from heavy smoking and dozens of rats stared at them from the pouches that covered his costume.

"What!" Wasp squeaked, leaving her perch and rising quickly into the air. "We're heroes!"

"You're vigilantes, at best," Ratman sneared, "and Shadow Stalker has warrants for her arrest, making you an accessory Miss Clements."

"Actually," Teletraan said, drifting away from Iron Monger, "all warrants for Shadow Stalker have been suspended due to the situation in the city."

"What he said!"

Stalker ignored Wasp's shout, she was too busy watching the growing circle of rats that was approaching them. They were big enough to carry a normal taser, nevermind whatever tinker-tech bullshit Iron Monger had likely built.

"Monger, impound that thing," Rat-man hissed. "The 'situation' in this city is under control and you two are interfering with Protectorate business. That's grounds enough to bring you both in."

"Yeah, not happening," Sophia muttered, she'd been arrested once. She wasn't gonna let them put a leash on her again.

With a jump, she threw herself backwards, her body dissolving into shadow as dozens of little black shapes lept at her. The rats passed harmlessly through her shadow form as her momentum carried her across the roof.

Landing, she lept again, her body changing as the swarm of rats surged after her.

There was a whine of motors and she glanced back to see Iron Monger taking aim, one arm pointed at her, the other at a spot in the air that likely contained Madison. She tensed, knowing he'd fire the moment she returned to normal.

"Wheeee!" With a cheer, Teletraan slammed into Iron Monger, a glowing blue shield surrounding him like a hamster ball as he pushed the large tinker back, knocking him off the roof.

Spinning around he charged at Rat-man, forcing him to dive aside to avoid the attack before shooting up into the sky. The blue glow cut out and Teletraan went into another dive, this one aimed at Shadow Stalker, with a telescopic arm extending from his body like a rope.

"Grab on, not-friend!" he shouted as he passed. Sophia jumped for it, clinging to the arm like a life line as he lifted them up and away from the Protectorate. Wasp was sitting on top of him, whooping like an idiot as they shot across the city.

"Did you film the fight?" Sophia shouted, pulling herself higher.

"Of course, not-friend!" The metal ball chirped, not slowing his mad dash. "I'm tasked with monitoring the situation in the city and that inclu-"

"Upload it to PHO!" Sophia all but screamed. "The whole thing, from the moment the Teeth arrived until the PRT tried to arrest us!"

Those fuckers wanted to arrest her for cleaning up their mess? She'd fucking make them pay.

"Now land! Before I lose my grip!"

"Yes not-friend!"

She glared up at the metal ball. One of these days she was going to put an arrow through the irritating little shit.

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