Requiem of Saints/Revelations

From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

Longbow. Ms. Liberty’s little pet project based in Paragon that sprang from an idealist perception of justice. Even when she was a cop, Kate disliked Longbow. Their agents were cocky and self-righteous, considering themselves better than the heroes because they had connections with NATO. One of her ex-boyfriends had even joined Longbow after they’d broken up.

That they were responsible for Ramone’s death pushed some buttons in Kate’s mind. It was as if it was somehow justifying her stance on capes and their warped purpose. She wasn’t that arrogant, really, but it all seemed so strange . . .

She stared at her phone for the third time since she’d stepped onto the roof with her coffee. Julia was getting much better with it; this pot was actually decent, instead of merely acceptable. Kate owed the girl so much – for sticking by her, for never questioning her, and even for taking a few hits. Kate had come to rely on Julia for everything Ramone used to do for her. She only wished she could give the girl something aside from the half-life of domesticity.

But, Longbow. Bell’s information had proven salient, providing several nights’ worth of reading from the disc of classified info. She was still trying to narrow down the culprit, though – Jose was tapping all his contacts, and had taken the disc from Kate to see if anyone he knew could make some ends meet.

The waiting was killing her. As calm a façade she presented, her inward turmoil came out on the job. She was getting stronger, more accustomed to the changes her powers were taking. When she had the Saints, the darkness had been supportive. Now, primarily alone, it had evolved to meet her new needs, becoming almost selfish in its effects. As long as she would be strong enough to take down the murders, she didn’t care where the curse took her.

Her cell phone’s sudden vibration caused her to yelp and drop her coffee mug. Kate winced as she saw it strike a passing Arachnos patrolman, but grinned nonetheless as she flipped open her phone. She listened to Jose and watched the dazed guard get helped up by his partner, and quickly ducked back from the edge of the roof before they spotted her.

“Jose,” Kate said after a few moments of silence. “You are a blessing, you know that?”

In a pained tone, Jose replied, “Ramone used to say that a lot . . . But I have to, Katie. I have to see this through with you.”

“Thank you.”

“Good luck.”

---

The warehouse was non-descript, the usual kind of place clandestine meetings took place. Sky Raiders claimed the building, and Kate squinted at the place for several, long minutes before she finally made her way towards it. Jose told her that a former Arachnos agent was rumored to be trading off secrets. This was common. The interesting part, that pertained to Kate, was that the man had formerly worked under Huntsman Ohanko, of the failed attempt to usurp Ghost Widow’s authority. The ex-agent in question, Timothy Wilson, had been one of the spiders Kate had personally socked in the face during the covert ops headed by Seer Marino. Apparently Wilson had carried a grudge.

He was apparently trying to secure a way out of the Isles, but had been waylaid by the Raiders. They were annoying, but Kate didn’t consider them much of a threat. In fact, the layout of the warehouse made it apparent she wouldn’t even have to tussle with many of them.

Once inside, tracking down Wilson’s location was easy. It nearly bordered on too easy, but Kate knew enough about Raider tactics to know they hadn’t expected anyone to come and try to steal away their reluctant informant.

She took out few guards. Skulking into the large, shadowy room Wilson was being kept in wasn’t a challenge. His attendants were dropped, and Kate had the private pleasure of watching the former Wolf Spider go absolutely pale, clutching his chair.

“Why, hello again, Agent Wilson.” Kate greeted cheerfully, eyes narrowed. “Come take a walk with me.”

Swallowing audibly, Wilson got to his feet, never taking his eyes from her, and started towards the doorway. “Isn’t there an easier way to do this?”

“Maybe, but I like this way better.”

One small fight later – the Raiders had finally caught on that someone else was inside the building – Kate and her quarry stood in an alleyway. Woman and man were watching one another with varying degrees of wariness, silence stretching heavy between them.

“That was you, with Bell, wasn’t it?” he finally asked quietly. Kate only nodded, and Wilson released a heavy sigh. “And you’re still after the same information?”

“Yes. Narrow it down for me.”

Wilson licked dry lips and raked his hair from his face before replying. “Obviously, it was Longbow. They sent a small contingent, maybe eight or ten, to sweep in first. After they came back out, they threw in one of their costumed freaks.”

Kate’s eyes went icy. That she hadn’t known.

“His name was Blast Furnace. He torched the place, and they all left. And that’s all I really know about it.”

Kate stared at him, and he coughed nervously. Finally, she let her eyes close and let some of the tension leave her body.

“If I can’t see you by the time I open my eyes again, you’re free.”

He took off like a shot, and Kate remained in her place as she heard him retreat. She let herself fall back against the alley’s wall, raking both hands through her hair as she slid down to a crouch. She touched her forehead to her knees, taking in deep breaths as she digested this new information. She’d need to find this Blast Furnace. He’d know his commanding officer, and that would be the person responsible. Finally.

Finally.

---

The shrieks continued to echo, drowned out only by the alarms screaming through the bank. First National in Skyway – Kate had been dispatched that bank a few times in the past, and it seemed strange to be on the other side of a place she’d known well. She watched impassively as the manager fumbled with the vault door, shaking like a leaf and sweating like he was in a sauna.

“Hurry up!” she barked, and the man dropped the keys he was having such a hard time with and bolted. Kate rolled her eyes and side, stooping to catch up the keys to finish unlocking the vault herself.

She was swinging the heavy door open when she heard the first shouts. “Pull in a tight formation! She may be acting alone, but don’t assume anything!”

Kate tossed the keys onto the vault floor and crouched down. The sounds of pistons and heavy treads broke over the alarm before she heard, “Requiem of Saints! You’re under arrest! Come out with your hands up!”

Amateur. She crab-walked back into a corner, peering out into the open room beyond the vault. Her eyes went wide momentarily when she spotted the enforcer-class battle suit flanking the armored hero. Powered Armor Cops, affectionately called PAC-men, were part of the PPD’s response to the heavy-hitters that plagued Paragon. Kate had known a few, and had liked them. Tough and rowdy guys, but all very serious once the armor was on.

They were only called in for big threats. Is that how they see me, now? Have I done that much to them?

Kate hesitated as Blast Furnace and his two-man support crew came further into the room. She was caught off-guard, and couldn’t move. The weight of it all fell firmly on her; beforehand, she was just a criminal. Nothing a normal uniformed cop couldn’t take down, theoretically.

She shook her head and decided to think about it later. Her opposition came closer, and Blast Furnace shouted for her again. Kate maneuvered herself behind the PAC-man closest to her, taking a moment to remember where the gyros on the suit were.

She struck, taking the first down with a well-aimed hit. The second yelled for his partner and turned his minigun on her, but Kate dodged aside. Hands cloaked in shadows, she dropped the second in a few blows, then dove and rolled under a burst of flames.

Blast Furnace didn’t resort to witty banter, and Kate gave him a few points for that. He fought well, but Kate was too determined to let the fight go on for long. She evaded another fiery blast, although she lost a few inches of hair for her close shave. She dropped down and kicked out harshly for his knee, and with a pained shout he fell.

Drawing two of her throwing knives, she was up and had them poised at his neck, staring down at him. One of his eyes was swelling shut, and his lip was bloody, but she could see he desperately wanted to continue.

“A warehouse, in August. Tell me.” She demanded.

“We took out your drug operations. Gave you a hard time, did it?” he sneered.

Kate’s hands didn’t move, but her cold expression thawed a little. “Is that what they told you it was? That I was heading up a drug lab?”

Blast Furnace continued to sneer. “You people are all the same. Low-life degenerates.”

Kate reached up to pull her mask down, and his sneer wavered. “I – I remember you. You came to my class once, didn’t you?”

“Public service to keep you kids off Superdyne.” Kate commented softly. “What’s your name?”

“Marcus.” Suddenly, he lost all his bluster, as if she’d won by getting him to tell her his real name. “Marcus Deschaine.”

“I didn’t have a drug lab, Marcus. I may have killed someone, but I wouldn’t do something disgusting like that.”

“Agent Rivera said . . .”

Kate’s attention drifted away from the cowed hero to settle on the wall. It was as if a door swung open. A colossal door she’d seen a hundred times but had always ignored. Agent Rivera. She hadn’t thought of it before. Why hadn’t she considered it? Was she so far away from Sergeant Katherine Ross that she’d forgotten?

Agent Paulina Rivera. She’d been a trainee back then, but Kate remembered her face and voice clearly. Paulina Rivera, crying on the stand, defending her boyfriend with her heart and soul.

“I know Dino was bad, but he’d never hurt anyone! And she killed him!”

Those accusing eyes had haunted Kate for several nights. The fury of court, the chaos that the trial had become, eclipsed those eyes for the longest time. But now, reminded of them, Kate could see them quite clearly.

“She’d lied to you, Marcus.” Kate interrupted in a dead sort of voice. Her expression must have conveyed everything in that moment, as Kate turned back to watch tears well up in the young man’s eyes.

“But . . .”

Kate lowered the other knife. “You didn’t know there were people in there, did you? Men who may have survived the gunfire. Who you killed.”

“No, I didn’t mean to! I swear to God, I didn’t know!”

Kate unleashed a scream of unbridled rage and loss, swinging her fist in to slam into his face. Bone cracked, cartilage tore, and Marcus’s face slapped into the floor the same moment blinding pain shot through Kate’s hand and arm.

She sobbed once, eyes squeezed tight as she dropped the knife and cradled her hand to her chest. Her hand was on fire; she couldn’t feel her fingers. When the pain ebbed a little, she glanced down at her misshapen fingers.

Tears streaming down her face, she looked to Blast Furnace’s unconscious form and felt something like pity. Another life corrupted.

Broken hand sheltered, she turned to leave him there.