[yaguro]

It felt like it’d been too long since he’d seen Carmen; In reality it was only a few weeks. Still, it was time to start putting her to good use.

Picking up his old Searchlight helmet, he gazed it over, and remembered the time before his arrest; How good it felt in hindsight to use his quirk. He still tried to activate it out of pure instinct every now and again. Getting his helmet on, he gazed in the mirror at a face he’d long forgotten. Carmen still didn’t know his true identity, so for now it was best to keep Searchlight and Yaguro Shamasu as two separate entities.

“Look at me; A true hero.” Yaguro laughed to himself, trying to picture being in the shoes of one of those ‘perfect’ heroes. What a joke.


Still, he’d have to try his best to emulate that joke if he wanted to keep Carmen in the dark. That meant no firearms this time around, and no baseball bat either. Walking to his closet and rustling around in some drawers, he took a look at some of his old hero equipment; A couple small gadgets that were meant to amplify his light and aim it; Useless now. Still, his old Kevlar laced long sleeved shirt would go back on, with matching black pants.



Geared up, the vigilante made his way to the rally point. It was just a shabby alley, but it was located close by to their target; The Devil’s Hand nightclub. Even being far away from the building itself, Yaguro could hear the blaring music resonating through the empty streets and into his ears.


Sending a message to Carmen on his burner flip phone, he waited for her to arrive.

Their target was simple; a local kingpin that commanded a small gang of thugs. The goal was to apprehend him, take him off the board; While this would be considered ‘heroic’, Yaguro’s main goal was to get his enforcers to disperse from the area. Patrols had become harder with the trigger happy goons around, and if he cut off their paycheck, it’d make things a lot simpler. Now that he had someone with teleport powers, getting in and out would be a breeze…As long as the girl showed up.

[carmen]

A normal day in the Xueke household… and that meant Carmen’s parents getting wasted and picking fights with the punk, always ending in abuse and insults towards her. For the moment, however, her two birthgivers seemed to be preoccupied, and this let Carmen to have a moment to relax. It had been a few weeks by now since she met the cashier Yaguro, who seemed to be the beginning of getting a ticket out of her hell and towards her humanitarian dreams. However, she hadn’t heard anything from him in a while now… was he just blowing smoke up her ass? Was he going to ignore her like everyone else… As those days turned into weeks with silence from him, Carmen had decided that it was all fake, like everything else. She began to give up on getting what she needed. The food and cigs he gave had run dry, and it had been four days since her last meal. She was tired, she was starving… she felt no hope… She would be stuck…

Then… her phone went off. Carmen had her music playing, reading a book when it vibrated, her little ferrets lifted their head at the sound as their mama opened the phone… and she felt so much hope fill her entire being. It was him, the man who Yaguro worked with. There was a job, and coordinates to the place. The punk sprung out of bed, throwing the book down and immediately going through her draws, ready to get dressed and read for this. She had to be prepared for what was coming, whatever he had planned. When she typed in the coordinates, it located the vigilante near a club, run by a local kingpin. She remembered the guy, one who her parents had that same old conversation of selling her off to… he thankfully quickly rejected it, though. Still, it was a gang boss, and he needed to be taken down.

Carmen quickly put on black torn up skinny jeans with chains and a studded belt, a black and red striped tank top and a black studded leather jacket. As she quickly did her typical black eyeliner and lip gloss, making sure she’d easily blend in at the club, the regrettable pounding on her door occurred, her freezing.

“[Caihong! What is your fucking ass doing in there? Your music is giving me a fucking headache!]” Her father’s voice rang out loud in Mandarin.

“[Nothing, just go away!]” This was clearly not the response the man was wanting, him barging into her room, slamming the door open and seeing his daughter getting dressed.

“[What are you dressed like a little harlot for? You don’t have anyone who wants to see your ass.]” He walked up, grabbing her wrist and forcefully turned her to look at him, looking her up and down. “[You better not be parading your little ass around looking for some of your gross “fun”. Disgusting!]”

“[LET GO! FUCK! I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! LEAVE ME ALONE!]” Carmen yanked her wrist away, earning herself a hard slap across the face.

“[Are you forgetting whose house you live in, you ungrateful BITCH! Don’t you EVER do that again! Now TELL ME what you are planning to do! Or should I just take your phone and look through everything before smashing that shit!]” Another hard slap across her face brought in her mother, who just stared in at the scene. She just seemed disgusted with her child.

“[PLEASE! I… I just wanted to use the rest of my money to get something to eat! I wanted to wear this! I’m not doing anything!]” The girl pleaded, Zafira and Eulalie jumping from her bed and running up their mama’s leg in fear, Carmen instinctively holding them close to make sure they didn’t get the brunt of the attack. Her father just stared at her, anger on his face as Carmen’s mother walked next to him. Carmen’s gaze faced away, feeling the hatred in their eyes staring her down, as usual. “[I’m sorry I disrespected you… I just want to go out and get some air and some food…]” With his arms crossed, her father sneered at her.

“[Get your fucking ass out of here, Caihong. I swear, you are useless and selfish. Pathetic creature. I have half a mind to pitch you out that fucking window and let you fall to the street dead with how disrespectful and worthless you are!]”

“[C… Can I finish getting ready, please…]” She looked at them briefly before her father slammed her door… just like any other day here… She grabbed her bag as she heard her parents through the door.

“[We need to get rid of that brat soon enough. I’m tired of her lazy ass in my house.]”

“[Don’t worry, we’ll find someone to take her soon enough.]”

… She hated this fucking place… if only it was their asses they would kick tonight… but this was just a start. Carmen grabbed her butterfly knives, making sure they were closed and putting them in her bags before she put her ferrets in it. Looking in the mirror, there was a clear red mark across her cheek now… she tried to cover it up with heavier makeup, but the reddened hand print just came through… Now was not the time to worry about that… she had to do this job, she had to make a difference in this world. Opening her door, she stared at the ground, quickly walking to the door.
“[Stop!]” Now her mother’s voice rang out, Carmen’s hand on the doorknob and staring at the door. “[If I find out you are being a little slut out there, you’ll be coming home to a real ass beating. You know the kettle will be boiled for you. Your arm just got better, but I’ll fuck you up again.]”
“[... I know… I won’t…]” With that, Carmen opened the door, running down the hall of their apartment floor and to the stairwell.


It took a bit for the girl to make it to the meeting point, but as she began to hear the music of the club, she saw down the alleyway… the same vigilante she saw that night. It really was him! Yaguro really had connections with this man.

“Hey!” She called down the alley to make sure she didn’t startle him. “I can’t believe it’s actually you the cashier was connected with… Small fucking world, huh?” Walking down, she had her hands in her pockets. She tried to act like nothing happened before this. “S… So, uh… I recognize this place as a hotspot for one of the local gangs, and the kingpin runs it. Are we going to take it down?” She tried not to seem awkward, especially with her feelings from earlier still in her chest. Still, she couldn’t let that get in the way. “Tell me what we need and I’m here to help, as long as that guy told you my end of the bargain.”

[yaguro]

Yaguro hesitated for a moment, briefly forgetting that to Carmen, he and his alter ego were different people.
“Small world indeed.” He replied. “This place is the den of X-Jack, a scum who runs a racket of thugs and brutes.” The vigilante was making his voice sound much different than normal, deeper and more commanding.

Thinking, he wondered how this ‘persona’ of his would describe his actual self. “I’ll have to apologize for Yaguro; He can come off as a bit unfeeling at times. He lost his way a bit after his arrest. He means well, but he can be abrasive.”
Starting towards the club, Searchlight looked over his shoulder to make sure Carmen was following. Getting to the door, a bouncer stopped him; The man was lanky, with crossed green pupils and pale skin, giving him a snake-like appearance.
“Hey buddy; No helmets.”
Yaguro tried to just move around him, but the bouncer just moved in his path. “Beat it, hero. Your kind isn’t welcome here.”
The vigilante just shrugged at first, and started to reach into his pocket. “Hang on, I’ve got something for you…”
The bouncer smiled, fully expecting a nice cash bribe; One he’d gladly accept.
What he got instead was a swiftly delivered fist, clad with a brass knuckle, right to his face. The snake man fell forward unconscious, being caught by the vigilante, who quickly tossed him into a nearby pile of garbage bags.
“Now, this place is going to be loud and full of distractions;” Yaguro started, shaking some blood off his fist and acting as if nothing had happened.

“So keep your head on straight.”



Pushing the unguarded door forward, a loud blast of music instantly hit the pair, drowning almost everything out. The place was full of flashing black and purple lights, and overhead scantily clad women danced in cages that hung from the ceilings. In every corner of the room and along the walls booths were set up, with people drinking, doing drugs, and making business ‘transactions’. It was a sight to behold.
The vigilante spotted X-Jack fairly quickly; A bigger guy, dark sunglasses, a tie, short hair. Getting to him would take a bit with the sea of people.
“Stay close.” Yaguro yelled, his voice being almost entirely drowned out. Moving towards his target was hard, having to shove past multiple people.

X-Jack took notice of the vigilante right away; Not that he knew who the guy was, but he was wearing a helmet. Calling over a few women wearing next to nothing, he whispered a few things to them and they went to the menacing man.
Reaching him, one of the women, a blonde with long hair and a half shaved head, put an arm around Yaguro.
“Hey big boy, you got a nice body.” She commented. “How about you take off that helmet, let me see your sexy face?”
It was obvious to Yaguro what the harlot wanted, and he simply ignored her as he continued to walk.
The other girl, a goth with heavy makeup and short black hair, went to Carmen.
“Hey girlie.” She started in a seductive, deep voice. “Love the punk look you have going on; You into ladies by chance?”
Yaguro gazed back and watched the conversation unfold. Carmen couldn’t see his face, but if she could, she’d know he was shooting a ‘don’t even think about it’ glare.

[carmen]

This guy really just wanted to get to work, it seemed. She didn’t blame him, since they couldn’t hang around much or they’d be risking getting caught. However, she did stop when Searchlight apologized for Yaguro. How this guy was describing the clerk was different from how she saw him… and then the shock, that Yaguro was arrested… beaten down by the world, just like her…
“There’s… really no apology needed for him. When I met him, he didn’t act like that to me, it seemed. I didn’t know he was arrested though… but it kind of makes me understand why he wanted to help me out. To be honest… I welcomed how he treated me. For once, someone treated me like a human instead of a mistake or an inconvenience, and he’s willing to go as far as to help give me supplies I need and even a possible job… If someone can do all of that to a beaten down gang member like me, then they have to be a good person…” She slightly smiled for a moment at the feeling of being more than the mistake she was dubbed as for so long, and she would prove it tonight. Nodding to the vigilante, she walked forward with him


Their first obstacle, the bouncer, was quickly taken care of. Carmen barely had a moment to blink before the vigilante knocked the man to the ground and threw him away like trash. When they stepped into the club, it was a whole new world. Compared to the places Carmen had been in with the gang, this was a whole new level. Flashing lights and loud music that practically made the room vibrate surrounded the pair. The ladies dancing grabbed the punk’s attention, her not able to take her eyes off them. She wasn’t usually allowed near too many women because of her “interests”, so it made the girl’s face redden deeply as she saw them. She looked around, almost entranced by this jump in status between her gang and X-Jack’s. No wonder her parents tried to get connected with him by using her as a damn offering… They probably wanted to become a part of the high live while teaching her a lesson. 
Inside her bag, it was clear her ferret girls were also interested by their surroundings, and little Eulalie, of course, weaselled her way out and onto her mother’s shoulder. THe smells and sights were so much to the little creature and her mother alike. However, she froze when the two people were intercepted by some of the scantily clad women. Anxiety began to fill her as they came towards them, the girl’s face pure red. This became so much worse when one of them came close to her, seductively flirting with her.
“Ye… uh… Yeah… I… Uhhhhh…” She could barely talk, her body stiffening like a board by pure unadulterated nerves of being flirted with by such an attractive woman. Her knees felt like buckling, her stomach was filled with butterflies, and the urge to flirt back entered her overly awkward mind… but she had absolutely no idea how to flirt. She stood there, practically turning to jelly by the woman even muttering a few words to her, not even processing Searchlight was watching her. Eulalie sniffed towards the woman, filled with curiosity while her mother could barely do anything.
“I… Uh... I HAVE TO GO!!!” She practically yelled before marching off fast, covering her red face and nearly hyperventilating. She clearly was projected as a weirdo teen far out of her element, at this point. She hoped this would work in her favour, her seeming like a first time clubber trying to have fun. Maybe the embarrassing situation would make people ignore them and try to look away. Still, she had to stick to the mission… only the damn mission!!! She didn’t go far, taking deep breaths before throwing a look over the Searchlight that said “Sorry, I screwed up.” By this time, Zafira also wiggled herself out, mainly sensing her mama’s emotions and went next to her sister on her neck. Great… now all these fellow members of the criminal underworld would most certainly be staring at the two. She stuck out like a sore thumb by now, but waited for Searchlight to come over.
“I’m sorry! I… I’m not good with girls! No one’s ever flirted with me, so… I panicked! I mean look at them! God, I'm acting like a goddamn horny teen... I'm sorry!” She tried what she could to get rid of the blush from her face.

[yaguro]

“Great, she’s wigging out…” Yaguro thought to himself, grumbling internally as he watched his exit plan run to a corner. Shoving off the harlot who was now on his shoulder, he started making his way through the crowd to get to her.

“Fuck you, you costumed fuck!” Could be heard from the sea of voices from the woman as Searchlight went towards Carmen.
While there were plenty of bar patrons staring at the two, most were thankfully consumed by their booze, women and drugs, and couldn’t care less about the duo.

Getting to the girl, he was ready to start shaking her in frustration, before remembering that tonight he was a ‘hero’.
“Don’t let them get to you, kid.” He affirmed in a confident voice. “That’s what villains like that do; They throw cheap shots to try to get you to slip up.” Nodding to her, he turned to start making his way back to X-Jack’s table, making sure Carmen was following.
“You’re going to do fine, I promise.” Making his way through flashing lights and the scent of cheap alcohol, X-Jack was practically staring a hole through Yaguro’s helmet. Motioning to a few people, he leaned in and whispered in one of his goons ears; When he turned back to Yaguro and Carmen, he had a wide, shit eating smile on his face, and started to actively beckon them over.
Now what could this be about? Could be a trap, but in any scenario it was their excuse to get in close to the target without being pumped full of lead.
Finally getting to the table, Searchlight crossed his arms, and locked his gaze with Jack’s.
“Saw ya gettin a good look at me from ‘cross the room. What are you two supposed to be? Some faggy hero group I never heard of?” X-Jack let out a belly laugh.
“Nah, but you ain’t no hero I’ve ever heard of; This ain’t hero style, this is freestyle; You’re a freelancer, ain’t ya? Have a seat.”
Two of X-Jack’s goons, adorned in black suits and glasses matching their boss, pulled up a pair of chairs. Looking over to Carmen, Yaguro nodded, signaling they should sit down.
“Lemme guess, you guys are just a coupl a’ do gooders, trying to take out some criminals, right?”
“Could be.”
X-Jack’s grin just got wider. “Well you just want criminals gone, right? Whats it matter if its me…Or my rivals? Whaddya say to gettin a little cash for your trouble, AND getting to do your stupid little song n dance?”
Yaguro just crossed his arms, staring at X-Jack.
“Come on, think it over.” Snapping his fingers, a nearly nude woman brought a pair of beers, and cracked the bottles open, setting them in front of the vigilante pair.
“Come on, you can have a drink, can’cha?”
Yaguro was starting to think this was a ploy; Like before, the crook was trying to get him to remove his helmet.
“Come on…” Underneath the table, X-Jack started to reach a concealed handgun; The criminal had no intention of hiring these two, only unmasking them, and killing them.
“The drinks are on me.”
The vigilante could already see X-Jack’s men tensing up; It was time.
“Not yet they’re not.” Jumping up suddenly, Yaguro grabbed the bottom of the table, slamming it forcefully onto X-Jack and his men, sending several bottles of alcohol and empty plates onto them. The blunt force he was applying was severely hampering X-Jack and his two goons, but not enough for the big man to start squeezing his trigger, firing blindly at the ground and causing an uproar.

Various patrons started running, trying to clear themselves out, while others tried to locate where the commotion was coming from.
“You lousy son of a bitch!” The gangster spouted out, still trying in vein to fire from his position.

“One portal on their backs, one outside! NOW!” Yaguro yelled, slamming the table into X-Jack again, pressing him against the wall. Hopefully Carmen could react before another of X-Jack’s men reached for their gun…

[carmen]

The reassuring words that Searchlight was giving her helped Carmen relax quicker. This was a whole new scenario for her, and her eagerness for freedom and to do good for the world hid the pressure this kind of job would present on her. God, was she way over her head: definitely. However, it was too late to go back now. There was no crossing back at this point.
“Ok… I’m sorry… Being cursed and screamed at, I’m used to… but that? Flirting and kinder words… yeah, never had it before. I… I’ll stay focused.” Carmen looked towards their target, and saw his eyes glaring straight at the helmeted vigilante. “He’s got his eyes on us right now.” She told him. It was fully confirmed when X-Jack summoned the two towards him. Time to be led into the beast’s den… Carmen put her girls into her bag, took a deep breath and stood tall, not letting herself fail once again before they sat. It seemed at this point her parent’s pitiful attempts to offer her to this man were worthless since he didn’t recognize her one bit. She knew it was mainly Searchlight that held his attention, as well. Carmen was a dime a dozen in this underbelly pit, and no one would bat an eye at her being here. Him, however, wearing a helmet and all, stuck out like a sore thumb. Still, she kept her mouth quiet, letting him do the talking.
However, the scene changed quickly as the vigilante flung the table into the gang boss. Time to act! Carmen sprung up as a flurry of gunfire filled the club. She kicked a table over, ducking behind the makeshift shield and peaking over before reaching into her bag, avoiding wriggling ferrets to grab her butterfly knives and flipping them open. She shot a portal under one of the man’s goons and shot the other on the ceiling behind her. The man fell through, falling the distance and being stunned just enough for Carmen to pull the gun away and stomping down in the gangster’s chest before stabbing him in his shoulder multiple times. The man yelled in pain before Searchlight called out to her. It was portal and run time. Snapping her fingers to close the portals she made before, she closed and blades and shot one portal near the door and one behind the man. They had to get out fast now. This uproar would clearly grab alot of unwanted attention from all over.

“Let’s go!” She called to her teammate, running over his way and ready to follow his lead.

[yaguro]

Good, the kid was catching on quick. Seeing the new portal, Yaguro tackled X-Jack through it, leaving both of them outside of the club. The mob bossed started to raise his handgun up, ready to shoot the vigilante, but a brutal kick to his hand send the weapon flying off.

Now the next part of the plan was simple; Get his friend, Armon, to put in a 911 call to get heroes over, and let X-Jack’s hotheadedness get him arrested. Before he could make the call though, X-Jack raised his hands, and put them around Yaguro’s throat, trying to strangle him. Through sheer reaction, Yaguro slammed a fist into the gangster, sending him back to the ground; From there, a mixture of violent thoughts and anger took over. Donning a brass knuckle on either hand, Yaguro started to punch the mobster over and over in the face, each hit leaving him more bloodied than before.
Why bother letting this piece of shit get arrested when he could just end him, right there, right now? Raising another blood soaked hand, he was about to continue his barrage when something…Something just stopped him. That kid might be watching, right? This might not leave a good impression. But why the hell should he care? This whole hero act was just a bit, its not like he had any qualms about killing after all…

No. This was a business decision; Keep your image good in the eyes of your ‘protégé’. Giving a quick tap to his phone, a pre-made message was sent out to Armon. Getting up, Yaguro checked to make sure Carmen was nearby, and motioned for her to follow.

“Come on, we’re getting to higher ground to watch the show, alright? The pro heroes are going to take it from here.”

As soon as she started to follow, and making sure X-Jack wouldn’t be able to get up, the vigilante started to make his way up a fire escape, watching as X-Jack’s men started to flood out of the building and to their boss’s side. With the confusion of everything, Yaguro was certain they wouldn’t be able to get the bigger man inside in time before the heroes arrived, which mean it was time to watch the crime lord crash and burn by his own hand…

[carmen]

With Carmen’s portal, the battle between mob boss and vigilantes continued outside. Once they were all through, Carmen made sure to close both portals, flipping open both blades once again and practically stalking around them, waiting for a moment to pounce. This came when the much larger man wrapped his hands around Searchlight, Carmen jumping and digging both knives into his back a few times to try and have Searchlight released. Luckily the vigilante was strong, taking him to the ground and beating the shit out of him. It was a damn bloody sight to see, and slightly took the punk aback.

The punches kept flying into his face until the masked man stood, gesturing to her to follow. Closing her knives, she ran to the alley, shooting a portal down in the building’s wall in front of them and one higher on it, near the fire escape. She jumped through, looking as if she would just fly off the building, but instead grabbed the edge of the fire escape railing and flipped up, standing on the edge of it and closed the lowest portal, shooting one right at the edge of the building’s roof. Going through the leftover portal, she grabbed the edge of the building, flipping onto the roof, but making sure to lay low enough. The punk released her girls, the two ferrets climbing up her arms and immediately cuddling close to her neck, clearly frazzled by more insanity than usual.

As she waited for the vigilante to come up, she peeked over the edge, watching the scene below. It was a crazy one, and she knew this would be all over immediately; gang leader beaten up and taken into custody by the heroes. This would surely dissolve a good portion of his territory and leave it open to the scavengers, them fighting over it. Not to mention there would probably be little mention of the two who actually took X-Jack down. The high and mighty heroes would take all the credit… and this was both good and kind of sucked. They went into the lion’s den and took down the leader, and the big shots would be held with honour. The only ones who would look to them were the gangsters, and only to hunt them down. What a life… yet, this was still better than sitting and letting herself wither away in this toxic world below her. Even if it was never noticed, it did help others and make a change.

“You alright from that? Shit, that must’ve been fucking rough.” She turned to the hectic voices below them. “Feels… strange that we’re getting the big heroes involved in this. Feels like we’re supporting the people who keep us down at the bottom…” She kept looking down before backing up to the vigilante. “We're keeping the streets safe while lining their wallets, at this point. All we get is a bounty on our heads while they’ll probably get their faces plastered in the papers. I'm not in this for glory, but it fucking sucks that people who don't deserve it will get glory they are greedy for while we still suffer at the bottom of this world.” Pacing on the roof, she felt her nerves scrambled from everything. “You… got some cigs? I ran out of the ones I got from that shop, and I haven’t had money to get more… Plus after that bastard getting you that good, you need one, too.”

[yaguro]

Making his way up to the rooftop, the vigilante made sure Carmen was there before getting himself situated. “More than fine.” Searchlight responded, leaning on the edge of the roof as sirens started up in the distance.
“We operate within our limits. I know it doesn’t seem fair that they receive all the credit, but at the end of the day taking out villains is whats important.” That would be what some glory hog hero would say to the press, and Searchlight felt it made for a good line to toss Carmen for his ‘hero persona’.
As he heard Carmen ask for a cigarette, the vigilante initially started to reach into his pocket for one, but smirked when a fun idea crossed his head.
“No; It’s a bad habit, one I kicked not too long ago. You shouldn’t smoke, especially when you’re young.” The last part was a line word for word that his mother said to him the first time she’d caught him smoking. It was the ‘morally correct’ thing to do.
“Besides, the show is about to start…”




“Where are my guys? Where are my guys!?” Being on the ground with blood gushing from his nose was not a familiar feeling for X-Jack, and it wasn’t a fun feeling either. Hearing sirens meant only one thing; Cops and heroes were coming to take him in. Thankfully it didn’t take too long before one of his men, a bigger guy wearing a tanktop, rushed to help him up. “Boss, that’s way too many sirens for just a routine check; What are we gonna do?”
Getting to his feet, the overweight man picked his handgun up off the floor. “I’ll tell ya one thing, surrender ain’t an option…Where are the rest of the boys?”
Looking behind him, the muscle noticed that only a handful of other goons were rushing to join them. “I dunno…You don’t think they ditched?”
A snarl came over X-Jack’s face as the first armed cops came into view. “Put the word out…” He started, reloading his gun. “Any one of my men that ran is as dead as these fuckin cops!”




As the sound of gunfire started to echo through the streets, Yaguro watched on through his helmet as a couple of brightly dressed heroes arrived, and swiftly turned the battle for the laws favor. Within a few minutes, X-Jack and most of him men were tied up, with the stragglers being chased.
“That’s that.” Searchlight stated, getting up from his leaning position. “Kid, you did good.” He stated bluntly, giving her a thumbs up. “Hows it feel to do something nice for the world?”

[carmen]

A look of pure confusion went across Carmen's face with how this guy was talking. This… wasn’t the same man she met. He looked like him, but… this heroic attitude wasn’t what she expected… or looked to follow. It became more of a look of annoyance when he lectured her about the “dangers of smoking”. Bullcrap. Looking down, she saw the colourful heroes binding all the gangsters up. One less crime group on the streets, and closer to taking down. She stepped away from the man as he came to her after X-Jack was taken by the glory seeking heroes.
“Ok, cut the crap. If this is how you really are, lecturing and acting like… one of them… I think I’m going to try to do this on my own. I’m not here to be treated like a common civilian looking to the high and mighty heroes for life advice… I’m here to take down people who deserve it and help the invisible beaten population. I’m not putting my life on the line to be treated like those masked idiots down there treat the naive populace of this world!” She prepared the ferrets back in her bag, just ready to leave at this point. “... For what it’s worth, it was a good lesson at the beginning. Saw things I need to fix in myself, but you don’t seem like the vigilante I thought you were. Some advice: don’t try to act like them. Heroes aren’t what we need to be like. We need to be better than them, and that sometimes means being a bit worse, I believe… If I became a hero like them, I’d see that as a failure to all I’ve believed.” Stepping to the edge of the building, she knew she had to be quiet while getting down. Those heroes would immediately believe she was one of X-Jack’s people, and the gangsters would immediately call her out as one of the people who took them down. Either way, she’d be screwed.
“I’ll talk to Yaguro tomorrow about all this when I collect some sort of payment, and tell him that this partnership isn't working… I don’t want to learn from someone pretending to be a hero.” She held her hand out, offering a simple closing handshake, but feeling pain inside. Her chance to make a change couldn’t be led by a righteous wanna-be hero. It hurt… but she’d have to let it go rather than have her beliefs changed by him. Her dreams would have to wait…

[yaguro]

Alright, this was a bunch of crap, even Yaguro knew that; He just thought Carmen would look up to someone being ‘truly heroic’; But it seemed like all his fakery was going to do was lose him his connection to the underworld.
“Alright, alright, truth time; Yaguro asked me to be a ‘good influence’ on you, teach you morals or something.” Grabbing his packet of cigarettes from his pocket, he offered one to Carmen.
“But to be honest, I can’t stand those high end prissy heroes. All a bunch of goddamn posers, only useful for the muscle they bring; Better them getting shot at than us.”

If lies wouldn’t work, maybe she’d take better to the ugly truth.
“You’re right; I was pretending to be a hero when I should’ve been honest; I’m a guy that KNOWS how to take down the fucking criminals of this city. Who has the balls to go into the hornets nest. You think those so called heroes down there would’ve gone right into X-Jack’s lair and dragged him out of it?” The vigilante asked, motioning down to the heroes who had just finished tying up the criminals, and were now posing for some of the local press that had been drawn by the commotion.
“They’re glorified celebrities. If a villain isn’t wearing a flashy outfit and laughing maniacally, they won’t go anywhere near them. Not near the drug dealers, the gangbangers, the REAL bad guys. Not like me.” Yaguro looked over to Carmen, her face reflecting back at her in his helmet. “Not like us. If you want to tap out I get it, but I’d like it if you stayed.”

[carmen]

And there it was. At least this guy admitted that he was pretending to be a hero, but it still annoyed the punk that they tried to pull a stunt like that. It felt ill planned to try and connect with a gang member by acting like a hero. Still, at least it wasn’t his real personality. As the man pulled out the carton of cigarettes, showing that his reaction before was also a front, Carmen took the entire carton instead of a singular cig, staring down the vigilante as if her eyes were testing him. As she lit one up, she listened to his little speech, at least pleased that his real thoughts felt much more like the guy she met that night.
“So, you two thought acting like a hero would work for someone who has only known crime her whole life? Yeah, not really a good thought process. I’m not here to become a hero like those fame seekers there. I don’t want to be pandered to, just so you know. We’re here to clear the streets of the criminals heroes ignore, not to become them. I don’t want to be like them, so treating me like them is the last thing you need to do.” She glanced over the edge, seeing those villains posing, acting like goddamn models for the camera. “Look at them and tell me they’re a good influence… I won’t quit, but we’re not going to focus on acting like them at all.” Taking another puff, she began to think of their job done. “At this point, both of our heads are on the chopping block. Word is going to spread fast through the underworld, mainly circling this area. Security is going to get tougher with some of the larger gangs around here, and there will be at least a few bounties. Though, at this point, we may need to find a way to disguise me more. If anyone recognizes me, it’s game over… I can’t do a job plain faced again. Doing it plain faced might’ve screwed me already.”
This was going to be dangerous… She needed to start preparing her own costume, some disguise to hide her identity, and possibly seeing if she could leave her girls possibly at the convenience store, since Yaguro was the only other person she knew and that would be the only place they’d be safe.

[yaguro]

Yaguro just shrugged. He figured that someone that had been in the pits of society like that would WANT a hero to come save her from it. He thought she’d fall hook, line and sinker for the pandering; Evidently he didn’t know her at all. Wouldn’t stop him from pretending he did, though. Hopefully his lack of social skills wouldn’t sell him out.
“Believe me, the last thing I want is to be anything like those costumed freaks.” A truthful statement, a rarity for this night.
“Getting a costume isn’t just a suggestion, its mandatory. Half the reason Yaguro retired and gave the mantle to me was that his identity became public. See, with heroes they usually go after the lunatics who are going to square up against the costumes anyway; Cops are protected by one another, so going after them is suicide; But us; All we have is our wits and the weapons we bring with us.”

Cracking his knuckles and neck to stretch out, Yaguro started to head for the side of the building, looking over it to get ready to make an exit.
“Keep your eyes on your phone; Our work out here is far from done. X-Jack is done for, but there are still plenty of criminals out there that need a pounding. I’ll be working on the remnants of his loyalists over the next few weeks, so I’ll text you when you’re needed next.”
Giving her a quick salute, he leapt on top of the buildings edge.
“Keep your head down for now.”
Hopping over the side, the vigilante caught himself on a fire escape, and started back towards his apartment.
“She’s absolutely perfect…I couldn’t ask for a better pawn to use…”