In the middle of a dingy warehouse, a small gathering of masked individuals versed quietly amongst themselves. Their leader, bck leather with a bacva cealing his features, surveyed his team's haul: A truck full of precious cargo.

  "Heh. Got a full basket today. Look at all that merdise. Must've been worth a fortune," One member, a skinny individual with a knife scar on his , whistled appreciatively as he peered into the shipping crate. "Any idea where we should fehem?"

  Another, a stocky woman wearing a blue beanie, scoffed. "Probably au them off. Might us a det return."

  The leader of the gang, Vitaly, a hulking man with a thick bushy beard and dark sungsses, spoke up. "We're not sellin' jack, boys. These puppies are staying with us. Word oreet says these parts are essential for making new gear, and sinobody find no others, I re we should cash in big time."

  He grinned wickedly. "Imagine all the sweet upgrades and toys we whip up with this kinda kit. We'll be the most feared gang in the slums, and they'll bow to us and kiss our asses before begging for mercy." He patted his holster proudly. "Oep closer to my dream of being the Backfire."

  Vitaly pulled out his pistol and twirled the on with deft finesse. "Get a move on, idiots, let's not waste daylight." The rest of the gang nodded obediently, immediately returning to work unloading the truck. They knew better than tue when their boss was in one of his moods. If they dared, they'd have a bullet in them faster than they could blink.

  As they transferred the valuable equipment to a waiting trailer, another masked member tapped the leader on the shoulder. "Boss, someone's outside."

  "Huh?" Vitaly cocked his head in puzzlement. "We're expeg pany?"

  "Not sure, boss, I'm not getting any transmissions from the loomers." The subordinate replied nervously, fidgeting in pce. "What do you wao do, boss?"

  Vitaly clicked his tongue impatiently. "Fine. Let's take a look."

  He marched to the window, crag open the shutters and peeking through the gap. Outside, he spotted a lone figure standing in front of the warehouse.

  The man was tall and lean, with a narrow fad pierg hazel eyes. He wore a worn trench coat that hung loosely on his frame, and his brown hair was slicked back. He rested one hand casually on the hilt of his holster, the other clutg a cigarette that bureadily at his side. He stood there, unmoving, his gaze locked on the building.

  Vitaly could tell he was trouble by the way he carried himself: fident and poised, as if he were waiting for something. "Who the fuck is that?" he snarled, gring at his subordinate. "I don't reize him."

  "Dunno, boss," the ckey answered fearfully. "I ain't seen him before. Should we send someoh him up?"

  The man took a long drag on his cigarette and exhaled slowly, flig the ash to the ground. Thearted walking towards the warehouse, his stride measured and deliberate.

  "No, no, no," Vitaly hissed, his expression t in rage. "That's it. Fuck this shit."

  He stomped towards the entrance, yanking out his on and cog it aggressively. "You! Brighter than a busted bulb aren't ya?! Whoever the fuck you are, we're having a little misuanding here. See, this here is private property, and we ain't accepting any visitors. So why don't you take your sy ass ahe hell outta here, before I put a bullet through that skull of yours?"

  He jabbed the gun barrel threateningly in the air as he yelled. "And make it snappy, punk, before I blow your brains out!"

  The man stopped a few meters away, his eyes fixed directly ahead. He flicked his cigarette away dismissively and narrowed his eyes, his lip curling upward in a ptuous sneer. "You put the gun down, friend. I'm not here to cause any trouble. Just here for the trud its cargo."

  "Yeah?" Vitaly snorted. "Too bad you're not takiher." He aimed the pistol directly at the man's forehead, his finger h over the trigger. "You'll be leaving with ay hole in ygin, instead."

  Fii dropped down from above, nding directly behind Vitaly. She grabbed him by the waist and flung him to the ground. He crashed with a thud, his face smashing against the crete. His pistol skidded away, and he y still for a moment.

  As he struggled to get ba his feet, Fii leaped in front of him, delivering a swift kick to his chest. He doubled over, wheezing, and slumped against a nearby wall.

  Fii smirked under her makeshift mask, a red bandana c her lower face. She wore a bck cap and had her hood drawn up as well, obsg her features. She shifted into a bat stance, her fists raised defensively in front of her, prepared to strike again at any sudden movements.

  She g Virgil, who'd walked calmly past the beaten gang leader, who was now propping himself up with trembling arms. He tipped his hat with a wink. "Much obliged, Ms. Axion."

  "I took care of the lookouts so there shouldn't be any reinforts ing. At least, nht away," Fii ented as Virgil approached the entrao the building.

  The rest of the gang members had taken cover behind crates and barrels, pointing their pipe guns in his dire. As Virgil he nervous men opened fire, scattering bullets in his general viity.

  Fii didn't think, she moved.

  She dashed in front of Virgil, thrusting out her arms. She imagined her gravity field being a dense vortex ih of the speeding bullets. The air between her and the oning bullets shimmered, as if heat rose from pavement on a summer day. A faint ripple distorted the graffiti on the wall behind her, bending the vibrant colors into a surreal vas.

  The bullets veered off course, harmlessly embedding themselves into the crete floor and the nearby walls.

  Virgil moved away from her, his face wing as if in pain. "Hey, mind your distance, girl! Yiving me vertigo when you do that so close to me," he said with a srimace.

  "Sorry!"

  Right, fot about that. Causing enough gravitational disturbao veer bullets away could affect other things arouoo. Duly how much, but it's enough to bother Virgil, apparently. Good to know.

  The gang members stared at her with wide eyes, dumbfounded by her dispy of power. "Wha—what the hell?!" One of them sputtered, gawking at the feat.

  Virgil tinued sauntering through the hail of lead, unfazed by the barrage of guake care of 'em. I'll go get the trud cargo."

  "On it." Fii sprung into a, diving forward and rolling smoothly to her feet. She ran toward the gang member, her steps light and agile. She dodged a clumsy swing from the man's pipe rifle, effortlessly swerving around his outstretched arm.

  Before he could react, she drove her elbow into the underside of his jaw, sending him crumpling to the ground. She whipped around, twisting her body into a spinning kick that sent anang member flying. She nded gracefully, her gaze darting around the room for her arget.

  No gravity-assisted strikes this time. Virgil said that I didn't to take out a bunch of on thugs, just my strength as a metahuman was enough.

  Fii sed the se, her eyes log on a cluster of gang members huddled behind a stack of wooden pallets. They stared at her warily, their ons raised. She burst into a sprint, the gravity field around her lightenieps as she raced across the floor.

  One of them fired his pistol wildly, his bullets missing Fii by timeters.

  She leaped over a discarded trash , somersaulting in midair, and nded on her feet oher side. Laung herself into the air once more, she vaulted over the surprised group and smmed into them, bowling them over like tenpins. She skidded to a halt, dusting herself off nontly.

  Wow, so much easier now pared to st time. Guess all that training is really paying off.

  Two of the gang members rose shakily to their feet, brandishing knives. "We ain't gon you take us easy, freak!" one shouted, lunging at Fii. She sidestepped the attack, knog his bde aside with a quick jab, and tered with a punch to the gut. He crumpled instantly, falling face-first onto the floor.

  She wao say a eback as she kicked his knife away, but she stopped herself, remembering that she didn't have her helmet to mask her voice.

  The other attacker charged at her, screaming. Fii ducked under his wild ssh, twisting her body around and pnting her foot squarely into his chest. He was unched back, smming into a stack of pallets and colpsing to the ground. He didn't get back up.

  Behind her, another member attempted to sneak up and stab her while she reoccupied. "Die, bitch!" He growled, plunging his knife downwards. However, just before he made tact, Fii increased the gravity around herself, causing the man to stagger as his momentum was thrown off. He toppled to the ground, his bde cttering to the floor.

  Seeing as he was the st oanding out of the bunch, Fii turned her attention to him, grinning mischievously beh her makeshift mask. She pounced, leaping through the air and tag him to the ground. She straddled him, her weight pressing on his back, as she ed her arms around his neck.

  She squeezed hard, strig his throat and cutting off the blood supply to his brain. The man thrashed and squirmed, trying desperately to escape, but Fii held on firmly. After a few seds, he went limp, his body slumping to the floor.

  Finally…after so many times Virgil had dohat move on her, it was a little cathartic to try it on someone else.

  Fii rose to her feet, surveying the damage around her. She'd successfully incapacitated every gang member in sight. She dusted off her jacket and brushed a strand of white hair out of her eye.

  She spotted Virgil waving to her from ihe truck, giving her a thumbs-up. He poio the exit and revved the engine, signalio get on the back. With a curt nod, Fii hopped onto the vehicle as he hit the gas, speeding through the opening doors and out into the slums.

  "We're getting a tail," Virgil stated over his shoulder as Fii spotted a moped behind them, trailing close behind. Vitaly was driving the small vehicle with another ckey riding shotgun. " you get rid of them?"

  "They're too far away...unless you wao hop off and jump them."

  "Nah, nevermind. I got it."

  Virgil removed his hand from the steering wheel and reached back to grab his revolver from his hip holster. Without looking back, he poi over his shoulder and fired three shots. The first missed, but the sed and third struck the bike's front tire. With the rubber blown, the vehicle veered off-course, crashing into a rusted dumpster and sending the pair of gangsters hurtling through the air. Both nded hard on the crete, skidding across the rough surface.

  "Nice shot."

  Virgil didn't respond. He simply returned his focus to driving.

  At the Aether ic, Edith finished ing and disiing the knife wound of the wouruck driver, who remained unscious. Thankfully, there weren't any major internal injuries. The man would recover, though he'd be in a great deal of pain once he woke up.

  Still, Edith decided to monitor him in the ic just in case. She checked the IV drip in his arm and adjusted the flow rate. She noticed the driver stir a little.

  "If you want to sleep more, I sedate you. Though, I'm certain you have plenty of questions for me, Mr..." Edith inquired, pulling out a penlight from her b coat's pocket. "I never got your name."

  The man slowly opened his eyes, groaning as he tried to sit up. "Name's Rex, Doc. You saved me. How long was I out? How'd you find me?"

  "Not too long," Edith responded as she shihe penlight into his eyes and checked his pupils for response. "How do you feel, Rex?"

  "Like shit, Doc." Rex rubbed his forehead, wing as he touched the bandage c his injury. "Guess that's to be expected." He grimaced as he tried to adjust himself on the hospital bed. "My truck...?"

  A kno the doorframe drew her attentioh looked up to see Virgil and Fii standing in the doorway.

  "Your truck is safe, along with your cargo," Virgil replied. "The gang who stole it are now lig their wounds. Though, if I know those lowlifes, they'll be ba the streets as soon as their bones heal." He stepped through the threshold, removing his Stetson as he approached. "Mind if I e in? Got some follow-ups."

  Edith waved him in. "Be my guest. I just finished examining Rex here. No other serious injuries so far. He'll live, thankfully."

  "That's good to hear," Virgil noted. He took a seat at the foot of the bed and crossed one leg over the other.

  As Virgil began asking his series of questioh left the room and closed the door.

  Fii followed her out and to the alley where the recovered truck arked. The back was wide open, revealing its precious cargo. Edith grinned gleefully as she took in the sight, a massive shipment of equipment, maery, and rare materials for her experiments.

  "Is that what you were waiting for?" Fii asked, poking her head out from behih's shoulder. "Seems like a lot."

  "Only a few of these are for me, the rest of it is probably going to the Rust Market or Fe Town, but yeah. It's perfect. Almost everything I o fix your new helmet is here, plus some extra parts for another project."

  Fii tilted her head curiously. "What's this other project you're talking about?"

  Edith snapped her fingers. "Sorry, 't say just yet, but this is big stuff, trust me. Anyways, how did it go?"

  Fii rolled her shoulders, letting out a sigh of relief. "Holy? It went surprisingly well. Didn't think I'd take down a whole gang so easily." She chuckled, shaking her head. "It seemed almost unfair; like I was beating up kids on the pyground."

  "Well, sidering you have superhuman powers and they have hat's not surprising," Edith remarked, giving Fii a wry smirk. "I guess all that training is paying off."

  "Definitely." Fii stretched her arms overhead and cracked her knuckles loudly. "So, what should we do with all this stuff?" She gestured to the tents of the truck. "Just leave it here until we unpack it it te Town and the Rust Market?"

  Edith rubbed her thoughtfully. "Virgil probably deliver it to the respective pces, though, I suppose I should ask him and make sure he doesn't try to steal anything for himself." She paused, pg a haly on the younger girl's shoulder. "Regardless, well dooday, Fii."

  Fii blinked in surprise, taken aback by the ued praise. "Um, thanks."

  Edith nodded, withdrawiouch. "You've been progressing so much over the past few months. It's really quite impressive. I mean, you went from a snot-nosed, illiterate, bratty street rat to, well, this." She gave Fii a quice-over, arg an eyebrorovingly. "And, yes, that is a pliment."

  Fii flushed a bright crimson, scratg her cheek sheepishly. "Heh, well, thank you. It was all, um, thanks to you and Virgil." Her blush deepened, her cheeks turning tomato-red as she averted her gaze from Edith's inteare. "A-and, uh, Sheri too."

  The er of Edith's mouth tugged upwards as she watched the younger girl squirm unfortably. "Anyway, let's get this all sorted out." She turned her ba Fii, moving towards the trud beginning tas tents.

  "Right!" Fii chimed in, helping her unload the items.

  Edith kept her gaze focused on her work, but in her periphery, she could tell Fii was still flustered, and she couldn't help but chuckle internally. The girl's innoce was endearing in a strange way. Maybe she should give her more pliments iure, perhaps with less teasing attached.