There is a list of women in this town that I MUST meet.

Top five in no particular order:

Regina Darling (tasty)
Victoria Burke (VERY tasty)
Mysteria (mysterious AND tasty)
Shirley Winters (older, thus more experienced [grrrrr...], and tasty)
Mike Sanford's mom (hot for a mom and just to pull one over on Mikey)

Note, two of them are super folks, four of them are famous, and one doesn't really matter.

See, this list is one of the big reasons I decided to do this superhero gig. And one of the reasons I tried to learn the guitar a few months back. Same thing, really, both professions, heroics and music, ask the guy why they decided to do it.

"To make a difference!"

"For the love of music!"

And they're both liars.

It's all about the women. Women melt for musicians and muscular heroic guys in costume.

Hey, maybe I should carry a guitar around with me when I do the hero gig and get the best of both worlds!

Anyways, I had this list, and I vowed to meet every woman on it, ideally in a Biblical sense, but just dinner and a movie would suffice.

And it was with this list in mind that I woke up one morning and said to myself, "Myself, today is the day we will meet Mysteria."

"And get her phone number!" Myself agreed.

Mysteria is hot. Ask anyone who's seen her and they'll tell you the same. She is hot as balls.

And I like to say I'm an eyes man, but, really, the first thing you see of folks like her (folks like her being the kind that dress up and run around on rooftops like yours truly) is the body.

And, dazamn, what a body. The legs, the stomach, the ample... um... hair...

Toss in the mask, that invisibility thing, the flare of mystery, secret identity stuff, etc, etc, etc, now utterly erotic and desirable.

I wanted that woman.

Now, I didn't go so far as some dorks and get into the various fan clubs, nor did I make any of the various photo manips of said woman being quite naked except for the mask (though, I did peruse a few of them. What can I say, I'm a guy.)

Okay, maybe I was a little obsessed.

Anyways, I figured the best way to find her was jump into some serious trouble with some baddies. Ignore the little things for a while, the shopliftings and what not, and go for the big guys who like to blow things up or tear through buildings and stuff like that. Perhaps I'd cross paths with her while fighting Doctor UberEvil or something like that.

And so far I was having absolutely no luck.

Well, I was kicking some baddie ass and getting my suave self noticed here and there, but not by the woman I wanted to notice me. And everyone I asked had no idea where to find her. It's like she disappeared (beyond her invisibility powers). Her and Millennium Man.

I felt so alone to protect the city.

Which ruled, really.

But where oh where was my mistress of the night?
 

Bush43
Issue #2
"Where Oh Where..."
by Jason S. Kenney

Two men stood in the shadows waiting. They had been searching this city for three weeks to no avail. Their prey had all but vanished. Albeit, that's what they somewhat expected, but not as cleanly as this.

"Perhaps she has fallen ill?" Asked the tall one of no one in particular.

The shorter, hunchbacked man shook his head.

"She is around," He said with a wide grin. "She is hunting as well."

"Indeed," Said the tall man with a frown. "But she is being awfully stealthy in her hunt, not that I expected anything less, mind you."

"Of course," Replied the short man with a nod, "but she will have to surface sometime." The short man's grin widened. "Perhaps we need some lure?"

The tall man looked down to his companion.

"Do tell."

"Gee, Mr. Thompson, I'm sure glad you're on top of things."

Mr. Thompson simply nodded to the young Alice Ways as they carried bags loaded with money out of the vault of Second Pacific Bank and Trust.

"I mean, it's really great that you got wind of this robbery ahead of time and can set up a trap for them. Wow, I could just imagine the look on their faces when they step in the vault to find it empty."

"Ms. Ways," said Thompson, "How long have you been employed here?"

"Three months, Mr. Thompson," Said Alice with a roll of her eyes. "Duh, you hired me."

"Yes, yes," Said Thompson as the two of them walked through the lobby of the bank. "And have you enjoyed working here, Ms. Ways?"

"Well it was okay, but after the excitement of tonight I LOVE it! Thank you so much for letting me help you with this."

"Oh, thank you for helping, Ms. Ways. Thanks to you anyone breaking in here will find no money."

"And to think that they'd be able to pay off the police!"

"I know, Ms. Ways," Said Thompson, resting a hand on Alice's shoulder as they reached the front doors of the bank. "You can't trust anyone these days."

Alice didn't notice the gun in Thompson's other hand until it fired. But by then it was too late to do anything but slump to the ground, dead.

Thompson grabbed the bag Alice had been carrying and slung it over his shoulder, picking up the bag he had sat down and slung it over his other shoulder. He looked to the picture on the wall next to the doors and frowned.

A beautifully painted portrait of Quincy Thompson, proprietor of Second Pacific Bank and Trust, graced the wall.

"Ugly son of a bitch." Said Mr. Thompson as he looked at the picture resembling himself. Then his face started to change as if melting and then slowly started to reform. The man didn't wait for it to finish reforming before he started to laugh and stepped through the doors of the bank and into the darkness of Pacific City.

Was that a gun shot?

I quickly stopped on a roof and looked to the empty street below.

Nothing.

Maybe there was something going on in the bank?

But there were no alarms.

Then some guy walked out, a bag over each shoulder, laughing.

Suspicious.

Hmmm...

I leapt from the building and got the man's attention as I crashed onto the street below.

"Excuse me, sir," I shouted out to him as he looked at me. I paused for a second as I saw his face. "Woah, um, did you know your face is melting?"

The man ran.

Yea, another baddie!

I chased after him and heard sirens up ahead. Oooo.... it was a race between me and the cops. Neat.

The man turned down an alley and I followed, slowly but surely catching up as I was much faster than him because he was weighed down by those bags and I'm super strong and all.

"Stop by order of the President of the United States!" I shouted after him, smiling at my own joke. Damn, I'm good.

The man kept running and took a left as he reached the other side of the alley. I ran to the end and just as I stepped onto the street something swung and hit me in the face, knocking me to the ground.

I shook my head to clear it and looked up to see the guy with the messed up face raise a pipe above his head to hit me again.

This was gonna hurt.

He came down and I caught the pipe in my right hand.

"Wow!" I said as he tried to pull the pipe away to no avail. "That would have harmed my beautiful face!"

The man looked up as the sirens got closer and tires screeched. I looked over to see a police car stopped near by and two cops leaping out, guns drawn.

"FREEZE!" One of them shouted.

I looked to the guy standing above me.

"They sound serious, man."

The man looked down at me and I noticed his face wasn't as messed up as earlier and I watched as it straightened itself up into looking a little more normal.

It started to look like my mask.

The man looked like George W. Bush.

"Hey, that's MY face!" I yelled at the man as he grinned with a face that looked just like my mask.

And then he turned and ran, leaving his bags behind.

The cops opened fire and I scrambled back into the alley for cover.

"That bastard!" I shouted as I leapt onto a fire escape and climbed to the roof. I ran to the edge and looked down the street to see the man with MY face turning a few blocks down.

I ran after him, following his path along the roof tops. I cut across one to see the man cross the street about a block down now so I leapt off the roof and to the street before and kept running after him.

He turned down yet another alley and I turned after him only to find the alley empty.

I slowly walked down it, looking to all sides and up to make sure he wasn't there, but he was gone.

"Well, damn."

Then he leapt out at me from behind some garbage cans, reminding me I really needed to work on my detective skills.

He grabbed at my neck and tried to choke me. I brought my knee up hard. He kept choking me. I brought me knee up again. Nothing.

I grabbed the guys arms and pulled them off and threw him to the side.

"Christ!" I gasped while catching my breath. "Are you a chick or something?"

Then the guy melted into a pile of goo.

"Or you're the blob."

"FREEZE!"

I looked up to see the two cops at the other end of the alley, guns out.

"Hey!" I shouted, pointing at the blob. "I got your bad guy right there!"

The pile of goo leapt at me. I quickly dodged and spun to see the goo sprout legs that hit the ground running as the rest of a body started to form.

Wow.

"HEY!" I shouted, running after it, "STOP!"

The cops opened fire as I chased the blob shape shifting thingy.

The blob guy reached the end of the alley and ran into the street and stopped, turning to look at something to his left. Then he threw his hands up and screamed as a street sweeper ran into him and pulled him underneath, his body gooing and splattering as the brushes and the water tossed him around.

It was kinda cool looking.

I heard the cops running up from behind me and ran and leapt onto a nearby fire escape and climbed to the roof. One of the cops tried to follow but couldn't reach the bottom of the fire escape ladder (heh, it's good to be super strong and muscular and stuff).

I got to the roof and looked down to see the street sweeper stopped and that goo guy plastered all over the place with the cops simply looking on and every now and then looking up to me.

I guess I stopped the bad guy.

I guess.

"Hey!" I shouted down, getting their attention. "Any of you all seen Mysteria around lately?"

One of the cops flipped me the bird.

"Thanks," I shouted back and stepped away from the edge.

I was seriously tempted to take a leak on them, but I resisted the urge.

I turned around and almost ran into two men. I leapt back, just barely remaining on the building, but keeping my balance.

"Woah, sorry, gents, you startled me." I said.

The short man grinned all wicked like and his hunchback did not help his appearance.

The tall man with a frown stepped forward a bit and removed his hat, running his free hand through the few strands of hair on his head.

"No, no," He said, "our apologies for frightening you, son." He placed his hat back on his head. "My friend and I are in need of your services."

Wow, in need of my services?

"Well," I said, "I generally like to know who I'm dealing with before making any sort of agreements..."

"Of course," Said the tall man as he extended a slender hand in the direction of the short hunchback freaky guy, "my friend here is referred to as Happy."

Happy grinned even wider and nodded his head.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," said Happy.

"I bet," I said, looking back to the tall guy.

"And I am know simply as Sad," he said, placing his hand over his chest. "You will pardon us if we do not shake your hand, physical contact will create very undesirable results at this stage of our acquaintance."

"Sure," I said, "And you all can call me Bush43, or George. Mister President if you wish." I sidestepped Sad and then walked around the two gentlemen just to get away from the edge of the building. "Now, what is it I can possibly do for you fellows?"

"We wish for you to assist us in finding someone," Said Sad as he turned to look at me again. The more I looked at the man the more he reminded me of a vulture, thin, sad, beady eyes, an almost vicious looking face.

"Find someone?" I said, rubbing the chin of my mask. "Well, truth be told, I'm not that great a detective. I mean, I just got beaten up by a pile of silly putty."

"It should be easy for someone of your... caliber." Said Sad.

I looked to Happy who just stood there grinning and nodding.

"Can you talk?" I asked him, just for the hell of it. His smile didn't falter.

"Of course I can talk," he said, "I just choose not to most of the time. Sad's a much better speaker than I."

"Mr. Bush," said Sad in an attempt to get the conversation back on track, "time is of the essence and we must find her as soon as possible. We will pay you handsomely," said Sad.

"I don't do this for the money," I said, stopping and glaring at him as a hero should at the prospect of going mercenary. I mean, money sounded great and all, but these guys were sketchy and, well, as tempting as money is, a hero doesn't get paid. Right? "And if it's simply a 'look them up in the phone book' kinda thing, you guys are s.o.l. too. I'm not a PI, I'm a super hero and I save people and stuff like that."

"This is a saving situation, Mr. Bush," said Sad.

"Hostage situation?" I asked.

"Fate of the world."

"Over one person?"

"That's generally how history is effected," said Sad, "one person doing something spectacular."

I started to pace.

"Can I help with this 'fate of the world' thing?"

"If you find her you will have done more than a share of the work."

"If you find her," said Happy, "you will have saved the world."

"Look," I said, stopping and looking to the two men. Time to get serious. "I'm new to this thing, this hero biz. And, frankly, I'm not that good at it. My signature move is to kick the guy in the nuts. Hell, I'm wearing a freaking George Bush mask in Australia. I'm nobody. I'm some kid who happens to be pretty tough and decided to run around and act it. The fate of the world? You guys might want to find someone a bit better for the task."

"Our employer feels you are the best candidate, Mr. Bush," said Sad.

Employer?

I sighed. How could I say no?

"Okay," I said, holding up my hands in defeat, "I'll do it. Who are we looking for?"

"Thank you, Mr. Bush," said Happy, while Sad simply nodded, "you have committed to a great deed."

"Now," said Sad, "find us Victoria Burke."

The man hunched into his coat as he stepped out of the grocery store with a bag in each arm. The rain came down and pelted him, pulling a slight curse from him as he walked towards his car.

After a slight juggling act he managed to get the back door to his car open and the bags inside. He rummaged through one bag and emerged with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

He stood out in the rain and tried to light a cigarette, meeting with success on the third try. He inhaled deeply and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, leaning his head back as he exhaled with a sigh.

"Angela's gonna kill me," he said out loud to no one in particular.

Neil Ashwood looked to his watch and sighed again. Three in the morning. Christ how he looked forward to not having to get up at ungodly hours to run to the store for some new need. One more month, he kept telling himself, and then there'd be no more pregnancy. Sure, he'd be up all hours of the night feeding the kid, but he chose not to think about that at times like this.

He took another drag as he thought about the mess of his professional life and its effects on his private.

His wife Angela would not let him forget how he hung on Victoria Burke's every whim, and even how, with Miss Burke missing for the last month, he still could not escape his boss. As Victoria Burke's personal assistant, Neil had a front row seat to the pending collapse of Burke's entire financial empire, as it were.

It started with Burke Fashions upcoming file for bankruptcy. What next, KGPC?

And all with a baby on the way and a wife who he loved so very much and wanted to be with...

"Excuse me, sir," said a man who walked towards him through the rain. Ashwood instinctively tossed the cigarette to the ground ignoring the sizzle as it landed in a puddle at his feet. "Are you Neil Ashwood?"

"Yes," said Ashwood as he squinted to get a better view of the man through the rain.

"And you work for Victoria Burke?"

"Who wants to know?" said Ashwood, tensing up at the question.

The man as he extended a hand. "I'm Bush43, superhero and what not. You seen Victoria Burke lately?"

"Wait, wait," said Neil Ashwood, shaking his head, "who are you again?"

"I'm Bush43," I repeated, "or George W. Bush or Mister Bush or Mister President, whatever you want to call me. I'm that hero guy that's getting all the raw press because of penis envy or something like that."

"Never heard of ya."

"Not surprized," I said, "hey, would you mind if we got out of this rain or something, my underwear's getting all wet and I hate moist tighty whiteys."

"Why are you looking for Victoria Burke?" asked Ashwood, folding his arms and leaning against his car. Guess he wanted to stand in the rain.

"Not sure, really," I said, "fate of the world stuff from what I've heard. I've just been asked to find her and what not. Know where she is?"

Ashwood shook his head.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said, "I haven't seen or heard from her in almost a month."

Damn.

"Oh, okay," I said, not knowing what to do now. "Um, do you know where she might be?"

"What?"

"Like, I've checked her apartment and it's been pretty empty for the last couple nights. I was just wondering if there was somewhere else she might be, like some summer home or something of that nature."

"Look," said Ashwood, fishing out his car keys, "I don't know where she is, I'm sorry I can't help you more."

"Oh, yeah, sorry," I said, "thanks for your help."

I turned to leave and Ashwood called out to me.

"You might want to try the old Burke Mansion, it's just outside of town. The butler there might know something."

"Great!" I said, turning back to him. "Thanks!"

And I bounded away.

Ding Dong

The door opened and a man stood on the other side, the hair on his head balding to the point of a semi circle, his tuxedo clean and crisp. He looked very much the part of a butler.

"Can I help you sir?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Hi," I said, peeking over his shoulder and into the house. Sorry, not house. Mansion. It was huge and expensive. "Can Victoria come out to play?"

"Excuse me?" said the butler.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I'm not trying to sell ya a bible or anything like that, I was just wondering if Miss Burke might be around or if maybe you have seen her as of late?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I have not heard from Miss Burke for the better part of a month."

"Oh," I said, reaching into my inside coat pocket, "then who's this?"

I pulled out some polaroids I had taken earlier that day of one fine looking lady walking through the house. Yeah, yeah, so I snooped through some windows and broke a few laws, but it's all fate of the world stuff, you know?

The butler's smooth face did not break, though. He looked down at the pictures in my hand briefly and then back to my face.

He then stepped back and motioned for me to enter the mansion.

I stepped in as I pocketed the pictures and started to look around. Holy crap on a stick was this place rich.

Then it hit me.

Or, rather, he hit me.

I felt my legs go out and then the back of my collar was grabbed. I was suddenly pushed forward and down, my face hitting the floor before I even had a chance to throw out my arms to brace my fall. And, speaking of my arms, they quickly found themselves behind my back and pinned under one damn feisty butler's knee on my back.

The butler then pulled on my collar with one hand, bending me backwards in a way I didn't think was really possible and certainly wasn't good for my back. He then reached his free hand inside my coat and took the pictures out of my pocket. I turned my head to see him studying the pictures.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I left the good ones at home."

He harshly pushed my face back into the floor and then stood up.

"Get up," he said, stepping away from me.

"Wow," I said as I rubbed my back with one hand as the other pushed me to my knees. "Wow, that was... wow!"

I stood up and slowly straightened up, letting my back relax from the horrible pull it now had.

"You're faster and stronger than you look."

"And you're just as dumb as the man who's face you wear," said the butler, sliding the pictures inside his coat pocket. "Why are you looking for Miss Burke, Mr. Bush?"

"A couple guys asked me to find her," I said, "said it was 'fate of the world' stuff and they needed to find her. So, I thought I'd come out here. Kinda pissed, though. I mean, this is something those guys could have done themselves, I should be out doing heroic stuff, not getting my ass kicked by a butler."

"Mr. Bush," said the butler, "these men, do you know who they are?"

"They're named Happy and Sad, stupid names if you ask me."

"And are they working on their own or for someone."

"There was a mention of an employer. Why?"

The butler shook his head.

"You have a lot to learn," he said. "Would you care for some tea, Mr. Bush?"

"Um," this was weird, "no, thank you, it's kinda hard to eat and drink with this on," I said, pointing to the mask.

"Understandable," said the butler. "Mr. Bush, it would be appreciated if you did not report to the gentlemen who sent you that you had found Miss Burke."

"It would?"

"Yes, you see, there are a lot of people who are looking for Miss Burke for various reasons and, if it were truly important, Miss Burke would most certainly put herself in a position to be found."

"Oh," I said as if I understood what he was saying, "so, like, these guys are the people she doesn't want to see?"

"Think of them as telemarketers, Mr. Bush."

"Ooooo, I hate those guys."

"Very good, sir," said the butler with a nod. "Now, if you give me your word that you will not make anyone aware of Miss Burke's location and leave the premises never to return, I'm sure the Burke estate will overlook these photographs and the laws broken to get them."

"Fair enough," I said. "Hey, what was that move you did on me?"

"That move?" said the butler with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "That was nothing more than me kicking your ass as it were."

"Ah," I said with a nod. "Good deal."

"This will not do," said Sad as he stroked his chin.

"Yeah, I know, it sucks," I said, "but I can't find her."

"No, no," said Sad, shaking his head, "this lying. That certainly will not do."

"Lying?"

The hunchbacked Happy approached me.

"Why must you lie to us?" said Happy, his grin never faltering, but turning a little more wicked.

"We do not appreciate being lied to," said Sad as he stepped towards me as well.

"Look, guys," I said, stepping back until my back was against the wall of the alley, "I can not find her, I don't know what you're talking about lies for, but I can not find her."

"You have a horrible poker face," said Happy.

"Even through your mask," said Sad. "And if you can not help us, Mister Carter, then you are more of a hindrance."

Mister Carter?

"Uh..." I said, looking for a good cover, "no, it's a Bush mask." I was cut off as Happy reached out and touched my hand.

Suddenly the world was brighter, happier. There were birds singing and green fields as far as the eye can see. Joy filled me, so much joy it was almost orgasmic.

Then there was the crash and somewhere in between the high and the low I was aware of Sad touching my other hand.

Then the world darkened, burned, destroyed, hate filled every corner, depression, desperation, destruction. The world was bleak. I was worthless.

I collapsed to the ground and started to cry.

"Now, Mister Carter," said Sad as he crouched down and leaned towards my face, "are you going to tell us where Miss Burke is?"

I opened my mouth, ready to tell him everything, ready to tell him where Miss Burke was and tell him about all the wonderful pictures I had. But all I could think about was telemarketers.

Evil, evil, vile, disgusting telemarketers...

"She doesn't want any," I said, covering my face with my hands as I bawled.

Sad looked to Happy who just shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you want with Victoria Burke anyway?" asked a voice from down the alley. I looked up and through cloudy, tear filled eyes I saw a goddess silhouetted by the street light. Her legs went forever, her hair flowed with the cloak as the wind caught both and lifted them slightly, teasingly. I imagined the hazel eyes and thought about the promise I made to myself and failed to follow through on a few days ago.

And through the darkness and depression that fogged my mind I though, "better late than never."

"Ah, Mysteria," said Sad as he stood up. He and Happy started to walk towards her. I reached out and grabbed at Happy's arm and he just shrugged me off, my hands sliding down his arm and touching his hand as he walked away.

"What a joy it is to see you," said Sad. "I must say, I appreciate you coming all this way to save us the trouble of finding you."

"It would have been nice if you were quicker about it," said Happy with a shrug, "but now will do."

"Who are you and what do you want?" asked Mysteria, her hazel eyes peering out from the domino mask.

"My name is Sad," said Sad, gesturing to himself, "and my associate is Happy. We were sent by our employer to seek you out and bring you to him."

"What for?" Mysteria asked, remaining still as the two men slowly stepped towards her.

"Ours is not to question why, Miss Burke," said Sad who would have grinned if at all possible at Mysteria's widening eyes. "If our employer needs you, and he shall get you."

Mysteria twisted to dodge Sad as he leapt at her, his hands reaching and just missing her. She leapt into the air herself as Happy charged her, flipping forward and ending up behind the two men who spun to advance again. Mysteria stood in a ready stance, her fists clenched.

Sad leapt at her again and she to the side, bringing up a kick that connected with Sad's chest and knocked the wind out of him. He landed and fell as she rolled and leapt upright, standing ready again.

"I don't have time for this," Mysteria said.

"And neither do we, Miss Burke," said Happy as he walked towards Mysteria who slowly backed away. She didn't look down as she stepped past the fallen man in the mask, nor did Happy as he walked by. "So why don't you just come with..."

Happy was cut off as he felt his feet come out from under him and he fell on his face.

Mysteria looked from the fallen hunchback up to the man standing over him, his eyes peering through his mask, angry and fierce.

"I'm going to kick your ass so bad the rest of the damn seven dwarfs are gonna feel it."

I was not a happy camper. First the emotional roller coaster and then I find out the damn bastards were using me for one reason or another. I took a strange satisfaction in the sound Happy's face made when it hit the ground.

I spun around just in time to see Sad getting to his feet and glaring at me.

"You got over your little depression faster than I would have expected, Mister Carter," he choked out as he continued to try and breathe.

"I found something to channel it towards," I said. "Come get some, you son of a bitch."

Sad leapt at me with a hiss. I came across with a wonderful left hook that caught him right upside the head. I felt sadness, darkness, uselessness start to come over me as I connected with the punch and the man fell back. Even though it seemed worthless, I quickly brought my leg up and kicked Sad in the nuts.

Suddenly I was a little happier as I watched the tall bastard collapse to the ground.

"See," I said to no one in particular, remembering that run in with the goo thing, "THAT'S what's supposed to happen."

I turned around to see Mysteria hoisting Happy into the air by his collar and push him against a wall.

"Where are the Winters'?" she asked of him loud enough for me to hear.

Happy simply smiled back, blood from his nose running dark across his mouth and chin.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?!!!" Mysteria shouted.

"Don't know," responded Happy as a couple teeth fell out of his mouth, "don't care."

I quickly grabbed Happy's right arm as his hand almost touched Mysteria's face. I reached around Mysteria fast enough to grab his other arm as it came for her face as well.

Then she did the greatest thing in the world.

Her knee came up nicely right into Happy's nuts.

Mysteria and I both let him go at the same time, dropping the man to the ground. I moved back from her and pulled my arms back as well, smirking a bit as she turned to me.

"Sorry about that," I said, "the whole arm thing. I wasn't trying to, you know, get fresh or anything and whatnot, I was just stopping..."

"Do you know who they were working for?" she asked, glaring at me. Wow, she was not in a good mood either.

"No," I said, shaking my head, "I'm sorry, I don't. I wish I did, though."

They knew my name. My real name.

And they used me.

We both looked to the two men writhing on the ground and then back up to each other. Her eyes had softened a bit.

"What do we do with them?" I asked, really not knowing what to do. "I mean, I've never beaten up a bad guy that wasn't really breaking the law and such."

"We leave them," she said, turning away and walking down the alley. I looked at the two men again and then ran to catch up with her.

"Just leave them?"

"Yes," she said, not looking at me.

"So they can come back?"

She shrugged. I looked back at the men as we approached the end of the alley.

"Look," I said, "I'm sorry about that whole thing, I had no idea they were bad. I'm just new to this and..."

I turned to face her, but she was gone.

I looked back to the two men and shook my head, standing there for a minute.

And then I leapt onto a fire escape and left.