No one said anything for a few seconds as Pinpoint reached into a pouch on her side and pulled out something wrapped in what looked like wax paper. Pulling the bottom of her mask up, the hero unwrapped a small bar and started munching on it. “Well?” She asked, gesturing at the two of them with her snack.
Erika and Mary exchanged a look as Pinpoint stared them down before Mary finally broke. “Well… since we lost our jobs because the portal destroyed the cafe we worked at, I signed up for a gig site and…” Mary gave Pinpoint an edited version of the day’s events, noticeably failing to mention that she’d been doing hench work for a while.
“I see,” Pinpoint said, a chunk of whatever her bar was spraying out as she talked with her mouth full. Taking a swig from a metal water bottle she produced from somewhere, Pinpoint regarded the two girls quietly.
Erika couldn’t help but feel like she was facing down a disappointed parent as she stared back at the hero. She could see the wheels turning in Pinpoint’s head, but couldn’t get a read on her at all. “I–“ she started to say, before Pinpoint gestured for her to stay quiet as several sets of footsteps approached in a hurry. Gravel and debris crunched as several cops ran over to them, their weapons drawn but pointed down. Despite the poor lighting, she could see several of them glaring angrily at her and Mary.
“We’ll get these suspects out of your way Pinpoint!” A man yelled, as two officers approached them with handcuffs ready. “Lie down with your hands behind your backs!”
Erika froze as an overeager cop approached her with handcuffs in hand, and she couldn’t help but look back at Pinpoint. As if she had all the time in the world, Pinpoint closed her water bottle and pulled her mask back down before she turned around to address the police. “Yeah they’re not doing any of that, they’re not suspects,” she said, pointing at the cops approaching with handcuffs in hand with the metal water bottle. “These two…” she said, gesturing at Erika and Mary without looking, “…are my apprentices, hands off.”
“Your apprentices?” the first cop asked, his tone skeptical. “Do they have IDs to prove it?”
Pinpoint leaned in slightly at the cop as he questioned her. Though he did a good job of hiding it, Erika saw the way he flinched slightly as she got closer, and the way the officers around him took a half step back. Even though the hero was shorter than the man, she seemed to loom over everyone. “Why do you need to see that, Officer… Brady?”
“It’s Sergeant Brady,” the man said, puffing his chest out. “HRS section 710-1016.6 subsection (1), ‘a person commits the offense of impersonating a law enforcement officer in the first degree if, with intent to deceive, the person pretends to be a law enforcement officer and is armed with a firearm.’ If I’m not mistaken, these two girls both have guns on them, so that’s a felony. As a general policy, police don’t take too kindly to people impersonating us. That’s just asking for trouble. Now, either they show some ID that proves they’re superheroes, or they can be arrested for felony impersonation of a law enforcement officer.” A smug grin twisted his lips as he motioned at the cops around him to close in.
Unfazed by the approaching officers, Pinpoint chuckled. “Neat trick, but you’re not the only one who can do that. HRS section 864-357 subsection (d), all actions taken by an individual acting in good faith under the direction of a registered superhero shall be considered actions taken by the registered superhero.” The surrounding officers hesitated, some frowning as they glanced between Sergeant Brady and Pinpoint. “The girls were acting under my direction. In other words, they don’t need to show you shit.”
Sergeant Brady’s smile turned sour, until something seemed to come to his mind. “Hold on, how do I know you’re actually a registered superhero? You could be anyone under that mask!” His smile twisted back into one of cruel satisfaction.
“Sarge, you can’t be serious! We’ve worked with Pinpoint before, mask or not, we know that’s her,” one of the cops said.
“Onishi’s only alive because of her,” another cop said, his voice tickling Erika’s brain with familiarity. “She doesn’t need to unmask.”
Erika couldn’t help but frown. She didn’t understand the tension going on between Pinpoint and this Sergeant, but it didn’t feel like something new. Even stranger was the cops acting like her identity was a secret. They’d seen her face in the portal, and even been given her full name. Pinpoint’s real identity of Beth O’Shea didn’t seem like a secret, though the police were acting like it was for some reason.
“You know why you can’t ask me to do that, Brady,” Pinpoint said calmly. “Come with me girls.” As if the armed officers around them no longer existed, Pinpoint started to walk away, the ring of cops silently parting to make a path for her.
Hesitating only for a couple of seconds, Erika and Mary scrambled to their feet and jogged after Pinpoint. Erika couldn’t help but feel nervous as she passed the police, certain she’d feel one of them reach out to grab her and put her in cuffs, but besides a few nods or assessing looks, the only one that paid her any attention was the fuming Sergeant Brady who seemed to be staring at them with a look on his face that said he was going to be a problem. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to deal with him again.
Pinpoint led the two girls in silence past several white SUVs stuck in a line behind one turned to the side and covered in bullet holes, their blue and white lights still flashing. Even more uniformed officers rushed about the vehicles, some moving them on the side of the gravel road, while others struggled to push the one in front to the side. It wasn’t until Erika saw the yellow fire engine with its flashing red and white lights that Erika understood what was going on. Even if it was a supervillain’s lair, even if the people inside were goons working for a criminal, they were still people to be rescued after everything was done. She just didn’t think anyone would’ve survived who knows how many tons of earth falling on them, not unless they were metas anyways.
Walking behind Pinpoint in the night, Erika had way too much time to think. The sensation of a man’s neck snapping under her arm, the kick of guns as she shot living human beings. She could still feel a ghost of those sensations, still smell the smoke and gunpowder and blood. It didn’t feel great, and part of her wished she’d just stayed home. Let someone else carry that burden. I don’t want it, she thought to herself. But, as she glanced at her friend following along beside her, her eyes locked onto the mangled length of metal and plastic that used to be a rifle still strapped to her torso, and those thoughts faded behind mental images of what might’ve happened to Mary if she had just stayed home. Dangerous as it was, she was glad she rescued Mary.
Several minutes of silent walking passed by as Erika thought, and soon they were walking past a metal gate that looked like it’d been rammed open and into a quiet neighborhood lit only by the streetlights and a few windows. Glancing at her cracked phone, Erika winced at the time. It was already after 1 am. As if her body was only just waiting for her to realize the time, she felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her and she started to sag, only for Pinpoint’s voice to cut through her sleepiness.
“It’s time to have a talk, girls,” Pinpoint said, turning around to face them.
“Pinpoint, I can explain, I—” Mary started to stammer, only for the hero to place her hand over Mary’s mouth.
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“No excuses, now listen—”
“We were just defending ourselves! That was a supervil—” Erika started to say, only for her to feel Pinpoint’s hand cover her mouth too. Her suit’s fabric felt surprisingly rough against her lips. Given how expensive it looked, she’d expected the hero’s suit to be silky smooth.
“Shut up, both of you,” Pinpoint growled, her masked face turning to both of them.
Even though Erika knew what the woman looked like beneath the mask, the featureless visage staring at her was unnerving. Erika nervously swallowed as she clamped her lips shut, killing the words that ached to rush out of her mouth. After a few seconds, Pinpoint’s featureless mask nodded once before her hands withdrew.
“Good, now just listen to me. As far as the police are concerned, you’re both now my apprentices, but that won’t stop Brady from investigating. Erika, you’re already registered with your powers—”
“Eri you have powers?!” Mary shouted, most of her words muffled as Pinpoint clamped her hand down on her friend’s mouth. Even with the hero’s hand covering half of her face, it didn’t stop Erika from seeing her friend’s wide eyes staring at her in shock.
Sighing, Erika nodded. “I do, I was go—” Pinpoint’s hand slapped over her mouth again, slightly stinging with the force this time.
“I said just listen, you idiots,” Pinpoint growled, her featureless mask staring at both of them. As they stood there, three black SUVs quietly pulled up on the street. Pinpoint glanced at the vehicles for a moment and nodded as three men in suits got out of the cars. The hero moved to stand between Erika and Mary, her arms wrapping around their shoulders as she started to lead them to the three men as she talked.
“Brady is going to investigate you both. His body cam will have pictures of both of your faces, and he’ll be able to run you through facial recognition systems. Even though he didn’t get your IDs, he will find out where you two live and get warrants to search your places, probably in a few hours.” As they got within earshot of the three men standing by the idling vehicles, one of them moved to open the back of one of the vehicles. “Everything you took from Panic’s lair and goons, take off and throw it in,” she ordered.
Glancing at Mary and Pinpoint, Erika nodded and slowly started to throw her stolen gear in. Part of her wanted to keep the stuff because she had a feeling it was valuable, but she didn’t dare argue. Besides, if Pinpoint were telling the truth and the police were going to search her place soon, having a gun taken from a criminal she killed seemed like a terrible idea. Item by item, she followed Pinpoint’s command. First, the belt with the pistol and her now empty sheathe. With the dagger lost, she didn’t care about it enough to take it off the belt. Next, the bullet proof vest she’d thrown on, the pockets of it jingling with stuff. After that, she started pulling items from her pockets. A handful of shotgun shells, the keycard, and sheepishly, a money clip she’d found in one of the lockers with a wad of bills in it. She couldn’t help but glance at Pinpoint as the money clip landed on her pile of stuff, but the hero only stood there with her arms crossed, giving nothing away. Sighing, Erika finally slipped the necklace she found off and added it to the pile, feeling noticeably lighter as she glanced at Mary, only to frown at her friend’s pile.
Like her, Mary had thrown a couple of guns in, including the mangled rifle, the vest she’d been wearing, and a few random items, but she was hesitating.
“E-Everything?” Mary asked quietly.
“Everything.” Pinpoint said flatly.
“Even the uniform?”
“Yep.”
Mary blushed as she glanced from Pinpoint to the men in suits standing a short distance away. “I-I’m not… I mean I don’t have…”
“Jake, grab one of my spares,” Pinpoint said, pointing at one of the men in suits without looking. The man she pointed at, a tall, beefy white guy with a buzz cut, nodded without a word and pulled a bag out of the back seat of the SUV before handing it to Pinpoint.
“Good, now you boys turn around, or else.” With military precision, the three men turned their backs to the women as Pinpoint unzipped the bag and pulled out a large beach towel. Handing it to Erika, she jerked her head at Mary.
Silently, Erika followed the unspoken command and unfolded it, spreading it wide to give her friend some semblance of privacy. Turning her head to the side, Erika looked out over the city, looking at the brightly shining lights of Honolulu. Despite the early morning hour, she could see the headlights of cars zipping along the freeway, the towering office buildings, condos, and resorts of the city still brightly lit. It wasn’t long before Mary finished dressing, her uniform landing on her pile with a thump of cloth and metal. Handing the towel back to Pinpoint, Erika saw that her friend was wearing a simple pair of black leggings and a baggy tee, her feet covered by a pair of cheap looking sneakers.
“Good,” Pinpoint said, giving Mary a once over. “Now just hand over the flash drive you hid.” Holding out her hand expectantly, Pinpoint stared at her friend until she grimaced and fished around under the tee before pulling something out and handing it over.”
“Excellent. Now Mary, please go with Robert,” she said, gesturing to a muscular black man who turned around as his name was mentioned. “He and his partner will drive you home and help you dispose of anything that might cause an issue before the police arrive to search your place. Please cooperate with them.”
Robert guided Mary over to one of the other SUVs and helped her into the back seat before getting in. Erika watched quietly as the SUV with her friend inside started to roll quietly down the hill, before Pinpoint cleared her throat.
“Now for you, Erika. You’ll be going with my friend Keoni and his partner. Like with Mary, you can expect the police to show up sometime in the morning to search your place, so they will assist you in taking care of anything… problematic before then. Make sure to behave yourself, and I’ll be in contact for next steps.”
“This way ma’am,” a dark skinned local looking man said as he guided her to the other SUV. Jumping in the back seat, Erika couldn’t help but marvel at the luxurious vehicle. It was immaculately clean, the smell that of a new car mixed with the faint whiff of cologne from the driver who acted as if she didn’t exist. Keoni jumped into the passenger seat at the front before the SUV started to move. No one spoke as they drove, Erika didn’t realize she’d nodded off until the SUV came to a stop. Opening her eyes, she felt a hint of surprise as she recognized the front of her building before her door opened.
With Keoni and the silent driver in tow carrying a pair of black duffle bags, Erika led them up to her apartment and watched as they got to work cleaning and sweeping her place. Sitting on her couch, she fought back a yawn as the two men pulled out some kind of devices and started going over everything in her sparsely decorated apartment. Nothing much happened until Keoni went into her kitchen and swiped the wand he held over the sack of things she’d taken from the portal and it started to beep erratically. With a frown, Keoni grabbed the bag and moved to put it in one of the black duffle bags.
“What’re you doing?! Those are mine,” Erika said as he did, springing up from the couch and reaching out for the bag.
“Ma’am, these are restricted mana infused items,” he said calmly, holding the items above his head.
Fuming, Erika tried to grab the bag, but couldn’t reach it, the man’s height and long arms putting it firmly out of reach. “Fuck that, I found them in the portal fair and square!”
“Ma’am, I am already aware you were involved in the recent portal emergence, but regulations require that all items found in portals be turned in for processing. Fair payment is to be made for such items after a proper assessment and valuation can be made.”
“Fair payment my ass,” Erika growled, jumping up to swipe at the bag, only to miss as she found herself eye level with it, the ceiling dangerously close to the top of her head. “What the—oof!” The floor and walls shook as all 120 pounds of her landed with a thud on her ass.
“God damnit, don’t make me come up there!” she heard her neighbor on the floor below scream.
Fuck, Erika thought to herself, her ears heating in embarrassment.
Keoni watched her for bit as he tucked her portal loot into one of the duffle bags before he offered her his hand.
Begrudgingly, Erika grabbed it and let the man pull her to her feet with surprising strength before he got back to work, taking the bag where he’d put her items around with him. The man was too smart. Settling in on her couch, she fought the urge to fall asleep as she watched the two men continue to work.
