A Second Chance

Part 27 - I guess I owe you one

Hopefully, Abyss, Venom, and Ripper have disappeared. I don't know where they are, but they won't be able to attack this city or cause havoc in any other city, as long as Emily follows my plan.

Speaking of Emily, she called me.

"Hey," I greeted. "Did you do what I asked you to do?"

"Yeah, I gave it to the Deathstroke," she said. "Nightshade wasn't there, so he was the best option,"

"That's good," I replied.

"I got to say, you're pretty smart," Emily remarked. "I listened to the recording and it's starting to make sense. You're practically framing Abyss, Venom, and Ripper as traitors to The Vipers, since they gave you some pretty confidential information. Deathstroke left almost instantly after I gave him the video,"

"Bingo," I affirmed. "Made by the one and only Jay Walker,"

"Not bad..."

What... did I just get complimented? As in, she didn't mock me? I've never thought that I'd get a compliment from someone like her. Emily didn't seem like the type of person to compliment someone randomly.

"That's the first time you haven't insulted me so casually,"

"It's deserved," Emily replied. "It's deserved. You held your ground during The Purge. And - ahem - you've brought a record-breaking shift to the city. That's not nothing. So... I'll start taking your team more seriously from here on out."

Maybe I should consider telling her?

I always promised myself I wouldn't tell anyone my secret identity; only The Swordsman and Mark knew; maybe Mr. Parker, but he's more of Mark's connection than mine. But Emily has been a great help and she is technically part of the team now. She even talked to Mark; the only thing she doesn't know is our identities.

Eh, if I'm going to work closely with her, she should at least know who I truly am. She's also not seen my true identity yet, so it's fine as long as I don't meet her.

"Hey, I have something to tell you," I said, holding my breath.

"What?" Emily replied. "You're acting weird all of a sudden."

"I'm Power-Punch."

There was a pause. It wasn't really pause that meant she was shocked, but the type of pause that made me wonder if walked away from her phone.

"...Seriously?" she finally said.

"Yes. I didn't want you to know at first, but now that you're officially part of the team, I figured it was time. I don't know if you ever suspected it before, but I believe a team shouldn't leave one person in the dark while everyone else shares secrets. I mean, sure, everyone has their own personal stuff, but no one should be deliberately excluded. So... yeah. Don't take it personally. The team needs your skills. That's the only reason I brought it up now."

I paused to breathe. 

My throat felt dry from that rambling, but yeah. There was nothing I could do now. Emily could hang up. She could disappear. She could do what the ninja did ten years ago, except it would be more on my side than hers.

Worst of all, she could tell Deathstroke. I just told a spy from The Vipers my identity. Granted, she wasn't working with any organization at the moment, but that did not mean she was harmless.

"Wow," she finally said. "You talk way too much."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

"You're not... mad?"

"No, I'm not mad," Emily said calmly. "There's nothing wrong. I got what I needed."