The Watchwomen

Chapter 15 (Intermission): Forming The Team

We last read Chapter 14, in which Carla Rosenblood a.k.a. Nightclaw successfully avenges a homeless man whom she met during her night patrol of Mercury Heights, New York.....a homeless man who tragically died in her arms of starvation due to his former boss firing him for being a "criminal". All he did was get a ticket from a police officer for speeding after he desperately tried to get his dying dog to a veterinarian, and he ended up paying for it with his job and eventually his life. Nightclaw then hunts down and successfully kills the homeless man's former boss at the Victor's Vittles grocery store before taking her leave and returning to Dr. Duncan Drevis's apartment complex, deciding that she's seen enough sorrow for the night.

The next morning, Monica receives Herman's email report from the previous night, and with Herman's drone—and the mysterious red dust sample—also on the way, she goes to wake up the other members of her party so they can get started on another day of investigating the Diamond Legion.

This time, we watch as all four girls have breakfast while deciding where to go and what to do next.....

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At about 8:00am, Hailey, Carla, Cassie, and Monica were all in the breakfast nook of Dr. Duncan Drevis's apartment, with two boxes of pastries from a nearby Dunkin' on the table. Of the quartet, three of them were out of costume at the moment; Hailey had on a plain red T-shirt and red shorts with white snowflake designs on them, Carla was wearing the same outfit she had worn the previous night when she attempted to save the homeless man, and Cassie wore black leggings and a long-sleeved light-blue top with draping sleeves. Monica, meanwhile, was still technically in her superhero outfit; she had stayed up extremely late to wait for Herman's drone, and as a result, her main focus afterwards was getting to sleep, so she didn't want to—in her eyes—"waste time" by changing clothes.

"Good morning, everyone!" Monica greeted. "I ordered some food from Dunkin' with my phone a while ago. Hope you don't mind!"

"Well.....it's not meat, but it'll do," Carla conceded as she took one jelly-filled doughnut from the open box on the right and took a bite out of it.

".....That's not all you eat, is it?" Hailey inquired. "I'm just asking, since you're a werewolf and all."

"I could reheat some sausages for you if you want!" Monica offered. "My brother's got a lot of stuff in the kitchen!"

"Oh no, I'm fine," Carla answered. "And no, it's not all I eat; I just wish it was. I'm not picky, though; I already got a nice taste of flesh yesterday."

Hailey was a little uncomfortable, but was interested to hear at the same time. She knew that, despite her occasionally-edgy demeanor, Carla was a Paragon to the letter, and she would never harm someone without a reason to.

"What, uhhh.....what happened last night?" Hailey asked Carla. "Monica let you go out, didn't she? 'Cause you weren't needed on day 1?"

Carla groaned and rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Don't remind me." She then proceeded to inform Hailey, Cassie, and Monica about her short but emotional adventure that took place the previous night, taking care to mention everything from the homeless man to the Victor's Vittles Grocery Store and its unscrupulous boss.

Hailey, Cassie, and Monica all recoiled slightly at Carla's description of how ruthless and callous the head of that Victor's Vittles branch was. Still, they exchanged unsettling glances with each other, wondering if Carla had gone too far.

"Well.....I'm not pleased that he's dead," Hailey admitted. "But you are an anti-hero....."

Carla smiled remorselessly. "Yep! What you see is what you get!"