Spectacular World

The Loss of Jack

Nearly One Year Ago...

"Whoa, so they made Money Tree the leader of the Sub Enforcers?" Backup asked.

"I don't think this is a good time to discuss this." Bad Wolf mumbled as she ducked under the swing of a goon's bat.

Old Dog casually twirled his body, a bullet flying past him. He brought his arms up and poked two of his fingers into the eyes of the grunt he was fighting, then hooked his thumb into the man's nose, and with a twist of his wrist, he forced the goon's body to twist until it slammed head first into the ground. "I am just as surprised as you are, Backup." He kicked his leg backward, his shoe flying off, sending it into the barrel of a gun another goon had been holding and causing the gun to go off into the air. "Myth had been a sure pick. At least I would have thought."

"I feel like we should be talking about this later." Bad Wolf poked another grunt in the center of his stomach, sending the goon crashing into a back wall. "Who even are these guys, by the way? They don't have the Bad Timers logo on, and they don't have the masks of Zoo. Did we accidentally find a new crime group?"

"Seems like it." Backup shrugged. He wasn't in the middle of fighting. Instead, he scrolled on his phone, casually dodging bullets and swings as he read the latest hero news on Hero Hub. "Looks like they're calling themselves the Wandering Coin."

"Bad Wolf is right. We should focus on these guys first." Old Dog grunted.

It was the middle of the night, and with Sub Enforcers recovering and trying to recruit new members after the ones that were lost in last year's Calamity attack, it was up to Watch Dogs to take care of Oleander. They had also lost a few members and had become short on recruits, but they'd have to manage. Old Dog's team was split into two groups, his group including Backup and Bad Wolf.

The three of them had been patrolling the city when they stumbled across a warehouse that was up to some shady stuff. Old Dog didn't know what kind of products they were trying to sell, but he did know he was going to let it happen on his watch.

That was why they now fought their way through a horde of grunts. Most villains didn't really trust one another. It was a dog-eat-dog world, and they mostly had to fend for themselves. Even the ones they did team up would need to constantly watch their backs. That was why they mainly hired non-powered grunts. It was a means of either slowing heroes down or tiring them out. Sometimes both.

Old Dog practically swam through the crowd of goons, hitting the perfect spot to knock them all out instantly. He came to a stop as dozens of them dropped to the ground around him. His outfit was worn back in the day during the war with Lucifer. The red military-like jacket had faded to a black matching the Victorian's own. Of course, her jacket had also belonged to Nier and had been gifted to her by her dad. He'd have rather it ended up in a museum in order to honor Full Monarch, but that was too much to ask for, apparently.

The warehouse itself wasn't anything too impressive. It had been mostly gutted, all the heavy machines in it having been taken out and replaced with boxes of their drugs. The only actual notable thing was a set of stairs that had been built in, which would lead to the underground section of the city.

Bad Wolf threw her hands out, and black clouds blasted out, rising high into the air above all the grunts. The air filled with static, and then, in a flash, lightning rained down. It was mild and kept low, only having the stun of a taser, but that was more than enough for these guys. They all dropped to the ground as if their strings had been cut.

Backup let out a giggle and then broke out into full-blown laughter. Even Old Dog had to cover his face as he began to snicker. "What?" Bad Wolf asked. The old man pulled out a mirror and flashed it to Bad Wolf, allowing her to see how her fur expanded and fluffed out wildly. She sighed and caused rain to pour down on her, fixing it, and she drew her cloak tighter around her body.