CHAPTER 1 - Red-Hot Ruby

“Okay, I see the museum," said Foxgirl, peering through her binoculars at the building opposite the one she was perched on the roof of. It had long since closed for the night, its large set of stairs void of the rush of people usually clamoring to get inside. Somewhat uncreatively named the Garden City Museum, it was consistently popular; the Greek inspiration for its architecture stood out against the modern buildings surrounding it, and the inside was home to many rare artifacts…as far as the public knew, anyway. Unbeknownst to most citizens, it had a policy of making replicas and then replacing the originals with those, then either returning it to its country of origin or moving the artifact deep underground into a secure vault if this wasn't possible. She knew because she had been there many times to stop hopeful thieves who knew too much, and occasionally a thief who didn't know as much as they thought, though the museum certainly was no happier about her knowing than any of the potential pilferers. However, a recent addition had caused an increase to the already sizable crowd: the Jezebel Ruby, a deep red gem two feet tall, had recently been transferred to the museum. Given the transfer was short notice, a replica would not be finished for another day or two, meaning the gem currently on display was, in fact, the real ruby. This wouldn't be a problem if Foxgirl wasn't positive it would soon become a target for one particular villain.

“Good, any signs of guards outside? These cameras aren't really built for detail," a female voice said through the earpiece Foxgirl wore. It was calm, smooth, soothing, just what she needed to hear on stressful nights like this.

Foxgirl looked closer, scanning the area for any movement. She even checked the nearby alleyways, but there was not a hint of movement. “Nope, nothing."

“Do you think he already got to them?"

She shook her head despite technically being alone. “Doubt it. Crowley's not all that careful except when it comes to jewels. If there was a fight, there'd be bloodstains somewhere, or bullet casings at least. The ground's spotless. My guess is there were never any guards at all."

“Okay, that's definitely weird. No guards outside or inside? Something's up. I just checked all the cameras again, and there's not a single guard. Seems kind of lax given there's a giant ruby in there."

Foxgirl smiled. “All of them? That was fast. You really are amazing, Envoy."

“If that impresses you, I'll have to go even faster next time."

“You're adorable. So the entire place is more or less unguarded? Even the ruby?"

Envoy sighed. “Yeah. I mean, there's likely security systems, so at least there's something. That said, I've heard of being confident in your security but this is pushing it."

“Guess we're needed more than we thought," she grinned, collapsing the binoculars and clipping them to her belt. From beside it, she grabbed a gadget shaped like a large pistol with two sets of talons, one forming a large claw on the end and the others on the hilt aiming up towards the barrel. She aimed the large claw at the rooftop of the museum and fired, causing it and the thick rope attached to it to shoot across the gap and dig itself firmly into the stone. Foxgirl gave it a few tugs and set the pistol down, pressing a button on the side. The smaller talons clamped down, easily piercing the concrete and securing it to the building she stood on. After a small kick to make sure it was stable, she took a deep breath and stepped onto the rope, keeping one foot firmly on the building. After seeing that it did not so much as wiggle an inch, she carefully placed her other foot on the rope as well. Slowly but surely, she made her way across and onto the museum's roof. She pressed another button on the large claw, and the gadget instantly dislodged itself and began to retract in reverse. After it had fully retracted, she placed the gadget back on her belt.

“Not bad, babe," said Envoy.

“Thanks, I do my best," Foxgirl grinned, turning to the nearby windows that formed skylights for the museum. One of them, she knew from previous experience, could be removed to create an entrance from above. Setting the glass pane aside, she jumped into the opening and landed on one a t-rex “skeleton" below. However, she misjudged the distance and stumbled several feet forward, only managing to catch herself at the last second at the very edge of the skull by grabbing onto the edge of the skeleton's eye.

“That was less impressive," Envoy chuckled.

“Ugh, I feel like you've seen me fail way too much. Sometimes I wish this city had less security cameras," she muttered.

“But then I wouldn't be able to watch you succeed, either. I'd miss that."

Using the skeleton's spine as a path, Foxgirl made her way down the dinosaur's back to its tail where she jumped to the ground, landing much more gracefully than before. “So, what's the best way in?"

“I'm looking at a map now. Hmm...okay, see that door on your left? That goes right to the Wonders of the World exhibit."

“There's no way it's that easy," Foxgirl sighed.

“You know it. If there's no guards, it's probably not safe to go that way. Take a guess why."

“Because whoever dealt with the guards, however they did it, is assuming anyone coming through will take the shortest way, so there's bound to be a trap of some kind," she replied.

“My thoughts exactly. However, the door on your right leads to the Roman exhibit. Go through that, past the Egypt exhibit, then take a left. When you come to the Mesopotamia one, take another left and keep going. You'll see a sign to the Wonders exhibit. Much longer, but I would assume it's safer."

“You're so good to me."

“I do my best, baby."

Smiling, she took off down the hall Envoy directed her towards. It was a good thing she had no interest in history, otherwise she'd likely have been enamored by the copies of relics and small bits of information posted beside them. Artifacts from Mexico, the country both sets of her grandparents were born in, usually managed to capture her interest slightly longer but even those rarely kept hold of her.

“Hey, Envoy. Did you ever have that weird Egypt phase as a kid?" she asked as she passed a large model sarcophagus in the Egypt exhibit. “I did. I mean it's cool and all, but I don't know what I saw in it back then, you know?"

“Nah, I was more of an ancient India kind of girl. My dad was real confused when I said I wanted to learn Maharashtri Prakrit."

“Did you ever grow out of it?"

“Of course I did...which means now I know an extremely specific form of Prakrit for no reason. Like, what am I supposed to do with that, exactly? Hope someone will bring me an ancient document that just happens to be in the language?"

“You're not the only one who's learned near-useless stuff. You know how many unnecessarily specific fighting styles there are in the world? There's one I learned where the main use is against raging oxen in a wheat field, but only in winter."

“Hey babe?"

“Uh-huh?"

“Why do you know that style?"

Foxgirl shook her head. “I didn't mean to learn it, the lady I was learning from only said she had a 'secret technique'...which I guess wasn't really wrong."

“Well, if you ever have to fight an ox in a wheat field during the winter, you'll be prepared."

Foxgirl reached the entrance to the Wonders of the World exhibit which was dedicated to showing off the most amazing things that various countries had to offer, even the ones that already had entire exhibits dedicated to them. Unsurprisingly, it had been a target of numerous thieves, but they were all small-time criminals, barely able to tell the difference between a smoke bomb and a smoke grenade. Most of the time, she wasn't even needed.

She knew that wouldn't be the case tonight.

“Envoy?" she said, stopping outside the large door.

“I'm here. You okay?"

She shook her head. “What if the guards were killed? He probably knew I'd come. That means it's my fault if they died or got hurt."

“Foxgirl, you know that isn't how Crowley does things. He may be a thief, but he doesn't go out of his way to murder anyone. A few broken bones, some concussions, that's all he's ever done. It's okay, baby. I promise," she said gently. “Now get in there and show that bird who's boss."

Unfortunately, it turned out she would have to wait as there was nobody else in the room. Foxgirl, who had kicked the door open and sprang into the exhibit holding the expandable metal staff she kept on her belt, looked around in confusion and sighed. “Envoy! Why'd you have to put it like that? He's not even here yet, I thought you saw him on the camera or something!"

“Sorry, babe. I was just trying to encourage you. You nailed that entrance, though. So good job on that!"

Foxgirl rolled her eyes and, staff still in hand, approached the Jezebel Ruby. She knew little about jewels, mainly just whatever she learned from Crowley's monologues, but even she could tell that it was no ordinary stone. Aside from its massive size, it had been cut so magnificently that she couldn't be positive it had been done by a human. The rays of the moon shining in from the skylight gave the gem an otherworldly shimmer both beautiful and haunting.

“This thing is amazing. No way I'm ever touching it, the thing's probably cursed. But Crowley must have gone nuts when he learned it was in town," said Foxgirl.

“There's no way he didn't lose his mind. That said, it really makes you wonder who thought it'd be a good idea to host the world's largest ruby in the same town with a noted gem thief."

“Would you rather it be in Diamond City? No one would ever see the thing again after about ten minutes. At least here, there's a chance it'll last twenty," Foxgirl chuckled.

“Fair enough. Crystal Lake wouldn't be any better either, I guess. It'd probably end up as some bizarre ritual focus. You just know some weird cult would think it's made by their demon god or something."

Foxgirl shrugged. “Yeah, but at least then it'd be Mistress's problem, not mine. She's handled a few doomsday cults, I'm sure she could deal with another one. Besides, the way this thing is cut, it might actually have been made by a demon god."

“...let's not test any of those theories, okay babe?"

To pass the time, Foxgirl wandered around the area checking out the other displays, looking on in mild interest at some and something closer to polite (but ultimately feigned) interest at others.

“There's a blown up version of a drawing featuring a martial arts fighter," she said, staring at a large sheet of paper upon which were several pictures. “The person who did it must have been working from memory instead of using a model."

“Really? How do you know?"

She pointed to the right hand of the fighter on the left. He was holding a staff that was about as tall as he was and looked determined to use it. “Two things. You're looking at the cameras, right? First, look at the thing he's carrying."

“Hmm...looks like a staff. I don't know much about fighting, just what I've read for clients or picked up from you. Is there something wrong with it?"

“Yeah. This mural says the depiction was made by a traveler to Egypt around 1800 BC and is depicting “tahtib". You know what that is?"

“If I remember right, it's an Egyptian form of fighting with a staff or large stick. Been around for quite a while."

“Uh-huh. When I was spending some time in Egypt, I picked up a few lessons on it. First problem is that the staff is way too big, like it's supposed to be around four feet, so if that's the real size then this guy is absolutely miniscule"

“Maybe he was tiny, you don't know. What's the other issue?"

“His head is wide open. Literally, the entire point is to not get bonked on the head and this guy's face is primed for bonking."

Envoy paused. “...that's an interesting way to put it, but I see where this is going. If it has that many mistakes, there likely wasn't a model used...and likely no understanding at all of the art."

“That's history for you. One of the reasons I hate it," Foxgirl shrugged.

“You traveled the world for years and came back with a hatred for history. Most people would have the opposite experience," she chuckled. “Maybe if you-"

Envoy went silent.

“Envoy? What's wrong?" Foxgirl asked.

“Hide. Now."

Without hesitation, Foxgirl darted behind a nearby display and peeked out at the Jezebel Ruby. She was just in time; the moment she'd hidden herself, someone else dashed into the room. Although their features were difficult to see, she could tell that their clothing was bulky and stuck out at several points, and their face was elongated into a beak. A mask, she knew, but it was still unsettling in the darkness.

“Ah, there it is," the man sighed blissfully, reaching one arm out to touch the glass between him and the ruby. His voice was high-pitched and a little annoying in Foxgirl's opinion, though her attempt to liken it to a crow as an insult only resulted in him thanking her for the compliment. “I have waited so long for you, my beautiful ruby...so long indeed. Ah, and a ray of the moon's silver shines from the heavens onto my prize. It is surely a sign that it is meant to be mine, and mine alone."

Foxgirl leaped out from behind the display, pointing her staff at the man. “The only thing that'll be yours is an extended sentence at Richter, Crowley."

“You do realize that, had you simply attacked without announcing your presence, I would have been struck down in an instant," Crowley said, turning slowly to face her.

“He's right, you know," Envoy chimed in.

“Who's side are you on, Envoy?" Foxgirl grumbled.

Crowley smiled. “Ah, so she is with you as usual. It is a pleasure to see you, my dear Envoy. Well, not see, but you know what I mean."

“Can you take care of him already? The longer I have to look at his outlandish outfit and listen to him talk, the more I suffer," said Envoy.

She was right that his costume was unique; he had modeled it after a crow, giving himself wings attached to his arms. They were for decoration only with no actual flight capabilities, she had discovered several months prior, and had feathers made from tiny crystals. As always, he had changed the color of his “feathers" to match the gem he was trying to steal, in this case making himself into a large, glistening, deep red bird. “You've got one chance, Crowley. Leave now, and I won't even tell the cops you were here. We can just get on with our nights. Do we have a deal?"

“Hmm...a tempting offer, but I am afraid I will have to pass. I do not make a habit of making deals that do not work out in my favor. The Crystal Crow must always get the treasure he so desires. Besides, I already went to the trouble of having a guard disable the security for the ruby. He was rather eager, it seems, as it looks like he went ahead and disabled security for the entire museum…save for the cameras, of course. Diamonds are not just a girl's best friend, apparently!"

“You know you can't win a fight against me, Crowley," Foxgirl said. “We're, what? Twenty four and zero at this point?"

Crowley laughed. “Oh, my dear, of course I can't! A fight with you is metaphorical suicide! No, no, I am a gem, and gems cannot be exposed to harsh treatment lest their value diminish. That is why I have rigged this entire museum with explosives!" He pulled out an object from inside his costume that appeared to be a small red diamond. He flipped the top up to reveal a button, over which his thumb hovered while he smiled condescendingly at Foxgirl. “A single push, and the entire building goes up in a ball of fire. That said, perhaps the heat and strain will purify you into a more precious gem!"

“Do you really think we'd believe that? If this place is destroyed, so is your precious ruby," Foxgirl scowled.

Crowley shook his head. “Oh, no no no! Isn't it entirely possible that I've already found a bigger ruby, and my coming here is because I knew you'd show up to stop me? Why, this is the perfect chance to rid myself of you once and for all!"

“You haven't found a bigger ruby," she said slowly.

“Care to test that theory?" he grinned, holding up the detonator.

“Foxgirl, he's not lying. I just checked the roof of the building, there's some weird device planted on it right above where you two are standing. I'm looking for others now. I think I can see another in the exhibit before the one you're in."

“Damn it..." Foxgirl grunted, shortening her staff and placing it back on her belt. The exhibits were replicas and therefore replaceable, but the monetary damage to fix the building and create new replicas would be astronomical…and she would likely be the one blamed for it. As much as she hated it, she knew the smarter move would be to let him have the ruby and track him down later. “Fine, just...take it, okay? As long as you don't press that button."

Crowley laughed and plucked a crystal from his wing, driving it into the glass. Now cracked and brittle, it took only a single kick for him to completely shatter it. He approached the gem, wide-eyed. “It is more beautiful than ever up close. My goodness...such a striking crimson..." He gently picked the gem up and turned back to face Foxgirl. “It was a good attempt, my dear, but a failed one! However, you did not immediately apprehend me, and even if it was due to poor decision making, I do believe in playing fair. So! I will let you in on a little secret. Besides, should you attempt to stop me now, you could damage a priceless artifact, so I know there is no harm in telling you." He began to walk towards the door. “I did plant objects around the museum in the event that you did not believe my claim of explosives, but they are not explosives, only props. That was nothing more than a ruse."

“Oh, and I'm supposed to believe you had nothing to do with there being no guards here as well?" Foxgirl snapped, running forward to catch up with him.

Crowley shook his head. “Actually, I assumed you had something to do with that. I only bribed a single guard to turn off the alarms. Perhaps your ego demands you capture me yourself without assistance from law enforcement? Hmm…though judging from your reaction, it seems it wasn't you. Curious. Oh, well."

Foxgirl raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so that wasn't you. I also want to know how you got on the roof. You don't even like heights."

“I detest them, so I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

“The explosive on the roof? Envoy just said she found one of the things you planted up there. You said it's a fake, but how'd you get up there at all?"

Crowley stopped walking. He said nothing for a moment, then slowly turned his head to look at her. His eyes were wide again, but this time in fear, not admiration.

“Foxgirl, I didn't plant anything on the roof."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a thunderous boom rang across the area followed by pieces of the ceiling raining down upon them. Foxgirl immediately grabbed Crowley and pulled him out of the way while raising her cape to shield them both. Envoy once explained what it was made from, some kind of experimental synthetic material from TITAN Labs over in Diamond City that redistributed force from an impact…and that was about all she got from the explanation. The rest sounded like a string of made up words. What mattered was that the cape did its job: her rescue was just in time to prevent Crowley from being crushed by a particularly large piece of rubble, and any smaller pieces that landed on them bounced harmlessly off of her cape.

“Foxgirl, what happened? The roof of the museum just caved in!" Envoy exclaimed.

“Yeah, I...I know! I'll...tell you when I find out!" she replied, coughing from the dust. When it finally settled, she unshielded Crowley and found a rope ladder had descended into the room. It was attached to a helicopter hovering above the new hole in the roof, and holding onto it were three people, two rather burly males in suits and a woman with short, closely cut black hair who wore a ruffled purple dress and a fluffy white scarf wrapped around her neck that draped itself over her right shoulder. The men carried pistols in their free hands while the woman carried a tommy gun.

“Foxgirl and the Crystal Crow," she said, her voice slow, clear, and careful. “Now ain't that some applesauce. From what I've heard, you two should be at each other's throats right now." She smiled. “Well, it doesn't matter. I'll have what's mine even if I have to take both of you down to get it."

“You!" Crowley snapped, pushing Foxgirl aside and stepping towards the ladder. “What are you doing here? Come to steal my prize, Dora?"

The woman laughed and snapped her fingers. The two men jumped to the ground and pointed their guns at Crowley. “You have to be joking. Your prize, Crystal Crow? Your brain must be fried. You wouldn't have even made it in here if it wasn't for me. I don't think it was your dough that made this place so empty tonight."

“So you're why there was no security!" Foxgirl growled. “What do you want with the ruby? That's what you're here for, isn't it?"

“Not bad for an amateur detective. You figured it out just a bit faster than my three year old cousin would have," she replied, getting off the ladder herself. “Yes, darling, I'm here for the ruby. You do understand how much it will go for on the black market, right? I promised my friends a big payday, and I refuse to break a promise to them."

“Then maybe you shouldn't have promised," said Foxgirl.

Dora shook her head. “After all the work they've put in recently, they deserve something nice. Surely even you can understand something as simple as that. If you work hard then you should be rewarded, and that ruby is exactly how I plan to do it. Oh, speaking of getting what you deserve..." She glanced at the man on her left and nodded. Without saying a word, he raised his gun and shot a single round into Crowley's shoulder.

“Crowley!" Foxgirl cried, running over to him and examining the wound. “Envoy, call an ambulance! Crowley was just shot! I don't think it hit anything major, but he needs to get to a hospital! And if you don't point that gun somewhere else right now, I'm going to shove it down your throat!" After shooting Crowley, he had immediately pointed the gun at Foxgirl, though why he hadn't shot her yet was a mystery she didn't care to solve.

“I'd like to see you try!" the man laughed. The other man joined his side, putting his pistol into its holster and cracking his knuckles menacingly. And then, before either of them had time to react, Foxgirl lunged at the man with the gun. She forced his arm upwards as the gun shot a round into the ceiling and snaked her way onto his back, then used his own weight to pull him backwards. Just as he began to fall, Foxgirl snatched the gun from his hand and hurled it at the other man's face. With her earned second of distraction, she leaped backwards to avoid getting crushed by the first man and lunged once more at the second, tackling him to the ground and grabbing his pistol as well.

“Crowley! Take it!" she yelled, throwing one of the pistols at him. He picked it up with his uninjured arm and pointed the weapon at Dora's “friends" while Foxgirl pointed the other at Dora.

“Not bad," said Dora, clapping slowly. “You took down some of my finest boys, and you did it without seriously injuring them…unlike some other vigilantes I've had to deal with. Oh, don't misunderstand me; you still hurt them, even if just a little, and that's something I can't forgive. Still, you went out of your way to avoid damage, and I can respect you for that."

One of the men sat up. “Ugh…don't worry, Dora! We'll get her this time!"

She shook her head. “No, leave her. What's she going to do?"

“You forgetting we're holding guns? I could just shoot you right now and be done with it," Foxgirl asked.

Dora chuckled. “Darling, I may not be a gumshoe but I don't go into a fight without a little research first. If I thought either of you would do me in, I wouldn't have brought guns for you to steal from my boys." She looked at the first man Foxgirl had taken down. “Grab the ruby and let's get out of here. You've earned some rest."

The man nodded and approached Crowley, snatching the ruby away and seeming completely unafraid of the weapon being pointed at him as he did so.

“We'll be taking that. I don't think you'll need it," he said.

“How...dare you...!" Crowley grunted through his pain. “I will never forget this...!"

“Funny, because I had already forgotten you were even here," Dora shrugged. “Let's scram, boys! Tonight's round is on me for a job well done!"

With that, the three of them grabbed onto the ladder again. Dora looked down at them one last time and winked.

“It was nice to finally meet you, Foxgirl! Maybe next time our meeting can be under better circumstances, but for now, I'm afraid I have to see a man about a dog. That means get a drink, by the way."

“I know what it means!" Foxgirl snapped.

Laughing daintily, Dora ascended and flew off into the night along with her bodyguards, leaving Foxgirl and Crowley alone and the room quiet save for the faint sound of police cars making their way towards the museum.

“Envoy, did you call the ambulance?" Foxgirl asked.

“Yeah, they're on their way. Are you alright? The explosion took out the only camera that gave me a clear view into that room, so I didn't see what happened."

“It was some woman named Dora," Foxgirl growled. “Her and her goons swooped in and stole the ruby after shooting Crowley in the shoulder. I think he'll be fine, but-"

“Before you say anything else, no, it wasn't your fault. We're not gonna do that whole thing you always do, alright? We need to focus."

She reluctantly nodded. “Yeah. You're right. By the way, you did that thing I asked, right? About the front door?"

“Baby, who do you think you're talking to? Of course I did. Guess it was a good move after all."

Not a minute later, police began to swarm into the room along with several journalists who seemed unbothered by the police's attempts to kick them out. Two of the officers approached Foxgirl, a man about her age with a kind face and a rather stern looking woman with glasses holding a notepad.

“I figured you'd be involved somehow," the man said. “When stuff like this happens, you always are. Did he do this?"

“Of course he did," the woman growled. “It's either him or Foxgirl, they're the only two who were here."

“Actually, no," said Foxgirl, cutting off whatever Crowley had been about to say. “I did think he was going to steal it, so I stayed nearby just in case. When I got here, Crowley was already in front of the display, but he wasn't trying to take the ruby. He said he only wanted to look at it since he'd already caught wind of a bigger ruby but that, as a former jeweler, he couldn't miss the chance to see it for himself."

“We're supposed to believe that?" the woman asked bluntly, pausing her furious scribbling on her notepad.

“That was actually the exact same thing I said to him, but it seems like he really didn't want it. Then Dora, whoever that is, showed up and blew that hole in the roof. Took the ruby with her on a helicopter."

“Dora, huh...How'd he get in, though?" the male officer asked. “Doors should have been locked."

Foxgirl shook her head. “You came in through the front door, right? It was unlocked when I got here, so he probably got in the same way we did. Weird, right Baxter?"

Baxter paused. Suddenly understanding, he gave a small smile. “Ah, I see. A few more things, then. Why is he dressed in his Crystal Crow outfit? And why not come during the day if he only wanted to look?"

“Because..." she continued, cutting off Crowley again. By now the paramedics had arrived and were examining his wound. “...he said if he came during the day, people would recognize him and think he's up to something. As for the outfit, I don't know, the guy dresses like a crow. You really think his fashion choices are going to make sense?"

“Coming from the girl dressed like a fox," Baxter chuckled. “Well, I'll just have someone check the cameras then to see if your story checks out and then-"

“Huh? What's that Envoy?" said Foxgirl, pressing her fingers to her earpiece. “...uh-huh. Got it. Envoy said she already did, turns out the cameras were all turned off. No footage of tonight at all. Whoever runs security here really needs to step their game up, huh?"

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Seems a little convenient. The front door just happened to be open, and the cameras all just happened to be off? And you do realize that, even if that's all true, you can both still be charged with trespassing." She showed what she had written to the two of them; although Foxgirl kept a straight face for Baxter's sake, she internally rolled her eyes at the near full page of tiny words that clearly had more detail than what had been said. “I've already taken the liberty of writing down any possible crimes committed, and while theft nor even attempted theft are included, I was able to come up with arguments for trespassing, unlawful entry in the event that he's lying-"

“Uh...aren't unlawful entry and trespassing the same thing? Also, who is this, exactly?" Foxgirl asked Baxter.

“Amelia Groves, new recruit on the force," he replied. “I'm trying to show her the ropes, but-"

“But with all due respect, sir, you're far too lenient," Amelia cut in. “And no, Foxgirl, they are not the same thing. When Baxter spoke of you, I expected that you would at least have basic knowledge of criminology, and yet you seem...lacking."

Foxgirl laughed. “Ms. Groves, when you stop a criminal syndicate from planting a bomb in the heart of the city and fight through an actual army to get to it, then you can tell me I'm lacking. So, what's the difference?"

Amelia looked as though she would love nothing more than to harshly tell off the strange costumed girl standing before her, but she simply narrowed her eyes and said, “...the difference is that unlawful entry involves the intent to commit a crime. Trespassing doesn't necessarily need that, you just have to be somewhere you shouldn't. So, even if he truly did not intend to commit any sort of crime tonight, it is still illegal to enter the museum after hours without permission. Something you should keep in mind."

“Amelia, I already told you: we're willing to look the other way for Foxgirl if she catches the culprit," said Baxter.

“And? Has she caught them?" she asked, looking around the room. “Because it looks to me like she hasn't. This...Dora? She stole the ruby, yes? Not the Crystal Crow. Yet this woman hasn't been caught, so Foxgirl's special permission has no sway right now. Besides, who is this Dora? I've heard of plenty of masked vigilantes and villains already: Foxgirl, Mannequin, even the Croo-"

“Please, Amelia," Baxter said suddenly, closing his eyes. “Please…don't say that name."

She rolled her eyes and continued. “The point is, I've heard of a number of you heroes and villains, yet not one word about Dora. Why not?"

“Because we didn't want you to know," Baxter replied. “Dora, or Dumb Dora, is a pretty new player. She's a crime lord who runs the Dapper Cats, started out in Diamond City about a year ago but she relocated here a month back. We heard the Rogues had their hands full with her, and the last thing we wanted was to let the public know a criminal even the Rogues had trouble with had made her way into the city. They're panicking about enough criminals already. Knowledge of her presence was limited to commanding officers like myself and above."

“What about you, Foxgirl? You ever heard of her?" Amelia grumbled.

“No, I've never even seen her before. Like Baxter said, she's pretty new in town. That's probably why. I do have an, uh...informant working on that, though."

“Guess that's my cue," said Envoy. “I'll have some info for you by the time you're done."

“So, is that everything you needed, Baxter?" Foxgirl asked. “I really need to go after Dora."

“No, it isn't," said Amelia. “Remember: you still committed a crime tonight, and your protection doesn't apply."

She crossed her arms. “What, you gonna arrest me?" she scoffed.

“Yes," Amelia replied. “I have every right to do so."

Baxter immediately stepped between the two of them. “Amelia, calm down. We're not arresting Foxgirl."

“I am calm, sir, and that's exactly why I'm doing this." She glared at Foxgirl. “I've reviewed the case files of you and many other vigilantes in this city. I understand most of you are just trying to help, which is why I don't even want to arrest you. That said, we can't just let people run around doing whatever they want. So when you fail to catch Dumb Dora, this will serve as an important lesson: leave criminal matters to the police. You can't help, so please don't try."

If her desire to catch Dora had not been solidified already, those three words would have done so.

You can't help.

Her mind, against her will, forced her to watch a scene she had seen many times over the years: a woman on the ground, a man standing over her with a knife. He looked up and grinned.

You can't help her, he mouthed, taking the knife and bringing it down on the woman-

“Foxgirl?" said Baxter, placing a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head to clear her mind.

“Yeah, I'm...I'm good. I need to go, Dora could be anywhere by now. I'll see you later, Baxter. Try to keep the rookie in line," she said, giving a half-hearted smile as she pulled out the clawed device from earlier. Ignoring Baxter, who had taken a step towards her, she shot the claw through the hole in the roof, attaching it to the roof of a nearby building. Pressing a button on it, the device quickly retracted, pulling Foxgirl along with it out of the museum.

Several rooftops later, she sat down, dangling her legs over the side and gazing at the city before her. It wasn't perfect, she knew that. Her existence was proof, let alone all the other heroes in the city. Still, it had many good parts, too, and that was what she truly wanted to protect.

Plus, at least it wasn't Diamond City. She never liked that place.

“Envoy. What do you have on Dumb Dora?" Foxgirl asked.

“A bit. Real name is Jane Johnson. Her family was actually pretty well-off, but for some reason, she joined a gang when she was nineteen."

“Abusive parents, maybe?" Foxgirl asked, fiddling with her mask.

“Can't say, that sort of information isn't really in any database. I'd have to use other methods to find out. Anyway, this gang was small, we're talking their main source of income was from simple street muggings. They weren't even named."

Foxgirl raised an eyebrow. “You're telling me this lame gang had one of the top mob bosses in it at one point? How does that work?"

“I'm getting there, baby. Be patient," said Envoy gently. “Turns out Dora doesn't like to be pushed around. Found an interview with one of the members who was caught. Apparently he was running in a panic through the streets in broad daylight, which is what got him noticed by a nearby officer. He was told to give up info on the other members, so he did, but given the gang barely did anything, other arrests were never made. He said there was a woman named Jane who hated their boss because he always pushed everyone around and took the biggest share of the money for himself. Typical male gang leader. One day though, Jane started sucking up to him. The guy began trusting her, so he eventually made her his right hand."

“Let me guess, then she shot him?" Foxgirl chuckled.

“Actually, yes."

“...wow, okay. I was joking about that one. Then what?"

“She took control of the gang and said anyone who wasn't okay with it could leave. The guy panicked and ran off, which is how he got caught. I'm checking messages between gang members and police now and searching for any mention of Jane Johnson or Dumb Dora. Hmm...well, it seems the first use of her new name was only a few days after she assumed command. She started to dress like a flapper, and she quickly became known as...huh, that's strange."

“Envoy, I just stopped a man wearing a crystal fursuit from stealing a giant ruby only for a flapper to show up in a helicopter and yoink it from us. However strange it is, it can't top that."

“...valid. Well, from what I can tell, she's actually known for being...fair. As in, people love to work for her. Whenever she gets money, she makes sure everyone else is paid first before she takes anything. I'm reading texts some members have sent to their friends in other gangs, and they're all positive. 'You gotta join, Dora is actually nice and always gets us a good payday', 'Dora actually respects us unlike your shitty boss', 'I literally made twice what the boss made, and when I brought it up, she gave us even more of her cut'...wow, for a gang leader, she's practically a saint."

Her behavior at the museum made sense now; Dora did mention promising a big payday, but Foxgirl figured that was just the usual boss speech that really meant she'd be getting the biggest share.

“It seems she can be pretty ruthless, too; police found some guy hanging upside down from the rafters last month with a sign on the ground pointing to him that said 'arrest me, I'm selfish and don't deserve to have anything'. There was even a folder with proof of every crime he had committed next to the sign and a card that read, 'Love, Dora' with a little heart next to it. Turns out he'd been stealing small bits of payment from the other gang members for a few days, and when Dora caught on, she wasn't happy."

“So she's incredibly extra, got it."

“Honey, we're talking about Diamond City. Everyone is extra. Well, not that this city's better."

Foxgirl stood up. “So what we've got is a mob boss who looks out for her own men but takes no disrespect from them either. Not only that, she seems pretty smart. That could be a dangerous combo."

“That about sums it up. Anything else you need?"

“Well, we still need to figure out where she went. I saw her head south towards the entertainment district, but I doubt she'd be holed up there. No place to discreetly park a helicopter. Maybe check the camera footage from before Dora showed up? That might give us something."

Envoy sighed. “You know as well as I do that it doesn't work like that. These cameras only move so much, and they're only set up to cover places of interest like the museum. Most buildings rely on internal cameras rather than external. There's no way I'd be able to tell where she went unless she happened to fly in front of another camera somewhere, and it'd take too long to check every camera this city has."

“I didn't mean find where she went, I meant find details about the helicopter. Are there any symbols on it, or maybe a design quirk, something that'd give away where she got it from?"

“Oh! Good thinking, baby. Let's see...I'm watching the footage of when the helicopter arrived over the museum. It's dark, and they chose a black copter. Smart. Ugh, you'd think a city as rich as this could afford better night-vision cameras. You know, maybe I should run for mayor someday and fix that, I really think-"

“Focus, angel. We can talk about that later," she said gently. “What about the helicopter?"

“Sorry. Well, it's hard to see so I've had to do what the city's too lazy to do and improve the video on my end, but it looks like the city's flag engraved on a circle. There are other designs on it, but that one's the easiest to see. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

“Yeah, this girl really jacked a police copter," she said. “Wonder how she did it. Bribed someone, I'm guessing."

“Hold on, I'm getting Baxter on the line. We'll see what he thinks," said Envoy. A moment later, Baxter's voice came through her headset.

“Did you two need something?" he asked. “Sorry, but I'm a little busy with the whole Crowley thing you pulled, Foxgirl. Turns out the others aren't so keen on letting him go."

She rolled her eyes. “You're a lieutenant, just order them to do it or something."

“You do realize how it would look having a superior order his men to not arrest a known criminal, right?"

“Gotta agree with him on this one," Envoy chimed in.

“Is everyone in this city against me tonight?" she grunted. “Look, Baxter. We just found out that a police helicopter-"

“Yeah, I know. It was stolen. That's what I was going to tell you, but you flew away before I could. We think the thief is a woman named Alissa Strive, she joined a few months back. Now that I think about it, must have been right around when Dora came."

“What makes you think she's the thief?" Envoy asked.

“Well again, her hire date fits with when Dora got here. Aside from that, she said she was sick and left early today which seemed odd given the records from her previous jobs indicated she hadn't taken a sick day in ten years. On top of that, she let slip last week during our movie night that she knows how to fly a helicopter. It was an action movie, and I guess she wanted to show off when the copter came on-screen. We'd have gone after her, but we had just connected the dots when we got a call that the museum was being broken into, so we put it on hold."

“So?" Foxgirl pressured. “Any idea where they might have gone? You can't just land a helicopter anywhere. She has to have mentioned something, she's clearly not that bright."

“I mean, if you know what you're doing you can land a helicopter anywhere with enough space, which means most of the taller buildings in this city qualify. From there, Dora probably jumped out with her men, and since she's pretty smart from what we know, I doubt she'd leave it just sitting there. Probably had Alissa fly it off somewhere outside the city to land it where no one will find it."

Foxgirl sighed impatiently. “Okay great, so we know we can't just look for a big helicopter, but that doesn't answer my question, Baxter. We still need to figure out where they went after. Did she mention any close friends, or somewhere she goes a lot?"

“...now that you mention it, she said she enjoyed bars. One specifically, I think, but she never mentioned the name. Seemed weird at the time, she doesn't look like the type to drink or dance much, but I didn't care enough to go into it."

Foxgirl slowly removed her mask and slammed her palm against her forehead.

“Even I heard that one," Envoy said. “What's up?"

“Envoy. She's a flapper who goes by Dumb Dora. The 20s. Bars. Speakeasies?"

She heard two separate slaps of palms striking faces.

“I can't believe this city trusts us to get anything done," Baxter sighed.

Envoy paused for a moment. “...well, you're going to want to resign after this one," she said. “Turns out there's an underground bar about five miles from the museum called the Blind Bird. Speakeasies were often called blind pigs, or blind tigers. They have a wiki page, that makes things easier...huh, guess they wanted to call it one of those but both were already taken. It's been closed for about a few months though…which means Dora's definitely taken it over. It was probably too perfect to pass up."

“Girl saw an opportunity and went for it. I would too, if I were her," Foxgirl shrugged.

“Right, well, I'll get some men out there to arrest her, and after that I'll find my superior so I can turn in my badge because I'm clearly oblivious. While I do that, Foxgirl, you take care of Dora. The cars will be there by the time you're done."

Several ziplines, jumps across rooftops, and mental self-punches later, Foxgirl grappled down from a building onto the nearly empty street. Given the area's numerous bars, she wasn't surprised to find a few people still wandering around despite most of them having closed down already, nor was she surprised that most took a single glance at her and immediately fled, though she noticed one or two were attempting to watch her while hiding (rather poorly) behind trash cans or buildings. Most people in the city had learned by now that when a costumed hero shows up, something is about to get destroyed. Of course, this meant excitement for some of the more thrill-seeking residents, but most wanted nothing to do with the situation once Foxgirl showed up. Still, that often made things easier in the end.

The door to the speakeasy, she found, was not only unlocked but unguarded. Normally she would consider it an obvious trap, but she had a feeling Dora was too clever to attempt something so obvious. No, if it was unguarded, there was another reason. She wouldn't have to wait long to find out what that reason was, however; though the door was unmanned, the bar itself was far from unoccupied. Four men and five women in suits sat at small circular tables in front of a large stage with its curtain drawn, each with a full plate of exquisite food in front of them. She stuck to the shadows, creeping her way towards the merry group. Was this really where Dora was hiding? If so, Foxgirl figured these henchmen probably ate better than she did, to say nothing of their suits that looked brand new and very, very expensive.

“Damn, this Kobe stuff is amazing!" said one of the men, stuffing a sizable chunk of meat into his mouth.

“Told you, the boss treats us well. Can't believe you've never had it before," the woman sitting with him replied, taking a sip of her wine.

“Yeah, well, my family wasn't really known to enjoy expensive food," he chuckled. “Dollar store steaks were the height of luxury for us. Now that Dora's paying us so well, I can finally afford to buy my mom that necklace she's always wanted. I can pay off my brother's college debt, too."

“I know, I just love working for her!" said the woman. “Sure glad she moved us from Diamond City to here! That place was a dump. Couldn't stand the people, either. They're so damn aggressive over there, couldn't walk down the street without some asshat trying to hit on me and then calling me a bitch when I said I wasn't interested. And I know Carl got evicted because he was short on rent just once. It was only like, a dollar or something."

“What the hell? Carl's a good guy, he doesn't deserve that. Maybe we should ask Dora if we can pay that landlord a visit."

As she listened, Foxgirl wondered if she could really send these people to jail. Did Dora purposefully recruit good people to make it harder to stop her?

As usual, Envoy spoke into her ear to offer some of her wisdom. “I know what you're thinking, babe. If we take down Dora, we have to take all of them with her. Only way they don't go to jail is if they conveniently happen to escape. So absolutely do not let that happen. Get what I'm saying?"

“I understand completely," Foxgirl whispered. She shot her grappling hook into the ceiling and used it to swing out of the shadows, stopping in front of the stage to make sure everyone could see her. To her surprise, none of them seemed, well...surprised. A few of them waved at her, some just raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, that must be Foxgirl! You doing alright?" one of the men asked cheerily.

“Uh...yeah, I'm okay? How are you…?" she asked tentatively.

“Pretty good! Hey, you hungry? We've got some extra steak if you want!"

Deciding to not ask any of the several questions she had, she instead told them, “Look, you all know who I am, right? If you leave now, you won't be taken to jail. I'm only here for Dora, she's the only one that has to go."

None of the henchmen moved.

“...was I too quiet? If you don't leave, you'll be taken to jail!" she said a bit louder.

Still, no one moved.

“Envoy, put this up there with Mannequin for creepiest things I've encountered," she muttered. “I only need to take Dora, not any of you! So just-"

“Why would you take Dora to jail?" asked the woman she had heard a few moments ago.

“Finally, we're getting somewhere. I mean, she kind of broke into the museum and stole a big ruby?" said Foxgirl. “That's, uh...usually frowned upon."

“Well, yeah, I'm sure it's illegal as hell, but that doesn't mean she deserves to be locked up!" said the woman.

Foxgirl blinked. She was positive she wasn't dreaming, and it couldn't be Mindcrawler's influence since she wasn't nearly groggy enough. Was Dora just trying to mess with her?

“Right, well, I'm not sure you get how the whole 'law' thing works, but-"

“Maybe she doesn't, but I do!" said a voice from behind her. She turned just in time to see the stage curtain rising. The lights dimmed, a jazzy tune began to play over the speakers, and a spotlight shined on the center of the stage where a woman wearing a purple flapper's dress, a pearl necklace, and a large silk hat that covered her eyes was standing with one hand on her hip. She lifted the hat with her free hand just enough to reveal one of her eyes and smiled. Her henchmen immediately began clapping.

“Yeah, it's Dora!" one of the men cheered.

“Dora!" another shouted happily.

“Great entrance, Dora!" said the woman.

“Thank you, darling, I did what I could with what I was given," she said, glancing at Foxgirl. “Sorry to make my entrance reliant on an insult, but I'd been waiting ages for her to say something useful, and I was getting bored."

For a moment, Foxgirl considered simply walking away; they'd known each other for less than a day, and she was already tired of Dora. She was also sure their relationship wouldn't grow any more positive in the future. Still, she knew Baxter would kill her for wasting police resources again, so with a sigh, she said, “I'm sure you know the drill already, so can we just get this over with?"

Dora sat down on the edge of the stage as the lights returned. “Surprisingly, I don't. If you'll believe it, this is the first time I've gotten this far. Those Rogues are far too hasty, never let me put on a good show. They always just barge in and try to arrest me before I can even make an entrance. Glad to see some vigilantes have manners."

Admittedly, Foxgirl hadn't immediately tried to apprehend her more because she was stunned at what she was seeing rather than manners, but she figured it wasn't a good idea to mention that.

“So, uh...what do you need the ruby for, anyway?" she asked.

“Them, darling, them!" Dora exclaimed, gesturing to the others. “They're such good people and they deserve nothing but the best! That ruby will pay for whatever they need for years!"

“But...they're your henchmen," she said. “Other villains always treat them poorly, leave them behind, stuff like that. How do they know you won't do the same to them?" She glanced at a few of them as she said this, hoping they'd take the hint.

Dora laughed daintily, but while her face smiled, her eyes remained deathly serious. “Foxgirl, these men, women, and everything in between are worth more to me than a million of those rubies, and I refuse to leave them holding the bag. In return, they do the same for me. Isn't that right, my friends?"

“Yeah!" they cheered, clapping again.

“So she won't let anything happen to them, huh?" Envoy said, “I've got an idea. Keep them talking for a bit."

Thinking quick, Foxgirl blurt out, “So, who's your favorite one?"

The room went silent.

“...what? It's a good question!" she huffed, crossing her arms.

“Foxgirl, they're all her favorites," Envoy said. She thought she could faintly hear the sound of Envoy typing.

“To suggest I like one more than the others...I'm almost offended. I know everything about each one of them," said Dora. “I'm afraid I can't tell you much, though. Don't want the coppers identifying them later based on your testimony, no no, that wouldn't do at all. Want to know a little more about me, instead?"

Not really.

“Sure, why not?" said Foxgirl.

Dora stood up and walked to the center of the stage where the spotlight shined on her again. She placed the back of her hand on her forehead. “My tale is long and complicated, filled with heartbreak and joy, despair and desire, pain and pleasure, so I won't bore you with the, might I say, quite fascinating details. What I will say is that, through everything I've dealt with, I've learned one thing that I always keep in my heart: never mistreat the people you work with, because without them, you're nothing."

“So what you're saying is you only keep them around because you don't want to do the work yourself," said Foxgirl.

Dora placed a hand over her heart, gasping dramatically. “Darling, how could you say something like that? I keep these people around because this is a mutually beneficial relationship. I come up with plans that get them rich beyond their dreams as well as protect them from the law with everything I have, and in return, they protect me and help me carry out my plans. If anything, they hold the real power here; if they suddenly decided to walk out, why, I could hardly function as a criminal, and I think it's important they know that."

“So you let them in on all your plans, then? What if one of them snitches?"

“I do, and that's because I know they wouldn't tell a soul. Take tonight, for example!" The lights came back on as she gestured broadly to the group in front of her. “All of this was a little performance put on by yours truly and her talented friends!"

Foxgirl paused. “...so you're saying you planned this? All of it?"

“What? Oh, no! Darling, even I'm not that good!" she laughed. “I planned most of it, yes, but the finer details were all your doing! I planned to steal the ruby in order to pay for the necessities, of course, but I also knew it would attract one of this city's vigilantes! I had grown so dreadfully tired of the Rogues, and I heard the ones here were quite different! You just happened to be the one who took the bait. Before you got here, I instructed everyone to talk quite loudly about me so that you would know you found the right place! I even picked a bar called the Blind Bird! Frankly, I couldn't have made it easier if I just walked up to you, but you still took longer than I expected." She beckoned to one of the men to hop on stage. He eagerly ran up and pulled a notebook and pencil out of his pocket, handing it to her before sitting back down. She scribbled something down on the paper, muttering to herself. “Foxgirl...a sweet little hero who's trying her best...but is ultimately not much of a threat..."

“I'm right here, you know," Foxgirl huffed.

“Yes, yes, dear. I know," Dora replied, tossing the notebook and pencil away. “Anyway, my point is that I trust everyone here with my life, no matter what."

“Yeah, Dora's our friend!!" yelled one of the women.

“Dora's a way better boss than you'd be, Foxgirl!" another one called out.

“Dora! Dora! Dora!" the crowd chanted.

“Oh, you're too kind, darlings!" Dora laughed.

“Envoy, you done yet? I'm getting a little tired of this," Foxgirl muttered.

“Oh, I finished a while ago. I was just enjoying listening to her," Envoy chuckled. “Take your earpiece out, I'm going to amp the volume so she can hear me."

Deciding they would be having a discussion about this later, she removed the earpiece and held it out to Dora.

“What's this? A present?" Dora asked.

“No. Just listen," said Foxgirl.

“Hello? Am I speaking to Dumb Dora?" Envoy asked.

“You are, my dear, you most certainly are!" she answered happily. “And who might you be?"

“My name is Envoy, I'm Foxgirl's partner."

Dora clapped her hands together. “Ah, now you I've heard of! Your little girlfriend here, only a few passing stories here and there, but you! I've heard tales of a woman named Envoy who can do any job, find any information, whose knowledge is nearly limitless! The Rogues mentioned you once or twice I believe, all good things I assure you."

“Considering all the work I've done for them over the years, they better have been saying positive things about me," she grunted. “Moving on. I believe there's something you would be interested in hearing."

For a moment, the room became silent. Then, the voice of a woman Foxgirl didn't recognize began speaking. “Help! They found me after I landed the helicopter!"

“Alissa! Alissa! Is that you?" Dora called, running forward and snatching the earpiece from Foxgirl's hand “Where are you? Did they hurt you?"

“I'm fine, but I was told if you don't turn yourself in, I'll be put in jail for life! Help-" her voice was cut off, replaced by Envoy's once more.

“Well, you heard her. We have Alissa, and if you give yourself up, she goes free. If not, she spends the rest of her life rotting in a prison cell. And before you accuse the police of taking a hostage, I would like to mention they didn't. I did, and I'm not affiliated with the police. So, what will it be? Turn yourself in, or abandon your friend?"

“You little...I'll just break her out if she goes to jail!" Dora snapped.

“Are you sure that's a good idea?" Envoy asked, and suddenly, Foxgirl understood what was going on. She had wondered how they found Alissa and brought her in so quickly, but if her hunch was right...

“If you break her out, you might end up losing even more of your friends just to get one back," Foxgirl said. “And if you go alone you'll definitely be captured, so not only will she stay in jail, but you'll be arrested as well."

Dora's eyes flicked between the earpiece and Foxgirl, for the first time seemingly unsure of what to say.

“The police are already on their way, Dora. Make the smart decision. Do it for Alissa," said Envoy.

Finally, Dora sighed. “...alright. You win this time, Foxgirl. I will turn myself in if you let Alissa-and all my friends here-go."

Foxgirl nodded. “I think that can be arranged."

It wasn't long before Baxter and the other officers arrived. To their surprise, the building was empty save for Foxgirl and Dora. While one officer put handcuffs on Dora , Baxter approached Foxgirl and asked, “What happened to her henchmen? Surely they didn't all escape?"

She shrugged. “Turns out they weren't very loyal. They left the moment I showed up, meaning getting Dora here to turn herself in was easy enough."

Baxter raised an eyebrow but didn't pursue the matter further.

“Wait," said Dora as she and the officer escorting her passed the two. “I must know. Is Alissa safe? Did you uphold your end of the deal?"

“Deal? What deal?" Baxter asked.

Foxgirl ignored him and headed towards the door. “She's probably fine, but who knows? After all..." she glanced back at Dora. “...Envoy and I don't know where Alissa is. We haven't so much as heard her voice tonight. Not really, anyway." She tapped her earpiece gently.

Dora stared at her for a moment, her brow furrowed, but after a moment, realization slowly began to spread across her face. She smiled bitterly. “...I see. Well played, Foxgirl. And you as well, Envoy. Maybe I underestimated you. I think we're going to have a lot of fun together, the three of us."

“Don't count on it," Foxgirl chuckled, leaving Dora and Baxter, who now looked even more confused behind. Once outside, she pulled out her grappling hook and shot it into the air, zipping off into the night.

“Another job well done, baby," said Envoy happily. “I'm surprised, though. How'd you catch on that it wasn't Alissa's voice so quick? I know the quality wasn't that great since I had to piece the recording together from interview tapes stored in the police's computers, you wouldn't believe how hard it was to smooth it out enough for her to say helicopter semi-decently. But it wasn't that bad, was it?"

“I love the suggestion that I could only catch on if it was poorly made, thanks. Really appreciate that," she chuckled, grappling onto another building. “But no, it was fine. I knew because you asked 'are you sure that's a good idea'. The only time you ask that is when you're out of ideas and stalling for time. So that's when I knew something was up, and then I realized if you really had her there, you'd have already told Dora what I said next about losing more of her friends if she tries. There's no way you'd have captured Alissa and not thought of that possibility as a counter-argument."

Now it was Envoy's turn to be stunned into silence. “...I...wow, baby. I know how smart you are, but I'm still a little impressed right now. Wait, back up, so that was your reasoning and not that you know I'd never kidnap someone? What kind of person do you think I am?"

Foxgirl burst into laughter. “I'm kidding, I'm kidding! The very first thing that I realized was that you'd never kidnap anybody. That's how I knew for sure something was up. The one thing I know more about than fighting crime is, well...you, and I know the girl I love wouldn't do something like that."

“I guess you do, and if the girl that I love doesn't get her behind home in about twenty minutes, her girlfriend is going to eat all this Chinese food herself."

“Wait, wait! I'm coming, just don't eat my wontons!" she grinned.

“I'm kidding, that's another thing I'd never do. You've had a long night, and some wontons are the least of what you deserve. Now hurry up and come home. I'll be waiting for you."

Foxgirl smiled and grappled onto the top of a nearby building. She stood on the edge, gazing at the city before her. It wasn't perfect, nowhere was, and she knew eventually Dora would break out of prison and start causing trouble again, not to mention the numerous other criminals that could show up at any time. But even despite all that, the city had given her a purpose, a home, and the love of her life, and in the end, she couldn't think of any other place she'd rather be or any job she'd rather take than its protector. Still, she could stay up there and think or she could get home to the most amazing girl in the world who'd bought her some Chinese food. So, not wanting to keep Envoy waiting any longer, she took a deep breath and let the cool night wind blow against her for a moment. Then, with her grappling hook in hand, she jumped off the side of the building, shot the device at another building nearby, and grappled herself off into the night.