While Dead Head was busy back at home base, getting the beginnings of stru going, he had squads of his men out oreets, selling the remnants of the dottieri deal to various groups and individuals.

  Pax led one of these squads. Or at least he felt like he was leading the squad. He hoped he was. He was joined by O’Malley and Dualley was expeg the deal to go a lot better pared to his st job for Dead Head; the one in which he was the only ohat avoided jail then an attempted robbery vi. Duck? Despite the goofy name, he was a tall, hardened man with his bck hair slicked back down his head. He walked with his fist ched to his side and his jaw sealed shut, eyes watg every er for trouble.

  Inspicuous was the name of the game and Pax dressed for the occasion, trading out his more stylish winter coat for an insuted work jacket. He was missing a ag but looked the part. O’Malley might have not worn some kind of work outfit, but he was carrying a toolbag with him with their produce-for-sale stashed itom.

  With Duck wearing a close-fitting work uniform, the three of them looked like a trio of repairmen. No one around looked twice. As far as anyone was ed, they were repairmen or electris or something and they were on a way to a job. No cops were around but if a cruiser drifted by, Pax and his boys would have bee alone. Probably.

  The meeting point was at an unfinished stru site off of Adeide. Looking like bourers was good for blending into a public but they looked undeniably appropriate for the meeting pce. They parked their car at a Mald’s and walked down to the block with the stru. In a square of bare dirt, there was a tower of red-painted girders with only the first storey of the building having anything of walls– thick crete sbs that he outside of what was going to be the ground floor.

  Walking down the hill, Pax had to wonder how quickly things had ged for him i couple weeks. He had gone from having his own small little gang to being on the lowest tier of Dead Head’s crew. He was making more money but didn’t call any real shots.

  Pax put the thought out of his head. He and his guys stepped ihe building. The roof hadn’t been finished. Some of steel framing had been built and the basic was do Pax looked up and through a rge hole got a view into the overcast sky.

  “How many guys are they gonna have?” asked O’Malley, refereng the buyers.

  “Wasn’t told,” said Pax. “I’d wager no more than four.”

  “More than us?” said O’Malley, his volume spiking and his voice trembling off crete walls.

  “Don’t be a wuss,” said Pax. “They’re not going to try anything. I know these guys. They’re not going to try a thing.” He stepped in front of O’Malley. “I’ve dowo of these deals this week and they’ve gone off without a hitch. Quit being paranoid.”

  “You guys talking about us?” a voice called into the room.

  Around a er oher side of the floor, in came two guys: Caberough, an ht guy with dyed blue hair, and Big Morrie, a man built of muscle and t at six feet plus. Caberough fihe bag at O’Malley’s side. “I’m assuming the stuff is in there.”

  Pax took the bag from O’Malley and patted it, holding it up for the others. “Three bags. Three packets.”

  Caberough slung a hand down his face. He ged the topipletely. “How’s it been, Pax? I heard you been w for that new Dead Head guy.”

  “Yeah,” said Pax, straightening his posture, “currently, anyway.”

  Many girders hung above. Basic foundation was plete a few floors above the shell of a building that the guys had their deal inside. If someone ying from above, Pax wouldn’t have known.

  Caberough ed his hands out in a shrug, “What’s the matter? Did you get tired of sg people out of their homes? Is the property devalue business not lucrative enough nowadays?”

  His tone was mog but in that world, it could have been a genuine question. Caberough could have ht admired Pax’s line of work and his ability to grab a nice job with Dead Head (because the money was nice). But Caberough (and pretty much every uy in the room) had a tendency to front dession as a versation tool.

  “Dead Head’s been good for me,” said Pax. The sentence was “Dead Head’s been good to me” but Pax edited it as it left his mouth. He dropped his face. “Listen... I’m not here to catch up. You got the money?”

  Caberough g Big Morrie and Morrie reached into his jacket to pull out a wad of bills. It looked the right size.

  Something ccked from above. Everybody froze and got tense when a pop came ringing down from above, nding in the room and boung off the floor before rolling to Pax’s boot.

  Everybody looked above. “Who is it?” barked O’Malley as he erratically shuffled his stance.

  Pax eyed the girders, but saw nothing. “It was the wind knog over a .” He brought his eyes back down to the ground floor. “Let’s get this deal over with then.”

  And from another part of the building, a voice shouted: “Let’s not.”

  In walked a dy, dressed in like a valkyrie from legend, her armour silver but ced with gold. On her head was a steel mask shaped like a fal’s beak, c all but the very bottom of her mouth with a trim of bck puffy hair stig out the back. Her breastpte, gaus, and greaves all sharing the same sheen. Usually her arms and knees were showing but it was almost wihough so she had tight bck thermal underh.

  She might have been a superhero but she still had to dress for the temperature.

  Pax sank his brow, his voice full of disbelief. “Lady Beat...”

  “It is I,” said Lady Beat, orating for the room. “And you–” She brandished a judgmental fi Pax– “You have been seeping poison onto these fair streets. I know what’s ihat bag you carry.”

  The only person who didn’t know the name Lady Beat– hadn’t heard the legends about Toronto’s most hy superhero– was Big Morrie, but seeing everyone else on edge because a ed woman walked into the room wised up to Big Morrie that she was someoo take seriously.

  Pax knew who she was. But all he had heard about her was that she fought crime. How she fought crime was never iails. He didn’t know if she was a magic-user like Thrash or some other kind of mutant. He looked at Lady Beat’s side and there was a stick of some kind that looked like a dimmed yellow mp. Was it some kind of magid?

  Caberough picked up the pop . “Beat it, dy!”

  He tossed the but Lady Beat raised her hand and the arrested in midair, the men stuo see something defy physics like it was. Lady Beat twitched her fingers and the pop fired back at the person who chucked it. Caberough dodged out of the way like the was a shuriken.

  Pax gave a resigned sigh. Lady Beat was a witch. He could have almost ughed; the humour of the situation– him fag off with a freak again– was not lost on him.

  There was no point in versation. Pax looked at the bag in O’Malley’s hand. A wrench stuck outward. Pax took it, gripping it firmly in his hand. It was time to go to work.

  He rushed Lady Beat and when she ducked out of the way, he took the wrench at her. She removed the wand she had at her side and struck at Pax’s wrench. The wand glowed and there was the sound of static as Lady Beat’s rod smacked Pax’s wrench. Pax felt a shock going down his arm, and then Lady Beat brought the instrument down on Pax’s back.

  “Ah!”

  Pai over his back so Pax dropped the wrend fell to the ground, rolling away from Lady Beat. Dud Morrie went at steel-cd superheroine. Mot a hit in, smag his knuckles o’s helm. The edge of her helm scraped on Morrie’s fingers and the big guy could handle whag his hands but Lady Beat didn’t even flind Morrie felt like he got hurt more than she did.

  Duck might have practised martial arts. He put his hands up, a boxer’s stance, and took a couple jabs at Lady Beat, but didn’t nd any one of them. He took steps faining ground as he threw his mighty punches, but Lady dodged out of the way with ease.

  She took a swing at both of them– Dud Morrie– and cracked the wand on both of them. Both Morrie and Duck were surprised: the wand she had zapped them like a taser.

  Pax clutched his arm, pain shivering down his back. “Careful! That thing is electric!”

  They knew.

  Morris and Duck hopped bad Lady Beat took a wide stance, holding out the wand for everyoo see. It was like an air traffid, except it glowed with an indignant light.

  Lady Beat had her eyes on the prize, though. It was O’Malley’s bag, or rather the packets of illegal drugs hiding within. Before anything else, those o go.

  She rushed at O’Malley. O’Malley yelped and froze, the utility bag tight in his hand. Lady Beat blew a stalalm into O’Malley– causing the guy to let out a deep “Oof”– and grabbed the bag. All it took was a little waggle to get O’Malley to loosen his fingers.

  Seeing Lady Beat take the bag and hop across the room was enough to get Pax’s adrenaline pumping. He rose to his feet. “She’s trying to take the stuff!”

  O’Malley colpsed to the floor. Caberough didn’t know what to do a alright standing back when Big Morrie, Duck, and Pax corralled Lady Beat. The bag was heavy so Lady Beat set it down to dig for the drugs.

  That portunity. Big Morrie ran at Lady Beat and even if she swung at him and nded a good electrifying hit on his chest, the momentum from his speed had him fall forward onto Lady Beat. One sed she was swinging a rod, the she was on the floor with a giant on top of her.

  Her wand rolled away from her, catg O’Malleys eye. While Pax and Duck helped Morrie up, O’Malley took the wand and looked at it. The light was gone. With a careful finger, he prodded the gss. Nothing. Didn’t even hurt.

  “Is it broken?” asked O’Malley.

  “No,” said Lady Beat, her voice muffled by the men surrounded her. “It’s light only shines for me!”

  A bst of electricity arced from under Morrie, striking Duck, Pax, and Morrie. Morrie fell down again, this time on his backside, and Lady Beat got up. She was covered in some scrapes and her armot marred with some dirt but she stood up– defiant. That was not going to stop her.

  O’Malley panicked again. He held the wand out at her, looking down and shaking it, hoping for it to activate.

  “What’s with this thing?” he asked.

  Lady Beat reached out her hand and webs of electricity rode up and down her fingers. Before O’Malley could react, a of light screamed out of Lady Beat’s hand and clutched O’Malley.

  “Ahhh!” he screamed, dropping the wand.

  He colpsed against the wall, and the groaned, clutg his chest. Not a lethal current, it was. It was an arc of electricity, not a lightning bolt, but for all the times that Lady Beat used that preternatural ability, she didn’t know the voltage of it.

  Lady Beat left the bag alone for a sed and grabbed the wand. Reenteri’s hand, the wand brightened once again, the Lady’s psychic power flowing out of her arm into the device, elling it.

  Pax knew he had to act fast if he was going to get any harm on Lady Beat. He took a couple milliseds to look for a on befiving up; he would have to eh her bare-handed. She had her eyes on the bag s when Pax jumped at her but she noticed his attad stepped out the way.

  There was no time to waste. Pax took a few swings at her and got a good hit on the side of her head. She recovered quickly and tossed a roundhouse kick at Pax, knog him right on the head. He wasn’t wearing a mask, though, a’s greaves hit like, well, metal boots.

  Pax found a p the ground to colpse.

  Duck came rag behind Lady Beat, and got a good fist into her back. Easily the hardest Beat had been hit that enter. She ched through the pain and swung the wand back at Duck. He dodged a for another heavy jab at the Lady, but even through the pain, Lady Beat was agile and swooped down to avoid the attack. Another swing of her wand and Duck had smacked in his side, c electriergy through his nerves. Everything faded to bck for the tightened warrior.

  Everyo Caberough was on the floor, but Caberough wasn’t going to interfere with a lightning-wielding witch! Lady Beat dug into the utility bag and found the packets otom, mixed around sihe bag had been thrown around a bit. She took the packets out and threw them to the ground. She didn’t want to strike them with lightning sihat could have caused a rea, so she stepped on them and crushed them to the pavement floor.

  “Nooo!” said Caberough.

  This inspired him to attack Lady Beat, although it was too te. Lady Beat’s work was done and she didn’t care to unfold all amounts of violence possible. She jumped up onto the roof; her psychic powers allowed her to defy gravity in a way most couldn’t.

  Pax collected his head and looked upward. His vision clearing, he saw Lady Beat disappear from the se. He took his eyes to the ground and saw the packets had burst open, the product scattered on the floor.

  He groaned, but then sirens were heard. He looked out the building’s opening to see red and blue lights fshing orip mall. “Crap! The cops!”

  Caberough booked it. Pax saw O’Malley, Dud Big Morrie lying there. He went up to Dud wiggled him but the guy was out, Lady Beat’s lightning shut him down like a washing mae dos load. Pax tried pig up the product with his hands but it was a useless gesture and the cops were getting close.

  Where was the money? In a panic, his breath frantic, Pax looked around for the wad but didn’t see it. Was it on Big Morrie? Did the Lady take it? He couldn’t leave there without something, but he heard a car door shut and worried it olice officer.

  He dashed to another opening on the opposite side of the floor. Outside, he didn’t see any cop cars parked along the perimeter of the lot, not from where he could see. He raced across the dirt to a tunnel underh the er by the interse. The tunnel was dark and hopefully it hid him well.

  He didn’t want to stay to see what would happen to the others but he was without the drugs, without the cash. The deal had goerribly.

  Back at the in-stru building, O’Malley woke up to find a cop pointing a gun at him. This time he didn’t get away.