After a tense meeting with The Broker, and the unpleasant financial loss of a thousand dolrs, Mark and Katerina learned that Griselda, one of the five Allstar gang bosses, generally liked to recruit new blood at the Buster’s Arcade. She usually did the recruiting right after school, tapping into a fresh crop of local teenagers who were looking for thrills. What they also dug up was that she didn’t wear her Exosuit unless things got seriously dangerous. She was a tough customer, from her Superhuman Body. Although she wasn’t as durable as Mark, she could probably shrug off small bullets and keep her cool where most people would crumple.

  They chased leads and scoped out Griselda’s operation for days. A solid three days of sitting on rooftops and eating greasy takeout from on top of roofs taught them that the Arcade was a front for undering big fat stacks of cash. A parade of hustlers streamed into the arcade like clockwork, coming in and out, dropping off crumpled dolrs in exchange for rolls of quarters. When a few more days passed, they learned when one of the big bosses made drop-offs each week. Katerina ran all over the city, tracking down their main target—Evo shots—if she could not track them down they could still pay another five grand to the information broker for its elusive location.

  It was about three in the afternoon. The sun tinged the sky a nicotine yellow, just before the teenage recruits started to roll into Griselda’s arcade ir. Minutes before, Mark had watched the money van pull away after dumping its dirty duffel bags into the arcade. He was crouched on top of the arcade building, looking down at the gang’s fearless leader. She was parked outside, lounging in an old school wn chair with her thugs as they talked shop, when Mark leapt off the roof. He crashed on top of her like a ton of bricks.

  The gangbangers were stunned for a second, but they moved fast, pulling out guns and shouting for cover. Mark grabbed Griselda by her slick ponytail and unched her headfirst through the hood of her own car, as if he were bowling a strike with her skull. She was jammed in there good, but the thugs didn’t hesitate. They tried to shoot him, their gats ready to bst him into pieces.

  A bck woman with a huge afro pulled out a shotgun and screamed something incoherent. Before she could shoot, Mark spped the gun away, breaking her nose with a single punch, and moved on to the next target. This one, a white woman with a crew cut, fired an energy bst at him. It hit his chest, ser-dots spttering, and pushed him into a light pole that snapped like a toothpick from the impact. He staggered back up, checked the damage, and grinned. The tissue was already knitting itself back together in his chest. As the woman paused, shocked that he was still standing, he rushed her with a ugh, breaking her arm with a sickening snap before kicking down the door to the arcade hideout.

  Inside was a chaos of pstic gunfire and electronic shrieks. The arcade was packed with dodgy teens and hardened thugs, neon fixtures fshing over their panicked faces. He took a deep breath and yelled above the noise, “Hey! If you’re not a thug, I suggest you leave!” The civilians didn’t need to be told twice. They dropped their sodas and bolted for the exit, tripping over pstic stools and each other in a mad dash for safety. He turned his attention to the real threats.

  Several more thugs pulled out guns and tried to bst him to pieces, lethal lead spraying in all directions, but Mark was a human bulldozer. He was on top of them in an instant. They were mostly female, just like The Broker had said, and he plowed through them, leaving bodies twitching and scattered in his wake. With the ground floor secured, he rushed into the back room where he knew they stashed the cash.

  A small wall safe sat there, taunting him. He could hear a commotion behind him as the gang regrouped. He grabbed a canvas sack and ripped the door off the safe like it was made of cardboard, filling the bag with gangster loot. It was around 30 grand, give or take a few.

  Good haul, not bad for a few minutes’ work.

  He grabbed another 3 grand from the downed thugs inside before leaving the arcade and heading for the alley, just in time to see that Griselda had managed to pry her head out of her car.

  She was a furious wreck, blood running off her face, her perfect hair a tangled mess. “I’m gonna kill you, bitch!” she screamed, her hands shaking with rage. He made a tsk sound and shook his head, amused more than worried. “You had your Exosuit st time. Without it, you ain’t gonna be so lucky,” he said.

  As she fumbled with her trademark spiked batons, he rushed over to her in a blur, moving so fast she barely saw him coming. Taking a wide stance, he unleashed a furious combo of body blows, finishing with vicious hooks to her jaw. He had to give it to her. She could take a punch like no one’s business. Her body absorbed the hits as she grunted and gasped, but he kept going. He didn’t let up. He continued to hit her with everything he had, fists like concrete, until she was nothing more than a bloody pulp on the ground. Panting slightly, he looked down at her crumpled form.

  “That’s for Mira,” he said as he ran her pockets and took about 3 grand from her.

  After retreating back his apartment in the sewers Katerina who had told him to just call her Kat was already there waiting for him as he told her about what happened and how he beat Griselda to a bloody pulp and the 36 grand that he managed to snag from them. Kat debriefed him on her day.

  “So I learned that The Cracked Lantern is the spot to get Evo-Shots and the going rate is higher than what I thought. Its 100 grand for a shot. “ Mark whistled before she continued to speak.

  “After setting up the funeral arrangements for my grandma I learned that Tower 1 also has a Basement where they keep a lot of their money. If you can get some Super gear you could probably take it down no problem. Griselda is apart of a gang called The Sin City Allstars. She is called The Center as she is the muscle. There are 4 other key pyers involved with the Allstars. The only other one that I can find info on is Jenny. She is the handles drugs in the basements of the towers. Her main base of operations is in Tower 1.”

  She pulls out a building pn on Tower 1’s basement and points to several key guard locations and some of their known powers.

  “Its about 20 guards down there armed with good weapons and at least 5 of them are supers including Jenny who is a Rank 3 Super with all of her powers. All I know is that she can fly and can unch energy bsts from her hands and make energy weapons.” It was Mark’s time to ask questions now.

  “So what about gear. I don’t think my leather jacket and jeans are fitting though I do blend in which is nice.” Kat spoke up again.

  “Hollowpoint Pawn has a lot of gear for the low. He can also get you custom gear as well though the price of a high quality Supersuit is around 10 grand. “ Mark raised an eyebrow.

  “Why is it so expensive? What is so special about it?” She smiled at him.

  “You really are from the country huh? Supersuits are a lean nanosuit that covers the body and can be activated from anywhere. For a brawler like yourself it enhances your durability and protects your body from environmental factors and damage. It also self repairs over time. Exosuits are better but cost around 100 grand just for a basic and go all the way up to a million dolrs or close to it like Griselda had.” He smiled at her again before getting up.

  “So off to the pawn shop?”

  “To he pawn shop!”