“Second time’s the charm!” Purebred said optimistically. Ethan gave her a look but said nothing as they walked through the backroads of Poppytown once more. His wounds from Poltergeist’s surprise attack were healed almost instantly, another perk of his Wukong heritage, but the punctured spots still ached. Whether there was some lingering damage or just phantom pain, the villain couldn’t be sure, but the lingering pain worsened his already sour mood.

  The whole afair was putting Ethan on edge. The boy couldn’t tell how, but he just knew Poltergeist’s ambush wouldn’t be the end of the trouble Purebred and her pack would bring to him. Ethan Sun hadn’t been part of the Gifted world for very long, but he knew that the unexpected and general chaos was part of the package.

  Maybe it was part of his Wukong powers to sense when shenanigans were about to take place. Or maybe he was just getting a sense for situations that were going to get overly complicated because life like screwing with him. EIther way, Ethan just knew there was more trouble on the horizon.

  As Ethan and Purebred walked towards the first destination, the villain made sure to keep an eye on his surroundings. It wouldn’t do for them to get jumped again, even if their only enemy was out of commission.

  Ethan made sure to keep an eye and ear out for anything out of the ordinary, and for good measure, he made a clone bird to watch their backs from the air. It felt a bit like overkill, but it was handy to keep an eye on your blind spots, and it would pay off in a way he didn’t expect.

  “Incoming!” the clone messaged. Before Ethan could ask what was going on, a vision appeared, showing what looked like a ball of lightning gliding shooting through the sky, and right towards them.

  “Hide!” Ethan hissed. He heard Purebred splutter in confusion, but he didn’t waste time explaining. He rushed towards a nearby dumpster and hopped inside. It was then he learned that adrenaline helped him ignore things like the odor of rotting garbage as well as pain.

  Ethan would’ve been angered and disgusted to be in such a hiding spot, but he was much more focused on the view from his bird double.

  Through its eyes, Ethan watched as a dark-skinned woman wrapped in lightning flew over the alley Ethan was just in. He watched the woman glance down as she flew by, but thankfully, she didn’t stop to pet the no doubt stupefied dog that stared back at her.

  Ethan stayed in the dumpster for a few more minutes after the woman left, only crawling out when he was certain the flying lightning ball wasn’t coming back.

  “What was that?!” Purebred asked when Ethan rejoined her. She was staring at the spot where the lighting woman was with a wide and open mouth. For the she-wolf’s sake, that had better have been a natural thing for dogs to do. If Purebred got on that woman’s radar, Ethan would kick her to the curb without a second thought!

  “Stormy,” Ethan replied as he brushed himself off. Despite the smell, the garbage bags were still intact, so Ethan didn’t have to worry about any foul residue clinging to him.

  “What kind of storm was that?!”

  “Not a storm,” Ethan corrected with an irritated growl. “Stormy! One of the Crusaders!”

  “Wh-What are the Crusaders doing here?!” Purebred asked, now properly panicking.

  “I don’t know…” Ethan answered truthfully. From what Ethan knew about the Crusaders was that they didn’t patrol places. Unless it was a publicity stunt or they were involved in a live-action commercial, the corporate heroes only appeared when a new villain was causing trouble and they could save the day in front of the cameras.

  So why was Stormy flying around at night?

  Ethan’s skin began to prickle as his paranoia started to imagine the worst-case scenario. That scenario being that the Crusaders were looking for him. It was an odd conclusion to jump to, but it wasn’t like Ethan didn’t have reasons to think this way. Anytime one of the Crusaders were asked about him, their response stayed the same: “Vigilantism is bad, so join us to be a real Hero!”

  It also didn’t help matters that they were in the same area where they fought Poltergeist. While Ethan and Purebred took a different route to avoid any cops that might be near the crime scene--and to avoid seeing if people ignored the gunshots and left Poltergeist to die--they were still in the relative area, as their first target was nearby.

  ‘Maybe it wasn’t the cops that investigated the noise,’ Ethan thought with growing dread. ‘Maybe it was the Crusaders. Then they found Poltergeist, and he told them everything!’

  “What do we do?!” Purebred asked, barely managing not to shriek in panic.

  “We keep moving,” Ethan said, sounding far calmer than he felt. “We just have to be a little more careful.” Ethan reached up and pulled out a clump of hair and blew on it. Several more clone birds flew out of his palms and into the night sky.

  “Those guys will keep watch for us, so we’ll get a heads up if any of the other Crusdaers get near us.”

  “Alright…” Purebred said, but she clearly wanted to run away and hide. Ethan didn’t blame her, as he didn’t want to deal with the heroes either. While Ethan knew he’d have to deal with the Crusaders eventually, he’d rather wait until he was ready to fight them. He’d also prefer them to not try to recruit him the entire time, thought that’d probably give him a few openings for a surprise attack or two…

  With the bird network in place, Ethan and Purebred continued to move through the alleys. Their progress was a lot slower this time, as now they had to worry about running into a Crusader.

  While Ethan’s clones watching their backs was a small comfort, neither the wukong nor the werewolf wanted to take any chances. They moved slowly, constantly checking behind themselves in case a spandex wearing corpo drone was just waiting to pounce on them.

  “We’re here,” Ethan stated. He managed not sound stupefied when he suddenly looked up and saw their destination in front of them. He was so busy making sure they weren’t ambushed that he completely lost track of where they were.

  Their first target was a new Fast-Spect mini mart that had opened up a few days ago. A perfect place for someone out of town to get a job and blend in with the locals. By the time Ethan and Purebred reached the place, it was well past midnight.

  After getting attacked by Poltergeist, the two wayward Gifted decided it’d be better if they started their search even later at night. This would mean even fewer people were out at the time, and the two wouldn’t have to worry about being seen so much. That was before the Crusaders showed up, but their logic was still sound.

  The Fast-Spect they were at was currently deserted. There were no night shift workers around to man the minimart, and the actual gas stations were all self-service. There were probably some security cameras around, but that wasn’t a issue since they weren’t here to break in.

  “So… now what?” Purebred asked.

  “Head over there and start sniffing,” Ethan commanded the werewolf. “Focus on the back entrance and other places where the employees would put their hands.”

  “But what good will that do?” Purebred complained. “I told you, I’m not a tracker! I can’t follow a little bit of stench on a door!” Ethan had his doubts about that, after all, she found him with her above average nose so Purebred was clearly capable if she put in the time and effort. But they didn’t have time, at least not a lot of it, so the wukong was going for a different approach.

  “I don’t need you to track them,” Ethan shot back. “I just need you to tell me if a werewolf was there or not! It’ll give us something else to work with instead of just wandering around at night.” Purebred looked like she wanted to keep arguing, but went ahead and crept over to the minimart. She hunched her dog's body low to the ground and practically crawled across the street.

  Ethan had half a mind to yell at the she-wolf to get her to pick up the pace, but decided against it. He couldn’t blame her for being cautious, plus, with his luck, his yelling is probably what’ll attract any nearby heroes to them.

  The villain watched as Purebred encircle the building. She pressed her nose to the ground and occasionally brought it up against the walls as she searched for specific scents. She paid extra attention to places like the door handles or the gas pumps, where the employees would often put their hands.

  After a few more circles around the building, Purebred suddenly bolted towards him.

  ‘Yeah, that’s not suspicious at all,’ Ethan thought with a wince. He could only imagine the reaction of whoever looked through the security footage seeing a stray dog suddenly crawling towards the building, sniffing around, and then sprint away as if someone tried to shoot it.

  Normally, Ethan wouldn’t have cared what Purebred did in her pet mode, but he had to be more careful about making animals do weird stuff. People were finally realizing that the sudden string of animal based larcenies wasn’t normal and probably the sign of a new villain in town. Ethan had caught a few articles online that pointed out how the creatures acted with precision instead of random impulse to steal what they did.

  ‘Bout time someone realised it,’ Ethan had thought at the time. Though the slow realization didn’t reflect well on Poppytown’s general intelligence, Ethan still made it a point to cut back on the animal heist in case people started paying closer attention to creatures acting strange.

  In hindsight, he probably should’ve mentioned this to Purebred before she started sniffing things out.

  Ethan had half a mind to start taking credit for those crimes, but decided against it. While admitting to the thefts would remove the Hero stigma from him, it wouldn’t give him the evil one he’s looking for. At best, the boy would be seen as an uncommon thief, or worse, people would think he’s trying to be the next Robin Hood somehow. Ethan Sun was supposed to be a supervillain, not a burglar with powers.

  Plus, Ethan would prefer to keep as much of his abilities under wraps as he could. Ethan always made sure to use his shapeshifting and cloning powers out of sight, so any investigators would think this potential villain could only control animals. Still, the less hints people had about his powers, the better Ethan could trick people later in his villain career.

  “There’s nothing there!” Purebred reported when she reached Ethan’s side. “I couldn’t smell any werewolves!”

  “So that’s why you had to run back here?” Ethan asked with a hint of annoyance.

  “I didn’t want to be out in the open!” the girl whined.

  “It didn’t matter if you did!” Ethan hissed. “You’re still a dog! No one would’ve done anything if they saw you!”

  “I didn’t want to take the chance we have superheroes after us now!”

  “They aren’t after us!” Ethan snarled. “They don’t even know we’re here!” Though even as he said it, the boy had to wonder if that was really the case or not. Why else would Stormy be combing the area they had been in the other day if it wasn’t to find a Wukong and his werewolf?

  “Even if they were,” Ethan started over with a more subdued tone. “You can still throw them off by acting like a normal dog. Suddenly running away at top speed is not something a stray just wandering around would do.”

  “Easier said than done…” Purebred muttered.

  “Not really,” Ethan shot back. “Just think about what a mangy mutt would do and do that.”

  “I am not mangy!” The villain rolled his eyes, but didn’t comment further. Instead, he started walking towards the next destination. Purebred followed behind him while grumbling to herself.

  Their next stop was a new McDougall joint that just opened up. It had the same conditions as the Fast-Spect, new in town, and needed every they could grab. When the duo reached the restaurant, they repeated the process of having Purebred sniff the area. This time, she didn’t run back to Ethan the way she did at Fast-Spect, which was already an improvement, but then there was her report:

  “I found something,” Purebred said, a conflicted expression on her face.

  “You did?!” Ethan asked, his own conflicting feelings spreading throughout his body. It was a combination of excitement over making progress and dread over confirming that there were more werewolves in the city.

  “Yeah,” the she-wolf said listlessly. “But it’s faint. Like, there’s only the slightest whiff of werewolf stench around the place.”

  “Okay…” Ethan acknowledged, unsure of what else to say. “So… What does that mean?”

  “I… don’t know,” Purebred admitted. “It could mean anything… Maybe they just got a job there, or maybe the old pack just love eating McDougall burgers… I don’t know…”

  “Well… It’s better than nothing…” Ethan said begrudgingly. Knowing where the werewolves liked to eat was still good, but it was a far cry from the information they needed. If Purebred’s guess about the job was right, that would help, but Ethan doubted they would get that lucky.

  What they needed to know was who the werewolves were and where they were hiding. While knowing their favorite eatery can help find that out, it wasn’t much to go off of. Purebred couldn’t just go up and sniff people while they ate, and not just because the other lycanthropes would sniff her out first.

  They needed more info… But where to get it?

  “Boss!” a clone yelled in Ethan’s head. “Incoming!” Before Ethan could ask what was going on, another vision appeared in his head. This time, it was of a woman riding a broomstick that was flying near their location. Ethan did his best not to swear as he grabbed Purebred and pulled into an alley.

  “What the-!” Purebred almost shouted.

  “Witching Heiress is coming!” Ethan hissed. “We have to hide!” The wukong dragged the werewolf under a nearby awning and pressed them against the wall. Unlike with Stormy, Ethan didn’t want to leave Purebred out in the open. Witching Heiress was clearly magical, and she may be able to tell that the stray dog is actually a werewolf in disguise.

  “Stay close to the wall and don’t move,” Ethan whispered. Purebred didn’t respond, but she pressed herself as close to the building as she could, looking like an old dog plush someone dumped in the alley.

  Ethan watched through his double’s eyes as the witch heroine flew overhead. Ethan hoped she’d fly by just like Stormy did, but to his horror, the corpo mage started circling the area around McDougall’s.

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  “Come out, come out, wherever you are~.” A singsong voice rang out from the sky. “You know you want to show yourselves and meet the lovely Witching Heiress~.”

  “She knows!” Purebred whispered in a panic. She was about to take off when Ethan’s hand clamped down on her skull.

  “Stay put!” Ethan hissed. As bad as the situation was, the last thing either of them needed was for Purebred to run off and give away their location to the witch.

  Ethan continued to watch through the clone’s eyes as Witching Heiress kept circling the area. Despite her words, the mage heroine didn’t seem to know where they were, but she still wasn’t leaving. Ethan tried not to think of the worst-case scenario, but if the Heiress wasn’t here for him and/or Purebred, then why was she here?

  The villain shook his head to stave off the panic. It didn’t matter why the corporate heroine was here; they just needed to leave before she found them.

  But how would Ethan do that? The simplest answer would be to sneak away when the woman was flying away, but that was easier said than done. The witch was flying too fast for the duio to just creep away, and unless they timed it just right, any attempts to sprint away would just draw her attention.

  Not to mention, Ethan didn’t know what the Witching Heiress was capable of, so maybe she could track them somehow, or maybe had a spell that could sense movement?

  If the villain shapeshifted into another dog and he and Purebred ran for it then, would that throw her off the trail? Maybe. But that’s only if Ethan’s early concern about the witch seeing through Purebred’s form didn’t apply to him as well.

  On that note, could Witching Heiress sense the magic used to create his clones? Was that why she was here? Did Ethan accidentally tip her off by making a flock of birds appear out of nowhere?!

  The uncertainty made Ethan’s mind go haywire as he tried to think up a plan that had the best shot at them escaping. However, nothing seemed foolproof, and the villain couldn’t help but second-guess every move he thought up. Purebred’s whimpering didn’t help matters, as it only added to the stress Ethan felt.

  The only option that Ethan felt would give them a chance was to attack her first. But that was insanely risky, not just in the execution but in the aftermath. Attacking a Crusader would no doubt make him an enemy of the rest of the team, a prospect that Ethan just wasn’t ready for. The possibility of facing just one of them was driving the villain up a wall, and if they officially became enemies, next time he’d have to fight the entire team.

  Unfortunately, it seemed Ethan’s hand was about to be forced, because try as he might, the villain couldn’t think of a plan that wasn’t half-baked or outright doomed to fail. With no other choice, Ethan closed his eyes and tried to steady his nerves before taking stepping-.

  Boom!

  In the far distance, something blew up. Both Ethan and Purebred jumped at the sudden noise, but whatever happened was a good distance away from them. The wukong had no idea what just happened, but he heard the sound of several car alarms going off.

  “What the fuck…?” Ethan wondered aloud, briefly forgetting the tense situation he was in. Luckily for him, Witching Heiress was asking the same thing and flew off to investigate the noise. Ethan watched in amazement as the flying broomstick flew away from them and off into the distance.

  “She’s gone…” the boy muttered in astonishment.

  “She’s gone?!” Purebred repeated in disbelief. “But-- How?! Why?!”

  “You’re complaining?” Ethan asked with a laugh.

  “Well-- no… It just seems really sudden… Like the save came out of nowhere…” The villain hated to admit it, but Purebred had a point. That explosion came at the exact moment when they needed it. It was suspiciously perfect timing.

  The relief Ethan felt at Witching Heiress’s absence was replaced with more anxiety as his paranoia started going haywire again.

  “We need to get out of here,” the wukong told the werewolf.

  “I quite agree,” A new voice piped up. Ethan and Purebred whirled towards the end of the alley where a man dressed in all black stepped out of the shadows. “That won’t distract her for long.”

  Ethan saw Purebred tense up at the stranger’s approach and backed away slightly. For his part, the villain just stared at the newcomer and his familiar ensemble. Not only did Ethan see that overcoat and fedora before, but he noticed that they were all grey, not black. And if that wasn’t enough, he was still wearing that black, faceless mask.

  “Vlad?” Ethan asked hesitantly.

  “Nice to see you again, Ethan Sun,” the vampire replied with a tip of his hat. “Now, I’m sure we have a lot to talk about, but we really should get moving.” Without waiting for a reply, Vlad turned around and began walking quickly down the back road. Ethan hesitated for a second before begrudgingly trailing after the undead man.

  “Who is this guy?” Purebred whispered when she caught up to him. “And why are we following him?”

  “His name’s Vlad,” Ethan whispered back. “He’s a vampire, and that’s pretty much all I know about him.”

  “A vampire?!” the she-wolf squeaked. “W-Why are we following a vampire?!

  “I wanna see where this goes…” the wukong replied as he kept his eyes on Vlad’s back.

  Of course, Purebred would freak out; she didn’t know about Ethan’s natural resistance to the bloodsuckers. But she was right to be worried about the dangers. Vlad was clearly an adult on top of being Gifted himself. He had to have years of experience with his vampire powers, while the teenagers had their powers for a few months at most. They had to be careful, but Ethan felt that Vlad could be trusted to a point.

  He came off as a dealmaker, someone who acted polite and friendly because he wanted something from you. If that was the case, Vlad wouldn’t try to kill them… unless their corpses were what he needed… But that wasn’t likely since Vlad could’ve ambushed them if that were the case.

  ‘Still better keep my guard up,’ Ethan thought warily. ‘I don’t know what he’s planning, but it’s definitely not nothing…’

  Eventually, Vlad turned towards one of the alleyway doors and unlocked it. Opening the door, Vlad walked inside, leaving the entrance free for the two youngsters to follow him. Ethan and Purebred looked at each other, the wukong remained stoic behind his mask while the werewolf was shaking so much you’d think she was standing over the world’s smallest earthquake.

  Ethan decided to take the first step. He couldn’t see into the room as for whatever reason, Vlad didn’t turn on the lights. Carefully, the villain walked into the building, a baton-sized Virga in his hand, ready to fight off any surprise attacks.

  The smell hit him first. Ethan couldn’t identify it at first, but it was strong. For half a second, Ethan thought he was walking into a scene straight out of a horror movie. Maybe it was a murder scene, this could be the place where Vlad kidnapped and butchered people for their blood. That’s something a vampire would do, right?

  Then half a second later, Ethan’s brain finally registered what the smell was. Or at least part of it. Ethan didn’t know where that musky, earthy scent came from, but it had to originate from some kind of plant instead of the gore his brain jumped too.

  “Is that… weed?” Purebred asked as she followed Ethan inside. “Are we in a cannabis store?”

  “Officially, it’s a garden supply store,” Vlad’s voice replied. “But it makes extra money by selling marijuana to dealers.” Suddenly, the lights turned on, and Ethan recoiled as he was temporarily blinded. When his vision returned, he saw Vlad standing on the other side of the room, next to a light switch.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I have night vision, so I often keep the lights off.”

  “It’s… fine,” Ethan growled out. While he was certain Vlad, it wouldn’t do for him to be the one to break their uneasy alliance. The villain noticed that the vampire removed his hat and overcoat, but didn’t take off his mask. ‘Nice to know the not complete trust is mutual,’ Ethan thought sardonically.

  “What is this place?” The wukong took a look at the room they were in. It looked like a backroom storage area, but it had indoor planters, purple lights hanging from the ceiling, and a large table in the middle of the room with bagging equipment.

  “Like I said, it’s a Gardening Supply store that secretly sells cannabis,” Vlad responded. “It’s the perfect place to buy out and turn into a safehouse.”

  “How?” Ethan couldn’t help but ask. Vlad responded by waving his hand around the room. He made sure his hand waved over a side table with a number of unlabeled cylindrical tubes.

  “If someone gets suspicious and starts snooping around, they’ll find this. And that’s where many investigations will stop. Most people will see the illegal side business and think that’s all the dirty laundry this little store has.”

  “But…” Purebred began confused. “Isn’t weed legal?”

  “Not here, it’s not,” Ethan responded dryly. “The mayor used some sort of legal loophole to make the stuff illegal in the city.”

  “It was part of Egger’s “Restoring Tradition” campaign,” Vlad added in a cold, mocking tone. “And while the peasantry cheered and pretended to love the change, they secretly burn thousands of dollars every month to indulge in the now illegal product.” Vlad let out a snort that, while quick, was filled to the brim with contempt. “I’m confident the dealers make more money now than they ever did legally.”

  “Yeah, Poppytwon is full of hypocritical morons,” Ethan injected dismissively. “Why did you bring us here?”

  “I saw some like-minded individuals in distress and decided to assist them,” Vlad replied casually. He pulled out one of the chairs and sat down at the table. “If we rogues don’t look out for each other, then who will?”

  “Nobody,” Ethan shot back. “That’s the point of being a “rogue”, isn’t it? You turn your back on society, and now you're on your own.”

  “You know it doesn’t have to be that way.” Ethan couldn’t see it with his mask, but he knew Vlad was eyeing Purebred. The werewolf certainly noticed too, as she let out a whimper and started edging towards the door.

  “Purebred and I are in a temporary alliance,” the wukong shot back. “Once we take care of the other werewolves, it’s business as usual.”

  “There is strength and safety in numbers, Mr. Sun.”

  “No offense, Vlad, but you're not the best advocate for teamwork. From what little I’ve seen of your coven, it’s not exactly a cozy little family, is it?”

  “There’s always going to be trouble no matter how green the other pastures look. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look for better options.” The two faceless villains stared each other down, neither moving an inch in their silent standoff. Ethan wasn’t Vlad was getting at with this teamwork discussion but he wasn’t going to let his guard down and play along. He expected the vampire to keep pushing the matter, but surprisingly, he was the first to back off.

  “Let’s table this discussion for now,” the vampire said as he leaned back in his chair. “You said your looking for werewolves? I believe I can help you with that.”

  “And why would you do that?” Ethan asked suspiciously.

  “Do you think you're the only one who doesn’t want a pack of mongrels moving into town?” Vlad asked with a chuckle. “I’ve been hunting them myself, in fact.”

  “Is that right?”

  “It is. My coven is well established in this city, and Shelley’s little rebellion almost ruined it. The last thing we need is a bunch of mangy beasts putting the plebians on the lookout for supernatural creatures.”

  Ethan nodded but said nothing. What Vlad said made sense. Vampires and Werewolves bother preyed upon humans, so it was natural that they were enemies. It also made sense to send someone else after them; it was what Ethan considered doing to Poltergeist before he attacked.

  But something nagged at him, telling him that Vlad was being too friendly and open. Was this his anxiety flaring up after too many years of false hopes, or were his instincts trying to warn him of malicious intent?

  “So you tell us where they are, and we deal with them for you?” Ethan confirmed.

  “Indeed,” Vlad said with a nod. “Something you were going to do anyway, so this works out for everyone.” A fair point, but Ethan still felt that Vlad was leading him on by assuring the boy that this was what he wanted. The villain didn’t like the idea of playing into someone else’s hands, but right now, he had to swallow his pride.

  “You know where they are?” the boy asked warily.

  “I do,” Vlad replied easily. “It’s in the coven’s best interest to keep an eye on any potential threats.” Ethan narrowed his eyes.

  After what happened with Barrasso, there was no way the wukong didn’t count as a “potential threat.” Even if the vampires thought he was a Hero, they’d have to assume he’d be against them on sheer principle. It should be obvious to even an outsider, but that still doesn’t explain why one of the vampires would let that information slip.

  ‘Is Vlad trying to threaten me?’ Ethan wondered in suspicion. ‘Or warn me?’ Rather than question the older man further, Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper map of the city. Purebred didn’t have a phone, so it was easier for the two teens to use this instead of huddling over his device.

  “Show us,” the boy demanded. Vlad complied without complaint. He simply pointed to a spot on the map that was already marked.

  “You’ll find the werewolves here.”

  “The bakery?!” Ethan exclaimed in disbelief. The spot Vlad just pointed to was a recently opened bakery called “Grandma Mel’s Bakery”. It was recently opened and run by a legit old lady. Whether she was an actual Grandma, Ethan couldn’t say, but she could act the part, which is all the locals really care about.

  “You sound surprised,” Vlad inquired. “You marked it down, so you must’ve had your suspicions.”

  “Yeah…” Ethan muttered lamely. To be honest, he never expected the grandma's bake shop to be where the Werewolves were held up. The only reason Ethan even considered the place was because it fit their criteria of potential footholds, and Ethan figured they should check it out just to be thorough. Now that he was being told this was their base of operations… he still struggled to believe it.

  Ethan turned to Purebred to get her two cents, but found the girl staring off into the distance. She had a haunted look on her face, and seemed to be holding back shivers of fear.

  “Purebred?” Ethan asked cautiously.

  “Back in the pack…” Purebred began slowly, almost in a trance. “There was this elder wolf that was their matriarch… They called her Mama Wolf… She was like a grandmother… In a… horrific hillbilly cannibal kind of way…”

  “So she could be this Grandma Mel?” Ethan asked softly. Purebred only nodded, which seemed to deepen her despair.

  “Well, there you have it,” Vlad stated with a clap of his hand. “You know where the werewolves are, and I have someone dealing with them. Everybody wins.” And on that smug note, Ethan decided it was better to end the meeting there before he did something he’d regret. The villain was thankful the vampire helped them but the goodwill was tainted by near certainty there were ulterior motives.

  Ethan didn’t know what Vlad’s game was, other than to get two potential enemies to fight each other. That seemed like the only reason, but something told him that wasn’t the full story. But Ethan didn’t want to stick around and pry, lest he get too involved in the vampire’s scheme then he already was. The boy turned to leave and nudged the werewolf to follow him.

  “Before you go,” Vlad called out as Ethan opened the door. “A friendly warning. I personally don’t care about sharing a city with a single werewolf that minds her own business. But the rest of my coven aren’t so accepting. Whatever happens next, be sure to keep your head down, Purebred.”

  Purebred said nothing and the duo left the Gardening store. Ethan marched out of the building with purpose while the she-wolf trailed slowly behind him. Her head was down, and she was trudging along like she had just woken up from a nap.

  The wukong could guess why Purebred was so sluggish. They know with almost certainty that her old pack is in town, and now they had to face them. It didn’t matter if they were planning to drive them out of town; Purebred didn’t want to see them again.

  It was a notion Ethan could understand. Even if he had all the homework down perfectly, Ebenezer never looked forward to seeing his bullies, no matter the context. They were nothing but a cancer to him, with every interaction being either painful or demeaning. It would only be natural for the boy to hate being near them and try to avoid them, but that wasn’t an option.

  Ebenezer couldn’t just keep away from those jerks as they would find him, and it was the same for Purebred with her old pack. When people got it into their heads that they were allowed to be assholes and hurt you, they weren’t going to stop until someone made them. At least, that’s what Ethan thought. Since just taking it for so long has done nothing for him other than encourage his bullies, getting violent seemed to be the only way forward.

  Regardless, Purebred was going to have to deal with her past one way or another.

  Ethan would have snapped at the girl and tell her to get her head in the game, but there was a problem. The villain couldn’t look at the werewolf without the Nice Guy in him trying to break free. He should be yelling at Purebred and force her out of her funk, but every time Ethan so much as glanced at the werewolf, his mind flashed back to his time as Ebenezer.

  So many days spent trudging through the halls, keeping his head down and hoping everybody ignored him, because he knew from experience that was the best he could get.

  Ethan couldn’t let his sympathy start leaking out, but he also couldn’t let Purebred stew in her despair. It was because he still needed her to deal with her pack. Not because he cared about a near stranger.

  But… Maybe, just this once… He could let himself be… nice, again.

  “Hey,” Ethan said softly. He turned to face Purebred, and the wolf girl looked at him with dead eyes. “It’s gonna be okay. No matter what happens, I won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll take down the pack, and you’ll be free.”

  Ethan watched as the light slowly returned to Purebred’s eyes. She didn’t regain all of her usual energy, but the wukong’s words were enough to pull her out of that pit of anguish she crawled into.

  “Okay,” Purebred said quietly. The two didn’t say anything else and returned to their walk. The warm feeling of cheering someone up spread through Ethan’s body, and the villain decided not to try to chase it away. He didn’t help Purebred because he wanted to; it was because he needed to. That was all. There was no need to hate himself for doing something necessary for his work.

  What Ethan should hate was how easily the words of comfort came out. There was no struggle to return to his Niceness. The second Ethan allowed himself to be kind, his body reacted as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Despite all of his training, Ethan was still a Nice Guy at heart, and that replaced replaced the warm fuzzy feeling with the bitter anger a villain should have.

  “Should we really trust that vampire guy?” Purebred asked, inadvertently breaking Ethan out of his self-hating spiral.

  “No,” the boy answered. “But I don’t doubt he wants the werewolves gone. So right now, we can work with him.” Purebred nodded and turned her head forward. Her snout set into a grim line of determination. She was ready to see this through.

  With nothing more to be said, the duo headed towards Grandma Mel’s Bakery.