With the flames from the burning paper receding, the room fell into silence as the two figures stared at each other. The Cowl was still hidden in shadow so Liam couldn’t get a good view of who he was facing. However he knew he couldn’t show weakness. With stiff legs Liam pulled himself to his feet. Eyes locked on his next opponent the entire time.

The soft voice spoke up again, “I hate working in teams. So much drama. Egos always get in the way. Is it the same on your side?”

“Not really. Putting murderers behind bars unites us.”

“Oh does it now?” The Cowl said with a laugh. What could this person know, Liam thought. When you were on the wrong side of the law, you were liable to think anything.

Cutting the conversation short. Liam threw his last foam grenade at the Cowl. The figure didn’t even move as the projectile flew towards them. The grenade detonated a second later and covered that side of the room in foam. With the Cowl at the center of the explosion. Liam breathed a sigh of relief, this would be an easy fight. At least that’s what he assumed until he saw the Cowl emerge into the light. Her loose fitting gray hoodie sliding right through the foam. Not even leaving a trail in its wake.

It’s Phaser, Liam’s mind screamed as it raced at top speed. He’d seen her most recent work at Mr. Martin’s house earlier in the night. How had she managed to get here and rob a bank so fast? Unless the murder really was a diversion. Liam didn’t have time to worry about that. Right now he had to capture her and end all of this.

She came in fast. Getting up close for a fist fight. It was one unlike any Liam had ever been apart of. Every punch he made would travel through her. She was a ghost sliding around him. Untouchable to anything he did.

On the other side, Phaser’s attacks all landed. Fists flying into Liam’s suit over and over. Peppering him with a constant stream of jabs.

The fight continued in that manner for a few minutes. Liam, unable to land a single blow while Phaser landed all of hers. But neither could do any real damage. While Phaser was landing strikes, they were all weak. Those of someone unaccustomed to a fight. She couldn’t even pierce through Liam’s armor, let alone do anything significant. And she didn’t carry any weapons, or any she’d deemed to use.

Finally the two parted. In the short break that followed Liam asked something that’d been bothering him, “Why didn’t you kill the guard?”

Through all the fighting in this room the guards defenseless body had been ignored. Not only was he not attacked, but the Cowls didn’t use him as a bargaining chip to get Liam to back down. With what he knew about Phaser and her recent murder spree, it just didn’t feel right.

“Why would I do that? There’s nothing to gain from murder,” Phaser responded.

“You’ve been killing people around town for the last few months. Nothing to gain from that either, but it didn’t stop you.”

The hooded figure stopped at those words. Almost startled by the accusation.

“I’ve never killed anyone in my life.

“We have you on tape from earlier today. Visiting the most recent murder scene only hours before the man died.”

“I’ve been with the team all day. What do you think, we throw one of these robberies together in a couple minutes? Or just wing it and call it all good?” Phaser asked. Her soft voice gone, replaced by a heated one. “It takes time to plan. Where would I find any extra time to go gallivanting around killing people while planning a heist?”

“Honestly, with how good you all are at robberies I assumed it was made up on the spot,” Liam said. Sliding in a little verbal jab.

“You just accused me of murder. I’ve never killed anyone!” Phaser exclaimed. Her calm demeanor gone as her voice rose an octave. Trying to convince Liam that she really didn’t know what he was talking about.

“I’ve seen the tape. Trust me, I’ll bring you down for what you did.”

Phaser looked at Liam, trying to read the man behind the mask. Whatever she found she didn’t like. For she rushed over and grabbed Copper. Sliding through the floor before Liam could even move to stop her.

Taking up a defensive stance, over the guard, Liam waited for the Cowl to return. Eyes darting over the entire space. Unsure where she’d make her next appearance. But it wasn’t Phaser who entered next, instead it was H-Bar.

Running through the door H-Bar said, “Oh good you’re still standing.”

“What, you think a couple Cowls could take me out?” Liam asked teasingly.

“The mighty Source? I would never suggest that,” H-Bar replied in mock anger.

“You know I almost believe you.”

Chuckling for a moment H-Bar walked up and looked at the guard, “How is he?”

“Alive,” Liam said. “I wasn’t able to confirm anything else because of the fight.”

The room that had been in near perfect order minutes before was scared from the recent fight. Scorch marks, concrete foam, and broken floor boards covered the room.

Running footsteps in the hall alerted the two Heroes of an approaching person. Unsure who it was they took up defensive stances around the fallen guard. Whoever was out there would have to contend with two Heroes before they could lay a finger on the unconscious man.

To their surprise, it was Ullr who dashed through the door and asked, “Cowls ran here as well?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you able to capture any?”

“No, but the guard is still breathing. We need to get him to the hospital.”

“Skip, get in here!” Ullr yelled.

While they waited for the teleporter to arrive, H-Bar asked, “How’d you do over there?”

“We were able to capture a couple, but most escaped. Including the healer.”

Liam didn’t speak. Trying to piece through what Phaser had said. Was she really telling the truth? She sounded so concerned that Liam would even suggest that she was the murderer. She’d frozen when he said it, then ran. Was that all an act, or the reaction of someone afraid of being captured? It was impossible to tell truth from lie.

Unsure what to think, Liam knew he had to go back through the crime scene notes. Maybe they’d missed something?