Nico looked at Piper, surprised. “Your big sister?” he said.

Piper nodded. She pulled her oversized hat down, staring at the floor. Her face was obscured by shadow. She didn’t say anything. Nico and Gramps exchanged a look.

The old man cleared his throat. “Piper, how can your big sister help us? You said she can get us a license tracer, but how? Does she work for The Clothiers?”

Piper remained silent. Tux, curled up in her lap, stared up at her face.

Nico raised a hand toward Piper, frowning with concern. “Piper…”

Tux turned her head away from Piper’s face, her large eyes meeting Nico’s. The tabby cat hissed softly. “Nico,” she mewed, “Give Piper a moment. She is clearly distressed.”

“You think I can’t see that?” Nico said, frustrated. “I just want to check if she’s okay.”

The tabby cat stood on Piper’s lap, her look reproachful. Her tail twitched threateningly.

“Mh…” Nico recoiled a bit. Suddenly, a hand clapped onto his shoulder.

“Nico. Give her time,” Gramps grunted. “Don’t push her.”

“I… I wasn’t…”

“It’s okay,” Piper said softly. She didn’t lift her head, but Nico was alarmed to see a single teardrop pat onto her leg next to Tux.

“Piper, I’m sorry, I…”

“I said, it’s okay,” Piper insisted. She sniffled quietly, then looked up.

Her face came into the light. She wasn’t crying. The single tear had been the beginning and the end of it. She looked determined, her jaw set, but it was her eyes that made Nico and Gramps gasp in surprise. Her eyes were hard, flaming, desolate. They were the eyes of a soldier reliving a battle. The eyes of a warrior who had emerged victorious, but who was forever changed by what they had done.

She took a deep breath and sighed. The war-torn look in her eyes faded somewhat as she did so, but it was still there, just beneath the surface. Something about the look in her eyes now transfixed Nico. He felt a thrill of fear as a deep, primal part of his mind recognized that look from somewhere. Her eyes weren’t just hard. They were hau-

“I… haven’t talked with my big sister in a long time,” Piper began.

She started to pet Tux again as she spoke. The tabby cat settled into Piper’s lap once more, her eyes still watching Nico reproachfully. Tux purred as Piper’s fingers ran through her fur.

Piper looked from Nico to Gramps. “To answer your question, no. My big sister doesn’t work for The Clothiers. She’s involved with one of the Six Families.”

The Six Families…

“How much do you know about the Six Families, Nico?” Piper asked.

“Not very much,” Nico admitted. “I mean, I just know what they put in the newspapers. That they’re criminal organizations, and that they cause a lot of problems for the Five Corporations and The Clothiers.”

Piper nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. But they’re a lot more powerful than that.”

“What do you mean?” Nico asked.

Gramps growled, “She means that the Six Families hold a lot more power than the corporations or The Clothiers want to admit.”

“Right,” Piper continued. “Nico… The Six Families have enough power to overthrow the Five Presidents and The Clothiers.”

“What?!” Nico gasped. “No way!”

“It’s true,” Gramps confirmed. “But it’ll never happen. Not the way things are right now, anyway.”

“That’s crazy,” Nico marvelled. “But wait… if they’re strong enough to do that, then-”

“Why haven’t they?” Gramps cut in. Nico nodded. The old man folded his arms. “Simple. They’re divided.”

“Divided…”

“Yeah, they’re rivals. The Six Dons all hate one another, so they’ve refused to join together so far. But if they ever did…”

“They won’t,” Piper murmured. She was looking at the sunlight streaming in through the shutters. “Not in a million years.”

“So, wait…” Nico said. “You said that your big sister works for one of the Families?”

Piper nodded. “She does.”

“Ah, I see,” Gramps smiled mischievously. “So earlier, when I said the Six Families were the only ones who might be able to help us…”

“Yeah,” Piper said. “I thought of my sister. Of Moxie.”

“Moxie…” Nico took a long sip of his hot apple cider, thinking hard. He looked at Gramps. “But you said that we don’t have anything to offer them, right?”

“We might not need anything, dummy,” Piper smiled. It was a sad sort of smile. “My big sister owes me one. She owes me big.”

“Gotcha…”

Gramps scratched his neck. “Well, it’s the best lead we’ve got.” He looked at the clock that hung over one of the benches in the corner. “Piper, time to call in that favor, huh?”

Piper bit her lip. “That’s the thing… I… I don’t know how to get in touch with my sister.”

Nico and Gramps gasped. Tux looked up at them in mild annoyance.

“You don’t know?” Nico murmured.

Piper shook her head. “We haven’t talked in a long time. She… doesn’t want to talk to me, actually.”

Gramps snapped his fingers. “Which family, Piper?”

“Huh?”

“Which family is your sister in?” the old man insisted. “Don’t forget, I’m in the black market business. I’ve had my fair share of dealings with members of the Six Families. Mainly the Ten-Ton Tanks and the Colombo Mafia.”

At the mention of the Colombo Mafia, Piper flinched involuntarily. Nico frowned. Gramps winced. “Sorry, kid. I know you’ve got your own history with these people.”

“No, it’s okay. I just… It’s been awhile, you know?”

“Piper…” Nico said, stepping toward her. He was suddenly so aware of how much he liked her, how much her support meant to him. He forced himself to push past it, to say what he needed to say. “Piper, you can’t do this. There’s got to be another way.”

Piper looked at him, confused. “What are you talking about?”

Nico hesitated. The sight of her sitting there, petting Tux, wearing her oversized hat, her orange hair spilling out around her face, her eyes shining, her shoulders set determinedly… It was enough to freeze him in his tracks. Man, she’s so cute, he found himself thinking. He shook the thought away, feeling childish. C’mon, pull it together, Nico. You can’t let her do this.

“Piper… You’re already doing so much to help me, but this is just too much. You want to contact your sister in the Six Families, your big sister who you haven’t seen in a long time, just to help me? No. That’s not fair! I can’t ask you to do this for me!”

“Well it’s a good thing I don’t need you to ask me, isn’t it?” Piper said sharply, standing suddenly. She got right in Nico’s face, her finger jabbing painfully into his chest. “You’re so stupid sometimes, Nico! You think this is all about you?!”

Nico winced angrily. “Of course I do! You’re hurting yourself to help me, how is that not about me?! Do you think I want that? Do you think I want you to have panic attacks because of me?”

Piper went pale. She whipped her head around at Gramps. “You told him?!” She snarled.

Gramps backed up, waving his hands in protest. “No, kid! I didn’t say a word, promise!”

“I heard you, Piper!” Nico cried.

Piper turned back toward him, shocked.

“I…” Nico’s heart was pounding out of his chest. How had this all gone so wrong, so fast? “I was listening outside the door.”

Piper stared at him. Nico couldn’t read her expression.

“I got worried when we couldn’t find you,” he continued, “and when I left, I just… I just had a feeling that you hadn’t actually gone home. It just didn’t seem like you to disappear like that. So I waited by the door, in case you hadn’t left, and I heard… I heard everything.”

There was a long, pregnant pause.

Piper hung her head. She sighed, but her voice was strangely bright. “So you heard me talking to Gramps, huh?”

“...Yeah.”

Piper nodded to herself. She didn’t say anything.

“I just…” Nico started, then stopped. When he spoke again, his voice was firm. “Piper, I don’t want you to hurt yourself for me.”

Piper chuckled darkly. “Nico… Why do you think I’m doing this just for you?”

“Huh?”

“You heard me, damn it. Why do you think I’m doing this just for you?”

Their eyes met, and as they stared at one another, they both remembered...

“Piper?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you doing this? Why do you want to help me?”

She shrugged. “Because I like you, dummy.”

Piper’s eyes flashed. “Nico… do you remember what I told you about your fire? I meant it. You have a fire that burns so bright, Nico. It’s so strong. And when it sparks up, it’s hot enough to set fires in everyone around you… Even… Even in people whose fires burned out a long time ago.”

“Piper…”

Piper’s voice grew louder until she was almost shouting, her fists clenched, her arms waving passionately.

“I was telling the truth, Nico! I want to help you because I like you. Because we’re friends, and I want to help you make your dream come true. But don’t you dare think for a second that I’m only doing this for you.”

Piper advanced toward Nico. He stepped back instinctively. Piper’s voice was getting louder. “I’m in this for myself too, Nico! Because… Because when you told me your dream... When you beat Rudy... When you fought Elizabeth…”

She took a deep breath, and when she next spoke, her voice was a battle cry. Her arm was raised with her finger pointed at Nico, and her other hand was over her heart.

“That fire! The fire of your dream! IT GAVE ME HOPE! Your sparks set my own fire going again, just a little bit at a time, but it’s burning again now, Nico! Don’t you understand?! For the first time since I escaped… For the first time since I left my big sister behind… For the first time in years… I HAVE THE FIRE TO FIGHT FOR MY DREAM AGAIN!”

The passion that burned within Piper flared with such a thunderous fury that, for just a moment, they could all see it. She stood before them, a fierce smile on her face, her eyes blazing with hope, her hair blown by gales of wind. And she… she was…

She was on fire.

The fire burned all around her, hot, raging, alive. And for a moment, just for a moment, Nico saw Piper as she really was.

And then the moment was over. They were standing in the workshop. The fire was gone. Piper was breathing hard, her eyes blazing. Tux was sitting on Gramps’ shoulder, the two of them staring at Piper in amazement.

Nico’s heart was pounding in his chest. He walked forward until he stood just inches away from Piper. When she spoke, her voice was low and quiet.

“Nico, I-”

DA-DOOM!

Nico hugged Piper tightly, tears shining in his eyes.

Piper was stunned. Then her breath hitched, and she hugged Nico back. They held each other tightly for a long moment. Tux meowed with approval. Gramps smiled and chuckled gruffly.

“Dumb kids,” he growled under his breath.

Then Nico let go of Piper. He put his hands on her shoulders, holding her at arm’s length and looking her in the eye.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Piper nodded. “Apology accepted.”

Then the moment was over. Nico turned away and walked toward the shuttered windows. When he turned back toward Piper, he was smiling.

“Piper, tell me… what is your dream?”

“Ah…” Piper returned the smile, hesitantly at first, then with a fierceness that was both endearing and intimidating. “My dream?”

Nico nodded.

“My dream…” Piper mused. It’s been so long... But here goes nothing…

Gramps, Tux and Nico looked at Piper, waiting. At last, Piper laughed.

“My dream... is to destroy this whole rotten system. The Five Presidents. The Six Families. The Clothiers. They’ve ruined this world with their greed. They’ve destroyed so many lives, including mine and my big sister’s! So my… my dream is… My dream is to see the dawn... OF A NEW, FREE WORLD!”

Nico’s jaw dropped. Gramps gasped. Tux’s tail went bushy.

Piper started to laugh again, her eyes filling with tears.

Moxie… Do you still think I’m crazy? That I’m a hopeless dreamer? Well… maybe I am. But… Piper looked at Nico, whose look of shock had given way to laughter that mingled with her own. Maybe all I was missing was some friends to dream with. And, Moxie… I think I’ve found them. After all this time…

I’ve found real friends.

Gramps and Tux were laughing now, too. The old man wiped a tear from his eye. “I tell ya, the two of you are nuts! So, you want to change the world, huh? Well. What the hell? I’ve got your back too, Piper!”

“Gramps!” Piper gasped, astonished. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

“The hell are you talking about?” Gramps guffawed. “Of course I do! I just called you nuts, didn’t I? But apparently we’re in the business of crazy around here, didn’t you notice?”

At this, all of them laughed. They laughed for a long time.

Nico smiled at Piper. “Let’s do it.”

Piper nodded back to Nico. “Mhm!”

They put their fists out, meeting in the middle. With a shrug, Gramps added his fist to theirs. After a moment, Tux did something that looked uncannily like rolling her eyes, and let out a loud meow.

The four of them stood there, united in their friendship. They felt ready for anything. Piper, more than any of them, knew the truth of what faced them. But even though she knew the power of the system they were uniting against now, she felt a wild thrill of hope and determination. She looked from Tux, to Gramps, to Nico.

We can do it, she thought.

Big Sis… Moxie…

I’ll see you soon!

***

Across the city, Piper’s sister, Moxie, sighed.

A half-smoked cigarette was clamped between Moxie’s teeth. Her pouting red lips left faint lipstick marks on the cigarette as she removed it from her mouth with the fingers of her gloved hand. When she spoke, her voice was sultry.

“Spats won’t be happy about this, Leroy. Not at all.”

The man she was addressing was shaking. His face was a lumpy mess from having taken a brutal beating. He hissed with pain as the point of Moxie’s high heel dug into his side. A discarded silver-striped tie lay crumpled in the corner of the room.

Moxie sat on an ornate armchair, one leg crossed over the other, resting her foot on the back of the battered man who knelt like a dog before her. Her hands were covered by long black gloves that stretched beyond her elbows. The fur collar that normally hung around her neck was draped neatly over the back of the armchair. Her slinky dress left almost nothing to the imagination.

DA-DOOM!

This was:

Moxie “Babydoll” Bravo. First Lady of the Colombo Mafia.

She was Spats’ girl, and Spats’ girl got nothing but the best.

The man at her feet, Leroy, sniffled weakly, wincing against the stabbing pain of the high heel. The golden flecks in his eyes were nearly gone, but they could still be seen as fading highlights whenever he dared to look up.

Leroy was blubbering now. “I did my best, I swear, I promise, dear God… I swear!”

“Just shut the hell up, will you?” Babydoll groaned. “Like I told you, tell it to Spats. Not that I think it’ll do you any good, Leroy. You must be some kinda idiot, crawling back to us like this after you screwed up so bad.”

“I… I just thought… AGH!” Leroy started, but Babydoll silenced him with another vicious jab of her high heel. The armed thugs who guarded the door chuckled brutishly.

“That was your first mistake then,” Babydoll said. She was smiling slightly, but her eyes were far away. “Thinking's not your strong suit, Leroy. You shoulda… thought of that.”

The thugs started to laugh again, but they suddenly went silent as the door opened. The man who entered looked at Babydoll with an expression she had seen many times before. A look of affection, of lust, of satisfaction…

Of power.

Spats Colombo stepped into the room, his eyes feasting on his girl. She looked damned good sitting like a queen in her throne, all right. And better yet… He eyed Leroy, who was trembling visibly at Spats’ entrance. His girl had a gift for him. A nasty rat that she had trapped under her heel, just for him. Just for her man.

Spats would dispose of that rat for her, no problem. But first, oh, first, Spats would make that rat squeak.

“Hiya, Leroy,” Spats said mildly. He stepped deliberately in front of Leroy’s face, letting the rat take in the brilliant white of his immaculate spats for a moment. He leaned over and kissed Babydoll’s neck.

“Hi darling,” Babydoll crooned.

Spats smiled down at his girl. “Hi, Doll. I see you’ve got something for me?”

“I do,” Babydoll smiled back. She gave Leroy one more painful jab with her heel. He wheezed in agony.

“Well, well, well, Leroy…” Spats said softly. He stared down at the battered man and shook his head. “You give a man the world, and how does he repay you, Babydoll? How does kindness and goodwill get treated in this city? Like trash, Doll. Like TRASH!”

He roared the final word directly at Leroy with terrifying force. The man squirmed and whimpered. Spats took in the scene with satisfaction. The shout had affected every person in the room. The guards were on edge, Leroy was terrified, and even Babydoll had flinched. This particularly pleased Spats. It was good for his girl to know her place, and that flinch showed that she certainly did.

“Boys, why don’t we ask our friend some friendly questions?” said Spats.

The two thugs jolted suddenly into action. Babydoll lifted her feet off of Leroy, and the terrified rat got dragged across the room to a simple wooden chair in the corner. After a few moments, Leroy was tied securely to the chair, and the thugs turned him toward Spats. The Head of the Colombo Mafia sighed.

“Now this is really unpleasant,” he said. “Four years of work down the drain, Leroy. Four years. That’s a lot of my time to waste, you know. And who knows how many second and third and fourth chances I gave you. Oh, you promised, oh, you screamed, oh, you cried and cried like the biggest damn baby that ever lived. No offense, Doll.”

Babydoll smiled. “Hm. None taken, darling.”

But Spats wasn’t really listening to her. His eyes were darkening in a way that the thugs had seen many times before. They knew what was coming, and took it in stride. Leroy, however…

“NO! No, Spats, No! Please! I’m begging you! It was Midas, Spats! That damn Midas Aleph! He’s got some sort of Clothiers power, Spats! It takes over your mind! It’s like losing who you are, like you can’t do a damn thing against him! I swear, Spats! I did everything I could!”

Spats nodded slowly, letting the rat talk. All the while, his eyes were growing darker.

Leroy, that rat, just kept squeaking. But oh, Spats thought, Oh, Leroy, you’re gonna squeak for hours and hours. This ain’t gonna save you.

“I tried to get a better tie, Spats!” Leroy babbled. “The one I was using worked great for the previous promotions, but this one - I couldn’t do a damn thing to Midas! He’s just too strong, Spats! I couldn’t do anything! But! Spats! Spats, listen, please! I’m begging you, Spats, just listen to this, don’t kill me, Spats. Midas, he’s got beef with The Clothiers now! A kid, a damn kid, Spats, brought him a letter from The Clothiers! Aleph is going to war with Ganzhou, I heard it straight from Midas’ mouth!”

Spats didn’t say a word. He simply began to remove his suit jacket. He did it slowly, deliberately, letting Leroy watch every moment.

“NO! NO, SPATS! PLEASE! LOOK! Look, look, I promise! I promise you, I’ll never fail you again, Spats! I came back, didn’t I? I came back, Spats! That shows I’m still loyal, right? I’m not a spy! I’m not a rat! I swear to you, Spats! PLEASE!”

Spats handed his suit jacket to one of the thugs, who hung it neatly over his arm. The other thug offered Spats a switchblade, which Spats accepted. He pressed its button. A terribly long, terribly sharp blade sprang forth from the handle.

Leroy, so terrified now that he was incapable of forming full words, was now babbling and squealing like the rat he was. Spats eyed him with distaste. He slowly brought the blade closer and closer to Leroy’s stomach, until it pressed lightly against his body.

Everyone froze. Leroy stopped squeaking at the feel of the switchblade against his stomach. The room grew colder. Everything else seemed to fade away - the thugs, Babydoll, even the room itself. It was just Spats and Leroy, now. Just Spats, Leroy, and the switchblade.

“I have just one question, Leroy,” Spats said softly.

Leroy nodded frantically. “Sure! Sure, Spats! Please! What’s the question, Spats?”

The battered man felt the faintest ray of hope in that moment. He felt as though he just might be able to survive this after all. Surely, Spats would be merciful. Hadn’t he given second and third and fourth chances? Hadn’t he forgiven and forgotten before? Leroy was sure he had.

And then Leroy’s watery eyes met the shadowy abyss of Spats’ eyes. And his hope shattered forever.

Spats’ grin was feral. “How do you want to be dissected, you damn rat?”

Then it began.

Babydoll slipped out at the first opportunity, but the sound of Leroy’s desperate screams echoed in her mind, unavoidable, unending, and terribly…

...Familiar.