Chapter 20

It was hours later as we see Carlos patrolling around his neighborhood as it was one of the few places that wasn't affected by the destruction. It was being defended by him, other officers and civilians. They had set up barricades on the streets as a group arrived with injured people as Carlos stepped outside of the barricades to give cover.

"C'mon! Get them in! Where did you find them?" Carlos asked.

"We found these two women passed on the ground in an alleyway. These bastard are cruel to defenseless woman." Said one of the men.

Carlos got a look at them and saw that it was Mizuko and Lie Yan. They took them in as Carlos stayed outside as one of the men noticed him.

"Gutierrez, what are you doing?" The man asked.

"Keep an eye on this place. I have to find someone." Said Carlos.

Carlos found a bike nearby, grabbed it and rode on it. Meanwhile, at the circus Beverly woke up as Kimberly, Ray and Mina quickly stood up with relief.

"Bev!" Said Kimberly, tearing up.

"Beverly! I'm so glad you're alive!" Mina cried as she was on Beverly.

"Mina, please get off me. If this wound won't kill me, you will." Said Beverly.

"Oh, sorry." Mina replied.

"Glad to you see you're fine, Beverly." Said Ray.

"Oh, hey, Ray. Thanks for looking after Kim for me." Said Beverly.

"Hey, no problem." Said Ray.

"But are you okay, though? I can't imagine what they did to you." Said Kimberly.

"But I'm sure you handled it like champ!" Said Mina.

"No…they…made me realize that all of this crap that's been going on…is pointless." Said Beverly.

"Huh?" Mina responded.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Kimberly asked.

"Once I'm healed up. We're leaving this city." Said Beverly.

"W-What!? Beverly, what are you talking about!? We can't leave!" Said Kimberly.

"We can and we will!" Beverly replied.

"No! People need our help! This team needs us! We all have to stick together, especially now!" Kimberly replied.

"NO! I'm sick of this city. I'm sick of all of it. I'm tired and pissed off from what I learn about dad and how his whole career of being chief was a damn lie!" Beverly yelled.

"What do you mean?" Kimberly asked.

"Dad used to work for Russo. Because of him, Russo got the power he has now. Our dad, Kim! The man who I admired! Looked up to! The reason I wanted to be an officer was a fraud! All of this won't have happened if dad didn't help him! Because of him you suffer, I suffered! So many people suffered! Because of him…our lives were ruined. And I see no reason to be here or to fight." Said Beverly.

Kimberly and Ray was shocked, while Mina froze from all of the information.

"Your dad was the chief of police?" Mina asked.

"Mina…let's leave these two alone." Said Ray as he pushed her out.

Kimberly was silent as her faced showed confliction, but she kept her determine look.

"So you just want to run away?" Kimberly asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what I want to do." Said Beverly.

"No. You can run. But I'm staying!" Said Kimberly.

"You are not staying!" Beverly yelled.

"I am, Bev!" Kimberly yelled.

"NO, YOU ARE NOT! I will not let them hurt you again! Understood!?" Beverly yelled.

Kimberly teared up as she wasn't used to being yelled at, but she kept a strong look.

"Yell at me all you want. But I won't run. I will not be that one girl who's always being protected. I want to fight back because it's the right thing to do! You know where I heard that from?" Kimberly asked.

"Where? From a fairy tale?" Beverly asked.

"No…you said it. Back when we were little when those boys bullied us. They were bigger and stronger than us. And I all I could do was cry for dad. But you stood up to them, even though you knew you weren't going to win. I never forgot those words, because I was so proud to have a strong sister like you! So what happened to you!? Are you going to let the mistake of our father determine everything you've done!? Because I won't! I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do. And if you want to stop me, go ahead! But I won't back down, Bev. I learned that from you." Said Kimberly with her hands clenched.

Beverly kept silent as Kimberly walked out of the tent as Ray was with Mina.

"The daughters of the chief. Do you think they got to ride in the police cars?" Mina asked.

"I…don't know." Ray replied.

Kimberly walked into Ray hid her face on his chest and cried silent as he hugged her to comfort her. Mina didn't know what to do as she looked at the tent and approached it. Mina saw Beverly with her head low as she walked up to her side.

"Bev…?" Said Mina, concerned.

"Do you still want to fight, Mina?" Beverly asked.

"Well, duh, I do!" Mina replied.

"Yeah, stupid question, huh?" Said Beverly as she petted Mina.

Mina liked being petted as she giggled, but then hugged Beverly.

"Beverly, did you ever get to ride in your dads police car?" Mina asked.

"…What…?" Beverly replied, confused.

Meanwhile, we see James had taken out a lot of Russo's men as his clothes had blood on them. He had been fighting for a long time as he held one of the men up from his collar. He showed him a small black and white picture of Mizuko.

"I'm looking for her! Tell me where she is!?" James yelled.

"I don't know where she is! I swear!" The man cried.

"You better not be lying to me." Said James.

He then slammed his head into the wall, knocking him out as James kept on walking. But he stumbled as his vision was blurring and he was huffing and puffing out air from exhaustion.

"Mizuko…I need to find her." Said James.

He walked out onto the street, until a car arrived and stopped in front of him. Russo's men got out as they took their enhancing pill as James growled at them. They pulled out weapons like bats, crowbars, chains or axes. James was about to charge out them, but his right leg gave out and fell on one knee. The men laughed and got closer, until they heard the chime of a bike bell. They look ahead as a bike was hurled at them and knocked the men back.

"Hey, can you get up?" Carlos asked with his hand out.

"I don't need your help." Said James as he stood up to fight.

"Um, I did that so that we could run." Said Carlos.

"What are you, a wuss?" James replied.

"I'd fight, but these guys are freakishly strong!" Said Carlos.

They all ran at James and Carlos as they stood ready, until Mary teleported in front of them. She then made the men teleport away as she turned towards James and Carlos.

"You two are no match for them." Said Mary.

Suddenly, all of the men fell from the sky and landed hard and were unconscious from the fall.

"Wha…How did you do that!?" Carlos asked.

"An Enhance…What do you want?" James asked.

"I'm searching for your leader, Stacy Watson." Said Mary.

"Why do you want to know?" James asked.

"Have you seen this city? I thought she and her group were a bunch of idiots going against Russo. But now, I can see why there was a reason to stop him. I knew the man had some screws loose. But I didn't know he would go this far. So please tell me where she is. I want to help stop Russo." Said Mary.

"Well, this is worse time you could've change your mind. The team is going through a rough time. Right now, we can't do anything. Russo's army and his men are too strong for us to fight head on." Said James as he started to walk.

"Oh, I see. Hey, are you alright? You're looking pretty bad." Said Mary.

"Yeah, I agree." Said Carlos.

"Mind your…business…" Said James as he passed out.

"Hey! Stay with me. Hey, can you help me take him to safety, please?" Carlos asked.

Mary approached them both as she touched them both. She then teleported them both to where Carlos's neighborhood as Carlos didn't know what happened.

"This is your neighborhood, right? I've heard this is one of the few standing safe zones from all what's been going on." Said Mary.

"Y-Yeah." Carlos replied.

"Alright, I'm leaving." Said Mary.

"Wait! You're looking for Stacy Watson, right? I know where she is. But first, I need to take him in there. After that, I'll tell you." Said Carlos.

"Why would you help me?" Mary asked.

"Because a friend of mine is with her. And I need to find her." Said Carlos.

It was moments later as James was placed down in a bed in an infirmary tent of the safe zone. He was passed out and across from him was Mizuko and Lie Yan. Mizuko was slowly coming to as she sat up as a nurse helped her sit up. She sat up slowly as she noticed Lie Yan at her side. But then looked across from her and saw James. She ran over and checked on him as she cried from joy and relief.

"Miss, we need you lie back down." Said the nurse.

"Help him, please." Mizuko begged.

Meanwhile, we see Mary teleported nearby the circus with Carlos as he felt nauseous.

"Yeah, it happens. It'll go away." Said Mary.

"Ugh, just give me a minute." Said Carlos.

Suddenly, Irons landed in front of them startling them as Mary drew her gun. Carlos was startled with his fists ready as Allen then zipped in, until he saw Mary.

"Uh, hey, Mary." Said Allen as he waved.

"Allen. I haven't met this walking tank." Said Mary.

"Irons. And you're Carlos, Beverly's friend. How have you been?" Irons asked.

"Uh, good. I'm glad you remembered me. But where's Beverly?" Carlos asked.

"Inside, but she's been through some…crazy stuff." Said Allen.

"Can I…?" Carlos asked.

"Go on ahead. But not her. How can we trust you?" Irons asked.

"I can vouch for her. I mean, she did have the chance to kill me, but she didn't." Said Allen.

"That still doesn't convince me." Said Irons.

"My name is Mary Bruno, last heir and supposedly the next head of the Bruno family. I think I can find a way to give you guys more manpower. That's if you're willing to keep fighting Russo." Said Mary as she crossed her arms.