Phoenix Talon and Dawn were downtown that morning, waiting for the parade to begin and enjoying the crowds and the warm day. Boston Harbor was already filling up with pleasure craft, offering a perfect vantage for the fireworks that night. Dawn wandered off to do some window shopping (the only kind she really needed to do, since anything she saw that she liked she could make for herself later on), leaving Phoenix Talon free to meet with Rick from the Blood Boards. Rick recognized him out of costume from the last time they'd met.
    "Hey," Talon greeted him.
    "Hey. So where were you?"
    "What, don't you watch TV? This guy called Toy Man kidnaps me, throws me in a deathtrap, I got out by the skin of my teeth. These things happen, okay? As soon as I could I called you back."
    "Yeah, well, while I waiting for the 'soon as you could,' there was the big other meeting. There was the initial big meeting, and then there was the second big meeting, and you missed the second big meeting, so as a result, I didn't have an awful lot of luck tryin' to pitch your idea."
    "So what's the state of things?"
    "Like I said, I tried to pitch your idea. Bobby was there with the recruiter. They had a package, color glossies...."
    "So they all went for that?"
    "Not all of them."
    "So what do they want you to do?" Phoenix Talon pressed.
    "Well, Bobbie took like two-thirds of the gang and went along, and signed up with this 1-800-HENCHMEN group, because apparently they're looking for good people in the area, apparently this is a 'growth market,' he kept talkin' like that."
    Talon gave an exasperated sigh. "'Henchmen.' What does the word henchmen imply to you, what happens to henchmen?"
    "I tried to explain that James Bond blows up the base and they all die!" Rick protested, waving his arms. "I tried to explain that, these are friends of mine, I don't want you to have to kick the shit out of them!"
    "But you said two-thirds, so some of them didn't want to go along with it?"
    "Well, some of them were convinced by the whole base blowing up thing, but they still want to be a street gang, and honestly... we haven't seen much of your deal, here," Rick pointed out. "I feel like I gotta stay with these guys, 'cause I'm the only one who can put their boards back together, and if I don't do that, Tybalt's just going to kill all of them."
    "Okay, okay, okay. So what we gotta do... what's this guy's name? Tybalt?"
    "Well yeah, the other gang. The Alley Cats."
    "What would happen," Phoenix speculated, "if I got together with the ones that didn't got with the recruiter. You and me and them, and we went to pay Tybalt a visit. How would that strike you?"
    Rick perked up noticeably. "That actually doesn't sound bad."
    "How many guys do you have, you think that would go along with that?"
    "Twelve, thirteen with me."
    "How many guys do the Alley Cats have?"
    "I don't know. But Tybalt's a badass."
    "So am I." Baddest in Boston, at the very least.
    "I know that. But anyway, I gotta tell you somethin' else which has got me really worried," he lowered his voice. "And you gotta promise me you're not gonna seriously hurt any of them?"
    "Yeah, we're good."
    "This 1-800-HENCHMEN guy, apparently the big to-do was for today. They were tryin' to hire people for somethin' today."
    The team would have to move quickly. "In that case, I'll talk to you later. You didn't see me today, and I didn't see you," Phoenix Talon warned him.
    "You're just some guy."
    "Yeah, I know. Now, I recognize the position you're in, and that's why we're having this conversation now,. So, when it happens we'll hear about it, and then we'll go kick their asses. I can't not do that, but it won't be because of the information you gave me," he promised Rick.
    "The other thing, they're supposed to get new tech. Somethin' to upgrade the boards."
    "Yeah, I figured."
    "Anyway, that's all I know. And if Tybalt starts kickin' all of our asses, we're gonna want you to do somethin' about it."
    "That's cool, you call me. We'll see what goes down today, I'll call you tomorrow. Have a happy Fourth of July."
    "Yeah, watch the fireworks or something," Rick sighed. "Me, I'm gonna be cruisin' from rooftop to rooftop, watching the fireworks."
    Phoenix Talon tailed him for a few moments to see if anyone else was watching his contact, but he seemed to be clear.

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