The Big Bad Wolf

Chapter 2: Of Monsters and Men

Little Red yawned widely as she looked over the men in front of her. They were easily bigger than her, but that didn't matter. "What do you want, wolfie? I've got a job to do tonight.", she said while putting her hands behind her back and batting her eyelashes. The tallest of the men chuckled and began slipping black leather gloves from his hands. "You and I both know that I can't let you do that! I don't want to have to hurt you to stop you, but I will.", he admitted with a roll of his shoulders. Red hummed and tilted her head to stare at him innocently while subtly reaching for the knives in her coat pocket.

"What happened to you, huh? I heard you used to be the best of the best on the police force. What turned a loyal guard dog into such a vicious wolf?~", she teased earning a dark chuckle from her unbothered counterpart. He shrugged and slipped off his blazer and loosened his tie. "I guess you could say I went feral.", he replied with a bright grin. Little Red slipped off her coat with a flourish and brandished her blades with a smirk. "You want to know what happens to feral dogs, wolfie?", she questioned while squaring her shoulders, "They get put down.". Little Red and Big Bad lunged forward at each other only to be stopped by an explosion above them.

The two of them were pushed back by the force of the blast, and grey smoke filled the air. A dull ringing echoed in Red's ear as she struggled to get up and see through the heavily polluted bar. As the ringing faded, she looked up to see a male sporting a black top hat peek through an air duct and wave at her. "Well, this isn't Mcdonald's!", he chirped with a lucid giggle. Red watched in confusion and slight amusement as this mystery man stuck his upper half out of the vent and offered her a hand to shake. "Hello, little lady! I'm guessing you're the girl in red Grandfather sent me to pick up?", he inquired with a tip of his hat.

Little Red nodded and shook his hand while wondering how the hell his hat wasn't falling off considering he was practically upside-down. "Come on then!", he said while dropping to the floor and rising to his full height, "Let's go before your friends regain consciousness.". Red put her knives away and took his hand allowing him to casually escort her out of the building. As the two of them were leaving, one of Big Bad's fallen henchmen wrapped a hand around his ankle in a weak attempt to stop him. The man paused and looked down in disgust before hissing, "Hand's off.", and kicking the poor thug into a wall a couple of feet away.

With that, Red and this new guy exited Grandfather's Bar and stopped on the sidewalk. A white van pulled in front of them a few moments later, and the side door slid open to reveal William wearing a shit-eating grin. "Get in, losers! We've got some driving to do.", he said while pulling the two of them in and shutting the doors. Just as the door shut, Big Bad and his gang burst through the doors of the bar.

Without another second of hesitation, the van sped out of the parking lot with a screech. William opened a slot to the driver's seat allowing Red to see another dark-haired male sitting in the front. "Good job, bro. Now, try not to get us killed!", he encouraged causing the guy up front to scoff and glance back at us. "I'd say you three can do that on your own, but I'm seriously starting to doubt that.", he muttered back to him. Red chuckled and looked at William. He'd changed from his work uniform into an all-black outfit that made him look more dangerous than he seemed. "You gonna introduce me to your friends or not?", Little Red asked while leaning against the door of the van.

William nodded while lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag from it. "The pretty boy beside you is Danny, but you know him by his alias. They call him Mad Hatter.", he explained while flicking the ashes to his right. Red's eyes widened and she looked to the man that had helped her escape. "You mean he's the same Mad Hatter that took out 150 guys without backup?", she questioned while watching the white-haired boy make shadow puppets with his hands. Will chuckled and nodded. "They don't call him mad for nothing. The cranky guy behind the wheel is Arny, but you can call him Muffin Man.", he said earning a tiny giggle from Danny.