The Wolf continent was currently experiencing a landmark drought. Summer had come to Rinnegata-Nome-Arma and some of its supers had inadvertently dammed several key rivers and streams by knocking over an entire mountain range amidst a battle. The heatwave that was currently battering the entire Wolf continent kept people from making the connection between the lost mountains and the dwindling water flow elsewhere in the continent.

It didn’t help that fire-elementals and similar fire-themed monsters had been running loose from within the various dungeons and wilderness zones. The lack of water had led to a rise in banditry, which ironically led to fewer freelancers, lawmen, and mercenaries delving into the wild zones, ruins, and wasteland, thinning the number of monsters within those areas. The resulting hoard of flame-element beasts was now affecting the environment as they ran wild across the land, causing various water-sources to vanish and dry up.

Amidst the flames and heat, many settlements, townships, and cities vanished into smoke. Either burning away under the violence created by the water shortages, and brought by the flame-beast attacks. Or breaking up, and consolidating with bigger groups and settlements for fear of not being able to survive this terrible heatwave. Only the strongest settlements and townships were able to stand strong in this environment. Either that or they needed to be incredibly lucky.

Mayor Antonia “Tony” Hunter wondered which her city was. Were they strong, or were they luc, and did that even matter? Tony looked outside her window at the thick, high, walls that surrounded the city of Wildheart. These walls were made of metal, concrete, and a substance that seemed to be solidified light, glowing a resplendent blue in the evenings. There were three walls because they’d had to expand the city twice, due to recent explosions in its population.

One would hardly believe that only a few years ago, there’d been a worry that Wildheart might need to disperse, with its leaders and guardsman, escorting its people to safer environs as their final duty as servants of the city government. Now new settlers from abroad and refugees flocked to the city as one of few bastians of sanity and safety within the Wolf continent. It was now known far and wide that Wildheart was one place one people go to, if they wished to live without a fear of rapacious bandit-lords, and greedy would-be Emperors with dreams of reviving the old republic.

Of course, that brought its own trouble. The encirclement of automated plasma-canons, missile-launchers, rail-guns, and laser-turrets that were mounted on the city’s walls were a testament to that. More than a few folks had come to Wildhearts city gates thinking they could kick up a fuss and take over all that the people here had built, but Tony and her people had been able to send those people packing every time, and seeing as she was now nearing the end of her third, and hopefully final, term as mayor, it seemed the town’s folk had noticed all her hard work.

Tony was looking forward to retirement. She wasn’t much for adventuring, and wandering, anymore. Despite being only 37 years of age, she already felt she’d grown too old and rooted down for that kind of thing, after almost 12 years as Mayor of one of Rinnegata-Nome’s city-states. Maybe she’d change her mind after the fatigue of playing skipper of this oversized ship had faded a bit. For now, though, she envisioned maybe starting her own business, or going to work for some of her friends who’d already retired.

Just as Tony was fantasizing about the end of her decade-long labor, there was a massive bang, followed by the familiar sounds of rubble being tossed aside, and some kind of energy projectiles being fired. As peer through the blinds of her window, she caught the sight of a flying caped figure being struck down by a piece of concrete and brick that had been fired faster than most bullets.

“.....”

Tony sighed and sadly looked at the self-chilling bottle of liquor that had been waiting for her on her shelf, before getting up from her chair. Putting her boots back on, pulling on her lightly-armored leather coat, and putting on her stetson. It seemed a mayor’s job was never done around here.

Tony stepped outside her home. Being mayor had to come with some perks, and though she did her best to avoid overindulging lest she become some kind of corpulent and corrupt feline, she’d allowed herself the purchase of a new home. Upgrading from the apartment she used to live in, to a decently-sized townhouse that used to belong to a gang boss that her lawmen had run out of town. She’d paid for the house herself, using her own wages. The only mayoral privilege abused was her jumping on the house before it was offered to the open market.

Tony was relieved to find that the city’s walls were still standing strong. That relief was lessened a fair bit, when she still saw contrails of greasy black smoke, rising high into the air. If this wasn’t an attack from outside, that meant that some of the folk that was already inside must be running amok. Tony’s anxiety was then lessened in turn, by the sight of a set of glowing barriers. Those barriers were temporary interior walls meant to cordon off threats and damage that were taking place within the city.

The best thing about these barriers was that they especially targeted the elements that triggered them, to keep troublemakers from roaming the city. Regular folk could flee at will, but criminals and monsters would be held in place so that the city’s guardsmen and elites could respond to the threat in an even, and better-prepared, manner.

Tony dithered, wondering whether she should head towards barriers to see if the city’s emergency response personnel had set anything up yet, or if she should had towards the mayoral office. On the one hand, Tony was one of the city’s heroes, one of Wildheart’s superpowered elites as well.

She possessed a power that allowed her to draw power from, and cause various phenomena, using different metals. Thus she always wore a set of metal bracelets, as well as a number of other jewelry and piercings. In the last few years, since the city’s near destruction, she’d paid special attention to training and cultivating her strength, and could now be considered one of the regional powerhouses.

On the other hand, the guardsmen and Wildheart’s other supers, likely had the situation handled. So maybe it’d be best if she was already in the mayoral office. Waiting, to see if there was something needed of her, in her capacity as mayor. In the end, Tony calmed her hot blood and decided to head to the mayoral office. Folk living in a world of superhumans knew well that another super jumping into an already chaotic situation wasn’t necessarily helpful.

Her decision was rewarded, when she arrived at the office and her assistant Deacon informed her that the sheriff had the perpetrators in lock-up while the victims were in her office waiting for her.

*************************************************************************************************************

“Uh...Wow, I certainly didn’t expect to see you two here,” said Tony. Taken aback.

“Our apologies, things escalated out of control before we knew it,” said Ellis. The pink-haired, yellow-eyed, sometimes ordinary, sometimes mind-breakingly good-looking, shopkeeper.

“Uh...Is ‘she’ okay?” said Tony. A bead of cold sweat ran down her brow as she gazed over at Ellis’ normally bubbly, blond partner. The normally sunny woman looked like a storm cloud that could end a thousand worlds, as she quietly sat and frothed at the mouth, emanating an aura of violence, that made Tony sure that at least a few of the City’s guardsmen would need counseling.

“Hm? Oh, yes, my wife’s fine...She’s just in a bit of a bad mood. She had to spit up a chew toy before she was done playing with it, and that always makes her a little grumpy. I figured we should leave at least a few of the miscreants that attacked us alive so you can question them...Anyway, She’ll brighten up again, after a brief trip to the wilderness. Maybe we’ll cull a few of those flame-beast packs, for you,” said Ellis. Taking his wife’s homicidal rage in stride.

“Er...If you’re sure,” said Tony. Wisely deciding not to ask any further questions regarding that particular matter.

“Any-... Anyway, what happened exactly?” said Tony. Moving on to the business at hand.

“Ah, well, the Missus and I were taking in a show at the local theater. We stopped over at one of the city’s fine eating establishments, and then a group of high-leveled superhumans popped out of nowhere and attacked us,” said Ellis. His hands clasped in front of him, as he talked about the matter as if it were a minor fender-bender, or a small mishap with his horse and buggy.

“I’m afraid, we accidentally killed the first ten before we realized that it’d probably be better to leave some alive for you. Then your city’s fine law enforcement came to assist, and after a bit of questioning we were brought here,” said Ellis.

“I...see. Well, I’m really sorry about that, guys. I promise we’ll get down to the bottom of this,” said Tony. Her tone grave, because she and many others amongst the city’s leadership were well aware of how much the Holst company had done for the city.

“I’m sure you will, but don’t worry. We understand that these things do happen on occasion. Though I would caution you to be careful with your future dealings with those folks from Everlast...They seem like the annoying sort that don’t learn well even after you’ve beaten them to death,” said Ellis.

“Everlast…?” Tony. Feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach that was followed by a fire in her veins, as she quickly realized what had happened.

“I understand. Er, thank you again for being so understanding... I hope I’m still welcome in your store?” said Tony.

“Of course, you are Ms. Hunter. We wouldn’t stop being your friend just because a bunch of mean poopy-heads were causing trouble,” said Josephine. Seeming to have finally calmed down.

What followed from there was a bunch of light small talk. Then Tony saw the Holst couple out not only her office, but the building. Even though she knew they almost certainly didn’t mean it, she had a group of the city’s elite guardsmen escort the couple home. A gesture of Tony and Wildheart’s sincerity. Then Tony turned to Deacon to have him check with the city guard to confirm what the Holst’s had said.

Sure enough, the few surviving assailants were confirmed to be elite agents belonging to the neighboring Republic of Everlast. Things between Wildheart and Everlast had never been particularly copacetic, especially after the city's near destruction due to the actions of some of Everlast’s people. It was no secret that the Holst’s were a major player in the city, and a major reason for its current success. There had been no hiding the construction of the city’s defenses, the expansions on the city, and the installation of the water-generators that allowed them to weather the drought far better than others within the continent.

Tony could easily see why Everlast would send several squads of their men to target the mysterious merchants that were making it so hard for them to absorb Wildheart and pull them under their control. Especially, since Wildheart’s growth had resulted in a bolstering in many of the other independent settlements and cities within the region.

Once the Holst couple’s story was confirmed, Tony called for a meeting of the city’s council. Whether they’d intended to, or not, it seemed hostilities between Wildheart and Everlast would be heating up in the near future. Hopefully, this wouldn’t turn into a war, but Wildheart was a free city, and Tony intended to keep it that way.