We stopped outside the city at an abandoned amusement park. It was Zebediah's current base. Considering that he now had the Circus of Crime on his payroll, the choice wasn't surprising.
"It ends today," I said to the two girls sitting in my car.
Jessica, sitting beside me, and Kara, in the back seat, nodded solemnly.
We walked to the entrance. The entire park was dark and silent, lending it an unsettling atmosphere. The moment we passed through the gate, it felt as though we were walking into a beast's maw. Or perhaps that was my Danger Sense giving me a faint warning.
We had taken only a few steps when a voice came from a nearby loudspeaker.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and our honored guests…"
"Welcome… to tonight's exclusive performance."
"Miss Jessica Jones... Miss Kara Killgrave…"
"Our esteemed host, Mr. Zebediah Killgrave, cordially invites the two of you to join him in his private box. He has been eagerly awaiting your arrival."
"As for your gallant escort…"
"The rest of the park… is all yours."
"Please enjoy the show. We've prepared something special… just for you."
A path of lights flickered to life in front of us.
Yep, not creepy at all.
I looked at Jessica and Kara. I saw the worry in their eyes. They weren't worried about facing Purple Man, but about leaving me here alone.
"Don't worry. I know you both have a lot to discuss with him," I said with a smile. "Go. I'll catch up with you soon."
I gave them a reassuring nod. After a moment's hesitation, they nodded back. They turned and began following the lit path. As they walked, the lights behind them went dark one by one.
Definitely not creepy at all.
I wasn't overly worried. Jessica was still Zebediah's greatest prize. If there were even the slightest chance of breaking her again and reclaiming her, killing her outright would be his last resort.
As for Kara... she was his daughter. More importantly, she had inherited his powers. Whether he saw her as family, an heir, or simply another extension of himself, I doubted he'd throw away someone that valuable without first trying to exploit her.
Of course, that didn't mean they were safe. Zebediah Killgrave wasn't predictable. But if I had to bet on who he'd rather keep breathing, Jessica and Kara would be at the top of the list.
I wandered through the park by the light of my phone. I knew something had been planned for me, and I was waiting for it to begin. I looked ahead. The trail of light kept shrinking. Just as the last light turned off, the park suddenly came to life.
The park lights nearby snapped on. The nearby carousel lurched into motion, cheerful music spilling from its speakers. The man's voice came through the loudspeaker again.
"Excellent!"
"Our audience has finally settled into their seats."
"Now… we may begin the performance."
A low, theatrical chuckle bled through the static.
"Act One: The Welcome!"
The moment the final word left the loudspeaker, a violent tingling spread across my scalp. I dove to the side. A sniper round tore through the air where my head had been. It tore through the side of a nearby trash can.
I drew the gun tucked into the back of my waistband. A thug stepped out from the shadow of a cotton-candy stand. I put a round through his forehead before he could level his weapon. I traced the sniper round's trajectory back toward its source. I had a rough idea of where the shot had come from, but that section of the park was buried in darkness. I couldn't see the sniper. He was in the dark. I was standing in a spotlight.
I threw myself behind a wooden ticket booth just as another gunman thrust his SMG around cover and opened fire blindly. A hail of 9mm rounds shredded the wood above me. The moment his weapon clicked empty, I pivoted out and shot him through the wrist. His scream cut cleanly through the carousel's upbeat music.
Crouched behind the booth, I opened my map. The enemy markers were part of the upgrade I had received after completing the Delivery mission. I dismissed the full map, pinning a minimap in the lower-left corner of my vision.
Two red dots were circling to flank me. I turned toward their approach and shot them both the moment they came into view.
My Danger Sense flared, and I ducked. Another large-caliber round cracked over my head, blowing a fist-sized chunk out of the ticket booth.
"Shit," I muttered, sprinting toward the carousel. I leaped onto the rotating platform and ducked behind a painted horse. I moved between the painted horses, keeping one of them between the sniper and me as the carousel turned.
I kept one eye on the red dots as they moved toward me. Whenever one of them exposed even an arm or a shoulder, I fired. Then I noticed one red dot lagging behind the others and moving in a different direction.
"Got you, bitch," I muttered, smiling.
The gangsters hesitated to advance as several more of them went down. The fight settled into a deadlock. The sniper kept me pinned while my gunfire kept the others from advancing.
I checked the sniper's position on the minimap. I dove off the carousel from the side farthest from the sniper. I rolled as bullets struck behind me. I came out of the roll, got to my feet, and shot two thugs as they leaned out from cover.
Taking cover behind a large concrete planter, I picked off the remaining gunmen one by one until only the sniper was left. He was positioned on the roof of an arcade. I moved from cover to cover until I had a clear shot at the rooftop, then deliberately exposed myself. My Danger Sense flared. I slipped aside as the sniper fired, turned toward the muzzle flash, and pulled the trigger. His strangled cry confirmed that my shot had landed. Wounded and exposed, he never got the chance to fire again.
A slow clap echoed from the speakers.
"Wonderful!"
"Our guest has survived the opening act!"
A theatrical sigh crackled through the speakers.
"A pity…"
"Our audience didn't seem to find the act very entertaining."
"Let's see if we can get a laugh out of them this time."
"Act Two: The Comedy!"
In the administrator's office, tucked away in a corner of the amusement park
Kara and Jessica entered without bothering to knock. Both of them had purple skin, as Kara was already using her powers on Jessica, reinforcing her will against Zebediah's commands as much as possible.
Zebediah watched them enter with an amused smile. He sat in a chair behind a desk.
"Welcome, Jessica... and my dear daughter." He gestured toward the chairs in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat."
Jessica's restraint finally snapped, and she lunged at Purple Man. He didn't even flinch. Her hand stopped mere centimeters from his throat. Jessica strained to force her hand forward, but her body refused to obey. Every time she forced her hand an inch closer, it jerked back against her will. Her entire body trembled with the effort of fighting herself.
"Don't bother." Zebediah chuckled. He tilted his head toward her. "Or did you think that, just because you have my daughter's help, you could bypass one of the core commands I gave you and reinforced countless times?"
Murder flashed across Jessica's face, but she took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and stepped back. She glanced at Kara, saw the worry on her face, and gave a small, frustrated shake of her head. They took the chairs opposite him.
Zebediah turned his attention to Kara. "You are just as beautiful as your mother."
Kara clenched her fists. She snapped, "Don't talk about my mother as if you still have any right to speak about her. You cheated on her while she was pregnant with me. She was right to divorce you and leave. You never even bothered to find out whether you had a child."
"Divorce?" He laughed as though she had said something absurd. His expression softened with nostalgia. "Do you know I was smitten with Melanie's beauty from the moment I first saw her in a bar in Buffalo? I wanted her so badly that I made her love me. Then I married her."
Kara's eyes widened. Her mother had never told her any of this.
The nostalgic smile vanished, replaced by a flash of anger. He continued, "I was gracious enough to release her from my control after a while. But she was an ungrateful bitch. Instead of loving me wholeheartedly for my magnanimity, she fled." He gave a contemptuous snort. "I didn't even know she was carrying my child when she left."
Kara was horrified by what her mother had endured. She couldn't even bring herself to feel angry that her mother had hidden the truth from her. All she could feel was grief for what Melanie had endured. What horrified Kara even more was that Zebediah seemed genuinely offended that Melanie had stopped loving him once his control was gone—as though his so-called magnanimity should have earned her devotion.
"You're a monster," Kara said through gritted teeth.
"Now, now, dear daughter," Zebediah said with mild reproach. "That's no way to speak to your old man."
"It seems your mother failed to teach you basic manners," Zebediah continued, mockingly disappointed.
"Don't you dare disrespect my mother," Kara hissed. "The only mistake she ever made was letting your blood run through my veins."
Zebediah clicked his tongue. "Kids these days. They don't have an ounce of respect for their elders anymore."
The amusement vanished from his face. "Since your mother failed to educate you, let me do it in her stead." He turned to Jessica. "Jessica, snap Kara's neck."
Kara barely had time to process the command before Jessica's hand moved toward her throat. Jessica's hand rose toward Kara's throat against her will. Her face slick with cold sweat, she drew on every ounce of willpower to resist.
"Jessica, relax," Kara ordered, quickly coming to her senses after the shock and using her powers to partially override Zebediah's command. At this distance, Zebediah's influence was too strong for Kara to suppress completely.
Some of the tension drained from Jessica's body. The urge to snap Kara's neck remained, but Kara's command had pushed it into a distant corner of her mind—faint enough to resist.
Through it all, Zebediah's smile never faltered. He didn't seem surprised that Kara had managed to interfere. If anything, he looked satisfied.
"As expected of my daughter," Zebediah said, sounding genuinely proud. "You knew you couldn't erase my control, so you trained Jessica to resist specific commands. Combined with the influence you can still exert in my presence, that makes it nearly impossible for me to force her to kill you. I assume you gave your guest the same protection. Impressive."
There was a time when Kara secretly, desperately craved her father's validation. But she was no longer the girl she had once been.
"Keep your praise to yourself," Kara scoffed. "I don't need it."
That did not erase the resentment of growing up without a father.
"Don't act like my father after being absent for my entire life," Kara said.
Zebediah let out a dry, theatrical chuckle. "Oh, come now, Kara. You can't blame me for things I didn't know."
Kara fell silent. On that one point, Zebediah was right. If he hadn't known she existed, how could he have been there for her? She hated herself for thinking like that. Even so, a faint, treacherous hope stirred inside her: perhaps things would have been different if he had known about her. She hated herself even more for allowing the hope to exist at all. She knew what kind of man he was. The rational part of her knew that nothing would have changed.
And she was right.
"Of course, even if I had known, I wouldn't have cared," Zebediah said dismissively. The fragile hope inside Kara shattered. "You think I was gonna stick around changing diapers in some shitty apartment while the world owed me better?" His posture straightened, pride filling his voice. "I am a king, born to rule."
"Enough talking with my darling daughter." Zebediah turned to Jessica. "I still have so many questions for my precious little toy."
Jessica clenched her fists.
"My dear Jessica, would you be so kind as to tell me who your guest is?" Zebediah asked with a playful smile.
Jessica bit her lip so tightly that it bled. Finally, the command overwhelmed her resistance, and she gasped out the name. "Kevin Kolt."
Jessica fixed Zebediah with a venomous glare, furious that he had forced the answer from her. Most of her anger, however, was for show. Beneath the performance, she was far calmer than she appeared. She was no longer the goody-two-shoes who believed she had to answer even her captor honestly. She had learned to listen carefully and answer only what was explicitly asked. She answered the literal question and ignored everything he had merely implied.
"When did you meet him?"
"When I was hunting Black Dog Gang members on your orders."
"What does he do for a living?"
"He is a part-time taxi driver."
"Oh?" Zebediah raised an eyebrow. "What does he do full time?"
"He is a first-year computer science student at ESU."
"I didn't know you liked them younger." Zebediah chuckled. "Maybe that's why you don't like me."
Jessica took a slow breath, forcing herself not to lash out.
"Is he the one who gave my precious little toy the courage to rebel against me?"
Jessica's jaw tightened. "Yes."
"Do you meet him often?"
"Yes."
"What do you do when you meet him?"
"We help Kara train her powers and kill criminals."
Zebediah's interest sharpened. "A budding vigilante. How predictable. Still, his methods are certainly different from those of the city's other vigilantes. That makes him unique. I like him."
"Was it his idea to target me?"
"Yes."
Zebediah gave a knowing smile, as if to say, "Thought so."
"Does he have any superpowers?"
Jessica went still at the question. She had seen him use the curved-shot technique. It could be considered a superpower. But Kevin had told her it was a skill anyone could learn from one of his manuals. That gave her room to interpret the question. It was technically a skill, even if it produced superhuman results. Using that technicality, she answered, "No."
Zebediah nodded thoughtfully. "Is he good at fighting or using firearms?"
Being good at something was subjective. What counted as "good" depended entirely on who he was being compared to. The question was ambiguous, which gave her some freedom in how she interpreted it. Still, she answered, "Yes." Any other answer would only have made Zebediah suspicious. How could a normal student and part-time taxi driver with no powers or combat experience take on armed criminals? He would immediately assume that Jessica was somehow hiding something more important.
"He must be exceptionally capable if he made my little toy believe she could defy me," Zebediah said. His smile acquired a knowing edge. "That's why, when you told me all this a week ago, I began making preparations to deal with him permanently."
Kara's eyes widened. She whipped her head toward Jessica.
"No—don't believe him, Kara," Jessica blurted. "I swear I never told him any of this."
"But you did tell me," Zebediah replied mockingly.
"I didn't," Jessica snapped.
Zebediah adopted an exaggeratedly thoughtful expression. Then he said playfully, "Perhaps you've simply forgotten. It's been a week, after all. Why don't you try to remember?"
The moment Jessica heard the word "remember," an electric shock seemed to tear through her body. The memories of her encounter with Zebediah a week earlier flooded back. He had asked the same questions, and she had given him the same answers. Zebediah had known they would come for him, so he had spent the past week preparing.
"You made me forget." Horror spread across Jessica's face.
"Bingo," Zebediah said with a smirk.
Both Kara and Jessica realized immediately. It was a trap. They both reached for their phones, but neither device had a signal. Suspecting signal jammers, they moved to leave and warn Kevin in person.
Zebediah spoke before they could take a step. "Jessica, remain seated. Keep Kara in her chair."
Jessica dropped back into her chair and dragged Kara down beside her, locking one hand around her wrist.
"If you're so desperate to see him..." Zebediah turned toward the wall as a screen flickered to life. "Why don't we watch him together?"
A live feed of Kevin appeared on the screen, accompanied by the announcer's voice.
"Act Two: The Comedy!"
—
I walked along a stone path. Despite the announcement, no attack came. After waiting for a few minutes, I grew bored and started walking toward where Jessica and Kara had gone.
As I walked, I heard a faint sound overhead. I looked up but saw only a network of cables stretched between the attractions. I squinted into the darkness, but saw nothing else.
Then came another scrape overhead, followed by the blare of a horn. A laughing figure sped overhead. I snapped my head up and saw a man in a clown costume riding a bicycle along one of the cables.
Finally, one of the actual Circus of Crime members had shown himself. Clown, better known as Eliot Franklin, pointed an SMG at me and opened fire with a wild laugh. I sprinted behind a churro stall as he pedaled away along the cable.
I checked my map. The second wave had arrived. Dozens of red dots surrounded me, while two more held positions far beyond the rest. Most likely, the second wave included two snipers.
Two red dots rushed toward the stall. Seconds later, the first attacker rounded the stall—a man wielding a machete charged around the corner. I ducked as he swung the machete, which bit into the stall's wooden frame. I pressed the muzzle to his forehead and fired. The second attacker rounded the stall at the same instant. I shot him before he could bring his machete down.
I picked up one of the fallen machetes with my left hand, keeping the pistol in my right. I gave the machete a quick test swing, judging its balance, when an intense tingling flared across the back of my scalp. I jerked my head aside. The round hissed past my ear and punched through the churro machine behind me.
I dashed from the churro stall to a popcorn stand. From there, I dropped several advancing gunmen. While I was focused on the gunmen, another machete-wielder slipped in behind me. I spun, caught his machete on mine, and drove my blade into his chest.
I lunged left as another sniper round tore through the space I had occupied. I turned toward the source of the gunshot. Tracing the round's trajectory, I raised my pistol and fired. I heard no cry, but the red dot vanished from the minimap, confirming the hit.
My Danger Sense erupted across my body, and I dove through the entrance of a gift shop. Clown had circled back, riding along another cable as he sprayed bullets down at me.
"You can't hide from me," Clown said in a sing-song voice.
I had barely caught my breath when another attacker thrust a machete toward my heart. I knocked the blade aside and shot him through the chest.
Over the next few minutes, I cut through the remaining attackers until only Clown and the second sniper remained. Once the final sniper's marker disappeared, only Clown remained. Taking down the final sniper had left me exposed. On the minimap, Clown's marker was closing rapidly from above and behind.
I looked up and saw his silhouette pedaling along the cable overhead. My pulse surged. The world seemed to slow around me. Color drained from the world. I raised my pistol, tracked Clown's movement along the cable, and fired. He toppled from the cable and struck the ground below. He did not move again.
The announcer returned over the loudspeaker. By now, I was almost certain he was Ringmaster—Maynard Tiboldt himself.
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
"What a performance!"
"A round of applause for our guest!"
A few slow claps came through the speakers.
He tried to maintain the same theatrical tone, but I could hear anger beneath it. Losing one of the Circus's core members had clearly rattled him.
"But before we continue…"
"Every great show deserves a break…"
"Act Three: The Intermission!"