Ray stopped and kept his face straight. He was annoyed at the interruption, but . . .

"You're right, That was childish of me. We have more important things to do," he conceded. "I'll make the pact, but I'm not much of a justice man. I'll help when needed, and do what I have to do, asides that . . . I have my own dreams. I can't abandon them to be a hero."

He turned to Nick and scowled. "As for you shithead, watch your attitude. At some point, you're going to get yourself in more trouble than you could possibly ever handle, and like it or not, you're a part of the team, which means we all get dragged in with you."

Ray clenched his fists threateningly. "If the time comes that we have to deal with a problem [i]you[/i] caused, then you can be sure as hell that afterwards I will beat your ass as many times as it takes for you to learn your lesson."