WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl #1 from Steve Niles, Marcelo Frusin, Sunny Gho and John Workman, on sale now.
When Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl was announced, that titular fight felt inevitable, since Patience Lee took over the green mask and suit that Dave Lizewski left behind, corrupting it as a mafia boss. In Albuquerque, she cut the Mexican cartels off and absorbs the leftovers into her crew, making it clear they'd get paid on their own terms.
Patience was sick and tired of being broke, made even worse by her being a former Afghanistan war veteran who's been forgotten by her country. And for a while, Kick-Ass' formula worked as her crew made money, but ultimately, it drew the attention of Mindy who was off on her own global tour of bloodshed. And while Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl #1 could have easily been about Hit-Girl immediately returning to raze Patience's criminal empire, shockingly the burning starts but she didn't even need to lift a finger.
That's because most of the damage is being done by Patience herself. She's grown a conscience after having to murder her seedy brother-in-law, Maurice, in her solo title as he tried to blackmail her. Maurice didn't care about his kids or Patience's sister, Edwina; he just wanted a score, and he posed a continuing danger since he knew her identity. But the guilt of all this, plus the constant killings and trafficking, have broken Patience.
She's tired of living a lie so she burns her main lab down, dropping off money at Edwina's right after. It's clear she's shutting down shop, but a goon, Taylor, is there spying on her actions. When Patience burns more product and cash again with the guys in the desert, they make it clear they've had enough of this nonsense. They won't let Patience reduce their cash cow to literal ashes so they train their weapons on her in what's essentially a coup. But as expected, Patience slaughters them all, except for Taylor, who she lets escape.
Kick-Ass is playing a long game here, though, and seemingly knows Taylor's been in contact with the Mexican cartel boss they betrayed, Cortez. The head honcho sent an emissary named Vasquez earlier on to offer a reprieve if they killed Patience, but clearly, it's not going to plan. Ironically, Taylor going back to Cortez and bringing the cartel back could be exactly what Kick-Ass wants.
It'd make sense to lure enemies, with her traps and on her terrain, so Taylor may not even know he's bait. In that sense, Kick-Ass wants the entire empire, including the Central American kingdom, to fall. And while all this happens, it's only at the end Hit-Girl arrives, shooting and beheading criminal bikers en route to Albuquerque. She thinks she's coming to start something but little does she know a gang war has shattered Patience's dream already.