1. Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. For prospective new members, a word of warning: don't use common names like Dennis, Simon, or Kenny if you decide to create an account. Spammers have used them all before you and gotten those names flagged in the anti-spam databases. Your account registration will be rejected because of it.
    Dismiss Notice
  3. Since it has happened MULTIPLE times now, I want to be very clear about this. You do not get to abandon an account and create a new one. You do not get to pass an account to someone else and create a new one. If you do so anyway, you will be banned for creating sockpuppets.
    Dismiss Notice
  4. If you wish to change your username, please ask via conversation to tehelgee instead of asking via my profile. I'd like to not clutter it up with such requests.
    Dismiss Notice
  5. Due to the actions of particularly persistent spammers and trolls, we will be banning disposable email addresses from today onward.
    Dismiss Notice
  6. A note about the current Ukraine situation: Discussion of it is still prohibited as per Rule 8
    Dismiss Notice
  7. The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.
    Dismiss Notice
  8. The testbed for the QQ XF2 transition is now publicly available. Please see more information here.
    Dismiss Notice

One More Trigger (Worm AU)

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Ack, Dec 21, 2014.

Loading...
  1. Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Messages:
    7,323
    Likes Received:
    71,211
    Why do you say that?

    The Empire was trying to stampede Parian into their ranks at the same time as Piggot was trying to push her into the Wards.

    The Samaritans captured Oni Lee and figured out that the Empire was behind it.

    They were played into capturing Lee (but the Empire never thought they'd even get involved).
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2022
  2. GladiusLucix

    GladiusLucix Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2014
    Messages:
    1,696
    Likes Received:
    8,006
    Unless Coil was trying to frame the Empire for framing Oni Lee.

    Or has he been taken down already?
     
  3. Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Messages:
    7,323
    Likes Received:
    71,211
    Oh, he was taken down long ago.
     
  4. Muroshi9

    Muroshi9 I'm so ronery So ronery So ronery and sadly arone

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2015
    Messages:
    2,611
    Likes Received:
    4,589
    Wow you planed well in advance on that one. Nice job.
     
    macdjord, Prince Chrom and Scopas like this.
  5. meloa789

    meloa789 Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2021
    Messages:
    1,915
    Likes Received:
    16,375
    I might have gotten the wrong impression that someone else with higher stakes wanted to create the impression that this was an Empire job, so they would be dealt with the Samaritans immediately.
     
  6. Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Messages:
    7,323
    Likes Received:
    71,211
    Nope.

    It is indeed an Empire job.
     
  7. Threadmarks: Part Thirty-Four: Play Stupid Games ...
    Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Messages:
    7,323
    Likes Received:
    71,211
    One More Trigger

    Part Thirty-Four: Play Stupid Games …

    [A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]



    Saturday, April 30, 2011; 01:45 PM
    PRT Building
    Director's Office


    Emily Piggot was not a parahuman. She'd been specifically tested for the potential, years ago, and it had been concluded that she was among the fortunate majority who would never trigger with powers, no matter what the stimulus. (She considered it fortunate, not the testing body). Her utter lack of a corona pollentia, confirmed every year at her insistence by an MRI scan, gave her a sense of personal security. I'll never be one of them.

    While nobody below her in the chain of command (and that meant essentially everyone in the PRT building and the ENE Protectorate HQ) would say to her face that she was bigoted against capes, the occasional rumour to that effect had surfaced in her hearing. Had she been charged with such, she would have denied it strenuously; was it bigotry to believe that capes were untrustworthy when she'd seen evidence of it herself? And when those under her command were literal children, treating them with kid gloves merely gave them the excuse to expect more of the same when the fact of their powers required that they act with the same level of discipline as any armed adult.

    Still, she was fully aware that she had misstepped massively when it came to Flechette and Parian. Had she recalled the conversation with Vista, her conversation with Flechette would have had a different focus. Perhaps not with the same potential level of success, but she felt confident that there still would have been a good chance of convincing Flechette to bring Parian into the fold.

    Her reasoning was simple: in her experience, there was no such thing as a useless cape. Every parahuman, everywhere, possessed some means of bringing the fight to the enemy, and to be a known neutral cape in the semi-active war-zone that was Brockton Bay was just asking to be targeted by one faction or another. She'd heard horror stories of Tinkers being literally forced to commit murders as a way of coercing them into one gang or another, or of their loved ones being murdered in turn when they refused to play ball. Was it so bad that she'd tried to save Parian from being forced down that path? Especially since the Empire had apparently been trying exactly that?

    Apparently … yes. It was. And thus, the current clusterfuck.

    Normally, it would be an odyssey of Sisyphean proportions for Wards to resign at all, much less on such short notice. The PRT regulations had been drawn up to ensure that any such attempt would be as long-winded and painful a process as possible, drawn out into days and weeks of negotiation and counter-proposal, until all the lawyers involved had their pound of flesh and more. But Flechette and Vista had short-circuited the whole affair by using her own words against her. It was a given that both Biron parents would be arriving at the PRT building within the next day or so, fighting for the chance to sign the papers that would forever separate Vista from the Wards, and thus get into their daughter's good books. And Flechette was an adult in her own right, so for her it was already a done deal.

    Technically, it was possible that Emily's career would survive the sudden resignation of two effective and capable Wards. She was sure it had happened before, though she couldn't be certain exactly when or where that might have been. Perhaps they would even cut her some slack because of the endless stresses piled on her from the location she was in; her office, after all, covered PRT activities over the entire ENE region of the United States of America. Including the festering cesspit where she actually resided.

    Technically, maybe. But she knew deep within the withered, blackened depths of her soul that even if she retained the Directorship after this, her career would be forever blighted. The Powers that Be would take every excuse to cut her out of the decision loop, especially when it came to anything regarding Wards, anywhere, ever. Even her judgement concerning matters within Brockton Bay itself would be scrutinised and second-guessed to a fare-thee-well.

    They wouldn't overtly fire her, she suspected, if only because they wouldn't want this sort of thing becoming public knowledge. But the subtle pressure would be on for her to resign, from here on in.

    Well, the joke was on them. Renick, as able an administrator as he was, was entirely unsuited to doing the top job. He hadn't wanted it when he was thrust into it before she ever arrived in Brockton Bay, and he still didn't want it. She liked and respected him as much as she did anyone in the building, and that was not something she was about to dump on him.

    If they could bring in someone both willing and capable, she'd resign in a heartbeat to enjoy her military pension and health care. But not before then.

    At that moment, as though divining her thoughts, her phone rang. She was entirely unsurprised to see the name on the caller ID. "Hello, Director Costa-Brown. I've been expecting your call."

    <><>​

    Hebert Household

    Flechette


    Lily could have sworn she was walking on air, from the sheer lightness of her heart. The stress and strain of the last few days had just vanished, thanks entirely to the goodwill and assistance of Vista and Team Samaritan. Not all of it—there was still the issue of the Empire making moves on Sabah. But now she knew exactly what was going on there, and she had a whole team backing her up that was totally willing to deal with that shit.

    Exactly how good Team Samaritan were, she'd learned first-hand. The mission to go into ABB territory and lift Oni Lee out from among his loyal minions could've gone so badly, but it hadn't. The basic plan had involved contingencies for foreseeable and unforeseeable circumstances; they'd run it by the numbers, and it had worked.

    This, of course, had led them to the understanding that it was the Empire, not the ABB, who had designs on Sabah. Who had thrown a grenade at her, in order to frighten her into seeking refuge within their ranks. Alan Barnes—the whole team, including the Dad Brigade, had unmasked to her after she'd quit the Wards—had introduced her to the term 'false flag operation', which had a long and infamous history. Lily didn't care about the name. She just thought it was a shitty thing to do.

    "So how are you feeling?" Athena—Lisa—gave her an understanding grin from the kitchen door. "Still stuck in 'when's the other shoe dropping' mode? I know I was like that for a little bit after I joined."

    "It's kind of like that," Lily confessed. "It was like I was facing all bad options, then Missy called you guys in, and all I can think is, 'why didn't I do this earlier'?"

    "Because you didn't know you could." Taylor spoke up from where she was sitting on the sofa with Emma and Madison. "I'm not going to say that Director Piggot was deliberately trying to make you think you didn't have anywhere to turn, but …"

    "But that's exactly what she was doing," Lisa finished, strolling into the living room with Riley in tow. "Like it or not, in places like Brockton Bay where the villains like to give the impression that they're allowing the heroes to exist because it's too much trouble to exterminate us, it's basically the Wild West all over again. And when that happens, you get cowboys." She and Riley made for the same armchair but neither yielded, so they ended up wedged in side by side.

    Lily tried to imagine Director Piggot in a ten-gallon hat and chaps, and failed utterly. "So you're saying she was breaking the rules?"

    "Rules?" called out Danny from the kitchen. "In situations like this, rules are for people who fail. If she'd succeeded, there would've been a slap on the wrist and a weasel-worded apology, but Parian would've been inducted into the Protectorate all the same. I've seen it before in other situations. Success excuses a lot of shortcuts."

    "Not that you're going to get an apology," Emma advised her. "That would involve them officially admitting that Director Piggot went off the reservation, and thus opening themselves up to all sorts of unpleasant scrutiny. So it'll be like it never happened. Nobody saw nuthin'. And in a few weeks or months, she steps down with minimal fuss, to be replaced by a new face."

    Madison cupped her hands in front of her mouth and pretended to blow a trumpet fanfare. "All hail the new boss, same as the old boss."

    Lily nodded. "… right. So, assuming the PRT decides to ignore me from now on, where do we go from here? I mean, the Empire tried to pull that shit on Parian. You guys said you had ideas?"

    "We do," Emma confirmed. "The first thing we have to acknowledge is that it's essentially suicide to try to match their strengths with our strengths, because even though we've got a lot of variety and some strong hitters, they've got numbers and some power on their side as well."

    Taylor rolled her eyes. "Since when have we ever tried to attack someone on their strengths?"

    "Never." Lisa grinned. "Lily, you remember the Oni Lee grab? Sit tight; that was nothing compared to what the Samaritans are capable of."

    "Actually, that's something I've been meaning to ask," Danny said, coming to the kitchen doorway. "Lily, were you intending to join the Samaritans, partner with Parian, or go independent for a while? It's not going to change our plans for the Empire Eighty-Eight, but it'll be good to know your intentions going forward."

    Lily blinked. "What, I've got a choice? I mean, I'd love to join, but I thought that was the expectation anyway. It's why I haven't said anything."

    "Oh, no, no, no." Madison shook her head. "You're our friend. We helped you out because Missy told us about your problems. And because nobody else was doing anything about Oni Lee, of course. It would be great to have you, but there's no obligation. We're not the PRT, after all. I mean, Emma might look like Director Piggot, but—yipe!"

    Emma raised an eyebrow as she retracted the two tendrils of hair back along the sofa. Madison shook her hand back and forth, and stuck her tongue out at her teammate. "No fair."

    "Right," drawled Emma, then turned her attention back to Lily. "What she said, more or less. Of course, we know that you're in a relationship with Parian; will it cause tension between you two if you join us, given that you used to date Madison?"

    Lily raised her eyebrows as she looked at Madison. "I can't see it being a problem, can you?"

    "Not me." Madison shrugged. "We had a nice time, but it's over and done. Hell, if you wanted to bring Parian around to say hi, we could gossip about you behind your back and I could make sure you're treating her right." Her mischievous grin robbed her words of all sting.

    The more Lily thought about that, the better it sounded. Besides, she wanted to introduce Sabah to everyone, and get her opinion on whether she should join. (Or rather, get her blessing to join.)

    "Okay," she said decisively. "I'm going to do that. So, when do we start planning how we're going to take down the Empire Eighty-Eight?"

    Danny fielded that one. "Missy's arranging for the final paperwork signing to cut her loose, and Vicky and Amy are no doubt wowing New Wave with a totally over-the-top version of how you girls grabbed Oni Lee. They'll be over this evening, along with Rod and Alan, and we'll have the brainstorming session then."

    "This evening …" Lily considered that. "Would it be okay if I brought Parian around? I'm sure she'll feel a lot better once she knows for certain that something's being done."

    "Well, duh," Emma said, before Madison could. "What part of 'we want to meet your girlfriend' have you not actually been picking up on, here?"

    Riley raised her hand for attention. "Hey, you know if you join, they're gonna make you do exercise? Like on a track? And shoot at you with paintball guns?"

    Lily nodded. "Vista's been telling me about it. She's really enthusiastic. I gotta admit, I'm kinda intrigued, especially seeing the sort of teamwork you guys have got going on here."

    "Oh, great," groused Riley, rolling her eyes. "Another exercise nut." Then she squawked and flailed as Lisa wrapped an arm around her neck and applied a noogie to the top of her head.

    "Don't worry," Emma advised Lily. "You'll get used to it, then you'll start enjoying it too." She glanced at Taylor and Madison, and all three chorused in a robotic tone, "One of us … one of us …"

    Lily shook her head at the horseplay, but she couldn't stop the grin from breaking out over her face at the same time. Even though they could be totally silly from time to time, these were her kind of people.

    <><>​

    Empire Eighty-Eight Safe House

    Kaiser


    Victor popped the top off the beer and slammed half of it back in one practised move. He was back in his ordinary clothing, but the Oni Lee mask was still hanging at his belt. Raising his bottle, he clinked it against Max's glass.

    Max raised an eyebrow as he took a drink. "I presume from your attitude of cheer that the mission was a success?"

    "Goddamn right it was a success," Victor agreed. "Parian and the heroes are totally convinced that the ABB are trying to lean on her. Just a few more nudges, and she'll be open to talking to people who can maybe protect her. Like us." He leaned forward. "Also, get this. Oni Lee's off the board."

    "What?" Max blinked. He didn't like being out of the loop like this. "The PRT wouldn't have the manpower or the guts to go into ABB territory like that. Not without taking heavy losses."

    "That's true, but I know this much." Victor raised a finger. "Glory Girl dropped him off in the lobby of the PRT building about an hour ago, then flew away without saying a word."

    "New Wave took him down?" Max frowned, not at all sure where this was going. "Why wasn't it on the news?"

    "It wasn't on the news because it wasn't New Wave." Victor took another hit from his beer. "The whisper is that it was Team Samaritan, finally finishing the job with the ABB."

    "Team Samaritan." Max digested the concept. They were a relatively new team on the block, but they'd gone from strength to strength. While they didn't patrol the city regularly, they'd taken on serious hitters—including the Nine, twice—and won handily. The rumour was that Lung had been taken down by the red-headed Striker called Sparx, before the team was even formed.

    So far, they hadn't bothered the Empire Eighty-Eight, though while Hookwolf and some of the others considered that to be simple good sense on their part, Max was beginning to wonder if it was more a case of 'we haven't bothered yet'. Certainly, the lightning raid on the Merchants just the previous day had come as a nasty shock to everyone, cleaning up the entire cape contingent in a matter of minutes.

    Yes, they were the Merchants; a bunch of drug-addled wannabe villains did not equate to the cream of the Empire. But still … the Merchants had still possessed enough in the way of power that nobody had done this to them before. And now they were all behind bars, and the police were cheerfully mopping up their underlings with zero fear of reprisal.

    And today, if Victor's sources were correct, they'd reacted to the staged attack on Parian with swift and accurate force, capturing a teleporter from the middle of his territory before handing him over to the PRT. On the upside, this removed the last obstacle in the Empire Eighty-Eight's way. No other significant cape gangs (aside from Faultline's Crew, and they could be safely ignored) held territory in Brockton Bay; they could expand as far as they liked.

    On the downside … Team Samaritan had captured the Merchants and Oni Lee in two consecutive days. At this point, the Empire Eighty-Eight were the biggest hitters on the block. Would Team Samaritan target them next, or would they assume the Empire was too big to be taken off the board? Given previous performance, he wanted to assume the latter … but he couldn't be sure.

    "Put all forces on alert," he said. "There's a chance they'll come after us next. If they do, I want to be ready. How many men can you have on the street, armed, by tonight?"

    "Guns, about a hundred, maybe a hundred fifty," Victor said at once. "Other weapons, another two hundred."

    "Do it." Max considered his options. "See what you can do about acquiring more firearms. A lead pipe isn't going to do much about someone who can fly, or electrocute you from a distance."

    "Got it." Victor eyed him with concern. "You really think they'll come after us next?"

    Max spread his hands. "Do you see anyone else poised to take over the entire city?"

    Slowly, Victor nodded. "I see your point. I'll get the word out, right now."

    "You do that." Max leaned back in his chair and sipped at his drink. Team Samaritan were good, he couldn't deny that. But were they good enough to defeat an Empire?

    He thought not.

    <><>​

    Later That Evening
    Hebert Household

    Panacea


    Amy sat on one side of Lisa on the sofa, with Riley on the other. The six chairs had been brought out of the kitchen to seat Taylor, Madison, Vicky, Missy and Danny Hebert, with one spare; being the tallest, Taylor and Danny had both turned theirs around to sit with their arms crossed on the chair backs. Alan Barnes had claimed one of the armchairs, while Emma perched on the arm.

    "You know," remarked Danny, looking around the crowded room, "it might not be a bad idea to invest in a base of some sort. This was much easier when it was just you three girls."

    "We also had a lot fewer options," Emma noted. "Amy, Missy, Lisa, even Vicky—they've all helped the team out in some way."

    "Wow." Vicky rolled her eyes. "Talk about damning with faint praise. 'In some way', hah. I happen to be awesome, thank you very much."

    "And that awesomeness is a lot more effective when competently directed, I think we'll all agree," Amy observed with a grin. "Or have you not kicked ass more thoroughly since we started hanging with Team Samaritan?"

    Vicky wrinkled her nose. "I'll grant you that it's been easier," she conceded. "A lot less flailing around, a lot more satisfying punching."

    Lisa's head came up. "They're here." A moment later, Amy heard the squeak of brakes as Rod Clements' car pulled up on the street.

    "I'll get the door," Taylor offered, and jumped up. She headed through to the entrance hall; Amy heard the front door open. "Hi," Taylor said a moment later. "Come on in."

    She came back into the living room a moment later, followed by Lily and another girl. Petite and blonde, the newcomer was wearing jeans, a jacket, lace gloves, and a porcelain doll-face mask. Rod Clements followed behind both of them, closing the door as he entered.

    Everyone stood up, and Danny stepped forward. "Hello, Parian," he said warmly. "I'm Danny Hebert. You just met my daughter, Taylor." He gestured at the surrounding group, all free of masks. "As Rod probably told you, we talked about it, and decided that unmasking to you was the best policy, so we didn't have to worry about who knew and who didn't. However, you don't have to if you don't want to. It's your identity."

    Parian shared a glance with Lily, who nodded encouragingly. Reaching up to the mask, she removed it, revealing that the blonde curls were an attached wig. Amy blinked as she realised that Parian was actually a rather pretty Middle Eastern woman. "Hello, my name is Sabah—"

    "Wait, I know you!" exclaimed Madison. "You were with Lily after the dance!"

    "Guilty as charged," Lily admitted with a grin. She took Sabah's hand. "I've always been a sucker for a damsel in distress. We've been together ever since."

    "And that's fair," Emma agreed. "Hi, Sabah. I'm Emma Barnes and this is my dad. That's Madison, you probably know Amy and Vicky Dallon already, that's Lisa and Riley; and last but definitely not least, that's Missy."

    "Don't worry if you forget any names," Madison added. "Feel free to ask. Oh, and we reserved the armchair for you two."

    Sabah ducked her head shyly against Lily's shoulder. "It's really nice to meet you all. I wanted to thank you for going after Oni Lee for me, even though Lily says it wasn't him."

    "Well, no, it wasn't," Emma said. "But that doesn't matter. He's done enough other stuff. As for the guy who did do it …" She took her seat again on the arm of the chair. "That's what we're here for tonight. To figure out how to explain to the Empire that you just don't do that to people."

    "Especially since they're just as likely to get violent with Sabah once they realise she's not the 'right' colour for them either," Lily added, a grim set to her jaw. "So, we need to put an end to this as soon as possible."

    Everyone got comfortable again; Rod took his chair, while Lily sat in the armchair and pulled Sabah down to snuggle in her lap. "Okay, then," Alan Barnes said. "Empire Eighty-Eight, from the top. Who wants to lead off?"

    "I'll do it," Taylor said. "Kaiser. He can generate iron or steel from hard surfaces to form whatever shapes he wants, and can retract or dismiss it again at will."

    "Query." Lisa raised her hand. "How do we know he can retract or dismiss his generated metal?"

    "Simple deduction, my dear Watson," Taylor grinned at the look on Lisa's face. "He generates full-body jointed armour to wear into battle. Would you do that if you couldn't get it off again without requiring a pry-bar?"

    Lisa put her hand down again. "Fair point. Continue."

    Taylor nodded. "He's clearly got an ego, otherwise he wouldn't have called himself an emperor. Charismatic, considers himself a leader of men, but has only a moderate grasp of strategy and tactics at best. Otherwise, his forces would've taken Coil's down long before we did that ourselves."

    "A good summary," Rod Clements said. "Next?"

    "Purity," Emma began. "She seems to be separated from the team at the moment. Not committing crimes against innocents, but she was hitting ABB places on the regular after we took down Lung. I think maybe she's trying to make the jump to hero, but she's not really communicating it that well. Anyway, energy blasts that can wreck whole city blocks, but if you can get in close she's a glass cannon."

    "Good, good." Danny Hebert nodded approvingly. "Krieg?"

    Amy listened as Madison reeled off the Empire cape's known abilities, along with potential ways to get around his kinetic-manipulation power. She'd already been aware that Team Samaritan studied villain capes, and had done some study of her own, but it was way cool to be sitting in on a session like this as a veteran of the process. With each new cape whose capabilities and motivations were dissected and examined, Sabah's eyes widened and Lily looked more and more impressed.

    Partway through the process, Danny Hebert got up and went into the kitchen. Lisa followed him in there; a little later, they emerged with trays bearing fruit juice and chopped pieces of fruit. Sabah accepted a glass and a piece of apple with a murmur of thanks, but did not take her attention away from the ongoing recital.

    Once it was over, Emma giving a potted description of Rune's capabilities, the girls sat back and Danny took the floor again. "Okay, then. Strategies for taking down the Empire?"

    Emma glanced at Taylor and Madison and made a couple of gestures. No words were spoken, but Taylor nodded, and Madison made a so-so gesture with her hand. Emma cleared her throat and addressed the gathering. "We're thinking we'd locate them with a flytrap, then start out with a Blind Man's Bluff leading on to Survival of the Unfittest. After we hit what we figure is a good number, we switch to shock and awe and steamroll the rest."

    Amy blinked, not at all sure what she'd just heard. Beside her, Lisa let out her breath in an almost soundless oh. Riley, on the other side, frowned in confusion.

    Alan Barnes raised an eyebrow. "Honey, suppose you unpack for the rest of us?"

    Taylor grinned. "Oh, you're gonna love this."

    <><>​

    The Boardwalk
    Sunday Morning, May 1st, 7:35 AM

    Ladybug


    The sun had been up for an hour or so, which meant the day was still cool but warming up. Taylor didn't care; she sat on the bench facing out to sea with sunlight on her face. Eyes closed, she leaned back and relaxed, just enjoying the morning.

    This was not to say that she wasn't doing other things at the same time. With the network of booster bugs Amy had helped her put into place, she was tapped into the entire seething, humming, living mass of bugs right across Brockton Bay. What they saw, she saw. What they heard, she heard. And sometimes, she acted.

    Here, she disrupted a mugging by having a wasp sting the perpetrator's hand and make him drop the knife. There, she flew a bunch of bugs in front of a five-year-old's face to stop her from running into traffic.

    She couldn't fix every problem, but she could fix enough of them.

    As for the one at hand, she had a bunch of bugs hanging around Parian's stall. Not in a swarm, and not even all the same type of bug. The leaf-bugs Amy had manufactured for the Nine's second showing were among this number, mainly because of their active camouflage ability.

    Rod Clements had just stopped by Parian's stall with Madison and Missy in tow, and had purchased a princess doll that bore a striking resemblance to Madison herself. Sabah was really very good at what she did. While the gorilla was still in the process of being fixed, Alan Barnes had donated another stall, and a pugnacious-looking rabbit with boxing gloves was mock-sparring with itself to amuse passers-by.

    Lily had wanted to be nearby as well, but they'd managed to persuade her that too many people lingering in that vicinity wouldn't help the sting and may just blow the whole operation. As it was, Taylor's bench was a good hundred yards north of the stall, and she wasn't even looking in the right direction; not that she needed to.

    And then a couple stopped by the booth, vaguely matching Sabah's description of the helpful people from the day before. Taylor didn't tense, but a few bugs flew to spots where they could get a better look. A moment later, Sabah tapped her foot in the shave-and-a-haircut tempo they'd agreed on, picked up by the leaf bug currently resting on it. A ladybug landed on her hand briefly to reassure her that the message had been picked up, before flying off again.

    At the same time, Taylor sent the signal to everyone else around: Game on.

    <><>​

    Parian

    "Oh, hello! How are you feeling today?"

    Sabah's eyes widened fractionally behind her mask as she recognised the couple from the day before. Her heart-rate quickened, but she reminded herself that there were members of Team Samaritan nearby, keeping an eye on her. She belatedly remembered to tap out the tune with her foot as she answered.

    "Oh, still a little shaken, but I've decided that I'm not going to let them win." The scripted words sounded horribly wooden in her ears, but the man and woman didn't seem to be suspicious.

    Smiling brightly, the woman nodded. "That's the spirit. Though you'd probably be a little safer if you had people watching your back. I mean, you never know if those people are going to come back and attack you again."

    "That's true." Sabah nodded, suddenly glad for the full-face mask. There was no way she could keep up this sort of act if they could see her expression. Of course, if they knew she wasn't white, they wouldn't even be trying to recruit her. They'd probably be trying to kill me instead. Not exactly an improvement.

    "Say, how much is that doll there?" asked the man. He pointed at one of the several she'd finished; more or less at random, Sabah suspected. Buying something would be intended to endear them to her.

    Still, a sale was a sale, and she didn't care if it was Empire money. It would spend just as well as any other cash. She named the price, got the money, handed the doll over, and gave change. All very mundane.

    Of course, he then presented it to his companion, who played up the cutesy scene; no doubt for Sabah's benefit. As the woman hugged it to herself, Sabah could tell they were both observing her covertly to spot her reaction. She wanted to stick her fingers down her throat and gag at the saccharine sweetness, but she put a coo in her voice as she thanked the couple.

    Once they walked off, she heaved a sigh and sagged back in her chair. She'd known they weren't there to harm her, but to get on her good side. Still, dealing with people like that was nerve-wracking at the best of times.

    I am not, she decided, cut out to be a spy.

    <><>​

    Flechette

    "That's it," Emma said, watching the two stink-bugs (Taylor's sense of humour was apparently dubious at the best of times) move away from the large pretty beetle sitting on the matchbook between them on the bench. "They're gone."

    Lily drew a huge breath of relief. "I can't believe how casual you're being about this. Right now, if this was a PRT op, the radio channels would be going nuts and there'd be about three cars tailing them."

    "Making it about a hundred times as easy to spot," Emma noted. "We've gamed this type of scenario out before, several times. They're working out of our playbook, now. Let's go pick Taylor up and see how she's doing."

    Getting up, they went to a vendor and acquired frozen yoghurt, then kept walking. After a couple of minutes, Taylor came into sight, heading in their direction. She accepted the third frozen yoghurt and they stood in companionable silence at the curb eating it until Alan Barnes pulled his car up next to them.

    "All good?" he asked as they climbed into the car; Emma in the front, Taylor and Lily in the back.

    "Better than I expected, actually," Taylor reported. "They talked in the car. I snuck a booster bug in and got most of their conversation." She produced a notepad, on which was written a series of strange symbols, and passed it forward between the seats. Emma took it and glanced over it, her eyebrows rising by the second.

    "Well," she said once she'd taken in whatever the notepad had to say, "operational security is not their strong suit."

    "You can read that?" asked Lily. "What language is it?"

    Taylor snorted with amusement. "It's secretarial shorthand. I started learning it when I realised I could listen in on entire conversations. I could use a recorder, but that looks weird in public."

    Emma cleared her throat. "Him: That went well. I mean, I thought it did. I think she liked it when I gave you the doll.

    "Her: I don't know. She seemed nervous to me. Did she seem nervous to you?

    "Him: Well, wouldn't you be nervous if someone chucked a grenade at you yesterday?

    "Her: True, but she didn't jump all over the idea of having backup like you said she would.

    "Him: Give it time. We need her to see us as friendly faces. You can't rush things like this.

    "Her: What if she hears that Oni Lee's been captured and decides she doesn't need protection anymore?

    "Him: Then a bunch of those mean, nasty, no-good ABB mob her next week and kick her stall down, and maybe give her a kicking, too.

    "Her: And what if she joins, then finds out that we're the ones who tuned her up?

    "Him: By that time, she'll be known as a member of the Empire. It's not like she'll have anywhere to go.

    "Her: I hope you're right. Victor doesn't tolerate mistakes like that.

    "Him: Yeah, but jobs like this are why we earn the big bucks. That's where it ends."

    Taylor nodded. "That was all they said before one of them turned the radio on."

    "Got it," said Alan Barnes. He glanced sideways at Lily. "You okay?"

    Belatedly, she realised she'd been sitting forward in her seat, fists clenched. Slowly, she sagged back again. "Yeah ... it's just, when they talk about Sabah like some piece of meat for trade or ownership, I want to go track them down and kick their heads in myself."

    "Yeah, I can kinda understand that," Emma said comfortingly. "Remember when I zarked Lung, that first time we met? I thought he'd killed Madison, which was why I went at him so hard. We're allowed to get angry. Just don't let the anger own you."

    "And if you do find yourself in the position of putting an end to some well-deserving asshole," offered Alan Barnes from the front seat, "try to make it someone who's already got a kill order. Cuts down on the paperwork considerably."

    "Right." Lily decided to submerge her anger in snark. "So, how do I get a kill order declared on Victor, anyway?" It wasn't quite a joke, and she was sure the other three people in the car knew it, but they laughed anyway.

    "So yeah, the flytrap worked nicely," Taylor observed. "Each time they meet someone new, I'll put bugs on them, and in a day or so I'll be able to start mapping out a network. By next Saturday, I should have most if not all of the Empire Eighty-Eight's cape roster identified and located. We'll be able to plot their movements in real time, and figure out patterns."

    "Identified?" Lily was startled. "You mean, their secret identities?"

    Taylor shook her head and laughed. "No, no. If we get really lucky, we might fluke onto an identity or two, but I was talking about how we could determine which of the people we're following is a cape, and which cape they are."

    "While they have no idea that we've even got them under surveillance," Emma noted with some satisfaction. "Thus, Blind Man's Bluff."

    Lily shook her head slowly. "You know, you guys could be really scary if you tried. Just saying."

    Taylor grinned at her, though her tone was almost cartoonishly deadpan. "Fear my skittering minions. Mwahahaha."

    "Yeah, not actually helping."

    <><>​

    Hebert Household Basement

    Sparx


    Taylor leaned over the map table that had been set up. "And solid identification of Victor … there." Carefully, she placed a token on a particular address. "I've got a booster bug on site, and he's in costume."

    "Nice." Emma grinned. "Anyone else there?"

    "Not at the moment, not in costume, anyway." Taylor pursed her lips. "You know, technically, we could grab him, but …"

    "… but if we do, the others'll go underground so hard they'll pop up in Mexico," Emma finished for her. "Once we've got all of them located, that's when we start picking them off."

    "Yup." They shared a high-five.

    As they headed upstairs to the kitchen, Emma glanced at Taylor. "So, where's Riley?"

    "Oh, Dad took her to Weymouth, along with Lisa and Amy and Missy. Socialising time. It's going well, actually. Riley's really starting to come out of her shell."

    Emma grinned. "And I bet Lisa and Amy and Missy are hating the chance to window-shop and just be themselves."

    "Hating. Yeah." Taylor smirked. "Let's go with that."

    <><>​

    Medhall Building
    Monday, May 2nd, 2011

    Kaiser


    With his desk clear, Max picked up his phone and tapped in a specific number. Victor answered promptly, which was good news in itself. "Yes, sir?"

    "I'm just checking back with you on the progress you're making with Project P." On the extremely unlikely off-chance that his office was bugged—it was swept on a weekly basis—he made it a rule not to directly allude to illegal business if he could help it.

    "Moderately good, sir." Victor sounded pleased with himself. "Cartwright and Hodges reported making contact and beginning the foundations of a rapport. The concept of friendly backup has been raised, though she hasn't responded. I'm thinking we might need to reinforce her feeling of insecurity, next Saturday."

    "That sounds like a plan," Max agreed. "I'll leave it in your capable hands. Let me know how it turns out." He ended the call and put the phone down. New recruits were always good to have—the unpowered rank and file liked to see capes backing them up—so he hoped Victor wouldn't take too long to reel Parian all the way in and land her.

    As for the other problem—the looming spectre of Team Samaritan—he had to admit that he didn't know what was going on there at all. They hadn't so much as smacked Empire footsoldiers around for light exercise since taking down Oni Lee. Every safe house had stocks of bug spray in case Ladybug decided to send a swarm in to clean out the place, and he was working on installing water sprinklers for dealing with Sparx' taser hair, but even that hadn't been necessary.

    Oni Lee had been (in the inimitable phrasing of Hookwolf) a grade-A fucking moronic dingleberry to go strutting around his territory without serious backup. Max wasn't exactly sure how Team Samaritan had extracted him without losing people; hell, he wasn't sure how they'd captured a teleporter and kept him captured. But he was determined that his team would not go the same way.

    Taking up his phone, he typed in a text, which he sent to a specific series of numbers.

    'Meeting tonight, 1930. Location 3B. Discussion of upgraded security provisions.'

    With a tap of his finger, he sent it winging away through the electronic aether, to its various recipients. 'Location 3B' was actually the sub-basement of the Medhall building; the '3' designator was to make it seem less important if the authorities happened to seize someone's phone.

    We'll get through this. The Empire Eighty-Eight has been around for more than ten years. Team Samaritan has nothing on us.

    <><>​

    That Evening

    Danny


    Taylor's head came up, and she reached for the notepad that sat next to her plate. "Hm. That's interesting."

    Lisa looked at her with unfeigned interest, while Riley pretended to pay more attention to her meal. "You can't leave it at that. Spill, o mistress of bugs far and near."

    "Well, Victor's spending time with a woman who has to be Othala. Or rather, I found a costume in her closet that looks a lot like Othala's. And someone else came over for dinner. Either a non-cape friend, or maybe Crusader from the age and body type. Definitely not old enough to be Kaiser." Taylor scribbled in the pad as she spoke. "Anyway, they all just got in the same car and they're on the move."

    "Are they costumed?" asked Danny. If the Empire was heading out to cause mayhem, it might be worth notifying the PRT operations line. Whatever difficulties they might be having with Director Piggot right now, he liked to think they were all on the same side here.

    "Nope. All in civvies." Leaving her plate behind, Taylor got up and headed for the basement door. "I want to see where they're going."

    Danny followed along as a matter of course, with Lisa close behind. Riley, for all her professed lack of interest, came down behind them, carrying her plate in one hand and fork in the other. In unguarded moments, she'd been heard to express her appreciation for regular meals and properly cooked food. The way to a person's heart might not be solely via their stomach, but it seemed to be working that way with Riley.

    Standing back from the table, Taylor left the marker showing Victor and Othala where it was and put a beetle on the map, crawling over the paper to match the position of the car. Danny grinned as he watched the casual display of power; the villains were being tracked in real-time, to a degree of precision that even modern technology might have trouble matching, and they had no idea.

    "And that's how you kept tabs on where we were?" asked Riley, indicating the slowly moving insect. "Just standing back and watching our position on a map from miles away?"

    Taylor tilted her hand from side to side. "Not this specific means, but yeah, in a manner of speaking. Inside the school, definitely. Nobody pays attention to bugs, especially if they're camouflaged."

    Riley shook her head. "This team is pure BS. Why haven't you taken over the city yet?"

    Danny chuckled at that. "If you'd ever spent five minutes in administration, you'd know why not. This place would be a nightmare to organise." He pulled out his phone. "I'm going to let Alan and Rod know what's happening."

    "Probably a good idea." Taylor eyed the beetle critically. "I don't know what they're planning on doing, but they're headed into the richer area of Downtown."

    When the beetle came to a halt, Danny and Taylor leaned over the table to more closely examine its position. Lisa didn't bother, but her eyes widened anyway. "Shit," she murmured.

    "What?" Riley was too short to get a good look at the map, so she gave Lisa an irritated glance. "Where are they? What's so special about that place?"

    "Is that right?" asked Danny. "The placement, I mean?"

    Taylor nodded soberly. "It is. All three of them just walked in through the back door of the Medhall building. Still in civvies."

    Danny summed it up for everyone there. "Well, I'll be damned."



    End of Part Thirty-Four
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2023
  8. macdjord

    macdjord Well worn.

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    8,809
    Likes Received:
    36,519
    :sneaky: It's always fun watching the bad guys get destroyed by the team of scarily competent little girls.
     
  9. SlickRCBD

    SlickRCBD none

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2017
    Messages:
    474
    Likes Received:
    1,799
    When you put it that way, I expect somebody to the utter "and we'd have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids!"
     
  10. Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Messages:
    7,323
    Likes Received:
    71,211
    Assault will say it for them, if nobody else does.
     
  11. Threadmarks: Part Thirty-Five: Option Four
    Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Messages:
    7,323
    Likes Received:
    71,211
    One More Trigger

    Part Thirty-Five: Option Four

    [A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]


    Hebert Household, Just a Little Later

    Taylor


    "Well, we're here. What's the big news?" Mr Clements asked as everyone got settled in their respective chairs.

    Vicky and Amy had landed in the backyard just moments before, and even Missy had made it across town in a mad dash to get to the house on time. Only Parian was absent, and that was because her preferred mode of transportation was too slow. However, she'd been contacted, and Lily had promised to fill her in after the fact.

    I took a deep breath. "Victor, Othala, and someone I'm pretty sure is Crusader, walked in through the back door of the Medhall building …" I checked the wall clock. "About twenty-five minutes ago."

    Instead of the bedlam I'd been half-expecting, the room got very quiet. Lisa and Riley already knew, of course, and while we had our speculations, we were going to wait to air them. Emma and her dad shared glances and looked extremely thoughtful, while Madison started a whispered conversation with her father.

    "Did you expect this?" asked Lily. "Because I can only think of a few reasons for that, and none of them are good."

    Missy nodded. Vicky and Amy echoed the gesture. "The best case out of all that," Vicky decided, "is if they're robbing the place. Were they in costume?"

    "Good question," I said. "No, they weren't. All three were in civvies."

    "Well, what's been happening since?" asked Amy.

    "And where's Danny?" asked Mr Barnes, looking around.

    "Dad took the car out," I said. "I only had a few bugs on Victor and Othala, and there's been a suspicious run over the last few days of bug spray being bought up by individuals with shaven heads, so I'm guessing they're spraying everyone down when they come into meetings. I don't feel like sacrificing booster bugs, so Dad's driving a bunch of leaf bugs over to Medhall. We can't sneak an ear into whatever this gathering is, not at such short notice, but I can sure as hell tag everyone coming out."

    "Okay, got it." Emma nodded thoughtfully. "So: thoughts on why three notorious supervillains might be walking in the back door of the Medhall building, late in the evening, in civilian clothing?"

    "Attending a meeting of Supervillains Anonymous?" suggested Missy facetiously.

    "Can't be," Riley said immediately. "I'd be there."

    I chuckled, as did most of the people in the room. Lisa gave Riley a hug. "And me too, squirt."

    Amy raised her hand slightly. "Maybe they're moonlighting as low-level employees who've got an after-hours clearance? They might literally be going in there to hang out in the executive break room and drink the expensive booze out of the wet bar."

    "We'll put that down as Option One," Mr Clements said, pulling out a notepad and pen. He wrote for a few seconds, then nodded. "So, what's Option Two?"

    I'd been thinking about this. "Option Two is that they've somehow got access, and that the Empire Eighty-Eight is using the building to meet in, without the knowledge of the people in charge. Big building, lots of meeting rooms, so on and so forth."

    "Using … as … meeting … place …" he muttered, writing assiduously. "And Option Three?"

    "Hmm …" Emma mused. "Option Three would be that they're meeting with the full knowledge of the people in charge. Like, they've said, 'we want to meet here' and Max Anders said 'yes, sir' and gave them access."

    Madison shook her head. "That's basically Option Two with a few extra steps. Call it Option Two Point Five."

    "No, it's still Option Three," her father said. "There are significant differences. Mainly the knowledge, but that does make a difference." He added a few words to his notepad.

    "Which makes Option Four …" Lily began, then paused as though trying to fit her head around the concept. "Medhall is run by the Empire Eighty-Eight, and they're meeting in their own building."

    Silence fell, with each of us working through the idea in our own way. I'd already been over it several times, but the others were mostly coming at it from a fresh perspective.

    Mr Clements looked at me. "You and Danny clearly favour the idea of a full meeting of the Empire, given that he's delivering a bunch of your leaf-bugs there. Everyone else?"

    "I think it's Option Four," Riley said, causing all eyes to turn her way.

    "So do I," agreed Mr Barnes, "but I'm curious as to your reasoning."

    Riley hesitated, but Lisa nudged her and made a subtle go-on gesture. "Kaiser's a proud man, but not just proud. He's toxic about it. He thinks he's smarter than everyone, and he's a control freak." She paused again, briefly. "I've … had experience with that kind of mindset."

    I knew what she was talking about. Jack Slash had definitely been a proud man, and toxic with it.

    "So how does that equate to Option Four, and none of the others?" asked Vicky curiously.

    Riley took a deep breath. "It's not Option One. If they were low-level employees in Medhall, they're there for a reason. Kaiser would never let them risk firing or arrest by sneaking in after hours. And it's not Option Two, because Kaiser would never lower himself to sneaking into someone else's premises just to hold a gang meeting. That's what abandoned warehouses are for." She paused and looked around. "Does anyone disagree so far?"

    "Nope," Lily said. "You're hitting the nail on the head as far as I can tell."

    Riley smiled. "Good. Option Three … no. There's too much chance of the Medhall people getting sick of him ordering them around and dropping a dime on him. He wouldn't open himself up like that. The only way he'd have his people meeting in the Medhall building is if he either owned it or had a controlling interest, and could access security footage at any time to delete anything suspicious. In other words, Option Four."

    "In other words …" Amy echoed. "You're saying that Kaiser is Max Anders."

    Lisa, grinning as smugly as I'd ever seen her, held up her hand and snapped her fingers. "And the frizzy-haired brunette in the second row wins the grand prize."

    Missy looked startled. "What, really? I spoke to him at a fundraiser last year! He congratulated me on holding my own as a Ward, and shook my hand! He was nice!"

    "Probably because you were a blonde white cape," Emma interjected cynically. "I've been reading up on how people can get sucked into cults and gangs. Before you joined us, you were feeling less than fully appreciated as a Ward, yeah? He could probably spot that, and was laying the groundwork for maybe recruiting you if you ever showed bigoted tendencies."

    Missy's eyes narrowed. "Motherfucker."

    "Language!" scolded Riley.

    I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing. Emma and Madison joined in, and Vicky and Amy were grinning too.

    "Hey. Hey, hey, hey." Mr Barnes put his hands up for quiet. He was smiling as well, but he nodded toward the now embarrassed-looking Riley. "It seems that one of you has manners. Well said, young lady."

    "Wait a minute." Vicky had lost her grin. "I remember that fundraiser. He spent time talking to me, too, about combating the local drug dealers. Mainly focusing on the Merchants and the ABB. Was he trying to recruit me, too?"

    "There's a good chance of it," Lisa confirmed. "At the very least, he was sounding you out as a future prospect, seeing what your personal views were regarding minorities."

    Vicky gritted her teeth. "Son of a …" She didn't finish the phrase, but we all knew what she meant.

    "I can assume he wouldn't have tried recruiting me, then?" snarked Lily.

    "No, but Lung might have," Lisa noted. "If Emma hadn't lit him up like a Christmas tree, that is."

    Emma put her hand up. "Just so everyone knows, he totally deserved it. I thought he'd killed Mads."

    Missy shrugged. "You had me at 'he totally deserved it'."

    This time, everyone chuckled.

    <><>​

    Across Town

    Danny


    Cruising through the late evening traffic, Danny tried to look totally normal. Nothing to see here, just another suburban dad out for a drive. The traffic wasn't too bad for a Monday night; not so heavy that he couldn't get into the lane he wanted, not so light that he was the only car on the road.

    The passenger-side window was cracked open a few inches for airflow, though the door was locked. Danny had never been carjacked, and he didn't want to ever experience it. Taylor would be on it immediately, but it would be so goddamn tedious to get it all sorted out.

    The leaf-bugs, as well as a few spare booster bugs, were all crowded on the ceiling and door pillars of the passenger side of the car. Danny was glad he had no particular aversion to bugs, because that would've given anyone even slightly entomophobic the screaming heebie-jeebies. Up ahead was the Medhall building, lights on here and there. Unfortunately, even with binoculars, he wouldn't have been able to tell which lights were security measures and which were evidence of people in the building.

    "Get ready," he said, even as he began slowing down for the lights. In response to this, the bugs started flowing out of the car onto the exterior, moving in unison so smoothly and easily that he would've missed it if he wasn't looking.

    By the time he pulled up at the lights, the entire passenger side of the car was covered with leaf-bugs, all flattened to the paintwork and emulating the colour of the car. The few booster bugs were lurking in the corners of the windows, pretending that nothing was amiss. Checking his mirrors, he could see that the drivers around him were immersed in their own little worlds, with their own issues to deal with.

    When the cross-street lights turned red, he counted aloud for the benefit of the booster bug sitting in the window gap. "Three … two … one …"

    The lights ahead turned green; he let out the clutch and applied gentle acceleration, and the car moved off. At the same time, the bugs abandoned ship, flying down and to the side to get out of the headlights of the following car. He knew they'd head straight to the Medhall building and surround it on all sides, locating every exit. It was all up to Taylor now.

    He knew the rest of the team would be at the house by now, talking over what they already knew, so it was time to get back. But first, he decided, he'd stop at a gas station and top up the tank. And maybe buy some snacks for the gathering. Plans were made more readily on a full stomach.

    <><>​

    Ladybug

    "Dad's dropped off the bugs and he's on his way back," I reported. "I've just put leaf-bugs, and a booster bug, on every car in that parking lot, and more leaf-bugs on every exit I can find."

    Lily tilted her head. "Remind me what the leaf-bugs are again? I don't know if I got filled in on those."

    "These," I said, holding up my hand as a leaf-bug fluttered to it. It landed, flattened to my palm, and activated the chameleon effect, fading almost totally out of view. "Also, they can ignore bug spray if they have to. Amy made them up when the Nine started spamming pyrethrin everywhere to counter me."

    "I still say that totally wasn't fair," Riley said, but it sounded like she was just saying it because she thought it was expected.

    "All's fair in love and war, munchkin." Lisa gave her a light noogie, then addressed the room. "So, we've figured out that Max Anders is none other than the biggest neo-Nazi in town. Medhall is no doubt Empire Central. What are we going to do about this?"

    Madison flicked a few fingers to get everyone's attention. "Once this meeting's over, they'll go their separate ways, yeah? And we already know Crusader came to Victor and Othala's house alone. I say we should kick off Survival of the Unfittest tonight."

    Silence fell for a few moments. "You think we should grab Crusader after he leaves to go back to his place," I said carefully.

    "Totally." Madison grinned. "We disappear him. They'll have no idea where he is, until he shows up in PRT custody."

    "I like it." Emma frowned thoughtfully. "Though we could expand our sights a little. I'm pretty sure we could take all three at once. None of them are big hitters, but Othala at least is a definite force multiplier."

    "I'm not saying yes and I'm not saying no." Mr Barnes ran his thumbnail over his lips. "However, this is very short notice. We're going to need to have a plan, with backups and alternatives, before we walk out that door."

    Emma glanced at me and Madison, then nodded. "Absolutely. How's this for a idea …"

    <><>​

    Danny

    The radio was playing soft music from yesteryear and Danny was relaxed behind the wheel on the way back to the house, when a dozen fireflies fluttered out of hiding and lined up on the windshield. Blinking in sequence, they indicated a left-hand turn. He frowned, wondering what was going on, but followed their lead.

    "I'm assuming something's come up?" he asked out loud.

    The fireflies rapidly reassembled themselves into a plus sign and flashed once; he took it as 'affirmative'. Then they lined up to indicate another turn and flashed in sequence.

    "Is it something urgent, or something that we just want to do?" It had to be one or the other, considering the fact that they hadn't waited for him to come back to the house.

    Two vertical lines indicated that it was the second choice. He was okay with that; the team's operating structure emphasised the option of making good decisions even when not everyone was available for an opinion. Following the directions given by the fireflies, he drove through the streets toward an unknown destination.

    <><>​

    Taylor

    We were just getting organised when Dad drove up and parked behind the other two cars. He got out and looked us over, no doubt noting our lack of costuming. "I'm interested in what's going on here."

    "Emma had a great idea." I grinned broadly. "Triple grab."

    He blinked, and I saw him assimilating the concept. "Victor, Othala and Crusader?"

    Mr Barnes nodded. "Bingo. Even if he rides home with someone else—unlikely, because his car's at their place—we'll get two at least, but three will be better."

    "That math checks out, yes." Dad turned to Emma. "Brief me."

    "Okay, so this is a nice quiet straight stretch of road." She gestured up and down the street. "Madison's been bringing air through here and making it leave its moisture behind in a sixty-foot-long block of the road." Madison had been practising a lot with altering the specific content of any given volume of air with her aerokinetic abilities.

    He frowned. "Raising the dew point? Making the road slippery?"

    "Yes to the first, no to the second. She's keeping all that humidity just off the ground. We want to stop them, not kill them."

    "Speak for yourself," muttered Lily. "Victor threw a grenade at Sabah."

    "We've talked about this," Mr Clements reminded her in a matter-of-fact tone. "I know you're angry at Victor, and you're totally justified in feeling that anger, but please, do not let it control you."

    "They're coming," I reported as the bugs in their car crossed an imaginary line in my visualisation of the entire city. "One minute out. Three in the car."

    Lily sighed. "I just wish I could punch his stupid face in, one time."

    "Positions," Mr Barnes said.

    As we'd practiced so many times before, we jumped back into the cars. Because Dad's car was there, we didn't have to cram in like we'd had to on the way out. Dad still needed briefing, and Emma and Lisa weren't integral to the plan, so they got into his car. I was in Mr Barnes' car, along with Lily, Madison and Missy.

    "Fifteen seconds," Lily said, once we were settled. Her innate sense of timing was very useful.

    "Good," said Mr Barnes. "Madison … mark."

    <><>​

    Aerodyne

    "On it." Madison concentrated.

    Having the natural breeze dump all its moisture in the one specific bounded area wasn't all that difficult—water droplets were relatively easy to nudge around with air molecules due to their size—but this next trick would be a little more strenuous.

    Fixing the entire volume in her mind, she made sure the water droplets wouldn't go anywhere, while pulling a certain fraction of the air out and not letting any more rush in. The air pressure dropped; physics took a hand then, and the temperature reduced as well. More physics happened, and the heretofore-invisible humidity in the air condensed into fog.

    "And … now," said Taylor.

    As though prompted by her words, the headlights of a car turned the corner and approached them from behind, vaguely illuminating the interior of the vehicle. As it came up to the fog, the headlights changed hue to fog beams and the car slowed.

    "Missy, you're up," said Mr Barnes.

    <><>​

    Vista

    Missy took a moment to thank her lucky stars for being assigned as the team liaison, even if Director Piggot had had other ideas on how it should work. Pulling off this sort of thing never happened in the Wards. Then she got down to business.

    Starting just inside the fog so that the people in the oncoming vehicle wouldn't see it happening, she took hold of the section of road (and the air above it) and stretched it massively, increasing its length by a factor of a hundred or so. A moment later, the car entered the zone of stretching. From the outside, it looked weird; she couldn't see the car itself, but the headlight beams were oddly truncated and they were travelling at somewhat less than walking pace. While the car would normally have been through in just a second or so, now they had half a mile of fog to drive through.

    They'd worked on a concept called the Escher Snare, where she could trap someone within twisted space and make it virtually impossible for them to get back to normal terrain, but it was hard to keep them in if they had external visibility. Taking that away with darkness and fog allowed the Snare to work much better.

    "Stopping the car now," she said out loud.

    Maintaining the volume of air with the fog in it wasn't as intensive as setting it up, so now she had the wherewithal to spring the next part of the trap. Concentrating carbon dioxide in front of the slowly moving car, she fed it into the air intake for the engine. The result was entirely predictable; starved of oxygen, the engine sputtered and choked, then cut out altogether.

    Having gone barely twenty feet into the fog, it rolled to a halt at the side of the road, just up ahead of them. The driver's side door opened, and an ordinary-looking man got out.

    Missy looked at Taylor. "Tag, you're it."

    <><>​

    Ladybug

    "Way ahead of you, o mistress of space and time." I'd had six ketamine bugs perched on top of the car, and they were flying forward from the moment the car began to roll off to the side of the road.

    Two bugs headed for Victor—the booster bug in the car had visually identified him when he got back out of the meeting, though we still didn't know who he was—while four more buzzed into the car and homed in on the passengers. In each case, one hung back while the other went in for the sting.

    The fact that six bugs were incoming at once must have alerted him on some unconscious level, because he slapped his neck before the first bug was properly able to start its injection of the ketamine/batrachotoxin mix. I zipped the second one in and gave him a full dose on the other side before he could react. His head came up and he began to turn, while his hand darted into his jacket for (I figured) either a gun or a phone.

    Almost at the same time, Othala and Crusader each got a solid dose of the same substance. They started struggling to get their seatbelts off and Crusader popped out a couple of ghosts, but then the ketamine took effect and they slumped down again. Victor took a half-dose from a second bug, which overwhelmed his resistance. He face-planted in the asphalt with his hand still in his jacket.

    We got out of the cars, and I headed over to Victor with Amy in tow. She made sure that he'd stay asleep, then Vicky stepped in and picked him up. "Do me a favour and open the door for me?" she asked Lily.

    "So, what's the endgame?" Dad asked as Amy and I went around to the other side of the car. "If it comes out that we're the ones who grabbed them, the rest of the Empire is more likely than ever to come after us."

    "The next bit was Amy's idea," I said. "She says she had it because of all the accident cases she's had to deal with in the hospital."

    Using a handkerchief, Amy opened the passenger side doors and put Othala and Crusader well under, then hooked out Crusader's wallet and showed me his driver's license. I took note of his home address and called it up on my phone, then took personal control of the bugs within that location. It only took me a minute or so to do a sweep of the apartment, and I smiled.

    In the meantime, Vicky and Lily finally got Victor into the car. It seemed he was prone to bumping his head on the door-frame, but nobody would notice. Probably.

    "Got him," I said as I headed back to the car. "Either he's a Crusader fanboy or he's the genuine article, because he's got a full costume stashed away there, plus a spare. Also, what I'm pretty sure is a Confederate flag, hanging on the wall."

    Mr Clements nodded. "Which means stage two is a go."

    "I hadn't been filled in on stage two yet," Dad said. "I get the impression that it's sneaky, but I have no idea what it actually is."

    "Oh, it's sneaky alright," Riley said. "In fact, it's downright evil, and that's coming from me."

    Lisa chuckled. "You're gonna love it."

    <><>​

    The PRT Building, About Two Hours Later

    Deputy Director Renick


    Paul was looking over the latest projections on crime figures following the capture of Oni Lee, when there was a knock on his office door. Looking up, he frowned. There were no appointments scheduled for this time of the evening, which meant this was out of the ordinary.

    "Come in," he called.

    The door opened and the PRT duty officer, a Lieutenant Harrison, leaned in through the doorway. "Sir," he said, with a hint of ill-concealed glee in his voice. "There's been a development with the Empire Eighty-Eight."

    That was a phrase that nobody should ever be happy about, so Paul was immediately intrigued. "What kind of development?"

    "Five minutes ago, a car rammed the security bollards outside the building. When we investigated, there were three capes in the vehicle, all costumed and drunk off their heads. Victor, Othala and Crusader. They're unharmed, but they'll be sleeping off the alcohol for quite some time."

    Paul stared at him. "Wait. Go through that again. You're saying that three Empire Eighty-Eight capes attempted a drunken ram-raid on our building, without backup? Are we even sure that they're actually the capes they're costumed as?"

    "That's a good point, sir, and one that we've taken into account. Right now, we're holding them on suspicion, until we can get them under an MRI. But Sergeant Prower's faced Victor and Crusader before, and he swears blind that it's them."

    "I see." Paul's mind spun as he tried to work out the series of events that would lead three Empire capes—not the big hitters by any stretch, but definitely formidable in their own right—to drink themselves into near-insensibility and then crash a car in the one location that would lead to their immediate arrest and incarceration. Pulling himself out of that rabbit-hole by his bootstraps, he asked himself a far more pressing question: what would Emily do?

    The answer was brief and to the point. She wouldn't ask dumbass questions. She'd secure them first and ask questions later.

    "Any orders, sir?" asked Harrison.

    "No orders, no. But do we have facilities that can hold them? Especially Crusader?" He had a mental image of murderous ghosts roaming the building, killing everyone they came across.

    Lieutenant Harrison nodded. "Director Piggot had orders in place for if we ever captured him. His ghosts always mimic what he's wearing and carrying, so he's been disarmed and stripped of his armour. There's padding strapped to his hands and feet, his arms and legs are fastened together, and he's chained to his bed. Also, he's got a blindfold strapped to his head. If he does send ghosts out, they won't be able to see or hurt anyone. And if it turns out that he can ignore things that are attached to him, he also has taser prongs strapped to his body."

    "Understood." Paul hesitated. "I have one order. This needs to be kept under wraps until definitive proof has been located, one way or the other. Tightest security, need to know only. If it's them, we want to keep the Empire guessing for as long as possible; if it's not, we don't want to look stupid by making claims we can't back up. Also, I want bomb disposal looking that car over, immediately."

    "Copy that, sir."

    "Dismissed, Lieutenant. And well done."

    "Thank you, sir."

    Lieutenant Harrison vanished and the door closed behind him, leaving Paul to lean back in his chair, pondering the bizarre turn of events. What were the odds? He couldn't even begin to calculate them; it had literally never happened before.

    A few minutes later, he sat straight up again, and made a call.

    "Duty officer, Lieutenant Harrison speaking. How may I help you, sir?"

    Paul took a deep breath. "It's crossed my mind that the events you spoke to me about may be part of an elaborate Trojan scheme. Bulk up exterior security on all points, and have the guards do regular eyeball checks on all prisoners instead of depending on cameras."

    Harrison didn't hesitate. "Yes, sir. Right away, sir."

    "Thank you, Lieutenant. Don't hesitate to call me if anything unusual starts to happen."

    "Roger that, sir."

    Paul ended the call and sat back in his chair. Victor, Othala and Crusader weren't as dangerous or as momentous a capture as Hookwolf or Purity would be, but their loss would be a distinct blow to the Empire all the same. Now, if only I could figure out why they all chose to go on a drunken bender on the same night.

    He suspected he'd only learn the answer to that conundrum when Emily had them interrogated following their return to sobriety.

    <><>​

    Tuesday, May 3, 2011

    Kaiser


    Max was partway through reading an evaluation report when his phone rang. The name that showed up in the Caller ID field alerted him to the fact that Hookwolf was on the line. That meant Empire business.

    Putting down the report, he took up the phone. "Yes?"

    "Yeah, it's me. Listen, you heard from Justin since last night? We were going to meet up this morning and go do a thing, but I haven't seen hide nor hair."

    The phrase 'go do a thing' indicated that they'd been planning some kind of cape-related shenanigans, but Kaiser wasn't worried about that. Hookwolf was big enough and ugly enough to take care of himself and Crusader both. It was a little strange that the young man had flaked on an appointment with Bradley; by all accounts, the two had a rapport.

    "I presume you tried his landline?" It was the first thing he thought of. If Justin had let his phone go flat, or lost it somewhere, his home phone would still work just fine.

    "That and his cell. Left messages on both of 'em. Nada."

    "Well, that's a problem." If Crusader was unavailable to Hookwolf, it meant he was just plain unavailable. "Wait a minute. Last night, he said he got a lift with Alex and Diane. He might've stayed at their place if his car wouldn't start. I'll give them a call now, and give him a piece of my mind about not having his cell on him at all times."

    "Okay, yeah. Appreciate it."

    Max ended the call, then accessed Victor's number. The man always answered by the third ring, even when he was in the shower. Not this time; it just rang and rang.

    After ten rings, he ended the call then rang Othala's cell. It did exactly the same thing, the ringtone repeating over and over until he ended that call too. Just to check, he tried Crusader's cell, with exactly the same result as the other two.

    A tiny worm of worry started twisting and turning in his gut. He took a few moments to find Victor's landline, and call that number. It also rang out. The worry was more pronounced as he accessed Krieg's number. This time, it only took one ring for the phone to be answered.

    "Designated Solutions, James Fliescher speaking. How may I help you, Mr Anders?"

    "Justin's not answering his cell," Max said briskly, "and neither are Alex and Diane. Would you have any idea why?"

    There was a pause on the other end, one that Max judged was long enough for a puzzled thought process to go through. "No. I have no idea. Do you think something has happened to them?"

    "I don't know yet. Reach out to the others in the social group. Make sure they're all well. Don't worry about Bradley; he's the one who called me about Justin."

    "Understood. I will keep you posted." Krieg ended the call, leaving Max to lean back in his chair and try to unravel the problem in his own head. Unfortunately, he was remarkably devoid of clues.

    Eventually, he called Bradley back. "There's more of a problem than we thought. Alex and Diane aren't answering either."

    "Shit. That is a problem."

    He didn't bother agreeing with the highly obvious statement. "James is checking on everyone else. Do a drive-past on their place, see whose cars are parked outside. Then check Justin's."

    "I'll get right on that."

    "Let me know what you find out." Max ended the call, frowning.

    Empire capes had vanished before, but they were invariably new recruits who had decided they weren't cut out for the life—the politest term Hookwolf called them was 'weaksauce'—and skipped town in the middle of the night. But even though Crusader wasn't yet twenty-one, he was as dedicated to the cause as anyone in the Empire, and the idea that Victor or Othala might be having second thoughts was simply ludicrous. Which meant that something else was going on.

    What it was, though, was a mystery to him. No cape battles had been reported by the news services, and PHO was making no mention of the PRT having captured any Empire capes overnight. Besides, the understanding had been that everyone would go home and have a quiet night in before resuming business as normal in the morning.

    I don't know what this is, but I don't like it. Not one little bit.

    <><>​

    Around That Time; the PRT Building

    Miss Militia


    Hannah scanned the report of the previous night's apprehension of the Empire Eighty-Eight capes. Her eyebrows raised as she absorbed the information. "Drunk, in costume, driving a civilian car? Crashing into the bollards outside the building? Really?"

    "That's what we've got to go on with," Director Piggot told her. "I agree; about the only way to make it easier to apprehend them would've been to call ahead to warn us they were coming, but they were definitely handed to us on a silver platter all the same."

    Hannah pursed her lips under the bandanna. "Has the car been checked over?"

    "With a fine-tooth comb." The Director shrugged. "Nothing. We even analysed the glove compartment lint, and it was nothing out of the ordinary. Deputy Director Renick put everyone on high alert last night, just in case, but it turned out to not be some kind of elaborate trap."

    "And the MRIs came back positive." Hannah was looking at the section of the report showing the medical results.

    "They did. The people we have in custody have active corona pollentias. They are capes. All the evidence we have indicates that they are who we've been led to believe they are." Director Piggot gave Hannah a tight-lipped smile. "All I need now is their side of the story. Because I really, truly want to hear their explanation for how they got to where we found them."

    Hannah nodded. "I'll do what I can." She'd heard what Piggot hadn't said: It won't change the outcome, but I could do with a good laugh.

    She took the report with her, as much for use as a prop as for reference, and entered the interrogation room. Already handcuffed to the table there was Othala, wearing prison orange instead of her bright red costume, though she'd been allowed to keep her eyepatch. She glared at Hannah as the latter seated herself, the current weapon an M1911 holstered at her hip.

    Despite having an instinctive knowledge of how to use every weapon she could generate, Hannah had undergone sniper training, because there was more to putting steel on target than just shooting straight. She'd learned patience, stillness, and the ability to fade into the background until people almost forgot she was there.

    If she spoke immediately, she knew Othala would shut down and refuse to interact. So instead, she reached into that skill, settling down to out-wait the other woman. Her breathing became deep and regular, as measured as a metronome. As Othala became more and more agitated, Hannah stilled her own reactions.

    It took Othala less than three minutes to crack. "This is fucking bullshit!" she burst out.

    "Have you been Mirandised?" asked Hannah.

    "I've got no idea why I'm even—" Othala paused, taken aback by the question. "What?"

    "Have you been read your rights yet?" Using two fingers, Hannah dropped a Miranda card on the table. Othala stared at it like a chicken hypnotised by a snake.

    After blinking a few times, Othala apparently decided to brazen it out. "Wh-why would I need you to read my rights? I haven't done anything wrong."

    "I'm just looking out for your best interests," Hannah said, deadpan. "Everyone's heard stories about people talking themselves into prison terms, right? If you haven't had your rights read to you, I can do it now."

    From the way Othala's eye shifted, she'd definitely heard the stories. She visibly wavered back and forth between defiance and accepting Hannah's very reasonable offer, and finally settled on common sense. "Okay, fine," she huffed. "You're already treating me like I'm guilty. You might as well read me my rights. Even though I've got no idea what I'm supposed to have done."

    "Good thinking. Better safe than sorry, and all that." Hannah took up the card, although she'd already memorised its contents. "You have the right to remain silent. If you choose to give up that right, anything you say can and will be taken down …"

    Othala sat quietly through the reading, visibly trying to put up a brave front, though Hannah could see the way she was biting her lip. With each carefully enunciated line, the tension in Othala's jaw ratcheted up a notch. Hannah pretended not to see it, and she very carefully did not allow the smile she felt to cross her lips. Even though she had a bandanna across her face, it would still be visible to those who were looking hard enough, and she didn't want to risk Othala being just perceptive enough to notice.

    Once she'd finished, she put the card down again. "Do you understand your rights as I have read them to you?"

    Othala nodded jerkily. "Um, yes, but I still don't know what's going on. Am I under arrest? What happened? Why am I here? How did I get here? Where's my husband? Why are you reading me my rights? What am I supposed to have done?"

    As Hannah had expected, reading Othala her rights had given her the chance to regather her thoughts and muster her defiance. This was all part of the plan; resistance couldn't be broken unless it was first brought into play. The whole idea was to set her up before knocking her down.

    Hannah slid the card back into her pocket. "Okay, now we've got that sorted out, do you wish to exercise the right to be silent?"

    She knew she'd hit the right note when Othala shook her head. "No! I want to know what's going on here! Where's my husband? Why am I under arrest? What am I charged with?"

    "Alright then." Hannah leaned forward. "Diane Grayson … that's your name, right? At least, that's what your ID says." Opening the folder, she slid Othala's driver's license onto the table.

    "Yeah, that's me." Othala did her best to give Hannah an intimidating glare. "So, answer my questions already."

    "Diane Grayson," Hannah said formally. "You are under arrest for underage drinking, aiding and abetting in the attempted destruction of government property, and multiple crimes all connected to your activities as the supervillain Othala, including but not limited to felony murder, hate crimes and grand larceny. Your husband and your friend Justin are also in custody. We know your husband is Victor, and that Justin is Crusader, and they will be charged accordingly, except for the underage drinking."

    "No." Othala shook her head frantically in a blatant attempt to hide her incipient panic. "That's bullshit! That's not true at all! I'm not Othala! Why would you even think that?" She paused. "Wait, underage drinking? Is that why I felt like shit when I woke up?"

    Hannah nodded. "Tests gave you a zero point one blood alcohol content after we pulled you out of your husband's car. Crusader was on zero point one three, and your husband was on zero point one seven. Would you like to tell me why you chose to get drunk on your husband's bourbon and go cruising around town in full costume?"

    Othala stared at her. "We did what?"

    Hannah judged that she wasn't faking her disbelief, but didn't actually care. "Drove drunk, in full costume, then rammed the car into the barricades in front of this very building, apparently in an attempt to crash into the lobby."

    She opened the folder and slid the photos out onto the table. They were screenshots of bodycam footage, and showed all three villains being hauled out of the wrecked car by armoured troopers. It was clear from the imagery that they were utterly wasted. The one of Othala vomiting into the gutter was particularly evocative.

    "That's not me!" Othala's claim was as reflexive as it was pointless. "That's not us!"

    Hannah allowed a steely note to creep into her voice. "I assure you, we can prove an unbroken chain of custody from the moment we pulled you out of the car to right now. The car is registered in your husband's name. And when we fingerprinted you, they matched the ones taken back when you went for that joyride with your friends at age fourteen. The people in those pictures are you and your friends." She paused. "What I'm curious about—what we're all curious about—is why you got drunk and went driving around in costume. What were you celebrating? The capture of Oni Lee? I mean, I can totally understand. Even as villains go, he's pretty scummy."

    "No! I mean yes, he's a total asshole, but we hadn't been drinking. We were just driving back home from seeing friends. We weren't—I mean, I have no idea where those stupid costumes came from, or who put them on us."

    Again, Hannah suspected the villain was being genuine about the confusion. Unfortunately for Othala, she still didn't care. "Well, that's interesting. We got a warrant earlier this morning, and we searched your homes … and found your spare costumes, along with enough evidence to identify you and your husband as members of the Empire Eighty-Eight several times over. Crusader is in much the same boat. So, what were you meeting with the rest of the Empire Eighty-Eight about?"

    "Nothing," Othala said quickly, in exactly the tone of voice that meant 'something'. "I mean, we were seeing friends, not the Empire Eighty-Eight. And I don't know about any costumes. For all I know, you planted them."

    Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Then you wouldn't mind giving me the names and phone numbers of the friends you were seeing, and you can guarantee they'd verify that you came over to meet them last night? And be able to tell me what you talked about?"

    Finally, Othala saw the pitfall yawning in front of her, and behind as well. "I … uh, I want to exercise my right to be silent now. Also, I want a lawyer. And my phone call. You have to give me a phone call. It's the law."

    "We can do all that, certainly." Hannah stood up and slid the photos back into the folder. "But think about this while you're sitting silently in your cell, waiting for us to arrange your lawyer and your phone call. Victor and Crusader have worse crimes against their names than you do. They're almost certainly going to ask for plea bargains, and that will involve testifying against other members of the Empire Eighty-Eight. Think about what Crusader's got on you, what he could prove against you." She walked to the door, then stopped and turned back with her hand on the handle. "The way this sort of thing works, whoever gets in first is the one who gets the deal. Everyone else is shit out of luck. Right now, you have a very narrow window of opportunity, and it's getting smaller by the second."

    "I keep telling you, you've got the wrong people," Othala insisted, apparently forgetting her choice to stay silent. "I'm not Othala."

    "So you say." Hannah tilted her head toward the door. "I'm going to speak with Crusader now. Let's see what he has to say about all this." With that, she opened the door and walked out, closing it behind her.

    Director Piggot met her a little way down the corridor. "Think she'll cave?"

    Hannah waggled her hand. "Seventy-thirty. She looked pretty worried a couple of times there, and if we can let her stew in her own juices for just a little longer, her lawyer will probably be able to convince her to take whatever plea-bargain the DA offers her. If she's smart."

    The Director snorted and looked at the closed door of the interrogation room. "If."

    "True."



    End of Part Thirty-Five
     
  12. Zackarix

    Zackarix Hera's Divorce Lawyer

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2015
    Messages:
    2,209
    Likes Received:
    18,005
    I wonder why Othala is the one they're leaning on to testify against the others. Do they think she's the least dangerous? Most sympathetic? Most useful powers if she flipped? Or is she just the one with the lowest amount of hate crimes to her name?

    And was Rune living with Victor and Othala in this fic? If so her identity is probably gonna be revealed in short order. Which is another angle that could be used against Othala: cooperate and you might be able to negotiate a favorable deal for your young family member in addition to getting one for yourself.
     
    Prince Charon and Ack like this.
  13. macdjord

    macdjord Well worn.

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    8,809
    Likes Received:
    36,519
    Easiest to break, I suspect.
     
  14. Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Messages:
    7,323
    Likes Received:
    71,211
    Least hardened, youngest, most easily intimidated, lowest risk (Crusader is a problem for face to face interrogation), and best chance of getting to break (Victor would of course be loaded down with counter-interrogation skills).
     
Loading...