Siberian is captured.
You pace back and forth. She caused your trigger, indirectly. Sleepless nights staying up late for weeks, knowing you could never beat her, and then the power to beat her
someday.
Like a lot of triggers it had been what you wanted, but not what you wanted at the same time.
You're probably going to be pulled back from Brockton Bay soon. The local Protectorate is already being reorganized. The current plan is to pull you out after Cranial and Panacea work together for a full scale tuneup to work with, augment, and supplement your powers as well as granting you additional skills.
It's a good plan.
Siberian is captured. Siberian is going to be
used. The details are kept very quiet, but it was absolutely a powerful Master who caught her if they're trusting her. Cluster, Soulfire, Last Witch, even
Trigger will be called in to check Siberian, but if she's really...
The idea makes you sick. No justice, not even the Birdcage, because she's so valuable.
You hear a knocking on your door. You head there, and it's Ethan, hair dyed a ridiculous blue, smiling at you.
"Hey." You say.
"Hey, Rick. It's, um, we're going around to see who freaks out the most, or the least..."
"
Oh." You shake your head. "Sorry. What do I call you?"
"Ethan. Ethan Blue, if there's ambiguity, until we're relocated and given new names, maybe plastic surgery. The others are Ethan Red and Ethan Yellow."
"Makes sense." You nod. "And Sarah?"
"I paired with one calling herself Jamie for now, blue streak in her hair. The other two are Cybil and Claire." You nod.
"I get the middle name, and yeah, you told me about Jamie, but why Claire?"
"Amy,
Mom's middle name." You think.
"Panacea's?"
"It was better than Abigale, and Cranial's middle name is
Ptolemy." Ethan mock shudders.
"So, um, I don't have any beer..."
"Never thought you would." He claps you on the back. "I brought some." Ethan had always played up the "cool big brother" card. The fact that you've fought an Endbringer and yet can't buy a beer for another six months strikes you as deeply unfair. "They'll need to chill though."
"Put'em in the fridge." Ethan does. "So, we're all getting updates from the last eighteen months. We're going to commiserate over it tomorrow. So, did you make
any progress with the golden girl since I backed up?" You laugh.
"We don't have
anything in common, and she's seventeen!" You shake your head. "Besides, we all know that when she 'breaks up' with Dean they're still together."
"They are
so wrong for each other." Ethan says cheerfully, looking through your bookshelf. "Hey, you did finally get a copy of
Flowers in the Attic. The wife's favorite book, you know. Best angst porn on the planet according to her when she was twelve."
"It's okay." You admit. "Colin finally got me to read it." You're both silent for a moment.
"It's sudden." Ethan mutters. "People are growing up, the city's in ruins, underage lesbian incest is on morning shows..."
"You lost me at the last one." Ethan gives you a crooked smile. "You haven't heard?" You get a feeling of trepidation.
"Heard what?"
"Amy and Victoria Dallon are apparently in lesbians with each other." Ethan laughs. "Like, I have to admit I'm not
entirely surprised, but..."
"Amy and Victoria are dating." You stare at him. "Panacea and Glory Girl are dating?" You frown.
"Wow, do you live in a bubble?" Ethan laughs. "I bet you just have to turn on the TV and they're talking about it." He grabs the remote and flicks it on. You see an image of a couple in a darkened woods.
"I know what you are. You're a vampire." A boy whispers.
"No, worse than that. I am a time traveler." A girl whispers. "Tossed by the sands of destiny..."
"Okay, my theory was incorrect." Ethan flips the channel and reveals some kind of news program you don't recognize.
"The fact of the matter is that they have responsibilities. Just because they're valuable enough to keep themselves from being arrested does not mean they should be setting this example." A large fat man with South East Asian features rants.
"It's
clear they're in love, and they're not really siblings. Haven't we gotten past this with Legend?" A thin and severe looking woman, maybe in her 60s, says. "There was a time when black people and white people couldn't hold hands without gathering stares. Shouldn't we move past this?"
"Incest is clearly different. Panacea is clearly the victim of a disease. She needs treatment, not an enabler." The fat man says.
"Turn the TV off. I can't afford another one." Ethan does so.
"Wow, did you really start crushing on her?" He asks, concerned.
"They're talking about
this bullshit!" You shout.
Siberian is going to become the fourth leg in the Triumvirate and the talk shows are blathering on about celebrity dating!" You shake your head in disgust.
"Oh, man. That was, wow." Ethan shakes his head. "I forgot..."
"She
ate my kid sister, Ethan! Because she was
there. Every hour since I've thought about it. Every day I've thought about what I need to do to take down
her before I put something into my shield, my boots, my armor, my Arclance." You sigh. "All of it for..."
"A
lot of good. Siberian is one thing. Endbringers are another. Maybe, someday,
that will be your legacy." You sigh.
"Just feels like we lose even when we win. Panacea decides she's Masamune, and then goes mad with power. Lung dies, and we're pretty sure one of our Wards murdered him but we can't hold up the investigation. Just, why can't we get real
wins." You sit down next to Ethan.
"Hey, this
is a big win. You are upset. Rightfully upset. If things were different, I'd say drop her in the Birdcage, but they aren't, and if she buys
minutes she saves hundreds, maybe thousands of lives.
"I get it. It's just..." You shake your head. "You know, maybe there's some wisdom to celebrity gossip." You turn the TV back on.
"That's what I always say." Ethan says cheerfully. "You got any popcorn?"
_____
The fact is that nobody's in charge right now. Director Lewis has no idea who the personalities involved really are, is stepping back, learning, experimenting. He'll be good once he gets going, but he doesn't want to upset the delicate balance. Dream Mask comes
very well reviewed, but she is still relearning basic facts about Brockton Bay like the fact that Armsmaster was their former leader and not a supervillain gang lord, and Gallant is not a former member of Empire 88. Lady Photon can barely keep her troops under control. Glory Girl can control her faction, but she's not experienced enough to lead. Battery only lead the Wards for four months, and is not an experienced commander.
By general uncomfortable agreement Aegis has been given veto power over plans while Lady Photon, Dream Mask, Battery, and Director Lewis all work together on plans and run them by him.
The current situation is
not good. Really, really not good. The fact that the Empire hasn't killed anyone despite being under constant attack from Shadow Stalker and Skitter while New Batch (Ethan's name for the new kids of New Wave) keeps them bottled up in their territory is a testament to a surprising amount of restraint for Nazi supervillains and gangsters. Shadow Stalker has not
officially quite the Wards and joined New Wave, but everyone's fairly sure she's just waiting for Victoria to come back for that.
On the bright side, rebuilding is going shockingly well. Everyone is in agreement on that. The Merchants are on a recruiting drive, but even they are keeping their territory under far more control than before.
You're sitting in on a general strategy meeting. If you're going to be a major player in the Protectorate you need to see how these work.
"I want to confirm my memories and readings. This is out of character for the Merchants, correct?" Dream Mask asks. "They are drug dealers and drug users, small time forces that only survived as long as they did because no one put in the effort to defeat them. What has changed?"
"Panacea gave out significant healing to everyone who engaged in the truce against ABB." Aegis explains. "This could justify their change in behavior. Freed of their addictions they could be engaging in long term planning. They have a future now."
"I have another theory. Assuming Panacea did not change their personalities, and there's no reason to believe she would, they are naturally small timers. Why would they enjoy putting this kind of effort into control? I've been looking at the crime statistics and reports for their territory. They are not reveling in power. If they wanted to go clean they certainly have the power and record to do so. The change was also not immediate after Leviathan. I think that they are scared, someone is pressuring them into behaving. Is it possible that Glory Girl has put pressure on them before she left?"
"Technically possible, but unlikely." Battery answers. "Skitter was an acquisition made under extreme circumstances, and Parian came to them for assistance. Glory Girl's MO is to take more disaffected people her own age and shower them with support. It's not Empire 88, they don't need this. Another player, perhaps?"
"It would make sense." Director Lewis nods. "A new cape, or one who changed radically by the Leviathan attack, or someone who arrived to take advantage of the situation?"
"Hm, let's start investigating that once the Empire 88 situation is complete. Now, how sure are we that they did
not rape Shadow Stalker?" Aegis says.
"80%." Director Lewis says. "Definitely not Kaiser, he has nothing to gain from it, and the move is bizarre in many ways. We can't discount the possibility that he's working with that, but he would need an unknown Thinker to be able to manipulate the situation properly. I am concerned there's a connection with the Merchant changes. Both of these smell of a secretive player to me, trying to play us against each other."
"The fact is I'm unsure that matters." Dream Mask says. Everyone turns their heads to her.
"Explain." Battery asks.
"The fact is, Empire 88 is by
far the greatest threat to the city. Is there any disagreement with this statement?" No one has any. "If we ramp down the tensions, we are letting them consolidate and grow. Empire 88 has lasted for decades, and has support from the Gesellschaft. This is a bomb waiting to go off best case, and Nazi enclave at worst. We
could share the city with them, but do we want to? For the best of reasons, Brockton Bay has repeatedly made deals and concessions with Empire 88. I would personally prefer to not have a white supremacist holdout remain for decades as the world wears down to Endbringer attacks. I know that my earlier actions, fed with bad information,
were crazy, but I believe the values are sound when it comes to Empire 88."
"I am not so sure." Lady Photon says. "I know this is a strange argument for me to make, but the idea that supervillains can be tolerated if they behave, provide assistance, and work to help during disasters is a
good precedent to set, if it is done honestly. There are a lot of Empire capes, and they could hold off looters or opportunists. The Elite is said to be eying Brockton Bay right now. A war would
definitely weaken us, and remove our ability to call them for help. As much as I
hate these guys, they're a devil we know. We can't just destroy all the supervillains."
You want to leave the room.
____
Sophia Hess visits you that evening.
"How are you?" You ask.
"Tired of people asking that." She glares at you.
"It's how people react. It's not good, but it is how people react." She sighs.
"It's all
bullshit. Who cares
who they raped? They still
rape. It's not like this isn't anything they haven't done before. We're supposed to hold off because they're shitting their pants enough about Amy that they're placing nice? The
idiots." Sophia growls.
"I agree with you." You smile at her. "In fact, I wanted to tell you
I'm in." Sophia looks at you.
"What?"
"I'm in. If you need help in this,
I'm in. Tolerating villains has gone too far, and they
need me. I'd rather be subtle about it, but the fact is I can take the hit. In twenty years I'll be Legend and Alexandria, and I'll be one or the other in ten. Sure, they can piss and moan but what are they going to do? The fact is, France would like me just as much as they would. If Amy and Victoria can do
that I can help you fight Nazis." Sophia gives you a predatory grin.
"I'm not even
gay yet and I'm still hoping they're going to be open to a threesome." She keeps the predatory grin. "
That was awesome."
"They can do whatever they want. We have
much bigger fish to fry."
_____
End Interlude
_____
Cranial calls you sounding
very excited.
"I solved P=NP. Well, close enough. I figured a work around. You need a
really Tinker made computer for it, but I worked with Dodge and Big Rig on it."
"That's
great." You smile. "Need anything else?"
"Maybe. I'm going back to Brockton Bay with you, at least for a few days. They hired me to investigate Dream Mask and other people, as well as do a few odds and ends. They also want a few projects for us to work on together. Did they contact you about that?"
"Dauntless, the Protectorate suits, further cloning, yes. I'm thinking about how to manage this."
"So, want to have a road trip with the Toybox?" Cranial asks.
[X] "That sounds great." It would be nice to get to know them a bit better.
[X] "Victoria and I kind of want to drive back
together." You can't keep the smile out of your voice.
[X] "I'm calling in a favor. We're teleporting right back home." The city
does really need support.
Do You Believe In Magic
[X] "That sounds great." It would be nice to get to know them a bit better.
"I need to see Kitsune first." You promised Skitter that you'd help Tattletale. You can't leave Chicago without at least meeting her.
"I see." Cranial sounds a bit worried. "I have not met with her, but what I have heard is disconcerting. You had best be careful.
"I will be." You frown. "I keep hearing the word
demon thrown about for her.
"Do you have a better one?" Cranial asks.
_____
It's meeting for coffee in a cell. A locked room in what's left of the Protectorate HQ.
You sit down across from Kitsune, Tattletale, Lisa.
"So..." You ask.
"I'm Tattletale. Don't you love me?" It asks.
"Cut the bullcrap." You glare at it. "The fact is, according to a
very crazy person what I did to you was worse than what the PRT wanted me to do to you. Since the PRT asked me to lobotomize you and addict you to something, well..."
"It hurts
all the time." It hisses. "I look at someone, see the fucked up piece that pops straight to mind, and I
need to help. Then I'll see who is next to her, and I'll need to help that cunt. Again and again and again! I see how to hurt someone and I'll need to help and it is driving me
fucking nuts."
"That sounds like a problem. Have you tried helping them?" You ask.
"Fuck you. I help anyone I can, now. It just keeps
coming. Hatchet Face, Crawler, Mannequin, Burnscar. Four down, but the other four are still killing people!" She growls. "I can't
not know that. I can't keep it out of my head anymore. It's always there. Everything I know is going wrong keeps coming back. You did something to my
shard, didn't you?"
"Your what?" You frown. The word sounds so familiar...
"Powers." She mutters.
"I can't do that. Well..." You frown. "Some can be done. Teacher, Ingenue, mess with the right part of the brain, but I don't try that. I can do a
very little with them, give more gray matter to it, increase complexity and control, but I didn't do
that."
"Than you changed
me. Fucking Hell, you tried to make me
good. It doesn't work that way." Tattletale
screams and it's not for her, it's to hurt your eardrums.
"I'm sorry."
"Fucking Cauldron. They're everywhere, like rats or Jews." She mutters. Wait, what? "Crawling in and out of the system and giving powers and hurting people and they're good and..."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to let me help you." She answers. Her smile isn't fox like at
all anymore.
"That's, um, more frightening than it should be."
"You made me
like you. If I'm doing something for someone I like, well..." She laughs. "I don't need your help to breakout. I've done it before. I can see all the connections now. That's the beautiful thing about a second trigger event." You frown.
"Second trigger event?"
"I had it before you put your hands on me, waiting in that cell. I see chains, connections, stretching out, feeding on itself. I know how to escape. I know how to
survive this. Except, you're a fucking blind spot now. Happened when you made us
friends. I need to focus on that. I think it's like..." She pauses, her eyes roll back in her head.
"What do you
want?" You ask her intently.
"He still loves you,
Amelia. Trapped under the hill, he loves you. I can bring him to you. I can get him out." Your blood runs cold.
"My father?"
"Yes. I assure you, I
can break someone out of the Birdcage now. I see the connections, the path to victory. It'd be hard, almost take too long, but I can do it, Amelia. Let me help you, just
ask for it. I'm going crazy and dying, and that's the answer I asked my power for."
"Oh my god."
"Is that a yes?"
[X] "You are
completely insane." You lash out and touch her, and break the empathy bonds you made, break your "friendship" wired into her. You'll need something that can truly hold her, and she doesn't think this could do. Perhaps reversible lobotomy? You can't make it
perfect, but you can make it so she's hit by a powerful agnosia unless activated by the right people, addict her to something only you can produce or else she sleeps all the time and send it by mail to Chicago, or something like that.
[X] "It is." You shake your head. "Fuck it. Just, fuck it. Do what you have to, demon." So you made your deal with the devil.
[X] "Well then, we have nothing to discuss." You get up and walk away, your coffee undrunk. This is
exactly where she should be.
__________
The Toybox consists of seventeen vehicles, a pocket dimension, nine Tinkers with ratings from 3-9, and three non-parahuman dependents. The seventeen vehicles are connected to the pocket dimension through the technology of Dodge, a twelve year old Navajo boy with the rating of Tinker 6.
The Toybox is designed to house considerably more people than it has, to quickly scale up to the needs of their dependents. Eraser took a plane flight home, so it's just you and Victoria on the road trip.
You and Victoria get a bedroom in the pocket dimension that apparently once belonged to a married couple, a Tinker named the Independent Agent and his wife. The place is musty and in some ways weirdly crowded, as a Tinker apparently needs far more space than a normal person for all manner of projects. Glace, a specialist in cryonics, apparently fights a losing battle against entropy in the common room and kitchen, keeping it so it's safe to walk. According to Chris this is
not some kind of attempt at making the place more inviting, just an obsession with cleanliness. Glace's trigger event was OCD related.
"Toy Soldier would not be comfortable with you meeting his daughters. I am very sorry about that." Cranial says.
"So, we're just supposed to..." Victoria starts.
"Please. You have nothing to gain from pushing this. What you did is very controversial. His daughters are ten and twelve years old, and are your fans, Victoria. I
will try to work on him, but he seems to be adamant. He puts a great deal of effort into protecting them. I would argue too much effort. Simply be charming and normal, and he might relent."
"Please, Victoria? I don't want to start a fight with any of these people." Victoria relents.
"You said the magic word." She kisses your forehead. "But I don't have to like it, do I?"
"I wouldn't ask you that." You agree.
"Personally, I have a lot to do right now. The fact is that no one here is particularly able to entertain you most of the day. If you two were not madly in love I would think that would count as a more serious issue." Cranial's voice holds good humor to it. "If you get bored just ask them to show you your work. No one here will object to that. Let them bring up collaboration individually."
"Sounds good." You smile at Cranial. "Anything else?"
"We have a lot of stops to make, picking up some resources, dropping off others. We have orders to fill." Victoria gives Cranial a look.
"Some of this is illegal, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is, Victoria. Please do not make a thing of this. I have never disguised that my Toybox is funded in part by illegal activities. I sincerely hope to avoid this in the future, but going back on these orders and betraying these
very dangerous people is not a good idea. The Toybox has spent many long periods poor, hiding, or desperate. Some of these people have saved members of this organization from certain death or helped them immensely. I am sorry I am asking you for this."
Apparently the Toybox lacks a cooking specialist, so you stop for dinner that night. Toy Soldier stays in his RV, apparently cooking for his family. Glace apparently has never been seen to eat. Cranial is busy working. The sight of the remaining nine of you descending on a rest stop draws dozens of people taking pictures with their phones. You end up sitting across from Bauble and her boyfriend, a rather small and twitchy looking boy who doesn't talk much. Victoria takes Cranial's advice and asks her about her work.
"Glassworking , glassworking tools, and turning things into glass." She explains, and proceeds to give what is certainly the most boring lecture on Tinker tech you have ever heard. You try to be polite, but the fact is that Bauble is a
boring person and a
boring Tinker. She drones on and on about her specialty long after you had finished eating, and she follows you back into the RV you'll pretend to sleep in. The Toybox doesn't like disclosing their pocket dimension fortress.
Victoria finally asks for a demonstration of what Bauble can do, after the third hour.
"Of course." She leads you into her lab. "Observe, a diamond, the strongest known substance to exist." She pulls out a small ring and presses it, releasing a long, strange blade, and cuts it in half cleanly. She proceeds to do the same for a wide variety of substances, repeating, with small variations, the same speech about how her tech works. You roll your eyes in exasperation at the fifteenth rendition. Why would wood be more impressive than cobalt?
"Thank you very much for the demonstration, but, um..." Victoria tries to think of an excuse against Bauble's sullen expression.
"I need to tune her up." You come up with. "Um, every night I make sure she's
maximally healthy. Isn't that right?"
"Yes. It's fairly awkward, but yes, we absolutely do that." Victoria nods. The two of you finally manage to escape.
____
Dodge's portion of the lab and Kid Win's portion off the lab are next to each other. The two are apparently collaborating a lot. Chris calls you the next morning with questions an requests for his suit.
"I'm rather surprised with some of the growth patterns. Cancerous growth has taken over for a surprising amount of it, and the transition to life support hasn't been going properly." You tell Chris. Dodge is looking at you and Victoria adoringly, while Victoria is experimenting with her hair.
"Hm, I thought so." Chris says. "Just didn't feel quite right. I'm curious if we can integrate some of Dodge's remotes into this easily, make it so it flashes out and replaces the current piece of tech with new tech in a proper integration."
"That does sound useful." You nod.
"It can do that!" Dodge says enthusiastically, and pulls out his remote. He presses a button, and the "head" is replaced with a long and thin rail you recognize as one of Kid Win's guns. Another flash, and it's a strange barbed design. A third, and it's a long tentacle that appears to be something Big Rig would produce.
"Ooh, that is interesting." You smile at the kid. "You did sound like one of the more impressive people here."
"I
really am. Hermione, show test 125!" Dodge shouts, and a projector on the flat wall of the dimension displays a desert and a single remote. Your suit rapidly feeds you data on the general size and shape of the place.
A moment later a 20 meter diameter snaps away into a vacuum.
"Wow." You mutter.
"That's nothing. When I we fought Crawler I had one that replaced the zone with a giant bomb." You can't help but smile.
"What went wrong?"
"It only caught about a fourth of him, and the bomb wasn't enough." Dodge answers sadly.
This kid is someone to watch.
"You know, one thing I was thinking of for your portals, could we integrate them with the suits so Amy could touch them, or their wears, at long range?" Victoria asks. "Perfect healing at a distance, on the fly suit customization." Dodge smiles. "We could try. Wouldn't last too long though. You'd need to outfit them right before the mission. Want to know why?"
"I'll give you an autograph if you
don't tell me." Victoria asks.
_____
"So, how much does New Wave pay?" Pyrotechnical asks.
"Not much. We're a non-profit organization." Victoria says. Pyrotechnical seems to deflate.
"But you just got so much money. Don't you need more weapons?"
"Soldiers, maybe, but not weapons. Amy can produce
really good weapons." Victoria smiles. "I don't think we need a lot more firepower. We have
plenty. That's not saying you can't join, but that's not a good reason
to join. Our recent recruitment has involved people who want to do good but have ethical or practical issues with joining the Wards program."
"I see." He sighs. "Nothing is easy, is it?"
"Nope." Victoria agrees. "Now, you said you had a
lot of firepower. I
would like to see something blow up."
Dodge apparently built an entire other pocket dimension for a firing range. This proves to have been a good move, as the blast destroys half the building you're in, leading to a quick teleport out.
"Um, that was stronger than I expected." Pyrotechnical admits.
"I could see a use for that." Victoria says. "I'm thinking if would fry Nazis
very well."
"Are you thinking of hiring me?" Pyrotechnical asks.
"
Maybe." Victoria says. "Only if we have a real war."
____
Toy Soldier finally invites you to dinner with his daughters on the last night before you arrive home. You sit around the table while his daughters talk excitedly to the two of you, asking questions about everything
but your relationship, or your past ones.
"So, think
we will be capes someday?" The older one, Joy, asks.
"It's good odds, but really varies." Victoria explains, eying your mouth and a chicken finger with a deeply divided look on her face. "Way better than most people, but I think the odds are only about 50%. It could just be that not all of them have triggered
yet, of course. We're real exceptions."
"I want powers." The younger one, Charity, says. "I want to be a really good Tinker."
"I think wanting it is said to help." You say. "Not a lot, but it does. Tinker powers often come with long difficult to resolve problems. Not being a parahuman might do it for a second generation cape."
"Neat!" Charity says and closes her eyes, putting her hand out. "I want to be a parahuman. I want to be a parahuman." She chants.
"
Really doesn't work that way." Victoria says cheerfully, and regretfully pops the chicken finger into her own mouth. "So, sir, would you be willing to have me fly your daughters a bit?"
"Please Daddy, please!" They shout at once.
"Alright." He sighs. "But be careful."
____
You leave the Toybox when you arrive on the outskirts of Brockton Bay. The city's been having some troubles. There's something you need to do.
[X] Meet with the Protectorate. Outfit them properly with your suits.
[X] Meet with New Wave. You need to discuss strategy for the Empire.
[X] Meet with Empire 88. If at all possible you need to prevent a war.
[X] That's really fucked up but I didn't actually come here for me Lisa, did you forget about Taylor? I'm hardly even sure why but she's your friend and she wants you back what does your power tell you I should do about that?
"Nothing I haven't already said. Let me free your father, you cute little bastard!" This will, um, not end well, will it? "If I do that, she's next on the list."
"This is my fault..." You murmur, placing a hand on her face. "I made you crazy... but I can't undo it all the way... or it'll make you even worse. Help me help you and I'm sure me and Cranial can do something to fix this. You can come back to BB and work with us or the Toybox and actually make a difference."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck that!" She shouts. "NO! FUCK NO!" She kicks back, getting up, looking angry,
terrified. "Don't let me
near that bitch! Fuck that! Fuck it! Fuck it!" She suddenly charged you and
howls.
She ruins Victoria's perfect bite mark on your neck as you knock her out. Maybe the only way she had left to hurt you.
Fuck Tattletale.
_____
You talk to whoever at the PRT, the names are interchangeable, and explain that the changes done to Tattletale are literally killing her, she is going to need an extensive program that only you and Cranial can provide to keep her functional and if they do not allow you to bring her back to BB (sedated for the trip) you will be going straight to the media with everything you know about her case and that you will stop providing healing to any heroes of the PRT, Protectorate and the Wards.
She's clearly nuts, no matter
what is going on with her.
You pace. You're worried, confused. Is she just trying to make you worry about Cranial? Why was she
scared of Cranial? Could she fake it? Why the sudden change? Why did she have to bite you
there? Your neck doesn't feel right anymore. Will it feel right again? You don't feel like
yourself with that bite on your neck.
You can talk to
it later, after you've calmed down. Does she actively not
want you to help her?
You're actually crying when you show Victoria the bite mark, and she, she can't hide that she's upset.
"You're mine, sis." She whispers. "Just,
fuck Tattletale. She had too..." She traces her hands along your neck.
"It feels like she stole a wedding ring." You mutter.
"More an engagement ring." She whispers back. "We're going to have a real wedding, get truly married. Knock you up. Have a house..."
"That is what you
want, right?" You ask. "You want..."
"Amy..." Victoria pauses for a moment.
"Honestly, I think it would make you happiest. Isn't that enough? I
actively want you knocked up. I've wanted that since before we were together, Ames. I
really want to see a baby bump there. I like your body, now, and I actually love how you react to me. I feel pretty and powerful when we're alone like this, like I'm the best person in the world. I can't really imagine anything else. Like, if we're procreating we're getting married, right?"
"We don't have to." You mutter. "We don't even have to be, you know, exclusive, or together, even. Just, as long as I'm
yours it doesn't have to be..."
"Perfect. Asexual. Doll. Sister." Victoria punctuates each statement with a kiss. "Yes. I still want that. I think I want that
more than I want to be your wife, but most of all I want you happy. I want you to be happy
very much. If this is what makes you happiest I think that matters a lot more." She touches your newest wound gently, and gently starts to lick off the blood. You wince, and it gets faster, more eager, as she continues.
"Do you like the taste?" You ask softly. Victoria answers by keeping her mouth on the toothmarks. You love her so much it
hurts.
_______
[X] Meet with New Wave. You need to discuss strategy for the Empire.
You call Sophia first.
"Hey." You say.
"Hey babe." she answers. She sounds good.
"I want to meet with you before anyone else. Is that okay?"
"Don't walk around like you're on fucking eggshells. Let's meet at IHOP, the mall."
"Sure. See you in half an hour."
The IHOP is crowded and busy. You order a hearty pot roast with mashed potatoes and corn while Sophia picks at a set of pancakes.
"Don't ask me how I am, or if I'm fine. I've got enough of that." Sophia says. You nod.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"I've been hitting the Empire as hard as I can with the pathetic worm." Sophia shrugs. "Not doing much. They have a pretty good idea of where I'll hit, and I need to run fast with Othala on guard. Hit and run. I can sting, but not much else." Sophia suddenly smiles. "You know, if you're
actually part of the camp that keeps
saying they'll do anything to help me feel better, there's something you could do."
"Within reason." You smile back at her.
"Taylor, I've picked out her new codename." Sophia's grin gets
very wide.
"What is it?"
"
Worm." She laughs. "If she's your
vassal you can make her do it, right?"
"I'll have to talk to Victoria, but I have
absolutely no problems with that." The food arrives and the two of you eat in cheerful, companionable silence. Sophia restarts the conversation when she's done eating and you're picking at your own food.
"So, are you two exclusive now?" She asks matter of factly.
"I think so." You nod. "We're kind of, well, I know we
came out, but we're still really knew to this. I think I'd prefer it if you talked to her about it. She's kind of into running this relationship."
"Ooh, she's
your top?" Sophia gives you a nasty smirk. "So, I'm hanging around with Victoria's bitch?"
"I believe the polite term is
bottom." You smile at her. "Not that I've put much research into it, or that it's that well categorized anyway for the two of us. Victoria's, well, been
amazing about this. I'm just so lucky for
anything. Heck, I'm pretty sure I'd be happy if she got back together with Dean as long as we continued."
"
Fuck you're whipped." Sophia laughs. "Well, I think I will call her up about this. Now I'm heading off to make the world safe for
everyone with my skin color." Sophia grabs you and suddenly kisses you hard. You don't actually resist. "Where's the fun in only doing that once?"
"I thought you said you didn't feel anything last time?" You sputter.
"Still don't." Sophia says, and she walks away.
You dial Victoria right away. Honesty has got you
really far.
______
Victoria's out making sense of "New Batch" or "Newer Wave" or "The Brockton Bay Brigade" depending on who you ask. Apparently they've kind of besieged Empire 88, though they aren't actually attacking. Sophia and Taylor are attacking, strictly speaking neither one reports to anyone in New Wave.
"Hello, Aunt Sarah." You say.
"Hello, Amy." She is sitting in a chair in New Wave's new office. "So, let me just get this out of the way.
What the fuck were you thinking?"
"Um, Aunt Sarah? What do you mean?"
"You
went on the run, didn't even try to negotiate demands when most of them were
fucking reasonable, and
what the fuck?" Sarah glares at you.
"Oh, the coming out?"
"Coming out is something teenage boys do when they're full of hormones and pissed off they can't have a super sweet sixteen. You
disclosed an incestuous lesbian affair! If you cared
at all for New Wave's image you would have done
anything else."
"Aunt Sarah..."
"Here is the situation. You are going to be nice, polite, and reasonable to Victoria and get her to
cut it out. She's playing with fire. Then, you are going to
apologize to the Protectorate, officially. After that, you are going to go on TV and explain just how serious the mental illness you have is, and how you're doing everything in your power to correct it. If you weren't
you I'd tell you not to be seen in public with Victoria, but I know that's not going to happen, so just
act like you aren't sleeping together unless you're alone."
"Victoria wanted to come out."
"You're supposed to be the reasonable one!" She snaps. "Your crazy adventures are
over. You are going back to the hospital. You are going to outfit the PRT and Protectorate. Victoria will donate what she has earned for her
remarkable achievement in defeating Jack Slash to charities fighting sexual abuse. We are going to put this
clusterfuck behind us, Amy."
"Aunt Sarah, you are insulting my girlfriend." You keep a very even tone.
"I am insulting your
sister, Amy. And I am insulting you. Do you have
any idea how bad any of this is? We're a freak show, a joke! Now all anyone will remember New Wave for is
this. We'll lose everything we have." You frown.
"I love her." You keep your voice
very even. "I love Victoria. Victoria actually
believes sunlight disinfects. We are going to have a relationship, and we are going to be public about it." You're confused, angry.
"Amy, I love you. I love Victoria. You're seventeen years old. You're making decisions that are
far outside your ability to make them. Believe me, this will not help anyone. If we are going to be a stable, long lasting institution in Brockton Bay we can't be decadent freaks! If you love Victoria you'll help me do what's best for her."
[X] "Loving someone means trusting someone." You turn away. "I trust Victoria." You walk out on Lady Photon.
[X] "We can talk about this. We can be reasonable." Aunt Sarah, you can work on her, argue her down, right? Or just piss her off.
[X] "You're using me to get at Victoria." You stand there, and do the right thing. You pull out your cellphone. "Hey, sis, I know you're busy, but I need someone else here."
[X] "You're using me to get at Victoria." You stand there, and do the right thing. You pull out your cellphone. "Hey, sis, I know you're busy, but I need someone else here."
"Coming right there, Ames." Victoria says cheerfully. "Give me, oh, five minutes?"
"See you then, girlfriend. Love you."
"Love you too." Victoria says, and you hang up. Sarah doesn't even look angry anymore.
"I'm guessing you've got some big speech on the tip of your tongue?" You
almost stop it. You raise your hand to your scarred neck. She deserves it."
"New Wave's image is a fucking joke. To the heroes you're just the well-meaning idiots who did something incredibly stupid and got your sister in law killed. To the villains you're the out of control maniacs who are as likely to chop them into little pieces as arrest them. And to the public you're just another bunch of self-centered attention whore celebrities who couldn't cut a reality TV deal. You arrested one major villain eleven years ago and ever since then you've been in a holding pattern fighting two-bit losers who aren't a threat to anyone because you're too scared of losing someone else. You killed New Wave's image when you took off your masks without having a single damn clue what you were doing and you've been letting it decompose ever since because you've been too scared to take a risk. While you were here
not dealing with the Nazis Victoria and I were
destroying the Slaughterhouse Nine. Jack Slash shot acid in my guts. It dissolved my intestines, my spine, my liver, and my kidneys, probably some other vital things, too. If Mister Storkfish had been a few seconds later I would have died. And I would do it all again because it was the right thing to do. If I had died stopping Jack Slash it would have been fucking worth it. Victoria and I did more good in one week on the run than you have
ever done. While you worry about New Wave's
image," you practically spir the word, "we'll be worrying about it's
reputation. We're the
degenerates who
save lives,
protect the innocent,
fight monsters,
give people second chances, and
put our lives on the line to make the world a better place. That's what New Wave was supposed to be about and you've lost sight of it. That's why you've completely failed to accomplish anything meaningful." Sarah stands there, taking it calmly.
"You're
alive, Amy. Victoria is alive. Eric is alive. Crystal is alive. Neil is alive. Mark is alive. Carol is alive. I am alive.
That is my accomplishment. That means
everything to me. My brother is alive, out there. Every member of my
family has survived. Fleur, I loved her, but if I had to lose anyone it would have been her. She was a wake up call. What I did
was stupid. You can't keep to those values when you see where they got us. Our job is ten times as hard without secret identities, and we
survived. Very, very few teams like New Wave last this long. We've pressed slow and steady, and we've been
able to keep doing good. Victoria killed Jack Slash, and that is
wonderful. I am proud of both of you. I want to keep being proud of you both for a very long time. The way things are going you won't be." That is kind of hard to argue with.
"How would going back in the closet help
that?" You mutter.
"Amy, Fleur was killed by a
Nazi. Being a lesbian is dangerous in Brockton Bay. If you can just call it a mental illness that's not something they're as comfortable murdering someone over. You know how fragile Victoria's defenses are, even with your help. The wrong freak accident, the wrong person hesitating at the right moment when she's storming into a burning building, that could kill her." She's right, but...
"We're not doing it just for, well, we want children too. We want to grow up. We can't just stay kids forever. We're almost eighteen. What if Victoria
does die? I want a baby before that. We don't have a lot of time left."
"Amy, I want you to be happy. I want Victoria to be happy. I don't think you're going in a way to make either of those things happen. Let's go down the list one by one. Do you
not want to apologize to the Protectorate? They spent a lot of time and money hunting you down. I think running was a bad call, but I get it. I think it would be a very honorable thing to say you're wrong when you're not. It will mean that other people might not make a bad call. Heroes will be out on the streets or working with the system instead of running at the first sign of trouble." You sigh. It actually makes sense.
"I'll have to talk to Victoria about it."
"Alright. Now, is there any reason that donating the money Victoria earned is a bad thing? I actually think it sends the right message if you continue with this. It establishes that this consensual, if strange, situation is not endorsing sexual abuse, and that molestation is still wrong. The fact is that New Wave does not
need the money, and neither does Victoria. There's so many other ways for you two to fund yourselves it isn't funny."
"It's Victoria's money. She actually cares about it. Talk to her about it when she arrives."
"Very well. Do you actually think you and Victoria can
manage a private army?"
"Maybe." You mutter.
"Okay, let's say you
can. Do we actually need people in your suits, a hundred of them, patrolling the streets? We do not. Could the PRT use a hundred officers with that kind of firepower supplementing their heroes?
Yes. We do not
need a private army, and if we do we could make one when the time is right. The Protectorate becoming more powerful benefits us, it keeps fewer of
us from dying or holding the line." Victoria raps on the window and Sarah heads there and opens it. Victoria floats through lazily.
"An actual cat stuck in a tree." She explains. "The poor thing was
terrified." She kisses you on the cheek.
"So, what did I miss?"
"Um, Aunt Sarah? Mind explaining it to her?" She looks a bit worried...
________
The two of you sit down, you resting in Victoria's lap, while Sarah stands, looking at the two of you.
"We've come out." Victoria says finally. "We
are out. That's not on the table."
"I understand." Sarah sighs. "I don't like it, and it's not about, well, the obvious. Honestly, I don't think anyone's that surprised."
"What?" Victoria does sound surprised.
"Vicky, you and Amy were sleeping in the same bed until the first day you started high school. We only got you to stop by letting you start taking product endorsements. It was a
month before you were sleeping even somewhat regularly." You feel Victoria blushing.
"That had nothing to do with it." You mutter. Aunt Sarah rolls her eyes.
"Okay, so I am
not willing to negotiate on our relationship. Like the reasonable adults we are, Amy and I will discuss everything else together, and check with the rest of our team about it. Does that sound fair?" Victoria asks. Sarah frowns.
"We will talk on the specifics." Sarah says.
"Alright. Scoot." Victoria says to you, and you get up. Victoria rises a second later.
"I have to continue my survey of the boarder wall and Newer Wave." Victoria says. "We'll talk tonight. Where are you off to?"
"Skitter's territory. She deserves to be told about Tattletale in person." Victoria sighs.
"You're right. But, um, bring Eric, okay? I don't trust her."
"I'm
perfectly safe." You smile at her.
"Just, please don't go alone, okay? I have a bad feeling about it." You feel a delicious wave of her aura.
"Okay." You laugh. "If it means that much to you, I'll take Eric."
"Perfect." She kisses you soundly on the lips. "See you tonight."
_____
You drive, with Eric sitting in the passenger side.
"It's cool." He says suddenly. "Like, not something I'd emulate, but it's actually really cool what you two did. Some warning would have been nice, but it's cool."
"Thank you. So, how have things been back here?"
"
Crazy." Eric sighs. "The Protectorate and police searched for you everywhere, and then Crystal started herding us into the siege on the Empire. I haven't had this much fun in years."
"Wait, Crystal organized this? I didn't hear that."
"Mom's been
furious about it, and Crystal hasn't been out in costume for it, but the siege was her idea. Me, Madison, Melissa, and Mason have been patrolling the border that Kaiser made. It's been pretty fun." Eric then laughs. "Victoria recruited a lot of Ms didn't she?"
"I guess she did." You smile. "Want to come in with me?"
"Of course." He opens the door for you like a gentleman. He really does pull off the blue hair, somehow.
"Hey!" You hear a voice shout, and Melissa rushes over. You notice her red and white costume matches well to Eric's. she walks you in.
Taylor is seated on something that looks suspiciously like a throne. You see spiders weaving costumes all around here. The number of insects you don't recognize is enormous and would have been worrying if you weren't perfectly protected for them.
"Hello, Amy." Taylor, far more
Skitter, says. "Congratulations on everything."
"Thank you very much, Taylor. I heard you've been harrying the Empire while I have been gone."
"It's fighting Nazis, and doesn't take too much attention for me, really. It felt like the right thing to do. It's mostly providing support for Sophia, anyway." She nods. "So, how is Tattletale?"
"We brought Lisa back with us to Brockton Bay but I'm not going to lie to you she's not doing well. She had a second trigger and it interacted poorly with the changes. We have to keep her mostly sedated for the moment but I'm going to work with Crainial to try and fix this. If you want we could probably arrange a visit but I have to warn you she can't seem to help herself anymore, she'll try and hurt you like she did me in the bank, only she's even better at it now." Taylor is silent for a minute.
"I wasn't expecting that at all. When, how did she second trigger?"
"It was before I arrived, in her holding cell, but a lot of it was my fault. I tried to make it so she couldn't hurt me, tried to be kinder than the PRT, and it hurt her worse. I apologize. If there is
any way I can help her without hurting someone else, I will. I've already stuck me neck out on this. Threatened things I didn't like to threaten. We'll be working with her for a while."
"Makes sense." Taylor sighs. "When can I see her?"
"She's still sedated in one of Cranial's vehicles." A very small lie. She's in the pocket dimension, a lot safer, but Cranial did act that you didn't share it existed. "I'll talk to her about it."
"That's, I get that." Taylor sighs. Anything else?"
"Mostly I thought you deserved this in person, but I am here for something else. In Chicago, under Ragged Angel's protection, I started to improve her territory, make it more liveable. I want to do the same here. Work with it. Make it into a place that people will actively want to live in. I think I will spend the afternoon working on that. Fill your natural range, a couple block radius, with my improvements, if you accept. I would like you to help gather insect mass for that."
"That is a great idea, Amy. I read about what you did there. I thank you a lot for it."
______
You and Victoria are going to stay in the improved Skitter territory for the night, a private room you built for the purpose.
"Kalahari's in everything you do now." Victoria smiles. "I feel honored. I really do."
"I'm so glad you feel that way." You rest a hand on her shoulder. "So, what next?"
"Okay, I don't see any real argument against outfitting the Protectorate, do you? We only didn't because Armsmaster wanted to check your work. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Nope." You nod.
"Alright, the official PRT overseer. That, um, I don't like it, but I get why they'd want that. Sarah really thinks that's best after everything."
"Hm..."
"We can always ignore it if we disagree, right?"
"Then yes." You smile. "A
liaison instead of an overseer?"
"Ooh, I like that." Victoria smiles and it's like the sun.
"So, what about the private army thing?"
"I can see going either way." Victoria says carefully. "I guess it depends on where we want to go."
"What do you mean by that?
"Hm, I think there are a few ways we can handle the general situation. Themes, if you will. Want me to give you some options? Feel free to offer suggestions."
"Sounds good." You stop working on the water filtration system. "Fire away."
[X] "One." Victoria raises her hand and opens one finger. "We just go with the flow. Outfit the Protectorate. Outfit the PRT, and make a big thing of it. Donate the money to charity, which is something I don't have a huge problem with. Apologize officially for our actions, with the understanding that they were reasonable given the leader was under mind control." You nod.
[X] "Two." Victoria raises a second finger. "We split, officially, from New Wave. We take everyone we can. Melissa, Mason, Madison, and Julian we can definitely take, maybe Eric and Crystal. Start our own team. Make our own security forces. Start with Skitter's territory, and begin massive infrastructure improvements. Shovel the Jack Slash bounty into our new team and new territory and start making more money. Basically, we become our own group." You nod for Victoria to continue.
[X] "Three." Victoria raises a third finger. "We talk to Aunt Sarah. We don't split up New Wave, but we try to force through what we want. We officially apologize. Also we outfit the Protectorate and PRT in all options. We keep it one movement, but try to change it from the inside. Problem is we'd be going slower and not have as much control that way." You nod a third time.
"So, got any other suggestions?" Victoria asks.
Note on write ins: All reasonable write ins will be plans or comments Amy gives in character, and will be edited as such into the post.
[X] "Two." Victoria raises a second finger. "We split, officially, from New Wave. We take everyone we can. Melissa, Mason, Madison, and Julian we can definitely take, maybe Eric and Crystal. Start our own team. Make our own security forces. Start with Skitter's territory, and begin massive infrastructure improvements. Shovel the Jack Slash bounty into our new team and new territory and start making more money. Basically, we become our own group." You nod for Victoria to continue.
"So, got any other suggestions?" Victoria asks.
"Two." You answer. "We officially split. I
like the idea of a new team." Victoria pauses, reaches out, and strokes your stomach.
"Are you sure? Like, I don't think it will
delay anything, but it would be a lot of work, running our team. Less time with me, less time with Claire..."
"I'm not exactly going to be working less no matter what, just changing what I do. Honestly, I'll probably end up going back to the hospital tomorrow anyway. It's probably a good idea if we're going with the split, reinforcing that I'm still the Panacea."
"Oh,
Amy." Victoria shakes her head. "That's
incredible. That, and the PRT and Protectorate outfitting..."
"I'll bring Madison. I've been thinking about, I don't know, trying to multitask more. It didn't work out when I was younger, but I could get a lot of reading done with books on tape. I'm more focused, it's more automatic. Maybe other multitasking. It
can't be as bad as it was. If it is, I'll work with Cranial. She's almost done with it anyway."
"That's a good point. So, anything else we should work with?"
"Well, look at the Toybox. I admit I was disappointed with the road trip, but we know them better now. A bit of exposure to the aura. Worst case we have a lot of cash to spend on Tinker assistance. Maybe start the cloning..."
"Amy, there's
no way it'll be legal to just clone up an army. Well, maybe
technically legal. I think our best shot is to clone for the Protectorate. It makes them dependent on us, and gives them a lot. Maybe once they feel safe we can start making more of us. I think it kind of
has to be a national organization. Most people won't feel comfortable with a family of clones in the same city." Victoria shakes her head.
"You're probably right." You admit. "Still, us and the Toybox will be
extremely powerful."
"That's true." Victoria agrees. "I doubt they'll be that close to us in the long term. They do value their independence."
"Now, about Skitter..."
"What, did you find a glass coke bottle?" You laugh out loud.
"Nope. But, well, she's been trying hard, fighting Empire 88, providing for her territory. That means something, right? We should fold her into the team if we can." Victoria frowns.
"She submitted to us because she had to. Sure, continue the working relationship, but she's not one of
us. She held a knife to you.
You. She attacked
me with bugs."
"Sophia wants to change her codename to Worm." You mutter. Victoria laughs.
"We're doing that."
"It seems mean. Pointlessly mean. Just, we want to
use her, not push her away, right?"
"She is very, very lucky she's not in juvie for her stunts. She gets to see her father. She gets to move around freely. She gets to do good. I think we're being
extremely reasonable to the little terrorist myself.
"She is taking care of Leviathan victim orphans. Maybe she just fell into a bad crowd?"
"When the crowd was captured, she didn't turn herself in. She justified everything by being undercover but never broke it once crimes were committed.
Big crimes. Melissa, I can
control her. She's about as mindfucked by my aura as someone can get right now. Skitter, I'm not so sure. She can't get the squee aspect well, she just gets scared. I don't think I
can reform her like that. She worries me. Yes, taking care of orphans, good thing, but I don't want to let her think she's a superhero now. She never made the
choice to go good. She was forced to by circumstances. Melissa defected properly."
"Yeah." You agree. "That makes a lot of sense."
"Okay, here's the deal. I will talk to her. I will see what she wants. I will talk to Sophia, who's been spending time with her.
If I want her as part of the team, I will give her the chance to officially join the new team. Unless she commits crimes I will not take her territory from her. Together, as a group, we could do a lot more good. She can either continue this relationship, become part of the team, or be an independent hero protecting this area and providing for the people here until it no longer becomes necessary. As a hero, we will support her and fight with her against more worrying issues. She
has done a lot. Is that fair?"
"I think it's fair." You agree. "I'll check on the people here tonight, make sure they're all healthy."
"
Tomorrow night." Victoria says. "You need to be well rested for the hospital."
"Alright." You agree. "So, want to continue brainstorming?"
"Sure." Victoria nods.
"We want strong ties to other groups internationally. We don't want to end up like New Wave become, a small local team. We want to be internationally respected and valued. That means more networking and that means doing more work outside of Brockton Bay, at least after we clean up. We should try to reach out to all the major teams worldwide."
"I think the cloning thing is the best way to do that. Offer it to
every PRT approved team and country. All the US allies at least, the First World. Do that, and there's no limit to how valuable you are.
None. Imagine a dozen Legends." A thrill runs up your spine. "They have DNA samples of a
lot of the dead heroes, too. Maybe we could make them brothers and sisters? Probably won't do much until they're in their teens, but it's something to try. Maybe the villains, give them better childhoods? Heck, the new heroes could raise clones of the old villains, set them on the right path, make more diverse power sets."
"Seems a bit extreme, but all good ideas." You nod. "Now, back to the home front. I want to do
this citywide. Maybe not Kalahari for the whole thing, that would just be tacky, but we could turn Brockton Bay into the biotech city of the future. Rebuilding from Leviathan gives us a good excuse."
"Biotech is your department. You know what to do best for that. Nothing I can comment on. Sounds good, though. Could Skitter help with that? Relay bugs to control all the bugs in the city, and a whole bunch of new kinds of bugs?"
"Seems like it would." You nod. "Maybe have specialized bugs, eye bugs to see out of, ear bugs to hear out of, and hives of sedation bugs to intervene in violent crime? Disaster relief bugs to fight fires and similar stuff? Maybe huge bugs to serve as ambulances? No, that probably wouldn't be as effective, but maybe first aid? It would be like a vast, intelligent, friendly goddess."
"A bit more power than I'd give Skitter, but I see how that could be
really useful." Victoria agrees.
"If we're going to do this right we need to hire people. New Wave stayed small partly because it was a mom and pop operation. If we want to expand we'll need lawyers and lobbyists and managers. We'll need teams of experienced professionals, almost everything that the PRT has. Thirty million sounds like a lot, but it goes away quickly when you're paying for all of that."
"Hm, charging for healing would be wrong. We've always agreed on that."
"I have more ideas. Bacteria to eat a landfill, there's a
lot of trash in the world, and we could be paid to get rid of it, and use it to help feed the local biotech. Farming the ocean would be a lot easier with stuff I could make, and maybe Skitter's help if she can work on sea life. Perfumes, cheap and safe. Talk to other people about products we could grow. Bacteria farming, for more industry. We might be able to mass produce oil and other hydrocarbons and more exotic chemicals."
"Amy, are you planning on, you know, sleeping?" Victoria sounds worried.
"I think a lot of it can run itself, once it gets going, or at least have someone else work on it. Another industry. The city needed industries even before this happened." Victoria doesn't look totally convinced.
"I think we've done enough of
that for now." She says. "So, um..." She looks at your neck meaningfully. That makes the next part hard. There's something that you've been avoiding talking about for too long.
"Victoria, when I said no to Jack it wasn't about us. I'm afraid of losing myself. The only villain I'm really scared of is the one I could become if you aren't there to anchor me. If I lost everything and ended up like Mannequin I could hurt so many people. I don't want to cut ties with New Wave completely. I went to Sarah because I wanted to strengthen them. I need people that I can hold onto who aren't you, just in case." Victoria sighs.
"Amy, I love you. You're my family. They're
not. Not in the same way we're a family. They never were,
can't be to you. Maybe to me, but not to you. You need friends. Heck, if Sophia's text bombs were serious, um, never mind. Anyway, you need more ties, but I think our new team is better for that, and our new family. Claire, maybe sisters for Claire." You almost ask if you can make Claire tonight, but you can wait a while longer, see what Cranial has to say on the aura.
You can still come close.
_____
Twelve. Fucking. Hours.
_____
"I've been hemming them in since you left. I am
totally comfortable with that." Melissa says. "The only one I really
like is invulnerable to anything we can do." She sits next to you at the hospital. Madison was apparently busy with spying on Empire 88.
"That seems a bit fast." You admit.
"Purity was really, really nice, but she's dead. Kaiser's son was a bit of a dweeb. Sweet, but we're not going after him, and he hates his dad, anyway. Alabaster can't really be hurt by
us. Menja and Fenja are crazy. Night and Fog, I always thought they were cute, but Night's dead anyway and Fog, no idea what he's up to, and they were both sociopathic serial killers." Melissa sighs and stretches. "The rest are some variation on asshole or completely lunatic, except some who left the Empire." She pauses. "Okay, Othala was pretty nice to me. Victor's a monster though, skill vampire. So, Othala and Alabaster. Spare them anything long term, and I have
no issues with helping out."
Only six more hours to go.
"So, you and Eric..." You mutter.
"Yes." She laughs. "Me and Eric. Alabaster was always too old, and the skinheads generally
sucked. He's a nice change. Sweet. I really like working with him in the field, though he's a bit boring off duty. Maybe when the city's got more stuff to do it will be different."
"Running an idea past you, bio-weapons delivered by insect? Mosquito, or something I invent?"
"He's thought of it. Kaiser is not stupid. If there's any practical way of preparing, it'll fail best case, worst case it'll tip him off. Don't try it unless we're attacking conventionally anyway. Sure, maybe you've figured out the perfect attack, but he will have put thought into this."
"Reasonable." You see the uniformed men and the suit walk in. "Ah, only two hours late."
"Should I go." Melissa asks?
"Nope." You say. "It was their idea that I should have a bodyguard, and you're with me on probation."
"Alright." She waves cheerfully to Director Lewis. He walks forward and sits on a folding chair near the line of people being brought through.
"I heard you wanted to speak with me. I'm sorry I'm late. Things have been hectic. We're transferring capes in and out. That's always hard, especially for Wards."
"Yep." You agree. "I wanted to apologize. Dream Mask was wrong, due to her mind control. It wasn't anyone's fault who wasn't a supervillain. Still, I went off for
horrible reasons. I just wanted Victoria to rescue me. I should have fought back differently."
"Director Costa-Brown has officially pardoned you. The situation was objectively terrifying and you had no idea if you would get a fair trial or not. I think the action was acceptable." Director Lewis smiles. "I think anyone in your situation should have been pardoned.
"It was kind of just an excuse for a road trip and getting Victoria into a bikini. That and letting her rescue me. She looks good in a bikini, though." You giggle. The woman you're healing gives you a very ugly look. Typical.
"I doubt anyone I know will disagree with that." Director Lewis laughs. "So, you will be outfitting the Protectorate and the PRT tonight?"
"Yes." You say. "Protectorate first, than PRT. I believe you had something special requested for Dauntless?"
"Correct. Given how his powers work he is highly important. Cranial has been doing her accelerated scan, and will be done tonight. We would appreciate a full body tuneup from the two of you. Make him as skilled as possible in as many ways as possible, and as physically fit and likely to survive danger. If he is to become one of the strongest capes in the world this will increase his chance of making it that long."
You explain and discuss your plans with Director Lewis, and he leaves looking very thoughtful. Melissa had fallen peacefully asleep. You had made an arrangement to have dinner with his family, bringing Victoria along with you, next week.
_____
You and Mason enter the Protectorate HQ, continuing your discussion from the car.
"Crystal's never been into younger guys, Mason. If you thought this would be the route to a girlfriend you were sorely mistaken. Being an unmasked cape will
really help with that, though." Mason sighs.
"Five girls on the team who aren't married, and we get three lesbians, one paired up right away, and one's not into younger guys." He sighs. "I
like cape girls. I always have."
"Skitter? Shadow Stalker?" You ask.
"They're
terrifying." He sighs. "Well, actually all of you are, but they're more scary by choice rather than nature. That's different."
"You know, it is. There's matters of degree, but I wouldn't want to date someone like that either." You nod as you walk through the halls of the PRT. "I heard they're taking two new boys for the Wards, so no luck there, either."
"Of course." He sighs. "Anyone I'm missing?"
"Probably not. Julian might like a wing man."
"I tried that. He is a
terrible wing man. Well, at least for me. He acts like an ass around girls and gets away with it for popping Siberian."
"I could clone you a girlfriend." You suggest. "We're going to be making more cape clones anyway. I could make a few for us, and make the gender ratio of
straight girls so you have an advantage?"
"That's just
creepy." Mason sighs. "I'll find something. The two of you enter the waiting room for the people needing to be outfitted. Dream Mask, Assault, Battery, Velocity, Triumph, Dauntless, Tecton, and Blur.
Dream Mask gets up and the two of you trip over your apologies to each other.
"Really, you were a victim." You reassure Dream Mask. "Now, any ideas for your suit?"
"Aim bot elements,
not an issue for me. Non-lethal measures, yours are highly useful. Overall I need mobility as you can grant it." She explains. You start working with the six adult heroes and two Wards to make their suits, one by one.
______
You stand next to Cranial, watching Dauntless tear his way through the rest of the Protectorate and New Wave of Brockton Bay.
"He is rather enhanced and naturally versatile." Cranial remarks. "It is amazing to think what he will be in ten years."
"I'm wondering how many people we can give the skill and strength upgrades to. That's a lot of performance enhancement there." Dauntless duels with Velocity and Assault, fighting hard.
"It seems largely inefficient to me, when the same effort could create new capes."
"Speaking of which, when do you want to start production?"
"Give me two weeks. I am scanning the test cases for the first generation. Ten members of the Protectorate have volunteered and been selected for the next test cases. Over the next few months we will clone them ten times and move the clones in different mixes across the country. If that proves as successful as the precogs believe it will be, we will start further experimentation. So far the first fifteen have behaved quite well."
"I've been thinking about something else. Work on the dead. Look at the records and DNA of dead parahumans. Cloning them, put in false memories. Their brothers and sisters of course, but it grants more flexibility. A
lot of capes have died."
"I would
prefer not to do that. The dead cannot volunteer. I may end up going with select cases, but I would prefer to work with those currently alive before we start making new adults to honor the dead. I prefer the old idea you emailed me, make babies in the form of the dead, and adults from the living."
"Alright, though some of the capes who died could be
really useful."
"I agree." Cranial answers as Dauntless finally goes down to Blur, wielding one of his suit's powerful switch blades. "I do indeed have someone very much in mind. Now, do you want to know about Kitsune?"
"Very much so." You say.
"I am currently doing a quick scan of her brain. The new machine is so
incredible. There are no words for it. In a few days we will have a complete picture of how to help her. Please tell Skitter."
"I will. She will be very happy." You agree.
_____
"Amy and I are splitting from New Wave." Victoria announces to the younger generation of New Wave. The eight of you have gathered in Skitter's territory, her "throne room" though she is currently with her father.
"We would like any of you to join our team." You explain. "I get if you don't want to, but..."
"Yep. I'm joining." Madison says. "No debate here."
"I joined New Wave because it means something." Mason frowns. "Why should I join with you?"
"New Wave was in a rut for a decade." Victoria starts her own speech. "After the death of Fleur, we floundered. No one would join up. You personally changed that, started a flood of new members, Mason. As much as I love my family, they can't grow, they can't change. They were set in their ways for too long. As our own force we're
good. We're a powerful team, and we can expand. We can live up to the ideals New Wave first founded."
"Those ideals would be?" Mason asks.
"New Wave was founded to as a beacon against corruption in the cape community. That's something that you want to continue championing. Subordinating to the PRT and the Protectorate doesn't help with that. Ideally, Next Wave would serve as an alternative for people who aren't satisfied with the Protectorate and as a potential check against corruption. We want a close working relationship but not a subordinate one." Victoria explains. "We believe that sunlight disinfects. The enemies of our civilization thrive in shadows and the darkness. We need to admit who we are, proudly and without shame. We need to grow, expand, compete and check each other. We can recruit people who aren't suitable for the Protectorate or the Wards due to personality clashes and legal issues. We can provide support to people who would otherwise become villains."
"Well, I joined because of you. I think I'm willing to leave with you." Mason decides.
"So, Julian?" Victoria asks.
"Of course I'm joining you guys. You're way more fun." He laughs.
"So, Melissa?" Victoria asks.
"I don't think so." Everyone stares at her.
"Really?" Eric sounds incredulous.
"I just left an uncontrolled team, a lot of powerful personalities. I want something more mature and respectable. If your Newer Wave falls through I won't have anywhere else to go. I'm sorry. I trust you guys, but I want to stay with the grownups, at least until I make a name for myself." Melissa sighs. "I'm sorry if this feels like I'm chickening out or something."
"Well then, I guess that's happened." Victoria shakes her head. "So, what about you guys?" She looks at Eric and Crystal.
"I'm joining." Crystal says. Eric looks surprises.
"Crysie, why?"
"I feel, well,
bored in New Wave." She explains. "Not a lot to do, honestly. I'm the youngest of the grownups, and no one treats me like one. I think I'd rather be the oldest kid."
"Cool." Victoria nods. "Really cool. What about you, Eric?"
"I think Mom would worry too much if I ran off here. Call me if you need anything, but I'm staying with New Wave." Eric says. You have the slight suspicion that Melissa staying in New Wave might be a lot of this.
_____
"So you have a new team." Aunt Sarah sighs. "Well, we all knew
that was coming."
"We really want to keep friendly ties. You
are family." You assure her.
"We can. This might be for the best. Any of your members are welcome back if you want to come back."
"That's great." You smile. "Victoria would like it if you could advise us, unofficially."
"I can. Neil can also provide advice when I'm busy. I don't hate this idea. It seems like a brave experiment. New Wave was too, once. Just, please try not to get anyone killed."
"We will try very hard." You nod.
______
Recruiting private security forces is about versatility more than control or power. There are some things that a private contractor can do that a PRT agent can't because of regulations. On the other hand, there are many things that a PRT agent can do that a private contractor can't because those things are illegal. It's best to have both working together.
So far you've gathered 20 security contractors and outfitted them properly, and done the same for 20 PRT officers who are currently training with their suits. There will be cross training, of course.
_____
"What do we call this thing, anyway?" Crystal asks.
"Next Wave?" You suggest.
"No!" Victoria, Crystal, Madison, and Mason all shout at once.
"I like it." Julian mutters.
"That is so much more reason not to do it." Victoria says.
_____
"Kaiser wants a meeting." Skitter announces from her throne.
"How do you know?"
"Alabaster just told me. I can't hold him down." She explains. "He went to my insects and said Kaiser wants to meet with you and Victoria. Kaiser and Alabaster, you and Victoria.
"Does that sound reasonable to you?" You ask.
"Personally, yes. It seems like a good way to discuss a truce, or whatever it is he needs."
[X] Go to war. They're Nazis.
[X] Have the truce meeting. It's best to go, at least.
[X] Continue as you have been. This is a fine status quo. See how they break it.
[X] Go to war. They're Nazis.
Dream Mask and Battery sit on the table across from you.
"May I comment, Battery?" Dream Mask asks.
"You may." Battery agrees.
"As vigilantes, parahumans with heroic designations under US law, you have the power to arrest known villains with warrants out for their arrest, as well as people who are clearly supporting costumed parahumans, people engaging in crimes, and people who you recognize as having committed crimes. Therefor, a "war" with Empire 88 is, to an extent, legal. I suggest you brush up on all appropriate laws before you engage in such a conflict."
"We will." Victoria nods.
"Also understand that your recent behavior is
extremely difficult to deal with. You act in direct defiance of the law, and throw around your considerable weight. While this is understandable, and given your value
acceptable, there will be a push back if you continue. This can be delayed and mitigated, and this will not necessarily trigger any problems, but I strongly suggest you start to keep things quiet before it becomes impossible to let you continue without losing face." Victoria frowns.
"That is reasonable. Right, Battery?"
"Yes, it is. I think Director Lewis was chosen specifically to be soft with you and Amy, but there are limits, and you're grazing them with how you handled Kitsune. I suggest not pulling a stunt like that again until after your clones have proven themselves, at the least. Cape rule is what the PRT is designed to mitigate. Your personal behavior is probably reasonable, but if it starts trends it could be very, very bad."
"Alright." Victoria nods. "I will keep that in mind. How will the Protectorate respond to this?"
"We will ask for volunteers. Those volunteers will then start patrolling the border wall as your own capes did before." Battery says. "Any known villains who are sighted from the wall will be arrested. Raids into Empire territory will not be engaged in under normal circumstances, though if accidents happen and lives are on the line they
will engage in such raids, but only to save lives. The current Protectorate and Wards are not strong enough to support further raids, even though the city is recovering remarkably well."
"Very well." Victoria frowns. "And the PRT?"
"They will come to detain capes you arrest, but will not join assaults unless there are extraordinary circumstances." Battery explains. "The suits are not tested well enough to support sending such teams against capes."
"Okay." You announce. "Understand that our other commitments will not be put aside for this. Healing, work with Cranial on the clones, bio-tech, more suits. In general I will not be engaging with the Empire tactically."
"Good." Battery nods. "We wish you the best of luck."
_____
"I'm surprised you didn't come to the meeting." You tell Cranial. She decided to keep you company for one of the shifts, though she did bring plenty of her work along, and is hidden behind a curtain to keep people from freaking out about her.
"I apologize, but I do not think it would have been a good idea. You and Victoria need to appear as independent adult capes, and should not appear to be taking direction from a rogue. I have a complicated relationship with the government."
"You seem to be really, um, about as much of a white hat as you get without joining the Protectorate." You admit.
"I spent two years in prison for black market activities. Since then I have made myself useful and made it clear that working with me is more useful than working against me. It was a learning experience."
"Like, um, how did you
work in prison? Like, I mean, um..."
"I was in a minimum security woman's prison. Like all Tinkers in prison, it was known that I had a compulsive urge to build, and so was allowed to work on and sell equipment to the government at reduced rates. I was given a cell with a blind woman who had extremely significant drug offenses. It was not a particularly nice period, but I adjusted. The most difficult part for me was the low level of reading I could do there. I finished off the prison library rapidly."
"How did people react to you?" This is kind of fascinating. "A Case 53, I mean."
"I am abnormal enough that I hardly register as human to many people, and nice enough not to trigger violence from those who do consider me human. I was surrounded by largely non-violent offenders. I was left to myself for the most part." She does sound vaguely sad about it.
"So, on the coming conflict, what will the Toybox be doing?" You ask.
"I expect very little. We are rogues, not heroes or mercenaries. If you wish to purchase weapons, I am happy to talk about it, but I expect it will not be worth the price given your own abilities. We only cooperate with the heroes on S-Class or A-Class threats, forces that are clearly a danger to us as much as and the public as anything else. A white supremacist gang is not something I feel a duty to protect the public against. I consider myself in large part a civilian. I certainly approve of heroes, and married one, but I am not a hero and do not wish to be one."
"That makes sense." You can't help but be disappointed.
"Please, Amy. I am here to help. I merely focus on my comparative advantage. I am a scientist in a way very few Tinkers are."
"Of course. That's not a bad thing. I only started going vigilante recently, and that was more boredom and depression than anything."
"I am not bored and I am not depressed, and I think a win for your team will be more meaningful if it's your own win." Cranial says cheerfully. "Now, would you like to hear about my progress with speeding up brain scan processing?"
"Yes I would."
_____
"Aunt Sarah isn't helping." Victoria tells you when you get back from work. "She refuses to help. She thinks we should leave them be until they do something nasty again."
"That sounds like her." You shrug. "So, anyone else you've contacted?"
"Faultline's Crew seems to have left the city, and the Merchants are too small time. I think we've handled all the major factions. We should prepare for the Merchants if they try to stab us in the back, but I don't think they're that stupid." Victoria says. She leads you into the meeting room. Skitter and Shadow Stalker stand next to each other while the other official team members sit at the table. Victoria takes her place at the head of the table, and you sit down at her right.
"Alright, Skitter, can you offer the visuals?" Victoria asks. Skitter does so, her bugs moving large map of the the city over to the table.
"That is the Empire 88 territory." Victoria says, pointing to a large red area. "The green area, the boardwalk, is the territory of Skitter. Orange is the Merchants. Blue is Protectorate patrolled territory. White is New Wave patrolled territory. the long black line is Kaiser's border wall. We have complete freedom of movement in the green, white, and blue areas. Orange is probably safe, but we should definitely move in pairs if we need to go there. The Protectorate and Ward volunteers are patrolling the border wall. Dauntless, Assault, Vista, and Blur take turns on it. This presses the Empire forces deeper into their territory. Skitter is watching Empire territory, but they have been using an unknown means to vastly reduce the bugs in her area, and have caught relay bugs several times in the attacks. They refuse to do this in sight of the border wall, and Shadow Stalker has failed to catch them in action. Any questions?"
"Do we know the full lineup of the Empire right now?" Mason asks.
"Alabaster, Cricket, Crusader, Kaiser, Fog, Menja, Fenja, Stormtiger, Victor, Othala, from the old group. They lost several of their best capes due to Leviathan, and several left before and after. We do know that they have several new capes, but they've been keeping them heavily under wraps, probably as a deterrent against attack, which implies
not knowing about them is more of a deterrent than
knowing about them. This puts a limit to how strong they are, hopefully."
"So, eight capes on our side, ten definite capes on their side, but we have Panacea. Doesn't sound too bad." Shadow Stalker says. "Our strategic position is better."
"Maybe. Kaiser's smart. He knows all of this. He'll have prepared. The Gesellschaft have a significant interest in him at the very least. They gave him Night and Fog. He expects this, and will have found something to compensate."
"Oh
come on!" Sophia shouts. "We keep bringing up how Kaiser is this big bad evil genius. He's a gangster and a CEO who can give nice speeches. We
really need to just hit him. We've got some of the strongest capes in Brockton Bay. We can win this pretty easily. Just hit hard and fast."
"Do we? Amy can't attack, too valuable, too much of a failure point. Julian's devastating, but he can't be thrown into combat as that will cut people apart. That leaves you and me, Skitter, Laserdream, and Mason. That is
not a terrifying lineup. We lost a lot when we split from New Wave."
"We can carve them to pieces. Hit with bugs everywhere, force them into smaller groups."
"Not a bad idea." Victoria nods. "We're great at Movers and Blasters. They're better in a lot of direct fights, but we don't need to make it into direct fights."
"Okay. Let's get ready."
"We need to announce this. If we don't, nobody will negotiate with us for truces." Victoria says.
"Fine." Sophia sulks.
_____
Skitter delivers the ultimatum.
"The time is done for truces with those make their power through preying on those parts of humanity unlike themselves. Either get with the program and give up to the PRT and break up the E88 on their own or there will be war. All out and complete until the last of them are done... And the worst of them a different gender and race."
Kaiser talks back to the swarm.
"I'm sorry."
____
As expected, the insect delivered diseases fail. They have to be working with a Tinker or something. It doesn't seem like they're relying on Othala.
Sophia meets with you and Victoria that night, before the next full attack.
"So, you two, um, you've been listening to me, right?" She asks.
"We can't call her Worm. It's just not fair." You explain. Sophia kicks a wall, hard.
"Is this about..."
"Everything just feels
crap, okay? Everyone is so whiny and pathetic about it. I've
killed people. I knew the risks. They act like I'm some perfect, delicate
victim to let them go after Kaiser. They're letting me get away with
anything just because..." She whirls around and grabs you again, kissing you. It's not pleasant, at all.
"You really need to cut out the sexual harassment." Victoria points out. Sophia lets go. "That
is my girlfriend.
"See!" She shouts. "You let me kiss your girlfriend
twice and I get off with a warning!
Do something! Get pissed off! Beat the crap out of me! Just,
ugh! Everyone acts like I'm some kind of..." She sits down.
"You were raped. Your memory was wiped. You were found naked, hurt, with a Nazi symbol cut into you." Victoria says softly. "
No one is comfortable with that.
Yes I feel like giving you anything you want. I've been fucked up in fights, Amy's been fucked up in fights, I've had
shit happen to me, but that
looks horrible. It's like, well, you were used as a means to an end. An
object. I
want to mother you, to make it all better, just like I do with Amy." Victoria sits down gingerly next to Sophia and starts stroking her hair.
"Wait, what?" Sophia flinches like she's under attack.
"By all accounts you're a good friend and a good fighter. You're also really
lonely and I think you're sad."
"I'm, well, Emma, she ended up moving to Portland, just couldn't stay away from her folks for so long. Madison's
Harrier now, off doing. I haven't lost them, but with all that's happened..."
"Amy, come." Victoria pats the seat next to her and you sit down. "Now, girls, it's time we had a very serious talk." You nod.
"Sophia, what do you
want."
"I want people to look at me like I'm not some pathetic, damaged,
freak. I want to show them I'm
really past it."
"Do you think that joining a relationship
with us would help with that?" Victoria asks very gently.
"Maybe. Just
some kind of sex would help. I
really like both of you. But also, like, the lesbian separatist thing..."
"Separatist?" Victoria laughs.
"I spent some time on Wikipedia." Sophia mutters.
"I have converted people into being lesbians, but I don't think it's a
superior thing. I think people should be able to make the choice, even for silly reasons, but Madison, well, that was just such a
nice thing you did, and Victoria is special." You smile. "I could just make you bisexual, if we do this."
"Yeah. That'd be best. Like, I don't expect a group marriage or anything. Just..."
"Understand, if we do this, me and Amy, we're the closest, we're a couple. We're
playing. A very, very fun game, and maybe it will be more, but this is about seeing what I am now, seeing who I am, what I like. If either of us feel too jealous, want to back out, we will. Basically, I want to press my limits, and I
especially want Amy to press her limits, get attached to other people. What we are is not healthy. We love it, but it's not good to not be with more people." Victoria is stroking Sophia's hair consistently. "Now, explain what will happen if we
don't do this. What do you want to do if we decide against an open relationship. Not a
very open relationship, mind you."
"Honestly, I would want to go to Houston. I'd move when the Empire is down. Just, a fresh start, new people. I wouldn't want to be messing you too up with a bunch of girly hormones. I really like the sound of the Houston Protectorate. Sounds like people who
get it." Sophia sighs.
"Okay." Victoria nods. "Now, Amy, I want you to understand something. I like this idea. I want to see where this goes. I want to help Sophia. But if, for
any reason, you want to not do this, it is
absolutely fine. I do not want to pressure you into
anything you're not comfortable with. If this just isn't what you've been thinking about for all these years, or if you just don't want to take this on, or..."
"Fuck, if you don't want to date a black girl." Sophia interrupts.
"Honestly, yeah. If there's
any reason, you don't have to do this." Victoria smiles at Sophia. "So, do you
want to us to date her a bit?"
[X] "Um, sure." You do like Sophia. What you have with Victoria is wonderful, but you
should try what it is like to see other people. Sophia wants this, and she deserves to get what she wants.
[X] "Sophia, I'm not comfortable with this." You take her hand. "Still, I don't want you to move. I know you want to, but I really need friends here. Please stay in Brockton Bay."
[X] "I'm sorry." You look at Sophia. "Just, no. I can't do this, and I can't ask you to stay. I hope you have a
wonderful life in Houston, I really do. You're a great friend to me, but I just don't want to love anyone but Victoria."