Unbreakable (Worm/OC)

[Tex]

I'm honestly not quite sure of the logistics of them forcing trigger events

Click to shrink...

A big part of Worm lore is that you can't. If you or an outside force is trying to make you trigger, it's got like a 1 in a million chance of working, and it's usually a shitty power. The trigger event for every first gen trigger before Scions death is predetermined, and potentially after depending on how the shard network adapted

 

[SkinnyP]

Really liking this so far! I just had a few questions.

Even if the Empire wasn't willing to pedal hard drugs on the street like the Merchants, that didn't mean they were anything more than another gang. In fact, in some ways they were worse. For example, in either the ABB or Merchant's territory they didn't care about your race as long as you kept to the status quo. Oh sure, if you were any kind of asian, you'd be conscripted into the ABB but other than that Lung didn't care about your race.

Click to shrink...

Is this just a case of an unreliable narrator or AU? The ABB of canon is just as racist as the Empire is. ABB territory is decidedly unsafe for non-asians.

Is she not planning on killing Hookwolf? I am at the chapter where she officially joins Faultline's crew, and no intentional killing was one of her rules. Feels weird that she was so wrathful about Valerie but has seemingly no plans for the murderer of her family.

 

[Sadguychet]

Accord's office was more lavish than many I had seen in my years as leader of the Palanquin, and that was certainly saying something. Quite a few people that we had been employed by had high opinions of themselves to say the least.

Yet unlike any of those people, Accord displayed his wealth in a way that was not at all tacky and in fact somewhat tasteful. With beautiful paintings of scenery and ornately decorated lamps and pots, his taste was on full display as my crew and I sat in front of the man himself.

Accord was a rather short man, that I could tell even seated as he was. And yet despite his stature he didn't seem any smaller for it, still as imposing as his reputation suggested he would be, with his well pressed suit and segmented mask giving an air of importance around him.

Slightly behind and to the right of the man, stood a woman in a golden gown, with similarly painted lips and golden earrings. A golden half-mask covered the top half of her face with its ornate designs, glinting in the light emerging from the window. Citrine, Accord's right hand in the Ambassadors. She stood primly behind her leader, hands folded in front of her as she stared forward with a placid expression on her face.

On the opposite side of Accord, similarly to Citrine, was Othello. He stood with his hands behind his back, an expressionless mirrored mask so similar to Aspect's first observing us with indiscernible intent. Unlike his fellow Ambassador, his well-pressed suit lacked color completely, comprised instead of all black and white that complimented his dusky skin.

Mirroring the Ambassadors, my own crew were in similar positions around me; Gregor standing to my right and Aspect on my left, standing in silent vigil. Newter had taken me up on my offer to simply sit the meeting out and as such was not present. It was an extreme coincidence that Elle happened to be having one of her 'bad' days, barely lucid to the world around her, and so the teen was simply watching over her instead and also giving me a useful excuse for the lack of their presence in the meeting in the process.

Spitfire was standing by the door, hands behind her back in a makeshift parade rest as she studiously stared forward just like Citrine. Considering how new she was to the crew, I had offered her the choice to sit the meeting out alongside Newter and Elle, but the girl had requested to be present for the meeting so she could get a feel for how these things worked.

It was an admirable request and one that showed a great deal of forward thinking and so despite my hesitance, I had acquiesced to her request, and had told her to stand silently out of the way while business was dealt with. Something she was taking very seriously.

Her costume was rather simple, basically a dark red and black hazmat suit with a gas mask. The cloak Aspect had bought for her was wrapped around her shoulders, obscuring a good portion of her form from view as it hung around her calves. All in all, she looked relatively professional, no longer wearing her make-shift rags from before, and apparently Accord believed so too as he had yet to make a comment on her presence in the meeting.

I turned my attention back to Accord as the man cleared his throat.

"Faultline. I am glad you could make it in such a timely manner. I trust you aren't enjoying your stay in my territory?" He questioned, clearly in an attempt to clear the slightly tense air in the office.

I decided to play along, "Charleston is lovely, your doing no doubt. While I haven't had much of a chance to look around, what I have seen is leagues above anything in the Bay."

The man could clearly see the blatant flattery for what it was, but he made no move to comment, instead taking my words in stride as he nodded genially, "That is good to hear. If you are having difficulties with the employees at your suite, do not hesitate to inform me and I will have it taken care of."

That was a bit of a surprise, but I suppose it made sense that someone like Accord would like to have all his ducks in a row when it came to the people he employed. Disgruntled employees more often than not gave a substandard performance after all, and substandard was something Accord would likely avoid at all costs.

I gave him a thankful nod that was much less fake than our earlier conversation, "That is very much appreciated. If we have any issues I will be sure to let you know."

"Now that pleasantries are over and done with, let us get to business."

I nodded in agreement, already tired of the little bit of byplay that was practically required in this line of work. "That would be excellent."

Accord gestured behind him toward the man in the mirrored mask, "Othello, the files."
Othella gave a short nod, "Yes sir." and turned to open a small filing cabinet just behind him, retrieving a manilla folder as Accord turned back to me.

"My little rat problem has become more and more of a headache as of recently." Accord spoke gravely, "His blatant kidnapping and murder of Case-53s has been causing unrest in my normally ordered territory. The Protectorate has been snooping around more and more frequently and their presence will only attract trouble, trouble I do not want."

"Luckily for both of us, individuals in my employ have managed to gather a great deal of information on Darwin, namely his origins and name." Accord said as his subordinated placed the file on the desk in front of him, "Citrine?"

"Darwin's civilian name is Antoni Alekseev. He was a former citizen of the Russian Federation who snuck his way into the United States aboard a private jet he managed to acquire through unknown means." Citrine spoke softly as Othello moved to stand behind his boss once more, "According to our sources, he'd been in the country silently for a little over a year before he began making trouble in our territory."

Accord nodded as he opened the folder and began to retrieve the documents inside, "Given how the Federation tends to treat its Parahuman citizens, fleeing is somewhat understandable. Many newly triggered capes tend to prioritize leaving the country the moment their powers make themselves known and for a biotinker, it is either that or likely death. That was not the reason Antoni left. In fact, he triggered over five years ago and was seemingly content to stay in Russia until recently."

There was a slight lull in the conversation, and I realized Accord was giving me the time to ask any questions I may have had. I took the opportunity as it presented itself.

"Do you have information on what he was doing during that time?" I questioned.

Accord hummed quietly at the question, "Somewhat. We know he was employed by the Russian Federation for a time, though we were not able to recover any information on what exactly his role was. Research, experimentation, we are not sure."

"Do we at least have information on his specialty? Do we know why he is targeting Case 53s specifically?"I asked curiously, hoping for some insight into Darwin's mind.

Accord steepled his hands in front of him, the shadows of his mask giving him an even more intimidating appearance despite his short stature, "According to the Russian Federation's records, Darwin's specialty was documented to be centered around genetics. Mutations specifically. I am sure you can extrapolate the rest."

I could just hear both Gregor and Aspect intake sharp breaths on either side of me and just barely held back from doing the same. Mutations. A biotinker with a Mutations specialty was kidnapping Case-53s and doing who knows what to them. Lord have mercy.

I kept a careful calm in my voice as I asked my next question, "Do we know where his lair is located?"

Instead of answering, Accord slid the documents he had been perusing across the table, motioning for me to pick them up.

"Darwin's lair is not actually in Charleston itself." Accord explained as I opened the file, reading its contents, "Utilizing the city's shipping records and looking for similarities in specific chemicals and medical instruments, as well as cross referencing the locations of the bodies that were found, the investigators I hired were able to pinpoint his approximate location as a small building just outside of the region, near the city limits."

I nodded at his words as I examined the documents. There were several photos as well as descriptions of the general area. The building itself was a ramshackle, rundown gas station that clearly hadn't seen use in several years, the pumps outside rusted and nozzles missing.

"The actual building itself is a cover." Accord continued, "My agents reported substantial seismic activity in the general area. It is likely Darwin has created his actual base underground, below the gas station and away from prying eyes."

I grimaced as I took in the information. If Darwin had truly decided to make his base underground, that meant it would be even more difficult to infiltrate. Tinker lairs were already some of the most dangerous to approach, and the lair being underground would do nothing but make it even moreso.

Spitfire's power would be near useless depending on how ventilated the lair was, and Labyrinth would be liable to cause a cave-in if her power affected the surroundings in the wrong way.

The less said about my own abilities, the better.

This would take careful planning. Many things would need to be accounted for, possible traps, hidden exits and entrances, escape plans, everything would have to be absolutely perfect before we even attempted to approach the lair.

Already I could feel a headache coming on from the multiple sleepless nights that were no doubt in my future. Great.

Accord seemingly didn't notice my internal musings or he didn't care, as the man began speaking once more.

"I want him out of my territory before the month is over Faultline." His voice took on a sharp edge, "Incarcerated, vanished, deceased, I do not care. I want him gone, his findings retrieved, and his little rat-hole destroyed. I trust your crew is up to the task?" he asked rhetorically.

I nodded firmly as my mind began formulating a rough plan of attack, "It's what you are paying us for. We'll get it done" Even in spite of the dangers presented, there was no way anyone in my crew would be willing to let the man go after all the information that had been given to us. Myself included.

He stared at me for a long moment before he nodded in satisfaction, "That is good to hear. I leave it in your capable hands. Should you require any more information, Citrine will be on call."

He stood and leaned across the desk, extending a hand to shake, "I look forward to your results, Faultline. In the meantime, enjoy your stay in Charleston."

I nodded happily, clearing my thoughts as I stood to meet him halfway in a firm handshake, "I intend to, and I look forward to working with you, Accord."

"And I you. Good luck. Othello will see you out."

 

[Sadguychet]

"Do you have to flirt with everything with two legs and long hair?" Spitfire grouched at Newter as the three of us made our way down the streets of Boston. The three of us were in costume, allowed to openly display our status as such thanks to the deal with Accord. As such, most civilians on the street were giving us a wide berth. Well that, or recording us with wide open mouths and phones held in their hands.

Newter just gave her a slight smirk, taking a deliberate sip of the coffee he had managed to acquire for free by blatantly flirting with the cashier. He gave a satisfied hum at the taste, "It's not my fault that people can't seem to resist all of this." He gestured towards his body suggestively.

Emily snorted, "Oh yeah, they're really dying to get their hands on you. Must be something in the water."

"I've just got the magic touch baby." Newter wiggled his fingers at Spitfire, "Nobody can resist."

"Resist the drug cocktail maybe." Emily muttered, eliciting a laugh from Newter. I smiled slightly at their banter, glad that they were able to so easily rib each other without any hurt feelings resulting from it. Emily had really acclimated to our little group, coming out of the shell we had found her in more and more recently and I was extremely happy to see it.

My smile didn't last long however, falling back into a light frown under my mask as their playful argument continued. Normally, I would jump at the chance to join them, but today I just wasn't in the mood, unable to muster up any cheer as my mind was consumed with thoughts of a certain someone. I let out a silent sigh, shoulders slumping ever so slightly

"You alright dude?" I blinked, turning to Newter to find him staring at me with a look of slight concern.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry. I guess I'm just a little lost in my head at the moment." I said softly

He gave me a knowing look, "Have you still not been able to get into contact with your friend?" He asked, tossing the rest of his coffee in a nearby trash can as we passed it.

I shook my head, "No. I know she's probably hurt but she hasn't even read my texts. It's… odd."

Since arriving in Boston, I had made good on my promise to call Christine, and had done so around eight times over the past five days. I hadn't been able to get ahold of her once, not by calling nor by texting and it was starting to worry me. I knew she was probably hurt and a little bit angry, but it seemed a bit odd that she would deliberately ignore my constant calls like this. Odd, and more than a little concerning.

Christine wasn't the type to hold a grudge, hadn't been since we were kids. Oh sure, she could argue and get angry with the best of them, but she was normally the first person to forgive and forget at the end of the day after angers had cooled.

"I'm starting to get worried." I confessed as we stopped in front of an empty alley.

"Is that the girl who kissed you?" Emily asked curiously, leaning around Newter to look at me.

I felt a bit of heat come to my cheeks, "She didn't kiss me. She just… gave me a peck on the cheek is all. That's it."

I reflexively activated my powers as Newter slung her arm around my shoulders, my skin becoming metal as the other teen pulled me into him, patting me on the head like a child as I turned a glare his way.

"She's not telling you the whole story, Spit." Newter began, ignoring the way Emily put her hand on her hips at the name, "Our little Aspect here is actually head-over-heels in love with her fellow blonde. She spends hours at a time just texting the girl, swooning every time she receives a response. I bet her heart yearns for her presence like some modern day Romeo and Juliet, so close yet so very far away." He gave a theatrical sigh, "It's so romantic."

I just stared at him incredulously at his absolutely insane words, "What the hell are you talking about? I don't swoon! And get off me!" I shrugged his arm off of my shoulder, ducking under it to stand in front of him. I turned to Spitfire, huffing, "I think we need to get Newter checked. He's clearly gotten some sort of mentally debilitating disease. I'm betting brain worms."

"I couldn't help but notice you didn't deny the head-over-heels part." Newter smirked at me, and I felt the beginnings of a blush on my cheekbones and hoped to god that he couldn't see it, "Admit it Aspect, you're totally in love with her."

I huffed as Emily gave me a curious look, "Like I said, a gross exaggeration. I'm not in love with Christine." I looked away slightly, "I might have a little crush on her, but that's as far as it goes."

"Aha!" Newter pointed at me, smiling widely like he had just won some massive victory, "A confession!"

"But that's as far as it goes!" I repeated, getting slightly annoyed by his insistent attitude. I sighed, "And besides, even if I was, I probably already fucked that up."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked curiously.

I sighed, realizing that there was no way either of them would let this go now that I had already started talking about it. Might as well get it over with.

"She called me a bit before we took off for Boston." I began, "I'll admit I had been avoiding her as I thought about what to do, but she beat me to contacting her."

"She-I think she was going to confess to me or something. She didn't actually say it, but I could tell that it was on her mind at the very least."

"And what did you say?" Emily asked.

I grimaced, "I didn't let her finish her sentence… and then I told her to give me some time to think."

Newter winced, "Ooh, give me some time? That's pretty bad dude."

I sighed, "I know. Hell, I knew it at the time, but it's true. I needed time to think about it. Both of us did, I think."

"What do you mean? I thought she was going to confess to you." Emily tilted her head and though I couldn't see much of her face through the tint of her mask, I could tell she was confused.

"Chris… she's not in the best place right now." I explained hesitantly, "She's a recruiter for the Empire but-"

"Wait, you're friends with an Empire member?" Emily interrupted incredulously, and even Newter looked surprised, "You hate the Empire!"
"She isn't like them!" I winced at the heat in my voice, as well as the shocked way my friend's were looking at me. I looked around, glad that people were still giving us a wide berth and as such, probably couldn't hear any of the conversation. Still, wanting a bit more privacy, I grabbed both of my friends and pulled them into a nearby unoccupied alley.

I looked back at them, taking a small breath, "Sorry." I apologized, "I'm not sure what that was but I shouldn't have talked to you like that."

Newter waved me off, "It's fine dude, you're clearly bent out of shape about this. Just don't bite our heads off, yeah? We just wanna help." He smiled lightly at me, one I returned.

I took a moment to compose myself, before continuing my story.

"Chris doesn't want to be in the Empire. Never did. But her parents have some sort of stake on the inside of the gang. They pushed her into it, forcing her to join the gang as a recruiter." I looked down at my gloves, "That's when we stopped talking. I wasn't willing to stay connected with someone who, at the time, I thought had willingly joined the people who had caused my family so much trouble. Not even my best friend."

"It was only once we got reconnected after my parent's death that I learned the whole story, and by then it was way too late to change anything, if I even could have in the first place. Everyone she knew besides me was related to the Empire in some way, and even her extended family wasn't willing to help her get away." I grit my teeth lightly, "Not to mention, her cousin is one of Kaiser's lieutenants and has been keeping an eye on her recently so I can't even get her away without having to fight the bastard. And Christine doesn't seem to think I can beat him."

"Wait seriously?" Newter asked incredulously. I nodded and he let out a surprised huff, "Wow, she's got really shit luck huh?"

I let out a humorless laugh, "That's an understatement. She had been getting by during highschool just recruiting people, not taking part in the more extreme parts of the group, but that changed a few weeks ago." I clenched my fist, "Apparently her cousin cottoned on to the fact that Chris wasn't completely down with what they were doing, and wasn't happy about it. He's started to insist she actually take the initiation despite already being a member, and her parents are right the fuck behind him to."

"If she doesn't do it, they'll send her away for 'reconditioning'. Whatever the fuck that means." I spat.

I took a moment to calm down, during which Newter put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I gave him a thankful look, before continuing.

"...I won't lie and say that being with Chris like that doesn't interest me, but there are actually reasons I can't do it." I sighed, leaning my head back against the alley wall as I pulled my hood down to relish in the cool brick behind me, "As fucked as it sounds, I know I'm probably one of the only positives in her life right now. If we got together, there would always be that little voice in the back of my head wondering if I'm just taking advantage of her. It would be so easy to do, and I don't want to use her that way."

"Then don't." Emily said softly.

"It's not that simple though." I said tiredly.

"I think it is." She said right back and I blinked at the words, spoken so confidently. Emily gave me an intense look, somehow visible even underneath the shaded material of her mask, "If you don't want to take advantage of her, then don't. Just because you're one of her main pillars of support at the moment doesn't mean you have to take advantage of that fact. Not every power dynamic has to be acted on, and the fact that you were even worried about that in the first place makes me think it's unlikely you'd do it even by accident."

"So what? I should just start dating her right after we became friends again?" I asked sarcastically, turning my eyes to Newter as he chimed in.

"Why not? Sure, you guys probably aren't gonna be exactly like you were before she joined the Empire, but you could be better. You aren't a bad person Val, and from what you've told me, your friend kinda needs something good in her life right about now. That something could be you." Newter then shrugged, "Or don't say anything. Comfort in familiarity and all that. If you don't think you're ready for a relationship with her or that one wouldn't be healthy for you guys, then she should understand that. That's what friends do."
I didn't know what to say to that. I just stared at him for a long moment, eyes wide at the words spewing from my laidback friend's mouth, "When the fuck did you two become so damn wise?" I demanded

Emily just shrugged, while Newter's soft smile shifted into a much more familiar smirk. He leaned back, propping himself up with his tail as he put his arms behind his head with a sigh, "I'm stuffed full of wisdom baby. Not my fault you guys are incapable of seeing it."

I rolled my eyes, feeling much lighter than I had mere moments ago, "Yeah, sure thing man. I'll remember that the next time you forget to take your bagel bites out of the oven and nearly set the kitchen on fire."
"It only happened once!"
"Three times actually." I corrected, "Just because Gregor caught them before they actually lit up, doesn't mean they wouldn't have." I turned to Emily, giving her a serious look, "If you see Newter in the kitchen, make sure to alert whoever is close by. He's more of a fire hazard than your spit."

She gave me a serious nod, "Will do. I'll also make sure to check the fire extinguishers when we get back home. They might be expired."

"You both suck."

That set Emily and I off, and I had to place a bracing hand on the wall behind me to stay standing from the force of my laughter. Newter eventually joined us, giving some soft chuckles of his own at the friendly ribbing.

It was somewhat freeing to laugh like this. The weight that had been on my shoulders for the past few days had lightened quite a bit.

"...Thank you." I said sincerely as our laughter died off, giving them both smiles as I pulled my hood back over my head, "Both of you. You guys really helped me get my head on straight."
"That's what we're here for." Emily nodded happily. Before looking away slightly, "Well that, and this job pays really well."

I smirked, remembering a fun little tidbit, "Are you sure it isn't because you enjoy staring at-"

I cut myself short, whipping my head to the side as I was interrupted by the sounds of shattering glass over a block away, quickly followed by a loud boom and numerous screams. The sudden shift in mood was drastic, going from light-hearted to serious in an instant as The three of us sped from the alley. We looked towards the noise and found a crowd of people rushing towards us, panic and terror plain on their faces, "What the hell?" Newter muttered in surprise.

Reaching out, I grabbed a teen with way too many zippers on his clothes as he ran past me, pulling him towards me to be heard over the steadily loudening din of screams. He gave me a panicked look as I pulled him in, jerking his arm in an attempt to get out of my grip, "Let go!" he shouted, pulling away so hard I was worried his arm was going to be torn from his socket.

I placed a steadying hand on his shoulder, keeping him still to prevent him from hurting himself against my steel body, "Calm down dude! We aren't gonna hurt you, we just want to know what's going on!"

"It's the Teeth!" He yelled out, fear on his face, "They came out of nowhere a-and just started breaking things and beating people up for no reason! There weren't many of them at first, only two with costumes and a few grunts, but then more appeared out of nowhere wearing the same costume as one of the capes!"

That sounded like Spree. From what I recalled, his power allowed him to make a shitton of clones. Must be great at parties with a trick like that.

"A-are you guys heroes?" The teen asked hopefully, taking in our costumes with wary hopefulness.

I looked over to my companions, finding them both looking towards me for what to do next which was… odd. When the hell did I become the one who decided what to do?

Either way, I had been given apparent command and I needed to figure out our next move. Let's see… the Teeth were much more bloodthirsty than most gangs, and as such would need to be treated with much more caution.

Spree was already a known entity in the possible fight, but Newter's own powers basically hard countered his own and Spitfire's did as well. That left the other one to contend with. I racked my mind in an attempt to think of the Teeth's current members and their powers.

There was Vex, a Shaker with the ability to create a field of miniature, razor-sharp force fields in a radius around her, I could probably deal with her. There was Hemorrhagia, a hemokinetic with limited biokinesis in that she could also control her own blood, once again, I could probably deal with her. There was Reaver who I honestly had no clue about, and Animos, a Changer who could temporarily shut off powers with his voice; that could be a problem. And finally, there was Butcher XIV, formerly Quarrel.

Needless to say, none of us were fighting that crazy bitch.

Other than that, there wasn't really anybody in the Teeth that the three of us shouldn't be able to deal with together barring maybe Animos, but I doubted his power would even work on Newter in the first place. That left the most important question, why should we bother?

Well, we were currently in a contract with Accord, which meant that it would likely be beneficial to do whatever we could to be seen in a good light. Stopping a riot by the Teeth in the Ambassador's territory was an extremely good way to do that. Accord's office and main building was pretty far away from our current location, and from what I knew he didn't employ any Movers so it wasn't likely anyone would get here in a reasonable length of time.

Not only that, but Charleston was rarely patrolled by the Protectorate due to how orderly Accord himself tended to keep things. That meant that the actual heroes wouldn't be arriving for several minutes at the very least. And judging by the growing sounds of destruction down the street, a few minutes would be too long. There was no telling who might be hurt in that time and we were basically already right there. Hmm…

I looked back towards my team, inclining my head towards the growing destruction. Newter answered with an eager smile, while Emily just shrugged. Good enough for me.

I looked back to the teen who was watching our exchange with some confusion. I clapped him on the shoulder, careful not to use too much force and accidentally break it, "Well, we aren't usually heroes. But it looks like we're changing career paths for a little bit. Lucky you."

He looked a little lost as I let him go, staring at me with a confused expression. I gave him a shooing motion, urging him into fleeing once more, before turning back to my friends.

"Alright folks, looks like we've got some heads to bust if we're gonna keep our contractor happy. Are you ready for this?"

Somewhat eager expressions were all I got in response, and I grinned in response, feeling a bit of anticipation well up inside of me, "Then let's get to it!"

A good fight was just what I needed to get my mind off of all that heavy stuff we had just talked about.

---

Next several chapters available for Patrons!

 

[Sadguychet]

It didn't take the three of us long to reach the chaos, and less than a minute of brisk jogging later we came upon the rampaging parahumans responsible for the mess.

The teen had been telling the truth, it was the Teeth, though there were only two of them it seemed, the unpowered grunts that he had mentioned nowhere to be found. My earlier assumption had been right as Spree was indeed present. The man was currently using his clones to wreck the inside of an electronics store, a veritable crowd of the same person smashing whatever they could get their hands on until they slumped to the floor, quickly replaced by another of their number.

To my relief, it seemed that the only other cape present was one I should be able to handle. Hemorrhagia was currently painting a wall with her blood, seemingly intent on making sure every tingle bit of the liquid worked itself into the brickwork, making it nearly impossible to remove. Underneath her feet was a pool of the crimson liquid, likely having emanated from the empty blood packs attached to her belt as she used them to replenish her supply.

I looked around, noting a single person on the ground nearby the rampaging capes. I couldn't tell their gender or whether they were just unconscious or dead due to the sheer amount of blood covering their bodies thanks to Hemorrhagia, but I simply put it out of my mind as we approached the Teeth. If they were dead there was nothing we could do for them and if they weren't, then the only thing we could do was stop them from getting hurt any more.

With that thought in mind, I stepped forward in front of my friends, raising my voice as I called out to the anarchist gang members, "I'd knock that off if I were you!" I brought attention to myself, "I doubt the owners of that fine establishment would much appreciate the amount of property damage you seem so intent on inflicting!"

That got their attention and both of the cape's eyes shot away from their current tasks to face us. Scowls came to Hemorrhagia's face as she took in our costumes, while Spree looked much more calm about our sudden appearance.

"Who the fuck are you?" Hemorrhagia called out, blood spinning around her slowly as she turned away from her macabre painting. She walked up to stand by the original Spree, glaring at us for interrupting her fun, "You guys heroes or something?"

"If they are, they aren't from Boston." Spree said, looking us up and down, "I've never heard of a lizard monster roaming around the city, nevermind the other two. Probably out-of-towners or something."

A grin came to Hemorrhagia's face, "That so? Well then, they must be ignorant or idiots to not know you don't fuck with the Teeth." She taunted. As she spoke, some of them blood circling her flowed onto her body, forming what looked like heavy scabs over the surface of her exposed skin. Some sort of makeshift armor?

Either way, it looked like we were getting right into it, and I could feel myself tense in preparation as Spree stepped forward in front of his companion, breaking into a light jog towards us. Only a second or two later, a large crowd of clones burst forth from Spree's body, surging towards us on stumbling feet. Spitfire immediately burst into action, bringing a hand to her mask and undoing a small latch, exposing her lips.

A torrent of burning liquid burst forth from her lips, splattering on the concrete in front of the rushing clones where it sizzled and popped with heat. Spree himself stopped dead in his tracks, eyeing the liquid warily and while his clones tried to do the same their momentum was too much and they only succeeded in tripping over one another. Directly into the flames.

Screams of agony rang out and the air was filled with the smell of burning flesh as the clones were immolated moments before their functions ceased altogether, going brain dead as their bodies sizzled in the pits in the concrete that Spitfire's power had created. My nose wrinkled at the foul smell that emerged and I couldn't help but look away from the slightly ghastly scene.

Spitfire herself was clearly unsettled by it judging by the way she was staring at the pit, not moving a single centimeter and looking like she was frozen in time. I set a hand on her shoulder, giving her a look, "You gonna be alright?" I asked her seriously, "Newter and I should be able to handle it if you can't."

She didn't respond for a moment, before she slowly shook her head, "No. No, I can handle it, I was just a bit surprised. I've never actually hit someone with my power before so it was a little… unsettling." She

I kept looking at her for another moment before giving an assenting nod, "Alright, here's how we'll do it. You and Newter will handle Spree and I'll take care of miss heavy flow over there. Between the two of you, his clones shouldn't be too difficult to deal with and her blood shouldn't be able to pierce my skin."

The two of them nodded, "Be careful Aspect." Newter said as he turned to face Spree with Spitfire, "Don't let her get the drop on you."

"Pshh, as if." I called as I turned to the woman, the sounds of shouting sounding out behind me as Spree sent out more clones, "Get the drop on me, does he even know who he's talking to?"

"A dumb bitch who's in over her head?" Hemorrhagia called tauntingly. Her blood was swirling around her faster now, what was left of it after making her armor at least.

I raised an eyebrow at her taunt, "Just for that, I'll make this quick." I said, darting down to place my fingers on the ground and activating my power. Just like I had done numerous times before, I spread my presence towards her, shooting it forward and urging the concrete underneath her feet to soften and cause her to sink into it.

Instead of panicking and sinking downwards like all of my other opponents however, the blood floating around Hemorrhagia rocketed downwards and soared underneath her feet. It expanded on the softened concrete, creating a wide platform that increased the surface area she was standing on and stopped her from sinking before she even began in the first place.

That… was mildly concerning. I had been hoping to end the fight before it actually started.

She laughed at my look of surprise, "That trick might work on those idiots back in your city, but we're not some newbie gang! We've been in business for nearly as long as you've been alive!" She suddenly sprung forward off of her platform, feet thudding along the concrete as she escaped my power, before she suddenly began rushing towards me.

"You're just another cocky rookie! I'm going to enjoy gutting you, you stupid bitch!" Hemorrhagia laughed as she darted towards me. Blood coalesced around her arms, leaking from the various scabs along her forearms to form semi-large darts in mid air. She threw her arms forward, sending them flying towards me with intent to pierce through me.

I cursed in my head as I stood, activating my power and hot swapping my material to match the steel weave of my costume. The darts reached me and, knowing that my hardened body would be able to stand up to the assault, I merely ran through it. The impacts of the sharpened blood felt like particularly hard pinches on my body as I rushed forward, splashing into the air around me and floating unnaturally as I left them in the wake of my charge.

I had exactly zero ranged options apart from the trick I had tried earlier. Hemorrhagia on the other hand, had no such limitations. If I wanted to win against the other cape, I would have to keep this fight where I preferred it, close range.

I brought an arm up as Hemorrhagia reached me, blocking her first strike with the steel limb before lashing out with my other hand, narrowing my eyes as she danced out of the way with ease. We began trading blows, and immediately I was glad that I hadn't stopped my training. Despite her powers, the woman was no slouch when it came to close range combat and I was hard pressed to keep up as she danced around my strikes and forced me to block her own, laughing all the while.

Knowing that making the woman bleed in any way would probably be a bad play, I morphed my hands into metal hammer, keeping to strictly blunt damage in our fight. I didn't know if she could manipulate her blood when it was still under her skin, but bruises and broken bones were much preferred to scrapes and cuts when it came to a hemokinetic.

With every punch and wave of her arms came a surge of the blood that was hovering around her body, stroking at me with just as much if not more force than the woman herself was striking with. It wasn't actually damaging me all that much, merely rebounding off of my armored costume and skin, but it was certainly keeping me from regaining my balance and making the fight much harder than it normally would have been.

Still, soon enough we got into a normal rhythm, blocking and dodging each other's attacks as we both tried to gain the upper hand. As we fought, I opened my mouth to ask a question that had been on my mind.

"So why are the Teeth in Charlston?" I asked, grunting at a strike that slammed into my guard, "Don't you know this is Accord's turf?"

Hemorrhagia scoffed, dodging under a swing of my hammer and striking out ineffectually at my body, "Accord? That guy thinks he's hot shit just because he's got a tiny slice of territory in Boston. Thinks that his little team of sycophants will keep us out! We're the fucking TEETH! We go where we please and do what we please, and that fucker's had it too good for too long! It's about time we reminded him who's really top dog in this city."

So that's what this was, more typical gang dickmeasuring. How uninteresting. Well whatever, I wasn't even honestly interested in it in the first place, I was just asking out of curiosity. And now that it had been sated, I could focus on our fight.

I swung my hammer with much more force than before and Hemorrhagia blocked the blow with a shield of blood, my morphed hand smashing into it with an oddly wet sounding clang before the woman deflected it off to the side, causing me to stumble slightly. The woman acted on the opening, blood swirling into a large spike that she held in her other hand as she thrust it towards my exposed middle.

I managed to dodge it by twisting on my heel, spinning around the blow and using the momentum to bring my hammer towards her side once more. She slipped backwards, dodging just out of range of my weapon, before darting back in to strike at my exposed legs which I just barely blocked with my other hand.

Our fight continued in the same vein for a while, blocking and dodging, before I finally decided I had had enough. A plan quickly formulated in my mind, a bit simple but hopefully effective, and on the next swing of my hammer, I put it into action, swigging my hammer once more, this time with a different idea in mind.

As she went to block the hammer with her blood shield, I suddenly shifted my hand, morphing the hammer into a large hook that I used to grab onto the shield. I pulled with all my strength, sending her stumbling towards me with wide eyes as I reared back my other arm, still in its hammer form.

It slammed into Hemorrhagia's chest with incredible force, cracking the bones that comprised her armor as she let out a gasp of pain. I let go with my hook, letting her go flying several feet away as I followed up on my strike.

She landed on the ground with a grunt of pain and her hand immediately came up to clutch at her middle. I grinned slightly as she tried to immediately get back to her feet only to double over slightly at the feeling in her abdomen.

"You know," I began as I approached her. Behind me, I could hear the sounds of Newter and Spitfire wrapping up their own fight, Spree's powerful cursing sounding in my ears. I looked back to find him having retreated a fair distance away from both of my friends, resorting to just flinging clones at them that were quickly dispatched, "I may be a rookie, but I'm three and oh for cape fights so far. I'd like to think I'm doing pretty good." I turned back to her, grinning smugly as she raised herself up on her elbows to give me a pained glare.

I stepped forwards, more taunting words on my lips that I would never be able to get out as I was interrupted.

There was a loud noise, like a mix of a bear's roar and a dog's bark, and as it rang in my ears I suddenly stumbled as a wave of fatigue washed over me, sinking deep into my bones as my eyes drooped slightly from the force of it. I looked down at myself, shock filling my suddenly dazed mind as I took in my suddenly normal skin and costume.

My powers had been turned off against my will. That meant…

I whipped my head in the direction the noise had come from, my eyes immediately locking onto the form crouched in a nearby alley, hidden from sight. It was massive, standing on four legs and looking like some sort of messed up dog, only much more alien in appearance. As I watched, it slowly closed its still-open mouth, panting from the exertion the scream had apparently wrought on it. Its eyes stared into my own with a startling amount of intelligence for what was seemingly an animal, and it didn't take long to put two and two together on the thing's identity.

Animos, a Changer with a power nullifying scream. And he had just used that scream to disable the only thing keeping Hemorrhagia from impaling me like she had been trying to do our entire fight. Fuck.

Hemorrhagia immediately jumped on the opportunity that Animos had given her. Blood coalesced quicker than it ever had before, morphing into a thin, sharp spike that she sent flying towards me at blinding speeds. I wasn't able to dodge it from such close range, and as such the only thing I could do was limit the damage it might cause. I turned my body, positioning my arm in front of my ribs and hoping that the mesh there was thick enough to prevent it from digging in too deeply.

I grunted in pain as the thin spike cut straight through my costume and the protective layer underneath, piercing into my shoulder. She immediately followed up on her attack, throwing several more spikes at me and forcing me to leap to the side in order to dodge.

Knowing that there was no way I would be able to defend myself for long against a more constant assault, I darted backwards, dodging two more spikes sent flying after me and dove behind a car, crouching behind the thickest part of it. I panted as the darts slammed into the car with a thud, bringing my hand to my shoulder and immediately wincing at the throbbing pain my probing fingers produced. The hole in my costume was leaking blood at an alarming rate so the wound must have been fairly deep.

I snapped my head to the side as movement caught my eyes, and was met with the terrified gaze of a woman covered in blood. She looked like she was about to cry as I caught sight of her, and I realized that this must be the civilian that was caught by the Teeth's attack. I had completely forgotten about her.

I cursed as I heard Hemorrhagia's laughter, the woman no doubt having recovered from my attack by now. Knowing that I wouldn't have long until Hemorrhagia followed up on her attack, and also knowing that she likely wasn't above harming a random civilian just to spite me, I retrieved my knife from its holster, gripping it in bloodsoaked fingers as footsteps rapidly approached the car I was hiding behind. I would have to defend us both it seemed.

I shot to my feet as she rounded the car, blood floating around her as she locked eyes with the woman beside me. She smiled at the scream of fear that the woman beside me let out and I grimaced, tightening my grip on the knife.

Just as she shot herself forward, a feral grin on her face as I brought my weapon up in defense, a massive object slammed into her side, sending her flying away with a shout. She skidded along the ground for a moment, leaving a trail of what I hoped was residual blood from scabs, before she stopped. She was helped to her feet by Spree who she had landed near, and turned a glare on the person responsible for flinging her away.

Said person turned out to be a large, bulky teenager made completely out of metal. He was completely hairless and his dusky skin glinted in the sun as he relaxed his posture from his admittedly impressive shoulder check. He turned to me with a slightly questioning gaze, and I immediately recognized him as one of the few Case-53's who joined up with the Protectorate, Weld.

He gave me a light nod, before turning his gaze to the whimpering woman behind me. He took her in with an analyzing glance, during which two other costumed teens who I didn't recognize came up to his side. The first was a tall male wearing black spandex with light blue decals that made the outfit look slightly futuristic as they glowed softly, either from simple LEDs or his powers. His hands were covered in fingerless gloves similar to my own, likely a power requirement like myself. He was wearing a simple domino mask, allowing his bright blond hair and green eyes to be visible.

The other teen was wearing bulky armor that was made out of a material I couldn't place. It was varying shades bright orange and red with white lines in key areas such as the belt and places on her thighs and elbows. Unlike her compatriot, she was wearing a full helmet that only allowed her mouth to be visible, the face of the thing made out of what appeared to be a dark type of glass or plastic.

Weld turned to his compatriots the moment they got close, "Jazz, you're on clone duty. Hotshot, if they get through, you take care of them. Let's get this over and done with quickly." He ordered.

"I'll take care of it." "Got it boss." The aforementioned teens nodded their agreement..

"Who's this?" Jazz looked at me curiously, taking in my costume.

"I'm not sure, but she was defending this woman when I tackled Hemorrhagia, so she's probably on our side." Weld said, looking over at me with a questioning eyebrow raise.

I nodded my agreement, "Pretty much, though I think I'll let you guys take it from here. I'm tapped out for today. Animos's power and mine don't mix very well apparently." Seemed that being turned back to normal against my will wasn't something that my powers were particularly happy with. Now that I wasn't in mortal danger, I was feeling extremely lethargic, like I had hot swapped many more times than I actually had in the fight with Hemorrhagia. It wasn't a great feeling.

"I can get the lady out of your guy's way if you want." I offered, looking back at said woman who was much more calm than she had been before. Guess the appearance of actual heroes helped quite a bit, "My team and I can watch over her while you do what you have to do."

Weld gave me a considering glance as Newter and Spitfire returned to my side. They gave me concerned looks that I just waved off as I waited for Weld's answer. Eventually he nodded, "Alright, I'd appreciate that. Keep her back but don't leave the area completely. We still need to talk."
I nodded, "Will do. Come on ma'am, let's get a bit further back away from the action, yeah?" I held a hand out for her to take. She gave me a slightly fearful glance, looking at Weld who nodded reassuringly. That was seemingly enough for her and she grabbed my hand, letting me haul her up and pull her with me as my friend's and I fell back to a safer area to watch the conflict that was about to start.

Unlike what I had come to expect from the heroes in Brockton Bay, these Wards seemed to have their priorities in order. Weld and his compatriots immediately stood in between Teeth and the woman who was with the three of us, watching the proceedings with a healthy amount of fear. Seems the civvies were smarter here too, back in the Bay they'd be recording or something equally idiotic.

The three Teeth members stood together, Animos having shifted back to his human form once more, and watched the new arrivals warily. Spree grit his teeth angrily and my sharp eyes caught sight of a large burn scar on his forearm. Seemed like he had gotten a little to close to Spitfire, "Great, the fucking tiny teen wonder force is here. Why don't you three just fuck off and leave us to our business? This doesn't concern you."

"When your actions endanger the lives of civilians, it always concerns us, Spree." Weld said seriously, crossing his arms over his massive chest.

Spree just scoffed, clenching his fists, "You heroes need to learn to stay in your own lane!" He yelled, sending out a surge of angry clones towards the heroes.

"Jazz." Weld nodded at the Ward wearing the black costume but he was already in motion. He placed his hands on the ground as the clones approached rapidly. A field of bright blue expanded outwards towards the clones and the moment it reached them they stopped dead in their tracks, seizing like they were being electrocuted.

Which, upon closer inspection, they were. The field that Jazz had set up was causing the clones to spark and sizzle as what was likely hundreds of volts of electricity ran through their body. It seemed that much like Spitfire, the Ward had the perfect power to counter Spree's clones. Guess that was why Weld had given him the duty.

The Teeth seemed to realize that as well, and it was Animos who apparently made the connection that the other two didn't. He reached up to put a hand on Hemorrhagia's shoulder.

"Let's just go you two. They clearly knew who they were going to be dealing with." Animos said, eying Weld distastefully, "That metal kid is a Case-53. My powers won't work on him, and non of us can even touch the red one."

"Please," Hemorrhagia snorted, shrugging off Animos's hand as blood gathered around her once more, "I ain't running from a bunch of fucking kids!" She reared her hands back before flinging them forward, sending all of the blood she had gathered soaring at us in the shape of dozens of deadly spears.

I prepared to move in front of my friends and the woman to block them despite Animos's presence, only to be interrupted by our heroic guests, "Hotshot," Weld looked to the teen wearing bright red, "Can you take care of it?" He received a grin in return.

As the sharpened blood soared towards the heroes, Hotshot ran forward even as the other two heroes ran backwards until they were next to us once more. She was completely fearless as she stopped several meters in front of us, directly in the path of the blood spears that Hemorrhagia had thrown.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Spitfire asked Weld, clearly concerned for the other teen's wellbeeing.

Weld just nodded, gesturing towards his teammate, "She'll be fine. Just watch."

I did so and was stunned as the moment the blood reached her, Hotshot burst into towering white and red flames. They were so hot and vibrant that they were nearly too bright to look at, and I was just barely able to catch sight of the blood Hemorrhagia had thrown at us evaporating into thin air. Even from several meters away, it felt like I was standing directly in front of a campfire and sweat immediately appeared on my brow from the heat.

It was over in an instant, and like a candle being snuffed out, the flames disappeared and Hotshot once again stood in their place. The now smirking cape put her hands on her hips, cocking her head at Hemorrhagia, "Got another one in ya?" She openly taunted the scowling woman.

Hemorrhagia snarled, preparing to do just that, but was stopped by Animos jerking her backwards. She glared at him and he glared right back, "We don't have time to watch you get into a dick measuring contest with a teenager. If we get caught, Butcher isn't going to do jack to spring us out, let's go." He urged.

Hemorrhagia looked like she was ready to completely disregard his words, but instead spat a large glob of blood on the ground, looking disgusted, "Whatever. Next time I'm gonna fucking kill that bitch though."

Animos didn't respond, instead changing shame into the four legged creature once more. He darted away, Hemorrhagia and Spree following close behind, though not before the woman threw a nasty glare back at me. I gave her a small wave in return, grinning as she scowled even harder.

"You're just gonna let them go?" Newter asked Weld curiously as we watched the three Teeth members disappear into an alley.

"Sometimes it's better to just let them escape if it prevents more damage being done." Weld explained, "And besides, even if we did capture them, they'd be out in a week. Despite what Animos was saying, Butcher won't just let three of her capes get caught without some sort of retaliation."

I nodded at the explanation. Butcher was a crazy powerful bitch (emphasis on the crazy) but even she couldn't take on the entire city by herself. She needed the rest of the Teeth, so three members of her gang's cape roster being locked up wouldn't sit well with her. She'd probably do more damage busting them out than they did here.

Speaking of which.

"You gonna let us go too?" I turned to Weld, taking acute notice of the way both my friends shifted to stand behind me as we faced the heroes. I didn't really want to fight another cape, much less one with powers so similar to my own. The wound in my shoulder was starting to ache even more as the adrenaline faded from my body, pulsing with pain every time I shifted my arm. That, combined with my waning stamina from the forceful shift back to normal, was going to make fighting more than a little difficult.

The two non-metal heroes turned to look at Weld, clearly referring to him on his decision. He looked us over, paying special attention to Newter to my left. "You three, you're Faultline's crew aren't you?" He asked rhetorically, "We got info you were in the city. I'm surprised we only just now ran into you."

"We've been lying low. Contract doesn't permit that much noise and we aren't particularly keen on stirring the pot around here." I shrugged, immediately wincing in pain, "We just figured it would be bad manners to let the Teeth run amok in our contractor's territory so we stepped in."

"Ah, Accord is it? I guess that makes sense." Weld connected the dots. He looked around, taking in the destruction, specifically the holes that Spitfire's fire had melted into the cement, "I should honestly thank you for keeping the property damage to a minimum. A few holes in the pavement is nothing compared to what we usually have to deal with after a fight with the Teeth. The civilian wasn't hurt from your fight from what I can tell which is also good."

Spitfire gave a nervous shrug, "Sorry, I can't control how hot it comes out."

Weld waved her off, "Like I said, it's fine. This road was due to be repaved anyway, you probably just sped up the city's timetable by a few months." He gave Hotshot a gesture that I couldn't decipher, before turning back to me as the teen made her way over to the bloodsoaked woman standing off to the side, "To answer your question, you three are free to go as well. The Boston PRT has a working agreement with capes like you. Keep your heads down and you'll receive no trouble from us."

That about lined up with what Faultline had said. I watched as Hotshot checked the woman over for any serious wounds, asking her quiet questions that were answered before apparently deciding that there was nothing too serious.

"Still, I don't want any trouble from your crew while you are in the city." Weld spoke seriously,"We're willing to overlook some things, but don't try to stretch our good nature too far. Understood?"

"You got it chief, no trouble from us! No sir!" Newter saluted the other teen, and I giggled as Weld gave a light sigh at the other monster cape's antics.

"Alright then, that's good to hear. Now get out of here. The actual police should be showing up any time now and I don't want them reporting back to my superiors about you being here before I do." He waved us off, moving to ask the woman his own questions as Hotshot pulled out a small device and began talking into it.

"Don't have to tell us twice." I nodded, turning away from the man as sirens wailed in the near distance, "Come on guys. Let's go report back so we can get yelled at by the boss lady." I said, only slightly joking.

"Ooh, that's my favorite activity." Newter said as we began walking back. Spitfire just sighed, "Why couldn't I have been recruited by Gregor? At least then I wouldn't have to hang out with you two all the time."

Even with the throbbing in my shoulder and the impending talking to I was going to get from Melanie, I couldn't help but laugh as Newter slung an arm around her shoulder, "You know you love us, Spit."

"Against my better judgment." She relented, "And stop calling me that damnit!"

~~~

Melanie certainly wasn't happy with our actions, and did indeed give us an earful. Luckily it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, as our actions had scored some good will with Accord when he had learned what happened. Limiting the damage that the Teeth had caused in his territory was a good deed in his book, and he had commended us for our efforts, albeit telling us to inform him before taking such actions in the future.

Now, after getting a stern speech about checking in with her before fighting murderous capes from my boss, I was back in my room, looking over the damage I had received. The wound that Hemorrhagia had given was actually pretty damn deep which explained why it hurt so much. Hemorrhagia's attack had penetrated nearly an inch under the skin, digging into the muscle before I had managed to back off. It would likely require a full immersion to heal.

"I got cocky." I muttered as I slowly massaged the aching area around the wound, "I should have put her out before I started gloating like a fucking idiot."

And that wasn't all, I sighed as I took in the damage to my costume. The hole wasn't large, just big enough to put my little finger through thanks to how thin the spear had been, but it still burned that I had had the damn thing for less than three weeks and already it was damaged. Great.

"Parian isn't going to be happy." I muttered, placing the costume in its box, "I wonder how much a patch job will cost…" Hopefully it wouldn't burn a hole in my pocket. I may not be hurting for money, but that woman was really expensive.

I stretched as I prepared to immerse myself into the building, wincing lightly as my stomach growled loudly. I hadn't eaten all day and it looked like it was catching up to me.

Hmm… Gregor was making some sort of stew that smelled really good right about now, I would need to grab a bowl or three-

*FWOMP*

I froze in my thought as an extremely loud noise akin to an explosion came from directly behind me. I whirled around, wood crawling from my feet to my fists as I raised them up in preparation to defend myself from who or whatever had intruded into my room, only to halt in shock at what I saw.

There, on my previously empty bed, was a girl. She was curled into a ball, shivering periodically with sobs as her clenched eyes trailed tears down her face. Dark purple wisps of energy were fading into the air around her, floating upward from her curled up body to dissipate in the space above the bed. Her hair floated upwards on an unseen breeze, glowing a deep violet that was slowly fading, turning lighter and lighter until it eventually settled on a blue so faded it almost seemed white, while at the same time retaining its floating properties.

As soon as it did so, the girl seemingly snapped out of whatever state she had been in. She shot up, hands coming down to help her rise on my bed. She looked around, seemingly confused at where she had found herself, before her gaze suddenly shot to me as I shifted my weight ever-so slightly. As I went to question her, my words caught in my throat as I took in the girl's all-too familiar face, slightly marred by a bruise around her right eye.

Christine stared up at me, glowing eyes piercing into my own as glistening tears trailed their way down her cheeks, "Valerie… I found you…" Her voice was ethereal, echoing, like she was both right in front of me and somewhere else all at the same time.

Before I got the chance to speak, she shot off the bed, practically flinging herself at me. I braced myself, deactivating my powers to make her landing a bit softer as she slammed into me, wrapping her arms around my body as shuddering gasps began making their way out of her mouth. I winced slightly at the pain in my side at her impact, before bearing with it and wrapping my arms around my friend.

I had no idea what was happening but that didn't matter at the moment, Christine was clearly not okay and I needed to do my best to fix that. There would be time to panic and question her later.

She sobbed into the fabric of my shirt, arms squeezing around me with each pitiful inhale. Her hair floated high above my own head as I placed my chin against her scalp, squeezing her harder as I whispered reassurances into her ears.

Christine suddenly stiffened in my embrace as the door to my room burst open, and I noticed her hair immediately began to darken, rapidly becoming a deeper shade of blue from the pale color it had been. I flicked my eyes sideways to see Newter making his way in, a somewhat panicked look on his face as he did so. Looking past him, I could spy Spitfire in the hallway, looking no less worried.

"Dude, is everything alright in here? We heard a loud bang, did something explo-?" He froze as he caught sight of the girl I was currently comforting, taking in her floating, glowing hair and eyes that stared at him in fear, "Oh…" He said faintly, before quickly shaking himself out of it. He turned, grabbing Spitfire as he went, "We'll go grab Faultline."

I just nodded slowly, looking down at my newly Parahuman best friend as I slowly came to terms with what her new appearance meant and realizing why the girl had been ducking my calls.

"Chris…" I spoke softly, doing my best not to startle the clearly unstable girl. causing her eyes to shoot back up to me. I noticed that her hair had begun fading once more from the color it had become during Newter's entry. I put it out of my mind, "Chris what happened. Did… Who did this?"

I could connect two and two together. My best friend didn't have powers a few days ago and suddenly she was teleporting into my temporary bedroom, a bruise on her face and tears in her eyes. The implications were as plain as day, and just thinking about what might have happened to her made my blood simmer in my veins.

And as she told me the story of what had happened the past few days, that simmer quickly turned into a rolling boil.

---

Next several chapters available to Patrons

 

[Kreivan Reyhers]

Oh no, poor girl…