Author note

This is a crossover with Worm by Wildbow. The Worm universe is based on the premise that there are entities that are using human beings to test drive powers for them. 'Parahumans' or 'capes', receive their powers only after being subjected to severe stress and trauma, so are usually not in the best headspace afterwards. 'Villains' outnumber 'Heroes' by a significant amount, and then there are the Endbringers...

Part 1

Shaw watched through the scope of her rifle as Hideki Kumura, head of one of Tokyo's prominent crime families, lowered himself slowly to his knees. He waved off assistance from his sons, and both of them hovered helplessly on either side of old man. The rest of his family including his wife, daughter in laws and grandchildren were arrayed behind him in the courtyard of their family home. Every single eye was fixed on the lone man in the elaborate metal mask, standing in front of the Kumura patriarch. There was a katana resting casually on his shoulder, the blade wreathed in flame.

The parahuman known as Lung, was shirtless despite the winter chill and dressed in a pair of worn blue jeans. It was a stark contrast to the expensive suits the Kumura's were wearing. Over the past two months he had systematically worked his way through Tokyo's underworld, seizing control of several gangs by executing the leaders and claiming their position for himself. Lung was bringing the criminal underbelly to its literal knees, with a ruthless effectiveness that had caught the Machine's attention and flagged him as a number.

Shaw's finger moved ever so slightly on the trigger. She could end this now, and remove the threat that Lung posed. He was a pyrokinetic, with adaptive regeneration and no known upper limit. You hit him, he got stronger, faster and bigger in response. His nails and skin hardened, eventually turning into bladed claws and armour plating. The longer a fight dragged on, the more powerful Lung would get, and with no upper limit there was no telling exactly how destructive his transformation could become. He only started returning to normal if there was nobody left to fight, so the best way to take him down was to do it at the start and preferably from range. Unfortunately the Machine believed that he was a potential asset and Finch had agreed, so Lung was off limits for the moment.

Her earpiece chirped and Shaw shifted, moving deeper into the shadow of the window she was setup at. "Now's not a good time, Root".

"Shaw, you have 30 minutes to get to Haneda airport. Your flight leaves in an hour". Root's voice carried none of her usual flirtatious tones and Shaw's forehead creased into a frown.

"I'm not done with the mission. Lung is going to be a serious problem if we let him continue".

"Not up for debate, Sameen. Tokyo is the next Endbringer target".

Shaw's heartrate accelerated and she immediately headed for the door. She expertly dissembled her rifle as she moved, slipping the pieces into the specially designed pocket of her peacoat. "How long?"

"She says, six hours, maybe less".

Shaw's jaw set as she took the stairs two at a time. That was not a lot of time to evacuate a city the size of Tokyo, even if they could get the authorities to believe them. "Does she know which one?"

"Leviathan".

That meant that Tokyo was a soft target. The Endbringer would try and inflict as much damage as possible to the city itself. Her eyes fluttered shut briefly, before she pushed open the stairwell door and stepped into the early morning sunlight. The street was chaotic, beeping horns and scurrying office workers marking the tail end of rush hour. Shaw shoved her hands into her coat pockets and kept her head down as she slipped into the stream of people on the sidewalk. "Are we going to try and warn them?"

"No." Root's voice was unwavering. "She say's there's only a 5.6% chance that the authorities would act on it. It's not worth the risk of the Simurgh detecting the warning and tracing it back to us.

Not good odds, but this was a city of 13 million people. Shaw cut off the thought before it could go any further. Their mission was to counter the Simurgh's influence, and they couldn't do that if they were compromised. "Ok", she responded.

"Shaw, hurry." Root ended the call.

Shaw increased her speed to a brisk walk, smoothly navigating around people on the crowded sidewalk. The Simurgh was likely already focused on Tokyo. She needed to get out as quickly and unobtrusively as possible, without drawing any attention to herself. She turned into the side street where she had left her rented motorbike. The Tokyo traffic was going to make it a challenge to get to the airport in time. She pulled on the helmet and revved the engine, before accelerating off, intent on making her flight.

The roar of the bike successfully hid the crack of the crossbow bolt accelerated at supersonic speeds from the rooftop above her. The impact of the bolt lifted Shaw clean off the bike, and the neurotoxin it was covered in ensured she was unconscious before her body hit the ground.

The attacker, a man in a black body suit with an ornate demon mask obscuring his features, dissolved into a cloud of white ash, which drifted away in the breeze. The arrow protruding from Shaw's side also poofed into ash, removing all evidence of the hit.

'Asset compromised'.

In a hotel suite in Hong Kong, Root's hands froze in position on her laptop keyboard.

Security camera footage played on her screen of Shaw's body jerking from the impact of a crossbow bolt, before she went flying off her bike and into the side of a parked car with a sickening crunch. She ended up in a crumpled heap on the road, bits of shattered glass from the car window raining down on her.

'Switching to live camera feed'

Shaw lay very still on the ground, and a shirtless man in a metal mask was now in frame. People were fleeing the area, the side street rapidly emptying of any witnesses.

Tiny little bolts of electricity sparked between Root's hands and the keyboard, and the smell of burning plastic filled the room as the keys started to melt. The screen froze and blanked and Root glanced down in surprise. The tiny bolts of electricity surrounding her hands immediately dissipated.

"Well, it looks like our timetable just got accelerated."

'41.2% chance of successful extraction of asset. 83.8% chance of Simurgh detection.'

"We were always planning on testing Lung's viability as an asset." Root answered the Machine as she lifted her hands off the melted slag that was once a laptop. "Now we get to do that whilst potentially helping a city of 13 million people. Sounds win win to me."

She stood and started gathering her things.

"Not to mention we also get to test how effective our cover identities are against the Simurgh's direct attention. It's risky, but the payoff will be worth it. Make sure Harold receives that last data dump and then destroy all traces of it once he's seen it. I've got this end covered."

The lights flickered wildly as an electromagnetic pulse passed through the room, effectively destroying all the electronic devices in the vicinity, bar the burner phone Root had in her hand. She took a deep breath, her fingers unconsciously drifting to her right ear. "Once I make this call, Simurgh isolation protocols will be in effect for both me and Shaw".

There was a millisecond pause and then the Machine acquiesced.

TBC