A/N: You know, sometimes its hard to put the details in; having people speak and wondering how to say that they're speaking is a hassle. Also, I think I tried to put too much info in this one chapter, its clunky to me despite is necessarity.
Edit: Do due to his dogged following of a thought, this Chapter is now dedicated to UltimateGrr, because without him, an entire sub-plot would be missing its Keystone.
-Worm-In-Waiting-
Winslow High was substandard fare in terms of a high school, it lacked a proper gym being only one building, the grounds themselves were only mostly kept, with cracks and weeds sporting up fairly commonly. The lower windows were barred, the paint was peeling in places and it was clear that the building hadn't seen some good maintenance in years. If anything, the ice tree had improved things, giving a sense of grandeur to the rundown space.
On the other hand, Armsmaster reflected as he was led around the side of the building, it made entering the school a pain with all the tree limbs bursting through the windows and doors.
"The front entrance is blocked off, but this emergency exit here is still open." The PRT officer waved his hand towards the door. "Well, mostly."
The emergency classroom exit in question was half ruined by an icy tree branch spiraling out from its frame on the right side, while the entryway was still accessible, it would be a tight fit.
Armsmaster nodded. "Thank you."
"Good luck." And with that, the officer walked away, leaving Armsmaster behind.
Above, shadows cast from the tree played across the ground; behind him, the PRT was in full swing evacuating the area following an order from Director Piggot. She had apparently taken what Panacea said to heart about the trees effects and had ordered a quarantine for the entire block.
All of this meant that Armsmaster was able to squeeze through the gap between the frame and the limb without anyone noticing him sucking in his gut. It wasn't that Colin was unfit, but there was only a certain range one could get in body mass vs muscle mass and maintain peak fighting efficiency. Having power armor didn't help, nor did the fact the 'gap' required a bit of contortionism to get through.
Inside wasn't much better. The floor of this classroom was littered with books, backpack, papers bits of drywall and ceiling panels, with most of the desks being shoved out of the way, forming a path to the exit. A few lights flickered, drawing the eye towards the ice branches that twisted along the walls. Armsmaster noted backpacks and purses on the floor, likely dropped in the rush to escape. The branch that blocked the entranceway behind him followed a trail that took it from the wall, up the ceiling, across, then connected to another branch on the left side, that one having burst through the wall there.
There as a tone over Armsmasters helmet, one that alerted him of someone contacting him, in particular, it was one he had set to signify that it was Dragon.
"Dragon. Thank you for your assistance."
"It's no problem Armsmaster," said Dragon. "So, I've connected to your suit and am monitoring your vitals, I've also pulled the blueprint for the school from the city's servers. Give me a minute and I'll run some predictions for where you should be able to find the source of all this."
"And hopefully the parahuman responsible." Armsmaster paused as he walked carefully through the classroom. His own sensor suite said that everything was stable, but given the state of the building, it was highly unlikely that it would stay that way.
"Correct, I'm even going to use one of your own algorithms that you lent me."
Part of the floor and wall near Armsmaster was wet from a busted pipe, but the spot it was broken from was overshadowed by an ice branch. Did the capes power require a source to manifest?
"Excellent, it will give me a chance to optimize it later. What do you make of this, cause or effect?" Armsmaster asks, indicating the wall.
"According to the blueprints, a major water pipe does run through that area, and the tree is made of ice. However, from the dimensions that I've been able to get from the tree and from the city's water records, there is far too much ice to water for it to be a straight conversion."
"That doesn't include if the cape powers manifest water… a hydrokinesis based power, like Leviathan?" suggested Armsmaster. "Just much faster, given that it apparently formed in a matter of minutes."
"That might also explain its structure as well, a growth like that could have arranged itself into crystals for support, but it doesn't account for how it's been formed; the ice is too smooth, like it was cut into shape, it's all angles from what I've gathered from the photos sent to me."
Armsmaster carefully ran a gauntleted hand over the ice, mindful of the contact as per Panaceas instructions. His hand found no imperfections just as Dragon had said and the angles looked to be laser cut with how perfect they were. Even his suit sensors reported nothing in terms of imperfections. "Remarkable, is it a natural effect of the power, or is it the effect of the human powering it to enable streamlining? I wonder if this power can be used with other materials?"
"We won't know the whole story about this power until we find the cape responsible."
With a flick of his eyes, Armsmaster pulled up the blueprints for the building and added a few adjustments for his path based on the branches he'd already encountered and the ones outside and frowned. From what little he'd already seen, it was going to be difficult to reach the upper levels, were the source or center was, and the parahuman responsible. "Agreed, anything new to report on that front?"
"Well, Piggot practically gave me a blank slate for helping the PRT out in solving this, including, if you ask to make it so, hack into the schools systems to gather the students records as well as server data on all PCs to identify any potential Pre-Trigger warning events, then into any phones that were used just before and after the event was first recorded, all following standard PRT investigative protocols. With that I can get a timeline going with the data and maybe even track down the Parahuman responsible; All you have to do give the requests for the record, because you know, technically I'm hacking into a government facility and violating several laws."
Armsmaster had to grin, sometimes his Canadian friend was eccentric when it involved laws and following them, something that he could understand perfectly; even if it sometimes got in the way of getting things done.
"Very well, I grant permission from the Protectorate."
"Right! I'll let you know what I find."
Winslow Highs main halls were set in a cross pattern with double crossings. From the main entrance lay a 'lobby' of sorts, mostly used as a seating area for the administration rooms to either side, from it the main hallway extended being bisected twice by halls at right angles then again after several classrooms, allowing the school to fit even more rooms along the outer walls. At the end of the secondary halls were the stairwells, with another set at the back of the school. It was clear that the building wasn't built for style, just maximizing how many classes they could fit into it.
Armsmaster was lucky in that the classroom he exited out of was not only just next to a stairwell, but also on the one side of the school and had less of the branches flowing through it, so he was able to quickly ascend to the next level. Once there however the real issues began.
All of the schools' floors followed the same floor plan, so this meant that it was easy to get from one class to the next just by taking a few turns or/and going up/down a level, however, things become difficult when the halls got blocked by ice branches.
Twisting brambles of ice lay in front of the hero, and while he could see a way through it, forging a path would be difficult due to both the fact it would require some squeezing through the gaps, as well as the fact he wanted to limit his exposure as much as he could; speed was key, but recklessness was not.
Luckily there were other stairwells, but the pattern repeated behind Armsmaster, blocking him into the one stairwell. But there were other ways forward, and Armsmaster had just the tool for getting it done.
While the bramble of branches blocked the hall, it didn't block the door into the classroom next to it. Inside it was similar to the downstairs classroom, desks scattered, bags left behind, the difference was the location.
Armsmaster reached behind himself and disengaged the magnetic locks holding his Halberd in place, and with a fancy flick of his arm and hand that was absolutely necessary, he embedded the weapon into the wall. There was a dull crack as it slammed into its target, and the hero could feel from the feedback and the notice on his HUD that he'd hit some kind of local support, but he finished his cut anyway, then did three more just as quickly.
A single good kick was enough to knock free the section he'd cut loose and Armsmaster walked calmly through the room and out the door, bypassing the blockage to continue forward…
"Ok, I'll have to run better calculations on the school if you don't just want to cut your way through everything."
… and straight into another one blocking the stairwell, as well as the other halls.
Armsmaster pulled an one-eighty and walked back down the hall and into the last classroom.
"Based on where this grouping of branches are, and given that it seems the branches seemed to follow the main halls, the area above should have the best chance to be free of obstructions, correct?" he asked the Canadian cape.
"Yes…" Dragon began. "But the floors are thicker than the walls Armsmaster."
"But not unmanageably so," Armsmaster replied.
He was more careful with his cuts and stood well clear when he made the final ones, which was well rewarded when several desks came down along for the ride. A quick check of his sensors, and Armsmaster shrunk down his Halberd, jumped up with it above him. When it reached above the floor on the next level, Armsmaster reextended it, forming a solid pull-up point that he used to launch up himself into the room in a way that would have made any gymnast proud.
A necessary act, considering that it was unlikely that the schools interior supports for the classrooms could have held up to his grappling hook, let alone his added weight.
Unlike the ones below, this classroom was much further damaged as a branch seemed to have torn its way through the ceiling and into a wall, but the door was unblocked and Armsmaster was quick to travel through it. On the other side however, he was forced to step on and over several smaller branches that intersected at waist height.
"How sure are you that Artic is gone?" Armsmaster asked after having to double back from a another blocked off hallway.
"Well, considering that he hasn't been seen for years, and he was last spotted fighting the Ascetics in South America, and we do know what they do to those that defy them, pretty sure," Dragon replied. "Why?"
"Just a thought, Artic was a Tinker, one of the best, even considering his life choices."
"Colin… he was considered an international eco-terrorist."
Arctic was a… complicated case for the world, no one knew who he was, just that he was a Tinker who specialized in what many thought to be cold climate gear, weapons and its parallels. In truth, it was more accurate to say that Artic was a Tinker specializing in cold. He used many devices over the years to stop oil rigs by freezing the drills solid, cripple whale hunting, even fight off forest logging, all in the name of protecting what he declared was the most valuable thing Humans could have. Earth itself.
The biggest issue that governments had in trying to take him down however was the fact that Arctic not only was fighting for the environment, but also working to protect it with the help of the public. He ran fundraisers, and did public works, appealed to governments with plans and technology to cut back on the very things he was fighting, and did everything in his power to get the word out for what he stood for.
Over the years however Arctic grew more violent in his attacks, and in time began to target more than just those 'attacking the planet for their own gain.' What started as him crippling a Human trafficking ring, ended with him trying to take on the entire dug cartels in the western hemisphere to try and eliminate drug production at its source.
"… Yes, I am aware. He was a brilliant Tinker however and had several recorded cases of reserve engineering other Tinkers work for both his own use as well as for the public. And I respected what he was trying to accomplish… at first." Armsmaster said. "Part of me believes it was a lack support from those he wished would listen to him that drove him to such extremes. If he just had joined the PRT instead, it would have been very likely his name would have been spoken in the same sentences as the Triumvirate."
"Well, he did freeze an entire oil spill without affecting the surrounding waters, so I understand where you're coming from; also here's the best spot for cutting through that wall, it would be best for you to go up through this classroom, the one on the other side is below a chemistry class."
Armsmaster sighed and turned away from the blocked stairwell, his last bet for getting upstairs the easy way, his Halberd out to make a new route in the labyrinth that once was a school.
-Worm-In-Waiting-
After once again forging a new upwards path into a classroom, Armsmaster stepped up to traverse over a grouping of tree limbs, these ones twisting in from the ceiling and bouncing from one side of that particular hall to the other, even going through the floor in places. Luckily the structure still seemed stable, even three stories up. Armsmaster was able to climb over the desk-sized limb with ease and continued to follow along its current path down the left side of the hall, towards his destination.
It was here that out of the corner of his eye, Colin spotted his reflection, lounging on the very same limb that he was stepping over, sprawled on his side.
He wasn't wearing his helmet. Golden glowing eyes regarding the hero as he turned his head to look, and with a smile that was just a little too wide to greet him, spoke.
"Hey!"
The slam of flesh on metal caused Colin to whip around to see a bald teenager with his hand pressed against the glass of a classroom door blocked by an branch.
"Its fucking Armsmaster! You got us outa here man!" Behind the teen, several other students shoved their way forward, all shouting for to hero for help them out.
Colin ignored the teens for a moment as he spun around to see his apparition.
There was nothing on the limb, just some debris from the wall it had carved into.
Armsmaster opened up his recording software, eye and hand moments quick as lightning from experience, he only needed to rewind a few seconds….
The hallway, the camera moving as Armsmaster stepped up, here, the turning of his head…
Nothing.
Not a thing showed on his recording, not even something that he could constitute as being reflective enough to explain what had just happened.
"Colin, are you ok?" asked Dragon. "Your vitals just spiked."
"… It was nothing," Armsmaster replied, turning back to the door. "A trick of the light. I did find some of the missing students however."
With his Halberd unable to cut through the 'ice,' Armsmaster was forced yet again to cut a section of the wall out in order to get into the classroom, as most of the door was blocked off. After telling the teens to keep their distance, and after pausing to check that he wasn't going to hit a pipe or electrical cable and cause possible harm to those inside, a few swift slashes and Armsmaster was climbing into the class, guard up and ready.
Armsmaster counted thirty-five students and one teacher, all mostly from a variety of backgrounds, though it seemed that this class was mostly leaned towards the white skinhead group, like the one that had gotten the heroes attention, but there were still a few other ethnicities in the room.
Speaking of which, it was mostly intact. It seemed that being one of the interior classrooms meant that with the door blocked, there was no other way out; unless one counted the hole in the floor from where a tree limb had punched through from the ceiling, which, judging from the lack of desks around it and what seemed to be a few improvised tools, some attempts had been made on getting through the floor alongside it.
Despite the rather obvious tattoos that several of the students sported, as well as what his own sensors pegged as hidden weapons, Armsmaster put on his best professional hero face.
"Is anyone hurt or experiencing any ill effects from their time here?"
Let it be said that Armsmaster wasn't known for his public speaking.
Several of the students mumbled and looked to each other as the female teacher stepped forward. "Other than being stuck in here with the glowing piece of ice and each other no, I think we're fine. We all just want to get out of here."
Armsmaster nodded then consulted both his map and Dragon. "The path back is too risky, but we are working on getting ladders for evacuation through the windows. I'll cut another way through the other side of the room, you should be able to get to one of the windows and signal outside from there."
"You're not coming with us?" asked the teacher as the hero walked across the room.
"No, I need to find the source of the ice, we can't have this escalate," said Armsmaster.
Once more, Armsmaster's Halberd was used in making holes, this one slightly wider to make it easier on the civilians. A quick glance through showed a hallway no different than the last, but there were a few doors free of blockages, and it was largely accessible by foot.
"I've notified the PRT about you all, they are working on getting up here as we speak," Armsmaster said. "As you all more likely know the area better than I, finding a window should be easy. Try to limit contact to the limbs and branches as best as you can, their effects haven't been fully documented yet."
This of course, prompted more muttering. "What kinds of effects?" one asked.
"Nothing more than you've already experienced," Armsmaster replied. "Many have already recovered from it, but that is no reason to take unnecessary risks."
His words, while blunt, were enough for the class to get moving; the teacher lead, whether due to her position or if she abused her power of authority was up to debate.
One by one the room emptied, until it was just Armsmaster and the skinhead teen that had pounded on the door.
"You saw him too, didn't you man?" the skinhead asked. "The Double?"
Armsmaster stared for a moment, eyeing the tattoos that marked him as a member of E88; or at least a follower. "I don't quite follow."
The teen tsked. "You know, the ghost, the guy that looks like you, only with a crazy grin and those fucked up eyes." The student shuddered. "Fucker just showed up in the back of the room to mess with us, and not all at once either, only some of us saw him, others, well, they said they didn't, but they still be acting strange, you know?"
"Of course," Armsmaster replied.
He didn't really; considering the circumstances, why wouldn't they be acting strangely?
"The ghosts were even worse though, the ones that looked like those old cartoons where a dudes shadow stood up and started walking you know? Only with paper faces; some of them looked angry, but most looked scared. Did you run cross any of them?" the skinhead asked.
"No."
The kid huffed. "Good. Double boy was creepy, but at least there was only one of 'um."
With that statement the kid left through the gap, following the other students; as for Armsmaster himself, he waited for moment, relaxing his guard slightly now that he was alone, before contacting Dragon. It never would cease to amaze him how people could act in some situations, and he refused to get blindsided in a situation like that.
"Did you get all of that?" he asked Dragon once he was sure the class had left the area.
"Yes, I've forwarded it to Piggot and the others. Some of what he said matches to what has been already recorded, but this 'ghost people' are new."
"Could be the opposite," replies Armsmaster as he turned back to leave the way he came in. "Where I am is relativity close to the epicenter. It's possible that these 'shadows' and the Double are the same thing, only more refined."
"It is possible, both for if this Trigger is acting on its own, or more disturbing, that the cape involved is refining their power," states Dragon. "… Colin… your vitals spike from before…"
"Notify the Director that I will be voluntarily going into M/S Screening," Armsmaster interrupted. "But for now, I'm getting close. I can't turn back here, plus I know what to keep an eye out for."
"Well, your vitals have mostly stabilized, but the sensors built into your suit don't give the same fidelity as Panacea can provide, not that I can see what she sees, but… please be careful Colin."
"It is unlikely that my power will be affected by this phenomenon," replies Armsmaster. "…but given the situation, I believe that I can bypass a floor by cutting up into it rather than using the stairs and doing the same to walls if my way becomes blocked, getting me closer to my destination at a faster pace."
"I'll send a few suggestions to your HUD on the most likely places that aren't blocked," said Dragon happily.
Unfortunately, some areas of the school at this point had clusters of branches blocking off parts of it or had been damaged to the point of instability because of them, meaning that Armsmaster was forced multiple times to cut through walls just to get a few dozen feet. Luckily, the extra time allowed Dragon to trawl the networks in an attempt to figure out who had Triggered.
"… The problem is that the school doesn't exactly keep the best records," Dragon pointed out. "Or at least ones that are accessible online. I've managed to eliminate most of the students outside just on the basis of them being on the outside, or that they were among the first ones out. At this point I've begun to cross-reference any police records with the students as well as what few grades that I can get to. Combining that with the records from the PRT are gathering outside, I've got a few ideas lined up on who this new Parahuman is."
Armsmaster pushed the latest in what was many new doorways that he made out of the way; the next hall seemed traversable, though there were several branches twisting their way through it. "Good, if we can identify the cause for the Trigger, then we can avoid any relapses and provide support and psychotherapy if necessary. I still may require some assistance in dealing with them; I am aware that I lack some degrees of social skills and would rather not travel all this way just to stick my foot into my mouth and get put through a wall by an ice growth."
"Colin, that's surprising for you to say, I believe that we're making progress with your social awareness."
Armsmaster grunted as he carefully climbed over a bundle of branches, made more hazardous by water and debris formed by a damaged wall. "More accurately, I have spent considerable time attempting to reach this location, have had to cut through walls, doors, and even a ceiling to make progress, as well as pass through several questionable gaps. During this time it had occurred to me that it would be rather disappointing to get to my destination only to fail and cause an incident because I missed a social cue."
"Ah, well it's a…."
Colin paused as Dragon trailed off, half squeezed through a space between a rack of destroyed lockers and a very thick branch, the floor littered with school supplies scattered from said lockers. "Dragon?"
"… Colin, someone recorded it."
The Canadian Tinkers voice sounded both breathless and horrified to Armsmasters' ears, which fit considering the context.
His armor scrapped against the lockers as Armsmaster forced his way through the available gap; Trigger events themselves weren't strictly 'public knowledge,' but experts understood many of the nuances of them and some of that data was public. There were no hard and fast rules for what powers a new Parahuman would get post-Trigger, but there were some rather obvious data supporting what caused the events for the Trigger could and would influence not only how the new cape would use them, but the basis of them as well; they, unfortunately, generally followed the same patterns as normal humans.
That was to say, if you push someone hard enough, eventually, they can push back, be it mentally or physically.
While not always the case given that humans were… human and prone to both fits of fancy, foolishness and a refusal to follow what should be common sense in Armsmasters opinion, but given Dragons reaction then the events leading up to the Trigger must have been truly horrific, so for Armsmaster it was very important that he gets to the new Cape to offer the best assistance and assurance that he could.
Or, in the worst case, provide containment at all costs to curtail more destruction.
Given both the location, Dragons reaction, and the typical requirements for a Trigger, Colin was reliably able to figure what the chances of this parahuman would slide into the villains' category if not given the proper support. With how the world worked, being different and strange earned a stigma, having this while being a cape as well as the views of what happened during their Trigger would just compound further on that.
However, having a well-known Protectorate member offer assurance, as well his personal assistance and guidance in the matter would likely do wonders in providing the support necessary in keeping them on the right side of the law.
"Dragon, do you have any more data on the Parahuman?"
"Oh god."
Giggle (this should be centered)
Armsmasters head snapped toward the sound, his Halberd swinging around at the ready. Just beyond him a mass of limbs and burst from the ceiling in interlocking patterns, roughly forming a ramp up to the next level.
And as luck would have it, also roughly heading towards the direction where he needed to go.
Carefully, Armsmaster navigated the slope, watching his step due to both the water running down it from bust pipes, and wreckage from the building getting perforated. The next level was a far greater mess than the last. Limbs snaked through walls, floor, and even jutting in and out of the ceiling, many of which followed the pattern of tracing the waterlines, so there wasn't really even much of a hallway left.
Here the glow from the limbs was more noticeable, casting strange shadows, mixing in with the few remaining light fixtures that struggled on. One might expect that upon reaching this point that the limbs from the tree would make the area impassable, but instead the limbs were mostly confined to the walls, like ice vines, causing the lockers lining the walls to be ripped apart, scattering their contents across the floor, and just further beyond it all was Armsmasters objective.
Books, papers, other miscellaneous school supplies and an uneven floor from the limbs cracking through them made for somewhat unsteady walking, but experience and his armor allowed the hero to proceed forward with relative ease.
To Armsmaster, the Origin very much resembled a nucleus rather than some roots, where all the branching limbs had spread out from, going through anything in their way at first, until they began traveling the path of least resistance, through halls, windows, vents and doors. The center however, had rings of branches wrapping around it in spaced layers, similar looking to a tumbleweed, like whatever had formed it wanted to be shielded from the outside.
It wasn't very effective, there were gaps that Armsmaster could slip through, heading into a car-sized space mostly untouched from the chaos beyond. On one side the lockers had been blown away by the limbs, ripped apart by the rapid growth of tree limbs; it was clear where the point-of-origin was for the event, a thick mass of ice where from where all the limbs and originated on one side of the shielded sections, embedded in the wall.
But it was the sole body lying face down on the floor in the middle of it all that took Armsmasters' attention.
The body was stick-thin and half hidden among fallen ceiling panels, long curly black hair was spread out over the tile, twisted remnants of a backpack still clung to them, and they didn't seem to be moving. Armsmaster took a few more steps forwards, carefully navigating through the last of the tangle of protective branches to enter the van sized clearing in the center, and nearly smacked his head on one limb because of a smell that rushed out to meet him.
It was an ungodly smell, wafting on the still air, had the wrong pipe been burst somewhere nearby? Armsmaster shook it away when his suit declared no toxic chemicals in the air; a bad smell wasn't going to stop him, even if it was rank and one of the worst he'd ever experienced.
"This is Armsmaster of the Protectorate, if you are awake please respond."
There was no movement, no signs of life, and despite all the upgrades and improvements that he could make to his armor, Armsmaster never really could make that 'life signs' detector as Dragon had once called it, so without physically checking the body, he had no idea what to expect; were they simply unconscious? Dead from their own power? It had happened before, parahumans tended to be immune to their own power, but the effects their powers had on the environment were another story.
Or were they biding their time for another attack? Seeking revenge for the same reason that this had happened?
Again, Armsmaster was reminded of how foolish humans could act sometimes, even in clear defiance of their own health or self-being. The hero had personally had to deal with the aftermath of a villain, who in the process of trying to flee, thought it would be a good idea to use explosives inside a chemical workshop. It took days for his hearing to return, and Colins right ear was supplemented by an implant, backed up by his helmet until Panacea came along. It also had imparted a lesson to never to be unprepared for anything.
As such, Armsmaster was extremely careful when reaching out towards the body and kept his shortened Halberd at the ready. It was at this range that he noticed the body had brownish-red spots covering it, mixed in with the hair, the clothes. A byproduct of an attack? Trigger events never happen in a vacuum and with this being a school…
No less then a dozen alerts popped up on Armsmasters HUD when he touched the bodies shoulder as the many sensors embedded in his armors hand lit up. Low body temp, extremely low heart rate was just two; because while he couldn't make a remote scanner, being able to touch a perp and ascertain their basic state of health was very effective in determining how injured they were, or if they were faking or lying to his face.
Biohazard was the one that caught his eye however.
It was to his shame that Armsmaster reflexively jerked his hand back, then the rest of the data filled in.
As per regulations, all members of both the Protectorate and the PRT were required to have passed both first aid training and basic disaster training, for onsite medical assistance and for Endbringer recovery ops. Colin had gone above and beyond, continuing the courses and even taking several other classes on crime scene investigations, to better get a feel of events he was privy to. Being able to piece things together post-cape incident had helped him greatly over the years.
This meant that even while he was flipping the victim over, following every rule and instruction that his instructors had taught him, he was taking in the bruises on her elbows, the bloodied fingers, missing nails, torn pants at knees, the broken glasses, while he did a complete physical check the best he could do. Her breathing was slow, as was her heart rate, but they were steady, no visible impacts were on her head, so she likely lost consciousness post-Trigger, not uncommon.
He also took in the trail of fluids leading to a destroyed locker, with dents, scratch marks and fresh blood on the door just feet away, markings that he had no doubt upon seeing, would be claw marks from someone trying desperately to free themselves and matching this young woman.
"Dragon," Armsmaster barked. "Get some paramedics ready downstairs, I'm heading back."
"Colin! What happened!? You just went off grid!" replied Dragon just as swift.
"I've found our cape, she needs medical attention immediately," Armsmaster swiftly said into his radio, then paused. "What do you mean I went off grid?"
"I lost all contact with you, no radio, no beacon, nothing for over five minutes! I thought something happened to you and nearly ordered Gallant in through a window after you!"
Armsmaster had no idea what Dragon was talking about, he had been traveling through the building, talking to her the entire time, she had mentioned finding more info on the parahuman…
It was a strange experience, seeing things in retrospect, or remembering in this case. Colin could remember entering the building, finding the blocked stairwell, rerouting, twice, traveling down several halls, even meeting and rescuing the students, all while talking to Dragon, but the moments after he had heard a giggle in the distance… did Dragon speak to him? She must have, she was talking about the parahuman, she had found a video, why would he have ignored her?
Why didn't he notice that his HUD had been turned off? Or that Dragon had stopped speaking?
"I… you nearly ordered Gallant through a window?" he asked, shocked as his mind locked on to that detail rather than his own confusion and unsettlement.
"Well," Dragon began. "I thought… you said you found our new cape? That should be our priority now."
Even to Armsmaster, that change of subject was sudden and obvious, and he made a mental note to bring it back up to Dragon later. But there was a more pressing concern, two if he counted his own mental state.
"Yes, sending the images now." Teaming up with another cape capable of keeping up with data exchanges was always a good thing.
Particularly when things needed to get done quickly.
"According to the school files… her name is Taylor Hebert, she's the same girl from the video, the one they shut in a locker," said Dragon.
"Filled with Human waste," Armsmaster spat. "She's covered with days old blood and has several open wounds, I'm getting her out. Send me that video."
Taylor wasn't heavy so Armsmaster had no problem carrying her, the issue would be first getting her through the shielding limbs, then carrying her back through the halls and down to the medics, but if he used the same path as the students from before, then he could get her out a window instead.
Dragon meanwhile was pulling data from his suit. "There are hormones commonly found during menstrual cycles in the blood, judging from the video… they had let it sit in the locker beforehand, no one was going anywhere near it, it likely smelled bad from her reaction before…"
"I know," Armsmaster replied, carefully carrying Taylor through the tangle of limbs. "Send me the video."
"Colin…"
"Dragon, there is a chance that this girl is dying from an infection right now, and if it wasn't for the fact that Panacea was right outside, I would be asking for a medivac to meet me upstairs. No matter how you look at it, the fact is that someone nearly killed this girl and caused her to Trigger; I want to know who. Send me the footage."
-Worm-In-Waiting-
A/N: on the Locker Incident, several other fics have pointed out what I just did, what happened to Taylor could easily be perceived as a bio-attack or straight up attempted murder; hell, back in medieval times, it was a tactic to throw corpses of animals over walls to inflict disease. So the fact that anyone got away with this is, well, I could rant, but most of you should be able to see where I'm going with this.
And yes, you could argue that the school covered it up, the Shadow Stalkers handler helped hide it, or even that no one stepped forward to talk about it, but the fact remains that what happened in canon should not have happened just by the paramedics and cops looking into things.
But hey, as a someone once said, 'if the protagonist called the cops and they did their jobs perfectly, then the movie would be boring,', so I understand why Wildbow did what he did.
Also, I can't seem to find when Taylor describes Winslow outside the tiny details, so I made it up from what little I could remember and added to it, but it's mostly filler so…
And I still feel like I'm bad at making the little details, putting the flow in between the major points, but hey, if I'm writing this it's unlikely that I' get worse at it, right?
