1.4

I needed to find a better way to travel. Allfather was enough of a gentleman to carry me, but getting bounced against his armor as he ran was uncomfortable. On the other hand, walking wasn't really an option at this point. I was totally exhausted, and there was no way I'd be able to make it across town on my own.

I'd only gotten a few minutes of sleep earlier. The song woke me. A low note vibrating endlessly on the edge of my mind. It reminded me of whale song. Eerie and ethereal, but beautiful at the same time. As I listened to it, I knew. I don't know how I knew, but I did. If I followed the song, I would find another ghost.

"How strong are you?" I asked. Allfather was running noticeably faster than a baseline human could, and his armor didn't seem to be slowing him down at all.

"From what I recall, my Protectorate threat ranking placed me at Brute 3. I've got a minor suite of strength and stamina. And that's before you come in."

Allfather didn't even sound out of breath. I wasn't sure if he needed to breathe, actually.

"What about me?"

"I noticed it earlier. I don't get tired anymore, and I don't feel pain in the same way now that I'm a…" He hesitated. "A projection?"

"Just say ghost."

"There are no such things as ghosts, Taylor." He adjusted his grip on me, but kept running. I wondered what it must look like to anyone who saw us. Brockton Bay was a weird city, but seeing a man in full medieval armor run through the streets wasn't normal.

That reminds me." He said. "Your name."

"What about it?"

"You need to pick a cape name. I can't keep calling you Taylor in public."

That gave me pause. It made sense, I was a parahuman now. It was just that… It hadn't sunk in yet. I didn't think of myself as a cape. I was still getting over the whole "not a ghost" issue.

"I'll think about it." I said noncommittally.

Allfather grunted. He covered a few blocks before he spoke again.

"How about… Death's Head?"

"I'm not a Nazi, Allfather." I scowled at him. His laughter sounded metallic behind his helmet.

"Totenkopf."

"No."

"Geist."

"No."

"Nachtmahr."

"These all sound like Nazi names."

"Just because it's German doesn't mean it's related to the Third Reich." He said.

I banged my fist against his chestplate, punctuating my words.

"No. Nazi. Names."

Allfather laughed again as I cradled my now injured hand.

"Maybe… Hel?"

"I'm not a supervillain either. I can't name myself after Hell."

"Not that Hell. Hel, the Norse goddess of the dead."

I thought about that. It was a little bit much, but it was better than anything else he'd suggested so far. And it didn't make me sound like a Nazi. But…

"I like it, but it still makes me sound like a supervillain."

"Aren't you?"

I pounded his chest with my other hand.

We followed the song halfway across town. Now and then, I'd have Allfather stop so I could listen to it and get an idea of the direction. The nearer I got, the stronger the song got.

We were getting into the south part of town before we really started closing in on it. The area was nicer than the Boat Graveyard, but only barely. The further south we traveled, the more rundown the buildings were.

I hung on tight as Allfather rounded a corner. I was noticing a lot of Merchant gang tags on the buildings in this area. There was a faint orange glow over the horizon; the sun was coming up. We'd still have some cover of darkness, but there were going to be a lot more people out soon.

"Stop squirming." Allfather growled.

I tried, but it was hard. I was getting impatient. The signal was getting strong enough now that I kept losing track of my thoughts. It wasn't hypnotic or anything, it was just that when I heard something so beautiful, I had to listen to it.

Allfather hooked around another corner and stopped dead. We both stared in shock at the street ahead of us. There was a… I hesitated to call it a truck. It looked more like the bastard child of a monster truck and a scrap heap. It was belching out thick plumes of smoke as it sat idling in front of a warehouse.

The song was very strong, and I knew we were at our destination. Allfather's steps slowed, and he moved into the shadows.

"Cars have changed a lot since I died." Allfather said. "What do you think, Taylor?"

I didn't want him walking in on whatever was going on up there. That looked like something cape related. And if there was a dead parahuman in there, it might mean that whoever owned the truck was responsible. I thought harder. Wasn't there a cape that made ugly ass cars like that? A Tinker… I couldn't think of a name though.

I relayed my thoughts to Allfather.

"Why don't I hang back, and you can scout the place using your powers?" He said.

"You can come with. You're aware of my surroundings when you're not out, right?"

He nodded his assent, and I returned him to my power. I felt surprisingly exposed without him. There was nothing that could possibly hurt me, but his presence was reassuring.

I strode down the street, giving the tinker vehicle a wide berth. It was even uglier up close. Huge sheets of metal were welded into haphazard armor, and gun turrets stuck out like quills all over it. It was quieter than I'd expected though. Barely a dull rumble escaped it, when it should have rattled windows up and down the street.

The door to the warehouse hung open. I walked through the wall, just in case. The inside was… I'd call it disgusting, but that wouldn't begin to describe it. Dozens of unconscious Merchants lay around the room. Most were half-clothed or less, and the room stank of body odor and stale sex.

Bottles carpeted the floor, mixed with a tide of vomit, urine, and spilled alcohol. I didn't think I could throw up as a ghost, but I made an honest effort at it.

Still following the song, I crossed the warehouse as quickly as I could. I resorted to just walking through the sleeping Merchants, rather than picking my way through the maze of filth.

A flight of stairs led up to a small office overlooking the floor. Words carried down to me, and it looked like the office was crowded. I made it halfway up the stairs before the office door burst open. I ducked out of instinct. A tall man with a scraggly green mohawk scrambled out of the office and ran down the stairs.

A second man, short and greasy looking followed closely behind. He tripped at the top of the stairs and rolled down them. The first man barely looked back as he ran for the exit.

"You're fucking dead, Mush!" Someone screamed. A woman stood framed in the doorway to the office. She was skinny, almost emaciated, her face twisted with anger.

The short man leaned against the bottom of the stairs, holding his leg.

"Squealer, don't! It was an accident!" He yelled. Squealer walked slowly down the stairs.

"An. Accident." She snarled. "Mush royally fucks up, and it's an accident."

She pulled a wrench from her tool belt and threw it at the short man. It clanged off the railing, barely missing his head. He started hobbling toward the exit.

"Skidmark's dead, Moist!"

The woman, who I guessed was Squealer, pounded down the stairs after Moist. Those all sounded like cape names. I had a vague idea that Squealer was a Merchant leader, but I had no idea who the other two were.

Squealer pulled on an oil-stained bandanna for a mask and went out the door. I made to go after her, then stopped. The song was still going. I knew that if I went up the stairs, I'd find another ghost. But I didn't want to let the capes just leave. There was something important going on.

Allfather's crystal stirred. He was signaling me. I pushed it free, letting him reappear beside me on the stairs.

"I will go after them." Allfather said. He looked around the warehouse at the piles of sleeping Merchants, his disgust palpable. "Degenerates like them have no place in this city."

"No killing." I said firmly. Allfather's blue eye met my eyes. I matched gazes with him for a long, tense moment before he nodded.

"As you wish."

He drew a sword with his power and saluted me with it, pressing the blade to his forehead.

"Be careful, child."

"You're the one I have to worry about." I said. "Nothing can hurt me."

"Be careful anyway. I can't protect you if I'm not with you."

Allfather turned with a swish of his cape and headed after Squealer. He walked resolutely forward, not even sparing a glance for the Merchants as he stepped on them. I watched him go, then headed up into the office.

The room was small, most of the furniture pushed against the walls. Stacks of money and drugs took up most of the table space. It was appalling that even a gang as low-brow as the Merchants could just have this much cash sitting around. I made a note to have Allfather steal it after we got done. I didn't know what I'd use it for, but it'd be better served in my hands than the Merchants'.

There was a door at the back of the office. I reached for the knob out of pure habit before remembering that I couldn't open it. I walked through instead.

It was a storeroom. One of the Merchants had converted it into a makeshift lovenest. Cheap, scented candles lined the shelves, punctuated by empty wine bottles. A grubby mattress lay against the far wall. On it was a dead man. The song stopped, leaving me emptier for its absence.

I approached slowly. It was one thing to know what my powers did, and entirely another to see a corpse. He looked different from the unconscious Merchants downstairs. More… still in some way. Less real. Like he'd lost something integrally human when he died.

I stared at him, unsure of what to do, when my power pulsed. It radiated out from my body like a wave, suffusing the room. I felt something react, resonating with me in the same way the song had. Wisps of smoke billowed from nowhere, coalescing together. They gathered thicker and thicker, until they formed a vaguely humanoid shape. The smoke roiled, and then at once, settled, shifting and resolving itself into a mirror image of the dead man.

He looked down at his body.

"Fuckin hell of a way to go." He said quietly. He tried to nudge his corpse with a toe. He phased through it like I would have.

"Sheee-it. I'm a fucking ghost."

"Yeah." I said. He turned to me, his bloodshot eyes narrowed.

"You an angel or something?"

"A cape." I said. "I can… uh- call up dead parahumans."

"Ain't that goddamn nifty." He said, looking at his body again.

"Yeah." I held out a hand. "Taylor, nice to meet you."

He didn't take it. "The fuck d'you want?"

I paused, my hand still outstretched. What did I want him for? I wanted more ghosts, but I hadn't thought of a reason why. Allfather had been an accident, but I wanted to help him anyway. With this guy-

"What's your name?" I asked.

The ghost was trying to nudge his body again. "Skidmark." He muttered.

The words came to me like they had with Allfather.

"What do you want, Skidmark?"

Skidmark scratched at the dark skin of his arm, running his fingers over a patchwork of old scars and scabs. He kept glancing back at his body, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His gaze finally settled on the pile of used needles next to his arm.

"A motherfucking overdose. Ain't that a stinking bitch?" He shook his head. "What's the deal, you're my fairy-fucking-godmother or something?"

"Let's make a deal."

Skidmark snorted. "The only deals I make with skinny white bitches involve my black cock."

I shrugged, feigning disinterest. Why was I so set on making a deal with him? Where was my understanding of this situation coming from?

"There's nothing at all you want?"

He looked like he was about to start laughing again, but I stared at him unblinkingly until he sobered.

"Anything at all?" He said slowly.

"Within reason."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"No catch, no nothing?" He said, sounding like he was starting to believe me.

"Nope."

"What do I want? What do I really want?" Skidmark pointed to his corpse, his voice rising.

"I died like a bitch! I want to show this fucking whore of a city that I wasn't some cheapshit crack dealer! I own a third of the territory and those fuckers up there are too good to give me the time of day. I want to show every last one of those oozing cunts that Skidmark was no one to fuck with!"

"How?"

That didn't sound like anything I wanted to be involved in, but I pressed on regardless. What had come over me? Why was I so… compelled to make a deal with him.

Skidmark hesitated. "Lemme think about it. I'll plan it out." He chuckled darkly. "I roll with you, Skinny Bitch, and you and me are gonna show them all."

"Deal." I said.

(condition set)

And before he could move, I took his hand. Skidmark faded into nothingness, and I felt his presence form inside my power. It wasn't like Allfather's; less… refined somehow. I pushed it free to summon him, and it burst into life.

And then I remembered what had happened when I first called Allfather. My energy poured out of me like lifeblood. Instantly, cold gathered in my extremities, growing up my arms and legs in icy fingers. I tried feebly to cut it off, but it was like the tap was stuck open. The energy would flow until Skidmark's body was formed. A lot of my energy was already going to Allfather; I wouldn't have enough for the two of them!

I pulled at Allfather's connection, trying to sever it, but I was too weak. I only managed to cut down the flow going to him, using the energy to hold on against the tide rushing to Skidmark.

The cold made it most of the way up my chest before it finally started to slow. I let out a deep breath, knowing I'd come way too close. I only had a handful of energy left. If any more had gone to Allfather, I'd have been in real trouble.

I'd fallen to the floor in my struggle, and the reformed Skidmark stood in front of me.
"The fuck was that?" He said. "I feel weird."

"Wha- we're linked now." I gasped. "You're part of my power. You're corporeal."

He stared at me.

"You can touch things." I said.

"No shit." He said, sounding amazed.

Skidmark grinned broadly as he finally got to poke his own dead body. I staggered to my feet, running through my plans in my head. I'd have Skidmark get the money, and we'd rejoin Allfather at whatever he was-

An explosion sounded from outside the warehouse, shaking dust from the walls. At the same time, I felt a huge chunk of Allfather's energy vanish. Mine poured in to fill the gap before I could stop it. The last bit of power I'd held onto flowed to Allfather.

Black spots appeared at the edge of my vision. Skidmark was saying something, but the words didn't make sense. I was… somewhere. The room was spinning around me and…

I was…

…dy…ing

…