Part 4:

"3 days..." Sophia complained.

"I'm not trying to draw too much attention to myself."

"You don't have to go on a killing spree, Hebert, but not even a patrol? Come on!"

I rolled my eyes. "Lay off, Sophia."

"No. Bad enough I'm stuck to you and can't do anything any more, but now I can't even get the rush of things by tagging along? You gave me a taste and then just go back to being lame?"

"Sophia, shut up!" I said, maybe a bit louder than I should have. I lifted my head and looked around. Fortunately, no one was around. "I'm just laying low. You saw what PHO was saying..."

"Well, no shit the Protectorate Eggheads figured out a Parahuman took down the Merchants. A braindead kindergartner could have put that together."

"Well, considering that most of my arsenal comes from those three recently deceased Capes, I'm not in a hurry to show off right now."

"Yeah, have we thanked you for this situation recently, little bitch?" Squealer asked, eliciting another groan from me. She had quickly become another critic of...just about everything I did.

"Can't you at least call me Taylor?"

We aren't friends!" Squealer replied, venom in her voice. "You off us, steal our powers and us, and you won't even let me see Skiddy."

"That's because he's awful. Honestly, some of the things he says..."

"I've heard worse." Sophia chimed in.

"You should be doing anything we ask you to make up for this shitty situation we're in." Squealer continued.

At least Mush was quiet most of the time.

"Listen, I know it's awful, but..."

"Taylor?"

I gasped and dropped the wrench that I was holding. Fortunately, it bounced off of the edge of the truck and onto the driveway. It would have been a real pain to dig it out if it had fallen into the engine and gotten stuck.

"Yes, dad?"

"What are you doing to my truck?"

I bit my lip as I tried to think. I had been hoping he would stay asleep a bit longer. It was a Sunday, after all. I had figured I had another hour or two to put Squealer's power to work.

I had been wrong.

"Um, I've been reading up about basic car maintenance at school. Heard a rattling when we were driving around the other day, and figured I would take a look." Not complete lies. There had been a rattling. I had fixed it about an hour and a half ago. Then I modified it a bit, allowing it to maintain clean oil longer, increase fuel efficiency, improve the heating system.

Squealer said I was wasting her power by not turning it into a monster truck.

"And were you talking to someone?"

Shit I thought. I knew it was a risk talking to my...well, my victims was the best way to put it. I had been hoping he hadn't heard me.
"Just...talking myself through the work. Trying to remember what I read."

"I don't know if just poking around inside my truck is the best way to try these things." dad said.

Squealer and I each scoffed. No mechanic could compare to her power, and we each knew it. I had to bite down a scathing remark.

"It's just basic stuff, dad. I barely touched it, really." I said. Luckily, he had caught me between execution of ideas. "I was just wrapping up. It should be good to go."

He looked skeptical. I couldn't really blame him. I had never shown an interest in cars in my life. I forced a smile, closed the hood, then dashed to the driver's side door. I had grabbed his keys earlier to gain access. I put them in the ignition, noting that a remote start would be simple to install and incredibly convenient, and then started it up.

To my, and surprisingly Squealer's, satisfaction it started instantly and purred like a kitten. It probably ran better than when it was new.

Scratch that, it definitely did.

Dad looked surprised. "Well, it does sound good." he said.

"Like I said, simple."

"Is this your future? Helping your daddy fix his junky truck?" Sophia asked. I had to work to keep the scowl off my face.

"Thanks for this, Taylor." dad said. "I appreciate it. I didn't know you had this in you."

"What can I say? It's a recent development."

"Well, what do you say I go get cleaned up, then we can test your work out for real. Head downtown? Maybe grab some lunch?"

"Sounds great." I replied, my eyes drifting to Sophia. "Oh, and dad? I was wondering if it would be alright if I went out for a bit tonight."

"Oh? What for?"

"A friend from school wanted me to do something with her." I said. I could see the smile begin to spread across Sophia's face. "I'd be out kinda late, but I could get a ride back."

"It's a school night..."

"I know, but I'd really like to go."

My father seemed conflicted, but finally relented. "Alright. As long as you can get a ride home. And if you need one, you can call me."

"It's all set, dad. I'll be able to get home just fine."

"Okay, sure." he said. "Now clean these tools up and get ready to go."

-

"This might not have been the best night to go out..." I said. Looking in the distance, I could see the flames spreading, the smoke rising.

And as I approached, against my better judgement, I could hear the roars coming from the one who caused the scene, as well as the sounds of the Protectorate and PRT Capes who were trying to put him down.

Lung was a known evil in Brockton Bay. An incredibly strong power, and often considered too much trouble to deal with.

And he had decided to set fire to some old warehouse before facing off with some of the local heroes.

I knew I couldn't fight Lung. I could probably kill him, sure, if I got the element of surprise. But that was a pretty risky maybe. I wasn't sure if his scales would stop my power from working. So far, I had needed skin on skin contact. If I found out he was protected, well...

That would be a bad time for me.

So why, one may ask, was I rushing toward the scene of his latest project? Well, there needed to be a reason for him burning down a warehouse. And if there was someone innocent who could be saved, well...

Maybe that would make up for some of the things I had done in my short career as a Cape.

As I approached the warehouse, the smoke was stifling. Even in the Shadow state. I was counting my blessings that the Protectorate were occupied with Lung, leaving only firefighters and police here to deal with the flames. And it seemed that they were operating under the assumption that the building was empty.

I shook my head. No way to be sure. Sophia and, surprisingly, Mush agreed. Lung didn't go for property damage.

When we arrived, the flames had stopped spreading, but the building was still burning and the smoke was still plentiful. Enough that we were unseen from our rooftop perch.

I dropped to the alley between the two buildings and approached the inferno. The flames were toward the front, where the firefighters were, but had spread to the roof as well. From what I could tell, the inside wasn't too bad, yet.

I held my breath, shifted, and plunged through the nearest window.

The smoke was irritating, even in my altered state. When I turned back, I was instantly thankful for the goggles that I had purchased to go under my mask. They had initially been to further disguise my eyes. Now? Now they were actually serving a purpose.

I glanced around, and didn't see much. The warehouse was mostly empty. A few old machines here and there, a few old tables.

And then I saw them. In the center of the room. 4 figures. They all had pools of blood around them, and two looked pretty badly burned.

As I approached, I could barely make out a few larger figures inside the flames. They had been the targets of the initial fiery assault. The two burnt people were the two closest to the masses of flesh.

As I continued walking, I could feel my power flare up. Two of the bodies had the sensation that all Capes did.

"A cape fight, huh?" I mumbled. I wondered for a moment who they were, what the fight was about.

Then I felt the sensation weaken. In both of the bodies. I looked and saw the ever expanding pool of blood around each of them. The flames had claimed their friends, but the wounds were going to get them.

I stopped directly over them, then knelt down and touched them. I closed my eyes as soon as I made contact. Seeing people like this, and two corpses mere feet away was...awful. It was somehow different from when I used my power. When I did, they just looked asleep. These people? They were mutilated.

"I'm sorry..." I said. "Maybe if I had been here, I could have done something. Maybe...maybe I could have saved your friends. But I can still save you two. Kind of."

I decided to stop explaining when I felt their pull weaken again. I reached out with my power and pulled. I decided, as their powers became mine, to push Squealer and Mush back. Sophia's power was too useful for moving to sacrifice in the face of an inferno.

I felt the powers take hold, and then...

Then I started putting things together. My eyes darted to the heaps of flesh in the flames. Not human, not by a long shot. The shape, the general outline, was canine. I glanced to the two who had been dead when I arrived. If they were all capes, and there were dogs here, then one of them must have been Hellhound, though I also discerned that she preferred Bitch. The other, the smaller of the two was Regent. They were each members of a small time gang that was new to the city. The Undersiders. Then that must mean...

"Woah, you actually did it, huh?" a girl's voice asked. "Wasn't really sure when you started getting all sappy there."

I looked toward my two newest ghosts and nodded. "Tattletale and Grue." I said.

"Yeah, that's right." Tattletale said. "This really sucks."

I just nodded. "Lung...he had it out for you? Because...you did something. Acted against him." I saw Tattletale shift slightly, and then it came to me. "You robbed him...robbed his casino? Are you crazy?"

"Well, actually, we're dead." Tattletale said. I could see the shoulders of Grue, the other new addition to my team/powerset slump slightly.

I looked at their bodies, and breathed a sigh of relief. I began to speak at the same time as Tattletale.

"Nothing could have been done." we both said. I looked at her, and noticed a smirk had adorned her face.

"Oni Lee got us." Grue said, speaking for the first time. "Slit our throats while Lung assaulted the front of the building."

"You tried to have Bitch's dogs fight Lung off so you could try to escape, but he toasted them, and the building, and Lee snuck in and cut you."

"Right." Tattletale said. "We were gonna be gone in about 30 seconds, I'd say."

I nodded. I figured that too.

"And now you're using my power to reach the same conclusions that I'm reaching."

I nodded.

"Well, if you two can stop shooting the shit for a minute, maybe we should get out of this burning building?" Sophia asked.

"Right." I said. "Then we can plan."

"Plan?" Sophia asked. I looked to her, and noticed her glancing at Grue with a hint of hatred. Tattletale's power helped to inform me that there was an old rivalry there.

"Plan for what?" Grue asked, seeming not to notice the look.

"Well you..." I said, pointing to Tattletale. "Want revenge. Not just on Lung, but on someone else. Another villain. A boss? Yeah, that's it."

"Ooh, that is kind of annoying to be on this side of." Tattletale said, though she was still grinning.

I then turned to Grue and pointed to him. "And you, even in death, are worried about someone. A family member? A...a sister, that's it."

His body language practically screamed that he was surprised, but I just grinned behind my mask. I assumed it didn't look too different from Tattletales. I shifted into my Shadow state and left the building, already coming up with some ideas.