Restless 3.X.2

Interlude: Brockton Bay Heroes

Emily Piggot glanced at the clock on the wall. Tick, tick, tick… it went, as the clock got closer the midnight. Deep in the bowels of the seemingly glass-built building that bore the symbol of a shield with the letters "P.R.T." on it, there was an enormous table. At this table sat the major heroes of Brockton Bay minus the New Wave, who were running late. She, the director of the PRT, sat at on head of the table. The other heroes glanced away, not looking at her directly, save the respectful Miss Militia and over-effective Armsmaster. Emily Piggot knew she was not a pretty woman. She was heavy set, with her brunette hair tucked away in a bob. She wore a navy blue suit jacket and skirt, as well as a hard scowl on her face. The clock read 11:59 when the conference doors opened.

"Sorry we're late," Lady Photon said tiredly. She walked in with the rest of New Wave. "Long day at the office, and my team wouldn't leave without me."

Emily nodded. Normally she would scoff, and write it off a capes being capes. She hated the superpowered with a passion, but she could understand the efforts of a hardworking woman and the loyalty of a team. "Alright," she spoke aloud, as all the heroes were seated. Herself, Calvert, the Protectorate, the Wards, and New Wave had all attended this meeting. "Thank you all for coming. I assume you know what this meeting is about?"

"The Undersiders, ma'am?" Aegis spoke. His rust and silver costume was shredded after being stuck in asphalt, and wiggling around in it. Some spots were also a lot more red than the usual rust color.

"Correct, Aegis," she said, voice barely softening for a single picosecond. The teen knew his place, as well as how to treat authority figures with respect. Those were traits Director Piggot wished all capes were like; it would make her life a lot easier. She turned her attention back to the table as a whole. "The Undersiders robbed the Central Bank today, and proceeded to make the Wards, as well as Glory Girl, look like absolute fools." Her voice lowered until it was harder than steel.

"How would any of us be able to know how strong that guy was!?" Glory Girl yelled, exasperated. She was wearing a tank top and gym shorts, as her normal superhero suit got destroyed earlier. "He was like the entire Triumvirate combined in one villain!"

"I would not like to hear anything out of your mouth," Emily retorted, "or out of Gallant's mouth. What you two did out there was irresponsible an‒"

"Oh god, not you too!" the teenaged hero groaned. "Just because one 'cape psychologist'‒" she curled her fingers, creating air quotes "‒says something doesn't mean it's true." Glory Girl waved her hand, dismissively. "Psyche was probably some psychology student who didn't know what she talking about anyway; just a troll."

"Not quite," Armsmaster spoke for the first time, the conversation shifting to focus on the Protectorate hero. His silver and blue armor did nothing to reveal his body language, and what was visible of his face showed his mouth set in an apathetic line.

"Dragon and I did research into those who commented on the Undersiders-PRT thread. Unfortunately, Agloolik is using some type of untraceable web-browsing device, most likely Tinker tech," he said, grimacing. 'Another power on the list,' a voice in Emily's head sang, mimicking Clockblocker's post.

Armsmaster continued, "'Psyche' is actually Jazz Fenton, a student of the Brockton Bay Psychology College (BBPC) on scholarship, for her paper on 'Cape Envy', which aptly describes a psychological effect of people without powers interacting with people who have powers." His head turned towards Glory Girl, who was slightly put off. So was Emily, seeing Armsmaster smirk. "So, yes, Psyche does know what she's talking about."

"Do you think we could invite her down here to analyze what happened with Agloolik with our scientists?" Emily asked Armsmaster. He cocked his head and shrugged. "I'll have Dragon get on that," he affirmed. Emily nodded, and turned back to the table.

"Before we go over Agloolik, we will talk about his teammates first," Emily stated. "The Undersiders, the group Agloolik is a part of, were once a minor and elusive group, picking their battles and doing minor crimes. Nowadays, however, they have begun to commit large scale crimes, such as the robbery of an underground ABB casino and the Central Bank. The team consists of Grue, Hellhound, Tattletale, Regent, and, of course, Agloolik."

Emily pushed her rolling chair to the side, giving all of the heroes a clear view of the projector behind her, and stood up. On screen was a picture of a scary-looking man in black leather, wearing a motorcycle helmet with a skull on it. "This is Grue," she continued. "Grue is believed to be the leader of the Undersiders. He is capable of generating darkness from his body that cannot be penetrated by light. It mutes all of your senses should you be stuck inside of it, but some heroes‒" she nodded to Shadow Stalker, Vista, and Clockblocker "‒believe he is able to see clearly inside of it. It is also capable of Trumping some abilities, such as Shadow Stalker's shadow state." The heroes said nothing, quietly paying attention.

"Next is Hellhound," Emily said, flicking the screen to show a burly girl with a cheap dog mask on. "Real name: Rachel Lindt. Lindt began her criminal career with murder, killing a man when she was in one of her foster homes. She has been on the run ever since, and was first seen in the Undersiders as the partner of Grue, when they were the only two. Rachel Lindt has the power to mutate dogs to monstrous forms. Ward interactions with her state that it is not believed that she can control them, but rather trains them extremely well."

"Has anyone ever tried using a dog whistle around them?" Clockblocker said. Emily narrowed her eyes at the inappropriately-named hero, who raised his hands in defence. "What?" he exclaimed. "It's a serious question; if these dogs get better hearing or something, dog whistles must her like a bitch." He smirked, ignoring Vista slapping him for the horrible pun.

"Actually" Armsmaster voiced. "That might work." He began mumbling, taking voice notes into his helmet.

Emily sighed. "Moving on," she said, the screen switching to someone who got lost from a Renaissance fair convention. "This is Regent. It is unknown as to what he can do, as he stays in the background, rarely coming into a physical contact." She tapped the baton in the villain's hand. "This baton also doubles as a taser. Watch out for that," she said, looking at the resident Tinkers and Shadow Stalker.

The screen moved again, and this time, a girl wearing a lavender and black costume with thick vertical and horizontal bars of black, with the emblem of a stylized eye on her chest. She sported a belt with a holstered gun, as well as a black domino mask on. "This is Tattletale," Emily said. "Similar to Regent, we do not have a definite idea of what her power is. Although, based on her name, we believe it is some type of Thinker power. Tattletale has also shown expert use of guns." She stopped, and looked at the table of congregated heroes. "Any questions before we move on?" Emily asked.

"No," Sarah Pelham said, answering for her team. "Let's see the villain who beat our junior heroes." Victoria Dallon blushed at that, as well as the majority of the Wards, sans Shadow Stalker, who hadn't been there.

Emily nodded, face set in a scowl, and the screen changed to two pictures of the villain of national discussion. The left one showed a teenager with an easy-going smile. He wore a black trench coat over a white muscle shirt with a green skull on it with red eye sockets, similar in design to an Earth Aleph comic called 'The Punisher'. His black cargo pants looked as though they had items inside, but nothing could be seen. Shiny green chains were attached to his pants, either made of an unknown metal or, most likely, just painted. He had his fists raised, showing off his fingerless white gloves. His hair was white, like an absence of color, and his eyes were toxic green.

The picture on the right reminded her of Nilbog, which set her on edge. Not because of its similarity, but because the of its aura and eyes. This picture of Agloolik had him with blood red, glowing eyes. Eyes that promised pain and suffering. His hair was standing straight up, licking the sky with white flames. His body physique tripled in muscle mass, making him look even more menacing with his permanent sneer.

The new Agloolik also looked completely different. His shirt was now a black jumpsuit with white accents beneath his arms and around his neck. He had a white belt on, as well as white rubber boots and black gloves. His skin turned an odd turquoise color, like someone with hypothermia. It was, frankly, terrifying, even to her as a Nilbog veteran. She wondered if Calvert felt the same. She glanced over at the snake, watching him stare at the right picture of Agloolik with wide, fear-filled eyes. 'Yup,' she confirmed.

"This is Agloolik," she said, breaking everyone's trance from staring at the screen. She pointed at the left screen. "For the purpose of not confusing people, we will call this Green Agloolik," she pointed at the right picture, "and Red Agloolik." Emily put her hand down. She nodded towards Armsmaster, and took her seat. The Protectorate leader walked up to the screen and pointed at the Green Agloolik.

"Agloolik is the newest addition to the Undersiders," he spoke, voice commanding authority. "He has seen to be an incredibly powerful villain, defeating Lung on his first night. He displays combat prowess suggesting that he has been trained beforehand. Agloolik has an incredibly long list of powers that vary from intangibility, to cryokinesis, to enhanced senses. He is very powerful and if encountered, do not attack and wait for backup."

"He doesn't look that tough," Shadow Stalker commented. "He probably just got lucky."

Vista scoffed at that. "In that case, we'll just leave him to you next time," she growled.

SS shrugged. Emily scowled at them, and they quieted.

Clockblocker looked at Green Agloolik and cocked his head. "What about Clockwork?" he asked. Armsmaster looked at the boy, and he continued, "In the thread, Agloolik said that he had a mentor, named Clockwork, and alluded that his mentor has some type of extremely powerful time powers. Did you get anything on that?"

Armsmaster scowled, and let out a big sigh. "I'm afraid that I only found references of someone named 'Clockwork' in ancient texts, dating back anywhere from medieval times to Ancient Rome."

"So, is it possible that Agloolik might actually be a time traveller?" Calvert voiced, making himself known. Armsmaster looked away, and spoke, voice shaking, "There...there is a possibility, of th-...of that."

In that instance, the table erupted in discussion, yelling, and whispering. The only quiet ones were: Calvert, who reclined in his chair, deep in thought; Miss Militia, fingering her gun; and Armsmaster, who was trying to quiet the table. Emily got sick of the petty noise quickly, and yelled, "QUIET!" The entire table shut up, staring at her. "Sit," she commanded, and they sat. "Continue," she said, to Armsmaster, taking her own seat.

"Thank you," he said, "but before we continue, I'd like for our invited guests to appear."

"'Invited guests'?" Emily Piggot inquired.

"That would be us."

Every head at the table swerved, recognizing the voice. The blue-clad Legend stood in the open doorway, black-clad Alexandria and green-clad Eidolon behind him. The Triumvirate stood comfortably, like they owned the place. The three heroes exuded an aura of authority, one even herself would submit to. They walked forward and took three empty seats at the opposite head of the table that she didn't even notice before. Glory Girl and Vista looked excited to be sitting next to Alexandria and Eidolon, respectively.

"I believe you said something about time travel?" Legend spoke again. The mood over the table went back from excited to anxious. Armsmaster took a deep breath and began his report.

"First, I looked up the book recommended by Agloolik," Armsmaster began. "It did indeed include a 'spirit' that shares similarities to Agloolik. Also, he said that Blood Blossoms worked exceptionally well against him, but they can only be grown artificially. I also found a mention of a 'white-haired fighter with spectral grace and glowing eyes' in a memoir of a Roman who watched the last gladiator fight before Emperor Nero was overthrown. He claims that the fighter and Nero exchanged words, before the emperor went on to have a panic attack, and became the famous, horrible emperor we know of today."

"Are you saying," Eidolon spoke, with pursed lips. The man was soft spoken and reserved, but his voice still had the authority of any of the other members of the Triumvirate, "that Agloolik might be somehow responsible for the insanity of the reign of Nero?"

"Maybe," Armsmaster admitted. He went on, "Later, I began search the name 'Clockwork', as a proper noun. I found a few mentions of it from a medieval book called 'The Tome of the Dead'. In this book, it was said that the author talked with a spirit that appeared in a 'flash of green'. When he asked the spirit had appeared, the spirit smiled and spoke, 'All reputable men seem modest although some try enticing rings.' It is unclear as to what the 'spirit' was trying to say, but it was recorded anyways for the sake of 'science'."

As the table hushed into silence, Armsmaster took a deep breath to begin the next part of his report. But before he could, Laserdream shot up from her chair.

"Oh shit!" she exclaimed. The table turned to her, and she looked at Armsmaster. "I need a pencil and paper, NOW." she ordered. Emily reached under the table, and grabbed on of the slips of spare work paper, as well as a pen. When she came back up from the table New Wave was pestering Laserdream as to what she thought of, but her lips were sealed. Emily watched, out of the corner of her eye while handing the things to Laserdream, the Triumvirate watching intently.

Laserdream began writing on the paper, talking as she wrote. "All...reputable...men...seem...modest...although...some...try...enticing...rings…" she looked up at Armsmaster. "Right?" she asked. He nodded in confirmation. Laserdream smirked. "Now watch this," she challenged. And she wrote the words out vertically:

All

Reputable

Men

Seem

Modest

Although

Some

Try

Enticing

Rings

"The first letter of each word," Laserdream spoke aloud, and the table was quiet for several seconds. That was, until Assault voiced what they were all thinking:

"Well shit."

[][][][][]

[A/N]: When I was typing "Brockton Bay Heroes", I accidentally wrote "Brockton Bay Herpes" and didn't notice until typing up this [A/N] XD.

So! That's the end of the Restless Arc! Also, if you're wondering what the right picture of Agloolik really looked like (the Dark Dan), look up "dark dan" on Google Images, and look at third image. It should have a teenage Dan with one hand on his waist and one hand pointing up. Minus the goatee and with shorter hair, of course.

I've gained so many people who like this story, as well as my own beta reader! Next up is the Host Arc! Danny has to deal with putting Dan back to sleep, the Undersiders question Danny what the fuck that was, and you'll be getting a Cauldron interlude to the boot! Isn't this going to be awesome!?

And now...the thanks. The thanks to all the people who either favorited or followed (or both) my story during this arc. *deep breath* Okay, here we go. Thank you, to:

20Qsoccer

Arazmas

AtlanticFire

Auram

Blue-Fire01

Bonewyrm

ChildOfNight6822

Creus

D. D. Flame

D4rk SouL X

Damon Solo

DarkBlur2005

Darkshadeclone

Dawnk41

DragonofRuin

Dreecara

Dreemurr009

Dwitysh

Dymian

Ergoan

FanFicReader105

Fanreader1991

FateBurn

Feral17

FinalGuardian

FrankZTank15

GaruAlpha

Glaciaj Flamoj

Glistoi

Gorion

HiHelloIWeird

HungryGremlin

Idubtheedead

Kainebones

Keimarios

Jahoan

Jason123456

JimistheName

Legionnaire Kael

Lewascan2

Lord Wrath

Luke Earthrunner

MAXAJIbI4

Master Reaper

Mau mau 2000

MasterChief09

MeatLover2014

Meteorthunder3

MightyBommb

Mysterymuffin2 - MY BETA!

Minxiboo

Namir the Tiger

Nightmare Nursery

Nine Lives Bladeworks

Outfoxed-Raider

Reincarnated Koala

Rushem

Ryu1373

Seigogerman

SeijuroRen

Sol of the Twilight

Soluna Skystar

Survivor243

SyQadelic

Tenebrissol

Terjeal

TerminalWritings

The King's Knight

The Last Garou

TheFanFictionary

TheLiteraryLord

TheOneWhoForgotSomething

Time Hollow

TimeLordLucario

True Overlord Laharl

Tz342

Unknown4804

Wrath of the Storm

Xander Koh

Yeager42

Zer Author

Zorobak

abliven

.com

akityro

.5

alrius

altonlangston1

andy710

animecat8888

anonann

artieisan

atelierduquette

bigthunder

cjm112233

cmccc

claw reacher

darkmavrik1

deathstar001

djett4

doraemax

drake-dragon-10

dtazman

duel06

gjin19

gorn8

goddragonking

hulk121792

jame33333

jroetzer

kazekitsune666

kistune634889

kitsuneshade

knolden

kovabe24

lolboblord

mariannetorn2

matthew116

nemecmj

noman09

pandalord20

powerbome

rusty32536

scythninja

shadowdragon132

shuyinapril

sos1993

tapionwarrior

The-ck

toothless20

tristan61

tsukinopen

vampireharry the 2

yunne1990

*takes sweet inhale* GEEZ that was a lot of people! 146 to be exact! Glad to see so many people enjoy my story! If you don't see your name here, either you favorited and/or followed before (and your name has been featured in a previous interlude) or you haven't favorited/followed yet! Well, why not? You're already here, at the current end (as of whenever chapter 22 hasn't gone up)! Well, I'm going to go rest. Have a good day, peoples!

~Slenderbrine