March 29th, 2011 - Tuesday
Late Morning
"That'll be Hookwolf, Stormtiger, Cricket. Everyone else I can find is a normal, as far as I can tell," Webweaver said, as she parked the car as close to the Empire capes' hideout as she could without drawing the attention of a lookout. Everyone got out of the car.
"If there's a fourth, I'll demand a raise," Vortex threatened. Web simply glared at her.
Everybody was quiet for a minute, as they walked towards their target while trying to stay out of sight. Webweaver split off a couple of turns before they'd have come in sight of the shelter to seek a hiding spot, and it wasn't long until she spoke into the earbuds.
"A lookout spotted you. They know you're here now." Good thing stealth wasn't the point, then,
She and Dynamic rushed ahead, and when the two skinheads popped their heads out to shoot through the open window, Dynamic shot first. They fell to the ground as if they'd been punched out - Taylor recalled that getting hit by the thing felt like a very solid punch even at the setting he used to shoot normal people with. Taylor ran up to the window, jumped in, and kicked each of them once to make sure they'd stay on the ground. The place didn't seem like it'd hold that many skinheads, but they'd soon have to fight against Hookwolf indoors. Taylor checked with her anger sense - nobody would have a line of fire yet if she came out of the room.
"The capes are coming from your left. Go right - only shotguns there as far as I see."
Right it was, then. Taylor turned a corner and charged towards the next pair of skinheads, shotgun pellets having little more effect than a friendly slap past her armor, though she still kept a hand in front of her eyes while closing in, just in case. They were both cradling broken wrists three seconds later, and Taylor took the time to bend their weapons out of shape. The others followed right behind her, and Vortex jabbed both of them with her stun gun, silencing their swearing. The team turned towards the main area.
"They're turning around. Four people in the main area - one has an assault rifle, watch out for that."
Taylor signalled Vortex and pushed with her power a second before kicking the door open. The Empire mooks were all turning their guns towards each other, and Taylor cut her power off before they could start a shootout. Then Vortex's green field swept across them, and Taylor closed in, focused on the one with the assault rifle. She set to work disarming them, keenly aware that the three Empire capes had made their way back into the main area. The dogs in cages around the edges of the room started growling.
A spike of anger was enough warning for her to jump sideways, wisps of condensed air slamming into the ground next to where she stood. The Nazis she'd knocked out weren't as lucky - Taylor suspected at least one of them wouldn't get back up after that.
"You really shouldn't have come here," Hookwolf growled. He was tall, blond, muscular, and hairy. Even if his iron wolf mask offered little protection and he had no more identity to hide, he still wore it. A scar-covered woman with a cage helmet and another man in an "animal wrestler" getup were flanking him. The latter was drawing air towards his hands. Cricket and Stormtiger. Vortex took the chance to speak.
"We could have done this at a fancy restaurant, but you know the rules. No shirt, no service," she said, with an audible smirk.
Taylor met Stormtiger's eyes and used her power. The man fired his claws at her again, this time aiming higher - she dodged, if barely, and they charged to meet each other, the tiger-masked cape reforming his air claws as he did so. When they collided, Taylor punched him in the gut while the claws struck her shoulder and detonated again, staggering her and bursting her left eardrum. Taylor winced - she was supposed to make their retreat after causing enough injuries look believable, but the ringing in her remaining ear was very unpleasant. She turned back towards Stormtiger and leapt toward him, and was rewarded with a satisfying crunch when her fist met his forearm. He jumped away before she could grab him, boosting the jump with an explosion of wind that nearly tripped Taylor. Everything swayed for a second before she regained balance - blasting out her ear damaged more than her hearing, but the familiar tingling of regeneration reassured her.
As she eyed Stormtiger, trying to figure out a way to get to him without tipping her hand too much, she noticed that the arm she'd hit was hanging by his side, no new air claws forming on them. A sudden metallic noise and frenzied barking drew both of their attention, and they saw that Dynamic had shot the locks off the dog cages, and Vortex's field had swept across to open the doors. A dozen of the animals spilled out, and while some tore into each other, a few of them went for the nearest human - Cricket. Vortex's field reappeared around her and started pulling the gladiator towards the frenzy.
Taylor recovered first and dashed at Stormtiger, and this time she managed to grab him before he could escape. She twisted his good wrist, threw him to the ground, and gave him a few solid kicks to the ribs. She was fairly sure they weren't solid enough to outright break them, but a few cracks were an unfortunate necessity. Satisfied that he wasn't going to interfere in the fight again, she looked towards her teammates in time to see Dynamic shoot Cricket in the back of the head as she was carving through the last dog, Hookwolf delayed for that key second by Vortex's field. The scarred woman's head jerked forward, and she collapsed. Hookwolf's roar would've betrayed his anger if Taylor's power hadn't, and Dynamic barely leapt out of the way of his charge. Webweaver's voice over the comms confirmed her suspicions that it was time for the next step.
"They're wounded enough. Get out of here."
"Everyone, retreat! We haven't brought enough firepower for this!" Taylor called out, according to the script. The others had heard Webweaver's orders, of course, but she'd pointed out when making the plan that the fewer reminders the Empire got of her presence, the less likely they were to suspect a trap. The team wasted no time in heading towards the exit, which was neither locked nor barred - the double doors opened with an easy push, and they ran out of the shelter with Hookwolf catching up. Dynamic simply started running upwards, while Taylor grabbed Vortex and ran as fast as she could before heading into the alleyways. She had enough of a headstart that a couple of turns caused Hookwolf to lose them, and he headed back.
Taylor put Vortex back on the ground, and they followed Web's directions to her hiding spot on a rooftop.
"He's calling for Othala right now. So far, so good," she said absentmindedly. "I can't quite hear the other side, so I'm not sure when she's showing up, but I gather she's coming here so they don't have to move the injured. This makes things easier for me."
They spent the next fifteen minutes on the rooftop, Webweaver preparing an ambush in the warehouse with her insects, and sending off a text message. Eventually the gold-clad villain's head snapped to the left.
"They're here. Othala, Victor, Krieg, Alabaster," Webweaver spoke, typing in another message on her phone, while Vortex elbowed Taylor at the last name. "Move out."
Dynamic repeated his airwalking trick to get down faster, while Taylor and Vortex took the fire escape. Taylor's anger sense informed her that they'd been spotted by a lookout on the way down, but she was far more concerned by the car that turned a corner. It started speeding up when the driver saw them, but it ran over one of the beetles marching across the road.
The beetle promptly exploded, taking out the tire. The driver - Victor, Taylor presumed - had lightning reflexes, but Vortex's field popped up near the car and slowed it down while simultaneously forcing the passenger side against the wall of a building. The car skidded to a stop right in front of Taylor, doors falling out. Taylor dashed in and grabbed the young woman in a red bodysuit - Othala - who wasn't too dazed to shout for help. Getting back out took a fair bit more effort than reaching in had taken in the first place, and she saw a man in what could only be described as a Gestapo outfit trying to reach out and grab her. Krieg.
The SS lookalike decided not to play tug-of-war against Taylor with Othala as the rope, and Taylor managed to throw the woman towards her team before backing out an inch ahead of Krieg's fingers. Othala rolled to her feet instead of slamming hard into the ground like Taylor hoped for, but Vortex's field manifested once again and started dragging the woman towards Taylor's team. Victor ran around the car and took off after his companion, but Dynamic got in his way. The Empire cape was furious, Taylor could tell - and promptly used her power to drive him into a deeper rage, where his stolen skills would be of little help. As Victor lunged at Dynamic with a wordless scream of rage, Alabaster got out of the shotgun seat, angrily casting aside the seatbelt that had apparently gotten jammed in the crash and kept him inside for the few precious moments.
"You," the pale man addressed Taylor.
"Me," Taylor answered, backing away from him and Krieg. Webweaver's swarm was trying to approach, but was kept at bay by his power.
Taylor felt a surge of anger appear down the street and start heading towards them at the same instant the earbud crackled to life.
"Hookwolf came out to investigate the commotion. He saw what happened to the car - we have Othala, it's time to disengage. Eris, grab her and go."
Taylor turned tail and ran towards where Vortex's field was still herding Othala away from the fellow capes. She jumped over an unconscious Victor as Dynamic started backing away while firing his weapon at Krieg and Alabaster. The latter just reset after each shot, while the former shrugged the hits off as if they were gusts of wind. Vortex's field dissipated when Taylor closed in, and she grabbed Othala around the waist, and they all started running towards a nearby maze of alleyways, with Vortex having a head start due to being closer to it. The Empire capes followed, while Othala shouted directions at them.
Taylor almost tripped when she ran into an alleyway where bubbling tar coated the ground, and the red bricks of the walls had turned into blood-coated tile, but she grimaced and continued running. The tar wasn't even ankle deep, and not nearly as viscous as it looked, but it still gave her the creeps. A firefly circled one side alley, and Taylor ran ahead of the team to follow it. She turned the corner and found a tall, red-haired woman in black leathers with a four-leaf clover emblem on her chest guarding a girl in a green robe with a maze-like pattern. The tar was a fair bit deeper and thicker in here.
Shamrock lowered the shotgun she'd raised when Taylor ran in.
"I'll watch the prisoner. Get back in the fight."
Taylor put Othala on the ground and headed back to rejoin the fight. Vortex was trying to escape Alabaster, Gregor the Snail and an orange young man - Newter - were trying to handle Krieg, while Dynamic worked with the two remaining mercenaries - Spitfire and Faultline herself - to keep Hookwolf at bay.
First things first. Taylor decided that Vortex had the most immediate need for her help, and ran in to get between her teammate and Alabaster. His boots skidded slightly as he tried to avoid her, but Taylor managed to grab his knife arm and crush the wrist. The knife clattered to the ground as he reset with a flicker. Taylor slammed Alabaster into a wall, then grabbed him by the neck when he reset again and pinned him to the ground. Vortex tossed her a few zip-ties, and Taylor got to work, while spiders started raining from above.
"Once you've tied him up, hold him down while they cocoon him. Then go help with Krieg."
Taylor tied Alabaster up despite his furious protests and pinned him face-down to the tar-coated ground as the spiders got to work, focusing on his wrists and ankles. It took about half a minute until she was sure he won't break out of the silk on his own. The tar started receding while she waited, and the walls started returning to their original color. Then she stepped over the white cape and headed towards Krieg, noting the green of Vortex's field in the corner of her eye where the rest fought Hookwolf.
The two Case 53's were holding their own against the Gestapo imitator. Newter was fighting from up close, faster than any normal human even under Krieg's power, while Gregor was keeping his distance and attacking with jets of sticky foam that Krieg took visible effort to disentangle himself from. Taylor circled around until she was between him and a larger pile of goo, then shouted at the cape.
"Hey, you!"
Nobody said I needed a creative insult, Taylor thought as she pushed with her power the instant Krieg's gaze flickered toward her. He charged at her, boiling with rage, and she darted to the side and tried to trip him into Gregor's foam... but she underestimated Krieg's power by a tiny bit too much, and he managed to grab her left arm with his and drag her along as he fell. She tried to scramble away, but he pulled her to the ground while twisting around to fall on his back, and his right arm slammed into her shoulder. There was a crunching sound and Taylor's whole world flashed white, but as she regained her senses half a moment later, she saw Newter had managed to jump in and put his hand on Krieg's exposed neck. The Brute tried to take another swing, but as his fury faded before Taylor's eyes, his arm went limp halfway through and fell back to the ground.
"Shit, are you okay?" Newter asked.
Taylor carefully got off the ground with her uninjured right arm and stood up. There were spikes of pain in her left shoulder, and she couldn't feel her arm from there on down, but it wasn't as painful as it could've been and she felt the tingling she'd come to associate with her regeneration working. Though at the moment, it was only fueled by Hookwolf, Alabaster and the faint flicker of Othala that was rapidly leaving her range.
"I'll be fine, I think. Don't think I can go against Hookwolf like that, though."
"We'll come up with something," Webweaver spoke in her ear. "Just get back to me, don't take any risks. Everyone, Eris is injured and backing out. Plan accordingly."
"Good luck," Taylor told Newter. He nodded and headed towards where the others were fighting Hookwolf, while Taylor followed a firefly to Webweaver's hiding spot on another rooftop. She got there unmolested, and sat with her boss for a few more minutes. The woman only spoke once after that, to say "Now, Faultline," but they were quiet outside that. Finally, Web stood up.
"They lost Hookwolf. No serious injuries on our side, but we won't get to grab more Empire capes before reinforcements arrive. Let's go."
Taylor followed Webweaver back to the van, where, along with her own team, she found Faultline and Shamrock, a zip-tied Othala in front of the latter. Webweaver confidently stepped towards the mercenary leader.
"Excellent work, Faultline. We'll be taking her off your hands, now."
"And our payment?"
Instead of answering, Web opened the van's back and pulled out a briefcase. She handed it to Faultline, who opened it, checked inside (Taylor couldn't see how much money was inside from where she was standing, and didn't even want to guess), and nodded at Shamrock a few moments later. The woman pushed Othala toward Dynamic, who ushered her into the back of the van before following in.
"A pleasure doing business," Faultline said, and shook hands with Webweaver before departing. The team got into the van as well, with Vortex taking the driver's seat.
"How's the arm?" Webweaver asked as the van started moving.
"Doesn't hurt anymore, but I still don't feel anything," Taylor answered, quite honestly - besides the feeling of her regeneration, her arm was a void. She felt a brief flash of anger from Web, but it was gone after a beat when the other woman spoke again.
"I'm sorry. This was a risky plan, and I hadn't had the best plan for Krieg - I did not expect him to be one of Othala's escorts. You'll have to stay out of cape fights until your arm's recovered, Taylor."
Taylor grudgingly admitted to herself that she wasn't in the best condition to fight. But to stay back when her team fought the Empire...
"However, there's something else you can do," Webweaver said, shaking Taylor out of her thoughts. "We've got the capes under pressure, but the fights between the unpowered Nazis and the remaining ABB members are a threat to civilians. There'd be some good publicity to be gained from containing that, and your arm would heal faster that way. What do you say, Taylor? Up for some vigilantism?"
Taylor had only one answer to that. After about fifteen minutes of driving, the van passed the PRT building. Vortex pulled up as close to the building as she could, then Dynamic opened the back door, waved at a PRT trooper to get his attention, and pushed Othala out of the van.
"She's all yours!" he shouted to the trooper over Othala's angry shouts, and slammed the door shut as Vortex got the van moving again.
The trip to base and home was routine by now, except for having to change to civilian clothes and later unlock her flat's door one-handed. As Taylor collapsed into her bed, she thought she'd felt at least a little bit of her sense of touch back in her injured arm before she drifted off.