"Hey, guys! Guess what I got!" Troll said and he entered the cafeteria of The Spire. Everyone else was here, Stravik and Jess, me and Queen, Reaper inside of the ship, and now Troll. The cafeteria had become our own little hangout. Before it had been several rows of plain tables as if Queen was expecting to feed an actual crew, but tables had been pushed out of the way and couches brought in. Troll set up the seventy-inch plasma screen tv on top of one table and hooked up a bunch of game systems to it. Right now Queen was watching some chick-flick on Netflix. Brute and Genesis were off in the corner talking with each other while I shared a couch with Queen and played on my cell phone.
"What did you get?" I asked, welcoming the distraction. Troll held up a file with a grin.
"The Protectorate's files on us." I got to my feet and crossed the room with a grin.
"What were you doing at the Protectorate's headquarters?" Troll shrugged.
"Tattletale said that this girl named Noelle escaped from some place Coil had her stashed when Skitter offed the big man in charge. Skitter suggested that we warn the local heroes, so I volunteered. I decided to pick up the file on my way out."
"And they just gave it to you?"
"No, but what are they going to do? Kill me?" Troll snorted, but then he paused. "Actually when I told them what I wanted they decided it would actually be easier to just give it to me. Funny how that works." Troll handed me the file and I started to look through it as Reaper came out of the ground and looked over my shoulder. He wasn't in costume at the moment, but I still hadn't learned his real name.
The Paranorms
Team leader: Tsundere
First appearance a team: Brockton Bay
First appearance as group: Brockton Bay's Undersiders
Threat Level: B-A class threat
Note: The large threat level stem more from a difficulty of dealing with said team.
Villain: Tsundere (Riza)
Sex: Female
Age: 17
Threat: A class
Class: Breaker 6, Brute 5, Changer 3, Shaker 2, Blaster 1
Power: Not widespread, but major reality warping that affects everyone including Tsundere. Effects are noted to make the world operate as if in an anime.
Costume and gear: Tsundere uses power to warp her physical features to cartoonish proportions so her true face is unknown. Cat ears, kimonos, and qipaos with flora designs. Is known to use bokken and katanas.
Note: Experts within the PRT have long lists of possible applications on her power based on common tropes in anime.
Villain: Troll
Sex: Likely male
Age: Unknown
Threat: B-A class
Class: Breaker 6 Shaker 3 Mover 2 and possible Changer 3
Power: Life operates somewhat like a video game. When Troll dies his body disappears and he 'respawns' perfectly healthy some distance away. Distance is normally one to three blocks but has shown to increase the more difficult it is for him to respawn without being killed or captured again.
Costume and gear: Wears a white bodysuit decorated in the style of NASCAR drivers, only decorated with troll face memes. His mask is a white one-way mirror with a Lenny face on the front.
Villain: Queen of the Castle
Sex: Female
Age: late teens
Threat: S class if provoked
Class: Tinker 7, and possible Thinker 2
Power: A Tinker that specializes in siege weaponry, displays an impressive rate at which she constructs her weapons.
Costume and gear: Has no desire to conceal her face and has no active civilian life. Wears a skin tight suit augmented with armour, grappling hooks, arm mounted battery rams, and concussive artillery cannons along with a number of other machines.
Note: The tech she builds shows to not be too far advance, sometimes not even being past current tech. He rating stems from the massive amount of weapons she has created.
Villain: Reaper
Sex: Male
Age: Unknow
Threat: C-B class
Class: Master 8
Power: Taking control of machines and increasing their durability and efficiency.
Costume and gear: A long black tail coat and wide-brimmed hat along with a leather mask worn by doctors during the black death. Carries a scythe with Queen of the Castle's anti-armour blade technology.
"Huh," I said. "Well, now if I die I can do it knowing that I made it so that somewhere in the Protectorate there is someone whose official job title is 'anime expert'." I felt far more happy about that than I should have been. Would this person be like a hardened expert in video analysis, someone that takes the job way too seriously? Or would they be some teenager hired because they have forsaken social interaction for the loving embrace of anime? Both possibilities were equally amusing to me.
"Heh," Troll half chuckled, half giggled. "They put me down as 'likely male'. That's amazing."
"You know," I said thoughtfully. "I just realized that before those two over there joined," I pointed at Stravik and Jess, "I was the only one with an actual name. Like, I realize that neither Troll or Queen need masks, but you guys still have name right? Like before you became villains?" Queen tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"I guess, but I can't remember. It's been too long." Troll smirked.
"My name is whatever I want it to want it to be really. But whenever I need to make a legal transaction or something I go by John Smith."
"Really?" I asked plainly. "That has to be the most disappointing name ever. And when do you need to make legal transactions?"
"Well, one time I was at a restaurant and it was taking to long to bring me my order so I walked out, bought the restaurant, and fired the staff out of spite."
"Do you still own the restaurant?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Troll shrugged.
"Probably, I don't know. I probably gave it to some homeless guy to run and still have profits rolling into one of my bank accounts or another." I turned and looked at Reaper, who was standing just behind me with his resting smug look.
"What about you?" Reaper reached into a pocket and pulled out his wallet. An oddly mundane thing for him to have. He pulled out a plastic little card and handed it to me. His driver's license.
"Alexander Blane? The Alexander Blane?" Reaper nodded, or I guess Alex now.
"Uh, you want to fill us in the Riza?" Troll asked.
"Alexander Blane was this famous pop-rock singer just a year ago. This guy was a legend! He got his start doing live covers of all the best rock songs from the eighties and then started making these really amazing albums. I used to have a pillow case with him on it!" For the first time since any of us met him, Alex let out a loud laugh. We paused and looked at him, he shrugged at the attention, but never stopped smirking.
"Woah, wait a minute." Troll said. "You used to be fan crazy for this guy and you still didn't recognize him?" Slightly embarrassed, I shrugged a bit sheepishly.
"He got a haircut? I don't know, I thought he died a year ago along with everyone else." Suddenly, Alex stopped smiling and looked away.
"Really? What happened?"
"He was on this tour, and then his plane crashed somewhere in Clearwater, Iowa. No one ever found his body. And I guess now we know why." My eyes widened as I realized that we were the only people that knew Alexander Blane never died. "Reaper! You should tell people, let them know you're still here. I bet you could make a fortune doing interviews and the like. It's only been a year, I bet there is still a ton of people that miss you." Alex started shaking his head. I frowned. "But why a not." He sighed and pulled out a piece of paper and began writing. After about a minute he handed it to me.
'Parahumans change everything. I don't sing anymore, and even if I did I would always get upstaged by the fact that I have powers. My career ended, now I'm a supervillain. That is just how things are. People think I died, let them keep thinking that.'
I looked up at him and saw his expression had become hard. I then knew there was nothing I was going to be able to do to convince him. I guess Alexander Blane died after all.
"But if you are going with the whole 'Alex is dead' thing, why do you still carry your license around?" Alex took the paper back and quickly scribbled something down on it. He handed it back and I quickly read it.
'Because it really throws cops for a loop when they pull me over.'
I shook my head when suddenly my phone vibrated. I took it out and looked at it briefly.
"Everyone suit up!" I said loudly. "Skitter says we're working with the Protectorate to kill Noelle."
When we arrived at the Protectorate Headquarters they were waiting for us. Assault and Battery met us outside and escorted us in. Genesis was here in a vaguely human form with Brute walking along side her. The two drew more than a few looks.
We climbed in an elevator that would have been such a smooth ride that I wouldn't have even noticed it moving if it weren't for the fact that my range of influence reached outside of it and I could feel the inner workings. While we waited for the elevator to take us up I leaned over to Queen and quietly said,
"When we are in the meeting don't say anything. And don't even look at any Thinkers in the room, you might give them a brain aneurysm or something." Honestly no one understood Queen and her ability to screw with Thinkers minds. I think Tattletale is still a little annoyed her power freaks out whenever she looks at Queen.
"Okay Tsu!" Queen said with all her normal cheerfulness. When the door opened again we were led to a conference room where everyone was waiting.
Skitter and the Undersiders sat on one side of the room. I found it odd that it seemed like every time I saw them again Skitter seemed more and more like the one in charge. Grue still made all the important calls sure, but it was Skitter that came up with plans, that gave him the choices he decided on. Not to mention the only person Bitch seemed to like. Speaking of which, I was going to get that puppy. One way or another.
"Hello everyone!" I said with a generally cheerful tone. People looked my way and tensed. Was I really that bad?
"Paranorms." Miss Militia stated. Her eyes glance over Brute and Genesis for a moment before returning back to me. "Is there a reason these two have accompanied you here?" I gave her my best sly smile before answering.
"Yeah, these are my new recruits." Miss Militia paused for a moment and several people in the room blanched. I turned and looked at one of them and winked.
"That is… Troublesome. But never mind that for now, we're not here to socialize." I found empty seats at the table next to The Undersiders. Brute and Reaper both stood behind me silently. Reaper's scythe was held over my head, and Brute's arms were crossed. Genesis' form floated behind them just behind them.
"Alright," Miss Militia began. "First and foremost, we are having a difficult time getting a threat rating for Noelle but the Thinkers we can contact are saying that we're facing an A class threat."
"The Thinkers you can contact?" Tattletale asked with a raised eyebrow. "Something happen to your best ones? Eleventh Hour? Appraiser?" Miss Militia cleared her throat.
"They… had something of an accident a few weeks back."
"Oh do tell," Troll said while pulling out a bouncy ball from his pocket and bouncing it on a table. Miss Militia sighed.
"We asked them to get a threat level for Queen when the Paranorms took portions of the city for themselves."
"Oh, that was a bad idea," Tattletale said with a little laugh of her own, but it sounded a little strange.
"Well, don't just keep it to yourself, tell me what happened," I said with an ever-widening grin. Miss Militia sighed again.
"Eleventh Hour said the Greek letter Zeta before having an epileptic seizure. When we asked, Appraiser said Queen's threat level registered so far off the visible light spectrum that she came in as gamma radiation and now Appraiser is getting treated for brain cancer. Hunch was also asked and he said, and I quote, 'holy mother of christ, get your shit and get the fuck out'. He then proceeded to have a mental breakdown and is getting treated for PTSD." The room fell silent for a long moment. It was Troll who finally said something.
"Holy shit Queen. You took out three of the Protectorate top Thinkers literally just by existing! You know how long I have be wanting to Troll on those levels? I'm actually feeling a little disappointed in myself right now." Troll's shoulders slumped in comical amounts of feigned depression. Brute reached over and patted him on the shoulder.
"You vill get there one day."
"Anyway," Miss Militia continued, trying to push the conversation forward. "The bottom line is that the Chief Director gave the a-okay and this is now considered an A class threat. Now for everyone to know what we're dealing with." Miss Militia placed herself at the front of the room and began. "We have some tentative ratings, based on what we know we have her down as Brute 8, Changer 2, and a combination of a Striker and Master 10." Troll groaned loudly and leaned back in his chair, causing everyone to look at him.
"Her ability allows her to create clones of anyone she touches. The PRT office believes her to be an A class threat, but Tattletale's expectation is-" She was cut off again when Troll slammed his head against the table and groaned again. Miss Militia shot him a glare.
"Our primary issue is that we can't locate her. She also has a hostage, a young member of the Wards. Locating our target is-"
"Ugh, so boooring" Troll moaned.
"If it is going to be a problem then you can leave," Miss Militia said, a hint of annoyance in her voice." Troll took a deep breath and sat himself up.
"No, I can tough this out." He looked like he was steeling himself, as if bracing for some sort of impact. Miss Militia's gaze lingered on him for a moment before continuing.
"Alright we'll be employing the same protocols we use against-"
"I can't! I just can't do it any more!" Troll leapt to his feet, pulled out a gun and shot himself before anyone had a chance to react.
Miss Militia bored Troll to death.
"Wow," I said. "I'd didn't even know it could work like that." Miss Militia pinched the bridge of her nose and said,
"Can I please continue with what I was saying?" I smiled at her.
"Well, you got about five minutes before he comes back so make it quick."
"First and foremost, we need to make sure that people we cannot defeat do not get close enough to Noelle to get cloned. Which means at all costs we can not, under any circumstances let Troll get anywhere near Noelle. Everyone else, you should know whether or not you should or shouldn't get close to her. Now, there is one precog we have access to that is willing to assist us." The PRT has a precog? When did that happen? "New Wave, if you will." I turned and saw the members of New Wave push their way into the front of the room.
Lady Photon, Laserdream, Flashbang, Brandish, Glory Girl, Panacea, and now PillowMan and DeathKid came into the room. I couldn't help but grin at the still adorable little girl. Although, I couldn't help but notice Panacea and PillowMan were standing oddly close. Glory Girl was maintaining her distance though, I guess things haven't changed that much between them.
"DeathKid," Miss Militia said. "Out of everyone in this room, which of us have the highest chances of dying in the next hour?" DeathKid tilted her head and looked around. Her eyes lingered on each and every one of us. She paused for a moment on Queen and shook her head before continuing.
"Grue, three out of five. Skitter, three-fourths. Imp, one-fourth. Miss Militia, one-half. Glory Girl, four-fifths. Panacea, two-thirds. Tsundere, two-fifths…." She rattled off more names of people in the room, Triumph and the like before finishing with, "Clockblocker, two-thirds. Brother, one-sixteenth." She grew ever paler as she gave the numbers, and PillowMan was holding her up by the time she finished.
"Alright, just one more question, I promise." Miss Militia told her. Pillowman lifted DeathKid onto his back where she struggled to remain awake. "What are the chances Noelle dies in the next few hours?" DeathKid let out a yawn and closed her eyes before murmuring just loud enough for most of us to hear,
"Seventeen out of twenty." People considered that for a few moments. On one hand, almost everyone had around or above a fifty percent chance of death according to DeathKid. But that didn't take into account how Miss Militia would plan around it or the precaution people would take now that they did know. Now doubt the numbers were completely different than they were when DeathKid first said them, but we be stuck in an endless loop even if we could constantly question her about the numbers.
On the other hand, though we knew that there was a significant chance that we won before the day is over. Something that would make more people act recklessly and up those numbers again. It was an interesting balance to be sure. Of course what made worse was at this moment a PRT officer pushed his way through the crowd and handed Miss Militia a phone. A moment after that a television was turned on and Noelle's face appeared.
"Her?" Kid Win asked. "That's the S class threat?"
"She's bigger than she looks," Tattletale offered.
"Quiet," Miss Militia said, "It's a webcam feed. I'm setting it so we'll be transmitting audio only… Hello, Noelle."
"Who is this?" Noelle asked.
"Miss Militia," Miss Militia said, louder.
"The gun woman. Who else is there?"
"Other local heroes," Miss Militia replied.
"Oh. There aren't more? The Undersiders didn't get in touch with you?" Her voice was hollow, almost disappointed.
"It's just us right now."
"Because I smell more," Noelle said. "Which makes it hard to believe you. But you can lie if you have to."
"You can smell us."
"Not you. But it doesn't matter," I leaned back and groaned.
"Oh, fuck off Noelle!" Everyone in the room turned and glared at me, but I wasn't sorry. Noelle on the other hand smiled.
"Tsundere, that means the Paranorms are there too. Good, I want you to hear this."
"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving her off even though she couldn't see me. "You want to gloat, tell all the heroes to kill or give you The Undersiders and probably me and my team too. You probably want us in exchange for escape, or maybe you realize the monster you are and will let the heroes kill you. But honestly? I ran out of fucks to give weeks ago. So go ahead and make your offer to the hero so they can decline it, then we can work together to kill you." Noelle glared at the room through the screen.
"If you're trying to get to me, you're going to have to do better than that."
"Trying to get to you?" I asked. Was that what it seemed like I was doing? Well, if the shoe fits… "No, if I was trying to do that I would point out that you're a monster and that is why all the Travellers abandoned you last night." Noelle looked like she got slapped. She then snarled at the camera.
"That's not true."
"Maybe," I intoned. "But can you be sure?" Noelle glared at the screen for a long time and Miss Militia glared at me. Troll and I grinned at each other.
"I want The Undersiders," Noelle said finally. "Dead or alive, but I want The Paranorms alive."
"Ooh, I'm scared." I wiggled my fingers at the screen and Noelle offered one last glare before stopping the connection. I stretched my arms over my head and a little moan escaped my lips as I did so. "Alright, let's go kill us an A class threat." Miss Militia turned towards me and leaned her weight onto the conference table."
"Tsundere, Paranorms, this alliance is built on a mutual trust. And when you hijack the conversation, blatantly ignore everyone else, and cost us an opportunity to glean information, how do you expect us to trust you enough to fight with us in the upcoming event." I pondered that for a moment. I suppose I was being a little hasty, maybe I had let the fact that I was operating one of the most dangerous teams go to my head a bit. I had to learn to, how would Skitter say it? Play ball? Yeah, do like Skitter and actually try to work with them the same way I work with my own team. But these people didn't exactly deserve my trust either did they? Though, I suppose that was kind of the point of an S class threat, making enemies friends for a time. I sighed.
"I guess you can't, or at least not entirely. You are just going to have to accept that we are here to help and that we will do it as we see fit." I sensed Brute nodding behind me in approval.
"I think we are going to need to put in other measures," Assault said. I turned and looked at him. He and Battery were glaring at me, but so was everyone else in the room. Including Skitter, I think.
"I have to agree," Miss Militia said. "And knowing the danger of The Paranorms and their loose attitude with the unwritten rules, I would be willing to argue and testify a kill order." I felt and say some of the people in the room bristle. I knew what it meant, we all did. It was what the Slaughterhouse Nine had, something that would bring hell down on our heads. She was threatening us, damn her. I couldn't believe it, her solution to a trust issue was a threat. I couldn't tell if I should be bewildered or angry, but the feeling rising in my chest was anything but bewilderment.
"Oh wow!" Troll said sarcastically. "A kill order. I'm sooo scared, whatever am I to do?" Troll turned his mask over in his hands like he was bored and began examining the surface of it. Miss Militia cleared her throat and said,
"While I can't exactly put an effective kill order out on you Troll, I can for your teammates. And it wouldn't be hard with members like Queen of the Castle and Brute the Brute on your team." I could feel Queen shift nervously near me and I suddenly became aware how quiet she had been during this meeting. I glanced back and saw her wide-eyed and looked back and forth nervously. She reminded me a coiled spring, tightened and ready to go off at every moment. I should have realized that she wouldn't like coming here. Heroes represented everything that true posed a risk to her and now I had brought her right into their home. I wish she would have said something, told me she didn't like it. I would have listened to her if she did.
I took a small step backwards and grabbed her hand to reassure her. Her eyes widened a bit and I thought she was about to bolt. But then she realized it was me and gripped my hand tight. She didn't seem any more relaxed, but at least she wasn't fidgeting nervously anymore.
"Oh really?" Troll said, rising from his seat. His demeanour had changed completely. Suddenly the smile that was always on his face suddenly became fixed on his face, the smile no longer reaching his eyes. He dropped his mask on the table and slowly faced Miss Militia with his whole body. His atmosphere of silliness was completely gone.
"In that case, let me make on thing clear." Troll said with deliberate slowness to make sure they caught every word. "If you are directly responsible you harming a single hair on the head of any person on my team, I will swear an immortal war against you. Every hour of every day I will come for you, I will not rest, I will not stop. I will tear this building down and kill everyone in it, I will paint its walls with your blood. I will continue to fight even when you're eighty years old and on your deathbed. There is nothing you can do to stop me, and there will be no reason for me to stop." As soon as Troll was finished I took a step forward, but Queen wouldn't let go of my hand so I moved myself in front of her so it was less obvious.
"I was so close to trying to amend what I had done and promising I will play ball from here on out. But then you threatened us, and now its all over. Have fun fighting Noelle by the way, let us know if it works out." I turned on my heels and started walking, my team right behind me. Then I heard another voice.
"Tsundere, wait." I looked back and saw Skitter standing up. "You don't have to work with us, but Noelle is a threat to you too. She'll be coming after you whether you like it or not. Fight next to us if you won't fight with us." I thought about it for a long, tense moment. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I let out a frustrated sigh.
"Alright, I won't get in your way if you don't get in mine." I left it at that as we walked right out of the building without another word. Queen held onto my hand all the way there.
