It was a great delivery. Dramatic and foreboding, Brian could really appreciate the effort that Armsmaster had put into it. Mostly because he spent no small amount of time practising his own intimidating persona.
It was a shame to see it go to waste.
Unfortunately for Armsmaster, his big fancy stabbing stick did absolutely nothing to stop the feeling that swept over Brian. Like slipping into a bath of cold oil, Aisha spread her power over them both.
For the next few minutes, they were ghosts.
Perfectly positioned to catch the heroes off guard when his team came charging out to deal with the noise.
From above there came another noise, a creak of the metal and a whoosh of air, something was strange about it. Brian took several quick steps back and a humanoid shadow dropped down in the space he'd just vacated. A heartbeat thudded in his chest then the shadow became a masked woman in a cloak. Shadow Stalker.
"What happened?" She hissed at Armsmaster. The older hero took a moment before responding.
"I reported two members in physical contact, but there's no one here."
"Armsy made a mistake?" Announced another figure as they dropped down into the loft, this one clad in a red and grey panelled bodysuit. Assault. He continued, "I don't believe that, someone messing with us?"
Armsmaster tapped something on his suit's shoulder, something brighter than his preferred design aesthetic, and Brian realised what was strange about the noise. There was none.
No street noise, no wind, no sound of distant waves even. He couldn't hear anything further away than a dozen feet...
'Shit.'
"Aisha." He whispered, though they'd already determined that it was only proximity that effected her power's effect on someone. "We need to get the others, now."
Another two heroes floated down through the hole, Dauntless in his fancy armour, and Aegis in his...well honestly Brian had always thought his costume was boring and generic, which was a recognisable trait all by itself. The older of them spoke to Armsmaster with the steady cadence of a report. "Militia is almost in position, Kid Win is with her. Reinforcements are five minutes out."
Brian was already moving for the corridor when Armsmaster said, "No. We can't wait, move in! And do not let her touch anyone!"
The heroes scattered, Dauntless and Armsmaster both going the same way Brian had.
"Bro, we need to wake everyone up!"
Not slowing down, Brian replied, "Even if they could hear us through Armsmaster's thing, your power means we can't, and without it they'd pile on us immediately." They reached his goal right as the heroes got to the first door along the corridor.
Brian's hands were occupied, so he kicked it open.
Neatly made bed. Well organised dresser and a nightstand cluttered with books. No Taylor though.
"She's not in her room. Dammit!" He ignored Aisha's panicked muttering, even forced himself not to pay attention to the heroes storming into Lisa's room. The first door along the hallway.
'Aisha's power won't last much longer this close to them. Alec's room is unlikely, Rachel's or mine would make sense, but she might have gone to the storage room. Or even Aisha's room.'
Down the hall the heroes were dragging Lisa out of her room in pyjamas and handcuffs. The whole thing was eerily silent, meaning they were far enough away that dropping Aisha and yelling might work. Or it might just get him captured and ruin their last hope.
They were heading the for the next room, he'd already gotten lucky that Taylor hadn't been in Lisa's. He had to pick the right one. No time to think about it.
A desperate thought crossed Brian's mind. With no better idea for checking five rooms at once, he cocked his head back and took a long sniff of the air.
They all knew each other's scents. Living and fighting together while in possession of super senses had guaranteed that. Not that he had any idea what most of things he smelt were, he just knew that Taylor smelt of something floral, paper, what he thought was ink, sweat, something tangy that varied constantly in strength, and a note that he couldn't even begin to put into words. Most of which were utterly beyond his current nose.
The floral scent though, that he could smell faintly even without the transformation. Coming from Rachel's room. Rachel who smelt of sweat, mud, dogs, 'scentless' soaps, and another bunch of things he couldn't identify.
The heroes kicked down the door to his room and Brian ran for Rachel's.
He found a bed covered in dogs, with the two girls nestled in amongst them and sleeping comfortably.
Without time to waste, he simply grabbed Taylor's wrist and heaved her out of the dogpile. Aisha was smart enough to slip out of his arms as he did so, keeping one hand entwined with his and grabbing Rachel with the other.
To her credit, Taylor was awake after barely any sleepy blinking and just one yawn. Any other time he might have dwelt on how cute it looked. At that particular time he skipped straight to leaning down and hissing, "Transform us, right now!"
The dogs were awake, yelping and howling as they tried to find Rachel. She tore her hand away from Aisha and set about calming them down but the damage was already done. Very heavy boots were thudding rapidly against the corridor floor. They had seconds to spare.
Brian felt the shift ripple through him, and just like that, he wasn't worried any more. The heroes had invaded his home, his family's home, and that earned them a beating.
Except they'd already taken Lisa, Alec was still in his bed, and they had seconds at best.
His chest rumbled with a growl, but Brian dragged his team against the wall. Rachel with her arms full of dogs, Taylor still trying to reach out to each of them in turn.
Armsmaster reached the door and looked through it, tracking his gaze across the room until he was looking right at them. Then he stopped.
'He can't see us.'
Slowly, the hero stepped inside the room.
'He can't see us.'
His halberd began to rise.
'Can he?'
"We found the other one." Assault popped up behind Armsmaster with a beaming grin. He tugged on Armsmaster's shoulder and the two of them left the room.
Their cue to get out into the lounge room. 'Then we can surprise them, grab the others, and get the hell out of here.' Brian led the way, the others trailing behind him in a chain of shared imperceptibility.
Whatever gadget had been keeping things quiet, Armsmaster must have turned it off when he couldn't remember any other Undersiders. They could all hear Alec yelling, demanding to see the warrant and be read his rights. Dauntless actually seemed to be taking him seriously, not that meeting his demands was quieting him down.
They hesitated before entering the corridor. Only after he'd checked four times was Brian ready to lead them into the narrow space. All too aware that even brushing someo-
'Fuck!'
A wall of muscle and red spandex appeared so close to Brian's face that he could feel the heat coming off of Aegis. Panic shot through him for an awful instant, then Taylor's grip tightened on his wrist and yanked him back. He stumbled into her slender frame and tried to get his breathing back under control, all while Aegis droned on about evidence procedure.
Eventually the hero got back to pawing through their stuff and they made it past him, through to the lounge. There Alec and Lisa were sitting at the table, hands cuffed behind their backs and various bits of their gear laid out on the table before them. Alec was yelling about a typo while Dauntless held up a sheet of paper and asked where it was, Alec's answer kept changing. On the other hand, Lisa was silent, just sitting and staring into the corner by the balcony where Armsmaster was standing.
Brian could just barely make out snatches of what he was saying, "...talking about...there's...no...Militia are you..." His posture was concerning though. Even through the power armour Brian could see the tension, and he was looking around way more than he should be in a building that had no unsecured villains in it.
Then Lisa went ramrod straight and screamed, "Militia can-!"
bang
The gunshot drowned out Lisa's voice, and was followed by the thump of Rachel's body hitting the floor.
Brian whirled to look at her and white hot rage filled him, then he heard her groan and saw the little red bean bag and got ever so slightly less angry.
Oil and silence had boiled off his skin, the heroes were shouting and rushing towards them. Brian roared his challenge and put an end to their ability to see. Darkness filled the room in seconds, then poured out into the street. No more sniping.
The heroes were lost in the dark, all but Armsmaster who hardly faltered in his charge. Dispelling the darkness around his friends, Brian rushed into his darkness in a charge of his own. Straight for the bastard.
Who smoothly slid to one knee and thrust his halberd for Brian's chest, the tip folding out to reveal a needle. Brian feinted right, then actually went right, barely dancing to the side of the needle and promptly getting his legs swept out from under him, only to dig his claws into Armsmaster's side and pull him to the floor as well. The halberd clattering away.
They grappled, hold and counter hold in a way that Brian had never done in a real fight before. In the first exchange Brian knew he was out matched, only keeping up due to the physical enhancements of the transformation. Then suddenly that wasn't enough and Armsmaster was sliding behind him, arm clamped around his neck. Air became something precious and Brian tried to think where he'd gone wrong as his vision began to darken.
Breath rushed back into him all at once, Armsmaster's bulk no longer behind him, his darkness fading away. Frantic, he looked around and found Armsmaster pinned beneath a werewolf wearing Taylor's clothes. Dauntless turned and pointed his spear, the whole length crackling with lightning, then he went down in a fit of spasms as Alec drove his taser into the hero's neck. Beside him Lisa calmly pulled out her gun and emptied it into Aegis.
Both Alec and Lisa had their cuffs still dangling from one wrist. Apparently the heroes hadn't expected them to be quite do good at lockpicking.
Assault was trapped on the other side of the darkness still lingering in the corridor, but they still needed to get clear before finding out what 'reinforcements' meant. Brian went to help Taylor with Armsmaster when the tinker activated something and she was hurled away from him by a wall of force.
Darting to the side, Brian snatched her out of the air with a grunt at the impact. Keeping his eyes on Armsmaster.
Behind the hero there was a flicker of darkness, then Taylor's hand shot up and a crossbow bolt appeared clenched in her fist. One of the fancy tranquilliser bolts that could only mean.
"You!" Snarled Taylor, already leaping forward before Brian could stop her. Not that she needed the help, judging by the way she snatched another bolt out of the air.
Armsmaster went to intercept her, so Brian kicked him in the gut to remind him who he was fighting. Taylor running past unhindered and attempting to tackle Stalker to the ground, only to slide through the shadow she became. Then Armsmaster was coming at him again and Brian couldn't focus on any fight but his own.
This time the tinker had his halberd, stabbing and slashing until it seemed less like a blade and more of a net of steel woven in the air between them.
But Brian had the measure of the other man after their first exchange. He had felt the weight of training in the hero's fighting style, and understood which of them was better. So instead of fighting him, Brian simply kept retreating.
Whatever was in his way, Brian hopped or rolled under. However Armsmaster attacked, he was never quite fast enough to strike more than glancing blows. With the close confines and other heroes around, there'd be no big tinker toys coming out to play, so Brian just kept falling back around and around the loft, waiting for Rachel to get her breath back inside of her.
Off to the side Lisa was keeping up a steady patter of gunfire into Aegis, enough to force him to adapt, again and again. Meanwhile Alec was creeping over towards Taylor's fight.
Taylor's fight looked as frustrating as the first one she'd described with Shadow Stalker. A continuous stream of blows that simply flowed through the supposed hero. All while Armsmaster kept him too busy to help her with a blast of darkness, especially when it might easily blind her at the wrong moment if he didn't aim correctly.
Ducking a razor sharp blade and scrambling back from the follow up thrust, Brian really didn't have time to aim.
Not until a familiar younger sister of his appeared with her arms around Armsmaster's throat and a very large combat knife pressed to the underside of his exposed chin.
The tinker went very, very still.
At the same time, Stalker phased through yet another of Taylor's claw swipes, only for Alec to jam his own taser into the shadow she had become.
Shadow Stalker materialised with a ragged scream and Alec grinned at Lisa. He opened his mouth to say something, then Taylor tackled Stalker over the railing.
Brian couldn't help it, him glanced away for a split second. Aisha's yelp rammed his attention back to Armsmaster, too late.
His sister was staggering back and clutching her wrist, but she looked well enough that Brian kept his eyes on the hero that sprinted for the edge of the loft and hurdled it like he was jumping over the back of a couch.
Brian didn't hesitate either, diving right over the railing.
On the way down, he could already see Taylor tumbling away from Stalker's limp body and a very pissed off Armsmaster. The downed cape was breathing, but one of her legs looked badly broken and she was looking around like she had a concussion.
The ground rose up to meet him, a roll bringing him to his feet, but it was already over.
Armsmaster had lashed out with a thrust that became a slash when Taylor slid to the side, catching her across the ribs in a spray of blood. A shallow wound, already reduced to a pink scar when he spun away from her. A move Brian would have backed away from, but which Taylor didn't quite see through.
Taylor darted in to catch Armsmaster in retreat, and never saw the butt of his halberd sweeping up into the back of her neck. She tumbled across the factor floor and slammed into one of the machines, holding her neck and coughing with the choked gags of someone with the breath knocked out of them.
The hero took a step towards her, and stopped when Brian planted himself between them. His friends were clattering down the stairs, Aegis apparently dealt with for now. Brian kept his eyes only on Armsmaster this time.
Even when Taylor started screaming behind him.
Brian held himself perfectly still. The crackle of electricity, of a seriously overcharged taser, it probably meant it wasn't lethal.
Only, it wasn't stopping. Taylor kept crying out until finally Armsmaster spoke up.
"You need to turn back."
"What?" Brian snapped, eyes darting around in search of an opening, any opening, so he could beat the hero into a fucking coma.
"She needs to turn back to human, or the shocks won't stop."
The usual sound of transformation came, and the screaming stopped.
The hero, stood before them without fear. His weapon pointed at Brian, occasionally twitching slightly towards the others.
Brian barely held himself back from charging again. Even knowing he had no hope of winning without Rachel back up and helping. The bastard had come into their home, villainous base of operations that it was, and attacked them. What the hell had they done that deserved this?!
"You are all under arrest. This building has been confirmed as your base of operations and is surrounded by heroes of Brockton Bay and reinforcements from several other cities. If you come quietly then-"
thwap
A giant mutant dog weighing several tons knocked Armsmaster head over heels with a casual swipe of its paw. Which was when Brian recognised it as Angelica.
He spun and swept Taylor into his arms, seeing her without any kind of transformation for what felt like the first time ever. No tail or ears. Without them she looked smaller, more fragile. More in need of protection. Especially with the thick metal collar that was clamped around her narrow throat, three blinking blue lights the only markings on the smooth steel.
Atop Brutus, Rachel shouted down at them, "Get on!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Aisha scrambled up ahead of him with a little of his help, then turned to help him get Taylor's trembling body draped over the dog's back. Alec and Lisa simply joined Rachel on Brutus. Meanwhile Judas followed Rachel's whistle and point command, ramming into a heavy old machine and knocking it tumbling across the floor.
Their tunnel entrance was revealed, and it hit Brian with sudden clarity that this would probably be the last time they saw the loft. He wanted to go back up and look around. He wanted to go get some of his things, some of the precious items all of them had kept in their rooms. He wanted to say goodbye.
But the heroes would be on them in seconds.
"Let's go!"