Sorry for the pretty late update! I wanted to take a small Christmas break and enjoy the Christmas airs, I was actually planning on starting updating by the first week of the new year. But then an earthquake hit and it complicated almost everything in my live. So I had to deal with that whole mess while shaking in my boots at the dealing with this and not especially feeling all the motivated to get down to writing.
Fortunately things have calmed down and I have found my muse once more. I do feel a bit rusty, so here's hoping I haven't lost the plot.
"I've just arrived in this city and tensions are already rising? Hmph, no wonder the villains here managed to cause so much trouble. But things will change now that I'm here. We're going to take the fight to these villains and repel them from Brockton Bay."
The new director of the Brockton Bay PRT uttered his words with conviction and a firm stance. Clockblocker looked at Director Tagg and couldn't help but not like the guy. The man's face was stoic as he reviewed yesterday's battle with the Teeth, the Fallen and the Undersiders-well, Skitter, mostly.
The man seemed to be itching for a fight against everyone to get control of the city back to the heroes. Maybe if it had been before Leviathan, before the Nine, before Echidna, and the bombshell that had been dropped about Cauldron and the PRT, he would've felt excited and determined to fight. But right now, he was feeling anything but that.
He looked around the conference room, taking a look at all of the PRT officers watching the new director talk from the front. They all appeared haggard, as if they didn't want to be here. One of them stared at him and sent him a glare. Clockblocker just sighed and turned away, gazing back at the director as he made plans to get Dinah's help. She could use her precognitive powers to help them stabilize the city, and target the Undersider's areas of influence to diminish their control over the city.
"Are you okay, Clockblocker?" He blinked at the hushed voice and looked to his right. Vista's head was slightly tilted in his direction. He sighed and nodded, replying back in the same tone.
"I just think we're putting up a fight way too fast after Echidna...and I don't even think you've fully recovered from that entire mess."
"I'm fine."
Her reply was quick and curt. Clockblocker winced, letting that line of thought drop before an argument blew up between the two of them. He decided to go in another direction.
"Well, maybe you are but I sure am not. It's barely been a week isn't it? And they already want us to throw ourselves into another fight?"
"Are you seriously expecting to let the Teeth or Fallen to run free? Especially the Teeth?"
"That's not what I meant and you know it." He gestured towards the board. "Director Tagg has been putting way too much attention on the Undersiders and not on fixing the city."
Vista was now fully looking at him. "Since when were you sympathetic to them?"
"Since I found out that they were the lesser evil in the matter when dealing with the Teeth or Fallen," Clockblocker shot back at Vista, who huffed and crossed her arms.
"Since when were you so understanding, Clockblocker? Don't tell me you're trying to impress Mrs. Yamada or something."
The male hero looked at her weirdly. "Where did that come from?"
Vista shrugged. "Better a stupid conversation like this than getting back into the serious. Knowing you, you'll stick your whole leg down your throat with how you've been recently."
"Can you blame me? Especially when you've been just as snippy."
"I'm not going to let you coddle me, Dennis." Vista sneered at him. Clockblocker snorted, then hummed.
"Hm, though now I'm wondering, where is Mrs. Yamada?"
"You two, that's enough."
The Wards both straightened up in their seats at Miss Militia's chiding tone. "Clockblocker, I understand you're on edge, but try to stay out ofand not get into trouble. You're still receiving conduct discipline from your attitude during the Echidna event."
"I understand…" Clockblocker started, his fist clenched tight as he glared forward at an empty space. "But I really am not caring much right now, ma'am."
"Clockblocker." Miss Militia's disapproving tone made him cringe slightly, picturing the look in her eyes as she stared at the back of his head. "This isn't the time for this."
"..." While there were a few things he wanted to say, such just venting or letting some snide remark escape his lips; he recognized the slight tilt of everyone's head in their direction. Despite speaking in hushed tones, people started to notice the tension among the capes. He looked up at the Director and winced when he noticed the man staring back at them with a raised brow.
"Clockblocker, I see you and Miss Militia were having a small discussion. Is it something that can be shared with the rest of us?"
'Fuck me.' He just bowed his head, waiting for Miss Militia to reassure the new director that everything was dandy. When the silence stretched, he turned to look at the seasoned protectorate hero in confusion. Seeing her eyes stare back into his helmet made him want to groan and curse out loud, 'Double fuck me!'
Steeling himself, he looked at the director. "Nothing Director Ta-!"
There was a loud distant bang that had everyone in the conference room stiffen. The lights flickered a couple of times as the noise echoed around the building. Director Tagg whirled towards the monitors and the officers that were handling the computers and barked.
"What's going on!?"
-x-
'Something's wrong.'
That was the very first thought that crossed Grue's head as he stood on the beach. Right in front of the very spot he had seen Skitter, Foil and Parian disappear from. He had organized the caravan unit that would help put the cargo in the trucks and return back to Skitter's area. Everything was ready; he was very tense, hands sweaty and uncomfortable underneath his gloves.
He was ready to fight for his sister's health. Pulling the opposing villain group away from wherever they were holding the medical supplies and letting Skitter's men do their job. It would be tough, he understood this perfectly; the Teeth were a group that had been active for years and held an incredibly strong cape in their midst. But the Undersiders had been facing escalating obstacles, one after the other and had managed to defeat, succeed or survive in those encounters. While he would've preferred to pull back and tackle this situation in a less confrontational way, he knew Taylor had a knack for being upfront with their adversaries. And while he trusted her and knew she somehow found ways to pull the tables over despite how overwhelming the adversaries could be, he didn't like it.
It was that very same experience that he had garnered that was making him feel uneasy, the hair on the back of his neck standing straight as he felt something wasn't right. He looked up at the summer skies of Brockton Bay and couldn't help but think of how quiet everything felt. A quiet tension that was so tight, it made it difficult to breathe.
So when the resounding boom went off in the distance, the knot seemed to untie itself violently as chaos exploded.
Grue was already running towards Skitter's lair, entering through the storm drain Taylor used to secretly get in and out of the house her lieutenant lived in. He came to a stop right behind a tensed Charlotte, arms draped over a little girl that was shaking.
"What was that?"
Taylor's right hand woman flinched, looking back at him with weariness. "An explosion I think…"
As soon as her words left her lips, another explosion went off, much louder than the last. Grue was already moving to exit the building. He looked up, seeing the fiery smoke rising above the buildings in the middle of the Boardwalk. There was the sound of tires screeching, a crash and then a loud explosion going off.
"Cars…?" Grue muttered to himself. He heard Charlotte ushering the children away, and looked back at her as she reached for her cellphone. She typed a number and placed the device on her ear.
"Forrest? What's going!?"
Grue moved towards her, placed a hand on her shoulder, catching her attention. "Coordinate Skitter's men to get Imp and Tattletale to safety."
He stalked away from her, moving out of the building and standing in the middle of the streets. He jogged towards the chaos, scared civilians moving against his direction, but steering away from him. He frowned, the strong scent of gasoline hitting his nostril.
Grue made it to where the commotion was and looked at Skitter's men, gathered and armed. He stopped as he noted the burning car that had crashed into one of the buildings. Grue looked at the henchmen and gestured at the mess.
"It was just a car?" he asked, darkness coiling around him as the armed men regarded him. They took a step back away from him.
One of the men, older took a step forward. "We're not-!"
The man's words were cut short when multiple loud roars from an engine went off. Grue whirled around and cursed at the sight that fast approached. Seven cars, all of them coming at high velocity and covered in some oil. The scent of gasoline became stronger in the air and Grue immediately recategorized the oil for what it was. He noted the hands on the wheel, and the image of a human inside the driver's seat.
'Suicide bombers?'
He abandoned the line of thought as the car grew closer, two of them swerving to the right and left. One crashed against a store, bursting into flames, followed by a loud explosion. The other went after a light post, and Grue saw a woman and child hiding behind it. They couldn't even move before the car rammed right into the light post, flinging their mangled bodies onto the walkway. He swore at the gruesome sight and began letting the blackness rolling off him avalanche forward.
The cars moved, either trying to avoid him or trying to complete their suicide runs. Grue gritted his teeth trying to contain the damage being done right in front of him. He managed to stop two from fully crashing, but the other cars crashed and ignited. The sound of explosions and crashing made him turn as he heard the echoing mayhem going off in other streets.
'What the hell is going on!?' There was a loud blast which had him instinctively turning around when he realized the direction the explosion had come from. 'Aisha!'
He didn't even hesitate, he just sprinted at top speed towards the medical building. His thoughts were all focused on his sister's safety, not even sparing a thought to Skitter's men as he jumped over some wreckage that blocked his path.
He turned a corner and skidded to a stop, when he saw the medical beds being moved towards the trucks. He tried to find his sibling, the mound of rotting flesh tying her to Lisa, anything, but couldn't find them. He let out a shaky breath moving towards the hospital building to get his little sister out, then a car whizzed past him and torpedoed straight towards one of the trucks loading the patients. The evacuating medical staff noticed the oncoming car and screamed.
The dark leather clothed villain tried to move, exuding as much darkness as he possibly could to make the driver lose focus and swerve out of the lane or anthing for that matter. He didn't care, he just wanted to stop the mad car from getting to the medical personnel and the patients.
'Fuck!'
"Sukunda!" The car got a dark green glow surrounding it and it swerved, missing the patients and medical staff by a wide margin. It spun out of control and crashed into a light post, the car exploded in a fiery blast. Grue blinked, thankful for the fortunate incident, then narrowed his gaze when he saw a black haired, bespectacled person walking out of the building. Grue recognized him, and letting the darkness roll off him, he approached Skitter's prisoner.
"If you're the one causing this mess…" His voice echoed in the darkness, and the escaped prisoner regarded him with wariness. "I'm only giving you a single chance to stop this now...before I get my hands on you."
"I'm not the one that's causing all this mayhem," the asian escapee answered in a tight tone, as another explosion went off, followed by four more. He glared around and shook his head, turning back to Grue. "Listen, I can help you contain this mess."
"I don't trust you," Grue replied quickly.
"Skitter trusts me, and that took a while to get," the escapee said simply.
Grue bit his lip, trying to decide what was the best option to take right now. Taylor had spoken briefly about what had happened yesterday, and the way she talked made it sound that this guy, the other one and the cat were incredibly dangerous individuals. And the fact that despite his darkness surrounding the escaped prisoner, he wasn't getting any sense of a power had him feeling on edge.
He caught sight of rotting flesh being rolled out of the medical building, Lisa's blonde hair, then Aisha. Seeing his sister was still in the area had him feeling all tense and cursing. He regarded the prisoner and pointed at him.
"We get those people to a secure place, you double cross me…"
"I get it."
"Explain to me how exactly are you going to help, we need to form some strategy to get all those cars from crashing on us." Grue looked at the glasses wearing escapee with a tense stance.
"I'm going to buff you."
"What?"
-x-
A man in his forties ran towards his car, huffing and puffing as he desperately tried to get into his vehicle. The keys trembled as he opened the door with difficulty, and he moved to slam the car door shut, but was stopped by a large brutish hand covered in black rocky armor. The man looked up to the pale visage of a man — Or was it a woman? — dressed in white and feathered, reminiscent of the Simurgh.
His gaze locked him place. "Hello there fine sir, remember that when you turn your car on, drive as fast and without much care. Run over as many people as you can before you crash somewhere. Hold onto this along the way."
Valefor gave the man a small case filled with multiple powder like substances, while Eligos poured the car with some gasoline before throwing the canister out once it was empty. They stepped away from the car, watching the man ignited the engine and blast off to do as Valefor had suggested. The white effeminate villain rolled his shoulders as he began to stroll down the street.
"So much chaos, quite the harmonious sound, hm Eligos?"
The Behemoth inspired costumed villain looked at him, eyes slightly unsure. "Are you sure about this?"
Valefor scoffed. "Weren't you the one to suggest we find some explosive chemicals to use around the city? An ingenious idea, especially since the Teeth seemed to leave their share of TNT and TATP laying about."
"Still, isn't this causing too much commotion? Are you sure we needed to go this overboard, brother?"
"Of course I am. The Undersiders are running a tight ship here, we already saw what that bug girl could do yesterday. I wouldn't be surprised if word of that girl's capabilities haven't already reached Mama after the show she put out. These little theatrics? It's just a strategy to sow some chaos, to destabilize everyone and make the hold those brats have here become fragile. If we can get that portal to fall into the hands of our family…"
"I see what you mean brother." Eligos nodded. The two saw a plain looking dark haired woman walking towards them, rather casually. Valefor's steps gained some giddiness to them as the white clothed villain approached the woman.
"Hello my dear, break into a car and-"
[Silence]
Valefor and Eligos stopped short, taking steps back as if struck. Eligos started to use his power, gathering winds that swirled around him and sharpened like blades. He was just about to throw it at her, but a throbbing in his head had him falling to his knees, and the air dissipated into a soft breeze.
"W-What the hell…!?" Valefor stammered as he looked at woman, trembling. She simply approached him.
[You've done well. The chaos here should be sufficient to either slow down those thieves or out right kill them]
"Kill yourself! Valefor snarled, the woman just looked at him.
[It is unfortunate that I cannot just strip your host control fully. The limitations imposed upon the Shards will not allow for the skipping of the steps towards the final goal. And this form is more limited than the one in the other world] The woman looked down at herself, frowning slightly. [Hmm, though the emulation of emotions will allow me to blend in better]
"What the fuck!? Why aren't you listening to me!?" Valefor cursed as he took a step back. "KILL YOURSELF!"
[Correct, this limitations are currently preventing me from establishing a connection with the rest of the network. While this Shard power would prove useful, thralls are not what is needed right now. Failure to acquire the precognitive Shard has put a major set back-] The woman looked surprised, then pleased. [I see, this Shard belonging to my previous network could prove to be exactly what I need. But the connections and power needed are outside my calculations. Hmm, no this is a path that must be set forward. Bring that Shard here. Continue as you were, this area must continue to brew as much conflict as possible]
With that the woman left the terrified villains behind, disappearing behind a corner.
"What the fu-!?" Valefor started, but stopped as his vision blacked out slightly and he stumbled. He was righted by Eligos, who got up from his kneeling position.
"Brother, are you okay?"
Valefor shook his head, then snapped himself away from his companion. "Of course I'm okay! Humph, just look at this fine mess."
"What's next?"
"Hmm…" Valefor crossed his arms as he thought about it. A thought echoed from the back of his mind and he snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes, that would be a fantastic idea."
"What is it?"
"I think Brockton Bay needs to meet the family." Valefor cringed.
Eligos looked at him in surprise. "You don't actually mean…?"
"I think this city should have the pleasure of experiencing Mama."