"You know," Templar started. He'd been staring at the remains of the Simurgh laying on the table for the last hour. "When you said you were gonna kill her, I thought you were just talking out of your ass."
"That's anatomically impossible," I replied absently without taking my eye off of my armor. The Simurgh had done an absolute number on it in spite of me dodging pretty much every single projectile. I never knew that telekinesis, even that wielded by an Endbringer, could be so potent a weapon.
Speaking of, the Mind had made contact with the Simurgh and said it was going to give it the ability to see, but the Simurgh had yet to respond to any external stimuli. In short, it was catatonic, with no way of knowing when it would wake up.
Both better and worse that I'd hoped.
"Didact." A stern voice called into the tent we were set up in. Eidolon entered. "I- Words cannot convey the good you have done here." It almost seemed like he was reluctant to speak to me. "Without you, the Simurgh would have had the city condemned and likely gone on to kill countless more innocents. Though..." He trailed off, unsure of his words.
"You don't need to thank me. I was simply doing my duty." His fist clenched for some reason, as if he was angry with me. I doubted he even realized that he was doing it.
"Be that as it may, I wish to extend gratitude on behalf of the Protectorate and the PRT, as well as an offer of employment. We understand that you are based out of Brockton Bay?" I nodded, and he continued. "Our offer of employment, which would include full health benefits as well as a considerable Tinker budget, is something that I have discussed with Legend at length since our victory earlier today." He paused, then let out a soft laugh. "I think this is the first time anything involving an Endbringer has been considered a victory."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid that I have to decline," I told him as I tried and failed to undo the damage to the leg portion of my armor.
"D-" Eidolon took a deep breath. "I shall let Legend know of your decision. Regardless, the offer shall remain on the table indefinitely, should you wish to accept at a later date." He bowed his head slightly. "Thank you once more, Didact." With that, he took his leave.
I sighed. This armor was supposed to be nearly unbreakable, yet the Simurgh had nearly crumpled it like a piece of paper. Perhaps this was why the Usurpers had lost: they had thought themselves infallible and been shown how hubristic that thought was. The irony was not lost on me.
"What the fuck!?" Templar had taken off his helmet and was staring at me incredulously. The only thing preserving his identity were a chainmail hood and a cloth mask over his mouth and nose. "Eidolon comes into your tent, offers you a job at the Protectorate, and you just decline like that?"
"Don't need to work for the Protectorate. I'm happy where I am," I told him simply.
"You- I-" He slumped back into the foldable chair with a loud exhale. "I need a drink." He mumbled under his breath. Tucking the broken leg armor under my arm, I swirled my hand and opened a slipstream portal. The hand motion was unnecessary, but if there was one thing I'd picked up from the Mind it was theatrics.
"Wait!" Templar called out a moment before I stepped through the portal. "Didn't you say something about networking being your power?" I turned to survey him. He seemed like a nice guy. Upstanding. He'd probably work really well from within the gestalt.
Unfortunately, I had other matters back in Brockton Bay to attend to. Namely finishing off the remaining gangs and getting my father out of PRT custody. "Another time, maybe. I have business that cannot wait any longer." I forwent giving him a chance to reply and stepped back through the portal into Kenta's warehouse. The man himself was sitting on the couch in civilian attire. His mask was off, exposing his moderately handsome face.
Our minds connected, and all I'd done in Canberra he knew in an instant. His eyes widened with surprise, then his lips twisted into a wide grin. "So you have done the impossible," he stated with his gravelly voice.
"Technically, no," I told him. "She's just being… taken care of, at the moment." A wry smile appeared on my face as my helmet retracted. I sent him a mental image of the Simurgh's comatose, twitching form, causing his eyebrows to disappear beneath his hairline. I felt Amy and Victoria return to my range in the direction of the PRT building. I felt their elation as they sensed me.
'That was so fucking cool!' Victoria gushed through our connection. I asked them to spy on the Protectorate for me. They had no problem doing so, given that they knew my father was there. I nudged Emma and Madison into action. They were to figure out which shards could be utilized safely and which shards could be converted into batteries for the others.
A glance at Kenta conveyed my order of spurring his gang into action to make strikes against the E88. He stood, pulled a mask from his back pocket, and let out a soft chuckle. He'd been wanting to go on the offensive for quite some time and had been disappointed that we had to wait so long. Well, the time for waiting was over.
The mental equivalent of a slap came through my connection to the Dallon sisters. Apparently the Protectorate was talking about me.
"Her father revealed more information about her," Piggot spoke to the gathered capes. "It appears that in addition to a potent Master, she's a Trump and a Biotinker." The amount of venom she said the last word with baffled me.
"A biotinker?" Dragon asked aloud from her suit, which I hadn't noticed given the way it blended into the dark background. "That would explain the strange readings I got from her."
"Explain." Piggot spat.
Dragon's suit shifted nervously, a feat that confused me. I hadn't detected anything living within her suit. Perhaps she was piloting it via body control? "I got another scan of her after the fight. Her synaptic signals were all… off, for lack of a better word."
Armsmaster spoke next. "Panacea, can we count on your support in countering her? Given that she decided to subvert the ABB instead of coming to us with her abilities means that she intends to be a threat."
Before Amy could speak, Dragon's suit stiffened, then turned towards me. Or rather towards Amy, since I was looking through her eyes. "Panacea is exhibiting the same symptoms. Glory Girl too." As one, all the gathered capes turned towards the New Wave sisters.
Before anyone could react, I created two person-sized slipstream portals beneath Amy and Victoria. They fell in, the last thing they saw was Armsmaster and Miss Militia drawing their weapons.
Well, this was a problem.