Clutch 3.3

The five unconscious men were hauled outside and lined up in front of the store.

We didn't strip them down to their skivvies, mostly, but they were certainly a bit lighter than they'd been before we searched them. Especially Snakeface. The man who'd tried and failed to stab me and my men had been stripped of his shirt, shoes, wallet and watch.

The two knives he'd wielded were now mine, as well. The knife he'd thrown at me was sleek and small. A short stiletto-style blade that folded up into a black metal handle, making it nice and concealable.

The other knife, however, was the opposite in pretty much every way. It was a curved, heavy thing. The hilt was styled in the shape of a metal snake, with the long, curved blade sticking out of the mouth like some sort of oversized tongue. The knife… more of an oversize dagger really, came with a scabbard Snakeface had concealed down the inside of his sweatpants.

My eye twitched at the gaudiness of it. That one… could go to someone else. I pocketed the folding knife away for myself, however. It would certainly pay to have a more dependable method of defending myself at close quarters combat than the "offensive" use of my power.

The knife, like everything else the thieves once owned, would be put to far better use serving me than it ever would with them.

The street was still mostly dark, but here and there a light was visible in a distant window where there had been none before. We couldn't have been in the store any longer than ten minutes, so we had some time. At the end of the street, a figure pulled back the blinds to look at me and just as quickly stepped back as I looked right at them.

"Eyes on us. Everyone, keep your heads down." Everyone did as they were told, with Hoodie pulling his hood up. "Time to clear out. The police will be here any minute, we don't want to be here when they do."

"Actually Teacher," the fat woman stepped out of the car, Dave trudging up alongside her. The two of them looked at each other. "We were just thinking about that, but…"

Dave looked up from his rambling, giving me a rare lucid look. "…We don't feel anything. No wailing sirens or flashing lights… Gone. All gone, far away."

"No police?" I blinked as everyone in earshot turned to me. "Like, at all? They're gone?"

Dave shook his head. "No, I… didn't mean it like that. I didn't but also-! Yes. I mean-!"

"Hold that thought." I cut him off, pinching the bridge of my nose and sighing.

But Dave didn't stop there. "I can't stop it. Neither of us can. The Twins crave destruction… The police can't stop it, and neither can the pretender knights in their false armor…. The bird… The Bird will learn…"

...Jesus. It was going to get tiresome if I had to deal with this every time I wanted to get an answer to a question. Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with it.

I gestured at the fat woman to come closer and extended my hand. "Mind lending me a hand?"

She automatically took a step forward. But then she hesitated, seemingly catching herself. Her eyes locked onto my hand, eyes hungry… but a glimmer of lucid suspicion bubbled to the top.

"Is… Is this gonna mess me up too?"

I shrugged. "You tell me. Will it?"

She blinked, seemingly needing my prodding to remember that yes, she could just look two minutes forward into the future herself and See if touching me was going to screw her up like Dave. She closed her eyes for about two seconds longer than a normal blink, then opened them again.

Then she took my hand, and the Library opened. The response was… faster this time, as if the power was more eager to respond to me.

'I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, too.'

The book I was looking for was practically thrown into my "hands", and I just as quickly sent it back out again through the Connection with the woman. It took a few seconds, but I could see her mote of power shimmering and metamorphosing in response to the change.

Looking at a power mote was… hard to describe. I think you'd need a thinker sense of your own in order to properly understand it. But if I had to put it into words, it was like looking at a shimmer of heat off the sidewalk. A distant light crossed with an image you could almost but not-quite see. And even that description was woefully inaccurate to what I was seeing, feeling when I used my power.

A few seconds later, the woman and I released each other's hands as the power settled back down, reporting its new name and function.

Screen.

"Try using that on him," I said, indicating Dave.

She nodded and hurried to the teenager's side, where he was rubbing his shoulders and murmuring to himself. She put her hand on his shoulder, and immediately his murmurings ceased.

"Holy shit." The woman grunted, as David looked around, the madness in his eyes gone.

He rubbed the side of his head. "I… I can think again. The visions, they're gone."

"No, they're not." The fat woman growled, a bead of sweat trickling down her brow.

Screen. A distant cousin to the Nerve Manipulation branch but dealt exclusively with parahuman powers. Screen's ability was self-explanatory: it allowed the user to act as a filter to the extrasensory information generated by another parahuman's power. It staved off thinker headaches and painful visions, processing information into a form that could be better understood.

Right now, whatever visions were presumably overwhelming Dave were being offloaded onto the other woman, and already she was looking a little weathered having to sort through it all.

"Let's keep this brief. So, what were you saying about no police? Are they all gone?"

David looked around. "They're not gone. It's just… they're not going to come for awhile now. I… Future me doesn't hear sirens for another ten minutes in the timelines we stick around that long. Capes even longer than that."

"…I see."

Well, that was something. We'd been here for a while, and yet a police response was still at least ten minutes out. Did something happen? Either that or the Sydney police was grossly incompetent. For such a lax response to a crime in progress in a town that was effectively under martial law...

"Tag?"

"They'll still be unconscious by then, Sir," the man dutifully reported.

I shrugged, taking his word for it.

"You switched her power out again?" Callum said as he hurried over to my side, with what we'd gathered from our captives.

"Yeeep." I nodded before turning to face him, then blinked. Not just Callum, but everyone was looking rather awed all over again. Even Monopoly and Scout, the former who was sitting on the edge of the fan with a makeshift sling over his twisted wrist and the latter who'd been staring into space, one hand scratching idly under one eye.

"Is… is there a limit on how much you can do that?" Hoodie asked.

I was almost perplexed at the Sub-Host's amazement. Clearly, that wasn't the case. It was common sense, wasn't it? Of course I could, it was asking if I had to think every time this body breathed-

…Then I shook my head.

What… was I thinking? Of course it wasn't common sense to them. My agent was filling my head with all sorts of ideas, I needed to remember what came naturally to me now was still something they had no experience with.

Still, that line of thought had been noticeably out of sync with the rest of my thoughts. 'Should I be concerned, Passenger?'

There was, as always, no response.

"No, not to my knowledge," I explained aloud, betraying none of my inner confusion. "As long as we make physical contact, I can switch out your powers with a new one as needed."

There was a moment of silence as they processed that.

"…So," Scout murmured. "…How many different powers do you have?"

I shrugged. "I'm still experimenting with what I can do. But at last count? I've got a couple thousand, if you count all the minor variations for each theme."

The shock on Callum's face was mirrored in the expressions of the others. Even Scout, whose expression was almost completely flat, had her jaw noticeably slacken an inch at the figure.

I tried not to eavesdrop on the others as I focused on switching Dave's power out with something less… potent. Even as I concentrated on reshaping the very stubborn mote into something less obstructive of my Student's mental processes, I managed to overhear a few of the whispers being hastily exchanged behind my back.

"Is he lyin..?"

"….hit the jackpot…"

"Unbelievable…an't be tru…"

"..e's…like Eidolon."

I had to admit, I felt my cheeks and the tips of my ears heat up at that one. My power was admittedly very cool, but to be mentioned in the same sentence as Eidolon? I just… wow.

'Really guys, it's not that exciting. No matter how good I get, there are things I'll never be able to do that Eidolon can.'

That and a million other sentences filled my head. Some downplaying, some embracing the praise. And I couldn't bring myself to say any of them.

I just… let it wash over me. Basking in it, almost.

I hadn't had people talk about me like that in a long time. When my previous life had fallen apart, I'd retreated into a tiny room, walled away from the world. I'd gradually forgotten what it had felt like.

To be admired. To be respected. To be revered.

At the time, I'd wanted to forget those feelings because failing to live up to those expectations had broken me. But now? Now that I'd faced the first test of my cape career and hadn't been found wanting? I'd expected to feel… numb, anxious, maybe even a bit embarrassed at the praise.

Maybe deep down a part of me had expected that I'd crash and burn as early on in my cape career as I had in my first life's professional career. But instead? I let my arms fall to my sides as I finished making my adjustments, taking a deep breath.

It felt good.

No.

Being revered felt…Right.

Dave blinked as his faulty Precognition was replaced with some minor Enhanced Mathematics. Despite my power telling me he shouldn't be experiencing mental strain near what Scout was feeling, he still had a very… odd look on his face as he looked at me.

"T-Teacher?"

"…hm?"

He swallowed. "Your… your face?"

"Huh? My face?" Confused by his unnerved expression, I reached up and felt around for a cut or some dirt that would warrant such a response. Instead, I only found my mouth had worked itself into a wide, toothy smile without my knowledge.

I typically tailored my reactions to things. From experience, people tended to find my natural expressions to be a bit… intense.

'Whoops.'

Like a sculptor shaving down clay sliver by sliver, I slowly worked the corners of my mouth down, fashioning my natural expression into something more… socially acceptable. I covered my mouth with the palm of my hand as I sculpted it down to one of my carefully practiced "business meeting smiles".

"Is this better?" I asked after I removed my palm. Repeated testing and refinement indicated that this particular expression functioned well at conveying amiability and an easygoing air.

And yet somehow, it didn't seem to entirely put him at ease. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, as if he were questioning what he'd just seen. "…Y-yeah. I guess."

Shrugging, I turned my attention back to the rather-awed rest of the group.

I could get used to this.

"Teacher…"

Even before Scout finished speaking, the crunching of glass alerted me to the arrival of a newcomer. A small, mousy girl peered out at us from the inside of the ruined storefront. Our eyes met for half a second, and I inhaled.

"Lights!"

Immediately the high beams of the van snapped back on, obscuring her vision of us. She seemed to expect some sort of attack, because she immediately started screaming again as she retreated back into the store.

Lights came on around the street.

'Oh, so now people start waking up?' I rubbed my temples and groaned. 'Please tell me my personal outings aren't going to be like this all the time.'

Oh, if only I knew.

"Ma'am!" I shouted after her. "Ma'am, please wait. And please stop screaming."

The sound of rushing feet behind me made me turn around. A number of my Students had responded to my shouting and were running towards the store entrance. I held a hand up, causing them all to stop in their tracks. I honestly didn't want to know what my power's tampering had made them assume I wanted.

"Ma'am, please. We mean you no harm," I continued, and the screaming quieted down a bit. I made eye contact with Callum, on the far end of the group. "We… We're superheroes."

That made the sounds on the inside of the store quiet down. "R… Really?"

"Yes really," I responded, ignoring the dawning joy on Cal's face. "We saw you were in danger and came to help, but we're… not in our costumes right now. Please don't look too closely at us."

The best lies had a hint of truth to them.

The sound of shuffling feet came from the inside of the store. "Oh… Then thank you!"

"It's no trouble." I chuckled warmly, projecting a smile into my voice. "We'll be going now. The men who attacked you are out here with us, tied up and unconscious."

"T-Thank you so much!" the voice was more excited, more relieved now. "I wish I had something I could give you. Those men attacked me when I was in the middle of locking up for the night and I-!"

"Really ma'am, it's no trouble," Cal chimed in, sounding surprisingly confident. "Heroic work is its own reward."

I smirked a little at that. I'm not the type to let a person die for my own convenience, but the wallets of the criminals we beat up certainly made the trouble slightly more worth it.

"We'll be going now, ma'am. Someone has probably already called but if you call the police, they should arrive in at least ten minutes."

"O-okay!"

I gestured for everyone to get back in the van. We all piled back in and I was just about ready to shut my door when the voice called out again.

"W-wait!"

I paused. "Yes?"

"W-who are you?" the girl asked. "What should we call you?"

I paused. So, she was asking my hero name? It was safe to assume she wanted our team name as well. No doubt it wouldn't stay between us for long.

First she'd tell the cops, who'd tell the PRT, and between leakers and whoever was watching us from the buildings this little exchange would probably be all over PHO by night's end.

Well, I had a solution for that.

Everyone looked to me for direction, and some started voicing suggestions. I merely held up a hand in response.

"You'd do well to remember my name!" I shouted to anyone who was listening. "It is a name that will one day be known throughout the Provinces! I am the majestic arm of Justice! My name is-!"

And then I slammed the door shut. I spun around and told the driver to get us the heck out of there.

Ignoring the muffled, confused shouting from the inside of the store the van backed up and righted itself on the street before speeding off into the night.

"...Uh, Sir?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"You uh.. you didn't…" Cal looked very confused. "That girl still doesn't know your name. She still doesn't know who saved her."

"Indeed she doesn't, Lieutenant." I nodded sagely and I reclined back in my chair, arms folded behind my head. "And if my plans achieve fruition, she never will."

"…seven, eight, nine…and ten." I put the last dollar in Freeze Tag's hand. "And there's your bonus for a job well done."

The biker nodded appreciatively as he stepped back to join the others. The five thugs might not have had much money between them, but that didn't mean the gesture of spreading the wealth around was unimportant. That I was rewarding them for having risked their lives.

"Well now," I said loudly as I clapped my hands to get everyone's attention. "It's been a very eventful evening. I don't think any of us could say we're disappointed in the results of this outing, can we?"

Smiling, the group all looked at each other, murmuring to each other and nodding with agreement. The van was parked behind a deserted supermarket, just a few streets down from the entrance to Tent City. I was leaning against the side of the van with the rest of the group in a semi-circle around me.

"Now, at the start of the night when you accepted your powers from me, you did so with the understanding once tonight's business was concluded you'd need to make a choice: Would you accept the one-time payment of cash and a weeks' worth of superpowers and walk away, or would you continue to work for me, and in doing so…. Commit yourself to helping me achieve my goals?"

I spread my hands wide. "The time to make that choice is now. But before you make your decision, I'd like to take this time to put at ease any concerns you might have. I'm more than happy to answer any questions. And when you're done, I have a few points of my own I'd like to address."

The group was silent as I finished talking, its members either casting furtive glances at each other or giving me a variety of blank looks that quite reminded me of a school of fish, opening and closing their mouths over and over again. They didn't seem afraid of me anymore or anything, just… vaguely restless.

After another minute of silence the reason dawned on me: they didn't know how to question me.

"Come now," I chided lightly. "I'm certain you all have something you'd like to ask me. This is a very important moment for all of us. Don't be shy. Take a moment to think… and then tell me what's bothering you."

I put the weight of my power behind the last half of my sentence, then watched as their mental gears were forced to start spinning once more. A few Students started flexing and working their jaws, as if remembering how to use them.

"… First off," Hoodie asked after a moment. "Why did we drive away without telling that girl who we were? She was just a civilian."

"A fair point." I agreed. "She was, as you say, just a civilian. The issue I have with that, however, is that I wish to remain anonymous for as long as possible. Was it rude of me to run without revealing myself to that young woman? Perhaps. But at the same time, rather than know how many of us there were, what we looked like or what our powers are, she knows only that someone beat up the men attempting to rob her, that they arrived and fled in a car… and that there was more than one of them."

Callum shifted uncomfortably from where he was standing next to me. I'd switched his Enhanced Reflexes back to Uncanny Intuition. He must have picked up that I'd been displeased by him speaking up and revealing his voice to the girl in the store, and now he knew the reason why.

"You should understand by now I have little interest in operating like a 'typical cape'. Not only do my superpowers function differently from nearly all other capes, I have very little interest in publicity, and the amount of attention my abilities would draw if they became well-known."

Little interest in publicity… for now.

I pulled out my own roll of bills. "Tonight's gains, for example, likely wouldn't have been possible if the casino had been aware in advance of the source of our… winning streak."

There were a few chuckles and nods as they understood my reasoning. "Understand that being my employees will require a certain amount of… discretion from you. That means no going around showing off or bragging that you have powers, no going out and enacting 'daring deeds' without my prior approval, and -naturally- not explaining where your powers came from."

"And if we have friends and family that would like to join us?" Monopoly asked.

I pursed my lips, considering. "I would, in all honesty, prefer our operation be kept as small as possible for the time being. Only a little more than the dozen we already have now. All the better to keep ourselves concealed from the PRT. That said, if you feel that they can be trusted and can be useful, give me their names later. I will use my ability to… screen them. If they pass my tests, I might consider calling them in for an interview."

Dave put his hand up. "Yes?"

"How did you get your powers?"

'I got struck by lighting and travelled from a world where this world is a web serial and is also in the future.'

I opened my mouth-

"That is a deeply personal matter and not one that is open for discussion." Cal surprised me by stepping in front of me. "You should know that in the cape community it is considered bad manners to pry into a cape's personal history without an invitation."

At first, I was more than a little shocked, then touched to see Cal go to bat for me. Being as big a cape geek as he was, it figured he already knew that trigger events were a sore subject for capes to talk about.

It was… nice of him to think of me like that.

I switched my focus back to Dave just in time to watch the look on his face switch from shock to shame.

"I didn't know! I just…" the boy seemed to be holding back tears for a moment. "I'm sorry, Teacher! Please, forgive me!"

"…It's quite alright." I blinked, surprised by the strength of the reaction. "I see no reason to bear a grudge for an honest mistake."

Just as quickly as the young man had his breakdown he regained his composure, to the point now I was wondering if I'd imagined it.

"...So, next question-?"

"I think the police are at the store now," Scout blurted out suddenly. "I see a few people talking to the shopkeeper."

"…I see?" I said after a moment, though it was less a statement than it was a question.

Compared to our "heist" and the subsequent thwarted robbery, time passed in a blur after we left the store. Although my sense of time wasn't the best, it felt like a lot more than ten minutes had passed. What could have happened that slowed their response down so much?

"A bit rude, don't you think? the fat woman chimed in, her lips curling into a frown of distaste. Subtly different from her default expression. "We've got questions of our own we're waiting to ask."

Scout seemed to need a moment to process what had just been said to her, then blinked owlishly.

"I'm sorry…" she murmured after a moment, rubbing her eyes. "I'm not sure why I said that."

"You just felt you needed to get it out?" I asked with a tone tailored to convey concern. "Like you had to say it? Perhaps it's your power responding to a lack of use?"

She blinked and looked directly at me. "Y-yes, Teacher… Someone new is there, now. They didn't walk into my range, they're moving through the air. They're flying... They're carrying the guys we beat up away."

"I… see." I swallowed, carefully suppressing my trepidation. "Is it Lightrail, or is it some Protectorate cape?"

She shook her head.

"Can't tell. The profiles are too indistinct." She started rubbing her eyes. "They're picking them up, raising them off the ground, and then they're out of range. And again. Too hazy. Maybe..." She turned to look at me, that strange intensity once again in her eyes. "Maybe if I had a little more power?"

Oh.

…Oh, well isn't that just

swell. This girl was going full-on thrall.

Her constant rubbing at her face was starting to mess with her hair. Her eyes were concealed by her hands as she ground her palms into them in a circular motion. If what I'd read of the other guy's thralls' behavior in Worm held true, she likely wasn't going to stop rubbing at it.

'Repetitive tics. Something to watch for when determining proper power "dosage".'

More than a few concerned looks were being sent her way by the others now, too. If I had to guess they were remembering Scout's odd behavior earlier tonight and were realizing something was certainly wrong with her.

I took a deep breath. Cool. Calm. Time to take control.

I stood up from leaning against the van, walking over to where Scout had hunched over. My other Students backed away respectfully as I approached her, eyes slightly wary now. Scout gave no indication that she was paying attention anymore, rubbing her eyes and muttering aloud what I assumed were her attempts at gathering more details of the vision only she could see.

"…So far… Five men, six foot, seven foot… four inches… is it a cape? No, it can't… I can't see.. Don't go…Wait.."

"Scout. Stop." I said clearly, firmly.

Immediately she froze, both hands still pressed to her eyes. Gently, I grabbed both her wrists and pulled her arms down without any resistance. The eyes that stared back at me were like those of a small child's innocent and curious.

"Scout," I said gently. "Your Field. Turn it off."

The mote of power shined brightly in her mind as she met my gaze. Her eyes widened considerably, and her lip quivered. For a moment I thought she might actually refuse my order to shut down her power. But between the steel in my gaze and my power's relentless influence, I could practically feel what feeble resistance she'd attempted to mount buckle and dissipate before it even fully formed.

"…Alright." She nodded slowly and closed her eyes, then pressed the palms of her hands together. A few breaths later, she opened her eyes again, her breathing a bit easier. She looked back at me, seeming a bit more aware. "…It's done."

I smiled reassuringly. "Good."

"Is she going to be okay?" Freeze Tag asked, crossing his arms. Those big, muscular arms he could easily strangle me with.

"She's going to be fine. This is merely a side effect of her power," I said truthfully, then gestured at Dave. "It's similar to the strain our precognitive friend here suffered when I attempted to further amplify his future sight."

Giving Scout a reassuring pat on the shoulder, I stood back up and gave the group a once-over.

Compared to the start of the night, my power and influence shined noticeably brighter than ever in their minds. It was the difference between looking at the dim embers of a dying fire and a cluster of candle flames. I knew the motes weren't the all-encompassing influence they could be, but they'd rooted themselves in a lot deeper than I'd intended.

I cleared my throat. "This would probably be a good time to discuss some of the details of my power with all of you…"

Freeze Tag uncrossed his arms, putting his hands on his hips. "I've had some questions about this, myself."

"I'd be surprised if some of you hadn't already suspected, so allow me to set the record straight right now."

It was unavoidable, really. The Toll of my power was too obvious for me to pretend to be blind to it. If nothing else, tonight had made it clear that pretending it wasn't an issue would either make me look deceitful or a fool.

That path led to the dickheel side of the Force.

'This time,' I willed the thought to be as loud as it could be. 'You and I are doing this timeline the right way.'

"You should know that in addition to the granted powers having a built-in 'expiration date', my ability has another drawback..."

I shot a glance at Callum, and he nodded supportively. I'd made the whole picture clear to him in front of the school, except the mind control. If things didn't go well with the group, I'd still have at least one disciple with a -more or less- clear picture of what he was getting into.

"Each of my granted powers comes at a price. The greater your powers, the more difficult it becomes to…"

To think? To act independently? To say no?

"…to reason."

The fat woman blinked, and then her eyes narrowed. "You're gonna have to go into more detail, here."

I tapped the side of my head. "Perhaps due to the additional mental strain of having a power one shouldn't 'naturally' possess, the more powerful the ability I grant you, the more you might have to strain to think around it."

"How bad is it?" Freeze Tag asked sharply, almost growling as he reflexively grabbed the side of his head. Several members of the group reacted similarly, expressions of worry or aggression growing on their faces like thunderclouds.

"Not as bad as you might assume," I said quickly. "You've probably already seen the worst of it. Nervous tics, repetitive behavior, overwhelming visions, gullibility… and impaired reasoning."

"I'm sorry, gullibility?"

"Impaired reasoning?"

"…Lapses in judgement under pressure. Some confusion or listlessness. But nothing ever harmful! You know I wouldn't do that to you."

Jacket Boy looked very uncomfortable. "Was I… driving drunk tonight?"

"Of course not!" I snapped, then calmed myself. "My powers wouldn't come with a drawback that impaired your ability to use them. Only make it marginally more difficult to perform tasks outside your 'assigned role'. And all of these side effects are temporary, fading away to nothing alongside the power it came with."

Cal seemed to sense something brewing and gave me a warning look. I knew I needed to choose my next words very carefully.

"The reason I didn't tell you at the start of the night," I said quickly. "Is that the drawbacks are far less serious than they sound. Take a moment, assess yourself. Do you feel in danger? Or sick? Or crazy?"

They all looked at each other.

"Discounting everything I just said, remember how you felt at the start of the night. Didn't it feel good? Having superpowers? Being in control of your lives again? Didn't it make you feel strong and confident? Like nothing in the world could take you down?"

I smiled, taking their pensive expressions as invitations to continue. "Should I have told you? Perhaps, and I apologize for that. But if you're honest with yourselves, would you have taken my deal if you had? Would you have the hard earned rewards you now have? I needed to show you my power was real, that you could use it without fear of injury. And while we had a few stumbles tonight, I think it worked out well!"

"And all we have to do is be your loyal henchmen?"

I fixed the man who'd spoken with a withering glare. "Employees. I have no intention of putting you in any danger I myself wouldn't be willing to go into. Your lives are not expendable to me."

Several group members nodded to each other, acknowledging the "truth" of my words.

And that was the reason I'd put myself in harm's way tonight. Even if I never did it again -and believe me, I intended to do just that- I needed that image of their "fearless leader" fighting beside them to stick in their heads. Because if someone had gotten hurt or killed and the rest of the group found me sitting in the van with my feet kicked up, waiting for them to come back, it would only confirm the toxic attitude Gavin Hawley had tried to use at the town hall: that parahumans looked down on regular humans.

"Once you agree to work for me, you will be under my protection. You will carry these powers for me, and I will see to it you will be taken care of.. We will all watch out for each other... And, as cliché as it sounds, untold power and riches shall one day be yours. I promise you."

I extended my hand once again. "So, what do you all say? Do we have a deal? Can we still be …friends?"