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Chapter 2: A wise crazy old lizard

=KroganDragon=

Part 1

=KroganDragon=

10 April 2011

Brockton Bay

"Those names aren't appropriate for a hero," Armsmaster spoke through gritted teeth.

Everyone's a critic.

"Nonsense! I know of at least a dozen worlds where the locals would pay a fortune to have someone come around, and remove all the bugs. Especially, if they could do it without using pesticides that could be used as chemical weapons!" My voice boomed with righteous indignation. "Qeenie, Rachni, Rachni Queen? Those are decent enough names! What do you say, girlie?" I looked expectantly at Taylor.

She fidgeted under my gaze. Above us, the swarm buzzed even louder.

"They sound a bit… villainous?" Taylor tried.

"Humans." I sighed in exasperation. "Speaking about humans," I glanced at one of the nearby rooftops, which was shrouded in shadows. After freezing Lung, I got myself a thinker power to give me a warning for any surprises. Like Oni-Lee dropping to blow himself up, or the dragon stirring up and coming at me for round two.

"I didn't know you had such large mutated varen on Earth Bet, much less that people could use them as mounts. That's cool!" I gave Armsmaster a thumb's up.

The Undersiders haven't made themselves scarce as they should have. Probably because a certain thinker was too curious for her own good. I hoped that a confrontation here and now might dissuade Taylor of any ideas about going undercover half-cocked in the future. I liked what I saw tonight and wanted her as a part of my new Krant. Frankly, she would be wasted among those two-bit thieves.

Armsmaster whirled around, halberd on the ready. He scanned the nearby rooftops and noticed the Undersiders just in time to see them run.

"What was that?" Taylor asked warily. Her swarm got lower, buzzing in clear agitation. It was enough to get the troopers nervous.

"The Undersiders. Small-time villains. They might be the kid's Lung intended to shoot." Armsmaster grudgingly admitted. "There are indications that they hit a casino under ABB protection last month."

Taylor froze, standing still like a statue. The swarm, on the other hand, sounded like it was ready to devour everything and everyone in sight.

I didn't expect the Undersides to do something particularly dumb, like start an altercation here and now. Armsmaster and two trucks' worth of PRT troopers were in place. There was a swarm of dread acting as top cover, and most importantly, a happy Krogan who just took out arguably the most dangerous villain in the city. The point of this exercise was simple – first impressions were vital. Thanks to Wrex's memories, I knew that perhaps better than anyone. For more than a thousand years, he had to constantly deal with the legacy of the Krogan, and the popular perception entrenched among the people across the galaxy. Granted, most Krogan being damn fools was a "gift" that kept giving in that regard.

In this particular case, hopefully, what Taylor would see, was a group of small-time criminals. The same two-bit villains who provoked Lung forced her to engage him, and perhaps watched the show without intervening. While Tattletale would be undoubtedly able to work through such an impression if given enough time, it would be an uphill battle. Further, this time around, I wasn't going to let the Undersiders be the only "positive" influence my future Krant member would have in the coming days and weeks.

"So, that bunch of thieves managed to piss off the rage dragon, and we had to pick up the pieces." I rumbled in obvious displeasure.

"Indeed." Armsmaster agreed. "If you're not careful, you might end up like them. Causing mayhem intentionally, unintentionally, or because you don't care anymore."

I'm sure he meant both of us. Sure enough, Armsmaster relaxed a bit and turned around to look at Taylor.

"The Wards can offer invaluable support, training, and experience in a controlled environment. Do I need to explain how things could have gone tonight if Wrex hadn't intervened? The best-case scenario has you somehow evading Lung, while he torched a part of the city, destroying the life-hood of dozens if not hundreds of people."

Well, with the help of the Undersiders, Taylor had had a shot at taking down Lung before he ramped up enough to be invulnerable to anything they could throw at him. At that point, the best-case scenario without out-of-town heavy hitters coming to help would have been to let him calm down. Then merely contain the damage, writing off as much real estate as it took.

"I'll think about it," Taylor responded after a long moment of awkward silence.

"I'll send you a message when I get my new phone. In case you want to talk or need a few pointers." I added. Hopefully, I just planted the seeds that would eventually have Taylor grow up to become a capable member of my Krant.

"I…" She trailed off.

"I still need your statements and decision about Lung's capture." Armsmaster impatiently interrupted.

"I'm taking credit. I captured him, besides, I doubt that otherwise, you'll let me get Lung's bounty, no matter how small it is." Really? Fifty grand for capturing someone like Lung? I knew it might be to dissuade people from going after a rage dragon out of greed. That still left Lung's bounty sound pathetic considering what my brief research showed about his activities since he arrived in Brockton Bay. If my guess was right, most of that money would be from people who had family members kidnapped by the ABB to be turned into prostitutes. Either that or trafficked away and sold.

The same went for Oni-Lee.

"Bounty?" Taylor asked with confusion evident from her hunched pose.

"There's a reward for capturing Lung," I explained. "You did find him first and did stall him when he stated he wanted to kill kids, which is commendable. I believe you deserve part of the reward money. For the effort and because your heart is in the right place. I'll call you about it, once the paperwork is through." I promised.

With a bit of luck, we might make a level-headed soldier of fortune from Taylor. That should be an improvement over a regular warlord and villain in the making, right?

At that, she stared at me at lost for words.

"I would like that statement, now." Armsmaster butted in, the spoilsport.

Taylor shook herself out of her daze and began explaining how she ended up engaging Lung. She told us everything. From going out on a patrol, to prove to herself she could be a hero, to running into the gangsters, sneaking as close as she could. Taylor continued, speaking about overhearing Lung's cold declaration that shooting kids were on the menu. From that point on, her description was much less precise. Her lack of training and experience was painfully obvious at that point.

"As far as I know, Queenie tells the truth," I added when Armsmaster glanced my way.

"That's not my name, you senile turtle!" Taylor snapped at me.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again, you've got quad girlie. You've got spunk to spare too." I nodded and flashed her an encouraging smile.

For some reason, Taylor hurriedly took a few steps back.

=KroganDragon=

Part 2

=KroganDragon=

10 April 2011

Brockton Bay

Angelica's mutated muscles moved rhythmically under Tattletale with every bouncing step of the enhanced dog. All that jolting did her no favors. Her brain itched and ached as if it was doing its best to jump out of her head.

It was all that Case 53's fault! Her power was still in overdrive, making the pain all the worse.

Lisa could see that big humped lizard. Her power could see something as well. However, all she got was confusion, shock, and a manic sense of glee while her power tried to piece up things. It was still busy speculating. And it was operating too fast for Tattletale to manage to understand anything from the stray thoughts flashing through her head.

Restricted. Confusion. Blank. Void. Shock. Access. Challenge! Glee!

Tattletale was curious of course, so unwisely, she hung back despite Grue's demands and pleas that they made themselves scarce. Her power did work during the battle, kind of. It didn't tell Lisa anything she couldn't figure herself in very short order from observation alone.

The scary thing was that her power either couldn't or wouldn't be clear when it went on overdrive. At that point, all Lisa could do was hang for dear life to Angelica's back, while the monster of a dog bounced happily towards their lair.

Her phone rang, which was distant, yet somehow too close and piercing. The sharp sound was like ice-pick drilling into her head.

"Make it quiet…" Lisa mumbled and pressed her face to Angelica's rough back.

"That's not good," Grue grumbled like a grue.

Tattletale felt relieved when the movement stopped, mostly. Angelica's panting breath and small twitches were still very uncomfortable. A pair of strong hands pulled her against something rough, and all she could do was mumble in protest. One hand went for her belt and fiddled with it until it pulled out something.

"Tattletale, I'm glad you made it."

"Not quite," Grue answered.

Lisa tried to focus on the voices. One of them was Coil, the bastard. She tried to struggle, to get to the phone, however her brain felt like mush and her arms refused to cooperate.

"Grue, I presume? Is Tattletale all right?" Coil asked after a very long pause.

"She's out of it. Thinker headache, I think. She wasn't harmed otherwise."

"That's good. I'm sorry about Regent… I'll make sure to compensate you for tonight's… trouble."

"Regent's all right," Grue grumbled. "Two unknown capes engaged Lung and took him out before he could find us."

Another long pause. Lisa knew it was important, there were implications she wasn't getting… She opened her mouth to say something but just gurgled…

"Yes, she might need a doctor. Tattletale's really out of it."

Coil presumably said something else, but then the world went dark and Lisa didn't have to think anymore.

=KroganDragon=

Coil slowly put down the phone on his desk and let out a frustrated sigh. He couldn't recall his power giving such faulty results before. He had been using it constantly for years now, and probably was among the Parahumans who knew their abilities best. This was his "better" timeline, the one he chose because in the alternative, he lost Tattletale, and his thinker was too valuable, and amusing to let burn at this point.

In a few weeks, she would become a much less valuable asset, one to be expended in the right circumstances. Until then, her insight would continue to be too useful to sacrifice unless he had to.

That was especially true right now. Coil split the timeline.

In one, he got up and hurried to leave his base, shedding his skin in the process, figuratively speaking of course.

On the other, he picked up the phone and began typing commands on his computer.

He needed answers, yesterday. Coil had a good idea where to start. The two new capes Grue mentioned – they didn't appear in the other timeline when the Undersiders had to escape Lung alone and had to expend Regent to make it out relatively intact. Well, Regent and two of Bitch's dogs, but who cared for them? There was no shortage of mutts to replace them.

A few calls ensured that his moles within the PRT will be digging for information about tonight. Meanwhile, he hacked their network, using his back doors, and began digging. While Coil did have a working theory already, he needed to be sure. The appearance of a Case 53 with abilities similar to Eidolon's in the city was concerning. Logically, if anyone new was responsible for tonight, it had to be that particular cape. Then again, Grue spoke about a second unknown. Urdnot Wrex, if he had the right powers might be able to disrupt Coil's ability. However, if the Case 53 went hunting for Lung, there would have been no need to utilize any anti-thinker powers that might have resulted in such a deviation between what Coil knew should have happened, and what happened.

A power from the second Cape, or a device if they were a tinker, might explain it as well.

One thing was certain, whoever was responsible had to go. Either permanently if at all feasible. If not, they had to be encouraged to move out of the city, yesterday. Because, otherwise, Coil would be reliant on a single timeline. No second chances, no way to get the best outcome of an opportunity, or turn around disaster.

There it was. All the trouble and expense Coil utilized to get secure back-doors in the PRT systems once again paid for themselves. A brand new preliminary report entered the system. Reading through the highlights, confirmed Grue's story.

A new cape, temporarily call sign Monarch, engaged Lung, after he declared his intention to shoot kids. The Undersiders. Monarch engaged him at that point, only for the odd Case 53 to intervene. But of course, despite his appearance, Urdnot Wrex wasn't a mere Case 53. He was flagged as something else altogether, something much more interesting, and hot for Coil to go after without a very good reason or plan.

Now, he had to further revisit his contingency planning, break out the heavy weapons for his mercenaries, just in case, and be ready.

=KroganDragon=

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