Smoke in the Air
The irritating wailing of the sirens made me adjust the grip on my weapon istinctively, ready to face this next challenge, even if I didn't feel that foreboding typical of those battles that had actually meant something in Drangleic.
"Don't kill them." the voice of the blonde woman at my side stole my attention from the surrounding.
At my tilted head, she went on: "They're no match for you, but they have countless others that will hunt me and my companions if these ones are killed by you."
"Very well." I acquiesced, remembering a shadow of this world that once upon a time made sense. Why making so much noise, if not to invite a challenge? This was no song for the dead, no endless repetition of words that a lost undead that clung to in order to not become hollow.
They are alive. I remembered suddenly, pieces thad been lost suddenly clicking together. There were no Great Souls among humans in this Realm. None of them had ever taken part in the Cycle, and while I could feel the Darkness, for it was everpresent, it was faint, it didn't weight upon the shoulders of the people here, it didn't loom in their shadows, it didn't lurk just beyond the reach of Light.
"Hey!" Tattletale's voice made me shake my head: "Don't...!"
Apparently, whatever she had been about to say became unimportant when several vans that sported the same pattern surrounded us: "Drop the weapon and keep your hands behind your head! Tattletale and unknown parahuman, this is the PRT, you will comply or we will use containment foam!"
I listened to the words that were blaring from a man placed behind a turret on the top of one of the vans, and while I could understand almost each words, they simply didn't make sense when taken together. Asking for an opponent to surrender? That was... They're humans. A part of me realized, and I relaxed my hold on my weapon.
Did they not recognize the sigil on my finger? Obviously not.
"They're going to take us prisoners if we don't leave." Tattletale's voice made me focus once more, "And I'm not as fast as you are!"
Self serving little soul. I could feel my lips twitch upwards as I understood what she was unwilling to ask out loud. But then again, did I not decide to protect the weak?
I quickly pulled the Dragon Chime from my belt, falling into the warm security of my own hope in face of the Dark, and let it go.
The wave of force followed the chiming of my Miracle across the street, leaving Tattletale untouched while it slammed harshly against the vans round us, cleanly felling them on their sides.
An istant later, the Dargon Chime was secured once more to my belt, I grabbed the midsection of the blonde woman at my side, and ran away. The Realm around me proved itself once more too empty to oppose the slightest resistance to my will, and the streets seemed to blur away under my feet.
After a while, I stopped, dropping the blond woman to the ground, where she immediately puked.
"Never again..." Tattletale wheezed, then wincing as she brought a hand against her hip: "Oww... you're insanely hard did you know that?"
I tilted my head to one side, not understanding what was her point.
"You just..." she sighed, "Nevermind, I know where we are, I can lead you to my base, so we can thank you properly for saving us."
"No thanks are necessary." I was confused, I thought it obvious that I didn't help them out of any wish for a reward. The hot presence of the drake-wannabe had been what roused me from my rest at the bonfire, helping them had merely been... not a collateral effect of my actions as much as a natural implication.
"I insist!" the blonde countered my objection, "Besides, it will be safe there, and as I said, my companions would feel bad if we separated without thanking you."
"Very well." I nodded, curious to see what this thanks would amount to.
It wasn't like I had any pressing matters to attend to at the bonfire.
The meeting room of the PRT, where Director Piggot chose to hold this particular debriefing, was one of the larger ones. It was circular, and the steely grey walls were equipped with concealed containment foam sprayers and cameras, while the cold, white lights kept anyone from sliding into anything that could resemble even a single moment of levity.
In short, it was a stark and sombre environment, perfectly suited to the news that were going to surely break the balance in Brockton Bay.
"Fucking Lung." Assault gritted out once the videos of the fight, taken both from Armsmaster's armour and the cameras of the PRT vans that had failed completely their attempt to stop the new cape and to apprehend Tattletale.
"Is it true then?" Aegis spoke somberly, an heavy frown on his features.
"Yes." Director Piggot replied, ignoring Assault's outburst, "Armsmaster gave his life fighting Lung, action that ultimately brought to the death of the Villain."
"Fucking hell, his corpse isn't even cold yet and you're already talking PR." Assault hissed out while he attempted to raise from his seated position, only for his wife to yank him back.
"It is precisey what he would have wanted." the Director pointed out, "Not that I have to justify myself to you. The Bay however will explode, Kaiser is going to seize the power vacuum as soon as the news get out."
That statement seemed to bring a renewed weight upon the shoulders of all the Protectorate members present, and even Assault grimaced, knowing that his boss wasn't lying per sè. Still, using Armsmaster's less than stellar social skills in order to keep everyone working around the clock was a dick move.
"What about the new cape?" Battery cut in, "This Rose Knight?"
"Villain or Hero?" Velocity forced himself to ask, trying to compartimentalize his feelings, "In any case, how are we going to approach the brute-combat thinker-blaster that deep fried Lung?"
"She engaged Lung as soon as she found him, but she didn't esitate when it came to break through the PRT blockade, all the while defending the Villain Tattletale." Director Piggot resumed, bringing on the monitor the high quality video of the PRT van closing in on the duo of capes in the aftermath of the battle with the Dragon of Kyunshu.
The local Protectorate heroes observed along with the upper echelons of the PRT ENE Branch as the knight, whose armour was covered in streaks of ash, simply stared down the troopers while they parked in a rough circle, leaving only one route of escape as to not force an unknown parahuman with his shoulders against the wall. One could never know when a standard approach turned into a suicide mission.
Everyone looked with worry and interest as the cape seemed to swing the strange contraption, generating a wave of force strong enough to topple the vans on one side.
"It looks like some esoteric effect tied to the... whatever that thing is." Velocity observed: "At least it isn't telekinesis."
"So... Tinker?"
"Tinker." Piggot confirmed, "Dragon report based on the results of Armsmaster' scanners... the materials are unknown, the thermal readings made no sense, if only because they were perfectly contained."
"And we don't want to make an enemy of her, from our records it was her first night out, even if her base is that creepy bone-fire." Assault offered, trying to insert some levity with the horrible pun, even if his attempt fell flat.
"For now, we approach cautiously, trying to not worsen the effect that our first contact may have had on her, if only because of the fact that she apparenlty ran faster than Armsmaster could go with his bike, all the while carrying a stone slab the size of my car." Director Piggot replied: "If you can ask her to retell the events of tonight, do so, but do not press her until we have a better idea of her powers. She should return to that strange bonfire of hers sooner or later, and I've given order to let her through when that happens."
"Is it wise? To leave her alone with a known Villain, no matter how minor?" Velocity asked, with pursed lips clearly visible in the opening of his mask.
"Wise? This is the only option we have, unless any of you could keep up with Lung when he was so far ramped up and hasn't told me?" Piggot's sarcasm cut down the hero's opinion, "And Aegis, we'll keep giving you time, but I fear that you'll have to step up sooner rather than later."
"Are we completely ignoring the part in which this knight pulled out equipment from the fire?" Assault asked as he rose from his seat, mimicking the other heroes now that the debriefing was complete, "I mean, it sounds like a stupid mechanic of a class B videogame."
Like often happened, Assault's words were ignored as yet another joke in poor taste.
AN
I didn't want to do again the same scene under two different point of view, and following an actually brilliant suggestion, I opted to view those events as a 'flashback' of sorts with the excuse of a debriefing.