Swordsman?

"My name is Taylor Anne Hebert and you killed my mother, prepare to die."

Alabastor snorted and looked at Crusader. Crusader rolled his eyes and started popping clones. He stopped when the blade of the rapier appeared protruding six inches from the back of his skull. Alabastor cursed and rolled away. He hit the ground an armless, legless, torso. The wounds sealed and scared over "What the fuck?" He watched the black clad figure sprint away.

Victoria Dallon, standing frozen on the street, where she had been dragging her sister along window shopping, looked at her sister "Ames?"

Amy Dallon blinked "Yeah?"

"We going to do anything?"

Amy frowned "Well, We can check but I think Crusader is dead, and it's been longer than Alabastor's power normally takes to reset." The smaller girl looked around at the cell phones pointing at them and sighed. The taller blond nodded.

Amy grumbled under her breath as she walked out into the street where traffic was halted, first by the clones and the three capes then by the bodies and body parts. She bent down and felt Crusaders neck over the pulse point, she didn't really need to check his pulse, and for her it was useless information anyway, lost in the welter of other information, it was the standard optics though. She didn't really need a pulse to save or repair people. Or in this case the vast lack of information. It was like she was checking a statue's pulse. "Way dead, even the normal flora and fauna. What the actual fuck? Will he even decompose?"

"Wut?" Vicky asked with her nose wrinkled.

"How the fuck did that Zoro want to be even do this?" Amy continued mostly to herself.

Vicky shook her head but reached down and tapped Amy's back "If you think that's weird I think Alabastor's legs and arms are resetting?"

Amy hummed interestedly and lifted her hand wandering over to Alabastor's left arm and squatting down to touch the back of the hand. She held her finger on it for several seconds and shook herself "Deader than dead, like Crusader. It is resetting though. It just resets to dead? What the actual fuck?" She rose and took a couple of steps reaching down to touch Alabastor.

Vicky watched her sister and the crowd, lifting slightly off the ground to get a better view and be ready in case anyone was an idiot. She waited a few minutes while Alabastor sort of squirmed around on the ground "Ames?"

Amy shook herself and stood up "Not putting those back on. His body thinks this is its normal state. Or something. It's pretty strange." She bent back over and put a finger on his forehead again.

Vicky snorted "And this with a rapier. Thank fuck she didn't have an arming sword eh whitey?" She caught a movement and snapped her head around to the robed woman running up "Nazi incoming."

Amy looked up "Othala." She watched as Othala put her hand on Crusader and shuddered then recoiled. The Neo Nazi cape then scuttled to Alabastor and put her hand on his forehead as Amy withdrew her finger. She dropped onto her butt in the street. Amy blinked.

She snapped her head around as Vicky spoke "Victor."

The Neo Nazi Cape frowned and nodded "Glory Girl, Panacea."

"Pretty bold Victor. The cops and Protectorate are bound to be on their way."

Victor shrugged "Befehl ist Befehl."

Amy snorted "Let me know if the Nuremberg defense works this time." She backed toward Vicky while watching Othala gather herself and try again. "It won't work, his body thinks it is supposed to be like that."

Vicky looked around at all the cell phones "Someone live streaming?"

Othala huffed at Amy and Victor nodded "Apparently." Manpower, the girl's uncle, Brandish, their mother, and Lady Photon, their aunt, landed on the street. "And apparently we weren't the only ones watching."

Manpower stepped between the two girls and Victor, all nearly seven feet and five hundred pounds of pure muscle of him "Victor."

Victor nodded "Manpower."

Lady Photon sighed as Hookwolf, Storm Tiger and Cricket hove into view. Brandish's energy swords sprang from her hands. "We'll be taking the girls and leaving."

Velocity, a Protectorate cape, appeared "Everybody freeze."

The independent heroes looked at him. Victor snorted. He shrugged "We're going to need statements from everyone."

Lady Photon sighed. She could see the Protectorate not wanting to fight in a crowded plaza with half the Empire though. And the civilians weren't going anywhere apparently. In fact it seemed more of them were showing up. Even the drivers in the now gridlocked roads weren't complaining. She rolled her eyes as the sound of a motorcycle was heard by them all.

Vicky barked a laugh "And the afternoon just got autistic."

Amy giggled. Victor smiled and shook his head. Brandish looked at her daughter sternly. Manpower laughed. Velocity sighed.

Othala rose "I can't do anything."

Everyone looked at Amy. She sighed "His body thinks that is how it is supposed to be. Maybe I could do something, but it is going to take some time and study. Lucky I think. That cape killed Crusader and everything about him including all the flora and fauna, including whatever was in his clothes."

The gigantic motorcycle rumbled up and the man in the power armor smoothly dismounted. "Remain calm." Everyone looked at each other. Some shaking their heads, several rolling their eyes. The armored man turned to Vicky and Amy "What happened?"

Victor gaped "Uh, we have wounded?"

"An ambulance is on the way, both Panacea and Othala have already rendered aid."

Victor opened his mouth and then closed it again as armored truck after armored truck with green flashing lights appeared sealing off the Plaza and helicopters appeared circling the area.

"Shit, I didn't know there were that many troopers in Brockton Bay." Vicky said after looking around.

Armsmaster, the armored man and leader of the Local Protectorate nodded tightly, not explaining that this incident had occurred right at a shift change so the PRT had double the number of troopers and vehicles ready and available.

Swordsman?

Danny blinked at the PRT Lieutenant "Beg pardon?"

Lieutenant Eric Miller sighed "Your daughter killed a Cape in front of God and everyone, then she chopped the arms and legs off another one."

Danny blinked "I highly doubt it." The Lieutenant held up a tablet with an edited video on it. Danny watched "Hmmph must be a different Taylor Anne Hebert. Taylor is either at home or at the Library." He checked his watch. "Library." The Lieutenant got on his radio.

Swordsman?

Armsmaster turned his head and everyone thought he was surveying the scene, he was really following along as Dragon tracked Taylor Anne Hebert down in the library. "Master with a projection then."

Dragon nodded "Very high level thinker as well as she is playing a game, very well by the way, with that movie running in background so she can switch screens in case the librarians check as it is a violation of policy to play games on the library computers. She only loses or dies when one makes their rounds and she switches to the movie, three minutes after every hour, regular as clockwork."

"Tibia is so old though." Armsmaster scoffed.

Dragon sighed "Free Colin, and ported to Bet from Aleph."

"Unless she gave a double her token and code, not impossible, good security system, poor procedures, then it is her as well. The Squad assigned will pick her up for her own safety." Armsmaster declared and started relaying instructions.

Swordsman?

Taylor looked at the PRT troopers as they came in the library and blinked as they came straight to her. She looked at the leader of the squad "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"

Michelle Rodriguez, no relation, super lightweight MMA fighter and PRT Sergeant in three years of service, barked a laugh "And you are way tall for a princess. Taylor Anne Hebert?"

Taylor blinked, not really realizing she had used a Star Wars line, and at Michelle getting the pronunciation of her name right first thing "Uh, yes?"

Michelle nodded as the PRT Troopers surrounded Taylor, most of them facing out from her and Michelle "OK we are taking you into protective custody. Another Squad is getting your father, and one more is watching your house."

"What?"

Michelle shrugged and one of the other troopers snorted "It's a rescue princess let's go." She stepped up beside Taylor and started walking, the circle of troopers moved with her. Taylor, perforce, moved as well.

Taylor's brain was catching up "Uh, are we going to keep doing the Star Wars thing? I can't really remember any more of it. Plus, my stuff?"

"Crime scene, you will get it back after the crime scene techs get a look at it all as long as it wasn't used in the commission of a crime."

"What?"

Michelle sighed "I can't talk about it. You aren't under arrest yet but someone using your name killed Crusader."

"What? Why? Goddamnit! It's those bitches! Now they are trying to frame me for murder. Trying to murder me themselves didn't work so they are trying this now!"

Michelle blinked and made sure her recorder was running "OK, maybe you should start from the beginning." Taylor laughed bitterly.

Swordsman?

Dragon, listening in horror, to the statement Sergeant Rodriguez was getting, fired the alert off to Armsmaster and used the issued phone to track Shadow Stalker. She found her in the outer perimeter and got visual of her through several traffic and body cameras just as the tall, thin, female in all black clothes strode up. "My name is Taylor Anne Hebert and you tried to kill me, prepare to almost die."

Shadow Stalker laughed. She stopped laughing when the rapier went through her left calf. She went to smoke after a shot from her bow and screamed as the rapier went through her right calf, doing damage even in her breaker form.

Miss Militia, the closest Protectorate cape never hesitated with a ward under attack and took a center of mass shot with the M21 she had manifested. The cape dodged the bullet somehow and she manifested an M4 and moved to close the distance. The PRT Troopers nearest deployed foam or got their weapons on target. The other capes in the area, Empire included ran to the gunfire as it were.

Nothing helped Shadow Stalker as she was being stabbed over and over. She finally broke and tried to run. The cape hamstrung her and kept on cutting or rather stabbing her. It was pretty horrific and the scene of the fight was a chaotic maelstrom of activity on a public street. So much so that the normal Brockton Bay crowd broke and ran. Adding to the chaos. The idiots that would stand and get cell phone video of Lung ramped up and burning everything like a miniature Godzilla ran too.

Nothing stopped the cape. Bullets were dodged, some in the same way Shadow Stalker dodged, foam that wasn't dodged was cut off with the rapier. Which should have been impossible. Protectorate capes attacks were deflected or dodged with no injury that could be attributed to the cape.

News crews with long lenses were streaming video to their organizations and reporters were breathlessly commenting on what they were seeing. News broadcast were going to breaking news updates.

The entire country, and a large portion of the world, watched as Shadow Stalker was sliced and diced, and ended up on the ground, first crying in rage, then in terror, and finally passing out. The cape responsible ran at that point. Ran so fast Velocity couldn't keep up. Neither could Glory Girl who circled back quickly as her sister had charged in and poked Shadow Stalker with a finger on the only patch of bare, clean skin she could find. She began rattling off a list of injuries as she fixed them, Four PRT medics standing by.

Amy arched a brow "Sepsis. Really? Bitch take a fucking shower once in a while. Jesus Christ. Syphilis Gonorrhea, HPV, holy shit, what are you, working in a whore house when you aren't on patrol? Where have I seen this before? Even the pattern of injuries?"

One of the medics had pulled up Shadow Stalkers records on a tablet "She didn't have any of these a week ago when she did her physical."

Amy snorted "Been busy then. She has them now, TB as well. You probably want to get a blood, or in this case sewage, sample before I fix all that. The holes are closed up. Need a large bore IV too, she doesn't actually have that much volume. Not enough fat to make it up after closing the holes either.

"Double glove. This whole area is going to need decontaminated. I swear I have seen blood like this recently."

"Mover seven, striker eight, thinker seven combat." Everyone turned to look at Armsmaster after he spoke.

Amy shrugged "Breaker yes. She made Alabastor like that." She waved toward the cape down the street "And killed Crusader more than dead. If the medics are right then she gave all these diseases, fully developed by the way, high loads of all of them, to Shadow Stalker somehow."

"Bio tinker, or tinker perhaps. That weapon must have a monomolecular edge to part the adhesive bond of containment foam. Bag all of that as evidence, perhaps it has DNA on it." The troopers around him nodded.

Amy stood up and the medics took over Shadow Stalker. "Call me when you are ready for me to fix the diseases. OK the rest of you line up and let's fix you all up. Aegis what the fuck? How did you get containment foam inside you?"

Swordsman?

Michelle read the text on her HUD and shook her head. How was she supposed to ask Taylor if she knew who Shadow Stalker was without tipping her off that Sophia Hess was Shadow Stalker? It was fucking obvious. She had figured it out from Taylor's statement. And wasn't that going to be a pain in the ass. Like dry butt fucking level of pain.

Taylor was nowhere near stupid. She would put it together the first time someone asked a question about it. The van stopped and Michelle looked out the view slit "OK we are here. Let's get this notebook and the computer files so we can turn it over to the cops Taylor." The troop ramp dropped and Taylor nodded and walked bent over to the opening then stood up straight. Michelle sighed "So unfair. You are going to make a fortune as a model."

Taylor snorted "Stop trying to suck up. I look like a frog."

"You're fifteen Taylor. A little exercise and agencies will fight over you. Legs all the way to your neck, small busted, tight butt, nice face, great hair, lose the glasses and use contacts and you will start riots. Give it a little time and the girls come in a little more, if they don't, augmentation is a thing, and after you lose that little belly agencies will fight over you. I can show you how to lose the belly. And give you a good diet. Probably need to anyway because you are going to have to defend yourself sweety. From guys and girls.

"We got a nice gym on base several in fact. I can show you while this bullshit gets sorted out. Then you will have a routine. You can cook right? The diet is pretty cheap really. No take out, fast food, or soda though. That shit is from the devil."

Taylor looked at the other troopers, all part of Michelle's fan club, minions and followers? Whatever, who were nodding and blushed. Michelle continued "OK, evidence, and pack for three days, four to be safe, sometimes the laundry is slow."

"Where are we going? Never mind, classified right?"

"Smart too, so unfair."

Taylor rolled her eyes "So we packing for my Dad too?"

Michelle shook her head "No, he had a go bag at his office. You are supposed to lock the house apparently. Something I should know about your Dad Taylor?"

"He was apparently a boy scout? No idea really."

'Don't forget girly stuff just in case this goes longer. The BX and supply have limited selections." Taylor sighed and pinked a bit. Only one trooper in the squad besides Michelle was female. The males hadn't said anything though and a couple of them nodded, well trained maybe?

Swordsman?

Emily Piggot sat in the center chair of the top row facing the big screen, with her headphones on, and watched and listened as the operations and intelligence sections worked through the most recent crisis, at the same time as they constructed an information briefing, decision matrix, and decision briefings for every decision on the matrix. There were a lot of blanks, still to many, though not near as many as two hours ago.

All of that in addition to current operations. Which were surprisingly disturbed very little by whatever that bullshit this afternoon had been.

A fucking ward triggering a civilian, by attempting to murder her. Well Shadow Stalker would have some time to think about it. Two years in juvenile detention, and then whatever she got for attempted murder in an adult facility. If the national leadership didn't step in and do something they shouldn't. Shadow Stalker was a powerful cape in a limited way. In Emily's personal opinion however, she would never be powerful enough to outweigh how broken her mental state was. Unreliable was the best of what she was. The girl couldn't follow simple rules.

If she had in fact triggered the Hebert girl. She flicked her eyes to the body cam thumbnail on the big screen labeled Sgt. Rodriguez and shook her head. The girl hadn't been aware of the attack on Shadow Stalker. Or she was the best actress ever.

Current Ops was working on wording to figure out how to find out if Hebert knew Shadow Stalker was Sophia Hess without tipping her to who it was. Rodriguez needed promoted for refusing that idiot query. The system needed to be looked at to. How had it let that bit of stupid through? Granted it was a rapidly changing situation but still….

Plus this new report that Panacea had treated the Hebert girl for the same infections and injuries Shadow Stalker had been given. Except in Hebert's case it was bugs, not a rapier, doing the damage.

The email trail Dragon and Armsmaster had already uncovered was going to take down those three girls, Shadow Stalker and her posse, plus the principle of that school along with Shadow Stalker's handler, at least. She snorted. Armsmaster thought the handler was being mastered. Emily was pretty certain she was just a fuck up, maybe greedy.

Crusader, in his civilian ID had been the drunk that killed Hebert's mother. Hebert, Daniel, had already gotten lawyers on that, the University and its lawyers and law school was helping, and it looked grim for Crusaders insurance company. Really grim as they had decided to take it to court.

And now this on top of that. Their goose was cooked. So was the Empires. Some of those Law Professors were retired judges and had serious pull.

Unless they had big fat checkbooks that were going to be made very damn skinny of course, now that Crusader was dead.

Maybe even then. Annette Hebert had been a wildly popular, tenured, professor.

Professor Hebert had also been a Lustrum member, maybe even enforcer. Apparently not a cape but that was unknown.

So Hebert had a guardian angel. Maybe a former Lustrum cape, or member who was a cape now. Or one of the DWU had triggered. They had been tight with Marquis. The Marche was just the kind of organization that would pull some shit like this. That guardian angel had the ability to tell who a cape was even through the disguise.

Intel had already twigged to that. It had stopped the room for a few seconds when it went in their briefing up in another window on the screen.

People should really study the people they were fucking with. No telling who some plain Jane was connected to. Plus anyone could trigger. Sometimes over the mildest provocation. Just look at Glory Girl triggering over a basketball game. During the damn game!

Though this one seemed to do her research. She had killed Crusader and only nearly killed Shadow Stalker, exactly as she said she was going to and with reasons. No good reasons but reasons.