Chapter 5 - Interlude

[Emily Piggot, PRT HQ]

"Lay it out for me," Piggot said wearily. She was having a very bad day. One of the worst since Ellisburg. The delicate homeostasis she had maintained in the city for seven years had been shattered that morning on national television.

Miss Militia stood before the screen. Piggot preferred the Protectorate 2IC to make most briefings. She was both a better presenter and far less likely to fall down technical or trivial rabbit holes than Armsmaster. They could always turn to the team lead for details, if necessary, but even the tinker was more comfortable with someone else doing the public speaking.

"At 0824 on the 4500 block of Larimore Street the parahuman leadership of the Archer's Bridge Merchants – Skidmark, Squealer, Much, and a recent addition Trainwreck – attacked a vehicle carrying Newter and Effigy of the mercenary group Fautline's Crew." On the screen behind Miss Militia still images interspersed with video clips from the WBBN aerial news coverage illustrated her narrative. "A short skirmish took place ending with the Merchants being subdued and restrained. Newter, having received some injury, and Effigy left the scene on foot."

"At 0831 a warehouse at 2790 Dunhill Road thought to be an ABB property exploded when approached by a mixed group of villains including Grue of the Undersiders; Trickster of the Travelers; Krieg and Rune of the Empire Eighty-Eight; and Gregor the Snail and Spitfire from Faultline's Crew. The exploded ordinance exhibited unusual properties common to Bakuda's tinkertech creations. Damage from the event was significant and ranged at least three blocks in radius." A map of the area showed the blast radius and further damage from fire and other effects.

"Witnesses reported that all the parahuman's except Krieg either escaped under their own power or were transported by other villains. Both Grue and Gregor are reported to have sustained significant injuries. Krieg was trapped in a temporal stasis fields created by one of Bakuda's devices." Video of the blue bubble with the frozen nazi lingered on the screen.

"At 0832 ABB elements including armed mundane members, Oni Lee, and Lung attacked another mixed group of villains outside a decommissioned factory at 421 Harvest Trail. The villains included Kaiser, Fenja, and Menja from the Empire; Tattletale and Hellhound from the Undersiders; and Sundancer from the Travelers, along with some mundane snipers we believe were part of Coil's gang. A WBBN news helicopter and attendant camera drones captured most of the battle." The video ran behind her as she added occasional commentary.

"You can see that Lung mostly involved himself in countering the two snipers at the beginning of the conflict … It is not known if Hellhound perished from that laceration. It is possible that the dog collars she was wearing offered some limited protection from Oni Lee's knife … Tattletale apparently used her thinker ability to analyze Oni Lee's movement pattern and predicted where he would next appear. Fingerprints of the corpse match those on record … The death of his subordinate appears to have enraged Lung as you can see him turn his attention to the parahuman combatants … Lung's regeneration allowed him to recover from Kaiser's impalement attacks and he regrew his left hand after it was severed by Fenja … He has not been recorded at this size since his initial conflict with the Protectorate ENE in 2007… It is uncertain if he was actually repelled by Sundancer's plasma sphere or if he simply chose to concentrate his attacks on Kaiser … At this point Tattletale took advantage of Lung's concentration on Kaiser and attempted an escape on Hellhound's remaining construct. Lung gave chase for several blocks, until Effigy attacked … It is assumed that the discoloration on Effigy's hands was blood from Newter. We believe that the hallucinogenic nature of Newter's bodily fluids, delivered so close to Lung's brain, managed to overcome his regeneration."

"More likely bypassed it completely," Armsmaster muttered.

"The end result was six confirmed kills – Kaiser, Fenja, Menja, Oni Lee, and the two snipers. Hellhound is an unknown at this time."

Miss Militia paused as the video on the screen behind her changed. "At 0843 WBBN captured Mush killing the unarmored Trainwreck before releasing Skidmark and Squealer. They traveled two blocks to the J-Mart at 1901 Crabapple Lane and hijacked a bread truck. At 0914 they are spotted on a traffic camera heading west on Highway 101. They have not been seen since, though the truck was found abandoned in Albany at 1440 this afternoon."

"At 0851 The entire Protectorate ENE arrive at the site of the factory battle. Newter and Effigy were gone, but the unconscious form of Lung, still bound with two Effigy statues remained in place. Less than a minute later airborne Empire elements in the form of Purity, Rune, and Stormtiger arrived from different directions. BBPD reported that Hookwolf, Cricket, and Crusader were closing fast."

More news footage showed the confrontation from the air. Piggot ignored Miss Militia as she watched the Empire capes argue with her team about the disposition of the ABB leader. Purity stepped into the steel dome then came out to confirm Kaiser's death. She talked to Rune and Crusader who followed her in flying away from the site. Hookwolf and his cronies attacked the team to get to Lung, but were handily repelled. Triumph's sonic attack seemed particularly effective on the kama-wielding woman, leaving her bleeding from her ears. The villains retreated with their wounded comrade, leaving the heroes holding the field, and more importantly the ABB leader.

At least we came out looking good there, she thought.

"Thank you," Piggot offered to Miss Militia. "By my count we have five, possibly six, of the Bay's parahuman villains dead, and one more suspended in time indefinitely. That count includes the leader and second in command of the Empire. We have the leader of the ABB in custody, and we have all the Merchant's capes fled town. That's three of the city's four territory holding gangs decapitated or absconded. Only Coil is left, and he lost some assets as well."

"This is a gamechanger," she stressed. "We need to figure out what Coil is going to do. What the remaining Empire capes will do – I think we may have seen a splintering in the video. And we have to start planning contingencies for outsiders coming to Brockton Bay to fill the perceived power vacuum."

She slammed her hand on the table, making most of the heroes flinch. "But our immediate task is to find and bring in Bakuda. She's all that's left of the ABB and she's the one that started this mess. We must be the ones to stop her. Tell me how we're going to do that."

After the meeting Piggot returned to her office and debating on whether or not to return a call she had been putting off most of the day – Danny Hebert. He was the father of Taylor Hebert, who the best minds in the PRT ENE thought was Effigy's real identity. She pulled up the file on her computer.

Hebert – the girl, not the father – had been sealed in a school locker full of biowaste and insects back in January. She had been in the locker for at least seven hours before something happened and that locker and the whole section of lockers around it was destroyed. The PRT had been called in due to the obvious parahuman activity. The investigative team had quickly gotten several witnesses to admit that Hebert had been locked in the locker that morning. It was deduced that Hebert had triggered. When statues appeared two days later, both inside Winslow next to the lockers and outside near the main doors, it confirmed the connection between the missing girl and the new cape.

Mr. Hebert had reported his daughter's disappearance to the BBPD. PRT agents interviewed him and, with his permission, searched his house. In the girl's room they found a notebook with details and evidence of a yearlong campaign of bullying and harassment carried out against Hebert by three primary antagonists. Piggot had been incensed to discover Hess' name among the three. That had led to Hess escaping the PRT HQ while being interrogated, injuring three agents and Velocity in the process.

Somehow word got to Hebert that one of the Wards was involved in his daughter's disappearance. That had turned him against them.

Thinking of that leak she pushed Hebert's message aside and called Jean LeClaire, one of the investigative agents.

"LeClaire," offered the alto voice.

"Piggot. I need you in my office."

"Yes, ma'am. On my way."

LeClaire was an athletic woman of medium height, with shoulder length brown hair and a symmetrical face. She was in her mid-thirties and had been a PRT investigator for eight years, coming to the organization from the Newark PD. She took a seat in front of the Director's desk and waited.

Piggot stared at her silently for more than a minute, until she saw the other woman's jaw clench and nostrils flare. "How long has Danny Hebert known we suspect his daughter may be Effigy? Rather, when did you tell him we suspect his daughter is Effigy?"

LeClair took a few seconds to answer. "Mr. Hebert knew of our suspicions as soon as Effigy's activities was made public. It was confirmed when Alan Barnes reported the presence of statues outside his house. Phone records show Hess had informed Miss Barnes of our suspicions and we know she told her father. Mr. Barnes confronted Mr. Hebert in mid-January. I did not tell him."

"But you are personally involved with Hebert." Piggot pushed.

"I am, but that did not start until after the case was effectively closed. It was no longer an investigation into establishing an identity or the events at the school. It became a standard new cape file." It was obvious the agent was trying to justify her decision.

Piggot considered how to get what she wanted from the woman. LaClaire was a good agent, even if she execrable taste in men. "Then any information you might have mentioned to him in passing would not be considered a breach, I suppose. What exactly have you shared with him?"

The other woman sighed, her shoulders slumping. "He hadn't seen the videos of the incident at the mall. Alan Barnes called him to protest Taylor's apparent stalking of his daughter, Emma, who was at the mall that same day and may have been drugged by Newter. Barnes decided that Taylor is leading a supervillain gang after his daughter and in the last twenty-four hours has moved his family to Concord. I understand he has even resigned from his firm."

"And you confirmed to Hebert that Effigy had been in the mall with Newter. That's all over the net. What else?"

"I may have let slip that Newter is known to frequent Palanquin."

Piggot just stared at the agent. That could be very good, if Hebert could draw his daughter away from the mercenary capes. With her notoriety and enemies, the only safe place for her was in the Wards, possibly in another city. Though Piggot was not going to let someone with her level of power go easily.

On the other hand, he was a lamb headed for the lion's den. While Faultline's Crew had a reputation for not being outright assassins, they still had broken many laws and clashed with Protectorate heroes on more than one occasion. Not to mention their recent violent activities against the ABB. She almost wanted to call him and tell him not to go. But the possible benefit for the PRT outweighed the risk to the annoying man.

[Faultline, Palanquin Crew quarters]

"Did we have to go through the sewers?" Newter whined. He reclined on his beanbag shirtless, his wound glistening with Gregor's special disinfectant and wound sealant.

"Did you have to trend on NetTube again?" Melonie replied. "I did ask you to avoid that."

"We didn't know they were shooting us," he objected, then slipped into his familiar smirk. "Besides it's not my fault I'm so photogenic. You can't hide star power."

"Urp …" Spitfire, Emily rather, deadpanned. "Yup, just threw up in my mouth,"

"Well, they were broadcasting you. And the Protectorate was almost to your location. I didn't want you there when they arrived and I didn't want any of them following you directly to the club. Thus, the sewers." Melonie stated, closing down the incipient argument.

She looked at her team. They had had a hard day.

Newter's wound was bloody but relatively minor and was healing quickly. Gregor had not been so lucky. Even with his inherent resilience to concussive damage, he had taken several shrapnel wounds and burns from the explosion. The salve he produced worked to repair his own skin, but he did not have the younger man's regenerative abilities.

While her and Elle's mission that morning had been simple, the young girl was aware of the tension on the team and reacted to it by retreating into her visions. Emily had been stressed more emotionally than physically from the blast. Seeing people shredded or flash frozen was traumatizing, especially when she realized it had been mere chance that spared her. She was new to the business, only recruited in February. Just a month before Chrys.

The newest member of the Crew had faced down the greatest threat in the city and prevailed with the aid of her teammate. It must have been terrifying, but Melonie could not see any sign of emotion in her rough constructed visage. She was wearing her fiberglass shell and sitting on the couch next to Emily. Or next to Newter, as his beanbag was positioned beside the sofa. She would occasionally turn to speak to one or the other.

"I just got off the phone with Coil." Melanie said. That got the team's attention, all except Elle. "After this morning's events he informs me that the truce has been abandoned. The Travelers are the only uninjured team in town. With Kaiser dead and Krieg out of the picture, the Empire is in the process of either breaking up completely, or at least splitting along ideological lines and personal loyalties. The Merchants are in the wind. And the ABB … only Bakuda is left. Coil has released us from our contract with full payment."

She was silent through the cheering, carried out mostly by Newter, though Elle joined in with a grin and Emily less enthusiastically. Even Gregor offered a smile.

"He also offered us a long-term contract here in Brockton Bay." That brought silence.

Melonie looked to gauge their interest. She was relieved when she saw none. Coil was not quite an unknown. He had a reputation as a mastermind with plots as twisted as his name. No one admitted to knowing his power. Most assumed he was a thinker, but what sort was pure speculation. No one really trusted him, though he was known to pay promptly and in full. But nothing said he would not turn around and stab you in the back the next day.

"I turned him down," Melonie assured the room. "I think our next few jobs need to be out of town. We might even consider a vacation somewhere far away. The shitstorm Brockton Bay has been experiencing is about to hit hurricane proportions. And I don't want us involved."

"Make sense to me," Newter said. He had been around long enough to know to avoid trouble when possible.

"I shall have to make a few arrangements to prepare for an extended absence." Gregor murmured. "I agree that a convalescence and recovery period might be appropriate before our next deployment."

"It's not going to be permanent, is it? Leaving Brockton Bay, I mean," Chrys asked. Melanie knew that unlike any of the others, the new girl still had family in town.

"No. Brockton Bay is our home. We'll be back." Melonie assured her. She then turned back to the team. "Rest up for the night. Depending on how Newter and Gregor are doing we'll leave either tomorrow or the next day."

The Crew acknowledge then began to split up when club doorman announced over the phone's speaker, "Boss, there's an old guy here demanding to see Chrysalis, Newter, or someone named Taylor Hebert. He says he's her father."

Canonish Omake -

[Mush, Larimore Street]

Slipping out of the odd statue-like restraints had been easy for the flexible changer. Once he was free, he quickly reformed his garbage armor. Looking around he spotted the slowly writhing form of their newest cape.

"Dude, you ain't looking so shiny now, are you?" He stomped over to where the little blob was squirming on the sidewalk. It was obvious from the spaced out look on the kids face that he was tripping. Mush stared at his nemesis for several seconds. The kid had joined the gang just over a month ago, but he was already Skid's favorite. Basically, he was the new and improved version of Mush. He could build armor out of steel and brass rather than cardboard and beer cans. He was bigger and stronger. He even had the whole tentacle thing going on, though Mush had him beat there.

"You come in, making me look bad. Then you convince Skids that he shouldn't take the shit at Somer's Rock lying down." Mush's voice was rising. He kicked the squishy cape causing the body to bounce against a nearby tenement wall.

"We got our asses kicked, and it your fucking fault." He kicked Trainwreck again, bouncing him off the destroyed half-track. "Your fucking fault! You ain't better than me. You're a fucking shit-for-brains newbie that just killed the mutherfukin' Merchants!"

Mush raised his armored foot and stomped down on the helpless form's head. He repeated the stomp several times until he was jumping up and down with both feet. Finally, he slipped on the bloody smear and landed on his armored ass. This brought him back to reality.

He looked around, realizing that Skids and Squealer were still stuck. They were also tripping, but that had never stopped them before. He moved to them and used his increased strength to pull the cement shackles apart. Once they were free, he picked them up and started running.

He figured they'd be straight soon enough to come up with a plan.

Twenty minutes later he was not sure if a hijacked bread truck was a great plan, but it smelled fantastic in the back and he found the Suzy Q's and Ho Ho's so he was happy enough as they drove west out of town.