Prelude Tattletale

Tattletale was frustrated. Fucking Coil. Using her as his personal analyst again.

There were many times over the past couple months that Coil had sent her videos of up and coming capes and made her analyze them for powers, motives, basically any sort of information she could get out of them.

At least this was something relevant. The files in her inbox were from a battle earlier today, somewhere near Medhall if she'd heard the news right earlier. Which of course she did. Even when she was half listening, Tattletale would get to the right answers.

There were multiple videos. All of them were of the same fight, but it's not like they were professionally filmed. These were just from people on the streets, pulling their phones out to see the capes fight. But since fights traveled and escalated, no one phone would have all the details. So Tattletale would have to scrape through 7 different videos with grainy footage to try and get something useful for her shitty boss. At least one of them was overhead from a news chopper. That helped her figure out the gist of what was going on, while the phone videos could show closer details.

For once, the fights weren't a gang war. Very not Brockton Bay.

But one side was still a gang. In fact it was most of the gang.

Empire Eighty-Eight had brought out some of their heavy hitters. And they really needed to. Their opponent was not someone to take lightly.

Vacuum. One of the new villains in Brockton Bay. Not really a villain though. The cape did not have any known motives, and didn't commit any crimes. That is, besides homicide. The cape had been killing people and capes alike for the last week. The Empire trying to fight him was likely in retaliation for Vacuum killing Stormtiger earlier this week.

Not even a week into the known world, Vacuum already had a kill order. It might have been a new record. Not that it helped though. All Protectorate capes had a flee on sight order for the dangerous cape. And it was very warranted. The cape was a serial killer with a very dangerous power. He could manipulate air. And he wasn't Manton limited.

Speculation as to whether Stormtiger was a threat to him due to his similar powerset was a highlight of PHO for the days after Vacuum made his entrance. The first time the speculation was mentioned on the news, Stormtiger was dead within hours. There had been a very low quality video, but it showed Vacuum dispersing Stormtiger's condensed claws of air with a mere swipe of his hand and then lifting him into the air, draining the air from his lungs. Stormtiger helplessly struggled in the air, flailing like a fish out of water, before being dropped to the ground. The camera zoomed in on the villain's face, the mask having fallen off when his body hit the ground. It was blue. Lack of oxygen would have killed him within minutes. But the oxygen had been stripped from his lungs, killing him far quicker.

This had been an insult to the Empire.

And so when Vacuum had been sighted near Medhall, they had attacked.

Tattletale had seen the video from multiple perspectives. Even though it was a serial killer walking in broad daylight, it seemed people were stupid enough to try and gain some small moment of fame from having a video.

Why was Vacuum walking in broad daylight? He didn't seem to choose his targets with any pattern, but he didn't kill indiscriminately.

He wanted to be found.

That meant this entire encounter with the Empire was of Vacuum's design. Did that mean his earlier killing of Stormtiger had been to lure the Empire out? That he had used the news cast to seem like he was just some temperamental killer, trying to make his enemies underestimate him?

The video continued.

Fenja and Menja were already at their tallest heights, trying to kick the small figure into oblivion. But the figure stopped the massive steel covered boots inches from his hands, their momentum halted. There were small swirls of wind around his hands that were barely perceptible. Both girls immediately fell to their knees as the breath was torn from their lungs. It didn't matter how big they were, they had to breathe like everything else.

Steel blades shot out from the ground, threatening to skewer Vacuum from behind. But wisps of air shot out from his feet, the steel blades stabbing grasping up but failing to get any purchase on their foe.

A whirlwind of blades leapt into the air, claws and needles ready to tear into Vacuum.

But the cape just motioned with his hand, throwing Hookwolf towards the corner of a building where Kaiser was hiding. Somehow Vacuum had already noticed where Kaiser was.

Some sort of sensing with his wind powers?

Fenja and Menja had risen to their feet shakily, getting a hold of their breath again. Kaiser's distraction had saved them.

The four members stood together against Vacuum as he landed across the street, the mask of flowing wind betraying no emotion.

Empire looked shaken up. Fenja and Menja were heaving for breath, but readying their weapons. Kaiser had barely raised blades to block the incoming missile that was his subordinate, clearly shaken from the close call, but he would not show weakness. Hookwolf was the best looking of the bunch, in fact looking excited for the fight.

But then the world seemed to tremble as the air started to shake around the group. The air pressure skyrocketed as the very molecules surrounding them condensed. Kaiser collapsed under the strain. Fenja and Menja crouched for a while longer before succumbing as well, falling to their knees. Hookwolf's metal body swirled around faster and faster, the whirlwind of blades slicing into the air. His metal legs were digging into the ground under the weight, but he stood strong. But when things seemed like they couldn't get any worse, a vacuum formed at the front of their mouths. They couldn't breathe in through their nose or mouth, the suction would take their breath. Straining against the weight while trying to hold their breaths, fighting against the vortex threatening to pull their breath in, the Empire was on its last legs.

Tattletale idly noted how fine of control it would take to condense the air around their figures, putting tremendous pressure onto their backs, while also forming and maintaining vacuums right in front of their faces.

Was he making those just through coordination with his sight? Or did use his wind to sense their locations and work from there?

Just when all seemed lost, a boulder zipped through the air towards Vacuum's head. His head snapped towards it, and just before it collided the rock splintered into a thousand pieces as pinpoint spikes of air tore into it from all sides.

The thousands of shards of rock swirled around Vacuum.

Fenja and Kaiser seemed to be trying to collect themselves, turning over to all fours as they heaved for air. Menja had not risen.

Hookwolf on the other hand had only been affected by the immense pressure. He did not need to breathe in his metal form. And so once the pressure had been lifted, he had immediately barrelled out towards his target.

But his progress was blocked as the innumerable rock shards tore into his being, finding all the tiny crevices between his blades. But with a visceral roar, Hookwolf's blades whirred into an angry tornado, tearing through all the rocks. He began sprinting towards his target again on all fours, tearing into the ground with each step.

But Vacuum merely spared him a cursory glance as he motioned with his hand, picking up the angry Nazi. Flicking his wrist towards the bay, Hookwolf was sent flying over the many buildings, shouting curses as his body sped towards the water.

The rocks then swirled back into motion, picking up off the ground. The boulder had been under Rune's control, but once it had been shattered her rune had been broken. There was nothing she could do to stop this tide of rocks coming towards her.

Fenja noticed the novice member of the Empire, seeing her fate, but didn't have the strength to do anything but raise a hand shakily in her direction, reaching out fruitlessly.

The small girl was nothing but a middle schooler. She had come here because she was worried about the only two girls who were nice to her. She didn't have any siblings, so they were the closest things to her sisters she ever had. The only two girls she cared about. And she knew they might be in trouble. Stormtiger had already fallen to this new cape. And Stormtiger had been strong. And she had saved them. But now her own weapon was bearing down on her, the cruel irony of trying to be heroic for the first time in her life causing her death might have been amusing to Tattletale before. But now she was only sad. This life didn't happen to only the people who chose it. She knew that now.

Just when all seemed lost, a shield of ice slammed into the ground in front of the young girl. Like a massive snowflake, the crystalline structure had small spiky ends, but still held a strong octagonal shape.

The rocks pelted against it, dust rising as the debris pounded against the shield. But when the dust cleared, the shield of ice was still there. And there wasn't even a single scratch on it. And from the sky, almost like an angel, a figure with pale blue icy armor dropped to the ground. A large shadow casted over Rune, the intricate wings attached to his back flaring, sending dust and rocks flying as the figure landed onto the ground. The shield snapped out of the ground, latching onto the new figure's wrist.

Cryoblade had arrived.

With a snap of his wing, what had seemed to be feathers were actually incredibly sharp blades of ice, shooting towards the enemy.

Vacuum held his hands out, slashing wildly, knocking scores of the blades out of the air with each swing. But there were too many. One blade slipped through and chipped off the armor on Vacuum's shoulder. Another stabbed into Vacuum's thigh. Another glanced off the mask of wind that covered his head.

The blades of ice that were deflected circled around behind Cryoblade. They reformed into the wings once again. The blades had been attacked by incredibly high pressure winds. They had been slammed into buildings and metal poles as they were deflected.

And yet they were just as sharp as before. They had all kept their original shape. In fact, none of them had even been so much as scratched. Some of them did hold crismon stains of blood.

Cryoblade swung his arm forward, throwing his shield forth at numbing speeds. The windows in the vicinity trembled as the high pitched whistle of a projectile nearing mach speeds tore through the air.

Vacuum had barely regained his bearing after the assault. His leg was bleeding, the blade having torn itself out as it rejoined the others.

He barely raised his hands in time, creating a barrier of wind. The shield rammed into the barrier, blasting it into pieces. It didn't pierce through though. The shield was blasted back. High pressure winds had shot in both directions, ensuring Vacuum wouldn't be bisected by the sharp shield. Vacuum was sent flying back, crashing into a building behind him.

Cryoblade moved forward to pursue when an explosion of wind sent debris scattering out. The entire top half of the building had been destroyed, every brick a threat to every pedestrian below.

Vacuum had launched himself into the air, fleeing from the battle.

Debris rained from the sky, the shower of rocks and metal threatening to kill or maim every pedestrian within a 3 block radius.

But Cryoblade flapped once to rise into the air, every feather from his wings blossoming out to catch individual pieces of debris. Only two long blades remained, but they seemed enough to hold him in the air.

Such fine control. How did he sense the debris? Could he really see all the pieces from above? A potential small thinker power, better eyesight and better tracking to utilize all his different blades?

Tattletale had checked the news reports. Not a single civilian had been injured in the explosion.

Vacuum had been far more powerful than her earlier estimates. On his own, he had nearly taken out all of the Empire. And Cryoblade had not only challenged Vacuum, but beat him utterly and completely. There were no tricks. No undecided tactics. He beat him with raw power. In raw control. Vacuum hadn't stood a chance.

There was loads of information to sift through. Tattletale would have to rewatch every video multiple times to confirm her insights.

Coil would not be happy.

There were new players in Brockton Bay. And they were powerful.

Landing swiftly, I walked back into my home.

The armor of ice dissipated as I excited the molecules to turn the ice into water and then tore apart their bonds to dissipate them into Hydrogen and Oxygen.

All in all that had gone pretty well. The blood bags had worked perfectly.

Phase 1 had started with new independent hero Cryoblade saving cats from trees, stopping fires, and overall establishing a presence in the city. It would make it so I wasn't a target, and could get some practice using my powers. Even more practice, I guess.

Of course I would get involved in some gang attacks, but just work on keeping them at bay and holding them off than actually fighting them. There was plenty of time for that later. Besides, he could do that in other ways.

The other part of phase 1 still held the same steps. Establish a presence in the city. Of course it was a little different for the villain Vacuum. He would have to be powerful enough to scare the gangs, but seemingly harmless to the actual heroes. He wouldn't go after any protectorate heroes, and by avoiding killing anyone actually important or viewed as "one of the good guys", Vacuum would be able to operate even with a kill order. And by killing indiscriminately among the criminal underworld, without pattern, it would make Vacuum seem like a brain dead killing machine. Brain dead killing machines were dangerous of course, but they wouldn't upset the balance. They didn't have the potential to. With no motive, they weren't dangerous enough to any established parties that they would usher organized response. Dangerous enough nobody wanted to fight you, but not so dangerous you had to be dealt with. It's why the Slaughterhouse Nine had been around for so long. They were just spreading terror, not trying to take over the Protectorate.

And of course nobody would suspect that Cryoblade and Vacuum would be the same person. Not at first, anyway. But with similar fine control and incredible power, someone might draw lines at some point.

So the first real fight as Cryoblade would show him selflessly defending a young girl, saving her from the terrible serial killer. And then nobody would suspect, even farther down the line.

Cryoblade's first fight would be monumental. Showcasing his true power. Showing how powerful Vacuum is beforehand would only emphasize it. Bringing down the Empire on his own. And then standing helpless before the might of Cryoblade.

This was a fight people would remember. A fight that people would think of first, whenever they thought of Cryoblade. And so the suspicion wouldn't ever get the chance to arise.

And of course, when other villains with similar power sets show up to Brockton Bay, well of course that could be attributed to two similar capes already established there. Everyone knows villains desire conflict.

And if villains sprouted up with similar power sets in Brockton Bay, well it could be attributed to similar powersets already existing there. Power theory was still all over the place with not any one theory being fully supported, so either way any rumors wouldn't hold any weight.

Yes, phase 1 was going swimmingly.

Now to phase 2.