As she reached the area where she'd left the form of Hookwolf lying in the street, Taylor slowed, a familiar scent reaching her nose from somewhere up ahead. Stopping in the shadows, she sniffed carefully, looking around intently, then slipped into a side alley and climbed quickly up the side of the building to the roof, cloaking as she went. Reverting to her normal size to allow her smaller form to be more stealthy she very quietly crept over the next two roofs, until she made it to her target area, a building overlooking the point where the fight had stopped but some distance downwind of where the Undersiders had watched from.
Checking again she could make out a dim glowing blob beneath her in the top floor room, near the window. It seemed to be pointing something out the window and lying on the floor.
The scent was definitely the same as the one she'd detected in the room in the other warehouse during the sniping incident, the one she'd followed half-way across the city. Her mysterious observer was back. 'Now isn't that interesting,' she commented silently to the Varga, who was also watching intently.
"Yes, it is, Brain. I think we might have found the reason Hookwolf and his friends decided to visit the DWU."
'I think it's time we had a talk. Going after me is one thing, but setting that lunatic on Dad and his people is too much.' Taylor was feeling very irritated. Creeping soundlessly across the roof she eased headfirst over the edge, seeing there was indeed a man lying on the floor with a camera, pointing it at Hookwolf a couple of hundred yards away up the road. Presumably waiting for her to return. He must have been following discreetly all the way from the DWU facility, which spoke volumes about his own training.
Smiling in a vicious way, she slipped further down the wall, then flipped through the window above him, decloaking when she was standing behind him again and back up to the larger size.
"Good view?" she asked casually.
"Holy fucking cunt!" the man screamed in shock, nearly jumping out the window as he spun around on the floor, rising into a crouch with a knife in his hand in an impressive display of reflexes.
She laughed gently, which made him pale even further than the impressive shade he reached when he saw who it was.
"Oh, Christ," he moaned.
"Still only me." She stepped closer. "I'm very curious as to who you are, and why you paid that Merchant to snipe at Saurial."
He went completely white.
"Oh, yes," she purred softly, "I know it was you. I know where you went afterwards. And I know it was you who set a crazy homicidal cape on friends of mine. What I don't know is why, and who you work for, so I think we need to talk."
"You… You can't make me talk," he stuttered, obviously attempting to convince himself more than her.
"I think you may be mistaken," she corrected him politely, smiling widely. This time his color ebbed to pale green. "And trust me, there are so many things I can do that won't actually kill you. Some of them might even allow you to walk again one day."
He screamed loudly and in a remarkably unmanly way as she reached for him.
Brad groaned, shaking his head a little and finding it difficult. There was something heavy around his neck and his arms and legs were bent oddly. It took him several seconds to remember what had happened. Struggling, he tried to escape his bonds, whatever they were, but found it impossible. Whatever was tying his legs and arms behind his back didn't even flex.
An attempt to shift forms and escape like that caused instant pain, as once again the bonds didn't cooperate and slide off his blades, instead tangling with them and interfering with the process. He'd never encountered anything like it.
A sudden scream from behind him made him try to look, then swear violently and wriggle around on his belly on the cold concrete until he could see the source. The huge reptilian horror that had been chasing him was holding a man at arm's length by the ankle on the roof of a building a hundred yards away, dangling him over a sixty foot drop, while apparently talking calmly to him. Brad stared, wondering what the hell she was doing. It was a remarkably brutal bit of intimidation, one he actually found rather impressive, even under the circumstances
Her captive shrieked again as she jiggled him up and down encouragingly, then started talking. Very very quickly. She listened carefully, looking like she was asking questions, but it was too far away for Brad to make out what was being said. When the man swiveled in his direction, though, he recognized him. It was the informant who had approached him with information on Saurial and where she might turn up.
Feeling suddenly like he was the butt of a joke he was going to kill someone over, Hookwolf watched, unable to do anything else. Eventually she reeled her prisoner in, apparently satisfied, slung him over her shoulder, and dropped off the building, accompanied by a descending wail of terror. Braking by grabbing the wall in a few places she landed lightly, then put the man down.
The lizard thing reached out and put her hand around his neck, before talking seriously to him for a moment. He nodded frantically, then rabbited as soon as she let go, disappearing into the darkness in seconds. She watched for a moment, then turned to Brad, walking over and squatting next to him.
"Hello, Hookwolf," she said politely. "You're awake. I was wondering when you'd manage that." She reached out and poked him with the end of her tail. "Looking a little rough around the edges there. Now, what am I going to do with you?"
"Let me go, you bitch, or Kaiser will have your head on his wall," he snarled.
"Oh, I don't think it will come to that," she smiled. "I doubt he could do it anyway."
"The E88 is going to crush you, bitch," he blustered, knowing damn well she had him at her mercy.
She got down on all four legs and put her head very close to his, close enough that he could see her teeth very clearly indeed. He swallowed a little drily.
"No, they aren't. And if they try, they will all die." There was a note of total certainty in her voice that despite himself he tended to believe. "You have no idea at all what I'm capable of if you push hard enough. I would strongly advise you don't try to find out." Her voice was a silky hiss, making a shiver go down his back. "I have a message for Kaiser and you are going to deliver it when you see him next. Leave the DWU alone. If I have to go through the entire E88 to keep them safe I'm perfectly happy to do it and believe me, I can. What I did you was fun, but not actually very hard. Don't make me do it again and put some effort in."
"You're bluffing," he said, not entirely certain she was. The reptilian female studied him for a few seconds.
"OK. If that's the way you want to play it." Standing up she grabbed whatever it was that she had tied him up with and lifted him off the ground with no effort, carrying him like a suitcase. He yelled and struggled, totally pointlessly. "You should be quiet," she advised, "you're going to need your breath. How long can you hold it, anyway?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" he asked, suddenly worried. There was something about the calm and almost serene manner she was talking in that was very disconcerting.
"This," she replied, stopping. He looked around to find to his horror they'd reached the waterfront and she was standing on the remains of one of the old wharves that had collapsed years ago, right at the edge, dark frigid water lapping at the timbers ten feet below them. "See you."
She held him out, then let go.
His scream didn't last long, nor did the echoes of the splash.
David looked around the scene, lit brightly by floodlights on the walls of the DWU buildings, and more on poles in the yard. Bullet casings were everywhere, there were a hell of a lot of holes in some of the walls, and a huge part of the fence was shredded, but overall the damage was minimal. Strobing blue and red illumination cast odd shadows about the place, the half dozen police cruisers, three large prisoner vans, and two ambulances all with their roof lights running scattered about the yard. They'd had to wait for some of the men to tow the huge trailer that had blocked the main gate out of the way with a massive forklift when they'd arrived, before they could get in.
"My God, Danny, what the hell? It looks like a war zone." He turned back to the DWU representative who was standing with several of his men, all armed with various guns, the latter looking around alertly for the most part. They were clearly guarding the Hebert man.
Danny sighed, looking around himself. "It's a mess, yes. But it won't take long to fix. The fence is the biggest nuisance, I'm not sure we have enough chain-link material in stock."
"Why the hell did Hookwolf of all people attack here?" David asked, glancing over at the surprisingly large number of prisoners the DWU people seemed to have acquired, mostly without any injuries. Or at least, to them. Several of the E88 members were looking somewhat tattered.
Shrugging, Danny replied, "Apparently someone told him Saurial was here, which was wrong. He seems to have a bone to pick with her. I called her and told her and she sent someone else over to lend a hand, she was unable to attend."
"Who did she send?" David asked curiously.
"Me," a deep female voice said from behind him, making him yelp and spin around, then nearly faint. He stared, as did the other cops, at the enormous and much more reptilian creature than Saurial that was standing fifteen feet away holding a dripping wet and deliriously mumbling Hookwolf under her arm like a handbag.
"Fuck me," he breathed. "Who the hell are you?"
"A friend," she replied, the corners of her mouth going up in what he realized was a smile. Her face was nowhere near as human-like as Saurial's was, not really allowing for a real smile. The effect was more than a little chilling, as were her eyes, as she looked around with rapid motions of her head, displaying incredibly quick reactions.
"That's nice," he managed to say. "I wouldn't want you as an enemy."
She laughed, then poked Hookwolf, who coughed a little, rather weakly. "He decided to cooperate in the end," she announced, "although he took some… convincing. Do you want him or do I return him to sender? I don't really need a pet."
The police officer could see that the cape was securely and slightly ridiculously restrained by the same sort of weird unbreakable metal manacles that Saurial produced, except much thicker and on both legs and arms. Not to mention his neck. It was blatantly obvious that he wasn't going anywhere.
"I think… I think it would probably be best to let the PRT take him off your hands," he managed to say after a few seconds. The other cops were still staring in shock, while the union guys seemed very amused. Danny was shaking his head, a look of mild disapproval colored with hilarity on it.
"They haven't turned up yet, have they?" she asked.
"No. We passed the message on when these guys called us and said Hookwolf was involved, but they don't seem in much of a hurry." David sighed slightly. "Not entirely surprising. If it was the Boardwalk or Downtown areas, they'd be all over the place in minutes."
"If I go and give him to them do you think they can manage to hold onto the bastard this time?" she asked curiously. "Based on past results he and his friends seem to walk out of the place in days, if not hours. I'm sure he's been arrested by the PRT at least twice in the last three years."
David shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I know we can't hold him, as much as I'd like to take him off your hands. But we'll take these other idiots."
A siren in the distance made them all turn and look, to see a PRT van following Armsmaster's motorcycle come around the corner of the road that led directly to the facility, heading rapidly in their direction. "Hah. Speak of the devil. About time."
Everyone waited as the Tinker and his escort entered the yard, both vehicles stopping a few yards away, then Armsmaster dismounted, staring at the scene. What they could see of his face under his helmet looked somewhat surprised. Eventually, as he was joined by three PRT troopers carrying containment foam sprayers and Miss Militia, who climbed out of the van with them, the five people cautiously walking closer. David noticed that the female hero was staring fixedly at the large reptilian cape with a look of shock in her eyes.
Armsmaster seemed more interested in the captive under her arm, or more specifically the manacles he was bound with. "That amount of restraint seems excessive," he said, "bearing in mind the impossible strength of that material."
"I needed the weight," the reptilian woman replied evenly. "So he'd sink quickly."
Everyone stared at her. "Sink quickly?" Miss Militia echoed, a look of mild horror in her eyes.
"We practiced some breath control exercises while I was explaining that the DWU was off limits to him and his friends," the other cape replied, sounding amused. "Deep water helps a lot in that case. He agreed with me after a while."
"You… you dropped him in the bay?" Miss Militia managed to say, her voice faint.
The huge creature nodded, doing its smile thing again, which made the PRT troopers flinch. "Repeatedly. I pulled him out again, though. After a while." Holding Hookwolf out at arm's length she shook him gently, watching water drip from him. "He's surprisingly stubborn."
"That's torture," the heroine snapped.
The lizard-like cape shook her head. "No, it's an enhanced interrogation, perfectly legal according to our own government, as stated more than once over the last twenty years or so. You're a government agent, surely you know about that?" Her glowing eyes fixed on Miss Militia's own, making the latter visibly swallow. "Admittedly my version is a little more enhanced but it's also a lot faster. He's fine. Just a bit damp and a lot cleaner. Now, do you want him, or do I go and throw him back through Kaiser's window? I don't much care one way or the other."
She held the cape up to her face, staring into his eyes. He seemed unable to blink. "Although if I ever see him again around here, no one else ever will. Got me, Hookwolf?"
The cape nodded so fast his mask nearly fell off.
"Good. Remember my message when you see your boss." She put him down, the manacles around his legs vanishing in the process. Giving him a gentle push she urged him towards the PRT troopers who were, like everyone else, staring in horrified awe. "Run along, Hooky. Don't come back."
Staggering towards the PRT people, the broken cape looked almost grateful when they grabbed him and loaded him into the van.
"I think that's that problem solved, Mr Hebert," the lizard-like female said with satisfaction, turning to the DWU representative. "I'm glad I could help. It was fun. Thanks for letting me give a hand."
"You're welcome, and thank you as well," Danny said calmly, walking over and holding out his hand, which was engulfed in the one the thing put out. He showed no signs at all of fear or worry which deeply impressed David, and he suspected, pretty much everyone else watching in silence. "Give my best wishes to Saurial. Can we call you again if we need help?"
"Any time." She nodded politely to him, waved to the other union men who waved back, seeming relaxed and pleased, then turned and sprinted at a horrifying speed across the yard towards the bay.
"Hey!" Miss Militia, apparently taken by surprise, shouted after her. "Come back! I want to talk to you."
The cape disappeared into the darkness without a reply then a second later there was a faint splash.
"Did she just jump into the bay?" Armsmaster asked the assembled multitude, more or less rhetorically. His voice sounded odd.
"I think so, yes," Danny replied, turning back from watching her go with a smile. "Now, was there anything else I can do for the PRT tonight? Or can we get on with making the area secure and going home. Some of us have families to get back to."
Neither of the capes seemed to be able to come up with an instant answer, merely exchanging bemused glances, so he turned to David. "Hopefully you have everything you need. If you want to interview any of the men, let me know and I can arrange to have them come down town."
"OK, Danny. Thanks." David shook his head, looking around as the other cops and EMTs got back to work now the drama was over. "Amazing. Well done, though. I'm impressed you had no real injuries."
"We knew the area a lot better than those idiots did," Danny sighed. "Plus we have some very good shots in the Union. Ex military guys, you know the type."
"I do."
"Hey, can we keep the guns?" one of the union men, the excessively large black guy, put in, stroking the expensive looking AR-15 he was holding. "I like this one."
"We should probably hand them over, Zephron," Danny sighed. "The DWU doesn't really need an armory."
"Are you sure, Boss?" the man asked, grinning. "Never know when it might come in handy."
"Give the police the guns, guys," the DWU man laughed. "All of them. Including that pistol I saw you hide in your desk, Mark."
Another man looked disappointed, making David grin.
He noticed that a couple of minutes later, the PRT people and the two capes quietly left, not seeming to know quite what to do. That made him snicker for some time.
Swimming underwater for a couple of miles, Taylor exited the bay, shook the water off, and retook her Saurial form, cloaking and running towards the Downtown area. She wanted to be seen wandering around for a while, to give plausible deniability to her combat form. It was inevitable that sooner or later someone would put it all together but the longer she could put it off, most likely the safer they'd be.
Not to mention she thought it was really funny.
Reaching the brightly lit area full of restaurants and bars she looked over the roof edge of the building she was on, then around. In the distance she could make out Kid Win gliding along the sidewalk with Clockblocker beside him, the two Wards patrolling the area. Deciding she'd go and say hello, she decloaked and ran along the rooftops until she was above them, then descended to the ground, smiling as they stopped, then came over.
"Hi, guys. How's it going?" she asked brightly. "I've been wandering around for a while and haven't seen anything interesting yet."
"Hi, Saurial. Nothing much going on, the E88 seems quiet tonight and no one else is around," Kid Win smiled. "But I'm sure something will kick off sooner or later. It normally does."
"Then you can go and season the criminals while we watch and laugh," Clockblocker snickered. "Hey, I had an idea about how you could get Assault. What you do is, you get some salad, some dressing, a big knife and fork, a pepper grinder, one of those huge ones they use in restaurants, and some salt, then..."
They walked off, laughing about his idea. It seemed plausible, so she put it on the list of things to look into.
Hearing the back door open then close, Danny got up from the sofa to meet his daughter in the hallway. She smiled at him and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're safe, Dad," she whispered. "I was so angry when I saw what was happening. I wanted to drop on his head and rip him to pieces, but I didn't want to risk other people getting hurt. Sorry about your guys getting injured."
"It's fine, dear, no one was badly injured, not even the E88 idiots. All our people are fine, the worst injury was a broken leg and it's not a bad break. But if you hadn't been there it would have been very bad. Thanks for saving us all."
"Any time, Dad, you know that. I'm happy to help. And it was kind of fun, actually. You should have seen Hookwolf's face when I let go and dropped him in the water the first time. He couldn't believe what I was going to do."
She giggled, as Danny laughed, picturing the scene. "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving bastard. Hopefully he won't be back."
"I doubt it," she replied with a grin. "He seemed sincere when he promised to keep out of the Docks. If he does come back, well, I know some very deep water not that far away."
"That's only marginally better than threatening to eat him, dear," Danny protested mildly, both of them going back into the living room. "Your friend is a bad influence in some ways."
"No, he isn't," she smiled, "and you don't really think so."
"Not really, no," he agreed. "So, tell me about it. What happened?"
She went over the whole thing, making him grin for most of it and laugh out loud during parts. When she came to the mysterious observer, though, she frowned.
"I'm not sure yet what to do about it. That guy won't be back. I told him to run and keep running, and if I ever saw, heard, or smelled him anywhere near Brockton Bay I'd do something to him that would make Jack Slash throw up. I think he believed me, his heart nearly stopped. But the man he worked for is still out there."
"I'm surprised about who it is," Danny mused. "Not quite the name I expected."
"No. I think I can probably drop him in it with a little work, but I'm going to have to think about it," she commented. "One way or the other, though, I'm going to make sure he stops poking around." Taylor held up a memory card. "I took this out of that guys camera, then destroyed the thing and threw it in the bay. I got his phone as well and pulled out the battery and sim card. It might come in handy."
"You're becoming very devious, dear," he smiled. "I wonder how much is you and how much is your large friend?"
"Fifty fifty, I think." Taylor grinned. "We take turns."
"Fair enough. OK, I need a late dinner then bed. Do you want something as well?"
"Sure. We have some frozen pizzas in the fridge, that should do it."
Nodding, he got up and went with her into the kitchen, both of them soon eating and talking. Overall, he was pretty pleased with the day.
"A hell of a dramatic intro for your combat form," he said as they finished. "So are you going to use it in public more now?"
"Probably, yes," she replied with a nod. "There's only one problem with that."
"Which is?"
"I still can't think of a good name, damn it!"
He was still laughing as he went up to bed.