I couldn't help it, this just came to me so I had to write it...
Colin ducked as the shot from Squealer's latest abomination of a vehicular mashup screamed overhead, detonating with an ear-shattering BOOM on the wall of the building behind them. Half the front wall slid into the street, an enormous cloud of dust rising from the demolished shop, while the owner of the place screamed in a similarly ear-splitting way from behind the BBPD line several blocks away.
"My shop!" he yodeled in horror, faintly audible over the rumbling of the improvised tinker-tech tank turret turning terrifyingly towards the target temptingly close by, the PRT van that had just arrived. Thinking absently that he needed to work harder on his stream of consciousness alliteration, Colin aimed his halberd and fired, the projectile trailing a nearly unbreakable synthetic spider-silk cable whipping out and wrapping around the barrel. A smooth turn and another button press made an identical projectile carrying the other end of the cable zip across the road and wrap around a lamp post, temporarily at least stopping the turret with a grinding sound from the gears.
The cable wouldn't last forever, but it was enough to allow him to frantically signal the van driver to reverse hastily around the corner out of range.
"Where the hell is Miss Militia," he asked in a growl. Beside him, Ethan shrugged.
"She got caught up in that thing with Skidmark over at the museum," he shouted over the sound of the tank firing again, the shell collapsing another building. "I don't know why these idiots are working separately, but they're causing chaos. Velocity and Battery are trying to take down Mush down in the docks."
"Any sign of any of the Family?" he asked, nodding his understanding and taking aim again, firing an EMP grenade at the tank. It hit with a loud crackling thump and a shower of sparks, but the vehicle only briefly stuttered, apparently shielded. He was almost impressed, Squealer was a criminal and very misguided but she was also a hell of a Tinker. Pity about the complete lack of aesthetics.
And ethics.
"Not so far. Some of the DWU people are helping, they're using those weird bioguns that the new one Ianthe gave them, but Mush is about fifteen feet tall at the moment. They'll drop him eventually, just by wearing him out if nothing else. What do you want to do about these idiots?"
As Colin was about to speak, a couple of dozen Merchants armed with a wide variety of automatic weapons poured out of the alleyway that the tank had crunched its way through, obviously completely off their heads on some chemical mix that no sane person would allow anywhere near them, firing wildly and screaming like lunatics. Both capes ducked again, as did anyone with any sense in the area. Bullets pinged off the road and the rest of the scenery.
Colin sighed heavily. "Oh, for god's sake," he muttered. "Let's let these fools run out of ammunition first, then take them down."
Ethan nodded, leaning back against the wall they were behind, pulling out a can of some soft drink from somewhere and popping the tab. His companion stared at him for several seconds. Noticing, the red-clad cape offered him the can.
"You are a total child at times, you do know that, don't you?" Colin grumbled, closing his eyes and wincing at the complete lack of professional attitude.
Shrugging, Ethan noisily sipped from the can having taken it back, looking pleased with himself.
A few muffled thuds sounded, the characteristic sound of containment foam grenades going off. Colin checked with an extensible camera in the haft of his halberd, seeing several Merchants now trapped in the sticky stuff, but more still coming out of the alley, taking cover of their own behind the tank and various parked cars, still shooting the shit out of everything in sight. Luckily, with exceptionally bad aim even for gang members.
"This is ridiculous," he sighed. "We need backup."
"And backup you shall have, citizen," a voice declared from above them. He looked up, startled, to see the new Family member standing on the roof of the building next to them, two stories up, staring down at the absolute chaos in the street. Ethan followed his eyes and nearly choked on his drink.
Ianthe was wearing a black helmet that covered her eyes with a mirrored visor, only her mouth exposed, and similarly black clothing made to fit her decidedly inhuman frame. There was a golden logo on the helmet above the visor, and on the right breast of what he could see was clearly a uniform. It was vaguely recognizable, but he couldn't quite work out from where.
Ethan started giggling, making him glare at his companion. Honestly, the man was like a six year old at times.
"Halt, in the name of the Law!" Ianthe shouted in a firm voice.
There was a long pause in the gunfire, then it restarted, all of it aimed at her. Colin winced. She looked mildly miffed, as bullets spanged off her helmet and body in showers of dust with the occasional spark, but otherwise not moved.
"As you wish, miscreants," she called, then jumped. Executing a perfect somersault she landed in the middle of the street. "Sleeper Shot!" she cried, raising her arms.
Phut!
One of the Merchants slapped his neck, then fell over. Colin stared.
Phut!
Phut!
Phut! Phut! Phut! Phut! Phut! Phut!
Ianthe spun, dived, and rolled, firing shots one after another at the attacking gang members, who dropped rapidly. Shortly she was the only thing other than the tank still moving. Squealer in the vehicle was cursing up a storm, her voice clearly audible, as the turret moved back and forth with a crunching sound, eventually not snapping the cable Colin had disabled it with, but actually pulling the lamp post out of the ground. Moving rapidly clockwise it depressed and fired, the shell crossing the fifty feet between it and the rapidly maneuvering lizard creature in a fraction of a second. He didn't even have time to call a warning.
The explosion that followed knocked Ianthe off her feet, the street falling silent. There was a pause, then she stood up again, brushing her chest off, before adjusting her helmet which was slightly askew.
"Foolish move, criminal scum," she announced in a dangerous voice. One hand came up. "High Explosive!"
The Phut! this time was instantly followed by a loud BOOM! A section of the armor on the home-made tank shattered and slipped to the street.
Ianthe smiled, the grin under the blank mirrored visor horrifying.
Phut! BOOM!
Phut! BOOM!
Phut! BOOM!
Phut! BOOM!
Phut! BOOM!
Phut! BOOM!
By now most of the forward armor was missing, and the gun was twitching sadly. Ianthe walked slowly forward, both arms pointing at the tank. A last Merchant came out of the alley, screaming and waving his gun, making her stop and stare at him as he suddenly skidded to a halt. The man looked around, grinned weakly, dropped the weapon at his feet, then turned and ran.
Shrugging she let him go.
Phut! BOOM!
There was now a hole in the tank. Smoke was coming from the engine while one of the tracks had come off, the vehicle rocking backwards and forwards as Squealer and her crew tried to escape.
"Ricochet!" Ianthe declared in a calm voice, taking aim at the hole.
Phut! Ping ping ping thwack!
"Ow!"
The lizard smiled while Colin stared, wondering whether the smoke drifting past contained a hallucinogen. Ethan was rolling on the ground laughing his ass off.
"Surrender, criminals!"
"Never, you scaly bitch," Squealer screamed, a fifty caliber machine gun opening up on the reptilian Parahuman. She stood and waited for the ammunition to run out, then fired another explosive shot that tore the gun from its mounting.
"Resisting arrest, then." Ianthe looked irritated. "Incendiary."
Phut! Fwoomph!
The entire engine compartment burst into flames, making the occupants of the thing shout in horror and fear, then bail out. Four people made a run for it in different directions. None of them made it more than a few steps, before they keeled over. The lizard-like cape turned on the spot, seeming satisfied, then when she was sure there were no remaining Merchants, went over to Squealer and started restraining her with some sort of shiny dark gray organic-looking material she formed around the villain's wrists.
A sound beside him made Colin turn, casting an annoyed look at Ethan who was still laughing weakly, pointing at the scene. Saurial was standing there also watching, having apparently dropped off the same building Ianthe had come from. He stood up, looking at her cousin who was now neatly arranging the unconscious Merchants into rows on the street while the PRT vehicles made their way slowly through the rubble scattered around the place towards her.
"Sorry about that," the lizard-girl said apologetically. "I shouldn't have let Über show her that Judge Dredd movie. She's a little impressionable at times."
Colin sighed heavily, then went to talk to the PRT captain. The paperwork on this one was going to be a nightmare.
Behind him, Ethan kept giggling. "I...I… Incendiary," the man snickered. "The look on her face!"
He shook his head. He really needed to ask Battery to talk to her husband about professional conduct. This was just embarrassing.