Trial 2.04

I was finally making headway into my paperwork when I got a call. "Hello, "I answered.

"Mr. Hebert." It was Mayor Christener.

"Yes, Mr. Mayor?"

He sounded hesitant as he replied. "This is difficult to ask, but… Since this morning, crime has been up in the city. Super crime and normal crime. It's, unusually high and unusually frequent, and it's been getting worse all day. I've also gotten word that the gangs are acting up. I'm afraid that something big is going to go down sometime today or tomorrow. Now, I appreciate your situation and that you can only produce so much technology at a time, but I'm afraid that the armor you've provided won't be enough."

I didn't follow, but he continued on. "If you could pass along a message to Bastion? If he and his sidekicks would be willing to reinforce the police for a few days, it'd be very appreciated and there might be a reward in it for them..."

Roy Christner knew I was Bastion, and… That's right, the unwritten rules. Don't talk about who a Cape really is. "I'll see if I can pass that along."

"Thank you, Mr. Hebert. Oh, and I've already informed the Chief of police that Bastion may be offering his support."

"You're welcome, Mr. Mayor, and understood."

I heard a click as he hung, up, then hung up myself. Then I pulled out my com unit and sent out a general message.

"This is Bastion. The Mayor called in a favor. Any Raider that's willing to help out our city and the police in the next few days, suit up and meet me at 1PP ASAP. Over."

I got a few affirmatives in reply, then began heading to a bunker to suit up myself. Getting called by the mayor to help with crime. It's almost like one of those old comic books or cartoons from before Parahumans started showing up. All I need are some poles to slide down into my cave. I smiled as I headed out.

*Break-Taylor*

As we drove through the rain, Lisa turned from the passenger seat to look back at Rachel and I. "You guys okay back there?

"I'm doing fine," I said, and Rachel nodded.

Our boss had provided us with what Lisa called a "throwaway van." An old, cheap van that wouldn't draw too much attention, with doors in the back. The idea was that if we had to abandon it for some reason, it wouldn't be that big of a loss. Lisa and Brian were upfront, with Brian driving. There was a second row of seats that Alec took up by himself, and Rachel and I were sitting in the back with her dogs, the same three I'd already met. Traffic was slow today. I wasn't sure we'd even get to Brockton Central Bank in time.

Brian put the car in park and killed the engine. "Okay, we're stuck here for a bit, so we might as well make the most of our time. One last time, does everybody know their part of the plan?"

Lisa started. "After you park the van in the alley next to the bank, we all get out and put on our masks." Brian's outfit was just bike leathers and his helmet. Rachel's was civilian clothing with a fur collar and a dog mask, and Lisa had tight purple body suit on under her civilian clothes. Alec already had on his noble's outfit, missing only his drama mask, which was why he was in the second row-Harder to see him. I didn't have a mask or costume to change into. I had a cheap cloak from a discount costume shop that I was wearing to conceal who i was until the right time. It itched a bit on my scales

"Once we're ready," Lisa continued, "I enter the codes on the emergency side door, we're in no alarm. However, the guy in the security room will probably see us on the camera, so we'll have to move fast from there."

Alec picked up where Lisa left off. "Once inside, there are gonna be a couple of offices we'll have to check. If anybody's inside, I use my power to trip them up a bit until they agree to keep quiet. Then we march them into the main lobby with us."

"Brutus, Judas, and Angelica run into the lobby," began Rachel. "Me, the dogs, and Taylor scare the shit out of everyone."

"Me, I throw off my cloak, declare myself to be the girl from the video, Brian and I give the 'nobody moves, nobody tries to be a hero, nobody gets hurt' speech, and I give out my new name." The others reacted to my voice, subtly. They could tell I was nervous.

At least I had a name for myself. I was pretty proud of that name. I ever mentioned it to Kerrigan when she popped in on my dreams last night, and she said it was appropriate.

"Anyway," said Alec, "once everybody is in the lobby, I head back to the side door to keep a look out for white hats trying to be sneaky."

"And then you, Taylor, and I head to the vault to grab the cash" finished Lisa, clearly referring to Brian. "Once the vault is open, I head to the manager's desk to check if there's any response to the break in and alert you all if anyone is on the way, while Taylor goes back to the lobby. With any luck, we'll be in and out in twenty minutes, tops."

"Good, good." Traffic was moving again, so Brian started the engine and got us going again. After a few minutes, we came to another red light and he looked back to Rachel and I. "I think we're close enough for you to get started."

Rachel nodded and did… something. For a second I thought her eyes were glowing, but I blinked and it was gone. Her dogs started growing, but it was so slow that I barely noticed it. The changes were much more noticeable a bit later, when their pelts started splitting at the seams and muscle and bone began poking through. Was the bone supposed to be that dull lavender color? Oh hey, Angelica's tail was starting to look like a human spine.

It was starting to get very cramped in the back when we finally got to the bank. The dogs were still growing as we piled out of the back. Tattletale had finished with her mask and makeup before Rachel and I were let out, so that just left us girls waiting on the guys to finish up and join us. There was a joke in there, somewhere. Bitch put on her mask just as Grue and Regent joined us in the back, and we quickly moved to the side door. Tattletale did her thing and we were in.

There were dozens of rooms we passed by that we had to check for… for people to take hostage. I was already beginning to regret coming here, but, well… I've made my bed, now I have to lay in it. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," said Tattletale as I turned to face her. "Relax. The whole reason you're here is to make sure we don't have to do the thing you're afraid is going to happen. Just take a deep breath and relax, and remember: Chances are, this is the only time you'll have to do this."

I took her advise, and turned just in time to see Grue marching a man in his thirties out of an office, arm twisted behind the man's back, and that breath caught in my throat. We moved onto another room, where Regent grabbed an older man in a pink shirt. Regent, Regent's power let him mess with bodies, and every time the man would try to struggle or shout out, Regent would mess with the man's body in a way to stop him.

I was just happy that there were no more people on the way to the main lobby. Brian and Regent made the two hostages kneel at the door. "Bitch," Said Grue. "Are the dogs ready?"

I turned back again, to get a look and-holy crap those things got big! Nobody said anything about the dogs' eyes glowing when they were full sized, either. Bitch didn't answer Grue, she just gave a signal and the dogs ran into the room, barking and growling and snapping, Bitch running in a bit after. That was my cue. I strode into the room and waited for Grue and the others to pick up the rear.

"Alright, everybody on the ground," Grue shouted, "now! This is a robbery, nobody moves, nobody gets hurt. Some of you might know us, we're the Undersiders. We've got a new member and this is her first job. You might know her, she was the girl kicking Lung's ass six ways to Sunday the other night." He turned to face me. "How about you introduce yourself to the people?"

I threw the cheap cloak from my shoulders and stood tall. "Thank you, Grue. Now everyone listen up. My Name isn't 'Lilith,' or 'new girl,' or 'girl,' or 'Oh God My Arm,' or any of the other stuff The PRT or whoever has called me. My name is Empress! Be sure to tell the cops when you're giving your report." I finished by smiling, nice and wide, to show off my fangs.

Grue continued. "This is how it's gonna go: Bitch is gonna keep an eye on you, and Empress is gonna help Tattletale and I with the vault. After that, Empress is gonna come back and take over for Bitch. Anybody tries to run or be a hero, well, you've seen the dogs. Empress, you want to explain this?"

I stretched my arms, and then I started posing and flexing like a bodybuilder. "My beautiful body wasn't anywhere near this big or strong when I tore Lung's flesh from his bones. I get bigger and stronger every single day." I threw my arms forward, palms out, fingers spread. "And these can shear through steel like it's wet tissue. I would absolutely hate it if I had to grab someone and accidentally carved them like a turkey..."

I took a moment to see how the… hostages reacted to my speech. I could see some of them crying, and the air was full of fear and despair, but they all paid attention to everything I said and… Hatred. I could feel a burst of anger and hatred directed at me and me specifically. I turned and saw a teenage girl, with curly brown hair and freckles glaring daggers at me. She wasn't afraid of me. She hated me… I can't blame her, I'd hate me too if I were sitting there right now.

Okay, time for phase two. "Bitch," I said, "Keep an eye on things here for a bit, okay?"

When Bitch nodded, I went to the vault with Grue and Tattletale. We walked to the vault in silence, but when we got there Tattletale turned back to me again and said "You're doing great, Empress. I can hardly tell it's your first time" Well, that couldn't possibly have been and more suggestive if she… Damn it, she did that on purpose. She chuckled a bit.

"Just, just open the damn vault," I said while face palming.

She did, spining around the metal wheel several times in both directions until she figured out the combination and had it open. Then I, the big strong brute, pulled the heavy vault door open as the girl in purple sauntered over to the manager's desk. "Need anything else from me?"

"I'll call you when the bags are full," said Grue. Normally the Undersiders would have loaded the money into bags and strapped them to Bitch's dogs, but Tattletale suspected that the Boss cared less about the cash take away and more that the robbery was happening at all. So, Grue was just going to break open some filing cabinets stuff some documents into a satchel, and then just load stacks of cash into a backpack and a duffel bag. I was the team's brute, I carried all the heavy shit to the car. It was only fair. I left for the lobby as Grue got to work.

Apparently, in the time it took Tattletale to figure the vault combination and me to get the door open, the Brown Haired girl had tried to stand up and do something. Bitch was.. Well, based on her emotions, she was glaring at the brown haired girl, and all three of her dogs were growling quite loudly.

I shouted to the brown haired girl: "Back on the ground, now!" She just turned to glare at me, and once more I could feel the hatred flowing again. All of the fear and sadness and hatred in the room was starting to get to be too much, but if I was going to make sure that no one else got hurt, I had to take it… even if it was about to get a whole lot worse.

I made a show of cracking my knuckles as I walked, slowly but with big strides to the brown haired girl. "I get it. You thought that you could sneak out, or maybe try and take one of us out, while our backs were turned. Well, you fucked up." I was standing right in front of her. "Now, I said-"I pointed a clawed finger at her chest-"Back, on the grou-"

With all of the anger she was already feeling, it was hard to pick up the intent to attack until after she'd put a hand on my body. She must be a cape, a striker of some kind. Whatever she was expecting to happen, however, didn't. Instead all of the girl's hatred was quickly replaced with fear and panic and she lowered herself to the floor and scooted back up against the wall. You know, now that I think about, the girl does look a bit familiar. A brown haired girl with a striker power and… Oh shit. There was a Cape in the Bay who met that description. A member of New Wave, the capes who unmasked themselves and went without secret identities in order to ensure that they could be held accountable for their actions. This girl was Amy Dallon, the one Cape that half world would turn on you if you fucked with her.

"Panacea… Fuck! Just, fuck!"

Bitch looked at me, and Tattletale looked up from the manager's computer. "What is it, Empress?"

"We're keeping Panacea hostage!"

Tattletale looked at the girl on the floor. "Well, shit."

Oh god, oh fuck. My first official day as a villain and I kidnap Panacea and give her a panic attack. If I wasn't going to be Caged before I was now. I looked to the panicking girl. "Okay, you… Panacea, you need to calm the fuck down before you have a heart attack or something. You are the only person here who can fix those."

The other hostages started laughing, and it came to my attention that my own panic had cost me my intimidation factor. "Okay, everyone, stop laughing. I don't want to hurt anyone but I…. Fuck it, Bitch!"

The Dogs, who had stopped growling, half-barked, half-roared. Bitch must have them trained very well, she barely finished her whistle before they started. Regardless, that stopped the laughter. Well, the panic coming from Panacea… Or should I be calling her Amy since she's out of costume? Anyway, her panic attack seemed to be ending, so I turned back to her.

"You," she said to me. "What the are you?"

I turned my head to the side. "What, have you never seen a monster cape before?"

"I have, you're nothing like them." I wasn't? She was suddenly shouting; "What the fuck are you?!"

I took a breath and shook my head. "There are so many ways to answer that question, I just don't know where to begin."

"I hate to interrupt a Villain monologuing to a hostage," cut in Tattletale, "but the Heroes are here. Empress, hold off on doing your thing for a bit, okay? And back away from the windows."

I did as she said as she stepped up from the manager's computer and went to the front doors to check something. "Well, we're screwed."

I was starting to get a very, very bad feeling about this. "What?"

"When we were planning this job, I was working under the assumption that we'd get like, three Wards. There are six on the streets, and either an seventh or maybe a Protectorate Cape on the roof if I'm right."

Fuck, without a word I came closer to get a look at them on the street. Yep, there they were. Aegis, in his rusty red costume. He was an Alexandria package, after the most famous flying brick cape in the world. He could fly, and he had some ability to adapt to injury. A dozen right to his left was the 12 year old space warper, Vista, in her armored costume of squiggly lines. Directly to Aegis's right was Clockblocker, a hero in white armor with the ability to temporarily freeze you in time and a perverted sense of humor. Kid Win, the Ward's tinker, was floating on a hoverboard next to a cape I've never seen before, young man who looked to be made of metal. Between the unknown and Clockblocker was Gallant, in his powered armor.

"Tattletale," I asked, "who is that guy?"

"That's Weld, a Case 53 from Boston. His body is made entirely of various metals and metallic alloys. He possesses the ability to absorb metals into his body, as well as the power to shape shift his limbs into weapons… also, those metal clothes are part of his body… All of the other Wards are at least a little afraid but he's not… He's not capable of fear." Tattletale shook her head. "Sorry. Anyway, he spent a while with the Boston Wards, but he was brought in a few months ago, officially to help deal with the under staffing problem…" I could practically smell the bullshit... "but off the record you turning up is the reason they asked for that help, so..."

Great, there's more to feel guilty about. Some kid got brought to this hellhole because of me,and now I might have to fight him. "Any clue who's on the roof?"

"Not yet."

"...Is getaway plan B still gonna work?"

Tattletale raised a finger, clearly meaning to ask for a minute. "No. If was just three or four of them, we might have been able to sneak out when they called for backup, but now, with seven of them, including an unknown, they have more than enough people to keep an eye on all the doors and trip us up if we try to get out."

"So…" I began.

"We're screwed." She finished.

"We could say we'll kill the hostages," interjected Bitch.

I could feel a ripple of fear pass through said hostages. "No, Bitch. The deal was, we do this without hurting anyone."

I couldn't see her expression, but I got the feeling she was a bit annoyed with me right now, so it surprised me when she said "fine" and backed down.

"Wait… They aren't expecting much, if any back up," said Tattletale. "Plan B won't get us out of here, but it'll buy us time, maybe a few hours. So, Empress, get back in character because you're on!"

I took a deep breath, and then another, and then I went to the front doors, opened them, and poked my head out. "Hey Wards," I shouted! "I know you all want to play hero, but this robbery is for big kids only! Come back when you graduate from preschool!" And then I flipped them off and closed the doors. ...Regent wrote those lines.

I moved over to one of the windows, next to Tattletale, to get a look into the street. It looked like they were all talking amongst themselves. "You think it worked, Tattletale?"

"Yeah," she said, "I think it did. We have at least an hour before we're screwed now, unless all Hell breaks loose."

I ran a hand through my hair… tendril… things. This all would have been so much easier if I'd had a few more days to finish my hatchery before this. I could have spawned some drones. They could have helped keep an eye on things in the lobby and helped grab money from the vault. We could have been in and out in ten minutes and we wouldn't have to worry about getting caught in this clusterfuck.

"Okay everyone," I said to the gathered hostages. "You've probably guessed by now, but all of that earlier was just an act." I took another deep breath. "It looks like we're gonna be here a bit longer than we said we would. Just, everybody stay calm and cooperate and we won't hurt you." I lost my big scary tough girl persona when I freaked about Panacea, I wasn't gonna get it back by doubling down. "We don't want to hurt you. That's not the kind of people we are-Not the kind of person I am. Just, just stay down and we'll be out of your hair soon."

"Bullshit." I turned, Panacea was talking. "You didn't seem to mind hurting those PRT Agents a few months ago."

"Okay, 1: That was an accident. 2: Once again, they were shooting first and not asking questions, like every other time. 3: I figured that they could take it, they had armor." I held my hands, fingers out, palms to my face. "4: These babies don't come with instruction manuals. How was I supposed to know the guy's arm would come off if I hit him there?"

Okay, yeah, now that I've said it out loud it sounds bad, but still. Panacea just rolled her eyes. I could tell she still hated me, but the sadness and fear of the other hostages was lessening… I don't know if that's good or bad right now, but at least I could think a bit more clearly.

"Now um…" I was interrupted by Tattletale patting me on the shoulder. "Can I have a word with you, Empress?"

"Oh, um, sure." I let myself be pulled back, into the Vault. I noticed that Grue had finished stuffing the bags.

"Grue," said Tattletale, "We have a situation." Lisa took a minute to recap the official leader of our group on the clusterfuck. When she was finished, all Grue could say was "Shit."

"I have a plan though," said the girl in purple. "I've been looking at the crowed. We might be able to turn some of them to our side… Some of them believed you when you said that you didn't want anyone to get hurt, Empress." She smiled at me. "The right kind of sob story and some of them might be willing to go to bat for us… Or for you, at least."

I got that she was planning something, but I didn't get what she meant. "What do you mean, Tattletale?"

"What I mean," she replied, "Is that you go out there and you tell your story. Not everything, of course. Even I'd have trouble believe what you told us about Shadow Stalker if we didn't know her, but poor young girl hunted like an animal after what was objectively the worst day of her life? Never getting a chance to tell her side of the story? It'll pull their heartstrings. Not to mention make the PRT look like a bunch of dicks to the public."

"That is," she continued, "if you're okay telling your story to a crowd of strangers?"

I wasn't sure if I was… Getting my side of the story out now that I had a chance to was tempting, but after what I did… Lisa had been wrong before, and here she… "You don't actually believe it'll work, do you Tattletale?"

"Okay, completely honest," she replied, "No. It might, but from what I've seen only a handful are likely to turn. But it's worth a shot, and if nothing else it's guaranteed that it'll keep them busy while the rest of us try to figure out how to get out of here. Besides, getting your story out there might be good for you."

I took a deep breath. "Okay." Tattletale and I left the vault, and she went back down the hall to get Regent from the side door.

I Stepped into the middle of the lobby. "Okay everybody, it's story time! Panacea over there asked what I was, so I'm gonna tell you all. Now, who here knows where powers come from?" I raised a hand. "Come on, show of hands?" Nobody raised a hand. "Well, they come from what's called a Trigger Event. Now, the gist of it is that if you have the potential to get powers, and you have one really bad day, you pass out. Just a bit later, you wake up with a feeling like whole world has changed, and then you have powers. Now, exactly how bad a day it has to be varies from person to person. Me? I had my trigger event on the first day back from school after winter break. You see, someone had filled my locker with bloody tampons and left them to rot over break."

I had to stop my story, because a woman puked. "Yeah, I threw up too." Yet another deep breath. "So then some bitch grabs me and shoves me into the locker, and even though the hallway was full, I spent a couple of hours stuck inside-Boom, trigger event." I posed again, showing off my body. "I didn't look like this before I went in there. I woke up and I could feel my body changing. Nails becoming claws, teeth becoming fangs, scales growing all over my body. Don't get me wrong, my new body is cool now, but then? That was the last straw. I broke, I panicked. I tore my way out of the locker and out of the school. The PRT says I went on a rampage and attacked a student, but I only remember one other student in the hallway and all I did was knock her down."

I was starting to get worked up a bit. I took another deep breath. "I tried to go home. The PRT was already there. No questions, at all, they went straight to trying to catch me in that fucking foam. I hadn't done anything yet, unless having a fucking panic attack is illegal now. I haven't been home in four months." my voice broke, for just a second. "I haven't seen my dad, or talked to him, I haven't slept in my own bed. They've been saying I've been robbing convenience stores, but that's bullshit too. I stole money from drug dealers so I could leave money to pay for what I took. I don't know why they've been hunting me like an animal, unless it's because I look like a monster."

I started pacing, hoping that if I did nobody would be able to see my face. "My new friends here? They may be villains, but they're the first people to treat me like a human being since I triggered. So, if anyone wants to know why I'm holding you hostage today, well, you can ask the PRT why they've decided to put more effort into catching me than they've put into putting away Lung or Kaiser." I stopped pacing with my back to the hostages.

Tattletale had gotten back with Regent and the two of them were discussing things with Grue. They hadn't been paying attention, they already knew the gist of the story. Bitch knew about as much as they did, but this was the first time I told anyone exactly what happened when I got in the locker. A giant wet nose pressed against my back, and I turned to see one eyed and one eared Angelica trying to nuzzle me. Even and big and twisted and monstrous as she was, she was acting like an affectionate puppy. I gave her a gentle pat on the head, while wondering when Bitch gave the signal to bring her out of attack mode.

The emotions in the room where… I was getting a lot of sympathy and everyone had seemed to calm down. I went to a window to see if the Wards were still in the street. They were, and they were joined by someone else, a figure in black armor and a cloak of the same shade. Shadow Stalker, my would be murderer. I guess she was the one on the roof. They didn't look like anyone was coming anytime soon, so…

I walked back into the lobby. Nobody seemed likely to act up after my little story, but still, it felt better to be doing something. I found myself by Panacea again, and, on a whim I focused my emotion sense on her. She didn't hate me anymore, but she felt so confused. I was about to say something when there was a loud crash from the front of the Bank.

A girl in a white one piece dress, a cape, and a golden Tiara was floating above the ground where Bitch had been standing, a hole in the way behind her.. The girl, Victoria Dallon, Glory Girl, was holding Bitch by the front of her shirt. Glory Girl turned to see me, standing next to her sister, and then she then threw my new friend. Her mask fell off mid-flight, and Rachel hit the far wall and crumpled to the ground. She wasn't moving, and her dogs all leaped into position around her and began growling at the flying Brute who'd harmed their master.

Glory Girl paid the dogs no mind as she flew to myself and Panacea. She shouted at me, "Get away from her," and on instinct I jumped to the side. "Amy," she said to Panacea, her younger sister, "I'm here, you're safe now. Mom and Dad are on the way, and the Protectorate and the rest of New Wave will be here once they've taken care of something down by the dockyard"

The dockyard? What could possibly have happened by the dockyard that would take the whole protectorate and half of New Wave? Was Dad in trouble? I had to ask "What's happening at the dockyard?!"

The blonde girl looked at me, and I didn't need my psychic powers to tell that she thought I was scum. "If you must know, Lung's tearing it up down there. Apparently he got into a fight with Hookwolf."

Oh god. Oh, oh dear god no. If Lung… Dockyard, he could be hurt, or dead… And Rachel was hurt, she might be dead… This isn't how this day was meant to go…

"Wait a second," the blonde Dallon sister said. "Are you naked?" What did that-"You're naked. What kind of sick, perverted freak robs a bank naked?"

Now I was mad, and I made that clear as I began stepping towards her. "Are you serious? You, you just came recklessly charging into here. If I were Lung, or Kaiser, or any other villain, you would have just everyone in this bank killed." I took another step. "The first thing you do after getting in here is, is… You could have just killed someone, and Bitch doesn't have a kill order." one more step. "And instead of worrying about that, decide to call me a 'perverted freak?' "

Glory girl's hair was flowing as if the wind was blowing in her face. She didn't falter as I stepped closer still, she just put her fists up. "Stay back, or else, Lilith."

"My name isn't Lilith, Glory Girl. It's Empress!" I was right in front of her, looking her dead in the eye.

Glory girl shouted"I warned you!" Then she threw a punch. Her sister screamed, "Vicky don't, but it was too late.

I caught the punch, bare handed. I think the impact broke my wrist, but I didn't care. "You all saw it," I said to the room as a whole. "She threw the first punch." Then I raised my other hand, and curled it into a fist. I noticed that there was a faint blue aura about it. Glory Girl actually looked a bit scared. "How about," I asked her, "We take this outside?"

And then I punched her, hard. The psychic energy building up around my fist exploded in a pulse of telekinetic force and the blonde in the white dress went flying clear across the bank, though the wall, with an exit hole right next to the one she came in though… I'd work on my aim later.

"Panacea," I said to the cape in question, "I'm really sorry about this." That said, I sprinted across the bank and leaped through the hole I'd sent Glory girl though, landing on all fours about five feet from where she landed.