A Matter of Perspective
Amy was having a mixed couple of days.
Yesterday had been a good day, she hadn't been greeted with any emergency cases, nor was she welcomed by a grieving person trying to force her to heal someone. She was simply met with one of the main nurses who usually supervised her work and from there she went straight to heal people.
But the day had increasingly gotten worse. As they usually did by her experience.
Brockton Bay was in the middle of a gang war.
This was why they can't have nice things.
She had been too busy to pay much attention and only ended up hearing rumours from the hospital staff and small stuff on the old TV's on the patient's rooms that she heard in between healing; but by the time she got home she was tired and wanted to go to bed. Ever since she triggered there was something like a heavy weight in her shoulders, a weight that seemed to keep increasing leaving her tired beyond belief. The little voice in the back of her mind whispering the secrets of the human body every time she healed someone didn't help either. Nor did those moments when the voice stopped whispering and seemed to yell instead, asking her to make improvements and changes that went from minor tweaks to extremely bizarre (no, I don't want to give her gills! Wtf?). Nor did her heart somersaulting every time Vicky even looked at her when she arrived to pick her up. She felt a piece of herself break every time she healed someone but, at the same time, every time she didn't heal someone a bigger piece of herself seemed to sink below the surface of her soul.
She was tired.
Nobody would fault her for going to bed early.
Next day she got up from bed still half asleep, gone through her daily ritual of ignoring Carol and trying to eat breakfast without inciting attention upon herself. She went back to bed after breakfast, while her Vicky clamoured with someone on her phone.
After a few hours of napping and ignoring her problems, she was forced to wake up again.
Vicky burst into the room blabbering excitedly and pushed her phone into Amy's hands. Still groggy Amy did her best to pay attention to what Vicky was saying. Something about a gang fight… a new gang went against the E88? Yesterday? Oh. And they won? There are videos of it? But how did a new gang show up out of nowhere? What do you mean nobody knows? Who did they fight? Hookwolf!?
Apparently, it was the new gang's response on PHO that had gotten viral half an hour ago, then taken down by the mods, then posted in another site and gotten even more popular. So, Vicky had gotten her to sit down on the edge of Amy's bed and explain everything better and slower.
According to the villains, and the PRT, who recently confessed to knowing this, two gangs had disappeared in the last 6 months. Or rather, they were taken over. Duchess and her band who called themselves Zaunites(?), of all things, had taken over the position of one the three great gangs in the city. The fight with the E88 where they debuted was apparently not their first, having fought and killed the Merchants. Plus, whatever they did with Coil. And didn't that make everyone confused. Did Coil even have powers?
The PRT had done their best to control the media storm from the released videos, but nothing could stop people from viewing it. It was like a forbidden fruit: the more one prohibited something the more people were curious to have the thing.
After the fight, and apparently capturing (kidnapping?) of Victor, they had responded to the media who looked to such a number of organized parahumans and pointedly asked who are they?
Amy had another question: what fresh new hell is this?
It didn't take long for Vicky to show her the video the gang released.
Even now as she walked to the PRT the glowing purple eyes of their leader were still burned in her mind. In the video she was looking at the camera, with her mask of copper and cascading hair of black ink, perfectly composed. Duchess Sera, she had named herself and then she introduced the people surrounding her, who she identified as her lieutenants whom she called her Chem-Barons. A few parahumans she never even heard of mixed in with a few she only heard gossip about.
Her hand with two mechanical fingers, resting on a case showing three skulls.
Words came from her mouth like honey and syrup with slow perfect diction.
Together we are building a better future. No more criminals robbing and maiming us. No more villains destroying our properties or killing us. We are bringing order and peace to this city. No more waiting for the cops who will never come. No more waiting for the heroes to save us. Her eyes shone then, almost supernatural in its eeriness. We can save ourselves.
These parts of the city are ours she told the camera. Then her hands went for something beneath her desk, a sound of a drawer opening, and another skull was put in line with the rest. We are building a new city there, renewed, reborn. All those that oppose us will end as skulls in my vitrine.
Beyond the labels demarking whose skull belonged to whom, each had a symbol etched on their forehead.
The new one had the symbol of the E88.
The tag spelled Krieg.
They had declared that they were defending themselves and their territory. The E88 had over extended, woken up a sleeping beast and gotten bitten.
At the end of the video, she had taken a deep breath. It was accompanied by the sounds of hot gas being deposited in her lungs; her exhale was marked by the small escape of purple fumes through the side of her mask. It wasn't a foreign sound to Amy who spent her time in the hospital where machines existed to help patients breathe and other contraptions with eerie sounds roamed the halls. But that didn't stop her from getting goosebumps.
We are the Nation of Zaun. She declared. We are the outcasts, the broken and the forgotten. And we are here to stay.
The video's ending was edited to show only her glowing purple eyes and the shiny purple fumes being slowly swallowed by a liquid darkness. Or at least that was what she thought until her sister corrected her by telling her that the shadows were the powers one of their members. The skull masked guy: Grue.
Her sister then gotten her to watch the videos of the fight between Victor, Krieg and Rune. Vicky watched with a thoughtful expression, sometimes whispering a few comments but mostly thinking out loud.
But Amy couldn't care less.
She was in a bad mood while her sister carried her to the PRT accompanied by her family.
A new gang. Even more powerful than the predecessors it had taken over.
Full of villains that were proving themselves to be even scarier than the usual sort.
She resisted the urge to huff in discontent.
This was why they couldn't have nice things.
Ω
I am Duchess Sera, the leader and co-founder of the new faction born in Brockton Bay.
It was moments like these that made Emily wish for a drink.
Yesterday, Protectorate forces led by Armsmaster received a call about a fight breaking out between the Undersiders and the E88. After a quick response from the hero team they quickly arrived near the scene, not to a fight between those two groups but between Hookwolf and a monstrosity of a man with half his body made of metal spider legs.
Jesus! Can the cape scenery get any weirder?
Fucking parahumans.
After the man's proclamation of his allegiance, he proceeded to escape the scene with another fucking unknown parahuman!
Sure, this is Brockton Bay!
But this many hidden parahumans coming out of the woodwork are a bit too much!
Well, actually… Emily reconsidered a few thoughts running through her mind: the parahuman was unknown until this fucking video dropped into her lap.
You might have seen our tags being painted on the streets, seen our men and women patrol our territory, you might have already tasted our drugs or even seen our recent fight with the E88.
This immensity of this problem was beyond the calculations and thoughts laid out a almost a week ago. The new tinkertech drugs being peddled on the streets was not news for the PRT, having heard rumours through their information network. But they didn't think much of it beyond the fact that it was another shit that the Merchant's sometimes try to peddle… that they used to peddle before finding out some drawback to the drug that even they wouldn't find it funny. The usual notes of trying to find a sample was there in the meeting logs from the Protectorate-PRT meeting but the entire thing was promptly forgotten after no examples of the drug were ever found.
Assault had already confirmed that the parahuman in question was the one he saw accompanying Duchess at the villain meeting.
These are my companions, my friends, my allies. My Chem-Barons. To each a piece of this city will go. To me they each pay allegiance to. Together we are Zaun. And like iron under a blacksmith's tools, we will beat this city until it is in proper shape. We will melt it and reforge it if need be. Already the forge is being heated and fed. The groundwork is already beginning. Together we are building a better future.
Duchess, Trainwreck, Spitfire plus the Undersiders that makes seven parahumans. Eight with the spider-legs-man, Urgot. But whatever he actually meant by temporary member of Zaun is anyone's guess. Perhaps they have outside help? The E88 usually enjoys monetary aid and weapon deliveries from Gesellschaft so it wouldn't be outside the realm of imagination if Zaun enjoyed similar aid from another group…
This needed careful consideration.
The sheer number of parahumans involved in this new gang rivalled only the E88 and the Protectorate, especially if one counts the wards. Which Emily tried not to most days. A warring part considered them just another bunch of parahuman bullies and another considered them just unlucky traumatized kids. But both parts of her agreed that that last part just made the first one worse. A bunch of parahuman idiots with something to prove.
The fact that the PRT was caught with its pants down is undeniable. The sudden revelation that they had a supervillain working from within on a near constant basis made them scramble harder than anything Emily had experience in Brockton since Lung's arrival in 2004. It also made them lose the manpower needed to try to assess and control the new situation that was brewing. Rooting out rats and informants was not an easy job. Thankfully, Armsmaster and Miss Militia threw themselves into the work with voracious anger. Dragon had also lent her aid cutting down the time needed to search each employee and read each individual file. It took them most of the entire week to review everyone and by the time they were done she had to answer to her higher-ups.
The council of directors ended up just as shaken as she was when she told them the reason for all the commotion in her branch of the PRT. Costa-Brown got very determined and demanded similar inspections to other branches and a full report to be delivered to her desk by week's end. After the other directors left the virtual meeting, Costa-Brown admitted that so long as the information doesn't break to the general public then no great harm has been done. Let the villains come to the light, let them accuse whatever they want but the PRT had stronger claims and a stronger public image. In the meantime, new M/S procedures would be drafted, specifically for Brockton Bay, and a PR response was being written already in case the information does escape. The new gang and its disposition might be worrying but at the time they discussed that it would be better not to escalate immediately, much to Emily's disappointment. The biggest score for Piggot on that meeting was Costa-Brown finally allowing reinforcements for Brockton. A new Protectorate hero would be chosen and given to Brockton Bay and a new possible Ward was also on the table. If the Ward was allowed to come join the brocktonite Wards he or she would come from either the East Coast or directly from Alexandria's batch of proteges. Emily was hoping for the last one; only the most promising of parahumans entered Alexandria's and Legend's batches, although that was also true for the most troublesome and problematic who needed proper oversight.
Our group wishes no harm to the civilians and the rogue parahumans working freely away from cape business. We are only interested in the other gangs. The PRT will inevitably try to go against us and brand us as villains. They won't be exactly wrong. Although we share far more traits with vigilantes, rogues and other practically minded parahumans we shall still act as villains. Life has more colours than just black and white. In our case… we willingly became what we were forced to be.
Later today the Protectorate and the PRT will meet and talk about the events of this week. They will also discuss strategies and possible counters and weak spots of the members of the new gang.
For now, Emily will simply imagine that this cup of lemon water that she is drinking is something a bit stronger.
Ω
Max Anders is pissed.
No, forget pissed he is beyond livid.
How dare they?
How dare she?
To do this and then brag about it in such a way?
He replayed the video, watching as she took out James's skull from beneath her desk and put it on display.
To Kaiser: we hope our intent is clear. Our warning was not just a bit of advice and a threat. It was an inevitability. I do hope you understand the name of the game now. This is no longer a petty fight for the city where you can rely on little rules. The true game is afoot. You want to fight us? Then we will gladly bring the fight to you. You want Brockton? You'll have to come through us first.
Oh, they'll regret doing that.
The entirety of E88 was already up in arms despite the defeat yesterday. Hookwolf doesn't much care about Krieg but he is itching for another fight. Cricket is mad at this point, stuck in bed. Othalla's regeneration working very slowly to heal her leg and it's still unknown if it is going to regenerate her leg completely. Rune seems fully discombobulated from her fight, seemingly thankful for not getting maimed and furious for having being so easily handled. Crusader and Stormtiger are in PRT custody. One can only hope they get Panacea to heal them after all of that.
Now, Gesselchaft will either cut ties or go immediately all in on the situation. Brockton Bay is their spring board in the US and James was their main tie with the E88. Sure Night and Fog might have been given by them but the pair are so… well re-education programs of the german group are infamous for a reason.
He sighs deeply.
Now, he is only just waiting for a phone call from them.
They have to respond to this, however. Max will either have to escalate, give as good as he got or simply let it lie. If Max escalates, the city will surely be torn apart and Lung might take the opportunity to do some escalating himself. On the other hand… the status quo still exists. They could just reaffirm their agreement from the Truce meeting and take James's death as a sign and save face. With the presence of a serious competitor in the Bay, Lung might finally be forced to respond in some manner eventually and they could regroup, recruit new people and then wait for an opportunity. But the truth is that Max will probably be forced to respond in some manner because of Gesselchaft itself. Never mind, the fact he is very, very, angry at this whole situation and won't need any direction from some foreign jackass in how to deal with this new headache.
Beyond all that they still need more information on the new gang and going in blind just proved to be a fatal error.
Might as well start preparing for the worst then.
He clicked on the small red button of his desk phone.
"Jessica, mark me a meeting with Kayden. If she refuses you are free to pass me the call and I'll talk to her."
"Yes, sir." Jessica's voice came through the device.
Now it's only a matter of time.
Ω
"What are the chances they know I exist?"
94.5989%
"Damn, chances they want me to join?"
80.2731%
"Chances they'll force me to join?"
17.7635%
"Alright, good numbers… certainly better than the ones two weeks ago. Now, what if…"
30.9821%
"Not bad, but… Not exactly what I want. What if I don't do that?"
20.5710%
"Hgh, ouch… If I do the first thing?"
53.0012%
"Alright. I can work with this."
