John prepared himself for his first true assignment as a member of the Unbound. Part of him was not happy that despite trying to get out of the life, even after jumping worlds he was still working for someone as an assassin.
On the other hand, unlike before he was now given targets he agreed needed to be taken out. He'd fought bad people before, but his assignments now were true monsters, the kind that could only make the world a better place by being removed. As long as his new bosses continued selecting such individuals for him to deal with, he was content to follow orders.
Touching the locket that held Helen's remains he felt himself relax, reminding himself that his wife had also approved of his new job. That did a lot to soothe him.
He studied his loadout once he was prepared, seeing it was more extensive than he was used to thanks to Harry charming some items to help him carry more. It should all be unnecessary, however. If the plan he'd helped come up with worked, none of it would actually be needed. Still, better safe than sorry.
The last thing he picked up was the item Harry had loaned him for the job. He slung the cloak over his shoulders, stretching and getting used to the weight before looking down to find that he couldn't see his body. Wishing he'd had the thing back during his working days he headed off to find Harry and begin the plan.
It was time to take one more evil out of the world.
Emily Piggot, Director of the the Parahuman Response Team in Brockton Bay, was going through a revised threat assessment of one of the city's major gangs, the Empire Eighty-Eight, or E88, also known as the local nazis, as she waited for Armsmaster and Miss Militia, the two leaders of the local Protectorate, to arrive for the meeting she'd requested to discuss the new capes that had made their debut only hours before.
The revised assessment was critical, however, because a little more than a week before, within the space of an hour, not only the Empire, but nearly every neo-nazi and white supremacist group in the world had gone almost bankrupt.
It began, as far as the government Thinkers could figure out, with the godfather of them all, Gesellschaft, which was based in Germany. Gesellschaft was notable for being able to artificially induce Trigger Events in controlled circumstances, though nobody wanted to speculate exactly what that entailed. They were known to loan money and parahumans to other like minded organizations in return for favors, and it was theorized that some of the Empire's capes were members.
Then, all of a sudden, every single one of Gesellschaft's bank accounts, no matter how hidden or secure with Tinker and Thinker proof systems, was hacked. It didn't matter if it was an account containing just a few hundred dollars, if it was associated with Gesellschaft, it was drained in moments. Then the effect spread to the accounts of every organization even tangentially associated with them, the Empire included. Within moments what amounted to, very likely, a few billion dollars, was gone.
This was both good and bad, at least as far as Emily was concerned. Good because… well, fuck nazis. More tangibly, it meant they didn't have money to arm their people, bribe politicians and officials, or hire mercenaries and third parties. All of which could only be positive outcomes.
Bad because they were likely to get desperate and lash out. Kaiser, the leader of the Empire, wasn't stupid. He'd probably had a sizable amount of hard cash on hand in case of emergencies. But that was likely a drop in the bucket of the Empire's actual assets before the theft. He'd need to do something to both recover and make sure he wasn't perceived as weak.
Reading through the assessment, the obese, physically damaged woman growled as she saw the estimate that the Empire would do something idiotic was rated as being high. It was entirely likely they'd get in a fight with one of the other big gangs of the city, the Azn Bad Boys, or ABB, either trying to protect territory or claim more. Just what she needed in a city with more capes per capita than anywhere else in America, most of them actually being in the Empire itself. This was going to get ugly.
She sighed as she closed the report, feeling her body ache, telling her she needed time on her dialysis machine. Sometimes she wondered why she'd taken the damn job.
She looked up when a knock came at the door. "Enter." She said shortly, straightening in her chair.
The door opened and Armsmaster walked in, his power armor gleaming in the office lights. Behind him followed an olive skinned woman in military fatigues that were more form fitting than usual and showed off her figure, an American flag bandanna that hid her face, and combat boots. She nodded to Emily as she entered, closing the door behind her before taking a seat beside Armsmaster.
"It seems we've had an influx of capes." Emily began the meeting without a greeting, as was her custom. The words she spoke left a sour taste in her mouth. Ever since the capes who had accompanied her squad when she was a trooper ran like cowards and left her and her team to die in Ellisburg, she'd had an intense dislike and distrust of parahumans that even she knew was slightly unreasonable. Only slightly though. It was what kept her in her damaged state when she had easy access to a cape that could easily heal her with a touch. She had no intention on ever leaving herself at a parahuman's mercy again.
Still, she was scrupulously fair in all her dealings, so nobody had ever called her on it, despite how much of a joyless hardass she could be.
"Yes." Armsmaster said with a nod. "Apparently they're members of a group calling themselves The Unbound. They seem to be primarily composed of people in their mid to late teens. I've sent you the pictures I and the others who encountered their patrol groups took."
Emily went ahead and opened the message, bringing up the pictures and studying them. There were the blonde and ravenette girls Armsmaster encountered, a girl in a red cape and another in white with silver hair on the Boardwalk encountered by the patrolling Wards team, in this case Vista and Clockblocker, and an orangette with a freaking grenade launcher on her back that was posing for a picture with Assault, accompanied by a young man with a pink streak in his black hair who looked exasperated.
"The Unbound?" Miss Militia asked with interest. "Unbound from what?"
"I didn't find out. Neither did the Wards or Assault and Battery. From what I've been able to tell, however, there are likely more members than the six we came across."
Emily turned from the pictures to focus on her capes. "Any inkling as to their capabilities?" She asked Armsmaster, seeing as he'd been the one in the room to actually encounter them.
"Unknown." He said curtly. "The girl in the cape showed speed I'd place at Mover 4, maybe 5, and the two I encountered had enough strength to leap up onto the rooftops in order to leave. Considering that they beat Lung with the help of another new arrival, independent hero Imperatrix, I would have to rate at least those two, along with Imperatrix, as being very dangerous."
Emily sighed, irritated. "Any chance they could be brought into the Protectorate?"
Armsmaster considered it. "I find it doubtful when it comes to members of the Unbound. They seemed very focused on improving their group's reputation, which tells me they're very invested in it. Imperatrix is more likely, though I don't know enough to make a determination."
There was a moment of silence before Miss Militia spoke. "At least they appear to be friendly. Vista and Clockblocker's reports indicate that the two they encountered had suggested patrolling together sometime, and Assault seemed to like the ones he met. Even Battery had a positive opinion of them, if a bit more cautious. And they've all made it quite clear that they're heroes." She said in an attempt to alleviate any trepidation Emily might be feeling.
The Director appreciated the sentiment, but it didn't change her feelings about having a new cape group call Brockton Bay home. The situation was already volatile as it was. She didn't want to know what this would do to the uneasy status quo the PRT had been trying to maintain.
Something told her she'd find out soon enough, however.
Taylor yawned as she entered her kitchen, feeling incredibly tired. The previous night had been exhausting, and she really wished she was still in bed. She was just glad that it was the weekend, so she'd be able to recover and get used to late nights patrolling as Imperatrix.
She'd been terrified when she'd faced Lung, but seeing such a dangerous, powerful cape put away, partly thanks to her own efforts, made a feeling of pride she'd long forgotten fill her. She'd done that, and that was something her school tormentors, the ones that had literally tortured her into Triggering, could never take away from her.
"Good morning, Taylor." Her father, Danny Hebert, a tall beanpole of a man with dark hair and glasses, said from where he sat at the breakfast table, a cup of coffee in front of him and the newspaper open. He looked up at her and gave her a smile, which she returned as she made her way to the fridge to get some juice.
"Morning, Dad." She responded as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. They were still tentative around each other, but their relationship was on the mend, at least as far as she could tell. They'd been drifting apart ever since her mother's death a couple of years before, both of them dealing with their grief rather badly, but her hospitalization at the beginning of the year seemed to have snapped him out of his depression, at least partly. He was trying, at least, and that meant the world to her.
The kitchen was mostly silent after that as her father read the paper and Taylor prepared herself some toast, but that ended when Danny made a sound of surprise. "Interesting…"
"What is, Dad?" She asked as she buttered the toast and took a bite.
"Do you remember the Canary Case?" He asked.
"How could I forget?" Taylor said with a scowl on her face.
Canary, or Paige Mcabee, was a popular rogue, meaning a cape that wasn't a hero or a villain, simply using their powers to make a living and defend themselves. She was a singer that used her power to enhance her abilities, and she had a lot of fans. However, beside just making her a better singer, her power also made those who listened to her susceptible to suggestions. She was apparently very careful not to cause any trouble with it.
Unfortunately she had an argument with an ex-boyfriend after one of her concerts. According to people on Parahumans Online, the online message board that was essentially where everyone got their cape related news, the man had been demanding some of Canary's money, apparently believing himself entitled to it. Unaware that he was under the effect of her power, when she told him to 'Go fuck yourself', he took those words literally and proceeded to mutilate himself in order to do so.
That was bad enough, but what had many people up in arms was the fact that she was being railroaded. Not only would they not allow her to speak in her own defense, literally using a high tech gag to keep her from making a sound, they wanted to throw a first time, accidental offender into the Birdcage. Apparently they wanted to make an example out of her to other Masters, but about seventy percent of the population who had an opinion were against a punishment meant for hardened murderers, Taylor included, especially as she was now a Master herself, even if she controlled bugs and not people. Even Dragon, the world's greatest Tinker and person in charge of the Birdcage, among many, many other things, such as the Endbringer tracking system, was fighting on the singer's behalf.
"Apparently a mistrial is being declared." Danny said, making Taylor perk up from her dark thoughts, looking at him with interest. "Evidence came up of the judge taking bribes to help railroad the girl, and several members of the jury were also taking money. Some members of the PRT are also being implicated."
Taylor smiled, pleased by the news. The day seemed to just be getting better and better, apparently.
Shortly after breakfast she retreated to her room and booted up her ancient computer, waiting for it to finish loading so she could check PHO to see if there was anything about Lung's takedown.
When she finally reached the page she checked the new threads to see if she could find it. Her smile widened when she saw the thread titled "LUNG TAKEN DOWN BY ROOKIE HEROES!". She was about to click on it when another one popped up, catching her attention. Her eyes widened when she read the title: "Heartbreaker dead!".
Heartbreaker was an infamous Canadian villain who had the power to permanently manipulate the emotions of people he was close enough to. He'd used that ability to make himself a harem of slavishly devoted women that would do literally anything for him, and then to dominate those who came after him, making them his slaves who would protect him with their lives. He'd built himself a compound far away from any other buildings so that snipers wouldn't be able to get him, and the authorities had eventually settled into observing and making sure he didn't cause more trouble. Though that somehow didn't keep the evil bastard from abducting more women to make his sex toys.
She quickly went to that thread, her desire to know how a villain with such a fearsome reputation he had a Kill Order backed by millions of dollars had finally died overriding her need to see what people thought of her taking down Lung.
There wasn't much known information, though. Heartbreaker's body had simply been found at the doorstep of the PRT agents observing him, a single bullet hole in the center of his forehead and a note pinned to his chest stating that his slaves were all asleep to be collected, along with giving the bank account number the bounty was to be paid to. That was all. Once Heartbreaker's identity was confirmed, and his thralls were indeed taken in, the news was broken to the press.
Taylor sat back in her seat, slightly stunned. Heartbreaker had been active for decades. Everyone in the northeast US and Canada knew about him. To think he'd come to such an ignominious end was surprising, but Taylor rather liked that. People like him didn't deserve battles that would be memorialized in song, as far as she was concerned.
She was about to, finally, check the Lung thread, when she spotted a message posted "To Imperatrix/The Unbound" from AllSeeingEye. Thinking of only one person that would know about her that would go by that name, she opened it up, finding she was correct and Tattletale wanted to meet in the afternoon.
Taylor frowned, considering. The Undersiders were villains, yes, but they hadn't seemed all that bad. After a quick search on PHO she confirmed they mainly targeted other villains. While it was still possible it was a trap, she couldn't deny that she was interested in finding out what they wanted. And if it was, at least she'd likely have Snapdragon and Shadowcat to back her up.
She hesitated briefly, fingers on her keyboard, before she finally typed an agreement.
She hoped she hadn't made a mistake.
Later that day Taylor made her way to the meeting place in full costume, using her swarm to make sure she wasn't being followed or watched. The location that Tattletale had suggested was the roof of a library not too far from the more dilapidated section of the docks, which would hopefully keep the meeting from being noticed while making sure everybody would be on their best behaviour.
When she arrived she found the Undersiders were already there. Bitch was looking after her… dog… things. Tattletale and Grue were discussing something quietly, each of them holding a tin lunchbox in hand. And Regent was… sitting on the floor, his mask tilted back just enough for him to be able to drink from a large bottle of Jack Daniels?
"Umm…" Taylor said unsurely as the Undersiders noticed her, glancing from the sober members of the group to Regent and back.
"Don't worry about it." Tattletale said with a vulpine grin, literally waving the obvious question off. "He's just celebrating."
Before Taylor could ask what exactly was being celebrated she felt her bugs scatter away from a certain section of the roof. Her head whipped around alongside the Undersiders' to stare as what seemed to be a pool of absolutely pitch black energy hung vertically in the air. They all got ready for a fight, Taylor wondering if she'd been set up, when Snapdragon walked out of what was apparently a portal, a large grin on her face, soon followed by a more sedate Shadowcat, which made them all relax slightly as they realized it was just the rest of the attendees arriving.
They all then tensed slightly again when a third figure emerged from the portal. He was about seventeen, with black hair streaked with white, blazing emerald eyes, and odd black patterns tattooed on his skin. He wore a green t-shirt with the stylized image of a raven on it, a black leather coat like something out of the Matrix adorned with silver runic symbols along the edges, and jeans and steel toed boots. All in all, Taylor couldn't help but notice he was pretty attractive, especially as he didn't seem to bother wearing a mask.
"Hey guys." Snapdragon said, waving. "Sorry we're late."
"You're right on time, actually. Imperatrix just got here too." Tattletale said as she eyed the unknown boy. "So, this is the leader of the Unbound?"
Her target quirked an eyebrow with a smile of interest on his face. "They told me you were sharp. Yeah, I am. Call me Nevermore." He said with a pleasant British accent.
"Nevermore?" Taylore asked.
"My teacher, who helped me learn to use my powers without becoming a monster, was called Raven. It's my way to honor her." Then his gaze turned to Regent. "He alright?"
"He's just celebrating the fact that Heartbreaker is dead." Tattletale said as she continued studying Nevermore.
"Ah…" He studied Regent for a few more moments. "I won't pry, then. A lot of people wanted that bastard dead." Then he turned back to Tattletale, ignoring Regent's 'Fuck yes, we did!'. "So, any particular reason why you asked for this meeting?"
"Well, first of all, we wanted the thank you guys for saving our asses last night." Grue said as he and Tattletale stepped forward, the villainess handing Taylor one of the lunchboxes while he handed Shadowcat the other. Taylor warily opened her hers only to freeze at the sight of the large roll of dollar bills in it. "That's part of the take from the heist that made Lung come after us." Grue continued. "We all discussed it and agreed that you deserve some of it. There's two grand in each of those lunchboxes."
"That's nice of you guys." Nevermore said with a smile, glancing at Shadowcat who confirmed the contents with a nod. Then he considered things before motioning to Taylor with his head. Shadowcat smiled and approached Taylor as Snapdragon grinned. Then the cat eared ravenette handed the lunchbox she was holding to Taylor, who took it slightly woodenly from surprise. "The gesture is appreciated, but we don't really need the money, so go ahead and take it, Imperatrix. You probably need it more than we do."
Taylor stared down at the four thousand dollars she now held, swallowing slightly. "I, uh, thanks…"
"So what else did you guys want?" Snapdragon asked, arms folded under her breasts.
"Well, we wanted to offer you guys a place in our gang." Grue said.
"Imperatrix more than you guys." Tattletale added. "It was pretty obvious last night that you're pretty invested in The Unbound. Though if either of you wants to jump ship, we wouldn't complain." The girl said with a grin.
"No thanks." Snapdragon said easily. "We've got a good thing going."
"We have a lot of perks in The Unbound." Shadowcat added with a small smile. "Not to mention we've already been through a lot with this team."
With that everybody turned to look at Taylor, even Bitch and Regent. She fidgeted, still holding the lunchboxes. "You seem nice enough for villains." She admitted. "But I'm a hero."
Tattletale opened her mouth to respond, obviously intending to give her a deeper sales pitch, but Nevermore interrupted. "In that case, how about a counter offer that extends to the Undersiders as well?" He said with a relaxed smile. "Come join the Unbound instead. We could always use more people to help us with our goals, especially people who know the lay of the land better than we do."
Tattletale eyed Nevermore at that, apparently gleaning more from what he'd said that Taylor did. Before she could follow up on that Shadowcat cut in. "There are those perks I mentioned." She said with a small chuckle. "Lots of perks…"
"Such as?" Tattletale asked with interest, and now even Regent was apparently paying attention.
"Full insurance." Nevermore began. "Life, medical and dental. A well equipped, high tech base of operations I guarantee is safe. Personal trainers to help with your combat abilities, among which are experienced soldiers and assassins. A trained therapist who has a power that synergizes with her profession, which can help deal with any lingering issues from your Trigger Events, along with any other problems you may be having. A 'company vehicle', so to speak, yours to keep even if you quit after a month of working with us. A base salary starting at twenty thousand dollars a month. And all of it legal and above board, with even taxes taken into account, so you don't have to worry about the authorities and can present yourself as a respectable citizen, in case you need that legitimacy for any reason.."
Taylor felt her jaw hang open at the list of what she would get upon joining the Unbound, which made her want to just jump in and say yes immediately. God, just the money alone… She held herself back, however, no matter how tempting. She knew better from her father than to just jump into something like that without seeing the fine print.
Tattletale seemed genuinely poleaxed for once, staring at him in surprise. "That's, uh, extensive. I don't suppose you'd be willing to let us look at the contracts before we make a decision."
"Of course." Nevermore said with a smile, and with a gesture of his hand there was suddenly a thick stack of paper in it. He handed a copy of what was apparently an official, legal contract to each of the Undersiders, along with a business card like the one Shadowcat had given Taylor the night before. "Read it at your leisure and feel free to call if you have any questions. I promise everything is above board." He said as he handed the last set to Taylor.
"T-thanks." She said, glancing at the first page of the contract. "I'll read through it tonight. Promise."
"Why are you offering us a job?" Grue asked, honest confusion in his voice. "I mean, we're villains."
"Did some research on all of you after last night." Nevermore said as he walked back to Snapdragon and Shadowcat. "You've been pretty tame for villains. You haven't killed anybody, haven't actually hurt anybody that didn't have it coming, and are each pretty skilled in your own right, with abilities that would help The Unbound significantly. Tattletale especially. You should never underestimate the value of a good information gatherer."
"We figured that you'd probably be willing to go straight if you got a good enough offer." Snapdragon said with a grin.
"Not only would we improve our own capabilities, we'd also be taking some villains out of the equation and adding to the heroic side. Win-win." Shadowcat added, a small smile on her face.
"And me?" Taylor asked.
"You screwed Lung up royally before we arrived." Snapdragon said with a light laugh. "Seriously, that capture was like seventy percent you."
"And your potential when it comes to surveillance, information gathering and search and rescue are nothing to sneeze at." Nevermore added with a grin. "You have a lot of potential. We'd love to help it flourish."
Taylor blushed and fidgeted. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so honestly complimented. It was… nice.
"Anyway, we should get going. Give those contracts a look over and give us a call when you have an answer." Nevermore said as a portal similar to the one The Unbound had arrived from appeared at the edge of the roof. "Till then."
Once the Unbound left Tattletale glanced at Taylor as Bitch got her dogs up and Grue and Regent began climbing onto them, the latter somewhat unstably. "Well, I think we all have a lot to think about. Talk to you later, Imperatrix."
"Bye." Taylor said, watching as the three monstrous dogs bounded away with their riders. Then she glanced down at the contract in her hands and sighed before beginning to make her way off the roof.
She had a lot to think about.
*Slide into view, hit base* SAFE!
Whew, made it. I wanted to have this out by the end of the month, which is… today. I'm glad I managed it.
Also, holy crap the response to the last chapter. 77 reviews for that chapter alone, over a hundred total, bringing us to over 2000 reviews. 2000! I can't believe I reached this milestone. I thank every single one of you who have read my work and encouraged me with said reviews. Especially those of you who stuck with me from the very beginning. Means the world to me.
So, not too much happened in this chapter, at least in the foreground. It was mainly about setting things up for the future, and showing how The Unbound have already made changes. I've got many more ideas for things they can get involved with outside of Worm's main story, so look forward to that.
Before people complain about adding too many new people to the Unbound: Not everyone is going to leave this world with them. They're basically going to be local employees that will help out while they're on Earth Bet and then be left to go their own way once the Unbound leave. I already know who's going to be coming along, and I promise that at least one of them will be a surprise. At least right now, it will be. It should become obvious later on.
I hope the exposition I've added for those unfamiliar with Worm isn't too intrusive. I'm trying to walk the line between being too info-dumpy and not giving enough, but I'm not sure I'm managing it. Well, we'll see how I do going forward.
Now then, I have a few Pat A Ron related things to talk about.
The first is just a reminder that you can have a say in what I write when you donate to my Pat A Ron. Every dollar donated equals a vote in my monthly poll, and now I've made it so that the votes for the things that don't win in a given month roll over into the next. This should give those who donate lower amounts more of a say in what's written, since the stories they vote on can accumulate votes over time. So if you want to donate and see your favorite stories of mine updated more often, go to Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis. The current poll closes on September 1st, aka tomorrow.
The next two are more important to me, however. First is that my best friend has begun a Pat A Ron for their original fiction. Donate any amount you want and get access to some objectively excellent writing (far better than mine, if I'm being completely honest). They've posted their first two chapters of one of their stories, which is a supernatural steampunk detective thriller that I very much enjoy called 'The Curious Investigations of Mister Jonathan Scott'. If you like, say, The Dresden Files, but want it more steampunk, this is for you. You can find their stuff by searching for Grimm Tales in Pat A Ron.
I would appreciate it a lot if you could help them out, as unlike me they've had employment trouble due to some disabilities, which this pandemic hasn't helped.
Second, my sister has also begun a Pat A Ron. She recently got her Bachelor's in Digital Animation. She's trying to make her own series to post on Youtube, but needs money, so she's making art and plans on accepting commissions. She primarily does tokusatsu themed fanart (Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, etc.), and she plans to let people have a say in what she makes, much like I do. That's at Pat A Ron dotcom /linduarte. (Oh no, now you know my last name! The horror!)
Please keep in mind though that we've been made aware of a bug with the site that makes it seem like you can't donate less than $5. If you don't want to donate that much, to any of us, just put a zero before the number you want to donate, such as 03. That should get you going.
I think that's all from me. As always, I hope you enjoyed it, please review, and stay safe out there. Bye!