Bakuda snickered as she took a break from her tinkering and watched, for the dozenth time, the video of Hookwolf being humiliated by Nevermore that had been uploaded to the internet the day before.
No one knew who had recorded the confrontation and uploaded it, nor where it was from, a large amount of details edited out. All it showed was a 20 second clip of Nevermore taunting the Nazi with music, the Nazi turning to retaliate, and then said Nazi being left a whimpering mess on a grimy floor as the leader of the Unbound stepped over him contemptuously. A lot of people assumed the Unbound had recorded and released it to show off.
Either way, the video had views in the dozens of millions already, a 99% approval rating, and a myriad of comments, the vast majority mocking Hookwolf and celebrating how he had been brought down a peg or ten.
Feeling completely secure in her lair and satisfied she had the city cowering at her very name, the mad Tinker popped the cap off a soda and took a long pull as she restarted the video, laughing gratingly when Hookwolf's screams rang out again. The odds of anybody even finding her, much less attacking her, in her base of operations were, in her mind, so low as to be impossible. It showed how much of a genius she was that she'd leveraged her specialty into making an explosive that made its area of effect impossible to locate unless you'd already been inside at the time of detonation or were brought in by someone in the know. And she had systems in place to keep any of her underlings from doing so now that she'd set the subordinates not guarding the base to the job of putting the bombs in the 'recruits' in another site.
The only way they'd be able to eliminate her would be to turn a five block radius to ash. And even then she'd likely be fine, being as far underground as the aquifer would allow. And of course, if they succeeded, she'd still get the last laugh due to her dead man's switch.
Goddamn was she good.
She turned when Han Nguyen, the man that was essentially her second in command, walked into her workshop carefully. As he approached he absently swatted away a fly that had been buzzing near his ear and began his report. "We are almost ready for the new assault on the PRT. The last charges are being set and everything should be good to go by the assigned time."
"Good." Bakuda said, a triumphant sneer hidden behind her gas mask. "That reminds me…" She turned to her computer and absently typed in a few commands. Shortly afterwards a distant thump shook the room slightly as another of her bombs went off. Then she turned back to Han as if she hadn't done anything bigger than make a note in her grocery list. "Make sure that Lung is released, no matter how many mooks we have to throw at the operation. Oni Lee too, if we can."
She honestly was mostly ambivalent about releasing either cape, but it would definitely boost her and the rest of the ABB to have them, even if Lung wouldn't be entirely sanguine about her recruitment methods. She had ways to deal with the lizard if necessary anyway, and it would definitely make a statement to spring them. She'd just have to deal with Nevermore the next time he tried to counter Lung. It shouldn't be too much a problem for a genius like her.
Satisfied with the report and feeling relaxed after her break, she went back to work on her biggest bomb yet as Han left.
Everyone always referenced Hiroshima and Nagasaki when talking about the scale of a nuclear explosion even though bombs of much greater power had been created since then purely because they were the only ones to have ever been dropped on population centers so far in history.
When she was done with her new project, her work would be used as the new standard by which other explosions were measured.
The mad bomber cackled to herself as she soldered some wires, looking forward to showing the entire world how much of a genius she was.
"You're in?"
"Yes. Now that I know it's there I'm using the locals to map it out. Should be ready in five."
"All units, prepare to breach."
The first inkling she got that something was wrong was the sounds of guns being fired in the levels above, prompting her to stop her work and look up as she tried to follow the sounds. Hearing the noise grow instead of fade she quickly gathered up her grenade launcher along with all the grenades she was willing to use in close proximity to herself, cursing the entire time.
She didn't know how they'd found her, but she'd make sure they regretted it.
Aiming her weapon at the reinforced door to her workshop she barely kept herself from firing when Han rushed back in like the hounds of hell were after him. "Who is it?" She snarled, wanting to know who she'd be blowing up.
"I think it's the Unbound." He said, panting, apparently in too much of a panic to remember to close the fucking door. "I saw bugs swarming some of the men."
Bakuda cursed again. That meant it was almost definitely the Unbound. Imperatrix was the only known cape with control of insects. But how did they find her…
Her thought stopped before she turned to glare at Han. "They followed you in." She hissed as she aimed the grenade launcher at the man, too angry to trigger his implant and wanting to use one of her pain nades before she killed him.
"W-what?" He asked, paling and baking away. "Nobody followed me!"
She was about to pull the trigger when his eyes suddenly rolled up in his head and he dropped bonelessly to the floor.
Bakuda stared in surprise, wondering if he'd just passed out due to fear. By the time she realized there had to be someone else in the room it was too late and she felt something hit her in the back. Her last thought before she lost consciousness for what she assumed was the last time was hoping her dead man's switch made a real mess of things.
"Target is down, no further explosions registering in the city. Good work, everyone." Cortana stated as she monitored the cameras on all the members of the team involved in the assault. She absently kept the myriad screens displayed for those who hadn't participated, which happened to include the Undersiders, plus their newest guest.
"That was pretty damn quick." Aisha Laborne said, sounding like she didn't exactly know how to take that. "I mean, I was expecting a more epic confrontation or something, not a curbstomp."
Her brother, Brian, aka the Undersider known as Grue, sighed. "They can't exactly get into a drawn out fight just to amuse themselves when their opponent is someone like Bakuda."
"Besides, they may not be as entertaining in general, but curbstomps have their own appeal. It lets people know not to mess with you, depending on how big a deal the guy being stomped on is." Lisa tossed in as her eyes flitted from screen to screen, letting her power analyze everything to make sure they wouldn't have anything come back to bite them in the ass.
"I guess it's pretty good for rep, yeah." The thirteen year old black teen was forced to agree. "Nothing like catching some asshole with his pants down and fucking his shit up before he knows to react." She said with a bit of a smirk.
"Like you would know anything about that…" Brian said slowly as he gave his sister a look which she returned with a sweet smile, which practically screamed 'GUILTY' to him, knowing her as he did. "Aisha, what did you do…?"
"Nothing~" She said with a grin as she went back to watching the cleanup.
Alec, aka Regent, snorted in amusement from here he sat off to the side, playing a game system way more advanced than anything on the market and enjoying every moment of it. "You should have brought your sis around before, Brian. She's a riot. Better than some of my shitty siblings, that's for damn sure."
Brian groaned as Aisha's grin widened, knowing that she'd just take that as encouragement. His attention was drawn by Lara approaching with some paperwork. "Here's the revised contract, Brian." One of the few members of the Unbound out of their teens said as she handed it to him. "As negotiated, when you sign up with us we'll help you get custody of Aisha. Shouldn't take too much doing, honestly, once you have a legitimate source of income. We can help smooth out the things that aren't affected by such a thing. It's a bit of an abuse of power, but from what you've said and Cortana's findings in your background check, it's not something we have too many qualms in doing."
Brian paged through the contract, checking the changes and confirming things such as his salary and benefits, ignoring Aisha as she peeked over with boredom on her face now that it was obvious nothing else of interest was happening on the screens that were being observed by Lisa and Alice. "This all looks good, and if Lisa already signed it I'm going to assume there aren't any clauses to fuck us, since she'd definitely spot them even with the trouble she has reading you all, so-"
"Holy shit, twenty grand!?" Aisha suddenly burst out. "They're going to be paying you twenty grand a month?"
"That is what a monthly salary implies, yes." Lara said with a chuckle and smile.
"Would I get the same thing if I signed up?" Aisha asked eagerly, bouncing on the balls of her feet as her eyes practically glittered with newfound eagerness.
"That would depend on Brian, seeing as he's your soon-to-be guardian, a member and thus in the know. If he allows it we'd be willing to give you a similar package, though we'd have to work out how you'd get paid to keep people from looking into how a thirteen year old is making so much money." Lara explained. "Of course, you'd need to be a cape for all this to apply."
"Damn." Aisha cursed, annoyed. "Well, I'm joining as soon as I get powers."
"You aren't going to get powers." Brian ground out, trying to keep the headache he was already certain was forming in check as he started signing the paperwork.
"Of course I am. These things run in families, don't they?" Aisha said with a shrug.
"While it is true that if one member of a family develops powers it's more likely for others to have the capability, I believe your brother is more concerned with keeping you from getting into any situations bad enough to be Triggers in the first place." Alice said from where she was assisting in going over all the intelligence they were gathering.
"Basically." Brian said as he continued signing and initialing the myriad of spots that he needed to, ignoring his sister's groan. Privately he really didn't want to know what kind of situation would be required to make her Trigger, considering some of the things she'd already endured at the hands of some of their mother's numerous boyfriends. His blood still boiled with rage at the memory of the event that made him Trigger, which involved one of said boyfriends and the things he'd done to Aisha.
By the time he was done his sister had gotten bored and headed off to watch TV with Dinah as she and Rachel looked after the dogs. He handed the papers to Lara, who took them with a smile. "Is there anything else we need to do?"
"Not at this point. We're already working on your new costume and other elements of your rebranding with us. We'll have some options for you to look over soon. I should let you know, however, that it'll likely still be another month or two before we can finish getting Aisha into your custody." Lara said as she slipped the papers into a folder to have them filed. "Money does grease wheels, but even then there is only so much speed that said wheels can reach if we don't want any issues."
Brian nodded in understanding. "I get that. I don't like it, but I get it. As long as it gets done, I can be patient for a little while longer."
Lara's smile widened. "You're a good brother, Brian. I'm glad we get to help you and Aisha." She patted his shoulder before leaving to continue her tasks.
Now that that was done, Brian made his way over to the couch and sat next to Aisha as she laughed at the animated movie that was showing, feeling that things were finally starting to really look up.
"...so we should be able to send Bakuda, Oni Lee and Lung off to the Birdcage within a week or so since the Chief Director has fast tracked their processing." Deputy Director Renick reported to Piggot during the meeting the day after Bakuda's capture, Armsmaster and Miss Militia both being in attendance as well.
At the end of the previous day Nevermore had appeared near the PRT headquarters with the Master Chief in tow to deliver Bakuda to them. The woman has been in some simple hospital scrubs, having been searched thoroughly and her normal costume removed to ensure she didn't have any unpleasant surprises on her, said costume being provided as well in an evidence bag. The only thing done to protect her identity was to put a blank dime store mask on her face, and that was more so they wouldn't give anybody any reason to accuse them of breaking the Rules than to be in any way considerate to Bakuda.
Piggot had immediately had the mad bitch dumped in a high security cell, just in case.
Nevermore had assured them that, with access to Bakuda's gear, they had disabled all the bombs in peoples' heads and the planted bombs that hadn't gone off yet.
"Good. The faster they're out of my hair, the better." Piggot said grumpily before turning to Armsmaster. "How goes the cleanup?"
"We have bomb squads dealing with all the remaining expolosives now that the Unbound have provided the locations they got off of Bakuda's computer." The Tinker reported. "So far a third of the known explosives have been disabled and removed. They are in the secure evidence vault to ensure nothing happens to somehow trigger them."
"Bakuda's conscripts are heading to the processing sites we've set up now that they don't have to worry about her blowing them up." Miss Militia continued. "We're working on removing the bombs they've been implanted with, but the work was amateurish at best, so some might need Panacea, which, considering how many casualties she's still dealing with, might take a while." She shook her head tiredly. "I hope Amy can hold out. God knows she deserves a break after the last couple of weeks, but…"
Piggot grunted in agreement. She didn't like capes, and she'd never willingly put her life in the hands of one again, but she had seen how overworked Panacea was on those few times she saw her in person, and she didn't like it. Her power was absurdly valuable, yes, but by that token she didn't want to imagine what could happen if the girl snapped, which she seemed to be getting closer and closer to. Nothing to be done for it at the moment, however. "What about the search and rescue and repair work?" She asked. The damage Bakuda had done was catastrophic, practically seeming like the aftermath of an Endbringer, so she didn't doubt that the city was going to take a while to get back on its feet.
"Thanks to the efforts of various parahuman groups, Including the Unbound, the Empire and Faultline's mercenaries, search and rescue is nearly complete." Armsmaster reported. "Work that would normally take weeks is being done in a fraction of the time."
"The Empire I can understand, if only in their territory, as well as the Unbound, but Faultline?" Piggot asked with a raised eyebrow.
"According to Newter they were hired by the Unbound to help deal with the ABB. When they weren't actively fighting gangers, however, Nevermore put them to work assisting with the rescue efforts, for a substantial amount of money, as I understand it." He said in response.
Piggot grunted. "Well, as long as they're being helpful. Though I do have to wonder exactly what sort of resources the Unbound have at their disposal.." She said with a bit of a scowl. "And the repair work? Last time I spoke to Mayor Christner he was in the process of speaking with FEMA about disaster relief." She knew he wasn't happy to be distracted from his niece's kidnapping, which Piggot could sympathize with, but unfortunately current issues took precedence.
Miss Militia was the one to answer. "Actually, we have the Unbound to thank there as well, seeing as they took credit for it. We don't know which of their members has been doing it, exactly, but most of the buildings that were damaged and where search and rescue has already been concluded have been completely repaired to their previous state. Even the buildings that were essentially rubble are standing like nothing happened. The only exceptions are those that were the effects of more exotic bombs, such as the singularity or matter change explosives, and even there they've been shored up where possible with decent enough repairwork that city inspectors are preparing to check to verify their stability."
Piggot was grudgingly pleased that the normally expensive and time consuming work was being dealt with easily, but… "Am I the only one uneasy over the apparent strength and resources of a parahuman group we didn't know anything about a month ago?" Piggot asked with a scowl. "Practically everything since Lung's capture has included their involvement. They got way too powerful and influential far too fast for my peace of mind."
"Watchdog is looking into it." Renick said. "It does, after all, seem very odd. There haven't been any conclusive determinations yet, however."
Piggot sighed but nodded. "Alright, let's table that for now. Let's get to discussing how we're going to deal with the other gangs' reaction to the ABB's collapse now that all their capes are in custody. Unless anybody here thinks the Empire won't immediately take advantage to expand their territory, especially considering their current woes?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. When nobody answered she nodded. "Alright, what are our projections?"
Armsmaster was the first to speak. "Assuming that no new capes step in to take over the leadership position, then we can expect whatever remaining free ABB remnants there are to try to hold their territory, but without cape support the likelihood of them succeeding is minimal. There is the possibility of a new gang moving in from another city, however…"
"What a mess…" Danny Hebert sighed as he took in the scene of carnage in front of him.
Now that Bakuda had been captured and the state of emergency lifted, the dockworkers had gone to work assessing the damage in the area they were responsible for and beginning the work Excelsior had hired them to do that had been postponed due to the bombing spree.
They had been hired to clean up the ships in the Boat Graveyard, salvaging them for anything of use while getting rid of anything that wasn't. They hoped to eventually have the beach completely cleared of the rusting eyesores, though it would likely be the work of months. From what Danny had been told, Excelsior's parahuman contractors had been planning to remove the sunken ships in the bay several days before, but Bakuda's insane rampage had necessitated that they refocus their efforts on that, which was completely understandable. The ships had been there for over a decade, a few days or weeks longer wouldn't cause too many issues, especially now that the union had steady work dealing with the beached ships.
Still, it was their work checking out the damage left in the aftermath of the bombings that prompted Danny's tired exclamation. Some of the men had found the sight of a small battle between the ABB and the Empire, probably not having been noticed by anyone due to the wider situation. There were at least two dozen bodies scattered about, some in pieces, and the various strange and exotic effects that still persisted indicated that at least some of the ABB members involved in the scuffle had had access to some of Bakuda's grenades.
"You call the PRT?" He asked his old friend Kurt. Due to the presence of Tinkertech and its effects on site they had jurisdiction.
"Got off the phone with them right before I reached you." The heavyset man said with a nod and a scowl, one of his hands clutching his nose due to the stench of death in the air. These people had been rotting here for at least a day, if not two or three, after all.
Danny kneeled next to one of the ABB gangers, a girl that might have been beautiful if half her face wasn't missing, a scowl on his face as he tried to keep his stomach from rebelling. "Anyone see anything that might be dangerous? They might have been planting one of Bakuda's bombs."
Kurt shook his head. "Not really, though we haven't looked too closely. Gimme a second to get a couple of the boys to take a quick look so we know if we need to evacuate." He said, turning away to do as he'd said.
Danny nodded before noticing that the girl he'd been kneeling by had a hand clenched tightly in death, something oddly colored peeking through her fingers. Danny didn't know what compelled him to do it, beyond perhaps determining any dangers as he'd asked Kurt to see done, but he carefully pried her hands open, finding a small orb in the girl's hand.
It was the size of a moderately large marble, like the kinds his dad had used to collect, but made of some sort of plastic. It was multicolored with some odd striations that didn't seem to be painted, but what caught his attention was the raised area that seemed to be hinged.
It only took him a moment to determine that this must be one of Bakuda's exotic grenades, and he was about to slowly back away before he hesitated. He thought about how dangerous things had been lately, how the ABB's defeat was likely to herald a new spate of violence. He thought of Taylor, unable to really protect herself from the more dangerous elements in the city right when she was finding herself in a good place he knew she needed.
In another world, another time, Danny would have left that grenade and informed the PRT of it when they arrived. In this one, his mind on his daughter's safety the entire time, he furtively picked it up and slipped it in his pocket before standing up as Kurt returned, his heart hammering slightly, the almost unnoticeable weight of the grenade seeming to drag him down.
If it was for Taylor, he'd bear it.
I worked long and hard to find a good way to make Bakuda's takedown entertaining, but in the end I realized that the Unbound shouldn't have any real issue dealing with her once they found her, so it only made sense for her to go down like a chump. Besides which, the bombing mini-arc of the Worm arc isn't really about her, but about the ways it sets up things to come.
So that's why this is more of a transitory chapter. I have plans for things to come and the chapter after next ought to be quite surprising, I believe. First we'll be getting a bit of a breather, though.
And yes, Danny now has a Bakuda special. Anybody that fucks with him or his daughter is in for a nasty surprise. Mwahaha.
In personal news, I am now in the US and have a pretty good job with UPS. Full benefits, including some of the best insurance I've ever heard of from a private company, and even a pension! And to those of you outside of the US, yes, a pension from a private company is absurd to find in this country, which is kind of sad, honestly.
The only gripe I have is that the medical insurance doesn't kick in till I've been with the company for 9 months, so I have to be careful till then.
In any case, I can't really think of anything else that needs to be said at the moment, so I'll go ahead and give my usual reminder, plus a new one.
First the new announcement. My best friend and their roommate have begun a podcast. Yes, I know, everybody and their mother has a podcast these days, but I beg you to hear me out. It's called 'Two Idiots and a Dog', and they talk about pop culture in general with different shows for different topics. So far they've primarily done 'Idiots on Film', talking about classic or important movies, but they recently started another one called 'Idiots Unleashed', where they just take a topic their discord members vote on and talk/argue/rant about it without a filter. The first episode was about Stupid Weapons in Media, and for the upcoming May the 4th they're doing a Star Wars episode with the topic being (as far as I'm aware as of this moment) "Why TF did Vader not recognize his own damn droids, and other continuity flaws caused by Lucas being a fucking moron." Promises to be interesting. So if you're interested, that's 'Two Idiots and a Dog' on most podcasting apps. Please check it out. For me? *puppy dog eyes*
Secondly, I am, as always, truly grateful for those of you who are willing to send a buck or two my way out of the kindness of your heart. It really helped my transition till I started working. I've got a steady income now, and am getting my feet underneath myself, but that doesn't mean your support isn't appreciated. Thanks to you I have more of a cushion to get things I still need or pay essential bills. Like Final Fantasy XIV. (Speaking of, Ryuma Hyurinmaru on Ceourl Server, Crystal Datacenter, North America)
Of course, let us not forget that you do get something out of it. For each dollar that you donate to my Pat A Ron, you get a vote in my monthly update poll stating what you want to see updated next month. And if what you vote for doesn't win immediately, no worries! Non-winning votes roll over to the next poll, so a fic that only gets a vote a month will eventually win (though it might take a bit, to be brutally honest). Ballad of Heroes and Villains was finally updated not too long ago thanks to turtling the others, after all.
That said, if a fic hasn't won in a long time, I will take it off the poll and update it anyway, like I recently did for No Good Deed.
So yes, donate to my Pat A Ron, you get a say in what I update. Everybody wins! So that's Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis. The current poll ends tonight, though since I'm posting this right before the deadline I'll hold off counting till noon tomorrow my time, so go make sure your votes are counted.
However, as something new, I have set up a Ko-Fi for those of you who don't want to use Pat A Ron to support me. The only caveat is that it won't count towards any voting, so I honestly don't see it getting much use. That said, it's there for those of you that prefer it. Seeing as I've literally just created it less than a day ago, please give me any feedback on it so I can make improvements. That's ko-fi dotcom /athanmortis78653 .
I think that's all I have to say. Thank you everybody once again for reading, I truly appreciate it, especially when you review. Till next time!