Ultraviolence

An alarm went off and Ray hit his head on something hard. Runner lights on the floor cast the thin handle of the textured grip of the knife that hovered next to his face.

"Jesus Christo, that part wasn't a dream then", he murmured.

He rolled off the bed in the opposite direction of the knife in the wall, the motion stretched his skin disturbing the wounds on back, trickles of still wet blood stains streaked across his sheets.

"Screw that, I'm showering", he rubbed his eyes and headed for the showers after grabbing up a quick change of clothes.

In the bathroom he stripped off his dressings and took a spare hand towel and dabbed at his wounds as the water made its mixed temperature presence known. A chime notified him fifteen minutes passed and he ended the shower and dumped the bloody towels on the floor. He collected his clean clothes and slipped on boxers and diffused for a moment and appeared in the PRT hospital much to the alarm of the staff.

The intake nurse shook his head, "Seriously, that's going to take getting used to, guy."

"Sorry, I uhh need my wounds redressed... I had to shower, I'm sorry."

The nurse hit a button on his desk and seconds later another nurse buzzed through the double doors, held it open and beckoned Ray in. Within minutes his wounds were patched back up and Ray dressed. He headed back to the front desk to sign out.

"Look, Ray, not gonna judge but theres new wounds on you different from last night's - black eye, gouges on your back?"

Ray shrugged, "Had something of a difference of opinion with a coworker - but we're square, we're good so maybe don't report the new ones. Already on a short leash with the director as it is and I got a rebranding thing in a bit..."

The intake nurse shook their head then leaned back in their chair and pulled out Ray's hoodie, "You forgot this last night, too."

He tossed him the clothing and waved Ray off before the cape diffused his freshly bandaged form and showed up outside the cafetorium entrance. He pulled the hoodie on and drew the hood up just in time to meet the Public Relations Coordinator.

"Bandile Green, PR Coordinator", a shorter swarthy fellow with a genuine smile, offered Ray his hand. He was dressed in a sharp suit, the thin red tie shifted often as the man gestured and moved with an energy that matched his tone.

Ray's mouth quirked before shaking Bandile's hand. No mask hid his face and yet Bandile didn't recoil or give Ray an odd look.

"Most folks call me Ban, you're free to include yourself Ray."

"Thanks, ahh, Ban."

Ban gestured for Ray to follow as he continued, "Now Director Piggot mentioned a rebranding, while Dogfight isn't quite the image we want the public to associate with Parahumans let alone The Protectorate - savage animals in combat against their will for entertainment, it also has a closer association recently with mid-level members of Empire Eighty Eight.

"Yeah, okay. I - yeah I get it."

"Now, Ray, you're unique in that you developed not only powers but also pronounced physical changes. You're taller and a far more muscular physique for your age. In addition you have an unfortunate case of overdeveloped keloids - scar tissue across your body, and of course, your horns."

Ray felt under his hood and prodded a horn on his forehead, "How can I forget?"

"Merely pointing out the obvious that would affect themes to work with. We've done much the same with past Case 53 heroes, we would focus on their power in relation to their appear- I'm losing you?"

Ray nodded, "I'm what my folks called a visual learner."

Bandile clapped his hands together and pointed finger guns at young Ray, "Let's get you to your ABC package."

The coordinator swiped his badge periodically opening up an elevator first, then a couple different hallways, leading Ray finally to a larger room with what he imagined tinker heroes would use as lab space.

Ray stood in front of three clear mannequins each sporting a striking variation of basically the same costume, "ABC package, huh?"

Ban stood next to the first costume mannequin, "PRT Tinkers along with our Testing Techs got together and assembled a quick and dirty trio of suits that we're fairly certain will benefit you and give you some much needed versatility and protection on your patrols."

"Okay, well Piggot vetoed Dogfight so what's the name that goes with this suit?"

"We'll get to that in a minute, let's go over the A costume here. We've got a heat and friction resistant white bodysuit with a zipper from groin to just under the chin, literally something to jump into on a moment's notice. You'll see these metal clasps that fasten this large silver armored panel flap. The panel is quite flexible, you'll notice it has give because it's filled with a thin layer of non-newtonian fluid that will absorb high speed impacts and even at low velocities cushion strikes and blows. Also it covers your entire chest and abdomen plus hides the zipper. Similar flexible yet fixed silver panels serve as shoulder armor and include a set of cowboy style chaps also filled with the same armor fluid. A set of flexible silver greaves are affixed to the lower legs that visually flow with the chaps. Gauntlets are included, the backs of which are armored for damaging strikes but the inner palms are textured for grip. Finally the head has a mirrored helmet with sections to slot and slip your real horns into with smaller styled ones sculpted."

"Ahhh, it's very shiny and got assless pants, I'm gonna have my ass hanging out and be a target too."

"Just - it's an option, just think of possible names while we keep going. Ahh, we have the B suit. It's very similar to A but with maroon flexible panel armor across the body's contact points, and a brown body suit. The built in hood covers your head up to your hairline with a brown bauta style ballistic mask with red lenses that feature clasps that lock onto the hood. The mask itself has a pronounced jawline that allows for room to wear air filter masks, aquatic rebreathers, or even simply give enough space for you to eat and drink while still wearing the mask. Convenient, really."

Ray scratched the base of one of his horns, "that's more like, yeah convenient, red and brown mixed into my breaker form is a nice look. I could be The Dust Devil or Desert Storm."

Ban cringed and sucked air through his teeth, "Desert Storm is already taken, unfortunately, but I like your thought process. Now outfit C is the most radically different. The body suit is the same as the previous two but covered in an urban camo gray with a smoky brown design. Now you might be thinking it's covered under a rain poncho but notice how the material clings to the natural curves of the mannequin's body. Right now the poncho looks clear with an iridescent sheen but it's one part of an entire adaptive camouflage system. The material is also interwoven in a balaclava that covers your head and neck. A special single frameless, iridescent lense with attachment points at the bridge of the nose and ends of the lenses completely cover your eyes but also offer an Augmented Reality display where you can be fed information in the field."

Ray gestured at the mannequin, "Yeah, yeah, straight up, Arkady said camouflage is useful with my powers."

"Exactly, you could be a recon specialist for The Protectorate... as The Silver Spectre, Fantasmo or Billow."

"Billow?"

"Hmm, think of a cloud of chalk dust from school and how it billows when you clap two erasers together", Ban gestured the cloud expansion.

"Sounds like he bites pillows. Real scary, might as well ship him off to a Texas team", a familiar mocking tone chimed in.

"Excuse me, are you allowed to be here?" Bandile pulled a domino mask from his inner jacket pocket and handed it to Ray as he blocked sight of him.

"Sorry, Ban, I just kinda requested a second opinion from a guest who has been out in the field. I figured she'd be great to get feedback from especially since - we were both injured and had some downtime before patrols resumed. Plus I'm still getting used to everything and she's - familiar."

Ray turned to look up at Sophia, perched on a tall stack of storage cubes that were scattered in various piles across the tinker lab setting. Her domino mask fixed in place, hair tied back into a short ponytail, sporting a set of PRT warm ups and running shoes. She had new bruises of her own, a split lip and bruised cheek were the only visible ones.

"This is not helping us keep to our schedule but no matter. When it comes down to it a new coat of paint and we can adjust to your name. Gale... oof taken, if I remember correctly."

For once Sophia didn't have a scowl or harsh look on her face, instead she was momentarily lost in thought

"Squall?", she offered.

"From those japanese fantasy video games?", Ray asked.

"You calling me a nerd, gameboy?"

"Let's not borrow from any copyrights or trademarks", Ban remarked but was ignored.

"I'm calling you nothin', just pointed out it's from a game."

"It's also the name of a strong gust of wind, they help me glide sometimes in my breaker state, Ray." Sophia crossed her arms as she walked between the mannequins.

"If you check out that red-brown middle costume I was thinking - Dust Devil", he pulled his hood back and gestured at the horns.

Sophia sized up the mannequin for a moment before taking the mask off the dummy. She held it, lining it up with Ray's head, approached and pressed it against his face. The horns poked up just above the edge of the mask, small grooves molded into top of the mask allowed room for the mask to slide up without being blocked by his unusual facial features.

"Devil is a strong word, it evokes the wrong idea. Demons and Devils aren't very good to people", the PR Coordinator piped up.

"Ban, I mean devils punish the wicked, torment sinners, that much I remember from going to mass as a kid. For what's going down with the gangs and villains making plays for territory and preying on the people of this town, it's hell out there already."

Sophia looked past the red lenses into Ray's eyes for a moment then released the mask. He caught it by it's elongated chin as it slipped from his face, "It's not completely stupid an idea."

"Besides, Stalker is a strong word too", Ray countered. "Shadow Stalker's a - respected member of the Wards. Fought more than one Endbringer, and right now the city could use a show of strength from The Protectorate."

Bandile Green nodded to himself as he considered the input from both capes, "Alright, we can play up the divine justice angle, public sentiment is abysmal but showing a new homegrown hero signing up to take back the city, might be what people need."

The PR Coordinator stepped over to the nearest table with a hardline phone and started making phone calls.

Ray walked over to Sophia and the mannequin in the A suit she was inspecting.

"What's going on? Didn't know you'd be putting the stalker in your name to work."

Sophia grabbed a gauntlet off Suit A and smacked Ray across his shoulder with the back of it.

"The hell?! I already got enough bruises from last night", he protested.

"Don't be a little bitch, you know you loved it."

"What's the deal, Sophia?"

She grabbed his arm and pulled him close. Sophia slid the gauntlet on Ray's hand and forearm, "Make sure you get these gauntlets on the costume you picked. You fucked up your hands royally last night, and these'll do some major damage with how fast you hit."

He made a fist and raised the gauntlet between them, admiring the small, layered armored plates across the knuckles and back of the hand, "You cleared medical to patrol tonight?"

She leaned up against Ray, "Of course, now stop being weird about this. They'll figure shit out, Dust Devil. Sounds like a vacuum cleaner."

"Shut up, you know it's cool, anyway - we'll link up during the second patrol?"

"Deal, and we can talk about my bug problem."

~~x