Trial By Fire Chapter 2 (Original chapter Chapter 22)
Armsmaster glared up at Pyroclasm as she easily melted the special bolas that he had made to restrain her. That was an unexpected wrinkle. He had had Dauntless fire a powerful beam at those to make sure they could resist extreme temperatures.
"So what now?" the fiery Cape asked, folding her arms and seeming to glare down at him, although the blue flames obscuring the woman's face made it hard to tell.
"Now you come quietly." He said firmly, "I am the Head of the Protectorate and I will take you to see the Director to explain your actions."
"My…actions?" Pyroclasm asked sceptically, "Beating up some gangbangers who were loaded with enough guns to start a firearms association and taking down Lung, you mean? I fail to see what is so questionable about that."
"You have upset the balance of power in the Bay." Armsmaster growled, irked at the obtuse nature of the Cape before him, "Once the Empire and the Merchants hear about Lung being defeated, they'll start a gang war unlike anything seen in the Bay since the Empire and the Marquisate drove the Teeth out."
Cocking her head to one side nonchalantly, Pyroclasm considered that before shrugging. "So I broke the status quo and actually accomplished something for a change, unlike the Protectorate. The solution here is obvious; I go and reduce the Empire and Merchants power as well."
"Not happening." The Tinker said firmly as he toggled a switch on his halberd, prompting the business end to hiss open and spit out another pair of bolas at the vigilante. He was careful to avoid aiming at her neck, as bolas could and would kill a person if they landed there.
It was for naught, as a wall of blue flames flared up and devoured the projectiles mere feet from his target. Evidently, as long as she was aware of a threat incoming, she could deploy one of those defensive screens at will. Useful information.
"That halberd is starting to bother me." Pyroclasm said irritably before raising one hand and unleashing a large blast of orange fire that soared towards him like a bullet from a gun. Armsmaster dodged to the side, but his motorcycle got caught by the flames and he watched helplessly as the orange flames devoured it, leaving only the tyres, wire insulation and instrument glass behind.
Growling in anger, Armsmaster turned back to face the pyrokinetic Cape. "That," he said faux-calmly, "was a mistake."
Leaping onto the building nearby was trivial given the strength enhancing potions of his armour. Most people didn't know about it though, since he didn't show off on camera. Thus seeing Pyroclasm taken aback at his surprising feat of agility was satisfying for the Tinker. He bounded forwards and fully deployed his halberd, the edge of his signature weapon gleaming in the light of the flames.
Pyroclasm casually reached out and a green spear of flames appeared in her hand. Spinning it around, she counter-charged him and lashed out with her weapon, the spear meeting his halberd with an explosion of green flames.
Covering his face from the glare, he made a mental note to replace the lenses with photo-reactive ones for when something like this happened again. When he looked back at his weapon he frowned at the sight off a warped and melting axe blade. The metal he had used for his halberd's blade was even stronger than the type he had used for the bolas and one strike had warped it this badly?
"My green fire combines extreme temperatures with concussive force." Pyroclasm informed him, "The combination when compressed into a spear like this allowed me to defeat Lung. You are no Lung, Armsmaster. Back. Down."
"Not happening." Armsmaster repeated. He spun his weapon away and tried to hit her again, only for the flame-user to block with a small square of blue flames.
'She has the control necessary to make shields of that fire of any size? Not just the large walls and curtains that she's used before now?' he though in shock before his naturally analytical mind recovered. He drew back the melting remains of his weapon before discarding it and drawing his backup halberd.
His Tinker specialty in miniaturisation and efficiency was seen by many as lacklustre and weak, but he had made it work for him, constructing various halberds with many different pieces of tech crammed into them. He never went anywhere without at least two of them and this one had a useful gadget in it.
Triggering it, he smirked as it extended to its full length before firing several grenades at Pyroclasm that exploded, releasing containment foam that covered her. It wasn't just any containment foam either; it was a special type designed to be used against pyrokinetics like Burnscar, except no one ever had any when the Slaughterhouse Nine came calling.
Initially, it seemed to work fine, dousing her flames and entrapping her before solidifying. It was then that things turned sour. Blue flames exploded from the few locations that were uncovered and attacked the foam covering Pyroclasm hungrily. In less than thirty seconds, the fiery Cape was staggering to her feet again. Her body language indicated exhaustion, so evidently burning so many flame resistant materials in such a short timeframe was taxing on her reserves.
"Surrender. You are obviously on your last legs." He commanded.
"Only because I'm not using the flames that could kill you, fool!" Pyroclasm hissed before sending a wall of orange flames at him. He dodged to the right and fell from the building, crashing down onto the ground. His armour's medical monitoring system bluntly informed him that he had several fractured ribs from landing awkwardly.
Overhead, he saw Pyroclasm swooping away on wings of red fire and cursed. She had slipped the noose.
Later
Armsmaster's Workshop, The Rig
"What the hell, Colin?!" Miss Militia shouted as she stormed into the room, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Hannah, if you don't mind, I'm in the middle of repairing my halberd." Colin said shortly. He was still armoured up and was in the middle of assessing exactly how much of his first halberd he could salvage.
"Oh no you don't." the former child soldier growled, "You unilaterally attacked an independent Cape without provocation! What the hell were you thinking?!"
"That she had just fought off Oni Lee and Lung at the same time." The Tinker said shortly, "Someone of that power, left alone to do as she pleases? She'll either get killed inside of six months or turn villain. She has to be brought into the Wards."
"So you attack her?!" Miss Militia facepalmed, "Colin, you really are an idiot. If anything, you've just alienated her completely and made her suspicious and hostile towards the Protectorate. I wouldn't be surprised if she did turn villain or vigilante after this, because she likely thinks she has no other choice!"
Colin set down his ruined halberd and turned towards his second-in-command. "What do you mean?"
"Regardless of the reason, she attacked a Protectorate Cape, which automatically puts out a warrant for her arrest." The female Cape said tiredly, "It was issued the instant you reported that you clashed with her. Until we get the warrant cancelled, which Director Piggot will be none too eager to do, she will continue to accrue resentment towards us and she might decide to become a villain out of spite. When the Director finds out why the Empire or the Merchants have a new Cape or if she strikes out alone, it will be on your head, Colin."
Turning, she left him behind with that dire warning.
Several Days Later
Somer's Rock Public House
"We are all here," Coil said, "to discuss our mutual…problem."
The Cape wore a black skin-tight bodysuit with a coiling snake stencil wrapped around him and was a thin man. The bodysuit he wore allowed everyone who saw him to see his ribs and joints clearly.
Around him inside the pub were representatives of all of Brockton Bay's superpowered criminals. Kaiser of the Empire 88 with Hookwolf and Othala, Grue of the Undersiders with Tattletale and Regent, Skidmark of the Archer's Bridge Merchants with Squealer and Über and L33t, the Game Capes.
"All of us," the man continued, "have been attacked in one way or another by the new vigilante Cape, Pyroclasm. My men were ambushed and strung up by their ankles, naked, outside the BBPD Police Building; with all of the…items…I had sent them to retrieve at their feet."
Kaiser slammed his fist on the desk. "Victor and Alabaster were captured by this Pyroclasm and turned over to the PRT." He said reluctantly, "They will be released by my discretion, but it the principle of the action that infuriates me."
"The cum-guzzling whore trashed our labs!" Skidmark growled, "And sent Mush to hospital with burns!"
The rest looked at Grue, who shrugged. "Pyroclasm has ignored us completely." He said, "We knocked off a jewellery store right in front of her and she just watched and left when we did."
"She hasn't interfered with us either." Über added, "Looks like she's keeping to the big gangs for some reason."
"And of course, the defeat of Lung, Oni Lee and Bakuda is well known to us all." Coil stated as he folded his hands before him, "The fact that she conquered the Dragon of Kyushu when he was backed up by Oni Lee is troubling. Even more so is the fact that she walked into Bakuda's workshop and emerged unharmed from all of the explosions that were heard, especially the last that levelled the place, dragging Bakuda and Oni Lee behind her."
"She is bad for business." Kaiser said delicately, "I say we combine forces, track her down and beat her into the ground."
"I would agree to that." Coil nodded, "Grue? Skidmark? Über?"
The youngest leader there shook his head. "The Undersiders aren't on Pyroclasm's radar and I'd like to keep it that way. We'll lend you Tattletale's observations and insights, but we won't take overt action against her and risk drawing her wrath."
"Understandable." Coil nodded, but was irked. Tattletale had been pulling away from him for a while now, and he had no idea why or how. He had tortured her in one timeline and she had revealed nothing, refusing to speak right up until her mind had broken, which had never happened before.
What was more irksome was Pyroclasm. In the case of his men being captured, he had sent them out in both timelines, but in each, they had taken a different route and taken a different method of operation to acquiring the items they had been sent to retrieve for him. And yet, in both timelines, Pyroclasm had shown up at almost exactly the same time, ambushing his men and leaving him powerless to aid using his power. He had just flipped a coin regarding which timeline to close.
"L33t and I are with the Undersiders on this one." The skill-learning cape said with a sombre voice, "She hasn't trashed one of our videos and even sent us a subscription. No way do we want to make her pissed with us. L33t could make some tech for you, but that's just about all we can offer."
"Tch. Useless fudgepackers!" Skidmark sneered, "The Merchants're in."
"Excellent. I have already hired the services of Faultline's Crew, so we can plan our operations accordingly." Coil said. You could see the smirk on his face through his bodysuit.
"Pyroclasm is going to learn that she is playing with something greater than fire here."
You know, the vast majority of the reason I made this ficlet collection an M-rated fic was because of Skidmark's potty-mouth. Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen someone swear that much without having Tourette's Syndrome. As I said in the beginning, this collection is free for anyone to adopt any story if they want to. Just PM me and I'll OK it.