Transmutation Chapter 2 (Original chapter Chapter 21)

"Lung has been defeated. I want to know by who."

The one speaking was the newest recruit of the ABB, a Cape by the name of Tsurugi. He wore crimson samurai-style armour and a sneering Oni-like Menpō over his face. Sheathed at various points around his body were katana, wakizashi and Nodachi.

"Tsurugi-sama, all we have been able to discover is that Lung-sama went out to punish the Undersiders for their transgressions against him." a member of the ABB reported meekly, "There should have been no way that those gaijin kodomo could have defeated him."

"Meaning it was outside interference." Tsurugi growled, "According to the newspapers, Armsmaster arrested Lung. He is a Tinker, so it isn't an unprecedented thought that he might have invented a device that could accomplish this feat."

"H-Hai…except that…well, look at these photos that our men took of the scene." The ABB grunt said, pulling out a sheaf of Polaroid photos. Tsurugi took them and scanned them.

"What in the name of Amaterasu…?" he muttered. The ground had been badly burned in several locations, especially in a ring around where several claw marks were evident. What the hell was hot enough to melt concrete? Additionally, there were two locations where the ground had been…altered. One where a fist just popped out of the ground and one where a large wall had appeared seemingly from the ground itself.

"So…it was a new Parahuman who intervened." The warrior Cape mused, "Has Kaiser announced a new Cape in his Empire?"

"No sir." The grunt shook his head, "And no one in their right mind would join the Merchants."

"Meaning that unless Faultline, Coil or Über and L33t got some new recruits, we have at least one new Cape in town, perhaps two." Tsurugi concluded, "One that has some form of pyrokinesis and another that can manipulate concrete."

It made sense. To have a single Cape that had both of those powers was extremely rare; just about the only person Tsurugi could think of off the top of his head was Eidolon. The other Trumps that he knew about could only interfere with other people's powers, like Hatchet Face, or spontaneously shift to a single random power every day, like Rubik. No, two Capes were the most logical answer.

The question was, were the Capes in question heroes or villains? Given that the Undersiders seemed to have gotten away scot free, it was to be assumed for the moment that they were villains. There again, fighting Lung was not easy, so maybe the Undersiders had retreated when the new Capes attacked?

Dismissing his concerns, Tsurugi issued his orders. "I want a plan in the works to liberate Lung, ASAP. I also want ears to the ground; information about any fresh Triggers or new Capes moving into town is a priority."

"As you wish…." The grunt bowed, "Also, our men have returned from the mission to acquire that new Tinker."

"Oh?"

"It…it would seem that the Tinker was mentally unstable and blew herself up." The man said nervously, "The idea of submitting to anyone, even Lung-sama, was abhorrent to her."

"Tch. A shame. A bomb Tinker would have been useful, but if she was so mentally unstable as to dishonourably jisatsu, then she was of no use to us." Tsurugi dismissed, "I shall inform Lung-sama of this and explain it in such a way as to stop him from killing the men. We can ill afford to lose manpower now that the Empire has made some troubling moves. Where is Oni Lee?"

"On patrol near the Empire Territory, Tsurugi-sama."

"Get him back here and double the regular patrols." Tsurugi ordered, "We have plans to make."

Undersiders HQ

"So it's decided then? We'll invite Alchemist to join the Undersiders." Brian said with a nod.

"Rachel, I do not want you pulling your usual bullshit with her." Lisa said, scowling at the canine controller, "She fought and defeated Lung for Christ sake; she could shred you and your dogs to pieces, easily."

Bitch just sneered at Lisa and went back to stroking Angelica's head.

"Alec?" the leader of their group asked.

"So long as she isn't a douche, I don't give a damn." The lazy boy replied as he sniped at someone on Call of Duty, "Fuck yeah! Have a headshot, asshole!"

Rolling his eyes at the inherent indifference that his teammate was displaying, Brian looked at Lis, who shrugged and said, "I want her in. Once I get used to having her around, maybe my Thinker won't go nuts every time I see her."

That had been Lisa's only negative point about recruiting Alchemist; the fact that her Thinker had gone nuts when trying to decipher her power. The migraine had left her head throbbing for six hours after Alchemist had left them to go home after they treated her to pizza.

"Cool. What do you think the ABB are up to?" Brian asked.

"Likely Tsurugi has taken over temporarily." Lisa said with a shrug, "Oni Lee is too stupid to lead anything."

This was something of a concern. Tsurugi was the latest Cape to join the ABB and had the power to impart linear motion into his sword strikes. In other words, each of his cuts was as strong as a bullet fired from a railgun. Additionally, he could project those sword strikes, similar to but differently from Jack Slash. Combined with his calm and cunning mind, he was a serious threat.

"Makes sense. It just means we need Alchemist on side sooner rather than later." Brian nodded, "Can you track her down?"

"Nope. I'll leave a message on PHO for her though. She'll answer it." The blond replied.

"Will she even have a PHO account?" Alec asked as he chucked a grenade in CoD.

"Almost 95% of people have a PHO account just to keep up with the rumours and official PRT announcements." Lisa replied easily, "I'd be more surprised if she didn't have a PHO account."

"OK. Whatever." The Master Cape shrugged at got back to killing pixels.

"I'm taking my dogs for a walk." Rachel said abruptly and stormed out, taking Brutus, Judas and Angelica with her.

Once the front door slammed shut, Brian turned back to Lisa. "So is she going to behave herself or not?"

"Not." Lisa replied frankly, "The whole 'pack hierarchy' thing is a big thing with her. She needs to see people prove themselves to her, and Rachel was unconscious when Alchemist beat Lung."

"It's just….I really don't want another incident like Spitfire. Especially since Alchemist is way more powerful than Spitfire." Brian sighed, "If Rach isn't careful, Alchemist will freeze her or barbeque her or something."

The only other girl in the Undersiders shook her head. "I got a good read on her personality while she was with us; she may not have a good grasp on the Unwritten Rules, but she will not cross the line into killing someone until and unless they do something that crosses a line with her or they're a member of the Slaughterhouse 9. She'll probably just wrap Rachel up in concrete or something."

"Well that's something at least." The leader of the Undersiders said in relief, "Make sure you tell her in advance what Bitch is likely to pull. The last thing we want is for her to think we're bullying or hazing her deliberately."

"Got it." Lisa nodded, "I'll head off and do that now."

So, a rather peaceful chapter here, with some world-building. Most notable difference? Bakuda blowing herself up. Let's face it, she was nuts originally, so having her suicide rather than let Lung control her is a reasonable stretch, if you think about it.