A Storm of Blades Chapter 2 (Original chapter Chapter 63)
Two Days Later
Docks Area, Brockton Bay
Carnwennan stood atop a warehouse at the docks with a frown on her face and her arms crossed. Someone had posted a message on PHO to 'White Hilt' and had asked them to PM back. She had, reluctantly, decided to do so, but had taken the time to set up a dummy account so no one could track her down via it.
The result of the private chat session was her waiting on this rooftop for whoever 'AllSeeingEye' was to show up. Of course, she had taken precautions against being sniped or what have you. Embedded around the edge of the roof were daggers that were generating an invisible forcefield across the whole roof. Slow moving things, like a person, could get through them, but things like arrows or bullets? No chance.
'I have an odd feeling about this.' The young hero thought with a sigh. No one just posts on PHO asking to meet you on a whim. Plus, AllSeeingEye had, by way of her post, hinted that s/he had been around when she had faced down Lung.
'Hey, White Hilt. Not so little are you? My friends and I owe you one for what you did. PM me for details. I'll make sure to look up before talking though.'
Only she and Lung had been there, at least Carnwennan had thought so. She had created the daggers as she and Lung were talking before drawing his attention to them with an arm gesture. Only someone who had been there would know that, so evidently she hadn't been as careful as she had thought. Live and learn.
Hearing someone climb up the stairs, Carnwennan turned to face them. The door was wide open so no one could catch her off guard, plus she had several anti-Stranger daggers dotted around the area that would stop someone from using such powers to avoid her sight.
The person who was revealed was a girl wearing a purple and black costume, with a domino mask over her face, framed by dirty blond hair. An Egyptian eye symbol, likely either the Eye of Ra or the Eye of Horus, was emblazoned in gold in the middle of her chest. In one hand was…a lunchbox?
What the hell?
"Hi there!" the girl said cheerfully. "I know this was a bit of a stretch, coming to a meeting with an unknown person, so I came alone. Nice daggers, by the way. Anti-Stranger trump effect and…oh-hoh! The ones around the roof's edge are creating a Shaker effect. That is one flexible power you have there."
The black, white and silver clad heroine tensed at that. "You're a Thinker."
"Guilty as charged." The other girl admitted freely. "The name's Tattletale. You fought Lung yesterday and save my life."
Carnwennan blinked. "Uhh…you're welcome?"
Tattletale laughed slightly. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you? I'm a member of the Undersiders, a gang of villains who mostly commit robberies, and even then mostly against other villains. Yesterday, Lung was after us because we robbed his casino. Lemme tell you, that isn't something we're going to try again any time soon."
"You're a villain?" the dagger Cape was immediately on the defensive.
"Yes, but I am not stupid enough to pick a fight with someone who can summon up to a thousand daggers and telekinetically control them, not to mention Trump them, and turn me into a shish-kebab." The Thinker said with a grin as she shifted the lunchbox to face Carnwennan. Taped to the face of the lunchbox was a note.
Conceal us. Being watched. Being bugged. Can't talk freely. Help.
Narrowing her eyes, the dagger creator made sixteen more daggers that slammed into the roof around them. Eight of them created a nigh-impregnable to sight fog, while the other eight generated a field that created a Faraday Cage effect, as well as frying any electronics other than a cell phone within its boundaries.
"Done. We can't be seen or heard." Carnwennan said once all the daggers were solidly planted. Tattletale sagged in relief. "OK, answers, now."
"I'm being blackmailed into being a villain by another villain." Tattletale answered quickly. "He has a power than can seemingly make what he wants to happen, happen. He tracks me down every time I try to run and made ten correct coin toss guesses in a row, all heads, decided beforehand. I want to be safe and I want out of the Undersiders. You're a powerful Parahuman that he has no idea about, aside from the bare minimum I told him yesterday. I missed out several of your more impressive abilities and I'm the only one who contacts the boss in the Undersiders, or vice versa."
"OK, so assuming I believe that you're telling the truth, what do you want me to do about it?" the Shaker asked, irritation in her voice.
"Hide me somewhere." The maybe-not-villain almost begged. "Seriously, he's not someone I want to stay near. He had me snatched off the street and bluntly told me that I could either work for him or get a 9mm lobotomy …while he held a gun to my head. He's ruthless."
Carnwennan had to admit that whoever this guy was, he was not a nice guy. The main thing was though, he didn't sound like any of the villains in the Bay. Lung was obviously out, Skidmark was too drug addled for that kind of long-term play to be functional and Kaiser had the wrong kind of mind-set for this sort of thing, so who then?
Tattletale opened her mouth, but a loud BANG noise, like someone hitting a dome of shatterproof glass, interrupted her. Carnwennan made a Trump dagger that let her see through Shaker effects and sighed.
"Your teammates are here and trying to break down the barrier." She informed the Thinker. "Looks like they either think I'm doing something to you or your boss has somehow read you in advance again."
"Dammit!" Tattletale hissed.
Dispersing the fog, Carnwennan scowled slightly at the other three members of the Undersiders, who were arguing with each other…or at least, Grue was arguing with Regent, while Bitch was glaring at the barrier, the three monster dogs clustered around her.
"Tats!" Grue shouted once he caught sight of her.
"Grue, what the hell?" the Thinker demanded, "I thought we agreed that I'd meet Carnwennan myself first before letting her meet the rest of you?"
"The boss sent someone over, saying that you're planning on backstabbing us." Grue said as he crossed his arms. Unbeknownst to the Undersiders, the dagger-Shaker generated a special blade in her belt.
"Because I owe him so much loyalty after he gave me the choice of a 9mm lobotomy or working for him." Tattletale mocked. Evidently, she had decided to take refuge in audacity. "I want out from under his thumb and Carnwennan is my best bet at it."
"Sorry Tats, but we have our orders." Regent drawled and waved a hand at them. Tattletale tensed, but nothing happened. "What the fuck?"
The Thinker swivelled her head to look at Carnwennan. "You?"
"An Anti-Master Trump/Shaker effect dagger." The other girl confirmed.
"For fuck sake, she's hax!" Regent slumped, his power totally negated. "I knew this was a bad idea!"
"Since when? Since you got orders or since I nerfed your power?" Carnwennan asked.
"The second one."
The Shaker could see that Grue was hesitating. With her dagger disabling Master effects, his was the only power that would work and it wasn't an offensive one. Bitch's dogs were strong, but they hadn't managed to break through the barrier. Odd that he hadn't thought of the way Tattletale had come up…
"Bitch, head down to the bottom of the warehouse and take Judas with you. Climb up the stairs and attack that way." Grue ordered. Darn, so he had…it certainly took him long enough.
"I took down Lung. You really think I can't handle you three?" Carnwennan called to the loyal Undersiders, a hint of steel in her voice.
"Unlike him, we don't regenerate. You think you can take us down without maiming us?" Grue countered as Bitch, mounted on one of her dogs, leapt down
"Yes." Was Carnwennan's answer. She materialised two daggers in her hands and grasped them tightly. She also dismissed the Anti-Stranger daggers, replacing them with more shield generating daggers, meaning Bitch would be running into a virtual wall when she reached the top of the stairs.
Regent eyed her nervously. He remembered how she had made taking down Lung look easy and he had no wish to be turned into a pincushion. No amount of money was worth that.
"Grue, let's just give up, man." The Renaissance faire reject complained. "I'm too good looking to be turned into shish-kebob!"
"We don't get paid unless we bring back Tats." The leader argued.
"Money's only good to the living. She kicked Lung's ass and I really don't want to see what kinda bullshit she can pull out of her ass when she doesn't want to maul her opponents." The Master Cape shot back.
A loud bang and pained whimper came from the stairs. Tattletale turned her head and saw that Judas had run head-first into the forcefield that was blocking the stairs and that Bitch was now officially angry.
Unfortunately for Carnwennan, she had neglected to think outside the box, so to speak, so when Bitch pumped up Judas a bit more with her power, he became strong enough to bust through the wall.
"Judas, hurt!" Bitch growled and pointed at the surprised Shaker.
"I hate it when I don't think of something!" Carnwennan growled. Busting through the wall was such an obvious move. The reason she hadn't considered it as an option for the Undersiders was that none of them were Brutes and the dogs hadn't been strong enough to do that, if only barely, until now. Live and learn.
Meeting the charging monster dog at a run, Carnwennan slammed the pommel of the right hand blade onto the side of the monster's head, knocking the hulking brute out like a light. It wasn't badly wounded thanks to the enhancement that Bitch put him in, but that did not make the Canine Cape any happier.
"YOU!" she roared, leaping at Carnwennan with hands extended like claws.
The dagger-wielder calmly swiped at her with her left-handed dagger, unleashing a wave of light that sent Bitch flying through the air before sprawling onto the ground, seemingly unharmed but clearly out of the fight.
"Damn." Grue cursed mildly. "Tats, seriously, is this worth what the boss'll do to your parents?"
"I abandoned my parents when they tried to make me use my power to get them rich after my brother committed suicide!" Tattletale snapped in a quiet, but palpable, fury. "Killing them means nothing to me. I know that, he knows that. The only threat he has made that has kept me in line was the threat of being addicted to drugs and turned into a pet! And I am not going to bend and take it from him anymore!"
Grue recoiled at that. "Seriously? I…Tats, why didn't you tell us?"
"Because all of you are under the thumb of the boss." The Thinker threw up her hands as if to say, 'isn't it obvious?' to the world. "You need the veneer of legitimacy to get your sister away from your deadbeat druggie mother, Bitch needs the support of the boss for her dog shelters and Regent likes the money and would basically do anything for it."
"Hey, not anything." Regent objected. "Most things, yes, but not anything! My asshole is exit only!"
"Really didn't need to know that." Carnwennan deadpanned.
"You are an asshole, Regent." Tattletale said at the same time. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I've made my choice. I don't want you guys hurt, but I will not let Coil take me alive!"
She drew a Glock from its holster at the small of her back and flipped the safety. She didn't point it at anyone, not even the unconscious Bitch, but the intent to defend herself was established.
"OK, enough." Carnwennan said in a growl. "Grue, is it? You're fucked. Me and Tattletale here are going to leave. You and the reject from the Renaissance are not to follow us. Stop while you're still treading water."
As much as it pained him to admit defeat, Grue had to take the offer. Bitch was down, as was Judas, with Angelica and Brutus therefore useless, Regent was minutes away from heading back to the hideout and he couldn't handle Carnwennan alone. Hell, even all of the Undersiders together, including Tattletale, couldn't handle her. Plus, the knowledge that their boss, Coil, was ready to go that far regarding Tattletale had shaken him something fierce.
He waved a hand, indicating they could go.
"Good. Tattletale? Let's go somewhere more…private to continue our discussion." Carnwennan said briskly and dematerialised all of her daggers except the Anti-Master one. Beckoning Tattletale to follow her, the heroine headed down the stairs, swiftly followed by the purple-costumed Cape.
Grue sighed. "I am not looking forward to explaining to the Boss what happened here."
"Yeah…think you should just give him the bare bones." Regent advised seriously (for a change). "We came, we saw, we got our butts kicked, they left. Sweet and simple. If Tats was telling the truth, then Coil is as bad as…well, you know who I mean."
Heartbreaker.
"Yeah, I can see that." the darkness user sighed. "Let's get Bitch awake and get out of here before Collateral Damage Barbie turns up."
So, a bit more of a confrontational break with the Undersiders for Tattletale this time. She is one of my favourite characters in Worm and I like fics that have her getting away from Coil. I loathe him, in case you hadn't noticed. In the first chapter of this, someone asked how a Blaster power would work with a dagger. I just showed you. Swipe and watch the fireworks people.
I am sorry that this came out so late, but I have had a nasty winter cold combined with a headache like you wouldn't believe. The combination is anything but pleasant and makes writing pretty hard to do. This 2000+ word chapter took me five days. Five. Days. Urgh, it makes me humiliated just thinking about it.