Taking the Stage Chapter 4 (Original chapter Chapter 147)
Two Weeks Later
Wards Base, PRT Building, Brockton Bay
Vista threw herself onto one of the nice, comfy and squashy couches in the main area of the Wards base and proceeded to swear like a Dockworker. The last couple of weeks had been hell for almost all of the Wards. She had enjoyed it for the most part, but even she had her limits.
The annoying thing was, she couldn't blame the instigator of this whole mess, Phantom Renegade, due to the fact that she likely had little to no idea how large Public Relations fit into the lives of underage Parahumans on government paychecks.
The Head of PR, Glenn Chambers, had flown over from New York to argue with Armsmaster and Miss Militia about their 'insane and extremist' idea about arming the Wards, which had quickly gained traction with the Chief-Director herself due to how utterly and completely Phantom Renegade had dominated the ENE Wards in their fight.
That had lasted for a week. In the duration, the entire Wards team had been drilled hard in emergency maneuvers. One critical part of their defeat was that they had, for the most part, remained stationary, reacting to Phantom Renegade's attacks and basically being standing targets.
Additionally, they had been drilled in better hand-to-hand techniques. Usually Brutes like Aegis didn't need it with the strength they possessed, aside from to take down ordinary criminals, so all Wards were taught basic grappling techniques, submission holds and throws as a matter of course. With the weaknesses already highlighted by Phantom Renegade's attack, Piggot had ordered that a comprehensive review of the Wards' skills and equipment in order to plug any further weak-spots so that the Tinker couldn't take advantage of them.
Vista's visor, Kid Win and Gallant's armor, as well as the headpieces of all of the other Wards, were now upgraded with multiple alternate vision modes to possibly negate the effectiveness of the tinkertech-generated smoke that the villain tinker had used in future encounters.
As for the real cause of all of this, Shadow Stalker...well, she was on console duty for the foreseeable future. Piggot was, to put it mildly, incandescent with utter fury about how Phantom Renegade's very existence could be pointed to the former vigilante. Aside from anything else, Shadow Stalker had known about Phantom Renegade for an entire MONTH and not told the PRT. That right there was more than enough to land the probie into hot water, but add in the fact that Stalker was an unrepentant, spiteful, bullying volatile Capital-B Bitch and you had someone to whom no shits were given.
'It couldn't happen to a nicer person.' Vista gloated in her head, only feeling slightly guilty at the action. Shadow Stalker took every opportunity to remind the Shaker 9 that she had no solo take-downs to her name and that she was the 'baby' of the Wards, despite being the oldest serving member of the ENE Wards. Seeing Shadow Stalker brought low by Phantom Renegade (PINK Stalker, oh her sides…), as well as having that selfsame villain compliment Vista on her skill and power...well, it had been an ego stroke, to be certain.
"My legs are about to fall off!" Clockblocker moaned as he hobbled into the room.
"Will you be changing your name to Legolas and taking up archery then?" Vista quipped. Clockblocker took his helmet off and threw her a sour look at the bad pun.
"Seriously, why are you so chipper about all this?" he asked as he flopped into a waiting seat. "We've been going through training from hell and we've still got the weapons certification training to do this afternoon!"
Vista grinned happily. Glenn, for what had to be the first time since he took his position as Head of PR, had been ordered to stand down by the Chief Director at the end of the week of arguing. All of the ENE Wards were to be equipped with discreet nonlethal weaponry, either tasers, stun-guns or ConFoam launchers, and be trained in their use. Armsmaster and Kid Win were to build them into their costumes and armor and ensure that they weren't visible to a casual or close outward inspection. The wards were only to use the weapons as a last resort. End of argument.
"I'm happy because we're finally being taught how to fight!" she replied. "I was a total support and defense Cape before, but with my handy-dandy new wrist-mounted Con-Foam launchers, I can actually be proactive in my role on the team! Do you have any idea how damned frustrating it is to be treated like that?!"
Clockblocker, or Dennis with his mask off, winced. "Yeah, sorry about that, but regs are regs and all that jazz. And remember, these are weapons of last resort, not something to throw about at the first opportunity."
"Take all the fun out of it why don't you." the Shaker pouted. "Where's everyone else?"
"Carlos is having a shower, ditto for Dean, and Chris is locked up in his workroom again." Dennis listed. "Oh, and Sophia's gone home."
"Wish she'd say there." Vista muttered, removing her visor to reveal the face of Missy Biron. "Still, she's essentially under house arrest while not here, so at least she's not going out and picking more fights with people."
That part of Sophia's punishment was for not informing the PRT of Phantom Renegade's existence. Carlos had quietly informed Missy and the others that she had beaten up so many people prior to being forced into the Wards that there were literally several city blocks worth of people who wanted a piece of Shadow Stalker, so Phantom Renegade's possible identity was up in the air.
"True that." Dennis nodded. The next instant, the 'masks on' alarm went off and the two Wards were scrambling for their masks. Seconds after Vista jammed her visor back on, Miss Militia strode into the room, followed by Director Piggot.
"Where are your fellow Wards?" were the obese woman's first words.
"Aside from Shadow Stalker, all Wards are on site, ma'am." Vista replied crisply. "Aegis and Gallant are showering and Kid Win is in his on-site workroom."
"Gather the on-site ones please." the Director ordered dourly. "An issue has come up that concerns you all."
"I'll grab the showering pair." Clockblocker said and headed towards them.
"That leaves me to drag a Tinker out of his workroom...joy." Vista groaned.
Several minutes later, all of the Wards sans Shadow Stalker were present and waiting for the Director to speak. Piggot looked very unhappy, which wasn't an entirely unusual situation; the woman was pretty dour and dark even when things were going normally. But normally, she never came down to the Wards base.
"Now that were are all here, finally, we can begin." she said bitingly. "Dragon, please display the bedamned channel on the Wards Base's lounge screen."
What appeared on the screen was, to the surprise of the Wards, Über and L33t's channel. The garish logo at the top proudly proclaimed the fact to all who viewed the page.
"A new Über and L33t video?" Clockblocker asked blankly.
"Watch." Was all that Piggot said as the video began to play.
A familiar scene appeared, that of a gun barrel moving across the screen, following a man wearing a suit walking from right to left. When he reached the middle, he suddenly swung round, leveled a gun towards the viewer and fired. The gun barrel wavered from side to side before a film of blood seeped down over the circle.
"So they've done a James Bond game this time? Didn't know any existed." Aegis commented.
"Earth Aleph." Clockblocker informed him.
The scene on the screen changed to a pair of men, wearing black suits, walking down a corridor, one wearing the face of the actor Sean Connery, while the other wore the face of Pierce Brosnan.
"Yup. So both of them are Bond? Odd choice; they don't usually play as the same character." Kid Win remarked.
"Different eras, and being in different games, means they're essentially different people." Vista informed him. "That's enough leeway to let them play the same character."
The two entered a brightly lit white room, where a third man dressed in a white suit stood behind a desk. Anyone who had ever seen a James Bond film would recognize who it was.
"They brought someone in to act as Q? Talk about thorough."
"Ah, 007 and 007. Ready for your mission?" 'Q' asked.
"Of course." 'Sean Connery' replied confidently. "I hope you have your usual tricks ready for us?"
"Naturally." 'Q' scoffed. He pressed a hidden button on the desk, which flipped over to reveal a veritable cornucopia of gadgets disguised as regular items, as well as regular firearms. "Gentlemen, pick your weaponry."
"Is this Scaramanga's Golden Gun?" Pierce Brosnan asked in reverence as he picked up the weapon in question.
"Yes indeed. It can be disassembled for ease of hiding into several parts, or it can be collapsed into a hip-flask form for ease of transportation." the man pretending to be Q said. "I also have grenade pens, multi-function watches, Cell Phone Grapples, decryptors, triple-function keychains and several of your favorite handguns, including the Walther PPK, the Walther P99, the Beretta 418 and the Walther P5. Not to mention the special items you have been issued for this mission."
"Q, you are a wonder." Sean Connery said happily as he attached a watch to his wrist.
"One tries." Q said before dodging to the side as a small missile flew past where his head had been seconds beforehand. He turned an ire-filled gaze upon a sheepish looking 'Pierce Brosnan', who had a missile pen in one hand.
"...oops?" he said sheepishly.
"Oh...do grow up, 007." Q sighed tiredly.
"Hahahaha! They actually put a classic scene like that in!" Clockblocker cackled, which made Piggot's nostrils flare for a moment.
The scene shifted to what the Wards recognized as a fairly upscale credit association on the outskirts of Brockton Bay. The disguised Über and L33t, along with a couple of henchmen dressed as fellow 'MI6 agents', marched into the place and proceeded to hold it up, corralling the staff into a conference room and using one of L33t's devices to seal the doors and windows shut.
Meanwhile, the Henchmen were setting down what looked like briefcases at key entry points of the building, including outside the main doors.
"When was this? We hadn't heard of this happening." Vista asked.
"This footage is just over four hours old." Miss Militia informed her. "As you were in the middle of an important training session, myself and Triumph were the first on the scene."
Onscreen, the camera switched to an image of Miss Militia pulling up outside the credit association on her bike, with Triumph piling out of a van, accompanied by a fire-team of PRT Troopers.
On enterprising henchman approached 'Sean Connery' after spotting the heroes arrive. 'Pierce Brosnan' was busy opening all of the confidential files and stuffing them into a back.
"Misters Bond, the forces of 'Specter' have arrived!" he reported.
"As expected." the first man replied, sounding just like the real thing, so it sounded more like 'Ash Eschpected' instead. "Deploy the special briefcases."
"Yessir!" the man saluted and pulled out a remote, pressing the sole button on it.
Cutting back to a view of the front again, the two briefcases snapped open, revealing what looked like a pair of gatling guns that aimed towards the PRT Troopers and Protectorate Capes who had been approaching and opened fire immediately.
"Scatter!" the lead trooper ordered before he was hit with one bullet...that exploded and started to steadily encase him in a very familiar foam-like substance, aided by the dozen or so further bullets that struck him in the interim.
"Holy shit, is that...?!" Kid swore.
"Phantom Renegade's faux-containment foam? Yes." Piggot said with a growl. "And watch your language."
In short order, the entire PRT fire-team was foamed up and useless. Miss Militia, using a Magnum BFR, tried to take down the turrets with expertly aimed shots, only to find that they had some sort of shield protecting them that was bouncing her bullets like they were spitballs.
Triumph used his sonic roar to destroy any foam bullets that came at him, and he slowly advanced on the turrets, while Miss Militia switched to using a grenade launcher to pierce the shields of one of them. The shattered device fizzled away into nothing, just as all of Phantom Renegade's tech had done before now.
"Shit, Renegade teamed up with them? That isn't good." Clockblocker said worriedly.
"Keep watching." Miss Militia said calmly.
Another well-placed grenade removed the second turret from play and Miss Militia regrouped with Triumph and started to advance on the doors. Inside, more briefcase turrets deployed themselves at the push of a button, forcing the two heroes to dodge and take cover from the bullets, forgetting that they were ConFoam bullets. Instead of smashing through the glass, the bullets exploded on contact, spreading the faux Containment Foam across the entrance and sealing it shut. Rather than have to break through the front and face a barrage of foam bullets, the two Protectorate Capes jogged around to find a window to break through.
Meanwhile, the two villain Capes had finished looting the archives and had withdrawn themselves and their henchmen to the back, where 'Sean Connery' casually threw out yet another briefcase. Upon hitting the ground, it burst open and formed from within it...
"...a car?!" Kid Win goggled at the screen. "There's no way!"
"Tinkers are such bullshit!" Vista muttered in shock.
Indeed, what was revealed was an Aston Martin DB5 that the two henchmen piled into quickly, with 'Pierce Brosnan' casually entering the driving seat on the left-hand side. 'Sean Connery' paused at the passenger-side door as Triumph managed to make it to the back entrance. Pulling out a golden object from inside his suit, he pressed a button and with a series of well-oiled clicks, the Golden Gun unfolded.
Raising his new weapon, the disguised cape aimed it at Triumph's center of mass and pulled the trigger. The sparkling bullet which emerged was shown in slow motion as actually being golden in color. It shot out and struck Triumph's chest even as the Blaster opened his mouth to use his powers. Rather than the generic white foam the other bullets had used, this one created shining golden foam that had the Protectorate Cape wrapped up like a giant golden marble.
Blowing smugly over the barrel of his Golden Gun, 'Sean Connery' returned it to storage mode, pulled out and threw something from his pocket and then got into the car, slamming the door behind him. The tires screeched as the car pulled away, leaving Triumph behind just as Miss Militia ran out, one arm and leg covered in the faux foam.
She raised her free arm, an uzi appearing in a flash of green energy, but then lowered it with a reluctant sigh and moved to try and free her colleague. After about a minute of her chipping away at the golden faux foam around Triumph with a sword, the device that 'Sean Connery' had thrown on the ground prior to his departure went off, presumably emitting a particular energy wave, which dissolved all of the faux foam and turrets scattered around the building before being destroyed itself.
As the credits rolled, Director Piggot turned to the Wards, a grave expression on her face. "The reason why I wanted you all to see this is to show that it is self-evident that, at least in this instance, Phantom Renegade has teamed up with Über and L33t, lending their planning skills and tinkertech to their heist just now. This is proof that your defeat was no coincidence."
The Wards nodded grimly. Triumph was one thing as he had only just graduated from the Wards to the Protectorate a few months ago, but Miss Militia had been a member of the inaugural Wards, the very first batch of Wards trained by the four founding members of the Protectorate, Legend, Alexandria, Eidolon and the deceased Hero. If she was defeated, or at the very least sidelined and slowed down, by a plan concocted by Phantom Renegade...
"Well, at least we have proof now that dealing with Phantom Renegade isn't easy." Aegis sighed. "I am sorry you couldn't get those two arrested, Ma'am, but this is pretty good information."
Miss Militia's eyes smiled at the boy. "Yes, well, I'm simply glad I didn't get foamed myself. It is never pleasant to go through, and I never much cared for it."
"Director." Dragon suddenly said over the speakers. "A new video has just been posted on the site."
"Play it." Piggot ordered immediately, the attention of Miss Militia and the Wards snapping to the screen immediately.
Standing in front of a black background was the man dressed as Q. He had a white suit on and was beaming at the camera.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I do hope you enjoyed today's episode of Über and L33t." he said with a nod. "Have no fear, Misters Bond will return to grace the screen at a later date. But for now..." he grabbed the sleeve of his suit. "...it is time to reveal the truth!"
With a tug and a flourish, 'Q' became surrounded by multiple pieces of cloth. When they settled, the familiar suited and masked form of the Phantom Renegade stood with their arms spread out as if in welcome. A floating hat flew in from the side and landed neatly on their head.
"And this just confirms it beyond all doubt." miss Militia nodded grimly.
"Ah...nice to be back in black." Phantom Renegade mused before returning their attention to the camera. "For my next trick, I shall perform a spot of cartomancy, using a tarot deck!"
Removing a deck of cards from their suit jacket, the magician tinker shuffled the cards several times before looking straight into the camera.
"The subject of my reading is, of course, Shadow Stalker. Question one...will Shadow Stalker succeed in being rid of me so long as she remains in Brockton Bay?"
Drawing the top card, Phantom Renegade peered at it before showing it to the camera by flipping it around in their grip. It was of a naked man and woman, upside down.
"The Lovers card, reversed. I interpret this as failure." the tinker announced before making the card vanish. "Next question...should I escalate?"
Once again drawing a card, Phantom Renegade showed it, a card with a wheel with eight spokes on it.
"The Wheel of Fortune...I interpret that as a confirmation." the magician mused, once again making the card vanish. "Final question...what will be the result for Shadow Stalker is she doesn't hang up her mask as a hero?"
With a great flourish, Phantom Renegade drew a card, making the rest of the deck vanish as they did so. Flipping it around, they displayed the image of a tower being struck by lightning.
"The Tower...calamity." Phantom Renegade whispered ominously before making the card vanish. "Alas, the Protectorate is babying their oh-so precious little Shadow Stalker and not letting her out to play. So let us remove that impediment, shall we?"
Making a card, which had a stylized version of their mask on the back, appear in one hand, Phantom Renegade held it up. "For my last trick of the evening, I shall make this card disappear from here and reappear in the Wards base of the PRT. Now you see it..."
Throwing it up into the air, the tinker clicked their fingers once and the card was engulfed in smoke, vanishing from the stage.
"...and now you don't."
The Wards yelped as a small cloud of smoke appeared above their table, with a familiar card dropping into the table with a soft clatter. Miss Militia had a really big handgun out and pointed at it like it was a beast ready to strike.
"Armsmaster to the Wards Base at once!" Piggot ordered through her phone.
"Did I frighten you, Wards? I didn't mean to but oh well." Phantom Renegade shrugged exaggeratedly. "I shall see you on the day and time listed on the card. Until then, good day."
With a bow from the villain, the screen went dark.
It took several minutes for Armsmaster to arrive and start scanning the card for any signs of explosives or anything possibly harmful to anyone. In the end, it was determined to simply be a length of card with ink on it.
Once he'd announced that, Piggot picked the card up and read it slowly, her eyes darting across the text written on it.
"Of all the...!" she growled.
"Director?" Miss Militia asked carefully.
"Read this." Piggot spat, thrusting the card to Miss Militia. "I'm going to make preparations. Damned villain thinks they can make the PRT look like fools, do they?...?!"
Everyone goggled at the Director as she stumped out of the room darkly before turning to Miss Militia.
"'To the esteemed Director Piggot, the Protectorate and the Wards,'" the Kurdish-American read aloud without prompting, "'As I stated previously, I believe Shadow Stalker in an unworthy person to dare call herself a hero. I shall rob her of the equipment needed to be her alter-ego. Two weeks hence, I shall daringly infiltrate the PRT Building to rob you of her weapons, costume and mask, in the dark of night and when the moon dies. Signed, the Magician of Chaos and Discord, Phantom Renegade.'"
"Holy shit, no wonder the Director was so pissed!" Clockblocker breathed.
"Language." Armsmaster said absently. "Dragon, unless I'm mistaken, the New Moon is in two and a half weeks, correct?"
"You are." the Canadian Tinker replied after barely a second. "That is the most likely date for Phantom Renegade to strike. And it is at night that they plans to arrive. They are, hard as it might seem to believe, challenging the Protectorate to stop them."
"Phantom Renegade likely wants to prove that their win against the Wards wasn't a fluke, so they've set a time when the Wards will certainly be out of costume and away from the building." Miss Militia stated, placing the card carefully on the table. "They want to only fight against the Protectorate."
Armsmaster gripped his halberd tightly. "I believe that we will have something to say about that."
"Indeed we will." Miss Militia nodded. "Indeed we will."
And that's it done for the first of my updates of 2020.
Not really interesting, just showing the aftershocks of Taylor's little ass-kicking of the Wards, plus her little addition to Über and L33t's show.
Of more interest will be when I start my regular updates again. I've shifted the date for the first update to be on the 5th of February. This is due to me getting mobbed by wild plot bunnies, mostly my MHA stories, throughout December. This has, understandably, affected the amount of writing I could do. See you later...and REVIEW!