Taking the Stage Arc End (original chapter Chapter 148)

Assault

In Assault's former career as Madcap, the villainous breakout specialist, he had executed his fair share of well-thought-out plans against prisons, prison convoys, and even a Birdcage Transport a couple of times. In each of those instances, he had, joking and irrelevant persona aside, taken it seriously and done his research on the number of guards, the locales, the armaments...everything he could get his hands on.

Taking Phantom Renegade's actions without looking deeper, they looked just as reckless as his own stunts had been back in the day. Looking deeper, with experience of being in a greatly similar profession and with a similar objective to them, Assault could see the same sort of meticulous planning that he had been forced to do back in his villain days. The only difference was that, for every obstacle that cropped up, Phantom Renegade could build a device to overcome it, as opposed to how Madcap had been forced to basically power through any obstacles.

Case in point, a cane that generated a shield that repelled anything that hit it as a perfect counter to Battery's power. Quite possibly his own as well. Watching his wife bounce off the shield that Phantom Renegade raised in response to her initial charge had been both amusing and befuddling, because to the best of Assault's knowledge, the magician Tinker had been carting that around since the Mall Incident at least. Had she really prepared a perfect counter to the two kinetic Capes in the Protectorate by accident?

Dodging to one side as Phantom Renegade tried to use the taser mounted on the bottom of the cane to zap him, Assault charged in and started delivering punishing blows to the shield as the Tinker brought it up again. They had good reflexes at any rate.

"Having fun?" Phantom Renegade asked politely, sounding totally unconcerned by the attack she was under.

"Not often I get a workout like this, so yeah, I am!" the dynakinetic replied with a grin. "Sure you don't want to surrender? We have cookies!"

"Sorry, I'm on a diet." the tinker deadpanned before pressing a button on their cane. In an instant, Assault was trapped inside the energy shield, while Phantom Renegade tossed the cane away as it dissolved into dust. "A shame that I haven't quite managed to make that work without completely shorting out the cane, but ah well. I have a spare."

Pulling out said spare, the magician raised yet another shield around themselves. just as Battery slammed into them, sending her flying once again.

"Hmm...good distance." The tinker said as Assault's partner flew over her previous impact point and landed on the roof with a CLANG. "Well, you know what they say about people who keep trying the same thing without anything changing. I think that's enough for one night. Don't worry, Assault; the shield will weaken enough for you to break it inside of the next ten minutes. See you on the other side."

With a grandiose bow, the Tinker flew up into the sky and started to soar away. Just then though, they dodged as the form of Dauntless' Arc Lance missed them by inches.

Assault sighed and crossed his arms to wait out the ten minutes that Phantom Renegade had said it would take for the shield to weaken. Neither he nor Battery could fly, so any possibility of arresting the Tinker Villain rested with Dauntless.

"Well, hell." he commented.

With Dauntless

'I can't believe that they dodged my Arc Lance.' the Trump thought in consternation. His weapon was quick and powerful, and he had attacked from behind his target, so it should have been enough to knock out Phantom Renegade easily, yet the Tinker had somehow dodged it at the last second. 'They must have some sort of proximity sensor in their mask that warned them of my attack just in time to avoid it. Luck of the devil.'

"That was a rather impolite attack from you, Dauntless." Phantom Renegade admonished him. "Attacking from behind...are you a mugger an an alleyway now?"

"Politeness isn't needed against a villain who attacks the Protectorate's base!" Dauntless replied, pointing his weapon at the magician threateningly.

"Hey, blame Piggy for pulling the bait and switch." the tinker retorted. "I was all set to raid the PRT building until I found out she was doing that. Changing the rules of the game is cheating, and deserves a proper punishment. Like so."

With their free hand, they pulled a small remote from nowhere and pressed a button on it. Seconds later, the lights on The Rig started flashing rhythmically, and the voice of Tom Jones boomed out of the speakers.

"Is that...are you really making it play Sex Bomb?!" the Trump gaped as the music blasted out over Brockton Bay. This was worse than destroying Shadow Stalker's costume or beating up the Wards...this was giving the dignity and prestige of the Protectorate a black eye!

"And that's only stage one. Here's stage two!" Phantom Renegade said gleefully as they pressed a second button. Above the PRT Building, a hologram snapped into existence, a rotating double-sided version of the leering mask of Phantom Renegade.

"Wha...!?" Dauntless was, in all honesty, completely shocked by this person's audacity. They were essentially claiming the PRT building with that hologram!

"That should last until midday tomorrow." the magician Tinker said with satisfaction. "Let's hope that this reminds Piggy that no one fucks with Phantom Renegade. Let's have no more repeats of today in future, hmm? I play straight and you play straight and no one has to be humiliated in front of the city. Sound good?"

"Do you really think you can get away with this?" the Greek-themed Hero demanded.

"I already have." Phantom Renegade replied in amusement. "I barely had to do anything...after all, the computer systems of the PRT and Protectorate ENE had already been compromised before I so much as touched them. I simply used the openings that were presented to me to fulfill my goal."

That little tidbit rocked Dauntless to his core, although he didn't show it. The PRT's system had been compromised? No, worse than that, the RIG'S systems had been compromised?! Under Armsmaster and Dragon's watch? Oh, heads were going to roll if this was true.

"And the approach of flying light-bulbs tells me that this is time to exit, stage left." the Tinker said as the cane vanished from their hands. Dauntless blinked as he saw Lady Photon, Shielder, Laserdream and Glory Girl approaching at high speed.

"You think you can get away from me?" he growled, gesturing threateningly at his enemy with his Arc Lance. If he could keep the dratted magician in place thirty seconds more...!

"Quite easily. Watch." Phantom Renegade reached down and pressed a button on their belt buckle. With a flash and an electronic sound, the villainous Tinker vanished from sight.

"Wha-?! Oh for...!" Dauntless growled in frustrated anger before sighing shaking his head. "Dammit."

"Dauntless! What's going on?!" Lady Photon asked as she came to a halt in front of him, her family arrayed around her.

"The Rig was been attacked by Phantom Renegade, who just escaped moments ago." the Protectorate member replied heavily. "Whoever they are just...completely outmaneuvered and out-thought us. I should go down and see if Assault and Battery need some help. You can come and help as well if you want, but...it's over, for tonight at least."

"I see..." the unofficial leader of New Wave nodded slowly. "This isn't going to go away, you know. Until Shadow stalker is investigated and held to account for whatever she did to Phantom Renegade, this will continue."

"I have to agree with you." Dauntless sighed, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Try telling that to Director Piggot though..."

The Next Day

Director's Office, PRT ENE Building

"And this...information...has been confirmed?" Emily Piggot demanded icily.

"In as much as we could without deactivating our systems." Armsmaster stated. He, Dauntless and Miss Militia were briefing her on their findings. "The list of parts, their installation dates and their serial numbers all seem to check out. Director, both this building and The Rig were thoroughly compromised by someone approximately ten years ago."

"Who...who did this...?!" Piggot hissed angrily. She despised those who broke the law. She hated Capes who broke the law. What eclipsed even her own hatred for Capes were three things. First, those who fled from a fight to the detriment of others when they could have made a difference. Second, Biotinkers. Third and finally, traitors.

"Likely someone high enough in the National PRT's chain of command to have replaced the parts that were supposed to have been installed at the depot, or someone high enough in the local PRT's chain of command who had the parts installed as a matter of course. Possibly both." Armsmaster stated.

"And why is it that neither you nor Dragon were able to tell that we were compromised to the back of beyond and back?" the Director growled.

"The parts, from a preliminary analysis, are Tinkertech of an unknown source designed to both fulfill the purpose of the parts that should be there, as well as operate a sort of 'shadow network' inside of our own systems." the Tinker explained gruffly. "Dragon had been slicing code all night and finally managed to break into one of the main hubs about ten minutes ago. The code is both elegant and simple simultaneously, designed to blend into the background of our network almost seamlessly; any scans for it wouldn't find it unless they knew exactly what to look for, which Phantom Renegade supplied to us in their letter. The network is currently inert and inactive since we have copied the method of inducing autistic mode that Phantom Renegade used to isolate The Rig in the first place, again thanks to a little piece of information left to us by our oddly helpful magician Tinker, rendering both the PRT Building and The Rig electronic black holes. Whoever owns that shadow network is likely panicking that they can't access it."

"I...see." the obese woman scowled. "How long until we can replace all of the parts and reboot our systems?"

"Quite some time." Armsmaster replied dryly. "The majority of the parts in question are in areas that are at the foundation of our computer network systems and do not require maintenance over much, which means that they are hard to get at, with almost no room except for a tech and his tools. Add into the lack of accessibility the large possibility that the parts may be rigged to blow up, or release poisonous gas or any number of other unpleasant things, I do not feel that it would be safe for a regular tech to be involved in removing them. Dragon is building some drones to do the job for us and she'll be shipping them down on a Dragon Ship as soon as they are built. Until then, however..."

"We can't risk using our own computer systems for fear that this leech, whoever it is, compromises any future operations." Piggot concluded glumly. "The Chief Director is going to rip me a new one for this, never mind the fact that it was put together before I ever set foot in Brockton Bay. But that's my problem. Dauntless, do you have anything to add regarding Phantom Renegade?"

"Just that they regards playing bait and switch with regards to their objectives to be 'cheating', leading to retaliation like last night." the Trump replied with a wince and a suppressed yawn. He had barely managed to catch a few naps since the Tinker magician had fled the scene. "To give my personal opinion, I think not antagonizing Phantom Renegade in this regard is a wise course of action; the PRT and Protectorate ENE has been humiliated enough by them."

"I agree." Miss Militia stated. "With the benefit of looking back with hindsight, had we not switched the location of Shadow Stalker's costume and equipment, I find it likely that Phantom Renegade would not have deliberately humiliated us in such a manner."

She looked very much as fresh as a daisy. Dauntless found himself to be somewhat jealous of her lack of need for sleep.

"Yes, well, we all agreed that it was the thing to do, even if I suggested the idea." the Director sighed. "Miss Militia, put a briefing together for the Wards and New Wave. Deputy-Director Renick is already putting one together for the press. Armsmaster, work with Dragon to expedite the construction of those robots as much as is possible. Dauntless, go get some sleep, take the day off tomorrow and report back at your usual time the day after. I have to go and have some dialysis done. Dismissed."

Later

Coil's Office, Underground Base

Breathing out a cold sigh of frustration, the supervillain known as Coil was glad that his power of splinterpoint simulation existed. It made assuaging the seething maelstrom of wrath and fury he had raging within him somewhat more manageable by letting him simulate sending all of his forces out on a killing spree across Brockton Bay without any consequences.

Dropping that simulation, the snake-themed Cape scowled as his tech staff continued cataloging all of the various damaged computers and servers. Most of the data in the network and hard drives, several hundred gigs worth at least, was damaged and corrupted beyond all measure, while the physical hardware was practically all shorted out beyond all measure.

And he knew exactly who was to blame...Phantom Renegade.

According to staff who had been on duty, the image of the leering mask of the magician Tinker had appeared on every screen across the base seconds before what had to be several dozen viruses swarmed over the firewalls of his network as if they didn't even exist and had promptly chewed the network into pieces before power distribution errors and other miscellaneous issues had started to destroy the physical hardware. The only reason why the power was still on was due to the standard Endbringer Shelter design of having that on a completely separate system and one very sharp individual had hit the emergency shutdown button quick enough that the hardware loss wasn't total.

That man was getting a raise.

A part of Coil winced as he contemplating how many thousands of dollars it was going to cost to replace all of the hardware and software that had been even slightly infected by the viruses. He would have to have the power system checked very thoroughly before he dared to bring it online fully; the last thing he wanted was for the virus to make the base's self-destruct system go off without his permission!

And yes, it was vastly easier to pay for it legally rather than steal the equipment. Fortress Construction, his company, had several uses for computers such as the ones he had lost today, so it would not be strange or unusual for such a purchase to be made.

Another part was irked at the colossal loss of an intelligence asset that he had suffered. It had taken some greased hands and threats to have the equipment (bought from a Cauldron affiliated Tinker) replace what should have been shipped to the PRT Building and The Rig, with his men assembling them once they arrived and signing off on everything, none of which were still with the PRT anymore.

Now Coil was essentially deaf and blind inside his alter-ego's workplace aside from what he natural clearance level could get him access to, as well as what his informants could tell him. And he knew that his network had been discovered due to a text sent on his PRT phone with the code-word Deadwood, meaning that the entire system was going to be replaced from the ground up, and there was no chance of him pulling a similar switch with Armsmaster and Dragon looking over everyone's shoulders.

The greater part of the Thinker was consumed by rage, however, and he decided that this so called 'Magician of Chaos and Discord' was going to be terminated. No one fucked with him and got away with it. Not even the gratuitous amount of humiliation and humbling that the PRT and Protectorate had suffered last night had made up for the outright attack on him that the Tinker had unleashed.

Coil had deliberately made himself into a virtual nonentity in Brockton Bay's criminal underworld, seen as being below even the Merchants. This was because it allowed him greater freedom to act, as no one payed too much attention to what he and his mercenaries did, aside from acknowledging that it had happened. This did have its disadvantages, however, as it meant he couldn't act too overtly without breaking persona, which was irritating.

Still, that wasn't actually that much of an impediment. He could still anonymously post a bounty on Phantom Renegade's head on the dark web without anyone being any the wiser. Watching the impudent little 'magician' dodging assassins and villain Capes left and right would be highly entertaining while his primary base was being refurbished.

"Mister Pitter, kindly start relocating personnel not essential for technical work and the minimum required for guard duty to the secondary site at once." he called through his open door. "Have them empty the armory as well. I don't want to leave that much hardware in a base that is essentially defenseless."

"Yessir." the man called back and headed off to obey. Pitter was good at following orders, if nothing else.

Settling back in his chair, Coil scowled. This was throwing all of his plans to do with acquiring one Dinah Alcott awry. He had to rebuild his primary base's technical level past the point where the only things that worked were the coffeemaker and the microwave before acquiring her. There would be too much risk of her figuring a way out, little girl or not. Just for that, Phantom Renegade would regret being born.

He had sacrificed too much to have some weirdo in a tuxedo and a (rather stylish) mask come out of nowhere to throw a spanner in the works.

That Night

Taylor's Bedroom, Hebert Residence

The thrill of success hadn't left me all day. I'd been on such a high that I'd breezed through the housework and my coursework for my GED without a single issue. Everything had been executed with such perfect precision all the way to the end that I was frankly wondering if I had some form of luck manipulation power as well.

The fact that I'd had to sacrifice all of the robots that I'd built was irksome, but manageable. Actually, calling them robots was a bit of a misnomer. They had been more akin to mobile turrets in human form than true robots. I'd made them by first mixing up a vast quantity of my faux Containment Foam, which was actually a lot easier thanks to a machine that converted things like lumps of concrete and metal into the stuff, and then having a machine churn out little devices that could be pre-programmed into spinning the faux-foam into up to three distinctive shapes, as well as controlling those shapes freely, including making flight devices and guns...somehow. Add in a coloration device to each of them and hey presto, one army of quick and dirty robots, ready to be deployed.

The only unexpected fly in the ointment had been Dauntless showing up at the end there and delaying my departure. I'd neglected to take into account for the possibility he might fly over to try and intercept me as I left The Rig. I would really have to not underestimate the members of the protectorate. Had I not added a prototype of my personal teleporter to my belt, I would have been fighting against all of the Flying Blasters of New Wave, Glory Girl and Dauntless all at the same time.

Ah well, live and learn. I'd accomplished my primary objective, destroying all of Sophia's costumes and equipment. I'd also left a little surprise inside both the PRT Building and The Rig, which would activate as soon as they'd finished replacing all of the contaminated hardware.

Speaking of which, the little virus bomb I'd sent into the owner of the little 'shadow network' inside the PRT ENE's network had gone off without a hitch, disguising a little software ping which had informed my computer in my base as to exactly where it was, underground in the middle of the business district of all places. How a villain had gotten what was presumably an entire underground base in the middle of what was the busiest area (in terms of civilian traffic in all of Brockton Bay was both puzzling and alarming in equal measures.

Also, why an underground base? Brockton Bay was on top of an aquifer, talk about living dangerously.

Phantom Renegade would have to take a little break until Taylor'd had time to improve that teleporter, as well as make an updated version of the costume she wore. Relying on a cane for defense wasn't wise in the case that she was disarmed, for example. Also, she was going to upgrade and expand her base so it was a lot more secure. Once all of that was done though...heh...Sophia would find that hell was present, and its ruler was one Phantom Renegade.

And so, here's the last chapter of Taking the Stage. Hope you liked it. I know I did. I'll be going back to Force Your Way next time, so look forward to it.

I know a lot of you are probably sick of hearing about this, but this next bit is about the coronavirus. What I have to say is rather simple: take sensible precautions, wash your hands frequently and, for the love of all things holy, stop hoarding toilet paper! End of obligatory coronavirus talk.