Getting close to the Undersiders' base without drawing attention would take time, too many idle eyes in the city looked at the skies waiting for a cape to pass over them just to have some small talk to rub in the faces of friends and family.
So, I made it on foot instead, mostly, okay I ran more than three-quarters of the way there in my armour and ditched it as soon as I could find a dark alleyway. Diving in and jumping on the roof, walking to the edge of the building and leaping to the other one to get some distance between myself and the last spotted location of the red warrior.
This far north from downtown into the dock area that didn't serve much of a purpose anymore, most of the streetlights weren't working. The dark streets enable me to sneak around easier and getting jumped by crazies even easier. I checked every street before descending down their unlit pathways thoroughly, I wasn't scared of a ganger but I'd rather not bash a head in so close to a sensitive area as a secret base.
The rusted door to their base swung open without a sound, unlocked. Why was it unlocked? The stairs, made of concrete, didn't squeak as I snuck my way up. Lights flickered below the door, the music of the tv becoming clear as I approached. I knocked, realised that it wouldn't penetrate beyond the sound of the tv and knocked again harder this time. I didn't know my own strength and accidentally left a dent in the door.
"Geez, heard you the first time!" The door sprung open, Lisa greeted me. "Hey, Taylor, looking for a place to sleep? Come on in, don't be a stranger." We were still strangers, I only knew her name after all. I took the step, hesitantly, doing so while being led by a kind girl was different from stepping foot into a base with possible rogues slash villains voluntarily. It meant I was willing to work with them, even if doing so may brand me a criminal.
"Yeah, I kinda told my dad about the whole thing and left. Don't think I'm staying there for a long, long while. Is it okay if I doze on the couch tonight?" I turned my head away from the dirty blond on my left, the tv was running, Rachel's brown hair accompanied the black of Alec's, the rest of their bodies hidden behind the sofa.
Three dogs were sitting at Rachel's feet as I moved closer, their eyes and the eyes of the butch girl glued to the screen, it took me a minute to register what was playing. Lady and the Tramp, the old Disney movie.
Lisa pipped up, "Can you believe it, Rachel's never seen Lady and the Tramp, a tragedy." Her exposition was interrupted by the girl turning her head and glaring at the two of us.
"Shut up, I'm watching here." Not even a hello, not even a hello from the boy. Interesting characters.
Lisa turned to the kitchen, the grumble of my stomach at the thought of food made me self-conscious. I hadn't eaten anything since talking to the three this morning. She popped open the fridge and retrieved a tupperware bowl, which found itself in the microwave quickly. Two minutes twelve seconds, eighty percent power. She sat on the same stool from the morning, I sat across from her, she raised an eyebrow at that.
"See you got some cash now," was she psychic or something? "No, just good at guessing." I clenched my hand, she continued.
"It's okay, I get that a lot. Anyway, you're here for more than just a snooze and some dinner, yes, you can join us when we hit the gang. No, we won't be hitting the ABB, our 'benefactor' is paying us a hundred grand to take out an empire casino close to downtown." Each time I wanted to ask a question she interrupted me, guessing what I wanted to say and answering for me.
"Why, why is he paying you to go knock out a casino? Won't a drug den be better? Get the stuff off the street?" She plopped her chin on one hand, the action knocking some strand of her hair loose, she blew it away but it just floated back.
"You're thinking too short term, taking out the drugs doesn't stop the addiction. It only makes it worse. Hitting a casino is a bit better, it knocks the idea that the gang is powerful around a bit. Makes the boots on the ground a bit less inclined to join up, helps clean up the city and whatnot." Her explanation made sense, but I had to remember that she had some sort of power that helped her say magical words to convince you. I needed to take it with a grain of salt, think about it and then respond.
The timer on the microwave ticked down, the silence between us filled with the noise of the movie from the other side of the room. Her fingers tapped on the table, waiting for me to say something. I couldn't find fault in her logic, if I wanted to route the gangs, I'd need to do more than just hit every building flying gang colours. It was a war, not a battle. It would take more than just harassing them to get them to bail from the city.
"Don't forget that the empire and the ABB can grab people from out of state, there's a lot of Asian refugees, and a lot, and I mean a lot of angry white kids and men. Taking the fight to their bases make them look weak if they don't fight back with their own capes, so we get them out of hiding and then take them down. Give them to the police, let them rot in jail for years." Why did everything she say make so much sense?
"Okay, okay. I'll help –" My sentence was interrupted by the beeping of the microwave. Her hands juggled the hot plastic as she put the steaming bowl of food in front of me. The clatter of cutlery took my eyes off of the roast chicken thigh and vegetables.
"You were saying?" I took the knife and fork, poked the meat, it melted in my mouth. The heat not burning me, maybe protection from my powers, maybe she just knew how to reheat food in the microwave.
"This is really good. I said I'll join you on this one, see how it goes, then decide further." The carrots were soft, the broccoli: Fresh.
"Sounds fair. Also, no, no couch." Her eyes gleamed, I didn't know what to make of it. I wasn't keen on the idea of sharing her bed again. Last night I was exhausted from my fight with the Valstrax and the chase from the PRT, today was different, I had hardly fought anyone.
"Don't overthink it, the couch is cramped, lumpy and bad for your back. Just eat, take a shower, and go sleep if you want to. If you want to watch a movie, just tell me, we've got a large library with the new online services, I've been itching to watch Star Wars again."
[/]
"We're doing it at nine o'clock, be here at five, we need to form a plan before jumping into it." She waved me off as I set out for the morning, I had a few errands to run, clothes, a phone, and a meeting with a very bratty but well-meaning heroine.
_
The danger barbie floated up at the same time as yesterday, she didn't appear from behind me this time at least. Instead, she floated up with her sister in her arms right before me. Panacea's face was covered by the white mask and cowl she always wore, only her eyes poked out from behind it, analysing me as she landed with Vicky.
Glory Girl walked over and extended her hand, she looked disinterested, as if this was a chore rather than a demand from her. "Don't forget, you're the one who wanted me to get a phone before telling the heroes that I'd play nice."
"Don't be stupid, of course I told the heroes you'd be nice, I only told you to get a phone so that you'd have one. Numero uno remember." I nodded; her manipulation obvious in hindsight.
"Phone?" An open hand. I plopped down the basic phone I had bought a few hours prior, I hadn't even put a password on it. She flicked her finger, navigated to my contacts, which was empty, and plinked her number in.
Panacea was sitting down just a few feet away from us. She watched the exchange with disinterest, waiting for her sister to finish the little exchange before heading back home or to the hospital. I looked back at the blond, she was still typing away at my phone. I moved to stand beside her as she made another contact.
"PRT hotline, New Wave hotline, Police parahuman hotline, only for emergencies when the PRT doesn't pick up. My phone number and there we go. Don't forget your promise." Her feet lifted off the ground, I grabbed her hand, halting her from just leaving.
"Thanks, for all of that. But we've got to talk before I just let you come and kill something. Get to know each other before we try to work together, okay." The soft crunching of stones was lost in the howl of the wind as she sat her feet back on the roof. Her sister walked over to us.
"Makes sense, you're the Hunter after all."
"Hunter?"
"Yea, you're cape name."
"O, really. I hadn't even thought of one yet. Makes sense, but Hunter, really?"
"O what you want a better one, like slayer, with the way you rip and tear through monsters?" I shook my head, nothing as evil as that, even if it sounded badass.
"I guess Hunter will have to do, I don't think anything describes me better. Wasn't there a cape with the name hunter previously?"
"Yea, but like most names, it's open after they die." She folded her arms, waiting for me to continue, done with the exchange regarding my name.
"So, it's like this. Most of the monsters have some form of element attached to them, fire, ice, lightning, wind. You get the picture. Now I've got some good armour that can resist it to a high degree, but I don't see how your outfit will." I gestured to her short semi-rigged skirt lined with pockets. It barely made down to her mid-thigh, her top wasn't better, her arms were exposed, a pair of mid-forearm length gloves covered her hands.
"Okay makes sense. We don't usually talk about our power specifics with people not on our team, but since I want you to have me on yours next time, I'll have to explain the bare minimum. I've got a forcefield, it shapes around me and my clothes. A hard enough blow breaks it, it reforms in a second or so, so I'm usually safe against other capes." Panacea grabbed Vicky's hand, surprised that Vicky was explaining her powers like that to me. Vicky turned to her, a silent exchange waged between the two.
"Amy, don't be like that, if I get hit too hard, you'll just patch me back up."
"Vicky, I can't heal you if you're dead."
"O it's not going to be that bad," she turned back to me, her eyes questioning me. "Right, miss Hunter?" It could be that bad. I wanted to show via example rather than talking about it, but it just didn't make sense to do so.
"Fire that melts glass. Thunder that shuts down a city, wind that can cut buildings. Energy strong enough to blow buildings up. We're not talking about a lion or tiger here; no, these monsters can kill me if I don't respect them. They'll do even worse to you."
"And what will the next monster be? Ice so cold it'll kill me if I stand close to it?" I didn't know, hadn't fought an ice monster yet, but it could be one.
"All I'm saying is that you aren't kitted out to hunt with me yet. there's only so much I can do with my powers, killing the things is hard enough already, making sure you don't die from an errant fireball is going to make it near impossible." I dug through my pocket, power-made items clattered against my hands. My pocket had a depth that it shouldn't have, I could keep rummaging through it until I found what I was looking for.
"I've got stuff that helps me, my powers make them, I don't know if they're safe to use for other people. I guess now might be the best time to test it out, since Panacea is here."
"Testing stuff made by powers isn't something we should be doing." The white-robed girl almost shouted at the two of us.
"Can't be that bad Ames. Just keep an eye on me okay." She offered her hand to me.
"This is a Cold Drink, it helps against heat." The small phial filled with white liquid found its way to her hand, the cork that covered it jumped into the air. The contents dropping into Vicky's mouth.
"Panacea, what do you see?"
"Not to get too technical, but it looks like it increases sweat production and makes the cells more capable of moving and handling heat. How long does it last?" I hadn't ever taken one.
"I don't know."
"What the fuck! You just gave my sister something that changes her biology and you don't know how long it lasts, or even if it's permanent?"
"Chill Ames," she giggled at her pun. "You can fix me back, right as rain. Let's just see if it's permanent." I grabbed their attention before the situation escalated.
"While we wait, we'll talk tactics. How fast can you fly?"
"Quite fast, we haven't tested how fast yet." A bold-faced lie, she and her family were too prepared to not know how fast she could fly. Not that I was willing to challenge her on it.
"Okay, I'll stay on the ground and you do hit and runs, I can take a hit or two before I need to retreat."
"Sounds fair."
"If the monster is element based, it might be better to use something other than your body to hit it with. Rocks, trees, pavement. Whatever, nothing stands up well against a boulder smashing their face in. As for me, I'll be in melee, I've got a few kits that help with certain monsters. The long sword is good against most monsters but I'd rather not get overly familiar with it, one day there will be something I can't keep hitting with it."
I retrieved one of the flashbombs I had on me. It was the size of an apple, round, dirt brown with a string attached to it.
"Bombs, this is a flash bomb, big light and sound explosion, dazes monsters if you get it close enough to their head. The light is important, if they don't see it, they shrug it off instantly." I hefted the thing and tossed it to the open hands of the danger barbie.
"I guess it works great against people too. But I haven't tested that out."
"How much shit do you have in that pocket of yours?" Panacea questioned me.
"No idea, a lot." I honestly didn't know, a full inventory had a lot in it. Dumping everything would probably fill a family sized table, and it restocked every time I resummoned my armour as well. But I couldn't resummon my armour mid hunt, it was weird like that. Outside of hunts, I had a near-infinite supply of utility items, no food or water unfortunately.
"Vicky, we have to go, I'm already late for the shift as is."
"Nope, they can wait, not as if you're getting paid for it." That was news to me.
"We're not talking about that. I've got a list of people to heal."
"Okay miss Hunter, she's nagging now, we've got to split. Mom will bitch and moan if I keep her here for too long. I guess you can text me if you're bored, we're sort of friends now." I wouldn't call us friends, she didn't even know my name.
They lifted off, heading to the hospital.
I retrieved the phone, I plugged in the few phone numbers I could remember. My house, my grandmother, I even wanted to put in my mom's old phone number.
I climbed on top of the large air conditioning unit and looked over the bay. Being a cape was strange, meeting weird people and getting to know them. I had an appointment with a clothing store to get to, but sitting up here and watching the waves was fun, I'd just relax and wait for a bit.
[/]
*For those using an e-reader, this chapter may confuse you if you don't read it, read it.*
"Up the stairs, wait for my darkness to fill the room before jumping to them." Grue's darkness spread through the large open floor area of the E88's casino. Most of the patrons were civilians and non-gang members. Their frightened screams were drowned out by the more experienced members of the gang pulling guns and giving orders.
"Barricades! It's the Undersiders, get out of the smoke! It distracts you and makes it fucking impossible to fight. Keep the doors locked, throw bodies on them." I didn't know who was instructing the skinheads. He was effective and his orders were followed without complaints.
"The big places like this often have a cape or captain running the show. Don't be surprised if someone shows up." I wasn't sure if the man calling the shots was a cape, he didn't seem to be in a getup. He hefted the rifle in his hands with ease, clicked the safety off and pulled the bolt back. Two shots racketed off into the smoke, the inky mass twisting into contrails as they passed.
"Come out you fucking dog! We've been itching to put you down since you fucked us over at the gala!" another two shots whizzed by. I was standing next to Lisa, or Tattletale as she went in her cape persona, next to the double door, ready to jump into the main room. Brian, Grue, was standing at the opposite end, Alec, going as Regent was behind him.
Rachel, Bitch, was at the front of the building, her mutant, power enhanced dogs roaming the outside, waiting to pounce on any stragglers or incoming reinforcements. For inside fighting she was rather useless, in Grue's own words, she wasn't good at hand-to-hand combat yet. He was working on all of their training as time went on, but it would need a few more months before everyone was passible.
I hefted one of the flashbombs I was always equipped with. Grue's darkness wasn't that deep inside the room yet, on his skull-motif helmet's nod, I threw the bomb inside. I counted down the two seconds it took to explode, lights flashed from the top windows, where the smoke hadn't yet reached. The blast echoed off the walls, the sound distant as it was absorbed by the darkness.
I jumped in, Grue's gloved hand guiding me through the darkness towards the stairs. As we moved in deeper, more and more darkness wafted leaking from his mask and spreading into the room, covering all the patrons and gang members. Two taps at my back had me sending two blasts of crimson straight forward, I didn't hear anything but he pushed me forward. The shattered remains of a wooden door brushed by my feet, the steps of timber let my head pierce the cloud of darkness.
Two handguns pointed towards me, their owners covering their eyes from the shrapnel and dust of the mere seconds before, whole door. The handguns were smaller than the magnum that had punched me through the window yesterday, I didn't want to find out if they were even capable of hurting me in my armour. Two quick punches left them reeling, a follow up to the jaw left them unconscious.
"Taylor goes upstairs, knocks out as many people as you can before they get smart and do something about us, like call backup or shoot from the windows at the dogs and Bitch." The hallway boomed at the sound of the pump action, the pellets bouncing off my red scales. I used some wind force to blast the wielder, the suddenness and intensity making him hug the wall as I rushed the thug. His nose broke on my fist. Two follow-ups to the guts had his compatriots rolling on the floor. A gentle kick to their heads kept them from getting up for a while. The door they had come out of looked like a rec room, the sitcom playing, ignorant of the violence surrounding it.
More shouting from down the hallway had me twisting about. More guns, more cursing. Thank god for bulletproof clothing, a shot ricochets off my helmet, the bullet digging a trail in the floor. I broke his hand with my fist. A kick to the chest knocked him into his friend, their bodies hitting the floor. Since Vicky had told me to get some tools to help with taking out thugs like these, I had access to the bottle of mace. It might be cruel to them, but I didn't care, half of the bottle filled the room with its content as I blasted their faces with it.
"There are a lot of guys at these casinos, the buildings are used as a barracks for those too poor to have a house." I wished that they didn't stream out of the doors like ants, but they did. A large blast of air had twelve un-powered gangers on the floor. The rest of the mace bottle filled the air and lungs of those unfortunate few.
"Area of effect attacks handle them quite easily if they have their pants down. Be quick, be brutal, don't let them get back up." I moved further down, the room at the end was more opulent, the carpet clean and the desk big. Nobody was inside but the safe at the end screamed for me to grab it and bust it open.
I might be strong, but hefting a ton of steel was not in my range. The chain stretched around the safe four times. A window let me get the chain to the outside. I wished I could whistle, instead, I shot two streaks of red into the sky. Bitch came round within a few seconds, riding one of her dogs. The chain found itself in the mouth of the largest of the three, I couldn't recall which one it was.
I turned back towards the safe, it was bolted into the ground, it took me a while but enough crimson shots broke the concrete for it to start moving. It heaved, it groaned, it skidded. Two of the dogs were pulling on the massive chain I had hid in my pocket. I didn't know how it had fit, but knowing how big the items inside were I wasn't surprised that I could carry it.
The wall was much weaker than the bolts the safe had been attached to. The thunk of the steel closet as it sunk into the ground was loud enough to be heard from the second storey I was on.
"When the safe is out, make it back via the stairwell, clean up any stragglers." I was happy to see that nobody was moving, the few eyes that followed me quivered as I walked past them. For good measure, I threw a flashbomb. The shouting was drowned out by the explosion.
Grue's darkness still covered the floor as I enter through the door I had blown up. I couldn't see anything, I waited for him to come get me, just like we planned. But no plan survives contact with the enemy.
His hollow, distorted voice echoed out to me. "Straight shot from where you're standing, get outside. We've got company!"
One step at a time, I moved through the darkness. It was disorientating walking through the smoke, I must have taken too long as it dissipated within a few seconds in front of me. Several people were cowering behind upturned poker and roulette tables. A head popped out, the accompanying gun flashing alongside it as he surveyed the scene in front of him. I shifted to look at him as I sprinted to the window, he ducked back below without too much fuss, aware that he couldn't do much against an armoured cape.
The window exploded and grabbed the attention of the people outside. Lisa was dodging a spear that was aimed for her centre, the tip phasing through the ground as the ghostly wielder floated above the ground.
"Hunter! We've got a little bit of a problem." Tattletale shouted as she dodged another strike from the ghostly spear.
My head flicked up to see the Empire cape hovering above us. Crusader. He had several ghosts flicking about, each one had a long spear that stabbed out at Regent and Tattletale, the two dodged the strikes, but just barely. Several cuts and bruises were soaking their bodies in blood, their clothes whole and unaffected by the spears.
"You don't kill capes, knock them around and they retreat, it's how the game is played." I hated that it was considered a game, I could kill Crusader right now, a Kirin thunderbolt would be enough to fry him in his plate and chainmail armour. But I had to get him to fall back, to leave Regent and Tattletale alone so that she could go get the safe open.
"Hey! Scooby-Doo mystery, fuck off or die!" A red bolt flashed by his head. His ire received, I got him to swivel around to face me completely, four ghosts turned in unison towards me as they shifted focus, two were still harassing my temporary compatriots. I couldn't let him hurt them more than he already had.
The spectre's spears swung at me, I let instincts guide me and ducked, dived and dodge them. The harassment increased as I ran around the floating man, each opening I could get found another red bolt flying past his head, forcing him to start moving erratically to throw off my aim. Not that I was aiming at him, much like the police helicopter, I wanted him to retreat from the fight.
The other two ghosts that were focused on Regent and Tattletale shifted over to me, their added spears made it only that much harder to dodge and evade the strikes. They enclosed me, six standing in a circle around me, he had done this before, they hefted their long spears and struck out horizontally. The spectres were unfazed by their comrade's spears, I wouldn't be that lucky.
His spears and ghosts phased through in-organic matter, but enjoyed no such constraint against flesh and blood. Six hafts impacted me, knocking me back and forth. My body ached as they reared up to hit me again, several of them now pointing to my legs and arms to incapacitate me.
The flash of red and blue flames spread through the ensemble, the heat distorting their images. I used my wind powers to add to the flame, driving it wider and higher, even reaching the floating cape above me. My unnatural flames singed and burned the blue copies of the man, melting them as they took the brunt of my attack.
He dived to the roof of the building, I rocketed up to chase him away.
My breath left me as the spear poked through my chest, he had waited for me to follow, summoned a ghost and used its spear to stab me. It phased through my armour but not through me. Adrenaline kicked in on overtime. "You don't kill capes." The words echoed in my mind, I lifted my hand, another spear pierced my other side.
A red bolt impacted the man on his right side, his armour melted and the skin underneath exploded in chunks. The ghost disappeared; my essence spurted out underneath my armour, the blood dripping out in droves from the panels.
My mind was in a haze, I had stuff to help with wounds. I had fought the Lunastra and got injured that time as well. Not as badly as this, but the potion helped.
I scrambled to find the small phial in my pocket, the shadows of the night were creeping into my vision as I struggled to find it. Finally, my hand closed around the red phial, the stopper bounced off the rooftop. I tipped it back, the first few drops splattered on my faceplate.
I threw off my helmet, sucked down the contents of the phial and relaxed as the miracle in a bottle helped ease the pain. It would stop the bleeding in short order and help keep my body from going into shock.
The wounds on the other hand, I could feel my breath being stolen by the four new holes in my chest. I crawled to the ledge, threw myself over it and let the wind soften my fall. Lisa ran over to me, her eyes bulging at the sight of the blood covering and leaking from my armour. She whistled, the thumping of feet followed and my vision went black.
[/]
'Blood has stopped flowing, the body is in shock, won't die.' My powers supplied; the night had gone smoothly until crusader appeared from the second storey window. Regent and I didn't have much that could contest with him, we wanted to run into the darkness but two ghosts blocked our way. Bitch and her dogs were busy with the safe. Having her fight the ghost cape wouldn't have helped, the size of the dogs made it easy for the man to maim them enough to leave them incapable of assisting further.
'Bitch can't open the safe.' Yea I know, I had to go and open it, but Taylor was here, almost dead at my feet. I whistled a shrill loud sound. The pounding of feet followed; Bitch was sitting on top of 'Brutus' Brutus as she rounded the corner.
"Pick her up, get me to the safe. Regent go shout at Grue!" I called out at the renaissance fare clown. He turned around to hobble to the door, his left leg soaked in blood from a nasty gash.
The spin dial of the safe was challenging me. I didn't have a starting point to get the safe to open, but I still had to open it. A quick spin got the gears of my powers working.
'Deadbolt triggered.' Fuck! The drop. Taylor could probably open the thing with some sort of power but the rest of us were stuck with a useless safe. I rushed over to the closest window. Grue's darkness dripped out of it.
"Safe is a bust, get the cash and get out, nothing left to do here!" I turned around to climb on the back of one of the dogs, Taylor was in the jaw of the mutant mutt, hanging limply.
A few minutes later the team leader ran out with a duffle bag of cash, it wasn't very full. He helped Regent get on the dog and we escaped to a hidden alley about eight miles away.
"How's she looking?" The hollow echo of Brian called out as we placed the girl on the ground.
'Consumed a potion, item will keep her stable, advance regeneration.'
"She's going to make it, whatever her powers are, if she can get to them fast enough, she can survive almost anything." I rubbed at my forehead, the sweat of the fight plastering my hair to it.
"Call a ride, I don't think we can move her in her suit…" He tried lifting the girl, finding her to weigh much less than he thought she would in the red armour.
"Scratch that, Bitch come help me with the girl." Another few minutes had us at the base, the last leg of the journey made on foot in the shadows.
Taylor was splayed over the couch, her blood soaking it.