Note: I don't own anything.
Chapter 1.2: The Brockton Bay Conundrum
The sky was clear tonight, so I had to be careful while I moved through the city. It took me more than half an hour to arrive at the Boat Graveyard. For someone like me, an outsider that has never seen anything like this, who didn't have to live every day with the consequences of the sight before me, it looked beautiful. Dozens of large, rusty, half-sunken ships, like a slice of post-apocalypse that appeared earlier than it should have. And a bit further than the rest was the crown jewel of this dump, a ginormous tanker that somehow stood at a forty-five degrees angle. Other ships were large as well, some were longer than the tallest skyscrapers in this city, but this one was much, much larger. This place was like a scene out of a video game or a movie.
"Look at that ugly thing of beauty. If the death of this city had a physical manifestation, then this would be it." - I said as I pointed at the tanker. My speech was a bit overdramatic because of the scene in front of me and the thrill of traveling through the city while trying to stay unnoticed. Having my mask on didn't help to stop me from channeling my inner nerd.
'While I agree with you that this iron giant is what killed the local economy, what of it? It's just a piece of metal.' - he replied, playing along.
I started jumping from ship to ship, moving closer to one of the least damaged ones. It was a bit harder than traversing the city because I had to pull at the souls of my shoes to not fall off. When I finally reached my destination, I dropped the plastic bags full of soda cans on the deck. This was another reason why it took me so long to reach here. I had to buy more than two dozen soda cans from several gas station stores on my way.
"You were made of me, yet you don't understand. This thing, that's what makes Brockton Bay so hopeless. Not the gangs, or crime, or Villains, or Cauldron's little experiment, but this. Because of this piece of junk, any competent enough Villain that comes here will always find people to recruit, places to hide, buyers for the drugs, you name it and they can get it."
I started my explanation while taking the cans out of the bags and placing them all over the deck. The metal cans were painfully cold to hold for more than a few seconds, so I had to pull at the souls inside them to make them warm to the touch.
'Well, even if it is such a big deal, it's not our problem.'
"No, it is. After I found out that Zion disappeared, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Watching TV for a few hours helped me to relax, clear my head. If we are stuck here, then Zion is our problem number one, if he isn't dead. But we can't really do anything about it right now. If I contact Cauldron then I will probably get myself killed, or enslaved, or something even worse may happen, and I won't learn a thing."
'Alright, that's fair. I still don't see how dealing with the tanker and saving the city is important for us.'
"I'll get there in a minute. Cauldron is our problem number two. I don't trust them not to destroy the world, so if Zion is dead, then dealing with Cauldron is our main priority. And for that, I will need power, allies, influence, everything I can get."
'Ah, now I understand. It will be easier to gather power if you start with this city.'
"Yes, because I have the biggest advantage here. Barely anything changed here compared to the original story. Dinah, Tattletale, Panacea, Armsmaster, their powers are some of the world's best. Support from people like them is my best chance at not dying to one of the numerous and very much possible end-of-the-world scenarios that can be caused by Cauldron, not to mention the CUI, or African Warlords, or S-class threats."
'But none of them will leave the city with you as long as it's not saved or destroyed, except maybe for Tattletale.'
"Probably not. And that's why dealing with the tanker and the Boat Graveyard will be so important in the near future. I will try to save Brockton Bay."
'You know, we could just leave this city, go to some quiet place with no Capes around and try to get out of this world cluster with our power.'
Oh, this sounded so tempting. After all, I didn't want to risk my life. But...
"It may take dozens of years to leave this world cluster that way, if it's even possible to do with my power alone. I don't know if we have that much time, and I don't like the chances, not in a world like this."
I was done placing the targets for my shooting practice, so I jumped up from the deck and sat down on top of the bridge platform. The night was cold, so I pulled at my clothes first to warm myself up, then pulled at the air to keep the warmth from leaving so easily for another minute or two. It was a good practice.
'So, do you have a plan then?'
"Hah! A plan? No, I don't have any, not yet. All I have is a target priority list at best."
I pulled out a note pad from one of my pockets.
{"Saving Brockton Bay" target priority list:
1 - Kill Coil
2 - Destroy the Merchants
3 - Destroy the ABB, preferably before they get Bakuda
4 - Get rid of the Boat Graveyard
5 - Prepare for Leviathan
6 - Destroy the Empire}
'Wait, why is dealing with this place more important than dealing with the Empire? And if they are your last priority, wouldn't they just take over the city after you deal with everyone else?'
"Because the Empire is dealing the least amount of damage to the city out of all the gangs, and if I get rid of them then the city will probably lose the Medhall, one of its two major job providers. Is it bad that they beat up and kill minorities all the time? Yes, it is, but Merchant drug traders, the ABB slavers, both gangs kill just as many people on their own on top of dragging even more people down and destroying the local economy in other ways. Empire is stretched out thin over half of the city, so giving them the other half will make them an easier target for the heroes, while also finally balancing the scales of Heroes and Villains. Even if left like this, the city will start to recover, and if the Boat Graveyard is dealt with then it will at least give this city a chance to survive the possible loss of the Medhall."
'Will that really be enough? The shipping industry is nowhere near as big as it was before Leviathan.'
"I don't know, but it would be better than doing nothing or leaving the city. We have about half a year before Leviathan arrives, if the pattern of attacks doesn't change. Maybe it will destroy the city anyway."
Finally, I jumped back down on the deck and pulled out my new Fullbring.
"So, let's see what this thing can do!"
'I sure hope it doesn't explode in our face.'
I wondered what would happen if I just pulled the trigger, instead of pulling at the gun's soul as I did with the watch. Holding the gun with both hands, I aimed it at the night sky above and pulled the trigger...
Author's Note:
Yep, shorter than usual. Sorry.
