Part 34

Since most of what we needed to do now involved equipment we didn't have on hand, the rest of the afternoon ended up degenerating into crafting.

I mostly was just cutting parts. I managed a decent economy by layering several sheets of thin steel over top and then cutting a pattern through them. Taking the opportunity to continue practicing shaping my blast and trying to switch it to a less lethal format at the same time. Multitasking for the win!

Taylor was, after a suggestion from me gathering crabs, lobsters, and other edible crustaceans from the shore to try and sell to someone at the fish market.

I'm not sure where I got the idea. I knew a bit about the seafood industry from Todd's work but it really seemed to come out of nowhere when I was trying to think of ways that Taylor could use her powers in the build up stage we currently were in.

Either way it'd get her some handy spending cash. If you couldn't market something directly related to capes in Brockton Bay, you weren't doing it right.

The question was... how to market it? Did she want to openly associate her main superhero identity with it?

Or did she want to make a secondary 'rogue' cape identity for marketing to avoid forming obvious connections between them?

It wasn't uncommon for Gangs to try to place a little leverage on people through their associates and it didn't take a genius to realize they'd push even harder to get a cape into an 'agreeable' state.

Well assuming she didn't want to sell the stuff herself, which I suspected she didn't. That sort of gimmic would be too time intensive. What Taylor really seemed to want to do, was get right into the action ASAP.

So a third identity? The costume wouldn't have to be anything special given it wouldn't be a combat ID. Though we probably would want to distance it a bit... Something like 'The Crab Princess'?

Pretend that rather then a heroic bug controller, it was a rogue crustacean controller? People with related powers sometimes showed up in groups so it wouldn't even be that suspicious.

That could work. It wouldn't take to long to line up a middleman either. A few PR events and suddenly we'd have a steady stream of income.

Or rather, Taylor would. Maybe she'd he willing to shoulder some of the expenses for superheroing at least?

Oh well, at least I helped her out. And helping one another was one of the key parts of a partnership right? If I kept myself useful she'd stick with me at least.

I hummed to myself as I cut another row of metal slits with the semi stable dagger shaped projection of eldritch force in my hand. The tip the only fully stable part of it, as I etched out the tiny pattern needed to properly thread all the parts together.

Then my ears twitched as I picked up a distant barking sound. One all to familiar at this end of town.

Gunfire.