Vista had spoken with Taylor exactly once during the previous week that Bakuda had been bombing the city. She pointedly avoided bringing up the situation in the city and how useless she felt not being able to help more. The reason they'd only spoken once in that week was two fold. One, Vista was still thinking over what Taylor had told her about the PRT. She could see the points that she'd made play out live in real time as she worked every day. The second, The Wards had been basically locked down in the Protectorate HQ, which made it damn near impossible to actually open a Garganta and sneak off. She was lucky she managed it that once considering they were basically always on call. That was technically against the rules and guidelines of the Youth Guard, but none of the Wards were going to report them for it since they'd be the ones to pay for it.
The oil rig used for the Protectorate HQ was surprisingly homey and Vista would be lying if she said she didn't miss the place. The Wards room was a big common area just for them and split off into smaller rooms in case they wanted to sleep there. They'd tried to recreate it in the PRT HQ when they got moved, and it was definitely nicer in terms of decor, but she didn't feel as comfortable there. Maybe it was because she had spent more time in the room at the Oil rig, or maybe because she was just more comfortable not having the constant PRT Trooper presence everywhere she went, she wasn't sure. However, as much as she liked the place, being locked inside for over a week save for the few times she and Clock were called to help with unexploded bombs was not a fun time. Especially with Stalker going stir crazy and sliding deeper and deeper into pure bitchdom
That fact alone had her searching for any and every reason to try to make an escape to that place again. Being stuck inside with her teammates only served to magnify the problems she had with them and it would only be so long before she absolutely lost her shit. Some time to decompress away from them was definitely needed. She thought about how close she'd come to arguments or outright fights with some of them. Namely Shadow Stalker because the bitch could not keep her snide comments to herself to save her life. In this case, literally. Vista had used the power testing room by herself to see how far her strength had come. Let's just say if she actually decided to hit Stalker, the girl would end up a red mist rather than a pile of flesh.
Vista didn't know if the pile of flesh would be preferable. At least they'd have a body in that case rather than some blood stains.
Shaking the morbid thoughts from her head, especially after some of the wild shit she'd seen done to people over the last week, she moved back to her new powers. She'd found her new tattoo rather quickly, having seen it in the mirror after a shower on the back of her left shoulder. She couldn't wear thin strapped shirts or dresses anymore but at least it was in an easily concealable place.
"God this fucking sucks." Stalkers griping broke her from her thoughts. The girl was in full costume, pacing back and forth across the room, itching for something to do. "We should be out there looking for that Bakuda bitch, not sitting in here doing nothing!" She threw her hands in the air.
"The world must be ending." Vista said dryly, "Because for once we're actually on the same page, Stalker."
That gave the older girl pause, causing her to stop and stare at Vista for a long few seconds, the emotionless visage of her porcelain white mask fixed upon the younger girl in a way that most others likely would've been at least a little creeped out by.
"Damn right the world must be ending, pip squeak. Who'd have ever thought the PR star would rather be out knocking heads?"
Vista wanted to tell her to fuck off, but shook her head instead.
"Have you seen what she's done?" She asked instead.
"Of course I have. Everyone has seen what she's done." Stalker scoffed.
"No, I mean up close. Have you seen what her bombs can do up close and personal? I was in the PRT building when the bombs went off…" Vista trailed off as she thought about that day.
She, Dean, Carlos, and Chris had been sitting in the common area in the PRT building, Chris was in his room messing with some tinker stuff while she watched Dean and Carlos play a game. It sounded cliche, but it really was a zero to a hundred situation. Just sitting there enjoying the afternoon when BOOM! Explosions started going off left and right, shaking the building. In retrospect it reminded her of those movies that started on a calm forest scene and a bird flying by only to have it all go up in flames a second later or show it was the middle of a war zone.
The building started shaking and Carlos had gone to the console to see what was happening and they'd been told to suit up and get out the building ASAP. The elevator was down, they later found out it had been crushed lake a can from the inside, so they had to take the stairs. The first sign of how bad things truly were came with the wall on one of the floors turned to solid gold. They kept going, trying to get out and avoid as much of the damage as they could.
They finally made it to the lobby to find it destroyed. Half the room was glass and the other half was glassed. Debris and bodies littered the floor. Oh God, the bodies. The people who'd simply been blown up were the lucky ones. There were Troopers and people who were stuck in Gray Boy bubbles of the moment of detonation, being forced to relive being turned to dust or pulled into a black hole or wrapped in flames or ice. At least everyone else was dead instead of frozen in time or stuck in loops.
"Vista!" Stalker snapped her fingers in front of the younger girls face. "Earth to Vista, you still there?"
"Yeah…" Vista said. "As I was saying, you haven't seen what she can do up close. You hear about it or see it on the news, the stasis bombs or black holes or acid bombs or whatever flavor of bomb she can cook up. Seeing it up close though? The smell? Seeing people you know and work with emaciated from getting a dose of radiation so high they immediately started puking up blood and organs? Watching someone die and reset only to die again by whatever fucked up effect the bomb that went of near the Gray Boy bomb had?" Vista shook her head. Her voice was hollow as she spoke and the fact Stalker hadn't said anything while she spoke meant she was letting things sink in. "It's a lot worse up close."
"Jesus…" Stalker finally said, her voice low.
"So knowing that she's doing that to random people out in the city because they happen to be near her targets or won't do as she commands them? I want her gone. I want her dead if we can swing it. I'd drive the knife into her neck myself if I could for what she's done." Her voice was hard and some of her pent up anger bled through. Shadow Stalker even did a double take to make sure she was actually with Vista and not a clone or body double.
"Jesus fucking Christ." Stalker said. "Well, I guess I was wrong about you."
Vista got up, looking to take a walk around the edge of the Rig for some fresh air.
"I'm young, Stalker, not some doll. I take my job seriously and that requires I do even the parts I don't like wholeheartedly. Just because the higher ups want me to act a certain way doesn't mean that's really me."
She left before the older girl could respond to her.
Walking around the Oil Rig had always been relaxing. There was a walking trail along the perimeter so the Protectorate members could get some fresh air and keep watch of things at the same time. Vista often used it before the move to the PRT building to get some free time and relaxation. White noise machines were nice, but nothing beat the actual feeling of being near the water. The sounds of crashing waves went better with the smell of the ocean air. It was a far easier and less violent way to relax on base and she found herself doing so a lot more frequently than she used to. Not necessarily because she was getting frustrated easier, but because she really liked the calm state of zen that washed over here when she was out near the water. She felt like an old person just thinking it, but it was nice to just sit and be instead of worry about everything that was going on.
She often used this time to think. Now, her mind slipped to Armsmaster. She'd asked multiple times for a weapon of some sort, even something that was concealed or didn't look like a weapon like taser gloves. It was a no go every time and he was starting to get as annoyed with her asking as she was with having to ask.
She shook the thoughts from her head. No point in worry about that now. She'd rather just relax and maybe think about sneaking off and hopefully seeing Taylor that night.
—
"Oh, hey." Taylor said when Vista stepped through the portal.
"Hi." Vista said. "Why are you smoking every time I see you?"
Taylor shrugged. "I just like smoking she said dismissively.
"Uh huh. Well, I've been thinking about what you said the first time." Vista offered.
"Your feelings on the heroes are your own. I wasn't trying to sway your opinion, just give you mine and maybe show you some things you didn't see."
"Well you really opened my eyes in that case. This whole thing with Bakuda has made it more than obvious. You'd think they'd have stopped her by now, but it's all damage control." Vista's voice held and edge of bitterness in it.
"To be fair, from what I know Bakuda is making herself as hard to find as possible. We sure as hell haven't been able to find her and we've searched just about everywhere we could think to search."
"Still, you'd think someone would have managed to find her by now."
"Tell me about it. I'm sick of her bombing everything. I'm a little surprised she hasn't gotten a Kill Order at this point."
"I said the same thing." Vista shook her head. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you guys doing about Bakuda?"
"We're waiting to find where she is. Then we're going to raid her bases once it's all figured out."
"Waiting? On who?" Vista asked curiously.
"Some of the villain Thinkers."
"You're working with the villains?"
"Unfortunately." Taylor scoffed, as if offended by the idea.
"Why? Why would you work with the people you say you hate?"
"Because sometimes you have to work with people you hate. It's an unfortunate fact of life. When this is over I plan on ripping Coil and Kaisers assholes open so wide that doctors in France will be able to check their colons, but for now I'm willing to let sleeping dogs lie if it means getting rid of a bigger threat. That's the main virtue of the Endbringer fights, isn't it?"
Well that was an annoying but correct point.
"Do you mind if I ask you something kind of personal?"
"Maybe. I might now answer."
"That's fine. Just, I want to ask." Vista said quickly.
"Fair enough, I guess. Go ahead."
"When you were my age did you think you'd be… Well, not a villain but not a hero?"
Taylor tilted her head to the side and sighed, the smoke partially obscuring her face for a few seconds.
"How old are you?"
"Twelve, almost thirteen."
"Hm… Well, when I was your age my mom had just died, so most of my thoughts were grief."
Vista's face was one of horror.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—."
"Relax. I know what you mean. The answer is I used to see myself as a hero. Always wanted to be Alexandria as a kid. Fly in and beat up all the bad guys and all that." She smiled a bit as she thought about it. "Used to be that being a hero was all I could think to do with powers. Then by the time I got some…"
"What happened?" Vista asked. "What changed?"
"My views. Funny how it only takes a few years to really change how you think and see the world. Losing my mom already made the world a bit dimmer but things just kinda went down hill and snowballed from there. By the time I got powers it wasn't "Let's be a hero and stop all the bad guy" it was "How best can I fix this city?" You know? The older you get the less idealistic you get. It just happened early for me."
"Less idealistic? You mean like you think the Protectorate Capes aren't in it just for the good of helping people."
"Exactly. The vast majority of them have something else that drives them. I won't say every hero has something selfish that pushes them to do their job, hell, I'd even say most of them still generally believe in fighting for what's right. But I don't think helping the little guy gives the kind of satisfaction that drives someone to wake up every morning willing to jump through all the hoops the heroes do."
"That's so pessimistic."
"I tend to lean that way, yes. It's not so much that I expect bad things to happen, more that I understand Earth Bet is where hope comes to die. The lows are really low and the highs aren't very high at all."
Vista blanched. This girl was going to have her breaking out philosophy books at this point.
"I don't like the way you think, but at least you always offer interesting conversation, Sacrosanct."
"Ah, so you figured it out." Taylor smiled, looking slightly impressed.
"I remembered hearing that Sacrosanct had a 1 on her hand. Just put two and two together."
"That automatically makes you more competent then most of the people on PHO. Some of those dudes will have all the facts laid out and still claim they got six."
"Yeah, I try to avoid being on there too much. Those people are so over the top." Vista stood and stretched. "It was nice talking, but I should probably go before anyone notices I'm gone."
"Alright. I should probably be heading back too before my friend starts wondering about me."
"We should do this more often."
"I wouldn't mind that. Maybe some tea next time."
"That feels over the top."
"It won't be."
The two parted ways. Vista and Clockblocker got called for two bomb situations, which they stopped easily, but no matter how much they did, Vista couldn't help but feel like they weren't doing enough.
She decided to leave it. Expecting to much would drive her mad. She just had to remind herself that if she lived where hope came to die, she was on the side doing their damn best to keep her on life support. The thought made her sleep a little easier.