PRT Meeting

This meeting had taken time to organise, mostly from me delaying it, and it was now Thursday. The smallish meeting room at PRHQ was crowded with VIPs. Armsmaster and Miss Militia to represent the local leaders of the Protectorate, then Aegis as leader of the local Wards and Dragon on the big screen. My lawyer, Jack Debonaire, and I had taken seats but most of the rest were standing which made the room feel even smaller. The room was mostly silent while we waited for the director to arrive.

The wait ended as Piggot entered the room and then things went really weird. The entire room appeared to ghost and I was seeing double as Director Piggot walked in with a member of the PRT Special Forces, make her excuses for being late and then introduce Thomas Calvert to us. But I was also seeing Piggot enter by herself and make her excuses for being late while mentioning that Calvert couldn't make it as he was elsewhere. Some sort of dimensional shift caused by one of the people who just walked in? As only one person walked through the door in both dimensions then logic stated that the only one who could be causing the phenomenon was the person who only appeared once - Calvert.

I expanded my senses, extending my vision slightly into the Between, trying to find what was going on. In my disembodied vision between my universe and this one I was able to tell that there were two time-lines happening. Using the knowledge gained from the impacts of the Undersiders' and New Wave's Passengers against my shell I was able to detect Calvert's power centre confirming that he was a Cape and, because Capes weren't allowed to work for the PRT, that meant that he must be hiding his powers.

I looked over the other capes and discovered that their Power centres, their Corona Pollentia, had a different flavour, they tasted red compared to Calvert's blue. I adjusted Jack's senses as well so that he, too, would be able to detect those with powers while I let him know what I wanted him to do.

Piggot was just finishing up reminding us that this was a closed meeting and that nothing here was to go further than this office. She went on "Mr Debonaire, your history is quite obviously fake along with your name, can you explain that to us please?"

"And it is, of course, completely legal under the laws protecting the innocents of our country."

"Are you saying that you're, what, witness protection?" asked Armsmaster

"I'm saying that it's need to know and that you don't."

Armsmaster shifted, seeming to stand straighter "There's very little that we legally don't have access to."

"Just so."

"That is not what those laws are for. We have a legally determined need to know." Stated the Director

"Protecting innocents is exactly what the laws are for and it says so right there in black and white. It's why I have a… doctored past that will protect my family and friends. I didn't even have to explain this to you but felt it would help… smooth things over. After all, you do have access to records that most people don't and so trying to hide it wouldn't really work."

Dragon interjected "Mr Debonaire is correct. His doctored history is on file and we have access to that but we don't have access to his other records allowing us to see why it was done that way."

"There is one other thing that I think you should know." Jack said "I'm a Cape."

Piggot's eyes narrowed as her dislike of Capes shone through "What are you're abilities?" She asked

"Memory for one. I've memorised the entire legal code of the United States, Mexico and Canada and scanned related foreign legislation." He paused while the people in the office took that in "Logic which is, as you can imagine, useful in my chosen profession and…" he looked pointedly at Calvert in both time-lines "…I can spot others with powers."

The ghosted images vanished and I was looking at a room that held no Thomas Calvert.

Piggot started to demand just what he meant by that when Dragon cut in and asked "Who were you looking at just then?"

"Thomas Calvert, he seems to have a power that messes with time and/or dimensions."

"Thomas is out in the field and he doesn't have any powers at all."

"I'm sure that he is and he was also just here and he is most definitely a Cape. That was the hint in the messes with dimensions bit." He paused "I suspect that it would be better if I explained what I saw."

"That would be best." Piggot stated flatly

"When you stepped into the room my vision split showing two separate but related things happening. In one I saw what happened in this room as you saw it while in the other Calvert entered with you. In both time lines you made your excuses for being late. Then, in this line you mentioned that Calvert couldn't be here while in the other time-line you introduced him. From there things progressed exactly as you saw in both lines until I confronted Calvert in the other time-line about his power at which point those images disappeared and here we are."

"Armsmaster?"

"Truth." Not that his truth detector would work on Jack. The most important reason for me to produce Jack was that truth detection didn't work on AIs and Jack was a very, very good AI.

"Dragon?"

"I saw him looking at a spot that held no one but analysis of the video footage and inputting Thomas Calvert's body into the seat next to you gives a 97% probability that at the time he was looking into Calvert's eyes."

"At the very least, we need to bring him in for questioning." Said Miss Militia

"How would he have got past all of the mandatory power checks?" asked Armsmaster

"Shit." Said Piggot "He's the one in charge of them."

"Checking." Said Dragon "It seems that he's been through them all but they've all been witnessed by the same person each time."

"We're now in lock-down. Find that person and question them and make sure that neither he nor anyone else gets a chance to communicate with anybody as we do not want this getting out to Calvert before we have answers."

Jack asked "Do you want to continue the meeting or shall we reschedule while you hunt for your second super-villain?"

Piggot glared at them and then "Shit. We'll have to reschedule. We'll be in contact and don't leave the city."

"Understood. And a piece of advice before we leave." They all looked at him "Calvert can be in two places at once."

Bank Job

Standing in line at the bank and the bank gets robbed.

By the children that I saved.

Well, no good deed goes unpunished as they say.

They were actually doing quite a professional job. They'd rounded up the customers, grabbed their cell phones and kept them in the middle of the floor. Bitch's dogs saw to that without any fuss although there were a few people crying and a few shouting incoherent, and obviously impotent, threats. I kept myself and Jack to the outside of the group with Jack trying to keep everyone calm. It was mostly working.

Then the heroes began to show up and I had to force myself to calm. It was the Wards and having children policing children was more likely to cause a debacle than justice. Following the Wards were the sirens of the police but in a fire fight between Capes their best bet would be to stay back and just help those of the hostages that got out and any others injured in the cross-fire.

After the mad rush at the start things progressed slowly, as these things do. The police had blocked off the road, Aegis was calling for the Undersiders to surrender and Grue was calling back that that wasn't going to happen. Nobody had done anything stupid yet but it was only a matter of time.

Then Grue approached the door and called out "We're letting the hostages go." he turned to the hostages and, with a mocking bow and gesture towards the door said "You're free to go."

I spun to Jack and hurriedly whispered "Keep them calm."

Jack leapt to his feet and called "Right, calmly people. Those at the front stand and make your way to the doors. Walk, do not run or push. The calmer we are about this the faster we get out." It worked, of course, Jack had presence.

Grue paused and looked at him "Who are you?"

Jack turned, smile on his face and already extending his business card "I'm a lawyer."

"Super lawyer? Are you a Cape?"

"If you're asking if I'm a hero the answer is no. I'm a lawyer. I just want to get these people out safe." Grue nodded and went to hand the card back "Keep it, you're likely to need it."

"I don't think even a super lawyer is going to help after this."

"Robbing a bank isn't really all that important and, even with all your other crimes taken into account, I could probably get you a non-custodial sentence."

Grue nodded "I suggest you continue your herding." He smiled "We're about to escape." Then, with a little less than half of the hostages out of the door he dropped an area of darkness that covered all of us and my face split into a wide grin.

Using Grue's darkness as cover I quickly created a copy of my Elfin Shadow form while my true form exited with Jack. The split consciousness would take a bit of getting used to but this had possibilities and so I decided to keep it. I then cast an illusion so that the hostages could 'see' each other and the door, facilitating their escape. After that I teleported to where Tattletale was in the bank manager's office with two other women

"So, what you up to?"

"Gah!" Tattletale yelped "Would you not do that and would you, please, answer your email?"

I shrugged "Really, what are you doing?"

"Obvious isn't it? We're robbing a bank."

"No, you're not. You're too intelligent and your group too good to do something this stupid."

"Well, if you can work that out then you can probably work out what this is."

"A distraction… who for?"

"Ah, excuse us, but we were having a discussion here." Said one of the other women "You may not have noticed but the bitch that you're talking to has a knife to my sister's throat."

I looked at her then asked Tattletale "Who's she?"

The girl sputtered and Tattletale grinned as she answered "That's Glory Girl, one of the New Wave heroes and this is her adopted sister, Amy Dallon, also known as Panacea."

"I see…" I turned to Glory Girl "You're harming your sister with your aura. Can you turn it off?"

"No, I can't but I certainly wouldn't in…" she collapsed to the floor

"What did you do?" yelled Amy

"Put her to sleep… same as I'm going to do to you." Tattletale removed the knife from her hostage's throat just as she collapsed.

"Neat trick but how did you get past the Manton Limit?"

I ignored the question "Now, who is the distraction for?"

"You know I can't tell you that."

"Would it help if I told you that a super-villain was found high up in the PRT hierarchy this morning?"

Tattletale tapped her teeth in thought "Name?"

"Thomas Calvert."

Tattletale's breath hissed between her teeth then said "Coil, he's after Dinah Alcott, a pre-cog. Can you get us out of here?"

I nodded as I puled out my phone "Get the others in here, fast and without the money."

"Who are you calling?"

I waved her away as I spoke into the phone "Armsmaster, the bank job is a distraction. Calvert is Coil and he's after Dinah Alcott… The Undersiders told me… Call off the Wards… let's just say that one good turn deserves another." I listened then hung up and turned to the Undersiders as they entered the room.

"You can get us out of here?" Asked Grue

"Better than that, she's already got the Wards called off." Said Tattletale "We can just walk out of here."

"Can but we're not going to." I waved my hand at the back of the room and opened a gate "Pick up those two." I said pointing at the unconscious New Wave heroes.

"Where and why should we follow you?"

"My place and I'm because offering a better deal than Coil gave you."

"And Coil isn't likely to be in business much longer if I'm reading things correctly. Probably pay to lay low for a while to see how things fall." Said Tattletale

"W.T.F?" demanded Regent

"His legit job has been found out and so his empire is likely to be torn down in short order. I suggest that we not be there when it happens. Oh, I should probably mention that Coil was our employer. Not that he ever told me that, you understand."

Grue and Regent stared at her for a bit then nodded and moved to the gate.

"You'll probably find the journey disorienting the first time." I said as I ushered then through.

Revelations

The four stepped through and staggered, dropping the New Wave heroes. Rachel's dogs did better, perking up and running about the room until Bitch called them back.

I stepped through after them, closed the gate and then waited while they got themselves together.

Grue staggered to his feet "Disorienting isn't the half of it. I feel like I've been hit with a baseball bat."

Regent, still laying down, said "I feel like I've got the worst hangover from the biggest bender without having had the pleasure of the bender."

Rachel whistled her dogs over and planted her face in their fur.

"Actually," said Tattletale as she stood up "Some of my power headaches have been worse." She looked at me "Even so, after those I still had my powers."

Grue stopped, then looked at her "What do you mean?"

"Our powers are gone."

He concentrated then turned to me "Why?"

"I wouldn't know but…"

He started coming towards me threateningly but Tattletale stopped him "Our powers may be gone but hers aren't and we saw what she did to Lung and his goons." She turned to me "Explanations?"

"I can only hypothesise." I paused as I got my thoughts in order "The only way to get here is through a portal made by me and you need an invitation to cross. Any other way will result in the destruction of whoever is trying to get through. Knowing this I invited you, the New Wave heroes and Rachel's dogs. Since your powers didn't make it then I can only assume that your powers weren't yours. As they belonged to someone else and that someone else hadn't been invited they were destroyed."

"If they weren't ours then who's were they?" demanded Regent

"That is a good question and one I'd like the answer to."

The silence lingered until Rachel asked as she stood up "Is there a place I can take my dogs?"

"Of course, follow the white line and it will take you to a large yard with food and water for them. When you want to come in say so and the line will guide you back to your team."

After Rachel left Regent stated "Well, I suppose it was nice while it lasted. It's going to be a bitch getting used to being without powers though." He looked at me and asked "How is it you still have your powers?"

"I… triggered differently. I still went through trauma, the same as everyone else, but instead of suddenly having powers I ended up… elsewhere. I then spent about several decades learning how to survive. In the process I ended up creating this universe." I indicated the room around us "This is actually the first room I created."

"You created this universe?" asked Regent in disbelief

"Yes, I know, hard to believe but where I ended up it's actually easy… if you survive long enough that is. And in creating this room I also created the one thing that ensured my survival."

"What was that?" asked Tattletale

"A sun. When I created this room I created it as I remembered it complete with the sun in the window giving light and warmth. It wasn't a real sun, just an image, but it gave the energy that ensured my survival."

"How on Earth does that work?" asked Grue

"On Earth it doesn't but I wasn't on Earth and where I was is itself a contradiction. That's really as close as I can come to describe it as I really don't know any more about it. Maybe ask me in a few millennia."

"Millennia?"

"I'm tied to this universe and as long as it survives then so do I."

There was a profound silence before Grue asked "When did you trigger?"

"About three months ago Earth Bet time."

Tattletale spoke up "If you've spent years learning then time here must pass faster than time there?"

"Not any more, time here is now the same as time there." I shrugged "It's somewhat more convenient while I'm living in both worlds."

"Well, that's good to know." Said Grue "So, what happens now?"

"I suppose I make my offer, you go off to talk about it amongst yourselves and while you're doing that I'll take these two to the clinic and see if I can heal them."

"If this is your universe then is there actually anyplace that is private?" asked Tattletale

"Anywhere that I'm not paying attention to." I considered the look I got from them "I promise I won't be paying attention to you until you call me in."

"Heal them? There's something wrong with them?" Asked Grue

"There is but it comes under doctor/patient privilege."

"So, the offer?" said Regent

"It's simple enough. You work for me, don't commit any injustices and I pay you ten thousand dollars a month each, in gold, and give you powers to replace what you lost due to me. I'll also give you ten thou each for walking out of the bank job."

"You can return our powers to us?"

"Not… exactly. What I would be doing is sharing my power with you. They won't be exactly the same but I will help you develop them as you see fit." I paused in thought "Actually, there are limitations as I dislike anybody mucking about with other people's central nervous systems but we can discuss anything outside of that."

He nodded and Tattletale asked "What would be the additions?"

"First off, you'd all get Thinker capabilities that are not dependent upon me as I want you to be able to think for yourselves." They nodded "Secondly you will all learn healing capabilities." I paused in thought "I should point out that, although the power that you use will come from me the ability to use it will come from you and hence the need for the Thinker capabilities. What this means is that I will be teaching you the knowledge on how to use them. If you learn how to do anything else then you will be able to do that as well."

"That seems better than what we could have expected." Said Grue "What would be our duties?"

"I can't think of a better way to have a society tear itself apart than by passing out powers like candy to broken people so you'll be helping me to find out who is doing so. To accomplish this there will be training in weapons, hand to hand combat, and investigation." Regent made a noise "The combat is mandatory, Regent, but I don't expect you all to become black-belts. Secondly, I expect you to help out around Brockton Bay and perhaps other places. Visit hospitals, do some healing and stuff like that. And, of course, helping with the Endbringers when they turn up although not as a fighting force as I don't want you dying needlessly."

"That could be difficult if we're recognised as the Undersiders."

"A change in masks and mask names should deal with that. Throw in some fake history from nowhere in particular and I doubt that there'll be any issues." I grinned "My fake lawyer and I had a great deal of fun this morning explaining to the PRT director that his fake history was perfectly legal."

Tattletale laughed "Your fake lawyer and how does a fake history become perfectly legal?"

"Read the laws, the governments of the world have gone to a great deal of effort to protect the innocent from retribution by undesirables. So much so that anyone can present themselves with a false history and it can't be challenged unless the legal system manages to prove otherwise and that's not likely to happen when the legal system has been hacked to support the false history."

"Ok, so how do you get a fake lawyer?"

I shrugged "Stick an AI in a body that passes for human."

"We could turn up in new costumes, say that we're someone else and, unless they can prove who we are and tie us to our previous crimes, we'd be off the hook?" asked Grue somewhat incredulously

"Yes, but don't engage in any crime that can't be justified through other laws to help ensure that they don't look too closely."

"What if we do something that you don't like?" asked Regent

"Depends upon justification and the situation so could range from a telling off to death. After the… issues that caused me to Trigger I tend to go for justice and I expect you to do the same."

There was silence until Grue asked "So, do we get to see the real you?"

"What is real? This body is real up to and including being able to get pregnant. It's not just a morph as most Changers do."

"Well, I suppose, the person you were before you Triggered."

"If you accept the deal then yes, otherwise, no. Of course, at that point I also expect you to share your real identities and histories." I looked at each of them "There's a cafeteria upstairs where you can talk. I'll let Rachel know where you are."

They nodded and moved off.

New Wave

I looked at the two girls as they slept on the beds in the clinic. The mirrored and self-reinforcing spikes that I had seen in their psyches back at the bank were still there but had decreased slightly. I didn't know if that was because they were unconscious, their powers had been removed, or both. Probably both and it was only a little and far too early to come to any firm conclusion.

To get them to where they could be considered healthy was going to take weeks unless I intervened and that carried some severe risks. The Voice may have been able to do it but I didn't think I had either the knowledge or the experience necessary to attempt such healing without causing at least some harm.

"Damn." I said to myself as I picked up my phone and dialled Lady Photon. This was a phone call I did not want to make.

I had to ring again before anyone answered "This better be good as my daughters are missing and…" The tirade came to a halt as Brandish' voice hitched. Damn, this would have been easier if it was Lady Photon.

"Brandish, can I speak with Lady Photon, please."

There was a pause and then "This is Lady Photon, how can I help you?"

"I'm Elfin Shadow and both Vicky and Amy Dallon are with me. They're safe and in good health but I need to discuss why they're with me."

"I'm listening." The response was clipped

"I take it you know of the bank robbery?"

"Yes."

"When I arrived at the bank they were in discussions with Tattletale. I ignored them as I had no business with them but Vicky then interrupted my discussion with Tattletale. This brought them to my attention at which point I noted that both had dangerous spikes in their psyche that were feeding into one another. I asked Vicky to stop her aura…"

"That's a load of bull, Amy is immune to Vicky's aura."

"No, she isn't. I'd say that her long term exposure has made her more vulnerable if the spikes I detected in her psyche were anything to go by." I went on before she could interrupt again "Anyway, they were interfering with me and Vicky, unknowingly, was causing damage to Amy which I could not, in good conscience, allow so I put them both to sleep and brought them to my clinic."

"Well then, we'll just come and get them and, if they're as healthy as you say, then… there won't be any problems."

"Ah, well, that's where it gets complicated."

"I don't see anything complicated with it." Ice would have been warmer than Lady Photon's voice

"When I brought them across to my place their powers were, unexpectedly, removed. Returning them to Brockton Bay in this state is going to make them vulnerable to villains who want pay back and to any powers that may attach to them and possibly start the cycle of damage again. Both of which I cannot, and will not, allow."

There was a short, deep, silence "We'll get back to what you'll allow later but, most importantly, how did you remove their powers?"

"Ah, well, technically, it wasn't me. It was certainly a mistake on my part in that I didn't realise that their powers would be removed when they came across to my place. The same thing happened to the Undersiders. All of them are physically fine and the spikes that I detected in Amy and Vicky's psyches are already decreasing but it will take time."

"How does going to your place remove powers?"

"The only way to safely enter my place is with an invitation from me. I invited the Undersiders, Vicky and Amy but I failed to realise that I would need to invite their Passengers as well which resulted in their Passenger's destruction."

"Then you'll just have to invite me and my passenger so I can come and collect my family."

"That is not going to happen. I'm more than willing to invite you or any one else from New Wave but I'm not going to invite your Passengers."

"And why would that be?"

"Because I've come to the conclusion that whoever is giving out the powers that have caused so much damage to the world is hostile and I simply don't want them to know who I am or about my place."

There was a pregnant pause "I see. Can you share how you came to that conclusion?"

"Its simple really. The powers only go to those who suffer massive trauma, the people most likely to want revenge for whatever happened to them, the people that are most likely to then use the powers that they gain to achieve that revenge. It's common knowledge that there are far more super-villains than super-heroes and I think that it is their plan, whoever they are, to increase conflict within our society making us fight each other and so bringing about internal collapse. Throw in the Endbringers and I wouldn't be surprised if the death rate has already exceeded the birth rate and as society becomes ever more fractured due to the actions of the capes it's only going to get worse."

"That… makes an uncomfortable amount of sense."

A male's voice cut in "I'll go."

"Mark, but…" Brandish' voice trailed off

"They are our daughters and I will be there when they wake up. They are more important than my powers which I barely use anyway."

Lady Photon spoke up "We would like to discuss this between ourselves. Can we call you on this number?"

"You can." I said

"Then you will hear from us shortly." Click.

Decisions

The three Undersiders entered the cafeteria in silence. Regent went straight to the fridge "You've got a choice of cider, cider or cider."

"Pass the milk please?" asked Tattletale as she made herself a tea

Regent grabbed two bottles of cider while he passed her the milk "What do you think?"

"Thanks. I think we should stick with the Goddess." She looked at the surprised faces of the boys "What? She made a universe and if that doesn't qualify anyone as a god then I don't know what does."

"A goddess? Still, ten thou a month plus powers and we don't have to commit crime to get it. Almost sounds too good to be true." Said Grue

"Actually, she said justice and not uphold the law." Said Tattletale

"What's the difference?"

"The law isn't always just. Just look at what happened to Rachel. The authorities are still hounding her about that first kill of hers despite the fact that they know how she was abused before hand, that it really should be treated as an accident by an upset, barely pubescent teenager who was just Triggered by the actions of a psychopathic bitch and that they really should be trying to help her. She may have been rough with a few people and committed a few crimes but she hasn't actually killed anyone who didn't really deserve it since. If they had done their job properly in the first place I doubt that she'd be as she is. The actual crime is how she was treated and everything flows from that."

"Is that why she's giving us this, what, second chance?"

"Yes, and no." Tattletale paused "She thinks of us as children and that children can be… re-pathed… to being good but her definition of good isn't the same as that of the law. It's not the straight and narrow that many would like it to be hence her emphasis on justice."

"And you know this, how?" asked Grue

"Combination of what I got off of her when I had my powers and what I've surmised since. I'm not as good without my power but I still know what I'm doing."

"And you wanted her to join the Undersiders?"

She shrugged "I thought that it would help get us out from under Coil. Don't know about you but his recruitment of me was join or die and so I was always looking for an out."

Regent spoke up "Why gold?"

"That's easy. She has an unlimited supply of it and its easy to fence."

"Why would we need to fence it? It's not stolen."

Tattletale stopped and looked surprised "Your right… But there's likely to be some issues due to the fact that it can't be traced to a known commercial mining operation."

"It's gold that hasn't been stolen but people are going to be suspicious anyway?"

"More than likely. The law tends to work on the principle that if it can't be traced then it must be stolen even if it can't find anybody that it was stolen from. Still, I think we should try the legitimate route first."

Rachel walked in "I want to stay here."

"Why?" asked Grue

"The dogs like it, I like it."

"Do you know the deal?"

"Yeah, she explained it."

"That's one."

"Two." Said Regent as he opened the fridge "Anyone else for a microwave meal?"

"What's there?"

"Steak, fish, lasagna, pizza."

"Three and I'll have the lasagna." Said Tattletale

"Steak." Said Rachel

"Steak." Said Grue "Done deal then.

"I like this microwave." Said Regent "One door, four trays, no controls. Says it's going to be done in three."

"I like the moons." Said Rachel

"Moons?"

"I saw two moons."

"I wonder if she did make this universe?" Asked Regent

"I think it best that we take her at her word." Said Tattletale "At least until we have proof otherwise."

"Do you think that such proof exists?" asked Grue

"Probably not but I'm still going to look."

"What if she gets upset with that?"

"She said that she wanted us thinking for ourselves."

"There's actually three moons." I said as I entered the room "The other one will be up later tonight but its going to be a few days before all three are in the sky at the same time. It's quite a sight, even if I do say so myself."

"Question if I may?" asked Tattletale

"Of course."

"If you're a goddess then why do you need us?"

"On Earth I'm almost as limited as you. My senses don't really extend any further than yours even if I can sense more. And then there's the amount of power that I can access." I paused in thought "In the fight with Lung and his goons I was holding back, using knives and sleeping potions instead of, say, directed energy."

"Why would you need to hold back?" asked Grue

"I can access the full power of my sun which, as you can imagine, is quite a bit and I don't think any one would be happy if I accidentally removed Brockton Bay because, in the heat of the moment, I got my power calculations wrong."

They all looked at me in shock until Tattletale said "And so you hold back, use weapons instead of energy and thus also why you need agents. Because you're simply too powerful and can't be everywhere at once."

"Yes."

Regent guffawed "Hah, Alexandria, eat your heart out."

"You could simply remove the Endbringers." Said Grue

"I could and I probably will but there's a couple of points that I want to address first." I said "Primarily, I like people to fix their own problems. I don't think a god coming in and simply fixing all the problems that a people have caused is going to teach those people what they need to learn."

"Although I agree with that I don't think that humanity is up to fixing the Endbringers. If we were we would have already done it. And, if what you've said is true about our powers then it wasn't us that caused them anyway."

"Agreed and that's why I'm willing to help with them. I also think that they're a threat to me. As they're across dimensions on Earth it is possible that they could find this place as well. And that leads into my next point. Where did they come from? Was it the entity that gave out the powers that caused them or was it someone who has powers that did? If the latter then simply removing the person may be a better option than removing the Endbringers."

"Or, at least, removing that person before removing the Endbringers." Said Tattletale.

"That too. Removing the Endbringers before we remove the cause could simply result in another Endbringer. This needs to be investigated."

"And so you need us." Said Grue

"Yes."

"Why us?" asked regent "Wouldn't you be better off going for police officers and other authority types?"

"The police officers and other similar types that I'd want would probably be by the book types and I need people with a willingness to break the law to achieve what's needed but who, at their core, are more willing to help than to cause harm."

"And how would you know that about us?"

"I had my lawyer look into you after we met on Sunday night. Most of you haven't done anything terribly bad and have also reached out to help in some way or another." I looked at Regent "And you may have done some terrible things but you also walked away from that and then joined a gang that doesn't do that type of thing."

Grue looked at each of his team mates and then said "Then we have a deal. Is there anything else we need to know?"

"Not about the deal but we are about to have another visitor."

"Who?"

"Flashbang from New Wave. I called them and explained what happened to Amy and Vicky and they decided to send him across. He's going to be here for a week or two depending upon decisions about the girls protection and how well they're healing."

"Is it really going to take that long to heal the girls?"

"Probably longer. About the only thing that can be done to heal the psyche is rest, relaxation and possibly therapy. I can't magic the damage away."

"Are you going to offer them their powers back?" asked Tattletale

"If it becomes necessary but no plans for it at the moment."

"Are we leaving or will mingling be encouraged?"

"I want to keep you separate after the first few days to help reinforce the idea that you're no longer in Brockton Bay and that you're no longer here. He's going to be restricted to the clinic and its attached living spaces while you guys have access to everywhere but the clinic."

"We disappear and then a new bunch of people arrive with different powers doing different things, helping out rather than being villains. The knowledge that we lost our powers is part of the camouflage." Said Grue

"That's the idea but you'll need to keep on your toes as somebody may discover the truth." I turned to Tattletale "I'll want you to talk to Flashbang when he gets here about what you and his daughters were talking about before I entered the room so that he has a better understanding of why I brought them here."

"That's… sensitive. I was even holding back on what my power was telling me. Sure, that was more as leverage and to undermine them at the time but its still not something that should be general knowledge."

"It won't be general knowledge unless they make it so and as the girls are still minors then in good conscience we have to tell the parents." She nodded her understanding "Right then, quick introductions and then Tattletale and I need to head to the clinic." I morphed into my original form "My name is Taylor Hebert, I was born in 1995 and I go, or at least went, to Winslow High…"

Clinic

It had taken more than an hour before Lady Photon got back to me and we had arranged a time and place for Flashbang to step through. The delay had given me time to discuss things with the Undersiders and switch to my healer persona. A tall, light grey demonic appearance complete with horns and tail, black hair down to her shoulders with violet eyes, and wearing flowing white robes. The robes had a large Asclepius Wand in green on the back with a smaller one on the left breast and carrying a pad.

Tattletale and I stood in the clinic waiting for the call that New Wave was in place when she asked me "Can I get a body morph?"

"What do you mean?"

"Can you make me like Elfin Shadow? Make me look like her with the same biology?"

"I could but why would you want to?"

"As part of my disguise and a final break from my past. Should help throw confusion for your own disguise as well."

I paused, considering "It would probably help you break away from your past and, if people do suspect who you are, it may help them look past your previous crimes."

She brightened "So, you'll do it?"

"I'll do it but I won't change you back afterwards if you decide to change your mind."

"I won't."

I opened my phone after it cheeped "He's ready to come through." I said as I opened a portal to the agreed location and looked at the person waiting "Flashbang, be welcome."

He stepped forward, suitcase in hand, and then staggered as he got to the clinic. I caught him and helped him to stand as he looked around and I closed the portal.

"I was expecting Elfin Shadow." He said

"She was called away unexpectedly. As I'm the healer that runs the clinic you'd be talking to me anyway so we decided it would be better if I was the one to greet you."

"And you are?"

"I go by the name 'Healer'."

"I believe that one's taken." He looked at Tattletale "And this is?"

"This is Tattletale. She has agreed to tell you of the… discussion… that she and your daughters were having at the bank."

"I see." He paused "If she's lost her powers then why is she still in costume?"

"To protect her identity. Especially as we have plans to return her and the rest of the Undersiders to society which would require the continued need for secrecy so as to protect them from retribution when that happens."

He nodded "I see. Well, as I don't have a secret identity and, as I no longer have my powers, then you may as well call me Mark. I would like to see my daughters now."

"Of course, this way." I led him into the room where I had placed his daughters

"The drips?"

"Nutrient solution and a mild sedative to keep them in a medically induced coma. I believed it would be better than keeping them under the, ah, sleep spell that Elfin used."

"Why?"

"Because it's a more natural sleep. None of us like messing with the mind which is why, despite bringing them here for healing, we haven't tried any. We don't believe that simply waving our hands would actually heal them any better than simple sleep and time and may actually cause harm."

He nodded "I can understand that. It's what Panacea… Well, I suppose she isn't that anymore either… Amy says about healing the mind and why she won't do it. So, why keep them under?"

I was ready for that question and pulled out my pad "This is a graphical representation of their brain waves since they got here. As you can see this spike here appears in both and at the same time."

He looked at it then "Its bigger in Amy's."

"Yes. Elfin noted that at the time but she also noted that as Vicky increased or decreased her aura the spike in Amy's psyche mirrored the change and so she took action." I held up my hand to forestall him "It may not have been the best action but it is the action that we must deal with now."

He nodded "How long?"

"From the measurements that I have so far, which are admittedly too short for firm conclusions, I'd like to keep them under for another seven days which present projections show is when their brain waves would have returned to near normal. If it looks like they'll return to normal before then I'll wake them sooner but I doubt I'd keep them under any longer even if they haven't returned to normal."

"And what would have happened if this hadn't been caught?"

"My best estimate is that Amy, being the one most affected, would have snapped in one to six months depending upon the amount of pressure she was under. I don't know what effect it would have had on Vicky at that time."

"If Amy didn't directly affect Vicky with her power to bring about what she desired." Said Tattletale

He spun to face her "What?"

Tattletale tapped her teeth in thought "What my power allowed me to do is to read people very accurately. To project what they'd do, to determine if they were lying and determine their relationships to each other. Amy had a crush or, more accurately, an obsession, with her sister." She shrugged "It was what I was playing on to keep both of them off balance at the time."

He made a move toward Tattletale but my hand came down on his shoulder, stopping him "Do not try to harm anyone here else I will deal with you." He glared at me "Tattletale is here to help you understand what was happening to your daughters so you can understand why I do not want to wake them just yet and so that a proper healing regime can be designed and implemented."

He nodded and turned back to Tattletale "So, what did Amy desire?"

"She wanted Vicky to love her… fully, in every sense of the word."

"And you're saying that these spikes that we see show that Amy's… obsession… was caused by Vicky's aura?"

I shook my head "It's indicative but we really don't know one way or the other as we simply don't have enough data from enough sources but we do know, from published research, that the Passenger drives people with powers toward conflict."

"How does that fit in here?"

"It means that we do know that the Passenger has an affect on people's psyche. In fact, if reports are true then Vicky's aura directly affected people's psyche causing emotional swings." I paused for his confirmation "So what I'm thinking is that we have the base effect of the Passenger in Amy which is then enhanced by Vicky's aura and that, with the long term exposure, has caused the problems that we're seeing."

"None of the rest of us have been affected like this."

"None of the rest of you were children with immature and developing brains."

He turned and walked between the two beds, looking at each of his daughters "Amy always said that she wasn't affected."

"She was lying." Said Tattletale

"And how would you know?"

"Because of how fearful she was of me telling Vicky."

He nodded and turned to me "We'll go with your plan… for now."

"Good. One other thing, this is a secret base and although you're what could be considered one of the Good Guys we do want to keep our secrets. To help assist us with this you are restricted to the clinic and its attached living quarters. Do you under stand?" he nodded "Then Tattletale can show you to your room."