2.4

Rachel was bemused.

"Despair and tremble, helpless little girl, as I ever so slowly lower you into this tank full of sharks. MWAHAHAHA!"

Her boss wasvery confusing. At least the pay was good. And they always got Sunday off, too.

It had been three weeks since Leviathan hit Brockton Bay, and rebuilding was going very well. So well that Techno Queen had decided to celebrate with a kidnapping. If there was some kind of logic behind that decision, Rachel didn't see it. She was always bearing her teeth (smiling, Rachel reminded herself) and raising her voice, and Rachel was never really sure if she was ever angry or just… something. But, again, her robot thingies were breaking up dog fighting rings in addition to beating up the scumbags who ran them, so she guessed she wasn't too bad.

"Stop right there, evil-doer!" Clockblocker burst into the lair. Even after they'd found out where it was they hadn't moved. Weird.

He hadn't brought the Wards with him this time, instead there was an adult cape Rachel didn't recognize. The new cape was a woman, and she carried a shield and a sword, and she wore a helmet with mouse ears.

Techno Queen moved to shift into one of her classic villain poses, saw Clockblocker and the new cape, and promptly tripped over her own feet.

"THE TECHNO QUEEN?" Dinah Alcott asked, concerned, as she slowly descended towards the shark tank. There was the appropriate clap of thunder. Rachel remembered the long hours her boss had worked on making the maching work. She wondered why she had done that.

"I- I-" she struggled upright.

Tattletale looked between Techno Queen and the mouse cape, and then started cackling before she retrieved a pen and a piece of paper out of nowhere. She walked up to the mouse cape and Techno Queen continued her sputtering.

"Can I get your autograph? It's for a friend. Write it out to THE TECHNO QUEEN. Don't forget the the, and you have to write it in all capital letters."

"Sure thing, wretched scum of society, anything for a fan." The mouse cape said warmly, and bared her teeth (smiled) at Tattletale.

She scribbled something down on the piece of paper and gave it back to Tattletale. Tattletale herself walked back to besides the throne.

"I'll frame it for you later, your majesty." Tattletale said.

Techno Queen was doing… something. It sort of looked like a very flustered seizure.

"Um, are you okay, vile temptress?" Clockblocker asked Techno Queen.

"I- I- what are you doing here, M-Mouse Protector?" Techno Queen said.

"Well, with all the aftermath after the Endbringer attack going on over here the PRT are requesting more capes for assistance for a while. That would be me, and Flechette for the Wards. Tyrannical oppressor." Mouse Protector explained.

"Um, hello, slowly being lowered to my death over here?" Dinah Alcott called out.

She was ignored.

"Oh, I see! That's, that's, um." Techno Queen stuttered.

Grue leaned over her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"I mean, ah, so you have come to save the young Miss Alcott, have you, you useless little heroes!? Well, tough luck! As if you'll be able to defeat all six members of my DASTARDLY TECHIES before she is finally completely lowered to her DOOM!"

"Finally!" Dinah Alcott muttered. "My ribs are getting sore. Did you have to tie the rope so tightly?"

"Wait, six? You got a new member? Where are they?" Clockblocker said.

"Why, they're all… um… here?" Techno Queen was visibly confused.

Tattletale rolled her eyes.

"Imp! Quit it!" Tattletale said.

And suddenly Rachel and everyone else in the room noticed a girl in a dark costume sitting on the armrest of Techno Queen's throne. Right. That would get annoying fast.

"Aw, Thinkers are no fun." She said petulantly.

Techno Queen cleared her throat. "Right! Do you really think that you could defeat all six of my subordinates before Miss Alcott were to meet her DOOM!?"

Grue lifted a sign that said INDIGNANCE.

"How dare you!? You'll never get away with this!" Clockblocker said, right on cue.

At the same time Jailbird began humming an ominous sounding tune under her breath.

"Oh, we'll see about that, heroes!" Techno Queen said.

Grue flipped the sign so it read ACTION.

Jailbird upped the volume on her song and changed the tune a bit so that instead of feeling wary, Rachel felt like she wanted to move, like her heart was beating, her blood was rushing, and her knuckles were raw. She made her dogs grow and charged.

When she unfroze later, Techno Queen was punching in the second hole in Dinah's Kidnapee Card.