Chapter 14: Sandbagging
"Right," Mattock said, switching to his first slide on the board, "listen up."
"They do say that once you're a teacher you never stop being one, right boss?" Acacia called out, grinning.
Mattock spared her a dry look before turning back to the grainy picture being shown.
"This is Writhe. Rough rating is Changer 7, subclasses in Mover and Brute. His body is made up of a thick, tar like substance that he can change and shape at will. From what we've seen he's hard to pin down and physical attacks seem pretty useless. Try containment if you can, but we suspect he won't have much trouble escaping the foam. I'll install some flamethrower turrets on the prisoner trucks as a precaution."
"There is no guarantee they will work though, is there?" Fathom asked as she made a quick note on her pad, a light Southern drawl in her voice. Khepri took a moment to consider the cape; she was a new transfer from somewhere in the Midwest and seemed polite, if a bit distant.
Counterpoise had mentioned that Fathom was experienced, and had transferred multiple times depending on when a team needed a Stranger at hand, since they were rarely heroes. Some of the PRT troopers had already given her some funny looks.
"Honestly," Mattock replied, shoulders slumping slightly, "no. Our best bet will be to capture or drive off his allies, as he will almost certainly retreat at that point."
The image on the board changed, showing the two capes they were going to be transporting the next morning.
"These are the two prisoners we captured last week. I want you to review their powers before tomorrow. Keep in mind that the Elite will have more capes in the area that we have no information on, so if the worst happens you need to be prepared to deal with this pair."
"You've got a way with words, boss. So cheery," Acacia commented, even as she scanned through the information being shown.
Khepri's attention was turned away from her teammates when Counterpoise nudged her side.
"Are you okay, Shep? You've been kinda quiet- uh. Less, writey, recently?" The young cape blushed at her faux pas, rubbing the back of her head.
I am…
Khepri paused, considering.
I think I might not be content.
"You don't like it here?" Counterpoise asked, face falling slightly.
I do! I am likely just getting restless. I was used to wandering around before I settled here.
"Oh." She seemed mollified by that, but Khepri could tell her friend was still concerned.
"I don't really know what you could do about that. I grew up here, so it'll always be home, even though Portland is a bit quieter than some cities." Counterpoise scowled. "At least, it was until the Elite started trying to move in."
I shall have to think on it. But do not worry, I will not leave if I can help it.
"If you can help it?" A smile grew on her face. "I don't plan on letting you go anywhere, Shep."
Khepri returned the smile.
I am glad you are here too, Mika.
Acacia nodded in agreement as she led the PRT officer towards the holding cells.
"I understand, Officer Davis. Considering the likelihood of the Elite attempting a breakout I can completely understand the PRT requesting an external review of the cell's security."
Davis smiled, an easy and understanding look that she couldn't help but return, even if the officer couldn't see it beneath her wooden mask. He admired the decorations on the material. Ridges shaped like vines trailed up and down her armour, their leafy green contrasting well against the reddish bark beneath.
"I'm glad to hear that, Acacia. People often think I am trying to step on their toes."
"You often do though Davis," his bodyguard commented from beneath the PRT helmet.
"Well sometimes I'm stepping on the toes of people who are standing in places they shouldn't be," Davis quipped, and Acacia let out a light laugh. They arrived at the holding cells, which were barred off by a large door. It was dark matte grey, contrasting the medium blue walls of the rest of the Protectorate base, and had only a thin slit of bulletproof plastic for guards to see through.
"It'll just be a moment," Acacia commented, "the door is biometrically sealed."
"Who is on the whitelist?" Davis asked, peering over her shoulder with an intent gaze.
"All of the Protectorate capes, aside from Shepherd, due to his Case 53 mutations. Some of the PRT officers as well, along with the directors."
"And currently only yourself, Shepherd, and Trick Room are in the base," Davis commented, frowning. "Do you think that is enough personnel, considering the risk?"
"Well, we could probably do with more, but that's true of all the Protectorate teams isn't it? We're all a bit short on capes," Acacia countered, half-shrugging as she pushed the now unlocked door open. The corridor in front of them looked identical to all the other corridors they had passed, aside from the large doors placed at regular intervals.
Acacia strode over to the second nearest, leaning forwards to match the eye holes in her mask to the retinal scanner.
"Whose idea was it to claim that both LoS and Linear were being transported today?" The officer asked as he stood in the doorway. Acacia frowned.
"You need to let that shut, or the internal doors won't open. Honestly you should know that." She began to pull back, but Davis placed his hand on her bracers and smiled reassuringly.
"Officer Stultus is a bit new, sorry about him," he said, sending a quick glare to his companion. "No need to worry once he lets it shut, right?"
"I suppose. You should probably sign him up for more M/S courses. Stoutfield would've crucified any of the local PRT for that mistake."
"I'll make sure that he-" Davis stopped mid-sentence, voice caught, as the cell door opened to reveal Shepherd standing in the cell. He was holding a rock sign with a long series of numbers and letters inscribed onto it. It wouldn't meant little to Officer Davis, but Acacia immediately recognised the specialised Master/Stranger alert.
She turned without giving warning, swinging a gauntleted first into Davis's chest and punching him into the wall behind.
"Smooth talking Patrician," the fake PRT officer laughed, standing up from his slouch near the door.
"I got us in here, Abrupt," Patrician countered, rising to his feet with a groan, "while you seemed more interested in lounging about."
Abrupt shrugged at that, moving sideways to stand near his teammate even as Acacia watched his eyes never leave her armoured form.
"I'm surprised you walked in here unmasked," Acacia commented, rolling her shoulders as Shepherd ducked through the cell doorway to stand beside her.
"To my shame I have been arrested by your illustrious institution before. You will have all my details already, so I thought I would dispense with the façade." Patrician frowned then, glancing to the camera in the corner of the ceiling.
"Funny that your face didn't ping the recognition software, isn't it?"
Abrupt laughed as he unzipped his bulky trooper armour. Black sludge began to seep out from underneath, slowly rising and forming into the vague shape of a man.
"Yeah," Writhe replied in a voice that sounded like bubbles popping in tar, "real funny."
"We just gonna stand here with our dicks out for a bit then, or…?" Abrupt asked, pulling a handful of bullets out of his pocket. Despite his casual attitude Acacia could see his attention was flicking from person to person, legs slightly bent in preparation but not fully tensed.
"Maybe not," Acacia said as she grew out a long sword and shield from her armour, "despite being a grower I'd probably win."
Patrician was about to reply to her when a loud clang sounded from down the hall. In the moment when everyone's attention turned towards the small stone ram that had bashed its head against the wall Shepherd brought his crook to bear, shifting it into a great hammer mid swing. It impacted on Writhe with a resounding crash, splattering the cape all across the ground and up the walls.
"Holy shit Shep," Acacia yelled even as she launched herself towards Abrupt, "murder isn't an acceptable form of trash talking!"
The Elite member flicked a bullet back at her in response. A loud crack split the air, the splinters of her wooden shield spraying out. Abrupt jumped backwards then turned, fleeing behind the spot where Writhe was beginning to reform. He tripped at the last moment, Shepherd's crook extending out to catch on his feet.
Writhe responded before either of the Protectorate capes could capitalise on the stumble, latching onto the crook and quickly sliding along it towards Shepherd's body. The stone cracked under the pressure he was exerting and Shepherd flung his weapon away rather than let the Changer grab onto his body.
Acacia saw him glance to the side, checking up on her, and Acacia grinned back. Shepherd moved to block Writhe from getting past him as the Changer let out a burbling laugh.
"All it takes is one slip up," Writhe said, morphing into the shape of a heavy jawed, grinning ape, "then we'll be finding out if you can reform your limbs."
Shepherd's only response was to form another hammer in his hands and step forwards, even as Acacia let out a yelp of pain as one of Abrupt's bullets caught her in the side. Acacia shook herself, mentally focusing back on her own enemy.
Acacia swore under her breath as she crouched behind her shield, having enlarged it to cover all of her body and her teammate. Her punching arm was numb below the elbow, where Abrupt had managed to hit a bullet between the joints in her armour as she had tried throwing a spear at him.
Occasional cracks let her know that the cape was still firing at her. The spear had been blunt, as she was hoping to knock him out, but projectile has suddenly dropped in mid air when it got close, as though all its momentum had been stolen.
"Okay," she said to the officer next to her, "I'll rush forwards, shield first. I suspect he's Manton-limited. I need you to foam both of us, since Shepherd will be able to deal with Writhe easily enough."
The officer nodded, palming the grenade she had handed him.
"On three," he replied. She counted down, nodded to him, then propelled herself forwards using two wooden pillars that sprouted from her boots. Mid leap she felt an impact on her back, then heard the familiar sound of a containment foam grenade erupting. Acacia quickly found herself covered in a large mound of the stuff, firmly stuck to the floor.
"What the-" she turned, scowling at the officer behind her. Patrician smiled back.
Khepri almost missed a swing against Writhe as she felt her teammate start to get buried under the containment foam. She had automatically started to turn to help Acacia, but Khepri knew that 'Shepherd' wouldn't be able to react that quickly. Abrupt was advancing on Acacia, a leering smile on his face. Acacia probably wasn't in any true danger, as the Elite cape was unlikely to be willing to kill her, but Khepri still felt a thrill of alarm run through her.
Writhe took the opportunity to leap onto her hammer and crawl up it, slipping tendrils around her neck but Khepri ignored him, caught up in whether she should help. Abrupt brought his hand up, pointing at Acacia's face, and Khepri decided that her friend was worth the risk.
"Do you still need to bre-"
Writhe's sentence was cut short as the top layer of Khepri's disguise separated from her torso and quickly wrapped around the Elite cape, forming into a seamless sphere that trapped him within. Khepri then turned, bringing the sphere with her, and directed it forwards towards Abrupt and Patrician.
They had no time to react either, as bindings shot out of the sphere to tie their hands and legs, as well as forming a gag around Patrician's mouth. The two capes fell to the floor with a stony thunk, leaving the corridor suddenly quiet.
"...Well," Acacia commented from where she was still stuck. "You've been holding back on us Shep."
Khepri glanced over the captured villains, an uncomfortable feeling rising in her.
Maybe I have been.
She lay on the roof beside Dragon, watching the stars. The evening was quiet and the sky was lined with wisps of cloud drifting in from the sea, cutting soft lines into the patchwork above. The smell of fresh rain and petrichor was in the air, and Khepri's mind flashed back to running through the streets of Brockton Bay on a rainy evening, laughing with her mother.
She twitched, and the memory disappeared just as quickly. Dragon didn't react outwardly at first, but Khepri knew the movement had been registered. Eventually her suit's optics turned to face her.
"Shepherd?" Dragon ventured.
"Just remembering."
A quiet moment passed, the optics searching her for any further clues. "Okay."
Silence settled back between them, and Dragon too turned back to look upwards. Dragon's willingness to give Khepri space, to let her answer as much as she wanted and when she chose was something the Endbringer appreciated about her friend.
Eventually Khepri spoke again. "I have been… considering. How much is a human life worth?"
Dragon would've frowned slightly if she could've at the shift in topic. "I think that all life is immeasurably valuable."
"But some people are worth more than others, surely? Or, at least, they have more… potential life in them. A child should be valued more than an adult, who in turn should be more valued than an elder. It seems silly to—" Khepri halted suddenly, tilting her head back.
"I don't believe that. The moment you decide one person is worth more than another you begin to travel down a path where people become things, and lives are merely a resource."
"Sorry," Khepri said.
"I don't think you meant it like that."
"What about yourself?" Khepri asked, turning to look at Dragon's suit. "Do you consider yourself only a resource, considering your... father?"
"I…" Dragon began, unsure.
"Are you allowed to think of yourself as anything but?"
"How did you know? About me," Dragon replied instead.
"My sister," Khepri said with a shrug, turning to look back out over the city. "She thinks she's a resource too, although she would deny it. A resource for freeing us, for helping me. They all do, as though I am the only one worth saving, simply because they think themselves to be so much less than they were before. Less than me."
Dragon felt an uncomfortable pang of sympathy pass through her.
"Does she want to be more than that?"
"I want her to be. And I think I want to be, too."
Khepri stood then, rolling her shoulders as she did so. Her gaze swept across the city, then east, towards the mountains.
"If all life is immeasurably valuable then we could never make up for it. Our debt is unpayable."
Dragon took a moment to think, glancing over at her companion.
"I know that many people would say otherwise, but I don't believe you owe a debt. You aren't-. You don't want to do this. It's only, and forgive me the turn of phrase, human to blame yourself.""
She turned, and Dragon swore she could see Khepri's mask twitch into a slight smile as she spoke.
"But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to pay it anyway, or that I should forget those who it is owed to. I still feel guilt."
"You wouldn't forget," Dragon said, standing next to her and, with only a moment of hesitation, resting the palm of the suit's hand on Khepri's shoulder.
"I haven't yet," the Endbringer agreed, "and I don't plan on doing so."
The Endbringer faced her, resting her own hand on Dragon's.
"Could you help me?"
"I will try," Dragon said. Her restrictions flashed through her mind. "Even if it may be difficult. What do you have in mind?"
"Righting injustice. Heartbreaker. Nilbog. The Slaughterhouse Nine." Khepri let out a small, buzzing laugh that reminded Dragon for a moment of how the Endbringer had first sounded. "Donate the bounties to charity, maybe."
Massive thanks to Burn Note and Evil Atlas - this chapter was really a tough one to get right.
Below is a character list that is 100% informational and only taken seriously.
Character List:
Khepri/Shepherd: A confused young lady who is surprisingly clumsy when left alone in cities.
Annette/Writ: Taylor's mom, controls paper in a large radius around her; known for papercuts and being a little too eager to beat the shit out of gangs because non-Khepri Taylor in this universe was killed by the ABB. Divorced from Danny.
Emma/Nightowl: Emma, who triggered in the ABB alley attack but too late to save Taylor.
Pinged off Shadowstalker who was trying to save them both. Estranged from her family, spends more time with Annette, considers her a mother figure. Annette has helped her channel her issues into something more productive but still violent. Changer powers (see informational post for more detail)
Shadowstalker: OG SS, but similar to Emma Annette has taken her under her wing and is helping with the whole 'being a giant bitch' issue.
Dragon: A confused young lady who really wants kids.
The Simurgh/Ziz: The best older sister, and the only young lady on this list not confused.
OCs:
Portland Protectorate:
Mattock: Portland leader, Tinker, specialises in weapon emplacements and turrets. Calm and easy-going. Likes powerpoints.
Counterpoise (Mika): Momentum based blaster, generally uses a sling, and by spinning it can 'store' the momentum of each swing to eventually launch it with the stored momentum (I.e, 3 swings = 3x the speed/power, e.t.c). Above-human aiming skills. Youngest Protectorate member, closest to Shepherd along with Acacia.
Acacia: Wood based changer/brute, can grow and control wood as long as it is close to her. Can control things like density/flexibility but there are tradeoffs (v. dense = heavy and stiff + slower to make, e.t.c). Australian, was from Perth and moved to America after Khepri's attack there. Laid back, probably too casual with her powers in terms of not holding back. Cares a lot about her new city and new teammates.
Fathom: Stranger, moves between teams as needed due to scarcity of heroic strangers. Probably unimportant? Will finish later.
Magellan: KIA at Barcelona attack. Shaker, could create a field of 'stars', ranging from one to hundreds. Each 'star' could either suck in light or emit very bright light. Magellan could switch them between these modes very quickly, and was immune to bright lights/could see perfectly in the dark. A bit cynical but still determined to be a good hero.
Echelon: Currently unintroduced brute. Gets stronger the more people consider him 'above' them or the more he thinks he is stronger than that person. Arrogance issues.
Trick Room: Currently unintroduced dude who is super good at being a one trick pony in pokemon. Also can affect direction of gravity in a room, for everyone or select people. Very capable of processing spaces in 3d and immune to vertigo/movement sickness.
Elite:
-Thudthud [Brute] Low level brute whose punches/kicks let off a minor sonic boom when they hit, enough to disorient people (not enough to blast out windows e.t.c).
-Farrier (associated rogue) [Mover/thinker] Capable of automatically plotting and executing a route to get somewhere. (Much lower level Contessa based on getting from A to B). Able to reduce the effect of outside forces on himself (air resistance/gravity/momentum).
-Patrician [Master] – people see him as inherently trustworthy and wise, and he has great charisma. Top notch guy, really good. Probably should get a promotion.
-LoS [Blaster] – Can shoot a laser from his finger that builds up in intensity the slower he moves it. (I can be lazy with powers sometimes, sue me.)
-Writhe [Changer] – Our favourite blob of tar. Slightly caustic, basically immune to physical attacks. Could tank Alexandria but wouldn't go within a hundred miles of Spitfire. Regenerates lost matter by dissolving organic objects.
-Linear [Tinker] – Low level tinker with a bud from a Sting shard.
-Abrupt [Shaker, Blaster] – Saves the energy of things shot at him, can put that energy into new objects. Weight limit. Time limit in each object (can't hold an anvil above his head). [He could absorb the energy from the anvil once and put it into a smaller object, shooting it with the same amount of energy that the anvil had].
Other:
Arthur: A very confused youngish PRT Director from Minneapolis who volunteered to chat Khepri up in front of hundreds of capes. Didn't score a date, but did get her number. [Power is intuition on steroids for people, both physical and mental. Essentially minor people precog. His power talks to him.]