Step 4.11

"Taylor…"

I stuffed my mask into my backpack with a sigh.

Give the man some credit. He really tried, constantly. Yet, we remained an immovable teenager with super powers and an implacable father of said teenager.

Dad wanted me safe, and I refused to stand idle. Our ends didn't meet. Yet, I didn't want to bail on him and he didn't want to know if I actually would.

So there he stood, in the doorway. A grim expression marked his face, and a tension hung on his shoulders.

"It's going to be fine, Dad." I offered him my best smile, but I don't think it conveyed enough confidence. "Do we really need to do this every time I go out?"

"You're going after—"

"I know. I told you, because I promised to tell you what I was doing and you promised not to completely freak out."

Dad frowned and looked away from me. "Easier said than done, kiddo."

Something always happens to you.

I crossed the room and gave him a hug.

"It's going to be alright. I know what I'm doing." Mostly.

One arm went around my back, the other still hanging at his side.

His chest rose against my cheek. "You don't have to—"

"Someone has to," I said. "The world has to change, and I want to change it…I won't stand on the sidelines, waiting for someone else to come fix the problem."

"So you say," Dad mumbled.

"That's sweet, that's sweet!"

I pulled back and glared over my shoulder.

"Hush you."

"Embarrassed," Green chirped from my bed. "Embarrassed."

Dad raised one eyebrow, asking, "You're sure they're not smart? 'Cause they seem kind of smart."

"Well…they're smarter than I intended them to be."

Still not sure by how much. A bleed with their connection to Veda maybe? There might be some interaction between the systems I never intended.

Turning back to Dad I leaned in and kissed his cheek. It felt sappy, but whatever. I imagine he felt the kinds of things the parents of soldiers and cops felt.

His arm squeezed me.

"I'll see you in a few hours," I promised. "I promise."

I pulled away and shouldered my backpack.

I checked my clothes over one more time. My costume clung to my body, hidden under a light sweater and a pair of slacks. Tight costumes came with advantages other than sex appeal, you know. A good thing too. I didn't have any sex appeal.

Tucking Green under my arm, I pulled the window up and started climbing out.

"You could just use the back door," Dad suggested.

"I'm a teenage super hero. We sneak out the bedroom window. It's in the membership brochure." Dad stared at me. "Let me have my fun."

And I climbed out the window.

The van met me two blocks south in an alley.

After ten minutes of silence, I asked, "Not going to try and talk me out of it?"

"Observation suggests it would be futile," Veda offered. "Furthermore, you cannot be harmed by individuals who are not in a position to harm you. This course of action is potentially safer, after the initial danger."

So she weighed the options and picked the one that seemed better.

"We call that the lesser of two evils, Veda."

"Choices are difficult."

Don't I know it.

Dinah's words stuck with me. Did she say that with any special meaning behind it, or just as a matter of fact? The last two times I overlooked some comment she made that ended up being important. Then again, the things I did? She probably saw me meet any number of unfortunate fates. All the time.

Well…

I couldn't account for everything. Too many variables in play, and only so many questions before Dinah started to suffer. I think I got all the important parts though. For tonight at least.

From there I'd figure it out like every other cape.

Downtown has quite a bit of traffic on a Friday night. For once, I wasn't even angry. I needed the traffic for my plan to work.

"Is that it up there?" I asked.

"It is."

"Alright. I'll get this done quick and meet you at the parking garage. Are the Haros ready?"

"Yes."

"Dummy accounts?"

"Yes."

I nodded.

Veda pulled into a parking lot, and I…sat there for a moment.

Suppose it all had to hit eventually.

I knew I'd make waves, but they were bigger than I expected. The Internet. National news. Dark web chat rooms. Everyone wanted to know what I'd do next.

No one could ignore me. Not after my threat.

Before, I might have been a nuisance. A big and flashy one hurting the bottom line, but a nuisance. Something to be written off. Carlos got that part right. New heroes showed up all the time, made waves, and then the world adjusted. Adapted to their presence.

What I wanted…I'd keep making waves. One after the other. I needed to. It would be far too easy to take what I'd done a week ago and say it was enough. Rest on my laurels.

I can't stop.

Weaken the gangs. Reduce the criminal element, cripple their ability to act against me or anyone else. Make the city truly safer. In weakening the gangs, I broke the ground needed to build my factory. No point if some crooks just burned it down. I needed them to be wary of messing with me.

And the factory paved the way to reforge Brockton Bay's economy. Improving the economy weakened the gangs further. Gave people hope.

Gears.

Gears in a lock, and I needed to spin it just right to get that lock to open.

That's why I got started. To break the locker down, for everyone.

"Taylor?" Veda asked.

My head jerked back.

Right. Sitting in my van staring at a brick wall.

"Sorry. Just…contemplating."

"Time is of the essence."

"Right. Right. Sorry."

I closed the door behind me. Unlike the Docks, nowhere in Downtown went without light at night. Except for the long shadows it didn't even look that different from the daytime.

I kept Green tight to my side, walking straight and without looking back.

The first secret to not being noticed is to not look like you want to hide something, right? People walked the street behind me, but they didn't pay any attention to random girl on the street number nine thousand and one.

From a distance, my robot looked like a simple basketball.

I stepped into an alley right next to the lot and started walking. Red and Navy kept to the sky above me. After making sure I wouldn't be interrupted, Pink and Orange descended from the sky, Green's cradle carried between them.

"Hello hello," they repeated.

"Hey." I set Green on the ground and quickly donned my mask.

I hid the cradles after Pink and Orange set down. Fortunately someone left a nice big box out by the trash. I set the cradles down and flipped it over on top of them. I didn't need to hide them for long.

The three Haros sat on the ground behind me, awaiting orders.

"You guys ready?" I asked.

"Ready ready," Green said.

"Alright. Just knock over this box to get airborne when you're done. Oh. This is a stealth mission. No talking."

"Okay okay."

"No. No. Talking."

"Double negative double!"

My brow twitched under my mask.

"Do you want your voice box removed?" I asked.

Green, Orange, and Pink stared back at me.

"Because this is how you get your voice box removed."

They didn't say anything.

"Good."

I checked on Purple quickly. My last Haro hovered over a downtown road, watching the streets and the pedestrians in particular. Not many T intersections in downtown Brockton Bay, but the less directions to manage the better.

"Any eyes on our teenage Nazi?" I asked.

Navy rotated, a camera zooming in on a rooftop across town. Rune sat on the edge, right where she should be.

"And our friendly drug truck?"

My city map rotated on my visor, traveling west until Veda highlighted a red dot.

"The last text sent by Victor positions the vehicle in this area."

Turning my attention across the street, I observed the normal looking office building.

This will work.

Probably.

The Empire, try as they might, didn't do subtle well.

A black SUV circled the block every few minutes. Two guards busied themselves on all four opposing corners. They wore colors and didn't hide their guns well. Pretty much announced who owned the entire block.

Unlike last time, no interference prevented me from seeing through the walls.

Seven guards inside.

One on the narrow roof made airborne insertion too risky. Three watched the third floor, where I assume the goods were. The last two covered the ground level garage entrance. One more sitting at a desk in the front lobby.

Ten more thugs lived in the surrounding buildings, so in total there were…twenty-three of them? Imagine most of them kept some guns around.

The SUV rounded the corner to my left, the headlights sweeping over the street as it did.

Still, bright side. Sure is nice of the racists to move all the drugs into a half dozen big pots. No way to consolidate it any further than that and they didn't have enough capes to cover every building. They rotated nightly, watching for me in a sort of cape net.

If I didn't know their plans it might have worked. I'd stumble into Krieg or Hookwolf by accident and they'd pin me down, or try to, until the rest showed up.

Sad for them, I did know their plans.

And now their plans were my plans.

I stepped back into the alley, ducking behind a dumpster with my Haros. I tracked the vehicle through Red's eyes, watching as it rolled across the corner intersection.

"Alright."

The vehicle pulled onto the road.

"Three."

The SUV driver flashed some sign to the guard on the corner. The guard waved him off and the vehicle went on its path.

"Two."

The vehicle approached.

"Go."

I waved my hand, and all three Haros rolled forward.

My robots weaved behind a pedestrian. Past her, they went under a parked truck and waited. A few seconds later the SUV passed and they slipped out of the truck to hide beneath it.

None of the guards reacted.

No need to drop stun grenades from above and run for it.

My robots kept pace with the SUV, hiding in the undercarriage. The guards at the corner didn't react. As the vehicle passed a darkened spot on the street, all three rolled over the curb into a small inlet.

They gathered under a window laying low toward the ground. Pink rolled forward, and Orange climbed on top of her. Green climbed on top of Orange and popped his right ear.

Took me a little while to build a laser scalpel into his hand, but now that he had one? He cut through the window, flawlessly, in a few seconds. His other ear popped up, that hand gripping the perfectly sized cut out and pulling it free.

Green leaped through the hole, followed by the other two.

sys.t/ be careful you little bug balls

sys.h[G]/ careful careful

sys.v/ designated location reached

sys.t/ omw
sys.t/ one last thing

I needed to sell the ruse, after all.

I waved Red down, and then…

"No. Too high ag—A little to the left. My left. My left! Okay. Up. Up. Little more to your right. There. That should work."

I pulled a saber from my bag and positioned myself in his camera.

The image lined up right. Looked like someone leaning out of a window and looking down at me. Harmless little Newtype sneaking in an alley, carefully looking over her shoulder with a beam saber in hand.

"Snap the pic."

After a moment's thought…

"And if you photoshop me with cat ears? No Internet. For a year."

sys.h[r]/ deleting

And Georgios seemed legitimately terrified they'd take over the world or something. Please. Nearly four fifths of their PHO posts went to one thread, titled "Can Has Cheezburger."

Tyrants in the making right there.

What a kook.

Meanwhile, my commando squad infiltrated unseen. Green stopped first. He set a cylinder under a stack of fold up chairs. Orange kept going and set another on a window sill.

sys.h[o]/ condensers placed

During the day a few legitimate enterprises used the building, but they all shut down around four hours ago. I figured the guard at the front desk either worked for the Empire, or took orders from someone who did. He didn't patrol or anything, just sat at his desk.

My mask went into the backpack and my slacks and sweater came back out.

Incognito hero, snap of a finger.

I walked out of the alley and right past the guard at the corner.

Especially in this part of Brockton, no one batted an eye at a white girl. Any white girl. Something fucked up about using that to my advantage, but whatever.

I boarded a bus and took a short ride a few blocks over. The parking structure looked ratty, but the older the better. No security cameras in place, and no guard to note my van coming in or out. Actually not that many of those in the city.

Only one adjacent to a T intersection.

My van sat on the far end of the top floor, alone save for a sedan and an old station wagon. Same ones I'd seen when scouting the area the past few days, and neither appeared to have moved.

I stood over by the railing, overlooking the street below.

Nothing to do now but wait.

Green, Orange, and Pink set their explosives through the building, all under Navy's eye in the sky. Purple and Red hovered around me, watching for anything unexpected.

Rune got up during my bus ride. She stood on the roof, looking into the distance, and occasionally, at her phone. The dot representing the drug truck entered city limits about six minutes ago.

And this is it.

sys.t/ you have access?

sys.v/ yes
sys.v/ is it proper?

sys.t/ is it legal?

sys.v/ it is not legal
sys.v/ is it proper?

Ah.

sys.t/ it'll keep everyone out of the way
sys.t/ no one but the bad guys get hurt

Veda didn't respond. Thinking. She stopped worrying about small legalities a long time ago. I might be a bad influence in that area. Breaking minor laws didn't bother me, especially not if breaking them kept people from getting hurt.

Yeah.

Or maybe that's just some Freudian excuse. Blackwell always used those little rules to screw me. Who did they really help?

Eh. Whatever.

I didn't want to take the fight out of the city, not yet.

Once the gangs knew I'd go that far they'd know I fully intended to run them out of town. They'd strike, maybe rashly. I needed to appear to have some limits, even as I started knocking capes off. For now they needed to keep thinking they stood a chance at winning.

sys.t/ where are our white knights?

sys.v/ 18th heading south

So nice of them to text regular updates.

My other Haros continued their secret mission. They planted stun grenades at the entrances to the building and by the door leading to the loading bay. They'd be finished soon, and my target drew close.

sys.t/ start clearing the street

The van opened without my asking.

Red and Purple circled the garage, watching my surroundings for any unexpected voyeurs.

No one outside noticed the subtle shift in the traffic lights. Veda only altered the signals by a few seconds. The green lights running in a few directions lengthened while the red lights going the others did the same. The effect played out quickly.

The pedestrian signals followed suit.

Within a few minutes, an entire street sat nearly empty. Vehicles and foot traffic quickly funneled out of the area. Manipulating a few other lights kept any traffic jams from forming, save for one.

"It is working," Veda announced.

"Good. Red, do it."

"Posting, posting!"

I pulled up my PHO thread.

► A. Snackbar
Replied on May 13, 2011:
I just saw Newtype outside my building! Link.

I waited a few seconds, letting the post with a picture of me stalking an alley ferment a bit. People began responding, asking where my suit was obviously.

Then came people trying to figure out where the picture was taken. Snackbar, of course, didn't want to announce their address. Someone picked up on the obvious, something for which Red would get a talking to.

There's clever, and then there's not really clever at all.

"It's been a long few weeks," I mumbled.

"Has it?"

"It feels that way. Started out with just you and me in my bedroom playing with simulations and paper designs."

"We have…come far," Veda offered.

I nodded to myself, and looked out over the intersection again.

I'd already stepped on a land mine threatening to out any villains who went too far. Maybe I'd stop there, but eventually a villain would get too "clever." They'd push. Say I didn't have the balls, or that even if I did it didn't matter.

Newtype hides from capes.

The Empire knew it. The ABB might know better after I cut off Oni Lee's leg. The Merchants? Not even going to try and guess that.

But I couldn't stop at just keeping outed capes safe. I wanted more than that. More than just to keep the gangs in check. More than more of the same.

The world needed to change.

I needed to be someone the villains couldn't take lightly.

Opening my backpack I discard the sweater and pants and donned my mask.

"Are you ready to link?"

"I am."

"Do it."

On another side of my visor, a "random" user posted the image to an Empire member's Facebook account.

I brought up the Empire's text feed and waited for one of the capes to notice.

Green and Pink set the last of my distractions, and all three Haros quickly hightailed it back to the window they entered from.

Mantis: hey isnt this close to SSW?
Mantis: Link

Bait taken.

Now I just needed to sell it.

The Haros reformed the Haro ladder to get through the window. As the SUV passed by again they rolled underneath and stayed under the vehicle until it went all the way around.

They got out okay.

No need to use the self-destruct.

O Gundam's feet touched the ground, and the arms kept working. The arms from the van loaded my shield, but kept the bazooka.

Dinah and I worked the plan back and forth the past week. From everything she saw, I didn't need it.

Once they finished, and my suit stood ready, I said, "Clear out the van. And make sure you delete any security footage."

The van started up behind me.

I climbed into O Gundam and strapped myself in.

"Green. Set the net for any unwanted fliers."

"Fish in a barrel," he replied. "Barrel barrel!"

The GN drive started slowly, only the faintest traces of light drifting into the air.

The chest closed and the helmet came down over my head.

Green, Pink, and Orange took to the air.

They joined Navy, and the four robots moving toward my position. They stopped halfway between me and the building. The drug cars continued on their path north of me, moving deeper into the city.

Blocks away, the drug convoy came into sight of Red's cameras.

Well, convoy made it seem a little glamorous. One medium sized car in front with a U-Haul truck behind it.

The sonic camera showed four passengers in the car, and five in the truck. Hard to tell who was in what vehicle. Dinah saw a few different versions. Some with both capes in the car, sometimes with one of them in the truck waiting.

Lt: shes not in her suit
SttN: maybe shes poking around
ReleasetheHounds: kill her
Lt: do not kill her
ReleasetheHounds: maim her
Walkure: doesnt Warners kid live over by SSW?
Lt: we'll ask him

Its time.

My decoy was set, the traps ready, and my suit primed.

My thumb tapped the button.

Outside on the street, heads turned.

The boom echoed through the city. The tall buildings acted like an echo chamber. They contained the sound and threw it out for all to hear.

In the distance, Rune spun around, a stream of green particles spilling into the air.

SttN: SSW
SttN: lots of green shit

Someone should really go check on that.

ReleasetheHounds: someone should go look

I tried not to laugh.

I failed.

"Taylor?"

"Nothing," I said between chuckles. "Just imagining his face."

I've never been giddy before. Not like this, but well. It was funny.

Maybe I'd snapped?

Ramius said to be wary of any emotional changes, but I didn't see anything odd. My brain waves maintained a perfect uninterrupted flow, all quietly monitored by a scanner I'd built into my helmet.

Just happy I guess.

I gripped the controls, O Gundam rising into a squat.

Lt: check on it

Rune started moving, hopping onto a manhole cover and flying through the air. From Orange's camera I saw GN particles billow out of an open window in the office building.

The men inside reacted to the loud boom I'd set off. They grabbed guns and searched the building. The two in the loading bay went first, opening the door inside.

The grenade Pink set detonated, both men dropping to the floor.

Lt: whats happening?
SttN: idk yet!
SttN: hold on
Walkure: Mitch says he heard an explosion
Lt: WSS
Mantis: going
ReleasetheHounds: Im going

Cricket and Stormtiger started moving. Hookwolf too.

I'd give it to the Empire.

They set themselves up well.

Twenty block radius, eight capes. All arranged in a grid where no cape was ever more than five blocks from another location. Within a few minutes three or four could be at a site. Within a few more all of them might be there.

It did present a problem.

Even hitting a location without a present cape guard, I might not get out in time before one showed up. If they managed to pin me or keep me occupied, I might get surrounded.

Really all their plan did was minimize the damage I could do. I'd just retreat. Fly away.

But then the problem would persist, wouldn't it?

Newtype doesn't fight capes.

JackofTrades: us?
Lt: keep going
Lt: well handle it

Krieg started moving.

I didn't know about one of the twins, but I knew where the other was. I assumed they were both together.

The Empire followed their plan, moving as a group to close in on my 'location.'

Another grenade went off, knocking three of the corner guards over as they tried to get through the first floor. The guy behind the lobby desk shot to his feet in shock. Guy really needed to not get so absorbed in whatever game was on his phone.

Rune made it to the roof, looking over the edge as the source of my particles.

The drug cars drew closer.

Rune flew down to the window, staring at the canister releasing particles into the air.

She pulled out her phone. She quickly found it didn't work. Too close to the GN particles. The particles stopping any of the guards from calling out, and saying I wasn't there.

I tested the pedals and "stretched" the arms. I checked my armaments. One shield, three GN missiles, my carbine, and four beam sabers.

I drew the carbine and raised my shield.

Rune caught on fast, flying away from the building until her signal returned.

SttN: she isnt here
SttN: and my phone is screwy
Lt: what?
SttN: she's NOT here
SttN: just some
SttN: here

Rune sent them a picture of the condenser.

The drug cars turned a corner, entering my line of sight.

LayonHands: whats going on?
SttN: idk
SttN: where'd that pic come from?

Give credit to Rune. She's actually got a brain on her shoulders. Shame she wastes it on Nazism.

I set my thrusters, and let the drive spin up.

No other cars on the road. Limited pedestrians.

Veda's traffic light changes cleared the place out.

SttN: wtf
SttN: A. Snackbar?
Mantis: stupid name
SttN: Ackbar
ReleasetheHounds: is that a snack?
SttN: Star Wars?
ReleasetheHounds: is that a game?
SttN: omg

Too late Rune.

And once again, the Empire capes were out of position.

SttN: its a trap

The light poured into the air.

O Gundam shot off the ground, flying out of the garage and heading straight at the lead car.

The driver braked hard, smoke blooming from the tires as they came to a quick stop. The truck didn't react so fast.

It slammed into the car's rear.

I threw my feet forward, GN propellant pouring out of the thrusters. My suit crushed the hood like a pancake. The back end of the car started to flip, and I slammed my shield into the roof.

Glass shattered, fiberglass and engine crunching with a broken creak around me.

The GN drive fired to full power, and I pushed.

Someone jumped out of the truck.

"Red," I ordered.

My Haro flew from above and threw a grenade at the guy. The small blast that followed knocked him over, and Red landed to tie him up.

Not a cape, I noted.

I drew back. The car stood on its front end, one door hanging limply off the side while a man in a suit climbed out.

Red dealt with him like the last one.

I released my shield and drew a saber. The blade rose over my head, and came down the car right on the middle. I cut the car in half, letting them fall over like a banana peel and spilling the passengers onto the street.

Red threw another grenade and I swung my blade across Alabaster's chest.

He didn't wear a mask. Suppose being all white from head to toe made it pointless. He reached into his white suit, appropriate enough costume.

The grenade exploded.

I grabbed the driver and threw him clear of the car. Alabaster rolled in pain for a moment, and then he seemed fine. Watching Alabaster reset is an odd thing. One second he looks pained or surprised, and the next nothing. Just gone, back like nothing happened.

He started to rise, and my foot came down his chest.

"Hello friend," I said.

Red jumped forward, cords unwinding from his hands.

Alabaster fought against me but my foot didn't move.

"Bitc—"

"Language."

Red came over and wrapped his cords around Alabaster's left hand. My robot pulled, and the rotors of his cradle roared. The little engine strained but managed to pull the Nazi cape's arm taut.

I lifted my foot, and Red started dragging him.

Alabaster grunted and fought, feet searching for purchase as his suit sheared away. He pulled a gun and shot a round at me. The bullet bounced off my helmet. Rattled my ears, but nothing more.

He turned the gun on Red, only for Purple to drop from above and slam into his chest. He gasped for breath, another reaction that vanished when he reset.

The interval is set, not based on outside stimulus.

Good to know.

His gun clattered and Purple bounced on his chest until Red tied his other wrist and then brought both hands together.

Lt: Victor?
Lt: Alabaster?
Walkure: They aren't answering
SttN: I'm going

"Veda, detonate the rest of the grenades."

The air throughout the building warped, more than a dozen stun grenades and GN condensers going off at once. Two more guards hit the ground, and Rune got caught on the edge. She shook unevenly in the air, but I didn't expect it to slow her down much.

I checked on the men I'd disabled so far. The car might explode, and I didn't want them getting hurt after the care that went into not cutting the gas tank with my saber.

"Purple."

With Alabaster tied down, Purple jumped off his chest and popped her ear flaps. She threw a cylinder onto the wreckage. White foam exploded out and choked off the flames.

"Fire control, fire control!"

No other passengers.

The truck driver sat behind his wheel. He held his hands up. I waved my hand. He threw his door open and ran. Saved me the time of dealing with him.

Now…where's Victor?.

The sonic camera showed three guys in the truck interior, with lots of boxes and…

Is that an anti-tank rifle?

One figure pulled something long and heavy looking from a long narrow case.

I flew up.

Yup. He has an anti-tank rifle.

I drifted forward, swung back, and then drove my shield right through the side of the truck.

To his credit, the guy in the black and red spandex managed to swing the weapon around despite the narrow confines and point it at me.

Just like you said, Dinah.

I felt the blow travel up my arm into my chest. The bullet whistled, pinging against my shield and then flying straight up in the air.

A dozen pops echoed around me as a much smaller gun rattled in his hand.

White dust billowed around me as the rounds ricocheted and missed. My shoulder went forward, throwing the first of his guards against the wall. Releasing my shield, my hand lashed out. I grabbed the next guard and threw him out the way I came in.

Purple and Red swarmed him, pulling away his gun and binding him one limb at a time.

I turned, my shield blocking another shot from Victor's rifle. This one dented the flat surface, driving the bullet down and through the floor.

Swinging with my Carbine I fired. Victor dropped the rifle and ducked behind a crate. He moved fast, turned out of the path of my shots. It didn't seem entirely human, almost like that one guy from the movie with bullet dodging.

I admit, it gave me pause.

The second guard, god bless him, tried to punch me. He cursed as the knuckles in his hand cracked. I swung my leg around and hooked his. A simple pull and he tumbled forward and right out of my hole.

Purple and Red moved to deal with him.

Not sure who you steal skills from to move like Victor did.

He came out from behind the box, my shots just barely passing past him. He fired a small pistol, but the gun rattled bullets off in a spray that shook me. When that gun emptied, and he dodged another volley of shots, he pulled a second pistol and fired again.

The magazines dropped as he went, and he threw both guns at me when I charged. His knife came out, slashing at my elbow and sliding over the armor.

Also just like Dinah said.

My foot came down hard, the bed of the truck giving as I shoved my leg through. The vehicle shook, and before Victor could move again I grabbed him. I pulled my leg free and shot forward.

The rear doors bent outward and popped, and I let go.

Victor hit the ground with a grunt and rolled shoulder over shoulder.

He managed to roll onto his feet, a revolver in his hand.

"Red."

My Haro swooped in from above. A stun grenade fell to the ground and popped. Victor maintained his balance, but the two bullets went past me and hit the truck.

I put two shots from my carbine into his chest and thigh, and he fell to the ground.

"Now," I ordered.

Purple flew behind me and threw a grenade into the truck. This one ignited in red and blue flames, taking the entire drug shipment and the truck in one pretty light show.

I slid forward and grabbed Victor, pulling his right arm and twisting it. The revolver fell, and his knife tried for my neck. Didn't work obviously, but I found the coincidence amusing.

"Oni Lee tried that," I noted. "He lost a leg for the effort."

Victor's eyes widened slightly behind his mask.

Like it only dawned on him then how badly the Empire had played this.

Red got another cord around Victor's outstretched wrist and pulled. I lifted him off his feet and holstered my carbine. Taking his other wrist and twisting the knife free, I held it up for Red to tie.

"Rune is approaching," Veda announced.

"Green can handle it."

I maintained my grip on Victor. I'd let him go after he was completely tied up. I imagine he picked up a few escape artist tricks.

"Trap trap!"

The other Haros all flew in opposing directions at once.

Pink saw Rune flying between the buildings.

Pink also saw Rune abruptly stop and snap around.

The thin strings weren't very strong alone, but get a couple dozen of them together? That provides one teenage Nazi falling out of the air just to snap back and hang as four flying robots whirl to keep her from dying.

She struggled of course, which didn't help.

The manhole cover fell for a few feet, then swung back and circled her.

"Keep her busy and let her go," I said. No need to rush. It was a long war.

"Okay okay!"

A crowd gathered at the edges of the street. Cars on either end of the road stopped, people leaning or even stepping out of the doors to watch. Cell phones came out naturally, and one woman even held a camcorder.

How many of them supported the Empire?

How many were too afraid to oppose them?

How many even cared?

"Think this matters?" Victor snarled, as I lifted his bound body. "You're nothing but another upstart."

I glared down at him.

"Did you know only three capes are still around from All Father's days? Kaiser. Krieg. And you."

Victor flinched.

It's true. Hookwolf, and Alabaster joined the Empire later, after All Father died. The rest too. Some didn't even start out in the Empire.

"Upstart I may be," I admitted. "But, you're the one who's tied up."

Victor didn't answer me.

"Don't worry, Vicky. I'm sure the PRT will fuck up keeping you in a cell anyway. You'll be free in no time."

Rune broke free, the manhole cover swooping over her and cutting the lines holding her. The Haros spun and dove to control their flight. The villain managed to land herself on top of her weapon slash transport after falling just a few feet.

Still seemed to take the wind out of her.

"Let's go," I said.

Green, Pink, Navy, and Orange disengaged and flew away.

I threw Victor under one arm and walked down the street to grab Alabaster. He'd managed to crawl a few feet toward the curb, a stiletto knife in his hands working at the binding on his wrist.

He didn't seem to care about cutting himself.

Red pulled the weapon from his hands and I lifted him in my other arm.

He glanced around and seemed content to hang limply.

"Is there an in-flight movie?" he asked.

"Bitch!"

I glanced back, Rune rounding the corner of the T intersection.

"Language," I repeated.

I lifted into the air and spun around.

Couldn't go full speed with my passengers, but I didn't need to. I out sped Rune easily. Red and Purple formed on my flanks, leaving the run of the mill hoods behind.

"Video is appearing online," Veda informed me.

"I'm sure it is." I flew over the skyscrapers and adjusted my course. "Call Ramius. I've got presents."

LayonHands: wheres Victor?
SttN: sorry
SttN: robots caught me
LayonHands: where
SttN: PRT

When I landed on the roof of the building, two troopers waited to greet me. Not very appreciative troopers I might add.

They pointed containment foam launchers at me.

How grateful.

I dropped Victor and Alabaster on the ground.

"Bitch," Victor growled. Such creative linguists, neo-Nazis.

"Um." One trooper glanced to the other. "Hi?"

Rookies. "Can you babysit these two?"

"Um…" The other lowered his weapon. "Console, Newtype is on the roof with Victor and Alabaster…No, they're both tied up. Sure? Okay." He glanced to the other trooper. "Foam 'em."

He better not mean me.

He didn't.

Both troopers sprayed Alabaster and Victor down with the yellow-white mixture. Looked spongy as it solidified.

I stared at them.

I couldn't help but feel I'd been misusing Dinah's power. Asking her about things that could go wrong, probing for errors…Wastes of time. In the end there'd always be something going wrong. There'd always be errors, mine or someone else's.

But start asking Dinah how a fight is going to go?

That's what her power is, I realized. She's not a precog. She's a battle simulator…A forecaster.

And because of her it went easy. So easily it was comedy. I captured Alabaster and Victor. Sure, they might not be flashy members of the Empire, but they were still capes. Capes who formed part of the largest parahuman gang in the city.

I…I won.

Not, Taylor Hebert patching a hole in a sinking ship, or stumbling through a first night out. No Taylor Hebert struggling to figure out what to do, or how to react. No facing down how monumental the task I'd set for myself really was.

I was there, finally, moving forward and Taylor Hebert, perennial loser, fucking won.

"The Director is coming up. She wants to talk to—"

"I'll drop by tomorrow."

My eyes scanned the city map. The opportunity was simply too good. They'd have to take me seriously now.

"She won't like that," the trooper said.

"She'll live."

"She really won't like that."

"Yeah." I smiled a bit. "Sucks when someone does whatever they want and doesn't give a damn about you."

The troopers shared another glance.

"Um…yes it does?"

Piggot will get it.

I shot off and flew back toward Downtown.

"Green, take Orange and encircle the front on Main. I'll hit it next. Pink and Navy, you're next."

I gave the Haros their orders, letting Red and Purple take a direct path while my suit avoided flying too close to Brockton General.

Lining up with my target, a wave of green bloomed behind me, and the air shuttered. My shield went up as I came through the wall. The guards started shooting, and I raised my carbine and shot back.

Watching my map of the city, I kept fighting the urge to laugh.

I didn't want to look like a maniac. It's just…this was different.

Different from the first time I took O Gundam out.

Different from when I started throwing my weight around.

This?

This was almost art.

Lt: she planned this
ReleasetheHounds: no shit
HM: what the hell is going on?

Kaiser saw it all? Was he always there? Did this really make him come out and announce his presence?

Now that he'd used a phone to send a message to the same phones my worm already infected, his got infected too. His location pinged on my map.

Medhall. Figures.

Lt: newtype took victor and alabaster
HM: I saw
HM: What are we doing about it?
Mantis: nothing
HM: Why not?

I laughed to myself.

I couldn't help it anymore.

Watching Krieg explain how he, and all the other empire cape, were stuck in traffic jams, was too damn funny.

A massive, circular traffic jam, trapping nearly every Empire cape in one corner of their territory. With all the other corners completely open to me.

I knocked one guard away with my shield and shot another with my carbine. Red flew over me and threw an incendiary into the closet being used as an impromptu money vault. Loose cash is surprisingly important to a criminal enterprise, and for once the Empire put a lot of it into one place for me.

I kept laughing.

"Are you alright?" Veda asked.

"I'm sorry." I heaved. "I…I think this is the first time I've truly won. In years!"

And the Empire didn't even see it yet.

Victor's fate didn't matter. The PRT would fuck it up, like always. Or maybe they wouldn't. That might be nice. It still didn't matter.

With him in lock up, and the Empire moving to free him, I'd sit back and wait.

Othala would emerge from her hole.

And I'd be ready.