Step 7.5
Having your broken leg set fucking hurts.
I inhaled through my teeth the entire time, my jaw clamped shut as hands maneuvered the bone into place. I'm not sure they cared about doing it right, because Panacea or whatever, but I wish they tried to make it hurt less. Even pain killers didn't help much.
"Hold still," Ramius said.
"You hold still," I snapped. She pressed her hands down on my shoulders, pinning me to the bed as the doctor's finished.
"You're okay," Ramius said.
Am I?
My ribs hurt. My leg felt like it might kill me. People saw my fucking face.
Endbringer truce or not, how did I deal with that? How many saw? Stratos, Laserdream, that girl in the spider outfit, and the EMTs who first picked me up. Stratos and Laserdream wouldn't out me. I hoped. The spider girl – Weaver? – was a Ward I think. I could ask the PRT for help, as much as I'd hate doing it. Sophia fucking Hess died and I- I…
Veda was fighting Leviathan alone. It felt stupid to worry, but I worried. Especially with her code appearing on random tablets in the hospital!
What is happening?
"It's done," the doctor said.
"It doesn't feel done," I snarled.
The many looked sympathetic. "The gang war and now this… We don't have enough painkillers. I'm sorry."
"We need to get to the next room," a nurse said. The man nodded, and turned to me. "Do not put any weight on your leg. With your ribs its best you move as little as possible. Wait here. The healers are working their way through the building."
But I'm a low priority. Great. Of all the times to not be dying.
"Taylor." I raised my head. "Are you well?"
I turned to Red, who remained seated by my pillow.
"Veda?" I asked. "Ved-"
I shut my mouth. I glanced to my other side. Ramius turned her back and looked out the window, saying nothing.
FUCK.
"StarGazer. What happened?"
"Leviathan has retreated," Veda said. "The battle is over."
Then why did it feel like the shit kept rolling down on me?
"Are you well?" Veda asked.
I let my head fall back on the pillow.
"I hurt," I snarled. I inhaled and closed my eyes.
People saw my face.
My suits got wrecked.
I said Veda's name in front of Ramius.
I inhaled again.
Boston is okay.
Leviathan's retreating.
We won, then, right?
"I'm… Okay." I forced the words out.
Calm down.
It's done.
I needed to start working on the aftermath. Aegis, Clockblocker, and - don't think about Sophia - Velocity dead? How to handle that. How to mitigate any potential fallout from my mask cracking. How to get my suits back up and running.
The Endbringer truce tended to last until the memorial monument went up. The PRT always erected one, giving the names of the fallen and commemorating the battle. A week. Maybe a week and a half. Astraea needed new armor and circuits. I trashed- Why do my ribs hurt so much?!
"Newtype."
Ramius crouched at my bedside and took my hand.
"Breathe slowly," she said.
"I am-"
I stopped hyperventilating, not ever realizing I'd been doing it. Fuck that hurt my ribs.
"In," Ramius said. "And out. You're in shock. It's alright. It's over. The city is still here."
I blinked, forcing my breaths to slow.
"We won?" I asked. Felt like a stupid question.
Ramius forced a smile and nodded. "We won. Boston is still here."
I nodded. "How many?"
"How many what?"
I swallowed. "Capes. How many?"
"Newtype-"
"Please."
Ramius frowned. "Eighty-four," she said. "That's how many died when I walked out of the control room. Maybe twice that many injured."
That's it?
It seemed like… so many more. How many of us still fought at the end? Maybe forty? I'd seen hundreds of capes before the battle.
The nurse came back, and Ramius left my side to speak to her.
I tried doing the math in my head. So many capes scattered by the waves and unable to fight. Maybe some reported dead who survived? The city looked broken. Skyscrapers and buildings toppled, the bay destroyed.
Good thing it was summer. I didn't think Harvard law school will be open anytime soon.
"Newtype."
Ramius came back, and behind her the nurse injected something into my IV.
"You should get some sleep," Ramius said. "Just try to sleep. I'll be right here."
Sleep? I didn't want to sleep I needed to plan. I needed to this pillow is a lot nicer than you'd think.
I ended up asleep.
Not sure for how long.
When I woke up, I still heard the chaos beyond my curtain. People shouting orders and alarms going off. It looked dark outside, but not from clouds. I saw the moon shining down, and some stars. A lot of stars. Stars I normally only saw after flying way up to get away from some of the city lights.
Ramius stood by the window, talking on the phone.
My phone.
"-o, sir. She's alright. I asked the nurse to put her to sleep a couple hours ago. She's been resting."
Talking to her superiors? On my phone that didn't make any sense.
"When can I talk to her?" The voice on the other side asked.
I raised my head.
"Is that my dad?" I asked.
Ramius turned, looking surprised. She nodded, and held the phone out to me.
Rather than let me grab it, Green jumped up from the floor and took it. He passed it to Navy, who passed it to Orange, who passed it to Pink, who passed it to Red, who held it up to my face.
"Dad?" I asked.
"Taylor," he said with pure relief. "I-I'm sorry. Ved-StarGazer said you were okay, but I kept worrying and I decided to call your phone-"
"I'm okay," I said. "Except for the ribs," – "What happened to your ribs?!" – "and the leg." "What happened to your leg?!"
"Fuck Leviathan," I said. I huffed. "He's a dirty cheater."
"Is there a doctor, or a nurse-"
"Yeah. They said I'm not dying, so I'm at the bottom of the list for any healers. Kind of sucks."
"Newtype?" Ramius held her hand out. Red passed her the phone and she lifted it to her head. "She's alright, sir. Someone actually came by and fixed the bones. She's still in pain because he couldn't do anything about it, she'll be fine."
"Don't hang up," I said. "Please?"
And I noticed I didn't feel angry talking to him.
I felt relieved. Safe.
Fuck, I'm still a little girl who desperately wants her father…
Ramius nodded and set the phone on my bed.
"Do not say any names," Ramius whispered to both of us. I flinched, remembering my earlier slip. "The Endbringer truce is serious, but there are villains in the building and they've violated it before. Just be careful."
I nodded.
"I'll be right back," she said. She looked a little sullen. "I was asked to report when you woke up. Hero and Alexandria are just down the hall."
Hero and Alexandria? And the- "They want to talk to me."
Ramius nodded. And she didn't seem happy about it.
She stepped around the curtain and walked out of the room. Felt weird, but I wasn't alone with the Haros surrounding me and dad on the phone. Probably as safe as I'd get in a hospital after a battle with a water monster.
Why did Ramius seem worried? Might still be a little loopy from the pain killers, actually. That worry went away oddly easily.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"It's okay, kiddo."
Thinking back, no I was still angry. But, less angry than before. Whatever.
"StarGazer?"
"I am here," Veda said. "One moment."
"Hello!" Lafter? "So I heard someone went and got into a brawl with discount Godzilla? And I thought I was the goofy one."
"She did what?!" Dad asked.
"That's mean," Dinah said.
"You need to learn to take a joke," Lafter replied.
"That was a joke?" Trevor asked.
I couldn't help the smile on my face.
I put a hand on top of Red's ball, and tried my best to be still. Other than the broken ribs and leg, my body felt pretty sore.
"Are you okay?" Dinah asked. "I didn't ask."
"I'm fine," I said.
"Better be," Trevor grumbled. "I kind of like this job."
"Eh," Lafter went, "it's alright. Better when there's bad guys to punch who go down with punching. Although I heard someone went and got their ribs broken, tinkered some superweapons at an Autozone, and then got their leg broken and faced down Leviathan with a 'come at me' face."
What?
"WHAT?!" Dad shouted.
"It didn't go that way, Dad," I said. Or… did it? "Wait, how did you-"
"It's all over PHO," Trevor said.
"Already?" I asked.
"It's been like, six hours. Some Ward named Flash posted the story on the Endbringer Tales thread. He thinks you're insane."
"Everyone else thinks you're a bad ass," Dinah said. "There are already fanfics." I have fanfics?
"Language sprout!" Lafter said.
"You're grounded," Dad said firmly.
God damn it.
"They're also saying you fired a 'fuck it' beam," Trevor continued, "And that StarGazer solo'd Leviathan and forced it to retreat."
"It's not a fuck it beam- What?"
"I didn't name it," Trevor said.
Lafter laughed. "It's funny!"
"No," I shook my head. "Not that part, the other part!"
"The part where StarGazer solo'd Leviathan?"
"Yes! What?"
The tablet. I glanced to my bedside but I didn't see it anymore. I definitely saw Veda's code on the screen.
"I may have resorted to extreme measures," Veda said.
"Define extreme?" I asked.
"It was necessary to hack into several computer systems in order to run an accurate prediction engine on Leviathan."
My jaw slacked.
"What computer systems?"
"Boston University. MIT. Harvard. Northeastern University. Boston Police Department. Office of the Mayor. Boston Medical. Brockton Community College. Brockton Bay General Hospital. Brockton Bay Police Department. Brockton Bay Department of Motor Vehicles. Bakuda's workshop. The Internal Revenue Service," – oh god Veda hacked the IRS – "and four hundred fifty-eight thousand home and personal computers."
I stared at the ceiling.
"Holy shit," Lafter said. "Is she allowed to do that?"
"If you have to ask," Dinah said, "probably not."
"If it helps," Veda said, "I have determined the precise location Leviathan attempted to protect. I aimed to strike it, but he retreated."
"Online they're saying Leviathan 'pussed out like a bitch,'" Trevor said. "Not my words. Also you hacked Bakuda's workshop?"
Oh no, Veda.
"It was a good idea at the time? Her processors are almost on par with my own."
"Do I want to ask what kind of super power lets a cape do that?" Trevor asked.
None, because she's not a… Oh no.
"Did anyone see?" I asked.
"I… Believe it has been noticed," Veda answered.
No.
My mind went into overdrive. How could I possibly hide this? Did I even need to hide this? Veda went one-on-one with an Endbringer and made it run. Is it the time to tell the truth- No. Fuck that. People are hysterical idiots. I'd get some support but I'd get just as many enemies, and the PRT might decide an AI that can fight an Endbringer is an Endbringer in itself! They'd do what they always did and insist on containing the problem, in this case the problem being Veda.
I glanced to the curtain, my blood running cold.
Alexandria and Hero wanted to talk to me, and Ramius didn't like it.
They know. Veda's been discovered, and-
"What about the Gundams?" I asked.
"I have secured Astraea," Veda said. "Queen is… damaged. Lieutenant Ramius has arranged transport."
"I've kind of looked over it," Trevor said. "Astraea just needs some parts switched out. Queen needs new legs, an arm, and an entirely new casing for that power core you're using. I don't really know enough about it to say. Looks pretty damaged."
Footsteps drew closer and I cursed.
"Later," I said.
I ended the call and let Red take my phone.
I waited, my mind racing to find some excuse. Come up with some plausible story.
Probably easier to do if I asked Dinah some questions and got help.
Damn drugs. Not thinking at my best, and I really needed to be thinking at my best.
The footsteps continued on their way. No one came.
What to do?
I glanced around my little curtained area. Some medical equipment, none of it hooked up to me, and a bedside stand with wheels with nothing on it. No surveillance. No handcuffs. My costume hung open, and I guess they cut my bra off when checking my ribs so I'd been flashing everyone who came by wow pain killers are something.
There's always the higher form of valor.
Walk away. Buy time to think.
Ramius said someone fixed my bones, so I swung my leg over the bed and dropped to the floor. Which hurt. I winced and stumbled, but my leg held.
I held a finger to my lips and the Haros quietly followed me. Behind the curtain I saw other curtains. More capes resting? The closed off areas ran the length of the room, a long ward I found myself at the end of.
I walked forward briskly but quietly. Ramius said the end of the hall, so I moved fast and then peered out the door.
"Where's Dr. Po?" Someone called. "I need Dr. Po has anyone seen her?"
A woman with her hair tied back in two braids stood up from a man lying on the floor and waved.
Blood covered her arms and legs, and those of the man approaching her too.
"The critical downstairs," the man said. "BP is dropping."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"How long?"
"I don't know."
Po did not look pleased. She pulled her gloves off, walking past me and shouting, "I need a crash team!"
"There aren't any," someone said.
"Then make one!"
I stepped out into the hall, looking left and right. People on stretchers and gurneys. Capes, some moving some not. Missing limbs, broken bodies. I walked forward slowly, watching as people scrambled back and forth with various medical things in their arms. I saw two girls, my age, laying on the same gurney holding hands, and a man on another after them with no legs. Two women in bloody clothes stood over him, trying to stop the bleeding.
Twice as many injured, Ramius said.
It looks worse than hearing eighty-four people died.
I turned a corner to get out of the hallway in case Hero or Alexandria started looking.
Bad call.
"You!"
I froze, turning toward a woman with dark skin as she pushed bandages into my arms.
"You can walk you can help," she snapped. "Lets go!"
"I-"
"Pressure! Here!"
I pushed the bandages against the wound. The man winced, and I started to pull back. The woman grabbed my wrist and forced me to push harder.
"You're hurting him," I said.
"If he can feel pain he's still alive," she snapped. "PRESSURE!"
I pushed, watched her work some clamps in the man's open stomach. My power spoke up, explaining some of the tools and what she was doing. Severe internal and external injuries. Severe blood loss. The other doctors, or nurses – whoever- jostled me on the left and right, all three of them working quickly.
I stood there and pressed.
Red climbed up onto the table and started helping. He grabbed a containment foam sprayer and using it to block some of the smaller wounds.
Six hours.
Six hours, and they were still trying to save people?
"Get him downstairs," the woman said. "They'll need to start cleaning up the mess. NEXT!"
I stepped back, blood dripping from my hands as they started moving on. Did they forget me? D-
I turned to the flash of red and gold.
Frontal they called him?
He stood over another gurney, his hands holding rolled up shirts to a stumped leg while a doctor worked on the woman. He didn't seem to be paying attention. Too busy staring at me.
I felt like an idiot.
"That's a dirty trick you pulled," I said.
Frontal tilted his head to one side. The doctor said something, and he pulled his hands away. Two big burly guys in overalls – firemen – came forward, and they started pushing the gurney down the chaotic hall.
"That's an accusation," he said. He took a step forward, and I flinched. The Haros whirled, four surrounding me while Green and Purple jumped onto a bench and flapped their ears. "You know how it goes for me." He kept walking. "Everything I make breaks."
He stepped past me, and I frowned.
He tried to kill me.
Or, set me up to be killed, I guess. I got so lucky. If Sophia-
"Well," he mumbled. "Glad to see you made it, I guess. Sorry about that."
"No, you're not."
"If that's how you want to see it."
My hands balled into fists.
"I'm sorry," I said. "About Uber."
His footsteps stopped.
"And I said sorry about my tech breaking. Doesn't really change anything, does it?"
No. Probably not.
He continued on his way, and I stood in the hall.
Leet tried to kill me.
Because Uber died? Because I robbed his tech? Ruined his servers? Got him arrested? All of the above?
That's a… first.
Most people who wanted me dead wanted me dead because I got in the way. I don't think most of the villains in Brockton held a personal enmity toward me. I'm a hero who did hero things, and they're villains. We weren't meant to like each other.
He violated the Endbringer truce.
Fuck. How did this crap keep happening to me?
Just an opportunity he didn't pass up, or did he plan to come to Brockton Bay again and pursue me?
Fuck.
I went forward and through a set of doors. I saw the doctors roll people that way, talking about taking them downstairs. So they meant the basement, or I was on a higher floor? Crap I could have looked out the window and figured that out. I passed through the doors and froze when two PRT troopers looked at me from the other side. They stood like guards, everyone else just walking around them.
On my right, I saw more gurneys. Not capes this time. People. Regular, ordinary people, looking like they got lifted right out of whatever they were doing and drenched in cherry sauce.
Of course they did.
Leviathan hit an entire city. It wouldn't only be capes who got hurt. People who didn't make it to shelters. People who got hurt getting into shelters. Volunteers without powers who stayed outside and tried to help. They didn't even need to encounter Leviathan. The waves knocked out glass windows, lifted vehicles, broke buildings.
"You okay?" One of the troopers asked.
"Hmm?" I turned, looking up at the man. "Oh. Yeah."
"Move along," the other said. "We need to keep the doors clear. If you're good to walk you're free to go."
I am?
"Okay."
I picked a direction and walked. The Haros followed after me. Guess no one told the guards to stop me?
The chaos continued. I'm not even sure how many doctors the hospital really had. I saw completely ordinary people who didn't seem to know what to do asking for instructions. PRT troopers with red crosses on their shoulders directed others who didn't. Police and firemen went back and forth, wheeling people up and down halls, or carrying them in stretchers and backboards.
I smelled salty air and followed it.
I hate hospitals, and seeing all of… that, just made it worse.
Outside. Outside would be better it's not better.
I went through the doors, stepping aside as EMTs wheeled a man in armor through the doors. Ambulances drove through the two-foot-lake that probably used to be a parking lot. And a boat?
Oh.
Thank Leviathan. He flooded the city so much the ambulance boat could drive right up to the ER!
It almost made me want to laugh. That or the pain killers. Hard to say. Kind of ironic because my leg still hurt pretty bad so they weren't doing the pain killing part very well.
"Where are you going?"
I frowned and turned toward Armsmaster.
Just the person I wanted to see, what with the whole nearly killing himself and me thing.
He stood in his armor, bandages over the shoulder where his arm used to be.
"A walk," I said. "I hate hospitals."
"People are looking for you," he said. "Follow me."
"Don't want to."
If the Protectorate planned on nailing me to the wall, I sure as hell wouldn't march to it with fucking Armsmaster. Or is it, Armmaster, now? Wow that's a joke in bad taste, but it's still kind of funny. What is it with me and people I don't like losing limbs?
"Fucking painkillers," I mumbled.
"This is not a request," Armsmaster said. "Do something for your own good for once."
"Like not saving your ass from impalement?" I asked.
He scowled. I scowled. The Haros chirped something about the burn ward. We both scowled.
Honestly, what did he plan to do? Arrest me with one arm crap he probably can arrest me with one arm.
I glanced out over the flooded parking lot. Lacking pickup, I didn't see myself making it far. Not when the people who wanted to 'talk' flew and I didn't have a working suit. And my leg hurt. They'd just find me in Brockton Bay anyway, so really what am I doing? I ditched the hospital room to find time to think and all that got me was an unpleasant conversation and a front row seat to General Hospital: Endbringer Edition. Didn't get around to the thinking part.
The jig was up, I suppose.
"Fine."
I turned on my good heel and limped forward. Armsmaster stepped aside. Not sure how he noticed me, but I guess a call went out to find the 'rogue tinker who made an AI.'
Fuck, I still needed a plan to deal with that.
What lie could I come up with? Just saying Veda had vague tinker/thinker powers wouldn't play anymore. They'd want more specifics.
Powers tended to do one thing. Most capes weren't Eidolon, or Legend. Crusader made ghosts. Kaiser made metal. Vista warped space. One thing, one thing…
Technopath.
Veda's a technopath.
She can, infuse herself into machines and control them like her own body? Hell, it explained why no one ever saw her. She 'lived' in machines. It's not even a lie. I can twist that around into something that's half-true. It might ding for thinkers, but they'd have no way to know exactly what I was lying about.
As long as Tattletale isn't in the room.
Just stay calm and focused.
Ramius turned her head as Armsmaster led me to the gallows.
Beside her, I recognized director Armstrong. He looked a little tired, but then again the battle started at around eighty twenty at night and that ended maybe six and a half hours ago? The man probably hadn't slept in twenty-four hours.
More concerning, Hero. His arm hung in a cast, and his armor looked dented and scratched. He smiled though, talking to Legend. Between them, Alexandria stood like a statue, unmoving and staring right at me.
"I found her," Armsmaster said. "She was outside."
"Thank you, Armsmaster," Alexandria said. "Stratos was looking for you. Miss Militia is out of surgery."
Armsmaster nodded, and said, "I think-"
"This is a sensitive matter," Alexandria said, in a voice that also said 'do as I say.' "We will discuss it privately."
Armsmaster nodded. He turned and left, and that meant I got to face down the Triumvirate with six Haros and nothing else.
Yey.
I swallowed, which botched my 'stay calm and focus' plan right there.
The weight is completely different. They're three of the oldest and most famous heroes in the world. They're named after the three military geniuses that usurped power and ruled Rome. Hero's calm smile, Legend's happy smile, and Alexandria's death gaze might as well be marked with a sign reading 'you can't beat them' and my plan was to lie through my teeth? How did I come up with that plan?
Alexandria, the invincible woman.
Hero, the greatest tinker in the world. Jesus his name is literally Hero. He'd be a laughing stock if he didn't live up to it.
Legend, the living laser. Something I'd seen first-hand when Leviathan hit him and he just, lasered.
"This way," Hero said. "Not in the hall."
The three of them turned, and Armstrong too. Ramius put a hand on my back and nodded to me, and I walked with her. We weaved our way into a section of the hospital that seemed a lot calmer, and then went into an empty room.
"They'll need to wait outside," Hero said, nodding to the Haros. "No recording devices."
"Not fair, not fair!"
"It's fine."
They probably didn't want Veda listening in on a talk about herself.
This is it.
Lie through my teeth, and lie well. Only way to avoid the worst happening… Or tell the truth? Am I just being hysterical? Veda fought Leviathan on her own. Sure she hacked a hoard of processing power to do it, but I could spin that right? I made Veda to change the world. The Endbringers needed to die for that to ever happen.
"Nice to talk without lives on the line," Hero said. He held out his hand and some device flashed into it. He set it down and the top opened and lit up. Anti-listening device? Lie detecter? Truth tech? "Can actually relax a little bit."
"This is serious," Alexandria said. "Let's not make light of the situation."
"We can afford to be friendly," Hero said. "No one here did anything wrong."
…
Say that again?
"I didn't?" I asked. Why. Why would you ask that?!
"Did you?" Alexandria asked. "We've spoken to Adamant and Flechette. They both say Frontal looked at you oddly, and that he left you in Leviathan's path despite offering to take you for medical treatment."
"Do you know who he is?" Legend asked.
Wait.
"This is about Leet?" I asked.
"See?" Hero asked. He smiled. "She knows."
This… isn't about Veda?
"I think Newtype may mistakenly think we wanted to discuss the, anomaly," Armstrong said.
"We'll broach that topic another time," Alexandria said. We will? "StarGazer's accessing of private networks without permission is not something we need to make a federal case out of given the circumstances. The truce is far more important."
Did I get more pain killers? I feel like someone gave me more pain killers.
"What, about Leet?" I asked.
"He tried to kill you," Ramius said. Oh, that's what she didn't like.
"It's partially our fault," Hero said. "Leet has never used that alias or identity before. It's obvious in retrospect, but in the rush to ready for battle it didn't gain notice."
"Normally, we advise those organizing Endbringer battles to keep acrimonious capes apart," Armstrong said. "There's too much at stake to turn down help, but it's better for everyone if we avoid temptation."
"Leet brought a new identity, which only makes this more concerning," Legend said.
"It's possible he took up a new name and costume solely to get a chance at harming you," Alexandria said. "If so, then we're dealing with a blatant violation of the Endbringer truce, and not someone making a very bad choice when presented the chance."
"Did he say anything?" Armstrong asked. "He claims his equipment malfunctioned, and being Leet, we can't really discount that excuse on its own."
Good luck.
"He," – fuck – "He said, good luck?"
Ramius turned to me. "To you or, to the team with your weapons?"
"I don't know? My back was turned."
No. I did know. I saw him in the hall and talked to him. He knew exactly what he did and he did it on purpose. He didn't admit it or anything, but he set me up to die- Fuck the déjà vu started. I've been here before.
"Hero?" Legend asked.
"I checked the device," Hero said. He glanced to Legend, and then Alexandria. "It did malfunction."
It's Winslow. It's happening again. They're going to-
"He can fake that though," Hero said. "I did it myself when the PRT instituted some of those safety regs back in 2004?"
"Those regs were for the benefit of everyone," Alexandria said.
"They were pointless," Hero replied. He waved his hand. "Beside the point. Leet could easily fake a malfunction. If he planned to do it from the start, he'd do it that way."
"His intentions are plain as day," Alexandria said. "The problem is what to do about it? Leet is a well-known tinker, and everyone knows his tech breaks. It's a bullshit excuse, but there's enough meat for him to stick a fork in it."
"There's no one who wouldn't see the timing as blatant," Ramius said.
"PR has its own fog of war," Alexandria said. "Removed from the moment, add six months and hordes of rumors from PHO, and it'll be a complete blur if Leet did it on purpose, or honestly ran into a technical problem."
"He tried to kill me," I mumbled.
"Yes," Legend said. "And the problem is the truce. It's fragile. Hopes and wishes are really the only things that keep it alive."
"And desperation," Hero said. "The villains need cities to be standing too, but we can't afford for the next call we send out to be answered with trepidation by tinkers afraid any mistake on their part will result in accusations of malice."
"It's a possibility," Alexandria said. "Everyone knows Leet's tech breaks. They might think we're showing favoritism toward a hero by accusing him, or being unfair. He's not an unsympathetic figure with his identity exposed and his former partner killed as a result."
My hand tightened. "So what? Nothing happens?" Again. Someone tries to kill me again and nothing happens. Sophia-
"No," Legend said. "Of course not. We all know what Leet did. We can't overlook it."
"But the big picture is still there," Hero said. "We need to handle this carefully, or it'll be harder to get tinkers to participate in Endbringer fights. This one in particular shows how powerful well prepared tinkers can be."
"Armsmaster and Dragon predicted the attack," Alexandria said. "Armsmaster's combat algorithm didn't last, but bought us necessary time. StarGazer copied it and forced Leviathan off. The railguns you designed have significant potential if refined in future battles. This was a big battle for tinkers."
"Though speaking of your railguns, we have to confiscate them," Hero said. "Nothing personal, but you literally need a permit for those things and I'm guessing you don't have one."
"What?" I asked.
"Ramius can provide the paperwork," Alexandria said. "They'll be returned unmolested if you want them back. Congress has regulations about tinker tech weaponry, and while your particle cannon slips through the narrow minded cracks by not firing a projectile, the railguns are squarely within them."
I frowned. "Technically they're coil guns."
"And they're impressive for something cooked up in the middle of a fight. In an Autozone. With a box of scraps." Hero shook his head. "I never thought I'd say that sentence. File the paperwork. My team approves those permits, and yours will be approved. It won't be looked kindly on if you go around using them on Kaiser," – "Overkill," Alexandria said – "but they're perfect for Endbringers."
Stupid tinker tech laws.
And why are they… being helpful?
"Back to the matter at hand," Alexandria said.
"Time to talk shop later, right." Hero turned to me. "What do you want?"
What do you want?
"Come again?"
"What do you want?" Legend asked.
He said it again.
"Sorry," I said. "No one usually asks me that question?" Not anyone in authority anyway.
"There's downsides no matter what we do," Alexandria said. "We can't ignore what we know Leet did. It'll probably be a footnote overall, but there's no room. He violated the truce. We all know he did."
"But going after him could make future fights harder," Hero said. "You're the one he tried to kill. We could go about this a couple different ways, but it seems appropriate to involve you in that decision."
"We're also not blind to the circumstances," Legend said. "The PRT and Protectorate have failed you before. There's a certain matter of righting wrongs here."
…
"Newtype?" Ramius asked.
"Processing," I said.
That is not what I expected.
Ramius frowned, and glanced to Armstrong. "What are the things we can do?"
"Subtle warning," Armstrong said. "That would be the least. Make clear we know what he did. We won't tolerate it happening again. Make sure the point gets across."
"We could arrest him," Hero said. "He is a villain. Sweep him up in a normal arrest, present it publicly as his fourth capture but privately make it known why we're doing it."
"Both options allow us to let rumor do the work," Alexandria said. "Without having to make any official acknowledgments by the Protectorate or the PRT."
"Birdcage?" Ramius asked.
"Three strikes law applies," Alexandria said. "I'm not sure we can make caging Leet go over well. Most people think he's a goof and an idiot, not a serious threat. He's no Marquis. No Lustrum. No Glaistig Uaine. People will say he doesn't belong there, and they have thousands of hours of idiotic internet videos to back them up."
"Stepping past that," Hero said, "there's an investigation. We make a show of wanting to ensure the truce is enforced. Let facts come up and make of them the best we can."
"The nuclear option is an official denouncement," Alexandria said. "But that also has the highest risk for long term repercussions in repelling the Endbringers."
"We have to make a choice," Legend said. "But you should have your say."
He looked at me.
They all looked at me.
I'm being asked for my opinion on national cape politics.
I turned my jaw. "You try to keep acrimonious capes apart?" I asked.
"We do," Hero said.
I licked my lip a little. Dry.
"Then why was Shadow Stalker sent to me?"
They knew. I'd been told they knew. They all knew about Taylor Hebert the bullied girl, and who shoved her in that locker.
"It was my call," Alexandria said. "You requested two capes who could modify projectiles. There weren't that many left, and of them Flechette and Shadow Stalker fit best. I made the choice."
Alexandria sent her and hoped I wouldn't flip? Or that Sophia wouldn't notice Newtype is Taylor Hebert?
It's an Endbringer. There's no room for teenage bullshit.
I lowered my head.
I tried to think through the consequences. Rationally.
The Endbringers could end the world. Veda calculated it based on publicly available data. Twenty, maybe twenty-four years? Eventually there'd be a breaking point. The number of capes to fight them would drop, or nations would become desperate. Wars for resources. Wars for capes.
They needed to die, and there's no room for the crap Leet pulled in that.
At the same time, I didn't… unsee, their point. Leet definitely tried to kill me, but I'd seen on PHO how things took on lives of their own. He'd have defenders and the rest of us detractors. People would question if he really meant to get me killed. Hell, they'd point out I'm still alive and make inane comments about 'well that plan sucked.' Some shit like that.
It could damage the Endbringer truce even worse. I'd walked the wards enough to see how bad it was now.
Then I tried to think through the consequences emotionally and he tried to kill me.
"It can't be allowed," I mumbled. "There's too much at stake. What Leet did would have every cape looking over their shoulder instead of watching the Endbringer in front of them. It'll get more capes killed."
"You're not wrong," Hero said.
"But," I mumbled – and fuck Leet – "I see the problem."
"Newtype," Ramius said.
"No," I said. "I get it. The truce is fragile. Going after Leet hard makes the whole thing a debate, and once it becomes a debate it all devolves into lines, people testing lines. Looking to take advantage. He has the perfect power to try this shit. The 'but it's not like that' is baked right in, however obviously bullshit it is."
The truce, the unwritten rules, is bullshit, but it works because it's loose. And it's necessary, especially now. There weren't enough heroes to fight the Endbringers. We needed villains to help. That status quo would change, but for now… This sucks.
"He's a villain," I mumbled. "Arrest him. And maybe try to hang onto him this time?"
"There is a chance he'll escape," Alexandria said. "Believe it or not, we don't actively let parahumans escape prison. It's just not an easy task to keep them locked up."
"Maximum security," Armstrong said. "We'll watch closely."
"He won't end up a Ward?" I asked. I did not need that shit.
"After this?" Hero shook his head. "Hell no. He's burned that bridge."
"I'll handle it," Legend said firmly. "We'll pick him up right before the truce ends. That'll make people wonder."
"I'll contact Dragon," Hero said. "We'll make sure the right words get to the right places. The rumors will work themselves."
"It's decided then," Alexandria said.
As long as Leet didn't get a shot to come at me again.
Who am I kidding? He'll come at me again. Eventually.
At least this time, someone did something. Asked my opinion. Low fucking bar but I'd take it with the relief that no one wanted to crucify Veda.
"We've been here long enough," Alexandria said. "There's still work to do."
Hero nodded and picked up his device. "Newtype."
They both left quickly. Legend lingered, asking, "Is StarGazer listening?" He nodded down to the Haros as they entered the room.
"I am here," Veda said.
"I have to ask you not to make a habit of that," Legend said. "The circumstances and results being what they are? Not even Blue Cosmos is that crazy. They'll raise a fuss but they'll let it be." Legend glanced to me. "Be ready for that."
"I will keep that in mind," Veda said.
"We'd like to talk more," Legend said. "You did well for your first Endbringer battle. Some people thought Dragon was blowing smoke but, results speak. Though, Chambers isn't happy with the name."
Chambers? "Why should the Simurgh monopolize hope by killing it?"
"I'd get yourself in front of a camera and say that," Legend said. "It's a good line. Your leg alright?"
"Yeah. Hurts, but whatever."
"Othala was under guard while she did it," Armstrong said. "Fortunately she doesn't have the ability to actually hurt anyone with her power."
I waited till they left.
"Othala?" I asked.
"She was the first healer I found," Ramius said.
And she grabbed her for me. That's… "Why was she here?"
"She was in a nearby facility," Ramius said. "They let her out in exchange for her power."
I'd read about the PRT doing that before. Let villains go when an Endbringer is nearby so long as they promise to help.
Feels bitterer when it's a villain I worked so hard to catch.
"And then what? She's free?"
"That's the deal," Ramius said. Of course it was. She'd never do it for time off.
Because of the Endbringers. Leet tries to kill me, and the Protectorate says they have to let it go. I catch Othala and they have to release her. Veda gets exposed, maybe. All because of the Endbringers. My face got exposed. Sophia fucking Hess died, and I was happy for it because of fucking Endbringers.
They're not villains.
They're not out for money, or power.
It's just destruction and death.
I inhaled.
Three months and Behemoth attacks. I'd be more careful. Prepare better. I'd have to wait and see how Leet and Othala worked out in the meantime and continue my plans in Brockton.
"StarGazer," I asked. "You found what we were looking for?"
"I believe so," she said.
Ramius tilted her head to one side.
I didn't care. Veda found it. Something he needed. An internal organ. A core. A brain. Something. Something Leviathan wanted to protect. Something he pulled a new trick to keep someone from hitting. If he ran the moment she tried to strike it, then… They can be killed.
Good.
"Next time, it dies."
