A Waken 10.10
I angled myself right toward the building. Figures moved on the other side of the glass. Shadows, big and small. It was like watching ants scurry about, unsure which direction safety lay.
I'd feel bad but…Well, it was getting to sound kind of stupid.
Eh. Whatever.
Fuck the Nazis.
Buildings flew past and I raised my longsword. The street was mostly clear. Veda manipulated the traffic lights to assure that.
All clear.
I fired.
Green light cut through the sky of Brockton Bay and blasted the side of the Medhall building. Glass cracked and I barreled through the window into a conference room. Metal shot from the floor. The table shredded and men screamed.
The spikes pinged off my armor, but they kept pushing.
I pulled a beam saber from Exia's hip and swung through the metal. More shot forward and I cut through that too. I pushed on the pedals and drove Exia forward. Metal broke and bent and I forced my way into sight of the man.
Max Anders had already started covering himself with armor.
I took aim and started to squeeze the trigger.
Air rippled across the floor. Metal ground out. Spikes jutted up with lightning speed, knocking Exia's arm up and away. Blood spilled and I noticed a few men in suits scrambling away. Some bore cuts on their arms and legs.
Kaiser isn't afraid of friendly fire apparently.
I shouldered my way through the metal barbs. The material grew quick and sharp, and it seemed as sturdy as any forged steel. Didn't seem to extract matter from the floor as it was made.
Some kind of generator effect, yanking energy and material from somewhere else.
I lifted off the floor as spikes tried to pin Exia in place and took aim again. Right at Kaiser's fat racist face. I fired. A wall of steel shot from the ground and the blast dissipated against the surface.
I charged forward, pushing the drive to max and cutting through the steel spikes with my saber. I'd grab him by the skull and throw him into the ceiling if needed.
Someone decided to tackle me.
I'd call that insane but when I grabbed hold to pull the woman away she got bigger. Guess Max brought his bimbos to important business meetings. Couldn't tell which one she was so I just decided to call her Bimbo One.
I punched her in the face.
She gasped but held on, actually pushing Exia back toward the ledge. Kaiser stepped out from behind his wall. A steel beam beamed out of the ground and hit me in the faceplate. Exia toppled, falling back into the air. I held onto Bimbo One. If Kaiser wanted to help me divide and conquer I'd gladly accept.
The woman yelped as I dragged her down with me. I spun about and fired the GN drive to full. Exia rocketed down as she struggled and I only started to slow thirty feet off the street. Bimbo One slammed right into the roof of a car.
Crushed it with her ten-foot tall fat ass.
Behind me, people backed away. Traffic came to a stop on either side of the street and sirens blared. I rose up over the woman, standing on the wreck she sprawled over.
I swung the Buster Sword forward and hit her in the side of the head as hard as I could. Her skull snapped to the side and her eyes went wide. I slammed my foot down into her stomach, crushing her into the car.
She stopped growing.
I conferred with Dinah ages ago. Roughing her up a bit wouldn't kill her, but the Bimbo Twins became a problem if I let them grow tower sized. Better to just knock one of them out immediately.
A bullet pinged off my armor. Then another. I turned, GN pistol firing at the Medhall security guards. I'd feel bad if I didn't know most of them were Empire.
No distinction between the Empire and Medhall. They're one and the same.
I knocked three onto their backs, and turned to shoot a fourth when a shadow fell over me.
I shot back into the street before Bimbo Two slammed into the ground. She glared at me and she's not in costume. Obviously. I mean, of course she wasn't.
Still. Totally weird. She wore a suit that looked fairly pricey, and tied her hair back into a fancy braid. Her blue eyes glared at me. And she was tall. Second story tall.
I fired my pistol at her face. She ignored the pepper of beams and brought her foot down. The street cratered and a dozen car alarms went off to the sound of shattering glass. Bimbo Two spared a glance for Bimbo One, still laying where I left her and back to normal size.
Taking the chance, I blasted off and slammed my shield into her jaw. The woman cursed. She swiped at me. I spun around the blow and slashed my long sword along the back of her hand.
She flinched but didn't stop. The cut felt weird, like when I tried to cut Squealer's tank and found the object oddly resistant. Only a little blood showed. Looked more like a paper cut than anything.
I shot back and flew down the street as she countered.
And I kept flying for two blocks before turning the corner and vanishing from sight.
I turned left. Then left again. I flew back three blocks and turned left two more times.
She was looking at her sister when I barreled into the back of her head at full speed. Exia shook around me and the E-Carbon groaned. Bimbo Two tilted and fell forward to one knee, shaking the ground again. I hit her in the side of the head as hard as I could and switched my long sword for my short sword.
She thrust her elbow back and started to spin. I stayed behind her stabbing my short sword into her neck and activating it. She made a throaty snarl. Nothing more.
I avoided her attempt to head butt me and shot at her eyes.
She shielded them, closing the lids and turning her face away. I flew down and hit Bimbo One in the gut again. She'd started moving and I didn't have the patience for fighting both of them.
"You Jew—"
I avoided Bimbo Two's stomp and asked, "Do you just assume everyone capable of kicking your ass is Jewish?"
"You're breaking the rules!"
"You started it," I charged. "Behind you."
She raised her hand and stepped forward.
I did warn her.
Queen slammed into her from behind, pitching her forward. She threw a foot down into the street and swiped back, knocking Queen into the Medhall building.
I fired my pistol at her and lifted into the air.
I spotted Kaiser above, looking down at us.
Just going to watch?
That suited me. Easier to have a candid talk without an audience.
Queen burst out of the building. The Fangs swirled and fired. Bimbo Two shielded her eyes, and I asked aloud, "How is Stormtiger doing?"
"Poorly," Veda answered. "Conrad Kent will not be a disruption."
Bimbo Two snarled, eyes going wide. Meanwhile, she was a giant woman in a business suit and no mask on a public street within sight of dozens of people. Not really sure what she thought was going on.
Maybe they were a bit slow on the uptake.
I briefly glanced at Pink's camera as she stood guard over Stormtiger. He lay on the ground in a warehouse, a dozen men standing to the side while Stormtiger took a nap. He learned a neat trick, used some kind of air vortex to push GN particle beams off target. Didn't help when dozens were fired from every direction.
Let's see how the Valkyrie lady does.
The Fangs began swirling and firing.
I joined the barrage with my pistol and the last of my GN missiles. Bimbo Two stumbled back, one hand crashing through the corner of the Medhall building. She hit the ground hard but didn't really seem injured.
Still subject to kinetic force even if she's resistant to injury.
Or not.
She surged up suddenly out of the cloud of particles bombarding her. She grabbed Queen by the leg and swung the suit toward the ground. I swung the Buster Sword forward and thrust it hard into her wrist. Felt like stabbing a rock with a kitchen knife, but I did get into the muscle.
Her grip loosened and Veda shot at Bimbo Two's eyes. She shielded them again and lost her grip. Veda flew back and I landed on the ground.
When Bimbo Two's arm lowered, I took aim and fired.
The Gungnir in my sword cracked.
More glass shattered. Air snapped. Bimbo Two's head rocked back as the stake hit her square in the nose.
The E-Carbon stake crushed into itself as intended, collapsing and transferring pure force into its target rather than piercing her skull. Blood gushed from her over-sized nostrils and spilled over the street. She went down to one knee, then two knees, and then finally fell forward and face planted.
She started to shrink, and Veda swung forward and came to stop above her.
"Alive?" I asked.
"Alive," Veda confirmed. "The resilience afforded by her power is quite impressive. It is a shame they were not wearing their armor."
"Might have stood a chance," I agreed.
Actually, according to Dinah they were a complete pain in the ass in armor. Whatever damage reduction effect their size increase came with carried into the armor and made them insanely durable. It took both Gundams and a fair amount of time to bring them down.
I turned my head up.
Not running then. "Keep them company."
I briefly checked on how things were going elsewhere.
Lafter was fighting Cricket.
She'd caught Melody Jurist on her way out of the same warehouse building Veda trapped Stormtiger in. Lafter spread ball bearings all over the ground and while Cricket seemed able to keep herself going she wasn't having a fun time.
She slipped back and forth, the single knife in her hands clearly not what she hoped for. Lafter kept hitting her in the right thigh, a big smile on her face as Purple and Navy ran interference with some armed guards.
She'd win. I didn't doubt that. The Nazi woman could move, but Lafter's power and the ball bearings made balance preposterous. A simple piece of software on Lafter's phone canceled out Cricket's sound based powers easily enough. Basic noise canceling tech. Impractical in some ways, but baby stuff with Veda managing it.
Krieg was down.
Aisha stood over him, syringe still in hand. A few drops of Newter blood, left over from taking down Lung. Needed barely any to knock James Fliescher over. Throw in a pill bottle and it was easy to pretend he was on something. No one would question the needle mark even if nothing showed in a drug screen.
He lay on the floor of his office, daughter calling 911. I'd already given the cops his identity. Easy arrest. Big win for the local PD. They could use one of those.
With Hookwolf trapped under a building, and the Bimbos both down and out—I shot Bimbo One in the stomach as she started to stir—that left Kaiser with jack shit. Nadda. Nothing.
His Empire fell over in a matter of minutes.
I lifted into the air and flew up to meet his majesty. Guess he figured he couldn't run. Pointless. Pride. Arrogance. I didn't care about the reason. It worked for me.
Drifting Exia to his floor and looking right at him, I waited. He stared back at me, doing the same. Stupid game, but I needed something from him. Something important. My plan wouldn't work without it.
And so, I once again played my least favorite sport.
Diplomacy. "Feel like surrendering?"
"No," he said bluntly. He didn't seem eager to fight.
Bait then. "Which one was it?"
He scoffed. "Which one?"
"Who told you."
"I don't know what you're talking about girl. Do try to use bigger words and longer sentences."
I found that kind of cute. Being lectured on intellect by a Nazi. How fanciful. Did he talk to Theo like that? No wonder his son hated him.
"Night?" I asked.
"Night?"
"Fog?"
"Are we discussing the weather?"
"Crusader then."
Kaiser cocked his head to the side. He couldn't be that dumb, could he? Did I seriously need to spell the implication out for him? I didn't want the conversation to be that long.
"I talk to your ex," I revealed, "and three days later your murder dog is trying to grab me off the street. You going to claim you had no idea? Really?"
His armor didn't fully cover him. It was messy and lacked the elegance of the one other time I'd seen him. Rush job I guess. It let me see his body language at least, namely the tension that suddenly appeared in his shoulders.
"I knew nothing of any such arrangements," he retorted. "Even if I did, kidnapping you of all people off the street? How stupid do you think I am?"
"You don't want me to answer that question right now."
"Neither I, nor anyone under my authority would knowingly—"
"A coincidence, then? Hookwolf and your little buddy Hambert or whatever his fucking name was, decide to do a kidnapping and of all the girls in Brockton Bay they picked me. How stupid do you think I am?"
He didn't even take the chance to jab.
"Hambert?" he asked.
"The idiot with Othala the night I caught her. I remember his voice."
He was still on the street where he fell after the Fangs shot him.
"Hamlen is not one of ours!" Kaiser snarled tensely. "We removed his weakness from our ranks when he failed to prevent Othala's capture!" Such high standards. "We wouldn't trust him with anything!"
It made him the perfect 'fall man'.
I scoffed. "Like the Empire had nothing to do with Fleur getting shot?"
"We didn't!"
"You recruited the guy as soon as he got out of prison. And how is the asshole who shot Sam Stansfield doing?"
"We ordered no such—"
"Then you suck at keeping your thugs in line. Bullshit. You named yourself fucking Kaiser, nothing happens in the Empire without you knowing about it!"
Or, without someone pretending to be Kaiser. Someone giving Hamlen the promise that if his little plan worked he might find his way back to the 'right' side. Someone who used roundabout ways to remove rivals from Brockton Bay.
Kaiser maintained his poise. I'd give him that.
"If you thought I was behind this," he guessed, "you'd still be fighting."
Kaiser straightened up and folded his hands behind his back. A switch to diplomacy then? My favorite spectator sport.
"You know it wasn't us."
"And who would it be then?" I probed. "It's not the Elite. It's not Accord. I've been watching them. It's not the Undersiders. It's not their style. Bakuda doesn't have what it takes to work up something so convoluted. There's no one but you."
Kaiser paused, watching me.
Down below, Fenja started to rise. Veda slammed her back into the ground, pressing Queen's foot into her back. Kaiser's attention shifted that way, and I throttled the drive up to signal my waning patience.
I saw Kaiser's shoulders tense. He didn't have anything left. Hookwolf. Krieg. Stormtiger. Cricket. We captured all of them. Fenja and Menja were both down and out.
"Nothing? Right. That's what I thought."
I raised my right arm and swung the Buster Sword forward.
The Empire was finished. He had to know that. His only shot at anything was to escape me. Give me something I wanted more than him in a cell.
Say it. Do something useful for once. Say it!
He had to know his position. Fighting me wouldn't save him, even if he won.
At this point, Fenja and Menja's faces would be online. Melody Jurist and Conrad Kent would follow. I'd taken Krieg out privately, a courtesy for his family more than him. I didn't know anything about them and I wasn't comfortable making them pay for his bullshit.
Now, his only chance was to give me someone else to focus my rage on.
"Coil."
Perfect!
I smiled behind Exia's faceplate.
"Coil?" I strained. "He's in a cell."
Kaiser cocked his head to one side. "Is he?"
He raised one hand slowly. Reached down, the metal on his leg pulled out and he withdrew a phone. He turned it toward me.
"I spoke to him just the other day."
"You're talking to Coil?"
"We have an arrangement. Had, rather. If anyone wants both of us gone, it's him. He set this up. I don't know how but he did. He set Hamlen on you, and probably found some way to rope Hookwolf into it."
"I don't know. Bradley has such a short temper, doesn't he?"
Kaiser kept up a good poker face. Using Hookwolf's real name didn't inspire any reaction. Maybe he'd already resolved himself to the inevitable.
"How do you know it's Coil and not someone else?"
"I suppose I don't, but if it's not him it's someone much more clever."
I grinned. I did. Like a madwoman.
Maybe I'd find some way to let Kaiser in on the joke some day.
"Perhaps," he suggested, "you should ask the Undersiders? They have their own arrangement with him."
"Undersiders?" I waited a moment. "The attack on my factory. You planned that. They hit your territory to justify a retreat."
"Ask them. Perhaps, their thinker? You seem to have a rapport with her."
He held up the phone.
I paused, dramatically. I didn't want to look too eager, lest someone start thinking I had an ulterior motive. I used the time to call Green over. That would be suitably cautious.
My Haro arrived in his cradle, flying past me and popping his left arm out to take the phone. Kaiser surrendered it, and Green retreated.
"Awfully convenient," I noted.
"For Coil," Kaiser replied. "I believe it would be appropriate in the circumstances to join forces. Such a brazen move is a threat to all capes everywhere. The very rules we live by."
"If he did it."
Kaiser tensed again.
"I'm just saying. If someone is running a scam to trick me into getting rid of someone for them, how do I know it's not you tricking me into getting rid of someone?"
"Do I look—"
"Yes, you look stupid to me. A lot of villains do and the last thing I need is anyone thinking I can be gamed if they're clever enough."
He jerked back. I burst forward.
Kaiser raised a thin wall of steel and I slashed right through it. I dulled the Buster Sword's edge just before impact and threw the man into the wall. He rebounded and rolled, scrambling for a door while steel spikes and stakes came at me from the floor, wall, and ceiling. I forced my way through, blocking his escape and swinging again.
Instead of a wall, a steel beam caught my arm and prevented me from bringing the sword down.
A flurry of beams fired, peppering Kaiser from the side. Queen stabbed at him with a saber. He barely dodged. His back bounced off the wall and more steel shot out. The beams crossed one another throughout the room. Even as I tried to break past them and reach the man, he made it to the door and into the hall.
Can't have a moving firefight with a shaker through a crowded building.
I'd lie. I'd cheat. I'd play dirty tricks. I wouldn't sacrifice people's lives like play things. That's the line, and I needed to stay on my side of it.
"Fall back," I decided. "It's not worth the cost."
I turned, looking over the other men in the room. Fewer than before. Kaiser must have cleared them out or they ran on their own. The only one I saw was a man with a nasty cut on his leg.
"Bring Red in here to patch him up," I said.
"On the way."
"Stay calm," I told the man. "One of my robots is coming to treat your injury. Do what he says."
I saw the nod from his face.
We had to cut our way back to my improvised entrance.
Kaiser ran through the halls, ditching his armor in a nook and joining crowds of people. Smart. There were no alarms. No rush to empty the building. People knew something was up, but not what. He didn't have to try and escape now. He was safer hiding in the crowds I didn't want caught in the crossfire.
A man who uses people will continue to use people no matter what.
"Let's go."
"You are certain?" Veda asked.
"We made our point. Anyone who tries to use me like this will find everyone on the wrong end of Celestial Being. It's the only way to stop assholes from using us against their enemies in the future."
No lines. No distinctions. If the rules are broken, the hammer falls on everyone. In time, people would see the absurdity of that decision, and the rules would start coming apart.
I'd push them to the breaking point.
"Tell the BBPD and the PRT. Max Anders is hiding in the Medhall building. Celestial Being does not believe it well advised to pursue him."
Too much potential for a blood bath, exactly what the unwritten rules were intended to prevent. He'd leave eventually. Hiding there forever was infeasible and he knew it. I merely needed to wait till he took the chance, made up some scheme. The Empire was dead, and an emperor without a kingdom is just a man with a nice hat.
In the meantime, I sent a few quick instructions to Green. I hadn't expected to get a phone from Kaiser. I'd expected to steal one from one of the other Empire capes. Suited me just fine if Kaiser wanted to offer one of his up though.
I flew down to the street and grabbed Bimbo One. The twins were still where we left them under Green's watchful eyes. They didn't stir, but were still alive. Easy to take them in for jailing in such a state.
Veda landed Queen and took Bimbo Two.
EMTs and police were collecting Krieg. Aisha kept watch, another syringe ready in case Krieg came to faster than Dinah said he would. Dauntless stood in the warehouse where Lafter watched over Stormtiger and Cricket.
From the view of the Haros above, I noted the burning buildings. Firetrucks and EMTs rushed to the locations. The early warning calls we sent out should have gotten people away from harm. The fires spread slow and the bombs were more flash than bang.
"Collateral?" I asked.
"Orange directed a pair of men to remove one who became trapped," Veda described. "Yellow is reporting a small group stuck behind fires at one of the warehouses we set ablaze."
"Get them out." I sighed. "Break down a wall or something. I'll take the other twin."
We stopped on a rooftop and I took our second prisoner. Queen shot off in the direction of a building we'd bombed. I'd rather not have to deal with any dead. Injuries? Everything we hit was an Empire front. I could live with injuries.
Turning back toward the PRT building, I carried Fenja and Menja—also known as Jessica and Nessa Biermann—down to the street. I landed hard, ignoring their groans as I dumped them onto the ground.
Deep breath, Taylor.
I sent a message to Dad first, letting him know the fighting was over and no one he cared about was hurt.
Miss Militia stepped off her bike and trained a gun on them.
"Is that—"
"Jessica and Nessa Biermann," I answered. Miss Militia gave me a worried look. "They broke the rules first when they sent Hookwolf after me."
"Then it's true?" she asked.
She raised one hand and waved to the armored vans behind her bike. Troopers poured out. I drifted back as two came forward and sprayed foam all over the twins.
Miss Militia stepped up beside Exia, asking, "They attacked you out of mask?"
"Hookwolf did." Pause for effect. "But something's off."
Miss Militia lowered her weapon as Fenja and Menja were lifted and carried toward the vans. Around us, crowds watched. Their identities were blown. Such a shame for such nice Nazis.
"Off?" she asked.
I paused again.
"I need to talk to Armsmaster. You can handle this?"
"I can but—"
I lifted off and started flying. I'd apologize later. Right now I needed to sell the story that would keep secrets and nail my real target to the cross.
The PRT and Protectorate were out. Troopers were responding to the cape fights. Dauntless was with Lafter. Miss Militia was originally heading my way. Stratos was moving toward Hookwolf. Prism and Triumph were meeting with Armsmaster in another convoy parallel to Miss Militia's.
They both broke off after Veda and I pulled away from the Medhall building. Triumph moved to meet Dauntless and Lafter, and Prism to Miss Militia. Armsmaster headed north to link up with Stratos on the way to Hookwolf.
I flew down into the street to get the man's attention.
I waved him to the side and moved, spinning Exia about and touching down in an alleyway. Armsmaster drove his bike up a moment later, and a PRT armored truck moved to block the area from sight.
Armsmaster stepped off his bike and brought his halberd to his side. I opened Exia and stepped out. Taylor Hebert. No costume, no mask. Just a willowy thin girl in running shorts and a sports bra.
"I have her here Director," he said.
I ran a hand across my neck. I hoped he got the message, but if he didn't that might still work. His stoic visage offered me no clues.
He asked, "Are you injured?"
"No, not physically."
"This was a mistake," he said. "The Empire is not foolish enough to risk their own identities in this manner."
"So Kaiser said when I talked to him."
"He's still hiding in the Medhall building?"
"Not worth risking a blood bath to go in after him," I answered.
"Agreed."
I shrugged. "We can talk about my heavy handedness later. Something's up and it's rubbing me the wrong way."
"This was clearly a set up," Armsmaster guessed. "Possibly arranged by the mystery cape you were warned about."
"Ramius told me…Is she freaking out?"
"She is concerned that you are not answering her calls. The Director is another emotion, far less endearing."
That would be fun to deal with. But I knew Ms. Buckingham wasn't behind anything. Not really. Though I needed to avoid anything that would set off his lie detector, at least for the moment.
Green flew down from above. He hovered at my side, popping his hand out and holding up the phone. I took it and turned it over. Standard flip phone. Cheap and disposable. A burner, naturally.
"Kaiser said Coil is still free."
Armsmaster tilted his head. "I doubt that."
"Me too…But think about it." I looked up at Armsmaster. "What other cape do we know who uses roundabout means of getting rid of rivals? Means that make things look completely unrelated to him?"
"Your theory that Coil purposefully engineered the downfall of the Merchants. That is still a speculative hypothesis. There is no evidence."
"And Kaiser has no knowledge I suspect it," I pointed out. "Yet, he still said Coil was still free. Also said he had an alliance with the Undersiders. It's a bizarre thing to lie about."
"A deflection."
"I thought so too. I assumed the Empire was retaliating for my meeting Purity a few days ago."
Armsmaster tilted his head on one side. "You met with Purity?"
"And Hookwolf seemed to have no idea. He also claimed to have no idea that I was me. Taylor was Newtype. You know what I mean."
"And Kaiser made the claim that Coil arranged this?"
"I asked him who would do such a thing. He said Coil."
"Coil is under heavy surveillance. It is unlikely he could orchestrate something so complex."
Unless he's not Coil, or Coil isn't him…Or there's more than one Coil.
"It lines up so perfectly though," I mumbled, as if thinking aloud.
I looked away from Armsmaster and turned to Exia. My suit looked well worn. Sections of armor were scrapped, crunched, and bent. Most of the paint on the left side was gone. One of the pauldrons was gone, and the swords needed repairs from the fight with Hookwolf.
"I go talk to Purity, and three days later the Empire comes after me."
Behind me, Armsmaster said, "You believe the true instigator had knowledge of the meeting and used it to make the Empire's actions appear more plausible?"
"Maybe. No. Yes. I do think that. But the only people who knew about the meeting were Calvert, Armstrong, Recoil, and two troopers in Boston." I tapped my foot on the ground. "I ran into a few of the Wards while I was there. Phobos. Rake. Weaver…Orbit?"
"Orbit's communications are strictly monitored like Coil's. We have experience with reformed villains."
He said the words like he found them insulting. Learn something new every day.
"But she's someone I could peg as having told the Empire, or Night, Fog, Crusader. Purity herself. It's too perfect. This has to involve someone who knew about the meetings."
"Four villains, Wards, and PRT personnel."
I turned to scowl at him. "What? Going to claim the PRT doesn't have moles?"
He scowled back at me.
I held up the phone Kaiser offered. "What if Coil is behind the mystery cape? It's possible…Everything I've done might simply be handing him the city. Or whoever it is that's using the name now."
Armsmaster went silent while I 'brooded'.
Green relayed that the people previously trapped in a burning section of building were safe. Good. No burned bodies. Kati would hate having to deal with that and I'd feel like a bad guy for it, Nazis or not. Stormtiger, Cricket, and Krieg were all being secured. That was that. The Empire was done. Two Haros remained near Medhall to watch Kaiser and wait.
"You suspected that the Empire wasn't behind things from the start, didn't you?" Armsmaster asked.
"Maybe," I admitted. "Who sends fucking Hookwolf for anything that isn't a murder or a fight? If they wanted me kidnapped they'd send Krieg."
"And you still chose to fully retaliate against the Empire?"
"It was always possible someone would use my threat to remove rivals. The only way to deal with it is to make all sides suffer equally for the attempt." I held up the phone. "Which means I'm not done yet."
"I would request you slow down. We're already getting reports of dozens of injuries. The fallout of outing the Empire's capes and attacking them so publicly could be dire. This was an overreaction."
"I know that!" I snapped. It was an overreaction. It had to be to work. I inhaled, and turned back toward him. "Can the PRT send someone to get my Dad? He's at his office. I'd go myself but—"
"We can arrange transport."
Armsmaster glanced to my hand and held out his own.
Unfortunately, Newtype would never just hand the phone over. So I kept it, and made it obvious I didn't intend to hand it over.
"You need to stop," Armsmaster warned. "You cannot act as a power unto yourself, despite your ability. There is a line between heroism and vigilantism."
I honestly disagreed with that sentiment to a degree, but it wasn't the time for philosophy.
"And what are you going to do? No offense, you're not as much of an ass as I thought you were months ago, but you're still part of a broken system that doesn't do anything."
"You've never given us the chance to do anything," he retorted. "You've simply expressed your indignation and gone off on your own."
"That's bul—"
"That is how you come off," he injected. "And you are not as arrogant as you can appear. I can admit that. You're not a glory hound or fool. Those are good traits for a hero, but you are making the same mistake you've always made. You're acting unilaterally, and then blaming others for their failure to disregard all caution as you do."
I scowled.
He grunted.
"Now is not the time for this. Give me the phone. You can do many things, but this is something you should not do. Someone has outed you. Someone aware of your identity, and with deep knowledge of the Empire. Someone with access to PRT and Protectorate information. You are too close to this and if the suspect is a member of the PRT ENE, what will you do? Smash in their roof and break their bones?"
I flinched. That was a real problem. Even if I could prove Calvert was a second Coil, and a Teacher's Pet, then what? I present my evidence? What about when the PRT refuses to act? I'd show my hand and for nothing.
They needed to collect Calvert on their own, and I needed to sit on the sidelines while it happened. Barely involved. Clearly not the mastermind of his arrest.
"I will investigate this myself," Armsmaster continued. "Give me the phone."
I feigned reluctance a little longer. Then, I hung my head, looked away from him, and offered the phone. He took it and examined the device closely.
"Dragon is monitoring the Internet for any video or posts concerning your identity," he explained. "We may still be able to prevent a full outing." I nodded and looked away. "If someone has orchestrated these events, they have done so while evading our knowledge. There has been a power vacuum growing in the city for months."
"Someone new?" I asked.
"It is far more likely than Coil," Armsmaster proposed. "Such complicated plans are Accord's forte. Our mystery cape may also be related to the Elite."
"I've been watching both. I'm pretty sure they didn't do it."
"I can relay information we have gathered," Veda said from Green. "I do not believe either would approach the question of Newtype or Celestial Being in this manner. It is out of their character."
I nodded in agreement. "And why would Kaiser say Coil?"
"To save himself," Armsmaster answered.
"He already lost, and he knew it…It's more like he decided to bring Coil down with him rather than go down alone. And the meeting with Purity—"
"I will investigate," Armsmaster repeated. "You must stay out of it or risk being branded a renegade. In some ways villainy is preferable to a hero the Protectorate and PRT deem too dangerous to leave free." He slipped the phone into a compartment at his hip. "For the moment, I ask that you stop attacking the Empire and let things calm down. Your priority should be your identity."
I put up a front of reluctance, and then shrugged.
Armsmaster relaxed slightly. "You will need to come in and give a statement. Without delays."
"Fine," I faux-relented.
"Under these circumstances no one will blame you for resorting to extremes but you must leave it be."
"I heard you the first time."
"Call Dragon. She is concerned."
I waved him off and climbed back into Exia. I took off and flew over the city. I hovered for a moment, watching it all play out. I felt a little guilty for lying and tricking everyone, but Teacher's game was cruel and he played for keeps.
I needed to keep the course that kept things moving forward and protected as many people as possible.
I turned Exia toward the Bay, and looked out over the city.
I did it.
No more Merchants. No more ABB. No more Empire.
I won the city.
Now I have to keep it.
"Where is he?"
"Deputy Director Calvert just arrived at the PRT building," Veda answered. "He has already contacted Tattletale."
"More fishing," I mumbled. "Have you found anything on this Coil thing Kaiser was talking about?"
"I am not certain I can," she replied. "If Coil is an alias Calvert has used, it is possible there are other pets we are unaware of. They all might use the name when it suits them. It is not something I can easily uncover."
So Calvert and Coil have been swapping names?
Or maybe, there never was a real Coil? Thinking about it, the guy Lafter caught had a similar build to Calvert. Tall and thin, military haircut. They could easily swap places on the fly. If Calvert got a power from Teacher, he could be as much a cape as anyone.
Double asshole.
At least I didn't have to worry. If his power was anything that could thwart me now, he'd have thwarted me already. He couldn't save himself now.
"Send Theo the word."
Purity would get some good PR out of being decent enough for the super idealistic young hero to talk to. At the same time, Theo could swing his emancipation as walking off from a traitor to one circle, ditching his racist father to the other.
At the same time, I left Calvert holding the ball of suspicion. Or at least, the ball would roll his way. The Wards didn't know my identity. It wouldn't be them or Rune. Armsmaster would look and find nothing on that front. Recoil and those two troopers knew about the meeting, but I doubted anything would come of that either.
Nope.
Of everyone we could suspect within the PRT, only two suspects made any sense. Director Kamil Armstrong and Deputy Director Thomas Calvert. They were the only two who knew Newtype's identity, knew about her secret trip to Boston, and only one of them could be connected to hordes of shady shit.
Calvert was the one handling my tips. Tips that leaked to the gangs. Calvert was the one who helped me 'find' Coil. Calvert maintained all the odd phone calls, dark money, and a string of suspicious actions that all pointed one way.
And if anyone could put that together without my leading them around by the nose, it was Armsmaster. Any serious look into him would turn up a few things to pique Armsmaster's interest.
As far as Thomas Calvert was concerned, this was check mate. I just needed to sit back and let it play out.
One more part to go. Calvert would of course know he had nothing to do with the Empire attacking me in my civilian identity. The PRT and Protectorate would never believe him, naturally, but I didn't want him or Teacher wondering who would out Newtype to screw Calvert over. That might lead to pondering.
No, I needed to provide my targets with a suitable answer.
"Is Bruder ready?"
"He is," Veda replied.
"Lafter," I called.
"Ms. Buckingham reporting."
I smiled.
"Begin phase three."
