A Waken 15.3.L
Muscles growled. "We should leave."
Lafter lowered the phone. His phone. Hers didn't work because Veda was being pummeled in some internet back alley trying to save Dragon. For that, her reward was being accused of attacking Dragon, and to top off the shit pie, Taylor was on the run after Eidolon tried to blast her.
Yeah. The Protectorate was going to come for them now and the INS got uppity about the slightest things, so they might come after her too. Part of her recoiled at that. People with a capital 'P' might not change, but they weren't all assholes. Hannah didn't seem the type to let someone be deported just because they ended up on the wrong side of some bullshit.
Been a long time since Lafter really contemplated being returned to Germany. She'd get by but...it wasn't a place she ever wanted to see again. Too many bad memories.
Shit. She'd felt this feeling before. The sense of overwhelming...everything.
"Lafter?" Akihiro queried.
"That's not the plan," Lafter replied bluntly.
Muscles scowled. "The plan is stupid." The plans were often stupid. "Orga said—"
"Orga's job now is to protect Veda. Mine"—Lafter handed the phone back—"is to protect Taylor."
"Veda?" Muscles asked.
"Long story." Lafter glanced down at Pink.
The robot's eyes flashed. "System error, system error."
So Veda was actually gone? Well, not gone gone, hopefully. But...busy. Yeah. Had to be something important. Huge. She'd never turn her back on Taylor or Dinah. Lafter rarely spent any time with Veda, which felt really stupid all of a sudden, but yeah. This wasn't like Veda at all.
If Veda dropped everything, it was for a good reason. Something she couldn't not do.
Which meant they needed to hold the line until she did what she needed to do.
Lafter wasn't as smart as any of her friends, but she understood image. Dragon—or someone pretending to be Dragon—was accusing Veda of attacking her. Bullshit. Taylor was on the run because they couldn't trust Teacher wasn't involved and plotting to kill them all. That was the downside of keeping secrets, Lafter guessed. No one knows what they are. For all anyone knew, Taylor just went from hero to psycho.
Something needed to be done. Now. Before Taylor got cornered. So the plan was shit, but she understood it.
Spinning on her heel, Lafter started toward the door. It swung shut behind her, and then opened again.
She forced her voice to stay even. "Go back to the factory, Muscles."
"No."
Her heart was not fluttering at that. Nope. No. That was stupid. She did not—Shit...
Now was not the time to deal with that.
Lafter pushed the next door open. Rear exit for now.
No need to ruin the event after Charlotte put so much effort into organizing it. The ABB might be gone, but the Docks were still a mess when you got far enough away from Taylor's factory. Charlotte wanted to help, especially now that the homeless didn't have to hide from gang members anymore. The homeless didn't trust anyone, so Charlotte and Dean somehow managing to get them to come down to the food bank was a miracle.
Lafter didn't live on the streets anymore, but she knew that life. It was all about survival—minimizing pain.
Though, now that she thought about it, what would it look like? M&M wasn't going to show up and give her an ultimatum. If this was some devious scheme by the asshole, he wouldn't want her to have the chance to talk her way out. Stratos. Dauntless. Lafter didn't see it. They weren't going to come kicking down the door or look the other way if someone tried to push.
So who were they going to send?
There was a sudden flash and hiss of air.
Lafter looked over her shoulder. "What was that?"
Pink jumped up and grabbed onto the shoulder strap of her top. "Unknown, unknown."
"We should leave," Akihiro advised. "Too many people here."
"No." Lafter smiled. That would work, right? "Plenty of witnesses here."
"Lafter, Lafter…"
"Go to the factory." Lafter worked her way back through the building. "Protect Veda."
"But—"
"Get going little rascal. Take Navy and Purple with you."
Lafter walked down the hallway, taking note of the boxes of cans and packages. Tori seemed nice. One of the decent ones, for all the good it did.
People never changed. Some were good. Some were bad. But people—People with a capital P—weren't good. They didn't care until things affected them, and when they did all that mattered was that it stopped affecting them. Whatever good a single person could do or be didn't count for anything in the face of what People were.
But Lafter liked the people that tried. They were braver than her.
Lafter turned the corner, barely able to remember the brief tour Tori gave in the morning.
"Last chance to turn back," she warned.
"I'm supposed to protect you," Akihiro replied.
She felt that fluttering feeling again. "Really know how to commit, don't you, Muscles?"
"Tekkadan doesn't ditch a job."
Tekkadan? Really? Alright. So, there was room for improvement. Hopefully, things would work out and she could manage that. Unless she was just being desperate. Ugh. She really hoped she wasn't just desperate.
Lafter threw the door open and marched out into the food bank. Pink was still on her back, and Purple and Navy had appeared. Stupid robots. Didn't know when to quit… Well, Lafter did appreciate people who didn't run when the going got tough. Commitment was hard to come by.
She spotted Tori first and quickly rushed to stop her. "Go feed the needy."
The woman blinked but Lafter didn't linger to explain.
She turned forward and walked past the crowds of people. Some of them weren't even paying attention. They were eating their meals. Hugging their kids. Some of the kids waved at her.
It was nice to be part of that. Getting rid of the bad guys didn't solve every problem in the world. Taylor actually understood that. There were still homeless, starving people, in tattered clothing with broken faces out there. The smell of not bathing reminded her of the worst time in her lif—
Ah. That's where she knew this feeling. This sense that the whole world was against living.
When Daddy died. Her mother. Her brothers. Sitting on the floor, staring at that thing as everything died and she cried with nothing. Weeks of wandering ruined streets with nothing to live for. Hiding that she was a girl because she saw what the scum did when they found girls with no one who cared.
If not for sister Margret...and then that fell apart too. Then Taylor came along.
It was fun. They made it so much further than Lafter ever thought they would. Is this what it felt like for Taylor all the time? Walking into the dark with no idea what would happen. No one to look to and trust. Nothing but herself and the tiny band of people too dumb not to walk into it with her.
Taylor made all the big decisions. She came up with the plans. Lafter just followed her into the dark, always waiting to see when Taylor would either quit, turn around, or get crushed.
Huh. Putting it that way, she sounded like a really shitty friend.
Well, not this time. If this was that big moment where the world came crashing down, then Lafter would get herself in front and give Taylor the chance to keep going.
"So." Lafter looked at the masks staring her down. "How can I help you?"
There were a dozen of them, minus the one who disappeared in a flash; ten men and a woman in golden armor that looked like something Dragon would make. Those special troopers Taylor mentioned? What a great time not to have Kyrios. They carried rifles that looked tinker-tech in design. Probably con-foam and such too.
Her attention shifted to the capes, none of whom she knew.
A woman with a black cat mask over her face, a man in an over-the-top getup covered in crystals. Lafter wondered where the teleporter got to. She'd definitely seen someone else in the group for a moment but they were gone now.
No one was jumping to answer her—
"You need to come with us," the woman in the cat mask said.
"Oh." Come with us? Wow, how bland. "Do tell."
The woman got this worried expression on her face, like this was the last place she wanted to be and the last thing she wanted to be doing.
"It's for your own good," she explained. Which explained nothing.
Was that how she planned to convince someone who had no idea what was going on? Lafter sort of had an idea what was going on, but they didn't know that! This was a really lazy negotiation.
Crystal Mike grumbled. "Is there a reason we're wearing the kid gloves?" Cat mask lady looked over her shoulder and glared. Mike scoffed in response. "We weren't told to play nice. We were told to apprehend."
"Is that a creative way of saying we're all going to a party together?" Lafter asked.
She saw the people moving around in her peripherals. They kept their distance, close enough to hear and see but far enough to not get caught up in things. That was good. If Lafter got hurt for the sake of getting People to think about what was happening, that was okay.
A bunch of homeless folk getting hurt? Taylor would ask if she was high.
"We're not required to tell you in this situation," Mike snarled. "You're coming with us one way or another."
"Glint!" Cat Mask barked.
Really? Glint. And people thought Laughter was a lame cape name despite all its obvious brilliance. Guy dressed himself up in shimmery stuff and called himself 'Glint.' That might actually be lazier than the negotiations.
"Lafter?"
Lafter kept her eyes forward. "Go home, Vicky."
The girl stopped in the air behind her, looking over the assembled group of lawmen here to punish Celestial Being for crimes they were innocent of. She squinted, looking at the two capes and then got wary while looking over the super troopers.
Huh. She could do the meow gag. Maybe that would get someone to throw the first punch because this would really work best if they struck first.
"Vicky," Lafter insisted, "go home."
"What's—"
"You got your own family to think about." Lafter slipped a hand into her pocket and grabbed hold of her saber. "I'll look out for mine."
With that motion, the golden boys got defensive. Crystal Mike started raising a hand. Cat Mask was the only one to try and stop what was about to happen.
"Please," she pleaded. "We'll figure out what is happening, just not here."
"She sure seems to know about it," Crystal Mike—Lafter was not calling him such a lame name—noted. "Awfully fast turnaround."
Cat Mask turned on him. "Anyone who knows anything about Newtype knows it's not true."
"We don't know anything about Newtype," one of the troopers pointed out. A few of the others turned their heads slightly. Lafter smelled doubt.
"We don't have to do this," Cat Mask insisted.
"Then let's not." Lafter glanced around, taking note of the audience watching the exchange. An audience was good. Kind of needed to goad the other guys into attacking first though. "I'll just go home. No need to ruin the charity drive. You can all do the same. Whatever's going on, Taylor will figure it out."
"Dragon says StarGazer—"
Cat Mask turned on Crystal Mike, and Lafter almost felt guilty. Did these guys even know what was going on? They might not be complete dicks. Well, Mike might be. Cat Mask seemed like she was trying though.
And she was here to make them all look equally bad. Maybe Pink could cook up something epic afterwards. Big 'sorry I made you look bad' dinner to smooth over the ruffled feathers and egos.
One of the golden troopers looked over his shoulder.
Lafter ignored the silent exchange and continued assessing her surroundings.
The street looked pretty barren. The food bank was pretty far into the Docks. A few bands of ex-ABB were still running around the area from what Akihiro told her. They weren't organized but the Haros chased some of them off more than once, and Tekkadan had to hunt a few down for some bargain bin robberies and muggings.
No cars. Only two pedestrians further up the street. Just her and a dozen tinker-tech troopers and two capes. Plus a third cape who'd gone somewhere because she knew she saw someone else.
"What's going on?" Vicky asked.
"Vicky." Lafter pulled the saber from her pocket. "Go home."
She hardly needed to be dragged into this, and adding another cape to the mix might make the situation worse. Lafter wasn't as good as Taylor at juggling a bunch of things at once.
The 'good guys' here probably got orders that were way shadier than should be followed. Detain all of Celestial Being until it was worked out who did what. Vicky didn't need to get tied up in that, even if it would make the whole 'score a PR victory' plan Tattletale pitched work better. It wasn't Vicky's business. She had her own family to look out for.
Cat Mask looked around, apparently the only one to really notice they had an audience. "This is—"
"Not looking very friendly," Lafter finished. She started to step back. "So I'm going to go." She felt Akihiro shift behind her. "We don't need to do this. So let's not."
Except they did need to do it for the plan to work. Taking orders from Tattletale. What a trip. Lafter wasn't sure she'd ever tried to avoid a fight before. No, no she had not. Hurray for new experiences.
If Teacher was behind this, she really couldn't go into a cell. None of them could. They'd be sitting ducks. From what Tattletale explained, Veda was already a sitting duck. She was so busy trying to save Dragon she dropped everything. Lafter didn't know if she trusted Tattletale, but she trusted Veda and that's exactly what Veda would do.
Lafter started to move back, keeping her front facing the troopers and capes. She couldn't mess this up. It was too important.
Trevor. Dinah. Veda. Taylor. Any one of them could die today, and no one would care that it was bullshit. They'd be ruined at best. Dead at worst. Either way, everything Taylor wanted would burn up. By the time the bullshit was obvious all anyone would want to do was pretend they had nothing to do with it.
Someone had to do something now, before Taylor got cornered, because Taylor absolutely would never back down.
Lafter could do that for her. She owed Taylor, for everything. Getting her out of that place in her life where she didn't have any idea what she was even living for. For being a good sport about all the teasing. Never holding it against her that she never really thought they'd get as far as they did.
For being one of the good people who made People worth tolerating.
Lafter continued backing up and then started right. Akihirio shadowed her, eyes on the troopers. Smart guy for all the muscles. He couldn't do anything about the capes, but he could probably grapple a trooper or two and tie them down. Of course, he'd get shot well before he got that close.
Lafter smiled to herself. "Hey, Vicky."
"Yeah?"
"Grab my boyfriend and hold him down?"
Vicky blinked. "Wha…"
Akihirio's steps faltered and Lafter laughed as she turned away from the troopers and started up the street. "What? You're a boy and you're my friend! What did you think I meant?"
He was too easy to tease, like a big muscly Taylor.
All the same, Vicky wasted no time after the initial shock. She flew over and grabbed Akihiro. Try as he might, he wasn't getting out of her grip as she pulled him back and away. Lafter continued along the street, confident that the Haros' steady roll beside her would change if anything happened.
The PRT and Protectorate would let her walk though.
They didn't want the audience to see anything if they could avoid it. As much as Lafter would like it since it would get the fight on the internet faster, Taylor wouldn't be happy if anyone—
"Hey!"
Lafter stopped and turned at the voice, brow raised. The troopers were split. Half watched her and the other half looked at the crowd. Lafter blinked, unsure what happened because a few of the troopers were reaching for the weapons at their belts.
"Hello," Lafter called. "What—"
A stone flew out of the crowd and hit one of the gold armored troopers in the head.
Crystal Mike snarled, turning to the crowd and shouting, "Who threw that?"
Heads turned and searched. No one answered. Charlotte started pushing her way back into the crowd with a look of fright, while Vicky tensed the arm not holding Akihiro back. No one gave any answer and no one seemed to have one.
Lafter snapped. "Hey!"
Her hand went for her saber, and the troopers raised their weapons.
A voice shouted from in the crowd. "Get lost losers!"
Another stone sailed and hit Cat Mask in the shoulder. She grunted and Lafter thought the voice sounded really familiar. Like someone she knew. She couldn't quite put a name to it though. That was weird.
"You're all under arrest!" Glint shouted. "All of you get on the ground!"
"Glint!" Cat Mask warned.
"No they're not!" Lafter roared. "You call that heroic?!"
The guns went from raised to aiming. Lafter turned about completely.
That voice rose from the crowd again. "Losers!"
Another rock sailed. Glint raised a hand, and Lafter snarled.
She'd just started moving when one of the troopers fired.
Lafter pushed her weight back, ducking down low as the bolt of blue something flew over her head. She felt the hairs on her head pull toward it, and the skin started to numb. Felt oddly similar to Taylor's stun grenades, actually.
On the other hand, they shot first.
"Fine then!" Lafter declared as she broke into a sprint.
Purple jumped forward as Lafter swung her saber back. "Let's go, let's go!" The Haro popped its hands from its body, throwing dozens of small silver balls into the air.
Lafter darted left, then right. The bolts flew by, missing her by inches as she closed.
The trooper—Lorenz—ducked as Lafter swung her saber at his head.
Someone cursed as the silver bearings clattered over the ground to her left and right. Lorenz stepped back again and his foot slipped as one of the bearings got under his heel. Lafter forced her elbow into his chest, breaking his balance. One of the other troopers raised a rifle and Lafter threw herself forward.
Navy and Pink followed, sabers twirling as they started taunting and covering her flanks.
"Lafter!"
She ignored the call.
Lafter kicked Lorenz in the side. The man finally tumbled, and she charged. A few of the troopers twitched their guns her way but didn't fire. The crowd was behind her. Right. Well, at least they weren't insane. Pink swooped through the air, tossing a grenade in front of her. The troopers rolled back as it clattered to the ground, and Lafter ducked to the side before it exploded.
To no effect.
That was unfortunate, but potentially not.
Cat Mask raised her hands, shouting at everyone to stop.
Lafter ran left, taking the crowd out of the line of fire. Who just stood there. For some reason.
One trooper shot their rifle, and Lafter dodged the shot and the one that followed. She swiped her saber left and dodged right.
Sometimes fighting felt more like dancing. Left. Right. Back. Jump. She didn't do it on purpose.
There were a lot of energy bolts in the air. Lafter stabbed, swiped, and kicked as she moved about. The Haros opened up chances for her to land hits and disrupted the troopers. Purple and Pink hemmed them in as they tried to spread out. Navy jumped between them back and forth, keeping them from closing off her movement. The ball bearings sent a few tumbling as they stepped over the orbs, a problem Lafter never ran into.
Lafter ducked under a bolt moments before it hit. She dropped onto her side and rolled, saber swinging out as she hit her back. The rifle was seared through and the trooper dropped it immediately. He reached for a pistol at his side, and Lafter threw her feet up.
Rolling backwards with the momentum, she swiped her saber back, searing through another rifle. Navy spun through the air, knocking the first trooper back and sending two others scattering. Another trooper stepped in the wrong place at the wrong time and slipped on a ball bearing, falling back onto Cat Mask and knocking her to the ground.
Lafter did feel bad for Cat Mask. That's the kind of person Taylor would say they needed. Someone who did what they thought was right over what they were told. A shame the world was screwing them both over.
"Final warning," one of the troopers declared.
"So all the other shots were for pretend?" Lafter quipped.
Lafter thrust her saber forward, twisting to the side as a bolt cut past her chest and hit her target in the shoulder. She kept twisting, avoiding another bolt and kicking Purple into the air. The robot grabbed onto the female trooper and started clambering around her torso.
Hitting the stunned trooper with her elbow, Lafter rolled around and used him as a shield. She swiped left, batting away one rifle and then swung over her head and forced another trooper to jump back.
There really were a lot of them.
Good thing Purple finally found a con-foam grenade and pulled the pin. The robot jumped off and the foam rapidly spread and encased the woman, and the trooper who tried to help her.
"Suckers, suckers!"
A glint of light—oh—flicked in the corner of her eye.
She stumbled back as a shining crystal shot through the air. Her heart seized up, and she watched the shard glide right into the Food Bank.
Vicky threw her hand down and smashed it. She held Akihiro back with her other arm. She wheeled about, pulling the big boy behind her even as he struggled.
"Are you insane!?" she shouted.
Glint scoffed. "She's the one picking the fight in a publ—"
Lafter wheeled, running past the two closest troopers and going straight for Crystal Asshole because fuck that. Navy spun in the air, batting a rifle away and swinging a second saber down at Cat Mask. The asshole started to backstep, both hands raised. Lafter ducked under the shot from the right as a crystal formed and fired through the air in the blink of an eye.
She swept left, hooking her saber behind his leg and pulling. "And I'm supposed to be the bad guy?!"
Something big slammed into Lafter's side, knocking her back and sending her sprawling. She rolled with the blow and got her feet under her. She grimaced as the ground scraped her knees.
She really, really, missed Kyrios.
Lafter swung her saber as the giant glowing bear charged he—"Oh! It's a bear mask. I thought it was a cat." The saber bounced off the glow-bear. "And that's gonna be a problem."
Lafter scrambled back, avoiding a rifle butt and a bolt fired her way. The bear came between her and two troopers.
Bear Mask grimaced. "Please. You're not the bad guy here. Put down your weapo—"
A rock hit her in the head. The woman winced and grasped at her temple.
Seriously. Again?
Lafter groaned as she interjected herself between the man and the crowd. "Stop throwing rocks!" She kneed the rifle aside and threw her body into the trooper's stomach. Navy came from behind, knocking the armored figure over Lafter's back.
The kids stood a foot ahead of the crowd, the taller one throwing another rock. The troopers hesitated—because kids—but why was everyone threatening the bystanders today and why were bystanders being threatening?!
Lafter threw her shoulder forward and plowed into the closest trooper's side. He tumbled back, and another rock hit home before his partner turned. The man didn't seem fazed, but as he shifted his stance the rock bounced off the ground and got under his foot. His balance broke and Lafter plowed through him too.
"This is why Taylor never believed in any of yo—" Lafter yelped and rolled to the side as another crystal shot her way.
She hit the ground with her shoulder, swung her leg out to kick a trooper in the knee—didn't work, lucky armored bastard—and swiped her saber at another. Two bolts shot past her, barely avoiding her body. She felt her hair stand on end all the same and a vague numbness filled her muscles.
That was bad.
At least the trooper taking aim behind her last victim had the decency to trip over one of the busted rifles Lafter cut in half. He fell and crashed into the con-foam pile.
"Ha!" It was pretty funny, and the mock laugh helped distract from the thundering sound of her heart in her head.
This was bad.
She couldn't keep this up and she knew it. The gangs didn't shoot this much! She didn't have to move so much fighting them. Maybe she should work out? Operating Kyrios for the past couple months was making her lazy.
All she could do was stall for time and make them look like fools. Was that good enough? Tattletale didn't really specify. She said to 'get hurt' but how did she get hurt?
Bolts flew and crystals clattered against the ground as Lafter ducked away. The Haros jumped back and forth like crazy monkeys. The golden troopers and crystal man kept slipping on ball bearings and debris, and Lafter began adding to it by slashing her sabers through the ground.
Dust and debris kicked up and she gave a groin shot a try.
The man grunted, apparently unfazed by a shot to the jewels that sent an ache through her leg and into her hip. Purple lunged through the air and grabbed his helmet. Navy swiped a saber through his belt-line, scarring his shiny armor. One of the grenades on his belt exploded, and Purple detached her arm and flew away before it encased her.
Lafter risked a glance past the troopers to the crowd. They'd come closer, forming a loose semi-circle around the fight. Through it all, she'd managed to maneuver herself so the troopers were mostly between her and the onlookers.
None of the watchers could get shot at anymore.
Charlotte stood with her mouth agape in the crowd. Sabah had a hand over hers. Vicky held Akihiro back, face contorted as she visibly fought between floating where she was and jumping in.
She had the witnesses.
She needed to make sure People understood what they were about to howl for.
Lafter's trooper shield found his balance and finally shot an elbow straight back. Lafter turned her arm toward it and winced as the blow radiated into her chest. She kicked the guy in the back of the leg, dropping him to one knee and slashed at the trooper in front of him. Pink jumped over the man's shoulder as he dodged, swinging down and smashing him in the head.
The glow-bear moved, rising up and smacking Pink into the ground.
"Ow, ow!"
"Hands off the adorable robot!" Lafter smacked the bear, but the damn thing really didn't care. The saber just rebounded, nearly flying out of her hand. "So cheatin—"
"Lafter!"
She looked at Akihiro first, then followed his eyes. Glint leaned between two troopers fighting to find their balance among the ball bearings. He held a hand out, and the light shimmered. She felt a slight pull, encouraging her to hook her foot around the body of the trooper below her and swing herself around.
She ignored it.
Lafter pulled her arms in close, for all the good it did. The shard stabbed through her bicep and kept going. She hit the ground and couldn't hold in the scream. Her body tumbled through the air and past a pair of golden legs. She hit the ground hard and screamed again. She rolled past several more troopers and hands reached for her, but they couldn't get a grip as those reaching slipped or collided.
Good power, Lafter thought.
When she stopped moving, her shoulder felt pretty raw on top of everything else. Glint's blow managed to throw her past the troopers and off to the side of the crowd. She saw a few people watching her, and the troopers rapidly moving to catch up.
Her chest hurt. Ribs. Definitely ribs.
The taste of copper filled her mouth as she gasped for breath. That didn't feel right. Lungs. Definitely, definitely lungs.
Bear Mask shouted. "GLINT!"
"She's resisting."
"Oh go fuck yourself..." Lafter grimaced as her chest shuddered. The pain from her arm made it to her chest, which added to the pain already in her chest. Also blood in her mouth. Shit. "Ow..."
Was this good enough to save Taylor?
"Call Bolt! We're taking her to a hospital."
"Those aren't—"
"Shut up!"
Bear Mask's glow-bear smashed Navy into the ground before vanishing. The woman stomped forward, shouting at crystal dick to stay where he was.
It wouldn't end here. They'd send the big guns after her. It really would be nice to have Kyrios. Great and now she sounded like a Broken record.
Charlotte was shouting, screaming that she'd recorded the entire thing. At least Lafter didn't take that hit for nothing. Would Tattletale's plan work? Let everyone see what it looked like when teenage girls got hammered and make them all think twice before letting it happen.
On second thought, the pain made that plan seem really really stupid... But anything was better than watching her family die again.
Though this came damn close to being worse, she had to—
A leg stepped in front of her, and Lafter weakly raised her head.
Bear Mask stopped, looking at the old woman. "Step aside."
Mrs. Knott didn't move. "No."
Wasn't she the teacher that screwed Taylor over because a high school principal threatened her? What was she—
Tori stepped up beside Mrs. Knott. Then Miriallia. Some bum Lafter didn't know. Another. A woman and two kids. What were they doing? She didn't even know the hobos, so why were they surrounding her?
Knees fell beside Lafter, and Charlotte leaned over her.
One of the hobos knelt beside her, and Lafter stared up at him. Charlotte made sense. Charlotte was her friend. But the hobo?
"Why…" It hurt to speak. Why did people need lungs? Lungs hurt.
The hobo looked at her and pulled the cap from his head. "Bad boys dun beat me no more." He set the hat atop Lafter's head. "That's 'cus'a you. What them goldies ever do for me?"
Charlotte got red fac—Is that what Charlotte said to get these people to show up? Tell them that...that she would be here?
But People don't change…
"Step aside or you're all under arrest!"
Mrs. Knott didn't move. "Arrest me then."
Lafter turned her head, barely able to see the crystalline douche pointing at the crowd surrounding her. Bear Mask turned on him, and some of the troopers were clearly more interested in spraying something onto their foamed friends than threatening a crowd.
Maybe.
Her vision was getting a little blurry.
Hands pulled her onto her side, and Muscle grimaced as Lafter gasped.
"She needs a hospital," Charlotte whispered. "This—This looks really bad."
"It is," Muscles snarled. So he did care. That was nice. Too bad breathing was getting a little hard.
"Give her to me." Vicky pushed her way through. "I'll get her to Amy."
"We can't move her like this," Akihiro warned.
"I'll be—"
Charlotte leaned forward, covering Lafter and hiding her from view as the crowd grew thicker. "And if they attack you for trying to move her?"
Vicky blinked. "R—Right. I'll go get Amy and—"
"This way."
All three heads turned and looked at Black.
"There's a black one now?" Vicky asked.
The robot turned to her. "Racist."
"Wha—No I'm not!"
What was Black doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be with… Who was he supposed to be with? Blood loss must be messing with her head, 'cause Lafter couldn't remember. Also pain.
She might have passed out for a second. More pain jarred her eyes back open. Muscles lifted her off the ground, holding her to his chest while Charlotte held a thick coat to her side. They were arguing with Vicky, but then a bolt shot into the air.
Lorenz moved up, saying, "That's enough. She needs medical care and we will take her to a—"
"After you tried to kill her?" someone shouted.
"We didn't—"
"You pointed those guns at kids!"
"The—"
"Threw pebbles at ya," Tori scolded. "Yah wearing armor, or is it just for show?"
"Get outta the Docks! We dun want ya!"
Lafter raised her head slightly as the shouting increased. The crowd began roaring, and more rocks entered the air. Idiots. Were they trying to get shot?
"That's enough!" Glint shouted. He pushed past Bear Mask and raised a hand.
It snapped back almost instantly.
Vicky slammed her feet into the ground, whipped Crystal Mike into the air, and roared. "Last mistake, asshole!"
The troopers started turning, despite Lorenz and Bear Mask trying to tell them not to. Guns were pulled from their hands, legs gave out, and a giant stuffed bear slammed a fist into Glint's already airborn body and sent him sailing into a wall. Sabah rode on the giant teddy bear's shoulder, face locked into a shocked expression.
It hardened a moment later, and she directed the bear between the troopers and the crowd. The thing looked like a bunch of jackets and coats sewn together. There were sleeves hanging from it, which made it look like some kind of eldritch horror. Or Lafter was delusional. Maybe both.
"Attack them and I'll attack you," she declared.
Lorenz shielded himself from a rock while other troopers started moving toward Vicky. "They're—"
"They don't want you here," Sabah snapped. "Leave!"
"Withdraw!" Bear Mask grabbed Lorenz's shoulder and pulled him back. "This has gone too far, we're pulling back."
"Our orders—"
"I can't contact the Rig or the local PRT."
"We were told not to—"
Akirhiro turned, stepping back through the crowd and jostling Lafter as he went.
"Ow," she moaned.
"Sorry. Hang in there."
Oh, was that all she had to do. "Sorry about the drool."
Akihiro looked down, and his face became pained. Lafter apologized again. He said it was fine.
When did the crowd get so big? Lafter managed to get herself up enough to look over Akihiro's shoulder.
Charlotte stood beside Mrs. Knott, Parian directly in front of them while the crowd huddled together. Vicky was flying away.
Was it over? She lost sight of the scene as Akihiro followed Black into an alleyway. "Where are we going?"
Akihirio turned another corner, and Black said, "Door please, Panacea."
Akihiro stumbled and Lafter felt the air change around her.
She must have passed out again, because she didn't remember being anywhere near a house this nice. At least, she assumed it was nice. Looked pretty nice from the inside.
And Amy was there.
"You know"—The mousy girl lifted the remote and turned off the TV—"you could visit to say hello."
"Hi, Amy," Lafter slurred. "How's your day?"
A Waken 15.3.H
Hannah entered her password again and again she got the same error. Breakback lockdown.
"That's Ben's access code," she mumbled.
"You know Chevalier's code?" Neil asked.
"His code has included every number of my birthday for the past decade and a half."
Neil raised his brow. "Should I be worried your ex-boyfriend is still using your birthday for his personal security code?"
Hannah resisted the urge to smile. Now was not the time. "He memorized it when we were Wards. I thought it was sweet."
Neil crossed his arms over his chest. "And now he keeps using them because he memorized them ages ago."
"Basically. It's still kind of sweet."
"True. Though, it does make me feel a bit insecure."
Hannah sat up straight and checked her phones, both personal and Protectorate. "You're a big boy, Neil."
He shrugged. "Well, if you're going to soothe my ego by complimenting me." Glancing over his shoulder, he raised one hand and pointed it at the door. "Personally, some childishly sweet innuendos aren't going to get that door open."
"I know." She set her phones on the desk.
No signal, on either of them. Breakback protocols would lock down the entire Rig and all Protectorate lines. Console. Radios. Phones. It was only when an entire Protectorate team was considered compromised. But her personal phone didn't work either, and that meant someone was jamming satellite signals.
That wasn't part of Breakback.
They weren't what was compromised.
Hannah inhaled and reassured herself. She'd already made this decision. "Open it."
Neil froze. "Come again?"
Hannah shifted her power into an assault rifle and shouldered the weapon. "Open the door, Neil." He blinked at her, and she said, "Something's wrong and someone is using Breakback to keep us from interfering."
"And you want me to violate a dozen protocols and 'open' the door."
Hannah walked around her desk and started moving. "I am ordering you to open the door."
A black sphere rolled over the metal and a section of the door and frame vanished, opening the way into the hall.
"Okay," Neil agreed, "but I'm going to have to call M/S protocols after this because the real Miss Militia would never suggest we violate all procedures even if it was to do the right thing."
"And I'll say that Ben wouldn't lock us down. He'd call me first and ask what was going on and someone doesn't want him to do that." Hannah leaned around the corner into the hall. She swept her weapon left then right. Clear. "This is what Armsmaster said would happen if anyone decided to go after Taylor."
Neil followed her into the hall, raised his hand, and opened another door further down. "She's in New York."
Hannah nodded solemnly. "And we can't do anything about that, but if this is an attack against Taylor—"
"Forecast, StarGazer, Laughter, and Chariot are in danger."
Hannah pulled her mask up over her nose and started running. "Exactly." Thinking it over, it wouldn't be wise to discount that they might be in danger too. If they were also a target, then, "Where was Dauntless?"
"He was on patrol with Vista and Mockshow. Valiant was on console with Flechette."
"If we're on lockdown because someone wants to bushwack Celestial Being then Valiant and Flechette are on lockdown too." And Labyrinth. She wasn't allowed to leave the building except for school and Ward duties.
"Dauntless, Vista, and Mockshow won't be," Neil noted. "Can't lock down a public street. They'd get an automatic signal to return."
They would. "If I can get outside and put up a flare, they'll know something's wrong, assuming they don't figure that out on their own."
Neil opened two more doors, and they got into the stairwell. "The light bridge will be down."
"We can grab one of the life rafts and motor to the Docks. We'll get to the factory faster anyway."
"Have we considered who might use Chevalier's personal code to lock us down?"
"The only person who could access everyone's personal codes woul—Dragon?" That didn't make any sense. She was a stickler for proper procedure herself. She'd never do something as backwards as using someone else's personal code… "Chevalier is the new Protectorate leader."
"You're not going to trade up on me?"
Now so wasn't the time. "Chevalier can call an S-Class event without consulting the Chief Director."
"There is no Chief Director."
"Exactly."
This is what Armsmaster warned would happen. The Triumvirate was out and possibly in on some insane conspiracy. Façade blew it wide open. Newtype believed her and maybe knew more. Taylor was probably working against it. No, no probably. Taylor was definitely against it given her experiences.
If this was them taking their shot at her, they'd need to cut the current leadership out.
This was how Alexandria might do things if she decided not to give a damn about the consequences. She'd never balked at bending the rules before. It was a big part of why Hannah never liked the woman. She liked her even less now.
Alexandria knew them both; Ben and Hannah. If anyone would know he'd use her birthday as his personal code, it would be Alexandria and Alexandria could figure out the code itself. Damn thinkers.
The timing was perfect. Taylor was in New York. Lafter was helping at that charity food drive in the Docks. Chariot would be at the factory. They were divided of their own accord because they weren—Wait. How didn't Forecast see this coming?
Neil disappeared another door, and a salty breeze blew into the hall as Hannah ran out into the sun.
She turned right and slammed the butt of her rifle into the glass. It shattered and she stepped over the shards to grab one of the emergency rafts. It had a small motor in it. Not ideal, but they weren't going to get the light bridge back to shore working without Armsmaster.
Behind her, Neil stopped. "Care to use your knowledge of procedure to tell me if that's supposed to happen?"
"What?" Hannah turned with the collapsed raft in hand and followed Neil's eyes. "No!"
She dropped the raft and forged her power into a bazooka. She fired, reformed her weapon, and fired again. The explosions rippled across the Rig's hull, blowing the wind back into her face. Neil raised his hand and black spheres joined her shells.
Along the platform below, the missile pods rose to face the sky and opened.
The armored casings endured her bazooka's shots, but Neil took the hinges out. The launcher groaned and tipped, crashing to the platform and sending a groan throughout the structure. Hannah moved onto the next target as the turret flipped forward and tumbled down into the bay.
It was too late.
The other two launchers billowed with smoke and the missiles streaked out into the air.
"Duck!" Hannah snapped.
"Wha—"
"Sorry!" Hannah kicked Neil in the back of the leg. He dropped to one knee and made a wisecrack about proposals. "We can elope tomorrow!"
"Wait rea—"
Hannah leveled her rifle and dropped to a sitting stance. Aiming down the scope, she lined up the shot.
Her finger squeezed the trigger, and the large caliber rifle bucked like a mule into her shoulder.
It wasn't enough.
One of the missiles exploded and the debris scattered into the bay.
The other five sailed on by, headed right for Newtype's factory.
