A Waken 16.11.D.1
Shatterbird emerged from the debris cloud quickly, as expected.
To his left and right, Red and Orange drove their Tierens out wide. Behind him, Green raised a long rifle and fired. The gun erupted, firing compressed GN particles into the air. Shatterbird stuttered in her flight. A low hum erupted into the air as she fell back from the beam fire, rapidly shifting into a high-pitched cry that shattered every window along the main street.
Colin grimaced as his HUD flickered for a moment but the system remained functional.
"We'll have to tune the engine as we go," he decided.
He wished he'd had more time to tune his gear in general. Throwing together armor and weapons in a week was challenging to say the least. He'd had to get help from Doctor J and Instructor H to get anything usable together.
Forecast and Veda were correct, though.
They could not allow the Nine to make it to Brockton Bay and enact their plans.
Facing them here and now was far preferable, and while his equipment was rough they were not without a plan. The area was rural and sparsely populated even by that standard. The Haros could evacuate anyone who got too close and police would form a cordon line per procedure.
Yes. They should fight this battle here.
Glancing to his left and right, they had a fairly abandoned main street. A few houses and stores were boarded up or for sale. No one lived there. The others they'd managed to quickly and quietly evacuate in less than an hour.
For once, the Nine's preferences benefited the heroes. The murderous band liked small and mostly dead towns between their more public killing spress. Their murders in places like this went unreported for days, weeks, or even months. It also meant no one noticed heroes moving about or people quietly leaving very easily.
"Be careful at the start," Colin suggested.
He'd faced the Nine once before, though none of the living members.
"Our tech is shielded and we're armored. Shatterbird is of a limited threat, but the other members are more calculating than they seem. They'll realize this and look for ways to open our defenses."
Colin took his halberds in both hands and started down the street. As the diner collapsed and the smoke cloud withdrew with the breeze, piles of foam and a pale mist lingered.
"We've constrained Burnscar's movements. It will take time for her to start fires of any significant size."
Oddly, she was the least dangerous of the Nine at present. Not that 'least dangerous' meant much when it came to the Slaughterhouse Nine. The girl simply wasn't nearly as vicious as the others. Half the time, her victims suffered from her lack of concern rather than maliciousness.
"The Siberian is faster than most realize. Our weapons will have little to no effect on her and she will cut through our armor like paper. Be very careful."
She was a problem. However, if what Forecast had learned panned out they could solve her permanently. Given the sheer number of people and heroes she'd killed over the years, that would be more than worth the cost of this battle.
Or in this case, 'him.'
Somehow that revelation made too much sense.
Still, Siberian preferred to play with her food. She didn't go straight for the kill. That would give them some time to deal with her projector. They'd start by locating him, and for that, they needed to force the Siberian to be reconstituted.
A tall order, but the real problem at present was, "Crawler. We need to contain or constrain him."
Crawler's power changed frequently. He adapted, and knowing what he'd encountered or adapted to was hard to know ahead of time. The last time he'd been encountered by Protectorate forces in Canada, he'd been the size of a pickup truck with four legs, elongated arms, and could spit acid. Those adaptations might have changed since then.
"Stick to the plan," Colin ordered. "For now we need to draw them out and get them together."
"Roger, roger!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
"Combat ready, combat ready!"
Colin stepped forward. "Flank them, continue firing on Shatterbird to distract her."
"Flanking, flanking!"
Veda: incoming
Veda: right
He stepped back quickly, swinging his halberd around and igniting the nano-thorns.
The Siberian was fast. He'd barely gotten the warning before ducking under the swiping claw. The zebra-striped woman was already bloodied, no doubt from some victim already dead or recently put from their misery.
Veda: left
Veda: upper right
Veda: straight
Colin didn't move to the words. While they were helpful, the projections of the Siberian's movements were more so. While it wasn't public, the Protectorate had extensive footage of the Siberian. More than enough for the combat engine to keep pace with her speed.
He ducked and stepped away from each blow, dodging most only narrowly. Yet, when the chance presented itself—
He thrust, stabbing the nano-thorn into the woman's thigh to no effect. She caught his weapon in her hand and pulled, drawing him close as the other hand lay waiting to cut him.
The thrusters on his left side fired, swinging him around and allowing him to wrench the weapon free of her grip.
Veda: behind
Bringing his second halberd around, Colin reversed his grip and stabbed the weapon straight back. At a moment's resistance, Colin fired his thrusters again and threw himself into a roll. Crawler continued forward, crashing through a car and tumbling over his side.
The Siberian stepped up onto the half-crushed vehicle and looked back as the massive hulk of Crawler crawled back up.
He chuckled a deep laugh and turned four eyes on Colin.
"That hurt."
Glancing at the weapon, it still appeared functional. Not bad, if he were to toot his own horn a bit. "Hm."
Beams of light shattered the ground where the two monsters stood. The Siberian weathered the bolts, while Crawler shrieked and laughed. Red swept from a street on the right and Orange from one on the left. Further up the street, Green circled and continued firing at Shatterbird.
Orange slid to a sudden stop. The Tieren it commanded raised a bazooka and fired. The shell arced high and detonated. The air warbled and warped, twisting into a dome of distorted air that fell to the ground.
Vista always had one of the most potent powers Colin had ever seen.
Veda: Burnscar right
The flames crept out of the debris of the diner. The girl emerged from them, dressed in a now tattered red dress and scowling.
The Haros pulled their machines closer, each aiming at a different member of the Nine.
How much of a difference it would have made if the PRT had such machines years ago. Maybe it was age finally catching up to him, or perspective. Had they been able to contain the earliest parahuman gangs more effectively—gangs like the original Nine—would the world be different now? Would it be safer? Would it be worse? Or exactly the same.
Colin inhaled and readied himself.
Such questions were academic, and not for the present.
"Who is he?" Crawler asked, eyes fixed on Colin.
Burnscar glanced at the Siberian. The Siberian shrugged and waved her hand at the air. Shatterbird descended, absent her regular attire. Instead of the usual dress of glass she bore only a skirt and half a brasserie over a plain blouse and jeans.
"That's Armsmaster," the flying woman said.
Armsmaster was no more. Hm. Funny. He'd been so attached to his career for so long and it all seemed so unimportant now. What did names even matter?
"Defiant," Colin decided on the spot. It would do.
The snide woman scoffed. "And this is your revenge origin story then?"
"Revenge?"
"Because of Dra—" Shatterbird jerked and glass formed a wall before her. The grenade slammed into the shield and exploded, sending the woman tumbling back through the air.
"Dear god you've said all of two and a half lines and I already think you talk too fucking much." Bakuda stepped over the roof of a building behind Colin, her launcher pointed at the Nine. "Learn to shut up, already."
Ahead, the air began to hum. His visor lit up with warnings, indicating the glass windows up and down the street, not that there were many.
"Yeah, no."
Bakuda raised a small device and pressed her thumb against it. Instantly, the sonar system picked up a new pitch that blasted through the air. Shatterbird paused for a moment, then flung back with a pain hiss audible even thirty feet away.
"Told you that would work!" Bakuda shouted.
"Hm."
Colin glanced north behind his visor. Forecast was alone with two monsters and despite her insistence, he didn't like it. Precogs overestimated themselves, more than other thinkers. Thinkers overestimated themselves as a matter of course.
But her plan was sound. They might not wipe out the Nine, but they could cripple it. Cripple them before they got to Brockton Bay and before they could enact any revenge on Newtype for Mannequin's demise.
Hm. Revenge. Someone was self-important.
The Nine weren't behind what happened to Dragon. He may have failed Theresa, but not this time. The Nine were just guns and bullets. Not the ones who orchestrated her injury. In a way though, that itself begged the question.
Why fear fools who can't even realize they're being used?
"Keep them divided," Armsmaster instructed. Rising, he started toward the Siberian. "Don't let them group up."
A Waken 16.11.B
"I do enjoy surprises," Jacob admitted. He raised his cup and watched the dome of twisted air fall over the area of the main street. The balcony offered an excellent vantage point for the show. "Though I find most rapidly wear out their welcome."
"Never use the same surprise twice," Forecast replied, her voice almost perfectly masking her fear.
Almost.
Despite her best efforts, she couldn't hide the quivering in her legs.
But who could blame her? She was sitting on a balcony having tea with Jack Slash and Bonesaw, infamous 'monsters.' The little lady deserved something for the audacity, even if she only did it to stall for time.
Jacob was curious to see what she could cook up. Someone is playing a game. But she was so polite about it.
Riley lifted her own cup of tea and scowled. "Do you have any OJ?"
White produced a smaller thermos.
"Thanks!" Riley took it and unscrewed the top.
Poisoned tea maybe? No one had tried poison in a long time. No. Too simple. The little precog should have seen that it wouldn't work, so why try it? She wouldn't. She was too smart for that.
Forecast turned her teacup. She was too smart to take her mask off. Probably airtight, though that never stopped Riley before. Beside him, Bonesaw watched curiously. It was his game for a moment and he did want to play.
"So," Jacob mused, "What brings such a nice young lady by?"
"I'm just skipping to the end," Forecast answered, eyes forward. It was hard to see inside the dome, but there were explosions. "We both know you never expected to get into Brockton Bay without a fight. We're too secure. Your first moves would be countered no matter what you did."
"And what would I have done first?"
"Your first move would be to go after the fringes. Chariot's mother. The Dockworkers. The nunnery. Force Taylor to have to choose between her friends because the one thing she absolutely can't do is be in two places at once."
"A bit direct."
"You like watching things fall apart. More than that, you like making them fall apart."
"You make it sound so ineloquent," Jacob admitted. "A bit of a dull observation when put like that. Why not simply ferry our would-be victims away to safety?"
"Because I can't see what you'd do after that," the girl explained. "It's a limit of my power."
Liar. Such a bald-faced lie too. A lie to maintain interest. A lie she knew would be seen as a lie.
"How does your power work?!" Riley blurted out. "I've never gotten to look at a precog's brain." She glanced to the side and pouted. "Somehow they always get away or kill themselves. It's very rude."
A lie for someone else.
Riley took a long gulp from her cup and then asked, "So can I ask a question about the Gundams? Oh, and do you know what a passenger is?"
Forecast's head turned.
Very curious.
Bonesaw leaned forward with her juice. "I want to know how —Wait I need something from my fanny pack. That's not a swear by the way, it's just what it's called."
"Don't badger someone who brings you tea, poppet," Jacob warned. Riley flinched and then pouted. "It's bad manners."
Meanwhile, Forecast tried to feign disinterest. She knows things. Bonesaw's fascination with powers. Jacob's interest in anything odd or unusual. How very clever. She was trying to play them and in such a brazen manner.
Jack tapped his blade against the arm of his seat. He did enjoy a little brazenness.
Forecast watched Bonesaw, making Jacob wonder what she was looking for. He felt her eyes fall on him behind her mask.
"I want to make a bet with you."
"I'm not much of a gambler," Jacob jested. "Nasty habit."
The girl continued unabated. "You like knocking out the blocks that hold things up and watching them fall. To attack Taylor, you were never going to fight her. You were going to go after her friends. Brockton Bay itself. Challenge everything she believes in by collapsing everything she's built."
"There you go making it sound mundane again."
"Not very artistic," Riley agreed.
"And here we are." Forecast leaned back in her seat. "I've brought you a bunch of things Taylor has created. A version of Armsmaster that isn't an asshole, a version of Bakuda that isn't a madwoman…" She paused. "Murderous madwoman, the Haros, and more."
"Cryptic," Jacob noted.
"Don't you want to be surprised?"
Jacob chuckled. "You play with fire very well, little miss."
"Let's see whose structure collapses first," she proposed. "Ours, or yours." She turned her head. Reading. Someone was talking to her in that mask. "Or better yet, which of us stops believing in what we've built first."
A Waken 16.11.A
Alice launched herself into the air, and then swung her arm out and fired one of the charges on her wrist. The Siberian charged under her and a flurry of glass passed by her right. Raising her arm, she triggered her vest and blasted the air with a white mist.
The shards crystallized, shifting their composition out of Shatterbird's power and showered the ground below. Not that it stopped another wave of glass from coming her way, but there hadn't been that many windows to begin within this dump.
And honestly, seeing the expression of rage and annoyance on the bitch's face was kind of funny.
Really not enjoying the sound bomb effects.
Though, being honest Alice hoped pouring random sound waves into the air and letting them bounce around wildly would stop the blabbermouth's power entirely.
Falling back to the ground, Alice rolled backward, slapped the ground beside her, and fired her launcher into the sky. Shatterbird swerved unnevenly to avoid the shell before it exploded and Crawler's foot was thrown out by the same blast that threw her clear of his reach.
The beast slammed into the ground and Armsmaster—Defiant, whatever he wanted to call himself—swung his evil-red halberd down into the monster's throat.
Crawler roared and kicked, forcing Armsmaster to jump back into the air, and then jump again to escape the Siberian's reach.
What a pain.
Alice forced herself up, grumbling, "Remind me why I agreed to this."
"Again?" Armsmaster gibed.
"Smartass."
Crawler lunged forward and Alice's boots fired. She flew back, losing sight of the monster for a moment as one of the Tierens moved in front of her. Red fired a rifle into Crawler's leg, stumbling the creature moments before he spat a stream of fire into the air.
"Another fire-breathing hulk monster." Alice's feet touched the ground and she fired a grenade into the air. "What are the fucking odds?"
"Not good, not good!"
The Tieren twisted out of the fire, half the green paint on one side burned black and flaking away. Crawler charged through the fire and smoke, reaching for the machine when Bakuda's grenade struck him. The shell exploded, crystallizing the monster's flesh. Crawler howled and the Tieren retreated and fired on the Siberian with the other two while Armsmaster made a passing leap at Shatterbird.
She started to rise, and Alice shot a rocket from her wrist into Blabbermouth's path.
A wall of glass intercepted the shell and exploded.
Alice chuckled. As stressful as the situation was, this wasn't so ha—
A wave of fire streamed over the street and she barely had time to stumble back. Burnscar emerged from the flames, grinning as she reached out. Alice raised her arm and one of the pouches in her coat exploded again.
The fire crystallized instantly, but Burnscar reappeared. Alice twisted away.
Veda: behind
The crystallized fire shattered into shards that pattered against her coat. Alice ducked, heart jumping into her throat as the Siberian's claws swung into empty air.
Alice groaned and rolled. The Siberian stayed on her, running faster than she could move. "Fuck you too Murphy!"
Armsmaster's halberd swung in and struck the Siberian's arm. It didn't budge an inch, but the insane cannibal turned her attention to him. She grabbed the weapon and pulled it from his grip. He swept back, swinging his other halberd around and catching Crawler in the jaw. The monster laughed as the flesh and bone sheared away.
"Again," it said.
Alice jumped into the air, firing a grenade straight down and another up at Shatterbird. The Tierens peppered Burnscar with bolts of energy until she retreated into her flames and then turned their attention to the Siberian while Armsmaster dodged Crawler.
The Siberian stood in place for a moment, grinning and watching the Haros' machines.
She really did like showing off that she couldn't be hurt.
Alice glanced back as she hit the ground. "Oi, zebra bitch!"
The Siberian's head snapped around.
Remembering what little-miss-know-it-all said, Alice grinned and waved. "I hope you don't have kids. You'd make a shit parent."
The Siberian's reaction was instant.
Alice's heart jumped again, realizing the Siberian was even faster than Armsmaster had warned her. The naked bloodied form was in reach of the tinker in an instant, long nails swiping for her throat.
Until they vanished.
A Waken 16.11.J.1
"And how do we know who's won this little bet?" Jacob asked.
"By which of us is forced to intervene first."
Jacob raised his brow. That…wasn't very interesting at all. As far as stakes went, it was just plain dumb. "There must be more to it than that."
"We're heroes," Forecast continued. "Veda and I won't sit out if things go against our side. The moment we have to try to intervene, you'll kill me."
Oh. Alternately, "And Newtype will feel so guilty. She doesn't know you're doing this, does she?" No. "She can't. She would never sit this little get-together out."
"A bet's a bet," Forecast replied.
"And how do you win?" Jacob inquired.
"If you or Bonesaw try to help the rest of the Nine"—the girl turned her head and looked up at Jacob—"Veda kills you."
Jacob's eyes flickered to White. "With what—"
Before he'd even finished, a house across the street exploded. Windows shattered, doors flew from their hinges, and the walls blew out.
Bonesaw held her thermos mid-sip, speaking around the lip. "This is why insurance is important, Uncle Jack."
Raising his head, Jacob squinted and still couldn't see anything.
"Ruining the surprise?" Forecast asked.
"Wondering how suicidal you are," he quipped.
No means of escape. Did she intend to kill herself to win? No. That wasn't it. Curiouser and curiouser. He'd never dealt with a machine before, but somehow Jacob doubted that Newtype's AI would blow the little girl away. They had something else planned.
At least they knew how to keep it interesting, though Jacob wondered how long the little future seer could keep it going.
A white and black foot stepped onto the balcony.
"Sibby!" Riley cheered.
The Siberian crouched, glaring down at Dinah.
"Bored already?" Jacob asked with a sideways look at the girl. The dome of warped air was still there. How did Siberian end up out here?
"Going to jump to the rescue?" Forecast asked.
"I think you patently misunderstand what we are," Jacob suggested. "We lose family all the time. We just find new ones." He glared down at the silly girl. "What makes you think I care what happens to them?"
"Because without them"—she looked away—"your arch falls apart."
Jacob chuckled. "You think so?"
A Waken 16.11.L
Bakuda exhaled and cursed. "Jesus shit are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
She glanced over her shoulder at the house behind her, boarded up and decrepit.
"Sorry!" The green robe fluttered as Labyrinth stepped out of her hiding place with a small smile. "I was waiting for the right moment!"
She snapped her fingers and closed the portal the moment the Siberian ran into it.
Until the 'Vista field' ended, she wouldn't be getting back in.
Bakuda kept complaining, but Elle tuned her out. She stepped up the sidewalk and set her eyes across the street. Around her, Armsmaster and Bakuda began to circle Crawler while the Haros focused their fire on pinning Shatterbird.
Just them then.
"Hello, Mimi."
Mimi turned her head, face marred by scars that weren't there before. Her eyes were glazed over, empty and void like they got when she used her power too much.
Still, the orbs flickered with recognition. "Elle?"
Elle smiled. "I'm sorry I couldn't be your friend before." She raised hands, holding them out on either side of her. "I can be now."
Mimi's head rose, lips parted. "Promise?"
"Promise."
The wind blew through the silence and Elle clapped her hands.
Mimi stumbled back, growling as water spilled onto the street. The waves crashed together and rolled over one another. The flames extinguished and steam hissed. Burnscar retreated and reappeared atop a burning roof.
Elle broke into a run.
Throwing her hands out, she raised stone pillars from the familiar beach she'd pulled into the world.
The Sunlit Realm was her favorite.
Burnscar swung her hand out, shooting a wave of fire and sending it crashing over the street ahead. Steam blasted upward before her in a wall and Elle slid to a stop. She didn't really need to move her arms to use her power. She just thought it looked cool!
Clapping, the steam, fire, and water retreated. The beach receded into the world that made it and took all the heat and fury with it.
Elle jumped as a new wave of fire swept toward her. She opened another pair of portals and dropped two stone columns from above. Burnscar stepped through her flames as the rooftop exploded.
Bakuda jumped back, cursing as debris showered around her.
Elle ignored the insults. She ran forward, stepping through the Starlit Realm and forcing a portal open as she ran through a twilit field. Mimi raised her head, still stepping through the nearest fire in sight. Elle dropped, wrapping her robes around Mimi's head and pulling her toward the ground. She turned her face away to shield herself and drew Mimi into her power.
The mud swallowed them up to their knees and then their hips. They kept sinking and as the muck trapped their bodies Elle started fumbling inside her robe.
She fucking hated this swampy world and all the dreariness it used to inflict on her, but swallowed by mud and—that wasn't right why was everything on fire?!
Yelping, Elle drew herself back onto Earth and pushed Mimi away. The fire erupted and blasted up into the sky. Elle shut the portal quickly before the inferno grew and raised a stone wall to shield herself.
"Okay," she grumbled. "So everything in Mudworld is super flammable for no reason. That's what I get for assuming."
Burnscar laughed. The flames exploded outward, rising higher. It was manic laughter, the kind Elle often heard when the doctors tried to get her to sit with Mimi. Elle hated it when they did that.
Water came crashing down again to meet the fire, turning the entire street into steam and the steam into a simmering fog. It prickled at Elle's cheeks as she started running again. She sprinted for the nearest light and clapped. The two stone pillars shot from the ground and slammed together, forcing Mimi to move off the roof and onto the street.
She swung her hand towards Elle as the shaker charged, sending a wave of flame through the mist.
Elle threw herself forward, rolling over her shoulder and slipping a hand into her robe.
The flames burned the air above, singing a few hairs that escaped her hood. Mimi stumbled back, moving to turn the flames back and envelope them both.
Coming out of her roll, she darted forward as the heat rolled over her skin and Mimi's manic smile widened.
Elle smiled up at her, shot to her feet and put an arm around the girl's shoulders.
The manic smile cracked.
Drawing her other hand from her robe, Elle pressed the gun to Mimi's temple and pulled the trigger.
The flames stopped and receded, pulling away from the bodies at the sound.
Elle met Mimi's gaze as she held the girl.
"What?" Mimi mumbled.
"Bang, bang." Elle smiled. "Burnscar's dead."
Mimi blinked. "That's stupid…"
Elle waved the empty firearm in the air. "What are friends for?"
Her mask shattered. From the first tear, she leaned into Elle, screaming. The flames evaporated, disappearing as Elle dropped the unloaded gun to the ground and held her friend.
Elle considered the irony, but only for a moment.
Honestly, she didn't even like Mimi. There admittedly wasn't much to like.
The only reason they even knew each other was because people were assholes. Stick the two damaged girls who can't control their powers together. They should get along, we're not presuming anything at all.
Mimi might have gone along with it, but Elle resented it. Mimi just wasn't a good person.
That wasn't really her fault, though.
Mimi's power ran too deep. It burned her up inside, sending her into cycles of depression and mania she couldn't control. That wasn't her fault. Mimi couldn't control what her power made her do. She could barely control her power at all.
All the more reason to pull the girl behind her as Shatterbird descended through the fog and used a wall of shimmering glass to fan some of it away.
She started to speak but stopped when she saw Mimi bawling. Her eyes were watering and her face contorted with discomfort. Still she managed to force out some words.
"What did you do?"
Mimi collapsed, falling to her knees and sobbing as Elle stood before her. "We're all fine here," she declared. She cocked her head to the side and laughed. "How are you?"
The flying villain tsk'd and waved her hand. The sound of the air shifted slightly, and Elle raised her hands quickly. Stone walls burst from the ground, surrounding her and Mimi before the shower of glass could cut.
"Time to go." Elle spun around, pulling Mimi up and dragging her. All that strength training the Wards had to do was about to pay off!
Shatterbird darted overhead and Elle wrapped the sky between them and absorbed the incoming glass into the Twilight Realm. It would fit there, floating in the void.
Elle directed Mimi toward the house she'd hidden in since midnight.
"You're just stalling," Shatterbird challenged.
"Bakuda's right." Elle turned, looked up, and stuck her tongue out. "You talk too much!"
Shatterbird dove with a tornado of glass behind her, but Elle laughed and dropped herself into the Sunlit Realm, Mimi in tow. The town around them vanished, replaced by towering marble columns, temples, and falling curtains of water that flowed in lines toward the center of a massive city.
"Suckers," Elle declared.
Mimi glanced around nervously, and Elle helped sit her down on a bunch.
"What now?" the girl asked nervously.
"Now we wait," Elle answered. She plopped herself down behind the girl formerly known as Burnscar and sighed. "I only agreed to stall Siberian. I'm no hero."
Mimi stared. "I—Me?"
"You?" Elle laughed. She threw an arm around Mimi and pulled her close. "You're sticking with me, silly! We'll just sit here for a bit and wait out all that stuff. Shouldn't be too long."
Mimi looked afraid then. Guess she figured the Nine wouldn't give up so easily. Elle supposed if they did, they wouldn't have the reputation they had. But she doubted they'd survive. Whatever Forecast was up to, she had a plan and it wasn't really about defeating the Nine.
Elle and Mimi just needed to wait it out.
"Why?" Mimi asked again. She cast her eyes down in a pattern Elle saw dozens of times at the asylum. She became depressed so easily and when depressed she used her power. "You don't even like me..."
"Why not?" Elle asked back. She patted Mimi's shoulder. "Just don't start calling me your hero or anything sappy like that!"
Those who can should protect those who can't. Didn't need to be a hero to do that. If Melanie could find the time, anyone could.
Hopefully, Armsmaster and the Haros got out okay.
Elle was no expert, but she didn't see how their plan would work.
A Waken 16.11.J.2
"But what I can't figure, is how you didn't know that," Jacob mused.
"I can only see what people do next," Forecast protested, her hand shaking in her lap as Siberian and Jacob flanked her. "I can't see what anyone might do in response to acting on my power."
"Liar," Jacob sang.
"Your power can't work that way," Riley agreed. "I've checked. Newtype responds to things that happen because of her all the time like she knows they're going to happen! You can totally see what happens as a result of using your power!"
No more intention to lie.
It was obvious in her body language. "Maybe."
"Definitely," Jacob clarified.
Siberian nodded in agreement and started running a finger over the girl's mask.
"I know you have something set up," Forecast offered, still hiding her teeth-chattering fear very well. "Something I can't see."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"She doesn't know about Maymay," Riley whispered.
Obviously.
"Maymay?" Forecast twitched. Faking.
"Well, you knew we would have surprises when we got to Brockton Bay." Jacob chuckled. It was a shame when a surprise wore out its welcome, but that didn't make it any less interesting while they got to enjoy it. "And like Bonesaw said. Newtype always responds to things that happen because of her."
Bonesaw bounced. "Uncle Jack said we had to think an extra step ahead!"
A Waken 16.11.D.2
Colin circled Crawler with the Tierens.
Siberian was outside the field now, and Burnscar was no longer involved. He wasn't as confident in Labyrinth's ability to control her long-term, but the girl seemed to go along with whatever happened. For the moment at least, that brought the Nine down to two.
Bakuda stepped up behind him. "I don't think the crystallizers are working on him anymore."
Colin turned his attention to Crawler. "They're not."
One of Crawler's arms had fallen off, but a second attack on him hadn't had the same effect. It only crystallized the exterior of the changer's hide and had peeled away.
"My nano-thorn is losing effectiveness as well," he admitted. "And he seems to already be shrugging off the GN bombs."
Meanwhile, Shatterbird had only a small amount of glass left to work with but they couldn't reach her. They could strip her of material to use her power on but reaching her was another matter. Neither of them could fly. She could simply wait up at the top of the dome for it to go away and then get all the glass she needed to grind them out.
Colin checked the time on his HUD.
The bomb wouldn't last much longer and they only had one more.
"We need to keep them busy," he stated.
"That's not a win, Beardmaster."
"We need to trust the plan."
"I hate the plan. If I'd made a bigger bomb I could have just blown them all up."
"I am aware."
"Just saying."
No. If it were that simple, someone would have done it already. Forecast was right. This had to be handled in the rig—
"Is someone humming clown music?"
Colin tilted his head. He hadn't heard it before, but a lull had fallen over the fight. Crawler looked over his injuries incredulously. Shatterbird was staying in the sky. Burnscar and Siberian were gone.
There was a tune humming.
"Thunder and Blazes," Colin identified. "Carl Fishcer's variation of Fucik's Entrance of the Gladiators."
"Yeah," Bakuda replied. "Fucking clown music. I hate clowns."
Where was it—
Veda: it's March
Colin turned.
A girl strolled out of a space between two buildings, humming loudly and twirling a sword. Her face was disfigured, melted on one side. Scar tissue from a burn? She was Asian, with long black hair. The scarring on her face was bad, but not bad enough to obscure her identity. That was her though. Colin remembered her face from the debriefing concerning her sentence.
"March," he called.
The girl saluted. "That's me!"
The Tierens sulked. "Uh oh, uh oh."
"Who's this bitch?" Bakuda asked. "And Jesus what happened to your face? If there was ever a time to wear a mask—"
March stabbed her blade into the ground and flicked a piece of debris into the air. "That's very rude."
"Not my fault you took a dip in an acid sh—"
Colin shoved her. "Move!"
The debris flew between them and exploded. The blast was small, but with his arm extended Colin felt the full force. He stumbled back and barely responded to Veda's warning. Firing the thrusters on his shoulders, his back crashed into the ground as Crawler swung over him. His hand caught Bakuda in the side, launching her into the air.
Colin thrust his arm forward, a nano-thorn blade projecting from his gauntlet and scarring Crawler's stomach. The effect was minimal. Half-baked nano-thorns pulled together in a week would never cut it against Crawler, but Colin had hoped to do more.
Bakuda recovered herself from her tumble and fired a trio of grenades. Crawler charged through one with a frustrated grunt and March flung two more pieces of debris at the other two. The explosion filled the street with smoke and Colin raised his arms to shield his visor from the shards.
The Tierens opened fire around him, launching volleys of beams and a few bazooka shells.
March cartwheeled around the destruction toward him, flinging more debris as she went.
A clever application of her power, and the worst thing that could happen.
Colin scrambled back, pulling a dagger from his belt. The nano-thorns weren't working on Crawler anymore but March wasn't a brute.
One Tieren swung in front of him, knocking March's improvised bombs away. The girl lunged through the dust cloud of an explosion and stabbed into the suit's shoulder. Red ejected the machine's left shoulder but was thrown back when the limb exploded.
Blasts proportional to mass and depth of cut.
That's what the report on her power specified.
"Cover me," Colin ordered.
Green and Orange were busy further down the street behind March. They held Crawler at bay using explosions and targeted strikes at his limbs. That wouldn't work for long. The fire he breathed was intensifying if Colin read the damage done to Green's machine right. The armor closest to Crawler was melting rather than simply losing paint.
Red swooped before him, blocking his vision and returning his attention forward.
March closed the distance quickly and drove her blade in a full-body thrust. Colin parried to the side, stepped into her guard, and drove his weapon for her gut. Her foot caught the back of his knee and she sent herself into a fall that dodged the blade. She caught herself before hitting the ground, kicked the back of his knee and Colin fired the thrusters again to avoid the second thrust.
The problem with her was hitting her and the fact she was here at all.
Forecast had been watching the Nine closely. How could they possibly have freed and recruit—
Colin grimaced.
The Nine had attacked one of the ancillary facilities of the Birdcage months ago. All the prisoners were supposed to be dead. March was imprisoned at that facility after Brockton Bay. But all the prisoners were supposed to be dead. The team that went in didn't find anyone alive. Just…dismembered bodies, most of which couldn't be pieced back together.
"The Nine let you out of prison," Colin accused. "And others."
"Maybe, maybe not!" March chanted and charged.
Colin continued his retreat, dodging explosions and shielding himself from glass. Red fired at Shatterbird, forcing her to pull her limited shards back in defense. Colin thrust forward in an instant, knocking March's hand down and driving her blade into the sidewalk. She swung her other hand from behind her back and pressed the push dagger into his collar.
Colin ejected that section of his armor and pressed a foot to March. When the ground exploded he fired the thruster and blew her back. The blast forced him into a rolling tumble that only stopped when he hit an overturned car.
This was bad.
The Vista bomb wouldn't last much longer.
March had waited for the perfect moment to disrupt their formation, distracting them with her mere presence.
…
Colin pulled himself up and growled.
Forecast was right.
The Nine had been expecting an attack. Maybe not today or in this manner, but they'd been ready. They'd set March somewhere out of sight and kept her from being noticed. If she was never physically with them, then Forecast's power might not reveal her. Thinkers could interfere with other thinkers too.
The Nine expected Celestial Being to attack first.
Celestial Being always tried to attack first.
This plan wasn't going to work.
"Bakuda," Colin called. "Stay alive."
"Working on it," she grunted.
This plan was never going to work, not past its opening moment.
They needed to switch to defense now.
"The moment the warped space ends we run," he told her.
A Waken 16.11.E
"Really it was part of this whole other thing," Jacob explained. "A surprise actually!"
Admittedly, he'd kind of been making that one up as he went. They just so happened to wander by prison and there had to be something they could do with that. Let some of the prisoners out. Fake their deaths. Keep a few of them somewhere close for something fun.
He'd been in the process of making up his mind, "But then Alan had an idea and he so rarely took the initiative without prodding. Such a shame Newtype killed him when she did. I was eager to see what he did next."
Forecast's face wasn't visible, but Jacob knew shock. It had a flavor almost. A sense in the air. You could feel it.
"You released a bunch of prisoners from a prison on the off chance they might do something later?"
"Why not?" Jacob asked. "Prison's so unfair, after all. Imprisoning people for expressing themselves differently? Fascism if you ask me. Though, admittedly I never expected to find any of our little bees this useful."
It had been a stretch.
May was no precog, but she could figure things out with time and know-how. Setting it up so that they took action and made decisions only after the times Forecast tended to use her power had worked quite well. Riley was very excited about the implications for her research. The girl had given some long explanations about how it worked, but Jacob got bored by math and deductions.
So dull.
Kind of like this conversation had finally become.
Well, nothing good lasts forever.
Jack set his cup down. "Lovely tea."
"Thank you," Forecast replied with a nervous twitch.
Knows we're done playing this little talking game.
"Wait."
Jacob paused. "For what?"
Forecast twitched again.
"Kill me and Veda kills you."
"Death from above?" Jacob glanced at Siberian and smiled. "Well, she can try, but who said we were going to kill you? Just because your imagination has run out doesn't mean ours has!"
"You'll lose the bet."
"Like I said." Jacob brandished his knife but honestly, that was too simple. "Nasty habit."
Riley had always said she wanted to experiment with a precog. They had never managed to get one alive before. Funny that.
"And besides, you're bluffing."
Forecast remained stock still and Jacob laughed.
"Though I admire the sheer audacity. You really would do anything for Newtype, wouldn't you?"
"She's right about the world."
"Do tell? That's the first interesting thing I've heard in half a minute!"
Behind his back, Jacob motioned for Bonesaw. She nodded and started to move while Forecast fearfully fixed her gaze on Jacob and Siberian.
"The world won't move forward as long as people see themselves as powerless."
How naive. "They are powerless," Jacob pointed out. "If they weren't, I don't think we'd still be free."
"That's why you can't stand Taylor. She believes people can be more than they are. You're convinced they're less than they already believe."
"True, but it doesn't take a genius to figure that out."
"No." There was a sudden flaring in her voice, a surge of confidence. A fake surge. Jacob had seen it many times before. The desperate clutching at straws. "But, then it didn't take a genius to figure her out either."
Forecast's head snapped around and glared up.
Riley, now directly behind her and reaching for the girl's throat with a needle, stopped. "Sibby? What about her?"
Jacob's brow rose.
"She's not real," Forecast declared. She turned her mask back toward Jacob. "What? You hadn't noticed?"
Siberian waved dismissively and shook her head, but that could wait. Stalling for time.
Riley balked. "Really?"
Siberian glared, feigning annoyance. Jacob had known her for a long time though. He knew her moods. The truth.
"She's a projection," Forecast continued. "Are you really going to say you'd never noticed an old man in a van following you around everywhere you went?"
Yes.
Jacob shrugged. A matter for another time. "Desperate, aren't you?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Forecast gripped the arms of her chair, and the White robot jumped from the floor and thrust a lightsaber at Bonesaw. Riley held her ground as the robot on her back swung around and tackled the other machine.
"I'm terrified," Forecast admitted, "but what else is new?"
Reaching. Straining for anything to say. Jacob gave her a bit just to see what she'd come up with.
She snapped her head around, suddenly looking Jacob in the eye. "You're just a blip in history."
Jacob thrust his blade forward and Forecast screamed as blood spilled from her thigh.
"That's just crass, who taught you to speak like that?"
He held the blade in place as the girl tried to pull it away. He waited for Riley to inject her so they could move on, but Riley wasn't mov—
Jacob raised his head.
Siberian was gone.
He noticed a black sphere to his right, beside the collapsing dome of warped space. The sphere vanished almost instantly, leaving a faint outline marking its passage.
A flicker shot through him. A chill ran up his spine. A claw at his heart. The little girl might not respect fear, but Jacob knew it very well. Intimately.
"Looks like I believed long enough." Forecast laughed and looked past Jacob. "You lose."
Orga stepped through the portal, pressed the cold barrel to the back of Jacob's head, and pulled the trigger.