A Waken 17.1
I wasn't used to being so still in the middle of so much action.
Curiosity.
My fingers twitched. "I'm just not used to it."
Assistance?
"No." I inhaled and leaned 00 back as a large caliber round whizzed through the air. "I need to get used to it on my own."
In that other place, the void that existed between us, Administrator tilted her head.
Query?
My mental self sat on a bench, looking up at the moon. "It might matter someday. If we ever get cut off somehow I can't be relying on you to fight my battles for me any more than I rely on Veda."
I'd always resisted letting Veda do more than basic support. Even that became a problem when Dragon was attacked and Veda threw everything she had into trying to save Theresa. I had no doubt help could make my battles easier. I just didn't want to become dependent on help for those rare occasions they couldn't.
Rejection.
And maybe I didn't like the idea of not having a comfortable level of control, but doesn't everyone?
I spun 00 around. The quick burst of particles was enough to light up everything in the middle of the night.
Taking aim, I fired in two different directions. One barrage of beams forced the sniper on the roof to duck. The other knocked the guy trying to sneak up on me with an RPG on his ass. Being able to do that was probably Administrator's influence to begin with.
"Reliance," I proposed.
Rejection. Assistance.
She thought I was just being stubborn. Probably didn't help that I kind of was. Pushing past our connection and ability to feel one another was becoming oddly frustrating.
Five men came around a corner and fired. The bullets panged loudly but harmlessly off 00 and I swung both GN Drives back and turned the output up to full with a thought. The blast of green light crashed into them and threw them across the floor.
How to help Administrator understand.
I projected the image into our void, showing her what Dinah had achieved in beating Jack Slash. I wasn't always happy. I worried she'd learned some of my worst traits. She'd learned some of my best though. My raw drive and will. Traits she turned on Jack and used to end him and the Nine. If I babied her every hour of the day, she'd never have achieved it.
"You can't fight every battle for me," I told her. I swung my longswords up. The blades pivoted and ignited. "It's not helping if you do it all yourself. It's just going back to how things were."
I spun, swinging both blades through the tank Phantom Pain had somehow gotten its hands on. Halfway through my swing, I turned one blade up and sheared into the turret and through the cannon's breach. The idiots must have stored live ammunition inside the thing. The armor exploded and I spun 00 with the blast as the flames and shrapnel rolled over me.
Administrator looked over the scene and my other self waited.
I hadn't expected it to be so hard. I should have. We had a connection at our core. My mother died and my father failed me. Scion was killed and before that the other Entity died. We'd both experienced the pain of loss and the uncertainty of the future together.
It was harder now.
It took convincing to go beyond that emotional bond.
Resignation.
Administrator's presence pulled back and with it the weight in my head retreated.
I pulled 00 out of the explosion, trailing dust and debris as I rose into the sky.
Finally able to fully focus on the present, I flexed the suit around me. No more sticks or buttons. No pedals. Nothing. The Trace system was fully fitted to the suit and calibrated.
And it was fucking fast.
00 shot forward and slammed into the ground. The flat of one blade hit a gunman in the chest and the other swept the sniper at the knees. I sliced his rifle in two with the backswing and shot back into the air, flying over the rickety warehouse and turning toward the rest of the camp.
Administrator waited there, watching.
She couldn't exactly leave me. I hoped that the moment impressed on her though that in the middle of a fight paying too much attention to her presence was distracting. Distractions were dangerous. We had to save our telepathic talks for quieter moments, not every time I happened to be in 00.
Her retreat also made me very aware of another presence, one full of enthusiasm and eager curiosity. Two actually.
"I know I'm like the last person to say this," Lafter mused, "but this is kind of mean, right?"
She raised Kyrios' arm and fired a trio of spikes from its right shield. The ballistics hit the ground and began bouncing. The trajectories were subtly fixed, adjusted by an invisible hand guiding Lafter's aim ever so precisely.
The stakes struck one another after their first bounce, bouncing into separate directions. One shredded into a shipping container and set off an explosion. Another severed an arm as a guy with a rocket launcher tried to take aim. The third struck a wall, spun out into the air, and shattered the tall antennae dish at the center of the camp and sent it tumbling down.
"This is kind of like bullying," Lafter bemoaned. "These idiots don't stand a chance."
I didn't disagree. I had that sense of betraying myself again, but this was bigger than one bullied girl and her hangups. "They made their choice."
I darted through the sky and sent 00 into a spin. Slamming through a wall, I flipped my suit around and fired into another ammunition dump. The room exploded, blowing out the side of the building and sending people scrambling outside.
"This is the consequence and if it feels like bullying"—I swung back, elbowing a big man in body armor and shattering a few ribs—"they brought it on themselves."
They picked a fight they couldn't win.
Administrator had a bizarre reaction to that. Pride? Agreement.
Flying through the still popping ammo cache, there was a mental something in my ears.
My eyes turned toward a rooftop.
Marie waved, gun pointed down as she and a dozen others sprinted to the other side of the building. Two of them, including Marie, jumped right off. They grabbed the lip with their hands and swung themselves through the windows on the top floor. Four more mimicked the motion while the remaining six began guarding the street before them and firing streaks of red light at a group of armed men below.
/ target terminal secured
/ pulling now
A series of lights flashed in the building followed by Marie leaning out a window and giving a thumbs up. No injuries among the kids.
"Veda," I called. "As soon as the kids have the info, feed it to Tattletale."
"It has been sixteen hours," Veda cautioned.
"I know." I aimed and fired at a vehicle as the occupants tried to flee. "But we stop when we run out of leads."
An example had to be made. We weren't joking around. We weren't playing games. We meant what we said. If anyone even thought about crossing the line we set then we were already bashing their door down. I'd call it off only when Phantom Pain's entire French contingent was a smoldering pile of ashes burned in effigy of all the shits not given.
If Blue Cosmos still dared to go through with Operation British, it would be over the rubble of every wall I could find crumbling around them.
Another red light cut into the air and I drifted back as it blasted by.
"Cape," I warned.
It wasn't the first.
I dove 00 and ducked behind a building. Another beam blasted the obstacle into a wave of debris and the blades of my swords swung down to expose the carbine barrels. I came around the other side and fired. The cape wore no costume or uniform. He was thin and pale, eyes sunken.
I felt him as he scrambled out of the way of my shots.
Swinging the GN Drives around, I rotated over the next beam of red light and threw 00 into a sliding crouch. Throwing a leg out, I spun around and brought my sword down. The GN Field over the blade shifted and the young man screamed as the bones in his shoulder shattered.
I saw it only for a moment. A flash of pain and regret. Self-loathing and blame.
Throwing myself up, I grabbed his face and slammed him into the ground.
"I'm sorry," I told him. "You're right."
I released him, leaving the boy no older than me whimpering on the ground. I couldn't see it clearly like I did with Riley but I knew why he was here. I knew why he thought he had to side with the likes of Phantom Pain. He'd lost everything already and he blamed the world.
Just like I did.
"It has to stop," I agreed. "And it will." I lifted into the air and left him there. "Stay down. Door please, Helper on my position."
A small portal popped next to the boy and a white and red Helper rolled through. That would be enough to prevent severe shock.
I turned away, feeling Administrator's curiosity on the edge of my mind.
Conflict?
It was a genuine question. The Entities had used conflict and competition to grow for...for a very long time. In a way, Administrator still believed in it. It made sense to her. She understood it.
She saw it in me.
These battles had changed me. My experience had brought me back. But it wasn't the fights that did that. It was the people. The words and the experiences that came with them. The conflict was forced on us by circumstances. It was my understanding that had really changed.
Suffering, I told her.
She knew those things. I knew she did.
Necessity?
She looked back on the two of us, acknowledging the pain but wondering if we'd both come out better for it. I insisted, focusing on the struggle itself rather than its result. Misery.
It's not like she didn't have a point. I couldn't deny it. Conflict was a way to grow. That was the Entities' problem though. Where was the end game? Where was the point where the misery and suffering of trillions, not to mention deaths, was remotely worth it? Why did their survival necessitate so much loss?
Administrator agreed the cycle had to end, but only because she didn't see how it could continue.
We needed to get past that. She needed to understand so we could find a new solution that would resolve what Scion left behind. Otherwise, the conflict would be endless. We'd all burn away.
I looked down at the boy. "It will stop. One way or another."
Administrator thought, head turned away.
"You okay?" Lafter crashed a fist down into a truck and swung the vehicle aside.
It crashed into another and when a man to the side started reaching for a pistol at his belt Lafter shot him with a bolt of energy. Kyrios lifted off the ground, hovering up as no more gunfire sounded. Plenty of shouting and screaming. Lots of that. Quite a bit of fire too. But no more gunfire.
"That was a little cold for you," Lafter continued as the two Gundams came side-by-side. Kyrios' head turned. "How you doing?"
"Trevor's rubbing off on me," I admitted. "Break someone's arms and legs and they can't keep fighting."
In the rear cameras, I saw Marie pull herself back onto the roof. The kids stepped back from the edge and a door opened. They ran through it with only a passing glance sent our way.
This fight was over.
Negation.
I glanced toward the west. The compound was in the woods, far from any cities or towns. There were men running for the tree line, retreating rather than surrendering.
Warning.
I already knew it was risky. It was our risk to take, because we could take it.
Another day, I noted. The downside of aeons-old aliens. Their sense of time was way different.
Administrator decided to change the subject. She noted that Navigator's interference was important for Lafter but I think even she knew that we weren't Lafter and Navigator.
I never would have guessed that Lafter's simple power was granted by such a powerful shard. Navigator was important to the Entities. It ensured they didn't crash themselves into a black hole or fly into a supernova. Across multiple realities. It had to track all the tiniest details. Its aim had to be precise. Absurd even. Downright bullshit.
The kind of aim that let Lafter do everything she did without ever realizing how her every movement set the dominos into motion.
I reminded Administrator that helping me make all my technology was hardly being uninvolved.
There was no her or me when it came to tinkering. The cluster that comprised her provided the knowledge and capability, but the ideas were mine. The Shards had no creativity. They'd never needed it and had evolved in such a way it was even a foreign concept. Everything was brute force data accumulation for them. I'd bet it didn't start that way but it's what it became after however many iterations.
Administrator's consternation at that thought was strong. She didn't remember that far back. She was very, very, old.
Possibility.
In any case, these guys seemed done fighting for now. "Bring in the responders."
Lightning struck and light spilled over the compound. It wasn't the light of a GN Drive though.
The mobile suit lowered its arms as the ring on its back slowed to a stop. Trevor's teleporter might only manage one-way teleportation, but Veda was the genius who figured it wouldn't be a limitation if we just mounted it on a Gundam.
Gundam StarGazer raised its head and looked at me. Helpers poured out from the ground around the suit, jumping and bouncing as Red and Orange led them into the compound.
"Do not resist," Veda warned, "and you will receive medical aid as required."
I saw some men running in the distance. Those who could at least. We'd let them. If they came back with more guns, the situation wouldn't change. Maybe a few would wise up after this and find a better way to spend their time.
Gundam StarGazer rose off the ground. The suit generated a more muted light than GN particles, one that traveled in yellow lines on its plain white surface. The technology was based on Dragon's suits, namely the ringed suit we'd torn apart during our first Encounter with the Dragonslayers.
It was the first Gundam Veda had designed all on her own, from top to bottom with not even a hint of my tech in it.
"There is a problem at La Defense," Veda notified once she reached us.
I tilted my head. "Cape?"
"Three."
Three capes and the team we put there couldn't handle them?
Red was directing Triage down below. Some of the wounded clearly didn't want help. Others, the most wounded, were smarter about it. "Lafter, can you stay here and make sure the idiots don't try starting another fight?"
Kyrios shrugged. "Yeah, I can do it. What about when the cops show up? Or the army."
"Leave," I stated. "We're basically waging a war inside their country and it'll get complicated if we resist arrest or detainment." Or worse, get into a fight with them. "Better to leave as they arrive."
Not hard with teleportation. For the moment though, the authorities weren't reactionary enough to start shooting at us.
Even Blue Cosmos was biting its tongue. Djibril had a lot of pull. Blue Cosmos had achieved more in the EU than the US over the past decade. I saw nothing to suggest they were particularly more well-liked among their detractors. At the moment we were taking out a terrorist organization that had kidnapped a cape's son and extorted her into trying to assassinate Relena Peacecraft.
Djibril, unfortunately, was far more careful than Azrael when it came to procuring assassins.
"See you in a bit. Stay safe."
"Don't I always?" Lafter asked.
"You don't want the answer to that." I floated away from Kyrios to StarGazer's flank. Query. Oh yeah. She picked that name on purpose. "Veda, let's go."
The ring on Gundam StarGazer's back spun and ignited. I think the lightning effect was more for effect than anything. Looked pretty cool though. Acquisition. Administrator liked the lightning effect. Rejection. Liar.
When we reappeared, it was over a shining city with a very iconic tower visible ahead. I'd never actually noticed the Eiffel Tower had skyscrapers behind it, but they were there. A whole business district, and at this time of night it stood out really easily. Giant pillars of illuminated glass against the city sky.
Kind of made the smoke from the fires easier to notice.
"Who are they?" I asked.
"Gardienne, L'Argent, and Fleur," Veda identified. "Local vigilantes associated with Zodiac."
"Fleur?"
"Jessica Adams doesn't really use the name anymore."
Fair enough. Cape names did tend to get reused when their previous owner went inactive. Correction. Or dead, yes. Relation? Kind of like how Shards moved on to other hosts when their previous ones passed? It was a morbid thought but also accurate.
Turning toward the towers, the GN Drives ignited and propelled me forward. "What's the problem?"
StarGazer followed behind me as we moved through the night sky. "We attacked the Phantom Pain cell stationed near the protestors when they began taking positions, but the fight spilled out into the street. It has escalated since then."
"How do these three come into it?"
"It seems they were aware of Phantom Pain's position and had their own plan. When we went in, they attacked as well. Gardienne's force became excessive and Victoria took offense."
Veda gave me quick recaps of their careers, which were not encouraging. Gardienne reminded me of Gavel, whom I'd recently had to learn a lot about. That was concerning.
Not as much as Zodiac's reputation.
Somehow it made sense that where Blue Cosmos achieved greater political power and legitimacy, a counter-weight would also rise. In this case, cape supremacists. Kind of weird to me actually. We didn't really have those in the US. I suppose the Empire and Fallen kind of incorporated those notions into their rhetoric, but they blended the 'capes are better' idea with racial and religious extremism.
"Anything else?"
Veda produced a report 'Bring' compiled just a few minutes ago.
"Well," I mused, "at least they're predictable."
We turned, leading down the main road through La Defense. The buildings reminded me of downtown Brockton Bay, only a lot taller. I spotted the crowd in the distance, filling the street beyond a burning fire.
"Why are we fighting them so close to the protestors?"
"An officer on the police barricades fired a shot during the fighting. Since then Zodiac has persistently attempted to attack the protestors. Which is why we are having trouble—"
Dust exploded and Vicky rose up and dove back down. A woman scarred the ground as Vicky shoved her only for the woman to take a single step and shove her back. Vicky shot back and slammed into a car.
Nevermind. "I see the problem."
I turned 00 into a dive.
Vicky charged again, throwing a punch as Gardienne adjusted her footing. Curiosity. The tall woman met the punch and to my surprise Vicky was thrown back. Gardienne still recoiled, head snapping around as if struck. Also curious. Agreement.
The crowd behind the fight was shouting and pushing, the front ranks looking like they actually wanted to rush the fight. Police held them back, maintaining a good twenty-foot distance from the massive wall of writhing rot blocking the road. Wormwood held a line between the crowd and a lashing mass of green and blue. A man stood on the churned asphalt, hand held out as vines surged forward.
That would be Fleur.
The other fight was further back, almost a block away.
Pillars of silver light shot out from the ground, flying through the air only to smash against a giant monster dog's face. The beast roared, barreling through a barrier as Rachel—I didn't like calling her Bitch and she accepted Rachel—swung a bat and smashed the woman projecting the light in the shoulder.
Garotte leaped from a second dog that followed, arms coiling around the projector and trapping the woman just as Veda and I flew overhead.
Vicky came at Gardienne with a kick, blocking a punch with her arm. Gardienne met the blow with a knee but her balance failed as her other leg was struck. Vicky grinned, swinging wide for a punch that didn't land. Gardienne's face rolled as if struck from the opposite direction.
The woman went with the strike, grabbing Vicky by the shoulder suddenly and pulling. Vicky threw her feet out and Gardienne shot through the air and flew straight back. She looked surprised as she slammed into a car, probably because Vicky's feet never made actual contact.
Projection. Huh. Neat.
Gardienne shot to her feet instantly, grabbing the car and hurling it into the air.
And that was the step too far. "Enough!"
I slammed into her from behind, eyes locked on the car as it flew past Vicky's reach and right into a big black hand of swirling goop. Wormwood—Jill—visibly strained as her power crushed the vehicle and absorbed it. The arm crashed to the ground, spreading the goop out with no sign of the car.
I was glad that worked out.
I grabbed Gardienne by the shoulder and pulled her up. "Stop now or I'll make you."
She snarled and turned but halted her fist when she saw 00's face. She was a huge woman, which said a lot given 00 was about ten feet tall.
She hesitated and then spoke. "Parlez vous français?"
Consternation. Yeah, I should have seen that coming. "Veda."
StarGazer landed beside us and Veda's voice said in French what I assumed was an offer to translate.
Gardienne nodded.
I released her shoulder and she lowered her fist. "Tell her to call Fleur off."
A moment later Gardienne shouted a word and the vine garden up the road began to withdraw. The man at the center began backing away from Wormwood but didn't take his eyes off her power. She held her ground, maintaining her black barrier between the turned-up street and the police barricade holding the protestors back.
Gardienne pointed and Veda said, "She 'requests' we release her teammate."
Behind us, Rachel and her dogs approached slowly. The third Zodiac cape walked under her own power but with Garotte binding her arms and looking over her shoulder. I'd been a bit worried given Garotte's reputation, but Weld promised she'd learned to keep herself under control and that seemed to be the case.
"Release her," I ordered.
Garotte hesitated but Rachel grunted and that seemed to do it. The tendrils uncoiled from L'Argent and instead wrapped around the second monster dog. The feminine head at the top of the tentacled mass pulled away, clinging to the side of the dog without a word.
The situation calmed. Fleur disengaged and came around to stand beside Gardienne and L'Argent did the same. Rachel and Garotte were behind them atop the dogs and Veda took one of my flanks. Vicky floated into the other, eyes focused.
Gardienne spoke briefly with L'Argent then turned her attention to me.
She spoke and Veda began translating.
"No more," Gardienne said. "We shouldn't be fighting each other to begin with. Blue Cosmos is the enemy."
"You were shot at by the police." Speaking of which, I glanced at StarGazer. "Any word on that?"
"The officer is off the scene," Veda explained. "I am checking to see if there was any ulterior motive."
I nodded. "And the protesters?"
StarGazer raised a hand and a door opened.
Green dropped through it and popped one hand out of his round body. "Papers please, papers please!"
"I got it." Vicky flew around and took the papers. "No offense but you two have fat fingers."
She unfolded the paper and started looking it over.
"I can't read French but I see signatures on all the lines, what looks like confirmation of a fee being paid, and a seal that looks official." She leaned in, holding the papers in front of Veda. "All up and up?"
"This permit is legal," Veda confirmed.
Vicky pouted exaggeratedly. "Shame."
"This protest is legal," I declared. "You have no business here."
Gardienne appeared taken aback as Veda translated my words.
"They shot at us," she snapped. "They're violent."
"A cop shot at you and he's being dealt with."
"A Blue Cosmos plant!"
"Prove it and I'll deal with it."
The Amazonian woman glared and I glared back. It was easier for me given 00 didn't blink.
Fleur said something that Gardienne seemed to ignore. "We should go," Veda translated.
L'Argent snapped her head around and snarled out something else. "This is stupid. Blue Cosmos is the enemy."
Gardienne kept her eyes locked on me, ignoring her teammates as they started bickering.
Zodiac wasn't so famous I'd heard of them before investigating Paris' cape scene. They were a small group in the city, and not very popular. They'd been a bit more well-known years ago when another cape led them. The Internationals took him down when he tried to attack Blue Cosmos' Paris office. The group had since become little more than violent agitators.
Gardienne began speaking in slow and deliberate words.
"Blue Cosmos are terrorists," Veda described. "They must be stopped now before they force us to defend ourselves from their aggression."
Gardienne pointed at me.
"You want to stop the race war before it starts. There won't be one if Blue Cosmos stops. All of this is their fault."
I kind of missed my controls. They gave me something to grip in tense moments. "This protest is legal."
Veda translated my reply and Gardienne snarled.
"You're protecting them? Djibril wants to force us all onto lists and then they'll hunt us and our families!" Kind of a humorous protest when Zodiac already skated that line of its own accord. "They're the ones making this a fight. They're the ones you should be fighting! We should be working together!"
Yeah. We probably should be, but then so should everyone.
"The right of expression is assured by Article Nineteen of the International Bill of Human Rights," I replied. "Article Twenty assures the right to assemble and associate peacefully."
Gardienne balked, which was about what I expected. There was no real legal weight to the IBHR. Still, it was as good a basis as any available to me and maintaining a standard was important when I tossed national borders out the window and decided to do as I fucking pleased.
Warning. Administrator frowned, focused on Gardienne. Confrontation.
I'd noticed.
"Hero," she spat. Vida picked up, translating, "Go back to America. Plenty of cameras there."
"I don't like reporters," I admitted.
She took a step forward, a step that cracked the ground when her foot came down.
The legs, I decided. Agreement.
"This is my country," she growled. "Blue Cosmos wants to steal it from us! Make us foreigners in our own homes! They're kidnapping children and holding us hostage! Plotting to kill anyone who opposes them!"
"Yup," I agreed.
"You're defending them!"
I turned my chin up. "In this moment? Yes."
"Why?!"
"Because here I stand," I answered.
Vicky readied herself behind me. Rachel and Garotte focused their eyes and one of the dogs growled. StarGazer lifted off the ground. Further in the back, Jill began raising her rot from the street and forming new barriers further forward of the protesting crowds.
It was one thing when they were fighting four versus three, especially with a pair of wide-range shakers.
Three versus six was different.
Green jumped up, pulling a saber from inside his ball and spinning it about.
Seven.
Fleur stepped back. He was the only one.
Gardienne spat again. She spoke and Veda turned her head toward me.
"You can't watch them all forever."
I scowled. Idiot.
"No. I can't."
Gardienne flinched a moment before her body flipped rightward and into the ground. The first blow smashed her knees and my backswing crushed her arm. The fin over 00's right shoulder parted, blasting a solid wall of GN Particles into L'Argent, launching her into the air. Vicky caught her with an armbar, spinning the woman down into the ground.
My sword came around and stopped right above Fleur's collar.
The man tensed, a vine breaking through the ground a second before Rachel's dogs began barking. Gardienne drew a ragged breath and pushed herself up. A scream followed, no doubt emanating from how her legs shouldn't bend the way they were.
She started to speak but I really didn't care to hear it. I kicked the woman onto her back.
"I. Don't. Care."
When Fleur raised his hands, I pulled the blade away. I stepped on Gardienne's chest as she tried to pull back, pinning her to the ground. She had a strong power if she could throw Vicky around, but I'd noticed it only let her throw Vicky around. And only when she struck herself.
No legs, no leverage. No leverage, no meeting a blow to overpower it.
I leaned in, letting 00 press down on the woman. To my right, L'Argent was limp with Vicky hovering over her. Despite her assistance, she kept glancing at the mangled Gardienne with a sickly expression. Legs definitely weren't supposed to go that direction.
I did my best not to linger on the sight.
Sooner or later, people were going to have to notice how serious I was. The war was over. It ended before it began. No guns. No ammo. No fucking tanks. As for capes, well. I couldn't strip them of their powers but I'd like to see any cape fight without arms and legs.
"If you want to fight so badly, I will remove your ability to do so. And if you want to make childish threats, I'll make that removal permanent. Fleur."
The man flinched before Veda translated.
He understood English.
"You have one minute. Call your team and tell them they will disband." I glanced down at Gardienne, who definitely looked like the fight was taken out of her. "Or be disbanded. Those who have arrest warrants"—which was nearly all of them—"will turn themselves in or be turned in. Zodiac is done."
Fleur blinked and then the panic kicked in.
For a brief moment Gardienne seemed to get some fire back. A few quick words from Veda put her back down. If I had to guess, she'd asked if the cape wanted to be down arms in addition to legs.
Reality seemed to set into Fleur fast when it did. He grabbed a phone from a pouch on his thigh and started tapping at it.
"Veda, isolate Zodiac's members and send the Thrones. If those aren't enough, grab whoever you need to finish the job."
StarGazer lifted up. "No need. The Thrones and StarGazer will be sufficient."
Fleur held his hands up, one closed around his phone. "I told them," he said with a thick accent.
"Rachel and Garotte should go now." I looked over my shoulder. "Jill."
Wormwood's power receded, slowly pulling back from the street as it seemed to burn away into smoke. In the midst of it, Jill nodded her head, drawing my attention to her as a group of seven capes emerged from the police line.
I recognized them.
"Rachel and Garotte, go now. Door please."
The dogs took them through the portals and Veda flew off into the sky before teleporting away. The suit teleported back a few seconds later, followed by all three Thrones as they tore off elsewhere. Vicky flew closer to me and Jill ran over to join us.
"Get going, Fleur." He was one of the few members of Zodiac who wasn't wanted by the authorities and Veda couldn't find crimes on. "Find some better way to spend your time."
I ignored him after that.
The seven capes continued to approach us. I didn't know all of them by name, but I recognized the large tank of a man leading them.
"Evening, mademoiselles," one of the other men offered with a wave and a smile. He had long red hair and a costume that reminded me of Count's. Very aristocratic with a long shoulder cape. "Long way from home?"
"Classy," Vicky commented.
sys.v/ Leon
Kind of funny how French cape names were the same as English cape names. Except French.
I kept my eyes focused on the big guy at the center.
The seven of them stood in a line facing us, and the crowd in the back had quieted a bit.
He was huge. Even bigger than Gardienne, with massively broad shoulders and defined muscles. His costume was blue and white with a mask that covered his eyes and brow while leaving his hair and mustache free. He was an older man now, with the first signs of wrinkles and graying hair.
When PHO ran polls on it, Marteau was consistently voted one of the greatest capes in the world. He was also one of the leaders of the Internationals. Apparently, I'd finally gotten over any urge to fangirl.
"Newtype." Marteau had a very blunt voice. Deep and quick. His English was very good, with only a slight accent. "You're far from Brockton Bay."
"It's boring now," Vicky commented. "No bad guys worth beating up. Worst we have are a bunch of harmless cultists and some thieves who don't hurt anybody."
"Which isn't my concern," I added.
One of the women, a curvy blonde with striking brown eyes, scoffed. She said something under her breath but it wasn't in English.
sys.v/ they probably work for you too
Well, she wasn't entirely wrong. At this point though, the hypocrisy didn't bother me. My line was clear as crystal; violence. So long as the Red Hands stuck to their little robberies and the Adepts peddled their pseudo-religion, it was beneath my concern. Whatever harm they were inflicting wasn't remotely close to the brink Teacher had set the world on.
Marteau tore his eyes away from me and glanced at my feet.
With a wave of his hand, two of the capes moved forward. I moved to the side, feet sliding over the ground. One cape went to L'Argent and rolled her over. After a quick check for a pulse, she bound the woman's arms and legs with zip ties and then pulled her up into a fireman's carry.
Two other capes came in and got Gardienne up. One held out his hand toward her legs. A hole appeared just over his palm and the woman's broken limbs seemed to fade into it while leaving a transparent ghostly iteration behind. Kept her from screaming as they hauled her off I supposed.
Marteau's voice tore my attention back to the world.
"Taking the world police idea a bit far, no?"
A joke? I stepped aside, making room for the weird space warping cape to heft Gardienne up. "Someone has to step up."
"There are rules. Laws."
"Name which ones I've broken and I'll apologize."
The man grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I must ask you to cease what you're doing. We have no law against foreign heroes, but you're acting unilaterally and without consent. We can't allow it. Continue like this and the Internationals will stop you."
"Is there a rule against helping put down criminals while living in another country?" I asked.
"No."
My lip twitched behind 00's faceplate.
There was an air to experienced heroes, and unlike some of the others I'd met Marteau wasn't—to my knowledge—a total asshole. He'd been active since the Golden Age. One of the first internationally famous heroes. He'd fought Endbringers, the Blasphemies, and more. His mere presence carried the weight of a lifetime in it.
He didn't give a shit about the law or any rules.
He knew what he thought was right and to hell with anyone who got in his way.
Marteau. Hammer. Fitting name.
Maybe I wasn't completely over fangirling for famous capes just yet.
"Well, as long as no laws are being broken," I told him. I adjusted 00 ever so slightly, one leg moving an inch back. Vicky tensed on my side and Jill hid a hand behind her back to summon some of her power into it. "I mean what I say. Guns. Bombs. Assassins. Capes. I don't care. Anyone who crosses the line gets put down."
The woman who'd mumbled before started to speak but Marteau spoke right over her.
"If you have evidence of a crime in progress, report it," he barked. "You have no authority to detain or hold criminals in this country and we cannot allow you to fly around doing as you please without oversight."
I took his meaning instantly.
"I won't give up the element of surprise," I warned. "It's too valuable."
Marteau grunted. "At your risk. If I have to ask the PRT to extradite you, I will."
Except the PRT wouldn't dare extradite an American cape to Europe. They'd handle me themselves before doing that. He knew it as much as I did.
"Fine," I agreed. "If it'll ease your nerves."
"For that, I'd need an answer on where your line is."
"Violence."
"By who against who?"
One of the other capes spoke up with a stronger accent. "Will you stop us from catching criminal capes?"
My grin broke into a wide smile. "Suppose it depends."
All seven of the capes reacted to that. Six of them adjusted to more aggressive stances. Marteau simply dropped his arms to his side.
"If you want to haul Gardienne off for the murder of the three Blue Cosmos volunteers she committed two weeks ago, be my guest."
"And if the crime is less severe? Using powers in one's own home perhaps?"
I grimaced.
I knew what I wanted to say.
And I knew what I needed to say.
"No one elected me to run the EU," I mumbled. "I'm not here to obstruct the enforcing of laws." If things played out even close to right, it would never come to that. We could stop all of this before things got that bad.
Vicky and Jill both jerked their heads around. I didn't blame them. Honestly, a previous version of me—one with less experience—would probably be all over the registration law. It was a stupid idea. It would start a war.
But my goal was to stop the war from ever happening.
Two of the Internationals looked shocked. Two of them looked angry. One grabbed another and shook his head. All of them looked to Marteau. From their positions, I doubted they could see his face.
I knew what he wanted and, regretfully, I couldn't give it to him. Not now. Not yet.
I mulled over my next words carefully before speaking.
"Blood is my line," I affirmed, "and I will enforce it. Regardless of faction, status, or creed. I don't care." I held 00's swords out to either side of me and flared the GN Drives. "I'm not out to overthrow the government merely because I dislike a law that hasn't even passed yet."
Marteau looked away.
I had an appreciation for what Lalah told me that first trip into the Firmament.
She said it wasn't her place to decide our future for us. She was right. It wasn't her place.
It wasn't mine either.
One way or another, people had to make their choices, choose their own fates. People had a right to fight. A right to make their own peace. Denying that, forcing the world into a box without consent or care, was what got us the mess the world was already in.
We needed to do better this time. We needed to get it right or we'd destroy ourselves.
"There's still time," I whispered. "We can stop it before it begins." I swallowed. "It's not done. Not yet."
Marteau grunted and looked away with a solemn understanding. "Chevalier speaks highly of you with good reason."
It took me a moment because he pronounced the name without an 'r' sound. He had mentioned he'd speak to his counterparts in the Internationals. Marteau was certainly one of them.
"We will take over here," the French cape declared.
I took the offer and lifted off the ground. "Your phone might blow up if I have to start reporting things."
He scoffed. "Don't use cellphones." At his side, the annoyed woman sighed and reached into a pocket on her hip. "Watch yourself. One misstep, and it won't be tolerated."
"Thanks for the message."
I turned away and lifted into the sky. Vicky started to follow then stopped and spun around. She pulled Wormwood into a bridal carry and zipped off behind me. Jill struggled a bit but settled down after we passed the top of the buildings and instead started clinging to Vicky.
"I'm not a huge fan of heights," she mumbled.
"You get used to it," Vicky said warily. Despite carrying the other girl, she didn't look very comfortable. "Just don't do that thing you do while we're up here."
Jill scowled. "And drop myself a few hundred feet?"
"Yeah, that." Vicky turned her head forward.
I was moving at—to me—a sluggish pace. One slow enough that Vicky could keep up. That maybe wasn't fair because Vicky was decently quick in the air. Just not supersonic quick.
"So," she called from behind me, "I feel like there was something else going on back there."
"Something," I admitted.
"Want to…say more?"
Query. Right. I'd been keeping so many secrets for so long. Actually telling people the truth was hard.
Working past the initial instinct, I explained, "Marteau was warning us not to go too far. As long as we don't he can run interference and do administrative crap to explain why he's not taking a harder stance."
Vicky blinked. "Why?"
"Probably because he's screwed," Jill answered. "Everyone knows Phantom Pain is just Blue Cosmos, but Blue Cosmos is a political party here and Djibril is an EU official. Marteau can't oppose him without opposing the government."
Vicky looked down and Jill shrugged.
"Try having a straight conversation with Glaistig Uaine in the room. You either have no idea what anyone is saying or you read between the lines."
Vicky grimaced at the reference to the Birdcage.
I'd told her that Jill wasn't guilty of the crime she'd been convicted of. That's why I let her and a small handful of others out. It was bullshit to keep them imprisoned when we knew without a shadow of a doubt they'd been innocent.
She tore her eyes away and checked her grip on Jill. "So… Marteau is on our side?"
"I think he's on the side of what he thinks is right," I told her. "Right now, the registration law is putting him in a hard position. He was hoping I was prepared to lead us in taking that problem off his plate."
"And we're not?" Vicky scowled. She didn't like that.
My scowl deepened. "If we jump to opposing the law, we're going to war with the whole EU. We'll become the start of what we're trying to stop."
"But it's a bullshit law!"
"Yeah. It is, and if they pass it then it'll be war." I wouldn't be able to stand by. I couldn't. We needed to stop the law from passing, and on that front, I had a nuclear option.
The thing about nuclear options was that they came with fallout.
Veda: I do not like this position
"I don't like it either," I agreed. "But these are the choices that matter. We can't fight every battle, and not right now. It's not too late to pick a different course."
Vicky started to protest, but she stopped. Her eyes wandered, eventually settling on the city below. She was smart. She had to see what I meant.
"It turns my stomach too," I told her. "But right now, what we need to do is enforce the line. There are others who can work on the registration law."
"Relena Peacecraft?" Jill asked.
"It's making people the crime," Vicky whispered angrily. "That's Nazi shit."
"I know."
Fortunately, Relena was ready to lead the charge on that battle and it wasn't lost. Not yet. For now, stopping the war was what mattered. Buying time for Relena and everyone else to make themselves heard and force Blue Cosmos' tenuous political alliance to fall apart.
Djibril built it with money and blackmail.
We could clean those out behind the scenes, hopefully without looking like a cape conspiracy. Negation. 'Looking' was the operative word there. Confrontation. I didn't mind running a conspiracy designed to keep people from murdering each other left and right.
I'd take the blame for that shit.
"Veda, what's the status of Zodiac?"
"Reluctant but coming around."
"Let the Internationals know everything we've done. Tell Kati we need a statement saying we're cooperating with local authorities. I can give it if need be."
"Canary is volunteering to make such statements," Veda revealed. "She doesn't want to fight but is willing to back us from the sidelines."
So, she'd made her decision. "Fair enough."
There was a little guilt in me. Paige probably didn't have much information to share. She started singing before the Madison attack when Doctor Mother would have still been alive. I knew that Cauldron offered her the vial in exchange for a cut of her profits and some unspecified favors. Paige was probably lucky the group went defunct and couldn't really cash those in.
Though, anyone who knew where her powers came from could blackmail her about it.
I wasn't so above it all that I was unwilling to point that out to her and that she'd need help if it ever happened. Not really blackmail, but yeah. A little guilt there.
Streaking over Paris, I decided to take a quick detour and check out Notre Dame. I'd seen the movie with Mom as a kid—the Disney one—and fuck it. I was in Paris. Might as well check it out.
"Neat," Jill stated.
"Yeah," Vicky agreed. She floated beside me, looking at the front of the building. "Fight bad guys, see the world. Didn't even have to join the army."
"Never thought I'd see the world again." Jill glanced at me and I tried to remain stoic.
I felt a bit guilty there too. Jill lost everything when she was sent to the Birdcage. She had no family left. No home to return to. She had nowhere to go, and despite telling everyone who asked she wanted to make a difference I could feel she was a bit bitter inside.
"Fringe benefits of teleportation," Vicky proposed. She glanced at me too. "You okay?"
"Don't like that question," I informed her. "I'm fine."
I'd taken the time to review and maybe freak out the crowd on the streets below. I watched their faces closely. In Brockton Bay I inspired interest more than anything. People who saw me took notice and watched curiously, sometimes with veiled awe or fear. Some looked happy.
Here, fear stood out the most. More than that. These people were terrified and confused.
Why wouldn't they be? The people of Paris didn't know me as anything but the leader of a literal army of capes who'd effectively blitzed their country. In retrospect, blowing a hole in the wall isn't worth the shock and awe when that wall is the fucking Louvre.
Beside me, Jill had bags under her eyes. Vicky had fared better but her hair was a mess and her costume was pretty worn despite being brand new. She'd dumped the white dress and tiara for a more pragmatic setup.
She wore one of my bodysuits made of E-Carbon fibers, black and gray in color with some gold trim. She wore armored plates over the suit, and her jacket came with a hood and a neck that could be pulled up over her nose. It was a good look. Practical and utilitarian, and to be honest a lot less naïve than Glory Girl.
I liked the name too.
Antares.
There were a few connotations to that name, and I hadn't asked which Vicky wanted to invoke. I liked it though. There was a sort of humility in it. A single star in a single constellation. It was bright but not the brightest. One of many.
Her power liked it too.
"Taylor?"
"Sorry." Fortunately, I could look at things without turning 00's head in an obvious way. "Veda, track everything we haven't hit yet. We'll let Phantom Pain stew for a bit and consider its options. Tell everyone to wrap it up."
I drew back and started rising back into the sky.
"Let's go rest." We needed to when we could. "This is going to be a long fight. Should take our chances where we can get them."