TS.2 Dinah

"And there but for the grace of whoever goes the PRT," Missy mumbled.

Dinah stared, her back to the television in the cafeteria that probably should have been tuned to something more kid-appropriate. Unfortunately, even the cafeteria monitors were watching. She got it. It was a big deal. The PRT had been around since Dinah was born and had been running around fucking shit up long before she got her powers and started fighting crime.

Still though. "Really."

Missy slurped and shrugged. "I read."

"You're drinking juice from a box and eating tater tots," Dinah pointed out. "We're tweens. We don't read unless someone is holding a grade over our head."

"Yeah." Missy reached for a tater tot. "School is kind of like blackmail."

"Kind of," Dinah agreed.

Missy looked past her. "Hard to see it end… I mean, it's been coming for a long time. Right?"

"Yeah."

"Just weird. It's always been there. Protectorate too." Missy got a long look on her face and scowled. "M and the rest deserve better than being tossed out like failures."

"Yeah." Dinah poked at her mystery meat. "They'll be okay. They haven't been sitting on their butts any more than you guys have."

Missy nodded and a smile started to break through. "You coming tonight?"

"I'll be there."

Reluctantly, Dinah looked over her shoulder.

A pair of senators and the attorney general were on the screen, talking to a huge room of reporters. She recognized Director Hudson from Watchdog standing just off to the side with three of the capes from the group. From what Taylor and Veda had talked about, Watchdog was the only part of the PRT that would carry over into the 'Department of Parahuman Affairs.'

Presumably because Watchdog had never fucked up quite as badly as the rest of the PRT.

Taylor thought the future organization would probably work more like Watchdog did as a result. Lots of government agents, a few capes who supported them, and then a much bigger focus on collaboration with other groups and oversight.

Dinah tried using her power to get a better idea but…

The future had become a very black place for her. Literally.

She'd almost find it refreshing if not for all the potential world-ending things that might happen.

"Wonder what's going to happen to all the troopers," Dinah mused.

"SWAT I'll bet." Missy crushed her juice box and leaned into her palm. "No more troopers and all the police departments will start looking to man up."

Taylor had mentioned something about that too.

The bell rang and Dinah went on with her school day. Which ended eventually of course. Everything ended eventually. The good. The bad. The wonderful… She'd been thinking about that a lot lately. Ever since Taylor sat her down and explained.

Truthfully, it hadn't been that surprising.

She'd been seeing futures that seemed a lot like outcomes where they'd won for a while.

Taylor was absent in nearly all of them.

Dinah still didn't know how she felt about that.

She was on her way to be picked up when Missy found her and just continued their conversation as if it had never stopped.

"Gotta sting though," Missy grumbled. "Those guys trained even harder than us wards or the Protectorate. They had to just to keep up."

"I think they'll be okay."

Dinah looked up, noticing again the changing face of Brockton Bay.

Downtown was growing fast. New businesses were flocking in to try and get on the ground level of all the fresh opportunities. Trevor was getting ready to start producing E-Carbon for construction and a whole lot of construction companies and contractors wanted in on that. Yashima was already in, but they were expanding production. Medhall and the Helpers were taking off too and Taylor had brought three other tinkers to Brockton Bay to experiment with other mass production possibilities.

The city was growing so fast.

It was weird to see, especially as someone who'd grown up in a city in decline. People on PHO were already starting to call Brockton Bay the 'tinker capital of America.'

Sirens distracted Dinah from her thoughts and she joined Missy in leaning over the curb and looking down the street.

Of course, new business meant new problems. The world wasn't perfect.

Someone blew out a wall and ran through the debris down the block. It was too far away for Dinah to make out much more than Throne Zwei coming down from the sky and slamming the cape into the street. Veda pinned the guy and the Fangs shot out to pursue someone out of sight.

Someone else slipped out of an alley closer to them, and everyone watched as the Haros ambushed the man and proceeded to beat him with wiffle bats.

"Bad guys never learn," Missy mused.

"Good thing too," Dinah agreed. "Smart bad guys are a pain in the ass."

"Yeah."

They crossed the street and a door slid back on a nearby van. Dinah quickly jumped in and Missy followed behind her.

"Thanks for the ride, Veda."

The camera in place of the driver's head twisted around. "You're welcome," she said. "How was school?"

"Same old," Dinah answered. "How crazy is PHO right now?"

"Considering the number of people apparently shocked by today's events, I question how many people actually pay attention to anything that happens in the world."

"Tell us about it," Missy agreed as the door closed and the van started up.

Veda was a very safe driver—operating an extremely safe tinker-tech enhanced van—so Dinah had no qualms relaxing as they pulled out onto the road. They reached the base quickly, and quicker still because the base kept growing.

Taylor basically owned an entire complex now, stretching from the original factory block toward Captain's Hill. All the tinkers in the Irregulars had workshops of their own now, as did Defiant and the Foundation. Taylor had created one big tinker industrial park and filled it with dozens of capes working night and day not just on being superheroes but on trying to crack mass production one idea at a time.

Dinah had already heard about Win and Chariot working on building versions of his fusion reactor that could power cities.

As she got out of the van by Taylor's workshop and the new dedicated admin building, Dinah looked down the way at all the workshops that now stood and pondered the weight of one person's life.

"I wouldn't worry about the troopers," she mused.

"Hm?" Missy hopped down, her head already turned towards Chris' shop. It was serving as the de facto local headquarters of the Brockton Bay Wardens. "What?"

Dinah looked ahead. The big doors into Taylor's shop were open, and there was a row of about fifty men huddled up around a trio of Tierens.

She approached slowly, and only once she'd saddled up to Taylor's side said, "Hey."

Taylor flinched and Orga's hand pulled back from her hip and or butt.

"Hey," Taylor said quickly. It was weird seeing her all flustered, but kind of refreshing. "School over already?"

"Yup."

Missy came up beside Dinah, glancing over the men. She recognized many of them. "PRT troopers?"

"And local police," Taylor added. "I managed to sell Dinah's uncle on the future of law enforcement."

Or just the future in general. There was a lot of money to be had. Taylor killed the Simurgh. Londo Bell was now the largest single organization boasting caped heroes in the US. Her tinker-tech park was already producing Helpers and E-Carbon, and Chris' reactors were an achievable goal. The entire economy of Brockton bay could explode on the basis on tinker-tech.

Missy blinked and her jaw slackened. "You're training them to use mobile suits?"

"The great equalizer," Taylor said.

Dinah glanced up at Taylor as she watched Veda give instructions on how to operate the Tierens.

She was wearing contacts again, hiding most of the glow from her eyes as she watched and whispered with Orga. Something about afternoon plans that Dinah would not be looking into.

Everything around her was Taylor's creation. She didn't do it alone, but none of it would exist without her and they'd make sure it would continue to exist once she was gone.

So Dinah wondered.

What was the measure of a life?

TS.2 Charlotte

Having an admin building had gone a long way to easing how packed the old PR room at the factory had been. Now that Celestial Being was managing so many contracts and working closely with multiple businesses and other capes, one room just wasn't going to cut it. Kati was now one of a half dozen PR reps working on staff. They had a dedicated legal team, and a huge expansion in HR, and that wasn't even mentioning Taylor's plans to start training law enforcement in how to use mobile suits.

Naturally, they had a break room. A very nice break room.

Charlotte plopped herself into a chair and exhaled.

"She did it again," Miriallia commented.

"Did not," Charlotte protested.

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did what?" Max asked

"She mentioned that she knows Newtype personally online and is now being swarmed by groupies, fans, and boys who suddenly think she's really cute."

"I didn't!" Charlotte groaned. "I do so much PR stuff on PHO, everyone just knows I'm friends with Taylor. Whenever I post anything I get swarmed by everyone trying to ask questions."

Her phone vibrated and Charlotte tore it from her pocket.

"Just take my phone and hide it somewhere. Spare me the impulsive need to check it every few seconds for a few minutes."

Bough plucked the device from her hand with one of the robotic arms attached to his back. She'd known him back when he was mostly a giant head in a 'metal diaper'—his words—but ever since Taylor started healing Case-53s, he'd cleaned up pretty well. He was a lot younger than she'd expected. Nine or ten, but he reminded her of her brother in a way. Before the drugs gaunted his cheeks or ruined his skin that is.

"That bad?" Mouser asked.

Unlike Bough, she'd kept her cat-like appearance. There were a few of those around, like Cyclops. Charlotte wasn't sure she got it, but then was she in a position to get it?

"No," Charlotte answered. "Yes. Maybe. It's exhausting."

Max pushed a box of papers onto a table, commenting, "You know you don't have to reply to every message, right?"

"I'm not… But some of the things people say." She felt her skin crawl just thinking about it. "Why does everyone think I want to know their opinion on Taylor's relationship with Orga? And what kind of fucked up do people who've never even met her need to be to have such strong opinions on it?"

"You get mail about Taylor's dating life?" Miri whistled. "Wow. People and the internet."

"You do not want to know the things I have seen," Charlotte whispered. She'd reported the worst to Veda because ew. "I've been to the dark corners and I've seen what people draw there."

A comically-sized hand patted her head. "There, there. There, there."

Charlotte huffed. "Thanks Orange."

"No problem, no problem!"

Honestly, she needed a distraction. Any distraction. "What are you doing, Max?"

"Overflow," he answered as he put another box on the table.

"Overflow of what?"

"Applications."

Charlotte's eyes raked over the rows of boxes. "Wait. All of those?"

"Yup," Max confirmed, patting the closest box with his hand. "Ever since the big announcement about the PRT and Protectorate they've been rolling in."

"Capes?"

"Capes. Administrative staff. Therapists." Mouser counted them off while she rolled onto her stomach. Somehow, the fact that she lounged on the back of the couch just didn't warrant Charlotte's surprise anymore. "Bough and I have been helping with the latter."

"We almost had to shove Weld and Win out the door to call Ms. Yamada. Soon as we saw that she'd asked about a job, they both wanted her but assumed they'd never be able to get her."

Charlotte recognized the name. "She's the big-time PRT therapist, right?"

"Yeah. We all know her." Bough smiled. "She's good too, and I don't think she'd have asked around if this wasn't where she wanted to come now that the PRT is gone."

"Is the"—Charlotted needed a moment—"DPA going to have therapists?"

"No one knows," Miriallia answered. "I'm pretty sure they don't know."

So much was happening so fast. Charlotte had kind of expected it from knowing Taylor, but it still seemed too fast. The PRT was gone. The Protectorate had been disbanded save for some teams the government wanted to keep around. Londo Bell was growing like wildfire. Even the Brockton Wards had moved in as the local Wardens branch, joining up with the Irregulars in sharing Taylor's rapidly growing base as one giant local hero alliance. The city was still light on crime, even with some outside Parahumans trying to muscle in. Most of what Taylor and the others did still happened outside the city.

Veda and the Haros handled most of the crime in the city.

Harshly, or hilariously. Harshly hilariously. Harshlariously?

Life went on either way.

After getting a good relaxing rest, Charlotte retrieved her phone and got up to find Kati. She had her own office now, so it was easier than ever.

Charlotte knocked on the door to get her attention.

"Charlotte." Kati smiled. "Come in."

Charlotte entered and smiled back. "Sorry I vanished. Online has just become a storm."

"I can imagine. Celebrity relationships always become annoying. Knew it would happen the moment someone took a picture of Taylor and Orga together."

"Yeah…" Charlotte wasn't sure the problem would be so big if the picture that was snapped hadn't involved them kissing that deeply. "Not sure it's anyone else's business though."

"Of course it's not," Katie agreed. "That'll never stop people from butting in."

Too true, unfortunately. "I'm ignoring it as much as I can. Focusing on the messaging stuff."

"Good girl." Kati looked down at her screen. "The Wardens are making a formal debut today. Do you want to go?"

"Yes! I mean. Yes."

"Get ready then. I think Vista is going to transport the local team to Boston for the official reveal."

Charlotte turned but stopped. Looking back, she watched Kati's brow furrow. She knew that look.

"Is something wrong?"

"No."

Liar. "Tell me."

Kati raised her eyes. She was experienced, smart, wise, and Charlotte respected her. But she kept trying to protect the younger volunteers from things she didn't think they should have to know. Charlotte didn't want to be protected. Not from the truth.

"What is it?"

Kati looked back at the screen. "An interview from a cape in Kansas City."

Charlotte nodded. "What's so interesting about that?"

"Some of the things he says. Here. Watch."

Kati waved Charlotte over to her side of the desk and restarted the video.

The man was clearly a tinker. One of the ones on the Kansas City tinker team maybe. Charlotte didn't recognize him and she'd tried to familiarize herself with all of the country's most popular heroes.

Kati hit play and the image started moving.

"I think most of us will be making the choices we think are best," he said to an unheard question. "The Protectorate has been a big part of all our lives, but now that it's disbanding I think we need to look at some of the mistakes we made as a group and ask how we avoid them next time."

"Do you agree with the criticisms made by figures like Hadrian and Newtype?"

"No," the man said sharply. "I think the Protectorate compromised itself too frequently and too easily. It accumulated power for itself, even if that power came from unscrupulous corners. Newtype's ideology sounds nice but all it is is moral weakness disguised with pretty words."

Charlotte frowned. Jerk. "Sounds like an asshole."

"It's not what he said," Kati murmured. "It's the words he used to say it."

She tapped the screen with one finger and revealed a series of thirty-plus tabs to numerous videos from across the country.

Charlotte blinked. "Wait, all of these?"

"They've all said similar things," Kati explained. "Newtype's ideology sounds nice but all it is is moral weakness disguised with pretty words. It's a rather specific criticism and way of saying it."

Charlotte swallowed. She knew more than a lot of people. Taylor didn't tell her as much as Kati or other capes, but she knew more than most. "Have you asked Forecast to look at them?"

"No point." Kati leaned back into her seat, frowning. "We know Teacher has been gathering capes in secret for weeks. He'll need them if he wants to compete with Londo Bell's explosion in popularity since the Simurgh died."

"You think he's telling all these capes what to say?"

"Someone is. They're using the same words with the same emphasis. It's not coincidence."

"Does Taylor know?"

"I wonder…" Kati turned and looked out the window toward Taylor's workshop. "She's been withdrawn lately."

"I noticed. It's been kind of refreshing though, don't you think? She worked so much before and… Well, she still works a lot but it's nice seeing her spend more time with everyone." Even Charlotte. She'd never been invited to Dungeons and the Dragons before. Taylor had been a bit distant though. She smiled more than ever and yet… "I guess so. Why?"

Kati had a long look on her face. Long like someone had died. Charlotte was about to ask when the woman smiled and shook her head.

"Nothing. She's always had a plan before. I'm sure this is no different. We'll just have to be ready. I suspect that when Teacher's group makes its big move, we'll be in the line of fire."

Charlotte smiled. "PR always is."

TS. 2 Elle

"I don't get it though."

Elle swung her legs over the pier, her eyes set forward and watching the dimly lit buildings across the water.

"Okay," she mused. "It works like this. The Fallen have been kidnapping kids—because they've always done that—but now they're doing it super dumbly because the Simurgh is dead, a bunch of their leaders are dead or in jail, and Veda's been kicking their asses as a hobby."

"Right."

"Right," Elle agreed. She felt her power inching toward the range they needed. "So, we're here to rescue some kidnapped kids."

"Aren't there heroes for that?"

"Sure, but one thing that will never change is that people with money want special treatment. Really special treatment. They're rich, it's what they do. So, someone is paying us to dramatically rescue a specific kid because the Fallen are dumb and don't know how holding hostages for ransom works."

"I still don't get it."

Elle frowned and glared over her shoulder. "It's not that complicated Mimi! We're private security! We get paid to do things!"

Mimi glared back. "I thought we were mercenaries."

"We don't call it that anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because private security is more family-friendly."

"I don't get it."

Elle frowned. "Well, find a dictionary."

"You could explain it better."

"You could listen better!"

"This is so weird."

They both turned and looked at Newter. Weird. He thought this was weird.

"You're the one who isn't orange anymore," Elle pointed out.

"I know!" He grinned. "Turns out I'm Asian. Who knew? You almost done?"

"Almost." Elle turned her eyes forward and looked ahead. "Defiant's all set up and stuff?"

"Yeah." Newter strolled over, one cautious eye on Mimi.

"I'm fine," Mimi protested.

She seemed fine.

Elle figured it was a lot like dealing with her after the whole kidnapping thing. Not that anyone on the team got to. The PRT saw to that, nosy busybodies. Elle was not particularly upset they were gone. The Wardens were better off doing their own thing. Like she was.

"Should be starting any second," Newter whispered. "Man stuff has gotten wacky the past few weeks."

"No more PRT," Mimi mumbled.

"No more Protectorate either," Elle continued. And whatever they were going to replace them with, it hadn't been set up all the way just yet.

It was like the cape community just had the keystone blown out of it. Elle never would have imagined it would be so glaring or shift so much. Some Protectorate teams were still operating unofficially to shore up the police, but for bigger groups like the Elite and the Fallen? They were just running rampant.

Or they would be if Londo Bell and others didn't keep getting in the way. Mostly Londo Bell though from what Elle could see.

The client for their current job might be private, but it was Defiant who'd arranged the entire thing. Londo Bell didn't have too many capes in the middle of the midwest, so he'd done whatever he had to do to get the people he needed.

Elle wondered if this was going to become a thing.

Big capes coordinating lots of smaller capes to handle crises. It made a fair bit more sense in practice. For more sparsely populated places, at least. Absent the PRT and the Protectorate to pay capes to be there all the time, they'd have a hard time keeping heroes around.

"I'm ready," Elle declared. She jumped to her feet at the end of the pier and stretched her arms over her head. "We can go an—"

A light ignited suddenly, and one of the buildings across the lake exploded.

"I don't remember that part," Mimi commented.

"Because there wasn't supposed to be a that part!" Newter reached for his radio but Elle was already going.

It didn't matter if something unexpected happened.

They had a job to do.

"Mimi!"

Elle opened the portal on both ends. Flames whipped out and licked at the air. Mimi stepped into them, her power parting the fire as she went. Elle jumped right through, running through Fire World—mud world didn't make much sense anymore—and throwing herself through the opposite portal.

Her power's range shrank in an instant, but that wasn't the hindrance it used to be.

Mimi stepped out of the fires beside her, standing on the opposite pier with the lake to their backs.

"Right there." Elle broke into a sprint and pointed.

Mimi followed her finger.

The fire exploded from her feet, ripping across the water and over the ground. Elle still got flashbacks sometimes. Mimi had never been a model inmate and the assholes had always tried to throw Elle at the girl on her bad days.

This was different though.

It was focused. Controlled. Restrained.

Ever since Newtype paid Mimi a visit, Mimi hadn't lost control to her power.

She carved Elle a corridor of fire straight toward the old cabin. Her foot slammed into the doorframe right as the fire hit the wall and rolled around the wood. The guards inside were already looking at the light in the windows when the doorframe snapped and the wood broke.

"Hello!" Elle clapped her hands. "I'm Labyrinth!"

Stone pillars shot from her feet. One man's chest cracked and he was thrown into the air. The other took the blow to his knee, leg bending the wrong way and head struck by a stone as he went down.

Easy.

The children were shouting and screaming, but Elle strolled over to them with her hands up.

"Hey guys! You ready to get out of here?"

The kids were a range of ages. The youngest seemed four or five. The oldest were fourteen and fifteen. Elle locked eyes with the siblings, her smile widening.

"Are you a hero?" one of the younger children asked.

"Pft!" Elle waved her hands. "I'm way too cool for that! I've got my own theme park!" Elle grinned and leaned in, her hands pointing toward the door. "Wanna see?"

She clapped her hands, opening a portal at her feet into the Starlight realm.

It took a little more cajoling, but once the gunfire and the explosions really started going off, Elle got the kids moving. They moved toward the hole and started climbing in. Glancing around, Elle saw a few bullets puffing into the fire outside the windows. They didn't make it through the flames. Mimi never had enough self-control to pull that trick before, but Elle was already loving it.

The kids continued into the portal, the older ones helping the younger.

"You're Jasmine and Hugo Huffton, right?" Elle pointed at the siblings.

They both got a nervous look, which was all the confirmation she needed.

"Good, good. Your mom hired us to rescue you guys. The other kids are just a bonus." Elle waved them down quickly. "So get on in there and just hang tight. We'll have you back out in a jiffy!"

"Wait," Jasmine interjected. "Our m—"

"No time gotta go! Sorry not sorry!" Elle pushed her, letting the girl drop and drag her brother through the portal with her. Elle leaned over the portal, shouting into it, "If anyone asks, that was necessary!"

Not exactly graceful, but Mimi was still new with the bullet trick.

Elle turned and ran, bolting back the way she came with the fire to cover her. There was shouting somewhere beyond the flames and a lot more shooting. She ignored all that. Their job had never been to fight any of the Fallen or their flunkies. Or whoever was fighting them now.

In, grab the kids, and out. Easy peasy.

Hopefully, Gregor, Brian, and Emily were having as easy a time on their end!

At the end of the flames, Mimi stood just off to the side.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah…" Mimi blinked and turned. "Wait, how were we leaving?"

Elle leaned toward the water and shielded her eyes from the night sky. "Well Newter was supposed to come along just in case, but we kind of rushed that."

"You're messing with me."

"Little bit." Elle stood up and clapped her hands. Stones shimmered over the water below, rising just over the lake's surface. "It was good enough for Big-J, it's good enough for me!"

Elle dropped down onto the stone and started walking. Mimi sighed and did the same.

"You seem to be doing pretty good."

"Not feeling like burning everything in sight if you're worried."

"Not that worried." Elle chuckled. "Newtype said she'd fix the issue, but I don't really get what she was talking about."

"My power doesn't feel any different," Mimi explained. "I just don't get high or lost in it anymore. My power's just a power."

"I can sort of relate to that."

Newtype hadn't exactly given straight answers on what she was doing. She'd started alluding to it, but so far aliens weren't the words coming out of her mouth. Which suited Elle just fine. She'd pretended to remember nothing of their little trip to the land of titans. Newtype knew what she was doing. She could handle the big reveals.

All Elle needed to know was that Taylor probably did the same thing Lalah Sune did. Rebalanced the power and the mind.

The fighting in the background got louder as they left and the blaze from the buildings was starting to illuminate the water.

"You turned off your power, right?"

"I just said I wasn't burning anything."

"Just making sure." Elle glanced back. "Because that is fire."

They made it to the opposite shore where Newter was waiting. Mimi looked back, squinting at the distance. Her hands tightened at her sides.

"We should go," she said.

"Gregor should be around with the van if everything went okay at the other site," Newter reminded.

"We shouldn't count on it," Mimi warned.

A few licks of flame surged off her arm and Elle raised her head as a cape descended with a storm of ash trailing behind her.

"So…" Newter leaned over. "Do you beat her in a firefight?"

Mimi glared. "Not really."

"Thought I recognized that fire." Cinereal glared down at them and Elle couldn't help herself.

She pointed. "Your cape isn't billowing."

Cinereal's head turned.

Elle shrugged. "Your cape isn't billowing." She grabbed her own cape—more of a cloak technically but whatever—and waved it. "It's just not very dramatic. You know?"

The woman didn't scowl, growl, or anything. Which Elle found boring. "Where are the children?"

"I don't think Newter keeps track of them."

"Yeah—Wait, what?"

"I just assume you have a few. I mean, girls came by all the time for the 'special' service."

"Why do you sound like you know something I don't? Do you know something I don't?"

Elle shrugged. "May—"

Cinereal's hand rose and Mimi's fingers snapped.

Two fires struck and exploded, radiating heat through the air.

Elle blinked. "I knew it! You've been watching Fullmetal Alchemist behind my back!"

Mimi looked away. "Have not."

"The last time we did this you didn't win," Cinereal snarled.

"Didn't lose either," Mimi pointed out. "And I'm not stark raving mad this time."

"That's enough."

Defiant came down from the lakeside path, followed by a half dozen other capes. He looked over the water and scowled. More capes were flying over. No one as famous as Cinereal, but Elle was betting they weren't just floating by.

A dozen fliers.

That seemed like a lot.

"What are you doing here, Cinereal?" Defiant raised his head. "We're nowhere near Atlanta."

"Protectorate doesn't exist anymore," the cape replied. "No thanks to you."

Elle tilted her head, spotting headlights across the water.

So Gregor's side got out then.

That was good.

"Villains are still villains," Cinereal continued. She turned her eyes on Mimi, who still had fire weaving over her arms. "And you're keeping too many for your own good."

Defiant moved forward, stepping between Cinereal and Mimi.

"That's Burnscar you're protecting. You know how many people she's killed."

"You seem to be keeping interesting company yourself." Defiant looked over the other fliers but Elle didn't know any of them. He looked pointedly at a few though. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be one to team up with Teacher."

"I only talk about politics at family events," Cinereal countered. "You have no authority to kidnap kidnapped children."

"I see little reason to turn over the victims of one cult to another."

Elle covered her mouth and oh'd. Who knew Armsmaster had such sass?

"We're here on the authority of the sheriff's department," Cinereal replied.

Defiant tensed. "Our assistance was arranged with the FBI. Their jurisdiction supersedes the sheriff's."

"We'll see how the sheriff's department feels about that while you're holding kids and refusing to hand them back to their families."

Okay. In retrospect, Elle could see how the PRT was useful in dealing with this nonsense. Sheriffs and Feds butting heads over jurisdiction? They never had to deal with that before. It always came down to the PRT deciding who handled what.

"We should call Agent Farragaut to handle that kind of dispute," Defiant charged. "It is irrelevant to us now that the victims have been secured."

"Secured where?" Cinereal asked.

"There may still be Fallen lying in wait. We should withdraw and sort out the issue when we aren't in the field."

"Or you can just be a dick now," Elle pointed out. "And pick a fight for no good reason. Unless that's your reason, in which case go fuck yourself."

"I don't negotiate with vil—"

"And I don't understand mega-bitch. French seemed the less stuck-up elective." Elle clapped her hands, opening a portal to Fire World and stepping back as Mimi stepped forward. The flames exploded outward, twisting around her body and then flaring upward.

Cinereal reeled back.

From what Elle understood, Cinereal's ashes didn't mix so well with Mimi's flame, while allowing her to keep Mimi's fire under control. They canceled each other out. But Elle was willing to bet that came to quenching Mimi's power as fast as Mimi could generate it.

And Fire World was a whole lot of Mimi's power.

The other fliers flew back as ash started to gather around Cinereal.

"Stop."

Elle turned, looking up as Gregor started down the path. Grue and Emily were behind him. He looked up at Cinereal, hands in his pockets.

"We won't be handing anyone over to you. We have no way of knowing how Teacher will or won't use his master power as a means of doing exactly what the Fallen were trying to do."

Mimi drew the flames back, stepping away from Cinereal as Gregor spoke.

"Feel free to make a PR incident out of this dispute if you want to. We can all throw stones together and see whose hit harder."

Defiant grunted. "We killed an Endbringer. What has Teacher done that's of any use to anyone?"

The showdown continued for over a minute.

Then the air ignited with green light and two emerald comets streaked down from the direction of the moon.

"That would be Laughter and Vector," Defiant declared. "With Kyrios and Dynames. I doubt they came without Veda and the Stargazer."

Cinereal made some kind of sound. Not a huff but not a grunt. Something in between that sounded like she was trying way too hard.

She turned and flew off with the other capes, leaving them on the shore of the lake. Dynames and Kyrios turned off overhead, their light fading away.

Wait… "Were they even there?"

"No," Defiant answered. "The Haros used a set of dispensers to release GN Particles."

"Clever." Gregor turned. "We got the other hostages. We're good to hand them over to you."

"Not here," Defiant said. "We should be cautious and head back to the FBI field base. We'll release the hostages to the authorities there. A fight may yet break out if Teacher's team was not thorough in dealing with the Fallen or sees through our bluff. I'd rather not bank on Burnscar to deal with Cinereal."

"Mimi is fine," Mimi said. "Don't need the name Burnscar anymore."

"Very well."

"Elle."

Gregor looked down at her. He didn't look all that different really. Apparently big was just the right word to describe him. Though, the baby face stood out a bit better when it wasn't see-through.

"Good to be back?" he asked.

Elle smiled. "Happy to be home."

He smiled back. "It's not quite the same as you left it."

"No," Elle agreed. "What was it Melanie always said?"

Gregor nodded. "We're professionals."

Elle bowed her head. "Act like it."

TS.2 Lafter

"So they just ran off? Again?"

"Yes," Veda answered. She stood in front of Taylor's big monitor wall, watching both the news and internet at once. Lafter was pretty sure she didn't have to actually watch but it did look cool. "This is the fourth encounter in the past forty-eight hours."

"Four in two days?" Lily asked. "That's a lot."

"Relatively yes, but I am referring to the whole of the United States and Canada at the moment."

"And you're sure they're all working for Teacher?" Lafter asked.

"Yes. It would seem that with the Protectorate's disbanding, he had already arranged for many capes to come to his side. I suspect he is preying on the uncertainty surrounding Taylor's evolution to do so."

"Well…" Lily hesitated but Lafter knew what she meant.

"It is kind of unnerving," Lafter agreed. "But Taylor's not out to hurt anyone."

"It seems much of the world needs more convincing," Veda lamented.

Lily frowned and tried to change the subject. "We got the kids back though, right?"

"Yes. They should be alright. I've already dealt with most of the Fallen's masters and those that remain were not near the location at the time. It would seem the group is struggling to adapt tactics to the changing realities."

"They're a cult, right?" Lafter shrugged. "I feel so bad for them."

They'd been suited up and ready to go if the Haros bluffing didn't work. The last thing they wanted was for anyone to think the Gundams could be baited to one location so they could hit somewhere else. Better to see what they were doing first and then kick them in their teeth.

Or so Taylor said, but Lafter had been around so long at this point she felt pretty confident that she could see how it all worked.

"Guess we're back to waiting for something to happen," Lily mumbled.

"Yup."

"My apologies." Veda turned. "Repair of the Thrones will be complete in another two hours and you can both get some rest."

"It's fine," Lily said.

"Yeah," Lafter agreed. "More Smash Bros?"

"Sure. Now that the Haros are gone no one will be playing Ice Climbers stupidly good and we can get some fun in."

"They are really good with Ice Climbers. Be right there."

Lily nodded and stalked off. Dinah, Riley, and Mikazuki should still be playing so she'd have company for a few minutes.

Lafter turned and looked up at Kyrios.

Taylor had mentioned something about upgrading the suit to use some of the new tech she'd developed. It was pretty sweet stuff and she'd never turn down new toys.

Yet…

"Hey, Veda?"

"Yes?"

"Do you… Do you think Taylor would be upset if…" Lafter shifted and crossed her arms over her chest. "If I didn't want to do the whole hero thing anymore?"

She couldn't bring herself to look at Veda.

It had been on her mind for a while, but—

"You should talk to Taylor," Veda said. "I think talking to me, while appreciated, is just a roundabout way to feel her out, and I suspect that the conversation you're dreading will not go as badly as you think."

Lafter blinked and looked over her shoulder. "You think?"

Veda nodded. "I will tell the others something came up and you had to step out. Taylor is across the street right now."

Oh. "She's not doing anything I don't want to walk in on, right?"

"Not at the moment."

"Okay, goo—Wait, the moment? Has she—"

"That question I suspect is impolite to ask or answer. Plus I do not want the mental image. I see enough of that on the Internet."

"Fair enough." Lafter never would have put money down that Taylor would get down and dirty before she did. Not that Lafter was exactly the type to rush but Taylor just didn't seem the type. Then again… "I'll be right back."

She left the workshop and crossed the street. It was easier than ever now that Taylor had bought the land and owned most of the surrounding city blocks. She wasn't kicking anyone out of their homes or shutting down businesses, but she'd converted a whole area around the factory into a no-drive zone. Almost like a Boardwalk in the middle of the Docks.

It was all pretty fancy honestly and protected by Tekkadan as security and the Haros as backup, so it was super safe.

People had lightened up ever since the Simurgh died too. Taylor hadn't been yelled at by the local business owners in ages. Of course, what idiot would yell at the girl who ended an Endbringer?

Walking into Tekkadan's building, Lafter's ears immediately caught the sounds of laughter.

She followed it, finding a lot of the older boys bunched up in the back lot.

Taylor and Orga were off to the side, talking while she pointed at a Tieren. The thing was moving around like the person inside had n—Person inside?

"Who's in there?" Lafter asked.

Taylor turned her head, eyes doing the full glow thing they now did. "Hey, Lafter. Hush is trying to figure out the controls."

Akihiro started over but Lafter waved him off. Not that she didn't want him to come over she just—Needed to get this out now before she lost her nerve.

"Can I talk to you real quick?"

"Sure."

Taylor stepped away from Orga and Akihiro went to join him as the two girls moved away.

By the alley leading back to the street, Lafter inhaled.

"What's up?" Taylor asked. "Anything happen wh—"

"I don't want to do this anymore."

Taylor stopped and Lafter sighed.

"I mean… It's fun. It's a lot of fun and it's important and I get it… But I don't think I want to keep doing it for the rest of my life." Lafter forced herself to look Taylor in the eyes and not break down. "I only did this in the first place because you convinced me, and the idea of doing it after you go? I don't want to, Taylor. I don't know what I'll do 'cause I'm barely making it through school and I don't have any other skills but I don't think I want to be a hero, if it's not with you."

She'd already faced an Endbringer. Maybe she didn't do all that much but it was enough. She'd brought down gangs. Caughter murders and abusers. Helped make the world better in a way she'd never thought could happen.

"I don't have anything to prove anymore," she admitted.

"Okay."

Lafter blinked. "Okay?"

Taylor smiled. "I figured it would happen eventually anyway. No offense Lafter, but you're not exactly the hero type. Action girl yes, but hero? All this is a bit more than you ever really wanted to sign up for, right."

Yeah. "But…"

It was stupid. Since when did Taylor become someone Lafter desperately didn't want to disappoint? That didn't seem like a bad thing, but after living her life for so long caring about nothing but her own standards it was weird.

Taylor was her friend.

Her best friend.

She didn't want to—

"It's fine, Lafter." Taylor leaned in, embracing her and pulling her close. "It's okay."

Lafter would have broken down if she were more of a sap.

…

Okay, she was a sap.

She just hid it well.

Lafter put her arms around Taylor and hugged her back. "I don't want you to go."

"I know. Sucks, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"You're gonna be okay."

Lafter nodded, leaning into Taylor. "Suppose I'll make a pretty hot trophy wife."

"Or you could do the one thing in the world only you can do."

Lafter pulled back, trying to think. She was talking about quitting the Hero game, so Taylor couldn't be referring to that. She definitely wasn't looking to become a hooker. So what—

Taylor turned her, pointing Lafter at the Tieren stumbling about the lot. The other boys were walking about, pointing, laughing, or talking. Lafter did not get it. She said so too.

"I don't get it."

"We never put a Trace system in Kyrios," Taylor explained. "We have one in Dynames, and Trevor and Mikazuki have always used the system. Veda's no substitute since she controls things directly."

"Right."

"So, Lafter. You're the only person in the entire world who learned how to use a mobile suit from scratch and how to operate it with controls."

Lafter blinked and looked again.

Hush was stumbling about. She knew exactly why. He kept trying to treat operating the suit like he was managing a controller and needed to do everything himself. Didn't work that way. He needed to get his head wrapped around the idea of the system managing a lot of the fine movements for him and all he was really doing was directing the arms and legs.

Huh.

"Someone's going to have to start training the first people who use these," Taylor continued. "You're the only one even remotely qualified."

"People will pay me for that?"

"If you prove you can do it. And I know you will. Good thing too. You'd make a lousy trophy wife."

Taylor took her hand and smiled.

"The only thing you've ever owed me," she said, "is to have a good life. Think you can pull it off?"

Lafter glanced toward Akihiro and smiled back.

"I'll manage."