Hi there again. First off, I'd just like to thank everyone who sent a review. Your contributions helped out so much, and you all offered so many different ideas. Seeing as this story has become really popular for just one chapter, and it's Christmas, I've decided to release a new chapter. For those of you suggesting that Alex kill Leviathan, I'm afraid that there's still gonna be some limitations in the story. Leviathan is insanely tough, even by Endbringer standards. According to Word of God, he's so tough that he breaks the laws of physics. Still, Alex is going to do a lot of damage against him. I've already figured out how. As for borrowing some of Leviathan's flesh to improve himself, the Endbringers are apparently made of silicon, a metalloid in the same family as carbon (not to mistaken for silicone, aka that stuff they use for breast implants, contact lenses and other stuff). I'm still not sure if Alex could consume it, but even if he can it doesn't change the fact that an Endbringer would be made up of a lot more of it than Alex would be. At best, Behemoth and the Simurgh are pretty much walking fighting buffets for Alex. At worst, he can't eat them. Will leave that open for discussion for now.
Jrbless, you've clearly put a lot of thought into this for me. Thanks to you, I've decided to change how a fight plays out somewhat in this chapter. As for healing, I could see Alex having the ability to agitate the body's own healing. He would be kinda like a new foreman coming in and telling construction workers to build faster. Not too sure about how effective sonic attacks might be. He might be able to come up with a defense for that, and the two you suggested are still flesh and blood. A good solid punch would lay them low.
Also a thank you to ZeroLink21. You made some good points. As for the shards and capes… Well, that would be telling.
Chapter 2: Step 2 – Make a Big Impression
Victoria hissed as pain thrashed through her arm. Instinctively, she pulled away, making it hurt even more.
"Stop moving already." Her sister, Amy, said testily. She held a hand against her arm. The pain faded away, replaced by several sensations. Warm, cold, tingly, rough… "I need to stay in contact with your skin to heal you, remember?"
"It hurts." She was fully aware how childish she sounded at that moment.
"And whose fault is that? You just had to go and rush the guy who kicked your ass the last time. What were you thinking?"
"Hit him hard and fast. Fuck him up before he could do anything."
"Instead, we're having to pay for the wall and pavement you broke, I'm here healing you yet again, and he gets to walk away yet again." Amy sighed. "I though Mom made it clear; leave him to the Protectorate."
Victoria snorted. "He's only committed one crime right now. Compared to dealing with the ABB, the Triple-E, catching the Undersiders, he's barely a blip on their radar. They're not gonna pay too much attention to him. Besides, I owe him one. I need it."
Amy gave her a strange look. "Vic, you really think that him beating you has made you less awesome? He got…" She stopped to think. "…Lucky. He somehow managed to figure out your weakness. Things like that happen. Do you think Alexandria became less amazing when the Siberian managed to injure her?"
"She became more vulnerable." Victoria said, emphasising it. "She wasn't considered completely invincible, something that couldn't be stopped. People stopped being as afraid of her anymore." She looked away, face burning with shame. "I was considered the strongest heroine in the city. Now everyone's seen me beaten. No one's going to take me seriously anymore. They'll always bring this up, every. Fucking. Time." She slammed a hand down on the table beside them, turning it into splinters. "But if I bring this creep down, if I fuck him over and toss him in a cell; no one's gonna insult me anymore."
Amy frowned at her, worry and concern etched onto her face. She pulled her hand away, all of Victoria's injuries healed. Physically, she felt as good as ever. Mentally however? She just couldn't let this go. She was worrying over it like a dog with a bone. Amy shook her head sadly. "Vic, I know that this is important to you and all that. But he's beaten you twice now. A lot of these injuries could've been fatal. I'm just worried that if you go up against him again, you might end up injured beyond even my ability to heal."
"Bull. You don't have an upper limit on what you can or can't heal."
"Actually, I do. I can't do anything if you're dead." She pulled her into a hug, and Victoria felt drips of water running down her shoulder. Tears. She made Amy cry. "I don't want to lose you because you're being so stubborn. Just please… Let someone else bring him in. We can find some other way to get back in the game."
Victoria felt some shame then. She had been so focused on how much she hated this guy, that she never stopped to consider how Amy felt. How she would've felt to be called in to heal her own invincible sister. How as soon as she did so, Victoria was back out there and sent back to her almost as bad. Yes, she still burned with the desire for revenge; to show this guy that she could beat him, like how Battery managed to bring down Mad Cap.
But could she really force Amy to have to identify her corpse? Could she force anyone in her family to do so?
"…"She sighed. "Fine. I'll leave him alone." For now. But as soon as the PRT had something on him, some weakness or flaw she could exploit, she was going out there. And she was going to wear him down until she could bring him in. Amy gave her a sad smile, and pulled her into a hug. A warm feeling blossomed within her.
"Thank you. I don't know how I'd handle without having to deal with your pigheadedness." Amy said.
I was in a bad mood right now. The kind where you want to throw something expensive, or yell at the world, or just glower at everyone in range. The reason for my bad mood?
My attempt at informing Armsmaster about the Undersiders' plans went badly.
In hindsight, maybe I could've explained myself better. I was forced to remain vague about it because I was worried about Tattletale's powers plucking my words out of thin air and reveal that I'm a mole. I was so worried that I thought that even so much as explaining how they worked would've given the game away. But Armsmaster wasn't happy with my attempts to try and explain without actually saying anything. Not that he had been happy with me in the first place; it turned out that Lung nearly died during captivity. I had used some highly dangerous and poisonous insects during my attack, and his healing factor had somehow shut down long enough that parts of his body (like his privates) had actually rotted off. Because Armsmaster said that he alone had captured him, the PRT suspected him for what happened. They had removed him from leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, confiscated his armour and weapons, and searched every last piece. On top of that, he probably had to admit that he had in fact found Lung already dealt with. The goodwill I earned that night for giving him all the credit dried up like a well in a drought. He wasn't interested in my attempt to try and drag their leader out into the open; either I help him bring in the Undersiders right now, or he wasn't going to lift a finger to help me.
I stopped short of telling him where he could stick his halberd, and decided to bring the leader in by myself. Maybe Miss Militia would be more appreciative of my work.
Still, that didn't mean that putting up with his attitude didn't suck.
There was a weak thump against my shoulder. "Quit moping around, Taylor." Lisa said warmly. "We're about to have some fun, enjoy a good time. Not every day we get to rough up some rich guy's house."
That was another thing. Given how Armsmaster outright said that two of the Undersiders were murderers, the idea that they were all for some petty vandalism seemed a bit strange. When I thought of supervillains, I always imagined there'd be more heists and stuff. Not childish stuff like this. But I forced myself to smile. If Lisa saw I was still mopey, she'd probably start wondering why. And then her power might inform her about how I had an argument with a hero. And that would be the end of everything.
"Just thinking about what kind of security his place might have." I said, trying to misdirect her. "We can't be the first capes to have tried robbing him.
Lisa nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Brian's gonna give me hell if I miss an alarm or something before we're ready." She looked at Mayor Christner's fancy mansion, and concentrated deeply. "Let's see… several motion detectors set up on the lawn. Central alarm linked to the PRT. Five tumbler keyholes on all doors. He's either really paranoid, or he's been robbed before."
"Can you crack them?" I asked. Part of me hoped she couldn't, but I wasn't betting against her. If she had considered robbing a bank as her first choice, then robbing a mansion would be even easier.
"Please. I could crack them without my power." She looked at her watch. "There. Now everyone in the local area should be at work, and the gardeners should be finished. Time to move." She opened the door and quickly exited the van, leaving me to open the back and bring out my bugs. Thousands of them, far more than I'd expect to need on a job like this.
But this was meant to be more than just a simple robbery.
Behind our van, Grue, Regent, and Bitch were already heading towards the house. One of Bitch's dogs was by her side, already nearly as big as me. The five of us crept towards the house stealthily, avoiding the sensors thanks to Tattletale. Before too long – though it felt far longer to me – we were at the back door. Tattle got out her picks and got to work.
Barely a second later, the door was open. I blinked at the sheer ease she managed to work.
"I'm impressed Tattle." Regent said. "That was fast even for you."
"That wasn't me." She explained, sounding nervous. "Someone else has already broken in."
That made Grue react. The darkness around him billowed more. "What'd you say?" He said, his voice distorted.
"Someone else has already broken in." She repeated. She leaned in to look closely at the keyhole. "Didn't even force the lock. Maybe had a copy of the key or something close to it."
We were silent for a moment. "Anyone else think it could be our mysterious bank thief?" Regent asked. Tattletale actually seemed to mull it over.
"Could be." She admitted. "But the odds that we'd both go after the same target twice? Can't be coincidence. Maybe he's getting set against us."
I thought maybe I could use this." Maybe the boss hired him too." I suggested.
"Maybe. But why not tell us? Why set us both on the same job? I could accept it if this was something big like robbing the PRT, but it's actually pretty small-time. One of us would've been enough for this place." She pushed the door open enough for us to slip inside. "Everyone stick together. All my powers are telling me is that this guy is dangerous. And he's the kind of person who attacks first."
Well, that's cheerful. This was supposed to be a quiet mission until we unleash the fireworks, and we could already end up dead from facing the wrong person. And part of me was scared. If Regent was right and this was the bank thief, then we're going up against someone who found a way round Glory Girl's defences. Someone like that could turn me into salsa from a love tap.
I sent my bugs in ahead of us, all of them scurrying and flying through the different rooms. All of them were clear of anyone, just valuable things and signs of wealth. But as they approached the master bedroom, they encountered something different. Their senses picked out the folds of clothing, shoes, a curved surface…
Right before they vanished from my senses completely.
I held up a hand, forcing everyone to stop before I pointed at the bedroom. Grue nodded before he filled it to the brim with darkness, stepping inside to investigate and capture. The rest of us waited outside for him to return.
The darkness faded, right at the same time that Grue went flying bodily into the wall. He bounced off just as someone else walked out.
He was pretty tall, almost seven feet tall. His arms and legs were elongated, longer than any normal human being would've had. He was dressed in casual clothing, a black hoodie over black jeans, his shoes and gloves black too. His mask was featureless, just a black curved surface that didn't even reflect our faces back at us. On a whim, I sent a few flies to land on him. The areas they landed blurred slightly before the bugs vanished.
"Take your friend and leave." The man ordered, his voice unnaturally deep. "I was here first; I get what's in here. You try to steal my loot, I'll break the lot of you in two." He cracked his hand menacingly, his intention clear.
Bitch moved forward to shout at him – or attack – but Tattletale held her back. She glared at her, but Tattle was already pushing past. "Now hold on a moment.' She said, hands held in full view. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement here. No need for things to get violent." She gave him a disarming smile.
He didn't change his stance. "I'm perfectly willing to get violent if you don't get the fuck out of here right now."
"How much do you think you'll even make from robbing this place? A hundred? Three hundred?"
"From what I've found, three hundred and eighty seven dollars. No way I'm sharing."
"What if I told you that you could earn far more than that?" The man glared at her, but he lowered his hands. He stood more upright.
"Alright. You've got my attention. Now tell me how I can make even more money."
Tattletale relaxed a bit, though I wasn't sure I could. He took down Grue with ease. Grue should've been able to surprise him inside the darkness, yet he was the one that got jumped. "I'll make it simple and quick. Our employer is willing to pay our group quite a sum to cause enough trouble here to get on the front page. Our plan was to rob Mayor's Christner's house, vandalise it, then beat as many of the people who come here before high-tailing it out of there. Obviously that plan goes out the window if we can't get inside the house. But if you work with us, not only can we complete our mission, but I'm certain that our employer would be willing to split the payoff with you too."
"…How much?" He asked. I got the feeling that the money was all he really cared about. If we didn't offer enough, we'd likely be leaving in pieces.
Tattletale didn't even blink. "Five thousand. Each."
The man relaxed even more. "Deal." He tilted his head towards the bedroom. "I got the safe door open before you lot surprised me. I'm keeping what's in there. You can have your pick of everything else."
"Deal." Satisfied, the man walked into the bedroom again. We quickly heard the sound of bedding getting shredded, wood being shattered, walls, breaking. Regent and I started shaking Grue awake. He woke up rather quickly.
"Wh… What the…?" He mumbled, arms waving wildly. "What the fuck?"
Easy." I said. "The guy who's already robbing this place took you down, but Tattletale got him to back down by offering a part of our pay." A whole sixth of it. Even though I wasn't gonna touch any of it, that seemed like a lot to stop him from killing us. Grue sighed in resignation.
"The boss isn't going to be happy about this." He said. Just then, there was a loud wrenching sound. I peeked inside the bedroom. The furniture was nothing more than woodchips. The clothes were in tatters. Wires were sparking as they poked through large holes in the walls. On the other side of the room, leading towards the next room, was a man-sized hole. Water pipes spluttered water onto the floor.
What I noticed the most though was the fact that the large safe in the room looked like it had been shredded by a very large cat. Slashed into ribbons.
"I think he'll just have to suck it up and deal with it.' I said in a small voice. In only a couple of minutes, this guy did more damage than even all of Bitch's dogs combined. If this guy came up to me demanding pay, I'd give him everything in a heartbeat. I'd imagine that our boss wouldn't be any different.
Tattletale shook her head. "Besides, it's a share of what he'd be paying us anyway. From his point, he's not paying anything more." She had led him into the living room, where Regent and Bitch were grabbing as many small expensive things as they could carry and loading it into a bag attached to the dog. Brutus, I think she called him.
"From our point of view however, we're paying this guy to not kill us all in a microsecond." Regent said, stuffing a couple of DVDs down his shirt. He looked sidelong at the man, who was looking at a jewellery box before shoving the whole thing down his hoodie. There wasn't even a bulge where it had gone. "You know, I'm really starting to think this is definitely the guy who robbed the bank."
"He is." Tattletale said. Without a way to actually carry the TV, she had to settle for driving a lamp through the front of it. She then tossed the lamp into a set of fine scotch glasses. "But my powers can't tell me how he did it, aside from his enhanced strength."
"I thought they didn't find any sign of tampering with the door."
"They didn't." She replied ominously. Barely a second later, he entered the room again, arms full of various items. He dumped it all on the ground before them, stomping back down the hall. I heard the carpet squelch under his feet. Part of me wondered what else he had wrecked in the time we had been talking. There was the sound of wood breaking, and then the room echoed with crashing metal. It sounded as though he was going to be thorough with his vandalism. I knelt down to look at the variety of things he had given us. There were expensive watches, shattered fine china, old jewellery, obstinate gold statues… Probably worth something to the right buyer, whoever they might've been.
Brian nodded to Bitch. "Get that stuff loaded." He had to shout to be heard over the sound of the man working. Bitch glowered at him, but started shoving bits and pieces into the bag. Behind her, Regent and Tattletale were also grabbing more items, tossing them in. In the meantime, I set my bug to attack the kitchen. They couldn't do much beyond burrowing their way into the food, but it had to look juvenile anyway. She ignored the deep groaning sounds coming from the next room.
Until Tattletale looked up in shock. "Duck!" She screamed, diving for the floor. The rest of us didn't know what was happening, but we'd be stupid to ignore her. We all fell down around the same time.
Barely a second later, the wall was blasted open as something big crashed through. Plaster fell all over us, wood splinters rained down around us, and anything attached to the walls were turned into scrap. The thing sailed through the other wall, smashing again and again until bright light was shining down on us. We stayed like that for a few more seconds before gingerly getting back up. I looked around wildly, certain that something had gone wrong. In the hole to my right, the man was stepping back in, a trail of scrap metal left behind him. To my left, the house had opened up to the outside.
On the lawn before us, half crumpled from the impact, was a very fancy car. Or what was left of it.
"Holy fucking shit." Regent breathed. I agreed with him. If we hadn't moved when we did, that would've been us. Grue stumbled out from under some plaster and stomped towards the psycho, darkness billowing wildly. He was only stopped by Tattletale tugging on his arm, though it almost didn't.
"Don't." She pleaded. "My power is definitely telling me that he's too tough for you to beat. Let's just grab what's left and get ready for the PRT." He glowered at her. "Please."
Grue sighed. "Fine." He said tightly. "We're out of here." He said to us. I noticed he didn't bother to inform our 'ally'.
No one argued. We just walked through the new hole and stood out on the lawn. Already I could see a PRT van heading up the road to our area. Guess someone noticed the destruction we were doing.
There was a loud thump next to me. I jumped and turned to see the Hooded Man standing by my side. I felt a strong dislike for him right now. Along with fear.
"So I guess we're on to step three?" He asked us, completely casual. Hell, he almost sounded excited. "So are we going for killing blows or…?"
"No killing." Grue said firmly. "We're doing this to get attention. Leaving bodies gets us the wrong kind of attention." He glared at the guy. I could feel him glaring through his mask. "And if you're going to throw something like that again, give us some fucking notice first."
The Hooded Man turned to look at him. "But that would defeat the point of attacking." He said, as though it was so completely obvious.
"Dude, you're lifting something big to throw it at people. They're gonna notice it anyway." Regent said, shrugging. "Might as well not kill us by surprise." The man just stared at him. "Think of it this way; if we die, you don't get to see any of the money."
"If any of us die, you don't see shit." Grue added.
The man nodded. "Alright then. Try not to get in my way. Babying you lot only gets harder if you make things difficult."
And with that said, we turned back to the PRT riding to do battle with us.
Alex had to admit, these kids might've had a point in being upset that he tossed the car without warning them. But he really wanted to get rid of it. Things like that, things like people having multiples of the same thing, kinda pissed him off. People out there were starving and barely eking out a living, and here were some assholes who had enough money to buy a second car, or house, or computer when one is more than enough.
He wasn't against having a lot of money. He was just against using it on stupid and unnecessary things.
Of course, the other reason he had done it was so that some tendrils could sneak in and grab some hairs during the chaos. He had quickly sorted through the DNA samples while he had worked, identifying key features and trying to link them to a name and appearance.
He managed to quickly remove the Christner family's DNA. Over 30, Mayor Christner. Well-built athletic genes, Rory Christner. Female under 20, Kyla Christner. Older female, Ms. Christner. He then focused on the unknown samples he had taken. First off was a tall, African-American man. Body frame leans towards muscular. Most likely the motorcyclist. Grue, they called him.
Next up was female. Stocky, hardened, square features. Blond hair. Hellhound. Though he heard them call her Bitch. Likely the name she chose for herself if she hadn't reacted to such an insulting name.
Then there was another male. Black hair, lean body. He didn't need to go further to identify him as the renaissance kid.
Female. Dark blond. Trace coding for freckles. Shorter than the others. The talkative one.
He stopped though when he came to the last member. Six foot, age 15. Dark brown hair, lean slim body. Trouble with vision, likely needs glasses. The girl with the bugs, it seemed.
Funny how that's also the exact description he'd use for Taylor Herbert.
"Tattletale." Grue said tersely. "Have I mentioned how much I fucking hate you sometimes?"
Tattletale rolled her eyes, trying to hide her nervousness. "So I had to make a couple of assumptions. It happens, and sometimes I'm wrong. Sue me."
They were probably referring to the seemingly large number of enemies heading towards them. There were two PRT trucks leading the charge, with a few fliers above them. In the lead was Aegis, the leader of the Wards. Powers; Adaptability and healing. Not as powerful as his own, but the kid wasn't going down easily. Has slight super strength; only to the upper limit of human body's potential. Easily outclassed by his own.
To his left was a young lady wearing spandex with a red arrow pointing down and to the right. Laserdream of New Wave. Has the same laser and shield powers as the rest of her family, though with stronger beams and weaker shields. Probably here about his victory over Glory Girl.
The PRT trucks have the capacity for at least ten to fourteen soldiers. That gives them up to twenty eight soldiers or capes without flight. Easy enough to overwhelm and deal with.
Honestly, he didn't know what Grue was complaining about.
"I say we run for it." Grue was saying. "We smashed the place up, we got their attention. This has got to be close to front page stuff as it is."
"We stay and fight." Bitch barked. She was tensed up, ready to kill or maim. He could feel something similar to respect for her. "We can take them."
"I agree." Alex said, walking towards the car. He picked it up with ease, holding it over his head. "You pansies can run if you want to. But I expect my money ready for me when I find you." And he took off at a run.
He was obviously moving faster than the heroes expected. Laserdream fired several beams, but he easily swerved around them despite his load. When he was close enough, he jumped into the air and tossed the car at one of the trucks, spinning round so that his momentum launched him towards the fliers. There wasn't enough time for anyone to dodge. The truck crunched against the car before flipping beautifully and skidding down the road, while the other swerved to try and avoid it. He crashed into Laserdream, his fists slamming into her shield. It fractured under his dual blow, the force pushing her downwards. They crashed into the truck, pushing it further along and buckling the back. Laserdream fired a blast point blank, searing a hole into his chest. The force pushed him back, and he used that to try and escape the blast. Luckily, his reaction time was better than hers. He jumped overhead in time to intercept Aegis' fist. It forced him back to terra firma, but he simply crushed his hand and slammed him into the ground. Laserdream flew around him, firing a staccato of blasts at him. He got moving, keeping a few steps ahead of her with ease.
"Victoria's gonna enjoy seeing you in a cell, bastard." She shouted at him. Guess he was right. This wasn't about justice. This was about revenge. He turned to see that the other PRT truck had managed to get by, heading towards the other villains. Well, that was their problem now. Though he might step in if things got boring enough down here.
He took his run back towards Aegis, who was climbing out of the crater they made. Alex formed a shield from an arm, just long enough to slam him with. Aegis went flying, and he jumped up to knee him in the chin. He then slammed both hands against his chest, feeling it cave in as he went crashing back to earth. Well, that was hopefully him dealt with. He could always hit harder if need be. Now he just needed to deal with the bimbo.
Perhaps now might be a good time to use her as a testing ground.
He formed a shield again, but this time his biomass became reflective. Assuming that these lasers followed some laws of physics, they could potentially be bounced back. The beam struck him head on, the biomass before him heating up. But a couple of beams did sort of reflect away, striking uselessly against the ground or sky. Good, but room for improvement. He jumped high over her, healing the damage as he flew. When he landed, the shield was practically a mirror. It reflected everything with incredible clarity. When Laserdream fired a blast, he blocked her beam again. But most of the energy was simply transferred into him instead of bouncing back.
Screw this then.
He dashed towards her through the laser and shattered her shield under a flurry of blows, his fist impacting against her stomach. She coughed loudly as he felt her ribs bend under his blow. She fell to the ground, holding her stomach as she vomited violently. Two heroes down already. And aside from a slight loss of biomass, he hadn't suffered any real damage. If this is what this world had for heroes it was no wonder that villains were steadily taking over. He glanced at the PRT truck nearby, saw the officers crawling away. He slammed his hands together, the shockwave slamming them against the truck. They all fell over in a heap. Well, that was disappointing. Guess the others got all the fun. He looked at their fight, and his eyes magnified.
He actually blinked as he saw the heroes they were fighting. Clockblocker, Vista, Kid Win, Shadow Stalker, Gallant, some new hero he didn't recognise. How did some crusty politician manage to get the entire Wards team responding to a B&E? There had to be something more at work here. But as they made clear before, if this team didn't make it out, he wouldn't get paid.
Best to think things over later.
He left the unconscious or wounded PRT soldiers behind him, his feet eating up the road as he ran towards the fighting. As he did so, he mentally ran over what they were capable of. Clockblocker had bullshit powers over time, forcing anything he touched to come to a complete time stop. Nothing could happen to them, but they couldn't react to anything either. Time passed by instantaneously for them. He needed to take him out at range, before he saw it or him coming.
Vista had powers over spatial manipulation. She could stretch out a building like taffy, or pinch a road together and cross it in an instant. No offensive capability though. It was simply a matter of getting to her. She would a negligible irritant at most. Save her for last, or it she got on his nerves.
Kid Win. Tinker. Make devices that would be considered science-fiction. Likely to have multiple tricks he needed to watch out for. Nothing without his tech. Easy enough to avoid. Could use him as a benchmark for his durability.
Gallant. Only power is concussive balls of pure emotion. Can affect their target as well. Threat: Low.
Shadow Stalker. Archery and shadow state. Can become intangible, move quicker and go through solid objects. Probably gonna be a bitch to get a hand on. Likely easily beaten once he's grabbed her. He'll need to focus on her at some point. Likely after Clockblocker and Kid Win.
That just left the last member of the team. Someone he hadn't found records of before. An unknown, though judging by his muscle mass, some form of brute force. Best to observe for a bit before getting into a slugging match with him. As he stopped on top of the small hill the house had been built on, he slammed his hand into the ground. The surface bulged where his tendril moved, erupting underneath Clockblocker and throwing him into the air. It moved back towards him, still active. He turned to see a cloud of darkness covering the unknown hero, Grue and Shadow Stalker nowhere in sight. Regent was walking towards Kid Win, waving his arm around at the same time Win seemed to suffer a seizure. Tattletale was crouched behind some rubble, watching the others carefully. Her gaze turned towards him. He ignored her. Bitch was busy going after Vista and Gallant, driving them both back. But Vista helped Gallant reach Kid Win's blasters, allowing him to force her back with repeated blasts. He also fired an orb at Regent, knocking him down and making him break out into hysterical laughter. Enough to keep him out of breath, and out of the fight. Kid Win used that time to get away on his hover board, tapping away as something started materialising. Taylor was busy throwing bugs at everyone, letting them swarm and bite. Just then, Grue stepped out of his darkness. A bolt was buried in his arm, and another in his back. Shadow Stalker jumped out of the shadows, and Alex tossed a small rock at her head. It cracked against her shoulder, forcing her to drop her crossbow. Grue turned around and started attacking her, both of them going through martial motions in an attempt to win. Grue was forced back as Shadow Stalker drove an elbow into his ribs, before then grabbing his injured arm and slamming her palm against his elbow. He managed to twist out of it at the last second, before slamming his helmet against hers. A few quick jabs to the stomach forced her back.
Well, now was a good time as ever.
Shadow Stalker barely had time to react as he landed before he slammed her against the ground, dirt flying everywhere on impact. He then tossed her against the house before jumping towards Vista. She spotted him coming and stretched out the ground, causing him to land at least three metres short of her. At the same time, Kid Win had managed to construct his cannon. A flamethrower setting dealt with Taylor's bugs, and he was keeping Bitch and her animals on the defensive. He saw Alex approaching Vista, and turned his blasts towards him. They were blocked by his shield, his body weathering the concussive force with ease. He then decided to switch to a stronger blast, powerful enough to crack his shield. Alex dashed forward, and kicked Vista in the side. She went flying, ribs cracked. Then he marched towards Kid Win, blocking his blasts with every shot.
Come on. This can't be all he had.
He grunted as another powerful shot cracked his healed shield again. A second one shattered it, blasting through to force him head over heels. As he landed, he dashed forward, two shields forming from his hands. Kid Win wisely jumped off as Alex slammed into it, breaking it apart on impact. Kid Win rolled in time for Alex to land next to him, a palm strike to the forehead. He looked up to assess the damage.
Clockblocker was down, swarmed by bugs. Kid Win, Shadow Stalker, and Vista were down by his hands. Gallant was being shaken by one of the dogs. The unknown was lying unconscious on the ground.
Grue was panting near him. "Alright. We've done everything we were expected to do. Let's get the hell out of here before anyone else shows up."
Tattletale nodded. "Agreed. This is probably more than enough." She looked at Alex with an unknown expression. "I was expecting us to beat maybe one or two before escaping with them hot on our heels. I never thought we'd end up creaming them like that." She gave him a grin. "Guess we should thank you for helping out."
He just folded his arms. "Just tell me where I can get my cash."
"Blunt and to the point. Right then. It'll take our employer a few days to get together the money, but I'll leave a message for you under the PRT bulletin. How does that sound to you?"
"Adequate. But if you attempt to cheat me…"
"I won't." Something in her voice told him that she would never consider it.
But that didn't mean he had to believe her.
"Whatever." He grunted, jumping away. He ran for the cover of the city, where he easily shifted into someone else. After a few more turns he shifted again, becoming someone completely different. He did that three more times before changing back to Alex Mercer.
His insides writhed with stolen loot.
Armsmaster looked at the sorry group of heroes before him in silent frustration. Though Mayor Christner's home was a low-level problem, barely worth the PRT response, the bug heroine's info gave him a good reason to send a couple members of the Wards with them. When an anonymous call came in informing them about the Masked Man's presence, Director Piggot had ordered several others to join them. All in all, a team numerous enough to be able to handle almost anything that was thrown at them. Add in Laserdream joining in too, and the Undersiders should've been taken down through sheer numbers, every last one of them now in a cell.
Instead, they all got away, there was significant property damage, and Piggot was now chewing out every last one of the Wards.
"…Utterly disgraceful." She said, her fury hidden behind steel. "Your job is to fight and stop the various villains that roam our fair city, arresting them when possible and scaring them off when not. My job is to make sure that this program receives the funding it needs, which requires people to feel confident about us and our work." She gave them all a good solid glare. "Tell me; how exactly is our entire junior team being taken out by a group of Class C villains going to make us look 'good'?"
Most of the Wards looked at their feet. The rest looked to the side. None answered her, until Aegis stepped forward. He was still somewhat limping, even though all his injuries had been healed by Panacea. She was currently sitting near Laserdream, holding her hand.
"We underestimated them, ma'am." He said somberly. "Especially the Masked Man…"
"No shit you underestimated him. Everyone's underestimated him since he showed up. Glory Girl certainly did when she first faced him. And then she did so again when she went for a rematch." Piggot looked at the members of New Wave, who were blushing in embarrassment over their teammate's defeat. Piggot turned back to the Wards. "If we're going to make any headway against him, then we need to stop fighting in the dark. Figure out what exactly he can do, and find countermeasures to them. I want everyone bringing up anything they can remember about him. I don't care how trivial it may seem. Start talking."
"He's strong." Aegis started. "And fast. Had a car lifted over his head and managed to run faster than we expected. Tossed that car like it was a toy before attacking Laserdream hard enough to send her downwards. Broke my hand and slammed he into the ground like it was nothing. Definitely has super strength of some kind."
"He's tough too." Laserdream added. "I blasted him at point blank range, and he just shrugged it off. And he can create a shield on top of that."
Aegis groaned as he rubbed his face. "I remember that. Fuck, that hurt."
"Focus." Piggot said testily. "Where did he get it from?"
They both shrugged. "I didn't really see. But I think it was already wrapped around his arm. Or a part of it. But he could alter it. The surface became reflective. Guess he was trying to reflect my blasts or something. When that didn't work, he just charged me and pummeled me." She snapped her fingers as she remembered something else." And he's got some kind of healing factor. When I got a good look at him, he didn't have any signs of injuries. Hell, even his clothes were back to normal."
"Good. Super strength, speed, toughness; healing factor. Anything else?" Piggot looked at Clockblocker. "Dennis, what did you get hit by?"
"I… I dunno." He admitted. "One minute I'm dealing with Swarm's bugs. The next, I'm flying through the sky, crashing back to the ground, and getting swarmed."
"I saw it." Kid Win said. "The Hooded Man had stabbed his hand into the ground right before some long black thing smacked him."
"What was it made of?" Armsmaster asked. He was already compiling a list of ways to work around his other powers. Shields can be broken, strength redirected.
Still, that didn't change the fact that this new villain was a bigger threat than others. With others, you can take them down easily enough, once you get close enough without getting beaten or killed. But this new enemy sounded incredibly tough to shrug off a point blank attack.
Kid Win shrugged." I don't know. We weren't really in a state to collect samples."
Piggot sighed. "Alright then. It's a start, I suppose." Her features hardened. "But make no mistake that I am still disappointed in today's fight. Rest assured that there will be repercussions for this." The Wards groaned theatrically as she led him and Miss Militia away. She waited until they were safely in her office before she could finally relax. She sighed as she sat heavily at her desk, head resting in her hands.
"Three times now." She muttered. "Three times this guy has shown up from nowhere and gotten away. We don't even have an official name for him yet for fuck's sake. He's making us look like fools."
"That's a bit melodramatic." Miss Militia said to her. "All he's done so far is rob a bank, get attacked by Glory Girl, and vandalise Mayor Christner's house. Hardly crimes at all. You're making him sound on the same level as Lung and Kaiser."
Piggot sighed again. "Thank you for reminding me about yet another fuck-up in all this mess." She said, sarcasm oozing from her voice. "I've been listening to him rant and rave about the damages since before Panacea got here. Someone's head is going on the chopping block for this, and it sure as hell isn't going to be mine. Besides, it's not about the seriousness of the crimes, or how many of them he's committed. It's about the fact that he managed to beat up our entire Wards program almost on his own. Everything they threw at him? He just shrugged it off, or outran it. Even with media blackout on that, people still talk."
"Doesn't help that his first outing had him take down someone thought to be invincible." Armsmaster said. Personally, he already had a good idea as to how that was possible. Glory Girl's barrier shorts out after a strong hit. He had dozens of recordings confirming it. All this Masked Man had to do was hit her twice in succession, and she was down. Sounded impressive, but in reality was merely a fluke.
Anyone who could bring him in would skyrocket to greater fame. All he had to do was run the numbers and learn as much as possible about him before he attacked.
And then the magic words. "I am placing him at the top of our to do list. Class B threat is the best I can do. If you spot him, you are free to engage. But here's something I want to make perfectly clear to everyone. We can't afford for him to keep winning. It might convince the media that we're ineffectual, convince the villains that we can't stop him. Our victory works as long as they're afraid of us. Do not underestimate him. Act as though he's a minor Endbringer."
Miss Militia frowned. "Just so that we're clear, are you authorising the use of deadly force?" Piggot hesitated, aware of how that might sound.
"Just make sure that he's in no condition to resist arrest or break free." She ordered.
Dana had been looking through several classified pages on her laptop when Alex finally returned home. She didn't look up as he came in, eyes locked on the screen.
"Hey." She greeted him. "So how did you go on getting some cash?" He answered by dropping a small bag by her. She took her eyes away to look inside. Plenty of money; over a thousand in total. Alex just watched her.
"Don't ask where I got it." He said, turning away to go to his 'room'.
"Is it from pawning off Mayor Christner's stuff by any chance?" She asked him casually, smiling. He stopped, and turned to face her. His face was arranged in a somewhat exasperated way.
"Jesus." He cursed. "How quickly does news travel in this city?"
"Didn't get it from the news. The PRT has a blackout on what happened, though some people saw enough to get the gist. I learned the whole thing by hacking into their systems."
He frowned. "You know I don't like you doing that. What if they trace you back here?"
"Relax, Alex. I'm being careful. I'm mostly just skimming the surface." She turned back to her computer, the screen showing the PRT database. "You did pretty good. Took them down without any loss of life or missing limbs." She paused. "You know, maybe I should use some of our money to buy a rig from a villain. I'm sure they've got to have some hackers, or mission control out there somewhere."
"What makes you think we're doing this again?" Alex asked her. She rolled her eyes as she turned back to him.
"Come on, Alex. You try to hide it, but I can tell that you like this kind of work. It suits you." The corners of his mouth twitched. The closest he usually got to an actual smile. She grinned in return.
"…I do like being a villain." He said. "I get to fight tough enemies and make some cash. The villains are going to pay me an extra five grand for not killing them on sight and helping smash the mansion. Should be ready by next week, assuming they're not stalling."
"In that case, we really need to figure some things out. Your costume, your build, and definitely your villain name. It needs to be something dark, something catchy, something that fits you…" She puzzled over a few possible names. When she had turned back, Alex was in his armoured form. But some things weren't quite right. It was thinner in some places, more like his normal physique than his muscled one. Spines jutted from his elbows and around his knees. It was still a human shape, but something about it seemed unlike normal costumes. You could tell that it was more organic.
"Blacklight." He said, his voice several different voices all layered together. "Just call me Blacklight."
The next day, Alex revealed to her a startling revelation. She was nearly floored by what he said.
"You're shitting me." She said in response, eyebrows raised. "Taylor Herbert is Swarm?"
"She is." Alex replied. "That's why I'm interested in her. I want to figure out what would make her become a villain of all things. Figured you could help me find out."
"And stop you from doing something stupid." She added, turning round to her laptop. "Well fuck, I'm curious too." She started tapping away, opening up pages and files. "Before we start though, how much do you know about how people here get powers?"
He shrugged. "Not much. Something called a trigger event, right?"
"Yeah. It's kinda hard to fully explain unless you've gone through it yourself, but it's basically the shittiest day of your life. The point where you hit rock bottom and can't go any further, or you lose all hope, or even just get the fright of your entire fucking life."
"So Taylor had to go through something traumatic to get her powers." Alex summarised, hands clenching tightly. "You think the father's involved somehow?"
"No." She replied instantly. "Everytime I talk to Danny, he gives me the feeling that he's worried about her. Making sure that she's alright and stuff. He wouldn't do that unless he really cared for her."
"Hmm." Alex murmured. "What else is there to trigger events?"
"Well, they're the reason that villains outnumber heroes. You can't normally go through that kind of shit and not want to hurt people. Case in point." She tilted her head towards him.
Alex frowned, somewhat insulted. "Alex didn't need the trauma to want the world to pay. He was just pissed because he saw the world as not giving him what he was owed."
"Same thing. And you can't deny that you didn't kill a lot of people for revenge."
"Point made. What else?"
"A funny thing is that trigger events are easier in second generation capes. I don't know whether it's a cascade effect or similar wavelengths or something, but it's said to be freakishly easy to do if your parent is a cape. According to interviews, Glory Girl triggered when she was fouled during a basketball game."
"You serious?" Alex asked. "Some people have to go through hell to get their powers while Miss Bitch has to get told off for breaking a rule?" He shook his head. "That's bullshit."
"I agree. But that's how it happens. No one knows why." Her computer dinged. "Here we go. Got access to the Winslow High systems. Looking up Taylor now." Her rapid tapping stopped as she found something attached to her file. She held a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. "Oh god."
"What? What is it?" Alex asked, walking towards her. She quickly closed the lid, hiding the data from him. He looked at her in response.
"I can't let you see this Alex. Not until you promise me that you won't go on a fucking murder spree." She said firmly. God knows that they deserve punishment, but not from them. She didn't want their cover blown just to make them pay. That's how they got found out the first few times.
Alex raised an eyebrow. "It's that bad?"
"Oh yeah."
He stood upright, one hand over his heart. "I promise you that I won't kill anyone over this. Or maim them. As long as beating them up isn't out of the question."
She nodded. "Good enough." She opened the screen up again, letting him get a closer look at the screen. He leaned over beside her, most of his biomass in his lower body. "God, I knew school was shitty. But it was never this bad when I went."
Alex's brow furrowed as he read the document. "Miss Taylor Herbert was taken to the psychiatric ward after being found by a janitor locked inside her own locker. She went into an aggravated state upon release, screaming, clawing and suffering a severe panic attack. Inside the locker were large amounts of used feminine products including used tampons. When given medication to calm her anxiety, Miss Herbert admitted that she was being bullied, and had been for several months previously. No suspects have been identified. No witnesses have come forward." He backed away, hands clenching tight enough that his fingers were piercing his hand. His outline writhed in fury. "It was dated the first of January."
Dana nodded, tears in her eyes. "Four months ago. God."
"Why didn't anyone say anything? Someone had to have seen something. There had to be witnesses."
"Alex, unfortunately most kids don't want to rock the boat. If it doesn't affect them, it's someone else's problem." She mulled something over. "You know, back when I went to school the worst bullies were almost always the most popular kids around. The fittest athletes, the prettiest girls, and the hottest guys. The kind of people most of us could only dream of being close to, enjoying everything they had. A lot of people wouldn't say anything because they didn't want to lose that."
"Selfish." Alex muttered. "They're all selfish." He paced the room, hand shifting into different weapons. He always got like that when he was angry, but she wouldn't let him go out. It seemed to calm him down somewhat. "Dana, how soon can you create a student ID for me? Get me enrolled in Taylor's classes?"
She gave him a solid look. She already knew what he was planning. "You're going to kill them, aren't you?"
He shook his head. "I promised I wouldn't. And I mean it. I try my best to keep my promises to you."
"But you are going to hurt them. You're going to beat them up."
"Yes."
She turned back to her computer. "In that case, give me an hour to work."
It took at least two days before Taylor arrived at school. And he could already identify possible suspects for her bullying.
Three girls leered at her as she entered, smug grins on their faces. One of them was apparently attempting to make herself appear younger than she really was. Or going for some childish style. He never really cared enough to figure them out. She was slim like Taylor was, with long brown hair and blue pins. The girl next to her was different. Tall, curved and with luscious red hair. The male personalities within him identified her as sexy, hot, a jailbait. Looks like Dana was right about the bullies being the pretty ones. The last member was leaning back in her chair, texting away. There were clear signs of antisocial behaviour. She was like him in a way. Neither of them cared much about what others thought. They enjoyed hurting others. She was African-American, her body lean from exercise expect for her chest. Another one considered pretty. He watched as Taylor moved away from them. She didn't flinch – her time as Swarm likely made them seem less dangerous in response – but he could see many tiny signs of worry and stress. She moved to sit down, but stopped. She looked at her seat for a couple of seconds while the bullies giggled. Not reacting, she immediately moved to the back. Down to where he was sitting. She looked surprised to see him there, likely not aware that there was a new 'student'. But she didn't say anything. Didn't greet him or anything.
He was probably too menacing to fit in.
The lesson started, taken by a teacher calling himself 'Mr. G'. A teacher trying too hard to appear like a student. The academic within him hated the guy already. They weren't here to become buddies; they were here to learn. He was going over local history; history altered because of capes. Like how Scion stopped the terrorists from crashing into the Twin Towers; how the practice of witch-burning was still going strong in third-world countries. And during the lesson, Taylor was busy fidgeting; casting glances towards the bullies. She didn't seem to be paying attention.
And then they were placed into groups. Ones chosen by popularity or friendship. When Taylor gravitated towards the table furthest to the back, surrounded by the rest of the class destitute, he joined her. She jumped as he sat down, looking at him quickly before looking away. Sitting with them was a lanky boy who seemed five seconds away from jittering himself to pieces, and a stoned kid ready to fall asleep at his desk. Small wonder they were the outcasts in this class.
Taylor cleared her throat. "Alright then." She said, more to herself than to them. "Guess we should start working. Think about some of the most recent changes parahuman presence has brought to the world." She pulled out a pen and paper, writing everything down in neat handwriting. She looked back up at them when she was done. "Anyone got any ideas?"
The lanky kid started speaking. "Well, the cool things they did with powers made for some really awesome video games and comics. Like a few months ago, before I got started on Space Opera, you remember me talking about that? I was playing one of the official games that the Protectorate sells. It was really awesome. I was playing as Armsmaster, because he's one of the coolest, and I was pulling off awesome combos like he does in real life. You see, the trick is…" And he rambled on like that for far longer than Alex liked. It was taking a lot of self-control to not shut him up permanently. He noticed that Taylor was writing something completely different from what he was saying. He doubted Greg even noticed her disinterest.
"…And then you have to grab the green power up, which lets you pull off an instant super attack against the boss. That'll stun him long enough for you to reach the wires up top, and then you can use them to…"
"Since the advent of capes, the balance between the law and crime has shifted dramatically." Alex interrupted him, getting Taylor's attention. "With the introduction of powers, police fatalities are higher, along with property damage. Attacks on banks are higher, along with many other high-profile crimes such as kidnapping, ransom and extortion. Fort Knox, previously said to be unbreakable, has been successfully robbed four times before the Government created the PRT in response to the surge of parahuman activity." These were all facts that he had read from sources. His mind kept track of them all and recited them with ease. "When the Endbringers first attacked, crime only increased. The areas they hit that managed to survive suffered a decrease in heroes, a rise in the homeless, and an increase to chaos. The Government was too busy bringing working order to the city to concentrate on the rising levels of crime, and people who had been forced out of their homes had to become more aggressive to survive. Crime increases from seventy five to a hundred and fifty percent after an Endbringer attack. At the same time, Slaughterhouse Nine appeared. The rising death toll caused even more police fatalities, with the city under attack usually suffering a ten to twenty five loss for every S9 member taken down. From there, many of the surviving villains take control from the overstretched heroes and government, creating breeding grounds for more crime that spread outwards to claim more territory. This in turn creates a domino effect as the heroes lose ground, people, and morale." He crossed his arms and leaned back. "That's not including the number of capes whose powers tend to cause long lasting damage or could be considered apocalyptic, such as the Sleeper."
If Taylor's mouth hung any looser, he could fit his fist down her throat. "I… That is…" She coughed. "Thank you for that, uh…"
"Ragland." He offered. "Alexander Ragland. Staying here with my aunt Dana." That was something she decided on. That way, when she got called in because he sent the bullies into the hospital or a coma, it wouldn't seem weird to Taylor that she was coming in.
Taylor still looked at him funnily. "I didn't know that Dana had a nephew."
He shrugged. He didn't really expect the deception to last long. "I don't think you asked."
"So why are you here?"
"Got in trouble back home in New York. Dad sent me here to see if a change in scenery would calm me down." He stole a glance at the bullies. The redhead and the kid were giggling with their friends, while the athlete didn't join in. Taylor saw where he was looking and rolled her eyes.
Let her have the wrong impression then. It didn't matter to him.
He learnt their names near the end of class, when Mr. G asked for presentations. The redhead was called Emma. The kid was Madison. The athlete was Sophia. Good. Now he'd at least have some warning if they suffered complications or something. Nothing as embarrassing as coming back to Dana and finding out that he accidently killed somebody. She never lets him forget those moments. He kept a close eye on Taylor, so he saw her be the first person out of the room.
Emma and her friends were right behind her. He joined them just as quickly.
He followed them towards the end of the hall, where they were blocking Taylor off. Emma was saying something, something that made Taylor look upset. She was trying to hide it behind anger, contempt, and indifference. But the psychiatrists he had eaten could see it.
Funny. He could pick people apart in his head, but he could never really interact with them. He listened in on their conversation.
"…Showed your face, Taylor." Emma was saying. He had to be careful when listening. Had to filter out the sounds so he didn't end up with damaged eardrums because someone talked right next to him. "Honestly, you could've crawled under a rock and died, and no one would even notice."
"Yeah." Madison said meanly. "Everyone would probably be happy that you're gone. Start up a public holiday. Ding dong, the loser is dead." Alex saw several more girls walking past him. The girls that had been talking to the bullies. They quickly joined in, adding insult after insult. Sophia, likely annoyed at the lack of reaction, smacked Taylor across the face. The other girls laughed at that like it was the funniest thing ever.
They stopped laughing when he grabbed two of them and slammed their heads together. They both collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The others turned to look at him, most of them afraid.
He didn't stop moving. He drove his fist into the next girl, kicking out at a second before head-butting the third. He didn't stop moving even as they crumpled and puked, heading straight for the trio. Emma was completely pale now, someone who obviously couldn't handle it when someone fought back. Sophia moved forward to fight back, but he dodged her strike and slapped another girl to the ground. Then he slammed his leg into Madison, the smaller girl's ribs fracturing as he drove her into Emma. They both went down as he parried another strike from Sophia. Something about her style seemed familiar. He drove his knee into her and pushed her away, before crouching over Emma and punching her in the face. His hands were covered in her blood, likely from a split lip and bloody nose. He was jolted as a kick slammed into his side, but he rolled with the force to get back up to his feet. Sophia was still going, one hand wrapped around her midriff. Now he could focus his attention on her. They both squared off before charging in, trading blows and blocking each other. And yet he still felt like he knew her from somewhere.
It wasn't until she got a hand on his arm and tried to slam her palm against his elbow that he finally placed her.
Shadow Stalker.
His arm bended with the blow, but he simply used that to punch her in the face. She backed away, dazed, giving him time to realign his arm and wail on her. Everytime he hit her, she gasped in pain. He knew he had the advantage here. Her only defence against him was her shadow state, and she couldn't use that without outing herself. While he still had his strength and stolen training.
He kicked her to the ground and started pummeling her until several teachers pulled him off her. He landed a final blow in the stomach before he let himself get pulled away. Students were shouting, teachers were shouting, everyone was making some kind of noise.
Only Taylor was quiet. She was staring at the injured girls lying at her feet, looking at him in shock.
Why did she look like she cared about the people who fucked her up?
Dana sighed as she tried to maneuver her way through traffic. She knew that Alex was going to get in trouble. That was the whole reason she had agreed to this. Let him go to school, find those bullies, and make them suffer. Honestly, what they did to Taylor was beyond bullying. It was torture. It's what you'd do to break someone completely. Sure, Blackwatch was just as fucking bad, if not worse. But at least they were like that because the Virus forced them to be that nasty. These kids had no such excuse.
So yeah, she wasn't bothered that Alex had gotten in trouble fucking them up. She was just surprised by how quickly it had taken him. First period would've only just finished for her to get the phone call so soon. She finally managed to weave her way into the school carpark and find a place. From there, it was a short walk to the office. To one side was the sick bay, meant for kids who injured themselves during gym, recess or just being idiots. When she went past, she could see that there were more nurses inside. Some were obviously teachers.
She could also hear the kids inside sobbing in pain. There had to have been half a dozen of them in there.
A narrow woman with a severe bowl-cut was waiting for her, anger evident on her face. She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Dana Mercer, I assume?"
"Yeah, that's me. Sorry that I'm late; traffic was a real bitch today." Dana replied, holding out a hand to shake. The principal ignored her. And a fine hello too, you bitch.
"And you are the registered guardian for Alexander Ragland?" She asked.
"That's what it says on the paperwork." And it should; she wrote it after all. "Listen, let's just get this over and done with. You called saying that Alex had been in a fight with some people?"
The principal nodded. "According to eye witnesses, he just marched up to them and started inflicting serious injuries. At least two girls are still unconscious, and one Madison Clements has suffered broken ribs."
Yeah, that sounded like his handiwork alright. She sighed and gave the other woman a tired smile. "Yeah. Sorry about that. Alex has always been a scrapper. Between my brother getting divorced, some assholes at school, and a lack of calm at home he's always been in one fight or another. Sometimes I think Bradley's spent more time patching up his own son that his patients. He thought that moving in with me and Uncle Alex might help him calm down. Guess that was a complete fuck-up."
The principal frowned even more, glancing at the document before her. "So his father is a doctor."
"Yeah. Always wanted to be."
"Is there any chance I could speak to him? Perhaps a cellphone number, or a work number?"
Dana shook her head. "No luck there I'm afraid. As divorces go, this one was real messy. Name calling, accusations, pedophile allegations, thrown crockery… Bradley decided he needed a long break from everyone. No cellphone or anything. Just him in the middle of nowhere."
"But then how do you get in contact with him in cases like… this?" She waved a hand at Alex, who was seated near them. He was busy glowering at the floor, the perfect picture of an antisocial kid who got pulled for fighting. But the lack of tenseness in his body told her something else. He was happy.
She smiled at the principal. "I didn't quite follow his smart-guy jargon, but I'm pretty sure he gave the intellect version of 'bitch, he's your problem now'."
"So your brother cut off all forms of communication to anyone and left you a problem child with no way of requesting help if it was needed." The skepticism was thick in her voice.
"Basically." She shrugged. "I know, I'm pissed as well. But being pissed off isn't gonna help deal with Alex." She gave him a look. "Might help to know what exactly set him off."
Alex shrugged, still glowering. "Saw that girl from next door getting slapped. Didn't like it. Went to stop it." He finally looked up at the principal. "Maybe if you policed your school better I wouldn't have had to do your job for you."
The principal's brow furrowed. Dana couldn't tell if it was because of Alex's insult, or the fact that bullying might've happened under her nose. She turned back to Dana. "I will arrange a disciplinary hearing between him, the girls he attacked, and Taylor Herbert, who was also at the scene. But until that day, Alexander can consider himself suspended from school.
So instead of punishing him, she was sending the murderous bioweapon away from all the vulnerable students? This couldn't have gone better if Alex had actually planned it that way.
But she wasn't finished. "In the meantime, I expect you to keep him well away from the girls he attacked. If he gets within fifty feet of any of them, I will have no choice but to expel him."
"Right." Dana replied. "So, if that's everything, I guess I'll take the little psycho back home now." She grabbed Alex by the hand and pulled him along, with him acting like a disgruntled child. Some of the girls were waiting in the hallway. They backed away in terror as they approached. One of them, a redhead, might've been pretty if Alex hadn't given her a onceover. Now she was holding her face, tears running down her cheeks as her whole body shook.
She felt almost sorry for her.
Once they passed them all, Alex spoke up. "She was one of the ringleaders tormenting Taylor. Likely had a hand in her trigger event." He muttered.
She stopped feeling sorry for her.
She waited until they were both in the truck and driving away before speaking openly. "Ok then. You found the bullies and fucked them sideways. Now what?"
"You saw the way they were back there. They're used to psychological attacks. Taunting people, insulting them, little digs that build up over time. Petty insults. They're not used to violence. After my fight, they're likely to stay far away from Taylor in case I find them and go another round." He looked out the window. "It's the athlete I'm still concerned about. Sophia."
"You mean the black girl." She assumed. She was the only one not crying back there. Instead, she had glared at Alex with the kind of passion she hadn't seen in a long time. The kind Alex had when he was hunting for Karen.
She didn't just want payback. She wanted blood.
Alex nodded. "I recognised her fighting style. She's Shadow Stalker. The school's probably been told to ignore everything she does to make sure she can still be used."
"Jesus. That's seriously fucked up. I can't believe they'd let someone suffer just to keep her out there attacking the bad guys."
"Yeah, it is disgusting. But more importantly, it means that a few blows from a student won't scare her off. They'll just make her angry. I need to deal with her while we're in costume, make it clear why I'm doing it. Out here, I've got every reason to cut loose and break every bone in her body."
"As long as you don't kill her, I don't think anyone's gonna mind. We'll do some research on her when we get back. Find out what her weaknesses are."
Alex nodded. "Do so. She can't hurt me, but I don't like surprises."
Ok, you can't tell me that you guys haven't wanted to see the living shit kicked out of those three since the beginning of Worm. I know that Taylor's probably more morally strong than me, but if I were in her place, with the bullying and the powers and the Undersiders, I'd want to get even.
And yeah, Taylor's got a new name. I'm not saying that Skitter is bad or anything, but Swarm sounds so much like a villain name than Skitter. Plus, she does usually end up swarming her enemies with bugs. It's a very fitting name. Not to mention she could shout things like 'The Swarm is Here'. And talking about names, Blacklight is the best one for Alex. Zeus would make people think lightning user rather than King of the Gods (which I think is what Blackwatch was going for), and given his black armour it definitely fits.
And we also had our first meeting between Alex and the Undersiders. I figure Alex is a violent guy, so obviously he wouldn't play nice on the first meeting. Not unless there's cash involved.
Been reading the later chapters of Worm. I know now that the PRT systems are closed off, but I don't think they said that there weren't any off-site, more vulnerable systems. Or this could be happening because someone noticed Dana. Who can say?
And yeah, Alex has probably got to have one of the more varied group of powers out there. I think most people we see are either super strong, super-fast, super tough, or a combination of two. I don't think many besides Alexandria or Leviathan are all three at once.
Notice how the list includes members of the S-class club. Yeah. Just saying.
Something else I've noticed. Remember how I said last chapter that this story is shared between Alex and Taylor? Scratch that. This is pretty much Alex Mercer's tale. Alex has super strength, speed, and toughness, shapeshifting powers, weaponised viruses, and plenty more abilities. Taylor... can control bugs. That's kinda like comparing Green Arrow to Superman. Both a pretty awesome heroes, but we all know who is far cooler and stronger.
No questions for now, but if I come up with any I'll add them as an edit. See you guys later. And keep those constructive reviews coming.
