Hey again. Since it's still Christmas and the season of giving (and I've already finished this chapter) I decided that I'll release yet another chapter of my story. Meant to have done it last night my time, but I forgot.
I just want to answer something a guest said before we start though. You pointed out that there are plenty of capes out there who could kill Alex easily, like Sundancer. Yes, they very well could. Alex is still vulnerable to their dangerous powers. But that's why I call the capes glass cannons. They can do a hell of a lot of damage, even to Alex. But they're still vulnerable. A solid hit from Alex can put them out of the fight; a heavier hit or one of his deadlier attacks can outright kill them. Add in his healing and speed, and you've got someone who can tank or dodge most attacks and keep on fighting. That's why Alex is so dangerous compared to the capes. That, and he could just infect them with the Virus and kill them all that way.
Chapter 3: Step 3 – Start Killing Off the Opposition
Lisa looked down at me, the hint of a smile on her face. "Someone looks like they're down in the dumps." She said to me. "What's wrong, Taylor? Bad day at school again?"
I looked up at her from the couch I was lying on. "I wish." I said dully. "Someone attacked the bullies for me." The images were still playing in my head, the sounds louder than ever. The crack Madison made as she was kicked. The fleshy pounding of fist against Emma's face. The thud as Sophia was taken apart.
I shuddered.
Alec looked at me from the other couch. He was probably one second away from rolling his eyes. "Look, dork. I know you don't want us coming along and giving them what's coming. But someone else, a complete stranger, beats them up and you're still upset? You should be cheering. Throwing a party. Buying us a fancy meal with your cash. Instead, you're acting like you were the one who got the shit kicked out of them." He frowned. "Hang on. This isn't one of those weird situations where you secretly like getting hurt?"
I did roll my eyes at him. "No, I'm not one of those people." You see them on the news sometimes. People who dress up and act like villains because they get off on being hurt. Most of them suffer some pretty heavy penalties for wasting time. The rest just keep it at home. "It's just… You didn't see it. This new kid, he nearly killed them. At least a few had to go to the hospital he hurt them so badly."
"Again, what's the problem?"
"He's my next door neighbour."
"Ah." Lisa said, nodding in understanding. "You're not comfortable having someone as violent as him living one house down from you."
"Among other things." I murmured.
"You've got Bitch one room away from you. How is this any different?"
"With Bitch I don't feel as though she's one thought away from killing me." I explained.
"I dunno. Sometimes she is."
"My point is that this guy took matters into his own hands and escalated it pretty damn quickly. They barely had any time to react. It was… It was…" I struggled to find the words.
Lisa, with her power, found them for me. "Like if Lung himself walked in and attacked them." She offered.
As she said that, a realisation came to me. Before today, I hadn't seen any sign that the Mercers were looking after a kid. There had been no sign of him whenever I was around, and they didn't seem the type. But both Alex Mercer and Alex Ragland gave me the same bad feeling. Like they had killed before, enough times that death didn't even mean anything to them. They both seemed antisocial, gruff.
And if I thought about it, Ragland looked exactly like a younger Alex Mercer.
My thoughts were interrupted as Lisa's phone chimed. I looked up to see her scrolling through it, her face a mixture of good and bad. She saw me looking.
"That was our employer." She explained. "He was just letting us know that he's left the extra money with the stash of pawned cash we got from the robbery."
"So we're richer now." Brian said from the other side of the room, where he was exercising. I had to stop myself from looking, watching his glistening pecs at work. "That's good news, so why do you look like it's bad news?"
Alec chuckled. "Because now she's got to find a way to reach out to the nutjob who took out the Wards almost singlehandedly. I'd be worried too."
Lisa sighed. "Yeah, I'm not worried about contacting him. I'm just worried that he might…"
"Kill us and take all the money for himself?" Alec offered. I felt a shiver of fear. He could easily do that. Grue's darkness, Regents powers, Bitch's dogs, my bugs… They'd do nothing against him. He murder us all before Lisa could probably even warn us.
"Not. Helping." Brian said firmly, glowering at Alec. Lisa rolled her eyes and started tapping away at her laptop. I got up from the couch to see what she was doing. I found her on Parahumans Online.
I looked at her. "You're contacting him the same way you contacted me." I realised. She shrugged in response.
"Hey. If it ain't broke…" She tapped out a message, under the threat 'Masked Man'.
'Hey, MM. Remember that wicked party at the house? Remember how we said we owed you? Got your prize here. Meet up at the Docks, by the ferry. Talk to you there. Tt.'
"There we go." She said. "Now we just need to wait for a response, and hope we get there before him. I don't think he's a patient man." We heard the sound of the door closing, and I turned to see that Rachael had gone. Along with her dogs.
"Probably gone for a walk." Lisa guessed. The rest of us went back to what we were doing, waiting to see if we'd get a response. Personally, I'd be happier if he failed to show up. I wasn't sure I was ready to work with someone so intense.
But an hour later and plenty of speculation on what Lisa's comment meant, we got a response. As expected, it was short and blunt.
'Understood. You better not screw me. Zeus.'
"Let's go people. Time to meet our murderous friend." Lisa said, sounding like she wanted to do anything else.
We arrived at the ferry in around twenty minutes. Long enough that if he had left when he commented, he would've been waiting for a while. We were going to march up the ramp and meet him there, but something dropped down from above. As it stood back up, I got a good look at it.
It was humanoid, covered in armour. But it looked completely organic, more like some giant had coated a doll in some goop than actual plating. Spines erupted from the elbows and knees, and the pelvis flared outwards. There were signs of sculpted pectorals, but they seemed almost to flow into each other like candle wax. The legs were similar, looking like several bands melting into each other. The head itself was covered by a helmet, featureless save for a few dots in the surface. Eyes maybe? But they were placed in the wrong spots. More down towards the mouth than towards the forehead, and placed at wrong angles.
The Masked Man.
Tattletale gave him a nervous smile. "Our friendly home wrecker, I assume?" She said, as though he didn't scare her. The helmet turned towards her. Whatever way he used to see, it was clearly working.
A whispering sound started up. "Indeed." He said, his voice like a crowd speaking at once. It was such a drastic change that I almost didn't believe it was the same man. "I go by the name Blacklight now."
"And you updated your wardrobe. Nice. The hoodie was a little…"
"I'm not here to chat." He interrupted her. "I'm here because I'm owed five thousand dollars."
If Tattle was annoyed at being interrupted, she was smart enough not to show it. "Right. This way then." We all started walking, an odd sight even by Brockton Bay's standards. I was still worried that he would lose patience with us and attack or something. "My teammates and I have a few concerns about your… behaviour." Tattletale was saying.
"Tough. I'm not changing just because I scare the shit out of you." He replied gruffly.
"It's not that." She hesitated. "Ok, there is that too. We're more worried about you planning on killing us and taking all our money with you."
"Good thinking." He said, and I couldn't tell if he meant it was something we were right to be worried about, or if we just gave him a new idea. "This employer of yours. Is he likely to have more work waiting for us?"
"He will."
"In that case, you're better for me alive and unharmed." I didn't like that. I know I've probably made it clear already, but I didn't like him. His tone implied that we were only alive so long as he found us useful.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what he would do when we stopped being so useful to him.
They made great time to wherever the others kept their stolen cash, likely helped by Blacklight forcing us to move faster. I didn't know if it was a deliberate thing on his part or if he was just impatient. But our walk took us towards the storage facility, a place filled with storage containers. When housing and unemployment became a problem, some guy suggested converting these containers into homes. It was successful for a time. But then they became drug dens, plague pits, and massive coffins. People steer clear of them now; this place had a feeling of death and decay.
Grue led the pack, obviously aware of which bin we were looking for. We weaved through a veritable maze, ending up with me not having a clue where we were. The road could be on the other side of me, and I wouldn't even know. Anyone following us would've been even more lost. Grue found the container easily enough, and started fiddling with the lock. I wished he would hurry up. This place didn't feel right to me. I hated being here.
"Shit." Grue said, his voice strained as he got the door open. I peeked inside, only to find it completely empty. No money, no items, nothing.
I backed away only to hit something solid. Blacklight.
Even behind his helmet, he still managed to glare at us. "There had better be a damn good reason I'm looking at an empty bin rather than my money. Or else I'm going to make you tell me where it is." The fingers on one hand lengthened, becoming sharper and jagged. He held it upright, letting us all see the large claws he now had.
"Bitch fucked us over." Regent said suddenly. I looked at him in surprise.
Blacklight tilted his head. "The dog girl? You really think she's sophisticated enough to pick the lock, strap all the money to her mutts, lock the door after her, and then hightail out of here without leaving any sign that she had been here?" He gave a short chuckle. "Bitch and I have a lot in common. Such as 'why pick a lock when you can break down the door?'"
"He's right." Tattletale said. "She didn't do this."
"Then who did?" Grue asked.
"A cape. Someone good with locks."
"A villain?" I asked.
"A villain. More than one. And they're still here."
Soft clapping started near us. It was kind that was obviously slow enough to be sarcastic.
"Very good." A think reedy voice said. We all backed away to look up above our locker. The two villains looked down at us, dressed in ridiculous outfits. They were wearing blue leotards with broad belts, white sleeves and leggings clashing with the colour. They were masked by skintight white hoods, with only a small window for their eyes, which were covered by dark goggles. An antenna jutted upwards, shaking slightly. For some bizarre reason, their gloves, boots, and the tip of their antennae were bright bubblegum pink.
"Thanks to you lot, we've made quite a lot of money." Uber and leet chuckled. "And now, thanks to you lot, we're going to get a sizable rep boost."
"What the fuck am I looking at here?" Alex said to himself, aware that his inner radio would pick it up and broadcast back to Dana. A holdover from when he was fighting Blackwatch. Helped him listen in on their communications. Now he was using it to keep in constant contact with her.
"Hold on, I can't see what you're seeing. Just let me look at this pop-up before I start guessing." She must've clicked on something, because she responded quickly. "Ok, yeah, I see what you mean. The two fashion victims before you are known as Uber and Leet. They're kind of like the Team Rocket of this place."
"What does that mean?" He asked. Sometimes he missed the references she made. A drawback of not having any interest in pointless memories about media.
"It means that they're really pathetic. So pathetic that the PRT can let them 'escape' without anyone complaining. Practically everyone's beaten them at some point. Make most of their money from live broadcasts of their antics. That's what I'm watching now." He looked up to see a golden floating camera, Swarm's bugs messing with it.
The two villains were making grandiose speeches, trying to intimidate the Undersiders and him. He simply ignored them. "If they're capes, then they've got to have some kind of power. What is it?"
"Leet is a Tinker. He can build all kinds of shit. But he can only build it once. If something he builds gets too close to something he's already made, it blows up in his face. Sometimes literally."
"Pathetic." He said, shaking his head. This was seriously what's between him and his pay? He almost didn't even want to consume them. "What about Uber?"
"He's basically really good at whatever he does. Lock-picking, martial arts, cooking, ballet. He's better at it than people who spend decades training for it."
"That's it? What about super strength? Or speed?"
"Nope. He's all skill. He'll probably dodge your attacks for a bit, but once you hit him he's down for the count." Alex turned back to see Leet falling from the roof and landing on his face. He shook his head in disgust. To think that these losers were standing in his way.
Were they even smart enough to have come up with this on their own?
There was one other thing bugging him. "What's with the bad costume? Something about it seems familiar somehow."
He heard Dana snort. "They're video game aficionados, determined to express the glory and worth of video games. One time they're dressing up as Mario and Bowser; the next they're pretending they're in a real life Grand Theft Auto. Given how stupid it looks, I think they're going for retro games."
He realised what they reminded him of. "Bomberman."
"Seriously? You can't be bothered to remember Team Rocket but Bomberman sticks around in that fucking pit of a head of yours?"
"Who cares? All I need to know is that they're gonna be tossing around bombs." Bombs were annoying. Powerful enough to hurt him, easy enough to place, but rarely something he could use himself. He'd have to keep on the move during this fight.
Then Uber charged, and he moved to intercept him.
Despite his skill, Uber was moving in slow-motion compared to him. He had barely gotten halfway to them before Alex had met him in combat. Uber immediately dropped into a crouch, kicking out at his feet. Alex simply jumped over his attack and slammed his fists together. As Uber was sent reeling from the shockwave of his attack, he bowled him over with his momentum. Then he turned around and booted him into the air. Something went crack as Uber landed. Hopefully it was just his arms or his leg. Dana might get on his case if he killed the idiot.
He could hear her chuckling over the line. "Behold the power of social media. Thousands of people got to see Uber getting used like a football." He rolled his eyes and turned towards Leet, just in time to see him pull out a bomb.
A genuine classic bomb. Round black casing with a lit fuse. He blinked at the sight of it. What, did he step into a cartoon or something?
When Leet tossed it, he moved to smack it out of the air. It exploded in his face, but he barely even felt it. He had to take one step back, but that was more from the force behind it than anything else.
Hard light bombs perhaps. Nowhere near as dangerous as the real deal. Leet had focused so much on style that he didn't even bother with substance.
His impression of them became more or less correct.
Leet tossed another bomb at him, but now that he knew they were pathetic he didn't even both backhanding them. He just built up some armour and walked towards him, letting them explode ineffectually against his plating. Now panicking, Leet pulled out a large sword from behind his back. It was made from blue metal, with a winged cross guard. On it was a triangle symbol.
Dana tutted. "Really? Link's Master Sword? You'd think he'd at least have the decency to stick to his own damn theme." Alex didn't reply. Leet had moved to strike him with the blade, his movement so slow and fumbling Alex could've slapped the blade out of his hand before he got anywhere near. Sure enough, when it jarred against his armour, it slipped out of his hands. Alex drove an elbow into his face, blood flying. The sword vanished like a projection. Alex grabbed him from behind and ripped the backpack away. Leet paled as he was lifted towards his face.
"Tell me where the money is, or I will break you." Alex said. The fact he said it so calmly, combined with his altered voice, made it far more menacing. Menacing enough that Leet's eyes rolled backwards and he fainted.
"Ah shit." Regent said as he approached. "Now we're gonna have to get some smelling salts before we can talk to him."
"Is Uber still dealt with?" Alex asked.
Tattletale nodded. "He broke his left leg when he landed. Even all his skill isn't going to help him escape."
"They usually have henchmen." Swarm was saying. "Unemployed workers who are willing to run around in skintight clothes for some cash. If we find them, we'll find the money. And maybe Bitch as well."
"Close but not quite." A mechanical voice hissed. They all turned to see a woman dressed in the same costume as well. Only she wore a gas mask with hers.
So this must be the one in charge. Knew they were too dimwitted to pull this thing off themselves.
"Should've realised that you got Brockton Bay's newest star on your side." She said. Her mask converted everything she said into a lone mechanical tone. "Still, I was kinda hoping they'd do more than become a matching set of punching bags."
"Bakuda?" Tattletale asked in surprise. "Fuck me, you're working with them?"
"They're working for her." Alex said aloud. Bakuda started clapping in response.
"Ooh. We've got a smart one here." She said. "And he's right. Uber and Leet were all too willing to get hired, as long as I wore this ridiculous outfit and paid them a hundred bucks."
"Should've forked out some more for some real talent." Tattletale smirked.
"Oh, don't worry. I came prepared." She snapped a finger, and the doors around them slammed open. Dozens of people started moving, every one of them wielding a weapon of some manner. Guns, baseball bats, crowbars. Anything that gang members could grab to hurt people.
"Alex." Dana said worriedly. "Bakuda is a Tinker. She builds bombs. The kind Blackwatch would pay an arm and a leg for. Don't even think about tanking them."
"And as for you." Bakuda said, looking at Alex. I've prepared a few special surprises just for you." She tossed out a bomb, the beeping already high-pitched. Too late to hit it away. He jumped high into the air while the Undersiders ran for it.
Even above it, he still felt the shockwave of the explosion.
Bakuda pulled out a grenade launcher, aiming it right at him. He quickly blasted some air out his side, dashing out of the way so that it exploded harmlessly. Part of him wanted to just reel himself towards her, but until he dealt with the launcher she could still hit him on approach. Despite how cowardly it felt, he moved away from her. Try and come back from another direction, somewhere she wouldn't expect him. He turned back to see a blanket of darkness. Grue at work, no doubt. If they survived, fine. If not, more money for him.
He turned back to see a person standing in his way. He smirked as he got closer, ready to slice him apart and maybe grab a quick snack.
His smirk dropped as the man vanished. He was a hologram guarding a bomb.
"Fuck." Alex cursed, using another burst of air to halt his approach. The bomb exploded right before him, everything getting frozen over. He jumped over it, his senses picking up another grenade on approach. He pushed his mass downwards, dropping back to earth as it exploded above him. Acid rained down on him. He shrugged it off and started running again. Behind him, several storage lockers exploded into flames.
He doubted Bakuda was even aiming for him. Likely she just enjoyed the chaos, trying to herd him towards more danger.
Time to reveal a new skill them.
He turned around, heading back towards the signs of chaos and explosions. He decided to keep to the ground level. Down here, he might run into more bombs. But up there, he was a lone target. The first ABB he ran into was another fake. As the bomb exploded behind him, everything seemed to start slowing down. He outran the effect only to run into another bomb. A short hop and his forward momentum allowed him to avoid the worst of it, his body healing over the damage.
The third group he met were real people. All had the looks of hardened gang members, people who have been a willing part of ABB for years. He sliced them apart and consumed them, taking on their appearance. One of them though, he found a small bomb in the skull. Likely packing enough explosives to turn the guy into a red mist. Seemed her style. He discarded it and ran towards the chaos at a slower pace. No one stopped him; as far as they were concerned, he was just someone catching up to the others. He found everyone else, standing before the Undersiders. Bakuda had trapped them. She was rambling on about something, keeping careful watch over them. Something about scaring people. He ignored it; he'd know what she was saying soon enough. He pushed his way through the crowd, moving as though he had a purpose.
He got within ten feet of her when she spun around to face him.
Maybe she had a tracker in the bomb he found; maybe her power told her something. Maybe she was just being paranoid. But whatever it was, it saved her life. She fired a grenade right into his chest, the explosion pushing him back and killing those closest to him. Some of the members – those obviously forced against their will – screamed and panicked as he was blown up. He hissed in pain as he started pulling himself together. But she fired a smaller explosion at his chest, ripping a hole into him. As he started healing, she fired some small device into the wound.
He moved to remove it, but it detonated before he could.
He was expecting pain as he was ripped apart. But instead it didn't really hurt at all. Just the strange feeling of having his biomass pulled and warped in different directions. Everything went blurry for a moment as his body tried to adapt and adjust. By the time he was done, Bakuda was driving away. Guess the Undersiders escaped during the commotion.
A crackling sound managed to reach his ears. "…Alex? Alex, can you hear me?" Dana.
He groaned as he tried to sit up. "I hear you." He responded, voice even raspier than normal. He was having trouble finding his sense of balance. "Bakuda got me. Dumb luck. She's chasing the Undersiders now. Don't know why."
"I do. After I saw Bakuda on their camera, I started looking into her and any connection to the Undersiders. Apparently they and the ABB have crossed paths a few times. And word on Parahuman Online is that a swarm of bugs attacked Lung and his boys while they were gearing up to fight them. Guess Bakuda blames them for his arrest." As she spoke, Alex took stock of his current state. His legs, now strips of biomass after the initial explosion, were twice as long. His right leg though was only half its normal length. His remaining arm was bloated, a hammerfist covered in what felt like bulges. His head was just as bad. Parts of it sagged in places, while other drooped like water. His attempts to rearrange his body went slowly. He helped it along by cannibalising the worst affected parts, converting them into more biomass. It only took his a couple of minutes, but he had returned to normal. "Alex, the camera caught her talking about how she's implanted bombs into peoples' heads. How she can trigger them whenever."
"Already knew that." He said, taking off after the explosions again. He couldn't let her catch him out like that again.
"In that case, talk to Tattletale about them. She might have a dead man's switch or something."
"Will do." He replied, jumping over cover to engage. Ahead of him, Bakuda was standing on a jeep, tracking the Undersiders. As he got close, her passenger noticed him. He swerved away wildly, forcing Bakuda to hold on for dear life.
She dropped the grenade launcher. He grabbed it as he passed, a claw raking the side of the jeep. When he landed beside the Undersiders, he pointed it at her and pulled the trigger.
Nothing.
"It won't work." Tattletale said. "It's coded to her fingerprints. No one else can use it."
He smirked. He could work around that easily. Bakuda came round for a second pass, and he fired his whipfist right at her. Spotting the tentacle, she grabbed the passenger and threw him in the way. This act slowed him down enough for her to survive, his tendrils having to work through his corpse to reach her. Thanks to that, his lethal strike only managed to slash her arm. Blood ran down it as she cried out in pain.
Oh well. At least the secondary condition was met.
He didn't know who was more surprised when he fired a grenade at the jeep. But it did its job. The vehicle exploded, the driver and camera man were killed instantly. Bakuda was thrown from the wreckage, her legs aflame and shorn off. He dropped the launcher and stomped towards her.
She cost him biomass. Only fair that she replenish it.
Bakuda turned to glare up at him. "You won't dare kill me." She hissed at him. "If I die, then so does everyone I've wired. Every last bomb I've installed, every device I've set up. If I go, I'm taking Brockton Bay with me."
Alex stopped, and turned to Tattletale. She bit her lip as she used her power.
"She's half telling the truth." She finally said. "The bombs in everyone's heads are wired to her. Some kind of dead man's switch connected to her heart. If it stops beating, it activates. But the others are connected. They won't explode without someone pushing the buttons."
"Then we can't kill her." Swarm said. "We'll bring her to the PRT. They've got to have people who can disable it. Maybe if we…"
Alex didn't let her finish. He stabbed Bakuda in the chest with tendrils, letting his biomass worm its way into her. They found her heart easily enough, found the wires and circuits she had connected to it. He jabbed the heart, sending new messages to it.
Even as his biomass shut down and consumed the rest of her body, her heart continued beating steadily. He pulled it into his own body, creating space for it inside of himself. At the same time, he gorged on her brain. If she had bombs installed, he needed to learn where they were.
As he worked through the memories, he found something else.
It was definitely not natural to the human mind, an alien thing that he couldn't fully comprehend. It was as if someone – or something – had driven a shard of glass into her brain. As he puzzled over it, it started tugging free. He tried to grab hold of it, but he couldn't keep hold. It slipped free, and vanished. As he returned to the outside world, he looked up as though he could see it flying away. He looked back down to the see the Undersiders staring at him in shock and horror.
The people with the bombs, they just stood in terror as they waited to explode. They calmed down when nothing happened.
What had he just seen?
I didn't have a clue how to react. When I closed my eyes, I could still see Blacklight's tendrils sticking into Bakuda, her body turning into some blackish-red goop as he drank it up. Saw her heart hanging from a tendril, still beating. Him, pulling it into his body.
Blacklight wasn't just a sociopath. He was worse. He was a monster.
Tattletale gasped. "Biokinesis, adaptation and assimilation." She murmured, more to herself than to anyone in particular. But Blacklight looked up, as though he could hear her.
"What did you just say?" He asked her. He looked exactly like Bakuda, her outfit and body copied perfectly. If I hadn't seen him devour her, I would've assumed that she had somehow survived his attack unharmed.
"Your power. You can manipulate your own body in ways I can't even imagine. And you can do even more, assimilate DNA. You using Bakuda's grenade launcher? That had to have been you getting some of her blood and using it to create her fingerprints. And just now?" She frowned as she tried to get something with her power. "You… You ate her brain. You copied it." Her eyes widened. "You know everything she knows. You are Bakuda right now."
He kept watching her, a red wave of tendrils flowing up and down his body, so that Blacklight stood before them again. He then looked away, almost relaxing. "Yes. I do." He glanced at the crowd surrounding him. It was mostly people forced against their will. The ABB had started running. "These people shouldn't blow up anymore. The doctors can remove the bombs from them." He headed away, the rest of us moving to catch up to him.
I could tell from Regent's body language that he was smiling under his mask. "Dude, that was actually pretty cool. Fucked up in so many ways, but still awesome. The way her body just started changing so quickly…" He laughed. "Awesome." He repeated.
"Where are you leading us?" Grue asked, possibly more wary than before. And who wouldn't be? If what Tattletale said was true, he was even more dangerous than we thought. And he was already pretty damn high on my list.
"To our money." Blacklight responded, not looking back. "And your friend. Bakuda wanted to have all of you together before she finally killed the lot of you."
"But why? To show everyone that she's just as tough as Lung now that she was in charge?" Grue pondered.
"She wasn't. Lung was still in charge. And unless Oni Lee fucked up somehow, he should've busted Lung out of the PRT by now." He stopped before a locked container, a good distance away from the others. There was a device on the front, but he removed it in mere seconds.
Right. Bakuda must've installed it. He knew what she knew. Therefore, he already knew how to uninstall it.
He tore the doors off with ease, the moonlight showing us what was inside. Lying next to a large stack of money was Rachel, tied up and angry. Beside her was one of her dogs, also tied up. Aside from the rise and fall of his chest, he wasn't moving. Blacklight stepped over her and started shoveling wads of money into his chest. A tendril lazily snapped Rachel's bindings. She glowered at him, rubbing her wrists. Then she undid the restraints around her dog.
"Who's this fucker?" She snapped at us, looking one second away from trying to fight him herself. We had to stop her.
"Relax, Bitch." Tattletale said. "That's the guy who robbed the mansion with us. He's just got a new costume and name. Calls himself Blacklight now. He's just gonna grab his cut and go. Right?" She was looking at him as he kept shoving wads into his stomach.
He stopped and turned back to us. There was nothing on his front to suggest that he had an opening. "Yeah." He responded. In one hand was a dollar note, a number written on it. He handed it to her. "Here's the number I'm using. Keep it for yourself, or offer it to others. Just make it clear that I'm only interested in the cash at best. If they expect me to be a fucking lapdog or enforce something I don't like, there's gonna be hell to pay." And with that, he pushed past us and jumped away. He easily cleared ten stories before gliding through the air. When he landed on top of a building, he immediately pushed off, gaining even more speed. No doubt about it, he was powerful and beyond dangerous. He would be a game changer in any struggle in Brockton Bay. And his ability to assimilate DNA and memories? Why bother interrogating people and trying to get a mole in someone's gang when he could do both at once?
Did he seriously just offer himself up as a mercenary for anyone willing to pay?
Alex made an anonymous tip off to the PRT about all the bombs Bakuda had hidden through Brockton Bay. About two hours later, it was all the news was talking about. The PRT managed to recover and disable dozens of bombs, find plenty of ABB strongholds. But unfortunately, the ABB managed to get away with enough bombs to be a problem. And Lung seemed determined to take over even without his Tinker. They launched dozens of attacks against everyone they could find. Empire Eighty-Eight, Coil, the PRT and the Protectorate, City Hall… A couple of times, Alex caught a few of them moving out around here, Molotov cocktails at the ready. He always dealt with them before anyone else realised they had shown up.
But most of the time, he was busy borrowing Dana's laptop and researching about the source of super powers.
He had never actually considered the possibility that he could 'take' powers for himself. In comics, powers could come from a variety of sources. Mutant genes, alien DNA, space rocks, magic, godly gifts, technology, even from just being good or evil or twisted enough. Even when they had first arrived here, and he saw the Wards fighting Hookwolf, he never actually thought that he could get them.
But he almost had. If he had reacted just a tiny bit faster, he could've kept whatever power helped Bakuda create her devices. Instead, he just got her memories. Memories, thoughts and blueprints with holes in them, places where her human mind couldn't figure things out and her power filled in the blanks. He was working to restore them, but some of the plans required rules and devices that simply didn't follow conventional rules.
So now here he was, looking up anything and everything he could find about the source of powers and what created them. So far, not much in concrete information. A lot of guesswork, a lot of assumption, a hell of a lot more arguments. But there wasn't much that people were certain about. Well, apart from the Trigger Events. Everyone agreed that those were the catalysts. But no one could agree on what counted as a Trigger Event, or why they were needed in the first place.
Personally, he felt that the shards or whoever handed them out was drawn to despair. Whether to help them, or see what would happen if you give someone fucked over the power to get back their enemies. Small wonder the world was barely holding together.
But nothing he found suggested that they were 'shards'. Or that one could harvest them from a cape. Understandable really. If someone figured out a way to gain power, they'd keep it to themselves. Either to make sure only they could obtain power; or to stop everyone from hunting each other. But if that were the case, then that meant he'd have to find out how by himself.
Testing on a resource that he loathed to waste too much of.
"Hey Alex." Dana said as she entered the room. "You almost done with my laptop?"
"Not quite." He admitted. He heard her lean over his shoulder, looking at the page he was viewing.
"Hmm. 'Parahumans: Where do they come from?' What's with the sudden interest in how Parahumans are made? Trying to figure them out a bit better."
He decided to tell her the truth. Ironically, for a being capable of completely changing his identity, he was terrible at lying. "When I consumed Bakuda, I found something in her head. I think it might've been her powers."
Dana gave him a funny look. "So just to be clear; you have the powers of a mad scientist/bomb anarchist in your head right now?"
He shook his head. "It got away from me. But it has made me think. What if I could gain powers from consuming? How would they interact with my biomass? How would I keep hold of them? Is there a limit to how many I can hold, or is it simply detrimental to my mental or physical well-being?" He stood up. "Besides, if I'm going to figure these things out, I can't use it on a valuable resource. I need to learn as much as I can before I start."
"Jesus, Alex. You're talking about finding capes and killing them. For their power. Please tell me you're not going all Sylar on me now." He gave her a confused look. "Watch TV sometimes, Alex. I'm just worried that as soon as you find out how to harvest one power, you're going to go on a murdering spree. Killing every cape you can get your claws on so you can… boost yourself."
He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm not interested in the attention that would bring me. If I come across a dying cape I'd harvest them. But I'm not going to go up against the Protectorate for the sake of having their powers."
Dana breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank fucking god. I guess that's kinda one crisis averted." She gave him a hard look. "But seriously. If you do find some way to keep powers, you let me know pronto. If I find out down the line that you've been killing capes without my say-so, I am going to be pissed."
He smirked at her. "Pissed enough to what, ground me?"
"Pissed enough to try and beat the ever-loving shit out of your viral ass."
"Ouch. In that case, I'll notify you ASAP." Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of a phone. And the only one they had was Alex's disposable. He quickly grabbed it, seeing an unidentified number on screen.
"Blacklight." He said as he answered, in his altered voice. Hopefully, the only kind of people ringing this number are the kind of people interested in hiring him.
"Ah, hello." A rich, charismatic voice said. It was the kind of voice used to being listened to, used to twisting people into its service. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kaiser. I received that number you generously handed to my men."
Alex shrugged, though he knew Kaiser couldn't hear it. "Maybe that'll teach your men to shut up and listen."
"Mmm." He could imagine Kaiser nodding. "Let's get the formalities out of the way. I assume that you know who I am and what my organisation believes in."
"Of course." Kaiser, leader of Empire Eighty-Eight. Has the power to create metal from any non-organic surface, shaping it as he pleased. Wore armour fitted with a crown. Initial psychological readings painted him as either a man willing to put his prejudices behind his goals, or someone just using them as an excuse.
"Excellent. Then I will be brief. I have called for a meeting between the local villain groups about the Azn' Bad Boys and the problems they are causing. As a powerful villain, I'd feel as though I'd do you a disservice by not inviting you along."
Alex frowned. "Personally, I don't really care about them. They don't bother me; I don't fuck them up. Bakuda and her men learnt that lesson the hard way."
"In that case, what if I paid you?" Alex stopped, his finger hovering over the 'end call' button.
"How much, and what for?" He asked.
"In exchange for working for me for the duration of this problem, I am willing to pay you five thousand dollars per problem you help solve. I'm afraid that until the meeting I can't be more specific, but I'm sure that you can connect the dots.
Five thousand dollars to deal with the ABB, or at least parts of them. Well, that was certainly a reason to start caring.
"You don't try to get me to further your white supremacist bullshit, and I don't think we'll have many problems."
"Good. I'll text you the coordinates and time for our meeting. Of course, you are expected to arrive in uniform."
"Just make sure to pay me when this is all over." Alex said. And he hung up on him. A childish part of him enjoyed hanging up on one of the stronger leaders in Brockton Bay. The phone beeped as it received the text.
"So from your mention of white supremacist bullshit, I'm guessing that Kaiser just hired your services."
Alex nodded. "Apparently the ABB have gotten to be a big enough problem for even the villains to take notice of. He's organised a meeting with every noteworthy villain in the city."
"Yeah, there's been cases like this. Not just when the Endbringers show up, but other times too. Anyone starts causing too much trouble, or breaks the unwritten rules of capes, everyone bands together to put them down."
"What kind of rules do villains have? I thought the point of being a villain was that you do whatever you want."
"It is. But there are still some rules. Mostly about standards. No raping the other side. No child porn. No talking in cinemas. Things like that."
"So it's ok to murder a man, burn him alive, or beat him to death, but it's not ok to be monstrous about it? Sounds weird to me."
Dana shrugged. "I suppose it's just one of those things people do here. Keep some form of trust between the good guys and the bad guys. Because without it, the Endbringers get ten times more dangerous." Alex nodded, checking the text he got. The meeting was scheduled for after the sun went down.
"Bring me a list of the biggest groups in Brockton Bay. I want to be prepared for when I meet them."
Before I joined up in the villain business; before we even got a message from Kaiser calling for a meeting; I never really knew that there was a pub somewhere in Brockton Bay catered only to villains. Or that it was in a place so off the beaten path and so out of the way, that I would've missed it if I hadn't been with the others when I came across it.
Which I guess is the whole point of choosing here.
The outside of 'Somer's Rock' was in disrepair. The paint was peeling and there was rust everywhere. The only slightly new things about it were the iron bars over the windows. Even the curtains behind them were tatty. Inside wasn't much better. Everything was either faded, stained, had food splatter on it, or all three. I felt that someone like Kaiser had better class than this place. We ignored the tables that had been pushed together in the center of the room, and seated ourselves at one of the booths attached to the walls. Once we were all comfortable, we waited for the others to arrive. The serving girl, a severe-looking lady with a nasty scowl, dropped a notepad at our table.
"Can I get a coke?" I asked her nervously, thankful that my expression was hidden behind my mask. She just glared at me, as though I had somehow insulted her. Did she hate coke or something? Was I expected to drink only alcohol?
"She's deaf, Swarm." Tattletale explained. "If you want something, you write it on the pad here." She gestured to the pad, where Grue, Regent, and Bitch had already written orders.
Oh. I followed her advice and wrote my order on after them, the girl leaving with an even uglier look on her face. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, hanging with Bitch. But Bitch was built for scowling. This girl wasn't.
As for my name, turns out that the PRT had decided to dub me 'Swarm' as a codename. Given all the trouble I had coming up with a name, it wasn't the worst I had thought of. And it fitted my villain identity. I'd have to come up with something else though, when I join the Wards. Maybe something friendlier. Or at least something that didn't make people think of creepy things.
We must've been early, because everyone else came in at about the same time.
Kaiser led the front of it, two bombshells in his arms. I knew them as Fenja and Menja. Valkyrie-themed warriors, able to grow in size. The larger they got, the less effective attacks were against them. Behind him was Purity, along with several other capes. I had heard rumours that she left Empire Eighty-Eight to try and be a hero. A racist white-supremacist hero. I couldn't think of why she'd join her old gang again. Then again, Fog and Night had set gone and made their own little team, yet here they were following her.
They had only just seated when Coil entered the room. A newcomer, Coil was well-known for hiring mostly ex-military private contractors to work for him. He had apparently ditched them tonight, coming here alone. He was dressed in a suit that showed off more of his skeleton than his skin, a white snake slithering down to his ankle.
When I found out that every major villain was coming, I thought to ask Lisa to help me do some research on everyone.
After him was Faultline, a mercenary group a lot like Blacklight. Only she had a team and she wasn't a psychotic monster. Her power was that she could shatter anything she touched that wasn't organic. Not quite as flashy as some powers, but she put it to good use. Behind her was her team, people whose appearance… stood out. Case 53s they were called, though I didn't know why. Newter was pretty much like a human gecko, with a long tail and orange skin. Haven't really heard what his power is yet. The same went for Gregor the Snail. You'd feel sorry for him if you passed him on the street. Morbidly obese, no hair whatsoever, able to see his bones and organs beneath his skin, and his body covered in scales, like barnacles.
Both of them had an Omega symbol on their person.
Behind them was the rest of Faultline's crew. Labyrinth and Spitfire. Labyrinth wore a green robe and a mask with lines on it; Spitfire wore a black and red costume with a gas mask. I hadn't really seen either of them in battle, though their powers weren't too hard to guess. As Faultline sat down by Kaiser (taking the time to pass by us and sneer as she went) Grue stood up and joined the others. Now that we weren't alone anymore, it was ok to sit at the big kid's table.
"What was that about?" I asked Tattletale once Faultline passed.
She gave me a thin smile in return. "Nothing important. Just likes to think she's smarter than me. Got on my bad side when she poached Spitfire before we got to her. Now we don't really like each other."
"But what happened to make it like that?" I asked.
"Nothing. Important." She stressed. She pointed a finger at the table. "Besides, I think you might have bigger concerns than my little feud with Faultline." I turned to see what she meant. Behind my mask, my jaw dropped.
Sitting to the right of Kaiser, taking up the last seat of the table, was Blacklight.
I don't know how he did it. I don't know when he had entered, or moved to the chair, or even how long he had been waiting. But there he was, sitting with the others. I saw people casting glances at him, eyes calculating.
"What is he doing here?" I asked angrily, but quietly.
"His first appearance was taking down Glory Girl; his most recent one was killing Bakuda." Tattletale explained. "He's gained some notoriety lately. Guess Kaiser must've hired him."
I looked suspiciously at her. She was the one who had his number last. "And just how did he learn it?"
"He left several other papers with other crooks. Guess he didn't trust us to spread the word." Any other words we were planning on having – or at least I was planning on having – were interrupted by a late arrival.
Skidmark and his crew. Easily considered the nastiest bunch of villains in Brockton Bay, just by appearance and personality. Former drug users and sellers, Skidmark himself was a sleazy bastard. You sort of respect people like Kaiser for being incredibly powerful and charismatic. You respected people like Faultline for being professionals. You respect people like Purity for at least cleaning up some of the streets. You even liked Uber and Leet, if only because they're so pathetic. Skidmark was not respected in the least. Ugly, foul-mouthed, and disgusting. I didn't understand why Kaiser would've included him in his invite list.
His teeth were mostly rotten, and his lips were chapped. Thankfully, the top half of his face was covered by his mask. He swaggered up the top table, but stopped when Kaiser kicked the nearest chair to the floor.
"What the fucking fuck is this?" He asked. Like I said; foul-mouthed.
Kaiser looked up in his direction. "Ah, Skidmark. I see that you managed to make it here." You could hear the coldness in his voice. "It's times like this that I wished I had the means of calling for general meetings that didn't reach every scumbag looking to act big and tough. Scum like you."
"Fuck you." Skidmark responded. "You're only getting bitchy because I'm black. I bet if I was one of your pale-ass bitches I'd be getting respect."
"No, you wouldn't. All you would end up doing is making me regret that we're both of the same race." He waved a hand to the others already sitting at the table. "These people? I don't like most of them for one reason of another. But I respect them enough to talk to them as equals. You however, aren't worthy of anything but disgust."
"Yeah? What about these two shitheads?" Skidmark pointed at Grue and Blacklight." How come they get your fucking respect? The skull freak's barely a glorified henchman." He glowered at Blacklight. "And who the fuck are you supposed to be?"
"Our first new member is Grue of the Undersiders." Faultline spoke up. "His group has gone up against Lung several times before and managed to get away with minimal injuries. A better track record than most." She nodded at Blacklight. "And that one is Blacklight. He is the man who robbed the Bay Central Bank." She turned back to Skidmark. "The one whose first outing led to him beating Glory Girl in a fight."
Skidmark snorted. "And that's supposed to impress me? That he took down some oversexed bimbo too dumb to know when to spread her legs and bend over? He's a has-been." I saw Blacklight turn to Kaiser. Kaiser nodded once. Blacklight got up from his chair and walked towards Skidmark.
"You have a choice, Skidmark." He said, his voice even deeper than before. I swear I could hear it echo. "You can shut up and sit down at a booth with the rest of your team, or I can toss all three of you out the door. If you're lucky, you can crawl away afterwards."
Skidmark backed away a step, but I saw a sneer on his face. "You haven't got a fucking clue who you're shitting with, do you?"
"If I actually knew anything about you, it's because you'd be someone worth knowing about."
"Well then you're gonna learn all about me after this."
"You could say that." Blacklight responded. Skidmark pointed a finger at the ground beneath Blacklight's feet, and the ground started changing colour. The side nearest Skidmark turned a deep violet; the other side turned pale blue. Blacklight stumbled as his feet shot out from under him, forcing him away. He steadied himself with one hand, Skidmark laughing loudly. Blacklight stepped towards him again, but as soon as a foot touched the glowing ground it was forced back.
So he changed his approach. Six giant tendrils erupted from his back, curling over to stab the ground. They thickened and swelled in several places, until they were enough to lift his body. Spider legs. He had created spider limbs to walk on.
They stepped around the glowing ground, and Blacklight was lifting Skidmark by the neck. He gagged and gurgled, trying to break free. But his grip was like iron.
"You are truly pathetic." Kaiser said, sounding calm as Skidmark started changing shades. "In anyone else's hands, that power of yours might be useful. In yours, however, it's too weak to even be a threat. If I didn't think that you aren't worth starting up a gang war over, I'd let Blacklight here break your scrawny neck and be done with you. But fortunately for you, there are rules I have to follow on this hallowed ground. And besides, you're not even worth the trouble." He nodded to Blacklight again. "Release him."
Blacklight watched Skidmark for several uncomfortable moments, the crook's skin turning mottled purple before he released him. Skidmark fell to the ground, gasping for breath. He glared up at Blacklight, but didn't get back up.
"You're only alive because Kaiser won't pay me if I kill you." Blacklight said. "But you try anything like that again, and I will show you just where you stand compared to me." He thrusted his head towards the booths. "Get."
Skidmark wiped at his mouth as he got up. "Cunt-sucking, limp dick motherfuckers." He spat. But he did as he was told. Blacklight retracted his spider limbs and moved to sit back down, when the door opened to the streets.
"Ah. Looks like I made it just in time." A male voice said. Everyone turned towards him. He was dressed in a black suit with a red mask and top hat, like an eviler Baron Samadi. Behind him were his teammates, also dressed in red and black. There was a girl with a sun symbol on her, a well-built man with a square mask, and something… else. If I had to describe it, the best I could do would be a hairless gorilla wearing a vest and leggings.
Coil nodded to their leader. "You must be the Travelers, I take it. You're not exactly local."
"You're right. We consider ourselves to be nomadic instead. But I heard rumours of what's going on here, and I thought we might drop in. Call me Trickster."
"You know the rules for here?" Grue asked.
"It should be the same as other places. No fighting, no powers, no baiting, or everyone buddies up to put you into the ground." I looked at Skidmark. He had broken at least one of those rules."
Grue shrugged. "More or less. We'd offer you a chair, but we don't…"
"Blacklight." Kaiser interrupted him. The monster himself was in the middle of sitting back down. Instead, he pushed the chair aside and moved beside Kaiser. Tendrils stretched out behind his legs and back, binding together and fusing into a shape. When it was done, he sat down in a chair made from his own body matter. Trickster grabbed the now vacant chair and sat down, legs resting on the table top. I heard Skidmark make a noise, but a look from Blacklight stopped him. He settled for seething in his booth.
Kaiser steepled his fingers. "Well then, aside from unwanted company," and he glanced at Skidmark, "that should be everyone of note in Brockton Bay. I trust we all know what this meeting is about."
Coil nodded. "The ABB."
"Indeed. They have become rabid dogs, lashing out at everyone within range. Dozens of people from all over have been killed by them, with at least another hundred wounded from either confrontations or explosives. They've taken to attacking our businesses and bombed any building they think is linked to us. City Hall has placed the PRT onto the streets, eager to fire at anyone who looks suspicious. It has been a little bit inconvenient, to be honest."
"They're being reckless." Faultline said. She made it sound as bad as killing newborns.
"They are." Coil said. "They can't possibly hope to keep this up forever. Eventually they will bite off more than they can chew, and the ABB will be swept away by the combined might of their enemies. Normally we'd just ignore them and await that day. But Homeland Security and even the military have been called in. Heroes from other cities have flocked here to aid the local Protectorate. Such things make doing business… difficult."
Kaiser nodded. "Which is why I called for this meeting." He leaned forward. "I propose a ceasefire between all of us present, and we instead devote our efforts to wiping out the ABB as quickly as possible. Obviously, such a truce also extends to the law as well. After this meeting, I will contact authorities and inform them that we will restrict all illegal activities aside from what is absolutely essential to our business, and that we will ensure that all those who operate in our territories do the same. That way, the police and military can focus their full might on wiping out the ABB. We in turn shall not attempt any power grabs, infighting, insults or attacks between ourselves until we have obtained victory."
My group will only get involved if we're being paid to." Faultline said. "We follow the status quo anyway, but if the ABB hire us, then we'll be all too willing to do what we're getting paid for."
"Unfortunate, but understandable." Coil said. "Perhaps you and I can come to an agreement after this meeting." He turned to Blacklight. "And what about you? Are you of the same mind as Faultline?"
Blackline shrugged. "Kaiser's paying me to give a damn about all this. I wouldn't be involved otherwise. So consider me an enemy of the ABB."
Coil nodded. "Wonderful."
"My group and I were already planning on something like that, after Bakuda attacked us. We've got no problem with the rules." Grue said.
"Same here." Trickster added. "My group is in."
"Good. In that case, Blacklight has something he'd like to share." Kaiser said. Everyone looked at Blacklight again. He looked up at them, before tendrils flowed up and down his body. Bakuda sat before them, still dressed in the suit she had been wearing when she died.
I shuddered as I remembered the sounds he made as he ate her.
"My powers give me an interesting way to… interrogate my enemies." He said in her mechanical voice. "I was rather hoping I could keep this secret, but I guess this is important enough."
"How much did you manage to get out of her?" Faultline asked.
"Everything. I know where all the bombs were stashed; what they can do; how many members were forcibly recruited into the ABB, their stronghold locations… everything."
"Useful. And worrying." Coil replied. I could see what he meant. If what Tattletale said was true, he could make anyone tell him all their dirty secrets.
Blacklight shrugged. "Tough. You'll just have to make sure I don't have a reason to hunt you down. I'll hand over everything to Kaiser, and he can divvy it up how he pleases."
Kaiser nodded. Blacklight had just handed him a lot of power now. "Excellent. Now, unless anyone here has any grievances they'd like to voice…?"
"I've got a fucking grievance…"
"Anyone besides Skidmark." Blacklight grew some claws, and Skidmark went silent.
"I've got a complaint." Someone said from Kaiser's group. Hookwolf. A killer who had escaped custody several times. If you didn't fit his strict ideas of Aryan purity, then he'd murder you on the spot. He was the second person here after Blacklight I was worried about.
And he was staring at our group.
"Your dog lover, Hellhound, fucked with my business last night. Set her animals on my customers. Only the fact I wasn't there at the time saved her from becoming a stain on my walls." He was growling now, a second away from jumping at us.
Grue shrugged, a picture of calm if he wasn't billowing more darkness than normal. "That's one of the risks you run in Brockton Bay. You set up something, you can't guarantee that some hero or villain won't get in your way."
"It's about fucking respect. You got a problem with me, with how I'm doing things? You let me know first so that I can decide if I want to move shop."
Bitch snorted. "And give you warning that I'm coming? Fuck that. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I don't care where you try to hide, if I catch you running another dogfighting ring, I'll fuck that one up too."
Oh. That's what this is all about. I glanced at Tattletale and Grue. It didn't look like either of them had known about this until now.
Kaiser spoke up. "Undersiders, is that a declaration of war? Should I order Blacklight to deal with you?"
"No need." Grue replied. "We're not declaring war on anyone other than the ABB. But I'm not going to stop her from doing what she has to."
"Won't, or can't?" Grue didn't have an answer for that. He wasn't our official leader. Just the closest one we had for meetings like this. If he addressed Bitch as a subordinate, then he'd be pissing her off.
If he didn't, then he make himself look weak in front of every other villain in the city.
Grue leaned forward, hands clasped together. A dark mockery of Kaiser's position. "Plenty of capes have their own little pet issues. Your people wouldn't be too happy if you forbade them from beating up and harassing gays. It's the same thing here. You hurt dogs, Bitch will come to fuck you over. It's kind of common knowledge around here."
Blacklight shifted in his seat. "That's enough, Hookwolf. Just fucking drop it already." Hookwolf shifted his glare from Bitch to him.
He growled deeply. "You don't get to give me orders, mercenary."
"I also don't give a shit about your problems. The ABB are what's important right now, and I'm gonna get pissed off with anyone not dealing with them. You work for Kaiser; he said he's going to devote his efforts to destroying them. So shut the fuck up about your dogfighting ring until after they've been dealt with." He was standing up now, getting right in Hookwolf's face.
Grue nodded. "That sounds like a better idea than arguing about it all night."
"Agreed." Kaiser replied. "Very well then; we'll set it aside for later. But I will have a response from you then." He nodded to the others. "Meeting adjourned."
Everyone stood up. Some, like Kaiser and his group, headed for the door. Coil stood with Faultline discussing something important. Blacklight had already left the building. Grue marched over to us, but he didn't sit down.
"Let's get out of here." He simply said.
"Hey Alex." Dana said as he walked in. "So how did the meeting go?"
He shrugged, setting down in his chair. He had modified it to withstand his greater mass. It still groaned as he leaned back in it. "Pretty much like you said. He got everyone to agree to a truce until the ABB have been dealt with. All the big names were there. Coil, Faultline, the Undersiders. A new group called the Travelers joined in too. And some piece of shit named Skidmark."
"Ew. Heard about him. Fucking asshole."
"No one there liked him. Kaiser was almost willing to let me kill him on the spot for fucking with me."
"Yeah well, you're gonna have to put all that aside for a moment. A letter came in the mail about you." She grabbed a piece of paper from beside her laptop, handing it over to him. He looked through it carefully.
"'To Miss Dana Mercer.'" He read aloud. "'This letter is to inform you of a school meeting in regards to Alexander Ragland's attack on several students on the 16th of April. You are both required to attend to discuss his actions that day. The meeting shall be held on school grounds on the 24th of April. Failure to attend could result in expulsion for Alexander.'" He looked up at her, eyebrow raised. "They've finally gotten around to dealing with me beating up the bullies?"
She nodded. "And they sent one out to Danny too. Apparently he and Taylor have to attend due to 'allegations that this was due to a possible act of bullying'."
He shrugged. "So Taylor and I go in. We tell them what's been happening, the bullies get punished, and things end well. Simple."
"I don't think it's going to work out like that, Alex. It wouldn't normally, considering it's just your word against some manipulative bitches. But there's also the fact that one of the bullies is Shadow Stalker, according to you."
"She is. I recognised her fighting style from the robbery."
"Then yeah, things aren't going to be simple."
"What do you mean?" He frowned. "She's in the wrong."
"She is. But… Look, you already know that villains outnumber the heroes. And heroes are limited to non-lethal force. But because of those factors, they're really determined to keep hold of as many 'heroes' as they can. I've been having a look at Sophia's record. She's been suspended several times before, yet the PRT haven't done shit. She just keeps coming back. I think they might be brushing things under the rug so that they don't have to throw her into juvie."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me. She's made Taylor's life a living hell. Caused her to have a Trigger Event. And the heroes are seriously going to just ignore that because it would be 'inconvenient'?"
"Maybe." She admitted. Alex fought to keep his temper under control. Christ, if this was what the justice system was like, no wonder this world was so fucked up. Even he would expect some kind of punishment if he was on the heroes' side. "Plus, Emma Banes comes from a well-off family. Money is usually a good way to get people to ignore bad behaviour." She shook her head ruefully. "We've got our work cut out for us."
"Then I'd better start preparing a damn good defence." He replied.
Yep, Blacklight is now officially on the scene. And who better to pick his first appearance against than Bakuda?
I know that in the original story she's the only reason the ABB can keep on going for so long, given that she's installed bombs in peoples' heads. But I just knew that there was no way she was gonna leave a fight with Alex alive. So I had to imply that the ABB have enough muscle to still cause trouble to get this alliance on. I mean, it's a good reason to have Alex flexing his muscles. Or at least, getting paid to flex them. Otherwise, the Alex I'm creating wouldn't get involved otherwise. He's only interested in the cash to ensure Dana doesn't live on the streets. Beyond that, and Taylor's situation, he doesn't care about much else.
And for those of you who have been wondering, I'm still deciding if I want Alex to gain extra powers or not.
…Ok, that's actually a lie. I've already decided. I just didn't want to spoil it just yet.
But yeah, I decided that I don't actually mind him being even more broken than normal. Make him scarier, make him a bigger threat. Besides, it kinda gives him a reason to not immediately kill every cape he comes across. He'll want to investigate their power, see if they're worth collecting; wait until he's got a better time to harvest it.
I want to apologise if the scene at the bar felt a bit stilted. I was trying to find a way to do that scene without writing it down almost word for word. that's why Kaiser's the one talking the most. I figured that he was the one organising the meeting, so he'd be the chairman so to speak. As for the bomb that warped Alex, the 'Vista' bomb if you will, I really wanted to use that. Mainly because Bakuda said that there was no cure to it, and I figured that Alex would be the exception. I'm sure Panacea might be able to fix it too, but we don't know for sure.
Now then, time for questions.
How many powers do you guys think Alex should be able to hold and use at once?
How many people do you think are living in Brockton Bay after Leviathan's attack? I'd assume that it'd be something like hundreds of thousands rather than the millions of a bigger city, but I just want to hear how many you guys think.
What kind of ratings would you think the PRT would give Alex? I'm looking at the classifications right now, and this is just what I think they might go with. Mover 3-4, Shaker 2-5 (from his devastators), Breaker 1-2 (because of his dense biomass), Brute 9-10 (obviously), Blaster 2 maybe, Thinker 5, Shifter 10 (also obviously), Stranger 5. I'm probably going to get a variety of answers, but together they could help me find a better number for each classification.
That's all for now; might have some next chapter.
