1.7

"Oh my fucking god," Petyr moaned while watching the screen. "Oh. My. Fucking. GOD. DAMN. IT." He buried his face in his hands again for a few brief moments.

"This. This is exactly the kind of shit I was afraid of."

"Well," Morty started, "to be entirely fair boss man did ask us to kidnap a kid. And kidnapping kids for possible pedophiles is strictly uncool no matter how you slice it. So, I can kinda understand where Crown's coming from."

"SO FUCKING WHAT?" Petyr shot back in annoyance. "You and I also turned down that job. Did you go out and start- wait what did you call him? I thought he was going by Jace?"

"Oh, the scrolly thingy on the bottom of the screen said he called himself Crown. No idea why, but it's certainly an improvement."

Petyr sighed. "Whatever. Point is, he's being a fucking retard; specifically the kind of retard that gets himself or us killed."

"So….what do you want to do about it then?" asked Morty, still watching the screen as one of the monster dogs knocked Crown airborne. "Oooo. ouchtown, population: him."

"Jack fucking shit," Petyr stated. "He made his own bed, he's sleeping in it. I'm not helping him."

Ren poked her head out from the section of the spare room that she'd turned into her new personal workshop. The stench of soldering material, burning plastic, and burning plant matter wafted into the main room. "What'd Gabriel do again, and why aren't we helping him?" she asked.

"He picked a fight with a bunch of people robbing a bank for some reason, and he's losing."

Ren turned to watch the screen. She saw Crown stand back up hurl a bolt of what looked almost like ball lightning at the girl riding one of the overgrown dogs. The ball hit its target and a bright flash filled the center of the screen, followed by a very loud buzzing sound. Hellhound dropped off her mount in a heap immediately afterwards.

Ren turned back to Petyr. "I'm sorry, one more time; why aren't we helping him?"

"Because he's an idiot?"

"Yeah, that's obvious but he's a useful idiot," Ren countered. "I mean, look at the amount of energy he just unloaded on that guy!"

"Yeah, I am looking at it. What happens if he turns it on us instead?" Petyr warned.

Ren shook her head. "He won't. Or at least he shouldn't so long as none of us do anything particularly assholish. Maybe Antares or Impulse might eventually piss him off. Anyway, now put that kind of potential into a battery with a couple of megacoulumbs of capacity, along with a solenoid array with a tungsten core and a bit of a Faraday cage-like thing around the barrel, along with a parabolic dish at the end for the focal point, and-"

"So what do you want us to do, Ren?" Morty asked, cutting off Ren's ranting.

"Killjoy," she said, frowning at him. "Give me a minute or two. What was the name of the group doing the robbing again? They just flashed in on the screen a moment ago and I missed it."

"I think they were called the 'Undersiders' or something. Sounded dumb to me," Morty supplied.

"Gotcha." Ren put her visor back on and it thrummed to life.

Petyr shook his head. "You ok with this, Morty?"

Morty simply shrugged in response. "Ren's ideas are usually pretty good. Aside from that one time she had me fix the antenna during a lightning storm, she hasn't steered me too wrong so far."

"If you wore the rubber gloves you would've been fine," Ren mumbled, more to herself than anything else.

After a couple dozen more seconds of silence, Petyr was starting to fidget a bit.

"Any pr-"

"Shut up and be patient," Ren snapped while holding up a hand in his direction.

"Let the witch cast her magic spells in peace," Morty stage-whispered with a chuckle. Ren wordlessly held up a middle finger in response as her visor's whine climbed slightly higher.

"Did Gabriel run inside the building at all?" Ren asked.

Morty took a quick glance over at the screen. "Uhh...yeah actually. Just now."

"Hmm. That changes a few things." Her visor's electronic whine climbed in pitch and intensity. After a few more seconds, the humming abruptly ceased. Ren jumped to her feet and dialed up the opacity on her visor, walking briskly towards the door. Morty immediately grabbed his mask and went to follow her.

"Wait, wait, hold up, what's going on?" asked Petyr, grabbing one of his spare masks and gun more on reflex than conscious decision.

"No fucking idea," Morty stated nonchalantly, "but Dagger normal does Dagger this when there's very a only wind short time window get get to done things dow."

Has either of them ever thought about getting that checked out? Artificer mused as they hurried down the steps. Maybe see Cranial or Pana- no wait, she doesn't do brains. If I could access an MRI scan of his brain, I might be able to whip something up. Might not even take all that much.

Dagger broke into a half-jog towards the RV that Cloak had parked halfway down the street. "Cloak you're driving."

"Aye-aye, cap'n," he said, running ahead of her to open the door and start the engine. Artificer hadn't even finished closing the door before Cloak floored it.

"Alright, what the fuck is the huge rush here, exactly?" asked Artificer as he peeled himself off the floor of the RV and into a seat.

"Cloak, you're heading to the parking garage on 37th and Main st. GPS already has the location. Artificer, I ran about 10 trillion rough simulations on the outcome of that fight given what my web crawler could dig up on the Undersiders, with a few worst-case scenario assumptions made on their capabilities. Most of them have our buddy losing-"

Cloak turned hard and jammed on the brakes, sending the vehicle into a screeching slide around the upcoming corner, before gunning the accelerator again, narrowly avoiding several honking cars. Dagger braced herself in her seat in a practiced manner, her expression remaining neutral as she waited for Cloak to finish the maneuver. Artificer on the other hand was wholly unprepared, and wound up on the floor of the RV for the second time in 10 minutes.

"Fuck man! You ever think it'd be nice to warn someone before you pull that shit?" he stated as he climbed back into his seat, wishing he hadn't neglected his seatbelt.

"Nice? Probably," Cloak began in a surprisingly calm voice for someone who was committing several moving violations in rapid succession. "Necessary? Wouldn't be if you were wearing the seatbelt. They ain't for show y'know."

"Anyway," Dagger resumed, "fight should be over by the time we get to the garage, at which point the ambulances should be dispatched; most likely number is 5. Two are coming from Brockton Bay General which is north of the bank, with two more inbound from the PRT headquarters for Hellhound, and possibly one other member, though unlikely. The other one is likely coming from the BBU Medical center to the south. Optimal route puts its return trip crossing in front of the garage about…..8 minutes and 40 seconds after we get there, given how Cloak is driving."

"Given how this asshole is driving, I'd revise that 'when' to an 'if'," Artificer grumbled. "And why are they sending one from the University med center? Why not grab another one from BB General?"

"Iunno," Dagger responded, "but that seems to be the go-to pattern whenever independent non-villain capes get injured. That's the way it seems to work in Philly, Columbus, Nashville, and Memphis at any rate, and nothing really tells me Brockton Bay would be all that different. In any event, we can always improvise."

Artificer did not look convinced whatsoever. "Alright. How are we going to get into the garage without anyone noticing or asking questions?"

"Easy. We're not."

"I'm still missing the 'how' part of the equ-"

HOOOOOOOOOOONNNK

"-FUCKING HELL DUDE!" Artificer yelped as Cloak blew through a red light with just enough speed to avoid getting T-boned by an oncoming cement mixer.

"Relaaaaax," Cloak drawled with one hand on the wheel. "Dagger makes good shit," he stated, patting the GPS display as if it were a pet.
Dagger sighed in annoyance.

-

"Cloak, what part of 'between 250 and 300 feet away from the garage entrance' didn't make it through that thick fucking skull of yours?" Dagger griped as the RV came to a stop just a few car lengths away from the garage entrance.

"The part where you wanted us to walk an extra football field to get where we're going?' Cloak supplied as he killed the engine.

"Goddammit you dipshit, the car's in range of the camera swivel! Now I've got more footage to erase!"

"That's….not going to be too much of a problem is it?" asked Artificer with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"No, it'll just be a completely unnecessary pain in my ass," replied Dagger as she continued to glare at Cloak. "Well, time to be useful. Artificer, this may feel a bit tingly."

Artificer felt goosebumps forming all over his skin as a wave of something that felt hot and cold at the same time washed over him. His limbs started to feel just a little bit prickly too, as if he'd been sitting funny for a long period of time prior. Not the weirdest feeling in the world at least, he thought to himself as they quietly approached the guard manning the service booth.

Artificer crept up to get a good point blank shot and caught the guard while he was still in his chair. The stunned employee jerked in shock, looking for his attacker, one hand coming up the to the spotthe pellet had struck. He had enough consciousness left to stand up and take a few steps before collapsing in an unconsious heap. Cloak caught him, and set him back in the chair as gently as he could. With any luck, Dagger'll make it look like he simply fell asleep on the job completely of his own volition, Artificer mused. Worse plans have been made, I'll give her that.

"You almost in yet? Need I need a soon rest," Cloak said as Dagger fiddled away with some of the wires below the guard's desk.

"Gimme a couple more...seconds….ok...ok you can drop the field now."

Cloak let out a sigh and took a couple of deep breaths while shaking his arms out. "That feels better. What's our timetable looking like Dag?"

Artificer looked at the tinker currently sitting on the floor with several wires running from her visor into the mess of cables under the desk. After she didn't answer for several seconds, he nudged her with his foot, earning a startled shriek.

"Don't fucking do that!" she snapped.

"How much longer till the ambulance gets here?" Cloak repeated.

"Oh. Right. That. You got...exactly 73 seconds. I'm good here; I'll be done in a couple of minutes. Cloak, grab the RV and park it in the middle of the road in the most obnoxious manner you possibly can. Artificer, stay behind the wheel when they arrive so the driver has someone to yell at; once he starts yelling, Cloak you drop him so he doesn't drive away. Pop the back open, grab Crown, and we fucking book it."

Cloak smacked Artificer on the back as he began to jog towards the RV. "C'mon, you heard the woman, time's a wastin'," he said in a sing-song voice. Artificer forced himself not to audibly groan as he followed Cloak out.

Inside the vehicle, Artificer was nervously glanicing between his watch and the road which the ambulance was supposed to be approaching from while pretending to completely fail at performing a U-turn between a couple of parked SUVs. Between the three vehicles, the sidewalks remained the sole means on traversing the street from one end to the other. Artificer calmed down a bit as he began to hear the wail of a siren approaching. Cloak caught it out of the corner of his eye.

"I told you several times Dagger knows what she's doing," he said, as the ambulance turned down the road.

"Well excuse me for not taking your word at face value when I've barely known you for….what...less than 36 hours at this point?" he shot back. "After all, I trusted Crown to NOT run off and pick a fight -a stupid fight mind you- and look what happened."

"Less talky more distracty," Cloak said before vanishing. Artificer rolled his eyes as the Ambulance rolled to a stop a few yards away from the RV. That siren is seriously uncomfortable at this range, he thought absent-mindedly.

Cloak ran up as quickly as he could to the driver's side of the ambulance, not bothering to be quiet; nothing was going to pick up his footsteps amidst the siren's wail. In fact, the driver was too busy pounding on the horn to notice Cloak opening the door.

"...Yeah, we just ran into a small snag. Some asshole is blocking the road…..yeah no you gotta see this Jill, you think Mark doesn't know how to drive; this dude should had his licence revoked a week ago. He managed to wedge himself between two SUVs...seriously you gotta wonder sometimes- this fucking asshole just...wait a min-"

Cloak reached through his power for the base of the driver's neck and squeezed. Her breath caught and she slumped sideways out the open door. Cloak caught her so that she wouldn't hit the pavement, just long enough for Artificer to line up a sedative shot to make sure she stayed down. The passenger had tried to reach for the dangling radio, presumably to call for help, but Cloak hit her shoulder with another nerve shock, preventing her from using her hands until Artificer knocked her out as well.

Artificer reached into the ambulance and popped back doors open. The EMT tending to Crown turned around to see the paintball gun pointed at him. He raised his hands in surrender.

"What's wrong with him?" Artificer snapped. "Gimme the cliff notes version. Now."

"Uhhh, he's got 3 bruised ribs, uhhh several dozen stings of various insects but showing no allergic reactions, possible concussion, and a fracture above the eye. And a BAC of .11," he stammered. "Please don't hurt me."

"We won't. You'll be fine in about 30 minutes," Artificer said as he shot him with a pellet.

-
Back in the apartment, Petyr began to set up a quick and dirty rig in the central room. Grabbing a seat, he and morty dumped Gabriel into it. Petyr did so with a bit more force than was strictly necessary. He reapplied a fresh set of bandages and gauze to Gabriel's injured eye socket, and set up an IV, which he then filled with some strange fluorescent blue liquid, before setting up a few more processes on his workbench.

A few minutes after the drip began making its way into Gabriel's bloodstream, he woke with a bit of a start.

"Whe- Oh. Right. How'd I get here?"

"We stole you out of an ambulance," Ren responded between bites of a pizza roll. "I honestly expected you to be more banged up."

"...That asshole finally awake?" called Petyr from the bathroom. After he finished washing his hands, Petyr stormed out of the bathroom right up to Gabriel and punched him in the uninjured side of his face.

Ren rolled her eyes, while Morty stood in silence, watching Petyr with a hint of trepidation on his face. Silence reigned for a few moments while Gabriel sat back up again.

"I guess I ear-"

*SMACK*

Morty flinched a tad. Petyr rubbed his knucles after second punch, anger still etched into his face.

"What the fuck did I tell you? WHAT THE FUCK DID I FUCKING TELL YOU?" he yelled.

Gabriel stared back at him as calmly as he could. "I'm sorry."

Petyr reared back his fist again. Morty jumped up to stop him this time.

"Petyr, calm the fuck down. Seriously. Gabriel kinda fucked up, but it wasn't even all that bad. He admitted it. Getting angrier won't solve anything. What's got you so riled up about it anyway?"

Petyr glared at Morty and then back at Gabriel for an uncomfortable length of time, with a hint of pain visible on his face amidst the anger. After a few more moments, he took a deep breath to calm down.

"Why'd you do it?" Petyr spoke after another period of silence.

"Have you ever seen something bad happen to someone who didn't deserve it?" Gabriel asked.

"If that's a rhetorical question, please get to the point before I hit you again," Petyr said.

"Given that situation, which is worse? Wanting to do something about it, but not being able to? Or having the ability to intervene, and choosing not to?"

Petyr looked at him, somewhat softer this time.

"Everyone in this room felt the first kind of pain when Coil gave the kidnapping offer. And don't tell me it didn't bother you guys as well, it was written all over your fucking faces. You wanted to know why I did what I did? The second type of pain is magnitudes worse."

Petyr sighed. "Rest up. Coil's bound to call later with another job for us. Hopefully this one doesn't involve kidnapping kids."

A little while later, Leo, John, and Chimera came back from their task. John wore a look on his face akin to someone who got kicked out of an interview not five minutes into it. Chimera
Leo, John, and Chimera had gotten back from their task a little later in the day. Dissappointment was written all over John's face, like he'd just gotten out of an interview where he was told 5 minutes in he wasn't getting the job. Chimera simply made a beeline for the fridge.

"How'd it go?" asked Morty.

John stared at him. "It went off without a hitch. Coil now is in possession of 1 Dinah Alcott."

"O...k...anything else happen?" Morty inquired. I thought John didn't give a shit so long as he was paid. Maybe child snatching finally crossed a line?

"Yep. Apparently the kid's a math prodigy or something who can give extremely accurate chances about future events," supplied Leo. Where John was somewhat dejected about the whole affair, Leo's mood remained weirdly aloof as always. "Kid was shaken up by the whole process, but that's to be expected isn't it? Besides, she'll be fine; at least she will if Coil sticks to the theory that pressure is more easily applied by threatening the Mayor's daughter than actually harming her."

"She's not a math prodigy you dumbfuck, she's a parahuman," John said, not moving from the seat he collapsed in. "Secondly, that's one of the stupidest theories I've ever heard regarding hostages and the like. Thirdly, it should be blatantly obvious to a third grader let alone you, Leo, that the whole political angle is a crock of shit that smells worse than any byproduct of Petyr's so far. Coil has no intention of letting go of a goddamn oracle now that he has one."

"Still don't know why that's bothering you all that much," said Chimera between bites of a pork shoulder. "Long as Coil pays us, what's the problem? In fact, isn't this a good thing from our perspective?"

"Right up until the point where he decides he doesn't need us anymore," countered Petyr. "Leaving aside the qualms we have with kidnapping a kid, from a job security perspective that kind of power spike is at least mildly concerning, no?"

Chimera stopped mid bite to look at Petyr, then back at his food. "I suppose you have a point there," he said, slowing his eating pace a bit. "Still, we're not gonna have to worry about that kinda thing in the immediate future are we?"

"I wouldn't necessarily worry about that for another 3 weeks or so," said Ren as she walked out of the room she'd been working in. "And that's assuming nothing changes. Let's see what happens with the next couple of jobs."

"Fair. Where's Gabriel by the way?"

"In here," came Gabriel's voice from Ren's workshop. Petyr and Chimera took a look inside.

Gabriel was seated in a chair surrounded by several odd looking sensors and scanners of different types. He had one arm resting on the table next to him, palm up with several wires actually puncturing the skin in various places, while he idly flexed his power. Several small cameras were focused on his hand as he made the plasma dance this way and that way. "Ren took the opportunity to get in touch with her inner mad scientist."

-

Gabriel picked up his phone on the second ring. "Coil."

"Hello Jace. Or should I say Crown?"

Gabriel didn't answer.

"That stunt you pulled was incredibly irritating. I do not take issue with your refusal to cooperate in the kidnapping operation, but I do take issue with you interfering in my other affairs. Understand that the reason you are still breathing is because counterintuitively, your attempted interference turned out to be beneficial to making sure the kidnapping went smoothly." Coil paused, before continuing in a colder tone. "Do not do something like that again."

"Understood," Gabriel answered in as level a tone he could manage.

"Good. Now fetch your team. I have a new assignment for you."