Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry about the longer wait. It's hard to type when your hand is mangled more than a Left4Dead ad. It's healed enough to type slowly so I'm back to work, but it'll be slow progress for another week or two. Enjoy!

Deep beneath the city in an unmarked bunker the supervillain Coil sat brooding behind his desk. Word had reached him through his contacts in the PRT that a new Tinker was in play, and by all accounts she was no slouch.

There had been no signs of the usual patterns of a new tinker – junkyard raids, suspicious electronics purchases, or otherwise – and yet this new cape appeared with effective, streamlined, and more surprisingly, varied gear. Even more usefully, this Tinker appeared to have a military specialization. Her "recruitment" into his ranks could significantly impact the effectiveness of his mercenaries. The only potential hiccup in his plan was the information he had gotten from Tattletale.

When the Undersiders had returned from their potential face-off with Lung Coil had called Tattletale into his base to discuss what she had learned from the new capes. He had split the timeline, of course, and while he spoke civilly to the girl in one timeline he was inserting needles under her fingernails in the other. He had to ensure that the information she gave him could be trusted, and once he ascertained that the information she gave him was genuine he collapsed the torture timeline. The fear on the healthy Tattletale's face as her power told her that something was wrong was always a bonus.

The information itself was both useful and troubling. The bug controller, should he ever want to deal with such a weak cape, would be an easy target. Home troubles and a nearly suicidal mental state made her an easy target either for recruitment or coercion. It was most likely in that case that he would push the Undersiders angle. Tattletale had revealed to him that the girl wanted friends most of all, so he could simply induct her into the Undersiders.

The Tinker, however, had terrified Tattletale. She was ex-special forces, but it was unclear from which organization. Additionally, Tattletale swore that she was an experienced killer. To Coil this suggested that before her trigger she was an international mercenary probably straight from employment under one of Africa's many warlords. If she had come out of that hellhole with her life and new powers this Tinker could truly be a valuable resource.

But she was too old for the Undersiders. Coil would contact her directly with an offer just as soon as he could find any way to pin her down.

Shepard lay on her stomach on the roof of a building six blocks away from the meeting point, her Black Widow braced against her shoulder and her visor lined up behind the scope. She had been there for nearly an hour watching over the area and so far there had been no sign of a trap. She hadn't thought there would be, but it was always prudent to make sure. It was a new city with a social structure that was only familiar enough to make her complacent, so she put extra effort into her security measures.

She was fully armored up for this meeting and she left nothing behind at the warehouse where she slept. Even her broken hand cannon was magnetized to her hip. She had taken extra care to prepare herself for the powers of these "capes" that she was meeting, and thus she had prioritized the servos in her armor that were useful in hand-to-hand combat over her kinetic barrier. None of these capes looked to have long range abilities or weapons, so a weakened barrier ought to suffice.

Finally something moved. Just as she spotted the bug girl clambering up the fire escape under a roiling mass of flying insects the Undersiders rode in from the other direction. After a few more seconds looking down the scope Shepard stowed her weapon and dropped the two stories to the ground. Only a soft grunt escaped as she landed to acknowledge the height. Thirty seconds later she was pulling herself up over the lip of the roof next to the bug girl.

"Evening, all." The Undersiders all returned her greeting with the exception of Bitch, who just grunted. The bug girl shifted away from her and closer to Shepard. "So you said you wanted to meet to say thanks."

Tattletale took over the conversation from there. "Yep. Here. These are for each of you." She pulled two lunchboxes out of one of the saddlebags on Bitch's dogs and held them out. Shepard and the bug girl each took theirs, and a discrete use of her omnitool showed Shepard that the hero on the front was Legend, a member of the Triumvirate. Inside were stacks of dollar bills.

"Two grand each, as a sort of thank you along with an offer."

The bug girl, whose voice betrayed her inexperience with sums of money coming anywhere close to that amount, spoke up. "An offer?"

Tattletale nodded. "There's more where that come from." At this point it was obvious she was only addressing the bug girl. "We wanted to offer you a spot-" She was interrupted by a snort from Bitch. "-a spot, on our team."

"You think I want to be a villain?!"

Regent idly twirled his scepter. "Well, yeah. Look at your costume, dork." Now that Shepard actually looked at Regent beyond cursory threat assessment, she realized he was staring at her again. She glared back at him even though he couldn't see it through the visor of her helmet. Tattletale ignored their byplay and continued.

"Hey, hey, it's not as bad as you think it is. This whole heroes and villains thing? Cops and robbers. I mean seriously. Grown men and women are dressing up in spandex and beating the shit out of each other in the streets. Also, the heroes can't survive without us and they know it. Where would they go if there weren't any villains? As long as you don't cross the line like the Slaughterhouse 9 then you get the kid gloves. So that's what we do. The heroes get to worship their almighty PR machine and we dress up, scuffle a bit, make some money, and have fun." The bug girl still didn't look convinced. "When we go out no one but the bad guys get hurt. Lung was after us because we robbed his casino last week."

At this Shepard decided it was time use all of the research she did the night before. "That's all a very nice sentiment, but you've forgotten an important point."

Tattletale's eyes narrowed behind her domino mask. "Really?"

"Yes. Both Regent and Tattletale are wanted for murder. It sounds like you're trying to mislead Bug here – and I have a couple of suggestions for your name, too."

"That's not-!"

"I'm not done. Cops and robbers is a joke. Do you really believe you're doing no harm? Directly, maybe. But in the long run you're hurting the entire system of law. You're drawing important resources away from, like you said, those who have crossed the line. Why are people like the Slaughterhouse 9 and the Fallen still around when the Triumvirate could take a day and wipe them out? It's because of people like you. The heroes are tied down by the chaos you represent. In that sense you're worse that the Empire or the ABB. They're predictable. They're stable. If Miss Militia decides to take a week off the Empire isn't going to lead an assault on the PHQ. But if the heroes were out of town for a day can you really tell me you wouldn't go rob a bank?" Tattletale had nothing to say to that.

"I thought so. You seem to think the job of the heroes is to scuffle in the streets with you. It's not. Remember the Endbringer? What do you think Armsmaster could build to fight them if you weren't forcing him to spend his time building things to fight you? A portion of the lives lost to the Endbringers sits on your heads. If you had any sense of civic duty you would work with the heroes instead of against them.

"Now, Bug, I actually have an offer for you as well. I'm new in the city, and I've decided to build a team. I want you on it. I don't have money to offer you, but my goals are simple. My crosshairs are on each of the gangs in the city. I've already decapitated the Merchants and the ABB, so next up are Kaiser and Coil. After that, either the Endbringers or other roaming terrors like The Slaughterhouse 9 and the Blasphemies. This world is falling apart around us, and I'm going to save it. I think you have the drive to step up and do it with me."

Silence. No one spoke, and only the sound of cars blocks away broke the stunned haze that seemed to fall over the teens around her. Bug finally spoke up.

"You really think you can get rid of the gangs?"

"Yes."

"The S-class threats?"

"Yes."

"The endbringers?"

"Nothing lives that cannot die."

More silence.

Finally Bug addressed the Undersiders. "I can't accept your offer. I've always wanted to be a hero, and now I finally have a chance to do it." Yellow lenses locked gazes with Shepard's visor. "I'll join your team."

It was well into the morning hours by the time Shepard and Bug returned to Shepard's temporary hideout. The meeting with the Undersiders had concluded fairly quickly after Bug's proclamation and the assurance that Shepard and Bug would not use lethal force if they ever went after them. That was as much as the N7 was willing to grant them. Tattletale had wanted a sort of truce, but since they weren't particularly useful as allies Shepard had seen no reason to grant it to them. Taking the hard line against villains seemed to please some part of Bug as well. The two of them had then decided that they should head somewhere secure to set up a way of contacting each other and Shepard had suggested her residence as of the night before.

Bug had looked skeptical when she saw the crumbling façade of the warehouse, and looked almost revolted when the door opened to reveal a hastily cleared floor with broken glass and used needles piled in the corner.

"You know, with the state of your armor I kind of expected something more… hero-y. And clean. Definitely something cleaner."

"This isn't my actual home, or base. I settled for this place last night. If I were planning on staying here long-term I would have cleaned up a bit more, but it served its purpose."

"Its purpose?"

"Giving me a place to sleep for the night until I can find a real place to stay." Shepard sat down on the concrete floor then patted the spot next to her. "Sit down. Or don't, if you prefer. The floor is pretty uncomfortable, but if we're going to be working together I need to explain a few things."

Bug brushed away debris from a spot on the floor then sat cross-legged in front of Shepard, her orange lenses focused on Shepard's visor. Shepard nodded at her choice, then reached up to the clasps on the back of her helmet.

"My name," she began as she removed her helmet, her red hair falling in tangles down to her shoulders, "is Commander Erin Shepard, N7. I have been called many things, the most common being the Lioness of Elysium, the Butcher of Torfan, Hero of the Citadel, and the Hero of the Reaper War. But none of this means anything to you, because I'm not from your world."

Shepard could feel Bug's blank stare even through her mask.

"Where I'm from, the year was 2192. Humanity had expanded into the stars, building and colonizing across the galaxy. We met other species who had done the same, and we were welcomed into the galactic community. Then the Reapers came, and I was the head of the war that led to their defeat. In 2192 the entire galaxy was focused on rebuilding, and I was being hounded be reporters day in and day out. Then I woke up dazed and drugged in this city. And no, I don't know how I got here."

Bug's expression was unchanged.

"I spent the night and day after the confrontation with Lung researching your world, so I can fairly confidently say that I am aware of the basic facts, but I'm still a bit shaky on customs and other things not explicitly stated on the internet. You're going to have to help me out with that. But, regardless, I am not a parahuman. I suspect that Armsmaster and the Undersiders have labeled me as one, but this is merely my custom arsenal from the war. Any questions so far?"

By watching the stretching of her mask Shepard could see Bug open her mouth, close it, open it again, then finally find her words.

"You're from another world?"

Shepard frowned. "Yes. We went over this." She paused with a smirk. "But I do realize it's a little unusual. Didn't a Professor Haywire open up a portal to another dimension here? I suspect my arrival had something to do with that."

"Okay… so you got here a few days ago –"

"The same day we fought Lung, actually."

"Right. You said you woke up drugged?"

"Yep. This guy named Skidmark thought I was a Tinker too and wanted me to work for him. Tried to drug me up enough that I couldn't say no. Too bad for him my cybernetics let me fight through nearly anything. When he tried to turn "drugged recruitment" into "date rape" I killed him."

"… You killed him, too."

"Yes."

"If I'm going to be a part of your team I'm not going to kill anyone."

"Not even Jack Slash?"

Bug sighed. "Fine. I'm not going to kill anyone who doesn't really deserve it. And you need to follow that rule too."

Shepard grinned. "Wow. Ten minutes in and she's already bossing me around. By next week it'll be 'Oi! Minion! Fetch me a supervillain!'"

Bug hunched over as she shrank away from Shepard's teasing. "It's not like that! It's just, killing is sort of against the rules."

At this Shepard sat forward. "The rules? What do you mean?"

"The Unwritten Rules. It's a sort of code everyday Heroes and Villains live by. You don't try to find out someone's civilian identity. You don't kill in a fight. You don't take advantage of someone once they've lost. It keeps things civil and allows Capes to focus on the Endbringers when it comes time."

At this Shepard frowned. "That's a lot of restrictions. Red tape."

Bug nodded, sympathizing with some of Shepard's frustration. "I know. It makes doing real good a lot harder. But it also keeps villains from doing the same to us."

After a short pause, Shepard seemed to find an argument. "If that's the case I may need to put Plan 'Attack the Empire' on hold. What about the capes who don't show up to Endbringer fights? They're fair game, right?"

"Not really. The Unwritten Rules apply to everyone."

"Yeah, no. I'll accept the 'greater good' argument only if the other side does too. The people who don't show up to fight don't get amnesty from me."

"But –"

"No. They fight for humanity or they get my sights on their backs."

Bug leaned back, away from the fire in Shepard's eyes. "Uh, alright. I guess we can talk about that later. But I really want to know, why me? I mean, I control bugs. Not really the most useful power out there."

"Ah. Tell, me. What can you do with your power, specifically?"

"I just control any bugs in my range."

"That's not specific. That's a summary. Have you ever seen Princess Bride? It was still a classic almost two hundred years from now."

Bug nodded.

"Remember that quote from Westley? 'If only we had a wheelbarrow, that would be something'? Anything, even if you think it is insignificant, can be potentially very useful."

Bug nodded, still skeptical. "I guess. My range is about two blocks right now."

"Right now?"

"Yeah. It fluctuates depending on the situation, but it's been growing slowly over time."

"Maybe it's like a muscle? The more you use it the better it gets."

"Maybe. I can control any simple minded organisms in my range, from earthworms and beetles to crabs and lobsters. And I don't have a limit on number. I'm only limited by volume."

Shepard's eyebrows rose as she contemplated this. "Impressive."

"I can also tell where all of my bugs are at any time."

"All of them? Do you mean as a sort of general sense, or specifically and individually?"

"Uh, individually."

"And do you do this controlling them too?"

"Yeah. I can tell each of them to do a different thing at the same time."

Shepard mumbled something that sounded like "tactical nightmare" and waved her hand for Bug to continue. When no more information was forthcoming, Shepard voiced a question.

"How do you know where all of your bugs are? Is it just a general sense, or can you see and hear through them?"

"Sort of both. I know where they are like I know where my limbs are at all times, but when I first got powers the sensory input was too much and I blocked it out."

At this Shepard frowned and gave Bug a stern look of disappointment. "Do you realize how useful that could be? You could literally be the fly on every wall. You could be everyone's security nightmare! But really, do you not realize how amazing your power is? A Blaster power – Blaster, right? – can be replaced by a marine with a gun, but yours? That's trillions of credits' worth of surveillance drones that you can supplant with garden variety insects."

Bug seemed a bit at a loss for what to say to this. She had thought she was being creative with her creation of her costume and armor, but what Shepard was suggesting shed a whole new light on her abilities. Rather than being an underwhelming combat cape she had the potential to be a real asset on any team.

When she turned her attention back to Shepard she met her gaze with new found confidence. The soldier spoke again. "Honestly your power creeps me out and sends the civilian in me running, but you have the potential to be great. I know you said you would back during the meeting but before we go any further with plans I want to make sure you have thought this out. Once we start this and make our first move, this will be all about momentum. If we slow down we will end up on the defensive with unknown capes after us. So I need to know. Are you ready to start hunting villains and stick with this until the end, come life or come death?"

There was new conviction in Bug's voice as she returned Shepard's challenge. She pulled her mask down and around her neck and held out a hand. "I'm Taylor. And I'm in."

A/N:There we go! The team has begun. They'll be picking up a couple more people later on, but Shepard and Taylor will remain the core of the team. Hopefully my hand will heal up enough that I can write more soon. See y'all later!

TL:DR: Undersiders are stood up, Taylor gets some confidence, and Shepard puts the kibosh on the Unwritten Rules. People gon' die.