Broken ribs hurt, but the Nobleman didn't really care about it and so neither did I. I did take great care not to let the ribs pierce my lungs by wrapping my form very closely around my self, like bandages and splints all at the same time. I would have looked starved, if the Nobleman's Shell wasn't so gaudy.
People stayed out of the way when they saw me, which was good. Then again, I did have a sword... And that one was calling the police. I knew this scene, and it filled me with a sense of disquiet. Sure, I could keep myself together but another fight would be bad. I would have to go to ground soon... And then I passed a graveyard. The Graveyard in fact.
I walked down well remembered paths, every step slower and more reluctant than the last. I stopped maybe twenty meters away, in order to compose myself.
The grave was pretty much the same as it had always been. Just with no fresh flowers, since Dad and I had been to busy to actually drop by. I took a deep breath and let the Nobleman fade enough that I could feel air on my face. That's around when the sky fell on me, and I blacked out.
Tattletale had been infuriatingly smug when Assault confirmed her claim. Piggot had decided that information on the newly dubbed Opera was more important than keeping the small-time criminals around, and was 'making arrangements' leaving Armsmaster to conduct the negotiations in a 'calm and controlled fashion'. Needless to say the Wards were pissed, but Aegis and Shadowstalker were actually in agreement with Piggot, and wasn't that a miracle?
"Alright" Armsmaster grumbled. "Let's talk. But first, why are you being so... co-operative?" Bitch's mask annoyed him. It was sloppy, and in her case, inefficient. Her face was known to the public, after all. Now, if you integrated a dog-whistle... Armsmaster caught his train of thought just as Grue responded.
"We... did not like the interruption. Opera is a threat to our business." He said flatly. Regent and Tattletale nodded, while Bitch just grunted in vague agreement. "We want her out of the picture, or at least fitting into it more neatly. Having someone with her power walking around is just making things hard on us."
Armsmaster nodded. That made sense after all. "Alright." He sighed. "Your quote release unquote" He paused as Tattletale coughed. "Sorry" She mumbled. Lie his helmet provided, helpfully. He wondered why.
"As I was saying, your release is being organised. This is contingent on Tattletale providing additional information on Opera's abilities." Armsmaster continued. "There will be no additional clauses, conditions, etc. Am I understood?" He made sure he was facing Grue in this.
The demon-masked man nodded stiffly. "No records?" He asked. Armsmaster nodded, and Grue seemed satisfied with this. He gestured for Tattletale to begin.
"Alright, so our little Master/Shaker combo called Opera. First, she has abandonment issues, a developing hatred for authority figures and possibly something else. Getting a read on her personality is weird." Tattletale waved her hand absently. "Her power is basically just creating and manipulating force-fields. Without a Manton Limit. The 'burns' caused on the Wards are just millions of little cuts from the force-fields she generated then." Tattletale took a deep breath, and a sip of water.
"It also cut through Grue's darkness a bit. Not as much, but still. Added to that, she can give some of her force-fields basic intelligence, use them to disguise herself and so on. How she can use her forcefields seems to vary by the disguise, and I have no idea what's up with that. Some sort of thematic limit seems probable, but I'd need more data to make sure. Finally, because her disguise is basically just a force-field, she can move it, and her body inside of it allowing her to ignore physics when she's moving, make it seem like she's manipulating her own weight, and break any restraints that aren't in direct contact with her quite easily."
"She's also very skilled with using her power. It was probably much less impressive even just three months ago. She must have practiced like crazy, and probably somewhere isolated..." Her eyes flickered to Opera's file, which lay on the table. "Probably the ferry, given that she seems to be related to the head of hiring of the Dock Worker's Union in some way?"
I woke up in a dark room. Someone had taken my top off and covered me in bandages. Splints graced my sides. Oni Lee was sitting beside my bed reading a book in... Traditional Chinese, Bible, Translated, Revelations. Huh. Then his attention was on me again.
"You. Help." He said, flatly. I gathered it was not a request.
"With what, if I may be so bold as to ask?" I said, mildly.
Oni Lee seemed to be examining me. "Bakuda. Mad. Lung controls. Lung captured. You. Will. Help." He was... slowing down his speech, deliberately. Dumbing down what he was trying to say in the process. It seemed the Hierophant was perfectly happy to be of service right now. Then again, Oni Lee was a practiced killer, and was in the room with me. The dark room.
My wince must've shown, because Oni Lee leaned forward and said "First. Rest. Heal. Drink"
He pushed a foul-smelling concoction into my hand. Safe. I drank it, and it tasted as bad as it smelled, but warmed me going down. I managed not to retch, and soon my eyes grew heavy. I slept, and it was a dreamless sleep.