Yo

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yea

First interlude, wooooooooooooooo

Interlude I: Armsmaster

Armsmaster pulled out his weapon with practiced efficiency as he dragged the student behind him, all while keeping an eye on the now shattered window. He had been planning on asking the girl if she knew anything because her behavior had been abnormal however her jump at the shattering of the glass had been real, so it was unlikely that she was connected with the parahuman. He would still talk to her afterwards just in case but for now, there was a bigger issue at hand.

Namely, the invisible parahuman, who in Shadow Stalker's words, was an expert fighter of the highest caliber.

Which meant that he had to take this situation seriously.

"It's not safe here, follow your classmates out of the school."

Before anything, the girl had to leave. If she remained, he would have to protect her and considering what little he had seen from the parahuman so far, that would be a difficult enterprise.

Thankfully, the girl ran off when told to do so, and Armsmaster turned his attention back to the seemingly empty classroom.

Still pointing his halberd at the window, Armsmaster circled around it while keeping an eye on his surroundings. It appeared that the parahuman was truly invisible, for both infrared and x-ray had failed to detect them while they were in the room. He felt irritation rising in his mind even as he willed it away. That was annoying, yes, but he would not allow anything, even, no especially his emotions distract him.

"Console, I have confirmed the presence of a parahuman on scene. High probability of either a strong master or stranger effect. After this mission, I recommend that every hero involved undergoes M-S protocols upon return to base.

"Copy Armsmaster, do you need any backup?"

If Armsmaster was a lesser hero, he would have sighed at the clear expectation in the console manager's voice. Yet he was not a lesser hero, and sighing was an unnecessary movement that had tactical disadvantages.

"Negative Console, I should be enough. Shadow Stalker is still in the vicinity as well, and the parahuman has yet to mortally injure anyone. Until they prove to be a greater threat, remain on standby."

"...understood Armsmaster."

Armsmaster refocused on the situation. Vista's desire for more action had risen above regular levels for a ward recently. He wasn't sure of when it had begun, but seemingly every time he passed her in the hallways now, she would always ask for more patrol time. Some reason for concern, yes, however, he was sure that her desires wouldn't cause anything to go awry. Vista had been a member of the wards for some time now, he was sure that her abundance of experience would lend itself well to her self-restraint.

Still, that wasn't relevant to the situation and despite being mostly sure that the parahuman had escaped the room through the window, he still kept his guard up, waiting for something to happen before backing up to the door with his halberd still in the air.

There was no such thing as enough caution when it came to masters or strangers.

Finally, he exited the classroom before looking over to where one of the PRT agents was still waiting on standby.

"Foam the door just in case."

Following that, he walked back into the classroom as the PRT agent got to work before he climbed out of the broken window, jumping off of it before landing on the ground beneath. Standing up, he looked around only to see nothing on every one of his sensors just like in the classroom.

With a click, he turned them off. If they couldn't help him detect the parahuman, then they were no more than distractions now.

Looking around while not moving his head so as to not arouse suspicion, he looked for any sign of disturbances or movement on the grass with his back to the wall of the school so that he couldn't be ambushed from behind.

After a few moments of silence, he finally found what he was looking for. A series of disturbances in the grass, just barely noticeable, leading around the school toward the front, picked up by the tinker tech built into his helmet that helped him enhance his vision. The tech was also something he used for combat prediction however it had also aided greatly in solving crimes just like this one.

Taking pictures of the disturbances with the camera built into his helmet, Armsmaster followed the trail, halberd still clutched firmly in his hand.

Whoever this person was, who had decided that attacking a school in his city was a good idea, they would regret their choice.

Additionally, while Armsmaster was not as attached to his civilian disguise as other capes, the fact that this parahuman had attacked a ward in their civilian identity specifically reflected badly on him and the rest of department ENE. As such the parahuman had been classified as a high-priority target, though as no lasting harm had been done and the motivations of the attack had yet to be identified, a kill order had as of yet not been considered.

Still, there was a reason he had been deployed. At the very least, the capture of the parahuman was something that needed to be expedited. Even if it was going to be a difficult task.

Then they could be taken in for questioning to see their true reasons as to why they had attacked Shadow Stalker. And to see if they knew who she was when they had attacked her.

As he continued to follow the trail left by the parahuman, Armsmaster kept his guard up, prepared to be engaged in combat at any time.

Suddenly, the trail went cold. The disturbances in the grass stopped without any rhyme or reason. Armsmaster tensed up as his reflexes engaged before he spun his halberd around so that the blunt end was facing where the tracks ended before thrusting out his weapon into the seemingly empty space as Armsmaster prepared to deal with the recoil of hitting something.

Yet none came as the halberd simply went through the air, hitting... nothing.

Strange.

If he was right about the parahuman's powers, then they should have been right where he had launched his attack.

Withdrawing his halberd, Armsmaster looked around to see if he could find any more disturbances before a startled yell cut through the silence, causing him to whip around toward the sound before breaking out into a run toward the origin of the noise.

Turning the corner, he kept running as the entrance into the school came into view, where two PRT agents were shouting like madmen, one flailing in his spot as he stumbled backward before slamming into the front doors as the other stepped back warily even as he grabbed his radio before yelling into it with a panic that was clearly audible over the radio waves.

"REPORT, PARAHUMAN IS ATTACKING US AT THE ENTRANCE, PLEASE SEND HE-AHHHHHHH!"

As Armsmaster got closer to the two agents, the parahuman seemingly turned their attention to the agent with the radio as the agent raised his arms over his face as they were pushed back by a seemingly invisible force.

Finally getting close enough to the agents and the parahuman to effectively interfere in the situation, Armsmaster thrust his polearm in front of the PRT agent getting attacked with practiced precision, feeling solid contact as the back of his halberd struck something solid before contact was lost as the parahuman presumably got pushed back by the force of the hit.

"I'll handle this, get back to the vans and tape off the school. Form a barrier to prevent the parahuman from escaping."

As the PRT agents scrambled to get away from the situation, Armsmaster brought his halberd back into a defensive position before addressing the parahuman.

"Whoever you are, you've violated multiple laws with your attack on this school. Surrender peacefully and depending on the circumstances, you may not face time in prison."

He waited for a few seconds for a response yet upon not receiving one, he steeled his body and mind.

"Very well. We shall do it your way then."

Swinging his halberd in a wide arc, he dashed forward to sweep the space in front of him where the parahuman was most likely located, only to hit nothing before he felt a solid object catching his foot, sending him down to the ground.

Letting out a grunt of surprise, he braced himself for impact, landing on the ground with a thud with both arms in front of his body to prevent his chest from hitting the ground before lashing out with a kick against the parahuman, making solid contact with them before it once again faded as the kick presumably sent the parahuman careening back.

This will be more difficult than I thought.

Armsmaster pushed himself up off the ground, this time even more wary of his surroundings, waiting for something to happen.

He didn't have to wait long as mere seconds later, he felt something hard hitting his head from behind, almost as if something had been launched into it. Swinging around, he slashed the blunt end of his halberd through the air again, only for yet another miss right before he felt something hitting his visor over and over in quick succession, causing him to reach up to grab the parahuman, only to again catch nothing as the hits suddenly stopped right before he managed to grab the offending body part.

A moment later, there was silence and peace again as if it had never left.

Armsmaster narrowed his eyes as he tried to predict where the parahuman would attack next. So far, the battle had been a brief back and forth yet he was confident that he had the upper hand. He had landed several blows on his opponent while they had yet to even scratch him. Thankfully, it appeared that invisibility was likely the extent of their powers, so his armour would protect him against any attacks.

"I will give you one more chance to surrender. You are not able to harm me while I am more than capable of inflicting damage on you. While I may not be able to offer the same assurances as my earlier offer, you will still be treated with fairly according to the crimes you have committed if you simply reveal yourself and come peacefully."

More silence. Armsmaster tilted his head down ever so slightly after a few seconds passed with no reply. This time, he didn't bother saying anything more. It was clear at this point that the parahuman had malicious intentions, having attacked him, a member of the Protectorate. There was no point wasting energy talking further.

Though that being said, he did elevate his mental consideration of the parahuman up a few notches. It was clear that they were intelligent, as they had yet to respond to him in any manner, which hampered his ability to get a read on his opponent, be it their position, identity or motivations. Without anything to see, his theories as to the parahuman were all just that, theories. Unless they revealed themselves, which Armsmaster doubted they would, he could not use serious force for fear of accidentally causing a mortal injury nor could he simply stick to the force he was using now because he didn't know if it was causing enough damage to knock the parahuman out.

A troubling dilemma.

He waited for the next attack. Once he had clashed with his enemy enough times, he would decide if it was worth using more severe measures to deal with the situation. Considering that the parahuman had attacked a school, he did have some room to make independent decisions here and one of his missions was to assess the risk the parahuman posed. If they could not be brought in easily, then he would have to take matters into his own hands soon enough.

Yet, no attack came.

Instead, a few seconds later, frantic yells began to ring out from inside the school, as Armsmaster looked at the wide open doors with reluctant annoyance before speaking into the radio.

"Console, this is Armsmaster. Inform Clockblocker that he is required at Winslow High School to aid in the ongoing parahuman attack on the school."

"...do you also need anyone else?"

"Negative Vista, Clockblocker's powers are required specifically. I have engaged in combat with the parahuman and so far they have exhibited no other powers aside from invisibility. No further assistance is needed."

"...understood Armsmaster. I'll go tell him. Console out."

Armsmaster put down his radio before heading back into the school. After all, even a regular human had the ability to harm another, so even if the parahuman was no more dangerous than an ordinary person who so happened to be invisible, it was still a threat to the students.

Running into the school toward the origin of the noise, the hero passed through a few short hallways before coming to a stop as his footfalls became hesitant.

Eventually, he came to a complete stop as his hard stare turned into a blank one.

In front of him, pandemonium had ensued. Screams of students pierced the air as groups of them smushed themselves up against the lockers on either side of the hallway as in the middle of it, what looked to be a full-on brawl had commenced in the minute it had taken Armsmaster to find his target again. A few chairs had been thrown about, and pieces of wood were everywhere on the floor as children of differing ages, races and backgrounds all attacked each other in a mindless rage.

And in the middle of the brawl, a familiar figure clothed in black with a mask covering their face was dead in the middle of it, seemingly fighting the air, the other students and the school itself even as some of the other students in the periphery of the fight recorded it.

It was at the point right after Armsmaster had come across the mess that he noticed that he had found his target, as one student was pushed to the ground by an invisible force before another student landed on them from the force of a punch from another.

All in all, it was a mess and that was before some of the students recording the incident noticed him standing at the end of the hallway and turned their phones onto him even as Shadow Stalker's screeches and screams of sheer unending rage echoed across the hallway alongside the other yells of panic, confusion and anger.

"...Console, what is Clockbloker's current ETA?"

"It looks like he's going to take another minute or two to get to the school Armsmaster. Why? Do you need more help? If yo-"

"Tell him to expedite his arrival."

Armsmaster didn't wait for Vista to confirm before he steeled himself and marched forward.

"EVERYONE REMOVE YOURSELVES FROM THE BUILDING. SHADOW STALKER, DISENGAGE!"

He didn't like raising his voice. It was a sign that the situation has worsened to the point where he could not afford to remain calm and collected. Yet in this case he had no other choice.

As students ran past him, with some startled into disengaging from beating down on one another, Armsmaster surged forward, before flinging his halberd with the blunt end forward toward where he last saw the parahuman, yet the weapon flew through nothing right before the weapon hit a locker with blunt force before falling to the ground.

Meanwhile Shadow Stalker kicked one of the students off of her and let out a scream of pure rage, before turning around, only to topple to the ground with another demonic screech as something invisible hit her in the face, sending her crashing into another fleeing student, who was pushed into one of the lockers, hitting it with a thud before his body tripped another escaping student, sending them to the ground as well in a mess of flailing limbs.

Then as Armsmaster moved to support Shadow Stalker, the sound of electrical discharge stopped him in his tracks as he whipped his head around only to see his halberd charging up for an attack, while levitating in the air at around ankle height. Eyes widening, he reached out one hand in an uncharacteristic panic as a yell escaped his mouth right before the entire hallway was completely covered in yellow light, striking anyone and everyone in the area, including Armsmaster himself before vanishing the next second.

A moment passed after the discharge as complete silence filled the hallway before Armsmaster watched everyone around him topple.

The next, footsteps echoed in the silence as a familiar figure turned the corner, only to see the hero standing alone in a field of bodies, with the smell of burning in the air. Even with his mask on, shock was evident in his body language as he took in the scene.

And so, to Clockblocker, Armsmaster could only say one thing.

"You're late."

A/N:

The first interlude of hopefully many because I intend to continue this story for some time. Probably don't expect another update for a while because AP Exams are coming up so I'll be busy for the next two weeks or so. I might update the story the week after that though, who knows at this point.

Anyways Armsmaster is an interesting character to write. Not sure I did him justice but I tried.

I'll probably cross-point this to spacebattles at some point now that I have three chapters written.

Reviews are still appreciated and I still have no clue what I'm doing so the wild ride continues on! Is this story good? Is it bad? Who knows?

Anyways, thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.