Hope Through Overwhelming Firepower 3.2
It was a bitter feeling Taylor that picked herself up off the ground, having collapsed another Time Bubble. It seemed like the only one of the things she could actually do anything about were the time ones.
The Insanity Aura she could dissipate, but that didn't bring back the people who had torn themselves and others apart in a frothing rage.
The Motion Accelerator had already ripped to shreds all within it, as limbs suddenly accelerated to hundreds of times what they should be moving at wrenched themselves from their intended homes.
The Space Warp which had left all involved distorted still living caricatures of themselves. She couldn't even touch those, the only hope for them was Panacea at this point.
And that didn't even scratch the surface. Being able to nullify the primary effect of one of the events didn't take away the damage it had already caused. Pillars of ice that stretched to the sky, a pool of fetid liquid seemingly made out of the remains of all within it, and other, more conventional effects, such as explosions were all beyond her ability to resolve.
Her phone buzzed, she pulled it out.
From: Armsmaster
That was the last time bubble. If you could please come to the PRT Headquarters as soon as possible.
Taylor wrote a quick affirmative in response, and put her phone away. A last melancholic look towards the spires of granite encased people in the distance, and she trudged onwards.
Taylor found herself sitting in front of the PRT Director, Emily Piggot, once more.
Piggot set down her cup of coffee, before letting out a sigh. "You know, we don't usually pay this much attention to a random independent hero. Especially when they play so nice with the PRT."
"I'm sorry ma'am?" Taylor questioned.
Another sigh out of the Director. "Have you ever heard of a Parahuman by the name of Grey Boy, Buster?"
"Can't say that I have."
"Unsurprising, unless you go looking for information, no one really talks about him." She took a sip of coffee. "He had... several powers. But the one he was most infamous for, the one which built him his reputation in the Slaughterhouse 9- you do know who they are, correct?" She interrupted with a question.
"I do. He was a member I take it?"
Piggot nodded. "Quite. As I was saying, the power which build him his reputation was a time based one. He would designate an area of space, and in that area, time would 'loop' for lack of a better word. Now, Grey Boy was the only one who could affect these areas, and he did it by preforming some horrible act upon them. Usually painful in nature. A few seconds after he had ripped open their throat, or cut off on arm, or whatever torture he decided to inflict today, time would reset, and it would happen again, and again, and again." A pause as she took another sip. "They are still there, undergoing their torments, 5 years after Gray Boy's death at the hands of Glaistig Uaine." She paused to look pointedly at Taylor. "Do you see where I'm going with this?"
"You want me to see if I can break those loops, right?" Taylor said.
"Correct." Piggot answered. "In all likely hood, they've been driven long insane by this point, but allowing them to die would enough for several of their families, I would imagine." She finished off her cup. "The fact is, we cannot keep this a secret forever. You will shortly find yourself inundated with requests from people to break their friends, or family members out of Gray Boy's loops. Now the question is, what do you want to do? We can keep it suppressed until after this incident is over, I imagine you would not want to abandon your home town in such a stressful situation, but afterwards you will have to make a decision."
Taylor considered things before responding. "How long would it take to clear up all of his loops?"
"Several months." Piggot instantly replied. "He was a member of the Slaughterhouse 9 since almost the beginning, it seemed like every other day a new person was looped and tortured. He created thousands of victims during his tenure as a member of the Slaughterhouse 9. If you maintained the pace that you did here for the entirety of your time doing it, you could finish it in several months."
Taylor contemplated that. "I... Could I do it in shifts maybe?" She started hesitantly. "I don't want to just leave people trapped forever but..."
"You very well could." Interjected Piggot. "But you would then need to decide who gets first priority. I actually suggest you talk to Panacea about this, she is in a similar situation to your own, only even worse. There are hundreds of thousands of people only Panacea can fix, and more are injured then she can possibly treat each day."
"I never thought about it that way..." Taylor spoke. It humbled her a bit, made her own problems look inconsequential.
"Not many do." She replied without inflection. "In any case, the decision can be put off until after this fiasco is over." She leaned forward in her chair. "Independent Hero known as 'Buster'."
The sudden change in tone threw Taylor off for a beat. "...Yes?"
"As appointed Director of the Brockton Bay Parahuman Reponse Team, I, Emily Piggot, hereby request that you officially cede authority to myself, and the current leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, Armsmaster, until the end of this catastrophe. So as to maintain a proper chain of command for the duration of it."
Taylor quickly grasped the basics of her statement. "Why do you want me following orders?"
Piggot relaxed slightly. "It is simply the most expedient and efficient method, leaving no questions as to who is in charge. However, as you have maintained exemplary conduct when interacting with Protectorate officials, this is merely a request, rather then the demand I would ordinarily make in such a situation."
"I'm... not seeing much of a reason to do so, honestly."
"Understandable." Piggot nodded. "You have your reasons for refusing to join the Wards, and they likely maintain in these circumstances too. However, if you did accept, we would be able to bring you into the briefings directly, vastly expediting your knowledge of these events."
That made Taylor think. Would it be worth it then? "I... I accept. Then."
"Excellent. Allow me to brief you on what we know then. Our current most likely theory is that all these events are the work of a Tinker named Bakuda..."