I have a Plan (Worm/Tinker of Fiction)

By: DiSCOBOT

Yet another Tinker of Fiction fic. Prepare to see a lot of SI angst. Remember, escalation is never the solution.

It's a question and the answer is YES .

Status: ongoing

Published: 2022-06-23

Updated: 2023-05-27

Words: 116087

Chapters: 32

Original source: https/forums./threads/998832

Exported with the assistance of

I have a Plan (Worm/Tinker of Fiction)

Introduction

1.1 Start Up

1.2

1.3

1.4

Interlude: Kaiser

Interlude: Velocity

2.1 Nobody Expects...

2.2

Interlude: Tattletale

Interlude: Hope

Interlude: Coil

2.3

2.4

2.5

Interlude: Danny

2.6

Interlude: PHO

3.1 Infectious Play

3.2

3.3

Interlude: Armsmaster

3.4

3.5

3.6

Interlude: Accord

4.1 Vaccination

Interlude: Lisa

4.2

Interlude: George

4.3

4.4

Interlude: Vicky

1.1 Start Up

25 March 2011

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed.

"Wha…?" The bed is a single bed, and the sheets are white. That's weird. I sleep in a double bed and last I remember, my bed sheet is gray. The room is rather empty, with a single desk and a cupboard. The sunlight from the window made my eyes blurry.

"Where am I?" I asked, confused at the situation. This isn't my room. The position is all wrong. My mind first noticed that my room couldn't have sunlight due to its position in the building. Next, I noticed that my limbs are far shorter, and I can see clearly without my glasses.

What the fuck?

"Hey kid, you finally woke up."

I froze. A shiver shot through my spine.

There's a voice in my head. I know it's in my head, and not from a surround audio system or anything like that. Did I go insane? Is this a creepypasta situation here?

The voice chuckled. "No, kid. I died, and somehow got shunted into your head."

You're a ghost!?

"I think so? I know I died, and my consciousness somehow found a place in your consciousness. Sorry, kid. This shouldn't happen. At least I'm pretty sure this isn't permanent. A gut feeling, you can say. I'll just be with you for about… a week. Maybe two, then I'll move on. You'll be sad to lose me I'm sure." The ghost said with an unhealthy amount of self aggrandizing.

Oh… okay. The ghost in my head will move on and I will be unpossessed in a few weeks. Good to know you're not taking over my body. That calmed me down. The ghost seems like a nice guy, but he is still a stranger to me, so I need to be suspicious of him. I have the feeling he will disappear, or, move on after a few weeks as well, so I can take solace in that. There is a luggage case on the floor, so I move to open it. It has a lot of clothes, and I noticed a brown office file. I opened it and saw some credentials that belong to Adam Hebert, a resident of the United States of America, some school paper results in 2010, a medical result paper proving that I have amnesia, and an adoption paper stating that I'm being adopted by Daniel Hebert after the passing of my parents.

I'm reincarnated into Worm. Shit.

"'Worm'? What's Worm, kid? Why is it a "shit" situation?" The ghost asked worriedly.

Err… Long story short, Worm is a web novel about superheroes and villains, but super grim dark and shit. There are Illuminaties running around with the specific purpose of making things worse. Authorities are incompetent and corrupt. Indestructible monsters routinely destroy major cities and chip away at civilization. It's like someone decided to make the most negative superhero story ever.

"Huh, grim dark superhero world? This is pretty outlandish, you know? Got reincarnated into a web novel of all things. And there's me, too. I could see me getting reincarnated into a place like this to light things up, but not as a ghost in some kid's head. Why is a ghost reincarnated with you anyway?"

I don't know. I'm not anyone important in my old world, so why me? Think! If I am reincarnated in Worm, I must have a superpower or something. Is the ghost my superpower?

Hey, what's your name, Mr Ghost? Maybe you are my superpower.

"Hmm…" The ghost seems to be thinking something. "Yeah, I guess having my ghost counts as a superpower. I am pretty amazing."

I perked up. It sounds like the ghost is someone with powers. My mind briefly considered the Butcher, but he doesn't sound insane and I don't feel like having any powers.

"My name is Tony Stark, kid. You may know me as Iron Man."

I have the ghost of Tony Stark in my head.

That thought is repeating itself in the background of my mind. When I realized that fucking Tony Stark is here to help me, I felt like a weight lifted of my back. I have so many things I want to ask about his inventions. Tony is right, though. Having his help does count as a superpower of its own. To my relief, Tony wasn't really surprised when I told him that he is a fictional character himself. I was afraid that it might break his spirit, but he took it in stride.

"I worked with a wizard by my side to fight aliens in space so a mad god couldn't use reality warping gemstones to exterminate the universe. So being fictional wasn't really unbelievable for me, kid. I can be fictional in your universe, but I can also be real in another. Our situation here is proof that being fictional doesn't mean you can't be real. As Wong said, anything is possible in the Multiverse."

That makes sense, I suppose. Anything is possible in the multiverse after all. It's easier to accept every ridiculous thing if I think about it that way.

My social worker was driving me to Danny's house in Brockton Bay. He is apparently my last living relative, but something about this situation tickles my mind. It's like I've read about the same thing happening in other fanfictions before, but I couldn't remember what it is.

The Heberts live in Downtown. On the ride, I saw how Brockton Bay earned its notoriety in fanfictions. Gang graffities is overt and visible, gangbangers and skinheads are roaming the street in numbers, all of them wearing bright colors or with visible tattoos, as if publicly taunting the police at their failure of service. A lot of buildings I can see are in states of disrepair. Windows are shattered or covered with newspapers, doors are broken or rusted, paints are peeling off, I even saw a newspaper bundle tumbling across the road like a tumbleweed.

"You're not joking when you said this is a grim dark world."

This is "It Gets Worse: The Story". I haven't even told you about the S-Class threats yet.

I'm sharing as much information and plot points with Tony as I can on the car. He is… disappointed at Earth Bet, to say the least. I told him how things could have been better, but kept getting worse instead.

"Well, we can't fix what has already happened, we might as well try to fix what's in front of us. Heads up, I think we're here."

The house is a small suburban house with two floors. Danny was already outside waiting for us. The social worker and I stepped out of the car to take my luggage. We entered the living room and they started to discuss some stuff about my adoption while I waited on the sofa. The inside of the house has that same negative feeling I saw from the outside. Faded colors, old appliances, bland paint on the world. It's hard to feel positive about living in this house. It's like a Hollywood "creepy old house" stereotype that I'm seeing here.

"Adam, are you willing to live with Mr Hebert here?" My social worker broke me out of my musing.

"Yeah, sure." A part of me wanted to say no and try to get a better foster parent than Danny, but I've heard horror stories about the American foster system from Tony, seeing that he tried to help orphans with charities after The Blip. The movies never mentioned it, though it makes sense that Tony would do that. He told me about people who adopt kids to be used as social tools or kids that are neglected after a couple gives birth to their own child. With Danny, I know that he was not abusive or violent, just depressed and neglectful. At least he tried to connect with Taylor after her trigger event, even if he doesn't really have much success with it.

My social worker talked about the education funds and insurance payments, assuring that having me will not burden the family financially. He left after finishing the paperwork, leaving me and Danny alone.

"Ah, the awkward parent moment. Shame I never got to have these moments with my dad." Tony commented. I couldn't discern if he was joking or sad.

"So… do you want some sandwiches?" Danny asked awkwardly. "It's almost lunch time, and my daughter should be home soon."

"Sure." I nodded in agreement.

"Ask him if he has any materials in the house. The sooner we can make something for protection, the better." Tony suggested, and I agreed. While I'm fairly certain nobody knows about me yet, having Iron Man tech for protection isn't something I will argue against.

"Mr Hebert? Do you have any old or unwanted electrical appliances? I asked while Danny was washing some vegetables in the sink.

"I probably kept them in the basement. Why do you ask?" Danny replied, with his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Well, I want to be an inventor when I grow up, so I like to disassemble stuff and make my own projects." I answered. This isn't really lying anyway. I did want to be an inventor in my old world. I even worked with 3D printers and Arduino and have a few backyard inventions of my own, though none of them is anything advanced or impressive. With the "I want to be an inventor" excuse, I don't need to explain much if they barge into my tinkering. At least, not if it appears mundane anyway.

"You should tell me about them. Great ideas are often a combination of several unimpressive ones. Arduino are super basic, though. That's essentially coding for preschools."

You're not wrong. I answered. I was in a basic starter class anyway. Saw a few seniors use Raspberry Pi's, but never used one myself. Too advanced, and not enough time to learn and juggle my academics.

"Not everyone is me, and you haven't even graduated from highschool yet." Tony continued. "You have a laptop, right? We need to make a custom operating system for my stuff. I'll teach you how to code."

Awesome. "I'm glad that you have a good ambition. I'll bring it out from the basement later, might as well as do some cleanup while I'm at it." Danny replied with a smile. "Also, call me uncle. Calling me Mr Hebert makes me feel old."

"Sure."

Taylor came back after we finished lunch. She looks like your typical tall, skinny, nerdy girl with glasses in Hollywood movies. I can kind of see where she got the impression that she looks like a frog, but only if I stretch it. She is not exceptionally beautiful or ugly, just… average.

That suits me just fine.

We exchanged some pleasantries, she had her lunch, and I set up my stuff in the attic. I have a fairly basic laptop with some stock OS on it, and I managed to type up a basic mainframe for my systems before Danny knocked on the door.

"Hey, Adam." Danny greeted me as I opened the door and let him enter. "Taylor says she wants to take out some books from the basement as well, so she's cleaning the basement right now. She told me to ask if you have any preferences for books so that she can pick them out as well. Do you have any?"

Taylor wants to know my book preference? Why would she-

Her suit. She's making her suit with black widow spiders in the basement and she doesn't want Danny to see it.

"She controlled black widows to make her a suit? Amazing, she could have made a profit just selling those silks. She might be the only person in the world capable of producing spider silk commercially if she can control them with such detail and precision.." Tony commented. He's right, and I agree with him. I see spider silk as one of nature's miracle materials. Some fanfics have Taylor explore the rogue route by selling honey and spider commercially, though canon Taylor was hyper fixated in becoming a hero and fighting the gangs.

"I'll tell Taylor myself. I like reading about plot-driven adventures, whether it is sci-fi or fantasy." I answered Danny. "I'll see what I pick up in the basement as well."

Danny nodded and left the room. What do you think we should prioritize building?

"Hmm… hard to say. I have everything I've built before and some more loaded in my, or your head in high detail. Making a personal assistant is definitely important, maybe a rudimentary fabricator or a repulsor for your hand? What do you think is my most valuable invention?"

The Arc Reactor. I answered after some consideration as I walked down the stairs. Your nanosuit comes next, but the reactor is probably the most important product of Stark Industries. It is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Iron Man.

"True." Tony replied with a wistful tone. "The Arc Reactor marks my first step into becoming Iron Man, and also my first invention that is dedicated to making the world a better place by providing clean, unlimited energy. I'll see if we can make a rudimentary Arc Reactor with what we have in the basement. You might need it to power my other inventions anyway."

Sure. I walked down the basement, but not before giving the door a knock to alert Taylor that I'm coming in. Taylor was moving some boxes out and wiping the dust with a feather brush. There are some books in a pile on the floor. I couldn't see where she hid her suit, so she must have hid it behind the shelves or boxes.

"Hey, Adam." Taylor greeted me. "I took the electronics and put them over there so you can see if there's anything you want." She pointed at a pile of neatly organized scrap. "There are some books on the shelf too, you can take them to your room if you want too. Dad doesn't really read much."

"Sure." I replied while looking at the electronics. Tony pointed out what I needed and what might be useful later. I put them in a box and carried them to my room along with a few novels to maintain the polite fiction that I want to read. I went back to the room, and Tony began to instruct me on how to make tools and upgrade my laptop.

"I am beginning to see how Tinkers are bullshit." Tony remarked at my upgraded laptop. I apparently got a laptop as a birthday present last year. I'm sure some teachers would object to giving a laptop to an eleven year old, but I am reminded of how almost every child carries a phone with them in the 2020s, no matter how young. I saw a five years old that had a better phone than I did during the Chinese New Year.

Yeah, I really don't understand how the fuck this computer is running so fast.

An old VCR player, table lamp, speakers, old phones and a broken fax machine are all the materials that I'm using to upgrade my laptop. Somehow, my new computer carries much more processing power than it should and it left Tony baffled. I explained to Tony before how Tinker technology is blackboxed by Shards, so most of it is unreproducible or not understood, just like powers themselves. Tony was skeptical about the whole "unexplainable technology" part, but our new computer just proved that tinkertech is indeed unexplainable and unpredictable.

"I understand how the hardware works, I understand how the system runs, what I don't understand is how you made it from those scraps." Tony ranted in frustration. "Those materials together shouldn't be able to make a computer like this, and yet it did. It's like magic, and I hate magic."

I nodded with him, though I was glad that my computer had surpassed my expectations. It still looks like a laptop, just with Iron Man's glowing and bulky aesthetic. Do you think we can make an Arc Reactor with what we have?

"Hmm… I would like to get some more materials first, but we should be able to make one tomorrow if this is how tinkers work. We need to get more rare metals, though. Can we go to a hardware store for that?"

Maybe. I'm worried about gang monitoring. I want to stay under the radar as long as I can.

"Not my style, but I understand. Let's finish coding the operating system for now. I'll need to teach you how to code utility programs that are essential for "heroing"."

I looked at the time and realized it's almost dinner time, so I headed down stairs to read some books on the couch. We had dinner in the evening, and I went back to my room to continue tinkering after I finished bathing. Danny wanted to have a family night and watch some movies together to bond with me, but I told him that I wanted to read the books Taylor got me so he let me go.

I went back to my room and Tony continued to instruct me on coding the system. Tinkering feels weird to me. It feels like Tony is taking control of my hands to do what I want him to do, but at the same time, I have full control and understand what I am doing. I feel like backseat driving and at the driving wheel at the same time. Does that make sense?

"There. The operating system is complete now. I have some smart algorithms loaded in that can reconfigure whatever we need it to do instead of multiple programs dedicated to running several different tasks. This way, it saves our time and leaves space for the AI."

Awesome. The algorithm is somewhat modular in its design philosophy. It can repurpose part of its code for various functions despite being a single program. The downside is that it can only execute a single function at a time. It's like a rudimentary AI, in a sense.

It's almost midnight, so I decided to hit the hay. I was laying on the bed thinking about how to tackle the various problems in Worm, and decided to consult Tony on it.

Do you think I should report Sophia to the PRT?

"While I think reporting her to the authorities is the best choice, the problem is that there is a chance they might just sweep it under the rug or just ignore you because you have no evidence. The PRT, from what you have told me, will not involve itself in a school bullying case, even if it is as severe as Taylor's case without clear parahuman involvement. You need to explain how you know Sophia is a Ward, or why you are calling PRT instead of reporting to the teachers. Calling the PRT might also bring Taylor into their radar, since she is the victim and PRT will see her as a potential parahuman if they are competent enough. You can also wait for a few more days, finish the AI, have it collect evidence and force the authorities into taking action. Personally, I would make a mini drone to record their bullying and share it to the media and force the authorities to act. You need to ask yourself if you simply want the bullying to stop or have satisfaction in revenge. In the end, it's your choice. I'm just a voice in your head."

Thanks for the advice, Mr Stark. I replied in a thankful tone. It's amazing to have you by my side.

"Well, I can't let a future hero hang out dry, can I? I'll help as much as I can before moving on. Might as well as give this world a push, even in death."

Thank you, Mr Stark. I closed my eyes, and faded into sleep. I have a plan now, and I'll do it as soon as tomorrow begins.

Note: The italics with the quotation mark belongs to the ghost, but the italics without quotation mark is me.

A.N

So I reread the first chapter and the prologue and found it cringey as fuck. Here comes the actual first chapter with more details because I hacked out those previous chapters in an hour. Have fun.

Last edited: Jun 23, 2022

1.2

26 March 2011

I woke up around 6.30 in the morning even though it's a weekend. As much as I would like to sleep in, tinkering waits for no one. The sooner I can finish coding the AI, the safer I will be. I plan to implement several protocols that will release canon information to important parties in the event of my untimely demise. That way, even if I die of bad luck, Earth Bet can still be saved. Tony taught me more about coding, polishing my computer even more.

"There we go, this is the best operating system our potato laptop can run now. I'll teach you how to code more utility programs later." Tony said.

Thanks, Tony. I replied. There's something that I noticed today. Whenever Tony is tinkering, the relevant knowledge seems to be… downloaded into my mind. I know and remember a lot of how Tony codes now. I still don't really understand how his code functions, but I have the "example" code on how to make an A.I like J.A.R.V.I.S in my mind now. Does this mean I am copying his knowledge through osmosis? Will I be able to retain his knowledge after he passes on?

A knock on the door broke me out of my musing. I glanced at the time on my laptop and put it away. It's 8 o'clock now, so it's probably Danny waking me up for breakfast. I give him a shout to let him know that I'm awake, then head downstairs for breakfast. Again, breakfast is a quiet affair. Taylor went back into her room when she finished her breakfast, and Danny headed out to work. I went back to my room, learning more programming from Tony and polishing my laptop's system.

We're running out of materials.

"I think it's time we hit the streets anyway. How much money do you have?" Tony asked.

Not much. I only have a hundred dollars or so, and I'm not sure if it's enough to buy everything I need. Will this be enough?

"Barely enough, I suppose." Tony reconsidered for a moment. "You know, maybe we can put the Arc Reactor on the backburner for a bit. Let's code an A.I instead."

That got me to raise an eyebrow. Why?

"Well, we need money to build my tech." Tony explained. "I can build some pretty amazing stuff out of household appliances, but it will never be remotely close to what I made when I was alive. What we need is money, money to buy industrial fabricators and materials. Money is what makes the world go round, and we have very little of it. Ergo, we need money. An A.I can solve that problem and so much more. You know how useful my A.I is, right?"

Yeah, of course I do. Iron Man's A.I is literally one of the most iconic A.I in the history of fiction. When I first saw digital assistants like Alexa or Siri, my first thought was wow, this looks like J.A.R.V.I.S. That's how iconic he is. Okay, I see your point. Are you going to hack into banks or do stock trading?

"Well…" Tony took a moment to think through his options. "Our current hardware in no way has the capacity to hack into banks and steal undetected. Stock trading sounds good, but you need capital to begin with. I was thinking more along the lines of being a digital vigilante, stealing from villains."

Hmm… Not a bad idea. I have some canon knowledge on the local supervillains, but I don't want to alert them to my presence. Can we steal from villains across the globe?

"Not with what we have now, but it wouldn't be hard if we have a starting capital to temporarily rent servers for more power. The more money we have, the more powerful our computer can become, and the more it can steal from villains. You get my line of thought now?"

Yes, yes I do. I can see the plan now. Hacking leads to money, money leads to more hacking power, and more hacking power leads to more money. We will need to be discreet, something Tony might not really grasp, but we can start ordering tools and materials once we have the money. Making an actual Iron Man suit won't be far from my grasp after that. My god, I actually have a chance of fulfilling my childhood dream of becoming Iron Man now!

Can we make the nanosuit after that? I asked excitedly.

"It's a little unfortunate, but I don't think so." Tony seems a little down at the mention of that. "My nanosuit uses a lot of exotic materials and technology, which I'm not sure if you can achieve in a few weeks. It needs a lot of gold-titanium alloy and my research into the Pym Particles, for one. I can recreate the particle with proper tools, but synthesizing the alloy isn't something you can do with the amount of money we can realistically get from hacking. It's too expensive."

Ahh… that's too bad. I guess it makes sense for the nanosuit to use so many exotic materials and technology. Tony literally pulled it out of nowhere in the movie, and I kept thinking about where all the extra mass came from when I was watching it, but using the Pym Particles makes sense. He probably did some digging and research after his fight with Ant-Man, and used it in shrinking his suits instead of shrinking himself.

"Back to the topic, we need to buy some more components to upgrade the laptop. Not that I couldn't hack with it, but having a more powerful computer will allow the A.I to hack faster."

Alright, guess I know what to buy today. I replied.

I knocked on Taylor's door. I need someone else to accompany me to the Downtown, since a twelve year old buying computer components all by himself is rather dangerous for me and suspicious to everyone else. I wouldn't want to risk gang members cornering me when I was out, so having Taylor around to protect me is the most logical choice. I felt kinda bad using Taylor like this, and mentally promised myself to make her some tinkertech gear when I can. The Spider-Man suit made by Tony sounds pretty good, though I will need to change the color scheme.

"Adam?" Taylor opened the door. "What's wrong?" She asked in a fairly neutral tone.

"I want to buy some stuff for my robotics project, can you take me to a mall?" I asked while imitating a children's tone to the best of my ability.

Taylor considered for a moment, and asked. "What do you want to buy?"

"Some computer components." Taylor frowned a little at that. "She might be thinking about how expensive that is. Say you have your own money." Toney supplied in my mind. "I have my own money so you wouldn't need to pay for them." I continued.

"I thought you had a laptop? Why do you need to buy a new computer?" Taylor questioned. Luckily, I have already prepared a response for this question in case Danny found out and asked about it.

"I'm not buying a new computer, just some parts to upgrade my laptop." I explained. "Individual components like RAM and graphic cards are cheaper than an entire computer."

Taylor thought for a few seconds, then nodded. "Sure, I need to show you around Brockton Bay anyway. Might as well do it now. Give me a few moments to change my clothes. We will take the bus."

A few minutes later, we were out of the house, with Taylor wearing a hoodie next to me. "So this part of the city is called the Docks." She glanced around our neighborhood. "If you head deeper, you will find some abandoned warehouses and the old trainyard. I heard it's gang territory, so we should avoid going there. Never head out alone, and always tell me or Dad if you want to go out. Brockton Bay is pretty dangerous compared to New York, so you have to be careful."

I nodded along, and Taylor continued her explanation. "Downtown is the safer part of the city, since the PRT building is there. There was a beach further down the city, but nobody really went there since you can barely see the Protectorate base from there. The best spot to see the base is the Boardwalk, so it's a huge tourist spot and can get really crowded."

We stepped on the bus as Taylor finished answering some of my own questions, like the exact location of the PRT building and the Boat Graveyard. It didn't take us long to arrive at the mall. We did some window shopping while heading towards the computer shop that I searched beforehand, but the crowd of people in the center of the mall caught our attention. I briefly wondered if there were any festivities in March, but the banner removed my suspicion.

Wards ENE Meet and Greet.

"So it's their child heroes, huh? Should've guessed that they do PR too." Tony commented. Taylor seems to be interested in the event.

Did you ever do PR when you were alive? I asked curiously.

"Well, I do. But not a meet and greet like this." Tony explained. "Mostly just donations to charities or talks at tech seminars or expos. I remember when Steve recorded a few state advertisements, I couldn't stop laughing when I found out how corny the lines are. Usually, I just let my money do its work to help people instead of myself."

True. I nodded. It's easier to help people when you have money to spare. Do you want to see them?

"Sure, why not?" Tony replied. "It would be pretty nice to see superheroes from another world, even if they are just kids."

"Taylor." I called out. "Can we go visit the Wards first?"

"Sure." Taylor nodded. "It will be nice to introduce you to the local Wards and heroes anyway."

We head towards the plaza. From what I can see, it was Vista, Aegis, Clockblocker and Velocity here. I was kinda glad that Shadow Stalker isn't here, since I'm not prepared to face her yet. Still, meeting the Wards here is a huge opportunity. Can I inform the Wards about Taylor's bullying here?

"Hmm… you would have to plan out how to tell them first." Tony replied. "Play up your "twelve year old child" angle. Try to sound excited to meet them, and sad about Taylor's bullying. You couldn't just tell them you know Shadow Stalker is bullying other kids in her school, since their identities are supposed to be protected from what you told me. You have to be careful around Taylor too, since she hasn't told you about her bullying yet."

Thanks for the advice, Tony. I will keep it in mind. I took some flyers from the workers . There were some PRT troopers standing around, obviously there to protect the Wards. The heroes are standing at different spots around the stage, each having their own line of crowds.

"Taylor, can you help me take an autograph from Clockblocker?" I asked. "I want to take a photograph with Velocity."

Taylor nodded. "Sure, just join me in the line when you're done. I don't want to lose you in the mall.

We took our separate paths after that. It took me a few minutes, but it was finally my turn to shake hands with the hero.

"Hey there, kid. Where's your parents?" Velocity asked in a friendly tone while crouching to my eye level.

"Taylor is getting Clockblocker's autograph for me." I answered in a tone as innocent as possible while pointing at his line. "Can you catch Taylor's bullies? She kept coming home with juice in her hair and bag. She said the school wasn't punishing the bullies because one of them has a lawyer for a father."

Velocity's mouth turned down for a moment, but it quickly disappeared into a reassuring smile. "Do you know which school she goes to? Maybe the names of her bullies?" He asked.

"I know she goes to Winslow, and I think the bully's names are Madison Clements, Emma Barnes and Sophia Hess." There wasn't any outward reaction that I can catch from Velocity at the mention of Shadow Stalker's name. "They poured juices on her sometimes, and Taylor said that they stole her mom's flute from her locker even though she locked it. Can you help her, Mr. Velocity? I don't want to see Taylor back in the hospital." Taylor Hebert probably won't end up in the hospital again, but saying she did will make it a more compelling sob story.

"I will do my best to help her, okay? Hero's promise" He replied while patting my shoulder. "Alright, do you want to take a photo, kid?" I nodded, and handed the worker beside us my phone. He snapped us a photo, gave me a goodie bag and sent me on my merry way. I grouped up with Taylor, who was still in line for Clockblocker's autograph.

"Did you get your photograph?" Taylor asked me.

"Yeah." I replied. "Meeting a hero is pretty cool."

"I'm glad you're happy." Taylor gave me a smile that was slightly forced. Still, I think I did a pretty good job. If Velocity works fast and is actually competent, Taylor's bullying issue might solve itself by next week. Yet some part of my mind just couldn't think of how everything else will go wrong first. Velocity might not investigate it himself and hand it over to Armsmaster. Or he might question Sophia first, alerting her that someone is telling the PRT about her actions. Coil might somehow catch wind of me.

"You did pretty great if I say so myself, Adam." Tony voiced out to assuage my worries. "Sometimes, you can't solve everything by yourself. It's best to let the authorities do their thing so that we can focus on what's important to us. Like getting that CPU so that we can start playing black hats."

Right, Tony. Thanks. "Thank you for bringing me here, Taylor."

"You're welcome." Taylor replied politely.

"Are you sure this is what you want to buy, Adam? I thought you said you were going to buy components." Taylor asked skeptically as we walked out of the computer shop.

"Well, buying a second-hand computer like this is cheaper than buying the components individually." I didn't mention that I was going to strip it down for parts at the store to avoid suspicion. I also bought an extra bag of LEDs as a cover for my "robotics project". "I can just take out the parts I want and keep the rest for spares. Who knows, I might be able to upgrade your computer so that it doesn't run on Win95. Who uses that in 2011 anyway?"

"Well, I didn't really use my computer much, other than for homework and research." Taylor retorted. "I don't think you can do much anyway. We use dial-up at home, and data plans are expensive."

"Really, lady? I will have you know that I made a fusion reactor in a cave, with a box of scraps!" Tony replied sarcastically . "Free, high speed Wi-Fi is a piece of cake for me!"

So you can give the house free Wi-Fi?

"It's not really that hard. Besides, we need a stronger internet connection to hack efficiently anyway. This is just hitting two birds with one stone."

Cool. "What do you think we will have for dinner today?"

"Spaghetti, maybe?" Taylor tilted her head a little. "Maybe Dad will cook some lasagna. It's been a while since we had that." She replied as we boarded the bus. Nothing really happened on our way home. Taylor told me more about Brockton Bay, such as places that were hotspots for gang activity. Most of it was simply rumors, though. Nothing concrete since the gangs wouldn't just hang their symbol on storefronts, just vandalize alley walls or windows.

"You shouldn't spend all your money like that, Adam." Danny chided over dinner. He cooked us some burgers, which feels unusual for a dinner since I am an Asian. Rice is such a staple in my diet that not eating any for days is starting to feel uncomfortable for me. I should look into getting a rice cooker soon.

We told him about our trip to the mall, and he seems to be happy that Taylor and I are getting along.

"Well, I really wanted to fix my laptop as soon as possible, and I got some spare parts out of it for my project." I replied. "Plus, I don't really spend money in general, so I decided to save it for things I want and can afford."

"It's been such a long time since I learned accounting and restraint on spending." Tony voiced in my head.

"You learned restraint in spending?" I replied, a little surprised.

"Well, I ran one of the largest conglomerates in the world when I was alive. I'm rich, but I don't have unlimited money. It's easy to overspend when you're as rich as me."

I see. I bite down on the burger, till getting used to the taste of pickles.

Danny let out a little sigh. "Okay, okay. Just remember to control your budget, alright?" I nodded. "So, what are you working on?"

I swallowed my burger. "I am making a LED cube." Danny raised an eyebrow in confusion, and so did Taylor. "I'll show you when I am done. It's kind of hard to describe."

Dinner continued, and I went back to my room to continue tinkering after taking a bath. I didn't lie to Danny, though. I am really making a LED cube, but only as a quick side project. With Tony instructing me from my side, soldering all those LEDs together took practically no time at all. It took me a week to properly solder a 3x3x3 LED cube when I was learning how to make it, and I made a 5x5x5 LED cube here in just 30 minutes.

"I told you it's easy." Tony said with a smug tone.

Didn't realize just how convenient my power is. I replied. When I suggested making a LED cube as our cover, I expected it to take me at least a week to finish it, since I was just doing it as a side project.

"LED cubes are a good beginner lesson for soldering. It's a nice gizmo to put in your room, too. I remember making my first remote race car when I was your age." Tony said with a hint of nostalgia. "Alright, let's get back to proper work. With how your "power" works, we should be able to finish upgrading it tonight."

Alright.

27 March 2011

I followed my schedule from yesterday. I went to sleep after implementing upgrades on my laptop using the parts I bought, with Tony remarking how the resulting performance of my new laptop is "a cocktail of impossible and possible". We finished the framework for my hacking V.I this morning. It wasn't anything close to J.A.R.V.I.S since all it can do is hack, but it will be enough. I hope to finish the program today, because I am going back to school tomorrow, something both Tony and I are dreading.

Danny made some sandwiches for breakfast and I exchanged some pleasantries before going back to tinkering in my room. The sooner the program is finished, the sooner Tony and I can do proper tinkering. The kind that made power armors and fusion reactors. I didn't wake up from my fugue until it was almost 5 o'clock.

"Finally, it is done. Whooo!" Tony cheered in my head. I had a big smile on my face as well.

The program was finally done. An autonomous hacker, capable of hacking into nearly all commercially available digital security. It wasn't the best hacking program Tony made, but it is the best I can do for now.

Alright, let's begin our fund collecting. I voiced in my head.

"Who are you going to target first, Adam?" Tony asked with a hint of expectation in his voice.

Hmm… I gave the topic some thought, and decided to go with the most acceptable option. I searched up the biggest employing company in Brockton Bay on my computer. A white, shining tower of healthcare and prosperity came up on my search. How do you feel about stealing from Nazis?.

"Ah, Nazis. You can never go wrong with them as your first target." Tony replied tastefully.

Medhall Corporation shall be my first target.

A.N: Hey guys, long time no see. This chapter was supposed to be finished much sooner, but immediately after my exam is finished, I began to play the games in my back log. The first I played is NieR: Automata, and I am still playing it now. Incredibly fun game, and I am still on route B. I am playing the game in part because I heard it got an incredible story, and also to prepare for the eventual tech tree implementation in the story. So sorry, your chapters are going to be uploaded at a much slower pace compared to my old fic. I was worried that I couldn't get Tony and Taylor's characterization right, so any feed is appreciated.

Last edited: Aug 24, 2022

1.3

27 March 2011

"Now we just sit back, relax, and wake up next morning with money to spare. Well, not really, since we still have to buy the materials and a plot of land, but you get the idea." Tony said in a relaxing tone within my mind.

It's a lot easier to steal from the Empire when you know that the gang boss is the fucking CEO of the biggest company in Brockton Bay. I compiled a list of names and companies for the program to track and collect intel on their modus operandi. I am interested in learning how actual money laundering works, and I don't want to steal from every company related to Medhall since I am sure that some of them were not actually involved in the money laundering, believing that they are trading with a company of good repute. Still, it takes time for the program to execute the task, so I head downstairs to read the books Taylor gave me instead.

"There's something about paperback books that are just irreplaceable by e-books. Maybe it's the weight of the book in your hand, or maybe it's just that I don't want to get short-sightedness." Tony mused.

I agree. As much as I read from my phone and my computer, I still prefer to read from paperback if possible. Thinking about books got me remembering about the artbooks I ordered when I was still alive. A shame I will never get to read them now.

I walked downstairs and saw Taylor reading a book of her own on the couch. I sat on the other couch, reading my own book in silence. It was a sci-fi novel, about a spacefaring civilization and their war against a parasitic species. It's kind of hard to enjoy a sci-fi book when Tony is pointing out every technology inconsistency he can find.

"That's just plain wrong. You can't just mix different fuels like it was a cocktail and expect it to work. It's just going to blow up your fuel tank. Can we stop reading this? I can teach you how to make my more mundane suits instead." Tony suggested.

I closed my book. Sure. Do we need the computer?

"No. Just some paper and pencil is fine. I'll tell you about how some of my internal motors and pistons work. We can train your hand while we're at it."

Alright. I can just shred the paper later to avoid anyone from finding evidence that I'm a tinker. I moved to the dining table to draw with Tony giving instructions in my head. He had me draw out blueprints for internal components and circuitry maps, as well as giving me a lesson on power output calculation. Voltage and current have always been a headache for me in my physics class despite my ambition to become an engineer.

"What are you drawing here?" Taylor asked behind me, giving me a jump of surprise.

"Oh, just some doodles." I pointed at some actual random doodles. "I want to make power armor when I grow up!"

Taylor gave me a smale smile while patting my head. "You do you, Adam. Do you want some color pencils? I have some in my room."

"Sure. Thanks, Taylor." I replied politely, and continued drawing.

"You sure she won't get suspicious?" Tony asked.

I don't think so. It probably looked like your typical preteen robot drawings to her anyway.

"I hope you're right, kid."

"Adam, you are going to start school tomorrow." Danny mentioned during dinner. "You're going to Brockton Bay Middle School. It's in Downtown, so I will have to drive you there."

Ah, school. Not that I hate school or anything, since I was still a teenager before I came here, but the fact that I still have to go to school still irks me. American schools have a reputation, even more so since I knew about Winslow.

"I'm not looking forward to middle school again." Tony complained.

Me too, Tony. Me too.

"It's not a bad school." Taylor tried to assuage my worries. "The teachers are pretty nice."

"You sure it's not an honor student bias there?" I asked.

Taylor opened her mouth to reply, but stopped herself and furrowed her brow instead, thinking about what I just said.

"Here's to hoping school doesn't suck." I raised my cup of water and drank all of it.

"Why did you say that? Now you just jinxed us." Tony groaned.

Oh no.

Hacking with Tony is an eye-opening experience for me.

I didn't really know much about hacking, other than some amateurish attempts to modify game files to cheat. Cyber theft is much more complicated than that, especially since we were hacking multiple companies at once. I thought we were going to hack into the bank, but Tony showed me a much easier way to get the money.

Worms.

Banks have a fairly robust firewall, but civilian companies like Medhall on the other hand have commercially available, common and exploitable cybersecurity. The program planted stealth worms that will infiltrate and spread through Medhall's computer systems. The worms will compile and analyze various accounts and product manifests. This is the evidence that Medhal has been laundering money and illegally importing drugs, and it could potentially bring the entire company down.

But not before I steal all the money I can, of course.

Speaking of money laundering, I also set the program to track down Calvert's companies and properties, which is significantly harder than tracking Medhal, but not enough to deter me. I'm sure that Coil has his own Number Man account, but I want to keep an eye on him just in case.

"I really have to scratch my head at how nobody put two and two together. Medhall? Mead hall? The guy that started the gang must be really proud that nobody figured it out." Tony joked in my head.

Yeah, me too. Guess bribery is truly one of the biggest crimes of society. I am making a catalog of all the companies and accounts I will steal from. Damn, even the cleaning office is part of the money laundering. Most of the janitors are actually gang members, and they don't actually take cleaning contracts, just receive the salary to launder the money. It also allows them to pay legal taxes for their work with the gang. All of this is just the tip of the iceberg, too.

Should we expose ourselves and take credit for the stealing? The company is bound to notice all the missing money and make news out of it. I asked.

"I think you should. Send all these records to the police and the heroes after you steal the money to make them think that you are a vigilante instead of a villain. In fact, you should make a Youtube video explaining every piece of evidence. The internet loves influencers and truth seekers, and you get to take the initiative in PR." Tony suggested enthusiastically. "Make people think you are a hero exposing corruption, not a villain stealing from the hospitals. It goes a long way in your heroic career."

Hmm… thanks for the advice, Tony. I guess I should make a PHO account for my cape identity later.

As fast and powerful as my program is, I will have to wait until tomorrow to begin stealing the money. I want to make sure that every company and person involved with the gang will be prosecuted and investigated without fail. I can't release Kaiser's civilian identity, but I sure as hell can make sure Max Anders will forever have a stain on his name.

I yawned, and closed the computer. I have school tomorrow, so I guess I'll go to bed early tonight, trying to ignore the growing nervousness and trepidation in my heart for tomorrow.

"Students, may I have your attention please?" The teacher called behind her desk. "We have a transfer student today. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

I straightened my back a little more. "My name is Adam Danvers. I moved from New York. Nice to meet you."

"That's a boring introduction." Tony commented.

Simple is more. I quoted from a camp mentor I met when I was young. I find this a useful quote that has saved me a lot of headaches in my life.

"That's what ordinary people say. Simple works best for them because they couldn't handle complicated things." Tony scoffed. "People mess up when things become complicated, so they stick to being simple."

"Your seat is over there." The teacher pointed at an empty seat in the classroom. I nodded, and headed towards the seat. I can see some kids starting to gossip quietly among themselves, occasionally stealing glances at me.

The teacher clapped her hands to capture our attention. "Okay, so today…"

School is… surprisingly boring.

American schools have the students move to the classrooms according to the subject for the teacher, whereas my old school had the teachers move to classrooms with a fixed amount of students. A new experience, but nothing noteworthy. History class is the most interesting, since I was not an American citizen before coming here. English is a little challenging, science and math are super easy when I already learned about cellular organization and integration. Plus, I have Tony Stark in my head.

Still boring though.

I spent most of the classes chatting with Tony, but some teachers thought I was daydreaming and called me out. Not that it mattered, since both Tony and I are well beyond the middle school syllabus. I answered the questions perfectly and went back to chatting with Tony, listening about his experiences as Iron Man. As the school bell rang, I left the school to head back home.

Tony yawned. "God, that was boring."

School is always boring, especially if you already graduated.

"How's school today, Adam?" Danny asked as I entered the car.

"Kind of boring, but that's how school always is." I replied.

"Kids always think school is boring. I thought school was some sort of brainwashing center by villains when I was your age. Had too many comics, back then." Danny chuckled with a tone of nostalgia.

"He's not wrong about the brainwashing part." Tony said.

"But you still need to do well in your studies, okay?" Danny continued as he turned the car down a corner. "I don't regret my past, but… I've seen people who do. I've seen a lot of people regretting their younger days, saying they should have tried harder or played less."

Tony stayed silent at that. "Sure, Uncle Danny. Thanks for the advice."

It didn't take us long to reach our house. "I still have work to do, so I'm dropping you home first. There's lunch on the table, and it should still be hot if you eat now. Taylor's coming home soon, so leave some for her, okay?" Danny asked. I nodded, and he drove off to the Docks.

I ate my lunch as fast as possible and zoomed to my room. My program should be done collecting all the evidence and passwords I need now. Staring at the amount of money I can steal, I felt my mouth dry.

"20 million dollars…" I whispered.

I can steal 20 million dollars from Medhall and all the companies that laundered money for a white supremacist gang. All I need to do now is press enter and my program will transfer all the money through various bank accounts, getting out of their grasp.

"Only 20 million? Right, we're just stealing liquid assets. Almost forgot about that." Tony commented.

I am jealous that you can say "only" 20 million dollars. I replied.

"Stark Industries is a multi-billion company, even before I took it over." I can feel Tony's smirk. "I pride myself in making the company as cost efficient as possible. Still, are you sure you are ready to do this, Adam?"

I frowned. Why are you asking that now?

"Stealing all these liquid assets and exposing their laundering will effectively make all these companies bankrupt. That means layoffs and thousands of people losing their jobs. Are you ready to do that? To people who don't actually know they are working for nazis?"

My heart froze. I didn't consider that.

"Take this as a lesson, Adam. You need to look at the big picture when you are dealing with big opponents. It's oh so easy for innocents to get caught in crossfire when you are doing hero work, even if it's only hacking. I'll ask again, are you ready to take responsibility for your actions?"

Responsibility, huh?

Tony's time with me is limited. We might have made this kickass laptop, but it's nothing compared to what Tony can really do. I need resources to truly utilize Tony's knowledge to its fullest potential. With the apocalypse on the horizon, I cannot pull my punches. I need that money.

Yes.

I tapped my keyboard, and 20 million dollars were gone from 12 companies in Brockton Bay.

Last edited: May 9, 2022

1.4

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Topic: Empire Eighty Eight various corporation money laundering evidence compilation

In: Boards General North America Brockton Bay

nameless tinker d (Original Poster)

Posted on March 28, 2011:

Evidence that Medhall Corporation, Rapid Transports, BnT Express, Johnson & Michael Law Firm, Fliescher Pharmaceuticals, Ocean Cleaning, Weisser Construction, Garland Imports, Freyla Insurance, Rendall Interiors, Sunrise Publishing and Braun Firearms are laundering money for Brockton Bay white supremacist and nazi gang known as the Empire Eighty Eight.

medhall.zip

firearms.zip

banks.zip

insurance.zip

taxes.zip

(Showing Page 1 of 2)

Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)

Replied on March 28, 2011

You're saying that Medhall, the biggest company in BB is funding the local Nazis? BnT and Rendall too?

What the fuck?

Lasersmile

Replied on March 28, 2011:

Is this for real? I actually use BnT's services a lot. Are you telling me that I'm supporting the Nazis by buying dog food? Oh my god.

XxVoid_CowboyxX

Replied on March 28, 2011:

I fucking knew it! I called this on Kaiser's thread a long time ago! None of you believed me! Ha! KAISER IS MAX ANDERS! It's how the Nazis keep getting money!

End of Page. 1

"I think it's a smearing campaign. Somebody planted the evidence there to frame the companies." Danny commented as we watched the news on the sofa. By the time he came home for dinner, radio stations everywhere were reporting the Nazi money laundering circle. I made sure it will.

I didn't just post the evidence on PHO, because that will be stupid. No, I sent it to everyone. IRS? FBI? TTC? I sent the evidence to all of them, since I don't really trust the local police and PRT enough. Oh, I sent it to every TV station, radio station and newspaper publisher on the east coast as well. Everyone from Miami to Portland will be hearing about this, even if it doesn't affect them. Kaiser might be able to bribe his way through the local authorities, but I doubt he can bribe everyone I sent his way, not after I made such a big splash about it.

"We'll just have to let the authorities do their thing. I'm sure Medhall will be fine if they really didn't do all these bad things." I replied.

"It wasn't just about the truth. Medhall's stocks are going to crash after this." Danny explained. "There are other companies as well. Their names will be smeared, and profits will suffer. We might see the biggest layoff ever since the bombings at Boat Graveyard next week. People will lose their jobs, and they will go to the gangs in desperation. Things are going to get worse in the city soon."

"Oh." Right. Tony warned me about that.

"Did you read the files that cape posted?" Taylor asked Danny. She was watching the news with us as well. "He posted some files on PHO, claiming it's evidence. I think he wants everyone to see it for themselves."

Danny shaked his head. "I don't think I will. It's not like I can do anything about it, anyway. Even if the evidence is real, I can't just walk up to Medhall and arrest them. Like Adam said, let the authorities do their thing."

"That's how Hydra infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony said sadly. "Everyone thinks it's not their business, so they ignore it. It gave Hydra the opening it needs to live on."

The TV now shows a couple of news reporters crowding in front of Medhall Tower, where a crew of investigators can be seen entering and leaving with large crates of folders in trolleys. The camera then switched to several other office buildings where the same thing was happening.

"It's just hard to believe, you know?" Danny spoke up. "I worked with some of these companies. When some dockworkers got laid off, I told them to try and apply for Rapid and BnT. They had been around since I was young. I thought I could trust them."

I stayed silent. Danny's mindset isn't really that uncommon. Most consumers will believe that they can trust old and big companies. Somewhere along the way, we start to relate a company's success with quality, and assume that big companies are more honest and less likely to lie to consumers.

It's hilarious how wrong we are.

Now that we have the money, what should we build first? I asked Tony in my room while auditing all the money we had stolen.

"It depends. Do you really want the armor?" Tony asked.

… No. I prefer to sit back and let others do the fighting if possible. I replied. As cool as fighting in a suit sounds, I don't think I'm ready for it yet. Risking my life to fight doesn't sound appealing.

"Let others fight for you, huh?" Tony mused. "How do drones sound?"

Drones… Edith?

"You know about her?" Tony replied in surprise. "I left it to Peter, do you know what he did with Edith? I'm dying to know here."

It's a bit of a long story…

I spent some time explaining what happened to Tony. He sounds very angry when I'm done.

"That asshole. My whole point of becoming Iron Man is to reform Stark Industries! Of course I wouldn't militarize the projection technology!" Tony exclaimed. " He called me stupid for using it in "mere therapy"? Did he think I chose it on a whim or something? I could have applied the technology in the cinema instead! Theme parks! Anything! I chose therapy because I know how important it is to people. Ugh."

Well, there's a reason he's not the genius, I guess. I replied. Still, his whole "Mysterio" idea did fool Fury and Shield pretty well. Maybe we can learn from it?

"… Yeah, I can see how it works. I designed the drones to be a stalling army against invaders like Thanos, but combining it with my projection tech… Yeah. We can do it. The whole point of this "Unwritten Rules" is to hide behind masks, right? The drones can hide themselves behind projections. They wouldn't do much against exotic powers but it's fine since we're just dealing with street crime for now." Tony replied after some consideration.

Alright. What do we need to buy and where do we buy it from?

"Open up Toybox. I want to see what they have to offer."

Sure. I opened Toybox's website from our laptop. Despite being a black market organization, Toybox actually isn't as villainous as it sounds. From what I can see here, Toybox markets itself as a rogue organization, providing service to anyone that can pay. Skill downloading, rapid building construction, exotic fireworks, cryogenics and many more tinker products and services can be found here, though it is pretty expensive, even with the money I have now.

"Hmm… I was hoping they sell some cheaper stuff that we can study. Do they have some sort of starter kit we can buy with express delivery? Time is our most valuable resource here."

Hmm… here. Toybox sells tinker resource kits in various price ranges from their website, promising absolute anonymity and stellar delivery. There are starter packages which include circuitry and basic tools, but also expensive packages that contain rare metals and fabricators. Most of them are actually mundane components that can be used by anyone, but a tinker can find a lot of use in them.

"Set D, Type F." Tony pointed out. "It has fabricators and tools I need to make the Arc Reactor. It is cheaper to buy materials from somewhere else, but the fabricators are surprisingly cheap here."

Alright. I tapped my keyboard and bought the packages Tony requested. Any ideas for our base of operations?

"A warehouse will do for now. I can design construction drones to build a proper base later, but we need a line of production first. We also need server farms if we want to do real hacking. I'm going to teach you how to make quantum processors."

Okay.

"Now, set the programs to contact these suppliers and make our order tomorrow…"

30 March 2011

It's been two days since our debut as a cape. We ordered a large amount of materials, so it will take a few days to arrive at our current base of operation. Tony and I scouted out a few abandoned warehouses in the Docks to be our base. Legally, the warehouses have been sold by its original owner to an entrepreneur from Singapore, so the property belongs to me by proxy now.

Things are pretty hectic in Brockton Bay as well. PRT officially labeled me as a vigilante, and all the companies I exposed have been shut down for investigation. Max Anders had a news conference denying his involvement and promising to cooperate for investigation, though the evidence I uploaded made a lot of people online calling it bullshit. Someone even threw eggs and tomatoes at him during the conference.

Nothing noteworthy happened in school. Since the lessons are pretty useless for us, I decided to zone out during class and have Tony teach me all the physics and engineering related for our drone project instead.

I still don't understand this. I snapped in frustration.

"It's not your problem. You said you only reached highschool before, right? This is highly advanced physics used in cutting edge technology here. And that's by my standards. You wouldn't find what I am teaching you anywhere in the world." Tony replied. "At least you know how to use the knowledge, even if you don't understand it. Wouldn't want you to forget how to make my tech after I passed on."

The bell rang, and school was finally over. As usual, Danny took me home in his car, though I noticed that he seemed rather cheerful.

"Taylor is getting a transfer to Arcadia next week, so you can go to school on the bus with her since your school is pretty close to Arcadia." Danny said as he turned the car around a corner. "You're going to take the bus with Taylor to go home too."

I nodded. "It's fine. Why is she transferring this late in the year, anyway?" I asked.

Danny had a deep sigh. "There was… an incident at the start of the year. The police got involved, and they finally got enough evidence to give Taylor justice. The Department of Education got wind of it, and decided to fast track her transfer so that we don't sue the school. I'm just glad that Taylor can finally leave Winslow. She originally could have entered Arcadia, but went to Winslow instead because of her friend."

"Sounds like something happened behind the scenes." Tony commented.

Probably the PRT. I replied. They probably want to have Taylor under supervision in case she is a parahuman. If the PRT is involved, then so will Calvert. We need to accelerate our plan to expose him.

"I don't think our hacking will cut it." Tony said regretfully. "Our investigations showed that there is very little digital footprint connecting all the money laundering we found to Thomas Calvert. We need more concrete evidence if we want him to face justice, otherwise he'll just go low and spring back up like Hydra."

Concrete evidence, huh? I mused. The sooner we made the drones, the better. They can collect all the evidence we need.

31 March 2011

The fabricators from Toybox and the first batch of materials we ordered are going to arrive today. We can finally do some proper Stark tech tinkering. I have to make an effort to not smile like a loony when I woke up this morning. The materials we ordered are going to be delivered to one of the warehouses we bought, while the fabricators are delivered to the warehouse next to it. It's to avoid suspicions from the material suppliers, though telling them to deposit the orders in the warehouse and leave without anyone to receive them is pretty suspicious on its own. Tony already taught me the blueprints of drones yesterday, and we designed a new type of salvaging and repairing drone together. I almost skipped my way out of school from sheer excitement, though something has been plaguing my mind.

I think it's time to tell Taylor about my powers.

"About time!" To my surprise, Tony didn't disagree. "Secret identities are a chore to maintain anyway. You wouldn't believe how many times Peter almost exposed his identity if it wasn't for me and F.R.I.D.A.Y. How do you want to tell her?"

Just tell her I am a tinker and I need her help? I confessed. Honesty is the best policy, right?

"You need some leverage." Tony began to explain. "A promise of benefits. You can promise that you will clean up the gangs and make money for the house. You already have a reputation of fighting Nazis, so she won't think that you are being a villain. Start improving her life from small things, like a better computer, a better internet connection. Make her feel like she has a personal investment and moral obligation in helping you."

That sounds like manipulating her. I replied uncomfortably.

"There is a difference between manipulation and pushing people to do the right thing." Tony replied. "Did you really think Natasha and Clint stayed in the Avengers without Nick pushing them from behind?"

I… guess that makes sense?

"Good. Now get ready to tell Taylor your identity. It's a bit of a shame we didn't have anything to show off to her, so I guess 20 million dollars will have to do."

That will work. I smirked a little.

"Adam!" Taylor called me out. Since she quit Winslow and doesn't have school for the rest of the week, Danny suggested that she take me home for this Thursday and Friday to familiarize me with the bus routes.

"You look pretty happy. Did something happen in school?" Taylor asked while she walked me to the bus station.

"I finished my homework early today, so I have more free time." I replied. Not exactly a lie. "You look pretty happy too."

Taylor gave me a small smile. "A break from school will do that to you. Let's go, we're having lasagna for lunch today."

As I gazed at the cityscape zooming by me on the bus, I kept thinking about how I wanted to reveal myself to Taylor. Variations of opening sentences fly across my head, and I keep thinking about how Taylor will react. She might work with me, or she might work against me. It all depends on how I talk to her.

"What do you think of that situation with the Empire? They had their hands in so many businesses throughout the city it's hard to believe." I asked Taylor.

"Well, it's good that they are exposed now, right?" Taylor answered after giving it some thought. "At least the companies are all under investigation now, so I hope the heroes can take the opportunity to clean up the gang."

"What about the hacker that stole all their money?" I asked with some trepidation in my heart.

"I don't think he is a good guy." Taylor frowned, and I have to stop myself from frowning as well. "I mean, don't get me wrong, people are happy that he exposed their corruption, but why did he steal all their money as well? It feels like he is using fighting Nazis as an excuse to steal money from those companies."

"Well, she's not wrong." Tony chimed in. "She just doesn't understand how important that money is to us."

True.

"Maybe he needs the money and chose an acceptable target." I replied to Taylor. "Besides, I think a lot of people are underestimating how important the companies are to the gang. They laundered millions of dollars, you know? Medhall is supplying them drugs too."

"Huh, I didn't know that." Taylor paused for a moment. "Did you read all the files the hacker uploaded? I just skimmed through it, and I don't really understand most of it."

"I heard it from my friends in school." I gave an easy lie. "I think it's real, though."

"Don't just trust any rumors you heard." Taylor chided. "Rumors can hurt people." She added in a melancholic tone.

It didn't take us long to arrive at our house. The lasagna is pretty delicious, but I couldn't help but feel nervous about telling Taylor that I am a tinker. Having her help is the best possible outcome, but if she refuses and decides to tell Danny or the PRT, I might have to go on the run. Working with the authorities simply isn't a viable option if I want to use my power to it's fullest potential.

"Are you ready, Adam?" Tony asked inside my mind.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. Yes.

"Taylor? I need to tell you something." I tried to avoid stuttering. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Taylor closed her book and turned around to look at me. "What is it, Adam?"

"I have powers." I said as clearly as possible.

A few moments passed by. I can see Taylor tensing up and thinking about what I just told her.

"Are you serious, Adam?" Taylor asked me in a tense tone. "Err… what's your power?"

"I'm a tinker. I upgraded my computer before." I said as I turned my laptop to face her.

"You're a tinker? Like Armsmaster?" She asked me slowly again, and I nodded in confirmation.

"Keep talking about your goals. Don't let her come to her own conclusions." Tony supplied from my mind.

"I want to be a hero, but I don't want to join the Wards." I explained while following Tony's advice. "I don't think they will do anything to fix the Bay other than being mascots."

"Alright, I guess that's fair." Taylor replied nervously. "Wait, is the LED cube tinkertech?" She asked while pointing at the cube that is decorating the television shelf.

"No, that's just a normal LED cube." I denied. "I need your help to carry some materials. They're too heavy for me."

"Okay? Where is it?" Taylor asked in a hesitant tone.

"It's in a warehouse in the Docks. Come on, I'll take you there." I answered.

It didn't really take us long to arrive at the warehouse. It is pretty empty and dilapidated inside, other than the crates of materials stacked in the middle of the empty space. The warehouse itself have no running water or electricity, something I intend to fix as soon as possible

"Where did you even get all the money to buy this stuff? I can tell that we probably couldn't afford any of this." Taylor asked while gawking at the crates. There are enough of them covering half of the warehouse even though most of them weren't stacked on top of each other. A special note I gave to the delivery company. "Also, how are you using this warehouse? Did you rent it or something?"

"I stole some money from companies who are laundering money for the gang." I said while pushing a trolley towards Taylor. "I need you to move these two crates to the warehouse on the left. I got more stuff there." I ordered while opening some of the crates to retrieve some materials I need for today.

"Wait, are you the hacker that got on the news this Monday?"

I placed another crate on the trolley. "Yeah, that's me."

"How much did this cost? The news said that you stole over ten million dollars." Taylor questioned as she pushed the trolley into the second warehouse that I opened for her.

"I "repurposed" 20 million dollars, and have 15 million dollars left after buying everything I need for my cape debut." I answered.

"20 million dollars?" Taylor asked in disbelief. "That's… wow. We can pay off the mortgage for the house, and pay for college funds for both of us…"

"That's not going to happen." I shot down Taylor's line of thought. "It will be weird if we have a large amount of money out of nowhere. It's why gangs launder money in the first place. We have to launder it first if we ever want to use it publicly."

"Oh." Taylor sighed dejectedly. "Should have known that things weren't so easy. What are you going to build with all of this, anyway?" She gestured at the crates that we moved around.

I pulled the tarp off the fabricator in the middle of the warehouse. "Well, I'm going to build a power generator first, then build an assembly line. I'm making drones to fight for me."

Taylor looked at me with a confused expression. "You're not going to go out there and fight by yourself? Couldn't you make power armor or a laser gun?"

I shrugged. "I don't want to risk my life in the field. I can make you a power armor if you want, but it's going to take some time since I need to set up security around here first."

"A… power armor for me?"

"Power armors are easier to make for me. I can make them in a cave with a box of scraps if I want to." I explained. "It wouldn't be hard for me to make one for you if you want to go outside and be a hero."

"Is that a reference to the Mark 1?" Tony piped up.

Yes.

"I should have used that sentence in my biography."

Obadiah said it first.

"Well, it's still a cool sentence. I'm not going to let him ruin it for me."

"You're… willing to do that for me?" Taylor asked in disbelief. "Why?"

I brought some of the parts to the table and began soldering them together. "I need something to bribe you with so that you don't tell Uncle Danny. And, well… I don't want to do this alone. Cleaning up this city will be hard enough without doing it alone."

Taylor stayed in silence after that, so I continued tinkering in silence as well. It didn't take me long to complete an Arc Reactor and connect it to the fabricator to produce parts for the assembly line. I plan to leave the fabricator running overnight and put the parts together tomorrow when more materials will arrive. I need to create a drone army as soon as possible to secure the warehouse, since everything will be over if Coil or any of the gangs catches wind of this.

"The power output is higher than what I calculated, and there are parts of the reactor that I don't recognize even though I built it. Man, I hate this alien tinker bullshit." Tony complained in frustration. "Matter manipulation from a higher dimension, huh? That sounds like something Strange would deal with."

"What's the time?" I asked Taylor after finishing a plasma repulsor gauntlet that is concealed as a wristwatch. It only has a battery with limited shots, but it's something I can use as an emergency weapon.

"7 o'clock, so dad is coming home. We can stay here a little longer." Taylor replied.

"No, we can go home now. I'm done for today, and we can continue tomorrow."

Taylor and I got home before Danny, and we managed to keep our outing under the wraps. I watched the TV for a while with the family before going back to my room to draw more blueprints for future reference.

"Alright, this is how you design the modular ports on the Mark 44. All my future suits afterwards have the same ports in case I need to fight Banner again." Tony guided me as I drew the blueprints in my laptop. A knock on the door broke me out of my working fugue.

"Adam? Can I come in?" Taylor asked,

"Sure." I opened the door and let her in. Taylor entered my room and sat on my chair, while I remained in my bed. "I… I have something I need to tell you as well." She rubbed her arm nervously. "I have powers too."

"… Oh." I faked my surprise by intentionally widening my eyes and sat down on my bed with a huff. "What's your power?"

"I can control bugs." She opened the window and waved her hand around, letting a group of butterflies, moths and cockroaches fly into my room in an orderly fashion.

"That's impressive." Tony commented. "I know Ant-man can only control ants, so she definitely has more variety than him."

"This is amazing and all, but can you get the cockroaches out of my room?" I backed away from the swarm. "It's… dirty."

Wordlessly, Taylor directed the swarm out of my room. "I want to be a hero too, but I don't want to join the Wards because I want to avoid teenage drama."

"Mmh, that's understandable." I nodded in agreement. "So you agree to work with me, then?"

Taylor nodded. "Yeah. You'll supply me tinkertech and support, and I'll lead your drones to the gangs. You still need a real person to talk to the police and stuff, right?" She asked.

I offered her my hand. "So I'll be backline support, and you will be the frontline fighter. Deal?"

Taylor grabbed my hand and shaked it. "Deal."

I smiled. "This is going to be a wonderful partnership."

This chapter took a long time because most of it simply didn't feel right at first. Huge thanks to Magus Zanin for beta reading this fic and providing a lot of advice and support.

Last edited: Aug 15, 2022

Interlude: Kaiser

March 31 2011

Max Anders grabbed a shot of whiskey as he walked around his office and gazed upon Brockton Bay. He took a deep breath and downed the shot.

Things have gotten worse for him in recent times, but he wasn't cornered into a dead end. Empire Eighty-Eight has lost the connection to Medhall and all the various companies to launder money for the gang, but it can still operate without them. While it was a shame that Garland and Sunrise was shut down for investigations, he can still accept their losses as something inevitable due to Nameless Tinker D. He couldn't change what happened, so he made the best out of it. Some managers and employees that he always believed to be incompetent has been framed to take the fall for him, allowing him to replace those positions with favored new blood.

Empire Eighty-Eight lost Medhall, but it still stands and still belongs to Max Anders. He has to establish another money laundering scheme, and that's fine with him. His effort to separate Max Anders from Empire Eighty-Eight has worked, and it will work again. The authorities might be cautious of him, but they can't do anything without concrete proof, and even the complete collapse of their money laundering couldn't convict him. He already devoted so much of his life for the Empire, what's a few more years of hard work?

A stalemate. That's all that can be said about Empire Eight-Eight's conception by Allfather. When he was young, Allfather was stuck in a stalemate with Marquis and The Teeth, but Slaughterhouse Nine broke the stalemate. The Teeth were driven away, Marquis was defeated by the Brockton Bay Brigade, his father and sister were gone. It was supposed to be his time to lead the Empire into dominating Brockton Bay.

But alas, things never seem to go his way. His wife fell victim to the Nine, and her final gift was nothing but a disappointment to the Empire. Kayden couldn't accept him for who he really is and took his daughter away. He originally planned to accumulate power with Medhall and remove the Boat Graveyard, but Lung's existence has scared away any prospective investors in the venture. Downtown was the center of Brockton Bay's economy, yet Coil existed under the shadows, constantly hiding and scheming behind everyone else.

Despite using Medhall to launder money for Empire Eighty-Eight, he truly wished to do good for the city. No matter how low the economy has fallen, no matter how high the crime rates are, Brockton Bay is still his city. He does not wish to see it in such a ruined state, and the collapse of his companies are accelerating the decay. He can respect and sympathize with his father in that aspect, for he too wishes to lead the city to glory and seeks to do so from both sides of the city. Unfortunately, Allfather lets his racism taint his efforts, and now his son has to deal with the consequences.

It would be so much easier to control his city if Empire Eighty-Eight wasn't a white supremacist gang. The only reason ABB can stand is because Allfather has alienated everyone that isn't of "acceptable race", but the Empire his father built will never follow him if he wishes to be free of that burden. He has to put up a mask with everyone in the gang, pretending to believe in their stupid "cause" that only exist because they wanted to blame someone else for their own shortcomings. Listening to James's rant, pretending to be interested Brad's stupid dog fights, smiling at Dorothy and Geoff, it was all so exhausting yet necessary to maintaining his position. He wanted to leave it all behind, destroy Empire Eighty-Eight and rebuild it anew, without their stupid racisms and hangups.

Gesellschaft will never allow him, no matter how much he cursed his father for befriending them.

He put down the glass and left his office. Jessica and Nessa left their desk and followed his steps. FBI officers greeted him and watched him warily as he passed them by. They entered the parking lot, where James was ready to take them to Gesellschaft in a common unlisted van. He would have preferred to have this meeting at night, but Gesellschaft insisted on greeting him as soon as possible when they arrived in the city.

More like him greeting them instead, now that Empire Eighty-Eight is basically powerless to the insane racists in Europe.

They stopped in an alleyway, where they left the van and walked to a five-star hotel on foot. James took them to the presidential suite at the top floor, something he understands as a petty show of power by Gesellschaft. To show that they will spare no expense instead of hunkering down in a roadside motel like common criminals.

He was familiar with the suite. It wasn't the best he had been to, but it is the most expensive in the city. A man was eating a steak on the dining table inside. Another show of power, saying that Gesellschaft is no longer the guest, and Empire Eighty-Eight is no longer the owner. The man has light blonde hair and beard, wearing a fit and professional suit. There were three teenagers standing behind him, and they straightened up the moment they saw his group.

"Sieg Heil!" All of them saluted.

He hates Gesellschaft. And more importantly, he is afraid of them.

The teens are Theo's age, yet their faces display no emotion at all. Like a doll. Their faces looked like the perfect example of Aryan propaganda. The boys stood tall, but they didn't exuberate pride. Their suits were filled by their fit body like in an action movie. The girl wore light make-up, just enough to elevate her natural features. Wide, blue eyes and curly blonde hair.

That's how he knows they have been through the worst Gesellschaft offers.

They reminded him of the first time he met Dorothy and Geoff, how they seemed so normal at first glance but a second look would peel away that illusion of normalcy. But they're not as fake as them, not yet. He remembers when he was younger, his father brought him to Europe for a visit at Gesellschaft's headquarters, hoping to strengthen his motivation to fight for the cause.

He saw screaming children. He saw saws and scalpels. He saw whips and chains. He saw bloodied chambers. He saw piles of corpses thrown into the incinerator. He saw mindless husks, eyes with no life and mouths with no will.

He used to be a fervent believer, but what he saw there left a mark on him. Enough to push him away from the cause. Theo might be a disappointment to him as Kaiser, but he was happy for him as a father. That way, no one would object if he abandoned the gang and ran away. He would be free from the cause, free from Allfather's shadow. Free to do whatever he wants, no matter how much that was worth in their crumbling civilization.

But Gesellschaft will not see it that way.

All they see is a potential third generation trigger, born of Allfather and Kaiser, their greatest supporter in the west. If Theo abandons the gang now, they might capture him and ship him back to Europe for "reeducation", and that scares him. It's why he wanted Aster back under his custody, because it will be easier for him to protect his daughter that way. Kayden isn't bright enough to handle Gesellschaft's manipulation, and that wasn't an insult.

He isn't bright enough to handle Gesellschaft.

The leader put down his cutlery and elegantly wiped his mouth. "James, it's good to see you."

James bowed down respectfully. "It's good to see you too, Fredriech."

"Max. It has been a while since we last met!" Fredriech said in a jolly tone.

He lowered his head in formality. "It truly has been, Oberst. 1996, if I remember correctly. We fought against Behemoth at Cologne together."

"Ah, it has been so long." Friedriech replied in faux nostalgia. "The world has come a long way since then, but the Empire…"

"Empire Eighty-Eight still stands proud, even after we lost the support of our companies. While I am grateful that Gesellschaft has deemed the Empire important enough to send you to support us, I'm afraid it is simply unnecessary." He said even though he knew they would never leave.

Friedriech stared at him like he said a humorless joke. "It's more than just that, I'm afraid. While the Empire did suffer a great loss, it is not what I am here for."

"It's not?" James asked, confused.

Friedriech shook his head. "No. You see, Sicherheitsdienst has discovered a prophecy concerning the Empire's fate. It states that Empire Eighty-Eight will fall within the month, and that is why I am here."

A precog? "Is this prophet… reliable?" He asked.

Friedriech nodded to assure him, but all it did was fill him with dread. "His prophecy has yet to fail Gesellschaft. Once he prophesied a disaster, it will always come. All we can do is to weather through it and plan for the fallout. Empire Eighty-Eight may fall, but something greater will rise from its ashes!"

James gulped and gave him a subtle look. He calmed his heart and asked, "May I listen to the prophecy, word for word?"

"It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid. His prophecies can only be read at the right location and the right weather. A tricky prophet, but he has contributed greatly to the cause."

A consistent precog states that Empire Eighty-Eight will fall, coupled with losing Medhall? No wonder they sent Oberst. This is the worst case scenario in his mind. Losing Medhall hurts him greatly, losing Empire Eighty-Eight hurts him less, but losing them to Gesellschaft?

He needs to plan an escape for his family.

"I understand. May I ask what you intend to do in the States?"

"We start by reorganizing and training your…"lieutenants" up to an acceptable standard. The Empire Eighty-Eight will no longer be a common street gang, but a power to rival the government's authority." Friedriech answered, "Then, we shall remove your competition in the city and gradually spread the cause to other cities. It will be a long and hard journey, but Gesellschaft is willing to invest the effort in the west. We will purge America of its disgusting animals! The entrapped masses shall acknowledge the truth of our cause, just as our predecessors intended!"

"I thank you, Friedriech." James said and shook hands with the man in joy. "With you here, we might finally spread the cause and enlighten the masses in the states properly!"

"Yes, I thank you." Max lied and shook his hand with Friedriech as well. "Sieg Heil!"

"Sieg Heil!" All of them chorused.

With Oberst here, he is no longer a free man. Neither are his children with Gesellschaft looming over them. He is no longer in control, but the one being controlled. He cannot accept it. He will not allow it.

Empire Eighty-Eight might fall, but he cannot allow Gesellschaft to rise in the United States.

Not for Theo and Aster. He would not allow them to end up like the three teenagers he can see standing at attention behind the monster finishing off his steak.

AN: I received some criticism that Gesellschaft's appearance wasn't really foreshadowed, and I agreed. I didn't want to bloat Arc 1 with too many chapters, and that's why I didn't add a Kaiser interlude when he got robbed. Looking back, that was a mistake. I should have added this interlude in Arc 1.

Keep in mind that this was only a few days before 2.5, so there wasn't much "training" that can be realistically done. Gesellschaft came with the preparation that E88 will fall. 2.6 is coming along nicely and might be done next week.

Last edited: Jul 30, 2022

Interlude: Velocity

3 April 2011

"This is Velocity, the mugger has been apprehended, resuming patrol." He said into his earpiece as he watched the police move the mugger into their car.

"Roger that, Console out." Came Battery's succinct reply.

Robin continued his patrol along the Docks, where most criminal activity happened in Brockton Bay.

Or it would be, if Nameless Tinker D didn't expose the chain of money laundering that was happening deep within the economical heart of Brockton Bay.

He didn't believe it when the news came out, since the companies involved are some pretty big names in the city. Watchdog is supposed to detect and prevent criminal financial activities like these, but apparently it "slipped under their radar" because there were no parahumans involved in the laundering operation.

Ethan calls it bullshit, and he is inclined to agree. The investigation indicates that some of the companies have been laundering money for the gang for as long as a decade, and it simply isn't possible for something like that to slip from Watchdog for that long, especially if there are no powers involved to help hide it. Unsolved and still under investigation, maybe, but not slipped. It is clear that someone has been bribed for just as long to turn a blind eye, but the Protectorate has no jurisdiction to run an investigation on Watchdog. He can only hope that all the criminals will receive justice and clear the corruption from its roots.

Some might have cheered for this victory against Empire Eighty-Eight, even if they played no part in it, but the Protectorate couldn't do that. While it is certainly good news for the gang to lose their financial backing, it also means that the gang will be much more desperate and aggressive in the streets. Hookwolf's trio has been sighted to expand their territory aggressively into the west of Downtown recently, and they had received several cases of parahuman assault from Victor stealing skills from civilians. While the police have arrested a lot of normal gang members, with the amount of cape muscle the Empire can throw around, civilian casualties will be heavy if they escalate the conflict, and the Protectorate couldn't allow that.

Robin slowed down as he approached the PRT station near the bridge. He waved at some of the tourists who had come to gaze on PHQ.

"Velocity here, reporting for the end of patrol. Master Stranger response code Juliett Quebec Echo 231490."

"Copy that, Battery Master Stranger response code Lima Sierra Golf 453612." Battery replied from his earpiece. "Opening gate for the bridge. Weekly meeting is in one hour. Your new patrol route is on your desk. Battery out."

"Copy that, Velocity out."

"Criminal activity in this area has risen by 23% compared to last month…" Armsmaster droned on, and Robin tried his best to listen. Weekly meetings between Protectorate members can range between twenty minute to hours depending on what happened during the week. Colin usually starts the meeting by giving out the statistics and adjusting their patrol route as needed, and they will move on to any engagement with villains next.

"Alright, the next topic on the table is Shadow Stalker's fiasco." Armsmaster grunted, and Robin could not help but sigh. What started as a surface investigation into Winslow and a quick check on Shadow Stalker's phone quickly snowballed into the most disastrous internal incident PRT ENE has ever faced. When he reported what he heard on the Ward's PR event, Colin agreed to launch a quick check on Sophia's behavior, though neither of them expected to come up with anything significant. They have always kept an eye on her solo patrols, and expected her handler to report any wrongdoings at school.

What a colossal mistake to appoint Miss Wallen as her handler.

"Miss Wallen has confessed that she has been negligent in monitoring and controlling Shadow Stalker's behavior." Miss Militia reported from her seat. "When she realized Shadow Stalker had been bullying her peers in school, instead of reporting it to PRT and admonishing Shadow Stalker, she chose to tell the school to cover up her behavior and threatened them with cutting PRT's funding to the school. Miss Wallen is currently under reevaluation, and is facing charges of conspiracy to commit a felony. Winslow High School is under evaluation from the Department of Education, and there is a chance they will face charges as well."

"According to our records, a PRT agent was indeed dispatched to question Taylor Hebert two days after she awakened, but she was too incoherent to accept questioning, so the agent left and Taylor Hebert was forgotten by PRT." She concluded.

"I get that what she went through is traumatizing, but she shouldn't have a panic attack and stay incoherent for two days, right?" Triumph asked. "Maybe she triggered with a thinker power? We have cases where they cause sensory overload after trigger events."

"There has been no sighting of any cape matching her body shape and appearance in Brockton Bay." Armsmaster replied. "Though if she is a thinker, she will not need to appear in public in the first place. For now, she will be classified as a potential parahuman and be transferred to Arcadia with the other bullying victims under the guise of compensation so that the Wards can keep an eye on her."

"Shadow Stalker has been transported to juvenile detention, we have handed over the evidence to the police and they are investigating the other bullies." Miss Militia continued. "Sophia's defense attorney Alan Barnes appears to be the father of one of the bullies and is attempting to defend them and accuse the police of slander instead. He worked in Carol Dallon's law firm, and I am communicating with her to give her a clearer picture of the situation."

Armsmaster nodded. "Make sure to turn her to our side on this. We don't want her to turn this into a court fight against us, and she might sympathize with the victim to fight against Alan instead. Moving on, I have finished my analysis on NTD's virus with Dragon's help."

NTD, that's the internal acronym they gave to Nameless Tinker D. Usually they wouldn't shrink a cape's name to an acronym, but saying "Nameless Tinker D" all the time is just too much of a mouthful and Assault suggested using an acronym in conversations instead.

"There are very little traces of the virus left behind, but we believe it to be a worm designed to infiltrate and steal information from digital devices." Armsmaster explained. "There is no evidence of any parahuman powers or tinkertech programming involved, so it is entirely feasible that we are looking at a sophisticated but mundane virus instead."

Armsmaster tapped his forearm terminal, and the projector switched to another slide. "We couldn't trace the money, as it has been transferred to various overseas accounts of banks I never even heard of. Watchdog is on the case, so we can focus on the Empire's real world activity. Think Tank believes that NTD is a resident of Brockton Bay and that while he intended to reveal the Empire's money laundering, the money is NTD's main goal. If NTD truly is a tinker, twenty million dollars will be enough funds for him to establish a resource base and become a viable threat. For now, NTD's rating is Tinker 1, Thinker 3 and may be increased if he shows himself in the future."

The projector switched to another slide, showing the images of various companies. "In light of NTD's reveal, Empire Eighty Eight has been financially crippled, but they have not lost any capes and the majority of their gang members are still active. Gang activity has increased in their territory, price of their protection rackets has risen, and mundane gang members are arming themselves more openly. We have intel indicating that the Empire is expanding their territory aggressively, targeting lesser known capes such as Skidmark and Moist. Skirmishes between Empire and ABB have increased as well, so we will pull extra patrols for the next month."

The meeting continued on for a little more, but ultimately there isn't a lot to discuss in a weekly meeting like this. They leave most of the important but non urgent business for the monthly meeting with Director Piggot anyway.

"This meeting is now over. Dismissed." Armsmaster concluded and immediately left for his lab. When Velocity entered the common room for some snacks, he noticed that Miss Militia was gazing at the sea and slowly switching through various knives on her thigh. That usually means that she feels guilty about something, and he can guess what it is.

"Thinking about Sophia's case?" He asked while passing a cup of coffee on the table.

"Yeah, it's just… the signs were all there. I should have found it sooner." Hannah replied wistfully. "Her attitude with us became less aggressive, her grades are improving, there are less complaints from her mother, and I took it as her condition improving." She stopped to take a sip from her coffee. Robin opened his mouth to say something, but Hannah interrupted him.

"I know it's not my fault. I know Miss Wallen is in the wrong here, but… I couldn't help it. It felt like I allowed this to happen."

Robin took a sip from his own coffee. "Well, I kind of feel the same, too. We literally wouldn't know about this if it wasn't for a kid running his mouth at the event. The bullying could have gone on for much longer, but at least we managed to stop it now."

Hannah nodded. "You're right. I still have to explain to the Wards what happened to Sophia and to keep an eye in Arcadia later. Carlos will blame himself even harder than me for not realizing this."

"On the bright side, the Empire lost a lot of money this week!" Robin said with a smile, though it quickly went away. "But there's a catch 22 with that, too."

"I'm more worried about support from Gesellschaft than the gangbangers on the street." Hannah confessed. "You have never spoken to them before, but I did. Remember the Simurgh's attack on London?"

"I think nobody forgets it. It wasn't long after I joined the Protectorate, so I didn't join the search and rescue operations until next year. Did Gesellschaft do something back then?" Robin asked.

"London was filled with refugees from various countries after so many Endbringer attacks since it was perceived as one of the best cities in the world." Hannah began to explain. "We knew that the Simurgh can master people, but there was just too little known about her back then. After the attack, Gesellschaft launched a massacre on refugee camps under the guise that they are all Simurgh victims."

Robin frowned. "And nobody tried to stop them? That's violating the Endbringer truce!"

"The Triumvirate tried, but they don't have much authority in Europe compared to the United States. That wasn't the worst part, though, it was their members. Some of them were fanatics, openly screaming their superiority and throwing insults at everyone else, but I can deal with them. The others…" Hannah closed her eyes, as if relieving a bad memory.

"They're like walking corpses. They don't have emotions, and they respond to nothing but codewords from the fanatics. All of them have very dangerous powers, but none of them acted like any villains I've seen in the states. They… they remind me of myself, when I was first rescued. I felt like I have nothing to live for, and I'm just following orders mindlessly without thought. It scares me that there were so many of them under Gesellschaft's control. Their youngest cape back then was almost Vista's age!"

Robin leaned back. He heard horror stories about Gesellschaft before, and whatever few reports he have access to certainly reminded him of immoral sci-fi Nazis from old comic books. "It's that bad, huh?"

"I've been following their movement since then." Hannah replied. "The more I read about them, the more I want to storm Europe and burn all their bases. They have literal manuals on how to force a child to trigger, and brainwashing camps in the mountains. I never thought that I could hate something so much after my recovery, and my therapist said that I am fine to hate them."

"Let's just hope that we won't have to fight them, then." Robin drank his coffee. "I don't know if I can bring myself to punch child soldiers in the face."

"Yes." Hannah turned to look at the sea. "Me too."

AN: Here lies the end of Arc 1. Got some foreshadowing for future OC capes as well.

Last edited: Jun 23, 2022

2.1 Nobody Expects...

3 April 2011

Now that I have several servers completed in my warehouse, I decided to learn how to code a proper A.I from Tony to manage the production line. While he disapproved of using B.A.R.F in the drones for combat purposes, he also agreed that we need all the advantages we can get and inputted the schematics for the system into the servers. I need the A.I to manage the coordination between drones, design the illusions and more tasks that I'm too busy to do myself.

"You got a good cape name yet?" I asked from my desk. Taylor was reading a book in my room since I wanted to discuss some things with her.

Taylor shook her head. "There weren't a lot of heroic names for an insect controller. Most of them sound like they are a villain's name."

"Why do you have to relate your names with bugs?" I asked out of exasperation. "I don't see how the name "Legend" relates to shooting lasers. You don't have to limit yourself to bug-related names."

"The Avengers didn't really bother with a superhero name." Tony mused. "Most of us just went along with what the public called us, really. I think Peter is the only one who made his own superhero name."

"Huh." Taylor contemplated what I just said for a few moments. "You got any suggestions?"

"What do you want to see yourself become in the future?" I asked. "What do you want to be the first thing people think about you in the future?"

It's a little ironic, but that is the reason why I chose such a forgettable name such as Nameless Tinker D. As nice as having fame to my name is, I prefer to stay in the background and not deal with the everchanging public. I heard enough horror stories about celebrities and stalkers to make myself one.

"What I want to become…" Taylor whispered. "I need some time to think about it."

"Sure. What about a color scheme? I can't make a full power armor yet, but I can make a few gadgets for you to go with your suit." I asked again.

"What gadget are you making for me?" Taylor asked curiously, and I turned my computer around to show her.

"A projected internal display in your mask is a must. It will have communicators, maps, clocks and all the stuff you need." I explained. "Some weapons to go with your suit, too."

"That's nice. I think… I'll go with white and blue. They are nice, positive colors, right?" Taylor replied.

"Sure." I made a note on my computer. "I should be able to finish most of them tomorrow so you can make your cape debut soon."

A ping on my screen caught my attention, and I smiled when I realized what it was. Looks like all the micro drones I released into the city finally paid off.

"Besides, taking out a Bond villain in his underground bunker sounds like a great debut, right?"

"Wait, what?" Taylor exclaimed.

"I guess you can do worse, but sure." Tony replied.

Not everyone can take out a terrorist cell and outfly fighter jets in their debut. I replied to Tony inside my head. Outwardly though, I said, "I found a supervillain's underground base in Downtown. You won't believe how big it is."

"How big is the base, and who built it?" Taylor asked.

I activated the hologram projectors. They weren't as interactive as what Tony used, but it served as an excellent way to display intel in my room. The holograms showed Calvert's profile and a three-dimensional blueprint of his base. "This guy, PRT advisor Thomas Calvert. He is also the supervillain Coil. I don't know why he built the base, but we're going to bring it down."

"Wait, so a supervillain is working inside PRT?" Taylor asked incredulously.

I nodded to her. "PRT doesn't know that, of course. But he used his position to manipulate things in his favor, like making sure nobody would investigate his base or make himself a low priority villain. We need solid evidence to convince the PRT that Calvert is really Coil, and I have just the right girl for that."

The hologram switched to display the profile of a pretty blonde. "Sarah Livsey, or as her new name goes, Lisa Wilbourn. She is a cape who has been employed by Coil at gunpoint. She has intel on Coil that I need, and we're going to recruit her as soon as the drones are ready for deployment."

"She lives in Downtown, huh?" Taylor mused while looking at the holograms. "Where did you find all of this information? It's incredible."

"Well, we didn't "find" this intel, per say." Tony said. "We just filled in the blanks of what you already know."

I didn't reply to Taylor, and continued to explain Lisa's power instead. "Her power is super intuition, information speculation from the most minor of details. She can know your personality, sleep schedule, history and fetishes by looking at you, so I'm going to use B.A.R.F as an intermediary."

"Can we not call your illusion tech B.A.R.F?" Taylor complained. "Like, couldn't we pick another acronym instead? I'll go with B.A.R."

I chuckled a little. "Nah, I like the name. It's funny."

"Taylor! Adam! Dinner's ready!" Danny shouted from the kitchen.

"Coming!" Taylor shouted back, and we headed downstairs.

"I'm going to pass on soon. I can feel it." Tony suddenly informed me when I was in my bed.

Do you have an accurate estimation? I asked. I was so caught up in gathering the money and materials that I forgot Tony wouldn't be with me forever. My window to make Taylor a proper suit suddenly seems much smaller.

"Next Thursday, if I'm right." Tony replied. "It's been fun playing vigilante with you, Adam, and I believe it's time for me to give you the superhero talk."

O… kay? I replied nervously and sat up on my bed. So, what's the talk about?

"One of the lessons that I learned the hard way is that people will be afraid of you when you have power." Tony began wistfully. "It's only rational for people to try to overcome that fear, and it's essential for any government to overcome it for their people. When my suit first came out, the government tried to take it. They failed, of course, but I can understand why they tried. Mark 3 alone can withstand tank shells and race with Raptors. To them, the suit can overpower the military and is a potential threat to the entire country. It has to be in their control, or they won't be able to sleep at night."

I understand that. I replied. No sane government will let a billionaire possess a superweapon like that without any control under them.

I can feel Tony nodding alongside me, as he continued. "Organizations don't "trust" each other. We prefer to have contracts or laws to bind us, because they are concrete and unmovable. When something that can go beyond laws appears, the government will always perceive it as a threat."

"From what I can see here, the Protectorate is exactly what Steve was afraid the Avengers would become. Too entangled in bureaucracy and influenced by politics to do what is right and matters the most, so you have to step up and become what the Protectorate couldn't. Are you willing to commit yourself to this?" Tony asked me. "You were dropped into this situation out of nowhere, just like me, so what do you really want to do? What is it that you really want to be?"

I… I want to live. I want to have a future where I can grow up and live out my life happily. I confessed. I want to make sure that the world wouldn't be destroyed in two years by some alien, or a terrorist group will just waltz into the city and destroy my life. I want to live a life.

"That's not a bad reason to fight, Adam. It took me too long to realize that's exactly what I want too." Tony said in approval. "Get some sleep, Adam. We're going to run a cram course tomorrow. Goodnight."

Goodnight, Tony. I replied, and went back to sleep.

4 April 2011

"Alright, students, please form a line and move to the auditorium, I don't want to see any of you running, okay?" Our homeroom teacher ordered us when she arrived in our classroom. "The school is having an assembly, and a Protectorate hero will be giving a speech."

My classmates started chattering around me about seeing a hero, though I felt somewhat indifferent about it since the excitement of meeting a hero has already worn off for me. Ryan, a classmate of mine, tapped my shoulder to get my attention.

"Who do you think is going to come here?" He asked. "I hope it's Armsmaster, he's my favorite!"

I nodded in faux agreement and replied. "Me too! Armsmaster is just so cool, right?" I lied as naturally as I breath, giving Ryan an excited smile. To be honest, if I am a normal kid raised in Brockton Bay, Armsmaster will probably be my favorite hero too, since I have always been interested in technology and admired inventors.

The students move into the Auditorium and, predictably, are still chattering nonstop. The headmaster tapped his microphone to get our attention. "Silence, please." slowly the entire hall fell into silence, barring the sound of the air conditioners, and the headmaster began his speech.

"I believe all of you have heard of the news about the reveal of Brockton Bay's money laundering chain last week. The authorities have successfully uncovered a chain of corruption within Brockton Bay, and all the involved parties are now facing justice. Let this be a lesson, students, to never condone or accept bribery. It is a despicable practice, and those who break the law will always face justice in the end."

The authorities? We're the one who uncovered it! I complained indignantly inside my head.

"It's how the government operates, Adam." Tony shrugged. "They'll try to take all the glory they can to get the people's support. Democracy!"

"Now, may I present the Protectorate heroine Miss Militia to give her speech." The headmaster finished his speech with a wave of his hand, allowing Miss Militia to take his position behind the podium.

"Wow, and I thought nobody can be more patriotic than Cap. You say her power is to summon firearms? That's like the most modern American power ever!" Tony joked.

"Thank you, Headmaster Fredrick." Miss Militia greeted. "Today, I'm here to talk about the increasing criminal activity in our beloved city. Children are advised to stay in their homes at night, and all of you should avoid using alleyways as a shortcut in the city. Criminals may lay in wait in those alleyways, so you should stick to proper roads, even if it will take you longer to arrive at your destination. You should always bring pepper spray with you, and if you happen to encounter a criminal, try to call for help and obey the criminal's instruction to give your belongings so that they won't hurt you. Try to remember their facial features so that the police have an easier time capturing them. Remember, the police and the Protectorate are always doing their best to protect the city. Thank you."

The students clapped as Miss Militia finished her speech and stepped off the stage, but I personally think the speech is pretty boring. As I walked to my classroom, I began discussing the future with Tony.

Now that H.E.R.M.E.S is complete, I should be more proactive in intel gathering.

"Of course you should, but you have to remember that the internet will never have all the intel you need. Sometimes, it takes a real person to search for what is missing on the internet." Tony advised. "You should still be able to find most of what you need with H.E.R.M.E.S, though."

I'm glad that we finally have a proper A.I to help us.

"So, how is your new school?" I asked Taylor as we had lunch in our home.

"It's much better than Winslow, that's for sure." Taylor replied with a smile. "There is no gang graffiti, the toilets are actually clean and functional, and the students are pretty friendly."

"That's nice." I said, "Miss Militia had a speech in our school today. She said that we need to be careful with the gangs."

"Well, the Empire is getting more aggressive recently, right? She's probably there because of the Empire." Taylor deduced and said, "We should do something about it."

"We're going to focus on Coil first." I pointed it out. "As long as he has power inside the PRT, we will never be able to eliminate the gang, since he is constantly supplying the gangs with intel to make the PRT look incompetent. Granted, the PRT really don't need the help since they are doing pretty well on their own."

"Fine, we'll arrest Coil first." Taylor nodded as she found no mistake in my logic. "What about that Sarah girl?"

"We're going to talk to her tomorrow, since you need to practice how to use the gadgets I made for you first." I said as I chewed the spaghetti. "Wouldn't want you to misfire and shoot a civilian instead, right?"

"Alright." Taylor replied as she finished the last of her noodles. "Are you done? I'll wash the dishes today."

"Here." I passed my plate to her. "Remember to take your suit out! I'm installing my tech into it!"

The warehouse has turned into a full fledged workshop over the last few days. The fabricator I first bought has become obsolete, replaced by several advanced Stark Industry Fabricators that can produce more sophisticated technology. We now have a complete production line for the drones, manufacturing several different types of drones that Tony and I have designed together. About 50 drones and several more mini drones are on standby, guarding the warehouses and our house. Tony has removed most of their offensive capabilities in exchange for the function to salvage and store materials, but they are still capable of utilizing B.A.R.F and concussive blasters.

"First order of business today." I snapped my fingers, and a hologram of a glowing blue icosahedron appeared in the middle of the workshop. "Introducing the High End Recon Multipurpose Elite Software, a system that will assist us in our endeavor to make the city a better place and improve our quality of life. You can call him H.E.R.M.E.S."

"Greetings, Taylor." The icosahedron spoke in a smooth male voice with a British accent. "It is a pleasure to meet you, and I am ready to serve."

"You made an A.I?" Taylor questioned as she looked at the hologram in equal parts of awe and caution. "Aren't those supposed to be really dangerous?"

"H.E.R.M.E.S isn't exactly an A.I, more like a natural-language user interface system." I waved her worries away. "Here are your new glasses. They have an internal projector and communicator that will display intel and control the drones." I said as I handed her a pair of glasses that are visually identical to her current pair, except the platinum frame and gold tips.

"Wow." Taylor exclaimed as she put on her new glasses. "This is pretty cool, but my classmates wouldn't see what I'm seeing, right?"

I shook my head and laughed. "Of course not!" I gestured to her to follow me, and I led her to a table containing several gadgets that Tony and I designed for her.

"These are the tools of the trade that you will be using. First of all, the taser gauntlets." I picked up the black gauntlet with a smile. "They are far more versatile than your normal tasers, and a single shock will be able to incapacitate most normal humans. The voltage can be increased to destroy vehicles and electronics, but Hermes will regulate it for you, so don't worry about shocking someone to death."

Taylor picked up the gauntlet and examined it with a closer look, while I moved up to the other gadgets on the table. "This is your utility belt. Well, it's not tinkertech, just a normal belt that has bandages, zip ties, smoke bombs, and flashbangs in case you need them. Moving on, we have your internal display." I gestured at the frame of a mask. "Try and wear it."

"Alright." Taylor followed my request and wore the headset. Immediately, several holograms were displayed in front of her face, and she was visibly surprised by it. "Wow, there's a lot of stuff here."

"Think of it as a more advanced version of your glasses, I'm going to install it into your mask." I explained. "It will have an internal map, aim assist, facial recognition and cameras that can zoom in and out for you. Next up, bug cameras." I brought her attention to a set of neatly arranged rings with a small camera on top. "You can install them in your ants, flies, spiders, whatever bugs you want to use. We can use this to record evidence and monitor enemies."

"This is amazing." Taylor said in awe. "Thanks, Adam. I really mean it."

I nodded. "I know, I know. Hermes!" I shouted, "Set up a target practice for Taylor! Illusion projectiles and static targets!"

Several drones activated and occupied the empty corner of the warehouse, projecting static images of a human-shaped cardboard cutout. "You can practice shooting the tasers there. I have more tinkering to do."

Taylor nodded and walked to the improvised shooting range, while I moved to my work table to install the displays into Taylor's mask. Taylor's basic bodysuit is already complete, but it lacks any armored pieces for additional protection. I have already ordered several species of insects to be used by Taylor online along with more materials and resources, leaving me with ten million dollars of our funds.

"You did a great job introducing her to her toys." Tony praised. "But let's get down to business here. We will need all the time we have left."

Yup. I cracked my neck. "Hermes, I want a checklist of all police personnel, firefighters, PRT agents and federal employees. Check their financial movements for discrepancies and irregular transactions. If any of them owns something above their pay grade or have more money than they should have, find out where it came from. Compile a list of qualified targets and put it into the Cancer folder. Copy the police's database of known criminals and gang members, track their phones and plant bugs with the drones. Evaluate their messages and cross reference social media data images with map data to plot out gang hotspots and put them into the Poison folder." I paused to take a deep breath.

"Cross reference Brockton Bay parahuman appearance with social media sightings, map data and resident database. Compile a list of their civilian identities and put them into the Masquerade folder. And bring up the supplier folder, I want to buy more materials."

"You got it, boss." Hermes gave a professional reply, and went into the background fulfilling his tasks.

"You want to play Big Brother, Adam?" Tony asked. "That's a very dangerous road you're treading here."

I'm just trying to catch the bad cops and keep a trump card to myself. I replied. It would be a waste to not collect all the intel I can with H.E.R.M.E.S by my side.

"Well, I don't really disagree with you anyway. I had my A.I running around providing criminal intel to the government all the time." Tony said nonchalantly. "Now then, let's begin that cram course. Your first assignment from Professor Stark, is to design and create a suit for Taylor. "

AN: An AI as your starter companion, huh? How original. *cough*Trailblazer*cough*

Last edited: Jun 23, 2022

2.2

4 April 2011

It was recess time, and I decided to make my move. H.E.R.M.E.S has located my target for me from the cameras in the library.

"Third table of the fourth row, boss." My helpful A.I informed me from my glasses.

I head towards the table H.E.R.M.E.S told me about, and indeed, my target is sitting right there with her friends.

"Hi, are you Dinah Alcott?" I asked the adolescent girl with long brown hair. She closed her book and turned around to look at me

"Yes, I am. What's the matter?" She replied to me politely.

"I have something I need to ask you privately. Can we talk somewhere else?"

Since we're in a library, her friends began whispering quietly among themselves. Dinah frowned, but agreed to go with me anyway. "Alright, let's go. Katy, can you keep this book for me? I want to borrow it later." She passed a book to one of her friends, and left her chair.

I nodded at Dinah, and we left the library together. Silently, we walked to an empty classroom where I have H.E.R.M.E.S to scout out to confirm it's empty beforehand.

"Let's get to the point. I know you have powers." I said straight to her face.

Dinah flinched back, and her eyes darted to the door for a moment. "How did you know?" She asked. Her fear and nervousness was evident in her voice.

"I was investigating a villain recently, and I found you to be his target." I replied. Not a lie, since I really am investigating Coil's properties. It took me comparatively more time and effort than the Medhall heist since I have to infiltrate his systems without triggering his firewalls and attracting his suspicion, but I have access to his database. I don't have full control of his base yet, since I am focusing my time on tinkering and arming Taylor. "I'm recruiting you to defeat that villain together."

"I-I don't want to fight. My power is useless for fighting." Dinah stated, and I nodded in agreement.

"But that doesn't mean you can't help." I replied. "I know what your power is. All you have to do is answer me a few questions to make sure that the villain will be captured. You don't have to fight."

Dinah lowered her head, considering what I said, and nodded. "Alright, but you can only ask two questions, or my head will hurt."

"Ask her questions about the immediate future first, since we can always ask her again later." Tony reminded me.

Here we go. "What are the chances of Sarah Livsey cooperating with me to capture Coil?" I asked.

"72.432 percent. Only one more question." She answered. "I still need to go to class after this. The more I use my power, the more my head hurts."

"Alright, what are the chances of Thomas Calvert arrested in the next 48 hours?" I asked again.

"47.248 percent. I need to go now." Dinah rubbed her forehead. "You can ask me again later, my head hurts. Can I ask who is the villain who wants to kidnap me?"

"His name is Coil. He keeps a low profile, so you probably can't find anything about him." I replied and handed her a wristwatch. "Here, take this."

She looked at the watch in confusion and asked. "Why are you giving me a watch?"

I decided to give her a demonstration instead of explaining with my words. My gauntlet has come a long way compared to the first shoddy watch I made last week, now powered by a miniature Arc Reactor with far more functionality packed into it. I pulled on the watch, and it expanded into a full gauntlet with a repulsor in the middle.

"Illusion is deployed in your vicinity, boss. You are cleared for demonstration." H.E.R.M.E.S helpfully informed. Both Taylor and I have a few drones tailing us in school for protection, and Taylor agreed with me to let a few drones shadow Danny to his work as well. I opened the window and shot a pulse at the tree, leaving a round scorch mark on the trunk.

"Pull the watch and it will turn into an armed gauntlet." I explained as Dinah opened her mouth in awe. "The gauntlet can flash your enemy, deafen them for a moment and shoot plasma. It can block a bullet at point-blank range too."

Dinah took the watch nervously and replaced her original watch. "Thanks. Actually, you never told me your name."

I blinked. "Oh, sorry. My name is Adam Danvers. Don't tell anyone about this meeting, okay? And keep that watch on you at all times. It's safer that way." I can track her with the watch in case she still gets kidnapped.

Dinah nodded. "Alright, I need to go back to my friends. I think I can answer you one more question at the end of the school, so meet me at Mrs Goldmann's classroom, okay?"

"Sure, see you there." I nodded at Dinah, and she left the classroom. A ping on my glasses alerted me that H.E.R.M.E.S had some bad news for me.

"Alert. Open cape activity detected. The capes known as Krieg and Alabaster have entered the Docks with 58 Empire Eighty-Eight gang members, all armed with light firearms in 10 vehicles. Route suggests that their destination is the Dockworker's Union building." H.E.R.M.E.S informed me while showing me live footage of their vans, and I could feel my heart drop.

"Are the drones shadowing Danny Hebert combat ready?" I asked urgently. This is bad. I know that the Empire has been getting aggressive recently, but I never thought they would touch the dockworkers. "What about the location of ABB capes?" If Lung gets involved, property damage will skyrocket, and I can't let that happen.

"Don't worry, Adam. Both of us know what Krieg and Alabaster can do. We have the upper hand in both numbers, intel and element of surprise. The drones will kick their ass so hard that you won't see them again." Tony said to pull me from my panic.

You're right. Thanks, Tony.

"3 standard drones equipped with concussion blasters, tasers and B.A.R.F are deployed to protect Danny Hebert and are ready for combat. Should I deploy the remaining 68 drones manufactured?" H.E.R.M.E.S replied. "Surveillance shows that Kenta Ishimura is in a brothel and Setsuna Aragami is sleeping in his residence."

"Deploy 15 drones in stealth formation. Block their phone signal and do not alert them to what's happening. Access and infiltrate all of the available Empire phones, I want you to prioritize retrieving intel from them. Is the Iron Legion drone ready?"

"The first has been completed this morning, but you have yet to calibrate the motions and perform troubleshooting and stress tests, so I do not advise deployment, boss." H.E.R.M.E.S answered. Another ping showed up on my glasses, showing that Taylor has joined our voice channel.

" Adam! The Empire is on their way to attack Dad!" Taylor shouted over the channel.

"I know. I'm deploying drones to protect him. Hmm…" I don't want to risk the Iron Legion if it's not ready yet. "Hermes, is the rendering from yesterday complete?"

"Rendering of project file:"Taylor's suit" is complete. Do you plan to use the illusion?" H.E.R.M.E.S asked .

"Yes. Hide the drones with B.A.R.F and project an illusion of Taylor's suit arriving on the scene. Taylor, are you free to provide a voiceover now?"

"I-how long will it take? The teachers might notice if I slip out of class for too long." Taylor replied.

"As long as it needs. We need to keep the drones a secret, so we're going to buy time for the PRT and the police to arrive. H.E.R.M.E.S, you know what to do for Taylor. Surround reality projection for both of us." I glanced at my watch. My recess is almost over, but dealing with this is more important. "Contact the PRT. Who is the nearest Protectorate hero available?"

"I have impersonated the voice of a dockworker to contact the PRT emergency response. Nearest Protectorate is Miss Militia patrolling Granger Street and Dauntless patrolling Redview." A pause. "Alert. Open cape activity detected. Victor is streaming the abuse of a minority online, tracing location now. Hookwolf, Rune and Stormtiger are fighting Squealer, Moist and Skidmark on Albert Street. Alert, Krieg and Alabaster have arrived at the Dockworker's Union building."

"Guess they are coming out of the woodworks now." Tony commented. "Deploy all of your drones. Lives are at stake here."

Tony's right, and I cannot panic at a moment like this. "Deploy all of the drones. Use formation Beta 2, deploy 3 formations to Victor and 5 formations to Albert street and use concussive blasters to incapacitate them." I smirked as a bright idea came to my mind. "Also, hack into Victor's stream to play insulting. Project an illusion of Krieg fighting them for confusion and have the drones leave when the PRT arrives. How long until the drones arrive at Danny's location?"

"The drones have arrived now. Initiating surround illusion." H.E.R.M.E.S answered, and my surroundings morphed into the front of the Dockworker's building, where Krieg and Alabaster were marching forward, surrounded by armed gangbangers. A cape in a sleek, black bodysuit with white and blue stripes jumped from the rooftop and landed right in front of the door, facing the villains. The dockworkers around were looking at us cautiously, and some of them ran back into the building.

"Wow, this is so realistic." Taylor, or an illusion of Taylor commented in awe beside me. She raised a hand to touch her own mask, only for it to phase through. "I almost thought we just teleported here." She turned around to look at the gangbangers in anger.

"Wear the headset, please." I said as the drone passed Taylor a communication headset. "We're using push-to-talk, so press the button by the side if you want to speak from the illusion."

"Who are you?" Krieg asked politely in a distinctively foreign accent.

"You got a cape name yet?" I asked. Instead of replying to me, Taylor pressed on her headset.

"I am Hope, and I am here to stop you." Taylor and the suit said in a digitized voice simultaneously. "You are all villains, and I will not let you harm the city any longer."

Krieg tilted his head, while Alabaster sneered. "Who are you to stand in our way?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Hermes, do we have them surrounded?"

"37 drones have all surrounded the group. Concussive blasters are charged and ready to fire. Victor's stream is now playing a GIF of Hitler dancing in a clown suit." I couldn't help but smile at that. The Empire supporters must be pissed after this.

"If you want to say a witty one liner, now is the time, Taylor." I said to her, "Hermes, aim the blasters downwards and use a persistent taser for the capes. Shoot it from the gauntlet."

"Err…" Taylor looked unsure of herself, and pressed her headset again. "I am a hero." She dropped her hand, and nodded at me. "Do it."

"That's a shitty one liner." I pointed out, and Taylor shrugged. "Hermes, begin firing the concussive blasters. Disable all of them and take their weapons away."

Alabaster had just begun to pull out his gun after Taylor replied. "You bi-" But he never even got the chance to finish his sentence.

With a loud bang, the gangbangers got slammed downwards and away by an unseen force. Krieg and Alabaster didn't even have time to get up from the slamming before Illusion Hope shot her taser at them, turning them into a twitching mess. As the gang members groaned on the pavement, their guns gradually disappeared from view. From an outsider perspective, it would seem like everyone just suddenly fell down. Hope turned around to face the dockworkers, just in time to see Danny rush out the door with a sledgehammer in hand.

"Wow, they're really street thugs, huh." Tony couldn't help but comment. "I thought they would at least put up a fight or something."

"Dad? Err…" Taylor fumbled a little and pressed her headset. "You guys got any zip ties? I don't have any on me."

"We got metal chains and ropes, will that do?" One of the dockworkers shouted.

"Yeah, sure. Tie them up, please?" Taylor asked awkwardly. "I can't stay here for long."

"Yes, yes." Danny is the one who answered. "You said your name is Hope, right? Thank you for subduing these Empire thugs. Normally we can handle them by ourselves, but I'm not so sure with two capes here. We'll tie them up for the PRT, so don't worry."

Illusion Hope nodded, and I pressed my headset. "Be careful about the albino guy. He is a regenerator, so you gotta tie him up real tight." Though Alabaster wouldn't be much of a threat, since the drones have discreetly stripped him of his weapons. "I have to go now. Bye." With that, Illusion Hope ran away, and my surroundings fades back into the classroom with the exception of Taylor's illusion. She let out a huge breath in relief, knowing her dad is safe, and I couldn't help but do the same as well.

"I'm building more drones." I said to Taylor. "And we're recruiting Lisa today. Told you that B.A.R.F is super useful."

Taylor groaned. "Can we just call it illusion tech and leave it at that?" She paused to look at something. "I gotta go now, I still have class."

I nodded. "Me too, see you later, Taylor." She nodded at me, and her illusion blinked out.

"Well, that was kind of underwhelming." Tony said. "My first fight in a world full of superhumans, and the nazis got beaten in 3 seconds."

Maybe that's just how versatile B.A.R.F is. I replied. Kind of glad you didn't weaponize it. Technology like that will be very lethal on the battlefield.

"I know, Adam." Tony replied. "I know."

"Dinah Alcott is alone in the classroom. No recording devices detected."

"Camouflage the classroom. Tell Taylor I will be a little late and I'll explain why later."

"Copy that, boss." H.E.R.M.E.S replied, and I entered the classroom.

"Adam, you're here." Dinah greeted me, and I nodded back. "I can answer one more question today."

"Alright." I replied. "I need time to think about what I need to ask."

"Like I said, you can still ask her questions tomorrow, so ask things that are more urgent first." Tony advised. "Ask about Coil. The longer masterminds like him stay active, the longer they can scheme. We need to cut off the snake's head before he can bite us."

Ask about Coil, huh? If I can recruit Tattletale, she can find all the evidence I need to convict Calvert, even the things that H.E.R.M.E.S couldn't find. The real problem is that I have to make sure I take him down in one go, since his power will always allow him to rise again. "Hermes, how much progress have you made on infiltrating Coil's systems?"

"I have grunt level access in the base's control system, and I believe I can obtain master access tomorrow if my speed of progress remains constant." H.E.R.M.E.S replied.

"How much processing power are you dedicating to hacking Coil again?" I asked.

"25% of current processing power is dedicated to infiltrating Coil's systems."

I rubbed my chin in deep thought, and decided to ask my question. "Will Thomas Calvert be arrested as Coil by the PRT in the next 24 hours?"

"78.674 percent." Dinah replied and perked up. "He's going to be captured tomorrow?" She asked cheerfully, and I shrugged. 78 percent sounds good, but not as high as I would like.

"Questions like these also include outlandish possibilities, like Coil died because of a heart attack or a car crash instead of being arrested." Tony helpfully pointed out. "You stacked your cards pretty high already, time to go all in and win your prize."

"If I have my way, he'll be arrested tonight." I replied. Guess I'll have to do a rapid take down then. "Hermes, put Project Unveiling on hold for now, and dedicate all your available processing power to infiltrate Coil's base. I want master access before my usual bedtime."

"Sure thing, boss."

"Thanks, Dinah." I said sincerely. "You have no idea how much help this is."

"No, I should be the one thanking you." Dinah clutched her skirt with tearful eyes, and her voice is a little shaken. "I was so scared. Everyday, it feels like I'm going to disappear from my house and never see my parents again. I…" She couldn't hold back and started sobbing in front of me.

Awkwardly, I hugged Dinah and slowly pat her back to comfort her. "Don't worry, you're going to be safe soon. You don't need to be afraid anymore." I almost forgot that Dinah is just a twelve year old girl who got told by her power that she will be kidnapped by a villain and nobody will save her. It's no wonder that she broke down crying when I told her that the villain will be dealt with.

"Urgh, now I'm missing Morgan." Tony said sadly. " At least I know Pepper and FRIDAY can keep her as safe as possible. Still, now we have more of a reason to beat the shit out of Coil."

Yeah, we certainly do. Seeing a little girl like Dinah cry certainly solidified my determination to eradicate Coil's operations, if nothing else. I took a packet of tissues and handed it to Dinah. "Come on, wipe your tears. I'll make sure that Coil goes down, okay?"

"Thanks, Adam." Dinah accepted the tissues. "I have to go now, my mom is probably waiting for me."

"My sister is waiting for me too." I replied. "See you tomorrow, then. I'll bring a cake to celebrate Coil's doom." I said with a smile, and Dinah couldn't help but giggle. We walked out of the school together and separated at the school gate, following our respective chaperone.

"Bye, Adam!" Dinah waved at me loudly.

"Bye!" I waved back and followed Taylor to the bus station. It seemed like she cheered up a little after our walk.

"I'm glad to see that you're making friends." Taylor said when we were away from the school. "Dad was a little worried that you wouldn't fit in."

I raised my eyebrow at that. "Really? I didn't realize."

"He told me to keep an eye on you since…" Taylor paused for a moment. "You transferred in the middle of a school term. New environments and all that."

I nodded. "Don't worry, she's more than just a friend to me." Taylor perked up at that.

"Really? Is this a crush I'm seeing here?" Taylor teased and patted my head. "You're pretty good. She seems really friendly with you already."

"It's not that." I denied. "I'll tell you at the workshop."

Taylor frowned. "Is she… Alright. I have something I want to talk about as well."

"Calibration complete. The Iron Legion drone is now fully functional and combat capable. Congratulations, boss." H.E.R.M.E.S said as I put my tools down. "Do you wish to take the drone out for a fly?"

"We'll do that later. I want 20 Iron Legion produced on production line three. How is the progress on the Weaver suit?"

"Fabricators have begun producing the outer chassis, but we are running low on micro components. Orders have been made with Francis Distribution, and they will arrive on Wednesday. We have $3,295,124.39 left in our funds." H.E.R.M.E.S replied.

"Alert me if there are any issues with the production of the suit." I said, and turned around to begin customizing the first Iron Legion drone to serve as my cape persona. I plan to disguise the drone as an independent cape that will accompany Taylor outside. The Iron Legion are far more capable than my regular drones, and they will serve as my body double and grunts at the same time.

"Remote controlling suits is cool and all, but there's nothing that tops wearing a suit for yourself."

I know, I know. I plan to start designing a suit for myself after we defeat Coil. I replied. As an emergency final resort, probably. A higher focus on survivability and escapability, since if I ever needed to run, I probably couldn't fight and expect to win.

"We wouldn't need to worry about designs if we have more funds." Tony lamented. "We got the nanofoundry up and running already, but the nanites it produced aren't suitable for combat without my gold-titanium alloy. I never got around to developing an alternative for it since there was no need for a cheap alternative."

Maybe some other tinker can make a substitute material in the future. Well, a boy can hope.

"Yup. Traditional suits also mean that you have to switch suits every year, since you are a growing kid. Maybe a modular plate design that can reassemble according to size?" Tony suggested. "The suit's integrity will be pretty weak unless we find a breakthrough. You will have to be the one to develop it after I pass on."

My smile dropped a little. Not sure if I will ever succeed, though. I'm not a genius like you.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Even if you never succeed, at least you can pat yourself at the back knowing you gave your best. The goal is never the point, it's the journey you take to get there."

Thank you, Tony. Thank you for all of this.

"You're going to change the course of this world, kid." Tony replied with an audible smile . "Supporting you is the least I can do."

"Adam!" Taylor called from her training range, pulling me away from the conversation.

"Yeah?" I left my seat and moved towards her. She mentioned that she wants to talk to me about something before.

Taylor looked a little unsure of herself. "We need to do something about the Empire, they're getting too aggressive recently."

"We already did. The PRT have already arrested Krieg, Alabaster, Rune, Moist, Squealer and Skidmark today." I replied. "We're going to interrogate Tattletale later and initiate an assault on Coil tonight. A precog told me that we have a high chance of succeeding tonight."

"Where did you find a precog?" Taylor questioned. "Wait, is it the girl at the school gate today?"

I nodded. "Her name is Dinah, and Coil was actually planning to kidnap her and drug her into submission to use her as his pet precog. That's why we need to stop him, because the man is degenerate scum that enslaves children."

Taylor's face fell in horror. "That's horrible!"

"Yeah, that's why he needs to go. We'll deal with the Empire when we have more firepower, but let's talk about how to interrogate Tattletale for now." I made a hand gesture, and our surroundings changed to Lisa's apartment in Downtown. "I'm thinking of having the entire Protectorate show up to intimidate her. She will know it's an illusion and let her guard down, then you will surprise her from the back. That's when we bombard her with information overload to assert our superiority."

"Why can't we just talk with her normally? I get that her power can read through our plans, but do we need to bully her like that?" Taylor questioned.

"Because she's a villain, Taylor." I pointed it out. "She's the type to scheme and manipulate people from behind the scenes. She'll learn your weakness and play you like a fiddle. We can't let that happen to us, okay?"

It's something that happened in canon, and I will not let it happen again. Having Tattletale on my team sounds like a great boon, but I can't risk having her manipulate us and steer me away from the impending apocalypse on the horizon. No matter how much fanon tries to pretty her up, Tattletale is still a villain, so I will treat her accordingly.

"But she didn't become a villain willingly." Taylor argued. "Your files have a pretty heavy emphasis on how she was misguided and selfish, but not evil. We shouldn't treat her like she's a terrorist mastermind when she's not even close."

"Intimidation tactics never work well in the long run, Adam." Tony mused. "Taylor has a point here, so you should listen to her. Don't assume that you are always right just because you have more intel than others."

"You're right." I conceded. "Aggressive intimidation will just antagonize someone like Tattletale anyway. So, what's your plan? We need to think fast here, time waits for nobody."

"Well," Taylor rubbed the back of her neck. "I studied her profile, and I think we can do something like this…"

AN: So, Lisa's interlude and mind fuck next chapter. I'm going to be honest, a lot of the previous arc is just the build up for Coil's take down. Adam is kind of hyper-focused on him, and that's going to bite his ass sooner or later.

On my IRL side, my exam results are coming out tomorrow, and I feel like I'm going to disappoint a lot of people, including myself. Urgh, thinking about universities, scholarships and my abysmal results got me depressed, so here's a chapter to kill my anxiety.

Last edited: Jul 15, 2022

Interlude: Tattletale

"More than 10 large corporations in Brockton Bay have declared laid-offs to many employees due to loss of funds from cyberattack conducted by vigilante "Nameless Tinker D". Medhall CEO Max Anders strongly condemns the action of the vigilante and denies any accusation of his involvement in white supremacist gang Empire Eighty-Eight's money laundering activity…" The afternoon news played out on her TV as she ate her tub of ice cream and typed on her laptop.

The unemployment rate in Brockton Bay will increase heavily and the local economy will deteriorate further.

Lisa couldn't help but sigh at what her power repeated for the sixth time. Everyone is seeing the writing on the wall, and she doesn't need her power to know that Brockton Bay is getting even shittier. Still, it doesn't really matter to her since she was under Coil's thumb. She couldn't find anything on Nameless Tinker D because real hacking was never her forte, but she can tell that Coil was concerned with what a tinker can do with such a large amount of funds. Personally, she hoped that he would target Coil next and expose all his secrets so she can run free, but that seems unlikely. Well, a girl can dream. Apparently there was a new cape that debuted this morning, and Coil ordered her to investigate and build a profile of her as usual with any new cape that entered the scene.

Subject likely has a personal connection to the Dockworker Union. Subject monitored the Dockworker Union and showed herself due to Krieg and Alabaster.

Lisa clamped on her power after receiving this information. A personal connection, huh? Maybe her family works there. Coil will probably see this as leverage for control, but she couldn't do anything to stop him. His power is too tricky to be surprised, so the only thing that worked against him is long term planning. She clicked on the file Coil sent her, and her laptop began playing footage recorded from a nearby security camera. Krieg and his gang marched at the building dramatically, but the new heroine jumped in front of them.

Subject teleported to a roof before jumping in front of them.

Teleportation, huh? Nice power, but what else? The report said that the group just suddenly collapsed on the ground, so what is her real power? The footage was too grainy for her to see any details on the cape, but her power can compensate for that.

The subject did not teleport.

Hmm, so someone brought her to a rooftop and she jumped down from it, then? Weird, but okay. The cape has an accomplice, then. Probably the person that monitored the building for her too.

Her laptop's screen suddenly turned black when she was typing her findings. "Oh, come on!" She just finished writing Hope's basic profile too! Now all that work is going down the drain.

Laptop did not malfunction. Laptop is being hacked.

Lisa felt a chill down her spine. Her laptop carries too much classified information from both Coil and the PRT. If any of that got out, there's a real chance she will be dead before sunset. Immediately, she raised her laptop and threw it on the floor as hard as possible. It's a bit of a shame she lost her progress on Hope's profile, but look on the bright side! Coil will probably give her a new laptop with stronger security after she reports this.

She looked out the window and saw nothing but an endless expanse of white.

Your surroundings are an illusion. You are under attack.

Lisa didn't hesitate in pulling out her gun hidden under the sofa. She has several guns stashed throughout her house just in case something like this ever happened, but she only thought of it as a precaution. Lisa never thought she would actually use them. An illusion power? The only one she can think of who can do this in Brockton Bay is Labyrinth, but Faultline has a policy of not taking jobs in Brockton Bay. Is it someone out of town? Or is this another one of Coil's tricks? She raised her gun in a practiced stance, and her living room suddenly transformed. She was no longer in her apartment in Brockton Bay, but instead in a beach cabin where the sun was shining brightly and waves could be seen crashing against the beach. Sitting in a rocking chair right where her TV should be is the very cape she was investigating, Hope.

"Take a seat, we have much to discuss."

Your surroundings and the subject are an illusion. No objects have been displaced.

All of this is an illusion? She can even feel the sea breeze and the summer heat! Warily, she kept her grip on her gun and sat back down on the sofa. It still felt like her sofa despite looking different, so her power was right. All of this is just an illusion. She didn't get teleported to Hawaii and she was still in her living room. A small part of her heart felt disappointed at that.

Hacking and illusions are a display of power. Wants to scare you into submission.

Lisa has to stop herself from clenching her jaw. Another asshole like Coil? She couldn't see her phone on the table, so she had to assume that the illusions covered it. She has to find a way to signal Coil that she is in danger, since he will never let his pet thinker be taken by someone else. "You're Hope, right? The cape that defeated Krieg and Alabaster today?"

Hope nodded. "Rune, Moist, Squealer and Skidmark too."

That was new. She knew they were arrested today, but she did not have time to go through the files Coil sent her yet. Apparently Krieg… was seen fighting them…

The Krieg involved was an illusion. Illusion is projected by tinkertech drones with tinkertech weaponry. Drones are mass produced and highly coordinated.

Okay. Mass produced Tinkertech drones? That's like the first red flag for the PRT to dish out Kill Orders, and a tinker like that has her sight on poor old Lisa? Fuck, she needs to stay calm. Think on the bright side, maybe she doesn't have mass produced drones! Maybe she made them all by hand! "So, what brings you to my humble abode?" She asked with a smirk. Displaying confidence is always important. She learnt that lesson from Coil. "Oh, don't try to hide it from me. I know all of this is just an illusion."

The illusion cape leaned back on the sofa and ignored what she just said. "I have a proposal for you. Cooperate with us to dismantle Coil's operation and bring him to justice, and we will provide you money and protection."

"That sounds like too good of a deal to be true. What's the catch?" Lisa replied.

"We aim to eradicate villainy from Brockton Bay, and we want you to help us with this goal."

We? So Hope does have a partner that she is working with. She doesn't really want to play hero, but Hope doesn't seem to be giving her a choice. "What if I say no?"

Hope tilted her head, as if amused at her question. "You won't."

So they knew about the circumstances behind her employment under Coil? She clamped down on her power because she wanted to save it for crucial moments, so she can only make deductions on her own now. She has to probe for information so her power has something to work with. "You sound pretty sure about that."

"You want to be free from Coil." Hope said. "Be free from the future where he drugs you into becoming his pet. We know you've been gathering evidence on him for a long time now. You have the intel, and we have the power. Coil can and will be defeated tonight."

Lisa let go of her grip on her power for a moment to verify Hope's claims, and what she found mildly surprised her.

Have confirmation that they can capture Coil tonight. Has been preparing to fight Coil. Wants your cooperation to gather evidence and convict him legally.

"You know Coil has an army of mercenaries, right?" Lisa asked to feign her suspicion and ignorance. "All of them are armed with tinkertech weapons. Your illusions are impressive, but that's all they are. Illusions. If you want me to work with you, I need something more… real. Something that can give me a guarantee."

"You want a guarantee, Lisa?" Hope asked in an amused tone. Two people are speaking with the illusion. "Look behind you."

A pair of gloved hands came down on her shoulder and gently massaged it. She jumped out of her sofa immediately and aimed her gun at whoever was touching her.

"Meet my partner, Fatamorgana." Hope said behind her. He was a well built man wearing a mask that looked like a hexagonal camera lens. He wore segmented and symmetrical armor on his torso and shoulder that was tied together by straps, while the rest of his costume looked like lightweight military fatigues in an urban camouflage color scheme.

Is not an illusion. Is a remote controlled drone. Can use illusion.

"To be honest, we don't actually need you to take down Coil." Fatawhatever-his-name said and shrugged his shoulders. "We have enough control of his base and the firepower to overwhelm his mercenaries. Your only use is to make sure he can't snake his way out of the PRT, since he actually works inside. Surprising, right?"

That was… not as surprising as she thought it would be. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Coil wasn't just bribing PRT officers to give him intel, he was in the PRT to get that intel and manipulate internal decisions away from his illegal operations. Playing both hero and villain so that he will never lose sounds exactly like something Coil would do. Fuck!

"So, that's what you want me to do, huh? Make sure Coil is properly caught by the heroes?" She asked. "Why don't you just kill him, anyway? You guys don't really care about the Unwritten Rules."

"That would paint us as aggressive vigilantes. While… not exactly untrue, it will hinder our plans to make this city a safer place. We'll just maintain polite fiction for publicity's sake." Fata explained as he slowly walked around her couch. "Plus I don't like getting blood on my hands, you know? Helps me sleep better at night."

Prefers to kill Coil, but does not want to antagonize the heroes. Cares about public reception. Wants to use public reception in the future.

Yeah, they will need all the public reception they can get alright. If they want to avoid a Kill Order, public perception is the best way to go, other than hiding the full extent of their firepower and praying that PRT never finds out. Her power confirmed that they believed they can and will defeat Coil tonight, but "defeating Coil" and "keeping Coil in jail" are two very different things, so she can see why they came to her anyway. If Coil does have his operations destroyed and escaped, he would definitely restart it and kidnap her again.

In the end, her only choice is clear. Help Hope and Fata hand Coil to the PRT tonight, or risk losing her freedom again.

"Alright, I'm in. How do we start?" She said with a smirk. They sounded like ambitious, if heavy handed heroes. If she played her cards right, she might even take over and lead them under her brilliant mind instead!

The illusions faded away and she was in her apartment in Brockton Bay again, though she never left in the first place. "Very well, we'll meet you at our base." Hope said before disappearing, leaving her and Fata alone in her living room.

"Open your arms, please." Fata asked politely.

Is going to carry you and fly you to their base.

Lisa gave her winning smile and tried to sooth the pit forming in her stomach. "Can we walk instead?"

Fata's mask was expressionless, but she can feel a smirk from his reply. "No."

AN: So we're finally moving on to our actual debut. Might or might not be an actual stomping, since we're so prepared and all. I actually have a clear image of what Fatamorgana looks like, which is essentially Arkham Knight but with Astraea Type Finsternis's helmet instead. Fata will be our heroic stand in for sometime, but a public identity reveal is in the plans and Fata will probably be rendered obsolete by then. It's a long time away, though. Here's some image reference.

The body

[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]

The head

[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]

In IRL, my results are… middling. Not the worst I can do, but it isn't the best either. Still, I am preparing for college now, and there's a lot of financial and academic pressure that comes with it. I can only hope I can handle it without crushing under pressure.

Last edited: Jun 23, 2022

Interlude: Hope

I leaned back on my seat as our negotiations with Tattletale ended. Adam took off his headset and let out a huge breath too.

"Is it really safe to bring her here?" I asked Adam. Inviting a villain, even if she was forced to be one, to work in our base didn't really sit well with me. It just felt like she could betray us at any given opportunity.

"Well, we don't really have another choice, do we?" Adam replied as he resumed tinkering at his computer. "We need her to work with Hermes for maximum efficiency, and I haven't bought another warehouse yet."

I wonder what Adam's specialty is. Tinkers are supposed to have a "theme" that their technology focuses on. I thought his specialty was illusions at first, but his hacking and drones seems to be too capable for a specialty like that. His artificial intelligence, H.E.R.M.E.S seems to support my theory. We'll probably figure it out in the future, but I am sure that whatever Adam's specialty is, he has the potential to be one of the most powerful Tinkers in the world.

"How much money do we have left?" I asked. I didn't really get over the fact that Adam stole 20 million dollars and blew it all away in mere days but he certainly proved his worth with his tinkertech. The "concussion blaster" on his drones is far more powerful than what I first imagined. When I first heard of them, I thought it would just give you a mild headache or dizziness. It runs out that they can actually flip cars and trucks alone. If the drones work in tandem, they can probably knock down a building with sheer power.

"About 3 million dollars. We'll get more after tonight's raid."

"Raid?" I replied, "You sound like you're in a war."

"We technically are?" Adam replied as he turned his chair around to face me. "We're waging a war against villainy, right? Coil's our first step in that."

That… sounds a little unsettling, coming from a twelve year old kid.

"I just thought we were going to do some normal hero stuff before attacking Coil." I explained. "I imagined my debut as patrolling the streets and catching muggers in the alleyway, not facing the Empire alone or planning an attack on a Bond villain base."

"I really don't get people's obsession with catching muggers." I heard him mutter under his breath. "Catching muggers isn't going to do anything other than satisfy your own ego."

"Why?" I couldn't help but blurt out. "At least we are still saving people, right? I know it doesn't exactly stop crime from happening, but-"

"Do you know about supply and demand, Taylor?" He interrupted.

"Yeah, I do. Dad's the head of hiring, you know? He talked about stuff like this with… Mom before." I used to sit on Mom's lap and nod off as she discussed this sort of stuff with Dad. I don't really understand what they were talking about back then, but I can appreciate the memory.

"I believe there is a direct correlation between the quality of life and crime rates. The better the average life of a society is, the less crime will occur. You don't need to commit crimes when you have everything you need in life. People don't commit crime because they want to, but because they think they don't have any alternatives. If we want to stop crime, we need to do it from the root cause."

Adam paused for a moment, then he continued, "I want to create a society where people don't need to turn to crime. A world where heroes are not needed. You can only be a hero if there's a villain to defeat after all. I don't want to live in a world like that."

That… makes sense, at least to me. Supply and demand. If people don't have the need to turn to crime, criminal activities will naturally drop. If there are no villains, we wouldn't need heroes either.

"So you want to rejuvenate the city's economy?" I asked after processing his words. "Create job opportunities so that people won't join the gangs."

Adam nodded. "That's part of my plan, yeah. There's just a lot of other factors to consider. Natural disasters. Healthcare. Security. Education. I don't know how to reach that goal yet."

"Hmm…" I thought in silence. What Adam was describing here sounds like an utopia. He wants to create an utopia where there is no crime and villains. Is that even possible? I'm a little afraid that Adam will become an extremist, since a lot of movie villains started out wanting to create an utopia too.

"How does the suit feel, Taylor?" Adam asked and broke me out of my musings.

I stretched my arm and looked down at my suit. It still looked like my initial design, but it looked less villainous now that Adam painted a large part of it white and blue. Only my pants and shoes remained black, but they have stylish blue lines running over them. "It was surprisingly comfortable. I thought I would feel a lot of wires inside since you tinkered in it."

"I'm not some third rate tinker, Taylor." Adam replied smugly. His computer let out a beep, and he turned around to face it. "Tattletale is almost here. Put your mask on."

I quickly put on my mask and greeted by the expansive interface Adam installed inside. The production lines and my control stations were hidden by B.A.R.F as the factory roof opened, allowing formations of drones and Lisa to enter and land in the middle of the factory.

"Very nice of you to fly slower so that I wouldn't scream." Lisa said sarcastically as the drones let her land on the ground. She patted some dust off her shirt and continued, "Didn't even ruin my hairstyle too!"

"Welcome to our operation center, Lisa." I walked forward and greeted her. "Would you like some tea?"

Lisa looked at me incredulously, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, tea would be nice. So where's your Tinker partner? Hiding behind that desk over there?" She said while pointing right at where Adam was. Her power was really amazing.

Super intuition, or as Adam calls it, a bootleg Sherlock Holmes. Her power can collect micro details of her observations and deduce accurate conclusions. Sounds weak, but when you realize she can find out your computer password from the dust of your keyboard, the name "Tattletale" makes a lot more sense. Amazingly versatile, but can also cause intense headaches if overused and make wrong conclusions from insufficient data. I think it's weird that most capes seem to have an obvious downside to their power, even the Triumvirate.

Fatamorgana replied behind her, "Yeah, so?"

"Nothing." Lisa waved it off, "I want to get this over with as soon as possible. Did you get my laptop?"

I heard Adam sighed from our communication line "Yes, Tattletale, we have your laptop. Is there anything inside we should know about?"

"My investigations are in the hard disk, so fix it if you can. Some files inside have evidence on his dirty cops and informants."

"It will be done. Let's begin a rundown on what we know about Coil first."

A hologram on Coil's profile was projected in front of us, and Adam began to brief us on our investigations. "Coil. Civilian name Thomas Calvert, a veteran PRT trooper who was deployed to Ellisburg during Nilbog's debut and subsequently discharged because he killed his commanding officer. His power is to simulate another timeline where he took a different action and remember the outcome. He was rehired by PRT as an advisor in 2008, around the same time Coil debuted in Brockton Bay's local cape scene. Coil has been keeping a low profile, preferring to use his mercenaries and body doubles to act in his name. He has no apparent criminal activity, but he is heavily involved in money laundering and bribery of various government authorities and private companies. He has a vast information network in both the PRT and local gangs, feeding each other information so that they can act in his favor."

"We believe his end goal is to eliminate the gangs to fill the power void and replace the local PRT director. Should this happen, he will be in control of both the heroes and villains. Brockton Bay will be Thomas Calvert's personal fiefdom, and nobody will even know about it."

It was unbelievable how an actual villain could hide under PRT's nose for so long. I can believe it if there is internal corruption inside PRT, but a literal villain who was the mastermind of the entire operation? That's just fucking unbelievable. I spent a lot of time reading through our results on Coil, and the more I read, the more it made sense why the Protectorate was so ineffective against the gangs. Coil was sabotaging their operation so that he could bide his time until he was in control. He used his power to find out people that can be bribed, then push them into positions of power so that he will have more power in turn.

The holograms switched to display footage of Thomas Calvert changing into his snake suit in his base. "While we have evidence to prove that Calvert is connected to Coil, it is not solid enough to prove that Calvert is Coil. That's where you come in, Tattletale. We need that evidence, otherwise Coil will paint us as the villain of the story. We need absolute and undeniable proof that a PRT agent is masquerading as a villain, and you have nine hours to get that evidence, otherwise we will use the nuclear option to force the PRT to take action."

That was new to me. "We have a nuclear option?"

"I will get it done by tonight. The nuclear option might sound dangerous, but I'm sure we will be absolutely fine." Adam replied.

"Wait, this nuclear option of yours… Please don't tell me it's what I think it is." Lisa said.

"What do you think it is?"

"You don't have enough drones to establish firepower superiority yet, but you somehow have the intel highground." Lisa paused. "Brockton Bay will never be the same from the fallout."

"So you better work hard, Lisa. I don't want to use the nuclear option either." He replied ominously. The holograms changed into a user interface. "You will work here and have access to my systems and drones. Hermes will assist and monitor you. Do not step out of line, otherwise you will experience absolute sensory deprivation and the nuclear option will be back on the table. Goodbye."

Lisa crossed her arms and glared at Adam. "You have an A.I? Fine, you better keep your big red button off the table! Also, buy me some dinner! I'm staying here all night, remember?"

"What would you like to eat, Miss Wilbourn?" H.E.R.M.E.S asked. "I can order a takeout and have the drones fetch it for you."

I tuned their conversation out and went towards Adam. "What is this nuclear option Lisa was talking about?"

"I will make the civilian identity of every single cape in Brockton Bay public. Don't worry, the drones can keep us safe."

"Why is that a bad thing? That means the PRT can arrest villains directly, right?"

"Something about stupid unwritten rules among capes, you should ask Lisa about it. I don't really understand it either."

I nodded. It makes sense that there were some unwritten rules in the cape community, but they're probably not important enough for heroes to care. "Okay. What are you doing now?"

"I'm hacking into Coil's base." I looked at Adam's monitors where lines of codes were displayed. "You know what? I'll recycle these monitors tomorrow for interactive holographic displays. Saves more space that way."

"Sure. I'm going to train for a little while, then we'll go home for dinner, okay?"

"I think you should take a nap. Wouldn't want you to doze off in the middle of a fight, right?" We bought some beds in the factory in case we ever need to stay overnight.

Adam's right. Our operation is at midnight. I nodded at him and turned around. "Yeah, wake me up when we're about to go home."

We left the workshop before dad arrived home as usual, leaving H.E.R.M.E.S to monitor Lisa just in case she decided to touch something she shouldn't. I completed today's homework just in time for dad to serve today's dinner, shepherd's pie.

"Did you make any new friends in school, Taylor?" Danny asked as he cut himself a slice of pie.

"Yeah, I did." I answered as I sat down in the dining room. "The students there are pretty nice, and I want to join the martial arts club since I want to learn some self-defense."

Now that I am becoming a hero, I should learn some skills to protect myself. I couldn't always rely on Adam's tinkertech and bug control isn't really that hard to counter, so learning martial arts seems like a pretty good idea to me.

Dad paused his biting for a moment. "That's interesting. Do you need to pay a monthly fee to join the club?"

"No. We have a weekly practice every Friday, so you will have to drive Adam home that day. I heard that the club teacher used to be a police officer, so she is very skilled. The club is pretty popular among girls, and I managed to snag a spot."

"Good, I'm happy to see you enjoying your new school. What about you, Adam?"

"School's boring as usual for me." Adam replied while munching on his pie. "Nothing remarkable happened other than Miss Militia's speech last week."

"Well, you can tell me or Taylor if anything happened, alright? Don't be afraid to ask us for help."

I couldn't help but glance at dad. Ever since the locker, dad has been trying to reconnect with me. He talked more during dinner and breakfast, and he tried to make time for movies with me. A small part of me couldn't help but resent the fact that it took the locker for dad to care for me again, but I appreciate that he is trying to be better.

"Yeah, yeah." Adam replied dismissively. "Can you pass me another slice of pie?"

"Here." Dad cut another slice of pie and put it on our plates. "Both of you are growing kids. You should eat more."

"Thanks." I muttered.

"The Empire came around the dockworker's building today." Dad said, and I have to control myself so that I don't choke.

"Did they hurt you, Uncle Danny?"

Dad shook his head. "No, a hero came by and fought them back before they could do anything. The PRT arrested the villains and nobody was hurt. There wasn't even any property damage!"

"Wow, who is the hero that saved you?" Adam asked curiously. If I didn't know better, I would really believe that he really didn't know anything about Hope at all.

"She calls herself Hope. She just stood there and all the thugs just fell on the ground with their guns missing. I think she's a pretty good hero."

"Cool." I said while trying to hide my slight panic. Even though people saw "Hope" defeat the villains today, I felt a little guilty since that was just an illusion. It felt like Adam was doing all the work, and I contributed nothing to our activities at all.

"I wonder what her power is. She sounds pretty powerful if she can just make people faint and take away their guns by standing still." Adam pretended to wonder. He is really selling dad the idea that he knew nothing about Hope at all. How did he do that?

I swallowed my food and decided to chime up. "Maybe she's a grab-bag cape? I heard they have a lot of different but weak powers on PHO. I think Circus has pocket dimensions, fire powers and super reflexes? Maybe Hope is like him too."

Dad snorted as he picked up his plates. "I don't really follow cape news, so I wouldn't know. Adam, can you wash the dishes later?"

"Sure, I don't mind." Adam replied.

I finished my pie and placed my dishes in the sink. I turned on the TV to distract myself from my anxiety. I am going to attack a villain tonight. I am going to attack a villain with his mercenaries in his underground base tonight. I fantasized about becoming a heroine and defeating a villain all the time when I was a kid, but I never imagined that I would actually get to do it. I'm pretty sure I can find the exact toys I used for this scenario in the basement, too. It still feels a little unreal to me.

I'm going to be a hero tonight.

"Illusions are in place. Uncle Danny will only see you asleep in your bed if he opens the door." Adam said as the drones began projecting an illusion of me sleeping in my bed. It's a little unsettling to see my sleeping face even though I clearly knew it was an illusion.

"Thanks, Adam." I took a deep breath and replied, "Let's go."

I opened the window, and drones in a staircase formation were waiting for us. We walked down with the drones slightly wobbling and headed towards the workshop.

"Do you feel nervous, Adam?" I asked as we walked. We were going to attack a villain in his underground base tonight. It still felt a little unbelievable to me, but it is the truth. We couldn't afford to make any mistakes with this.

Adam took a deep breath and replied, "A little. I mean, I'm staying in the warehouse, but you're the one going into a Bond villain base. I am responsible for keeping you safe here."

I smiled a little when I heard that. It feels nice when people care about you. I haven't felt like that in… a long time. My life's really sad, isn't it?

"I feel really nervous, but I'm excited, too. I used to dream about being an Alexandria package before, but when I got my power, I just felt really disappointed." I confessed while looking at my taser gauntlets. "I told myself that I can still be a hero, but I'm scared that some villain will just shoot me out of nowhere. Thanks, Adam. For working with me to be a hero."

Adam patted my back and smiled. "You're welcome."

One thing that I am absolutely grateful for is that Adam installed a heater in the suit. It just made the midnight chill much more bearable. In fact, I might ask him to make a few sets of pajamas with these heaters, since it was so warm and comfortable.

"I am so jealous of you right now." Tattletale gritted out as we flew toward Coil's base on the drones. "I would really kill to have tinkertech heaters installed into my suit. You have no idea how cold wearing this is." She pointed at her purple bodysuit.

"Your fault for wearing a skintight bodysuit." Adam chimed up from our communication channel. "I don't understand what's with capes and bodysuits. It's not like wearing something skintight enhances your power or serves any tactical purposes, so you only have yourself to blame for the cold."

Tattletale groaned at his reply. "It's part of the image, okay? Do you think Alexandria actually needs to wear a helmet? It's just for show! She can fight naked for all she wants and it wouldn't make any difference for her! Image is a big part of a cape's identity. I know you understand that, it's why you designed Hope's suit to have bright colors even though it wasn't practical at all."

Huh, another thing I never thought about. Alexandria's bodysuit and helmet looks cool, but does she actually need it? Now that I think about it, some cape's costume seem really unnecessary and impractical. Dauntless and Armsmaster certainly need their iconic equipment, but wouldn't it be safer if Miss Militia wore something more protective other than a vest and a bandana? Does Vista's dress do anything other than look good? I looked at my own costume again, and couldn't really find any impracticality other than the color. Protection at joints and vitals, utility belt, gauntlet, seems pretty practical to me.

"Tell that to Number Man."

"Wh- You know what Number Man looks like? How!?" Tattletale almost shrieked.

Who's Number Man? He sounds like a pretty big deal for Tattletale to react like that.

"Fuck around and find out. Hope, you're almost there. How many bugs have you gathered?"

I briefly counted my swarm. "About thirty thousand bugs along the journey. I kept my swarm in the sewers since I don't want to freak anyone out. It's still pretty early in the night."

We were heading toward Coil's base by sitting on the drones. Despite the drone's size, they are powerful enough to carry a person on them and fly at decent speed. Adam uses his illusion tech to cover his drones in optical camouflage as we fly over the streets. It's not midnight yet, so there are a fair amount of people still working in shops and restaurants below us.

"Eww, gross." I ignored Tattletale's comment.

A blueprint of Coil's base appeared in my internal display, with an elevator and a hangar highlighted in red. "That's enough. Follow the plan. I'll tell you when to let them out."

"Got it." With that, Tattletale began to fly in a different direction than me. My mission is to handle the mercenaries and every accomplice in the base, while Tattletale will handle Coil. Her plan sounds a little shaky to me, but Adam trusted her to succeed.

I began directing my bugs to enter the base from sewer tunnels, water pipes and air ducts. It was easier to map out the base in my head when I could look at the blueprint for reference. The base itself was pretty clean, but it couldn't remove every pest inside. I jumped off the drones and approached the cover storefront used by Coil. The CCTV was staring right at me, but I know Adam is in control of it.

"There are two mercenaries guarding the elevator. Can you see them from your bugs?" Adam inquired.

I concentrated my senses on the swarm. I can barely see the contour of two people, but my sense of size and distance is pretty accurate after all my sensory exercise for the past week."I can see them. Should I attack now?"

"Do it."

My swarm burst out of the air ducts and flew straight to the mercenary's heads as the door rolled up. One of them tried to report the attack and pressed the alarm button, but Adam has already disabled it for tonight. The mercenaries wore masks and helmets that completely covered their face, but my bugs were crawling into the gaps and biting on their faces directly. I even have a few centipedes crawling down their backs for good measure. When the opening was big enough, I rushed in and tased them while they were still panicking.

"Elevator is clear now." I reported. Even though there wasn't really a fight, I can still my heart pounding from what I just did. It felt really different from watching my illusion self fight the Empire today.

The door rolled down as I tied the two mercenaries up and handed their weapons to the drones. It looked like there were two car lifts hidden inside, and I walked into the elevator with the drones following me. I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"I'm in position, so hurry up." Tattletale complained. She was supposed to enter the base from another elevator.

"Not yet. Hope, I highlighted the control room for the elevator. There was a guard in it, so distract him with your bugs."

I directed my bugs to attack him as the elevator descended. It didn't take long for it to stop, revealing a large hangar where a few cars and vans were parked. The hangar was much bigger than what I pictured, even if I saw the blueprints already. The drones cloaked me and I immediately ran to the control room and tased him into unconsciousness as well. I tried to pull him into a cupboard to hide him, but he is too heavy for a teenage girl like me to move so I directed the drones to pull him instead.

The speaker around the hangar crackled. "Attention all personnel, move to Hangar 1 for scenario F evacuation practice. Combatants are to return their equipment to the armory immediately. I repeat, all personnel move to Hangar 1 for scenario F evacuation practice. Combatants are to return their equipment to the armory immediately."

"Now we wait for them to line up." Adam reported from my mask and I walked to the corner, lying in wait as the drones cloaked me.

I watched as people began to slowly gather in the hangar and line up in a practiced manner. I can feel sweat rolling down my forehead from how nervous I am. It was easier to place flies on them to track their location, but harder to hide black widow spiders on them without getting smacked away. Some of them got squashed by shoes before they even managed to climb their body, but I eventually have at least one spider on everyone in the hangar. A few minutes passed by as I waited anxiously for Adam to give me the signal.

"Floor 2 is cleared of personnel, opening the elevator for you. I wish you best luck on your revenge, Tattletale." I jumped at Adam's sudden voice, but luckily it didn't alert anyone in the hangar. "The evacuation is about to complete. Is your swarm ready?"

"Yes."

"On my signal, I will project an illusion of you flying in front of them and you will talk from there. Make them surrender with your swarm."

"Okay." I replied. I gathered a pretty large number of bugs in the air ducts and the gaps in the elevator already. I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves. A few more people enter the room, and it is finally time for me to capture them.

"3… 2… 1… now."

The door leaving the hangar sealed shut, and Illusion-Hope appeared with a showy, bright flash. I cleared my throat before speaking through the illusion and bringing down my swarm to cover the ceiling and the lights. The buzzing of my swarm is now audible and bordering on loud, but not enough to cover my voice.

"Good evening, employees of the villain known as Coil." I recited from a script I prepared on the way here. "I am a new hero, Hope. You are now all under arrest for your illegal occupation. Surrender peacefully or I will force you to surrender with my swarm. Kneel down and put your hands on your head."

Some of them did as I told immediately and showed visible fear on their face while others refused to comply and seemed ready to fight. A mercenary ran and pressed the panic button, but the alarms did not ring. Hermes helpfully highlighted everyone that seemed to refuse surrender in my mask. I had the spiders crawl out of everyone's pockets to the back of their necks and dropped a few centipedes from the air ducts on the highlighted individuals for good measure.

"This is your final warning. Surrender now."

They stared at each other wordlessly for a few moments before complying as well. I controlled the spiders to produce silk handcuffs around their hands while I used zip ties myself. I felt a little guilty when I heard some people cry or whimper when my bugs are crawling over their head. Some of them even looked like they wanted to puke. I watched over the live feed from various angles by the drones to see if any of them attempted to escape. The hangar's door suddenly opened, revealing Fatamorgana and two drones behind him.

"Am I too late for the party, Hope?" The drone said with a tint of mischief in his voice. Fatamorgana's movement is so human-like that it's hard to believe Adam is remotely controlling it. Tinkertech never ceases to amaze me.

I controlled the illusion to shrug her shoulders. "You can tie them up with zip ties. I wouldn't mind an extra pair of hands to speed things up."

"Okay, Coil is being handled right now. I called the PRT for you, so all we have to do is to bring all these people to the surface so the PRT can arrest them." Adam and Fatamorgana reported at the same time. With Fatamorgana, it didn't take long to tie everyone's hands.

"Follow me." I ordered through Illusion-Hope and the captured members began to follow her across the hallway while I tailed them with Fatamorgana under cloaking illusions. We were heading towards the base's largest exit where Adam told PRT to pick up the mercenaries. As I walked across the base's wide hallways, I couldn't help but worry about Tattletale. My part in the plan might collapse Coil's organization, but he will always rise again if he wasn't arrested. I agree with both Adam and Tattletale that Coil cannot be allowed to go free. With his power, he will never run out of second chances. Brockton Bay will never be free of villainy.

Tattletale better get that evidence, otherwise tonight will be a waste of time.

AN:This chapter is my longest chapter yet. It was originally supposed to be from Adam's POV, but I realized writing an operation like this from "the guy in the chair"'s POV is just really boring so I switched it into Taylor's interlude instead. I got the feeling that Taylor didn't monologue enough here, but that's just me.

Also, are you worried that Adam is too OP and steamrolling everything?

I was reading an isekai LN that surprisingly actually isn't just the MC steamrolling everything, and it gave me some idea on how to write the future plot. The LN is Isekai Tensei Soudouki, btw. It got a manga, so check it out.

Last edited: Jul 6, 2022

Interlude: Coil

Coil was arranging information to be leaked to Kaiser from his undercover informants.

Thomas Calvert was brushing his teeth and getting ready to go to bed.

His computer suddenly turned black, and he refrained from groaning. He pressed the intercom button, "I need a technician in my office. My computer malfunctioned and now has a black screen."

He entered his bedroom and laid down on his bed.

"Copy that, a technician is on the way."

He closed his eyes.

A woman in an orange jumpsuit entered his office with a case a few minutes later.

He can feel sleep claiming him.

She took off her cap and raised a gun at him. "Surprise, Coil."

He died in his sleep.

Coil stopped himself from flinching at his sudden death, but Tattletale caught on to it anyway. "You're surprised? Nice."

"How did you get in here, Tattletale?" He asked calmly as he brought his hands together.

He opened a new timeline and pressed the panic button under his desk, but immediately died afterwards.

Gunshot. He recognized the brief pain was from a shot to the head, but he did not see Lisa pull the trigger. A gunner he couldn't perceive is in his office. Stranger? Coil's mind is running a mile a minute. Tattletale shouldn't be capable enough to infiltrate his base on her own, so someone must have helped her.

He stayed in his position behind the desk as Lisa smiled at him smugly. "Guess your power didn't work, huh?"

He immediately pulled out his gun under his desk, but died before he even reached it.

She planned this. Her collaborator must have hacked his computer to let Tattletale infiltrate his base and corner him here. He couldn't use his escape paths, not with a gun pointed at his head or a gunner he couldn't perceive. Tattletale was capable enough to know exactly when and what he was planning. He was cornered in his own office.

He begged for his life. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm sorry for what I did to you. I'll give you everything I have, just don't kill me!"

He'll start with a simple question to probe for information. "How did you do it?" He died again.

"Oh yeah? Are you really sorry?" Lisa chuckled. "Do you know how fucking scared I was that night? Your mercenaries stalked me for weeks! Before you dragged me into a van and pointed a gun at me!" She screamed aggressively.

She knew. Tattletale was able to accurately discern when he opened another timeline. She also wasn't giving him any chance to negotiate with her, but there must be something she wants from him. That's why she didn't kill him immediately. Whatever Tattletale wants, it was his only card against her for now.

He calmed his breathing and pulled back on his tears. She would know that he was just faking it anyway. "What do you want, Tattletale? Why haven't you killed me yet?"

He raised his hand above his head and calmly said, "I surrender, Sarah. You can have all my money and assets, just don't kill me."

"I want you to say it before I kill you. Your grand plan that needs all the bribery and atrocities you commited. I want you to say it like you did the first time I met you, with all your arrogant and narcissistic bullshit before I put a bullet in your head." Tattletale commanded with a cruel smile on her face.

He died again.

Coil mentally grimaced. Tattletale clearly knew enough about his power to manipulate his own actions. She is deliberately killing his timelines when she knew that she was in one that was more beneficial for her.

"I will rule over Brockton Bay." He recited from memory. "And you will serve me for that goal. Accept it, and you will be paid handsomely. Refuse it, and you will be shot right in this very van with your corpse disposed of. No one will find Sarah Livsey ever again."

"No. I can't tell you my plan." And he died immediately in his effort to oppose her.

"And how will you achieve that?" Tattletale interrogated with her cutesy tone of voice while emphasizing her gun. "C'mon. I want to hear you say it out loud."

The chance of Tattletale recording this conversation to discriminate against him is getting higher and higher. It's the only thing he can think of to explain her insistence of his confession. The fact that he will have to abandon everything connected to the identity of Coil and start anew in another city if the recording gets out infuriates him, but he calms himself with a deep breath. He needs to find a way to cheat her power.

"The mayoral election is coming soon. Three out of four candidates are in my pocket and under my control." He explained slowly. "I also plan to have the Undersiders push out the gangs and control the cape scene by proxy. Brockton Bay will be under my control in all but name if I succeed."

"You don't understand, Sarah. The rot in Brockton Bay is too deep. The government is too powerless to stop the gangs after the economy collapsed. Everyone can see that." He tried to excuse his actions in a favorable light. He needs to create an illusion where he was fighting for the greater good in the recording. "Even if we push out the Empire and ABB, other gangs will enter the city and take their place. It happened in Boston, and I will not let that happen. I can be in control of the villains and push them to make the city a better place!"

Lisa chuckled and smiled smugly. "You forgot the part where you replaced the PRT director, Mr. Calvert."

Lisa chuckled and smiled smugly. "It's a nice speech and all, but you forgot the part where you're doing this because you're a megalomaniac and consistently sabotaged PRT and the Protectorate, to defeat the villains, Mr. Calvert."

He tilted his head to feign his confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about. Who's Mr. Calvert?"

He decided to vent his frustration in this timeline by shouting his anger. He grabbed his paperwork and threw it at Tattletale, but was gunned down before he even raised his hand.

Tattletale actually giggled. "Oh, don't you play dumb with me, Thomas Calvert. You know, I kept wondering how you got your hands on so much classified information. I thought you just bribed their agents, but you went above and beyond and worked inside the fucking PRT itself!"

She cracked her neck a little. "Guess that's how you got your finger in every pie in the city, huh? PRT advisor by day, stock market dealer by lunch, mysterious mastermind by night. Brockton Bay's PRT isn't just corrupt and incompetent, it's got a fucking supervillain working inside it. No wonder they never seem to get anything done. Naughty little Calvert must have been sabotaging the hero's operations, huh? Leak some patrol routes to the gangs? Keep the villains on the street?"

"That's not true!" He has to take control of the narrative. Paint Tattletale as insane and untrustworthy. "You're delusional, Sarah. Do you really think a villain can go unnoticed inside PRT? With all the Thinkers in their employ?"

"You still don't understand, do you?" He gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. "I'm the only one that is holding the city together! Not the PRT, not the government, ME!"

"Take off your mask, then." Tattletale commanded. "I don't care about the Unwritten Rules anymore. Not after you ruined my life. I could have been a hero, Calvert. I could have joined the Wards and have my own toyline and everything! But you ruined everything! You ruined my life when your mercenaries dragged me into that van!"

He slammed his table and shouted, "I am the one making sure that the gangs don't overstep their territory! I'm the one making sure that the city still has an economy! Do you know how much business in the city belongs to me by proxy? I am the one funding Endbringer shelters! You cannot stop my operations!"

Tattletale snarled. "I don't care. I stopped caring the moment your mercenaries dragged me into that van with a gun at my back. I could have been a hero, Calvert. I could have joined the Wards and have my own toyline and everything! You ruined my life when your mercenaries dragged me into that van. Take off your mask. I want to see your face in the flesh before I blow it up."

"Sarah, please. Don't do this. We can still work together. How much money do you want?" "It was never about money." Tattletale snarled. "I won't let you control me again."
He died.

He opened a timeline and shouted his anger out to vent his frustration before closing it. He has to stay calm in front of Tattletale. He opened another timeline.

Slowly, he took his mask off. Tattletale still has her gun trained on him.

"I'll give you everything I have. My base, my money, my contracts, everything. Please, don't do this, Sarah."

"Huh, so that's what you look like." Tattletale commented. "Fitting that you have the face of a snake. Thin skin pulled tight over your tightly controlled face. Goes with the lack of empathy in your eyes and the need to constrict life out of everything you can reach."

"Fuck you, Calvert." She shot him. He can see the flash of her gunbarrel this time.

"Sarah, wai-" He never finished his plea before Tattletale shot him. He felt the familiar sensation of a headshot before finally losing consciousness.

AN: This chapter feels… underwhelming. It's too short, but I don't feel like cramming too much monologues either. This is supposed to be a tense and rapid standoff between Coil and Tattletale, so adding too much monologues doesn't fit the pacing. Coil's interlude is surprisingly hard to write, since his power gives him dual perception. In the end, I chose to go with this. Coil's really dead, by the way. He didn't faint or anything.

Also, remember Dinah's prediction where "Coil was captured by PRT"? He actually have a chance of staying alive in his alternate timelines, but he was forced into the remaining low percentages in his real timeline instead.

Last edited: Jul 6, 2022

2.3

I made sure to let Tattletale hear my long and loud groan by keeping our channel open.

"I did it. I finally did it." Tattletale sounded like she was in a trance.

"You can't blame the girl, Adam." Tony said to console me. "Anyone would have done what she did. I know I wouldn't hesitate to kill someone like Coil."

I sighed. "Well, it can't be helped. We'll have to improvise."

Maybe fanon clouded my judgment a little, because I genuinely can't think of Coil's death as a bad thing. Still, the PRT is already on their way. It won't end well if we tell them that we killed Coil, since they will use it as leverage to force Taylor and I into the Wards.

Wait a minute.

Taylor and I didn't kill Coil. Tattletale did.

"Hey, how do you feel about being a probation Ward? You said you want to be a hero, right?"

My voice shook Tattletale out of her trance, and she immediately replied, "What? No! I don't actually want to be a Ward. Being a hero sounds so inconvenient, and I will probably have less freedom if I joined them. Less pay, too. And I don't want to pay my taxes."

There goes my plan to let Lisa take the fall for us.

"We'll have to play it off like Coil got away, then." I mused. "You know what to do, Tattletale. Look for anything important or valuable and bring it back. Hermes, start moving his available funds into our accounts, but leave his properties alone. Do it as fast as possible. We have to do it before Number Man realizes Coil is dead."

"I'm on it, boss."

"Gimme some time, I'll evacuate from his escape tunnel later." Tattletale said. "What are you going to tell Taylor?"

"I'll tell her the truth."

Taylor and I are currently waiting for the PRT to arrive inside an abandoned tunnel that served as an evacuation route for Coil's personnels. I hesitate to call all of them mercenaries because there are actually a lot of non-combatants that we captured. Most of them are technicians and people that handle maintenance, but we tied them up and set the drones to watch over them anyway.

"Coil's dead."

Taylor whipped her head to face my drone. "What happened?"

I sent her the recorded confrontation instead of replying, and she watched the video silently. She flinched when Tattletale shot Coil. "She just murdered him! He basically surrendered!"

"Not really. He was deliberately provoking her and looking for an opening. Note the number of times he referenced him capturing her and the fact that he kept calling her Sarah. He was sitting there rubbing her face in the fact that he beat her the first time to try and make her angry enough to slip up and let him get away."

"I knew we shouldn't have worked with Tattletale." Taylor grumbled angrily. "We need to have a talk with her later."

"Wouldn't you want to shoot someone who took away your freedom and forced you into villainy? Tattletale shouldn't have pulled the trigger, but she can't be blamed for it either."

"I know, but…" Taylor replied, "What are we going to tell the PRT? That we worked with a villain and she killed Coil? I don't want them to think we're villains."

"Here, check this out." I sent her another video. I edited all the "Sarah" Coil used with "Tattletale", and then added a flashbang effect to cover the gunshot, leaving Coil's disappearance and a confused Tattletale behind. With this video, instead of Tattletale shooting Coil, it will look like Coil pulled a flashbang and escaped instead.

"We can just tell PRT that Coil escaped, and it wouldn't make a difference. My drones carried the body away and I'm sure Tattletale knows how to clean up the scene."

As if sensing that we mentioned her, Tattletale's voice popped up on the voice channel. "I'm almost done scouring Coil's office. Is the PRT here yet?"

"Almost." I checked the drones that monitored the PRT building. "We should be hearing their sirens soon."

Sure enough, I can hear the faint sirens in the distance. It didn't take long for several vans and trucks with the word "PRT" emblazoned on them to finally arrive in the tunnel. Several troopers stepped out of their vehicles and began to secure the criminals. I recognized the two Protectorate heroes that accompanied them, Dauntless and Triumph. Dauntless went to assist the troopers while Triumph approached us.

"Hi there." Triumph greeted. "Are the two of you Hope and Fatamorgana?"

"We are. I'm Hope, and my partner here is Fatamorgana." Taylor replied. "We captured everyone in the base, including the mercenaries and maintenance crew for the base."

"You said this is Coil's base, right?" Triumph asked, "I didn't see him here. Is he not in the base tonight?"

"He escaped from the base when our partner tried to capture him." I said with a tone of regret. "Unfortunately, we lost him in the base. We decided to stay behind and wait for the PRT instead of pursuing him."

"Do you have anything you can share on Coil? PRT has very little information on him due to how passive he is."

"Not really." I lied. "Hope and I are just the muscle tonight. Our partner is the one investigating Coil."

"Who's your partner? He wasn't mentioned in your call." Triumph asked curiously.

"Coil's base is converted from an Endbringer shelter." I said to divert his attention from the subject. "It has a fully stocked mess hall, armory, server room, medical and surgery room, offices and barracks. Coil is too well funded for someone who doesn't take any territory."

"I see… We will investigate the base as soon as possible." Triumph nodded.

"If there's nothing else, we will take our leave for tonight." I said, "We still got work tomorrow."

"Sure. The PRT will handle the captured gang members and the base."

"Goodbye, Triumph. Have a good evening." I bid him farewell.

"You too."

Taylor returned to our base directly, but Tattletale had to make a detour first.

My drones carried Calvert's body and followed Tattletale's direction. Eventually, we arrived at a crematorium.

"You want to burn it?" I asked.

"Yeah." Tattletale nodded. "Easiest way to dispose of the corpse. We can just spread his ashes somewhere later. You drones can clean up our trail."

Tattletale picked the lock open to allow us entry while H.E.R.M.E.S hacked the security. We head straight to the incinerator room and Tattletale began to operate the machines. My drones dropped Calvert's corpse into the incinerator and bright, blue flames began to burn the corpse

Watching Calvert's corpse burn, I feel oddly… indifferent. I felt nothing while watching the body burn, and I frowned. Why am I not feeling guilty over Calvert's death? I actually expected some level of guiltiness from allowing this to happen, but why am I feeling nothing?

Is it weird that I feel nothing for Coil's death? I asked Tony, and he stayed silent for a while before giving me a reply.

"I don't think so. You feel nothing for Coil because his death feels personally unrelated to you. You know you played a part in it, sure, but Coil is essentially just a stranger to you. You never met him, you never talked to him personally, you don't like him but you don't hate him either. All you know is that he is an evil villain and he needs to die. So no, I don't think it's weird that you feel nothing for him."

Thanks, I thought I was a sociopath or something. I replied while looking at Tattletale. She was watching the corpse burn silently with an unfeeling face.

"Are you alright?" I asked. "You don't look so well."

Tattletale took off her mask for a moment to wipe her tears, and she replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Absolutely peachy, even."

"She probably feels purposeless now that she killed Coil." Tony commented. "Revenge will do that to people. You should keep an eye on her."

"For what it's worth, I don't blame you for killing him. Even if you didn't shoot him, I probably would have sneaked a shot in somewhere later. Coil's just that evil to me."

"Huh, didn't think you would have the guts to do it." Tattletale snarked back.

Eventually, all that left were ashes. My drones collected them in a box and we left the crematorium..

"Where are you going to dump the ashes?"

"Hmm…" Tattletale pondered while touching her chin. "Somewhere in the Bay, I guess. Or flush them down my toilet after I shit on them."

I couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Never change, Tattletale."

The factory doors opened and Taylor walked in with my legion of drones following behind. They formed a neat line and arranged themselves in stacks to undergo maintenance later.

"I'm back! Where's Tattletale?" Taylor called out as she took off her mask.

"We're going to the Undersider's base for negotiations now." I replied, "You can see them here if you want to."

Taylor considered for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "I want to see what the Undersiders are like for myself."

Redmond Welding Factory was always on my monitoring list. My drones have long confirmed that there are three people and several dogs on the upper floor of the factory. Tattletale was riding a drone here after the crematorium.

"Can you cloak me in my civilian clothes?" Tattletale requested when she hopped off my drone.

"Sure." I toggled the drone to project some jeans and shirts to replace her bodysuit while cloaking myself. Taylor closed her screen and turned around to see the Undersiders.

My drones followed Lisa into the factory's renovated living quarters, where Brian was on the sofa using his phone. He shouted for his teammates when he saw Lisa. "Alec! Rachel! Come out!"

"He's pretty buff." Taylor commented when she saw Brian who was wearing a tank top, and I turned around to stare at her. "What?"

Following Brian's call, Alec and Rachel came out from their room and sat on the sofa. Alec looked like he wanted to go back to sleep, while Rachel simply glared at Lisa.

"Actual teenage supervillains… what a sight." Tony commented.

"So, you said you have something you need to tell the team." Brian said. "What is it?"

"I have good news and bad news." Lisa replied. "Which do you want to listen to first?"

Brian sighed in disappointment. "Bad news, please."

Lisa nodded. "Okay. The bad news is that our boss is dead. I killed him."

Brian's head whipped around and stared at Lisa. "What."

"I killed our boss." Lisa repeated. "You want to hear the good news?"

Brian looked like he wanted to shout, but he took a deep breath and calmed himself while rubbing his face. Alec didn't stop swiping his phone, while Rachel simply looked at Lisa, urging her to continue.

"Okay," Brian said slowly, "What is the good news?"

"The good news is that we have a new boss!" Lisa answered cheerfully. "And he will raise our wages!"

I projected Fatamorgana sitting on the sofa next to Alec. "I did not say that."

Immediately, Brian jumped out of the sofa and Rachel's dogs immediately bared their teeth. Alec glanced at me for a moment before going back to swiping his phone.

I waved my hand and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Fatamorgana. I'm your new boss."

Brian clenched his fist and glared at me while Lisa took a seat on the sofa. "What do you want with us? Why did you kill our employer?"

I tilted my head. "I want to pay you to keep four villains off the streets, but I didn't actually kill your boss. Lisa did. You should check PHO later. Let's sit down and have a civilized conversation."

Tensely, Brian and Rachel sat back on the sofa. "Can you explain what you mean when our boss is in your way? We don't actually know who our boss is." Brian asked as he stared at Lisa.

"Are you familiar with Coil?"

"I am." Brian nodded. "Why? He keeps a really low profile and doesn't have anything to do with us."

"Coil is the mysterious benefactor that has been supporting the Undersiders." I explained. "He planned to have the Undersiders kick out the gangs so that he can rule from the shadows. Can you understand that?"

Brian frowned. "That doesn't make sense. He formed our team to be escape artists. How does he expect us to fight the gangs?"

"It doesn't matter, because his plan is no longer in play." I answered. "Just know that the Undersiders were supposed to be a puppet force controlled by him, so he will keep all of you under his thumb as long as he can. Your sister will never be safe from him."

Brian tensed when I mentioned his sister. He stayed silent for a moment, then turned around to speak to Lisa. "When did you kill Coil? How long have you been working for this guy?"

"I killed Coil about half an hour ago." Lisa replied nonchalantly. "And Fatamorgana contacted me this afternoon so that we can bring down Coil as soon as possible. Can you hack our TV to play the clip, boss?"

"Eh, sure." I obliged and the television began to play the clip of the confrontation, which took everyone's attention.

"You didn't tell us you were forced to work with us." Brian said when Tattletale mentioned it on screen.

Lisa shrugged. "It's not like any of you would help me against Coil anyway. He's got leverage over all of you."

Brian turned away and looked a bit guilty when he heard that.

"A PRT advisor is our fucking boss?" Brian muttered in disbelief when Tattletale revealed Coil's name. "What the fuck?"

"Didn't know you wanted to play the good guys, Lisa." Alec commented. "Must have been tough working with us, huh?" He added sarcastically.

"Nah, that's just for appearance sake." Lisa waved it off. "This video is going on news stations tomorrow. Gotta make myself the sympathetic victim to shit on the PRT."

Brian groaned while Alec gave a thumbs up and a smirk when Lisa said that. "Nice."

When the recording reached the part where Tattletale shot Coil, Rachel came over to Lisa's side and patted her on the back. "Good job."

Lisa looked a little surprised. "Thanks, Rachel."

I turned off the TV when the recording ended. "All of your wages will be increased to three thousand dollars a month, along with my personal support in your needs."

"Brian, your custody case with your sister will be taken care of. You will have a new job and a new case worker that is not on Coil's payroll to delay your case."

Brian straightened his posture and asked, "Coil was bribing my case worker?"

"Not anymore."

"Alright." Brian nodded and sighed.

"Alec, I want to deal with your father. I need your advice on the operation."

Alec raised his eyebrow. "You want to catch my old man? Sure, I'll help you. I'm not going to face him for real, though."

I nodded. "It's fine. I don't need you to do that anyway, as you are seeing here." I made my hologram avatar gesture to itself.

"Rachel," She turned around to face me, "I plan to expand and improve your dog shelter. You can tell Lisa what you need for now, and I will implement it as soon as I can."

"What can you do for my dogs?" Rachel questioned briskly.

"Improve the security, install a generator and give you some manpower to clean up the place." I answered.

"I'll have to see if you actually know what you're doing. Dogs need different things than people."

"It's fine, you can do that." I clapped as I intended to end our conversation. "So, any questions?"

"Nah, I'm cool with you." Alec replied while Rachel simply grunted and shaked her head.

Brian raised his hand. "What are you going to pay us to do? You can't expect us to just sit around and do nothing, right? You said you don't want us to be villains, so we're going to go hero now?"

"The Undersiders will serve as my additional manpower for now. I will call you when your team is needed."

"So… hero or villain?" Brian asked again.

"Mostly hero, but we do what we need to do." I replied. "So, nothing else?"

Brian nodded.

"Good night then. I'll call Lisa when I need your help." I bid them farewell and removed my presence from the factory.

"So, what do you think about the Undersiders?" I asked Taylor who was sitting next to me.

Taylor rubbed her chin. "They are… normal. I thought they would have more… flair to them? But they're just normal teenagers. I honestly wouldn't think they are villains if I didn't read Coil's files."

"The point of a mask is to hide the ordinary person behind it." I shrugged my shoulder. "Who knows, maybe a teacher in Arcadia is a Protectorate hero in hiding."

"Hiding behind masks seems like a pretty big thing in this universe." Tony mused. "Not even the world's equivalent of Avengers have their real names known. Pretty weird for the public to trust superhumans like that."

I think the public trusts the government supporting them more.

"True."

"Do you want to review tonight's operation?" I asked Taylor, "Or do you want to go home and take a bath? I know I do."

"Let's do the review tomorrow." Taylor yawned. "I want to get as much sleep as I can. I actually like school now, so I don't want to mess it up."

I'm glad to hear that Taylor enjoyed her time in Arcadia. "Sure. We'll do the review tomorrow. I want to sleep too."

AN: This chapter still feels unsatisfactory to me. Maybe it's because of the lack of monologues that made the entire chapter feels like action only. Arc 2 isn't ending here, and it's going to go on for a few more chapter with another surprise in store for Adam. It will shake things up for sure.

Last edited: Jul 12, 2022

2.4

Topic: Coil's Organization Dissolved

In: Boards General North America Brockton Bay

Hope (Original Poster) (Unverified Cape)

Posted on April 5, 2011:

At 23:46 on April 4, a new hero, Fatamorgana and I cooperated with former villain Tattletale to attack a hidden Endbringer shelter that was converted into a mercenary base that belongs to Coil, whose civilian identity is Thomas Calvert, a PRT advisor.

Thomas Calvert plans to replace the PRT ENE Director and control the criminal underground as Coil. He engaged in various illegal operations, most notably drug trade, blackmailing, bribery, assassinations and poaching potential Wards into villainy. His base of operations have been disabled, with his personnel arrested by PRT. His power is the ability to simulate a timeline where he took a different course of action and remember the outcome. Thomas Calvert has evaded capture and is currently at large.

taxes_coil.pdf

mercenaries.pdf

informants.pdf

companies.pdf

properties.pdf

contracts.pdf

Confrontation.mp4

base_image.zip

(Showing Page 3 of 23)

Char

Replied on April 5, 2011:

I thought Brockton Bay couldn't get any worse after we lost Medhall.

I was wrong.

Chrome

Replied on April 5, 2011:

HOLY SHIT! A villain inside PRT!?!?

Divide

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Maybe we should just nuke BB and be done with it lol

GstringGirl

Replied on April 5, 2011:

How can PRT even let this happen? I thought they have thinkers to prevent this?

Magus Zanin

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Oh boy, I bet Costa-Brown is going to be so happy to hear about this!

DiSCOBOT

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Next thing you're going to tell me is Alexandria works in PRT too.

Reave (Verified PRT Agent)

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Please do not take any of this as facts before PRT verifies it. Most of my contacts in ENE are still asleep, but I can confirm that the local Protectorate did indeed receive a call about Coil's base. Please wait for the PRT to release an official response before believing any unsubstantiated news.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… 21, 22, 23

5 April 2011

Danny cooked some pancakes for breakfast today, which got me pretty excited. I rarely ate pancakes in my old world, since it wasn't a popular choice for breakfast in my country. I'm more of a Milo and bread kind of guy, so pancakes with syrup always had that exotic feel for me.

"Good morning, Uncle Danny." I yawned as I took my seat on the table.

"Good morning, Adam." Danny greeted, "How many pancakes do you want?"

"Three. Do we have chocolate syrup?"

"We don't have chocolate, but we do have some maple and honey. Which do you want?"

"Maple please."

"Here." Danny handed me a plate of pancakes with a generous amount of syrup drizzled on top.

"Thanks."

"You use chocolate syrup on pancakes?" Tony questioned with a tone of exaggerated disbelief.

I like chocolate more.

"Maple syrup is the proper American way of eating pancakes. They taught me in preschool." Tony joked.

Taylor stepped down the stairs as well. I noticed that she had a few dark circles under her eye. Danny noticed that she was still in her pajamas and asked, "You didn't go out running today?"

Taylor stretched her hand and waist before sitting down. "I didn't sleep well last night, so I wanted to sleep in today."

Danny nodded silently as he placed more pancakes for Taylor and himself. While pancakes are a fairly acceptable breakfast, I don't think I can have them everyday for breakfast. I am a rather health conscious person, and the idea of inhaling so much sugar every morning feels like planning a heart disease for myself in the future.

Back in Malaysia, my most common breakfast would be chinese meat buns or fried dough sticks. Sometimes I will have nasi lemak or noodles if I have more time for breakfast, but that was usually once a week.

Danny opened the television to play the news, and the reporting headline got our attention.

PRT advisor outed as villain! Teenagers poached into villainy?

"Wow, that's a new low, even for Brockton Bay." Danny commented on the news. "Makes you wonder just how many government big wigs and rich guys are secretly villains."

More than you would think.

"More than you would like too." Tony continued.

There wasn't much to talk about during breakfast. Danny went to work after he finished his breakfast, leaving Taylor and I alone on the table.

"So…" Taylor scrutinized me closely. "You're still at the factory?"

I nodded and began to eat the pancake that my drone collected from the Hebert household. I decided to stay at the factory overnight to tinker as much as I can instead of going home after our attack on Coil. With how realistic B.A.R.F is, I just considered it as a more advanced form of video call.

I didn't really loot much material from Coil's base last night, since the guns and servers need to be left behind as evidence for PRT. I spent the night doing some manual maintenance on my drones, learning more engineering, designing blueprints and made some preparations to synthesize Starkium. I was still using palladium as the core for my arc reactors because I have other projects to focus on, but now that I have an established workshop and large funds, Tony urged me to synthesize the new element so that my future reactors can keep up with my technology. I also need to improve our forge to manufacture Iron Man's trademark gold-titanium alloy for my future suits.

"Yup. Your suit is almost ready, by the way. I cannibalized some of my old tech because I don't want to wait for Wednesday. I just have some final tuning left to do."

Despite my efforts, Taylor's suit is still far from reaching Tony's standards. Since I don't have enough gold-titanium alloy to manufacture the suit, I am substituting with inferior materials instead. While the suit possesses Tony's most advanced software and systems, it was far inferior in terms of hardware capabilities. It couldn't have high altitude flight without encountering icing problems, couldn't take a tank shell to the face without suffering serious damage, couldn't be crushed by the building without breaking like a house of cards, couldn't be struck by lightning without short-circuiting…

Iron Man set a really high standard for power armors.

Taylor visibly brightened, then she scowled at me. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

I restrained myself from yawning. "Two or three hours, maybe? I'm not going to school today. Got too much tinkering to do."

Taylor's scowl deepened. "You shouldn't skip school like that. You shouldn't tinker overnight to begin with."

"We need to keep the momentum going, Taylor. Now that Coil is gone, other gangs will move into his old territory unless we strike them down first. I'm already monitoring every cape from the Empire, and you're not going to believe who Kaiser's civilian identity is."

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Well, who is it?"

"Max Anders, CEO of Medhall."

Taylor was surprised, but then she thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

I nodded with her as I ate my pancake. "Medhall was already laundering money for the Empire, so the CEO being the gang's top dog wasn't that far fetched. Most of his capes work in Medhall too, so we have to strike quick and hard if we want to collapse the Empire. Leave them with no breathing room to regroup and retaliate."

"Got any plans for them?"

"All of their phones are already bugged, so I'm thinking of tricking all of them into a meeting and launching a surprise attack on them, but Empire Eighty-Eight have a lot of capes, so we might need to divide them into several meetings and attacks instead. Luckily, we just recruited the Undersiders, so I'm not too worried about the lack of manpower."

"Couldn't you just use your drones?" Taylor asked as she squeezed more syrup on her pancake.

"Well, I can, but we are hiding them as a trump card for now. It's better to have real people on the scene."

Taylor nodded as she was satisfied with my tentative plan. I finished my pancake and decided to return to my tinkering.

"All right, I'll have a drone take the plates back. See you later, Taylor."

"See you later."

The illusions dissipated, and I am back in my factory again. Now that breakfast is over, I should finish today's checklist of things to do.

I have a lot of things to do this morning.

I thought Trevor would be going to school, but my drones observed that he decided to skip school and stay at home instead. His mother has already gone out for work. An accountant for a business firm. Oh, well. Easier for me to confront and recruit him alone. He was currently tinkering some sort of helmet in his room, so I knocked on his window to get his attention.

He flinched when he saw Fatamorgana flying right outside his window and grabbed a gun under his bed in a panic.

"I'm not here to hurt you. Open the window, please." I said to calm Trevor down.

Hesitantly, he opened the window for Fatamorgana to enter his room. He seems to be wary of me, and there was this short moment of awkward silence between us.

"Relax, nobody saw me flying into your room, I made sure of it." I said.

Trevor relaxed and his shoulder slumped when he heard that, but he was still wary of me. I glanced around his room, which wasn't really all that special except for the tinkertech on his table. A few movie posters here, dirty clothes in a pile there, pretty normal.

"So… who are you?" He asked, "Why are you here?" Trevor was still gripping his gun.

"I'm Fatamorgana." I introduced myself. "I am the hero who took down Coil last night, and you were in his files so I came to check on you."

"Oh." He seemed shocked when I said that. "Are you going to arrest me? Hand me to the Protectorate?"

I shaked my head. "No, I'm here to recruit you into my team."

"Why? I worked for a villain. A pretty bad one, too. I didn't even know half the shit he was up to until this morning."

"Because everyone deserves second chances." Tony whispered in my head.

"Because I believe you deserve a second chance. You didn't join Coil because you're greedy or violent, you just want to tinker in peace, and Coil used that to control you. I want to recruit you because if I don't, someone else will. Do you know that the Empire might come after you?"

Trevor flinched when I mentioned the nazis. "How? How did they know my identity? I don't even show myself that much!"

"PRT has access to all of Coil's files now, so they already know that you are Chariot. There are a PRT undercover vans outside the street monitoring you right now."

Trevor immediately peaked outside his window, then closed the blinds. I decided to answer his question before he can ask them. "They didn't see me. I have some pretty nifty illusions."

Trevor took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "So the Empire's moles inside the PRT will leak my name to Kaiser. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

"Their capes probably won't break the Unwritten Rules yet, but I believe you can expect the skinheads in Winslow to gang up on you to force you use your tech and out yourself. That's why I want to recruit you. I can provide protection for your family and funding for your tinkering."

He glanced at Fatamorgana's palms. "That's some sort of booster on your hand? You're a tinker too?"

I nodded. "Yeah, another reason I want to recruit you. Two tinkers working together can be an absolute game changer."

Trevor thought for a moment, before asking again. "You said you can protect my family. How?"

I toggled for the drones to show themselves behind Fatamorgana and Trevor took a step back away from me. He squinted to get a better look at them.

"Are… are those drones? You have drones that can use optical camouflage?"

"My drones can do much more than just hide themselves. I can station them around the building to act as security for your family. They were what took down Krieg and Alabaster, by the way."

Trevor paced around his room, and I gave him the time to think. Eventually, he stopped in front of me and offered a handshake. "All right. I'll join your team."

I accepted his hand and shaked back. "Good. Do you want to tour my base today? I can show you your new workshop."

Trevor nodded. "Yeah, good idea. How are we getting there, though? You said PRT got vans outside my house."

"My drones are powerful enough to carry a person."

Fatamorgana walked into the Palanquin. It was still pretty early in the morning, so the nightclub was rather empty other than the janitors cleaning the place. A bouncer was leading my drone to meet Faultline.

"Please wait here for a moment. I will inform Faultline that you are here." The bouncer informed me, and I had Fatamorgana sit down on a seat. The bouncer stepped upstairs for a few minutes, before coming down and led me to her office.

Faultline's costume is… practical. Bulletproof vest and durable fabrics. Firearms hidden under her segmented armor. The design allows for easy repair and replacement without being a heavy burden. I personally think there is too much armor, but that's because I saw what Bucky wore as the Winter Soldier.

"Remember, Adam. Bargain with a lower price first, before bargaining for the acceptable midpoint when she increased her price." Tony advised.

Got it. I took a deep breath and prepared to negotiate with Faultline.

"You are a punctual person, Fatamorgana." Faultline said behind her desk, where she was accompanied by Newter, Gregor and Spitfire by her side. I have already arranged a meeting with her last night by sending a message with my drone, and she agreed to discuss our transaction this morning.

"I strive to be. Being late is disrespecting the people waiting for me." I replied politely.

"Good. I saw the news this morning. You're playing with fire, Fatamorgana."

"I know. That's why I'm here to make a deal with you."

Faultline nodded. "Newter, any words or are you going to keep letting me do the talking?"

Newter looked really uncomfortable, even slightly embarrassed. "Dude, do you really want to buy my piss of all things?"

"It really sounds disgusting when he says it that way, doesn't it?" Tony mused.

I mentally sighed. It can't be helped.

"I know your bodily fluids can act as a powerful, non-addicting and rapid acting hallucinogen." I replied. "While your piss is indeed disgusting, it is unfortunately the only body fluid you can harness and sell to me in a large volume. I don't suppose you can collect 1 liter of blood or sweat in a day?"

Newter blanched, while Gregor held himself from chuckling at my humor. Faultline's mask hid her expression, so I couldn't tell whether she smiled or not.

"All right, you got me. I can't give you a liter of blood, but what are you going to do with my piss?" Newter asked, "Please don't tell me you're going to use it for… recreational purposes."

"I plan to use it as an effective tranquilizer against brutes." I answered. "I can try to turn your bodily fluids into aerosols and implement them into smoke grenades. I can also give them to your crew for free."

"Newter's power as an aerosol…" Faultline pondered. "Ultimately, you are making the deal with Newter, not with me. He is the one who will decide whether he will sell his fluids to you or not."

"I understand." I nodded. "My current offer is eight thousand dollars for every liter of your body fluids, and I plan to establish a friendly, long term business relationship with you."

Newter considered, before he asked,"How much of that smoke grenade can you make from a single liter?"

"I do not know. I'm not sure if your fluids will retain their hallucinogenic properties after being aerosolized, so I plan to experiment with it." I answered honestly.

"You said you want a long term business relationship with me. As long as I supply you my fluids, you will supply me your grenades if they work. Also, I want twelve thousand dollars per liter."

"He's raising the price ceiling, now bring it down to a point where both of you can accept." Tony advised.

"Ten thousand, final price. I am working with limited funds here." I bargained.

"Deal. I'll… try to give you the first liter today." Newter said with embarrassment evident in his tone. "Do you… err… have a bottle or something? Or do I need to find one myself?"

I took a metal container I prepared from the drone's pockets. It is translucent, with mark lines detailing the volume of liquid inside. "Here. Pee inside this and I will collect it later."

"Indoor interactive holographic user interface testing complete." I announced to H.E.R.M.E.S while looking at my renovated workshop proudly. All the primitive LCD monitors are gone, replaced by Tony's trademark holograms displaying statistics of my factory and news station broadcasts. I left a normal computer with a mundane monitor just in case Taylor needs to use it, though. Not everyone knows how to use my systems after all.

"Ah, it's good to have them back again." Tony commented proudly, "I feel a little fish out of water since I haven't used a solid screen for a long time. Almost a decade, I think."

"Congratulations, boss. Should I recycle all the old monitors?" H.E.R.M.E.S inquired.

"Wait a second, Hermes." I turned to another corner, where Trevor was setting up his own workshop. "Trevor! Do you need any monitors?"

"Err… yeah! I want two of them, please. Your monitors are better than what I am using now." He replied. "Can you teach me about your repulsors? I am really interested in how they work."

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

"I want to learn how you calibrate the output for flight, since they are powerful enough to be used as a weapon alone. Maybe I can improve my roller skates control with it. Sometimes I go too fast and crash into a wall."

"You should start from the lowest output possible, then gradually increase until you find the right value. It's just trial and error to get it right."

"Thanks." Trevor replied and continued tinkering on his desk. I allocated a space with every basic tools a tinker needs and access to one of my fabricators. I know where Coil gave him his old workshop, but I didn't vacate the premise and move his stuff here in case there was something I don't understand and blew up in my face. Trevor approved my course of action and planned on taking a trip there to move everything here later.

Tony was teaching me how to upgrade H.E.R.M.E.S's functionality this afternoon. It was originally designed to manage drone manufacturing, but I am adding intelligent processing, financial management, stock investment, economy prediction and more sophisticated combat algorithms for my Legion drones. I am already starting to code a pattern prediction software to be integrated into H.E.R.M.E.S in preparation for Leviathan in the future.

I stretched my hand and cracked my neck, ready to go back to work. At the speed I am tinkering, I should be able to upgrade my Legion software and increase their reaction speed just before lunch time. The future looks bright to me.

I was just about to open my programming terminal when Trevor called me out.

"Adam? You need to see the news, man! Now!" He shouted as he rushed over to my side, so H.E.R.M.E.S opened up a local news broadcasting in front of me. When I saw what the headlines were reporting, I couldn't help but slump down and let out a few curses at Earth Bet.

Identity of Nameless Tinker D REVEALED!

"Oh, man." I rubbed my face and groaned, "Fucking Earth Bet."

"Fucking Earth Bet indeed." Tony agreed. "Guess now that the jig is up, we have to use all our cards, huh?"

"The identity of the hacker that committed a large scale cyber attack at Brockton Bay a week ago has been exposed!" The female news reporter recited on my screen, "It appears to be a twelve year old preteen residing in Brockton Bay, Adam Danvers!"

AN: Surprise lol. Not much to say other than Arc 2 will end in Adam's metaphorical fire.

Last edited: Jul 18, 2022

2.5

Someone found out that I am the hacker.

Someone told the media that I am the hacker.

Everyone knows that I am the hacker.

Everyone.

I took a deep breath to calm my heart rate. Panicking will not help me right now.

"Hermes, call Tattletale for me, right now!" I shouted as I closed my programs and stopped all my production lines. "Initiate Rapid Relocation Protocol, we'll move everything to the Trainyards for now. I want a catalog of all the drones we have now!"

"Dialing Miss Wilbourn's phone." H.E.R.M.E.S replied as my fabricators removed their materials and retracted into compact boxes, "We have 4 drones and 1 Legion still in production. Maintenance has been aborted and all available units are starting up. We have 128 drones and 12 Legion ready for deployment and combat capable."

"It's not much, but it'll have to do." Tony commented on the number of drones we have. "The best defense is offense. We should take the gangs out by surprise when we still can."

I agree. They can't attack me if I attack them first. Lisa finally took my call. "Have you seen the news yet?"

"I did. It's Coil. He must have found out about you a long time ago and kept your files off the computer as a precaution. I'm still sorting through his paper files, but that asshole must have hired someone to leak your name if anything happened to him. I think he got the idea from your Empire jaunt, so there's a shit ton of dummy accounts screaming your name on PHO. The mods are starting to react, but it's already out there. What are you going to do?"

I reviewed the map highlighting everything ABB and the Empire owned in Brockton Bay. "I'm sending you an address and a few drones to assist you. I want you to get your team and three trailer trucks and a van ready to move everything in my base. The villains can't attack me if I attack them first."

"Wh-That's insane! You're trying to fight the entire city!" Lisa shouted at the phone, "Your drones are good, but not that good!"

"I'll take them by surprise. This is the only choice." I replied and ended the call. I turned around to Trevor, who was looking at me nervously. "Trevor, pack your stuff and go home. My drones will protect you on the way."

"A-Alright." Trevor stuttered and ran off to his table.

I focused on the projected map in front of me. Lung is in a "massage parlor", Oni Lee is patrolling the north east part of the docks. Bakuda is holed up in her basement as usual. Kaiser, Fenja and Menja are in Medhall's top office, with Victor inside the office of an insurance company and Othala in her home. Hookwolf is eating lunch with Stormtiger in a dogfighting warehouse, while Cricket is working out in a gym in Empire territory. Purity is still working in her interior designer office. Separated from the capes are various smaller dots signifying the gang's mundane lieutenants, gun stashes, drug depots and known gathering hotspots.

"No time better than now to clean up the city, huh Adam?" Tony mused.

Yup. No time better than now.

I rubbed my face and stretched my hand. "Hermes, deploy Weaver Mark 1 to Arcadia and fill in for Taylor on what's happening. I want you to arm the Legion with magnetic clamps and sensory deprivation headsets for detainment. Unconsciousness and immobility is our prerequisite for detainment. Track Oni Lee down, limit his sight with illusions and strike him with the mask before tasing him. Impersonate Lung's voice to trick Bakuda out of her basement and taze her immediately. We are leaving Lung alone for now, so filter any messages coming towards him and keep him in the sand."

"Cloak the drones before approaching the Empire capes. Avoid direct contact with Kaiser and use flamethrowers against him before tasing him. Use live ammunition against the twins and aim for their eyes and ears if they start growing. Deploy two Legions against Hookwolf and Stormtiger. I want you to increase the taser current against Hookwolf and aim the repulsors at Stormtiger's joints. Use the sonic blasters and concussion blasters on Cricket until she is unconscious. Use normal takedowns with Othala and Victor. Prepare the Sunshine Protocol, but exempt Kayden Russel from it. Connect me to her phone."

I took a deep breath after issuing all those orders. My roof opened up, and Taylor's Weaver Mark 1 flew out slowly, with my swarm of drones following behind.

"Adam? I'm done." Trevor called for me as he waited at the door. I pressed the button and the door opened to let him leave.

"If we're lucky, I'll see you tomorrow, Trevor." I replied.

"Err… yeah. I'm sorry, Adam." Trevor said guiltily, "I'm sorry I couldn't fight with you."

"It's fine. I can't blame you for not wanting to fight. The world would be a better place if there were more people like you."

"Okay, then. Goodbye." Trevor replied awkwardly and left, leaving me alone in the factory.

"Hello, who is this?" Kayden's voice came out from my computer.

"I am giving you a warning, Purity. 1 million dollars have been transferred into your bank account. Pack your belongings immediately and take Aster and Theo out of Brockton Bay."

"Wha-who are you?" Kayden asked angrily, "What do you want from me?"

I reviewed the list of notable events recorded by H.E.R.M.E.S when monitoring Kayden Russel.

"I am Nameless Tinker D, and I am destroying the Empire today while giving you a chance to walk away from it scot free. I know you packed a Caesar salad for lunch today. I know Aster cried for five minutes and forty six seconds this morning before you had your breakfast sandwich. I know you squeezed 63 ml of breast milk 23 minutes ago in the second stall of the washroom 38 steps away from your current position. Get out of Brockton Bay. Now." I ended the call without getting her reply as Taylor called my number as well.

"Adam! Your name is on the news!" Taylor almost shouted.

"I know. Where are you?"

"I'm leaving the school right now. Is my suit ready yet?"

"Don't leave the school. It would be suspicious if the heroine Hope appeared right after Taylor Hebert left school. Just because my identity is leaked doesn't mean yours is too." I replied calmly.

"But I can't do nothing! The gangs will be all out for you right now! You have to let me help you."

Should I let Taylor help me? Having her help will certainly make things easier, but that means she will have to leave Arcadia in the middle of the day where the Wards are watching her. It doesn't take Tattletale to connect Taylor's absence with Hope's appearance, and I don't think Taylor understood the implication of that.

"Let her help you. We're running short of hands as it is, and having her on the scene is better. The authorities will find you, and they will find her as well. We shouldn't waste the chance. The faster we take down the gangs, the better." Tony advised.

All right. "Head to the roof of Block B and wait for your suit."

"Alright, what's our plan?"

I typed away at my keyboard and made some preparation for Taylor. "I'm sending you a list of addresses and pictures of normal gang lieutenants. Capture and arrest them as fast as possible. We have about 47 people for you to catch. My drones will handle the capes."

"Shouldn't I handle the capes and let the drones catch normal people instead?" Taylor questioned.

"It's safer that way. You're not familiar with the suit yet and my drones are more coordinated."

"Okay, are we calling the Undersiders?"

"Way ahead of you. They will be here soon to move my stuff. You focus on your mission, I will handle mine."

"I'm on the roof now and… wow." Taylor stopped as she looked at the Weaver Mark 1. It was similar to Tony's Mark 47 in terms of design, but with a feminine twist and painted in black, white and blue. The helmet was based on Taylor's mask and has some mark of resemblance to Spider-man, something Tony believed to be appropriate given her powers.

"How do I- Oh." Taylor's question was interrupted by the suit opening up to allow her to step in.

"Hermes will handle the flying and aiming, you just choose your target and gather your bugs."

"Alright. I'll see you soon." With that, Taylor turned off her microphone and flew away from Arcadia at remarkable speed.

"Are our drones in position?" I asked H.E.R.M.E.S.

"Drones 34 to 38 are keeping distance with Oni Lee, 39 to 42 are standing by above Bakuda's basement, 43 to 52 have surrounded the 75th floor and 53 to 56 have surrounded the 53th floor, 57 to 64 and 2 Legion have surrounded Hookwolf's house, 65 to 66 have surrounded Cricket's house. Drones 67 to 128 are standing by over 76 weapons and drug stashes with their flamethrower ready." H.E.R.M.E.S replied as I watched the live feeds from the drones. "Should we commence the attack, boss?"

"There's no going back from this. The whole world will know what you can do." Tony reminded me.

All the more reason to make a show out of it.

"Activate Sunshine Protocol and initiate all attacks."

"Okay, boss."

Oni Lee was surrounded by illusions of pure darkness as an opening move. He reacted by trying to pull a grenade off his jacket, but my drones disoriented him with sonic blasters and immediately tased him in that brief moment of surprise. Surrounded with nothing but darkness, Oni Lee couldn't teleport his way out. He was tranquilized next, followed by replacing his demon mask with my sensory deprivation mask to remove his line of sight.

Bakuda was easier to capture. I projected an illusion of Lung entering her house before replaying a recording of him shouting for her to come out. Bakuda didn't wear her gas mask when she came out to meet Lung, probably because this was a house that Lung provided for her. I took her out by surprise with tranquilizers and cuffed her next.

Othala, unsurprisingly, lived in a luxurious European style mansion. She was reading a book in the second floor's study when my drones found her, so she was promptly tranquilized, cuffed, and carried out from her home through the open window that my drone used to enter.

Victor was a manager in one of the insurance companies that I exposed last week. He was working in his own office, so I repeated what I did with Othala against him with an extra sensory deprivation mask on his face.

Kaiser's office was more spacious than Victor's. Far more expensive too, judging by the large mahogany desk, marble floor and a rack of expensive wine on the side. He had his back facing the window, so he crashed into his desk when my drones shattered the window with concussive blasters. Kaiser didn't wrap himself in his armor instantly, probably because he was still in Medhall. He was shot by tranquilizer darts before he even stood up, followed by my magnetic cuffs. I was worried that he would break the cuffs with his power, but it won't happen with him unconscious.

The twin Valkyrie wannabes rushed into the office when they heard the loud crash, and were tranquilized before they even saw Kaiser lying on the floor.

Hookwolf and Stormtiger were having lunch in an abandoned office room a floor above the fighting ring. I disoriented them with sonic blasters before separating them from each other with concussion blasters. Seeing that Stormtiger wore nothing on his upper body, it was a quick job tranquilizing him when he was disoriented. Hookwolf was a little more tricky as he immediately transformed into a mass of metal, but I know he still has a core of flesh somewhere in there. I gave him a taste of a jacked up taser to shake him out of it. Hookwolf instantly reverted back into his human form, twitching and screaming. All I saw from Cricket was her lying on the floor and clutching her head, with a can of beer spilled next to her.

Various weapon stashes and drug depots were burned into slag and ashes. I left the few drug labs alone because I didn't want to risk an explosion, but I did report them to the police

All in all, ten villains were defeated and 47 gang warehouses burned in 36.27 seconds.

"Everything is achievable through technology." Tony said proudly. "Right now? You've just flipped everyone in this stupid ass comic book world the bird. You just showed the city that it was possible to create a world without villains. You should be proud of yourself."

I nodded at Tony's words. A hundred years ago, flight was seen as an impossible dream. A hundred years ago, stepping on the moon was just a fairy tale. Nothing is unachievable through technology. No matter how stupid the Enitites are, they are the proof that anything can be achieved through science and technology.

"Fetch the villains and keep them unconscious." I commanded, "Bring them to the Protectorate HQ and drop them off there. Taylor, what's your status?"

"I'm outside a warehouse where the Empire hides their guns right now. The suit is bulletproof, right?" Taylor asked.

"You won't feel anything from handguns or assault rifles." I informed, "But you will need to run if they are throwing explosives or aiming armor piercing slugs at you. Hermes will tell you which to be aware of, so don't worry."

"Alright. How are things on your end?"

"I captured 10 villains, they are on their way to Protectorate HQ right now." I replied as I monitored my drones approaching the Rig's helipad, where the heroes immediately stepped out to welcome me. Miss Militia and Armsmaster rushed to the helipad to welcome my arrival.

"Wait, what?" Taylor asked in surprise.

"Talk to you later, focus on your mission." I replied to Taylor and opened a voice channel to my drones to talk to the Protectorate.

"Do not approach any closer, or we will retaliate!" Armsmaster shouted and aimed his halberd while Miss Militia aimed an assault rifle at the drones. "Identify yourself! Who are you?"

"I am Nameless Tinker D, and I am here to hand over the villains I captured." I answered honestly as my drones decloaked the captured villains and dropped them on the helipad. My drones also dropped the keys for the cuffs, but away from the villains. "There. Here are the keys for the magnetic cuffs. Goodbye."

"Wait! We need to talk!" I could hear Armsmaster's shout fade away as my drones left the Rig, but I didn't care.

"Hermes, alert me when the Undersiders are approaching and keep an eye on Taylor. Route twenty drones back to the factory and the rest to support her."

"Copy that, boss."

I spent the next few minutes editing the recorded footage of the villain's takedowns into a coherent video, censoring the presence of my drones as I want to hide my real firepower from the public. I spared a few minutes to watch Taylor's body cam where she surrounded a group of skinheads with a swarm of bugs before they surrendered and were tied up.

"The girl has style and works fast." Tony praised her amusingly. "I wouldn't hesitate to recruit her if she was in my world."

That is… the third warehouse and fourth gang lieutenant she arrested? It's not even twenty minutes since she told me she was outside someone's house. She must have left the drones to wait for the police and went after the next target after tying everyone up instead. It's too bad that I didn't manufacture enough magnetic cuffs and clamps to store them in every drone, so Taylor had to make do with zip ties instead.

"The Undersiders are approaching the base." H.E.R.M.E.S notified, "Should I open the factory door?"

"Do it."

Three long trailer trucks drove into an empty space I arranged for the relocation. The trucks are driven by my Legion drones and controlled by H.E.R.M.E.S since I don't want the trucks to crash. Tattletale stepped out of the truck, while the rest of the Undersiders exiting the trailer behind her. I left my seat to greet them properly, since I want to leave a good impression on them as their employer.

"Welcome to my base, Undersiders." I said as I approached them. "Unfortunately, I will have to move to a new location. All of you can just call me Adam, since there was no point in hiding my name anyway."

Regent and Bitch only spared me a glance before looking at my base, while Grue stared at me. Tattletale carried a stack of folders in her hands and waved them around. "I couldn't find it. PRT probably has the files we are looking for."

"But it doesn't matter anymore." I replied.

Tattletale nodded in agreement. "It doesn't matter anymore."

What's done cannot be undone. My identity has already been exposed. Proving that Coil did it will change nothing, so it's better to spend my effort on saving myself.

"I just threw the entire Empire and two-thirds of ABB capes to the Protectorate." I announced and projected a hologram to play the recordings. "Bitch, I want you to go around and free as many dogs as you can. Contact me if you need help, my drones will assist you." I ordered her.

"I don't follow you."

"You don't need to. I just want to save the dogs, so let me help you." I appealed to her desire and had three Legion land near her. "Please."

Bitch looked at the drones, then grunted. "Alright."

"The two of you will assist Bitch. We're trying to present the Undersiders as a villain team who repented after Coil's demise to the public, and nothing screams "good guys" more than saving puppies. Can you do that, Grue?"

Grue nodded. "I can do that, but where are we moving the dogs? I don't think Bitch's shelter is enough if we're freeing all of them from the dogfighting rings."

"You can call Animal Protection Services to collect the dogs and have Bitch take any that are too violent for them. She can handle it. You can keep the dogs at the abandoned warehouse next to Bitch's shelter for now, I will handle the property issue."

"Please follow me, Undersiders. I will take you to your destination." H.E.R.M.E.S said through a Legion drone that was driving a van.

"I'll stay behind to help our boss baby here." Tattletale said as her team went into the van. "I'm too important for things like saving puppies. I'm saving the puppy savers."

Bitch flipped her the bird before closing the van, and then they departed to save dogs from Empire's dog fighting rings.

"Alright, what do you want me to do?" Tattletale turned around and asked me in an annoyed tone, "My power couldn't read anything from you with your stupid illusion masking you, and you clearly got everything handled." She said as she pointed at my Legion drones that are moving my fabricators and production machines into the trailer trucks.

"I want you to monitor for anything weird from my drones." I suggested, "Maybe there's something else going on and I didn't realize it."

"You think there's something else going on when you decimated the gangs in less than a minute?" Tattletale asked with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, sure. I'll do just that. You are still paying my salary after all."

"Alert. Drone 6 and 7 destroyed. Hostile parahumans detected at Dockworker Union building." H.E.R.M.E.S suddenly interrupted. "Parahumans are not available within the Brockton Bay database. Expanding search parameters now."

I felt a chill down my spine and immediately rushed to my desk and brought up Drone 8's camera. It showed the dockworkers running away from two obvious capes that were marching into the building. The drone tried to use the concussion blaster, but the blast was negated by a swing of a sword from one of the intruders. Some frost appeared on the camera before the drone malfunctioned and went offline.

"Oh no." Tattletale said behind me as she watched the intruders. "It's Gesellschaft."

AN: You thought it was Number Man, but it was I, COIL!

No one in the thread guessed right lol. The Arc's name, "Nobody Expects…" means the Arc will be filled with twist and turns. I still have a few more in stock.

Last edited: Aug 3, 2022

Interlude: Danny

"I'm sorry, Mr Hebert. Adam didn't come to school today." The voice said from the landline, and he held himself back from throwing it. It's technically office property, and throwing it wouldn't fix anything. "Did he get sick?"

"Is he- Did you even watch the news just now?"

"I'm afraid not, I was busy marking papers. What happened?" Adam's homeroom teacher asked.

"I have to find Adam. He just appeared on the news." Danny ended the call and immediately packed up his paperwork and got his keys. Adam might be home, but he could be anywhere if he is a cape. He dialed for his home number, but nobody picked up. That means Adam is either not at home or he is ignoring the call. He wishes it was the latter, so he will drive home anyway.

Does Taylor know? He can understand why Adam wouldn't tell him, what with losing his parents and moving in with a stranger, but he seems to be pretty friendly with Taylor. Taylor cheered up a lot more ever since he moved in too. She smiled more, she talked more, and she stayed in her room less. Maybe it was the transfer to Arcadia, but he was happy for her nonetheless.

"Alexander and I can cover your work for today." Kurt said as he entered his office. "You just focus on finding your kid."

"Thanks, Kurt." He replied with a tired smile. As soon as he grabbed his car keys, the entire building shook like there was a minor earthquake. He and Kurt reflexively crouched down a little when the vibration hit his office and the fire alarms began to ring.

"Is that a foreshock?" He asked Kurt.

"I don't think so?" Kurt shrugged in confusion as well. "I've never heard of the east coast having any earthquakes."

He packed up his things faster as he considered the possibilities of what just happened when Ronald barged into his room. The rotund man was panting for breath and his face was red from exertion, which clued him in that something dangerous was happening.

"Villains!" Ronald shouted as he grabbed the door frame for support when another quake hit. "Villains attacking the building!"

He didn't question Ronald if a villain really had attacked here. His panicked expression explained enough. All they need to do now is follow the drill and evacuate the building. It might be saying something when he wasn't surprised that the Dockworker Union was attacked two days in a row. All he can do now is to get out of here as soon as possible and hope the building is still standing after whatever villain wreaked havoc inside.

He packed up the manifest files into his bag and called Kurt. "Let's go!"

They left his office with Ronald as they followed the evacuation routes. Various clerks and workers left their cubicle and ran towards the fire stairs to evacuate the building just as practiced in their evacuation drills. It wasn't absolute chaos, but people were running around and it was fairly chaotic with the fire alarm ringing over everyone's head.

"Kurt!" Lacey called out behind them.

"Lacey!"

She joined their group to escape without much words. The quakes happened at random intervals as they ran down the fire stairs, and he could hear explosions in the distance that gave him goosebumps. If this continues, there won't be much of a building left after today. The union might be disbanded altogether, and he wasn't sure if he still had any job prospects in Brockton Bay with the worsening economy. He doesn't want to abandon the city. He has too many memories here.

Fortunately, they managed to reach the parking lot without bumping into any villains. The workers hurriedly walked towards their cars, trying to get home as fast as possible. He parted ways with Kurt and Lacey here and jogged towards his own car.

He was getting his car keys out when Adam suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Adam?" He blinked to make sure he didn't see it wrong. "When did you get here? No, how did you get here?"

"I'm not actually here." Adam replied. "Anyway, you can't take your car. Someone put a bomb under it. You need to take my drones."

"What the- What do you mean someone put a bomb in my car?" He asked incredulously.

"The villain's that's attacking the building right now. They're here for you." Adam replied and their surroundings were suddenly covered by pixelated blueish darkness. He looked around and realized some sort of dark barrier had enveloped them.

Why are villains trying to get him? "Is it because of the Medhall attack on the news? That's really you?"

"Yeah. Just get on the drone."

"We need to have a long talk after this." He said as he climbed the drone, but he didn't even so much as step on the drone yet before it spazzed out and fell on the road. The barrier surrounding them disappeared as well. "Adam? The drone broke."

Nobody replied to him. "Adam?" He turned around to see the spot Adam was standing before, but all that was there was two similar drones to the one he was supposed to stand on and Adam was gone.

"Adam?" He looked around and called again, but nobody responded to him. He noticed some people around the parking lot were pulling out their phones and making confused faces.

"Daniel Hebert!" A voice with a German accent called out behind him, so he turned around to see who it was.

It was a man that looked like he was made of crystals. It reminded him of a rock monster he saw in old comic books, but he was made of shiny reflective crystals instead. He wore large cargo pants and nothing but a shiny metal harness on his body. The shiny big swastika on his chest clued him in that this was probably a villain.

He turned around and tried to run away only to see two more capes standing right in his way. One of them has an ice princess thing going on, while the other looks like a medieval knight.

All of them have swastikas on their costumes, and he was surrounded by all three of them.

"Our leader would like to have a talk with you." Crystal guy said in a polite tone, but it came out as menacing with his inhuman voice.

He gulped. He doesn't have much options left now that Adam's drones are broken by whatever the villains did. He raised his hand to surrender while backing into the gap between vehicles, hoping that he could book a chance and run for it. The sky seemed to darken with dense clouds just like the lead weight that seemed to be in his gut. The buzzing was getting louder and louder as well.

Wait, buzzing?

He raised his head to look at the sky only to realize that it wasn't the clouds that covered the sun.

It was a swarm of bugs. A swarm so huge and so dense that it was blotting out sunlight. He squinted and realized that the bugs were flying pretty low. In fact, the swarm were getting closer and closer to them. Are bugs supposed to fly that fast?

He looked as the swarm descended and began to attack the villains. Crystal guy seems wholly unaffected as he didn't even try to swat the bugs away, but the other villains were not doing so well. Ice princess was trying her hardest to claw out all the bugs that crawled on her while the knight guy was waving his sword around like a bug zapper. He can make out some centipedes, spiders and cockroaches in the swarm of bugs that was crawling and biting them. His goosebumps returned when he imagined how disgusting that must feel.

Crystal guy ignored the bugs and stomped towards him. He increased his steps and backtracked more into the parking lot, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. His mind is rapidly thinking of what he can do to escape. His taser is in his back pocket, but he doesn't think it will do much against the villain.

Just when he was struggling to come up with a retaliation, something from the swarm of bugs shot a laser at the crystal guy. It doesn't seem to hurt him, but he was pushed away by the laser and sent skidding on the pavement.

A sleek and feminine figure descended from the swarm and landed in front of him. The color scheme and design seems similar to Hope from yesterday, but she was wearing an advanced power armor this time as opposed to her armored bodysuit that he saw yesterday. Several of Adam's drones were around her and they began shooting some sort of invisible blast at the concussion guy and pinned down on the pavement.

"Mister, you need to leave." Hope said in a modulated voice. "Get on the drone, I'll capture the villains."

"Are you with Adam?"

"Yes." Hope replied and turned around to face the villains. Knight guy pulled out a laser sword and rushed forward to slash Hope, but a drone next to her just blasted him back with that invisible blast again. The blast was so powerful that the knight guy crashed into a car and flipped over the roof. Hope didn't stop and shot something from her wrist that transformed into a mask and a handcuff when it hit the snow princess.

Yet another effortless takedown by Hope. He was about to climb the drone and get to Adam as soon as possible when he heard something clinking one the ground and heavy smoke began to appear around them. He recognized this. Someone threw a smoke grenade.

Across the heavy smoke, he barely saw something was thrown at the drones immobilizing crystal guy before it exploded and destroyed all of them, allowing crystal guy to get up.

Hope aimed her open palm at the crystal guy and blasted him with lasers. He saw something in the corner of his eye soaring towards Hope before it was blasted away by Adam's drones to another direction.

It was a frag grenade this time.

He instantly ducks and pulls his head down, trying to keep his balance while protecting anything vital from getting hit by the grenade. Luckily, Hope acted rapidly and flew next to him to shield him from the fragments.

BANG!

He felt a sudden pain from his leg and lost his balance. The drone tilted and he inevitably fell down. He didn't even hit the ground yet before there was another bang and he felt another burst of pain from his back. The drone flew fairly high, so he probably bruised his arm when he hit the pavement.

He touched the back of his thighs and blood stained his fingers.

He was shot.

He was shot.

He was shot. He was shot he was shot he was shot he wasshothewasshothewashotohmygod-

"Dad!" Hope shouted and immediately knelt down beside him. Her mask opened up to reveal… Taylor's face?

"Taylor?" Seeing her face pulled him out of his shock. "You… you're a cape too?"

"Oh no, what do you mean you don't have suture sprays!?" It seemed like Taylor didn't listen to his question as she muttered under her breath. She faced him properly and said, "I'm going to get you to the hospital, just stay awake!"

Taylor's mask closed down and she lifted him up in a princess carry. He doesn't have the energy to think about how embarrassing it is to be carried like that by his own daughter. He can feel the pain spreading across his body. There was a painful pressure inside his stomach, but his thigh felt oddly numb. Dizziness filled his head, and his vision was filled by more and more black spots.

He is going to die.

"Taylor." He raised his clean hand and tried to hold her face, obstructed by her mask. He doesn't want to stain her mask with his blood. "I want to… I want to say I'm sorry." Pain is blooming in his mind, but he has to give his last words to Taylor. "I'm sorry I'm not a better father for you. I'm sorry I didn't take care of you when you needed it."

"Don't say things like that and just stay awake!" Taylor shouted at him as they flew across the city. He can feel the wind beating on his face and his blood dripping away. His fingers were feeling weaker and weaker.

"I love you, Taylor." It's getting harder for him to think with all the pain. His life was starting to flash in front of him. His depressing childhood. His brief delinquency in teenage years. Meeting Annette for the first time in the middle of a protest and shootout.

Annette. She would have a stern word with him if he didn't give Taylor proper closure.

"It's not your fault, Taylor." He slurred as his consciousness was fading. "Don't… blame yourself. Live… happily. Don't be… like me…"

He was remembering the first time he held Taylor in his hands. That day seemed like it was yesterday, but Taylor is the one holding him now. He couldn't even muster the strength to chuckle.

Taylor's voice was fainting away. He was fainting away. It was too hard to stay awake.

Annette…

The first thing that came back whas his hearing. He heard people talking beside him, but the voice was blurry and he couldn't make out what they were saying. Next was touch. His entire body felt numb and he couldn't muster the energy to raise his limbs. His sight came soon after and he felt someone hugging him on the bed. The body felt familiar.

"Taylor…?"

She was hugging him and crying into his chest. His hand came up and patted her head without any thought. Right. Taylor was a cape, he was shot, and they're in a hospital now. He was in an emergency ward, with all the beeping around him and noise outside the blue curtain. He felt fine. In fact, he felt better than he had in years, which is weird. His knee pain was gone, his back feels better, and he thinks his eyesight improved as well.

Panacea coughed and Taylor got away from his bed. "Mr Hebert, you were shot in the kidney from your back and in your thigh which severed the femoral artery. There was a high chance that you would have died from blood loss, but your daughter," she paused and glanced at Taylor, "carried you here fast enough that I was able to stop the bleeding and the hospital did a blood transfusion on you. I also fixed your eyesight, realigned your spine, healed the arthritis in your knee and unclogged the cholesterol around your heart. Any questions?"

He was a little stunned from having every issue in his body fixed, but he nodded and replied, "Err, no. Thank you."

Panacea gave a casual nod and said, "Okay, Doctor Osmond will handle your recovery. I have other patients to heal." She left the emergency ward without waiting for their replies.

"Sorry if she seems a little rude." He jumped at the new voice. It was from a doctor standing in front of his bed, and he didn't even realize she was there. Doctor Osmond has long, brown hair tied in a ponytail and wears round glasses similar to Taylor. "Panacea has been stressed lately. There were a lot of patients that needed her attention."

"It's fine." He replied politely. He learned his lesson to never disrespect doctors during Annette's pregnancy.

Doctor Osmond nodded. "While all your wounds are healed, Panacea has to use some of your body mass to substitute for the mass lost. Since you were a little underweight to begin with, your body is in a malnutritioned state with the lost body mass. You will stay in the hospital for a week with a specialized diet for your recovery and for observation in case of emergency. PRT has asked to relocate you into a private ward as well."

The last sentence got him to blink. "Why would the PRT do that?"

"I'm afraid you will have to ask them yourself. I don't know why either." Doctor Osmond gave a reassuring smile and shrugged. "They are waiting outside to take your statement. Should I call them in?"

"Yes, please. I want to give my statement as soon as possible." He replied, "Thanks, doc."

"You're welcome." Doctor Osmond pulled the curtain away to allow a PRT agent and a Ward to enter. The Ward has a high tech silver knight costume that was similar to the villain that attacked him today, but only in style. Unlike the villain, he doesn't have swastikas on him.

"Good evening, Mr Hebert." The agent greeted, "You can call me Agent Kesra, and Gallant from the Wards will be with me to take your statement today."

"Alright, agent. What do you want to know?" He replied politely and tensed himself a little when he noticed Taylor shifting uncomfortably.

"When did the villains attack the Dockworker Union building?" Agent Kesra asked.

"Around 2:30 in the afternoon, I believe. Lunchtime was almost over, and I was taking a temporary leave from work to look for my nephew."

"Do you know that there was a bomb found in your car?"

He sucked in a huge breath. "My nephew told me before I got to it, but I didn't know if it was real."

Agent Kesra raised an eyebrow. "Is the nephew in question Adam Danvers?"

"Yes. He appeared in front of me in the parking lot and told me to leave with his drones instead of driving away."

"Can you tell us what happened in the parking lot?"

"Adam appeared in front of me and told me to leave by sitting on his drones instead." He began to recite from memory. "But the drones suddenly spazzed out before I even stepped on them and Adam disappeared as well. I tried to run away, but the villains surrounded me. I've never heard of anyone like them from the Empire. All of them had swastikas on their costumes."

"Can you describe their appearances?"

"One of them looks like he was made of crystals and has a big shiny swastika on his chest. He kind of reminds me of the rocky guy from old comics."

"You mean The Thing, Mr Hebert?" The Ward asked.

He snapped his finger. "Yes! That's the one. The villain looked like him, just made of crystals instead. There's another villain that looks like you, too. What's your name again?"

"Gallant, Mr Hebert."

"The second villain also wears a silver knight costume, and he has swastikas all over it. It was in his helmet, chest piece, knee, arm, everywhere. And you don't have to call me Mr Hebert. You can just call me Danny."

"Alright, Danny." Gallant replied.

"The third villain was a girl." He continued, "She was wearing a blue-white dress with snowflake patterns and her mask looked like a giant snowflake too. Has an ice princess theme going on."

Agent Kesra wrote something on her clipboard while Gallant continued the questions. "Do you know what their powers are? Or anything weird that seemed like a power's effect."

"I think the crystal guy is pretty self-explanatory, but I didn't see if he used other powers. To be honest, the villains didn't do much other than rocking the building. I didn't see them use their powers."

"So the villains surrounded you, and what happened next?" Agent Kesra asked.

"There was this huge swarm of bugs from the sky, and then…"

And then Taylor showed up, but how should he say that? Should he hide his daughter's identity or tell it to the PRT?

It wasn't a question.

"I noticed that the bugs were attacking the villains, and a hero flew down from the swarm with a few of Adam's drones behind her. The drones pushed the crystal guy down on the road with some sort of soundwave, while the hero shot cuffs that automatically locked on their hands."

Agent Kesra raised an eyebrow. "Can you describe the new hero's appearance?"

"I think it's the same hero from yesterday, Hope." He replied. "The color scheme and design was the same, she just wore a power armor this time."

"So Hope immobilized three villains simultaneously with Adam's tinkertech. What happened next?" Gallant asked.

"Hope told me to get on the new drone, so I did. But someone threw a smoke grenade and a frag grenade at the drones and freed the villains. I was knocked off from the blast and that's when I was shot. I didn't get a clear view on the shooter."

"So there was a fourth villain or unpowered criminal on the scene." Gallant concluded and crossed his arms. "Thank you for giving us your statement, Danny. We will begin the investigation immediately and give you justice as soon as possible."

"Thank you." He replied politely even though he knew there probably won't be much justice other than some monetary compensation from PRT. Brockton Bay had enough cape attacks to know how useless the PRT is when it comes to catching villains.

"We would like to move on to the next topic of discussion today." Agent Kesra said slowly, "Danny, are you aware that your daughter is Hope?"

PRT knew? He felt a little panic even though PRT was supposed to be the good guys. Taylor seemed to shrink into her chair. "How did you know that?"

"Taylor didn't hide her identity when she took you here." Gallant answered. "We have multiple accounts of people seeing her stepping out of her power armor in front of the hospital."

"There was no point in hiding it anyway." Taylor added as she adjusted her glasses. "It's just the right thing to do."

Agent Kesra said, "We have some questions that we would like to ask your daughter. Is that okay?"

"What do you want to ask?" He asked back.

"The PRT would like to ask her some questions regarding her actions against Coil last night and today." Agent Kesra said, "Is that fine?"

He turned around to look at Taylor who nodded in consent.

"Alright. You can ask her questions." He said in a tense tone.

"Thank you, Danny. Taylor, how did it come to your notice that Coil has infiltrated PRT?"

Taylor gulped before replying. "My cousin did the investigations and presented the evidence to me. He explained how Coil sabotaged PRT operations so that he can replace the local director and I agreed that he needed to be exposed."

"Is the cousin in question Adam Danvers?"

"Yes."

"Is he Nameless Tinker D?"

"Yes."

He already knew it from the news, but he still felt betrayed when he heard that Taylor actually knew as well and hid it from him.

"Why didn't you come forward to the PRT with the evidence?" Agent Kesra asked and Danny scowled. It sounded like she was accusing Taylor something.

Taylor pushed her glasses and explained, "Because Coil's infiltration is too deep and he is a very cautious villain. We found out that he has been poaching capes by using PRT's intelligence resources, but there was very little evidence connecting his actions as Coil to Thomas Calvert. He would use his internal connections to deny any evidence and accuse us instead, so we needed absolute evidence that could not be refuted or sabotaged. That's why we didn't go to PRT. You wouldn't be able to do anything to him."

Was Coil's infiltration really that deep? How the hell is PRT even functioning with him inside? Wait, no, they weren't. Everyone knows that PRT ENE is a fucking joke with all the nazis and yakuzas running around. It actually made sense that their PRT is incompetent with Coil inside. Here's to hoping they pull their shit together and and fix the city's villain problem.

"I see." Agent Kesra didn't seem satisfied by Taylor's explanation, but she accepted it and moved on. "Why did you choose to let Tattletale confront Coil alone? Even if she was betraying him, you could have helped her to capture Coil."

"I was needed to handle Coil's mercenaries, and I believed Tattletale could handle Coil alone." His baby girl was handling mercenaries? The thought of that filled him with dread.

"What about Adam? Or his tinkertech drones?" Agent Kesra questioned.

"He doesn't have enough drones to sweep the base and monitor Tattletale at the same time." Taylor deflected, and this was when he started to notice something odd.

Taylor was calm. Too calm. She showed no signs of nervousness at all. She didn't act like she was guilty and darted her eyes around, instead she looked Agent Kesra straight in the eye and answered her questions with an absolute tone. There was no self-hesitation in her voice or pose.

"How did you learn that there were villains attacking your father's workplace?"

"Adam had drones shadowing all of us in case of emergencies." Taylor replied. He felt a little uncomfortable at the idea that the drones that saved his life were constantly monitoring him. "He had more drones around dad after Krieg's attack yesterday, but they were ineffective against the new villains."

"Do you know where Adam is right now?" She asked and he paid more attention to this question.

"He should be in his base right now. I can't tell you where that is." Taylor answered.

"You have to tell us, Taylor." Agent Kesra said, "You said that his drones were ineffective against the villains yourself. He's in grave danger right now, and his life can be threatened at any moment."

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you because Adam doesn't trust the PRT." Taylor replied apologetically and continued, "And I agree with him. I've seen how corrupt and incompetent PRT are. I would rather trust Adam than the PRT."

"We're sorry, Taylor." Agent Kesra replied and looked a little defeated. "But PRT is trying their best to root out all the corruption and arrest the people incriminated. I hope you can have more faith in us."

"We would like to invite you and Adam to enter the Wards program as well." Gallant continued, "I believe it is crucial to you and your father's safety that you join the Wards as soon as possible."

"What does Taylor entering the Wards have to do with my safety?" He asked in confusion. He knows what the Wards are, but he couldn't see how it relates to his safety.

"Since Adam and Taylor's cape identity were exposed, everyone related to them is in danger of being attacked by villains like what happened today. PRT will allocate additional resources to ensure the safety of Ward's parents as well as other benefits for joining the program." Gallant answered.

Kesra continued, "Your children will receive professional guidance and training to use their power, as well as a stable income per month, a trust fund for the college of their choice and extra income from merchandise of their image. Joining the Wards will also guarantee Taylor and Adam's safety as well. The most they will do is patrols and PR events. PRT wouldn't deploy the Wards against dangerous threats."

"That's a lie." Taylor interrupted. "At least 130 Wards die every year, and those that don't will die after they join the Protectorate."

He frowned at that information, but Gallant quickly refuted, "That's just a baseless rumor on the internet."

"I'll show you the actual statistics later, Dad. It's all public information anyway."

"Thanks, Taylor. I think you should leave." He said to Agent Kesra and Gallant. "I would like to spend some time with my daughter after what happened today."

They read the que, and Gallant nodded. "Very well. Goodbye, Danny. We hope to hear from you about the offer."

"Goodbye." He replied politely as they left, leaving Taylor and him alone in the room.

He finished his dinner and put the tray away as Taylor came out of the bathroom in fresh new clothes.

"How's the shower here, Taylor?"

His baby girl dried her hair. "It's okay."

"That's good."

Taylor decided to stay the night in his room. He objected, but she argued that the hospital is much safer than their house if a villain tries to attack and he relents. He can tell that Taylor was worried for his safety after what happened today. He still felt phantom pains when he thought about it.

Taylor simply sat on the couch and began to read a book, leaving him in this awkward silence with her. He can tell that she doesn't want to talk about the elephant in the room, but as her father, he has to try.

"Taylor," He began, "I need to ask you something."

Taylor raised her head with her lips down. "Okay."

He took a deep breath to ready himself, and asked, "When did you get your powers?"

Taylor closed her book calmly and let out a deep breath, like she has been anticipating this question. "I have my powers since… the locker." She replied.

"The locker?" He repeated incredulously, "That was four months ago! Why didn't you tell me?"

Taylor turned her head away in guilt. "I… my power was kind of disgusting, and I didn't want to join the Wards after what happened with Emma. I know this sounds dumb, but… I just want to have complete control over my life for once. That's why I didn't tell you. I'm sorry."

He sighed when he heard her reply. What happened to Emma and Alan… he should have realized something was wrong sooner. The signs were all there, but he was too buried in his work to notice. He should have realized that Taylor had powers before this as well, but he failed to notice the signs again. Her jogging routine, her self-defense class, her cape research… She was preparing for using her power as a hero, wasn't she?

"It's not your fault, Taylor. I… I should have noticed. I should have helped you." He said guiltily.

"You… we're both in a bad place after Mom died. Maybe I should have told you." She refused to look at him for a moment.

"Yeah." He leaned back on his bed. "We both should have talked with each other."

They fell into silence again, but it was less awkward this time. He got some answers, but he has more questions that he needs to ask. He can't fail as a father for Taylor again. For Adam, too. Adam is his responsibility as well.

"Taylor, what's your power?" He asked, "That huge swarm of bugs today, that's you, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Taylor confirmed. "I can control every bug in my range. Spiders, ants, flies. All of them."

"Wow, that's…"

"Disgusting, I know. I was kind of creeped out by my own power as well." Taylor interrupted in a self-deprecating way.

"Well, you kicked the Empire's ass, right?" He pointed out to cheer his daughter up. "Both yesterday and today."

Taylor shook her head. "That's not me. It's just Adam's tinkertech doing all the work."

He frowned, but didn't argue with Taylor. "So Adam's one of those techno capes like Armsmaster?"

"Yeah." Taylor nodded. "The first thing he made for me was my new glasses. Watch."

Taylor tapped the side of her glasses, and a three dimensional hologram displaying the map of Brockton Bay was projected in the middle of the room. There were various red and blue dots across the map, and he assumed that they meant something. He actually didn't notice that Taylor changed her glasses, and he berated himself for it. Her old pair had a black metal frame, but this one had a different color. Chrome silver and gold. It looks good on Taylor.

"That looks cool." He said in awe. "Wait, so that time he wanted to search the basement…"

"He was looking for material to tinker with." Taylor answered to confirm his suspicion.

"And the Medhall hacking…"

"He said he needed money to buy proper materials. I think he spent almost all of it already."

"The news said he stole over ten million dollars. What the hell is he buying?" He asked incredulously.

"He told me he needed a lot of materials." Taylor replied. "He built a factory, with production lines and everything. It's how he made the drones. I think we had over a hundred of them last time I checked."

"Wow." That is his only reply to Adam's achievement. "He made your power armor too?"

"Yeah. He tried to bribe me with a power armor so that I will work for him." Taylor replied. "Well, I already wanted to be a hero, so we worked out a deal where he provides me tinkertech support since he doesn't want to fight outside."

"Your power armor can fly? Not even Armsmaster can do that."

"Adam told me that it can fly into orbit, but the "cheap" materials," Taylor said while making quote marks with her hand, "wasn't good enough, so I will have to make do with subsonic speeds."

"Well, when will you ever need to fly into space?" He joked lightheartedly. "So, you and Adam snuck out last night to fight Coil?" He asked as gently as possible. He doesn't want to pressure Taylor.

"Yeah. Sorry, Dad." Taylor lowered her head guiltily, "But like I said, it was mostly Adam's drones doing the work. I didn't really do much."

"Don't say that, Taylor. You took down a villain! You should be proud of yourself! Even if I want to shout at you for it." He tried to chuckle and lighten up the mood, but it didn't do much to cheer up Taylor.

"Well, that's…" Taylor paused a little, "That's just it. I didn't feel like I did anything. All I did was show off my swarm and scare the mercenaries into submission. It wasn't even me that fought Krieg and Alabaster. That was just an illusion the drones made to trick them. I was just watching from school the whole time." She said with frustration evident in her tone, and that made him at a loss. "Adam could have done all of this, even without me. His tinkertech is so powerful that he doesn't actually need my help."

"And how do you know that? Maybe he doesn't need your help against the villains, but you are still helping him. You saved me today, Taylor. You faced three villains alone and saved my ass. Even if you were wearing a power armor Adam made, it was still you that saved me."

Taylor's lips curved down again, and he doesn't know why.

"Taylor, what happened last night?" He asked, "I… I need to know."

Taylor looked at him for a few moments before nodding. "Sure. Adam hasn't written his report yet, but I can tell you what happened. Just don't tell anyone else, okay?"

After much reworks and rewrites, the chapter is finally out. I want feedback on whether my portrayal of Danny and Taylor is accurate or not. I'm stepping into college now, so writing speed will obviously slow down. I'm unsure if I want to continue Arc 2 to fight Nazis or end it when Tony disappears. Canon is completely gone, but that doesn't mean BB is safe from Earth Bet. There will be a lot of things going on in the future plot, so wish me luck in not abandoning this fic.

I didn't outright say it, but Lisa is helping Taylor from her glasses in the PRT scene.

Last edited: Oct 13, 2022

2.6

The factory door rolled up and the Undersiders entered with a few dogs behind them. I originally planned to relocate my factory to an abandoned train station near the Boat Graveyard, but I decided to move into the Undersider's base instead. It already has running water and electricity, all I need to do is to renovate the abandoned floor area.

Rachel headed upstairs without a word, while Grue and Regent stopped to look at my fabricators that are conducting maintenance on my drones.

"You got an army over here." Regent commented while holding his chin. "Probably enough to deal with every gang at once."

"I already did, remember? Empire Eighty-Eight is officially gone, and all the ABB has left is Lung himself."

Regent turned and stared at me before shrugging. "Huh."

"Your father and siblings can only affect humans, right?" I asked.

Regent turned his head to look at the drones again. "How tough are your drones?"

"Enough to withstand assault rifles, but not high explosives or lasers."

Regent stayed silent for a while before going up stairs. "I'll talk with you later."

Grue stared at the Fatamorgana drone suit, which was staying still and under maintenance. "What should I call you, boss? By your name? Nameless Tinker D? Fatemorgan?"

"Just call me Adam in private and NTD on the job." I replied. "Fatamorgana will probably operate as a remote solo agent from now on."

"Okay. Adam, is it too much if I want to know what the hell happened?" Grue asked, "I saw some posts on PHO saying that Medhall was attacked, but I want to hear it from you. I'm not going to shed any tears over Nazis ending up in prison, but you've gone over the line by attacking Medhall in broad daylight!"

"Now that my name is out, the Unwritten Rules do not apply to me anymore, so I took the initiative and launched a surprise attack on other villains." I explained calmly, "Kaiser and his bitches were in his office, but I didn't hesitate. He needs to go."

Grue clutched his helmet in exasperation. "You understand what will happen next, right? There will be a power vacuum, and the villains that come next won't abide by the Rules. We could be dealing with gangs from Boston or New York next."

"I wouldn't hold back against them either." I glanced at the suit I am tinkering for myself. "I'm going to turn Brockton Bay into a villain free city. Maybe not crime free, but I will make sure there won't be another villain cape gang in Brockton Bay ever again."

Eradicating all crime just isn't a realistically attainable goal, but creating a villain free city? That's much more doable. Especially with my drones.

"What about the Undersiders? We are reforming as a vigilante team, but the PRT will still capture us for our past crimes. They might even ignore the Unwritten Rule and come straight at us because of what you did today."

"I'm handling that part." Lisa chimed in as she walked downstairs with a box of pizza in hand. "I am looking for a lawyer to fight for your case, and your family is already under his protection. His drones might not be able to solo Lung, but they can carry your sister and fly to the top of Medhall tower like it's no big deal. PRT can't do shit against either of us, otherwise there will be a media shitstorm waiting for them. Don't you love sheep mentality and social media bots? It's so much fun."

"Seriously, Tattletale? Medhall again?" Grue shook his head. "Whatever. I'm glad to hear that my family is protected. Did you order our dinner as well?"

"It's waiting for you upstairs."

Grue nodded. "Ok. We rescued most of the dogs from Empire Eighty-Eight's warehouse. Some of them were already dead by the time we got there, but we took as many dogs as we could feed back to Bitch's shelter along with the violent ones that will probably get euthanized. The dogs that we couldn't take care of were handed over to Rachel's friends in ASPCA. Thought you might want to know."

"Thanks, Grue. I'm planning to have you and Regent take a bodyguard mission. One thousand dollars per night, minimum seven nights. Are you interested?"

"Who am I protecting?" Grue asked.

"My uncle. Someone's targeting him, and I want some reassurances while he is recovering in the hospital."

Grue considered for a while, before asking, "Your drones will support us, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm fine with doing that. Are we doing this in our civilian identity or cape identity?"

"Tattletale will tell you the details later. I'm still hashing out the plan."

"All right." Grue nodded and went upstairs while I continued my tinkering.

I can't use the web fluids like Spider-man, but nothing is stopping me from using it like a containment foam knock-off.

"Suture spray is a must, but we should forgo modular armor panels. We don't have time to key in your brain signals if we want to take down Gesellschaft fast." Tony replied. "Not much of a use even if you injected the neurotransmitter."

Not many missiles we can install on the suit, Maybe we shouldn't have burned the ammo depot after all.

"It wouldn't be useful anyway." Tony replied. "Bullets and missiles have completely different structures, and my missiles use custom payloads that we can't manufacture here."

Not much in the way of lethal weaponry. My repulsors are good, but they are not as precise and rapid as I would like them to be.

"PRT has an Arrest Warrant for you now. No surprise there, but you can hide yourself anyway." Lisa reported. "I also know how Coil found you."

"Care to explain, oh Sherlock?" I replied in an exaggerated tone.

"He monitored shipments that came in and out of Brockton Bay, and yours caught his eye. It didn't take much probing to realize it's a tinker that bought the materials. Your nuclear option is what stopped him from keeping the timeline."

I sighed. "Damn, so he found me from the very beginning. Thank god I had my nuclear option."

"Couldn't do much about it back then. You and I had nothing." Tony shrugged.

He probably successfully captured me since I didn't have much defenses in my early days of tinkering. My protocols to expose every cape I know in case something happened to me must have worked if Coil didn't keep the timeline where he had me in his basement.

I hope Contessa didn't show up. I included Alexandria's identity in that list, after all. Not much I can do with only "Keith" and "David", but I do know Alexandria's full name. I'm still worried that Contessa might open a Door near my bed and just shoot me in my sleep. I can't threaten the Triumvirate yet.

Not before I made myself valuable enough that Cauldron couldn't remove me.

I finally made a suit for myself.

I've been putting it off for some time since I don't think a dedicated suit for myself will ever be useful on the battlefield. No matter how advanced Tony and I made the suit, it still doesn't change the fact that it was a twelve years old's small and fragile body inside it. Maybe I will design a Buster suit for the Leviathan and Echidna scenario, but Tony and I agreed that my current body will never be able to unleash the full potential of the Iron Man suit. Taylor has gone through puberty and her height probably wouldn't grow much, but that wasn't the case for me. My plan was to tinker a suit for myself if I can live past sixteen, but Gesellschaft's involvement means that I need to arm myself as much as possible when capes I didn't know about had entered the field.

I thought it would be more suffocating to be in the suit.

"It used to be, but I started installing cushions into the suit after Mark 8. It feels more like you're in an ergonomic chair than a flying metal death trap that way." Tony replied.

True, it does feel more comfortable.

"Hermes, you there?" I called out.

"Yes, boss." H.E.R.M.E.S replied.

"Begin running diagnostics on the suit." I ordered.

My heads-up display activated and various windows of statistics and data were displayed in front of me. My camera and various sensors scanned everything I could see in my factory as my suit activated the various servos to test my flaps and integrated weaponry, such as the needle missiles and web grenades.

"Diagnostics complete." H.E.R.M.E.S announced. "No issues were found, and all systems are green. Congratulations, boss. Legacy Mark 1 is now ready for deployment."

Wow, I actually made an Iron Man suit for myself! Despite everything that happened today, I couldn't help but feel proud and excited as I finally made an actual suit for myself. It has always been a childhood dream of mine to be in an Iron Man suit, and this feeling is just amazing.

"Wait till you get out and have your first flight. That feeling is just euphoric." Tony commented after he sensed my excitement.

Lisa slow clapped from her workstation and whistled. "Oh yeah, nice suit! When are you making me one?"

"When I trust you enough to give you one."

"Ouch, I'm hurt." Lisa replied sarcastically. "Anyway, I narrowed down the locations that Gesellschaft could be hiding. Just send your insect drones for recon. I'm going to crash into my bed for a nap before deducing why they are here. There is more than just the Medhall heist that led them here, I'm sure of it!"

"Thanks, Lisa." I replied. I left my suit as it opened up and returned to my computer. I can't stop working now. H.E.R.M.E.S's algorithms can be faster and more precise. My drones can be more coordinated. My suit can be more powerful. I'm sure of it.

Before that though, I picked up my phone and dialed a certain number. The receiver picked up after a few rings.

"Hey, Newter. You have a bottle ready yet?"

I activated A.R.C.S, the Augmented Reality Communication System, a program developed by utilizing B.A.R.F for immersive surround illusion video call. It's inaccurate to call it a video call, but I couldn't think of a better description. It's a program specialized for communication, and I'll leave it at that. Various projectors were installed in a circle, with an omnidirectional treadmill under me for walking simulation.

In the blink of an eye, I appeared in the hospital. Other than the fact that I can't physically interact with objects, this is almost as good as teleportation or clone projection powers. I plan to make a remote drone that is my body size to compensate for that weakness, but that is in the future.

I walked down the hall inconspicuously, with H.E.R.M.E.S erasing every digital footprint of my arrival from the hospital's cameras. It didn't take me long to arrive in front of Danny's room, and the only reason I didn't just appear inside is because I didn't want to frighten him after what happened yesterday.

I knocked on the door and Taylor opened it for me a few seconds later. "Adam. Come inside."

I nodded and did as she told me. The hospital room was slightly larger than what I expected, but I assume this is part of PRT's tactics to convince Danny to put us into the Wards. Taylor ordered H.E.R.M.E.S to pack their clothes from home, so they were both wearing their own pajamas.

"Adam." Danny began, "I want you to know that I'm not mad at you for what happened today."

"That's what every parent says before they scold you." Tony said sarcastically.

I slowly nodded and he continued, "Taylor told me how she began to work with you, but I still have some questions I need to ask you before I say anything. When did you get your powers? How did you do all of this? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I…" I struggled to get my words out, "I got my powers the morning I moved into your house, I think. I accepted that my parents are gone, and then I got powers." I decided to answer honestly.

I don't like to talk about the life and memories of the original Adam Danvers, even with Tony who was inside my head. I don't like to think about it in general and try to throw it into the back of my mind as long as possible, because I feel guilty. There was no justification for what happened to Adam, no matter what might and will happen.

He might have had a happy and normal life in the Hebert household, no matter how unlikely that seems to be. Adam Danvers was his own person, with his own life and a future ahead of him.

And I took that away from him.

Adam's memories, other than the essentials that allowed me to function in society, are pretty faded in my mind. I could only remember the general gist, but none of the details of his life. I couldn't remember the faces of Adam's parents. I couldn't remember their voices. I couldn't remember his old friends, and that made me feel even more guilty. His most prominent memory that I can call up was crying himself to sleep before I took over. Before that, a despairing loneliness that persisted for a month before he triggered.

I suspect that there is some shard fuckery at work here, but there is nothing I can do to fix this. Maybe the original Adam Danvers was shunted to other universes, maybe he was preserved in my shard as a simulation, but I will never know. I replaced him. I took his life away.

"Have you ever heard of trigger events, Danny?" I asked, and Danny shook his head. Taylor sat down on the other side of the bed as well, listening raptly to what I was saying.

"Trigger events are commonly described as "the worst day in your life", and it doesn't have to be something that's happening to you specifically. You saw someone raping your sister. You were in a car accident. You fell into a vat of toxic waste. You fell into an ice lake. You saw your brother commit suicide. All of these events can push people to the breaking point and then they get powers. You get the point."

"Bad things happen to people everyday, and giving them powers will allow them to cause more bad things. It's a cycle of negativity and destruction, that's why we need to stop it." Tony said.

Danny looked shocked that this is how people get powers, and I can tell Taylor was reminded of the locker from how her hands were trembling.

"That's why villains outnumbered heroes, you see. They weren't in their right mind when they got their powers, and their situation certainly wasn't fixed after they got their powers. Most probably got worse." I explained, "PRT doesn't publicize this information because they don't want idiots thinking they can force themselves to trigger and get a power as a reward. It never works. Trigger events scars you mentally. You can't force it by yourself because it isn't decided by your mind in the first place."

Danny stayed silent for a while to process this information, then asked, "Why are you telling me this? Do you want me to get Taylor and you a therapist?"

"That's… probably a good idea. You might need one yourself too." I admitted, "But you're right. I derailed myself. I had a clear goal the moment I realized I had powers. I want to make the first villain-free city in the country, something that not even the Triumvirate achieved. I want to do good, but I didn't tell you because I need to stay independent. There are too many things I need to do, and I can't let you stop me."

"You mean like how you captured the entire Empire today?"

"It had to be done." I insisted. "Now that they know it was me who attacked their largest financial income, they will definitely retaliate against me. I'm confident that they can't touch me, but that wasn't the same for everyone around me. They attacked you today, but they could have attacked Taylor or my school as a retaliation. The moment my name was on the news, all of you were in danger. I had to do something."

"The best defense is offense, especially when we outgunned and outnumbered them. The only reason we didn't pull it off earlier is because it will destabilize the city." Tony said.

"Okay, okay." Danny said slowly as he tried to process my explanation. "Adam, what do you think about the Wards?"

"I'll run away from home if you put me in." I immediately said.

"Why?" Danny asked in confusion, and Taylor stared at me curiously as well.

"Do you really think that joining the Wards is the safest option for us?" I asked.

"Well…" Danny hesitated to reply. "Maybe you can join New Wave? No, they are a family team…" He muttered afterwards. I shuddered when I heard him mentioning New Wave. I'm not getting anywhere near that clusterfuck if I can.

"The Wards aren't really as safe as you would think. The Fallen have kidnapped Wards into slavery, Endbringer attacks kill half of the attending capes, the Slaughterhouse 9 have Bonesaw turn them into body horrors. And you know what PRT does to protect the Wards? Limit their power usage. Wrap them up as merchandise and celebrities. It's even worse for me, because I'm a tinker. PRT will never allow me to build the drones or power armor for Taylor. I wouldn't be able to build half of what I can build today if I become a Ward, and when threats like that come? I'm just a sitting duck."

Danny slumped into his bed after hearing my explanation. He looked lost, like he didn't know what to do. Talking about the Slaughterhouse 9 reminded me that I have to come up with a countermeasure to Mannequin. I wonder if I can hack into his enclosed systems and just disable his life support.

"The idea of wrapping your entire organ system into a singular enclosed space both horrifies and fascinates me." Tony commented on Mannequin.

"Taylor," He turned to his right and called out, "What do you want to do? Do you want to join the Wards, or stay with Adam?"

"I…" Taylor sounded a little indecisive. "I want to stay with Adam. I've seen how the PRT and the Wards operate, and I think Adam and I can do more good together than joining them."

"Okay, okay." Danny nodded. "We'll need to set up some rules if you two want to stay independent, but can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm really tired, and I would like to hit the hay for tonight."

"Okay." I nodded." "Goodnight, Uncle Danny."

I shut down A.R.C.S and return to my workstation to continue tinkering on my suit.

Gesellschaft will not stand in Brockton Bay. I will never allow it.

There will be a PHO chapter after this, and it will mark the end of Arc 2. Tony will pass on, and a new tech tree will come.

Interlude: PHO

Topic: Fall of Coil's Organization In: Boards General North America Brockton Bay

Bagrat (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Posted on April 5, 2011:

I'm sure that most of you have already seen the news, but it is my duty as The Guy In The Know to provide a quick and succinct summary just in case you crawled out of your bunker today and missed it.

Coil is a major villain based in Brockton Bay, notable for employing mundane mercenaries and providing them tinkertech firearms. He was believed to be a small player in Brockton Bay's cape scene compared to E88 or ABB since it wasn't even confirmed if he even has any powers or is just a normal person hiring mercenaries. Coil was involved in drug trading and keeping territory, but otherwise he kept a very low profile.

For what happened last night, you can go check out Hope's post over here. Long story short, they raided Coil's base and exposed his identity. This normally would have painted them a huge target on their back for breaking the rules, but they justified it by revealing that Coil was Thomas Calvert, a high-ranking advisor working inside PRT itself. They exposed a huge line of corruption inside PRT and various local authorities connected to Coil, including the police and the mayor's office. Three out of four mayor candidates for the next election were reportedly on Coil's payroll, and the FBI are now launching an in-depth investigation into Brockton Bay's authorities.

(Showing Page 7 of 56)

Antigone

Replied on April 5, 2011:

This is unbelievable as fuck. The guy was a Bond villain in real life. He was a government higher up, had a mercenary army, an underground base and a plan to take over the world. Shame Hope and Fatamorgana couldn't catch him, but at least he's gone from the city now.

XxX_Stylemaster_XxX

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Na man, he lacked the pet on his lap that he was always petting evilly.

Heavy_Molecule

Replied on April 5, 2011:

This worries me a bit. What's stopping villains from doing the same to heroes?

Riverrone

Replied on April 5, 2011:

I didn't even know Coil existed in my city until today.

Bostonian99 (Veteran Member)

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Just when you thought PRT couldn't disappoint you anymore…

Nod

Replied on April 5, 2011:

You know what they say. Fortune favors the bold, and hiding in plain sight is pretty bold for a villain. But justice always prevails.

Char

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Just how many villains out there are hiding in plain sight? Maybe Kaiser is a senator, maybe Purity is a celebrity, and we will never know because they all wore a mask.

Glory Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)

Replied on April 5, 2011:

This is why New Wave advocates accountability for capes. Because we know there will be people who abuse their anonymity like this.

Tumbles

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Glory Girl not like you're actually doing much though

lolnope

Replied on April 5, 2011:

lol she got burned

End of Page. 1, 2, 3… 5, 6, 7, 8, 9… 54, 55, 56

Topic: Adam Danvers is Nameless Tinker D

In: Boards General North America Brockton Bay

hj47fh46fg3j (Original Poster)

Posted on April 5, 2011:

Nameless Tinker D is a hacker that has committed a cyberattack against twelve companies in Brockton Bay and stole over twenty million dollars. His true identity is Adam Danvers, a twelve year old boy living at 509 Larrington Street. He is a tinker with specializations in drones and illusions, capable of hiding themselves with optical camouflage and attacking people silently.

(Showing Page 1 of 1)

Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Thread deleted, and any threads your dummy account made will be deleted as well. Stop now. You are endangering a person's life.

End of Page. 1

Topic: Brockton Bay Gang Cleanup

In: Boards General North America Brockton Bay

nameless tinker d (Original Poster) (Verified Cape)

Posted on April 5, 2011:

In light of the exposure of my civilian identity, I have decided to retaliate against the criminal gangs of Brockton Bay. Oni Lee, Bakuda, Othala, Victor, Kaiser, Fenja, Menja, Hookwolf and Stormtiger have been captured and handed over to the Protectorate. 6 E88 dog fighting rings have been dismantled. 24 illegal firearms storage and 23 drug depots have been destroyed. Authorities have been informed of the location of illegal prostitution sites and victims will receive humanitarian aid.

Empire Eighty-Eight and Azn Bad Boys no longer exist in Brockton Bay. I aim to create a villain free city, and I will not rest until I achieve that goal. I ask for your faith and support in this endeavor.

Thank you for reading this till the end.

(Showing Page 43 of 76)

Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)

Replied on April 5, 2011:

As happy as I am to see the empire and ABB out of the city, I kept thinking about what will come after next. I still remember the time The Teeth roamed the streets of BB. Are you strong enough to keep them out?

Ekul

Replied on April 5, 2011:

How's ABB gone? I just saw Lung going on a fucking rampage just now. He burned down like half of the Docks!

Lasersmile

Replied on April 5, 2011:

@Ekul that's an exaggeration. He just burned down like three building tops, which is very little for Lung.

Deadman

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Thank you for destroying E88, Adam. You have no idea how much of a danger their thugs have been to my neighborhood, and we've decided to have a party to celebrate this tonight. Are you free to come? I'll PM you the address.

phio nam

Replied on April 5, 2011:

thak you for destryoing abb

Unite

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Wooo! Both ABB and E88 gone in a single day? It's not even Christmas yet!

Logs

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Fuck you! You made me lose my job!

Bagrat (The Guy In The Know)

Replied on April 5, 2011:

I believe this is the first time we've seen an independent hero defeating so many villains at once, which puts Brockton Bay in a really precarious place. Will NTD be able to prevent other villains from entering the city or will he fall like most independent heroes?

Magus Zanin

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Non-zero chance some other criminals replace them, but I won't shed any tears for the nazi scum getting shoved into a cell.

DiSCOBOT

Replied on April 5, 2011:

I bet everything in BB will go to shit again next week.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3… 41, 42, 43, 44, 45… 74, 75, 76

Topic: Dockworkers Union attack

In: Boards General North America Brockton Bay

[tent name] (Original Poster)

Posted on April 5, 2011:

I worked for the Dockworker Union for a few years now. It's not an easy job, but it's all I can do since I'm a highschool dropout, and I'm glad that I even have a job to feed myself. A group of villains attacked us today and left the building in shambles.The Empire already came by yesterday, but Hope kicked their ass and they were captured by PRT. I guess this is their way to one up her since a bunch of capes with swastikas on them start throwing explosions all over the building and there was this huge swarm of bugs that covered the sky as well. I thought I knew the bay's cape scene pretty well, but I have never seen those villains before. Here's some pics I took before I ran away. Who are they?

144605042011.jpg

144805042011.jpg

145005042011.jpg

(Showing Page 12 of 38)

Robby

Replied on April 5, 2011:

the pics are blurry as fuck

Thatdude

Replied on April 5, 2011:

I think I recognize them. Those are villains from Gesellschaft, the Empire's distant cousin in Europe. The fuck are they doing over here?

AverageAlexandros (Cape Husband)

Replied on April 5, 2011:

I think that's Schneesturm and Ulfbernt. They're Gesellschaft capes.

Good Ship Morpheus

Replied on April 5, 2011:

My condolences for what happened to you today.

Johnbro

Replied on April 5, 2011:

They tried real hard to tell people they are nazis, didn't they?

Cpt. Gonta

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Their costume sucks

kinny wings

Replied on April 5, 2011:

My father worked there as well. He was scared shitless by the sword cape making explosions with each swing.

Coyote-C

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Fuck nazis. Why can't we just seem to get rid of them?

Acree

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Can we call Legend over to BB for a week? The local PRT is so corrupt they let an actual villain work inside.

Miraclemic

Replied on April 5, 2011:

Agreed.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3… 10, 11, 12, 13, 14… 36, 37, 38

Last edited: Sep 6, 2022

3.1 Infectious Play

April 6 2011

I always woke up a few minutes before my alarms rang.

I don't know if some powers above just dedicated their time to make sure I lost a few minutes of sleep or my brain just likes to screw me over, but I have always consistently woke up before my alarm rang no matter the time or how tired I was the night before.

I stayed in bed despite being perfectly conscious and awake, trying to get as much rest as I could from the little time I had left before my alarm rang. As expected, my phone released the familiar bird chirps right at 8.15 a.m. I instantly jumped out of the sofa and headed towards the washroom without wasting a moment of time.

I took a quick shower along with brushing my teeth and walked towards the dining room next, where I prepared a bowl of oatmeal as my breakfast of the day.

Brian entered the dining room next. He wore a tank top and was sweaty all around, so I assumed he did some exercise. He reached for a bottle of protein while greeting me. "Good morning, Adam." He greeted me.

"Good morning." I replied politely and continued to have my breakfast in silence while scrolling my phone to read the PHO comments. Some comments were congratulating Brockton Bay, but there were also a fair amount of racist bigots cursing my name and various shitposts, which is something I had already expected.

"You can never please everyone. It's easier on yourself if you just don't care about useless internet fame." Tony commented casually.

Saw enough influencers to know that. I finished my bowl of oatmeal and washed the bowl.

"Brian," I called out, "Here's the details for your next assignment."

Brian nodded and opened the file. I will introduce him and Alec to Danny later, where they will protect him in their civilian identities to avoid unnecessary attention. They will receive firepower and camouflage support from my drones and some support tinkertech from me. All they have to bring is their mask to protect their faces just in case my drones were disabled again.

"Okay, I can do this job." Brian replied and nodded. "I'll tell Alec later. What's your plan for the day?"

"I'm visiting my uncle later. Then some training and tinkering. We are gearing up to fight the Gesellschaft capes."

"Alright."

I put my bowl away and put on my visor. It was something that I tinkered up last night, as an upgrade for my glasses. The technology was based on the upgrades Tony made for The Falcon. It looked like futuristic glasses, but the larger frame and eye piece allows for more sensors and a better heads-up display. The visor can serve as a mask on its own, but I installed a color shifting system so that it can switch between transparent and various colors. I have also installed mini B.A.R.F projectors in the visor that will project just enough illusion to cover my face and keep people from recognizing me.

Uncle Danny is going to set up the rules for Taylor and I to engage in our cape activities today. I don't actually need to follow them, but obeying his wishes will cut me a lot of slack in the future.

"We got this. I can kind of guess what your uncle wants to talk about, seeing I've had a similar conversation with Spider-Man's aunt. We'll play up the aspiring teenager angle and convince him that we'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Tony said.

Yeah, I hope so.

I'm entering the hospital again, but for real this time. A pair of bus trips and I was at the hospital, the bus pulling right up to an area for exchanging passengers. A part of me has always wished to release my identity by myself since maintaining a secret identity just takes too much effort and will distract me from my goals, but I wished I could have taken the initiative to do so instead of being the plot of another villain. I can hide myself in public with B.A.R.F, but that's all it can do.

I'm seriously debating if I should continue going to school. There was no practical need for it, but Danny might argue that going to school was essential for my mental development since it's the same reason Taylor went to Winslow. I didn't really make any friends in school, and I'm not too keen to do so either. Coming from the future where media was much more developed disinterested me from bonding with other kids my age. There was just this generation gap that I'm not motivated to bridge.

Brian and Alec waited outside while I entered the room as we planned. I carried a fruit basket with me, with some stuff I tinkered for Danny last night inside as well.

"Hey." I called out as I entered the room.

"Adam." Danny greeted back.

"I brought you some fruit. Where's Taylor?"

"Thanks. She's out for some fresh air, I think." Danny replied.

I reflexively nodded while putting the fruit basket on the table and took out a watch. "Here. I made this for you."

"A watch? Is this one of those tinkertech devices you made?" Danny asked as he fiddled with the watch I gave him.

"Try wearing it. I'll explain its functions."

Danny did as I told and wore the watch on his left wrist, so I began to explain. "That watch can transform into a bulletproof gauntlet in an emergency. Just press the center and pull it over to wrap your hand."

He looked at the watch in awe as the watch transformed into a chrome silver gauntlet that wrapped around his palm. "Wow. I mean, I know tinkertech's supposed to be advanced, but this looked like it came from Star Trek."

"Danny has good taste in movies, but I have to argue that my watch is better than Star Trek gadgets."

I wouldn't know, I never watched Star Trek. I mentally replied to Tony.

"Damn, stop making me feel so old."

"The gauntlet has various functions for self protection, like flash beam, ultrasonic boom and a repulsor. You can trigger them by maintaining an open palm and moving your fingers, but don't do that here." I continued my explanation. Tony can control his gadgets with his neurotransmitters, but I don't have the time to key in and calibrate my own brain signals yet.

"So this is your power, huh?" Danny moved his hand around to take a better look at the watch. "Adam, do you really like to tinker with your power?"

I stopped a little when Danny asked that. "Yeah, I do. Tinkering is fun, you know? I get this huge sense of achievement when I make something amazing, like Taylor's armor and that watch."

"That's good, then. That's good." Danny nodded and repeated his words. Something about how he talked got me raising an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No, it's nothing." Danny waved my questions away. "Can you talk about what you've made until now? Taylor said you have a factory, but I'm kind of skeptical."

I smiled as pride swelled up in my chest. "Sure."

Danny and I talked about my tinkertech for some time before Taylor entered the room. Up until now, I have made a few Stark fabricators, a legion of drones, a suit for Taylor and another suit for myself. There were various other gadgets used by S.H.I.E.L.D and Avengers as well, but most of them only exist as blueprints stored in my computer. I prioritized tinkering gadgets that will be useful for Taylor's heroic activities, like magnetic cuffs, web grenades and anti-Thinker sensory deprivation masks.

The original plan was for me to be Taylor's backend support, but the attack on Danny made me realize that being out on the field myself was necessary. Taylor wasn't the warlord who killed Alexandria yet, and she probably will never be with how much my tech was coddling her. I can plan and tinker for remote situations all the time, but the best solution will always be the most simple solution. I cannot avoid fighting by myself forever, so I might as well take the initiative and get used to it instead of being forced into that situation and panic.

Taylor knocked and entered the room. She was wearing her usual hoodie and pants today. "Hey." She greeted in her usual bland tone.

"Hey." I greeted back while Danny simply gave Taylor a smile.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"I'm explaining my tinkertech to Uncle Danny. Your suit maintenance is done, by the way."

"Mmh." Taylor murmured.

Taylor took a seat at the other side of Danny's bed. Danny nodded in approval, and began to talk. "Now that Taylor is here, I want to talk about making rules for your caping activities."

I nodded in agreement. There was nothing to fight against Danny here. The sooner we get this done, the better. I glanced at Taylor and found her with a face of acceptance.

"Okay, first thing first." Danny announced, "Stop keeping me in the dark. I want to know what you two are planning and doing so that I can help you. Maybe the cops could have handled some stuff better than we do, so we'll let them handle it. Don't try to do everything by yourself. Tell me what you're planning so that I can give you advice and help you."

"That's a pretty standard rule from a superhero's parent." Tony mused.

As far as requests from a parent goes, that's pretty acceptable. There might be actions that Danny finds unacceptable when I deem necessary, but I can just hide it from him and go solo so it will be fine. Following this rule in action but not in spirit is my plan. "I'm fine with that. What about you, Taylor?"

Taylor nodded in agreement. "I agree to follow that rule."

"I'm happy to hear that. You don't have to tell me everything down to the minute detail, by the way. Just the important stuff, like when you're going on patrol or planning a drug bust." Danny concluded with a smile, "Next, I want the two of you to stay safe and have restraint when you're out being heroes. I know there's a lot of bad people out there, but we can't take the law into our own hands and kill them. So no killing or inflicting grievous injuries. You can knock muggers or gangbangers out cold, but try not to break their bones or smash their organs."

Killing criminals will give the public an impression that we are actually villains, and there aren't that many villains that absolutely need to die anyway. Coil, Jack Slash, Nilbog, maybe Accord? My belief is that killing is detrimental to our public image, so I wouldn't do it much. Even if I do, I have Lisa to bury the body for me.

"Yeah, I don't like killing either."

Taylor nodded to show her agreement.

Danny took a deep breath to prepare himself for his next rule. "Good, good. Finally… I want Adam to at least tell me what he is currently tinkering. I know I probably can't understand what you're building, but at least tell me and Taylor what it is and what it can do. I know there is a lot of dangerous tinkertech out there, so I want to keep both of you safe."

It wouldn't be that hard to keep my tinkertech a secret from Danny and Taylor. It might be a hassle to hide from Lisa, but do I even have the necessity to hide it from her in the first place? It might be easier to have her helping me to lie against them instead. "Sure."

"Well, that's about it, I guess." Danny concluded with a small smile. "As long as you follow these rules, I'll be fine with the two of you going out and caping. I understand that you two don't want to join the Wards, but in exchange, I want the two of you to prioritize your own safety, okay?"

"Yeah, I know." I replied. I realized that Danny has fallen back into the classic parent nagging again, and all you have to do in situations like these is to nod and say "yes".

"Okay. Thanks, dad." Taylor replied as she grabbed his hand. "Thanks for letting us do this."

"I don't think I can stop you from being a cape, so I might as well help you as much as I can to keep you safe." Danny said gently, "Your mother wouldn't hold you back from taking action, so I shouldn't either."

Hmm, I should discuss my schooling with Danny as soon as possible. "Uncle Danny, can I get homeschooled instead? I don't think school is safe for me."

"Nice of you to not mention that you're overqualified for school." Tony said.

I still have a lot to learn, but it's definitely not in school.

"Well, not everyone can skip school. But you can."

"That… huh." Danny hesitated on my suggestion. "I'll have to think about it first. What about you, Taylor? Do you want to keep going to Arcadia?"

Taylor considered for a moment, before replying, "Yeah. I mean, Arcadia's a good school, and I'm happy to learn there. Maybe I'll finish the semester first before considering homeschooling."

"Okay." Danny nodded.

I introduced Brian and Alec to Danny later, telling him that they are bodyguards that I hired. Danny was both shocked and skeptical, but he accepted their protection when I told him they were both capes with support from my tech. I head back to the factory after that, eager to tinker all the Stark technology on my checklist.

The factory's ground floor has been completely renovated. All the old machines have been disassembled and recycled by my fabricators for more material. I have always believed that recycling is the best way to deal with waste, because it was just a shame to let all those potential resources go to the landfill.

Me, Taylor and the Undersiders were seated in a circular meeting space where my projectors were in the middle. Except Lisa, who was standing since she was the presenter today. She took to learning how to control the holograms really quickly.

"Okay, first thing on today's checklist…" Lisa said as she swiped her tablet, "The new nazi capes in town."

The images of the capes that attacked yesterday were shown, with their names labeled under the picture. The freezer Shaker is called Schneesturm, sword Tinker is Ulfbernt and the crystal Changer/Breaker is Gargoyle.

"Accurate names, but they lack creativity." Tony commented with derision.

"Schneesturm and Ulfbernt are both from Gesellschaft's junior division in Italy, Jugend Heer. Gesellschaft promotes it as their version of the Wards, but it's actually half elite academy for the children of internal members and half brainwashing camp for kidnapped child capes that they deemed useful. I'm about 70 percent sure that both Schneesturm and Ulfbernt belong to the latter." Lisa said, "Gargoyle is a rookie cape. His first sighting was from the Behemoth attack at Czech a few months ago. Gesellschaft tracked him down and recruited him after that, but it's weird that a rookie like him was deployed to the United States, so something fishy is going on here."

"What about their powers? Any details or weaknesses that we should watch out for?" Brian asked.

"Schneesturm is a temperature manipulator. Keyword on temperature here, because she can freeze your eyeballs as fast as she can boil them, though she usually sticks to the "freezing" side of her power. Think of the way her power works like a cup of water. The less water you have, the faster it is to freeze or boil it. The more water you have, the longer it takes to achieve either. It takes time and concentration on her part to manipulate a larger area, but if it's small enough she can do it near instantly. She has been known to attack people's internal organs rapidly and with precision. Eyeballs, eardrums, heart, lungs, even some poor guy's balls."

Schneesturm's power looks amazingly broken on first glance, but it is in the same vein with Taylor's power in that you need to shut off your empathy to exploit its potential. Flash freezing or boiling internal organs sounds very lethal, but when you consider that she can only do it one person at a time, it doesn't sound so dangerous anymore. A duo of police officers can take her down if they act fast and are willing to visit Panacea later. An exact opposite of Taylor with how she can't multitarget and control the field.

"Range? Is it line of sight or a radius centering her body?" I asked.

"Line of sight, 20 to 30 meters away from her. She also has something similar to thermal imaging in her powerset. That's why she saw through your drones."

"Taylor can be the one to handle her then." I suggested. "Maintain distance and attack her eyes to subdue her."

"I'm pretty sure they will buy some bug-proof suits after yesterday. Maybe even a pesticide bomb." Taylor pointed out. "But we can go on the offensive and take them by surprise."

"We are always on the offensive, Taylor." I replied. "Your new insects should be arriving today, by the way. Tell me if you need a specialized terrarium for them to grow healthily."

"How many species have you bought?"

"Hmm…" I counted with my fingers, "A nest of Darwin's bark spiders, black widow spiders, japanese giant hornets, amazonian giant centipedes, giant forest scorpions, bullet ants and army ants. I made sure to buy the queen for the ants and bees as well since you need them for reproduction."

"I don't know what are you talking about, but the phrase Amazonian Giant Centipede sounds hardcore." Alex made his opinion known.

I nodded in agreement. "Some of the biggest centipedes in the world. Dropping them on people will bring some good fear factor."

"I think this jumps straight into horror movie levels." Brian commented.

Taylor frowned. "Isn't army ants the species that can eat an entire cow in under an hour? That's too dangerous to be used in the city. What if it escaped the terrarium and caused an infestation? Brockton's shitty enough without an invasive species of ants."

I shrugged. "Well, you can control all of them at once, so…"

I wonder if I can get Panacea to make giant army ants one day. They will make a good meat shield against Echidna and Nilbog and a villain deterrent too, though PRT definitely wouldn't allow Taylor to wield an army of giant biotinker bugs.

Under normal circumstances.

"Anyway, back to the topic." Lisa interrupted our discussions on bugs and said, "Ulfbernt is a sword tinker, and as a tinker yourself, you should know what kind of bullshit he can pull with a specialization like that."

"With how Tinker "specialization" powers work, the only thing that limits him is himself." Tony mused.

I can think of a few decent ideas myself. An all-time classic in sci-fi, the hyper vibration sword. Maybe beam sabers like Star Wars, or a gun-sword like 00 Raiser. Ulfbernt is an enemy I need to treat with extreme prejudice. With all the resources Gesellschaft provided him, who knows if he has something like a biohazard poison sword or a WMD with him. I hate to admit it, but I might need the Protectorate's help with him.

Lisa switched to the next slide, which shows Ulfbernt wielding his tinkertech swords in Europe. A particularly large image in the center highlighted a gray and white sword in his hands, tearing up buildings with a generated whirlwind. "Ulfbernt's most iconic sword is his tornado sword, which he uses to cause mass destruction like you see here. This sword can destroy buildings and small towns in a few swings, but he keeps it as his final resort. The sword is still pretty sharp though, most mundane materials wouldn't stand a chance to block it."

"Keeping distance with a sword user is common sense, but Ulfbernt has clearly found a way to overcome that weakness. His tornado sword alone can be qualified as a weapon of mass destruction." Tony said.

Keeping tricks up their sleeves is how a tinker operates, so he must have other hidden cards too. I'm willing to bet that his gloves are tinkertech as well, to keep his sword stuck to his hand.

"If his sword is as sharp as Lisa said, your suit wouldn't stand against it. The materials we used for the platings are too mundane. Not even the nanosuit will do."

Will a personal force field work?

"Your current technology level wouldn't allow it. It's too advanced for what we have now, and the reactors will blow up like a bulb if you use them as the power source."

I reflexively sighed as I processed that. H.E.R.M.E.S is not powerful enough to rival Ultron or Dragon's cyberattack capabilities yet, otherwise I would have gone full Cyberpunk Netrunner on every tinker I see and blown them up. Server expansions will now be a priority.

"You sure this guy's in Gesellschaft's junior division? Alec asked, "I wouldn't put someone who can generate tornadoes in the junior division if I'm their boss."

Taylor turned to me and asked, "Can our suit withstand the tornado?"

"No, not with the materials we're using right now." I replied truthfully. Manufacturing Tony's gold-titanium alloy and a high precision laser rifle is really climbing up my list of things to do.

"To Alec's question, it's because Ulfbernt's from the brainwashed side of Jugend Heer." Lisa answered, "Gesellschaft likes to keep their leadership "pure", so capes inducted from outside usually only stay as their muscle, and the brainwashed children stay as their loyal soldiers."

"Classic Nazis." Tony said sarcastically.

Gesellschaft is on my hit list after I'm done with the East Coast.

"Good."

"How are they doing this?" Taylor asked angrily, "Doesn't Europe have their own heroes?"

"Same reason The Fallen is still running around doing the same thing in the USA, I guess." I replied to Taylor's question. "Unwritten Rules. Capes needed for Endbringers. Not enough manpower to actually dismantle their operations."

"So… they just let the Nazis do whatever they want?"

I shrugged. "More like the heroes can't do anything effective against them. You know how it was with the Empire before us."

Taylor slumped in her beanbag and I yawned. I wonder if H.E.R.M.E.S is done writing that contract with Union Alloys Manufacturing yet…

"Ulfbernt also has other secondary swords with him. Currently known swords include an EMP sword, heat sword, forcefield sword and a shockwave sword. Despite what you would think, Ulfbernt doesn't really have that many tinkertech swords with him. He is too preoccupied with upgrading and maintaining his tinkertech to create new swords with bullshit effects like most Tinkers do. He is also practiced in various sword styles, so he isn't just swinging his sword like a toy." Lisa concluded. "Next up, Gargoyle."

"Gargoyle is a Changer that transforms his skin into some sort of ceramic crystal structure that is extremely durable and has superhuman strength. He wasn't really that strong, but there's probably no cape in BB that can pierce his skin, not even Lung or Dauntless. Luckily, his power doesn't protect his senses, so your illusions and sonic booms will still work on him."

"This is a really weird team." Brian commented while touching his chin. "Schneesturm can only target one person at a time, Ulfbernt can cause mass destruction, and Gargoyle's near indestructible. I know Gesellschaft has a lot of capes, so why them? All three of them are too specialized. I can't tell what kind of modus operandi they will take with powers like these."

"It's an anti-Lung team." Lisa answered, "This team is put together to remove Lung from Brockton Bay."

"Huh." I said, "I can see that now."

Gesellschaft's plan must be something along the lines of immobilizing him before Lung escalates. Gargoyle holds him down, Schneesturm freezes his brain-slash-corona, Ulfbernt kills him with his exotic swords. What kind of exotic counter swords will Ulfbernt tinker up? Necrotic? Freezing? Dimension damaging?

All of it still depends on doing it before Lung escalates, otherwise the heat Lung generates will be enough to negate Schneesturm's manipulation. Gargoyle's strength is too weak if the data is right, and the best Ulfbernt can do is toss him to the other side of the city with a tornado.

"Or he pulls a secret card against Lung in case his team fails." Tony suggested.

Is this what it feels like to fight Iron Man? Always wary of any bullshit technology he can shoot from his satellites?

"I feel offended and proud at the same time." Tony snarked.

"Oh." Lisa swiped her phone and sent me a link. "Check this out."

I opened the link and saw a video file, but I can already guess the contents from the file name, so I sent it to my servers and played it on the hologram so that everyone can watch.

The video opened up to a cape wearing a soldier's costume behind a podium, with Schneesturm, Ulfbernt and Gargoyle standing behind him like soldiers.

"Greetings, brave citizens of Brockton Bay." The cape began. "You can call me Oberst Gestapo, and I believe all of you have heard of the demise of our great Empire Eighty-Eight."

"What the fuck is this? Their ads?" Alec asked incredulously as all of us watched.

"But fear not, citizens! The Empire may fall, but that does not mean our fight against oppression and filth is over. Right here, right now, The Pure Bastion shall rise against these invasive and degenerate parasites! Right here, right now, we swear to cleanse this city of its corruption! For a brighter day!"

The three capes behind Oberst followed him. "For a brighter day!"

"For a brighter day!" Oberst shouted again, and the video ended with the logo of a white wall inside a black circle against a red flag.

7 April 2011

Lung, surprisingly, did not go on a rampage. With all of his brothels and casinos busted, he uncharacteristically laid low and there hasn't been any public sighting of him on the streets. What's more alarming is that I lost track of him in his civilian identity as well, which I deemed impossible unless he had outside help.

The only person I know that can detect my drones is Schneesturm and maybe Leet, but I wouldn't put it below the Nazis to convince Lung to see me as a common enemy and stab him in the back later. Gesellschaft are too experienced and well equipped to hide themselves, and any argument I saw online as to whether Oberst is a Thinker or not has been put to rest.

Oberst Gestapo is one of Gesellschaft's most elusive capes. He is one of the capes that works behind the scenes, and Tattletale believes that his Thinker power is capable of contending against Accord in terms of planning capabilities, which made searching for him even harder. My drones are scouring everywhere in the city for them, yet I have found nothing. Stark Industry scanners are far more robust than any mundane tech in this world, so the only explanation I can think of is that he carries tinkertech concealers on him.

Is it made by Ulfbernt, or is there another tinker with them?

"Man, it's getting really late, isn't it Adam?" Tony pretended to yawn and said.

I glanced at the clock, which shows 11.50 at night.

It's almost time?

"Yup. My gut's telling me that I will move on at exactly twelve o'clock, so if you have anything you want to say to me, now's the time."

I stopped my tinkering and left my desk. I grabbed a beanbag and slumped down on it, resting my tired hands and closing my strained eyes.

I… thank you, Tony. Thank you for teaching me everything you did. You didn't have to teach me, but you still did anyway.

"You're welcome, kid." Tony replied softly, "This side trip to another world might not be as fun as it could've been inside your head, but… it gave me time. It gave me time to accept that I'm dead, and gave me time to do good for the world one more time. And not like we didn't have fun anyway. I know I'll never forget yesterday if I can."

11.53 p.m.

I still have so much I want to learn from you. Quantum tech, digital neurotransmissions, biotechnology…

"I'm sorry I couldn't teach you all of them, kid. I know the future looks bleak with everything that's going on in this world, but we talked about this. Just because you couldn't do it now doesn't mean you couldn't do it in the future. Don't be afraid to take action, but be afraid that you will regret not taking it, okay?"

I… yeah, you're right. That's solid advice.

11.56 p.m.

"These two weeks has been… eye-opening. I can't help you anymore from this point onward, and you will have to figure out a lot of superhero things all by yourself. I am Iron Man, and even I failed more than I myself can accept so it's fine if you stumble around as well. Don't try to carry everything by yourself. Ask Taylor or Danny for help when you can't handle it yourself, kid. Otherwise you'll do something stupid from stress and paranoia."

Okay, thanks, Tony.

11.59 p.m.

Goodbye, Tony.

"Goodbye, Adam."

12.00 p.m.

I opened my eyes, but I didn't cry. I was never that much of a sentimental person, and I feel happy that Tony can move on from his death instead of being stuck as a voice. I let out a breath that I was unconsciously holding. Without the pressure of carrying another person in my head, the world seems lighter to me now.

"Oi, are you Adam Danvers?"

What?

"Rejoice, Adam Danvers!" The new, manic voice announced bombastically, "For I, Dan Kuroto! Have arrived to grant upon you my divine blessings! HAHAHAHAHA!"

As the voice continued laughing erratically in my head, all I could think of was…

What the fuck?

AN: Here comes the long awaited Arc 3. Unfortunately, I have multiple college projects coming up so I wouldn't be writing for a few weeks. I watched Edgerunners, and man is it a great show. Got me buying the game too, and I'm having a blast with it so the chances of me using a ghost from Cyberpunk is rising. Anyway hope you all have a good day.

Edit: For context of who Dan Kuroto is:

Last edited: Oct 9, 2022

3.2

8 April 2022

Hold on, did he just say Dan Kuroto?

I made a pretty loud noise from how fast I jumped out of my chair, but fortunately there was nobody around my workshop.. Why is there another dead person in my head? Is that how my power works?

Why are you here? How are you here?

"Well, I know as much about this as Stark-san does. He gave me a quick rundown on your situation here. Do not worry, though. It is nothing that I, Dan Kuroto cannot handle!" Kuroto said in his usual narcissistic voice.

Dan Kuroto can definitely do that, can he? In fact, Dan Kuroto himself is a worse threat than Scion on some humanistic level. Oh my god, a mad game developer is inside my fucking head! Will I be driven into insanity and become a second Dan Kuroto?

Deep breaths, Adam. Deep breaths. I need to calm down so that I can think through everything properly. Saying Kuroto is worse than Scion is probably an over exaggeration.

Dan Kuroto is a villain and anti-hero from Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. The entire plot of the series started because he discovered the Bugster virus, a computer virus that evolved into a virus that is capable of infecting humans and affecting reality. I'm using the term "affecting reality" lightly here, considering that Gashats made from the Bugster virus can stop time and resurrect the dead.

"Hmm. So you do know of my name after all. Let me guess, I'm a fictional character too?"

You accepted this situation faster than I did.

"I am familiar with the concept of life and death. After all, Dan Kuroto is above the concept of mortality!" Kuroto shouted on top of his lungs, and his sharp voice made me wince.

Right, you literally resurrected yourself with 99 lives after dying.

"You knowing what I can do certainly made our arrangement a lot easier." Kuroto replied in an approving tone. "Now, get to your computer! Just like Stark-san, I feel that we only have two weeks of time together as well! As my sole missionary in this world, it is your divine duty to spread the games of Dan Kuroto all around the world!"

Should I? I questioned back at Kuroto. I know what your games can do, and I don't trust you.

Dan Kuroto is… an interesting villain in the Kamen Rider series. According to the lore I read on the wiki, he was originally a good-hearted kid who showed his talents in game development. However, everything changed when he discovered the Bugster virus and accidentally infected his mother, causing her death. This causes him to lose faith in the medical world and obtain an obsession with immortality, believing that he can bring back the dead with the Bugster Virus and his games. I suppose his god superiority complex isn't unfounded, since he does have the power to manipulate life and death at his fingertips, but making Sword Art Online without the Online part and playing with other people's life certainly killed any sympathy I have for him.

Dan Kuroto is fun as a fictional villain, but not so much as a real person.

"You don't need to trust me, and I don't need to prove that I'm not evil." Kuroto replied smugly, and I can just picture his iconic smirk. "You still remember what Tony taught you, yes? More than what he taught you, in fact."

I mentally checked my memory, and took in a deep breath out of shock.

It felt like there is now a compartmentalized part in my mind, storing everything that Tony taught me in a neat and orderly manner. Energy technology, nanotechnology, illusion projection, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, law enforcement gadgets and most important of them all, his suits. Every line of code to recreate J.A.R.V.I.S, F.R.I.D.A.Y and any A.I Tony tucked away is here. Drones with weapons that Tony deemed inhumane to use and removed are here. The original blueprints for all of Tony's 85 suits are here.

Everything that Tony has taught me, and then some. The complete tech trees for Tony's technology are now stored in my head with perfect clarity.

"While I can certainly try to drive you insane with my voice, I doubt it will work." Kuroto continued speaking without paying heed to my surprise. "After all, two weeks is all we have, and I have no power over you only as a voice. However…"

Brief images of blueprints and codes flashed in my mind before I can remember them, but I recognize the designs in the blueprint.

Gashats. The tool to utilize the Bugster virus.

"In a dangerous world like this, my knowledge is what you seek the most. As a temporary phantom in your mind, a lasting legacy upon the world is what I yearn for. I am only a lonely voice, but you are the one with a hand in the real world."

The blueprints for Gashats appeared before my eyes again. Graphene microcircuitry inside the circuit slot to contain the Gashat, and a projector that will encase the user in a suit generated by the Bugster virus, granting them superhuman strength and speed.

I can make the Gamer Driver, but it's useless.

I don't know how to create a Gashat.

"I will grant you my knowledge to create Gashats, and you shall be my missionary to spread my legacy upon this world. Do we have an accord?"

I am at an impasse.

Tony's tinkertech is good, and I believe I will have enough resources to manufacture my nanosuit in the year, but will I get the chance to? Oberst Gestapo is a competent thinker that is somehow hiding from my intelligence network, not to mention that I've received intel that The Teeth is showing signs of coming back to Brockton Bay. Lung's whereabouts are still unknown, and the local Protectorate might be against me. I am surrounded by enemies. Can I live long enough before they throw a grenade into my house?

Even if I made the nanosuit, so what? The nanosuit cannot pierce Alexandria's stasis field, cannot catch up to Legend's light speed, Eidolon's bullshit, Simurgh's mindfuckery song…

Tony's technology is the pinnacle of mainstream sci-fi technology, but I need something exotic.

Like the Gashats and the Gamer Driver.

You're right. I am the one with actual power in our relationship. I replied solemnly.

"So what is your decision, may I ask?" Kuroto asked again even though he most likely knows my answer.

I accept your deal.

Dan Kuroto laughed.

It started as a small chuckle, like he was holding back his laughs, but I can feel a hint of Kuroto's insanity from it. His chuckles grew louder and louder, and eventually it was just full blown evil laughing that echoes around my mind.

"I knew it! I, Dan Kuroto will never be gone! Even in death, my legacy remains! KUHAHAHAHA!"

Alright, stop laughing already. I called out in defeat. What's the first thing we are going to tinker? The vaccine?

"Hmm…" Kuroto pondered for a moment, before replying, "No. First of all, I need to teach you how to create a game."

I frowned. We don't have time for entertainment projects. There are still villains out there in the city.

"Learning game development is a vital part of the Gashat technology." Kuroto simply replied, "And some of what I will teach you goes to creating the vaccine as well. The Bugster virus is still a computer virus born from a game engine's glitch, and we need to recreate that environment in order to get our first strain of the virus. Chop chop, open your computer! We first need to program my Genm Engine!"

I sighed in defeat. Working with Dan Kuroto gave me a queasy feeling, but the Gashat technology is too powerful to ignore. I'll have to watch my back, or in this case, my mind all the time in case Kuroto tries something.

On the bright side, I can now call myself an indie game developer. Yay?

I went to sleep at around 3 a.m.. Due to what I assume to be shard fuckery, it was surprisingly fast for me to program the Genm Engine. Granted, it was a pretty simplistic program to begin with. If I have to make a comparison, I would say it's complexity is around Unity's level, but far below Unreal Engine. Dan Kuroto's Genm Engine excels in it's flexibility as the program is designed by Kuroto to develop games of almost every genre. The Genm Engine's design philosophy is hyper focused on gameplay, something that Kuroto himself believes to be the most crucial aspect of a game, which is why the engine is mediocre in the graphics department. As long as the game is fun to play, the graphics will never matter, according to Kuroto.

Calling the Bugster technology a game changer, pun not intended, is an understatement. It might not be able to kill Scion, but I believe that it has the potential to kill Endbringers. If Kuroto can invent a Gashat with the power of actual "invincibility", what's stopping him from replicating Flechette's power? Or anything, really. The only thing limiting me is my skills and imagination, something that I am working to fix.

I kept contact with Trevor, but I'm not sure if I still want to recruit him anymore. I originally wanted to recruit him with the simple reason that his tinkertech can compensate for my lack of exotic effects and serve as a backup, but I don't need that anymore. The larger reason is that I am wary of his betrayal, since he canonically betrayed the Wards for Coil. Granted, the circumstances were against him, but I dislike having to watch my back everyday when I can avoid it.

I did a simple experiment with Newter's pee yesterday. Unfortunately, my LSD smoke bomb idea doesn't work. Newter's body fluids lose their hallucinogenic properties after leaving his body for 10 minutes regardless of any preservation method that I tried. It decomposed into normal pee a few minutes after I opened it. I still paid Newter his money, and we both agree that it's a shame we couldn't weaponise his body fluids.

"Hey, Adam!" Lisa called out as I was typing away at my computer, "We need to talk!"

I didn't stop my typing, but Kuroto hissed at her interruption.

"We were almost in the flow! IN THE FLOW! HOW DARE SHE INTERRUPTS US!" Kuroto shouted angrily. His voice was so loud that I reflexively winced.

I ignored my annoyance at Kuroto's scream and replied, "Sure, talk."

"You and Taylor need to talk with PRT and register yourself as an affiliated hero." Lisa said, though I can hear some unwillingness from her tone.

I frowned. I've been putting off talking with the PRT because of my general distrust with them, but there must be a reason Lisa is mentioning it now. "Why?"

"How much confidence do you have in dealing with The Teeth?"

"Fifty-fifty, it depends on who's being proactive and if Butcher is there." I replied honestly as Kuroto comments, "Butcher, what an overused name."

"What about the Ambassadors?" Lisa asked again.

"Ambassadors? Are they foreign villains from another country?" Kuroto asked curiously.

No.

"I don't have enough raw power to deal with him yet." My voice turned grim, "Are they showing signs of coming to Brockton?"

"Yup!" Lisa replied with gusto, "And Accord is coming for you too, I think."

"What tipped you off?" I asked. I want to at least know where Lisa gets her readings from, even if I won't remember them later.

"For starters, The Teeth have been laying low since yesterday. That means they are moving to another city, and I think it's our glorious Brockton Bay. Without the Empire and ABB, they have virtually no competition other than the heroes. The Butcher has a history with the city, and it's no coincidence they decided to move now." Lisa explained, "Accord, on the other hand, is much trickier. H.E.R.M.E.S noticed a few trucks coming into the city from Boston with modified number plates, and I tracked them back to the Ambassadors. A few companies under their control are looking for properties in Brockton Bay too, claiming that they want to expand their business now that the villains are gone."

I ran my fingers through my hair out of a sense of helplessness. My mind was already on edge dealing with an unknown group like the Bastion, and now there's two more factions coming here? My drones are good, but the only reason I can take out ABB and E88 as fast as I did is because I set it up beforehand. The same trick wouldn't work twice, especially on someone like Butcher or Accord and my intel out in public.

"You don't need the government's support. My talent alone can defeat those miserable villains."

I ignored Kuroto's shit advice. "Fine. We will meet with the Undersiders after my uncle is out of the hospital. I can't keep him out of the loop this time."

Not that it matters to me whether the government acknowledges me or not, but it's better to let Danny and the PRT have the illusion of control and drop their guard.

Kuroto snorted and said, "Ah, a pragmatist. I like working with people like you."

"Gotcha, boss. Oh, and New Wave spoke out yesterday too. Released a statement on how you're violating the rules and making things more dangerous for everyone." Lisa informed me like it was an afterthought.

Urgh, New Wave and their self-sabotaging hypocritical beliefs. Out of their family, the one cape that actually held any value is Panacea, but recruiting her is bound to be a shitshow with all the mental baggage she is carrying. We have to toe the line of pulling her out of New Wave and making sure she doesn't go to Nilbog and kill herself. Along side her guilt complex, depression, not really incestuous love, legal issues…

"How much do you know about… what was his name again?" I tried to recall his name. "Marquis. How much do you know about Marquis's arrest?"

"This is even more stupid than the Ambassadors. Marquis is just a nobility title, it doesn't mean anything."

Lisa's pupils widened as her power filled her in on what I'm planning to achieve. "Wow, didn't think you would even know about him. The guy's like fossil news now, and I only found out about him because of Panacea." A pause. "You want Panacea."

"Making Marquis's arrest incident public will throw some mud on New Wave, but it won't be enough to disband them. If my understanding of Panacea is correct, she'll stay in New Wave out of some stupid guilt and her love for Glory Girl." I continued, "To recruit her, we need to recruit Glory Girl. She needs to leave New Wave willingly with a good reason, good enough that Panacea wouldn't hesitate to follow her. A reason that will shatter everyone's perception of New Wave, including themselves. Only then can we recruit the sisters."

"You know something like that?" Lisa asked with equal curiosity and anticipation, and smiled like a cat when her power kicked in. "Lose faith in the family… wow. Not Panacea's crush, it'll probably get her booted out of the house and end there. What is that piece of blackmail we'll use?"

I smirked. I have the general outline for the plan, but I won't be able to execute it well. It is a plan that needs experience, sociability and attention, something that I am unwilling to devote into anything that's not tinkering. Lisa can compensate for that flaw of mine. She's the Thinker. I recruited her to play the planning game for me.

"Victoria Dallon's real father is Neil Pelham."

Kuroto howled his laughter when he realized the implications. "HAHAHA! A hero engaging in adultery? With their own teammate and brother-in-law no less! Oh man, this is hilarious."

Lisa blinked, her mouth opened, then closed before she said anything. "Huh. That's… huh. Should've picked it up earlier."

"We're not doing this now, but probably in the near future." I reminded Lisa. With how unstable Brockton Bay is, it's best to keep New Wave afloat before I obtain absolute control. "You can come up with a plan outline, maybe plant some seeds for now, we'll use the plan when our position in the city is more stable. Don't be afraid of your creativity, though. The hotter the gossip when we unleash it, the better."

"Okay, it's your call, boss." Lisa nodded at my suggestion. "Never liked New Wave anyway. Never thought I would actually get to do this one day."

"Revealing family drama to the news?" I asked.

"Tearing down their masks and lies." Lisa corrected. "And for justice, too!"

I shaked my head in amusement. "Of course."

In my opinion, Amy Dallon is a diamond covered by the stack of shit that is New Wave. She could have become one of the greatest heroes of humanity by making super crops or curing cancer, but New Wave held her down and turned her into a biohazard time bomb. Amy must be separated from New Wave. It is the morally and rationally correct choice.

Amy can be the key to killing Scion, or she can become the downfall of North America.

I will be prepared for both of them.

For once, I am having a dish that is familiar to me after coming to Brockton Bay.

Since Taylor wanted to sleep in her own room tonight after packing some of Danny's clothes to the hospital, I decided to cook dinner today so that I can talk with her about our future.

I choose to not use my drones to cut the ingredients for me. There was some trouble with my height and the size of my hands, but I took this as an opportunity to train my balance and start cooking in the kitchen while hovering a few inches off the floor with my repulsor boots.

The dish was pretty simple. Peel and cut some potatoes and carrots, throw them into a pot with pork bones, tomatoes, corn and onion and let it stew for a few hours. Add some salt or pepper for taste. That's it.

A classic Malaysian home cooked dish, the ABC soup.

The rice was takeaway from a restaurant, though. We didn't have a rice cooker at home, and buying a whole bag of rice just for this single meal seems wasteful.

"Hmm, it smells nice." Taylor commented as I served her bowl on the table. She originally looked at me with doubt when I said I wanted to cook, but the soup's fragrance convinced her that I can indeed cook.

"Yup." I replied as I sat down on my seat. It was just the two of us tonight, and it felt oddly quiet without Danny on the table. Maybe I'm getting used to living in the Hebert household.

We ate in silence. I wanted to let Taylor talk first so that I can assess her feelings, but it seems like she's delaying it as long as she can. We finished our dinner pretty quick, seeing that I am a preteen and Taylor was a skinny girl who didn't eat much. I mentally sigh as Taylor still remains in silence.

"We haven't talked much since the operation." I began.

"Yeah."

"Do you blame me for what happened to Uncle Danny?"

Taylor flinched when I asked that. "Why do you think so?" She asked.

"Various reasons." I replied, "I am the one who hacked Medhall, attacked Coil, provoked the Empire and failed to protect him. If there's anyone for you to blame, it's me."

"I…" Taylor paused a little, "I blamed you, a little, but not anymore."

"Huh." That surprised me. I thought Taylor would hold a grudge for what happened to Danny.

"Someone must have talked to her about it." Kuroto muttered in the back of my mind.

"Blaming you felt stupid, like I was intentionally looking for someone to blame." Taylor confessed, "You're twelve, and what happened was not in our control. You did your best to protect dad and help me. If there's anyone I should be angry at, it's the Bastion. Not you, Adam."

"Thanks. I still want to say sorry, though. I wish I could have done better." I said apologetically.

"Me too." Taylor muttered.

I'm glad that we got this out of the room. Taylor is someone that I will work with in the long term, so misunderstandings like this could easily pile up and burst out later on. Best to resolve them as soon as possible.

"Lisa got intel that some Boston villains are coming to Brockton Bay." I told Taylor. "The Teeth and the Ambassadors. You know them, right?"

"I know the Teeth. The Butcher leads them, right? Don't know much about the Ambassadors, though."

"The Ambassadors are led by Accord. Just think of him as Boston's Coil."

Taylor immediately frowned when I said that. "Accord's a "behind the scenes" mastermind too?"

"His power allows him to solve problems. The harder the problem, the faster he can solve it. He apparently made a document to solve world hunger in an afternoon, then turned to villainy."

"Why did he become a villain?"

"He is a megalomaniac trying to do "something great" to satisfy his own ego." I explained. "Accord acts like he's royalty from the medievals. He sent kill squads after people just because they pissed him off. That's the kind of villain we're talking about here. He's the type to never give up out of obsession and pettiness."

" Pathetic." Kuroto spat out as I described Accord. "He's just a roadblock on our path to greatness."

You're not all that much better than him, Kuroto.

I often wonder if Accord's power is actually useful or just self-sabotaging like most powers. Your boss ignored your proposal and your solution is to embezzle funds from the office? For a power that centers around planning, it is hilarious to forget that Accord himself works in an office specialized against financial parahuman crime. Another example of shard's conflict manipulation, and I kind of want to laugh at Accord for it. Even his modus operandi is stupid. Selling plans to organizations? That's just a blatant example of conflict promotion. He could have become a backroom politician, but he chose to become a villain mastermind instead.

The idea that Accord is a larper with OCD is funny, but it doesn't discount the threat he represents. Even with his stupid ass modus operandi, Accord ammassed a lot of political and financial power through backroom dealings, and he isn't someone I can defeat with illusions and surprise attacks.

"What do the Ambassadors do? They don't sound like your common street gang."

"More like Illuminati wannabes, really. Accord sells plans to politicians, like senators and warlords to curry favor and money. He's got a few disposable companies in Boston to launder his money, and he recruits people in high positions to join his Ambassadors. To Boston's public, Accord and his Ambassadors are peacekeepers that are slightly villainous. To most capes, however, Accord is someone you avoid at all cost or he might sell you into slavery to the CUI."

"So we expose him publicly and arrest him like what we planned with Coil?"

"I wish. Accord's tricky, since he has actual political power behind him unlike Coil. Arresting him wouldn't work either. He already escaped from prison once, he can do it again. Accord needs to die." I confessed.

Taylor blinked at my statement. Her mouth opened, but she stayed silent for a few seconds before talking again. "Hold on, you want to kill Accord?"

"Yes." I replied calmly as I took a sip of my soup.

"Why? Just because he'll escape from prison?"

"Because he will never give up. Accord has already targeted me, Taylor. He wouldn't stop until I am under his control or dead. Not even if we threw him into prison. He'll just break out and come after us as revenge for insulting him. Accord will need to die eventually. He's that big of a threat."

Taylor stared at me speechlessly. I couldn't tell what she is feeling right now. Anger? Disappointment?

"Why did you hide Coil's death, Adam?" Taylor asked.

"Because Tattletale is still useful to us. We need a Thinker to fight a Thinker, Taylor. Their superpower is literally being smart. We outsmarted ABB and the Empire this time, but do you think we can outsmart a Thinker like Accord? He worked for Watchdog before. Accord is one of the best Thinkers in the world. We can't brute force our way like we did when my name got out."

"That doesn't mean we should hide the truth, Adam!" Taylor spoke with her voice slightly louder than before, "And don't you feel bothered by it? Don't you feel guilty that Coil's dead?"

Honestly, no. But I obviously can't say that straight to Taylor's face seeing how she's reacting right now.

"She's too naive, but I'll give her a pass. She's not even old enough to ride a motorcycle yet."

Shut up.

"You saw what Coil released about us, Taylor." I argued, "How do you think he got that information? Tattletale isn't his only interrogator. For all we know, he could have tortured you in a disposable timeline! Or just firebombed your house! You can be talking to him right now, and he'll use his power to force himself on you at the same time. Don't you feel disgusted by that? Some people just have to die, Taylor. I can't bring myself to feel sorry about Coil, and Accord has done worse things than him."

Taylor ran her hand through her hair. "Okay. You hate Coil, I get it. But we promised Dad that we wouldn't kill, and we can't break that promise. And don't say that you can hide it from him. I'm done lying to Dad."

"Uncle Danny's an adult. I'm sure he will agree that Accord needs to die if he understands what he can do." I replied succinctly.

Taylor's mouth gaped, then her shoulder slumped down and she continued drinking her soup. "Maybe. I need to know what the Ambassadors are myself to judge."

"We should have some time before Accord officially announces his presence, so I'll take a trip to New York next week after I'm done tinkering some stuff."

"Huh? Why?"

"There's some interesting capes there." I replied, "One of them in particular can kill an Endbringer."

Clack.

The capacitor snaps into place on the circuit board, and I gently slot it into the Gamer Driver. I already have several blank Gashats loaded with the Bugster Virus ready, but I have one final step before I can start activating them.

"This is it. The key to powers limited only by imagination. Are you ready to accept my blessing, Adam?" Kuroto said as I prepared tonight's final session.

I stared at the surgical table in front of me. The idea that I'm going to strap myself there and let my machines open me up is nauseating and I'm already starting to regret this a little.

"Oh, don't worry. Your machine is capable enough that I trust it more than the doctors from my world, and you wouldn't be awake the entire time."

I'm still scared. You never used this procedure on anyone when you were alive.

"It's more accurate to say I did not see the need to use it on anyone. The procedure will inject a lethal amount of the virus but keep you alive. The goal is to grant complete immunity instantly by pushing your body's immune system to its limit. I never got the chance to share the idea of this procedure with the Riders at Seito, but now I get to see if my theory is sound." Kuroto explained, "I offered you the normal vaccines, but you chose this procedure instead."

I need complete immunity if I want to use Kamen Rider Chronicle, and I don't have time to cultivate my immunity. The faster I can achieve it, the better.

"Ah, well, you're the one with your hands on the wheel, as Hollywood says. If you die, that means you are an unworthy fool. If you live, though…" Kuroto chuckled, "It will make everything else so much easier. Just remember this. Pain and Willpower plays a huge part in receiving the immunity. You will sleep through the procedure, but wake up in absolute pain and no anesthetic will help you."

I know. Got anything you want to say? I asked as I climbed up and laid down on the table. Metallic cushioned cuffs extended over my waist and limbs to strap me down.

"Liquid fire isn't what I will use to describe the pain." Kuroto replies, "Bodily reconstruction is."

AN: Just to clarify, I wouldn't use most of the canon Gashats and will create OC Gashats based on parahuman powers instead. Kuroto doesn't like remaking his games when they are already perfect.

Also, here's my ringtone.

3.3

9 April 2011

The first thing I saw as I regained consciousness was the uncomfortable sensation of a bite bar in my mouth.

Then my past self from 4 hours ago decided to kick me in the nut and threw me into a sea of pain.

Pain. Pain is the only thing I can feel. I felt pain in places I never thought I could feel pain. It felt like something was about to burst out from every single of my pores, but they were plugged shut by needles painfully piercing my skin. My throat screamed as loudly as possible to vent it off, but all it did was make me feel more pain. The restraints on the surgical table which I laid upon strapped me down, otherwise I would have rolled around and thrashed everything I can get my hands on.

"So I exist only as a voice after all." Kuroto commented leisurely as I bit down on the bite bar and screamed from the bottom of my heart. "I cannot feel your pain."

The concept of time was lost to me as I remained in my world of pain. My mind subconsciously recognized that I am experiencing more than just the sensation of physical pain, synapses firing between the neurons under my skin throughout my nervous system. No, there was something foreign, something different about this pain.

"You will fail if you black out, Adam." I can barely understand Kuroto's words. "Bugster immunity is more than just gaining the antibodies. Your mind needs to defeat the virus. This is the price for absolute immunity. If I am right, you have about… 4 more hours of this to endure. I will not allow you to give up."

Coherent thoughts are hard to maintain in the beginni ng. If I focus, I can feel the pattern of the intensity of the pain on diff erent parts of my body. My heart felt like a never ending explosion, hammering in my chest at machine gun speed. If my hear t a BOOM, my sto mach a PRESSURE TANK. The PAIN kept buil ding and b uilding, suddenly skyrockets so much I almost blacked out. Fingers painful, like blender thrown at it. Limbs twisting hurts.

"Do not give into the pain. Do not accept the pain. Fight it. Fight the pain. Prove to yourself that you are worthy. Prove to yourself that you are better than the uncultured plebeians below you. I am in your head for a reason. You will live through this. Bite down and weather it!"

W O R D S

U N D E R S T A N D

P A I N

W A K E

S T A Y

A

W

A

K

E

STAY AWAKE.

P̴̼͘A̴̯͒I̷̻͛N̶̗͒P̴̝̾Ä̶̢Ỉ̷̬N̶̳̍P̶͔̈́Ä̵͜I̵͎̓N̵̨̈́P̷̩̓A̵̯̽I̶̳̒N̵̨̐G̶͔͘Ȉ̷̱V̴͍̾Ẻ̶͇Ǔ̵̬P̷̘̽P̵̭͋A̸͓̐I̶̲̐N̶͙͌P̴̻͠A̵͚͛I̴͕͌Ň̷͔D̵͕̊Ḙ̸͊À̸̪T̶͍̉Ḧ̶̙́P̷̍ͅA̷̬̚Ȉ̵͓N̴͚̾P̵͍̒A̶̛̼I̷̪͝N̶̝͆P̷̱͊À̴̗I̴͈̍N̴̞͠P̵͈͊A̴̭̓Ị̴̾N̶̰͗P̶̝͆A̷̱͌Ỉ̴̫N̵̜͂Ẹ̴͑V̸̺̂O̷̠̾L̵̹̾V̸̛̺Ë̷̗́P̶̯̐Ă̷̫I̵̬͊Ń̸̖P̴̖̆Ä̵͉́Ḯ̷̹N̸͚̈́P̷̬̓Ạ̶̏I̷̠̓N̷̗͌P̸̧͒L̴͈̾A̷͙̓Y̶̺͑P̷̣̓Ą̴͗Ï̴͍N̷̯̈W̵͙̋Ő̸̰R̷̨̋M̴̜͑P̶̜̌A̷̮͝Ḯ̷͓N̶͈̏P̵̥͐Ǎ̶͔I̵̡͘N̵̠̑P̸̞̕À̴̘Ḯ̸̹N̶̼͂P̵͔̓A̴͔̎I̷̝͒N̸͇̐G̷̤͂Ḁ̶̔Z̵̕͜È̶̯P̸̰̌A̷̢͊Ĩ̷̖N̵̲̕P̵̮͛A̴̙͌I̸̧͂N̶̰͝P̵̨͋A̸̦̕I̵̡̍N̶͈̓Ṗ̷̙A̴̰̎I̴͔͘N̷̝͝P̷̘̽A̴̫̅I̸̭͝Ń̵͜S̶̥̀T̸̫̎Ä̵͖́R̸̟̂P̴͔̍Ă̵̳I̵̳͠N̴̗̾P̷̝̀A̵̤͝Ī̵̢N̷̓͜P̷̖̊A̶̫͐I̴̼͠N̷̛͎P̷͙̅A̴͇̍I̸̠͑N̶͚̊G̷͉̎A̴̪͒T̸͈̈́É̶ͅP̴͈̈́Á̶̪I̴̼͛N̵͎̅P̵̙̎Å̷̟I̶̖̎N̵̼̿P̴̲͘A̶̻̽I̴̡͂N̵̰̐P̵̟̌À̵̱I̸͖͊N̷̡̄E̵̗̓N̵̖͋D̷̯̓P̵̪̀Ă̷̱Ĩ̴͜Ǹ̶͈P̸̈́ͅA̸͍͠Ī̶̫Ṉ̸̀P̷̤̃Á̷̦I̶̯͗Ṅ̴̼P̴̢̾A̴̠̔I̶̡̽N̶̲̿T̵̞͒I̸̩̓M̷̝̃É̸̱P̸̪̐Ä̸̺́I̶͇͛N̶͕̈P̴̗̅À̵̩I̸̥͝Ñ̴̨P̶͔̄Ą̷͝I̷̪͠N̵̼̏P̴̲͛A̴̜͗I̸̟̒N̵̩̈́P̴̲̎A̵̡̓I̶͎͐N̷͙̈́D̴͔͊U̶̦͆Á̸̙L̷͎̊P̶̬̀Ḁ̶̐I̸̳̾N̶̙͛P̸͚̈́A̷̪̓Í̴̞N̵͖̏V̸̝̇Ó̶̜Y̸̺͂A̵̽ͅǴ̶͍E̸̙̒Ṟ̶̊P̴̮̃Ȧ̶̼I̵̼͝N̷͍̽P̵̪̄A̵̳͊I̷̘̽N̴͕̐P̸̺͊A̸͖̓I̵̞͑N̶̜̎P̴̛̣A̸̠̋Ị̸͒N̸̡͗Ṕ̶̡A̷̝͘I̸̗͒Ń̵̞D̷͉́Ỉ̷͓R̷̟̉E̸̙̚C̸̙͋T̷̞̃I̷͓̚O̷̡̾N̷̫͐Ṕ̶̣A̷̰̍I̴̱̾N̴̦̾Ṕ̵̮Ä̶̘́I̴͙̍N̵͚͝P̶̧͠A̴̯̕Ỉ̷͕Ń̷͉P̷̧̈́A̷͓͂İ̵͍N̶͙͂P̴̰͑A̵͚͝I̷̪͒N̷̜̍P̶͎̎A̶̛̠I̶͕͐N̷͖͑P̵̤̆Á̶̪S̴͈͠T̶͈̈́P̵̹̈́Á̸̱I̵̲̋Ń̶̦Ṕ̴̺A̷̯̔Ḯ̷͍N̸͈͗P̷͙̚Ȧ̴̧Į̷͌N̴̲͌P̶̬̾Å̷̼I̴̹̓N̶̗̓P̵̰͠A̴̹̋I̵͖̎N̶̨̒Ṕ̷̼Å̴̯I̵̍ͅN̷̮͊P̷̖̃A̸̮̋I̵͔̕N̵̮͝Ṗ̶̪A̸͔͝Ḯ̷̬Ṅ̷̰P̴̬̚Ã̴͔I̷̛̗N̷͈̾P̷̯͗Ā̵͖I̵̥͒N̸͕̋P̷͈̕A̴̞̚Ĩ̶͖N̴̦̚P̴͚̉Ǎ̸ͅȈ̸̼Ņ̵̚P̵̦͌À̸̱Ḯ̶͎N̶̳͝P̸͉͘Ã̵̪I̴͙̽N̵̺̅P̷̩̐A̴͎͝Ḯ̸̳N̸̲͝P̵̨̓À̴̳Ĩ̸͉N̶̙̂Ṕ̴̼A̴̛͕Ỉ̸ͅN̸̤͘P̷͇̄A̷͎̍Ĩ̵̹N̴̝̒P̶̧͂A̶̡̽I̸̹͛N̷̮̋P̸̭͑A̵̲͠Ì̴̠N̴̫̋P̷̞͆A̶͓̒I̶̗͑N̸̜͗N̴̦̚É̸͎V̷͈̏E̴̜̍R̶͍̓P̶͔̑A̶̢͊I̶͙͋N̷̳͌P̴͍̀A̵͋ͅI̷͉̓N̴̦̑P̷̞̓Á̷̯Ǐ̴̞Ṉ̵͊P̶͖͒Å̷̤I̵̱̋N̵̮̄S̸̭̚I̶͓̋M̷̱̈́P̷͔͌A̴̠͑Í̶̧N̶̺̍P̵̮͗A̸̯̽Í̴̱Ñ̶͙P̷̝̌A̷̾ͅI̶̳̚N̸̬͝P̵̘̂A̷͐ͅÎ̸̥N̸͙̑P̶̭͐A̵̞͆Ì̶͈N̸̠͂P̸̗̔A̵̯̓Ǐ̸̢N̵͚͗G̶̞͛O̶͎͌A̴̧̔L̵͔̀P̸͎̌A̴͖͘İ̷̩Ṉ̶͝P̶͖̉Á̷̹Ì̵̻N̶̛̳P̵͚͊Á̶̹I̴͔͑Ń̷̟

And in that light, I find deliverance.

Torrents of the virus burst out of my body and were siphoned into a blank white Gashat slotted next to the operation table. The sheer power from my jerking body was enough to break the straps and threw me down, but I landed on my feet. My body feels good. Like I've been to a chiropractor and have my bones recalibrated. I feel like I've been living with a mask over my head my entire life.

That brief moment of absolute euphoria faded away as soon as it came.

My body moves on autopilot. I am aware of what I am going to do, but I didn't really think about it. I just moved on instinct and grabbed the Gamer Driver. I placed it around my waist and the belt automatically tightened around me as I grabbed the blank Gashat.

No, it wasn't blank anymore.

The words INSPIRA TINKER A are now emblazoned on the Gashat, along with a cute minifigure with Yu-Gi-Oh style hair grabbing a blowtorch and a test tube. Kuroto was saying something, but I paid it no attention. I raised the Gashat in front of me and pressed the activation button.

Inspira Tinker A !

A pixelated glowing effect pulsed out with me in the center and covered every surface in my room. I wasted no time and slotted it right into the driver. It let out a shout of Gashat and I pulled the lever immediately.

Gachan! Level Up!

Inspiring future! Tinker of destiny!

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The driver projected a transformation screen in front of me, which passed through my body and completed my transformation. I feel strong, stronger than when I was training in my Iron Man suit. I feel like I can destroy buildings with a single kick.

"How is it? The power of a Kamen Rider?" Kuroto asked as I returned to lucidity.

It feels… powerful. Terrifyingly powerful.

I walked towards a full body mirror and took a proper look at my Kamen Rider form. Surprisingly, I have the body of an adult after my transformation. The design looked like a usual Level 2 Gamer, with the chibi eye helmet, HP bar chest plate, shoulder pads, gloves and leg guards. What differentiated me from other Ex-Aid riders is the neon blue spandex with silver circuitry lines instead of their normal black. The helmet's design was a pair of circuit green visors above my chibi eyes, with a silver mohawk brandishing the helmet.

"Being a Kamen Rider comes with the responsibility to protect the world. Of course, you're already doing that so it wasn't much of a debate here." Kuroto said and began laughing. "HAHAHAHAHA, IT WORKED! With this breakthrough, my games will dominate the world in no time! The advent of Dan Kuroto begins! KUHAHAHAHA!"

I want to stop myself from smiling. I want to stop myself from feeling joy at this success. I really do. An unpredictable accident has just happened when I was experimenting with viruses on myself. I really, really shouldn't feel happy about this.

But underneath that helmet, I just can't stop smiling.

I knocked on the door of a modest bungalow painted in white. The house was situated in a fairly well kept neighborhood. No sign of any graffiti, no trash just flying around, the paints are not peeling and residents are walking around without worry. It looks like a cliche neighborhood from a sitcom.

A woman with brown hair opened the door for me. "Good morning, sweetie!" She greeted me. Miss Alcott probably didn't recognize me as the new cape that was on TV a few days ago. "What are you here for?"

"My name's Adam, I'm Dinah's classmate. My uncle is bringing me to the theaters today, can she join?" I pointed a thumb at the white car in front of their gate and asked innocently.

"Wait, let me ask Dinah." Miss Alcott closed the door and I waited outside for a few minutes. She eventually opened the door again with Dinah beside her.

"Adam!" She pulled me in for a hug the moment she saw me, and I politely hugged her back. "You're… it's good to see you!"

"Me too." I replied with a smile. "So you can come with us then?"

"Yup!"

"Can I have your uncle's phone number?" Miss Alcott asked, "So that I can call him if anything happened."

"Here, I'll type it into your phone."

Miss Alcott handed me her phone and I typed in a proxy number of my own. Taylor hasn't gotten around to buying a phone yet, but she promised that she will buy one eventually. I returned her phone and Miss Alcott said, "Alright, Dinah. Remember to come back before 2 o'clock, okay? Tomorrow's Sunday, but I want you to finish your school work before tonight."

"Okay, mom!"

Dinah and I walked towards the car under Miss Alcott's watchful eye. She didn't close the door until she saw us stepping into the car and closed the door, but in reality we were still standing in front of her gate, covered by my illusions.

"Sorry I couldn't call you. I was too busy until today, and I need your help again." I apologized to Dinah.

"No, it's fine." Dinah replied, "Will you go back to school? Everyone's looking for you, you know?"

I shrugged, "Probably not. Maybe I'll buy a few textbooks to educate myself, but I probably won't go back to school. Too risky."

"I understand." Dinah nodded, "I still have some friends in school, otherwise I will probably do the same."

My suit opened up to allow me inside as a drone lowered itself in front of Dinah. I have recycled some drones for quick human transport. It's essentially a thinner drone with a seat on it, and the resulting product reminds me of the hoverchairs from Wall-E. Mine have a windshield, canopy and a seat belt though. It also has weapons and optical camouflage, so a win for me.

"Cool." Dinah commented as the seatbelt automatically tied her down as she seated herself. "How fast can this thing go?"

"About as fast as a motorcycle."

"That's pretty fast. What do you need my help with?"

"I want to invite you to join my team." I offered, "As intel support. You won't go out on the streets and patrol or fight villains, just answer a few questions for us when we need it."

"Sure, I'm in."

"Just like that?"

"Well… there's a few conditions I want you to fulfill. You have drones, right?" Dinah asked sheepishly.

"I do."

"I want you to protect my parents." Dinah requested.

"Protection of close ones is always guaranteed when joining my team." I replied, "You also get a monthly salary of three thousand dollars a month."

Dinah gaped at my reply and I couldn't help but chuckle. It's hard to imagine that Dinah is one of the most important characters in Worm, due to just how much her character affected Taylor's journey. Well, I killed that in the cradle, but she is still useful to me.

It is a bit of a shame that Trevor rejected working with me, but I understand. Nameless Tinker D isn't so nameless anymore, and he never wanted to play the cops and robbers game. I diverted my drones away from his house, but promised that I can at least protect his neighborhood. We still maintained an amicable relationship and our phones are open to each other for tinker discussions.

We arrived at the Undersider's base in no time. Last I checked, my old factory is now cordoned off by the PRT. Not that they can find anything useful anyway, since none of my fabricators were bolted to the ground. While I do like how close it was to the Hebert's house, it was always meant to be a temporary retreat until I can get somewhere more strategic. It's still the same with the Undersider's factory. I have to stay low and be extra cautious when I'm looking for property since PRT is still on high alert for both me and the Pure Bastion. Most of the factory's floor area is taken up by my fabricators constantly recycling material for my drone production, but I partitioned a small room to act as my tinker lab.

As we opened the door, the scene of robotic arms toiling away assembling my drones fell into our eyes. The team mostly stays on the upper floor since the ground floor was deserted to begin with. I took off my suit and walked together with Dinah.

Dinah looked around and commented, "This looks like a normal factory."

"It kinda is." Stark tech is the closest thing to tinkertech normal mundane tech can be, even if it was altered by my power. Normal engineers will find my Stark fabricators enlightening, but still confused by components my power has deliberately hidden. Those incomprehensible portions allowed my tinkertech to perform above expected levels, sure, but Tony still grumbled about it when he was still with me.

We walked up the stairs and reached the living room, where Taylor and the Undersiders were waiting for us. I already informed them about Coil's plans regarding Dinah and the strategic value of having a precog as powerful as Dinah in our team. Brian was worried that she might hate the Undersiders for working with Coil, but I convinced him that it would be fine. He didn't argue much against it since I am the one in charge.

"Everyone, this is Dinah." I moved to her side and introduced her, "She's a precog, and she will be joining our team from today."

Dinah waved shyly as Alec waved back at her.

"Hi, My name is Taylor. I'm Adam's cousin."

"I'm Brian. I lead the Undersiders. Sorry about what Coil was going to do to you. We didn't know." Brian said and apologized.

"I'm Lisa."

"Alec here."

"Rachel." The final member of the Undersiders grunted.

I clapped my hand to get their attention. "Alright, now that we got the introductions over, I have good news and bad news to announce. Starting with the good news," I raised the Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat to my eye level. "I had a breakthrough in my tinkertech yesterday, and now I can stop time with it. Or even replicate parahuman powers."

Alec whistled, while the others looked at me with wide eyes. Except Rachel, girl still have that resting bitch face on her. Brian raised his hand, "We need more details. How does it work? Does it freeze the entire universe or just accelerate the user so fast that time looks like it stopped? What will happen to our friction? Can we breathe in stopped time? Will we be blind because light stops reflecting into our eyes?"

"He's using his brains, surprising for a street thug." Kuroto praised.

I blinked at Brian's questions, "You're asking some surprisingly smart questions."

Brian leaned back on the couch, seemingly offended at my reply. "There's always a hot debate about time powers in the cape community. Especially when we have Clockblocker in Brockton Bay."

Wow, I actually forgot about the Wards. I was so focused on Flechette and the Endbringers I forgot that Brockton Bay has a few pretty powerful Wards as well. Vista, Clockblocker…

Actually, it's just them. Shadow Stalker's not here anymore, Gallant is useful in subduecation but not much else, Aegis is a flying meatshield, Brownbeat died against Leviathan, Kid Win has yet to become Winman( "This world and its naming sense…"), and…

Yup. I should visit those two before I go to New York. Wonder what kind of Gashat I can make from their data.

"I can think of a few games for space manipulation. 3D puzzle solving, maybe? No, not good enough. There has to be more to the game." Kuroto started muttering, "Stopping the timeflow of objects he touched… dimensional lock, maybe? Must work on user perception, otherwise everything is frozen unless he's in a vacuum. Or could it be bringing it into the future, thus leaving an afterimage in the present? Fascinating…"

I was momentarily distracted by Kuroto's muttering before returning to the conversation. "You will need another tinkertech device to use this properly. It works like a game console. You plug the Gashat into the driver and run it. Once activated, you can stop time at will like it's Jojo. Everything is stopped, except you. You can breathe and see things like usual, so maybe your description of perception acceleration isn't wrong."

"Cool." Alec commented, "So what's the catch? There's no way your toy sized time stopping tinkertech doesn't have a drawback. Does it accelerate our aging or something?"

I nodded to Alec's words, "Here comes the bad news. I am now officially a biotinker, with my first bio tinkertech being viruses."

Brian just stared at me with disbelief, with Lisa and Taylor doing the same. He then proceeds to mutter a string of curses under his breath while holding his head in his hands.

"How does-" Lisa paused a little, "Is that what you used the operating table for last night?"

"You operated on yourself!?" Taylor all but shrieked. "What the fuck, Adam?"

"Typical unenlightened behavior. Shouting "it's heresy!" without understanding my, nay, OUR grand vision!" Kuroto shouted.

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" I shouted a little louder, "It's not as bad as you think. The virus is completely under my control. I just need to give myself immunization before I can use the time stop tinkertech."

"It doesn't change the fact that you made a tinkertech virus, Adam! And put it in yourself!" Taylor retorted, "What if it spreads out and infect people? Do you realize how close Brockton Bay is to Ellisburg? To Nilbog?"

Lisa walked over and grabbed my shoulder. "Please, please, please tell me you don't plan to spread it out and take the populace hostage!"

I took her hand off me. "No, I don't plan to do that. I'm not a terrorist. I have the virus well contained and the vaccine ready, so nothing will go wrong. Even if somebody was infected, the virus doesn't act with rapid lethality and I can cure them if I have time. I'm not putting a Kill Order on myself."

Lisa grabbed my face closer, "I noticed you've avoided talking about mutating their body here."

I gulped. "Only in the end stage of the disease, and it's completely reversible. I have it under control. Trust me."

"Okay, okay." Lisa raised her hand in defeat and returned to her seat. "Any of you want to take a shot at him?"

"What kind of tinkertech is this?" Brian questioned, "Like, I know Tinkers can get real exotic and shi-stuff," Brian stopped cursing halfway, "but how? How do you go from "illusion drones" to "time stopping viruses"? Can you explain it a little so I can sleep better tonight?"

"They won't understand it. You don't need to bother with them."

I still have to.

"It's originally a computer virus." I began, "It mutated into a real, biological virus and has the power to manipulate reality like a parahuman power. The virus is essentially a blank template for powers of any kind. As long as I have data, I can make it do anything."

"Like stopping time. Got it." Brian nodded and looked like he got a few years of life sucked out of him.

"So you need immunity to the virus to use your tinkertech." Taylor repeated, "That's why you operated on yourself last night."

"It's not that serious." I argued, "I just have to ensure equal distribution of equal concentration of the virus in my body while stimulating my body functions to survive the process. I didn't expose my ribcage or intestines to the air."

All the procedure really entails is injecting an equally lethal amount of the virus across my entire body and keeping me alive long enough to generate spontaneous immunity. The Bugster virus is weird like that.

"Not the point, Adam." Taylor said, "Whatever. We'll talk about this later."

I nodded. "Like I said, I can make the virus do anything if I have the data, which is why I want Taylor, Lisa and Dinah to do some testing with me. It's nothing harmful or intrusive, just regular power testing and brainwave recording."

"If you say so." Dinah agreed.

"I reserve the right to refuse your testing if I don't like what I am seeing." Lisa glared at me, with Taylor following up with, "Me too."

"Alright." I clapped my hands, "Meeting dismissed. The rest of you can do whatever you want."

Alec and Brian went back to their rooms while Rachel took her dogs out, while the girls followed me to my lab.

"By the way, Lisa. How's the new wallpaper treating you?" I asked as we walked down the rotary staircase.

"What wallpaper?" Lisa asked back in a confused tone.

"Your computer screen. I changed it to something else, remember?"

Lisa suddenly went still before clutching her head and letting out a groan. "I'm sorry, what are you talking about again?"

"No, it's nothing."

"She has yet to break the veil." Kuroto commented snidely.

Give her time. She will.

As we enter the lab, I have them seated by a makeshift bench as I prepare the power testing. Most of it is just figuring out how their brain interacts with their Corona Gemma and the connection between the shard and the host, so I would need them to exercise their power.

I took out three syringes from a mini fridge nearby. The safer version of the Bugster vaccine, perfected from Kuroto's years of experience. People no longer need to undergo a compatibility operation to use the Gashats, just two injections like a normal vaccine will be enough.

"It's the vaccine for the virus." I explained as I brought the syringes and some anesthetic in front of them, "It's like a vaccine for a mundane disease. You inject it, get a fever, inject it again a few months later and you get immunity to the virus. No side effects."

"And why do we need to inject it?" Taylor questioned, "I thought we were just here for power testing?"

"I can obtain a better result if you have the virus inside you, and I plan to create tinkertech gadgets that supplements your powers. If I'm lucky, I can make an optional upgrade for your power as a tinkertech. So roll up your sleeves. This is just like a normal vaccine injection."

Dinah rolled up the sleeves of her shirt without question while Taylor and Lisa followed hesitantly. I rubbed their shoulders with anesthetic and injected the vaccine. Quick and simple. Took some blood samples and saliva samples for good measure as well. I tell them to sit at the prepared testing sites and wear the headsets provided. The "testing sites" is actually just a table and a chair, with Taylor being the exception of having her terrarium around.

"If an injection is all it takes, why did you operate on yourself last night?" Taylor asked curiously.

"The time stopping gadget is different from the rest." I answered slowly. "Normal immunity just fights off the infection when you use the technology. Chronicle needs total immunity if you want to use the time stop function. It has something to do with the amount of virus in your body."

"You shouldn't operate on yourself like that." Taylor said as she seated herself behind the table, "I get that stopping time is amazing, but what if something went wrong? Brockton Bay might have become a quarantine zone."

"Have some faith in me, Taylor. Now, the testing." I clipped in the headset under Taylor's chin and said, "For you, it's simple. I have your new spiders and ants here. Command them to do something creative and complex in front of the camera, like knit a sweater or do an army march. Think of it as a brain exercise. I want to know how much you can multitask your bugs and how complex their orders can be."

"Alright." Taylor replied and got to work. Immediately, the spiders and ants swarmed out of the terrarium and sent goosebumps across my skin. One good thing about living with Taylor is that I will never need to worry about pests in my house. She can evict them out of my walls after all.

I walked over to Dinah's side with a folder in hand. "Your test is simpler. Just answer the question in the file. Write down the percentages and draw any images that your power supplied. Stop when your head hurts and continue when you think you're good to go. Take it slow, we have time. It's fine if you can't answer all the questions, okay?"

"Okay." Dinah nodded and grabbed my folder. I prepared three types of questions mixed randomly to measure her brainwave reaction. One is about near impossible occurrences, one is about random everyday events and another about villains and the near future. The testing will take more than a day, so it's fine if she can't finish it all before she goes home. She can always come again for testing.

"Now, Lisa." I typed away at my computer and displayed her test on her screen. "I prepared a list of random civilians. Just use your power and read whatever you can. Again, it's an exercise, so don't strain yourself."

Lisa gave me a non-committal hum and glanced at her screen. "This is too easy."

"I said this is just a regular exercise. I can prepare something more challenging next time."

"And how are you going to do that?" Lisa asked, "You're not a Thinker, and I doubt Hermes can help you with that."

"You'll see." I replied vaguely, "Your test is more than just about your power."

Splash, splash, splash.

Each of my footsteps on the sewer water created a water splash. While the Level 2 Tinker Gamer form that I am using couldn't fly, it is far superior than my Stark tech suit. Stronger, better, harder, faster. More destructive too, if I decided to use a finishing move. Most of it is because I'm recycling metal salvaged from the local scrap yard to manufacture my suits, but I hope my deal with Union Alloys will go through. Earth Bet's mundane technology was somewhat stunted due to capes and Endbringers, so I need to gather the raw materials and produce my own gold-titanium alloy instead.

Each Gashat carries a special ability, and mine is no different. Inspira Tinker A is a game about developing and researching technology to defeat the apocalypse, something that is uncomfortably relevant to reality. As a Gashat, it manifests as the ability to rapidly create temporary tinkertech mid combat or boosting my powers when I am tinkering normally. Useful, but I got this nagging feeling that my Gashat has something more to it. Creating a new Gashat from Bugster infection was near unheard of, with the feat being achievable by Kuroto himself and the main character of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Hojo Emu. Emu created Mighty Brothers XX because of his status as Patient Zero and his connection to Parado, while Kuroto created God Maximum Mighty X with his insanity. Plot armor, essentially.

Apparently I have some of it too.

"It's obvious that your "plot armor" is the one who gave you this power." Kuroto broke the silence as we traversed through the sewers. The Kamen Rider suit came with a complete internal air filter, so I can breathe without suffering the smell. The suit can keep the user alive in almost any environment barring extreme ones such as volcanoes or deep sea.

That's why I am worried. I still don't know if my shard can be trusted or not.

"Let's assume it cannot be trusted, then. Why do you remember everything? Why are you here, instead of the original Adam Danvers? Wouldn't it be more beneficial if he was here instead? A younger, more pliable mind that can be toyed around easily. He will generate more chaos, more conflict, so why you?"

I don't know. Maybe it's because I can live longer. My knowledge gave me an advantage. Maybe in the long term, I can create more conflict and suffering than the original Adam Danvers. I am not older than Adam by much and just as pliable, if not more unstable.

"So your power brought you here despite you knowing about the cycle. The only logical conclusion would be that it knows that you will never interrupt the cycle and instead perpetuate it. Good conclusion, right? You're still free, you can still make your choices, and humanity lives even without you. Maybe more will live with your involvement. Positive conclusion, moving on."

"Your power can be trusted and is on your side. It brought you here specifically because you knew the future. It chose you because you can stop the cycle and save humanity. Yet another positive conclusion, what's there to obsess over?"

We arrived at an intersection. My map shows that I should turn left. There was a blockage of trash and collapsed rubble if I went straight. Blasting them away is an option, but there's the possibility of starting a chain reaction and causing something disastrous..

Again, what if I just made things worse? Taylor, Dinah and the Undersiders avoided a lot of suffering, true, but it was that suffering that forged them into the people that saved humanity before and during Gold Morning. Now that they're not, what will happen then? Will humanity still survive Gold Morning?

"There's already someone to fill the gap." Kuroto retorted, "It's you."

You don't know that.

"You are here for a reason, Adam. Or whatever your original name is, I don't care. You're here, you have power, you are free and you are making things better. If there's one thing that CR beats into me, it's that suffering doesn't necessarily bring growth. You do not need to endure harsh trials to grow as a person. Now stop obsessing over your existence, it's annoying."

There. A manhole cover. I climbed up the ladder and gave it a gentle push, exposing myself to the surface. This point of location is the closest I can get to my destination without traveling on the surface. I took the sewers route because I want to verify the sewer mappings and familiarize myself with it. Just in case I need to use it again.

Two of my drones provided me with optical camouflage as I approached the deserted apartment complex. This is where Lung was spotted last night. Or at least, someone that has a 89% percent similarity to him in terms of body shape and partial face recognition. The man didn't bare his tattoos to the wind like usual, instead dressed like a common homeless person with the coats and cap. He was spotted entering a deserted apartment unit by my patrolling drones.

I have been hesitant to engage Lung in combat. He is the type that benefits in a contest of attrition and requires an instantaneous silver bullet to win against. Most of the time, that silver bullet means instant death before he can escalate, but my suits and drones don't have that level of lethality yet. Lung can tank bullets and explosives like it's nothing. The only good shot I have at killing Lung before Kuroto is a high intensity laser aimed exclusively at his head, roasting his Corona before he can regenerate from it.

I know Kamen Riders are powerful, so Lung will be a good opponent for the test run. I am fast enough to escape if I can't beat him.

I walked up the stairs. Some of them were inhabited by homeless people, while others were left empty. Years of disrepair can be seen clearly from the peeling paint and broken windows. The building wouldn't look out of place in a post apocalypse movie.

The door was locked, but my drones picked it open and allowed me to enter. Inside, every wall, window and ceiling were covered by aluminum foils. It must have taken a few dozen rolls of it to shield the apartment like this. Slowly, I approached the living room to search for Lung.

And then something tackled me from behind and destroyed my drones simultaneously. It didn't hurt with the suit on. The attacker tried to grab my wrist and pin me down, but I escaped their grasp and rolled over with brute force. The moment I did, the attacker disappeared into the apartment as green smoke began to cloud my vision.

Green smoke. Fog. Night and Fog, then?

I didn't track them since they were in Boston, but Pure Bastion must have called them back. Those two are highly versatile and lethal capes, perfect for an assasination like this.

"Arrogant of him to think that two people are all it takes to kill me." Kuroto laughed.

I didn't bother replying and pressed the button on the Kimewaza Slot Holder instead.

"Stage Select!"

Instead of the ruined apartment, I am now standing in a wild clearing, surrounded by the forest under a clear blue sky. Energy Items were placed around the map, though I didn't pay them much attention. The green smoke is getting thicker and thicker around me, almost obstructing my vision.

But it's useless.

"This Fog guy is stupid if he thinks mere poison smoke can penetrate a suit of my design." Kuroto commented snidely, "Installing internal air filters are the basics of designing any combat suit! ESPECIALLY A KAMEN RIDER!"

I opened my palm to let a weapon appear in my hand. It is shaped like an electric screwdriver, but large enough that I can compare the length with a sawed-off shotgun. The "drill" looks like what will happen when you strap several screwdrivers together and forcefully twist them into cone shape. The name Gashacon All-Driver rang out before I turned around to strike at the monster again.

I can feel my attack hit on something hard before the monster recoiled backwards and morphed into a lady dressed in all black. The green fog gathered beside her and condensed into a person as well.

"Who are you?" Night asked as they looked at me warily.

"Introduce yourself or ignore the question. Your choice." Kuroto said.

I opted to ignore them and get straight into the fight. In a bright open clearing like this, I can easily keep Night in my line of sight. She obviously realized this and threw a flashbang to interrupt my vision, but I leaped and struck it down with my Gashacon All-Driver then brought it down to slash at Night. I missed, but Fog tried to slow me down by condensing himself around my limbs. His efforts were for naught, since the Kamen Rider suits are so strong that they can essentially ignore any mundane restraints, much less dense air.

I ignored Fog and chased after Night. He couldn't harm me with the suit active, but it's hard to say that for certain with Night. Her strength was almost enough to reduce a clip of my health bar off me, a testament to her monstrous form's power.

Night must have realized that she was unable to stay out of my sight, so she turned around with a pistol in hand and shot at me. Admirable effort, but mundane firearms are useless against the suit. I took that opening and swung through her knees with my All-Driver while grabbing her wrist with the gun.

As I have described before, the All-Driver is essentially a drill with screwdriver heads attached to it. Night is just a normal human outside of her monstrous form, so that swing of mine just grinded through her knees and sent her calves flying away. Fuck, Night just sprayed my suit and the All-Driver with a whole lot of blood. I am surprisingly not disgusted by it. The old me would have puked from the sheer visceral scene of a woman having her knees horizontally destroyed like a piece of wood carved with a rotary machine, but I am feeling rather apathetic by it. Maybe it's because I know Night is a brainwashed Nazi who is unworthy of my effort to redeem. This test run is supposed to be a secret anyway, so both Night and Fog will need to die.

Fog reverted back into his human form and covered my eyes from behind. I can feel Night transforming, so I chose to release her from my grasp and turn around to attack Fog instead. My stab with the All-Driver hit air instead of Fog. No, I did hit Fog, but he was still in his gaseous form with his hand slowly blending in.

So he can transform partially. I don't remember that, but no time to ponder on it.

I skipped to my left but was still scratched by Night's bulldozing rush from behind. I can't fight them on the ground, Night has the advantage here, even in this bright clearing. She kept running behind me and stayed out of my sight. Only the increased reaction speed provided by the suit prevented her hits from landing on me.

Gachon!

I closed the lever and pulled out a new Gashat from my slot holder. A press of the activation button summoned the Combat Gamer from the game's screen behind me.

Jet Combat!

Night and Fog tried to attack me the moment they saw me standing still and fiddling with a Gashat, but the summoned Combat Gamer repelled them immediately by shooting streams of bullets at them. I wasted no time slotting Jet Combat into the secondary slot of my Gamer Driver and pulled the lever open, projecting a new transformation screen with Jet Combat overlapped on top of my Inspira Tinker A.

Inspiring future! Tinker of destiny! Inspira Tinker A!

I Getcha!

Buttobi! Jet! To the sky! Fly! High! Sky! Jet Comba~t!

The Combat Gamer combined onto my suit, thus granting me the ability of flight in addition to two gatling guns attached to my back. I immediately gave myself the advantage of the high ground and took off, leaving Night and Fog on the ground. I pressed the trigger and unleashed my gatling guns on them. Fog was entirely unaffected, but I did not expect Night to be literally shredded under my gunfire.

That's stronger than I thought.

"It's a gatling gun, what do you expect?"

Jet Combat wasn't this lethal in the show. I retorted.

"Against other Kamen Riders." Kuroto clarified for my confusion, "Even a normal punch from you can send a grown man to the hospital. Did you think the bullets from Jet Combat would just bounce off their skin?"

Fair enough.

To his credit, Fog didn't seem unnerved by Night's horrendous corpse. He remained in his gaseous form and tried to escape into the forest behind the clearing, despite how slow he was traveling in that state. I thought I could have shot him down when he transformed back into his human form, but I guess I was wrong.

I took out the Jet Combat Gashat, inserted it into the Kimewaza Slot Holder and pressed the button twice.

Kimewaza! Jet Critical Strike !

My gatling gun let out a torrent of red hot bulletstorm while my jetpack launched dozens of missiles at the general direction my gun is aiming. Bullets might not work against gas, but I'm sure that explosions can at least do some damage to Fog. Explosions occurred, I could feel a faint heat wave from the air, but it didn't do much other than annoy me.

I landed on the ground with grace after the explosions were done, leaving the ground burning. Slowly, I walked into the burning area to see if Fog survived this attack.

Oh, there he is. I can barely tell that he is Fog with how charred the corpse is. I kneeled down to take a closer look at him. Fog was barely breathing here.

I brought down the All-Driver and crushed his head, splattering his brain and skull all over the place. I mentally sighed as the suit got some blood on it now. It will be removed once I deactivate the suit, sure, but it's the principle of the thing.

"Well, that's about it." I muttered and returned to our original location in the apartment. Night and Fog's corpses were lying on the floor of the apartment. Should I call the PRT now or leave it to be discovered later? Hmm…

"Time will-" Kuroto suggested something, but it was interrupted by a sudden explosion that surrounded me. The explosion was powerful enough that it took two clips out of my health bar, and I calmly jumped out of the window and hovered in the air to look at the burning apartment unit. The explosion was small enough that it didn't collapse the building, but the fire is beginning to spread to other units. The homeless people that previously occupied the building ran out when they heard the explosion, and I can see them taking pictures of me with their phone.

"Who are you?" One of the homeless people shouted at me. "What's your name?"

I descended to the ground slowly as I approached the gathering crowd.

"I am a Kamen Rider." I answered, "Kamen Rider Resolute."

AN: Alright, this is my first time playing around with colors and fonts, so give me your thoughts on how well I did. Technically the first time I did a fight scene too, hope I didn't write Night and Fog as too weak. Kamen Rider is just that powerful outside of their tokusatsu verse.

Jet Combat Gashat

Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat

Edit: Fuck, SB didn't import my colors and fonts. The glitching part of the story was supposed to be very colorful, but I guess SB didn't support them. Oh well.

Last edited: Saturday at 8:40 AM

Interlude: Armsmaster

10 April 2011

He knelt down to inspect the floor. Despite being damaged by the explosion, his scanners can still analyze and pick up evidence. Even then, there are no signs of a gun fight. There are no bullet holes, no shells, no clips, nothing.

So why is Night's corpse riddled with enough bullet holes to kill twenty men?

"Armsmaster, we've done questioning the witnesses." Sergeant Vesparez called out behind him.

He stood up to face the sergeant. "Anything useful?"

"From what I gathered, nobody saw any capes enter the building." The trooper replied, "All they saw and heard is a single explosion before Resolute flew out from the room before putting out the fire with some extinguisher foam. Resolute left after that."

The PRT received numerous calls about a cape and an explosion in this apartment building last night. He wasn't on duty, so Armsmaster didn't arrive on the scene first. He was only informed of this when he woke up this morning after Miss Militia secured the scene and asked for his help in the investigation.

They found Night and Fog. More specifically, pieces of them.

The bodies are almost unrecognizable as humans. The troopers spent a few hours scouring the apartment to collect their bodies that were torn apart by the explosion. Even then, initial forensic shows that they were already dead before the explosion occurred.

Night's body showed that she was killed by machine gun fire. Not your average street handgun or assault rifle, but a heavy machine gun. Only a firearm of that caliber can tear the human body in such a brutal manner. But the weird thing is, no bullets are found anywhere in the apartment. His current assumption is that Night was either shot by tinkertech weaponry that shoots dissolving bullets or Resolute has a power similar to Miss Militia. Neither sounds particularly appealing if they can murder Night without hesitation.

Fog suffered a much worse fate. They only collected his head, hand, waist and feet. The rest were too scattered by the explosion to meaningfully collect. The only reason they are assuming this is Night and Fog is because that's what Resolute told the witnesses and Night's corpse carried the usual signs of Gesselschaft's identity erasure. Boston's PRT division warned them when Night and Fog disappeared from their radar that they might return to Brockton Bay to join the Pure Bastion.

"Only a single explosion? Nothing before that?" He asked again.

"No. I asked if they heard any signs of a fight, and a few homeless people did hear some noise coming from the room. But all of them are certain that they did not hear any sound of gunshots."

A heavy machine gun with a silencer might be possible with tinkertech, but he can confidently say this isn't the case. The bullets will carry enough power to shoot through the human body and embed itself in the wall, and the corpse did show signs of being shot through. Did the bullet disappear the moment it leaves the body? It would make sense if that's the case. Night will remain in her normal human body if you keep an eye on her. It's not hard to aim and shoot after that.

He opened up the captured images of Resolute again. A fit adult male wearing bright spandex with game themed protection gear. His first impression would be this is Uber's new costume, but they have been laying low since Nameless Tinker D was outed. Every minor villain in Brockton Bay is laying low, really. It was one thing to know that Nameless Tinker D took down the Empire instantly in their civilian identities, and it was another to know that he had camouflaged drones monitoring them the entire time.

He installed a few scanners and sensors around the PRT and the PRQ to catch the drones, but he has caught none of them so far. Coil's analysis shows that Nameless Tinker D is a paranoid and distrustful boy. He would rather initiate a lightning strike on Coil by himself than hand that intel over to the Protectorate. It's illogical that NTD didn't monitor them, and it's more likely that the drones left when they saw him installing the sensors.

He took a closer look at the rubble of the apartment wall. "The explosion was caused by explosive charges hidden inside the wall. Whoever hid it was an expert. They calculated the explosion well enough so that it will launch the wall as shrapnel but not collapse the floor."

"You think it might be Resolute who did this?"

"No. Initial analysis suggests that Resolute is a cape with a heroic tendency, otherwise he wouldn't stay back to put out the fire and talk to witnesses. Night and Fog were here, which means Pure Bastion hid the bomb. This is a trap meant to kill or heavily injure. Resolute engaged Night and Fog and possibly killed them in self defense." He replied to Sergeant Dorris.

It's obvious that Resolute is the one who killed Night and Fog. The earliest photos captured by witnesses shows that he has an orange jetpack with two gatling guns made from a material that has the outer appearance of plastic. There was room for suspicion on whether Resolute really is the murderer, as his jetpack has no visible belts despite the apparent gatling gun. He is definitely a tinker, though.

Agent Mackenzie crossed her arms. "We need to find a way to contact Resolute for questioning."

"Release a statement and questioning warrant to the public." He ordered the troopers, "Contact the forensics department. Tell them I want them to prioritize bullet trajectory and environment recovery."

"Roger that."

Assault was the last to enter the meeting room as usual, though he carried boxes of donuts and coffee cups with him this time.

"Hey, I thought I should bring some treats for everyone." Assault said in his usual relaxed tone as he distributed the donuts and coffees, "God knows we need it after everything that happened this week."

Everyone took their share and gave Assault their thanks. Weekly meetings in the Protectorate were somewhat informal. It was only to keep everyone up to speed in a big city like Brockton Bay, and he can appreciate Assault's efforts to keep everyone awake. It's harder to fall asleep when you're eating.

"Now, the first topic of the meeting today," He announced, "The collapse of Empire Eighty-Eight and Azn Bad Boys."

Calling their collapse the biggest incident of the week is an understatement. The story of how two debuting heroes single handedly toppled three villain organizations in twenty four hours is currently raging across the country. The public is questioning the PRT and Protectorate's legitimacy more than ever now. Their department is facing heavy pressure from all sides, and he knew there were discussions on replacing Brockton Bay's Protectorate roster entirely given how "incompentent" they are if two teenagers can outdo them.

Rage is the closest word he can use to describe his feelings when he hears that. Fury comes a close second, and he can add "murderous" or "blinding" in front of it too.

Of course Nameless Tinker D can capture all the villains so easily. He has no rules of engagement to follow! The Protectorate has to prioritize protecting the public and damage control in their engagement with villains, and they have to abide by the Unwritten Rules when out of costume as well. What does Nameless Tinker D do? He ignores them entirely. Yet another child arrogantly pushing the world towards collapse, thinking they can hold back the tide better than the professionals . He can capture every villain in Brockton Bay, if he wasn't held back by laws and protocols! To question his competency in this situation is frustrating and insulting.

Portraits of multiple gang members and capes without their mask are projected on the screen. "By the reports from the police department, we can see that NTD isn't just capturing mundane gang members blindly. He targeted lieutenants and members with powers. People who are in charge of managing their illegal trading, finance, recruiting and potential members who are trained to take over. Some of which are not even in the police's database."

"With this, we can deduce that NTD has a powerful Thinker supporting him, possibly Tattletale. Our current theory is that she betrayed Coil and gave NTD a copy of his information on the gangs, or that she used her power to provide him with a list of important mundane members. Another possibility is that Adam's tinker power allows him to engage in investigation with the help of his drones. With their camouflage capabilities, he can monitor the suspects all day long without alerting them."

The slideshow transitioned into a table with the villains. "Oni Lee, Krieg, Kaiser, Viktor, Hookwolf, Stormtiger and Cricket have been sentenced to the Birdcage and will be transported there next week. We will separate the transport routes and Legend will accompany us to escort the transport."

"Legend is coming with us?" Triumph asked with disbelief.

"There are a lot of eyes on this case." Miss Militia explained, "The public is focused on Brockton Bay more than ever. The media disaster will be even bigger if they break free again."

They discussed the details of the Birdcage transport a little more before moving on to the next topic. Miss Militia, Dauntless and Triumph will join the escort along with two more heroes from Boston Protectorate and Legend himself. PRT's public image will crash even harder if the villains NTD captured broke free again. It was already a stain on his file that Hookwolf escaped transport under his watch twice, but it was frustrating to learn that most of his efforts to prevent it from happening again was for naught because of Kaiser's moles. Hookwolf only broke free because the moles allowed Kaiser to prepare and ambush the Birdcage transport.

"Next topic, Adam Danvers." He said with a slight hint of disdain. "How's Mr Hebert doing?"

"He is recovering fine and expected to leave the hospital next Tuesday." Miss MIlitia reported. "Mr Hebert and his daughter are cooperative with our questioning, but they seem to be distrustful of authorities and he is hesitant to let his children join the Wards."

"Any clear reason?"

"From what I can tell, Coil shook his trust in us. He doesn't think we can keep his children safe."

Coil. That fucking sabotaging bastard again.

"Battery, how's your investigation on Adam?"

"Adam Danvers is the only child of Laura Danvers and Ryan Danvers. Both of them passed away from a car accident on the 10th of March this year. He stayed at the hospital for some time before being placed into the care of his last living relative, Daniel Hebert. Ryan is Daniel's brother from a different mother."

That was a little surprising. "Can you elaborate that last part?"

"Adam's grandfather cheated and his father is the illegitimate son. They weren't close, but Mr Hebert kept contact with his father. Adam's mother is a Norwegian immigrant who came to the United States after Leviathan's attack on Oslo."

This information sounds useful, but it might be completely useless as well. "Continue."

"Adam Danvers moved into the Hebert household on the 25th of March. He told Velocity about Taylor's bullying the very next day when she brought him to a PR Event at a local shopping mall. This is where it starts to get weird, because Adam is the one who told Velocity about Sophia's bullying at the PR event. But he shouldn't know about it at all! From Taylor's transcript, she said that she didn't even know that Adam existed until the day he moved in, but Adam claimed Taylor was his sister and acted like it in front of Velocity. He even pointed out the full names of the ringleaders despite not knowing Taylor for over two days."

"He investigated the Heberts before moving in with them, then." Dauntless deduced. "Let's say that Adam got his powers from the car accident. If he can investigate and learn the identity of every cape in the Empire, investigating his new home and three bullies in Winslow isn't that implausible."

"I have reason to believe that Adam knows that Sophia is Shadow Stalker."

"Elaborate."

"A normal kid would have reported them to the authorities." Battery pointed out, "But he didn't. He didn't report the bullies to anyone until he met Velocity. Don't you think that's weird?"

"If he already investigated the Heberts beforehand, he must have learned about Taylor's incident in January as well." Miss Militia said, "He would have realized that something is wrong with how it was sweeped under the rug despite the severity and investigated deeper. He specifically mentioned Sophia's full name to Velocity because he knew Velocity could do something about it."

"That would mean he hacked into the PRT or Protectorate's database to learn that Sophia is Shadow Stalker."

"That's a little far fetched, don't you think?" Velocity argued, "If he really did find out that Sophia is Shadow Stalker, why jump through all the hoops? Wouldn't it be much easier to send an anonymous email with the evidence to us?"

"That's assuming Adam trusts the PRT to do something with the evidence." He spoke after giving the theory some thought. "Coil's profile on him mentioned how he doesn't trust the government. With that mindset, it wouldn't be weird for him to think that his evidence will be ignored. That's why he went to a Protectorate hero directly instead."

"And we wouldn't even know if it wasn't for Coil." Triumph said grimly, "Kinda ironic the exposed mastermind exposes another mastermind for us."

"All of this is just speculation." Assault spoke, "Taylor might have confessed her bullying to Adam and he acted on it by telling a hero when he saw one. We might be overthinking here. Even if he did investigate the Heberts, so what? He acted to protect Taylor from her bullies and exposed Sophia for us! It's a win-win!"

"It's the potential ramifications of this theory that we need to be wary of." He explained to Assault, "Listen. Do not underestimate Adam Danvers because of his age. What he has in his arsenal is a legion of mass produced, highly coordinated and invisible drones. The damage and human loss he can cause with his drones is near unfathomable, and right now that power is either being manipulated by Tattletale, or a child smart enough to investigate and ambush 10 villains by himself. I repeat, do not underestimate Adam Danvers."

He took a deep breath to calm his emotions. He is the only Tinker in Protectorate ENE, thus only he alone understands the level of coordination and firepower it takes to replicate Adam's feat remotely and simultaneously. He already had a discussion with Dragon, and she confided that not even her drones have this level of coordination and subtlety. And this is Adam not long after his trigger! He didn't achieve it after years of experimentation and experience, he did it as his debut.

Adam Danvers is twelve years old, but he has already achieved more than most veteran heroes in twenty four hours. Luck might be a part of it, but he refuses to be surpassed by a brat drunk with power. He has to do something.

"We are raising his ratings from Tinker 1, Thinker 3 to Tinker 7, Thinker 5 for the potential threat he represents. Do you have anything to add, Battery?"

Battery shaked her head, "Not much, other than Adam wants to be homeschooled. It's a common occurrence among younger Tinkers."

Tinkers and Thinkers who were fresh after their trigger, especially those at Adam's age will have the illusion that their power will provide them professional knowledge that surpasses what the school can teach and thinks they do not need the education. Wrong, of course. Yet another sign of the kid being way over his head. Arrogant.

"What about Taylor Hebert?" He asked. For someone being Nameless TInker D's partner, he didn't pay her much mind. A tinker with a potential army occupied his mind more than a master controlling insects.

"Taylor Hebert, Age fifteen, daughter of Daniel Hebert and Annette Hebert. Her mother passed away two years ago." Battery listed, "She studied at Winslow High School and was the victim of Sophia's bullying campaign for two years. On January 3, she was locked into a locker filled with rotting tampons and other trash from the washroom, leading to her being hospitalized. We assume that this is her trigger event."

"Fuuuck…" Assault swore with a disgusted face, "Rotting tampons? What the fuck was Sophia doing in Winslow?"

The other heroes were similarly disgusted by Sophia's actions, even him. What she did was close to biological terrorism with the locker, and the fact that she almost got away with it was as infuriating as it is eye-opening. How many incidents like this are being swept away everyday? How many sociopaths and criminals are hidden among their Wards? With Sophia, Adam has exposed an internal issue none of them had even considered. Malicious compliance and incompetence to such a degree that innocent people were hurt for absolutely nothing.

"She was transferred to Arcadia along with Sophia's other victims this March. According to the Wards, Taylor is a polite but introverted person, possibly because of her history with bullying. Her academic performance was unknown, as Sophia has sabotaged it by stealing her homework and ruining her projects. She was cooperative with our questioning after Mr Hebert's injury, but she refused to reveal Adam's location as per his request."

Images and clips taken from various phones about a cape with a huge swarm of insects behind her were shown on the screen. "While she refused to divulge to us the details about her power, she admitted that it was insect control. We do not know if she needs preparation beforehand to use her power or if there is an upper limit to the number of insects she can control. She is supplied with tinkertech equipment and power armor by Adam. That's all I have for now."

"I'll ask Aegis to keep a closer eye on her later, if she ever returns to school." He decided, "Glory Girl will definitely approach her proactively, so have Gallant tag along as well. How are the Wards reacting to this?"

Miss Militia took over the conversation. "They were mostly sympathetic, Gallant and Aegis in particular felt guilty because they didn't realize Sophia's negative behavior the entire time. I believe they will be willing to accept Taylor into the Wards if she joins. Initial observation shows that she's a much friendlier person than Sophia."

Not a high bar to surpass, but he'll take it. "Is she receptive to joining the Wards?"

Miss Militia shook her head. "Most likely not. I'm not sure who influenced who, but Taylor holds a distrust of PRT as well. This is even with the fact that she doesn't know who Sophia is. If she learned about it, I'm afraid she might object to joining the Wards even more."

He gave the topic some consideration before replying, "Don't mention Shadow Stalker to her for now. Only divulge the truth once she entered the Wards."

"Isn't that… deceptive?" Dauntless voiced his opinions.

"We're following protocols. She's not authorized to know about Sophia's incident until she is an official Ward."

"I see." Dauntless replied and stayed silent. He wonders if the man is even qualified for leadership roles if he couldn't think of something like that.

"Wouldn't Adam tell Taylor about Sophia if she decided to join the Wards?" Velocity pointed out, "If he really knows it's her, I mean."

"She might still join the Wards even if she found out. If she refuses to join the Wards, we'll treat it as a failed recruitment and move on." He concluded. "Is there anything you want to add about Taylor, Battery?"

"No, sir. I'm done."

"Alright. The PRT and Protectorate's response towards Pure Bastion will be…"

They spent the rest of the meeting discussing Pure Bastion and Night and Fog's death. There wasn't much that they could do against Pure Bastion, as there was no presence of them in the city at all after releasing that video. That was probably because they were wary of Adam's drone network and thinker support, but it made investigating them harder. They were still waiting for the Meisters to supply them with intel about the new villains, but Dragon has assisted him in his personal research. Their deduction is that the team was put together to assassinate Lung, with no way of verifying it as Lung has disappeared after ABB's dissolvement as well. There were debates on whether he left Brockton Bay or someone else got him in, but nothing concrete was made.

"Meetings dismissed, I'll be in my lab if you need me." He concluded and left the meeting room.

Entering his lab, he stood in his equipment station and had various mechanical arms take off his armor segment by segment. Wearing only his bodysuit, he sat at his desk and began his daily tinkering. A buzz on the screen signaled him that Dragon was connected.

"How's the situation in Quebec?" He asked.

"Mindmaster and Hypnos escaped. The Guild couldn't find them." She replied with frustration clear in her voice.

"Shame." The Heartbroken escaped again. Heartbreaker is one of the Guild's biggest targets. They have struggled with the issue of capturing him without endangering his victims. It was made even more troublesome as some of his concubines were capes themselves, and all of his children triggered with Master powers.

"I've analyzed the footage of NTD's drones you sent me. I believe the optical camouflage is projection based. It is projecting the illusion on a generated magnetic field. If I am right, this means optical camouflage is the least the drones can do. They can project anything they want, as long as their illusion design is realistic enough to trick people.

So the drones are projecting the light ray on a magnetic field to serve as their screen? A magnetic pulse generator might be able to disrupt it then. Disabling their optical illusion is certainly better than blindly relying on his sensors to detect the drones.

"Good. I'll come up with a countermeasure later. I think Leet tried something similar before, I'll see if we have it in our evidence storage."

"Sure, Colin." Dragon replied. Her eyes turned to look at something else, before asking, "Do you need one of my suits standing by in Brockton Bay?"

He stopped his hands to consider her offer. "Do you think Brockton Bay needs it?"

"As bad as ABB and the Empire is, the Teeth and Accord are worse. ABB and the Empire were for profit, but the Teeth are insane and Accord isn't someone you can handle with brute force. If any of them clash with Pure Bastion, I'm afraid that Protectorate ENE might not be able to handle it alone."

"It's all Nameless TInker D's fault." He grumbled, "He shattered the precarious balance in Brockton Bay and now we have to clean it up for him. I doubt he can stay alive for long if any of them decided to gun for him first. I'll tell Piggot you're stationing a suit on the PRQ."

"I'm sure he will approach the PRT soon." Dragon consoled, "He was outed and his guardian is in the hospital. If he is smart enough to find out about Coil, he will know the importance of working with the PRT regardless of his distrust."

"Let's hope so." He replied, "The first new cape in the city already killed Night and Fog. We need to prepare for the coming war."

There will be a war. Pure Bastion, the Teeth and Accord all have potential for mass destruction, and that's not even accounting the influx of new independent capes, both villain and hero. Brockton Bay is in for a bloodbath.

He needs to be better. He needs to be stronger. He needs to be faster. He's not going to let a twelve years old brat do better than him.

He will not.

Last edited: Mar 2, 2023

3.4

10 April 2011

Danny looked at me in disappointment as he sat on the hospital bed, and I couldn't look him in the eye out of reflex from my previous life. I just filled my mouth by eating apples.

"You really, really couldn't save them?" He asked again.

"Yeah." I answered honestly. "I didn't even know there were bombs inside the walls. You can't blame me for not stopping their suicide attack."

"Their lives are meaningless anyway. Sparing them will only cause us greater headaches later." Kuroto commented.

I reported my night out to search for Lung that ended in Night and Fog dead to Danny and Taylor, but I changed a little of what happened in the handed report. Instead of dragging them into a Game Area, I defeated them in the apartment and they chose to take me down with hidden explosive charges. Didn't work, they died, problem solved. I didn't kill anybody.

"I thought your drones have a lot of scanners and stuff." Danny questioned, "How did the bombs hide from them?"

"I did not install X-rays on my drones, Uncle Danny. C4 charges don't have an abnormal temperature emission, nor does it emit any radiation when it is inactive. And they sealed the entire apartment to disrupt my sensors."

"Oh. Okay." Danny nodded, and then asked, "Are you alright, Adam?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Danny."

"You don't feel… sad? Scared? Disgusted?"

"At seeing dead people?" I raised my eyebrow at that. "No, not really. It's hard to see Night and Fog as people when you know what they have done for Gesellschaft."

"You don't feel anything at all?" Danny asked again.

"Well… not much." I shrugged.

Maybe it's because of Tony and Kuroto's combined experience with death, but I didn't feel much when I saw Night and Fog's corpse. It's objectively disgusting, and I wouldn't want to look at it, but I don't feel queasy looking at flesh and blood anymore.

Plus like I said, Night and Fog are monsters in human skin. It's a guilt free kill.

"Maybe we really should get a therapist."

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Okay. That's it, I'm done for the day." Lisa announced as she took off her headset. I glanced at the clock. She has been exercising her power for two hours, taking breaks when it was too painful.

"Alright, I bought us some pastries in the fridge."

"From Randy's Bakery?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Their donuts suck." Lisa answered as she went upstairs.

I had Brian and Rachel join the power testing too. They refused to take the vaccine, but that's fine. Rachel was riding on her monster dogs to run on a treadmill I built to fit their size. Both Rachel and her dogs have a sensor strap on their neck to measure their body condition, with several external sensors aimed at them so that I can study the biology of her monster dogs.

Brian was steadily releasing his mist into the middle of my sensor arrays. I tried to collect the mist, but it disappeared immediately as soon as it lost contact with Brian.

Taylor's multitasking is getting better. She has her spiders knit a suit on her left, her ants and hornets performing more and more complex animations in front and scorpions and centipedes forming a bridge on her left. The way her brain interacts with her power is fascinating. Her frontal lobe has lower activity than I expected, but her Corona Gemma was highly active all the time, even when she was sleeping. I have yet to let Taylor test her power in an environment completely isolated from bugs, so I'm not sure how her Corona will react.

"I'm going to end today's session here." Dinah took off her headset and rubbed her temples. She put on her glasses that I made her instead. Something that other fanfics inspired me. The glasses have a pair of earpieces that will block speech of normal volume from her ears, but her glasses will detect and show what people are telling her instead. She can avoid accidentally using her power this way.

"Almost done, almost done…" I hummed as I typed away at my keyboard at almost blurring speeds. Tinkering while transformed into Tinker Gamer Level 2 boosted my speed and efficiency a lot. I'm doing days worth of work in just hours. I might be able to create the new Gashats sooner than I thought.

"Adam, how long have you been wearing that thing?" Taylor called out from her test station. Her bugs did not stop following her commands, so she clearly wasn't distracted.

"Since I got back from visiting Uncle Danny."

"Wouldn't you feel… uncomfortable?" Taylor asked, "Like, your limbs just grew longer and your body is bigger. Don't you feel a little uncoordinated?"

"Not really." My adult body in Tinker Gamer Level 2 was much closer to my original body in my old world than Adam's twelve years old body. If anything, I'm actually more uncoordinated when I'm not transformed.

"Is the suit hot? Or suffocating? I heard some capes complain about that with their costumes." Brian was the one asking the questions this time.

"No. It's a battle suit, so it's pretty comfortable inside." I answered, "Suffocated by your own mask sounds like a tragic comedy."

"Well, I've heard of it happening before."

"Darwin Award winners, I guess."

"Stupid people will eventually solve themselves." Kuroto agreed, "Unfortunately, they usually drag down people who are better than them in the process. Or people have to clean up their messes."

The colors on the soldier's design should match Taylor's color scheme, but blue and white is too bright to be a realistic military design. Navy camo texture, maybe? No, Taylor will be fighting in urban or forest environments most of the time. Reduce the majority of blue and replace it with gray.

"Her multitasking capabilities are terrific. Shame it was applied on bugs instead of something more… aggressive."

Dinah's power is fragmented. I know her power was a shard from Scion's Path to Victory, but It wasn't much data to work with. I need more samples or test subjects with precognition powers to come up with a better precognition countermeasure.

"Truly unfortunate. Precognition is a wonderfully useful power, but those that are worth researching are far and few."

Lisa's power was easier to work with, since it was based entirely on her own perception. All I had to do was reverse engineer the algorithm her shard was using to collect data and assume conclusions. The reason Lisa's head hurt so much is because her power is indirectly using her brain as the hardware to run those algorithms. Human brains just weren't built for it, so Lisa had to suffer from headaches as a warning sign to stop using her power. It's like how computers automatically shut down when their internal temperature reached one hundred celsius to prevent fire. I am almost done injecting the algorithm into a Gashat, but it doesn't have enough offensive power. I need something more.

"A truth or lie detector with a reward gimmick. Perfect for a detective game and highly compatible with the data."

I should come up with some Gashats of my own. I couldn't rely on you and the data collected from parahumans forever.

"While it is nice that you wish to do better, I'm afraid it's not that simple." Kuroto lamented, "While what happened with Stark's knowledge may happen to me, I doubt it can fully recreate my unparalleled talent. Gashats are not powerful because of the Bugster virus, Adam. Gashats are powerful because I am the one who made them. You best remember that."

You got any unused ideas? Unfinished games or Gashats in your life that might be useful?

"…" Kuroto stayed silent in thought before replying, "There is one. It was supposed to be my counterpart to Hyper Muteki, but I never finished it due to various reasons."

Your lack of a complete immunity?

"Time." Kuroto corrected, "Higher level of the antibody allows the Gashat to unleash higher levels of power, but it also requires more time and effort for development. Hyper Muteki was specifically tailored for Hojo Emu and his complete immunity, so I need to find a way to reduce the requirement and fit it to myself at the same time."

"Now, though… with your Tinker Gamer, new data from parahumans and my previous experience, I-no, we can create something better. Something that surpasses Hyper Muteki. If we can fit it into our schedule."

I doubt the local Protectorate will allow me to test with the Wards. New York, though… there's someone crucial that we need to meet. Her power's too important to ignore.

"I believe we will have enough time." Kuroto said, "With Inspira Tinker A, we can rush the production of its sequel with time to spare and no loss in quality."

13 April 2011

"Are we good to go?" I asked Danny.

"Yup." Danny replied as he closed his baggage and lifted it off the bed.

We left the hospital and returned to the Hebert's household. I repurposed a Legion drone to serve as a housemaid, so the house was relatively clean even if nobody did the housework. We spent some time in the house before I took Danny to my factory.

H.E.R.M.E.S automatically unlocked the door as the cameras detected my approach. I opened the door and let Danny in.

Danny looked at my production line and said, "Wow, you… really have a small factory here."

I nodded proudly. In the beginning, I had my fabricator create a new, more advanced fabricator while recycling the old one. The current version of the fabricator is the sixth and best version Tony and I designed with our available resources.

"Is all of it automated?"

"Yeah." I answered, "I have a smart system controlling and monitoring the entire factory, so it can work 24/7. Things slowed down recently, though. I'm more focused on improving my available drones now."

"Which company did you order your alloys from?"

"It used to be East Sea Management, but I'm writing a new contract with Union Alloys recently to get more titanium. Most rare metals are recycled from cars and electronics in the scrapyard."

"I see."

"Upstairs are where the Undersiders live, but I can't tell you their names." I pointed upwards and told Danny, "Taylor and I can live with our names outed, but they would prefer to keep their privacy when they can."

"I understand." Danny nodded.

Taylor and the Undersiders stepped downstairs a few minutes later, all dressed in their new costumes that I manufactured as part of their rebranding. I didn't deviate from their original design, instead choosing to improve on it. Grue still looks like a motorcycle punk wearing a skull helmet, but the extra glowing circuits and white pads made him look less like a villain and more like an anti-hero. Regent's fancy costume didn't require much redesign other than making it bulletproof, and I figured that all Bitch really needs is a bulletproof jacket and a shepherd dog mask that allows her to track her dogs and communicate with the team. I will definitely improve their costumes more as time goes on, but I was too preoccupied with Bugster technology recently.

Taylor wore her spider silk suit instead of the Weaver suit. According to her, the Weaver suit was an overkill against normal thugs and should be kept as a trump card against villains. Danny argued against it a bit, but eventually relented. Personally, I am glad that Taylor isn't relying on the suit like a crutch. I wouldn't want her to over rely on my suit and die if she lost access to it.

"Dad!"

"Taylor!" Danny gave her a hug and talked to the Undersiders. "You guys are the Undersiders, right? Thanks for helping my kids."

Grue nodded. "We're happy to help. Are we going to PRT right now, Adam?"

"Yes. We're registering ourselves as independent heroes for more legitimacy. Tattletale and I will remain on base and attend the meeting with body double drones."

On my command, a Legion drone stepped forward and disguised as me with an illusion.

Danny asked, "You're not going there by yourself?"

I shook my head, "No. Tattletale and I don't feel comfortable stepping into the PRT building. Besides, the drones can serve as shields if anything goes wrong."

"Alright." Danny nodded.

I clapped my hand to announce their departure. "Let's go."

We entered the building, talked with the receptionist and was told to wait for the Protectorate in a meeting room.

"Cheap negotiation tactic. They want to show their superiority by making us wait for them." Tattletale whispered to Taylor, who showed no visible reaction with her mask covering her entire face..

As the door opened, my glasses identified and tagged the people that entered the room. Rennick, Aegis, Gallant and Armsmaster. Hmm, interesting choices here. Maybe fanon indoctrinated me into expecting Miss Militia for situations like these. My scan is also picking up some interesting results from Armsmaster's suit, too. A lot of micro and macro components work in conjunction to achieve a greater output than the sum of equal components.

"Thank you for meeting us today." Danny spoke first as everyone was seated. "My daughter and her friends would like to register with PRT to form a new independent hero team."

Lisa and I discussed how to proceed with the meeting this morning. I suggested that Danny should be shown as a responsible adult being in control so that PRT would be less tempted to fight against us, but Lisa pointed out that PRT wouldn't give a shit about Danny and hyperfocus on me. I still wanted to give Danny the illusion of control, though. More freedom and less restriction that way.

"PRT will always welcome and accept new heroes." Rennick replied, "But we have several matters we need to discuss with you before we can register your team."

Aegis spoke, "In regards to the Undersiders abandoning villainy, they would need to enter the Wards as probationary members and serve their sentence for their crimes before we can accept their registration as independent heroes."

"No." Grue refused, "We're not joining the Wards."

"The Undersiders only engaged in minor crimes before this, but they are still crimes." Aegis said, "The law demands that villains serve their probationary sentence before they can reform as heroes, otherwise any villain can just escape their punishment by saying they want to be heroes."

"But the Undersiders are not your usual villains." Danny argued, "They became villains because of Coil. Coil, who is an employee of the PRT. Your own organization directly caused them to enter villainy, and now you want to punish them for it? That's ridiculous."

"They won't receive prison time and only serve as probationary members." Rennick pointed out, "And even if we do not punish the Undersiders for their service under Coil, there are still two members in the group that are known murderers before they joined the group. Serving as probationary Wards ensure that they are fit to be heroes and will not abuse their power."

"Both cases of the murderer you are speaking about do not stand." Tattletale said, "One is the cause and victim of a trigger event, and the other was forced to commit the murder by their abusive household. Neither was intentional or malicious. We can restart their investigations and your case wouldn't stand in court."

" If you have sufficient evidence to restart the investigation." Rennick emphasized the 'if', "And evidence collected by Thinker powers are not valid in court without mundane investigation backing them up."

"They are so obviously evil I don't even know how to comment on that." Kuroto joked when he heard that.

"You really think I wouldn't prepare for that?" Tattletale asked rhetorically, "I had the evidence prepared for a long time just in case this happens."

Aegis stayed silent and Rennick kept his poker face. It was Armsmaster that spoke this time.

"Entering the Wards doesn't just serve as punishment. It is also for your own protection." He explained, "After Adam's public and aggressive action, there is a power vacuum in the city. New villains will enter the city in the vacuum and you will be a hot target for them to make a name for themselves. If you become a Ward, the PRT and Protectorate can protect you from the villains."

What's left unsaid is that having successful heroes joining the Wards will certainly give them some much needed positive public image.

"I'm sorry, but we value our independence over your protection." Grue replied.

Armsmaster shook his head. "You don't understand. Adam and Taylor are outed, and they will need to focus their effort to protect themselves. Adam broke the Unwritten Rules in its entirety when he attacked members of Empire Eighty-Eight in their civilian identities in broad daylight. Every villain will take that as a signal to stop holding back against him. Working with Adam will become very dangerous in the future."

"Adam's identity was outed because of your own negligence in the first place." Danny retorted, "Now you want him to work for you as 'protection'? No. I don't accept it, and neither does Adam. Me and my company were harmed because of you, and I don't feel safe trusting my children to you now."

"The PRT is working our best to root out our internal corruption, but we still wish for the best for your children." Rennick said, "The Wards are a government program protected by the Protectorate, and becoming a Ward can deter villains from trying anything extreme since it would mean facing the entire Protectorate or even the Triumvirate. Staying independent essentially means all bets are off for both you and the villain and it might cause more casualties should you fight. Please, understand this."

Danny turned to look at me and I took that as my cue to speak. "I don't want to join the Wards."

Taylor shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we would like to stay independent."

"Okay." Rennick nodded. "The PRT can accept that the your team to register as independent heroes, but our condition is that you abstain from any and all illegal activities, otherwise we will categorize all of you as villains again and detain you."

"We can accept that condition." Grue nodded.

"Aegis and Gallant will take you to the registration after this meeting." Rennick said, "The next issue we would like to discuss is regarding Adam's tinkertech. Namely, the drones he used to dismantle Empire Eighty-Eight and Azn Bad Boys."

"The PRT would like you to explain the capabilities of your tinkertech so we can plan our operations with them accordingly." Armsmaster said, "How many drones have you created?"

"Ten." I lied, "They have decent optical camouflage, and can only operate within the city." Because I don't have my own satellites in orbit like Tony does. "The drones are armed with concussive blasters, flamethrowers and tasers to support Taylor in taking down villains."

"You're lying." Armsmaster immediately replied.

I hid my frown. Can Armsmaster's lie detector work through my projected self? I especially removed all micro expressions in the illusion to counter Tattletale's power though. Can his tinkertech even work with that?

"He's bluffing." Lisa said to me in the factory, where I was controlling my drones. "He thinks you have more drones, but he doesn't have the evidence for it. You can argue that your drones move fast enough to zip around the city and take down the Empire capes that way."

"Thanks." I said to Lisa, and back to the PRT meeting room I said, "What do you mean?"

"Not only did you capture 10 villains simultaneously, you destroyed over 30 weapons and drug depots as well as captured 40 gang lieutenants simultaneously. 10 drones cannot do that."

"Taylor captured most of the lieutenants." I explained, "And my drones are really fast."

"How fast are your drones?"

"Around 50 kilometers per hour, I think." Stark drones can fly way faster with the anti-gravity tech he studied from Chitauri remains, but I'm not going to tell Armsmaster that.

"I see." Armsmaster replied curtly and asked, "How do you coordinate your drones? Manually or with an algorithm?

"With an algorithm of preprogrammed responses." Caveman's explanation of artificial intelligence, I guess?

"How did you obtain information on the gang members?"

"Tattletale provided it to me." I answered. H.E.R.M.E.S is nothing like Dragon or the Machine Army, but I want to keep it hidden as my trump card. The less everyone knows about me, the better.

"Have you discovered your tinker specialty yet?"

"No."

"How would you describe your tinkertech?"

"They are barely tinkertech, it's more accurate to call them advanced mundane technology that we can achieve in a few decades."

"I see." Armsmaster replied, "Thank you for answering my questions. The PRT provides affiliated tinkers with a monthly budget as long as they follow specific protocols. You can also consult with available affiliated tinkers across the country."

"Thank you." No need to turn down free money at this point.

Taylor and Danny discussed a few more topics with the PRT, but ultimately it's about the rules of engagement and protocols to follow as independent heroes that I didn't pay much mind to. The team went back to the factory in vans as Lisa and I turned off our connection to the body doubles.

"Finally… it is done." Kuroto let out as I took out the Gashats that were slotted into computer ports.

Bang Bang Tactical and Tales of Detective Tattles. Two new Gashats that I have made with the data collected from Taylor and Lisa. The data I collected from Dinah is enough for me to make a new Gashat, but I need more time to complete it. It might not even be a new Gashat, to be honest. I might make a brand new strain of the Bugster virus with it.

How long until I can start using higher level Gashats? I asked Kuroto.

"If you maintain regular or constant usage, two weeks at best." Kuroto answered. "You can either take time to let your body adjust to the Bugster virus, or take the fast route and repeatedly use high level Gashats until you adapt to it. It will be very painful, I might add. You should start with Drago Knight Z first."

What if I go berserk? Nothing in the city can stop me.

"You can install a killswitch in the driver." I can feel Kuroto shrug, "I didn't install one because I didn't care."

I let out a deep breath and undo my transformation as I left the table. The data collected from the Undersiders might be worth something, but Kuroto and I haven't planned anything with them yet. Grue's second trigger gave him constructs that can travel in his shadows, right? I'm not sure, but whatever. Even if it isn't, the Gashats will make it work.

I heard a knock on my door. "Come in." I called out.

Lisa entered my lab with a folder in hand. She opened the folder and slapped a picture on my table.

"What is this?" She asked coldly, barely hiding her anger.

The picture is the wallpaper I set up on Lisa's computer. It was a simple wallpaper with white backgrounds and four words written in bold black.

Aliens Parasite
Powers
Cycle

"Finally. I was wondering if you misjudged her potential." Kuroto shouted in excitement.

"What did your power tell you?" I asked.

"You knew." Lisa narrowed her eyes and hissed, "You knew exactly what this will do to me."

I nodded, "I assume it wipes your memory whenever you learn something about it?"

"Wiped-" Lisa threw her hands up, "I almost had a stroke this morning! Do you know how much sleep I lost because of this shit? What the fuck, Adam?"

"I needed you to discover the truth by yourself." I explained, "Your power will interfere if I tried to tell you directly. I need to tell you the whole truth if we want to continue working together."

Ever since she and I met, we have been dancing around this issue. The good thing about talking to smart people is that you don't really need to talk much at all unless it's about explicit details. She knows that I kept secrets that she would seek. She knows that I know it's tiring to keep it from her. She knows that I will tell her eventually. I know that she knows I know.

"Okay, explain away!" Lisa pulled a chair over and sat down, "What are you hiding from Taylor and everyone else? What secret is so big that I need to discover it with absolute pain and memory wiping?"

"First of all, calm down." I said, "When did you realize about the wallpaper?"

"This evening." She answered, "I took a glance on my computer and realized I built a resistance to fucking memory wiping. Surprise of the day, people!"

"What did you discover from the four words?"

"It's pretty easy to put them together once I can remember them." Lisa said lightly, "Aliens gave us powers by attaching parasites to us. They're using us as lab rats, and this isn't the first time the aliens have done this rodeo."

"You got the general gist down." I nodded. "Do you want to know the full story behind this alien invasion first or how I know of this alien invasion first?"

Lisa rubbed her chin and said, "Your personal secrets."

"Are you familiar with the theory that for every work of fiction, there's a multiverse out there that's exactly what's happening?"

Lisa took a second to process my words with her power and deadpanned, "You're shitting me."

I shaked my head. "No, I'm absolutely being serious and truthful here. I need you to not have an existential crisis."

"Okay, okay." Lisa replied slowly and deadpanned, "Nope. FUCK!" She slammed her fist on my table.

She took a few more deep breaths to calm herself down, but it clearly wasn't working with how tight she was gripping her fist.

"How much do you know about me?" She asked.

"Your family, trigger event, personality and motives." I answered, "As well as future achievements that probably aren't valid anymore."

Lisa patted her chest and let out one final puff of air. "And how are you aware of this? Why are you aware of this? I thought our powers would wipe our memory if we found out?"

"My assumption is that this is something my power did to me. My current consciousness isn't actually Adam Danvers. I'm actually someone else from the universe where Earth Bet is fiction. My best guess is that something went wrong during Adam's trigger and I got pulled for whatever reasons. I don't know."

"Fuck. You're one of those cringey self-inserts, aren't you? Goddamn, you must be living your dream here."

"If you are a self-insert, whoever is writing you is surely a big fan of mine to put me into this position."

Shut up.

"Contrary to popular belief, I am not enjoying life here." I denied. "Hard to be happy when I'm thrown into a death world with villains and monsters regularly terrorizing people. And I lost contact with everyone I know and got stuck inside a twelve year old."

Lisa narrowed her eyes. "Actually, do you mind explaining your power? I know it's different from a usual Tinker power, but I wouldn't mind actual details seeing that you're confessing everything now."

I nodded. "I have a ghost of an inventor from a work of fiction inside my head teaching me to build their tech. I doubt you will find any of them even if I gave you their names, since their works exist in a world without capes."

"And your power regularly cycles out ghosts, like how Eidolon switches his powers? Illusion tech, drones and power armor is from your first ghost, so the Bugster virus is from your second ghost?" Lisa rubbed her chin and asked, "Actually, who is he? A mad scientist or a game programmer? I'm kind of curious who can come up with a virus that manipulates reality with video games of all things."

"CEO, genius game programmer and psycho with a god complex."

"It's not a complex! For I have indeed achieved godhood!" Kuroto argued.

"Should I be worried about you going insane?" Lisa asked, "Like, is there some sort of soul fusion or mental pollution?"

I shaked my head. "Not as far as I know."

"So there's a real chance of that happening then. Not many know everything about their own power, and I doubt you do." Lisa leaned back in her chair. "By the way, am I important to the story?"

"You're the main character's best friend and the author's go-to plot device."

"Hmph." Lisa snorted and shook her head. I can tell she's a little smug. "Do I have a happy ending?"

"You're in a position of power with all your limbs and full mental faculties, if I remember correctly. I can't be sure. I never finished the story." I answered honestly.

"That's pretty vague." Lisa narrowed her eyes, "I want the full truth."

"I don't know." I confessed, "I never finished the story, and what I know of your future comes from the sequel that I've only heard about. If memory serves me right, you are in control of Brockton Bay and the Undersiders, but Earth Bet is pretty much a wasteland at that point. Europe doesn't exist anymore."

"Fuck." Lisa slumped down in her chair, "At least… at least I'm still alive. Tell me about the story. Who's the main character? What's the plot? Who's the big bad the main character fights? What the fuck happened to Europe?"

I leaned back in my chair. "The story's called Worm. It's about a bullying victim named Taylor Hebert, whose power is to control bugs. The story is about how every level of authority has failed her, her path to becoming a hero and ends with her missing an arm and getting two bullets to the head, something I aim to avoid."

"Taylor's the main character." Lisa whispered, "You're the surprise element."

"Before we get into the big bad, we need to set up the stage first. Keep your power on a tight leash."

"Sure." Lisa agreed without much fuss.

"Imagine an alien species that has reached the pinnacle of science. They have achieved everything that is scientifically possible. They can terraform planets near instantly, consume energy from supernovas and extend themselves infinitely through multiple dimensions. Their scale is beyond human comprehension. They are the classic eldritch horror from space, you get me? So what would you do if your species reached that level of power?"

"I would… probably be bored and go around playing with lesser species like they are toys." Lisa whispered in realization.

I blinked. "You're actually pretty close to the real answer. The truth is that they want to achieve true negentropy, but they don't know how. When you're a species on the scale they are, you burn through energy at an insane rate. Supernovas are chump change for them, and they can drain an entire universe dry of energy if they try. Even if they extended themselves through infinite dimensions, it still doesn't change the fact that they are bleeding the multiverse dry. They are consuming faster than they are releasing. Entropy is their final threat."

"So, what do they do? The aliens, in their infinite wisdom, decided to experiment. They will visit a planet with an advanced host species, supplying them with superpowers from their own repertoire, watch the host species play around with powers they don't understand and learn from their interactions. Once they deem it enough, they will convert the host species and the planet they are on into energy to propel them into space and look for another host species. The end. The process has been repeated hundreds or thousands of times."

Lisa nodded slowly like she was in a trance, then concluded, "Powers are designer drugs by eldritch horrors experimenting on us. I'll call you a conspiracy theorist if you told me this yesterday, but…"

I nodded along like we were shaking to a tune. "The more accurate description would be parasites. That's why I needed to hurt you with the wallpaper. Every power has a safeguard in them that prevents humans from realizing the truth. They will wipe your memory and manipulate you into acting like nothing's wrong. You're especially susceptible to it since your main schtick is finding out the truth to begin with. Maybe you have already found out the truth on your own in your spare time, but just got your memory wiped."

"Should I be thanking you for building a resistance to memory wiping for me?" Lisa snarked.

I paused a little to take a drink from my cup of water while giving Lisa time to process all this information. I don't expect anyone to believe me straight away, but I need Lisa, one of the top 50 Thinkers on the planet to believe me. Her cooperation will be very appreciated and make things so much easier.

"So, the alien hive mind is the big bad. How did we win in the end?"

"The aliens work in pairs. The brain and the brawn, so to speak. In order to better understand the host species, they will create an avatar based on the species's appearance and interact with them. Who is the cape with the most human appearance, yet inhuman mindset that you can think of?"

Lisa paled. "Fuck. Scion is the avatar? Is that why powers don't work on him? Because they are his to begin with? Holy shit!"

I nodded. "You need a very specific powerset to hurt his avatar. In the end, humanity won by throwing bodies at him until he committed suicide. Scion's depressed, you see. I can't say why because there might be some scrying from Thinkers, but I think it should be fine if you read them on your computer. There are files on Endbringers, too. Read them at your own caution."

"You're not telling me everything. No, you can't say it. A thinker capable of scrying us?" Lisa paused a little, "Someone is fighting Scion behind the scenes."

"I will give you Level 2 access to Hermes. File three, Cauldron. Scion is the brawn, but the brain crash landed and was braindead. They have her corpse. It's how Case 53s and some other capes are made."

"Motherfucker." Lisa cursed as she realized my ploy, "You forced me onto your boat!"

Now that she knows about Cauldron, her need to learn the truth will push her to investigate them. And she will definitely die if she does. Lisa's only choice now is to work with me to find the truth.

"I don't have much choice." I admitted, "Believe it or not, you and Dinah are in the list of top 50 Thinkers on the planet. I couldn't let you go. You're too vital to my operations. I'm not going to mistreat you anyway."

"Fuck you, Adam." Lisa let out before asking, "So how are you going to deal with the apocalypse? Wouldn't things be different now that you are here?"

"I… I don't know. Best case scenario, a future ghost will have something that can kill Scion and I will make it. Worst case scenario, I'll make sure whatever happened in the original story happens again. Or build a spaceship and get out of the solar system, I don't know."

"Fuck…" Lisa ran her fingers through her hair.

"Well, we have at least two years of time, maybe more if we take care of the Slaughterhouse Nine first." I consoled Lisa. "Anyway, there's something I need your input on."

"What is it?"

"How do you fuck with precognition?"

AN: It's a little late, but here's a new chapter. There's bits on foreshadowing for the future here and there, most of all Adam's attitude and the new Gashats. The new Gashats will start out as Level 2 Gashats and receive upgrades as they met stronger enemy just like a proper Kamen Rider, so don't worry. I need to remind the readers something, though. Adam and Kuroto doesn't need data from parahumans to create a Gashat. They do so because Adam thinks it's faster to work with existing powers and Kuroto is interested in alien manifestation. They can absolutely create Gashats independently.

Future updates will be slower, unfortunately. I am working on the Original Isekai story I mentioned before and I plan to post the story after I got the entire first arc down. There's some bumps and holes there, but I'm working on it. Hopefully it will be my best work.

Last edited: Dec 18, 2022

3.5

13 April 2011

"Precognition powers work by collecting data and calculating the outcome." I mused, "No powers are really 'precognition', they are all just supercomputers predicting the future based on the present. None of them are breaking the barriers of time and looking into the future."

"So to disrupt precognition powers, you have to disrupt their data collection." Lisa continued my train of thought, "But how are they collecting data to begin with?"

"Powers are observing the world from both a higher and lower dimension. Imagine… an RTS game. Our world is the game itself, humans are the characters and NPCs, and the Shards are the players. They are not only looking at the world outside the screen, they are also reading variables and logs in the program console from a separated screen."

Lisa twirled her pen as she brainstormed. "We need to… cause a bug in the game. It has to be big enough to disrupt the precognition, but small enough that it wouldn't cause a system crash and destroy the world."

"We can feed the Shards false data."

"We can feed the Shards false data." I repeated Kuroto's idea to Lisa.

"We can brainstorm all we want, but our main problem is the how." Lisa rubbed her temples, "You said that your current ghost tech can manipulate reality, but it's still provided by a Shard. Everything is pointless if other Shards know how to overcome whatever precog block we came up with. You even said it yourself that they are connected as a network."

"No alien can come close to even understanding my work, you fool!" Kuroto hissed at Lisa's words, "The fact that your power needs me here instead of giving you the knowledge is the best proof you will need! For Dan Kuroto is a GOD !"

"Just because the Shards can spoof our precog block doesn't mean the powers they give to capes will. The point of their existence is to cause conflict and collect data for us, remember? It wouldn't be beneficial for them to render us useless. They might want to see what a precog can do against a blindspot." I argued.

"That's a big if there." she deadpanned.

"We have to at least try something." I sighed, "The main issue I have right now is that I don't have enough data on precogs. Kuroto and I can try and make a precog blocker by ourselves, but it would take too long and the effects will be very vague. The more data we have, the more accurate and effective the end product can be."

"Have you considered the consequences of a tinkertech device like this? Lisa asked, "You do remember that Dinah is on your team, right?"

"I know." I rubbed my face, "If I blocked myself from precogs, it would render her power somewhat useless in our team, even more so if she is blocked as well. Not completely, but…"

"What else do you need right now?" asked Lisa.

"A lot of stuff." I confessed, "I wouldn't say no to more money, for one. We have about two hundred drones right now, but I literally built them with scrapyard materials and the factory can't subsist on recycled waste. Time is what I need. With enough time, I can beat the fucking Triumvirate."

"I can't buy you time, but I can buy you more money." Lisa smirked. "I know you've put some stock market questions into Dinah's power testing, right?"

"Yeah, but I didn't act on them." I shrugged. "I'm wary of Watchdog."

"Hand it to me." Lisa patted herself, "I'll deal with the stock tradings and business negotiations."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked her.

"Well, I've done some stock trading before, and anything beats sitting in your lab to give myself a headache." Lisa said, "Besides, I love making easy money!"

14 April

Idly, I tapped my fingers as I stared at my monitor displaying the list of known parahumans in Brockton Bay.

"Settled your mind on the candidates yet?" Kuroto asked.

Shut up and let me think.

Uber, Leet, Circus, Trainwreck, Labyrinth, and a few more independent villains that weren't mentioned in the webnovel. Together, they make up for a diverse set of powers.

Very diverse and useful research subjects.

"They are villains, Adam. We are researching them for the greater good!" Kuroto tried to convince me again, "Can you imagine what level of upgrades we can implement into Inspira Tinker AA if we got Leet's data? Or the improvement to Stage Select if we have Labyrinth? I was limited by the technology of my world, but you're different! You have Stark's technology and a huge variety of data sources here! You have a chance to surpass my achievements!"

By conducting non-consensual intrusive research on human subjects. I ran my hand over my face. Which I am not going to do. Maybe I will contact Faultline to get Labyrinth's consent, but I doubt the rest of them will accept my proposal.

"They are villains, Adam." Kuroto repeated, " Nobody will blame you if they disappeared."

That's a slippery slope that I absolutely want to avoid.

"You don't have much of a choice, Adam." Kuroto sighed in disappointment and said, "This world… it's too dangerous. What you need is power. Absolute power. Kamen Rider Chronicle is powerful, but it is not invincible. There are monsters out there, Adam. You know this, better than I do. There's the Teeth and this Accord guy coming, and you said it yourself that they're both insane psychopaths. Can you afford to be merciful here? Do you want to regret not doing more when you lose?"

Blankly, I stared at the list for a few more seconds before closing the monitor.

I will figure that out later.

I took the Rider Gashat Case and left my personal lab. Taylor and Lisa were waiting for me in the testing zone.

"Alright." I almost slammed the case on the table with my swing, "Here it is. The results of all your testing. Personal tinkertech tailor fitted to you. Bang Bang Tactical for Taylor, and Tales of Detective Tattles for Lisa." I introduced the Gashats as I opened the case like a salesman promoting his product to housewives.

Do we really need to put it into the case and open it again to display it later?

"Yes." Kuroto replied adamantly.

Why can't we, I don't know, use a display case with LEDs?

"Using the Gashat Case will present you as a professional, Adam." Kuroto sighed, "You wouldn't get it. You make for a passable apprentice in game development, but you have no talent in business."

I did not deny that. While I have experiences with presentation and public speaking, I am rather weak when it comes to forming interpersonal relationships and negotiations. I am rather inexperienced when it comes to finances and long term planning as well. My mother would always say that I am a hyper focused person that neglects everything else.

"Can I ask something, Adam?" Taylor spoke as she played with the Gamer Driver in her hands.

"Yeah?"

"Why does the belt look so… toyish?"

"You mean why does it look like it was made out of plastic?" teased Lisa.

"I… err… I don't know." I admitted and asked Kuroto.

"The Gamer Drivers were supposed to be a power up item for Ride Players to obtain after defeating a Kamen Rider." He explained to me, "That's why they looked like a toy. They were supposed to be obtainable items in my game."

I decided to not give that explanation to Taylor, because it's going to open up cans of worms that I wouldn't bother to explain anyway.

Lisa placed the driver on her waist and a belt automatically extended and tied the driver around her. "It's kind of bulky."

I shrugged in a 'what can you do about it' manner and said, "I'm looking into making it smaller and integrating the driver into our suits, but this is what we will have to work with now."

"Everything here looks so… toyish." commented Taylor as she shaked the Gashat in her hand, "It's so light."

"Tales of Detective Tattles." Lisa deadpanned while twirling her Gashat with her index finger. "So this gives people a copy of my power."

"Only a little. It's main ability… well, do you want to test it out?"

"Now?" Lisa blinked.

I took out my Gashat and pressed the activation button.

"Inspira Tinker A!"

"Sure."

I watched as my fabricators soldered the circuit boards of my new invention. The way the mechanical arms rapidly moved around with precision… it's hypnotizing.

As all components were installed on the circuit board, the conveyor belt delivered it to the next fabricator station, where a small OLED screen was waiting to be installed. The battery comes next, and the buttons, joysticks and casing comes last. The finished product came out from the production line on the conveyor belt, where I picked it up and raised it over my head to take a better look.

A portable game console, with all the buttons and joysticks you need. I based the design on the Nintendo Switch Lite, but with improvements I acquired from Stark tech. I'm not sure what Tony will think if he knows I'm using his tech for game consoles. Maybe he will be proud? I'm using his technology for entertainment instead of war after all.

On the back of the console, the word 'GeSt' were engraved, standing for Genm and Stark. It is the combination of their technology that the console was made from, and I am not going to take their honor away.

"Here marks my advent into the gaming market of this world." Kuroto said with an excited tone.

I placed the seventh console into a box and brought it up to the Undersider's living room, where Alec was not playing on the console for once.

The nervous system Master rubbed his hands together with a sly smile and asked, "So, where is it?"

I took out a light blue GeSt console and passed it to him. "Here. I loaded a few games on the SSD, so you can try them out first."

"That's the game console you said you want us to test?" Brian put his phone down and asked.

"Yup." I nodded and passed him a console as well. "You guys don't have to take this too seriously. Play whenever you want, play whatever you want, it's fine. Just give me the feedback later."

Brian raised an eyebrow and asked, "I thought you're busy with testing our powers for your new tinkertech."

"This is nothing. It took me like, what, an hour to design this thing? Making a game console with the tech I have isn't that hard. I actually spent more time making sure it's not tinkertech.."

This is why it took me longer than expected to create GeSt. I had to fight my power and use only mundane technology in designing GeSt. Fortunately, Kuroto is familiar with the designs of his Genm consoles, even if they are not handheld. His experiences and talent combined with Stark-derived mundane technology made GeSt the best mundane game console on Earth Bet, limited only by the exception of tinkertech I removed to counter NEPEA-5.

And that's not including the APR Headset that I am designing!

Honestly, designing GeSt is… fun. The joy of playing on a console I made myself, the pride I felt when others enjoyed it… I can see why so many people want to be game developers.

"Ooh, so this is the thing you told me about." Lisa said as she came out from the room and took a console from me. Alec and Brian were already head deep playing on the couch.

Lisa played around with her white GeSt in her hands, looking at it closely. "No tinkertech. You've outdone yourself, Adam."

"Spare me the cheap praise." I waved it off, "How is our finances?"

"Steadily rising." Lisa replied, "Relax, you got two of the top 50 Thinkers in the world working for you in addition to an A.I. Not even Numberman can make us go bankrupt now."

"Don't joke about that." I hissed.

"Sorry." Lisa apologized, "Anyway, I'm almost done setting up the company. I contacted some journalists and online personalities for marketing.Some journalists might give us shit on why indie developers have their own console and production line, but hey, no one except the PRT can actually do anything. We need to pay taxes since we are going legal, unfortunately."

"Fucking taxes." Alec chimed up.

"Fucking taxes." I nodded to that.

"Taxes are necessary for society to function." Kuroto pointed out. "Even I, Dan Kuroto, pay my taxes."

"I got the paperwork filled already. We are a group of aspiring teenagers that became indie game devs with you as our leader. I'm finance and marketing, Taylor is the art director, Brian and Alec are our play-testers, and Rachel is…" Lisa hesitated, "Our security officer."

"Seriously? Alec asked.

"Well, she can't read." Lisa shrugged. "Not like we will actually work anyway. It's just a new cover for our salary now that Coil's gone."

"You heard that, Rachel?" Alec shouted, "Lisa says you're useless!"

"Fuck off, Alec" Lisa flipped him the finger, "Rachel's at her shelter. She's staying there more and more, nowadays."

"Last I checked, she seems to like the playground I made for her dogs." I mentioned as I sat down on the couch and booted my own GeSt.

I'm rather excited, I have to admit. I never had a game console in my previous life because my parents saw them as a waste of money, so I usually used emulators to play console games. Despite being the creator of GeSt, this is my first time playing it.

The reason I wanted to found an indie game studio and sell my consoles, in addition to Kuroto's nagging, is because I want to spread joy. Earth Bet is a gloomy place and I want to at least do something to give people smiles. Providing entertainment is a harmless way to do that.

The studio will also give the members of the Undersiders legitimate cover jobs, so that's a plus. Brian's court case for his sister has begun, but I don't know how long it will take for him to win it. I will let the lawyers handle it.

"A few games to relax should be fine…" I whispered as my game started up.

15 April 2011

"Do you really have to go to New York for this?" Danny asked for the hundredth time again as I packed my luggage in my living quarters next to my lab.

"Yes, Uncle Danny. I need to research Flechette's powers for my next tinkertech. It's very important." I replied.

"What's so special about her power? She looks like another Shadow Stalker to me." Danny asked again with a frown with his arms crossed.

"You wouldn't get it. Their power is similar on the surface, but Flechette is a little more special than that." I explained.

Okay, I packed most of my clothes now. If I missed something, I can just buy it in New York or Boston. I'm not lacking in money anyway.

Danny helped me by taking my luggage outside and waited on the loading bay with me, where my ride to New York was undergoing its final check. Taylor was waiting there, too. She wore a long sleeve turtleneck and tight jeans that remarkably accentuated her height.

"So you have to go to New York and meet Flechette? What if she refuses to work with you?"

"Well…" I shrugged, "She's part of a trigger cluster. I'll find other candidates in New York."

"Diagnostics complete. All systems online. You are good to go, boss." H.E.R.M.E.S informed me.

I huffed and stored my baggage into the truck. The truck looked like a common trailer truck from the outside, but it was actually a mobile lab-slash-bedroom outfitted with Stark technology. I installed a mini lab, bathroom, stove and bed inside. This will be my ride to New York as I search for Flechette.

"I still think I should go with you." Danny repeated his opinions with his arms crossed.

"You'll be safer here, Uncle Danny." I replied, "I have the Gamer Driver to protect myself in case anything happens, but you don't. I'm not going to destroy a gang or anything, just a friendly exchange with the New York Wards this time."

"Alright, alright." Danny conceded. "Remember to call us if anything happens, okay? And take my calls. I want updates from you." He nagged.

"Okay."

"And take care of yourself. Eat your vegetables. Don't eat fast food for every meal, okay? It's very unhealthy."

I nodded. "I don't like fast food anyway."

"Can we get on the truck now?" Kuroto asked.

"I'll be in touch with you guys." I said to Taylor and the Undersiders. "All of you should at least be able to stay alive with my tech in the city. Just be careful, okay? A storm is coming to Brockton Bay. Stay on your guard."

"Take care of yourself, Adam." Taylor said and pulled me into a hug.

I patted her on the back. "I'll be back soon. I promise."

With that, I entered the truck as it began to drive out of the renovated factory.

"Finally!"

"New York…" I muttered as I closed my eyes for this long journey, "Here I come."

AN: Hey guys, short chapter here. The latter parts of the chapter felt a little incomplete to me, but I don't know what it was lacking. I have decided to open a Ko-fi site, so if any of you wants to support me, you can go ahead and donate a dollar there.

I am still working on the isekai story. There's been some turns and discussions, so I am rewriting the entire story with several new elements. I will try to finish the initial chapters and post it on a new thread some day, so be sure to watch out for it.

By the way, has anyone heard of Super Seminary? I heard that there are some Scion killing tech in there, considering the whole series is about immortal aliens calling themselves god.

Last edited: Jan 30, 2023

3.6

"What would you like to order, sir?" The waiter asked me. I had already browsed the menu before entering the restaurant, so I answered him immediately.

"A plate of fish and chips, please." I said, "And a chocolate milkshake for takeaway."

The waiter nodded and walked away, leaving me alone to admire the Neponset river. I specifically chose this restaurant for lunch because it has a beautiful riverside view. I can almost smell the sea breeze with how close the restaurant is to the ocean.

Honestly, I could have flown my way to New York, but I decided to avoid that because I do not want to be intercepted by the local PRT. Most of my infiltration viruses in PRT ENE were deleted by Dragon with her exotic code that I couldn't understand. Fortunately, I disguised all of my viruses as backdoors left by Coil so they couldn't trace it back to me. Kuroto suggested that I make a Bugster to infiltrate their system, but I refused.

B.A.R.F is an amazing camouflage technology, but visual and audio camouflage is all it does. I couldn't ignore the possibility that someone in Boston could detect me if I drove a flying vehicle so I went incognito with a normal-looking truck. I also installed mini B.A.R.F projectors in my jacket to camouflage myself without the drones constantly surrounding me. Beck is not good enough to miniaturize his own technology, but Stark is. I do not need to wear a motion capture suit like Beck to cover myself in B.A.R.F.

I have to be efficient with my drones, too. I only brought ten with me on my truck because of the lack of storage and energy. I only made two toxic Arc Reactors until now because of the lack of rare materials, and both of those are powering my factory. I have to make do with solar panels on my truck to charge the ten drones.

While I am reading the reconnaissance results from my drones in Boston, the waiter placed my dish in front of me. A piece of cod fish fried to a beautiful gold and brown, with potato wedges and a small plate of tartar sauce next to it. Elegantly, I cut the fish into pieces with my knife and dipped it into the tartar sauce before eating it.

Delicious.

As I was enjoying my lunch, Kuroto chimed up in my head. "Is stopping in Boston really necessary?"

Boston is a pretty important place for Worm. The Teeth, the Ambassadors and the Travelers are all here. We might need to fight here in the future, so it's best if we do some recon in advance.

"Your drones could have done that by themselves."

Looking at pictures is different from visiting the actual place.

"But you are just eating in a restaurant." retorted Kuroto. After a few moments of consideration, I decided to tell him the truth.

Fine. I just want to sightsee, okay? This is my first time outside of Brockton Bay that I can remember.

"You should have admitted that from the beginning." Kuroto grumbled, "But I shall not fault you for seeking entertainment."

Thank yo- My line of thought was interrupted by something flying out from the river on my left. The sudden large movement splashed water all over the restaurant's riverbank porch.

"Fuck!" I reflexively cursed and got away from the riverbank as far as I could. "What the fuck!?"

My whole body was soaked from the river water. It's so fucking dirty! I can smell the goddamn dirt and grass! I might even get parasites and infections from this! I can't even enjoy a lunch on Earth Bet properly, can I?

The perpetrator revealed himself by landing in the restaurant. The cape's whole body was covered by running water. My guess from first glance is that he has a skintight forcefield that looked like fluids flowing at high speed or he used hydrokinesis to cover his body like a sandstorm, but with the murky river water instead.

My glasses quickly identified him as Liquid Snake, a minor independent villain in Boston that does robbery.

Who the fuck robs a restaurant?

"Robbers, that's who." Kuroto's voice shook me out of my stunned surprise, "Now put on the Gamer Driver and transform already!"

I commanded my drones that were patrolling the restaurant's perimeter to enter and blast him into the river with the concussion blasters, buying me time to take out the Gamer Driver and Gashat from my waist pouch.

The Driver just tied onto my waist when my glasses warned me of a flying cape crashing through the roof and landing right in front of me.

Torrents of profanity ran through my head in my surprise and I fell on my butt against the floor. The new cape took a look at me and raised his hand to swing a punch, but my drones launched another concussion blast and slammed him against the railing.

"No time to panic, Adam! Get up and TRANSFORM!" Kuroto urged with a scream at the end. I quickly pressed the activation button of Inspira Tinker A and inserted it into my driver.

Gashat! Let's Game! Metcha Game! Mutcha Game! What's your name?! I'm a Kamen Rider!

I did not pull the lever, so I transformed into the bulky and stubby Level 1 form instead. While being slightly weaker and less agile, the Level 1 form offers a much stronger protection than the Level 2 form.

Liquid Snake and the cape that my system identified as Skyfire jumped out of the river as soon as my transformation was complete. The second cape is obviously female with how her latex bodysuit hugged her curves. She wears a flat porcelain mask painted with the pattern of a masquerade mask to hide her face with bright red hair mixed with orange flowing behind her head.

Without a word, I rushed forward and swung a punch at Skyfire, but she formed a wall of fire in front of her chest and blocked it. I wasn't punching with my full strength, but I was still surprised that she blocked it. Solid fire?

Liquid Snake took the chance to kick at my stomach, but I felt nothing behind the protection offered by my suit so I chose to tackle him and lift him up. He struggled in my grasp, but it was useless and I slammed him down on the restaurant's wooden floor and gave him a stomp on the chest with my right foot. That should have snapped his ribcage and collapsed his right lung if my sensation is correct.

Skyfire covered her fist with fire the moment I dropped Liquid Snake and punched me in the face. I felt the heat a little, but my head did not even move. Her punch certainly felt stronger than a normal human of her muscle mass, but not by much, and certainly not enough for me to be afraid of. I grabbed her wrist and tightened my grip, hearing a nice crunch coming from her bones before I stepped closer when she was stunned by the pain and stomped on her left foot, crushing it entirely.

Skyfire screamed in pain as I dropped her to the floor. She is certainly a Brute, but maybe just a 1 or 2 on the PRT rating scale. Enough for her to punch through walls and be more durable, but not enough to bend metal beams or be bulletproof.

I called the PRT with my system while reading all the public information I can find on the villainous duo. Skyfire is an independent villain as well, though she occasionally worked with Liquid Snake to conduct robberies. She has been seen flying with wings made out of fire, though it looked more like she made a wingsuit with fire to me.

"Two independent villains decide to rob the same restaurant at the same time you are inside. Hmm…" Kuroto hummed, "Very suspicious."

Suspicious indeed.

I inconspicuously left the restaurant and went back on my truck after Boston's PRT and Protectorate arrived. I need to avoid attention. As soon as I entered the truck, I took off all my clothes and entered the shower immediately.

"Call Lisa for me." I said out loud in the shower to H.E.R.M.E.S as the shower releases hot water on my body.

"Calling Miss Wilbourn." H.E.R.M.E.S replied dutifully, and there was the sound of a dialing phone call.

"Alright, what's wrong?" is the first thing Lisa said as she answered my call. "Wait, are you taking a shower right now?"

"I got attacked when having lunch in Boston." I answered and sent her the report, "It's too big of a coincidence."

"Uhuh, let's see…" Lisa went silent for a few seconds before speaking again, "Yup. It's Accord."

"How does he know that I am in Boston?"

"Probably hired a precog to inform him of anything about you. He's got the connections, after all. I think Liquid Snake and Skyfire is just a test for him. He wants to know your capabilities."

"I wiped all of my appearances in the surveillance footage, but he'll still learn about the Gamer Driver from his plants inside Boston PRT." I said and asked Lisa, "How plausible is it for me to dismantle his operations and capture him today?"

"Wait a sec, I'll ask Dinah." Lisa shouted from the other side of my call. I finished showering and got out to wipe myself dry when she came back again.

"64.539 percent. Do you really want to do this today?" asked Lisa.

64 percent. It's more than 50 percent, but I am not confident enough to take on Accord with this number, especially when I am unprepared.

"Do not be afraid, Adam. Take the chance." Kuroto urged.

But I'm alone in Boston with no support. I only have ten drones, and Accord is one of the most powerful Thinkers on the planet. He's gotta have some defenses to protect himself, especially designed by his power If I attack him and fail, who knows what kind of convoluted plan he will make to fuck me up? I only have one shot at Accord, Kuroto. And I don't think I am prepared enough to take him on my first day in Boston.

"But this is also the best chance you will ever have. Right now, ten minutes after his failed attack on you. He will be scrambling to find you, he will be making plans, and those plans are still in the making. The sooner you fight Accord, the easier the fight will be! Do not be afraid, Adam, because you are not alone! Because you have I, DAN KUROTO, will fight by your side!"

My eyes darted to the Rider Gashat Case hanging on the walls of the truck. Kuroto and I finished a new Gashat last midnight, an experimental Gashat that was meant to unleash the full potential of my power.

"Where is Accord?"

Charlestown is significantly different from the rest of Boston that I have visited. It is so different in fact, that I thought I stepped into another country entirely and left the USA.

The buildings here are all clean and well kept. The roads have no potholes. Traffic lights and lamp posts have no flyers on them. There is no graffiti to be seen anywhere, and the entire area seems like a peaceful and prosperous place with no trace of instability on the surface.

I am not sure who copied who, but Accord's headquarters are almost the same as Coil's. On top of a symmetrically beautiful office building is an underground base that is more than enough to qualify as an Endbringer shelter, complete with its own power generator, oxygen filter, armory, waste processing, aquaponic farm and even a mini submarine tunnel that allowed him to escape into the ocean. Accord can live his entire life in this fallout bunker if he wants to.

Too bad he provoked me.

After Kuroto and I were done reading the scans from my infiltration drones, I activated B.A.R.F to replace my appearance and cover up my blue armored silver spandex with purple circuitry lines. To anyone else with normal eyes, I should look like Accord's best friend, Coil. Wielding the Gashacon All-Driver, I brazenly walked into the building from its front door.

At the same time, Fatamorgana flew out from my truck and crashed into Accord's office floor for cape related business, causing panic and chaos in the mundane employees as my drones wreaked havoc under the disguise of elemental monsters.

As soon as I entered the building, dozens of machine guns came out from the ceiling and discharged their firepower on me. I had to put my effort into standing my ground, otherwise the torrents of bullets might push me back. Kneeling, I placed my palm on the floor and grabbed the metaphorical strings in my mind.

There. The machine guns stopped. With a wave of my hand, the machine guns, floorboard hidden with contraptions, computers from the information counter and the security cameras in the corners all flew out to form a ball of floating components in front of me, before recombining into a crude mech with machine guns for it's head and fingers.

This is Inspira Tinker A's true abilities, technokinesis. I can access, control and combine any technology within my range with a thought of my mind. Anything I created with the Gashat alone will be much more powerful than what was possible with its components, and it will disassemble and turn into scrap after I deactivated my transformation unless I actually tinkered with my power instead.

Under my command, the machine gun mech walked behind me and out of the building, breaking the glass walls in its path. The mundane employees had already evacuated the moment I showed myself in front of the building, and the elevator opened to reveal Accord's Ambassadors stepping out.

They stood in a triangle formation and my camera scanned them to give me their names. Citrine, Cassiterite and Ligeia. All of them dressed like they were going to a ballroom dance rather than a fight.

Cassiterite threw his black stars at me and Ligeia created a portal shooting a geyser at me. All the while, the area surrounding me was gradually colored with a yellow tint.

I swatted the black stars away easily. They turned into spikes when my All-Driver approached them, but my strength was enough to swat them away and continue forward as my drones began blasting concussive waves in their direction. The water geyser was as tall and wide as a minivan, but I blocked it by transforming the floorboards into layers of walls. Accord must have designed the floorboards, because the mechanism under them allows the floor to transform into various sorts of traps and defenses for his Ambassadors. He is like a contraption master in a wuxia story. All these efforts simply made it easier for my technokinesis, though. I could not control normal floorboards since there is no 'technology' in them, but Accord's intricate designs counted as a technology to Inspira Tinker A.

As expected, the floorboards held against the water geyser, though I noticed that the trio stood unaffected despite my drones bombarding them with concussive waves. Ligeia has created a portal to absorb the blast from my drones.

No matter. I only have two drones blasting them with concussive waves, while my other three were wreaking havoc above with Fatamorgana. I cranked the dial of the Gashacon All-Driver and turned it into a nail gun. A burst of force from my foot shot me across the ground hall as I aimed my nail gun at the trio.

I pressed the trigger and Ligeia's head arced back with a spurt of blood.

I slid across the floor and shot down more black stars that were thrown at me. Actually, I have a bright idea. Touching the floor, I controlled their mechanism and activated the floorboard's anti intruder measures, which saw it pop up rows of mini saws.

Citrine and Cassiterite obviously didn't expect the traps to activate on them all of a sudden and jumped away as soon as the saws cut their feet. I pursued them head on and fired another subsonic nail at Cassiterite as my drones revealed its own machine gun and shot at Citrine.

Citrine collapsed on the floor as she turned into a sponge with bullets and Cassiterite struggled to crawl on the floor, with a big nail-sized hole in his lower abdomen.

"Who… what are you?" Cassiterite asked as he looked at me and let out a groan of pain.

I answered by shooting him in the head. Only dumb villains and heroes talk in combat.

AN: Happy Lunar New Year to all of you!

Now, I would like to point out that normally, I mean normally, Adam would have gtfo of Boston to regroup and replan after Accord's attack. He sees Accord as this hyper mastermind that is always planning multiple steps ahead and should be treated with extreme caution, lest he receives a visit from CUI's recruitment agent.

Kuroto changed that. I wanted to make the ghost more proactive after Tony, and this is it. I am very careful with writing this, since I want to avoid making the story feel like a rehash of the previous arc. The outcome of this attack will be much more… sinister. That's all I can tell you for now.

Edit: My new original fiction is now up on Spacebattles! Check it out now!

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Hard and Cut: I Got Reincarnated into a Fantasy World with the Sword System

A college student got isekai-ed and receives a System as his cheat! Watch as he tries(and fails) to avoid all the tropes of an cliché isekai story! Including but not limited to: Mistaking tomboy childhood friend's gender, heroic rescue in the forest, beating up nobles, DIY modern science…

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forums.

Last edited: Jan 27, 2023

Interlude: Accord

Everything in Accord's building is designed by the man himself. Lights. Floor board. Fans. Air conditioners. Even the elevator that he is taking with his secretary right now.

Three point five meters in width, length and height, illuminated by four diamond shaped LED lights that perfectly shines over the smooth and reflective metal surface inside the elevator. The floor is made out of perfectly carved glass, because the chaotic patterns on marble enrages him.

Accord and his secretary evacuated into the elevator the moment the elemental Blaster crashed into his floor. He smashed his fist on the elevator wall the moment his tablet showed the death of Cassiterite. His mundane secretary, Lucy, trembled at his display of rage.

Accord took a deep breath to reassert his calm and ordered his secretary, "Call the Travelers here, NOW! Have Genesis and Ballistic dispatch the monsters in my office while Sundancer and Trickster deal with the Coil imposter!"

Oh, it is very easy to see that the snake suit man on screen is an imposter. He knows his business partner very well, and he can tell simply from the pace of his steps and the swing of his arm that this man is an imposter wearing Coil's costume. A flaw of the costume culture. People usually recognize capes not by their power, but by their costume. It was harder to impersonate capes with flashy and recognizable powers, but the law works in the opposite way for Thinkers like him and Coil. Only they themselves understand and see the effects of their power and no one else.

He had to hold himself when the elevator suddenly shook. It seemed that the elemental monster was far more destructive than he initially assumed if he could feel it in the elevator.

Soon, the elevator opened and a steel vault door slowly opened to allow his entrance into his bunker, built under his office in case the worst of the worst happens. The Coil impersonator was powerful enough to kill three of his Ambassadors within a few moments of their engagement. While he did order them to engage to subdue, they shouldn't be able to be defeated so quickly. The fake Coil seems to have technokinesis as his power. A Tinker-Shaker hybrid?

That means his bunker, filled with contraptions designed by himself and the most advanced technology money can buy is entirely at his mercy.

No. There are no invincible powers. If his technokinesis were so powerful, he would have killed me when I was in the elevator. His power has a range.

"Where are the Travellers?" He asked Lucy.

Lucy tapped at her tablet again. She visibly gulped, sending a throb of pain down his head and answered, "I don't know, sir. They have failed to respond to our contact."

The idea that the Travelers disrupted his plans again filled him with unbridled rage. The sheer audacity those incompetent and useless morons have. It seems that they have forgotten their lesson last time one of them disrespected him. He made sure with his contact in the CUI to make Perdition suffer. Abandoning the Travelers to Brockton Bay with Panacea as the excuse was his plan before, but now he should burn them all alive as a punishment for their repeated transgressions.

"Where is Jacklight and Lizardtail?" He asked Luna again.

"They are both working in their civilian identity." answered Luna.

"Recall them now! And I want the intruders DEAD! SHOOT TO KILL!!" He shouted in the end as he could no longer restrain his rage. The fact that someone has ruined his laboriously crafted headquarters and killed his Ambassadors IS JUST SO ENRAGING!

Accord took a few deep breaths to get his emotion under control. He controls his power, and his power doesn't control him. He repeated that mantra within his mind as he walked down the clean hallway.

As he passed by the reflective walls, another tremor was sent through the bunker. Accord gestured for Lucy to show him the tablet again. The imposter has found the elevator and is coming down.

"Othello, kill him."

"Yes, sir." A masked figure answered behind him from the mirrors.

Judging by the strength and speed displayed in the footage, his guards and Othello wouldn't do anything effective against the imposter. He was fast enough to parry Cassiterite's black stars and move over the distance of a room with a skip. He has shown the strength of his disguise by tanking his machine guns before turning them into an ugly abomination of walking machinery.

Who is this intruder? Why is he attacking him today? Why is he disguised as his dead business partner?

Adam Danvers. Nameless Tinker D.

Just as he thought of that name, sounds of strained metal rang behind him.

The intruder was destroying the vault door.

"Order every guard to intercept the intruders now!" He barked at his secretary. "Have them equip EMP weapons and use them as soon as they catch sight of the intruder."

"Yes, sir."

As he increased his walking pace, Accord immediately connected the dots. He received a message from Eyewatch that Adam Danvers is coming to Boston this morning. He did not know why, but he understands that the twelve year old is not an opponent he can underestimate. Judging from the incident when Adam dealt with the gangs in Brockton Bay, he is not willing to kill his enemies. Childish, but that was why he sent two disposable capes to attack Adam, hoping to find more data about his drones and illusions from them afterwards. Adam has Tattletale in his employ, so she must have figured out it was him that ordered the minor attack.

Nameless Tinker D is a cautious and intelligent cape, not unlike himself. He assumed that Nameless Tinker D would retreat to Brockton Bay after this attack and retaliate from there. Instead, he disguised himself as Coil and attacked his headquarters in broad daylight and killed three of his Ambassadors, completely disproving all of his assumptions and derailing his plans. The last point filled his cranium with compounding pain that was growing more and more by the moment.

Accord clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. His plan only fails when he works with incorrect information. Coil's profile on Adam Danvers stated that he was very much someone who would endure abuse and retaliate when he had a chance, but that is clearly wrong. Adam did not endure anything and retaliated almost immediately. It wasn't even an hour after the attack yet! He doesn't even have time to interrogate Skyfire and Liquid Snake as they were still in a coma!

Accord does not possess the immediate power needed to fight against Adam right now. His strength lies in his plans and connections with other forces forged with his power, but his Ambassadors themselves have very little strength on their own. They were only considered powerful combatants because of excellent strategies made with his power and their abuse of the Unwritten Rules. Advantages that Nameless Tinker D was making irrelevant with his technokinesis used on his own contraptions. His powers are already filling him in on various possible situations when a technokinetic enters a location as abundant with gimmicks and technology as his own base.

What he was seeing did not make his mood any better.

He had made plans for cases when someone attacked his base, and he is going to follow it now.

"Luna, I want you to head to the server room and initiate the data wipe." Accord commanded his secretary.

Luna nodded. "Yes, sir." And walked away obediently.

She might die on her way there and back, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make as long as he got to live.

Following his evacuation plans, Accord headed towards the submarine hangar built in the middle floors of his base. He does not have the resources to dig a new tunnel that leads to the ocean, so he renovated a sewer tunnel to do so instead. The existence of this abandoned sewer is why he built his base here in the first place.

Every inch of his bunker is perfectly crafted to his desired specifications. It has to, otherwise he might set it on fire with all the imperfections his power will graciously point out for him. The hallways are three point five meters wide and tall, furnished with reflective walls to maximize Othello's power and acoustic materials to reduce as much noise as humanly possible without resorting to unreliable tinkertech. Even the smallest of chattering can trigger his rage, and he wishes to increase his employee's survivability from himself.

After exiting an internal elevator, he finally arrived at the fifth underground floor of his base, where the submarine control room lies. He walked as fast as he could to his destination without worrying about the time needed to prepare the submarine. His employees are all well trained, and preparing for his escape is one of their top priorities. He only has four of them in the base, but his personal submarine will always be the first to escape.

As Accord turned right in the hallway, he stopped his steps upon witnessing what was in front of him.

A cape in a ridiculously chaotic costume. Shiny silver spandex with purple asymmetric circuitry lines and black game themed protection gear, topped off by a helmet with cartoonish painted eyes and an exaggerated side part hairstyle. An impractically bulky neon green belt with the words 'Gamer Driver' painted in neon splashes. Behind him, Accord can see the door to his submarine control room destroyed.

The colors and details of the costume might be different, but he recognized the aesthetics from a report he received a few days ago. A new cape in Brockton Bay that killed Night and Fog, the racist scum that returned to the city and met their demise instead.

"Kamen Rider Resolute."

"You are technically correct, but I would prefer if you call me Kamen Rider Genm." The second intruder introduced himself. "Or just Genm, for short."

He caught on to the situation rapidly. Resolute- or Genm, has destroyed his means of evacuation. The 'how' does not matter. What matters was his survival.

"Are you working with Nameless Tinker D?" Accord asked, "I can pay you twenty million dollars to betray him and let me escape."

"Hmm?" Genm tilted his head in amusement, and then laughed. He laughed ironically, like he heard an unfunny joke as he slowly walked towards him.

"I don't need your money, Accord," Genm said with amusement clear in his voice and pointed his wrist weapon at him, intentions clear. "No. you're coming with us."

The sound of falling metal emerged behind him and he turned around to see the Coil imposter stepping out of his wrecked elevator.

As the illusions faded away, Accord found himself surprised yet again. Kamen Rider Resolute, though with slightly different colors, stepped out instead of Nameless Tinker D's blue and silver power armor. Did he guess wrong again?

The gadget inserted into their neon green belt was exactly the same, with the image of two humanoids separated by a silver and purple background projected in the middle screen. If he narrowed his eyes, he could make out the words 'INSPIRA TINKER AA' printed in the middle of the inserted gadget.

Resolute raised his tinkertech gun and in that brief moment, he panicked. From everything he gathered in the initial footage, Resolute will not hesitate to kill him.

With no choices left, Accord submitted to his desire to live.

"Door me!"

A brief hum in the air and the familiar rectangular portal formed in front of him. Before he could step in however, he saw something purple hit the edge of the portal in the corners of his eyes.

In his despair, the portal winked out like it never existed.

Did-did he just destroy Doormaker's portals?

He never knew that was possible!

"Aaargh!" Accord screamed as pain burst out from his feet. He fell to the ground on his ass as two metal spikes came out from the floor and stabbed through his feet.

"How does it feel to be hurt by your own contraptions, Accord?." A child's voice came from Resolute's adult body. "None of them will save you here."

With that, Resolute took out a white tinkertech gadget with a crystal pane. He pressed the button and a glitching holographic screen appeared behind Resolute, spreading pixelated waves all over the surface of his base before disappearing.

A few seconds passed in silence with Resolute raising the gadget before he slotted it on the side of his belt. "I guess it worked."

"Of course it will work, Resolute." Genm replied proudly as he stepped forward and lifted Accord by his collar, pulling his feet out from the metal spikes. "The Gashat is still a work in progress, but it can at least serve as a temporary sensory blocker to counter Clairvoyant."

"We should leave now. The Game Area cannot hold forever."

"Cannot hold forever yet." Genm corrected.

"Let… go of me!" Accord struggled to wrest free from Genm's humiliating grasp but to no avail. The movements of his body exacerbated the pains of his injury, but the sheer rage at his loss and humiliation hurts even more.

His final hope to escape was dashed. It would take a fool to not realize that Nameless Tinker D has created an anti-Thinker tinkertech, and the implications behind it. Cauldron's singular greatest asset is a Thinker. Can this tinkertech stop her? If it can, what else can Nameless Tinker D do?

"You want to keep him alive?" Resolute asked.

Genm lifted him closer and grabbed his face like one would do with a dog. "Scumbag he may be, why don't we recycle him? You wouldn't mind using more… intrusive methods on him, would you?"

Resolute turned the dials on his weapon and transformed his nail gun into a giant USB plug before stabbing it into the walls of his perfect hallway. Glowing blue circuitry lines appeared on the wall before Resolute pulled it out. "No, I don't mind."

Despair and helplessness welled up inside him as Resolute and Genm continued their conversation. There was a chance that he was valuable enough to Cauldron that they will save him, but will they? He used his chance to call for help, and Resolute destroyed it immediately. To Cauldron, anything that can risk their exposure was unacceptable. There was a higher chance that the woman with a fedora might show up to kill him instead of rescuing him, if he can survive whatever Genm has in store for him.

"Shame you killed Citrine. I bet she has far more valuable data than him,"

"Whatever." Resolute replied and to his horror, continued, "I've activated the self destruct protocol. Let's go."

Last edited: Jan 29, 2023

4.1 Vaccination

Dinner tonight was kimchi stew. Learning from my lesson today, I brought the take out and ate it in my caravan truck instead of enjoying it in the restaurant. I have always believed that take out is infinitely inferior to enjoying the food in the restaurant, and I am a little disappointed that I couldn't enjoy my food to its maximum.

"I'm telling you, this kimchi is amazing." I said to the holographic screen with my mouth full of food. "We should come here again next time."

"Yeah, we should." Taylor replied over our video call. "I mean, Brockton Bay has some Korean restaurants too, but I never entered them since they're usually ABB hangout spots."

"The ABB is gone now, right? I wonder where Lung is."

"I don't know, maybe he ran away?" replied Taylor with a shrug. "I kept having people ask me the same question in school."

"How's Arcadia, Taylor?" I asked. "I know I said I'm going to get homeschooled, but I might go to highschool to waste my time and make friends in a few years."

If I even survived that long in Earth Bet, that is.

"I guess Arcadia's what a normal highschool supposed to be like?" Taylor replied hesitantly. "The New Wave kids chased away the crowds that swarmed me after I was outed, so I usually hang out with them, but I don't feel like I fit in."

I sighed. "Well, that's school for you. Just… be careful who you make friends with, Taylor"

"… Yeah. Wouldn't want to meet another Emma." Taylor replied, "Wait a sec. Dad!"

I heard some footsteps before Danny entered the screen next to Taylor. "Hey, Adam. How's New York?"

"I wouldn't know, Uncle Danny. I spent my entire day cooped up in the truck."

I wanted to stay in Boston to deal with the Travellers, but I booked a meeting with New York's Protectorate tomorrow morning and I couldn't afford to not do some preparations in New York beforehand.

"Err… okay." Danny replied after some hesitation. "What do you have for dinner today, Adam?"

"Taylor asked the same question." I said and showed my kimchi soup in a takeout bowl to the camera. "I bought some kimchi stew. The restaurant's pretty authentic since the boss is Korean."

"Isn't it too spicy for you, Adam?"

"Nah." I denied, "I like the spicy and sour taste."

"Alright, we're not going to disturb your dinner time. Good luck for tomorrow, Adam. I hope you can get what you want."

"Thanks, Uncle Danny." I replied and turned off the video call.

In a few minutes, I finished my dinner and got up from the table to stretch my hands. The compartment wall behind me retracted into the ceiling of the truck and stopped hiding the drugged up short guy restrained in a chair with a pen tied to his hands.

Yup, said short guy is Accord.

After capturing him, I locked a B.A.R.F and brainwave sensor headset and drugged him to keep him from being lucid. Right now, Accord believes that he is still in his office, tackling society's biggest issues with only a pen, a paper and a computer.

I picked up the freshly written papers scattered on the floor and reordered them according to their page number. It's a pretty thick stack of paper, probably almost a hundred pages. I looked at the title and debated if I should waste my time on Accord's updated magnum opus that I had him write down to test my illusion set up on him.

World Hunger: Solution to Humanity's Failings

His infamous plan to solve world hunger.

You know what? I'll skim through it.

I sat at my table and began to flip through the pages. First agenda of order, illegalization of meatpacking industry. Okay, that makes sense to me. Divert resources into efficient farming and to increase total food production instead of wasting crops on feeding animals to feed ourselves. People will hate it, but I can see it working. Punishment for food wastage, fines or imprisonment. How do you enforce such laws?

Of course, this is where the dystopian dictatorship begins.

Highly monitored area for the population's designated mealtime, as well as gradually removing normal food from the market and replacing them with rations. Snacks, carbohydrate drinks, ice creams, cakes, that sort of 'unnecessary food' will be gradually outlawed. Protests are expected and will be dealt with bribery, framing and assassination. Eventually, the only food known to society will be protein slurries made from genetically enhanced crops.

After the core concept comes the execution. Assassination of key figures in the meatpacking industry, bribing the Department of Health, inserting political figures in various nations to push for gradual food policy reformation. Once he had control of the government, reduce taxes to promote international food trade and cross border cooperation, which eventually ended in nations merging with each other to form a united government. Exploitation of natural resources without regards to the environment for the sake of higher food production. A transportation network to ensure all produced food will be properly delivered to the population.

"I thought his plan would be more… impressive." Kuroto commented as I stopped reading and put the file away. "This? This is just taking the easy way to solve problems. Anyone can come up with the same conclusion."

Or the most efficient way, but yes. His plan is… underwhelmingly normal.

The plan is highly detailed, especially with the predictions Accord made as his plan was gradually executed. But that's the problem that both Kuroto and I have. When you take away all the details and predictions made on said details, Accord's plan is efficiently simple.

Dictatorship to control food wastage. That's it.

After that, I grabbed another file that Accord wrote up. How to solve the energy crisis. How to solve global warming. How to solve poverty. How to solve racism. How to push for greater healthcare.

All of it leads to a dictatorship government that relies on brainwashing and obedience.

"No wonder nobody listened to his plans." Kuroto concluded. "He's insane."

I looked at Accord, writing down his dictatorship fantasy with illusions directly fed into his eyeballs and drugged up to his brain.

We'll keep him for a few hours to collect the data before disposing of him. I replied to Kuroto while throwing his plan papers into a makeshift incinerator.

16 Aprils 2011

"This world never ceases to amaze me with its cliches." Kuroto commented as I entered the New York Wards base.

The New York Wards have a very cliche and cartoonish base, if I say so myself. It is a giant dome surrounded by greenery. The entire design screams modern architecture and "heroic" right in your face with how bright and shiny the entire building is. So shiny in fact, I believe that it will be hard to look at the building directly in the afternoon with how it reflects the sunlight.

After informing the counter staff of my arrival, I was taken to a meeting room and patiently waited for the New York Wards to be informed of my arrival. Since I was already outed, I did not bother to disguise myself with B.A.R.F. The meeting room was decorated with Wards memorabilia, with posters and newspaper cutouts tacked on the noticeboard.

Soon, two women wearing colorful skin tight suits entered the meeting room

Kuroto chose this moment to pop up with a comment. "At least they have padding."

"Hi. I am Prism, a New York Protectorate hero." The taller and more muscular woman introduced herself and extended her hand.

"Adam Danvers." I shaked her hand back politely and replied, "Thank you for meeting me today."

"I am Flechette." She shaked my hands as well. "I heard you were looking for me?"

"Yes." I confirmed. "I would like to study your power for my tinkertech research."

"Really? I thought Jouster's power would be more suitable for something like that."

"His power is pretty flashy, but yours is far more useful to what I am researching right now." I replied.

"What are you trying to create here?" Prism asked, "A giant crossbow?"

"I want to make a penetrative gun." I gave them half the truth. "To deal with brutes like the Crawler or Endbringers."

"You're thinking pretty big there, kid." Prism said, "What do you think, Flechette? Do you want to help him?"

"How are you going to test my powers?" asked Flechette.

I used all of my strength and placed my case on the meeting table. A twelve year old's body is really inconvenient. I hope I can meet a ghost that can solve that for me in the future.

"Here." I said as I opened the case to reveal my testing apparatuses. "I need you to wear this headset when using your power. After that, I'll place some sensors around to scan for anything your power releases."

"Hmm…" Flechette hummed as she stared at the white and pink headset. "What does the headset do?"

"It scans your brainwaves. I made it to specifically scan for exotic radiation from the Corona Pollentia and Gemma."

"Nothing intrusive?"

"No." I denied. "I made this headset specifically so it's not a mad scientist's equipment."

"How long do I need to cooperate for the research?"

"I don't know." I admitted. "If we're lucky, a single application of your power is enough. If we're not, it might take the entire afternoon. I don't want to bother you too much."

"Alright." Flechette nodded. "Let's go. I agree to your research."

We left the meeting room and Prism led me into a small shooting range that was built under the dome.

"Will testing her power here work for you?" Prism asked. "This is where Flechette has her training."

"Yes, thank you."

I took out the scanners from my case and began to place them around the shooting range as Flechette loads her crossbow.

"How's Brockton Bay these days?" Prism asked casually as I scanned Flechette's arrow with a scanner.

"Dangerous." I replied. "The Pure Bastion went completely silent after their declaration, and that doesn't look good coming from Gesellschaft extremists. There's also Accord and the Butcher coming in the future, so it might be better to abandon the city at this point."

"How do you know that Accord is moving into Brockton?" asked Prism.

"Companies under his control are buying up properties in Brockton. It's not hard to guess his purpose from there."

"Is Brockton Bay that bad right now?" Flechette asked out of curiosity as she shot an arrow into the shooting range. The arrow penetrated three separate layers of solid steel before stopping at the four and fused in the middle.

Hmm… dimensional interference detected. The arrow was fused with the fourth metal sheet at a subatomic level. Nuclear fission and fusion occurred, but no energy was released.

Interesting.

"Civilians might think good days are coming, but that's kind of impossible in Earth Bet." I replied as I saved the data into my computer. "How good are you with moving targets?"

"It depends. If the object was slow enough that I can trace it with my eye and doesn't change its speed, my power can calculate the timing for my charges pretty well."

"Right, your power has a Thinker aspect to it as well." I nodded and typed on my computer. "Do you mind demonstrating it? Hit as many moving targets as you can."

"I already did it once during my power testing when I entered the Wards." said Flechette. "Can we give him the data, Prism?"

Prism opened her mouth to reply, but I answered Flechette before her. "While that would be appreciated, it won't be necessary. What I need is your brainwaves and the sub dimension radiation your Corona releases when you use your power. Can you describe how your power time itself later as well?"

"Oh, sure."

"Speaking of Accord, the Protectorate received news about him last night." Prism spoke, "Boston PRT will release a statement later, but do you want to learn it from me now?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Someone attacked Accord yesterday and destroyed his base. All of his Ambassadors were killed and he is missing."

I pretended to be surprised by widening my eyes and slightly opening my mouth. "Accord was defeated?"

"At least it looks like that." Prism continued talking, "What we gathered is that Coil and an elemental cape attacked Accord's primary front office in broad daylight. Accord escaped into his bunker, but Coil followed him and took him away before activating his self-destruct for the base. People in Charlestown are in chaos right now."

"I think it's a shame." Flechette said in pity. "I know he's a villain and a little psychopathic, but I thought he was trying to do good. I heard the reason he left Watchdog is because they refused to look at his plan to solve world hunger."

Prism crossed her arms and stared at Flechette. "Who did you hear that from?"

"Err… I forgot."

"I think it's good riddance Accord is gone." I voiced my honest opinion. "He's just an egotistical scumbag."

Flechette turned around to look at me after shooting at a moving target. "You know something about Accord?"

"I know he deals in human trafficking with the CUI." I answered. "Know the Travelers? One of their members, Perdition, was sold to the CUI for being late to a meeting. I bet he's not the only cape that Accord has sold to the CUI."

"Where did you learn that from?" questioned Prism.

"I was investigating Accord for blackmail material. He's got the ears of so many people you would never believe them all. Mexico cartels, mafias, gangs, senators in Congress, major shareholders… CUI isn't the only major power he was in a partnership with."

"No surprises there." Flechette shrugged. "But damn, I guess Accord's pretty evil, huh?"

"He's successful, and like most people who succeed in the United States he gave himself a good public image."

In my truck, Genm and I were working furiously to apply the data obtained from Flechette into a Gashat. With the Inspira Tinker AA Gashat inserted into the Gamer Driver, Kuroto and I both transformed into Tinker Gamer Level 20, as well as a corporeal body for Kuroto to work in reality.

The new Gashat, or sequel to Inspira Tinker A, is based on the same premise as the predecessor. We simply added a co-op mode into the game and made it the focus to create the Gashat. Kuroto has already researched Mighty Brothers XX and created Mighty Doctors XX before, so creating another Gashat that creates a second body wasn't a big deal for him.

"No, no, think bigger!" Kuroto shouted. " A hunting themed game is not enough! If you want the Gashat to be powerful, it must carry a game that can allow it to do so! Merely hunting animals wouldn't be enough!"

"What about incorporating the data into Bang Bang Shooting or Taddle Quest?" I asked. "I know Flechette used to use a sword before she joined the Wards and switched to using a crossbow."

"Hmm… that might work." Kuroto agreed after some contemplation. "I need more inspiration. MORE OF IT!"

"Calm down, Genm."

"Yes, yes. The Taddle series always had a swordsman protagonist, but what about a wizard? Or is it a magician…"

"Speaking of magic, I found the blindspot frequency from Dinah's data." I informed Kuroto.

"The key element for the Gashat is ready."

"Yes, finally!" Kuroto replied with his joy evident in his voice and made a fist pump.

The anti precog Gashat that I used in Accord's base is still an incomplete product at this point. We based the Gashat around the concept of sensory deprivation, but there are still too many unknown variables on how precognition works. Luckily, I finally found the backdoor to all precog powers in Worm.

In the middle of tinkering, I received a message from Lisa.

Vd call from Hberts coming

I saved my progress and gestured for H.E.R.M.E.S to put my computers away.

"They should not have interrupted our work." Kuroto complained grimly. "Time is being wasted here! My inspirations are flowing away!"

I ignored Kuroto's rambling and deactivated the transformation, returning to my twelve year old body.

Looking at my opening and closed fist, I silently pondered on the possibilities of obtaining an adult body. Panacea can do it, but will she do it for me? I'm not an expert in biology, but there must be some downsides to accelerating the body's growth while keeping the brain intact. Or can she create a brand new body out of biomass and transplant my brain into it? That does not count as modifying the brain, right? What if she put a backdoor into my body? Maybe I will obtain a biotinker ghost after Kuroto. I have become less repulsed by the sight of spilling innards ever since…

Ever since using Inspira Tinker A.

Hmm.

"Miss Hebert is calling you, boss." H.E.R.M.E.S politely informed me.

"Use A.R.C.S and answer the call." I ordered.

B.A.R.F projectors light up and transform the interiors of my truck into the living room in the Hebert household, with Taylor and Danny in front of me. Both of them recoiled when I suddenly appeared in front of them, but quickly realized that nothing was wrong.

"Oh, this is an illusion again, right?" Taylor lets out a breath of relief while patting her chest. "I thought you invented teleportation or something."

"Nah, I wish." I denied, "Anyway, why did you call me?"

"We just want to ask how your day is, Adam," said Danny. "So how is it? Did you meet Flechette today?"

"Yup." I nodded. "I managed to get the data I wanted and I made some progress on my new tinkertech. I'm going back to Brockton Bay tomorrow morning."

"Why don't you come back now?" Danny asked. " It's just 6 o'clock, and I think you can reach Brockton by eight or nine if I'm not wrong."

It's six o'clock already? No wonder I am so hungry.

"I have a lot of inspiration for my tinkertech today, Uncle Danny. I want to work them out as soon as I can and I don't feel safe working while my truck is driving." I said even though my truck was driving back to Boston right now.

"Oh, okay. You do you, Adam. What are you having for dinner today?"

"I don't know, maybe some fast food?" I shrugged.

"Well, don't have too much of it, okay? It's not good for your body." Danny nagged, but Taylor interrupted him before he could continue.

"Adam, have you heard about Accord?"

"Yeah, someone caught him, right? I heard it from the New York Wards this morning." I said, acting just like how Taylor expected me to act.

"Someone pretending to be Coil is the one who attacked Accord." Taylor continued, "Do you think he's related to him in some way?"

"I don't know. Coil's a very cautious person, and so is Accord. His Ambassadors are pretty famous. You would need someone on Triumvirate's level to attack them from the front and get away with it. I heard Citrine can even shut down powers. Don't worry, I'll investigate it. I want to know who took out Accord too."

"Okay." Taylor nodded.

"You guys got anything more you want to say?" I asked, "If there isn't anything, I'm going back to tinkering."

"Alright, alright." Danny nodded and got up from the couch. "We won't bother you anymore. Bye, Adam."

"Bye bye." I smiled and waved my hand before shutting off the call.

"Can you transform and let me out now?" Kuroto grumbled in my mind.

Yeah, yeah.

I inserted the Inspira Tinker A Gashat into my Gamer Driver and opened the lever, prompting the driver to project a transformation screen in front of me before it enveloped me.

Double the hands at work! Double the power! Inspira! Inspira Tinker Double A!

Genm appeared next to me, and I ordered H.E.R.M.E.S to pull out the computer before we went back to work again.

"I think we should finish up the precog blocker first." I said to Kuroto.

Kuroto rubbed his chin in contemplation, before replying. "Hmm… you want to use it against the Travelers later?"

"Yes." I confirmed his guess. "I wouldn't want any Thinker to get a peek of what we will do later."

"Okay. We've already had most of the foundations, so we should be able to finish the Gashat with Inspira Tinker AA's work speed buff. Let's go!"

AN: Okay, here begins the reveal for all the buildup in Arc 3. Kuroto's story will end here, but I am a little unsure on who to choose as the next ghost. Should I choose someone who can improve on Adam's current tech? Or someone who will open up a new area of technologies for Adam?

Interlude: Lisa

17 April 2011

Do you know that sleep loss affects women more than men? Loss of memory, loss of focus, loss of libido, loss of hair, women just lose a lot more than men if they lose sleep.

That tidbit of information wasn't stopping her from staying late to midnight in order to provide intel assistance for Adam in his second assassination deal of the week though, Lisa thought as she sipped her hot chocolate in her office and watched the Travelers inside their apartment from Adam's insect drones.

The sheer sophistication in Adam's first ghost, Stark's drones are quite frankly, insane. They made Dragon's drones look obsolete, and Stark made them mass producible. The fact that the insect drones monitoring the Travelers right now are literally paper thin and have 24 hours of battery power made her check the corners of her room every night in case Adam wants to monitor her for some reason.

She's sure the only reason Adam did not monitor her is because he knew she would find the drones. Even if he could hide it from her, he doesn't want to risk her finding out later and ruining their partnership.

It would be funny how tense Adam is if she didn't know he was literally fighting against their extinction.

Seriously, Adam almost tinkered for 72 hours straight with no breaks in between. Sure, he stubbornly said that his new tinkertech boosted his power so he kept working, but Taylor was getting worried about him. A few days ago, out of the goodness of her heart, she decided to use her power briefly and see if there's anything Taylor should worry about Adam.

New tinkertech is making the subject a better Tinker.

That's good, but the next sentence made her frown.

Subject is hyperfocused on tinkering. Tinkertech gradually modifies the subject's moral outlook to make him a better Tinker.

Okay, that's fucked.

She debated if she should tell Adam about this. In the end, she decided to observe him a little longer. Her power might be wrong. She couldn't have a good read on Adam with him constantly masking his micro expressions with B.A.R.F(what a name), but she can work with the profile she wrote when Coil was alive and postulate his thought process from it.

At least, that was what she thought.

Kuroto, Adam's current ghost influenced his decision making more than she predicted and her power had a harder and harder time reading Adam accurately. It's frustrating, because she got the feeling she was watching a trainwreck in progress.

With Stark in his head, Adam killed exactly zero people. Coil is on her, but Adam successfully captured all the villains and handed them to the Protectorate without permanently maiming any of them. He even resolved Taylor's bullying with a single whisper to the right person. He played the Protectorate like a pro, something she approves.

With Kuroto in his head, Adam killed Night and Fog on his tinkertech test run. He disregarded his own wellbeing to tinker for days, and then killed about a hundred or so people in Accord's base with no hesitation or remorse. He was walking down a slippery slope, and she couldn't do anything about it without risking making it worse. Adam noted that Taylor was a stubborn girl in his files, but he is the real stubborn one in her opinion.

No mental influence my ass.

Still, she couldn't exactly oppose his decision to deal with the Travelers. Not only does she not have the power to do so, she also agrees that the Ziz bombs with a baby Endbringer hid away and planning to come to Brockton Bay should be dealt with.

Sorry, tumor baby, but mama wants to see tomorrow's sunrise.

The holographic monitor in front of her continued playing the situation in the Traveler's apartment.

"Should we tell Noelle?"

"No, not until we figure out what to do."

"Accord's gone. So be it. We knew he couldn't help Noelle anyway, so what's next?"

"Brockton Bay, maybe? They have a pretty famous healer there, right?"

"Yeah, the girl is outed too. Maybe we can ask for their help?"

"Maybe it's time we go to the PRT."

"No. Not now, Marrisa."

"Maybe we need to face the consequences now. Nobody can help us except the heroes."

"And the first thing they will do is lock us up! We all heard what they did to anyone that got close to the winged bitch!"

"Maybe they should lock us up! Remember New York, Francis?"

"You fuck-"

"Hey, hey. That's enough. Calm down, guys."

"Be with me here, Luke. Haven't we had enough? We already lost Cody. Who's going to be next?"

"Jesus fuck their programming ran deep." Lisa cursed as she listened to their conversation. "I might join the fight against Leviathan and Behemoth, but I will never fight the Simurgh. I might go insane on the fucking spot." She said to Adam in their communication channel.

"You should think bigger, Lisa. Maybe all the heroes who fought the Simurgh are already insane." He snarked back.

"Oh, so that's why the world is so shitty. Is that what you want to say?"

"Yeah." She heard Adam taking a gulp of water, before saying, "I've heard enough. Let's do it."

A.R.C.S(a much better name) activated, and she now sits in front of an apartment door in the middle of a dilapidated hallway.

Adam rebuilt and upgraded his previous body double, Fatamorgana and called it Ultron. There was some inside joke there, but she couldn't care less about media references from another world. Adam removed the mercenary disguise off the robot and installed all the weapons without holding back the lethality. It was bulkier, painted in deep silver and gave off a menacing presence with its crimson eyes and a mechanical face that can display human expression without mimicking it.

Ultron will be Adam's puppet to do his dirty work. She wondered if Adam realized the irony of it, playing both hero and villain. Kind of like Coil.

Ultron the robot knocked on the door, which Melissa opened and rapidly backed off into the living room the moment she saw it.

"Oh, don't be scared." Adam spoke through Ultron, which transformed his words into a smooth voice with deep baritone. "I'm here to help."

Francis put on his tophat and stood in front of the others to face Ultron as the leader of the group. "Who are you? What do you mean you want to help us?"

"You can call me Ultron." Adam introduced the drone. "I am a good person. When I see people in need, like you, I give them a helping hand."

Ballistic is holding ball bearings. Planning to use his power and take you down if things go bad. Worried about the noise and commotion the fight will cause, suffering from sleep loss.

"Ballistic is prepping his power." Lisa supplied after observing the rest of the Travelers. "He's more afraid that he will damage the wall than hurting you since you're… well, a robot."

"I know you don't believe me." Adam continued as Ultron nodded to his own words and walked around the Traveler's living room. "But it's fine. All you need to know is that I can bring you back to Earth Aleph."

After saying that, a portal appeared behind Ultron with a wave of his hand. Behind the other side of the portal was a place the Travelers could immediately recognize.

Madison. Earth Aleph Madison.

There were no containment walls, no ruined buildings, no rabid crowds. Everything looked just as it should be in Earth Aleph.

The portal materialized long enough for the Travelers to process what they saw before it disappeared again. "There. Don't you want to go home? Go home, after being trapped in this shithole of an Earth, where the sun doesn't shine and you have to play the villains? I can even get Cody back for you!"

It was a lie. Cody was with the CUI. He was already inside the nation's borders. Nobody can save him now. The portal was just an illusion made to trick the Travelers.

None of them will live to see the next sunrise.

Adam controlled Ultron to open his arms wide like a messiah and said, "All you have to do… is do something for me."

"What is it?" Luke asked. "What do you want us to do?"

"Luke!" Francis shouted.

Stressed. Worried about his lover. Dissatisfied that Luke spoke without his permission. Sees it as an infringement of his authority. Looks down on Luke. Looks down on everyone. Believes he is smarter than most people. He is not.

Time to get to work. "Luke is tired of everything here. He's the least programmed person in the group. He doesn't even want to stay with the Travelers anymore, he just wants to go home." She said to Adam

"Good to know." replied Adam before saying to the Travelers, "Noelle Meindhart needs to die."

"No." Francis stepped back and glared at Ultron without hiding his animosity. "That's not happening."

"I'm sorry, but if we're going home, it's either everyone or no one." Marissa shook her head and refused their request.

"You do realize what Noelle has become, right?" Adam asked rhetorically. "40 dead when she visited New York. She's not the sweet girl you fell in love with anymore, Francis. She's a monster now."

"It's not her fault those people died!"

"Wait, let me try." Lisa said before taking control of Ultron's speaker.

"No, it was your fault." Lisa spoke through Ultron. "It was your fault that your team was in Madison that day. It was you who found the briefcase with the vials. It was you who told Noelle and Oliver to share a vial and turned her into a monster. Noelle did nothing wrong, but you did everything not right."

"So what?" Francis shot back without shame. "We will never kill Noelle, and that's final!"

There. She planted the seeds, now it's time to see if the Travelers will take action.

"Do you really want to listen to him, Marissa?" She ignored Francis and turned to the woman.

Dislike being under the spotlight. Suffering from period disorder. Dislikes cape life. Feels burdened by Noelle. Wishes she can go home. Dislikes standing under the spotlight due to childhood trauma.

That's it. She found Marissa's weakness.

"Do you enjoy living the villain's life?" Lisa continued and Ultron moved like he was preaching to a choir. "Wear a skintight suit, throwing yourself out to commit crimes and get into the headlines? Everyone will be looking at you, Marissa. And they will all judge you with their eyes."

"I…" Marissa hesitated and Ultron turned to Luke. "What about you, Luke?"

Showing signs of hypertension. Used to be a friendly and positive person. Wants to leave the team. Had a cup of coffee that he disliked 47 minutes ago. Staying in the team due to Simurgh's programming to protect Noelle. Believes he is staying out of treasuring his friendship and nostalgia.

"There's nothing for you in the team anymore, is there? Cody's gone. Noelle's not herself and everyone is tired of being here. The team's falling apart, Luke. What are you going to do?"

"Enough!" Francis shouted and pointed a gun at Ultron. "Shut the fuck up!"

She continued to ignore him. "I can make you walk again, Jess." Dealing with disabled persons was always the easiest for her. You just had to poke at their insecurities, but this time she's not here to bully. She's here to ask for cooperation.

Jess, who has been staying silent in her wheelchair at the corner this whole time, meekly asked, "You can?"

"Yes. All I need your team to do is to free Noelle from her suffering before I send you home."

"Why come to us?" Luke asked with his arms crossed. "If you want Noelle dead, why didn't you do it yourself? Why ask her teammates?"

"Noelle's power makes her hard to kill." She decided to confess. It's not some super secret anyway. "In most scenarios, killing Noelle doesn't mean solving the problem she represents. Just because Noelle is dead doesn't mean the body dies as well. In her case, her body will go on a rampage if Noelle's brain goes inactive."

"So that's why you come to us. You need Sundancer's power."

"Yes."

Marissa hugged herself, then slowly collapsed in tears. "I… I'm sorry. I can't do it. I can't kill Noelle." She let out between sobs.

Simurgh's programming demanded that she could not kill Noelle Meindhart until she fulfilled her purpose.

"What a shame."

Adam will kill the Travelers.

She has barely processed what Adam has just said over their voice channel before all of the Travelers collapsed on the floor.

Auditory-based subduecation weaponry. Sonic Taser developed by Stark.

All of the Travelers became deathly pale, with their eyeballs bulging and dark veins visible on their skin.

Lisa ran her hand over her face. She knew Adam would kill the Travelers, but she couldn't help but feel scared when he does stuff like this. If she had more time, she could slowly break down the Travelers and have Sundancer work for them. Adam doesn't have the patience though. He was too impatient, too urgent. He wanted to deal with the Travelers as soon as possible.

The sonic taser is a frankly inhumane weapon with the pain it inflicts. She felt a little nauseous at seeing the effects, but Adam probably thought it was the most effective way to subdue the Travelers without causing too much of a ruckus.

Adam took over Ultron's control from her after that and shot lethal injections at the Travelers, before a few more robots entered the apartment and carried the corpses out.

A.R.C.S shut off and she returned to her office. Lisa took another sip of her hot chocolate as she leaned back on her expensive cushioned ergonomic chair. She was tied to his boat the moment she joined his camp. The wallpaper, her memory wipe resistance, all it did was tie her even tighter. There is a 50/50 chance that Adam might let her go free if she wants to end their partnership, but the other side of the coin is exactly what happened to the Travelers.

Even if she goes free, where can she go next? She could live out the high life in Europe with all the money she has if she did not know the nature behind powers and the apocalypse on the horizon. The knowledge will never let her rest free unless she is working on solving it. Her curiosity and desire to live demands it.

"We're going to deal with Noelle Meinhardt now. Will you listen in, Lisa?"

Lisa sighed.

"Yeah, might as well see it through to the end."

To both the Travelers and the end of Scion.

4.2

The headlights of a trailer truck came into Oliver's sight, before it drove into the farm Accord settled them in and stopped.

He grabbed his gun and was ready to turn off the safety as he peeked at the truck from the windows before a familiar cape with a tophat stepped out from the passenger's seat.

Oliver let out a breath that he was holding and slid the gun into the back of his pants before going downstairs to welcome his friend. As he approached the truck, he saw several people dressed like a handyman come out from the trailer the truck was pulling.

"Oliver." Francis called and gestured for him to come over. "How's Noelle?"

"She's the same as usual." He replied. "I bought as much meat as I can this morning, but I don't think it's going to satisfy her appetite. You got any news on what happened to Accord?"

Francis took off his mask and rubbed his face before replying, "Eurgh. Someone attacked, but he managed to get away. Accord contacted us. He wants to relocate Noelle before someone learns about her and sets her off."

"Okay." Oliver nodded. "Are those people here to help?"

Francis did not reply to him as Oliver fainted and slumped on the ground. A Legion drone approached him from behind and carried him away.

"Analyze Oliver's voice and synthesize it in the engine." I ordered and diverted my attention to another screen that was showing live footage of Noelle inside the barn. The torso of a human was attached to a mass of disfigured flesh, formed by limbs and shells of various animals.

"She's slightly smaller than a Bugster Union." commented Kuroto. "But I believe that she is weaker than one. We can kill her easily."

Really?

"My Rider System can defeat Bugster Unions with ease, and my Bugster Unions are far faster and stronger than this… clump of flesh. A single critical blow will be able to finish her for good."

She has powerful regeneration ability though.

"And my Bugsters are strong enough to be nigh impervious to mundane weapons. You can just use the Stage Select if you are worried about her escape."

… I don't want to risk it.

"Analysis and recreation of Oliver's voice is complete, boss." H.E.R.M.E.S reported and pulled me out of my conversation with Kuroto. "We are good to go."

I controlled my drones to project an illusion of Oliver just as he was when he came out to meet the fake Trickster. Jacket and jeans, check. The face looked fine too.

The real Oliver has already been handled. I don't really remember his power, other than it being useless enough that he did not become a cape. Something about becoming more 'human'? I don't know.

Fake Francis opened the door and walked into the barn, where a barbed fence separated him from Noelle.

"Noelle? Accord's guys are here. They are going to move you to somewhere else, but they need to cut out some part of you to move you into the trailer. It's going to hurt, but you have to push through, okay?"

The mass of flesh twisted and moved as Noelle tried her best to bend her body down and maintain eye level with Fake Francis. "O-okay. Are they wearing enough protection? I don't want to hurt anyone."

Fake Francis smirked. "Don't worry. Accord got this new tinker in his Ambassadors recently. It's his drones that are going to do the cutting, so you're not going to hurt anyone, baby."

Noelle's shoulders sagged as she let out a breath of relief. "Thank god. Are… are they here already?"

"Yup. I'm going to let the drones in, okay?"

Noelle took a deep breath, before she sniffed the air and dropped her smile.

"Oh no." Lisa's voice suddenly came up after a long period of silence from her communication channel. "Get out of there, NOW!"

"You don't smell like Francis." Noelle moved away from eye level and returned to her previous towering heights. "I can't smell Oliver either. You're not him! You're a FAKE!" shouted Noelle before she raised a furred appendage and crashed the fence like it was made out of paper.

I had already grabbed my belt and Gashat when Noelle leaned away from the fence as Lisa provided me with the reason behind our failure.

"She has a smell-based Thinker power to identify parahumans. It ties into her cloning powers!"

"I didn't know that, but it doesn't matter. Switching to Plan C now."

Inspira Tinker A! I Getcha! Do-Do-Drago! Na-Na-Na-Kni~ght! Dra-! Dra-! Drago Knight Hunter! Z!

In a set of black draconic armor adorned by colorful lightning bolts, I crashed into the barn and shot a blast of energy at Noelle with my Dragon Gun.

"AAARGH!" Noelle shrieked in pain as the blast left a burnt scar in the middle of her limbs.

Stage Select!

To avoid causing commotion and unwanted visitors, I pulled Noelle into a military shooting range. The place is barren of life, filled with concrete, gravel and steel bars.

Noelle continued her shrieking as she raised her tentacles and swung them at me. I tried to maintain distance between us, but Noelle was surprisingly fast for an entity of her size. So instead of taking distance and sniping, I chose to rush forward and attack her from within.

Her monstrous hoofs and tentacles twined around my limb, but the increase in strength provided by Hunter Gamer Level 5 was strong enough for me to rip them apart with ease as I carved through Noelle's mutated mass with my Dragon Blade. I even unleashed a torrent of hot flames with my Dragon Fang when I caught sight of the center.

Since the Kamen Rider system covered my entire body and left no skin exposed, I have negated Noelle's biggest advantage against parahumans. Her regeneration made any wounds I inflicted meaningless, but I have been getting closer to the center of her body. When I was finally below it, I raised my arms upwards and jumped as hard as I could, momentarily throwing Noelle into the air.

I quickly pulled out the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat and inserted it into my Kimewaza Slot Holder to finish her off.

Kimewaza! Drago Knight Critical Strike!

Three colors of energy enveloped my body and merged into one before I concentrated it all in the horn of my Dragon Fang and jumped up again to meet Noelle who was mid air.

"AAAA!" Noelle gave one last shriek of pain before she was enveloped in a storm of fire and exploded into chunks of fleshy limbs.

I landed on the ground with both my feet after that strike and surveyed my surroundings. The military shooting range was ruined, with blocks of concrete cracked by Noelle now covered in her viscera. I focused my sights and saw that her remains were rapidly degenerating.

I changed my Game Area again and returned to the barn, with the only visible sign of conflict being the collapsed fence. There was some yellowish gooey liquid on the floor, but I paid it no mind as it too began to evaporate rapidly.

Why did I feel nothing when Noelle exploded?

The amount of gore… the amount of viscera… it is incomparable to when I fought Night and Fog. I know Night and Fog to be brainwashed Nazis, but Noelle was different. She was a victim of her circumstances, controlled by the Simurgh and constantly suffering from guilt and instincts. Why did I feel nothing when I killed Noelle? No sympathy, no disgust, no anger, nothing.

I hid that question away from Kuroto as I walked out of the barn.

17 April 2011

"So I got the data I needed, and we had lunch together before I left. I don't really get how the Wards function. Like, isn't the building supposed to be their base of operations? Why have a gift shop opened to the public inside? And even a cafe?" I ranted to Danny and Taylor as we ate lunch in their house. "It just seemed very dangerous to me. What if a villain decided to attack the Wards in their headquarters?"

"I'm sure they have security measures, Adam." said Danny, "But you're not wrong. It does seem kind of dangerous to me. Good thing the two of you didn't join the Wards huh?"

"Yeah." Taylor nodded.

I finished my plate of macaroni and said, "I'm done."

"You're going to tinker again?" Danny asked.

"Yup. The Teeth are coming back to Brockton Bay, and we still have the Pure Bastion lurking around. I want to make sure we can handle them as soon as possible."

"You should get some rest, Adam."

"A genius never rests, Adam. Do not listen to him."

"It's fine." I ignored Kuroto and waved Danny off. "I'll rest after finishing my current project."

I stepped outside the house, where my own Iron Man suit was in stand by. It opened up for me to enter and I flew away. The first thing I did after returning to my factory was to move the main generator away and excavate a small partition in the ground below.

I connected a few power cables into a small podium and placed it in the partition, before activating my newest Gashat and slotting it inside.

Sneak & Shoot!

A gray Game Area generated from the white and red Gashat and covered my entire factory, before I inserted it into the podium. I hid the podium under a piece of flooring before moving my generator back to its original position.

Kuroto let out a sigh of relief. "Now we would not need to worry about enemies out of nowhere."

Sneak & Shoot, an assassination game that stems from the idea of hiding and attacking from your target's blindspots. The Gashat Kuroto and I created to utilize the blindspot frequency that I sampled from Dinah's brainwave. I had to analyze and examine the quantum radiation across various samples that I collected, before finally identifying the specific frequency that I needed when I asked Dinah questions about Scion.

She could not answer the questions, but I did find the disparities of her Gemma's quantum radiation when compared to asking other questions. After that, Kuroto helped to create a game that utilized the gimmick of hiding in blindspots to attack your enemy.

The Gashacon Podium is a new invention Kuroto created that allows Game Areas generated by a Gashat to passively stay active. It would not spawn any Energy Items, but special effects by the Game Area will continue to persist. I can even adjust the area of coverage to my liking.

My current plan was to create a few more Sneak & Shoot to be used as a portable precognition blocker, maybe even cover the entire city with it. I was still debating if I should do it though, since distributing the Gashat across the city would also risk it being found and stolen away.

I pat my hands and head towards my lab as my first agenda of the day was complete. What I want to do next is to prepare my nanoforge for the gold titanium alloy shipment that will arrive soon and incorporate Gashat technology into my Stark nanosuit. The nanoforge that Stark and I made was functional, but it was not the best that he and I could do. We made it more as a practice project for me to learn his knowledge and as an emergency tool in case I needed a nanosuit.

Cracking my neck, I entered my lab and transformed into Tinker Gamer Level 2.

"You sure you wouldn't need me?"

You don't know anything about Stark's technology. You're a genius, but engineering isn't your strong suit.

"I see." Kuroto replied. "You can do it your way."

The Iron Man suit that I wore just now was hanging in the middle of my lab, ready to be disassembled and recycled. Most of the technology that I installed inside was antique by Stark's standards due to my lack of raw materials. If I have to pull a comparison, it would be that my suit is equal to Stark's Mark 4 suit.

I spent the rest of the day porting Kuroto's Rider System and Gashat data into my suit's system. A few hours passed by before I was interrupted by an urgent alarm from H.E.R.M.E.S.

"Warning. Pure Bastion capes sighted. Ulfbernt and Gargoyle are attacking Taylor on her patrol route at Ronald Street."

I gave the incomplete suit a glance before shaking my head. It was not ready yet, so I will have to stick with Kuroto's old Rider System for now.

I stepped out of my lab while the factory doors slid open under my command.

Jet Combat!

Time to meet the Pure Bastion.

When I arrived there, the street was in ruins. A few cars were on fire, deep gouges were carved into the road and Taylor was trapped in a pincer attack between Ulfbernt and Gargoyle with clouds of insects forming a containment circle around them. Her suit was scratched and crumpled in some places, as the subpar alloys I used could not provide decent protection. Fortunately, she did not lose a limb or two.

I flew downwards and shot Gargoyle with my gatling gun before landing and punched Ulfbernt's mask with the momentum.

"Weaver." I greeted as I raised my left foot and stomped on Ulfbernt's as hard as I could, but he was quick on his feet and avoided it. "I'll handle it from here. Get out of the circle and use Bang Bang Tactical if you want to help."

"Got it." Taylor nodded and a swarm of bugs covered her retreat as I pulled out a black Gashat.

"Gesellschaft should not have come here." I said to Ulfbernt and Gargoyle when closing the lever and pulled out Jet Combat. "Now you will never leave."

A Game Screen appeared behind me as I pressed the activation button of Giri Giri Chambara. I inserted the Gashat into the second slot of my Gamer Driver and pulled the lever open.

Inspira Tinker A! I getcha! Giri-Giri-Bari-Bari Chambara!

An extra layer of black and yellow armor overlapped with my suit as I summoned the Gashacon Sparrow and Gashacon All-Driver and rushed forward.

AN: A short chapter, but I felt like I am writing too many fights of Adam curbstomping the shit out of people with his Kamen Rider tech. I might skip the fight with Ulfbernt and Gargoyle entirely, I might not. Who knows?Also, I might make a poll soon for you guys to vote on the next ghost. Both of them came from the same series and shares the same expertise, but in wildly different application.

How do you make a poll? Is it with the "New Tally" button? I don't know how to use it.

Drago Knight Hunter reference

I actually recommend watching the entire video to have a solid image on what the Kamen Riders look like.

Last edited: Feb 20, 2023

Interlude: George

There were a lot of abandoned buildings in Brockton Bay. People blamed it on the dock bombing and the following economic recession, but it never made any sense to George. The city should have recognized the incoming crisis and enacted a solution, not sit by and let it happen. Why are people such fallible beings?

George knew that people are fallible beings. That was why he was here. That was how he was here. Being sent to Brockton Bay derailed his many arrangements in Berlin. Suddenly being ordered to embark on a long term oversea mission does that, but his years of efforts did not completely go to waste.

"Ulfbernt." Major Oberst, his superior officer, called out behind him. "How is the fight?"

George leaned on the open window and calibrated his binoculars, getting a clear view of the ongoing battle happening five blocks away. "Gargoyle and Tony are doing well against Hope. Her armor is robust, but she herself? Not so much. Her bugs couldn't do anything against Gargoyle other than obstruct his vision."

"What about Tony?"

"His performance in combat with my swords is adequate, sir." George said as he observed the battlefield. "Wait, someone flew into the street. It's… the cape that killed Night and Fog."

Oberst stepped beside him and ordered, "Give it to me."

He passed the binoculars to his hand without delay. In Gesellschaft, being slow can be seen as a disrespect and be punished for it.

As Oberst observed the battlefield, George silently observed him.

Major Oberst, a Thinker 7, if he remembered correctly. His power revolves around planning. The more information and knowledge he gathered in his repository, the better his planning and action will be. If he learned martial arts, he would be able to unleash it to the best of its capabilities. If he learned engineering, he would be able to design the most robust and efficient vehicle. The more Oberst knows, the more accurate his path to victory will be.

Sometimes, Oberst's predictions are so accurate it's almost like he has precognition, but he played humble and explained that it was merely a conclusion reached by analyzing everything he knows. George knew that Oberst was one of Gesellschaft's most useful Thinkers, and he was even rated as one of the top 50 Thinkers in the world, only surpassed by the likes of Number Man.

And that makes betraying him a hard move to play.

He has finally escaped Berlin. He has finally escaped Europe. With the Empire's collapse and less than sixty personnel from goddamn Gesellschaft, he has never been so close to his freedom.

But Major Oberst was standing right by his side, and he couldn't risk such a powerful and inhumane thinker to even catch onto an inkling of his desire.

A few minutes later, presumably as the fight had ended, Oberst took out a remote button and pressed it.

An explosion lit up the evening sky, its source originating from where Resolute was fighting. Following suit, several explosions occurred throughout the city. Hospitals, schools, the abandoned shipyard, middle of Medhall and several more locations to create chaos.

Oberst put down the binoculars and stepped away from the window. "We're done here. Pack it up."

"Yes sir."

Oberst's plans begin now.

Power core, check. Program chip, check. Tungsten-titanium blade, check.

As George routinely prepares his weapons in the van, he could hear the screams and sirens around the city but saw none of it due to the black curtains inside.

Oberst drove the truck into some place and stopped there, where Vivian and Kayden opened the door and stepped in.

Vivian was wearing her long coat and gloves as usual. She looked lovely in it, but he knows that all of their clothes have long sleeves in order to cover up their scars.

Another reason he wants to escape Gesellschaft with her.

Kayden was dressed far more casually, with a jacket and a scarf.

"Where's Gargoyle?" asked Kayden.

"Resolute cut off his legs, so he won't be joining us today." George did not know that. "We will let PRT take him into custody. They have Panacea, who can heal him with no complications afterwards."

Kayden frowned and said, "But you just bombed the hospitals. Panacea's going to work overtime to heal the public."

Oberst turned his head around. "Legend was originally going to rendezvous with the Protectorate outside Brockton Bay. With the commotion we caused, he's going to come here now. We have no healers, and Gargoyle can wait." He said coldly with his emotionless stare.

Kayden flinched at Oberst's uncaring tone, but she nodded anyway. The engine started, and the van drove towards their destination. During this short moment, George decided to spend his time looking at Vivian.

They entered Gesellschaft together. When they were four, in a school bus on their school trip. The driver stopped the bus in a dark tunnel before stepping out, and a man dressed in elegant military attire and a swastika on his shoulder stepped in.

Not much from that day was remembered, other than that he pissed himself and the man judged every child on the bus before he gave them a bullet between the eyes, one by one. Only he and Vivian were left alive and taken away.

Standard recruitment procedure, he later learned. Weeding out the filth and rescuing the pure, they said.

He did not see Vivian again until he triggered, years after their kidnap. He weathered through the indoctrination and torture, burying his fight deep within him so that it wasn't snuffed out. Vivian? Not so much. By the time he met her, Vivian was an emotionless husk, starkly different from the cheerful girl that he vividly remembered.

Is she like him, wearing the mask to survive? Or is she truly gone, a soldier of their torturers?

He could not risk asking her and exposing himself. If Vivian was truly gone… he doesn't know what he would do.

The van stopped and their journey came to an end. Following the plan, he took off his jacket to reveal the sleek and shiny black bodysuit underneath. A glossy swastika in the chest stood out against the matte surface. A stark difference from the knightly armor that he used to wear.

Ten minutes ago, "Ulfbernt" died when fighting against Hope and Resolute because of the bombs planted by the remnants of the ABB. That will be the official story shared and enforced by The Pure Bastion.

Now, he is no longer Ulfbernt. George will be the 'child' of Night and Fog, who is out for revenge against the death of his 'parents', Bladewind.

Yeah, what a load of bollocks, but that's how it is.

Dead parents, heroic sacrifices, last stands. Dramatic, but appropriate for the public cape scene. They were not in Europe anymore. Guerilla warfare would not work against the Triumvirate. Public opinion needs to be on their side in order to hold the Protectorate back. According to Oberst, the Americans care more about having the moral high ground than anything else, so they need to stand higher if they want them to submit.

Seeing how celebrated Nameless Tinker D and Hope was for capturing villains nonlethally proved his point.

Major Oberst, Reinheit, Schneesturm and Bladewind stepped out of the van. They were in an alleyway not far from the PRT building, and they needed to walk a little to their actual entrance.

They walked from an alleyway into another and stopped in front of a broken vending machine, where Oberst typed a passcode in the number pad. The vending machine slid away from the wall to reveal a hallway illuminated by tube lights. According to the information provided by their moles inside, this was a route used by the PRT to enter or leave their building discreetly.

They entered the cramped hallway. It led them further underground, before coming up again and coming out from a room. They could hear people working and walking in the building, but Oberst walked confidently and they did not meet anyone in their way. They eventually arrived at their destination, the garage.

Oberst peeked through the door and gave him a series of hand signals.

Twelve troopers inside.

Bladewind nodded and pulled out several daggers from his pockets. Oberst opened the door and he threw it at the first trooper he saw. The glowing blue dagger tore through the trooper's throat as he let out a strangled gasp before it released an EMP that disabled all communications in the garage.

The other troopers put their guard up and raised their foam guns before the man even hit the ground. Reinheit and Schneesturm burst through the door to fight them. Reinheit unleashed helix beams from her hands, while some troopers collapsed on the floor just with a stare from Schneesturm.

Oberst looked down at a struggling trooper silently, before kicking him away like he was trash and pointed at the truck beside him. Receiving his orders, Bladewind pulled out a black sword that gradually heats up. When it glowed a bright orange red, he stabbed it through the truck and cut it open, revealing its passengers in cuffs.

Three people were restrained to the seats in the truck. Without a word, Oberst raised his handgun and gave the only Asian in the truck a bullet between his eyes. Oni Lee has been a staunch resistance against the Empire, a crime more than enough to warrant his immediate execution in Gesellschaft's eyes. Victor, whose mundane name he could not remember, sat unconscious in front of Oni Lee. At the end of the truck sits their main target today.

Max Anders, even with his unkempt hair and stubble, exudes an air of dignity and respect.

He glanced towards the major first before greeting him. "Major Oberst." Next, his eyes strayed towards the mature woman in white and widened. "Purity."

"It's… Reinheit now." Kayden replied hesitantly.

Max knocked it back as his shoulders slumped, as if despair had descended on him. "Where is Aster and Theo?"

Reinheit clutched her arms uncomfortably and replied, "We sent them overseas for their own safety."

"So they are in Gesellschaft now." Max replied calmly with a tone of acceptance. "Do you even understand what they will do to our child?"

"That is not how you should speak of our organization, Kaiser." Oberst interrupted.

Max ignored his warnings and continued speaking. "Let me guess. You were the only one who went free, so you must have been warned before Nameless Tinker D took action, or even outed. Did Major Oberst find you? Did he tell you how noble Gesellschaft is-" He was interrupted by a slap to the face from Oberst.

Oberst then walked away and shaked his head in disappointment. "I thought what Reinheit told me was untrue. That you were not faking your loyalty to the cause, but I can see that she is right."

Bladewind secretly thought to himself that what Oberst said was bullshit, again. He came to Brockton Bay with the intent of toppling Kaiser's rule, and there was no way a Thinker power as robust as his could not validate Kaiser's loyalty. Oberst was always going to remove Kaiser, one way or another. He was simply playing to Kayden's tone and presenting himself as a noble man right now.

"You maniacs are insane. Isn't that right, boy?" Max turned to him and asked.

A flash of panic zipped through his mind before he calmed himself down. Following the role of a mindless soldier, he stayed silent and did not answer Max's question.

Oberst ignored the man and took out a vial of smelling salt, waking Victor from his slumber.

"Eurgh…" Victor groaned as he woke up from his slumber. Oberst walked away from Victor and gave him space to cut his restraints open.

He hates how his superior in Gesellschaft treats them. Not only does he need to feign his absolute obedience and loyalty, he also needs to act like a dog, taking action from the slightest of gestures his superiors made. Excellent slaves do not need an order from their masters before doing their chores. They do it by themselves.

"Stand up, soldier." Oberst commanded Victor. "We welcome you back into our fight against the evils of the world, and I shall give you a chance to prove your loyalty."

Victor stood up and lowered his head towards Oberst. "It is an honor to meet you, Major Oberst. I would be honored to receive this chance and prove myself to the cause."

Oberst pointed at Max and said, "Drain his skills. As much as you can, Victor."

Victor was bewildered by Oberst's command, so he explained, "Kaiser has proven himself to be unloyal to the cause, and this is his punishment."

"Is… is that true?" Victor asked Max.

"Even if it is not, you do not have a choice." replied Max dejectedly. "But I do."

He could hear the sound of screeching metal as sheets of sharp metal sprawled out from the surface they were standing upon and instantly covered Max, prompting them to jump out from the truck. Being the man standing closest to him, Victor was instantly killed by blades penetrating his entire body.

Bladewind gave his limbs a quick glance. Kaiser's blades did not pierce through his body armor, and Oberst reacted fast enough to be entirely unharmed. Reinheit and Schneesturm were standing furthest away from him, so they were fine as well.

"Max, please! Stop!" Kayden pleaded.

"You are as stupid as ever, Kayden." Max's voice came out from the truck. "You think you're in control of anything? No, you're being used like always, and now our children are their hostages."

"They are third generation triggers, Max!" Kayden argued. "Their triggers would not be as painful as ours!"

Max, now enveloped by a knightly armor of steel, rushed out of the truck.

"But they will never be free."

A wall of sharp steel rose from the floor, forcing them to back away from Kaiser as he ran towards the closed gate of the garage. Routinely, Bladewind silently moved towards the door they used to enter the garage and stood guard there. Stabbing a sound absorbing sword into the floor, he watched as his team cornered Kaiser against the gate.

"He has abandoned the cause, and the cause has abandoned him." Oberst declared. "Reinheit. Subdue him."

He could tell that Reinheit hesitated, but it did not stop her from following Oberst's orders. She rose from the ground and unleashed her helix beams on Kaiser's incoming swords. The man formed a tall l to block the beam as his blades clashed against the metal gate behind him.

Oberst and Schneesturm stood aside as they watched the former husband and wife clash, though only one side was acting offensively. Reinheit repeatedly melts down Kaiser's steel beams, but he was raising them faster than Reinheit could collapse them. His eyes noticed that some of his beams were shielding him from Oberst's direction.

"The human body is a delicate machine, Kaiser." Oberst shouted. "How many toes can you still feel?"

Kaiser has excellent pain tolerance, and he can respect that. One of Schneesturm's most common means of intimidation and threat is flash freezing people's toes. When she uses her power, she has to establish a 'center' and gradually increase her area of effect.

In combat, where her target and 'center' were constantly changing and moving around, the best she could do is to flash freeze the volume of a BB pellet. More than enough to permanently blind someone if you freeze the internals of their eyeballs, or permanently paralyze someone by freezing their brain.

Kaiser did not answer as the gate behind him finally collapsed and a ray of sunlight peeked through. Wasting no time, he abandoned the fight and ran towards the light despite probably losing senses from more than half of his toes, if his estimation and experience with Schneesturm were correct.

Oberst simply raised a remote and ordered the gates to roll up, before commanding, "After him!"

There was a driveway in front of the garage that led into the street, but no matter how much Kaiser ran, he was not getting any closer to the final gate in front of him. Bladewind recognized this phenomenon. It was the signature move of a Brockton Bay's prized Ward.

Vista.

He quickly spotted her recognizable green wavy dress behind the transparent glass of the security guardhouse. He activated his visor and performed a quick infrared scan at the open space outside, and it seemed that Vista had taken her time to encircle the garage with her power. Did someone inside PRT see through the bombing as their distraction and sent Vista here to block off a path of escape?

It did not matter, Bladewind thought to himself as he pulled out a disposable dagger and threw it at the distorted space. Vista is famous, one of PRT's most renowned Wards for her Shaker 9 rating. Gesellschaft never set their foot on foreign soil without a plan to counter all known threats behind their back, so he was ordered to make this just in case they ever fought Vista.

If his hypothesis was correct, Vista's power functions by manipulating gravity from a higher dimension. Like manipulating the shape of ferrofluid with magnets, if you think of the ferrofluid as space and her power the magnet. He could not understand anything but the most simplified and basic explanation provided by his power when tinkering, but he wouldn't complain about it when the results functioned excellently.

The moment his dagger entered Vista's control, it made an unholy screech as space was forcibly rectified and returned to normal.

He took another glance at Vista's direction and saw her grabbing her head in pain. So fighting against her power causes mental backlash? A piece of information to keep in mind.

Kaiser was no longer moving, simply laying on the driveway as he struggled to move. Schneesturm probably killed a segment of the nerve cells in his spine like how she usually paralyzed someone.

"You have betrayed Gesellschaft and the cause, Kaiser." Oberst declared dramatically like a judge. "Reinheit. Execute him."

Nodding to Oberst's order, Reinheit slowly raised her hand and aimed it at Kaiser.

"I… want you to know, Kayden." Kaiser barely turned himself around and said, "You… you're the one who doomed Aster."

"I agree."

A torrent of bullets came from the sky and carved a line in the driveway, forcing Reinheit to back away from Kaiser. A man in neon blue spandex and orange jetpack landed from the sky and stood against Pure Bastion with Kaiser behind him.

Resolute arrived.

Last edited: Mar 9, 2023

4.3

Bombings. It had to be bombings.

I thought capturing Bakuda means that Brockton Bay gets to avoid a city wide terrorist attack, but I guess I was wrong.

"Confirmed locations of bombings: Arcadia High School, Clarendon Middle School, Winslow High School, Brockton Bay General Hospital, Anders Private Hospital, Brockton Bay Dockworkers Union, Banks of America, Broadwalk, Trainyards…" H.E.R.M.E.S droned on, but I stopped paying attention after the first few names.

"Refit all drones with portable water tanks and deploy them for firefighting and rescue." I commanded. "Lisa, you in?"

"Yeah, can't have a peaceful week in Brockton for fuck's sake." Lisa quickly replied. "Gimme a sec for my painkillers to kick in, I used my power and was about to rest just now."

Who did this? Pure Bastion? The Teeth? The Elite? Slaughterhouse Nine? I built a network of surveillance drones specifically to stop this shit, WHY ISN'T IT FUCKING WORKING!?

Deep breaths. Emotions affect combat performance. I need to make sure the Empire members I captured isn't being freed during this chaos, otherwise-

"You… you're the one who doomed Aster."

Nevermind, I saw Kaiser about to get executed by his German relatives, so I raised my gatling and pressed the trigger before swooping down.

"I agree." I said in response to Kaiser's comment. "You think I let you go because I couldn't fight you, Kayden? I let you go because Aster and Theo would be in the care of the United State's shitty foster care system otherwise, but apparently you decided to send them to a brainwashing camp instead."

"I-You're Nameless Tinker D?" Kayden, now in a new costume full of platinum swastikas, asked.

Talking was wasting time and effort in combat, so I took the opportunity of her confusion and slugged her in the face instead. Meanwhile, some new guy in black protective gear and night vision visor pulled out a beam saber and swung it at me. Instead of blocking it with my Jet Combat gear and risking contracting exotic effects, I jumped away and kept a distance between us before I pulled my gatling gun up again.

Who's that guy? Did Ulfbernt change his costume and branding?

Just as I was about to press the trigger, I suddenly remembered that I was literally fighting on PRT's front door and it might be the best if I didn't kill them, so I put it down and pulled out my Gashats before inserting Inspira Tinker AA.

Double the hands at work! Double the power! Inspira! Inspira Tinker Double A!

Genm and I stood side by side, him wielding a Gashacon Bugvisor. Without a word, we rushed forward. When we transform into this form, our thoughts become… clearer to each other. The faster we move, the less we need to talk to each other. With my technokinesis, I forced the lights around us to overload and explode, briefly blinding them before I leaped at Schneesturm and slugged her in the face as well.

I did not know if my Kamen Rider armor was able to stop Schneesturm's temperature manipulation, but I do not want to risk freezing my eyeballs on it. That was why she was the first person I took out. Kamen Riders are fairly strong, and a punch from a Level 20 Gamer could have easily turned her head into exploding mush as easy as I could knock her out. Schneesturm does not have a brute rating as far as I could tell, so the lights went out for her as easily as that.

Major Oberst apparently decided to abandon his team and ran away while both of us were occupied.

"Genm!" I shouted at the man. "What's taking you so long?"

Genm parried a slash from beam saber guy, who was apparently dual wielding now. "He's skilled! I can't do much without killing him!"

I decided to cut my losses and chase after Major Oberst myself. Just as I stepped out of the PRT gate, something from the sky hit me and engulfed me in a small explosion.

"Okay, this is the second time I have been bombed today." I muttered under my breath. I was basically unharmed, but the same couldn't be said to where I was standing, which was now a smoking crater.

I briefly reviewed the footage of what just hit me and-Is that a fucking mortar shell?

To my frustration, H.E.R.M.E.S decided to inform me of two new events.

"Lung spotted rampaging near Broadwalk. 24 robberies are occurring simultaneously. Uber and Leet are causing chaos at the Docks."

Live footage of a flaming dragon writhing around and a pair of medieval characters throwing fireballs were displayed on my monitor.

"Okay, I subdued the guy." Genm came behind me and paused a little. "Ooh, busy day, huh."

"Let's just go." I gritted out in frustration and transformed back into Tinker Gamer Level 2 and activated a new Gashat.

Bakusou Bike!

A neon yellow motorcycle with spikes jumped out of the Game Screen and stopped next to me. I got on the motorcycle and quickly rode towards Broadwalk. The closer I get to my destination, the more panicked crowds I can see. It has been a few minutes already, so how much has Lung escalated? I might be able to defeat him with higher level Gashats, but I wanted to keep them as a secret trump card against the Teeth and the Nine.

I swerved into the Boardwalk and saw Lung right ahead of me, two stories tall and spewing fire everywhere. Lung looked like a children's drawing of a dragon brought to life. The characteristics were all there, but he looked nothing like a typical dragon when put together.

"What an ugly dragon." Kuroto sneered.

Someone was already fighting Lung. Glory Girl was darting around Lung's proximity doing hit and run while Laserdream occasionally unleash her lasers to carve away at Lung, though it was nearly meaningless seeing how quickly Lung regenerated. Shielder was erecting force fields to confine Lung in a single spot, but the dragon crushed them as he moved and Shielder had to remake new force fields.

There was a clear trail of destruction left behind by Lung's movements. From what I could tell, the trail came from the beach and extended into the Boardwalk where New Wave was fighting him right now.

I inserted Bakusou Bike into the Kimewaza Slot Holder and revved up my motorcycle, speeding directly into Lung's direction.

"Get away!" I shouted at Glory Girl and Shielder, who promptly dodged aside when they saw my motorcycle bursting with energy lines as I rode into the air. The wheels of my motorcycle glow a bright neon yellow as I ride the motorcycle like wielding a weapon.

Bakusou Critical Strike!

Several Hit effects pop up as my motorcycle hovered mid air and clashed with the deformed dragon before I came out from the other side, leaving an explosion at where Lung should be.

That attack managed to carve out about half of Lung's body mass, but he was rapidly regenerating it and he might be even bigger later. I mentally summoned my drone to come over, but I also needed them to prioritize the robberies over Lung.

I'm here, I should be able to take him.

"You're near invincible when transformed with how weak the capes here are, Adam." Kuroto pointed out.

Arrogance leads to downfall, Kuroto.

"That's not the point."

"Hey, that's a pretty powerful move." Victoria landed in front of me as I retrieved my motorcycle.

"Glory Girl." I greeted.

"So, who are you?" Glory Girl asked, "A new guy in town? Pretty powerful tinkertech you got there if it can hit Lung like that."

"I am Nameless Tinker D." I corrected her. "You got any idea to take down Lung? He's too big for anything I have to disable him now."

"Hold on, you're Adam? I thought you're… nevermind. All we can do is evacuate the place and hope he goes down by himself. Nobody in Brockton Bay can subdue Lung after he grows that big."

"My drones are on the way." I said to Glory Girl as I inserted Drago Knight Hunter Z into my driver, "Stay back and evacuate the people, I'll handle Lung."

Drago Knight Hunter Z!

My fight with Lung probably looked hilarious from an outsider's perspective. A man with chibi eyes cosplaying a cartoonish dragon was wrestling with a much larger and malformed dragon.

We fought on the ruined and smoking beach, with no small effort on my part to avoid collateral damage. I pushed my claw into his body and clenched, ripping his flesh out before tossing it away and repeating the move again. Lung was strong, and he was hot enough to turn the sand we were standing upon into glass. However, it was clear that Lung could not control his body very well. He was strong, but his movements were becoming more sluggish and predictable the larger he grew. A drawback to his escalation, maybe? The loss of control over strength.

Lung grabbed my shoulder with his right claw and breathed fire at me nearly point blank, and I was starting to sweat inside the armor. Drago Knight Hunter Z can withstand regular fire, but Lung was clearly hotter than that.

Any wounds I inflicted would be replaced by more growth, and Lung could not physically hurt me no matter how much he grew. We were in a stalemate, but that stalemate will be broken if the temperature of his fire increases further.

As I was contemplating possible tiebreakers, a blue beam came above us and hit Lung, dousing his fire and reducing the amount of heat I felt. Looking up, I saw a man in an unmistakable outfit. A skintight sky blue suit with white flames and lightning.

"So that's the most famous hero in the world, huh?"

Legend.

With both of his hands, Legend unleashed his cryo beams on Lung. Lung's fire was strong, but it was clear that the cryo beams were reducing his flames at a considerable rate. The flames on Lung's skin went out before it gradually gained visible frost. When Legend hovered down and landed in front of Lung, the dragon had already been reduced into a man frozen in ice.

"Your days of terror are over, Lung." Legend announced heroically, and I found myself cringing at how corny and show off his lines are. Why did he say it outloud? Why was Legend making a pose when saying it? It looked like he was just playing around to me.

Claps and cheers began to rise around the beach. People had stopped running away, and were instead running towards us.

Or more accurately, towards Legend.

"Legend!" I heard someone shout before he pushed me away and rushed towards the man, asking for a photograph.

"Idol syndrome in heroes. That's something I don't see much in my world." commented Kuroto at the crowd surrounding Legend.

It was surreal, seeing how the same people who were running away for their lives five minutes ago were now happily swarming Legend, asking for photographs and selfies. I would not be able to engage in fan activities after experiencing a life and death event, too traumatized to even think of any entertainment.

It felt wrong to me, seeing how Legend was giving autographs and taking selfies with people who came to him, showing no fear at all for the frozen Lung behind him. Even Glory Girl and her cousins were surrounded by people, though in much lesser amount than Legend.

Someone tapped my shoulder and pulled me out of my brief shock. It was a chubby teen with some dust on his jacket.

"Hi, my name is Greg." he said, "Can I take a photo with you?"

"No."

4.4

Things were hectic in PRT. People were running around, scrambling to get anything done. Employees were shouting at each other, and all I felt for them was pity and annoyance.

Before I approached the counter, a PRT trooper approached me and gently asked, "Kid, where are your parents?"

"Told you to come here transformed." Kuroto laughed.

The suit's too flashy. I still have a sense of shame.

"I am Nameless Tinker D. Take me to the meeting room." I showed him the license card PRT gave to every affiliated hero.

"Okay, follow me." The trooper said. He led me into a meeting room, where a podium stood in front of rows of plastic chairs. There were a few independent heroes and rogues here and there, but New Wave's uniform costume was the most eye-catching.

"That dress up doll's costume has the best quality in craftsmanship. Who is she again?" Kuroto singled out the attractive blonde woman in particular.

Parian. She's a tailor, not a combatant.

"That explains it."

I noticed Taylor sitting with Grue, Bitch and Regent, so I walked over and sat next to her.

"Adam." Taylor greeted, "Are you alright? I heard you fought Lung."

"I'm completely unharmed. Lung's fire is useless against my suit, and he's not strong enough to overpower me."

Regent whistled and said, "You wrestled with Lung with that suit? Guess it's stronger than it looked."

"We went out as soon as Hermes alerted us to the robberies." Grue reported. "We stopped four robberies in the docks and stayed to help with the Dockworker's search and rescue before coming here."

I nodded in approval. "I stopped the Pure Bastion from executing Kaiser, fought Lung and handled a robbery before coming here. I heard Uber and Leet escaped again."

Bitch growled out, "Annoying fuckers."

"I rewatched their stream. Apparently they were roleplaying Payday 2." Regent said nonchalantly, "They tried to go stealth in Forsberg Gallery, but it's kind of dumb to live stream a stealth heist. The police came by and they snatched a few paintings before running away."

"This is getting weirder and weirder." I said in frustration. "All of this is too coordinated to be a coincidence. Bastion jailbreak, Lung's rampage, Uber and Leet… Anything weird with the robbers?"

"I think they are new recruits." said Grue, "Most of them didn't hold their guns right. One of them didn't even take their safety off."

"I'm just glad the big bad dragon is finally locked up for good." said Regent as he shrugged his shoulders. "At least we know he's gone, right?"

"I hope so."

A few more heroes entered the room as we talked. Victoria waved her hand at us when she entered. When I was starting to get annoyed by the wait, the man in charge finally arrived.

Legend led the Protectorate heroes into the meeting room, walking confidently with his head held high. A stark contrast with Armsmaster behind him, who looked like his usual grumpy self.

"Everyone, thank you for coming here today." Legend spoke to everyone in the room "I know it has been a hard month for Brockton Bay, with the instability caused by Coil's exposure and the collapse of certain gangs. But I would like to remind you that today, we have achieved a great stride in our quest for peace. Today, we have achieved a historic victory with the capture of Lung, thanks to the effort of New Wave and the Undersiders. Let's give them a round of applause."

"It's just four of us pinning him down until he arrives. The rest of the Undersiders didn't do shit." Kuroto complained.

"What about the Pure Bastion?"

Ignoring Kuroto, my question got Legend to pause his speech.

"What about the Pure Bastion?" I ignored the stares and asked loudly. "They invaded the PRT building and I knocked them out inside PRT grounds. What happened to them?"

"Regretfully, the Pure Bastion escaped capture." Was the reply Legend gave me.

"That's surprising."

I was simultaneously surprised and not surprised, to be honest. Knowing PRT's incompetence is one thing, actually seeing it in action is another.

"How?" I questioned Legend. "I literally knocked them unconscious at PRT's front door. How the fuck did they escape? Actually, how did they even get inside the PRT building in the first place? They freed Kaiser from his containment and were about to execute him when I got here. How did they escape?"

I was a decibel away from shouting, and I took a deep breath to calm myself. Like, what the fuck? I know PRT are a bunch of incompetent fucks, but apparently they are way worse than what I expected.

"Adam." Taylor pulled my sleeve and whispered.

"Young man, I know you're frustrated. But please, stay calm." Legend said in an earnest tone. "I know it is sad that they escaped, but we will capture them next time."

"That means they want to cover their mistakes. Keep asking."

"How did they escape?" I asked again. "I want to know, so I can prevent it from happening again."

"I can't disclose that information to independent heroes." Legend replied.

Before I could shoot an insult at them, Brandish spoke up. "The kid's right. He captured and handed the villains to you, and now you spit on his effort by allowing them to escape the very same day. He has the right to know why and how."

Legend turned to his side to whisper with Armsmaster before turning back to the crowd and said, "The Pure Bastion's mundane members infiltrated the PRT building and disguised themselves as troopers to free them."

I let out a cynical laugh as my head went dizzy with anger. Deep breaths, deep breaths. The desire to grab my chair and throw it at Legend was strong, but I cannot do that. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, before focusing on the meeting again.

"So internal corruption and incompetence then. Should have known." I said.

"How could the PRT let this happen?" Lady Photon asked angrily. "This isn't the first time captured villains escaped containment, but freed from the inside by disguised troopers? Why didn't PRT stop them?"

"We all know why." An independent hero whose name I could not remember let out, "Their entire staff is probably under a villain's payroll or is a villain himself. I'm more surprised they still act like they are actually useful or some shit."

"PRT needs to get their shit together." A woman wearing an eagle helmet said, "Like, I know Coil's ridiculous, but apparently anyone can disguise themselves as troopers and sneak the villains away now. What's the point of handing the villains to PRT if they will just get out anyway?"

"Yeah. I handed Mush over to PRT a few months ago and he got free a week later. Why do we even bother with you guys?" Another independent hero spoke up.

"I know recent events have broken your trust in the PRT and left all of you disappointed, but I ask all of you to give the PRT a chance." Legend said with staunchly. "For twenty years, PRT has been protecting the public from villains and coordinating heroic efforts. We are doing the right thing, and we will do it better."

"You're not doing shit, Legend." I couldn't hold myself back and retorted. "PRT has been fucking things up since it's conception."

"Watch your word, Nameless Tinker D." Armsmaster warned.

"No, seriously. You can keep saying stuff, but you're not actually doing anything." I continued to state my point. "You keep saying PRT is doing the right thing, but what about Canary? She was condemned into Birdcage for a single accidental harassment. Is PRT doing the right thing or do you need a scapegoat to push your fear mongering on Masters?"

Whispers and murmurs began to rise when I said that. Birdcage wasn't a topic that could be shrugged off by any parahumans, especially now that I brought up Canary's case.

"Canary… is a special case." Legend said hesitantly. "Her voice controlled her boyfriend into mutilating himself, by accident. We cannot risk a similar accident happening at her concerts."

I let out a dry laugh. "By accident. You know it's an accident, and you sent her to Birdcage, the single most inhumane containment center built to house the most insane and guilty criminals. You sent Canary into Birdcage for her accidental first offense, and you say that's right?"

"I am not involved in the process that sentenced her to Birdcage." Legend argued with a frown, "But I trust that the judge was being fair and reasonable when he passed the sentence."

"Any lawyers in the room want to say something?" I turned towards the room, clearly eyeing Brandish, "Is it fair for Canary to be sentenced to the same punishment as Marquis? Or String Theory? Or Glaistig Uaine?"

"Meanwhile, people like Coil and Kaiser are lounging in their penthouse, sipping wine because the Unwritten Rules protected them!" I shouted angrily. "If it wasn't for me, who knows how long they would have gotten away with it!"

Armsmaster slammed the butt of his halberd on the floor, the sound silencing all others in the room before he shouted, "You of all people have no right to talk about the Unwritten Rules! You broke them flagrantly everytime you fight against a villain! And I have sufficient evidence to believe that you're the one who killed Night and Fog!"

"Yeah, I killed them. So what?" I shot back angrily, "They ambushed me with high explosives and threatened to blow up an apartment building full of people. Am I supposed to stand there and be killed by them? Is that what you want, asshole?"

"Nameless Tinker D is right." Brandish spoke up. "Canary's sentence is unfair, and both Coil and Kaiser have proven just how far villains can abuse the Unwritten Rules. We need to change the status quo, not allow it to persist after all of this."

"This is a wake up call." Lady Photon continued after Brandish, "It's not just capes, the government needs to be more transparent with us. There might be more people like Coil out there, hiding behind authority. We need to find them and right their wrongs."

"They are using your advantage to push their own agenda." Kuroto pointed out. "Can you fuck her up? I hate people like that."

Yeah.

"Shut the fuck up, New Wave." I said to her, "None of you deserve to talk about transparency."

"What do you mean by that?" Brandish questioned coldly.

"What? You don't think I know about how you took down Marquis all those years ago? Or that you cheated on Flashbang? Do you even know who Glory Girl's real father is?"

The blood on Brandish's face drained when I said that, along with a varied expression of shock from members of New Wave. Now that I shut them up, I turned back towards Legend.

"While you're talking about 'doing the right thing', like throwing everyone the PRT doesn't like into the Birdcage, The Pure Bastion is running free! They are not your average street villains, Legend! Those are highly trained terrorists that came from overseas! Their escape today proved yet again how incompetent you PRT fucks are!"

"Maybe if you actually captured Coil, we could have plugged all our security issues!" Armsmaster retorted furiously.

Coil didn't actually get away, but the PRT doesn't know that. Neither does anyone in the room other than the Undersiders, and I intend to keep it that way.

"Coil got away because of the resources provided to him by the PRT, dumbass!" I shouted back, "You people are the biggest reason behind his success and you're placing the blame on me? What a fucking joke. The PRT isn't doing the right thing. It's taking the easy way out!"

"The Protectorate didn't remove the gangs because it's easier to keep them in the city and 'maintain balance'." I emphasized the last words and continued, "You kept Shadow Stalker in the Wards because it was easier than sending her to juvenile detention. PRT allowed Coil to run amok because it was easier to ignore your own corruption than actually doing something to clear it."

Yes. This is why I hate heroes in Worm so much. Every authority character acts like they are making hard decisions for the greater good, when they are actually taking the easy way out to compensate for their own incompetence. Endbringers could have been avoided if Cauldron bothered to help David mentally. Taylor's trigger could have been avoided if PRT bothered to do its job properly. Slaughterhouse Nine could have been avoided if the government actually empowered normal people to deal with capes..

But no, Cauldron lets people die because it was 'necessary'.

Fuck them.

"PRT's not changing because you said a few pretty words, Legend." I got out of the row of plastic chairs and stormed out of the room. Tolerating the PRT's incompetence was a mistake. I should not have taken their feelings into account. I could have done so much more if I didn't need to tiptoe around their fragile heart.

"And neither will you." I let out before slamming the door open and storming out of the meeting room.

"The PRT has negative value if they could undo everything you have done." Kuroto said, then excitedly asked, "Are you going to start collecting the sample candidates?"

No. I'm not going to kidnap villains for test subjects.

When a Gashat is inserted into the Gamer Driver, the RG Circuit Board will project its data onto the GD Hyper Module, which then converts the data into functional objects in reality. The most efficient and user-friendly design would have been to combine the Gashat and the Driver into a single device like most modern game consoles with their hard drive, but Kuroto did not do that. As he said so himself, the Gashats and the Gamer Driver were meant to be obtainable 'items' for Ride Players to use. Combining them together takes away the fun of collecting items in games, so Kuroto did not do that.

I am not making a game, so I do just that.

With the firmware structure and operating system complete, all I had to do was wait for my shipment of titanium alloys to arrive so that I could make my nanosuit. I decided to leave my old suit alone. The new Rider System needs a SX Giga Module to function, and it was easier to install it on the nanoparticle housing unit instead of making two of it.

I deactivated my transformation as my computer shut down, and a yawn came out of me naturally. Today's events were mentally exhausting, and I would like to get a good night of sleep for once.

I cracked my neck and left my laboratory, heading upstairs to get a cup of hot chocolate before I go to sleep. Or maybe I should try some honey lemon tea, if there were still any tea packets left. I entered the Undersiders living room and found Taylor sitting on the couch, wide awake.

"Hey, Taylor. You're sleeping here tonight?" I casually asked.

"Mmh." Taylor nodded. "I want to talk to you about today."

I got a feeling what she wanted to talk about, so I sat down on the couch in front of her. "Let me guess, my outburst at the PRT?"

"Yes. Why did you do that?"

"Because now the Pure Bastion is free again, and I still can't find them." I said as I slumped against the sofa.

I asked Taylor, "Do you know why Gesellschaft was so powerful in Europe?"

"Because they can consistently cause people to trigger in safe environments." Taylor replied with a frown, clearly unsettled by them.

"'Safe' is a relative term, Taylor. To me, wrestling Lung counts as safe. To them, people dying from being near a trigger event is safe. That's the enemy that we're fighting. Not Kaiser's pretend savior, but genuine war criminals. With their triggering methods, the Pure Bastion can create and recruit capes consistently. Right now, they have four capes. Maybe next week they will have five in a burning warehouse. Then six after ten casualties. We can't predict them, because precogs cannot see trigger events."

"So that's why you were so angry with the PRT. You're afraid of them."

I nodded. Worm was a shithole of a world, and Gesellschaft ranks up there with the Yangban and Cauldron in atrocities. They weren't talked about much in canon, but the fact that they create capes Night and Fog on a regular basis was more than enough evidence on the atrocities they do. What happened that you needed to become poison gas in order to survive? Or a monster when out of sight?

"When Gesellschaft first went active, Europe made the mistake of being lenient and gave them time." I said grimly, "We both know how terrible trigger events are, and these people are willing to actively cause them to bolster their own ranks. The Pure Bastion isn't an enemy we can be lenient against like the gangs."

"What about New Wave?" asked Taylor, "Is what you say about them… real?"

"Yeah." I nodded, "But that's not why I hate them."

"Why then?"

"When New Wave was still the Brockton Bay Brigade, they broke the Unwritten Rules first. They attacked Marquis in his home, in the middle of the night and threatened the safety of his daughter. Marquis only surrendered himself because he wanted to protect his daughter, and New Wave had the gall to talk about the Unwritten Rules when they attacked somebody in their own house. I just couldn't stand it."

"Marquis has a daughter?" Taylor whispered in shock, "Where is she?"

"Panacea." I answered, "So you can probably imagine how she's treated in the Dallon family. Brandish treated her like a potential villain, so she works overtime in hospitals in order to prove that she's not."

"Did Lisa find out about all of this?"

"Yeah." I nodded, "I was going to tell you sometime soon, but I… I let my emotions get the better of me. I was just so… angry. And frustrated, and annoyed at how my work went down the drain and the New Wave hypocrites are pretending to help me."

Taylor slowly nodded, coming over to my couch and pulled me into a hug. I could tell that she was a little awkward at it because of how stiff her movements were, but I hugged her back.

"Sorry, Adam." muttered Taylor beside me, "I… I guess I haven't fully understood how dangerous Brockton Bay is right now. I thought the city was probably safe with all your drones around."

I relaxed my shoulders and slumped into her. As I grew older, physical acts of intimacy like this became less and less often to me. I guess a perk of being a twelve years old is that people wouldn't bat an eye to hugging you.

Kind of pathetic of me to think like that, but I am in no position to complain.

"We'll figure things out." Taylor continued, "Your drones can't find them, but the Pure Bastion must be hiding somewhere in the city. Especially if they have mundane members good enough to disguise as troopers. I'll have my bugs search the city block by block. We'll find them eventually."

"I guess." I closed my eyes and muttered.

Interlude: Vicky

The trip back home was… quiet. Vicky doesn't know about her parents, but she and Amy were probably trying their hardest not to think about what Adam said to mom before he stormed out of the meeting.

Vicky didn't expect Adam's outburst against the PRT, though she can definitely sympathize with him. He captured four villains on the PRT's hometurf, and they somehow escaped under their noses. From the inside, no less. If it was her, she might have picked her chair up and thrown it at Armsmaster already, but Adam's choice of words definitely wasn't lacking compared to a chair throw.

She didn't think Adam had the balls to talk back against Legend, but he did. Taylor described Adam as a smart kid with some worrying control tendencies, but all she saw back in the meeting room was a child disappointed in the adults around him and decided to do something about it. She respects that, because she felt the same with New Wave. Vicky and Amy are the only two active capes in New Wave now, because everyone else has 'grown up' and moved away from being a cape in pursuit of stability.

She can understand why, but that doesn't mean she likes it. New Wave was supposed to be the leader of a new movement advocating for accountability, but they have stagnated. Nowadays, she is the only one who goes out for daily patrols, and Amy went to the hospital everyday to heal people.

She made a mental note to do some research on Canary's case as Dad parked their car into the garage. The weight in her stomach grew heavier with each step taken towards the living room.

What Adam said back there was false… right?

Sure, her face doesn't bear much resemblance to Dad, but she doesn't look like Uncle Neil either. Her power shared traits with Uncle Neil, but so what? That's not proof that she is his daughter! Researchers still haven't figured out how cape parents affect second generational triggers anyway. Similar powers definitely do not mean direct parentage.

Vicky hates that she could not say with absolute certainty that Adam was wrong. The moment he said it outloud, the first thing she thought was 'Wait, that actually makes sense.' The lack of resemblance between her and Dad, the power similarities, the weird atmosphere between her parents. Her mind connected the dots into an incomplete picture the moment she recognized the possibility.

Vicky refrained from sighing as she hung her cape on the wall before slowly sitting down on their couch. Mom and Dad sat on the opposite couch and maintained their distance.

As usual, her mind whispered. Do they even fuck as husband and wife? Dad's depressed, so is he ever in the mood for it?

Shut the fuck up, mind.

"What the boy said back then is pure slander." Mom spoke up first. "Vicky. You're our daughter. There's no mistake about that."

"If that's true, why don't we let Amy run a blood test on us?" She suggested as calmly as possible. "You can do that, right? Ames?"

Amy, who was trying her best to blend into the couch beside her, shot a glare before meekly replying, "Y-yeah."

"We don't need to do that." Mom immediately shot her proposition down, and it felt like a rock had been dropped into her stomach. "Go to sleep, Amy. There's a lot of casualties from the bombing and you need to heal them tomorrow."

"It doesn't take her long to do a blood test." Vicky insisted. "All she needs is to touch dad and I at the same time."

"Go to sleep, Amy."

"Mom." She stressed her words.

"Not now, Vicky." Mom replied, "We need to talk about your fight with Lung today."

To her surprise, Dad interrupted Mom. "You should be honest with her."

Mom flinched, but she quickly grabbed her bearings. "She is your daughter, Mark." She insisted.

"I'm infertile."

Two words, but it felt like Vicky's world exploded like that exploding planet GIF she used on PHO. Everything she thought she knew about her parents, gone.

"I didn't expose you because… I don't want to lose what we have." Dad continued in his usual placid tone. "But there's no point in hiding it if she knows about it already."

"Why?" Vicky found herself asking her parents, "Why didn't you expose her? How could you live with it? Why did you cheat on Dad? Just-" She has so many questions, some of which have answers she never wanted to admit. "Why? How?"

Mo- Carol stood up and reached for her. "Vicky-"

"No, don't touch me." She swatted her hand away. "You're the one who taught me how important being honest is. All this talk about responsibility and accountability, and you cheated on Dad?"

"This and that are two completely different matters!" Carol shrieked. "I am your mother! LISTEN TO ME!"

"NO!" Vicky shouted back and grabbed Amy's wrist. "Let's go. I don't want to be in this house anymore."

She's not going to leave Amy alone with Carol, especially when she is angry. The two of them stormed towards the door before she took Amy into a princess carry and flew away as fast as she could.

She could hear Carol shouting her name, but Vicky steeled her heart and ignored it. She has too many questions, and she cannot bear to stay in the same room who lied to her for her entire life and preached about transparency and accountability at the same time.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and blew away by the wind, but she did not stop flying. Where should she go now? She definitely cannot go to her cousin's home, considering Un- Neil's part in what happened today? Dean? Maybe, things were kind of cold between them recently but she's sure he wouldn't keep her outside if she came to his door. Taylor?

Taylor.

Did she know? Did she know and choose to hide it from her? How did Adam find out? Why did he expose it in front of everyone else?

"We should go and find Taylor." Vicky made up her mind and said to Amy.

"Yeah, you're right." Amy agreed and moved her head deeper into her shoulders. "We have a lot of things we need to ask her cousin."

The familiar sensation of the wind blowing against her hair took her mind of what happened, just a little. There were so many things she wanted to ask, yet so afraid of the answers. How much about her mother does she actually know? For a woman who built her entire career and history around accountability, how could she lie about something like this to her own family? To her own husband and daughter?

How much more has Vicky been lied to?

She doesn't know, and she's not sure if she wants to know.

The docks didn't look as shit as it used to, Vicky thought as she gradually lowered her altitude. Most of the grafitis has been covered with fresh paint, street lights were actually functioning and not just a pole by the road, and there were a pair of humanoid drones patrolling the streets.

If the witnesses she read on PHO were correct, Adam's drones responded to the bombings almost instantly. They acted with surprising intelligence and flexibility, becoming a great help to the emergency responders. There were people who raised concerns about the number of drones Adam possessed, but it was undeniable they were a great help with the search and rescue. Their advanced sensors were able to locate victims immediately in the rubble and they are advanced enough to move the rubble safely for rescue.

Slowly. Vicky landed in front of a clean porch and put Amy down. The Hebert house seems to have gotten some fresh paint, judging by the bright colors that stood out from the rest of the dilapidated residential area. The roof and the steps seem fairly new too.

She pressed the doorbell, and a middle-aged man with balding hair opened the door.

"Hi," Vicky greeted, "Are you Taylor's father?"

"Yes. Are you Taylor's friends?"

"Yeah, we have something we need to ask her."

"I'm sorry." Taylor's father apologized. "She's… not home tonight."

"Do you know where she is?" Vicky asked again, "We need to ask her something really important."

"Wait a minute," Recognition shone in his eyes as he took a closer look at her. "Are you Glory Girl?"

"Oh. Yeah." She nodded and pulled up a quick lie. "We have some cape stuff to discuss. It's about the bombings today."

"Oh. Well, Taylor's at their cape base tonight. I can drive you there if you want." He offered.

"Thanks." Vicky didn't refuse him. Taylor told them Adam has built a factory in the docks to maintain his drones, but she never said where it was. "Come on, Ames."

"Yeah." Amy nodded. A few minutes later, Danny was driving them towards Nameless Tinker D's elusive base.

"Today's a bad day, huh?" Danny started the conversation by saying, "Thought we would have some peace and quiet with the gangs gone, but apparently the thugs disagreed."

"Probably trying to do a last hurrah or something." Vicky gave a shrug and replied, "Legend came over to Brockton today, you know? Lung's locked up for good now."

"Well, I hope so." Danny nodded as he drove. "Glory Girl… err… you don't mind if I say something bad about the PRT, right?"

"Oh, no, it's fine. I actually wanted to talk shit about them too, in fact."

"Heh, okay." That got a chuckle out of Danny and he continued, "I heard from Adam that they let the new nazis get away today. Is it true?"

"Yeah. Apparently the nazis got some normal people to disguise themselves as PRT troopers and sneaked in to free them."

"Wow." Danny said in surprise. "That's a new low, even for Brockton Bay."

Vicky agreed. "No shit. I mean, everyone knows there is corruption inside PRT, but no one thought it was this serious. Adam was so angry he actually shouted back at Legend today. He's young, but he's got balls. That's for sure."

"Huh. I've never seen Adam get angry before."

"Really?" Vicky asked skeptically.

Danny's voice seemed a little distant when he replied. "Yeah. He's usually very calm. I wasn't there to see it, but apparently the day he got outed? He just brushed it off and launched an immediate counter attack like it's nothing. But when he told me Gesellschaft got away today, he reminded me…" Danny paused a little here, before continuing, "Of some of my colleagues when the city failed the docks. Is it normal for kids his age to be this mature?"

"I guess not?" She said before tossing the conversation to Amy. "What do you think, Ames?"

"Adam is twelve, right? Is his intelligence getting boosted by his power?" Amy suggested.

"I don't think so. He's mature, but not superhumanly smart. He still makes mistakes here and there."

"So something traumatic happened to him to make him this mature?"

Danny was silent for a few moments before replying, "Well, he apparently got his powers from losing his parents, so maybe."

"Adam's not wrong to be angry anyway." Vicky said, steering the conversation away from Adam's trigger event. "He handed the villains to PRT and they got free under their noses. Any hero would be angry if that happened."

"True, true." Danny agreed. "It's just… I don't know how to help him. He's very mature and independent, and there is a lot of stuff I don't know about capes. You're Taylor's friend at school too, right?"

"Yeah. Did she talk about us?"

"She does." Danny said with a smile. "She talks about school a lot more now. If it's not a bother, can you look after Adam for me? Maybe just give him some advice when you think he needs it. I don't think he'll listen to an old man like me despite how polite he is."

"Sure." Vicky agreed without hesitation. "Heroes gotta look out for heroes, right?"

"Yeah." Danny nodded. The car came to a stop in front of a factory before the gate opened for them to enter. Danny parked the car under a small booth as the factory gate rolled up for them to enter in person.

Vicky whistled as she looked at the mechanical arms and conveyor belts working. "Taylor wasn't kidding when she said Adam has a factory."

Danny nodded as he led them upstairs. As she walked up the spiral staircase, Amy tugged at her shirt.

"What's wrong, Ames?"

Amy pulled her down to eye level before whispering in her ears, "I thought tinkers can't mass produce their tech?"

Vicky could only give a shrug to that question. The only tinker she knows is Armsmaster and Kid Win, and she is certain they don't have a lab of this size, much less a factory. "Maybe something he exploited with his specialty?" She whispered back. Amy nodded to her speculation as they reached the end of the ladder.

It turns out there is a living room above the factory.. The floor was clean and the couches looked pretty comfy. There was a pretty boy playing games on the television as Taylor placed a few cups of water on the table.

"Hi." Taylor greeted with her usual awkwardness. "So… take a seat?"

"Yeah." Vicky nodded. "Thanks for having us, Taylor."

"It's fine. Sorry, give me a sec." Taylor replied before walking to the kitchen to talk with her father, leaving them with the pretty boy.

"So are you here to know who your real father is?" The pretty boy spoke up without letting his eyes off the screen. "Alec, by the way."

"How did-" Amy paused mid sentence as she realized who Alec is. "Are you Regent?"

Alec sent her a wink as the screen announced his victory. "Yeah, surprised?"

Vicky looked at him now with greater scrutiny. Huh, he actually does look like Regent out of costume.

Taylor walked over and sat on the opposite couch to Vicky while Danny went downstairs again. Despite her hesitations, Vicky decided to let the question out and get over it as quickly as she could.

"Taylor, did you know about it?" She asked, "About… what Adam said today."

"I didn't." Taylor immediately denied and Vicky felt relief bloom in her heart. "I don't even know how he knows about it!"

"Oh, thank god." Vicky let out, "I'm not sure if I can still be friends with you if you actually hide it from me."

"Did you run away from home, Glory Girl?" Alec asked with a tone annoying to her ears. "Can't handle a little infidelity from your mom?"

"None of your business, Regent." She shot back coldly. Just because the Undersiders are heroes now doesn't mean she forgets their days as villains, and Alec's attitude isn't doing much to endear her.

Alec shrugged his shoulders, letting her hostility slide off his skin. "I mean, cheating is not the worst thing a parent can do, you know?

"And what do you know about it?"

"I never knew which of the girls around my dad is my mother, so I would say I know something about adult relationships." Alec paused a little after saying that, then corrected himself. "Actually, scratch that. I'm pretty sure my father is the furthest thing available from the norm. I don't know shit about handling cheating wives."

"Fuck off, Regent." Vicky cursed back before asking, "Where's Adam? I should ask him myself."

"Adam's cleaning up his lab. He should be here soon."

Vicky nodded and slumped into the couch. "What a shitty day."

Taylor nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess. I never thought something like bombings would happen in Brockton Bay."

"Do you have any idea on who's behind this?" Vicky asked.

"From what we know right now, the evidence points to Pure Bastion." replied Taylor. "They somehow captured Lung and used him to organize the ABB remnants to plant the bombs and start looting. That's what Tattletale told me."

"Pure Bastion captured Lung?" Vicky repeated in disbelief. "How? I thought it hasn't even been two weeks since they came to Brockton Bay."

"We don't know." Taylor shook her head. "But Adam thinks they did it with Ulfbernt's tinkertech swords."

"Who's Ulfbernt?"

"Pure Bastion's sword tinker. The guy in swastika armor. He faked his death and rebranded himself as Bladewind, apparently."

"He faked his death to operate under a new cape name? Why?" Amy asked.

"It's a publicity tactic. They were going to make Ulfbernt a martyr to stand on the moral high ground." Taylor explained. "We saw through it pretty quickly, though. Tattletale's working on countering their publicity stunt."

"I didn't even know Pure Bastion had a tinker, to be honest." Vicky scratched her head in embarrassment. She is a veteran hero, yet she knew less than Taylor who entered the cape scene for less than a month.

"The Protectorate didn't tell you?" Taylor asked in confusion.

Vicky shook her head and explained, "Nah, the Protectorate usually keeps their cards close. It usually took like two weeks before they actually inform affiliated independents that there's a new cape in town but by then, everyone would have already known about them on PHO. The only useful intel we get from them is the power descriptions."

It was frustrating to be lacking in intel and let the villains get away because of that, but there was nothing independent heroes like New Wave could do about it. They simply do not have the financial strength to hire investigators and professionals to do the analysis for them. The Protectorate might be late on passing their information, but at least it was usually pretty accurate and authentic.

Though with how corrupt the PRT is, that means the villains got their intel too. Which just negated any advantage they have.

"I'm here." Adam's voice came up from the ladder as he stepped into the living room. "I guess you want to ask me about your mother?"

Her first reaction is to correct Adam and claim that Carol is no longer her mother, but she refrained. She needs to learn the full truth before she could say that. "Yes."

"Okay." Adam sat down on the couch beside Taylor. "Ask away."

"How did you find out?" She first asked.

"It was a suspicion at first." Adam began, "Your power inherited aspects from Manpower, Brandish, Lady Photon and Gallant. It's weird, so I asked Tattletale to do some investigation for me. Didn't know she would come up with an affair between the family though."

"Why did you expose her in front of everyone tonight?" Was her next question.

Adam ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he sighed. "I guess I was pissed that someone as hypocritical as Brandish is using me to push her transparency agenda, you get me? I was in a bad mood from having the Bastion escape."

"So I only knew that my mom's a bitch because she pissed you off." Vicky concluded. She could feel the irony lacing her words as she spat them out, and all she could do was scream into her hand to let her emotions out.

"I don't think the two of you should go back, especially Panacea." Adam suddenly said.

"Huh? Why?"

"Did you notice that Carol is neglecting Amy?"

All Vicky could respond was a single word.

"What?"

Her heart dropped to rock bottom when Adam said that, because the familiar sensation of the sudden realization has assailed her mind yet again. No, no, no. Carol didn't neglect Amy. It is impossible, because if Carol did neglect Amy, that means that she, as her sister, has been blind to it this entire time. That means that she has been neglecting Amy too, and that-

"Panacea is underage, but your mother allowed her to work overtime in the hospital for free, with no reason other than 'it's hero work'. She's suffering from physician burnout and your mother doesn't seem like she cares. How does she treat Amy in private, by the way? It's way different from how she treats you, right? I'm guessing that your mother only talks to Amy in formal tones and avoids speaking with her outside of what is necessary. Does Amy-"

"STOP!" Amy interrupted him with a shout, "Don't talk about me like you actually know me!"

Adam nodded and apologized, but she was too shaken to listen. Too much of Adam's brief examples has already lined up with what she remembered, and with it more dots connected in her mind.

Amy works in the hospital for free, but she has always argued against Carol that Amy should at least receive some recompense for it despite her constant objection. She knew Amy was suffering from burnout and kept telling her to take a break, but she never noticed how she was the only one in the family to do that. Carol's tone when speaking to Amy has always been rigid, but she thought-no, justified that it was just tough love from her. Looking back now, there were so many things wrong between Amy and Carol's interactions that she internally justified it as family quirks.

How much about her mother does she actually know? No, how much about her own family does she actually know?

"I can give you a place to sleep if you want." Adam offered as he stood up from the couch. "You can stay here for a few days before going back to confront your mother."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Adam." She accepted and turned towards Amy. "Ames, I… we need to talk. Can you give us some space?"

"Sure. Follow me."