January 14th, 2011 - Friday
Evening

Over the next several days, Taylor had successfully stopped eight muggings - even with her anger sense being almost cheating for finding them, the ease made her keenly aware of just how bad things were getting in the Bay. She managed to shop in a couple of grocery stores without incident now that she figured out how not to anger people just by loitering near them. Working up the anger to jump up to her warehouse's window was getting easier each time. After managing to clean herself off in the abandoned showers with bottled water (after confirming that her power made the cold bearable so long as she kept herself angry enough and away from windows) Taylor felt hopeful for the first time since Winslow.

That's why following a trail of anger to find an E88 initiation felt almost overdue.

The scene was straight out of the stories that have been going around ever since the Empire became a major gang. A would-be lieutenant would earn his position by killing a minority, tonight's victims apparently being a black couple that found itself at the wrong place and worst possible time. Taylor approached quietly, the Nazis too distracted by their victims to notice her.

One unpowered mook, the future lieutenant, brandishing a knife. Three more, standing at a distance to the sides and behind the victims with lowered guns, denying their escape. Alabaster and Crusader, standing back, observing the proceedings, there to judge his worth. She remembered them from the news and PHO - one would reset any damage taken every few seconds, the other controlled ghostlike minions. She was hesitant about picking a fight with two infamous capes, but she realized she couldn't just walk away and leave their victims to die. The gunmen first - I'm not sure how bulletproof I am. Then the knife wielder so the civilians can escape. Then hold the capes off until they're gone.

Decision made, Taylor charged in. The gunman facing her turned away from the show at the motion and cried out just as she took his comrade with a downward blow to the gun arm's shoulder, and her target collapsed with a scream. All attention on her, Taylor reached for her power and pushed it into the unpowered gang members, them forgetting all about their victims and charging her. Meeting the charge in a zig-zag, she managed to avoid most of the bullets sent her way, one going through the muscle in her upper arm. Her anger spiked with the pain, and she disarmed them enthusiastically. The lieutenant's forearm broke in the melee, bone sticking out, but it took seconds to make sure all four mooks were no threat. The couple took off at that, but a ghostly form knocked them to the ground with its spear. Taylor turned to the Empire capes, the burning where she'd been shot already fading.

"That was a ridiculously stupid thing to do, heeb", Alabaster remarked.

She was spared the effort of having to come up with a response to that by a spike of anger from Crusader and a flickering in her peripheral vision. Taylor leapt forward, a ghost's spear parting the air where she'd stood. More of its kin were appearing next to Crusader, seeming to almost walk out of him. She knew she only had to hold the capes off until the victims escaped, but a glance confirmed the one holding the victims on the ground at spearpoint was still there, apparently not hurting them but not letting them move away. Have to deal with Crusader, then.

An attempt to head directly for him failed as the ghosts put together their spears in a phalanx formation, and Taylor could not charge through without getting skewered like a boar. She couldn't run around them either - she wasn't fast enough with only four other people still conscious, two of them too terrified to be angry. An experimental push of her power caused Crusader to send several ghosts charging her way, but they were replaced by others. I need a weapon.

Taylor sent more rage towards the two capes, causing Alabaster to run straight at her, and energizing her further. Between that and focusing on what would have happened to the couple had she not interrupted, Taylor managed to rip out a lamppost with little difficulty, and give it a few swings. It was unwieldy, which was bad. It went through Crusader's ghosts without meeting any resistance or bothering them in the slightest, which was worse. A close swing that had her hands clip one of the ghosts sent it flying, however. Grinning, she tried to take the fight to the ghosts, but even with her power coursing through her their teamwork won out, forcing her to back off when a spear tore the gunshot wound on her arm wider. She grew more frustrated, realizing she couldn't fight through barehanded. There has to be something...

Her thinking was interrupted by Alabaster's knife appearing in her field of vision, which she'd dodged, receiving a shallow cut on the cheek. Wait, that's it!

She charged forward, punching Alabaster in the face. He hit the ground along with a shower of teeth and flickered, but before he could get up, Taylor grabbed him by the leg.

"WHAT THE-" he started shouting, before having the wind knocked out of him by impact with a Crusader ghost. She turned to the Nazi himself, seeing him flinch, and charged, flailing ghosts out of her way with a screaming, furious Alabaster. Crusader turned to run, but she reached out with her anger and he turned around again, eyes wide in fury. Then she put him down with a swing of Alabaster. He flew several feet through the air and landed with a crunch, staying down and groaning faintly. Alabaster flickered to pristine another time.

"Did you really just-" Taylor interrupted him by slamming him into the ground. A couple of seconds later, he flickered again.

"You can't keep-" Taylor slammed him again. His anger was sustaining her, though she found her own fading - venting the last ten days on someone who could take it was very therapeutic, temporarily at least. Remembering why she was in the situation to begin with, she looked around for the couple, only to see them scurrying away from the scene. Well, no thanks received tonight. At least they're safe. However, Alabaster had a point - she couldn't just leave him and walk off, lest he try following her to her warehouse. She was reasonably certain she could tell if he tried by his anger, but that was no excuse to be stupid.

Looking around, she saw nothing suitable to restrain him in immediate sight, so she walked over to an alleyway, slamming Alabaster into the ground every few seconds to keep him behaving. She found a large dumpster, accompanied by two smaller ones for recycling. They didn't seem to be anywhere close to full, so after a moment's consideration she shoved Alabaster into the large one, slammed the lid on him, then grabbed the one labeled "Glass" and set it on top of it. That should keep him for a while.

Then Taylor took off running, taking care not immediately move in the direction of her warehouse.