January 31st, 2011 - Monday
Early Morning

Taylor and the rest of the Elite were hiding in a building across the street from a Merchant-occupied warehouse. Getting there took dodging multiple Merchant patrols, a task made far easier by Webweaver's bugs letting the team know about them well in advance, though it did mean having to hide their van a couple of blocks away from the actual target. Most of them were now hanging around on the first floor ready to move out, while Webweaver herself had taken position in one of the top floors to get a better view of the field. The plan they'd hashed out was surprisingly direct, then again, they were dealing with Merchants - tactical geniuses, their enemies weren't, and having taken shelter in a new location they hoped the Elite hadn't found yet meant far fewer fortifications. Dynamic, Jigsaw and Webweaver were wearing the same costumes Taylor had seen them in previously, while Vortex - it was so much easier to think of them all by their cape names when they were in costume - was wearing a green bodysuit with a darker spiral pattern covering most of her upper back, her face hidden behind a green theatre mask set in a neutral expression. Taylor's own costume had been completed just yesterday, and it fit her like it had been woven on her. Considering the measuring session, it might as well have been... Worth it, though. Taylor was conflicted about wearing it - on one hand, it made the whole cape thing feel more real, on the other, even as a kid she'd never expected to actually find herself in a cape fight. Or so many other things that have happened... Webweaver's voice coming through their earbuds made everyone jump to attention.

"Squealer's in her workshop, Tinkering. Trainwreck's in the main area along with about a dozen unpowered mooks, half of them asleep. There's also someone that's most likely Mush, seems asleep. Everyone ready?"

Taylor's confirmation joined the other three.

"Go."

Taylor, Dynamic and Jigsaw opened the door and started moving towards the warehouse. As Vortex looked out a window, a green field appeared in front of the warehouse's door, and it started creaking. The four Merchants outside the door jumped away from it, panicking. One took a shot from Dynamic's kinetic rifle to the gut and curled up on the ground. The other three finally spotted them, and their spiking anger woke Taylor's power. As she grabbed Jigsaw's hand and charged ahead, she pushed her power into them for more speed. She took a few shotgun shots, but they bounced off her armor harmlessly. Tossing Jigsaw's hand past the far one, she disarmed the nearest one (spraining his wrist in the process) as the rest of Jigsaw reappeared mid-flight, knocking his target to the ground and putting his stun gun to the target's neck as Taylor's fist sank into the last one's gut. Another loud creak, and the warehouse's door finally gave in and was torn out of the wall. As it hit the ground, the team was confronted by a giant of a man with metal parts, a growing trash golem, and about a dozen junkies with guns. A woman's terrified screams were coming from deeper in the building. Vortex's field swept through the room, knocking all the Merchants except Trainwreck off their feet. The Case 53's raw strength had apparently been enough to keep him upright, if barely.

Webweaver's voice hissed in her ear again as they were getting off the ground.

"Remember, Eris. You take the normals first. Dynamic, Jigsaw, go for Trainwreck until she's done. I managed to bite Mush a few times before he started gathering his trash - unless his powers offer resistance, he'll be out in a few minutes. We've made enough noise that their patrols will start returning to base by then, though."

Taylor had remembered that part of the plan - by the time Webweaver finished speaking, she'd already ran up to the nearest Merchant and shoved his gun out of the way before tugging his arm sideways. Both their anger at being attacked and Taylor's power were making her fast, and she was on to the second thug before the first even hit the ground. She twisted that one's gun arm before punching him in the gut - going for the head was both too likely to kill them (Web had drilled that into her - concussions could be dangerous in more ways than immediately obvious) and knocking them unconscious meant less power for her (Web would probably have tried to drill that one in too if Taylor hadn't already learned that from experience. She'd definitely brought that up when planning, though.)

Taylor hadn't quite accounted for the effects of drugs on some of the Merchants, however. By the time she was on her sixth target, two had passed out from pain anyway, as had two of the ones taken down outside, costing her some of her speed and strength. One more tried to get up and put his weight on his broken arm, collapsing to the ground with a grunt. Three more went down without such incidents. As she had the tenth's gun in her grasp and was about to yank it out, however, she heard a dreadfully familiar sound coming from the direction of Squealer's workshop.

"GET DOWN!" she shouted, following her own advice. The minigun on Squealer's vehicle roared... but despite an infernal racket, no bullets came their way. When it quieted down, she could hear pained screaming from the outside.

"Get back to it," Webweaver spoke through the earbuds. "She's buried in thousands of bugs and the ketamine's kicking in, that was firing blind. She wasn't even aiming for the right wall, hit her own reinforcements. Jigsaw, go get her."

As Taylor stood up again, Mush got bowled over by another pass of Vortex's field. He seemed to have a harder time getting up than the last pass. Vortex had first suggested keeping her field centered on the two Merchant capes to contain them, but Web had pointed out that if Mush's garbage or Trainwreck's armor counted as separate objects then they could've gotten crushed. Judging by Vortex going for passes instead of just grabbing one of them, the first pass had confirmed that.

Another charge incapacitated the last two Merchant thugs, leaving only the two capes standing inside the warehouse. Trainwreck was charging at Dynamic, who calmly stood his ground, Jigsaw having already ran off towards the workshop. Once the bigger cape was in range to swing, Dynamic sprang forward, ducking under the blow and putting his kinetic rifle to the back of one of Trainwreck's knees. A pull of the trigger shattered it, bits of metal shrapnel flying out. Vortex's field swept past one last time, finally knocking him down. Mush was on the ground, the ketamine having finally done its work. Jigsaw reappeared, an unconscious Squealer draped across his shoulders in a fireman's carry. Metal screeched again as Dynamic removed another of Trainwreck's metal limbs.

"We're done here, it seems. Eris, their patrols are back, six people already in line of sight, about thirty more should filter in over the next few minutes. Clear the way to the van, I'll watch the flanks."

Taylor nodded and headed out, finding eight Merchants. They were mad, and combined with the ones inside, she felt like she could so easily break them all. Wait, that might not be necessary. When she charged the reinforcements, she deliberately slowed down after taking down the first two Merchants to get in reach. She stood up and turned towards another thug with a shotgun, and he pulled the trigger. As the pellets bounced off her armor, she didn't even flinch. He tried a few more times, to no more effect - though the fact he'd tried again at all left her uncertain whether he was that brave or that dumb. Dumb, probably. As she ripped the shotgun out of his hands, bending a few fingers backwards in the process, she noticed that another group of Merchants coming out of an alleyway a dozen yards away saw that and decided to turn and run. Another bullet pinging off her shoulder informed her that a group coming in from behind her didn't seem to be as impressed.

So be it, then. At this point it's their own fault...

By the time Webweaver's voice came through the earbuds again, informing her that nobody else seemed to be incoming, almost two dozen Merchants were lying in front of her in varying states of injury. She then had to wait until Webweaver was done wrapping the captured capes in cocoons, and called 911 when they were almost back at their van.

~o~o~o~

January 31st, 2011 - Monday
Morning

The unmarked van came to a stop as close to the PRT building as it could without risking the PRT getting twitchy. Taylor stood up from where she, Dynamic and Jigsaw were keeping an eye on the captured Merchants in the back. Vortex was driving, while Webweaver had her gold widows bite Mush and Squealer when they started stirring. She'd apparently decided not to gamble with the effects of ketamine on the Case 53's physiology, instead relying on wrapping him in a thicker cocoon than the other two. The back door finally opened, Vortex stepping aside to clear the way, and the three each grabbed a Merchant - Jigsaw grabbed Squealer since she was the lightest, Taylor was the next with Trainwreck, and Dynamic was stuck with Mush due to having a gas mask as part of his costume. As they proudly dragged the captured capes to the front door, the passersby heading to work immediately took notice. The first phones were out fast enough that one could be excused for thinking some of the people involved had superpowers.

"What's going on here?" one of the PRT troopers by the door asked, eyeing the capes warily.

"The Elite come bearing gifts. Do try not to lose them." Webweaver confidently strode into the scene, surrounded by her swarm, voice augmented by its speech. Everybody's eyes were on her.

"This is our first gift to Brockton Bay. No longer will the filth of the Merchants prey on the vulnerable of the city - so long as the heroes can keep three capes without allies on the outside in a prison, that is. We'd hate to have to do their job for them twice." With that, Webweaver turned to head back towards the van, and the rest of us followed. The troopers didn't like what Webweaver's little speech, but the civilians were more conflicted. Some seemed angry, perhaps at another gang moving into the city. Most seemed varying degrees of curious and wary, likely wondering where things will go from there. A few even seemed... happy? Awed? Taylor guessed they had personal issues with the Merchants. Vortex nudged her.

"Come on, Eris, smile for the cameras. Even if they can't see much of your face, it still shows." Her own posture implied a grin enough that it almost seemed believable, but as Taylor rolled her eyes, she wondered if anyone will catch on that the brief exchange had been planned in advance, including Vortex being loud enough to be heard by the nearest civilians. After all, pointing to Taylor and saying "This is Eris, she's with us now" would've looked silly, but her being part of the team did have to become public knowledge.

They ran a few circles and detours before heading back to the warehouse to make sure nobody was following them. As far as any of them could tell, nobody was.

After hiding the van in a nearby garage, they filtered into the office. Web's bugs had followed them into the building, before crawling into the crates.

"Well, that went smoothly. How's the costume working out for you, Taylor?" Webweaver asked, removing her helmet and futilely trying to smooth out the bad case of helmet hair.

"Excellent. Didn't even feel a thing from the shotgun."

"Oh? Where'd you get hit?"

Taylor pointed, and Web came up to have a look.

"Nope, not even a scratch. Good, good. Anyone has something to say about the fight itself?"

After waiting for a few seconds and receiving no answers, she sighed.

"Okay, fair enough. The only sticking point I see is that Squealer got to fire the minigun. Sorry, guys, I fucked up on that one. Let's just hope that the whole place was abandoned enough that she didn't hit some civilian a few buildings over, that thing overpenetrates hard. Anyway, if nobody has anything to say, then we might as well go home. I, for one, definitely need it after waking up at two AM for this..."

With that, everyone left. Taylor took Dynamic's offer to drive her home, and once there she booted up the computer in the living room to check on PHO.