I wake up feeling more exhausted than when I'd gone to sleep; if I had my way, I'd probably have just turned over and gone right back. But between the light in my eyes and the...phone? Being poked in my face?

"No rest for the wicked, Taylor." Victoria...right. Glowing. And phone? I open my eyes, trying to focus past the usual 'waking up' bleariness. Can't make out anything more than a bright screen. Thankfully, Victoria is still talking. "Your dad texted. Trouble down below. I'd go see what's going on, but there are a lot of people down there. If I startle someone before they start with the worship…?

People could be hurt...trouble?

There's trouble.

The haze is washed away, everything sharpening in a rush of what's got to be adrenaline. I realize that Victoria's easy tone is covering strained tension. I realize that my Dad contacted me because there's 'trouble'.

I'm on my feet, mostly avoiding any stumbling or swaying. Mask is...on the floor, there, I pick it up and pull it on, yanking up my hood over it...that's set. Most of my costume and gear are still in place; god, I need to wash this stuff at some point. And shower.

Later. Trouble.

"I'll put you on the rooftop." I tell her, as I grab my crossbow and check the ammunition feed. "Signal you if I need you...your aura disables people now, right?"

She nods, as she shrugs back into her sweatshirt, pulling up her own hood. It reduces the glow she's giving off by a not-insignificant amount. "I don't know what sort of range it has. Just that walls block it pretty well."

Okay then. "Not many of those down there." And if anyone tries to find cover, I'll just have to find them. "Ready?"

"Let's go."

I take us up-

-and linger on the edge of the roof just long enough to take in the setting sun, the sparse crowd below. Long enough to spot the canvas covered truck idling, and the group of men arrayed in front of it. And then-

-I'm on the street. Dockworkers and Volunteers at my back. Black-armored Cape and heavily muscled mooks in front.

"...hey."

The Cape, a woman, flinches back. Black armor, red suns...that's familiar. Sunspot? Sunsomething. One of the Travelers. So definitely a villain, then. What's she doing here with henchmen and a truck?

"Crow." From behind me. I don't look; it's not hard to recognize my Dad's voice. Especially not when it's his Union voice. "Glad you could join us. Miss 'Sundancer' here was just explaining how we're all in her territory now."

I guess that explains that.

I can't see her face, with her helmet and visor, but I can tell she's looking past me. And I can tell when her focus shifts back to me a moment later. When she rallies from my sudden appearance. "You're Crow?" I don't respond. Don't move. Just watch; one of her guys is tilting his head to one side. Barely noticeable, but it draws my attention to the little curl of clear plastic along his neck. "I'm not looking to start trouble with heroes."

Claiming a relief camp as your 'territory' in the aftermath of an Endbringer attack is a really funny way of 'not looking for trouble'.

As the silence drags on, another of her guys shifts. His hand brushes his hip, dropping back. Armed? Probably safe to assume.

"The fact is, I have things these people need." She continues, sweeping a hand in front of her as her voice raises. "I can provide food and water! Clothes! Medicine! And I have men, workers, medical help. I can provide security against the gangs-"

"We're not exactly lacking in security." I cut her off...and she flinches back again. Which is strange. She seems almost nervous. Not nearly as confident as she's trying to sound...is that why her attempted speech there had been so stilted?

Something is wrong, here.

"We've got a doctor, too. And plenty of people willing to work." That much should be obvious. "You're right in that we don't have as much as we need when it comes to supplies, though. Which makes me curious where you came by it all." It's my turn to raise my voice, then, as I work through that idea. As I reach the inevitable conclusion. "Where exactly did you get all these things we need? Because I know the last time I found missing supplies, they were in a Merchant stash house."

She's on the back foot now. Why? I'm one Cape, I've argued one point…

Why is she here alone?

Where did she get these supplies, and these men? Since when does a nomadic gang have access to that kind of thing?

Something's wrong.

I lift a hand, and wave it over my head. Maybe-armed guy turns out to be armed, and a second later I'm staring down the barrel of a handgun. There's a dangerous clack-clack behind me, along with a surge of similar noise as members of the crowd ready their own weapons. A miniature star forms in the air between the Traveler and I.

And then Victoria craters the street, and it all just sort of...stops.

She straightens up, while everyone around us stares and starts to prostrate themselves...and I'll admit, I didn't fully grasp until just now what she'd been talking about when she described her aura's new effects. This is definitely disturbing to watch…

"So what's the deal?"

"Territory grab, or something. I didn't ask for details." I look around for a second or two, just...take it in. "This is...definitely one way to shut down a fight."

Victoria chuckles bitterly, shoving her hands in her pockets and lifting out of her crater. "I guess there's got to be some benefit to this bullshit." She tosses her hair, looks down at the Traveler...Sundancer, that's her name. "What now?"

"We make sure she gets the message that she's not welcome here." Because this is our place. My Dad and his friends decided that. The people volunteering to help them decided that. And I said I'd help keep everyone here safe. So Villains trying to take over? Not going to happen. "Hang around for a second. I'm going to check the truck."

"Sure thing, boss." She snaps off a salute that I can only describe as 'sarcastic'. Lifts a little further into the air to start circling the downed villain.

With that taken care of-

-I open the truck's driver-side door. The man behind the wheel is as out of it as everyone else; I don't bother with gentle as I pull him out. He tumbles to the ground as I haul myself up and into the seat. Keys...there. I kill the engine, yank the keys, and check under the dashboard...there's a lever. A quick tug, and the hood pops up a couple inches. Perfect.

I hop out, circle around, and climb up the bumper to shove the hood open. Belts are important...I grab the first one I see and yank it out of place. Slam the hood closed as I drop down again. Then it's around the back, and a quick vision enhancement to make sure there's nobody waiting in the bed with a gun or something. It's clear...but definitely not empty. I'm not about to check all these crates, but...damn.

Okay.

The driver is still face-down on the asphalt, but he doesn't resist when I grab him by the collar. In fact, he's still mobile, stumbling along behind me as I drag him over to the rest of his friends. Interesting, but ultimately not important…

I pick up the dropped gun. Pull the slide until the bullets stop coming out, then fumble the clip out to make sure it's empty. Of course, then all those bullets are on the ground around me, which...isn't what I need. Great. So I have to pick those up-

"That was almost smooth."

"Shut up."

Bullets go in my pocket, gun looks like it's ready to fire...shit, right. I check the rest of the mooks, and recover another two handguns. Those go on a table well past the line of armed Dockworkers.

Okay. Now we're ready.

"Head back up? But be ready to take Sundancer if I teleport out."

Victoria eyes me up, for a second, before nodding. "Be careful, okay?"

Yeah. Sure. Careful.

She flies straight up, light receding after her. It doesn't take long for the stupor to start clearing, for people to start pulling themselves together. Sundancer, for her part, shakes it off with a sharp head-shake, staggering upright-

-and getting a very good look at the gun I have pointed at her head.

She goes still. The guys behind her, also recovering, try to reach for their own weapons, only to find them gone. I eye them pointedly, point at the ground with my free hand. They kneel, cooperatively.

Good so far.

"You're not going to shoot me."

"Believe me when I say that I will." It's a lie, for the most part; there's a reason I emptied the gun. But my Dad is sitting in a wheelchair behind me. And it's an uncomfortable fact that I killed the last person to try and hurt him. It makes it easier to sell the lie. She seems to be buying it. "Walk away. Don't come back."

She doesn't move, but there's the faintest tremble in her shoulders. And her voice is pitched low, almost plaintive when she does finally speak. "I'm trying to help you people."

It almost makes me feel bad about this. But then I glance past her at the formerly armed mooks, and I think about the fucking sun she was ready to throw at a bunch of civilians, and that feeling goes away. "You're trying to profit from our home dying." I thumb back the pistol's hammer. Purely dramatics, I do actually know that, but it feels good. "You don't get to do that. Now walk away."

She glances back at her men. Up into the sky, where I'm sure Victoria is still visible. Back to me...

And she takes a step back. When I don't pull the trigger, she takes another. She motions for her henches to stand, and soon enough they're all edging back...one goes for the truck's door, and I click my tongue, wave him away with the gun. "That stays. You walk."

Sundancer's hands are clenched into fists, shaking slightly. Angry? No doubt. But instead of saying something, instead of attacking, she turns her back on me. Apparently dismissive, as she stalks toward the nearest alleyway. The henches follow after, though one of them keeps an eye on me the entire time.

I stand there, keeping an eye on the street. Listening to people shifting behind me. The occasional awkward cough...how long is a good amount of time to wait, here? Just to be sure they're actually gone? Ehh...it'd be hard for them to sneak up on us, by now. Right?

I flip the gun so I'm holding it by the barrel, turn to look...wow, okay. The crowd seems much...more, at this level. And everyone is watching me. Okay. I focus on the camp's de facto leader, since my Dad is busy glaring down the street past me. "So...that's a problem."

That gets a subdued laugh from the people close enough to hear me. And the doctor almost manages a smile, himself. "Yes, it is."

I'm not sure what I can add to that, what sort of assurances I might be able to offer. Rolling out of bed to deal with this...villain territory grabs. Are they going to try again? Get violent? Is there some kind of precedence for this sort of thing, after Endbringers?

"You'll probably want to report this to the Protectorate, if you can." I shrug, and pad over to Dad's side. It draws his attention, and he reaches out to take the handgun as I offer it over. "For now...you have a truck full of supplies to figure out what you're going to do with."

"We'll get it unloaded." Dad speaks up, eying the gun. The handful of loose ammunition I offer over a moment later gets a raised brow, but he doesn't let it distract him. "Haywood, your boys can work out what we'll need…" Next, I jingle the truck's keys meaningfully, before dropping them in his lap. "...and any extra should be easy enough to pass along."

"Not a bad plan." Dr. Haywood's delivery is painfully dry, and I offer another sheepish shrug. He watches me for another moment, but then (thankfully) turns his attention to the nearest volunteer. "So what, exactly, are you all waiting for?"

That gets people moving. Dad included, though he shoots me a look that says we'll be talking later, as he rolls himself off to the tents.

"And Crow?" The doctor lowers his voice, shooting a wary glance upward. "As much as I'm sure we all appreciate your assistance, I think I speak for a few of our people here when I say we'd probably prefer if your friend...keeps her distance?"

Right. Of course. I have to fight down a sudden surge of irritation, because that's...it's fair. No, not fair. Understandable. "We'll keep it in mind."

Maybe there was a bit more venom in it than I'd hoped, because he's quick to avert his eyes. And when he doesn't volunteer anything else, I decide I'd rather not hang around. I sweep away, going only a couple of feet before-

-stepping up onto the rooftops.

What a morning. Evening. "You'd think I'd at least have the chance for breakfast, first."

"Yeah, reality's kinda harsh like that."

Well, Victoria wasted no time sneaking up on me. Which is particularly impressive, seeing as she's a walking floodlight now. I turn to face her, pretending I didn't just about jump out of my skin. Her grin tells me she's not buying it at all. "Nobody'd complain if I just went back to bed, would they?"

"Ehh." She waggles a hand, drops down beside me. "It'd be kind of a waste. Now we've got the whole night ahead of us." Just the thought makes my head hurt. "But hey, before we get into that, can we talk about that thing you just pulled? Because I'm really curious which action movie you got it from."

I flush. "That wasn't from an action movie."

"Oh come on." She scoffs, rolls her eyes. "There's no way that was all off the top of your head." I edge back as she leans in, her grin edging on a leer. "You spend your weekends coming up with that stuff, don't you? 'Oh, what if I have to threaten somebody with their own gun, well I'll probably empty it out all cool and bluff like a boss for extra style points'. Please."

I…

"...so I'm going to find some breakfast."

"Oh, yeah, I can go for breakfast...are there waffles? Do you know where we can get waffles?"

Waffles?

That actually does sound good.

"I guess we'll have to find out."

"Awesome."