You know what time it is

Here we go


Interlude II: Tattletale


Is looking for something

Lisa sipped on her drink and rolled her eyes.

I'm sure she is, power. Thanks a lot, much thinker. It's not like the entire Boardwalk is filled with nothing but stores and restaurants...

With that, she turned away. Lisa liked her power, she really did but at times it could get pretty face value with its evaluations if she wasn't focusing very hard.

Say what you will about her nosiness, even she didn't care about what the average Brocktonite was doing on Wednesday morning. Almost everything she picked up through minimal use of her power was either plainly obvious even without her power, boring, or something that made her want to gag.

Despite the unhelpful answers though, she did still enjoy people watching. Learning people's dirty secrets, on the occasions when she could figure them out just by watching them on the Boardwalk, was a balm to her soul. Even if she had to push through an hour of random nonsense just to get one useful secret.

Her power wasn't omniscient after all. It had to have something to work with, and while people's body language did give off a lot more than most people realized, it still wasn't usually enough to determine anything of significance just based on that alone. Yes, at times she could figure out that a person's hand twitch originated from the fact that they were used to wielding a weapon, or that a certain look signified what one person felt about another. Still, she couldn't figure out something like someone's bank details or deepest darkest secrets from it with nothing but a single glance.

Which was what was actually important of course.

Also, in a crowded place such as the Boardwalk, she usually didn't have time to look at any particular person for too long and so the observations her power made were just the most obvious ones that were barely hidden. As strong as her power was, she could only interpret information so fast. And as using her power too much gave her headaches, she rarely ever used it to its fullest extent, unless she was acting as Tattletale.

Is looking for something

Or unless someone caught her attention.

Lisa blinked as she looked at the same girl that she had looked at before coming out of a shop.

Strange. Didn't she just go into that shop like two minutes ago? She doesn't really look the type to window shop.

Suddenly taking interest in the stranger, as she was want to do, she began to use her power more thoroughly as her curiosity drove her to investigate closer. Now that she was actually paying closer attention, she could clearly see even without her power that the girl was out of place on the Boardwalk.

Feels out of place in the Boardwa-

Yea, yea, I got that.

The girl was tall, wearing baggy clothing that hid most of her features with glasses on her face. While her clothing style was strange for the Boardwalk, the strangeness of it didn't nearly compare to the girl's demeanour. At first glance, she looked shy, doing her best to dodge around other passerby's but after a few seconds of watching her, Lisa could tell that she was walking with a purpose and determination that noticeably contrasted with what would first be assumed by her appearance. By the second, the girl was only getting more interesting and Lisa leaned forward to get a better view of her.

Eyes glancing down at the ground.

Shyness?

Usually applicable but not in this case. Looking for something close to the ground. Looking for something small. Eyes darting around. Expecting movement. Looking for something that can move. Looking for something small that can move.

Lisa took another sip of her drink. While the girl was interesting, she was turning out to be less so than she had initially expected. Most likely, the girl had just lost a pet or something and was now looking for it.

I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Figures.

Not looking for a pet.

What?

Lisa blinked again before refocusing on the girl.

Is walking around with two metal canisters on her waist, jumpy, eyes flicking from side to side, expecting a fight. Looking for something but also expecting to get ambushed. Has been ambushed in the past. Hands tight, eyes focused, angry at something. Looking for something, but not to recover it.

Just as Lisa took on a puzzled look as she processed that information, the girl looked up to meet her eyes which only further increased the flow of information that her power was flooding her brain with.

Doesn't seem surprised that someone is looking at her. Used to people looking at her, but doesn't like it. Eyes trying to avoid eye contact. Not used to eye contact. Arms held protectively around chest, used to being physically attacked. Used to being bullied.

...ah.

Even as the girl turned away from her, Lisa continued to observe, feeling both invested in and bad about all the things she was learning.

Not that any of that would stop her from using her power further of course.

Turning away, focused on other matters. Focused on finding her target. Would usually be more concerned about someone watching her due to bullying, but the focus on searching for her target is overriding that. Very focused on finding her target, to the point where she is leaving her comfort zone to do so.

Lisa stood up from her seat and left a twenty-dollar bill beneath her drink before leaving the small cafe. People this interesting didn't show up very often after all, and she had to know more.

Well, that and she did feel a tad guilty about using her power to learn about the girl's bullying as well.

(~)

Doesn't want to speak, doesn't want to interact, wants to get away as fast as possible to resume her search alone.

Gee, why don't you tell me how she really feels power?

Doesn't like you, thinks she's being lied to, which she is, doesn't trust you, doesn-

You know what, let's just stop right there power.

"I... I suppose that store?"

Lisa didn't need her power to tell that the girl was grasping at straws as she pointed toward a random clothing store down the street. The questioning tone didn't help the girl much in that regard either.

That was fine though. She didn't have anything planned today so if it took a while to find out what she wanted to know, she would be fine with that.

Time was just the cost of getting what she wanted.

"Sure! Anything specific your looking for?"

"Uhh- a new shirt maybe?"

Lisa extended her hand and waved it a little in front of the girl.

"Hmm, probably a good idea. That hoodie isn't doing you any favours."

The girl shifted in place, her eyes still searching the ground even as she listened to Lisa talk before she flicked her eyes up, not quite making eye contact as she responded.

"...you're right?"

Low self-esteem and confidence, doesn't believe that she can pull off any look, doesn't think she can be attractive, a result of being bullied by her peers.

Lisa blinked before a vulpine smile spread across her face as the girl responded with a strained one.

Well I suppose we can't have that now, can we?

"Come on, let's find what you're looking for."

Tilting her head to the side toward the store, Lisa motioned for the girl to enter. For a brief moment, Lisa thought the girl would just flat-out refuse then and there but after a few moments of awkwardly standing in place, the girl finally moved, reluctantly entering the store as Lisa grinned behind her ushering her in.

Helping the girl with her outfit choices was the least she could do considering that she would be uncovering her secrets.

Besides, what use was there for money if not stuff like this?

Feels out of place. Wants to leave.

Lisa did feel a bit bad upon learning that but she pushed past it all the same.

She couldn't, wouldn't allow something like this to slip past her.

She needed to know what was going on.

And there would be plenty of opportunities to pick the girl's mind while she helped the girl out a bit by buying her some better clothing.

It wasn't as if she didn't have money to spare after all.

Lisa started walking, blocking off the path away from the store as the girl turned to look back at her, hesitation clear on her face.

She smiled in return.

This could only go well.

(~)

As the girl started yelling incoherently as she unloaded the entirety of a metal canister of spray onto something Lisa could neither see nor hear, the cape couldn't help but wonder where everything had gone wrong.

For her part, Lisa hid behind a dumpster as she listened to the titanic struggle behind her as the girl's yells filled the alleyway, occasionally interrupted by the sound of spraying.

The shopping had gone fine. Er- relatively fine. The girl had resisted and tried to escape at every possible opportunity however Lisa had eventually swindled her into... getting clothes bought for her.

Lisa couldn't help but do a double-take at those thoughts.

Am- Am I a bad thief?

Lisa shook her head. No, she had bought clothes for the girl because she had felt bad for her. Take from the rich and give to the poor? Alec would probably be down with dressing as Robin Hood.

Wait, no- focus.

The shopping had gone fine enough even if the girl had not enjoyed it whatsoever. That had been mildly entertaining, however as soon as they had left the shopping store, the girl had made a break for it away from her when she had looked away for a second. It hadn't been very hard to track her down of course, however by the time that Lisa had found the girl again, she had somehow ended up in an alleyway. An alleyway with two unconscious bodies in it. An alleyway with an invisible inaudible parahuman in it. An alleyway with an invisible inaudible parahuman who her power didn't seem to pick up. At all.

Which was very, very bad.

Now the girl she had been shopping with was fighting said invisible inaudible parahuman, which while impressive did come off as a bit suicidal, and Lisa's whole day had turned into chaos in relatively short succession. And she was now sharing an alleyway with the parahuman and one of the strangest girls she had ever met in her life, who she had basically abandoned to fight said parahuman.

And she knew nothing about the situation.

That grated on her more than anything else. Without information, she was useless. Unable to do anything at all. Unable to even move, because who knew what the parahuman's priorities were? If they saw someone fleeing away would they go after that person first before the other one fighting them so that they could hide their presence?

Lisa wasn't used to having so many unanswered questions.

She did not enjoy the feeling.

She could try to solve the issue, however, she really did not want to risk drawing attention at the moment and so despite her curiosity, she kept herself in check. She could investigate the new parahuman once she was safely far far away from it. There was taking on a challenge then there was going into close-quarters combat with an unknown, invisible and inaudible parahuman.

Lisa continued to keep quiet as the girl let out a yell of pain behind her. The situation wasn't looking good but it could be salvaged. She hoped.

Pulling out one of her many burner phones, she quickly dialled a number before putting it to her ear, hoping that the girl's screams would deafen the parahuman to the point where they couldn't hear her.

Come on, pick up, pick up!

After two rings, the phone finally connected and a familiar voice echoed into her ear.

"Hello?"

Lisa spoke in a soft voice, doing her best to keep her volume at a minimum as she responded.

"Yea- hi, it's me."

The tone over the phone suddenly shifted from neutral to serious in the instant that she spoke.

"B."

"N. Banana. Er- wait hold that thought actually."

Lisa took a quick peek around the dumpster and activated her power.

Standing in the middle of the alleyway, the girl stood, a few bruises visible on her body as she looked around her, presumably searching for the parahuman, which Lisa found questionable, however, she quickly turned her attention away from the girl to look around her, looking to see if she could perhaps work around the parahuman's invisibility by looking at the objects around it.

Stone brick, old, wall built dur-

Lisa tsked before turning her power off. That was bad. If she couldn't use her power to detect the parahuman at all, that meant that in this situation she was just a normal human, just like the girl.

She turned back to her phone.

"Actually make that a maple leaf, kinda need some help right now."

A sense of urgency emerged in the voice over the phone following her statement.

"Understood, I'll go get the others. Where are you?"

"I'm in an alleyway just north of the boardwalk. In civvies. There's a parahuman here, and I can't see or hear them at all. Power's not picking up anything either."

There was a brief pause over the phone before the person responded.

"...fuck."

Lisa couldn't help but agree.

"I'm going to hang up now, but if the situation changes I'll call again."

"Got it, we'll get there as fast as we can."

Following that statement, Lisa hung up and pushed herself further against the dumpster. With the information that she had given, Rachel's dogs should be able to find her and so now it was only a matter of holding out until backup arrived.

Then, all of a sudden, the girl let out a yell of pain before the sound of footsteps hammered down the alleyway toward Lisa's direction.

Lisa tensed up at the sound, before trying in vain to ward off the girl to no avail as she came into full view of Lisa while running out of the alley before stopping as noticed her.

Hesitating, forgot that another person was with her, trying to run away from the situation, still doesn't like you but doesn't want to leave you behind either.

Lisa saved the girl from having to make a choice as she quickly pulled herself up before running out of the alleyway with the girl quickly following behind. Now that her cover had been blown, there was no way that she was going to sit there to wait for the parahuman to find her.

So she began to take off. Yet as she was about to head toward the Boardwalk, the girl grabbed her arm, halting her motion as she spoke.

"Not that way. Trust me."

Lisa turned to yell at the girl for being stupid before her power thrust information into her mind.

Believes going to a crowded area will only make things worse. Absolutely confident in this fact. Knows something about the parahuman. Related to the parahuman in some way.

As Lisa's words died in her mouth as her power continued to give her more questions than answers, the girl started running in the opposite direction of the Boardwalk, deeper into the city while dragging Lisa along with her.

"Come on!"

Logically, Lisa knew that this was a mistake. Safety in numbers was a thing after all and if the parahuman wasn't able to kill a nonpowered girl in the alleyway, then they wouldn't be able to mow down an entire crowd. Yet at the same time, she didn't know for certain if the parahuman would be able to track her down in a crowd, or what their powers exactly were.

And the girl, against all odds, seemed to know what was going on.

For once, she was the one in the dark.

...Oh, what the hell.

She would follow the girl, not because she felt it was a good idea but because after everything, she would drag every answer she could ever want out of the girl.

Now, that was something she could get behind.

Lisa ran alongside the girl while at the same time pulling out her phone and quickly dialling the same number she had minutes ago. Thankfully, this time the call went through after only one ring as the girl directed them into another street, the two turning right as they ran as fast as they could.

"Hello?"

"It's me again! Situation's changed a bit, I'm running toward downtown from my pre-"

A loud crash behind her interrupted Lisa as she turned her head back to see pieces of glass flying out from the shattered window of one of the stores along the road with no one in sight. Just as before her power picked up nothing aside from the obvious facts of the scene as the person on the phone yelled into her ear.

"What was that!?"

"The situation!"

Lisa turned back to look at the girl running ahead of her as she followed suit, adrenaline and fear driving her forward as the thought of not knowing when or where the parahuman would finally catch up provided her plenty of motivation to keep moving.

Ahead, the girl turned a corner, leaving Lisa's sight. Lisa soon followed, but as she turned, the view of a body standing still emerged in front of her in an instant, causing her eyes to widen as she barreled into the body, causing both her and the body to tumble to the ground. After a moment of dizziness and confusion, Lisa regained her senses and looked around.

Below her, the body that she had just collided with was now clearer, the form of the girl now rubbing her forehead with her hand while groaning.

Lisa soon put the pieces together. The girl had stopped after she had turned the corner, causing Lisa to bump into her. Yet the reason for that remained unclear.

That was until she raised her head.

Standing in a loose group further into the alleyway that she had just entered, roughly a dozen people were either sitting or standing against the walls of the alleyway.

All Asian, all wearing red or green and all either smoking or inhaling substances into their noses. All equipped with weapons.

All staring at the two intruders who had just wandered into their alleyway.

All ABB.

Lisa liked her power, she really did.

So why was it that she felt such hate when it gave its final verdict?

The ABB members drew their weapons, an assortment of knives, brass knuckles and even a gun.

Prepared and willing to fight, maim and kill.

Ah... that's why.

...fuck.


A/N:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Finally got the chapter finished. AP exams kind of kicked my ass for the past few weeks so I didn't have much time to work on this then I got hit with nostalgia for old fandoms and writer's block at the exact same time which basically obliterated my motivation to write but it's finally done.

I don't know if it's good or not, but at this point, I'm just happy I finally finished the chapter.

Anyways final exams are also coming up so I might miss a week or two of uploads in the next month or so, but aside from that, I'll try to keep to my one chapter-a-week schedule as much as possible.

Also, 100 favourites! Ayyyyy, very cool.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!