Tattletale was one of my most vital assets. While my madness-free mind now held certain mixed feelings about killing her, I couldn't bring myself to fully regret it. If I hadn't taken Tattletale, I never would have found Canary. Without Canary, a sequence of events wholly unknowable would have spiraled into existence. But no matter what happened, I cannot imagine it would have been good for me. There was no denying I was selfish, and that selfishness was the primary reason I didn't regret Tattletale's death. Without her, I would be lost.
With nought but a scant few fragmented words spoken by Lung, Tattletale was able to track down the exact location of three Yangban facilities once I had access to her computer in the Undersiders' old base. The facilities were spread all over China. The first was south of Chengdu. The second was west of Urumqi. And the last was south-east of Harbin. Strider transported me to each of them well enough with Eidolon helping me to keep a low profile. While the Yangban locations Tattletale found were no longer operational and had been bombed to destroy evidence, Tattletale was not so easily stopped.
I spent the entire first two days after destroying the Slaughterhouse 9 surveying the sites Tattletale was able to find with her power. They were buried under rubble, but between the Siberian, Labyrinth and – when all else failed – Eidolon, I was still able to traverse the subterranean outline of the old facilities. There wasn't much that was of worth in the ruins of the facilities. Bars from cages and hatches leading into deep pits were frequent occurrences, but anything that could be used to trace back whoever was responsible for the location like documents or hard drives had been taken prior to the scuttling of the facilities.
Powerful as Tattletale is, it would have taken her at least a full week of careful investigation to glean anything of worth from the facilities. Luckily, she was not on her own. Skitter's bugs were able to pick up some faded scents around the area. With some help from Panacea, Bonesaw and Blasto, Skitter soon had access to a specialized group of tracking bugs whose olfactory senses were greater than a bear's.
Skitter's new bugs honed in on the scents of those who'd been to the facility as well as those who destroyed it. Following the direction each scent led before being lost to the air, likely as the group took flight, I was able to construct a rough triangulation that would have been utterly useless on its own. I looked at a map of the area with Tattletale and she immediately found a group of hills in the general vicinity of the triangulation that she was certain contained an underground facility. My investigation of the various facilities over the past day had led Tattletale to cut down the pool of individuals in the network that could be Null to twenty-four people. While that may not seem like great progress, it was. The twenty-four people were divided into two, twelve-man groups that had stayed close to each other since I'd begun my hunt. That meant I only had to discover which group Null was in, and I would be able to grab him. While I could have conceivably attacked both groups now, I wanted to make sure I was striking Null's group. I wasn't willing to risk underestimating the Yangban and letting my prize slip away.
One of the groups of twelve was currently moving towards the facility Tattletale found underground at a rapid pace. Given the rapid pace of their transit, they were either flying on a plane or under a power of one of the capes in Null's network. If I investigated the facility, I would be able to use Tattletale to determine who was in that group, and if it was Null, I could take him before moving against the rest of my targets in the Yangban. If it was not Null, I would then have only one possible location left where I would find Null. From there, I could take down Null's group, prioritizing taking him out as soon as possible, but I needed to make sure no one spotted me investigating the facility lest I risked the Yangban being tipped off I was after them. I didn't remember the Faerie Queen ever traveling to Asia, so I doubted the Yangban would be watching for me if they even took an interest in my existence, and I would not waste that advantage. I needed to be cautious.
Eidolon was the sole spirit I kept active after Strider teleported me high into the air above the location of the facility. I was under the effects of Othala's invulnerability and flight, but I wanted to maintain a low profile, so I kept the Siberian banished for now.
Eidolon shrouded me in a non-detection power that also allowed me to phase through barriers before fading himself, his power staying active after he departed. I descended towards the predicted location of the facility, invisible to all senses as I phased into the ground.
After descending at a fairly rapid pace for close to ten seconds, I emerged into a dimly lit corridor. The makeup of the hall was nothing fancy, just carved, leveled stone with a cable strung along the ceiling of one wall to power the round lights projecting a dull orange illumination. I pursed my lips as I looked down the hall. Both ways turned off, not giving me much of an idea of where to go to find information. I debated summoning Tattletale, but that increased the odds of someone detecting me. The more people Eidolon's non-detection power had to cover, the less effective it was. I wanted to remain as unseen as possible. It would be best if the Yangban did not know I was coming for them so they had no time to prepare for our confrontation. With Null sharing all of their powers with every other member of his network, they posed a genuine threat to me, and I wanted to eliminate the key players that facilitated those power interactions before the battle even started.
I followed the hall down the right, deciding I could just return to check the other passage if I found nothing. I would be nearly impossible to detect under the effect of Eidolon's power, so I could keep most of my body phased into the wall and explore the entire facility at my leisure so long as I stayed careful.
The hall turned and let out into a misshapen room cut into the rock around me. There was a metal grate in the ground with a thick padlock keeping it shut. Peering down over the grate, I saw a red-haired young woman in torn clothes curled into a ball at the very bottom of the pit. If I had to guess, she was either in her late teens or early twenties. I didn't need Tattletale to figure out what was going on here. The Yangban regularly kidnapped or acquired parahumans through some other means before locking them away and brainwashing them into another one of their members. The woman in the pit was likely a parahuman either slotted to be brainwashed or already going through the process. It seemed Tattletale had led me well. I was in the right place.
While I could have taken the woman in the pit for my court, she was likely being surveilled through some means, and taking her would have alerted my enemy to my presence as well as my intention to come after them. I wanted to avoid that if at all possible.
Besides, taking her felt…wrong. I was surprised at that. Before fixing my head, not taking someone had felt wrong. I used it as proof that I was back to myself before quickly refocusing on my task for being here. I couldn't let myself get distracted this deep behind enemy lines.
I left the room with the pit behind and returned down the hall. The direction I hadn't taken initially led to a junction that split off in five directions. I decided to travel down each one starting from the left. The first three paths led to more pits. Two of the pits were vacant but the third had a young teen boy with brown hair crying as he rocked back and forth. The fourth path led to something resembling a field operating station for wounded soldiers. There was a table, a curtain, a rack of various tools and a box with vials filled with varying liquids. Bonesaw likely could have determined exactly what everything was, but I could piece together what it was well enough on my own without knowing the specifics. The Yangban currently had two people here that were likely parahumans and were attempting to break their minds. The operating station likely assisted with that goal in some way.
I returned to the junction and stood there for a moment. I'd seen enough to know the group coming here did not contain Null even without Tattletale present. No, the group on its way here either had One in it or was accompanying One as a guard detail. One was the Yangban member responsible for breaking the minds of potential recruits. He wasn't technically a Master. He was a Thinker specialized in breaking people's wills and brainwashing them. He wouldn't be overly useful to me as I had Canary, a parahuman who was markedly better in almost every way, so I had no great desire to take him.
That being said, he was a high-value cape in the Yangban, one that their entire powerbase relied on. The Yangban wouldn't let him go anywhere without great protection, so some of my other targets were likely acting as his guards. I would need to return here after dealing with Null's group.
I flew directly up, through the ground and out of the facility. I kept ascending until I was over the clouds and Tattletale appeared at my side. I had drawn my conclusions about the situation, but I wanted her to examine the data and give me her report before acting. Once I attacked, I showed my hand and risked losing out on Null forever, so I wanted to be absolutely certain.
Tattletale confirmed that the group coming towards the facility were acting as guards for One, and that One was likely one of the highlighted targets coming. He was in the network so other capes could make use of his power to brainwash capes at different locations simultaneously as well as to allow him to defend himself using the powers of the network if he ever came under attack.
With my investigation complete, I had narrowed down Null's potential location to twelve individuals who were all within 400 meters of each other in Beijing. I grinned. Twelve people connected to a network of over two-hundred powers were not to be underestimated, but I felt confident I could take them out. All I needed to do was use Tattletale to pinpoint Null and take him out. After that, the others would fall like dominos, and I would be free to take my other Yangban targets at my leisure, though I would likely take them all as soon as possible. The less time they had to fortify themselves the better for me.
Eidolon appeared next to me and activated his power again. I frowned. There were two more groups of twelve within three miles of my target group. If I wasn't able to take them out quickly, I would be facing thirty-six individuals with access to hundreds of powers instead of twelve. I could deal with twelve, but the more the number of people I had to fight increased, the more likely it was I would have to retreat. I needed to be careful. I couldn't go in guns blazing. I needed to remain undetected until I knew exactly where Null was so I could take him
Eidolon, The Siberian, Tattletale, Kaiser, Purity and Strider circled the air around me. I took a deep breath and got ready. Eidolon shrouded us in his nondetection power. It was not as absolute as when it covered just me, but it would likely be able to keep my spirits and I hidden for at least a minute while Tattletale figured out who Null was. Then I would touch him on the back and deal with the rest. Strider teleported us to Beijing.
I reappeared high in the sky above the location Eidolon found where the twelve targets were. I scanned around with my eyes for a moment but slowly relaxed as I tripped no alarms. All spirits save Tattletale faded, leaving the two of us the only ones under the effect of Eidolon's power, and her own power magnified by being the sole spirit I summoned.
As we slowly descended, it became clear we were over a structure resembling an office building. It reached high into the sky and its exterior was entirely made of glass windows that reflected sunlight. I made a mental note of that. It would be useful if I was discovered and this became a fight.
Tattletale and I phased through the roof of the building and stalked through the floors, searching for our target. The interior resembled an office building of some kind as well. There were cubicle offices on carpeted floors. Security guards armed with rifles and pistols. Well-dressed individuals frantically rushing about with large stacks of paper in their hands. People gathering in small groups to speak in feverish Mandarin before splitting off to accomplish their individual tasks. Tattletale surmised that this was likely one of their intelligence centers or headquarters.
None of the workers or security guards noticed Tattletale and I as we slunk through around the floors. Eidolon had spotted the capes in the building to be spread through the levels. There were two at the main entrance, but Null wouldn't be on guard duty so those two were out. That left ten people spread through both the high levels and the sub levels. My gut was telling me to go to the sub levels, but Tattletale said Null could just as likely be coordinating people from a conference room on the top floors, so we started from the top and worked our way down.
We passed a large corner office as we descended yet another level through the ceiling. There was an angry-looking man barking into a phone from behind a large desk. There was a woman wearing a gem-like, ruby mask with him, arms crossed over her chest as she watched the hallway. This was one of the capes in Null's network, and for whatever reason she had been tasked with protecting the man behind the desk.
Tattletale scanned the room and supplied her hypothesis. The man was connected to the emperor in some way, whether it was through blood relation or something else Tattletale couldn't determine, and the woman guarding him likely had some form of defensive power. When I sent her information regarding one of my Yangban targets, she confirmed who the woman was: Thirteen, a cape capable of creating force fields. I didn't have any force field generators yet, and sorely desired one. I made a mental note of Thirteen's location and continued down through the building.
I passed three more capes on the fourth floor that were sitting behind desks filling out paperwork. Tattletale wasn't able to determine exactly who they were, but she was certain they weren't Null. That left only the six that were underground. All of them were grouped together.
I slowly phased through the ground, passing the first sub-level and poking my head through the floor of the second. In addition to the six individuals in gem masks, there were men and women in suits milling about and more security guards than had been in the rest of the building combined. This sub-level was a concrete-floored warehouse with crates piled high on shelves and forklifts moving between them to transport…whatever was in the crates. I was somewhat curious about that, but I wouldn't allow myself to be distracted from my purpose for being here.
The moment the space was in view, I ordered Tattletale to find which cape Null was. She began scanning the six different capes. That was when I got a bad feeling.
One of the capes had frozen in the middle of the floor when I looked at him. I didn't speak Mandarin, so I couldn't be certain of exactly what was said, but I could tell that some of the security guards were checking on him to see if something was wrong. Tattletale told me they were getting more anxious with each passing moment.
The cape began looking around the area as if searching for something. His gaze drifted towards the ceiling when he froze. He lifted a hand to his ear and started screaming in frantic Mandarin. I didn't need Tattletale to tell me he was speaking into a radio.
I hissed in frustration as I descended out of the ceiling. Whatever this guy's power was, it gave him some sort of supernatural danger sense. It was somewhat flattering that my mere presence flagged his power to activate, but I was far more irritated that he'd screwed up my surprise attack.
The Yangban capes all immediately stopped what they were doing and gathered in the center of the floor, the security guards moving to cover them as the workers ran for elevators and stairwells. Tattletale told me the rest of the capes in the building were on their way and others connected to Null's network would likely teleport in soon. Their teleporter wasn't nearly as good as Strider – needing time to build up his power which was magnified since it was shared through Null's network – but that didn't change the fact that I was on the clock.
I ordered Tattletale to figure out which of the capes was Null. They were all male, so with the exception of the man who spotted me, he could be any of them. I didn't want to reveal myself without knowing how they would respond, so I summoned Doctor Manton to my side. The Siberian was summoned behind a shelf and charged through it towards the capes.
The security guards all began shooting at the Siberian, but their bullets were laughably ineffective…until they weren't.
The Yangban capes stepped forward as one when one of the men shouted an order in Mandarin. They all threw their arms forward and a sound like a synthesized bass note filled the warehouse as a ripple passed over the air in the direction of the Siberian. I felt through my connection to Manton as his hold over the Siberian slipped and vanished completely, leaving the Siberian to pop into nothing.
I drifted back up towards the ceiling after witnessing that display. What the hell did they do?
Tattletale supplied they'd all drawn on the same power from the network and used it in tandem. It was a power that sent out waves of power nullification to sap away a cape's strength. Since the Siberian was a projection created by a power, she had disappeared completely when she'd been nullified.
Tattletale supplied I had another forty seconds before the rest of the Yangban capes in the building reached us and less than a minute before reinforcements arrived outside the facility. She couldn't determine exactly how many would come, but this facility was important to them, so likely at least three additional teams.
I pursed my lips as I drifted down to the far corner of the warehouse. I could not under any circumstances allow them to hit me with that nullification wave. If I got hit, my spirits would all be affected as well. Would a spirit getting hit affect me?
I was running out of time. Hatchet Face and Eidolon appeared at my side. Hatchet Face charged towards the capes, bulldozing through security guards as he did. The capes began shouting into their radios, but when they tried the nullification wave again, Hatchet Face's nullification aura negated most of it. The two powers practically canceled one-another out.
I grinned as Doctor Manton and the Siberian returned, joined by Purity. I swapped Strider for Burnscar and set my Blasters to annihilate the entire area. Purity flew back and forth, strafing down with her energy beams while Burnscar set every crate in the area ablaze, teleporting around to spread the flame and deal with the security guards.
The capes were panicking now, turning to one in particular for leadership and guidance. He coordinated them, abandoning the strategy of nullifying power and ordering them to fire lasers and explosive bursts at Hatchet Face. One of the capes moved off to summon barriers around the Siberian, trying to slow her down while the others did their best to bypass Hatchet Face's nullification aura so they could nullify the Siberian again.
Tattletale told me the leader was who I had come for. I grinned. Finally.
The warehouse was suitably ablaze, creating mass panic, so Burnscar was no longer needed. Kaiser took her place and created needles. Rune took his place and controlled the needles. Purity flew around behind the capes and fired a beam of energy at them, forcing them all to turn and erect force fields to protect themselves. Rune's needles assaulted their unprotected backs, puncturing their lungs and burrowing up into their brains. The Siberian plowed her way through and tore what few were still standing apart.
Six new spirits joined my court. Tattletale informed me the Yangban's power network just went down, but that the reinforcements had arrived with the teleportation power before Null was killed. They were waiting for me outside.
Eidolon appeared at my side and used his individual location power. I smiled as the power activated without issue and provided me with only one location instead of over two-hundred. Two, my target, was several miles away in the imperial palace.
Strider took Rune's place at my side. I would be back here in a moment, but I needed to grab Two before she ran. I teleported to Two's location.
I appeared inside an opulently decorated chamber. Yangban capes and armed security were escorting a group of individuals towards a large steel door. Tattletale supplied they were moving the emperor and his family towards a bunker.
How flattering. I rated enough of a threat to run and hide.
Two jumped in surprise as I appeared behind her. Before she or anyone else could do anything, I laid a hand on her shoulder and Strider teleported me back to the roof of the building I was at before. Two's lifeless body fell to the roof, having been transported with me. A spirit joined my court.
I smiled and held my arms out at my side as I flew up into the air. The building beneath me was surrounded, but there was little coordination. The capes, wearing gem-like masks and bright colored costumes, all looked lost. It seemed as if something great had been taken from them and they didn't know what to do now. It made sense. A minute ago, Each and every one of them had access to a network of over two-hundred powers. Now, they were all limited to just the one power they triggered with.
The security guards surrounding the facility were more organized. They'd set up a perimeter and were using armored vehicles as cover as they opened fire on me. Their bullets pinged harmlessly off my Othala-granted invulnerability, but I wouldn't let hubris be my end. The Siberian appeared next to me and laid a hand on my shoulder, granting me her power to protect me further.
I pursed my lips contemplatively as I summoned Null and Two in place of Hatchet Face and Strider. Null shared Two's power with each of my spirits and all of them focused the power-enhancing effect on me. I began to laugh as I felt my power swell to heights I'd thought unreachable. Null, Two, Eidolon, Glory Girl, Tattletale, Purity, Doctor Manton, Shatterbird, Othala, Canary, Crusader, Oni Lee, Kaiser, Burnscar, Labyrinth, Lung and Stormtiger appeared around me. As each spirit appeared, Null connected them to the network and shared Two's power with them. Each spirit directed the power to me and strengthened me, allowing me to summon even more spirits. I stopped summoning spirits as the spirits focused Two's power towards each other and began to laugh in an echoey voice as all of my spirits summoned a Siberian, as all of my spirits summoned seven of Crusader's ghosts.
The shots from the street had stopped. The guards and capes below looked up to see a small, otherworldly boy with dark, haunting spectres flying through the air around him, his arms out at his sides as he slowly descended towards them. Ghostly knights and nude amazonian cannibals formed a perimeter around the boy as he addressed them.
"I am Oberon." I announced, my voice carrying as each of my spirits spoke in tandem with myself. "Behold my court!"
Purity, Stormtiger and Burnscar descended to the street, blasting with their powers. The ground-locked capes and guards tried to flee, but the street around them was turned into an inescapable maze by Labyrinth. Multiple copies of the Siberian plowed through the terrain to kill my foes while Kaiser's blades overran the area, making flight even more impossible.
As one, Canary and Shatterbird began to sing. The glass-covered windows of the building were weaponized, turned into thousands of deadly shards that homed in on their targets with perfect precision as the will to fight bled out of the capes and guards due to Canary's words. Shatterbird sent her half of her glass into the building to kill what few capes were still inside while the other half of the building's glass killed my enemies outside.
The Yangban capes and security didn't stand a chance.
One by one, I felt spirit after spirit join my court. A few stray bullets and ranged powers hit me, but the single copy of the Siberian I kept at my side to share her power protected me. When a flying cape tried to charge me personally, I blaster her away with Purity's power. I was connected to Null's network too. I could access each of my spirits powers for myself now. I wasn't sure if my spirits could summon spirits of their own, but I didn't want them to use my Striker power just in case. I didn't want them claiming powers for their court and potentially robbing me of another spirit when I now had Null and Two, effectively allowing me to summon as many of my spirits simultaneously as I pleased. I wasn't sure if I would be able to access capes they took, and I had enough power interaction now that I didn't care to risk it.
I watched the carnage below me, Eidolon, Glory Girl and Tattletale hovering protectively around me.
The Faerie Queen had made a statement to the world when a group filled with over fifty capes attacked her together. Every cape had fallen, and the Faerie Queen had taken all of their Faeries for their trouble. After that confrontation, no one discounted the Faerie Queen or attempted to fight her conventionally.
Let this be my statement to the world. The Yangban, a cabal of monsters whose powers seemed infallible had been brought down by one cape, by a child. Their fighting force had broken against me. Now all that was left was to use Eidolon and Strider to take certain specific spirits in the Yangban that were not present in this massacre, and I would enter the Birdcage.
I was done here.