Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
The last few days had be trying, and not for the reasons one might expect. While yes, being what amounted to a Junior Hero in what must be one of the most crime riddled, parahuman filled, shit holes in the country was somewhat stressful, it wasn't really anything Dennis actually noticed anymore. He was sure that if he lived somewhere nicer, or suddenly moved, then he might be able to tell the difference, but in general, Brockton Bay was the only home he had ever known.
So, the current air of awkward disapproval that was currently filling the Wards common area had very little to do with that at least.
Carefully, Dennis - better known in the city as Clockblocker, the intrepid hero of the hour (He could tell he was stressed because he was using catchphrases from the PR department) - leaned forward to turn the television on, then immediately flinched when it blared to life at the volume it was at when it was last used - which was entirely too high for this hour, and more important, for the weird silence in the room.
He glanced back with an apologetic look on his face, then quickly turned back to the distraction of the television. Missy was glowering at nothing in particular, obviously having been shocked out of some kind of reverie, Dean had looked up from his homework, flicked a glance towards the console where Chris was doing something that looked Tinker-y, and Chris himself had paused in whatever he was doing without daring to turn around to look at them.
All of this uncomfortable non-communication, was, of course, because Chris had recently - accidentally - killed someone. He hadn't really gotten in trouble for it, because expecting a Ward not to retaliate in a situation where they seemed to be intentionally targeted for lethal force by an unknown villain was just foolish, but for the rest of them it just didn't sit well. None of them blamed Chris. They had all watched the footage on his helmet. It had actually been mandatory for them, since the Director had deemed it appropriate for the Ward's to learn from Chris' mistakes. And none of them could rightfully say that what Chris had done was wrong exactly. But that didn't mean many of them had to like it.
Dean was clearly distinctly uncomfortable with the subject, and despite his assurances to to contrary, clearly preferred not to talk Chris at the moment. It was his whole 'moral high ground' thing, which Dennis hated and wished the other boy would get over. Carlos had been fairly understanding of the topic - neither being too harsh or too gentle, and merely noting the type of damage Chris could have suffered against the Cape they had later ID'd as 'Ballistic' if he had been even just a tiny bit slower. Some arguments had been made that the enemy Cape appeared to be holding back specifically to avoid lethal injury, but that had been shot down pretty quickly. Real life wasn't a cartoon. You couldn't just 'almost' kill someone with anything approaching a perfect success rate. Even if he was holding back, Ballistics's use of force was such that he was almost certainly recklessly endangering his target regardless. And Vista... she wasn't mad at Chris. She was mad for an entirely different reason.
"This is bullshit!" She yelled when no one else had taken the opportunity to say anything.
"Missy-" Dean started, attempting to pacify the smaller girl - which usually worked, but in this case did absolutely nothing.
"No! The investigation ruled it self defense! The Youth Guard rep said it was above board! So why does Chris have to go?!" She yelled, standing and pointing aggressively at the boy in question.
Chris didn't immediately respond to the yelling, only turning around to grimace in Vista's direction with a resigned air about him when he heard his name called. The Tinker hadn't taken things well. He had assumed that Ballistic was a Brute of some kind, and so, had set his weapons to the appropriate setting for such. It wasn't even the highest Brute rated setting he could have used. PRT rules of Engagement for Wards was to slowly escalate force in situations where you couldn't ascertain the the durability of an opponent, but that regulation was apparently entirely trumped by a whole host of completely regular laws dictating what counted as the appropriate amount of force to use in response to being lethally attacked. Dennis wasn't stupid. He was perfectly aware that if a vigilante had done the same thing as Chris, that the ruling would have probably gone completely differently. The PRT wasn't kind to unsupervised Capes killing people. But for someone inside the system, the law typically worked as intended, if with a slight bent towards the PRT's benefit.
And Chris obviously felt the same way, because he had accepted everything the PRT was throwing at him with the sort of resigned acceptance one might expect of a death row inmate.
"Because that guy had a team, who will know what happened." Dennis chimed in, leaning back in the couch to rest his head on it.
"So? We can just arrest them!" Missy argued.
"It doesn't work like that." Dean responded with a slightly harder edge to his tone than he probably intended, causing Dennis to narrow his eyes at the ceiling in annoyance. It really didn't work like that, but not for the reasons Dean was probably thinking of. To Dean, being shuffled off to some place with fewer villains and more oversight was the natural result of this event. It was a punishment, but a light one. God knows, only a Brocktonite would consider being moved away from the fighting to be a punishment. In reality, it was purely for PR reasons. No one was going to report on what happened. The News Stations all knew better than to cross the PRT like that, even if they did catch wind of something going on. But they would still know, and that meant that 'Kid Win' was done career wise. If he wanted to keep going, it would have to be somewhere else, probably under a different name.
Hence, the transfer. It was simultaneously the best the PRT could do for Chris, and the absolute douchiest.
"That's-!" Missy scowled, her voice increasing in volume but was cut off as the visitor warning went off. It wasn't the one that meant they had to put their masks on, but it was enough that everyone in the room paused to turn to the door, through which strode Armsmaster and Dauntless.
Dennis hadn't really interacted much with Dauntless after joining the PRT, but he seemed like a nice guy at least, so he was glad the guy was 'back'. He also made a mental note to ask Nexus if she could do anything about cancer. She seemed less uptight about personal favours than Amy, who was, in all honesty, kind of a bitch. Not that he would ever say that aloud, not in this city, where she was basically considered a saint.
"Clockblocker, suit up. I may need your assistance." Armsmaster stated firmly, crossing his arms and waiting for him to comply. Dennis could feel his eyebrows crawl up into his hairline at the order.
"I thought the Wards were off active duty until we got the new transfers." He pointed out, not wanting to reference that what they were really waiting for was for Chris to be gone.
"And why is only Dennis going?" Missy added pointedly. Armsmaster looked like he was contemplating that question for a second before answering.
"Nexus has called to inform us that Predator requested a meeting with her nearby to where she believes the Teeth are holing up. In accordance with the Director's request that she stay as far away from the Butcher as possible, she is requesting that we handle the situation." He responded finally.
"That doesn't really explain why you need me." Dennis pointed out.
"We believe it's likely that Predator's new partner will also be present." Armsmaster responded.
"The... Trump? Who could lock me in my costume for all eternity?" Dennis asked incredulously. Sure, he was a Hero, and yeah, he thought Nexus was a decent enough person, but he had zero interest in getting screwed over by some crazy bitch with a chip on her shoulder for the girl.
"Evidence suggest she has a limited targeting capacity and that you would be able to return to normal once she left the area. We don't expect you to stop her. We just want you on hand to-" Armsmaster began to explain before it clicked for him. And when it did, he was simultaneously deep confused and worried.
"You want to recruit her." He said, cutting Armsmaster off. Dauntless had the grace to wince at the accusation. Armsmaster did not.
"She has yet to do anything criminal in her Cape identity, and as such, we will extend all due courtesy." Armsmaster responded curtly.
"Yet to- Okay show of hands, who saw the news thing with the Undersiders?" Dennis blurted, turning towards the other Wards and nodding when all of them - even Chris - raised there hands.
"Cool. Who wants to exist in the same building as one of the chicks that made Nexus Trigger?" He asked dryly. All the hands went down.
"...We would naturally send her to another Department." Armsmaster offered, somewhat weakly.
Dennis leveled a look at him.
"Well, think about it this way, if we can recruit her and get her outta the city, the chances of her setting Nexus off go waaaaay down." Dauntless jumped in.
"Regardless. I have asked Nexus to use her mover power to bring us to the meeting site. We will determine her response at the time and proceed accordingly." Armsmaster responded.
Dennis was mildly disturbed by the implications in that statement, since it meant that - for all intents and purposes - they were intentionally giving Nexus a chance to violently murder Predator and her friend, just to see if she would.
Yeah there was no way this was going to go well.
So he got suited up and ignored the ongoing argument after that point, because maybe if he was lucky he could stop anyone from getting murdered tonight.
Because even if he was a brat about it most of the time, he was a Hero. Even if he had no idea why sometimes.
When Clockblocker walked through Nexus' creepy portal full of malevolent eyes, he had done so last in the line of people that were going on this short mission. Arms...less? Daunt-Master? He was still workshopping a name for it, but regardless, the weird gestalt of the two heroes was first through, followed by Nexus and then himself - ostensibly because if there was anything hostile on the other side of the portal, he would be the most vulnerable.
Now, when he came out the other side, he had been expecting many things. A blood bath perhaps, maybe some light threatening while Nexus dangled the people they were to meet over the edge of a building. Not... whatever this was.
"Clockblocker right?" The one person in the abandoned Ferry Station he didn't immediately recognize asked him as he came into view, alongside a very confused looking Nexus and Armsmaster. What was out of place though, was the fact that she was oh so casually standing in front of a downed Shadow Stalker - sorry, 'Predator' - who had one of her own tranquilizer bolts sticking out of her neck and a flabbergasted look on her unconscious face. The girl was - if Dennis was being completely honest with himself - real hot looking, having apparently taken the time to build her costume around a tight fitting black body suit that showed off her... assets. Besides the bodysuit, she wore pair of camouflage pants, a belt with a variety of tools on it, and a green scarf around her lower face not unlike Miss Militia. Dennis would have called her a fan girl or a cosplayer if he didn't already know she was a cape herself. He also kind of wondered what the point of the mask was, since her very identifiable fiery red hair wasn't even slightly hidden by it. All in all, she looked like she had completely sacrificed protection or secrecy for well... looking good. Which, in a general sense, he could appreciate, even if he was still worried that appreciation was quickly about to become necrophilia.
"Yes?" He answered hesitantly.
"Great! You wanna take her? Honestly, I can't believe she was going to sell me out to the Teeth." The girl stated, muttering the second part under her breath in a way that only seemed like she didn't mean to say it.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Nexus stated coldly, drawing Dennis attention and reminding him why he had actually come here tonight. Not that it made it any easier to force himself to shift towards the girl - ostensibly to calm her down, but more specifically, to use his power on her if it looked like she was about to nuke the building they were in.
"Being a Hero. Duh. What, you think all the gangsters went away because you were on TV a few times?" The redhead retorted easily, causing Nexus to growl lightly and begin to glow a faint blue.
"Em-" Taylor began to state but was sharply interrupted by the other Cape.
"Switchblade. Call me Switchblade." She said proudly, fingering a large knife at her waste.
"...Switchblade then. What happened to you? You didn't used to be like this. Wasn't she your friend? Wasn't I?" Nexus asked, her tone somewhere between anguished and outraged. During the conversation, Daunt-Master had surreptitiously walked over to Sophia, checked her pulse, and then begun stripping any weapons he could find off of her, leaving Dennis to watch the this train wreck anxiously and alone.
"Oh but Taylor, we still could be! Don't you know, I was looking out for you. Look at you! I made this!" Switchblade said smugly, waving a hand at the other girl. Taylor stared blankly at the girl for several seconds, as though trying to process that information. Her expression then rotated quickly from hopeful, to horrified, to angry, to a beatific smiles that was somehow more disturbing than the last two combined.
"You didn't make me Emma. And if this is how you treat your friends, then I'd rather not be one of those either." She stated plainly, and even though her expression was a smile, the blue aura that always surrounded her when she fought began to unfurl behind her into that trademark spider shape. She took a step forward.
"Look I'm sorry about school okay? Sophia just kept pushing and pushing and - I guess I went a bit too far. Forgive me?" The redhead said, sounding actually contrite and ashamed now. Dennis noted that there was no second attempt to stop Nexus from using her real name, and that she had likewise not seen any issue in using Sophia's. Nexus, for what it was worth, seemed to consider that for a second, before nodding once.
"You know, I wish I could believe that. But Sophia-" Nexus paused mid sentence, and suddenly Clockblocker found himself beset by a great weight, completely unable to move, and struggling to breath. Switchblade appeared to be having far greater issues, having ended up halfway to the ground, her hands flailing across the decrepit floorboards of the station in an attempt to push herself upright.
"-Sophia was violent. But that's all she was. She hit me. Tripped me sometimes. The one that really hurt me was you. Only someone who knew me that really wanted to hurt me could have done what you did. So don't act like she made you into this, Emma." Nexus stated flatly, stepping over to stand over the struggling red head with cold eyes and the smile still on her face.
"So let me make this completely clear. I have had four projections at this point. Two of them wanted to dismember you. One of them wanted to trap you in a pocket dimension until you stopped being such a bitch, and one of them just wants to hit you with a stick until you cry uncle. You are alive, purely because I am a better person than you. So go home. Join the Protectorate. Leave the city. I don't care which one. But stay out of my way." Nexus said with finality, stepping away from the trembling girl and allowing the pressure she exuded to vanish along with the image behind her. Dennis couldn't help but feel like he had just witnessed an olive branch being extended, for all it sounded like an extremely real death threat.
"I don't know that the second one is a great idea. We kind of like Nexus here." Clockblocker added in after a second, eliciting a snort from Taylor as she walked back over to him. He tried to keep an eye on Switchblade as she did so, and found her mostly alternating between gasping for breath and trying to kill Nexus with her mind alone. If he had to put an name to the expression on her face, he would go with 'lost for words'. He couldn't fathom why. She wasn't even a little bit subtle about that conversation. It was like watching a pre-schooler pretend to be a femme fatale. It just didn't work.
"Are you going to be okay?" He whispered to her as she passed him. She shrugged in response but whispered back.
"You aren't actually going to recruit her right?"
He was glad he had a full face mask because the expression he was making would have made the answer to that question obvious. Still, he couldn't just say nothing.
"...Yeah, probably. She's a perfect counter to the Butcher." Clockblocker replied, surmising his deduction on the topic and glancing over to check on Daunt-Master, who were stoically explaining to Switchblade or Emma or whatever stupid name she wanted to go by, that her options at this point were basically juvenile detention or the Wards. Or Nexus, but that sort of went unsaid. He wondered if Taylor even realized she had functionally just threatened to murder someone in full view of two Protectorate Heroes.
Then he remembered Miss Militia, and he wondered if it mattered.
"...Don't trust her. She's a snake." Taylor responded after several seconds of terse frowning. "I'm leaving. Do want a ride home?" she asked when it became obvious the Switchblade would be going with Armsmaster - mostly evidenced by the scowl she was leveling at Nexus.
"Uh... sure?" Clockblocker replied tentatively. Honestly, he'd like to make a joke or something to break the tension, but Nexus kind of scared him too much to bother at the moment. Of course, he, being a teenage boy, and she, being a fairly athletic looking girl in a skintight suit, would politely describe the sensation as 'scarousal' if only privately. He had the sudden suicidal thought to ask her on a date, and then immediately quashed it. He had tried that one with Sophia and she had threatened to phase an arrow up his ass for his troubles. This probably wouldn't go any better.
"No offense, but if I don't come by as often anymore, you'll know why." Nexus state matter of factly after ushering him through her Portal, then allowing it to close behind them.
"That's cool. The Director says you're gonna have some of us over at your castle thing for a while anyway. I'll see you when it's my turn. Also, are you gonna go back for Armsy or...?" He asked belatedly, realizing the man had been left behind.
"No. He can walk." She answer bitterly, swing her arm and opening another Gap that he presumed went from where they were - the parking garage beneath the PRT building it looked like - to her home. She stopped before stepping through it though.
"Tell the Director I'd like Miss Militia and Vista for the first rotation please." She added, before vanishing from sight.
Dennis stared at the spot she'd been in, then exhaled in relief. She was surprisingly reasonable over the whole thing, all things considered. God knows, if he could punch cancer, he'd have done it. This, of course, reminded him that he still had to ask her about healing for his dad. Which meant that - despite the fact that she was probably going to be super irate for a while when it came to the Wards - he was going to have to try to get in contact with her anyway. Greaaaaat. Maybe he could get Dean to connect him with Glory Girl, and she could ask for him. That could work right?
Grumbling to himself about the injustice of it all, he started trudging into the building to tell everyone else the 'good' news.
At least they would only have to put with her until they could arrange for her to be transferred out.
He hoped.