The Brockton Bay PRT was in a frenzy, rushing to get everything in place for the announcement of a new Ward.
Normally things wouldn't be quite so urgent, but this was a special case.
Lung, the near egendary leader of the ABB, had been beaten, and taken into custody.
And the new Ward was the one who defeated him.
Rumours had already started to spread about what happened, myriad theories from every mouth, few coming close to the truth.
Armsmaster had been patrolling as normal, only to hear the signs of Lung on a rampage.
When he reached the scene, he was in time to see the new Cape land a strong enough hit to Lung to rend him unconscious even through the resistance of his Changer form.
And there, at the site of the battle, the charred remains of some would be heroes, and the ashes of countless insects.
In all fairness to the hero, he had only asked the new Cape to visit the Rig to provide the basic information for the heroes to recognise them as an ally, and learn about the realities of the Cape life.
All actions he, as leader of the local Protectorate, should take.
By the time the Cape could have left the news was already spreading, connecting them to Lungs defeat as either his foe or a new ally, and the local director claimed her hands were tied.
Let them go, and the gangs would hunt the Cape down as friend or foe, and the situation in the city would simply get worse.
Or put some pressure on this new Cape, someone who clearly needed the help and support of the PRT, to sign them up, place this potential loose cannon under her authority.
And now, against all of the Capes objections, they were about to be officially announced, about twenty four hours after facing down Lung.
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Don't Let me Stay
Sophia Hess, aka Shadow Stalker, was pissed at being called in by the PRT on a Sunday she was expecting to have off.
Then again, being pissed was more or less her default state of being.
The situation wasn't helped by her simply being sent to a room with the other Wards without any explanation upon arrival.
"Anyone got any idea what this is about," she demanded as soon as she entered the room, barely passing her gaze over everyone else.
Vista, the baby of the group, Gallant, the self-righteous idiot, Aegis, the meatshield, Kid Win, the incompetent Armsmaster wannabe, some statue that seemed to be staring at her, Browbeat, who never seemed to make any real impression, Clockblocker, the irreverent idiot-
Her gaze turned back to the statue.
"The fuck is that?"
"New Ward," Vista supplied, before any of the others could answer. "Apparently a Case 53 showed up in town, and we got to them before Faultline, so Gargoyles joining the team."
"That's right," Aegis followed up, trying to reclaim the leaders right to explaining from the kid. "Gargoyle hasn't really spoken much yet, but according to Armsmaster they beat Lung, so…"
Sophia snorted.
"Really. A so new that I haven't heard of them Monster Cape rocks up and kills Lung, and then gets roped into the Wards? Don't make me laugh."
"Knocked out," Gargoyle corrected, in a voice of continental drift, any emotion concealed by the inhuman sounds of their voice.
Sophia ignored the correction.
"Where's the costume, anyway? Don't tell me our new mascot will be heading out naked."
It wasn't as though any details of Gargoyles anatomy were on display, of course, cloth like folds of stone concealing much of their body and leaving their gender a matter of guesswork.
"The directors in a rush to have Gargoyle declared," Aegis answered before Vista had the chance. "She wants Gargoyle under our protection sooner rather than later, so they're being announced as is, with the costume coming later."
"She's already made a suggestion that Gargoyle may not need a costume," Vista added. "Apparently there's precedent for some Case 53's not needing a costume in the Wards."
"So we get to go out in public with a nudist," Sophia concluded. "Fucking image. This is why you stay solo, stops morons telling you what you can do," she directed the last at Gargoyle, who was still staring at her.
"You just need to know how to deal with them," Clockblocker protested, at the same time as Aegis and Gallant argued that image wasn't that bad in their own ways.
At least Vista agreed with her.
Sophia shuddered at the mere thought of Vista beibg right.
"Do we have anything to do here, or are we just waiting for the show," Sophia demanded, to distract herself.
"We're just waiting until the journalists arrive," Aegis responded.
"Screw that, I'm training."
"They want us ready at a moments notice, looking our best. You can't just-"
"Watch me."
Two birds, as they said. She could get stronger and avoid her 'teammates'.
In the end she spent most of the day in their training rooms, the media not responding well to the PRT calling a sudden press conference.
Not that Sophia particularly cared.
From her perspective, she avoided wasting the whole day, heading into the night, hanging out with the losers the PRT inflicted upon her.
{}
The television in the Undersiders base flickered on, an adult channel filling the screen.
The channel was immediately changed.
Another adult channel.
The user clicked the remote rapidly, shifting channels until clear of the adult content.
Without the decidedly unwanted distraction, they quickly punched in the number for a certain news channel, and the rushed Ward announcement appeared, to a sigh from the viewer.
It wasn't announced as a rushed announcement, of course, but the rushed nature of the event was obvious from a glance, without any further information.
For one thing, Shadow Stalker was only just stepping onto stage next to the other Wards,
"Damnit Regent, I told you to turn that off," came the aggravated voice of Grue, preceding him into the room. "I don't have any wish to-"
He cut off upon seeing Tattletale on the couch instead.
"New Ward being announced, boss wants me to look in on it," she explained curtly.
"Can't it wait? You look like you should be asleep."
She nodded slowly.
"PRT can't track TV viewers as easily as catchup or online," she stifled a yawn. "Also, got enough rest for my power to work again, so…"
"You could set it to record," he pointed out, sitting next to her.
"After last time? Regents been planning a repeat at first opportunity. Punishment didn't convince him."
Grue considered, and conceded her point.
"So, what do we have?"
"Debuted last night, took out Lung after…"
He winced.
"It wasn't your fault, there's nothing we could have done for her. And it isn't as though we knew the bosses job would bring Lung down on us."
"I should have," she answered swiftly. "I'm a Thinker. My whole thing is knowing. If I can't tell something is such a bad idea, are my powers even worth it?"
"Hey, you got us clear of Lung, and even got him arrested by the authorities by the look of it."
He got a weak grin in response.
"So, took out Lung. Being announced in a rush to place them under PRT, and by extension Triumvirate, protection, to avoid retaliation. Also, Piggott."
Grue nodded.
Piggott the bigot, nuff said.
At least after the great lengths Tattletale had gone to explaining the wonans thought processes.
It was part of the reason he had committed to the team rather than try going to the PRT and trusting them to get his sister from their mother.
"They should be coming on now- oh."
Grue looked back at the screen at the 'oh'.
He couldn't see what Tattletales response came from.
It looked like a pretty standard Changer form, turning soneone in a costume into stone.
Flexible stone of course, letting them move around, but stone nonetheless.
"Oh no."
There were shiny patches on the knuckles of the right hand, he noted, possibly where the skin had chipped.
"No, no, no…"
Part of what made him think it was a costume was the head. Or rather, the face.
"...that Lung is finally off the streets," the Wards voice spoje from the screen.
One eye was sunken in and shadowed, the other bulged in an alien way. It could have been the result of them being a Case 53, but it could also have been a transformed and damaged mask…
His train of thought was derailed by the feel of Tattletales hand against his leg, searching for something.
"What," he asked her, confused by her behaviour.
"Turn it off," she pleaded, hands still seeking the remote.
"Sorry?"
"...the PRT who conscripted me the very night I came to their attention," the Ward said through the TV. "Let me show you my opinion of working for you."
There was a sharp crack, followed directly by Tattletale turning away and vomiting.
Grue turned back to the screen, to see the new Wards head supported by their hands.
And the neck they had just broken.
Moments later the sight was replaced by a 'please stand by' board.
But not before how many young people, staying up to see the new Ward, had been given a new nightmare instead…