Knight of the Night

by Jokiba

With her mysterious ability to access the magical Other World, home of the planet Popstar and mighty pink ball known as Kirby, Sophia Hess has gathered allies and equipment to wage a personal war for the soul of Brockton Bay as the armoured heroine Exoa Knight. She struggles daily not only to fight the city's many supervillains but also to be an ever better person.

Knight of the Night

By EternalStruggle

Summary:

With her mysterious ability to access the magical Other World, home of the planet Popstar and mighty pink ball known as Kirby, Sophia Hess has gathered allies and equipment to wage a personal war for the soul of Brockton Bay as the armoured heroine Exoa Knight. She struggles daily not only to fight the city's many supervillains but also to be an ever better person.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

The night sky of the Bay was filled with so much pollution that you couldn't really see the stars. I didn't mind though. The stars were a lot less interesting when you'd been to some of them.

It meant that it was fairly dark up on the city's rooftops, especially in the more run-down areas, but I didn't mind that either. My armoured mask had an in-built low-light vision mode that let me see as clearly at night as I could in the day. Right now, it was letting me see Oni Lee get away from me. The villainous clone-teleporter was trying to lead me around the city, get me tired, and then strike when I least expected it. I was a good runner, but I wasn't faster than teleportation.

My armour let me leap from building to building smoothly, cape billowing behind me and sword fixed at my side as I planned my next move. Continuing to play into his hands wouldn't work out, but I knew from experience it was tough to corner him when he wanted to give you the runaround. I had to wait for the right moment, or all these minutes of chasing and hours of patrolling might be for nothing.

I wasn't sure if it was the right moment, but the moment when my hand was forced happened sooner rather than later. There was a large gap between buildings which he could cross pretty easily but I couldn't, even with my enhanced jumps. Still, I wasn't about to let Oni Lee off the hook that easily. I leapt off the building I was on and began to plummet well before I reached the other one. I wasn't sure how well my shock absorbers would protect me from the fall, but I didn't have to find out.

My cape reacted to my will, splitting in half across an invisible seam and throwing itself wide, twisting and shaping itself before hardening into something almost like leather, all in less than a second. I even felt lighter as the tech within did its invisible work. The newly formed pair of bat-like wings tensed, folding back, before giving a single powerful flap that propelled me up and forwards, letting me shoot past the lip of the roof and sailing over Oni Lee, or at least where Oni Lee was a few seconds ago. He hadn't waited around for me, instead moving on to another building. I had to strike quickly now that I was airborne if I was going to do this at all.

A few more wingbeats sent me sailing well ahead of him, and I glided down to a rooftop where he wasn't yet but was going to be if he didn't change directions. He could try to avoid me, but now that I was ahead of him it was trickier, and he wasn't getting any less tired either.

Finally, I got what I'd been waiting for. Oni Lee overextended by teleporting to my immediate left, trying to take me by surprise. It almost worked, but unfortunately for him that meant I could get to grips with his current self. A knife flashed out, searching for the vulnerable joints in my armour, but I was already shifting to block and counter, letting the blade harmlessly scrape across my outer plating as I jabbed hard at his torso. The punch connected, metal gauntlets slamming into flesh, and he almost doubled over. Another thought, and one of the lights on the outside of my sheathe turned from green to red as I grabbed the sword while the electromagnets keeping it locked in place deactivated. I swung the heavy blade around, still in its sheathe, and slammed it hard into his side, throwing him off his feet.

I immediately moved to follow up, rushing down to try and cover his eyes, but he wasn't nearly dazed enough for that to work. He snapped his head over towards the next building in line, and by the time I could obscure his vision there was a recovering masked figure on it, and one just in sight on the building after that. I grimaced and stood back up, watching as the left behind clone looked up at me with its last seconds of life.

"Sorry, Exoa Knight." It said in a mocking tone. "Better luck next time, perhaps?" Before I could reply, it exploded into carbon ash.

"Shit!" I kicked the pile of dust into the breeze as if it would somehow help. I'd hurt him, but the gang member would be back on his feet within days, and probably fully healed within weeks. All I'd done was won another inconclusive skirmish, the kind that was dime a dozen and barely made the news in Brockton Bay. Couldn't even take down a villain while on the hunt, some hero I was. It also didn't make me feel much better to know that the other capes in the city weren't any different there.

Of course, I had a bigger problem than Oni Lee escaping. I'd encountered him while he was screening Azn Bad Boy territory against intruders. I knew heroes liked to do show the flag missions, but villains generally only moved when something was actually going down. And there was only one person in the ABB that could make one of the gang's precious few parahumans run patrols.

Lung was on the move tonight. I didn't know where and I didn't know why, but I was sure he was on the move. Part of me wanted to find him and remind him that even an apex predator wasn't invincible, but I crushed that part under cold discipline. I might be able to fight Lung from a standing start, at least on a good day, but chances were if I found him at all it would be well after any fighting was underway, and at that point I was probably screwed. His power to both regenerate and get bigger and stronger as he fought was hard to deal with, since if you didn't beat him right away you probably weren't beating him at all. No, Lung wouldn't stop being a problem overnight. It was better to take the win, go home, and rest for my next night of patrolling. If I was going to clean up this city, it would have to be a cross country race, not a sprint. I'd learned that a long time ago, but I still had to remind myself of it almost every day. I was naturally aggressive, and had only toned that down through hard training.

Besides, the night hadn't been bad otherwise. Before I found Oni Lee checking the streets, I'd stopped an ABB breaking and entering and called in a small Merchants drug cache. It had actually been surprisingly eventful, since usually I was stuck with only one or two notable pickups. On some unlucky days I got nothing at all.

With a practiced flick of my eyes, the integrated phone system called the PRT's main line as I put my sword back to the left side of my waist and reengaged the magnetic locks. I may have kept some distance from them, but I made sure to stay close enough to the city's Parahuman Response Team that they'd always take my messages seriously.

"PRT-ENE. Exoa Knight, is that you?" Looked like Abby was on call tonight, going by the particular professional female voice I was hearing.

"Yeah, it's me." My voice sounded normal enough to me, but I knew that the modulator would make it come off as deeper and slightly distorted to anyone on the other end of a communications line or the other side of my mask. "I wanted to call in a fight with Oni Lee. No capture, but he was out on a screening mission, and I'm sure that means Lung's gonna start some shit pretty soon. Just felt you should know."

"Yes, well." There was a pause over the line, and I heard some typing as she looked something up. "I can tell you that we know already. Armsmaster is on his way." That was okay, I supposed. Armsmaster was the head of the Protectorate East-North-East, and one of the most capable heroes in the city. If anyone local could stop a rampaging Lung it was probably him. "Do you know where you are?"

I did, but only roughly. "West side of the Docks, kinda near Captain's Hill." I replied, getting a second pause in return.

"Oni Lee must have been leading you away. Lung's reported to be at basically the opposite end of the Docks, sorry." I cursed again, this time under my breath. I could fly pretty fast when I pushed myself, so if I really wanted to I could probably make it there before the fight was over, but that still left the problem that I probably couldn't stop him when he went full dragon. Not even if I had Armsmaster there to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Much less importantly, it was already well after midnight and I had school tomorrow. Much as I'd like to pull some more hours, I knew from painful experience that a lack of sleep would just make me that much less capable tomorrow evening. I guessed I had to call it a night there.

"Thanks Abby." I hung up on her just after she managed to squeeze in a hasty 'good night'.

My wings curled, and once again sent my skyward. I flew over my city, doing the odd twist, turn and spin along the way, partially to throw off anyone watching but mostly just for the hell of it. Over the next few minutes I slowly closed in on my house, using a zig-zag pattern and gliding low to the ground to try and ensure that nobody could hope to follow my path accurately. The adrenaline from the earlier fight began to wear off, and I slowly felt every second of action. I probably wouldn't get to sleep until one at the earliest, and I had to be up by eight at the latest. Just another day in the life.

I arrived and made sure no one was on the street looking up. I flew up to my bedroom window that I'd left open earlier and silently entered, carefully squeezing through and shutting it tightly shut behind me. My wings finally dropped and reformed into their normal state of a heavy, floor-length fabric cape. Then, for the second time today, I closed my eyes and drew upon my power. Several seconds passed as I continually wished to be somewhere else. To be in another world entirely.

I felt a lurch in my stomach and knew my power had obliged. I opened my eyes, and sure enough I was in a dark metal room with a simple lightstrip in the ceiling. I always found it kind of funny that I'd arrived in a world of magic and wonder but ended up in a dark ship berth. Still, it was my berth.

As far as I could tell, my power was completely unlike any other in the world. It didn't really fit into any of the PRT's twelve power classifications, and what I'd found with it broke how I thought the world worked. How anyone thought the world worked, actually. Transportation to another entire universe wasn't unheard of, Professor Haywire had accomplished that more than twenty years ago, but he achieved that through advanced technology rather than directly through a power. Plus, the worlds he found like Earth Aleph were just various Earths that used the same laws of physics as my own Earth Bet. As far as everyone but me knew, reality was an interdimensional constant.

The way it worked was that if I got several seconds of uninterrupted focus, I could move between my normal dimension and this place I called the Other World. As far as I could tell, this was just an entire universe that only I had access to, that was compatible with humans but had some really weird stuff in it. Unfortunately, there was a lot of limitations on what I could do with the power. One of those limitations, although it was more useful than not, was that I appeared where I was last standing when I transferred one way or the other. I couldn't move in one dimension to move in another, but it meant wherever I went I could be guaranteed to come back to a safe place here.

My power hadn't been immediately useful to me. I was pretty sure even Tinkers and their need to gather materials and manufacture gear had to jump through less hoops than me to get something usable. Still, as my equipment showed, it had turned out to be very helpful in the end.

Two aliens were sitting on the nearby too-small bed, amiably chatting with each other. They were Waddle Dees, not-quite spherical balls with tiny feet and nubs for hands that came up to about my waist. They were mostly orange, but their 'face' was more of a white-cream color, broken up only by a pair of small blush spots and two dark, oval eyes. I still didn't know how they could talk or eat, or how they took as much punishment as they could. This duo were only slightly startled at my sudden appearance, quickly leaping down and attending me. Swiftly and efficiently, they helped me take off my plate armour, starting by taking the sword from my side as I unclasped the cape from my shoulders. Gauntlets, boots, greaves, knee and elbow pads, cuirass, bulky shoulder pauldrons one of which held a highly stylized E, and all the rest of it. It was only about a minute before I was stripped down to the powered undersuit, which pulled double duty as strength enhancer and last line of defense.

"So, how'd it go?" One asked.

"Poorly." I replied. They made vague noises of sympathy before moving to help me out of the undersuit.

Then the part at the end of every mission that I didn't look forward to. I clicked off the clamps keeping my mask attached to my face, and let it fall off into one of my hands while the other pulled down the hood that covered the rest of my head. I spun the mask around, looking at its blank expression, a silver-gray oval of metal cut only by a straight, horizontal area of black plastic over my eyes. I knew that in use the mask had yet another piece of tech to project a pair of small yellow ovals over where my eyes were looking. That part was my idea. I wanted to better imitate my mentor. Then I tossed it next to the large pile of metal on the cot. I could get back to it tomorrow. Then I shimmied out of the last part of the armour, and was left just in tightly fitting track clothes. There was no really good way to get around wearing multiple layers like this if you weren't an official hero or part of New Wave and its lack of secret identities, so you got used to it.

"Oh, before you go back!" The other exclaimed, jumping back up and grabbing a small envelope before turning around and triumphantly presenting it to me. "Ta-da!"

I grabbed it and turned it around, looking at the back. It was a letter addressed to me from 'Ado~!', no surprise there. I knew some fairly energetic people, but even Victoria's level of impulsiveness and sheer joy of living paled in comparison to Adeleine's. Based on the last couple, it was probably more talk about how her college education was going and another sappy speech about friendship. I felt a twinge of guilt at the fact I hadn't written back for a few months, but I never really knew what to say to her. We were just living in different worlds, both figuratively and literally. I resolved to send a letter her way the next time something interesting happened to me, I owed her that much. Hell, I owed her a lot more than that.

I closed my eyes again and let the seconds pass, at once perfectly focused and with an empty head. Another lurch, and I was back in my room. I put the letter on my desk and crawled into bed, too tired to do much of anything else. Just another day in the life of Exoa Knight.

Of course, without the mask or armour on, I wasn't really Exoa Knight anymore. I was just Sophia Hess.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Chapter Text

I woke up the next morning like I had for the last year and a half, dead tired but unwilling to let that stop me. I got out of bed, stripped off last night's clothes, and got dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans. As I did, I tried to remember the last time I took a shower. Saturday morning, wasn't it? And now it was April 11th, a Monday. That was maybe excusable if I hadn't done much to work up a sweat, but that was the exact opposite of what had happened. I resolved to try and have one this afternoon before I headed out again.

As I went downstairs, I saw that mom had already left with my sister. She'd drop little Thalia off at preschool and then head to work. That was no surprise, we'd grown distant over the years. I don't think I'd ever admit it out loud, but I was jealous of most of my friends, at least on this planet, who were all much closer to their parents or parent. Their family lives weren't perfect or anything, but they at least had a parent each they could actually talk to and lean on. I could always go to my mentor for advice, but he was an entire world away from my problems, and I never felt fully comfortable around him. It's because I knew he had much better things to do than talk to me any more than he already had.

I was fine just having myself and my sword. It was probably better for everyone this way, and I liked the focus the lone wolf stuff gave me. I guess it was just the idea of knowing someone wanted to be there for you.

I made myself some toast for breakfast, then grabbed my bag, my phone, a cereal bar to eat on the way to school, and a good amount of cash. With that, I was off, walking at a steady pace towards Winslow High School.

Patience and discipline were absolutely invaluable in fights, but I'd learned they were pretty useful in school too. I wasn't the smartest or most academically inclined, but I'd gotten through high school so far with almost flying colors just by listening attentively and letting the minutes go by, safe in the knowledge that time was still moving forward. I dutifully sat through homeroom and my first two classes with nothing out of the ordinary really happening. People outside of my tiny friend circle, if you could call two girls and most of the school track team a full circle, kind of ignored me. I was the weird loner who was clearly constantly on edge and sometimes smelled a bit funny. I was, when you thought about it, a bit of a loser, saved mostly by being friends with the most popular girl in the school and by being the most athletic person around. That meant that the last thing anyone wanted to do was start something with me, since they weren't sure if they should be more scared of their reputation being sent down the drain or of being beaten up. But at the same time, it meant very few people got close to me either physically or emotionally. Even to my fellow jocks I was more of a good acquaintance and source of sage advice than a friend.

My teachers weren't much different. I didn't cause trouble during class, I handed in all my work on time and it was done to a good standard, and I made sure to answer a question or head a presentation here and there. I wasn't quite a model student, but I was an ideal one. No input, all output. You couldn't ask for someone more convenient to teach.

Quarter to twelve hit, and it was off to lunch. Basically the only part of the school day I consistently gave a damn about. I headed down to the lunch hall straight away, quietly shifting through the students coming and going like I was a ghost. I figured I probably soon would be. Considering how aggressive and isolated I was in costume, I couldn't possibly have more than maybe four years until I pissed off Lung or Kaiser one too many times and ended a patrol dead in an alleyway. I'd already made my peace with that, for a few months now.

Once I arrived, I spent a small amount of my cash to buy food at the cafeteria, then headed over to the table near the middle with a seat already set aside for me and a pair of schoolgirls chatting excitedly. I just got out my phone and sat down, acting like a third wheel as always. Emma and Taylor had been best friends for basically ever, the kind that called each other BFFs or besties and meant it wholeheartedly. I honestly liked Taylor, I respected her resilience and intuition, but I was only friends with her because I was friends with Emma and you just couldn't be true friends with one without being at least a bit of a friend with the other. That's how it worked with them. And I was only friends with Emma because of an uncomfortable incident a couple of years ago that saw me get stabbed in the middle of it. Because of that I didn't like to think about it if I could avoid it.

They used to be practically joined at the hip, but time in Winslow had led them to developing their own friends and interests slightly away from each other, which I honestly felt was for the best. Still, I couldn't think of anything that would permanently drive a real wedge between the two.

They acknowledged me and tried to include me in their ongoing conversation about some TV show I didn't watch, but saw how intently I was looking at my phone and quickly fell silent. The moment it finished turning on I went to immediately check the news. I skipped looking at Parahumans Online, as while the inevitably filtered info and intense speculation could be useful, it was also a distraction. And if I was right about this, I shouldn't have to look in a specialist space.

Sure enough, most local news sites and even some regional and national ones were reporting on last night's events. I didn't even rate a mention except in one line as a sidenote. No, the main thing was that Lung had moved out with a small force of ABB gangsters to seemingly outright kill the Undersiders. Shots were fired from both sides, leading to several gang members taking fairly serious injuries, but the small-time heist crew got out seemingly unscathed. I wasn't actually surprised by that. I'd had the pleasure of getting to tangle with them in the past, if only twice, and they were better than I thought most people suspected. The three-parahuman team of Tattletale, Regent, and Hellhound had mobility, firepower, disruption, and worst of all a powerful Thinker at their head. They didn't sound too bad on paper but were a nightmare to actually pin down, and even if you did you might still get your ass kicked. By my reckoning, in my two fights with them I'd disrupted their robbery in one and accomplished nothing but annoying them in the other. Both times they'd made a clean getaway.

Still, that didn't mean they could just get around dealing with Lung. In fact, they weren't even mentioned in some of the headlines. No, the focus was on a big fight between Lung and Armsmaster that had escalated and damaged some of the city. Considering he'd already been trying to fight the Undersiders by the time Armsmaster showed up, it was no surprise that Lung took the win last night. The fight didn't go that long before Armsmaster withdrew, but it was enough time for the other villains to make their escape.

And there was something about it that just didn't sit right with me.

After a minute or so of total quiet, I turned my phone around to them. "I don't like this. Tell me, why don't I like this? Not a trick question." I let Emma pluck my phone from my fingers and look at the article in more detail.

She was stumped. She spent several seconds skimming it before giving up and shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know, is it because the bad guys all got away?"

I paused and shook my head. I didn't love that, of course, but it was how things were. I was used to it by this point if nothing else. Whatever was bugging me had to be some other part of it. Emma dutifully handed the phone over to Taylor, who intensely scrutinized the article.

I thought about the pair as we waited for Taylor to figure it out for us. On the surface, it seemed like they couldn't be more different. Emma Barnes was all curves and style, red-headed queen bee of the school and loving every minute of it. She'd once made the mistake of telling us that she specially set lunch aside away from her other friends and hangers on for us, and we'd jokingly mocked her for weeks, treating her as if she was a celebrity or some kind of royalty. By contrast, Taylor Hebert was far from unattractive, but she was distinctly gangly, with a pair of glasses and long black hair, not to mention the fact she was an absolute nerd and a geek. She wasn't a genius or anything, but she was definitely smarter than me or Emma, and it wasn't just at math and computers. She had a mind like a steel trap when she really tried. She could read the cape scene almost as well as me, and I actually lived it. Sure enough, she had the answer I was searching for.

"Is it because there was a lot of fighting going on, but nothing really came of it? Like it was kind of a waste of time?" She cautiously suggested.

I pumped the air with one fist and said maybe a little too loudly "YES! Oh my god, thank you Taylor." I took back my phone and switched it off before dumping it in my pocket. I'd fought an inconclusive skirmish last night, and that had turned out to just be a sideshow to a different inconclusive skirmish. It frustrated me that the last several months had just been a stalemate where nothing seriously moved one way or the other. Where the drug dealers and literal Neo-Nazis were both free to roam the streets while capes were busy fighting meaningless battles.

Then again, I probably shouldn't be too ungrateful about that. A stalemate was better than losing. Fights like that could have pretty serious consequences, and not just for the villains. Everyone getting away fine, discounting goons, was much better than a villain, probably Lung, seriously wounding or even killing Armsmaster. For a hero, especially a high-ranking one like him, wounds were a pretty temporary problem, but he couldn't exactly come back from death. Not only would it have been a blow to morale, it would have taken out one of the city's best fighters.

"Why does it matter?" Emma asked. "That kind of cape stuff doesn't actually matter to us. I think it's kinda stupid to care so much about it." Unlike me or Taylor, Emma wasn't a cape geek. She cared about the city's gang situation, but for a few reasons was far more concerned about the front line normal members than their superhuman overlords. The irony of that situation was that she knew, or at least strongly suspected, I was Exoa Knight, while Taylor probably didn't have a clue. Of course, in this particular case she was just spouting nonsense.

"It matters because if things go sideways up there it'll start to affect us down here." I said. "Think about it, Emma. If Lung gets captured, what happens?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "He gets sent off to prison, or gets broken out maybe?"

"Right, because the ABB have to at least try and get him out, but how do you think they'll do that with who they have left?" I pointed out.

Emma stared at me with a completely blank expression until Taylor took over for her. "Bakuda just joined them recently. She does bombs, so she would probably set off a bunch of explosive devices."

"Close." I considered going into more detail, but decided against it. I liked to keep my secret identity as close to my chest as possible, and I couldn't give too much of a firsthand read on Bakuda anyway since I hadn't actually fought her yet. "I don't actually know what she'd do but it's probably something like that. And if the city's suddenly under a bomb threat, you'd better believe that would affect us."

"And there's what would happen if he stays caught." Taylor added. I nodded in agreement. Probably the Empire 88 and the Merchants gain more strength by filling the power vacuum, and the minor villains get emboldened and try to get in on the scavenging. Nothing I loved. The Empire 88 especially, as the other truly powerful gang in the city they'd become the dominant player in the underworld if the ABB vanished, and as a black teenage girl I wasn't exactly their favorite kind of person. They didn't like Exoa Knight much either.

I could tell Emma had some more thoughts on this that she wasn't telling us, but whatever they were she kept them to herself. Instead, we shifted back to eating and talking about more normal things. Emma and Taylor talked a bit more about their show, Emma and I talked about how fashionable sportswear could and should be, and Taylor and I talked about the midterm art project we'd both handed in at the end of last week. It was almost like we were just a normal group of friends for a bit. I mentally thanked them both for making the attempt. They'd always tried to cheer me up whenever they saw me ever since I started 'falling apart' a few months back and refused to talk about it. The truth, of course, was that Canberra had happened and in the aftermath I'd resolved to try even harder to be a hero and help my city, which just led to the fragile illusion of a relatively normal life I'd built breaking. And to add insult to injury it hadn't even helped my hero efforts that much.

I wasn't even able to commit to it properly. I'd considered making a clean break from my school and my family, living full time in the Other World and only making dives back here to patrol. I could fit in way more hours of actual work if I did that, but the painful truth was that I was almost certain I'd miss other people, especially these two, too much. It was selfish of me to cut back on saving people to talk with friends and get an education I probably wouldn't ever get the chance to use. I knew that and I wouldn't pretend otherwise, at least to myself, but I kept up the pretense that Exoa Knight was a selfless hero of the people anyway. It was maybe a bit pathetic, but I didn't want anyone to find out that was all a lie. I just didn't.

But all too soon, lunch hour was over, and I tightly repressed all those thoughts. I could come back to them at another time and place. For now, I was here to finish my afternoon classes.

The school day ended as uneventfully as it had started for me. I didn't have any track stuff today, so I could get straight on to the next item of business. Before I could go home and have that shower I'd promised myself, there was something I had to do. Part of my routine that happened every Monday afternoon.

As I walked away from the school, I finally let my guard down and had my thoughts drift. As they often did, they drifted back towards the very beginning of the new me, about four years ago now. I was completely alone, and panicking, and after I'd gotten my powers very confused.

I snatched my thoughts back to the present. I wasn't that scared little girl anymore, and the memories around that time were unpleasant. Your Trigger Event always was. Still, I had to admit it wasn't all bad. I met some good friends, including the most powerful living sphere in that or probably any universe.

Chapter 3: Flashback 1

Chapter Text

The projectile flew through the air in an almost perfect arc, avoided only with the help of rapid wingbeats. The return fire, however, ended up stopped cold by a shimmering, twisting line of colour simply hanging in midair.

"No fair!" Ribbon whined. "How come you get to use your paintbrush? That defeats the point!"

Adeleine sighed and shook her head. "The point of a snowball fight isn't that it's fair, Ribbon, it's just supposed to be some fun! And besides, you're small and can fly. It was already unfair before I did anything!"

The fairy dropped a bit and stuck her tongue out in the freezing air of Shiver Star before replying. "Well three of us are small, and three of us can fly, so you're the odd one out here, not me. Besides, even if I stopped flying, I'd still be small. I can't really do anything about that."

The artist snapped her paintbrush down and the aerial splotch of paint flowed back into it, vanishing from sight. "You know Ribbon, I don't actually need my art to have you shot out of the sky. I have something else I can do."

A mischievous grin crossed Ribbon's face as she darted around the air rapidly. "Oh yeah? Really, Ado? What's that?"

"Distract you." The flitting fairy stopped cold in midair, face a mask of visible confusion. Before she fully realized what her enemy had just said, a high-speed snowball sailed in from her left and hit dead on, sending her plummeting to the ground with a face full of snow. Adeleine and the culprit, Waddle Dee, erupted into laughter as the defeated, sodden fairy emerged from her crash site, snow sliding off her and a miserable expression on her face. Adeleine realized a second too late that neither of the other two members of their party were joining in when another snowball hit her straight in the back.

Full of feelings of shock and betrayal, she turned around to see King Dedede chuckling, resting on his hammer with one hand while tossing a fresh weapon up and down in his other. "Why me?" She asked, or more accurately whined.

"Simple!" The King of Dreamland exclaimed. "I couldn't hit Ribbon, because she'd just gotten hit, and it would be too nasty to hit her again. I couldn't hit my loyal subject, because he was my loyal subject. And I couldn't hit Kirby, because he's stopped playing to go stare at something. That only left you, and when you distracted yourself with Ribbon's fall, I struck!" He looked inordinately pleased with himself, but Adeleine was more curious about what he'd said about Kirby. She'd been distracted and missed the fact that his surprisingly keen eye had apparently noticed something far away. She turned to face him, and sure enough there he was, staring intently. She followed his gaze, and there was a small black shape in the distance that she couldn't quite make out. A shape she would swear hadn't been there when they'd started playing.

Dedede saw her worry and gaze, and stepped in again to reassure her, hefting his hammer and swaggering up to her side. "Well, way I saw it, you know Kirby. If he thought there was a chance it could be a threat or someone in danger, he'd already have told us and ran off to get a closer look. If he's just looking at it, it must mean that it's nothing important to us right now, so I felt safe ignoring it." Adeleine slowly nodded. The logic did check out, Kirby wasn't the kind to stand idly by under any circumstances. In fact, she knew that Kirby had both been tricked and done something stupid in the past because he was just too hotheaded.

She marched over to her canvas and easel, mixing together an even amount of red, blue, and yellow to create black, and began to paint. Her brush ran up and down across the surface, leaving behind full detail and texture despite only performing single passes. She may have been human, but she wasn't limited to human painting techniques. In mere seconds she was done. Laying down her brush and palette, she reached out and grabbed the pair of adjustable binoculars, bringing them into three dimensional space. Then she turned back towards the distant object, and raised them to her eyes.

Then she blinked, lowered the binoculars, shook her head, and looked through again as if they would somehow now show something different. Predictably, they didn't.

She passed them around in turn to each member of their party, also painting a smaller telescope for Ribbon to use instead. When they were all satisfied, Adeleine pushed the two viewing devices back onto her flat canvas and turned to the party.

"We have to go in and check this out." She said firmly.

"Poyo! Poyo poyo. Poyo?" Kirby asked curiously.

"No, I'm afraid I don't. I thought I was the last human in this galaxy. My people left generations ago, leaving only machines behind. Some of those machines might have been people-makers, but I was the only one who ever successfully decanted. I checked and everything before I shut them down and headed off-world. It's impossible that someone was born here after me, she couldn't have been left behind because of how long ago everyone left, and obviously they haven't come back here if there's only one lone person. I have no clue how another human is around."

"Well, looks like the only thing to do is ask her. She ought to know, right?" Dedede pointed out. Adeleine nodded, rolling up her canvas and collapsing down her easel, slinging it it all over her shoulder along with tightly strapping her brush and palette onto her back. Nobody else needed to grab anything, of course. With her ability to create supplies and shelter from thin air, or rather thin paint, they could afford to travel incredibly light. The King had his hammer, and everyone else had nothing at all, since the Crystal Shards all carried themselves.

"Let me talk to her first, okay?" Adeleine asked. "We don't know where she came from, but if it wasn't from around here then she could be disoriented, and not recognize anyone but another human. I don't want to spook her if she's already alone and frightened, and it didn't look like she was doing great through the binoculars."

"Poyo!" Kirby indignantly replied, frowning as he marched in front of her.

"Well Kirby, I think you can be really scary when you want to! And sometimes just normally, when you're in a fight." Waddle Dee pointed out.

"Poyo poyo!" Kirby frantically waved his arms around. "Poyo, poyo." His expression somehow became even more annoyed.

"That's true, but I think Adeleine is right." Dedede said, getting a glare for his trouble. He just shrugged. "If she doesn't know anything but other humans, which could be how it is, it's probably for the best that the first one she talks to is another human. And she might not even understand you. Your language is, uh, well..." He trailed off.

"A learned skill." Ribbon diplomatically finished.

The puffball sighed in defeat. "Poyo."

"Thanks, Kirby!" Adeleine beamed before setting out at the head of the group, resolutely marching towards the human in the distance.

She was only a few hundred meters away, so they reached her fairly quickly. Like Adeleine, she wore fairly baggy clothing, but that was were the similarities ended. Her clothes were dark, and so was her skin. That was normal though. Adeleine knew from her implanted memories that unlike some species, which only came in single forms, humans came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, called 'races'.

Less normally, she was trying to make herself as small as possible by sitting on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. It helped that she was smaller than Adeleine already. It looked to be an age differential. Adeleine knew that she was about sixteen Earth years, or sixteen orbits of what was now called Shiver Star around its sun, old. The girl looked to be instead maybe eleven years old. She was also visibly shivering, and Adeleine wasn't sure if it was the cold or something else.

The group slowed down as they made their final approach, reducing themselves to a slow walk. As they began to cross the last few meters, they were practically creeping, although they also ensured they were making plenty of noise so the stranger heard them. Sure enough, while they were still a bit away, she looked up at them with red, watery eyes.

"Hey." Adeleine said, softly and gently. "Can you understand what I'm saying?" A small nod. "Good. My name is Adeleine. Can you tell me if you're hurt or injured?" A small shake of the head. Adeleine paused, realizing her mistake. "Sorry, my bad, is that a no as in you physically can't tell me, or a no you're not injured? Nod for the first one, shake for the second one." Another head shake. "That's good, then. I won't pry into whatever's wrong, but I want you to know that if you want to speak to me about it, you can. You're among friends." She gave as warm of a smile as she could, and beckoned the others forward. They slowly, cautiously, crowded around her.

Then something unexpected happened. The girl turned to look at Kirby, and an expression of anger crossed her face. She shifted, and lashed out with a sharp kick. Unfortunately for her, the pink puffball hadn't fully dropped his guard, and defended himself with lightning speed. Before Adeleine had even registered any motion, he had shifted completely, and was now holding the strange human by the foot. Fortunately, Kirby knew how to use appropriate force on a human, otherwise Adeleine would be a red smear on the surface of Planet Popstar rather than here, so the grip was tight but not painful or damaging.

However, that didn't remove the shock of suddenly finding your leg in a vise-like grip. The girl screeched as she fell flat on her back, flailing wildly to try and get away, but it was futile. She may as well have been trying to escape the inevitability of linear time. In fact, she might have had more luck with that. Adeleine rushed over and used her greater strength and reach to take hold of the girl's arms, while Waddle Dee held down the other leg before it could manage to smack her somewhere. The struggling continued for a few seconds, but when it became clear that it was hopeless she stopped, merely doing her best to give everyone around her a death glare. Considering her age, it was really more adorable than threatening.

"Poyo-poyo, poyo." Kirby said, stating his thoughts and terms. Adeleine nodded in agreement. The girl clearly wasn't possessed by Dark Matter. While that would explain the random aggression, it didn't fit with how infectees usually acted, and someone possessed would be way stronger as well. This was something else.

"He says he'll let go of your leg if you promise not to try and kick him again. The rest of us will let go too." Adeleine said.

In response, the girl said her first word on this world in a quiet, bitter voice. "Fine." As promised, the three holding her down let go, and Adeleine helped the smaller girl to her feet, brushing off most of the snow on her back and rear.

"Can you tell me why you did that?" Adeleine asked.

Silently fuming, the girl looked down and stood silently for a moment before deciding to answer. "I was angry." She muttered. "I was just really angry. And then I saw that thing and it looked... stupid. Really stupid. And weak. So I tried to kick it." She turned her head away. "Sorry." She was now speaking at barely above a whisper.

Adeleine beamed and patted her on the shoulder. "Even if Kirby was those things, you should still have tried to be nice to him. You should always try to be, actually. You don't have to make friends with anyone you don't like, but you should show a minimum of respect to everyone," She lectured. "Unless they're evil and trying to hurt or kill you. Then you can make an exception, but only then! I understand that you've probably been through a lot, though. Why don't you tell me your name and how you got here?"

There was another pause before answering. "Sophia. Sophia Hess. And I don't know how I got here."

"Well, that's okay. But I should tell you, this place is dangerous if you're on your own. You should probably stick with us for now, okay? We'll keep you safe, I promise." Adeleine said, trying to stress the importance of this. She didn't want to force Sophia to do anything, but it really was dangerous. She absolutely shouldn't be left alone on the surface of Shiver Star, what with all the monsters around. They could hurt and knock around most things, but humans were exceptionally fragile. She could sustain serious injuries or even die.

Fortunately, instead of arguing against the idea, Sophia just gave a resigned nod. Adeleine's beaming smile managed to grow even wider.

"Great! Well, you've already met me and Kirby, and here are Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Ribbon." She said, gesturing to each of the trio in turn.

"Hi." Sophia said, still not looking directly at them.

"If you're good to go, then let's be on our way!" Adeleine cheered. The others gave determined nods, as did Sophia, who was beginning to look slightly more sure of herself.

Chapter 4: Chapter 3

Chapter Text

As I got further from Winslow, I accelerated into a jog, letting muscle memory take over as I prepared to dash through a good portion of the city. It was less than an hour each way for me, but that still wasn't short. Being in peak physical health helped a lot with that, since I could pretty much go at this speed forever without so much as breaking a sweat. Most of that was just raw practice, but I wondered if my endurance also had something to do with my power. In the Other World, it was possible to do some weird things with enough training. Like Adeleine's art powers, and my ability to shoot energy beams by swinging sharp objects. Mind you, I kept that one to myself. Sword projectiles would probably remind people of Jack Slash, and that was the absolute last association I wanted people to make.

Regardless of the exact reason, the facts of what I could do remained, so I skipped on taking the bus to save just that slight extra bit of money, and for the additional exercise. Instead, I simply ran, making my way across now pretty familiar streets. I'd needed a map when I first started doing this, since the southeast end of downtown was pretty far from my usual stomping grounds of the docks. I came down here often enough as part of my patrols, but I mostly did that from the air or by rooftop, which was pretty different from having to actually walk on the pavement.

As the houses got nicer and the people got whiter, goddamn Empire, I approached my destination. An otherwise fairly nondescript apartment building, eight stories tall and made of stone and glass, but it had my target waiting out front, impatient and with arms folded. Wearing a fairly conventional t-shirt, jeans, and boots, loosely similar to my own outfit, Brian Laborn saw me and just glared. He was probably the one person in the city who could get away with doing that and not receiving a glare back, mostly because I still felt a tiny bit bad about our last fight.

If I said that out loud most people might think we were in a relationship of some kind and had gotten into an argument, but that wasn't right at all. Most people in this city would better know Brian by the name Grue, a small-time supervillain who had vanished under mysterious circumstances after an altercation with Exoa Knight in February of last year. It was that kind of fight, and I was fairly certain that a powered boot stomping down hard on your chest was very unpleasant.

I practically skidded to a halt in front of him, breathing normally, and tried my best to give him a smile despite everything. It faltered in the face of his glare and my continuing low-level exhaustion, though. I just gave him a sort of blank look, staring up at his broad-shouldered, dark-skinned, six-foot frame.

"Let's get this over with." He said, although it was more resigned than annoyed. We were the furthest thing from friends, but at this point he could put up with me pretty well, and certainly trusted me, while I actually respected him. I knew from his criminal days that he was professional, resourceful, and a mean fighter. Not mean enough to overcome my battle armour even with his own powers, but he'd come closer than many. Then again, that was when I was much less experienced. I had no clue how a real cape fight between us would go these days.

He opened the front door and went in ahead of me, leading me up to the fourth floor, although I knew the way by now. He efficiently marched to his apartment and opened that door up too. I followed in and took in everything.

The apartment was an interesting look into Brian as a person. It was a comparatively recent acquisition, extremely neat and tidy, almost zen-like, and I knew he put effort to keep it that way. I had some insight into his thought process for the place as recent as last week when he mentioned how he cleaned it up off-hand while we were putting up some bookshelves.

Strangely enough, the thing that most clashed with the decor was the garishly dressed young teenager sitting on the kitchen counter, kicking her legs. She brightened up as she saw us enter.

"Eyy, Sophia!" Aisha Laborn said, shooting a pair of finger-guns at me. This time, I did manage a tired smile. "So do I finally get to see you two make out or what?" That got an eye-roll from me and a sigh from Brian. Since it kind of looked suspicious to have a mysterious but attractive, or so I was told, teenage girl show up at your place every week like clockwork, she liked to joke maybe a bit too much that we were in a relationship. Still, it was better than the alternative of a mysterious teenage girl showing up every week like clockwork to hand over suspicious wads of cash. The former might be considered gossip-worthy, the latter could actually have people ask serious questions. We didn't love it, but we kept at it like this out of necessity.

Mind you, even if we were actually friends, we'd never get into any kind of romance simply because of how I ticked. I didn't feel physical or romantic attraction to other people, period. I couldn't remember if I ever felt those, but I for sure stopped after my first visit to the Other World. The only love I was capable of feeling was for my friends and family. Another thing that could either be just how I was or a strange consequence of my power. Either way, I didn't mind. It's not like I would have the time for a real relationship even if I did want one.

Instead of answering her, Brian turned to me expectantly. I let my bag fall from my shoulders, unzipping it and grabbing the money within. "Two hundred exactly." I handed the stack of notes over to him. Aisha hopped down and walked over expectantly, and I grabbed a single note and gave it to her. "And twenty for you." She grinned widely and threw an arm around my waist as I put my bag back on.

"See Brian, this is why I like Sophia. She's the cool big sister and you're the boring older brother." She needled him, and wasn't even dignified with a sigh this time. To protect my fellow cape's honour, I carefully wrapped my left arm around her shoulder and prepared my other hand to strike.

"Love you too, Aisha." I said, before moving like lightning. I shifted and tightened my grip to draw her in closer, turned left slightly so my right arm was closer, and began good-naturedly ruffling her hair. She tried to cringe away, but I was used to much more capable people trying much harder to escape. It was no use, and the ruffling continued.

"Gah, no! Bro, help me out here!" She half-spoke, half-laughed while I cackled.

"You chose your side." Brian said drily, although I glanced out of the corner of my eyes and saw him give a small smile. He had a nice, genial smile.

"Nooooooooooooo!" Aisha whined, squirming in my grip. After a few more seconds, I let her go and watched her scamper away and try to get her hair back into some semblance of order.

With the ice broken, we were all a lot more relaxed. I struck up some small talk with Brian, mostly about covering costs going forward. What had happened back in 2010 was that I cornered him after a small robbery and threatened to send him away with the PRT. He replied that he couldn't let that happen, and prepared to try and fight his way out, but that stuck with me. I asked him why not, one thing led to another, and before long we were talking about his situation. He used very loose terms, of course, he wasn't stupid, but the core sob story was there. He was only a supervillain for the money, because he had to get enough money to afford custody of his sibling, and get them away from their abusive father and neglectful mother. That struck a cord with me, and back then I'd actually been understanding of people. Maybe too understanding. Or maybe after more than a year of fighting and patrolling I'd just become jaded. I found myself buying his sob story wholeheartedly. So, I cut him a deal. He'd stop being a villain, and I'd get him the money he needed instead. If Grue ever resurfaced, I'd put a stop to him for good. Eventually, we became less mutually hostile, and after a couple of months mutually revealed our identities to each other. It was just way more convenient for the both of us that way. Actually, that would soon be exactly a year ago.

To our mutual surprise, it actually ended up working out. I wasn't being paid by anyone, but if you knew where to look you could make a reasonable amount of ethical money as a successful vigilante. Looting here and there from the occasional drug den and captured piece of Tinkertech. I kept a strict code about this, of course. I never actually stole money from individual criminals, only the gangs as collectives, among other rules. I was trying to be perceived as a hero, not just a rival villain with better PR. It was still enough. Brian and Aisha were actually by far my largest expense, since I bought very little for myself, my gear was maintained for free by my contacts in the Meta-Knights, and I didn't really have anything else to do with it either. I generally fed any leftovers into the Hess family bills to try and relieve some stress from mom, and also to corroborate my false story that I had to be out at night several days of the week because I had a part-time job working graveyard shift retail.

That alone would probably have struggled, but Brian had started finding work here and there after he was forced at swordpoint to quit being Grue, and between us we were just about able to make ends meet. Then we'd made the mistake of saying that in front of Aisha and the jokes about relationship and marriage intensified tenfold. I only had to put up with it for a bit, but I only saw her once a week. I had felt a lot of sympathy for Brian that day.

And of course, the struggle wasn't over yet. Although Aisha visited often enough, and these days coordinated her visits to meet me, she didn't actually live here yet. She still spent most of her time at the houses of her estranged parents. I knew that her caseworker would be inspecting this place a couple of weeks from now, so Brian was rushing to get everything in place for that. A large part of that was getting furniture moved in, assembled, or both. I had helped a bit with that in the past, but right now I was running tight on time. I didn't tell my mom about any of this, so I kind of had to be back before she did, but on top of that today he was busy with what was going to be Aisha's bed, which was a bit trickier than most things, and I had to take that shower still. Probably also before mom got back.

"Well, I'll probably work something out." Brian said, giving a casual shrug. "I might be able to do it by myself, or since she's here Aisha could help." Aisha shot him the finger, so I didn't think she liked that idea. Then something came to me.

"Wait right here." I said, before marching off into the bathroom and locking the door behind me. I closed my eyes, focused, felt the lurch, and was in my room again. As always, a pair of Waddle Dees were lying around, this time sitting on the floor playing some kind of card game. Poker or something similar, it looked like. They turned to look at me.

"Oh, hi Lady Exoa Knight. You're here early." One said conversationally.

"If you're up for it, I'd like your help with something. Simple work, physical, but I won't be able to bring you back here until nighttime. You'll have to meet me behind my house at midnight. I'll pick you up then and there." The pair dropped their cards, narrowed their eyes, and gave determined nods. Waddle Dees were pretty much always willing to help you out unless they were busy themselves, usually for no charge, which was good since I had basically no Kingdom of Dreamland money. I'd used a couple of them as emergency reinforcements in the past when I had a long enough lead time before a fight, and wasn't expecting a too much of a running battle. They weren't amazing, but they were much better than nothing, and while you could knock them unconscious easily enough they were practically impossible to kill or even grievously injure, so I didn't have to worry about them.

Obviously, it would be much better to get Kirby himself, or Meta Knight, or even King Dedede, but whenever I tried to use my power with them in tow I got nothing but a bunch of pins and needles. It was annoying, not to mention the only reason I hadn't cleaned up the entire Bay by now.

I knelt down, and held hands with them. Well, my hands to their little nubs. I paused for several seconds once more, and was back on Earth Bet with residents of the Other World in tow. I stood back up, opened up the bathroom door, and stepped out to interest but not much surprise.

Aisha may have looked a bit like a vapid teenage girl, but she had a good intellect. Brian had told her at one point he had powers, she heard that I was coming and going, and from that successfully managed to piece together both of our secret identities. When she brought it up to us, Brian tried to deny it, but did such a bad job of it that I just flatly confessed.

Okay, maybe I also did it to see the look on his face.

"Waddle Dees, Brian and Aisha. Brian and Aisha, Waddle Dees." I introduced them to each other. "They can help you with whatever work around the house you need done for the rest of the day."

The pair snapped sharp salutes. These weren't normal villagers, but trained and disciplined members of the flying fortress Halberd's crew, hence why they were playing cards in one of its rooms. "Reporting for duty!" They said in sync.

For her part, Aisha approached curiously, got down on one knee, and poked one in the cheek, although it didn't stop its salute as she did so.

"You know, it's weird." She said. "Your power gives you really badass armour and wings and shit, but also these things that look like they should be children's stuffed toys. I don't get it." I tensed, but it was a fairly obvious observation. And I privately admitted to myself that if these two figured out there was more to my power than I was letting on, it wasn't the end of the world. I could trust them to keep a secret. I was already trusting them with my identity, after all. And a weird power wouldn't be the end of the world, since as Aisha just said it's weird from what they already knew.

I stayed for a few more minutes chatting with them and walking Brian through the surprisingly extensive list of what a Dee could do, as opposed to what a Doo could de, but soon enough I really did have to go. I said my goodbyes, walked out of the apartment building myself, and began jogging home. I just about made it and had a quick, warm shower before mom showed up. The rest of the afternoon dragged. I did some leftover homework, played with Thalia, ate dinner, and then headed out for 'work' at about seven. Once I'd wandered into a suitably abandoned alleyway, it was easy enough to shift over, suit up, and shift back. With my normal assistants off putting together beds and shelves, it took a few minutes overall, but still not that long.

But before I could begin to properly begin my evening, something else came up. It had been a hell of a day so far, between me getting a letter from Adeleine in the first hour of the morning, to meeting Taylor and Emma as usual, and then paying for Brian and Aisha's future later on. Now one of my last two human friend I had was calling me on my armour's phone, and I wondered where my life had gone wrong. When one of the city's most beloved and popular heroes called you personally out of the blue, I felt like you should be overjoyed. But I was just resigned to the fact that at least the first half of my night would be taken up trying to deal with the consequences coming from yet another of Victoria Dallon's Very Good Ideas.

Chapter 5: Chapter 4

Chapter Text

As I watched Glory Girl descend from the skies, I couldn't help but think she reminded me of Kirby.

That sounded insane on the surface of it. One was an adorable little ball of roving suction and annihilation, the other was Brockton Bay's most photogenic superhero, and very much human. When the thought had first crossed my mind, I'd assumed it was Victoria trying to pull something over me with her secondary power, an aura that she could tune up or down that made people either in awe of her or terrified of her depending on if they had a good reason to be scared of her. As she'd always been an ally, I got the awe, and if there was one thing between my two worlds that I was outright in awe of it was the pink warrior who could probably reshape a mountain range with just his tiny fists.

But then I went away and thought about it more logically, and realized that if you looked below the surface level I was actually on to something. They weren't the same by any means, but there were parallels. Both were willful, actions over words, energetic, good-hearted heroes. I could easily see them getting along well over a shared love for peace and justice.

The problem was, as I later realized, that she also shared some of Kirby's flaws. She was willful, but that meant she was incredibly stubborn. She could usually be found rushing off into something without thinking it through. She wasn't quite so easily tricked as the guy who hand ultimate power to an evil mastermind twice, but replaced that with a maybe even worse flaw of her own. Kirby matched incredible power with an equally incredible degree of control. His fighting style was a work of art, seeing him move and strike so flawlessly and fluidly that when he was playing for keeps he never even got hit, and he never hurt anyone more than he had to in order to win. Glory Girl wasn't anywhere near as strong, but she still had a lot of power. More flight, speed, strength, and durability than my armor, to the point where she was one of the four Brockton parahumans that I wasn't sure I could defeat in a duel even if I held nothing back, along with Dauntless, Armsmaster, and Lung with a head start. Raw strength enough to easily kill a man, and I'd gathered from her sister that she'd nearly done so by accident more than once. She lacked the kind of self-control that Kirby or I had.

So when I could, I tried to encourage her not to do dumb shit. It had sort of worked. There was no one big incident where I got close with Victoria, we'd just sort of made friends over a year and a half of occasionally fighting together and less occasionally needing to go to her sister Panacea for healing after a battle went badly for me.

She sedately landed on the rooftop she'd asked me to meet her on, flashing me a bright smile. I stood impassively opposite her, arms folded, long cape billowing in the evening breeze.

"I'm glad you called." So I can keep you in check, I thought but didn't add. "You said something about wanting my help in an investigation?"

Her expression shifted to a more serious one as she nodded. Despite her bubbly enthusiasm, she knew when to turn up the professionalism. Again, familiar. "Yeah. I've been following up on a lead we got a while back. This obvious skinhead got let off on an assault charge thanks to missing evidence and weirdly good lawyers. Mom felt bad about not taking the case herself, looked into it, and figured he was a Triple-E lieutenant. Which means he's done some other stuff we can get him for. So, we collect some evidence, and mom thinks we're ready to make another case with a better chance of success. I get sent to make sure he doesn't try anything stupid, see him leave his place really suspiciously. I think he's going to some big Empire meeting and I want to get a bunch of birds with one stone."

That did explain things, but left one glaring question unanswered. "So why call me? You're in a team already. There's literally half a dozen people waiting to back you up." I suspected I knew the answer already, and felt vindicated when she turned her head down as if the rooftop was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world, having the good graces to look bashful.

"Well, you know..." She trailed off, but I stayed firm, letting the silence drag out until she explained herself. Eventually, she sighed in defeat and looked up. "The adults would probably think it's too dangerous, and Shielder and Laserdream aren't willing to go behind their parents' backs. But you get it, right? We have to take risks sometimes."

Half a dozen retorts came to mind, but I clamped down. It wouldn't be helpful right now, and I did agree with her. The fully cautious approach was to never take any major villains, or even any villains at all, into custody, and just let them run free. The underworld of any city was like an ecosystem in equilibrium. As long as nothing drastically changed, it was stable. But take a big player out of the picture, and what do you get? Feeding frenzy on their old territory, if they had any, and civilians would inevitably get caught in the crossfire. Obviously, absolutely nobody seriously believed that specifically was the right thing to do, but it demonstrated the point. You had to take chances if you wanted to change things for the better, and sometimes before they did things would get worse first. It was unpleasant, but necessary, especially for a city as close to the brink as the Bay.

"We do." I inclined my head. "But you know you're not gonna be able to hide this from them, right?"

Her expression returned to its usual upbeat self as she shrugged. "Well, you know, New Wave's all about accountability, right? And they're probably not gonna be too mad if I show up with more Empire creeps than they expected. If they want to punish me, that's fine." I had a mixed opinion on the group's no secret identity policy myself. It made you vulnerable if you didn't have something like Victoria's always-on skintight force field, as shown by poor Fleur, and I wasn't sure it was for me. The mask helped me separate out the parts of myself that were less controlled. It helped make me someone the city could almost look up to. I didn't want that to change, so it stayed on. Fortunately, nobody had really pressured me to reveal my identity yet, unless you counted the identity swap with Brian, which I considered a special case.

"Then let's not waste more time. Do you know where the guy is now?" I asked.

"I know where he was and the direction he was heading fifteen minutes ago, and I think I know where he might be heading to." As she answered, I noted that she was back to serious facts mode.

"Then we'll start from there and search from the air until we find him." I suggest, although I used a tone that was more ordering than suggesting. "I can start from where he was, you can start from where you think he's going to, we can meet in the middle." I paused and really looked at her for a second. Lustrous, long blonde hair; short dress and long boots, both white with gold trim; a cape over one shoulder; a literal golden tiara on her head. A look best described as 'blindingly obvious, emphasis on the blinding'. Fortunately, people very rarely looked up at the sky for no reason, so it might work. Still, we shouldn't leave this to chance. "Stay as high up as you can while still being able to catch him, and try not to look like you're searching for him. The one who finds him first should call the other over the phone to let them know. Unless you have a better idea?"

She paused to seriously consider if she did before resolutely shaking her head. "I've got nothing."

I let a malicious smirk spread across my face as my cape likewise spread before transforming into wings. "Then let the hunt begin."

A slight effort of will and I was shooting away into the sky, almost horizontal as I mixed the occasional powerful flap with high speed gliding. This kind of flying let me go pretty fast, but I had limited agility. In a few seconds, Glory Girl had caught up, and was flying beside me with a wild grin of her own.

"How are you just so effortlessly cool?" She asked. I shook my head and rolled slightly to face her.

"It's not effortless." I reminded her. "It's through training and experience. And I'm not trying to be cool. I'm trying to be effective."

"Yeah that's what I mean!" She exclaimed, gesturing wildly. "You're cool without trying. When I want to look cool I have to put in the effort and everything."

I still didn't get why she held me in high esteem. I was pretty sure it was the mysterious protector of the night stuff, but that was only because I was a vigilante who could physically only patrol in the late afternoon at the earliest. Still, it was probably the only reason Victoria listened to me when I talked to her, so I wasn't about to point that out. Another reason to keep this mask as good as welded to my face.

"It's all in the self-control." I state simply. "You say you have to put in the effort to control your body when you want to put on a show. I'm just always carefully controlling myself. You're smart and have good willpower. You could do it too."

"Yeah yeah yeah." She stuck her tongue out at me in response to the obvious lecture. "Starting point is near Spayder and Rock. End point is this empty Medhall warehouse five blocks due east of their HQ. See you in a few!" She accelerated, and quickly left my sight. I estimated she was probably pushing eighty miles per hour.

I diverted to the area she specified and started searching in a criss-crossing pattern, searching not only the straight line between the two locations but also potential side routes. If anything those were the more likely paths if this guy didn't want to be followed. I switched to my second alternate vision mode, thermal, and scanned the streets below intensely. For every human sized and shaped heat signature, I switched back to low-light to take a better look at. I didn't find anyone who matched even Victoria's loose description of 'skinhead'.

After about five minutes, my integrated phone lit up. Victoria again. "Talk to me."

"Found him." Even over the line, she sounded smugly satisfied. "Looks like I was right, too. He's making the final approach to the warehouse now, come meet me there."

She didn't need to tell me twice. I twisted in mid air, hanging for a moment after one flap brings me to a halt, before dashing off to rejoin her. It wasn't long before I saw her and the building in question, slowly coming to a halt alongside her, she gestured down with her head, and sure enough I could see a guy who fit the bill furtively look around before entering through a side door. The fact he didn't look up as well would be his last mistake as a free man. Glory Girl descended and I followed, both of us touching down silently.

"Alright, let's go!" She eagerly whispered to me. I frowned as my cape reformed, glancing at the door. If this was a big meeting, chances were some Empire cape or sub-unit were at its head. If it was, say, Victor and Othala, that wouldn't be so bad. If this was a secret welcome back party for Purity, Night, and Fog, that was much more of an issue.

"We should try and check the inside first. See if there are any windows or other entrances around, poke through them before we engage. Know what we're up against." I quietly said back, my low voice coming through with less distortion than usual to ensure it was still understandable.

It was Glory Girl's turn to fold her arms. "We don't even know how long they'll be staying here. While we're hunting for a window they could be leaving through a different entrance! We have to go in now. Listen, you know I look up to you-"

"Stop." I knew from being friends with Emma the telltale signs of when a social butterfly was about to manipulate you into doing what they wanted. I'd gotten to know Victoria reasonably well, but at the same time she'd gotten to know me and my buttons, and my reserves of willpower weren't infinite. Plus, I did kinda want to beat up a couple of Empire thugs. Just because I'd gotten good at suppressing my anger didn't mean it had ever gone away, and these people deserved it. Hell, they deserved worse. Just before the pause in the conversation got awkward, I continued. "Fine. Since we're probably going to do it your way in any case, may as well do it your way now."

She pumped her fist into the air in triumph before flying straight through the door, throwing it clean off its hinges in the process. "Alright!" She yelled out as she did so.

"Oh. Shit." She added moments later as I stepped through after her. I'd give her this: She'd been right about this being a big Empire meeting. What both of us had failed to realize was that this was the Empire meeting. Not only were a dozen or so people in civilian clothes and simple cloth face masks hanging around, one of which in the middle of it all was our target, so were five capes in full costume. Kaiser, leader of the Empire 88. Fenja and Menja, twins who served as his personal bodyguards. And Hookwolf and Krieg, Kaiser's two chief lieutenants. This must have been a high-level strategy meeting before we showed up. I didn't know why Kaiser felt he needed to have a meeting like that with his high command, but there was no way it could be good.

I turned my head to look at Glory Girl just as she turned hers to look at me. It could just have been my imagination, but I would swear that an entire wordless conversation took place between us when we locked eyes. And I was pretty sure it went something like this:

I messed up.

Oh, you think?

The pair of us were enough of a thorn in the Empire's side that they didn't bother with talking, instead shifting into combat mode right away. The only good news was that four of the five present needed to take a precious few seconds to power up first. Extending a hand, Kaiser caused a palisade of metal to emerge between him and us, with his bodyguards drawing their weapons and adopting a combat stance before they began to grow larger in size. Hookwolf simply walked steadily forward as whirring chains, blades, hooks, and similar burst from beneath his skin, or rather his skin retracted into the growing metal that was rapidly forming into the shape of a wolf. Krieg also took a few steps forward, but stopped when he was only a bit beyond Kaiser's barrier, watching us carefully.

In the time it had taken them to do that I was already moving towards Hookwolf. While it didn't look like it, he was safer for me to be near than Krieg. Not safe by any means, but the latter could slow me down more as I got closer to him with his power to manipulate kinetic energy. That meant I was more vulnerable to a grown spear of metal from Kaiser, or a regular but massive spear from Menja. I saw Glory Girl shoot straight ahead towards our unfortunate prey, who was in front of Kaiser's protective barrier and away from his fellow normal humans. The result of him being a new arrival, probably. He reached for something, cursing, and it must have been a gun since I heard a few shots while I turned back to my more immediate problem.

The still growing metal wolf lunged at me as I grabbed my sheathed blade from my side. I brought the weapon down in a large arc on the mass of metal that made up its head, and my wings flared as I leapt forward, landing squarely on Hookwolf's back. Blades tried to cut away at my armoured boots, and metal grew up to try and drag me in. If I was actually caught in his machinery I'd be minced, but a flap of my wings I was off of him before that could happen.

The warehouse had a fairly tall ceiling, but wasn't that large. I could feel the air try and push me down as I ascended, Krieg slowing me for Fenja to try and hit. Her movement was practiced, efficient, and hit nothing but air as she swung her sword just past me. If I'd been so much as a second slower curving around the blow I'd have been smashed to the floor. She recovered quickly, but not quickly enough to prevent me from bringing my weapon up straight into her exposed jaw. A blow like that would have sent a normal person to the ground and probably knocked out a few of their teeth, but the fifteen foot tall Valkyrie just had her head forced up a bit. It clearly hurt, but not enough.

A few more wingbeats sent me sailing back, just in time to avoid a lance of metal generated by Kaiser. I spared a glance and saw that both Glory Girl and the lieutenant were gone. Considering that it had only been a few seconds and I was already majorly on the back foot, I decided that was my cue to get the hell out of there. I altered the position of my wings, gliding back and down towards the door as Menja and Hookwolf began to advance towards me. I flipped them the bird before turning and running. The second I was outside, I flew up into the sky as fast as I could.

That entire battle couldn't have been more than a minute, maybe a minute and a half, but I felt like I was five years older coming out of the warehouse compared to when I went in. I scanned the nearby rooftops, and saw Victoria on one in the middle distance waving at me. I flew over and landed heavily, collapsing on the ground at her feet. I noted my heart was racing in a surprisingly detached way, as if I was recording the heart rate of some other person. I looked up to see her panicking.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Are you okay?" She asked, stress evident in her voice. I wanted to laugh, but couldn't muster the energy as I picked myself up off of the floor, my wings moving to prop me up before they shifted back into cape form.

"I'm fine. Just exhausted. That was my second cape fight in twenty-four hours, and it was way too close. But it could have been a lot worse. We at least got what we came for." I nodded towards the snarling Imperial lieutenant. "Good work, by the way. I barely even had to do anything."

She smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm not sure I'd have been able to get in and out like that if you didn't distract them. And I really shouldn't have ignored you."

I just shrugged. "You're getting better. You took care to capture this fucker intact, and the worst thing that could have happened from what you did is that we get hurt. Which would suck, but we can handle it. Or I guess Panacea more than us."

Victoria frowned. "One of us could have died."

I just shrugged at that. "Yeah but that's always a risk. And like you said, we have to take risks sometimes. Maybe not that exact risk, but you also had a point when you said we didn't know how much time we had. Listen, all either of us can do now is learn for next time, and be happy we got the guy. I used to be more reckless than you, if anything, so I know you can change more."

An enormous grin grew on her face, which she moved to cover with her hand. "No! No way!"

I nodded as sincerely as I could with no visible face to work with. "Believe it or not, it's true." I left it at that.

"Well, with the evidence we have already, plus this bodycam footage of him talking to Kaiser and shooting at me, ought to put him away for a while." Victoria tapped part of her uniform, and I squinted. It was actually barely visible, but sure enough, there was a small camera there. Smart of her to bring one to a capture like this.

"I'll let you take it from here. For me, tonight's work isn't finished yet." I once more turned around, spreading my wings as I did, and took off. It was probably my imagination, but I could swear I heard Victoria say 'so cool' as I left.

I wasn't sure if I was thankful or disappointed that the rest of the night was as quiet as I'd ever see. I flew back up from downtown into the docks and ABB territory, went far north enough that I was skimming Merchant-held areas, and then returned home with nothing new to show for it. A couple of people saw me fly above them and ran off who were probably gang members, but I didn't even know if they'd planned for anything that night that I'd interrupted.

It was about eleven thirty when I finally got back, and sure enough there were the Waddle Dees I'd left with Brian in the afternoon crouching down as best they could behind my house. I grabbed them and shifted worlds, changed back into civilian clothes, and jumped back. Then I walked back around to the front of my house and let myself back in before going up to bed, not wanting to arouse suspicion with my mom who thought I'd been out working. I supposed that technically I had been.

Being in bed with lights off at about eleven forty was slightly early for me, but after everything that went down today I was fine with that.

Before I drifted off into dreamless sleep, I thought about what I'd said to Victoria. The incident where I'd been stabbed wasn't that reckless. Impulsive, maybe. Risky, definitely. But not actually reckless. No, there was something I did about two years before that when I'd first gotten my power. Another bittersweet memory saved by good friends. That time a bit more literally.

Chapter 6: Flashback 2

Chapter Text

Adeleine sat patiently in the elevator with a firm arm around Sophia's small shoulder and Ribbon floating on her other side. She'd wanted to keep the younger girl with the King and Waddle Dee as they made preparations for moving on outside, but since Sophia seemed more comfortable with Adeleine she decided to let her tag along. This reconnaissance mission shouldn't be too dangerous so long as the humans didn't stray into restricted areas. There was little pattern to the areas that were restricted and the ones that weren't, at least after centuries or millennia of pattern degradation and no knowledge of what this particular facility once was. All they knew is that it sat near the core of a long-abandoned city.

Equally unhelpful was the fact that aliens had visited and left their own detritus at some more recent time. Nobody among them knew who or what Halcandra was, but Halcandran Robotics or HR-model machines were lying around in places instead of human ones. Still, they'd successfully navigated the safe paths of the city, staying clear of its dangers by a healthy margin. Some of the squatting hostiles needed a simple painted soldier or two to show them off, but the remaining robotic defenses ignored them, and several types of being were attacked by them instead. Fortunately, neither humans nor fairies seemed barred from the abandoned roads.

Eventually, they'd found themselves near this armored citadel, skyway bridges connecting it to the outside world. They'd thought they might have needed to get in through there, but Ribbon had found a side entrance for them. The halls were as abandoned as the rest of the city. More-so, actually. Various species had moved in to Shiver Star over time, and even the rest of the city had noise in it from their distant cries or yells. The installation, however, had kept out everyone and everything until they'd showed up, making its corridors eerily silent. Once again, human DNA and faerie close-enough were the main barriers between them and serious trouble. After searching the sterile corridors for long enough, they'd found this elevator to the core. It had taken them high up, although still a bit below the skyways. After more than a minute of waiting, they came to a halt, and the doors opened with a soft chime.

They stepped out onto an observation platform, two pairs of feet clanking against metal while the humming of one pair of wings echoed through the vast, empty space. They were connected to a gantry for a strange, large machine. Thick white sheets of metal covered its core, rounded body. It was mostly white, but a black conical head with a single baleful yellow eye sat atop it. Two relatively thin sheets of metal stretched down from protruding shoulder spikes, one on either side. Arms, but not humanoid ones. And below it all sat four angular pods, no doubt what was keeping it aloft a little above the metal floor far below. The gantry connected to an identical observation platform opposite, but also had a catwalk leading off to the left, connecting to what looked like a control center. The sheen of hardened glass was visible, with thin lines around the section connecting to the catwalk likely indicating some kind of door or equivalent.

Adeleine turned to a touch-screen embedded in the wall. It flickered to life after only a second of delay, and then began to display images and words in English. She tapped away at various options until she found a short explanatory text file.

Halcandran Expedition to Planet "Shiver Star" Data Log: Hello, People of the Future!

If you have found this data log, then most likely you are a human who has returned to your ancestral home we know now was once called Earth, or you are a being of great power to defeat the defenses here, including the HR-H/E Variable Form Defense Unit we have generously donated to this facility. You have either already encountered it in the field, or you should see it before you now.

Be warned, it will attack anyone who enters its holding area, but we have linked it up with the control center you should see off to the side. Make your way around to it and you can disable or reprogram the machine from there.

To explain ourselves and our entries left scattered around the rest of the facility, we came to ensure this planet was not a point of vulnerability against the Enemy. We believe it is a world of note between our twin dimensions, so could prove to be a point of entry for the foe that made war against our ancestors and was only pushed back at great cost. We have confirmed that the Enemy has not yet pierced the veil here, but cannot say for how long this state of affairs will remain.

That was ominous, but Adeleine hadn't seen anything particularly Enemy-like, not that she had the first clue what these Enemies were, and if they did show up then most likely Kirby could deal with them. Besides, they all had to focus on the more immediate threat currently occupying Ripple Star. This could wait, whatever it was.

She turned to Ribbon, who was holding up her Crystal Shard in both hands, watching it vibrate and rattle as it pulsed with bluish energy. That meant that another Shard was nearby, and had probably gotten lodged somewhere inside the HR-H/E VFDU, and gosh these Halcandrans needed shorter acronyms. She'd just call it the HR-H for now. That in turn meant that they had to destroy it. Fortunately, they had someone ready and waiting.

Tapping the screen a few times, she accessed an external camera network and flicked over to a view of one of the external bridges. Sure enough, Kirby was present there, a double-bladed laser sword in his hands. He was bouncing around on the spot, looking at the enormous skyline around him with genuine wonder on his face, dexterously twirling the long weapon around. Adeleine was just about to call him to move forward towards them when she felt a small tug on her arm.

She turned to see Sophia, who'd been looking at the screen alongside her. "What is it, Sophia?" She asked.

"Couldn't we just go to the control center, turn off the big robot, and get the Crystal Shard by ourselves?" While she had an expression that tried to mix a frown and a serious look that mostly just ended up being adorable, she had made a fair point, so Adeleine tried to give her a proper answer.

"Good idea, but the elevator next to ours was locked, and I think that was the one going up to the control center. I don't know where the thingy to unlock it would be, but it could be a long search, if it's anywhere here at all. Much easier to have Kirby fight that thing. And much less work." She efficiently set up her workstation, and prepared to paint a phone she could use to call Kirby. "I mean, we could try to run across the gantry to the control center, but that's a terrible idea-"

[INTRUDER DETECTED.] The deep bass rumble of HR-H was more felt than heard as it awoke to a target that had entered its home. Adeleine's head snapped to the side to saw Sophia making a run for it directly over the great machine.

"Fiddlesticks!" She cursed under her breath. "Ribbon!" She yelled at the fairy, who'd already put away her Shard and begun to move.

"On it!" Came the reply. For her part, Adeleine began painting several Flaming Burts, which were just the winged, footed, and faced spheres called Bronto Burts but on fire. Although they looked more like crayon drawings than actual people, and certainly weren't alive, they were real enough to be targeted, and hot enough to take priority on infrared sensors. The winged fireballs quite literally flew off the canvas, darting forward into the central bay just in time for HR-H to make its first move.

The armored tops of its hover pods opened up, and from each flew a missile. One hit a Flaming Burt, destroying it in the explosion, but was otherwise harmless. A second hit a Burt that had gotten close to the screen of the control area and destroyed not only its target but also shattered the glass, leaving a gaping hole. A third went for Ribbon, who agilely dodged it in the air, leaving it to shoot off into the ceiling and explode there.

The fourth, however, hit the catwalk below and behind Sophia just as she turned to the final approach. The core fireball missed her, as did most of the shrapnel that was blown over her head, but as well as a few surface cuts the blast wave threw her up and over the railings, giving her a moment of airtime before she began to plummet to her doom.

Ribbon was there in a flash, their small but brave companion showing surprising strength as she hauled the much larger human child back up to the catwalk, wings a blur as she did. The moment Sophia touched down she was off again, only slightly slowed by the bleeding surface wounds that peppered her skin. Unfortunately, with HR-H activated, it was the best option. See it through or die. Ribbon, being from a tougher species, would be basically fine albeit wounded, but Adeleine and Sophia didn't have that luxury.

The towering robot had hovered out of its maintenance bay, and with a burst of acceleration flew up to be more level with the platforms above. It raised a straight arm, and brought it slamming down on Sophia. She leaped forward at the last moment, the attack missing by less than two meters as it tore clean through the catwalk with sheer brute force. Still a reasonable distance, but far, far too close for Adeleine's comfort.

The machine rotated, and looked as if it was about to do something before Sophia reached the row of consoles on the opposite wall. Apparently, the machine must have been wired to a big, obvious emergency shutdown button, since Adeleine could see her slam her hand down on something that caused HR-H to deactivate, floating gently down to the ground as its eye blinked out.

She breathed an enormous sigh of relief as she painted a bag of plasters and phone into existence before calling everyone else, collapsing down her workstation, and slinging all her tools over her shoulder. With a little help from Ribbon's firm grip, she made her way over the heavily damaged gantry and drooping catwalk to Sophia, who was breathing heavily from her sprint and brush with death.

"First of all, I'd like to tell you that you were very smart, and very brave." Adeleine said as she began to stick plasters to Sophia's scrapes. Luckily, it looked as if none were particularly long, deep, or penetrating, so it should be enough to let it heal on its own. "Second of all, I'd like to tell you that you were also very stupid. What, exactly, where you thinking?" She tried to take on as authoritative a tone as she could with her last sentence.

Sophia shrugged, wincing as each plaster was firmly stuck to her. "I just felt like I had to. Didn't want to stand there being useless." She replied, not meeting Adeleine's piercing gaze as she did.

Adeleine just sighed. Sophia had been increasingly fidgety and restless ever since they'd first set off together. Apparently, she just really hated standing back and being passive. Which was understandable, but this was going a bit too far for your daily exercise. She didn't pivot into a speech about how Sophia could have been seriously hurt, since the pain from the cuts should make that point all on its own. Instead, she just brought Sophia into a hug, with Ribbon joining in as best she could from the other side. The girl stiffened for a second, then relaxed into it, awkwardly returning the embrace.

After a few seconds, they separated, and Adeleine looked over at the slumping HR-H. "We do need to find you a healthy outlet, and fast." She muttered. She understood that Sophia was having a pretty rough go of it, and feeling a lot of anger and reckless impulses, but if she continued on like this it was only a matter of time before she suffered a much worse fate than a handful of nicks. Or, arguably almost as bad, she started trying to do things to people less overwhelmingly more powerful than her.

"One last question: You realize there was a wall, right? What was your plan there?"

Sophia shrugged, once again not meeting Adeleine's eyes. "My power. It lets me be somewhere else. I thought I could make it try and hit me, then move out of the way, and make it break the glass. But I thought it would be way slower than it was." Well, that made sense. Still reckless to go in not knowing how fast the robot would be, but at least she did have a plan. So far, she'd naturally been quiet on her power that let her move from wherever she had been to here. That was fine by Adeleine, they still had time.

"Well, the others will be here soon, and I'll tell them about what a hero you were." She gently poked Sophia on the forehead. "What a very stupid hero, but that just means you'll fit right in with Kirby."

"I don't really think I'm a hero-" Sophia began, but was cut off as Adeleine threw an arm around her.

"Phooey! Sure you are. Who else but a hero would have done something risky to help a stranger's world?" Ribbon smiled and nodded in agreement at the mention of her home planet, currently under threat. Sophia didn't say anything else or look up, but Adeleine could see that she was smiling.

Chapter 7: Chapter 5

Chapter Text

It surprised me that it was only the twelfth when I got up. The result of having pretty much everything that could go down in my life happening in the twenty four hours before I last got into bed. Still, I was used to taking life a day at a time. If I had to make that an hour at a time, I would. The important thing was that even if I slowed, I'd never stop entirely.

For the most part, I had the same morning routine today as I had yesterday. Get up, get dressed, go downstairs, although I smelled a little better today. There was one major difference, which was that my mom was still here.

Jennifer Hess wasn't an exceptional person, but I very much loved her, if in my own weird way. She was my mother, she'd done a lot for me, even if we had our differences. She was reasonably tall at five foot ten, a good five inches taller than my fifteen year old self, had an average build, average face, and hair she usually tied up in a simple ponytail that hung a bit below her shoulders. Maybe her most prominent features were the constantly present large bags under her eyes. I knew she slept reasonably well, because that's how I was able to get away with coming through the window at midnight every other day, so they were more from a mix of stress and a smoking habit, which was probably also caused by the stress. She had to provide for three children more or less by herself, as a low-level accountant working for a local construction company. She also happened to have an absolutely terrible ability to read people, considering she still didn't realize anything was off with me and that entire... thing with my stepfather.

Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about that anymore. I still didn't know exactly what Adeleine did but I knew it had solved the problem. Not before my entire life and outlook had been permanently changed, though.

Taylor had once talked my ear off about theories surrounding Trigger Events, including what they do to you mentally. One of the very few known constants about parahumans was that they manifested their abilities under extreme stress and usually trauma in a single moment called a Trigger Event. Sometimes it was just a very sudden thing, like a near-death experience, or maybe it was one small thing that pushed someone already in a tricky situation over the edge. Whatever the case, it was the only way anyone knew to get powers, which probably helped explain why most capes were pretty messed up in one way or another. There was my personal exception of the strange abilities you could get in the Other World, but I could only get there with a power in the first place, so that felt like it didn't count.

There was a lot of other stuff surrounding them, like the ideas of Second Triggers and Second-Generation Triggers which were confusingly two completely unrelated concepts, but what had always interested me once I'd heard of it was personality shifts when you Triggered. Nobody was sure, but there was some speculation that Triggering could alter your personality in various ways. The main problem with that theory was that obviously traumatic events could seriously affect you by themselves, so there was a suggestion in the research that maybe it was that by itself and people were just seeing effects that weren't really there. According to Taylor, the mainstream view was a bit of a mix.

I was willing to believe it. Before I Triggered, I'd been a shy kid. Still athletic, but I didn't have the personality you'd expect from a sporty kid. Reserved, non-confrontational, I'd even been bullied a bit and was prone to panic attacks. Nothing like who I became later. At least I was still determined to see things through even then. Some things don't really change, I guess.

It also felt a little weird that Taylor knew more about Trigger Events than me when I'd actually been through one, but it made sense. If you did a bunch of research into parahuman stuff and you already had powers, you probably weren't too concerned with how you could get them. It was a bit redundant by that point. You focused on other areas, or at least I had.

While I was thinking, my mom began speaking. "Sophia, I'm going to stay at a friend's house tomorrow night. I apologize that this is a bit sudden, but could you look after Thalia for me? I know you like to go out at night, so I want to make sure you don't have other plans. We can hire a babysitter if you do." She was looking at Thalia as my four year old sister ate, and it looked like she was just having a croissant and some water. Neither of us ever really had the energy to cook anything for breakfast. My older brother Terry sometimes had, but he was attending college out of town and had been for a year and a half now.

I just nodded. "Sure, mom, I don't have anything planned." That was an absolute lie, but I had a way to ensure my little sister was being well taken care of even when I was out as Exoa Knight.

With that exchange done, the two of us went back to doing our own separate things. That was basically how it went, we talked to each other when we needed something and left each other alone the rest of the time. She didn't even make me go to church anymore, even though she still went every Sunday. I thought it was probably better that way. It'd hurt less for her and everyone else when the almost inevitable happened if I kept my distance. You didn't usually go into my line of 'work' if you wanted a long life expectancy.

I knew the Wards were much safer, since having a team at your back was a big help, but I still wasn't going to join up. The Protectorate's junior division was just that, a junior division. A team focused less on doing good and fighting for a cause, and focused more on training, PR, and doing the government's bidding. I had my own priorities I stuck by.

It wasn't too long before I was out of the house, and then back at school. Homeroom and the first two periods passed uneventfully. Information was gathered, separated into useful and not useful, which was basically how likely it was to show up on a test, then devoured and discarded respectively. It brought to mind the image of a pack of wolves tearing a deer to pieces and leaving the bones behind.

I thought that was kind of a morbid way of looking at it. Oh well, it was what it was.

When lunch hour began, I met up with Emma and we grabbed Taylor as she came out of her World Issues class. None of us were the kind to socialize in classrooms, so we were always out together pretty quickly. Taylor preferred to just do her work and then let it speak for herself, Emma had better access to her little network of followers outside, and I didn't have anyone but those two to socialize with.

I'd been friends with these two long enough that I could tell when something was off. As we moved to find somewhere to eat lunch, I knew that this was one of those times. It was the little things, like Taylor acting subdued instead of awkward but bubbly, and Emma shooting me side glances between normal bits of conversation. I wanted to get it over with and ask what was up right now, but knew that it was going to come out pretty much as soon as we sat down. I could manage to wait that long.

Sure enough, maybe a minute after we were settled and before any of us had the chance to start speaking, Emma spoke up. She was leaning forward, voice barely above a whisper. We could hear her clearly enough, but I doubt anyone else would be able to make anything out. "I think Andrea is going to join the ABB." She hissed.

"Andrea Cheng?" I quietly asked, getting a hurried nod. That was a gut punch. I actually knew Andrea from an incident around a year ago. She was an amateur sportswoman like me, although she was women's basketball rather than track and field, and a couple of Empire wannabes threw racist remarks at her. Said that since she was from Asia she should be studying math rather than doing sports. Didn't matter that her math was above average at best, or that she'd been born in the US and her parents had lived here for most of their lives. We'd heard about it, and Emma ensured they quickly became social pariahs at Winslow. Then the geniuses found out who was behind that and decided to threaten the three of us while we were walking out of the school together.

In the end, around eight girls as well as us three would swear to our graves that they were witnesses to what happened next, which was for sure that they'd all fallen flat on their faces out of nowhere, probably from untied shoelaces. They most definitely did not get the crap beaten out of them by a furious black girl who had secretly been trained in unarmed combat by the greatest warrior of another galaxy. Didn't happen, nope, not in the slightest.

Sometimes, Emma scared me. I was just glad she only used her social wizardry for good.

At the time it was pretty gratifying, but it had been the start of an unfortunate trend. Emma and Taylor were inspired by it, and resolved to try and make the school a better place for everyone. Sometimes it was as simple as going to the administration in numbers, but Winslow in particular had an infamously slack disciplinary system, and even in some situations where it wasn't you'd get labeled a snitch and get bogged down fighting pointless social battles. So they resolved to take justice into their own hands, and I'd been dragged along out of a sense of obligation. I felt that even though I was out of costume, that was no excuse to stop trying to be a hero. Even if it was in a much smaller way.

We were actually pretty well suited to it. Emma was the heart of the operation as the one with the actual social pull and popularity to make things happen. People generally wanted to be in good standing with all the popular kids, and if Emma wasn't on top of that food chain she at least came close, and had gotten most of the other clique-leading boys and girls to sign on. And if you weren't pulled into her orbit of "don't be an asshole", then she could apply social pressure until you at least publicly shut up. Taylor was well known as a rules-abiding model student, so if we did have to go to the faculty for whatever reason she gave our words a bit more weight. More importantly, she was a well-known nerd. She didn't go deep into pop culture, she was more of a literature and history geek, but the reputation mattered more than the facts. She had the pull to get information or cooperation from the outsiders who didn't care what the popular kids thought of them.

And me? I had more influence with the school's more athletic students, but most of them were also the kind who listened to the social butterflies. The main thing, at least to start with, was that I was the muscle if anyone else decided to match the smarts of the first bunch. Funnily enough, after rumor had spread in the student body of what really happened, nobody else made the attempt. I chalk that up to me being deterrence.

All of this got us a reputation as a bunch of goody two-shoes, but what was anyone annoyed at us going to do? Collectively, we were incredibly popular with students and staff alike, and had hands down the best brawler in the school. The worst that happened was that one of Emma's popular girl rivals, Madison Clements, started calling us the Trio. It was a dumb name meant to draw comparisons to the Protectorate's Triumvirate and make us seem a bit full of ourselves. Since last Christmas Madison had decided to go with the flow and bent the knee to Emma, she was actually now a valuable social lieutenant, but her stupid name still stuck to us. I worried we were going to get called the Trio until the end of high school now.

It became an actual problem when Taylor suggested we start tackling the more serious problem than bullying. Namely, Winslow had a significant amount of gang activity, with its generally lower class students being a notable source of recruits for gang initiates, and there being a small but notable drug trade going on inside its walls. While we were dealing with high school drama the worst thing that could have happened was a loss of status, at absolute worst the losing end of a minor fight for the other two, but trying to disrupt the gangs was way more dangerous. Taylor had pointed out that it wasn't like any gang would attack the school in broad daylight, and I'd admit she was right about that. It would be a great way for the authorities to drop the hammer on that particular gang and make an example out of them. Hell, the other villains in the city would probably help to show that there was a line. And that wasn't even mentioning what I'd do, although obviously people couldn't factor that in.

But that didn't mean it was safe. Just because Lung or Kaiser themselves weren't about to show up and murder us didn't mean some random gang punk couldn't shank us on our way too or from school if we were too much of a hassle. It's not like any of the city's criminal groups hadn't murdered people, even teenagers, in the past for one reason or another. The main concession I got out of them was that they'd let me handle the actual disruption parts and stick to information gathering and background work. I could handle myself if it came to violence much better than either of them, and even though Taylor had no clue about my powers she did know that much. The problem there was that as Sophia Hess I wasn't exactly bulletproof. I was confident I could handle myself in a fistfight, or win a knife fight by enough to limp to the nearest hospital, but if anyone just shot me out of the blue I was as screwed as anyone else. Once again, Fleur's example hung heavily over me.

Still, Taylor was adamant, and when one of those two wanted something the other would usually side with them. This was no exception, so I found myself outvoted. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Taylor had a union boss for a father, and before she'd sadly passed away about two years ago an English professor and former activist for a mother. Caring about social issues was sort of in her blood, or at least her upbringing.

And now everything had come full circle. Funny how it all turns out.

"Alright, I'll talk to her." I noted that as I recalled how we'd got here several seconds had passed. I was looking back way too often recently, when I most needed to be looking forward. When I was just talking to people it was fine, but if I was caught daydreaming in a fight that might have fatal results. "But don't expect miracles. You know how pushy the ABB are." I got some glum murmurs of agreement, and then we went back to small talk. But I couldn't help but note that a layer of discomfort was hanging over us. We all knew that these particular conversations all too often had unhappy endings.

Chapter 8: Chapter 6

Chapter Text

I spent the rest of the school day mentally steeling myself for talking to Andrea. I knew that it wasn't going to pleasant even if things resolved nicely. Either Andrea was being pressured to join by the gang, and her life might be in danger, or she was actively choosing to seek out employment there, in which case my job would be even harder.

I felt like I could rule out anything ideological, because the ABB had no ideology except power for power's sake and really half-hearted racism. The E88 and its consistent set of beliefs, although they were really terrible ones, were the exception among the city's underworld. As the poorly-spelled name implied, the Azn Bad Boys recruited from basically everyone of East Asian heritage. It didn't matter where they were actually born or which particular country they came from, if you were from that general region you were considered valid for the gang. On the face of it, that didn't really seem that different from the Empire's policy of being open to anyone that counted as 'white', so long as you happened to also be straight and racist, but as I'd studied the gangs as part of my training efforts I learned there was actually a pretty big split. Most members of the Empire just considered themselves white Americans, and had a general American culture, but the ABB's membership at least privately still hewed to their own ways. They didn't identify primarily as Asian Americans, but as Japanese or Chinese or Vietnamese Americans.

The ABB shouldn't exist at all. It was an illogical, demented house of cards that existed mostly because Lung was just that powerful and able to bully everyone into line. If you took him out of the picture, the gang would pretty much instantly collapse into components based mostly on heritage and nationality.

Of course, I'd learned the hard way that taking Lung down was easier said than done, especially now that he had not just one but two other capes backing him up. You'd probably need every other major villain in the city working together to have a real shot, good luck getting all the villains to band together for anything short of an Endbringer, or let the big hero teams give the ABB their undivided attention, which wasn't really any more doable.

When my last lesson finally ended, I didn't go off to find her right away. I had practice today, and I knew that Andrea would be practicing as well. Since the basketball people finished a little later than us, I had time to get in a full round before I caught her heading home. Silently, I went to the changing rooms and got dressed. For the most part, my teammates left me alone unless they needed something, which was the way I liked it. I did catch some snippets of conversation about Andrea, though. Looked like the rumors had spread faster than Emma's ability to silence it. Made sense, since it was outside of her main area of control. Mostly, it was nothing I didn't already know. After a few minutes of that, it was off to the track.

I did genuinely like running. It was one of the few things in my life that was distinctly mine. Maybe the only thing. Pretty much all my friends and all of my hero work came from my power, which I'd just gained out of the blue one day. Compared to a lot of parahumans, I'd had to work to get anything useful from mine, but unlike most Tinkers I hadn't actually built any of my equipment myself. And even most of my combat skill had been from getting trained rather than figuring it out myself. Running, though? I'd just practiced that by myself until I was one of the best around. Maybe not the best long-distance runner in the entire city, but I came surprisingly close for someone who wasn't even legally an adult yet. It was to the point where I was almost a minor meme in the school, usually something to the effect that I should be competing with the boys or that the running was always a contest for second place. People generally didn't get too annoyed, since I only competed in a select number of races, and I was as humble a winner as you could get.

Of course, that wasn't really because I was actually humble or not competitive. It was because the competitive streak I had didn't come from a drive to win, but instead from the fact that I really, really hated losing.

It also helped keep me in shape, and was pretty relaxing as well. If I was busy working, learning, or thinking, that could be stressful. Being in a fight for my life was obviously also pretty stressful. While I was running, I could just let everything else fade away as I focused entirely on putting one foot in front of the other as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Over the next hour, I worked up a good sweat over several laps, having ran a good two miles or so in all. I had just enough time to take a quick shower in the school facilities and get changed back to casual clothes before I headed off to see Andrea. By the time I showed up the team was just filing out from the own changing rooms themselves. I saw her pretty quickly, trailing behind the rest of the group, and silently tapped her on the arm. She looked my way, seemed to consider something for a second, rolled her eyes, and fell in behind me.

She was attractive in a dignified sort of way, with a thin face and commanding features on an athletic body. She had an inch or so on me, making her about Taylor's height, and short black hair. She was also maybe even quieter than me, so we didn't exchange a word until we were out beyond the school gates. Like many of the students Andrea took the bus too and from school, but she presumably lived just about close enough to school to walk it, since she was willing to walk with me rather than go on the bus. Courteous of her.

I was the one who broke the silence first. "Have you heard the rumors about you?" No sense in beating around the bush here.

Andrea just sighed. "Listen, Sophia. You've helped me out before, so I will be honest with you now." She sounded earnest enough. "Yeah, I'm gonna join the ABB. I'm in good with a recruiter and they're interested in me. It's not like I have any other prospects in this shitheap, and they're gonna keep going either with or without me." Andrea shrugged. "So I may as well get something out of them, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of." It was a fairly common story. All the way back in the early nineties before I'd even been born, Brockton Bay had been a dying city. It had been a port, but it followed the same pattern as all those decaying Rust Belt cities. Shipping had gone into a global decline for a bunch of reasons, and the bulk of the economy basically went up in smoke. Parts of the city, mostly downtown and the Boardwalk, managed to adapt by shifting into tech, finance, and boutique or artisanal stuff, and Medhall was a big employer too. But the rest, like basically all of the docks in the middle of the city and the glorified steel graveyard of the north, suffered badly. A lot of people then went to the gangs just because they didn't feel like they had any other choice. The government wasn't willing to do anything about it, the PRT couldn't do anything about it, so the Bay became a haven for supervillains. And since those underlying problems had never been fixed, new villains just kept cropping up every time we smacked down the last batch. Of today's gangs and villain teams, only the Empire had been around back then, and under different management at that. The others died or were defeated and just got replaced.

Really, it made me feel like I was mostly fighting for nothing. Even if I cleaned up this city entirely, others would just flow in from outside to fill the power vacuum, and I didn't exactly have the power to deal with the root cause. I wasn't some billionaire, I could barely keep things stable for one person, let alone one hundred thousand. Then again, I was always a problem in front of me kind of person, and I never claimed to be a hero that actually fixed things.

Of course, none of that explained or excused the powered villains. It was almost hard not to find work with any halfway decent superpower, since if nothing else the Protectorate was always hiring. I understood that some people didn't have the temperament for fighting, but those people didn't become villains. They became Rogues, the designation for parahumans that used their abilities for non-combat purposes.

We kept walking in silence for a minute or so after that. Andrea had made her decision, and I doubted I could change her mind. What the hell was I supposed to say to her? It's not like she was wrong about anything she'd said. Pretty soon she got fidgety, and then spoke up again. "So now what? Are you gonna rat me out or something?" She said a bit more nervously.

I just snorted. "Do I look like a fucking cop to you?" That seemed to calm her down, as she pretty much immediately went back to normal, more calm and controlled. "I'm gonna ask you to keep any gang shit out of the school, though. If you start peddling drugs or whatever, it becomes a problem. My problem. And trust me, you don't wanna be my problem."

She cautiously shook her head. "No promises. I've heard all sorts of stories about Lung, you know? And I've heard the other two are complete psychos. I think I'm more scared of them than I am of you."

"Yeah I get that." I said with complete honesty. After all, Lung still put me on my guard even when I was in my bulletproof combat armour. Regular Sophia Hess just wasn't that intimidating by comparison. "But you know that if you ever get pressured too hard, there are resources out there? I mean, witness protection and shit, but also independent heroes will be willing to try and help you out."

Andrea made a face and stopped suddenly. "You know, that's probably going to be bad for my health. These people don't exactly like snitches."

I adopted a neutral expression and folded my arms. "Joining a gang at all is pretty bad for your health too. How many people who were gang members in this city even just a decade ago aren't either dead or behind bars? I don't have numbers, but probably not a lot. I mean, Lung's ABB didn't even exist back then. If you want to live to see twenty as a free woman, you should probably pick, I don't know. Anything else as a career option?" I waved a hand dismissively. "I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life, but I think you're making a mistake."

She groaned and threw her hands wide in frustration. "Well what else am I supposed to do, Sophia? What the fuck else?" She let her arms drop to her sides. "I mean, even if I don't choose to join, I'll probably get pressured into it anyway. At least this way I'd be doing it on my own terms."

I managed to look her directly in the eyes and keep my voice perfectly level as I next spoke. "What you're supposed to do is live life one day at a time if you have to. It might not be pretty, but it'll be better for you and everyone around you." I paused for a second. "And if you're ever threatened, you can come and tell me. You'd be surprised at who I know."

"Yeah, right." She spat out as she looked away. But her features were uncertain, almost thoughtful. I got the impression she was looking away less out of scorn and more because she couldn't bear to meet my gaze. "Whatever. But I guess I'll think about it."

I shrugged and looked off into the distance. "That's all I'm asking. See you around, Andrea." She gave a half-hearted goodbye as I turned and began walking back towards my own home.

The rest of my evening was uneventful. After eating dinner, I headed out on patrol. I only really ended up escorting a woman who thought she was being followed home through a dangerous area. I wasn't sure if she was, but I was willing to believe that. Afterwards, I ended up shaking down an ABB goon for information. Apparently, Lung wanted to spread intimidation beyond the immediate reach of his inner circle, so he was shipping out Bakuda-made bombs to certain outposts. I didn't get anything more specific that, so I spent a few hours pouring over a map of the city's east end trying to figure out where the bombs would turn up. By the time I had a pretty good idea, it was time to enter the warm embrace of my bed.

But throughout all of that, Andrea stayed at the back of my mind. It was incredibly hard to change a person's mind about something in one conversation, and I had no clue if I'd done it. All I could do was hope that she'd never be on the other end of a fight with me, because if I saw her I was taking her down. I didn't, couldn't make exceptions for people who chose to be on the other side of the law. I'd made one for Grue, sure, but I'd still stopped him cold. And everything I'd seen since then had just made me care that little bit less. At this point, I was half convinced that Victoria's mom Carol had the right of it with her absolutist views.

Still, it gnawed at me. I was jaded, I actively tried not to care, but every time I didn't I felt like I was letting everyone in the Other World down. I mean, I knew I was letting them down, but it felt like I was doing it more than usual. But if I did care, everything just felt so hopeless. If I couldn't deal with one hopeless teenager, how was I meant to deal with an entire hopeless city?

I had trouble getting to sleep that night.

Chapter 9: Chapter 7

Chapter Text

Thankfully, the most eventful thing to happen at school the following day was that Taylor and Emma got into an argument about if Taylor looked better in light or dark clothing. It mostly flew right over my head, and by the time lunch was over the fall of the Soviet Union had been brought up. I wasn't entirely sure how we'd got there, and had spent the hour just silently eating and listening. When I said my goodbyes in the afternoon and headed home, my mind was already elsewhere. This would be a long evening, but not for the usual reasons. Instead, I had to strategize.

The entire Brockton Bay Protectorate would be at an event out of town tomorrow. Another glorified PR stunt like all the rest, those days were always the busiest. If you took one of the three main hero teams out of action, and one of the stronger two at that, then it was no surprise that villains would swarm out like cockroaches to stab at a vulnerable city. Worse was the fact that since this was a public event, everyone knew about it well in advance, meaning said villains had plenty of time to plan out whatever they were going to do. They'd hurry back if things got too out of control, but they'd almost never make it to the relevant hotspot in time.

I knew that if Armsmaster was the one actually calling the shots, he'd take as few days off patrol as me, which is to say close to zero. But the city's official heroes were subordinate to the local PRT Director, allegedly for accountability to the civil government. The PRT was a paramilitary group, so I wasn't sure that made sense, but I guess that's why I was down in the streets and not up in an office. That meant I knew who to blame for this, and the worst part was I knew where she was coming from.

Emily Piggot was a hardass who loathed my guts, and had authority over the Protectorate and Wards, but I liked to think we had a mutual understanding. We probably didn't, but I liked to think it. She kept her forces disciplined with an eye to avoiding collateral damage, not that they always succeeded. Events like these might have had costs, but they helped keep the city's official heroes in touch with the local community. Usually certain higher class sections of it, but not always. BBPD could definitely learn a thing or two hundred from her approach. I was annoyed by the seeming occasional abandonment of the city and tight leash on her heroes at first, but when I started trying to rein in Glory Girl it clicked. I was doing a similar thing, just on a smaller scale and frankly more successfully.

Still wasn't going to join the Wards, though. They'd hold me back from danger too much, and I could discipline and train myself just fine.

Mom was still home when I got back from school, so I decided to be as productive as possible by thinking who might be taking advantage of this. Frankly it could be anyone, so I decided to take things from the top.

The city had five active teams of multiple superpowered villains working together, as well as a bunch of independents. The teams were a bigger threat, so I started with them.

The ABB was the big, obvious one. They were one of the two actually dangerous gangs in the Bay, and they mostly operated in the docks in the central and eastern areas of the city. In terms of raw territory size, they had the largest one of all the gangs. They didn't extend onto the wealthy seaside area of the Boardwalk, at least not the point where you'd add it to their land on a map, but they still held control of a few nicer areas, usually the sites of skirmishes between them and the Empire. They only had three parahumans between Lung, Oni Lee, and Bakuda, but they were all extremely powerful. Lung could fight entire teams of capes and come out on top, Oni Lee's teleportation let him cover a lot of ground and kept their territory large, and Tinkers were always bad news. I still remembered getting shot with a flak cannon that one time in Boston. Importantly, the Protectorate was their usual enemies of the hero teams. The Wards and New Wave both generally operated a bit further to the south. Nobody had super strictly defined areas of operation, but trends usually held. After failing to get a team of petty crooks like the Undersiders, it wouldn't surprise me if they wanted to lash out, and this gave them an opportunity to do just that.

Then there was the Empire, the other noteworthy gang. They were located more towards the city's south in downtown, although they also had some notable influence in the Boardwalk. What the ABB had in quality of capes, the Empire had in quantity, with a full dozen powered members. Even though they had four times as many capes as their big criminal rivals, they weren't much more dangerous. They didn't have any Tinkers or Thinkers, and nobody came anywhere near Lung in terms of sheer power. Funnily enough, the opposite was true of their territory. It was smaller but higher quality, and more bitterly contested by us heroes. Then again, if you're a criminal organization making money mostly off of drugs, protection rackets, and prostitution, I felt like that was maybe a bad thing. Regardless, I had obvious personal reasons for a vendetta against the glorified Neo-Nazi fuckers, and it was a point of personal pride that at this point the feeling was probably mutual.

There was also the matter of Purity. The ex-Empire cape who no longer worked directly with them or against the law, but mysteriously still almost exclusively targeted minority criminals. I had my doubts about how complete that particular break was, and counted her as an asset for the Empire. After all, if she only ever hurt their rivals and enemies, that's what she was.

Most of the rest of the city in the west docks and far north was the territory of the Merchants, loosely based around Archer's Bridge. Technically, they were the city's third gang, but in practice they just took the near-worthless scraps left for them. Headed by the cape trio of Skidmark, Mush, and Squealer, they were more of a nuisance than anything else, and mostly just dealt a lot of drugs. Still, they were surprisingly hard to dig out, since Squealer was a vehicle Tinker with a fair amount of resources, and nobody could spare the effort with the Empire and ABB around and far more pressing concerns. Even I'd mostly given up on fighting them, although I still moved to slap them down whenever they tried something. I knew I'd catch them with their guard down eventually, or at least more down than usual. They were unlikely to do something too likely to put them on the map, but they could still hit a target of opportunity or two while the Protectorate was away.

The Undersiders were actually a pretty likely suspect. The heist crew may not have been a gang that controlled territory, but they looked here to stay, and had been a growing thorn in the city's side. They technically had as much parahuman manpower as the ABB or Merchants, so they had the muscle to pull some notable heists, but I wasn't sure where they'd hit, since their prior jobs were kind of all over the place. Still, they had fairly reckless members who would almost certainly try and take advantage of an opportunity like this. I wasn't going to let them get away again if they did: third strike, they're out.

I'd never had the chance to fight Faultline's Crew, and frankly they worried me a little. The five-cape team was apparently scarily competent, and had run operations across the northeast, beating opposition only a step below the Triumvirate itself. They were ultra-professional mercenaries who'd do anything but murder for a paycheck, and had a member with a PRT threat rating of 12. Frankly, unless they did something really out there, I was planning to let them move on to whatever city they were going to next. They were less objectionable than the actual gangs in my eyes anyway.

Although that was every group with multiple parahumans, there was one very notable solo operation. Well, sort of solo. Coil may have been just one guy, according to my sources in the PRT probably some sort of Thinker, but he had a massive organisation backing him. Or at least he must have one to afford all his minions. I hesitated to call his human crew a gang rather than an organization, since the footsoldiers were outright elite mercenaries. I'd heard rumors they were ex-special forces and the like, although I didn't know if that was just people exaggerating or not. Still, they engaged in criminal activity, which seemed like a bit of a waste to me. Their gear wasn't any less impressive, with heavy weapons like sniper rifles and machine guns, military-grade body armour, and outright Tinkertech laser attachments for their weapons. I'd tangled with a squad of his exactly once, and they'd given me more trouble than most capes I'd fought. Frankly, I was lucky to have come out alive. He was pretty small-time despite all that though, only controlling a few blocks in the richest part of downtown. Still, he'd resisted all efforts of the Empire and heroes alike to throw him out, and nobody knew what his game really was.

Then there was everyone else, the bottom of the barrel independent villains like Whirlygig and Trainwreck. I wasn't exactly concerned about any of them except one.

Circus had been a bit of a bugbear of mine ever since I caught her only for her to break out the very same day, before she'd even been thrown into a cell. She was one of the rare capes who had a lot of minor powers instead of one big one, and one of those powers was some sort of pocket dimension she could store small items in. Including lock-picking equipment, which I really felt the PRT should have figured out, but here we were. Either I'd been spectacularly unlucky or she'd taken steps to avoid me since then, because I hadn't gotten another shot at her since. She was still a quite active burglar throughout the city, so I might get one tomorrow.

That was the people, but I was drawing blanks on the targets. Still, I could figure that out later.

All too soon, it was four thirty in the afternoon, and mom said her goodbyes before heading out. Dinner was in the fridge, but I had no intention of cooking it myself. I grabbed the relevant base ingredients, put them in a bag, and knelt down next to Thalia, who was looking up in excitement. This was far from the first time we'd done this, after all.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked in an unusually cheerful voice. I'd sworn I'd speak normally to my baby sister, and maybe I would when she was a few years older, but right now I just couldn't help myself. I found her too adorable.

"Yes!" She replied, lifting her chin and giving me a confident smile. She reached out her tiny hand, and I grabbed hold. The seconds counted down, and we shifted through the dimensions.

I was taking a risk, assuming a four year old child only a little more than a toddler could keep a secret as important as this. But I'd made it clear to her that this was our little secret, and I figured the worst that would happen if she let slip would be people thinking she had an overactive imagination. After all, there was no known superpower in the world that did something like what she'd describe. And the alternative was taking a day off when I didn't have to, which risked outright costing people their lives.

First thing was first, I got changed into combat gear. If I was showing her this much there wasn't much point trying to keep anything else hidden. I kept my hood down and mask clamped to my scabbard so my head was uncovered, though. One of the Waddle Dees present helped me, the other greeted Thalia and suffered the minor indignity of being hugged tightly by her like a large teddy bear. "You know, this isn't so bad." He said.

After that, it was time to take her to the babysitter. I swept her up in my arms and marched through the Halberd's hallways with an eye to going up. A needle-thin antenna shot out from the topside of my left wrist, or at least the gauntlet covering that wrist, going out to about the base of my fingers if I held my hand straight and flat. The tip begin glowing with a bright light, like a very tiny star, information flowing in and out through sorcerous paths.

When I came out onto the ship's deck, two things struck me. Firstly, the air quality here was so much higher than back in the Bay. I didn't have any trouble breathing back home, but this was just so much cleaner and fresher. And this high up, windier too. The ship was docked on land, but the deck still sat a good way off the ground.

The second thing was the bright yellow, gently glowing, star shaped horizontal platform floating off the ground.

Warp Stars were very convenient methods of fast transport, especially when your armour had built-in comms gear that could call one to your location. The antenna in question retracted, and I sat down on it. My mind interfaced with the Star's, well, I suppose you could call it essence. They were a bit tricky to get the hang of, but I had some practice. It was mostly as simple as telling it where I wanted to go.

It lifted off the ground, gently at first, but it was soon accelerating high into the atmosphere. I didn't feel a thing, though. Warp Stars had a sort of energy field around them that protected their riders, which was especially useful when you wanted to use one to go out into space or between planets. Even when I was blazing across the atmosphere, all I felt was a gentle spring breeze. Thalia squealed in delight as the world almost visibly curved away below us, the landscape becoming a blur as we sped past towards a specific destination.

We slowed to a halt just in front of a small, dome-shaped building with a door, window, and prominent chimney. I breathed a slight sigh of relief as we touched down without any problems. Warp Stars weren't amazing at keeping the environments they went through intact at times. Definitely not a precision vehicle. Thalia wriggled out of my arms, hopping down and rushing towards the house. I smiled at her enthusiasm and stood off, following behind and keeping pace with my longer strides.

Thalia politely knocked, and I heard a slightly surprised 'Poyo!' from the other side. After a few footsteps, the door was flung open to reveal a very round, pink ball, with two feet and two tiny nubs. "Poyo!" Kirby threw his arms wide, or as wide as he could.

"Kirby!" Exclaimed Thalia, and the two embraced briefly, helped by the fact they were a fairly similar height.

"Poyo poyo." Kirby said, and Thalia nodded as she ran off inside. She was getting the hang of the language, it was surprisingly simple once you'd been exposed to it for a bit. I thought it might have some sort of psychic component, considering it was a language of one word but I could make out detailed sentences quite easily just from inflection and tone. It would be far from the strangest thing about the little guy.

"Poyo?" He asked. It was a good question, but I just shrugged.

"You know how it is. I trust you and I need to be somewhere else."

"Poyo." His expression shifted, becoming determined. Not angry, but firm. "Poyo, poyo."

I sighed. "Listen, it is literally physically safer for her to be with you than anywhere else in this galaxy or my world. I'm ensuring her safety. I'd be neglectful not to do it, and you're happy to. We've been over this." It did feel a bit weird using one of the strongest beings I knew of to babysit, but it's not like he had anything better to do right now.

He looked down, looking more resigned than anything. "Poyo, poyo, poyo."

In contrast, I looked up and away from him. "Yeah, I know and I appreciate you looking out for my relationship with her, but I play with her regularly on most afternoons. I get that you're worried, but I just don't think it's an issue. And if I don't do this, other families could come apart way worse. I have a responsibility, you know that."

In reply I only received a soft "Poyo."

With that, I hopped back on the Warp Star, and headed back to the Halberd. This time, I let it crash into the ship's surface, scattering its essence to the winds. I assumed Warp Stars reformed elsewhere once they were used up, or something along those lines. I wasn't exactly an expert, but nobody seemed concerned by the possibility of using them up, so I figured it wasn't an issue.

I headed back into the bowels of the ship, but this time towards the mess hall instead of my quarters. I couldn't use the normal tables for the various Meta-Knight crew-members, but I fit on the larger tables for the larger crew well enough. It was around dinner time here, so it was a pretty busy room, but not busy enough that I couldn't squeeze in next to a large walrus-man with ice powers unironically called Mister Frosty.

Sometimes the Other World was just like that, I'd found.

My ingredients bag that I'd left behind had been dragged off to the kitchen, where the chefs would be cooking it up now. As I waited for it to be done, my thoughts drifted back to my earlier problem. There were a lot of potential targets, easily as many as there were people who might hit one, and it wasn't clear how they'd proceed. I'd gotten to know my enemies well, but not that well.

In the end, I knew what I had to do. I tried my best, but I didn't have a strategic mind. I didn't really get how people thought that well, and I wasn't some tactical genius either. I was good in a brawl, but that didn't extend to figuring this out. I needed to talk to someone who could if I wanted a good shot at interception. And I just so happened to have someone like that on hand.

It was time to ask my mentor for a favour. Planet Popstar's first and second best line of defense against ancient horrors, alien invasion, and dangerous magical artifacts.

The masked warrior known only as Meta Knight.

Chapter 10: Chapter 8

Chapter Text

I spent my time eating as slowly as practical, and then asked where I could find Meta Knight. Turned out he was on the Halberd's bow today, at the very front of the deck overlooking the prow shaped to look like his mask. I supposed if you were the greatest swordsman in an entire galaxy and the second strongest being on an entire planet you were entitled to a bit of an ego. Maybe not entitled to trying to take over the world, but in fairness that was only once, and before I got here.

So I gave my thanks to the kitchen staff and made my way over, stalking the corridors with as much purpose as before but a bit more nerve. I clasped my hands behind my back to stop myself fidgeting, and let my cape billow out as I made my way back onto the top deck and walked forward against the slight wind.

Sure enough, there he was, sitting in place on the ship's bow as I'd been informed. It was interesting to see how he differed from Kirby. As far as I knew, the two were the same species, and in terms of looks they were only separated by color and equipment. But even if you took both of those away, I was sure you could instantly tell them apart. It was in the way they carried themselves. Kirby was never fully still and awake at the same time, because his attention wandered so much. Either he was in a fight and moving, he was walking, he was looking at something in wonder, he was bouncing around in place and talking to people or eating, he was sleeping, or he was napping. Never a restful moment. By contrast, Meta Knight was sedate. He often simply stood still and gazed off or rested, pondering things. Still, even while he was like that, I got the impression that he was fully aware of his surroundings and ready for action at a moment's notice. He was similar to Kirby in that sense, since I also got that impression from Kirby even when he seemed absorbed in childlike wonder. Meta Knight gave off a sharper aura, for lack of a better term, even if he was slightly less strong and skilled.

The armour was a factor. With a large cape that was currently wrapped around his entire body, and armoured boots, gauntlets, pauldrons, and a mask that covered his entire front half, he was almost fully encased in metal. Though you could still see a fair amount of his deep blue skin, especially when he shifted his cape to its winged form. It didn't entirely disguise the fact he was a ball with tiny limbs that most people would find adorable, but it did help.

I steadily walked up behind him, and although he didn't visibly move at all I felt his attention shift to me. It was hard to explain, but in his presence you just sort of understood his position on things. It was similar with Kirby, but he was so much more obvious and unguarded that it didn't come up so much. Maybe it had something to do with the psychic part of their language that I thought might be a thing? I didn't know, I'd never actually asked. When I was only about two steps behind him and one step to the left of him, I stopped in place and just waited, doing my best to be as still as he was.

"Do you remember when we watched the sunset together? Many moons ago, during the months your training." I had to admit that wasn't the first thing I expected him to say. His voice was surprisingly deep, at least when compared to Kirby's high-pitched poyos.

"They were beautiful." My reply was barely above a whisper.

"They still are. It just seems a shame. You arrive around this time, and return in the dead of night, and so you miss the sunset." Brockton Bay was a coastal city, so it had a decent sunset of its own, but since that was during hero hours, or training hours before that, I hadn't stopped to actually look at it for around two years now. He finally moved, turning to me as the cloak-like form of the Dimensional Cape disappeared from sight, to be replaced by the shorter purple and gold trim cape form that he normally wore. "We have precious little time for pleasure in our lives. We are both dedicated to more important things than joy. So it seems all the more important to me that we take it where we can." He finally turned his head up, gazing at my face. I almost met his gaze. "But I'm sure you didn't come up to hear my lecture you! Tell me Exoa Knight, what is troubling you?"

I shrugged slightly. "Can't I just talk to my mentor?" My voice stuck in my throat for a second, so it came out stilted and awkward.

Meta Knight nodded. "Of course you can. But you have not done so since you completed your training. Usually when we speak, it is because you have a problem."

"I should go. It's nothing important." I said hurriedly. This had been a bad idea.

"Nonsense!" Meta Knight patted me on the lag as he turned to look straight back down the ship, directly facing the barrels of the ship's Main Cannon #2. "I did not train and arm you so that you would not turn to me in your times of need. So tell me, what troubles you?"

I sighed. "I need help with figuring out a strategy for tomorrow. I need to cover for the Protectorate being out of town for a day." He nodded again. I'd already told him about the rough situation in my world and the Bay specifically, so when I named names he roughly understood what I meant.

"Then we will need a map. Follow me." With that he was off, striding across the deck. Instead of heading down below, we instead entered the rear command section and went up. Not all the way up to the actual bridge at the very top, but to a small planning room off to one side fairly high up. While the Kingdom of Dreamland was fairly primitive on the whole, Meta Knight ran a high tech operation. The flying battleship with energy cannons were sort of a hint to that. So it wasn't a surprise when the table that dominated the center of the room was a digital one. It was low to the ground to accommodate Meta Knight and the other crew-members around his side, so I got down on my knees to take a closer look. With a few button presses and a flick of the wrist, he'd booted it up to a satellite map of Brockton Bay that I'd provided and had his sword Galaxia in hand. The map was highlighted with the various gang territories and important locations were marked.

"First, we must determine your goals." His tone of voice shifted into that of a teacher. "Do you wish to replace the Protectorate entirely?"

I firmly shook my head. "I can't be in seven places at once, so no. I just want to take the worst off."

Meta Knight nodded. "Then we must learn which targets are the highest priority to defend. It is your city, so lead off."

I grabbed a marker pen and paused for a second. Then I drew a shape around most of downtown and a bit of the docks before I crossed off all of the schools. Meta Knight hummed. "You think the places of learning are safe. Tell me, what is that shape?"

"That's the New Wave patrol area. Since they'll still be around, I don't have to worry about anything in that area. They can take care of it." I was starting to get confident again now that we were back to discussing the groups I'd come to intimately know.

"And why is it irregular? It leaves those two locations uncovered!" Meta Knight asked, gesturing to the joint PRT and Wards Headquarters and Brockton Bay Central Back.

"Because the PRT doesn't like cross-jurisdiction stuff. They want New Wave to stick to their own area and leave the rest to them. So the PRT HQ is its own thing, and the Bay Central is less than a mile from Arcadia High." I tapped the crossed out school in question. "Which is where pretty much all the Wards go to school. Maybe not the new guy, but definitely all the others. So anything too near there is their responsibility." I frowned and leaned in closer. "But I don't know if they'll be attending school tomorrow. The PRT might have made arrangements, but if not then they'll be stuck until at least twelve or so. That's plenty of time for things to happen with the Wards only being able to mount a partial response."

"Do you know if arrangements have been made?" Meta Knight said. This was a form of training, actually. He let me take the lead, and then pushed me at the edges to make sure I could see the bigger picture, since I was sort of crap at it naturally.

"No, I haven't checked." I looked away, face burning. "I could see if one of my contacts is available. It would have to be one of the actual Wards on patrol, I don't think a dispatcher or New Wave member would know."

"Hmph." He swept his sword over the areas controlled by the Empire and ABB. "If you do not yet know, neither will your enemies. They may assume the Wards cannot respond effectively."

"I could take a sick day." I hadn't taken any in a good while, and a single one wouldn't tank my education all too hard. "If your medical specialists could give me something to make it convincing, that'd help. My mom doesn't check on me too closely, but if I'm obviously not ill it might not go over well."

"Then we must ask, of the likely targets, which is the most important?" Another sweep of the blade over the table. "Which must be defended above all others? If we cannot hope to defend all, we must know which to defend first."

This one I had to consider for a second. "Brockton Bay Penitentiary." I tapped the city's main prison deep in the heart of the Docks. It was subsumed in ABB territory, actually almost near the Merchants. Practically the area around it was mostly clear of crime, at least for a few blocks. It had been built way back when in the city's better days, when the area wasn't basically lost, although even back then downtown had greater prominence in terms of wealth and status. That was actually why it was so far away from the various law enforcement headquarters, city planners and the upper class hadn't wanted an ugly prison facility in the 'nice' area, so they left the people with the problem by pushing it somewhere else. Normally, it would be secured by the Protectorate, so it was a target tomorrow. Specifically, because of who was in it.

"There's nobody important in there." The Imperial lieutenant I captured with Glory Girl two days back was still in a police station holding sell right now. "And I don't think any of the gangs will try and bust out their members. But Uber and Leet have been sitting there for a few months as part of their sentence, and they could be valuable to the right people." Uber and Leet were a pair of second-string villains with a video game theme that had made most of their money from streaming their fairly minor crimes. Their powers were decent, but not exceptional, and they weren't incredibly competent either. They'd been great at getaways for the most part, but then they'd gotten it into their heads that I was also a video game themed cape. Which was weird, because I knew that I wasn't, but I never really questioned it. Whatever the case, they thought it would be fun to try and take me on, and then suffered the consequences. That had been almost a year ago now, and they were actually coming up to the end of the prison portion of their sentence. They'd gotten a good plea bargain. I wasn't aware of the exact details, but what had filtered down to me was that for some reason the Canadian superhero team the Guild wanted them for a few months of community service. I had no clue why. Still, they'd convinced the US justice system to give them a relatively expedited sentence in exchange, just a year and a half without their freedom along with some big fines and asset seizures in total. I thought they deserved a bit worse, but I didn't make those decisions.

Meta Knight seemed to agree at least. "If those villains go free, your work will be undone. To make progress, you must keep the ones you defeat contained. What comes next?"

I tapped several other targets in turn. "Big business locations, tech warehouses, various shelters, government facilities. PRT HQ and Protectorate HQ are both going to be safe, and police headquarters are located in an overlap between New Wave and PRT jurisdiction, so I'm not worried about those. If any of the banks get hit then they lose a few tens of thousands of dollars but nothing major should happen, so I'm not concerned about them. I'd rather stop two muggings than a bank heist so long as nobody gets hurt." I paused. "It's good for your villain image, but I'm not sure anyone needs or wants that kind of reputation."

"Are you certain?" Meta Knight said. There was something about his tone that made it clear he wasn't, so I struggled to figure out who it was. The answer was apparent pretty quickly.

"The Undersiders. They're good enough for it, and they could use the rep boost. It's a slight departure from what they've done before, but not too much of one. Question is, which bank would they hit? The Central Bank is the biggest payday and reputation boost, but since it's so close to Arcadia it's also the riskiest. Then again, if only a couple of Wards show up, they could probably get away just fine." The more I thought about it, the more it made a certain sense. "It's still a low priority though. A heist crew hitting a target I don't really care about means that I'll show up if nothing else is going down, but that's about it."

I finished off by marking a few seemingly random locations near the borders of the various criminal groups. "And the gangs might take the chance to settle some scores. If they do, then I want to say we should let them fight it out, but innocent people could get caught in the crossfire, which would be pretty shit. And it would be a good chance to try and take in some villains if it happens."

"It sounds like you know what you need to do. But how will you position yourself?" Meta Knight gazed intently at the map, now practically covered in all sorts of coloured lines and shapes. "This would seem to be a lot of ground to cover."

"I'll sit in a central location with a Warp Star and listen in on official lines. Then I'll head off to the first major thing that comes up." I pointed to a random point in the middle of the docks. "Here or so should work."

I put a hand to my chin and smirked. Looks like I had it figured out after all. "Thanks."

Meta Knight put his sword to his side, where it just sort of stuck. Another ability of his I couldn't really match without a bunch of magnets. "I simply guided you to where you needed to be."

I put up my hood and moved my mask from my side to my face. "I still have today to consider. I'll head off now, I'm sorry for distracting you."

He began to say that I shouldn't be sorry, but I was already shifting back home.

The rest of the night was mostly centered on me following up on yesterday's lead. I found and hit three warehouses I thought might be the one I was looking for over the course of the early evening. Two were nothing, couldn't even confirm if they were ABB aligned, but the third was a jackpot. A bunch of gang members that scattered when I showed up, and a small cache of three bombs. They looked fairly conventional and well made, but not quite like anything I'd ever seen, and they all had different colored stripes along them. No labels unfortunately. Then it was a simple matter of turning the lot over to the PRT and escorting the armoured convoy back to their headquarters. Once the authenticity of the bombs was somehow confirmed, I was given a small bounty of three hundred dollars for turning over dangerous Tinkertech. I could have gotten more on the black market, but I had standards here. I also managed to catch a pair of Wards coming off duty, Vista and Clockblocker. I asked about tomorrow, and while Clockblocker was a bit cagey, I got Vista to admit that there were arrangements made. So at least I didn't have to worry about that.

For better or worse, everything after that was uneventful. I couldn't find much of anything, so I just patrolled the skies, being vaguely angry at the gangs below. Of course, if being angry solved anything, I'd already have dealt with the city's problems by myself.

When midnight hit, I shifted back over. First stop was the clinic on the base connected to the Halberd. It felt weird for a ship not to have any sort of infirmary, but people here didn't get injured or sick like I did. There being a clinic at all was partially for very rare and severe cases and partially a concession to me. I picked up two pills, one for tonight to make me appear sick in the morning and an antidote to fix me up. Next stop was Kirby's house to pick up Thalia, so I grabbed another Warp Star and headed on over.

The moon was out and the lights were still on. I moved up to the door and softly knocked, or as softly as I could in power armour. It opened up after a second, and I smiled beneath my mask as I saw Thalia snoring while tucked into Kirby's bed. He smiled up at me as I entered the house, and noted a very comfortable looking armchair with a children's picture book resting on it. He must have read my sister to sleep.

"Thanks." I whisphered to him before I picked up Thalia as gently as I could. Then it was a lot of moving between dimensions, shifting back to Earth Bet in order to tuck Thalia into her own bed, then shifting back to get on the Warp Star and fly back to the Halberd and my berth, then finally shifting back to Earth again after I'd changed out of costume in order to go to sleep myself.

Tomorrow could throw whatever it wanted at me. I was ready for it.

Chapter 11: Chapter 9

Chapter Text

Part of my life was that at times I had dark thoughts. Mostly, just straight up wanting to beat the latest fascist punk in front of me into the dirt. Sometimes, wanting to straight up kill the worse capes I fought, although that was actually better. I'd be doing a public service if I executed Kaiser or Hookwolf, even if the law probably wouldn't see it that way. And lastly, when it all got too much and I wanted to step back and watch the city burn. As I emptied the last contents of my stomach into the toiler, I was feeling that last one really hard.

The drug given to me had been convincing alright. It had gone a lot further than just convincing, actually. I really, really should have specified the kind of effect I was going for. More of a bad cold, less of this.

Fortunately, the antidote was already doing its work, and mom had left after calling me in sick but before I'd started throwing up. If she saw this there'd be a whole procedure and it would just be really inconvenient.

I wanted to take a couple of hours off to recuperate after that, but there was no time. If something really was going down in the early hours of the day while the Wards were still supposed to be in school, I had no time to waste. So I picked myself up from the floor, wiped my mouth and washed my hands, and went to change into my armor. Meta Knight had been generous enough to have a Warp Star put in my room for me so I didn't have to fetch one after I suited up. The Waddle Dees wished me luck, I grabbed hold of the bright yellow platform, and shifted back home.

Mostly, you physically rode Warp Stars, but there was a trick to them in that you didn't have to. It could be a bit inefficient, but it was possible to absorb them and their energy into your body. You'd have trails of stardust coming off of you for a bit but it was basically harmless. I pressed my hand to the Star and watched it fade into nothing as the power started flowing through me. It surprisingly didn't feel like much. In fact, it made me feel less, just a vaguely warm sensation across my entire body. Carefully, I floated out of my window after ensuring no one was looking, and then shot off straight up into the sky. The city shifted below me as I moved, altering my position until I was above the planned spot. A non-descript building was below me, I thought an abandoned warehouse of some kind. Either way, that didn't really matter.

With a thought, I tuned my radio into the PRT's dispatch line, and then began to wait. It was raining, dark clouds hanging over the city like a bad omen, but the absorbed power kept my dry as could be. Even if I didn't have it, my armour was fully sealed and resisted water well. The metal was obvious enough, but while the underlay seemed more like a fabric it had something called a 'hydrophobic coating' that made fluids roll right off. I didn't really get the details, but I was grateful for it whenever I had to patrol in wet weather. This suit packed a surprising amount of features like that, just quality of life stuff. I supposed it was what set the gear apart from Tinker stuff. Tinkers were individual geniuses putting together advanced tech with usually poor materials. Even the well-funded Protectorate could only give what modern Earth could make. My gear had an entire techbase and production line behind it. That meant even if its performance was only average, its quality of life was through the roof. I made a mental note to thank the two people most behind it the next time I had to take it back to the shop for repairs. I'd managed to keep it intact for a while now, but my luck always ran out eventually when I fought a strong villain. Still, if the armor was being damaged instead of me, it was doing its job.

I was almost in a good mood, floating peacefully up in the sky and recovering from this morning, when the worst happened. The dispatcher came to life, and gave two sentences in succession.

"All downtown units, be advised, we're getting reports of an attempted E-88 attack by air near police HQ. Crusader, Rune, and Stormtiger reported present fighting Glory Girl, Lady Photon, and Laserdream. We're also receiving a call for help from Brockton Bay Penitentiary, it is under attack by the Undersiders. I repeat, it is under attack by the Undersiders, consisting of Tattletale, Regent, and Hellhound. Considering the threat levels of both hostile forces, do not attempt to engage unassisted. The Wards are currently moving towards the Penitentiary." But they were so far away that by the time they showed up, the Undersiders would certainly have left along with Uber and Leet. And they were after those two: There was nobody else present they'd bother trying to jailbreak. Not with what I knew about their MO.

Now that I thought about it, I wasn't sure why they were trying to get them out. I expected the Undersiders to make a move and I thought the prison might get hit, but I didn't expect the Undersiders to hit the prison. I guessed they were probably just after capes to bolster their numbers. A successful jailbreak was good for their reputation as well. In any case, I was less concerned about their motives and more about stopping them cold.

The city below me became a blur once again as I shot off, careening west and down as I approached the compound. Instead of wasting time with slowing down, I actually sped up even as I entered the final approach, crashing into the asphalt just outside the front entrance, throwing up a spray of rocky shrapnel as I landed. It was fine though, unlike other kinds of collateral damage they didn't bill you for that.

I stood up straight and dusted myself off before walking through the front door. A terrified looking receptionist became slightly less terrified as she saw me.

"Where are they?" I asked. My voice wasn't the most reassuring behind all the distortion, but it was at least calm and steady. I figured she needed that right now.

"The, uh, villains, they, uh, came in through the back." She nervously managed to say. So the other end of the building, but they'd have moved a far way down already. A handful of prison guards weren't going to be a big threat to them.

"And the special prisoners?" She gave me a blank look for a second. "Uber and Leet."

"Oh, right, those guys." She blinked owlishly for a moment. "They've been moved up here to secure them, they're just through there." She pointed at a nearby door.

"Thanks." I immediately walked towards that door and tested it. When I found it was unlocked, I pushed it open to the sight of a pair of twenty-something men in prison uniforms and blank white domino masks surrounded by a handful of lightly armed guards. Best guess was that the initial entry-point had seen the Undersiders put themselves between the prisoners and the garage, so no trying to get them out that way. If, or really when, they actually got here then these guards wouldn't stand a chance in hell of stopping them. Even Tattletale and her non-combat powers could deal with them fairly easily, especially if the two villains helped in their own escape. And it wasn't as if I could simultaneously stall out all three Undersiders until help arrived. The Wards were simply too distant, several miles away. Even with the space-warping Vista speeding up their progress, it would be minutes until they arrived. Minutes I didn't have.

All eyes were on me as I spoke. "I'll stash these two somewhere the enemy won't find them. Then I'll stall them until backup arrives. Any objections?" Nobody said a word. "Good, because I wasn't going to listen." I grabbed the pair by the shoulders and dragged them out in the rough direction of the Undersiders. I turned into the first empty corridor I found, stood still, and let several seconds pass.

It felt almost physically painful to have the first human adults I let in on my power's secret be these two losers. But they were fortunately standing still enough for me to make the transfer, and it was needed if I was going to get out of this with them still imprisoned. In fact, this way I could guarantee that no matter how badly the fight went, I'd win the greater battle. The opposition was going to flat out fail their main objective even if they got away. That was a comforting thought.

I shifted with them in tow, and got the first word out before they could say anything. "Not a word from either of you." I snarled. "Not a single fucking word. Not now and not when I take you back. Understand?" I got a pair of nods as they responded on autopilot, expressions of shock on their faces. Instead of dignifying them by confirming I'd seen, I pushed open the door to my berth. I was in luck, since someone was making their way down the hall. About the size and shape of a Waddle Dee or Kirby, but completely faceless, and equipped with a broom and black witch's hat. They were sweeping the halls clean of dust, and I knew their species name was Broom Hatter. Which made me wonder, were the broom and hat somehow biologically linked to them? I guessed it wasn't important.

"There are two humans in this room who aren't me. Make sure neither of them goes anywhere." The Hatter paused, nodded, and then kept sweeping the floors. I whirled back around and got down on one knee, reaching my hands out towards my assistants. If I was here anyway, I might as well pick up some help going back the other way. They understood immediately, and jumped down from their perches on the cot to put their hands in mine. Another few seconds, and the three of us were back in that prison corridor. I made a gesture to the Dees, and they started following me as I darted around and deeper into the prison. The distant sounds of large beasts became much less distant as the seconds passed. I paused by a set of double doors and waited for the first dog to round the corner. Then I dashed inside the cafeteria, wings snapping out as I leapt forward onto a table securely bolted on the ground. With my armour's small anti-gravity plant lowering my weight, it didn't even creak as I landed heavily on it and spun around to face the doors. My two minions followed suit, although they kept a good distance by hopping up onto neighboring tables instead of the benches on either side of mine. The ceiling was reasonably high, but I wouldn't have nearly as much room to maneuver as I'd like. Then again, neither would the enemy. I noted the entrance to the kitchen off to one side.

Several seconds passed as the sounds slowed. Running became walking, and whispers started up. The front light on my sheathe flicked from green to red as I readied my weapon. A pause of silence, then more whispering. I took several steps back along the table. Another moment of silence, and three creatures burst through, snapping and barking angrily. They lunged for the table's edge and I vaulted back, keeping myself well out of reach. My allies did the same, keeping their distance.

Hellhound's ability let her grow dogs into monsters, and it made her the most immediately dangerous Undersider. You could sort of see it in the creatures since they were vaguely canine, although I really wouldn't call them dogs. Not anymore. Masses of bone plating, spikes, and raw flesh, with slavering jaws on one end and relatively thin prehensile tails on the other. All of it asymmetrical, without a real pattern to it. They were massive, large enough to ride on. Each had to weigh at least half a ton, and I knew they could get even bigger. I guessed the prison corridors were thin enough that she didn't want to go all out.

The woman herself stepped through the doors behind her minions. If I had to use one word to describe her, it'd be heavy. Heavy jacket, heavy boots, heavyset, and with blonde hair. Even though I was quite athletic myself, and exceptionally well trained, I wasn't sure how well I'd do against her in a fistfight outside of my battle plate. That kind of muscle did a lot for you, as it turned out. Her dollar store dog mask was mostly a formality, since her civilian identity was public knowledge. Rachel Lindt had a bit of a sordid history, but that mattered less to me than what she was doing now. She was glowering at me, arms folded, teeth bared. I also filed away from previous encounters that she preferred to go by Bitch rather than Hellhound. If I wanted to talk her into standing down, that was the name I'd use.

Having to deal with her and her dogs alone would be bad enough, but things went from bad to worse as two other capes stepped inside. One had long blonde hair and wore a lavender bodysuit with a series of black lines on it, as well as a set of pouches and a black domino mask. Tattletale was a master of information gathering. I wasn't sure what her power was other than it let her pull knowledge seemingly from thin air, and she was an expert at combining it with normal data gathering. That, or her power was much stronger than most people thought. I couldn't easily say. In any case, even if she was the one who made things happen, right now she was the least of my concerns.

Finally, there was Regent, wearing a loosely fitting shirt and leggings along with a solid white mask that showed a face. It looked almost like it was made of porcelain, but I knew that couldn't be right. It also had a silver crown-thing on top of it to really sell the look, and he was holding a scepter crowned with an orb. His power didn't seem that bad, since he mostly used it to trip you up. He could cause involuntary movements in your body, doing things like forcing you to your knees or moving your arm at the worst times. The thing is, that was only the surface. Since my first run in with these guys I'd traded in the information I'd gained to the PRT in exchange for some information back. Regent used to go by Hijack, and his real power was eventually having absolute control over your nervous system, turning you into a glorified puppet. As far as anyone knew, he hadn't used that aspect of it since he rebranded, but I was still worried if I got in too many unsuccessful fights with these guys he might be able to take me over. I wasn't about to let that happen if I could avoid it.

While she wasn't the team-leader, Tattletale was generally the one who did the talking. She had a certain talent for it, after all. So it didn't surprise me when she stepped forward, cocky grin on her face, and started speaking.

"Exoa Knight. Don't you have somewhere better to be?" She spread her arms wide. "The Empire is breaking out a high-ranking member, and you're here stopping us from recruiting people nowhere near as bad. Unless, of course, you think we're worse than the Empire?" She struck an exaggerated pose, putting her right hand to her hip and her left to her lip. "Or do you just really want to go oh for three against us?"

I was glad that my mask could cover my deep frown. Tattletale wielded information as a precision weapon. Just insulting me like this might have struck a nerve, but it didn't really seem to achieve anything.

Unless pissing me off was the point. She knew as well as I did that the clock was ticking. Hell, she probably had a better idea than me on how much time she had left. She wasn't going to waste precious seconds trying to convince me to actually get out of the way when she knew what I was like, she just wanted me pissed off so I'd mess up in the coming fight. And the worst part was that it was working pretty well, and I couldn't stop it. My anger was controlled, but sometimes only by a thread.

Still, I knew she'd depart after a few more barbs. I stood still and kept my sword up, as well as my guard.

"Hear me out. At the end of the day, we're both capes, but we're not the same kind." I wasn't sure I liked were this was going. "And I don't mean, you're a hero and I'm a villain, I mean that we're just doing the city a service and you're out of your mind. We don't get people seriously hurt or do much damage, we're just doing what we feel like. Having fun, getting paid. For us and normal heroes, it's just a really high stakes game of cops and robbers. Following me so far? But you, you're not like that. I know the hours you pull. And how serious you are about the whole knight thing. Normally I'd find it kind of funny, but with you it's just sad. Under that mask, are you really a hero? Or are you just some crazy person playing pretend?"

The other light on my sheathe flicked from green to red. That was the downside of neural link technology. Your equipment could betray your thoughts even if you said nothing. Regent took a step back and raised his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. Hellhound growled, and her glower somehow grew even wider. Tattletale's stupid smirk was still plastered on her face, but when she next spoke it was softer, yet no less firm.

"You're not going to do that." She said with absolute conviction. "Because then you'd know that it's the second one."

I hated it, but she was right. With a significant effort of will, the light turned back to green, and the magnets keeping the sword I hadn't unsheathed even once on this continent in its scabbard reengaged. Tattletale opened her mouth to speak again, but Regent preempted her.

"Yeah, no, I think you've said enough. We're fucking talking about this after the mission. I'm not joking, Tattletale, I swear to fucking god." He must have seen the Canberra footage as well as his information specialist teammate. For her part, Tattletale just rolled her eyes, whisphered something I couldn't make out to Hellhound, and then ran back out of the room. She'd probably told her to keep me occupied while she searched for Uber and Leet, not knowing I'd made that impossible. If I was in a better mood, I'd wear my own smug grin, but my face was fixed in an angry snarl right now.

Hellhound put a fist to her mouth and sharply whistled out a single, long tone. The dogs rushed forward, charging straight at me and the Waddle Dees, one for each of us.

The fight was on.

Chapter 12: Chapter 10

Chapter Text

The dog closest to me charged forward, bounding up and forwards, only to be met with a heavy overhead strike that saw my weapon crash right down on its thick skull. The one fun thing about fighting Hellhound's dogs, or really any group of summoned minions, is that you could go all out without having to worry about someone else getting seriously hurt. I didn't actually want to kill the regular dogs inside these beasts, but experience told me that was probably the last thing I should be worrying about, at least if I stuck to blunt force like this.

The creature landed heavily on the table in front of me, which shuddered under the sudden force and weight. But it was large and firmly secured to the ground, so it didn't snap. As the dog scrambled to get back on its feet, my gaze flicked to either side of me to see how well my allies were doing. One Waddle Dee had jumped on the head of the dog targeting him and was now sprinting across its body. The other, however, had tripped and was now desperately trying to back away. I guessed Regent had something to do with that.

The second Dee managed to get his feet under him, but only as the beast lunged and chomped down. It was more amusing than gruesome, with the teeth failing to find any real purchase, but I still winced slightly in sympathy.

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW-" He cried out while flailing as best he could trapped between the dog's jaws. He was providing a distraction for now, but I knew that he'd end up unconscious sooner rather than later. Then it would be two of us against three hounds, and that only until Regent did a repeat on my other ally.

So when my dog rose back up and lunged again, instead of backing off further or counterattacking I vaulted left, sailing away from it as I closed in on the one turning around to try and chase the Dee that had missed it. I swung my blade with both hands, slamming it into my enemy's side with full force. Even with my enhanced strength, I couldn't hope to toss these things around, but I was lucky enough to catch it mid-motion and send it stumbling off the side of the table. It crashed heavily onto the bench, which groaned under the weight of a thousand pounds of muscle and bone. It pushed itself off and rolled further onto the ground below. It would take another second for it to get on its back, so I once again turned my attention elsewhere.

The further dog was still savaging the Waddle Dee with its teeth, while the nearer one looked at me and gave a low growl. It looked like the blow to the head had made it a bit more cautious. Good. A cautious fighting style was one that would make the fight longer. The longer the fight, the better my chances. I wasn't here to win, I was here to still. I needed to remember that, even if Tattletale's words still sat uneasily in the back of my mind. I wanted to lash out and go on the offensive, but I couldn't. Not right now.

The other Waddle Dee was doing much better. It had landed near the pair of hostile parahumans and was darting back and forth in front of them. Regent raised a hand and made a side-to-side gesture, and one foot jerked up in the air. However, this Dee was ready for it, since he worked with the motion by kicking off with his other foot as well, pratfalling forwards.

Waddle Dees, as it happened, were quite bouncy.

He rebounded up and slammed with his whole body into Hellhound's center of mass, causing her to double over as he landed perfectly back on his feet. I knew that would be like being hit hard with a compressible ball. It wouldn't really hurt, but it could certainly knock the wind out of you. As Hellhound darted back upright, stumbling back as she did so, Regent stepped forward and jabbed with his staff. But his motion was clumsy and uncoordinated for a fighter. The Waddle Dee expertly sidestepped the attack, grabbed the scepter, and ripped it out of his hands in one clean motion. I grinned. Waddle Dees were excellent with spear-like weapons when you trained them, and these two were more skilled than most.

As I was busy keeping an eye on my surroundings and he was busy fighting, the two dogs to either side of me were silently communicating. Well, not silently. They were growling and barking with deep, guttural noises from distorted throats, and gesturing slightly with their heads. The moment they both stopped and tensed is the moment my awareness spiked. They catapulted forward as my wings flapped, propelling me up and back. Instead of crashing into each other, they'd leapt at different spots. The one closer to me on my left had struck at where I was, while the other jumped up overhead to where I might dodge to. I hit the leaping dog in its flank and caused it to tumble down at an awkward angle while I precisely floated back further along the table, but it didn't do more than cost it a moment to right itself.

The two had been clever. The one going high didn't actually jump directly over me, but rather over and a little in front of me. That meant to be safe I had to move back, away from both the door and Hellhound. Cornering me and keeping their master safe in one maneuver, I was reminded what dogs were normally. You wouldn't know it if you looked at a poodle, but they were predators, not prey.

Then again, you could say the same about me.

As I landed, I heard Hellhound yelp in pain, and I saw that she'd been jabbed with the scepter. At a guess, it was topped with a taser or something to let Regent knock enemies out despite his comparative lack of skill. Of course, that had just backfired on him, or at least his teammate. While she was too distracted by the pain to issue orders, her dogs were well trained enough that she didn't need to. The two on me kept their focus where it was, while the one on the other Waddle Dee threw it against the wall. I saw the little ball hit it hard and then slide down to the floor, motionless. I knew that he was only out cold, but in terms of the next few minutes it didn't matter whether he was dreaming or dead. Then the dog instantly turned around and charged at the one I was gonna call Scepter Waddle Dee.

The paired hounds had swapped sides, and were now on the floor rather than the benches or table. They each moved forward carefully, step by step, making sudden movements to snap or paw in my direction whenever it looked like I was preparing to try something. I retreated as slowly as they advanced, sword held ready and wings held tense. Meanwhile, Scepter Dee held his weapon up against the charging dog, but Regent made a slashing motion with his hand and my ally smashed the weapon down into the floor just in time to get hit by an enormous charging beast. He was sent flying, and the head of the scepter had been smashed to bits, but when he hit the wall he winced in pain yet opened his eyes back up afterwards. He wasn't out of the fight just yet.

Meanwhile, I was content to keep retreating. If I darted off to the right to try and outflank the dogs, I wasn't sure what would happen. They were quick and agile when they wanted to be, and I was worried I'd be tackled and pinned down from behind. If that ever happened, the fight was just over. What I really wanted was for Hellhound to slip up and make them all bigger and more unwieldy. Then I'd be in even more trouble if I ever got hit, but I'd be that much less likely to get hit in the first place.

Hellhound and Regent were moving, putting the third dog between themselves and Scepter Dee. "Good girl, Angelica!" Hellhound cheered. "Paw!" Scepter Dee put up a valiant fight, hopping, sliding, and ducking to avoid the monster's claws while striking back with surprising speed and strength, but it was clearly a doomed effort. Already wounded, it would only be one more good hit before he joined his comrade in being out of the fight. Then it would be me by myself against all three dogs.

But even before then I was in trouble. One last step back saw me put my foot half over the end of the table, and I knew it was only a few more meters until the back wall. When I was pressed up there I was out of space to maneuver, but I didn't get the chance to get that far. Regent was looking at me, and raised a hand. I was prepared to adjust for a limb, but he'd gotten deeper in my head. Instead of making me trip or fumble my sword, my wings half collapsed back into cape form. As they did, both dogs lunged. My wings snapped back open as I reasserted control, but by then it was too late. I put my weapon in a defensive position and managed to ward off the dog on my right, but the one on my luck half slid under and half pulled through and clamped its jaws around my leg. Teeth ground against metal and I just about kept my cool. My armour could hold, although the pressure was painful. But I couldn't do anything about it, because all my attention was focused on fending off the other dog with my sword. I saw the dog Hellhound had called Angelica finally get in her clean hit, smashing the scepter to pieces and the Dee against the wall. This time, he didn't get back up.

I twisted in my captor's grasp, trying to get a moment without my leg in a toothy vise so I could pull it free, but ended up exposing a vulnerable spot in my armour. With a renewed bite, teeth pierced the back of my knee and just above and below the front of my knee. Three wounds in total. I hissed out a pained breath, and finally got to wrench the damaged limb free as the dog tried to readjust for a deeper bite. I swung my weapon straight into the side of the other dog's head to distract it as I flapped up and away, landing heavily to the side. A spike of pain shot up my left leg as I landed a bit too heavily on it. At least the creature hadn't outright broken it, and I was pretty sure it could have if it really wanted to.

"Brutus!" Hellhound yelled, making some hand gesture. "Judas!" A second gesture. By the order the dogs reacted in, it looked like Brutus was the one who'd bit me. Meanwhile, Angelica was marching down towards me, keeping herself between me and the two Undersiders. I'd succeeded at outflanking the other two, but it had ended up being meaningless.

"You know, I liked that scepter." Regent said. "Now I'm gonna have to get a new one made." He groaned and rolled his head back. "Ugh, this is too much effort. We're doing this for Uber and Leet? Come on. If we'd robbed a bank at least that could have been fun." It was nice to get confirmation of their targets, but I'd figured that out already.

Hellhound turned her head towards Regent and barred her teeth. "I was against this all along. You and Tattletale were the ones who voted for it. Don't be a coward now."

"Coward? Fuck's sake Bitch, I'm just saying that I hate having to fight this... bitch." He finished lamely as he gestured towards me. "Fuck it, you know what I mean."

"You're not the one who got shocked because her partner couldn't keep hold of a damn stick." Hellhound growled. She turned the rest of her body, balling her hands into fists. "If you can't handle yourself in a fight then you shouldn't even be on the team."

I stayed silent. If the two of them wanted to argue with each other instead of fight together, that was fine by me. The orders she gave to the trio of dogs had to have been surround rather than hunt, because while they approached menacingly they didn't actually move to attack. I could work with that. I took deep breaths in and out, steadying myself, trying to work through the pain. I could patch that up once this was done. If it was too bad I could probably get Panacea to help me. I just needed to get through this first.

"I'm the one who helped hurt her and take out one of her dumbass minions. I can handle myself." Regent's mask was fully covering like mine, but I got the impression he was scowling as he turned to look at me. "But she doesn't seem to have gotten the hint yet."

Hellhound's head snapped over. Teeth still barred, she looked at me as intently as possible. If she had laser-vision my head would be a smoking ruin. I didn't bother to make eye contact back since I was too busy keeping track of all three dogs. I backed off further, dragging my injured leg with my good one and balancing with my wings. I was moving back and right, towards one of the room's corners. It would mean I had nowhere to move backwards, but it also meant the dogs would be clustered far away from the people they were trying to protect, and they'd probably get in each other's way if they moved to attack. That meant I could try and slip past them with a short burst of flight and get in close with the Undersiders themselves. It was a long shot, but the only shot I had left.

The pair seemed content to let me literally back myself into a corner, even moving forward a little. Regent raised a hand in preparation, but didn't actually do anything. Hellhound was silent, waiting until I was where she wanted me before she'd give the order to attack.

"You're annoying." She spat out. "You don't give up, but I can't tell my dogs to just take you out, because inside that shell you're just another human."

"Right back at you." I said, tapping my sheathe with my left hand to emphasize the point.

"But you're not too bad. You don't talk too much like some people do. So if you want to give up, I'll let you go." As far as I could tell, she seemed sincere. Although it was the only really viable option. What else was she going to do if I surrendered? I suppose they could take me as a hostage for the rest of the escape instead.

In any case, it was irrelevant. "Sorry, but I'm not about to quit just yet. It's like you said. I don't give up."

Hellhound sighed and raised a hand, probably about to give another gesture or whistle, but I'd never know whether my crazy plan would have worked out. Before she could give the order Tattletale burst buck into the room. In a second she looked between her teammates, the dogs, and me, and then spoke. "It's a plan. She wants to be where she is so she can try and do an end-run around the dogs and come after us."

Goddamn Tattletale. If I wasn't angry at her for what she'd said at the start of the fight, I was definitely angry at her for this.

"That was quick. Where are the losers?" Regent asked. I was confused for a moment, and then remembered fights went by pretty fast. That entire ordeal could only have been a couple of minutes. At a good run, Tattletale would have had just enough time to dash over to the room where they'd been keeping the pair before I showed up, seen they weren't present, and then ran back over here.

"Not where I thought. And they definitely weren't anywhere we went through. I'm something like ninety percent sure Little Miss Hero Complex here stashed them somewhere else, and I can't figure out where. My power's just giving me blanks, and we don't have time to search the entire place for them. It won't be much longer before the white hats show up, and we want to be gone by the time they're here." She didn't look panicked by any means, but she was much less composed than before. It was the small victories, I supposed.

"We gonna finish her off?" Hellhound asked. Tattletale paused for a second, sucking in air through her teeth as she weighed her options.

"Too risky. She'll pursue us if we try to leave without it, but she can keep fighting for a bit here." She explained. "And that's if her plan doesn't even work. Yeah, fighting on the move is better for us than fighting in place." Satisfied, she nodded.

"Wait, she's gonna run after us on a busted leg?" Regent asked skeptically.

I shifted my footing forward, wings flaring outwards as wide as they would go. "I have arms and wings, and that's all I need. If you didn't want me to pursue you, maybe Tattletale shouldn't have pissed me off."

Hellhound barked out an order, and the dogs broke off from me, warily backing off before turning and pounding over to the Undersiders. Each of them mounted up on a different dog. They weren't ideal for riding, and they hardly had saddles, but it was a workable arrangement and much better than running on foot. As they did, I could swear I heard Regent mutter "Fucking damn it Tattletale," under his breath.

Chapter 13: Chapter 11

Chapter Text

I dragged myself out of my corner to give myself the room I needed to fly or at least glide forward while the Undersiders mounted up. I tensed as the trio leaned forward and their mounts readied themselves, experimentally flexing my wings. For a moment, calm. Then Hellhound said "Go!" in a low but clearly audible tone, and they were off. With a hop from my good leg and a few wingbeats I was following closely, driving up to the roof and then swiftly gliding down and forward to catch up. I followed the last dog out before the double doors to the cafeteria had even swung shut.

In the prison's corridors, there was a lot less room to maneuver. On the one hand, that meant I couldn't dodge as easily. On the other hand, it meant the dogs would have a much harder time of targeting me without getting in the way of another dog and slowing down their escape. Plus, unlike Hellhound's beasts I was agile when it came to turning at speed, so I could take corners much more easily. Unfortunately, there was only so many of those before the Undersiders exited the compound and were practically home free.

I twisted in mid-air as my wings did their work, the burst of speed shooting me to the head of the pack while I was facing backwards and hence towards them. Hellhound was taking the lead on the dog I now recognized as Brutus, and glared up at me as I kept ahead of her. I snapped my wings taut and slowed as I impacted the wall behind me, knocking the wind out of me for a second. On the second after, the dogs were reaching the first corner and I kicked off the wall, lunging forward at Tattletale and Angelica in the middle. She skillfully ducked under my one-handed swing, but my free left arm grabbed her by the waist and bodily hauled her off of her dog. The lack of traditional riding equipment like a saddle and stirrups was necessary seeing as there was no single size for the empowered dogs, but it was still a weakness I could exploit.

Angelica turned and snapped at me, but I shifted towards her and used Tattletale as a human shield. Just as I'd hoped, Angelica was well trained enough not to attack if an ally was in the way, although she snarled and let spittle fly in my enemy's face. She struggled to get out, but couldn't hope to push off my one arm with her two. The enhanced strength granted by armor made sure of that. Regent on Judas to came to a screeching halt behind the pile-up, while Hellhound had to turn around and come back for her teammates. If she shot off ahead, she'd have successfully escaped for certain, but left her teammates behind and potentially in trouble. Alone against me with their main weapons being monstrous dogs they couldn't command themselves, with mere minutes until the Wards arrived to seal their fate.

Although with what little I knew of Hellhound, she was probably more concerned for the dogs than for the humans. In fairness, they were much less annoying than Regent and Tattletale, at least in my opinion.

Regent gestured, and my arm jerked away from Tattletale, opening up my previously tight hold. Before I could move my other one in response, Tattletale took off, practically leaping up off of the floor and running around the other side of Angelica. I took that as my cue to go as well, and a few wingflaps set me back in front of the group, although I took care not to get snagged by Brutus' jaws again. It took Tattletale a couple of seconds to clamber back up on top of her mount and a couple more for the convoy to get ready to go once again, keeping a wary eye on me as I stood firm, or as firm as I still could. By itself, that entire scramble starting from when I'd grabbed Tattletale meant little, but these small delays would add up if I managed to cause enough of them. I could run a hundred meters in a little over twelve seconds, and these dogs could go even faster than that, but if someone tackled me to the ground every ten meters I'd struggle to beat an energetic tortoise.

The dogs charged forward, but instead of flying up again I stood my ground, putting my sword forward and holding it with both hands so that any of the engorged creatures would basically impale themselves on it. This caused them to stumble to a halt practically as soon as they started running, before they fanned out and moved to attack me while standing in a line. I made several broad sword sweeps to hold them back as the animals moved ever closer to getting inside my guard, and when they were almost close enough to grab hold of me I vaulted up and away once again, letting them try to get back up to speed.

I changed my tactics yet again, darting rapidly up from near the roof and down to take opportunistic swings at each of them, forcing their rides to change course, slow down, or risk letting their charges get hit. Each attack caused much less of a slowdown than my previous two methods, but I could do much more of them in quick succession.

I didn't like having to constantly switch up my approach, but figured that if I didn't any vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the individual methods would be identified and ruthlessly exploited. If not by Hellhound and the dogs themselves, then certainly by Tattletale. Keeping them on their toes was the best option I had.

After one dive and strike that came within inches of hitting Regent in the head, Angelica pulled up alongside Brutus and Tattletale said something to Hellhound. Between the rush of air and the pounding feet of the dogs I couldn't hear exactly what she said, but I was able to make out the words "Faster... three... my signal." Hopefully, she wasn't expecting me to make out even that much.

I glided up near the top of the ceiling and held there for a moment, keeping pace with the dogs as I waited for whatever signal Tattletale was planning. She quickly glanced up at me, analyzing me, waiting for something. Then, as another corner was turned, she shouted a wordless yell.

"Break!" Hellhound barked. I overshot the dogs as instead of speeding up they slowed down, crouched, and lunged for me one after the other. I realized what her sentence had probably been.

"Faster now to just take her out. Get all three dogs to stop and attack on my signal.

Brutus was first, once again leaping at an angle that forced me into the corner of the turn instead of out into the next corridor. Angelica followed up, jumping straight at me and forcing me to drop to the ground lest I get hit. She skillfully pushed off the wall and landed ahead of me none the worse for wear, although Tattletale had to frantically stay low to her mount in order to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling. Finally, Judas charged straight at me, his rider forcing my wings to betray me with yet another gesture as I tried to dash away on foot. The sudden shift in balance made me stumble, I raised my sword defensively but the beast ignored it. Regent stiffened in shock a moment before my blade smacked into his stomach, driving him back along Judas, as the dog's jaws clamped firmly around my right arm. Before I could do anything, he jerked his head to one side, sending me flying that way, and then jerked it back, providing an equal burst of momentum the other way focused on my arm.

Body going quickly one way, forearm going quickly the other. Snap.

I couldn't help it. I cried out in my pain as my arm shattered. My grip slacked, and I dropped my sword. I felt strangely distant as I watched it clatter to the floor while my lower arm was bent at an angle it clearly shouldn't be. The dog at least had the good graces to let go after that, and I slumped to the floor.

I felt my breathing inside the closed world of my mask. I felt my heart pump blood. If the bone was poking through the skin, would I be bleeding? That made sense.

No.

Now wasn't the time to get distracted. I'd felt some pretty serious pain before, even if this was worse than most of my past wounds. I still had wings, and I still had two working limbs. Of all things, I remembered something my mentor once said to me. It didn't entirely fit, at least when coming out of my mouth, but I said it anyway. It helped distract me from what didn't matter and focus on what did.

"Although I walk this path alone-" I pushed with my good leg and wings, cutting off my speech with a hiss as I propped myself up on my broken arm and suffered a spike of pain. My left arm snapped out for the sword lying on the ground as the Undersiders looked down at me.

"She's not down! Finish her off!" Tattletale yelled a moment before I reached for my sword, but it was too late. I grasped the handle and flew up just in time for Angelica and Judas to crash into each other as they both lunged for me. A few more flaps and I was away, once again in front of Brutus and Hellhound, both of which just looked frustrated with me at this point.

"I walk it for the sake of all," I continued, putting my working right leg and left arm forward in an approximation of a combat stance while my right arm hung limp at my side and my left leg tried to have as little pressure put on it as possible.

"And thus I shall never yield." The other two rider and mount pairs reoriented themselves and lined up besides and slightly behind Hellhound.

"Swear by these words always," She whistled a short and then a long tone, and they charged forward.

"And you shall become a true Knight." Part of me, probably the part that was constantly angry at everything, thought it was pretty cheesy and lame as far as mantras went. Another part of me knew that I didn't adhere to it, at least not very closely. But those words mattered to me. Maybe it was just because of who it came from, or maybe it was just the idea that all the blood and sweat I threw into saving this city wasn't a hopeless, wasted effort, and maybe it was a bit of both. But they mattered to me.

Unfortunately, words didn't fix broken limbs. I was still at a disadvantage, now more than ever so rather than futilely trying to meet the charge head on I fled up and back to the set of doors at the end of the corridor and let the Undersiders charge through below me. As they did, I curled in my wings to drop slightly faster and then followed them out.

That had been the last major obstacle between them and the outside. They were currently in a courtyard, with a mere fence between them and escaping. If the fence was normally electrified, I was almost certain that they'd have deactivated the generator on the way in. It wouldn't be long, probably just moments, before Hellhound's dogs tore them down. That was especially true because I could see them slowly growing before my eyes. Now that they were free from the building's confines, there was no real need to keep them at a certain size anymore.

At this point, it was pretty clear that they'd probably get away. But hell, I'd never known when to quit, and I wasn't about to start now. I flew forward as fast as I could, keeping low to the ground, weaving between the various dogs. They ground to a halt, alternating between trying to swipe at me and trying to move to swipe at me, leaving them in a jumbled mess. The world blurred slightly as I moved, desperately trying not to smack into any of them, and knowing that I couldn't keep this up forever. But I just had to keep this up long enough, and as the dogs stalled out while trying to track me I felt a tingle of hope as the seconds racked up.

In the end, Regent got me. Recovered from my earlier jab, he made my wings seize up again, sending me straight ahead. I managed to flip over and come to a halt, skidding slightly across the paved ground as the dogs charged at me. My wings turned back into a cape as I moved, throwing myself out of the path of the first one and letting it run straight through the billowing fabric I'd left behind. For the next, I put my sword low and swung it up in a one-handed strike. That stunned the dog, knocking it a little up and stopping its main attack, but it still managed to fall on me. Over a thousand pounds of animal meat was more than I could hope to hold up in my condition, so I fell with it, crashing to the ground. It recovered far faster than me, and smashed its paws on my chest, knocking the breath out of me. I partially doubled over and thus rose a little, so it knocked my head back down. The world spun as I landed. The back of my head was my armour's weakest spot, and while it had some shock absorbing capabilities it couldn't hope to render the blow anything less than painful and stunning. Judas, I blearily recognized, then put his front paws back on my chest and kept me pinned to the ground.

The fight was over.

The Undersiders dismounted, Regent and Tattletale in particular a little unsteady as they put feet back on solid ground. The trio of villains clustered around me and looked down. Hellhound still didn't exactly look happy, but she was no longer exactly glowering or growling either. Her mouth set in a thin line, her arms crossed, she looked more impassive than anything else. Just glad to be done with this, I supposed.

Tattletale took one look at me before speaking. "Still not ready to give up, huh?" Regent groaned at that. If I was in less pain, I'd probably have grinned. "Still, it doesn't matter how willing to fight you are if you can't go anywhere."

I gave her a deadpan look, helped by the lack of any expression on my mask. "I'll keep chasing you even if you cripple my other leg." I pointed out.

"With your wings, yes. But you can't do that if you don't have wings." All three of the rest of us realized what she meant at about the same time. Tattletale snapped her fingers, Hellhound made some hand gestures to Angelica and Brutus, and Regent raised one hand like he was about to conduct an orchestra.

The other two dogs paced forward and stood next to me, one on either side, and then Regent began making motions. I involuntarily fidgeted a little as my cape jerked apart, hardened into wings, and spread wide. "Tear!" Hellhound said, and her loyal companions complied. While they'd mostly used their paws for blunt force, they also had a mean set of claws. My wings were fairly durable, but couldn't resist the joint efforts of the monstrous canines. They dug through and dragged down, ripping my wings to utter shreds. I was very fortunate that my mental link with them didn't go two ways, or I'd be in even more pain than I was already. It was only a few seconds to leave me grounded, and on one properly functioning leg I had no hope of pursuing them even if they decided to escape on foot at about a jog.

With that done, Tattletale breathed a sigh of relief. "That was too close." Judas finally got off me, walking to one side. I could breathe freely again, and probably stand up if I had to, but everyone here knew that I wasn't really a threat anymore. "Come on, let's get out of here before-"

She saw it slightly after I did. The blown open doorway had a set of figures beyond it, although I was seeing them as if through a raindrop. Space itself had twisted and distorted, and they had grown to appear giant. Then they took a few steps forward, and crossed the entire length of the corridor. The space behind them snapped back to normal as they spread out and looked for the optimum angles of attack. The Wards had arrived.

"-that." Tattletale grimaced. "Well, they're slightly early." Her calm words were betrayed by her rising pitch.

I was out of the fight myself, but just might have won the battle anyway.

Chapter 14: Chapter 12

Chapter Text

The next phase of the fight began with another whistle as Hellhound ordered her dogs to attack, or at least to cover the Undersiders' retreat. While the pair that had shredded my wings turned and bounded forwards, a gesture sent the one previously pinning me down to make a hole in the fence for them to escape through. But the problem with that was I found myself with nothing to keep me down, and so slowly, painfully, made my way back to my feet, grabbing my sword off of the floor as I did. I only had two functional limbs, and now I actually had to suffer the full consequences of that.

As I got my feet back under me, I swayed a little as the world seemed to spin. That jolt to the head must have messed me up more than I'd thought. I was a little dizzy, but it didn't seem like anything I couldn't power through. Unfortunately, Hellhound had finished giving orders and had now turned around to face me. I was confident I could take her on if we were on an even playing field without armor, weapons, or injuries, but I was pretty sure she could beat me in a brawl. Couldn't actually do much to me beyond pin me down and make it hurt, but that would still take me out of the fight.

I raised my sword, putting it between us, and then swung it defensively in a pattern of short, sharp motions. I could barely walk, so there was no point in trying to make this a moving fight. Instead, I was content to keep her just out of reach, turning with her as she tried to get under my guard and tackle me to the ground. Once I'd established a good defensive rhythm, I turned half of my attention over to the big fight between the Wards and Hellhound's two dogs.

It seemed to be going reasonably well. The two front-line members of the Wards, team leader Aegis and newcomer Browbeat, were each trying to fight a dog. It wasn't going that well, in the sense that they weren't winning but at least they weren't losing either. They were both clearly on the defensive, against opponents that were larger, stronger, and arguably more agile. Aegis was doing reasonably well, but couldn't exploit his flight unless he wanted his nearby teammates to start getting knocked down. Browbeat only had the speed and reflexes of a normal human, so was struggling to keep up with the constantly maneuvering canine snapping at him. Clockblocker was trying to get close enough to tag one with his power, but they kept avoiding him, and if he got too careless and rushed in he risked getting knocked out of the fight without being able to shut one down. Vista was in the back, analyzing the situation. Her power to warp space didn't work near living things, so she couldn't easily intervene in melee fights. If I read her gaze right, she was eyeing the space between Clockblocker and the dog nearest to him.

The last two members of the Wards had spread out further and were moving to try and flank. Both looked like Tinkers with their fancy gear, although I knew only Kid Win actually was even if Gallant's armour was powered like mine. It looked like Kid Win was only bringing a pair of laser pistols, a hoverboard, and whatever overlays he had in his visor to this fight. He tried to steady himself and fire, but Regent preempted him and send him nearly careening to the ground. Hoverboards, as it happened, were pretty unstable.

Of course, that meant he hadn't been able to do anything about the main fight, me, or Gallant. Rather than shoot at Hellhound, who's dogs were already engaged, or Regent, who was already occupied, he aimed at Tattletale. She'd been gazing intently at the Wards, probably trying to figure out if they were using any tricks or had any weaknesses to exploit. I suspected that meant she hadn't planned specific contingencies for fighting them. She flicked her attention over from the big fight to Gallant and tried to dodge, but he waited for her and then fired with a tight beam of energy. It hit her dead on, and she instantly took a step back. Gallant's blasts weren't a part of his suit, but rather his actual power. They could alter your emotions, which didn't sound that amazing until you found yourself unable to move because you were gripped by raw fear. Her hand snapped to one of the pouches she kept on her belt, but she didn't follow through and open it.

Unfortunately, both of the flankers backed off as the third dog, Judas, returned. I looked over my shoulder and a large section of the fence was just gone, scattered across the floor in pieces. The escape route was clear, and as soon as Hellhound recalled the dogs, they'd be off. That's not to mention whatever Tattletale had at her disposal once she calmed down. It also meant I couldn't stay put unless I wanted to risk being pinned down and used as a hostage by Judas. I twisted towards the rapidly approaching mass of muscle, spread the remnants of my wings, bent my one good knee, and kicked off as my wings gave a single, powerful flap. The joint powered hop and wing-beat sent me a good distance backwards, more than I'd expected even. It looked like Vista had my back.

Hellhound muttered something to herself before calling out to her dogs. "Brutus, Angelica! Return!" But as the hounds turned back, Aegis and Browbeat shot forward and started grappling them. Regent wasted no time, moving and causing Aegis to fumble his grab and let Brutus shoot off, although it would take a few seconds to pass me and get back to the Undersiders. Before he could do the same for Browbeat, Kid Win launched a rapid-fire burst of energy beams. Vista's space-warping had been snapped back to normal by now, so they hit him and Hellhound dead-center, knocking them both to the ground. Judas interposed himself between the Undersiders and lasers, lying down to fully block them from view. Meanwhile, I took several steps out of Brutus' path to avoid getting hit by the equivalent of a small car.

However, that created an opening. Aegis rushed Angelica and did his best attempt at a headlock. That finally let Clockblocker get close and put a hand on the beast. The moment he did, her struggling ceased. Clockblocker's power was limited but incredibly potent, second on the team only to Vista. If he touched something, he could freeze it in time. Anywhere from thirty seconds to ten minutes would pass from the perspective of those unfrozen before the object, person, animal, or thing returned to normal, seemingly at random. Anything frozen was completely fixed in position relative to the planet, and couldn't move or be moved. If the time was on the higher end, Angelica would be locked in stasis for the rest of the battle, easily. Space distorted once again, reality itself warping as the hole in the fence was compressed into near-nonexistence, and the distance between me and the Wards became that much smaller. The teenage heroes took a few hurried steps forward and reformed their formation around the injured hero present, me. It was sickeningly sweet that they cared, but I'd have preferred if they kept their focus on the people responsible for putting me in this state.

"Need me to put you in timeout?" Clockblocker asked from my left. I supposed the extent of my injuries was fairly obvious. My right arm hanging completely limp was a big clue.

"If I didn't want to see this through I'd say so." I irritably snapped back. That was a bit harsher than I intended, but I'd never really gotten along with Clockblocker. As even his chosen codename implied, he was unable to stop making jokes about every damn thing. Still, he could at least keep it professional on the field, so it wasn't like I couldn't work with him at all.

Oh yeah, the pain wasn't helping my mood either.

The other Wards began muttering to each other in support of Clockblocker or me for a moment, and I felt my headache grow, but in a couple of seconds Aegis took charge. "While I'm sure Exoa Knight appreciates your concern, right now we need all eyes forward." I mentally thanked him and even did as he ordered myself, focusing on the Undersiders.

They were also having an argument as it happened, mostly between Tattletale and Hellhound while Regent kept his eyes on us. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but if I had to guess I'd say they were arguing over whether or not they should leave Angelica behind. As the Wards and I refocused, they noticed and turned back to us. Tattletale resumed smiling, but it was smaller than before and obviously brittle. She was running out of time, space, and options, and she knew it.

"Alright, I think that's far enough." She said to us. "We've all had our fun, but this is getting a little out of hand. So I'm going to make you an offer. We all wait here until Angelica over there gets out of her little situation, then the six of us walk out through that fence, and we all go our separate ways. Nobody gets hurt any more than they already have, and we didn't even get what we came for so you can chalk it up as a win to your boss. Sound good?" She gestured towards me specifically. "If not, then I'm afraid it's night night, Knight."

"Ingenious threat, dumbass." I shot back. "What are you gonna do? Even if you want to draw a no-shit gun on a bunch of Wards, this armor's bulletproof. And you've already tried to set the dogs on me. That didn't stop me either." Tattletale's grin actually widened, returning to its previous self. Apparently I'd stepped on a landmine.

"Oh please, like I need to shoot you to stop you. You know, I was going to be nice about this, but if you want to be so obstinate then maybe I should go ahead anyway." She was clearly winding up for a full-on speech. "Now, I know about all of you then you realize. I bet I could have plenty of fun pointing out all your problems. It just wouldn't be that helpful. But you? You in particular? Oh, if you thought my opening back in the cafeteria was bad, you have no idea what I have on you. We both know that these people only give even half a shit about you because they don't know the real you. I could lay it all out, and by the time I really got on a roll, you'd be begging me to stop." She said it casually and confidently, like she was discussing the facts of the evening news. I just chalked that up to Tattletale being a good actor. She was bluffing. Or at least I sure as hell hoped so. I knew I hadn't done any physical action she could bring up, so it had to be something about my mental state.

Still, it was definitely a smart move. If I ran in to try and stop her, that looked incredibly bad, regardless of how that was obviously nonsense. She was still behind two dogs, so even if the Wards resumed the attack she could get off quite a rant before she was finally taken down. It probably wouldn't save the fight in any case, but almost nothing could at this point. If I wanted to resolve this without things getting potentially uncomfortable, I had to reach beyond the physical for a bit.

"I knew this job wouldn't be easy when I signed up for it." I said as calmly as I could. "And I figured that would be more than just physical pain. Whatever you think you have on me, I don't think I'd give two shits. And for the record, I haven't crossed any lines, so if you're thinking I have, you're wrong." That last bit was for the Wards rather than Tattletale. I'd said the entire thing confidently enough that I actually almost believed it.

"Well, if that's how you want it to be." She replied cheerfully. "Oh, where to start? Let's go with-"

"I wasn't done." I cut her off. I might be pretty sure she was bluffing, but I was hardly going to take the chance. But I wasn't going to go after her directly. Not when I could undermine her team. "Do you want to make things worse for your team? Trying to mentally undermine a hero in good standing might not be a crime, but I don't think the PRT is going to like it. Maybe you have some plan to get out of this, but even if you start trying to tear me down, nothing's actually stopping my friends here from rushing you down, extra pissed off."

I wheeled on what I hoped would be the weakest link as I noted Clockblocker step back and stand next to Angelica. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Bitch." I didn't look straight at Hellhound, instead putting my attention somewhere between the two female Underisders. "I know how it feels. Trapped between a rock and a hard place. You can't abandon your team, but right now one of your teammates is only getting all of you into trouble. And you'd never abandon Angelica either, so you can't run." Hellhound snarled, but didn't say anything. "For what it's worth, I know we've fought three times now, but I don't think it was personal on either end. I did what I had to, you never had any other choice."

"And that's enough out of you." Tattletale interjected. "Come on, Bitch, she's obviously trying to manipulate you." The world seemed to collapse down to the three of us. The Wards were practically statues, while Regent was looking between them and us. I got a sense of curiosity from him, actually. Like he wanted to see where we were going with this, despite how serious the situation was for him.

"Funny coming from you." I replied. "You're the one with the power that can tell you what to say to people. Me? I'm just being honest. You've reached the end of the line. The question is, how gently do you want to get taken into custody?"

Tattletale just hummed cheerfully in response to that, but there was a sudden burst of noise as Angelica unfroze, shortly followed by silence as she was immediately refrozen. With that, Hellhound had had enough. "She's right. We're fucked." Tattletale practically reeled in shock, and I noticed Regent nodding along. "I'll fight until there's no point, but right now, there's no point. I'm not stupid enough to think your words aren't going to change shit about any of that." Tattletale grimaced, and looked over at Regent, who just shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but we can't win seven on three. Not like this. We had a good run, though." He sounded almost casual, although there was an edge of defeat there.

Tattletale looked back at me, and we looked eyes. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could swear her power and my training went into overdrive at the same time as we figured if the two were right. It was pretty obvious, in the end. We'd already seen Aegis and Browbeat could stalemate the two hell-hounds, and that left three Undersiders against three of us, who were all more combat capable than any of them, while Vista and Clockblocker worked together to either freeze one more of the dogs or all of the Undersiders themselves, either one sealing the deal. And in an open field like this, their ability to pull something tricky was incredibly limited. They couldn't even try to mount-up and quickly escape, because Kid Win and Gallant were standing by to blast them to the floor if they moved to scramble on the dogs. Maybe if they had an extra cape or two backing them up, or if the next wave of reinforcements would be for them instead of PRT officers coming to assist us, but as it stood they were done. And all the Undersiders knew it. Like Hellhound had said, she wasn't stupid. I'm pretty sure Tattletale knew and just didn't really want to admit it.

"Sit!" She barked, and the remaining two dogs, while confused, obeyed. Regent raised his hands in surrender, and Tattletale dropped her head and muttered something I couldn't make out.

The Wards relaxed a little, and began to walk carefully towards the Undersiders in order to tie them up. They were clearly wary of any last-minute tricks, but none came. For my part, I stood still, and did a quick review of the fight. A win was a win I supposed, but I'd needed backup and a good dose of talking to achieve it. I clearly needed to sharpen my edge more. But for now, I could revel in a full victory.

"Well well well, looks like Tattletale couldn't turn the Tattle-tables." Clockblocker crowed.

"Shut up, Clockblocker!" Tattletale and I both snapped at him simultaneously before turning to glare directly at each other.

Chapter 15: Chapter 13

Chapter Text

It was fairly quick work to secure the Undersiders by sitting them down on the ground in a circle, hands behind and legs in front of them, before Clockblocker froze them and the two remaining dogs in turn. I flipped my sword into a reverse grip and magnetized it back on to my hip, Vista undid the last of her spatial manipulation, and then it really was over, even the cleanup. At least the part of the cleanup we were involved in.

Unfortunately, that meant I now had to walk the gauntlet of concern from the Wards. With the courtyard still and silent, there was nothing for them to look at except me and my injuries. The tattered cape didn't count, but certainly sold the image of someone at the edge. I felt their eyes on me like knives slashing down my back, leaving bloody trails of sympathy and even pity that hurt more than the actual wounds. And considering the state of my right arm, that was saying something.

Mostly, it was because I was considering what Tattletale said. Was she right? If they knew the real me, whoever that actually was, would they despise me? She'd struck close to home back at the cafeteria, so she had to have been on to something about me. I knew that's what people like her did, deliberately preying on your weak points and vulnerabilities, but at the same time they had to exist before they could be picked at. After I first met Meta Knight around two years ago, I'd entered six months of fairly intense training. Most of it was just combat stuff, a mix of fighting skills and tactics, but there'd been bits of philosophy there too. Mostly stuff he'd said off-hand that I'd picked up and latched on to, because at some point I'd started looking up to him and didn't want to disappoint him. So I trained until I couldn't just fight but act as a hero automatically. As a genuine hero, I was shit. I just also happened to be good at hiding that.

If you took away that discipline, that training, I didn't know what you'd find. And that terrified me more than anything else in the world.

I'd realized at some point that this was what I guess you'd call the irony of my power, or rather how I ended up using it. I first triggered because a father figure had put so much pressure on me I could barely breathe, so I wanted an out, any out. Now, because of a mentor, I was under so much pressure that I barely felt alive most of the time, but this time the pressure was coming from within and not without. And no matter how good at running away I was, I couldn't outrun myself. I guess I just had some really shitty luck.

Normally, I compartmentalized this kind of stuff for later, focused on the problem right in front of me. In fact, that's what I'd done here. But now it was later, and I couldn't justify putting it off any longer, or distract myself with anything else.

Well, there was one thing. March forward and walk the gauntlet. Taking a deep but quiet breath, I started moving forward, getting an avalanche of responses from my allies.

It was no surprise that Aegis was first. He floated over to me in his rust-red and silver trim costume, part of his face left exposed by his helmet. The notable things about it were probably the shield emblem on his chest and the utility belt that looked to be carrying various types of stun grenade. He had tan skin and a fairly imposing physique, as you might expect from someone with super-strength. His exact power, apart from flight, was that his body was a mass of redundancies. No matter what you did to him, he'd suffer no loss of capability, and could push his body to the limit with adrenaline. "Panacea is already on the way. She's being escorted by Glory Girl. I'd recommend you take a breather back here until they show up. We can handle it from here."

"Thanks, but I have to get Uber and Leet from where I stashed them." It helped that I did actually have to go and do that before people realized they were outright missing. "Can't waste time sitting around."

"If you tell us where you put them, we could go and get them for you." He suggested. I grimaced beneath my mask. That was literally impossible for much the same reason that the Undersiders couldn't get their hands on them, but I couldn't exactly tell him that. Or rather I could if I really had to, but this didn't qualify.

"No, it was really out of the way. It'll be easier if I grab them." Fortunately, he just nodded and took a step back at that, letting me push forward.

Clockblocker I just glared at. Or at least I tried to get across that I was glaring as well as I could without any facial features or body language. He was just as inscrutable, since his armored costume fully covered up his body, with his helmet having a featureless pane on the front, without even animated eyes like my own mask. Images of clocks in dark grey covered it, some animated and actively moving using digital displays. The main difference between our costumes is that mine was in dark colors, but his was mostly white. After a moment, he just shrugged and turned away from me. Even though he probably didn't realize, I appreciated it.

Vista ended up being next, and she was by far the most expressive. Even with a visor covering her eyes, I could tell she was concerned. Her costume was all white and green, with crossing wavy lines of alternating colors and a skirt. There was some armor, although if she was in melee with anyone something had gone direly wrong. The young blonde Ward was my main contact on the team despite the fact she was around thirteen, although she was actually fairly experienced. Actually, more like because of it. She was the kind to wear her heart on her sleeve, which meant even with limited interaction I knew she liked to be taken seriously. And I took everything and everyone seriously, hence why I clashed slightly with Clockblocker. It probably also helped that as a reasonably powerful independent, I could talk on almost even footing with members of the Protectorate proper even though I was Ward age, which she in turn respected.

I suppressed a shudder. I'd just been thinking about Tattletale exploiting weaknesses, and now I was doing the same thing? To an ally, no less? And what was worse was that I didn't even really feel bad about it.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

I nodded slightly. "Yeah, this isn't as bad as it looks." She gave a small frown at that, so I continued. "I'm serious, it's not as bad as it looks. A few punctures and a broken arm. I can't exactly just walk it off, but I'll be fine. Especially with Panacea coming." That seemed to satisfy her.

Kid Win, with his red and gold armor and red visor, had his pistols holstered and hoverboard under his arm, and gave a long whistle as I approached. "That doesn't look like it'll fix easily." He was referring to my cape more than my limbs. "Is this what's finally gonna put you out of action for a few days?"

"Not a chance." I replied. "I'll have my gear fixed up this time tomorrow."

He just shook his head in dismay. "Man, I wish I had whatever keeps your equipment working."

What kept my equipment repaired and maintained was the industrial might and technical expertise of a group that had their own Tinker-grade space-capable flying battleship, and I struggled to think of the people who wouldn't want that.

Getting to the end of the gauntlet now, only a few more well-wishes to go. Browbeat had a simple dark blue costume that fully covered his body except for his eyes, with a diamond pattern and a diamond-shaped crystal on his head. He was also even more massive than Aegis, frankly towering over me. "Uh." He eloquently stated. We hadn't exactly met before now, since he was an extremely new addition to the Wards and a fairly new addition to the cape scene in general. Deciding to turn any sympathy on its head, I stepped in before he figured out what to say.

"Good work with the dogs. Trust me, they're not easy to fight." His chest puffed up at that. Since I knew at least part of his power was being a self-biokinetic, someone who could modify their own body, that might be more literal than usual.

But the worst had been saved for last. I glumly realized I wasn't going to get out of this that easily when I saw the silver and grey knight-style power armor with recessed glowing lights standing between me and the smashed open doors leading back into the prison complex. I'd expected Gallant to try and get me early, but apparently he had something planned out for me. Bastard.

Well, that was unfair, Gallant seemed like a good guy. at the very least he was in an on-again off-again relationship with Victoria, who was very moralistic. I though they were in a reconciliation phase right now, actually. The problem is that along with his power to affect emotions, he could also see emotions. Apparently it was like clouds of color hanging around everyone he looked at. The problem with that was twofold. One, he could see straight through the very surface level calm I had, even when almost no one else could. Two, he tried to get closer to me to see what was wrong, but that was the absolute last thing either of us actually needed or wanted. And now I was about to be stuck with him for a moment, potentially alone.

I'd have preferred another round with Hellhound's dogs.

"Need help walking back to the front?" He asked, extending a hand. I considered refusing, but that would be pointlessly petty. I was limping, after all.

"Sure." I replied. I made my way over and threw my good arm over his shoulders. In turn, he gently put his right arm around my waist, taking care not to move my own right arm too much. Then we were off, dragging my wounded leg between us.

I had to admit, we were making much better time than if I just limped away by myself. I didn't say anything, instead waiting for him to come to me. I was sure he was doing this for more than just his chivalrous persona, so I was confident that would happen in due time.

We turned a few corners first, putting some distance between us and his teammates, before he made his move. "You're pushing yourself too hard."

I felt a spike of annoyance at that. "Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"No, we had a conversation about how bottling up your emotions as hard as you are is unhealthy. This is a different conversation." I couldn't actually argue with that. "Face it Exoa Knight, we all know your patrol hours. Seven PM or earlier to midnight or later, every day of every week for the last year and a half. Even when you were in other cities, even when you'd been beaten pretty badly just the day before. The only exception I can think of is the Simurgh fight two months ago, and that was only because you fought her earlier in the day. That's on top of the fact that since you're not a Ward you're almost certainly a student full time. You need to take a break for your health."

I didn't respond, which he took as a cue to continue. "I'm not saying you should take a break, or that you've earned a break, I'm saying you need a break or you're going to burn out. We patrol pretty heavily ourselves, but we all take days off sometimes, at the very least to do PR stuff. If people put themselves under the kind of pressure you're under, they snap. That's true of everyone. It's not a mistake or weakness to take the time to recharge so you can help more people in the long run, you know?"

I did know that. I knew that very well. I felt another spike of frustration, which Gallant no doubt saw. I decided to try and explain. "I'm working hard, but I'm not burning out. I'm taking everything at one step at a time, I get enough sleep, I'm eating properly, everything. I plan to work at this consistently, for as long as I can. So you don't have to worry about me. I'm doing fine."

Gallant shook his helmeted head. "I'm sure you are, but does that leave you any time to actually live?"

"Yeah, several hours a day." I replied, although even I had to admit that was a bit weak.

"Really?" His tone was hard to place. Not mocking or surprised or even pitying. Mostly exasperated, I felt. "When was the last time you did anything but live, learn, and work? Just for its own sake, I mean. When was the last time you had a hobby? Went on a date?"

"First of all, I'm not the... dating type." I awkwardly put my lack of attraction to people. Gallant seemed to get it, and quickly muttered an apology. "Second of all, I have plenty of fun. I have people who care about me. I'm telling you, it's fine." I had to deflect because he had a point. I hung out with Taylor and Emma at school, but never in my actual free time. I saw Brian and Aisha once a week, but while I enjoyed that it was always for the purpose of turning over cash to them. And I'd never actually hung out with Victoria Dallon, only worked side by side with Glory Girl. Running I also enjoyed, but I never went out for a casual jog or anything, it was always either as part of the track team on in costume.

I was saved as we passed by the cafeteria the first phase of the fight had happened in. The two Waddle Dees had recovered and staggered out of the room together, and managed to throw up salutes, even the one still partially covered in mutant dog drool. "Uber and Leet are through here, I'll go get them." I said to Gallant. The pair of Dees seemed to understand that I needed them to guard the doors while I popped in and out of the Other World.

I let go of Gallant and hobbled through the doors, taking a few steps off to one side, leaning back against the wall, and focusing. Five seconds passed, and I was there. Uber and Leet were playing what looked like poker with a pack of cards left behind, usually for the Waddle Dees. The Broom Hatter was still in the room, watching them like a hawk.

"Well I'm glad you're having fun." My voice dripped with ice. "But fun's over, and so is the fight. Hold on to my left side. And remember, not a fucking word of this to anyone."

Leet, the epitome of scrawny nerds, actually spoke up. "Uh, yeah, I have a question-"

"No." I replied. With that, he looked at Uber, the pair shrugged, and they did as requested without a fuss. After all, this was my world. Resisting me in here was futile. I couldn't use it as a combat technique due to how long a period of uninterrupted focus while holding onto someone it took, but if by some means I did get someone here and could convince the residents of Dreamland they were a bad person?

They were through. Didn't even matter who it was. Well, except probably Scion himself, but even that I was unsure of.

Before I could dwell any further on that, I shifted back to the normal world, and dragged them outside. Gallant nodded before we resumed walking together with me leaning on him. Uber and Leet followed behind, with the Waddle Dees behind them. It wasn't much longer until we were out near the front security office where the prison guards were there to take them back into proper custody. A little further, and we'd gone back out the front door into the open air. At this point, the clouds above had parted, letting the pleasant heat of a noonday sun beat down on us. I could hear sirens from the PRT and maybe police response that was closing in and couldn't be far now. It could have been quicker, but in the case of something like this they'd have wanted to form up a heavy force to actually contribute rather than send in the closest officers even if they couldn't do much by themselves.

Right now, out front there was just the four of us waiting patiently for the law and Panacea to show up. We stayed silent for a couple of seconds, not really bothering to move, until Gallant spoke up again.

"Listen, I know that to you I'm a friend of a friend, or a co-worker at best. Not the person you go to so you can pour your heart out, and I don't think you're the type to pour your heart out in the first place. I can't say I have all the answers either. But if for any reason you do want to talk, well, I can give you my number, and I'm always available. I don't want to see a good hero like you suffer in silence when you don't have to."

"Always the knight in shining armor, right?" I said, although it came out more exhausted than anything else.

"Coming from you?" He replied. I could almost feel the grin he had to have been sporting beneath his helmet, and I definitely felt it when my response knocked the wind out of his sails.

"I'm not sure anything about my armor is shining."

Chapter 16: Chapter 14

Chapter Text

I didn't have to wait much longer for the help to show up. Glory Girl showed up mere moments after the PRT's armored vans stopped out front and started disgorging officers armed for combat, floating overhead and giving a cheerful wave. She probably could have showed up first, but apparently she wanted to escort the PRT in. I thought that probably meant Panacea was in one of the vans.

"Hey Victoria." I said, the continuous sting of pain now just a tiring buzz now that I'd stood still with it for so long.

"Ooh la la," She said as she descended to hover only a tiny bit off the ground, gesturing to Gallant's arm around my waist and waggling her eyebrows. "Something happen while I was away?"

Gallant blanched at that, flinching back and stiffening, but I frankly was not in the mood. "Jokes later. Panacea now." It wasn't my best speech, but I was pretty sure I got the point across.

Glory Girl nodded, and flipped around to point at one of the vans. She opened her mouth to say something, but clicked it shut again as Panacea walked out the back of it, just as I'd thought. She'd stayed put until the area was secured by the agents now swarming around us and into the prison. The girl walked over and looked at me from mask to boot, critically analyzing my injuries. She made her initial assessment almost instantly. "You look like shit."

"I also feel like shit." I added. Gallant stepped aside and let me just about stand on my own two feet. Victoria grabbed him and dragged him further away, and the two struck up a conversation, leaving me with the medic. I lifted my left arm and held it out for her. In turn, she unlatched the armored gauntlet and slid it off, then pulled off the powered glove beneath it. She needed skin contact to work her magic, so after a couple of awkward early incidents I'd had the suit modified so the glove came off of the rest of it for exactly this situation, since I got beaten up often enough to warrant it. I couldn't say for sure how the glove could click back on and be part of the same strength-enhancing suit, though. Something about magnetic flux and binding agents, I didn't know, I wasn't a Tinker.

She put her hand on top of mine for a few seconds before speaking again. "Alright. The leg isn't too bad, I can seal that up easily enough. If you left it untreated it risked infection from what looks like dog drool, but I can take care of that. The arm is more of a problem. In layman's terms, well. You know how your bones are supposed to be inside your skin?" I nodded. "Well the bones around your right elbow aren't. But I can fix that too, your costume contained it so the damage isn't too severe compared to some things I've seen. Give me a moment."

As time passed, I got a chance to look at Panacea, or to use her real name, Amy Dallon. Sister to Victoria Dallon, she was almost a physical opposite. Somewhat shorter and much mousier, with frizzy brown hair, an abundance of freckles, and plain features. Her costume was fairly different too. Like Glory Girl's, it was mostly white, but that was where the similarities ended. She wore a bulky hooded robe, marked with a medical red cross on the front and back. A white scarf covered the lower half of her face, but considering her identity was public there wasn't much point to it.

You generally also expected her personality to be opposite her sister's. Where Victoria was energetic and talkative, Amy would be shy and awkward. But while she was much more of a bookworm, she certainly wasn't shy about how she felt, or awkward. Unfortunately for me, this meant she didn't exactly hold back when pointing out how smashed up I usually got, but I was pretty sure it came from a place of care, at least a little. The pair were close, and as a friend of Victoria's even if I wasn't in her good books I wasn't in her super awful books either. I'd also like to think that over enough interactions we'd developed a mild bond.

If nothing else, my respect for her was unending. Her hours as a hero almost rivaled my own, and out of all the capes in this city she had to have saved the most lives and helped the most people. If not directly, then indirectly. Who knows how much worse off we'd be if we didn't have Panacea to keep us constantly in the fight and at peak performance. I also had an inkling of how much pressure she had to be under to use her immense abilities, because I had some fairly impressive stuff of my own. It's just that unlike her I'd managed to keep those mostly hidden, and they were much harder to deploy because I had to convince, cajole, and outright bribe actual people to use it. The fact she was sane and stable despite all of the work and pressure, even though she'd joined the scene around the time I'd only just begun my training under Meta Knight, spoke to a level of sheer resolve I wish I had.

After a short while of a familiar pressure in my limbs, the pain was gone and all feeling was back. Well, for the most part. While my limbs seemed to all be working fine, as far as I could tell with a few experimental flexes, I still had a headache and felt slightly dizzy. Panacea preempted my question. "You have a mild concussion, and I can't fix that." Left unspoken was the fact that she could, she just wouldn't. If you met with her as often as I did, at least in a broadly friendly context, you picked up that she chose not to affect brains even though she technically could. Victoria liked to push the issue from time to time, or so both of them had once told me, but I kept silent. I figured she probably had enough stress in her life already. "I noticed some weird chemicals in your system though, and I flushed those out. Any idea what those were?" I just shrugged. I wasn't sure I wanted to admit I'd taken alien drugs to make myself ill so I could get out of school in order to be here. Luckily she didn't press me on it.

Of course, the concussion part did mean I had a slight problem. After a few moments of silence and me putting my glove and gauntlet back on, I spoke up. "So I'll be dizzy for, what, the next couple days?"

"I'm afraid so." Amy replied. "The good news is that I'm almost certain you won't have any lasting damage from this, and it should clean up pretty quick. Just take it easy for a few days."

I folded my arms and gave my best glare, although it came out a bit half-hearted. Partly the headaches, partly the fact she'd done everything she could. "You should know by now that I don't really take it easy."

Amy just shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Which sounds like a you problem, to be honest."

I couldn't really argue with that. Still, while I could see how I was feeling tomorrow, I wanted to be active in the evening today. Even if I couldn't manage a full patrol, there had to be something I could do.

And, thinking about it, there was.

"I assume you're going out later today?" Amy made a confirming hum. "Mind if I join you? I can bring help. I'd have to be there to ride herd, but that shouldn't be an issue. I'm sure you won't mind my company too much." That was a small lie, I didn't actually have to be there, but there shouldn't be any harm in it. Plus I desperately wanted to feel even slightly productive, even if it wasn't really helping.

That got a surprised reaction out of her. "Well, it'd be safer for you, and I'm not really in a position to turn down help." She paused to think before speaking again. "Yeah, I have nothing against it. I'll be at the Bay General starting at six-thirty, okay?" That was a bit earlier than usual, but I should be able to manage.

With that dealt with, I was pretty much done here. I saw Amy looking over at Victoria and Gallant from a distance, gave a brief statement to the PRT about what had happened and the extent of my injuries, corroborated by Amy, and said my goodbyes to the Wards and Dallon sisters before heading off. I made sure to ask Victoria how her fight had gone, and the answer was decently. New Wave had forced off the Empire, although they hadn't made any captures. The less good news was that apparently what was clearly a breakout attempt on the Empire lieutenant was completely overlooked by the police. Apparently a trio of E88 capes moving towards police headquarters was a coincidence, or at best an attack on them unrelated to the prisoner. BBPD was at it again. Nothing I could do about that, but it still sucked to hear.

Once I was at a suitable distance, comfortably into downtown, I ducked into an unused alleyway and shifted over, along with the Waddle Dees who were recovering nicely, although both were probably still sore. Unfortunately, Panacea couldn't use her power on them. She'd tried once, and right after placing a hand on one just looked me in the eyes before walking away in silence. Normally I'd head back home and use my power in the comfort of my room, but without my wings working the only way in was through the front door, and I didn't exactly want to chance that. I wasn't even sure how much I wanted to chance the window in broad daylight.

Instead of immediately changing and heading back to Earth, I decided to take a detour. Technically, equipment maintenance could be handled by letting the Halberd's crew take it away, but I didn't want to put too much work on them. The least I could do was take it in for repair personally.

While the Halberd had an onboard engineering bay, the one I wanted was the larger one in the docking facilities. So, like I had yesterday night, I made my way off the ship and into the base. I'd need to head to the clinic later to pick up stuff for this evening, but for right now my medical needs had been taken care of.

The construction facility wasn't the massive industrial arms responsible for building the ship in the first place, but it had been used to create some parts and equipment. Now, it was the personal workshop of the Halberd's skipper in his constant quest to create ever deadlier war machines. I'd never seen a Tinker's workshop, but I had to assume it was something like this. Spare components were scattered around, various prototypes were stacked up in designated areas, and there were benches full of tools. At the center of it all was a man in a fairly conventional naval officer's uniform, complete with caps and golden epaulets, making gestures and barking commands at a bunch of Waddle Dees, one of which was distinguished by a sailor hat. The unusual thing about the man was that he was a bird. He had two arms with hands and two roughly humanoid feet, but his long neck and avian face were very distinctively not even slightly human. The team was making adjustments to a large golden mech, nine feet tall and as many long, even discounting its clawed arms. Green eyes swiveled and took in the room, before armored shutters closed around them, then opened again. Testing, I'd guess, although it clearly wasn't considered ready yet, with several parts lying detached and a whole load of wires hooked up to various interface ports.

"Captain Vul." I said. The bird in question whirled around, suppressing a surprised squawk as he saw who it was. "How's the Mark Two going?"

"It would be going a lot better if you didn't keep needing me to repair that armor!" He exclaimed. "Ah, no offense to you, Dame Exoa Knight, but-"

I waved him down. "No, you have a point. I still need you to do it though." I took off my tattered cape and gently laid it down. The Dee in the hat waddled over and looked down at it thoughtfully.

"We can rebuild it for your patrol tomorrow, I think." He said, before looking up at me in worry. "But who did you fight? This is some serious damage!"

I shrugged. "Some people who aren't going to hurt anyone else ever again." Sailor Dee's eyes widened in shock, and I scowled, although it didn't exactly transmit through the mask. "As in I arrested them, not that I stabbed them. Although part of me wanted to." I admitted. I didn't feel too bad about that, I was pretty sure most heroes who'd met Tattletale wanted to stab her. I was sure she could be nice to her allies, but getting poked in emotionally sensitive spots didn't exactly feel great.

"Well, that makes sense." The Dee said. "Any damage to the main armor?" I nodded. "Since there doesn't look to be anything major there, we'll have it good as new in a couple hours!"

I removed my costume. Since I'd changed into it while in full civilian clothes this morning, I wouldn't have any problems walking back to my house. I said a new set of goodbyes, and then I was off.

Surprisingly, the rest of the day was uneventful, and passed me by quickly. Maybe it was the concussion dulling my perceptions. I just lazed about from about twelve when I got back until about five-thirty when mom got back, checking stuff online, doing some homework early, and even doing some cleaning around the house because I'd gotten just that bored. The highlight was when I texted a bit with Emma after she got out from school. What Gallant said struck home. Maybe I did need a hobby.

No, that would just end up being too distracting, this was an exception in my schedule. If I had more bursts of free time like this I should probably at least consider it, though.

I ate dinner and was off in time to just about meet Amy's deadline. In another empty alleyway, sitting behind a dumpster, I shifted over and picked up my armor. The wings were still being rebuilt, but as had been promised the core powered armor was fully ready. It had been shined and everything. I put it on, feeling a bit strange leaving my wings and sword behind. Without them, not only was my combat effectiveness a tiny fraction of what it was, but my entire image was different. I was just some girl in heavy armor, not really a knight, or even a hero. Still, I couldn't exactly take the cape out of its intensive bout of repairs, and I felt like I shouldn't bring a weapon into a hospital just on principle.

Then it was over to the clinic. It only had a small staff, just a half dozen people wandering around. I'd come here yesterday to get the pills that let me pull my stunt, and now I was here to grab the individuals themselves.

I walked over to the head doctor, who was just a Waddle Dee with a head mirror and spectacles, and his assistant, who was just a Waddle Dee with a nurse's cap. Surprisingly, the two were actually quite skilled at medicine. But the larger prize was the pair of floating pill-shaped... things floating behind them. A pair of disembodied hands, yellow eyes, a rounded red metal lower half, and a transparent upper half containing several large pills inside. These were the alien Chemitories, as in not only alien to Earth but also to Planet Popstar. They'd been picked up by Meta Knight in some deep space travel or other, apparently to ensure I had access to medicine while I was visiting. The bizarre biologies of species from the Other World never failed to impress me. Actually, these things were metal, glass, and pills. Did that even count as biology anymore?

I'd brought them all over once before just to register the fact with the PRT that I technically had medical capabilities so they'd allow them to operate if it ever came up, like it had right now. The fact I had mobile chemical factories on call was probably noted in their files, as well as the fact I wasn't actually limited to two Waddle Dees at a time.

"Ah, hello Exoa Knight. What can we do for you?" The Doctor Dee asked.

"I was wondering if you could pull a stint at a hospital on Earth? Since you don't seem to be busy here, I mean. It would only be for a couple of hours, and you're probably bored, so I figured I may as well make the offer." And if that failed, I could always pay money for their services. I didn't have a huge amount of Dreamland currency stocked up, nor did I have any easy way of getting more once it was gone short of begging, but I had enough to sway a few people a few times.

"Hmm." He scribbled a note on a clipboard and put it down. "Well, you are correct. We don't have anything better to do, so we may as well help your people. Take us away, then!" The three others nodded in agreement, and the four walked or floated over to grab on to my armored frame. A few seconds, and we were away.

The five of us did get a few odd stares as we walked into Brockton Bay General Hospital, solidly in downtown, but I was nothing people hadn't seen before. Seeing me in person might be new to some of them, but that was it. I was just in time to meet Panacea arriving outside. We shook hands, I introduced her to the team, and we went in.

For a parahuman and a bunch of aliens, they made a surprisingly effective team. While the pills visible in the Chemitories' heads were more combat projectiles than medicine, they were able to create and deploy actually digestible pills and concoctions from their hands, summoning syringes and glass bottles where necessary. Panacea handled the big stuff and diagnosis where it hadn't happened yet, small to medium illnesses and injuries were dealt with by the Chemitories, Doctor and Nurse Dee handled bedside manner and administered the Chemitory output, and the hospital staff performed ongoing surgeries and treatments as well as explaining diagnoses that had already been done when we arrived. I actually felt slightly left out, and most of the talking happened between the in-group. Still, I was glad I could help, even if it was just by bringing these people together. It was hard to tell, but I thought Amy genuinely appreciated the assistance. With how capable and fast of a healer she was, I wouldn't say we tripled or even doubled her rate of work, but we did increase it by maybe half.

At the end of a very gratifying and productive few hours, we all walked back out of the hospital. I was about to leave when Amy grabbed my shoulder. I turned around to see her looking pensive.

"How are you able to do this? You can use your powers like this, but you almost never do." Maybe I was misreading it, but her tone sounded almost judgmental. I winced. It was kind of hard to explain without getting into my powers.

"I can't be you." I said simply. "My powers are difficult, sometimes. At least when it comes to summoning minions." This was a slow period for the Halberd, but quite often it was in space well away from my ability to get to it, and people outside of the Meta-Knights were very rarely willing to drop everything to go to another world with a stranger and do battle or public service. In fact, the Meta-Knights would be fairly unwilling as well, I just so happened to have a close relationship with their boss. Nepotism, I guess.

Amy looked like she was about to say something in response, but thought better of it. Instead, she just shrugged and walked away.

By the time I was back home and had everything in the Other World in order, I felt ready for an early sleep. Probably that concussion acting up. Although since I was so early, I decided to take a look around my room.

It was bizarre, really. I spent more than enough time in here, but it didn't really feel like my room. Not in any real sense. I was always too preoccupied to take it in. It was pretty small, and mostly wooden. The only furniture was a large bed, a dressing table with nothing on top except a mirror, and that mostly to make sure I wasn't obviously bruised, a bookshelf with books I barely read anymore, and a small computer desk with an old desktop computer and a printer on it. The wall behind the desk had a handful of pictured pinned on it, the only things I felt any real emotion towards. At least they were mostly good emotions. Me, Taylor, and Emma, the last two usually grinning or laughing like they'd lost their minds while I had small smirks or tired glares. Only one was taken outside of school, one time Emma had invited me to a party and I'd actually had time in my schedule to come. With a twinge of guilt, I remembered that I'd only shown up in the end because I was hunting down a lead, since I figured some of the people who'd show up might be gang affiliates. I was right, but didn't get anything from them. At least the party had been decent thanks to my friends. Then I patrolled from around quarter past eleven to four in the morning, and predictably woke up exhausted the next day.

To get my mind off of that, I decided to look at some older memories. I walked over to the dressing table, and opened one of the drawers. Inside was a painted picture, although it looked practically like a photograph, and a medal of sorts. A long white ribbon bordered in red attached to a metal cap tightly fastened around a large, sparkling crystal in hues of gentle greens and blues. That had been a hard time in my life in some ways, but that specific memory?

It still made me smile, just a little.

Chapter 17: Flashback 3

Chapter Text

Two humans sat on the edge of a water fountain outside the court of the Fairy Queen. That phrasing had spooked Sophia quite badly, since apparently a very infamous villain on her version of Earth had went by the moniker of Faerie Queen before she'd been captured. If you asked Adeleine, there was a terrible injustice in that. Fairies were nice, and not at all mass-murdering super-powered evil people! Then again, from what little she'd been able to glean from the reserved young girl since they'd left Shiver Star, her world wasn't a very nice place in general.

The fireworks display above them was still ongoing, although it was getting to the end of the program. In the aftermath of the final victory over 0, the being that had conquered Ripple Star and set Kirby and his friends on the path that led to Shiver Star and meeting Sophia, a celebration was deemed in order, since there had been no truly lasting damage. A lucky thing, since if the reborn godling had finished consuming the world and ascending to a higher level of power, the results could have been utterly catastrophic. Still, Adeleine figured she'd keep that one to herself and the others. No need to let the poor child know how close everyone here was to annihilation. She already knew that the monster had been dangerous, things like that were within her understanding, and that was enough. A trio of entities called Endbringers, apparently, another dangerous thing on her Earth.

The climax of the event was when the Fairy Queen and Ribbon personally bestowed medals of service on the five aliens who had saved their home. Sophia had been a little shy to be up in front of a crowd, but the human features of the Queen, including large, round glasses and two bunches of braided hair on top of a dress with far too long sleeves, were quite disarming, and she soon got into the swing of it. In Adeleine's opinion, it was adorable. Not to mention earned. With the bypass on HR-H, Sophia had invaluably contributed to the team effort. Shortly afterwards, they'd separated to receive congratulations by all the individual fairies, and them joined back up at the exit. Then they'd walked down the path out for a little while until they'd come across this fountain, and then sat together, looking back at the massive structure and fireworks. Adeleine was mostly looking up at the pretty lights in the sky, while Sophia was still curiously fiddling with the crystal shard in her hand.

They just sat there in silence for quite a while, Adeleine kicking her legs into empty space as time flew by and the night went on. Eventually, the fireworks ended, but the night wasn't over, and nobody had come out to get them. They still had some time.

Adeleine hated to do this, but at some point it did have to be done. Sophia had said she had a power that let her switch between Earths, but had chosen to stay in this one with only vague references as to why. Eventually, this issue would have to be confronted head on. There was simply no getting around it. Adeleine waited until she stopped looking at her reward and started looking forward, also beginning to kick her legs out on the same interval.

"Do you want to go back home now?" She asked as gently as she could. Immediately, Sophia stopped swinging her legs. In fact, she stopped moving altogether. It was as if she'd suddenly become a statue. Adeleine hummed in understanding.. "I get it. That's okay."

"I mean," Sophia looked doubtful. "I have to go back eventually, don't I?" She sounded sure of herself, but also like she really didn't want to be.

"No, you don't." Adeleine replied. "I don't know enough about what your Earth is like to give much advice, but if you were in a really hurtful situation, then you shouldn't go back there. And again, I don't know enough to give you all your options, but I can say that if you'd like you can stay with one of us. Either here with Ribbon and the Queen, or on Popstar with Kirby or the King. Or you could come traveling with me, I'd be glad to have you. All of us would. And even if you decide to go back, or stay with someone else, you can visit at any time."

"Someone else?" Sophia parroted in curiosity. Mostly, she seemed to be trying to process the enormity of the offer.

"That's right." Adeleine nodded. "I think you're a little too young to stay anywhere on your own, but there are other people out there. Just in Dreamland, there's Meta Knight whenever he's around." She paused. "Actually, there's an idea. If you ever want stress relief and exercise, I'm sure you could get one of his soldiers to train you in how to fight. It might be a good outlet. But anyway, that's just one example of someone who isn't us. I'm sure we could find someone you'd be okay staying with. If you decide to stay with us, that is. Again, I can't make this decision for you, but you do have options here."

Sophia stayed quiet for quite a while after that. She spoke up again after almost a full minute had passed, voice steady but low. "I think I'd miss mom and my brother if I didn't go back. And I sort of want to watch my little sister grow up."

"Okay." Adeleine said as neutrally as she could. "If you miss your family, can you tell me what's wrong? Is it anything we could help with? You don't have to if you don't want to." She remembered that when they'd first met, Sophia hadn't wanted to say what had been so clearly bothering here. She hadn't pushed then and she wouldn't now, but it would help a lot to know what the problem was.

Fortunately, Sophia was ready to talk about it. "Steven." She said. "He's married to my mom. It's just... ugh. He didn't let me breathe."

"Literally?" Adeleine asked.

Sophia shook her head. "No. I just never had a moment to myself. Even when I was having a panic attack. Actually, especially when I was having a panic attack. It was just... constant pressure. It was like I was being pushed under water and I couldn't breathe but I couldn't drown either. I never felt safe or peaceful. Then just before I came over here he said to me he was doing it on purpose. And that I couldn't tell mom because it would break her heart. So I panicked again, ran outside, and then I felt something in my head. This pressure. I moved into an empty alley and focused on the pressure to try to stop panicking, but then I ended up in the snow. And then a bit after that I met you."

"I see." Adeleine said, face and voice draped in a pleasant calm that she was no longer feeling. "And is there anything you can do about it?"

Another shake of the head. "He hasn't done anything to me physically, and mom would side with him over me, so people would think I just didn't like him and was making excuses."

"I see." Adeleine repeated almost mechanically as her eyes narrowed. She certainly believed Sophia, seeing as she had seemingly spontaneously developed the ability to cross dimensions just to get away from this man. That implied it was severe. "Can you take one of us with you, if you go back?"

"Not Kirby or Dedede." Sophia replied quickly. "When I touch them I get a weird feeling, and the pressure in my head turns off. But I think I could take you or Waddle Dee or Ribbon back with me. I want it to be you." That made sense. As a fellow human, she'd take the least explaining to people who hadn't seen any aliens, she was probably the most capable of the three, and she'd spent the most time with Sophia.

"I think I should go back." She finally decided a short while later. "But I want it to be tomorrow."

Adeleine smiled softly. "Of course. Let's get you to bed, then."

As Adeleine painted the finishing touches onto the bedroom's ceiling, she mused that so far things had gone to plan.

They'd woken up, eaten well, readied themselves, and shifted back to Earth Bet. Exactly where Sophia had first gone to move over to Shiver Star, in fact. Then it was as simple as a walking a couple of blocks to 33 Stonemast Avenue and knocking on the door.

As expected, her mother and brother had been incredibly relieved to see her. After all, she had been missing for a few days now. What the mother had called an Amber Alert had been put out for her, although law enforcement apparently hadn't bothered to look very hard. The man in question apparently wasn't considered a potential reason, since he was out shortly afterwards to greet her with apparently equal relief. Adeleine took care to constantly keep herself directly between Steven and Sophia. Eventually, she'd managed a second alone with him, and said she had some concerns before asking to meet him in his room in ten minutes. Then she'd let Sophia drag her mother back into her own room for some alone time as she explained what had really been going on while she was busy setting up the stage in here. No doubt Jennifer Hess was a strong woman and could mostly handle it herself. However, that didn't mean there couldn't be a firm push on her part to ensure this went as smoothly as possible.

The room was now an utterly pitch black, every bit of it covered in a tar-like paint the color of deep space which had melted away the furniture into the windows and walls, leaving the room a box. White dots littered it like stars, and being in the room was like hanging in the middle of the void. It was quite the impressive achievement, and Adeleine felt a tinge of annoyance that this was practical magic rather than proper artistic expression. Still, this was important, and she supposed practice was practice.

Her time was up mere seconds after she was done. The man had come slightly early. Adeleine wasn't sure what he was expecting when he opened the door, but she was reasonably sure it wasn't a gateway to nothingness.

Art had power. Even in this world that seemed to mostly run on arbitrary superpowers and cold science, it had power. The power of the people. By influencing the masses, art could have a profound effect on individuals and society as a whole. It could bring men to tears and spur new philosophies. Sometimes, in certain specific occasions, it could even prove stronger than any weapon. Art was a variable thing, and she had dabbled in many of its manifestations, but painting had been her first and greatest love.

It just also happened that in her case art had a very literal power. By imbuing her painting with energy from her internal reservoir of energy, she could bring it to life, with the resulting images and creatures having various abilities. Usually, it was fragile reflections of what had inspired them, based on her own power rather than that of the inspirations. She could draw Kirby and a normal Waddle Dee, and if both had the same effort and power put into them they would have the same strength, speed, skill, and toughness.

It was through this that mere black paint with spots of white could create a potent vacuum, dragging Steven into the room stumbling and slamming the door shut behind him.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering-" Adeleine began before she was cut off by the man who'd made her friend so miserable.

"Fuck you!" He snarled. "Parahuman freak! I swear I'll call the PRT on you for this, you have no right!"

Adeleine blinked. "Well that was not quite what I was expecting. But I'm afraid that if we want to talk about no right-"

"You know that you're dead if you lay a hand on me." He said, backing up against the door and reaching for the handle in the pitch blackness. Not that it would help him to do that, the door wouldn't budge.

"I wasn't actually planning to hurt you. Actually, I'm still not. But we need to have a serious-"

"Oh just shut up." He snapped, glowering at the girl who dared to stand up to him. Alright, Adeleine thought, thoroughly fed up with this. I gave him three chances to listen to me.

"YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" She roared. The stars all around them flared out, grew and stretched, turning into the shape of eyes. "THIS ISN'T A GAME." On each of the eyes, a black pupil and pure red iris came into being. Each formed already looking at Steven, gazing with an unwavering intensity. The faint echo of an enemy, but even the faint echo of aeons of nothing but vile and bitter hatred had a physical force to it, a stifling presence that seemed to strip away resistance, end the possibility of hope.

"Now." She said, deliberately and coldly. The presence subsided slightly, but the eyes remained, locked directly on the target. "As I was about to say, we're going to have a long and serious talk about personal boundaries. And if the talk doesn't stick, and I will know if it doesn't, I'm going to come back. And I'll be a lot less nice the second time."

Chapter 18: Interlude 1 - Emily Piggot

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Director Emily Piggot mused, victory was harder to deal with than defeat.

Defeat was simple. You picked yourself up, regrouped, analyzed what went wrong, and figured out how you could do better next time. If needed, you mourned your losses, or handed out punishment where it was due. Sometimes, defeats resulted in cover-ups instead. She'd never liked that, but understood the necessity of it. Still, it was always eminently sensible in its own way, even if it was rarely liked by anyone who suffered it.

In contrast, victory was complex. Nobody wanted to be the person giving bad news or criticisms in the aftermath of a victory, but almost no victory was perfect, and in the absence of that critical analysis it was next to impossible to learn from the experience. Ignoring it may lead to temporary satisfaction, but also long term negative consequences as overconfidence and stagnation set in. But it wasn't as simple as acting the same as in defeat. If you only gave an unending stream of negative feedback, with only the occasional positive comment, morale would suffer. Parahumans tended to the less stable and less professional by default, the latter especially in her younger subordinates, and if she was too indelicate it could lead to disorder and disobedience.

Piggot wasn't popular with many people. Respected by enough, but rarely popular. That was fine by her, and in fact she subtly encouraged it. If the parahumans under her viewed her as a harsh mistress who nevertheless wanted to see them through the turmoils of the modern world, especially in this city, then they might privately grumble and complain, and they might not like her, but they'd bond over a shared annoyance and work more effectively as a team as a result. That had certainly been her experience in her long-gone field days. The bitching helped.

But if that turned into outright anger and hatred, they could turn a perceived annoyance into a perceived enemy. For now, her capes always followed procedure and her orders. They didn't try and go off on insane adventures without authorization. And she could think of few better ways to spur that hate than by not acknowledging victories when they came. With defeats, at least most people were willing to acknowledge they'd make mistakes to lead them there.

So when the Wards marched through the front doors of the PRT building, heads held high and smiles on the faces of those with their mouths visible, she resolved to handle the matter with as much tact as she could muster.

She wordlessly acknowledge them with a nod, and then led them behind the building's front desk to a meeting room. She smoothed down her navy blue suit jacket and skirt as she turned around to face the team of young heroes and waited for them to be settled in. She decided to start with the good news.

"First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on your success. While they weren't the most notorious villains in the city, the Undersiders had recently begun pulling larger jobs, with ever increasing effectiveness. They were both skilled and dangerous, and poised to grow into a severe annoyance at a time when we could ill afford it between the ABB acquiring a third parahuman and the Empire getting increasingly aggressive. I'd also like to say well done on integrating Browbeat into the team. The preliminary report I've received tells me you all worked very well as a unit with someone on his first big outing with the team." Now came the tricky part. "But."

The shift in mood was as sharp as it was immediate. No expressions changed outright, but smiles froze and bodies tensed. Piggot could almost feel the temperature of the room dropping by several degrees. "I have to question your choice of tactics. As far as I understand, you charged right in the moment you could. You didn't take a moment to orient yourselves, or plan out your attack, you just went in. Now, your pre-mission planning and a good bit of luck carried you through, but it was still reckless."

The first voice of protest was unsurprisingly Gallant. He must have felt a need to stand up for his fellow knight. "With all due respect ma'am, they had a fellow hero pinned. We couldn't just stand back and leave her in trouble."

"I am well aware of that, but the fact she was pinned is precisely the reason she wasn't in trouble. We're all familiar with how the Undersiders operate. Ever since they formed as a team, they've taken care to deal only moderate damage to people and buildings. Exoa Knight was in less trouble than if she was still up and fighting, and the last thing she needed was a foolhardy charge right into the literal teeth of the enemy." What was left unsaid were the facts that two members of the Undersiders were known murderers, and the heist group had been close to escaping when the Wards arrived at the fight. But the murders had been a long time ago under extenuating circumstances and a moment to formulate a proper set of tactics for the precise situation wouldn't have allowed them to get away. Even though both facts were objectively true, saying them would only undermine the point she was making. Presentation mattered. It mattered when presenting parahumans to society, and it mattered here presenting information to parahumans.

Her response seemed to stymie any complaints. They could have tried to claim she'd have done the same for her, and maybe it was true, but that wouldn't address the fundamental issue she'd raised. Before any of them got more ideas, she pressed on. "Still, I don't want that to detract from what went well. Nor am I asking you to put aside all emotion in your decision making. That can led to unhealthy places. I just want you to think critically and carefully. That's not only the best way to achieve success, but to keep you all safe. Now, while you'll undergo a more thorough debrief later on, for now you are dismissed. Go clean up and pat yourselves on the back. There'll be a tour group coming by your quarters in about an hour, and I'd be shocked if there weren't some reporters with them. Make sure to look your best." As the Wards nodded and shuffled out of the room, Piggot mused on her dual responsibilities. The Parahuman Response Team was at once the world's largest public relations organization, focused around integrating parahumans into society on all levels and preventing public perception from souring, and also the United States' main line of defense against superpowered threats. Primarily the various villainous gangs and organizations that plagued the country and the world as a whole, but also more lethal dangers such as the Endbringers and the Slaughterhouse Nine. It was a difficult balancing act on the best of days. Fortunately, a nice, clean win made this one of those days.

As she followed the Wards outside, she noted that the organization's twin responsibilities were perhaps most evident in the lobby of any PRT HQ in the country. Brockton Bay's facility was no exception. Professional personnel in suits roamed the area, exiting and entering the building, running around and performing work vital to the city's security. But over there by the front desk was a tour guide waiting for his group. Off to one side there was an entrance to the building's gift shop, with all sorts of novelties and merchandise to expand the department's share of public consciousness and act as a secondary source of income. But stationed around in key locations were a quartet of armored field agents in full gear, a pair with grenade launchers and specialty munitions and another pair with the PRT's iconic and almost vital containment foam launchers. A lesson in contrasts.

She didn't waste time in taking the elevator up to her office higher in the building, on the third floor. There, she assumed she would spend the rest of the day mostly doing paperwork and giving orders, as usual. For the first few hours, she was right. Then later on a report came to her attention. She frowned, reading it once, then twice. After that, she cleared a spot later in the evening for a meeting with the two top members of the local Protectorate.

She also mentally corrected something she'd thought earlier. This was no longer one of the good days.

It was about eight in the evening when Armsmaster and Miss Militia walked through the doors. They'd just finished up their little out of town soiree and arrived back at base, and had come straight to her. Good. They may not have time to waste.

"Director Piggot, ma'am." Armsmaster said. A striking figure in his midnight blue powered armor that he'd kept on for the occasion, helmet included. His trademark modular halberd had been left elsewhere, although if he really wanted to Piggot was fairly sure that he could take out even half a dozen of her best agents without it.

Miss Militia nodded in acknowledgement, but stayed silent. In contrast to her team leader she was fully armed, since it was quite literally impossible to disarm her. A pair of pistols sat in belt holsters, but they could change into almost any weapon imaginable at a moment's notice. She wore stylized combat fatigues, far simpler than Armsmaster's armored war-suit, along with a scarf around her face and a sash around her waist both patterned after the American flag. Patterned, but very much distinct. US flag code prohibited the wearing of the outright US flag after all, and if there was one thing Miss Militia wasn't about to do it was break the rules. Piggot supposed there was no faith like that of the convert.

"I'm glad you were prompt in getting to me. Ordinarily, I'd ask about the event, but I'm afraid we have bigger problems on our hands. Armsmaster, are you recording this with that helmet of yours?"

He shook his head. "No, ma'am. Should I be?"

"Absolutely not. What I am about to tell you does not leave this room until I confirm it is safe to do so. Do you understand?" The pair nodded, without hesitation. Piggot didn't get along with capes, as a rule. Ironic for one meant to promote them in the public eye, but she usually considered them problematic at best. It was the nature of how they came about. These two, however, she could at least respect. Both were tirelessly dedicated to the PRT's cause, literally in Miss Militia's case, and had exemplary records. In fact, she downright trusted them.

"Good. We've secured the Undersiders in temporary holding cells within this building. We've also conducted preliminary interrogations on the group. Regent is uncooperative, mostly making light of his situation and the interrogators. Tattletale was similarly difficult. Hellhound was a more interesting case, however. For the most part, she didn't seem to care one way or the other. However, our interrogators let her see her dogs through a pane of glass, confirming they were being well treated." Initially, they'd kept additional distance, used a camera feed, but that hadn't been enough to satisfy her. In the end, it was decided that her power didn't work quick enough that a visual confirmation was a danger, at least if officers with containment foam were on standby next to both the dogs and Hellhound. "After that, she then offered up some information. The Undersiders, contrary to what we previously believed, were not operating on their own. Rather, they had a backer. One that put the team together in the first place."

The pair of capes that were previously listening carefully were now listening intently, shifting posture and leaning forward ever so slightly. They weren't shocked by this revelation, but it was new information. Because if the Undersiders had a backer...

"Someone in this city had control over an entire team of three capable parahumans for almost a year now, and we had no idea." Armsmaster said, making the connection first. He had his flaws as a leader, but his analytical mindset was second to very few.

"Or, maybe worse, someone outside this city looking to move in. As if we didn't have enough problems between the Empire, ABB, and Coil." Miss Militia added, following through.

"And we have little idea who, exactly. According to Hellhound, she doesn't have the first clue who the backer in question is. On a hunch, we went back to Tattletale to try and close a noose around her. Upon learning what Hellhound had divulged, she called her teammate stupid, demanded to talk to one of us three in person with no recording, and then clammed up."

Armsmaster frowned. "And you're willing to give her what she wants? A meeting between us and a Thinker with an unknown power, no record of any kind? If you don't mind me saying so, that sounds potentially dangerous."

"It could be, which is why we'll play this smart. Both of you will be talking to her, and you, Armsmaster, will privately record the meeting. Your helmet if it has recording software today, some Tinker camera or other if it doesn't. We'll add it to the official database if nothing too unexpected jumps out during it, but I suspect something might. After all, if they really do have a backer, and if Tattletale is planning to give then up as I suspect, then that could mean only one of two things. After all, it's hard enough to keep any capes locked up for a good length of time if they have external backing looking to break them out, and sometimes even if they're all by themselves. So either this backer considers a full three parahumans expendable, or they have a poor relationship with their employees and have been keeping a mobile, skilled heist crew under their thumb by force. Either one implies a truly inordinate amount of resources. Or it could be both at once, probably implying even more."

"What deals are we authorized to make if she asks for one?" Miss Militia asked, already thinking ahead to the coming conversation.

"For now, we have the edge. So we push; If she wants a deal of some kind, make it contingent on us actually verifying the information. That should hopefully keep her honest, and if it doesn't, then we have no reason to follow through on any provisional deals. If for some reason we stall out in negotiations, you cut it off there, come back to me, and we regroup. Figure out where to go from there. Simple enough."

She sighed, folding her hands on her desk, next to the computer she always left off to one side. "If I'm wrong, and I hope I am, Tattletale just wants to clear the air about something Hellhound misinterpreted and cut a deal. But if I'm right, then things in this city might be about to get worse before they get better."

Chapter 19: Chapter 15

Chapter Text

When I woke up, I still had some dizziness and headaches, but they were manageable now. I guess Amy was right when she said the concussion would mostly fix itself. I briefly talked with my mom, and she said I was okay to restart school. They didn't want me taking too many days off, after all. Of course, if I really had been sick instead of it being faked that potentially risked me infecting my classmates, but I wasn't sure how much Winslow cared about that. Probably not a lot if it wasn't a significant infection.

I spent homeroom trying to figure out if I'd missed anything important in yesterday's classes, and it turned out that other than a bit of homework the answer was no. That was good news at least. I didn't really care about how I did in school, but if my grades or attendance slipped too badly, then my mom could get called in for a meeting, and she didn't really need that extra stress. Or I could be forced into remedial after-school classes, but that was less of an issue. Unless it was Monday I didn't really have anything to do between 3 and 6 PM anyway, so it wasn't a big loss.

It felt bizarre to sit in classrooms and listen to teachers drone on while taking notes or doing computer tasks that I wasn't certain anyone in this class would get long term use out of, let alone me, when just yesterday I'd helped catch a semi-notorious supervillain group and provided moderate medical aid to dozens of people at a hospital. I got why I was supposed to do it, it kept me 'grounded' and had me live a normal life. That was the idea behind the Wards program and its focus on education, at least. But I didn't really want to live a normal life. Not after everything I'd seen and done. Not before everything I still had to do. Which was, well, everything. My own little private war.

I saw Andrea Cheng as we were moving between classes. She still looked pretty withdrawn and isolated, but she quite notably was wearing a red and green outfit today. The ABB's colors of choice. Gang colors like that were actually pretty smart. They were totally deniable, since the school couldn't exactly punish people for wearing a certain set of colors, but they still made it utterly clear what the wearer's loyalties were. I chalked it up as another failure on my part and cursed internally. It was, well, not depressing exactly. I struggled to find the right word or words. It was definitely kind of depressing, but not too much, because it felt almost unavoidable. Like things were always going to turn out this way, and that made it less depressing because I knew it was coming.

Ah, screw it. I didn't need an exact word, it was what it was. And that was to say it was god-awful.

It still weighed a little on my mind as lunch began. In the end, I supposed that if I saw her out on the streets I'd have to treat her like any other gang member. Someone to be scared off if they were doing low-level petty crimes, or an enemy if they were actively fighting me or doing heinous shit. It kinda sucked, but my options were limited. I flat out couldn't help everyone, I just didn't have the resources.

This is why I liked fighting the Empire, even if they were a bit further south then where I usually operated. Whenever you saw an Empire criminal you could take them in safe in the knowledge that they were probably a pretty shit person. Same went for almost all villainous capes.

I met with Emma and Taylor as usual, although this time it didn't go quite as usual. The pair of best friends welcomed me back after my absence yesterday, we started talking, and the conversation drifted towards the news. It was only then that I realized Emma had dragged us forcefully to this point without either me or Taylor even realizing. Hell, I only realized that's what had happened because I knew she was going somewhere with this, Taylor probably had no clue.

At first, we discussed the main story from yesterday, which surprisingly wasn't the takedown of the Undersiders. That showed up in a bunch of papers as a secondary story, but the big one was a young girl reported missing. Just twelve years old, actually. I was in one just like it four years ago. Of course, I wasn't white, photogenic, or the mayor's niece, so I never made the front page. Either way, in case this was an actual kidnapping entirely unlike mine, I put it on the to-do list. If I could find the time, I'd look into it, but I suspected I might not.

After that, we did go to the Undersiders, and specifically the heroes involved. Then things got a little heated.

"I'm just saying the piece is a little biased." Taylor said, aggressively finishing off the last of her food. "It barely even mentions the independent hero and focuses a bunch on the Wards, but if you look at the actual events, the Wards didn't even show up until the end."

With all my strength of will and discipline, I managed to avoid saying anything that would give myself away. "None of us were there, we can't say exactly how the fight went down, but it sounds a lot like the Wards did the actual heavy lifting. Plus, they're the team with all the PR agents and shit. Exoa Knight shows up, does her shit, then goes off into the night. That's how she's always operated. The only reason she's more notable than any other random local hero is that she keeps getting into high profile fights like this one."

"Okay, but that's still not right, don't you think? The media shouldn't be biased, PR agents or no. I'm not saying the Wards didn't do good work or anything, I'm saying that the recognition should be shared fairly." I wasn't getting anywhere against Taylor's stubborn ass, so I decided to change tracks. Maybe tactics would do the job.

"Well, maybe it's a good thing. As an independent, you're vulnerable in a way you aren't if you're part of a team. Nobody's going to risk retaliating against the Wards or Protectorate for any actions they take, because that's basically suicide. But if you take out someone like Exoa Knight, or on the other side a solo villain like Circus, nobody's going to be left to care. A low profile helps."

Taylor snorted. "I swear you're more of a cape geek than I am." I awkwardly shrugged, unable to deny it. The difference between us was perspective. She came it as an interested normal, I had to think about this stuff a lot as a survival strategy. I couldn't exactly tell her that, though.

"I don't know. I think we'd miss Exoa Knight if she was gone, right?" Emma chimed in, saving me from the situation while giving me a sentence with two meanings. After all, even though I'd never officially told her, she definitely knew, and I knew she knew, and she knew I knew she knew, and I knew that.

Ugh, my head hurt after having to think that.

"Maybe you shouldn't care." I shot back. "She's just a hero, and you don't really know her. Not the person behind the mask. It's not good to care about someone who might be gone tomorrow, considering how dangerous being a hero can be. Especially in Brockton Bay." With that, she outright gave me an odd look.

"I suppose you're right." She said, carefully choosing every word and speaking slowly. "I also read her injuries were fairly bad. Like she was a bit careless. That does make it more likely she dies."

"Let her live her life how she wants. If she's after an early grave, that's none of our concern." I said. At this point, Taylor was looking between the two of us with utter confusion on her face.

"You're the one that always said empathy and understanding were important, right? What gives?" Emma was trying to drag me back down memory lane, but I was having none of it.

"I did say that, and sometimes empathy means knowing when someone has made a choice and respecting it, Emma."

"Even when that choice is self-destructive, and could hurt those around them?" She was almost leaning forward, eyes blazing with intent, as she casually brushed her red hair back.

"Oh knock it off. For all we know she's a hobo with no one who gives a shit about her out of costume. We can't say if her choices are hurting anyone." That was perfectly accurate from an outside point of view, but it was an utter cop-out in the private conversation I was having with Emma. She'd just have to live with it.

"Alright, whatever you say." She threw her hands up in defeat. "Not my job to make you care about anything."

We were a bit stilted after that, but by the end of lunch things had gone back to normal. When the bell rang, we said our goodbyes before Taylor and I walked off together, since we had the same class next. Art, as it happened. Of course, while Emma had managed to be subtle, I'd been about as subtle as Victoria, so she'd picked up something was weird there. And, being Taylor, she wasn't content to let it slide. Great going, Sophia, you really nailed it.

"What was that back there?" She asked. "Is something going on between you two?"

I decided to answer with an unrelated truth. "Well, did Emma ever tell you about the time we first met? As in, properly give you the details?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so. You just kinda showed up one day and Emma said you were a new friend, and I just went with it."

"Okay, so, I can tell you that we met when I was being kind of stupid. I'd been stabbed, actually. Emma helped me out of a jam and that's when we became friends. I think that even though she was literally talking about a hero, she was trying to tell me I should be more careful myself. As like a metaphor or something. Which is totally unfair, by the way, I haven't gotten stabbed even once since then." That last part was technically a lie. Sophia Hess hadn't been stabbed since then, but I considered myself more Exoa Knight these days, and she'd definitely been stabbed more than once.

Taylor's eyes widened. "Wait, you were stabbed?"

I nodded. "With a knife. If you're interested, I can give you the details after class. But it wasn't fun." I was hoping she wouldn't ask, since I'd have to make some stuff up, but it wouldn't be too big an issue. The important point was that she'd been deflected away from any unfortunate suspicions.

Shortly after that we settled down in class, taking adjacent seats. Our projects had been marked surprisingly quickly, so most of the class was about those. Taylor and I both got good results, her because she was smart and had applied herself and me because I cheated. It was another gift from the Other World; when I did art these days the fine details took care of themselves. Literally, since when I drew things or assembled stuff the shading and fiddly bits did themselves for me, at least so long as the broad strokes were being done right. It wasn't actually helpful as a power unless I was willing to spend years of dedicated study on drawing, but it saved me time in class and with projects, so I supposed I couldn't complain.

Of course, the rest of the class dragged, and I couldn't help as my thoughts drifted elsewhere. Since I'd just been talking about it, they drifted back two or so years to that meeting with Emma, shortly before I'd then met Meta Knight. It had been... I supposed interesting was one way of putting it.

Chapter 20: Flashback 4

Chapter Text

"I mean I'm looking forward to it too, but it's still over a month away. But yeah I have plans. I'm not leaving town like you, although I kinda wish I was." Emma Barnes walked down the street, spring breeze in her hair and noonday sun glowing warmly above, cellphone in hand as she talked to her best friend. Taylor Hebert, for her part, only replied with a withdrawn hum, letting Emma do the talking. That's how it had been for some time now. Ever since she'd lost her mother, in fact. It hadn't quite been a year, and the girl had yet to bounce back. At least fully. She'd recovered from the worst of it, but there was still a hesitation there between them that hadn't been before. It bugged Emma, but she couldn't really do or say anything about it, at least without coming off as really insensitive. "Anyway, do you wanna maybe hang this weekend? You know, like usual." She gave off something halfway between a giggle and a snort at that. "Okay so yeah that's probably a yes, but I still need you to say yes. Oh! And actually there's something cool I might get to show you-"

As she stepped in front of a nondescript alley, one of countless like it in the nicer parts of downtown, her body, speech, and thoughts all stopped in their tracks as she turned her head to face the group of people inside. A young girl, maybe about her age, with dark skin and what looked to be an athletic figure, even if it was hard to tell underneath the grey hoodie she was wearing. A mask covered the lower half of her face, and her eyes had gone wide.

"Who the hell-" Was all she said before one of the men chasing her grabbed her and slammed her into the alley's brick wall, following up by sticking a knife in her gut. The girl cried out in pain as the steel pierced through cloth and flesh, before being ripped out. Emma noted that the men were all white, and one of them was a wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed off his tattoo of two interlinked eights on his biceps.

"I have to go Tay, call you back." Emma hurriedly said, moving to turn her phone off and back away from the scene as fast as she could while not making any too sudden movements. She was mostly in shock. Things like this didn't happen in broad daylight, not even in Brockton Bay. Or at the very least they didn't happen in downtown.

Or maybe it would be more accurate to say they didn't happen to people like her. This other girl wasn't so lucky, though.

Before she could get far enough back, another of the men lunged forward at her. She turned to run, but wasn't nearly fast enough. A hand closed around her shoulder, yanking her back, before another one and then a third one grabbed her other shoulder and head respectively. In another second, she was pinned to a wall too, opposite from the other girl.

"Aw shit, this wasn't the plan." One of the five or so gang members said. "What the hell do we do about her?"

"I told ya we shouldn't have ran after the bitch." The one who'd first grabbed her rumbled. "Knew something like this would happen."

"Quiet, both of you!" Snapped the one who'd stabbed the girl. Emma would have thought the one with the knife, but it looked like they all had weapons. He seemed to be the group's leader, and had a slightly slimmer build than the others, even if he was still toned. "It'll be fine so long as there's no recording. Take that phone." One of the others snatched it out of her hand. Emma was too terrified to resist, even as she also felt a building adrenaline just under the skin. She felt if anything happened, she'd explode, and she wasn't sure which way.

A few more words were exchanged, but she couldn't help but notice that they were all looking at her, leaving the other girl to bleed out so long as she didn't make any noise. For her part, she'd leaned back against the wall, brows furrowed. What Emma really didn't expect was for her to disappear from sight, accompanied by a sharp banging or popping noise. An inrush of air? The Empire thugs wheeled around practically as one, all interest lost in Emma. She took several calming breaths before trying to sidle out of the alley.

Before she could get very far, one turned back to her and smacked her across the face. "And where the fuck do you think you're going?" Emma's breathing became ragged, but her thoughts were strangely calm. It was as if something in her mind had snapped, shattering into three splinters. One vaguely annoyed that the superpowered girl had left her to rot, one angry that her expensive almost brand new smartphone would be stolen, and a third desperately trying to get her attention, screaming about how much danger she was in.

But before things could get out of hand, the girl reappeared. She looked the same, but had brought two things with her. Living things, it seemed, a bit over half her height. One was an empty suit of golden armor, with a sharp blade that looked almost like a razor-sharp Mohawk. Even though Emma could only see empty blackness out of the open helmet, it moved as if it was filled. The other was an orange and cream ball with a spear in one tiny nub and a blue bandanna on its head.

However fast the gang members were, the two spheres were faster. The armor grabbed hold of its cutting blade and threw it out in an arc, causing it to circle around the group like a cross between a buzzsaw and a boomerang. The ones that weren't fast enough to get away from the whirring disc lost blood, flesh, and even some fingers. The pair that had dodged out of the way soon found the butt of a spear in their guts.

As Emma was still processing this, the girl stumbled over to her, grabbed her by the arm, and started running off with Emma in tow. Back down the alley, further away from the exist. Emma was too dazed to really challenge it. They ended up going at about the same speed, the other girl being fitter and having better technique but also being slowed down by their injury. Even so, it was less than a minute before they'd cleared the alley and were at the other side, in a set of empty streets. The girl paused, swore, and kept dragging Emma around. It was a while longer until they were in a different alley a fair bit away from their original position, with the occasional person walking by. The girl collapsed, sitting with her back against the wall, one leg straight in front of her, and one upright with the knee pointing to the sky. Her breathing was shallow, and her face pale.

The pair stayed like that for some time. Emma glanced down at her hands, only half seeing them. They were there, as perfectly manicured as always. There wasn't any blood or even muck on them. They were entirely normal. She felt like that was somehow wrong.

Eventually, the pair of orb-minions showed back up, and her savior staggered to her feet, ushering her deeper into the alley for a moment, away from prying eyes. Emma blearily noted that she was also the person who'd gotten her into trouble in the first place. She grabbed the bandanna off the creature's head before dragging Emma's hand down to its top. It was pleasantly warm, and soft, sort of like a gigantic marshmallow. Emma pressed down experimentally, and it squished inwards slightly.

"Sorry you got caught up in that." The sudden words drew her back to reality. The girl had lifted up her hoodie and the shirt underneath in order to tie the bandanna tightly around her stomach as a makeshift bandage. "It usually goes better than that. I just ran into too many goons this time." She sighed. "I really need an actual, ah crap. What's the word? Like a plan, but bigger."

"Strategy?" Emma suggested. Things weren't exactly getting back to normal, what with the powered entities still around, but it was a better not normal than it had been.

"Right, a strategy. I need one of those. It's just that my powers are a little awkward, and I've just been lashing out, trying to find random Empire punks to beat the shit out of. It's not really that cathartic anymore though, and I don't think it's helping the city much either." She paused, blinked, and narrowed her eyes. "Wait, why am I saying all this to you?"

"Do you think it's the blood loss?" The now bandanna-less marshmallow being asked, getting a cautious nod in response.

"Yeah that would make sense." The girl pulled her hood and mask down, exposing her face and hair as she leaned back against the wall. Emma noted she was actually kind of pretty. "Well, I'm Sophia." She extended a hand.

Emma stood up and shook it, a brittle smile on her face. "I'm Emma. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. It'll be a bit awkward trying to hide this from my mom, but I have ways to pull through. But what about you?" The expression didn't carry judgement, and it wasn't even flat. There was an element of genuine concern there.

Her smile broke and turned into a frown. "Yeah, I'm fine." She spun around on the spot as if to demonstrate, showing that she hadn't been slashed. Maybe she'd forget all about this by tomorrow if she could look Sophia in the eye and tell her she was fine.

"I can see you're not hurt, I asked if you were okay." Sophia's expression hadn't changed. "That didn't actually go bad for you, but it could have. Trust me, even if you don't get physically hurt, things like that can affect you. Just... just trust me."

"I don't want to talk about it." Emma replied, her voice a whisper, which took her by surprise.

"Not with me, sure, but you have friends, right? And a family that you're okay with?" Emma tentatively nodded. "Then you can talk to them. Friends support each other. That's how we get through the tough times. Again, you're just going to have to trust me. See, little Waddle Dee here," She tapped the soft creature with her foot. "And his friends have been keeping me sane for years now. Well, two years. Although some of them are more trouble than they're worth." She glared at the other one. "What was that, exactly?"

"If the blackguards wished to keep their digits, they would have armored them!" Harrumphed the golden suit of armor, with a voice that sounded as if someone really was speaking through a metal helmet and a posh accent. "I used only my most basic attack upon the ruffians."

"And that cuts people here! Actually, no, you call that move the cutter, why would you not expect it to cut? I know you're called Sir Kibble, that doesn't mean I want you to MAKE kibble!" Sophia groaned, putting her head in her hands for a moment. "Well, so much for calling that in. Teach me to bring you along on a mission." She sighed as she put her hands down. "Well, they'll live, and I probably wasn't going to call in the police anyway. Oh well."

"So, do you not have any normal friends then?" Emma asked, wanting to drag the conversation away from the sudden argument.

Sophia looked as if she was about to speak up in rebuttal, but thought better of it at the last second and just shrugged instead. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Do you want to exchange numbers?" Emma hesitantly asked. It felt a bit silly to ask after what had just happened, but maybe that's why she did it. Unlike petting Waddle Dee, and honestly what a kiddish name, this was actually normal. Something to get back on her feet with.

"Oh, sure." Sophia fished a normal flip-phone out from her pockets that looked maybe a few years old. They both rattled off a set of digits, and turned to part ways. Before they did, Emma decided to ask a question.

"How... how do you deal with it?"

"If you really want my advice, you deal with it one day at a time. There's nothing that covers every case except that." Then she walked off, presumably to take the minions out of sight and make them disappear. Emma only listened as they left, hearing Sophia ask if they'd been seen. Kibble had, but Dee had been too much of a blur and stayed out of lines of sight. She'd have to lay low for a bit, but eventually any Empire heat would fade, and they'd chalk it up to some embarrassing defeat the small group didn't want to admit the real cause of, assuming that they pushed the details up the chain in the first place.

A short while after Sophia turned the corner, Emma started figuring how to walk back home.

A pair of girls sat at the bottom of a set of steps. One was flipping around a butterfly knife in her hand, not even looking at it as she opened it up and closed it again. The other had her arms folded on her knees and in turn her head on her arms. Apparently, ingraining the knife manipulation into her muscle memory was a form of reflex and dexterity training. Combat homework, Sophia had called it. Emma still didn't know who was teaching Sophia to fight and at this point she was too afraid to ask.

"And so that's what I'm saying. Things are getting worse, the gangs' territories are expanding, and that's why you need to change routes. It might not be obvious to you, but that's how it is. I can prove it if you need me too, but I don't think you want me to give you a second near-death experience."

"This place sucks." Emma complained. "It already sucked and things are getting even worse?"

Sophia shrugged. "It does kinda suck, but it's the only city we have. I mean, you could move somewhere else if you had to, your dad's a lawyer. But me? And your friend Taylor? We're not so lucky. And of course things are gonna get worse if everyone living in the docks never gets any real choice that isn't joining a gang." Sophia sighed, and put her knife away in a pocket. "But there's nothing us two can do about that. Not right now."

Emma looked glumly onto the road. "I guess. You probably don't want to here me complaining. I mean, you're a superhero, Taylor's only just recovering from her mom, and I'm here sad just because I got in a fight. I didn't even get hurt."

Sophia paused and hummed. "I'm not sure you are." Emma sat straight up and looked at her in confusion, silently prompting her to elaborate. "I think you might be more sad at this point because you feel it's not fair to complain, but it is. It wasn't an easy thing. Have you talked to Taylor about it yet?" Taylor was off at summer camp now, but there'd been a long period where she wasn't, and the two of them still called regularly.

"No. I mean, like I said, her mom passed away last year. I don't think she needs to hear me whine-" Sophia flicked her on the forehead. "Ow!"

"Sorry, you were being dumb. Don't you remember when we met and I told you friends supported each other?" Emma opened her mouth to say something, but Sophia stopped her. "No buts! Do you remember? Ah, it doesn't matter. The point is that I really meant that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but she had to lean on you for a while after that happened, right? Because she was in a difficult place. Maybe it was hard, maybe it wasn't obvious that it helped, but you probably meant the world to her when you made time for her then. If you really don't want to talk to her about it because you don't think she's that kind of friend to you anymore, that's one thing, but don't be dumb. Hell, she'll probably thank you for the chance. Consider it paying your help back. I mean, I don't know Taylor, but from what you've said she seems nice enough to think that."

"Wow, that... helped." Emma said.

"I had good empathy teachers." Sophia replied, smiling before muttering how she was starting to sound like Ado, whoever that was.

"So, if friends support each other, what about me and you?" Emma asked. In the past two months, Sophia had been working on her training a lot. She might not even have realized it, but she was becoming as dedicated as a blade's edge. She'd mentioned a while back that she enjoyed reading and drawing, but when Emma had asked about those hobbies more recently Sophia had awkwardly replied she'd cut back on those to better focus. She wasn't changing that much, but she'd certainly become discipline and precise, saying fewer words out of place. Everything she did now was all towards her goal, which she'd once called a 'solo crusade against the world'.

"Well, you keep me grounded, right? You remind me what I'm going to be fighting for. That's important." Emma couldn't help but think that was a deflection. But before she could bring that up, Sophia plowed onward, probably as a distraction. "So Taylor's gonna be back from summer camp in a bit, right? Since I don't have that many friends and we haven't met yet, would you mind introducing us?"

Sophia looked awkward, almost nervous. It was a side of her Emma had never really seen before. They'd been waiting for some time out the front of her house, letting time pass, making some small talk. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait too long before Taylor arrived. "Is that her?" Sophia asked, inclining her head. Emma nodded, and frowned. She was wearing a t-shirt with the camp logo on it, a pair of shorts, and had her hair up in braids with one equipped with a series of colorful hair ties. A pair of fairly thick-rimmed glasses and a dorky grin completed the package. She actually almost looked like she had before Annette died, just taller and more developed.

Sophia brought her out of her brooding. "Was she always this bad at fashion without you?" That got a slight giggle. It was true, Emma had always been the more appearance-conscious of the pair. No surprise that without her guiding hand Taylor would fall back into bad habits. The important thing was that it showed she'd bounced back, and had regained some of her confidence. She might not be the exact same as she had been, but Emma knew in her hear that was still Taylor Hebert, her best friend.

Taylor waved at the pair as she approached before practically hopping and skipping up the steps. "Emma!" She grinned, and her grin stayed almost as wide and equally as genuine when she turned to look at Sophia "And...?"

"Sophia." The girl in question replied flatly. "I'm a new friend of Emma's."

"Oh, she told me about you a bit!" Taylor practically leaped over and enveloped Sophia in a hug, which was awkwardly returned in the form of a pat on the back. Fortunately for Sophia, the hug only lasted a couple of seconds. "I'm glad someone was here to keep her company while I was gone. Speaking of-" She then turned and hugged Emma, who smiled back and returned the hug much more fluidly. Their hug lasted notably longer.

After that, it was all conversation and exchange of interests. Emma stood back and let her two friends get to know each other a little, intervening where needed to keep the conversation on track.

"So you're a geek, then?" Sophia as much stated as asked, getting an enthusiastic albeit embarrassed nod.

"And you do sports, I'm guessing?" Taylor shot back, getting a much smaller and firmer nod.

"And, uh." Sophia invisibly flailed for a moment. "Martial arts and fencing. I mean, those are kind of sports too, but you know what I mean."

Taylor shot Sophia a wry smile. "Does that mean you're going to bully me in high school?"

Sophia answered with a small smirk of her own. "Don't tempt me." Taylor's eyes went wide for a moment before Sophia's smirk widened and she shook her head. "Kidding! I swear, honest to god, I'm kidding you." Awkward silence still momentarily reigned. "So, do you like, you know, cape stuff?"

Taylor put her hands on her hips and struck a slight pose. "Do I? Sorry Em, you might just have a challenger for best friend now!" The trio all shared a laugh at that. It was true though, Taylor had always been more into capes than Emma. Never as much as some creeps, it was only a healthy interest, but still one Emma didn't really share. Ironic, considering she knew Sophia's secret and Taylor didn't.

"So, speaking of high school, are we excited to start?" Emma asked once the short burst of laughter had subsided. Taylor seemed enthusiastic enough, but Sophia frowned.

"Actually I've heard Winslow kinda has a shitty reputation. Something to look out for." Sophia seemed to always be the practical one these days.

"Well, then we'll just have to change that ourselves!" Taylor exclaimed, putting a hand out. "Together!"

"And after that, well, we can try the city. Together." Emma picked up on what she was doing, and laid her hand atop Taylor's. "Or, who knows, maybe even higher?"

"We're gonna change the world, then." Sophia spoke with utter conviction as she added her hand to the middle. In fact, she had spoken with such conviction that neither Taylor nor Emma noticed when that conviction was completely drained from her tone for the next word, replaced with reserved caution and resigned disbelief. "Together."

Chapter 21: Chapter 16

Chapter Text

The rest of school was as uneventful as ever, and for the most part so was my afternoon. I did end up writing that letter to Adeleine, though. The Undersiders stuff was notable enough to warrant it. I didn't mention the extent of my injuries though. No need to worry her while she was busy with interstellar art college. What I did do was get Thalia to sign it. She could only just about sign her own name, but she was also only four, so it was the thought that counted.

After dinner, it was off to the streets. I handed over the completed letter for sealing in an envelope and interplanetary delivery before heading out alone. After a bit of a tricky week between the fight with Oni Lee and then the planning and execution of whatever you called my idea for Thursday, I was looking forward to something a bit more sedate. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite go full power literally every day. I felt like scouring the docks for petty drug dealing didn't really help though, so I decided on seeing if the Merchants were up to their usual tricks. The city's newest notable gang had only taken a name and started officially holding territory because I kept pressuring their individual members but failing to capture, and I really shouldn't leave a job half done.

As I neared the city's northwestern corner, I couldn't help but feel I was being followed. Probably the noise of what sounded like a turbocharged motorcycle that was getting steadily louder and louder as I flew. There were only two capes in the city who'd ride a bike like that. One of them had no reason to be here, and the other I expected to be here, so that settled that. I silently drew my sword from my hip and prepared to turn the tables on my pursuer.

Ducking through the broken window of an abandoned building, I walked down to the ground floor and hid just inside the door. The noise grew louder and louder before there was a brief screeching of tires as the bike presumably came to a stop just outside. There was the sound of boots hitting pavement as the rider dismounted and took a few steps forward. My guess was she was right where I wanted her.

I turned around the corner and swung, realizing only after my reflexes were in full swing that I'd messed up. Luckily, I also had good enough reflexes to stop short, but less luckily Armsmaster's reflexes were as good as mine. Blunt-sided alloy crashed against a steel shaft, and in a practiced motion he tried to disarm me. I wasn't about to dishonor my teacher by letting that happen, so even as the lower end of the halberd swung up I shifted my weapon's position, gliding it along the length of the handle with a noise of metal scraping across metal and letting the move bring it back up to a solid defensive position. With that, we both took a few steps back from each other, and then put aside our weapons at about the same time. I clamped my sword back on its place, he simply rested his six-foot long halberd upright on the ground, keeping it in a fairly loose grip.

"I thought you were Squealer." I said. I couldn't see his upper face through the opaque v-shaped visor that covered it, but I imagined he was probably raising an eyebrow. "Didn't expect you to be around here, did expect her to be." I elaborated.

"I feel like I should be insulted." He said, more bemused than anything else. It was true, I probably should have figured it out sooner. One of Squealer's creations probably would have run noisier and less consistently. Her creations looked impressive, but they often had issues with attaining efficient performance. In my defense, I hadn't survived a year and a half as Exoa Knight and longer overall as a vigilante through a lack of paranoia.

I shrugged. "I can't see through walls, so." Maybe something for Vul to look into? I made a mental note.

"I probably should have announced myself. I suppose I didn't give you any warning I was looking for you." That explained why he was over here, but also raised an obvious new question. Why?

"The Protectorate has my field number." I pointed out.

Armsmaster nodded, turning to clamp his halberd back on his custom bike as he responded. "We do, but we want to talk with you about something we didn't feel comfortable discussing over the phone." We, which meant this was a larger PRT effort of some kind. I gestured inside the building and he followed me in, although I noticed a small light flicker active on his bike. Probably some kind of security system.

The building was empty, but conveniently had a dusty couch and armchair in what was probably once a lounge of some kind. It was difficult to tell, what with everything of notable value having been long since taken. Frankly, I was surprised some of the furniture was still here. My cape twitched up and settled across the back of the couch as I sat down, while Armsmaster took the chair. It creaked slightly under the weight of his armor, dark blue with silver highlights. Even more capable than my own and equipped with countless peripherals, as you'd expect from one of the Protectorate's top Tinkers.

Actually, top capes period. When photo shoots of the biggest names in the Protectorate in the classic v-formation happened, Armsmaster was one of the ten or eleven chosen to participate. Granted, at the v's edges rather than the middle, but still. He was also the only Tinker, except in some cases where Dragon was represented by one of her mechanical suits in the background, but Dragon was something of a law unto herself. Despite this, he was only the head of a small Protectorate team in a small city, not even one of the primary numbered Departments. I could only assume he'd lost some internal political fight at some point. But greater America's loss was Brockton Bay's gain, since he was a major force in the city's defense against gangs like the Empire.

I actually had a lot of respect for him. There were maybe four other heroes in this city who put as much effort into their work as me, and Armsmaster was one of them. The other notable one was Panacea, and technically I think Kid Win and Miss Militia qualified too. But Kid Win spent half of his time in the workshop, and Miss Militia didn't need to sleep, which if you asked me was kind of cheating. Although if we were counting workshop time, I was pretty sure Armsmaster worked even harder than me.

I didn't have a clue as to his secret identity, but a lot of PRT-aligned heroes did interviews and the like in costume, so I knew he made time for all of the work by cutting away distractions. Relationships, extraneous hobbies, all of that had been left by the wayside. It was a respectable drive that I liked to think I matched on my better days. Of course, by the time I officially came onto the scene the mentor position for me had been firmly taken, but I liked to think we still got along. I couldn't read his mind, but I hoped some of that respect flowed back my way, for much the same reasons.

"To be clear, not only did we not want to discuss this over the phone, we'd like you to keep this information as private as possible." Armsmaster began. "The fewer people know about this, the better. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could trust you, but I'd still like your agreement in words. Because once you hear this, I'm not sure how easily you can back out."

"And I wouldn't be here if I wasn't willing to see any mission through to the end. So, what's the situation?"

Armsmaster actually smiled at that, a fairly affectionate one if anything. "Attagirl. I knew I was right to suggest this." With that, his expression shifted again. He was as serious as I'd ever seen him, and that was saying something. "Coil is far more of a problem than we suspected. While interrogating the Undersiders yesterday evening, we became aware of the fact that instead of being an independent group, they were being backed by Coil, and did missions at his behest. Additionally, we learned that the PRT has been compromised. We don't know the exact extent of it, but with Dragon's help we've determined that a minimum of three PRT agents are plants. Not corrupt or leaking, outright plants that have been working for Coil since they joined the department. We don't know who else might be a problem, but we have to assume that we haven't gotten all of them. Together, these facts indicate that there was a major threat to this city developing right under our noses."

I managed to nod my head. I wasn't usually the kind to be taken aback by things, but this was a lot to process. Armsmaster just barreled on. "While this information originally came from a source that's semi-reliable at best, we've managed to independently confirm enough of it that we have to assume it's true. The risk is too great otherwise. On top of not knowing how much of the PRT is compromised, we don't know which if any other parahumans Coil secretly controls. The only thing I can say is that right now we fully trust all the city's hero teams, even though we don't want to tell them about this just yet for operational security reasons, and that we think the Undersiders were discarded too casually for them to be the only ones in play."

"So where do I come into this?" I asked once he sounded like he was done laying this all down for me. "You said that you wanted to keep this stuff hidden. And last I checked, I'm still a random independent."

"Independent, but not at all random. As I hope you've realized by now, you're this city's most prominent and capable hero not on a team. Frankly, you're one of the city's most prominent and capable heroes period. If the PRT is compromised, then any movement to bring down the hammer will only let Coil know that we're on to him. He's gotten this far by being careful, so unless we can take him down with no warning, then he'll simply go to ground for a while, then pop back up and try whatever his big plan is again. That's especially true because of his power."

"Since when have we known what Coil's power was? I thought the only thing we knew was that he was some kind of Thinker." I felt like Armsmaster was about to reveal it anyway, but I wanted to make sure that I hadn't been missed something and he assumed I knew.

"Since yesterday. The source I've mentioned was Tattletale, as you might have suspected. We think she wasn't working for him entirely of her own volition. This probably isn't how she wanted out, but it looks like she'll take it." So Tattletale tattled. Clockblocker would have a field day when this stuff got released to the rest of the local Protectorate and Wards. "And he's a Thinker alright. His power is allegedly the ability to see two different timelines unfold, wherein he gets to make different choices, and then pick the one he prefers. This we don't have any corroboration for, but the other information has proven accurate, so we have to assume this is as well. Consider it a worst case scenario." That did sound bad, I had to admit. If he was just like any other solo villain, he'd be little more than a nuisance, but as someone with an organization and elite mercenaries working for him it became I didn't even know how good.

"Getting back to your other question, you're our ace in the hole. While I know we've encouraged you to join the Wards in the past, right now your biggest asset is the fact you're outside of the system. The PRT is bureaucratic. We have some room to maneuver outside of the red tape, but not enough to do something like bring down a major player such as Coil. Not without it filtering out into the system and probably letting him know, which again would let him duck out of sight until we were too busy with the other villains in the city to continue investigating him. But you? While Coil's busy plotting and fighting against the Empire, our hope is that you can slip by his defenses and take him down without him seeing it coming. At least not until its too late for him."

I had my suspicions as to the reasoning behind this, so I asked another question. "I have my means, but I can't exactly hunt down an infamously reclusive mastermind all by myself. What help can you give me, and who already knows?"

"Just myself, Miss Militia, and Director Piggot. The other two didn't like the idea of going to you, but our only other real option was taking months at the least to work an investigation and purge of the department in secret, and that would still tip Coil off that we were on to him." And if a fairly major supervillain got taken down months earlier than he otherwise would have, if he'd even have gone down at all, because of a recommendation Armsmaster made then that reflected well on him. I fully trusted his intentions, but I'd also been taught that people often did things for more than one reason. I felt a twinge inside at that. The rage I kept locked up but hadn't actually gone away. I was worse about this than he was, so it was unfair to think about that. "As for help, I'll give you the personal phone numbers for all three of us. These lines should bypass any receptionists or dispatch personnel, and they should also be fully secure. If you need any help we can give, don't hesitate to ask." It wasn't much, but it was something.

"You can also try and work with New Wave, but they don't really like to do this sort of clandestine operation, or anything that would make them look like our attack dogs. There's a reason we came to you and not them. Still, I'm hopeful you can make the pitch better than I can if you have to go to them."

I leaned back on the couch. A secret mission, operating basically alone against a powerful Thinker with a small army of mercenaries at his beck and call, armed with the latest in death-dealing technology, alongside who knows how many parahumans, some of which I might not even know about, and I didn't have the first clue where to start looking for him. Oh, and whenever I tipped him off that I was looking into him, he could start making assassination attempts on me when he didn't have anything better to do, and I'd either never even know about or it would work. Good thing this armor was bulletproof and I was careful about my civilian identity, or that'd be even more of a problem than it was already going to be.

Really, it sounded more like an elaborate form of suicide than anything else, or at best a wild goose chase. Armsmaster could probably tell I had doubts, because he spoke up again. "Obviously you don't have to do this if you don't want to, but you'd be doing us a great service, and I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't think you could handle it."

Damn it, was I really that easy to ready? At least Tattletale had some kind of information-gathering power. Well, I couldn't turn him down now. If nothing else, a request like this gave peace of mind. I knew what I'd be doing was unquestionably the right thing to do, not only morally but in terms of priority.

"I'll get on it starting tomorrow. Not sure how fast I can get results, but I'll at least try."

Armsmaster just nodded. "I'm glad to hear it. Two more things. This coming Tuesday, we'll be moving the Undersiders out of the city. Officially, because their most significant crimes are in other jurisdictions, and so they'll be tried elsewhere. Between us, it's to get them out of Coil's reach. To keep up pretenses we can only assign so many assets to escorting the convoy, but if you just coincidentally helped it get past city limits because you wanted to make sure some captured villains stayed in custody, well." I hummed in understanding. It also helped that I'd shown how I felt on villains getting broken out of anything just yesterday.

"Also, it'd be best if I didn't track you down all the way out here for nothing." Actually, that was a point. How did he find me?

"Wait, does the PRT keep records of all my patrols and plug them into a computer to figure out where I'm likely to go? Do you have a tracking device stuck to me or something?" If so, that was dangerously close to figuring out where I lived, considering that I usually started off from my house. I was sure I'd never been explicitly seen in a block or so around my home, but even a block was an awfully small area to narrow it down to. Especially since the PRT had access to official files, so could compare my heroic persona to everyone in that area.

"I'm afraid that's classified." He said stiffly, and I stood up in annoyance.

"Don't you remember what you just told me? If the PRT knows, then Coil also knows!" I exclaimed, barely keeping my voice steady and free of swears. "I might get shot out of the sky with lasers already, what if he decides to take care of me at home? Don't know about you, but outside of the suit I'm not bulletproof."

Armsmaster grimaced, then sighed. "I didn't want to admit this, but it was a bit of a personal project to track your movements, both strategically and tactically." I couldn't make out his expression with the opaque visor in front of his eyes. "I have to plan for all eventualities." I wanted to argue with that, but it was a fair point. I was a bit of a wildcard, I supposed.

"Moving on, as I said, it would be for the best if I wasn't here for nothing. We actually have a minor lead on the ABB that might be worth checking out, if you're interested. Could take us to Lung, if we're lucky."

With a thought, my wings snapped wide open. Normally I worked alone, but with something that sounded that promising I guess I could make an exception. I smirked underneath my mask. Something to refocus my mind on sounded pretty good right about now.

"Lead the way."

Chapter 22: Chapter 17

Chapter Text

"That could have gone better." I looked down at my armor and took out a small sliver of green crystal that had gotten stuck. "But at least we both made it out."

"We almost had him." Armsmaster sighed, halberd clamped to his back, as he got off his motorcycle and winced as he rolled a shoulder. He'd been hit pretty hard, but it didn't look too bad. I was none the worst for wear myself, protected from the worst of the fighting. I folded my wings in front of me, examining them. A few small holes that would need to be patched up, but very minor considering what could have happened. "If Bakuda hadn't been there..."

"Even then, we probably wouldn't have gotten Lung. I mean, he's Lung." The key was that with how Lung had his gang set up, we probably only needed to take him down properly once, and that should be it for good. The problem was that taking down Lung properly was much, much easier said than done. Especially if he had backup. The only small upside was that a few high-tech bombs that couldn't be used against anyone else now. Still, better than nothing.

"I'll finish my patrol, head back home, and then start investigating over the weekend." I said after a moment of silence. Armsmaster extended a hand and I shook it.

"Good hunting out there." As he moved to get back on his bike and head out himself, I rocketed into the sky, sailing over the city. The rest of the night was uneventful, but that was fine. Four cape fights in a week, one against Lung and one giving me some pretty serious injuries, was way more than average. And sure, they hadn't all been huge wins, but they'd been successful enough.

I almost felt more sorry for Armsmaster though. He'd only had two, but both were against Lung. That had to hurt, literally.

I transferred back over to the Other World and the Halberd, and handed over my equipment for the minor repairs needed. It would all be ready to go by tomorrow morning. I got into bed and pretty much went to sleep right away. As always, my sleep was dreamless.

Now it was Saturday, the start of the weekend, giving me plenty of time to try and work things out. I went down to say hi to mom and get breakfast, then I practically locked myself in my room and began to plan. I had no idea where Coil was, and I had no idea where his base was, and honestly I had no idea where his minions were either. I couldn't really go to the PRT about this, so that left starting at the bottom and trying to work my way up. I knew Coil's people were involved in the drug trade, but it wasn't like they conveniently had street-level drug dealers lying around that I could go and interrogate. I needed a way of finding them first.

I could just go street by street in downtown until I found who I was looking for, but that could take too long. There had to be a more efficient way of doing things. I supposed that the first thing I could try was go to New Wave like Armsmaster had suggested. There was a chance they had something on Coil that I didn't, but the way they generally did things meant that probably wasn't the case. Still, no harm in trying, so I took a quick trip over to pick up my mask before heading back and dialing the Dallon household. I was closer to them than their New Wave allies and family members the Pelhams, but if I had to I could also check in with them. I'd worked with them a couple of times before.

It picked up on the third ring. "Hey EK, what's up?" Victoria Dallon said, her cheerful voice transmitting clearly through the line. That's why I always used my mask to call rather than my cell phone, it helped with my secret identity. Not that I didn't trust New Wave with it, but I still wasn't quite ready to make a leap of faith and tell them.

"Do you have anything on Coil? Anything at all. I'm looking into him."

"It's nine! Nine in the morning! Why are you already on duty?" Victoria whined, and I thought I could hear the noise of her stroppily collapsing into a chair or coach. "I literally just got out of bed, and all for this, come on!"

"If it's so early, why are you out of bed?" I replied, causing her to sputter and then groan in defeat. "That's what I thought. Now, Coil?"

"I mean, you probably know more about him than me. Lone cape, probably a Thinker, head of a gang with access to top of the line hardware. Military-grade, sometimes even better. All on these special forces badasses. Doesn't control much territory, but what he does control is right in the heart of downtown. Mostly fights the Empire, has to have a lot of money to burn to afford all his stuff. Is this helping?"

"A little, but I already knew all of that. I was wondering if you had anything on his operations. Anything I can use, I mean."

"Something actionable, huh?" Actionable, that was the word. There was a pause while Victoria hummed to herself, thinking about it. I shifted, leaning back into my bed, but otherwise stayed silent. I realistically couldn't go out until after dinner even during the weekends, at least not much, so I had all the time in the world to burn.

Eventually, she responded. "Yeah I got nothing, at least off the top of my head. But if you want, I'm sure I could figure something out. Go to emergency services, maybe Gallant knows something-"

"Absolutely not." I forcefully cut her off. "I went to you first exactly because I can't go to the police or PRT about this, and neither can you. Listen, just trust me, okay?" I could maybe get away with going to the PRT and asking for details on Coil's operation, because even though it was going to tip him off that I knew it wouldn't tell him that the Protectorate and Director Piggot knew. Still, I wanted to stall out knowledge of my involvement for a few days, or at least a few hours, because with this kind of cat and mouse every second might count. I'd still go to them if I had to, but I wasn't that desperate. Not yet.

"Is something going on?" Victoria was suddenly a lot more careful with her word choice, speaking slower and more deliberately. Any sign of her earlier casualness was gone.

"Sort of." I replied, now almost the less serious of the two of us. Thinking about it, the line was between my mask and New Wave. Both should be free of anyone listening in, so we should be able to speak freely. Still, the fewer people knew the easier this whole thing was, and you could never be too careful. I resolved to tell her the next time we saw each other in person, assuming nothing else big was going on. "I can't tell you the details, but trust me, the PRT can't know. Not if this is going to work."

"Are you doing something stupid?" She asked. "Because you sound like me when I'm about to do something stupid."

I shrugged, although Victoria couldn't really appreciate the gesture. "Maybe. But not telling the PRT isn't the stupid part. The people who need to know, know. I'll fill you in on all the details when this is over. Or before then, we'll see."

Victoria sighed. "I'll ask mom, see if she has something, but don't expect the world, okay?"

"I don't need the world. Just a start." With that, I hung up, and put my mask down, but kept it on me. Then the waiting game started.

In what I guessed was luck, I at least had something to do. Mom needed to work Saturday this week, apparently scheduled safety checks on the shelters the company she worked for built were all coming up at once and they needed additional hands to deal with it, which left me taking care of Thalia until she came back in the evening. I wasn't proud, but for the most part I just watched TV with her. Nothing excessive, just a few hours, and it was the best I could really do. I wasn't great with young children, as it turned out. Too tense all the time.

I had some standards though, so ever since she'd turned four it had mostly been some family nature programs we had on disc. We weren't well off enough to have a load of them or anything, but we had some. Enough that I could keep showing Thalia mostly new ones even as this situation had happened a few times now. It was actually almost nice, like a bonding experience, since I'd always liked these programs. Probably because they were straightforward. Animals did animal stuff, you just had to follow along with them either trying to eat each other or trying to not get eaten. Thalia seemed absorbed, and even though I'd seen this particular one when I was younger I was still enjoying myself a little. I'd forgotten why I never tried to catch more mature ones recently.

Oh yeah, between school, being a hero, everything around those two and the little bits of time I actually spent with friends I hadn't found the opportunity to. That was why. Well, I'd get around to it once the city was a bit cleaned up, if it ever was.

After Coil maybe, as a reward? Although I had to survive him first.

We'd finished the documentaries and I'd let Thalia start playing with her toys when I got a call through my mask. I hastily put it on and accepted the incoming call. Looks like Victoria had gotten back to me.

"Exoa Knight." Came the light but professional tones of an older male voice. That meant it could only be one person.

"Flashbang." I said, equally dry and flat.

"Oh, you're a friend of the family. You can call me Mark." He replied with a cheer that was obviously forced even to my ears. He did have something of a point, in that I was sort of friends with his two daughters and had run a mission with him before. But I really didn't think that made me a friend of the family. Plus, this wasn't a civilian matter.

"Is this about the information I requested on Coil or not?" I asked. No sense in beating around the bush.

"If you're absolutely set on this, and I would advise against it, we do have something for you." He'd dropped the false cheer, which was a plus in my book. "Carol keeps tabs on gang-affiliates that charges don't stick to for just this sort of thing. I have a couple of names and suspected locations I can give you, but it's nobody high level. You'll be starting from the very bottom and working your way up from there."

"That's what I was thinking anyway." I'd moved back upstairs to my bedroom and gotten a pen and paper by this point. "Hit me."

A few names, a few places in downtown, about what I'd expected. I thanked him for his time and prepared to hang up again.

"I still think this is a bad idea, but if you have to do this, try and stay safe. This city's lost too many heroes already, and I'm sure Amy and Vicky would hate to lose you." Flashbang asked with a voice that sounded more tired than it was concerned.

But I wouldn't make any promises I couldn't expect to keep. "You should know that sometimes we have to take risks in our line of work. Besides, would I still be a friend of your daughters if I wasn't the kind of person willing to take those risks?"

He chuckled at that, with more genuine warmth than the entire rest of the conversation. "I suppose not. As a fellow hero, I wish you the best of luck." With that, I really did hang up, actually putting my mask back where it belonged this time.

Time passed. Mom came back from work, we exchanged a couple of words and then fell silent. She made sure Thalia was doing well, I did the homework I got yesterday, we ate in more or less silence together. Nothing out of the ordinary. I made an excuse about seeing Taylor this evening, then headed out.

Once I'd changed into costume, it was time to go down the list in turn. Not to anyone's actual home, that would probably draw a bit too much attention for my tastes. Better to catch them in the act, for more than one reason. It gave me more leverage and if it was where they were dealing the police and public probably wouldn't see either.

The first location took me to some place I was fairly sure was Empire turf right now, or at least that's what the mass of E88 gang-tags and graffiti made me think. It made sense, since while the gangs all controlled a rough territory, it wasn't like a country's borders where there was a hard line. Well, maybe it was like that in some cities, but in Brockton there were constant underground skirmishes between the various organized groups. Mostly the Empire and Coil, the Merchants and the ABB, and the Empire and ABB. Battle lines moved as territory changed hands, often day by day. So I guess it was like a country's borders, if the country in question was at war. Still, it meant I'd only find some low-level Empire thugs here, and while I wasn't against taking down one of the Nazi shitheads it wasn't what I was trying to do right now.

The second was a lot more promising though. Still seemed to be Coil territory, at least if the amount of visible minorities milling around the area was any indication. I took up position on a flat roof, arms folded as I looked down at the street below, cape billowing in the wind. Even in a city with a bunch of different flying capes, most civilians didn't have it ingrained in them to look up without a specific reason to. Experienced gang members were more of an issue, but in this case that was what I was counting on.

There weren't so many people in this particular block that I keep all of the more suspicious looking ones in my field of vision. Then it was a matter of waiting, again. But at this point I'd gotten very, very patient.

It actually took longer than I'd expected. Almost half an hour, during which a few candidates left and a couple came in. Eventually, a nervous looking guy approached a much less nervous looking one. They talked for a few seconds, the nervous guy looking over his shoulder every other second while the not so nervous one cast a few casual glances around and one up. He saw the figure on the roof, glaring down from the dark directly at him. He took a step back as his client turned to follow his gaze before freezing up. He took another step back before my wings flared open, stretching to the sides in an image that was becoming iconic for me. He turned to run as I took off, even though that really wasn't going to help him.

I glided down, wind rushing past, and flipped over at the last second to face him as I skidded to a halt, wings flaring to help increase my drag. He screeched to a halt right in front of me. "Thompson Smith. Running won't help you." He ignored me, turning back around, but I was much faster, leaping forward and shoving him hard against the nearest wall. He grunted, then stumbled back forward, glaring at me as my wings collapsed back into cape form.

"Pretty sure there's laws against this sort of thing." I didn't physically react. He was right, and I didn't plan to hurt him. Still, maybe it was for the best that he wasn't sure of that just yet.

"There are. But I work outside the law." Sort of true. I wasn't part of the system, but I still had to follow certain laws about my conduct as a vigilante. "Here's the thing, Smith. I don't like you, but I don't think you're the scum of the earth. I mean, you're not Empire." My wings snapped back out at that. "Are you?" The man paled before rapidly shaking his head. My cape reformed again, serving as an exaggerated kind of body language to make up for a lack of facial expressions. "Good. Then that means you work for Coil, since nobody would be stupid enough to deal in a good part of downtown like this without backing." And the fact that people smarter than me had reasons and evidence to connect him to Coil's operation.

"I can't tell you anything!" He said as his breath got shallower and his calm facade started to crack. "Even if I could, I'm a lot more scared of him than I am of you."

"Wrong on both counts. One, you can tell me enough. Two, if you cooperate, I'll let you go. Nobody needs to know that this conversation happened. Otherwise, well. You can have a good time explaining the interesting products on your person to the police. But neither of us wants that. Right?" I got a shaky, almost jittery nod in reply. "Good. We both know you're not important enough to bother breaking out. But the problem with that is you can't tell me what I actually want to know, because you don't really work for Coil. You work for someone who works for Coil. What you can tell me is where to find the guy who's supplying you, because he might actually know something useful.

He grit his teeth and backed up as far as he could. Considering the wall immediately behind him, that wasn't very far. "I rat anyone out and they probably kill me. Sorry, but I'll take my chances with prison."

"You don't have to give me an address or anything. Or even a name. Just tell me where you get your drugs from, and I'll go check it out. So it could have been anyone in your little cell that I'm sure exists. Coil's a professional, after all."

"Alright." He looked around as if to make sure this wasn't a trick. "Alright. Every Tuesday at eight in the evening me and a bunch of other pushers meet up behind the office just off of Butcher Street, yeah? There's this guy in charge, he takes in the boss' cut and gives us our product. We don't know his name or anything, so don't even ask for it. But remember, you didn't hear it from me."

"I don't even know you." I assured him. With that, my wings gave one powerful beat, and I was up in the sky, flying off.

That was almost too easy. I was sure that even after this I'd be several steps away from anything truly vital to Coil. Still, it was the start I'd been hoping for.

There was one problem though. That was around when I was meant to be escorting the PRT convoy with the Undersiders. Since I couldn't be in two places at once, unless I wanted to wait an entire week for another shot at this I'd have to try and find another lead or let the authorities protect the convoy themselves. I was meant to be investigating Coil as fast as possible to efficiently slip under his guard, but if the Undersiders ended up broken out and ended back with him for whatever reason that became a lot harder. I trusted the Waddle Dees, but I'm not sure I trusted them to handle either mission completely by themselves

Actually, there was one solution here. I didn't love it, since I preferred to work alone, but it was there. And besides, I'd resolved to bring her in on this soon enough anyway.

I dialed Victora's cellphone. She picked up on the second ring. "Hey, kinda busy right now?"

"I'll be quick. Glory Girl, I need a favor."

Chapter 23: Chapter 18

Chapter Text

I came to an arrangement with Glory Girl, and then let the rest of the day pass mostly uneventfully. The most notable thing about Sunday was getting told the Halberd would be running a deep space interception mission today, with my patrol turning up absolutely nothing. I chose to view that as a good sign rather than a bad one, that things were cleaning up a bit. I didn't really believe it, but still.

Now it was the afternoon of April the 18th, Monday. School had been as school always was, a decent enough waste of time. Things had silently sorted themselves out between myself and Emma after our last conversation. It hadn't been our first one of those, and it probably wouldn't be the last either. I'd learned to just let it slide over me, and Emma wasn't nearly as stubborn as either me or Taylor. Afterwards, it was time to repeat my weekly run to Brian in order to pay him to not be a supervillain. It was weird to think about it like that, but it was basically what I was doing.

I didn't expect this to be any more notable than yesterday, but to my surprise Brian seemed more agitated than usual. After we went up to his flat and I handed over the money, after saying hi to Aisha of course, he motioned for me to join him on the apartment's balcony. That was a bit unusual, but I just shrugged and followed him outside.

I scanned the area, instinctively trying to pick out any trouble due to the high vantage point. Nothing seemed to be too out of place, but I still found myself suddenly unable to relax. I guess being a hero had sort of ruined my ability to enjoy looking down on things. Did the other fliers get like this too? I supposed it wasn't that important. It was a bit of shame, because the view in this area was quite nice. It was a strange architectural mishmash with buildings of different styles and eras violently clashing with each other, but at least all the individual buildings looked okay. All presentable, mostly stone, steel, and glass. Okay, so maybe the view wasn't that great, but it was a bit better than my house, and it was much better than almost anywhere in the Docks. Plus, if I leaned forward over the railing a bit I could just about see the distant shimmering bubble of energy that was Protectorate Headquarters off to the north.

"We had a deal." Brian says, and there was an edge to his voice that I find difficult to place. Was it anger? No, but it wasn't resignation either. A mix of annoyance and accusation. "I stopped being Grue, and in exchange you helped make up for lost money, so I could afford..." He gestured back at his apartment. "That. Living, and being able to give Aisha a good life as well."

I looked at him and quirked an eyebrow. "What, do you want more money? It'd be a bit tight on my end, but I could probably-"

"You can't give me any money at all if you're dead." He cut me off. He wasn't particularly loud or quiet. Instead, he was speaking at his normal volume, but extremely firm in tone. Laying down the law. "I get that you don't do the safest, you know, job, it has its risks. But that doesn't mean you get to be reckless. I read the news on your last big fight, and it feels to me like you came too close to the edge for comfort."

I shrugged. "I wasn't at risk of dying, if that's what you mean. The Undersiders weren't the kind of people to kill. I just got roughed up, that's all. Even if Panacea didn't show up I could have gone to her, she's usually happy enough to help. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "So you're telling me you didn't lose half your limbs and get a concussion? That didn't happen?"

I sighed and shifted, leaning back against the side railing. "You're making it sound worse than it is. I didn't lose limbs, I just got them crippled. And I've basically already recovered from the concussion too."

He shook his head, mouth becoming a grim line. "That was a lot less reassuring than you probably thought it was going to be. The concussion was minor. So? They aren't always, and they can add up. Panacea can't do brains, right?" I nodded. Technically inaccurate, but close enough. "So you got away with it, this time. But you might not the next time, and even if I didn't care what you end up doing to yourself, I have to think about what it'll mean for me and Aisha. I really don't like that already, the last thing you need is to make it worse. Oh, and Panacea can't bring you back from the dead either."

"How is this any different from what you used to do?" I shot back. "Being a supervillain isn't any safer than being a hero, but you seemed to be more than happy to suit up and go against the law before I showed up. And you're a lot more important to Aisha's future than I'll ever be. Plus, you also seemed fine with what I did before now. So what the hell?"

He gave off a low growl as he looked down to give me a harsh glare. I just let it bounce off and looked right back at him, face just as much of a mask as my actual armored one. "When I went out in costume, I always had a plan, and I was careful. You know how many really serious injuries I sustained throughout all that time? Barely any, probably less than you pick up in a month. I can remember and name all my cape fights, because I avoided them like the plague where I could. I'd need a written list to keep track of even half of yours! All of that's the difference, Sophia. How often are you going to throw yourself into danger and risk leaving me with a check I can't cash anymore?"

I shrugged in response. In hindsight, maybe not a great move. "More often than ever. I just started a new project that's going to take me a bit, and it's probably my riskiest yet." Even without specifics, that was maybe also not the best thing I could have said. Still, I was never one for subtlety, so I plowed on. "Besides, if I do die you can just put on the mask again. I'll be too dead to care, and it's not like I've ratted you out to anyone that could stop you." I didn't love that idea, but the city having an extra supervillain wasn't the worst thing ever if it was just Grue. I rated him as less of an issue than any given three low-level unpowered Empire thugs, really.

"Well, maybe." He turned his head so he could gaze out over the balcony. "I still have a handful of contacts in the underground, and they're all saying things are heating up out there. All the gangs are getting more aggressive, muscling in on the territory and jobs of the small villains as they dry up. No thanks to you." In fairness, he had a point. I'd been responsible for two long-term incarcerations of minor villain groups, but had yet to have a good pickup on any member of a larger gang. Something that would soon change if the Coil thing worked out, but Brian didn't know that. "So going out solo is more dangerous for me now than it used to be, and I can hardly join one of the gangs. Wrong skin color for two, and like hell I'd ever join the Merchants." He adopted a more thoughtful expression. "Although if Coil's hiring, then who knows."

I grimaced. "As a personal favor, please don't ever work for Coil." He gave me an odd look at that, but just nodded without complaining. "Still, if we want to talk, contacts, I, you know." Did he know? Did I know? I wanted to say that I knew powerful people, and could call on them. It felt wrong to think, but was it? I had the emergency bypass numbers for the city's Protectorate team leader and PRT Director. I was a personal friend with a bright star of the local cape scene. Much as I hated to say it, I had influence. I preferred to go it alone, kept me focused, kept me from saying too much, and it kept anyone else from getting hurt, but I guessed influence wasn't always a bad thing if I used it carefully. "I know people, as in important people, so I can probably set something up for if I die. Make sure you get taken care of. Wouldn't be formal or anything, but I could make it happen."

"I was trying to get you to be more careful, not whatever the hell that is. God's sake Sophia, just take care of yourself a little. It's not that fucking hard." He turned and marched back inside, wisps of darkness trailing off of clenched fists as he threw open the door and let it slam shut behind him. Not wanting to make a promise I couldn't keep, I kept silent. I also noted he didn't actually tell me not to make any arrangements. Like a will, I supposed. I'd talk to him about that again next week, since I didn't think he wanted to hear any more of it right now.

I stayed outside for a bit, resting my left arm horizontally on the railing and propping up my right elbow next to it, resting my chin on the back of my hand. Just staring off into the middle distance. Maybe a minute or so passed before I heard the door opening behind me. I looked behind me to see Aisha walk out and take up a position next to me, looking out at the surrounding skyline. She mostly just looked bored, flicking her hair back. I noted that a large streak of it was bleached, and a thinner streak was dyed purple. I could swear that hadn't been the case last week. Was I right, or had I just missed it?

"Want a cookie?" She asked out of the blue, taking one out of her right pocket, that I now noticed had a suspiciously packet-shaped structure to it. I hummed vaguely and she took it as a yes, since she gently tossed it at me. In a flash, I caught it between two fingers and popped it into my mouth. Aisha very politely clapped for a couple of seconds before I swallowed.

"Brian has cookies?" I asked, causing her to give a noncommittal hum.

"Well, he did. It's fine, they were mostly for me anyway." The perils of leaving Aisha unattended. "So, my brother looks unhappy. What did you talk about?"

I considered the ways I could approach this. I could deflect, but that would be obvious, and Aisha probably wouldn't like it. I could lie, but that seemed pointless. That left various kinds of honesty. Hadn't worked out previously, but it was what I was best at, so I may as well give it another shot. "We talked about me taking risks. We didn't agree on how much I should hold back when I was in the field. That's all there is to it. Your brother is just a little frustrated with me right now, that's all."

"Aw, it's like he cares." Aisha stretched as she leaned back on the railing opposite mine. "No, really, he does care. It's kind of hard to see, but I don't think he'd mind so much if it was all business. I guess it's hard to know someone for that long without caring a little, and he knows you could have turned him over to the PRT but didn't."

"And you?"

Aisha grinned, giving a casual shrug. "Don't push your luck, Soph."

"Well, it's true that he cares." I said, glancing off towards the closed door beside us. "You're lucky to have him."

That caused a scowl. "I know that. I think he can be a dick about rules sometimes, but I know that he cares. I just wish he wasn't so, you know. Overbearing, I guess?"

I flinched at that. Considering my own past, the last thing I'd call anyone was overbearing unless I thought they really deserved it. I didn't want to speak up about it, but Aisha caught the subtle movement. Since I was normally so still, even small things I did were fairly easy to pick up on. "Oh, sorry I guess." I knew Aisha didn't have the greatest home life, it was why Brian planned to officially get full custody when he turned eighteen this summer, but it must have been bad in a very different way from mine.

"So, why couldn't you agree on stuff?" She asked, suddenly attempting to change the subject. I rolled with it.

"Brian mostly cares about himself and you. And if you're right me a bit too, I guess. And that's fine, but, well." I gestured out towards the city. "Doesn't do much for everyone else, right? I know the city doesn't have to be like this. I mean, yeah, I can't do shit about the city's, god, financial health? Is that the phrase? Whatever. Anyway, as long as things are bad there, there'll always be crime. Or things that may as well be crime." I was reminded of some of the worse stories I'd heard about the Boardwalk. While it may have looked nice on the surface, I thought of it as like a band-aid on the massive wound that was the Bay's port money drying up and the bulk of the economy leaving. As in it was pointless at best, offensive at worst, and hurt to look at no matter what. "Because people have no other choice. It's why your brother was Grue, he didn't think he had another way to help you out, and he basically didn't back then. But even so, fuck it, that doesn't mean we have to put up with Lung. Or worse, the Empire. I'm not willing to stand by and let them continue to run around, seriously hurting and even killing people like us just because of what we look like, or who we love. The police certainly aren't going to take care of them, and the Protectorate and New Wave are overstretched. So, it's down to me." That was the official line I gave, at least. Didn't matter how much I believed it at heart so long as I wore a tight enough mask to make it seem like I did. Helped that more than a bit was definitely true. Like what I was about to say. "So in a way I'm doing this for you, and my own sister, and hell, everyone else closer to home in ABB territory, and so on. I have powers that give me way more ability to affect the world than most people get. That's why I'll never hold myself back, I have a responsibility to you all. To do better, to be better, to fight to make things better."

"...okay then." Aisha said. "Sorry I asked."

"No, it's fine. I just kind of hoped he'd get it." I started drumming out a steady rhythm on the railings with the fingers of one hand. "For the most part, the Wards and New Wave don't. Fuck's sake, they all go to Arcadia High. They know the city's bad, but most of them just think if they can beat the bad guys hard enough that'll just make the problems go away. They think it's something easily fixed. Well, not easily, but you know what I mean. And my civilian friends don't really get the cape stuff, not how it is to be on the front lines. Brian's been in the shit like me, so I was hoping he'd understand. Things are fucked and that's why I have to take so many risks to fix them." I paused. "Actually I guess he does, he just disagrees on what's the best thing to do." I paused again, losing my train of thought as I realized Aisha was staring at me. "Uh, yeah. Wanna go back inside?"

"Sure. You know, I thought you were the silent type, but man can you talk a lot when you want to. Makes me regret coming out here to be honest." I playfully punched in the shoulder at that.

"Don't be a brat, Aisha." I said, sighing it out in a sort of content way.

"Eh, you first." She replied.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" I protested as I opened up the door to the apartment.

Chapter 24: Chapter 19

Chapter Text

The rest of Monday practically flew by. It was a bit weird to feel the push of the Halberd's engines as it flew through space, but it still had atmosphere and gravity, so it was nothing too out there. I heard some mutterings about how the interception had turned into a hunt, which should have set off more concerns than it did. Because when I first transported over on Tuesday, I was sent to the floor by the distant, dull roar of an explosion followed by shockwaves reverberating (was that the right word?) through the ship's hull. There weren't any blaring sirens, so the fight had to be underway. I wasn't supposed to be here during these fights, but since there was no way other than me to move messages between dimensions, if something took the Halberd by surprise then there was no way to forewarn me. I'd considered moving off as a result, but anywhere else in Dreamland wasn't any safer, so I'd learned to live with it. Usually I could overlook it, but the detonations meant I couldn't concentrate long enough to go back to Earth. The constant pressure from what I assumed had to be maneuvering and acceleration wasn't helping either. So after I'd managed to throw on my suit and test everything worked, I decided I may as well see what the hell was going on. If nothing else, once I was top up I could hitch a ride out with my Warp Star beacon and make the trip back from elsewhere.

So I marched down the silent, empty corridors, occasionally stumbling when there was a sudden burst of acceleration or another detonation of some kind. As I got closer to the deck, things got louder, noises becoming clearer and more defined. The sounds of battle, and not a small one. By the time I was ready to go over the top, I could hear the yells and panicked shouts. No sense in delaying, so I opened up the hatch above me and clambered out.

The first thing I saw was the massive flying wing almost directly above the Halberd. It was hard to tell how big, exactly, but I lived in Brockton Bay, so I'd seen my fair share of ships. Not so many actually out at sea, but enough. I looked at the dots surrounding it, moving back and forth, descending and ascending, and I tried to make a quick estimate. It would be about...

I wanted to say that it couldn't be right, that it was impossible for a spaceship to be the size of a city. But I knew better than that, because I'd seen stranger things here. The Halberd was large, as far as ships went, but it seemed almost small in size compared to this, this interstellar thing. I was glad for the filters in my mask as I looked up to see the smoke and flame coming off of one of the secondary guns, the one sitting just behind Main Cannon Number Two. The left wing was in tatters and on fire as well, and so was the smooth area of the ship in front of the deck. I figured out why when there was another twist in motion as the Halberd lurched, spun, and twisted out of the way of a purple beam of energy that slashed down from the alien mothership above. Or, well, after the turn it was actually to the right. Space was confusing like that, and artificial gravity only helped so much.

There were explosions all around the edge of the ship that I recognized as flak, and streams of firepower coming from the secondary guns that were still online, storms of metal like strobing searchlights scything through the void to cut down incoming hostiles. The Number Two cannon fired an blue beam of concentrated energy light at a giant green robot, punching through its core before adjusting upwards and turning its head into so much slag. It tumbled out of my sight, engines dying, as the Halberd made another course change.

All of it was loud, except the occasional blast of return fire that passed through the blackness outside of the Halberd's thin atmosphere. That was utterly silent. I knew that was because of how space worked, but it still creeped me out a little. Then again, better than a hit. For one thing, if I got caught up in one of those blasts I'd be turned into free-floating atoms.

I turned my gaze towards the deck, and things weren't going any better down here. Little round black aliens, about Kirby-sized and shaped, with big yellow eyes, white hands, blue feet, and no other features. Some equipment and armor, with the ones on foot carrying blasters that blue sparks of plasma. Some were riding bulky walkers, easily as tall as me with stubby legs but absolutely enormous arms, serving as the front line and just punching aside anything in their way. Each had a red sensor on the front that slid about on a track, scanning everything around. There was more, invaders in various shapes and sizes, but those were the bulk of it. They already had maybe three quarters of the deck, with the Halberd's crew making a fighting withdrawal. The battle was actually moving to where I was. The cannon in front of me split apart into its two components, the base with the secondary beam emitter and the upper turret that could also fire solid shells rotating separately to engage two groups of the mechs at once. Still, that would only delay things a bit, and I couldn't see Meta Knight anywhere.

I took a step forward as I considered things for a moment. Making my decision, the rear light on my sheathe flickered from green to red. For the first time in almost two months, I put my hand on the hilt with intent to draw. I actually spared a moment to glance at it. In normal human terms it would be called an arming sword, with brown wrappings on the hilt gave way to a curved golden crossguard with a red gem embedded in each side, as well as a golden rain-guard. It actually contrasted pretty badly with the rest of my equipment, but I'd learned to live with it.

It was only seconds before the fight finished making its way to me. A member of the armored Meta-Knights in orange armor with a yellow crescent on top was sent tumbling back by a heavy blow from a robot. It twisted in mid-air, a burst of energy flaring from its back as it used integrated jets to come to a halt right next to me.

"Dame Exoa Knight, you have impeccable timing." He spoke in a deep, smooth voice as he shifted his trident in his right hand. "Or perhaps our timing is terrible. We were ambushed by that scout craft-"

"Excuse me? Scout craft?" Before I could inquire further as to why and how the fuck something that could probably envelop all of Brockton Bay was considered a scout of any kind, what had caused the Trident Knight's tumble showed up. With an outer shell made up of mostly white metal plates, forming up to a fin at the rear. Discounting the fin, it was about as tall as me. It had two very different looking arms, a large jet nozzle on the back, and stood on blocky legs. The front plate had a red logo on it, sort of like a big H but with the four corners curving to the side and tapering off into points. Actually, that logo was on the arms of the mechs, and now that the Halberd had circled around the alien ship I could see it was on the top of that too. It had to be the symbol for this entire group, then.

The machine in front of us adjusted its left arm, and with a snap-hiss a confined beam of off-white plasma shot out, taking the form of a rod of power. Functionally, an energy saber. No more time for talking. We broke to the sides, trying to curve around and attack from each angle. I went left while he went right, leaving the robot to figure out how to tackle both of us.

It responded far faster than I'd hoped, shifting as a port opened up on its right arm, closer to me. A trio of missiles that were way too big to fit in there shot out, spiraling through the air and hunting me down. But they'd taken a second to get up to speed, so I was able to dodge around them with a beat of my wings, twisting and flapping just out of reach as the projectiles shot past me. I stumbled as I landed just before another burst of acceleration, almost tripping from the sudden change in momentum. The robot and Trident Knight were fighting in melee, exchanging blows too fast for me to properly track. But I couldn't focus on them.

I whirled around to see the missiles had flipped over and were heading straight back for me. Without the time or room to dodge again, I finally drew my sword. Starlight glinted off of the gleaming silver metal, and with a simple effort of will it erupted into flames. Another mental twist, and I was catapulted backwards by my wings, with a flickering orange field of raw heat left behind. The missiles darted into it and detonated well away from me, their explosions being greedily absorbed by my blade's heat. Shrapnel slashed through the air and impacted my armor, but it was nothing my plates couldn't handle.

I turned back around to see the final exchange, already moving as I did. The machine put its sword right through Trident Knight's visor, causing him to go still. It withdrew its blade, letting him slump to the floor. For him, that was a survivable injury. But if it happened to me, well. Not so much.

But he'd delayed for a moment long enough. The sword drew deep from the well of inner energy I'd gained from this place, helpfully narrowing my vision. Not literally, I was just more focused than ever. There was only me and the machine. And I wasn't really me, I was a collection of wing and warplate, flame and fury. Just the essential components.

Sorcery met science, and prevailed. My sword cut clean through the outer plating of the machine, even if I had to use all my strength, and the blade got stuck. I stoked the fire, and it roared forward into what I hoped were the robot's delicate insides. It staggered, pulling itself free, and raised a crackling field of cyan energy between us. I gripped my sword in two hands, and struck again. The barrier held for a moment, but only that. I cut through, and the shield dissipated. Not letting up, I lunged forward, steadying and propelling myself further with my wings, and put the sword right through the gap between the two lower legs of that big red H. It swallowed up two thirds of the sword, and so I tensed. Wings flared and energy accumulated, a strange heat that dashed from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. I wrenched downwards, and the energy exploded outwards from the tip of my sword. Normally, it would make a fireball, but here it was a concentrated explosion inside the enemy. It was blown to pieces, an aura of residual heat protecting me from shrapnel and parts.

I let the fire subside from an inferno to a steady burn, and let my focus expand. The alien ship wasn't above or below us anymore, it was right in front. We were looking down on it from above, and it seemed to be wracked with detonations as what had to have been thousands of tons of metal spun off into space. Beneath was what looked like some kind of energy core, a brightly glowing orb contained in some form of machine. I felt a shudder run through the Halberd's frame moments before a coherent beam of light shot out from somewhere I couldn't see. If I remembered right, that would be Main Cannon Number One, firing from its fixed position below the bow. The lance of energy pierced straight through the core below, and as it did it erupted into a huge sphere, brighter than the sun. Even with my visor automatically dimming to protect my eyes, I head to turn my head away. After a few seconds, it had faded away, and I turned back to see a massive gap in the middle of the ship where there used to be, well, ship. It looked like that had kicked off some secondary detonations along the remaining parts as well.

I launched myself to the front, blade twisting and turning through the air in great arcs of heat and magical steel. It was slow going, as I had to take exceptional care not to get shot or punched into next week. My sword didn't make me much tougher than normal, so I was a huge glass cannon. Still, I managed to make some progress, cutting through metal and disarming invaders. After only a minute or so more of fighting, I noticed that the other side of the battle was getting much closer. There was a blur dancing down the line, tornado wind and crescent beams of energy cutting down the enemy like so much nothing in an oncoming wave. The blur soon became a familiar form, slowing down only a little as the enemies dried up.

Meta Knight, blade drawn and wings extended, came to a halt immediately before me. We awkwardly stared at each other for several seconds in utter silence, the only noise the groans of the beaten. Our staring contest was broken when sudden beeping emerged from all around us. From all the defeated aliens, in fact. Before we could do anything about it, they disappeared one after the other in hundreds of flashes of white light, vanishing into thin air. They must have been recalled by teleporters.

With that, things quietened down a little. The Halberd reoriented and started the long journey home, leaving so much wreckage behind. It would take a few weeks to repair the damages, but it shouldn't be the end of the world. After he made sure everyone was alright, including the Trident Knight I'd fought beside earlier, Meta Knight headed to the front of the deck and folded himself up in his cape, gazing out at the stars. I'd sheathed my sword, and decided to sit alongside him. Really, I should have been heading back but I had something specific for today, and neither the meeting nor the convoy were happening right away, so there wouldn't even be much point. I kicked my legs out into space, hands planted on either side of me, cape trailing behind me.

I didn't know exactly how long we just sat there in quiet contemplation. Eventually, I cast around for something to say. "Scout craft?" Great going, Sophia, bring up work stuff. Because that's what Meta Knight needs more of. It's not enough that he has to organize an entire organization and deal with all of this... stuff, you have to badger him about it too.

Still, he responds. Cryptically, but he responds. "Have you heard the tale of the blind warriors and the Phan Phan?" I hadn't, and I didn't know what a Phan Phan was, so I just shook my head. He acknowledged, and continued. "Suffice it to say, we do not know the scope or scale of this threat, and it would be foolish to guess. We do not even yet know their names. What we do know is that craft you saw was not the main base of that group, and that they are most certainly hostile to us. We suspect that we will be taken by surprise if and when they do invade Planet Popstar. That is all I can say." Not exactly encouraging, but it wasn't my job.

That kind of grated at me, actually. That I didn't help with these things. Not just the various horrors that permeated the Other World, but even back home I didn't really interact with the S-Class Threats. I'd done so exactly once, and while the result wasn't terrible, it wasn't amazing either, and it had been as a tiny part of a greater effort. Mostly, I was trying to keep one city from falling over the edge, and I wasn't even sure I was doing a great job of it. I had a unique power, a strong power. I felt like I should be doing more. But of course, I was already pushing my body near to its limits with patrols, I just couldn't work any harder. I was trying to work smarter, but that only took me so far.

And I really should be talking to him, shouldn't I? I hadn't seen him since before the battle with the Undersiders nearly a week ago. But no, a week wasn't too long, maybe I didn't need to talk to him? But I was here, so I should, right? I spiraled mentally, trying to figure out what to say. Should I bring up that fight? I was certain news had gotten back to him already, but maybe he should still hear it from me? Or my new mission, that was something to say. He might even have advice for me, which would be helpful. I really needed every edge I could get if I wanted to deal with Coil.

But where would I start? Would I just bring that up out of the blue, more work stuff? But then again we didn't even have much else to talk about.

Why was talking to Meta Knight so hard sometimes?

Luckily, he broke the silence for me. "I understand you are quite busy as a hero on your world, but if you have a break in your schedule-"

"Don't." I responded maybe a bit too quickly. "I just took on a big mission. Very important."

"...I see. My apologies." There was something in his voice I couldn't identify. "Would you mind explaining this mission to me?"

"Sure." I shrugged. "There's a villain in my city who's infiltrated the PRT, has a bunch of elite soldiers, and can split the timeline in two. I'm trying to find out where he is so I can take him down, but I don't have many clues to go off of. So I'm not sure how quick it'll be."

"Hmm." Meta Knight pondered it for a moment before answering. "What is this villain's goal? Know that, and perhaps you will understand him. Understand him, and you may yet defeat him."

I nodded at that. Then I sighed, and made a leap of faith. "Since this is kind of big, I do have a favor to ask. I know that you're even busier than me, but if you could spare a few personnel?" He was busy enough that I always had to make arrangements in advance. Normally, I didn't get the chance, but here I had something of a plan. Just the faint outline of one based on what I knew of Coil's operation, but it might be enough.

"Of course. After all, it is the least we can do after your aid in defeating that war-droid." I suppressed a wince at that. I didn't really do much, but I had asked for the help so I was glad to receive it.

"Thanks. I'll, uh. You know. Give you the details when I'm done." I decided to leave it at that, and silently waited the several seconds of still focus needed to finally phase back to Earth Bet.

His advice stuck with me, staying in the back of my mind as I headed over to the prisoner convoy. As I flew above it, darting over the rooftops alongside the Protectorate's Assault, I considered it. What was Coil after? I actually didn't know. He clearly had immense wealth, a strong power, agents high up in the PRT, cape subordinates, and for what? He ran a gang in a dying city. Sure, a pretty dangerous and powerful gang by most standards, but it was still basically just that. There had to be something I was missing. And this prisoner stuff was pretty weird as well. If I was Coil, I'd have used my powers to make one timeline where I sent the Undersiders in, and one where I kept them back. That way, if they failed, I didn't lose anything, because I could just pick the timeline where I held them back. Unless Tattletale was lying through her teeth about what Coil's power was, but why do that? It would make more sense if she was lying about everything, but Armsmaster had made it clear that was impossible.

So, assuming Coil wasn't stupid, what was going on? Was it the case that the Undersiders were less important than something else he was using his power for? What could be more important than three of your capes trying to bust two more out of jail? And it would had to have been something that happened at around the same time as the attempted jailbreak.

Wait. There was something that had happened around that time. The mayor's niece had been kidnapped. I hadn't connected the two at all, I had no reason to until I learned the connection between Coil and the Undersiders. Even then, I wouldn't have assumed anything if I didn't know his power. But it made a horrible kind of sense. The girl, Dinah Alcott, had been kidnapped from her home, but with no trail of evidence and no ransom note. Maybe the work of professionals who weren't doing it for money. I didn't know the exact relationship between Dinah and her uncle, but it didn't seem estranged from what little I knew, while being less suspicious and much less difficult than kidnapping his adult son, Rory Christner.

Coil already had his men in the PRT, men on the ground, almost certainly assets in the city, and probably people in the police too. If he had the city's mayor by the balls, then he was only a few steps away from ruling the entire Bay from the shadows. Why not sacrifice base powered criminals like the Undersiders when you had a shot at not needing criminals at all?

Although that in turn raised some questions. If that was true, why the Bay? It wasn't exactly an ideal city to rule by most standards. And even if he had way more control than I realized over the local government, the Empire and ABB would still be problems, since for all intents and purposes his authority wouldn't stretch into large parts of downtown and most of the Docks. I was sure I was missing several key parts here.

Still, even if I was only roughly right, this could be far bigger than anyone but me and Coil realized.

Well, I'd just earlier today thought that I needed to be doing more to keep this city from toppling into the abyss. I guessed this was my chance to do just that.

Chapter 25: Chapter 20

Chapter Text

As the vehicle convoy left the city, I watched it go for a moment, speeding down the highway. We hadn't encountered any trouble, and I was glad. After all, I had somewhere else to be. If I had to guess, Coil probably tried to bust the Undersiders out in an alternate timeline but failed. That, or he had something more important than rescuing a team of three of his capes to deal with, again. I kind of hoped he didn't, actually. I needed time to deal with him and that got harder if he was moving whatever his evil plans were forward that fast.

As I began to fly backwards, putting distance between myself and the armored trucks, I got a radio message from Battery, who was riding inside one of the vehicles. "Thanks for your help, although I guess we didn't need it tonight. I won't keep you, but one of the prisoners wants to give you a message, if you're alright with hearing it." I hadn't made myself visible to any of the passengers, which meant that the Undersider in question had to have figured it out from context clues, meaning it was probably Tattletale. I wasn't on the best of terms with her, but I supposed it couldn't hurt if we were together in trying to take Coil out of the picture.

"Yeah, tell me what it was."

"She just said good luck to you." Well that wasn't worrying at all.

"Tell her thanks. I might need it." With that, I broke contact, finally turning around and gliding back over the city, letting momentum and the currents take me through the sky. I didn't waste any time before dialing Victoria to see how she'd done. She picked up right away, which was a good sign. "Glory Girl. Did you grab the target?"

"Yeah, I got him." She cheerfully replied. "Have him right here on a flat rooftop just a couple buildings away from where I grabbed him. Come on over and you can't miss us. Haven't been able to get anything out of him, though. Not even a name." I figured as much. I could only assume that as I got deeper into Coil's network of subordinates, they'd become more loyal and trained to resist interrogation. A low-level drug pusher would crack when I pushed them against a wall and gave them a good glare, because why wouldn't they? They were random people, generally in bad situations, grabbed off the street to work as grunts. Even when they did open up, the most they could tell anyone was the next person up in the chain, which wasn't that useful if that person refused to cooperate.

And Brockton Bay wasn't the largest city ever. It didn't even rate top fifty in the US. Add to that the fact that Coil, or at least his money-making criminal operations, mostly only worked in part of downtown, and it wouldn't surprise me if there were maybe three or four ranks between the goons and him. Which meant that either the guy we'd grabbed reported to someone who reported directly to Coil, or reported to someone who reported to someone who did. I'd gotten that much closer, sure, but I was still a ways away from where I needed to be, and things were already getting tough.

Those thoughts kept me occupied until I arrived at my destination. The lot in question had completely cleared out, with everyone presumably having scattered with their product when Glory Girl showed up. It only took me a second of looking around to find her, especially since she was giving me a friendly wave. I flew over and up, resetting my wings back to a cape just as I crossed the lip of the roof, letting me land smoothly and instantly transition to walking forward a few steps towards our guy.

And it was a guy, as it turned out. He looked utterly calm, almost smug, looking around as if being yanked to a rooftop by a superhero was nothing special. He had slicked back dark brown hair and a good bit of stubble, and he was wearing a button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves along with black slacks and shoes as if he'd just come out of the office. Hell, for all I know, he had, and he worked at the place he organized a drug ring behind. I didn't expect him to be so calm, honestly. I figured he'd put up a front, but he genuinely didn't seem to care. Maybe he was actually one of Coil's ex-military people.

"Alright, is it fine if I leave you to it?" Victoria said, before pausing. "Actually, if you want some help with, I can be back in a second."

"I'll take any help you can give." I answered. Victoria gave a small smile, nodded, and took off, leaving me alone.

He looked back over to me, face twisting into something of a cocky grin. "Well, I'm honored to meet you. Exoa Knight, right? Honestly, big fan." I wasn't sure if he was being genuine in some way or just trying to piss me off, and I wasn't sure which one I liked less. "You can call me Viper, how's that sound? I kinda like it, reminds me of the good old days." I wanted to ignore him, call him something else, but that would just be petulant. I wasn't going to get anywhere like that.

I looked over my options for a second. I'd already discounted threatening him. Wouldn't work. Even if actually roughing him up was legal, I doubted that would work either. More than either of those problems, I liked to think I had standards. A code. I wasn't a BBPD officer or a gang member.

So with the obvious options out of the way, I'd have to get creative. Couldn't offer to pretend this meeting never happened like with his subordinate. All of the witnesses to Glory Girl grabbing him made sure I couldn't offer that. If I let him go, that looked suspicious. He could say he wasn't compromised, but even if that was true, would Coil or whoever was handling his lot even believe him? Something convoluted like offering to make it seem like I'd left him for the police but he'd escaped? Wouldn't work if he just called my bluff and refused to cooperate.

"What does Coil have on you, Viper?" I settled on. Try and get more information, see if I have any leverage.

"Oh, nothing, really." He said airily. "Unless you count good hours, better pay, and a hell of a dental plan as something he has on me. In which case, he has a lot." I didn't know if he was telling the truth, but that definitely didn't help. "You know, he could use someone like you."

I blinked behind my mask, my train of thought thrown off. "I'm sorry?"

"Coil could use someone with your abilities. I mean, I wasn't kidding when I said I was a fan. The way you fight, it's something else. You have skills, you have powers. And I bet you're not making much as a vigilante. I mean, you wouldn't even have to go villain. I'm sure he'd love a mole in the hero community," His grin widened, and he leaned forward before adding in a conspiratorial whisper "And I'd probably get a hell of a talent scout bonus too. Win-win, right?"

"Shut up." I said. Coldly, immediately. I didn't know if he was serious and I didn't care. I was angry. More than that, I was furious. I hated how he thought I'd turn villain, no matter how good the benefits were. I hated it more than I could say, hated it and feared it. I saw things unfold before my eyes, all sorts of paths. If I pushed him off the roof, nobody would ever know. Well, except Glory Girl, but I could figure that out. Call it an accident, say he tripped, have her corroborate. Even if she figured it wasn't entirely true, she was familiar with those kinds of incidents, she'd understand.

Oh, snap out of it, Sophia. You're better than that. You have to be. Otherwise you were only trained because of a lie, and you're basically proving him right as well.

"Alright." He replied, unaware of my inner thoughts. "But if you're just gonna stare at me for an hour until you agree to let me go, it's gonna be really boring for both of us."

My mask betrayed nothing as I folded my arms and let my cape flutter, controlling its flowing twists in the air for a moment, putting my head back in order. Right, so what did I have on him? If he was telling the truth, he was probably ex-military. and was in this job only for the pay. Threatening him wouldn't get me anywhere. I probably couldn't go up the chain from him. Maybe I could go sideways, though?

As I was busy planning, Victoria showed back up. This time, she was carrying her sister bridal-style. She gently set her down and floated back before gesturing to the side with her arms. "Ta-da!"

I sighed and took a few steps away from Viper, gesturing for the Dallon sisters to follow me out of easy earshot. "Explain, please." I said.

"It's simple. I figured it wouldn't be easy to interrogate this guy, so I decided to try thinking outside the box, so I brought Panacea along! With her power she can look at your body's reactions and know if you're telling the truth. Like a living lie detector! I think it's pretty cool." Victoria looked more enthused about it than Amy did. At a guess, she'd been pressured into doing this by her sister. That's how these things usually went.

"I don't count just looking as messing with someone's brain, so I'm fine with it." She said, voice slightly muffled by her scarf. "But don't ask me to try and pull some truth-serum bullshit. That is brain stuff, and maybe also slightly illegal."

I nod. "Wasn't planning to. If both of you are going to be we'll do this as a team, alright?" I glanced over at Viper. I was facing him to ensure he didn't try and run or pull a hidden weapon, and even if he could lip-read my mask meant it wouldn't matter. "Amy, you stand behind him and keep hold. Nod or shake your head depending on if he's telling the truth. Victoria, use your power. Moderate blast. We don't want to trigger his fight or flight instincts, but we want him to keep talking. That's probably easier if he's a bit unsettled. I'll keep handling the questions. Any objections?" Two small shakes of the head. "Then positions."

It took a few seconds to get to where we were comfortable. Amy had a loose grip around the back of Viper's neck, Glory Girl was hovering in the air beside me doing her best to look intimidating, and I was standing there doing my best masked glare. So, as I was thinking before backup had arrived. It was probably a lost cause to find the person he reported to from him, and even if he did that person wouldn't be Coil, and might not even know where Coil was. But that didn't mean he was useless to me.

"Let's start off easy. You asked me to call you Viper, is that right?" His smirk didn't fade and he nodded. A moment later, Panacea nodded too. "Good. Now, tell me, where can I find Coil?"

"Oh, please. I wouldn't tell you even if I knew." Another full nod from Amy. So he didn't know and he wasn't saying. I figured as much, but it was good to get it confirmed. It also opened up what I was about to do.

With an exaggerated sigh, I turned, wheeling around on one foot to face the office block a few buildings away. The one he'd been grabbed from. "You're being annoying. And honestly, I don't know how to deal with it, because I don't even know you. I mean, that place you were camping out behind. Do you work there or something?"

He snorted. "Yeah, I can tell you that much. Doesn't help you. Isn't it nicer when we're all trying to get along?" I could see Amy nod once again. Of course, he was right. Knowing that Viper worked there didn't actually help me, not by itself. But it was a start.

"But why? You're already being payed by Coil to run that little drug ring. Being middle management for a bunch of criminals can't be easy." I was still feeling around, not really going anywhere specifically yet.

"Well, you know, a real job helps pay the bills." He casually answered. Amy shook her head.

So that was a lie. He was working there for a non-financial reason. Not that I let on that Amy had said as much. He might not even consciously realize it was a lie, even though he probably did.

"Coil can't even provide for his own employees? I thought you said the pay was good." Push in, figure out where the lie was.

"I suppose I did." Another nod. But that didn't help me, because all that had proven was that he knew he'd said that. Damn it, I should have phrased better, coaxed him into revealing something more.

"So you're either lying about that or lying about it helping with money." I said. Come on, give something away...

"Well, maybe." He replied. Amy shook her head. That was not that helpful. I knew he knew it either was or wasn't a lie, but I could have figured that much out on my own.

Really, what was I expecting? If this guy had been in the army he had way more experience than we did. We were a bunch of teenagers playing hero, of course we couldn't overcome his will with our own. I felt stupid for even trying.

But I wasn't about to give up that easily. Think. Of course the pay would actually be good. Coil didn't seem like the kind to be stingy. Not if his forces were made up of former soldiers with top-end gear. And I already knew from Amy that he was actually lying about it paying the bills. What non-financial reasons did he have? Cover, a secret identity? There was no way this guy was a cape, so that felt off.

Maybe I should just ask.

"So if you're lying about it being for the money, why are you working there?" I asked.

"I don't think I need to tell you that." Amy reluctantly nodded, not that it meant anything, but I could swear I heard a note of creeping caution in his voice after all this time. I'd press, then.

"Because it's important?" I didn't catch a physical reaction, but Amy slightly inclined her head. His internals had betrayed him ever so slightly, because he realized I'd gotten on the track. Well, then I'd press harder. "It's important, because," I threw my mind around. "Because you're not working there for yourself. You're working there for Coil." But why? Why would Coil want his drug-ring leaders pulling double duty as office workers? Wait, of course, I knew Coil was wealthy. The kind of wealthy you maybe couldn't get from a small part of the Brockton vice trade. That meant he had other sources, I already figured he had assets...

It was only a second before I continued. "Because Coil owns the place. As in the company, not the building." I could feel a tugging in my chest. Glory Girl was in sync with me, and she'd turned up the heat just a notch.

"I don't know, I wouldn't say that." He reflexively deflected, but Amy shook her head. Just one, small slip-up. Nothing that I could use if I didn't have Amy here. Nothing admissible in court. Nothing that would lead me straight to Coil.

But it was new information, and it was progress.

"Thank you for your time, Viper." I said as dispassionately as I could. "Glory Girl, dump him back on the ground floor." She nodded and obliged, grabbing him under the arms and moving to levitate down the building.

I breathed out a sigh from a mix of relief and exhaustion. Amy made a vague grunt and she looked over the edge to see her sister fly down. "You know, we probably could have gotten more out of him." She said.

I snorted. "Maybe, but fuck that. Oh my god, that was like pulling teeth."

Amy just shrugged. "Yeah, but I could have made him sweat a little. You used me for one thing, my power can do more. Maybe make him lose feeling in his digits. That would have gotten him talking."

I frowned beneath my mask, turning my head to look at her. "Maybe, but even if that worked, don't you think that'd be a little fucked up? I mean, isn't that torture?"

"Not really? It's not like I'd be causing any actual pain or harm. Besides, he was just a crook. I wouldn't feel bad about doing it." She casually replied. I accepted it, but didn't love it. Sure, our enemies were generally not nice people, but that didn't mean we could do whatever we wanted. Still, she did have a point.

"I guess you got that from your mom." I absentmindedly said back. Brandish was something of a known crusader when it came to villains. Probably came with the whole lawyer thing. To my surprise, Amy just shot a glare at me. "What? I just felt, you know, like that's something she would say." The glare continued for a moment before Amy broke it off, looking away. It seemed like she was frowning under her scarf.

"Yeah, I guess." She said, but it didn't have much conviction. Before I could wonder what that was about, Glory Girl was back up, having seen Viper off, and looked between the two of us looking down with a raised eyebrow.

"Anything happen in the maybe ten seconds I was gone?" She asked.

"No, it's nothing. Anyway, thanks for the help. You can go, I'll follow this up in my own time." I paused, and for a moment there was silence. It wasn't impossible I'd gotten New Wave into trouble by involving them in this Coil stuff. I also needed to make sure they didn't mess up by going to the PRT and roping them in too early. Plus, they kind of deserved to know after going out of their way to help me. Especially if I wanted to go to New Wave for more help later down the line. "Actually, before you leave, I should probably explain what this whole secretive Coil hunting thing is actually about..."

Chapter 26: Chapter 21

Chapter Text

It didn't take that long to explain the details to Amy and Victoria before swearing them to temporary secrecy. New Wave may have believed in accountability, but that hardly meant their members didn't know how to keep a secret when needed. Victoria in particular was surprisingly happy about it. Well, maybe not surprising. Over the time I'd known her I'd come to realize she was something of a crusader, not so different from me in that respect. The fact I was working on something as big as hunting Coil, a chance to maybe start to turn things around for a city that had only gotten worse and not better since before either of us had our powers, alongside the fact it was a secret spy mission and that was just plain cool, seemed to win her over. She offered to help any time, but I warded her off. This was meant to be my mission after all, and I felt she'd be better off if she kept a slight distance from this stuff. After all, we still didn't know all of Coil's assets, or how far he was willing to go to take down pesky investigating heroes.

By contrast, Amy just tiredly asked me not to get myself killed or hurt in a way she couldn't fix. Coming from her that was almost sappy. Not that I said as much to her, of course, nor did I say that I genuinely appreciated it. Best not to get things too tangled right in the middle of something like this.

After that, I waved them goodbye before flying off. Normally, I'd go back on patrol and see if I could do anything else in the evening, but right now I was a cape on a mission. Instead, I headed back home to do a little digging.

Once I was back inside my room, I didn't bother with getting changed back into civilian clothes or even hopping over to the Halberd, and left my costume and armour on. That was technically a risk, but mom never came in my room without at least knocking, so it was worth the slight lack of hassle. Then I ran into my first problem, which was that I had to actually figure out what the front company I was supposed to be investigating was.

I considered my next move very carefully. In this strange game of, mmm. Information warfare, I guess I could call it. I had to not only try and figure out what Coil knew, but keep him from knowing certain other things. First of all, he was going to know I was after him. Interrogating Viper had made him aware of that, and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. But what he probably didn't know about, and what I needed him to keep not knowing, was that the PRT knew about his infiltration and sponsoring of the Undersiders. So, with that in mind, I decided to call the PRT for information. Even if that request filtered to his moles and he learned about it, it didn't really mean he knew anything on top of what he already knew. And I hadn't been afraid to use the PRT as an information resource in the past, so it might almost look weird if I deliberately avoided it or tried to be sneaky in getting stuff from them.

This whole thing was beginning to give me a headache, so I resolved to try and avoid this kind of situation once I was done here. I liked it much better when I had a problem in front of me I could bash with a sword sheathe and solve that way.

I mentally loaded up a communications line to the PRT. "PRT-ENE non-emergency line, how may I help?" An unfamiliar male voice answered.

"This is Exoa Knight." I replied, waiting for a moment before I got a 'hmm' of confirmation. Presumably he checked my number against the one they had assigned to me in the database. "I need help with something. There's an office building just off of Butcher Street, I need to know the company that operates there. And if possible all of their locations in Brockton Bay."

"Well, I'll have to talk with my superiors on if I can release that information to an independent hero..." The voice began. I felt a spike of annoyance at that. I kind of got why all that red tape existed, but it sure as hell didn't make my life any easier. And honestly, you'd think at this point I'd earned enough of a reputation for them to not question me. Guess not.

Still, instead of saying something stupid, I bit my tongue until the line went dead. I'd have to wait a bit until that was signed off on, though if I was lucky and the PRT's systems were working well today it would be less than an hour. With that ticking down, I had time to consider my next move. Once I had the list, what would I do with it?

First of all, I'd be best off moving fast. Once it became clear this facet of Coil's operations was leaked, he'd likely move anything too damning that he could somewhere else. After all, I could be fairly confident he had more than just one single front company to cover all of his assets.

The main problem was that even if I hit every single location immediately, there was no guarantee I'd actually find Coil, or even any obvious hints to further my investigation. If I was Coil, I might deliberately not situate my stuff where I was running my front company to mitigate the damage from exactly this kind of leak. Or maybe that would be too difficult? Not being a criminal mastermind was really hurting me here, as it turned out. I couldn't quite go far enough putting myself in their shoes. Then again, maybe the fact I couldn't think like a villain wasn't all bad.

Still, no point in dwelling on that. I'd just take the lead I had and work it until I got a better one. One step at a time. That's how I'd do this.

I was in luck for once, because it wasn't long until I got a call back from the PRT telling me what I needed to know, which was that they had a document ready to hand over to me. It was getting pretty late by the time I got up, flew to PRT Headquarters, retrieved the document, and then flew back home, but I still had some time and could always go to bed later than normal if I had to.

The immediate problem I ran into was that the office was leased to a construction company. So not only did I need to know what they owned, I also had to maybe look into the stuff they built. In this case, that included all the underground shelters in the city, built to hold the population in the case of something like an Endbringer attack. I decided what I probably needed was a map.

Centering myself and focusing, I jumped between worlds once more.

After saying hi to the Waddle Dees, I immediately started walking towards the planning room I'd last used before the fight against the Undersiders. I hadn't been afraid of using the Meta-Knights' information resources to help me gather intelligence and strategize in the past. As a matter of fact, that's how I'd managed to pick up on the Hijack connection as quickly as I did, foisting the data-sifting work off on some poor, hapless analysts. But this one I'd do myself.

The room wasn't in use so I got to work, booting up a map of Brockton Bay. The controls to the digital table were intuitive, so I was quickly able to turn off the overlay displaying gang territories and critical locations in favour of a basic aerial map with street labels if I zoomed in enough. It was time to put my internal map of the city to the test, I supposed.

I started off by marking everything on the list off on the map with a stylus, and then began crossing things off. First of all, the shelters themselves. They were too high-profile to mess with, I figured, and couldn't feasibly be in use most of the time. So they likely weren't storage sites for hidden assets or secret lairs of any kind. That knocked out a good amount of possibilities right away.

I thought for a moment that it was sort of weird to know that my city's emergency shelters were built like a supervillain. I still only had one statement under two layers of parahuman ability as well as duress, so I couldn't exactly go to the law about this, but it was still strange to think about.

There were a few worksites actively under construction. Maybe there was something there, but I doubted it. It felt too volatile to base your stuff in. Unless Coil was actively building a secret supervillain lair in the city like in the movies, but that wasn't the kind of thing that actually happened most of the time except with some Tinkers. Usually, villains were based in preexisting buildings they'd got their hands on in one way or another, often abandoned or even just rented warehouses if any were available. Besides, even if Coil was working on something like that, I doubted I'd turn up to a construction site and see a flashing neon arrow pointing to the entrance of the evil underground hideout or anything. So I crossed off the active worksites too, although I made a mental note to come back to them if nothing else was getting results.

Once I'd finished with that, I felt rather than heard a silent movement behind me. I wasn't sure what told me there was something behind me, but I somehow just knew.

Slowly, deliberately, I shifted from my position crouched over the table and looked behind me. Four cloaked beings around the size and shape of Kirby or a Waddle Dee, more or less the standard here. The cloaks were purple and seemingly tied off at the back, and seemed to cover the visible upper face in shadow somehow. Or maybe they just had black skin like those aliens I'd fought yesterday, it was hard to tell. Either way, their white eyes were all fixed firmly on me, practically unwavering and unblinking. They had some golden, ornamental headgear that looked sort of like a raised visor along with a long red tassel trailing behind each of their heads. They also had red hands and red feet, as well as swords at their backs.

I actually recognized them. They were called Bio Sparks, and they were highly trained warriors and stealth experts. At least the ones out and about in the world like they were. After a moment of awkward silence, they inclined themselves to me slightly in what could either have been a small nod or a half-bow, maybe both. One stepped forward to speak for the group. His voice was lilting and utterly confident. "Our greetings. Lord Meta Knight said we were to assist you in a mission of yours. I see that you seem to be planning it now."

Right, I had asked for help. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to get, but this was certainly appreciated. I could actually probably use some allies who were good at more than just the blunt approach. "Yeah." I confirmed. "I have a bunch of places I want to investigate for signs of an enemy. If I can find something, I might be able to get closer to him."

The Bio Sparks shuffled forward, taking positions around the table. Their leader, or at least their spokesperson, piped up again. "Hmm. Perhaps I may offer some advice?"

I was tempted to say that this was my mission, my city, and my world, but there wasn't much harm in at least hearing him out. I gave a slight nod towards him. "Very well. First of all, I would suggest we split up as much as is practical to cover ground before a response can be mounted..."

Chapter 27: Chapter 22

Chapter Text

Time passed. I discussed a plan with my new allies for a while, eventually settling on something to execute tomorrow after maybe an hour or so of discussion. Then more dreamless sleep, and then school. Normally I put up fine with school, but today it seemed to drag more than usual. School always paled compared to being a hero, but in a way it was a time for me to rest, so I was happy to do some simple work taking notes. Now, I felt like I had a real mission to do, and every second counted. I managed to mostly suppress that feeling deep inside me, right next to the anger and frustration that came to me so easily, but it still came out in a mix of daydreams and fidgeting, making me more distant than normal. I think Emma noticed, but I guessed it didn't matter if she did or didn't.

I kept running the likely scenarios over and over again in my head from the moment the last bell sounded all the way to when my mom left for one of her weekly stays elsewhere. That did help things along, actually, although it meant I had to spend time babysitting Thalia. Unlike most evenings, I decided I'd actually do my assigned task for once and stay with her until her bedtime at around eight.

Mostly, it worked with the plan we'd agreed on, but part of me did wonder about my relationship with my baby sister. On the one hand, I fervently believed what I'd said to Kirby last week, that I was fine with not spending as much time with her as I should because my work as a hero was just too important to ever hold back from. But on the other hand, that didn't mean I really liked it being the case. On some level, I wanted to have a good relationship with my sister. I think because it felt like abandoning my responsibilities when I was away from her. Maybe also because she was also absolutely adorable when she wanted to be.

Then again, it could just hurt her worse if the inevitable happened sooner rather than later, but that felt pretty thin. If I wanted to be that fatalistic, if that was the right word, then why bother having relationships with anyone at all?

Not that I could afford to be busy thinking when I had a job to do. Once I was confident Thalia was settled and wouldn't be doing anything dangerous in the next twenty seconds, I took the familiar hop over to the Other World with my power. I found the Bio Sparks, my equipment, and a black laptop branded with an M that had a sword through the middle. It took me two cycles to haul all of it back over to my world, but once I had we were ready. We did final positioning checks, and then they were off, leaping out from my bedroom window onto the rooftops and scattering to the winds.

The plan was simple. Each Bio Spark would act independently and scout pretty much every notable building we could tie to Coil from the data we had one by one, in an order that was a mix of how likely to get results we thought the building would be and the most efficient order of scouting. At first, I'd wanted to help, but they pointed out that I was somewhat less subtle than a brick and might want to coordinate from the rear. I sort of hated it, but had to admit they had a point. If something came up, I'd be the mobile reserve. So I closed all the curtains and blinds in the house a bit early and suited up, ready for action. I kept my hood down and mask off, though, as well as my cape and sword. The armor itself was surprisingly comfy to be in, but not when you had all the extra pieces clipped on.

Then it was a matter of booting up the specialized laptop. It was specially designed to be compatible with Earth power supplies for extended operations, and it had limited features. Mostly, it had an application that let me stay in simultaneous contact with all four Bio Sparks, routing messages and texts to me, because they'd brought phones along. I felt that phones and swords were a weird combination, but it was also a combination a bunch of capes used, including me, so I guess I couldn't say anything.

I booted the thing up and loaded up the software. It was odd at first, mostly because it was all boxes and rectangles. I was more familiar with digital stuff using circles, not rows and columns. Radial and linear, those were the terms. But it wasn't that hard to figure out how to use it, especially because it came with a helpful virtual assistant represented by a little magician in blue with a bow tie, staff, and big hat. It wasn't long before I had everything set up how I wanted it, and then it was out of my hands. More painful waiting.

I passed the time with Thalia at my side. I put in a bit of effort to be better than normal, playing with her, helping her when she said she wanted to try and read a children's book, cooking dinner for the two of us, and so on. She could actually feed herself fairly well now, which was a long way from where she'd been when I'd started going out as Exoa Knight. Was it weird, being proud of her for something that simple? I guessed not if it was for your siblings. All the while, I kept checking back on the laptop as I got steady pings from my troopers in the field. Generally texts and images of a whole lot of nothing. Warehouses filled with ordinary construction materials, mostly. It was a little frustrating, but there was nothing I could do about it, so I waited as patiently as I could.

Eventually, after several hours passed, it was time to put my sister to bed. I tucked her in and decided to give her a bedtime story, an altered version of my last fight with Uber and Leet. Surprisingly, it worked, and Thalia was snoring in minutes. Before I turned the lights off and left her room, I looked down on her tiny, sleeping form. Biologically, she was actually only my half-sister. That felt fucked up somehow, in a way I couldn't quite pin down.

But I didn't linger. Instead, I moved on and down, getting as comfortable as I could in front of the laptop on the kitchen table, ready for more hours sitting in place, my equipment within reach if I needed it. I looked at every message, and even started tracking their movements across the city. They'd made good time for one night, much faster than you'd expect for a group operating on foot. That was good, because the sooner we sifted through all this the sooner we could either try a new strategy or follow up on a lead we'd found.

Eventually, something came up that the agent in question thought was worth actually calling me about. With the press of a button, it came through, shortly joined by three others. My screen split into four squares, one filled with a grainy video as a phone camera pointed at another computer.

This was in one of the middle-lower targets, the company's main office in the city. It had a couple of others, like the one Victoria had picked Viper up from, but this was the biggest. Not that there were that many, but we all agreed if Coil was connecting his legal and illegal operations it would be at a single, secured point, probably in the head office. The computer was unlocked, so either it had been left on or been hacked, probably by the owner leaving the password out in the open somewhere. "So, what am I actually looking at here?" I asked. "Other than breaking and entering." We'd all agreed to this stuff at the start, but it didn't escape my mind that entering corporate premises without permission wasn't really legal. At all. But I wasn't really bound by having to get a warrant if I really didn't want to, and that's what was letting me move this fast, far faster than the PRT or New Wave could ever hope to. Normally, this sort of thing was grounds for a PRT investigation at the least if it came to light, but I was fairly sure given the circumstances that Director Piggot would be willing to cover my ass. Plus, with the stealth expertise of the Bio Sparks I didn't expect it to come to light in the first place.

"The work computer belonging to the chief executive of the company. Not the owner, it would seem." The owner was technically some form of joint holding company that I was fairly certain was just Coil putting some distance between him and his operations, because nothing was ever easy. Still, there was a chance the person he was trusting to run a company for him was in the loop, and might have let something lie on their computer that they shouldn't have. "I have found some interesting documents within it."

A spark of hope was lit inside of me. "Interesting how?"

"Nothing truly damning. I would have said if there were. But there are financial records here. I cannot read them well, but perhaps one who walks that path could." And if there was anything off, that would be our lead.

"Sounds good. Can you copy the files to your phone?" I got a confirmation. "Good. Then I'll take a look at them once we're done here. Probably tomorrow, it's getting pretty late."

"The files are not why I called. That would be the fact I have been spotted." The video shifted as the cloaked figure hopped off a chair and shuffled over to a little electronic device attached to the side of the wall. It had a red light glowing on the front of it. "This building has a security room, but when I checked I confirmed there should be no such device in this room. I believe it is a silent alarm." The Bio Spark's voice had an edge to it. "So, if there is a silent alarm here, and it does not lead to this building's security, then it must lead somewhere else..."

"Such as to the lair of the snake." Another finished from over the line. "So, you believe that he may be aware of your presence right now?"

"Probably not personally?" I interjected. "Even if he keeps an eye on his holdings with silent alarms, I don't think Coil's going to bother looking at them all the time. Still, that sucks. I was sort of hoping we'd be able to get through this without anyone knowing for sure."

"I do not believe it is necessarily so unfortunate. Instead, this may prove to be an opportunity." The first one replied.

"I don't see how." I said.

"Simple. If our enemy knows we are accessing vital information from his holdings, he may send his personal forces to quietly dispose of the threat. In such a case, we would have access to his own forces. A further lead, perhaps."

I frowned, then tapped my chin. It didn't sound impossible, especially if they were sure it was actually a silent alarm, but it didn't sound like a sure thing either. It could well be that it was dealt with by normal security, or calling the police, or just ignoring it. I did believe he might be paranoid enough to keep special alarms installed in particular rooms as an extra precaution, but even if that was true it didn't follow he'd send in a team to resolve things. Then again, this might be a long shot, but at worst it was going to end up as a stakeout that didn't get results. Not the worst thing in the world. And even if it didn't work out, if it was a room with an extra alarm in it, it might have something useful anyway.

Or maybe we were overthinking this and it had an alarm because it was a CEO's room, that was possible too.

I made up my mind as I reached for my gear. "Alright. Keep searching, see if you can find anything in there other than the money files. I'm on my way to back you up."

Chapter 28: Chapter 23

Chapter Text

The one good thing about having to stake out a big office building was that it gave me a pretty commanding view of the area. I paced around the edges of the roof, looking out at the surrounding city. Mostly, I tried to make sure that no one was coming up on the building as reinforcements. It got a little numbing, just pacing and looking, but if nothing else it was good exercise, not to mention time for the investigation to continue. I got occasional updates over the radio as the Bio Sparks did their thing around the city, including the one in the building bellow me getting access to some very interesting documents, apparently. It was a relief to know that even if my help turned out to be pointless, tonight wouldn't be a waste.

Eventually, I did spot something. Not on the streets, but in a tall building a couple of blocks away. I might not have noticed if my mask didn't give me night vision, or at least not been able to make out any details. A couple of masked figures in what seemed to be military gear. It was hard to tell at this distance, but I was pretty sure that one had a pair of binoculars and the other had a scoped rifle, both pointed right at me.

Wait a second.

I began to move, and almost the moment I reacted they opened fire. They were probably about to take the shot anyway. A sniper's bullet struck my forehead, causing me to wince away from a mix of shock and the impact. Thinking quickly, I hopped off of the roof and began hurtling down to the ground several floors below.

If I ever fell back on my armored instincts out of costume I would be in so much trouble.

My wings snapped open as I twisted and spun in midair, catching the air and turning my descent into a glide, although my height kept dropping. I wanted to approach low and fast to minimize the risk I got shot again. My hand drifted up to my forehead, and I felt the dent where I'd been hit. My armor took the bullet pretty well, but a couple more shots in the same location and I was in trouble. I was also in trouble if these guys had heavier ordnance I figured Coil could afford to equip his mercenaries with.

And yeah, these were definitely Coil's soldiers. There was really no other explanation.

"There's been an incident. Violet-One, take what you have and get out of there. The rest of Violet Team, finish up what you're doing and come help me. Two blocks east of the office." I made a side note to actually learn their names after this. It was the least I could do after putting them through a night like this. Then I swooped around the last building in the way and there was no more time for talk.

My eyes darted up to the window where I'd been shot from. Nothing there, and I knew it was right because they'd broken the glass to get a shot. They must have moved, so I shifted into a hovering position, wings flapping slowly and steadily, as I tried to find where they went. Probably down so they could get outside. I slowed my wingbeats and descended myself, dropping to the ground. A pair of automatic doors had been jammed open, so I figured I'd go in through there and try to catch them while they were descending. Unless they were even faster than me, they shouldn't be out yet.

The building was a mall, I noted as I entered into the main concourse. Well, Emma always said this bit of the mall was called a concourse at least. I looked up as I switched to thermal vision, sweeping the floor above for any sign of them. But as I took a quick glance around the ground floor, I saw several heat signatures nestled in stores to either side of me. Human-with-gun shaped heat signatures.

I'd moved so quickly that I'd ended up marching straight into an ambush. No wonder the sniper team had taken a while to show up, they had to bring all their friends for this.

I moved again, wings flaring as I flew up to the first floor. "Box her in!" A male voice barked from below me. The unit leader. Another flap of my wings sent me hurtling sideways, taking me out of the firing lines of one of the ambushing teams. But the other could still see me clearly, as proven by the purple energy beams that cut through the air around me. I was moving fast enough that they couldn't linger on me for long, but they burned hot enough that even the quick slices over my body still sent spikes of pain from the heat. Worse still, my wings weren't as tough, and ended up basically completely cut off. They were probably aiming for them, hoping to destroy my mobility. I did manage to land on the upper floor, but I landed hard, having to roll and then spring back up.

Additionally, one of the beams had come from this floor. I glanced over to see the sniper team from earlier. The spotter had his assault rifle out, while his partner was still using his sniper rifle. I shifted, drawing my sheathed sword in a reverse grip while bringing up my left army defensively and shuffling backwards. Both fired. I managed to catch the sniper round on my vambrace while the laser beam hit the flat of my sword. Despite lingering on one spot for its entire brief firing period, it had failed to penetrate.

Not wasting any time, I turned around and ran into the store behind me, another sniper round hitting me in the back and nearly making me stumble. I prayed that the visors these mercenaries had didn't give them night vision and was very thankful the lights were off this late in the day as I dashed between clothing racks in the dark room. I guessed my ploy worked, since a follow-up beam didn't come. There was absolutely nothing here that would provide worthwhile cover, but if I could stay hidden that was almost as good.

There was a bunch of shouting, but not as much as I expected. Probably using hand signs or something to not give away as much to me. I briefly checked my sword. The sheathe had a hole burn straight through the dull metal, but the blade within was still gleaming brightly, or as brightly as it could in the moonlight that filtered in through the outer windows. Just as I'd hoped, it would take more than those lasers to damage the magical weapon. I was glad. Not only because if I'd guessed wrong I'd probably have an incinerated heart right about now, but also because it was a gift to me that I'd promised to always keep safe at my side.

Not that I had the time to reminisce. Maybe the pain from the lasers was throwing me off more than I'd thought. I didn't think I was too badly burned, which was good. That would have slowed me down, and I absolutely could not afford to be slowed down even slightly right now. Crouching, I made my way to the back of the store, trying to keep out of sight from the soldiers looking in. It was slow, almost painfully slow, but I managed to make progress more or less unseen. I also managed to catch glimpses of the enemy as I moved between the various displays. With balaclavas, visors over their eyes, body armour, and full tactical rigging, they were as faceless as I was, and certainly looked menacing enough. They were gesturing to each other with hand signs and I was pretty sure there was some whispering going on as well, but I couldn't make out what exactly. All I knew was that they'd all gathered at the front of the store and were preparing to move in.

I reached the rear of the shop, which had a glass outer wall. I could break the glass, jump down, and escape that way. Once I wasn't cornered, I had a lot of movement, and I could probably run faster than Coil's goon squad. With my armor's shock absorbers a one storey fall probably wouldn't even be that bad.

Unfortunately, my plan was dashed when I looked out of the rear and saw that they'd already anticipated and countered me, with one of the ambush teams having taken up position outside. There were seemingly only half a dozen, but if I tried to jump down those lasers would cut me to ribbons, probably before I even landed. And I couldn't chance a flight out because my wings were clipped.

I ducked back inside as a hail of lead rose up to meet me. None of it hit and even if it did I doubted I'd be hurt, but it made a statement well enough. So much for that idea. I was better off trying to deal with the eight or so on this floor, where I had some room to maneuver and try things other than fall straight down. Mind you, my chances here weren't that much better.

Well, I did have one option in reserve. I could use my power to shift over to the Other World, and then just wait an hour or so until I could be sure they'd have given up and gone home. That would reveal I could do something akin to teleportation to Coil, and it would be admitting defeat, but I couldn't afford to die here and now. Not in the middle of my investigation. Not when so many other people were relying on me to be the hero I presented myself as. But it would be difficult to muster up the focus required while I still had the distractions of what had to be developing into minor burns across portions of my body. Still, it wasn't like I had much of a choice.

I hurried over to an appropriately secluded position, sat down, and began to try and mentally count down. Before I could get even close to finishing, I was brought out of my concentration by the sound of a metal object bouncing off of the floor near me. My head snapped round as I saw a small cylinder on the floor maybe ten feet away from me. I had enough time to shift back a bit, trying to shield myself from the grenade, before it went off.

There was a bright flash and an enormous bang. The flash wasn't so bad. My photosensitive visor automatically adjusted to shield my eyes from the worst of it, and I'd thrown up my arms so I also partially blocked the light. The bang was much worse. My costume provided my ears some protection from loud noises, but not enough to fully neutralize the stun grenade's effects. There was a disorienting ringing in my ears as I staggered to my feet. Now there was no chance I could focus for long enough to shift between worlds. This situation was getting worse all the time.

I switched vision modes again, giving me a slightly clearer vision of the soldiers moving forward to trap me. Of course, they probably thought I was more disoriented than I actually was. Maybe I could use that to my advantage?

I gave a pained groan that wasn't as faked as I'd have liked it, giving away my position. I could see the mercenaries react instantly, snapping their weapons around to my position. Of course, I'd already begun moving slightly to avoid their fire if they just decided to hose me down with lasers. They didn't, and instead moved forward not quite cautiously enough.

My wings were gone, but the anti-gravity plant that came with them wasn't. I switched it back on as I leaped as high and fast as I could, easily cresting a clothing rack near me and dropping on top of a surprised mercenary. I was quick, and wrestled him to the ground before he could do more than yell out in surprise, grabbing hold of his weapon once he crash landed. The others broke into a practical run as I yanked him to his feet and began walking to the outer edge of the store, keeping him between me and them. I also blindly fired with his weapon, feeling as much as hearing the nearly deafening roar of a fully automatic weapon in an enclosed space. My powered armor helped with the recoil as I sprayed bullets across the room for about two seconds before it ran dry. Not knowing how to reload or switch to the laser attachment, especially with one hand, I tossed it as far away as I could. They'd dived for cover temporarily, but got right back up to pursue once I was out. It didn't look like I'd even hit one, much less injured any of them.

The upside here was that I'd successfully taken down one of them and repositioned myself. The downside was that I was completely surrounded and with clear firing lanes, especially as they started knocking over display stands and racks that got in their way and weren't attached to the floor securely enough. My human shield drew a combat knife and tried to stab back at me with it, but I twisted it out of his hand with my armor-enhanced strength before he got a chance.

"We've been ordered to bring you in, dead or alive." One of the mercenaries said. It sounded like the one who yelled the order at the beginning of the fight, so probably the unit leader again. "Trust me, it's going to be a lot better for all of us here if you pick alive. Don't be difficult." I ran over my options. I still had a ringing in my ears, the burns, and this, so trying to shift again was out. I doubted they wouldn't shoot if I tried to draw my sword.

"If any of you have shown up already, I need your help right now." I said into my radio, my mask's systems keeping most of the sound internal. I felt the mercenary I was holding onto stiffen and prepare to alert his allies that I'd said something. I pushed him away and jumped backwards at the same time, falling through the air as I crossed the boundary between inside and outside. The earlier storm of bullets had already broken the glass for me, which I appreciated. I did my best to twist in midair, but all that let me do is land on my side instead of my back. There was a jolt of pain through my left arm and leg, but I didn't think anything broke. I looked out at half a dozen guns pointed at me, and knew that either this was it or it wasn't.

Two purple blurs impacted a mercenary each, sending them straight to the floor. The others reacted fast, but not quite fast enough. One of the Bio Sparks dashed forward, crossing the space between him and the nearest enemy an instant before slicing their weapon in half. The other threw a well placed dagger right into what looked like the battery pack for the laser attachment, leading it to spark for a moment before violently exploding. Tinker tech wasn't usually that stable, and these lasers didn't look like an exception. The last two collapsed from some unseen force, but managed to only get down on one knee. Fortunately, the Bio Sparks I could see finished disabling them before they could reaim their weapons at any of us.

As this happened, I was striding forward, and had drawn my weapon from its sheathe. This would be my first time drawing it on American soil, as it happened. Normally, I held back, but right now I really could not afford to. No holding back from using it, a weapon important enough to have a name. Dominar. I whirled around as I gripped it in both hands and held it to the sky. I felt its power flow through me, an almost burning sensation. But compared to the burns from the lasers, it felt good. Something about the energy itself was just righteous and invigorating.

The forces up inside the mall had gathered around the exterior, but not quite quick enough to shoot at me before I'd charged my weapon. Upon seeing it high and alight, they scattered back as I swung. A fireball buoyed on a wave of heat and force shot up and impacted the roof of the clothes shop. It detonated, and expanded outwards into a sphere of elemental destruction. Large chunks of the roof were blown to pieces, charred fragments of what had been sitting on the floor above raining down. The shockwave had knocked all of Coil's soldiers flat if they weren't already, and a burst of roaring flame swallowed up a large chunk of the store for a moment before dissipating, leaving a lot of the clothes on fire. If I'd aimed a bit further down and hit the edge of the floor, some of the mercenaries could have been seriously injured, or worse. They should be counting themselves lucky.

Instead, they were trying to regroup, get back on their feet and start shooting again. These guys really didn't quit. Instead of risking a second shot, I beckoned for the Bio Sparks to get the hell out of here as I sheathed my weapon. The two of them nearest me did something I couldn't quite make out and detonated smoke bombs, leaving large clouds of thick smoke between us and the enemy. Not taking any chances, I immediately started to run, with them falling in behind me. The third made his appearance as well, the one who'd knocked down the last two ground floor mercenaries. Also Violet-One, who presumably still had the data he'd collected stashed somewhere. The fourth was presumably still coming, I hadn't given them that much time to show up and some had been a fair distance away. I was lucky they could cross the city's rooftops pretty quickly.

My breathing got a little ragged from the combined exertion of running and my light injuries, but that was the worst of it. I didn't stop running until I was a full block away from the mall. Once I was confident I'd made it out of there, I leaned back against the nearest wall and breathed a sigh of relief.

That could have gone a lot better. But I was still kicking. That's what mattered.

The only question was, now what?

Chapter 29: Chapter 24

Chapter Text

It took a moment for me to figure out what to do next, but the painful burning that still lingered across my body kept butting in to my thoughts, so I decided I'd see what I could do there. For wide scale burns like this, the best option was obviously going to Amy, at least if I wanted to look like something other than a kind of walking corpse tomorrow morning. I didn't exactly want to bother her, but I supposed I didn't have much of a choice. But before that, there was something else to take care of.

"My wings got shot off back at the mall. Could one of you go and collect them? If we're lucky, Coil's troops were too busy getting out of there to try and collect them." One of the Bio Sparks nodded, and vanished in a blur of motion as they leaped up into the sky, landing on top of a nearby building. "Right. Violet-One, I need you to take the data you collected and go... somewhere. Fuck, I don't know. Just stash it and yourself someplace safe until I call you for it." He nodded as well before vanishing in the same way. "As for you, you can keep shadowing me along with the fourth one. Violet-Three, right?" Instead of nodding, he stepped back, deeper into the darkness where I lost track of him. Which was impressive, because he went almost invisible even though I had full night-vision active and should have been able to see him just fine. That was a useful trick.

Next, I actually had to call Amy. At this time of night she should probably be at home getting ready to sleep, but I knew she also sometimes helped out at the hospital later than she really should. Which was terrible for her sleep schedule, but right now really convenient for me. I did happen to have her cellphone number, so while silently hoping for her to both have it and be awake, I set my mask's systems to autodial her number with a thought. It took several rings, and for a moment I thought I was wasting my time, but it picked up in the end.

"Panacea." A voice came across that sounded as exhausted as I felt. "I literally asked you not to get in trouble yesterday, Exoa."

"You asked me not to get killed, actually." I pointed out, which was maybe unfair. Oh well. "And here I am. But yeah, I hate to do this to you but I'm in a lot of pain from laser burns."

"Laser burns?" There was a momentary pause as Amy tried to figure out who I could have fought that would leave me with laser burns. It didn't take her long to figure it out. "Oh."

"Yeah. So, where are you?"

"At the General Hospital. Couldn't sleep, so I came here. Listen, I'm sort of in the middle of a batch of patients right now-"

"Don't worry about it. I'll take a little bit to get over there, because my wings got clipped. I'll wait outside for you, don't rush on my account." After a second of further silence, I terminated the call. Then, I began to jog in the direction of the hospital.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. I'd been shot absolutely full of adrenaline back during the fighting, and that had let me power through everything pretty well. Now that I was out of it and cooling off, I didn't have anything between me and the wall of pain that hit me whenever I tried to move, and even when I stood still. However I tried to twist and shift, it remained, practically agony. I actually had to stop and start a couple of times as it got the better of me. Still, I'd been through worse, and I'd been trained to endure, so eventually I managed to pull through and keep jogging. If nothing else, I knew it would hurt a lot less at the end of this, so that pushed me to keep moving forward.

Eventually, I arrived. Luckily, nobody else had tried to pick a fight with the armoured superhero on my way there, so I arrived without any further incident. Also luckily, Panacea was already standing outside, scarf over her face, waiting for me. She silently waved me over, and I wasted no time in sprinting the last bit of distance, nearly skidding to a halt in front of her. As a third and final bit of luck, it seemed like the locking mechanisms of my gauntlets hadn't been damaged, since I was able to slide my left gauntlet and glove off easily enough. I held out my hand for her to take. She touched it, analyzed for a second, and then I felt the maybe too familiar tingling and relief as a cool sensation washed over me. In a few seconds, the pain was completely gone. I thanked her as I put my gauntlet back on and made sure it was properly reattached.

"It's fine." She said, cutting me off. "No need to be profuse. You can just say thanks." I silently nodded at that. "Right. The good news is that your burns were only first degree. But they were covering a pretty large portion of your body. You're lucky it looks like your armor mostly held. With a regular costume you'd probably be deader than dead right now. Also, you shouldn't head off."

"Why?" I asked, confused by the sudden request. Although it sounded more like an order.

"Good question. I'll say this much, if nothing else, Vicky really likes you, and I don't think you're too bad myself. So, because I'm feeling generous, I'll tell you everything I know. Shortly after you called me, so did the PRT. You told me you were injured, what you didn't tell me was that you nuked a mall." I kept quiet, but folded my arms. Amy sighed before continuing. "They really didn't sound happy with you. As in, not even a little. So they asked me if I'd heard from you, because they figured there was a good chance you'd been hurt and would try to come to me. You were, you did, I said as much. So they're on their way here right this second. As far as I can tell, they just want to talk with you about what happened."

I paused for several seconds before replying. "I see." I said. Kind of lame, but there wasn't much else to say. "Thanks, I guess."

"Listen. I'll keep doing what I can for you, but between this and the last big fight you were in, I feel the need to say that if you keep going like this, don't expect me to cry when you end up dead in some building or alleyway." Amy said, sounding more exasperated than anything else. With her wearing a bulky, concealing costume and not moving much, I mostly just had her voice and her eyes to go on.

"I never expected you to." I tersely answered.

"Uh." Amy said. "I more meant you should reevaluate how you're doing things." I turned around, facing away from the hospital and towards the parking lot where I was sure the PRT would show up soon enough. "Oh well. I tried." She muttered. With that, I heard the sound of rapidly fading footsteps as she presumably marched back into the hospital.

As it turned out, I didn't have to wait long. It was a small force all in all, just one PRT-issue van without any attachments or active sirens, lead by Armsmaster on his bike. I could immediately tell he was annoyed. They parked outside on the street and disembarked. Armsmaster left his halberd attached to his bike while a squad of PRT officers came out with full weapons and armour. Weapons they kept at the ready, but didn't point towards me. So things could be going worse, at least. Armsmaster muttered something to what looked like the agent in charge, and the squad rapidly formed a perimeter outside their vehicle. Meanwhile, I started to walk on over. Not much sense in delaying the inevitable.

He didn't say anything to me at first, instead gesturing for me to follow him inside the armored van. Maybe he wanted to talk in private? I dutifully went ahead, walking in first and letting him enter afterwards. I turned around as he closed the doors behind him, his face a mask. The upper half a literal visor, and the lower half stony and impassive, mouth set in a grim, flat line. I let him speak first.

That must have taken him by surprise, because he looked at me expectantly before beginning. "The Director," He began slowly and deliberately. "Is not happy. Before we go any further, I've been told to let you give your side of the story. Based on the state of your armor, I'm guessing you were in a fight?"

I nodded, before jumping into an explanation of the last hour or so. How I was staking out a building, then the sniper team took their shot, the pursuit, the battle in the mall, and the escape. I also mentioned my use of Dominar to throw a fireball meant to temporarily disable the mercenaries and allow me to get out of there without additional laser fire. He interjected at various points, asking for clarification on certain points, like if I really used only the one fireball. For the most part, my answers seemed to make him thoughtful rather than upset, so I guessed things weren't that bad after all.

At the end, he seemed more resolute than before, standing straight and exuding confidence from his power armor. "Okay. The good news is that with these extenuating circumstances in mind, we can all avoid anything too unfortunate. We shouldn't have to press charges of any kind."

My hope, as mild as it had been, was crushed in an instant. "That's the good news?" I half-exclaimed, half-sputtered. I'd almost been assassinated and I was expected to be glad I wouldn't be sent to jail? Part of me wanted to scream, to lash out, and it was only long practice that let me carefully wrap that part of me up and plunge back into the black depths of my soul. Instead, I settled for clenching my fists as tight as I could.

For his part, Armsmaster looked down and grimaced, shaking his head slightly before he looked back up at me. His expression was different now, but it was hard to make it out, in part because he also seemed to be trying to keep his emotions in check. I almost wanted to say he looked sad, or disappointed. "You caused a large detonation inside a building, and were lucky not to start a firestorm that spread to other parts of the mall. As it stands, you're responsible for probably hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property damage, not to mention lost revenue and livelihoods from the stores that will have to remain shut until an entirely new floor can be installed to replace the one you blew to pieces. If you'd engaged in what the law considers to be reckless conduct, you'd have been legally guilty of arson at the minimum. At that point, you'd either have gone to prison or faced a fine I doubt you could pay. Most likely we'd have been able to get you off the hook by making you a Probationary Ward, but your days operating freely would be over in any case." He stopped speaking to let it sink in, and it did, like a punch to the jaw. "But it sounds like you only acted at the last moment to preserve your own life. No lawyer in the country could make that out to be reckless behavior. We may only have your word to go off of on what exactly happened, but a combination of your good standing and the damage to your armor should be enough to confirm your story, at least for our purposes."

It was a lot to take in. I sat down heavily on one of the benches inside the vehicle. On one hand, I saw the logic. As an independent hero, I had a bunch of leeway compared to a regular civilian, but that didn't mean I could just do whatever I felt like. Even the PRT was accountable, if only to their own higher ups, and they had a lot more power than I did. It made sense from a cold, pragmatic perspective, and I could see the moral argument as well. I didn't like hearing this, but nothing Armsmaster had said was wrong.

"I understand." I finally said. "I promise that-"

"I wasn't finished." He cut me off. "Like I said at the start of this, the Director is not happy. Resolving this will not be cheap in terms of time, effort, or money. The media is going to start asking some very pointed questions." I stayed still and silent, not sure what to say. I wasn't even sure what to think right now. "Questions like how trustworthy you really are as a hero, as well as questions like how the Protectorate let a Ward-age cape walk into so much gunfire. It doesn't even matter that we both know there's nothing I or anyone else could have done to make you pick a different path."

It felt like he was getting on a rant at this point, but I couldn't muster up the energy to argue back even a little. Maybe it was the tiredness from how late it was and the fight, maybe it was because I knew deep down he was probably right. "Whether you know it or not, you've always tapped into something special with your media presence. You're not like me or even a member of New Wave. You exist within all the rules, but outside of the regulations, if that makes sense. Your media presence notably only has your outline. You don't do interviews, you don't do merchandising, seemingly all you do is act on the front lines, one way or another. It reminds people of the old days, when heroes were these larger than life ideas rather than law-enforcers, entertainers, or criminals. The Golden Age. It lets people project whatever they want to see on you. But it's a double-edged sword. It means you have no control over how you're seen. You're only truly trusted for as long as you maintain a spotless record. To your credit, you managed it for well over a year without help. But without a team at your back, either teammates or a PR unit, you were always going to slip up eventually. I'm afraid there's no coming back from this. You made a mistake, and now that's all people will see for a long time. It's not fair, but it is true."

There was a longer pause then, finally letting me get a word in. I fiddled with the edges of my mask, making sure it was still there as I stood back up. I took a deep breath before plowing on. "That's fine." This was fine. "I never cared about my reputation anyway." Everything was fine. "I just want to be a normal hero." Why was I lying to him? Didn't he have a lie detector in his helmet or something? "And we're closer than ever before. I managed to get some more information on Coil's operations. Still nothing I can give you yet, but give me maybe a couple more weeks, and I think I can lead you right to him."

"Not happening." Armsmaster replied, tilting his head up a fraction as he folded his arms, trying to strike the very image of authority.

"But-"

"Not happening." He repeated. "Director Piggot has decided to cancel this operation, and nothing I've heard here is making me think she'll change her mind. Things are now too out of hand. It was always a risk, sending in a lone vigilante to do the job, but considering the circumstances we thought it was worth it. Right now, this has escalated too hard and too fast. If you continue on with this, you're just going to put yourself in more danger, and even if you succeed the damage that could be done to this city is immense. How do we know that's the last necessary collateral damage here? Not to mention the public relations fiasco that could ensue if they see it, maybe not entirely wrongly, as one girl's demented crusade heedless of the consequences. Everything the Director and even the Protectorate as a whole have been working towards is based around presenting heroes as trustworthy individuals, an integrated part of society. We cannot afford to potentially put that in even the slightest jeopardy, not for one villain and his organization. There's no point winning the battle if it causes us to lose the war. And with Coil so prepared for you, I'm not even sure you can succeed at this point."

My anger began to bubble back up to the surface, slipping leash. "You can't actually stop me. I'll keep going. Until the end of the line, do you hear me?"

He sighed. "Unfortunately, you're right. We can't stop you. But if you want to be stubborn, you can kiss any help from the PRT goodbye. We won't get involved in your elaborate suicide. Don't be stupid. Besides, it's not as if this will have been in vain. Thanks to you, I'm certain we can strike back at him. Clear out the department, maybe even take down some of his operations. We'd both come out smelling like roses, I promise. Maybe we could even see your reputation bounce back a little. It's not perfect, but we're like soldiers in a sense. Our victories rarely are."

It was tempting, actually. I looked down and away, not really wanting to meet his gaze at this point.

"For what it's worth, I would like to unofficially apologize to you. It was my suggestion that got you into this mess in the first place." The words came out deliberate and formal, like he was giving a prepared speech rather than talking as he normally did. Well, he probably was, actually. "Personally, I still think you're a good hero who just happened to be caught in an unenviable situation, and I believe a lot of our mutual colleagues will feel the same way. You shouldn't take this too harshly."

I glanced back up. Despite the dim lighting of the van's interior, my mask let me see as clear as day. Armsmaster was still standing in place, as solid and immovable as a statue. I couldn't logically argue against any of his points. I didn't really care if I personally got the honor of taking Coil down or if the PRT did it instead, because I wasn't driven to personally win at any cost or get glory. But this felt like him getting away with a slap on the wrist. I trusted the PRT to go after him hard with the information they had, but it wasn't enough. He'd suffer setbacks, but I'm sure Coil could find workaround, new avenues of attack, move on. At worst, he might have to set up in another city. If I was right about the suspicious timing of the Alcott thing not being a coincidence, he might currently have a kidnapping victim. Giving in here and now felt like a loss.

And I really, really hated losing.

Unaware of my internal thoughts, Armsmaster continued on. "Personally, I recommend you either lay low for a bit or finally join the Wards. Either make Coil think you've been scared off or get actual protection from further reprisals. To be blunt, I think you'd go far with us. Whether you know it or not, you have the makings of a team leader, and at the very least you're already known and respected by all the local Wards. Not that I'm here to make you do anything, of course."

That finalized my decision for me. Both of those were unacceptable. I'd promised to be out there every day, fighting for a cause, and I hadn't broken that promise yet. Right now, it felt like all I had left. I pushed open the van's doors. "Sorry, but no thank you. I'll let you know when I find Coil's location." I said over my shoulder. Armsmaster seemed taken aback, almost reeling from the sudden motion and words. He recovered quickly and began to march over towards me, but I'd already hopped out and began walking away myself.

"Think about what you're doing!" He yelled at me. "You should be smarter than this!" I broke into a run.

Neither Armsmaster nor the PRT agents pursued me. But my better judgement and my tactical training, they were yelling at me in their stead. That Armsmaster was right and I was being stupid, that I'd burned bridges here.

But honestly, screw it. Things weren't going to improve if I sat back and did nothing, and it's not like I needed anyone else.

I eventually found a suitable alleyway and ducked inside. By that point, all the Bio Sparks had caught up with me, including one with the remnants of my wings. That was good, it would make repairs easier on Vul, and also meant Coil hadn't gotten his hands on them and wouldn't be able to figure out any weaknesses. Not that he seemed to need them. I wondered if it would be possible to reinforce them, make them more resistant to damage. I guessed I'd ask about it later. I quickly shifted between worlds, got changed, and shifted back, before beginning to walk home.

A black teenage girl working home by herself in the middle of the night in Brockton Bay's downtown area was insane, on the face of it. It was almost literally asking to get in trouble with an Empire goon who felt like trying his luck. But honestly, I almost wanted that to happen. Right now, I desperately needed the catharsis I got from punching a Nazi in the face.

Yeah, I was a shitty hero. If I was a proper one, I'd be motivated by doing good rather than by enjoying violence. I knew that. But it's not like Empire thugs didn't deserve to be punched in the face, and right now I barely cared. And even if something went wrong, right now I had four silent guardians watching me from the shadows, stalking my every movement.

Annoyingly, my walk home was utterly uneventful. The most interesting thing to happen to me was that when I got home I realized I hadn't grabbed my keys when I headed out earlier, and had to get a Bio Spark to dive in through my bedroom window and open the door from the inside while making sure nobody saw any of it. I walked in and slammed the door shut behind me as hard as I could, still fuming in silent fury. Well, if combat was out, I supposed I could vent to someone. Well, I pretty much couldn't vent to anyone here. Either they didn't know me as Exoa Knight or I'd just pissed them off. Well, I could talk to Victoria. She was in the know and I was sure she'd be sympathetic, but she was also probably trying to get to sleep right about now, if she wasn't asleep already. Plus, I was worried she might agree with Armsmaster. She understood the need for risk-taking, but that didn't mean she'd be happy about me throwing myself back into the line of fire after I'd come that close to dying. She probably also wouldn't be too happy with all the collateral damage I just did. If for no other reason than I'd tried to counsel a bit of restraint to her in the past, but in actual fact she now seemed more restrained in the field than I did.

That basically left the Other World. I didn't want to talk to Meta Knight after losing that badly. It felt almost disrespectful to my teacher. Kirby was definitely asleep, and even if he was awake I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to him about this either. I knew he'd sympathize, much like Victoria, but unlike Victoria he probably wouldn't get it. He was too used to just being able to solve problems easily. It came with the territory of having his particular mix of overwhelming power and a carefree nature. So that left... who, exactly? Maybe the Bio Sparks or Waddle Dees? But I barely knew them. It would feel rude to drop in and have a chat with the Fairy Queen after four years. The King and Bandanna Dee, maybe?

Well, maybe, but they had their own issues. In large part I didn't really want to put more trouble on their plate after Dedede had been mind controlled again by a psychic insect a few months back, and BD would probably tell me to be more accepting of Armsmaster's suggestions. Plus, I knew I was ignoring the obvious choice. I'd kept a bit of distance from her, tried to avoid worrying her at all, but right now she was probably the best option for someone to just talk to. As a college student she was probably still awake at this hour as well.

I went into my room and opened up a specific drawer of my dressing table. I grabbed the medal within it and unscrewed the crystal shard from the ribbon it was attached to. I put the ribbon in one of my jeans' pockets, and held the crystal in my hand. Eyes closed, one, two, three, four, five. Lurch, breathe out.

I walked the Halberd's corridors for a moment, aiming to get out. Eventually, I found myself on the attached base, and a little after that outside in the hilly forests behind Meta Knight's base of operations, or at least a clearing between the complex and the treeline. I held the crystal out, focusing in it. I remember the original crystal shard being bigger than this, but if I was lucky, this would still work.

I focused on the other shards. All of them were either on Planet Popstar or part of the big repaired crystal on Ripple Star. All of them except one. As I focused on that one, the crystal in my palm jumped up suddenly, and instead of falling back down started levitating. It shifted its position in the air, becoming upright. It wasn't long after that when it shot out in front of me and exploded in a flash of light. When the flash subsided, a star-shaped rip in reality with rounded edges remained, showing a black void filled with a moving star field. In the center of the image was what looked like a small asteroid of remnant of planetary debris with a series of structures on it. If I was right, that should be where I could meet up with Adeleine once again.

I took a steadying breath, and then stepped through the portal.

Chapter 30: Chapter 25

Chapter Text

I blinked as I found myself standing on a carpeted floor. I looked around, beginning to make out details. Harsh electric lighting, an empty front desk with a small office visible behind it, and a few doors leading off in different directions. The carpet was a kind of blue-green, and the walls and ceiling were a very gentle cream color. It looked for all the world like I'd just been teleported into a totally normal reception area for a totally normal school.

And that was true, from the point of view of the Other World. Although I wasn't sure that a place that helped teach a kind of literal magic could be considered normal, even by the standards of these aliens worlds.

My crystal shard floated out from behind me, having completed its task. Useful, but still imprecise, since it hadn't dropped me off right next to Adeleine's room. I put my hand out in front of me, and caught it as it dropped straight down. I fastened it back to its ribbon, and then put on the medal, leaving the glittering crystal hanging at around my navel. Wearing it was a little flashy, but it's not like anyone would see at this hour, and it still had a job to do.

I gently held the crystal once again, feeling its weight, not just physically but, hmm. Spiritually? I wasn't sure how to put it, but deeply magical objects from this universe had something beyond normal reality to them. My sword was one of them, and these crystal shards were collectively another. I pushed my will and inner well of energy into the crystal medallion, an inner vision becoming clear. Instead of bursting into flames like Dominar, it began to levitate, the ribbon around my neck going slack as the crystal rose up in the air and steadily advanced towards its twin, slowly dragging me along for the ride.

I made my way through several winding hallways, footsteps echoing in the dark and otherwise silent passages. No lights in the ceiling, and none from the various windows and skylights. Not at this hour, or at least not in what I presumed to be the compound's dorm wing. Weirdly enough, even though this felt almost like the setup to a horror movie of some kind, I felt almost completely safe. Much safer than I ever had walking around in Brockton Bay. I guess knowing full well where the mysterious floating light source was taking me helped, and so did knowing I wasn't about to get jumped by a bunch of skinheads looking for an easy target. So I kept moving forward, although I became increasingly unsure of what I'd actually say to Adeleine when I saw her. We'd exchanged a bunch of letters, especially recently, but I hadn't properly talked to her or seen her in person since we started high school and college respectively. I'd come here to vent, but was that really alright to lead with, after all this time? Not to mention it was kind of awkward timing as well, being close enough to midnight.

Before I could think too much more about it or reconsider this whole idea, I rounded one last corner to see a focused young woman looking at a brightly glowing crystal shard hovering above her outstretched hand. She saw me, looked up, and began to positively beam. With a subtle flick of the wrist, the crystal dissolved into paint which evaporated into the air, and then she threw her arms up high.

"Sophia!" She nearly shouted, clearly keeping her voice relatively quiet only for the sake of those currently sleeping or trying to sleep. My own crystal dropped back down, its task finished, as she swiftly advanced and embraced me in what I could only describe as a bear hug, which I returned a good bit less forcefully. We stood locked together like that for a few seconds before separating, letting our hands drop to our sides. Her smile wasn't quite as obscenely wide now, but she still had a broad grin of excited surprise, like she'd been given a gift she wasn't expecting. Which I suppose she just had.

"I'm lucky you haven't started working out while I wasn't looking, or that might have been painful." I said, letting a smirk fall into place on my face.

She let out a small giggle at that. "Nice to see you too!" She brought up her arms so she could rest her chin on her right hand and took a step backwards, giving me a quick once over. Probably looking at how much I'd grown, right now more literally than metaphorically.

As she did, I was doing the same. Adeleine would be twenty years old now, and she definitely looked it. But even though she was definitely taller and slightly more mature looking then I remembered, her fashion sense remained utterly unchanged. Short black hair, a red beret, a green smock with a single golden button over a collared white shirt, a grey skirt that went over her knees, and laced up black shoes. It was all slightly bigger than before because of the fact she'd grown, she had around four inches of height on current me, but it was almost the exact same stuff she'd worn in the past. Then again, these would presumably be her 'art' clothes, I didn't know how her casual fashion sense had evolved. I didn't really care either, I wasn't like Emma or Victoria when it came to appearances.

"So, what's up? I'm really happy to see you again, but I definitely wasn't expecting this." Her eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh no, I wasn't expecting this! My room is a complete mess, and-"

I waved a hand in dismissal before she could get too worked up. "It's fine, Ado. Not like I gave you any warning, and it's not like I can't handle a mess. As for why I'm here, well, it's been a weird couple of days. Some stuff went down and it just made me realize we haven't seen each other in a long time." That was close enough to the truth that it didn't make me feel like a liar.

Adeleine kept on smiling, and started practically bouncing on her feet. "You're not wrong there, so I guess we'd better not waste any time! Where do you wanna start? I could show you around the place, if you'd like."

I nodded. Not exactly where I thought this would go, but it sounded like a decent time. "Sure, that sounds good. While you're at it, can you tell me how this place actually works? As a school, I mean."

"Ah!" She raised a hand, index finger extended and pointing up. "That's a very good question! You see, art as power is something with a history that extends backwards for many tens of thousands of years..."

The short version was that when ancient civilizations first discovered the art as a school of magic as well as something you did for self-expression, they created institutions like this one to study it. Even though the original art schools have obviously been lost to history, that didn't mean the concept went away, so places like this Interstellar College of the Arts remained. Also there was something about how Adeleine had to take a bunch of ethics courses on creating living beings from art based on one time someone did so without thinking and created witch-sisters who wanted to rule the world as revenge for being created. I actually knew about them already; one time about a year after I got my powers when I shifted worlds I saw that Dream Land had turned into a painting. I then ended up shifting right back and lived entirely in my own dimension for a couple days while that got resolved. At the time it was kind of scary, but by now I was used to stuff like that happening on Popstar every six months or so.

Time began to fly by as Adeleine took me on a tour of parts of the campus, showing me all sorts of things, with a bunch of art scattered around the place on various walls and plinths. We seemed to be almost the only ones still up, so it was like a personal tour of an utterly alien art gallery. All the while, Adeleine was lecturing me on the various techniques she was learning and the history of all the pieces, almost every word of which flew straight over my head. But she was so enthusiastic about it that I didn't even mind, I was just happy to hear her excitedly talking about this and that. It was nice to be so immersed in other worlds alongside a friend that I could actually stop worrying for a moment.

I'd forgotten how it felt to just let go of tactical awareness and strategic planning and simply be... normal, I supposed. Even if only for an hour or two.

And the art was nice to look at as well. I couldn't appreciate any of the finer details, but it was all clearly beautiful, for lack of a better word. The various alien history lessons were cool as well, at least the ones I could kind of understand.

Here, there was a painting of blacks and deep reds, an utterly ruined landscape with the only bright color being the orange of a butterfly settled on a dead tree branch. There, a stone statue of a bespectacled, round scholar, who'd apparently been a key faculty member of the school a long time ago. A couple of abstract images that I couldn't understand that well but were definitely interesting. More, almost too many to list.

One major piece was on the ceiling of a big assembly hall, split into two halves. It was almost like those big murals you found in some European cathedrals, and it depicted an army of people and machines lined up in a formation and ready for battle, facing towards many enormous, spiraling beings. Four heroes stood at the forefront, one of them seemingly the same species as and equipped a lot like Meta Knight, alongside clockwork stars, flying sailing ships with cannon broadsides, and a crowned, four-headed dragon, and those were only what I could recognize and make out at a glance.

Eventually, we started to move on to other topics, and so we began to talk a little about what I'd been doing. I started off easily with the art midterm I'd handed in both recently and what felt like half a lifetime ago, which was obviously completely childish to her, but she still managed to show a genuine interest in it. I couldn't exactly present it to her, but she didn't mind that either. I also talked a little about what I'd been doing with my friends, which I had to admit was mostly a whole lot of nothing. At that point, I found I really had nothing else to talk about except my work as Exoa Knight. So, I ended up talking about the Coil situation and how I'd just now both made breakthroughs and suffered setbacks. She hummed understandingly as I explained it as best as I could in the time we had available. I still edited a little, if less than when I sent her a letter about my clash with the Undersiders, since I'm not sure she'd want to hear about how close I came to dying in the ambush.

At this point, we were both running out of things to talk about and beginning to wind down, so Adeleine had finally decided it was time to show me her apparently very messy dorm room. While we headed in that direction, she briefly mentioned a big art-piece on a ceiling that was split into two halves, but she seemed to be saying that we'd already seen it. Which was weird, because I remembered some ceiling art, but nothing split into two halves. I decided not to say anything though, I was probably just forgetting it in the middle of all the art viewing I'd just done.

"Well, this is it." She gestured towards an unexceptional door in an unexceptional corridor. I noted the doors were fairly spaced out, so the flats were probably pretty big. "A lot of the students just hop to and from here and live elsewhere, but some of us are here full time. I'm one of them, since I don't really have a home to go back to." She shrugged. "That's the cost of being a wanderer. Touring the galaxy to study art as a teenager was a ton of fun, but it meant I had to find my own places to stay on the way."

She pushed open the wooden door, and I saw a great big mess that took me a moment to parse. It was what looked like a fairly large bedroom, with piles of paper strewn all over the place, and a bunch of furniture. I made out a wardrobe, some bookshelves, a desk and chair, a dressing table with a mirror on it, a dining table with two chairs, and a fridge, as well as a bed tucked away in the corner of the room. Everything was a riot of bright colors, with only a few more neutral ones interspersed here and there, and only so much in the way of rhyme or reason to it that I could make out. Some of the furniture was metal or plastic while some was wooden. I could instantly see what Adeleine had meant when she said her room was a mess. Not only was it messy in the normal sense, I had to assume she'd been messing around with interior design principles and had been caught unprepared in the midst of a few different experiments. The problem with being able to make your own furniture with a bit of time, effort, and paint was that you had the ability to do things like this if you were bored.

I looked over at Adeleine to find that she'd folded her hands behind her back and was not quite looking at me directly. I guess she was feeling a bit embarrassed. "It's fine, really. I'm telling you I've..." Seen worse? That would be a lie, actually, although only because I didn't get out much. "Well it's not that bad, okay?"

To my right, there was a door that I guessed led to the bathroom. There was also an archway set a ways into the left wall, and out of curiosity I began to move towards it. Adeleine noticed and cut me off with a sentence before I could even get a good look through it. "Right, that over there's my actual studio. Um, it's a little... strange, so please ask me if you have any questions, okay?" Well, that just made me even more curious, so I walked over and stepped through the opening.

Unlike her room, Adeleine's studio was completely orderly. The floor was made up of gleaming white ceramic tiles, while the walls were a drab grey. Organised rows of easels and canvases were lined up on the walls to my left and right, while directly in front of me was a large wooden table, a sort of workbench. Plenty of the canvases had projects in various stages of completion, mostly actual art. On the walls at the far edges of the room were cork notice boards with various images pinned to them. The one to my left was filled with various pictures, a mix of almost photographic ones and what I assumed to be completed art projects, along with a few pinned notes and lists.

All of that was pretty normal. But the board to my right was filled with less expected images, along with brightly colored threads connecting them. I recognized the winged form of Zero Two and the pure sphere of the original Zero tied together with a black string, while purple thread ran from both to a self-portrait of Adeleine, who shared a blue thread with five other humans I'd never seen before. An image of a humanoid figure dressed a bit like a Bio Spark was off to one side, with a bright red question mark next to it. There were images of Dream Land and Shiver Star too, as well as various questions scrawled on notes pinned all around the board. Who were the other humans, and why had they been on Pop Star at the same time as Adeleine and Zero? Why had Adeleine been possessed twice? Was there a connection between Shiver Star and Dark Matter? If so, was there a connection between Dark Matter and parahumans? A lot of guesswork, really.

The workbench was equally strange. It had several artificial organs and limbs made out of some hard, shiny black plastic-looking material. They were spread around in various stages of assembly, with a few tools laid out next to them. Both things like screwdrivers and pliers, but also a paintbrush, palette, pens, and an inkwell.

I turned back around, still stood in the doorway, and gestured vaguely behind me at everything in the room behind me. Adeleine sighed and sat down heavily on her bed, patting the spot next to her. I moved forward and obliged, and soon we were looking out the window on the far wall of her bedroom. It was just a window out into space, with a whole lot of dusty brown rock, but at least we had an okay view of the stars up above.

"Okay, so to explain." Adeleine began before trailing off. She hummed for a few seconds, swaying from side to side before she continued. "I actually started those weirder projects because of you, Sophia."

That took me by surprise. "What? You're gonna have to elaborate."

"Well, I didn't think that much about humans before we met. I knew they were my people, and they came from the same planet as me, but they'd left it a long time ago because it had become too cold to easily live on. And that was that, I ended up leaving Shiver Star and my past with it. I was too busy living my life, going to all the other planets and stars, having adventures, improving myself, making friends. That kind of thing. Then, when I ended up back there because of the hunt for the crystal shards, I met you." She turned her head to look directly at me. "Can you imagine that? In all of the universes, all of time and space, you happened to get just the ability at just the right moment to meet me while I was passing through. It was a cosmic coincidence. And then I heard that where you came from, humans were basically the only people around, at least as far as your Information Age planet knew. And that got me thinking. Where did all of my universe's humans actually get to? And what was the deal with your powers? So, I investigated. Both my world and yours, although I couldn't exactly figure out much about your Earth stuck over here. And I can't say I've been that much more successful about this dimension, you've seen basically everything I have to show for it so far. Still, I'm working on it as time permits."

I stayed silent as she shifted topics and looked back towards the room's windows. "As for the prosthetics, that's actually a newer project. Back when we first talked about you training to become a better superhero, I was worried what might happen if you got seriously hurt. There was the clinic in the Halberd after a while, but even now I think it's still limited in what it could do for you, right?" I didn't object. "Right. I really didn't like thinking about it, but I knew you might be at risk of suffering major injuries if you got into fights with other powered people, and I knew you would eventually." She sighed and leaned back, putting her arms on the bed behind her for support and lazily kicking the air with her legs. "Then a bit later it turned out that Panacea person you're friends with got her own powers, so it was never really needed, which I'll always be grateful for. Still, I kept working on it, because I thought it was actually an interesting project. Haven't done any work on it in a while though, what with actual coursework deadlines coming up."

"I appreciate the thoughts anyway." I replied, unsure of what else to say. 'Thanks, but even without Panacea I'd only have needed it one time when I got too reckless against Crusader'? Accurate, but it wouldn't have felt good both kind of dismissing and definitely worrying her. Instead, I focused on what was worrying me. "That seems like a lot of stuff you did for me without actually telling me about any of it, Adeleine."

"Well, I don't have to tell you everything Sophia. And I would've told you earlier if anything ever came from any of this, but so far its just been a load of big, fat nothing. Does that make sense?" Silence fell for a moment, and after a few seconds of it she started humming again, tilting her head side to side, remembering a tune I didn't recognize.

I just frowned and scooted away from her a little. Obviously she was right, she didn't have to tell me everything she was doing. She didn't have to tell me anything if she didn't want to. Me not knowing was not actually the problem here. The problem was that I didn't like how she'd gone so far out of her way to do stuff for me, but I didn't want to put it like that. So how should I phrase this, exactly? "I'm not going to say you're wrong. But all that for my sake? Or because of me, at least? If you've forgotten, I kind of come from a fucked up world. Are you really sure you want to be doing stuff because you were worrying about what happens in it? You have a good thing going here, in this universe, and you should be free to enjoy it. No need to concern yourself about me. I can take care of myself."

That got her to quirk an eyebrow up. "Is it bad to care about a friend's life? I don't think so."

"If you care to the point you're changing your life for them, then yeah, maybe it is." I irritably shot back. It might have been one thing if she just did these projects in the past, but she was obviously continuing them even now. If she wanted to help me, Adeleine should make sure she was fully comfortable herself. Which I knew was a little rich coming from me, but it was fine. I still had things under control. Mostly.

"That's what life is, Sophia. We change for other people, we're changed by other people. We take things from the people we know and they take from us. It's almost the only way we can grow. And it's not even so simple as the changes being inherently bad or good, it's a matter of people being people, and that's just how things are. Can you really say you haven't been inspired to do things by other people? Or that you haven't inspired others as a hero? None of us are an island."

I couldn't argue with her main point, but that last bit needled me a little. The absoluteness of it. "Kirby and Scion are." I pointed out.

Adeleine sighed. "I don't know that I'd say that. Kirby definitely isn't. After all, it was through working with other people that he learned about things like forgiveness, and reasonable caution. Well, he's still working on the reasonable caution thing, but last I checked he's trying! So he's the same person he fundamentally was back when he first appeared, just like we're fundamentally the same people we were four years ago when we first met, but that doesn't mean he hasn't changed and grown just like us. I can't comment on Scion, but I don't think you can either. After all, you still don't know if he's a really, really strong parahuman, an alien, or something like the physical manifestation of mankind's collective unconsciousness. And I'd still be willing to bet he's been influenced by people in the past. I'd bet art on it!" She shot me a rueful glance. "I'd bet money but I'm out. My tuition fees aren't, uh, cheap."

"Are they not?" I said blankly.

"No, and the reason is-"

"Actually, forget I asked. It's not important. I don't want to jump from a philosophical discussion to a lecture on space money." I threw myself back and to the side, collapsing down on the bed behind Adeleine. "Honestly, I'm kind of tired. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I came here, but I don't think it was this." I'd seen a lot, and it was fun, but I couldn't shake the feeling I'd messed up somehow. I knew I'd always been out of place in this idyllic world where things were as simple as the good guys always warning, but so long as I just observed and took from it the feeling was minimal. Learning change had gone the other way though, that felt different and strange, and not in a good way. "Don't get me wrong, I had a great time chatting with you and learning about all the art and this stuff, but I showed up trying to clear my head, and I'm gonna leave here with questions I didn't have coming in." I rolled over towards the wall and curled up into a ball. "Why is this stuff never easy?" I more murmured than said.

"Well, that depends. What do you mean by this stuff?" Adeleine asked. She'd shifted into a very patient and gentle tone of voice, like she used to use back in the day. Like mom and dad used to use when I was a little kid, really.

"Feelings. Thoughts. The whole thing with Coil I talked about." I rattled off. "Everything."

"If I know you half as well as I think I do, telling you to change course would be silly of me. But with that in mind, can I give you some advice?" She asked. I heard and felt her shifting, I think standing up, but since I was still facing the wall I couldn't actually see. Regardless, I gave a hum of affirmation. "I think you'll find your friends will have your back in this. Lean into that, it'll make everything go much smoother."

I turned my head to the side so I could make my crooked grin visible. "Oh, you would say that you big sap!" I found myself unsurprised that even now, she was still pushing for this. Nobody could say she didn't have conviction, at least.

Adeleine put her hand over her mouth as she gave a short giggle. "Nooo, I'm serious! You can't just ignore my advice because you don't like it!"

I flipped back over so I was facing her. She'd shifted her stance again, this time having folded her arms as she looked down at me, still smiling faintly. "You know, I do hate to say it, but you probably are right. Fine, I'll try talking to my friends." It couldn't hurt, and it's not like that amounted to too many people.

"They'll probably come to you, Sophia. You might be surprised by that, but they will. Trust me, okay?" Finally, I truly relented. She had such an earnestness about her final words that I couldn't bring myself to keep disagreeing with her point. If nothing else, I felt like I owed her enough that I could go with her on this whatever my personal feelings happened to be.

"Well, thanks for the advice. And-" I thought back to what she'd said earlier. Had I really inspired people? Obviously I knew I was a pretty famous hero, at least locally. I knew logically that made me kind of inspiring by default, but I'd never really thought about it. I guess because I didn't see myself as much of a role model. I decided not to poke her about it and went for something else instead. "-if you have a bunch of spare time right now, could you help me with one other thing?"

"Depends on what it is, but go ahead and ask. I should be able to work something out." She replied.

I nodded. "Thanks. Thing is, I think I need a camera for my mask now that I'm no longer on great terms with the PRT. Well, I have a camera, what I need is a recording device. Just so I have evidence to back me up if I get in another bad situation." It might also help me in regular patrols if I lived through Coil's best efforts. Previously I'd relied on keeping hold of people and giving statements when I absolutely had to see people arrested, but that wasn't the most efficient thing possible.

"Well that's actually a bit depressing, but I should definitely be able to do that for you." She marched over to her studio, and I hopped out of her bed to follow along. She reached towards her paintbrush, and it literally leaped off of her workbench and into her hand. She went to the nearest empty canvas, and began to paint. One broad stroke one way, and then a second the other. Each pass added detail and texture, so that what had been a simple line of black paint became a visor. It was only a few seconds before she was finished, and the sort of plastic-looking strip of material physically dropped off of the canvas and into reality.

"There. Fix this to the inside of your mask's visor, it should adhere automatically. What it'll do is record the data input from your mask's camera systems, and then be able to wirelessly download the recordings to any nearby computer system with relevant software. It'll even help as extra protection for your eyes!" I took hold of the strip of pseudo-plastic and turned it around in my hands a couple of times.

"I think I got all of that. Thanks." She tried to wave me off, so I pushed on. "Seriously, thanks. For this and everything else. I don't know who I'd be without you."

"Don't you mean where you'd be?" Adeleine curiously asked.

"Nah, I meant what I said. It's getting late though, so I'll let you catch some sleep. Good luck with your exams, Ado." I managed another smile of my own.

"Good luck catching supervillains, and feel free to come back any time. There's a bunch more stuff I can show you!" I wasn't sure where she'd managed to pull a last sudden burst of excitement from at this hour, but it didn't matter too much. I took a few deep breaths as I steadied myself, then shifted back over to my world.

I wasted no time in dropping the mask add-on and my medal inside of a drawer, getting changed, and then completely collapsing on my bed and getting under the covers.

As always, my sleep was peaceful but dreamless and all too short.

Chapter 31: Chapter 26

Chapter Text

I was up late last night, so when my alarm woke me in the morning I was a bit groggier than usual. Since I still got more than a couple hours of sleep, that only meant I wasn't immediately operating on all cylinders, but when you're used to an exact cycle of peak performance, even small weaknesses become notable. My mom either doesn't notice or doesn't mention my exhaustion, and I'm fully awake by the time I arrive at school.

It doesn't feel entirely right, going in like everything's normal the day after I nearly died. Obviously not the first time it's happened, so I'm slowly getting used to it, but it's still uncommon enough that it knocks off balance every time. I'm obviously physically there in the school building, and I'm listening to my teachers, but it has a certain unreal quality to it. Even the Other World doesn't quite make me feel this way, and that has cuddly round aliens who can use outright magic. Despite that, I managed to go through the motions of the day easily enough. While I did, I spent a few hours idly analyzing yesterday. Specifically, the parts after I escaped Coil's mercenaries.

The long and short of it was that I badly fucked up, and I was tough enough that I could admit that to myself. Getting told at length why the PRT really wanted me to stop, and then not only not stopping but actively running away from Armsmaster was not my best move, but I'd been so caught up in the moment that I hadn't really processed it at the time. That said, I hadn't actually changed my mind. I was still going to take Coil down. But I could have made my case a lot better than I did.

Unfortunately, I couldn't go back and change what had happened, and even if I could I'd have changed how the fight went instead of what came after it. I'd just have to adjust my approach going forward and hope that I hadn't permanently ruined things by being too impulsive. My plan was to hope they didn't try and force the issue while I leaned back a little and avoided getting into any more trouble. The files I'd swiped would take time to make any useful sense of, and I could send the Bio Sparks that were helpfully staying around on missions while I refocused on fighting the other two big problems in the city. In an ideal world, Coil might even think that I'd actually backed off. Yeah, that was the way to go. With that settled, I just waited for time to pass.

Lunchtime came soon enough, and I found my only two real friends in Winslow soon enough. I sat down with them, ate, and listened, letting a vacant expression settle on my face. I'm sure it would be worrying to them if staring off into the middle-distance wasn't basically a habit of mine. Taylor was excitedly talking a mile a minute about something I only half understood, with Emma and myself mostly giving off hums and 'oh yeah?'s of acknowledgement. Emma also had a thoughtful expression on her face, and while she was mostly looking at Taylor she stole a few glances at me.

I wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed when there was a lull in the conversation and Emma spoke up. "You know, we should go to a movie this weekend. Just the three of us. How does that sound?" That dragged me back to something resembling full awareness, and I gave off a vague noise of interest. Taylor paused to consider it for a moment, then beamed.

"That's a great idea! Because I think we've all got all our midterm results back, so it's something to take our minds off school, or a reward, or both. So yeah I'm totally down for that. Oh, but I have something with some other friends this Sunday, so it can't be then. Otherwise I'm pretty much free any time this next week, I think." As she spoke, I leaned forward and took a steadying breath, centering myself in the now. The continuing benefits of training.

"I'd have to ask my mom if I'm free on any given day, but I don't think I have anything." I shot Emma my best meaningful look. "Except I can't really come to anything in the evening."

She just waved a dismissive hand at me. "Yeah I know, Sophia. Don't worry about it. I was thinking Saturday, two in the afternoon? There's a movie on then in the one cinema we go to. A new murder mystery film. I heard it's actually really good. Any objections?" I shook my head minutely while Taylor let off a 'nope'. Emma put her hands on the table between us and gave a bright smile. "Then it's decided! I actually haven't spent much money for a while, and since I can best afford it out of us three I'll pay for all our tickets. If you want snacks I'm going to ask you bring or buy your own, though. You two can ask permission and we can meet back up tomorrow and see if this actually works for you."

I suddenly felt awkward sitting there. I had the feeling this wasn't just out of the blue on her part, but I couldn't say that or try and back out. I wasn't quite that antisocial. I was trapped, in a sense. Then again, maybe that wasn't all bad? It was like Adeleine had said, my friends were trying to help. Besides, she just wanted me to attend a movie. That wasn't bad or anything, it just felt weird to have her do something for me. If I wasn't seeing something where there was nothing, that is. After Emma finished speaking, there was a moment of silence, which I rushed to fill to prevent things from getting awkward.

"Yeah, thanks, I appreciate it. I mean, I'm sorry I don't really do stuff with you two a lot. I'm kind of a third wheel to you, I know you do loads of stuff yourselves but I mostly just hang out with you in school. Not really a great friend, am I?" Clearly the solution to potential awkwardness in the air was to make things even more awkward than they already were with rushed, thoughtless words. You were a genius, Sophia, an absolute genius.

Taylor shrugged. "It's fine, really. I know you're busy with track and part-time work, right? We wouldn't ask you to do anything to mess with that, and we wouldn't hang out with you if we didn't enjoy it. I know you're mostly Emma's friend, but I do like you too, Sophia. You've helped us out, sure, but I also think you're just pretty cool. You know, with your whole badass thing, and-"

"I agree with Taylor." Emma smoothly interrupted. "I may have known her for longer, but I still met you, what, two years ago now? Of course I'm going to invite you out to these things." She paused and blinked suddenly. "Oh my god, it really has been two years ago. Huh, time flies I guess."

Emma soon started talking about something else, and we moved on. Lunch was over, and we said our goodbyes, sort of. Emma and I shared a math class, so while Taylor went off on her own we headed towards our next classroom together. As we swiftly made our way down the corridors of Winslow, surrounded by other, normal students trying to get to their own lessons, I muttered "Thanks." Quietly, but loud enough that she heard.

"I just saw the news and figured you could use a break." She muttered back. Well, that did confirm she was doing this with me in mind, even if not outright for me. I let out a sigh I didn't even realize I was holding. I guess I'd just have felt stupid if I made a really wrong assumption, and I didn't need that right now.

"You're a lifesaver." I said as quietly as before.

In response, she turned to smirk at me and playfully swatted at my arm. "That'd be you, Sophia. I'm just trying to do something nice for a friend."

Just after that we arrived and headed into class. I began to drift out of feeling truly present again, but not as badly as in the morning. After my afternoon classes, I headed home. It had been a nice distraction, but I had work to do.

As soon as I got back to my room, I found a conspicuous stack of printed files waiting on my desk. Financial records. Balance sheets, transactions, internal memos, project approval forms, everything you'd need to see into the guts of an inconspicuous construction company. I went back downstairs for a moment to grab a drink, then settled in to start searching for discrepancies.

Two hours later when my mom came back from work I wasn't any closer to getting something useful out of this than when I started. I'd figured out that their assets were equal to their liabilities, apparently, but that was about it. Wasn't even sure why. I supposed it made sense, Coil had managed to slip through the net of Watchdog and it's small army of Thinkers who actually knew what they were doing. Even with all the raw data available, I didn't have the skills to make sense of any of it. I thought that'd be the case, but a part of me hoped there'd be something labeled TOP SECRET EVIL VILLAIN LAIR LOCATION AND FUNDING for me to find. Unfortunately not.

Still, just because I couldn't find anything useful didn't mean there was nothing there. I just had to get this to the people who could make sense of it. Question is, who was that?

The PRT was the obvious choice and also definitely not an option. Even ignoring the part where they were still compromised by Coil, and that was a big sticking point, there was no way they weren't pissed off enough at my crap to work with me. Maybe I could turn a copy in, but they'd mostly use it to go after Coil's assets, which would be a little helpful but also alert him, which sounded like a bad thing.

My mom was an accountant, so she had the skills, but she was both already busy living her own normal life and had no idea I was even a parahuman, let alone a cape wrapped up in a conspiracy. Even if I told her, I didn't think she'd take it at all well. So that was out too. And I didn't have the money or connections to hire anyone professional to take a look at these files.

So that left me with New Wave. Carol was a lawyer, so presumably had a vague idea what finance was all about, and I hadn't burnt my bridges with them quite as badly as with the PRT. Of course, only Amy and Victoria actually knew about the Coil thing in the first place right now, and they were also quite busy. Still, it wasn't completely doomed to failure, and I figured I might want to touch base with them after what happened, so I made the decision to call Victoria about it in the evening.

So basically I had nothing. Well, no, I did have one reserve option. My powers. I was certain there was somebody on Planet Popstar I could convince to take a look at this and understood finance. Not that it had particularly advanced economics or anything, but if all else failed it was my best option. And my only option.

Relatively soon after I was called down for dinner. I ate, and asked my mom about going to the movies. She signed off on it, said it might be good to get out of the house for something fun rather than just work. Neither of us tried to look the other in the eye. I ended up staying down a bit longer, talked to her a bit, patted Thalia on the head, and then went back upstairs.

An hour or so later, I suited up and prepared to head out after making sure my fancy new recording system was working properly. Before I flew off, I made a call to Glory Girl.

She picked up soon enough, but didn't sound happy to hear from me. She didn't sound happy at all.

Chapter 32: Chapter 27

Chapter Text

In the end, I did get Glory Girl to agree to meet me. The traditional roof of a nondescript downtown building. I managed to get there first, since she was on patrol and had to loop back around to meet me. I saw her a moment before she saw me, so I got a good look at her as she fairly slowly descended to meet me. She was trying to glare holes through my mask, but fortunately wasn't succeeding. If I was reading my emotions correctly she was also keeping her aura nice and restrained, which I appreciated.

Unsure of what to actually say, I let her land and take a few steps towards me as she folded her arms. I stood impassively, arms resting at my sides. I played with my cape using my mind, made it flutter more than the gentle breeze would suggest it should. Several more seconds passed before Glory Girl finally decided to speak up.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" She said. Her voice was level, betraying nothing.

"Not really." I replied irritably. "What has you so worked up, anyway? Did you go to that mall or something?"

"I did, actually, but that's not why I'm mad." She paused, tilting her head up, seeming to consider what she'd just said. "No, that's unfair. You didn't do anything really wrong, so I'm not mad, but I am... I don't know. Upset? Disappointed?"

"For fucking what? I know what I did, but I didn't really have a choice-"

Before I could say anything else, she made a sideways cutting motion with a hand and cut me off. "Yeah I know, Ames told me. You came to her with your wings clipped and burns all over your body. From the sound of it, you barely escaped with your life." I tried to speak up again, but she waved a hand before I could get out even a full syllable. "Not done talking. I'm not unhappy with you because you nuked a mall. That's bad, but it sounds like it might have been the best of a few bad options. I'm unhappy because of how you reacted."

I blinked. "Jesus fuck Victoria, I nearly got assassinated. I'd have hoped to get a little more sympathy."

Her face twisted into a cross between a snarl and a grimace as she looked away and raised a hand in acknowledgement. "No, no, that's fair. I came into this looking at it from my perspective, but you did go through a pretty bad experience." She awkwardly brushes her hair behind her ears. "So I will try to be sympathetic about what happened, but I still think it's for the best if I finish saying my piece first. Is that okay with you?" I nodded. "Good."

She took a deep breath. "The way I've heard it is that you talked to Armsmaster about what happened, didn't like what you heard, and so you ran away. As in you literally sprinted away from Armsmaster. That's what Panacea said, and I've talked with Dauntless today and that's basically what he said too. This was after he persuaded the PRT to cover for your damages, which may I remind you were very significant. I haven't talked to the Wards much, but they do seem annoyed that Armsmaster stepped in to bail you out when if they'd been involved in this they'd have been looking at docked pay at the very least." Her voice was once again dispassionate. This was clearly just a laying out of the facts. Slightly awkward facts, but they were facts. "Then you phone me up out of the blue and say you want a favour, not that you've gotten around to explaining what the favour is, and now we're here. Looking back, I admit I maybe should have taken your side a bit more here. You're right, you did nearly die. I guess I kind of overlooked that because it's not that out there when you're a hero." She frowned. "Which is kind of fucked up, actually. Still, I am sorry for kind of coming in all fire and fury, but that doesn't mean you haven't fucked up here."

I take a moment to let it all sink in before I give out a heavy sigh, which comes out of my modulated mask as almost an extended burst of static. "Well, you are right, I did fuck up. I just..." I bit my lip, once again grateful that my mask hid my expressions and inner conflict from the world. Did I really want to admit that I'd just been tired and stressed and still in a rush from the fight and overreacted? I could admit that much to myself, but to let it out into the wild was something else. I knew that people only looked up to me because of how I presented myself. I wasn't Sophia Hess to anyone but a small handful of friends and family, to most of the people who knew of me I was Exoa Knight. A lone specter, the terror of criminals and Neo-Nazis a city over, and always alone, always implacable, and always level-headed. Not emotionless, because that would be impossible as well as probably not even a good thing, but sensible. Reasonable. Almost ever since I'd gazed upon the purest form of hero four years ago, and certainly since my knight's training, I'd committed to trying my best to emulate that, even if I knew I was always doomed to fail and fall short. But part of that emulation had to be image. If anyone knew how different I was from how I presented myself, well, that wouldn't be for the best.

That said, I knew I hadn't been perfect either. People in the cape scene already had an inkling I wasn't perfectly put together, that I was just another fallible human. They didn't know the full extent of it but they knew that much. So, admitting what caused my fuckup to Glory Girl would probably get me a listening ear and kind words. And that didn't sound too bad right now.

I was about to think a big but, and then I reconsidered. I'd made a promise I'd try to actually talk with my friends about this. I only really knew Victoria from joint patrols, but she was probably the person I was closest to after my immediate family, Emma, and Taylor, so if she didn't qualify no one did. Which some people would call sad, but that was on them, not me. Plus, exhaustion wasn't a flaw, it was a state of being that happened to all of us, one way or another. I prepared to speak up.

Except that thinking all of that had taken time, so there was quite a long pause that Glory Girl definitely noticed. "You just what?" She carefully asked.

"I didn't think. It was late and I was still running on adrenaline a bit even though I'd been healed, but more than that it was because of what we talked about. After what had happened, Armsmaster wanted me to stop the Coil hunting mission, and said probably so does the Director. I took that poorly. And now we're here." Maybe leaving out exact details, but that was about right.

Glory Girl gave out a low whistle. She refolded her arms, crossed her legs, hovered up about a foot off the ground, and leaned back in midair. That meant she was now looking down on me, at least in a literal sense. I supposed that was fair enough. "Alright, I'm definitely sorry for coming in earlier all fire and fury style. I should have guessed it was something like that and not just what I heard. I was just too surprised to hear you of all people would do something like that for me to think it through. I respect you, you know?"

Well this had gotten suddenly awkward. "You're not bad yourself." I said, although it came out pretty stilted.

She just grinned. "I know, I'm amazing." She dramatically kicked one leg back and reached forward with an arm to strike a pose as her expression shifted to one of cold grace, impassive with eyes closed, which was an arrangement she held for a few seconds before she finally dropped back to the rooftop and stood back up straight, once again on solid ground. "But seriously, this stuff isn't zero-sum, Exoa. We're allowed to look up to each other. That's friendship, right?"

I shrug at that. "Maybe, but you don't even know my real identity. So just..." I shook my head. "Shit. This just hasn't gone the way I expected. To be real, I had a plan to explain myself that involved flying off to the Docks and gesturing to all the crap happening over there, but now it would feel, oh, what's the word? Pointless because of what's already happened."

"Redundant?" Victoria suggested.

"It'd be redundant." I confirmed.

"I mean, you could still do it if it'd make you feel any better." She said. "Hey, we could make a race of it or something."

A race would probably be a bit one-sided. Glory Girl was easily faster than me, could accelerate freely in any direction, didn't have to rely on diving into a glide to achieve a good horizontal speed, and had both more experience and training in flying than me. Which was saying something, because I had a good amount of both.

"Nah. Besides, we're not done talking here." I ended up saying.

"We're not." She agrees. "I understand where you're coming from now. You made a mistake because you didn't want to give up on something big. A chance to make a real difference in our city-"

"I mean, I'm still going to keep going after Coil." I pointed out. "I shouldn't have acted exactly how I did but I haven't changed my mind."

Victoria grimaced. "Okay, and I've sometimes been there myself, but I still have to disagree with that. I get that you might not be keen to listen to them, but the PRT knows what they're talking about. The rules, the regulations, the system, they all exist for a reason."

"Most things exist for a reason, Victoria. That doesn't mean they exist for a good reason." I shot back maybe a bit too snappishly.

"But the PRT does. I know this is coming from me, who's not even part of them or the Wards, but New Wave has always worked closely with the authorities for good reasons. They have resources, a greater perspective, legal standing, and accountability, which is more than just not wearing a mask. They might not be perfect, but if they want you to stop hunting a villain it's going to be for good reasons. You shouldn't ignore them." She was standing firm now, feet firmly planted, moving her arms around to gesture while otherwise remaining static.

"I'm not ignoring them. I listened closely when they told me why I should stop. I just disagree with them." I had to admit it was a fairly weak if not petulant response, but it was the one I had. "Armsmaster said it was a risk to me and maybe the city. One's fine, and the other I can deal with by being more careful in the future. And if we're not going to take any risks, things are never going to get better. I've been fighting for nearly twenty months, your parents have been fighting for nearly twenty years. And for what? You can't tell me that things are getting better around here. That's not going to change unless we take some risks. And if nobody else wants to, then it's up to me."

Victoria took a measured step forward. "Again, been there. I know that things are barely stable in this city, I'm not dumb. And it hurts, sure. But we're not going to change that by you charging off and maybe even getting yourself killed to take down one villain! It's not worth it." Her expression becomes almost worried. "I know you always push yourself as hard as you can. It's one of the things I like about you, you know? But I think you've become obsessed. It's not healthy."

For my part, I just stared, my mask's yellow eyes fixed immovably on Victoria. "Diving into every cape fight we see doesn't count as healthy either, but we're not going to stop doing that, are we?"

"There are the risks inherent to being a hero and then there are the risks of going on a warpath. Even if you succeed and live, then what? You've done a good thing, but it's not like that solves the city's problems forever." She seems to be getting increasingly agitated, and takes another step forward.

For my part, I just stewed for a moment. I know for a fact that Victoria could bring up all sorts of cape-related figures and statistics if she wanted to prove her point. The Boston crisis of four years ago was just one example of how taking down villains could end up resulting in a quickly filled power vacuum, and I vaguely remembered that New Wave had been involved in trying to contain it. So why was I doing this?

Well, I still remembered why. Because if I didn't seize this opportunity, everything Coil did after this was on my head. Because things couldn't possibly start to improve for everyone until all the major gangs were eliminated one way or another, even if that was at best only the start of a lengthy recovery. Mostly because I'd personally seen another world, so real I could have lived my life there if I wanted to, that might not be perfect or entirely safe but was so much better than the decaying world I had here. A place with humans just like us in it, because there was nothing inherently wrong with us, we just had shitty circumstances that could be changed if, fuck, I didn't even know. I could only hope to affect a small part of the world myself. I wasn't smart or fast or strong enough to fix everything by myself. But maybe, just maybe, if I pushed hard enough the good within people could start to overcome the bad, and maybe that wouldn't fix everything but we'd get to live in a world where people like Coil wasn't in a position to rule a city from the shadows and people like Kaiser didn't own half of BBPD. Not a perfect world, but one we could all be happy to live in.

That's what I thought, but I said nothing. Instead, I just let Victoria keep talking, which she did after a short pause to see if I'd say anything. "I get it. You see this as your chance to have a blaze of glory, either go out now or be remembered. But, and I'm speaking from experience here, that's not a mindset that helps you or anyone around you, okay? Blazes of glory are stupid. It's consistent effort that brings change, and I know you know that! That's why you're out there, day in and day out, helping people. That's why all of us are."

"You sound like you're trying to talk me off a ledge." I said doubtfully, folding my arms and leaning back ever so slightly.

"I suppose it does, yeah." She sighed. "Tell me, am I?" Victoria leaned forward a little more than I'd leaned back. We were close enough to shake hands if we wanted to at this point.

"I don't know how to answer that." I truthfully replied. "But I don't think so? I think we'll have to agree to disagree, but trust that I do know what I'm doing. Although I'm guessing that if you disagree with my decisions you're probably not about to help me with a favour if the favour's about advancing my investigation, right?"

"Well, I genuinely want you to succeed, but I don't want to enable you either. I'm kind of stuck here." Something suddenly struck her, and her expression suddenly shifted. "And the same goes for Amy, now that I think about it. She probably won't refuse to heal you if you get wounded again, but it would put her in a tough spot."

I shrugged. This much at least I could assuage. "It'll be fine. If nothing else, I just found out that my powers could give me replacement limbs and stuff. Anything goes sideways, I can swap out flesh for metal and plastic." Not that Adeleine would be thrilled to see me in that state, and not that I planned to get crippled in the line of duty, but an option was an option.

Victoria didn't seem reassured, though. "Okay now I'm worrying again. Now you're saying that if your hunt goes sideways you're gonna use your powers to become a cyborg? That's… the opposite of what I wanted you to take away from this."

"Call me Ishmael." I made a mental note to thank Taylor for being such a literature geek at some point.

Victoria sighed again, more heavily this time. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." She also muttered something about how it was Captain Ahab who lost a leg and sought revenge on Moby Dick, but that's exactly why I didn't say I was like him. Because unlike Ahab, my plan was going to work. Hopefully.

We stayed standing there for a while longer, Victoria looking away and chewing her lip while I looked past her into the distance. We were both stubborn, and we both knew that. Neither of us was changing our position at this point.

Eventually, she spoke up. "You know, after this, you should try going around in public a little more. I know you don't do any PR stuff, and that's your right, but I think it would be good for you if you at least talked to the people you helped. Felt the good you were doing. Right now, I feel like you're kind of losing sight of everything but the big picture. If you do want to change that, I'd be happy to help."

"I can't promise I will. But I guess I'll think about it." I was already pretty sure which way I was going to go, but thinking wouldn't hurt.

"Mmm." There's a pause of a few more seconds before Victoria perks up. "So! I should get going, I actually have a date this evening. Good luck and stay safe, okay?"

"Have fun." I replied, my own wings snapping sharply open in response. I supposed we'd both said everything we really felt we had to. After that, we were both off, flying off the rooftop and away to our respective missions.

The rest of the evening was more productive but still fairly uneventful. As I prepared to turn in for the night several hours later, I gathered up all my documents and brought them into the Other World, and basically shoved them into the tiny round hands of my attendants and told them to try and solve the problem. I didn't feel great about that, but it was the option I had left, and I was certain they'd figure something out. After all, Waddle Dees were quite the resourceful lot.

Chapter 33: Interlude 2 - The Attendants

Chapter Text

While the Meta-Knights as an organisation used a variety of strike and shuttle craft to move from place to place, one of the lesser known features of the Halberd being aerospace carrier functionality, those tended to rely on supporting equipment such as paved runways and arrestor gear to land safely, and could not match the speed, reliability, and precision of a Warp Star. While Warp Stars were comparatively rarer than aircraft, in terms of how easily they could be acquired if not in actual numbers, the Meta-Knights did have the capability to summon a certain amount of them from the aether for use. Therefore, when a valuable package needed to be delivered as swiftly as possible, a Warp Star was the obvious choice.

Still, two particular Waddle Dees found themselves unappreciative of this fact as they hurtled through the air, desperately clinging to the star-shaped platform that barely responded to their instructions, at several times the speed of sound. Made worse by the fact they'd been going faster before.

That said, they didn't cry out in panic or fear. They'd been drilled better than that, so while it was tempting, they kept their metaphorical mouths shut. It also helped that they had a good exit strategy, represented by the polymer wrapped wood each held tightly in the hand not holding on to the Warp Star.

"Three, two, one-" One, strapped with a heavily laden backpack, yelled to the other over the rush of wind. "Go!" The Warp Star disintegrated into space dust in mid air, and they began to tumble down. Slower, but still far too fast. They were due for a bumpy landing, and while more than survivable a terminal velocity fall would be none too pleasant. Still, they held, plummeting downwards past a great castle situated on a flat mountaintop. During the brief planning phase of the operation, going directly to the King for help had been floated as an idea. When Lord Meta Knight himself had taken an interest, however, he pointed out that numbers and financial instruments were not a direct specialty of the King and his retinue proper, and that it would be better to look in the cohorts of his nominal citizens.

Down, down, down they fell, a town below rising up to meet them. When they were perhaps two hundred meters above the ground, they flipped their star-tipped poles upright. The wind caught the bottom of the encircling plastic, and simple engineering alongside a slight twist of internal energy took care of the rest, opening the parasols wide without the need for a proper mechanism. Almost immediately, their descent went from uncomfortably quick to a gentle drift. They had enough time to choose a precise landing site, and they looked around the approaching landscape, trying to spy their exact target.

Deetown was more of an idea than any fixed location, mostly because it was attached to a castle that kept getting moved around by giant sentient balloons and Dreamstalks, which weren't common events but still happened often enough that you made sure you were always ready to move. It was a place for those who truly enjoyed Dream Land's lazy lifestyle and wanted to congregate together near the King's palace, but didn't feel the need to or were unable to live within the castle's walls. As such, it tended to be full of civilians, and was spared the immediate wrath of invaders.

Those who served the Meta-Knights and those who went on adventures in distant lands tended to be unsatisfied with the simple desires of those who inhabited Deetown, but at this point it was mostly a mutually respectful disagreement. The one time Meta Knight tried to take over the world for its own good remained one time, and so the pair of Dees faced no opposition as they drifted down to one of the few areas of town where the ideals of peace and quiet did not hold total sway.

A dozen spearmen surrounded a lone warrior in an otherwise empty courtyard. They were all identical Waddle Dees with identical weapons, although the one in the middle could be distinguished from the rest by his blue bandana. From their lofty perch in the sky, the descending Parasol Dees could see the spearmen tighten their formation, confirm their readiness, and charge forward. Or rather half of them charged forward; the ones that could fit within stabbing distance without getting in the way. The other six stayed in position, spears lowered, to dash in and attack if the first wave was defeated.

It availed them nothing. The Bandana Waddle Dee's spear blurred, afterimages trailing behind as it seemed to be in two or even three places at once. Within a single second, each of his attackers found themselves countered and disarmed. The group reeled back from the sudden furious defense, beginning to retreat and letting their replacements try to step in, but their blue-clad opponent didn't just let that happen. He leaped over one of the fleeing Dees and slammed his spear side on into one of the unfortunate still-armed foes, sending him careening away to the edge of the courtyard, while swift stabs to the left and right disarmed two more surprised opponents.

The last three spearmen exchanged a brief look between them before dropping their weapons as the elite soldier before them turned in their direction. From the beginning of the charge to the end of the spar was perhaps five or so seconds.

The defeated gathered up their spears and once again assembled into formation, a single long row to let everyone see clearly. With a cold gaze, Bandana Dee looked the assembled troops up and down as the parasoleers finally landed, safe and sound, off to one side. After several seconds of increasingly awkward silence, the nerve of the Spear Waddle Dees broke, and they saluted, turned around, and fled from the training grounds.

Bandana Dee sighed deeply, closing his eyes as he did, and shook his head slightly as he turned to face his new companions. "I didn't want to say anything too bad about their performance, so I ended up saying nothing." He said by way of explanation. "I'm beginning to wonder if I'm overdoing this new training of the Great King's forces. So, are you the messengers Meta Knight called me about?"

The belaboured Backpack Dee nodded and stepped forward. "Yes, we're the Attendants. What do you know about our mission?"

He got a shrug as his reply. "Well, not much. Only that you wanted my help in something big and important."

The other Dees shared a quick glance as they shouldered their parasols, providing a shield against the warmth of the noonday sun. It wasn't an overbearing heat, but after their descent a little shade definitely didn't go amiss. "We're looking for help with decoding financial records we acquired from another world. We don't have the expertise to look into it, since we centrally plan our production. We're not sure the King does either, but we were hoping you'd be able to help."

That got Bandana Dee to blink. "That's not something I can solve by hitting, so I don't think you should come to me!" He exclaimed.

The third Waddle Dee spoke up. "We know you can't solve it yourself, but we were hoping you could take us to someone who could."

"Well, that's not easy. I don't think anyone is really a master of finances here. We don't have much need for it, so it hasn't come up." He gave off a thoughtful look, eyes staring up into the sky and the stars beyond. "Maybe on other worlds we could find someone, but if you want this world…" He gestured towards the backpack with his spear. "Let me have a look at it first."

The files were dutifully unpacked and handed over. Bandana Dee carefully put his spear down and began shuffling through them, beginning to quietly hum to himself as he did. All sorts of numbers flickered before his face, inflows and outflows, and one thing did stand out to him.

"I thought you said you wanted help decoding this?" He asked. "It doesn't look like it's in a code to me."

"We think something on there will lead us to a hidden enemy base." The Waddle Dee now equipped with a notably lighter backpack said. "We're just not sure what. There should be some contradiction that exposes it."

"This would be easier if I had what this should look like to compare it too." Bandana Dee muttered. "So, this comes from Sophia's world, doesn't it?" Two nods, and his eyes beamed with joy. "Well, I'm glad to help! It may have been some time since I last worked with her, but I still remember. Did you ever actually hear about what she did on Shiver Star?"

"We know she showed up there, but I don't think she's ever told us more than that."

"Well, I should tell you about it some time. I also went to her world a few times after that. It's a very different place to what we're used to, but I'm sure you know that much already." He handed the documents back over and picked up his spear. "I do have an idea on how to help. Follow me!" With that, he turned and began waddling off, and his two fellows wasted little time in heeding his instruction.

Their little group marched through the half-organised streets of Deetown, winding roads leading them seemingly nowhere in particular as Bandana Dee seemed content to take quite the scenic route. There was no single architectural style, but the cobbled streets and various buildings all seemed like they belonged together, almost all one or two story structures of brick and stone, most boxy with slanted roofs although some were small domes. Most seemed simple enough externally, although there was sure to be electrical outlets in at least some of them. There were no obvious power plants, but a friendly Sparky or Plugg could easily charge up any devices just by being around.

Perhaps more striking than the humble sights were the smells and sounds. Members of widely varying species went around their day, chatting amiably with each other. Each speaking in their own voice, moving in their own ways. They passed a Plasma Wisp floating through the air and heard its distinctive electrical crackle and took in the stink of ozone it left in its wake. Other smells included fresh paint, flowers, and fresh bread, the latter of which caused the group to make a brief detour for fifteen minutes, exchanging Gold for baked goods. Without Backpack Dee's insistence they actually get to solving problems, it would probably have been longer.

Eventually, they made their way to a wooden platform and podium out in front of a somewhat larger building, a town hall if the Attendants had to guess. What certainly helped that impression was the large gathering area in front of the platform, as well as the Walkies wired up at the edges, presumably to act as speakers for the non-living microphone resting atop the podium.

A few had already gathered here for various reasons, either having met for their own purposes or having followed the trio out of curiosity as to what they were doing. Bandana Dee took up position at the front of the small but steadily growing crowd, took a silent breath, and began to speak.

"Ahem. Ahem!" The conversations still ongoing in the crowd swiftly petered out. "Thank you for listening to me today. I believe you all know me, or at least know of me, so I'll keep this short." He began waving his arms around as best he could, which despite their size was fairly well. "Someone needs our help! Right now! Not with anything too dangerous, just sorting out a big pile of numbers and noting anything wrong with them. Now, you may not know her, but I can tell you the person who needs help is a really good person, and I'm sure you'd be doing her a big favour by helping her out. If you want to help, step forward so we can organise you into teams."

For a moment, the people were still, absorbing the information. Not all of them had the free time or analytical skills to contribute. Of those that did, some thought they had better things to do.

But quite a few thought that if someone needed help, they should step up and help. There was a general shuffling as more than a dozen Dees, Doos, and several others stepped forward, raising their nubs to the sky to indicate they were volunteering for the cause. They didn't have all too much to offer, but they did have faith and enthusiasm. "I've actually worked with project financing before," A Clown Acrobot said.

"Well that's a relief. I know this isn't that easy or exciting, but you still decided to help. Thank you! Now, the way we're going to solve this is by cross-referencing everything to everything else, which might take some time..."

The backpack was handed over and the files began to be distributed. With that, their task was completed, and the Attendants stepped away from the crowd and began to wander back across the streets. "That went well." One noted to the other. "I'm sure Lord Meta Knight will be pleased to hear it."

"If this works." The other replied. "It's hoping to make up for not being very good with numbers with… numbers. Of people, that is."

"I guess we'll see." The first answered.

They drifted through the town, aiming for the rolling hills and fields outside. If the Sparkling Stars blessed them, they might be able to find another Warp Star soon enough. At that point it was as simple as hanging on while they returned home.

Not something either was looking forward to, but for them, duty came first. Their knightly charge wasn't different in that specific respect, which might be why they got along reasonably well.

They dearly hoped this would all work out in the end, for her sake if nothing else. From what little they'd seen of her in recent times, they were worried about what might happen if it didn't.

Chapter 34: Chapter 28

Chapter Text

A cunning deduction. A race against time. A climactic confrontation. Something that's not quite a witty one-liner, but comes close enough to count in my book. A denouement. All of it, set to a humble musical score. The good guys win, the bad guy gets locked away for good, only one person had to die.

I couldn't help but wish my life always went that smoothly. Ideally without the person getting murdered part, but even in my daydreams I had to try and be realistic about these things.

The three of us exited the movie theater into the cool Saturday afternoon, looking up at the sun as we once again suffered under its rays. Emma and Taylor had already struck up a conversation about the film's main plot, and I dutifully fell in behind them, walking in silence. I didn't have much to say, especially since Friday passed uneventfully, in the sense that I didn't get into a cape fight or have a particularly heavy conversation. Saturday morning passed without much incident either, I did the rest of last week's homework until it was time for me to job to our prearranged meeting spot. Now that we were done with the movie, we'd agreed to call it a day and head home since it was already after four. We'd debated eating out or something but Emma hadn't been willing to stretch her generous credit that far and both Taylor and I wanted to spend what little money we had on something else. She wanted to rearrange her wardrobe slightly, while I still had to throw all available money into the black hole of desperately trying to keep Brian afloat and way from villainy due to necessity.

So we'd take the bus back to roughly Emma's place and then split up, with Taylor continuing on the bus in a roundabout route to get back to her house while I split off and just walked back home. Mostly because I had to take exercise where I could get it these days. You'd think all my hero work would help with that, but I spent most of my evenings flying rather than running, so really it was a small miracle my athleticism hadn't started to drop too badly. As with most of the unusual things in my life, I wondered if my power had anything to do with that. And as always with that wondering, it was hard to say.

"I mean, it was a pretty smart plan." Taylor mused. "If I was the villain I'd probably have done the same thing. Except the part where I got caught." Emma just scoffed at that, shaking her head.

"How are you going to avoid getting caught if you do the same thing? Taylor, you'd make a terrible villain." She then dramatically flipped her red hair back and adopted a haughty pose, or at least a pose as haughty as possible while still walking forward. "I just wouldn't get involved in a murder mystery in the first place. Much simpler."

"Yeah but what if you, you know, had to? As in, had to? Work with me here Em." Taylor shifted a bit away from us two so she had more room to gesture with her arms, which she did with a good amount of enthusiasm and maybe not as much grace. "It was a good plan! It had a bunch of layers that each deflected away from her, right, so even though you suspected her you found it difficult to prove anything. Okay Sophia, back me up here?"

The request jolted me back to the present. I paused, hummed, then shrugged, keeping my hands inside my pockets. "I don't think so. The best plans are simple, because the more confusing you make it the closer people are going to look at it. The whole thing with the two murder methods just gave things away, because obviously there was going to be an autopsy no matter what. So ditch the knife that gave you away, stick with the poison, and ride it out because they can arrest every suspect but if they can't convict anyone you're free to go."

Taylor bit her lip and slowed down a little as she contemplated my words. "I guess. If you wanted to be sure you could just have the body cremated after you poison him. That way there wouldn't be an autopsy and people would just suspect natural causes, right?"

I nodded. "Right, but if they suspect foul play they're obviously going to go for the autopsy first, you can't just get around that. If you had to do it..." I frowned. "I don't know, I don't actually think about murdering people that much."

"Neither do I, but it's still interesting as a thought experiment. And you wouldn't have to deal with that if you made sure to incinerate the body before an investigation could really kick off." A thoughtful look crossed Taylor's face. "But it might be tricky to set that up..."

"I'm glad you two are getting along." I glanced over to see that Emma's face was practically ashen as she looked between us. "This is the talk I was expecting when I invited my two best friends out to see a movie. Def."

"To be fair, if you didn't want us to talk about murder you shouldn't have taken us to see a murder mystery." Taylor pointed out. Emma began to sigh before shifting into an undignified groan as Taylor giggled and I gave off a small smirk in the back.

"This is bullying." Emma muttered to herself, which just made Taylor laugh even harder. After that, the conversation topic was dragged away to future planning, mostly checking interest to see if anyone wanted to do this again later. Personally, I was as silent and noncommittal as possible. I didn't regret coming here, but it just wasn't a good time for me personally to be involved in anything, really. I mean, that fact was explicitly why Emma had invited me out, but I still shouldn't be making a habit of it. It was easier in some ways if I just got to focus on what needed to be done.

By this point we'd reached the bus stop and were waiting for a bus. It wouldn't be long before I got home, ate, and then went out into the night once more. I'd already shifted mental gears to start planning patrol routes now that I was waiting for document analysis to come through, which I expected to take at least a few days, so I was almost startled when Taylor addressed me yet again.

"You doing okay? You've been kind of quiet this entire time except when we were talking to you." I wasn't sure if the fact I was so surprised or the seemingly genuine concern in her face and voice stung more. I frantically looked in Emma's direction for help, but she shot a meaningful look back, telling me that I was on my own for this one. Traitor.

"I've never been that talkative, have I?" It was a genuine question as much as anything else. I mostly kept to myself and tagged along under Emma's good graces, we were all friends but I wouldn't call myself all that close with either of them. Or with anyone else in this world, really, but that was a separate issue. "I just don't have much to say."

"Well yeah, but you've been even quieter than usual." Taylor replied. Damn her but I think she had a point. I also think I knew why. I relied on precision, on habits and routine. Wake up, go to school, be a hero, go to bed, repeat. It was part of how I kept myself honest to the cause. But that meant when something like this happened I wasn't ready for it. I practically shut down. Sure, I enjoyed it, I'd do it again, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with it happening. It was too, well, abnormal. I carefully avoided thinking too hard about the idea that going out to see a movie with friends was abnormal for me in favour of replying.

"I guess I'm tired. I've had a long week." That much was true, at least. It seemed to satisfy Taylor, and it wasn't much time after that until a bus arrived. We got on and headed out without any more real fuss. It was only a few minutes until Emma and I said our goodbyes to Taylor and we hopped off. Instead of separating right away though, Emma stared at me for a moment.

"So, see you on Monday?" She asked.

"Yeah." I answered. She almost imperceptibly sighed, turned around, and started walking the last stretch home. I started walking myself, eyes downcast as I replayed things in my head a few times. Had I fucked up there? I guess I had. It would be hard for Emma to justify doing things for me if I didn't properly cooperate, and Taylor was right in that I had been quiet. Was that fucked? If so, on who's part? I mean I knew why I'd been quiet, but I could I really justify it, even to myself? I was just wrapped up in shit so badly that I was barely... barely what? Interacting with the world around me, I guessed.

Shit. So much for a nice afternoon. I got back home without further incident and talked with my mom a little bit. I didn't have much to say to her either, which let me overthink things even more. I escaped to my room as soon as was polite after dinner and locked myself in. My thoughts tripped over each other as they came too fast for me to properly process. Part of me realized that being too forcefully introspective instead of trying to be myself was what was screwing me, but fuck, I was pretty sure I didn't want to be myself. Not publicly.

I continued to swear and think, knocked off balance, until I rushed through switching worlds and suiting up. Once I was masked and flying, I could almost physically feel my earlier doubts falling away under the rush of air as I soared through the skies. My breathing was steadier too, and I hadn't even noticed it had gotten a bit too fast until then. Instead of starting to patrol immediately, I took a few minutes to perform some aerial acrobatics, climbing and diving in a roughly northwestern direction away from my house. My sword arm itched to be used.

Alone and armoured, in the sky and ready to fight. I wasn't trapped with my thoughts or even other people, just motion and potential violence. I knew that this is where I really belonged, until the end of the line.

Chapter 35: Chapter 29

Chapter Text

Sunday passed in another blur, once again nothing major coming to my attention. By this point I was beginning to suspect that something was brewing beneath the city's seemingly tranquil surface that I wasn't seeing aside from Coil's whole deal. Well, as tranquil as Brockton Bay ever got, which wasn't very. So that's how I found myself sitting down at lunch scrolling through my phone, checking news sites to see if I'd missed anything big. I wasn't even eating, since I didn't have much of an appetite. Lack of appetite came from stress, didn't it? That was probably it, since I was not feeling amazing. Probably nothing to worry about, since that'd go away once all this finished. And I would finish it, if it was the last thing I did.

Emma in particular seemed to ignore the last exchange we'd had on Saturday, which I was grateful for. I really didn't need one of my only normal friendships to change on me right this second while I was still busy burning bridges with all my peers for the hope of a distant major victory. Maybe I'd just overthought a small sigh? She could just have hoped to hear something a bit more positive for me. I might have overthought that too, but I was too busy stressing over the city potentially being about to detonate to really get into that.

I took a moment to steady my breathing and reflect. I couldn't exactly try to meditate, but I'd been trained in how to steady my mind in combat, and that kind of carried over to situations like this. Did I have any other reasons to be stressing than a hypothetical? No. My progress had slowed dramatically since my initial shadow-exchange with Coil, and that was probably making me antsy. But that wasn't an actual reason to let my thoughts spiral out of control. I closed my eyes, and took a deliberately deep breath. Back to basics, for a single moment.

"If you win the battle inside of your heart and soul, then you shall find the battles outside of yourself that much easier. I suspect that is why our mutual friend has never known defeat."

Of course, all my internal problems weren't suddenly solved with a breathing pattern and a memory. It was just a little thing. But the little things helped, and I had kind of been ignoring them lately. I just needed to keep stable for the time being.

"Everything okay?" Emma asked, turning her head to look at me. I hadn't exactly been subtle with my giant breath, after all. I took a moment to consider how to respond to her, before deciding that a half-truth would work fine. They usually did, in my experience.

"Just saw something that made me need to take a moment." I said, vaguely gesturing at her with my phone. I then glanced at the time. Quarter past twelve, halfway through lunch. Nothing yet. Not that I really expected anything specific, but my gut was saying something would go down sooner rather than later, and in my experience my gut was more right than not.

Neither Emma nor Taylor decided to press further after that, leaving me to continue in peace. I started to talk a bit more, and time began to fly. Five minutes passed in a blink, and I was almost ready to put my phone down for at least a moment, to conserve power if nothing else. Of course, that's also when my refreshing finally brought me something relevant. The good news was that I'd just been vindicated in my belief that something would happen. That was also the bad news.

The words 'Hostage situation' blared at me from the news website's headlines, something happening right now in downtown. So did the words 'Krieg' and 'simultaneous attacks'. I didn't do much more than skim the relevant information before I sighed, flicked off my phone's screen, grabbed my backpack and stood up.

"Something just came up. Emergency. Gotta go, tell the teachers." My voice came out clipped and fast, and I was turned around and walking away as soon as the last word had left my mouth, before either of them had time to respond. Leaving school this suddenly wasn't a great look for me, but I was sure it wouldn't be a big deal, and this was far more important.

I walked as fast as I could get away with through the halls and broke out into a run when I got outside of the Winslow campus, dashing forward to find a suitably abandoned location. I was in luck, seeing as Winslow wasn't exactly in an amazingly popular or safe part of town, and crouched down in an empty side-street to transfer worlds.

What I wasn't expecting was for a voice to emanate from behind me. "What causes this?" Came the deep yet lilting voice. I literally jumped, hopping to my feet and swirling around to see a purple-cloaked ninja at the bottom of my vision. I looked down at the Bio Spark in annoyance. "You retreated from the school in a great hurry." He said by way of explanation. It was true, but raised as many questions as answers.

"Are you following me?" I let my confusion and frustration drip deeply into my voice, scowling as I did. I really wasn't expecting this, for a number of reasons. "I get that you have to do something in the day, but are you really doing this?"

"A precaution." He replied. "We do not currently expect danger to your person, but it pays to be prepared. Especially since if you fall, we will be trapped in this alien world." Well, I had to admit that was right. It did frame things a bit differently, that by keeping an extended stay here they were potentially putting themselves at risk. Probably either it was a matter of honour for them, or Meta Knight was paying them a lot of gold. Or both.

Luckily I didn't plan on dying, and I did plan to call on them to help me. "There's a situation downtown." I grabbed my phone from my pocket and turned the screen back on for a moment, flashing the address. "Take all your men and go here. I'll meet you there, or maybe arrive first. Got it?" By way of reply he conjured his own cellphone seemingly from thin air and started talking, presumably to the other three. I just crouched back down, focused, and found myself in another world.

I wasted as little time as possible suiting up, and also flicked out the Warp Star Attractor from my left gauntlet. The moment was everything attached, I dashed from my room to the Halberd's deck, and found a Warp Star waiting for me. I grabbed it and shoved it under me in a single motion, concentrated, and shifted back. Then it was as simple as thinking about it for the platform to shoot straight up into the sky. In a moment, a vast portion of the city was stretched out below me.

It didn't take me long to identify the part of downtown in trouble, and even less time to descend from my vantage point in the sky to the location. I managed to land right behind the PRT vehicles blockading the unassuming office building, Warp Star detonating into a small shower of bright yellow particles that dissipated into the atmosphere as I basically walked straight off it and to the line of armoured PRT officers pointing weapons at the front of the building. I politely cleared my throat.

"Jesus!" The one who looked to be in charge said as he whipped around to face me. "I'd ask for a warning next time, but I guess that was the warning. Captain Carden. Shouldn't you be in school?" He asked.

"Shouldn't there not be a hostage situation in that building?" I shot back, maybe a bit meaner than I'd intended. He was right, obviously, but it's still not exactly what I wanted to hear. Especially since the Wards wouldn't be in school by now either, but I decided to ignore that. Luckily, he seemed to take it reasonably well and just shrugged in response.

"Guess so. After what happened, we're not supposed to engage with you under normal circumstances." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "This ain't those. So I'll ask: what can you do to help?" Straight to the point, which I liked, and confirming some of my fears that the PRT wanted to freeze me out, which I liked less but understood. As repayment, I also wasted no time in answering.

"I have help on the way. They should be able to resolve the situation. I can't exactly just go through the front doors by myself." Left unsaid was that I could, but that might not go so well for the hostages. "In the meantime, why doesn't someone tell me how and why the Empire took hostages in an office building in broad daylight? That doesn't seem..." What? Smart? Efficient? The Empire was neither. "Like them." I said.

The captain apparently decided that if he was accepting my help he may as well go all in, because he answered straight away. It was nice, reminded of the grand old days of this time last week. "Two days ago. the police received an anonymous tip indicating a major Triple-E safehouse and the identities of those who frequented it. A whole lotta skinheads and some lieutenants, but none of the capes. Yesterday, they investigated the facility to confirm the tip was accurate and when they found it was we were called in. The Director pushed for us to move as fast as possible so the information didn't have time to leak and make them go to ground before we snatched them up." He glanced to one side, and I followed his gaze to where some BBPD patrol cars and officers were sitting, augmenting the cordon around the office. "Clearly we didn't move fast enough, but we did hit them earlier than planned. Enough time for them to grab some weapons and get inside that building pretty much as we showed up, but not enough time for them to escape. They've declared they've taken everyone inside hostage, and want out. Meanwhile, our capes are tied up fighting theirs a few blocks north of here. And we can't go up the chain of command for orders because headquarters is under attack, so we're alone out here."

I mentally reeled from that last one. "Excuse me, what?" Apart from the fact that PRT HQ was basically the most secure building in the city, and the fact that I couldn't even begin to guess why you'd want to attack it, there was the fact that it was basically a tourist attraction. It wouldn't be that busy at peak school and work hours, but I was certain there'd still be some civilians there, which wasn't good at all. "Okay, from the top. What's happening where?"

"Hoo boy." He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure, since things are real messy. But best as I can tell, Dauntless, Triumph, Clockblocker, and Browbeat are fighting Krieg, Rune, Victor and Othala near here, Coil's mercenaries are fighting with Kaiser, Fenja, Menja, and Purity near Medhall's head office, a group of unknown costumed villains and Circus are working together to attack headquarters, some of our reinforcements are fighting Hookwolf, Stormtiger, and Cricket somewhere east of here, and New Wave is deploying all over the place to try and help."

What I got from that was that the entire Empire was fighting all the heroes and Coil was involved. I had a lot of questions, like where Lung was in all of this, if Purity fighting Coil's mercenaries meant she was officially back with the Empire or whether we were still all pretending she was independent, and why Wards were fighting Krieg, but I doubt I'd get any immediate answers to the first two and the third seemed like it was just a ridealong milk run turning more sour than anyone expected. The timing of all this was incredibly inconvenient. Actually, a bit too inconvenient for just bad luck. I filed that thought away in my head for later analysis.

"So everything's fucked up." I said, folding my arms. "The Empire is fighting all the heroes and there are mercenaries in at least two locations. Also you can't access the Director. I'm guessing you can't talk to Armsmaster either?"

"Fighting Hookwolf." He replied. "Which means I'm in charge here. No pressure, right?" I could practically hear him crack a smile beneath his face-covering helmet. I could also hear how forced it was. "So, about your help..."

"Like I said, they'll be here soon." I replied.

"Soon indeed." Came an increasingly familiar voice from behind me. I shifted my footing a little, but otherwise didn't give away that their arrival was almost as much a surprise to me as it was to the PRT. A few agents looked away from the office's double doors towards me, gawking at the four miniature warriors. "You require our assistance?"

"Captain Carden, meet Violet Squadron. They'll be able to solve your situation." My cape snapped open into wings. "And I have to go fight some cape mercenaries. So, if you'll excuse me." I took a few steps back, putting the Bio Sparks between me and the line of trucks and troops, but Carden called out to me before I took off.

"You're sure these guys are qualified to solve a hostage crisis?" He asked.

"I'd bet my life on them." I replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go bail out your boss." Before either of us can comment on how that was maybe a bit aggressive, I'm shooting up into the sky. PRT HQ should only be a few minutes away by my wings, and I do trust the Violets to be able to disable a few Empire thugs without anyone getting hurt. Well, except maybe the thugs.

Things were getting a lot more complicated. I just hoped that when we tallied everything up in the aftermath we'd avoided anything too disastrous.

Chapter 36: Chapter 30

Chapter Text

I raced across the sky, flying fairly directly towards my target. I wouldn't have my own backup for this one, but with any luck I wouldn't need it. At least some of the other Wards should be at their base or relatively nearby, not to mention the PRT themselves were no slouches. That said, an entire team with backup from Circus wasn't the kind of threat you wanted to underestimate. I grit my teeth and continued to dash forward, putting everything beyond the upcoming fight from my mind.

At my max speed it only take a few minutes to arrive, and I could already see the problem. The tall building, standing out from its surrounding downtown structures mostly due to the winged shield emblem emblazoned with the letters 'PRT', had two clearly visible issues indicating that it was under siege. One, the thick front doors made of bulletproof glass were shattered into tiny pieces, glass shards glinting in the midday sun even from a significant distance. The building's exterior was mostly made up of reinforced windows, but it didn't look like any others were broken, at least from my angle of approach. Two, there was a clown on the roof. I'd deal with the latter issue first.

My wings shifted as I pulled up, speed draining fast as I ascended up the last bit of height needed for me to crest the roof. The moment I passed over the building's top, my cape reformed, and I floated almost motionless in the air for the briefest of moments before crashing down to earth with an audible thud of metal on concrete. My target jumped back in shock.

Circus was wearing a jester's cap and what looked to be a red and orange skintight costume complete with coattails and matching gloves and boots. As concessions to practicality, she'd dropped any bells and was wearing a bulletproof vest, a face mask, and polarized goggles. Her usual style was a bit less tactical and had a bit more makeup, but I supposed assaulting PRT HQ required a bit of a different approach. I noted the elevator off to one side, the helipad ahead, and a few disabled PRT agents next to what looked like high-powered rifles of some kind. Moving, but only a little.

"If you surrender now, you don't have to get punched in the face." It wasn't my most eloquent demand for surrender, but I'd like to think I made a solid argument. Unfortunately, Circus didn't seem convinced.

"Way better idea: If you turn around now, you won't get into any trouble with my new... allies. And trust me, you really don't want to be in trouble with them." Her voice was lower than I was used to, mostly because she was practically growling at me. She shifted her hands and got a grip on thin air, into which spawned a large, colorfully painted sledgehammer, streamers trailing down from it. Well, this wasn't going to be fun, but I did have some advantages. Namely, I only had to delay her rather than beat her, and also that she couldn't do that much to me in a straight fight. And a fairly empty rooftop was not a place where you could easily avoid one of those.

I paused for a moment as she drew her hands back behind her head, thinking she'd try for an overhead swing, but instead a pair of throwing knives appeared, and she leapt back as she threw them with flawless aim. One slammed into my visor while the other hit the side of my neck. Both clattered down to the ground uselessly, but I'd paused for a moment in surprise at the sudden impacts and quickly checked the thin strip of material in front of my eyes for damage, so they they probably achieved the effect she'd hoped for. I glowered at her as I shifted my weight around, seeing if she'd make the next move without prompting.

There was a moment of pause in the fight as she seemed content to march to my tune until there was an echoing boom from down below, the sound of screeching metal and then a repeated crashing before a final short screech of metal, Even from what had to be quite a distance, it was loud. Circus' face twisted, and while it was hard to tell through her mask I was nearly certain she was grinning at me.

"Aw, better luck next time. Life's a bitch, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm just a subcontractor. So in a way, we're both getting screwed. The gig economy, am I right?" For my part I stayed quiet, but readied myself for just a moment before springing forward towards her, reaching out with both my arms. The moment I was in the air she had a lit torch in hand, and used her final power of pyrokinesis to blow writing flame in my face. It got uncomfortably hot very quickly, but I wasn't actually hurt by the brief contact. Instead, the goal was to blind me for even a second. When I landed basically flat on the ground and scrambled up, having missed entirely, she'd taken that time to reposition. I missed her for a moment until I realized she'd gone behind me. I turned around to find her running to the edge of the roof.

I was now remembering what it was like to fight Circus, and I was correspondingly remembering why I was so annoyed when she'd slipped out of PRT custody last time. Her powers didn't sound too bad on their own, but when you fought her you realized the problem. Her mix of balance and pocket dimensions meant she could freely drag items in and out without having to worry about stumbling, her aim with ranged weapons was perfect, and while her pyrokinesis was fairly minor it could be a nasty surprise. For all that I was the more impressive cape on paper, that didn't mean catching her was going to be easy. But I'd done it before, I had her trapped here, I'd do it again.

I broke into a run, charging towards at full tilt, and she raised a pistol out of nowhere and half-turned as she approached the roof's edge, firing blind at me. But with her powers she was still accurate, and I threw an arm in front of my visor. It had held against the thrown knife, but even a fairly small gun could probably crack and break it with repeated hits, and I didn't feel like taking a risk there. I felt as much as heard the repeated impacts on my vambrace, three or so bullets in rapid succession. I could still more or less see around my arm, and saw her try to dash to the side, once again leaving my reach. Instead of letting this continue, I decided on an emergency maneuver. I grabbed my sword, willed its exterior magnetic clamps to deactivate, and threw it at her.

She was too far away to hit with a swing, but not nearly distant enough to avoid the side of the blade slamming into her upper back at a reasonable speed. Not too fast, I didn't want to risk any spinal damage, but fast enough to make her fall down.

And she did indeed fall.

Specifically, she fell sharply to the right and off the edge of the building. Circus had stumbled, then nearly tripped, tried to twist to the left to regain her footing but only threw her upper body and center of mass out over the building's edge. She began to fall through the air, practically spread-eagled, with a sharp yelp. An attack meant to disable had just become lethal.

Well, potentially. My cape shifted into wings that wrapped around my body as I stepped off the side of the building and began to plummet myself. Our relative positions meant I fell a little faster than her, letting me get below her. My wings opened up just a little, catching the air to slow me and send me sideways. I was able to wrap my arms around her chest and then have my wings flare out to slow our descent by the time we'd hit the second floor. They flapped a few times, and managed to bring us to a halt before we'd reached the first floor windows. I breathed an internal sigh of relief.

For her part, Circus was a lot more jubilant, whooping and cheering from nearly the moment I'd grabbed her. Part of it was probably the relief from having her life saved, but she seemed a little too enthusiastic about it. "Oh fuck yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" She kicked her legs forward gleefully. "Whoops, probably shouldn't be swearing like that. You're basically still a kid, aren't you?" She sounded almost genuinely remorseful about that, which may have pissed me off more.

"I can still drop you." I said, voice deadpan, but I didn't even begin to consider actually doing it. For the most part, I was cursing myself internally as I began to fly further up, dragging her back to the roof. Why had I decided to strike her in the back that close to the end of the rooftop? This was obviously in the cards, and if I'd been much slower she could have died. Mind you, Circus was a supervillain, but she was really a glorified cat burglar. She didn't deserve to die! What had I been thinking?

Actually, wait a minute, I wasn't that dumb. The reason I'd felt comfortable attacking at the edge was the fact that Circus had supernaturally good balance from her powers. So how the hell had she managed to fall off the side of the building? That didn't actually make any sense, unless it was deliberate. Before I could say anything out loud however, Circus had vanished from my arms and been replaced with a rather heftier PRT agent in full tactical gear. "Shit!" The man suddenly burdening me swore. I was inclined to agree.

I looked down below me and saw two distinct groups. A PRT fireteam had exited the building from the front door, but seemed to have Circus in the middle of their formation, and she was making short work of them. Off to one side was three villains in black and red costumes along with what looked like a gargoyle or a demon, enormous and winged. One of the villains had a suit, top hat, and full-face mask and was looking up directly at me. He waved genially, and similarly Circus gave me a mock salute as she finished off the agents. Fuckers.

I reached the top of the roof and dropped the officer in my hands off, sighing. That did explain things, at least. I was almost touched Circus had faith that I'd catch her. That, or she thought the swapper would have saved her and let a PRT agent plummet to their death, which would be pretty worrying.

I turned to the officer, who was now glaring down at the escaping villains. I could see a PRT van resting on its side, probably what had made the earlier noises. They must have exited through the garage, then. Mind you, that didn't mean I was just going to let them get away. But I would like a bit more of an idea of what I was dealing with here first.

"Mind filling me in?" I asked. He turned to look at me and sighed. Presumably he was about as unhappy with what had just happened as I was. Luckily, instead of repeating what the captain had said about me being in the naughty box until Director Piggot graciously decided otherwise, he just answered my question.

"Those were mercenaries called the Travelers. We weren't aware they were in town until just now, and they hit hard and fast. We were able to keep the Director safe, but we're pretty sure they made off with some important data. At least nobody died." I could almost hear him grinding his teeth as he continued to glare at them before they would inevitably leave his sight. "If we weren't scattered across half the damn city maybe we could have done something, but-"

"Threat ratings." I intoned. I didn't have that much time before they got out of the area completely and I couldn't hope to follow.

"Mover Seven, Changer Nine, Striker-slash-Blaster Eight, Nuker Eight. They're called Trickster, Genesis, Ballistic, and Sundancer respectively." He rattled off. My immediate thought was that those were big numbers, and that wasn't necessarily the end of my chance but it wasn't great either. If these were mercenaries then whichever group had hired them, realistically either the Empire or Coil, was probably getting their money's worth. My second thought was that he'd instinctively gone for the retired Nuker classification for one of them, which meant that Sundancer in particular should probably not be fought anywhere susceptible to collateral damage.

So going head to head with them was right out. That said, I had other options. "You have a stun grenade I can borrow?" I ask.

The officer reached into a side pouch and withdrew a cylindrical object with several holes running down the side. "Have at it. Just pull the pin and you're good to go."

I thanked the man and left, wings propelling me off the side of the building, before he realized that he probably shouldn't be handing these out to random vigilantes no matter how stylish their armor was. I could fly much faster than they could run, and if Trickster was only capable of swapping two people he probably couldn't accelerate his team too much. I didn't descend that much from the height of the PRT building's roof, since I wanted to make it a bit tricky to see me up in the sky. If I was lucky, they wouldn't think to look up, but if they were good at their job they'd make a habit of it to prevent exactly what I was hoping to do. And I doubted they'd still be around if they weren't good at their job.

They hadn't managed to get far. I saw Vista and Gallant, probably having gone on patrol and then doubling back once they heard about the attack. They'd shown up late enough that they could only really delay the Travelers with light skirmishing, and by the time I showed up it looked like the groups had already separated again, but it was enough.

I dived, leveling out at nearly the last second to land on a roof as the Travelers ducked into an empty side-street. Circus had already broken off from the group, it looked like. They'd probably duck and weave a bit more, check they weren't being followed, and then either change out of costume or enter a safehouse of some kind. They'd no doubt manage to evade me one way or the other if they kept going, so it was time to strike now.

Couldn't really target the monster or teleporter effectively, and Ballistic's Striker rating had me worried. Sundancer it was, then.

I readied the grenade in my hand, thumb preparing to flick out the pin.

Time to see what a precision strike could get me.

Chapter 37: Chapter 31

Chapter Text

I flick the pin from the grenade and throw it in one smooth motion, aimed to land a decent bit before the moving Travelers. A half-second afterwards, I leap from my perch and drop almost straight down into the rough middle of their group, wings flaring out and angling to keep my steady and on target. There's no obvious debris in the well-kept downtown street like a discard can for Trickster to swap it with either, because I guess I was due for some luck. The heavyset armoured man in the middle of the group, Ballistic by process of elimination, yells out as the grenade hit the ground with the sharp clatter of steel on pavement. "Flashbang!" He correctly identified the type, which means everyone else is able to turn away and clap their hands over their ears in time. All except the monstrous Genesis, who instead looks up, and sees me. She practically squawks in alarm, but it's not as if the others can follow her line of sight right now. The grenades goes off practically as I hit the ground, right behind the girl who's black form-fitting costume was studded with red suns.

While the skirmish with Circus may have ended in failure, it gave me an idea. Even with assistance from an explosive and possible reinforcements, trying to fight the Travelers head on was stupid bordering on suicidal. An invitation to get my shit kicked in by their incredible abilities. So, don't. Divide and conquer. Split them up, and even if that means some will inevitably go free the group as a whole will be weakened. I can't win this war in a day, but that doesn't mean making some progress isn't worthwhile. I hooked my arms around Sundancer's waist, my own ears ringing slightly from the nearby detonation as I do, and flap my wings hard.

I'm sailing into the sky immediately. By the time Trickster and Ballistic were recovered, I'd already just about made it over the roof and out of sight. Sundancer had given out a spirited yelp and was currently struggling, but it was proving futile against powered armour. I was certain she could incinerate me if she wanted to, but there was a crucial fact that made me pretty confident she wouldn't. Namely, she didn't want to fall and snap her bones to pieces. This thing was still a risk, since I didn't understand her powers basically at all, but one I was fully willing to take in order to win.

Unfortunately, Genesis' big monster form had not only spotted me but proven a little more resistant to the stun grenade than I'd hoped. Nearly half again as tall as me, with a body covered in stony grey scales, laden with thick muscle, and a short tail and broad bat wings similar to mine completing the look. A nightmare given flesh, but all told a gargoyle wasn't the worst nightmare. Angelic wings were far worse in my experience. With repeated flaps of her wings she was following me. With all the grace of a flying pig, but she was following me. Normally I'd be able to outrun her no problem, but I was weighed down by an entire extra person right now. I'd been slowed just enough to the point where she could catch me.

I hadn't planned to fight two of the Travelers at once, but that didn't mean I couldn't manage it. I just needed to go a step further in redefining what we were fighting over. Genesis wanted to get their teammate back? Well, that could be arranged. I continued flying as fast as I reasonably could, letting the gap between us close barely inches at a time, until we were several blocks away from the other two Travelers. Then I began to put my plan into action.

I shifted my flight pattern and started going straight up. That slowed me even further, but I had enough of a lead that I could make decent progress before the time came to act. Genesis followed me, coming higher and higher into the sky. We were above all the surrounding buildings, leaving only the city below our feet and the open blue above us. I took a brief moment to appreciate the fact that despite everything, it was actually quite a nice day. A deep breath, and I did what I had to do next.

I let go of Sundancer.

To her credit, instead of screaming she limited herself to a sudden, strangled cry as she plummeted through the air directly towards her comrade below. My wings shifted into their cape form as I joined her sudden downward hurtle. I let it flow out behind me and catch some of the air rushing up to meet me, spreading out my limbs to roughly match her fall. If for some reason Genesis failed to catch her, I could return to something more aerodynamic and stop her from going splat.

But as I suspected, that wasn't an issue. The gargoyle caught its ally with its thick arms, and although it immediately dipped in the air and I could see the effect of the impact on Sundancer, they were both unharmed. It hadn't been that long a drop. Of course, whatever relief the pair of them felt probably vanished the moment I landed heavily on Genesis' head, armoured boots smashing straight into the top of her skull, causing her to drop even further in the air. I kicked off and flew away before Genesis could retaliate.

Looking down at the pair, I saw Sundancer cup her hands together, and a brilliant flash of light appeared between them, making everything else seem almost dark in comparison. If not for my visor it would probably have been painful to look at. She didn't seem afraid of using her power despite being in the arms of her teammate, which probably meant she could use it on me. New information, but also very bad. I briefly considered my options before deciding had to act fast if I wanted to get good results, and there was no way I was letting these two villains go after I already lost Circus. I mentally gave Genesis a brief apology as I angled myself to fall nearly right on top of her. Sundancer yelled to look out, Genesis tried to veer, but she wasn't nearly agile enough. I ended up dropping through the space immediately behind her, my left side nearly touching her right. I reached for my sword and found it. I'd picked it up on autopilot without really thinking about it after I threw it at Circus, not wanting to be without it for more than one reason.

In a quick motion, I unsheathed part of Dominar from its scabbard just long enough for the exposed blade to pass through her right wing. Not quite the base, but near enough that almost the entire thing came off. My angle had been very precise, cutting the wing but not the main body and not going anywhere near Sundancer herself. Genesis was only a Changer, so I couldn't afford to do too much damage, but she was a Changer, so I didn't have to hold back entirely either.

Their trajectory would take them safely to a nearby rooftop, and Genesis' extremely frantic one-winged flapping didn't do much to change that. They basically crashed, Sundancer tumbling from the gargoyle's arms onto the flat surface below while her attempted savior sprawled to minimize the damage done. They were both on their feet quick enough, but I landed just as fast, making sure to keep Genesis between me and Sundancer. Hopefully she didn't feel like throwing a projectile through her friend to get to me.

I unclamped my sword from my side and swung it about as Genesis moved to attack. I almost expected some loud hellish noise, but they attacked in relative silence. Claws swung and I stepped back, cleanly evading, before striking back with a thrust directly into their gut with nearly all my enhanced strength. They seemed to almost ignore the blow, and the pattern repeated itself, then again. Of course, the third time I'd stepped back had taken me off the roof's edge, but I staid steady in the air with slow beats of my wings, almost hovering. Suddenly switching tactics, Genesis breathed in deeply, chest expanding, and before I could figure out what she was planning breathed out a thick gray-black mist which nearly enveloped me. I froze for a moment, assessing the damage, and found... nothing. A gas attack, maybe? I grinned beneath my mask. Bad luck for her, she was up against one of the few capes around who's costume provided chemical weapons protection.

A slightly stronger flap of my wings sent me up, and I brought down my sword on top of her head with a double-handed strike. That got more of a reaction at least. They didn't stagger, exactly, but they did flinch and take a calculated step back. Progress.

The fight continued in that vein for a fair amount of time. Genesis failed to land blows on me, I counterattacked but didn't do much damage, repeat. It's not that they were slow or unskilled, far from it, they just weren't quite on my level of speed and precision. This was my element, after all, my training. If I wanted to get tacky I'd say it was my destiny and domain. The brutal melee, the elegant duel. Of course, they did still manage to get a few glancing blows, but mostly blunt hits that did about as much to me as I was doing to them, or the rare feint swipe I leaned into that resulted in mostly a shower of sparks and a failure to damage the advanced alloy plates I wore. I didn't doubt she could badly wound me if she got a solid grasp, but she wasn't really managing to do so.

This was a stalemate, I acknowledged. Well, fine by me. If this kept up long enough, help would show up for me. I wasn't so sure the same applied to them. Plus, so long as I kept the pair of them occupied, they weren't going anywhere, and I could keep doing this all day. Strike, parry, riposte, evade, mechanics drilled into my head well over a year ago by months of constant training. I was all too aware there were a lot of people in this world and the other who were better than me at swordplay and general fighting technique, but it looked like none of them were here on this rooftop.

Of course, it was never quite that easy. Around maybe two minutes into the rooftop brawl, there was another bright flash of light and dull roar from behind Genesis. Sundancer was trying to use her power again. Immediately, I tensed, letting my wings shoot out and gripping my sword tighter. Genesis paused as well, although for their part they simply looked behind themselves. At some invisible command, they nodded, and then fell apart. Their entire body exploded into pebble-like scales and the dark smoke they blew at me, which rapidly dissipated into the atmosphere. This gave me a good view of Sundancer when there was another explosion of light and noise from between their hands. This time, twisting strands of light stayed behind, beginning to coalesce. I didn't even try to get close, and was rewarded for my caution when a moment later and with a final burst of energy a roughly baseball-sized sphere of blinding light sat between her hands. She let her arms drop to her side, and I watched as the ball levitated up to sit atop her head. There, it grew to twice, then three times its previous size.

Even from several steps away I could feel the miniature sun's oppressive heat bear down on me despite my armour's mild protection against thermal attack. I knew that trying to get any closer would be an extremely bad idea, especially because I was certain she could make her weapon even bigger, as well as simply put it between us. If it got much worse, I'd probably be forced from the roof, and the roof itself might start to be in trouble. At that point, things got tricky. Fortunately, for whatever reason she seemed content to stay put for the time being. Rather than moving to attack me or escape somehow, she just stood there. And I couldn't do anything to her if she stayed put like this. So that meant stalemate, again.

That was still fine. The same logic as before still applied. Sure, I was sweating a bit from mix of heat and exertion now, two minutes was a surprisingly long time if spent continuously fighting, but the inside of my armour being a little unpleasant wasn't about to stop me. If anything, I could take a short breather. I did note that I preferred villains on the ground. That entire exchange had been way too marginal, and even now if Sundancer wanted to she could collapse the roof of this building, which couldn't be good. I supposed I only had limited options, but still.

Before I could get too analytical, Sundancer spoke up. "Let me go. I don't want to hurt you." Her voice surprised me. I wasn't sure what exactly I was expecting, but something that quiet and introspective wasn't it. I'd almost have called it timid, but I was fairly sure that was because of circumstances rather than inherent. I just assumed that anyone with a power that scary and flashy would have a personality to match, I supposed, but thinking about it some more that didn't really make actual sense.

"Funny. I don't wanna hurt you either." I replied. "If you turn off your power, we can end this right now without wasting any more time. I'm sure you have better things to do than stand on a rooftop with me." Not that I expected it to work, but there was no harm in trying. "Listen, the fight's over, your teammate's left, you did your best. There's no shame in giving up at this point." Truthfully, I wanted to get a better sense of her. I ended up helping to beat the Undersiders at least in part by understanding how their members ticked. No such luck with the Travelers, who were strangers. If I could rectify that now, then even in a worst case scenario I didn't walk away with absolutely nothing to show for it.

Well, second worst case. Worst case, she incinerated me and died, but that didn't seem likely. She said she didn't want to hurt me, and more importantly hasn't really tried to beyond self-defense. She could have tried to force me off the roof with her sun and access the fire escape behind me if she wanted to, but she hadn't, at least not yet. That could mean something.

Meanwhile, Sundancer had paused for a second, cocking her head ever so slightly to the side before responding. "You realize Genesis will be back, right? I'm getting out of here, no matter what. The question is if you get hurt when she returns. And like I said, I don't want you to get hurt. Even if we're on opposite sides." I almost snorted at that. Sure, supervillain lady, whatever you said. Although there was an undercurrent of truth and conviction to her voice. She believed what she was saying, at the very least. That, or she was a very good liar, but her actions seemed to back up what she was saying. Except the action of being a supervillain at least.

That was also information. Genesis had dissipated and I almost expected her to have reformed by now. Instead, she was nowhere to be seen. I wondered, was she really a Changer at all? "We'll see. I've already taken her once. I can do it again." I said with more confidence than I really felt. Her form was already impressive, but based on her rating I expected her to have more than one. If she really did show up again before my reinforcements, then chances were she'd be in a body more suited to fighting me.

Regardless, Sundancer didn't seem to have anything else to say to me, and I needed to make some calls. I couldn't call the PRT in to this building if I didn't know where this building was, and we were a good distance away from their headquarters at this point. Plus, some high-rise buildings were blocking the view. I also didn't have a mapping installed in my mask, and I rarely had cause to come near this part of the city. Luckily, I did know someone in the area, I thought I could see his building what had to be less than half a mile away, and I wanted to check on him in any case. Two birds with one stone.

I set my internal comms to dial a phone number I'd rarely had cause to call before, and then simply waited. It took a couple of rings, but honestly less than I was expecting.

"What do you want?" A very resigned voice came over the line. Fair enough, this was unexpected. I decided to be reasonably straightforward about this.

"Just checking in. Want to make sure you're at a good distance from all this... you know, the shit going down. You could have picked somewhere further away from the Empire to live, you know?" That just got me an equally resigned sigh.

"I'm fine. And trust me, this might be in downtown but it's well away from where the Empire tend to hang out. Trust me, I made very sure." Brian answered with a voice of absolute certainty. Of course, that didn't mean he was safe, but we both knew that nowhere in this godforsaken city was truly safe for us. It was the sort of thing you just had to live with. At least until I fixed things around here. "Anyway, I'm fine. Aisha's here too, she showed up early. I'm glad she did, I don't want her walking on the streets while this is happening. I don't suppose this is just a social call?"

"It's not. I need your help navigating. If you look out from your balcony you should see me. I want to know where I am." I didn't actually look over to his apartment, since I didn't want Sundancer to follow my gaze. Between keeping my eyes on her and my mask keeping my voice internal, she probably just thought I was silently staring.

"How on Earth could I-" He began to complain as he presumably moved to his window, only to suddenly stop. After several seconds, he continued. "I suppose it would be a stupid question to ask if the roof you're on is the one with the blindingly bright orb of fire on it. Yeah, you should be on... hmm. I've actually been there. Twenty-seven Castle Avenue."

"Thanks. I'll see you at the usual time, alright? This thing'll take me a bit to help clean up, but it's nothing I can't handle." I said confidently. Things may not be going perfect, but if I could hold out then I'd be able to call today a win, so long as the Protectorate's operations against the Empire didn't go too poorly.

"Wait, shouldn't you be in school right-" Brian began before I swiftly ended the call and switched to emergency services, and through them the PRT. I informed them of my situation and address, and got informed that help to contain the threat would be here as soon as possible. But it was pretty clear from the tone and exact word choice of the operator that meant whenever they could spare a full squad and containment van for a locked down villain, and that would be anything but soon. More waiting.

Without anything else to do, I started talking again. "Why are you a villain?" I asked Sundancer. "I mean, no offense, you don't seem like the type. Is it the money? Because the Protectorate doesn't pay that badly. Is someone holding something over you?" I was pretty sure that last one got some kind of reaction, but it was well suppressed, and without seeing any of her facial expressions I had no clue what it could have meant exactly.

For her part, Sundancer just shrugged awkwardly and looked off to one side. "I don't think you'd understand. I've heard about you. You're a loner, right?"

"So?" I snapped. What the hell was she even getting at here?

"Well, we stick together because we made a promise. We're all we have." I was about to point out that didn't actually explain why she was a villain at all when her sun winked out of existence. "It's so far from perfect, but we work together. And that's why I'm going to get out of here." Immediately, I swung my sword back out to a ready position and snapped my head left, following her gaze. Mere moments before I began to hear the oncoming rush of air, and that just moments before impact.

I moved to evade, wings flaring, but this time I was the one who wasn't fast enough. I managed to turn a head-on collision into a grapple, with a large hand grabbing onto my chest and slamming into the ground. Before I could do much else, I was dragged across the roof, metal screeching in protest as sparks flew before I was flung out into the open air. I almost floated motionless for a moment before gravity reasserted itself and my wings flapped, righting me. The creature front of me let out a battle cry that was something between a screech and a roar.

Genesis was back, and she was pissed. Glowing yellow eyes were set in a large head with an elongated, toothy maw. The head went back a bit too, and sat on a long neck that led to an almost skeletal main body with eight long claws in the place of fingers and thumbs and a pair of the talons in the place of feet. Large, membranous wings with spiked metallic tips stretched out from its shoulder blades, and it had a long, segmented tail that ended in a wicked-looking speartip. It mostly called to mind the image of a purple dragon.

I was briefly amused by the fact a dragon was saving a damsel from a knight. Then, Genesis was moving again, and the battle had begun once more.

Chapter 38: Chapter 32

Chapter Text

Genesis leaped off the rooftop as I saw Sundancer turn and dash towards the fire escape I'd been blocking off earlier. I didn't immediately move to evade this time, since I figured that might leave me open. Instead, I stayed hovering in midair, awaiting the next attack so I could counter it properly.

That proved both the right idea and utterly pointless. Genesis was a blur, moving almost faster than I could track. She zig-zagged across the intervening distance in under a second and swiped at me with one clawed hand. I fractionally shifted my sword's positioning, just enough so that the claw scraped off the scabbard's surface in a shower of sparks. Before I could do anything else, Genesis shot up into the sky, twirling around as she did. I went up after her, mostly to get me further away from the ground and nearby buildings.

It was immediately obvious I couldn't fight her like I could her previous form. Even if this form in particular was new, Genesis seemed like a veteran cape, and so I really didn't like my chances in a contest of skill. Speed was obviously now right out, and I was pretty sure she was still stronger than me. The only good news seemed to be that unlike the gargoyle she didn't seem to have a breath weapon anymore, and she probably also wasn't quite as durable. Trade-offs. Still, if I couldn't hit her and she could hit and wound me, that hardly mattered.

Genesis changed direction in an instant, going from straight up to straight down and right at me. A single flap of my wings propelled me to one side, out of her path, and I just barely avoided her. She looped back up and around, positioning herself between me and PRT HQ further south. She hovered in midair for a moment, and gave another inhuman roar-screech before diving forward once again. I'd taken the time to fly further back and away, which meant I had just enough time to swing at her approaching form. I only hit air though, as she changed course at the last second. She ascended above me once more, leaving me hitting nothing again when I spun around to try and face her.

Yeah, this wasn't going well. Still, I only had to wait for her to slip up just once, and then hopefully she'd be forced to retreat. But I'd have to be ready for it. And she probably wouldn't helpfully make a mistake any time soon. She circled above me for just a moment, then dived once more. Again, I defensively swung, and this time her tail snaked past my guard and slammed right into the center of my breastplate. The sudden impact pushed me down, knocked the air out of me, and left a slight cut in the metal alloy. But it didn't penetrate, and I managed to recover in the air as she shot down past me. I sighed internally and prepared myself properly for a battle of attrition.

Several more exchanges happened in a similar vein. I kept getting pushed back as part of a mix of evasion and actual hits. I managed to avoid letting Genesis get too tight a grip or a series of blows on me, but I struggled to ward her off, and she kept getting glancing hits. My armor was accumulating dings and dents, and I was increasingly getting pushed lower and lower in the sky. It got to the point where I'd been pushed below two stories, based on the surrounding buildings.

And despite the repeated close passes, I had yet to land a single blow in retaliation. Genesis was simply too fast in this form. I couldn't hit what I couldn't see, and I couldn't see what moved faster than my eyes could follow. But trying something was just going to leave me open for a far worse blow, so I had no choice but to stay the course.

After what felt like all too long, Genesis came up in front of me at a reasonable distance and began to more or less hover in the air across from me, with us flapping our respective wings slowly and steadily. Then, she spoke. It was halting and raspy, but surprisingly understandable, considering it came from the beak of a horrible draconic monster. I listened to her, but kept my sword raised as I did.

"We don't have all day, so I'd appreciate it if you surrendered." My eyes narrowed and I shifted my posture in the air slightly in response. Not what I'd expected her to say.

"If you haven't noticed, you can just leave," I pointed out. "If you want this fight to be over, you can end it right now. It's not like I can come after you." I was pretty sure that wasn't what she meant, but I wanted to tease out as much information as I could, and that meant being as uncooperative as possible.

"I mean I want you to come with me," she replied, irritation audibly seeping into her voice despite its alien— what would the word be? Cadence. "Have to make sure you don't find any of my teammates again."

Hmm. That actually made a degree of sense. But if she thought I was about to surrender, she hadn't done her research. It would take more than an enemy beyond my ability to beat for me to give up. Plus, she still wasn't invincible. "Go to hell," I shot back at her.

"Poor choice," she said. With that, she launched another pass, but this time she wasn't content to try and land a glancing hit in passing. Instead, she slammed into me, and began grappling with me and trying to drag me down. I had to draw my wings away from her claw-swipes, leaving me with just a cape, and she didn't seem concerned with keeping us airborne. A hand kept a grip on my sword, preventing me from using it, and since I didn't want to let go my right hand was locked up as well. Meanwhile, her other hand, taloned feet, and lethal tail kept attacking constantly, forcing me to focus on warding off the worst of the blows instead of counterattacking.

After maybe a couple of seconds, she let go and flew up and away from me a tiny bit. Unfortunately, that was because I was about to hit the ground. My armor's systems once again protected me from going splat outright, but it still hurt. I bounced up from the impact slightly, and by the time I'd slammed back into the ground and was trying to move she was on me again. This time, in the scuffle that followed, she managed to rip Dominar out of my hand and then launched a flurry of blows.

Needless to say, despite my armor, getting the shit beaten out of me hurt. A lot. Especially when I got thrown into a wall. My outer plating continued to accumulate damage, and kinetic impact added up on my actual body, but I wasn't getting stabbed at any point. I guessed that much like her teammate, Genesis didn't want to risk killing me. Small mercies. Very small, I thought, as I was slammed into the same wall again. I was pretty sure if she kept using me as a human flail, the wall might actually break. Or my spine. Or both.

After what couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes but felt like hours, she suddenly stopped, taking a step back to inspect her handiwork. My body was screaming in pain, and treacherously refused to move. My battle armor remained loyal though, and with a more focused effort of will than usual, it moved for me. Needless to say this just made everything hurt even more, but that didn't actually stop me. I steadily walked towards my tossed aside sword nearby as Genesis watched in bemused surprise.

"I'm impressed. But you're just making things worse for yourself," she said. I could see her body shift, tense, and prepare to move. I stopped myself, swaying with the sudden lack of support from motion, judged distances. I likewise tensed, invisibly.

"Kind of a specialty," I replied. Then, I dived, artificial muscles pushing me forwards as I rushed down to the sword laying flat on the ground. Even my wings flared and snapped down to give me a bit more of a boost. I landed heavily, but could barely feel it, especially with the elation of my hands wrapping around Dominar once again. I wildly swung it back around at Genesis, forcing her to dash backwards. With the help of my wings propelling me up, I stood once again, but instead of staying where I was, exposed from all sides, I threw myself backwards, back to where I'd been before. Up against a wall, literally.

But that wasn't such a bad thing. Not only did that support my shaky body, Genesis could only attack me from so many angles if I had something behind me. Something she clearly realised, as she stood across from me instead of attacking again. I'd gotten me bearings and was ready to strike. Of course, I was only standing with mechanical assistance, and my head felt fuzzy, but that wasn't immediately obvious to her.

She moved to say something again when a sudden blast of bright light slammed into her side. She whirled in an instant, roaring defiance and taking a step away from the source of the energy bolt.

I shifted forward, lunging at her as I swung with all my remaining strength. My sheathed blade arched straight into the small of her back, or the rough equivalent. When it connected, the impact shot up my arms, causing them to burn slightly more even with the mitigation from the shock absorbers, and there was a sharp crack. I wasn't sure if that meant I'd broken anything, but the fact Genesis almost collapsed then and there while shrieking in what had to be pain meant I probably had. Either way, it was extremely satisfying.

Instead of letting me follow up, she shot straight up into the air, and after a couple of seconds vanished out of sight. A fight ended in one clean hit. Well, two, counting the blast. Looks like I was right about this form being a lot more fragile than the last one. Still, she'd gotten away, and that pissed me the hell off. After all that, she just got to run away freely? I felt a concentrated fury bubble up as I grit my teeth, but before I could really do, say, or think anything about it a voice called out to me. "Please don't try and go after her."

I looked over, and sure enough, there was the silvery armoured form of Gallant backed up by the smaller white and green clad Vista. I couldn't see any warped space behind them, but presumably only because Vista had restored her speed-enhancing contractions back to normal. "Nice to see you too." I tried to say it snarkily, but I mostly just sounded tired. I could only overrule my body so much. "Not that I'm complaining, but why the fuck are you here?"

"Language," Gallant said, but Vista elbowed him in the side before answering for him.

"We were redirected by console to go after Sundancer when you called her in, but by the time we were getting close we saw you were getting attacked by Genesis up in the air, and Sundancer was slipping away. We tried to trap her by ourselves, but couldn't manage it, so decided to go after you instead. But it took us a bit to double back and catch you." She shrugged. "Sorry. Are you okay?"

I considered lying for a moment before shaking my head. "Absolutely not. I'm only standing right now because my power armour is doing all the work." Vista mouthed a soft 'oh' as I threw my head back and sighed at the air, looking up at the empty sky. "Well, do you have any good news?"

"Your minions disabled the Empire goons at the office building without casualties," Gallant said. "All the other fights seem to have ended with no real casualties or captures on either side, but we caught the people we were after to start with. I think that means today was a win for the good guys." I was pretty sure that with all the actual villains getting away, the Travelers having humiliated the PRT by attacking their headquarters and getting away unscathed, and the Travelers having probably stolen something or other from the PRT while they were there, this was at best a draw. I also knew that Gallant could literally see my doubt, fucking Thinkers, so I threw up a hand to preempt him from saying anything.

"Sure," I said. "I guess that means there's nothing else I can do. Do I have to get dragged into a debriefing now or am I free to go take this off and collapse in a corner somewhere?"

Gallant shrugged before replying. "Seeing as you didn't actually end up capturing a villain, I'm pretty sure you're free to go." Okay, ouch, but he wasn't wrong. And it was good to hear I could sod off and feel miserable and in pain somewhere else. I'd figure out where exactly in a bit.

Then the odd thought struck me that this had resolved quickly and suddenly enough that I could probably make it back to Winslow just in time to not miss a class. The entire affair had been over on my end in maybe twenty minutes at most. There'd be hours of further skirmishing and cleanup yet, of course, but I wouldn't be so helpful for that. I guess spending half my lunch period getting reduced to a fine paste and then going back to class like nothing had happened was just another example of my life was now. And by now I meant for the past two years.

"Well, if the Director needs to call me anyway I'll be out and about at my usual time," I said, dragging myself off the wall and walking forward a little, wings flaring out to keep me steady. I'd probably fly into a nearby alley, shift worlds to get changed, and then… hmm. But how to actually get halfway across the city to Winslow in time-

"I'm not sure that's wise in your condition," Gallant said. I could practically hear his frown, despite his face covering helmet "It's not even like you would have taken a day off if you stayed home tonight." That did get me to smirk a little, and I took a bit too much sadistic pleasure from crossing my arms and shaking my head at him. Well, any bit of sadistic pleasure was too much, but that didn't stop me from feeling it right then and there.

"Sorry, but I've made my mind up. Besides, I'm sure I'll figure something out between now and this evening. Although I do have to stop meeting you guys in this kinda state." I threw a sloppy mock salute, actually helped by how unresponsive my arm was. "See ya." With that, I bolted into the sky myself, flying up for a bit before stabilizing and beginning to glide away.

But seriously, how was I going to get back to school without being identified?

Chapter 39: Chapter 33

Chapter Text

After finding a nice, high, out of everyone's sight rooftop, I shifted worlds and got out of my armor to see how bad the damage was. More accurately, I was helped out of my armor, and when it was time to take off the powered component movement became much more of a struggle. The worst edge of Genesis' assault had worn off, but it was still there, making itself be felt. Even so, I could force my body to move, and it did. Slowly. Treacherous piece of shit.

I shuffled more than walked down off the Halberd to the base's clinic, getting my costume sent ahead by my pair of attendants, and practically flopped down into one of the chairs there. It wasn't entirely empty for once, with a pair of Waddle Dees that had bandages wrapped around the top of their heads lying down on a pair of cots. They seemed awake and aware, but resting.

"Workplace accident," a Doctor Dee said by way of explanation as he turned his bespectacled form towards me. "And you?" After he asked that, he turned around and walked towards a back corner of the room, which contained what looked like an old-fashioned treasure chest, made of metal, unadorned, and painted white with a red cross on the front. That gave me a moment to decide how I wanted to answer him.

"I got in a fight. But you should see the other guy." The fact that it was entirely possible Genesis was fine right now, and might have always been fine, crossed my mind but wasn't something I wanted to say out loud. He reached the chest, unlatched it and opened it up, grabbed something from inside, and walked over.

It was a tomato. Specifically, it was a fairly large tomato with a black capital-M printed on it. I could swear I'd seen some of those in this world before, back during the original Zero Two incident. Once the Doctor Dee had marched over, he tossed it into my waiting hands. "Thanks?" I ventured.

I got a glare that would have been utterly withering if it wasn't on a frankly cute face. "You're meant to eat it. That's a Maxim Tomato. They have regenerative properties when ingested."

I narrowed my eyes in turn. "Yeah, I know, but I'm human. Will this actually work on me?" It was a valid question, since I was so biologically different from Popstar's inhabitants. Humans may have also existed in this universe, but I wasn't sure if that meant everything worked the same on us.

That got me the Waddle Dee equivalent to a shrug. "Probably. I've made sure it won't make anything worse. The problem is that painkillers won't deal with those bruises I can already see forming, so you wouldn't be thanking me tomorrow morning if that's all I gave you." I supposed he had a point, and figured that was good enough for me. So I ate the tomato.

It tasted… like a tomato. I'd expected something else, but I wasn't sure why. At least it tasted pretty good, as far as raw tomato went. Nice and juicy. After I was finished, I felt, in a word, better. Still very much uncomfortably stiff, but not so much in literal pain anymore, and I could actually work properly and freely now. So, not a cure-all, but helpful. The Doctor seemed to note that too, and nodded.

"Hmm. That is interesting. I apologise for using you as a test subject, but you're the only human we have around. I should make a note of this though," he said, turning around and moving towards a desk off to one side, presumably to start writing his findings down. "I wonder if we could turn one into a juice and feed it intravenously…"

I walked away from the Dee trying to figure out how good of an idea it was to put tomato juice in my veins, and headed to an internal courtyard open to the sky. There I found my costume, changed back into Exoa Knight, summoned a second Warp Star, absorbed its power, shifted worlds, shot across the city, landing in an alleyway close but not too close to Winslow, made sure nobody was looking, shifted worlds again, changed out of uniform again, shifted worlds again, and then I finally walked back into Winslow through the front gates.

It was a lot of hassle, but in the end I did manage to get back to school in time to just barely not miss a class. Which I didn't care that much about, but meant I could be sure I wouldn't have to answer questions about my sudden class skipping to any teachers or the principal later, so I counted it as a small victory anyway.

My afternoon classes passed uneventfully, as always, and by the time I headed home I was feeling almost like I hadn't been thrown into a wall repeatedly mere hours ago. And from there, it was off to see Brian again. I'd talked to him earlier, but now it was time to see him in person. I was slightly worried about potential gang activity in the aftermath of the PRT's operation, what with the hornet's nest being thoroughly stirred up, so I took a bit of a roundabout route, and made sure a pair of Bio Sparks were following me from the shadows. Luckily, nothing happened, and I arrived safely.

Probably unsurprisingly, with a cape fight having happened relatively recently and close-by, and with the same worries about the Empire that I had, Brian wasn't outdoors to meet me for once. Even though Genesis was long gone and this was more Coil's territory, he wasn't the kind to take chances. He was inside and ready to let me in and up to his apartment though. We went in silence, and once inside, money exchanged hands without any words.

I then promptly collapsed onto the plush couch next to Aisha, rolling my shoulders. Still not completely free of stiffness, I noted. Maybe in a few more hours. Then I sighed, and let my head collapse backwards, leaving me staring at the ceiling. Seconds passed in utter silence. Nobody was sure what to say, least of all me.

"So, uh," Aisha finally began. "You okay after that? Like, I saw you get thrown off a building by a dragon monster. Do you want to talk about that or anything?" Looked like she didn't like the dead silence. I blearily rolled my head to the right, looking at her. Huh, I could have sworn that streak of hair was dyed purple rather than deep blue last week. Or maybe it was the same color, and I'd been hit in the head harder than I thought?

Aisha locked eyes with me for a moment before whipping her head back around and shifting posture in a single, violent motion. "Sure, whatever," she muttered. I guessed that giving her a blank, unblinking stare was not the best thing. If nothing else because it made me look half dead. I sighed deeply before pushing myself upright and shifting myself, leaning on the couch's armrest while turning towards her.

"I'm alive, and basically fine. That fight you saw was more painful than dangerous. I'm mostly just annoyed that she got away. As in Genesis, the dragon-thing. Plus all her teammates. I was hoping that I might get at least one of them, but that didn't happen," I explained. It did bring back to the forefront of my mind how grating it was to me that the Travelers had all slipped my grasp, and after I'd gotten this close to getting Sundancer into custody. There was nothing to be done now but wait until they showed up again, so unfortunately I could only be aimlessly angry at the universe for the time being. I wanted to kick something around or punch a wall, but that wasn't really an option right this second. Instead, I just sighed again, more audibly frustrated this time.

Awkward silence threatened to reign once more, but Aisha started to talk again, switching conversation tracks a bit as she did. "You know, Brian here was almost ready to rush out and help you when you were in trouble," she said with as innocent and neutral an expression and tone as she could muster. The man in question just gave her a scowl for her trouble.

"She's exaggerating. Sure, I kind of wanted to help, but out in the open like that? Way too dangerous. Even ignoring what could have happened to me, the risk of something being traced back to me would be way too large. Even if I still have my old costume lying around. Besides, you handled it in the end, didn't you?" Although he admitted it as grudgingly as possible, I did sit even straighter at hearing it, basically ignoring Brian's, what's the word? Caveats.

"Huh. That's kinda nice of you to even consider it," I said, something occurring to me as I did. "But as well as all that, it'd be awkward if Grue showed up again. You know, old questions resurfacing." The fact was that after the last time I'd actually fought Brian things had gotten a bit uncomfortably tense between me and the PRT. Vigilante corners and fights villain, claims villain escapes, but then the villain just stops showing up. Doesn't resurface at all, even as weeks pass. No surprise that rumours start to circulate. Mostly benign, just saying that after a too close call the bad guy hangs up the mask. But some people just had to go and suggest something else had gone down, and what I'd actually done was hidden the body.

Of course, there was no actual evidence, and after some specialist thinkers got involved I was fully cleared of suspicion, and they just acknowledged that Grue had gone to ground for good. Which was true, in a sense. But if he resurfaced suddenly, to seemingly help me no less, that would bring some questions back from the grave and with my relations with the PRT strained at best right now that was the last thing I needed.

While I was thinking those memories and thoughts through, Brian gave what I couldn't help but notice was a small, wry smile as he finally sat down himself on an armchair opposite us. "I mean, don't get ahead of yourself. It's just that you can't pay me if you're too busy being unconscious." Or dead, I thought, but that was a bit morbid to say out loud, and most cape battles didn't tend to be that lethal. Especially when someone decently durable like me was involved.

"Aw, that's so adorable, they really do love each-" Aisha began in the most grating and sickly-sweet voice I'd ever heard before I swatted at her and Brian affixed her with another glare, although more a bemused than an angry one. I wasn't sure how you could playfully flip someone off, but Aisha managed it, giving each of us a middle finger.

With that, the most important stuff was out of the way, and we ended up just sitting and talking for a few minutes about basically nothing. Plans, really. Brian was still planning his case on how to gain guardianship over Aisha in a couple of months extremely carefully, Aisha was planning to see a movie with her friends, I was planning on how to progress the Coil case further even if I didn't use the name Coil; nothing especially new or exciting for any of us. But it was still always good to just talk to people.

Mostly I was glad that we didn't have to go over the same stuff as last week, when Brian had got on my case for being 'reckless'. Well, he already knew that, so rather being more reckless than usual. Maybe it was the lack of broken limbs this time, or the fact I didn't have much of a choice in engaging Genesis, or maybe it was just that he'd realised it was the price of doing business with me, but I was still glad we didn't have to have a big glaring match about that again.

I did end up dragging things back to more serious ground after a bit though, turning my head to look out the floor-to-ceiling window and glass door that overlooked the balcony and part of the city. As always, it wasn't a great view or anything, but still enough to get me thinking about the world outside this apartment, and I switched topics while we were in the middle of discussing my previous attempted heroics. "Seriously though, with the PRT operation just now you can bet the Empire will be lashing out for a bit. They'll want to secure their position, show their strength. That means things get nasty. I can promise I'll stomp on them as soon as I can, but it might take just a bit for things to settle back down. Even in this area, I'd suggest one of us should walk Aisha home. Make sure she gets back safely." That, or phone one of her parents to pick her up in a car, but from what little I'd gathered about her home situation that might not really be possible.

Aisha just scowled at that. "It's fine, I'll just stay here overnight. Not like mom will notice I'm gone." I elected not to comment on that, and neither did Brian.

I ended up staying for a few more minutes after that, but then it was really time to get going. I had to be back home before my own mom got back, after all. So I said my goodbyes and headed out, shadowed once again by Bio Sparks. I got back, I rested, I ate, it was a blur.

Things only sharpened and became clear once I found myself having shifted worlds again, the evening having arrived. I donned my armor once more, recovered from earlier, and flew out into the city once I'd shifted back to Earth. On the prowl, on the hunt.

If any villains chose tonight to make themselves known, I'd ensure they'd regret it.

Chapter 40: Interlude 3 - Coil

Chapter Text

Flashes of purple dashed across metal walkways, sending out a seemingly endless supply of knives on precise disabling trajectories. Aimed at the more immediate threats, however, they left Coil with just enough time and space to take matters into his own hands. He stepped out of his office and took careful aim with his emergency sidearm, then fired twice at one of the blurs, old training letting him strike true. The first shot stunned it, sending it reeling, and the second sent it tumbling over the edge onto the floor below. But he knew better than to assume that meant it was dead. The other creature was similarly brought low by the massed fire of his soldiers. It seemed that however fast they could be, they were still slower than bullets.

He gave a small sigh as he lowered his weapon, looking at the soldiers rushing over to him, the distinctive sound of boots upon metal echoing again and again through his sanctum. He then took some time to discuss with the others how exactly they believed these assailants could have slipped through all but his deepest fortifications and arrive here, at the newly established heart of his operations. Once he had sufficient answers, he closed out that world.

A heartbeat passed, and then he once again split reality in twain.

In the first of the new timelines, he signaled to his units in the field that they could begin to make their way home using the newly altered protocols he had established. In the other, he told them to continue staying put for now, hiding away from the sight of his enemies. After a moment's consideration, he stood up in the first reality and walked one room over.

In his brief period moving outside of his humble command room, he once again gazed over his base, such as it was. By now, all of the heaviest construction work was finished, meaning that he no longer had to suffer the constant noise of heavy machinery. But while the rooms, walkways, stairs, wiring, and lighting were all in place, it still had a ways to go. Not all of the furnishings were even here yet, and those that were present sat packed away in masses of cardboard boxes rather than being actually assembled. Not even the plumbing was fully hooked up yet, much to the annoyance of the staff and himself. The only things present were a seat, desk, and computer in his own room.

Well, not quite. The basic furnishings of his pet's room were present also. He opened the door to her room, the door guard saluting as he did, and walked inside. There she was, a girl dressed all in white, sitting upright on a small cot. She had large dark circles under her eyes, long brown hair, and one of the most sullen expressions he'd ever seen. She'd been somewhat recalcitrant at first, but after the first week or so in confinement she'd proven more than cooperative enough for his needs.

"Candy?" she whined. Coil then reminded himself that that was not the same as actually cooperative.

"I'm afraid not. I may need to ask you some questions later, in front of my Traveler's. You can have some candy after my meeting with them is done, but not before. I'll only ask you a single question for now." She turned her head slightly, eyes downcast, but didn't argue. Good, she was being properly brought under his thumb. "Without further use of my power, what is the chance that my base's location is compromised before tomorrow?"

"Zero point three three seven percent chance someone finds this place today," she rattled off. "Are you sure I can't have candy yet?"

"Very," he drily responded before exiting the room and shutting the door behind him. It would seem that his proposed measures had worked to shake his newfound dogged pursuers. For all their apparent skill, there were only four of them in existence. They could only be in so many places at once, and they weren't completely undetectable. Being able to check his plans in real time like this was invaluable, and in his eyes more than worth the cost to acquire her of three capes. Still, Coil didn't close out his other reality just yet. After all, there was no such thing as being too paranoid.

It took some time for his forces to wind their way back to his base. First, his troops and Circus, the latter of which was able to quickly make a clean break, disguise themselves, and then come straight here. He debriefed them as they came in, discussing his troops' encounter with the forces of the Empire and Circus' part in the assault of PRT Headquarters. He knew the broad strokes before any of them had arrived, of course, but ensuring he knew every detail was important. After they were summarily dismissed, the Travelers arrived over the course of the next several hours. Genesis first, for she was the closest and the least likely to be followed, in an unassuming human guise he knew was not her real body. Then Trickster and Ballistic in their due time, and at last Sundancer, barely pulled out of harm's way and the one most likely to have been followed here. Not that he overly begrudged her, of course. Even his own elite soldiers had nearly failed to see the intruders until it was too late. He then spent a short time in his room checking his security systems, making sure that it was safe to keep this timeline, and once satisfied, rejoined and split again.

In both realities, he strode out of his office, hands clasped behind his back as he made long strides towards the gaggle of waiting capes, meeting them halfway across a walkway.

In one world: "Travelers, with me. I'd like to talk to you about what exactly happened out there in the field today."

And in the other: "Before I debrief you, I'd like to take a look at the data. Trickster, if you would be so kind?" The young man in his suit-like costume fished a small flash drive out of his pocket and handed it over to Coil. "Make yourselves as comfortable as you can while I take a brief look over what's here."

Two iterations of his body turned on their heels and marched back towards their office, only slightly out of sync. One was followed by all four of his Travelers, and one was followed by none, but held a treasure trove of information in his hand. The former entered but didn't sit down, instead addressing his forces standing, while the other did sit before his computer and plugged the memory stick in. Of course, reading the enormous quantities of data would take some time, even if he only cared for a portion of it.

"I would first like to give you my congratulations and apologies in equal measure. You performed exquisitely, achieving both the primary and secondary objectives flawlessly, but at the same time have achieved a great deal of notoriety in a very short space of time. I'm afraid the PRT will want to take revenge for this slight, so you may have to lay low for a period while I arrange for them to be distracted once again." Trickster, the self-appointed leader, mutely nodded in understanding. For his part, Coil had them bound to him tightly enough that he could get away with a lot worse than letting some heat build up on his subordinates, but would take it as a blow to his pride if they felt dissatisfied with his leadership. From there, he held back for a moment, allowing for questions to be asked about the operation, of which there were a handful, nothing truly major.

Mostly it came down to him revealing his involvement, which he did so gladly. It had been a simple enough plan, really, but was no less ingenious for it. He was getting close to uncovering the secret identity of every Empire parahuman, along with a large number of unpowered subordinates. It had been child's play to leave a hefty anonymous tip with law enforcement that just so happened to affirm some preexisting suspicions. It then took no prodding from him for the Empire's allies in the police to get a warning out, and that combined with an offensive of his own troops ensured the confused mess that had drawn out practically all the capes who could have stopped his forces from succeeding in their raid and humiliating the PRT, on top of acquiring certain data for him.

Then the time came to shift tracks slightly. "I would however like to bring up the matter of the tertiary objective." Immediately, the mood of the room shifted as his subordinates became visibly more uncomfortable. He wagered that said discomfort came from both the fact they'd failed and also from the actualy contents of said objective — Kill or capture the independent hero Exoa Knight, who he'd known in advance would be drawn out by this operation. He'd already written off the idea of them actually killing her; the Travelers didn't kill as a rule, but he'd still held out hope they might be able to bring her in. Alas, she had proven too slippery once again, leaving him with dwindling time to handle the problem she represented.

"She's tougher than she looks?" Genesis tentatively said, receiving a curt nod in reply. That much he was well aware of. It was quite the annoyance. "I had her cornered but she held out until backup arrived and turned the tables. I decided to cut and run, because I wasn't going to be able to pull off a three vee one."

"Understandable, but inconvenient for us all." The Coil in the other world had finished his preliminary reading, which was as good a place as any to stop. Preparing to take a slight gamble, Coil closed that world and opened up a new one.

In one timeline: "I will explain in a moment, but before we go any further I'd like to actually take a look at what we've gained today. Trickster, if you would?"

In the other: "Allow me to show you one of my secret weapons, and you will soon see precisely what I mean." In this reality, he led the Travelers back out of his office, and gestured to the guard standing outside his pet's room. Understanding immediately, the man quickly went inside and led her out by the hand. Coil walked over to her side before turning around to face the quartet once again.

It was important at this stage to analyze their reactions carefully. He had made them an unrivaled offer, but they weren't without their own principles. He had of course made known to them that he employed a powerful Thinker, in fact it was a key part of his offer, helping to counteract any effects the Simurgh may have had on them, but the exact form of that Thinker was kept hidden until now. The importance of her to them was such that he doubted it would be considered a bridge too far for them, but in the small chance he had misjudged them then his plans could be derailed entirely. While he could simply use his reserve timeline to ensure that this meeting never happened if it gave unfavorable results, he was unsure if he could keep his pet a secret from them forever.

Fortunately, it didn't look like he would have to. It was clear that there was understanding — it was visible in all of their eyes — but no truly major reaction beyond shock and further discomfort. It varied person by person, of course. Trickster had narrowed his eyes somewhat, looked over the situation, but seemed to accept things. Genesis looked the most uncomfortable of them all, and wasn't looking at his pet at all. Ballistic was also looking away, at Coil specifically, and seemed almost bored if anything. No, that wasn't quite right; he was more resigned, jaded. Sundancer had the most blatant reaction, hand going to her mouth for a moment even though it was covered by her mask, and he was certain her eyes were wide with shock beneath it. But none of them said a word. Not that Coil was surprised; after all, their loyalty was bought and paid for with something far more meaningful than currency.

"How many questions?" she immediately asked, referencing their earlier agreement. Coil considered what needed to be said, and decided to keep the questions to a minimum for now. Her abilities were steadily expanding, but he still didn't want to overtax her. Not right now, at this crucial stage.

"Two for now," he answered before proceeding to actually ask. "Pet, what are the chances my base's location is compromised within thirty days from now?" It was a question he did not know the precise answer to, which made it potentially dangerous to ask in front of an audience. But it was also a question he knew the approximate answer to, making it safe enough. Still, he was surprised by the result.

"Seventy point eight nine one one percent chance this place is discovered inside a month." He looked at her, noticed a subtle shift in expressions, watched as she couldn't help but give another number, as if saying it would make it more real. The answer to a question he'd asked before but hadn't now. "Fifty point three four four percent chance it's found in less than a week." Ten and fifteen percent more likely than when he'd asked yesterday. Something had happened over the course of the operation to accelerate his enemies' timetables. But he couldn't ponder what exactly that could have been just yet.

"And the same chance if Exoa Knight and her minions are eliminated?" he asked. His pet needed to be able to properly visualise a scenario in her mind for her powers to operate, but he had made certain that she knew very well who they in particular were.

"One point oh one seven percent chance this base is discovered in thirty days or less." Before she could complain or ask to be dismissed, he preempted her, nodding at the guard and indicating he should lead her back inside her room. As he did, he noted that one percent was still surprisingly high. His other self was busy closing in on what he expected would be some very enlightening files, so his speculation should be answered shortly in any case. Then he turned back to the Travelers.

"That is why the tertiary objective mattered," Coil flatly intoned.

Once again, Trickster was the one to step forward and speak up before his team could fully process the implications. "Hold on a minute, are you really saying that this one girl is going to tear you down? What, by herself?" Coil could feel the concern in his voice, and unsurprisingly it was clearly echoed by his team. If nothing else, the young man had a talent for directing the flow of a conversation.

"First of all, let me assure you that I did not extend my offer to you and bring you here just to fail. I intend to keep my promises to you, and I could hardly do so if I was rotting in a jail cell or my assets were seized. No, the girl has come close to uncovering the location of this facility, but I am well aware of where the original leak came from, and have taken pains to ensure there will be no repeat incident. The bulk of my assets remain utterly safe from her." Additionally, this base was never intended to be a permanent residence, but he wouldn't tell them that just yet.

"What I am saying is that despite the worst you can be assured I am ready for any potential opposition thanks to my considerable resources, and also as a result of her interference you may be called upon frequently to troubleshoot, especially as I move to eliminate my main competition in the city's criminal underworld. Similarly, note that she will be unable to stop me putting my people in place during the mayoral elections this June, as well as the city council elections in September. By then I will have complete control over Brockton Bay despite her best efforts, and I will similarly be able to give you the full extent of my offer." Including a way home, and resolution one way or another for their companion. And speaking of…

"I appreciate that you've already accepted my employment, and also that you likely do not wish to be stuck here all day. If you want, you can talk to your companions downstairs, and then take your leave of here. Some of my men stand ready to escort you back to your temporary lodgings while your room here gets set up properly. Oh, and before you go, Trickster?" Intuiting his meaning, Trickster placed the flash drive in Coil's hand for the third and likely last time.

The group descended downstairs, Coil following behind at a short distance. They made their way to a large room best described as a vault. It was empty of furnishings like almost all the others, but unlike them that was by design rather than lack of completeness. The rear lights were switched off, but an enormous shape could still be made out.

Most of the Travelers instead talked briefly to the shape's caretaker. Oliver, the Traveler's fifth member, retreated in on himself a little despite appearing as if he'd walked right out of some movie poster, talking briefly with Genesis, Ballistic, and Sundancer. Trickster, however, only had eyes for the shape.

Coil's other self at last stumbled upon what he was looking for. Damnation. It had been a potentially expensive choice, since he likely only had one chance to steal data from PRT HQ as long as he remained a partial outsider. Going forward, it would be reinforced to prevent repeat incidents for quite some time. Taking the data related to the site itself and the Department's operations rather than Ward Headquarters' broader and more valuable data on various PRT parahuman squadrons meant he couldn't sell the data on to parties outside the city, but now it seemed like the right call despite that. He was staring at hard evidence that his worst fears were indeed correct.

He wasn't stupid. Coil had known early on that the sudden shift the knight had made from attacking the mere surface to trying to get to the source of specifically his operation shortly after the capture of his Undersiders and more importantly his Tattletale was no coincidence. His suspicions were furthered when she showed up to guard their prison transport out of the city; he was practically certain he'd been caught but at that point hadn't been able to take revenge. But he had still believed she was acting solely with her own minimal assets, calling on allies such as New Wave at times, but fundamentally acting as a solitary crusader. Now he knew better.

Right before him were the interrogation records of the Undersiders. One of them, Bitch, had spoken about a mysterious backer. When confronted with this, Tattletale had demanded to speak with Piggot, Armsmaster, or Miss Militia privately. The conclusion was obvious: This had never been one arrogant girl's lonely war. This had been a Protectorate sanctioned operation from the very beginning! No wonder the odds for his base being discovered remained higher than he'd have thought even if he eliminated her and her minions, then. Dealing with her would arouse the PRT's ire on him no matter how distant his involvement might be.

That did change things, didn't it?

The self he would most likely take onwards if something didn't go disastrously wrong in the next few minutes had stepped forward into the vault, extending his distance so that he was a good several meters away from Trickster. He could still more or less hear the muttered conversation between him and the monster, however. It was mostly reassurances met with tired skepticism.

He took a moment to look at her with new eyes. Noelle Meinhardt was her name, and she was an interesting creature. Nearly the size of a small room all by herself, she still had an untouched human upper body, currently wearing a slightly oversized sweater. The lower half was difficult to describe, being quadrupedal but with no two limbs exactly alike, two animal heads being present at the front, and the flesh being a patchwork of different colors and textures. Here was raw blistered red, there was smooth and dark green and brown. She was undoubtedly the most dangerous parahuman in the city, and not even entirely for the obvious reason. She was his leash for the Travelers, the collars around their necks.

She was also a near unequaled opportunity. If she was unleashed, the consequences for his opposition would be utterly disastrous. He could sweep into the power vacuum, oust Piggot, and in general accelerate his plans enormously. To attempt this would ordinarily be a gamble requiring weeks if not months to properly prepare the ground, but his overly aggressive enemy would drop a perfect opportunity right in his lap soon enough. If she even survived the consequences of her own actions, the wedge his sources told him had been driven between her and the PRT by an earlier operation would be intensified a hundredfold. She would no longer be any kind of threat.

But she hadn't lasted in the city this long, made such an impact, by being an abject fool. This was a trap that needed baiting, convincing her to overcommit. And that meant using his ultimate weapon against her.

For nearly four years, he had invested time and money in the prospect of uncovering his enemies' secret identities. He had gained some, albeit not yet total ground with the Empire, and to a lesser degree the ABB, but the city's heroes had been far more difficult. New Wave were, needless to say, pointless to investigate. On the other end of the scale, the Protectorate were professionals with professional resources and support. The PRT ensured the safety of its child organization's members with a ruthlessness that sometimes surprised even him, and even in his privileged civilian guise as a consultant who regularly worked with them he did not know the secret identity of even a single local Protectorate member.

That left only the independents, who were few in number and mostly low in power, generally focused on being glorified neighbourhood watchmen, no threat to his operations. All except one. But that one, while undeniably talented, was only an amateur. And amateurs made mistakes that better investigators could exploit.

He had over time gained several strong leads on Exoa Knight's civilian identity, and back when Tattletale was still in his employ used her to help eliminate false leads. Based on consistency of sightings, her patrols could be traced back to starting from a comparatively small area. Her height and approximate age were known. And on top of that, while his sources in the PRT hadn't always been able to turn up much, one had recently taken note of her race while she was being healed by New Wave's Panacea, further narrowing the field. Over the past week, his efforts had reached their conclusion, and several days ago a single candidate had taken primacy. But there was no such thing as being too careful in these matters.

"Pet, I am aware I promised you your candy, but something important has come up. I need to ask one more question of you right now. If I were to successfully have the girl in this picture killed, what is the chance that Exoa Knight would appear the evening following her assassination?"

"Zero percent."

Of course, it turned out to not be quite so simple as that at first. Experimental attempts to deal with her in disposable timelines had come up short repeatedly. Despite her power's seeming limitations, he knew for a fact she was downplaying them at least partially for the public. Those new minions of hers seemed to be present and fully capable at every hour of the day, willing to fight against him in a shadow war, although they didn't know it. They were powerful and skilled, but with his new plan? They could easily be worked around.

He opened up his most recent photograph of her on his computer as a reminder of the enemy's face, taken just two days ago. Two others were in frame, friends with their own names. Weaknesses, but he was not interested in them directly. She lagged behind them in any case, adopting an expression somewhere between moody and thoughtful. She had put up a valiant effort, even he had to admit that, but Coil knew one thing with absolute certainty.

Sophia Hess' days were now numbered.

Chapter 41: Chapter 34

Chapter Text

I spent five straight hours coordinating with my minions, sweeping through Downtown by a mix of leaping from rooftop to rooftop and outright gliding high up in the sky, cutting a demonic figure for anyone looking up as I gained a commanding view of large areas of the city. I pulled on earlier knowledge of where trouble might brew, listened in on police and PRT scanners, and generally made a nuisance of myself. I couldn't be sure how much was me accomplishing nothing and how much was my presence discouraging the Eighty Eight, but there was surprisingly little activity.

That didn't mean there was none. I wasn't sure how much if any was retaliatory and how much was just coincidental or defiant, but in the final accounting I got into about an incident an hour. God, this city had too many Nazis on the streets. Well, it had a few less by the time I was done for the night. Weirdly, the Docks were quiet. If I had to guess, Lung was taking a moment to size up the damage done, figure out if it was time to make a move. Coil didn't seem to be active tonight either, but I'd given up on trying to figure out that knot of conspiracy. It was hard enough getting to the bottom of where he was, let alone what he was doing.

Actually, that did remind me. I'd set my allies to work trying to understand the data I'd stolen, but I hadn't checked in on them since then. Since, frankly, I was feeling a bit annoyed about failing to get any villains into custody today, and failing to even get into a fight with one at all in the evening, maybe my mood could be improved a little by seeing progress made somewhere else. And, well, if there hadn't been any progress I supposed that was important information.

So, when I shifted worlds, instead of completely changing out of costume right away I kept the left gauntlet and its integrated device. Even without the powered interface layer, it responded to my mental commands as easily as before. Interesting. Regardless, it wasn't long before I was sitting on a star-shaped platform, soaring through the night sky towards a particular village at noon, descending past the sun as I landed. Which didn't seem right, actually.

I looked up and glared at the orange ball of flame hanging low in the sky. I began to walk forward after landing, and noted that it was slowly but surely shifting its position as I did, simply because it was so close to the surface.

Before I could voice any confusion or annoyance at what looked like a second sun I wasn't expecting, since this was in roughly the same timezone as the Halberd's dock, a familiar voice piped up. "Appreciating Mr. Bright? He's volunteered to help us keep working after dark!" I looked over and saw, sure enough, a Waddle Dee. He was much the same as I remembered from the days after our adventure together, with a blue bandana and a spear slung over his back. Still, I hadn't seen him in what felt like two years. God, that long? I thought about it and sure enough, not since I'd begun my training under Meta Knight.

"Hey, Bandana Dee," I replied, nodding in acknowledgement. A question immediately entered my mind, and I decided to let it leave immediately through my mouth. "Funny seeing you around here. I've gotta ask, isn't having the sun on all the time annoying? Like, how do you sleep?"

"Oh, that's easy, he's not around all the time. Just from when it starts to get dark to when it's time for us to head off to sleep. In another hour or so, he'll descend from the sky and Mr. Shine will take over." Mr. Shine being the moon to Mr. Bright's sun, if I remembered right. Well, I guess that all made sense. I was surprised they were going this far, though. My attendants had mentioned that Deetown's residents had agreed in sizable numbers to aid me, but I hadn't realised they'd taken to it with this much enthusiasm.

"Well, I suppose I should be showing you what progress we've made!" Bandana Dee continued before I could think to say anything. He turned and began to waddle off, assured that I'd follow along behind, as he spoke. "I have to admit, we're not done yet. There's a lot of secrets hidden in these numbers, and so far the only thing we've proved beyond a doubt is that our great Kingdom's education system is in desperate need of modernization, but we've still managed to start separating things out into piles of questionable and not. It's mostly going over my head, for I'm just organizing it, but the actual people checking the numbers seem pleased enough."

The report mostly continued in that vein as we walked the twisting, paved roads of the village. If I wasn't pretty tired by this point I might have actually enjoyed taking a nice stroll. As it was, I just wanted to get this done before shifting back home and turning in for the night, but I could still appreciate it a little bit. Apparently, I'd arrived at an excellent time, as the impromptu auditors wanted help with understanding parts of it. I wasn't sure what I could do, but I could at least take a look at the problem while I was here.

It wasn't too long before we arrived at a large, stately building of wood and stone that I pegged as some kind of town hall, which most notably had a large wooden platform elevated a bit above the ground along with a podium, presumably for giving speeches. The platform and the sizable clearing in front of it were completely packed, although not with people. To be sure, there looked to be a couple of dozen individuals of varying species sat there hard at work, but mostly there were chairs, tables, and boxes, along with a load of computing equipment that looked a couple of decades out of date. Rather than power outlets or the like, they seemed to be kept going by a bunch of small, green, squashed teardrop-shaped Sparkies, thin lines of coursing electricity going from them to the machines.

I felt a sudden spike of gnawing unease pierce my heart, then moving down to rest uneasily in the pit of my stomach. Sure, I'd been made aware that some outside help had been called in to help work the problem, but I hadn't realised it had been this extreme. You'd be excused for thinking this was something actually important to the entire town, since it was so central and had so many people working at it. Maybe mere dozens wasn't a truly huge amount, but it was nearly equal to the entire relevant sub-department of the PRT-ENE. All this, because I asked for it. Because I'd failed to gain any other options, I'd twisted this place for the sake of my world. My fight. Honestly, I felt kind of guilty.

Bandana Dee sped up his stride slightly at the sight of it, and as he approached he flagged down a, for lack of a better term, clown. A small cyborg clown with detached, floating hands and no legs, just a single point it was balancing on. It waved back from its position in front of what looked like a desk with a printer, a computer that was displaying a document of notes rather than any numbers, and a neat stack of papers.

"Ah, is that the girl herself?" he asked in a surprisingly natural sounding voice, gliding over the wood to meet us near the podium, in the rough middle of the operation. Since I was standing below the roughly waist-high platform, we were actually about eye-to-eye, or rather eye-to-blank metal plate. "I admit, I've already heard quite a bit about you from your friend over there," he said, gesturing to the Dee at my side. "And now I get to see you myself! Sophia Hess, isn't it? A pleasure!"

One only slightly awkward handshake later, he gestured for us to follow him back to his work station. "Now, I'm sure you're here for a progress report rather than clowning around, so let's get going." We swiftly made our way forward, Bandana Dee simply hopping up while I hauled myself over the edge before striding to the large desk.

"Let's start with the good news, Clown Acrobot," Bandana Dee suggested. Before I could ask if that meant there was bad news, the newly-named seeming project manager obliged him.

"Certainly! I'll say that although we've only been working for a bit over two days the audit is proceeding splendidly. Many hands make light work after all, and we're determined not to let a hero be the butt of a villain's poor joke. I'd say that we've more or less already uncovered all that we can with the data we have. Well, we need another day or so of work to properly categorize our findings and make sure we haven't picked up any false positives, but other than that we're already done. Once we realised we could cut out most of the data as unrelated to what you were searching for, it became much simpler." That made me frown ever so slightly as I thought back to what I'd heard on the way here.

"But the data you have isn't enough by itself, is it?" I said, folding my arms and narrowing my eyes. "There's something missing. That's why you want my help."

The Acrobot took on a remorseful look, which would have been funny considering his facial features if we weren't talking about something so serious. I'd been fast and I'd been lucky, but I knew that Coil would close up any leaks in his organization fast and that I'd only attacked a relatively surface level part of it and had gained relatively few leads. If this entire angle of approach turned out to be a dud, then I was practically back at square one, and then I'd really have to give up the hunt. I scowled at the mere thought of that, but before my expression could darken further he hastily spoke up.

"Well yes, but it's not all bad. You see, the only problem is-" He quickly patted the stack of papers behind him. "That this doesn't have all the context. It would seem that your enemy is no fool, because there are few discrepancies in these documents alone. What we have figured out is that some projects are financed internally by the mysterious company owner, rather than externally by the city."

At this point, I was looking at him with a blank expression on my face. I didn't really understand why that was important, and said as much. "Uh, cool?"

He seemed to get the problem, and launched into a new explanation. "When I worked for the circus back in Floralia, we mostly self-funded. Specifically, I was in charge of financing our operations, turning sold tickets into repairing wear and tear, making sure that all the magic was up to snuff in the mirrors of concealment and disappearing blocks. But when Her Royal Majesty turned our circus tents into death traps for dissidents and then Kirby, she personally invested funding into spike pits and soldiers. She even wanted to empty out a tent and put a battle tank in it for an ambush, although that plan never went through. Anyway, the point is that to keep our pride and joy even partly operational as a circus, we had to fund it entirely by ourselves to ensure it stayed out of the Queen's eye. I think if this really is a company working for a supervillain, then the same thing is happening here, but with good and evil swapped."

"That's a stretch," I said doubtfully. "But it also sounds like it's all we have to go on. Okay, so I'm supposed to get you outside documents, is that what you want? To help give context to the records, I mean."

He nodded. "Exactly right. You can't juggle with only one ball, and we can't work things out with only one perspective. The problem is that we have quite a lot of work orders done with our mystery man's money, and we don't know which ones are important, which ones aren't, and which ones are actually just legitimate purchases, like if our man wanted a mansion. Do you think you could get clarifying data for us?"

I paused to think about it. Really, deeply think about it. As a matter of fact I did know someone who was familiar with the accounting of Brockton Bay's construction sector, but I really didn't want to get her involved in this, not even incidentally. That said, if I didn't have any other chance to succeed in my mission, to actually hit a villain where it hurt, to make a difference...

"I can do it. You'll get your extra data before tomorrow's done." With that, I nodded once decisively, made sure there wasn't anything else to be said, got a freshly printed copy of the documents (now stripped down to what was useful for us and with helpful annotations), wheeled around, and began to march off.

Mostly, I wandered the streets of the town for a while, aimless and alone. Or at least I thought I was alone, but I realized that Bandana Dee had patiently followed me when I finally sat down heavily on a public bench and felt him plop down next to me. I scooted over to make space for him, my hand pushing against him slightly as I did. I noted a faint pins and needles sensation, a weaker version of what I got when touching Kirby or my teacher. "Oh shit, you've gotten even stronger than I realised," I said, mostly on reflex.

"Ah, I'm sure you're a mighty warrior yourself" he practically chirped back in reply. "I know you have the spirit for it, and I'm sure Meta Knight wouldn't have let you be anything else after your training with him." I just sank back as far into the wooden bench as I could go, morosely fidgeting with the cool metal gauntlet on my left hand, flexing and twisting it. Gazing at the styling and the connector clips, the slit for the Warp Star Attractor and the joints. Mostly so I didn't have to look at anything else.

"I don't know," I replied. "I just don't know. I mean, it mostly feels like I'm just here to convey stuff from one point to another. I mean, think about it. I use armour that I don't make or repair to fight, then get beaten up and healed by the Halberd's medical team or Panacea, and now I took data that some Bio Sparks got me to my attendant Waddle Dees, who gave the data to you who gave it to the town to solve it for me, and the only thing I have to do at this point is get someone else to give me more data so we can figure out the assets Coil has. And give it to the Protectorate, I guess. Like, tell me, at what point do I justify myself as a hero in this thing?" A long, awkward silence settled in as I realised I'd just exploded into a mini-rant basically out of nowhere at a friend I hadn't talked to in about two years.

I threw my head back and groaned. "Oh fuck, I didn't need to say that," I muttered, as much to myself as to Bandana. "It's just… like I said, I don't know. I guess seeing all this gets me. An entire small community has to be put to work because I'm too fucking dumb to figure out what some spreadsheets mean. It's messed up."

"Well, they wouldn't be doing this work if they didn't believe in you and want to help," the Dee said thoughtfully before lapsing into another brief silence. "And I think, maybe bringing all these people together to make a success, that matters in its own right." I wasn't certain I agreed, but I also really didn't want to get into an argument right now.

"Sure." I said flatly. "Listen, it's late, we should both head to sleep right now." But it didn't feel right to end there either. "Maybe talk properly once this is over? You know, actually catch up like friends?" That last sentence was harsher than I intended, but any venom was mostly directed towards myself. After all, I was the one who was traveling between worlds here. If I failed to stay in contact with people on the other side, that was entirely on me. In any case, he enthusiastically nodded his body, hopped down, waved goodbye, and left. I watched him go, and when he turned a corner, I shifted back to Earth. There, I put my gauntlet away in a drawer and crawled into bed.

Chapter 42: Chapter 35

Chapter Text

Tuesday. Wake up, school, back home, wait for Mom to arrive from work. A routine so well practiced that it was long past second nature for me. But today I had to add something else in before I ate dinner and then went out into the night. It was something I used to do in the past a fair bit, but these days did exceptionally rarely, and whenever that was pointed out I had to cringe on the inside a little.

I had to have a serious, long talk with my mother.

It wasn't that we didn't get along; we did. It wasn't that we didn't love each other either, because we did. It was mostly that we were both very busy in almost entirely unrelated lines of work. So when we talked it was usually either small talk or something about school, which I was fairly sure she cared about more than me. Yeah, we definitely didn't have a perfect relationship, but we made do, even if I knew that mom preferred both of my siblings to me. And right here and now, she was my best bet to quickly gain more data on the Coil front, and I'd be damned if I let a bit of awkwardness stand between me and victory.

When she came back, we exchanged hellos and then she went pretty much immediately to her room to work on something she'd brought back home with her, basically working overtime while handing me Thalia to take care of while she did. Fortunately, I wasn't in a rush to get this done literally immediately. I could wait patiently until the time to strike arrived. So, I spent a couple of hours with my little sister, playing with her and checking how her time at daycare went. Nothing exceptional. I also found a free moment to send a message to a Bio Spark to be in position for when the time came. Then Mom finished her work for the day and we ate dinner shortly after. I washed up, and as she went to watch some TV in the living room with my sister I knew the time had indeed arrived. No going back.

Steeling myself, I collapsed onto the couch and turned my head towards her. "Hey mom," I started, and she immediately looked over at me. At least I had her attention. "I was wondering, I know you do work, but I was curious, uh..." I'd prepared for this in some ways, but I apparently had no clue how to get to my point without just outright saying it and sounding strange and suspicious. Fortunately, Mom seemed willing enough to wait for me to figure it out. "Do you ever get to look at all the construction in the city, in your job? In like a big table with numbers and so on?"

That caused her to blink once and pause for a moment before responding. "Uh, I think I know what you mean, but it's not really that simple, Sophia. I'm mostly just involved in bookkeeping, internal financing, that sort of thing. My work does involve a lot of tables and numbers, but I promise you it's mostly nothing you'd find interesting."

"Right," I said. "But, you know, you have all the raw data for that kind of thing, and you could put it together, ugh. What's the word? Like, if you had to, but without having to." I wasn't even entirely sure what I meant, but fortunately Mom was.

"Hypothetically?"

"I think so. Or, theoretically, yeah that was it. Anyway, could you?" At this point I was just trying to figure out how to best explain away this entire thing as some vague passing curiosity, because I knew Mom would try and ask about it.

"Well, nothing's stopping me, no," she answered with a frown. "But I don't see why you want to know? You've never really taken an interest in my work before, and it's not really something cool or common either." Yeah there we go. But I did have something prepared by now.

"Honestly it's not that important, I just want to win an argument with one of my friends. Taylor's going on about the city ferry project and I want to see if she's right when she says it wouldn't be that much money. As in compared to other construction stuff." I gestured dismissively, lazily shrugging to emphasize this was nothing to take too seriously, or more importantly take too close a look at.

Of course, in reality, Taylor hadn't said anything of the sort recently. I remember she'd brought it up maybe once or twice as something her dad was kind of interested in, but that was about it. Of course, since I was already lying to my mom about the superhero thing, I didn't really feel the need to be even remotely truthful about this. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, not until my luck finally ran out and hopefully I had some time before that happened.

"Well if it's not that important I still don't see why you need to know," Mom said archly. "You really shouldn't go so far over trivial things like that. It's just not good for you, and I know you like to try and do everything yourself but taking your friends at their word every now and again wouldn't hurt." Well, this hadn't gone to plan. I knew that if I just tried to write it off as completely idle curiosity I'd be stonewalled, but I thought if I gave a reason, even if a fairly flimsy one, I'd be in the clear. Well, apparently not.

"Okay, but could you show me anyway? Unless this stuff is confidential or whatever, I don't see why you can't. I'd just appreciate it, Mom, okay?" I immediately realized this was the tactic of the desperate even as I folded my arms, and frankly made me sound almost whiny, but if it worked it worked.

Of course, it wasn't quite that simple. "There's no real harm in it," she said after a short pause, biting her lip in thought. "And you don't usually ask for much from me. Alright, fine. But I do have to know, is that argument really the only reason you want to see this? Because I promise you, it's probably much more boring and difficult to understand than you're thinking. You won't get a lot out of this."

Annoyance must have flashed across my face for a moment, because she shifted back slightly in surprise as I barely suppressed a desire to stand up and roll my eyes, instead managing to just look straight at her. "Oh come on, I know I'm not Terry but that doesn't make me stupid. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Okay, not when it's about all of the stuff I'm sure you do, but about what I want." A thought occurred to me, and before my brain could tell my mouth to cease and desist it slipped out. "Actually, shouldn't you be happy I'm taking an interest in this stuff?"

For her part, she just took on an authoritative expression and sat completely upright, back ramrod straight. Not quite indignation, but maybe halfway there from her resting face of resigned exhaustion. "Don't get snippy with me, Sophia Hess! And don't think I'm trying to insult you either when I'm just stating facts. I'm not implying you're stupid or comparing you to your brother, this is so difficult to interpret I can do it and make a living, just about."

She sighed, and I felt some of her sudden spike in frustration leave with the exalted air as she rubbed her forehead with one of her hands. "But I suppose you're right that I should appreciate it. It's not what I expected, but if you can manage to have a quiet life in this city that's all I can really ask for. I suppose I should be encouraging that however I can." I just made a noncommittal grunt in reply. The quiet life was distinctly not my calling.

Regardless, we made our way upstairs and into my mom's bedroom, bringing Thalia up with us and depositing her on the bed behind us for the time being. The poor girl had stayed silent through that barely avoided argument, but was clearly looking concerned by the end of it.

Obviously I'd been in here before, but it had been quite some time since I'd had a reason to come in. Mostly because of the fact I never really needed to, but I think the respectful distance I kept from Mom played a part too. It was basically unchanged from what I remembered for better or worse, and notably had the same wood paneling on the walls that I had in my own room. The furniture wasn't anything special either, just a bed too large for one person, a desk with a computer and chair, a nightstand, and a wardrobe pretty much. The computer itself was slightly older, since we didn't exactly have the money to spare on ultra up-to-date electronics, but it still did the job.

Once Mom booted it up, entered her password, and began to load the spreadsheets in question, we were interrupted by Thalia giving a surprise yelp from her room. Naturally, we both turned around, but I wasn't overly worried. This was still part of the plan.

We were by her side in a flash, and saw Thalia still sitting on the bed and gesturing wildly at the door. "Purple thingy!" she chirped. "I saw a purple thingy!" My mom and I exchanged a brief look, with me trying to seem as serious and anxious as I could manage.

"Wait here," my mom said grimly, and made her way out of the room. A mere moment later, a purple flash shot inside and over to the computer. Thalia stared at it wide-eyed for a moment, but luckily seemed too stunned by its reappearance to say anything immediately.

"Now, Thalia," I said as sternly yet sisterly as I could manage. "This thingy is a friend of Kirby, and you remember what that means, don't you?"

My sister beamed and enthusiastically nodded. "He's a secret!" She didn't exactly whisper it, but she didn't say it too loudly either, and I'd heard Mom head down the stairs. Hopefully she just heard Thalia say something but not what it actually was.

"Right, a secret," I confirmed, hoping that would work. Putting this much faith in a four-year old was probably not my best plan ever, but I did have the emergency option of disagreeing with her if she claimed she saw something in the room. Mom would probably believe me. Well, or so I hoped.

After a couple of minutes, the Bio Spark was long gone and Mom returned, looking like she was tentatively willing to believe it was nothing. "I didn't find anything," she admitted, before pausing for a couple of seconds. "...it must have been some trick of the light. That doesn't sound right, but I don't know what else it could be." At this point I realized maybe doing this to my mom was kind of a bitchy thing to do on my part. Hopefully she'd mentally write it off easily enough. At least I had the data now.

Then we spent some time with my mom trying to explain money-related things to me, and sure enough I did struggle to understand them, but I'd like to think I did reasonably well even so. After that I said goodbye and good night, slipped back into my own bedroom, grabbed my gauntlet, grabbed the mysterious flash drive conveniently resting next to it, and shifted worlds.

With that, I grimly marched back over to the impromptu analysis centre and nearly threw the drive at the head of the nearest clown. In the end I restrained myself, and merely dropped it into a waiting hand while grumbling. "This had better be it. That was way too uncomfortable for my tastes."

Rather than answering immediately, the Acrobot in question plugged the spoils in, printed off some sheets of paper, and started shuffling through them. "You see, one of these was promising, it should be here somewhere," he muttered. "Like right… there. Oh, it seems that only half of the funding for this is here."

I blinked heavily. "So you're saying this was a waste of time or something?"

"On the contrary!" it said cheerfully. "This is a most promising lead, and exactly what I was hoping for. Come back tomorrow why don't you, we might have something for you then."

I blinked again, mentally shrugged, and left them to it. Conveniently, my attendants had dragged my armour out here, so I suited up on the spot and shifted back to Earth, beginning my nightly routine. Almost immediately, I intercepted a confused police scanner message about an alleged gang shooting. I figured it was as good a place to start the night as any, but shortly after I arrived I realised the situation had the subtle hand of a snake written all over it.

Chapter 43: Chapter 36

Chapter Text

It was a gruesome scene. The parking lot, of all places, was in the northwest of downtown, practically a straight shot north from the Towers, a nasty little stretch of land that was technically in Empire territory but placed right next to both some of Coil's core areas and the ABB's outskirts. Always tense, but it usually didn't escalate to this.

'This' was five dead skinheads and a crashed nondescript van, all riddled with bullet holes. I was fairly sure that this wasn't a random shooting because I could clearly see Eighty-Eight tattoos on two of the mangled bodies, and there looked to be a white powder on the floor that at a guess came from when bullets ripped through bricks of product.

I couldn't be totally certain, but it looked like the van was pulling out when what looked like one bullet hit the driver dead on and caused the van to veer straight into a wall. Then it got hosed down in firepower, killing the ones inside before they even had a chance to get out, at least if the fact all their bodies were still inside the vehicle was any indication. Hell, the two riding on the front still had their seatbelts on.

Messy corpses… weren't fun to look at. Would I be shedding any tears over a bunch of dead Neo-Nazis? Not even slightly, but it was still... I grimaced, and looked away from the bodies, instead focusing on the scene as a whole. Alright, think. Why was I here, what did this mean? Well, it meant a lot, most notably the fact that someone somewhere was fucking insane.

Murder happened in this city, sure. Gang members were usually on the other end of it, but they weren't immune to it. But to launch a borderline massacre like this? That was something that the Empire couldn't let slide, meaning they had to retaliate, which wasn't good for anyone. Least of all the people who'd probably get caught in the crossfire if the gangs started going all in against each other, but the other gangs would get beat too.

So even if you were a complete psychopath, this was obviously a terrible idea. It only made any kind of sense if you wanted to spark a full-on gang war in the city, especially in the aftermath of the PRT raid against the Empire that had happened literally yesterday. They'd already be feeling paranoid and cornered thanks to that, and while normally I'd be all for striking fear into the fuckers right now it looked like things were spiraling out of control for some reason beyond me.

I stepped away from the van for a moment, and looked around me. Couldn't see anyone gawking. Probably didn't want to be too close to something like this, in case the killer comes back to finish the job, or an Empire cape shows up looking for payback, or hell, maybe they just don't want to get rounded up by the cops as suspicious when BBPD shows up. Not helpful to me though. I folded my arms and looked down at the ground, refocusing a little.

I asked myself again, why? Who'd do this? Follow training, think methodically. Obviously not law enforcement, for various reasons. Didn't strike me like any of the independent villains; none of them were the machine-gun type. That included Faultline's Crew and the Travelers. The idea the Merchants could be behind this was, to be honest, laughable. This kind of incident generally didn't spring from nowhere, so it wasn't some new gang I hadn't heard about.

Could be some new cape, I supposed. Unlike gangs, those could come out of nowhere, and could have access to firepower. This was definitely the result of guns, because I could literally see bullets and bullet casings strewn around the area, but that didn't automatically discount a cape. I mean, this was in the same city that had Miss Militia as one of the major heroes. Still, going from zero to massacre was pretty unusual, and I hadn't really heard rumors of a brand new cape of any kind recently, so I labeled that as possible but unlikely.

So that basically left the ABB and Coil's organization as probable culprits. Of the two, it was completely moronic for either of them to do this. While the ABB had Lung and Coil had his mercenaries, the Empire had by far the most parahumans out of any single team in the city, only equaled by the Protectorate and Wards put together. Purity was an 'independent' of course, but she functionally still acted to advance the Empire's goals, so I had no doubts that if push came to shove she'd go back to Kaiser. Unfortunately, I hadn't been able to knock the bitch out of the sky yet-

Which wasn't relevant right now. Shit. I was agitated, and beginning to lose focus. Couldn't afford that, not ever but especially not now. Too much crap was piling up. And thinking about that too hard was actually just my mind wandering again. I began to pace uneasily around the scene, or as best I could considering I couldn't walk through walls, hoping the literal perspective would give me some of the metaphorical version. That was reaching, sure, but so was I.

Oh, what was I even thinking about? Right, people with means and motive, ABB and Coil. It was bad for business to spark a gang war. Sure, maybe you win and get more territory to pull criminal operations in. More likely you either lose, which is obviously bad, or you win but you're so hurt that law enforcement clears you up or villains from other cities come in to fill the power vacuum, and you've just changed one set of enemies for another. I remembered that being something that went down in Boston a couple of years ago. Now, if the new villains were less established or capable or just not Nazis, that could still be a win for the people, but often not the other villains.

Of those two, Lung I trusted to be more methodical. As far as I was able to tell, he just did his thing. It was an awful thing, but it also wasn't anything too complex. He seemed fine with fairly slow and steady progress. I didn't doubt he was willing to kill whoever got in his way, but a random mass hit for the sake of some drugs didn't feel like his style.

It wasn't really Coil's style either, except for the issue that Coil was some kind of comic book mastermind who I was still reasonably sure had kidnapped the mayor's niece. His true goals were frankly unknown except for the fact we were all pretty sure he wanted more than just being another gang boss. It was a gut feeling, and you could honestly call it speculation, but I figured he had to be the one behind this somehow. Pursuing some invisible design I was only vaguely feeling the outline of.

And, frankly, that pissed me the hell off. I wasn't sure why, exactly. It wasn't as if I liked the guy before this. Maybe because I felt like he'd gotten one over on me once again with this shit, whatever it actually was, and I just really hated losing. Maybe because the results of his plans were now escalating from shadowy deeds and messing with my investigation to something that could affect hundreds if not thousands of innocent civilians in the coming days. Either way, that just made this more important to understand. I finally stopped my pacing and put my hand to my head. Come on Sophia, you had the facts, you had suspicions. Conclude.

The most important thing here was that, based on what I could see, Coil wanted to start a gang war. He also wanted it to be bloody. There were a lot of ways he could have tried to start this, and this was one of the least harmful to the Empire. Losing a few unpowered goons stung, but didn't seriously hurt their fighting power. Same with the whole incident yesterday, actually. Neither alone would risk a huge explosion, but both together might. Even if this didn't, he could keep poking with wounds like this until something gave.

On top of that, the Empire might be pure evil, but they weren't completely stupid. I might have more insight into Coil than them, but that didn't mean they had no idea he existed, or that they couldn't do basic logic. They would come to the same conclusion as I would, and even if they settled on it being ABB or Coil with even odds that didn't exactly leave him outside their firing lines. That meant that he had to accept the possibility that by doing this he was going to get hit hard himself. Which seemed counterproductive, unless…

Unless he was close to doing something big. Something that would make a gang war irrelevant or even helpful to him. Something utterly game changing.

Something that I didn't have the first clue about.

I growled in frustration, which turned into more of a defeated sigh as I heard rapidly approaching police sirens. They'd finally thrown a response together, and I couldn't be asked to stick around and be questioned about this. I'd seen what was up, made sure that it wasn't an ambush, that's all I had to do. It was back up into the skies for me.

My cape twisted back into wings, and then I was up and away, rapidly leaving the entire scene as a distant speck. More to think about, more to do, more to try and stop, just more. The rest of the night was quiet, way too quiet. I'm pretty sure the phrase there was calm before the storm.

I didn't feel any better by the time I called it quits for the night. Once I was back in my room, I shifted over and took a Warp Star back to the Halberd. Then I decided to take an unusual measure. After I got out of my armor, rather than shifting back to Earth I decided to sleep on the cot in my room. It was frankly a bit too small for me, but it was surprisingly comfortable, so I drifted off in the end.

I might not have been able to figure things out while I was awake, but I'd hoped that maybe dreams could help me. Of course, normally I didn't or couldn't dream, but in this place? My mind was forced into it. After all, it wasn't called the Kingdom of Dream Land for nothing. Unfortunately, I didn't so much dream as remember events long past.

Chapter 44: Flashback 5 (And A Dream)

Chapter Text

Two girls stood on a lonely dirt road, surrounded by grass on either side, with a forest behind. The sun was hanging low as it always did over the Orange Ocean, giving the area its signature colour by casting the water a vibrant shade. Ahead of them stood a lone, squat, and above all else, round figure, looking off into the eternal sunset, midnight blue cape fluttering in the wind.

"I have to draw this," the older girl muttered, placing down an easel and setting up some canvas. "It's just too picturesque," she said as she began to eye the scene, sticking her tongue out as she did. "Okay, go on ahead, Sophia. He's waiting for you." The younger girl stood as straight as she could and marched on ahead to meet her destiny.

She faltered a little as she got closer, the figure not responding even slightly to her steady footsteps. Instead, it continued gazing off into the distance as if it hadn't heard her. Even so, she managed to hold her nerve long enough that she ended up standing a mere step behind him. Optimal kicking distance, a part of her that she thoroughly clamped down on said. Still there was no reply.

Sophia considered clearing her throat, but decided against doing just that. Instead, she went with her carefully rehearsed speech. "Sir Meta Knight, I, Sophia Hess, have come to you seeking training in the martial arts." But she didn't get any further than that.

"May I have the pleasure of knowing who wrote that speech for you?" It was a sudden interruption from a surprisingly deep voice. It took her aback, largely because he was absolutely right. She hadn't come up with it herself.

"Uh… Ado over there," she replied, suddenly feeling a lot more sheepish. "How did you-"

"Know?" he finished, finally turning around to face her. "Simple. I may no longer be young myself, but I do understand that no one of your age talks like that. Even for a speech." There was a clear note of amusement in his voice. Sophia looked over her shoulder to glare at Adeleine, who gave a thumbs up in response. That just caused her to glare even harder, although to no effect.

Turning back to Meta Knight for a moment, she couldn't quite meet his gaze and kicked the dirt in annoyance. "Yeah, well, you could have been wrong. I know people who speak a lot fancier than I do. They have big, what's the word, they're like walking dictionaries."

"Vocabularies?"he suggested, and she nodded in reply. "I suppose so, but I wasn't wrong. Your friend there, she is an artist. We, however, are warriors." At that, he began to walk down the path towards the forest, slowly but surely. Sophia folded her hands behind her back and carefully followed.

"So that means you're going to train me, right?" she asked. It was why she'd come here, but a part of her hadn't believed it was really going to happen. There seemed too great a separation between their worlds. For all that she could cross between them, Sophia didn't truly have a foot in this reality. She was of Earth Bet, and this dimension, for all that she may be intellectually familiar with it, remained something alien. Other. Even when she was adventuring here, she understood that she was more following along while the others did the work. She'd been fine with that, still was, but it meant she hadn't been sure they'd come through when she asked. Still, what other choice had she but to try?

"I thought long and hard about it," Meta Knight answered. "I don't normally train others directly. Even my Meta-Knights, my loyal crew, came to me already trained in at least the basics of armed combat. I at most gave pointers. However, you come much recommended. By the King of this land and the Queen of a far one, as well as the highest servants of both. By your friend right here-" he said as they passed Adeleine, who Sophia saw had finished the base painting of the scene and was now progressing to the finest details. "-and by Kirby himself. And if he of all people speaks to me of something that isn't food, sleep, or immediate threat, then it must be important. So yes. I will train you."

"I think you might find I'm good enough for you to train all by myself. Still, I'm glad to hear that," Sophia said as nonchalantly as she could manage. Internally, she was about ready to start screaming to the sky in celebration, but she kept herself in check. After all, she had an image to maintain. "So when do we start?"

"Now," Meta Knight replied as they reached the edge of the forest. His heavy cape, more like a cloak considering it was wrapped around him, unfurled into a pair of wings, revealing he already had a sword in his hand. In a single, perfectly fluid motion, he drew the blade back, stepped forward, and swung once. It passed cleanly through the tree in front of him, so cleanly that Sophia could barely see the line of the cut. She barely had time to process that before he moved, almost teleporting from his standing position to the other side of the tree, spinning in the air to kick it hard. The body of the tree practically flew off the stump, sailing through the air for maybe ten feet before the base crashed down to earth, the body falling over after it. It had been hit at such an angle that neither Sophia nor Adeleine were even near the fallen trunk.

At that point, Sophia just crossed her arms and frowned slightly. "You're just showing off now." That got a low hum in response as Meta Knight's wings reformed into a cape, somewhere between its wing and prior cloak forms, and he returned to the ground.

"Perhaps. But there is a purpose." He walked over to the tree, and his sword became a blur. More than that, it seemed to be in multiple places at once, several shining golden images chopping and carving. After only a second or two of the relentless assault, a blunt wooden sword had come into being, which he then tossed over to Sophia. A training weapon.

She easily caught it, and held it high. It wasn't much, but it was a start. "To train you in the only way I know how, the Knight's way, will see you become a great warrior and a peerless swordswoman. To complete the training should take only a few short years, but I suspect you may want still quicker." Sophia resolutely nodded. She didn't want to sit around training for that long. She wanted to be out there, fighting. That was just who she was. "Since I've heard your city, your world, is under peril." Right. That… too. Why hadn't that been her first thought? Stupid. Was this how she was repaying the people she had to go to because she couldn't fight properly by herself?

Of course, all that just manifested as a frown on her face, leading to Meta Knight solemnly sighing in agreement. "I can see it all weighs heavily on you. None should have to exist in such daily peril and darkness without the ability to fight back." Well, they could agree on that. She wanted the Nazis out of her fucking city. "So I propose an accelerated course. I am unsure I can even teach a human such as yourself my most powerful techniques, so I shall instead simply tutor your tactics and battle skills. If you are studious and talented, we can be done in as soon as six months. But be warned, it will be intensive. Be careful not to overextend yourself."

"I can take it," she said confidently. "I didn't come here to fail."

"You have a commendable spirit," Meta Knight said approvingly. "I know all too many who sit back and pursue lazy lifestyles even as danger approaches. I am sure it is no different in your world. Those who stand up and fight to protect the weak often walk a lonely path, but it can be a very rewarding one. But spirit is nothing-" He moved again, cape twisting into wings as he vaulted up into the sky, then landed behind her. Sophia struggled to track his movement, but was just about able to. "-without understanding. Hmm. before I begin my instruction, I shall give you a simple test: Tell me, why am I standing here?"

Sophia felt that 'to teach me' was not the correct answer. She squinted down at him, trying to figure out what he was getting at. She couldn't read his seemingly relaxed stance, and he'd put emphasis on where, not how, he was standing, so it wasn't anything to do with that. It seemed to be a completely ordinary patch of grass to her. Sophia was mostly annoyed that he happened to be standing with the sun directly behind him, which was what was forcing her to squint in the first place-

Oh! "You're standing so the sun's in my eyes. Blinding me, making it so you could attack me easier." She felt a jolt of satisfaction when Meta Knight nodded.

"Very good. Although there are modern methods such as photosensitive visors to defeat basic tactics like this, the idea of choosing your battlefields remains. Sometimes it's as simple as standing with the sun to your back, sometimes it is complex tactics performed by masters of fighting. But I must point out that I would have no trouble defeating your guard even without any help. Your instinct is acceptable, attempting to keep your sword up and close to you, but I can clearly see your form is untrained. First, before we even mention the blade, you must adopt a battle-stance. Allow me to demonstrate…"

I gasped as I came into sudden awareness. It was completely unlike how I normally woke up, going immediately from nothing to absolute full consciousness. That probably had something to do with the fact I wasn't actually awake right now. I was standing in the middle of some rolling hills, endless fields of green grass extending out as far as the eye could see. And that was exactly the problem. There was nothing but hills and grass. There weren't even any flowers.

I looked up to the sky and saw gentle clouds, sailing over a blue sky. I'd estimate it was about noon, but it was impossible to tell since there wasn't a sun. Just light coming from nowhere. I looked down and sure enough, I didn't have a shadow. It was uncanny, but I didn't have to wonder why I was here for too long. There was one thing out of place here: me.

Not me as in myself, though. Me as in the me that happened to be sitting down about ten meters away. She was dressed in the same civilian clothes as I was, and seemed to be looking at the clouds. Lacking anything else to do, I sat down next to her. I waited for several seconds, studying her — my — features. It looked kind of off compared to whenever I looked into a mirror, and it took me a moment to realise why. She wasn't tired or angry, she just looked content, or something like that.

"So who are you?" I finally asked. In response she slowly, lazily, looked back at me.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm you," she replied. At that, I flicked her in the forehead, causing her to flinch back.

"Yeah no shit, I have eyes. But you're obviously not me, because I'm me. You're like the avatar of the Star Rod or some bullshit, so spit it out already." At that, she just calmly shrugged, which honestly just pissed me off a little. She should know her damn place, and that place was giving me some fucking answers, fast.

"Almost right. The Fountain of Dreams doesn't have any true intelligence, but it does have the ability to interpret information, since that's the only way it can give appropriate dreams. After all, what one person might consider a good dream could be a minor nightmare to someone else. For example, some people might dream of having sex or being in a romantic relationship, but that'd be numbing at best, tortuous at worst to you. So, as a benevolent magical, uh, thing, the Fountain takes everything into account. Meanwhile, I'm your subconscious, that thing that normally creates dreams, and our power is connecting me to the Fountain to help things along." I frowned as she explained, noting that there was one slight problem.

"Okay, cool, whatever, why the fuck am I in this computer wallpaper looking… place, then? It's kind of a shit dream." I felt a little ripped off to be truthful. Wait, would she know that, since she was me? I mean, we shared a brain, how was that working?

While I tried to figure that out, I answered my own question. "That's the problem. The Fountain of Dreams gives the correct good dreams to everyone, because it knows what people want. Most things living on Planet Popstar are pretty simple, and so have pretty simple dreams. Good food, a nap, victory in battle, that kind of thing. And yeah some people here dream of napping while they sleep, it's an entirely new level of laziness. Anyway, the problem is that you're not so simple, and you don't actually know what your own desires are. So, the Fountain can't give you a dream. It substituted back there with what you considered a good, important memory, but apparently it couldn't or didn't want to just leave you stuck in the past for eight hours."

I sighed and looked up to the clouds myself. Surprisingly, there was actually some distinction there, now that I looked closer. Each cloud was different in shape. Unfortunately I'd kind of never done cloudwatching before, so I didn't really know if any of them meant anything. Hadn't been much opportunity for it in inner city Brockton Bay. As I looked, I struggled to try and find an answer.

Eventually, I found my words. "Peace. If I'm going to dream of something vaguely nice, I'd like a dream of peace. Just, all the villains gone, shit doesn't suck anymore."

"Mmm. But you don't really want that, do you?" the other me said. Normally I might have tried to tell her she had no idea what she was talking about, but this time I couldn't, on account of her being me. Something that was getting old fast.

I sighed again, deeper, and this time I was able to answer right away. "No, I do want it. But I'd never believe it. Not even in a dream. Things are too bad right now, and I'm not helping enough." When no answer came, I pressed on. I wasn't sure why I felt like I had to bitch to myself. Maybe I could only talk honestly to anyone, even just myself, by bitching. I supposed I was just thinking aloud what I'd been thinking for a long time, but was it really aloud if it was still all in my head?

"Gangs, basically the same as when I started after the training. Endbringers, still a thing. I was at Canberra, some people took notice, but what did I actually do? Slice off one of the bigger wings, get buried under rubble, fall back because my timer was nearly up. Did it make even the slightest difference to the fight? I have no fucking idea. Will the Simurgh be back in like three to seven months from now, fully healed up? Without a doubt." I tried to ball my hands into fists, then rip up grass and clumps of dirt from the ground, but the grass remained firmly fixed in place.

My other self finally interrupted, "You can say you managed to do more than most, can't you?"

"Yeah, but what does that matter? Fuck, I'm not even asking to kill one of those monsters, I'm just asking to make a difference. What's my top list of shit done, before the Undersiders thing? Clipped a wing, stopped a load of petty crimes, got Uber and Leet arrested… shit, if those two are on the list you know I haven't done anything worth talking about. I'm this close to people who are perfect heroes here, but this far from being one myself on Earth." I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Fuck, if anything goes sideways with this Coil hunt I'm going to lose it, aren't I?"

The lack of any direct answer said everything. Though, after a moment, she did speak up again. "So, is there anything you would like to dream about? I can't come up with anything, but maybe as the conscious mind you have something niche you can think of."

I completely blanked for several seconds before saying the first thing that came to mind. "I'd like to pet a cat, I guess? That's kind of all I can think of right now." Cats were good. Well, they were murderous bastards, but ignoring that they were good.

With a look of slight bewilderment, my other self vanished, and a wave of mist came from nowhere and rolled over me, changing the surrounding landscape and giving me what I'd be occupied with for the rest of the night.

The cats were nice and fluffy.

Chapter 45: Chapter 37

Chapter Text

April 27th, 2011. A lazy Wednesday, school passing by with no real issue. I wasn't expecting anything to go down today — the E88 would probably take at least a day to strategize before committing and starting a glorified gang war over yesterday's incident — but that just made the dread and anticipation worse. Tomorrow was a very real possibility, but it might be a couple of days. Or it might not happen at all if the Empire judged it was not worth it, or they might see through the deception and try to primarily go after Coil, which would result in a completely different set of front lines. There were no certainties and no good ways of knowing, which was beyond aggravating to me. But there was nothing I could do but wait it out and be prepared.

I finished the walk back to my house and let myself in, but before I could go upstairs like I usually would whenever I had the house to myself, I was stopped by a Bio Spark out in the open, which wasn't normal. I knew they were invisibly running around the house in their downtime, but I never saw one unless they wanted me to. Partly that was because I didn't go looking, but still, here was one stock still, right in the open. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and nodded at him, giving him permission to go ahead, since he clearly had something to say.

"Dame Exoa Knight," he began, slowly and deliberately. Then a pause that I stepped in to fill.

"Whatever it is you might as well say it," I pointed out. Regardless of how bad it was or wasn't, it was going to have to be dealt with no matter what, and the sooner we started on it the sooner we could finish.

"An individual came and delivered a letter, or more accurately a message, to this house. Upon reading it said, well, here." He withdrew a small bit of torn paper and handed it up to me. I looked at it in confusion and the moment I comprehended it, my blood froze in my veins.

'I know you know where I am.

So it's only fair you know I know where you live.

-Coil'

My fingers, utterly numb, seized up, crumpling the message into a ball of paper. My heart skipped a beat before resuming more forcefully than ever, a thunderous drumbeat in my ears. I distantly recognised that the Bio Spark was attempting to talk to me. "Shut up," I hissed, storming off up the stairs, that being the only direction that was really away from this. I remembered to toss the paper as hard as I could away from me, sending it somewhere else in the house, I didn't care where exactly.

I walked, still in a slight daze, into my room, not knowing where else to go. A moving image caught my attention, and it took me a moment to realise it was my reflection in the mirror. I walked up to it, staring intently at the person I saw. It was somehow fundamentally wrong. None of the parts were wrong, it was definitely an image of Sophia Hess, but that felt off under the circumstances.

Then it clicked. This was beyond an attack on me, the knight. This was an attack on me, the teenage girl, and by extension her entire family and maybe even just people who knew her. When you stepped over this sort of threshold, suddenly nothing was sacred. I'd burned bridges to try and just this once make a difference, but if I carried on I risked the only difference being people close to me dying violently. That bastard.

That fucking bastard! My reflection shattered, a single good hit reducing the mirror to shards, the noise of breaking glass echoing loud in my ears. I'd kill him for this! There'll be fire and fucking blood! I screamed in wordless fury, and tossed the mirror's frame at the wall behind me, watching it bounce off the wooden wall with a deep, dull thud. I leapt on top of it and began savagely kicking it, trying to deform the metal. A vague noise to my right made me kick it over there instead, only to watch it get bisected by a single sword strike, the twin halves of the frame flying off to either side of the Bio Spark.

Breathing heavily, I glared at him, knowing that if looks could kill the little ninja would be a rapidly expanding cloud of vapour. For his part, he replied calmly, almost impassively, which almost set me off again. Didn't he realise how fucked this was? That I was attacked when I wasn't wearing the mask? This wasn't how it was supposed to be, how I could allow it to be for the sake of those around me. "As I was saying, two of our number were dispatched to check on your mother and sister the moment we received the message. At present, both of them are safe."

My anger didn't lessen, but it did cool ever so slightly. I wouldn't let everything that had led to this point be for nothing. So, that left me one course of action. There were ways to mitigate the risks. They'd have other, potentially huge, consequences, but I'd take them, and gladly, if it meant this literal fucking snake ate shit. This was a bridge too far and he'd pay for every step he'd taken over it. "You stay here," I practically snarled. "I'm going to war."

I flipped dimensions and wasted absolutely no time getting to work. Since it wasn't the usual time of day, my attendants were off doing their normal Meta-Knight duties, but that didn't slow me down. I simply walked out into the halls of the Halberd and made my way off the ship, sliding past everyone in my way, many of whom noted my bloodied hand. It had started to hurt a little actually, but that was among the least of my concerns right now.

As I disembarked, I happened to meet Meta Knight, who was just coming aboard with a retinue of his most elite soldiers. He looked suitably confused, subtle movements indicating concern despite his mask covering most of his features. "Sophia? I must admit, I wasn't expecting to see you here. What's wrong?"

A thousand potential replies crossed my mind. In the end, I settled on delivering the relevant facts quickly and efficiently. "Coil knows who I am and threatened me with a note delivered to my house. In return, I'm going to fucking stab him, stab everyone next to him, and capture his stupid fucking hideout."

Meta Knight took my words in stride, simply nodding once and humming before replying, "This is clearly a trap." I blinked in surprise, which he took as an invitation to continue. "Your foe is probably no fool. There are only two ways for you to take this message: as a warning, or as a provocation. He can probably guess you will choose the latter, short of him taking hostages in advance, and since you have yet to mention anything of the sort I assume he hasn't done that. Meaning he must want you to react as you are, otherwise he would not have given the message. So, this is a trap. He wishes you to attack him recklessly and without thinking, as part of some diabolical plan."

That made a lot of sense. That said, I didn't care. "Yeah, but he doesn't know what I can really do," I pointed out. "Which is summon a whole lot more people to Earth than I've done so far. So I'm going to round up a ton of warriors, bring them with me to his base, and completely kick his ass."

In response, he made some noncommittal noise before turning to his entourage of half a dozen or so. "Your duties with the Halberd for the day are canceled. Do as you please." With that, he just walked off towards the ship. In all honesty I was kind of pissed he'd just fuck off like that, but he knew I couldn't bring him over with me, so I supposed there wasn't much point in him staying. I guess part of me just wanted more advice from him, something to ground me. Well, too late for that.

A chorus of martial shouts drew my attention back to the knights next to me, who had raised their weapons in support. Apparently they'd decided to come help me. Convenient, and I realised likely implicit in their newfound shore leave. "Round up everyone able and willing to fight at the base-side mustering yard nearest to the ship. I have to go get my armor and a map." I ended up continuing into the base, conscripting any personnel the knights hadn't snapped up first to go find my attendants, which didn't take too long. They in turn said that results from the audit process over in Deetown had finally come in, which was excellent timing. If this had been yesterday, Coil's message would have technically started with a lie. I'd been planning to just go down the list of any suspicious locations and leave the work unfinished, but this was better. Apparently the target was a construction site at the northwestern edge of Downtown, with a lot of funds around it mysteriously appearing and disappearing between the public and private balance sheets. Worked for me.

I made my way to the base clinic, and got my injured right hand sprayed with antiseptic and bandaged heavily. A bit too heavily; the staff must have overreacted a bit seeing the cuts and bruises, since it was to the point where it limited mobility slightly. But my glove and gauntlet had enough stretch and room respectively to fit over the padding, and since I didn't want to waste a single additional second here when I could instead be going to Coil's base or stabbing Coil's face, I decided I'd live with it for now.

Shortly after that, my attendants showed up with my costume and I changed into it, leaving me as Exoa Knight once again, harbinger of a truly enormous quantity of wrath. I immediately strode off to the mustering area, practically jogging as my already thin patience ground down to nothing.

There were beings of a few sizes and varying shapes dutifully assembled in rank and file formation, all eyes on me when I emerged into the vast and featureless courtyard, one of the few areas of the base open to the sky. Normally I might have felt pressured by the sudden weight of additional expectations of these people, thinking of me as a temporary leader, but I was already as stressed out as I could really get so it washed over me like nothing.

Still, I did take a moment to pause, consolidate, and give a few words. This was a lot of people who'd shown up to help me, so I felt the need to take it with the appropriate level of responsibility, and that meant giving a speech before the operation began. "Thank you all for coming," I began kind of lamely. "I know that you're mostly busy, and, um, I kind of asked out of nowhere. But as you may or may not have heard, something important has come up, and I need your help. So I'm glad you're all here. You'll need to wait a bit while I get in position before I bring you over to where we need to be, but when you are on the other side?"

I drew Dominar, thrusting it skyward and willing flames to roar to life around it. "Follow my lead and fuck shit up."

Chapter 46: Chapter 38

Chapter Text

After telling the two remaining Bio Sparks to fall in, I flew out into the afternoon sky with a bit less care than normal, pushing myself to get to my destination as fast as possible. Keeping my secret identity didn't seem to matter so much, seeing as it was already compromised. So I flew and glided my way across the city, from one of the outer edges of Downtown to another. I almost ended up slowing down by trying to go faster, tempted to flap my wings rather than just glide for most of it, but I knew that'd just make me go up more than forward so clamped down on it with iron discipline. If I let myself get into a bad habit now, who knows what might happen in the fight.

Even though it felt like forever, it ended up being less than twenty minutes to get there. Being able to go in a straight line helped. The site of Coil's secret hideout was an utterly unassuming construction site. All surrounded by a humble fence, the site had countless pieces of construction equipment, workers milling around as the work day began to wind down, and a truly absurd amount of steel. The highrise in progress only had its girders and beams assembled right now, but the general shape was already clear. As was the size; my guess was the building was twenty stories tall or so. Kind of overkill to cover up an underground lair, if you asked me.

And it was a cover up. If there was nothing weird about this construction site, there'd be no need to mess around with internal records. Clearly, Coil wasn't hiding out inside the above-ground section, since otherwise I'd just be able to see him. That left one option. I dove, swooping down to the ground and coming in sharply enough that momentum carried me at a jog for several meters before I could bring myself to a stop. The workers looked oddly at me, the first to notice pointing me out to their fellows in hushed tones. I really didn't have time for this, so I ignored them. Instead, I tried to figure out how I was going to get below ground.

I made my way towards the building's basement, but then I stopped and thought for a second. Having an entrance to your secret lair inside the basement of a large building that'd be full up at some point felt like a bad idea. Too easy for to stumble upon it, too hard to get into sneakily. Now, I didn't know Coil that well, but he was smart and slippery. He wouldn't mess up by doing something even I, who had no experience with being a supervillain, could see what a dumb idea. No, there'd be something else. Something a normal person would have no reason to enter, but wouldn't question it for a second if someone else happened to go inside. Something like a maintenance entrance. For example, that hatch recessed into a rim of concrete over there, outside the skeleton of the building.

I almost sprinted over to it, and ended up looking down at a yellow warning sign printed on it labeled 'Drainage', which had images of people in a hazmat suit and a gas mask. Yeah, this was probably it. And even if I was wrong and those happened to be real warnings, my armor acted as an equivalent to both, so I'd be fine anyway. I'd kept my sword in hand, and it was time to use it. A single, arcing sweep cut through the concrete surrounding the hatch as well as its hinges without slowing down. Then, in one flowing motion I leaned down, grabbed the handle with my off hand, and stood up while lifting up and tossing the entire hatch away.

Beneath was a set of stairs. Promising. I made my way down as fast as I reasonably could, and almost immediately shifted worlds when I hit the bottom. The first wave were in position, and walked over to me, touching me with hands or weapons. I shifted again, and they were suddenly with me on Earth. They detached, I shifted twice more, another batch was with me. Each round trip took around ten seconds or so, and I was bringing at least half a dozen others with me on each one, thanks to weapons poking me through gaps or two smaller beings like Waddle Dees standing on top of one another to make better use of the space around me. Still, there were so many of them that it still took me around two minutes to get everyone across. I noted at one point that the pair of Bio Sparks following me had finally caught up.

By the time everyone was accounted for, the bottom of the stairs was absolutely packed, despite being a fairly wide corridor. Some were flying in the air, a lot were still on the stairs, and the column extended a good way in. I was almost certain Coil knew we were here by now, but depending on his confidence or the confusion of the situation I figured we could still possibly catch him in the middle of any potential evacuation, or possibly if he only knew about me he'd just stay put and try to kill me with lasers again. Either way, I had no reason not to press the attack. I gestured forward with my blade, and moved to the head of the column that wordlessly followed in my wake. Another door with metal bars blocked the way, and I sliced through that one just as easily. Didn't even bother to check if it was locked.

I shifted into a jog, cape fluttering behind me, as we made our way through a long, empty hallway to a room on the other side. The tension was palpable, at least for me, with the roar of countless different types of feet coming down all at once along with the flap of wings and gentle hum or crackle of some of my floating minions. This was it, this was really it, and I couldn't be sure I was properly prepared. Just had to hope I was.

All that was in the room at the end of the march was another door and a small security camera. If Coil somehow didn't hear or see us coming before, he definitely knew we were here now, and in force. Mostly for the hell of it, I gestured at it with Dominar, and a floating orange sphere with eyes, a Laser Ball, helpfully floated up and fired a blast of energy that turned it into slag.

The door itself didn't have a handle or lock that I could see, but I still had my all-purpose key with me. I raised my sword high, channeling power through it, and brought it down in a swing that sent forward a fireball. It hungrily ate up the distance between me and the door in a moment, and when it detonated it completely obliterated the door and some of the surrounding wall for good measure.

Not waiting for the smoke to clear, I broke into a run, hoping to seize the day with what I believed was technically termed a shock assault. To help my allies along, I gave a simple, one-word order: "Charge!"

I burst through into the room and immediately took stock of the situation. Two floors; we were on the upper one, ringed by metal walkways with no actual floor. Unfinished, boxes off to one side, no cover; we'd got here before it was completed. Doors leading off into rooms. No non-combat minions that I could see, just a bunch of soldiers already aiming at us and a costumed group I saw out of the corner of my left eye.

A man in a black bodyglove with a white snake winding across and around it was on the walkway opposite mine.

I leaped over the railing, shifting from running to diving and then turning as I performed a mid-air flip to ensure I'd land on my feet rather than my front. The impact was sharp and sudden, a lance of discomfort shooting up my legs, but my dampeners stopped it from being actively painful or breaking anything. The sound of gunfire echoed loud in the enclosed space of the lair, a few bullets pinging harmlessly off of my armor but most of it directed to the flood of troops coming in behind me. A roaring ignition soon followed, and I almost immediately felt just a bit warmer. Sundancer.

It was a good barrage, utilising multiple angles of fully automatic fire. Unfortunately for them I counted somewhere between a dozen and twenty soldiers when I had a lot more than that, some of whom bordered on bulletproof themselves.

The counter-fire was far more eclectic, a mix of varying energy blasts, feathers, kunai, dinner plates, arrows, bombs, flaming javelins, electrified tridents, and a very large ice cube. That was on top of the close combat units, which hopped down alongside me or began charging around the room's perimeter on the walkways. For my part, I was just focused on the son of a bitch in front of me.

I brought up my sword again, and blasted a fireball at an empty section of the walkway opposite. Coil and a soldier still up on the walkway with him were moving that way, probably to an escape route. Instead, the walkway was blown apart, a great gouge being formed in the metal as a sizable part of it ceased to exist. The pair screeched to a halt, more out of shock than anything else. The gap was maybe jumpable, although seeing as the edges on each side were the dull red of superheated metal that wasn't the best idea to try. They turned around, but a Plasma Wisp had already risen up to block their escape. A few experimental shots from Coil's handgun were simply deflected by the cracking shield that surrounded it. Main problem dealt with. This was easy.

This was actually too easy. The amount of force arrayed against me would have been overwhelming if I showed up by myself, but even though Coil had correctly guessed that I was easy to bait he couldn't have thought I was that stupid. Without all my minions, I would have just called in the PRT or New Wave for backup instead, and then something fairly similar might have happened. I was sure Coil had more soldiers than this, so what gave?

Well, whatever it was it couldn't hurt to clear this place out as quickly as I could. I turned away from Coil towards the Travelers, or at least the giant ball of fire between us. A large, egg-shaped blue Mister Frosty in overalls was throwing blocks of ice at it as quickly as he could, each evaporating before the next one was in the air. A living snowman, or Chilly, stood a little closer, generating a small blizzard around itself, but it was clear that the heat was getting to it and it'd have to fall back soon enough. Sundancer was simply too powerful for effects like that to stop her, although considering the miniature sun was mostly static I figured they were having some effect, stopping her from pushing back against us too hard.

Problem was, that barely mattered in reality. You couldn't really go under it without being fried, going over was a risky proposition, and I was sure Ballistic and possibly some of the last soldiers were prepared to blast anyone or anything that tried to go around, especially since I could literally see the remaining three Travelers off to one side behind it, giving them an actual view of the rest of the room. The metal beneath and immediately to the right of it were beginning to glow and warp from the sheer heat. If this went on too long she might risk melting something loadbearing and bringing the whole place down, and there was a giant flaming wall between me and the last enemies, meaning I was kind of stuck.

Before I could figure out how exactly I was going to deal with this, one of the knocked down soldiers near the middle of the lower floor, now to my right, disappeared and was replaced by an armored knight with a rapier. Trickster and Genesis working in concert. Unfortunately for them, I was really just not in the mood today. At a guess, Genesis might be trying to beat me at my own game, throw me off by trying to present as a different cape, or she was just desperate. I didn't care, and I wasn't going to play around with her.

She lunged, gleaming sword thrusting out to try and pierce a thin gap in my armor's waist, but I just leaned back to turn it into a glancing blow off my front and slashed my blade out sharply to the right. Her attack did nothing while mine decapitated her, leaving my sword exactly between her head and body. I lifted my sword up and turned, letting the helmet tumble to the floor as the body collapsed. I noted the head was actually kind of heavy, and also saw that rather than being hollow the knight's armor was solid metal all the way through, like a robot, with some of different colouration that I imagine would be artificial muscle. Well, that explained why she was a bit slower than I'd been expecting; trying to move all that mass couldn't have been easy. Probably was hoping I'd try to batter her into submission again. Unluckily for her, I knew her trick, and sure enough the body began to dissolve into nothing while the real Genesis remained safe and sound somewhere, quite possibly in this lair.

And unluckily for me, that didn't really solve the Sundancer problem. The Chilly had finally retreated, and Mister Frosty joined it as the sun performed a creeping advance on us. Shit. I decided to fall back on what had worked so far, and used my sword to fling a fireball at it. That sounded kind of stupid, but the way I figured maybe regular, or at least parahuman, fire and magic enchanted sword fireball fire would cancel each other out. The detonation was nearly blinding despite my visor, sheer heat and light and sound and fury, but after a moment it cleared and the miniature sun had vanished, blown apart, and a shockwave of hot air filled the entire area. But I wasn't sure that was entirely because of me.

I could see Sundancer, in the same costume as when I fought her before. She was turned away from me, looking up at what was behind her. What or who, I couldn't be sure. My first inclination was to guess Genesis somehow, but she'd never demonstrated anything of that size and complexity before, even if her powers did let her pull something together mere seconds after I got rid of her last projection. That left something else, something new, something…

"What the fuck am I looking at?" I said. Because I really didn't know. The simplest way of putting it was that there was the top half of a girl, with long, brown, greasy hair and wearing a sweater, sitting atop a giant monster with two heads and four legs, the rear two of which were extremely mismatched. The beginnings of another pair of legs and what looked like the possible beginning of a third head were present too, which implied the monster was still growing, and that was slightly worrying.

In any case, the girl flinched slightly at the statement. That was interesting. Didn't like the aggression? Or, more likely, didn't like her body. Which, well, didn't blame her for that. Slowly, deliberately, she replied, although not to my actual question. "Leave," she said, firmly but surprisingly quietly. "Please."

I was so taken aback and she sounded so earnest, so desperate, there was a moment I was almost ready to agree. Then I remembered the situation, and gave my answer. "No way. Here's the deal, you come in quietly and I won't have to fuck you up." I gestured widely with both arms, before pointing my sword at her, aligning it so that from my perspective the tip was directly over her throat. "In case you haven't noticed, you have no backup except the Travelers, while I have an entire army." I had noted a couple of fallen bodies on my side, taken out of the fight by bullets, but most of them were still up and about. "So yeah, get fucked."

Trickster stepped forward and said something to the giant monster, too quietly for me to make out. I didn't order the attack while they were discussing, more intent on figuring things out in the sudden tense but quiet lull. The giant monster was probably why Coil felt so confident in this trap, so that was falling into place. Use it to wipe out me and any hero backup in one fell swoop? Bait me to go in, trust I could drag the heroes behind me, force a confrontation without anyone doing something like using one of the PRT's Thinkers to warn us? That'd get me out of his hair, and both cripple and embarrass the rest of the city's heroes in one fell swoop, which meant he was confident this monster could tip the scales against us. Reasonable, since he had the Travelers and a couple squads of soldiers as backup for it. Even so, a destructive fight like that could have some collateral, so it was weird that he was here…

Assuming he was here. I rang up the two Bio Sparks present with my mask's communication systems, talking to them without letting anyone else know I was. "If Coil slips away in the coming fight, follow him. Don't bother stopping him, he might lead you somewhere elsewhere important, and he could just be a body double."

Trickster and the thing had finished up their own brief conversation, seemingly having come to an understanding. Was it a parahuman of some kind? Probably had to be. I noticed that while he seemed happy enough with it, the other two Travelers were looking at it almost fearfully, at least going by their body language. From the way Trickster was acting, he clearly knew it and was friendly with it, and I felt like they were afraid for more than just the fact it was a big monster. So was it connected to the Travelers somehow? Ugh, if only I'd done more immediate and thorough research on them I'd have been able to figure it out, but if the Travelers have a giant monster I'd probably have heard about it before, so maybe not.

It turned towards Trickster, and I shifted into a fighting stance, cape transforming, turning to the left. Sure enough, the empty space in front of me vanished to be replaced by the mutated parahuman, meaning I was now standing where Trickster had been just a second before. My wings flapped hard, sending me up and back, away from it, but it was fast. Too fast. It leaped up, hitting me. The impact rattled my bones, but didn't really hurt me. Then things got weird. Rather than being knocked away, I got stuck. I came down with her, boots going deeper into her flesh when we landed. Then they kept going deeper as I realised I was being sucked in somehow.

I tried to fly my way free, but it wasn't enough. The sucking grip of the monster's flesh was stronger than my beating wings. I swore under my breath as I took a brief look around at the reignited battle. Sundancer and Ballistic had both gone down more or less immediately, while Trickster was still up and keeping himself mobile, but really just delaying the inevitable.

I almost collapsed forward onto my hands from the force of sudden motion as the beast began to move, attacking the forces who were trying to take down Trickster. I paused my failed flight and steadied myself by stabbing the lower body with my blade before turning to the girl part, which happened to be right next to me, and said, "So, who are you?" A look of intense concentration covered her face, so maybe the best thing I could do was trip her up by being an annoyance in her ear. Although I was now almost up to my hips in her, so I didn't know how long that could last..

"Noelle," she replied, voice terse and tense. "And I can't let you take him. He's our only way back." Him probably being Coil, and…

"Back?" Back where?

"Home." She spoke at barely a whisper, pulling me waist deep. I plunged Dominar even deeper, hoping to maybe do some real damage, but I didn't feel it hitting anything in particular, and the hilt then got swallowed up as well, my sword arm swiftly following. The fire scorched the surrounding flesh dead, slowing its rate of descent, but the burnt flesh was regenerating almost as fast as it was dying. I tried to keep myself in the open air, but there was nothing solid inside her to push off of and keep me up. I began to realize this was actually not a solvable situation.

"I'm sorry," she said. I figured as much to herself as to me. "The plan was to take you out and then your minions would all go away. Just like the old days. Krouse said your suit was fully sealed, so there wasn't a risk." Trickster, or Krouse I guess, must have been desperate or kind of shit at making plans. Or both.

Now up to my shoulders, I glared up at her. "My powers don't work like that. You should have just given up while you had the chance." Sure enough, Trickster got clipped by a Capsule J2 going at full speed, and ended up bowled over. My minions moved to surround the now alone Noelle, weapons ready. Although with her sheer size and regeneration… a chill ran down my spine. This might not be a sure thing if she chose to keep making a fight of it.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, and then she leaped towards the nearest cluster of my allies, all three of her mouths erupting into roars, a human one paired with two deep, almost demonic ones.

Fuck. And for all that she said my armor was sealed, there was one slight weakness. I could feel a strange warm wetness on my wrists. My gauntlet wasn't airtight, and while my glove theoretically was sealed it was very easy to break said seal. Apparently, the inrush of whatever was inside Noelle's body, probably a liquid, into the gap between gauntlet and glove had done just that. A deliberate design choice to give easy access to my actual body was now working against me. The only question was, what was there a risk of now that our flesh was touching?

Didn't have time to figure it out. The battle raged around me, and it looked like she was too strong, fast, and tough to be brought low. I cursed, and tried to call Armsmaster. Couldn't do much else.

I was nearly fully submerged when a bomb landed on the beast half's back right next to me and blew up. It didn't do much damage to me, but it blew off part of the flesh around me, keeping me up for just a second longer. Just long enough to do what I needed to. It did a lot more damage to Noelle's human part, shrapnel shredding her torso and arms while the blast set her sweater and hair alight.

It took a moment that felt like forever under the circumstances, but the call went through. Guess Coil wanted to be able to give orders from this place. "Need reinforcements badly," I said before rattling off the address and mentioning the broken hatch as an entry point.

I wasn't sure what answer I'd get, but I shouldn't have worried. "Help is on the way." Armsmaster replied, voice level and professional. A small wave of relief washed over me before I was fully submerged into Noelle, at which point I suddenly blacked out.

Chapter 47: Exoa Knightmare

Chapter Text

The cityscape was vast and all-encompassing, and a mashup of architectural styles; old stone buildings stood side by side with futuristic steel skyscrapers, eras past, present, and future in one time and place. I was small, and not just because I was hunched over. My limbs were stubby, childish, almost cartoonishly incapable of action. I tried to will my body to move, but it was a struggle to just stand up. I took a few halting steps forward, and then the environment around me blurred into a smear. I was somewhere else, all the buildings were different, but it was the same impossibly large composite city. A floodlight swung on to me, blindingly bright, and I flinched away, trying to shield my eyes. I failed, arms flailing about in front of my face without blocking more than a bit of it.

I kept them open anyway, and even as they watered I could see the mechanical creature in front of me. The light was coming from its head, which sat atop an armored, white body, with pods at the bottom providing lift and two flat panels of metal acting as arms. It considered me for a moment, before lifting up its arms and bringing them together, preparing to crash them down atop me and reduce me to nothing. A name finally wandered into my head: HR-H, my first real enemy, my first real mistake. Back to finish the job it had started all those years ago, and kill me off.

While my mind was trapped in molasses and remembering old facts through some foggy haze, my body was busy using what was left of my survival instincts to find a way out. One of my arms groped around me for anything I could grab on to, use to haul myself out of the way of the strike, but it found something else: a sword hilt. Without time to think or plan, I swung the blade up with all my very much limited strength. To my surprise, it actually worked, fire rushing up through the path of the swing to consume first the descending arms and then the rest of HR-H. But it also washed back onto me, burning me alive. It was a painful sensation, but less painful than I expected. My mind was somewhere else, detached. But it definitely still hurt like hell. The burden of the blade.

The fire cleared and my mind sharpened slightly. I was burnt, but not burning. The city around me was shrouded in utter darkness, and the sky was black with red clouds. Or red with black clouds? There was still a white being in front of me, but it was very different. Almost spherical, with a pair of crystalline wings, white base fading into red wingtips, a halo above its body, and a thorny green extrusion coming out from the bottom. A single eye dominated its centre, red sclera, black iris, white pupil.

Another name came foggily to mind: Zero Two. Scourge of Ripple Star, master of Dark Matter, a mysterious, nigh-invincible alien race. Something far, far beyond my ability to fight. It gazed down upon me much the same as HR-H had, and floated there implacable, invincible. I noted its lower extrusion was within arm's reach, just. Once again, I swung up the sword in my hand with all my strength, and it got stuck within. Wasn't that supposed to be a weak point? Noxious fumes, bright green, seeped from it, wrapping around me and forcing its way through my mouth, nose, even ears. My already limited strength was completely wiped out as the fumes spread further and further, washing over the city around me. I could only see a limited part of it, collapsed on my side as I was, but what I could see was the city corroding and fading, the fumes consuming it.

Like before, it was surprisingly not that painful, dying to poison. It hurt, but even if I had the strength left to scream I wouldn't have. What did make me want to scream was the desolation. The failure. I'd taken my best swing and it had done nothing. Futile, pointless, hopeless. Expected, against this kind of foe. This was the fate of anyone and anything that had to rely on me for protection.

The fumes intensified, becoming a solid wall of green before my eyes and taking my senses away. My mind blanked out again, my emotions with it, and it was almost blissful, despite the hurt all over, until a piercing wail sprang up inside my mind. A scream of sorts. Too loud to ignore, but it just got worse if I focused on it.

The green cleared away, and by the time it did I already had the name for this threat. The Simurgh floated where Zero Two just had, a pure white woman three times my height and covered in a vast number of wings. Her screaming in my ears was joined by other screams, the screams of people around me. Civilians. The city was already in ruins from the previous attack, and it was just getting worse as she ripped chunks of stone and steel away with her telekinesis, firing at distant targets.

Couldn't do anything meaningful here, but doing nothing wasn't an option either. I had to lash out, to help, to make something of myself, even if it was futile. I stood up again, and my body was larger, more formed, but also more brittle. I could feel it creak and crack as I moved. I hopped forward, and it took me surprisingly far. I swung a third time, and against all odds it cut off one of her largest wings. But I knew how this went. The cut healed before my very eyes, undoing my strike in an instant. Then, a piece of rubble hit me from the side, and sent me careening into a building. I didn't die, although I felt like I should have, but I couldn't move. Again, it hurt, but not too badly.

An indeterminable amount of time passed. I was still entombed in darkness, but I could move again. In theory. In practice, I was just too exhausted. At least the screaming had stopped. My mind wanted me to just rest, but my body had other plans. I got up, slashing apart the rubble around me, moving up and out into the open air. The city was completely gone. Too much destruction, too little protection. A barren wasteland littered with rubble and the occasional building husk. And one man, in a black bodysuit with a white serpent coiled around it, with a pistol pointed directly at me.

"Really?" came from my lips, and it was such a hoarse, raspy whisper it took me a moment to realise I'd said it. After all that I'd seen, all that I still had to do, I died here, now, to this? To someone who'd be, what, the king of the ashes? It felt like some sick joke, and I was too exhausted to even try and resist. I'd just been constantly fighting for what felt like so long...

A shot rang forth, and ripped through me. This time, it hurt as much as you'd expect. More, actually. A dry scream tore its way from my throat, and I kept screaming as a second and third shot followed. My vision swam for a moment, and I blacked out from the pain, except I didn't black out because it kept hurting, god it hurt so much-

I was bodily tossed away by something else. Somehow, the hurting had stopped. I shakily got to my feet, swaying as I did, vision swimming in and out of focus. My wrists were wet and the city ruins were gone. Instead I was… back in Coil's base, somehow? Another vision, or something else?

I started back, almost falling on my ass, as something impossible came into view. Namely, me.

Sure, she was wearing a different armor and cape, and had a black visor outlined in silver covering her eyes, but I'd just looked in the mirror earlier today and the rest of the face was an exact match, and so was her height and build. The flat red circle within a hollow white one looking at me from the visor was, well, my own eye, sort of.

I almost couldn't be bothered to raise my sword at this point. Another enemy I'd probably fail to slay, another transition to another horrid nightmare. But some inner will, plus a revulsion for what was standing before me, whatever it was, caused me to bring it up and thrust forward. It wasn't my best strike, in fact it was pretty close to my worst. No grace, no precision, minimal force. It wasn't that surprising when she parried my attack easily, simply deflecting my sword to the strike. The sudden force made me stumble forward a step, almost slipping on… what? There was something wet on the floor.

Instead of striking back, the not-me cursed, grabbed my shoulder with her free hand, and shot off into the air, dragging me behind her. I looked down to see Noelle suddenly leap on the space we'd just been occupying. I was now starting to think that I'd been thrown back out of her into the real world, but that left a very big, obvious question.

My copy self let go, but I'd regained enough of my senses to unfurl my wings and hover in place. "Who are you?"

"You know who. You want to know how," she said, a slight smirk forming on her face. She was clearly enjoying having the upper hand on me.

Okay, sure, whatever. Annoying, but I'd deal with it. "How, then?" And why did I feel something… off. Evil, and familiar. A tangible sensation in the air.

"Long story. I'll explain later." She leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper. "And once you figure it out, don't try and stab me."

Figure out what? There was a lot of shit I wanted to figure out. I tried to focus on the sensation she was giving me. On second look, I didn't think evil was the right word. Hateful, angry, lonely. Familiar, but faint. A sensation I'd just recently remembered when inside the vision, looking at Zero Two.

No. That… wasn't possible. Dark Matter, here, now?

Before I could act, a sudden flash of white and gold came up beside us. Glory Girl? I guess I had called for reinforcements before I went under. I took a brief look down at the room below, seeing a lot of my unconscious troops and Noelle fighting the elite few left standing, giving us three a moment to breathe. No other humans that I could see, bodies or reinforcements. I couldn't have been under too long then, if only one cape had shown up. Well, one down here. Based on standard hero priorities, I'd guess that she'd shown up with someone else who was busy clearing the construction site above us of civilians and establishing a perimeter.

"Hey, so, the plan?" she said, talking to the clone of me rather than me. Right, she had no idea what Dark Matter even was, she didn't have much of a reason to be suspicious beyond it being generally really weird a random clone of me was here.

"In a minute. Need to catch her up first. Give us a second to talk." The way she said it, it was more of a command than a request. It rankled, hearing my voice like that. For her part, Glory Girl just nodded and shot back down to the battlefield.

"You hit me right now, you're the bad guy," she said. I couldn't actually argue with that. "You don't have to trust me, just go along with me for now. I want Noelle dealt with as much as you. Okay?"

I couldn't just accept that. "You're basically a version of magic space Satan's kids. Why the fuck should I listen to a thing you say?"

She just sighed deeply and put a hand to her temples. "Fuck's sake. Believe me, I don't like you either. Short story, Noelle has cloning powers, she cloned you to make me. But I was a psychopath with a fucked version of our power, and that led to me turning myself into this. Otherwise I'd be trying to kill you, so fucking thank me, maybe?" That sounded like complete bullshit to me, and I knew there was something else going on here. I believed she wanted Noelle out of the picture, but I could also tell she was holding vital information out on me, mostly because I knew that's what I'd do in her shoes and she was me. Apparently.

"Give me your version of events." I kept prodding. Something about this whole affair was just off.

For her part, she just gestured down to the fight below, expression becoming incredulous. I kept my eyes on her. "Are you fucking kidding me? We don't have time! But okay, sure. Here you go. My perspective."

Chapter 48: Shadow Knightmare 1

Chapter Text

Zero Two's green toxins vanished in a moment to be replaced by the metal and concrete walls as I tumbled out of one of my creator's mouths and into the real world. It took me a moment to find my footing in the slick of bodily fluids I'd been launched in, but I was up soon enough. I could immediately see that the battle was still ongoing, although my prior self's minions were a small fraction of their former numbers. But still enough to be a problem, and who knew how far away the requested help was.

First priority, use my power. I wasn't like some lucky fucks who could just start killing immediately, I had to be a bit more tactical. Fortunately, I happened to instinctively understand what my altered power actually was. It was pretty divergent from what I had before, giving me a variable Breaker state based on the physical substance that made up an Other World entity of my choice . Still, it felt somehow right to me; it was intuitive as to why I had this version. I couldn't explain why, but I knew why. As well as being more immediately useful than my original power, it felt unrestricted. As I called upon it, there was a raw rush of freedom, as if I was soaring through open skies. But before I could do anything like that for real, I had to find a target for my power to copy.

My vision swam, vanishing as quickly as it had come to me just seconds ago, to be replaced by a hazy, distorted view of green fields and trees. A slight effort of will and it flickered, being replaced by a castle. A military installation. An ocean, the clouds in the sky. Okay, this was getting me nowhere. I focused, bringing my target into my mind's eyes.

A small house with a single occupant. Another flicker, and I could see inside. Taking an afternoon nap, because of course he was. Honestly, past-me had it right when she tried to kick the pink fuck, he was a lazy bastard without compare. Unfortunately he was both in another universe and vastly more powerful than me, which meant I couldn't kick his ass. Of course, that second part was what I was interested in. So I'd just reach in, take hold…

And bounce off completely. My power helpfully gave me an understanding of the problem: Failure to scan target. Matter of inexplicable form. So, while unlike my old one, this power allowed itself to work on Kirby, it couldn't in reality. Didn't matter, time to move on. The longer I sat around like this, the higher the chance that one of the remaining enemies chucked a projectile through my skull and killed me. They were distracted for now, but might spare a shot my way at any moment.

Focus, shift. Something nearby felt suitable. A river, a field, a blue blob with googly eyes trying to fish with an overly long tongue in the river. I'd work with it, mostly because I trusted my instincts, or at least my power's intuitive sense of strength. And I felt like I'd heard of this thing before, I just couldn't remember exactly when. Press on, reach in, pull on the thread of its existence...

Partial failure to scan target. Data analysis incomplete. But there was something else. Flicker, fade, now I was viewing the planet as a whole. Break, stretch, the power was unrestricted but that meant something had gone wrong somewhere. I snapped back to reality with a splitting headache and cried out at the sudden pain. My hands instinctively came up to clutch my head, but it felt not quite right. I was deformed, but that was the least of my concerns.

Despite being back in the real, I got a sense of background processes. Scattered particles in the upper atmosphere, remnants from something past. A familiar sensation.

I didn't have time to figure out what exactly. I was more focused on surviving my immediate surroundings. My cry of pain had attracted some attention that standing around staring off into space hadn't, and Noelle had drifted away from me. I took a few tentative steps off to one side, keeping an eye on my surroundings, and as a result was just barely able to dodge the ball of bone and sweeping metal heading my way. It resolved into an Axe Knight, a walking, jawless skull with a horned helmet, beady red eyes, and a big axe. They were actually more cute than creepy in my eyes, but that wouldn't save me from its assault.

It paused for a moment, looking me up and down. Naked, mutated, unarmed, I couldn't have looked like a threat. Good, that might let me take him by surprise. "Are you a friend or an enemy?" he asked.

I answered with actions rather than words, a snarl ripping its way free from my throat while I lunged for the axe, hoping to take it and turn it against its user. But he was faster, any confusion he was feeling second to his training. In a blur of motion, he cleanly cut through both of my arms, bone and all. I reared back in shock, yelping from the mix of pain and surprise, and landed flat on my ass.

Stuck on what was left of my limbs, I held my ground as the Axe Knight moved carefully towards me. Trying to crawl away at this point wouldn't help me anyway. I could see Noelle fighting in another part of the room, and it was clear she wasn't in a position to rescue me even if she wanted to. I hoped she'd get to rip every miserable fuck in this putrid city limb from limb, starting with the other me currently stuck inside her, but she'd have to do it without me.

I spat on the skull-faced bastard, who seemed hesitant to actually finish me. I might have been in pain and bleeding out over the floor, but I was still offended by it. He should have taken me seriously. Especially because it might cost him and all his little fuckbuddies. I could feel the calculations whirring in the back of my head all click into place

In an instant, every part of my body began shifting to another state of being. My organs began to slow, becoming vestigial in preparation for their disappearance. My skin must have visibly changed too, because all hesitation left the Knight. A third and final swing of his axe cleaved through my head, cutting off my power and half of my head, along with all the brains left in it. At that, he turned away and returned to the fight against Noelle.

The interesting part of me seeing that last bit was that I shouldn't have been able to see it, on account of being dead. Except I evidently wasn't. Instead, I was trapped in some in-between state. Not biological, not the desired Breaker form. Just inhuman enough to survive having most of my brain separate from the rest of my body, not inhuman enough to solve the issue, or even move.

I couldn't- I couldn't move.

I wanted to scream out in frustration, scream until I was hoarse, but I couldn't even do that. I didn't even get some pitiful gurgle, my mouth didn't respond. Or if it was responding, I couldn't feel it, and it didn't have air in any case. Didn't need it to survive, probably still did to speak. I'd been ready to die from the moment I was born, but not like this. I didn't want to be trapped like this, helpless like this, with no one to plead my case to. Not again. Except this time was worse, I couldn't escape even if I wanted to.

Part of my mind vaguely recalled reading about this stuff. Locked-in syndrome, it was called. Horrifying shit, which might be why I was panicking so hard. And yeah, I was panicking. But fuck, that wasn't my style. I was trained for this, and if anything I was better than my alter ego, the idiot still trapped in Noelle's stomach. I calmed myself as best I could, getting the fear under ironclad control. But I didn't have many tools to use, no deep breaths, no physical exercises, just raw mental willpower. I couldn't hope to disperse any of it, so I just shunted it to a convenient void somewhere deep in my gut and kept it locked tight in there.

Just as I began to think straight with all of my mind again, and wonder if I'd be like this forever, I could feel parts of myself begin to… leave, for lack of a better term. Disintegrate, maybe? It made sense. This wasn't a stable configuration of matter. It'd fail one way or another, and then that was it. I was dead for real.

A new emotion joined the nice little cocktail I had going: despair. If the anger, the fear, the loneliness weren't so strong, it'd almost feel overwhelming all by itself. As it stood, I just added it to the pile, and put it with the rest. Bitterness followed soon after. So that was my own independent life? Lived for maybe a minute and a half before getting chopped into bits by an axe and left to dissolve, all alone? I'd failed to do anything, hurt anyone, live at all. Now I was just trapped in my own head, waiting to die.

At least I was calm now. The emotions I'd locked away were gone, actually. Wait, that wasn't right. That wasn't right at all. I began to worry about what that could mean, but as soon as the emotion welled up inside me it drained out just as quickly. It led to an odd sensation, where I was still logically concerned about it, but wasn't that bothered. I was more curious than actually worried.

So, I tried to figure things out. For a lack of a better term, my mind began to probe my body, asking questions, looking down into the emotional abyss that had settled inside me. And then, I found the abyss was staring back. Then I regained feeling and movement in my head and neck, reflexively looked down, and saw that it was also literally doing that.

My stomach had been replaced with an enormous red eye that was most definitely looking right at me, or at least my head. The surrounding skin was featureless and pitch black, darker than my normal skin tone. As I made eye contact, I also felt something touch my mind. Something alien, that shouldn't have existed.

Something that I'd just fed my excess emotions too, I belatedly realised. I instinctively understood this wasn't planned. I wasn't even sure if my power, now my former power, could have done this if it tried. But where it might have failed, my emotions succeeded. From programmed memory embedded in its half-real matter, it had consumed what it needed to be reborn in a new container. It was still weak, and I got the impression it was almost as confused about this as I was, having been dead until about ten seconds ago, but it was now very much alive, kicking, and giving me more power than I could have hoped for.

And its touch was also making me think weirdly, mostly by altering my vocabulary. It wasn't that I didn't know all these words beforehand, I just wouldn't have used them in my head like this. Which I was not going to just let happen; this thing may have saved my life but it did not get to mess around with my mind. It could fuck right off if it wanted to try.

Weirdly enough, it listened. My stomach-eye closed, and I could feel the other mind inside me recede into the pit of my stomach where it had been born. Or reborn, I guessed. I got the feeling it was waiting and resting, preparing to slowly rebuild its strength. Possibly it was just telling me that, in its weird psychic way, and that was where the feeling came from. In any case, I could feel a touch of annoyance at it for fucking with me stick around, which meant it had stopped eating my emotions.

But I didn't care too much about any of those details. While it was sleeping, I had the run of things. Which left me with a big question, actually. What did I do now? My mind was literally in two pieces, expanded with new knowledge, altered from its original self and- were those new memories? From the perspective of some Dark Matter it looked like, if I had any doubt over the alien substance's identity. Which also meant that googly-eyed thing was made of Dark Matter, and that just raised further questions.

Well, I could save the self-introspection for later. Right now, I mostly wanted to test out my new powers, and the big monster in the room presented a perfect target. The fact she spat me out as a suicide soldier while brainwashing me to not attack her definitely helped my decision along too. And honestly, I liked the violence. Whatever our similarities, my other self tried to deny herself that, all for the sake of some imagined discipline. Which in hindsight made it hilarious to me that she threw it out the window the moment Coil outplayed her, but in fairness if she hadn't I wouldn't have been born. Funny how that all worked out. In any case, I planned to revel in it. Really enjoy myself for the first time in, fuck, two years? More, really.

That said, to do that I needed to have, for starters, limbs. And I didn't. I experimentally tapped into my new internal power, and thankfully it leapt to obey me. Invisible tendrils reached out to my disparate body parts, and melted them into orbs of liquid shadow. What was left of my central body followed suit, before floating into the air. A slight tug, and I drew the other orbs into myself. I felt a sudden surge of clarity, and then it was easy to simply will myself a new body. One not deformed or mutated, one that looked like me. Sophia Hess. I also didn't like being naked and unarmed, and it was just as easy to fix those problems. Anything in my memories, I could materialise.

I was tempted to just copy my other self's gear, but I wasn't sure I particularly liked her even though I now could if I wanted to, and besides, I was here to make a statement. I existed, and it was about to be everyone else's problem. Instead, I pulled upon the memory of a false mask worn by this particular Dark Matter. I had to come up with the base costume myself, a set of dull greyish interlocking armored plates including boots and gauntlets, but it ended at the neck. For my face, I went with a visor that covered my eyes and went far enough back to sit on my ears, almost like a domino mask. Finally, purple pauldrons edged with gold and a heavy purple gorget sat atop a grey cape that went down to my ankles and wrapped around my front to cover my arms when they were at rest, making it a sort of half-cloak, with the parts that would rest on my arms colored in alternating yellow and orange triangles. Something suitably menacing that also stood out, I felt.

And last but most certainly not least, a good, solid sword. Not Dominar, but rather another artefact weapon, or at least a memory-copy. The Rainbow Sword came to my hand.

I'd already made my presence known. Not with something like a sound, more like a feeling projected outwards. All eyes had turned to me, and even the fighting had stopped for just a moment. I carefully raised my newly created sword in my newly created hand, pointing it directly at Noelle in a wordless challenge. Perfectly steady, without lungs to breathe and subtly move me, without a heart to beat and give me a pulse, without blinking, or sweating, or generating saliva, or anything else biological. Honestly, it felt like an upgrade to me.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Noelle asked in a breathless snarl, her lower two heads growling in what had to be a mix of annoyance and confusion.

I had a number of ways I could answer her. In the end, I quickly decided to get to the point.

"Shut up and fight me, bitch."

Chapter 49: Shadow Knightmare 2

Chapter Text

Noelle crouched, obviously getting ready to charge me, but I struck first. In barely more than the blink of an eye, I'd moved from my starting position to right in front of her, an afterimage trailing behind me from sheer speed of flight, and kicked her square in the snout of her lower body's main head. The impact was such that even though she was braced her entire body rocked back by a foot, a screeching sound coming from her clawed front legs as they dug grooves into the floor. Oh, I could get used to being able to do this.

One of said legs shot up to swat me from the air, but I was almost lazily able to dodge, floating out of the way and around to her left side, twirling as I avoided the snapping teeth of her second monstrous mouth. I moved in, stabbing my blade up to the hilt in her side and flying over to her rear, dragging the blade behind me with minor telekinesis rather than my hands. Would be impossible to use a sword without hands like Dark Matter's Blade form had otherwise. I spun around, gesturing freely with my hands as a ribbon of burning rainbow energy trailing behind the sword and seeped into the wound it was making. But just as I began to move away, the mass of tentacles masquerading as a rear leg split apart and darted forward, wrapping around me and each of my limbs. I was strong, but so was she, and she made sure to wrap a tentacle around the sword's hilt to keep it constrained.

Before either of us could try to either escape or exploit the situation, entire masses of the tentacles fell away, lifeless, as two sword-wielding blurs jumped through them and cut some of them apart, including the one binding my sword. That allowed me to slice away the rest, and dash back before Noelle could really react.

I landed a distance away from her, with the Blade Knight and Sword Knight that just helped me hopping to a stop just in front of me, the other four elite Meta-Knights following suit. Well, I had been their enemy until just now.

"Look, I'm on your side now. Believe it or not, just don't get in my way, and listen to what I say." Because I'd fight them as well as Noelle if I had to. Not that I wanted to, but if push came to shove they'd find I was really good at shoving, now more than ever.

"Even if you're not the enemy, I'm not sure we should be taking orders from someone looking suspiciously like a Dark Matter," the Mace Knight said. So, they were informed, but only so much. Which made sense; unlike me I didn't think any of them had seen Dark Matter in person before, which is probably why they didn't know for sure.

For my part, I was more focused on Noelle than them, and for her part she was eyeing me and the surrounding room warily. Reanalysing the situation, making plans, and taking this breather as a chance to regenerate. The pulped flesh of her central head was already healed, and while the energy-infused gash on her side was taking a bit longer it was clearly closing up too. So, no easy way for me to win. Which made me figure out what I was going to say next. "Whatever. Like I said, believe me or not, listen to me or don't. But you want to make yourselves useful? Clear the area, drag every human around somewhere out of the way. Trust me, you don't want any more clones to deal with. We're lucky she hasn't already stepped on someone in the fighting."

"...SUGGESTION LOGICAL," the obviously robotic voice of the Javelin Knight conceded. Almost as quickly as they showed up, they were gone. Although if I focused, I was much more able to track their rapid movements than usual, my perception of the world slowing down. I guess yet another benefit to not being made of flesh and blood.

Noelle took them scattering as her cue to charge again, covering the distance between us in moments. I floated up and pulsed dark energy through my sword as I pointed it at her, and in response purple-black bolts shot out one after another, burrowing into Noelle's body before detonating, sending out several sprays of vaporised gore. But it was only a small fraction of her body, and she didn't slow down at all. I tried to dodge at the last second, but she predicted which way I'd go, and one of her enormous forelegs swatted me out of the sky, sending me careening off to the side from the sheer heavy impact. But my pride was hurt worse than my body, with energy coming off in waves from the mind in my core, repairing the minor damage the blow had done.

I raised my blade for another attack, except Noelle was quick to follow up. Her lower mouths opened and spewed forth a stream of vomit, which raced up to meet me. I flew to one side, able to avoid it, but my eye caught something decidedly solid hurtling from her central head.

I descended in an instant, standing atop the slick of bodily fluids as another me tried to struggle to their feet. They were even more malformed than I had been, their left side withered and almost skeletal looking, but they had a look of utter hatred towards me in their eyes, along with a power. The latter wasn't visible, not yet, but I knew it was there all the same.

There was no way to know what power she had. But I did know that there was no way a similar set of coincidences would play out with her as had happened to me. It was just too unlikely. That made her my certain enemy.

I cut once with my sword, along her throat.

For a moment, time seemed still. Not just an alien slowed perception, but utterly still and silent. The life faded from her eyes the moment I made the cut, mystical power taking away her consciousness in a second. A painless death.

There was a saying for this that I'd heard my late father use, once. A memory my other self had forgotten — it was so long ago — but my memory was a good bit better than hers now. Or I suppose I'd have to use a modified version.

There but for the grace of darkness go I.

Then Noelle slammed into my side like a runaway train, sending me sprawling. This was a direct hit, much stronger than the previous glancing strike. It almost stung, even. Still, I was back in the air as quickly as I was knocked down, rising from the ground in a burst of motion, twisting in the air to face her. My singular visor-eye gazed at her, flicking between her two upper eyes and four lower ones. Neither of us said a word. I supposed there wasn't anything to really say.

The battle resumed. I was focused on keeping her in place, darting around her in a large circle, varying how far I was above the ground to confuse and dodge her. She quickly stopped trying to keep me in view, and instead turned her attention towards the others. They were still dragging what was left of the exposed humans into a large side-room, the room that Noelle herself and the Travelers had emerged from at the start of the fight. It was open right now, and although I could see an opening slot for something like a garage door to drop down it blatantly wouldn't stop her for a second even if it was lowered.

She took a leap forward as I raised my sword above my head in a two-handed grip, calling forth yet more power. More dark energy, this time springing forth into a large sphere maybe half my size, hovering just above the tip of my blade. Noelle immediately turned back around, her change of targets apparently just a trick, but she was bulky enough that by the time she took a second leap back at me I'd finished charging and then some. I swung once, and the ball careened forward, practically disintegrating Noelle's lower central head before detonating, the force pushing her back down to earth. I swung again, the stored charge letting me shoot out another sphere right away that she partially dodged, meaning it only exploded at the rear of her right flank, blowing out a large chunk of the bizarre leg there, more of a hand with a supporting limb jutting out from the palm.

A third shot disintegrated the one corpse in the room. And so that dealt with that.

"Are you going to keep blasting like that?" Noelle asked, her voice some mix of curiosity and goading. "You know, your original version is still inside me. I can't die, but she can. If you keep attacking like that, who knows what could happen to her."

"Yeah I really don't give a shit." It wasn't that I wanted her to die, but if she happened to die, I could go home and not have to deal with any... awkwardness. And maybe that last clone had shown me that the world only needed one Sophia Hess, and maybe that one should be me.

"I thought you were a hero?" she said, clearly taunting me now. In response, I scowled and raised my sword at her, a shimmering field of rainbow energy springing to life around it.

"You don't know the first thing about me! I may not be your slave anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm the exact same as her!"

"Then why even fight me?" She shot back, clearly frustrated. I just smirked, because I knew exactly why. The thrill of the fight.

"Honestly? I just want to kick your ass." We launched ourselves at each other simultaneously, her charging while I dashed forward. I slammed my sword into her partially regenerated lower head, stopping Noelle in her tracks, before ripping it off and slashing off the front half of her other head. But even that also began to regrow the lost mass as soon as I made the cut.

She swung with one of her forelegs, and I dropped back down to the earth to avoid it before kicking away the newly detached flesh to the side of the room. I kicked off the floor, leaping back, and in response she shot another stream of vomit at me, hoping to keep me off-balance. I flew to one side, more to avoid getting my costume wet than out of danger, quickly confirmed there wasn't another clone in there, and turned my attention back to Noelle. I was beginning to tire of this. We were frankly complete idiots, hitting each other without really hurting each other. As far as I could tell, she had an infinite ability to regenerate from any damage I dealt, and her attacks couldn't deal any real damage to my Dark Matter body.

Well, she could do some damage. Disrupt its composition. And if she did enough damage over time, I might risk losing my form. And if that happened, there was the possibility of the void sleeping in my gut waking up, eating me whole, and generally coming back to life. The upside of that was the part where it'd probably kill off Noelle for me quite quickly and easily. The downsides were everything else about that scenario.

I couldn't let this turn into a battle of pure attrition. Luckily, my other self had already helped with that. Now I just had to wait for the help to actually arrive. And hope that it didn't just result in even more clones.

We traded blows and space for a bit more time, as with the floor largely cleared of human bodies I was mostly just concerned with keeping her away from the side room. If she ever looked like she was going for it, I blasted her with orbs, otherwise I kept darting around and slashing, or occasionally shooting energy bolts.

Eventually, the minions fully finished clearing the mercenaries from the room, and also figured out a way to lower the room door. Not much, but something. Six were left standing outside and conscious: a Sword Knight, Blade Knight, Axe Knight, Trident Knight, Mace Knight, and Javelin Knight. Seeing as I'd started with something around twenty times that number, it wasn't reassuring to see that's all that was left. At least they were some of the best troops in the unit.

They sprinted over to me, going around Noelle and dodging a broad swipe aimed at them, before forming up around me.

"All humans present and accounted for in the side-room!" the Axe Knight almost yelled.

"The rest of us still up and about are guarding them and making sure they stay down," the Sword Knight clarified. So hopefully I wouldn't get a nasty surprise from that direction.

Noelle growled again, lowering her body to the ground with her human half visibly tensing up. She was blatantly getting agitated, and I couldn't exactly blame her, since I wasn't much different. The truth was, a stalemate was a losing proposition for both of us. The more we stalled out, the more it risked escalating up the chain of Protectorate response, to the point where Legend or someone might choose to show as part of rapid response. More enemies for Noelle obviously hurt her, and more eyes on me probably wasn't good for my life prospects either, being the 'evil clone' who'd been transmuted into an evil alternate dimension space alien. Not that even that power had let me win outright. If only my power could have worked on Kirby, but the chance to bring him to the fight was gone-

Unless I could bring Noelle to him instead. Which I couldn't, but my other self... That was an option. Kind of. How could I hope to pin her down for the needed five seconds? Plus, I'd have to drag her out from Noelle's body first.

While I pondered that, Noelle had turned slightly, looking at the entrance I'd come through. I figured that meant she had some kind of sensory power, and sure enough mere moments later Glory Girl rounded the door, shooting into the room. In a second, she took in the situation, and darted for Noelle. Her angle of approach was slightly off, and I could immediately see it was a feint. Noelle apparently could too, because she stood her ground as the heroine veered off before contact, flying right over to me.

"Hey, what the fuck is going on?" A fair question. She'd just flown into a supervillain's unfinished underground lair, of the kind that really only appeared in the movies, to see Noelle, a whole load of Exoa Knight's minions, and whoever she thought I was.

"It's complicated," I replied. "But all you need to know is I'm good and the giant monster is bad."

"Really?" Noelle answered. "Call me a monster, but I'm not the uncontrollable killer. If you side with her, make sure she gets out of here, there's no telling what kind of damage she can do. Or, she runs out of juice eventually and you just lose, because she's lost her power. I can't smell it on her anymore. If you're smarter than her and the other one, you'll let me and my friends go. I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

For her part, Glory Girl just blinked before staring at Noelle with a blank expression. Noelle had tried to spin the situation as a last resort, but Glory Girl had no context or any reason to believe her. Then again, you could say the same about me, so I guessed I had to respond. Time to commit to my half-baked plan.

"You still don't know shit about me, and I know how to take you down." I shifted my sight to look straight at Victoria, single eye moving along the visor to point at her without me turning my head. "I just need to get Exoa Knight out from inside you." At that, the knights at my side helpfully took a step forward and shifted to more aggressive combat stances.

"Right! We have to rescue Dame Exoa Knight!" the Blade Knight echoed. Whether or not it was intended to sway my backup, it definitely did the trick. Glory Girl still didn't look like she understood the situation at all, but she knew what to punch and what not to punch now.

"Don't let her touch your bare flesh," I warned her. "Otherwise things'll go to shit real fast. Oh, and she can sort of suck you in if you touch her with your costume." She gave me a curt nod and began to hover a bit above the ground. The Trident Knight took out a spare trident from somewhere and tossed it to her.

I decided to do something a bit different, exploiting another aspect of my power. My form melted into liquid shadow, and I dropped into the floor, becoming a flat blotch of darkness. Somehow I could still see, despite no longer having eyes, and I flowed through the floor towards Noelle as best I could. It was a strange sensation, sort of like wading through honey, except it was being done by sheer will instead of moving actual limbs.

The fight resumed, the combined momentum of my seven charging allies just about forcing Noelle on the defensive for a moment. She didn't hesitate to retaliate though, pouncing onto Glory Girl with all her heft and sending her hurtling through the air. Fortunately, her shield meant that she was fine, and reasserted control with her flight a moment later before lunging back in. But she wasn't invincible, and the knights probably couldn't take even a single solid hit. I had to act decisively.

I got under Noelle, and reformed my body, pushing myself up out of the floor and back into the world, sword in hand. I stabbed up into her underside, and instead of dashing back out tried to force my way deeper inside. It was bloody and unpleasant, but it worked, between me carving out chunks of flesh with my blade and physically tearing into her with my hands. I again used my ability to wield weapons hands-free, letting me use a full three 'limbs' to attack instead of just two. By the time Noelle had fought off her attackers and began to move again, I was basically inside of her. Not being biological, whatever was inside her that had knocked Exoa Knight unconscious didn't affect me.

She was big, but not that big, and didn't have any real internal structures to speak of that I could see. Just a mass of fluids and one humanoid figure. My target. Before I could reach her, there was a sudden lurch as she was shot out and I felt the fluids moving around me, pushing me as well. Noelle trying to get me out? Well, she'd already done what I'd needed, so I didn't try to resist.

I rode the wave of vomit out, landing behind my alter ego. With a small exertion of power, I cleaned myself off, and watched as she stood up, although she was clearly barely able to. Well, it was time to get this over with. I walked around her, both entering her field of vision and putting Noelle back into mine. She was back to fighting off Glory Girl and the others, it looked like.

For her part, Exoa Knight reacted with blatant shock, almost falling back down. Was I really that uncoordinated? It was probably some aftereffect from being inside Noelle, but still. She just made it worse for herself when she brought up Dominar and stepped forward, trying to stab me. Although it was more like a poke. Still, I didn't want to try and just take a magic sword to the chest, so I deflected with my own blade. It was a pretty gentle parry, but it still caused her to stumble, almost falling over again. This was getting embarrassing.

Fortunately, I was saved from having to look at this any longer by Noelle turning her attention back to the two of us and leaping forwards, probably hoping to recapture my other self. I cursed under my breath, grabbed Exoa Knight's shoulder, and flew up into the air, pulling the both of us out of Noelle's attack path. Then I let go, and she had the presence of mind to start flapping her wings so she didn't just fall to the floor. Hopefully that meant the disorientation was wearing off.

"Who are you?" she asked. Kind of a stupid question. I could forgive Glory Girl not knowing immediately, she'd never seen my face before, but we'd looked in a mirror literally less than an hour ago. She knew the answer to that question. As for what she actually meant by it...

"You know who. You want to know how." She glared at me as best she could, which did bring a faint smile to my lips. If she didn't want to be called out, she shouldn't be dumb.

"How, then?" She mostly sounded annoyed, but I also detected a hint of something like confusion or caution. She was trying to put the pieces together. It was a bit hard to tell through the distortion, which I guessed had always been the point of that feature.

Still, I didn't want to have to go into my whole… thing, especially because it meant she'd try and stab me again. So, fuck it, I'd head that off right now. "Long story. I'll explain later. And once you figure it out, don't try and stab me."

She looked like she was still processing things when Glory Girl shot up from below to fly next to us, having lost her borrowed trident at some point. Probably stuck it in Noelle's flank and abandoned it to dodge something. "Hey, so, the plan?" she asked me. I had kind of promised that once I dragged my other self out we could finish off Noelle.

"In a minute. Need to catch her up first. Give us a second to talk." Glory Girl nodded and flew back down to resume the fight.

I didn't really have anything long term planned, but I did know I wanted this immediate situation resolved soon. Then once Noelle and Exoa Knight were in the Other World for a bit, I'd… figure something out. Fuck, this wasn't going as well as I'd like. Well, alright, I'd just focus on getting through this bit first. The conversation plan would have to be to get her to cooperate for just long enough.

"You hit me right now, you're the bad guy," I pointed out. "You don't have to trust me, just go along with me for now. I want Noelle dealt with as much as you. Okay?"

Annoyingly, my other self proved to be too much of a self-righteous fucking child for basic reasoning to work. "You're basically a version of magic space Satan's kids. Why the fuck should I listen to a thing you say?" Equally annoyingly, her complaint wasn't completely unfounded, but there was a bigger picture here.

I sighed as she willed her sword back to life, flames consuming it once more. "Fuck's sake. Believe me, I don't like you either. Short story, Noelle has cloning powers, she cloned you to make me. But I was a psychopath with a fucked version of our power, and that led to me turning myself into this. Otherwise I'd be trying to kill you, so fucking thank me, maybe?" Bulldoze her with the truth, get her onside long enough for the plan to work, make a new plan from there.

"Give me your version of events," she said, shifting her general stance into a combat position. She was clearly uneasy, and I wasn't sure what else to say.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I said. To just scream at her for being stupid was tempting, but wouldn't get me anywhere. I glanced down at the fight to see Noelle finally get in a hit on the Blade Knight and Javelin Knight. Down by two more. I tried to point it out to her, but she wasn't looking. "We don't have time! But okay, sure. Here you go. My perspective. You suck, I'm great, I didn't ask for any of this shit. Sure, maybe I'm Dark Matter. Is that really your biggest fucking concern? Just help us!"

She took a moment's pause, finally looking down again, and hesitated. Her eyes shifted between Noelle, the remaining knights, Glory Girl, and then back to me. "What do you need me to do?" Finally, her need to be a good little hero outweighed her suspicions.

"I need you to use your power on Noelle," I said simply. She darted back, wings taking her away from me.

"That's insane. How'd we even get her to hold still long enough to even try?" I had an answer to that by now, of course.

"Simple. I hit her with everything I have while you grab one of her tentacles and use that to drag her over." Another moment's pause, and then she tentatively nodded. An aura of heat flashed around her, evaporating the fluids still clinging to her armor. Her way of saying she was ready.

We both raised our swords and fired our respective projectiles, fireballs and orbs of shadow. The short barrage got some good hits in, but Noelle adapted quickly, moving unpredictably to avoid the brunt of it, and she was still regenerating nearly as fast as we could wound her.

We dropped down to Glory Girl's level, much closer to the ground, and I looked over at her while Exoa Knight rapidly gave some orders to the remaining other knights. "So are you it?" I asked our sole reinforcement.

She shook her head. "I was on patrol with Dauntless nearby, he's clearing out the construction site. I know that at least Armsmaster and the PRT are coming, but they're probably still a couple of minutes out." Incentive to wrap this up fast, then.

Noelle shifted from her position at the end of the room, ready to charge again. No more chances for her to get out of this. It ended now, before it could possibly spiral out of control. And Glory Girl mentioning Dauntless gave me an idea on how. Anything I remembered, I could copy, and I remembered his Arclance well enough.

And I wasn't limited to just the one.

I flicked out my sword, and it vanished as easily as it had come into being. I spread my arms wide, focused, and felt shafts of lightning begin to come into existence around me. Dauntless had the ability to extend his lance to attack from a distance, which was effective enough normally but didn't quite have the hitting power I needed here. Instead, I'd just throw the whole thing.

The others advanced as I lashed out, spears that had been hovering in the air shooting forward. Not quite as fast as a real lightning bolt, but fast enough to push back, especially since I was exploding them into showers of sparks and force on impact. It was doing damage to Noelle, but surface-level only. She was almost able to struggle through until Glory Girl slammed into her head-on, pushing her up against the wall. Mace Knight followed suit with his own weapon, keeping her pinned.

Trident Knight's boosters flared, and he slammed his weapon into one of Noelle's longer tentacles, an electric shock of his own making it temporarily go stiff and still. He jumped back, over to Exoa Knight, who grabbed hold tight but otherwise stood still. Axe Knight and Sword Knight were at her side, cutting apart any of her other tentacles that tried to get in close. I expanded my barrage, but felt my energy leaving as I did. My power was apparently very much limited. Materializing so many powered weapon copies was draining me, far too fast for comfort.

I screamed as I wrung out every drop of what I had left, more spears coming into existence and blasting forward, rocking Noelle back. Many of the tentacles that weren't being dealt with by the knights were blown off by the lances. I felt the void within stir, just a little.

And when I thought I had just a moment of effort left in me, Noelle and Exoa Knight vanished, a small boom emerging as air rushed into the space they'd just left. I cut my flight and collapsed onto the ground, panting. Not that it helped, I still didn't have lungs, but my body didn't know how else to react to the strain.

Glory Girl steadily floated over to me, still looking confused. "So are you going to explain your shit now? And where are they?"

I waved her off. "Yeah yeah it's all fine. Don't worry too hard." I was pretty confident that was the case, but I did have to wonder how exactly things were going to go down over there. I guessed that was for her to know, not me.

Chapter 50: Chapter 39/Shadow Knightmare 3

Chapter Text

The moment I shifted worlds, I leapt into the air, wings flapping to get me up and away from Noelle before she could suck me back in and possibly create more clones, or just hit me with one of her claw-hooves and shatter half the bones in my body. She reacted quickly, and only just barely missed me on her lunge.

"What did you do?" she roared from her human mouth, the sheer, sudden rage and confusion letting it be heard clearly over the rumbling growls from her lower body. Her earlier hesitation to fight and anxiety were completely gone, replaced with raw, unbridled anger. It made sense, but the sudden berserker rage still took me by surprise. "What is this place?"

"Another dimension, where you'll be staying from now on." I replied. No real sense in being coy about my power at this point.

"You can move between dimensions?" she said, voice suddenly shifting to include strange notes of desperation and what almost felt like hope.

"Just between here and Earth Bet." Noelle replied with a guttural snarl that dropped into a rumbling howl, and resumed trying to attack me.

Luckily for me, I was no longer in a room with a ceiling, and Noelle didn't have wings. I was free to go higher and higher, until I was out of reach of even her best jump. But even though the worst was over, she'd still be able to do damage until she was fully neutralized. That was more doable here, but by no means easy. She'd shown that even a full company of the Meta-Knights weren't enough to do much more than slow her down.

With a quick mental switch, I turned on my communications system, all frequencies. Everyone with a radio inside the base would be able to hear me. "This is Exoa Knight to everyone listening, there's a powerful enemy in Muster Yard Number One! I'll try to draw it away from the base!"

Of course, there was only one path that was away from the base, and that was towards the Halberd. The flying fortress was currently grounded, and didn't have much in the way of defenses against this kind of thing, so it was no surprise when the radio exploded into confused chatter. All sorts of personnel tried to organize their response, providing suggestions that were shot down as fast as they came. The engines were too cold to perform a rapid ignition, the guns were too unwieldy except for Main Cannon Number Two, and that was on the exact wrong side of the ship, the ship's complement was largely away on mission, and so on. And all the while Noelle was chasing me towards the ship, most likely out of a lack of any other visible targets.

That was until one deep, calm voice cut through the noise like a sword through butter. "I will be attending to the matter personally. The rest of you, stay put and remain calm for now."

"Yes, Lord Meta Knight!" a cacophony of dozens of voices replied. That was a good step one, at least. If anyone could fight Noelle head-on, it'd be him. Well, him or-

"Poyo?" a voice I really didn't expect came in over the line. A directed call towards me, actually. "Poyo poyo, poyo?"

I wasn't sure whether to frown or to smile. "I'm sorry, you're not making any sense. Something touched you and woke you from your nap? Why are you on the way here, then?" It was good to hear that the Noelle problem was definitely going to be solved one way or another, but this was worrying in its own right.

"Poyo poyo poyo, poyo," Kirby explained. "Eya, poyo!"

"Right, see you in a second." Honestly, the explanation didn't make it much clearer, but it did make me think that somehow my evil twin was behind this. Probably when she used whatever weird powers she had to turn into Dark Matter in the first place, somehow? Questions for later.

With how fast Noelle was, we'd made it pretty close to the Halberd by the time Meta Knight showed up, dropping from the sky wrapped up in his cape, which unfurled to reveal him with sword in hand. The boarding ramps were closed at least, meaning that unless Noelle clawed through the armor the ship was safe from boarding. Considering her strength, she could well be able to, but probably not while also fighting the galaxy's greatest swordsman.

I watched the battle from above, since I'd be more likely to get in the way than help if I got too close. It quickly fell into the same pattern as in my world, where the combined efforts of everyone could keep Noelle stalled out and in place, but couldn't really put her down. By the time the fighting had resumed, the wounds dealt by the barrage that had pinned her in place for me were already almost fully healed. Unlike that pattern though, this was just one man fighting her, and he wasn't only stalling her out but pushing her back. He was exploiting his mobility, diving in before darting out, hitting her with Galaxia's flat rather than its edge to force her back and stagger her rather than trying to cut her. Too much regenerating mass for that to do much good.

After a few exchanges, I saw something really surprising. Rather than trying to keep fighting like inside Coil's base, Noelle took a moment's pause to seemingly size up Meta Knight before turning around and running back towards the base, pursuit forgotten. Well, that was smart, and also very inconvenient. I began to glide after her in chase, but she was a bit faster than me even at my top speeds. For his part, rather than trying to get immediately back in her way, Meta Knight began to harry her, continuing to make strikes of opportunity. Each attack hit her like a cannonball, causing her to stagger this way and that, but she mostly maintained her stride.

Before either of them could tilt the situation any further, the cavalry finally showed up. Dropping from the sky on a Warp Star, he hopped off it as it disintegrated in midair, rolling forward a few times before skidding to a stop right in front of Noelle, who'd moved off of the docking platform and back onto the base, right before the entrance into the yard.

"Kirby, here!" I didn't hesitate as I threw my sword down as hard as I could, managing to impale it in the ground directly in front of him. Then Noelle was on him, forelimb coming down in a crushing arc. When it landed, he was slightly to the side, weapon in hand. That was the thing about him, he could always be where the attack wasn't. It wasn't something as simple as speed, although he was fast, it was sheer and simple matchless fighting instinct.

I altered my wing's positioning, stopped flapping them, and began to drop, following my sword as fast as I could. Noelle struck again, and rather than dodging once more Kirby raised his sword in a defensive guard, letting flesh meet flaming metal. There was an echoing crash, and a roar as the fire began to sear the flesh of Noelle's foot. Then she took a step back, leaving Kirby utterly unmoved.

She herself tried to move, but Meta Knight crashed into her once again, nearly sending her onto her side. I landed behind Kirby as the both of them readied to attack again. "I hate to make demands but she's not a monster, so don't kill her," I quickly said to the two of them. I had no clue what exactly Noelle was, but I wasn't sure she should die. And at this point, the situation was no longer life or death for anyone but her. I couldn't justify not suggesting restraint.

"We can neither keep her here nor contain her," Meta Knight pointed out. Noelle, still in some form of frenzy, glared at us and tensed, but didn't strike. Not yet.

"Poyo poyo poyo, poyo! Poyo?" Huh, that was actually a good plan. Meta Knight looked at Kirby and inclined his head slightly. Then he jumped back, turned his sword towards the ground, and raised it up, stretching. Just by standing near him I could feel the thrum of invisible forces coalescing at an honestly alarming rate. I took a few steps back, less because I was worried and more because I really wanted to be behind him for this.

Noelle tried to lunge again, but Kirby thrust forward, a visible wall of force projecting from the tip of his sword and hitting her like a punch, stopping her cold. He took a step forward and stabbed upwards, another wave of energy hitting the jaw of her central mouth like an uppercut and shooting her body up in the air, making it bipedal for a moment and causing a massive tear in that head's neck.

She crashed back down to all-fours, but the short delay was all that Meta Knight needed. Kirby jumped out the way as he plunged his sword into the ground, and all the concentrated energy was released in a single moment. Winds that had only just begun to stir from the twisting power turned into gales as what could only be described as a miniature tornado lanced forward. Noelle was far too close to have even the faintest hope of dodging.

She was the size of the tornado if anything, but that did nothing to save her from its enormous force. It picked her up and simply rocketed her off into the sky. One moment she was on the ground, and in the next she was an ascending blur. I turned my head up to follow her, and by the time I'd found her again she was a small blob, and then a dot sailing through the air. She'd have survived, — her body was nothing if not durable — but she wasn't our problem anymore.

"I believe she will land somewhere in the ocean," Meta Knight said after a moment of tracking her himself, estimating forces and vectors and so on. "Where she should be able to do no more than flail at the fish."

...Could she clone the fish? Would they have to worry about evil clone fish polluting the oceans now, because of me? Not all the animals here possessed the strange biologies of the intelligent beings that seemed to make them immune to Noelle's power, so I wasn't sure.

I shook my head sharply, trying to snap back to what mattered. This was not the time to get distracted. My brain was coming off its adrenaline high now the immediate fight was over, but I had more shit to do before I could rest.

"I should figure something out, she's my responsibility-" I began to say, but I was quickly cut off.

"I shall take care of it. I can guess what happened to you. A trap was sprung, and I am sure you must get back to it as soon as possible," Meta Knight said. And he was absolutely right, about this and when he said it was an obvious trap earlier. I should be saying something. Saying a lot, actually.

Instead, I turned to Kirby. "I've fucked up," I began plainly, causing him to jump back a little in surprise at the language. "And there's something I don't understand back in my world, something that's probably a way worse threat to it than the person you just fought could ever have been. But I know what it's connected to, and you're the person who knows the most about it. Fought it directly, more than once."

I took a deep breath as he looked at me curiously, silently taking my sword back as he handed it over, and then sheathing it. I took another breath, folded my arms, and spoke.

"I need you to tell me everything you can about Dark Matter."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise I shouldn't worry that much about one of my friends literally disappearing along with the inexplicable giant monster from the supervillain's underground lair to god knows where, a sentence that feels perfectly normal and not at all concerning to say out loud, thanks for asking." I couldn't help but feel annoyed at Glory Girl trying to sass me out. Couldn't she just accept that when I said it was fine, it was fine?

"You need better friends, you two don't even know each other outside of costume," I pointed out, ignoring her main issue in favor of what I was more concerned about. "Although now that I think about it, she needs better friends too. You can count the number of friends she has on one hand if you discount all her colleagues except you."

"Stop deflecting." She hovered a little higher, flaring her aura. But while I noticed it, I didn't feel it. My own invisible aura of darkness draped around me like a second cloak, guarding my mind from the emotional attack. Being physically made of concentrated negative emotions would do that.

Still, I supposed I had to give an explanation at some point. There was no way she'd believe a word I said if I gave the full set of details, but I could give an outline. "Because her power isn't quite to create things or whatever you thought it was, it's to send things to and from her own little world. Armor, weapons—" I gestured at the Meta-Knights, some of whom were slowly picking themselves off the floor from being shot or battered aside now that the fight was over. "Allies. And in this case, she was able to send Noelle there. Meaning she's trapped."

Glory Girl squinted as she floated closer to me. "So she has access to a pocket dimension? That's an odd one. But, hmm, I guess it's sorta like Labyrinth's power in some ways. Except she brings people to it instead of bringing it to us." Faultline's incredibly powerful Shaker? That wasn't even totally wrong as a comparison, from what little I'd heard of the girl's abilities. So sure, that worked.

"Exactly, and so she'll probably disengage and come back to this world soon enough. Probably a couple of minutes or so." Giving me just enough time to finish setting up some kind of cover against her inevitable anti-Dark Matter crusade.

Of course, Victoria was smart. She wasn't going to wait around until I decided to give her all the information by myself. "And, let me just take a wild guess, you know all this because you're her clone or whatever from that thing, which is why you're exactly the same size and skin color as her, showed up here even though I've never heard of you before, and didn't want me to touch that cape with my skin. Because then she'd have been able to clone me too, and I'm guessing from what both of you said that her clones are psycho evil versions of people. Except you. Why?"

I knew exactly why. Because the Dark Matter in my system had decided to shatter Noelle's mental chains over me when it set up in my gut. Before that point I'd been utterly homicidal, as the Axe Knight would be able to attest. But getting into that whole business was just going to, yet again, raise more questions than it answered. No sense in struggling to make Glory Girl swallow something pretty unbelievable when it didn't even paint me in a good light.

"I'm not sure about any of her past clones, but I'm not evil. Different from Exoa Knight, sure, and I was angry as hell when I was born, or however you want to put it. But I'm just a person, same as you. If I had to guess, Noelle didn't experiment with her powers much. Any clones she made got killed off quickly, so she didn't know that. Or she did know, and was just saying that stuff about me being a killer to try and fuck with you and it was total bullshit." The only bullshit here was what I was saying, but nobody was able to contradict it right now, and it was believable enough that after a moment's hesitation Glory Girl nodded in understanding.

While she pondered what I'd been saying, I began to float up to the entrance both of us had entered the room from, preparing to move back to the surface at a roughly walking pace. Get some sunlight for the first time in my very short existence. I looked down at the company of troops, now spreading out to finish scouting the other rooms of Coil's base. The door to Noelle's room had been opened again, with the Travelers and Coil's soldiers being marched or dragged out into the main floor area by the Meta-Knights. I could hear Trickster asking where Noelle had gone with a very complex mix of emotions in his voice, but I didn't bother to answer him. Other me could do it when she came back.

"So, what's up with you? I'm guessing you have different powers. And, uh, what are you gonna do now that you're... you know. Alive."

Now that was the real question. I started with her other one, because it was easier. "Yeah, I have my own powers. Can't go to a pocket dimension directly, but I get some pretty kickass other stuff to make up for it. It's based on the same general stuff though, I think. It's complicated," I said, smirking internally as the cape nerd nodded along, not even knowing the half of it. "But basically I'm pretty awesome."

"Alright," Glory Girl said after a moment's pause. "That basically makes sense to me. At least I'm gonna be able to write a hell of a dissertation about this in a few years. A Case Study of Divergent Power Expressions in Cloned Parahumans by Dallon, Victoria. Or, well, I guess not if I only had one data point..."

While her head was off in the presumably blissful halls of academia, I was more concerned with my life. I'd spun a good, normal, sensible story that happened to be almost a total set of lies. Now, if my other self came in with the truth and it came down to my word against hers, that might not be so bad, because the truth would sound utterly deranged to everyone but us. The fact her minions would back her up also wasn't that bad, because that could easily be written off as power-granted control over them.

What completely ruined my chances of getting off that easily was the fact it wasn't down to just words. She could physically take anyone she wanted to over to the Other World and show them the sights. No matter how outlandish her story, she could prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. And then she'd turn to all the people there, and they'd solemnly nod their heads and say I had to be stopped because of the Dark Matter. Didn't matter that it was sleeping, that I was the one in control. They only knew it as an utterly malevolent, world-consuming force of destruction. Which in fairness it was, but I was more than just physically strong. I could handle it. And then, I could see it clear as anything, Exoa Knight would say that the risk of leaving me around and up was just too great.

Well, fuck that and fuck her. I knew I still had a way out of this, I just had to find it. Well, a way that was actually decent. I could always go to the PRT and ask to become a Ward. They'd take me almost without question, and I was too useful for someone practical like Piggot to just discard, no matter what the others said. Nobody could deny my power after my showing against Noelle, or my commitment to fighting against villains. But the rules, regulations, the fucking PR bullshit? Fuck that too. I'd just been freed of everything holding me down. I wasn't going back now that I had a taste of real freedom. Not like that.

I was still thinking things over as Glory Girl and I finished floating out of the initial hatch, entering the now abandoned construction site. It looked like the workers had been cleared out. Dauntless was standing a few meters away, and I could hear approaching sirens with my enhanced hearing.

With the slightest tug of effort I accelerated upwards, flying several meters into the air before dashing back to put myself a good distance away from the two heroes. I levitated there, cloak fluttering in the slight spring breeze as I crossed my arms and leaned back in the air. "Dauntless," I said, voice level and clear, cutting through the distance. "Nice to meet you."

Dauntless looked as confused as Glory Girl had been when she first showed up in the base, although it was a bit hard to tell through the face-concealing helmet. For her part, she just shrugged. "It's a bit of a long story, but she's not an enemy and we've secured the underground facility. Got a bunch of prisoners down there," she told him.

He nodded, regaining his composure, and saluted me with his Arclance. "Good to meet you too. Do you have a name?"

Oh shit, I didn't. At least beyond my real one. "I'm working on it." I made a mental note to do just that.

"I understand. Well, we're in no rush to hear it, so you can take your time," he paused, seeming to realise something. "Where's Exoa Knight? We came because she said she was in trouble."

"She should be fine, and up here in a few minutes or so. She should probably explain the details to you herself, but you don't have to worry." He nodded, still slightly tense but seemingly reassured.

I wasn't entirely sure what to do next, but I figured it couldn't hurt to spend the next bit tipping the scales in my favor. I wanted to look useful to the heroes, how good would it be if I could serve them Coil on a plate? If I was quick enough about it, I might even manage to get back just before Exoa Knight showed up on the surface. "Since things seem to be under control, I've gotta go do something real important. You'll see in a minute."

"Wait, just like that-" Dauntless said, but I already was off into the sky, zipping up several hundred meters in a second or so. I hovered above the top of the skeletal skyscraper, and materialised a cellphone in my hand. I dialled the number of the Bio Sparks my other self had detached to keep an eye on Coil when he made a break for it. They also didn't know about my whole situation yet; as far as they knew there was still only one of me. I could use that to get them talking.

I spoke carefully, altering my voice to make it sound as if I was speaking through my mask's voice changer. Another neat trick, along with having the memory good enough to remember the number off the top of my head. "I cleared out the base. Couple of issues, nothing I couldn't handle. Where's Coil?"

As I'd hoped, the answer came straight away with no hesitation. "A nearby building, we believe it to be a sort of safehouse. It is too heavily guarded for us to make an assault."

I smirked. Knocking a whole load of heads together sounded even better than just bagging one very annoying supervillain. "Leave that to me."

Chapter 51: Chapter 40/Shadow Knightmare 4

Chapter Text

Being dragged off into the base was not what I'd wanted, but Kirby refused to explain without being able to give visual aids. After being given directions by Meta Knight, who then flew off to organise things elsewhere, we made our way to what looked to be a classroom of some sort, based on the blackboard and desks. I couldn't say why it was here, but I guessed the Meta-Knights did their education on-site. Made sense, I wasn't sure the Kingdom of Dreamland even had schools, and they had to teach advanced engineering somewhere.

Of course, it happened to be occupied. Captain Vul and Sailor Dee were pouring over what looked like blueprints for the Heavy Lobster on the desk, making some slight tweaks. They looked up and practically jumped in surprise.

"Ack! Kirby in the base!" Vul said, getting a glare and sigh in return from Kirby and me respectively.

"Relax, he's here to help. Specifically, me. I messed up. Say, you know anything about Dark Matter?" No sense in not getting all the input I could.

"I've studied it. It's a dangerous threat, that's for sure. Why do you ask?" The desks happened to be short enough for me to use them as chairs, so I sat down, crossed my legs, and put my hands by my side while Kirby strode to the front of the room, put on a pair of large, round spectacles from out of nowhere, and grabbed some chalk.

"Let's start with figuring out all the details. Any help you can give would be appreciated." Taking that as his cue to begin, Kirby began flitting to and fro, and rapidly divided the blackboard into two columns, which he labeled What We Know and What We Don't Know. What we knew was that Dark Matter was an alien species of truly immense power. They came in the form of varying geometric shapes rather than humanoid, or what I guessed they'd call deeoid, with a trademark feature being their eyes. Usually a given Dark Matter had one, although there were exceptions. Over the course of more than a year, they'd twice attempted to conquer Popstar and once to conquer the planet Ripple Star, a set of conflicts that ended a tiny bit over four years ago. It hadn't been seen before then, and it hasn't been seen since, thankfully.

"Don't forget about Dark Nebula!" Sailor Dee piped up. He explained that some years ago, before Kirby first appeared on Popstar, the Meta-Knights had fought and defeated Dark Nebula, but weren't powerful enough to kill it, even with the magical blade Galaxia. They had however been able to seal it away inside a warded treasure chest, which was then given to King Dedede for safekeeping, although they never actually explained what was inside.

I knew the rest of the story. After a convoluted series of events involving a band of rodent thieves, Kirby ended up thinking the chest with Dark Nebula had a cake in it and opened it, unleashing the evil entity upon the world once more. Fortunately, he was able to pursue it and destroy it for good before too much damage was done. He at least had the good graces to look suitably bashful about that mistake when Sailor Dee then brought it up.

In any case, Sailor Dee said that by all accounts it was related to Dark Matter, sharing the physique of a geometric shape with a single eye, as well as the immense power and set of abilities.

Speaking of power, all confirmed Dark Matter instances had demonstrated extreme speed and durability, with the ability to move between stars under their own power and easily take nearly any attack except from a handful of powerful superweapons. Kirby suggested he might have been able to defeat them on his own, but he'd have had trouble pinning them down and forcing them to battle, and it would have been a fight with an uncertain outcome. Considering how easily he'd just dispatched Noelle, that obviously wasn't good. They also all had some ability to attack beyond just ramming — bolts of darkness, beams of energy, the works.

Beyond just that, they all had another thing in common, which was some kind of Master ability. Dark Matter instances could possess people, taking complete control over them at the cost of being limited to the possessed's strength. However, they were able to partially mutate or enhance the people they controlled, closing the gap a little. The good news there was that if you beat up the victims, the Dark Matter would be forced out with no long-term harmful effects. Some instances of possession involved distinctive features, like the victim seemingly sleepwalking, but I'd also personally seen the Fairy Queen be possessed with no outward tells. If we were lucky, that was because she'd been taken over by Zero Two rather than normal Dark Matter. If we weren't lucky, the tells were an active choice. Kirby thought it was probably the latter, since during the beginning of the whole thing with the Crystal Shards a few days before I'd first used my powers he saw three different possessions with three different tells, one being very marginal. If my clone had access to this ability and she wanted to make things difficult, things would suddenly get very complicated very fast.

All of this power came from the fact that Dark Matter was not a naturally occurring species. Instead, it was the spawn of a larger entity, called Zero, and as far as we could tell they weren't really its children, and instead were just a bunch of expendable minions for the big alien bad guy. Zero was even more powerful than regular Dark Matter, able to basically take over an entire planet in minutes. Kirby had ended up killing it with the power of concentrated positive energy that had coalesced into a weapon called the Love-Love Stick. I asked if there was any other name for it I could use. He said no.

However, Zero dying didn't mean Dark Matter died with it, because a while later Zero Two appeared. A lot of things here fell under the Don't Know column, alongside where Zero even came from in the first place; mostly how the resurrection happened. Based on what he saw, Kirby guessed that somehow remnant Dark Matter was able to recover the corpse of Zero that was left behind from their fight, pump it full of darkness juice or whatever they used, and create a new master. Zero Two had also been able to take over an entire planet with ease and spawn new Dark Matter, although Kirby claimed that the new spawn were a bit different. He called the ones he saw the Dark Trio, and said they lacked the distinctive orange spherical appendages. Also, they seemed weaker to him. In any case, he went on a planet-hopping adventure to recover the Crystal Shards, picking me up along the way, and then I remembered the rest pretty clearly. We defeated a Dark Matter construct called Miracle Matter, brought light back to Ripple Star, it turned out Zero Two had been hiding inside the Queen of the Fairies, Kirby and Ribbon killed Zero Two, we all got medals. Simpler times.

What wasn't simple was their physical composition. Rather than being anything approaching normal, it was solid negative energy. Emotions like anger, hate, jealousy, and loneliness given life, which was why it felt wrong to stand near if you were attuned to the energies of this dimension, at least if it was out in the open rather than possessing something, and also why it seemed weak to powers related to light and positive energy. It was completely unlike anything based in physics, as despite its name it only questionably qualified as matter, let alone biology. That was also why it would inevitably become a threat. Its very nature didn't let it be anything else. Kirby piped up and said he felt sorry for it more than anything. Personally, I just saw it as something that had to be dealt with for the common good and that was all there was to it, but I kept my thoughts to myself.

A lot of this I knew already, but it didn't hurt to be reminded. I couldn't afford to act on incorrect information when the stakes were this high. I had to be right about everything. And as if I needed more to worry about right now, Kirby then pointed out that since Dark Matter had returned after the defeat of its master once before, it could potentially do so again. While the body of Zero Two had been destroyed, meaning there probably couldn't be a Zero Three, it was all too likely that some instances of Dark Matter were still out there in the depths of space. At about this point, I figured I should probably explain in more detail why I'd asked for the lecture.

"Yeah, some's left. I should know, because I just met it. That's what I meant by a threat in my world connected to the stuff. When I said connected, what I meant was the same as."

My three allies had pretty much identical reactions, eyes bulging and mouths dropping open. Kirby regained his wits first, and words tumbled from his mouth, so fast I could barely discern the various concepts. "Poyopoyopoyopoyo-"

I raised up my hand to cut off the sudden jumble of thoughts. "No no, hear me out." I grimaced beneath my mask and gestured vaguely at the air. "It's definitely Dark Matter but it's not quite the same as what you fought. Remember, I was there on Ripple Star, I do kind of know what I'm talking about. This was, ah..." I launched into a slightly awkward recap of my entire situation, trying to get through it as fast as I could. Coil, the taunting message, the base, Noelle, the clone, the fact the clone was definitely made of Dark Matter somehow, and now I was here.

Kirby began to bounce on his heels, rocking back and forth in thought. "Poyo poyo?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I know what I felt. It was the same feeling, negative energy. And that's not really a thing I can feel based on the physics of my world."

"There's more things based on negative energy than just Dark Matter. How do you know she wasn't drawing on the powers of Nightmare, or something entirely new? This seems like a bit of a reach to me." Vul said, doubt clear in his voice. He had a point, could I really tell the difference between negative energies? I hadn't felt any except Dark matter up close, after all.

"Well, she had a visor with a single eye on it. That's a sign, right?" Mostly I was just trusting my gut, but I felt that was a decent point.

"Poyo." Kirby said thoughtfully before turning back to the blackboard. He wiped off the various points, and instead drew out an extremely familiar figure. It was more of a blob with a spiky mane of hair than a person, but the clothing, visor, and sword were utterly unmistakeable.

"Yeah that's her," I said, pointing at the drawing. "I mean, she looks like a human wearing that outfit, but it is that outfit. One for one."

Kirby sighed. "Poyo… poyo, poyo. Poyo." Not only was it actually Dark Matter, my clone had the memories of Dark Matter too. Specifically, the instance of Dark Matter that Kirby had fought before killing Zero the first. There was no other way to explain the exact same outfit reappearing even though I'd never seen it before.

"Has to have been her power, somehow. She was my clone, but had a different ability. Don't know how that led to her being infected, but it did. There's a lot about parahuman abilities we don't know, but I mean—" I thought about all the world's capes. I'd seen the Triumvirate in action with my own eyes, heard stories great and terrible, fought with and against people whose abilities were strange even by the standards of this strange world. "Goddamnit. Yeah, no big surprise a power could do this. But now I have to figure out how to deal with it."

"Poyo poyo?" Kirby asked, taking me aback.

"I mean, not really? She seemed like a bit of a bitch to me, but she was mostly concerned with stopping Noelle, and didn't really do anything wrong. But she has Dark Matter for her body. She's an enemy."

"Poyo poyo." Kirby turned around and drew an arrow pointing towards the Dark Matter instance, adding a big white circle with a smaller red circle inside it on the other end. Zero. Then he drew another arrow pointing away from Zero, this one leading to a vague blob with big eyes, a big mouth, and a long tongue. "Poyo poyo poyo. Poyo, poyo. Poyo!"

"Okay, first of all, you call him Gooey?"

"Poyo."

"Okay, but even if he did, it's… well, it's a name. I guess. I-" Wait a minute. "And he's still here? As in, on the planet?" A nod in reply. "That might be where her power got it from. If you see him again, ask him if he had that same weird feeling as you. That might mean something. But then, what I felt, and the memories…"

"Poyo?" Kirby tilted his head to the side slightly, giving me a curious look.

"I get what you're trying to say, and this is good stuff to know. You're saying that, depending on the emotional input a unit of this substance — let's call it Matter — receives changes the end result. So you can get Dark Matter or your friend, Gooey. That's all good and well, but we already know that my clone isn't just made up of this power, she's specifically aligned with Dark Matter. She's the enemy.

"I think I get why, though. She probably felt angry, because she's me, and all alone. So even if her body was made up of just a substance, with no real alignment to good or bad, her own emotions would have tilted it to negative. And then, because it's a weird non-physical being, that charge of negative energy, or whatever the fuck, brought back the memories and powers of Dark Matter."

"...hmm." Vul had been quiet for a few moments, and walked towards the board, taking another stick of chalk. He then drew a rough outline of a person, and lines radiating out from the middle, going through the body and into the world. "Do you think this is right?"

"I don't get it," I admitted.

"Oh! He's saying that the feeling isn't coming from her, it's coming from inside of her!" Sailor Dee suddenly added, clearly understanding something I wasn't.

"That doesn't make sense, though? She didn't seem like the type to hold back on her feelings. If she was really feeling all that, I'm pretty sure she would have acted differently. Not been so willing to work with Glory Girl and me, for one. But, I mean, then that doesn't explain how she got started on that path in the first place. It's like, ah, shit." I gestured rapidly with my right hand, making circles in the air as I tried to figure it out. "It's like she has the bit that talked to me and then the bit that's the reborn Dark Matter that generated that vague aura I could feel because I'm attuned to this world's energies and they're two separate bits entirely. Is that what you're saying? How would that even work?"

"I'll tell you! After all, I'm a brainy bird, not a birdbrain," Vul said, clearly starting to get into things. "Going back to what my subordinate said earlier, there was the Dark Nebula incident wherein the thief Daroach was possessed by something we believe was related to Dark Matter. Like your clone, the so-called Dark Daroach had enhanced abilities thanks to his possession, much more than other Dark Matter victims. Of course, in his case, his skin took on a different hue and he was fully under the evil being's control, but it's the closest example we have. So, for your clone to be the way she is, it must be the case that she's drawing on a Dark Matter core bonded to her very soul, utilising its power much like Dark Daroach borrowed power from Dark Nebula, although to a greater extent since she was an ordinary human to start with."

Sailor Dee narrows his eyes, giving the impression of a worried frown. "Except the 'reactor' has a leak in it. It's radiating evil energy, which must mean negative energy can come from outside, and the Dark Matter will be able to feed on it. And from what I've heard of your world, there'll be loads of the stuff! And since Dark Matter won't accept not being in control…"

Vul nodded, and curved the lines radiating out back into the middle, where they pointed to a circle he drew within the outline's gut. A circle he added an eye and some appendages to. Then he drew more circling lines, and lines coming down from the head and outside. After a certain amount of lines, he added another circular appendage. After the being was fully circled by them, he wiped out all the lines pointing to it along with the humanoid outline. Only the central creature remained.

"It's gestating inside of her. And when it finally wakes up, it'll take her over. Or just kill her then and there." It was only a theory, but it explained everything. It took the initial burst of negative energy, combined it with the power, and began to charge up. Probably meaning that Noelle's clones were meant to be much nastier. That would make a kind of sense. And then when the critical mass was hit, the entire world might be in trouble, not to mention my clone probably dying. I wasn't a huge fan of her, but she was also my responsibility. It was my own failings that brought her into this world. I couldn't just let her die like that.

And then, while things were beginning to look dire, Kirby suddenly brightened up considerably. "Poyo poyo! Poyo!"

"Huh, the Crystal? As in Ripple Star's Crystal?" It had been able to shove Zero Two out of the Fairy Queen without hurting her. It stood to reason it would be able to remove the Dark Matter seed from my clone without hurting her as well. It was also the only Dark Matter-defeating weapon that was actually still around in an active form, at least that we knew of. It kind of had to be our way of disarming the metaphorical bomb, we didn't have another one. Not really.

Better still, the fairies owed us from that time we literally saved their entire planet, and they weren't far away, relatively. If we used the crystal shards we got as part of our medals, we could outright open a portal straight to their planet.

"Wow, thanks. There might actually be a way out of this." Now I just had to go and convince her to go along with it, if only to save her own skin. Oh, and I still had to deal with Coil. Hadn't I sent some Bio Sparks to keep track of him? "I'd love to stay, but I have business to deal with on my Earth, on top of just fixing this mess. Again, thank you all, but I gotta go."

"Bye!" Kirby managed to enunciate — that was the word, I believed — as the three all waved me goodbye while I stood up, closed my eyes, and used my power once more.

The building wasn't that far from the underground base, at least at my speed. I wasn't sure what exactly that speed was, but I could feel it was several times faster than my old wings, which meant it had to be at least a couple hundred miles per hour. The best part was that I wasn't even pushing myself right now, so I could probably go even faster if I really wanted to.

There was nothing stopping me from just kicking in the door, but just to be safe I descended through the roof, shifting back into my less solid form, phasing through the small warehouse's roof before settling into my new position. Rather than drop down into the building proper, I moved around, expanded my senses, and looked down from my position on the ceiling as a blotch of pitch-black shadow. It was filled with crates, stacks of cardboard boxes, and building materials. At a guess, this was where they'd been loading stuff to move into the underground base, or possibly Coil had moved stuff from there to here in preparation for losing the base. It also served as a fallback point for him and a squad of armed soldiers.

Coil himself was on a cell phone, and more importantly away from the soldiers, just out of earshot and behind a crate. He wanted his conversation to be private. Unfortunately for him, that would be his final mistake. After making sure that none of the soldiers were looking up, I dropped, descending as an unformed mass directly onto his head. I was kind of expecting to then be able to reform and grapple him to the floor, but instead I sort of went through him. Not in the bloody sense, more that I was literally inside of him, and also still shadowy. Oh. Yeah, this was a thing Dark Matter could do. I didn't think I could do it, though. Despite everything that had happened so far, I still hadn't really believed I had all the abilities of the alien species. Yet another surprise.

I could feel something that the human brain was not meant to be able to feel, some alien sense giving me information as best it could. Coil himself was frozen, not in shock, but rather because his body was no longer his own.

I felt a pull, tugging me forward. Well, nothing else for it.

The sensation intensified. I couldn't put words to it, at least none that made sense. I was a river of ice that was melting into light which evaporated into thunder as I raced through the nervous system. All my senses except sight were upside down, and I could taste color and see infinity.

Then, after just a moment, it stopped completely. I could feel 'myself', nestled deep inside Coil's gut in some sense, and then I could also feel his body. It wasn't mine, but I controlled it like it was. It was completely natural, although it took me a moment to remember that I had to breathe again. The body's mind was still there, a vague presence at the back of my thoughts, but it wasn't awake. Instead, it was in a deep slumber. It would be kind of fucked up otherwise, being aware but unable to move. I'd had my share of that a few minutes ago, and honestly I didn't think I'd wish a bout of that on anyone. Not even Coil.

But more importantly than me figuring out one of the main abilities of Dark Matter, and the reason I'd decided to go ahead with this at all, was the fact that I could hear a voice over the phone, still held fairly close to the ear. "...and so I am afraid that our conversation must end here. I have a great deal of damage control to do before the day is out, as well as answers to get as to just how this sequence of events came about. My information is still limited, but it would appear that somehow a new piece has arrived on the board."

A voice that sounded suspiciously like Coil's, a voice which I suddenly knew how to replicate, echoes of a skill rising to the surface. I didn't have access to this body's actual conscious memories, but their subconscious and muscle memory were fully intact. I just had to roughly move in the right direction, and ingrained habits would fill in the blanks for me. Meaning I could use the body's abilities, I remembered Adeleine saying that apparently she'd used her learned painting skills while possessed. Notably, I couldn't feel a parahuman ability in this body, and combined with the voice on the line sounding like this body's own...

That motherfucker. He'd never even been at the base, he'd just tricked me using a body double. Just how many layers of security between him and the rest of the world did he have? I guess the right amount, seeing as otherwise he'd have just been caught.

"As for you, I recommend you move to the assigned safehouse, but only after taking precautions. I have reason to believe you may have been followed, and I would hate to compromise more of my assets." With that, the call was abruptly cut. Coil apparently both talked like a fucking weirdo and was very busy right now. That was good. What was less good was the fact that my hope for a big win had just been shot in the back of the head. I was sure the PRT would appreciate getting a body double and some more goons on top of everything else, but it wasn't really that big a deal.

Unless I could con the soldiers into revealing something. I didn't have this body's memories, but I did temporarily have its skills, which meant its ability to act. Time for some hardcore bluffing.

I adopted a natural pose, which turned out to be clasping my hands behind my back after putting away the cell phone into a nearly invisible pocket in the suit, and then walked around the corner to the soldiers, who sharply acknowledged my presence. "The situation has escalated in an unplanned manner. As a result, we will be moving out as soon as possible in order to reinforce a defensive position elsewhere," I said, the lies flowing smoothly off my weirdly adult male tongue.

Helpfully, the soldiers supplied the rest. One of them, presumably their leader, stepped forward and spoke, sounding slightly unsure underneath the professionalism. "You mean the, ah, asset?"

Sounded important. "That I do. Lead the way, Captain." Huh, captain. I'd have assumed sergeant, but the echoes of the right mannerisms said otherwise. Lucky save, even if I couldn't know the girl's name.

"Alright, you heard him! Nora Squad, move out!" With no reason to doubt my authority, the poor deceived mercenaries all stood up, readied their weapons, and began walking. I followed behind them, keeping my hands clasped as I leisurely made my way out to a waiting van, belonging to Coil's pet construction company, and sat down in the rear alongside the rest of the team. Modified to be a covert transport vehicle, based on the benches.

The captain, presumably Nora, looked at me. "Are you sure this is smart, sir? We know those damn little ninja minions are probably still around, they could have tracked you to us." As a matter of fact, not only were they still around, they'd follow this van straight to the mysterious asset. But that was fine by me.

"There is no need to concern yourself with that. The necessary precautions have been taken," I said while steepling my fingers. I had to say, I was beginning to come around on this smug aloof mastermind shit. The sense of superiority I got from talking down to people was a brand new thrill. I'd have to keep that in mind for later.

The trip took maybe ten or so minutes, which was agonizingly long. I really should have thought this entire thing through more, but I was committed now, and while I was giving Exoa Knight time to make her own preparations at least I'd left her without the ability to make any arguments against me too easily.

In the end, we arrived at some sort of garage, and I followed the mercenaries into a house. It looked like an utterly ordinary home, although as I entered the lounge I saw both an additional squad of battle-ready soldiers along with what had to be my prize. A little girl, probably no older than twelve or so.

Well, wasn't this interesting.

Chapter 52: Chapter 41

Chapter Text

I was back in Coil's base, and a quick look around told me that Glory Girl and my clone had left the premises, and the PRT had arrived. No real surprises there. My troops had all vanished, presumably up to the surface, except for maybe a dozen or so who were standing guard alongside the full squad of officers present, with a few other PRT agents moving around the rest of the base, presumably trying to find any useful evidence. Said prisoners were gathered out on the main floor and fewer in number than when I'd left.

I decided that before I tried to give chase to the ticking time bomb, I'd check in on how things were proceeding here. See if anything needed addressing.

The officers didn't seem that surprised to see me come out of nowhere, so they'd probably been warned in advance I'd show back up. One of them called out to me, then gestured up to the exit. That was my cue to head on up, but before I did I took a quick glance over at my captures.

Trickster and Ballistic were missing, as were about half the soldiers. I guessed the PRT had taken to taking them up in waves, minimizing the chances of them trying to make a break for it as a group. Made sense. I considered trying to make some comment to the remainder, but I figured the authorities had it well in hand by the look of things, so there was no need.

I did note that there were two prisoners in neither tactical gear nor costume. They must have been out of sight during the actual fighting. Firstly, a girl with reddish-brown hair in a wheelchair, and since I knew Genesis was a she that had to be her. Second, a blond guy who was downright unreasonably attractive. Sometimes it was hard to tell, but I immediately knew that if I was the kind of person who felt that kind of thing about guys, I'd have my jaw drop. As it stood, I was mostly just wondering who he was and what the hell he was doing here. Questions for later, I supposed.

"Meta-Knights, make your way back up as soon as you can. It's time for you to go home." After a wave of acknowledgements from the rear guard, I turned and spread my wings, hopping up to the metal walkway above. My cape reformed and I took off at a fairly sedate jog out the way I came in and towards the surface.

As I advanced to the surface, I dialed the pair of Bio Sparks that had followed Coil. They were confused because they thought I'd already called them, so I had to explain the whole clone situation— which they believed thanks to them spotting a descending black mass enter the building they'd followed Coil to—then they said that they'd followed a van to a new safehouse and had gone back to surveying for now. I told them to just sit tight, let things play out. See what my shadow would do if I left her to her own devices for a few minutes. I was at least pretty confident she didn't like Coil any more than I did, so I wasn't worried about him getting away.

By the time I'd gotten that mess sorted out, I was back on the surface, and had already politely nodded to Glory Girl and Dauntless, who both seemed to have plenty of questions of their own. I raised a hand to indicate I was busy while I finished out the conversation, then lowered it and nodded to them. "I know you have questions, but I'm afraid I have to talk to someone else first. I promise I'll explain everything later, but right now it's important I finish some things out, okay?" They backed off slightly as I took a breath and squared my shoulders.

Those two weren't the only capes present. Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Velocity, and the other three New Wave flyers were all here. I couldn't see any of the Wards, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were currently in their headquarters at a heightened level of readiness. Additional squads of PRT officers had thoroughly secured the perimeter, with some standing guard around containment vans. As I expected, the rest of my company were also present, mostly relaxed and milling about the construction site with the mission completed. A cheer erupted from a hundred mouths as I came into view, and if I could have died from embarrassment I would have. Ignoring that, I walked straight over to Armsmaster, who had his halberd gripped loosely in his right hand, and I decided to be honest. "I fucked up." I was saying that a bunch today, mostly because it was true.

"I'll admit, that's not what I expected to hear. As far as I can tell, you just dropped an entire group of supervillains directly into our lap, along with a side of hardened criminal mercenaries. Most people in your position would be thinking of what speech to give at their upcoming awards ceremony." He sounded faintly amused by the whole affair, which honestly pissed me off just a tiny bit. This was not the time to be taking it easy. Not while she was still out there.

"I ignored everything you said to me last time we met, charged into a trap without thinking, needed to get bailed out, and may have fucked us all over. If I'm getting an award it should be nailed right onto my stupid forehead," I said in what I appreciated was the opposite of good sense. "I'm here to answer any questions and explain just how badly I messed up today."

"I was worried you'd done something stupid when you first called for helo, but when I saw your small army I realised you at least hadn't gone in without backup. Speaking of, if you're answering questions, mind explaining to me what the deal is with there? It's a bit of an escalation over your previous abilities. Glory Girl confided to me that she was worried something… drastic had happened to you just before you started your assault." Well that was exactly right actually, but for a moment I wasn't sure what that had to do with my seeming rapid improvement in abilities. Then it hit me what she'd probably thought.

"I haven't had a second trigger event if that's what you're worried about. Some pretty messed up shit did go down, but it's nothing that dramatic. I'm fine, really. Or at least I will be if I can resolve this new issue I've caused."

Armsmaster nodded, seeming to relax, and locked his halberd into place on his back before speaking again. "Well, I'm glad to hear it, and it makes sense. You seem to be operating normally outside of the enhanced number of followers, and second triggers always carry drawbacks. It didn't quite fit. But that raises another question; if not that, then what's changed?"

It was a fair question. I asked him what he knew about my power, he said that Glory Girl informed everyone that my clone said that my power was based on access to a pocket dimension. Which was, well, it got the right impression across. Wasn't the truth, but I could work with it for now. No sense in trying to convince everyone that it wasn't so pocket when that'd be time and effort to no real immediate gain. Still, I could explain the situation by moving their understanding slightly closer to the truth, even if it wasn't quite there yet.

"Well, that's mostly true, but it's also not the whole story. My dimension isn't just storage space. The 'minions' there, they're actual people. You should already know they're intelligent, but they also live their own lives when they're not here. They're good, they're friendly, but they're not always willing to drop everything they're doing to come help me. Mostly because the fighters among them have their own battles. They made an exception this time because the situation was just that serious, but I can't repeat this level of force whenever. Otherwise I'd do this a lot more often."

Armsmaster frowned, and to my surprise spoke up. "And you dropped the unstoppable monster in the middle of these people?" Oh, yeah, that was actually a pretty good point from his perspective. Shit.

"They're fine, don't worry about it. They were able to deal with it." He didn't look even a little convinced, but seemed willing to go along with me for now. Worked for me, I was more than willing to give the extra context I was still keeping secret when I had the time to convince him that my insane ramblings were actual truth. But that would have to wait until after I resolved things with the clone.

"I hope so. There was an incident up in New York a while back, forty people disappearing overnight while the Travelers were situated nearby. We always suspected they were involved somehow, but never proved anything. If they were carrying around this parahuman with them, then we can call that incident a solved mystery, but it also doesn't bode well for this other dimension. I hope for their sake that when you say they dealt with it, you mean on a permanent basis." That shocked me a little, I hadn't really looked into the Travelers that deeply so it was the first I'd heard of it. It just raised more questions about what the hell was going on with Noelle, but as with all my other non-Dark Matter issues it would have to wait.

Speaking of, I decided to change conversation tracks. With luck, I could convince the clone to save herself by coming along peacefully and resolve the issue that way. If for any reason she proved difficult, I'd probably need help to drag her kicking and screaming to, well, I thought the right word was salvation. "Anyway, not everything's sunshine and rainbows. I said I may have fucked us all over, remember? Well, what I meant by that is that there's some stuff in that dimension, the Other World, that's dangerous. Even more than the walking cloning device. When I first got my powers, I had to fight it off, and I thought that was it. But it's back, inside my clone. Somehow, her power injected it into her. It made her strong as fuck, but it also means she's in danger herself. If things continue like they are, it'll consume her, and then we're all in deep shit, because it's smart, powerful, and evil. I know how to kick the stuff out of her, but I need to find her and bring her to the Other World in order to do it."

"I see. Does this 'stuff' have a name?" I couldn't tell if he sounded convinced. Rather than go crazy trying to figure it out, I decided to just answer the question.

"The people of the Other World call it Dark Matter," I said.

I couldn't tell through his visor, but I got the impression he was raising an eyebrow at me. "Like the physics concept?"

"What? No." I wasn't sure what that was, but I was pretty sure there was no relation.

"Well, let's say that you're right and I believe you. Why tell me this? What do you want me to do about it?" Armsmaster said. I mentally promised to do something nice for him after this if he actually went along with me on this, when I really needed him to.

"Right now, nothing. I'm going to go and talk to her, and if that works then no more problem. If she wants to be, you know, difficult, then I might need your help to deal with her." I looked around at the other heroes for a moment. They were all good people and powerful fighters, but I wasn't sure any of them had a chance against someone using the power of Dark Matter. Well, any of them besides the seventh greatest hero in the entire Protectorate. "From what I've seen, you might be the only cape in this city who has even a chance of dealing with her. Including me and my sword."

He grimaced. It was brief, but definitely there. "By all accounts, she's a hero. It shouldn't have to come to that."

"It shouldn't. But I remember that when we first met over the whole Coil thing, you said you planned for every eventuality. All I'm asking is that you keep doing that now."

"I guess you have me there. Still, it wouldn't be easy to plan out how to fight someone of her apparent weight class when I only have descriptions of her abilities to go off of. I do my best work when I can prepare for something properly, with hard data." Right, he was a Tinker. That said, I had a somewhat new toy to help out with.

"I got a helmet camera after that whole incident at the mall. If you have any digital storage, I can give you the footage I managed to get of the fight, and as a bonus a collection of information on Dark Matter I just went over in the Other World plus Noelle getting contained." Of course, Kirby's fight and subsequent lecture might open up questions of just how pocket the dimension was, but that was fine. I wasn't making absurd claims, I was just giving footage. Footage I was ready and able to back up at any time by dragging him over the dimensional border if necessary. More importantly, I trusted Armsmaster to be able to put aside things like that until things were settled down. Of course, it was only camera footage rather than proper scan data, but it should be way better than nothing.

"I'll authorise a temporary connection between our armors, then," Armsmaster replied. It was then a surprisingly intuitive series of mental commands to snip out the minutes of the second phase of the fight against Noelle along with the lecture and then send them over the wireless link. Had I thanked Adeleine enough for being helpful? Probably not. Another thing on my increasingly long to-do list.

He nodded, indicating he'd received the data, then turned away and raised his head slightly. It took me a moment to realise he was looking in the direction of Protectorate HQ. "Unfortunately, I can't let you off with a verbal explanation this time. Seems to be way too many moving parts for that. I know it's not your style, but I'll have to insist that you come along to either PHQ or PRT HQ for a formal debrief. I'd like your clone to do the same, but I don't have the first clue as to where she is right now."

"I do. I didn't get to mention this earlier, but Coil was in the base when I arrived. He managed to slip away, but I had a pair of my minions follow him. Turns out, she went after him before I could. So that's two birds with one stone right there."

"This would have been good to know earlier," Armsmaster said in an utterly deadpan voice.

"I had a lot of crap to get through," I shot back. "But I think that's everything you need to know. Well, everything important. I'll call them and find out the address."

He nodded, and I took a step back, looking at the surrounding area again. The heroes were still in position, although at this point they were more talking with each other than anything else. The next wave of prisoners were being brought up, including Sundancer, Genesis, and a group of mercenaries. At this point, I'd probably have to go and thank the Meta-Knights contingent for their help and bring them home. As a group, they were too slow and unwieldy to try and bring over to wherever my clone was. Although depending on the circumstances, maybe I'd leave them here while chasing down my other self.

I phoned the scout group and asked for an update. As it turned out, apparently a lot had happened while I was busy talking to Armsmaster. They'd been called by her pretty much moments ago, telling them that the 'Coil' they'd tracked was a body double, but he had led them to the location of a hostage. She'd told them to keep an eye on the location and make sure nothing went sideways, and also that she'd called the PRT to let them know. I relayed the info to Armsmaster, who took a step back himself and confirmed the information through his chain of command. An entirely separate PRT unit was being dispatched to handle it, with Triumph and some of the Wards as backup. They had to be stretched pretty thin by this point if they were calling in the Wards for hostage recovery.

"If this day could stop throwing plot twists at me every five minutes, I'd really appreciate it," Armsmaster sighed. "Still, even if we didn't manage to get Coil himself, this is a major victory. I've had a lot of wins over the years, not to brag or anything, but only a few of them have been this big. If you can resolve the 'Dark Matter' issue, then I think it's safe to say that you've done the city a great service this day. Even though it wasn't exactly a perfect operation from start to finish, nobody will be able to argue with the results, and it might even be enough to get your reputation back to where it should be."

Right, he'd talked about my reputation the last time we'd talked. I'd been so tunnel-visioned on the mission I hadn't even glanced at PHO or any news sites to figure out how right he was. I guess it was nice to hear that the PR damage from me exploding a mall store would be undone, but it was also the least of my concerns right now. "I'm not gonna accept any congratulations until I've finished this. Right now, I should… probably head home actually. I can't be out of the house when my family gets back without some pretty awkward questions coming up. I kind of forgot to leave a note or anything. Way too upset."

Armsmaster just shrugged it off. "So long as you come in for debrief some time today, I think I can allow a slight delay on the basis of personal and exceptional circumstances," he said before he shot me a grin, then pointed a finger at me in warning. "Although if you make the Director wait until tomorrow, I will find a way to drop all the paperwork for this incident in your lap. Don't think I won't."

I just rolled my eyes in reply, although the gesture was slightly wasted through my mask. "I'll be there this evening, don't worry about it." With that, I took to the skies, and began to make my way home. I didn't have that long actually, Mom shouldn't be back yet but she'd probably be getting off work any minute. At that point, she'd pick up my baby sister and head home. By the time she arrived, I'd have to be settled in, and ideally I'd clean up the broken mirror in my room too. Wasn't sure how I'd explain that one if she ever popped in.

I managed to get back in my room without being seen, shifted worlds, got changed, and shifted back. I grimaced at the mirror, and put the empty frame back in its place. The glass… I would figure that out a bit later.

I opened the door, ready to go downstairs, and immediately started hearing what sounded like television. Faintly, but distinctly there. After a moment of shock, I realised who it had to be. Made sense she'd come here. In a way, one that mattered, this was her home too. At least it made my job easier. I steeled myself, mentally readied my pitch, and went downstairs.

But I had to wonder, what exactly had happened in that safehouse?

Chapter 53: Shadow Knightmare 5

Chapter Text

"Men, I'll need you to stay here while I take my asset upstairs for a private discussion." There were some quiet murmurings among the assembled soldiers, but none dared challenge their perceived leader. Maybe after some swapped stories and critical thinking they would realise something was wrong, but by then it would be too late. I just needed the hostage out of the line of fire before I obliterated these goons.

I grabbed the girl by the wrist and walked over to a set of stairs I'd spotted, being as gentle as I could. Concerningly, she didn't bother to even slightly resist. Once we were upstairs, I moved across the hallway to get as far away from the mercenaries as possible and ducked into a room with her. It happened to be a bedroom, albeit one without any windows.

I let go of her hand, walked over to the end of the room, and pushed myself up and out. The fake Coil's body jerked up, stiffening and going completely upright before collapsing to the floor. Automatic instinct sent arms flailing forward to break his fall, so the skull didn't crack open. For my part, I was making sure the mind would stay suppressed. He'd be back up and running without any problems later on, but that was a few hours away. Law enforcement would have this guy in custody way before then.

That done, I emerged from the body's back, a shadowy blob that rose up and broke its tether to its former host. The girl gasped and started backing away, but thankfully didn't scream. With a simple effort of will, I reformed myself, shaping myself into an outline of my costumed body before I filled in the rest of my features. It took a few seconds, but as I visibly became more and more human, the girl steadily, although tentatively, relaxed.

"I think you're here to rescue me," she said, sounding both disbelieving and certain, like she couldn't believe her eyes yet had absolute faith in them at the same time. And, well, she was basically right. I hadn't expected to find anything specific, but now that I had I was damn well going to make sure Coil couldn't have it anymore.

"Yep. Give me a minute and I'll clean up the soldiers downstairs. Then you should be home free." At this point, I doubted the villain had the spare assets to try and recapture her, not while the PRT's eyes would be firmly affixed to both her and his operations. Speaking of looking at her, I took the opportunity to do it myself. Bluntly, she looked like shit. Ghostly pale, bags under her eyes, thin as hell, she wasn't making eye contact, and her brown hair looked neatly combed but needed a cut if it was going to be brought under control. In fairness, she'd been a kidnapping victim for… I wasn't actually sure. Point was, nobody would look good in her situation. She was wearing a sweater, skirt, and boots, probably Coil loans.

She was also looking intently down at the floor, choosing her words carefully and speaking in a whisper. "I didn't think this was going to happen."

Was she just going to be off in her own little world for a bit? I hoped not. To try and prod her out of it, as well as confirm certain suspicions, I spoke up. "Why not? It makes sense that people would go looking for the mayor's niece if she disappeared."

She gave a little frown and minutely shook her head. "Not what the numbers said. This morning I probably wasn't ever going to go home. I remember when I checked, it was only a twenty six point zero six two percent chance, almost exactly."

And with that, a lot of puzzle pieces clicked into place all at once.

A while back now, I'd tried to figure out the mystery of how the Undersiders had been captured despite Coil's power, knowing they were working for him. Three fairly strong capes weren't an asset you just lost behind the couch, so if they'd been captured despite being on an operation they'd planned in advance, I'd figured that must have meant Coil was doing something else at the time that he valued more than a full villain team. All I'd been able to come up with was the kidnapping of Dinah Alcott, which had happened suspiciously close to the failed prison break in terms of timing. Of course, I had no evidence to go off of, just conjecture, so I hadn't told anyone or thought about it that hard. It really wasn't my problem, although of course at the time I'd thought it was due to being, well, the other me.

I'd assumed that the reason was that Coil wanted a political hostage to advance his villainous mastermind games to the next level and the mayor's immediate family was too difficult to kidnap, but this actually made more sense. Somehow, Coil had figured out the kid was some sort of high-powered Thinker. And then for the next thirteen days he'd run absolute rings around everyone else.

The more I thought about it, the more it explained everything. No wonder he could figure out my secret identity so easily if he could just plain see the future. No wonder basically every gambit of his since then had worked out basically exactly how he'd wanted it to, probably including all the ones I didn't even know about, which had to be the majority. Hell, today would have gone his way as well if it wasn't for me being born through the most specific and unlikely chain of events. He'd overcommitted to removing the thorn in his side and come up with a run of bad luck, that's the only reason he wasn't sitting pretty right now. So no wonder her chances of rescue were so low.

Well that was a mystery I didn't know needed to be solved that just got solved.

While I was processing all that, Dinah had taken my silence as a chance to walk over to the body double lying flat on the ground. She'd drawn her right leg back when I finally noticed. "Alcott," I said, causing her to practically jump back in fright. Made sense that she'd be skittish. "It's fine, but if you kick like that you're going to hurt yourself. You should be aiming for soft areas like the belly, and doing it like this." I walked over and demonstrated the proper technique. She carefully looked at me, then copied it and struck the body dead-on in the belly. Honestly, for a first-timer twelve year old it was a good, solid kick. I liked this kid. "Okay, you keep kicking that body double if you want, I have to go down and actually take care of those soldiers like I said I would."

She turned around and nodded once before collapsing onto the bed. Either she trusted me by now, or she'd checked with her power and saw that I was about to kick serious ass. Didn't know, didn't care. I hovered off the ground slightly, and dashed out the open door, down the hallway, and down the stairs, landing on the ground in front of the very surprised soldiers a mere handful of seconds after I'd started.

To their credit, Coil's troops reacted quickly and professionally to an unknown parahuman showing up in front of them from practically thin air. After a few shouts of alarm, all weapons were pointed straight at me, and they wasted no time in opening fire. But while they were aiming, I raised my right hand and modified it a little. My body was now simply darkness; it could be reshaped, remade, according to whatever I wanted or needed. Everything below the wrist snapped to Dark Matter black, losing detail and texture. My fingers became thinner, blade-like, and extended. Spikes appeared, jutting back from each joint. The palm twisted into a more circular shape, and it split open to reveal an eye.

The soldiers had attacked as a unit. It would have been an impressively lethal coordinated barrage, with countless rounds hitting my centre mass and head, if I wasn't utterly bulletproof. But each hit still stung, and even if I could barely feel the individual impacts all those bullets together made for a whole lot of stinging. I snarled, thrusted my arm forward, and the eye in my palm looked to the left before slowly tracking right, firing small bolts of energy as it went. It wasn't as natural or as strong as channeling blasts through a sword, but it still did the trick. Each one that hit an enemy knocked them down, a mix of raw kinetic force and negative energy dropping them like puppets with their strings cut. By the time they realised what was happening and moved to adapt, it was too late. Still, one did manage to activate his laser attachment and fire a purple energy beam at me, but I darted to one side, cleanly dodging it. I would be able to survive a hit from it without issue, but if bullets could sting a bit I didn't want to know how badly the laser would burn. They were all down in seconds, and while some kept trying to move and fire back at first, a second sweep from right to left took care of that. Including hitting those who seemed to already be down again. Couldn't be too careful.

Coil's soldiers weren't parahumans, but they were difficult opponents for most capes; I still remembered my encounter with them at the mall. Unfortunately for them, I had both the element of surprise and more power than anyone else in the entire state. In any case, it definitely was gratifying to see entire squads of Coil's men down and out, ready for processing. I was just hitting nothing but net right now, and loving every minute of it.

I shifted my hand back to normal, headed back upstairs, grabbed the body double, and gestured for Dinah to come downstairs with me. She did so, hesitantly pausing when she saw the collection of bodies strewn around the place. "They're all alive and well, if that's what you're worried about. Just down for the count." I was fairly sure some were even still conscious, but if so they were wisely playing dead, which worked for me. If any of them wanted to try something, they'd just get blasted again.

She sat down on a couch that was a fair distance away from any of the soldiers, put her hands on her knees, and looked at me. Still didn't make eye contact, but hey, this was progress. "I think I need to go to the hospital. I'll get sick without my candy."

What? Wait, was Coil drugging her as well? Oh for fuck's sake. Well, it did make a degree of sick sense. Help keep her compliant and shit. "I'll call the PRT to come pick you up. I kind of do the hero stuff, not so much the follow up. But first, I'm gonna call Coil to try and maybe get some answers." And also to gloat. I took the cellphone out of the body double's costume pocket before dumping him on the floor. "You want to insult that fucker? Could be cathartic."

She shook her head. "I think I would rather just not hear his voice ever again."

I shrugged. Fair enough. "Okay. Want me to give him a message for you, then?"

She nodded, slightly more confident than I'd seen her before. "Tell him he's an arrogant dick. And that he's going to end up getting caught, ninety eight point five six two one three percent chance." she said. I knew I liked this girl, although the number jumped out at me.

"That high?" I said in surprise.

Dinah shrugged. "That's the chance he gets caught before he dies. Could be tomorrow, could be in twenty years." Well, it was something.

I opened up the phone, and redialled the last number, which I happened to know was Coil's. I put it to my ear, and a lazy, content smile spread across my face as the call connected. "What is it?" he said tersely.

"Wrong question. You should be asking who is it," I replied with as smug and self-satisfied a tone as possible. I was rewarded with a momentary pause followed by a deep sigh of sweet suffering.

"The hero of the hour, if I'm not much mistaken. Yes, my sources are keeping me up to date with events, so I know as much as anyone else about you. Evidently you've done a lot in the past fifteen or so minutes you've had out in the world. I'll cut to the chase, then. What do you want?" Instead of answering him right away, I held the phone to my ear with telekinesis, stretched myself out, and hopped into the living room armchair of this safehouse sideways. Suitably relaxed, I then continued.

"Answers, assurances, the satisfaction of getting to gloat at you after all the bullshit you've put me through in the past two weeks. Dinah says hi and fuck you, by the way. She also says that you're an arrogant dick who's gonna get caught for sure. And we both know that, well, she'd know." Coil also didn't answer immediately, but I got the sense that unlike me it was because he was actually at a loss for words.

"I've encountered many enemies on my rise to power so far, but I must admit that you and your progenitor are among the worst. I'll not let it be said I don't recognise talent when I'm looking at it. Bravo. I don't suppose I could convince you to return Miss Alcott to my custody? I know full well that Noelle's clones do not tend to the overly moral. You could name your price for doing so." He'd shifted tones, adopting a smooth negotiator persona. It was an impressively quick gear switch, honestly.

I wasn't going to act all high and mighty and say I would never consider something like that. I knew that if my other self thought about the idea for even a second she'd go all self-flagellation, but I liked to consider my options fairly. And considering the option fairly?

Yeah, it was fucked up. I may have been way looser than her about a lot of things, but even I knew giving a drugged, kidnapped child back to a supervillain was just not what you did. I had standards. On top of that, handing back Coil's prime asset made sure that he'd be a powerful enemy to everyone going forwards. He didn't have anything that could take me in a fight, I hoped, but between his own powers and Dinah's presumably strong thinker power he could be annoying in other ways, like he'd already demonstrated. Finally, fuck him for making assumptions about me. He didn't get to dictate who I was. That was a privilege reserved for me and me alone.

"Not a chance in hell. She's going home, and you literally cannot stop it," I replied.

"Very well then. I know when I'm beaten. Now, while I don't really have time for this conversation, what would you say if I told you that I might be able to give you an edge on a mutual enemy of ours? One that I'm certain you'll be able to exploit to the hilt." Okay, now I was suspicious.

"What's your game this time? You don't exactly have any reasons to want to help me." My smile was gone, replaced with a frown as I propped myself up on my elbows and focused.

"Oh, but I do. I'll be candid with you; for you to have performed as you did against Noelle, and then both captured this phone and Miss Alcott you must be an extraordinarily powerful cape. It wouldn't do for that power to be turned against me in the near future. I'm simply offering you a more enticing alternative, since you have no reason to ignore me otherwise. You see, unlike my underground base, that safehouse has not been scrubbed fully clean, and so has some valuable information within. It's not how I planned to use this data, but it would be captured and inevitably cracked by the PRT anyway, so I may as well ensure you get it first. After all, we both have a very personal stake in this. In addition, I can ensure no retaliation against you, your template, or your family, if that is your desire. Alternatively, I could provide you with a forged identity in a city of your choice for after your victory, letting you begin a new life. Of course, only if you would prefer that." I wouldn't, as it happened. I was immensely tempted by the idea, but my other self would hunt me down to the ends of the earth if she had to. I'd have to deal with her head on, and do it myself. But that was for later.

"I want to see this stuff for myself before I listen to another word out of you. And it'd better be good." Coil dutifully provided directions to a laptop on a nearby table, the location of some files, and the password for the files' encryption. Which was apparently Bagration44, not that I knew what that meant.

When I found the files, they hit me harder than the entire barrage of firepower had by a factor of ten. It may have hit me harder than even Noelle had managed to. The very first thing I saw was a full profile of Kaiser, and I meant full. Civilian name, profession, addresses, phone numbers, date of Kaiser's first appearance, pictures of the two identities side by side for comparison, and then evidence that the connection was real. Loads of it. I was skeptical for a few seconds, thinking it was too good to be true, but the points in the document won me over fast.

Then I scrolled down to see that it was an entire list of profiles. Purity. Hookwolf. Krieg. The other current Empire capes. Unpowered captains. A few random flunkies. Each with an overwhelming amount of information and evidence.

I could destroy the Empire with this.

I could destroy the Empire Eighty-Eight with this. The entire fucking gang of white supremacists, just delete it from existence in one fell, Dark Matter-powered, swoop.

Coil had this? For how long?

"Alright. Alright, I'm convinced. Don't touch my family, and keep an eye on the news." Coil took that as his cue to cut the call. I carefully put the phone down, and stared at the screen for a while longer. Dinah walked over, standing on the other side of the screen from me.

"What was that about?" she asked, sounding ever so slightly afraid again. Not having any context to the conversation was probably making her jump to some bad conclusions, if not deliberately then subconsciously, so I'd be honest. Clear things up.

"Coil's an evil fuck, but he just showed me how to take down some people who are even worse. It's not gonna save him from me in the end, but these people..." How to put this? "Taking them down means as much to me as taking down Coil does to you, basically. So I might spend a couple of days hunting them down."

Dinah frowned. "Is it the Empire?" That was a fair guess. Also, right.

"Yeah. I… have to do something now." I stood up and hopped up into the air, where I started hovering. "I'll call the PRT, let them know to come and get you. They should be here before too long." I could see her begin to look slightly worried again as she glanced over at the unconscious soldiers, so I added some reassurance to make her not go crazy. "And I'll call in a couple of friends who are just outside. Real ninja special forces types. They'll keep you safe until help arrives."

"Thank you. Really, thank you," she said. I nodded as I summoned what was basically a burner phone into existence with my power. "I didn't think I'd ever… well. And I was so worried, and alone, and… I still haven't fully... Processed it, I suppose. How long ago was it?"

"Thirteen days."

"...right. Not that long, but it feels like forever. And I can see the withdrawal coming. At least it'll only be a few days. I guess after that, I'll use my power to find the real Coil. And then… I don't know, yet. I guess I have time to figure it out, now."

"I'm sure you will. You're a good kid," I said while dialling emergency services. At that point it was as simple as getting through to the PRT, telling them about the situation, including that Dinah had to be brought to a hospital first thing, and then letting them handle it. I also called the Bio Sparks just outside to let them know to keep this place on lockdown until the heroes arrived.

Then I shifted into shadow form to shoot through the roof and into the blue sky above, before flying across the city and down into my bedroom. I quickly searched the house and learned I had gotten home first. But it wouldn't be by much. My other self had to be back in this world by now, and she'd come home too once she learned that she'd lost my trail. Even if for some reason she didn't, Mom and Thalia would be back in a half hour at most, maybe much less.

I looked at the shattered mirror, mentally shrugged, and decided to put it off for later. I wasn't feeling that responsible right now. So instead, I opened up my wardrobe and got dressed in actual clothes that weren't just memory-copies. Wearing my own clothes again didn't physically feel any different from the alternative, but it still felt kind of nice in a way I couldn't put into words.

I floated downstairs and flopped onto the couch in the living room, taking up the entire thing in the process, and brought the TV remote over to me with a quick effort of will. It was also nice to not have to move to get stuff, in a much more understandable, visceral way. I'd done enough today to earn the right to be lazy for the rest of it. Hell, for the rest of the year.

Of course, I wouldn't know what to do then. I turned on the television and flipped channels for a few seconds before landing in the middle of a nature documentary, something I could leave on in the background while I thought about things. Getting philosophical wasn't my strong suit, and I certainly didn't like doing it, but I didn't have much of a choice.

I felt something that needed answering inside of me, what did I want to do now? Or, no, that was the wrong question. I knew what I wanted to do. Destroy the Empire, then Coil by working with Dinah, then probably the ABB by finding and taking out Lung, then clean up all the minor villains and gangs, then anyone else who wanted to try and ruin the city. All that while remembering to actually have fun living my life, which would be easily doable if I wasn't being stalked by someone who wanted to leave me dead in a ditch for the crime of having the body of a force of pure unknowable alien evil. In fairness, not a terrible reason.

So knowing that, the question arose of how I could convince that stick in the mud and pain in my ass to go along with me for more than just the length of fighting a common enemy. Step one would probably be to find a new common enemy to extend our truce, and I happened to have one on hand. I figured she might be willing to look the other way over even Dark Matter if it meant cleaning out the Neo-Nazis with unstoppable strength.

But that wasn't really what I wanted to figure out either. The question I needed to ask was: who am I?

So far, I'd been running on a hundred percent instinct, and I'd like to think that had served me well. But now that I had a moment's break in the tactical planning and metaphorical adrenaline, I started to think about myself, and realised there wasn't really a 'myself' to think about. I didn't really have any experiences to shape me, I was just a personality formed from nothing.

Oh, sure, I wasn't amnesiac, I remembered all sorts of shit. Twice as much as most people, maybe more. But almost none of those memories were mine; I only truly owned the most recent ones. The Dark Matter's memories were like watching a movie. You could see and hear what was happening perfectly fine, you could even feel emotions about it, but you weren't experiencing it yourself. The memories I shared with my other half were closer, but still distant: I didn't really think of the person in them as being the same as me.

After all, I was clearly different from her. For the better as far as I was concerned, but still different. I couldn't chalk it up to some weird effect from powers, either. I was pretty sure that I'd been set free from all my shackles when I'd been separated from my parahuman ability. Noelle's conditioning had been wiped and the Dark Matter had gone to sleep. It was helpful, in a way. My temper, my drive, even my sexuality, I knew it was all me. Pure Sophia Hess. Meaning in the broad strokes, my other self was the way she was because of how she'd developed normally, not because of some power effect. The specifics, maybe those were pushed a bit, but it had to be minor.

So why was I different? And what were those differences, who was I at heart?

I really fucking hated this stuff. Unfortunately, I kind of had to address it if I wanted to properly live going forward. If I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do long term, I had to figure out what my priorities were, which meant understanding who I was.

I continued to silently brood for a couple more minutes before finally something happened: I saw myself enter the room. It was a big relief, since the worst she could do was try and stab me, which was a big improvement over all this introspective bullshit.

Alright, time to stand up, try and make my pitch, see how things go from there. As good a plan as any.

Chapter 54: Interlude 4 - Dark Matter

Chapter Text

Within its host of Hess, dead Dark Matter waited dreaming. Visions of past, present, and future collided, mixing together in fantastical kaleidoscopes of alien vistas and species before going their separate ways, perhaps forever. Only the most rudimentary intelligence gazed outwards into the world of the living, seeing without true comprehension.

For while it had been born anew from the wicked flames of hatred formerly branded into the mind of its host, such a comparatively meagre spark had been woefully insufficient to bring forth its true strength once again. It existed not in a manner comprehensible to the biological mind, but rather as a simple possibility. One that might yet emerge from its chrysalis, but equally one that had no power in the physical world, for all that its host was blessed with great might. It was a void of nothingness, of unreality, that could consume energy but not project it.

And yet even in this undead stupor, it could still see, feel, and understand emotions on some primordial level. For emotions were of the same breed as its lifeblood, its essence, and its greatest weakness, depending upon their polarity. So it was that it understood the feelings and even thoughts of the twin girls as well — perhaps better than they themselves did.

As for what said thoughts and feelings were? Normally, it would shy away from the full depths of others' emotions, full of bitterness, loneliness, and spite at their joy. But it could not look away, trapped in the throes of unlife as it was, and so stared on: unblinking yet uncomprehending. At least it was insulated from their hope and camaraderie, even currently minimal as it was, thanks to its resting place within the depths of its host's being.

The host/copy stood up from her relaxed position as she turned the television off. She grinned, and spread her arms wide. "Hey. So, do you think I should call you sis or something? Not sure what our relationship really is." Her casual tone belied the pressure she was feeling at this, the critical moment where she had to face someone who believed themselves her mortal nemesis. The trained eye of the other, the knight/progenitor, could see the tensing of muscles and the strain in her eyes that would be invisible to most.

Said knight felt similarly. She was here with an offer of peace and reconciliation, contrary to what the copy believed, but knew that if this olive branch was not accepted she would have no choice but to fight for the sake of the world. It was not a fight she wanted, it wasn't even one she thought she could win. But she still had hope that it wouldn't come to that.

She walked to the middle of the room, pivoted to face the host head-on, and folded her arms. "I don't know what you know, so I'll just tell you everything important. You have a, well, basically a 'seed' of Dark Matter inside you. It's what's powering you. Problem is, we think it's growing, and once it's grown enough? Pretty sure you're just going to die. Probably followed by the rest of us. But, we can save you. It's as simple as taking you to the Crystal on Ripple Star and letting it push the Dark Matter out of your body. Then, I don't know, at that point it's the easy part. Getting rid of it if the Crystal doesn't destroy it outright, figuring out what to do with you. I promise that I'll try to make sure you, I don't know. Get a good life, I guess? Even if it means finally explaining everything to Mom, if you want to stay here. You'd have to tell me what you want, though." Her voice was steady, but there was an undercurrent of pleading, made obvious by her attempt at bargaining.

The host let her arms drop to her side, tilted her head back, and paused. This was not merely surprising, it was a complete bolt from the blue and warranted careful consideration. It wasn't an offer without its merits. It had safety and self-determination in equal measure, not things to take for granted. For all that she disagreed with her template on various things, the copy appreciated the good faith that had gone into the offer.

But she wouldn't accept it. Couldn't. Even if it worked, then realistically she would lose all her power, so recently gained. It wasn't something she was willing to give up, not so soon after getting it. Not while there was still so much she could do with it. "No," she finally said after several seconds of increasingly uncomfortable silence.

The knight reacted immediately. Her hands curled into fists, her face erupted into an angry snarl, and her eyes hinted at a sadness that it had come to this after all. When she spoke up, her voice was perfectly controlled and ice cold. "Are you insane or just stupid?" she asked.

The host hovered slightly off the ground before sitting down and leaning back in a chair that wasn't there, one leg crossing over the other. "Neither. The Dark Matter's asleep, it's not a threat. If it does look like it's gonna wake up, I'll deal with it then. Maybe I'll even need your help, sure. But that's for the future. Right now, I'm fine the way I am. Which is powerful. Because even if your little plan works out exactly the way you hope it does, which isn't certain, I go back to being a regular human. Because, long story short, my weird mixed-up version of your parahuman power got cut off when I became Dark Matter, and I don't think it's coming back."

"This isn't the time to play games," the knight hissed. "We're talking about a potential threat to the world. If there's even a slight chance it could go off without you being able to come to me first? That's it, game over. It's not something we can risk. Don't you see that?"

"Don't you see?" the host replied pettily. "You know I'm not evil or insane, otherwise you wouldn't have even tried to give me the offer. I'm you, so can't you trust me when I say things? What do you know about Dark Matter, really? You've only ever seen it from the outside. Not like anyone's ever studied it with science or magic or shit. And if you leave me with this strength? I can't fix shit like the whole fucked economy thing, but what I can do is fight villains better than anyone else in the city. By the end of the week I can have the Empire on its knees." She snapped her fingers, and a small shower of black sparks erupted from the point of contact, purely for emphasis. "Just like that."

"Bullshit," the progenitor began, but she was quickly cut off.

"No bullshit, no lies, no exaggeration. For one thing, you've already seen how powerful I am. For another, I know the secret identities of every Empire cape still in the city. Coil had a whole list of them, details and everything, which I have up here." She tapped her right temple twice. "Perfect memory. Dark Matter perk. The PRT has the list too, so you can go and ask them if you don't believe me, but they're not perfect. Me? I can make sure not a single one of them gets away. Give me a day, and I'll make a string of captures that'll make national news headlines. Fuck, I'd even offer to share the glory if I didn't know you don't give a shit about that kind of thing. Isn't that worth it, considering all you have to do is just leave me be? Not exactly asking for the fucking moon, am I?"

"That's the best news I've heard all year, but if the PRT has the information then they can take care of it. Especially with the two of us, because even if you lose your powers we can still give you equipment. You can still fight, make a difference." The knight held her ground, continuing to argue. She wanted to put off fighting until it was an absolute necessity, and still had hope that it wasn't.

The host leaned further back in her invisible chair until she was halfway to laying down. Then she blew air through closed lips and almost visibly deflated. "You're making this way harder than it should be. I was expecting it to be simple, you come and try and stab me, I stab you, no issues. Then you had to go and be all reasonable and shit. It's fucked up is what it is, making me have to think about shit more than I already did. Funny how this turned out, though. I had fifteen years of your memories, and I still couldn't predict what you'd do."

"Well, I had some good friends to help me figure things out," the progenitor softly replied with the ghost of a smirk on her face, causing the copy to groan loudly in protest.

"Actually fuck off with that friendship bullshit. We both know that you're a shit friend who only goes to people when you need something from them or they drag you along behind them. When was the last time you talked to your own brother? You haven't called Terry once since he went away." The copy lashed out more due to general irritation than anything else, but said what both parties believed to be the truth at heart.

"I'm busy." The knight awkwardly shrugged, attempting to defend herself to the both of them. "It's hard to find the time."

"It is literally only hard because you make it hard. You're in full-time schooling and full time caping and you don't want Mom to know, meaning you can't casually ditch the house while she's home," the host pointed out before pausing and screwing up her face in confusion.

"...but even that doesn't explain you not doing anything during the weekend before six or so. Holy crap. You're just bad at this. Oh my god, how did I not realise this sooner? How did you not realise this sooner?"

The progenitor grimaced and looked away while hunching in on herself ever so slightly. "You know why. Not much point in getting too close to people if you're not that long for this world."

"But- I-" The host stumbled over her words for a second as she tried to voice her exasperation. She shifted from her seated position back to standing, feet on the ground once more. "But you can just choose to live? You have so many options! Join the Wards, just stop caping, be an independent hero in a safer manner, fuck, leave this universe altogether!"

She smacked her palm into her forehead before continuing. "This is so stupid! You're stupid! Am I stupid because I'm your clone?"

"You've made your point," the knight growled, glaring at her twin.

"Great, so now I have to go with the lunatic's idea or be stabbed by the lunatic," the host muttered, as if her progenitor hadn't said a word. "Just great." In truth, she was torn. She still believed she could contain the Dark Matter, that this affair was unnecessary and would strip her of hard-won power and freedom. But her other self had also made the point that she would aid the host in her aspect as progenitor if she complied, and hunt the host down in her aspect as knight if she did not. Losing this power would be unfortunate, but not the end of the world.

A third option wandered into her mind. Take the progenitor's body for herself. It would be easy. Overwhelm the enemy with superior strength and speed before pushing her being within, taking over, suppressing the original mind. As far as she knew, there was no time limit with that power, so she could live out a normal life with nobody any the wiser.

It would also be, for all intents and purposes, murder. The host still wasn't sure what she wanted to do going forward, other than continue to survive. But she did know that she didn't want to be a murderer. She had taken a life already, the other clone. It was necessary, and she would do it again without hesitation or regret if she had to. But if she didn't?

The notion settled into her stomach, and it was an uneasy one. Snuffing out someone else's life without need?

She wouldn't claim to be playing the noble hero like the knight was. But the copy remembered why the progenitor had started crusading, and even if she had the perspective to realise the foolishness she also had the perspective to remember why that had happened. The vision of perfect heroes and a better world. As a result, the host had lines she wouldn't cross. She wasn't letting herself be held back by doubts and rigid codes, but that didn't mean she was about to embrace something that could be called evil.

It would be too easy to forcefully take the body for herself. Maybe she wasn't meant to have that sort of power? That idea justified to her what she said next, at least in her own mind.

"So, just checking, this whole Crystal plan of yours is gonna work, right? And I'll be fine afterwards?"

"Yeah, we've checked all the, what's the word? Variables, that's it. There's no risk," the knight lied, trying not to sound too eager at this seeming decision.

"Then I'll go with your stupid plan. You win," the copy said, reassured. The knight visibly collapsed in relief, almost doubling over and sighing loudly, while the host slumped onto the living room's couch. They were silent for a minute or so, not really sure what to do next, when they were interrupted by the sound of a car finally pulling into the house's driveway. Their time alone was up, and they both knew that only one of them should stay, lest things get difficult to explain.

"I call you staying here while I leave," the host said quickly as she shot back up to a standing position, desiring to use her abilities one last time before they were taken away. An idea came to mind immediately. "Hey, since she pretends she's not with the Empire proper, they wouldn't realise anything was wrong if I punched Purity in the face, right?" She asked.

"I guess?" The knight tentatively answered. The host grinned, winked, and just before a key turned in the door she shifted into liquid shadow and fled through the roof and into the sky. It would only be a brief excursion, an ambush before dragging her over to the PRT and possibly having to deal with some questions, but the impulsive heroine felt it was a good use of what time remained all the same.

As she flew away, Dark Matter pulsed and thrummed, crippled and sleeping. A mere possibility. With any luck, a possibility it would forever remain.

With any luck.

Chapter 55: Chapter 42

Chapter Text

Weirdly, Mom came inside with Thalia and said hello to me like nothing was wrong. Well, it wasn't that weird from her perspective, but after the day I'd had I would have expected something else to jump out at me right now. Instead, we just exchanged a few words before she went off to put her work stuff away, and I patted my little sister on the head before taking her to the living room.

The next few hours passed in what I could only call a haze, time slipping away as I just waited. Nothing really happened, I sat around until it was time for dinner, and once I'd eaten I made my excuse and was off. If I was going to follow my clone's advice and change after this was over, I'd probably have to start with my immediate family, but it could wait until things were safely wrapped up. And possibly after I'd had a decade or so of sleep to get the exhaustion of riding the knife's edge for the past couple of weeks out of my system.

I had a lot of things to do, and not a ton of time to do them in, so I had to be efficient. Step one, get changed into costume. During this step, I was reminded that I'd been so absorbed by planning on how to get my other self to cooperate that I'd left an entire company of Meta-Knights behind at Coil's base. I really was just that tired out by this whole thing, I supposed. So I moved from my room on the Halberd back out to the mustering yard where I'd taken them from, shifted worlds back to my room, grabbed my Ripple Star medal from its place in a drawer, and flew off into the evening, going practically straight for the base.

As it turned out, they'd settled in well enough, at some point bringing forth a cauldron and some wood to start cooking up meals for the entire unit. The chef looked tired himself, but fairly satisfied, standing next to a tall pile of dirty plates that had been picked clean.

"Right, sorry," I said mostly on instinct before clapping my hands twice. "I'm here now! Everyone, fall in, you're heading home! And… Thank you for your help today. Not sure how to say it exactly, but you've just helped a lot of people by doing this." It was a short few minutes to bring them and their detritus back over to the Other World, and then it was time for step two, actually going to Ripple Star. It was as simple as holding my medal-crystal and willing it to open the way. It locked onto the true Crystal easily, and tore open a hole in space. Ripple Star still looked weird to me, even after all this time. The planet was literally heart-shaped, and had a face on it, as well as being surrounded by smaller hearts and some ribbons. Although I supposed that the planet I was standing on right now literally looked like a chubby star, so I shouldn't act surprised about it.

I hopped through and deftly landed on the planet's surface, the portal closing behind me. It hadn't changed a bit over the last four years. Same strange slightly-floating castle, same clouds that made perfect hearts and hollow circles, and as I took off my mask to take in the feel I smelled that same smell of Flower. Not any specific kind of flower, just something that registered as Flower.

I took it back, this planet was weird even by the standards of the Other World, and I wasn't gonna pretend otherwise. It was refreshingly cute, though, so I couldn't complain. It was just connected to some pretty good memories, and it was also… nice. It was just nice to stand on. It was kind of hard to explain actually, but it just had a general atmosphere that nothing would go wrong. Not that it was true, the last time I was here was in the aftermath of something going extremely wrong, but the feeling was good all the same.

Part of it was the inhabitants. The pint-sized fairies were around Kirby's height, meaning they were half as tall as me, maybe a bit less. Plus, they had a lot less volume, even counting the translucent pair of wings, since they were roughly human child shaped rather than big orbs of mass. They flitted around mostly without a care in the world through the open air. Of course, I wasn't here to see them again, for all it was nice.

I pulled my armored hood down as I clamped my mask to my side, and simply walked over to one that happened to be near the ground. "Excuse me?" I asked. "I need to talk to the Queen. It's very important." That's all I needed to say to get a response, since the fairy quickly nodded before flying away. Some others nearby hovered hesitantly around me, keeping a respectable distance but looking on curiously as I walked over to the fountain in the outer courtyard and sat down on its stone edge, waiting.

"Sophia?" a faintly familiar voice asked. I turned my head slightly to the fairy with her pink hair and red dress. "You look… armored." It was more a statement of fact than anything else.

"Hi Ribbon. Been a while," I replied. "How have things gone here over the last few years? You've all been safe?"

She flitted over to my other side, laughing. "Nothing too bad! A metal planet flew by last year, and it got kind of close, but the Crystal warded it off. Other than that, it's mostly just been how it used to be before our adventure. Oh, Kirby and Adeleine still write, and I go and visit them sometimes. What about you, Sophia? How have you been?"

I grimaced. "Busy, mostly. And right now, between the two of us, I have a bit of a problem. That's why I'm here."

"Ah," Ribbon said, nodding in understanding as she tentatively plucked the medal from my open hand. "Well, I'm sure the Queen will be willing to help you. I mean, you helped us in our time of need, right?"

I glanced away. "I really didn't do anything worth talking about."

"You helped fight a giant robot! And besides, it's the thought that counts." I think phrasing my inept and near-suicidal flailing as helping to fight was, hmm, I think the term was revisionist history, but I took the hint and let the conversation lie there.

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait overly long until another even more faintly familiar voice made itself heard, although from a fair distance. "-coming I'm coming I'm coming!" I looked up just in time to see the rapidly descending form of the ruler of Ripple Star, although I was very unsure how much actual ruling she did.

With a last flutter of wings, she landed a little too hard right in front of me, trying to combine it with a hasty bow that skewed her thick-rimmed glasses and crown. She looked up at me and blinked rapidly. Ribbon hovered over and whispered something in her ear, causing her to stare harder for a moment before her eyes widened slightly in recognition. "My, you've grown!"

"I, uh-" I paused for a moment in surprise. "Yes. I have."

She straightened out her glasses while Ribbon carefully tapped her crown back into position and curtsied, making it obvious that her dress's sleeves were slightly too long. "Anyway, you said it was something urgent?" she said earnestly.

I grimaced and nodded. "Yeah. This is kind of awkward to say, but I need your help with a Dark Matter incursion." As I expected, there was a collective gasp among the surrounding fairies, and the Queen practically jumped back in surprise. Ribbon took on a more determined expression, although after a moment it shifted to one of thoughtfulness.

"Of course we'll help against Dark Matter, but why us? Wouldn't Kirby be a better choice?" she asked.

"Maybe if it was a regular incursion, but this is a bit more difficult. A, uh, friend has been infected with a seed of Dark Matter, and we need to push it out of her before it can wake up and do whatever it's gonna do. Dark Matter stuff, I guess. We think that the Crystal can help."

By this point, the Queen had regained her composure, and nodded once gracefully. "Very well. Follow me." She turned and began to fly up back towards the citadel behind her. I supposed that if your entire species could fly, you just kind of assumed everyone could. Fortunately for everyone, even though it wasn't immediately obvious, I could fly too. My wings snapped open and flapped, sending me into the sky, and I kept pace with her much smoother climb as best I could. She started talking to me (and Ribbon, who'd decided to tag along) while we were ascending, and continued as we landed on a balcony and went inside, walking towards the Crystal.

"What you're asking isn't simple. The Crystal is older than any of us. When the first fairy arrived on Ripple Star, the Crystal was here, a gift from the Ancient Ones. We protect it, we keep it clean, we can even control it a little. But we don't understand its powerful core of light magic. I think we can help your friend, but she'll have to do some of the work herself by maintaining a positive outlook. The Crystal's light will need to be able to tell the difference between her and the Dark Matter to push it out, at least if it's lying deep and dormant like you're saying."

"What happens if she can't?"

"Well, either nothing or she'll risk..." The Queen put a hand to her mouth, covering it with her thick sleeve and causing her next words to be muffled. "Well, being torn apart into pieces."

I set my mouth into a thin line. "I promised her she'd be safe if she agreed to undergo the procedure, if that's what we want to call it. And you're telling me she could die? Isn't there anything you can do?"

She shook her head. "We'll do all we can, but I'm afraid it's a difficult thing. We don't understand Dark Matter either, you see. Other than when it attacked us, all we really know is that it's a force of negative emotions, and that the Ancient Ones either feared it or worshipped it. And even the few ancient texts we have are riddled with confusing euphemisms, prophecies, and we've had some translation issues with a few of the words. For example, they have two different terms for the 'father of the matter most dark', and we don't know if they both mean the Zero. It's hard enough to fight it when it presents itself. I think it will be even harder to fight it when it hides itself." The clear regret in her voice just made me feel worse about the situation in general. Still, I'd gotten this close to the finish line. No sense in giving up now. I just had to hope my other self was up to the task.

Apparently my doubts were visible on my face, since Ribbon hovered up to eye level and gave a cheery smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll make it! With you by her side, there's no way she doesn't!"

I just sighed. "I hope so. She's my clone, so I'm not sure what it says about us otherwise." I decided to drop that detail now to prevent a shock later. Surprisingly, they both acknowledged it but didn't really seem that surprised. I guess they just expected humans to be weird like that.

"We're here," the Queen said suddenly, throwing open a pair of doors that led into the Crystal's chamber. A single walkway led to a floating platform that hung over an empty void, the Crystal itself floating over an inner pedestal, surrounded by a gentle barrier of light. Light that was coming from above as much as below, as the sun was shining through a hole in the roof. Or, no, that was an aperture that could open and close. I could see the edges and lines where the shutter was hidden away once we'd entered the chamber proper.

"I'll be back with her as soon as I can find her," I said, annoyed by the fact that she'd left without leaving me a way to get in touch with her easily. Still, I had to check the details with the Queen first, and I had a pretty good idea of where she was, so this was still the right call. Didn't like the idea of making them wait too long, but I'd be quick.

"Got it," the two fairies said, and after I'd walked just out of sight of the Crystal a few seconds of concentration was all I needed to shift worlds once again. From there, it wasn't too far from Coil's hidden lair to PRT Headquarters, where I just walked in through the front door. Last time I'd been here had been during the Traveler's attack, and needless to say it looked pretty different when it wasn't an active combat zone. Still, I understood it was pretty busy earlier in the day, between actual PRT agents performing their duties and people on the guided tours or in the gift shop, which was quite a contrast to the present dead silence now that they'd locked up the public-facing section. At the very least a couple of squads would be on standby, and dispatch would be standing ready, but it turned out that most people's hours made way more sense than mine.

There was a team of four agents standing at strategically chosen points in the lobby, at least. The one closest to me waved me over. "Director's been waiting for you. She's in a meeting room behind the front desk." He gestured towards the room in question. I thanked him and continued forward.

The meeting room was unassuming, although a bit nicer than what I assumed the actual interrogation rooms would look like. Nice to see that I was still at least a little in the PRT's good graces. There was a desk with an open laptop and three chairs, although I got the impression that they'd been dragged in for the occasion. I guessed a formal debrief with a cape who wasn't either a villain, a Ward, or a Protectorate member wasn't that common, and those three would have been done in an interrogation chamber, Wards HQ, or PHQ respectively. Then again, this was the city with New Wave in it, so was that even true to begin with? I guess it didn't matter that much.

As for the chairs, two were on the far side of the table and already occupied by Director Piggot and Armsmaster, one sitting right at the desk and one sitting on her left and a bit behind it, halberd clamped to his back at an angle. Although the third chair was pulled out and positioned for me to take it, I stayed standing for the time being.

"Before we start, can I ask about my clone-" I stopped mid-sentence as I heard the gentle tap of boots touching the ground while Piggot scowled and Armsmaster grimaced. For my part, I just sighed as I half-turned around. "There's a door."

"Yeah but the ceiling's more fun. And more comfy. And it lets me listen to Purity get raked over the coals in the interrogation room a couple floors up. You can thank me for that one later, by the way," she said, smirking. Well, she said she was gonna go do that, so I wasn't too surprised.

"I will," I replied earnestly. "But that was your last bit of fun." I turned my head around, back to the two officials. "Permission to take a few moments to dimensionally shift her and stop her from being a risk?" That particular part of my powers wasn't a secret anymore, so I didn't have to hide it. That was a little freeing, honestly.

For her part, Piggot just looked to her left. "I think there's sufficient evidence to believe we should take her at her word here," Armsmaster crisply said. The PRT Director nodded and turned back to us, clasping her hands on the desk in front of her.

"Very well, you can go ahead. Try not to be too long," she said. I nodded, grabbed my other self by the upper arm, let a few seconds pass while I concentrated, and shifted worlds once more. She then willingly let herself get more or less dragged back into sight of the Crystal and halfway across the walkway to it.

Then things started to go wrong.

First was the hiss, a sound that would be more at home coming from a snake than a person, emanating from deep within my other self's throat. I turned to see her single visor-eye fixed right on the floating Crystal. She took several silent steps back across the walkway. I folded my arms and looked on, impassive. Ribbon and the Queen cautiously advanced on either side of me, moving a bit closer to her, but not close enough that they were in her personal space.

"Sophia?" Ribbon gently asked.

"That thing isn't meant to exist," she snarled. "It's wrong." I wasn't sure what she meant, but I could guess pretty well, and the Queen confirmed it just moments later.

"This must be the Dark Matter speaking from inside you. It's afraid," she surmised. My other self paused, expression frozen. I wasn't even sure if she was breathing.

For my part? Well, so long as she was here, the threat was minimal. Even in the absolute worst case, we could simply use one of the now much more available methods to deal with the Dark Matter, and she couldn't get home without hitching a ride with me. We could afford to wait. "If you're not up to it, we can put it off. We don't have to do it right this second." She remained frozen in place.

I took a few cautious steps towards her, slowly reaching out. "We should probably get you out of here, though-"

She finally tore her attention from the Crystal, choosing to glare straight at me instead. "You! You promised this would be safe! I guess I should have only ever trusted myself!" She snapped, voice full of betrayal, as her arm shot out to one side and she closed her hand into a loose fist as if holding a blade.

"Don't!" the Queen and Ribbon cried out simultaneously, but it was too late. The Crystal, previously silent, sprung to life, a target having presented itself at last. As a sword began to form in her fist, a beam of pure light lanced out and pierced her gut. Something between a shriek and a screech came from the impact zone while the silhouette I could now barely make out stumbled back and tried to shield its eyes.

I took my turn to freeze, unsure of what to do. Of what I even could do right now.

Luckily, the Fairy Queen was much quicker on the uptake. She briefly chanted a few alien words from behind me and a portal tore open behind the being currently splitting in two, a dense, dark stone rapidly forming in the midst of the humanoid frame. The latter stumbled back further, being practically sucked in by the hole in space, fully separating from the Dark Matter and causing the light to fizzle and fade as its two targets separated. The stone dropped unceremoniously to the floor as my copy tumbled into space and the portal closed behind her.

I moved to end it then and there, taking a step forward as my hand darted to the hilt of my sword, but the Dark Matter was quicker than both me and the Crystal. It jumped forward, interrupting my draw, and latched itself onto my chest, shifting so its eye faced outward while its tendrils seeped inward.

I could feel it inside my mind. Mostly, I could feel how weak it was. It was brought out into reality by the Crystal's light long before it was ready, and so it was already on the verge of death. A shadow of its potential power. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite weak enough that it couldn't steal my body out from under me.

Before the Crystal could adjust, it flicked a switch in the back of my mind much better than I could, and I shifted worlds back to Earth Bet. My body jerkily finished drawing my sword and igniting it, but before it could do anything else Armsmaster had stood up, leveled his halberd at the pustule of Dark Matter on my stomach, and launched the head out on a chain. The impact was hard, causing my unsteady body to double over before toppling on my ass, but the important part was that I could feel a sluggishness entering the Dark Matter from where the spearpoint had impacted it. Tranquilizers?

Whether it was that or just battle damage, it gave me just a tiny bit more freedom. The head of the halberd reconfigured into a grappling hook configuration while still inside the Dark Matter's protruding eye, giving him a grip on it. At that point, it tried to use my power again, but I was ready and able to do something about it. I could tell it wanted to leave Armsmaster behind in this world, but I didn't let it.

All three of us shifted worlds together, and Armsmaster didn't miss a beat. He finished his maneuver, retracting his grappling hook and tearing the Dark Matter free from where it was attached to me. It stung like hell all over, but it worked. Then he shifted his grip slightly and slammed the Dark Matter blob down to the ground where he shifted his halberd head again, reconfiguring it into some kind of rectangular steel cage with two metal arcs that had electricity dancing around them, trapping the crippled Dark Matter inside. Maybe for just a moment, but that was long enough. Unable to move, it couldn't escape when another beam of light shot from the Crystal, this one far surer and with more intensity. The Dark Matter faded away under the assault of light, rapidly disintegrating into nothingness.

The light stopped. A heartbeat passed. Nothing more happened.

It was over. The Undersiders, Coil, Noelle, Dark Matter, my clone. It was all finally over.

But I still couldn't rest quite yet. I had to try and find out what had happened to my shadow. And as I locked eyes with Armsmaster, I realized I probably had some explaining to do.

Chapter 56: Chapter 43

Chapter Text

My gaze flicked away from Armsmaster and over to the Queen. "I need a portal to wherever the last one was."

"I-" she began before stopping, sighing, and making a gesture with her right arm towards the Crystal. Space tore once again, and I hopped through into the starlit void.

Like the space in my universe, it was very cold and didn't have much atmosphere. Unlike the space in my universe, it wasn't to the point where I'd swiftly die. Instead, it was only fairly uncomfortable. I'd guess it was like being high up on a mountain, although I'd never gone mountain climbing so I couldn't be sure.

I looked in every direction, even using my wings to spin myself in zero-gravity so I could look behind me too. Stars, constellations, nebulae — they all filled my vision, but nothing that looked person shaped. There was some far-off structure that could have been a space station, and other bright dots that might have been nearby planets. I cycled through my mask's vision-modes as I spun and spun, but it didn't let me find her.

Meaning I was alone, in the depths of space with no one around. Tumbling aimlessly. Voices faintly transmitted from the portal, and yeah, I was meant to be on the other side. After a few last glances, a couple of wingbeats took me back to Ripple Star.

"Nothing," I said, voice coming out a little more exhausted than I'd meant it to. "Are you sure that's where she went?"

The Queen nodded sharply, skewing her glasses again and leading her to fumble a little as she tried to right them. "Her attunement with the Crystal was heightened while she was being attacked by it. Part of the portal opening was her doing, and she blindly set the coordinates to the very edge of the galaxy. I sent you to the same place, but it looked through the portal like it was empty, and that means she could have drifted quite a bit in any direction even though it hasn't been long. I was worried this would happen, and we might not be able to find her. It's a big place, out there."

"And lonely," Ribbon added, looking as forlorn as I felt.

I turned and began to march away from the Crystal. I just needed a moment. The others followed me as I strode to the nearest balcony and hopped off the edge. I'd survive even the harshest fall, but my wings almost instinctively snapped open to catch some updraft, slowing me a bit. I heard the scraping of steel on stone and twisted in midair to see Armsmaster sliding down the side of the wall behind me. Yeah, he could do that. I'd kind of forgotten.

Once he saw me looking at me, he opened his mouth to say something to me, but I was faster. I angled my wings carefully and flapped them once, decisively, sending me back a fair amount all at once. I angled them a bit differently and kept going back, slowly, away from the castle. A few seconds later, I landed one leg fairly gently on the dry stone spike jutting out of the centre of the courtyard fountain. More angling, hoisting my other leg up in the air a bit, arms a little out. Balance. Precarious, but there.

Breathe. In, and out.

I took off my mask and yanked my hood down before tossing the mask into the water below. It flowed to the edge of the fountain's basin but got stuck, and didn't go over the edge. But it was another precarious thing.

Was she dead? Had I gotten her killed? With my, what? Stupidity? Arrogance? With my lies, certainly.

It was… it was so much. And I was so tired by it all.

We were this close to the finish line! The two of us were about to go home together! I'd only known her for hours, but after all the things she'd said, I-

"What would those be, again?" Armsmaster cut in, making me realise that he'd dashed over to me, halberd clamped to his back, and that I'd been muttering to myself out loud without meaning to. I also noticed he pointedly wasn't actually looking at me. Right, because of the mask situation.

"You can look, I don't fucking give a shit." He opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted. "Yes I'm sure. Don't make this any more awkward than it already is." My wings spread wide and flapped hard, sending me soaring high up into the air but only a little forward. I landed heavily just in front of the fountain's outer edge and sat down. Second time today. I noticed that Armsmaster had sat down besides me and was still not looking at me. Basterd.

Ribbon, the Queen, and some other fairies were, though. I sighed. "Could you give us a moment?"

The Queen nodded, looking serious once more, before suddenly brightening up and clapping her hands together through her sleeves. "Come on everyone! Back into the castle, let's give our guests some privacy!" The small flyers dutifully obeyed as she walked them away, Ribbon riding herd on the ones further out. Soon it was just the two of us. Humans on an inhuman world, but inhuman in a good way.

"So, noticing anything?" I asked before the silence could get uncomfortable.

"Lots of readings. Some of them are normal, some are more strange," he replied.

"You know, you're sounding pretty unsurprised about this whole thing," I said, frowning. Which I belatedly realised he would actually notice for once if I wasn't looking at the precisely shaped clouds rather than me.

"Well, when you've been a hero for fifteen years it's pretty hard for anything to surprise you," he said, annoyingly reasonable. "But this does come close. If I'm right, then when your clone said that your power led into a pocket dimension…" He trailed off, but the emphasis made it clear what he was getting at.

"Yeah. Didn't think you'd believe me if I corrected her, and that's probably why she said it the way she did. But, well. Every star in the sky is as real as one of ours. And a lot more in reach, too." Where could I even begin with this? I wasn't sure, but knew I had to. My words were spilling out, unguarded. I'd known, for a moment, someone else who knew what I'd been through. I guess I wanted that back. And to explain to myself why I was feeling like this, because even I wasn't sure.

"Four years ago," I began. "Four years ago. That is when I got my powers. And I came, not here, but to this universe's version of Earth. It was frozen over and abandoned, but I met some people who were on an… adventure, I guess? That's basically what they considered it. And it was to stop the Dark Matter. The thing you saw, controlling me? That was its crippled form, barely alive even before you stabbed it. I mean, you knew already, you watched the recording. But still, I was there, and then I joined them and came here. I was there when they defeated Miracle Matter and Zero Two, that's why they were so willing to help me out when I came asking. But it was bad, back then. The entire world was shrouded in Dark Matter. Not that it was literally a permanent night or anything, not outside of the main castle, but you could kind of tell it was there. Um—" I pressed my palm to my forehead. "I'm not sure where I'm going with this."

"Four years is longer than I'd expected, since you only showed up on the scene less than two years ago," Armsmaster helpfully said, letting me refocus.

"Right. Well, for a year or so I was just using my power to summon little allies after finding Empire thugs or whatever and getting them to attack. It was kind of stupid, honestly. I just patrolled in the afternoons and the evenings, didn't really coordinate with anyone or do stakeouts or anything like that. I hurt and brought in a few people, but it wasn't anything consistent or meaningful."

Armsmaster reacted with a start. "You were that Master? We tried to track you down to have a talk about the Wards program and your safety, but then you stopped showing up and we heard some rumors that you were killed. I thought it was a tragedy, but then moved on. Glad to know that wasn't the case."

I shrugged. "I was stabbed. That gave me a shock. So I dropped off the radar for about six months, and went hard into training in this world. At the end, I got my equipment, and came back. Started doing things properly. Skill, commitment, gear. And then fuck all happened for a year and a half."

Armsmaster snorted in what was clearly his failed attempt to stifle a laugh. I snapped my head around to glare at him, but wasn't able to muster much real fury right now. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that you sound exactly like I do when I'm talking to Miss Militia or Dragon sometimes, if you can believe it. It's uncanny, is all."

I grimaced and looked away again, and began aimlessly kicking my feet in the air. An older behavior. I'd trained myself out of fidgeting a while back, but the fighting was over now, at least this bit of it. It wasn't as much of a risk. "I guess I can see that," I said after a moment's consideration.

"I mean, this probably all sounds stupid to you, then—" So it's appropriate that a fucking moron's saying it, I thought but didn't add. "But I guess I should keep explaining. So I was trained here, in this alien, magical world, and I gave my everything to try and make things right back home. Even though the city was basically fucked, I tried. And it didn't matter. Nothing really changed. So I kept trying, not slowing down. Doing more hours, if anything. And nothing changed, still. And then it went on, and on, and on. Was I doing good? I think so, yeah. I stopped some pretty bad crimes, put away a couple of villains. Saw some messed up shit. Went to Canberra. But here we are, and until I fought the Undersiders, it was basically the same as when I'd started. Maybe worse, if anything."

Armsmaster was staying silent, nodding along. I took that as permission to continue. "And it was just so bad because, I'm not a good hero, you know? The Triumvirate are good heroes. You're a good hero. Everyone here's a good hero, except for the bad guys and civilians. But me? I have a temper. I like the violence. I'm stubborn, and so I usually get blindsided by everything. I'm not naturally good at the whole self-sacrifice thing. Even my results aren't great. But, you know, I'd seen this world, and despite the literal space demons that had to be fought, it was just… nice to be in. Way nicer than our world, where my city was infested with people who basically wanted me dead because of what I looked like, or the person who made me trigger in the first place. And it gives you hope, this world. This universe. It made me think that I could change my own world for the better if I brought over its, I don't know. Its essence.

"So I wore a mask, a, shit, a figurative one? Yeah, as well as a literal one. It wasn't easy, but I thought it was worth it. And I talked with other people about this. Gallant on the day I caught the Undersiders, a couple of my civilian friends at other times. And they told me, I needed to stop, but did I listen? Well, yeah, but I still believed that it didn't matter. That what I was doing was important. God, that makes me sound like I'm fucking delusional. And now here we are."

"Sounds like something's changed," Armsmaster said.

"Yeah. Her. We… had an argument. About whether or not to come here. I convinced her to come by lying, and she made some good points about how I wasn't really living. Just waiting to die. I mean, she didn't say that exactly, but it's what she was getting at. And I agreed, I figured it was maybe time to change how I did things, and it was partly because of what she said but also because I thought that she was, well. She wasn't great, I didn't want to be her exactly, but she was still a decent hero despite the fact that she was more me than me. The purer Sophia Hess."

"You know, I can avoid looking at you but I couldn't avoid hearing that." Armsmaster sighed.

"Like I told you, I don't give a shit. Coil knows my secret identity, why shouldn't you? It's not like… well, I don't know. Like I don't trust you? I guess I do, but I should have trusted her more, earlier. Maybe that would have changed this. She didn't deserve this. Even if she's alive, she's alone, lost in deep space. If she did die, the last thing she ever got to feel was betrayal and then pain. And she was the one with the ideas, and the success. If anything, it should have been me. But, fuck, now that I think about it again, what was I even meant to do? I had to stop the Dark Matter from repairing itself and coming back. I didn't have a choice. But I must have, right? It can't have been that I had to let her die one way or the other. That's not… it's not…" I trailed off. Not what?

While I was grappling with things, Armsmaster finally turned his head to look at me, apparently deciding that if he knew my name he may as well. Then, he spoke up. "I want you to imagine a scenario for me. Can you do that right now?" he began.

That was a bit random, but I had nothing better to do, so I shrugged and nodded. "Sure."

"Okay. Imagine you're a captain of a navy ship, and you hear an SOS signal from a freighter. It's been damaged and is now adrift and beginning to sink, but it's drifted into contested waters between your country and another country. If your ship, a military ship, enters the contested waters and gets found out, that's an international incident. Worse, the other country is renowned for their advanced submarines, so they could have ships in the area already and you can't be certain. You are certain they won't help the sinking ship. What do you do?"

I blinked, then furrowed my brow. "Hold on a second, I see what you're doing. You're saying that the right decision is to abandon the ship. Trying to draw a parallel between that and this."

Armsmaster shook his head. "Not at all, actually. That's the decision I'd make, certainly, but the point is that it's a no-win scenario. You can try and make the best choices out of the options available, but sometimes there's no way to get a perfect outcome, even when you don't make any mistakes. From what I've heard so far, it sounds like no matter what you could have done, something was going to go wrong. If there was a way to avoid this, it came from your clone not being born in the first place. And, well, maybe something will come up in the debrief, but I honestly don't think it will."

"Either way, now we're both alone again," I muttered.

"Not entirely," Armsmaster said. "Because you don't have a monopoly on impulsive decisions." With that, he took his own helmet off and set it on the ground before him. Then he turned his body slightly and extended his hand. "Colin Wallis, at your service." I dumbly shook his hand and then withdrew.

"I let you get everything off your chest because I think you needed to vent all that, and I'm going to say this now because I think you need to hear it. I know you've discussed this with other people before, but I'm hoping this time it can stick. It can be hard to connect with other capes, see their struggles, so long as you're only looking at the mask. Even with New Wave; just because they don't have secret identities doesn't mean they just share everything. So let me tell you about me. I have a problem with tunnel vision, and I can't navigate office politics to save my life. Part of that is because I'm just bad at managing all the bureaucracy, some of it is because I put my foot in my mouth a bit more than average. And I get angry too. Angry that people aren't giving their all, helping out as much as they need to for things to work out."

"And it just makes you want to push harder to try and make up for their lack," I said in understanding.

"Right. But that doesn't actually help anyone in the long run, least of all us. As for other heroes? I've met the Triumvirate more than once, and while I won't go into specifics, they're not perfect either, because no one is. And the heroes of this world? I'm not as equipped as you to say, obviously. But am I right in believing that they're not exactly human, para or otherwise?"

I shrugged awkwardly. "No. Better."

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Better, worse, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that you can't judge yourself by their standards, and you can't say you don't measure up to the rest of us because you have no idea what the yardstick actually is. I'm lucky; I'm in the Protectorate, and I went all across the country as part of a strike squad back when they were in fashion. I've met heroes of all kinds, and I'm lucky enough to call a few of them my friends.

"Your team and Dragon?" I asked.

"Mostly, but also Chevalier, along with a handful of others. I don't think I'd still be sane if I didn't make time for them and myself. When your schedule's constrained, giving up your free time is the easy thing. There's no guilt, and it can seem like the moral choice. But honestly, if you go too far, you can lose yourself and burn out. That seems to be what's finally happening to you."

Was he wrong? Not really, I decided. Killing a version of yourself, comitting suicide in a sense, had that effect on you. "I could keep going if I had to," I said defensively. "But yeah. This job takes a lot out of you, doesn't it?"

He nodded, and adopted an almost wistful expression. "It's not for everyone, that's for sure. And it is tough when it feels like the world's just treading water despite your best efforts. And I'd do some things differently if I had the chance, but there's a lot I'd do the same. I think it's the same with you?" he said, the last sentence more of a question than a statement.

"I guess. I think at this point it's more different than same, though."

Armsmaster, Colin I supposed, smiled. It was a good smile, a mix of understanding and satisfaction. Pretty reassuring, actually. "Well, you have all the time in the world to change course, now. You're a good hero, and a good person. If you weren't, this whole thing wouldn't bother you so much. And for what it's worth, I hope that the clone's still alive, and that you get to see her again. You both deserve that much.

"Anyway, if you ever need any help, or want to book a PRT-approved confidential therapist, you can call me. After these past couple of weeks, you've earned that." He picked his helmet back up and put it on once more.

"I'd honestly love to stay and look around this place. I think there's a lot to be learned here, and I'd love to talk to these people. But the longer we delay, the worse the Director is going to assume about what happened, and Emily really doesn't need anything that'd worsen her blood pressure. Mind if you take us home?"

I nodded, and fished my mask out of the fountain. I wiped the water off the inside, pulled my hood back up, and put it on.

I took Colin's arm in hand, and shifted worlds once more.

Chapter 57: Chapter 44

Chapter Text

When we shifted back to Earth, we arrived to an empty room with the exit covered by several PRT agents and heroes, which was fair enough. Armsmaster had them stand down, gave the situation in brief, and sent them on their way. I said hi to Vista, who was here pretty late, and watched as the rest left, rather disgruntled that things had resolved without them. Them learning about the truth of my power… didn't really bother me at all. The PRT already had it in their database, so if they ever had to know they'd have been told anyway. Plus, I was too tired to care even if it did mean much.

A clearly annoyed Director Piggot returned to the room with the all-clear given, and it took a fair bit of talking to get what had happened across. Armsmaster had my back though, explaining the important stuff far more effectively than I'd have been able to, and leaving out our little heart-to-heart at the end. Not that I didn't trust the PRT, but I didn't want to just give them my real identity and life story.

Once the incident was outlined to Piggot's satisfaction, we finally started the whole debrief about the Coil thing, from start to messy finish. I had to plead the fifth a couple of times over how I got some of my information, like that time I broke into an office building at night and then got shot at by a sniper, because while it wasn't wrong it was definitely illegal.

I mean, it had also been a key step in my work, but in hindsight it was so absurdly reckless to so casually break the law like that. Today had shaken up my self-perception, and now I was looking at the past with a different, more critical eye. Just how many decisions had I made that weren't necessarily mistakes, but were way too casual about risk? Physical, mental, legal — the works.

Luckily, while the Director seemed even less happy about this than the other thing where I'd shown up possessed by an evil alien, she also seemed willing to overlook it, probably because she didn't have any proof of anything. She did strongly imply that I'd better not keep going down that road, and I firmly agreed that I would change my ways. I was planning to anyway, after all.

I answered everything to her satisfaction, but when I thought we were about done she raised a point I'd managed to overlook. "Of course, there is the issue of retaliation. If Coil knows your secret identity, then your family and friends could be at risk if he decides to take revenge for your disruption of his operations."

That was actually an extremely good point. I'd gotten so distracted by resolving the clone situation that I'd forgotten all about what had set me on my overly aggressive collision course with Coil's lair: the fact he knew my secret identity. I'd never met Coil personally, at least if you discounted the body double, so while I'd like to think I had a vague idea of how the guy worked from interacting with his operations I honestly didn't. Not really. So even though it would be completely pointless to go after my family at this stage, he might be petty and spiteful enough to do it anyway.

I was at a complete loss for words when Armsmaster spoke up. "What if we asked the hostage?"

It was my turn to be filled in. I'd known that my other self had rescued a vital hostage from Coil earlier, but hadn't really thought too much about it. The fact she was a powerful precog was a surprise, since I thought it was a political hostage. Although if the mystery girl was in fact still Dinah Alcott, I guess she was both? In any case, after taking a moment to process, I realised that Armsmaster's idea was actually pretty good. Based on her power as described to me, if she said there was a significant chance that my friends and family were going to die over a given time period, that most likely meant Coil was involved, and we could take appropriate action at that point. This method could give false positives, but not false negatives, so I liked it. They could also get PRT Thinkers to check it out, but since this didn't qualify as an emergency that might take a day or two for the work to filter through the bureaucracy. Unsurprisingly, good Thinkers were in constant demand from Directors all over the country.

What I liked less about the idea was having her use her powers after she'd been locked up for about two weeks and forced to use them to help a supervillain. It just didn't quite feel right, no matter how helpful it was. However, it turned out that she'd predicted we were going to ask her, and had agreed to it ahead of time, hence why Armsmaster had brought it up. Thinkers.

I was given the honor of placing the call myself, since it concerned me directly, and did so with my mask's systems, letting me talk to her in private.

"Hello?" A young girl's voice came through, sounding quite tired.

"This is the hero Exoa Knight speaking. My clone rescued you," I explained.

"Oh, I see. Alright, because of what you two did for me, I'm willing to answer a few questions for you for free. I'm not sure what I'll do in the future, but I owe you that much. Not too many though. Otherwise I get headaches." I noted she had a fairly proper way of speaking, considering how young she sounded.

"Just one. What are the chances that someone in my immediate family dies in the next, I don't know, month or so?"

"Why are you worried about that? Never mind, you shouldn't be. Zero point zero zero six five seven percent chance of it happening. Can I ask you something?" I was so relieved by her answer I told her to go ahead. "What happened to the other you? The numbers around her are fuzzy."

I grimaced. "It's complicated. She got hurt while we were trying to help against something nasty inside her, and now she's missing," I paused for a moment before continuing. "But she's tough, and things usually work out alright where she is right now. So she should come back soon enough."

"When she does, tell her she can say hi," the girl said.

That resolved, we wrapped things up. I ended the call and shook hands with the Director and Armsmaster, said goodbye, and then flew into the night, headed home once again. Before too long, I landed in my room and shifted worlds. The fairies were back out in the courtyard, and Ribbon was there immediately to give back the medal I'd handed over to her.

"Any news?" I asked. She knew what I meant, and shook her head sadly.

"If we do find her, I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I can." I grimaced under my mask, my thoughts in total chaos again. I stood there silently for several seconds, making things kind of awkward. Eventually I figured I should probably just go.

"Thanks," I said before using the crystal shard to open up a portal back to Planet Popstar. Hopping through, I landed in the Meta-Knights base, and made my way back to my little room on the Halberd. I got out of my armour, and paused before I shifted worlds for the last time today. Because yeah, step one, I wouldn't go out tonight. I'd get a good night's sleep instead, after one last thing. I closed my eyes, counted to five, and shifted. I took the medal in my hands and put it back in its drawer. Next step, grabbing the Bio Sparks. That was actually fairly easy, since I could just call them on my phone and ask them to come into my room all visible like. What really surprised me was that one of them was already in my room and I hadn't seen him, and if I was any less trained I would probably have yelled in surprise. At least it proved that they were up to any task, although I didn't doubt that by this point.

I asked them to do one final thing for me, which they agreed to without complaint. Not really understanding the secret identity thing in the first place, they didn't object, and fell in behind me. I then thanked them for everything they'd done for me over the past couple of weeks or so, since they'd been fairly critical to what I'd done, and asked them if there was anything I could possibly do for them in return. They said that once I returned them to their home, they were going to request a duel from me to further hone their skills. It felt like the least I could do.

It was late, and my little sister was probably already sound asleep. At the very least she was in bed. My mom wouldn't be for a bit longer, though. And I had to tell her. Had to? No, I wanted to. And it was important that I did. Maybe it was because I was pretty exhausted by this point, mentally at least, but I thought that if I went to sleep now I might wake up and consider everything that had happened like it was a bad dream. Not literally, but in the sense that I wouldn't take it seriously. I'd forget what my clone had pointed out, that I'd realized I needed to talk more with the people around me and do things a bit differently from now on.

Already, I was kind of feeling that way. I could hear a part of my mind fight back at the notion of doing this at all, let alone now. Mom's busy and tired all the time, does she really need this as well? You've been doing your thing alone for almost twenty months now, and you haven't slowed down yet. Do you want to be the hero who went crying to everyone because she couldn't do her fucking job without complaints, like everyone else can?

I was at her bedroom door, arm raised to knock, but motionless. Those thoughts… were instinct and gut feeling. And those had their place, for sure. But not right now. I remembered what Armsmaster, Colin, had said, as well as my other self, and I pushed those thoughts to the side. This wasn't only right, it was a long time coming.

I knocked once, twice, three times. My mom opened the door, a curious expression on her face. Her eyes flicked down to the broad, purple frame of the Bio Spark behind me. She paused for a moment — her mind must have been racing — and then her eyes widened as she let out a soft 'oh', then stepped back and opened the door further. I suppressed a grimace and entered the room.

She sat down on her bed and vaguely motioned for me to sit next to her, expression practically blank, as if in a trance. I dutifully obeyed. After what felt like an eternity of sitting there in silence, but was really only about five or so seconds, she finally spoke up. "So does this mean you're a parahuman?" It was a sensible question. If something truly strange or inexplicable happened on this Earth, a parahuman was usually to blame.

"Yeah," I said, before deciding to elaborate. "and I'm a cape as well."

That took her back for a moment as I realised a bit late that outside of the scene, the distinction wasn't quite as immediately obvious. Still, she figured out what I meant by that soon enough. "For how long?" she asked, voice quiet but with an undercurrent of shock and hurt.

"I've been a hero for a year and a half. I've had powers for about four years. Do you remember my friend Adeleine?" She frowned before nodding slowly.

"Of course I do, that was quite a day." She looked at the Bio Spark. "Oh god, are you saying she wasn't real?"

I hummed. "Nah. My power works by bringing out real things. Even if they are strange," I said, kicking lightly at the cloaked ninja for emphasis. The details weren't that important here, but I still felt a vague need to stick up for the realness of my friends on the other side of the dimensional wall.

"I'm not that strange," the Bio Spark protested with a mutter. Him talking barely phased Mom, though. I think at this point she was in a state where she was willing to basically take anything in stride.

"I suppose I understand that you wouldn't want to tell me anything, let alone something like this, in light of what had happened to you. But, Sophia, why would you go out behind my back as, what, a vigilante?" She cupped my head with her hand, turning it to face her head-on. "Have you ever been hurt?"

I shrugged off her hand awkwardly. "Yeah. Pretty badly, sometimes. I get into a lot of fights."

"You can't be serious. Fights? Violence? Sophia, you know how I feel about that, and more importantly, what if you ever get hurt worse than just 'pretty badly'? Heroes can die!" This was part of why I hadn't told her for the longest time. My dad died while I was pretty young, and although he hadn't been a cape he had died violently. Mom had taken a pretty strict anti-violence stance in the house ever since, even above and beyond the worries any parent would have of their kid flying around a city infested with the likes of the Empire Eighty-Eight.

"I know, Mom. Trust me. And I know I should have told you sooner, if I was doing this. I've lied about a bunch of stuff to you. But I've decided I'm changing that. From now on, I'll be honest with you."

"I don't suppose you'll stop going out?" she said it as a question, but it was pretty clear that Mom already knew the answer to that. I just shook my head to confirm.

"I'm going to try and be more careful than before, but… I can't just give it up. Not all of it. There's too much I still have to do. I-" Pausing, I shuffled away a bit so I could gesture widely. "I'm actually making a difference out there! I know the city's damaged and messed up. And I obviously can't change that myself. But, just look at the news tomorrow, you'll see what I mean."

My mother sighed in frustration, then gently pulled me into a hug which I returned a bit awkwardly. Still not much of a hugger, even now. "I know that I probably can't stop you, which is the only reason why I'm not going to try. I just want you to be safe, okay? This is scary for me," she said in my ear.

"I know," I said back. "But I don't think I could have hid it from you forever. And if you were going to find out anyway, I wanted it to be from me telling you."

She let go of me and lent back a bit. "Well, I have to ask, what changed your mind about keeping things a secret?"

I shrugged. "A couple of things. Some of which I should probably tell you now. But I'm gonna you not to worry too much about any of it. Because despite everything, I think things are finally looking up. For all of us."

Chapter 58: Epilogue 1

Chapter Text

She'd gotten into the habit of counting days, which had surprised her. Not once before had she really been that bothered about the passing of time, but now with each day flowing into the next tediously, ever since her capture — exactly two weeks ago now — everything seemed to drag like it had a ball and chain shackled to it.

Better than a literal one. She wouldn't say for a moment that she regretted any of her actions up until now, of course. Her choices had been fairly grim once the PRT had gotten their hands on her, and she'd picked the undisputed best from a bad bunch. But that didn't mean she had to actually like this least-worst outcome.

She had some things going for her, of course. She was officially Lisa Wilbourn, orphan. Part of her rather extensive bargain was that the PRT wouldn't look too closely into her past in exchange for her compliance with probationary Wardship and what information she had on Coil. Another part was that similar offers would be extended to her teammates. Bitch was off in Chicago while Regent had been sent to Houston, practically as far away from his dad as possible. Lisa had no idea how intentional that was on the PRT's part.

Not that she could call and find out. As a young ex-supervillain, all contact with her former teammates and anyone in her old city was strictly forbidden. She hadn't been too close with any civilians in Brockton Bay, but the Undersiders…

Well, the other two hadn't exactly been the friendliest people, but she'd still considered them friends. Lisa supposed that in hindsight, it was never going to last. Rachel's raw aggression, her wit, Coil's power and orders, Alec kind of dragged in their wake. It had made for some fun times and an interesting social environment for her to navigate, but it wasn't stable. Sooner or later they would have gotten themselves in some kind of trouble. Would Coil's plan to free Uber and Leet and add them to the team have changed that?

Probably not. She'd considered the idea before, earlier in her stay here at New York, and it had been fairly conclusive. Themed villains who'd been beaten by one hero with questionable powers and no really ambitious crimes under their belts. She doubted they had the drive or capability to do much, although they'd at least have been easily brought into line by Bitch and herself. Some additional muscle, some gadgets, and that's about it. Maybe she could have co-opted them for her own plans to topple Coil from the inside, Leet could have made some gadgets, but even so it would have been decidedly minor. But even as she hoped the rest of the team was doing well, she also figured there wasn't much use in dwelling on old possibilities.

That didn't mean she was above a bit of perverse glee at the expense of old enemies, though, and with any luck something to facilitate that should be here at any moment. Which is why she was sitting here on the glorified cot provided for her small (but she supposed that at least it was private, and hers) room in one of Department One's Wards facilities, doing nothing in particular, thoughts dwelling on how bored she'd become since joining up. It was all orientation, basic training, and working with Image to figure out how exactly they'd rebrand her, and she oh so desperately wanted to be back in the field again. Even if that meant being up close with a power-armored girl and her sword. Fuck, she'd take something like being part of the PRT's junior thinktinks, helping to assess threats in her own unique way, which at least had the possibility to be intellectually challenging. But of course, they weren't going to let her near any truly sensitive data until she turned eighteen and her probation was over, which now seemed like it was oh so far away. Her main consolation prize was that if she was well-behaved they might let her do something other than the most boring non-field work available before then, but that was still months away at best.

After a minute or so more waiting, she finally got a knock on her door. Three knocks, hesitant at first but they got stronger. She didn't need her power to figure out that it was Danger Ranger. Grinning widely, Lisa jumped to her feet and threw it wide open. "Stewart! Have you got the goods?" she asked. The boy in front of her, about her age but pretty small, winced a little.

"Don't put it like that. It makes it sound like I'm a drug dealer or something," he complained even as he dutifully handed over the crisp printouts. "Why do you want these, anyway? Is it to do with your, you know?" Lisa didn't need her power to figure out he meant her probation. It had been kind of awkward at first, showing up and being known as the supervillain until a few days ago. While her probationary status had been disclosed to the other Wards on her new team, the exact details of her past were kept a secret. In practice, she was part of the support squad of the NYC Wards with a bunch of other Thinkers, so keeping big secrets was basically impossible, and once they knew it didn't take much convincing for the others to believe that there might be some connection between the blonde villainous thinker who'd been caught in a New England city a few days ago and the blonde probationary Ward who you'd just been introduced to.

Fortunately, Stewart was a decent enough person, if skittish and with a frankly awful naming sense, so he didn't seem to hold her past against her. A couple of the Wards did, but she'd managed to work her charms on the majority.

"Mmm-hmm," she replied. "Just wanted to check in on how things were going. If the news was anything to go by, things got really interesting yesterday. I had to see for myself. Anyway, I owe you one for this, okay?" She got a nod from her fellow Thinker, and he went to close the door before pausing.

"Uh, Standstill's organizing a kind of a party later tonight, so…" She smiled and nodded just slightly in acknowledgement. Then he awkwardly finished shutting the door and left her in peace. She might go, even though she didn't exactly like parties; she had some suspicions about the other girl. But that was for later.

Lisa turned her attention to the documents she held in her hand, curled up in her bed, and greedily devoured them, rapidly turning gleeful. Ever since she'd been forced to work for Coil at gunpoint, she'd wanted to one day turn the tables on him. Get free, take over, and make him pay. Just on the general principle of the thing. It hadn't really evolved beyond the early preparatory stages, but she'd definitely been planning it out and making moves in that direction. Skimming off their targets without Coil knowing, putting excess loot in private accounts he didn't know about. Considering options, where and when to strike.

But even in her wildest dreams, any kind of actual execution of her plans were still a couple of months away at least. But the heroes? They'd managed a strike in two weeks. Exoa Knight seemed to be at the centre of it, little surprise there. Lisa, or rather her power, had figured out that Exoa Knight had been brought in on the situation when she showed up to guard the Underisder's PRT containment van on its way out of the city, and Lisa also knew that if anyone in the city was the right combination of not constrained by the PRT and Coil's moles, capable, and slightly crazy needed to take on her former boss, it'd be the demon-winged knight; at least after Lisa had been taken out of the picture.

Disappointingly, it was only a blow. Coil himself had managed to slip the net. Lisa had already figured that much from how the news had reported it as a base raid rather than a capture. Still stung a tiny bit to see it confirmed in formal writing, but she'd live. As would the multiple squads of captured mercenaries, although a lot less comfortably. They'd caught three of Coil's ex-military tactical teams, along with a group of capes called the Travelers. She knew he had more soldiers and parahumans in reserve, but that didn't mean it wasn't a significant loss. The abandonment of the underground base would hurt too, as would the construction corporation he doubtlessly used to make it and cover it up being investigated and taken away from him, although she also knew it wasn't his only front company.

All in all, while it might not have been an instant killing blow, it was a major wound. Especially the rescued hostage, which had quite a bit about their case redacted. Hidden identity for rescued hostage is unusual; hostage is unusual, special in some way: probably powered. Power that can be exploited by a hostaketaker; Thinker or Tinker. Interesting. Well, whoever they were, Coil couldn't be happy about losing them.

Lisa was quite satisfied and prepared to be privately smug for the rest of the day, but there was something off. Stewart had just acquired and printed the PRT-ENE compiled reports from yesterday, but as a Ward he didn't have access to any classified records without explicit permission from higher ups. That meant a bunch of redactions, more in the sense that stuff was blatantly missing than explicit black bars. But if you had her powers, that didn't mean as much as it could.

It came down to a report on Noelle. Who was that? A very vaguely described parahuman who'd apparently been neutralized by Glory Girl and Exoa Knight. Brute and Striker/Master ratings; big ones. Very specific choice of words, neutralized. Usually the PRT wasn't quite so euphemistic as that, and Exoa Knight was notably considered debriefed, not questioned. So this Noelle probably wasn't dead, just dealt with.

How, exactly? Glory Girl was basically Alexandria Junior and Exoa Knight was pretty decent in her own right, but neither of them had the ability to just mysteriously get rid of people without killing them, and Noelle wasn't noted as captured. Although Lisa wasn't convinced they could have beaten her in a straight fight, based on those threat ratings.

There were some secondary reports she'd skimmed, unrelated to the Coil incident. She took a second look; Purity had been captured. Taking her out was no mean fight, but there was no reference to who'd done it, which was very unusual. Incident report in the debriefing room, no details…

There was a third, hidden party involved in the Noelle takedown. Likely also responsible for capturing Purity on the same day.

Power and instinct arriving at the same conclusion.

Lisa hadn't been sure what she'd be doing now that she was a hero trapped in an invisible cage, but she felt a spark returning. A mystery to solve, one she had to figure out without being able to go to the city or talk to anyone from it directly. And it was quite an odd one to boot.

While that held her curiosity by itself, what was holding her attention was the idea of what she could do with it. It wasn't just a chance to really flex her power, but to also get some of the other Wards involved. She was sure she could do it, make a little harmless conspiracy with her as the ringmaster. Not much by itself, but it'd propel her up in their eyes, prove how good she was and give her a small measure of authority and control. Yeah, she liked the sound of that quite a lot.

Her new life as the Ward Providence wasn't perfect. It wasn't even something she'd ever wanted. But now that she was having to live it? She figured that she'd be able to manage just fine.

Chapter 59: Epilogue 2

Chapter Text

Adeleine finished her third cup of coffee this morning and put it down on the wooden table, or at least what looked and felt like a wooden table. Hollow, floating hexagons beneath her feet lit up and filled in, each with a different color, as she walked over to the array of ethereal lenses and adjusted them slightly, ensuring the energy flowing through them from the Star Rod was properly aimed. It was, all in all, a bright, cheerful yet sophisticated scene.

At least so long as you didn't look at the poor girl sitting below the hexagons.

She was, at least, comfortably asleep and well-fed. That was about where the good news ended. The fact of the matter was that Adeleine had scant few ideas as to how she could possibly help Noelle Meinhardt. The thought was enough to elicit a pained sigh from her as she did a tiny bit of tinkering with the lensing array and then sat down on a chair and stared blankly at the pen and paper she'd put there earlier.

There was no sense in not being productive during these times when she was waiting on ongoing requests to sort themselves out, so she was trying to put herself through writing a letter. It would keep up her ongoing correspondence with Ribbon, and if needed she could send copies to the others to detail her thoughts and feelings about this whole thing. Suitably committed, she began to draft the letter, explaining things more or less from the top. But it was all a bit complicated and… messy.

She'd gotten the call yesterday evening when Kirby had shown up at her dorm unannounced and asked for her help. After sending in a formal academic notice that she'd need to be excused for a few days on a vital matter of friendship, Adeleine went with him back to Dreamland without question, only to find that the reason she specifically had been called in was that it was a matter of human biology, and despite the strides made by the Halberd's medical staff she was by far the galactic authority on the subject.

She'd been about to object and say she was an artist, not a doctor, when she saw exactly what the issue was. It wasn't just that she was a human, it was that she was an intersection between human and mage. Which was important, because this was no ordinary illness. Not that she actually knew what it was, mind you.

Well, that wasn't quite true. By the time she'd shown up, Noelle had been forcefully dragged to the Fountain of Dreams and put to sleep with a tactical bonk on the head of the Star Rod after a day or so of struggle. But she hadn't stayed that way. She would drift in and out of consciousness, waking up for a bit to feed before going back to sleep. Even Adeleine's most ingenious creations backed with the Star Rod's carefully directed power couldn't keep Noelle down while she was hungry, but fortunately, once the immediate issue was resolved she'd always drift back off. For now, at least. In any case, her confused moments of wakefulness were proving quite insightful. She didn't have much of a filter, seeming to think she was still dreaming. This had led to quite a few key facts being discovered.

For one thing, the seeming rage she had expressed was in fact a case of possession, or something close to it. Specifically, what she called her 'monstrous half' had a mind of its own, with which it poked, prodded, cajoled, and sometimes took over. It was more able to do so if Noelle was upset, or hurt, or starved. Which explained why the force propelling her to wakefulness came and left with her hunger, but it presented a rather dire issue. There was no fixing her, there was no making her stable, and there was definitely no sending her back home. The last one in part because while Sophia could bring her back to Earth Bet, if Noelle was to be believed she came from a different Earth: Earth Aleph.

One problem at a time, though. Before they could worry about getting her back to the Earth she was last on, let alone home, they had to at the least deal with her sub-mind. And Adeleine couldn't think of something more difficult. If it was a physical problem, well, those were easily overcome. If it was an external possession that couldn't be dealt with via fighting, which was rare in her experience, then they had methods for that too. If it was an emotional problem, that would definitely have taken time, but it would at least be clear what needed to be done. As it stood, there were simply no tools she knew about that could deal with this. She'd asked the others, including Sophia when she'd popped in last night and checked in on Noelle, and they'd all drawn blanks. Sophia in particular said that she'd never heard of someone losing their powers without dying, and also that powers in general were a mysterious subject despite decades of focused study.

(Sophia had also said that she'd take full responsibility for putting Noelle out of her misery if nothing could be done, but while she'd put on a brave face it was clear she didn't like the idea of having to do it. Well, Adeleine wouldn't let that happen, so it wouldn't be a problem. She hoped.)

It would take a miracle of cosmic proportions, and the only true wish-granting machine they knew of had been destroyed by Kirby almost five years ago. It had been necessary of course, but it was proving really inconvenient right now! The other option that had come to mind had been sending Noelle to Patch Land and turning her to yarn in the process, but that turned out to not really change anything. It had made things worse, in fact, since while she couldn't use her automatic cloning abilities on Popstar natives, she had been able to knit copies of captured Patch Land animals. That had been quite a headache to stop before it got out of control, apparently. Once that fell through, and Kirby was done saying hi to old friends since he was in the area, they'd called in Adeleine, hoping she knew something about the human condition that could help. She didn't.

And none of it was Noelle's fault, which hurt perhaps the most. She'd just been a normal young woman when she was brutally thrust into another world, injured, and healed with a strange drink only for it to slowly turn her into her present state. It was wrong, all of it, and it wasn't something she knew how to put right. Little wonder that Sophia had felt so despondent the last time she visited. This was her everyday life, wasn't it? Adeleine had known that already, more or less, but it was another thing to feel it firsthand.

But it was hardly her first time facing adversity, and just because she didn't know what to do yet didn't mean there was nothing to be done. She wasn't going to just give up so easily! That led to the one bit of real progress they'd made. While the Patch Land problem had been ongoing, Noelle had been literally transparent, meaning they'd seen the glowing core in the centre of her lower body. They couldn't risk damaging or destroying it, because it was too likely that doing so would kill Noelle too, but knowing it was there at all gave them something to anchor their efforts on. Knowing about it was what had given Adeleine her idea to lens the Star Rod's power, directing it at the core to more effectively put the monster to dream-filled sleep.

After around twenty minutes of drafting and redrafting her letter, one of her few requests for specialist help finally came through. A well-dressed, hovering bug, limbless but with six floating hands at his side, finally appeared. He took a look at Adeleine, then one at Noelle, then he looked back to Adeleine. "My apologies, but if you want me to fix her lower half, I don't think I can. This is beyond even me."

At that, Adeleine pouted. "Not even gonna try? Aren't you the great Taranza?"

He snorted in response. "Taranza, certainly. Great, not at all. I am schooled in the magical arts"— he stole a glance at the ethereal, floating objects Adeleine had crafted—"as are you, it would seem. But this seems to be beyond mere magic. I confess I've never seen anything quite like… her? I assume it's not as simple a matter as two halves grafted together."

"No. She's…" How could Adeleine explain the other world, Sophia's world, succinctly? When she'd only been there once herself? "From another world. A very alien world. Not completely, but it's not like here either. She's been turned into this by something even the people of that world don't understand." She paused for a moment before tilting her head slightly to gaze down at Noelle. "It's all extremely worrying. I want you to see if you can't help her mind."

"I don't see why I should," Taranza began. At that, Adeleine pouted even harder, putting her hands to her hips, before replying.

"Well, do you like art?"

He looked at her clothes for a moment before it evidently clicked for him. "That should do. Now then." He gestured with one of his hands towards Noelle, and a blast of purple lightning popped the intervening hexagon before plunging into her middle. Her body was swiftly overtaken by a darkened hue as Taranza began to make various noises. Many of which were fairly worrying, such as him muttering 'that's strange' and 'it really shouldn't be doing that' along with 'now this I simply do not understand at all' under his breath.

The great bulk of Noelle stirred as she blearily woke up, her three heads rising above the water that surrounded the fountain, two opening wide in a yawn that was mirrored by the human upper body on top. One of the heads was malformed and incomplete, but Adeleine could swear it had grown a little since she first saw it. Which did fit, since this seemed a transformation months in the making and so far unfinished.

Taranza looked back at her for a moment, but she raised a hand to stop him from doing anything. This was normal. She then turned around and painted some enormous cooked fish into reality, dropping away a pair of hexagons to throw them into the hungry maws. While they were consumed, seemingly automatically, Noelle's human head looked up at Taranza, annoyed.

"That tickles," she said. "Can you make him stop?"

With a mental command and a flick of the wrist that held her paintbrush, Adeleine altered the platform's height and put herself down next to Noelle, standing atop her lower body but not actually touching it. That was vital; she'd already been mind-controlled twice, so she didn't need an evil clone or two of herself running about.

"Sorry, but he's doing something very important," she said, adopting a tone as if she was talking to a child. "He has to do this to help you."

"I'm dreaming, not a kid," Noelle mumbled, now annoyed at her as well. "And that doesn't mean I have to like it. If I'm going to keep appearing here, I at least want to see my friends. I see them in memories in my other dreams, but it's not the same. It feels like it's been ages since I was awake and on Earth."

At that mostly self-directed ramble, Adeleine's expression became strained. Her friends, the group known as the Travelers, were in custody on Earth Bet. From what little Sophia had told her while the younger human had been checking in on things, which Sophia herself had managed to glean from exchanging a few words with the official Protectorate heroes of her world, they were all in custody and not taking their defeat well. Apparently, while Sophia didn't know any details, she did know that mutual issues were coming to the fore now that Noelle was out of the picture, and they were all breaking down. Very convenient for the interrogators, but it meant that even if Noelle went home, nothing would be the same for her, even in that limited sense.

Then again, being able to go back to them at all would be a big win. One thing at a time, Adeleine reminded herself.

"Well, I'm not sure how possible that will be," she said carefully. "Things are very complicated right now."

Noelle snorted at that. "Yeah, things have been 'very complicated' since the Simurgh ripped us from home, so that's not new. It's not fair, either."

"No, it's not," Adeleine agreed, quickly applying a few quick strokes to her nearby canvas in order to create a different kind of brush. "Your hair's a bit messy, let me sort it out." Noelle nodded, although she bit her lip and folded her arms as she did so, letting her hands vanish into the large sweater she was wearing. She'd arrived with one, but it had been fairly damaged, so Adeleine had painted a replacement for her. It was a tiny, inconsequential thing, but she felt it needed to be done.

"Now, I can't promise things will be alright," she said, walking over to behind Noelle and beginning to brush some knots out of her hair. "But I can promise I'll keep doing everything I can to make things just the littlest bit better for you. Alright?"

"It's really not that easy," Noelle said, before yawning again. This looked to be a much shorter period than the last one, then. Adeleine had been worried that she was just going to be awake for longer and longer, until the Star Rod couldn't keep her pacified anymore.

"It's not easy," Adeleine agreed. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to keep trying." After half a minute or so more, Noelle slumped again, having finished her meal and gone back to sleep.

Another half minute or so passed before Taranza dropped the purple beam, letting Noelle's color return to normal. "Well, I can see at least part of the problem. She has two minds, not just one."

Adeleine nodded. "I knew that already, but it's good to hear I wasn't wrong. Can you do anything about that?"

Taranza hummed. "Not easily. The bestial mind that I assume you want dealt with is at least as strong as the other mind, if not stronger, and my expertise is more in creating and actively controlling minds than in fixing them and passively subduing them. But..."

"But?" Taranza paused for dramatic effect, steepling his middle pair of floating hands while the upper pair smoothed out the hair on his head and his the lower pair precisely adjusted the red scarf around his neck.

"But I may be able to try something, do some good here. I warn you though, artist of the lower world, that I can make no promises just yet."

Adeleine shrugged and gave a thin but determined smile. "It's a start. I'll take it."

Chapter 60: Epilogue 3

Chapter Text

Meta Knight stood, sword in hand, cape fluttering in the cool autumn breeze, and mask firmly affixed to his face, waiting for his pupil to arrive. Over the last six months, they had met in the same spot of these open plains every day for her training, and after her performance in the various trials he'd set over the last week he knew the time had finally come for graduation. To mark this occasion, he had brought Captain Vul and Sailor Dee with him, along with his student's new equipment.

It was not a decision made easily or thoughtlessly. Sophia Hess was still young, her training expedited, her race fragile, and her home dangerous. While she had shown much natural talent for battle and all the qualities required of a knight, if he had his way she would not truly finish her training and enter the world of war until at least a full year had passed, honing her already considerable abilities to absolute perfection. But, Meta Knight knew that if kept too long, she would be inclined to rash action. She had learned much discipline, but had not yet mastered herself. And such rashness could be deadly. Six months had been agreed upon at the start, and he could not justify to himself the breaking of their agreement now.

They had stood there for some minutes when she arrived, exactly on time. She had come to be exceedingly punctual. The young human smiled when she saw them, and her eyes quickly darted over to the pile of metal and fibres that sat to Vul's side. Before she could give more than a quick greeting, Meta Knight stepped forward and began to speak.

"By the power invested in me by my own master, who in turn had power invested in him by his master in an unbroken chain going back to times beyond the veil of history, and by the weight of your own accomplishments in your period as my apprentice, I wish to give you the status you have earned. Although the time of formal ceremony is long gone, I still wish to make a few points clear.

"First, your name. You came to us from outside our dimension, and as a human the exoskeleton of your armor will be of immense importance to you. From these facts, I grant you the new title of Exoa Knight to wear with pride and honor. May it in time strike fear into the hearts of your enemies and kindle resolve in the hearts of your allies." Sophia's smile remained as broad as ever as he reached up with his sword and swiftly tapped her once on each shoulder. Her expression shifted to one of shock as he then spun the blade around in his hand and offered its hilt up to her.

"This is Dominar, the Master Sword," he explained. "I have used it, as has Kirby, as have all those who came before me. It is the sword all knights are gifted upon their graduation, to use until they find a weapon of their own, to hold until they find a worthy pupil of their very own. I have been prepared to give it up for some time now. I'm glad I finally found someone I know will put it to good use."

Exoa Knight reached out carefully, gently brushing the handle before seizing it tightly and plucking it from Meta Knight's unresisting grasp. In a flash, she took half a step back and adopted a textbook fighting post, sword at the ready. A look of concentration crossed her face, and he knew the faint tug she was experiencing. After a moment, the sword erupted into crackling flames, which he felt for the first time in a long while but knew would not push her temperature above a comfortable, gentle warmth. Her smile remained, but narrowed and took on a sharp edge of its own. "Okay, now this is pretty awesome," she said, unable to keep the appreciation out of her voice.

"It has not been required for many generations, but you can now swear your personal knightly oath if you so choose," Meta Knight added. At that, Sophia's smile turned into a thin frown as she considered things, before dropping her combat stance and shrugging.

"I'm not great with words. I guess I'll just say that I'm gonna kick ass, fight bad guys, and help people. I'll make the world a better place one step at a time."

Meta Knight smiled beneath his mask. "That's a fine oath indeed. Captain Vul, if you would?" He gestured towards the pile of equipment. It was the captain's turn to smile as he stood up even straighter than he'd already been standing.

"Alright, listen up! As Lord Meta Knight said, you'll need a suit of armor to keep you safe, being a human and all. Luckily for you, I happen to have made just the thing! Hyperalloy outer plating, flexible and durable, overlapping plates arranged for maximum mobility and minimum gaps. Inner fibre layer, single piece, contracts and expands with your motions to enhance your strength and provide a second line of defense with no gaps. And of course every knight needs a mask and wings." At that last line, Sailor Dee waddled over and picked up the cloak lying on the ground, then went over to Sophia and jumped up to attach it to her shoulders.

"It responds to your thoughts and transforms," the sailor explained earnestly.

With that, the cape shifted, split apart, and hardened into a pair of bat-like wings. They reared back, and flapped, sending her up into the air. Sophia hung motionless for a moment at the peak of her ascent, and then the wings flapped again, and then again, sending her higher and higher. Then she began to angle them, and darted around the sky above them, flitting to and fro with yelps of joy. After a minute or so of enjoying her newfound flight, she came to a halt, swooping down and landing before them with a flourish, wings reforming into a cape.

"Of course, we'll repair your armour and resize it if you ever get bigger, which I understand you humans do from time to time. And it's also yours to customize if you want your own look-" Vul said before being interrupted.

"It's perfect as it is," Sophia said, before thrusting Dominar skyward and setting it alight. "I won't let any of you down!"

"...so yeah, that's basically all the stuff I never really told you. Kind of a lot of secrets, right?" Exoa Knight said. She was in full battledress, albeit with her hood down, and her sword and mask placed by her sides. She sat to his left on the edge of the cliff they were on, legs dangling into space. For his part, Meta Knight hummed in thought as he stood impassive, cloak wrapped around his body.

"Hidden feelings are a particularly dangerous kind of secret, more for the secret-holder than others," he mused. "But I am glad that you're feeling better. You should know that I have indeed always been proud of you, my pupil."

She smiled faintly and nodded. "Right. But I've gotta ask, now that I've actually thought about it, why did you take me on, really? Because of the whole thing with the sword, can't you only take one pupil?" He nodded in turn. "Okay, but then, why me? At first, I was too happy to really care, then I was too occupied with my whole… death march thing, or whatever you wanna call it. But was I really your best option? I'm not even from this universe."

"When I first saw you, I beheld great potential for a warrior and hero. You needed only a push to bring that potential out to the surface, and I felt it would be right to give that push. Although I cannot take sole credit. Your own will to improve was great, and from what you said just now I understand your other friends did their own part in setting you on the correct path," he replied calmly. It was the truth, and he felt the truth was what she wanted to hear.

"Huh," she said before pausing for a moment, idly cocking her head to one side in thought. "I guess that makes sense. Thanks, seriously. It's been a long fucking road for sure, there's still shit I wanna do, and I'm still not exactly where I want to be, but I'm glad I'm here. Literally right here and, you know, generally here."

They sat there in silence for a few more moments before Sophia stretched her arms out and rolled her head back, preparing to stand. "Well, I think I should go. I'm planning to show the flag in the Docks for a couple of hours before dinner. Mom wants to take me along to Thalia's first movie this evening, since she's old enough for it now and not a crier. I don't really need to go out as much now that Coil and the Empire are pretty much gone, but I should still-" She paused mid-sentence before snapping her fingers.

"Shit! I didn't even tell you about that, did I?" she said, wincing apologetically.

"There's always next time," Meta Knight replied, unable to keep amusement from his voice. "I'm in no rush."

"I mean, yeah, but it's been over two weeks since everything went down! I wanted to come talk to you sooner, but it turned out there was way more stuff to catch up on in terms of talking to friends than I figured. I can't just leave out the best stuff now that I'm finally here." Sophia was waving her right arm around wildly while leaning on her left to give herself more space for gesticulation.

"So, Coil's not really down, but he's left the city with a few minor villains. Guess he wanted to cut his losses now that we were onto him. Hasn't tried to leave the country, though. I pretty much just heard about his forces popping up again in Boston, which is a nearby city. Looks like he's working with a group called the Ambassadors. Hoping for safety in numbers, probably. For the Empire, it took a week or so to get the information confirmed and everyone in place, then pretty much everyone hit them at once. PRT, FBI, every hero in the city and a couple of nearby ones. Technically even the police, not that anyone else trusted them much. I took down Othala and Victor at their house personally, and we swept most of the rest except the really low-level members, Krieg, and Hookwolf's crew.

"Krieg skipped town, seems to have dragged Night and Fog with him from where they were in Boston, we don't know where they are now. Hookwolf tried to stage a breakout after feeling the pressure, but that didn't go well for them. I duelled Cricket, obviously I won, and Armsmaster used a new weapon to take down Hookwolf. He and Kaiser are in the Birdcage, the rest are in lockup. Everyone's pretty pleased with themselves, it's not every day that you take down an entire major villain group. Coil may have been fucking vile, but he did an amazing thing when he collected that information. And since the PRT announced where the info came from, most of the heat should land on him rather than them. He's around, free and probably still stupidly rich, but the clock's ticking." By the end, her smile had grown into an enormous grin, and Meta Knight couldn't help but feel pleased by both her success and her very apparent satisfaction.

"It sounds like your victory was grand and absolute," he said.

"Hell yeah it was," Sophia said. She closed her eyes and continued to smile, doubtlessly reliving her successes, when a shadow passed over them, causing her eyes to snap back open. Similarly, both of their wings spread out in an instant, and they looked up at the cause.

"Oh what the fuck is that?" An enormous sphere of metal, easily large enough to be the planet's moon, hovered above them. Legs stretched out from its perimeter, went over their heads, and dug into the ground elsewhere, causing the ground to quake as they did. Tracing back from where they penetrated to the core, Meta Knight gained an understanding of the scale. It wasn't just enormous, but large enough to almost mimic being Planet Popstar's twin.

Both of them were on their feet now, swords strapped to their sides as Exoa Knight pulled on her hood and mask. When she next spoke, her voice was distorted once more. "Right, I'll go kick Kirby awake, since you know he somehow managed to sleep through that and I think you'll need him for this one."

"I will rally the Halberd and launch a frontal assault on the machine's underside," Meta Knight curtly replied.

"Alright, well, good luck with that. You'll need it," Exoa Knight said in return, a thin rod extending from her left gauntlet to call forth a Warp Star. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it. Everything should be back to normal by tomorrow, right?"

Meta Knight took a moment to feel pride in his student, standing tall, resolute, and ready to help however she could, even in this dire moment. He was reassured then that he'd made the right choice; not that he had ever really doubted. "So goes my hope," he answered.

With that, his dimensional cape furled up around him, and he shot off into the sky, teleporting away. Once more into the fray.

Chapter 61: The End(?)

Chapter Text

"Hey, I think she's waking up!" I flinched away from the sudden loud noise, but it at least brought me back to full awareness. Every part of my body burned with an intense soreness, aches and pains that I hadn't felt for my entire life suddenly surging up to hold me down. I struggled to breathe for a moment before I found my rhythm, panting a little to get oxygen inside me. My eyes resisted the idea of opening even as I struggled to sit up.

"I wasn't sure she was going to make it. Those were some nasty wounds she had." Another voice, thankfully a lot cooler and less energetic than the first. Slowly, deliberately, I brought my hands up to my eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them. The burning went down to more of a dull throbbing annoyance too. Still there, but not as bad.

"You two be quiet. She'll want answers, and-" The third voice trailed off, muttering something that I couldn't hear. Finally, my eyes opened, and I saw… Well, I wasn't sure. It was a very purple room, with purple wallpaper, a purple ceiling, purple carpet, and a very purple four-poster bed with way too many pillows that I happened to be sitting on. The only things that weren't purple were the white stone hallway beyond the open door and the three people floating at my bedside.

They were wearing matching uniforms, which were mostly black with some white, and then an accent color that matched their hair, of all things. The first voice had red, messy hair and was kind of tan, the second had blue hair and pale skin, and the final voice had yellow hair and skin. They had hands protected by gloves covering the back and wrist, and no arms or legs. This felt new, but not surprising, because I was probably still in the Other World. And that was because…

Right. That treacherous, conniving little bitch. She'd shoved me into the path of that monstrous thing called the Crystal and it had hurt worse than anything I'd ever felt, all fifteen plus years of life. I'd been mauled, battered, sliced, stabbed, and burned, and none of it compared. And to think I'd bought her pathetic little begging hook, line, and sinker. Like a fucking moron, I'd given up my power, and why? Because I wasn't sure I was 'supposed' to have it, because it was oh-so dangerous. Well, the dangerous thing turned out to be exposing me to magic that nearly fucking killed me!

I opened my mouth to speak, but only got a hoarse cough out. The blue one helpfully gave me a glass of water that I could swear she didn't have a moment ago, and I downed about half of it in one go. It was ice cold, but I didn't really care. Then I cleared my throat. "You're right. I do want answers," I said to the yellow one. Maybe I could fight my way out of here, wherever here was, but it was much safer to play along for the time being, and I hadn't survived up til now just to throw my life away.

She nodded. "I am sure you are very confused about the situation. In truth, we are too. We detected your portal opening near our base a few hours ago, and recovered your floating body. You had been violently torn from a shadow of the matter most dark, and that had done ruinous damage to your body. Before you breathed your last, our beloved liege Lord Hyness saved your life by tapping into the remnants of darkness and awakening in you a great talent for dark magic while restoring you to health."

I narrowed my eyes. "That sounds very, I don't know— Convenient."

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Tell me, when the portal opened, where did you wish to go?"

I winced as another section of memories jammed themselves into the front of my brain. Was this what a hangover felt like? "I didn't think of anywhere specific. I remember… I touched the portal as it was forming. I wanted to get away from the Crystal. That's what did the violent tearing, by the way. I guess I had the portal send me as far away from it as it could."

Yellow, the apparent leader of the three, nodded and continued. "That is as I expected. That portal sent you to the very edge of the galaxy. We, or at least our Lord Hyness, were banished here long ago with the deep space installation Jambandra. Your arrival here is neither convenience nor coincidence, but it might be fate."

I was really not in the mood for cryptic bullshit. "And what the hell does that mean?"

"It means," a fourth voice said from the doorway, "you are the answer to our prayers, of course! Not sent by the Dark Lord, not foreseen in the book of legend, but an answer all the same!" A figure encased in a long-sleeved white robe edged in gold floated in. Probably the same species as the other three, but I couldn't tell under all that cloth, especially the hood and veil that completely covered his head, exposing only a patch of darkness from which two beady yellow eyes stared out at me.

"...were you listening in from outside the room just to make a timed dramatic entrance?" I asked, suspicious, but also genuinely curious. He didn't actually answer, instead moving on like I hadn't said anything.

"We have obtained the vessel that contains our Dark Lord, and we need only break the seals that bind him! With your new powers of darkness, this can be easily done, months turned into weeks, and then he will shower us with compassion~!" he practically ranted. This guy, presumably Hyness based on how the three women were bowing to him, was obviously unhinged. Also, apparently the leader of a cult.

Well, I knew the score. He'd probably succeed in unleashing the God of Murder, Killfucker, and it'd threaten to destroy the thirteen dimensions or whatever, then Kirby would inevitably kick its ass and that would be that. How many times had this whole series of events happened? Enough that I wasn't worried about the outcome.

What I was concerned with was how I could turn it to my advantage. One idea was beginning to form in my mind. Revenge. I had the power to turn around and make Exoa Knight bleed, or at least I did if I had the backing of the insane cult. The only issue was how to actually get at her while I was trapped in this universe.

Or maybe I didn't have to get revenge just by fighting her. How did that phrase go again? The best revenge is living well, right? Normally I didn't go in for that kind of thing, but maybe I could make an exception. My other self was used to getting beaten up. Not so much used to being dragged into something she couldn't fix and then forced to watch as someone else managed to solve it in style.

I spoke again, as casually as I could manage. "So. Why should I help you free this guy?"

"Because!" Hyness boomed. "I see the shattered connection within you. You are not of this world! I know not how you came here, but there is only one way to return. Break the spears of heart that hide away our home from yours, the same spears that hide away our Dark Lord from our prayers. Only I can teach you how to break those spears, and only the power and knowledge of our Lord can take you to the resting place of that greater seal!"

I blinked as I processed the words, which were being spoken at a mile a minute. Okay, so obviously he didn't know that other me could take me back if I held her at swordpoint, but the fact that he thought there was another way back at all, that was something else.

I wouldn't open the way between this world and Earth Bet. There were too many risks that some horrible monster or other would get loose and blow up the planet or whatever, because Earth wasn't as tough as Planet Popstar. But maybe I'd stick around with these people for a bit more than I strictly needed. There might be a few more things like that I could learn.

"Alright, you got me," I said, pretending that I was completely won over. "I'll help you. But I want something in return. Someone wronged me. I want you to help me get back at her." I didn't want to just kill her, because then I couldn't demonstrate how much of a worthless moron she was and how much better I was than her, but maybe it'd be nice if she got humiliated a bit in the process. Plus, if I put an extra condition on my help, it'd probably be more believable when I played along with their plans. For a time, that is.

In response to my demand, Hyness chuckled, and kept chuckling to himself as he turned around and walked out of the room. After a moment of awkward silence, the leader of the trio stopped bowing and coughed, just as awkwardly.

"That means he accepts your offer," she clarified.

The red one cheered and dashed forward, using one of her hands to draw me into a half-hug. "Welcome to the sisterhood! Now, who messed with you? I'll burn her up!" She paused for a moment before letting go and tilting her head to one side. "Oh, we never introduced ourselves to you, did we? Well, I'm Flamberge, the Blazing General! I guess now you're the Shadow General, huh?"

"I am Zan Partizanne, eldest of the three generals of magic," the leader said. "Although I suppose you bring our number to four. And if you are as crucial to Lord Hyness' plans as he claims, then it will be my duty and honour as the Bringer of Shock to run through your enemy with my spear, Bringer of Night."

Right, so it wasn't just a cult, it was a militant death cult. I realized that even if these guys were doomed to eat pink fist in the long run, that didn't mean they couldn't be a serious problem in the short run, especially for any humans they met. I might have to adapt, keep them from running too wild. As long as I was useful to them, they would listen to me at least a little.

"Both of those sound great, but I need her alive. Trust me, I have plans for her." I said. Specifically, I wanted a ticket back home that wasn't reliant on something that I was fairly sure was going to get killed in battle at some point.

The third general giggled daintily, putting a hand to where her mouth would be if she had one. "We can help with that too! I, Francisca, can turn your tormentor into an ice sculpture! That way you can keep her alive and in your trophy collection, Ms., ah?"

"Sophia Hess. And that'd still kill her." At least they all seemed enthusiastic to help me. That was kind of nice, in an incredibly fucked up way. I had actually missed having people who were willing to back me to the hilt. It wasn't something I'd had since I was reborn.

The apparent ice magician turned her head up slightly at that. "Then she is very fragile." I rolled my eyes in response, but I didn't think these people were actively murderous. Not really. I could talk them down from doing any serious damage to my other self. And if she got scratched up by them? Well, maybe she deserved something like that after what she pulled.

But I still didn't quite want to outright fuck her up badly enough she'd need to go to Panacea. Oh, I was fucking pissed off as all hell, but I could have my revenge much more neatly by upstaging her. While she was deluding herself and trying to save her fucked up city, I could do much, much more. Show her her place, how insignificant she was in the grand scheme of things, and look good while doing it.

I finally hopped out of the bed, standing up and stretching. My plan was still half-formed, but it was getting there. Establish myself as the definitive Hess by beating Exoa Knight at her own game, which also meant inevitably backstabbing my new 'allies' to save this universe, and then I could go from there. The best part was, with Kirby as my backstop there wasn't any real risk of it spiraling out of control. I'd been pushed down, but that just meant when I bounced back up I could exploit the momentum to break my other self's nose. Probably not literally, but what happened, happened.

I grinned at the trio. "Alright. Let's not waste any more time. We have a Dark Lord to unseal, right?"