We were meeting in person. Taylor and I were invited to Lisa's new house, an elaborate three-story small mansion on the outskirts of Brockton Bay. It was far enough that I decided to rent a car to get us there and back.

I couldn't help but feel a bit out of place as we drove through the high-income area. Taylor must have felt the same, judging by how she eyed the extravagant homes we passed by.

I don't know how she managed to get a multi-million dollar house in the time since I dealt with Coil, but I have a feeling it's something to do with Thinker powers.

We knocked on the front door with the brass knocker, stepping back and standing on the patio silently. There was a little surveillance camera on the porch that reminded me that Tattletale could already be watching me. She's a Thinker, so assume all information could be compromised.

That said, as long as I'm not careless, I should be able to keep the information I really want secret to stay secret. I can handle Tattletale knowing about some of my powers or plans, so sacrificing some operational security is worth the possibility of tangible assistance.

A boy with black, curly hair in a white t-shirt opened the door. "Sup. I'm Alec," he introduced himself with a lopsided grin that grew wider as he continued to speak. "So, you the guys who offed our boss?"

Taylor tensed.

"Yeah," I casually agreed, "I'm Indra, and this is Taylor. Nice to meet you."

The blatant acceptance got Alec to chuckle. That made Taylor look a bit more wary of him, but I wasn't bothered. As far as sociopaths go, I recall that he's one of the more pleasant ones.

"Nice to meet you too. Lisa—that's Tats, by the way—is upstairs in her office. If you couldn't guess, I'm Regent. Follow me to the living room, I'll call her down."

Alec led us through a noticeably undecorated entrance into a side room haphazardly arranged with a few couches, a center table, and a massive screen on the wall connected to a few game consoles. Alec waved his arm in the direction of the couches in what I assumed was an invitation to sit down, so we did.

Alec left us sitting in admittedly very comfortable couches. I amplified my hearing, listening to him walk through another room. He walked up some steps, stopped, and then yelled, "LISA! PEOPLE ARE HERE! GET YOUR ASS DOWN!"

Taylor wasn't prepared for the sudden yell, jumping a bit with a small squeak. Alec walked back to the living room, tossing himself onto a couch and reaching for a game controller, waking the console from rest into the menu of a COD-like multiplayer FPS.

Alec saw me looking at the screen, grabbed another controller, and offered it over to me. "You wanna play some?"

"Sure," I agreed, reaching out for the offered controller. My new plan: use playing a videogame as a cover against Tattletale Thinkering me. As long as I'm focusing on the game, I'm not thinking about my secrets. Truly, I am a mastermind.

"Hmm, we'll have to split-screen it," Alec realized. "Shit, I've never had this problem before."

I heard Lisa's footsteps approach the room. I glanced at her as she entered. She smiled at both of us, though it was a bit more genuine towards Taylor. She was dressed in pajama bottoms and an expensive silk shirt, holding a small file.

Before she could speak, Alec interrupted. "Lisa! It's important to my job that we get another TV in here. We have a guest over, and we're making him play split-screen!"

"You mean your job as my bodyguard?" Lisa glowered at him. "You're lucky I pay you to lay around all day."

"That's harsh, don't you think? Am I not entertaining your guests as we speak?"

Lisa sighed. "Fine. I'll get you another TV. Now can we focus on the meeting?"

"I can multitask," I said. "Taylor was the one who really wanted the meeting, I'm mostly moral support."

Regent was much better than me at gaming. I blame this on dedicating the last four months of my life to stalking people and lifting weights.

"So, what did you want to know?" Lisa asked Taylor.

"I wanted to know if you're still a villain," Taylor dropped right into it. "I want to know what you plan to do and why you're willing to help us."

For a moment I could see the familial relation between Taylor and Danny, her questions reminding me of his interrogation of myself. Then Alec's character rounded the corner in the game, blasting me to shreds.

"Dumbass," Alec snickered. He better watch out; I'm not beneath whipping out the Sharingan to get an advantage.

"I'm not a villain anymore," Lisa answered. "Well, mostly. I've shut down most of Coil's operations. I've passed the rest of my plans over to your partner," She gestured at me, "and he's said he's fine with everything."

"Really?" Taylor turned to me.

"Yeah," I nodded. "She's doing market manipulation stuff, mostly. Didn't think you'd really care."

"Otherwise I've been looking into gangs. Some of the things Coil put me up to clued me into just how bad things have gotten here. That leads me to talking about our plans: I'm planning on gutting the finances of the gangs. Check this out."

Lisa plopped the file down on the table. "This is everything I have on the ABB. I've been looking into their money streams as a side-project before this whole Bakuda thing—That's the bomb tinker, by the way. She announced herself to the PRT yesterday because she's an idiot. Now with her causing problems, I've been putting more time into investigating them."

"Have you found Bakuda?" Taylor prodded.

"I've found a few spots she could be hiding in. Nothing concrete. I can more than handle dismantling most of the ABB myself," Lisa smugly smiled, "But the capes are a problem. Bakuda, Oni Lee, and Lung are all dangerous. Too dangerous for mercs to handle, and the Undersiders are mostly disbanded at this point. They'll come in if I need them for something, and there's a couple other capes I could hire, but I'm generally lacking in firepower at the moment."

"Do you want our help, then?" Taylor intuited.

"Exactly. You were able to cause some serious damage to Lung on your own—" Tattletale suddenly twitched, then looked at me, "Well, mostly on your own. Your swarm and his ninja Mover, Thinker, and whatever other powers you're hiding would be a significant… force equalizer."

"You're a Master too, aren't you?" Alec suddenly asked, drawing everyone's gaze. "A human Master, too."

Lisa's eyes were darting between Alec and I and Taylor looked at me with vague suspicion, but Alec just looked at me with curiosity.

"Yeah," I admitted. "I've been trying to keep it quiet, for obvious reasons. What gave it away?"

Alec shrugged. "It's how you look at people. I've seen it before. What's your gimmick, from one Master to another?"

"Illusions," I answered honestly after a thoughtful moment. I'd expected to have some secrets lost, but I hadn't expected it to be Regent finding them. "Spoofing senses, kind of? I've not had the chance to explore it much."

"Ohh!" Alec's eyes lit up. "Can I see?"

I lit my Sharingan, snaring Alec in a Genjutsu. "No, you can't see," I said, disabling his sense of sight.

Alec snorted. I turned back to the screen, scoring a cheap kill on him while he wasn't able to play. I was about to remove the blindness when a shudder went through his body, dispelling it on his own.

"Kickass!" He seemed interested. "What else can you do with it? Other than blindness."

I scratched my chin. "Depends on what you mean"

"And you need eye contact to initiate it," Lisa butted in, smugly smiling again.

In response, I caught everyone in a Genjutsu, as they all used that moment to reflexively look me in the eye. Then, I turned Lisa into a horse. Or, at least, my best attempt at the sensory input and appearance of a horse's body. Alec immediately laughed at the sight of horse-Lisa, and even stress-addled Taylor seemed a little amused.

As my final act, I caught Lisa's attention and smugly smiled at her. Judging by the look of outrage in her real body, her power had correctly informed her that I copied that expression right off of her face. Then I cut the illusion, allowing everyone to recover.

"Alright, I give!" Lisa mimed raising her hands in surrender, "I don't choose to root out all your secrets, you know."

"Yeah, but you can choose when to taunt people about them," Alec countered. "I think you deserved that. How accurate was the horse experience, though?"

That got the Thinker back to thinking. "Very accurate," she determined, "or at least it felt like what it would probably feel to be a horse. Speaking of, did you have to make it a male horse?" Lisa looked at me in mild irritation.

My eyes widened. "…I didn't think that through."

"Cause there's no cock, like horse cock," Alec hummed a song under his breath as he returned to gaming, "Send your asshole into shock!"

A quick exhale slipped out of my mouth.

Taylor and Lisa both looked at Alec with mild disgust. "Like I was saying," Lisa continued talking with Taylor, "I want to bring down the ABB, you want to bring down Bakuda. So: I propose an alliance. I'll be the brains and the Akatsuki will be the hands.

"The villains of Brockton Bay will be meeting up to discuss how to deal with Bakuda soon. Coil's body double and the Undersiders will show up to keep the appearance of things as usual while I get intel. Once I have a decent idea of what everyone is doing, I can plan around them for maximum impact!" Lisa finished with vindictive glee.

"So, do nothing?" Taylor grumbled.

"Only for a few days," Lisa assured her. "Lung fought an Endbringer and Oni Lee can clone himself with whatever Bakuda cooks up, and I still don't know what she's up to on her own. If we're going to do this, we have to do it right."

"I agree," I cut back in, "though I don't think doing nothing is the best step. You said you have some ideas where Bakuda is? Send us to check them out. We can locate her and Taylor can spy on her without putting us in danger."

Lisa's eyes widened again. "You can see through your bugs?"

Shit. Sorry, Taylor, that was your secret.

"Yes," Taylor affirmed, she wasn't bothered by the reveal like I was. "It's still spotty, but I've gotten better at it the more time I spend managing my hive."

"Still…" Lisa seemed conflicted. "All the spots are firmly ABB territory and there's been a lot of people going missing near there. It's not a safe place to be."

"And if we can help out without being seen near there?"

"… I'll send you the locations," Lisa relented.

"Don't worry, we won't do anything rash. I'll wait for your plan." My Sharingan flicked back to the screen, catching a few pixels of a character model.

"The hell?" Alec complained as I flicked my crosshairs over and headshot him, "That was bullshit! You could only see, like, the top of my hair!"

"I think you just aren't trying hard enough." I shrugged.

"Stupid magic eyes," he mumbled.

"The last thing I wanted to talk about was you two," Lisa said. "Particularly, about Akatsuki, this group of yours. I want to know what your goals are for it."

"I thought that was pretty obvious," Taylor admitted, "We're going to be heroes. You know, stop crime, save the day?"

"I know that's what you want, but my main worry isn't you. I want to know what he wants to do." Lisa pointed at me.

"Right now? Not much. As we are, we can't do much, and the moment people start planning effectively around my powers my ability is reduced even more. I'm strong, but I'm not Triumvirate strong. Same with Taylor. Right now I just want to train, gather intelligence, and possibly recruit powerful parahumans."

"Powerful parahumans aren't exactly easy recruitment targets, you know? Or common in the first place," Lisa criticized.

"No, they're not," I sighed. "There's only a couple I'd even consider in Brockton Bay. But in the end, you need power to survive the world. So I'm going to get power."

"I think that's all I wanted to talk about," Lisa stated. "I'll get back to work, now. It was great meeting you, Taylor. Goodbye, Indra." She turned and walked out of the room.

"Cold," Alec hummed. "Don't take it too personally, Indra. She gets like that whenever people hide stuff from her, gives her a headache."

"I won't, and we should probably be heading out soon anyway. Thinker headaches are a pain. I don't get conventional ones, but I get the mother of all eye strain if I keep my eyes going for long enough."

"Heh, sucks to be you. Good playing with you though, even if you're a filthy cheater. Feel free to stop by whenever you wanna play or need someone to practice illusions on. Your power messes with the nervous system a bit, and I've got a good grasp on that. Could probably give some advice."

"Huh. That sounds... incredible, actually. I've got plans for now, obviously, but I'll have some free time soon."

By the time we finished that, Lisa sent over the areas she'd been looking through. I waved to Alec as I left, promising to see him later. Taylor gave an awkward goodbye and we both walked out to the rented car.

"So, how are we going to track Bakuda down?" Taylor enthusiastically inquired as she climbed in.

"Once we figure out the general location she's in, we'll find a place nearby to spend a few hours watching her. As for finding Bakuda? Not our problem."

I started the car, beginning the drive back into Brockton Bay proper.

"What do you mean, 'not our problem?'" Taylor frowned at me.

"Heh, sorry. Felt like teasing you. I think Alec brings out the worst in me." I opened my phone, scrolled through my contacts, and started a call. "I've got a much better way to narrow things down than just scouting areas out."

The call connected. "Hey, Dinah. It's Pain. You might remember me as that guy from the park. Would you mind helping me answer some questions?"

"87% percent I find Bakuda's hideout if I look around here, right?" Taylor asked.

"Yep," I confirmed. "I don't know how much margin of error 13% is, though, or how being around me factors into it. I figure you should just go with your gut and I'll follow along."

"Hm. Not seeing anything yet…" Taylor frowned, closing her eyes. "There's a few parts of some buildings I can't see and probably some basements. There's three buildings that have people with visible ABB colors."

"Might not even be in those, they could be hiding it in an unrelated building to throw off the scent."

We snuck through a warehouse sector, our faces covered but not in costume. We found a corner to hide away in while Taylor scanned buildings.

"Oh! One of the ABB ones only has a few people. Some stairs to a basement are hidden behind some stacked boxes. Heavy steel door with an electronic keypad lock. Nothing certain yet, but all signs point to the evil villain's lair!" Taylor analyzed enthusiastically. "Barely any bugs in there, nothing I can see out of. I'll try the vents next."

She made a pinched expression, focusing on invading the mystery room. She looked dramatically serious, like a child trying to play the part of a grizzled veteran. Then her eyes widened back up in a smile.

"Got some flies in! There's an Asian girl working on… something. I don't know what it is. Looks like a computerized engine, but wired up like a bomb."

"Computerized… engine…" I mumbled, tapping the description into my phone.

"There's a bunch of tools, even a gas mask. A few boxes filled with tiny metal balls. Oh, wait. Those are bombs."

"Sounds like our girl."

"We've got to get this to Tattletale."

"Already done. Been sending her the description as you spoke."

Taylor refocused on me, looking down at the hand that I held my phone in surprise. "Oh! Good. So, uhh… what now?"

I shrugged. "Figure out how many ABB shmucks are around? More data can't hurt to have. Well, unless you're Tattletale, in which case it will cause a Thinker headache. It's a shame she's getting the data regardless."

Taylor laughed. "Alright. I'll look."

"Cool. After that, I think our task here is done. I've still got some free time after this. Once we're done, want to practice some hand-to-hand combat?"

Taylor's eyes gleamed. "Yes!"

I have a problem. That problem is named Taylor. I can only hold her off from rushing headfirst into heroic action for so long. Part of me realized this was my fault: By diverting Taylor from going undercover, I've made it so cape life hasn't lost its luster.

Assassinating Coil wasn't enough to break that. It was only enough to force her to accept that cape life wasn't perfect, and she's used to making compromises. But a compromise wasn't what she wanted, what she wanted were more capes to fight and more glory to claim. Our fight with Uber and Leet is what she wanted. The public spectacle, the awe, and the victory.

She never said a thing, though. Well, she suggested things, but she was fine with going along with my plans so long as I explained them and they were smart. And I like to think I make good plans. But I'm good at reading people. One of the pros of being able to memorize dozens of facial expressions with a glance.

But she isn't satisfied. Brockton Bay is still a mess, and she wants to clean it up. So how do I satiate her infernal bloodlust?

I don't know. Hmm. I don't usually have a knowledge problem.

But, like every problem I don't know how to solve, there is an answer to this dilemma: Ask someone who does know. And I happen to know a few people who know a lot of things.

I called Tattletale first, despite my reservation.

"Indra? Is this about the ABB?" Lisa responded.

"Tangentally? It's about Taylor. She's not comfortable doing anything, even for a couple of days. I think she'll be able to stick it out, but there's always a margin for error. I figure, if anyone knows what to do, it's you. Hell, I'd pay for advice."

Lisa sighed. "No need to pay, it does involve our operation. I have a similar issue: Bitch is no longer with the Undersiders. She wanted to attack some of Hookwolf's dog-fighting rings, I wanted us to not go into a meeting with the Empire at war. Normally, Grue is around to keep her in line, but he's busy dealing with family issues. A while after that…" Lisa trailed off. "That conversation, I realized discovered a file was missing: the location of the meeting Hookwolf will be attending tonight. Which is weird, because she's almost illiterate, so I think she strongarmed Alec into it."

"My experience practicing with Alec tells me he would have done it for fun."

"Almost certainly the case," Lisa groaned. "I hate being management. That being said: I may have a solution to both of our problems."

"Yeah?"

"Just because she's not officially part of the group doesn't mean I've stopped thinking of her as a teammate; I want to help her. But I can't assist her without pissing off The Empire. Akatsuki, on the other hand, has no such obligations. You and Taylor go and fight Hookwolf, burning off Taylor's energy and keeping Bitch safe."

"You want me to fight Hookwolf? And didn't Bitch take the file with the location?"

"Yeah, but I was the one who wrote the file. And yeah. The Empire capes are relaxing or preparing for the meeting tomorrow: Hookwolf relaxes by watching dog fights. He'll be alone."

Can we take Hookwolf? Even 3v1, he isn't someone who will be taken out by bugs or melee combat. Bitch's dogs stand a chance, maybe, but I don't think they can hurt the living ball of metal.

Hmm. I can't think of a way to beat Hookwolf's changer form. But I can think of a way to beat him.

"Alright, I've got a plan," I told Lisa. "Oh, and mind tapping into the PRT Headquarters' security footage? I want a copy once I'm done."

"Thank you," Lisa seemed genuinely grateful. "Now, I have to find a way to announce that Bitch isn't with us before tonight."

The moment I told her about the situation, Taylor was in. We met near the location at around eight, just before sundown. The next step was to get Bitch in on the plan.

"I found her," Taylor spoke. She'd already scouted out the building, now keeping an eye on the perimeter. "Walking three dogs. That way," She pointed.

I scooped Taylor up, rapidly hopping between rooftops. Bitch was barely a block away from the location, walking down an empty street. She dressed in a cheap dog mask and had three large dogs trailing behind her. I set Taylor down, motioning for her to follow me.

We stood on the edge of the building, looking down at the feral woman. "Bitch!" I called, catching her attention.

Her head shot in our direction, immediately glaring up at us and growling. I didn't respond verbally, only continuing to stare down at her. Her cheap mask left her eyes exposed, allowing me to influence her mind.

I twisted her perspective, allowing shadows to twist and wind about me while igniting my eyes in an ethereal glow. In other words, I did my best impression of a vampire stereotype, mixed in with a gentle prodding of the fear center of her brain. I projected dominance while I stared down at her, her eyes suddenly widening as she stepped back.

"Bitch," I continued. "We are here to capture Hookwolf. We want you to assist."

"I know you," Bitch glared at us. "You're heroes. Aren't you going to fight me?"

"Hookwolf is far worse than you. I want him captured and you want his operations crushed. I capture Hookwolf, which leaves you open to take down the rest of the rings. Both of our problems are solved."

Bitch thought hard about that. "Fine. But I want him punished."

"That can be arranged." I picked Taylor back up, hopping down from the building down onto Bitch's level, and set Taylor back down. "This is Hive. I am Pain. I have a plan to defeat Hookwolf, but it will require you to work with us."

"What is it? And don't make it confusing," Bitch demanded.

"I can control Hookwolf's body to some extent, but only if I catch him by surprise. If Hookwolf gets hit by anything, he will break free. I control Hookwolf, you and Hive drive everyone away."

Bitch chewed on that for a moment. "Fine."

"Good. I will begin my infiltration now. Hive will tell you when to attack."

I gave Taylor a nod which she returned, and a cockroach with a few flies on its back scurried up my shoulder. I hopped back up onto the rooftops, running over to Hookwolf's building. It was a large warehouse with a few skinheads milling about, presumably the entrance guards.

I slipped past their patrols with ease, climbing into the building through a small vent that required me to transform myself to get through. I transformed back, creeping through the rafters of the building. I easily balanced on the beams making up the ceiling structure, looking down on the ring below.

It was a fenced circle with stands and chairs set up, dozens of neo-nazis and assorted scum cheering on as a pair of dogs tore each other to shreds. I did my best to not focus on the fight, scanning through the people watching.

Ah, there he is. Hookwolf sat in a comfy-looking lounge chair, occasionally tilting up his metal mask to sip on a beer. He was a big man with greasy blond hair, noticeably taller than myself.

I crept through the rafters until I was crouched above my target. I pressed my palms together, gathering a large amount of chakra in preparation. My practice with Regent gave me a better understanding of manipulating the nervous system, but I'm still a novice. Even with a two-tomoe Sharingan to cast Genjutsu from, I worried I would mess up.

I directed the chakra into my eyes, beginning the process of molding a particularly complex genjutsu with my Sharingan. My hands now free, I reached to my shoulder and tapped the cockroach twice, my signal that I was about to begin. I pulled a small rock from my pocket and dropped it.

The stone pinged off of Hookwolf's metal mask, causing him to look down at it in confusion. He then looked up, and his blue eyes met mine, peering through the slits in his visor. He recognized me immediately, eyes narrowing in fury. Unfortunately for him, he had already lost.

The first thing I targeted was the Corrola Potentia and Gemma. They were an easy target: the only non-standard parts of the human brain. I simply blocked it from interacting with the rest of the brain, effectively rendering him temporarily powerless. The second was his autonomous control of his body, cutting off the ability to move his body. The only thing he could still control were his eyes, which darted around in sudden fear.

I dropped down into the room as Bitch's empowered dogs busted through a wall, allowing a horde of insects to buzz in behind. The crowd panicked, the sudden riot causing the caged dogs to begin howling and barking. The Empire members turned to Hookwolf for guidance, only to see me drop down in front of the immobilized cape, his hand still holding a beer and his mask still turned upwards.

A few brave Empire members attempted to pull their guns on me but were dissuaded by my throwing knives punching into their hands, sending their guns to the floor and probably them to a hospital. I remained still, scanning the room and ensuring Hookwolf wouldn't be broken from the Genjutsu as Bitch and Taylor drove everyone from the scene.

A few less fortunate Empire members were knocked unconscious or trampled by Bitch's dogs, but I couldn't bring myself to care about a couple of Neo-Nazis. Faced with multiple dangerous parahumans, the unempowered members turned and fled, and I was left alone in the room. Well, aside from Hookwolf and the stragglers, but do they count as people?

Hive and Bitch walked through the hole they made, walking up to me. Bitch still gave us suspicious looks, but when she saw Hookwolf frozen behind me, a lot of the hostility drained away.

"I want him to hurt," Bitch stated, eyes narrowed at Hookwolf. Hookwolf's eyes focused on her, promising pain in return.

"Oh, that'll be happening." I warped my chakra slightly through the link I anchored in Hookwolf, forcing him to look me in the eyes again. "For example, this one is called 'lighting the nervous system on fire.'"

Hookwolf's pupils dilated at that, but only for a second. I wreathed my chakra through his body, engulfing his entire nervous system. His body was now entirely under my amateurish control, I could puppet him with significant effort. Nervous system manipulation was difficult and required a lot of precision.

What didn't require a lot of precision was shoving as much agony as I could into every inch of his body. His eyes went bloodshot as his body began to involuntarily spasm, his beer bottle falling out of his hand and onto the floor.

I clamped down on his muscles, forcing his whole body to remain mostly still as I continued to pump him full of pain. Technically speaking, it wasn't even real pain, just an Illusion I'm feeding to his nerves. That didn't make it hurt any less, I imagine.

Bitch grunted a noise of satisfaction. She probably didn't understand what the nervous system was, but she knew what someone hurting looked like. "I'm going to help the dogs now."

I nodded at her. "Good. Be quick about it. Empire and maybe PRT will respond any minute now. We're leaving with Hookwolf. If anyone asks, you happened to attack at the same time as us."

She nodded.

"Oh, and could I borrow a leash?" I asked, turning to look at the frozen Hookwolf, his body still lightly twitching.

Taylor and I leisurely strolled into the PRT headquarters in full costume, heads held high and standing tall. PRT security backed away from us, frantically talking into their handheld radios.

Hookwolf walked in front of us. Well, crawled is more accurate. He was on his hands and knees, walking on all fours. Around his neck was a spiked collar, and from the collar hung a small nametag with the name 'Angelica' and a leash that I held.

A few moments later multiple capes arrived. Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Assault, and Battery were the first to arrive, and trailing behind them were Clockblocker, Shadow Stalker, and Gallant. I noticed Taylor tense up at the arrival of her bully, but it could easily be explained as suddenly being in the room with seven parahumans

"Holy Shit," gaped Clockblocker, his masked head stretching forward in shock.

"Hello, PRT!" I jauntily waved at the group. "I'm here for a scheduled veterinary appointment. The big guy here's been having some aggression issues and I was hoping you could fix him for me. Say 'hi', Hookwolf!" I eased up on my control enough to allow him to speak a little, but not enough to do anything that would potentially break my Genjutsu.

"I'll kill you, you yellow f—" Hookwolf growled out, suddenly halting as I reasserted control over his mouth.

"Bad dog," I chided, reigniting his nervous system and letting him suffer in silence. Gallant and Armsmaster tensed up, likely noticing the signs of extreme distress I was no doubt inducing. "Now, I don't suppose you have a cell I can drop him off in?"

Miss Militia took over. "Yes. Follow me."

I picked Hookwolf up and slung him over my shoulder, following behind the military-themed cape. The rest of the parahumans were silent, vigilantly watching Hookwolf for any sign of action. Except, curiously, Shadow Stalker. She was watching me, a strange look in her eyes.

I glanced in her direction, staring her dead in the eyes. The visual contact allowed me a bit of supernatural sleuthing, revealing the emotion to be 'awe.' Yeah, that tracks. If anyone would be impressed by my handling of Hookwolf, it would be her. Not exactly a ringing endorsement from a trustworthy individual, but she'd probably have a valid reason to hate Nazis. I raised an amused eyebrow at her, causing her to look away.

Miss Militia and Armsmaster led me to a heavy-duty containment cell, a large, hermetically-sealed steel enclosure. Armsmaster's fingers blurred over a keypad, typing in a twenty-digit passcode with precise ease. Which, of course, I instantly copied. Upon entering the code, the thick steel door unsealed and slid open.

"Clockblocker, freeze Hookwolf." Miss Militia instructed.

I tossed Hookwolf into the heavy containment unit. Clockblocker moved forward, pressing a hand onto my 'pet.' I felt my connection to him sever as he froze in time, so I no longer had to worry about keeping him from breaking loose. As we left, the room was sealed up and I heard the sound of a fuckton of containment foam spring up behind the steel doors.

With the priority target subdued, the government capes finally relaxed. Well, some of them. Armsmaster, Gallant, and Shadow Stalker remained stiff.

"Thank you for bringing Hookwolf in," Miss Militia thanked us. "Are you willing to give us a report on the takedown?"

"Nah," I shook my head, "Sounds like a pain."

Gallant's fists clenched at my pun, evidently unamused. I, however, was very amused. So were Clockblocker and Assault, though Battery quickly kicked her husband's shin to stop his giggling.

Militia sighed, "Well, we can't make you. The PRT would appreciate your cooperation, though."

"Ehh, you just want to understand my powers," I waved her off. "That takes the mystery out of it."

Taylor and I turned and strutted out of the building, not stopped by security or capes. We didn't have to stop and ask for directions, my memorization of the walk there allowed me to retrace my way out.

"That was incredible!" Taylor squealed. "We just took down Hookwolf! Hookwolf!"

If this doesn't satiate Taylor's thirst for combat, I don't know what will. She was positively glowing as she sipped on her celebratory milkshake. If I'm completely honest, I'm about as happy as her. If there was one person I could remove from Brocton Bay, it would be Kaiser. Hookwolf is a close second, though. Plus, the burger place we stopped by served a mean half-pounder.

"And then we walked him in on a leash!" She chortled, "Ah, did you have to… hurt him, though?" Taylor asked hesitantly.

I shrugged. "Got Bitch off our backs. Besides, the Empire caused my trigger. You won't find any mercy for them coming from me."

"Oh! Oh. I'm… sorry for bringing it up."

"Nah, you're all good. You weren't comfortable with it, you brought it up. I won't apologize, but I'll limit the all-encompassing agony for those who deserve it."

"I appreciate it," Taylor smiled at me.

"Watch out, though, that'll get the Empire after us. Shouldn't change much considering we don't have territory or any known plans, but they're something to keep an eye out for. Enough serious shit, though." I leaned back, taking a chomp out of my burger. "I just wanna think of this burger. Thank Kami for candied onions, the only possible explanation for these is divine providence."

Interlude - PRT Headquarters

"He walked in, tortured a man in front of you, and you just let him walk away?" Director Piggot glared at the gathered capes, demanding an explanation.

"It was the safest course of action," Armsmaster responded stoically. "He'd not engaged in any action against us and his control over Hookwolf's body meant that any proof is limited. Additionally, it would be a very poor idea to have angered someone who could actively control Hookwolf."

"At least we know why he's called Pain," Assault shrugged, unbothered as Piggot turned her glare to him.

"That's another thing! You've just seen a man puppet someone in our building, yet I notice none of you have gone in for Master/Stranger screening," Piggot's glare harshed on Assault.

"Shit." He succinctly put.

"I want all seven of you to report to screening the moment this conversation is over. I'm going to have to go in as well, thanks to your idiocy. Armsmaster, Militia. What do you think the Empire will do in response?"

"Unlikely to react against us. Akatsuki demonstrated that they were behind the capture, though they're likely to attempt to free him from his birdcage transport," Armsmaster spoke.

"Hm. Gallant. What's your analysis?" Piggot turned to the Ward.

"He seemed amused. The whole time. It didn't matter if he was torturing Hookwolf or talking to us. Confident, too. I think he thinks he could have taken us. All of us. Or at least that we wouldn't act against him." Gallant frowned.

"Arrogant, then. Anything else?"

"His partner wasn't as comfortable. She didn't like Shadow Stalker. And I would recommend assigning a pretty high danger rating to him. I've seen people actively dying in far less pain than Hookwolf."

"What kind of grab bag is this guy?" Clockblocker grumbled. "Superspeed, mind control, and whatever combat thinker stuff his eyes do."

"A dangerous one," Piggot stated firmly. "He's willing to take on the Empire and blow us off. At the very least, he's going to stir up some trouble, which will eventually be our problem. And we're already dealing with the ABB bombing the place."

"When it rains, it pours," Miss Militia sighed. "At least Hookwolf is off the streets. That's a few less people that'll be torn to shreds."

"And with fewer people being torn to shreds, the Empire will feel the need to posture more. Expect elevated Empire action in the near future. Now report to M/S screening. I have my screening to get through, some footage to analyze, and a threat rating to update."

Interlude - Parahumans Online

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Topic: Hookwolf Captured, Akatsuki Responsible

In: Boards ► News ► Events ►America ►Brockton Bay

AllSeeingEye:

Hive and Pain turned Hookwolf into the PRT last night. [Here's the footage.]

The PRT released an updated threat rating this morning. They've raised Hive up to a Master 6 and Pain is now a Mover 4, Thinker 3, and Master 5. That's a total threat rating of 12, for the mathematically inept. Different than a base 12, but Brockton Bay now officially has another heavy-hitting cape.

For the unaware, Akatsuki is the pair of capes, Hive and Pain, who recently captured Uber and Leet, and now Hookwolf. Hive is a bug-controlling Master and Pain is a mover and combat thinker with notable melee combat skill. And now a human master, too.

User was warned for this post.

XxVoid_CowboyxX:

I fucking told you all. I told you he was a Master. I bet he's taken over the PRT by now. It's only a matter of time till he's the overlord of Brockton Bay.

Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know):

Huh. That's the PRT HQ lobby security footage. I don't even have a source that'll get me that. Looks genuine, I think AllSeeingEye has some serious insiders.

Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE):

Are we just ignoring that he walked Hookwolf like a dog? I was expecting at least Void to say something.

XxVoid_CowboyxX:

Wait he did what

Reave (Verified PRT Agent):

That is classified footage. Tin_Mother, would you please take it down?

Tin_Mother (Moderator):

On it :D

And take an infraction, AllSeeingEye. Don't distribute anything classified.

XxVoid_CowboyxX:

There's already a torrent for it dumbasses. [Link].

User was warned for this post.

Tin_Mother (Moderator):

Sorry, Reave. Looks like it's already gotten out :(

And take a warning and mute, Void.

14Uber88:

Nobody deserves to be forced to do that. A human master willing to use his powers to humiliate people he doesn't like doesn't sound like a good thing for Brockton. I worry for whoever is unlucky enough to irritate him.

End of Page: 1

Lisa frowned as she looked at her forum post. She'd hoped it would lead to a reputation increase for the Akatsuki and a mocking of the Empire, but it seems like she'd just raised suspicion against them.

This whole 'controlling the narrative' business was much harder than she thought it would be. At least the Empire would focus on Akatsuki and not the Undersiders.

Kaiser looked up from his computer, grinning smugly. The post from his secret PHO account, '14Uber88,' had begun a debate about the dangers of human masters, swiftly taking the focus off of Hookwolf's failures. 'God, it's so fucking easy to manipulate the masses,' He thought diabolically, internally cackling.

'This Hookwolf business will be annoying to fix,' the leader of the Empire considered. 'Ah, well. An Empire can take some losses. We'll clean up that Asian mess soon enough, be it the ABB or an upstart vigilante.'

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Topic: Hookwolf Captured, Akatsuki Responsible

In: Boards ► News ► Events ►America ►Brockton Bay

LeviathanH8R (Kyushu Survior):

I think Hookwolf deserved it. He processes people into chicken nuggets, a little humbling isn't half of what he deserves.

Valkyr (Wiki Warrior):

A shame neither of them have made any public statements. Neither seem to have a PHO account from what I can tell. The closest thing to a lead I have is Akatsuki, which was made a few months before Akatsuki's reveal. The user follows a lot of Brocton Bay boards, including this one. Doesn't post, though.

Akatsuki (Unverified Cape):

I am Pain. If you have any questions, ask. I won't respond to anything I find uninteresting.

[PainSelfieHookwolf png]

Valkyr (Wiki Warrior):

Huh. Didn't expect it would genuinely be him. Tin_Mother, new cape! I was wondering if you had anything to say about the accusations that you're a malicious Master? One report that came out claims you were able to induce an extreme amount of pain in him. Is that why you're called Pain?

Tin_Mother (Moderator):

Welcome to PHO, Pain! DM me a pic of you next to the day's newspaper if you want the verified tag. Speaking of questions, I've had one about you for a while. What's your theme? I can tell there's something tying it all together, but I'm not sure what.

Akatsuki (Unverified Cape):

Hookwolf was a monster. I gave him only what he deserved. I will not treat people like this often.

My 'theme' is a supernatural ninja.

LeviathanH8R (Kyushu Survivor):

What nationality are you? Do you plan to take down the rest of the Empire?

Tin_Mother (Moderator):

Really? I can kind of see it. Is that your theme or your power's theme?

Valkyr (Wiki Warrior):

Did Bitch help you defeat Hookwolf? Some people in The Empire say that she fought with you.

Akatsuki (Unverified Cape):

LeviathanH8R

Japanese. We both come from Kyushu.

Tin_Mother

That would be telling.

Valkyr

Bitch attacking was a convenient coincidence. We didn't bother fighting her, preferring to ensure Hookwolf's capture.

End of Page: 86

A/N: I love reviews!