You're out of touch, I'm out of time…


Fun Fact: Out of Touch was written by Hall and Oates, who also made the song You Made My Dreams (the one song that has the "what I want" bit at the beginning).

I realize now that the Reckoners reference last chapter was,,, shall I say, kind of obscure. As in, Strongtower is a name mentioned literally once, as an Epic with a power similar to Steelheart, and never mentioned again.


Taylor was fortunate enough that, between the grateful capes she'd put back together, Glory Girl and Flechette hovering, Horizon's gimlet stare when she wasn't triaging injuries, and the fact that she blasted through an Endbringer, most of the other capes who wanted anything from her weren't willing to risk approaching her. Those that did were mostly fishing for information, and with Odin advising her and her bugs to help her split her focus, she was able to send them away disappointed.

She spent about four or five hours in the med tent, long enough that Horizon said that most casualties recovered at that point were either considered "walking wounded" (meaning that they could mostly rely on the human body's own healing abilities to recover) or DOA (which even she couldn't heal), before she and Panacea trudged off to the teleportation point for a yawning Strider to drag them, Glory Girl, Othala, and Flechette back to Brockton Bay.

They were met with a tense standoff between Brandish and Lady Photon on one side and Victor (a man in a red shirt and tactical vest, with a domino mask to conceal his identity) and Clausewitz (who, much like Krieg, wore an imitation of a Nazi uniform in olive green) on the other. Thankfully, the four capes broke off their whispered argument once they arrived, although that brought its own issues.

Namely, when Victor turned his eyes on her, she felt something pulsating against her head before it abruptly cut off with a wince from the man as Odin turned his piercing gaze on him.

Given the public details of his power, it wasn't difficult to draw the causal link between it and the odd sensation in a thoroughly unwelcome realization that had Taylor almost unconsciously drawing in power (it was almost odd how quickly that became a habit, a small part of her said).

"I will assume," she said deliberately, "that that was not, in fact, an attempted deliberate breach of the Endbringer Truce."

Clausewitz's eyes widened in shock as Victor paled, and while the members of New Wave (and one Ward) present weren't nearly so quick to action, in short order the two members of the Empire were staring down five capes capable of turning them into memories and meat.

"Explain," said Brandish, a spear made of orange-white light clutched tight in her fists.

"Well," said Clausewitz in a tone that, while probably supposed to be reassuring, felt hollow to Taylor, "my compatriot's parahuman ability is, unfortunately, of the 'always on' variety. What that means in regards to long-term exposure is not much, since when he isn't actively using it it defaults to just scanning the brain of other capes, but I do believe that is why the young lady reacted as she did. I understand that Miss H-Volur has some form of defense against Thinker and Master effects, does she not?"

Taylor's eyes narrowed. Even if the man's voice wasn't familiar but just out of her mental reach, the slip he made that showed he almost certainly knew her name set her on edge.

Unfortunately, it looked like the only ones who were similarly wary were Flechette (a relative unknown, who seemed to be more wary for form's sake than anything else) and Glory Girl. The rest of the capes present were all making vague noises of agreement, as if the existence of an active cognitohazard near a powerful healer and independent cape that most people would kill to get their hands on wasn't a de facto breach of the Endbringer Truce just based on the potential long-term damage someone like Victor could inflict in order to recruit her.

"Be more mindful of the effects of your abilities in the future, then," said Brandish sharply. "Take your teammates with you and leave."

"Of course. For what it's worth, I apologize that this meeting has been tainted by the specter of conflict," oozed Clausewitz as he led Victor and Othala away from the courtyard in front of the PRT building they were standing in. At almost the same time, Flechette turned on her heel and walked into the building, leaving only Taylor and the members of New Wave in the courtyard.

"There's no way that was an accident," said Glory Girl. "They're far too careful not to consider the implications of Victor's power in the light of the Endbringer Truce."

"Everyone has their off days," responded Lady Photon. "I, for one, can't blame them for a little lack of caution in the wake of sending one of their teammates off to an Endbringer fight, even in a noncombative role."

"Are you seriously trying to blow this off? It's arguably a complete breach of the Truce, if he's lying about Victor's power being always on!"

"Victoria!" Brandish snapped. "Now is not the time for your grudge against the Empire! I miss Fleur too, but you can't hold the organization responsible for the actions of one boy."

"I can when they betray the principles we capes live by in welcoming him with open arms!" she shot back, glaring at her mother angrily.

Panacea frowned, massaging her temples, but didn't say anything.

"That is enough. We'll speak more about this later," said Brandish, before turning to Taylor. "I apologize for airing family business in such a manner."

"It's fine," said Taylor somewhat curtly, despite her agreement with the Alexandria package. "Have a nice evening."

Without waiting for a response, she invoked raido and strode off, letting the magic shorten and conceal her journey home.


"Taylor, I am so sorry about Monday," said Vicky, walking backwards along the Boardwalk. "I don't know what was up with Mom or Aunt Sarah that made them undersell the whole thing with Victor so hard, I tried to tell her just how bad it could be but I'm not sure she got it."

"I might have a suspicion," muttered Amy, too quietly for either of her companions to hear.

"To be fair, it's not as bad until you realize that my power is a skill-based energy manipulation-" Amy snorted at this, "- or that Clausewitz knows my civilian identity."

"Please, please tell me I didn't hear that right," said Vicky.

Taylor shook her head. "I'm like ninety five percent sure he does, he almost called me by my last name as if it's habit, which implies he's had contact with me… He might be Gladly. Maybe not, not sure given the fact that Clausewitz is a confident jackass whereas Gladly is kinda a pushover."

"And Gladly is…" Amy trailed off.

"Oh, right. He's one of the asshole teachers at my school, one of the ones who enables the Terrible Trio." Taylor made jazz hands at the epithet.

"Hm. Right, yeah that tracks."

"Speaking of those three," asked Vicky, "do you have any idea why they decided to suddenly go all in on fucking with you?"

"Search me," said Taylor. "I know, intellectually, it's not because I'm unattractive, which I am, but half the time it feels like it with how often they come after my looks, and I know it would have taken something worse to turn Emma against me."

Vicky blinked. "Taylor. Have you looked in the mirror recently?"

Taylor stopped walking, stunned by the non sequitur. "What does that have to do with the price of bread?"

Vicky sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she muttered invective under her breath. "Taylor. You're fucking built, now, and the only reason anyone'd call you unattractive now is your clothes, which we can fix."

"I… what?"

Amy sighed. "Just go with it. Vicky doesn't let me resist when she gets like this, so I need someone else to suffer as I have suffered." The acerbic words were offset by the gentle tone and teasing wink Amy shot Taylor.

Neither sister gave the tall brunette a chance to respond, dragging her off to a boutique that was advertised as, on alternate Saturdays, the host of the cape puppeteer Parian and her design efforts.

The first outfit the Dallons stuffed into Taylor hands was a relatively simple affair: a striped, monochromatic blouse that exposed her shoulders and little diamonds all down her arms, not quite falling low enough to meet the top of the black pair of skinny jeans that accompanied it. Figuratively dragging her feet, Taylor slowly doffed the baggy hoodie and loose jeans she had on, before freezing as her eyes swept across the mirror on the wall.

She touched her upper arm, unbelieving, and the figure in the mirror did the same, slender fingers making contact with a well-defined bicep.

The dark-haired young woman changed into the new outfit almost robotically, still reeling with the revelation.

When she emerged from the changing room, Vicky's immediate response was a wolf whistle which set Taylor to blushing fiercely. "Wow, girl!" she cheered, smirking. "I knew you'd clean up damn well."

"And you called me a useless lesbian," grumbled Amy, loud enough to set her sister to blushing but not loud enough for Taylor to hear.

Once the taller brunette returned to the changing room, Vicky turned to her sister. "Amyyy," she whined, "stop being mean!"

"No," the shorter sister replied, absently wishing she was chewing gum to pop a bubble to drive her point home. "Not until you put yourself out there."

"But then I'd have to deal with the mortifying ordeal of being known, and the possibility of rejection," Vicky replied.

"Tough."

Taylor emerged from the changing room in a flowy, pastel green sundress, once again baring her shoulders in a fashion that Victoria herself preferred to wear, to a pouting Vicky and a smug Amy. "Something happen?"

"Not particularly, Vicky just owes me five bucks. I told her you'd look good in green, but she didn't believe me," Amy lied.

Taylor's eye narrowed, but she let it slide. "If you say so."

About half an hour later, Taylor walked away from the store with a bag full of clothes, a cheery Vicky on her left, and a yawning Amy on the right, both of whom held their own, smaller bags.

"So," said Amy, "when's the court case picking back up?"

"Monday," replied Taylor. "Someone dumped a shitload of paperwork on Judge Myra this week, but he said it should all be done by then."

"Good to hear. The sooner you can get this behind you and get out of that cesspit, th-" began Vicky.

She was interrupted by the noises of something running through a side street on Taylor's right, which a moment later resolved itself when a stocky girl atop a lizard monster thing, followed by two others, came careening out of the side street, yelling "Get out of the way!"

Taylor invoked two instances of algiz, one to summon her armor and another to provide more abstract protections to her identity. Then, some instinct had her throw up a barrier between Panacea and the street using a third casting of the rune.

That precaution was borne out as she realized that there was the sound of something else coming from the alley just moments before a blur of metal slammed into Panacea, hurling the healer back but not injuring her thanks to Taylor's instinct.

"Be careful where you're running, asshole!" Taylor shouted, even as the mass of metal shifted into the recognizable form that Hookwolf preferred. "You almost just killed Panacea!"

"Get out of my way, girlie," he snarled in reply. "I got beef with Bitch behind you, you don't get involved."

"I'll get involved when you try to kill the only other healer in the Bay, you bastard. Turn back or be subdued," Taylor said, standing firm.

"So be it." Hookwolf rippled as two other capes ran out of the street behind him: one a shirtless man in a tiger mask and the other wearing a metal cage as a mask. "I warned you, brat. For what it's worth, I'll tell your family you died a warrior in the old ways."

"Shut the fuck up, Nazi," said Glory Girl, rising into the air and letting her aura expand to fill the area. "That's my sister you tried to blend."

She exploded forwards, and the battle was begun.


Lisa Wilbourne wasn't satisfied with her current arrangement with Coil.

Oh, don't get her wrong, she enjoyed the benefits of having a benefactor. Financial backing, a network of support personnel, and what was shaping up to be a pretty solid smash-and-grab team.

On the other hand, the blatant disregard for any of the rules capes nominally played by, in both her press-ganging and the threats of turning her into a drugged-up basement Thinker, was a fairly major turn-off.

She probably could have escaped within a few months, just from the resources she siphoned from his accounts and a little bit of social engineering, but at this point she was pissed enough at the man that, instead of abandoning the city (and running the risk of getting picked up by a worse boss), she'd decided to tear the man down as best she could.

That was at least partially why she'd been willing to show up to the Endbringer fight in Canberra when he asked: while gathering information on capes under the Truce was… frowned upon, especially when it was a specific cape as Coil had asked, she felt that the networking potential to find potential future coworkers was worth breaching the rules.

Of course, that was before she had laid eyes on Volur and her power started screaming at her.

Parahuman power connected to insects, based on altered insect activity nearby. Offensive abilities not connected to parahuman powers. Healing abilities not connected to parahuman powers. Additional Thinker ability not connected to parahuman powers. Additional powers preceded by invocation of Futhark runes. Volur is a god. Strength of displayed abilities suggest Volur is a God. Divine nature sugg-

Lisa shoved down both her power and the fear at remembering the breadth of power displayed by Volur, then sighed as she pulled her phone out of her pocket to report to Coil.

He picked up quickly. "What is your report, my Tattletale?"

Lisa shuddered, viscerally uncomfortable with the method address, then spoke. "Volur is… sandbagging significantly. She punched through the Simurgh with one attack, showcased an incredible healing ability, some kind of Mover ability, and at least a couple of different Thinker powers. I'd be very careful about trying to get her on side."

"I thank you for your input," Coil said. "Anything else?"

"Accord suggests, and I concur, that there is likely to be an attack by a new Endbringer on Brockton Bay at some point within the next two months or so specifically targeted at killing Volur."

"I will keep that in mind," said Coil, hanging up without anything else.

Intends to leverage Volur's civilian identity against her. Knows her civilian identity. Will not succeed in the attempt. Has tried before in alternate timelines.

She cut off her power and nodded decisively. Sorry, Volur, she thought, sparing a moment of apology for the cape for using her to deal with Coil. Then, she turned to her computer and opened it.

She needed to prepare for when Coil was gone, after all, and what better time to start than now?


And that's that!

If I had a nickel for every time I threw Hookwolf at a protagonist on the Boardwalk in civvies, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

That's about it, so read, review, enjoy, and have a nice day.