My second cape fight was not, in fact, going as smoothly as the last.

I grunted as my metal body impacted the hull of a beached ship, bending the metal inward with the force of my impact. In the direction I had come from, Mush was stalking toward my downed form with intent to finish me, only to be waylaid by a glob of liquid fire hitting him in the back.

He immediately shucked off the trash that had caught fire from his form, more garbage immediately moving to take its place as he turned to face his attacker.

Spitfire jerked from her perch on top of a shipping crate as Mush turned to face her, backing up and preparing herself to jump down as he approached.

He had left his back unprotected however and I quickly capitalized on the opening by rushing forward with my arms outspread, leaping up and spearing him around his middle and sending us both flying to the ground.

As we landed, I immediately began clawing away at the trashy form of the golem to get at the parahuman inside, scraping and flinging swaths of disgusting filth from his form as he tried to regain his bearings.

The sleeves of my ruined hoodie became increasingly filthy as I dug elbow deep in trash, searching for my quarry, until finally, I caught sight of a pink bit of flesh hidden deep within the muck. Just as I went to move more trash out of the way to expose it some more though, Mush suddenly moved.

He stood up straight as if my increased weight meant nothing, reaching around with a massive arm and grabbing me around my waist with one hand.

"Shit." I cursed as I struggled to free myself from his grip, grabbing his faux fingers and levering them away from myself. Just as I started making progress however, Mush reared me back and threw me straight at Spitfire who was watching our exchange with uncertainty.

I could just barely see the other cape scramble to the side as I went flying by, slamming against another ship a few yards away, this time breaking through the rusted hull and falling into the interior.

I just stayed lying there for a few seconds as I regained my bearings. The exchange that had just occurred had been about par for the course how the fight had been happening so far.

Spitfire would distract Mush and get him to focus on her, I would seize the opportunity and attack him while his back was turned. I wouldn't be able to do any significant damage before he recovered, and I would be flung away in some form or another. And as he went to chase after me, Spitfire distracted him again so I could recover.

Rinse and repeat for about thirty minutes or so. Between him and Alabaster, I was beginning to notice a pattern, one I didn't care for one bit.

"Why the hell is he so strong?" I groaned, "Everything I read about him said he was a C lister a most, and yet this guy is throwing me around and tanking my attacks like he's fucking Lung or something!"

"Aspect!" A voice called from outside the ship, "Are you okay!?"

I groaned and sat up, brushing the dirt and rust off my body, "Yeah I'm ok. Just fed up with this back and forth. How are things going out there Spit?"

"Don't call me that!" She said, and there was a pause, no doubt to spit another glob of fire at Mush, "And it could be going better! Every time I hit him, he just gets rid of the place I hit and replaces it! Where is he even getting all this trash from!?"

"This entire place is trash." I said as I made my way over to her side, "Hell, his power might classify anything inside the ships as trash given the way they've just been left around like unwanted litter. We should be glad it doesn't work on the ships themselves." I commented.

Ahead of us, Mush had seemingly gotten tired of the back and forth as well, and raised his massive arms in front of him to create a makeshift shield for the rest of his body. He gave a frenzied roar and then rushed towards us, arms held in front of him to block Spitfire's shots.

I frowned, deactivating my power and placing my hand in my pocket, touching the chunk of quartz held there and melding with it, making sure to include my clothes in my transformation this time, despite the added stamina cost of doing so.

"I'm gonna stop his charge. Shoot some fire at him when I back off and try to get as much of him covered as you can. If we can keep him pinned down and under fire for long enough, we can hopefully get rid of a good portion of his mass." I told Spitfire as I crouched down to run toward the charging cape.

She hesitated, "What if I hit you?" she asked in concern and I waved her off.

"Quartz has a melting point of over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. My body might crack or something, but I can heal that quickly. Not to mention, the only thing that will really be damaged would be my hoodie, which is already more or less ruined." I explained, tensing my legs, "I'll be fine, just light him up." I didn't let her protest further and ran toward the charging Merchant.

Spitfire groaned behind me and pursed her lips, taking a deep breath and then exhaling a solid stream of orange liquid the area Mush and I would likely meet. Some of the liquid separated from the steam however, falling down and landing on my shoulder.

The moment it landed it immediately burst into flame and I grimaced at the sudden glare. There didn't seem to be any immediate damage to my crystalline body however, so I kept moving, quickly outpacing the stream and meeting Mush's charge with my own.

I slammed into Mush's makeshift shield and plowed through several feet of garbage before losing my momentum. As soon as I stopped, I immediately planted my foot and leapt backwards out of the trash, just in time for Spitfire's attack to reach us and hit him, setting a good portion of his garbage shell ablaze.

He yelled in panic and deactivated whatever part of his power was keeping the trash connected, letting it fall to the ground below. His golem shifted as he moved garbage around to fill in the spaces that had been left empty, and I grinned as I noticed he was noticeably smaller. The plan was working. Now I just needed a way to restrain him.

Unfortunately, I couldn't just sink Mush into the ground like I had with Alabaster. Even with all the trash he was losing, the changer was simply way too big. If I tried to get him to sink into the ground, he'd notice and just detach that part of his body. I'd have to find another way to disable him.

Hopefully something that wouldn't include Spitfire using her power on his actual body. The smell of burning rotten garbage was already strong enough, I didn't want to add charred flesh to the mix.

I looked around for anything that could help us end the fight without burning him to a crisp, while at the same time cursing Mush's massive form. I looked around at the piles of scrap that Mush's power had arbitrarily decided weren't classified as garbage, before I spotted something. A massive steel beam, one that was mostly intact and rust free.

As I blocked another strike from Mush, I could already feel a plan start to form in my head. Mush was small enough now that I should be able to wrap that beam around him completely and restrain him. I would then be free to dig away at his trash until I found his real body. It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was the best one I had right now that didn't involve the cape receiving horrific burns or losing limbs so it would have to work.

As Much swung his arm down at me in another attempt to slam me into the ground, I lept backwards toward Spitfire, my increased strength sending me soaring across the several yards between us as Mush shouted in confusion. He looked around for me for a moment, before roaring angrily as another glob of napalm hit him.

I grinned, turning to Spitfire as she spat another molten glob at the much smaller trash golem, "Try to lure him towards that pile over there! I have a plan!" I told her before rushing over to the pile I had indicated

As I ran, I deactivated my power, my skin turning from shiney metal back to normal flesh and leaving me slightly winded in the process. I didn't take a moment to breathe though, immediately placing my hand on the lightly rusted beam to get a feel for its strength.

I could immediately tell that whatever the beam was made out of was weaker than the metal I had been using just seconds ago even without melding with it. For what I had in mind however, it would be enough.

I placed my hands on the concrete beside the beam, melding with it and sinking down to wait for Mush to approach.

Up above, Spitfire was doing a fantastic job forcing him to make his way towards where I was hidden. She was using her power to corral him like a dog herding cattle, filling the area with liquid fire and making the only safe path to move in the one directly toward me.

Mush didn't seem to notice what she was doing, simply content to taunt her, "Looks like that other bitch abandoned you! You can spit as much fire as you want, but when my boys are done with that orange skinned freak, we're gonna fuck you up!" He laughed even as he unknowingly did exactly as she wished.

'Almost…' I thought in anticipation as Mush approached, 'There!' As he continued taunting Spitfire, his massive form stepped on the ground just inches from where I was submerged. Exactly where I wanted him.

As he was distracted by Spitfire, I emerged from the concrete behind him, grabbing the massive beam from the ground and hot swapping to match its material. I knew I was going to pay for that later when I transformed back to normal, but I ignored that thought as I lifted the beam up towards the trash golem.

In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if it was possible for me to just change parts of my body to match materials instead of my whole body at once. After all, if I already had control of how my body acted when transformed, why couldn't I also control which parts of me transform? I would have to experiment with the idea some then all of this was over.

For now, I still had Mush to deal with.

He yelled out in surprise at my sudden appearance and I took the opportunity to wrap the steel beam around his body, making sure to dig it as deeply into the trash as I could. And then, with a grunt of exertion, I used my increased strength to heave his squirming form up and against the metal hull of the ship, using my power to meld the exposed bits of the massive beam with the hull of the ship, leaving him stuck there suspended several feet above the ground.

As Mush wiggled and tried to free himself, I stepped back and transformed one of my arms into a sharp blade then began cutting away at the legs of the golem, making lengthwise cuts like I was carving away at a massive piece of shawarma. Behind me, I could hear Spitfire walk up to watch me work.

I didn't know how his power connected the trash to his body and I didn't want to accidently cut off his leg or something. I had already gotten a talking to from Faultline about how rough I was on those Empire goons, and while she had understood why I had done it, I didn't really want to go through that uncomfortable experience again.

Melanie was scary when she played the part of the stern boss.

Back to Mush, it seemed that either he was capable of moving himself within his golem, something I had suspected he could do given how hard it had been finding his actual body, or he was located in the very center. Which also made sense given that it was all that was left of the golem after I rid it of its limbs and head. Now he was just a lump of trash, giving a clear picture as to where his actual body was.

Now that I knew where to dig, I did so expeditiously, morphing my hands again and clawing away at the shell of trash. It took several seconds to clear it all away as Mush tried to hold onto it with all of his might. It was futile however, and soon I had gotten rid of enough to allow me to view the man underneath.

As his face was revealed, I couldn't help but wince at just how filthy the other cape was. He wasn't wearing a mask for one, his face was instead coated in brownish green liquid from all the trash he had been under and his features were absolutely covered with acne. His hair was strongly and thinning at the same time, something I didn't know

Mush squinted at the sudden increase in light, before glaring at me the moment his eyes focused, "You stupid bitch! You're on Merchant's turf, you think you can jus-"

I slammed my fist into his jaw, ending his tirade before it could begin and knocking him unconscious. I didn't really feel like listening to him go on whatever spiel he was about to spit.

As the changer fell unconscious, the trash clinging to him stopped doing so, falling to the ground below and leaving its master suspended loosely by the steel beam, barely held up by his pudgy abdomen.

I fixed that, reaching over and squeezing the beam tighter around his body, leaving him well and truly stuck there.

I looked over to Spitfire who had been quietly watching me work, "Well, that was a lot of fun, you good?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. My throat is a bit dry but other than that, all good." She looked at Mush hesitantly, "Is it ok to just leave him here like that?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, probably? He attacked us and we beat him, as long as we didn't maim him or kill him, I'm pretty sure nobody cares what we do with him."

I didn't know the exact protocol in this situation, but given that I was more than a little fed up with him after getting thrown around for the better part of an hour, I didn't really care.

Spitfire nodded, scratching her exposed chin, "Ok I guess…What now?"

"Now," I said as I turned away from the unconscious parahuman, "We go find Newter. He hasn't joined us yet, so either he's still fighting them, or he's just waiting for us to show up. Probably the second one." I began walking toward the last place I last heard Newter fighting, Spitfire following close behind.

"You don't think they could have beaten him? There were three of them." she asked in concern and I chuckled.

"I doubt it, Newter was practically made for group fights with his flexibility and overall weird biology. Not to mention he's a better fighter than me on most days. Nah, if he's still fighting, he's either messing with them, or they're really good at dodging." I explained and she nodded hesitantly.

It only took a minute or so to find Newter. He was currently dancing in between two thugs, dodging their sloppy attacks and contorting his body at weird angles to strike back while they were distracted. Even I could tell the thugs were fighting extremely sloppily, attacking at whatever they could see and often hitting each other as Newter dodged out of the way.

Still, something was off about the picture.

I frowned as I saw him land a direct hit on the uncovered skin of one of them, only for the Merchant to stumble lightly for a moment, before shaking his head and attacking Newter with the same ferocity as before. They were resistant to Newter's chemicals.

I watched as one of them scored a lucky hit on him, sending him stumbling back and clutching at his bruised nose, before deciding to intervene.

I rushed forward toward the group, ignoring Spitfire's startled squeak, and as I reached them, I held my arm out to my side. One of the thugs turned toward me in my approach, and caught a forearm to his throat in return, sending him sprawling to the ground with a groan.

I turned and swung out at the other thug, laying him out as well before hurrying over to Newter, "Hey Newt, need a hand?" I asked.

Newter chuckled, nodding to Spitfire as she walked up beside me, "Yeah, that'd be great. These guys suck at fighting, but I can't put them out with my chemicals and they barely react to my punches. Too bad I'm not a big bad brute like you huh?" He teased with a grin.

"Oi!" I yelled in mock offense. "I'll have you know I'm also a changer thank you very much!"

"Wait, I thought you were a breaker." He said in confusion and I shrugged.

"Eh, who knows? I get the two confused with each other all the time. I mean, I can transform into different materials like a breaker, but I can also change my form like a changer. We'll just say I'm both for the sake of simplicity."

Newter nodded sagely, "You are full of wisdom to have come up with a solution to such a complicated issue. Probably the greatest philosopher of our time, truly."

I smacked him lightly on the back of the head, "Hush."

I looked back at our opponents who had gotten to their feet and were practically frothing at the mouth at this point, eyes bloodshot and pupils dilated, and I noticed something odd.

"Where's the third one?" I asked Newter and he pointed off to the side.

"He's over there, trapped between two shipping containers." I followed his hand and lo and behold, there he was. The upper half of his body was crammed in the tight space between the two metal crates, leaving his lower body sticking out and squirming ineffectually, legs jerking this way and that as he tried to free himself.

I snorted at the stuck Merchant, "How the hell did you manage that?"

"They aren't very smart. He tried to chase me through that narrow gap, only he's a lot bigger than me, and a lot less flexible. He didn't care though, just rushed in and got himself stuck." Newter explained, "Whatever gives them that power up makes them act like frenzied animals. Especially stupid frenzied animals. That, or they're just dumber than the average Merchant."

"That'd be a real feat." I said.

Just as I went to speak more, the Merchants seemingly got sick of waiting, letting out twin yells and rushing towards us. I decided to test Newters statement about them being more stupid than usual, stepping to the side and holding out my food and arm respectively.

It was like something out of a cartoon. The first thug didn't even notice my foot sticking out and tripped over it, rolling a few meters away and landing in a heap, while the second did notice my arm and pinwheeled his arms in a futile attempt to stop himself, ultimately failing and being clotheslined on my limb.

I decided to test Newter's other statement while they were down, kicking hard out with a foot against one of their sides. They didn't even flinch, not giving any indication that they had felt my attack.

"Huh. They are pretty durable aren't they?" I muttered.

"Yeah they are, I made one of them run headfirst into a metal wall and he didn't even feel it. I don't know what they're on but it's nuts." He complained and I hummed.

"Well this is a two idiots aren't affected by Newter and don't seem to be getting tired. Not to mention, I can't actually try my hardest to knock them out unless I want to crack their skulls open. What to do…" I muttered to as I kept one of the thugs held down under my boot

"Maybe we could trap them like you did with the other one?" Spitfire offered and I made a thinking face before nodding.

"That's a good idea, we just need something that can trap both of them at once." I said as I looked around.

There! On the edge of the area we were fighting in, beside another beached ship, was a dark blue shipping container. It looked extremely sturdy, probably sturdy enough to suit our needs.

I turned back to my compatriots, "Newter, what's the longest you think you could daze them with your power?"

"Maybe a few seconds or so? It depends on how long I have to keep my hands on them. I could definitely keep them under for two or three seconds." He said and I nodded.

"That should be enough. Alright here's the plan, you distract them while Spitfire and I work on opening that shipping container over there. When I give the signal, you daze them for as long as you can and I'll throw them in and Spitfire will close it behind them. Sound good?"

He nodded, "Better than anything I've come up with so far."

"Alright, let's do it. Spitfire, follow me." I grabbed her arm as I ran over to the massive container. As we reached it, I grinned as I noticed it seemed to be made of the same type of metal that I was.

Unfortunately, the door to the container was locked by an industrial sized lock, one that was clearly a different material than my body unlike the shipping container itself, and I didn't really want to change back at the moment and get hit with the results of my earlier hotswitch.

Luckily, I had a solution. I reached into my cargo pants and retrieved the knife I had…acquired from Alabaster. "Thank god for my numerous pockets." I muttered as I pressed the button on the handle and the blade glowed lightly.

I pressed the blade to the lock and grinned as it cut through the metal like a-well, not a hot knife, more like a cold knife-through butter. It took less than a second for the knife to cut through the lock, and as it fell to the ground, I swung the doors open with a flourish, grinning at its empty interior.

"Alright Spitfire, Newt and I are gonna try to get them inside. I need you to slam the door closed behind them as soon as we get them in and I'll take care of the rest. Got it?"

She nodded and I grinned, turning and running back to Newter who was doing a good job of distracting the thugs. He was acting like a matador with a raging bull, coaxing them into charging him and ducking out of the way at the last minute. The only thing he was missing was the red cape.

"Alright Newt, the plan is a go! Hit 'em!" I yelled out to him.

Newter nodded, dodging out of the way of another charge and placing his hands on their arms, holding them for a second or two to really let his power work. He then let go, literally cartwheeling away from them as they turned to strike him.

As they stumbled around, dazed by Newter's chemicals, I rushed forward and body checked the right one sending him flying into the open shipping container with a thud. His compatriot, seeing what had happened, turned and struck out at me clumsily with an enraged shout.

I dodged under and to the side, grabbing the arm as it passed over my head and pivoting on my heel and fiving a small grunt as I lifted the thug bodily by his arm. As he swung over me, I let go of him at the apex of his arc, sending him flying into the same container as his friend. Said friend had only just gotten to his feet, when the body of his buddy slammed into him and sent him sprawling to the floor again.

As they went to stand, Spitfire emerged from her place off to the side of the container and slammed the doors closed. I rushed up and used my power on the doors, melding them together and joining them more securely than any weld could have.

Spitfire and I stepped back as we observed my work. A series of powerful thuds came from the inside of the container, shaking it slightly. Luckily the doors held, no matter how strong they were, it seemed they wouldn't be able to break out.

I clapped my hands, pretended to dust my hands off, "Good work team! The druggies are trapped in a prison of their own making. High fives all around!" I raised my hands expectantly.

Newter whooped and slapped my metal hand with force, shaking his wrist after the fact. Spitfire was a bit smarter about it, gently but firmly clapping my hand with her own.

I grinned at the other girl, "Soooo? what do you think? You just got the chance to fight alongside the awesome duo that is Aspect and Newter! How was it?"

Spitfire giggled lightly, "It was certainly an experience. I wouldn't mind doing it again, maybe when our lives aren't on the line though."

"So is that a yes to our invitation I'm hearing?" I led and she hesitated.

Newter jumped in, "Yeah! Just think, if you join the crew, you get to see my handsome face any time you're at the club."

"That's more of a con I think. After all, who wants to look at your ugly mug every day?" I teased.

"Hey!" He scowled at me, "I'll have you know that this ugly mug has gotten me more babes than you'll ever get!"

"And I'll have you know that I could get any babe or guy that I want." I stuck my tongue out at him, "But you keep telling yourself that. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, no matter how wrong they are."

Our byplay was interrupted by a blur of red zooming through the area and stopping a few feet away from the three of us. I brought my fists up, already dreading another fight, before letting out a sigh of relief as I saw who it was.

Skin tight, almost to the point of being indecent, bright red bodysuit with white racing stripes down either side and around his limbs. Two stripes were also on his torso, coming down and meeting in the shape of a V in the center of his chest. He was wearing a red and white helmet which left his mouth exposed.

Velocity, a member of the Protectorate.

He was currently looking around at the piles of trash we had left in our fight with Mush, pausing slightly as he caught sight of Mush hanging where I had left him. He shook his head, moving his gaze to us with a neutral expression.

"You three made quite a mess here. I don't suppose you would be willing to give a statement about what happened, would you?" He asked hopefully.

I looked at the others before shrugging, "Yeah, sure." I briefly summarized what had happened and he nodded, pressing a button on his helmet as I finished. Probably a recording device or something.

"That explains a few things. I got a call about a cape fight between Mush and two others in the boat graveyard and came to assist. Looks like you three didn't need any help though." He commented as he looked around, taking note of the rattling shipping container as the Merchants beat on its insides.

"How did you…" He pointed at the blue container.

I figured there was no harm in telling him, "I joined the edges of the doors together. I had to break the lock to open it and there wasn't really any other way to lock it." I explained, "You'll probably need to cut them out. Be careful though, they're a lot stronger and more durable than the average Merchant and they fight like animals. They're probably high or something, though that wouldn't explain the strength."

"That sounds like Rat King's work." Velocity said and I tilted my head in confusion.

"Rat King? I've never heard of him before."

"You wouldn't have." Velocity stated simply, "He just recently joined up with the Merchants a week or two ago. From what we've been able to gather, his power revolves around enhancing the physical strength of a group of people at the increasing cost of their cognitive ability the stronger he makes them. With capes, it increases the potency of their powers, though it's a lot less effective than when used on unpowered individuals."

He looked around again, "And judging from the amount of trash laying around here, Mush was probably under the influence of his power." Well that explained a few things.

Newter snorted, "And I'm guessing the Merchants being their usual selves, don't really care if they can think or not?"

Velocity laughed, shaking his head, "No they do not."

He looked around at the incapacitated Merchants, paying special attention to Mush practically stapled to the wall, before turning back to us, "You three did some good work here. Mush may not be that strong compared to some other capes, but he's a pain to put down without using excessive force. Add on to the enhancements he probably received and some of the seasoned heroes would have struggles to take him down." He praised.

"Thanks, it took forever to finally get him down, he kept throwing me away any time I tried to move his trash out of the way." I complained.

The hero laughed, "Yeah, you've got to watch out for those arms of his, he can shift the trash around to make them longer or shorter as he wishes and that makes it difficult to judge his reach. It's caught Assault off guard more than once."

He chuckled for a moment, before his face turned serious and turned to Spitfire, "Now onto more urgent matters. I've seen these two around before, but I've never seen you."

"I'm Spitfire. I've been trying to stay under the radar. Badly it seems." She said quietly.

He hummed, "Did you gain your powers recently? Perhaps in an incident involving the Bluebird orphanage?" He led, and Spitfire went rigid.

"W-why?" She stammered, and I frowned, preparing to step in if I needed to.

"Well, if you were involved in the fire that occurred at the orphanage, I would feel inclined to tell you that no consequences are coming your way." He said lightly, and Spitfire let out a quiet sigh of relief, "Apparently, the matron was involved in some extremely shady dealings and is currently standing trial for child endangerment among… other things. And given its general state of disrepair, the orphanage was retroactively approved for demolition." He explained.

"Good." Spitfire muttered viciously, barely audible to me even from my place right behind her.

Velocity continued, "Still, If you would like, I could help you put in an application to the Wards? You would be able to practice with your powers in a safe environment surrounded by other capes in similar situations to yourself." He offered.

Spitfire stared at the hero uncertainly for a moment before looking back at us. I fought to keep my stance neutral, deciding to let the other girl make her own decision. If she wanted to join the heroes instead of the crew, I wouldn't make a big fuss about it, no matter how disappointed I may be.

She stared at me and Newter, before her body seemingly straightened with resolve as she turned back toward Velocity.

"Thank you for the offer." She said, and Velocity immediately deflated as he knew what was coming, "But I've already made the decision to join another team, I'm sorry."

A massive grin split my face at her declaration, and I had to hold myself back from whooping in joy at the hero's disappointed expression.

"Well alright, I can't exactly force you to join. But are you sure about this? The Wards Program can provide you with many things. Peers your age, government programs, legal pay." He stressed the legal bit and I frowned lightly. I'm pretty sure mercenary work was, well, it probably wasn't completely legal, but there were definitely more illegal things one could do to earn money!

Spitfire just nodded at his question, "Yes, I'm sure. Thank you for the offer, but my mind is made up. I've already fought alongside two members of the team and we worked well together. No use ruining a good thing right?"

I couldn't hold myself back this time, and I rushed forward to wrap my arm around Spitfire's shoulder, "Hell yeah, we're glad to have you Spit!"

"Don't call me that." She muttered.

I could see the grin she was trying to hide though. Recruitment Success!

Velocity sighed, "Well alright then. Your decisions are your own I suppose. Just know that the offer stands." He looked around, "Now I suppose I should call this in with my superiors. Unless you want to stay and give more statements, I would advise you three be on your way."

"Way ahead of you!" I said cheerfully as I grabbed Newter and Spitfire's arms, dragging them with me as I made my way past the red clad hero.

"W-wait! My stuff!"

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