April 15th
Nova, Vista, and Vicky were buying supplies and clothing for school. Victoria had taken a look through Nova's small wardrobe and decreed it simply would not do.
She stated that it showed an older woman had purchased them with utility in mind. Nova had frowned at the judgment leveled at Battery. She didn't argue that they didn't look like the sort of clothes she'd seen other 16-year-olds wear.
Missy just liked hanging out with Vicky and wanted the opportunity to help her new teammate. "That top looks good. I wonder if they have it in your size," she speculated to Mary.
"Wouldn't work for her, it wouldn't fall right on her frame. It would look good on you though. Here is one in a nice Missy size," Victoria offered.
"But we're here for Mary."
"We are finding plenty for me more than I'll use even. Go try it on," Mary encouraged her.
After Missy left Victoria sighed. "Poor girl, her mom, and dad have wrecked her home life and most of the Wards are boys right now."
"She's strong, she has a good idea of who she is and wants to be. She's in a bit of a rush about it though."
"Yeah, I think being the youngest does that. Keep looking around. Even if you don't get anything else here, looking can help give you a feel for what's out there. That will help you learn what you like and what works for you. Then you can form a sense of personal style."
Mary returned to perusing. While Vicky gave her opinion on Missy's blouse. It was not long before there was a thump that shook the building. The power snapped off and emergency lights came on.
"That was an explosion, a big one," Missy said, shocked.
Vicky turned to the doors "I'll go check it out."
"Hang on, my powers are great for search and rescue!" Missy replied, pulling a spare mask out of her purse.
Refusing to be left behind Mary followed. Glory Girl turned. "If you go out there Piggot will be mad, you go out there with your face showing and she'll be furious."
Mary looked around. Seeing a scarf she grabbed it. She then wrapped the scarf around her head. She tied it in the back like a pirate's bandana only lower covering the eyes, and top of her nose.
"How will you see-" Vista began before a white glow where Mary's eyes were burned twin holes in the material.
On the way out Mary tossed some money to the clerk to cover the cost and out into the street, the trio dashed.
Down the street, the damage was plain to see. It was no ordinary bomb. Inorganic matter in the blast zone had been softened to a putty-like consistency. People were wallowing, trapped in the mire. It was similar to quicksand, those who panicked and thrashed sank faster.
The lower floors of buildings were warping, losing support for the upper levels. The looming crash wasn't doing much to calm those who had yet to panic. Vicky took to the air and started pulling people up out of the muck, flying them to the nearest stable location as fast as she could. Vista began distorting space to keep falling objects from striking helpless victims.
Seeing a nearby building start to list, Nova flew into the air and pushed it back. She tilted it to lean on another listing building. This temporarily stabilized them both.
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. "Dispatch, this is Nova. Glory Girl, Vista and I have encountered a disaster. It looks like a bombing with a para-human tech weapon. It seems to have softened ridged matter into a goop. We are rescuing critically endangered persons and trying to prevent worsening structural collapse. We need fire and rescue plus electricity, sewer telecom, and gas. Wires and pipelines are deforming."
"Nova? The new kid? You're not supposed to be out there."
"I am not going to let these people die because of my inaction, dispatch! Get someone here to help and I'll gladly stand down. For now, my face is covered and I'm saving lives. Get the power and gas shut down or things will get worse. Longer-term waste and fresh water could be mixing that is less critical but no less dangerous."
Piggot broke in on the conversation. "We are getting similar reports from all over the city. The ABB is demanding that their leader Lung, who Armsmaster took into custody last month, be released. Lungs tinker, Bakuda is on a rampage and everyone is headed to different locations. We are sending an apparently safe evacuation route to your phone. Clear that whole area Nova. New Wave is inbound. They will shield the edges of the zone and then let the buildings collapse. Once they are there, bring Vista back to the Rig and be ready to redeploy. The cat is already out of the bag about a new Ward. Might as well show a good reason for your abrupt revelation."
"Yes ma'am!"
"Next time call before masking up and running outside," Piggot ordered.
The next hours were hectic. Nova and Vista delayed to help New Wave. That freed them up by hastening and softening the collapse of the buildings. City services took over. From there Nova delivered Vista to Dauntless who was dealing with a space-warping bomb. She had then joined Armsmaster in cutting power to locations endangered by the blast's destruction of the power grid. From there she had played ferry moving Armsmaster and his motorbike to the maze of storage facilities near the train yard it seems some particularly intense bombings had happened there for some reason. She was then sent to fetch Vista again who was under orders to get eight hours of sleep due to how late it was.
Nova had, in between stops, replaced her makeshift mask with a real one from the generic Protectorate costume supply. So it took a second for Vista to recognize her.
"Can't you do a princess carry? I feel silly the way you hold me."
"Do you want forced time off from whiplash?"
"No"
"Then no you face me, arms around my neck my right under your rump. Then my left hand supports your neck."
"This is so undignified."
"Only way to do it at this speed."
They took off back to the Rig. Once Vista had been delivered to the Wards' rooms, Nova went looking for another assignment. As she entered the offices she heard something that made her stop.
"Assault and Battery report that Battery is wounded, Assault is currently out of the fight from some sort of gel that seems analogous to our containment foam. She can not keep Oni Lee from getting to Lung."
"Battery is in trouble?" Nova asked, rushing in. Oni Lee, the ABBs teleporting self-duplicating assassin was known to be a stone-cold killer.
Piggot glared. "You are not rushing out there to fight Lung."
"Fight? No ma'am, but I'm fast. I can evacuate Battery and our people. I can even cut Assault free with my eye rays."
Piggot pondered this. "Do it. Get in, get our people, and get out. If I find you go beyond your orders you'll be pulling PR visits till you graduate."
Nova gave a nod and sped back out. She took to the air and accelerated faster than she'd gone before. She heard the crack of the sound barrier as she blasted past coastal areas and down the roads.
Despite the distance, she was nearing the conflict site. She saw where Assault was stuck. Battery was dragging what must have been the last PRT agent away from the truck.
Oni Lee was cutting into the lock on the back of the containment trailer. Nova spun in an arc but didn't decelerate. She struck the truck from the front with enough force to make explosives a redundant idea. The parking brake and transmission made horrible noises, the tires exploded, the cab crumpled, and the vehicle rolled over Oni Lee's legs mashing both into an unrecognizable pulp.
Immediately she dashed for Assault. Her eye rays outpacing her, they started eating away at the gelatin-like mess that imprisoned the hero.
Before she could pull him free Oni Lee, sans legs, appeared in the gel and sliced at the hero's neck. Nova's beam moved to cut into the assassin but he teleported away too quickly.
Oni Lee took a large chunk of the imprisoning mass with him Assault fell backward in the dirt.
Nova grabbed for his hands and pulled the gel would not release its hold but the ground around it gave way and she dragged her pseudo uncle away from danger looking for all the world like he was partly embedded in a dirty gumdrop.
She saw Battery moving. Oni Lee was teleporting around dropping grenades. Nova suddenly realized two things: his original attack had only wounded the PRT agents to force the heroes to prioritize their protection. Second, he had teleported into the gel to seal his wounds.
Nova started lancing her beams into appearances of Oni but despite the beam's light-speed propagation she kept hitting only clones. The assassin was well practiced at breaking line of sight forcing opponents to move and line up shots.
"He's too fast," Battery said. "Your original attack got him by surprise but his teleportation moves him too quickly to reliably hit and protect this many people while guarding the truck."
"I can even these odds. It will get worse before it gets better so prepare."
Nova took to the air hovering straight up. As she rose the area she could observe at once increased. Having to maneuver and control the fight caused a slowdown in her support for the suppression of the duplicates.
With height came an unblocked vantage. The increased distance meant little to the speed of her rays.
She was making progress. She could occasionally spare a second of concentration for dissolving more of the imprisoning gel. Already Assault was using his power to toss rocks at the clones. They could go on the offensive as soon as his legs were fully mobile.
The screech of metal deforming ended that line of thought. Oni Lee had only been buying time for his master to charge up. Watching the battle from inside the truck Lung had built up his power he had grown too large for the trailer to confine. Wings had sprouted on his back. His transformation into a dragon was well along.
He roared barely intelligible threats out of his inhuman maw as he burst out of the transport in a spray of shrapnel. She would pay for maiming Lee. She couldn't protect her troops. That she was weak. Nova understood the gist.
She dodged the swiping claws of the initial attack only to be batted back out of the sky. The long tail that Lung had grown had struck her like a bat. His inhuman shape was throwing off her reflexes.
Lung dove after her exhaling fire. The flames vanished into the nimbus of light around the young heroine. One clawed hand nearly enveloped her but she grappled with the thumb with her right arm and held the left up to block three fingers.
She released her eye ray, not into his palm as Lung expected, but his shoulder. She was attempting to slice off his arm. His other hand struck low, and taking her legs he squeezed. Her face contorted into a snarl she screamed as the pressure from the sides pushed at her knees.
What she did not do was stop cutting with her ray, heating Lung's armor even while sawing through his flesh faster than it could heal.
With a snarl, he spiked her into the dirt with maximal force. Nova struggled partly burrowed into the ground. She reoriented herself and tried to stand. Pain shot from her legs. Walking with the injured knees wasn't happening. She rose in flight and sent a ray after the fleeing dragon hitting him between the wings. It was only in contact for a second before the terrain obstructed her view.
Reinforcements showed up with ambulances for the wounded. Nova rode with them doubling up with a PRT agent who needed a stretcher. She sat beside him on the trip back.
When the messenger came looking for her, she was still with the wounded. She reluctantly left to make her report.
"Assault and Battery have already given their statements. I want to hear yours," Piggot ordered.
Nova laid out a simple factual recount of events. She sat, eyes downcast.
"What mistakes did you make during the operation?" Piggot demanded.
"I naively believed shoving the truck would jar Lung warning him against further escape attempts and disabling Lee. I should have opened with staving Lee's skull in. By leaving him alive I bear direct responsibility for those further wounded and for officers Grant, Putney, and Vasquez deaths."
Piggot sat back in her chair and eyed the girl in disbelief. She got up and issued one order: "Stay here."
She returned with the current staff therapist.
Mr. Slate had interviewed Nova before. He sat down and smiled. "Hi, Mary. How are your knees?"
"They'll be fine, sir."
"We're a bit concerned about something, Mary. Most people have an ingrained reluctance to harm others. A fear of aggression that pervades civilized society. Even in dangerous situations often people need to build up to using lethal force."
"Oni Lee is a cold-blooded killer, sir. I've read about him. I had no legal or moral requirement to spare him. By doing so I endangered others."
"Could it not be that by maiming him you escalated the violence from seeking injury in the cause of a goal to seeking to kill out of vengeance?"
"He injured them to force us to protect them. He had set up a diversion for Lung's escape. To him they were pawns.
"You are making false comparisons. With all respect, sir Oni Lee is a sociopath he needed no pretext to start killing. You both think I should have taken a softer approach?"
"It would have been more normal to have done so," he replied.
"That would have had all the flaws of what I did with further disadvantages added to that. Uninjured, he would have had a greater range of options for harassment."
"Nova, you can't let your desire for confrontation and a challenge to your abilities lead you into an escalation of these sorts of conflicts."
Nova stared at him, her brow furrowed. "You think I wanted to fight them? My actions were aimed at preventing greater harm. My goal was to protect the lives of those soldiers who were in danger. This wasn't some practice session for fun, it was in deadly earnest. I am offended that you think so little of my regard for human life that you would claim otherwise."
"Nova, it's no big secret Capes feel the compulsion to use their powers and test themselves against dire circumstances. Lapses of judgment that create those circumstances are commonplace-"
Piggot saw it on the girl's face. She had stopped listening. Once he was through Piggot, waved for him to come with her out of the room. "Your thoughts? The short version please."
"She may have some sort of underlying trauma due to failure. Her lack of memories makes creating a profile difficult. I think I need to do more digging into Case 53's and their issues. I can't recommend she be allowed to go out anymore. The last thing you need is a teenage killer in the news."
Piggot nodded "Thank you. That will be all."
Once he was away she lifted her phone "What did you get?"
A door across the hall opened and Armsmaster stepped out. "The readings are not totally flawless. Some of my systems don't work due to her protective aura dampening some scans."
"I'll take partial information over being in the dark."
"I think he asked the wrong questions and focused on the wrong issues. Her responses were not those of a normal teen that was what he focused on. We have no information about what sort of environment she was raised in or what it did to her mind. However, her responses were far more in line with someone who was used to combat rather than policing actions. I think it makes other parts of her psychology fit."
"She doesn't see this as a game you mean. She's not playing cops and robbers, she's fighting a war," Piggot surmised.
"Her constant focus on preparation, her devotion to minimizing casualties on her own side, and a certain disregard for her opponent's well-being and ability to dehumanize them added to her fear of failure and guilt when she feels she's not doing enough. Yes, I think that is it," Colin admitted.
"Then our key point will be drilling into her the difference between a policing action and combat."
"If we frame it right, say by putting her into classes for police officer training. Say Brockton University's Criminal Justice program. We could work her schedule to line up somewhat with Victoria Dalton's classes on Parahuman studies. The Youth Guard could be sold on it as a career student program and more time spent with a close friend."
"Definitely look into that. I'm going back inside there. Your help was vital."
Armsmaster nodded. "I don't want to lose this one. She takes this work seriously. We don't have enough parahumans who do.
Med Ward
Amy was tired. The wave of bombings filled the hospitals and medical centers with injuries. What was worse, some were time-sensitive or had abnormal injuries from the parahuman nature of the bombs. This meant lots of work for Brockton Bay's native healer.
The injuries among the PRT agents were not life-threatening. However, getting them back out into the field was critical to keeping order and preventing worse from happening. So while tired Amy made time for a round through the PRT medical center. They had sweetened the deal by letting her crash in one of the spare rooms. As tempting as immediate rest was the thought of not spending a night at home was even better.
Amy glanced over the medical charts and chose a man with the worst injuries to heal. This one had taken shrapnel from a bomb that nicked an artery. They had stopped the blood loss but till the leg healed he'd be unable to walk. Even then it would be quite a while before the healing was sure enough to trust to exertion if left to nature.
For Amy, it would be a quick fix to seal the wound. Very little biomatter was missing and they had already pumped him full of fluid and nutrients she could stimulate his blood cell replication and he'd be fine in a few minutes.
"I'm here to heal you, are you ready?"
The man nodded and extended his hand. Amy took it and delved into his body.
"This injury happened today?" She asked.
"Yeah about five, no, eight hours ago."
"Did anything unusual happen while you were waiting?"
"No, is something wrong? I was worried at first I mean I thought They were going to have to take the leg or something but I calmed down when that girl Nova said that it wasn't that bad. Was she wrong? She sounded so sure."
"No, she wasn't wrong, it's not as bad as the charts say. Was she the one who brought you in?"
"Yeah, she flew anyone the EMTs said were priority cases that she could fly with. If she did something wrong, don't be mad at her, miss. That girl is sweet, she was just trying to help. A real worrywart that girl"
"No, nothing like that. It's all good news, in fact, I'm done here," Amy said, waving for him to get up.
"The Nurses at the desk will have your papers and such," a nearby tech told the man.
"Do you know which ones Nova brought in?" Amy asked.
The tech gave a nod and flipped to the page containing the data.
After checking the others, Amy bit her lip thinking. "Send for Nova and someone who is over her."
The tech scurried off while Amy continued her work.
Miss Militia entered the medical bay and looked around. "What do you need? I was told it was important."
"It is very important. Looking at these notes I think you can draw your own conclusion. Soon as Nova is here I want to test it."
A few minutes later Nova entered as well. "Hey Amy, what's going on?"
"I think you have some low-level healing abilities. Everyone you sat with or spent much time with was better. To the tune of three days of bed rest better. Even that level of healing is rare but if you did that subconsciously there is a chance you can do more if you focus," Amy explained.
"How would I know what I did?"
"Walk yourself mentally through what you did with these other guys, the ones you flew back and sat with," Amy suggested.
Amy had a hold of one of the last patients. She waved Nova toward him.
"I just sat and held his hand and wished I could do more for him. Just positive thought and that sort of-"
"Stop right there, don't you feel it? You are pushing a little of your aura, your nimbus of power into him!"
"Yes-Yes I think so. Should I pull it back?"
"No, see if you can push it further. I'm monitoring in case something unexpected happens."
Miss Militia watched the two. "What is her aura doing, is this safe?"
Amy nodded. "Yes, just hold on, please. There is a lot happening here"
Amy pondered for a while then nodded "Stop he's healed. How do you feel?"
"Great! I mean like I could run a race. Maybe a little keyed up even," the man said in a gush.
"How keyed up like just woke up refreshed, drank too much coffee, or are we talking hard drugs keyed up?" Miss Militia asked.
"Huh, well umm. I'm not much of a morning person so I don't know about coffee. I'd say more like I'd just got a nap and had an energy bar and a pop keyed up I guess."
Miss Militia nodded at him to go on. After he left Amy pondered "It's not fast and I'm not sure what its limits are but you can heal others as well as your self-regeneration. I'd like to observe your own biology while you do it to the next person."
Amy held both the injured agent's hand and Nova while she worked. She did not interrupt the process when it ended she sat down and pinched her lip in thought.
"What can you tell us, Amy?" Miss Militia asked.
"It takes from her power reserve. I could see it but these wounds are minor. I am pretty sure worse injuries would take more out of her. We don't have the sort of capacity here to run Nova down to fumes to see how she handles exhaustion. We do know she can run her powers dry and have to rest from her other tests but we also know that limit is pretty high and mostly affects her eye rays and flight."
Nova straightened up. "I want to see something else. This is the last one right? What if I feed my aura through you while you heal someone could your healing make better use of it than the body's own undirected efforts?"
"Hmm, That is worth a try. One second. Let me see about something." Amy fired off a text then put her phone away and nodded. "Let's go"
As they started to work both girls gasped and Miss Militia stepped forward "What? What is happening, Amy? Nova? What's going on speak to me"
"Amy's power is guiding my own. It's like I think I'm learning how to do this better. I'm not sure how good I'll be alone but. Oh wow, this is much more efficient."
"I feel it in me-"
"Feel what in you Amy?" Militia asked, concerned by the girl's awestruck tone.
"Power. Holy shit. It's like an ocean. Where is it all coming from? What are you?"
"He's healed, Amy let go," Nova replied.
"What? It's not shaped like itself, it's different. There aren't any angles, just curves. Like a Venn diagram no, a kaleidoscope.-" Amy responded confused.
"Amy, I can't stop the power flow, you've taken control of it. Somehow you have to stop it. You're starting to glow."
Amy swallowed and with an evident execution of willpower opened her fingers releasing Nova's hand.
Nova let out a sigh. "Now that tired me out a bit. Are you okay, Amy?"
"I feel great. More than great, I feel energized. I couldn't sleep right now if I wanted to. What is more, I feel like I could stand a full day of healing again. I had a skinned knuckle and a small bruise on my hip from minor bumps getting around the emergency workers at the hospital. Both are gone. You can heal me... I've had to live in fear of getting hurt and having no one there to help but you. Nova, you can do it."
"That's good. We can look out for each other" Nova said with a cheerful smile.
"Oh yes I think this could be the start of a wonderful friendship," Amy said.
Hannah wasn't sure she liked the sound of that but then told herself she was just being paranoid.
City Center
The Next day
Vista fumed she had worked herself to exhaustion helping only to completely miss the opportunity to help fight Lung. If she could have slowed him down Nova might have taken him out. Now she, like all the Wards, was stuck being babysat by older Protectorate members doing meaningless work. They were just visible symbols to help keep people from panicking. The National Guard having been called out should have been comforting enough...
It could have been worse however Nova was being mobbed by the press everywhere she went wanting more details on her battle with Lung. Even after Bakuda was brought in it would be a while before Nova was off the PR circuit. The dorks down at the PR office would get their revenge for her spoiling their planned debut.
So, Missy found herself standing about as if looking for trouble. In reality, even Bakuda wouldn't be nuts enough to hit a market square with literal soldiers guarding it. But she had to look like an inspiring figure. Too bad she was out with Velocity not with Assault. He was at least funny. That made the time pass quicker.
As curfew approached the crowds thinned quickly everyone was eager to get off the streets.
Vista noticed a vendor truck the sort that sold quick lunches or the like out the side window. The guardsmen were arguing with the driver.
Vista walked over to check things out. Sometimes a bit of celebrity power could sweet-talk people out of obstinacy.
"Hey there, what seems to be the trouble?"
"I told them they need to get this thing off the road and get indoors and they started giving me attitude."
The driver was old. Like ancient, he was painfully thin, fine-boned with not an ounce of spare flesh, thin skin stretched over stringy muscles. He was bald and slump-shouldered. His watery blue eyes looked enormous from his thick lenses. He blinked a lot giving the appearance of being a particularly lost baby bird.
"I'm not starting trouble, I'm just stating facts. Inside this van is as indoors as we got. So why do we have to hurry out? What's the difference between this nice parking lot and one in the slums? If you're so all-fired concerned about us you'd just let us park here," the old man groused. He had a Southern accent. It wasn't thick but it was definitely noticeable.
"The point, Pop-Pop is they don't want homeless folks living in a van getting uppity thoughts by staying where they're not wanted. Even if there's no one to complain about us being an eyesore," a voice came from the back.
Curious, Vista walked around and peered into the big open counter window of the Van. The lettering on this side said. 'Electronics Repair! PC, Laptops, Tablets, and Phones. On the spot or leave it with us!' Inside a young man, her own age was watching a screen while looking bored.
"Don't worry about Pop-Pop we're leaving for less discerning locations in literally three minutes and twelve seconds. I just have to get this driver downloaded before we head to the WiFi-less desert of the boondocks. I can finish the rest of this reset once I'm there," the bored teen said. He cracked a can of Mountain Dew and then looked up from his screen. Vista raised her eyebrows.
"Oh wow, Vista! Hey! You - umm yeah. You're my favorite Hero. Hang on I got something you could sign. Hold on it's AHH! Here it is!" He fished a Vista school folder from a set of cubby holes in his workspace that looked to be made from zip-tied milk crates.
"Do I know you?" Vista asked.
"No, sorry. John Darling That's my grandpa, Bocephus Darling or as I call him Pop-Pop," he explained while handing her the folder.
"You want me to sign this? It's not even a picture, it just has my V logo on it."
"It's sturdy. I don't have any physical pictures, just ones on the PC over there. I was going to join your fan club but you need a mailing address and we are umm. Between locations right now," the youth admitted.
From the front of the truck, the old man hollered. "Damn Endbringer cults running us out of our homes! Damn, Fallen should be hunted down like the dogs they are!"
"Hey, Vista trouble?" Velocity said, suddenly appearing beside her.
"No, no sir we were just leaving, this download is completed. We'll stop sullying your nice city center with our WiFi-mooching ways. Let's go Pop-Pop. We can park out by the storage buildings. No one cares if we hang out there and Bakuda isn't likely to blow them up again. Not dramatic to flatten what's already been pasted."
"I still say it's stupid but it's not like we can afford an impound fee." The Van cranked and started away.
The repurposed food truck started away. Velocity was watching it go speculatively.
"You realize who that was don't you?" Vista asked him.
"Let's see Caucasian about maybe thirteen or fourteen vivid blue eyes. Four foot eight short dirty blonde hair parted on the right. Holy shit you're right! "
Vista nodded. Noticing she was still holding the folder.
"It's the kid that found Nova," Velocity said with certainty.
Vista looked over at him, her head suddenly turning.
"Fits the description perfectly. I should have noticed before they got moving. Oh well, that van won't be hard to find later. Besides, I think he left that folder on purpose. Clever kid gives him a reason to talk to you again."
Vista looked down at the folder, noticing that tucked within was a business card with a cell number on it.
"Come on Vista, let's get back. I'll tell Armsmaster we found the kid so the PRT can interview him later."
Vista followed Velocity using her power to compress space to keep pace with the speedster. On the way back she contemplated the fact, that was not where she recognized him from. The unwritten rules made this unclear: you weren't supposed to seek out a Capes identity but an accident was a different issue. Still, if no one else was putting it together maybe she should keep it to herself for now.
"Just what does that nutcase who dropped me in a hole have to do with Nova? That can't be a coincidence,' she thought. She'd have to keep a closer eye on her new teammate as well. Without memory, there was no telling from Nova's side what their relationship had been.