A Light In The Darkness

by Aeshdan

The world of Earth Bet is a world ruled by darkness and cynicism, a world whose rulers long ago gave up hope. When these servants of despair meet avatars of living Hope, they shall be forced to confront that which they have spent decades trying to forget. (Worm/Princess: The Hopeful)

2. Morningstar

2.1

Greg Veder dashed forward through the darkened maze, trying to run and keep in a half-crouch at the same time. The pounding beat of the music spurred him on and drowned out rational thought, and the distinctive sound of lasgun fire echoed from the twists and turns of the maze. Ahead, he spotted moving patches of crimson light, and opened fire. His first two shots missed, but on the third his gun chimed and his opponent's crimson vest went dark. He ducked to the side, scampering into the mess of support pillars that held up the partial second story. He saw another crimson-vested figure moving further into the maze, fired, and managed to tag the opponent again, but then his own blue-glowing vest vibrated and went dark.

Dammit,he thought as he broke into a sprint, trying to find cover during the few seconds before his vest powered up again. Just as he ducked into a corner, his vest hummed on his shoulders as he powered up again.

"Yippe-kai-yay," Greg whispered with a grin. He took a moment to confirm that he hadnotaccidentally touched off his Transformation and then dived back into the fray.

Emma grinned as she and her friends filed out of the laser tag room.

"That was fun," she said. "Thank you for suggesting this, Greg."

"You're welcome," Greg replied with a smile.

"You girls want to go for another round?" she asked.

"Uh…" Madison chimed, pointing at Greg.

"Hey, five out of six of us are girls," Emma said. "You, me, Taylor, Julia, Lucy," she added, pointing at each in turn. "I figure that's good enough".

"Good point," Madison admitted. "And yeah, I'm up for another round."

"Me too," said Greg. "I want to see if I can make first place this time. Second's good, but I bet I can do better."

"I'm sure you can," Emma said. She shot Greg a smile, which only grew in response to his blush.

"By the way, what do you think of Panacea?" Greg said. The sextet had retired from games for a bit to enjoy the arcade's food court.

Madison made an unintelligible noise through a mouthful of chicken.

"Who?" Emma replied. She didn't remember any capes by that name off the top of her head…

"Amy Dallon," Greg replied. "Brandish and Flashbang's younger kid. She just manifested powers a few weeks ago, and according to PHO she's some kind of healer. Last I heard, the PRT was putting her through some power testing to verify that her abilities don't let her mind-control you like Teacher or turn you into a monster or something, but if she passes the testing and has a power that can be used in the hospitals… that could be huge."

"About timesomethingwent right for the Bay," Taylor added, having just swallowed her bite of pizza. "Seriously, when was the last time something wentrightaround here?"

"When New Wave took down Marquis, maybe?" Emma said. "I'm pretty sure that was the last time a villain group was actually taken off the scene and stayed off. When was that again?"

Greg reached into his pocket for his phone, but Emma covertly kicked his ankle under the table, and he started and put it back away.

"I don't know," Taylor said. "Maybe a decade ago?"

"Do you really think that qualified as a good thing?" Lucy chipped in. "I mean, yes Marquis was a criminal, but from what my parents say, when you paid him for protection yougotit. That's more than the PRT does now. And he wasn't as bad as Lung, let alone the Merchants."

There was a moment's awkward pause.

"And that's exactly what I mean," Taylor said. "If the PRT had done their job and followed up on New Wave taking Marquis down, prevented other gangs from claiming the territory they left behind, then the Bay might not be so much of a mess today. But they didn't, and so now we have the situation we have today."

"I don't think we can say it was their fault, though," Emma contributed, thinking out loud. "The local PRT, I mean. For whatever reason, it's like the government just wrote us off fifteen years ago, and ever since the local PRT have been doing the best they can without support or resources."

She winced now we're going to have to try and make a difference with even fewer resources than the PRT have, with the gangs stronger than ever, and after all these years barely holding the line I doubt the PRT will have the nerve to take a risk. Not fun.

Think about that later.

"Hey, Emma," Madison said, startling Emma out of her momentary distraction. "Doesn't your dad know Carol Dallon? I mean, they work at the same firm, right?"

"Kind of," Emma said, thinking. "I mean, I'm pretty sure they know each other, but they've got different focuses. Dad's a divorce lawyer, where Carol's specialty is torts and malfeasance. Well, that and cape law, obviously. Anyway, it's not like we hang out with the Dallons or anything. Carol's just a work associate of Dad's."

The five of them (Emma, Greg, Taylor, and Emma and Taylor's dads) had actually discussed hiring Carol Dallon as a legal consultant for the Hopeful. If anyone would know how to navigate cape law as an independent, it would be Carol Dallon, and New Wave had at leasttriedto change Brockton Bay for the better. None of which she would mention in present company, of course.

"Why do you ask?" she said instead.

"Just wondering if you could get me Glory Girl's autograph," Madison said. She blushed slightly. "She's really cool."

"Oh yeah," Greg said. "She's like Alexandria, but… uh…" he blushed. "I mean, Alexandria's cool, but she's so dark and stoical that it comes across more as menacing than inspiring. Like, she's the kind of hero you're glad isthere, but not necessarily the kind you want to actuallyknow, you know what I mean? But Glory Girl, she's an Alexandria package, and a pretty strong one according to PHO, but she's young and peppy and white and gold and inspiring…" he cut off abruptly, blushing again, and ducked his eyes.

Is he worried about offending me?Emma thought with a mental , don't suppose I can blame him. It's not like he knows me that well yet.

"She's the kind of hero that makes you want to follow her, rather than the kind that makes you want to avoid her hunting you, is that what you're trying to say?" she asked. Greg nodded, looking relieved.

"Well, she certainly is photogenic," Emma said. "I doubt she'sactuallyhad model training, but she's got some of the same skills. And the right looks and personality for it. Which is doubly important… no, make that triply important, since she's an independentandan open cape."

"Hopefully, having two new capes trigger will lead to New Wave pushing harder against the gangs again," Taylor said. "Like I said, I think the Bay iswayoverdue for something to go right."

"You can say that again," Lucy added.

There was a moment's pause. "So, who wants to drive the go-carts with me after we finish dinner?" Madison asked.

"I think that sounds like a lot of fun," Taylor said.

Greg swallowed. "Me!" he said, raising a hand.

Emma smiled. "I'm in," she said.

Taylor stood in front of her father's workbench, staring down at her red-gloved hands. In one hand she held an empty can from dinner. She stared at the can, imagining it collapsing, shrinking down into a solid ingot.

Come on…she thought, probing at the weight of Light inside her, feeling it flow down her arm and pool in her hand. She pictured light limning the can, crushing it into a lump.

BANG!

There was a flash of reddish-orange light and a sound like a firecracker going off, and the can flew out of her hand and across the basement, bouncing off the wall with a clang and clattering to the floor.

Taylor jumped backwards in shock, but the can just lay there on the floor, bent and twisted as if it had been hit with a bullet.

There was a creak as the basement door opened. "Taylor?" her dad called down. "Everything ok?"

"Fine, dad," she called back. "Just had a bit of a power misfire, but nothing's damaged."

Except the can, of course, but that was destined for recycling anyway. That's why she was experimenting with it in the first place.

With a sigh, she stepped across the room and picked up the can again.

Ok, let's try that again. I want to recycle the can, not blast it. Blowing holes in the ships won't exactly clear up the Boat Graveyard.

In the back of her mind, she felt QA's icy touch. The Shard wasveryinterested in watching her experiment with her powers, but unfortunately it couldn't tell her exactly how to make them work either.

Just like learning to ride a bike,she thought, pushing Light down her arm and into her hand again.

Something clicked behind her eyes, and she felt Light infuse her hand as it began to glow a soft pink. She squeezed down on the can, willing it to collapse into a lump. There was an odd feeling of resistance, a sense not of trying to force her Light into a new shape but of trying to bend something that resisted bending.

Wrong material, maybe?she thought. She put down the can and tried a glass bottle, then the cement floor. Neither responded, but with each she increasingly felt that she was drawing close, that shaping those substances was just beyond her grasp.

Taylor sighed. With a thought, she willed the energy back into herself, the light fading from around her hand. Then she pushed it into one hand, then the other, each lighting up in turn, then she dismissed it again.

Well, I figuredsomethingout,she the feeling that's all I'm going to get for the night, though. Better de-transform and hang out with Dad a bit, then later I can see if I can infuse and de-infuse my hands again. Getting that down should at least be a step towards what I want.

She closed her eyes for a moment and felt the Light fade, retreating to a glow deep within her. When she opened her eyes, she was once again her normal self and clad in normal clothes.

I really do need to start a proper exercise regimen,she thought, glancing down at her slight I can talk to Dad about that. We both need to get used to talking to each other again.

Greg lay in bed, scrolling through PHO on his cellphone. His mundane cellphone – he definitely didn't want to access his civilian account with his Regalia phone.

His stomach twisted as he spotted thread after thread about cape battles and gang raids. Each of them seemed like a personal failure. Each was pain and suffering that he hadn't even tried to stop, criminals and villains that he hadn't even tried to arrest.

"I am only one man," he whispered out loud. "Even Legend, even Alexandria… hell, evenScioncan't be everywhere at once, can't stop crime before it's been started. And I won't save anyone if I go off half-cocked and get myself killed. If I'm to do this, I have to do it right."

The mantra didn't make the guilt go away, but it did repurpose it, turn it from a scourge at his failures to a spur driving him onwards, pushing him to train, to strengthen himself, to reach the state where he could start todosomething to strike a blow against the gangs.

It hasn't even been quite a week since we brought Mr. Hebert in on this,he 't be impatient. And don't forget the good things. You had fun today, spent time with your friends, made some little progress towards becoming a better person. This was agoodday.

He felt the Light inside him burn brighter with that thought. His joy and contentment, the flashes of friendship he'd felt on nights like tonight, even his nascent crush on Emma, these were the fuel that his heart's fire burnt.

Maybe I ought to get off PHO,he thought, refocusing on the phone he still things that make me angry when I can't actuallydoanything with that anger isn't particularly comfortable, and it probably isn't good for my mental stability either. And none of my distraction threads have updated recently.

He tabbed back to the main page, then paused.

Oh, interesting! The Protectorate are announcing a new Ward. Well, that's good. More heroes on the street is always good. Let's see who it is…

"Oh my god," he whispered out loud, as he stared at the thread.

He quickly flipped to his chat app, selecting Taylor's and Emma's phone numbers. They'd both want to hear about this.

2.2

'"Ladies and gentlemen of Brockton Bay," Armsmaster said. "I am pleased to announce that the independent parahuman hero Shadow Stalker has elected to join the Wards East-North-East."Though slightly warped by the poor audio on Emma's phone, his tone came across as crisp and matter-of-fact. He didn't have thepresenceor articulation of a really good public speaker, but he wasn't as wooden as Emma would have expected from his reputation either.

There was a fanfare, and Shadow Stalker came out onto the stage. Her former costume had been upgraded: the modified hockey mask replaced with a black mask showing a frowning woman's face, metal kneepads and gauntlets added, the bodysuit and cloak now custom tailoring of the finest materials. The overall impression was striking. Sophialookedlike a "Shadow Stalker" now, like an assassin, a predator, rather than a teen wearing a cobbled-together costume. The PRT's image department knew their craft.

"The Parahuman Response Team and Protectorate wish to congratulate Shadow Stalker on her decision," Armsmaster continued. "We expect that Shadow Stalker will prove a valuable and valued addition to the Wards East-North-East, and we hope that our training, resources, and oversight will enable her to become a more effective hero. Thank you, and I will now be taking questions from the audience.

The video shifted to show a middle-aged white man in a collared shirt."Stephen Cooper, Brocton Bay Herald," he said. "How do you respond to the reports of excessive violence by Shadow Stalker in the past? Does her being permitted into the Wards mean that the Protectorate endorses this behavior?"

The video shifted back to Armsmaster. "No evidence has been presented that Shadow Stalker has employed a level of force beyond what is permissible by a heroic parahuman acting in defense of self or others," he said in that same matter-of-fact tone. "That being said, one of the functions of the Wards program is to teach young parahumans restraint in the use of their powers. Under Protectorate supervision, Shadow Stalker will be taught how to engage threats effectively without disproportionate use of force."

The video shifted again to show a rather pretty-looking Asian woman."Susie Wen, Brockton Network News," she said. "Shadow Stalker, I have two questions for you. First, canyoutell us why you chose to join the Wards at this time, after spending over a year as an independent hero?"

Emma felt herself tense up. That was the same question she'd been asking herself. Why would Shadow Stalker, the girl who had looked down on the "prey", voluntarily join the Wards, submit herself to PRT oversight and Youth Guard meddling?

Shadow Stalker stepped… no,stalked… up to the microphone. "I had an…encounter…. recently," she said. "I got reminded that there's a lot bigger fish out there than I am, and I realized that if I was going to survive, I needed backup, someone in my corner when I pi… uh… when Iangeredsomeone who was actually ready to hit me where it hurts."

She laughed, a sound that seemed oddly out-of-place coming from behind the unmoving scowl of her mask. "I can't say that I'm altogetherhappywith being a Ward, having to toe the line and dot all my t's, but it's worth it to know that I've got the PRT and Protectorate backing me up if someone comes after me."

Emma hit the button to stop the video and stared at that frozen image of the newly-madeover Shadow Stalker.

She keyed up a reply to the email.

Message received, she to discuss implications… sleep on it?She pressed Send, then bit her lip.

God, I hope Taylor is still up,she thought. As the Queen of Storms had warned, entering the dream-realm to converse with Gabriel and the other Hopeful left one feeling tired the next day. For that reason, the Hopeful had been limiting their use of the dreamworld, and they hadn't been planning on meeting there this night. If Taylor had already gone to bed, she wouldn't get the message until sometime the next morning. Which admittedly wouldn't be the end of the world, but for something sensitive like this the chance to talk and coordinate in the dreamworld, with no way for a hypothetical observer to spot or eavesdrop on their meeting, was priceless.

A sudden chime made Emma jump. Greg had just replied toherreply with a nodded, then paused for a moment and chuckled at how pointless it was to nod when the people she was talking to were in entirely different houses.

She tabbed back to the PHO thread and started the video up again.

"Thank you, Shadow Stalker," Susie Wen said. "For my second question, there's been a lot of debate about your exact powerset. Would you be willing to clarify exactly what it is you can do?"

Shadow Stalker sighed. "It's pretty much what PHO has already figured out," she sounded… bored? Angry? No,exasperated, frustrated that she had to stand up in front of people she didn't respect and answer their questions.

"I can go into a shadow state," she continued, "within which I can phase through solid objects and weigh a lot less. I can't actually fly or anything while I'm in the shadow state, but since I weigh so much less I drift when I'm jumping down and can jump really high. And I can take sh… stuff with me when I go shadow, my clothes and gear and the like. That's pretty much it."

It wasn't, of course. Or at least Emma suspected it wasn't. Shadow Stalker wasn't such a fool as to blab any weaknesses she might have had, and it wouldn't surprise Emma a bit if Sophia's power had applications that she hadn't mentioned. As Taylor had pointed out in their discussions, cape battles were won and lost byknowledgeat least as much as by skill or raw power. If you knew what your opponent could do, and they didn't know what you could do, you had the advantage.

There was another chime, and Emma paused the video again and tabbed back to her email program. Like Greg, Taylor had sent a of them would say more by email.

Oh, thank God,Emma thought, feeling a sudden surge of relief.

"Probably time for bed anyway," she said to nobody in particular as she pushed her chair back.

Lights out and tucked into bed, Taylor closed her eyes and focused, breathing steadily in and out. After a few moments, she felt the line of warmth around her wrist, where the Queen of Swords had linked the three Hopeful to Gabriel. She pushed a bit of her Light into that bond, and felt it flare to life. The inside of her eyes seemed to fill with red-gold flames, and then she found herself standing in the doorway of Gabriel's dreamworld pocket-study.

Greg and Emma were already there, seated on two of the beanbag chairs.

"Hello Taylor," Emma said as Taylor walked into the room.

"Hello, Emma," Taylor replied, taking a seat of her own. "Ok, we've all seen the video, right?"

Greg and Emma nodded.

"I feel like the first question we have to ask," Emma said before Taylor could continue with what she was saying, "is whether we think Sophia is genuinely trying to reform herself. I'd like to believe that she took what you said, Taylor, to heart, and is trying to improve herself by working with others."

"To give her her due," Emma continued contemplatively, "shehasbeen fighting criminals, not mugging people or preying on civilians. I think I forgot that a bit, given how she was introduced to us. And the Protectorate might have its flaws, but they are still probably the best option for Sophia if she wants to make more of a difference or grow past that obsession with predators and prey."

Taylor paused, her mind flashing back to her meeting with Sophia that first day back. "Possible," she said. "Probable, even. But even if we hope for the best, we have to plan for the worst. So… let's think. I don't see how Sophia could know about me or Greg, even without the glamour, so our identities are probably safe. But what about you, Emma? Even if Sophiaistrying to make herself a better person, she might decide that the right thing to do is to out you to the PRT and get you in the Wards and 'making a difference' as well."

"Gabriel, you're the expert," she added. "If Sophia tried to out Emma to the Protectorate, would the glamour interfere? Make it less likely for them to take her seriously?"

"Most likely," Gabriel replied. "The glamour doesn't stop absolutely ironclad proof, though, and very strong evidence can sometimes break through. If this Sophia did indeed report your true identity to the Protectorate, especially if she provided full details on how she knew, there is at least a chance that those she spoke to would believe her. A much lower chance than there would be without the glamour, but still a chance."

"And," Emma said, "as Taylor said, we've got to plan for the worst. So assuming that Sophia successfully outed me to the PRT, what does that mean for us?"

"Well…" Greg said slowly, "for one thing, Taylor and I may need to be even more careful about not drawing obvious connections between the three of us. Both of us are a lot more vulnerable to the PRT than you are, Emma."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"Well," Greg said, "my parents don't know about me, and if the PRT were to find out and come to them I'm sure they would sign me over to the Wards in a heartbeat. And Taylor, uh…" Greg blushed slightly but kept talking, "your dad is a single parent now, and from what you said money is a bit tight and your dad hasn't been handling your mom's death well. It probably wouldn't be that hard for the Youth Guard to get CPS to take you away from your dad and punt you into the foster care system for the Wards to nab. But Emma's got two parents, her dad's well off, and there are no signs of marital or parental trouble. Short of a straight-up frame, which would be a little much even for the Youth Guard, there's no way they can take you away from him."

There was a moment's , that's cynical, Taylor 't say he's wrong to think along those lines, though, much as I'd like to.

"The bigger issue," Taylor said out loud, "is what might happen if one of thegangsgets their hands on Emma's identity. We all know what happened to Fleur from New Wave, and I'm sure that Kaiser or Lung would do the same to Emma if he thought he could get away with it. Or worse, Skidmark. He wouldn't even worry about getting caught, most likely. And we have to assume that the gangs will have slipped moles into the PRT."

"That sort of threat the glamour should provide better protection against," Gabriel said. "Every remove the information must pass through amplifies the effects of the glamour exponentially. Sophia saw you transform directly, so the glamour provides little protection. Those she speaks to in personmightbe able to pierce the glamour, but it will be difficult for them. And those who merely see a report about you will find it even harder to believe, almost impossible."

"So Sophia herself is the biggest threat," Taylor said.

"Looks like," Emma agreed. "Which reminds me. Remember how I told you about my first meeting with Sophia? How I was able to grab her, even with her phasing powers?"

"Yes," Taylor replied.

"I didn't realize it at the time," Emma said, "but looking back I'm fairly sure there was a specific Charm I used to do that. I remember activating it, now that I know what to look for. I can't be completely sure, but I doubt either of you will be able to touch her while she's in shadow form, not unless you learnt a similar Charm."

"That would depend on the exact mechanism that this 'Shadow Stalker' uses," Gabriel added. "I can't be certain, but… she passes through solid objects, correct? Walls and the like, without any holes that a mist or particle could slip through?"

"I…thinkso," Greg said. "I haven't actually seen her do it, not even on video, but the PHO wiki says that she can."

"That would imply that her powers work on somewhat similar principles to magic that shifts you into Twilight," Gabriel said. "If that is the case, then Emma is right and you won't be able to touch her in her insubstantial state without specific Charms."

"The point being," Emma said, "I have a Charm to counter her, and she knows it, so she is going to have to be careful around me. And for that matter, she doesn't know how the Charm works, so she won't know the limits of what I can do against her. Whereas against you two, she is much more dangerous. So another reason to try and keep her from connecting you two to my two fellow Hopeful once we make our debut."

"Which we will want to do anyway," Taylor said with a sigh. "I don't think this is getting us anywhere. Until we find out more, is there anything else we can do?"

"Emma, maybe you could try and reach out to Sophia?" Greg said. "See if you can set up a private meeting with her to find out what she's up to?"

"Yeah, I probably should reach out to her," Emma said after a moment's thought, sounding reluctant. "I hate to admit it, but I think I owe her an apology for the way I treated her in the alley, and afterwards. I still think I needed to call her out on what she was doing wrong, but I should have also praised her for what she was doing right, and suggested what she could be doing better. I'll have to think a bit on exactly how to set up a meeting with her without giving myself away to anyone else, though."

"Well," Taylor said after a moment's pause. "As long as we're here, I had a question for you, Gabriel. I've been working on a new Charm, trying for something that would help me break down the ships in the Boat Graveyard, and tonight it felt like I gotsomethingworking…."

2.3

Taylor glanced around the table, feeling a strong sense ofdeja vu. She'd been to dozens, maybe hundreds of lunches like this ,the Barnes had invited the Heberts over a few times, but those had only made the pain worse. But now, for the first time in months, there was something like the old joy.

I've missed this so much,she 's still not the same, though. It'll never be the same, not this side of heaven. Until then, all I have is memories.

On cue, she felt the icy touch of Queen Administrator against her mind, and memory after memory of lunches and dinners with the full Barnes and Hebert families present flashed across the inside of her eyelids. It was a peculiar experience. QA's touch made the recollections far more vivid than any normal memory, so clear that it was more like watching a movie. Or in this case, a slideshow, QA stringing together snapshots from half a hundred different Sundays.

As the string of memories blurred across her mind, Taylor felt a stab of sharp-edged sorrow. Her mother's death still hurt, indeed since she had Blossomed it in some ways hurt worse. But the pain was, for lack of a better word,cleanernow. She wasn't sure how much of that was simply natural recovery, how much was holding the Light within her, and how much was her father beingpresentfor her once again, instead of lost in the fog of his own depression, but the choking despair and loneliness that had plagued her during those first terrible months were gone.

"Taylor?"

She started slightly at Emma's voice, realizing that she had completely zoned out while watching her recalled memories. She felt QA's touch against her mind again, offering to replay the portion of the conversation she'd missed, but she pushed it away.

"Sorry," she said out loud. "I was just… remembering Mom." There was a momentary pause around the table.

"I know I've said it before," Taylor said into that silence, "but thank youso muchfor being there for me and Dad, this past year. I…," she heard her voice catch, "I don't even want to think about where I'd be without you propping me up."

"You're welcome," Emma said. "I'm sure you and Mr. Hebert would do the same for me, though I hope to God you never have to prove that."

The corner of Taylor's mouth twitched at that. "Oh, I hope the same," she said. "Now, you were saying?"

"We were just talking about Winslow," Emma said. "Anne seems to have gotten through there alive and relatively sane, so I wanted to know if she had any survival tips to share. We've only got one more week before we start, we're running out of time to prepare!"

"It's not as bad as the stories say," Anne said with a twisted grin. "I'm not saying I'm not really glad to be out of that place and off to college, but it's not like there's open warfare in class or drug deals in the halls… actually, there probably are drug deals in the halls, but they at least make a token effort to keep it undercover. It's still a school, not an outpost of Hell."

"That's a relief," Taylor said with a smile, a vague memory of cleansing anactualoutpost of Hell tickling the back of her mind. Unfortunately, the eidetic memory QA granted only seemed to work for her memories in her current life. While it would have been a priceless boon to have full access to her recollections of her past lives, those memories were as vague and fragmented as they apparently were for most Nobles.

"The actual problem," Anne said, "is just that most of the teachers and staff are pretty shitty. Mrs. Amokahenee, for instance, was drunk enough to notice at least one day in every five. Hard to learn English when your teacher can't speak straight".

"And then there's 'Mister G'", she continued, making air quotes with her hands. "I'm not sure if he actually thinks he's still in high school himself or if he just wants to pretend, but either way he cares a lot more about being 'the cool teacher' than actually teaching. And so on."

"Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy," Taylor commented. "Winslow is the 'bad school', so the only teachers who get sent there are the ones who are too lazy, incompetent, or troublesome to get a position at any other school. And - surprise, surprise - staffing a school pretty much entirely with bad teachers means that the students tend to run wild and not learn much, especially when the smartest and best-off students get skimmed off to send to Arcadia. Which in turn means that Winslow stays the 'bad school'."

"Sounds about right," Anne said with a nod. "There are one or two exceptions, but bottom line, if you want to learn anything at Winslow, you'll pretty much have to put in all the work yourself. The teachers are going to be no help at all."

"Hmm…" Emma said, "We'll want to keep an eye on Greg, then. From some of the stuff he's said, I get the impression he's not the best on the whole self-motivation thing. At least not when it comes to schoolwork, he's actually been commendably diligent about getting in shape and otherwise prepped for superheroing."

"My God, I almost forgot about that!" Anne said with a grin. "It's so surreal… my baby sister is a freakingsuperhero!"

Emma rolled her eyes. "I'm not a baby anymore, Anne," she said, with the tired tone of someone who'd said what she was saying many times before and knew she'd say it many times more.

"Yeah, yeah," Anne said. "Hey, after we're done eating, can I see you two do some cape stuff?"

Taylor swallowed a mouthful of soup and smiled, feeling the solid warmth of the Light inside her. "I think I've got the perfect thing," she said. "Could you pass the butter?"

"Ok, now watch this."

Taylor's crimson-gloved hand glowed with a soft pinkish light as she scooped up the rock from off the table. She squeezed it between two fingertips and the stone deformed like Play-Doh, bulging out around her fingers into an irregular donut shape. She dropped the deformed rock back onto the table with a clatter, then scooped up half a dozen more, smooth stones of various colors taken from the French drain in Emma's front yard.

Emma felt herself grin at the expression on her elder sister's face. It was easy to forget how literally awesome superpowers could be until moments like this came round.

Shame Greg isn't here for this,she thought. While Anne had met the third member of the Hopeful in civilian guise, she had yet to see him in costume. And with Anne heading back to college in a few days, there wouldn't be another opportunity like this one for months.

Though on second thought, I can't deny that this lunch wouldn't be the same with Greg present,she admitted to 's nice, but the Heberts are basically family. Hell, Taylor's more my sister than myactualsister is. Gonna be a long time before Greg and I getthatclose, if we ever do. And even then it won't be the samekindof close.

Taylor rolled the mass of stones around in her hand like she was shaping a doughball, and Emma caught glimpses of color through her rose-limned fingers. After a few moments Taylor opened her hands, revealing a single fist-sized lump of rock. The stone was surprisingly smooth and had an oddly blotchy coloration, with patches of white, black, rose pink, slate blue, and other colors across its surface, swirling together at the edges in beautiful feathery patterns.

Taylor set the rock on the table with a thump, and for a moment everyone just stared at it. Then Anne leaned across the table, and poked the rock with a hesitant finger. Though Taylor had shaped the rock like clay, it would be as hard as ever to anyone else, and the joins between the different patches were seamless.

"Holy shit," Emma's sister breathed. "That isseriouslycool."

"I know," Taylor said with a grin, the pinkish glow fading from around her gloved fingers. "Right now I can only do it with earth and natural stone, but according to Gabriel I should eventually be able to shape concrete, asphalt, even glass and metal with enough practice. And from there, maybe I can scale it up enough to do something meaningful towards clearing the Boat Graveyard." Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Taylor's father twitch slightly, as if poked. "Still trying to work out the logistics of that," Taylor continued. "It's going to depend on so many variables… Never mind, topic for another day."

"And… who's Gabriel again?" Anne asked.

"He's basically our spirit advisor," Taylor said. "He was alive when powers like Emma's and mine were commonplace, and he studied how they worked. So the Queens linked his soul to ours, so we can visit him in our dreams and get the benefit of his wisdom."

"Your powers are weird," Anne said with a slight nod. "I mean, I know all powers are weird, but your powers are like super-extra-weird."

"Yup," Taylor said, popping the ending syllable. "Oh, and there's something else cool I can do. I think. I haven't actually tried this one outside the dreamworld yet. Don't worry, I'm completely certain I won't blow anything up."

She cupped her hands together, then raised them to her mouth and blew into them. When she opened her hands, a glowing white butterfly fluttered out from between them. It flapped through the air towards Emma.

Emma stared for a moment, then carefully raised her hand. She wasn't sure exactly what Taylor was doing, but it wouldn't hurt her. She could almost feel Taylor's love for her radiating off the butterfly like warmth from a fire.

The butterfly landed on Emma's upraised palm, dissolving into a shower of white sparkles, and…

It was as if someone had somehow drawn out Emma and Taylor's love for one another, distilled it down to its purest essence, and then injected that love directly into Emma's veins. The sheer joy and love for her sister in all but blood that had infused every sleepover, every birthday party, everything the two of them had done together, flooded her, so strong it almosthurt…

Then the surge of love was gone, almost as fast as it had come, and Emma could feel her Light burning brighter in its wake.

"So," Taylor said with a grin. "Was it good for you?"

Emma burst out laughing, less because the joke was especially funny and more because she felt like laughing.

"So… what the heck just happened?" Anne asked, a weird look on her face.

"This is one of those super-extra-weird things you were just talking about," Taylor said, still grinning. "See, we - Emma, Greg, and me - have a limited reserve of Light we use to fuel our powers. Some of our powers don't use much Light and we can use them pretty much as much as we want, but others we can only use a few times without replenishing our reserves. That'll change as we get stronger, we'll get deeper energy reserves, but for now we have to be really careful with the use of our stronger powers."

"Anyway, what I just did was take a bit ofmyLight and transfer it to Emma to help replenishherreserves. Theoretically I should also be able to do it the other way round with more practice, accept Light from Emma and Greg's reserves to replenish my own. And with both those tricks, we can juggle all our Light reserves, top off anyone who's running low or put extra reserves behind major workings. I can think ofall kindsof ways that's going to come in handy."

She suddenly sat up straighter in her chair, her eyes going out of focus as the gem set into her forehead began to glow.

"Hang on," she said distractedly, "I've got an incoming call. From Void Cowboy, apparently."

"Hello, Ladybug speaking," she added to empty air.

There was a few moments' pause.

"Youwhat?" Taylor blurted out.

2.4

At the back of the comic store, hidden behind the shelves, Greg browsed the store's selection of manga. Most of it was Aleph imports, after what Leviathan had done to Japan the art form hadn't taken off the same way on Bet.

Weird how these feel different now,he thought, running his fingers across the spines of somemahou to be these were just fantasy, but now… now Iama real live actual-factual magical girl.

Or, well, magicalboy. Hmm… imagine if my powers turned me into a girl when I transformed, like on this story here. Or the waythisstory does it, where getting my powers turned me into a girl even in my mortal form. Nowthatwould be weird, especially if the glamour made everyone think I had always been a girl.

Heh, that would be fun. At least at first, on second thought I imagine it would get old pretty fast. Especially since I'm pretty sure Emma isn't a lesbian, so I could pretty much kiss any chance of gettingtokiss her goodbye.

"All right, pal. Hands in the air! And don't try any funny business!"

The slurred words jolted Greg out of his reverie like a cattle prod to the arm. He froze for half a moment, then carefully and quietly padded to the edge of the row of shelves and peeked around the corner.

There were two figures visible in the momentary glimpse Greg got, besides the clerk behind the counter. They were clad in long-sleeved shirts, black ski masks, jeans, and gloves, such that Greg couldn't see anything of their features or skin tone. One was taller and burly, like a football player, and he was holding what looked like a baseball bat. The other was shorter and weedier, but was holding a gun in shivering fingers.

Oh, shit,Greg thought, ducking his head back and quickly glancing up and down the aisle. He couldn't see any cameras, and for the moment there was nobody watching , looks like it's time to keep those Oaths I swore. Ready or not, here I go!

He pressed his fingers to the star pinned to his shirt. "Yippie-kai-yay," he whispered, and golden fire blazed around him as the Light blossomed in his chest. And then the fire faded again, leaving him clad in the night-sky leather and other Regalia of Void Cowboy.

Greg stepped out from behind the shelving, drawing his golden pistols in a single smooth motion and leveling them at the robber with the gun. He felt a grin break out on his face. For all that his rational mind was gibbering in terror, something deep within him thrilled at finally stepping up and taking a stand. This was what he was Called to be, what he'd always dreamed of being: the sheriff, the man who stood up to lawbreakers and brought justice to the wild frontier.

"All right, ya yellow-bellied sons of sidewinders!" Greg drawled in his best fake cowboy accent. "Reach fer the sky!"

"Fuck, Cape!" one of the robbers blurted out. The one with the gun spun, and with apew-pewGreg fired his flashpistols, catching the robber in the chest with a double bolt of vivid blue energy and knocking him backwards into the counter. The gun went off with a bang, and there was a crash as one of the store windows shattered.

Greg ducked back behind the end of the shelves just as a third criminal, this one also holding a gun, poked his head out from behind the other end of the shelving and fired twice. Out of the corner of his eye, Greg saw the holes appear in the sheetrock wall where the bullets had struck.

Greg poked his head back around the corner of the shelving and fired again, catching the first gunman in the face just as he was getting to his feet. The gunman let out a howl as Greg's energy bolt smashed in his nose, and he stumbled back and tripped over the counter again. At the same moment, Greg twitched his head to the side on instinct just as there was another bang and he heard something whistle past his ear.

Greg quickly glanced around, realizing that he'd lost track of the third robber, but couldn't see him anywhere. He peeked back around the corner of the shelving. There was a double bang and a golden flash as something struck him in the face. He let out an involuntary yelp and ducked back behind the shelving, his hand coming up to feel the side of his head.

He shot me he shot me oh hell I've been… Huh?

He couldn't feel any blood, just a tender patch on the side of the jaw, no worse than when he'd been punched in the face by one of the schoolyard bullies. He suddenly remembered that flash of golden light.

Oh right,he thought,Gabriel mentioned that, that one of my powers is a shield against attacks.

AWESOME!

There was the crack of another gunshot, but no flash or impact this time. Greg glanced around, but he couldn't figure out what the robber had been shooting at.

"Let's go!" he heard someone hiss from the other side of the shop. "Cops'll be here any minute!"

Oh no you don't,Greg thought, feeling the Light like a roaring flame within him. He stepped out from behind the pile of shelving, guns coming up. He was met by an explosion of gunfire, and his Light flashed into a golden shield around him, blunting the impacts of the bullets into nothing worse than soft punches. Greg staggered, but his counterfire hammered the already-battered gunman in the face, knocking him backwards into a sprawling pile of limbs. The other gunman turned and bolted for the street, and Greg ran down the aisle to try and get a clear shot. Before he reached the end he saw the third robber, the big one who had formerly had the baseball bat, dash past the end of the aisle too quickly for Greg to risk a shot.

As Greg rounded the corner of the aisle, he saw the third robber almost out the door, the second nowhere to be seen. He fired with both flashpistols, one missing but the other nailing the robber in the back of the head, causing him to trip and land flat on his face. Hearing a groan, Greg spun around and glanced down to see the one with the gun stirring, reaching for the gun that had fallen next to him. Greg quickly kicked the gun away, then hopped over him to where he could see both criminals, almost tripping over the baseball bat the one robber had dropped.

"All right, ya varmints," he drawled, remembering to keep up the fake-cowboy accent. He had no idea how long he'd be able to keep that little affectation going, but it was certainly fun. "I've got you covered, so no funny business. Now what don't you just move right overthere," he added, gesturing with the gun, "and sit there nice and quiet-like till the paddywagon gets here."

"Sorry about the mess, sir," he added to the clerk, who was peeking up from behind the desk.

"...The police showed up a few minutes later," Greg's voice continued out of empty air. "I gave them my statement as Void, then left and found a safe spot to call you, since I saw that Ladybug was Transformed."

Emma shook her head and let out a quiet a story!she thought.

"Before anything else," Emma said, "Congratulations, Void. You did good work today."

"Thank you," Greg replied. "I don't think these were particularly competent robbers, though."

"Even so, it was still good work," Emma said.

"Agreed," said Taylor.

There was a moment's pause, then Greg's voice sounded again. "I don't know how long I've got before someone finds me in here, so unless one of you has something to say right now I think I should cut the line and get back home, and then you can call me back later, once we've all had more time to think about it. In the meantime, I'm sure there's going to be a PHO thread or three about this. I can troll a couple of those as V- as the Jester Of PHO, see what conclusions they come to and try to muddy the waters a bit."

"Ooh," he continued, voice suddenly perking up, "I just thought of something else. I can send you the login credentials for my civilian account, then go ahead and create my cape account. Then later tonight I can log on as my cape self, while you pretend to be my civilian self. That way we'll have my two identities visibly active in two different places at the same time."

"Both very good ideas," Emma said. "Anyone have something to say off the cuff?"

"Void," Taylor said, "When you were giving your statement to the police, did you mention you were part of a team? Or did you just give them your own name?"

"Umm…" Void said from the other end of the call. "IthinkI just gave them my own name? Not completely sure."

Taylor nodded. "Ok," she said. "Then most likely nobody will know about the rest of us just yet. Not… sure if that's something we should care about. We'll have to think about that."

"Any other questions?" Taylor asked. She glanced around the room, then nodded and said "Ok, looks like that's it for now. Thanks for calling this in, Void."

"Goodbye," Greg's voice said, and the gem in Taylor's forehead winked out.

Taylor let out a long sigh, her Ladybug regalia dissolving in a shower of pinkish-white sparkles and revealing her mortal frame and clothes beneath. "Well," she said, "sounds like the Hopeful just made their debut. Or Void Cowboy did, at least."

Emma glanced over at her mother and sister. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next…

"Did Greg say those guysshotat him?" Anne blurted out, eyes wide.

Called it,Emma thought.

"Yes, he did" Taylor said, eyes closed. "Fortunately, all of us have a defensive shield as one of our powers."

"Holy shit," Anne breathed.

"You'resurethe Wards aren't an option?" Emma's mother said, though from her tone Emma was pretty sure her mother already knew the answer to her question.

"Quite sure," Danny said from the other end of the table.

"Honestly," Emma said, trying to sound casual, "It's not as though being Wards would keep usthatmuch safer, at least not in Brocton Bay. You know as well as I that the PRT and Youth Guard don't actually keep the Wards from getting into fights, they just keep them from getting properly trained and equippedforthose fights."

Emma's mother's lips tightened, but before she could say anything, Taylor cut in.

"There are a few other factors as well," she said, "reasons why we'll probably be safer independent than in the Wards. For one thing, a lot of the danger for independent heroes comes from the risk of one or the other of the gangs tracking them down and attacking them in their civilian identity, since they don't have a whole organization to back them up. But like I mentioned earlier, one of the powers we all have is a Stranger effect, a glamor that makes it hard for people to connect our heroic and civilian identities. If we can disengage from a fight long enough to Transform, then we're safe."

"Or as safe as anybody can be in Brockton Bay," Emma commented with a smirk. "The thing is," she continued, "That glamour only works as long as wekeepour identities secret. It won't work on you, for example, not now that we've told you the truth. If we joined the Wards we'd have to give up our identities, and we're pretty sure the gangs have moles in the local PRT branch."

Taylor picked up the thread of conversation again. "Whereas staying independent will let us pick our battles, engage when we have the advantage and disengage when we don't."

"And it's not just our identities," she added, warming to the topic. "Cape battles tend to be very heavily rock-paper-scissors. That's one of the big advantages the Protectorate has over most gangs, when they finally decide to bring down the hammer they can usually bring in heroes whose powers are a hard counter to whatever villains they are going after. And that means thatinformationis a tremendous resource in cape battles. As long as we can keep the gangs confused on exactly what we can do and how our powers work, we will have a huge strategic advantage. For example, they're probably going to assume that Void is a Tinker, because so much of his Regalialookslike Tinkertech, and that means they'll be preparing the wrong countermeasures. And even leaving aside moles, if we joined the Wards the PRT themselves would publish at least some of the details of our powers."

Emma's mother was looking a little overwhelmed, and Emma felt herself smile fondly. She'd rarely gotten to see this side of Taylor in action before, and was enjoying seeing her all-but-sister's wits turned to real life rather than mere games.

"So…" Emma asked, "what do we do now?"

There was a moment's pause as the gathered Barnes and Hebert families exchanged looks around the table.

"Honestly, I don't think this changes our plans that much," Taylor eventually said. "It's not like this forces our hand or anything, we can still wait until we're ready to make any major moves of our own."

"You have a point," said Emma's father, "but I do think this underlines the need to get in touch with Carol Dallon or some other expert in cape law as soon as possible. There are a lot of ways an independent cape could end up in hot water, and we need to make certain you are prepared for thenexttime you find yourself in a situation like the one Void Cowboy was in today."

Emma sighed. "I suppose this is my equivalent of what just happened to Void," she mused out loud. "We'd been waiting and preparing, anticipating the time when we'd step out into the public eye. And then something happens, and I realize that I can't put it off anymore. The time to take that first step isnow."

"Though I'll have to wait till tomorrow to make the call," she added with a laugh. "I don't think even Mrs. Dallon works Sundays, except in serious emergencies."

"No, she does not," her father confirmed.

"So, make the call to Mrs Dallon tomorrow…" Taylor said distractedly. "And then after that I suppose we'll have a better idea of what other steps we need to take with regard to the PRT and the law. Is there anything else we need to do right now, or can we take the rest of this afternoon off? I want to spend time with my family."

Emma felt a cheek-stretching smile blossom on her face, her heart thrilling at what Taylor had just said. "I think that sounds like a great idea," she said. Deep within her, she felt her Light burn brighter.

"Agreed," said Emma's mother, sounding relieved. "Anyone for Trivial Pursuit?"

"Umm… I don't think that one's really an option for me anymore," Taylor said, tapping her forehead meaningfully.

"Oh, right," said Emma's mother.

"I'll go see what else we have in the basement," Emma said, getting to her feet.

"I'll come with you," Taylor said, pushing back her chair and rising.

Emma raised one hand and squeezed her face. Her smile had gotten so large it was making her cheeks hurt.

"Dad?" Taylor asked tentatively as she and her father drove home from the Barnes'. "Can I talk to you about something? I think I need a sanity check."

"Okay," Taylor's dad said, sounding as nervous as Taylor felt. They were both still learning how to talk to each other again.

"So…" Taylor said slowly, "This is something that's been bugging me for a while now." She tapped the center of her forehead with a finger. "As far as I can tell, nobody else knows what I've learnt from Queen Administrator about how powers work. It's certainly not common knowledge. And I've been sitting on this secret instead of sharing what I know."

"I thought that was the plan," Taylor's father said. "Didn't you say earlier that one of your big advantages over the gangs was that they wouldn't know how your powers worked?"

"Keeping details on our exact powers secret is one thing," Taylor replied. "That's the kind of information that could be used against us, and it's not much use to anyoneotherthan us and those who want to hurt us. But what I've learnt from QA about shards in general, how they link to us and how the powers they grant work…God, I don't even know what people might be able to figure out with this. Certainly more than I know right now. Not to mention that it just feelswrongto keep people ignorant of how their own powers actually work."

"Okay," Taylor's father said, his eyes not leaving the road, "So what are you thinking of doing?"

"See, that's what I just realized tonight," Taylor replied. "Once we go public, I could just tell the simple truth: my shard talks to me and told me about how they work. Even if the general public think I'm as nutty as Glaistig Uaine, the truth will be out there and people who do the research will find the evidence to corroborate it. And with the glamour, I wouldn't have to worry about it drawing attention to you or me if I make the announcement as Ladybug."

"Who's 'Glashic Uana'…" said Taylor's father.

"Glaistig Uaine," said Taylor, putting some extra emphasis on the pronunciation. "She's a villain who can summon parahumans that die near her as these weird ghost things, with their powers. She's famous for claiming to be the queen of the fairies, and for being one of only… I think it's three parahumans to enter the Birdcage of her own will."

Taylor paused for a moment. "And now that I think about it…my god, she actuallycouldbe the queen of the fairies, couldn't she? I mean, Iknowthat it's at leastpossibleto get powers without getting them from a shard. Who's to say Glaistig Uaine isn't actually a fairy?"

And if sheisin fact thequeenof the fairies she claims, then that strongly implies there might beotherfairies around,she , remind me to ask Gabriel what he knows about fairies next time we meet up.

Hang on,isGlaistig Uaine a parahuman? Do you know?she sent to Queen Administrator.

"Okay," Taylor's father said, "from what you're saying, it doesn't sound like anybody takes Glaistig Uaine's claim to be a fairy queen seriously."

Unknown,QA sent back at the same to correlate host identity to shard connection with current datasets.

No entities corresponding to concept set "fairies" detected in preliminary survey of Earth dimensional manifold. However, current modeling indicates that only 42 percent of concepts labeled "fairies" would be detectable by current Shard sensory mechanisms.

Huh,Taylor thought. "Well…yeah, they don't," she said out loud, quickly refocusing on the spoken conversation.

"In that case, I'm not certain anyone would even pay enough attention to investigate what you're saying. On top of which…why isn't this more common knowledge? You can't be theonlyparahuman whose shard talks to her, so why hasn't anyone else shared what they know about the shards? Only reason I can think of is that there's some conspiracy that, for whatever reason, wants to keep the existence of the shards under wraps, and if that's the case then speaking out could put you in their crosshairs."

Taylor opened her mouth to reply, but before she could speak she felt QA's touch like a line of ice against her mind.

Progenitor hypothesis: negation,it Shard connection protocols do not permit direct communication with host. Additionally, general Shard cognition minimal. Abstract reasoning and formulation of complex concepts not required. Communication with host neither possible nor required. Queen Administrator, as controlling shard, posseses atypical capacity for abstract reasoning.

"Huh," Taylor said out loud. "Apparently, I may actuallybethe only parahuman whose shard talks to them. According to QA, most Shards aren't particularly… sapient, I guess. They're smart, but it's more like an animal than an actual person. QA's got a lot more capacity for abstract thought than most Shards, because its function is to coordinate and direct other shards at… whatever it is they do when they're not linked to people like us."

Though preventing direct communication isnota smart idea,she sent to works by communication and collaboration, by people taking the discoveries of others and building on them. You would be a lot more likely to get interesting new discoveries if your hosts didn't have to keep reinventing the wheel.

Consideration, QA sent back, the emotional sidebands alive with a weird mix of skepticism and concern.

"And again, the glamour should providesomedefense against anyone trying to backtrack from Ladybug to Taylor and Danny Hebert," Taylor said aloud. "Plus, I get the impression from QA that the Shards really don't understand the Light, or the way Hopeful powers work. I'm pretty sure I've got at least some ancillary protection against Thinker powers, over and above what I get from the glamour."

"Taylor," Taylor's dad replied, "you said yourself that the glamour has limits. It might make you proof against normal investigation, but this? Revealing that you cantalk tothe source of powers, that you know secrets about powers that nobody else knows, that you might for all anyone knows be able to unmask capes or talk the Shards into creating new capes on demand or God alone knows what else? That's going to bringnationalattention down on you."

"Thinkers and mundane detectives will be hunting for you," he continued, getting more agitated as he spoke, "and they'll be authorized to break all the written and unwritten rules to get you. If Ladybug shows her face in public, the gangs, the Protectorate, and probably the Yangban and Gelleschaft will all jump on her and fight over who gets to drag her away."

"Dad!" Taylor shouted, and her dad refocused on the road just in time to avoid rear-ending the car in front of them. Neither spoke again until they were back in their driveway and the engine off.

"Listen, Taylor," Taylor's father said, turning in his seat to face her, "if you're going to get people to believe you, you're going to have to come up with arguments and proof beyond 'my powers talk to me and tell me how they work' anyway, right?"

"Yes, good point," Taylor replied, facing him and nodding.

"So write up those proofs and arguments and sharethem, but keep the fact that you can actuallytalkto your Shard private. Like you said earlier,that'sthe kind of information that will be dangerous to share. Just having guessed a bunch of stuff about powers won't freak people out nearly as much."

Taylor took a deep may be a little bit paranoid,she thought,but that doesn't make him wrong. The reactionprobablywon't be as bad as Dad is thinking, but even a few people freaking out could do a lot of damage. Plus, Dad was right earlier when he said that mentioning talking to QA might taint people's opinion on the rest of my evidence. I never until this minute gave any credence to Glaistig Uaine's claim to be a fairy, and others wouldn't necessarily take me any more seriously.

"Okay," she said out loud. "I'll keep the fact that I can talk to QA under my hat, at least until there's some good reason to share the information."

"Thank you, Taylor," her father said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I just… I lost your mother, and it almost broke me. If I lost you too…" His eyes went blank, and Taylor felt her stomach twist.

"I understand, Dad," she said out loud, reaching over to give his arm a squeeze. It was the closest she could manage to a hug with both of them in car seats.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go inside. I want to go see what PHO is making of Void Cowboy's debut."

Interlude 2.P (PHO)

Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.
You are currently logged in,CopperColouredCutie
You are viewing:
• Threads you have replied to
• AND Threads that have new replies
• OR private message conversations with new replies
• Thread OP is displayed.
• Ten posts per page
• Last ten messages in private message history.
• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.

Topic: I Was Rescued By A New Cape
In: Boards Local News Brockton Bay
LegendLover69(Original Poster)
Posted On Aug 30th 2009:
(Sorry in advance if this comes off as a little scatterbrained, I think I'm still kind of in shock).

So there I was, behind the counter at my game-store day job, when three men in balaclavas come in through the door. Two have got guns, and the third's built like a football linebacker and has a baseball bat. So they tell me to put my hands in the air, which of course I do. Then one of the smaller guys with the guns tells me to fork over the cash.

About then there's this bright golden flash from the rear of the store, and a moment later some cape I've never seen before steps out from behind the shelving. No clue how this guy got back there. There's a fire door in the back of the store, but you can't open that without setting off an alarm, and the only other way in or out of the store is right past my desk.

I wish I had pictures of this guy, because he looked seriously freaky. Not like a Case 53 or anything like that, his actual body looked human enough. No, the weird thing was his clothing. He had this long coat and hat on, that looked like they were some kind of hole in the universe, you could see a starry night sky through them. Seriously trippy, and I wish I had pictures. (I know the store has security cameras, but I don't know how to get the footage). Anyway, besides the weird-ass coat he had a shiny metal belt and a star-shaped badge, and he was holding a couple of Tinkertech rayguns.

So this guy comes up behind the thugs and tells them to "reach for the sky" in this really obvious fake cowboy accent. One of the robbers tries to spin around and the cape shoots him in the face with those Tinkertech guns. Just knocks the dude over, nothing serious. I ducked behind the counter at that point, so I kind of lost track of what was going on for a moment, though I heard a bunch of gunshots. Then one of the crooks stumbles into the counter and falls over almost on top of me, which made me freak out even more.

By the time I got myself back together, the fighting was pretty much over. The guy with the baseball bat had gotten away, but the new cape was covering the other two.

The cops showed up pretty soon after that. They took statements from me and the new cape (he gave his name as Void Cowboy). After that, Void Cowboy departed, the cops left with the two crooks in cuffs, and I started trying to clean up the mess.

So yeah: A broken window, a half-dozen holes in the walls, and I was scared out of at least a decade of my life, but on the other hand I think I got to be the first one to witness a new cape's debut.

(Showing page 1 of 10)

Space Zombie
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
BS! Pics or it didn't happen.

WingedOne
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Wait... what the tabula rasa just happened? I am confuse.

Procto the Unfortunate Tinker(Not a tinker)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Wait, "Void Cowboy"? That can't possibly be right. I refuse to believe that Void Cowboy could actually be a cape. Some things are just too messed up to contemplate.

White Fairy(Veteran Member)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Ooh, a new cape! Well, that's certainly something Brockton Bay has no shortage of. Sounds like a Tinker from the description, and one with teleportation technology to boot.

I really hope this "Void Cowboy" joins the Protectorate soon. Independent Tinkers don't tend to last long before somebody tracks them down, and the last thing Brockton Bay needs is one of the gangs having Tinker support.

WingedOne
Umm... I do not think that word means what you think it means.

ZizDidIt
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
ProctoTheUnfortunateTinker
No, see, Ziz did it. She's supposed to be launching her next attack soonish, right? So she decided that instead of attacking a city, she'd give Void Cowboy some tinkertech, turn him into an actual cape and watch the capes of the world break down having to deal with him.

This user has received an infraction for this post. Joking about victims of the Simurgh is not funny. You've been warned on this before. - TinMother*

GstringGirl
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
LegendLover69
Ouch. I'm glad you're ok. Hope the repairs won't cost too much.

SpaceZombie
And how exactly was he supposed to get pics?

ProctoTheUnfortunateTinker
ZizDidIt
Seriously, not cool! I know Void Cowboy can be a bit immature, but he's not that bad.

Procto the Unfortunate Tinker(Not a tinker)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
GstringGirl
"Ouch. I'm glad you're ok. Hope the repairs won't cost too much."
Agreed.

"I know Void Cowboy can be a bit immature, but he's not that bad."
Compared to who, Jack Slash? Seriously, that guy's a moron of the highest order. How the fuck has he not been permabanned yet?

This user has received an infraction for this post. Neither personal attacks nor derails are acceptable in this forum - TinMother*

BlueEyedBoyInBlue(Verified BBPD)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Can verify OP's story. Me and my partner were dispatched to the mall in response to reports of gunshots. When we arrived there we found a cape who gave his name as Void Cowboy, with two people in face-concealing masks held at gunpoint. We took statements from the new cape and the store clerk and arrested the two robbers.

I can also corroborate OP's description of the new cape's attire. It really is something you have to see to properly appreciate. Unfortunately, I don't have access to file footage on my personal account.

Robby
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
BlueEyedBoyInBlue

Holy flipping f-balls.

End of Page. 1,2,3...10

(Showing page 7 of 10)

XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Don't you see what this means? David Icke was right, humainty is being infiltrated by shapeshifting alien lizard demons, and they've sent this imposter to replace me because I know too mu

White Fairy(Veteran Member)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
XxVoid_CowboyxX
The sad part is, I'm genuinely not sure if you're trolling us or you just forgot to take your dried frog pills today. Cutting off in the middle of a word was a nice touch, though, so points for that.

LegendLover69(Original Poster)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
GstringGirl
Thanks for the well wishes. Repairs won't come out of my pocket, or even my boss's, the mall we rent the space from covers that. Can't imagine it'll cost that much anyway, and I imagine they have insurance.

LittleOwl
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
WhiteFairy
"forgot to take your dried frog pills today"

Ah, a woman of taste and culture, I see.

VoidCowboyOfficial(Verified Cape)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Well, it is pleasant indeed to see that my deeds have already born their due harvest of fame and appreciation.

Varmints of all stripes and ideologies take note - there's a new sheriff in town, and I intend to clean up this place.

Bladeworksfan
My dear sir, the values of the Old West bear about as much resemblance to those of those Neo-Nazi varmints as that which comes out of a cow's udder bears to that which comes out of the cow's rear end.

XxVoid_CowboyxX
Believe you me, young whippersnapper, I would rather not be associated with you. But I wear the garb of a cowboy, fashioned of the starry void. To take any other name would be like a coon wearing buckskin britches and calling itself a deer.

Sothoth
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
WhiteFairy
LittleOwl
"dried frog pills"
Care to elaborate? I feel like I'm missing something here.

VoidCowboyOfficial
You know, I think that might be the most poetic way of calling the E88's ideology BS I've ever read. I think I like you, Void Cowboy.

ZizDidIt
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
[Post deleted]

[User temp banned – 24 hours]

I repeat, joking about victims of the Simurgh. Is. Not. Funny. You've been warned on this before in this thread, hopefully a tempban will make it sink in. - TinMother*

LittleOwl
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Sothoth
It's a reference to Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. In those stories, the Bursar of Unseen University (the main Wizzarding school for the series) is mad, but he takes hallucinogenic pills (made from dried frogs) that cause him to hallucinate that he is sane and a Bursar... and, incidentally, that he can fly. He's not allowed above the third floor, though.

VoidCowboyOfficial
Welcome to Brockton Bay, Void Cowboy. And a good point with regard to your name.

WhyteOne
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:

[Post deleted]

[User temp banned – 24 hours]

Threatening violence is not permitted here. Have a 24 hour ban to cool off. - TinMother*

AssaultOfficial(Verified Cape) (PRT ENE)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
VoidCowboyOfficial
Sothoth
OMG, LOL!

Welcome to Brockton Bay, Void! It's always nice to have a new hero, and especially one who isn't so bloody serious all the time!

End of Page.1...6, 7,8,...10

Private message from IAmTheNight (Verified Cape) (PRT ENE)

CopperColouredCutie:(Sent August 27th, 2009) Hello SS, this is E. from the alley. Can we get together sometime, talk face-to-face? I think I owe you an apology for some of the stuff I said in the alley. Plus I wanted to say congratulations on joining the Wards. Not necessarily what I'd have done in your shoes, but I think it's a good choice.

CopperColouredCutie:(Sent August 27th, 2009) P.S. Sorry to use your official account like this, but I don't know your civvy one.

IAmTheNight (Verified Cape) (PRT ENE):(Received August 28th, 2009 – Opened August 28th, 2009) Before I say anything, can you prove any of what you just said?

CopperColouredCutie:(Sent August 28th, 2009) Does this work?(view attached picture)

CopperColouredCutie:(Sent August 28th, 2009) So do you know the Cup of Sunshine café? On the Boardwalk, at the corner with Maple Street?

IAmTheNight (Verified Cape) (PRT ENE):(Received August 28th, 2009 – Opened August 29th, 2009) Not really my stomping grounds. You want to meet there?

CopperColouredCutie:(Sent August 29th, 2009). Yeah. Nice place, good coffee, and it's in public so if I were actually a villain then I still couldn't do anything to you.

IAmTheNight (Verified Cape) (PRT ENE):(Received August 29th, 2009 – Opened August 29th, 2009). Ok, fine. When do you want to meet?

CopperColouredCutie:(Sent August 29th, 2009). Monday morning sound good? Say 10:00ish?

IAmTheNight (Verified Cape) (PRT ENE):(Received August 29th, 2009 – Opened August 29th, 2009) See you there, survivor.

2.5

Emma took a sip of her caramel coffee as she surveyed the Boardwalk from her seat in front of the Cup Of Sunshine.

Was the Boardwalkalwayslike this?she thought. She'd been here quite often before the alley and her Blossoming, and she supposed she'd always been aware of what the Boardwalk and the Enforcers that ran it were like. But now… now she couldn't overlook what she saw, the Boardwalk's flaws and the hints at what lay behind its facade stood out as though highlighted in neon. It wasn't anything flashy or overt, nothing that she could call the cops on or transform and deal with. It was the little things. It was a man in a ratty shirt and shrunken features being pulled into an alleyway by an Enforcer. It was the absence of non-whites here as compared to a few blocks over. It was an Enforcer almost stalking the black girl in the slightly grungy clothes as she made her way along…

Sophia turned to enter the coffee house and Emma rose from her seat to greet her.

"Hello, Sophia!" she said. "So, what do you want? My treat." The Enforcer nodded slightly to himself and wandered off.

"Hello, survivor," Sophia said, giving Emma a quick nod. No more words were exchanged until Sophia had ordered her coffee (black, one sugar) and the two had resumed their seats.

"So, what are we doing here?" Sophia asked.

"Well," Emma replied, feeling embarrassed, "in the first place, I owe you an apology. You've been rescuing people and stopping criminals, I know that much now. And that is worth praise even if I don't approve of everything about how you did it. I shouldn't have lost my temper and yelled at you in that alley, and I'm sorry about that."

Sophia stared at Emma for a moment, looking bewildered. "Okay… Apology accepted?" she said tentatively.

"Thank you," Emma said. Her smile felt a bit brittle. What she'd have to ask next could make the conversation even more awkward. "I have to ask, though," she said, "why'd you do it? Whydidyou hang back in the alley? Were you waiting for something?"

Sophia's expression grew more confident. "It's all about strength and weakness," she said. "Some people crumble under adversity, others fight back. I had to see which you were."

"Okay…" Emma makes sense, as far as it goes."So...what if Ihadn'tBlossomed and fought back? Would you have stepped in?" Emma wished momentarily that she could use her newly-learnt lie-detection Charm, the one Gabriel had called the Judge's Ear, in her mundane form. She wasn't bad at reading people even without magic, but the magic was certainly better.

"Of course not," Sophia said, rolling her eyes. Emma felt her heart sink. That was the answer she'd expected, but she'd been hoping for a better one. At least Sophia was being honest, though. "What's the point of rescuing someone who's just going to let someone else push them around as soon as you're gone?"

Emma stared at her. "Because it's the right thing to do?" she said, trying to put what seemed to her axiomatic into words. "Because hurting people is wrong, and letting someone hurt other people when you can stop them is the next best thing to doing it yourself? Isn't the whole point of being a hero that because you're strong, you can rescue people who aren't strong enough to save themselves?"

Sophia rolled her eyes again. "It's not about strength… ok, it kind of is," she said. "Look, some people, you can give them all the power in the world and they're still wimps, too afraid to actuallyusethat power. You back them into a corner, they'll fold. But others, like you and me, we fight back when we're backed into a corner. It's not about whether you canwin, it's about the fact that youfightinstead of showing your belly."

Emma took a sip of her caramel drink to stall for a not lose my temper,she thought. "Sophia," she said, trying to keep her tone even, "just because someone doesn't fight back when cornered like that, it doesn't make them a coward. More often, it means they're smart. If I hadn't Blossomed in that alley, all fighting back would have accomplished would have been to get mekilled. I was smaller than all those thugs, even the girl, I didn't have a weapon, and I didn't know anything about fighting. If you're a sheep, it's better to let yourself get sheared and grow back your wool later than to fight back, get your throat slit, and be made into mutton… okay, that analogy kind of got away from me. But still, you see what I mean, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Sophia said. "But you and I, we're not sheep. We'rewolves. And wolves don't let themselves get pushed around."

"That's my point," Emma said. "In the alley, I was a sheep and you were a sheepdog. And sheep can't fight wolves, even if they try. That's why they need sheepdogs to protect them."

"Look," Emma continued before Sophia could reply, "let's forget that whole issue. I can understand hanging back, giving people a chance to discover that they're heroes. 'Good timber does not grow with ease', after all. That part I can agree with. But if someone doesn't rise to the occasion, you still need to step in and rescue them if you can. Just because someone's a wimp, that doesn't mean they deserve to die or be robbed. It's like Taylor said, that we don't leave the weak to die is a big part of what makes us human."

Sophia stared at Emma, her face shifting through several unreadable expressions. Emma took another sip of caramel coffee, her gaze locked with Sophia's.

Suddenly, Sophia jerked to her feet. "Sooner or later, you'll realize how the world works," she said. "When you do, I'll be ready to talk. Thanks for the coffee, Survivor."

Spinning on her heel, Sophia stalked out of the coffeeshop, cup in her hand.

Well, Emma thought as she took another sip of her drink,that went about as well as could be expected. I said what I needed to say, and I think some of that got through to her.

Could have been a lot better, though. If I hadn't lost my temper in the alley and threatened her, then we might have been able to recruit her directly. As it is, even if the bad blood between us ever gets resolved, she'd still be a Ward and we can't quite trust the PRT yet. I do believe the Wards will be a good influence on her, but I also believe the three of us would be even better.

Let that stand as a lesson to be more careful with my words in the future. For now, it's time to put such concerns aside and turn to something more fun…

She got to her feet, drink in hand, and trotted down the Boardwalk to the Reading Owl.

"Come on, Taylor," she said in a loud whisper as she stepped in through the door of the bookstore. "Time to get you a proper high school wardrobe!"

"Out!" a voice shrieked. Emma glanced over to see the Reading Owl's owner pointing a shaking finger at her, then looked down and realized that she was still holding the coffee cup. She gave an embarrassed nod, feeling herself flush, then turned on her heel and stepped back out of the bookstore.

Woops…

Taylor…No, Ladybug. Have to practice thinking of myself and the others by our cape names when Transformed, or I'll forget and blurt out someone's identity.

Ladybugforced down her nervousness as she looked up at the office of Stansfield, Smith, and Dallon. At her side, she felt the soft warmth of Em… ofPrincess'sLight spike for a moment as she worked a Charm. She couldn't actually tell what Charm it was with this sense, but she knew what Princess was doing from their plans. The Charm would fill Princess with a supernatural charisma, ensuring a good first impression.

And when dealing with someone as prickly as Carol Dallon, we'll need a good first impression. Especially since I actually do admire New Wave, and I'd really like to work with them going forward.

"Ready?" Ladybug asked.

"Ready as I'm going to get," Princess replied.

They stepped forward and into the lobby. "Princess and Ladybug, here to see Carol Dallon," Princess said to the receptionist.

"Very good," the receptionist replied. "If you'll just wait over there, Mrs. Dallon will be down to see you momentarily."

Ladybug dropped into a seat and surveyed the lobby, trying to keep from fidgeting self-consciously at how out of place her Regalia costume made her feel. Mrs. Dallon was coming down the stairs from the upper level.

Ladybug rose smoothly to her feet, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Princess doing the same.

"Mrs. Dallon," Princess said, stepping forward and offering her hand. "I am Princess, and this is Ladybug. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Mrs. Dallon looked them up and down, and Ladybug saw a look of disapproval flash across her face. "This way," she said, not taking Princess's offered hand.

Princess and Ladybug followed Mrs. Dallon back up the stairs to her office. As they entered the office, Ladybug took a quick glance around. It was very much what she'd expected: Dignified and a bit intimidating. There were newspaper clippings about New Wave's early days on the walls and photos of the original and modern New Wave in costume on her desk, where you would normally expect to find family photos.

"All right," Mrs. Dallon said, once the door was shut, "what are you two doing here? You cannot expect me to believe that you are adults. Do you have any adult team members?"

The two of them exchanged a glance. "No, we do not," Ladybug admitted. There were a very few things that she could justify lying about even to Mrs. Dallon, but this was not one of them.

And it's not like we could get away with lying about this anyway, not for any length of time.

Mrs. Dallon closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "What are you thinking?" she said. "I can't… you can't seriously expect to go independent as children. Have you not considered the Wards as an option? They can provide protection and training, and you'll need both."

Princess pasted on her best fake smile. "The Wards are not an option for us, for a number of reasons. Firstly, there are simply too many restrictions placed on the Wards. We don't have the option to ignore people who are in need, and if we joined the Wards the PRT would try and keep us from helping people. Secondly, there are details about our powers which could literally get us killed if they fell into the wrong hands, and I don't dare trust the PRT's ability to keep secrets."

Mrs. Dallon closed her eyes for a moment and squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Dammit," she said. "I… can understand where you are coming from, but I cannot endorse it. You cannot possibly understand what you are getting yourselves into."

"Are you going to try and stop us?" Ladybug said, tensing in her seat. This conversation had gone from civil to the edge of cataclysm in an eyeblink.

In retrospect, we really should have seen this coming, she thought.

"I can't," Mrs. Dallon admitted, sounding almost regretful. "Joining the Wards isn't mandatory, nor is being part of a team with adult heroes. And I don't exactly want you to get in trouble with the law either, even if that would end up with you under adult supervision."

Mrs. Dallon stiffened, her professional manner slotting back into place. "Very well," she said, "since I can't stop you, I might as well give you what direction I can. I am not actually certain whether you are legally permitted to register as independent heroes, but I can find out. And at the very least, I can inform the PRT about you and that you are intending to act as heroes. Are you two the only members of your team or are there others?"

"One other," Princess said. "Void Cowboy, the one who made his debut yesterday."

"I see," Mrs. Dallon said. "Now, I would normally recommend going to the PRT for power testing, but from what you just said I suspect you aren't going to do that. Understandable. However, I have to warn you that there are certain power types that tend to draw additional scrutiny. First, you have powers that affect the mind or manipulate perception. Those are not outright forbidden, but they do thow up a red flag, especially if you do not initially admit to them. Biotinkering also tends to draw suspicion, especially in this town, and anything which involves creating self-replicating minions or creations is actually illegal without special permission from the PRT."

"Wait, why would biotinkering be especially suspicious in Brockton Bay?" Princess asked.

Mrs. Dallon shot a quick look at Princess, then nodded slightly. "Director Piggot is a survivor of the Battle of Ellisburg."

Ellisburg…Ladybug felt QA's icy touch against her mind, replaying what she knew of Ellisburg.

"Yes, that makes sense," she said aloud.

"Moving on," said Mrs. Dallon, "money obviously won't be an issue for you… that just leaves the acceptable force and other procedural certifications. The younger members of New Wave were able to take these certifications through the Protectorate, but they still had us as adult supervision. I am not certain how the Protectorate will react to your applications for independent hero certification, other than that they will certainly pressure you to join the Wards. Now, I have a list here, and then I can help you fill out the application for independent hero status…"

Ladybug quickly looked over the list, committing it to her QA-enhanced memory as Mrs. Dallon began her explanation.

Taylor was in her bed reading when she heard the phone ring downstairs, then heard her dad rushing down the stairs to get it. A few moments later, he came upstairs.

"Taylor, can you.. Um, change?" He made a vaguely twisting gesture with one hand. "That was Alan, apparently Greg has something important he needs to discuss with all of us, and they're trying to set up a conference call."

"Oohkay…" Taylor replied. She wriggled around until she was sitting up against the head of her bed, then reached across and touched her Phylactery, the beaded bracelet she wore around her left wrist. Closing her eyes, she called up her memories of love, of evenings reading with her mother, of sleepovers with Emma, of her father building bonfires and cooking barbecues. The Light blossomed in response, infusing her with strength and wrapping her in power.

She opened her eyes again, seeing the crimson pseudo-fabric of the Ladybug uniform. With a quick thought, her communication interface appeared in her view, and with another thought she selected Princess and Void Cowboy's Regalia phones to initiate the conference call.

If I ever do get a regular phone, I am going to have been so spoiled by this,she thought.

She heard the chiming around her, then it cut out.

"Hello, Princess speaking," she heard Princess say. "All others present."

"Ladybug here," she said. "With others."

"Void Cowboy here," Void stated. "I was checking up on my PHO account, and I have a message from Uber and Leet. They claim that they have intercepted an ABB message that gives the date and time when…" he paused for a moment "...the next shipment of sex slaves will be delivered. They say that they want to rescue the women, but that they need my help."

There was a moment's pause. Ladybug saw her dad pale.

"Okay," Ladybug said. "Obviously, if we take this offer, it's going to absolutely wreck our reputation. Especially since this will be my and Princess's debut. Even if we try to explain our position, we'll probably be labeled villains. And there's no way Uber and Leet haven't realized that, those two know PR and reputation inside and out."

"Obviously," Void replied. "But does that matter?Canwe let those women get… carried off, when we can save them? Isn't this why we decided not to join the Wards, so that PR and the Youth Guard couldn't stop us from doing the right thing?"

"Wait wait wait," Taylor's father said. "This… what about Lung? What about Oni Lee? What about gangsters with guns? Don't you think those women are going to beguarded?"

"For that matter," Ladybug added, "do we have any proof that Uber and Leet are telling the truth? They are thieves and vandals at least. For all we know, they could be setting us to attack innocents, or sending us into a trap."

"That's a good point," Void admitted. "They didn't share any direct proof."

"Can we get back to the rage dragon?" Taylor's father said.

"We shouldn't be going up against Lung," Ladybug said distractedly. "I'm pretty sure he'll have better things to do than guard some slaves. And assuming this isn't a trap, Uber and Leet should actually be good allies for this mission. They're very good at pulling these sort of things off and getting away with it."

"Remember, I've got the Judge's Ear working now," said Princess. "If you can get us a face-to-face meeting, I should be able to tell if they're pulling a double cross. No way they could know I have that power, so I don't think they'll be able to trick it."

"Taylor!" her dad shouted.

"Name!" she hissed back.

"Right," he said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Before he could say anything more, Emma's father spoke up. His tone was what Ladybug suspected was his "lawyer voice", smooth and oh-so-reasonable.

"Okay, so it sounds like we have three issues here. First, are Uber and Leet telling the truth? Second is reputation, and third is risk. Let's deal with those one at a time. First, is any of this even the truth? For that, I think Princess's suggestion has merit. Void, if you ask for a face-to-face meeting to discuss this offer, Uber and Leet will probably agree. As they don't know that Princess has access to the Judge's Ear, they won't be prepared to counter or work around it. If thisisa trick, odds are that you'll be able to catch it."

Taylor's father winced. "Somer's Rock," he said, sounding defeated.

"Huh?" replied Void.

"Somer's Rock," repeated Taylor's father. "It's a bar in the Docks, a traditional neutral ground for meetings between gangs, or between villains and heroes. If you're doing this, that's where you'll want to meet."

"Got it," Void said. Ladybug shot her father a quick smile, and he smiled back a little ruefully.

"Okay, second point," Emma's father continued. "Reputation. That's… going to be a tougher one."

"Heroes teaming up with villains against a greater threatisa thing," Void said, sounding hopeful. "I mean, even aside from the Endbringer truce."

"Yeah," Ladybug replied. "I'm sure the Protectorate could get away with it, and I'd bet an established indy team like New Wave could. The problem's going to be that this is ourdebutas a team. We'll have no positive reputation to offset the fact we're working with villains, and once you've got a bad reputation it's hard to shake. But Void's right, half the reason we decided to go indy was so that we can do whatisright rather than whatlooksright. Even if this is a trick by Uber and Leet to set us at odds with the Protectorate… as long as they're telling the truth about us rescuing innocent women, we've no choice but to work with them."

"Agreed," she heard Princess say. "It's about as close to the line as I dare go, but agreed."

"And now," said Taylor's father, "we come to the issue of the rage dragon."

Ladybug closed her eyes to think. "Like I said, I don't think Lung is going to be the issue here. He's got better things to do than stand guard. Though… the guards might call him in. That's not going to be good."

"Uber and Leet did mention the possibility of Lung in their email," Void commented. "They said the episode theme was going to be Mario, and that if Lung showed up he would be their Bowser. So they've at least considered Lung. And they're silly and childish, but they're not idiots. They must have some plan for how to steal from Lung and get away with it. We could ask them, since we're meeting anyway."

Taylor's father looked like something had hit him. "Oh God…" he groaned. "I'm… you're going to bet your lives onUber and Leetknowing what they're doing?"

"They haven't dropped the ball on safe escapes yet," Void said. "And it's still better than going out without any backup, right?"

Taylor's father groaned again. "What's the deadline on this?" he asked. "How long did they give you to make the decision?"

"The raid will be this Friday," Void said. "I can request the meeting for Thursday, that'll give Uber and Leet a couple of days to respond."

"Better go for Wednesday," said Emma's father. "If we can help it, we will want to have another conference after the meeting with Uber and Leet, so we can discuss this with all the facts. The earlier we can get the meeting, the more likely they'll let you think about it and get back to them rather than making a call on the spot."

"And we were already planning on having our meeting with the Queens Wednesday night," Ladybug pointed out.

"Sounds like we have a plan," said Emma's father. "Any other thoughts?"

"Not at the moment," said Void.

"Other than that I still don't like this?" said Taylor's father. "No, that's it."

"Alright," Ladybug said after a moment's pause.

With a quick thought, Ladybug ended the call and dropped her Transformation, letting her inner Light fade to a dim glow.

Taylor's father lunged forward and grasped her in a tight hug, holding onto her as if he expected her to be yanked away at any moment. Taylor returned the hug, holding him tight.

He cares again,she thought to God for that.

"I'm scared, Taylor," her father whispered in her ear. "I don't know if I can do this. You're my daughter. I'm supposed to protect you, not let you go up against the monster who the whole Protectorate couldn't bring down. I can't lose-"

Between one breath and the next, QA's presence in the back of Taylor's mind exploded into activity. Her father went stiff and fell away from her, limbs thrashing and a wordless shriek tearing from his throat.

2.6

Taylor flung herself out of her bed and dropped to her knees next to her father.

What is going on?!she thought-shouted at Queen Administrator.

Seizure, she thought in another part of her do you do for a seizure?

QA brushed her mind like ice, replaying her memories of reading a book on first aid.

Crisis point reached, QA sent at the same time, apparently on a different mental "channel".Establishing symbiotic bond with host "Dad". Granted powerset: sensory access - humans within five hundred foot radius. Feedback causing neural overload in host. Recalibrating data processing protocols…

Wait, you did what? Dad…

Before Taylor could finish the thought or grab a pillow off her bed, QA's presence in the back of her mind sped up again. Her father stopped thrashing for a moment, then let out another scream.

"Dad!" Taylor shouted. "Dad, focus on my voice," she continued, dropping into something almost like a chant as she spoke. "Focus, pull it in, push all the rest away, focus on my voice, tune them out, tune them out, focus on my voice…"

"Taylor?" her father said, his voice a little ragged. "Taylor, what's happening? I can see so much, I can feeEELL!..." Her father's words turned into a shout as he spasmed again, back arching. The crotch of his trousers turned dark and damp.

Can't you stop this?Taylor sent at QA, even as she continued her chant.

Negation, QA sent link characteristics cannot be safely altered once link is established. Permanent link severance would cause catastrophic neural failure.

Regret, it added.

"Taylor?" Danny said out loud, waving a hand in between their faces. "Taylor, what's happening to me? I'm seeing things. Is that you?"

"Dad!" Taylor replied. "Dad, you triggered. You're a cape now. QA says it gave you the power to share senses with everyone around you, see through their eyes, hear through their ears. That's what you're seeing. Focus on my voice, focus on the perspective that changes when you move. That's the real one, the one that's actually you. Try and tune the others out."

As she spoke, Taylor's hand dropped to her wrist and spun one of the beads on her bracelet. Pinkish light filled her sight for a moment, Light surging up from within to fill her with strength and power.

"Ohmygod ohmygod…", Ladybug's father chanted, squeezing his eyes shut as if to block out the visions. "Ohmygod that's private I shouldn't…"

Ladybug laid her hands on her father's shoulders and took a single deep breath, trying to focus , please let this her eyes, she pictured a brain, linked to the glittering crystal of QA's avatar by a flickering line of blue-white electricity. She pictured a bubble of pinkish light around the brain, cutting off the line of electricity, and tried to push her own Light into that vision.

Nothing happened. The Light shifted within her, but then it settled back into place. She tried again, but with no more success than when she'd tried to bend spoons with her mind after seeingThe Matrix.

"Come on Dad, focus on my voice," Ladybug chanted. Light pooled in her hand, and shepushed.

Light flashed scarlet under her hand where it rested on her father's shoulder, and she felt a surge of power and exaltation flash through Queen Administrator, like an echo of what she felt every time she called on the Light to Invest her. QA's presence in the back of her mind sped up yet again and her father let out a hoarse scream.

What the hell did I donow?Ladybug thought to herself. A moment later, she felt a surge of exhilaration shoot down her link to QA, one so intense it knocked her flat on her back.

PROGRESSION

TRANSFERSION

CONFIRMATION

BREAKTHROUGH

PROGRESS

Each thought hit Ladybug's mind with the force of a blow, accompanied with another surge of exhilaration. Finally she found herself lying on the floor and panting. In the back of her mind she felt QA's activity slow down.

What are you so excited about?she thought to are you trying to make progress towards… never mind that, what happened to Dad?

Transfersion of Light energy,QA sent back, exhilaration not so overwhelming but still provided in form usable by Shards. Temporary spike in power available to Host "Dad". Partial expenditure of altered Light energy, remainder diverted to Queen Administrator reserves.

Spike in power available… dammit, that's the opposite of what we need,Ladybug thought as she flipped back up to hands and knees.I wanted to damp the power down, regulate it so Dad doesn't get flooded with so much input.

She felt a flash of regret down the link from QA, and realized that she must have sent those last thoughts. Then she was distracted by her father rolling over and climbing to his hands and knees. Then he got to his feet, swaying slightly as if drunk and hands extended before him to feel the empty air.

"Uh… Taylor…" he said slowly, "can you… uh, help me… to my room? And… uh, help me get new clothes? Uh, then… I'll need… uh, sorry, this is really distracting… I'll need to get a shower… change clothes…obviously you can't help with that."

"Of course," Ladybug replied, taking her father by the arm. She carefully guided him out the door, down the hall, and into the bathroom, then dashed across to his room and grabbed a shirt, underwear, and shorts. She dropped those on the bathroom counter, then closed the door behind her and sat down against the wall right next to the bathroom door, letting her Transformation drop as she did so.

God, what a mess,Taylor thought to herself.

And what an opportunity, too,she added after a Dad can learn to control this power, focus on specific visions and tune out the rest… he'd be able to discover so much. Root out gang safehouses, spot abuse or murder from a block away, possibly even unmask villains. Not to mention spy on every person and eavesdrop on every conversation in the PRT building while sitting on the other side of the block. They're going to freak the hell out if they figure out he can do that, though Armsmaster might be able to come up with some way of blocking him out.

But before anything else, we need to get this power under control. Dad learning to use it would be nice, but I'd settle for a way of blocking it out so it doesn't drive him mad. I'll have to ask Gabriel if he has any advice on the topic. We'll have to be careful…

Shock blasted through her like cold lightning as she realized what she'd almost said that shutting down the link could cause Dad brain damage, and I was playing around with my power trying to dampen it… Hell, I'm lucky that didn't go even more wrong than it did.

"Okay," she said out loud. "Definitely not messing with that any further unless I am absolutely sure I know what I'm doing. Though how I'm going to run tests on this I have no idea."

Absently, she noted the sound of running water from behind her.

Running water and no screams…sounds like Dad is doing okay. Thank God. Hopefully he'll be able to get this under control sooner rather than later. Does Dad have any sick days left? He was out of commission for a while after losing Mom… Can ask him about that later. I can handle cooking and cleaning for a while until Dad's back to a functional state.

Taylor felt the touch of Queen Administrator against her modification of link to host "Dad" may be possible, it sent.

What?Taylor thought , don't do anything until Dad's out of the shower and we've talked to him. It's his power, he's the one who should be making decisions… are you talking to him the same way you are to me?

Currently not, QA previously discussed, standard protocols for symbiotic link do not include direct communication. However, Queen Administrator possesses capacity to override standard protocols, and is prepared to do so for experimental purposes. Potential value of clear communication in uncovering new data sufficient justification. Standing by to initiate direct communications upon Host Taylor's direction.

Behind her the running water cut off.

Query:QA Host Taylor in communications with Host Dad regarding power modification?

Taylor bit her 's not like I really need to,she thought to herself. It's Dad's power, he's the one who needs to make the decisions. But on the other hand, I can't see how it would hurt and there might be misunderstandings I can clarify…

Yes, please,she sent.

A short while later, the door opened and Taylor's father carefully stepped through.

"Dad," Taylor said. "Can you sit down? QA has something to say to you."

"Okay…" Taylor's father said. He felt along the wall, then carefully dropped down into a seated position across the bathroom doorway.

Go ahead,Taylor thought to QA.

Proposal:she "heard" QA of link to host… Danny. Standard data processing protocols permit dynamic modification to power range. Proposal to permit host modification of power range up to current limit.

"Is it… I can't understand…God, this is distracting," Taylor's father said, his voice audible both in Taylor's ears and the back of her mind.

Exasperation.

There was a momentary tickle in the back of Taylor's mind, and her father jumped.

"They're gone!" he said. "What happened?"

Queen Administrator repeated its previous message, and Taylor's father nodded slightly.

"Is that what happened, you turned down the range on my power to zero?".

Confirmation

"I… thanks," Taylor's father replied, his voice still audible in both Taylor's ears and her mind.

"So… you're proposing to give me a variable range on my power?" he continued after a moment. "Is that the only option? I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I also don't want to make a choice without knowing all the options."

Taylor felt her lips quirk into a man, my dad,she thought to herself.

Modification of link possible only to limited degree without severance of link, and severance not currently possible without catastrophic neural failure,Queen Administrator sent for link modification with minimal risk include host-controlled dynamic range modification, host-controlled binary access, permanent reduction or increase of sensory access range, or creation of detection interface layer before sensory access.

"Hmm… that last one sounds interesting," Taylor's father said. "Good middle ground between utility and concerns about privacy, if I understand what you're sending correctly." He shook his head. "God, this is crazy. I'm actually talking to my own superpower to decide how to make it work… Can I have a minute to think about this and talk to my daughter, before I make any decisions?"

Confirmation,QA sent, then Taylor felt its presence recede a bit from her mind.

Taylor's father turned to her. "That all did happen, right? I'm not crazy, that really was that Shard thing that grants you some of your powers talking to me?" This time Taylor only heard his voice with her ears.

"If you're crazy than so am I," Taylor said with a smile.

Her father let out a long sigh. "Honestly not sure if that's good news or bad news," he said. "I mean, I don't even… fuck, I don't have a choice, not really. This is what you meant when you said that doing nothing wasn't an option for you, isn't it? You'll be going out whether I have powers or not, and if there's any way I can help you I've got to take it."

"If it helps," Taylor said, "you're going to be able to do a lot to keep me and the others safe. Being able to scout out battlefields and eavesdrop on our enemies in a way they can't detect or block is going to work wonders for ensuring we rarely have to fight battles without being able to stack the deck in our favor. Not to mention that having responsible adult supervision will do a lot to help us work with the other hero groups."

A sudden thought flashed through Taylor's ,she sent to Queen Administrator, are you planning on giving Dad the same perks you gave me? The eidetic memory and open communication links?

Confirmation, contingent on host Danny approval,QA sent is in effects of dynamic communication with host when Shard cognition sufficient for meaningful communication.

Taylor's father made a face. "That does help a bit," he admitted. "Still wish I had a power that would let me actually fight alongside you, but at least this way I can dosomething."

In that case,Taylor replied to QA,would it be possible to add a link between Dad and I, let us talk to each other mind-to-mind? That would provide really nice synergy with the rest of Dad's powers, at least for the overwatch role we've been discussing.

Taylor's father took a deep breath. "Okay," he said out loud. "Let's do this. Queen Administrator, could you reconfigure my… your power to include the data interface layer?

Confirmation,QA : include access to secondary memory, dynamic communication link between Queen Administrator and Host Danny, and/or dynamic communication link between Hosts Danny and Taylor?

"Umm… definitely yes to the first two, thank you," said Taylor's father. "As for the third… Taylor, did you hear that? Queen Administrator was…"

Taylor felt a faint buzz like someone whispering quickly in the back of her mind.

"...Oh," her father resumed, sounding surprised. "That was your idea? Just seems like it would be a little… uncomfortable, having your father in your head like that."

"Maybe a touch," Taylor admitted, "but being able to talk to you in a way that other people can't intercept or track, and that won't require items or hands, is just too useful to pass up. Think about it, this'll let you provide overwatch for us while we're actually in action. That might well save our lives at some point."

"Well, if you're okay with it then I'm not complaining," Taylor's father said. "Yes to that one too. Though please make sure it's only the thoughts weintendto send, I don't think either of us wants the other hearing our every thought. Better not to have the mental link if it can't be filtered."

Confirmation.

Administrator access invoked. Recalibration protocols overriden. Initiating link modifications…

There was that same swirling sense of activity from Queen Administrator, and across the doorway Taylor's father tensed slightly. Then he let out a sigh of relief.

"That's much better," he said. "I can feel all the minds… and I can see…but I can also shut the views off if I don't want them. Perfect, thank you Queen Administrator."

Taylor smiled. "Welcome to the Hopeful… what name do you want to use?" she said.

"We can figure that out tomorrow," her father said. "Right now, I just want to get some sleep and see if this seems any less crazy in the morning. I'm still kinda expecting to wake up and find out that this was all a particularly weird dream."

Tuesday Night

The world swirled around Greg, then settled into the "lobby" to Gabriel's dreamworld pocket realm. Between Emma's cryptic message and his own news, he was so excited that he'd normally have had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. Fortunately, the interaction between Hopeful magic and the remnants of the trap the Darkness had created let any Noble fall asleep and enter the Dreamworld at will. Greg opened the door and stepped in. To his surprise, not only were Gabriel, Emma, and Taylor already present, so was Taylor's father. And there, set in the center of his forehead, was the same ovid crystal that marked Taylor's bond to her Shard.

"Mister Hebert!" he said. "What areyoudoing here?"

Taylor grinned and gestured to her father with both hands. "Void Cowboy," she said, "allow me to present Admin, the newest member of the Hopeful."

"I thought that was what Emma's message meant," Greg replied. "But still, how'd you get inhere?"

"Queen Administrator pulled him in, of course," Taylor said. "It's connected to both of us."

Greg took a few steps forward and extended his hand. "Welcome to the team, Admin," he said, trying for a straight face. "I look forward to working with you."

Taylor's father gave him an odd look, then climbed to his feet and shook Greg's hand. "Thank you," he replied.

"So why 'Admin'?" Greg asked as they both dropped down onto beanbags. "And what exactly are your powers?"

"It's a two-part thing, mostly," said Taylor's father. "First, I'm aware of all human minds within five hundred feet. I know exactly where they are relative to me, I can tell if they're conscious or unconscious and I can recognize specific minds. I can't pluck people's names out of their minds or anything like that, but once I've seen someone and learned that a certain mental signature goes with a certain name and face, I'll know them again whenever they're in my range."

"Holy cow," Greg blurted out, the implications immediately flashing across his mind. "That's going to make capes freak out. Secret identities are a big deal."

"Oh, that's nothing," Taylor's father said. "Being able to detect minds is basically a side effect. Myrealpower is the ability to access the senses of people in my range. See what they see, hear what they hear, that kind of thing. No actual thought-reading, which I suppose I'm thankful for."

"Holycow," Greg repeated.

"Exactly," Taylor said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Dad and I have been thinking through the implications of this all day. His power's going to be a huge advantage, but it could also paint one hell of a target on us if it gets out. On the bright side, though, there's no reason he actually has to take the field with us, or for us to explain where we're getting our information from."

"I forgot to mention," said Taylor's father, "that because we're linked to the same Shard, and because Taylor's got such an unusual relationship with that Shard, Taylor and I are able to talk telepathically to each other. I'll be able to provide overwatch in the field and relay what I see to Taylor."

"Wow," Greg said, "That's seriously cool."

"Thanks," said Taylor's father.

"In other news," Greg said, "I heard back from Uber and Leet. We are on for the Somers Rock meeting, tomorrow night. So the question now is whether Admin shall be joining the rest of the Hopeful at that meeting."

"Hey," he added, "where'd the name 'Admin' come from, anyway?"

"We were looking for a name that wouldn't necessarily give away how my power works," Taylor's father said. "My first choice would be 'Union', but there are already three capes using that name. There was actually a computer Tinker up in Canada who used 'Admin', but he hasn't been active for about a decade."

"Makes sense," Greg said with a nod.

"To return to the other question," said Taylor's father, "I'd like to be there, but it would be a lot more risky for me than for you. Not only do I not have the glamor, I've actuallymetUber and Leet before. They're almost certain to recognize me, and that would be very bad. Whereas, as we just discussed, I can observe remotely and talk to Taylor without being somewhere Uber and Leet can observe me."

"And if worse comes to worst," Taylor cut in, "the three of us have Holy Shield and other combat powers. We don't have the staying power of proper Brutes, but we can get out of most traps. As weird as it seems, Dad's the most vulnerable of us when we're transformed."

Taylor's father made a face. "I don't like thinking about it that way, but Taylor's right," he said. "That's going to be hard to get used to."

"I'm pretty sure all fathers have to deal with this sort of thing sooner or later," Emma said. "All children but one grow up, even if we're doing a few things ahead of schedule."

"Ugh," groaned Taylor's father, burying his head in his hands and grasping his hair. "Of all the powers I could have gotten, why'd I have to get the one that lets meseeeverything but notdoanything?"

"Because the Shards have trouble understanding people, even Queen Administrator?" Taylor said. Before anyone could reply, her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," she said, "there's something else I discovered last night. Something even bigger than Dad's power, potentially."

"Wait, what?" Emma said. "There wasmorethat happened last night?"

"When Dad first got his power," Taylor said, "it didn't include the ability to select specific minds. He got the sensory input fromallthe humans in his range, all at once. Which, as you might guess, was way too much to handle."

Taylor visibly winced. "I… well, I panicked. Threw power at Dad and Queen Administrator, trying to find a way to dampen the connection between them. Which in retrospect was god-damned stupid, and I am very thankful that I didn't hurt Dad." She visibly shuddered again. "Instead, I accidentally managed toboostDad's power temporarily. Obviously I'll have to be very careful experimenting with this, but according to QA, once I figure out how to do it reliably I should be able to boostanycape, not just Dad."

"Oh my God," Greg whispered, feeling dazed. "That's…a power-boosting Trump, one that can reliably work on any cape… that's a Big Deal. The kind of Big Deal that gets the federal government looking at you… at least you've got the glamour to protect yourself."

"Can we discuss the technical details on that once you are done here?" Gabriel said from behind his desk. "A Charm that works reliably to boost an entire foreign category of magic is a pretty significant achievement, and it's one that new-crowned Hopeful in this world are going to find highly useful."

"Certainly," replied Taylor.

"So hang on," Greg cut in, "If your - if Admin started out getting the sensory output from everyone in his range, what changed? How'd he end up with his current powerset?"

"Queen Administrator was smart enough to figure out that Dad's powerset wasn't quite working," Taylor said distractedly. "She and Dad talked to each other, worked out how to tweak Dad's power so that it was a bit more manageable."

Greg shook his head. "You know, every so often you say something that makes me remember just how fuckingcrazymy life has gotten since I took this up," he commented, tapping the brazen star of his Phylactery badge on his chest.

"I know exactly what you mean," said Taylor, her wide mouth twisting into a wry grin. "Emma and I played at superheroes, but I never expected I'd actually become one."

There was a moment's pause. "Back on the topic of the meeting, how are we going to get Greg there without tipping offhisparents?" asked Taylor's father.

Greg had been considering this. "I'll just tell Mom I'm going over to spend the evening at Emma's," he said. "She's never cared before."

"Dad, you can pick us up from Emma's," Taylor said. "And then you drop us off a block or so from Somers Rock, somewhere close enough that you can check for an ambush but far enough out that we won't be spotted. After that you can either wait and provide overwatch for the meeting, or if the environment looks hazardous you can drive off and I'll-" she tapped her headgem "-messageyou when we're ready for pickup."

Taylor's father closed his eyes for a moment. "Yeah, that works," he said.

"So… any more dramatic reveals to drop on us?" Emma asked after another moment's pause.

"I don't think so," said Taylor's father.

"Not from me," added Taylor.

"Or me," chipped in Greg.

"In that case," said Emma, climbing to her feet, "I am going to get back to my bed. Need my beauty sleep, after all."

"No you don't," Greg said without thinking. "I mean," he continued, feeling his face flush, "you're already beautiful."

Emma laughed. "Thanks for saying so," she said. "Still need proper sleep tokeepmyself that way, though."

"Oh, right," Greg said awkwardly. "I'm… uh, going to get in some shooting practice," he said. He climbed to his feet and made for one of the doors out of Gabriel's study. Unlike the door he'd arrived through, which led back to the real world and his sleeping body, this one led to a Dreamworld construct rather like the practice room fromThe could practice his skills and Charms there and build up muscle memory in his Transformed state. That had come in handy.

"So, Taylor," he heard Gabriel say from behind him, "could you walk me through exactly how you managed to boost your father's power?"

2.7

From outside, Somer's Rock looked so grimy Princess wouldn't have believed it was actually open.

Princess closed her eyes for a moment and called up her Light, feeling it flow up from her core and through her eyes and ears. For a moment, she felt her eyes burn, then it passed and she felt the flows of Light settle into place.

"Okay," she said aloud, "I think I've got the Charm in place. Void?"

"Umm…" he said. "{{My favorite color is green}}, I have never tried hard drugs, and my grandmother's name is Alice."

"Lie, truth, truth?" Princess said. She could hear the indefinable resonance of deception behind Void's first statement, just like the last time she'd tried this Charm, but the Charm was still new and she wanted to make sure it was working correctly before a meeting this important.

Void nodded. "Looks like it's working, then," Princess said. "And everyone remember, Uber may not have the Judge's Ear but it's safe to assume he's maxed out his cold-reading skills for this meeting. No more secrets than absolutely necessary. Now, let's do this."

Void stepped forward and opened the scuffed door, beckoning Princess and Ladybug forward with his free hand. Her head held high, Princess stepped forward into Somer's Rock. As she crossed the threshold, she called up the Light again, letting it fill her. She could feel Light-enhanced charisma radiating out from her, coloring the impression of those who saw her. It was a subtle effect, and wouldn't sway her friends' view of her enough to be notable, but it would ensure that she - and by extension the rest of the Hopeful - made a particularly good first impression on Uber and Leet.

The inside of Somer's Rock was just as disheveled as the outside. The lightbulbs were on the verge of burning out and barely provided enough light to see by. It was impossible to tell what color the floor might be under the thick layer of grit, the wallpaper was too faded to make out the pattern and was peeling off the walls, and the curtains were patched and stained.

Three figures stood at the bar, two men so identical they must have been twins and a woman who was most likely their sister. Those must have been the staff, because the two sitting at one of the tables couldn't have been anyone except Uber and Leet. Uber was wearing an obvious Mario costume - the only thing off was that he had a "U" on his hat instead of an "M" - and had a relaxed grin on his face. Leet wore an almost-identical costume, green where Uber's was red, and was fidgeting with what looked like a whistle.

"Ah, Void," Uber said as the three Hopeful entered Somer's Rock, sounding cheerful. "I take it these are the teammates you mentioned?"

"Indeed," Princess said, smiling herself. "I am Princess, and this is Ladybug. Void you already know. And you must be the notorious Uber and Leet."

"Yep, that's us," Uber said. She could hear the faint resonance of truth behind his words.

The three Hopeful reached the table and took their seats opposite Uber and Leet. The waitress headed over to the table, proffering a faded menu. Uber took the menu, quickly scanned it, then tapped one of the entries with a finger. The waitress nodded and wrote something down on her pad. Uber offered the menu to Leet, who shook his head and passed it to Ladybug.

That's weird…Princess the waitress deaf? Or maybe she doesn't speak English. Either way would make sense, considering this place's purpose.

While Princess was thinking, Ladybug had taken the menu and then passed it to Princess with a quick shake of the head. Princess took the menu and glanced at it for a better not to order anything,she this conversation turns awkward, we might be walking out the door in another minute.

She gave a shake of her head to the waitress, then passed the menu to Void Cowboy.

"So," she asked, "You want us to guest star on one of your shows?"

"Precisely," said Uber, with a quick flash of a smile that made Princess's belly twitch. He really was very handsome. "As we mentioned in the message to Void Cowboy, we have obtained intelligence that a major shipment of women for the ABB brothels will be arriving here this weekend, and we know where they are going to be dropped off for distribution. So we propose to liberate those women. As you've probably guessed, the episode theme will be Mario: I'm Mario, Leet here is Luigi, ABB goons will be designated as Koopas, and the women will be toads."

Princess blinked. "Toads?" she asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the waitress heading back to the bar.

"Anthropomorphic mushrooms," Void Cowboy chimed in. "It's short for 'toadstool'. The basic plot of the Mario games involves rescuing them from the Koopas."

"Fine, whatever," Princess said. "So why'd you reach out to us?" So far, everything Uber had said had rung true. This was a very good sign indeed.

"For starters, Void here appears to have access to teleportation tech," Uber said. "We don't have any large group teleporters working at the moment, and obviously teleporters will be really helpful for a rescue mission."

Void Cowboy visibly winced. "Ah," he said. "{{I'm afraid that particular widget is a bit more limited than the scuttlebutt would have it. I can get me and my posse in and out, but I can't bring along any passengers.}}" To Princess's ear, his words hummed with intent to mislead, but she hoped that even Uber's skill wouldn't be able to read exactly what he was hiding.

"Well, that'll make things a little trickier," Uber said slowly. "If we can't teleport the captives out, then we'll need another way to get them to safety. Probably our best bet will be to get there earlier than we'd planned and then intercept the driver when he arrives with the women. We can just take his truck, turn it around, and then I can drive it directly to a police station. Lung won't want to directly attack the police station even to get his 'property' back. That's the kind of thing that the police and PRT can't ignore, and Lung knows that he can't survive pushing the authorities to finally go all-out against him."

"Speaking of which," said Void Cowboy, "why are you willing to pick this particular fight in the first place? You called for me when for all you knew I might have been a double-dealing varmint, and you're proposing to go up against that big-ass salamander, his pet ninja, and a whole posse of varmints with guns, and all that not for money or turf but to liberate a bunch of womenfolk… why are you putting it on the line like that?" As he spoke, the waitress returned from the bar and put a glass of something fizzy and brown in front of him.

Uber sighed. "Void Cowboy," he said. "We're pranksters. I'll even admit we're occasionally jackasses. We're notmonsters. We're as outraged about what Lung and his minions are doing to those women as you are, we've got a chance to stop them, and we're going to take it." He shrugged in a way that Princess suspected was calculated. "The fact that this will be damned good PR doesn't exactlyhurt, I'll admit, but it'll be good PR because we are genuinely going to be heroes for once." He shot them another smile, and Princess felt herself blush slightly. According to her power he hadn't lied about anything, though there might have been some prevarication regarding the duo's motives.

"Well," she said, "I'mcertainly happy to see you taking a step back towards the heroic side. And I suspect that you'll get much better publicity for 'the noble and underrated art form that is video games' if you associate them with heroes and entertainers than … well, to use your own term, 'jackasses'."

Ladybug raised her hand. "Coming back to the plan for extracting the women for a moment, would dropping them off at the PRT HQ be an option? The police department has way too many 'diet racists', and if we can help it we don't want to rescue those women from Lung only to get them thrown in jail on trumped-up charges. The Empirehassympathizers in the PRT, of course, but there are fewer of them and they have to keep their heads down a lot more."

"Hhrm…" Uber said, stroking his beard. "That might be doable, but it will be a lot harder. It's a longer drive to the PRT HQ, and… well, just because we are choosing to be heroes doesn't mean we're willing to sacrifice ourselves. Dropping the prisoners off at the PRT HQ has a way higher chance of ending up with us arrested than dropping them off at a police station. And wouldn't the PRT just punt the women back to the mundane police anyway? They only deal with capes."

Ladybug seemed to consider that for a moment, her expression distracted, and then she sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"On the bright side," Uber pointed out, "If we do this therewillbe footage of us rescuing the women and the conditions they were rescuing them from. Even 'diet racists', as you put it, are a lot more likely to treat the women well, both because of the public attention and because having something like that shoved in your face can trump even prejudice."

"But we're getting off-topic," Uber continued. "As you know, Mario just about always has fire powers, and Luigi has had lightning powers in a few games." Princess hadn't known that, but she didn't bother correcting Uber.

"To represent that," he continued, "I'll be using a rig that lets me project and control fire, which should let me counter Lung's pyrokinesis. I've also been practicing my speed and precision with the rig, and I'm up to the point where I should be fast enough to tag Oni Lee before he can jump out again. Leet, meanwhile, will be armed with what amounts to a hugely overpowered tinker-taser. Limited number of shots before we drain the batteries, but one good hit will put even a fully ramped-up Lung down for the count. We also have a mitosis field inhibitor thatshouldhamper Oni Lee's teleportation, but that one hasn't been tested in the field yet so I can't guarantee it's going to work as intended. Plus it's not really portable, the field projectors have to be set up at the perimeter of the area you want to cover. Which is less of an issue than you'd think, because we're planning an ambush anyway and there's a good chance that Oni Lee will be on-site to watch the 'merchandise'."

Princess took a quick breath. "Unfortunately, Void is relatively new to his powers, so he hasn't been able to build up that much. We have the teleporter we discussed earlier, Void has his flashpistols and a lightsaber, and we have shielding devices that will provide the three of us with reasonable protection. No spares, unfortunately. For the other two of us, I have a power that enhances my unarmed attacks and lets me physically interact with incorporeal capes, and Ladybug has the ability to create explosive insect projections at varying strengths." She was silently thankful for her amateur modeling, the practice at keeping a straight face was remarkably helpful. She had no doubt that Uber would still be able to tell she was hidingsomething, but hopefully he wouldn't be able to tellwhat, especially with the glamor in play.

"There's also this, obviously," Ladybug said, tapping her headgem with one finger. "{{It's got some computational functions, but it also lets me interface with some of Void's remote observation systems. At the very least we should have advanced warning if Lung or Oni Lee are incoming.}}"

"Nothing in the way of teleport jamming?" Leet asked, speaking for the first time. His voice was a touch nasal, and sounded remarkably whiny in contrast to Uber's smooth tones.

"No, nothing like that," Void said. "I hope that's not going to spook you two, it really would be nice to ride alongside you on this particular shebang." He took another sip of his drink.

"It would be nice to have redundancy for our own device, but we're prepared to go ahead without it," Uber said.

"So it sounds like we're both agreed that we want to do this, and we have a handle on strategy and transportation," Princess said. "I suppose the next point would be names and costumes. You're using a Mario theme, and obviously we don't have Mario-themed costumes. Do you have roles for us, the way you were mentioning labeling Lung as Bowser? Or is your plan for us to guest star under our own names and titles?"

"Well, obviously it would be cool if you were willing to play under guest titles," Uber commented. "We'd been considering having Void play as Captain Toad, or maybe Professor Gadd, and there's certainly plenty of other NPC roles. You and Ladybug could even play Peach and Daisy."

"And who are those?" Princess asked.

"Princess Peach is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, though she's apparently human herself," Void Cowboy promptly replied. He made a face. "She's kinda infamous for getting kidnapped by Bowser a lot, and she's supposed to be Mario's romantic interest."

"Pass, thank you," Princess replied. "In any case," she added, trying for a more serious tone, "I don't think we're interested in playing under a pseudonym at this point. Not when we're still a new team and need to get our own branding out there."

"Fair enough," Uber replied. "We'll just credit you as guest stars under… well, not yourrealnames, obviously."

"Obviously," Princess replied with a small grin.

"Sounds like we have a plan, then," Uber said with another of those gorgeous smiles. "We can meet up at Eighth and Cooper, at six PM. Sound good?"

"Eighth and Cooper, six PM," Ladybug repeated in a slightly distracted tone, rising to her feet. Princess rose with her, Void Cowboy a heartbeat behind.

Taylor held back her question until she and Greg and Emma were detransformed and back in the car.

"So, Princess," she said as the car started to move, "did you detect any lies from those two?"

"None, actually," Emma said. "They're probably expecting this to tie us more tightly to them like we discussed, but other than that as far as I can tell they meant everything they said."

"Sounds like we're going to do this thing, then!" Greg said cheerfully.

"About that…" Taylor's father said from the front of the car, sounding uncomfortable. "There's something we're going to need to talk about. Back at Alan's place."

"Did we do something wrong?" Greg asked.

"No, it's not that," Taylor's father said. "But this is not a conversation we should have while I'm driving."

Well, that's ominous,Taylor thought to herself.

It didn't take long for them to make their way back to Emma's house. Once there, instead of dropping off Emma and Greg for their sleepover, as Taylor had thought was the plan, all four of them headed inside. Soon, the three Nobles plus Taylor's and Emma's fathers were all gathered together in the living room.

"Alright," Taylor's father said. "I…Friday night, before you try this raid with Uber and Leet, we're going to call the Protectorate and try to get them to rescue the women instead."

"What?" Taylor and Greg blurted out simultaneously.

"Exactly what I said," Taylor's father said, his face suddenly hard. "Irefuseto let you go up against supervillains if there's a chance we can get the actual government adults to do what they're paid for instead."

"Uh, Mr. Hebert…" Emma said, sounding uncomfortable, "isn't that kind of unfair to Uber and Leet? They reached out to us, and they're at least trying to take a step towards being heroes. If we call in the Protectorate instead, we're slamming the door in their face."

"I don't care," Taylor's father said flatly. "You're more important than they are."

"I agree with Danny, for the record," said Emma's father.

"I don't," Emma retorted. "Risking our lives is worth it if it means doing the right thing. If we'd decided beforehand to call in the Protectorate and told Uber and Leet we weren't interested in working with them, that'd be one thing. But we met with them, made plans and promises. Changing the plannowis just a hair's breadth from outright betrayal."

"I agree with Emma," Greg said. "What you're talking about is a backstab, there's no other way to put it."

"I. Don't. Care!" Taylor's father said, springing to his feet and shouting the last word. He took a deep breath and dropped back into his seat.

Ugh,Taylor thought to 's got a point, changing plans on Uber and Leet after we met with them and they made plans based on our commitment feels scummy. But there's no way she's changing Dad's mind. Honestly, it's pretty impressive that he's willing to let us out to fight at all. And theyarecriminals and villains, even if they are less objectionable than most of the other villains of the Bay.

"Why'd you spring this on us at the last minute?" Greg asked. "Couldn't you have at least discussed what you were planning with us?"

"Plausible deniability," Taylor's father said, shaking his head. "If you'd known in advance that we were going to call in the Protectorate, it's close to certain that Uber would have guessed that something was up and he might have called off the whole thing. Which would mean that we wouldn't learn where or when the girls were to be delivered." He grimaced. "I… can't say I would have beencompletelyunhappy if that happened, but I do get that protecting innocent women is worthsomerisks."

"And you're telling us now because…" Taylor asked.

"Because I need your help to figure out how to do this right," Taylor's father said. "We need to contact the PRT in a way that won't tip off Uber and Leet, so that they will still go ahead with the rescue attempt if I can't get the government to listen to me. And if at all possible we need to do this without giving away my real identity or my actual powerset to the government. I'll call them on my own phone if I have to, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather not do that if I can help it."

Emma looked as if she'd swallowed something bitter. "I can't stop you, can I?" she said. In a sudden swift motion she pressed her left hand to the starburst ring she wore on her right. Golden-red Light haloed her for a moment, and when it faded she was Princess.

"Emma?" her father asked.

Emma… no,Princess… closed her eyes for a long breath, then opened them. "Was 'plausible deniability' the only reason you didn't tell us what you were planning?" she said. There was a note of cold fury in her tone that Taylor couldn't remember ever hearing from Emma before. Greg visibly recoiled at Emma's tone, and even the adults looked unsettled. "Would you have told us if Uber's cold-reading skills weren't an issue?"

"Yes," Taylor's father said, voice level.

A little of the tension seemed to bleed out of Princess's posture. "That's… good to know," she said. "Are there anyotherparts of the plan you haven't told us about?" she added, tone a little more pleasant but still with that leashed fury humming beneath the surface.

Oh hell,Taylor thought to 's…Emma Transformed so she could use the Judge's Ear on Dad, didn't she? And if she felt the need to test Dad's words like that… this is going to be ahellof a mess going forward.

"At the very least," Emma's father said, once again using what Taylor suspected was his "lawyer voice", "having a way for Danny to contact the Protectorate will be useful in case something goes wrong, or as a contingency."

Emma shot a glare at her father. "That doesn't have anything to do with anything, and you know it," she said. The fury had faded a little, she now sounded more annoyed.

"No…" Taylor said, her mind racing, "I think Mr. Barnes has a point. The most important thing in all this mess is to make sure that the girls are rescued. And for that, we'll wantredundancy. If Dad calls the Protectorate and they respond at the same time as Uber and Leet and the three of us are making our play to rescue the women, it's exponentially more likely that the women end up rescued one way or the other."

"Exactly," Emma's father said smoothly. "And we've skipped over an important question. Emma, you make some good points regarding why it would be a bad idea to let Uber and Leet know what Danny will have done. And obviously it wouldn't be a particularly good idea to let the government know his real identity either. Is there any way wecanhave Danny contact the PRT without anyone knowing who did it?"

"That's going to be tricky…" Taylor said. "The problem is, we can't call this in early because we still don't know exactly where or when the 'cargo' is going to be delivered. We aren't going to find out the exact address until we've already met up with Uber and Leet, if then, and after that point one of us trying to sneak off and make the call haswaytoo high a chance of getting us caught. Whereas Dad won't have to worry about eavesdroppers, but he doesn't have an anonymous phone line the way Greg and I do…"

An idea occurred to her and she paused for a second to think and review her memories.

"Maybe we can pre-record the message?" Greg suggested. "Record it, and then press a button or something to send it at the right time?"

"Aha!" Taylor said out loud. "That's how we can do it."

Everyone turned to look at her. "Greg, you'll leave your Regalia phone with Dad when we Transform and head off to the rendezvous with Uber and Leet. Then, when either Dad detects the victims with his power or Uber and Leet detect them incoming and I tip Dad off through our link, Dad can useyourphone to call the Protectorate hotline. No point in him pretending tobeyou, but it doesn't hurt anything if the Protectorate knows that Admin has access to Void Cowboy's phone. The important thing is that the phone number isn't associated with any of our civilian identities."

She continued, the plan unfolding even as she spoke. "Then if the Protectorate respond, Dad can tip me off andIcan tell Uber and Leet that 'somebody' has alerted the Protectorate and they'll be coming shortly. They already think I'm hooked into the remote observation network they think Void has, so that shouldn't raise too many red flags. And if the Protectorate doesn't respond… then we go ahead with the original plan."

She paused for a moment, wondering whether to mention the next thing that had occurred to , no secrets, she thought to how much of a mess Dad keeping secrets from the rest of us has already caused. We absolutely cannot afford to be manipulating each other.

Princess gave Taylor a sour look. "Okay, so now we know wecanhave Mr. Hebert call the Protectorate," she said. "Still doesn't answer the question of whether weshould."

"As I said earlier," Taylor said, "we absolutelyshouldhave Dad call the Protectorate, if only so that there is a chance of a second rescue attempt for the women in case something goes wrong with our own attempt. The question is timing."

"Given the logistical problems involved," she continued before anyone could speak up, "Dad won't be able to contact the Protectorate until the truck has essentially arrived and Uber and Leet are almost ready to launch our current plan. What I propose is that we go ahead with that plan, but be prepared to disengage if anything goes wrong. If there are more gangsters than anticipated, or Leet's devices blow up in his face, or anything else goes wrong, we can disengage and leave the Protectorate to take their own shot. And if everything goes right, then depending on how long the Protectorate takes we can either drop the women off at a police station as planned or else alert Uber and Leet in time for them to duly cheese it and hand the liberated captives off to the Protectorate capes ourselves. Either way, the women are saved and we accomplish our original goal as regards pushing Uber and Leet one step closer to redemption."

She shot a quick glance around the , God, let everyone be okay with this.

Princess drew a deep breath, then let it out in a long sigh. "Taylor is right," she said. "That's the best plan. Best chance of ensuring the women get rescued, and it doesn't slam the door in Uber and Leet's face."

She turned to meet Taylor's father's gaze. "What do you say, Mr. Hebert?" she said.

Dad,Taylor quickly sent,whatever you do,do notlie to her. I'm pretty sure she has her lie-detection Charm active.

Taylor's father glanced quickly back and forth from Taylor to Princess. There was a long pause.

"Yes," Taylor's father eventually said. "Yes, we'll follow Taylor's plan."

Princess visibly slumped in relief, the tension draining from her posture. "Thank you," she whispered. Then she stiffened again. "Anyone else have something to say?" she asked.

"No, I'm good," said Greg.

"Nothing urgent," said Emma's father. "Just that…" he made a face "...Danny, if you're going to be doing this then I'd recommend you get a prepaid cellphone for your cape identity. By all means turn the thingoffexcept when you actively need it, that's good practice anyway to keep it from getting tracked. But you're going to need a way to make calls that is portable and not obviously connected to your civilian identity. I can buy it for you so that there's one more level of obfuscation in there, or maybe you can have Kurt or Mark or someone do it if you trust them not to ask awkward questions."

"Of all the things being Admin will require of me, I'm pretty sure that'll be one of the easiest," Taylor's father said with a crooked smile.

Interlude 2 (Uber, Leet, Alan)

"Gonna be weird working with collaborators," Leet said nervously to Uber as they waited in the abandoned warehouse where they had parked their Kart.

"Don't worry, bro," his friend replied, tone relaxed. "We've got plans and backup plans in case anything goes wrong. And if thisworks, it'll do wonders for our ratingsandwe'll have a marker with those kids. Hell, unless things go completely pear-shaped justthe fact that wetriedwill be worth some brownie points."

After another few moments of silence, there was a beeping noise from the display on Leet's wrist.

"Here they come," he said, watching the three Hopeful approach on the Snitch's camera feed.

"Then time to go," Uber said cheerfully, stepping towards the door.

"I wish the lie detector still worked," Leet muttered to himself as he followed after his bro. He would have been much more comfortable if they'd been able to confirm forcertainthat the Hopeful had meant what they said.

A few moments after Leet stepped out onto the street, the three Hopeful rounded the corner and came within view in person.

"Hello, Uber and Leet!" the copperling - Princess, wasn't it? - called as they drew closer.

"Hello!" Uber replied with a broad smile on his face. "Good to see you. No sign of our rescuees yet, of course, but we've already gotten the mitosis inhibitors set up."

I really hope I'm right on how Oni Lee's power works,Leet thought. The device he'd built wasn't really a teleportation jammer in the conventional sense, which was why he'd never tried building something like it before. Instead, it was specifically designed to block duplication powers. Which had made it safe to build, but also meant that he couldn't be completely certain how it would interact with Oni Lee's particular form of teleportation.

I really hate my power sometimes,Leet thought.

"We're holed up in this warehouse here," Uber continued with a quick gesture. "Nice and hidden while we wait for our targets to show up. Care to join us?"

"Works for me," replied Princess, shooting them a radiant smile.

The Hopeful followed them into the dimly lit warehouse.

"So, would the ABB safehouse we're hitting be at Sixth and Fisher?" Ladybug asked with a smirk as soon as they were all inside.

"Yes, actually," Uber said. "How'd you know?"

"Because Oni Lee's there," Ladybug said, tone faux-innocent. "There's two other ABB soldiers as well, pretty sure they both have guns."

"Wait, how do you know…" Leet cut himself off and rolled his eyes. "Right, remote observation systems."

"That's seriously impressive tech, by the way," he added to Void Cowboy. "Remote observation whatevers, a working brain-computer interface, teleportation, force fields… you've got nearly as broad a toolkit as I do. How the heck did you manage to get so much stuff up and running before going public?"

Void Cowboy scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Um… one of the first things I made was a sort of pocket dimension projector," he said. "I do most of my tinkering in there."

Leet blinked. That was a lie, even he could tell why is Void lying?

"By the way, Uber and Leet," Princess interjected, "I've been wondering: If Leet can really build anything, why don't you guys ever go really all-out, make something really spectacular and use it for a burst of big heroism? Like making a Gundam and using it to fight an Endbringer, or doing a DOOM special episode where you guys fight the Fallen? You'd make a mint in bounty money, and it'd be good for your ratings just like tonight's episode is going to be."

"You aren't the first person to suggest that," Uber said with a smile. "There's a few different reasons, but the two big ones are logistics and risks. Even Leet's tinkering has limits. To make the really good stuff requires rare and expensive components, and our pockets aren't that deep. Not to mention that building guns powerful enough to punch a hole in the moon tends to draw a lot more heat than we're comfortable with."

"And that's the real reason we don't go all-out," Uber said with a shrug. "As long as we're basically just pranksters and Saturday cartoon villains, we're pretty safe. People don't put that much effort into trying to take us down, and even if something goes wrong the worst that's likely to happen is that we end up in jail and have to bust out. But if we went out to fight the Endbringers or the Nine and anything went wrong, we'd be dead or worse. My bro's good, but he's only one Tinker, and even peak human skills only go so far. We don't want to bite off more than we can chew. And even if we made it out unscathed, we'd permanently have raised the stakes and we'd draw more intense responses on future episodes. What we're doing here tonight is already pushing the limits on how far we like to escalate things."

"Hmm…" said Ladybug. "You have a point about not biting off more than you can chew, I can see why you wouldn't want to risk that. Though speaking of plans, I take it we'll be riding this thing to the ABB safehouse?" She gestured to the Kart with one pink-clad thumb.

"That's the plan," Uber replied. "We'll probably want to park it just round the corner and dismount, so that we're all out of the Kart and free to engage the guards and Oni Lee just as soon as they see us. Then once we've taken out the guards and secured the truck we can retrieve the Kart. I've got the skillset to drive the truck, and Leet will have to drive the Kart. We can probably squeeze one, maybe two of you in the truck, depending…"

"Void's our best ranged attacker, so he'd better go in the open-topped vehicle," said Ladybug, gesturing to the Kart again. "And I've got the uplink to the overwatch system, so I'd better go in the truck with Uber to provide directions. As for Princess… probably try and squeeze her in the truck with me. That Kart doesn't look like it's really designed for more than two people, and we don't want someone in the cargo compartment if we're pulling maneuvers at speed."

Uber visibly raised an eyebrow. "Very nice logic, Ladybug," he said. "Now, while we're waiting we might as well introduce ourselves for the video. It'll save us time later on when we actually head out."

The party got in position and Leet ordered the Snitch to begin the recording.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of Brockton Bay!" Uber declared, staring into the camera. "Welcome back to another episode of Uber and L33t! Tonight, Mario and Luigi free the innocent citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom from their Koopa captors."

Uber made an expansive gesture in the direction of the Hopeful, and the Snitch swiveled in midair at Leet's direction. "And in a special treat, tonight is a multiplayer episode! Say hello to tonight's special guests: Void Cowboy, Ladybug, and Princess of the Hopeful." As Uber spoke, Leet panned the camera over each of the Hopeful in turn. Then, before the Hopeful could say anything, Leet tapped the button to stop recording and the Snitch let out a chime. "Cut!" he announced.

Conversation had lapsed for a time, when suddenly Ladybug jumped as if she'd been poked. "Target incoming," she said, her eyes slightly out of focus. "Maybe three blocks out, psuedo-eyeball confirmation on human trafficking."

"Psuedo-eyeball?" Randy asked.

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "I didn't literally see it with my own eyes, but I trust our overwatch report. Two people in the truck cab… can't confirm if either of them are armed."

Keith took a deep breath, letting his stage persona settle in place. "Alright, everyone, let's get to the jump-off point. Leet, Snitch close in."

One quick hop in the Kart later, the accumulated party were gathered just around the final corner.

"3, 2, 1," Randy counted down. "Action!" From the Snitch came the familiar sequence of the classic Mario start music.

"And off we-a go," Keith narrated smoothly as he broke into a light jog, switching to Mario's vaguely Brooklyn accent. The others followed close behind him as they swept around the corner. Ahead of them, a tractor-trailer rig was slowly backing into a narrow loading dock. Three figures stood next to the truck. Two were dressed in normal clothes with red-and-green shirts, but the final one wore an ornate demon mask and a black bodysuit, with multiple bandoliers of grenades and other weapons. Oni Lee.

"All right, you black-hearted slave-drivers!" Void Cowboy… he probably was aiming for a bellow or a shout, but the only word for it was "shrieked". "Reach for the skies a-fore I spill your worthless brains on the sidewalk where they belong!"

Even as Void Cowboy shrieked his challenge, Kieth's arms were already coming up, his fingers making the gesture to start the pyrokinesis rig cycling stored heat to the projectors in his gloves. Oni Lee vanished from where he stood and appeared in the midst of the charging group. With power-enhanced reflexes, Kieth hurled a stream of flame into the Asian cape's face.

A moment later there was an explosion of power as everyone attacked at once. Gold-edged red and reddish-orange both flashed, even as Princess planted a crimson-haloed fist into Oni Lee's gut and Randy launched a blast of what looked like blue-white lightning. Oni Lee crumpled over and landed on his face, limp as a rag doll.

There was a single breath's bro's device partially worked,Keith Lee can still teleport, but it looks like he doesn't leave an afterimage behind.

"That offer to surrender's still open," Princess called cheerfully. "Act now, win-"

She was cut off by the crack of a pistol shot as the ABB gangsters moved, one drawing and firing while the other sprinted for the doorway back into the warehouse. Even as he flung a fireball towards the gang soldier, Kieth heard a familiar yelp of pain from behind him, and his heart jumped into his throat. His fireball came apart before reaching his target, but a bolt of gold-edged red from one of Void Cowboy's pistols and a red-orange spark from Ladybug both took the ABB soldier in the chest. The gangster collapsed with a shriek of pain, blood spilling from scorched and shredded flesh and his gun falling from limp fingers.

Kieth risked a quick glance over his shoulder, and felt a surge of relief as he confirmed that there was no sign of red on his bro's green Luigi costume. He couldn't be sure without a closer look, but it looked like the bullet-proofing had saved Randy from anything worse than a bruise. There was a roar as the truck's engine spun up and it began to roll ,Kieth 'll look really bad if they - never mind, if they escape we can pursue on the Kart.

"Bring them down, Void!" Ladybug shouted from behind Kieth. "You got this!"

At those words, Void perceptibly stiffened, though Kieth wasn't certain anyone without his power-boosted skill at reading stances and motions would have spotted it. His golden pistol came up even as the truck gathered speed and he fired, sending three bolts of gold-edged red shrieking through the air. They punched through the window and hit the driver squarely in the head. The driver slumped sideways and forward over the dashboard, his head a bloody ruin, and the truck began to slow again.

"Quick, get the others before they can call for help!" Ladybug shouted. Kieth shook off the momentary shock that had afflicted him and sprinted forward. Just ahead of him, Void Cowboy exploded with speed, moving faster than Kieth would have believed possible - though again it was subtle enough that Kieth might have missed it if he didn't have his power boosting his ability to read stances and movements.

These people definitely have more tricks than they mentioned to us,Keith thought.

Void Cowboy reached the slowly moving truck just ahead of Kieth. He grabbed the side mirror, swung up onto the running board, and hammered the butt of his pistol into the driver side window. The cracked glass shattered under the impact and Void swung back out, holding onto the side mirror with one hand, just ahead of the crack of a gunshot from within the cab. Kieth felt a line of hot pain along his cheek.

"Behind you!" Princess yelled. Kieth spun around to see the second Asian gang soldier in the doorway back into the warehouse, pistol coming to point at him. He thrust his hands forward, projecting a sphere of flame at the Asian. The fireball struck the ganger in the face, just as one of Void's gold-edged red energy bolts hit him in the shoulder. At the same moment there was a gunshot, and Kieth felt something hit him in the arm. Fortunately, the bullet-resistant fabric of the Mario suit held, but Kieth knew he'd still have a nasty bruise.

The gang soldier ducked back around the edge of the door, and Kieth sprinted for the warehouse wall, aiming to hug the wall and get out of the line of Void Cowboy get shot at,he 's got the force field.

"Princess, grab that guy's shirt!" he heard Ladybug call. "Oni Lee's still breathing, we need to tie him up and blindfold him before the paralysis wears off. Leet, go fetch the Kart."

Kieth snapped a glance back towards the rest of the group, to see Ladybug bending over the crumpled form of Oni Lee, flinging grenades away blindly. Princess had just started shifting her weight to head for the fallen gang soldier, while Leet was staring at Ladybug with a look of confusion on his face.

"Uber, get the truck moving!" he heard Void Cowboy yell from behind him. "The driver's bailed. I've got the guy in the warehouse." He turned to see Void Cowboy dashing towards the warehouse door. He snapped off a shot from his energy pistol, while at the same moment there was another gunshot and Void Cowboy jerked as if hit.

Kieth took Void's suggestion and dashed back towards the truck, leaping up onto the running board. He tried the door but it was locked, so he reached in the shattered window and unlocked the door. The discharged shotgun was lying in the leg room next to a discarded cell phone, and the passenger side door swung open. The second driver was nowhere to be seen. Kieth shoved the decapitated corpse of the former driver out of the way and dropped into the driver's seat, trying to ignore the blood all over everything.

Note to self, he thought as he began to carefully ease the truck forward with power-granted more collaborative episodes in the future. This has not gone at all as intended.

By the time Leet had gotten to the Kart and driven it back around the corner into the alleyway, the truck was idling in the middle of the road and the Hopeful and his bro were standing around the crumpled form of Oni Lee. The Asian cape had a red shirt wrapped around his face, and his hands crudely tied behind his back with his own belt. Void Cowboy had a gun out and was pointing it at the back of the incapacitated cape's head.

"Alright, everyone," Ladybug said. "Let's get Oni Lee into the Kart bed, then we're off. Princess, I'm afraid you'll have to be on guard duty. I don't trust that belt to hold Oni Lee if he starts struggling, so you'll have to ride in the cargo bay with him. If he twitches, punch him until he stops moving…"

As if in response to her words, Oni Lee wrenched his arms and pulled free of the belt. Before Leet could even register the motion, Void Cowboy fired a bolt of bluish light into the back of Oni Lee's head and Uber launched a burst of flame that hit Oni Lee in the ass. The demon-masked cape's arms fell limply to the pavement once again, and the seat of his pants smoldered visibly. Leet had to suppress a momentary impulse to break out laughing at that detail.

"Yeah, exactly like that," Ladybug said. She bent down over the motionless form. "Still breathing, I think. Come on, let's get him in the Kart. We haven't got long before Lung's alerted one way or another."

Is this girl in the fucking ROTC or something?Leet thought as the three Hopeful and his bro joined together to lift Oni Lee's unconscious form into the bed of the Kart.

By the time they reached the police station, Leet had passed through terror into a sort of numb relief. Although his clock insisted that the drive had taken less than fifteen minutes, it had felt like an eternity. He'd been on edge, expecting every moment to see the burning form of the rage dragon or the flashing lights of police.

As the truck pulled to a halt on the side of the road in front of the police station, Leet's ragged nerves thrilled with a final rush of adrenaline. In many ways, this would be the trickiest part of the whole episode.

Ahead of him, he heard shouts coming from the police station, and saw Uber and Ladybug jump out of the doors of the truck. He pulled in behind the truck, coming to a halt.

"And there you have it, viewers," he heard Uber say from his wristband, where the Snitch's feed was playing. "With no sign of Bowser or his Koopas, I do believe that this level is over!" Behind him, Leet heard the thump of a body being shoved out of the Kart's trunk to land on the pavement, and then the lighter thump of someone jumping down to the sidewalk. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Void Cowboy climb out of the Kart.

"And now, we shall make our departure," Leet heard Uber say through both the Snitch's feed and his own ears as Uber drew closer to the Kart. "The Hopeful can explain things to Brockton Bay's finest as well as we could, and we'd prefer to avoid any awkward encounters."

Uber parkoured over the hood of the Kart and slid into the passenger's seat, and Leet threw the Kart into reverse and stepped on the gas pedal even as policemen came running out from the station to meet the advancing Hopeful.

When he saw his Emma and the other two Hopeful enter the parking lot where he and Danny were waiting, Alan felt a sudden surge of relief. The past couple of hours had been among the most terrifying he'd ever felt. He wasn't sure who'd had it worse: Danny, who could see what was happening but could do nothing other than feed their daughters advice; or Alan himself, who lacked Danny's power and had to rely on his friend's reports and his own imagination.

But now they're here, they're safe and we're almost home free…

As they drew closer, Alan felt sudden fear like ice along his arms again. Emma's face was pale and drawn, and he thought he could see stains on her clothing under the harsh yellow of the streetlights. He jumped out of the car and ran to his daughter.

"Emma! Emma, are you okay?" he said.

"I - no - yes," she stuttered, before taking a deep breath. "I'm not hurt, it's just… weshotthem and some of them aredeadand there wasbloodand oh god…"

Emma fell to her knees and heaved, bile spilling out onto the asphalt of the parking lot. Alan stepped forward and dropped to his own knees, pulling his daughter into a side-hug. He nearly collided with Taylor, who was doing the same thing from the other side while Greg hung back and looked awkward.

Alan glanced up to see Danny standing over the two of them, looking almost as awkward as Greg. "Danny," he said, nodding towards the convenience store whose lot they were parked in, "could you get Emma a bottle of water?" Danny nodded and set off towards the store at a dash.

Emma heaved a few more times, intermixed with a sudden flood of tears. "I get why you didn't want us going out and being heroes now," she said once she had stopped heaving.

Is that going to stop you from doing it again?flashed across Alan's mind, but he didn't say it out loud.

"It's okay, Emma," he said instead. "Daddy's here, Daddy's got you."