Taylor was darkness, mist, a void of space where a person could have been but obviously wasn't. She practically flew over the streets below, one unnoticed leap at a time, wrapping the night around her like a cloak. Not for the first time, she marveled at the absurdity of her power as she walked straight between two Wards who had stopped for a moment to discuss homework. Neither was Sophia, so she didn't bother them; she had bigger fish to fry, after all. For tonight, she had a plan.

Which isn't to say this is something Coil had tried to set up...which, itself, wasn't to say he hadn't tried to set her up on a job already. It'd only been a few nights, and he already thought she was built-up enough to take on jobs. Which she was, but she didn't need him knowing she could take a dozen guys in a straight fight wearing nothing but a blindfold. No, tonight wasn't tied in with Coil at all. Tonight was about dominos, or butterfly wings if you prefer. Hookwolf was going to have a very bad week.

Her target was up ahead. She landed silently in a nearby alleyway, adjusted her 'disguise', and stepped out into the light. She approached a door where a couple guys were pretending to loiter, but really on guard to keep an eye out for trouble. The straightened up as she approached, and one even did a little salute. She gave him a weird look and he sheepishly put his arm down. "Good crowd tonight?" she drawled.

"Uh, yes sir. Full house, and we've got some new blood that's sure to get 'em riled up. I dunno how the bookie's making out so far, but I bet he's making bank."

"And the night's still young," the other spoke up. "Shaping up to be a good night."

"Right," Taylor replied, nodding along. "Well, I'll let you get back to it," she continued, before stepping towards the door. They almost jumped out of her way. The further in she went, the louder it got, until the crowd surrounded her. It was...surprisingly small. In her imagination, there'd be at least a thousand guys with shaved heads, raving out to bloodsport while viking metal played over the speakers. Instead...well, there was still a few hundred, but it felt like a letdown. In retrospect, it was possible that kind of turnout only really happened at big rallies. The empire was pretty popular in the Bay (unfortunately), but things like this didn't attract the average quietly-racist suburban couple, it only really appealed to the most extreme and the most desperate. A lot of the people who came to this kind of thing might not even be members as much as wannabes. She'd seen plenty of that type at Winslow, for sure.

The crowd parted before her like the red sea everywhere she went. People gave her as much space as they could get away without looking rude, but she still caught the nervous looks whenever someone made the mistake of catching her eye. A confident smile graced her face as she approached the bookie's office. Inside, a man was scrawling away, making notes and checking numbers, his eyes flicking now and then to a handful of bands sitting on the desk before him. Taylor waited patiently; the double-take and little staggering step he took as he stood made it worth it. "Sorry, sorry! Wasn't expecting anybody in for a bit, door was locked."

"Barely," she replied with a touch of amusement.

The man laughed, and it sounded forced. "Uh, is there something I can do for you? Sir?"

"Heard you're having a good night. Since the locks are...well..." she shrugged, "...I thought it might be a good idea to get some of it moved to somewhere more secure. You've got the code to the safe in the back in case you gotta pay out more than expected, right?"

[Sense Motive (read surface thoughts) vs Bluff. Success!]

"Yes sir." The man wasn't used to a cape playing gopher like this. But his nerves were stronger than his curiosity; mostly, he just wanted Taylor to leave. She nodded and grabbed the cash, stuffing it in a pocket. He didn't object as she walked away. She even did him the courtesy of closing and relocking the door as she exited. To her left was the manager's office, where the safe - and likely, Hookwolf, if he was here - could be found. She went right instead, and found herself taking a small tunnel to the backside of the kennels. She checked the clock on the wall...almost midnight, almost showtime.

One of the empire's "dog handlers" was down here, battering the cages with a baseball bat and laughing as the animals scrambled as far away as they could. "You," Taylor said, her tone brooking no disobedience. "Clear out." He turned to argue, but the words died in his throat and he stalked off muttering to himself. Taylor could hear the words, but didn't really care; he wasn't cursing her name, after all. As soon as he left the kennels, she locked the door behind him. Finally, she had the whole place to herself, two cramped aisles full of caged dogs!

[Disable Device. Success!]
[Disable Device. Success!]
[Disable Device. Success!]

Over and over, at every single cage, she sabotaged the locks and hinges. She didn't unlock any of the cages, but they were essentially just hanging on. The dogs could push their way out, if they felt an overwhelming urge to escape all of a sudden, but for now fear of previous attempts to escape kept them docile enough. She settled into a chair, closed her eyes, and relaxed. She focused on her ears, and listened out into Brockton proper. She could hear so much...it wasn't beautiful, not really, but it was certainly mesmerizing. So easy to get caught up in everything happening at once. If it had been only constantly, if she couldn't just ignore the input, it's likely it would've long since driven her mad. As it was...the squeal of tires, the sloshing of drinks, music blasting from a boom box the next block over, the thunder of enormous feet on pavement-

She stood up, drew her rapier, and waved it.

[Intimidate vs Dazzling Display. Success! Cowering for [B]1[/B] round, then Panicked for 5 rounds.

Every dog in the kennel froze as fear flooded every fiber of their being. Taylor stood there, grinning. One by one, the dogs shook out of their stupor and ran. All thirty cage door flew open, every single dog fled from her presence as if chased by death itself. But the only place to go was out into the arena, just a larger cage. She followed them out, trusting in her ability to hide in the shadows. Not a single soul could see her without powers...but her abilities did nothing to hide her scent. That was something she'd have to look into later, but for the moment it was a boon, because the dogs could still smell death walking among them. Finding themselves pushed into a corner, the lessons beaten into them for months surfaces, and fight overtook flight. It became a bloodbath.

Outside the arena was also chaos. Everybody knew something was wrong when every single dog came tearing out of the kennels at once. Those who were working tonight instead of betting waded into the arena, trying their best to get the dogs to stop tearing each other apart. Which, of course, because they were shit at their jobs, basically meant kicking and screaming at them trying to make the dogs more afraid of people than angry at each other. But nothing was scarier than Taylor right now, and the dogs would keep fighting.

The mesh cage surrounding the arena was far too high for a dog to jump out of, but Taylor had no such restrictions, she landed, still unseen, and initiated egress through the same door she'd initially entered the building through. Outside, the footsteps had grown thunderous, and were accompanied by the growling of three dogs the size of humvees. As the wall near her collapsed and the wannabe gangsters scattered in terror, Taylor walked away all-but-invisible, humming a tune to herself that nobody else realized they were hearing.

Back in the alleyway where she'd initially landed, she peeled off her 'disguise' with a chuckle and tossed it in a trash bin, before heading back to the Docks. Merchants were easier prey, and she'd done enough to give the Empire a headache tonight already.