Chapter 13

Power surged and reached out to offer itself to me. A potential bond with a perfect partner, allowing us to work in sync and even draw power from one another. Tempting, but I hadn't forged such close bonds yet. The next options were also powerful or useful in their own ways, an eidetic memory and a gargoyle minion. I almost accepted, but…

The power that had been building within my soul was heavy. I was close to gaining the perk I had tucked away within my soul and when I had that, everything would change.

More than all that though, was that my mind was otherwise occupied by staring down two veteran heroes who looked ready for a fight.

"Mom, Dad, this is…" Laserdream glanced at me and I realized that I hadn't even given her my alternate code name.

"Kage." Yeah, it means 'Shadow' in Japanese. Yes, it's edgy. Deal with it, I like flaunting my heritage whenever I get the chance.

There was a beat of silence. "That's just Magus, isn't it…" Manpower sighed.

"Pfft, nah, this is-"

"Young lady, he's displaying remarkably similar powers, albeit with more potency and versatility, not to mention you told us that your new friend was Japanese." Lady Photon looked remarkably unimpressed, but she and her husband looked like they were relaxing.

Goddammit.

Crystal flushed in embarrassment and shrugged.

"Before we continue this, could we deal with the supervillain over-" I glanced at Coil and noted with some surprise that he was face down on the desk. And… damn that was a lot of blood. "Nevermind." I scanned him briefly with magecraft and determined that while exhibiting atrocious damage to his brain and his Gemma in particular, he wasn't in danger of dying for the moment. I allowed the shadowy monster form to vanish, leaving just myself with the barest of face coverings, voice returned to normal. "Anyway, I'd like to point out that I'm not technically breaking PRT or Protectorate rules. Magus is a currently copyrighted title held by the PRT and if I was wearing that costume and acting with that authority, then yes, I'd be in trouble, but right now I'm acting as a private citizen with all the laws pertaining to vigilantes in effect. While it is ill advised for a vigilante to attack a supervillain's hideout, there aren't any laws against it either when there is clear evidence and proof of illegal activity, of which I'm sure there is a plethora around here."

Lady Photon looked bemused. "I'm not a lawyer like my sister, you don't have to get all technical with me. But I will ask: Why?"

"Because Coil is a threat unlike any other in the city. With enough time and resources, he could do incredible damage. We had him on the back foot, but with how unknown his true resources were, the PRT didn't want to push him any further, so we were backing off." I stood my ground and met Lady Photon and Manpower's eyes in turn. "That was a mistake, both from a moral standpoint and tactical. Coil needed to be taken down as quickly as possible before he had time to recoup his losses and attack us from a different angle." I gave a meaningful glance at Coil, then back to Lady Photon. "Some villains are too dangerous to take down in the streets. Some need to have the fight taken to them."

That made her and Manpower pause and give me careful looks, but Lady Photon slowly began to nod in agreement. "I understand your reasoning, even if I don't like the way this looks. Will you claim credit for this?"

"No need. I'm leaving, just tell the authorities the truth: A cape calling himself 'Kage' was found having breached this place, doing something to neutralize Coil's power in the process. I don't care if I get credit either way, I just want Coil gone."

Lady Photon and Manpower traded a look and the large man gave his wife the smallest of nods. Lady Photon turned back to me and gave a small dip of her head. "Very well then. We won't lie to the PRT on your behalf, but I also won't share my… speculations."

"Thank you. And thank you for your assistance today, Laserdream." I gave a shallow bow to all the present members of New Wave and then faded away into the darkness.

Or so they saw.

The great thing about invisibility and sound manipulation? It makes a little theft really easy.

They never even noticed the missing laptop.

"I bring gifts!" I announced, tossing a small satchel at Lisa's head.

She had sounded relieved when I'd called to tell her Coil had been dealt with, but still only agreed to meet in a public venue. A tad paranoid, but fair when dealing with someone like Coil.

She caught the bag with a critical eye and looked around at the passing crowds on the Boardwalk. "Illusion?"

"Of course," I confirmed.

"Laptop? Why did you get me a…" Her eyes slowly went wide as she examined it. "Is this…?"

"Coil's." I grinned and shot her a thumbs up. "Figured you could crack the codes easily enough and therefore get access to his funds. I'm sure he's got a pretty penny tucked away, which could let you keep running with the Undersiders for a while if you wanted or you could always make a new life for your- Oof!"

I took a step back as Lisa practically threw herself at me, locking me in a tight hug. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"Not a problem." I enjoyed the contact for a bit. I hadn't realized how much I missed such a simple thing as hugs until I'd gone a while without any. It was… comforting.

"You genuinely mean that," she muttered. "You just handed me the keys to a fortune, freed me from the threat of slavery or worse, and you treat it all so cavalierly." She pulled back and met my eyes seriously. "Thank you."

"...You're welcome." I felt a bit embarrassed by the genuine gratitude written across her features. I mean sure, it seemed like a big deal, but I was just doing what I thought was the right thing. Plus Lisa was cool in my book, so it seemed only fair to get her out of the rather crappy situation she was stuck in. "Do you have any ideas on your next step?"

She blew out a breath and looked out across the ocean. "I'll stick with the Undersiders for the moment. They're a pretty alright bunch and just having the option of leaving is enough to ease my mind. Long term… That'll take some thinking."

I gave her a small smirk. "You could always go legit. I bet the heroes would pay big bucks for the kind of info you're able to get."

"Yeah right! You've been with them for less than a month and I can tell you're already chafing under all the rules and restrictions. Counter offer: You can join the Undersiders. I'll even match your salary."

"Ha! Sorry, but heists aren't my cup of tea." I smiled at the thought of it. Maybe if I was a teenager again, something like that might be fun, but… I was older, more responsible. I knew that I had more important things to do than just goof off. "I appreciate the offer though."

"Sure. Consider it an open one if you ever get bored with all the politics."

"I'll keep that in mind." I felt my phone vibrate and checked my messages. "Ah hell I got something tonight that I have to prep for. Talk to you later?"

"Of course. Next time," she waved the laptop around a bit with her foxish grin in place. "It'll be my treat. I got the cash to burn now."
***

Perhaps the one and only side benefit of living in a city full of Neo-Nazis? Lots of good beer varieties, especially German beer. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather the city not have any Nazis, I'm just saying that good beer is good beer, and a few six packs of that is what I brought up to the door of the small suburban address that Assault had given me. I knocked at an awkward angle with my hands being full, but was quickly greeted at the door by a smiling Ethan.

"Mak! Glad you could make it, here let me help you out there." He grabbed a couple of the six packs and led me to the backyard where the scent of charcoal was already strong. After depositing the majority of the drinks in the cooler (minus a few for immediate consumption), Ethan introduced me to one of the guys already there. "Mak, this is Shawn, Shawn, Mak."

"Hey there," Dauntless without his mask greeted me with a friendly nod. "Don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting like this yet."

"Not yet, no." I felt a momentary flare of panic. "Oh lord, please don't tell me that the big guy is gonna be here too…"

"Boss man?" Ethan asked with a laugh. "The Great Bearded One would never dain to come enjoy something as mundane as socializing. Robin should be here in a few. He's always late, but usually makes up for it with some good wine."

"Indeed he does," Batt- Sam agreed as she stepped out of the house. "Hannah can't make it tonight, she's on shift. Rory too."

"And I'm guessing no inviting interns?" I asked.

"Nah, we like having booze around, not to mention being too irresponsible," Ethan said. "We're all aware of the risks of hanging out like this, no matter how small, but we wouldn't want to drag the youngsters into this until they're ready."

"Seems fair. You invite any other coworkers?"

"We do sometimes," answered Sam. "But tonight it's just us 'consultants'. Unless you brought someone?"

"I thought about inviting Crystal and Amy, but didn't know if New Wave mixed well with PRT personnel," I explained. Code: I didn't know if New Wave knew Protectorate identities.

"Probably a good call," Shawn shrugged. "New Wave has interesting ways of doing things, even if we are ultimately allies."

"Maybe another night when we have other coworkers around, so it isn't too suspicious," Ethan agreed. "Don't want to make it too easy to guess job titles and all that."

"Sure," I mentally activated my powers and threw an offer to put up a sound barrier so that we could talk freely directly into all of their ears, but Ethan just gave me a shake of his head.

"No work talk, remember?" Ethan reminded me. "We're here to just relax, have a few drinks, and say 'welcome to the Bay!'."

"It may be a shithole, but it's our shithole," Shawn chimed in, raising his bottle towards me. "And we're happy to have you as long as you'll stay."

"Here, here!" Ethan raised his own bottle and I raised mine as well as we clinked and then drank.

"So you've been around here a long time then?" I asked Shawn as Ethan moved over to tend to the grill.

"Born and raised," Shawn nodded. "It's why I've never moved for work, I just couldn't stand to leave it." His eyes took on a reminiscent look. "Things were never perfect here, but they weren't nearly as bad twenty years back. The Teeth instead of the ABB and The March instead of Coil, but less Nazis too and the Teeth were never as dangerous as Lung is now. Stronger middle class, less poverty… I think you get the idea."

"Yeah…" It didn't sound like such a bad place compared to most of Earth Bet, which was kind of saying something considering how fucked even those 'good old days' sounded.

"You're flirting awfully close with my no shop talk rule there you two," Sam warned us as she walked by. "Dial it back. Talk about sports or something."

Shawn and I shared a brief look. "I don't really follow sports…" I admitted sheepishly.

"So what do you do in your free time then?" He prompted.

"I used to like reading, video games, even dabbled in writing, but lately after my new job… I don't really have hobbies anymore." I laughed and shook my head sadly. "First time in my life that I don't really have to worry about money and yet I don't use the free time I do have for leisure anymore."

"C'mon, you can't be stuck at work all the time…"

"Yeah, but I-" I broke Sam's rules and put up a sound wall. "I get stronger over time, but it's not like you, it's dependent on me being active. I've tried a few times to just kick back and enjoy myself since my bad day, but I just… I can't. I get too antsy, think about everything I need to do and just spiral. Being active is good for me too, keeps me out of my own head."

Shawn gave me a considering look. "You aren't like I thought you'd be."

"What?"

"Well you're sort of like Ar- Collin's new protege in a lot of ways. Not in any official manner, but I know that he doesn't like how long it took me to put on the armor and resents how I get stronger over time naturally while he has to work for it. He's not exactly good at hiding it. I figured someone he was grooming would be more… well you are pretty hardcore, but you aren't a sanctimonious ass about it either." Shawn paused to take a sip of his beer and then sighed. "Look man, all the pressure, even what you put on yourself? It's bullshit. End of the day, you're still just human, you need time off, need to blow off steam, just like everyone else. Otherwise you'll end up like Collin, basically no friends or even life outside of your career."

"I have friends!" I protested.

"And that's great, but you can't spend every free moment outside of work with them and you shouldn't spend it training either. It's all about balance. It's how you stay sane in this fucked up world, you know?"

"Yeah…" Except this Earth didn't have time for me to be balanced, did it?

"Enough heavy talk. Let's go ask Ethan and Sam the story of how they met, I bet you'll get a kick out of it." Shawn nudged me in their direction and I dropped the sound barrier.

The night continued. Robin (Velocity) showed up with a good red wine, we had some damn good barbeque, and I got to know my colleagues a little better.

A small slice of normalcy in an otherwise insane world.

-?-?-
To: c_wallis
From: m_inouye
Subject: S-class updates

The Simurgh continues to be the most active of all three of the Endbringers. She appears to be lingering around the southern hemisphere of the planet.

Jack Slash and the Nine are in hiding. Looks like after they were ambushed on the road, they're somewhere out in the wilderness. My clairvoyance doesn't give an exact location, only a view of them.

Sleeper is still immune to my clairvoyance.

The Three Blasphemies are currently dormant.

Nilbog is quiet.

Will update further at your request on additional targets.

-Magus

Monday, February 21, 2011

"Things seem to be pretty quiet tonight," I commented to my partner for the evening.

Miss Militia glanced up from her crossword puzzle and gave a light shrug. Seeing as I wasn't supposed to patrol alone and she didn't have any Mover powers, we were simply stationed on the Rig this evening, with Console keeping a close eye on things. Armsmaster was out on his bike, showing the flag as it were.

"We're on the cusp of an Endbringer battle, practically any day now," she explained. "Heroes, even in other cities, tend to be a lot harder on crime leading up to one, so villains usually keep their heads down in return." She glanced down at her puzzle, then back up to me with a small frown. "Besides, Coil and his mercenaries aren't a threat anymore. The Empire and ABB are tense and waiting to see who tries to make a grab for his territory."

I winced at the disapproval in her tone. It was basically an open secret amongst the Protectorate that I'd been the one to pull Coil out of his hole. Assault, Battery, even Dauntless and Armsmaster all seemed to be on my side, but Velocity was taking a firmly neutral stance and both Triumph and MM were openly disapproving, saying that what I did was 'reckless and dangerous and threatened the very stability of the city' which was basically verbatim what I'd been told by Director Piggot. She'd made it clear that if I ever pulled a stunt like that again, then I'd be out of her city, politics be damned.

The ire of Director Piggot was not something I ever wanted to have directed at me again.

"It was the best course of action," I replied firmly. "Coil's power relies on prep time. He was off balance and in a fresh base of operations, it would have been a mistake to give him time to prepare and fortify his position."

"That wasn't your decision to make."

"I'm aware that Director Piggot is the one in charge and below her, Armsmaster. But they didn't have the context to fully grasp who they were dealing with, not to mention they couldn't take the risk of launching a full assault on him. Acting outside of my identity as Magus, I didn't have to worry about the red tape involved. I technically didn't break any laws."

"You are no longer a free agent. You broke the spirit of the Director's orders if not the letter. We're supposed to be held to a higher standard than the average cape off the streets."

"We're going to have to agree to disagree," I said mildly. "Some villains are simply too dangerous to give quarter to. I guarantee you that if we'd let Coil continue with his schemes, we would have been in deep shit."

Militia opened her mouth to continue when our communicators went off suddenly.

"Armsmaster here. I need Magus on my location, immediately. We have a wounded independent hero." There was genuine worry in my team leader's voice, something of a first.

I didn't hesitate, I simply focused on the 'frequency' of Armsmaster's shadow and jumped to it. Upon exiting the darkness and back into the real world, my nose was immediately assaulted with the stench of burned flesh. The street I was on was a wreck, large black marks upon the brick walls nearby, melted patches of asphalt in sight as well. Armsmaster was kneeling over a fallen figure with a half completed costume, their back a mass of scorched flesh.

"He picked a fight with Lung by the look of things," Armsmaster said grimly. "I don't know what kind of power he has to think he could do it, but…"

I kneeled next to him and immediately began to murmur a chant under my breath as I assessed the damage. "She, not he." I felt a sick feeling pooling in my gut. "She's a bug manipulator. In another time, with a different set of circumstances, she would have succeeded too."

Armsmaster sent me a sharp look, his head swiveling so quickly I thought that I heard servos grinding in protest. "From your first vision?"

"Yeah. This is the girl that Shadow Stalker triggered. But it's months too early, I have no idea why she's on the streets now." I began to apply healing magic to the most painful and dangerous looking of the burns, but this was a job for Panacea, not me. She was unconscious, which was a small mercy, but if Armsmaster hadn't found her…

"Do you have any Thinker abilities that might help?"

"There's one or two things I can try," I confirmed. I gently placed the tip of my finger against the fallen girl's back and focused upon my Psychometry. Not something I'd had much use for, but any information in this scenario could be helpful.

I got a sense of… Anger. Despair. Hopelessness. Then a bright glimmer, a shard of peace piercing it all. Fear. Rage again. Pain. Then nothing.

I blinked glazed eyes and gave the slightest shake of my head. "She was scared at first, trying to hide from Lung if my guess is right. Then something he did or said pissed her off, prompted her to attack. I couldn't tell you anymore after that, it's an imprecise ability."

"So noted," Armsmaster said dryly. "Good to know that it wasn't just a reckless- Well it was reckless, but not entirely prompted by something like suicidal overconfidence."

"We need to take her to Panacea. I can patch the damage, but it's a band-aid at best with this level of injury."

"I'll call ahead. Ambulance is already on it's way. Can you stay with her for the time being?"

"Of course."

"Good." He made to leave, but I spotted something first.

"Sir, is that blood on your halberd?"

He paused midstep, but nodded. "Yes. When I got here, he was… drawing out the process of burning her. I managed a lucky shot while he was distracted, but he retreated and even with his injuries, his rate of growth made me deem it necessary to prioritize this young hero's survival over pursuing him."

"Surprised you didn't tranq him."

"Not integrated into this halberd yet," Armsmaster grunted. "An unfortunate occurrence."

"You have more than one?"

"Of course, it is important to have spares. My primary one is due for maintenance, but I ran out of time this weekend while working on something with- Nevermind all that, why did you ask about the blood?"

"I have a number of more… esoteric abilities. Ones that I hate using because they resemble witchcraft and I don't want to be labeled crazy, but-"

"Is this the reason Coil was coughing up blood and bleeding from his face for the first twenty-four hours that we had him in custody?" Armsmaster sighed.

"...Maybe?"

"I'll preserve the blood for you later. If it can help us track or disable Lung, it will be useful. I'm going to run a perimeter sweep, make sure Oni-Lee or some ABB thugs don't try to ambush you while we're waiting on that ambulance. Just keep her alive."

"Sir."

Armsmaster gave me one last nod before he got onto his bike and blitzed off into the night.

I turned my entire attention back to keeping a nascent god-slayer alive.

How did it come to this?

Earlier that day

Taylor would have thought that having Sophia gone would have made things better.

She was wrong.

When Taylor had handed her notebook off to the strange hero 'Kage', she hadn't really thought anything would be accomplished. She'd been burned too many times, had her suffering ignored or invalidated by practically every authority figure. But when she'd had a genuine superhero in front of her, she'd taken the opportunity, a small glimmer of the hopeful young girl she'd once been taking a chance and hoping again.

Sophia had disappeared from school shortly after that. Rumors abounded, from tales that she'd been sent to juvie, to word that she and her family had all moved out of Brockton Bay. Instead of making Emma and Madison better, they'd gotten worse.

Well, Madison had stayed the same. Childish, dumb pranks. But Emma…

Emma had grown even more vicious. Crueler. There was a lurking madness in her eyes now that made Taylor genuinely scared, not necessarily of her, but for her.

The ever escalating drama and bullshit had made Taylor desperate. Her costume wasn't ready, but she couldn't deal with school the same way she had been. She had to escape.

So she'd donned her half completed costume, snuck out the back door of her house, and went out to become a hero. Things had been quiet. Almost peaceful, but there was a tenseness to the air. The calm before the storm.

She had stumbled upon Lung and his goons in one of the Docks' dark streets. There had been a white van. Taking the time to hide nearby and listen, she wanted to retch at what she'd overheard, both with her ears and with her bugs.

The van had been filled with girls about to be shipped off to underground and very illegal brothels. None were of the willing variety.

Lung was more a force of nature than an average parahuman. Taylor had initially been ready to just walk away, flee after running into the biggest fish in the pond that was Brockton Bay. But then she had heard the plans for the girls. Heard their whispered prayers and cries through her swarm.

So many students at Winslow hadn't been directly responsible for what had happened to her. Many had just simply turned a blind eye.

She would not, could not, be that sort of hero.

Her swarm had been gathered, massive in number considering the rundown nature of the area.
Then she attacked.

In another world, another time, perhaps she would have been victorious. By chance, a group of teenager supervillains would have happened upon the fight when it was nearing it's apex and intervened, a weakened Lung being dragged down and savaged by power-enhanced animals.

But that team had not been sent out by their mysterious employer that evening and instead were celebrating a successful heist back at their home base with pizza and underage drinking.

So when the majority of her swarm was gone and Lung was armored and murderously angry?

Nobody had come to save Taylor.

Instead she had burned.