"Get on the ground. Hands on your head. Don't even try going for the phone," I warned the hostages, touching the linoleum floor of the Brockton Bay Central Bank and opening up a portal to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. A geyser of salt water ripped through ceiling tiles like paper mache, splattering against the true concrete ceiling that made the base of the second floor. I closed up the portal and opened a few new ones, until half the bank was raining salt water and papery plastic. "Or I'll do to you what I did to Lung."
I rubbed my right ear anxiously. True to her word, Tattletale had gotten a surgeon to reattach it for me. It had left obvious scars, but my long hair had helped cover it up when I'd met Dad. Fortunately, I'd been able to talk Lisa into covering for me while I recovered. She hadn't been happy about it, but she'd agreed, and thus Dad thought I'd been spending time with Lisa when I'd been getting my ear reattached. Lisa had never asked, but I knew she'd wondered how I'd gotten hold of a surgeon. I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd teamed up with supervillains. I didn't trust her not to betray me. Unlike with Emma, I'd have brought it on myself. I'd seemingly gone villain, even if it was only because it was the most pragmatic way to achieve my goals. The fact that I'd hidden it from the person who was rapidly becoming my best friend was probably proof that my decision wasn't as ethically sound as I'd justified to myself.
Alec's words rang through my ear: every villain rationalized their actions. Was that what I was doing? No. I only doubted myself because of conventional wisdom, a value system which had enabled violent psychopaths to rule my home. Everything I did, I did for the good of Brockton Bay.
"On the ground," I said coldly. A mousy girl with frizzy brown hair glared at me hatefully. Refusing. A power struggle. If I didn't kill her the other hostages would think I was weak. They'd rush me, ruin my plan. Why did everything always have to be so fucking hard? I opened up a pin-sized portal under her left foot. She screamed and fell to the floor, blood gushing from her foot. It made me feel terrible, a feeling most heroes tried to avoid, but a conscience was an indulgence I could not afford. "A shame you made me do that, but you knew the consequences of defiance. It is not my wish to harm you. Unfortunately, that was my last warning. Death next."
With the hostages subjegated, Tattletale, Grue, Bitch, and I advanced to the vault with two of Bitch's dogs. I patted Regent's shoulder as he and Bitch's smallest dog split away to guard the door.
Tattletale fiddled with a large steel wheel in the front of the vault. It would be better if she succeeded, but I doubted it would matter either way. Still, money was better than no money. And right on schedule, the vault clicked open. Tattletale whistled her way to the bank manager's computer, switched it on, and spun around casually in the chair, as if robbing a bank was no big deal. I stared in fascination. I'd never seen a computer before. They'd stopped being manufactured after Simurgh had decimated the tech industry in 2002, although production had been slowing for over a decade before that. It was rumored that the PRT had access to even more advanced computers than the business sector, but I wasn't sure I believed it.
"Everywhere, we've got a job to do," said Grue gently.
Right. I helped him and Bitch haul open the vault. We secured a large harness around Brutus, filled up bags with stacks of bills, and secured them onto Brutus. Grue pulled a crowbar from the darkness surrounding his body and set to work prying open more cabinets. Once we'd filled seven bags, Brutus whined at the weight.
"That's enough," said Bitch reluctantly. "He's at his limit. Won't be able to move if we add any more."
I grunted in agreement. The plan relied on deception. We secured a strap on Judas, as Tattletale impatiently waited for the computer to boot up. It was screeching in protest.
"Damn fifteen year old piece of junk," Tattletale complained bitterly. "Hurry the fuck up. Oh finally, I've got work to do." A rain of clicks filled the bank, as Tattletale typed.
We continued to empty the bank of cash. After we'd filled about three bags, Grue clipped on another one, filled with the contents of the first drawer he had opened. According to Tattletale's briefing, the drawers would hold deeds, liens, insurance forms, mortgages, and loan information. Apparently, Coil was willing to buy these from us. Tattletale had told the team that our employer planned to ransom them back to the bank. Privately she'd confided that they were probably for blackmail. Slimy, but I was still somewhat skeptical whether Coil was even real. It would be just like Tattletale to fabricate some enemy to manipulate me. It didn't really matter in the end, once I'd finished with the ABB we were through. Speaking of which, it looked like the plan was finally starting in earnest.
"The wards are here," I said, sensing them through the stamp I'd set on Regent's coat. "Six of them across the street. One on the roof. I think they've got an extra cape with them. When Regent saw them he ran for it. He's not moving. I think they sprayed him with containment foam." Tattletale had briefed us on the possibility before the mission.
"Time to go," said Grue.
"No," I said firmly. "You two stay and finish loading the money. I'll hold them off. As we planned."
Okay, I know it sounded like I was secretly trying to get captured after getting in too deep, but that really wasn't the case. Strange as it sounded for a C-list villain like me, I actually had a pretty good matchup against the wards. Shadow Stalker would chase Grue once she realized he was here, which would leave Gallant and Kid Win as the only two Wards with ranged attacks. If I could outdraw them and take them out, the rest of the wards surprisingly wouldn't have any answers for my mediocre powers. I had my teleportation sense within 200 feet of a stamp, which ensured I wouldn't miss with a portal-made geyser. If police showed up, I could teleport away their guns as long as they were within 100 feet of an active stamp, and if Aegis or Clockblocker got within ten feet of me I could just teleport them away. I had this in the bag. Totally.
Maybe. Okay probably not, a weak villain like me trying to solo the wards was stupid, even if it seemed reasonable from a close inspection. We'd probably overlooked something, and I'd lose like I always did. Lung had been a fluke, getting wrecked by Bakuda was probably normal, but unless the wards broke from their standard behavior I'd just be captured and sent to jail. And as long as they didn't realize I was a teleporter, I could escape easily.
"Stupid plan," said Grue bitterly. "We should run."
I yanked his skull mask so we were making eye contact. "Worried about risk? Stay here and you risk capture. Abandon the plan and you risk death. Which seems riskier to you?"
"I'll go with you then," said Grue, gently pushing himself out of my grasp. "Bitch can finish loading on her own."
"Let me go." Bitch snarled. "I could take 'em. If you'd just let me go all out."
"No killing," Tattletale snarled. "I'm not fighting a war with the PRT. You kill a ward, I'm not going down with you. I'll join them, and hunt you down as an apology. And trust me, you do not want me as an enemy."
"Is that a threat?" Bitch growled.
"No killing," I said. "Bitch, you're with me, but no maiming or killing. Save that for Bakuda and Oni Lee. Grue, we're not trying to run. Your powers won't be that useful in a fight. Finish loading the money."
I walked to the front entrance of the bank. Bitch by my side with her smallest dog, Angelica.
Six capes were waiting for us on the other side of the street. Five wards I recognized and had been debriefed on: Aegis, Clockblocker, Kid Win, Gallant, and Vista. The unfamiliar cape looked like a bodybuilder.
"Do you know who that is?" I asked, pointing at the muscleman.
"Browbeat," growled Bitch. "Independent. Strong and regenerates. Had to run from him a month ago. Coulda taken him, but Grue pussied out and made me run."
Self-healing. He and Aegis would be the easiest to fight. It would be difficult to seriously hurt them, which was good because that was something I wanted to avoid. It wouldn't help my plan whatsoever, and these were the capes I somewhat respected, the small handful who actually tried to use their powers to help people. In other words, they reminded me of myself, if I'd lacked the ability to think critically.
Yellow and white foam had formed an iceberg in the middle of the road. Kid Win's hoverboard had been repurposed into a hoverscooter, with a mounted turret between the handles. That must've been what they'd used to take down Regent. Good. They had a way of nonlethally taking us down. Our plan hadn't necessarily relied on it, but it was something we'd hoped for.
The time had finally come to make my public cape debut. Obscurity no longer served any purpose, the ABB and E88 already planned to kill me, while the perhaps fictional Coil had already successfully recruited me. I'd thought it would be more exciting. I'd once dreamed of being the next Alexandria, but now I only cared about pursuing my goals pragmatically. Still, I'd thought a little part of me would care about glory and popularity. I didn't.
I opened the wooden doors of the bank, and assessed the wards all lined up in a row. There must have been some trap I was too green to recognize, because their formation seemed almost designed to give me an easy victory. Was this some sort of test? Some trick? I reapplied my non-Atlantic stamp to the sidewalk underneath me. I'd have to fight them. Our escape needed to be haphazard and messy for this to mean anything. My objective was to stall, not win. Even losing and getting captured would be an acceptable outcome. It would be to my benefit to do my best impression of Tattletale, get them engaged in a meaningless back-and-forth, battle with the so-called unwritten rules, anything to extend the fight without making the true nature of my powers clear. In pursuit of that goal, it would be to my benefit to project the image of a family-friendly Saturday morning cartoon villain.
Playful, energetic, and gentle Tay, that's what you've gotta do.
"Vile Squirter," said Clockblocker smugly, using that insulting name Armsmaster had come up with to demean me. His juvenile cruelty reminded me a little of Madison, calling me names and presenting my work as his own. "I see the treacherous Undersiders have already deeply penetrated your sense of decency with their nefarious thievery. Don't try to shake us off. Come quietly Squirter, and you'll be granted lenia-"
I opened a frisbee-sized portal underneath Kid Win's scooter, and blasted him halfway to the moon. It probably wouldn't be lethal. He'd been protected from damage by his scooter, but alas, the scooter and turret had been annihilated by my squirting little geyser. Vista and Aegis both moved to save him. While they were distracted, I opened up an inch wide portal underneath Gallant's right foot. His armor protected him from any piercing damage, but my little squirt of salt water still tossed him fifteen feet into a nearby building. His body created a spider web of cracks on a window pane on the second story, and he bounced a good foot off the pavement when he finally hit the ground. He wasn't moving, the middle of his right shin was bent at a right angle, and blood gushed from the leg. Good, good. Dead people didn't bleed, and a broken leg could be healed. Unfortunately, during my first strike, the cape on the roof had slipped away from my senses.
Twenty seconds in, and I still hadn't killed anyone, gotten shot at, or been pasted by an explosion. This was going much better than my fights with Lung and Bakuda. Maybe Tattletale was right about unspoken rules, a casual spar like this was almost fun. Even if it was just an act, I thought I played the part of a family-friendly villain as well as could be expected in the real world.
Vista screamed, and rushed to Gallant's side, cradled his limp body in her arms like an actor in a war movie. She was crying, like actually crying, with tears and everything. It made me uncomfortable, almost angry. The last thing anyone needed was an emotional, irrational soldier. What if she actually tried to attack me? It would be illogical, she couldn't win, but then I'd have to eliminate her which would suck. She ought to be more like her teammate, Browbeat. He hadn't moved so much as a muscle. He simply stared, assessed. Cold and logical, his mind was as attractive as his body was repulsive. He had a decent power, but a shit matchup against me and understood as much. He couldn't beat me, so why force me to kill him unnecessarily?
I turned. I'd sensed one of my hostages stirring. "Unfortunately, I've warned you onc- Oh. It's you again."
The mousy girl I'd blasted before was crawling towards Gallant. "I can help him," she said, her breath shallow, her freckled face pale. She'd dressed her foot wound with a torn piece of her shirt, but she wouldn't stay conscious much longer. I really admired that even in such a condition, she was worried about others. "Stop the bleeding. He'll die if he doesn't get treatment, and then you'll have the entire PRT after you."
"Fine," I said. I turned back to Vista. "Among my hostages is a nurse who can treat your comrade. Cease hostilities, and I'll lend her to you until she's patched him enough to stop the bleeding."
See? I was already doing the hero-villain back-and-forth. Treating it like a game, as Tattletale had suggested. With any luck, the ceasefire would take long enough to reach our mission objective.
Aegis hovered, cradling Kid Win's limp form. He took a few breaths to steady himself and glanced at Clockblocker, who shook his head. "Fine. Truce until they've been treated, you have my word."
Vista glared at me. Probably. Couldn't quite tell because of her green visor. The mousy girl crawled towards Aegis, leaving a smear of bloody pavement. It was painful to watch, but also inspiring. Such heroism. Strangely, I wanted to help her… And not just to advance my heroic plot.
"Bitch," I said. "I'm going to assist her."
"Stupid as fuck," said Bitch. "They're lying. They'll try something as soon as they can."
Bitch and Angelica followed after me. I suppose it couldn't be helped. Bitch probably didn't have the social awareness to recognize that we'd just been playing cops and robbers. I heaved the mousy girl up, and helped her to Gallant, stopping halfway to take a breather, and reapply my non-Atlantic stamp in a more strategic position. That done, I heaved the girl up, walked her the rest of the way, and threw her down next to Gallant's fallen form.
Vista screamed at me even though I'd stopped our fight to get her teammates first aid. My ear throbbed painfully. She'd never been in a real fight. Lung, Bakuda, Oni Lee, all they'd offered me was death. Hell, Emma, Sophia, and Madison had never offered me any mercy either. All Vista's anger did was show her naivete, her innocence. She'd never experienced true evil, if she could mistake me for it. I suppose she must've thought I was a villain, and worked to her conclusions from there. Why did the people with the strongest opinions on right and wrong have the weakest grasp of it? What if she attacked me, threw my kindness back in my face? It'd be just my luck, try to do something good, try to save some kids, end up killing someone instead. It wouldn't even be the first time. What had I done to deserve this? My entire life was a fucking punchline. And now it looked like Miss Nurse was actually a fraud, she hadn't done a thing to treat Gallant.
"N-no, I meant Kid Win," said the mousy girl angrily. "N-not here, idiot! G-get me to Kid Win. I-I've got to s-save Kid Win first. G-Gallant will be oka-"
"Panacea," said Vista sharply. "What the fuck are you talking about? Save Gallant! He's really hurt, nobody will be suspicious!"
Panacea? As in the greatest healing cape in North America – that Panacea? Hehehe. They'd played me for a fool. They'd tricked me. They'd really gotten me! Hahaha. How funny! How fucking funny! HAHAHA! Treating me like a joke.
Just like Emma.
"Panacea," I said, my voice almost a whisper. I gazed down at her like she was an insect. "You're to heal him until he's in noncritical condition, but no further. You've defied me once. You may defy me a second time, that's your choice, but remember the consequences for doing so."
I couldn't be seen as soft. I had to be taken seriously. Mission critical. I didn't like it, but if pushed… Killing Panacea would be necessary.
"Y-you think this is a joke? Y-you think this is a game?" Asked Panacea, putting a hand on Gallant's cheek. The bleeding stopped, the wound closed, and his shin bent back into place. "You're going to regret this. Oh you're really going to regret this, psycho.
"Even without the threat, this is all I can do." Panacea looked up and shot me a smirk full of malice. "He's braindead. He's never going to be waking up. Let's see you laugh at a kill order, psycho."
"No," Vista fell to her knees. "No, no, no. You're lying… You're lying!"
Lying about what? Maybe Vista should've read the job description before signing up. It had been an accident, but a predictable one. I'd known that the line between knocking him out and killing him would be a thin one, and I'd failed to straddle the line. Oh well.
Innocent casualties were inevitable in a war. But sometimes wars were justified, despite their horrific cost, sometimes avoiding them was cowardice. I couldn't, wouldn't, say I regretted what I'd done. Not when I was sure that what I was doing was best for Brockton Bay. "That's unfortunate. Go check on Kid Win."
Vista's howl was pure pain.
"No!" Shouted Aegis.
But Vista had already tackled me. Couldn't open a portal with her right on top of me. I tried to punch her, but she dodged effortlessly, and swept my legs. I tried to squirm out of her grasp, but she straddled me, and pounded my face into the pavement. There went all the rep I'd built up. Physically dominated by a twelve-year-old girl. What a fucking joke.
Bitch kicked her off me.
"Fucking liars," Bitch growled, stomping on Vista's chest. "Angelica atta-"
"No," I roared. Bitch had completely lost it, I needed her somewhere else fast. "Bitch! Shadow Stalker is going after Grue. Go into the bank and warn him, remember the plan!"
"I ain't runnin' like a little puss-"
I yanked her neck. "Bitch! We've already won the fight out here! Go!"
She grunted, snapped a glance at the mountain of containment foam surrounding Regent, and ran back inside, Angelica bursting through the door with her.
Vista glared up at me hatefully, struggling to get up off the sidewalk. "You're going to regre-"
I stomped down on her back as hard as I could. "Stay down and don't use your power," I said, stepping back a few steps. "Or the next geyser is going through your skull."
Vista stayed down. Her glare never left me though. "Wait." Her voice whistled. "Just wait. I'm never going to forgive you."
I shrugged. "If you want there to be a next time, stay down."
Aegis flew at me, avoiding my geysers, as I opened portal after portal underneath him. Forced me to open one larger than I'd have liked to hit him, blasted him a good distance away. My geyser had torn off half his abdomen, and he had to hold his right leg to keep himself from folding in on himself like a piece of origami. The only reason he wasn't leaking intestines was because of his power. It was a shame he'd made me do that. He was lucky I wasn't a real villain, Kaiser or Lung wouldn't have spared him.
Luckily, he didn't rush me again. He hovered in the air, assessing the situation, as the cloudless sky rained icy saltwater. I'd administered just the right amount of violence, instilled just the right amount of fear to control him. Because that's what really controlled people's behavior; fear, not love or justice or right-and-wrong. I hadn't learned that from Bakuda or Lung either. No, that tough pill had been shoved down my throat long before I'd become a cape. Thanks to Emma, thanks to Alan, and thanks to all the cowards at Winslow.
Aegis and Vista had just proven it true again. They'd broken their truce, their word, as easily as breathing. But when I'd threatened their lives, when I'd displayed enough ruthlessness to make them think I meant it, suddenly they had no interest in fighting. Hahaha! Hadn't I learned my lesson well? I was so, so very glad that Panacea was here. It made displaying the necessary ruthlessness so much easier.
Browbeat rus- Clockblocker tackled him.
"Clockblocker's right, Browbeat," said Aegis. "Use your head, not your heart. I don't like it either, but we're outmatched. This has been a disaster, let's not make it worse. We need to take the Undersider we captured and get Panacea, Gallant, Vista, and Kid Win some help." He nodded at his gaping wound. "Speaking frankly, I'm going to need some treatment as well."
"No," growled Panacea, Clockblocker, and I simultaneously.
"She's put Gallant in a coma." Clockblocker seemed surprised with himself. "Probably did the same to Kid Win. It's my fault. It's all my fault… I was a fucking idiot. How am I supposed to live with myself if I run now?"
Aegis wasn't moved, although his voice did have a quiver. "Beat yourself up over it later. You're not helping Gallant by getting yourself killed."
Clockblocker hung his head. "You're right… I'll… I promise I'll never let the team down again."
"What's left of them," said Aegis bitterly. "Let's not lose more."
Panacea put a hand on Kid Win's forehead and shook her head. He didn't stir. I felt a pit in my stomach. Two casualties then. "Don't run. Five minutes. Give sis five minutes, and if she isn't here by then, retreat. We can't let her get away with this."
"I'm sorry," said Clockblocker. "But she took us apart in seconds. I've fucked up enough today."
No. No, no, no… If the Wards ran now, then everything would be for nothing. The plan just needed a few more minutes. Maybe… That would work. That just might work.
"You really think Glory Girl can beat me? " I asked. "Perhaps I'll wait, but I'm not going to do it for free. I have a condition."
"What is it?" Spat Panacea.
"When she gets here, we only start fighting after the news cameras show up," I said. "I want to introduce myself to Brockton Bay properly."
"Done." Panacea smirked. "You're going to regret it. Your little geysers are gonna bounce off her like they're sprinklers. I've seen her toss a dump truck like a baseball. Sis has never been especially good at restraint, you shoulda seen the neo nazi she sent to me a few days ago, and that was because he assaulted a woman she didn't even know. Maybe you think the fight being televised will save you. If you haven't been keeping up with the tabloids, Gallant is her boyfriend. Was. She's going to rip you in half."
I reminded myself that we'd planned on some members of New Wave arriving. They didn't know my powers. Glory Girl didn't know I was a teleporter, I could send her to the Atlantic stamp when she got too close. Unlike Lung, she was invulnerable, so she'd survive it. I had plans in place for any member of New Wave, and I had good odds against half of them, but I'd need to be careful if Lady Photon, Laserdream, or Shielder showed up. Besides Bakuda and Oni Lee, my worst matchups were the flying artillery capes, along with an unknown villain named Ballistic who Tattletale had warned me about.
Glory Girl didn't have any ranged attacks, I reminded myself. When she got too close, I could just teleport her. Of course, if she decided to just throw a car at me I was pretty much fucked.
"No," I said, trying to think of a clever reply. "I um… I'll win. I'm gonna beat her u-"
Brutus burst from the bank, splinters flying, Grue desperately holding on. Blood oozed from his shoulder. Shadow Stalker must've clipped him with a bolt, not a tranquilizer. She'd been using live rounds. Lethal force. Fair enough. After what I'd done to Kid Win and Gallant I couldn't exactly cry foul play. As far as I was concerned, the unwritten rules were nonsense. When capes fought, people died. Pretending otherwise was delusional. Bitch rode after him on Judas.
"Everywhere," said Tattletale, atop Angelica. "Plans off. Grue's hurt."
"Looks like you ran through the Wards," said Tattletale, smirking. She tapped her taser. "Shadow Stalker's down. Get Regent and get on. We're leaving, and I don't think they're in any position to stop us."
"Can't," I said. "I've made an agreement. We've got a ceasefire until Glory Girl and the news cameras show. I'm gonna beat her in front of the entire city."
Tattletale shot me a vulpine smile, hopped off Angelica, sauntered to the containment foam, ran her finger through it, and winked at me. "An interesting material. Like a bubblebath. I'm certain it's a kind of fluid, but it's got enough strength to contain a Brute. It'd be a nice place to put a Glory Hole, eh Regent?"
"No," said Regent sulkily, from inside the foam. "It's boring as fuck in here. Free me already."
Tattletale strutted over to me. "Oh, and who is that next to you? I thought I'd heard Everywhere shout it, but you really are Panacea. The great Panacea. The miraculous Panacea. Forget Armsmaster and Lady Photon, you're the most famous cape in Brockton Bay. How exactly do you heal people anyway?"
Panacea scowled. "I… don't think I'll tell you."
Tattletale smirked. "Oh but you just did. You see, I'm a psychic."
"Impossible," said Glory Girl, descending from the sky like a goddess. She was the very picture of an A-list cape. Tall, athletic, beautiful, impossibly well-endowed, and in a classic all-white costume without a mask. Alexandria Junior. With an aura. The Wards I'd blasted and broken perked up, while I felt a pit of dread form in my stomach. It felt like I'd become a starter villain in someone else's story. "The brainpower you'd need to interpret and decode someone's unique neural patterns would need a head five times the usual size to contain it all. True psychics can't exist."
Glory Girl had said it as much to her team as she had to Tattletale.
"That so," said Tattletale, smugly. "Got a little dust on your shoulder, Glory Hole. Wonder how that got there if you're invincible? Cuz your invincibility is bullshit. Everywhere, you can't give her the Lung treatment. One good hit and her shields go down for… thank you Glory Hole, two seconds."
Glory Girl glanced at me. Then at Gallant. Then at Panacea and her bloody foot. Her expression darkened.
"I'm the one the PRT calls Squirter," I said. "And the villains call Everywhere. I shot a geyser through your sister's foot. You move at me and the next one's going through her head."
"And then I kill you," said Glory Girl casually. "You've robbed a bank, but you haven't killed anyone yet. Turn yourself in, and I promise I'll do everything I can to grant you leniency in court."
"I have killed already," I said. "We're going to wait for the news cameras to show. When they do, you'll have your shot at me."
"Wait," said Glory Girl. "You're really volunteering to get your ass kicked on national television? Ok, I'm game to wait for the major networks to broadcast. In the meantime, sis, heal Gallant."
"I can't," said Panacea nastily, bloodlust clear in her voice. "I've already healed his body, but the lights are out. You know I can't do brains. He's as good as dead, and psycho's the one responsible. Must've thought it was real funny, she was having a good laugh about it."
"I see," said Glory Girl, her aura thickening. It was embarrassing, but I almost pissed my pants. She glided to me slowly, inexorably. I shot a few small geysers at her, but they sprayed off her harmlessly, not even slowing her advance, and luckily not damaging her shields. I stumbled backwards, like a thug who'd just realized that she was completely fucked. I reapplied my teleportation stamp in the Atlantic to my loose gray sweater. Get closer, get closer. C'mon, get in my range and see what happens. "Deals off. I'm not sending you to birdcage. I'm sending you straight to hell."
"Now, now," said Tattletale smugly, winking at me. "Let's not be too hasty. We can still save things. Let me speak, Glory Hole, and I'll get your boy-toy good as new, pinky promise.
"You see, I know something you don't know," Tattletale said, with a sing-song voice, as she sashayed to Panacea's side. "Lil' sis isn't who she says she is. Her deepest darkest secrets I'll expose. Break her, make her, all with words. Wanna save the day? Wanna save your bae? Then let Tat's cook today!"
"You've got good showmanship, I'll give you that," said Glory Girl, looming above me. Within my range. At my mercy. "But you're a retard. We're part of New Wave. We have no secrets. That's the whole fucking point of our team. Heroes with no secret identities, no secrets, full disclosure, total accountability. Words won't save your teammate, and they won't save mine."
Tattletale threw her head up and cackled. "Ames, Ames, Ames, she actually believes it! Glory Hole here actually believes that your family's got no secrets. The delusion would be sad if it weren't so damn funny!"
"You don't know anything," said Panacea, but she didn't sound like she believed it. "Sis, kill them! Kill them!"
Glory Girl didn't move.
"One big happy family! So much love! I've seen the television, I've seen just how much everyone loves each other. Almost too much, if you ask me. Lady Photon and Manpower," Tattletale smirked. "Manpower and Brandi-"
"Stop," said Panacea, trembling. "Stop, just stop. Please, don't say anymore. Sis, you've gotta make her shut up! Before she ruins everything."
Glory Girl watched silently.
"Don't you get it yet, my sad, repressed friend? She won't save you. Not when dear, noble, pure, heroic Gallant's life is on the line," said Tattletale.
Panacea crumpled, broke, like I had when Emma had snapped my mom's flute in half. And Tattletale's glee was just as apparent as Emma's had been back then. Tattletale gave a cheery wave to Glory Girl, put her hands on Panacea's shoulders, leaned down, and whispered something into Panacea's ear.
A moment later, Panacea placed a trembling hand on Kid Win's forehead. A minute after that, Kid Win's eyes fluttered open.
Fuck. What was I supposed to think? Tattletale had channeled what I hated most about Emma, turned in up to eleven, and used it to save someone from certain death. Should I hate her? Or praise her?
"Gallant," said Glory Girl desperately. "Gallant next. Please."
Panacea nodded, tears in her eyes. Tattletale skipped after her, with a pleased smirk. She winked at me. I didn't wink back. My fingernails cut into my palm.
Panacea's hand trembled harder, so much that she couldn't find Gallant's skin. Glory Girl flew down, and steadied her hand, helping it rest on Gallant's cheek. After a minute, Gallant's eyes fluttered open. Glory Girl wrapped him in a hug.
Maybe I'd been wrong about Tattletale. Her power terrified me, but she'd used it for good. She'd probably just saved me from a kill ord-
"You know Amy," said Tattletale, her voice louder, covered by the whirling of a news chopper overhead. "You really are your mother's daughter. I'd recommend that you share your secret with her. You might find her more understanding than you'd think."
Tattletale's smile became predatory. "Maybe then she'd actually love you."
And that was the literal piece of human garbage who I'd chosen to ally myself with ladies and gentlemen. Fucking Emma with superpowers. Armsmaster had publicly slandered me and taken credit for my work, Bakuda had blown me up, and Oni Lee had cut off my right ear. All that, and Tattletale was still my one and only nemesis.
"Enough," I said. The chopper was here. Glory Girl was within my range. We'd met all the mission objectives. Conflict with the Wards and New Wave was no longer necessary.
"Mom loves you sis," said Glory Girl, floating to Panacea. "We all do. Don't let her get to you. She's just making shit up, she doesn't know anything."
"Please," said Panacea, groveling in front of Tattletale. "Please, please, please don't say. What do you want? I'll do anything."
Tattletale glanced at Glory Girl. "Easy for you to say, Glory Hole. Everyone loves you. Your mother… Panac-"
"Please," begged Panacea pathetically.
"Your problem," said Tattletale. "Is your father."
"Don't even go there," said Glory Girl. "Dad's depressed. He's not all there, but he's doing the best he can."
Fuck. Really? Making fun of someone for having a depressed dad. Where had I heard that before?
"Is he now," drawled Tattletale slowly, a cruel glint in her green eyes. "Call it a hunch… But I don't think you know your dad quite as well as you think you do."
"Tattletale," I growled. "Stop talking."
Glory Girl said nothing. Didn't need to. Her glare and her aura conveyed more than any words.
"Say," said Tattletale, tapping her lips thoughtfully. "Do you want to know why I call you Glory Hole? It's not just a hilarious play on words. It's not because it bothers your arrogant ass. Strange thing is it's not even about you. It's about your mom. See, with a glory hole you can't see who it is you're fucking, which is similar to the situation eighteen years ago when your mom was fu- Fuck! Everywhere, what the fuck? I almost fucking had her!"
I'd teleported Glory Girl to my other stamp, which I'd laid right next to the mountain of containment foam. Naturally, I'd put Glory Girl as deep in the foam as I could. She screamed incoherently, her aura blasting impotent rage. I teleported Vista, Gallant, and Panacea into the containment foam to give Glory Girl some company.
"With your strength," I said to Glory Girl. "You could probably break through the containment foam with ease. However, I've put your sister and your boyfriend in there with you. As we've seen they lack your durability. You brute force your way out, you're going to be the one who kills them."
I teleported Regent to my side.
"Fucking finally," Regent complained bitterly, pulling up his pants. "Fucking only agreed to getting foamed because a certain big-titted blonde had implied I could use it like a fleshlight. To be fair, the theory was sound. Unfortunately, I overlooked one thing. Without my hands and without any access to pornography, I was unable to get it up. But fear not, dear companions! From here on out, I shall reduce my consumption of pornography and use only my imagination when next I masturbate. Which, coincidentally, will be in ten minutes when we return to HQ. Actually, my ban on pornography will start tomorrow. Actually, screw that, I'm retracting my previous ban on porn. Fucking stupid."
During his monologue, I'd teleported Aegis into the foam. Clockblocker had had the bright idea to throw a roll of paper towels at me while I'd been distracted by Tattletale ascending to a new level of bitchiness, and used his powers to freeze it. If I'd still been using my Atlantic portals to create geysers, it would have given Aegis cover from attack from below. Unfortunately for them, I'd just teleported Aegis into the containment foam when he'd gotten close. Clockblocker, Browbeat, and Kid Win hung back.
"Just leave, Everywhere," said Clockblocker. "You've won. We concede. Take the money, take your teammates, go."
Glory Girl's scream was all she could do. Easily ignored.
We left on Angelica, the Wards and New Wave beaten and broken behind us. The news chopper followed us. It broadcast our vile deed to every television in the entire city. The fact that we'd robbed a bank, the fact that the Undersiders had a new cape named Everywhere in their ranks, the fact that we more than likely had a big pile of money on us, and oh yes, our current location.
Now who in the world would possibly be interested in all that?
Regent passed me the riot shield I'd requested from Tattletale's so-called boss. The trap had been set.
Playtime was over.