Author's Note: Thanks to Two Pence for beta reading and helping me catch some plot holes.
Armsmaster twitched his halberd into a combat stance, but I'd already thrown a stamped tennis ball at him, teleporting the mixtures of baking soda and vinegar from the RC car into the halberd. His halberd lit up and incinerated my tennis ball with a laser. The good thing about lasers was that they were essentially just light, and light didn't have much stopping power. My stamp may have been ash in the wind, but the ash was still traveling at about 50 miles per hour. I teleported a capsaicin-coated nail a millimeter from Miss Militia's right forearm, felt it sink into her muscles with my stampsense. Repeated the process. Put a nail in Battery's thigh and Sere's kneecap. Missed Velocity and Assault. A nail bounced off Armsmaster's armor harmlessly. It was a new application of my power I'd realized when researching, with my teleportation I could essentially extend the edge of any blade to 200 feet.
Another clink of Armsmaster's halberd, and Grue's darkness was lifted in a flash of blinding light.
"Regent first," Armsmaster ordered. "As we planned."
"Fuck off," said Assault, staring at the blood squirting out of Battery's thigh. He crossed half the parking lot in a flash of red, in my face before I'd even processed that I needed to dodge. He went sprawling, it didn't matter how fast you moved if Regent made you trip. I stamped my fist, swatted down hard as I could, and teleported a nail straight into his calf with all the downward force I could pound into it. But the nail didn't take, it bounced off him harmlessly. As much as I hated her, it sure would be nice to have Tattletale explain the nuances of his power. Luckily he'd been hurt by the fall, and limped off the battlefield to join Battery and Sere.
Armsmaster slammed down his halberd but nothing happened. He scowled and muttered something under his breath. The vinegar and baking soda must've finally taken. He was the second strongest tinker in the world, but without his weapon he was nothing more than a civilian. Problem was he knew that too. I had to take him out before he retreated, and repaired the damage done to his halberd.
Lightning streaked past me, smashed through a blue Porsche, and slammed into Regent's chest, pumping him full of amperes, temporarily paralyzing him. Dauntless retracted his arclance almost as quickly as he'd extended it, his legionnaire armor leaking thunderbolts into the nearby concrete like a Tesla Coil. No matter, I'd just redirect his attacks back at him like I'd done with Purity, wait no- my stamp was tied up with Tattletale and her RC car- so I had to dodge the old fashioned way. I dove into the concrete to avoid his oncoming attack. Fuck, he hadn't attacked, just waited for me to lose my nerve. Dauntless watched me eat pavement, aimed his spear carefully, and sent his arclance racing towards me in a flash of lightning.
Angelica jumped in front of me, taking the brunt of the strike. The cuddly furball whimpered but didn't fall.
"Hurt!" Bitch howled. Brutas and Judas bounded towards Dauntless, jumping over me, shaking the ground with each stride. Dauntless raised his left arm, a small shield the size of a dinner plate, and a bubble-shaped forcefield burst out of it, shocking the dogs back before they could get at him. They surrounded him, circling him like a pack of wolves surrounding cornered prey, jaws snapping at the shield unable to pop it. Until space warped, and Brutus froze.
Clockblocker left the taser he'd unloaded on the giant beast frozen in the air. The little shit had taken my suggestions about his powers and used them against me. Stealing my work like Madison had, presenting it as his own. Bitch gritted her teeth, but didn't fly off the handle. Then Gallant hit her with some kind of energy ball.
"Kill," Bitch screamed, pointing at Clockblocker.
That was no good. I needed her dogs keeping Dauntless busy. I had to take down her distractions so she kept Dauntless tied up. As if he was reading my thoughts, Grue's darkness surrounded Vista. She gave the enemy mobility, but more vitally was vulnerable.
I jabbed the stamp on my fist forward, teleporting a few tacks on the RC car a centimeter from Vista's unarmoured stomach. She staggered as little red blots appeared on her fancy green dress, but didn't falter. Other problems. I flicked my finger, and poked Grue in the back with a tack. Sensed him turn, stagger, and duck away from Armsmaster who'd snuck behind him and tried to club him the old fashioned way with his defective halberd. Grue cloaked the two of them in darkness.
"Run," I shouted at Vista. "Or the next tack is going through your eye."
"Fuck off," said Vista.
Fine. Preferable anyways, there was nothing sweeter than an enemy's scream. I jabbed my stamp forward, but was thrown off my feet by Triumph's roar. I skidded across the pavement, tried to roll back to my feet, but was forced down by a blur of red punches. It didn't really hurt, Velocity's punches were more like a strong wind than anything, but it was enough to keep me grounded. I could feel him clawing at the spray bottle, but I held on tight and he couldn't pry it away from me.
A giant hand flipped me onto my back, forced my arms behind me, and pried my hands open like I was a child.
"It's done," said Browbeat, tossing the spray bottle to Kid Win, who flew off on his hoverboard. I teleported the bottle to the RC car, and then immediately back into my hand. Browbeat sighed, and hauled me up. "Give up. You've lost."
He had a point. Brutus, Judas, and Angelica had been frozen by Clockblocker. Dauntless held his arclance to the small of Bitch's back. Triumph held a handful of Amy's frozen hair, ready to snap her neck when she unpaused. Regent himself was held at gunpoint by Miss Militia. Armsmaster had Grue pinned and handcuffed. I was powerless, surrounded by enemies, all my allies defeated, the majority of my powers inaccessible, and in the grasp of a cape who could snap my neck as easily as he could snap his fingers.
They had me beat. No question. So then… Why did all the heroes look so wary?
Scared of little old me? Poor pathetic Taylor Hebert? The perpetual victim?
Yes actually. You see, I wasn't powerless against my bullies anymore. I could hurt them as easily as they could hurt me.
"Let us go," I said, trying to hide my smile. I put my hand on the cap of the spray bottle. "Or I release this plague. There are no cures, except for those Amy creates. It will spread across the globe in days, rendering the entire population paralyzed. You thought Bakuda's bomb was scary, it could only wipe out a city, this will condemn the entire continent."
"I don't negotiate with terrorists," said Armsmaster. He held out something small and dark. It looked a little like a tiny brick until he flipped it open. "This is a cell phone. See this button? I press it and I'm talking to the head of the Protectorate. If you release the plague, I will call Chief-Director Costa-Brown. She orders an airstrike, and Brockton Bay becomes a big pile of ash and rubble. Your family, your friends, your team. All dead. You're not getting out of this one. Tonight, you lose."
"There it is," I said quietly. "There's the 'hero' we all know. The Protectorate is trying to save the entire world. What's one little city, one little family, one little girl compared to the world? Disposable. Specks. Like worms."
"No," said Armsmaster firmly. "You're the one holding the fate of the world in your hands. Whatever happens, it's on you."
So I was the bully then? I was the villain? Fuck you, Armsmaster, but…
"You're right," I said, letting loose a peel of laughter as sad as it was humorless. I could get out of this, I could save everyone, if I let myself fall, if I gave up my dream, my hope, my one last light in the darkness. "You're right about everything. I am dangerous. I don't deserve mercy. That must be why you're the boss. Because you can make the hard choices. Because you recognize where power lies. That's why you've run this city for a decade. And guess what? Your rule has made monsters like me.
"I hold the fate of Brockton Bay in my hands," I whispered. "Now. Ask yourself. Do you think I care enough to save it? Or am I looking for an excuse to let it all burn?"
I squeezed the bottle. Just a little. It only looked like it would pop, but it was really just a bluff.
Afterall, I couldn't let down Mom. I had to do right by her. I had to be a good person.
Oh that's right, she was dead wasn't she?
So why exactly did I have to be a good person again? I didn't really try that hard to remember, but I did try to try. I didn't really care, but I did want to care. That's gotta count for something right?
"No," said Miss Militia. "Let's talk."
I eased the pressure on the squirt bottle.
"Are you… Are you disobeying orders?" Asked Armsmaster.
"Somebody has to," said Dauntless.
"You give Dauntless the bottle," said Miss Militia. "We let Hellhound go. He flies a hundred feet. We let Grue go. He flies 100 more, we let Panacea go. Hijack will be held in a local jail until you're safely secured in Birdcage."
"The fuck?" Said Regent. "Can we change the order here? Trust me, you do not want me in captivity any more than I do."
"This is preposterous!" said Armsmaster. " Don't you idiots understand anything?"
"With all due respect," said Battery. "Fuck off. I saw how you acted at the cape meeting. Panacea is a better hero than you'll ever be. We're supposed to protect the city, not your ego. What was the point in any of this? You've just turned the two most powerful capes in Brockton Bay against us! If they want to help- let them! Why the fuck aren't we going after Bakuda?"
It was clear the rest of the Protectorate agreed with Battery. Armsmaster scowled. "The director will hear of this."
"If I'm sidelined, I'm sidelined," said Battery. "If I have to move cities, fine. But I'm never taking orders from you again."
"Do what you must," said Armsmaster, glowering at each member of his former squad in turn. A light on his halberd blinked green. "And I'll do what I must."
Bitch was the first to be released. In exchange, I handed the spray bottle to Dauntless. I'd have to get it back before he flew out of my range, but I'd play along until my tools were returned to me.
"Retreat to safety," I said.
"Ain't leaving 'em behind," said Bitch. Her dogs were still frozen from Clockblocker's power.
Grue was next. Armsmaster raised his halberd from Grue's neck, and shoved him forward. Grue stumbled towards me, his wrists still handcuffed together behind his back. He probably wouldn't be very useful once I stole the spray bottle back, but I was surprised Armsmaster had let him go at all.
And then I sensed it, all the way inside the school. Tattletale was giving me the signal. The RC car was in place. It was time to release the plague and take down Bakuda. I teleported the spray bottle to the port on the RC car then back into my hand, turned on the automatic spray, and teleported it back to the RC car. Transferred the stamp on the RC car to a tennis ball.
Amy stumbled and blinked, finally unfrozen, and Armsmaster threw his halberd at her neck. I teleported it into my hand, but it disappeared, and reappeared in Armsmaster's hand, just in time for him to get tackled by… Clockblocker? And Vista – it had only taken one step to cross half the parking lot. Armor clinked on armor, Armsmaster was put on pause, as Amy ran out of my range like a complete moron.
I sensed a commotion behind me. Angelica, Judas, and Bitch had unfrozen and was scrapping with six or so Protectorate capes. They'd need assistance soon, but if we lost Amy everything was over.
Armsmaster grunted, slid out of the frozen armor covering his right forearm, slammed the butt of his halberd into Clockblocker's neck, and threw his halberd at Amy. I couldn't teleport it, but Brutus barreled in front halberd, letting it bury into his leg. Armsmaster teleported his halberd back into his hand, and slashed off Brutus's jaw, slicing through monstrous bone like it was warm butter, reasserting control over the battlefield. That was no good.
I teleported his halberd back into my hand, and Brutus slammed Armsmaster with a bony tail. The halberd vanished once more, and I barely had enough time to open up a couple portals on my torso to redirect Dauntless's extended arclance back at him.
Unfortunately he wasn't squishy like Purity, and the lance deflected lamely off his armored torso. I didn't have a chance to see him retract the arclance because Grue covered us in darkness. He tried pulling me away, but I sensed a new element entering the battlefield.
Bakuda's bombs. Moving as fast as their stubby little legs could carry them. I had a feeling the payloads would be stronger than the last time she'd used this tactic. They were still a ways away from me and Grue, but they were getting dangerously close to Bitch and her dogs.
I reached into my sweater, grabbed a rock, tossed it above Grue's darkness, and teleported up to it.
"Bitch!" I said. "Get outta there!"
Bitch stared at her dogs, hesitating.
Disobeying me!? Fucking disobeying me!
I put a stamp on my glove, jabbed, and teleported a couple jagged rocks into her neck with all the strength of my punch. That got her moving.
Stamped a rock, chucked it straight down, and landed back on the pavement. Stamped another rock, chucked it behind the wrecked porsche next to Regent and Miss Militia. Teleported me and Grue next to them, and Bitch soon as I could.
"Brutus, Judas, Angelica- come!"
Miss Militia ignored us, focusing on the screaming children with hard narrowed eyes. A green mist formed into an automatic in her good left hand and she nodded at Armsmaster. So they were willing to massacre the children? Necessary if not noble- for the first time I could imagine a different world where I'd joined the Wards.
"What are you planning to do with that gun?" Asked Battery. A stupid question from a stupid hero. She and Sere should have worn armor. She hadn't, that was why she had a nail in her thigh, and could be safely ignored.
"Heroes!" Shouted Armsmaster, finally disengaged from Judas. "Fall back!"
Orders delivered, he continued to pursue Amy.
Dauntless ignored him, scooped up one of the crying children, and was already flying away. Browbeat had picked up a couple kids and was retreating from the battlefield. Gallant was trying to herd a couple more away, whispering false comforts in their doomed ears. Clockblocker, Vista, Velocity, and Assault were working together to connect a wire to as many kids as they could, presumably to put them on pause. Made a certain amount of sense, Clockblocker knew that Amy and I could save the children- he'd seen us do it! He'd fucking seen us! But now he wanted my help?
Just to save a bunch of children?
Okay maybe that was actually a decent reason, but he was still an idiot. It wouldn't work. Couldn't. Because Bakuda was staring down at the battlefield, waiting for the perfect opportunity to take out as many of our enemies as possible. A path to victory emerged from the fog at last. Play stupid, maybe send little signals to the heroes, pretend that I'd- hehehe- changed, shepherd the flock to Bakuda's bombs, help the attack clear out as many enemies as possible. Then strike, when the enemy was emotionally devastated. Miss Militia, the most dangerous of them, was within my range. Teleport her into the sky and let her splatter. Dauntless, Clockblocker, Velocity, Assault, Vista, Gallant, and Browbeat were dead, Triumph was in proximity and would probably be a casualty, and Sere and Battery weren't in fighting condition. That left Kid Win and Armsmaster as opponents in the aftermath. Kid Win was soft, and could be taken out in the aftermath of the bombs easily. Armsmaster could maybe be overcome by our combined might. I could actually do it. I could destroy all my enemies.
Armsmaster broke pursuit of Amy as Kid Win dove down to the battlefield. Disappointing. So even the best heroes could fall prey to sentimental nonsense. I suppose it was for the best if my toughest competition offed himself on a suicide mission that couldn't work. Having had firsthand experience fighting them, Armsmaster was the lone bright spot in the Brockton Bay Protectorate. His powers were fine, but nowhere near as versatile as Dauntless or Miss Militia's. The difference was the creativity, the intelligence, the relentlessness, and ruthlessness with which he utilized his gifts. He was Bakuda's greatest prize. Once he stepped into her trap, she'd pull the trigger. With him off the board, my victory was inevitable.
It was just… Running? Shouting at them to stop? Really Armsmaster? That wouldn't work. Not that he had any better options. His powers weren't conducive to that kind of operation. Not like mine. I could save them. Not all of them of course, but if I took out Clockblocker, I could disrupt the operation that would kill the majority of the heroes.
"Don't try it," said Regent. "Remember that these fuckers wanted to birdcage you and arrest me."
Whatever Regent was implying, I was a little irritated that he presumed to give me orders.
"It's cold, but I'm with Regent," said Grue. "We needed a distraction, we've got it. Let Bakuda and the Protectorate fight it out.I don't want the Protectorate to die, but it's not our problem."
Clockblocker was the keystone of their operation. Like a marionette, all the strings were connected to his fingers, cut the strings, and the heroes' operation would fall apart, subsequently saving the majority of them. The problem was that I couldn't penetrate his armor.
I couldn't. But Armsmaster could.
I teleported his halberd into my hand. Luckily the blade had already been activated. I thrust it forward and banished it next to the only point where all the strings connected. The halberd sliced through Clockblocker's armored fingers, severing his connection to the rest of the battlefield, with Velocity, Assault, and all the children he was trying to save.
Armsmaster realized what I'd done, and suddenly we were working together.
"Take out his hoverboard," said Armsmaster, summoning his halberd, and launching it at Kid Win like an Olympic javelin thrower.
Bakuda detonated the children before I could do anything, lighting up the battlefield like a firework show. Several things happened at once, and yet nothing escaped my notice.
One of kids Browbeat had tried to save had contained a traditional explosive, and its shockwave threw Kid Win off his hoverboard, slamming him onto the concrete from a couple stories up. Bits of Browbeat and the children he'd been holding rained down on the battlefield. Dauntless's child had turned them both to dust. One of the children tied to Clockblocker's severed fingers had turned the string and everything touching it to glass. It got Velocity but hadn't got Assault. A miniature black hole popped into being next to Gallant, sucking him and a few others into it, and then exploded, shattering all the glass that Clockblocker had been duped into distributing throughout the battlefield. I'd saved Assault, Clockblocker, and Vista from being turned to glass, but the shrapnel might be just as lethal.
Triumph had a shard of glass lodged in his throat, Vista had several stuck in her back, but Clockblocker had been protected by his armor and Assault by his power.
Another wave of children exited the school. Assault glanced at Miss Militia, and gave a shallow nod.
"No," whispered Battery. "You can't. They're children."
"Children can kill," said Miss Militia.
"I can take the shot," I offered.
"No," said Miss Militia. "This is my responsibility."
Assault threw Clockblocker, Vista, and Triumph in Amy and Armsmaster's general vicinity. He disappeared in a blur of red, reappeared by Kid Win, threw him, and then sped to his teammates. The Protectorate had finally cleared the area.
"I'm sorry," said Miss Militia. She pulled the trigger. After the first few gunshots all I heard was a steady ringing in my ears. I saw the children fall, their little bodies torn apart by bullets. Miss Militia's face was blank, her breathing even. Battery surprised me, she hadn't looked away. Thankfully the Protectorate didn't move to counterattack Bakuda. The Protectorate trying to storm the school would be disastrous for our plans. Unfortunately, what they did was even worse.
Armsmaster had finally caught up to Amy. I still couldn't make out his exact words, but I could make out the words "cure" "plague" and "birdcage", reminding everyone that for all his prowess and flexibility on the battlefield, he was just as stupid and inflexible off it. Everything had to be his way. Had to be by-the-book. Nice and orderly. While I halfway agreed with him about the stupidity of the plan I'd been forced to go along with, the fact was that the plague had already been released. If he killed Amy everyone was fucked.
I rounded on him, and everyone's eyes snapped on me. Strange. They were acting like I was dangerous, unpredictable, but I was only trying to save the city. I just wanted to explain. I'd released the plague a while ago, if they would just wait a few more minutes we'd be able to complete the operation with minimal casualties. We just had to keep Bakuda's attention occupied for a little while longer, and the nightmare would be over. I saw Armsmaster's mouth move, could almost make out the words, my hearing cutting in and out.
"...Sorry," said Armsmaster, the tip of his halberd blurry next to her neck. "Shouldn't… so lenient… have arrested… after Glory Girl… My fault. It's over. I'm calling in an airstri-"
He fell to the ground unconscious, Amy letting her hand slide from his exposed forearm. She held up four fingers. Four minutes. I had to provide four more minutes of distraction. I summoned Armsmaster's halberd, jabbed it forward, and teleported it a centimeter from Clockblocker's calf. It sliced right through, and Clockblocker went down hard.
I opened up a few portals on my back, and sprayed the bullets Miss Militia had fired at me right back at her. They missed her, but forced her to take cover, hopefully giving her pause the next time she had the brilliant idea of firing live rounds at me. Unfortunately, she emerged from her cover with an assault rifle jabbed squarely in Regent's back. Unfortunately, her rifle didn't register to my power.
I summoned Armsmaster's halberd back into my palm, and pointed it at Battery.
"Easy, easy," said Assault, his hands up. "Let's all take a deep breath."
He pushed a switch on his shoulder, and nodded at Miss Militia, Battery, and Sere, who repeated the motion.
"You kill our guy, we kill your guy," said Assault. "Who exactly does that benefit?"
"No one," Regent answered for me. "You know, I've got great respect for you heroes. Your restraint. Very inspiring. I'd like you all to know that I voted against coming here."
"What's your proposal then?" I asked.
"We take down Bakuda together," said Assault.
"Done," I said, smiling. "We've been trying to help since the beginning."
Assault really did seem like a decent hero, but what I needed from him was a distraction. I'd attack as soon as he released our team's valuable tripping hazar-
Why were Assault and Miss Militia on the ground? Where had Regent gone? Did he have some kind of time manip- Fuck! I scowled and tore the taser hooks off my sweater. I'd gotten careless, I'd let Clockblocker tag me. Clockblocker! Apparently we'd won the battle, but I'd been taken down by fucking Clockblocker which took away any pride I might have felt from our victory.
Coil's men were operating on any of the Bakuda's victims that were still alive. The children were crying, the adrenaline and shock from the battle wearing off, giving them time to think about all the fucked up shit that had happened to them. I stamped a rock, considered chucking it a couple hundred feet and teleporting their bombs to it. Then I thought better of it, and ordered one of Coil's men to drop the rock in Brockton Bay. The operation would be successful unless I fucked it up by doing something stupid like oh I don't know, getting careless with a bomb and blowing us all up.
"Look, I'm normally not the person who'd ever agree with Regent, but he's right," said Grue. "We've got to kill it."
"He's not an it," said Amy angrily, protectively imposing herself between the Undersiders and an oozing pile of flesh with four arms. "He's Browbeat! You're all just trying to murder another hero! Knock out what's left of the Protectorate while they're vulnerable!"
A balding asian man gave me a sidelong glance, reached into his pocket, waggled his handgun, and shot me a vulpine smile.
"Tell ya what," said Tattletale. "Let's go deal with Bakuda, and leave it up to Browbeat's teammates to decide what to do with him."
Amy scowled. "...They wouldn't understand. They'll think he's been mastered. And I'm not letting her shoot him either." Amy held out her hand, and the flesh pile curled around it, covering her in a regenerative oozing second skin. "But I do agree that Bakuda needs to fucking die. So let's go get it over with."
"Hold on," I said. "She probably has a dead man's switch. Let me get a portal in place, and I can make sure she doesn't take anyone with her."
"No," said Amy. "We have to hurry. You said that she was gonna blow up Vicky in twenty minutes."
"Yeah," said Tattletale. "She would have, but she's knocked out courtesy of your plague."
"What if she has a timer in place?"
"She doesn't," said Tattletale. "But all her bombs will go off if her heart stops. We don't need to hurry, we need to be careful, make sure we have a place to put the bombs in case one of them is more powerful than expected."
"Fine," said Amy, pacing back and forth. "But I'm not changing you back until after we save my sister."
Tattletale scowled, but I understood Amy's reasoning perfectly. Never give up leverage for free, especially against Tattletale. You never knew what people would do when they held power over you. You never knew who would betray you.
Sometimes, the best you could do was make sure it never happened again.
The edge of Armsmaster's halberd was no longer blurred. In my hands it was nothing more than a sharp stick. More than sufficient for its purpose. I looked around the battlefield, until I found a certain traitor, the clocks on his armor ticking with each of my steps.
I'd seen what had happened when Emma's crimes went unchecked. I was doing them a favor really. Keeping them in line with a small consequence for misbehavior. I was merely administering justice.
"What are you doing?" He asked as I hooked a finger under his helmet. I staggered backwards, stunned by the sheer stupidity of the revelation.
Amy's plague didn't cause unconsciousness, just paralysis. The victim could still talk, comprehend… Beg. Bakuda had done the same to New Wave, Amy must've wanted revenge. I could understand the impulse, but… what if Bakuda's bombs had voice control? What if she controlled them with her tongue?
I'd need to consult with Tattletale, and adjust accordingly, but if she hadn't detonated them yet she probably wouldn't for a while. There were more important issues at hand.
"Teaching," I whispered, prying off his helmet, pushing the tip of the Protectorate's own spear closer, closer, and closer to those pretty eyes, as blue as Emma's. "My enemies a lesson. Don't fucking underes-"
Tattletale pulled me away from him, and nodded at Grue. "Cover him up. Nobody has to know."
I let her pull me a few blocks from the school. Let her use her powers to make sure we were alone. She'd been a team player, taking what was undoubtedly the shittiest role in the operation. She'd helped me save children, exposed Coil to me, and infiltrated Bakuda's headquarters. I hadn't been fair to her- I'd seen a pretty extrovert but ignored the deeper differences between the two of them. My most recent betrayal had made that clear. Maybe we really could be friends, or allies at least.
If she allowed me the justice I was owed.
"No," said Tattletale.
"He denied meeting us. I needed him to back me up about Purity, and he said he'd never met me," I said coldly. "He turned on us. I told him how to be a better fighter, and he used it against me. He tagged me. He tagged Bitch's dogs. I won't kill him. I just need to ensure he isn't a threat."
"No," said Tattletale. "Crippling a Ward will ruin your li-"
"He betrayed me," I said. "He was there. He was there. He knew I was trying to help people. He knew what was happening. He knew the truth. He knew the truth. And he lied. He lied. He fucking lied."
"No," said Tattletale. "I told him about Coi-"
"He was-" I gasped a breath. "He was just pretending. Just pretending. Pretending to care."
"No," said Tattletale. "I told him about C-"
"He's a traitor. He's a fucking traitor! He made me think he fucking cared, and then he turned on me, sold me out to impress the popular kids! I've been trying so fucking hard to hold back! I'm not asking for her life, just her fucking eyes!"
"I told him to do it," said Tattletale. "I told him to treat you like a villain if he ever met you again…"
She kept on prattling but I stopped listening. Coil's man had dropped the rock into the bottom of the bay. I could kill her. We were alone. Nobody would ever know.
Nobody but me. I knew.
That Tattletale didn't deserve to die.
"You're lying," I said firmly, trying not to think too much about it. "I'll play along for now, but Clockblocker will be put to justice for his treachery."
We talked about how Bakuda's bombs worked on our way back to the parking lot. Fortunately, Amy's stupidity wouldn't cost us the mission. Bakuda activated her bombs through a ring on her toe, and paralysis of the lower body would fully neutralize her.
Once we were back to Immaculata High's parking lot, I teleported the bombs inside the children to the bottom of Brockton Bay. It was time. We entered Bakuda's lair through the front door. We faced no resistance. Tattletale pointed out any bombs or traps obstructing our path, and told me what they did. All kinds of twisted things, and Bakuda's bombs triggered on contact with metal, like say a scalpel. I put a stamp next to the most promising bomb. Surgeons opened up any minions we came across, I got the explosives out of them, and Amy sealed them back up. We swept through the lair, undoing the damage done by the remnants of the old ABB.
Finally, we entered the auditorium, the spotlight and a news camera permanently on Bakuda's slumped form. She must have heard our footsteps.
"Please," begged Bakuda. "Please, Lung forced me to do it! Oni Lee! I was scared of what they were going to do to me!"
She was telling the truth. The first time I'd scouted the ABB, way back before I'd even fought Lung, she'd been testing her bombs on his people. Under his supervision. Under his orders. She'd put her bombs into thousands. She must have started long before I'd taken down Lung.
"I really, really don't care," I said from the stands, slowly making my way to the stage.
Bakuda started to cry as soon as she heard my voice. "You… I… I've got bombs all over the city. I'll take them down. I'll tell everyone the truth. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll never go against you again. I'll… I'll work for you. I'll go to the Birdcage."
"No," I said. "You won't."
Tattletale hurried past me onto the stage. A shame the first time she'd be on national television she'd have that ugly form. Tattletale fired her handgun, and sliced open Glory Girl's stomach before her shields came back up. Glory Girl's lack of protest meant she understood we were trying to help. Surgeons cut open Manpower, Laserdream, and Shielder. I teleported out their bombs.
"Hundreds will die if you kill me," said Bakuda desperately. "Their deaths will be on you."
Amy stared at me.
"Yes," I said. "They will be."
Tattletale unmasked Bakuda, and cleared the stage.
I teleported one of Bakuda's own bombs on top of her, and then one final nail. I could have just shot her, given her a quick, clean death. Torturing her wouldn't give me any joy, it wouldn't bring back the dead, it wouldn't be justice. But. I'd exposed Bakuda to the world for a reason. It would give me a tool more useful than any superpower.
Terror.
Those striking asian features, those pretty blue eyes, all warped by fear as they melted like a fleshy popsicle on national television, leaving Bakuda nothing more than a bloody puddle that some poor janitor would have to clean up later.
A series of explosions rocked the city. Dozens.
I closed my eyes for a moment, waited for some feeling of guilt to overwhelm me. Maybe accomplishment? Relief? Joy? Regret? Coldness maybe? Hell I'd take some kind of fucked up sexual pleasure. But no.
Nothing. I felt absolutely nothing.
I wandered to the news camera, just out of sight, and whispered into it, like I was saying sweet nothings in their ear. "Kaiser. Skidmark. Any other villains. Know this. I'm always watching. No matter how far you run, no matter how well you hide, no matter how much you beg, no matter the consequences, this is your fate."
My message was sent, so I pulled the plug on the camera. I didn't need anybody to see what happened next.
"Amy," I said, still feeling nothing, my mind as clear as it had ever been. "Finish the job. What you agreed to."
"Of course," Amy said, licking her lips and fixing her hair as she turned her heel from the rest of New Wave and jogged to Glory Girl.
Tattletale frowned, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"No!" Victoria screamed. "No, no, don't let her touch me! I do not consent, I do not consent!"
Glory Girl's eyes went dull as soon as Amy's hand touched her cheek… Huh?
… Wait?
Something wasn't right.
Hadn't she told me that she couldn't use her powers quickly enough to master Bakuda before she detonated her bombs? But that had been almost instantaneous, so why had we even bothered with the plague? And why? Why the fuck had I ever let her touch me? Why the fuck had I let her touch Tattletale? Why the fuck had I ever thought I could control her when she had us on strings?
I'd known that people didn't change. I'd known Amy was a bad person. I'd known exactly what she would do.
So why the fuck had I given her a second chance? Why the fuck had I let her play me? I'd thought that just because I understood her, I could save her? That was fucking stupid, I'd known it was stupid, and yet I'd done it anyways. I thought I was the exception. I'd thought that I'd never make the same mistake my teachers made, that my principal made. I'd thought I'd known better. I'd thought I was different.
I was wrong.
The Queen's delighted laughter filled the school.
"You were right about me, Everywhere," said Amy, sneering at me. "It was all just a plot, even if I refused to admit it at first, at least until I got my hands on Tattletale and made her trust me. You were all just tools to give me another shot at Vicky. The plague was never for Bakuda, I made it just for you, because when you said you'd kill me if I stepped out of line, I believed you. You didn't need me then. You do now. Because I know you, Everywhere. Deep down, you want to be a good person. Deep down, you want to help people. Deep down, you want to be a hero. And heroes don't condemn entire continents to death to stop one little worm from the happiness she deserves. Beneath all your blustering bullshit, you're as soft and gullible as the rest of the Protectorate. You really thought I could be redeemed, didn't you? And that you were so special, that you and you alone, could save me. You thought you were my savior. Well thank you. For saving me. I really, really appreciate it."
Glory Girl leaned in and gave Amy a deep, wet kiss, and scooped her up in her arms.
It had happened again, I'd been betrayed. But this made Emma and Clockblocker's betrayals seem trivial. I struggled to comprehend the sheer scale of it. I could hardly even think.
I teleported Tattletale's gun into my hand, and lined up the sights on Amy. "Return her to normal."
Glory Girl turned, so she was protecting Amy with her back.
"I'm going to fly away now," said Amy. "And have some fun. We both know you won't kill me, hero. Not when you need me to turn Tattletale back to normal, not when you still need me to create a cure for this plague. And to be clear this isn't a bluff. It's airborne already, spreading already, and it creates permanent paralysis after 15 minutes. If you kill me you're looking at a couple hundred million casual-"
I pulled the trigger. Twice.
Glory Girl cried out in pain from the bullet I'd put through her heart, and dropped Amy back down to earth. Amy coughed up blood, but it was just cosmetic. Browbeat's flesh had kept the shot from penetrating to her heart. No matter. I still had one more bullet in the clip.
I closed the distance with the most powerful parahuman on the planet. "Brockton Bay will burn. I'm going to use Armsmaster's cellphone. Explain that they need to order an airstrike on us. You're not walking out of here alive."
I'd wanted to save the city, but I'd gotten arrogant. I'd thought I could afford to be lenient. When Amelia Dallon had fallen into my lap, I'd so badly wanted control over her power that I'd let it blind me from an obvious truth. Amy was too dangerous, too reckless, too selfish to be allowed to live. She was the girl who would destroy the world. It would have been so easy to kill her earlier- all it would have cost me was my career, my reputation, and probably my life- now it would cost me everything.
It had been my mistake. Fixing it was my duty. My purpose.
"Wait," said Amy, holding up her hands, sliding away from me, her back lubricated by Browbeat's blood. "Wait! I can do it. I'll change her back! I'll change her back!"
Tattletale nodded, and I teleported the gun back into her hands.
"Shoot her when she deviates." It wasn't a question of if.
Tattletale pressed the handgun to the back of Amy's skull, and Amy went to work on Glory Girl. Closed up the bullet wounds, the incision in her stomach courtesy of Tt, and soon enough Glory Girl was awake once more.
She shook off Amy, glowered down at her. "This doesn't make up for what you did to me." And then Victoria Dallon flew through the ceiling.
Amy stared up at the hole in wonder.
"I did it. I actually fucking did it. Thank you," she said quietly. "You're not a good person. You're the monster I needed."
Oh I see, she'd changed. I'd reformed a troubled child. That was nice. Very nice. Very cute.
But it didn't really make me feel much of anything. I had her create and release a cure for her plague and then considered my options. Should I just let her bleed out? Without medical treatment- no wait. I could already feel Browbeat's flesh wriggling into the bullet wounds. With her power she could perform surgery on herself and sterilize her wounds. Maybe there would be some scarring, but no permanent damage.
Armsmaster had been right about her. She had to die. She struggled with impulse control and could destroy the world in one bad afternoon. I had no doubt that she genuinely felt grateful to me, that she really did want to be a good person, but gratitude wouldn't last, and soon she'd be justifying why just this one time she ought to be allowed to cut loose. There would always be an excuse.
If I forgave her, let her back into the Undersiders, wouldn't that just be enabling her behavior? Wouldn't that make me just like all the teachers and administrators I hated?
Amy had betrayed me. She'd taken the entire world hostage. There needed to be a consequence for that. Something permanent, something more than stern words.
I summoned Armsmaster's halberd. I gripped the polearm a few inches below its blade – for better control. I didn't want to kill her, just administer some good old fashioned justice- the kind Principal Blackwell disapproved of. This time, Tattletale didn't stop me.
"Panacea you get one more chance. One. But," I said, shoving Armsmaster's halberd into her right eye. "Don't ever fucking underestimate me again."