Author's Note: Thanks to Two Pence for betareading, helping improve Tt's nefarious plot, and trying the best he could to make Clockblocker come off as less of a dick. Sorry this is so short. I had some other interludes fully written for both Victoria and Armsmaster, but they occurred later in the story's timeline, and there's some lighter Taylor stuff that's needed before we plunge everything in darkness again. I'm also looking for someone who would be willing to help me brainstorm the plot of the arc and overall story. Big picture stuff. Let me know in the comments if you're interested.
ooOoo
"...I do understand the need for reinforcements. You will be receiving Weld from Philadelphia and Flechette from Buffalo," said Chief Director Costa-Brown. "Furthermore, several villains have expressed interest in joining the Wards. Uber, Leet, Rune, and Othella."
Rune and Othella. On a team with Shadow Stalker. Yeah, that seemed like a really good idea. Dennis would be lucky not to lose any more fingers.
"Do you have a problem?" Asked Chief Director Costa-Brown. "Miss Militia."
"No, it's just…" Miss Militia struggled to find the words to politely tell the oh-so-important woman that her plan sounded like it had been concocted by the fucking Simurgh. "Some of the Wards will have difficulty overlooking some of the recruits' backgrounds."
"The former Empire members? Aegis is still out of commission, Clockblocker is on crutches, Battery and Sere are still in recovery," said Chief Director Costa-Brown. Panacea had healed the wounds on Vista and Triumph, but declined to heal anything less than lethal. Well fine, he hadn't wanted to be healed by some no-good villain anyway- nah, having fingers and the ability to walk was totally overrated. And oh yeah, since she'd had to heal them from her little plague he'd still had to go through extensive master/stranger screening anyway, so thanks a ton Panacea. "Your team is in desperate need of a healer. Othella is a healer. You made it work with Shadow Stalker. Rune and Othella followed a detestable ideology, yes, but if you could find it in your heart to work with a murderer, I'm sure you can work with a couple racists."
"Shadow Stalker was never convicted of murder," said Miss Militia.
Chief Director Costa-Brown stared for a moment and sighed. "If we don't accept Rune and Othella into our ranks, do you think they'll just disappear? I'm not asking you to run a team of boy scouts. I'm asking you to field a team of capes that will keep the city above water. Can you?"
"Just have Rune and Othella patrol together," said Clockblocker. "And don't ask too many questions about what goes on during them."
That's how Armsmaster had dealt with Shadow Stalker. Or at least that's how Dennis had dealt with it. He didn't know what she got up to when she ditched him on patrol, and he didn't want to know. He just reported it and went on his way. She never got in trouble for it, so everything had to be cool right?
Chief Director Costa-Brown regarded him. "I would strongly recommend that you reconsider my offer to transfer to Los Angeles. It would be a promotion for your exemplary performance against Squirter. If we'd understood your full capabilities, we'd have never put in Brockton Bay. You'd be under the personal tutelage of Alexandria, and your father would be receiving the best health care the world has to offer."
"Brockton Bay is my home," said Clockblocker firmly.
Chief Director Costa-Brown stared. "I will not force you to transfer. But if you choose to stay, it will go on your record. It may permanently limit your ability to advance. The Protectorate is looking for capes committed to bettering themselves."
"That's fine," said Clockblocker. "I'm still staying."
Miss Militia's small smile was gone almost as soon as it appeared, but it was enough to reaffirm his decision. Brockton Bay was home. And he had unfinished business.
"Good," said their new local director. "Every cape helps. The Undersiders and the Empire will come into conflict. Difficult as it is, we'll remain neutral, only entertaining a few skirmishes to train the new recruits. Then we'll strike hard and fast, and drive the Undersiders out of Brockton Bay for good."
"Yeah," said Clockblocker. "We just lost to them with Dauntless and Armsmaster, but who needs 'em? We're replacing them with Uber and Leet, how can we possibly lose?"
"Firepower was never the issue," said the new director. "Your talents were improperly utilized. Piggot was a fine director, but she struggled to anticipate and counter enemy plans. I only ask for a chance. If I fail to deliver victory, I'll resign."
"You have my full confidence," said Chief Director Costa-Brown, standing from her seat at the head of the table, and staring at the new director. "I expect Brockton Bay to be free of villainy by the end of the month. Squirter and especially Panacea are to be taken alive or not at all. Capture them if you can, recruit them to your cause if possible, but your primary purpose is to ensure that they do not do anything that requires a trip to the birdcage or a kill order. In the case of an Endbringer attack, they are each individually larger assets than the rest of the entire branch. Make no mistake who I will sacrifice if you force my hand. No further changes will be made to your team. You will find a way to meet your goals with the people in the building. You've served the Protectorate faithfully so far, and whatever outsiders may think, you're saving lives."
"Yes ma'am," said the rest of the table.
"They're asking for the impossible," said Clockblocker, once he and Miss Militia were alone in the conference room. "This is totally fucked! They're setting you up to fail! They're treating goddam villains better than they're treating you!"
Miss Militia chuckled. "It's sweet that you're worrying about me, Dennis. I'll be fine."
Right, Miss Militia had been the one who'd gunned down the children at Immaculata High. She was a former child soldier, she'd fought in real wars, probably followed the orders of actual war lords. So yeah, Miss Militia wasn't gonna be fazed by a professional setback. Hard to remember how ruthless she could be because she wasn't a giant dildo.
She was just a hero. A leader Dennis would follow happily.
"I tagged her once," said Clockblocker. "I can do it again. She's not unbeatable."
"Perhaps," said Miss Militia. "But if you see her on patrol, only engage if she does first. Otherwise, retreat."
"Alright," said Clockblocker. He didn't need to give Miss Militia one more thing to worry about.
It took him about an hour to get from the Protectorate Headquarters, now underground, to the hospital holding Dad.
"I heard what you did," Dad said. "That you and Vista saved Brockton Bay and that you almost managed to clockblock the vile Squirter from her nefarious deeds."
Dennis grunted. He didn't remember any of it, and couldn't find it in himself to feel good about anything that had happened.
"Ehh," said Dad. "Maybe it's for the best that your clockblock didn't take, and the Squirter got her mark. There are worse things than killing terrorists, sex traffickers, and nazis."
Dennis hadn't told Dad that Everywhere was the reason he'd lost four of his fingers on his right hand and couldn't walk without crutches. Of course, she'd also saved his life... And Vista's… And fine, Assault, Triumph, and probably Kid Win too, credit where it's due. So yeah, he didn't really know how he felt about her.
Probably like Dad. She was kind of a dildo, but hey- there were definitely worse people out there, and if she wanted to take 'em down, fine by him.
"Like having a son with superpowers who still somehow can't land a girlfriend," said Dad chipperly. "But you're gonna get things turned around, now that you're a big shot. Women love war heroes."
"Can't unmask," said Dennis absently.
"You don't need to," said Dad. "You saved the city. You've accomplished more than most capes do in their entire career. You've got well-earned confidence, there's nothing more attractive than that."
Great. Talking about his sex life with his Dad, every boy's greatest dream. Actually it was kinda nice. Dad must've been feeling good if he was trying to be funny.
109/87. Ideally his blood pressure would be in the 120's, but still better than it had been in months. Blood oxygen at 96%, also the best in months. His skin was looking better and he was apparently well enough to use a pee bottle instead of a catheter. It was a good week, but there had been good weeks before. He hadn't started a new treatment, and the only cape who could realistically help him was…
"A couple girls came by earlier," said Dad cheerfully. "Wished me the best, and went on their way. They wanted me to give you this."
He handed Dennis an envelope with a little heart stamp attached to it.
"Did one of them have brown, curly hair?"
"No," said Dad. "Both of them were blonde. But the one who gave me the letter… Helluva job Dennis, helluva job."
Amy Dallon had worn a wig. Fuck, why would they…
Oh that's right. They needed someone on the inside, to take down a villain who'd infiltrated the Protectorate named Coil. At least according to Tattletale, the Undersiders were actually an unofficial branch of the Protectorate. Funny how all those important memories came back a few moments after he'd touched the envelope. It was almost as if they'd been tampered with so he could slip through master/stranger screening.
Inside the envelope was almost certainly a portal, along with the identity of the mysterious villain cape.
He waited until he was safely alone in a bathroom stall to open the envelope. Inside was a penny- which probably, totally wasn't an Everywhere death trap- and two words.
Thomas Calvert.
"So whaddya say?" Asked Tattletale. "Wanna help us kill your new boss?"
Everywhere glared at him from a corner of the stall, tall and spindly like a spider. "I don't trust you."
Clock's heart felt like it was gonna jump right out of his chest. So he was scared of Everywhere, she'd put a fucking spear through his legs and had to be talked out of scooping out his eyeballs. Maybe it had been an act to help him keep his cover, but it sure as hell had seemed genuine at the time.
"By the way," said Tattletale. "Don't tell your Dad he's healed. Our dearest director would pick up on it in a second, and have us both killed. Your dad's gonna make a slow but believable recovery instead."
"Coil can split a timeline and choose which one he prefers," said Everywhere. "And we're not sure how far his infiltration into the Protectorate goes."
"Or if it's even an infiltration," said Tattletale, shooting him a vulpine smile. "The Undersiders are but an unofficial branch of the Protectorate with much much higher pay, remember? You go tell Alexandria or Eidolon and maybe they help you out, or maybe they hang you out to dry for exposing their secrets."
"If Coil catches you," said Everywhere. "He will torture you, loop back to his previous save point, and torture you again. You wouldn't retain your memories, but you'd still have to live through the pain. Again and again and again-"
"Or his power may work via memories sent back of a hyper-realistic simulation," said Tattletale enthusiastically. "I'm agnostic as to whether the universes he creates are real or not. Same basic problem as solipsism, y'know?"
Everywhere shot Tattletale an annoyed look.
"Oh but he'll definitely kill you," said Tattletale cheerfully. "And us. So yeah, don't snitch, just put the penny we gave you somewhere near his office and we'll take care of the rest. Anywhere within 300 feet should be fine."
Was working with the Undersiders really a good idea? What evidence did he really have, other than Tattletale's word? Sure she'd been right about a lot of things, but now she was asking him to turn on his team, help take out the head of their branch, wasn't that exactly what a villain would do?
"Sure it is," said Tattletale. "But I've unmasked. I've given you my secret identity. If you think I'm taking you for a ride you can destroy me with a word."
"If you do that, or betray us in any other way, I'll kill you," said Everywhere. "I tagged you while you were unconscious. At any time, from anywhere, I can stri-"
"Not helping Tay," said Tattletale. "What might is giving him your identity. A sign of trus-"
"No," said Everywhere. "Trust isn't a reliable source of control. A mission statement is all well and good, but the reason people follow their boss's orders is because if they don't they'll be fired. If we're going to risk everyones' lives on his cooperation we need some consequences to ensure his obedience."
"Aww don't be like that Tay Tay," said Tattletale. "And don't worry about her threat. Her power doesn't work like that."
"Aww fuck it, I'll do it," said Clockblocker, before Tattletale could annoy Everywhere into killing him to make a point. He'd already made his decision when he'd blatantly lied to Armsmaster about having never met Everywhere. He trusted them on this. Simple as that.
"You're not going to ask for evidence?" Asked Everywhere.
"Naw," said Clockblocker. "I met ole' Thomas Calvert. He seemed all too happy to stab my favorite Pig in the back."
Director Piggot had been an asshole. She'd treated them like loose cannons, weapons who in a perfect world would be jailed. She'd kept her contempt private, but not hidden. Calvert talking shit about her wasn't exactly strange, but he'd seemed to fucking delight in trashing her. That wasn't even getting into the weird doublespeak going on between Costa-Brown and Calvert. When she'd told him not to kill Everywhere or Panacea had she been talking to Director Calvert or Coil?
"Awesome," said Tattletale. "Consider yourself an unofficial Undersider."
Everywhere gave a strangled grunt.
"First order of business. Gonna need a villain name," said Clockblocker. "Man-of-Pause? Secs Stopper?"
"Too similar to your old name," said Tattletale. "The Pink Pauser?"
"I'm not wearing pink," said Clockblocker, smirking. Maybe things would actually turn out alright, because for all their infamy, the Undersiders were just a bunch of teenagers, same as him.
Everywhere yanked him close. "Do you really understand the situation you're in? The Protectorate has been infiltrated. We don't know how high things go. Even if everything somehow goes right, you're going to have to defect once we make our move."
"I understand," said Clockblocker. "I'm still in."
Everywhere nodded.
It wasn't much of a decision. The fact of the matter was he believed them. The Protectorate had been… Infiltrated… And they were the only ones who could do anything about it. The fate of the city rested in their hands. Shit.
Brockton Bay was kinda fucked wasn't it? Because for all their infamy, the Undersiders were just a bunch of teenagers, same as him.