2/24/11 - Night

"Alex! Take this one!" Vista said, bringing a civilian to a PRT trooper. Vista glanced at the man-dragon further away from where she was. Under the half-moon, it was huge now, around two stories tall. She'd never seen Lung get this tall before. At least, not in real life. He was bigger in Kyushu.

Around him, Fenja and Menja, far taller than he was, continued to duke it out with him. However, he was too agile for them. They exchanged speed for defense, as Lung couldn't beat their mitigation, but he could at least dodge them. If the women decided to shrink, it meant compromising their defense.

However, that didn't mean Lung had to worry about just them. Lasers of light bent around Fenja and tried to hit Lung before he could hit Fenja. Where was Gallant? He was there somewhere, and-

"Vista, focus!" Kid Win called out in her earpiece. "We need you here!"

"S-sorry!"

She focused on her powers again and shrunk a top layer of rubble as Clockblocker used his powers on the next piece of rubble to stop it from falling. Here she was, working on search-and-rescue. Again. Meanwhile, that bit- Shadow Stalker was out there, fighting Empire or ABB gangbangers.

"Civilian!" a trooper called out from her left. Beside the trooper, there were two pieces of rubble, one leaning against the other so they wouldn't topple over.

"Clockblocker, I need your power here!" Clockblocker and she ran towards the trooper. Clockblocker tapped one piece while Vista shrunk the other.

The civilian crawled free and was led away by the trooper after thanking the two of them.

Well, maybe this wasn't so bad.

-.-

Lung roared as he spat fire at Fenja, and she buckled down with her shield. Menja rushed towards him and tried to swipe with her shield. Lung used his tail to parry, hitting the flat side of side of her spear. Successful, but before he could capitalize on it, Purity fired her lasers, forcing him to back away. Then, he had to step away even more when Armsmaster nicked him with his sword. Gallant sent some of his blasts at him, but it didn't work on him.

Good. He was still growing tougher. Armsmaster's sword nearly tore through his arm before.

He looked around in a moment of breath. Fuck, it's still all the usual gwailo, nothing new like this new joke of a cape. He's been sending out people, scouting for any kind of info, but with how many people left the ABB and the scarcity of information, he hasn't gotten any information about Joker.

He has to be a strong Master/Stranger to change Kaiser's heart and not get detected by both the Empire and PRT, but for a guy that only hits gangs, he has to lean towards a hero. So, when Joker changed Kaiser's heart, he had an idea: he'd rampage across the city to get Joker's attention. He'll hold the entire city hostage to stop the change of heart.

But, he couldn't do it when didn't ramp up. He had Kaito hurt him, making him feel in danger to get stronger. And so, when he began rampaging against the Empire, he had already been nearly halfway to his power against the Leviathan. The PRT may have beaten him before, but that was an ambush when he didn't even have the time to use his powers. But now? Now, the PRT has no chance of victory, and without Kaiser, those Nazis can't do shit against him, too.

Lung roared once more, leaping towards the four capes in front of him.

If Joker won't show up, then the city burns tonight.

-.-

Aegis blocked a punch from Victor. "We're trying to save people, and you're stopping us?!"

"Then let the Empire members go!"

"Like we'd let them, fucking Nazis!" Shadow Stalker yelled, appearing next to Victor, a tranquilizer prepped in her hands. However, before she could use it, Rune sent a piece of rubble flying to stop her. "Fine, you'll get it first, bitch!"

Hearing Shadow Stalker's threat, Victor attempted to kick her away, but Triumph pushed him away with a shout.

"These civilians need help!" Triumph yelled. "For once in your life, can't you prioritize them over some stupid shit?!"

"Then stop arresting our people!" Othala yelled back.

Shadow Stalker growled. "What makes you-"

"Fine," Aegis said, and Shadow Stalker's head snapped to him. "Just help us get these people out of here."

Shadow Stalker's fingers clamped on Aegis' shoulders. "What the fuck, Aegis! They're right in front of us!"

Aegis swiped his hands all around him. "Because these people need help! Right now, we don't know if Armsmaster can even stop Lung as he is now. I'd rather get these people away from here before Lung actually burns through the rest of the city!" He sighed. "These people need us, Shadow Stalker."

Aegis could practically hear her grind her teeth together, despite the noise around them. She growled once more and turned away, using her powers to put distance between her and the Empire capes.

"Well, there's that, I guess." Aegis sighed before turning towards Victor. "There you have it. We won't arrest any members until this is resolved. On the other hand, can you help us get these people to safety?"

"This is our territory," Victor said. "That was the plan from the start."

Othala tapped Rune, and Rune flew away. Meanwhile, Othala and Victor ran to follow her.

"This is such a shitshow..."

'I wonder what Director Piggot's going to say...'

-.-

Lung roared once more, and Gallant had gotten tired of it. He's been doing it for the past, what, ten minutes? Had he already lost his mind? He remembered Lung screaming out Purity's name a few minutes ago. At this point, Lung had what seemed like two arms sprouting on his sides.

He could see rage consume Lung, and he shot a wave of calming blasts, but it didn't work.

"Armsmaster, sir," he called out to his earpiece. "This is the third time I've used my powers on Lung; it's not working anymore."

"Confirmed. What can you see when you look at Lung?"

"A lot of anger."

Lung roared again, but something was different about that one. Gallant could still see anger, but it was getting replaced by-

'Guilt...?'

Lung cried out, and he began to shrink slowly. He continued to scream out into the smoke and ash. No one moved, not even Purity. Gallant could tell she was apprehensive, but whatever was happening baffled her, too.

"Sir, do you think this is..."

"But how would Joker manage to get near him? We fought Lung for nearly half an hour."

Lung was ten feet now. Rather than the complete dragon he was before, he was far more human now. Sure, he was still huge, but he at least only had two arms now. There was some remnant of his wings still there, but they had lost the leathery skin and were now just bones.

Eight feet.

He began losing the scales, and the wings fell off.

He was- 'Was he sobbing?'

He was sobbing. Lung was sobbing.

"What the fuck...?" Menja asked.

Six feet.

Lung was in his human form now. He'd lost his mask, and his clothes too since his dragon form broke them.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

In front of Gallant was a crying man, pleading for forgiveness.

The Dragon. The Cape that could stand against an Endbringer.

He was reduced to a sobbing man.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Guilt consumed him now.

"Kill him!" Purity shrieked. She began to charge light on her hands and flew towards Lung. He could feel the ground tremor as Menja rushed at Lung.

"Sir, I can't see anything but Lung feeling guilty! If they attack him now, he could die! He can't defend himself!"

Armsmaster shot forward and swung his sword. Metal rang out, and Armsmaster's sword stopped Menja's charge.

But Purity was still-

Gallant shot concussive blasts at Purity, and she recoiled in the air. It didn't stop her from charging. She threw the helix of light.

His blasts couldn't stop Purity's beams. It can't even slow them down.

Armsmaster was still in the middle of fighting off Menja.

Lung was going to die, and there was nothing he could do.

The world rippled.

"Sorry, no. I don't think he's dying today."

A hand holding a knife appeared out of thin air and deflected the helix.

"What?"

Lung even paused from his sobs and looked behind him.

The hand kept extending out. Next came the arm. Elbow. Shoulder. Eventually, a full person.

The man wore a black ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat, black pants, and brown-black shoes. On his face was a domino mask and his red gloves held the knife. A tired smirk rested on his face.

"Come on, mind not killing him when he just got his heart changed?"

Purity began charging light in her hands again. "Who are you?"

The man tilted his head. "Aw, I thought you'd recognize me. After all, it seemed like the entire city knew me already."

"Like I've ever seen you before!" Purity fired light, but he parried them with the knife again.

"Come on, I already showed this trick. Mind giving me better material?"

"Fuck you!" Purity shrieked. "He deserves to die!"

"Just like Kaiser?"

Purity stalled mid-air. "What?"

"I asked if Kaiser deserves to die, too," the man repeated. "He's done a lot of damage to people, just like Lung."

"That's because-"

"If you're going to say it's because Lung is Asian, save it. Everyone deserves a second chance, whether you like it or not," the man said.

"Who are you to decide that?" Purity asked. She kept charging light on her hands but didn't fire them. "I've never seen you in the city before."

The man rubbed the back of his head with a laugh. "I guess I haven't really made an appearance... My name is Joker, the Phantom Thief!"

Purity screamed as beams of light swallowed Joker and Lung. "Bring Kaiser back!"

When the light died out, Joker and Lung were unharmed. Gallant could see the light carved the ground around them.

"Console, did you catch all that?" he asked.

"We do, Gallant. Keep your camera facing him. It's recording, right?"

"Always."

"Sorry, but no can do!" Joker said with a shrug. "That's not how this works. Everything after a change of heart is up to the person."

"What, you expect me to believe that Kaiser would gladly surrender himself to the PRT?! He'd never!"

"You've only ever known him the way he is now. It makes sense you wouldn't know how weak Kaiser really is beneath his want of authority," Joker said, causing Purity to growl. "You know he's very manipulative. But, have you ever talked to the man that didn't want to control everything, no matter the expense?"

Purity collided with Joker, but he brought up his knife just in time to defend himself. He deflected her again, and-

A part of her costume was gone?

The light on her arm was gone, now replaced by just a normal woman's arm. Purity's body flashed again, and her arm was light again.

"What did you do?"

Joker hummed. "So, your entire body's wrapped in light, huh? I really don't think you should do that again if you don't have a mask on unless you're okay getting unmasked?"

"Fuck you!" Light shot forward, but Joker swiped it away when it got close.

"Seriously, this is what, the third time? You're not going to hurt me at all like this."

The ground shook as a ten-foot Fenja rushed forward, and Joker defended himself, taking on her sword with his dagger.

"Okay, seriously, you too?" His hand twisted, and her sword fell to his side. Before Fenja could bring it up, Joker dropped an axe kick, pushing the sword even deeper into the ground. "Lady, your shield arm is practically burnt. Are you sure about continuing this?!"

Purity's light hit him from behind, but it changed direction, dissipating afterwards.

Lung yelled, now an eight-foot draconic human, and tackled Fenja. She lost grip of her sword.

"Lung, thanks, but I really don't think you're in the shape to fight!" Joker yelled.

"It doesn't matter! I cannot atone if I die here!" Lung yelled back as he continued to wrestle with Fenja.

"Hey Gallant!" Joker called out, taking his attention. "Can your blasts defend against Purity's lasers?

"No way! Those things are just as strong as Legend's lasers!"

Joker pouted. "Ah man, seriously?"

"If anything, I'm more surprised you're just deflecting them!"

"Eh, don't worry about that part," Joker said with a shrug before twirling to meet Purity's beams again. "Fine then! Might as well show-off during my debut!

"The audience wants a show, so let's give them a show, Raoul!"

Joker's face was swallowed by a blue flame. From that blue flame, a shape began to take form behind Joker. A metallic demon appeared behind him. It had mechanical black and yellow bat wings, far bigger than its own body, made of leather and metal. It wore an open vivid red jacket with gold accents. Beneath the jacket was a white shirt paired with a black tie. It had black pants with a black belt and gold buckle. Golden studs decorated its high-high boots, and it had long-bladed heels.

A secondary Master effect?

Purity fired off another beam, but this time, Joker dodged instead of hitting with his dagger.

"Raoul, let's give them a Phantom Show!"

The monster, Raoul, flew up to the sky, and Purity began to back away to defend herself, whatever was coming. Raoul held up his hands, as if cupping the half-moon. Energy gathered in its hands and a completed moon formed. Light erupted from it, showering the area in moonlight, and Gallant had to shield his eyes away.

When it finished, he heard a thump on the ground. By the time he opened his eyes, he saw Purity asleep on the ground, the light dimming around her body.

"Oops!" Joker yelled, putting his cloak over her body. "Didn't think she'd go out without an actual costume, but here we are, I guess. Sorry Gallant, I'm not going to let you see her without her light."

Well, at least Joker was willing to observe the Unwritten Rules.

"T-that's fine..." Gallant looked at the others, and both Fenja and Lung were also asleep. Did the light knock them out? "What did you do?"

Joker shrugged. "Just made them fall asleep. Think you can drag Lung and Armsmaster away from here?" Gallant glanced at where Menja and Armsmaster fought, and they were asleep as well.

"And let the Empire go?" Gallant asked, taking a stance. He didn't know Joker's powers, but it seemed like he could summon a minion that caused people to sleep under some sort of light and deflect light. Were his powers light-based? "You know I can't do that."

"Let's say you do arrest Purity, Menja, and Fenja tonight, on top of Lung," Joker said. "Can the PRT handle an attack from the rest of the Empire while also keeping the former three in check? We're not even taking Oni Lee in the equation, you know."

Gallant gulped. If the Empire and ABB attacked the PRT at the same time while containing Purity, Menja, and Fenja, they'll be defending between two fronts.

"They still need to be taken in."

"And there's a thing about being too greedy, you know," Joker said with a sigh. "Fine, then what about a deal? You let the three go, and I heal the people here?"

That stunned Gallant for a moment. "You can heal?"

Joker smirked. "Already been healing. I'm not sure how much you know, but I've heard Panacea's been having more day offs for the past month."

"Y-you're the one going around the hospitals to heal people?" Gallant heard of it through Vicky: a rogue was healing patients in the hospitals, and with fewer people requiring Panacea's help, Vicky was hanging out with her sister more often. "You know you have to ask for consent, right? I can't let you heal without approval either."

Joker scratched his head. "Man, this is why I hate bureaucracy."

"The rules exist so powers aren't abused, just like what you've been doing! Healing without consent, Mastering guilt into your targets... You abused your powers on others."

"The rules only work if people follow them," Joker countered. "These capes ignore those rules and keep getting away with their crimes. If I didn't do what I did, then they would have kept going. The people out there, the ones that can't fight back, they need help now. They're scared of these capes as they keep getting away with what they do. I can't sit back and watch injustice just go like that.

"Maybe what I'm doing isn't right. But if the good guys can't stop them because of these rules, then I'm stepping in."

Gallant felt clammy. He could see Joker meant well, but he wasn't using his powers for good.

"That still doesn't mean you can go around using your powers like you've always been."

He took a fighting stance, and Joker shifted his feet.

"And what are you going to do?"

"You're under arrest, Joker. For using your powers on patients without consent and Mastering not only capes but non-parahumans, too."

Joker sighed. "I like you, Gallant. I really do. But you tend to see things in black and white. The world would be much simpler if it were, but it's not."

Gallant shot blasts of tired and sleepy emotions. Joker already felt tired as he was. Just a bit more, and maybe Joker would be too tired to fight back. Joker ran to the side, dodging the blasts before rushing forward, knife first. Gallant shot another blast, but he prepared to jump out of the way. This time Joker slid to the side before continuing onward, not losing speed.

"Console, when can I expect back-up?!"

"Vista's on her way!"

Gallant kicked, and a wave of emotion blasted forward. Joker kept running forward and then ducked, sliding underneath.

Gallant backpedaled, making sure to try and keep some space between them. He didn't know how Joker's powers caused a change of heart, but he wasn't using whatever projection caused the others to sleep.

He powered up his powers in his fingers, each one with a random emotion. He positioned his hands towards Joker and clapped. The beams created a wall on each side of Joker and closed in on him.

However, Joker kept going, undisturbed by his powers.

His continued charge stunned Gallant. 'Some immunity to Master abilities?'

That one moment allowed Joker to be right in front of him. He saw Joker's fist close in on his head. He could see his golden-yellow eyes look at him with determination. Surprisingly, there was no hatred in there.

And then, Joker was far away, very far away.

"You won't get near him anymore," Vista said as she landed next to Gallant.

He sighed in thanks. That was close, too close.

"Be careful," he said to Vista. "My powers didn't work on him. Neither did Purity's. He can also summon projections."

Vista's face turned to him for a moment before focusing on Joker. "So, two Master abilities and Brute?"

"More Shaker than Brute; he reflected Purity's light beams."

Joker waved at them like a friend saying hello, causing Vista to extend the distance between them again.

"Are you guys done talking?" he shouted. "I'm not here to fight the PRT, especially the Wards. Thieves like me don't like being front-and-center."

"Then why appear at all?" Gallant asked.

"I already said: Lung doesn't deserve to die. Purity was about to kill him, and I'm not letting that happen."

Vista looked around, and the situation began to dawn on her. "Did he beat everyone else here?"

Gallant nodded. "His projection had some sort of Master-Blaster effect that caused them to sleep."

"He's a grab-bag cape?"

"Console to Gallant and Vista. Stand down. Aegis struck a truce with Victor for tonight. We can't arrest the capes, and they're on their way."

"We can still arrest Joker. He's right in front of us!"

Joker waved again. "You know I can get out of this, right? You saw how I got here, right?"

His words finally dawned on Gallant. He completely forgot since he immediately fought Purity and began showing off his powers.

"He's a Mover!" He teleported right behind Lung to protect him.

Joker nodded as he began to ripple and disappear. Vista and Gallant began searching around the area to see if he'd pop up again.

"I'm right here."

Gallant whipped around and blasted him, but he dodged to the side again.

"Look, I'm just going to go around healing people then go home. Waiting for your approval will take too long, so I'm going ahead," Joker said before looking into the distance. "Victor is coming, right? And Aegis had some sort of deal with him? Then I don't have to worry about those three. They don't seem to be too hurt, and nothing seems permanent; they should heal over time- Wait, no, Fenja needs healing now. Maria."

An ivory woman with statues of a lion, a fish, an eagle, a bull, and - a dinosaur? - appeared behind Joker, just as the first projection did. The woman raised her hands and a green light appeared above her.

"Vista!" Gallant screamed, hugging Vista. He hoped to protect her from the sleeping power Joker had.

Vista shrieked as the green light surrounded the area.

One second.

Two seconds.

Gallant opened his eyes as his body began to relax. "Vista?" Vista's mouth kept opening and closing like a fish. "Vista, are you okay?!" he yelled.

"Huh? Huh?" She gulped in air as she began to breathe in. Embarrassment. Happiness. That is a lot of happiness.

"Oh, right, sorry," he murmured before slowly letting go of her. Disappointment.

...She'll have to deal with that on her own.

For now, he faced Joker again. The projection disappeared into blue flames.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"I healed Fenja and as many as I can in the area," Joker simply replied. "Everyone's burns should have disappeared, at least."

"You're a healer?" Vista asked. It seemed like the embarrassment disappeared.

Joker nodded with a smile. "Yeah, though that was the first time I had to heal in such a large area." He sighed. "Seriously, I'm pooped; that's it for me."

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

Joker looked at him in confusion. "Go home, what else? It's late. See ya." The air around him rippled as he disappeared.

"..."

"..."

"He's totally different from how I thought he would..." Vista murmured. Annoyance. Curiosity.

Gallant nodded. "I didn't think he'd be so young."

"The way the calling cards were written like the person was older, or at least had some sort of bigger than life aura."

Gallant agreed. "But instead, he's a bit whimsical and talkative, taking things in stride."

"I don't think I'll like the write-up for tonight..."

"Me neither..."

-.-

Thomas kept his breathing steady as he sat in front of the console in the PHQ. He had to, despite the nightmare that he found himself in. He watched over multiple screens, ready to react if something were to happen. However, ever since Joker left the area, it's been calm. Even when Victor and Aegis appeared to take their own teams, they separated in peaceful terms, for whatever the definition is for tonight.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

He split the timelines. In one, he asked Vista to bend space so the five of them could reach the PRT troopers faster. In another, he asked the troopers to reach their locations. Both timelines worked just fine. He closed the former timeline.

His powers worked.

So why did it fail before?

When he made the call for Gallant to keep the camera facing Joker, he split the timeline. The first timeline, he asked Gallant to keep watching. If anything were to happen and Joker showed weakness, he'd close this timeline and then tell Gallant what to do in the other timeline. In that other timeline, Gallant would fight with Purity to take Joker down.

However, he couldn't break the first timeline. Instead, he was forced to keep watching in horror as his powers failed for the first time in his life. He tried to view the other timeline, but it was gone. He could still feel it, but he couldn't reach it anymore. He was railroaded to the first timeline.

And so, he kept silent, watching through Gallant's camera Joker's fight with Purity.

Despite Joker's lackadaisical attitude, he was experienced and focused. His movements were sharp and clean. He might have some sort of battle Thinker ability. He showed worry, even against enemies, clearly showing his heroic lean. He even showed some intelligence. He knew the PRT would be too stretched fighting enemies outside the PHQ while trying to contain any prisoners in the level of Purity and the Valkyrie twins. That's not even mentioning his two Masters, Mover, Shaker healing, what could possibly be a Shaker defense, and Master-nullifying abilities.

Joker was too much, far too much.

Would he be a valuable tool? Can he be controlled?

No.

Joker could stop his powers. That is more than enough reason to not keep him around.

He had to die.

Thomas remembered something. There was a girl that frequented the hospital, something about headaches, for a few months now. Maybe he should keep a closer eye to that one.