1.4
"I appreciate the… frankness of this meeting."
"Well, I did kinda kidnap you. You know you had a lot of capes in there, right?"
Roy forced himself to smile. Thankfully that was easier to do after taking a pull of the milkshake Bob, of Fugly Bob's fame, had comped him.
"I was aware. You do know most of them were there to actually see you, right?"
Fontaine shrugged.
"One of them said something rude to me."
"And how do you know that?" Roy was genuinely surprised to hear that. "I wasn't aware you spoke… other languages. Though I certainly do approve."
"A little French, not much, but I know enough to tell when someone is telling you to fuck off. Especially because I'd just walked in the door and pushed them out of the way..."
He considered how to respond. Still coming to grips with the events of the last hour. From the rather uncomfortable meeting he was having with the foreigner 'diplomats' to the subject of their discussion walking through the door and dragging him out for lunch, Roy didn't know what to make of it.
"And why was that necessary, if I may ask?"
"Because I don't think they get the whole 'villain' thing I have going on. They actually looked like they were ready for a fight the moment I showed up, so I dunno what they were told about me."
Probably that she'd killed a man before, if Roy were to guess.
"Ah. Well, it's a very good thing I had the city's insurance expanded after our last meeting, then."
That got a slight wince from Fontaine, the opera mask not exactly hiding her facial features. At least not when they were so close. Close enough to tell it was a new one too, different in design from the first she wore. The girl's entire costume had changed since her return to the city from Canberra.
Maybe because of Canberra.
"Consider the clean up and power washing my apology to the taxpayers."
He chuckled, appreciating the bluntness of things. It was much less stressful than being promised a senatorial seat if he could guarantee the president wouldn't be assassinated. As if he could control Fontaine any more than Rorke could control Eidolon!
"To be honest, it's not quite the same. But you have done a great deal for Brockton Bay. If nothing else, clearing out the Graveyard was a big help."
"I'm sensing a 'but' there."
"But." Roy agreed. "The city's budget isn't infinite. I'm happy to send work to the Union, God knows they deserve it for staying so clean for so long, but that comes from people who pay into the system. And until they start pulling in profits off that salvage, that's money that's essentially just being moved around. With the city taking a cut, too, because bureaucracy costs money."
"Meaning even if we have zero corruption and crime, there's still a loss on investment because you have to spend money to make money?"
A very slow nod was his answer.
"That is… one way to put it." One of the other diners coughed loudly, going pale when Fontaine looked at him. But she simply used her powers to levitate a full cup of ice water from the machine to his table. "Being honest, I know my administration isn't clean. Even if I do my best to stay squeaky, I still have backers, voters, and pressure groups to answer to."
"Don't you answer to the people?"
"The whole electorate doesn't vote for me." He paused, glad the man had recovered and the restaurant had mostly gone back to normal. "We're lucky to see about 30% turn out. And that's good. New York gets about 20% on their best years."
The young woman frowned, idly running a french fry through hot sauce before popping it in her mouth. She took the time to chew, carefully keeping her mouth closed and staying as quiet as possible.
It was strange, seeing someone so powerful acting just like a normal teenager.
Reassuring in some ways. Terrifying in others.
"Hmm. So the problem is only a really small amount of people actually participate, and that gives them influence?"
"Again, more or less. So long as I don't do anything spectacularly stupid, cowardly, or corrupt. Or am perceived to do."
Like getting continually kidnapped by a villain.
"Ok. I think I follow. Mostly I just wanted to make it clear that I'm not looking to take over the city, I don't wanna just… replace Lung or Kaiser."
Considering she was a young woman, perhaps tall for her age, and might have been a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet, and was sat there in what looked suspiciously like a costume he'd have sworn he'd seen in a BBU production of the The Masque of the Red Death, he mostly tried to force down the instinctive, paternalistic comment he wanted to make.
Not only could it have been taken as condescension, it would have plainly been unwise.
But that didn't mean it was easy.
The skirt and breeches and coat looked like a girl playing dress up with a drama club's costume room. Her cravat, though, he had been informed, had been given to her in Australia. After facing down Ziz.
'She may look like she's younger than Rory, she's a hundred times more powerful.' This… this girl isn't just a child. Not just a cape. She was the parahuman world's closest comparative to an atom bomb. And a friendly one.
Perhaps just as importantly, he reached a second conclusion.
'Screw the governor and screw the senate.'
Trying to parent a teenager just pisses them off. And he was certainly not going to try and play mind games. Morals aside, ethics aside, all considerations of what he stood to gain aside - Roy had a wife, a son, a very nice family, a very nice job, and he did not want to know what an angry water themed Eidolon could do to all of that.
"I'm glad to hear that. Surprisingly, most villains, self declared or otherwise, don't tend to be so sanguine about allowing the civil authorities to operate. At least not at first."
"I suppose they like having power and cable, too." That got a small laugh and Taylor figured it was time to share her idea with the mayor. At least he'd probably be more receptive now than later. "Well, what if I had something in mind?"
"Something?"
The mayor looked at her dubiously and Taylor wondered whether he expected her to spring some sort of evil scheme for world domination. Not that she was gonna bother with one, making herself responsible for everyone else felt like a terrible way to live.
She also made sure to ignore the titter in the back of her mind.
"Yes. It was actually something I was trying to do before the entire mess at Canberra. I was too tired to really bring it up after so I let it sit out for a bit." And of course there was the fact her father grounded her for going out to fight an Endbringer without telling him.
Or, well, being a villain without telling him.
Or blowing up her school pipes.
Wait no, the last part she hadn't told him about. Nor did she think he might particularly mind it.
"When you visited Newfoundland?"
"Ah, you know about that."
The mayor shrugged.
"It always pays to be well informed. But that doesn't tell me exactly what this plan of yours is."
And she was gonna get to that.
"Well, before I visited that place I was actually out and about looking for ships. More shipwrecks, to be precise. I wanted to see what else went unnoticed at the bottom of the ocean and mapped out a few sites before heading there, even if a lot of them were ruined after centuries underwater."
"Centuries? You aren't speaking about further shipbreaking?"
"Possibly. In fact, probably. I found a run of ships maybe an hour off the coast, looks like they were split in half stem to stern. Couldn't find much online, but what I did mentioned something about a villain from about twenty years ago."
"Oh! Siren and Samson! A duo, uh, she had a sort of ability to sense desires and the ability to manifest illusions of it. He had tinkertech based around, well, bones."
"How did they split ships in half?"
"A sort of air sword, as I understand it, but I'm afraid I don't know more. Maybe a call down to Boston could help, but it would take time to get the case files."
Taylor shook her head.
"No, thank you. If I do raise them it's best I not tell you."
"My thanks."
The mayor's laconic reply managed a laugh from the villainess, but instead of answering she finished her own sandwich. As it turns out, grease couldn't exactly stain a costume if you could simply will it not to fall on you. And that made it rather convenient to chow down on the double burger.
'Passing on fries is worth a big sandwich. That's totally how eating smart works.'
Her powers' rather sarcastic comment was promptly ignored. She was the goddess to be, after all, so she got to decide what was right, right?
'Right, I'm sure.'
'Oh hush. You like the food, too.'
'Well it's certainly… filling.'
Taking several napkins to clean her fingers, she finally turned the conversation to what she was most interested in.
"So, more about the ships. I mean raising old ones. I found the San Jose - and its cargo. Maybe the Gairsoppa. I also checked out the Titanic sites." She took a sip of her half and half tea. "There was a lot of stuff they missed. A few bodies, too, I think. Still looking for the Merchant Royal and the Flor de la Mar, though."
Slowly putting down his own fries, the grown man across from her went through several expressions, ultimately settling on something that seemed like pleasant acquiescence.
"I'm afraid you'll need to speak to someone higher up than me. That's… that's not something I can… speak to."
"I'm probably going to take the San Jose."
"Wouldn't the… the-"
"Columbians."
"Yes, wouldn't the Columbian's object?"
She shrugged.
"Like you said, bureaucracy costs money. They can have the historical artifacts, might give them some legitimacy, let them rally a bit more support for their side of the civil war. And no one goes in the water much these days because of Leviathan. Besides, I'm probably going to start lifting up everything that isn't considered a historical monument. You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff lost in rivers or mud plains."
"Rivers?" His voice sounded very small. "Oh, right, your range."
"I'm pretty sure I know exactly where the Edmund Fitzgerald is."
He swallowed.
"I know about that one from a song."
"Yup. My dad's a Lightfoot fan." She pinched herself. "Pretend you didn't hear me say that, please."
"No problem."
Hearing his voice crack a little, Taylor decided that, even if she had gotten a bit too casual, she should probably keep from breaking the poor guy. After all, it wasn't often you got told a local was about to piss off half a dozen other countries. And implicit in doing so was that not a single one of those nations would do jack shit about it other than bitch and moan.
Which was probably gonna hit his desk.
"Still, this is mostly about practice. I want to start building my base off the north coast of the Bay. Maybe a couple of miles outside of town."
"Base? You're building on the city?"
She rolled her eyes at the overreaction.
"Not in the city proper. Off shore. I plan on working out the rest of the details later. But that way anyone looking for me isn't gonna start a fight in the middle of downtown like last time." Giving the crazies an actual target and the authorities a place to find her was the idea.
'And getting your own place has nothing to do with it?'
Taylor bit the inside of her cheek to keep from blurting out a response in front of the Mayor.
Besides it was a joint decision made with her powers, and her dad's advice.
'And you still agreed to it because having your own palace off the coast was something you couldn't resist. Not that I don't see the appeal. Why, when we first built the Parlais Mermonia, the amount of suggestions we got for inner decorations and designs were…'
And there she went, tuning her powers away as she rambled on.
As interesting as it might have been, she didn't want to ignore the man she totally didn't kidnap for too long. Not when she was starting to hear police sirens outside and the people who'd been eating alongside them slowly started leaving.
"Are there any other pieces of shocking news you'd like to drop on me?"
"Oh, other than the museum I thought we should put together with the stuff I drag in, I figured I'd buy old hulks from just about everyone and anyone who'll sell them, haul them up here, then let the city, uh, 'dispose' of them for me. Think that'll work out in terms of budget?"
"I think that you're going to face issues there." It was apparent the man across from her was choosing his words carefully. "And things aren't going to go… perfectly smoothly."
Well, she figured that would be a bust.
But hey, that just meant more credit for her when she went and did it anyway. Probably more countries angry at her for invading their waters, too.
'Look alive, Taylor, it seems your audience has arrived.'
Watching a very perfectly nondescript guy tense up when she got told no, Taylor didn't need Focalors to pick up on the fact her audience probably wasn't civilians anymore.
"Well, Mr. Mayor. I think your security detail has arrived. Don't need to give them a heart attack, do you?"
Glancing over at the man in question, he just waved him over. Causing the young man to, rather visibly worried, struggle not to reach for what Fontaine assumed was a concealed handgun.
"Mind if I buy him a burger? We're probably going to be here for a while. There's, uh, a discussion we need to have. Pertinent to your… diplomatic aspirations. And several things I need to tell you to ask Director Piggot about. Peacefully." He paused, several bills in his outstretched hand. "Please make an appointment. Please?"
She nodded, terribly amused, and watched him visibly relax as he told the guard, apparently going by Julius, a name the mayor stuttered over and probably came up with on the spot in an attempt to offer him privacy, to buy his team something to eat and asked them to wait outside.
His kidnapping was a cape issue, meaning it was a PRT and Protectorate issue.
And yes it was okay that they weren't going to act unless it looked like he was imminent danger.
It was also perfectly fine that they weren't going to try and pressure Fontaine into surrendering - he very much appreciated that in fact.
Frankly, she was quite impressed at both how patient and reasonable he was when grappling with the poor bastard in charge of keeping him safe in a city with someone like her. And Kaiser and previously Lung and also Uber and Leet, who could be surprisingly dangerous when they weren't being stupid.
'I think I'll vote for him in the next election. I should be… eighteen by then? I think that's when he's up for it again?'
If she were still alive by then, that is.
"So, did he tell you anything interesting?"
The stressed out politician just smiled, thinly, taking a sip from his by then lukewarm milkshake.
"The Protectorate has apparently sent out a warning that they would be moving in, and the police are withdrawing to let the PRT handle the… uhh… hostage situation."
"I'm not really asking for any ransom though?"
He gave her a doubting look.
"Aren't you? From beginning to end this conversation has been all about what we can do for each other, no? And you quite literally have me at a disadvantage no matter how well intentioned you were."
Well, there was that and the fact she was a villain, so at least the authorities were reacting the way they were supposed to.
"If you don't have anything else to talk to me about, you can walk away with the others. I promise you weren't actually in any danger."
"And what about you?"
Taylor shrugged.
"My next appointment is here, so I should make some room for them."
There was a brief moment of silence as the mayor processed what she' just said. Perhaps he was surprised at the gall she had to treat his abduction as just another way to get the PRT to come to her, or maybe it was the fact she probably didn't mean to do it at all and was just taking advantage of the opportunity that presented itself.
"I'll be seeing myself out, then."
"Thank you for the chat, Mayor. It was enlightening." She smiled awkwardly, trying her best to look reassuring as the man gave her an appreciative nod and walked out the door, steps growing more hurried as he drew farther and farther away.
There must have been a couple dozen people outside, and Taylor could spy half the local Protectorate team as they stepped out through the crowd of law enforcement to approach the fast food joint she'd made into her stronghold.
"It all ended up working out, don't you think?"
Her powers groaned in exasperation.
'The parts you winged? The parts you had no idea actually were part of the plan? Or the part where you panicked and kidnapped a man because you don't like public speaking?'
The villainess Fontaine simply shrugged as she watched a familiar man dressed in armor walk towards the door.
Her powers knew the answer to those questions was 'Yes'.
Hannah thought there was something off lately.
But not in a bad way.
Ever since Fontaine arrived and threw the entire city for a loop, it was hard to foresee what exactly would be happening at any given time. Whereas before there was a certainty to how Brockton Bay worked, even if things could get chaotic every once in a while, the uncertainty brought about by Fontaine wasn't something she thought a good thing.
At least at the start.
"Fontaine, would you mind explaining to us what exactly this was all about?"
The girl across from them, the source of all chaos and uncertainty, shrugged lightly.
"I just wanted to talk."
Beside her, Velocity seemed to bite back a snort as Armsmaster communicated with the young villain inside the fast food diner. The girl who hadn't even moved from her table and was still enjoying her french fries while talking to them through the door.
"Just to talk? I'm sure there were better ways to do it than walking up to town hall and pulling him from a meeting." Most people would be feeling pressured, having Armsmaster lean over them like this, demanding answers. The man's presence could be quite stifling at times.
The teenager, however, didn't seem to quite care.
"I didn't want to wait. I have a project coming up soon and needed his opinion. Besides, I doubt he was comfortable surrounded by all those strange people. They seemed really pushy."
Humming noncommittally, it was clear her leader wasn't exactly impressed and Hana herself was wondering if he was taking this challenge well or if he was just stressed.
"You know, normally I wouldn't do this. But since he refused to evacuate, I'm gonna get a burger." Velocity walked forward, with all the care in the world. "Anyone want anything?"
'Oh no, Assault is rubbing off on him.'
"It's my fuckin' store. Besides, she's not busting anything up." Fugly Bob, wielding a spatula like it was a knife, told them all what he thought about the BS going on in his story. "And all you guys are paying full price. Normally I give vets and heroes a discount, but since you scared all my customers off, you're all spending at least fifteen bucks or it's loitering!"
"So long as you don't skimp out on the mayo this time. Your sandwiches are getting drier by the week, old timer."
The villainess, naturally, backtalked.
"I'll put on exactly as much mayo as I damn want, you little hooligan."
Hannah sighed, resolving herself to just accept that she now lived in a city where a fast food cook could backtalk with the endbringer level parahuman and nothing happened.
Instead, she leafed through the menu in search of something that wouldn't ruin her waist or her stomach.
'You know what, screw it.' Life was insane anyways, hangover food without the hangover was still good. "I'll take a double with cheese, extra on the onions, and toast the bun, please. Large fry and diet coke to drink."
"No one actually likes diet coke." Assault elbowed her. "If you're gonna do something bad, do something bad."
"Ignore him. Please."
His wife dragged the poor speedster away for what she was sure was going to be something about remaining professional in front of the villains.
He just called out.
"We'll take the usual, Bob!"
And Hana watched her boss just… sag a little.
"So. Fontaine. Is this… what is it that you want? You did let almost all your hostages go."
"Not a hostage big guy, and what do you want? You gotta buy something too!"
The fry cook, sticking his head out of the kitchen, waited patiently while Armsmaster settled on three chicken sandwiches, mustard and no may, with extra pickles. Fontaine was kind enough to wait for the armored Tinker to turn back around and continue their conversation.
"I suppose I should inform you all of my planned expansions. Unfortunately the details still need to be worked out with the mayor."
Curious, Hana had to ask the obvious question, her weapon now little more than a simple taser spinning around her finger.
"You want to take Boston?"
"Boston?" Blinking owlishly, the villain suddenly waved her hands. "No, no, no. I mean I'm going to build a - well, you'll see. I don't want to spoil the surprise!"
"So an actual building? Or an expansion of a building? Are you telling us you want to build a villainous lair?"
By now, it was clear that Colin was having a genuinely hard time struggling with what everyone was discussing. It was like he simply couldn't understand what was happening.
But she… thought she did. At least a little.
Glancing out the window, and seeing exactly zero journalists and a very strong cordon, she walked over a put a hand on his shoulder.
"I think the girl thinks this is the Golden Age."
"It would be nice-" Fontaine said. "If we put up a statue of Vikaire. The man got powers, decided to stand up for what was right, and then mostly seems to be forgotten."
"So you grabbed the mayor to get him to put up a statue?" Armsmaster seemed a little incredulous. "If it was just that, you could have called the PRT. Or the Protectorate. We have the discretionary budget for that."
It seemed like he was genuinely frustrated. Perhaps because of the girl's youth, perhaps because of her disregard for the Unwritten Rules. Perhaps simply because she'd saved his life in Canberra - a place he'd gone specifically to help the Tinker institute there as much as he could.
"I was planning to, but then you guys showed up here anyway so I figured I'd get this meeting done too. A two birds with one stone deal. Really, the plan turned out better than I could have hoped for."
And of course, like a teenager who couldn't bear to have their mistakes poked at, the all too powerful girl seemed intent on behaving like this was all part of her plan.
Not that Militia believed her.
She worked with the Wards. She knew better than to trust a word of what they said.
"Mmhmm."
Hana crossed her arms.
"I did!"
Fontaine's response did not inspire confidence.
"I'm serious. I need to be seen with you guys more often. Apparently a bunch of Nazis have been claiming me on PHO and F-folks have been telling me that just going and hitting them won't work. Apparently, they're more entrenched into the city than the ABB were and just hitting Kaiser won't actually get rid of his influence, even if it would be funny."
"So are you asking us to help you defeat the only other major villains in the Bay?"
Armsmaster almost sounded like he was relieved, if only because then the world would start making a little more sense.
"Hmm. Maybe. Unfortunately, the other advice I was given was that the only way to root out the influence of an entrenched paramilitary criminal organization was going door to door and digging them out. And things aren't bad enough to do that."
The unspoken "yet" was perhaps a bit pointed, or so she thought, but Miss Militia could appreciate the sentiment. Things were at a nadir in terms of criminality. Even if non-powered crime was starting to get back up and running. It had been a breath of fresh air and even allowed the BBPD to focus on some of the less serious issues that had built up.
But that didn't mean she was eager for another one of Fontaine's 'rampages'.
The last time she rooted out a gang from the city, the damage had been considerable and many wondered whether she was doing it in a bid to establish herself as the sole power in Brockton. Doing it again to the other major group wouldn't put such people at ease.
If anything it would make the Director even more stressed about what the hydrokinetic was hoping to accomplish.
And the Empire were much more dangerous than Lung, in her own opinion. Because no matter how powerful a single cape was, most of them couldn't be in two places at once, or carry out maneuvers in groups.
Never mind the issue of the amount of powers to consider and how many people might get caught in the crossfire of an all out war.
"We would appreciate it if you held off on trying to 'deal' with the Empire for the time being. At least until we are certain we won't be getting a repeat of the incident with Oni Lee."
The younger girl scoffed.
"I'm much better now at using my powers than I was back then. So I won't squash someone by mistake this time."
The 'this time' was precisely what Militia was afraid of.
"Then before you begin operations, we should discuss the matter." Armsmaster, in between bites of his chicken sandwich, spoke with a surprising amount of calmness. "If only to make sure we minimize the danger to civilians."
She wanted to laugh.
It was genius.
"A meeting, then, with a formal appointment and a red carpet."
Offering legitimacy, allowing access to the levers of the system, and slowing Fontaine down with the system itself.
"Indeed. You've already proved more than willing and able to coordinate with PRT troopers and Miss Militia, as well as communicate with Velocity. Let's make this work out for the city."
And with Fontaine's slow nod, Hana had to give it to Colin. He might have just saved Brockton Bay. Or at least given them time to keep innocents out of the line of fire.