1.1
Taylor thought something might have changed once she got back home.
Aside from the obvious of course.
Having her secret figured out by her father because he recognized the clothes she was wearing felt like pure irony. Because of course the person who loved mom as much as Taylor did would be the one to remember about them and then figure out who was wearing it.
The opera mask unfortunately didn't obscure her face that much.
Still, that didn't mean her life as Fontaine changed that much. Sure, the first few days were kinda tense and it felt like the entire cape population of Brockton Bay was doing their level best to avoid her like that plague, but after the first week, Taylor finally decided she waited enough and started being proactive again.
Well, that and she was finally let off house arrest.
"Hey, Velocity. It's, well, me. I figured you guys would appreciate a notice of my…impending rampage? In about twenty minutes or so, starting at Easter and 18th Street, then over to Franklin and North Franklin."
Fontaine winced slightly, because she knew how that sounded. And having met Velocity face to face made things a smidge complicated. He actually looked like a nice guy, even if he imagined him a bit older than he actually looked.
"Uh, should we send someone to stop you?"
The confusion in his voice made things a bit better, ironically enough, because it sounded like he was actually picking up on what she was implying.
Communication! Actual communication!
Focalors couldn't tease her that anymore!
"Yes!" Trying not to sound quite so eager, the (self-declared) villainess toned her response down a smidge. "In fact, you should probably have someone fly by to confirm there aren't any squatters there. I'd rather not wash anyone away." A fact she herself already knew, having called an ambulance for the single unconscious junky she'd found.
"And then do everything in your power to stop my destructive rampage, if you could."
She added the last part belatedly.
"Wait, wait. Franklin and North Franklin? That's where that fire was - oh! Oh. Yes, we'll send a team over so please don't fight back. And I'm sure that… hmm… who's on the schedule… oh, Miss Militia will be there to ensure you can't harm anyone."
It was absurd.
It was comical.
It had also only been a week before her grounding had been lifted, purely because there had been a particularly extreme grease fire that she had been present to put out.
Sure, no one was in danger, the McDonald's manager having actually screeched at the top of his lungs to get every single customer out of there the second there was a hint of smoke. Then tried, and failed, to stop the flames with an extinguisher. Promptly ushering out every employee in the store, calling the fire department, and then watching with horror as the small insert shop, on the ground floor of a two story set between a small "cafe" and a rather beat up KFC, began to rapidly spread fire to its nearby competitors.
Taylor had been there because she was going to work with her dad.
Her dad had been there because he was picking up coffee and biscuits for the guys already on site.
"Fontaine" had popped her head up on the other side of the city, waved her hands a bunch, and then created a bubble around the fire and began creating empty pockets within the water, sucking the air out, and snuffing the fire by starving it of oxygen.
Having gotten their food and coffee before this, her dad had just given her a hug and a kiss on the top of her head, sighed, and told her she was no longer grounded.
'And that is how we arrive at this moment. Oh how wonderful it is to see an act of good so swiftly rewarded. Surely this, too, is justice.'
'Focalors.'
'Yes Taylor?'
'Do you want to take another nap?'
The tinkling laughter she got in reply was a bit more tired than it had before, but she still felt a surge of… not friendship. No, more like… tolerance.
Yes, Taylor decided. She was quite happy to tolerate her power's laughter.
Much better than silence, after all.
'It is vital for one to have an internal dialogue. Especially when there is need for reflection and introspection.'
Fontaine happily ignored said discussion, instead choosing to go about sizing up her prey.
"Well, it's swept clear, so I guess I should start like this-"
Twisting a large cube of water around the dilapidated property, she checked the city records one last time, confirmed that property was both abandoned and condemned, did one last-last sweep for any sort of life bigger than a gnat, and then squeezed.
"Making sure the glass doesn't go anywhere and preventing bits of shrapnel is-"
A piece of metal exploded from the pressure she was asserting over the building, the sudden shrapnel shower being swiftly snagged securely in the folds of a water petal. Her conjured blossom extended tendrils around the base of the build as the blooming flower of water slowly formed overlapping layers of defense.
'Remember, when you want to move it, stir, then squeeze. Let physics do most of the work for you.'
Focalors' words were firm, but the pressure she exerted was… barely there.
Less than a ghost's touch on her hands as an image of what Taylor wanted to do formed. Especially because water cutters were incredibly dangerous. But this needed to be clean!
So, twisting the water creepers formed around the base of the building, Taylor both compressed and "stirred" the water until it became an agitated, twisting spiral, desperately trying to break free from her iron grip.
Then, relaxing her control ever so slightly on a nearly microscopic plane on the inside of the creepers, there were a violent snap-crack-pop-pop-pop-hiss as the whole building had its foundations rapidly slashed apart. Not even steel, rotten, rusted, and corroded as it was, could do much in the face of a knife of water moving several times the speed of sound.
And with that, the collapse came suddenly and violently, two small explosions occurring as she crushed the meth lab inside, too.
But that was less than a threat.
Less than a problem, even.
As an entire three bedroom house was turned into a cube about of scrap about ten feet square.
'Well done, dear child.'
'Thanks. That's one out of twenty.'
Focalors' response was slow in coming.
'You need practice, yes, but do pace yourself.'
Taylor sent a pulse of acknowledgement towards the woman… who was her powers. Yes, much better to frame it like that.
'Your ability to envision the desired result has improved. I must say all this practice has done wonders for your ability to control water through hydro application.'
Taylor stopped, chewing on the question she wanted to ask, before settling for a different one.
"Is this really going to help though? I thought we were gonna work on something different." Something that might help her with the whole impending death issue she was gonna have to deal with in six months or so.
'The ability to clearly envisage the desired outcome is needed when dealing with Hydro. It is a fluid power that responds to the intent and the desires of the user. Perhaps even more so than any other elemental power.'
That was the first she heard of that.
"There are more? How many are we talking about?" She didn't want to assume, but her mind did go back to some of the old literature she got into back when she thought she had to argue philosophy with Focalors. Different thinkers always had different ideas on where life and the world originated.
Water was just one of the elements proposed.
'You're not off the mark in that regard. There are indeed seven elemental forces which make up the spectrum that is reality. Hydro, Geo, Pyro, Anemo, Dendro, Cryo and Electro. Put together, they are capable of wondrous, awe-inspiring feats of power.'
She could understand water, fire, earth, and air. Those were the bog standard as far as literature was concerned.
But plants, ice, and lightning?
Those were harder to believe.
"Will you teach me to use the others, then?"
'I'm afraid that is impossible for us. I am a being of Hydro and the powers you now wield are derived from the Hydro Authority. Other elements are beyond our ability to use unless we come across external aides. At least according to all of the knowledge I have ever accumulated and all the experience I possess.'
Well, there went the hope of unlimited cosmic power.
"How is it any different from what I've been doing though? Water is just water, right? If the power is water, it can't be that difficult to understand."
There was a sigh from the other side of the connection, distracting Taylor enough she stopped working on the third building and paid more attention.
'If only it were that simple. Elemental power responds primarily to desires and convictions. Humans have powerful emotions and desires that allow them command and guide these forces, but a mass of conflicting emotions and desires will only destabilize your ability to control it. Manipulating water as you have by infusing it with Hydro would be akin to putting on training wheels on a bicycle. A less volatile learning medium.'
Wow.
Talk about a vote of confidence. If anything, Taylor didn't know whether to feel annoyed she was given the baby version of her own powers, or impressed that she managed to do so much with 'so little'. Before the fight with the Simurgh, she might as well have thought she was already unfairly powerful.
'If possible I would have preferred to take things slowly and let you acclimate to this power. But that is an option we no longer have.'
'We're going on a crash course, then?'
The voice inside her head tittered.
'Something to that effect. And what better way to explore it than with an easy target, no?'
Taylor rolled her eyes in exasperation.
She was only suggesting that because the last time she tried a lecture it didn't work.
'Every student requires a different approach to learning. I'm sure that you'll excel at this if we find the most efficient path forwards.'
There was a… hesitant note to Focalors' voice. One that she wasn't totally sure she liked to hear. But the teenager wasn't exactly unused to hearing adults express a lack of belief in her abilities. It then fell on her to ignore that hesitation and going back to ripping up abandoned buildings.
Fixing her abilities around the rotten foundations of her most recent success, she began ripping up lines of pipes by essentially "vibrating" them apart. While she had no intention of busting open a water main, not that water was on in any of these buildings, it was important to make sure there were holes left for people or animals to fall into.
So, once she was sure it was safe, she collapsed the whole area in on itself.
A large cloud of dust shot up, gusting upwards until her water barriers caught it, as the ground sunk down about half an inch in several areas.
Without any man made structures lifting the area or disrupting the ground it would hopefully be easier to build something new. Or at least avoid spreading urban blight. And land subsidence wasn't a huge issue.
After all, the aquifer was secure and water flow was smooth and natural.
So nothing would go wrong.
Unless Leviathan attacked.
Taylor frowned at that idea.
'It is unlikely.' Focalors interjected, disrupting her train of thought. 'And you will have greatly improved by that time.'
'I'm still getting an "or else" in there.'
'Ah. I suppose, then, you would like a little elaboration?'
'Does it have something to do with me dying?'
'...In a manner of speaking, yes.'
With flashing lights, but no sirens, several vehicles came rolling up the street about three or four blocks off.
'We'll need to have that discussion later. For now, time to deal with the heroes.'
Focalors simply sent a pulse of acknowledgement through Fontaine's thoughts. And the Villainess considered, for a moment, if what she wished to do was right. Then did it anyways.
'Thank you.'
Pushing feelings of acceptance and gratitude towards the other voice within her, she tried to make it clear that there was no resentment.
Only frustration of a sort.
And that they would be having that discussion later. For now, she had some guests to entertain.
Arriving on a large armored vehicle, Taylor watched the large hunk of metal park itself a few ways away as she went about cleaning up the leftovers of the building. She could feel the small group climb down and watched them as they steadily approached as she worked.
Water was everywhere, so hiding or sneaking past her wasn't gonna work. Not that they were trying to, if anything they appeared to be giving her the chance to notice and choose how to react from there. She was sure Velocity told them she had made the call, turning this into less of a confrontation and more of a meeting.
'Or, perhaps, you were looking to have an audience?'
The self-declared Villainess, and governmentally declared Rogue, sighed, shaking her head. Did Focalors really have to rub it in?
'I don't disagree. In fact, why not give them a little show of our own?'
Oh, she liked the sound of that.
It took a little bit of effort, but at some point after she released her control over the nearby water, Taylor felt something trickling in. A sensation of something leaking through her body and into the surroundings. Like a steady drip from a faucet. The power was familiar, and she felt a sudden chill crawl up her spine at the memory of sinking and drowning beneath its waves.
Before she took a steadying breath.
It was fine. It was okay.
It was her power after all, so long as she didn't go overboard it would be safe to loosen up and allow more to seep through. A trickle became a steady drip, before turning into a rivulet as she 'turned' the handle on the faucet.
'Steady does it.'
Opening her eyes, Taylor could see them. Small droplets of glowing blue light hanging around her like small moons orbiting a planet. They felt… different from how her powers usually felt, less a flash power and more like being steadily bathed in the sensation she had come to associate with it.
Raising her hand, she formed a larger, brighter light sphere on her palm.
"Miss Fontaine, uh, is everything… ok?"
A trooper walked closer. Only one, in full combat gear, but without a weapon in hand. His voice slightly rough and decidedly masculine.
"Yeah. I'm just figuring out how to do this-" She gestured with her glowing hand at the next house. "Cleanly. Or as cleanly as I can make it."
He twitched, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden shifting of a rather ominous limb, but nodded.
"Mind if I call this in?"
"Sure. That's probably for the best." That did make sense. "Is Miss Militia there?"
"She's on her way."
"Is she the person on a roof several buildings over?"
"Are you… displeased by that?"
"Should I be?"
There was a long moment of silence.
"She's only using the scope to watch you."
The trooper sounded like he didn't want to admit that, but also really, really wanted to avoid a misunderstanding.
"I figured that."
"You are kind of ripping up whole buildings, we wanted to make sure that the explosions that got reported weren't trouble."
"Or me exploding things, yes?"
He paused again, choosing his words very, very carefully.
"Well, ma'am, you are glowing."
Looking down at herself, Taylor noticed that yes, unlike before, the protective layer of water Focalors kept around her was glowing slightly blue. Not enough to change how she looked, but because of how pale she was and the half mask she wore, Taylor thought she was lucky she hadn't used more power and turned herself into a smurf.
She couldn't help but laugh at the thought.
Hana could only watch in rather severe trepidation.
Fontaine wasn't… overtly hostile. Or at least not intentionally so towards their side of things. But the young woman was levitating about a dozen feet in the air, while her arms glowed an ominous blue-green. And her water echo rippled and mimicked her actions, seemingly causing a spreading, growing mass of what looked terrifyingly like radiation to seep into a fourth building.
That she was breaking in about ten minutes.
And the fact she had created multi building sized water constructs to do that rather reinforced the sheer scale of her powers.
Because it was one thing to see that in another country.
To see huge constructs slam into an Endbringer.
Now that it was in her hometown?
With her co-workers talking to a young woman who'd been there for a month?
Hana felt… nervous. And realized that was probably a bad idea. Being nervous would probably make Fontaine think she was up to something. So, letting the scoped rifle she'd created turn into a BB gun, Miss Militia stood up, made sure her bandana was in place, and gave a jaunty wave.
The massive, four story tall water rose waved a fifty yard long thorned tendril in response.
It was probably meant to be reassuring.
She decided to accept that it was reassuring. Just like it was reassuring that the girl had adopted a new costume so quickly, even if it was radically different.
Right now she seemed to be wearing a blue and white skirt that fell to just about her knees, along with leggings or perhaps… breeches? Sliding down a fire escape, she was able to confirm that they were, indeed, breeches, along with a gold buttoned waistcoat in the same colors, the cravat from Australia, and an opera mask. Half face, with what looked like small swirling patterns on it.
'She certainly doesn't work for Accord. Or else we'd be in a great deal of trouble.' She either had access to a costume store or someone was telling her what to get and where. Looking closer, it was clear as day those weren't plain low-cost imitations but the genuine article.
Most pressing was the realization they'd need to update their profile on her.
"Where is she getting all that water from?"
It felt like a strange question to ask when one knew that, rationally, there should be water just about everywhere around them. And yet there shouldn't have been enough around this area for the massive vibrating bubbles that swallowed the building debris and pulverized them into fine dust.
"We have no idea, ma'am. According to surveillance, she pulled it from nothing in a flash of light." One of the troopers commented.
They most definitely were gonna have to update their profile.
Most concerning was the fact that the water was now glowing blue, the same color as the young woman's water echo. Something they hadn't witnessed before, she wouldn't go as far as call it new because she might have been able to do it before and just not showed it to them.
"So we'll add another notch to the Shaker rating."
The Director wasn't going to like this.
She already was on stress medication since Fontaine unveiled herself for the first time, now that she had proven to be an asset against the Endbringers, the possibility of her being allowed to do as she wanted wasn't beyond their superiors to consider.
"Has she been approached by anyone else?"
"Not according to the report. Even helped one of the locals get some medical assistance before moving forward with her… ahem… 'rampage'."
Hana sighed.
This was such an awkward situation.
Based on her impression of the young woman and what she'd been told by Velocity and others who fought alongside them at Canberra, Fontaine didn't display the usual signs associated with villains. She wasn't on any pay roll they were aware of, and while she had the influence to make whatever demands she wanted at this point, she chose to continue on as she had before.
Marching to the beat of her own drum when she could make things easier for herself or for others.
At this point the only reason they kept her profile classified under 'villain' instead of 'rogue' or 'independent' was because the girl himself insisted on being called one for the sake of convenience. Breaking laws she saw fit when she saw fit and acting as the excuse authorities needed to clean up after her.
It was childish, and immature. Akin to having her cake and eating it in the most selfish way possible.
Only she was being selfless, which somehow made things even more complicated.
"Keep watch around the perimeter and warn me if anyone tries anything. Just because the gangs haven't tried anything with her around doesn't mean they won't lose their patience."
And her superiors wanted them to at least keep cordial relations with the hydrokinetic so the least she could do was say hello and play along.
"Hello."
So she did.
Sometimes her job was just that simple.
"It's nice to see you again, Fontaine. If you don't mind me asking, do you have any plans to continue your rampage?"
"Nice to see you again Miss Militia. And I do. Right now I figure I can clear this strip of properties out, but there are another two or three whole blocks with abandoned properties. But, as I understand it, can't be torn down… for reasons."
Hana actually frowned. While she was glad to see the city improved, she was a bit confused about whether or not this could cause more problems than it would solve. Especially because there was now a neatly stacked trio of building-cubes. And she wasn't at all sure if that they were safe to dispose of as is, or whether or not there might be any more toxic materials.
"Well, have you already made sure that there's no one inside of them?"
"Of course!" Fontaine sounded slightly offended. "In fact, I was going to invite you and your troopers to a 'fight'. Where you guys would need to 'take me down'. Do you really think I'd ask you guys to shoot at buildings that might have so much as a stray cat in it?"
She couldn't help it.
Her lips twitched.
"We shall have to see, Fontaine."
PRT Headquarters
No plan survives enemy contact.
It was a simple enough adage.
No matter how much you thought you knew or how well you planned the steps to achieve something, it was possible that the moment you encountered a new variable, the entire thing would collapse like a house of cards, leaving you flailing wildly as you reacted to the changes.
Most people dealt with unpredictable factors through research.
Or by planning around possible scenarios.
Thomas was particularly good at preparing contingencies, perhaps because he could experience those exact uncertainties, measure the pros and cons of the choices he made and then go through with either one having the foresight of where they might lead for his own benefit.
It allowed him to stay afloat within Brockton Bay and to push forward his own agenda without the Protectorate's knowledge.
And then… and then… everything came crashing down.
Just like a house of cards.
"I still believe that under these circumstances, it would be advisable to come up with more contingencies should the necessity for neutralizing Fontaine actualize."
One of his fellow analysts snorted.
"Sure, sure, we'll get right on that after I finish drawing up the plans for dealing with the Siberian. Sounds easy enough."
"You should have three drawn up and another two in planning." He snapped. "That is our job. After all, she might, one day, decide to make you a hors d'oeuvre."
Thomas dearly wished he could be anywhere else but here.
But emergency meetings like this, especially those where he got access to the latest data points regarding Fontaine, were incredibly important. Even if the think tank back in New York hadn't managed to get anything that his Tattletale hadn't given him.
It was nice to have confirmation of her findings, however.
"Mr. Calvert, we've been over this. Unless you can convince us that Fontaine represents an immediate threat to Brockton Bay, we are to treat her as an independent rogue and focus on preventing confrontations with her in the future. You may broach this topic in the future if, and only if, it becomes pertinent."
He acquiesced at the team lead's comment.
"Of course, I'll keep that in mind."
It was worth a try. Calvert didn't have access to specialists in high rating emergency planning, and most of those present either had invaluable experience or powers that made them suited to understanding and analyzing situations in order to form responses.
Picking their brains would have been wonderful, but, ultimately, the subjects they were allowed to discuss was limited.
In another time, he would simply follow along and take note of what was being discussed. In fact that was exactly what would be happening concurrently to this very moment. Two sides of the same coin as he pushed to learn the most under the limited time he had.
"So we are maintaining a policy of non interference?"
"It would be optimal if she approached us. The occasional calls point to her being amendable, yet she hasn't made any moves beyond warning authorities. Perhaps she values her autonomy and independence more than a support network?"
"Or she feels she doesn't need support. As powerful as she is, what can we even offer that would entice someone on the level of the Triumvirate?"
"Legitimacy." He opined. "Along with access to capital needed to directly stimulate the Bay's economy."
"If we wanted to bribe her, why don't we just cut her a check for ten million dollars?" A Thinker, tall, caucasian, dressed in a flannel shirt and khakis, most certainly not clean shaven, agreed with him. "The girl's, what, fifteen? Sixteen? She's in highschool, even if we're legally not allowed to say that. We all know it. So we know she doesn't understand jack about how money actually works. A payoff might just be our ticket."
"Or." The lead cautioned. "We emphasize that the Protectorate offers stability and a way to attract positive news and attention to her hometown."
Coil was already tuning things out in this timeline, slightly annoyed he had only two to work with, because he mentioned the bribe idea in the other timeline and gotten a rather surprised response.
When he pushed for the first time all meeting, he'd dragged the dozen or so analysts in figuring out what the price point of a Triumvir was.
And how to start bringing it down.
Money was an easy enough avenue of control, and if Fontaine was simple enough to settle for it then it would spare him a lot of pain and effort. Ultimately, trying to rid himself and his plans for the city off the unpredictable variable the hydrokinetic posed was ultimately fruitless.
Besides, Calvert had gotten some… incentive to deviate from that path.
'If that group wants her to stick around then I might as well make use of the sledgehammer.' And he had quite a bit of experience in getting someone unwilling to fall in line, whether they realized it or not.
Power came in different forms.
The more he learnt, the better he could foretell what the girl did and could do. And at the rate he was going it wouldn't take long before she was just another piece on the chessboard for the player to move.
All he had to do was be patient.
'Now all I have to do is make sure that idiot Kaiser pisses her off." And from that position he'd be able to buy out the whole city. It would take him perhaps a month or so to set everything up, but with what he knew and what the pieces on his side of the board could do, there was an opportunity here to turn Fontaine from a thorn in his side to the winning ticket he needed.
After all, ruling over a squalid ruin wasn't exactly in the cards if he had anything to say about it. So everyone would win.
Except for the people who he'd make sure wouldn't.
It was nice to be able to plan ahead.
