A Darker Path
Part Sixteen: More Reactions
[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
Relevant Side Story
(fleshed out a little for the actual narrative)
Danny
"Morning, Dad." Taylor said as he sat down to the table. The plate of bacon and eggs she put down in front of wafted odours only slightly more enticing than those drifting up from the freshly brewed cup of coffee. And right now, he absolutely needed that coffee.
Danny made a non-committal grunt before taking a sip from the mug. His eyes opened wide as the extra-strength caffeine bulldozed through his taste-buds before opening a direct line to his hindbrain and announcing that all hands were needed on deck
right now. Even as he sat bolt upright, he detected a faint hint of salt in there, which just sealed the deal.
"Taylor," he enquired just a little plaintively, "when did you learn to make
Navy coffee?"
She shrugged slightly, and he thought he caught the hint of a mischievous grin. "I figured you'd want something a little stronger than usual after last night."
He looked at the cup warily, then took another sip. It was still as powerful as ever, and he could feel his groggy neurons waking up and sparking to life. "I'm worried that it might
dissolve the mug. You didn't just poison me did you? I heard about that super acid you used on Lung." Not the best morning joke he'd ever mustered, but he was still waking up.
"No, Dad." Taylor said with a perfectly straight face as she sat down with her own breakfast.
Tough room. "I'm guessing you have some questions?"
Questions, yeah. Boy, did he have some questions.
How did this all happen was at the top of the list, but after a couple of moments sipping coffee—god
damn, but he'd missed a good cup of joe this strong, first thing in the morning—he pushed it aside for another one that was worrying at him even more.
"I do." For a long moment, he hesitated while he debated exactly how to approach the topic. "That girl who died at school. Sophia. You killed her didn't you?" He wasn't quite sure if he wanted it to be true or not, given what he'd also figured out, but it was a good starting place.
Taylor met his eyes. "Yes." Her tone wasn't boastful or regretful, just matter of fact.
Yes, I took out the trash.
The confirmation led him onto the next question. He wasn't quite trying to excuse her actions, so much as find reasoning for them. Some way to frame them inside the larger context. "She, Emma and that other girl Madison. They did something horrible to you didn't they?" Given the absolute mess Emma had been in, Taylor had clearly done something to her as well, but as Emma was alive, that was definitely a secondary concern.
Again, the direct, forthright answer. "Yes." No anger, no pain.
Yes, I stubbed my toe.
Now was the big one, the sixty-four-million-dollar question. He suspected he knew the answer to this one, but he asked it anyway. "Would I have done the same? Killed her for what she did to you?"
Taylor seemed to think that over, then shrugged. "Probably. They tried to kill me first after all. I did give Sophia plenty of warning though. She just wouldn't take the hint. Plus, it turned out she was Shadow Stalker, so I guess it's a good thing I killed her before she decided to do something even more stupid, like coming after you."
Well,
that was a thing. Danny blinked a couple of times, seeking to assimilate what he'd just heard. That this Sophia girl wasn't just some random bully, but a
cape and an actual
Ward … that was a body blow. It wasn't just that she'd been bullying Taylor with Emma's assistance, though that was bad enough. Neither did it help in the slightest that they'd done something that Taylor characterised as a murder attempt. And finally, Taylor's implication that Shadow Stalker would've gone after
him if she couldn't beat Taylor … that was downright chilling.
Did she take out Shadow Stalker to save my life?
Also, what the fuck is the PRT teaching those little shits?
Taylor was still watching him patiently. He took a breath, and tried to order his thoughts. "Finding out that one of the people who had been tormenting you for over a year was a Ward makes me feel very conflicted." That was more or less the understatement of the century, but he suspected she knew what he meant. That she'd been forced to kill the girl, potentially to save his own life … he wasn't sure what to think about that.
She shook her head, looking thoughtful. "I honestly don't think the PRT really knew what was going on with her. Just goes to show how little they actually do. I mean, I've had powers for less than a week and all the villains in town are either dead, gone or hiding under the biggest rock they can."
He had to hand it to her. Good zingers took talent to deliver, and that one had been perfectly on target. Still, as much as he would've liked to dwell on how badly the PRT had screwed up—and they
had—there were other issues he needed to address, somewhat closer to home.
Taking another sip of the coffee, still not sure how she'd managed to hit the exact balance of salt and sugar, he gave her a direct stare of his own. "You have managed to accrue a rather fearsome reputation very quickly, Taylor." By which he meant,
holy shit, you killed five supervillains in as many days. But he figured understatement was probably the best idea there. Gibbering maniacally was probably not the ideal reaction, and might worry her.
Now she raised one eyebrow slightly, looking just a little concerned. "You're not mad?"
It was a good question. He felt maybe he should've been at least a little censorious about killing someone who was technically a superhero, but the whole 'to save my life' aspect kind of worked against that. Call him old-fashioned, but he didn't want to discourage her from keeping him alive.
As for the others who had died, he figured they were only 'victims' in the broadest sense of the term. They had killed so many people and ruined so many lives that sooner or later they were going to die to
someone's hand, be that another villain, a rival from within their own ranks, or a hero failing to pull their punch in time. Long story short, they had been the very furthest thing from peaceful innocents minding their own business. And as he'd reminded Gerry, it didn't matter how many times the big-name capes were arrested, they just busted out and kept right on committing crimes and hurting people.
Not this damn time.
He took a deep breath, committing himself. "On the one hand, you're a merciless killer. On the other, you're my daughter." And that was all there was to it. "I am wondering though, when you showed the detective your hands, they weren't bruised or anything. Is that part of your power?" He wouldn't have been in the least bit surprised. From everything he'd heard, powers were bullshit.
She held up her hands, turning them one way and another. "Sort of, I'm not bulletproof or super strong or anything like that. I'm just the best there is at what I do." Folding her fist into a peculiar configuration, she feinted a punch that
blurred through the air. Then, as if nothing untoward had happened, she went back to eating.
He was reminded of a comic book character from his youth, but decided not to make a reference. For one thing, she probably wouldn't get it. For another, that character had had his butt handed to him more than once. Taylor was currently batting a thousand. As Lacey had put it, she was playing four-dimensional chess while the PRT was still trying to play Go Fish.
Nodding in acknowledgement for the statement and the demonstration both, he gave her a querying look. "So... what now?"
Now, she actually smiled broadly. "Today, I'm going to meet a fan. Curry some favor, so to speak, so Armsmaster and the rest of the Protectorate don't get any silly ideas. It's not like they don't know what I'm capable of, but some people just can't help but poke the bear."
It probably wasn't a bad idea, at that, and if anyone could pull it off, it was Taylor. Though the idea of her having actual fans was kind of weird.
On second thought, this was Brockton Bay. Also, Earth Bet.
Endbringers had fans … so to speak. Someone who was actually taking down the gangs?
I shouldn't have been surprised.
Of course, there was something he needed to say. "Please try not to kill anyone today, Taylor."
She raised her eyebrows and gave him a direct look. "I won't make any promises, Dad. If somebody decides they really want a Darwin Award, well..."
Which was a perfectly good point. He pitied the gangster who picked on his daughter today, or any other day for that matter. Especially if she was meeting with a fan and wanted to make a good impression.
"Would it help if I drove you there and back?" He regretted the offer almost as soon as he made it. She probably had her own plans, and jumping in with a half-assed suggestion might make her feel bad for refusing it.
Instead, she gave him a beaming smile. "That would be really helpful, actually. There's no cars I can steal around the neighbourhood and get back without the owners noticing, at least during the day, so I was gonna take the bus or something. I could've
done it, but it would've been awkward."
"Stealing cars? Really?" He gave her his best raised-eyebrows Dad look. "I thought I raised you better than that, miss."
"You totally did," she agreed. "Unfortunately, my power is ending things, not crossing the city in minutes. So I had to improvise. Which, by the way, is one of the several reasons I'm happy you know now. Because now I don't have to sneak out, and getting the occasional lift would also be helpful. It makes cleaning up the city so much easier."
"And by 'cleaning up the city' you mean killing people?" He folded his arms. "Most of the villain capes are either dead, captured or gone. Is more killing really necessary?"
"Well, no." She gave him a cheery smile. "My power isn't just about killing things. It's about
ending things. For instance, once I decided that I wanted to end the Brockton Bay drug trade, I became aware of the location of every single stash of illegal hard drugs in the city, and exactly how to destroy it. I don't have to kill anyone … well, unless they really want to force the issue. But I'll probably only have to break a few bones."
He blinked. "Every stash. Everywhere."
"All of it." Her tone of assurance was rock-solid.
"There's dealers from out of town supplying them …" he said uncertainly.
"And I know who they are, the routes, the vehicles and the times," she rattled off. "I can bring the incoming supply to a dead stop. I can tip off the cops to upcoming raids on pharmacies to grab prescription drugs. And I'm going to end the corruption and incompetence within the BBPD and PRT that's allowing all this to go on."
"And you can do all this without killing anyone?" He found that hard to believe.
She snorted. "Hardly. Sooner or later, someone's going to try the hard way rather than the easy way. When I fight, I don't fight nice or fair. My power guides me into strikes or shots that
will be lethal unless I pull the punch. But these idiots would otherwise
just keep on doing what they're doing. Hurting other people for profit.
Killing other people for profit. So, if I put a few of them down for good, the rest learn the lesson. But I won't be going out there with the aim to kill everyone who opposes me. That's just sloppy. Also, tedious."
Her delivery was straightforward and logical; almost against his will, he found himself agreeing with her. Still, there were other questions he needed to ask. "What if the cops show up and try to arrest you?"
She shook her head. "It won't be an issue. I can literally dodge bullets. I'd probably handcuff them to each other and steal their badges or something, then mail them back to the precinct for fun."
"Heroes, then," he pressed. "They're harder to take down non-lethally than cops. Are you going to kill them?" He hated to ask the question, but she
had been killing capes fairly frequently over the last few days. Villain capes, but still capes.
"Like Shadow Stalker, you mean?" She rolled her eyes with a snort. "She wasn't a hero. But if one does show up who decides to defy the PRT's current hands-off order on me, I'll know not only that they're coming, but also how to get past their defences and take them down long enough to vanish."
"… the PRT's got a hands-off order on you?" He stared at her. "How did you manage that? Are you somehow blackmailing the Director?"
"Nope." She shrugged. "Somewhere between Kaiser and Lung, they decided all on their own that it was a bad idea to try to engage me face to face. Not entirely certain whether it's because they're terrified of me, or if they just want to see who I take down next, or whether it's a bit of column A and a bit of column B."
"To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised whichever way they jumped," he admitted. "So, this '
going to meet a fan' thing. What were you planning on doing? Wow the tourists on the Boardwalk?"
"No, actually." She shrugged. "She was going to meet me at the Westlake Park and hang out for a bit. Take a few selfies, stuff like that. Big crowds can get complicated, and I don't want anyone getting hurt unnecessarily."
"Selfies, huh?" A memory stirred, and he raised a finger. "Wait one moment."
"Okay." She took a drink of her juice and applied herself to her bacon and eggs as he got up and headed through the living room to the entrance hall.
Upstairs in his room, he pulled out several drawers in his dresser before he finally located what he was looking for, the angular plastic case cool under his fingers. When he pressed the power button, the LEDs only glowed dimly, so he swapped out the batteries for fresh ones. Triumphantly, he bore his prize downstairs. "Here, you can use this."
She stared at it. "Our old Polaroid camera. I thought that thing died years ago."
Putting it on the table in front of her, he sat down again. "Nah, I just put it away one year and never took it out again." That was the year Annette had died, but neither one of them wanted to mention it. "Anyway, you can get a photo of yourselves, then sign it for her. It's fully loaded, which means you've got eight shots."
Taking up the camera, she sighted through the viewfinder. "Wow, thanks. She'll love this."
Leaning back in his chair, he basked in the knowledge that he'd gotten it right this time. "Hey, what are dads for?"
He was entirely unprepared for her to get up and come around the table to give him a hug.
Some days, he decided as he returned the hug, being a parent was just plain
worth it.
<><>
Leet
The avatar on the screen lurked in the alleyway, crossbow at the ready. The bad guys were somewhere nearby, but if he could get the jump on them …
"Holy fuck! Get here now!"
Rodney jumped, his thumb slipping on the buttons so that the avatar lunged forward into the open air, where it was hit by three attacks at once. "Oh,
come on!" he complained as the damage bar quickly mounted. "What the fuck?"
"Get here right the fuck now," his best buddy insisted. "We're in the shit."
Despite Rodney's best efforts, the onscreen character succumbed to the successful ambush, and he went into the death screen. "
Fine," he mumbled, rolling his eyes. Discarding the controller, he got up and headed over to where Uber was reading through the PHO boards. "What happened? Did someone get Atropos?"
It was the hottest thing that had happened on PHO for weeks. There were at least three discussion threads ongoing, apart from the ones she herself had started. After she took Oni Lee and Coil out, people started taking her seriously, though the 'vs' threads were still adamant that she wasn't all that great. Kaiser's death, followed by Lung's, had quietened some of her more vociferous opponents but raised some others to boiling point.
"No." Uber rolled aside so he could look at the screen properly. "She got Skidmark. Turned him into a meat crayon. But that's not the worst part.
This is the worst part."
Leaning in, Rodney began to read out loud to himself.
"
So, this is what's going to happen from here on in. Life is going to go on … yadda yadda …
give Faultline a little extra time to pick up her business and move it elsewhere … shit, Faultline's moving? That sucks …
rest of the Brockton Bay criminal element, Imma leave them to the BBPD and PRT … pfft, not on their best day …
I have faith in you … I don't …
corruption and incompetence within the ranks of the BBPD … damn right there is … wait." He stopped and stared at the next line. Though his throat had suddenly gone dry, he read it out anyway. "
Just by the way: Uber and Leet, don't go anywhere just yet. I need to have a word with you."
His eyes flicked over the next few lines and found nothing more, then he straightened up and stared at his buddy. "What … what does she mean she needs to have a word with us? What did you do? Did you shitpost her? What have I told you about shitposting capes who can probably find out where we live?"
"
Me shitposting capes?" demanded Uber. "I thought
you were the one who'd shitposted them!"
"Well, it wasn't me this time!" Rodney yelled. "I haven't said word one to her!"
"So why does she want to talk to us?" Uber jabbed one finger at the screen. "Because that pretty damn definitely means we've done
something to get on her radar!"
"I don't know!"
"Do you think she wants to kill us?"
Rodney stopped and thought about that. They
were villains, and she definitely killed villains. But ... "Her list!" he said suddenly. "We're not on her list!" A pause as he tried to think back. "... are we?"
Uber rolled back into place and started flicking through the threads. "I don't think so ... no, we're not. This is the first mention of us."
Rodney started feeling the first stirrings of relief. "And she told everyone she killed to get out of town or die. She's telling
us to stay put. Whatever she wants, I don't think it's to kill us. I hope."
Uber nodded slowly, apparently accepting his logic. "So what do you think she
does want?"
"No fuckin' idea, dude." Rodney blinked, a horrifying concept occurring to him. "Shit, what if she wants me to make something for her
and it doesn't work?"
"Christ." Uber shook his head. "Don't go there, dude. Just don't."
Rodney glanced at the door. "Maybe we should just make a bolt for it anyway? Like, right now?"
Uber shook his head. "Bad idea.
Really bad idea. She's got no problem with leaving town to deal with someone who's pissed her off. '
I can travel, I will find you ...'" He trailed off.
"Right. So we stay in town and hope she doesn't ask for anything we can't deliver." Rodney shivered. "I
told you we should've left town when she killed Oni Lee."
"No, you didn't."
"Well, I
thought it."
"Uh huh. Sure."
<><>
PRT Building ENE
Conference Room A
Armsmaster
Colin looked around the conference room. Every Protectorate hero was here, as were all the Wards; Gallant, Kid Win and Vista yawning and in street clothes with domino masks. This only made him wonder what emergency had made it necessary for them to show up on what was clearly their off-day. Balancing the heroes across the table were various high-ranking members of the PRT.
One thing they all seemed to have in common, gauging from the surreptitious comments passed between them, was that nobody actually knew what this meeting was about. He began to wonder if Director Piggot had called it then fallen asleep before getting there. She'd been running herself ragged, trying to deal with the Atropos situation, and it was starting to show.
The door opened and Deputy Director Renick entered. Crossing to the table, he took his position at the head but didn't bother sitting down.
"Good morning," he said crisply. "Thank you for attending this meeting. I won't keep you long. This is merely an informational update, to keep you all in the loop as to the investigation into the death of Shadow Stalker. This is a strictly confidential discussion, and it
will not leave this room."
Colin sat up straighter, wondering where this was going. He'd seen the PHO posting from Atropos, claiming responsibility, but he hadn't yet had the chance to start checking into it.
"Atropos got her ... didn't she?" That was Assault. "That's what she said on PHO." A murmur of voices agreed with him.
Slowly, Renick shook his head. "Anyone can claim anything online, especially if they are seeking to double down on pre-existing notoriety. After consultation with Director Piggot, my conclusion is that the current theory of Othala granting Cricket an unrevealed Stranger or Changer power is more likely, and we will be holding to that one until further evidence comes to light."
What? Even though he'd been the one to originate that hypothesis, Colin had been entirely willing to dump it in favour of 'Atropos did it' as the more likely, and he couldn't figure out why Renick and Piggot were dismissing the girl's own confession. It made no sense at all.
"Sir, are you sure about that?" asked Battery. "She described Stalker's attitude pretty much to a T, you have to admit."
Renick cleared his throat theatrically. "Battery, are you seriously suggesting that Atropos invaded Stalker's school and cornered her in a classroom, never having met her before, for the sole purpose of beating her to death? What kind of sense does that make?"
"No, but what if Atropos was a
student there?" Triumph called out. Colin couldn't really fault him on that, as the same question had surely been on everyone else's lips. Since the PHO post, that had become more or less the default assumption. "One that Stalker was picking on, like she said?"
"I find that hard to believe." Renick should've been a star of stage or screen, from the way he delivered the line straight-faced. "I doubt very much any investigation would find even one student with a motive for harming Shadow Stalker at that school."
That outrageous statement hung in the air for a long moment, the atmosphere charged with disbelief from everyone sitting around the table. And then, between one instant and the next, Colin got it. Anyone running such an investigation into students who might have had a motive to kill Shadow Stalker
risked outing Atropos. From the murmurs around him, everyone else was getting the point as well.
Given the events of the past week,
nobody wanted to piss off the dark-clad assassin who could apparently stroll through the most strenuous of security and dance between the raindrops. She currently seemed to have no serious beef with the PRT, and everyone there
absolutely wanted to keep it that way.
Before making the post, there'd been the danger that the investigation of the students would connect Stalker's murder to one particular suspect, and thus in turn to her activities as Atropos. But by directly connecting herself to Stalker's murder, Atropos had killed the investigation deader than Stalker herself. In a sense, she was playing chicken with the PRT, and they had blinked first. It was a masterful move.
It wouldn't make her
popular, but she'd definitely won that round.
Battery nodded slowly. "I see your point, sir. The Empire angle makes much more sense."
"Good," said Renick, affording her a paternal nod. "Once again, the topic of this meeting is not to be discussed outside of this room. Is that understood by everyone?"
Colin leaned forward and surveyed the table, then nodded to Renick. "Yes, sir," he replied.
"Excellent." Renick clapped his hands together lightly, once. "Dismissed."
As Colin got up and headed for the door, he mused that the truth would come out sooner or later. But by then, if Atropos had taken down the Slaughterhouse Nine in the meantime, nobody would
care.
End of Part Sixteen
