- Location
- Российская Федерация
I'd say two and a half. After all, there was still Oni Li gnawed by his strength.
I'd say two and a half. After all, there was still Oni Li gnawed by his strength.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
I'm only counting the gang bosses, since those are the one she said she'd kill. Oni Lee was just collateral.
- Pronouns
- They/Them/She/Her
Is any of this sentence besides the end punctuation missing?Ack said:
Aww. Still, you have rater been spoiling us with the frequency of updates here recently, and I do understand you've other things you need to do. Thanks for writing!Ack said:
Eh, I'd guess that one's actually pretty simple: just kill him. Without him and Oni Lee, what's left of the ABB's foundation? And any successor organizations from the remnants, well: Atropos took down Lung. After taking down the E88, and Coil. Would you want to step up to try and take Lung's place?CmptrWz said:
I'm guessing the Merchants might actually be the most difficult to end the influence of. Coil was a paranoid plotter keeping his cards close to his chest and using bought and coerced underlings; kill him and spill his secrets, and there's him taken care of. The E88 draws on a lot of extant racism, which could lead to problems down the road... but those problems are at least going to be significantly different in character with basically the entire cape roster of the gang taken out in one night. The ABB, see above.
But the Merchants, they're drug pushers. Sure, without the capes, they might be weaker and less organized, but without the enemy gangs, they won't need to be as strong. They've got customers and potential customers all over the place, and history's shown that if you try to solve a pervasive drug problem just by cutting off access to the drugs, what you probably end up doing is driving innovation in the field of drug acquisition -- and depending on what forms that ends up taking, possibly making things worse. In order to seriously end the drug trade in Brockton Bay, she's going to have to drastically reduce people's motivation to buy, presumably by improving their lives so they can stay off them once they've quite and supporting efforts to get them to want to quit.
edit: Ah right, tired brain says dumb things, ignore previous statement which mostly referred to specific negative statements to which the contrary can be proven.
Last edited:
`
Nope. @Ack is correct. Disproving a negative only requires an example of the corresponding positive. Proving a negative requires an exhaustive search and even then you can't be certain you didn't miss something. What Tattletale missed is that with the right powers in play, you can establish that the probability of the negative being true is high enough that you might as well treat it as true which is what the PRT did with Gallant, the empath, and Armsmaster, the tinker with a high-end lie detector.
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
Not only that, but it was his father's sword, that was wielded by a real Kaiser.
- Location
- Australia
Yes, yes, he was. A swinging sword of Damocles, but yes.
Oni Lee was a message. One that two people have ignored, so far.
Gonna have to look into that.
"End the hard drug trade in Brockton Bay." She doesn't give a shit about weed. Enough heroin and crack dealers are found dead with their products shoved into their body cavities, the rest of the dealers will have second thoughts.
Why yes, yes it was.
- Location
- Somewhere
Thought it up on the spot.
All This and a Fire Too
YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
I'm gonna stop reading Ack's story notes over his shoulder being a ninja after this and let Ack take his time for Part Nine.
Brockton Bay 911 Switchboard
January 6th, 0002 Hours
<< transcript begins 00:02:07 01/06/11 >>
Operator: "Nine-one-one. Please state your emergency."
Caller <female voice>: "Police and, and PRT, I think. I'm, I'm working late in the Medhall building, and I heard some shouting from upstairs. I think Max Anders has been murdered by a cape. You better come quick."
Operator: "I'm contacting Police and PRT now, ma'am. I need you to stay on the line until responders arrive, all right? What is your name?"
Caller: [no audio]
Operator: "Ma'am, are you still there?"
Caller: [no audio]
Call location - Medhall Building, 18th floor
Operator: "Line is still open, she's not there anymore though."
<< FIRE ALERT: MEDHALL BUILDING - CAUTION: CLASS 4 HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DETECTED >>
Operator: "Because it looks like a chemical fire just broke out in the basement."
<< end transcript >>
Armsmaster
Three blocks from Medhall, same time.
He was circling through his Downtown patrol route, noting as his helmet chronometer blinked just past midnight. If Atropos was going to make good on her claims, odds were something was going to happen in the next few minutes. Having himself, the rest of the Protectorate and several PRT squad vans and VTOLs already deployed along the most efficient coverage routes ensured that there would be a presence anywhere within the city in ninety seconds or less.
It was a shame that this sort of readiness couldn't be deployed more often, but Atropos announcing precisely when she intended to strike made this operation worth the huge expense.
*Colin. 911 just got a call. Someone inside the Medhall building is saying Max Anders has been murdered by a cape.* Dragon spoke over his comms.
Shit, that means...
"Armsmaster to all units." as he started gunning his engine. "Converge on the Medhall Building IMMEDIATELY. Assume that Atropos and the ENTIRE cape contingent of the Empire 88 is present."
*You think...*
"It has to be Kaiser, and he'd have every cape at his disposal available to try and kill Atropos."
Victor, same time
"Oh, FUCK."
Brad growled at the sight of Kaiser. "I am going to puree that cunt."
"Not now." He then noted Rune and Crusader on the floor. Both members of the E88 capable of transporting the rest... were down. "DOUBLE FUCK."
"What is it?" Nessa asked.
"She took out our aerial transport and we're on top of the building." Victor's phone rang then, the tone indicating it was from the security office on the ground floor. "WHAT?!?"
*Sir, 911 has just inquired us about an automated call. They're saying we have a hazardous chemical fire on site.*
Victor took a moment to note that the building's fire alarms were NOT going off, then swore in half a dozen languages under his breath. The bitch must have rigged those alongside the circuit breakers. "Evacuate the building then, standard procedure." he said before hanging up. He went over to the computer on Max's desk, quickly pulling up the internal security cameras for the sub-basement lab.
The lab that Kaiser's emergency escape elevator behind the office went down to.
It was filled with very ominous and toxic looking smoke.
He mentally ran through his rapidly declining options. Othala granting him flight to carry her and Rune out. Stormtiger could manage Cricket. Alabaster jumping. Fenja and Menja taking Krieg and Crusader and climbing down the outside of the building with Hookwolf.
He went over to the window and saw Armsmaster's motorcycle entering the front plaza. They were out of time. No time to even take Max's body with them.
"We're leaving." Victor said with no emotion at all. He explained his plan while gathering Rune in his arms before his wife climbed on his back. "Split up. Get out of the city. The Empire... is dead."
- Location
- Australia
I love it. This is definitely canon.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Now your PFP being Yuffie makes sense.
- Pronouns
- They/Them/She/Her
Ah, right, aye, that's a point: it doesn't matter if there's a market if no one dares to sell. And, sure, against mundane law enforcement, even against most capes, that's still reminiscent of trying to decapitate a hydra, if the demand side isn't addressed... but Atropos? Yeeeeah, once she gets to work on it, after a certain point, probably the only ones left are people forced in by distant crime bosses who consider them expendable and people dim and/or desperate enough to try making and selling their own. One or two trips away from the city (...Actually, maybe not even that. Atropos, a notorious cape in Brockton Bay, calls up your local police and/or PRT branch. She tells you that one of your local criminals is forcing people to take drugs into her city. She then proceeds to give you a thorough set of information on how to take them down -- and says that if you somehow still can't manage it with all of that, she'll have to handle it herself and won't be too happy about the inconvenience. Do you a: ignore the problem since it's an out-of-town supervillain trying to get you to take out a rival, or b: take advantage of the situation to take down one of your local criminals before the terrifying distant supervillain replaces "distant" with "annoyed"?) should make it clear the former is not going to fly, and the latter can be handed off to appropriate bodies to hopefully be helped and reformed, since they're hardly hardened super-gangsters.Ack said:
- Location
- Australia
Exactly.
And meth labs would be even easier to deal with. They're already bombs waiting to go off. She'd just ... help them along a little.
Part Nine: Killing Time
- Location
- Australia
A Darker Path
Part Nine: Killing Time
[A/N: this chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Just After Midnight
Medhall Building
Taylor
Down in the sub-level laboratory, I collected the finished capsules, sliding them into the padded slots in the container I'd prepped. Far more than anything else I'd stolen, these required careful handling. If they hadn't been part of the path for killing Lung and ending the influence of the ABB in Brockton Bay, I wouldn't have gone near them.
Fortunately, it was, so I could proceed.
There was one more capsule than spaces in the container, but that was all part of the plan. Quite a bit of the laboratory equipment was already damaged from the uses I'd put it through; it really wasn't rated for this sort of work, but it had been just good enough to get it done. On my way out, I tossed a cup of water over the equipment that hadn't suffered so badly, then threw the last capsule across the room at it.
With a WHOOMPH, flames and toxic smoke billowed. I didn't stop to savour the destruction; the exit was right there, and I went out through it.
Thanks to my prior sabotage, the alarm went out via an automated 9-1-1 call, but didn't actually trigger the building alarms. I wanted the authorities on the way before anyone could act to cover anything up. And if I made this laboratory unusable for the next few months due to chemical contamination? So totally not my problem.
With the container securely in hand and the fireproof (and airtight) door shut firmly behind me, I hustled up the fire exit stairwell to ground level. I had to wait a few seconds until a bunch of PRT vans roared past to pull up with a screech just around the corner, but while someone was still yelling about setting up a perimeter, I was able to duck out through the door and across the narrow street to the shadows opposite. Two blocks of brisk walking got me back to the car without being intercepted; I unlocked it and climbed in.
But I didn't head home just yet. I had one more visit to make tonight.
PRT ENE
Director Emily Piggot
Emily's phone rang. She snatched it up, trying to ignore the slight ache behind her eyeballs that was an indicator of pushing herself too hard. The caller ID said ARMSMASTER.
"Talk to me," she ordered.
"Ma'am, it's a mess here. We've had to direct emergency services to that chemical fire in the sub-basement lab—that isn't on the official plans, by the way—and Max Anders is definitely deceased. Wearing a set of Kaiser's usual armour. Right now, I'm giving it an eighty percent chance that he's actually Kaiser, contingent on what we get out of his computer files. When we get into his files. The encryption is ... stubborn."
"Wait, go back." Emily rubbed her eyes. She was going to crash hard after this. Renick would have to take most of her workload for the day. But she wasn't going to allow the outcome of this operation to rest on anyone's shoulders but hers. "Deceased? How?"
Somehow, she heard the grimace in his voice. "Stabbed in the eye by a sword. Looks like an antique. In through his right eye with enough force to punch out through the back of his head and into the headrest of his chair."
"A sword, you say ..." Emily turned to her computer, and pulled up an image she'd emailed to herself. "Something like this one?" With a few more keystrokes, she sent the image on to him.
He paused for more than the few seconds it would've taken to download the image and look it over. "Not just like that one. It is that one. Where did you get that from, ma'am?"
Emily smiled in sour triumph. Called it. "It's a katzbalger. German infantry sword from a few centuries back. That specific one was once owned by Kaiser Wilhelm the First ... and was stolen from Max Anders' private collection, thirty-six hours ago, along with the bodice shears she used to murder Coil."
"So Atropos knew who Kaiser was all along, and stole his sword specifically to kill him with it."
"That's what it looks like, yes." Emily shuddered. That was far too cold and calculated for her liking. "Did she leave anything we can identify her by?"
"Not that we've found so far. The phone call was almost certainly placed by her—there was nobody working on that floor at that time—and I'm reasonably sure she set the fire in the sub-basement lab. She cut it so close that we've got security footage of her slipping out through a side door less than a minute before we established a cordon around the building."
Emily gritted her teeth. God damn it. So close. Though in honesty, Atropos had probably planned for that as well. "Keep me posted if anything else pops up."
"Copy that, ma'am."
Purity
It was the middle of the night, and Aster was fussing and crying.
Even though Kayden had had trouble getting to sleep the previous evening—the news about this Atropos cape having percolated through the parahuman community with almost supernatural speed—she dragged herself back to a semblance of wakefulness anyway. Forcing herself to sit up and swing her feet onto the floor, she rubbed her eyes and stared across the darkened bedroom at the crib where Aster lay. "Sshhh," she mumbled. "Shush, darling. Go back to sleep. Mommy's tired."
The distressed noises continued unabated.
She'd known there would be nights like this, and in fact she'd spent more time with less sleep before now rocking Aster back to slumber, but right now felt the worst of all. It always did. With the groan of someone who felt fifty years older than she really was, she levered herself to her feet and stumbled forward. Turning on the light was never in the plan; she knew where the crib was, and she could always find Aster by sound and touch.
When she reached the crib, she leaned in and gathered up Aster with the ease of long practice … but there was something wrong. Far from the wakeful, fussy wriggling infant she expected, Aster was sleeping peacefully, burbling gently in Kayden's arms. The noise of a fitfully crying baby went on … but it wasn't coming from Aster.
A shadow by the bedroom door that Kayden hadn't so much as glanced at now moved, and the light switch clicked. Illumination flooded the room, revealing a dark-clad figure, taller than Kayden. A broad-brimmed black hat shaded the black morph mask, making it even harder to make out any features through it, while a black long-coat hung partly open to show a suit and tie.
"Easy, Purity," said the intruder, the voice revealing her to be a teenage girl. Her black-gloved hands were out to her sides. "Not here to fight. Just to talk."
Kayden tightened her hold on Aster and moved back, sidling around the bed to put her back to the wall and as much distance as possible between herself and the girl. "Who are you and what do you want?"
She was fully aware that her position right now was exceedingly vulnerable. Even if she freed one hand to fire a blast at the intruder, she'd need to power up first, something that was the exact opposite of subtle. And even then, once she was powered up, she'd need a moment to charge the blast. Somehow, she didn't think she'd get that moment. Especially since she could see both an ornately designed dagger sheathed at the intruder's side and leather straps that said 'shoulder holster' to her.
Slowly, the girl twitched the fingers on her left hand. Between one instant and the next, she held a small electronic device with a green button on it. Her thumb pressed down, and the crying noise ceased. Another flick of the fingers and it was gone again. At no time did her attention leave Kayden while she was doing this.
"You can call me Atropos," the girl said, lowering her arms to her sides. "I'm here to give you notice that you've got exactly thirty minutes to be packed and heading for the city limits."
Kayden's head was awhirl. "What do you mean? Why do I need to do that?"
Atropos' tone became crisp and no-nonsense. "Fourteen and a half minutes ago, I killed Kaiser in the Medhall building. The Empire Eighty-Eight is crumbling as we speak. Its capes are leaving town. You'd best be one of them."
Kayden blinked. "I … you … what? Why?" Max is dead? This girl killed him? She supposed she should be outraged at this, though some small part of her pointed out that the hold he'd had over her via Aster was no longer in existence.
"Because in the next few minutes, the PRT is going to decide that yes, Max Anders was indeed Kaiser," the girl said patiently. "At which point, some bright spark is going to say, oh, hey, how about we bring in his ex-wife and see if she can fill in any blanks." She glanced meaningfully at Kayden's alarm clock. "About forty minutes from now, your front door is going to be kicked in."
"And I'll deny everything," Kayden said automatically. "Being married to the man doesn't by definition make me a supervillain, or even an accomplice."
"No, but the files they'll find once they crack his computer system will tell them all about you." Atropos sounded as though she had no doubt in the world. "You don't want to be in their custody when that happens."
No, I don't. Because they'll try to take Aster away from me, and I won't let them. She's saying that if I stay, she'll have to kill me. She began glancing around the bedroom, deciding what to take and what to leave. "Why are you warning me?"
"Because I gave Kaiser the chance to leave town before I killed him." The tone of absolute surety in the girl's voice chilled Kayden to the bone. "It would be unfair not to do the same with you."
"But—I was trying to be a hero!"
Atropos' shrug communicated pure unconcern. "Then go be a hero somewhere else. Reinvent yourself from scratch this time. Your welcome's run out in Brockton Bay. You now have twenty-five minutes. I'd say, 'good luck', but that's up to you." With that, the girl slipped out of the room and melted into the darkness of the living room outside.
By the time Kayden made her feet move, she rushed to the door to find no one in the apartment.
Returning to the bedroom and setting Aster back down in the crib, she began to feverishly pack.
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♦ Topic: And Another One Bites the Dust
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► New Capes ► Atropos
Atropos (Original Poster) (Banned) (You Wish) (UnVerified Cape) (Can Actually Kill Anything) (Yes, Really) (Watch Me)
Posted On Jan 6th 2011:
Good morning once more to you wonderful people of Brockton Bay. It's a lovely morning, or it will be once the sun rises and the seagulls stop squinting. I'm here to inform you that number two on my list, the one and only Kaiser, has been removed from said list, on account of being dead. He's dead because I stuck a sword through his head.
Why, yes, the purveyor of metal spikes has been killed with a pointy metal thing. The irony is intense.
You want to know what makes it even more ironic than that? I did it with his own sword. A blade that was owned by a Kaiser has been used to kill its current owner, another Kaiser.
Well, I guess there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Heh.
Trust me, you'll get the joke eventually.
Anyways, that's two down and two to go. Skidmark and Lung, Lung and Skidmark. Do I go for the low-hanging fruit, or do I kill Skidmark first?
Decisions, decisions.
Medhall Building
Armsmaster
The alert buzzed in Colin's helmet, and he accepted the incoming phone call. "Armsmaster. What is it, Dragon?"
The Canadian Tinker sounded as though she wasn't quite sure about what she was saying, which was a first for her. "Colin, have you been keeping an eye on PHO? Specifically, Atropos' thread?"
He frowned. From the tone of her voice, he'd missed something important. "No. Why?"
"She just posted a list of what she claims to be his computer passwords, in the clear."
"Jesus. Thanks." He opened a new window immediately, and tabbed into PHO. Seconds later, he was reading off the passwords. "If these work, this'll be gold." The standalone systems were proving tough to crack.
She chuckled. "You're welcome."
Taylor
I awoke the next morning and stretched mightily, feeling my back pop in several places. It was looking like a great day, for all that it was the middle of winter.
Just killing Kaiser on his own would've been easy, but I'd wanted to end the Empire Eighty-Eight's hold on the city at the same time. I'd also wanted to make Kaiser's death a fitting one; he'd been a power in the city since I was five or six, after all. People needed to know he was dead.
The elaborate way I'd killed him had thus served a secondary purpose. All the other capes, the ones who I would've had to hunt down and kill one after another as they ascended to the leadership of the Empire Eighty-Eight or successor teams, were now thoroughly demoralised. It didn't matter that the PRT techs currently going through the building with a fine-tooth comb would eventually figure out how I'd done it; they weren't my targets. In one fell swoop, I'd taken eleven capes off the board.
Not that I couldn't have killed the other ten; that was a given. But merely murdering them would've been tedious and time-consuming. In addition, once the PRT took Aster away from Purity and she started demolishing the city block by block looking for her daughter, that would've reflected badly on my efforts. Much better for all concerned if I directed her away and gave the authorities no excuse to stand in my way.
They'd lose, of course. But see above about 'tedious'.
I got up and showered, then strolled downstairs to breakfast. If I killed Lung tonight and Skidmark on Friday night—or even in reverse order—that would allow me the weekend to consider my next list and plan proper kills on whoever continued to hold out. There was no sense in rushing matters.
It wasn't as though I got any kind of sick pleasure out of killing people, or that I was even compelled to. However, these people were indisputably a blight on Brockton Bay, and the cops and PRT were doing nothing about it. I could. It was simple as that.
As I accepted eggs and bacon from Dad, I considered how I'd killed Sophia. Had she been a blight on Brockton Bay? Well, apart from being a really shitty Ward, probably not. But she'd been a personal blight on my life, and that was close enough for me. I'd given her the same chance I gave Emma and Madison. They'd taken it; she hadn't. That was on her.
"Still thinking about that girl from Winslow, the one who bullied you?" asked Dad, looking at me with a little concern. "Or are some of the others still bothering you?"
I snorted. "No. I think they're in shock. It was all going so well for them, y'know? They had nice safe targets to pick on, and then something like this happened, and Sophia's not there to be their point, uh, person anymore. Nobody else wants to step up unless they make a bad call too." I rolled my eyes. "Welcome to the real world."
It was slightly more complicated than that. Madison was utterly convinced that I could kill her at any moment (which was true), and I was pretty sure I'd accomplished much the same with Emma. Between them, they'd spread the word that I was not to be messed with. Sophia had set out to mess with me, and was now dead.
From what I could gather from eavesdropping on gossip, opinions were split between the idea that Sophia had taken on someone else in my place and gotten killed, or she'd attacked me personally and I'd accidentally killed her and walked away without a scratch. What I did know was that nobody was seriously considering turning me in for killing her.
Either way, the 'do not mess with Taylor' mutual agreement was solidly in place, which was convenient. More mysterious deaths at Winslow would seriously cramp my cover as an innocent student there.
"I suppose you're right," he said in the way that adults do when they're not sure how to address a sensitive topic anymore. "The police haven't called back, so I'm guessing they're satisfied with what they got from us."
I nodded. "Sounds like it. Maybe they'll catch whoever did it, and maybe not." The answer, of course, was 'not'.
I applied myself to my breakfast. Soon I'd have to go catch the bus to school, but that was okay. I knew many ways to kill boredom now, some of which didn't involve drawing untoward attention.
And a few hours after that, I could set about making Brockton Bay a better place.
One drop of blood at a time.
End of Part Nine
Relevant Side Story
Part Nine: Killing Time
[A/N: this chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Just After Midnight
Medhall Building
Taylor
Down in the sub-level laboratory, I collected the finished capsules, sliding them into the padded slots in the container I'd prepped. Far more than anything else I'd stolen, these required careful handling. If they hadn't been part of the path for killing Lung and ending the influence of the ABB in Brockton Bay, I wouldn't have gone near them.
Fortunately, it was, so I could proceed.
There was one more capsule than spaces in the container, but that was all part of the plan. Quite a bit of the laboratory equipment was already damaged from the uses I'd put it through; it really wasn't rated for this sort of work, but it had been just good enough to get it done. On my way out, I tossed a cup of water over the equipment that hadn't suffered so badly, then threw the last capsule across the room at it.
With a WHOOMPH, flames and toxic smoke billowed. I didn't stop to savour the destruction; the exit was right there, and I went out through it.
Thanks to my prior sabotage, the alarm went out via an automated 9-1-1 call, but didn't actually trigger the building alarms. I wanted the authorities on the way before anyone could act to cover anything up. And if I made this laboratory unusable for the next few months due to chemical contamination? So totally not my problem.
With the container securely in hand and the fireproof (and airtight) door shut firmly behind me, I hustled up the fire exit stairwell to ground level. I had to wait a few seconds until a bunch of PRT vans roared past to pull up with a screech just around the corner, but while someone was still yelling about setting up a perimeter, I was able to duck out through the door and across the narrow street to the shadows opposite. Two blocks of brisk walking got me back to the car without being intercepted; I unlocked it and climbed in.
But I didn't head home just yet. I had one more visit to make tonight.
<><>
PRT ENE
Director Emily Piggot
Emily's phone rang. She snatched it up, trying to ignore the slight ache behind her eyeballs that was an indicator of pushing herself too hard. The caller ID said ARMSMASTER.
"Talk to me," she ordered.
"Ma'am, it's a mess here. We've had to direct emergency services to that chemical fire in the sub-basement lab—that isn't on the official plans, by the way—and Max Anders is definitely deceased. Wearing a set of Kaiser's usual armour. Right now, I'm giving it an eighty percent chance that he's actually Kaiser, contingent on what we get out of his computer files. When we get into his files. The encryption is ... stubborn."
"Wait, go back." Emily rubbed her eyes. She was going to crash hard after this. Renick would have to take most of her workload for the day. But she wasn't going to allow the outcome of this operation to rest on anyone's shoulders but hers. "Deceased? How?"
Somehow, she heard the grimace in his voice. "Stabbed in the eye by a sword. Looks like an antique. In through his right eye with enough force to punch out through the back of his head and into the headrest of his chair."
"A sword, you say ..." Emily turned to her computer, and pulled up an image she'd emailed to herself. "Something like this one?" With a few more keystrokes, she sent the image on to him.
He paused for more than the few seconds it would've taken to download the image and look it over. "Not just like that one. It is that one. Where did you get that from, ma'am?"
Emily smiled in sour triumph. Called it. "It's a katzbalger. German infantry sword from a few centuries back. That specific one was once owned by Kaiser Wilhelm the First ... and was stolen from Max Anders' private collection, thirty-six hours ago, along with the bodice shears she used to murder Coil."
"So Atropos knew who Kaiser was all along, and stole his sword specifically to kill him with it."
"That's what it looks like, yes." Emily shuddered. That was far too cold and calculated for her liking. "Did she leave anything we can identify her by?"
"Not that we've found so far. The phone call was almost certainly placed by her—there was nobody working on that floor at that time—and I'm reasonably sure she set the fire in the sub-basement lab. She cut it so close that we've got security footage of her slipping out through a side door less than a minute before we established a cordon around the building."
Emily gritted her teeth. God damn it. So close. Though in honesty, Atropos had probably planned for that as well. "Keep me posted if anything else pops up."
"Copy that, ma'am."
<><>
Purity
It was the middle of the night, and Aster was fussing and crying.
Even though Kayden had had trouble getting to sleep the previous evening—the news about this Atropos cape having percolated through the parahuman community with almost supernatural speed—she dragged herself back to a semblance of wakefulness anyway. Forcing herself to sit up and swing her feet onto the floor, she rubbed her eyes and stared across the darkened bedroom at the crib where Aster lay. "Sshhh," she mumbled. "Shush, darling. Go back to sleep. Mommy's tired."
The distressed noises continued unabated.
She'd known there would be nights like this, and in fact she'd spent more time with less sleep before now rocking Aster back to slumber, but right now felt the worst of all. It always did. With the groan of someone who felt fifty years older than she really was, she levered herself to her feet and stumbled forward. Turning on the light was never in the plan; she knew where the crib was, and she could always find Aster by sound and touch.
When she reached the crib, she leaned in and gathered up Aster with the ease of long practice … but there was something wrong. Far from the wakeful, fussy wriggling infant she expected, Aster was sleeping peacefully, burbling gently in Kayden's arms. The noise of a fitfully crying baby went on … but it wasn't coming from Aster.
A shadow by the bedroom door that Kayden hadn't so much as glanced at now moved, and the light switch clicked. Illumination flooded the room, revealing a dark-clad figure, taller than Kayden. A broad-brimmed black hat shaded the black morph mask, making it even harder to make out any features through it, while a black long-coat hung partly open to show a suit and tie.
"Easy, Purity," said the intruder, the voice revealing her to be a teenage girl. Her black-gloved hands were out to her sides. "Not here to fight. Just to talk."
Kayden tightened her hold on Aster and moved back, sidling around the bed to put her back to the wall and as much distance as possible between herself and the girl. "Who are you and what do you want?"
She was fully aware that her position right now was exceedingly vulnerable. Even if she freed one hand to fire a blast at the intruder, she'd need to power up first, something that was the exact opposite of subtle. And even then, once she was powered up, she'd need a moment to charge the blast. Somehow, she didn't think she'd get that moment. Especially since she could see both an ornately designed dagger sheathed at the intruder's side and leather straps that said 'shoulder holster' to her.
Slowly, the girl twitched the fingers on her left hand. Between one instant and the next, she held a small electronic device with a green button on it. Her thumb pressed down, and the crying noise ceased. Another flick of the fingers and it was gone again. At no time did her attention leave Kayden while she was doing this.
"You can call me Atropos," the girl said, lowering her arms to her sides. "I'm here to give you notice that you've got exactly thirty minutes to be packed and heading for the city limits."
Kayden's head was awhirl. "What do you mean? Why do I need to do that?"
Atropos' tone became crisp and no-nonsense. "Fourteen and a half minutes ago, I killed Kaiser in the Medhall building. The Empire Eighty-Eight is crumbling as we speak. Its capes are leaving town. You'd best be one of them."
Kayden blinked. "I … you … what? Why?" Max is dead? This girl killed him? She supposed she should be outraged at this, though some small part of her pointed out that the hold he'd had over her via Aster was no longer in existence.
"Because in the next few minutes, the PRT is going to decide that yes, Max Anders was indeed Kaiser," the girl said patiently. "At which point, some bright spark is going to say, oh, hey, how about we bring in his ex-wife and see if she can fill in any blanks." She glanced meaningfully at Kayden's alarm clock. "About forty minutes from now, your front door is going to be kicked in."
"And I'll deny everything," Kayden said automatically. "Being married to the man doesn't by definition make me a supervillain, or even an accomplice."
"No, but the files they'll find once they crack his computer system will tell them all about you." Atropos sounded as though she had no doubt in the world. "You don't want to be in their custody when that happens."
No, I don't. Because they'll try to take Aster away from me, and I won't let them. She's saying that if I stay, she'll have to kill me. She began glancing around the bedroom, deciding what to take and what to leave. "Why are you warning me?"
"Because I gave Kaiser the chance to leave town before I killed him." The tone of absolute surety in the girl's voice chilled Kayden to the bone. "It would be unfair not to do the same with you."
"But—I was trying to be a hero!"
Atropos' shrug communicated pure unconcern. "Then go be a hero somewhere else. Reinvent yourself from scratch this time. Your welcome's run out in Brockton Bay. You now have twenty-five minutes. I'd say, 'good luck', but that's up to you." With that, the girl slipped out of the room and melted into the darkness of the living room outside.
By the time Kayden made her feet move, she rushed to the door to find no one in the apartment.
Returning to the bedroom and setting Aster back down in the crib, she began to feverishly pack.
<><>
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♦ Topic: And Another One Bites the Dust
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► New Capes ► Atropos
Atropos (Original Poster) (
Posted On Jan 6th 2011:
Good morning once more to you wonderful people of Brockton Bay. It's a lovely morning, or it will be once the sun rises and the seagulls stop squinting. I'm here to inform you that number two on my list, the one and only Kaiser, has been removed from said list, on account of being dead. He's dead because I stuck a sword through his head.
Why, yes, the purveyor of metal spikes has been killed with a pointy metal thing. The irony is intense.
You want to know what makes it even more ironic than that? I did it with his own sword. A blade that was owned by a Kaiser has been used to kill its current owner, another Kaiser.
Well, I guess there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Heh.
Trust me, you'll get the joke eventually.
Anyways, that's two down and two to go. Skidmark and Lung, Lung and Skidmark. Do I go for the low-hanging fruit, or do I kill Skidmark first?
Decisions, decisions.
(Showing page 1 of 10)►Wherewolf (Temp Banned)
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Yes! I just won twenty bucks, baby!
Anyone want to take odds on Lung being the next one?
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
@Wherewolf - have a temp ban. No gambling allowed regarding actual human lives.
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
No. I refuse to believe it. There is no way Kaiser can be taken down by a pretender in a long-coat. You'll see. You'll all see.
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Okay, to get this out of the way and deal with the he-said-she-said before it starts:
It appears that Kaiser may indeed be deceased. The PRT was notified by a phone call to attend a specific address at midnight, where we found someone dressed in Kaiser's trademark armor. As per Atropos' description, this person had indeed been killed with a sword.
We are currently following up on other leads to determine whether or not this is truly Kaiser, but current indications show a good chance of it actually being the case.
More information will be released if and when we deem it necessary.
Banned) (You Wish) (UnVerified Cape) (Can Actually Kill Anything) (Yes, Really) (Watch Me)
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Oh, it's Kaiser alright. Have you found the secret elevator behind his desk yet? Goes all the way down to a sub-basement he wouldn't have wanted you to know about. Also, his main four computer passwords are 7653jWxz, fGg6d54p, 49zKr73q and 37zG8sTc. Just so you know.
(What did you expect? 'Hitler for President 2012'?)
Anyways, the rest of the 88 capes are bugging out for parts unknown. Smart. They know that once I finish running through the current list, they're next.
Toodles!
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
So that's two down, and two more to go. I wonder how Atropos is going to kill Lung?
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
This is getting good. Goddamn.
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Well, that's Oni Lee, Coil and Kaiser terminated.
Wonder who's next?
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
That's damn cool.
Nazis have screwed this city up so hard, it's nice to see when one goes down.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 8, 9, 10Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Yes! I just won twenty bucks, baby!
Anyone want to take odds on Lung being the next one?
►TeamMom (Senior Moderator)Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
@Wherewolf - have a temp ban. No gambling allowed regarding actual human lives.
►Pureblood01011000 (Empire88Bootlicker)Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
No. I refuse to believe it. There is no way Kaiser can be taken down by a pretender in a long-coat. You'll see. You'll all see.
►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Okay, to get this out of the way and deal with the he-said-she-said before it starts:
It appears that Kaiser may indeed be deceased. The PRT was notified by a phone call to attend a specific address at midnight, where we found someone dressed in Kaiser's trademark armor. As per Atropos' description, this person had indeed been killed with a sword.
We are currently following up on other leads to determine whether or not this is truly Kaiser, but current indications show a good chance of it actually being the case.
More information will be released if and when we deem it necessary.
►Atropos (Original Poster) (Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Oh, it's Kaiser alright. Have you found the secret elevator behind his desk yet? Goes all the way down to a sub-basement he wouldn't have wanted you to know about. Also, his main four computer passwords are 7653jWxz, fGg6d54p, 49zKr73q and 37zG8sTc. Just so you know.
(What did you expect? 'Hitler for President 2012'?)
Anyways, the rest of the 88 capes are bugging out for parts unknown. Smart. They know that once I finish running through the current list, they're next.
Toodles!
►Flagwaver Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
So that's two down, and two more to go. I wonder how Atropos is going to kill Lung?
►LockupLad Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
This is getting good. Goddamn.
►AlexandriaFan Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Well, that's Oni Lee, Coil and Kaiser terminated.
Wonder who's next?
►Doomlord Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
That's damn cool.
Nazis have screwed this city up so hard, it's nice to see when one goes down.
(Showing page 2 of 10)►Pureblood01011000 (Empire88Bootlicker)
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Watch your mouth! Kaiser's alive! You'll see!
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
A Nazi is dead, and nothing of value is lost.
@PureBlood01011000 - keep licking that boot.
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
@Flagwaver - keep dissing Lung and see what you get.
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
No! No! Remove that tag at once! He'll KILL me!
Banned) (You Wish) (UnVerified Cape) (Can Actually Kill Anything) (Yes, Really) (Watch Me)
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Whoopsie ...
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
@LaughingZander - there's something you don't understand. Something none of you understand. The Empire Eighty-Eight is the largest and longest-lasting cape team in the city. We've been here longer than New Wave, longer than the Asian Bum Boys, longer than the PRT and Protectorate. We outlasted Galvanate, Marquis, the Teeth and Coil. And we'll outlast everyone else. Keep pushing and you'll find out why.
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
@PureBlood01011000 - Big words for someone who'll never have to actually do anything about them.
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
<reaches for more popcorn>
Replied on Jan 6th 2011:
(sigh)
I didn't want to have to do this.
To the unpowered members of the Empire Eighty-Eight:
Kaiser is dead.
I saw his corpse.
We thank you for your loyalty through thick and thin, but the Empire Eighty-Eight is hereby dissolved. The capes are leaving town before we end up on Atropos' list.
Why, you ask? Surely you're strong enough to stand up before one person?
I thought so. I was certain my grasp of strategy and tactics would allow me to outmaneuver a single cape. We made our plans and carried them out ... and played straight into her hands.
The building was secure, or so we thought. A flicker of the lights, and she stood among the capes guarding him, two of our number down already. She pointed her finger at Kaiser. Another flicker of the lights, and she had vanished. Two more of us were unconscious, and I came in to find Kaiser dead with a sword rammed through his eye and out the back of his head.
Not one of us could do a damn thing about it.
So yes, we are leaving before we are faced with the unpalatable (and inevitable) choice of dying or surrendering to the PRT. You may carry on, or not, as you wish.
To the other villains of Brockton Bay:
If you are on her list, leave. If you are not on her list, make preparations to leave.
Except for Lung. You can take her. I have faith in you.
Empire Eighty-Eight ... out.
Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Dang. A sword through the eye? Looks like he did Nazi that coming.
(I regret nothing).
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 8, 9, 10Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Watch your mouth! Kaiser's alive! You'll see!
►LaughingZander Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
A Nazi is dead, and nothing of value is lost.
@PureBlood01011000 - keep licking that boot.
►Yan (Lung's Other Special Little Friend)Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
@Flagwaver - keep dissing Lung and see what you get.
►Yan (Lung's Other Special Little Friend)Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
No! No! Remove that tag at once! He'll KILL me!
►Atropos (Original Poster) (Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Whoopsie ...
►Pureblood01011000 (Empire88Bootlicker)Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
@LaughingZander - there's something you don't understand. Something none of you understand. The Empire Eighty-Eight is the largest and longest-lasting cape team in the city. We've been here longer than New Wave, longer than the Asian Bum Boys, longer than the PRT and Protectorate. We outlasted Galvanate, Marquis, the Teeth and Coil. And we'll outlast everyone else. Keep pushing and you'll find out why.
►LaughingZander Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
@PureBlood01011000 - Big words for someone who'll never have to actually do anything about them.
►UnconcernedFox Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
<reaches for more popcorn>
►GrandMeister (Verified Cape) (Verified Empire 88 Member) (Actually Victor)Replied on Jan 6th 2011:
(sigh)
I didn't want to have to do this.
To the unpowered members of the Empire Eighty-Eight:
Kaiser is dead.
I saw his corpse.
We thank you for your loyalty through thick and thin, but the Empire Eighty-Eight is hereby dissolved. The capes are leaving town before we end up on Atropos' list.
Why, you ask? Surely you're strong enough to stand up before one person?
I thought so. I was certain my grasp of strategy and tactics would allow me to outmaneuver a single cape. We made our plans and carried them out ... and played straight into her hands.
The building was secure, or so we thought. A flicker of the lights, and she stood among the capes guarding him, two of our number down already. She pointed her finger at Kaiser. Another flicker of the lights, and she had vanished. Two more of us were unconscious, and I came in to find Kaiser dead with a sword rammed through his eye and out the back of his head.
Not one of us could do a damn thing about it.
So yes, we are leaving before we are faced with the unpalatable (and inevitable) choice of dying or surrendering to the PRT. You may carry on, or not, as you wish.
To the other villains of Brockton Bay:
If you are on her list, leave. If you are not on her list, make preparations to leave.
Except for Lung. You can take her. I have faith in you.
Empire Eighty-Eight ... out.
►RunawayTwin Replied On Jan 6th 2011:
Dang. A sword through the eye? Looks like he did Nazi that coming.
(I regret nothing).
■
<><>
<><>
Medhall Building
Armsmaster
The alert buzzed in Colin's helmet, and he accepted the incoming phone call. "Armsmaster. What is it, Dragon?"
The Canadian Tinker sounded as though she wasn't quite sure about what she was saying, which was a first for her. "Colin, have you been keeping an eye on PHO? Specifically, Atropos' thread?"
He frowned. From the tone of her voice, he'd missed something important. "No. Why?"
"She just posted a list of what she claims to be his computer passwords, in the clear."
"Jesus. Thanks." He opened a new window immediately, and tabbed into PHO. Seconds later, he was reading off the passwords. "If these work, this'll be gold." The standalone systems were proving tough to crack.
She chuckled. "You're welcome."
<><>
Taylor
I awoke the next morning and stretched mightily, feeling my back pop in several places. It was looking like a great day, for all that it was the middle of winter.
Just killing Kaiser on his own would've been easy, but I'd wanted to end the Empire Eighty-Eight's hold on the city at the same time. I'd also wanted to make Kaiser's death a fitting one; he'd been a power in the city since I was five or six, after all. People needed to know he was dead.
The elaborate way I'd killed him had thus served a secondary purpose. All the other capes, the ones who I would've had to hunt down and kill one after another as they ascended to the leadership of the Empire Eighty-Eight or successor teams, were now thoroughly demoralised. It didn't matter that the PRT techs currently going through the building with a fine-tooth comb would eventually figure out how I'd done it; they weren't my targets. In one fell swoop, I'd taken eleven capes off the board.
Not that I couldn't have killed the other ten; that was a given. But merely murdering them would've been tedious and time-consuming. In addition, once the PRT took Aster away from Purity and she started demolishing the city block by block looking for her daughter, that would've reflected badly on my efforts. Much better for all concerned if I directed her away and gave the authorities no excuse to stand in my way.
They'd lose, of course. But see above about 'tedious'.
I got up and showered, then strolled downstairs to breakfast. If I killed Lung tonight and Skidmark on Friday night—or even in reverse order—that would allow me the weekend to consider my next list and plan proper kills on whoever continued to hold out. There was no sense in rushing matters.
It wasn't as though I got any kind of sick pleasure out of killing people, or that I was even compelled to. However, these people were indisputably a blight on Brockton Bay, and the cops and PRT were doing nothing about it. I could. It was simple as that.
As I accepted eggs and bacon from Dad, I considered how I'd killed Sophia. Had she been a blight on Brockton Bay? Well, apart from being a really shitty Ward, probably not. But she'd been a personal blight on my life, and that was close enough for me. I'd given her the same chance I gave Emma and Madison. They'd taken it; she hadn't. That was on her.
"Still thinking about that girl from Winslow, the one who bullied you?" asked Dad, looking at me with a little concern. "Or are some of the others still bothering you?"
I snorted. "No. I think they're in shock. It was all going so well for them, y'know? They had nice safe targets to pick on, and then something like this happened, and Sophia's not there to be their point, uh, person anymore. Nobody else wants to step up unless they make a bad call too." I rolled my eyes. "Welcome to the real world."
It was slightly more complicated than that. Madison was utterly convinced that I could kill her at any moment (which was true), and I was pretty sure I'd accomplished much the same with Emma. Between them, they'd spread the word that I was not to be messed with. Sophia had set out to mess with me, and was now dead.
From what I could gather from eavesdropping on gossip, opinions were split between the idea that Sophia had taken on someone else in my place and gotten killed, or she'd attacked me personally and I'd accidentally killed her and walked away without a scratch. What I did know was that nobody was seriously considering turning me in for killing her.
Either way, the 'do not mess with Taylor' mutual agreement was solidly in place, which was convenient. More mysterious deaths at Winslow would seriously cramp my cover as an innocent student there.
"I suppose you're right," he said in the way that adults do when they're not sure how to address a sensitive topic anymore. "The police haven't called back, so I'm guessing they're satisfied with what they got from us."
I nodded. "Sounds like it. Maybe they'll catch whoever did it, and maybe not." The answer, of course, was 'not'.
I applied myself to my breakfast. Soon I'd have to go catch the bus to school, but that was okay. I knew many ways to kill boredom now, some of which didn't involve drawing untoward attention.
And a few hours after that, I could set about making Brockton Bay a better place.
One drop of blood at a time.
End of Part Nine
Relevant Side Story
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As this update demonstrates, note that she doesn't have to - to use her own term - tediously kill crime bosses one by one. She can decide on a Path to "Kill capability of criminals in City X to deal drugs in Brockton Bay" and destroy the organization instead of having to play whack-a-mole.
It doesn't even need to be a matter of killing a crime boss like it was this time; she could show up in some city and do...something, fatal or not that kicks off a gang war or crackdown that as a "side effect" leaves the survivors unable or uninterested in involving themselves in the Bay. Without her having to stay there or do anything but pushing the initial domino to start the cascade.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
She must have a secondary power of being a show off.
Being a parent is basically a second job.
Smart decision.
As are puns.
Hah!
Remember, Big Sister is always watching and will fucking kill you.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Not having read that chapter yet, but damn can you apply many meanings to the chapter title…
Killing time - it's time to kill
Killing time - literally killing time itself, which who knows if the Path to Killing can pull off
Killing time - letting time pass until it's time for something else
…
EDIT: Great Chapter.
Killing time - it's time to kill
Killing time - literally killing time itself, which who knows if the Path to Killing can pull off
Killing time - letting time pass until it's time for something else
…
EDIT: Great Chapter.
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Her Shard isn't as limited as a normal one, and was placed as a bloodthirsty prank; I suspect that especially since she's cheerfully going along with its function of "kill stuff" it's giving her the leeway to be a bit picky about how she kills things. Note that it did guide her on just how to get an appropriate costume and weapon as well; it could have given her a much more boring but functional Path to getting a costume and weapons to kill things with but she wants style, so she got style.
Sort of the opposite of Leet, whose shard canonically hates him and is trying work within its rules to kill him. Her Shard has a function and it won't deviate from it, as Ack has said previously said; but it seems willing to hand her a Path that does what she wants instead of minimalistic efficiency or playing monkey's paw with her. It's acting more like she's an Entity herself than a host, if you think about it.
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- Location
- Australia
Just to give an insight into how it thinks: it utterly loved her swinging-sword execution of Kaiser. It'll go with "dramatic as fuck" all day long.
That update title, it reminds me of a song lyric
Sounds appropriate"Time For People - Atomship" said:
- Location
- Somewhere
I feel Skidmark should be next. Just to see how the ABB would react
"They killed HIM first?! What am I, chopped liver?"
Also, the bootlicker should stay. In increasingly levels of denial.
'Kaiser isn't dead. He's just sleeping. That's all.'
'The E88 capes didn't run from town with their tails between their legs. They're getting reinforcements.'
"They killed HIM first?! What am I, chopped liver?"
Also, the bootlicker should stay. In increasingly levels of denial.
'Kaiser isn't dead. He's just sleeping. That's all.'
'The E88 capes didn't run from town with their tails between their legs. They're getting reinforcements.'
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girador
There are only four circles in this picture
- Location
- behind a screen
Nah, It'd be funnier if skidmark was the only one to be smart enough to leave. Just the realization amongst the locals that of all the gang leaders arguably the one drugged out of his gourd proved to be the smartest.
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
Nah. Lung's response would be to claim that she is too scared to face him and hoping he'd leave rather than call her bluff.
girador
There are only four circles in this picture
- Location
- behind a screen
A very good point, and TBH that's probably what it would look like to everyone else too.