God this world sucks. the fact that the most bearable person so far is an ex villain that was railroaded into becoming a hero doesn't help matters at all. Its like they only give ppl with mental issues authority but knowing cauldron plans its probably on purpose
Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage
- Thread starter MetaBettaOmega
- Start date
TFTC. At least he is done with the PRT for now.
Vicky running away with Amy and taking over the roof of medhall as their own kingdom is a very reasonable solution and some day it will win the vote in the quest
At least the permit was given, even with the ridiculous hoops to jump through. As for Amy and Victoria? Talking can help lessen things, hopefully the aunt does prove helpful without this exploding. Who am I kidding, it's worm, carol will go ballistic over having someone subvert her authority. Good luck kids.
I would argue that was kind of the point. Piggot didn't want someone else who might give away something due to guilt or anything.
Thanks for the chapter. The interaction with GG was a surprise twist that I was definitely not expecting.
Any plans on adding this story to your list in your signature box at the end of your posts?
Any plans on adding this story to your list in your signature box at the end of your posts?
The Stormbringer
Worm Fanfic & Crack Connoisseur
- Location
- Spaaaaace~!
Blitzed through this whole one tonight. I didn't know you had multiple stories! Glad I found this one.
Chapter Thirteen
As I stood there in silence, my mind stuck like a jammed clutch of gears, grinding and twisting against each other. Eventually, Alya blew a cold breeze over my face, breaking me out of my stupor.
"That… was interesting," I said as the distant young hero finally disappeared, dipping below the tops of a faraway building. "Not to mention just about the last thing I expected to happen today..."
"I did not know humans could talk that long without breathing," Alya said, whispering into my ear as usual.
"Be nice. She is obviously dealing with some really serious stuff," I gently reprimanded with a frown. "I would have offered my number, but I wasn't sure how she would take that. I'm more than ten years older than her."
"I'm sure you'll hear about it eventually," She commented. "The drawbacks of living in the open. They are celebrities."
"Yeah… I'm starting to reconsider my cavalier attitude to my identity," I said, shaking my head after a moment. "Alright. Let's go get my civies, then go home before anything else weird happens."
It took twenty-five minutes to walk back to my clothes and another fifteen to change and make it back to the shop. Despite me tempting Murphy, I made it all the way back without anything strange happening. However, when I was literally fifteen feet away from my secret entrance, my phone rang. I quickly picked it up and answered, looking around to see if anyone had heard the ringtone.
"Hello?"
"Arcanum! It's Tony," A familiar voice said on the other side. "How's life treating you? You reach out to the PRT?"
"Life's going, Tony, not much more it can do but that," I responded, chewing on my lip as I tried to open the entrance to my temporary home with one hand and failed. "Give me a second."
I placed the phone along the window sill before finagling the plywood barrier open. I slid into the shop with a practiced ease, grabbing my phone and re-inserting the barrier once I was inside. While I was doing this, I was contemplating how much I should tell Tony about what had happened in the PRT, or how much I should tell anyone. They had clearly lied and tried to take advantage of the situation, and the only reason I found out was the ever-present weakness of bureaucracy, specifically the lack of communication. If I was so inclined, I had every right to plaster it on the front page.
But I really couldn't afford to make enemies, especially not government-backed ones. It also wasn't a big enough story to serve as blackmail, not that I would seriously consider doing that anyway.
"Hey Tony, I'm back. Sorry about that," I responded after putting the phone back to my ear. "I did make it to the PRT for the whole dog and pony show. With any luck, I should be accredited soon."
"Well, that's good, I supposed," He responded, not trying to hide the fact that he clearly didn't understand why I cared so much. "Anyway, I got word back from one of my pals. He said he would act as our in to a large group in the Docks. I know this group. I've dropped off blankets there one bad winter. It's nearly double the size of John's place, set up in a couple old warehouses just on the edge of the area."
"When can we expect?"
"Lots of rough guys on the bad end of their luck," Tony explained. "It's a rougher place to live, especially homeless, so it doesn't have the variety that John's place had. Lots of homeless dock workers, old guys, grizzled and broken. Plenty of veterans, too."
"Alright, that's fine. You know I can handle myself for normal people," I responded. "What about gangs? Are we gonna be stepping on anyone's toes?"
"Kind of, but not really," Tony said, quickly continuing. "Technically, ABB owns that area, but they don't really defend it because it's trash. You're more likely to run into Merchants, though they hardly count as a real gang."
"Alright, as long as we don't step on anyone's toes and cause trouble for the people we are trying to help, I'm happy to go," I agreed. "When is the meeting?"
"Tomorrow, ten in the morning," He responded, cutting me off before I could ask my question. "I know it's weird, but my pal said it will make keeping an eye on you easier. Plus, they don't have any real reason to hide. Nobody wants the building they are squatting in."
"Alright. Just give me an address and some basic directions, and I will see you tomorrow."
Tony fed me a few general landmarks to help me navigate, as well as the address, just in case. After a few minutes of casual chatting about how the soup kitchen was going, we hung up, and I crashed back on the couch, having spent the last few minutes pacing.
"Well, I guess we know what we are doing tomorrow,'" I said, watching Alya form up beside me on the couch. "What do you think?"
"I think that helping people makes you happy, and healing people makes them happy, so it is a win-win," She responded with a smile.
"I was referring to the location," I said with a frown. "So far, we have avoided cape conflict by sticking in generally safe places. The Docks are not what anyone would call safe."
"I will be keeping watch over you," She responded. "You cannot let fear hold you back."
"It's a very reasonable fear to be scared of someone with superpowers, Alya," I said, shaking my head. "But I get your point."
I settled in for the night, setting up my bed and crashing early. Ten in the morning wasn't nearly early enough in the morning to be worried, but if I went to bed late… Well, I was a bit paranoid, and I wanted to bring my A-game.
The next morning, it took me an hour to walk across the city, find a place to get changed, and finally arrive at the meeting spot. As I was walking through the Docks, it was hard not to let the state of the area get to me. Almost every building was run down, covered in graffiti, and surrounded by trash. Some of the active businesses made an attempt to clean up… but the grime, trash, and desperation was just too deep.
Eventually, I found myself in a pothole-filled parking lot. Along the far side was not one, not two, but three burnt-out cars, abandoned and rusted. I spent about a minute standing around, sitting on the hood of the closest car, when Tony's car pulled in, going slow to keep from blowing a tire or throwing a shock. Rather than parking, however, Tony stepped out of the passenger side door, waved to someone inside before heading to me, the car turning around and leaving. As if sensing my question, he chuckled.
"Cars end up on cinder blocks here quicker than you can turn around," he explained with a morose chuckle. "Better to get dropped off and picked up."
"Fair enough," I responded with a shrug. "Listen, Tony. I know you want to come with me, but I'm fine with you just making the introduction and leaving. I don't-"
"Let me stop you right there," Tony said, shaking his head and cutting me off. "My father might have been a bastard, but he did teach me a few things before my mother kicked his ass out on the curb. One of those things was that you never send someone to do something you aren't willing to do yourself. I know you can handle yourself, but I'm not sending you out here alone, not when I can help keep things calm. I know a lot of these people, and a lot of them know me."
I let out a sighing groan before chewing the edge of my lip. I was silent for a moment before finally making up my mind.
"Tony, I'm going to tell you something, and I don't want you to ask any questions," I said, giving him what I was hoping was a severe look. "If shit starts to go down, and you hear a very close woman's voice telling you where to go or what to do, do your best to listen to her."
He opened his mouth, obviously wanting to ask what I was talking about. Thankfully, he seemed to catch my nonverbal hint before he could say anything. He let out a sigh and nodded.
"Alright, Arcanum, I've been in enough trouble to know the "you better off not knowing" voice," He said, nodding in understanding. "I'll do as you said, as long as I can."
We waited in the parking lot for another ten minutes before, finally, a man stepped out from between two nearby buildings. He was old, maybe late seventies, with a wicked scar along his jaw, with quite a bit of it missing. It was clearly a very old wound, something that could potentially be mitigated by intense plastic surgery.
Or magic.
"Tony," The man said simply, a gruff voice altered by the damage to his mouth. "This them?"
"Yeah, Gregory, this this them," He said. "How you holding up."
"Depends," he said, eying me up and down. "On if he is full of shit."
"I could demonstrate?" I suggested, the man's stare intensifying at the offer.
"Will it hurt?"
"No, but you may feel strange phantom sensations, depending on what I'm healing," I explained.
"Fuck… Do it."
I nodded to the man, stepping closer and holding my hands out. First, I cast a diagnostic spell because while I could see his face, there was nothing else I could see. When the scan was done, I had to stifle a gasp.
The man was falling apart.
Their joints were failing, their bones weakening, muscles deteriorating from poor nutrition, along with some pretty serious damage to his liver. He alone blew half of the cases I treated at John's group out of the water.
"This may take a few minutes," I explained, pausing for a moment. "And there will be some of those phantom sensations."
I keep the spells going for nearly fifteen minutes, slowly easing most of his long-term injuries, fixing a lot of damage due to malnutrition and drinking. None of it was gone completely, however. It was way too old to wipe away, especially his facial damage. That said, I did manage to ease his suffering quite a bit, fixing a good amount of internal and external damage. I managed to fix a good portion of his jaw, regrowing and healing some of his teeth, before encouraging some of the skin around the injury to soften and grow. His jaw would likely never look the same, and it was impossible to miss that, at some point, this man had been hurt pretty badly. Now, however, the scaring was much lighter, and the hole in his jaw was gone. It honestly looked like he underwent extensive corrective surgery when it was finally done.
When I was done, the man spent a few minutes getting reacquainted with his body.
"Damn good work," He said before promptly turning around and walking away.
As he left, I turned to Tony with a confused expression.
"He is a man of few words," he explained with a shrug. "Pretty sure we are supposed to follow him."
Looking back, Gregory was already across a street, so we had to rush to catch up, finding the now much more spry man before he could turn a corner and disappear. We followed him for a few more minutes before he finally led us to a pair of warehouses tucked behind a few other buildings. Quite a few people were walking around, sitting on crates and boxes, talking and working. It was like it a miniature community, with people cleaning, tending to the buildings, and more.
We quickly drew a crowd as people spotted Gregory first, spotting that he was healed before looking back at Tony and me. Of course, the old man ignored everyone, leading us inside the smaller of the two warehouses.
The interior of the warehouse was surprisingly orderly, with tents and tarps being used to divide up individual spaces for people to live in. Looking around more, I spotted strings of lights hanging from the ceiling, strung across polls and walkways, lighting up the interior. It was honestly an impressive setup, especially considering the condition of the area outside.
Rather than lead us around to people who were injured as John had done, Gregory seemed eager to foist us on to someone else, apparently finding a younger man, probably just about my age, to pass us off to. The young man was a few inches taller than me, with short brown hair and dark brown eyes, a five o'clock shadow on his face. Gregory quickly said a few quiet words to the new man, before patting his shoulder. Then he left, turning away and leaving without warning. Before we could even thank him, he had slipped back into the crowd, disappearing in seconds. We watched him go for a moment before the new man chuckled, shaking his head.
"Sorry, Gregory can be… a bit intense when he is anxious," The man said, reaching out to shake my hand. "Names Charles."
I returned his handshake, careful not to break anything, before looking around at the gathering crowd. After giving Tony a glance, I looked back at Charles.
"We were under the impression that Gregory would help us help the people around the camp," I said, the man nodding in understanding.
"I know, don't worry," The man said with a small smile. "He was testing you, apparently. That was him telling me you passed. Congrats."
"Should have known," Tony muttered quietly to himself behind me.
"He looked good," Charles said, pushing past Tony's commentary and giving me a hard look. "You can fix stuff like his face?"
I spent a few minutes giving him the lowdown on just what I could heal, what I could help, and what I could do nothing about. He listened closely, taking in everything I said, before nodding at the end.
"Alright, if what you're saying is true, there are quite a few people here you could help," he said. "Are you willing to travel to people's spaces, or do you need us to bring them to you?"
"Bring me to the people who are struggling or immobile," I said simply. "When we are done with them, we can set up a line for those of able body."
"Sounds like a plan. Lars!"
The shout caught me off guard, but if Charles noticed, he didn't mention it. A guy, probably a few years younger than me, who had been standing off to the side, quickly stood and rushed over.
"I need you to handle this," Charles explained. "I'll be walking around with Arcanum, taking him to people who need help."
"Sure thing, Boss," Lars replied with a serious nod.
Charles nodded and handed the man a clipboard of all things before turning to me and gesturing back the way we came.
"Let's get you started then."
"That… was interesting," I said as the distant young hero finally disappeared, dipping below the tops of a faraway building. "Not to mention just about the last thing I expected to happen today..."
"I did not know humans could talk that long without breathing," Alya said, whispering into my ear as usual.
"Be nice. She is obviously dealing with some really serious stuff," I gently reprimanded with a frown. "I would have offered my number, but I wasn't sure how she would take that. I'm more than ten years older than her."
"I'm sure you'll hear about it eventually," She commented. "The drawbacks of living in the open. They are celebrities."
"Yeah… I'm starting to reconsider my cavalier attitude to my identity," I said, shaking my head after a moment. "Alright. Let's go get my civies, then go home before anything else weird happens."
It took twenty-five minutes to walk back to my clothes and another fifteen to change and make it back to the shop. Despite me tempting Murphy, I made it all the way back without anything strange happening. However, when I was literally fifteen feet away from my secret entrance, my phone rang. I quickly picked it up and answered, looking around to see if anyone had heard the ringtone.
"Hello?"
"Arcanum! It's Tony," A familiar voice said on the other side. "How's life treating you? You reach out to the PRT?"
"Life's going, Tony, not much more it can do but that," I responded, chewing on my lip as I tried to open the entrance to my temporary home with one hand and failed. "Give me a second."
I placed the phone along the window sill before finagling the plywood barrier open. I slid into the shop with a practiced ease, grabbing my phone and re-inserting the barrier once I was inside. While I was doing this, I was contemplating how much I should tell Tony about what had happened in the PRT, or how much I should tell anyone. They had clearly lied and tried to take advantage of the situation, and the only reason I found out was the ever-present weakness of bureaucracy, specifically the lack of communication. If I was so inclined, I had every right to plaster it on the front page.
But I really couldn't afford to make enemies, especially not government-backed ones. It also wasn't a big enough story to serve as blackmail, not that I would seriously consider doing that anyway.
"Hey Tony, I'm back. Sorry about that," I responded after putting the phone back to my ear. "I did make it to the PRT for the whole dog and pony show. With any luck, I should be accredited soon."
"Well, that's good, I supposed," He responded, not trying to hide the fact that he clearly didn't understand why I cared so much. "Anyway, I got word back from one of my pals. He said he would act as our in to a large group in the Docks. I know this group. I've dropped off blankets there one bad winter. It's nearly double the size of John's place, set up in a couple old warehouses just on the edge of the area."
"When can we expect?"
"Lots of rough guys on the bad end of their luck," Tony explained. "It's a rougher place to live, especially homeless, so it doesn't have the variety that John's place had. Lots of homeless dock workers, old guys, grizzled and broken. Plenty of veterans, too."
"Alright, that's fine. You know I can handle myself for normal people," I responded. "What about gangs? Are we gonna be stepping on anyone's toes?"
"Kind of, but not really," Tony said, quickly continuing. "Technically, ABB owns that area, but they don't really defend it because it's trash. You're more likely to run into Merchants, though they hardly count as a real gang."
"Alright, as long as we don't step on anyone's toes and cause trouble for the people we are trying to help, I'm happy to go," I agreed. "When is the meeting?"
"Tomorrow, ten in the morning," He responded, cutting me off before I could ask my question. "I know it's weird, but my pal said it will make keeping an eye on you easier. Plus, they don't have any real reason to hide. Nobody wants the building they are squatting in."
"Alright. Just give me an address and some basic directions, and I will see you tomorrow."
Tony fed me a few general landmarks to help me navigate, as well as the address, just in case. After a few minutes of casual chatting about how the soup kitchen was going, we hung up, and I crashed back on the couch, having spent the last few minutes pacing.
"Well, I guess we know what we are doing tomorrow,'" I said, watching Alya form up beside me on the couch. "What do you think?"
"I think that helping people makes you happy, and healing people makes them happy, so it is a win-win," She responded with a smile.
"I was referring to the location," I said with a frown. "So far, we have avoided cape conflict by sticking in generally safe places. The Docks are not what anyone would call safe."
"I will be keeping watch over you," She responded. "You cannot let fear hold you back."
"It's a very reasonable fear to be scared of someone with superpowers, Alya," I said, shaking my head. "But I get your point."
I settled in for the night, setting up my bed and crashing early. Ten in the morning wasn't nearly early enough in the morning to be worried, but if I went to bed late… Well, I was a bit paranoid, and I wanted to bring my A-game.
The next morning, it took me an hour to walk across the city, find a place to get changed, and finally arrive at the meeting spot. As I was walking through the Docks, it was hard not to let the state of the area get to me. Almost every building was run down, covered in graffiti, and surrounded by trash. Some of the active businesses made an attempt to clean up… but the grime, trash, and desperation was just too deep.
Eventually, I found myself in a pothole-filled parking lot. Along the far side was not one, not two, but three burnt-out cars, abandoned and rusted. I spent about a minute standing around, sitting on the hood of the closest car, when Tony's car pulled in, going slow to keep from blowing a tire or throwing a shock. Rather than parking, however, Tony stepped out of the passenger side door, waved to someone inside before heading to me, the car turning around and leaving. As if sensing my question, he chuckled.
"Cars end up on cinder blocks here quicker than you can turn around," he explained with a morose chuckle. "Better to get dropped off and picked up."
"Fair enough," I responded with a shrug. "Listen, Tony. I know you want to come with me, but I'm fine with you just making the introduction and leaving. I don't-"
"Let me stop you right there," Tony said, shaking his head and cutting me off. "My father might have been a bastard, but he did teach me a few things before my mother kicked his ass out on the curb. One of those things was that you never send someone to do something you aren't willing to do yourself. I know you can handle yourself, but I'm not sending you out here alone, not when I can help keep things calm. I know a lot of these people, and a lot of them know me."
I let out a sighing groan before chewing the edge of my lip. I was silent for a moment before finally making up my mind.
"Tony, I'm going to tell you something, and I don't want you to ask any questions," I said, giving him what I was hoping was a severe look. "If shit starts to go down, and you hear a very close woman's voice telling you where to go or what to do, do your best to listen to her."
He opened his mouth, obviously wanting to ask what I was talking about. Thankfully, he seemed to catch my nonverbal hint before he could say anything. He let out a sigh and nodded.
"Alright, Arcanum, I've been in enough trouble to know the "you better off not knowing" voice," He said, nodding in understanding. "I'll do as you said, as long as I can."
We waited in the parking lot for another ten minutes before, finally, a man stepped out from between two nearby buildings. He was old, maybe late seventies, with a wicked scar along his jaw, with quite a bit of it missing. It was clearly a very old wound, something that could potentially be mitigated by intense plastic surgery.
Or magic.
"Tony," The man said simply, a gruff voice altered by the damage to his mouth. "This them?"
"Yeah, Gregory, this this them," He said. "How you holding up."
"Depends," he said, eying me up and down. "On if he is full of shit."
"I could demonstrate?" I suggested, the man's stare intensifying at the offer.
"Will it hurt?"
"No, but you may feel strange phantom sensations, depending on what I'm healing," I explained.
"Fuck… Do it."
I nodded to the man, stepping closer and holding my hands out. First, I cast a diagnostic spell because while I could see his face, there was nothing else I could see. When the scan was done, I had to stifle a gasp.
The man was falling apart.
Their joints were failing, their bones weakening, muscles deteriorating from poor nutrition, along with some pretty serious damage to his liver. He alone blew half of the cases I treated at John's group out of the water.
"This may take a few minutes," I explained, pausing for a moment. "And there will be some of those phantom sensations."
I keep the spells going for nearly fifteen minutes, slowly easing most of his long-term injuries, fixing a lot of damage due to malnutrition and drinking. None of it was gone completely, however. It was way too old to wipe away, especially his facial damage. That said, I did manage to ease his suffering quite a bit, fixing a good amount of internal and external damage. I managed to fix a good portion of his jaw, regrowing and healing some of his teeth, before encouraging some of the skin around the injury to soften and grow. His jaw would likely never look the same, and it was impossible to miss that, at some point, this man had been hurt pretty badly. Now, however, the scaring was much lighter, and the hole in his jaw was gone. It honestly looked like he underwent extensive corrective surgery when it was finally done.
When I was done, the man spent a few minutes getting reacquainted with his body.
"Damn good work," He said before promptly turning around and walking away.
As he left, I turned to Tony with a confused expression.
"He is a man of few words," he explained with a shrug. "Pretty sure we are supposed to follow him."
Looking back, Gregory was already across a street, so we had to rush to catch up, finding the now much more spry man before he could turn a corner and disappear. We followed him for a few more minutes before he finally led us to a pair of warehouses tucked behind a few other buildings. Quite a few people were walking around, sitting on crates and boxes, talking and working. It was like it a miniature community, with people cleaning, tending to the buildings, and more.
We quickly drew a crowd as people spotted Gregory first, spotting that he was healed before looking back at Tony and me. Of course, the old man ignored everyone, leading us inside the smaller of the two warehouses.
The interior of the warehouse was surprisingly orderly, with tents and tarps being used to divide up individual spaces for people to live in. Looking around more, I spotted strings of lights hanging from the ceiling, strung across polls and walkways, lighting up the interior. It was honestly an impressive setup, especially considering the condition of the area outside.
Rather than lead us around to people who were injured as John had done, Gregory seemed eager to foist us on to someone else, apparently finding a younger man, probably just about my age, to pass us off to. The young man was a few inches taller than me, with short brown hair and dark brown eyes, a five o'clock shadow on his face. Gregory quickly said a few quiet words to the new man, before patting his shoulder. Then he left, turning away and leaving without warning. Before we could even thank him, he had slipped back into the crowd, disappearing in seconds. We watched him go for a moment before the new man chuckled, shaking his head.
"Sorry, Gregory can be… a bit intense when he is anxious," The man said, reaching out to shake my hand. "Names Charles."
I returned his handshake, careful not to break anything, before looking around at the gathering crowd. After giving Tony a glance, I looked back at Charles.
"We were under the impression that Gregory would help us help the people around the camp," I said, the man nodding in understanding.
"I know, don't worry," The man said with a small smile. "He was testing you, apparently. That was him telling me you passed. Congrats."
"Should have known," Tony muttered quietly to himself behind me.
"He looked good," Charles said, pushing past Tony's commentary and giving me a hard look. "You can fix stuff like his face?"
I spent a few minutes giving him the lowdown on just what I could heal, what I could help, and what I could do nothing about. He listened closely, taking in everything I said, before nodding at the end.
"Alright, if what you're saying is true, there are quite a few people here you could help," he said. "Are you willing to travel to people's spaces, or do you need us to bring them to you?"
"Bring me to the people who are struggling or immobile," I said simply. "When we are done with them, we can set up a line for those of able body."
"Sounds like a plan. Lars!"
The shout caught me off guard, but if Charles noticed, he didn't mention it. A guy, probably a few years younger than me, who had been standing off to the side, quickly stood and rushed over.
"I need you to handle this," Charles explained. "I'll be walking around with Arcanum, taking him to people who need help."
"Sure thing, Boss," Lars replied with a serious nod.
Charles nodded and handed the man a clipboard of all things before turning to me and gesturing back the way we came.
"Let's get you started then."
I'm kind of wondering if this means that in a few dozen chapters we're going to see Arcanum in a rough spot and some of the people he's helping now go out of their way to help him because 'shit, you are the only cape that's given a single fuck about us. of course we are going to help'
Also the Panacea fuse is lit. Let's see what happens.
Also the Panacea fuse is lit. Let's see what happens.
Nice. Thanks for the chapter
Your avatars are just a little too similar. I feel like I'm getting double vision.
Chapter Fourteen
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Charles led us back down to the tents and lean-tos, people actually stepping out of our way as we moved. He didn't have to lead us far, as we very shortly stopped at one of the many nearby tents. Charles reached out and knocked on a nearby support beam. After a few seconds, a raspy voice came from inside.
"'Come in…" The voice said, followed by a cough.
I gave Charles a look before gesturing to my mask and general get-up. It took him a moment to realize that, yes, a random masked man stepping into your tent would be shocking as hell and probably not the greatest start to process. Rather than scare the living crap out of whoever was inside, Charles stepped in first, and I joined him a minute later. The person inside was struggling to breathe, having caught some sort of upper respiratory infection that was filling his lungs with liquid. They had the common sense to lean him upright so he could breathe a bit easier, but that was all they could really do for him.
Thankfully, I could fix that.
A quick series of spells later, a man who was certain he would die on the streets when he woke up was praising me, god, and various other deities for a new lease on life. I assured him it was just a simple parahuman ability, and eventually, he calmed down. When we left his tent, his words of excitement and relief had attracted a large group, all of which were staring at me with wide eyes. Seeing that we were at the precipice of what could possibly turn into a clamor, I stepped forward to cut it off.
"I will not leave this camp until I have had a chance to examine anyone who is ill or injured," I assured the crowd. "We are starting with some of the worst cases first, but after that, I will see to everyone. Just please, have patience."
After a moment, people nodded, several of them dispersing back into the indoor shantytown. Others hung around to watch, probably to keep an eye on me in case I tried to break my promise. Once it was clear that we weren't about to be swamped by people looking to get healed first, I turned back to Charles.
"Who's next?"
Charles led me around the first warehouse and then through the second, guiding me to some of the unhealthiest and most at-risk people the community had. As before with John's group, there were a few things I couldn't cure. Thankfully, all of those cases had ways that I could treat some of their symptoms and ease their suffering.
After about an hour of walking around, Charles was sure we had gotten the worst of people, so we set up shop outside in the relatively fresh air. He sat me down in a folding chair, and a line of people looking for healing quickly formed around me.
It was nearly three hours before I was done, which I knew was way too long for just this community. Someone must have gone off to gather nearby people as well, pulling for the homeless who preferred to live on their own. Charles nearly called people out on it, stopping some he recognized as not living in the community, but I stopped him.
"I'm glad they are going around getting people," I said with a shrug. "The point here is to help people who can't just go get help from doctors or even Panacea. I'm happy to spend all day here."
He looked a little shocked to hear that but, after a moment, nodded in understanding.
Eventually, after healing everything from broken bones to stomach ulcers, the line ran out. I stood and stretched, looking around to make sure no one else was coming.
"Well, that looks like everyone," I said with a smile. "Bit of a workout, but I'm glad I could help."
"You really are, aren't you?" He asked, looking at me with a frown. "I think I need to apologize. When you first arrived, I was sure you were just looking for a PR boost. I kept expecting news crews to show up or something. But you really stuck around and healed every one. Even that guy with a hangnail."
"Can you really blame him?" I asked with a chuckle. "If I knew someone was healing people and I had one, I would go get it fixed, too! He even had the decency to wait until the end!"
The man chuckled and shook his head, eventually nodding in agreement.
"Either way, thank you. It's nice to know not all of you are obsessed with fighting and looking good for pictures."
"I imagine I'm going to have to fight people eventually," I admitted after a long breath. "I wish I didn't have to, but… I don't really have an option. But I would like to do nothing but this, helping people around the city."
We stood there for a long moment, before eventually I remembered something.
"Listen, do you guys have any cellphones?" I asked.
"Yeah, we keep a couple of prepaid for emergencies," he said. "Why?"
"I want you guys to have my number. Call me immediately if it's an emergency. Otherwise, you can call me when normal injuries stack up," I explained. "I wish I could come out for every pulled muscle and bruise, but I have a feeling life is only going to get more busy for me."
He quickly took down my number before I went off to find Tony, who was having a very animated conversation about some sort of sports team with a few of the community members. I eventually pried him away, leaving the community behind. Several people tried to offer me gifts as I left, but I politely refused. I knew some people had issues receiving something for nothing, but I refused to set a precedent for healing the less fortunate for gifts or cash. I had no issues charging insurance companies or hospitals for my abilities, but random people off of the street? Absolutely not.
We had been walking for fifteen minutes when Alya whispered something into my ear.
"You're being followed," She whispered, causing me to freeze up and almost stumble. "Looks like they were waiting for you to leave the community. I… think they are called the Undersiders."
As I recovered from almost tripping, I cursed under my breath and looked around. Unsurprisingly, all I could see were the walls of the alleyway. I tried my best to remember who exactly the Undersiders were, trying to recall the research I did. They had some sort of smoke conjurer, a dog master, and… two more that I couldn't remember.
"What is it?" Tony asked, picking up on my anxious looks. "Something wrong?"
"I think we are being followed," I commented, quickly putting some pep in my step, practically pulling Tony with me even as I whispered to Alya. "Did they see Tony?"
"I… don't think so," She responded. "The dogs are following your scent. They never really saw you."
"Where did they get my scent?"
"I don't know."
"It doesn't matter, anyways," I said, shaking my head. "Guide Tony away, towards Downtown."
"Arcanum, what is-" Tony began to ask, only to freeze as I assumed Alya started talking to him. He looked at me with wide eyes before nodding. "I'll call you later."
"Good, now go."
He nodded and left, jogging down the alleyways, turning a corner, and disappearing. Meanwhile, I turned around and walked back, stopping at a four-way intersection of alleyways, a space that slightly opened up. I spotted a junked and dumped washing machine, which I kicked over flat on its side, making it the perfect height to sit on. I quickly sat down, taking in a long breath and holding it for a few seconds before letting it all out.
The Undersiders were known as low-level villains, doing small jobs and occasionally raiding ABB assets. They were annoying, probably underselling their abilities, and usually chose to run rather than fight. I don't know why they were following me, but my best bet was to come off as confident as possible while preparing myself to run if need be.
I chewed the inside of my lip, feeling very alone with Alya focused on guiding Tony away, but I did my best to calmly wait for her to return. The temptation to head down a different alley was pretty strong, but if they were tracking my scent, then I didn't want to lead them anywhere close to where I lived.
A minute passed, then another. Finally, halfway through the third, Alya returned.
"They've stopped," She said softly. "They were arguing about approaching you now that they lost the surprise advantage."
"How do they know that?" I asked, confused, only to curse a moment later as I remembered. "Fuck, thats right, one of them is a thinker, aren't they? Dammit, I need to do more research."
"They are coming again, walking slowly."
"Okay… should I run?" I asked, my eyes locked down the alley they would be coming from. "I could probably outrun them. There's not really a point of hanging around."
"True, there really isn't," Alya agreed. "And yet… you're not going anywhere."
"...I don't like being followed," I said after a moment, a scowl working into my features behind my mask. "I want to know what the hell they are up to. Especially since it puts Tony at risk."
"What about their thinker?"
"I have a plan for that."
"Do you think you can beat them all?" She asked calmly.
"Unless their fourth has those monster dogs out already?" I asked, feeling a sense of negativity come from our connection. "In that case, I think I can hold them off long enough to run. Plus, you could always help even the playing field.
I could feel a sense of approval from Alya as the team of villains, all of them basically teenagers, came around the corner. There were four of them, all dressed in costumes. The first, the leader, was Grue, whose name I only remembered because of the reference. He was wearing a leather jacket, pants and gloves, with a modified bike helmet depicting something vaguely resembling what a grue looked like.
Behind him was a young woman, the thinker, dressed in a purple and black skin-tight suit. She was wearing a domino mask and a cocky smirk that got right under my skin immediately. Next was another young woman whose costume hardly counted as one, just a bomber jacket, t-shirt, and jeans. Her face was obscured by a simple party store wolf mask, and she was trailed by three dogs.
The last member, slinking around in the back, was a thin young man with a smiling theater drama mask on. His outfit was simple as well, a pair of slacks with a frilly collar jabot around his neck. He was also the only one carrying anything, a scepter of some kind in his left hand.
They approached slowly, stopping just before entering the small open area at the four-way intersection.
"Hello," Grue said after a moment. "I-"
"Stop," I said simply. "I'm not saying a word more until your thinker leaves. At least a hundred yards."
The leader, Grue, froze at that statement, and the Thinker herself recoiled. I don't know if it was kid naivety or just a lack of planning, but they clearly hadn't considered that option. According to reports, Tattletale, the name just coming to me as I stared the group down, could pull information out of thin air. She claimed to be psychic, but most refuted that as a possibility. I'm sure if she was as good as what the online information seemed to indicate she was, she would still be able to figure some stuff out, but depriving her of access to me should help. The way they reacted to my request indicated I was right.
"I don't-"
I stood up from my spot and started to walk away, making it within a few steps of another alley before Grue spoke up.
"Tattletale, retreat," He said simply, and I stopped, turning around.
The girl whirled to look at her leader, staring daggers at him, before turning to look at me as well. She must have seen something because she flinched, turned around, and left, walking back the way they came. Grue opened his mouth to talk, but I held up my hand and waited. After a tense thirty seconds, Alya whispered that she was out of earshot.
"Good. Now, why were you following me?" I asked, not letting him get a word in.
"You were in our territory," He explained, his voice muffled by his helmet. I had the feeling he had to talk a bit louder than normal to be heard. "We needed to know what you were doing."
"I was healing the sick and injured at the homeless camp," I responded. "Weren't you watching me?"
"We were, we want to know why."
"Because I can heal people, and they had people that needed healing," I explained with a shrug. "Nothing more than that."
There was a silence after that, as if the group expected someone else to speak up. When no one did, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Let me guess, that's when Tattletale would usually speak up and confirm if someone was telling the truth?" I asked, shaking my head when they didn't respond. "Someone's a bit spoiled."
"Fine, you were healing them from the goodness of your heart," He said, trying to regain his footing in the conversation. "How does your healing work?"
"Thoughts, prayers, and positive vibes," I responded, wiggling my fingers, Jazz Hands style. "Why would I tell you guys?"
"We are interested in hiring you, maybe even putting you on a retainer, in case one of us gets injured," He said. "We would be willing to pay a good chunk of money for your services."
I stared at them for a long moment before letting out a long breath and shaking my head.
"Look, I'm sure that whatever reason you guys are villains is complicated. Shit like this is rarely simple," I admitted with a shrug. "If I saw you dying on the street, yes, I would likely heal you. But I'm not going to sign some sort of contract to make house calls to people robbing stores and stirring up trouble. Just like I won't heal other villains or gang members."
"We understand," Grue said, giving me a nod. "Since we approached under a truce, I assume we can leave like that?"
"Sure," I responded with a shrug. "I'm not going to be hunting people down, not unless I'm forced to."
He nodded, and together, the group slowly retreated, keeping a close eye on me as they did. Eventually, as the last of them disappeared around the corner, I finally released a long, slow breath.
"Kinda fucked that the best first impression I've had with parahumans has been with a bunch of kids playing at being villains," I said with a frown.
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Charles led us back down to the tents and lean-tos, people actually stepping out of our way as we moved. He didn't have to lead us far, as we very shortly stopped at one of the many nearby tents. Charles reached out and knocked on a nearby support beam. After a few seconds, a raspy voice came from inside.
"'Come in…" The voice said, followed by a cough.
I gave Charles a look before gesturing to my mask and general get-up. It took him a moment to realize that, yes, a random masked man stepping into your tent would be shocking as hell and probably not the greatest start to process. Rather than scare the living crap out of whoever was inside, Charles stepped in first, and I joined him a minute later. The person inside was struggling to breathe, having caught some sort of upper respiratory infection that was filling his lungs with liquid. They had the common sense to lean him upright so he could breathe a bit easier, but that was all they could really do for him.
Thankfully, I could fix that.
A quick series of spells later, a man who was certain he would die on the streets when he woke up was praising me, god, and various other deities for a new lease on life. I assured him it was just a simple parahuman ability, and eventually, he calmed down. When we left his tent, his words of excitement and relief had attracted a large group, all of which were staring at me with wide eyes. Seeing that we were at the precipice of what could possibly turn into a clamor, I stepped forward to cut it off.
"I will not leave this camp until I have had a chance to examine anyone who is ill or injured," I assured the crowd. "We are starting with some of the worst cases first, but after that, I will see to everyone. Just please, have patience."
After a moment, people nodded, several of them dispersing back into the indoor shantytown. Others hung around to watch, probably to keep an eye on me in case I tried to break my promise. Once it was clear that we weren't about to be swamped by people looking to get healed first, I turned back to Charles.
"Who's next?"
Charles led me around the first warehouse and then through the second, guiding me to some of the unhealthiest and most at-risk people the community had. As before with John's group, there were a few things I couldn't cure. Thankfully, all of those cases had ways that I could treat some of their symptoms and ease their suffering.
After about an hour of walking around, Charles was sure we had gotten the worst of people, so we set up shop outside in the relatively fresh air. He sat me down in a folding chair, and a line of people looking for healing quickly formed around me.
It was nearly three hours before I was done, which I knew was way too long for just this community. Someone must have gone off to gather nearby people as well, pulling for the homeless who preferred to live on their own. Charles nearly called people out on it, stopping some he recognized as not living in the community, but I stopped him.
"I'm glad they are going around getting people," I said with a shrug. "The point here is to help people who can't just go get help from doctors or even Panacea. I'm happy to spend all day here."
He looked a little shocked to hear that but, after a moment, nodded in understanding.
Eventually, after healing everything from broken bones to stomach ulcers, the line ran out. I stood and stretched, looking around to make sure no one else was coming.
"Well, that looks like everyone," I said with a smile. "Bit of a workout, but I'm glad I could help."
"You really are, aren't you?" He asked, looking at me with a frown. "I think I need to apologize. When you first arrived, I was sure you were just looking for a PR boost. I kept expecting news crews to show up or something. But you really stuck around and healed every one. Even that guy with a hangnail."
"Can you really blame him?" I asked with a chuckle. "If I knew someone was healing people and I had one, I would go get it fixed, too! He even had the decency to wait until the end!"
The man chuckled and shook his head, eventually nodding in agreement.
"Either way, thank you. It's nice to know not all of you are obsessed with fighting and looking good for pictures."
"I imagine I'm going to have to fight people eventually," I admitted after a long breath. "I wish I didn't have to, but… I don't really have an option. But I would like to do nothing but this, helping people around the city."
We stood there for a long moment, before eventually I remembered something.
"Listen, do you guys have any cellphones?" I asked.
"Yeah, we keep a couple of prepaid for emergencies," he said. "Why?"
"I want you guys to have my number. Call me immediately if it's an emergency. Otherwise, you can call me when normal injuries stack up," I explained. "I wish I could come out for every pulled muscle and bruise, but I have a feeling life is only going to get more busy for me."
He quickly took down my number before I went off to find Tony, who was having a very animated conversation about some sort of sports team with a few of the community members. I eventually pried him away, leaving the community behind. Several people tried to offer me gifts as I left, but I politely refused. I knew some people had issues receiving something for nothing, but I refused to set a precedent for healing the less fortunate for gifts or cash. I had no issues charging insurance companies or hospitals for my abilities, but random people off of the street? Absolutely not.
We had been walking for fifteen minutes when Alya whispered something into my ear.
"You're being followed," She whispered, causing me to freeze up and almost stumble. "Looks like they were waiting for you to leave the community. I… think they are called the Undersiders."
As I recovered from almost tripping, I cursed under my breath and looked around. Unsurprisingly, all I could see were the walls of the alleyway. I tried my best to remember who exactly the Undersiders were, trying to recall the research I did. They had some sort of smoke conjurer, a dog master, and… two more that I couldn't remember.
"What is it?" Tony asked, picking up on my anxious looks. "Something wrong?"
"I think we are being followed," I commented, quickly putting some pep in my step, practically pulling Tony with me even as I whispered to Alya. "Did they see Tony?"
"I… don't think so," She responded. "The dogs are following your scent. They never really saw you."
"Where did they get my scent?"
"I don't know."
"It doesn't matter, anyways," I said, shaking my head. "Guide Tony away, towards Downtown."
"Arcanum, what is-" Tony began to ask, only to freeze as I assumed Alya started talking to him. He looked at me with wide eyes before nodding. "I'll call you later."
"Good, now go."
He nodded and left, jogging down the alleyways, turning a corner, and disappearing. Meanwhile, I turned around and walked back, stopping at a four-way intersection of alleyways, a space that slightly opened up. I spotted a junked and dumped washing machine, which I kicked over flat on its side, making it the perfect height to sit on. I quickly sat down, taking in a long breath and holding it for a few seconds before letting it all out.
The Undersiders were known as low-level villains, doing small jobs and occasionally raiding ABB assets. They were annoying, probably underselling their abilities, and usually chose to run rather than fight. I don't know why they were following me, but my best bet was to come off as confident as possible while preparing myself to run if need be.
I chewed the inside of my lip, feeling very alone with Alya focused on guiding Tony away, but I did my best to calmly wait for her to return. The temptation to head down a different alley was pretty strong, but if they were tracking my scent, then I didn't want to lead them anywhere close to where I lived.
A minute passed, then another. Finally, halfway through the third, Alya returned.
"They've stopped," She said softly. "They were arguing about approaching you now that they lost the surprise advantage."
"How do they know that?" I asked, confused, only to curse a moment later as I remembered. "Fuck, thats right, one of them is a thinker, aren't they? Dammit, I need to do more research."
"They are coming again, walking slowly."
"Okay… should I run?" I asked, my eyes locked down the alley they would be coming from. "I could probably outrun them. There's not really a point of hanging around."
"True, there really isn't," Alya agreed. "And yet… you're not going anywhere."
"...I don't like being followed," I said after a moment, a scowl working into my features behind my mask. "I want to know what the hell they are up to. Especially since it puts Tony at risk."
"What about their thinker?"
"I have a plan for that."
"Do you think you can beat them all?" She asked calmly.
"Unless their fourth has those monster dogs out already?" I asked, feeling a sense of negativity come from our connection. "In that case, I think I can hold them off long enough to run. Plus, you could always help even the playing field.
I could feel a sense of approval from Alya as the team of villains, all of them basically teenagers, came around the corner. There were four of them, all dressed in costumes. The first, the leader, was Grue, whose name I only remembered because of the reference. He was wearing a leather jacket, pants and gloves, with a modified bike helmet depicting something vaguely resembling what a grue looked like.
Behind him was a young woman, the thinker, dressed in a purple and black skin-tight suit. She was wearing a domino mask and a cocky smirk that got right under my skin immediately. Next was another young woman whose costume hardly counted as one, just a bomber jacket, t-shirt, and jeans. Her face was obscured by a simple party store wolf mask, and she was trailed by three dogs.
The last member, slinking around in the back, was a thin young man with a smiling theater drama mask on. His outfit was simple as well, a pair of slacks with a frilly collar jabot around his neck. He was also the only one carrying anything, a scepter of some kind in his left hand.
They approached slowly, stopping just before entering the small open area at the four-way intersection.
"Hello," Grue said after a moment. "I-"
"Stop," I said simply. "I'm not saying a word more until your thinker leaves. At least a hundred yards."
The leader, Grue, froze at that statement, and the Thinker herself recoiled. I don't know if it was kid naivety or just a lack of planning, but they clearly hadn't considered that option. According to reports, Tattletale, the name just coming to me as I stared the group down, could pull information out of thin air. She claimed to be psychic, but most refuted that as a possibility. I'm sure if she was as good as what the online information seemed to indicate she was, she would still be able to figure some stuff out, but depriving her of access to me should help. The way they reacted to my request indicated I was right.
"I don't-"
I stood up from my spot and started to walk away, making it within a few steps of another alley before Grue spoke up.
"Tattletale, retreat," He said simply, and I stopped, turning around.
The girl whirled to look at her leader, staring daggers at him, before turning to look at me as well. She must have seen something because she flinched, turned around, and left, walking back the way they came. Grue opened his mouth to talk, but I held up my hand and waited. After a tense thirty seconds, Alya whispered that she was out of earshot.
"Good. Now, why were you following me?" I asked, not letting him get a word in.
"You were in our territory," He explained, his voice muffled by his helmet. I had the feeling he had to talk a bit louder than normal to be heard. "We needed to know what you were doing."
"I was healing the sick and injured at the homeless camp," I responded. "Weren't you watching me?"
"We were, we want to know why."
"Because I can heal people, and they had people that needed healing," I explained with a shrug. "Nothing more than that."
There was a silence after that, as if the group expected someone else to speak up. When no one did, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Let me guess, that's when Tattletale would usually speak up and confirm if someone was telling the truth?" I asked, shaking my head when they didn't respond. "Someone's a bit spoiled."
"Fine, you were healing them from the goodness of your heart," He said, trying to regain his footing in the conversation. "How does your healing work?"
"Thoughts, prayers, and positive vibes," I responded, wiggling my fingers, Jazz Hands style. "Why would I tell you guys?"
"We are interested in hiring you, maybe even putting you on a retainer, in case one of us gets injured," He said. "We would be willing to pay a good chunk of money for your services."
I stared at them for a long moment before letting out a long breath and shaking my head.
"Look, I'm sure that whatever reason you guys are villains is complicated. Shit like this is rarely simple," I admitted with a shrug. "If I saw you dying on the street, yes, I would likely heal you. But I'm not going to sign some sort of contract to make house calls to people robbing stores and stirring up trouble. Just like I won't heal other villains or gang members."
"We understand," Grue said, giving me a nod. "Since we approached under a truce, I assume we can leave like that?"
"Sure," I responded with a shrug. "I'm not going to be hunting people down, not unless I'm forced to."
He nodded, and together, the group slowly retreated, keeping a close eye on me as they did. Eventually, as the last of them disappeared around the corner, I finally released a long, slow breath.
"Kinda fucked that the best first impression I've had with parahumans has been with a bunch of kids playing at being villains," I said with a frown.
- Location
- England
They didn't. Approach under a truce, that is. They (attempted to) follow him in secret, then walked up when they'd been made.
- Location
- Elsewhere
Do the Undersiders have territory?
It's not like they have a gang, or run around dealing drugs.
They're mostly hit-and-run at this point so they don't really want to call attention to where they live.
Does Grue go around spraying graffiti?
- Location
- England
They could have been (shock!) lying. If they were under orders from Coil they certainly wouldn't be expected to be open about it.
They have vague operating territory, which buts up against ABB territory, but they aren't really enforcing it too much.
So far his interaction with ppl in bb from best to worst .1st nazi victim, coil victim, 1st homeless shelter, glory girl, 2nd homeless shelter, teenage villains, panacea then the heroes. Honestly prt seems like they push more ppl into villainy than the traumatic event that gives powers
NickXenix
PHO-tosynthesizer
Honestly one of the reasons why the PRT and Protectorate go hard on Masters is problably because Masters triggered due to lack of control in their lives, and being ordered around and told what to do and what not to do is a second trigger waiting to happen. So they might've gave up on recruiting them. Masters who want to be heroes be damned.
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They didn't hold territory at the start of the story, but switched to doing so after the Endbringer attack. At this time they have a hidden lair that's probably nearby and they're doing basic reconnaissance on this new cape to see if he's a rival villain, a recruitable villain, a rookie cape doing investigations on how to best punch Merchants in the face (answer; repeatedly) or some sort of mastermind that has a cape effect like 'swap health around and people effected by my power become increasingly subject to my mental influence over them' and thus probably needs to be quietly reported to the PRT because they're forming a brainwashed mob that could prove problematic.
I doubt this is the end of their investigation into him, but this is one of the better results that could have happened for all parties involved; a fight was avoided, vague reassurances that they might get healing under certain (better avoided) circumstances, no one got beat up and locked away (either in a Protectorate cell or stuffed in Coil's basement as a healbot) and the Undersiders discovered that he might be soft-hearted but he wasn't a fool. About the only way I can see this going any better was if Rachel let him pet the doggies but that was a long shot anyway.
I doubt this is the end of their investigation into him, but this is one of the better results that could have happened for all parties involved; a fight was avoided, vague reassurances that they might get healing under certain (better avoided) circumstances, no one got beat up and locked away (either in a Protectorate cell or stuffed in Coil's basement as a healbot) and the Undersiders discovered that he might be soft-hearted but he wasn't a fool. About the only way I can see this going any better was if Rachel let him pet the doggies but that was a long shot anyway.
In the end, he is the one who can call lightning and heal, not them heh. So I wouldn't worry much for the moment.
Thank you for writing !
Thank you for writing !
Snazzy Snake
Devouring Swarm
Honestly one of the best ways of dealing with Tattletale I have seen in a fanfic.