OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
True. But honestly, it was just a personal grievance on my part. Btw, I edited my other post.
True. But honestly, it was just a personal grievance on my part. Btw, I edited my other post.
There was a reason: His powers screwed with hers, making him a huge threat to her. You and I wouldn't take that as justification for murder, but Sophia did.
EDIT: Double Imp'd
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OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Already pointed that out.
Sophia's a sociopathic bitch, but I believe that with enough effort it is possible for her to change. The problem is that she has to want to change, and considering U.S. law is more focused on punishing criminals rather than trying to rehabilitate them, I doubt there was any canon incentive for her to change. If, say, she wasn't constantly enabled by Emma, and instead of looking the other way the PRT actually tried to reign her in, she could have become a decent person.
I'm not placing all the blame on the system, but its failings are definitely a factor.
I'm not placing all the blame on the system, but its failings are definitely a factor.
Parselmaster
Silent Balancing Scale
- Location
- Mid-West, USA
I have something of an opposing viewpoint. In Worm, a person can change until they achieve their trigger. When they trigger, they are now fundamentally broken. Whatever trauma they experienced will never leave them, now. Triggering is a marker of a person who can never get over their issues, and any forms of communication required to correct these issues are blocked by the Agents. Conflict is the driving force for change, after all. Can't have you getting over your trauma or social issues, or you will stop the good stuff.
With that in mind... You are sure going to feed a lot of shards when this detonates, Ack.
With that in mind... You are sure going to feed a lot of shards when this detonates, Ack.
Xexilf
Oblivion Sempiternum Daemonis
Shards have influence, but its far from absolute. Bar the most extreme cases (Burnscar, Damsel of Distress, the worst C53s) the tendencies they give you can be fought. (And in the cases were its this overwhelming, the affected people notice, which is somewhat a failure.)
Sophia specifically was influenced to be more violent, and possibly with that predator/prey mindset. But shes not so far gona that she couldnt change. Shards have influence, but dont overstate it either.
For a canon example, Ciara/GU/Valkyre. She was about as far gone as can be into her shard influence, and she pulled out with some help and ended up a hero by the end.
Sophia specifically was influenced to be more violent, and possibly with that predator/prey mindset. But shes not so far gona that she couldnt change. Shards have influence, but dont overstate it either.
For a canon example, Ciara/GU/Valkyre. She was about as far gone as can be into her shard influence, and she pulled out with some help and ended up a hero by the end.
- Location
- Australia
If Sophia tries to murder Taylor, it won't be an abrupt decision.
There's still another chapter or two in this.
Part Seven: With Friends Like These ...
- Location
- Australia
Confrontation
Part Seven: With Friends Like These
Aegis knew that Shadow Stalker didn't get along with many people; as the leader of the Wards since Triumph had stepped up to join the Protectorate proper, he also knew why. It had begun when she joined the Wards; the public had been told that she had decided to voluntarily give up her lone-wolf vigilante ways and become one of the good guys as a bona fide superhero.
The truth was less appealing; her record of violence had kept her on the watch list, but action had not been taken until a gang member had been found, nailed to a wall with one of her trademark arrows. The man had almost bled to death; he survived, but the deed had been done. Shadow Stalker was tracked down, arrested, her real identity uncovered.
The offence would have had her sent straight to juvenile detention – secret identity intact, as far as the general public was concerned – except that someone stepped forward to plead her case. That someone was Alan Barnes, divorce attorney; apparently, Shadow Stalker had saved his daughter's life at some earlier point. He proposed instead that she be placed in the Brockton Bay Wards, where she could continue her crime-fighting activities under supervision, as opposed to simply being locked up.
Such was his eloquence, his testimony toward her character, that the review board was swayed, and Shadow Stalker was granted probationary status in the Wards. More to the point, she was on probation until her eighteenth birthday, and any further serious offence could put an end to her freedom. But all the same, she chafed under the restrictions which had been placed on her, and took it out on everyone around her; or perhaps she was just an unpleasant person to begin with. Whichever it was, Aegis surmised that if she didn't have those restrictions on her, she would be a lot nastier.
As a result, she had not formed any friendships within the Wards. She tolerated them, and they her, but there was no closeness, no sharing. Until now, that is.
Buzz was an interesting case; also starting out as a lone vigilante type, she had immediately fallen afoul of one of the stronger capes in Brockton Bay. Her life saved by Armsmaster, she had agreed to join the Wards as an alternative to hanging up the cape for good. She didn't have much in the way of self-esteem and was eager to please, which would normally have set her up as a target for the rough edge of Shadow Stalker's tongue. But her competence in helping rescue the other ex-vigilante, and the sheer scariness inherent in the ability to control tens of thousands of bugs at once, had earned her the grudging respect of the problematic Ward.
And so the two of them had formed an unlikely friendship, one which left Clockblocker and Kid Win scratching their heads. Aegis didn't bother wondering about it. He was just pleased that Shadow Stalker wasn't going to be a problem for their newest Ward, and that Buzz actually seemed happy to be partnered with her.
He just hoped that the situation would not end up shooting itself in the foot, as had happened with the last patrol that Shadow Stalker had been on. But, amazingly enough, it seemed to be working out so far.
Aegis took point, flying above the buildings and looking around for obvious signs of trouble. Shadow Stalker ran the rooftops, turning to shadow so that she could traverse the spaces between buildings that much more easily. Down on the ground, I did my best to keep pace without wearing myself out; in the meantime, I used my bugs to survey the surroundings out to the limit of my range, gathered a swarm to use in case of emergency, and stewed about the day at school.
Since the initial run-in with Sophia and Emma, I'd had to be more careful than usual. Deciding to be more proactive with my powers, I had started using my bugs to scope out the school when I arrived in the mornings, as well as my bag, my seat and surrounding classrooms as I moved around the building. As soon as I detected Emma, Sophia or Madison, I put bugs on them, and made sure to keep out of their way between classes. Sophia definitely had it in for me, and to begin with, she kept me on my toes; no matter how careful I was, she always seemed to be on the verge of catching up with me just as each class started.
After a few close calls, I had figured it out; when the three main bitches lost track of me, they were getting their cronies to keep an eye out and text them with my location. So I tagged them as well, and did my best to keep out of their line of sight. In a way, I supposed that it was good practice for evading villains during a battle, but I wished that just once, they'd give it up and leave me alone.
The most irritating aspect of it was that I was a Ward, a superhero, and that I was having to dodge common school bullies. I couldn't use my powers to defend myself, for fear of outing myself at the very least, and getting into all sorts of trouble to boot. And I couldn't just tell them, because that would out me, and I didn't want to know what they'd do with that information.
I knew that Principal Blackwell was aware that I was a Ward, and had apparently told the teachers to pay even less attention than normal to me, so that I could come and go as needed. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to extend to protecting me from bullies; the assumption was probably that, being a Ward, I wouldn't need any such protection.
Yeah, that was working out so well for me. A few days in, I had it pretty well figured out, but it was still a pain, having to dodge the bitches while at the same time trying to get an education. If it was still happening by next Friday, I was going to have to say something to someone.
In any case, there was another issue that I needed to raise, but this one was with Aegis, and now was as good a time as any.
"Aegis."
"Yes, Buzz?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did."
" … okay. I need to ask you a question, and I need a truthful answer."
"It depends on the question."
"Do you trust me as a Ward?"
Carlos paused, looking down at the figure of Buzz, jogging steadily along between the buildings. Where's this coming from?
"Yes, I do. I trust you as much as I do any Ward. Why?"
"Why did you hold me and Shadow Stalker back from that bank robbery yesterday? If we'd been there, I'm pretty sure I could have shut the lot of them down."
"You know, she's right," Shadow Stalker added. "Between me and Buzz, we could've had the Undersiders calling 'uncle' in about one minute flat. As it was, they made you look like idiots."
"You know very well why I held you back, Shadow Stalker," Aegis admonished the other girl. "I just didn't want to air the reason."
"What, because I've got a mad-on for Grue?"
"Grue?" asked Buzz. "Who's Grue – oh, wait, the Undersiders guy?"
Aegis sighed and drifted down to land next to the bug controller. Shadow Stalker took this as her cue to leap down from her building; she turned solid just before she landed, her cloak flaring dramatically. He had no idea how long she must have practised to get just that effect.
"Yes, that guy," Aegis told Buzz. "Shadow Stalker doesn't like him, and goes after him every chance she gets."
"I do not," objected Sophia.
Aegis merely folded his arms and gave her a steady look. After a few moments, she sighed and threw her hands into the air. "Okay, fine, so I don't like the guy. His powers creep me out."
"Creep you out?" Buzz seemed to think about it. "Darkness generation, right?"
"More than just darkness," Shadow Stalker told her. "Radios don't work. It just plain stops light. And when I get in there, it screws with my powers. And he can see through it, so if he gets me into his darkness, he has the advantage."
Buzz nodded. "That sounds like a problem, all right."
"Yeah, well, I don't accept that. So I don't run from him. I face him."
"Which is the problem," Aegis interjected. "Every time it looks like we might encounter Grue, Shadow Stalker aggressively pushes to confront him. This could have a problem when it comes to teamwork, so this is why we had to pull you from that particular incident. Okay?"
"Okay." Buzz nodded. "You know, you could've just told me that, then."
"I was told to not fill you in unless you asked." Aegis sounded uncomfortable.
He couldn't see her facial expressions, but she appeared to be puzzled. "Why?"
"Because we didn't want to prejudice you against Shadow Stalker."
She sounded even more puzzled. "Why would that prejudice me against her?"
He paused. "I'm not sure. In any case, there seems to have been nothing to worry about. Shall we continue?"
After a long moment, Buzz nodded; Aegis lifted into the air.
Sophia took the opportunity to step up alongside Buzz. Clicking her mic off for a moment, she asked quietly, "Do you really mean it when you say it doesn't bother you?"
"No," Buzz replied, just as quietly. "Why should it? You've got to face your fears."
She frowned. "Wouldn't say I'm scared of the jerk, but yeah, if anyone's gonna take him down, it's gonna be me." She ran toward the nearest building, shifted to shadow, and began to climb it swiftly.
I'm beginning to think that this thing with Buzz will work out.
"Heads up."
I looked up as Aegis came down for a quick landing beside me; moments later, Shadow Stalker landed, only a few yards away.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Just got word," he told us tersely. "There's a fight going on near the Trainyards. Bakuda's there, along with a lot of ABB thugs. They want me to scope things out."
"Crazy bitch," muttered Shadow Stalker. "Who's she fighting? Merchants? ABB?"
"That's the problem." Aegis' voice was grim. "She's fighting the Undersiders."
I felt as much as saw Shadow Stalker come to attention beside me. "So we're going?"
"Easy, tiger," he advised her. "You are going back to base, or continuing the patrol. I am going to see what's going on, make sure no civilians are caught in the crossfire."
"But -" Both of us spoke at almost exactly the same time.
Aegis flashed us an exasperated look. "But nothing. I take you there, you'll zero in on Grue, even if I tell you to hold back."
"What if she doesn't?" I asked. "Shadow Stalker, surely you can put it aside just this once?"
She clenched her fists, turning away from us. I stepped forward, caught her shoulder. She shook my hand free. "Leave it."
"No." My voice was firm. "I might be new to this, but I know that partners work together. You know I've got your back."
"And Grue?"
I shrugged. "I find him, I'll keep track of him. When we get the go-ahead, I'll introduce him to my little friends. I'll have him covered in bugs before he can say 'where's the Raid'?"
"And his darkness?"
"Lead boxes don't stop my power," I reminded her. We had actually tested this out. "I doubt a little darkness is going to matter all that much."
She turned back to me. "Okay, fine, this I have to see."
Aegis frowned. "You're saying that you won't go after Grue?"
Shadow Stalker shrugged slightly. "Buzz says that she'll take care of it, when the time comes. And I kind of want to see him covered in bugs. Preferably the stinging, biting type."
He sighed. "Okay, fine. But if you disobey orders and go after him anyway, it's monitor duty for a week."
"Whoo!" Shadow Stalker raised her hand; after a moment, I high-fived her. "Let's go kick some gangland ass!"
"Whoa, holy shit."
I wasn't quite sure who had voiced the comment; at least one of us had, maybe two. From high above, we looked down at something that could have been a war zone; storage sheds crumpled and blown apart, with smoke rising here and there. There was even gunfire going on, faint pops in the distance.
"Buzz." Aegis. "Can you pinpoint where people are? Specifically, anyone who doesn't look like they're a part of this?"
"Working on it, but I could do with being a bit lower." I had already started gathering bugs in the area. "I've got a vehicle, and lots of people on foot. Who else is in the Undersiders?"
"Regent is a kid with a face mask and a frilly shirt," Shadow Stalker supplied. "Tattletale's got a sort of purple costume. And Hellhound just wears clothes, but she's got dogs with her. She makes them grow."
"No dogs in range," I replied immediately; dogs had fleas, and there were no fleas talking to me. "Ah – right. Got some people in -"
"Incoming!" yelled Aegis, and let go. We fell.
Well, I'd wanted to get lower.
Comic books get it wrong all the time, and even TV shows don't really demonstrate how awkward it is for even a strong flier to carry two passengers. I had been dangling from his left hand, and Shadow Stalker from his right. It had been rather uncomfortable on the shoulder muscles, but I suspected having him hold us around the waists would have been uncomfortable on a whole other level; he was, after all, somewhat built, and such close proximity might just have fried every circuit in my brain.
However, being dropped from a height is a whole new level of unpleasant. I would have ridden on his back horsey-style to avoid that. No matter how uncomfortable it made either of us.
Even as we fell, I quickly discovered the reason for his dropping us. Down below, in the open-topped vehicle, someone had fired a shoulder-mounted missile. This was tracking in on Aegis, who was doing his best to evade it.
Well, first it went for Shadow Stalker, who turned shadow just in time for it to lance through her body, then it went after Aegis. But I had other problems. Really pressing ones. Problems that started with 'G', ended in 'D', and rhymed with 'imminent crushing impact'.
Of all the bug powers I didn't get, 'fly like a bug' would be favourite right now.
"Buzz!" screamed Shadow Stalker, and grabbed my ankles. "Curl into a ball!"
There was no time for panic. I did what she told me.
I wasn't quite sure what she did, but as the ground rapidly approached, we tumbled over one another, faster and faster, until I couldn't tell which way was up. The ground and sky whirled around one another; I felt nauseous, and concentrated on not throwing up in my mask. There was a distant explosion.
The wind whistled in my ears; the ground was coming up really fast now. And then, instants from impact … Shadow Stalker became shadow.
While I was on the top of the loop.
It was too much to hope that the upward momentum from the spin would totally overcome our downward velocity, but it certainly reduced it from 'fatal' to merely 'painful'. As luck – or Shadow Stalker's aim – would have it, I landed on a tilted wall, remnant of a storage locker. I glanced off of this with bruising force as it gave under the impact.
Still curled into a ball, arms covering my head, I skittered sideways for some distance across cracked concrete, losing momentum – but fortunately not skin, thanks to the hard work of thousands of black widows – as I went. Eventually, I fetched up against the side of another storage shed with a resounding clang. This knocked the wind out of me; my consciousness decided to take a brief leave of absence.
"- uzz. Buzz!"
I was back on the rooftop, with pain lancing in from every part of my body. One of my goggle lenses was smashed. Lung loomed over me, shaking my shoulder -
"Buzz! Hey! Are you okay? I can't tell with this stupid mask in the way!"
Blinking, I focused. It wasn't Lung; it was Shadow Stalker.
"Yeah," I managed. "'m okay. I think. Hurts."
She settled back on her knees. "Thank fuck for that. Where does it hurt?"
I took a tentative breath. That hurt. Doing anything hurt, but breathing hurt more than most. "Everywhere. Mainly ribs, I think. Maybe cracked or broken."
"Fuck. Don't move much. You might have a punctured lung."
"Don't think so," I replied. "Had one of those. Doesn't feel the same."
"If you say so. Look, you can't lie out here in the open. I've gotta get you under cover."
"How long was I out?" I asked, apropos of nothing.
"Minute or two," she told me, helping me sit up. Then she took hold of my arm to help me to my feet.
"Ow. Fuck. Arm."
Stopping what she was doing, she checked my arm. "Fuck, that definitely feels broken." Shifting to my other side, she grasped that arm. "Not broken?"
"Not broken," I agreed. Nor was my back or my legs, though they were certainly sending me enough pain messages; slowly and painfully, she assisted me in getting to my feet. As she did so, I was rebuilding my awareness of what was going on around us.
And just in time, too. As I regained my balance, I grabbed Shadow Stalker and pulled her sideways, so that we collided heavily with the storage shed. Her protest was drowned out by the scatter of shots that whipped through the air, just where we had been standing. More shots were not forthcoming; my hastily-assembled swarm fell on the two shooters, and they went to their knees, screaming and clawing at their faces.
Staggering slightly, I regained my balance. Shadow Stalker stared at the two thugs, then back at me. "You saved my life."
"Hey, you saved mine, so we're -" I broke off, as she was pointing one of her crossbows directly at my midsection.
"Don't. Move." Her voice was low and deadly.
There was no way I could dodge; she couldn't miss me if she tried. My eyes widened. "What -"
She pulled the trigger; the arrow whipped out to strike me in the chest.
Only she had flickered to shadow form for just an instant as she did so; being similarly ghost-like, the arrow went straight through me, and out the other side. I heard a groan and a clatter; painfully, I turned my head, to see another ABB thug crumple to the dirty concrete, his gun having preceded him to the ground.
"You missed one." Her tone was light. "And you should really learn to trust me."
My tone was wry. "I do now. Thanks -"
"Save it. We need to see if Aegis survived."
"We also need to call in backup."
"My radio isn't working. Yours?"
I tried it. No joy.
"No. What did they hit us with, anyway?"
"Some sort of missile. Must've been a, whaddaya call it, visual signature thing. Went for the largest thing around. Me, with my cloak, then Aegis."
"I've never been so glad to be skinny."
She put her arm around me, carefully, to help me along. "Skinny but awesome. Never forget that."
There was a lot going on, but I was able to figure out where Bakuda was; or at least, the person in the open topped vehicle who had shot the missile at us. I wasn't able to do much physically, and Shadow Stalker was busy assisting me to move, but my bugs were up to the task. Everyone who came near us was swarmed to the ground; Shadow Stalker disarmed them, secured them, and we went on.
We weren't after Bakuda; we were looking for Aegis. And we found him, soon enough.
"Someone up ahead," I managed. The stabbing pain in my side wasn't going away any time soon, but I was pushing past it. "People. Over a body. I think it might be the Undersiders."
"Let's go see." She helped me around the corner, and there they were; the Undersiders, all right. Three of them, anyway. They looked somewhat the worse for wear, but not as bad as the body on the ground.
It was Aegis, or at least, most of him. As we came into sight, I heard one of them, a girl, saying, "Okay, that goes there. Push it into position -"
"Hold it!" shouted Shadow Stalker, letting me go so that she could aim both crossbows. "Step away from him slowly, and let me see your hands."
They turned to face us, caught on the back foot. I hobbled closer, careful to keep out of her line of fire. It was Aegis, all right, but … "Oh god," I muttered. "I'm so sorry."
He had taken the hit in the lower abdomen; both legs had been blown off, along with one arm. Half his face was missing, and one eye was gone. I could see where intestines had been gathered and stuffed hastily back into place; blood was smeared over everything.
Shadow Stalker moved closer, her crossbows aimed and ready. One was pointed at the guy in motorbike leathers – Grue, as I recalled – and the other at the boy in the Renfaire outfit. I couldn't recall what Shadow Stalker had called the other two. "Don't even think about it," she ordered them. "What were you doing to him?"
"Putting him back together," the girl in the purple costume answered simply. "He's got a better chance of survival this way."
"Survival?" I choked out. "He's dead. Nothing could survive that."
"Not … true." The voice was raspy, almost inaudible.
I stared downward, and gaped. His one eye had opened, and was vaguely focused on me.
"Aegis! You're alive!"
A very faint nod. "Yeah … just gimme … moment."
The eye closed again.
"Aegis!" I went to my knees, wanted to shake him, but decided not to, as something might fall off. "Aegis!"
The girl in purple put her hand on my shoulder. "He's alive. But he'll need someone like Panacea to get himself all back together."
I looked up at her. "How do you know that? And who are you? Your voice is familiar."
Expertly, she helped me back to my feet; Shadow Stalker moved closer still, one crossbow aimed at Grue, the other at the boy in Renfaire clothing.
"Don't you remember me? I -"
"Wait." I frowned. "Something's wrong."
Shadow Stalker glanced at me. "What?"
"I've been swarming Bakuda and her thugs to keep her occupied, but I can't see her any more. Or her car."
"That's a bad thing, isn't it?" Shadow Stalker glanced around. "Where was she, last you saw her?"
"About fifty yards that – oh."
I had turned to point, and just then, the jeep rolled around the corner. With it came a hemisphere of clear air, about twenty feet across. Every bug that hit the surface of the hemisphere ... vanished.
Fuck.
"Ha!" crowed the woman standing up in the back of the vehicle. "I thought I hit something with that!" Even with the mechanical monotone, I could hear the triumph in her voice.
"Bakuda?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth.
"Yep," agreed the girl in purple, just as quietly.
It figured; the woman had dark hair and wore some sort of elaborate gas mask, with goggles and breather. My bugs hadn't been able to get into her eyes or mouth, and so she had obviously Tinkered up something to keep my bugs at somewhat more than arms' length.
One of her minions was driving; the other was pointing what looked like a very nasty machine-gun of some sort at us. The implication was clear; if we made a hostile move, we would become ground zero for a lot of lead. Shadow Stalker would be fine if she shifted fast enough; the rest of us, not so much.
"Well, then," Bakuda went on, when no-one answered her initial sally. "All my enemies in one place. Such a pleasure to meet you all."
"The Wards have got nothing to do with this," Grue stated unexpectedly. "Let them go."
Bakuda shrugged. "They interfered, they die." She rolled a couple of golf ball sized spheres around in her hand. "I'm wondering what these two will do if they go off in conjunction with each other. Even Shadow Stalker there should feel the effects of this, I think."
"I'll give us cover," muttered Grue. "We all run."
"But Aegis," I protested, just as quietly. In any case, I couldn't run. And Aegis was alive. I wasn't going to abandon him.
Before we could say any more, Bakuda tossed the balls over the windshield of the jeep, toward us.
Or rather, that's what her intent must have been.
Instead, she tossed low. They struck the windshield and bounced back into the vehicle, disappearing from sight. "Fuck!" she screamed, still in monotone, and dived into the footwell, obviously trying to retrieve the bombs.
"Everyone down!" shouted the girl in purple. Grabbing me, she pulled me to the ground, rolling under me so that she took the main impact. My ribs still protested, but it could've been a lot worse. At the same time, blackness rolled over us. Grue's darkness, I realised a moment later.
There was a shudder through the ground, but I heard nothing, felt nothing. After a long moment, the darkness faded, and the girl in purple helped me sit up. Shadow Stalker was first on her feet, her crossbows still aimed at Grue and the other guy.
I wasn't paying attention to that; I was looking where Bakuda had been. My one eye was fuzzy, due to the smashed lens, but the other could still see pretty well. And Bakuda was ... gone. As was the jeep, and the two guys who'd been in it with her. Even the concrete was gone, in a perfect circle. In its place was a smooth expanse of rock, grained here and there with odd textures.
"What the fuck ... ?" muttered Grue.
"Lava flow," the girl in purple explained. "I'm guessing that those bombs set off something else she was carrying, and that did something to her bug disappearing field. It disappeared her. Swapped her to another world."
"Wow," I murmured. "Did she even survive?"
"Now that I can't tell you," the girl replied with a cheeky grin. "I don't believe that we've been introduced. I'm Tattletale, that's Regent, and tall-and-dark over there is Grue."
"And you're all my prisoners," Shadow Stalker snapped. "Buzz, move away from Tattletale. And don't listen to her. She's got a way of twisting your head around."
"Wait a minute," Grue protested. "We didn't even start this. Bakuda ambushed us."
"Yeah," agreed Regent. "And she abducted Bitch, too."
"Probably locked up somewhere," Tattletale put in. "She'll starve if no-one finds her in time."
I wasn't quite sure who 'Bitch' was, but they sounded concerned about her. Or at least Tattletale did.
"We can look for her," Shadow Stalker stated remorselessly. "After you're behind bars."
"But we didn't even commit any crimes. We're the victims here," Grue pressed.
"Don't care."
I could sort of see their side of things, but I didn't want to argue with Shadow Stalker over this; besides, we did have them dead to rights. And helping bring in the Undersiders, in my first week as a Ward, would look awesome.
"I bet I could say ten words that would convince you to let us go," Tattletale suggested impishly.
"If she talks again, Buzz, fill her mouth with bugs."
"No, I want to hear what she has to say."
"She's dangerous, Buzz. She's a Thinker. You never let a Thinker talk."
"Okay, I get it," I told her. "I've been duly warned. She's not a Master, is she?"
Reluctantly, Shadow Stalker shook her head. "Just a Thinker."
"Right then." I turned to Tattletale. "I accept your challenge. What are the ten words?"
Tattletale cleared her throat. "Hang in there, bug girl. Help is on the way."
"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" demanded Shadow Stalker.
But I knew. And I knew that Tattletale was right. I was going to let them go. "You were the ones, on the roof, that night." My voice was quiet.
"We saw you in trouble," she affirmed. "Lung was about to stomp you. Rachel brought her dogs in, hammered him into the ground. You probably don't remember, but I sat with you and held your hand till Armsmaster showed."
"He said he got an anonymous tip ... " I murmured.
Grue nodded. "That was us."
I took a deep breath, and turned to Shadow Stalker. "They saved my life."
"They're villains." Her tone was harsh.
"They've done their best to save Aegis' life, too." I indicated the recumbent form.
"If he survives." But her tone was wavering.
"And if we take them in, their partner might die."
"Not our problem." But then she shook her head. "Fuck."
"You know it's the right thing to do."
"Fuck," she muttered again. "You're gonna make me do this, aren't you?"
I shook my head. "I can't make you do anything, Shadow Stalker. What you do is your choice. It always has been."
"Fuck, I can't believe I'm even considering this." The crossbow she had pointed at Grue wavered, and for a long moment, I thought she was going to pull the trigger. But then it lowered, as did the one pointed at Regent. "Go on, get out of here. Fuck off."
They didn't need telling twice. Darkness billowed over them; the last I saw of the Undersiders was Tattletale winking at me. And then they were gone.
Shadow Stalker turned to me. "So now we - fuck, are you all right?"
I was swaying on my feet, and flashbulbs were going off behind my eyes. "Don't think so," I mumbled.
She caught me as I fell.
The first to arrive was Velocity. He surveyed the scene; Aegis lying there like the aftermath of a botched autopsy, Buzz in the recovery position, and Shadow Stalker guarding the both of them.
"Are they alive?" he asked.
She nodded wearily. "Yeah. Aegis has a really weak heartbeat, but it's there. Buzz is breathing, but apart from that, I have no idea."
"So what happened?"
"Bakuda," she replied simply. "Crazy bitch took on the Undersiders. Shot us out of the sky. Had a Tinkertech malfunction." She indicated the circle of lava flow. "Last known position."
"Why haven't you called for assistance?"
She tapped her ear. "Radios went dead when she shot Aegis down. I think it was some sort of EMP."
"Right. Okay, I'll call for the medics. Anything else? Where are the Undersiders?"
For a long moment, she hesitated, then she shrugged. "Fucked if I know. Haven't seen them."
"Okay then. Are you hurt?"
She shook her head. "The medics?" she prompted. "I'm worried about Buzz."
"Got it." He pulled out his phone and dialled. "It's Velocity," he reported. "You're never going to believe this … "
I gradually surfaced once more, feeling a distinct sensation of deja vu. Instead of a hospital room, I was in the PRT infirmary, but the bed was much the same, and I was once more lacking my costume and mask.
"How are you feeling?" asked Panacea.
"Pretty good, now," I replied, then my eyes opened wider and I sat up slightly. "Aegis. He -"
"I've already seen him," she assured me. "He barely needed any help at all. Last I saw, he was headed for the cafeteria, to eat his body weight in steak."
"Oh, good." I began to climb out of bed. "That takes a weight off of my mind." I paused. "Shadow Stalker?"
"Waiting outside." She handed me my costume. "She was pretty worried."
"Worried? Why? It was only a broken arm and some cracked ribs, right?" I climbed into it and she helped me zip it up the back.
"Not hardly. Is that all you thought it was?"
I pulled the mask over my head and ensured that it was seated right. I'm going to have to replace that lens. Again. Ugh. "Uh, yes. What else was there?"
"Well, let's see." She opened the door, ushering me out before her. "Fractured patella. Ruptured spleen. Three cracked ribs, two broken. You knew about the fractured ulna and radius; your wrist was also badly broken. Ruptured liver. Fractured spine."
Shadow Stalker rose from where she'd been sitting. "And you told me it was only some cracked ribs and a broken arm. I thought you were okay to walk!"
"I told you everything hurt," I retorted. "And it's not like we had a choice in the matter."
"Well, you're all right now," Panacea told me. "Don't make a habit of this, all right?"
Impulsively, I hugged her. "Thanks. And if you ever need to talk to anyone, remember that I'm there, okay?"
For a moment, she leaned against me. "Yeah, thanks. I might take you up on that, soon."
I rested my forehead against hers for a moment, before I let her go. "Any time. See you later, Panacea."
"See you later, Buzz. And you too, Shadow Stalker."
As we left the infirmary, I glanced at Shadow Stalker. "So what's happening?"
"Well, Renick wants to see you for your report on what happened today," she informed me. "Aegis and me have already done our reports. After that, we're off duty. Want to come meet my bestie, take in a movie or something?"
I blinked. "I … you want to unmask?" Unmasking was a big deal. The amount of trust involved was enormous. I felt a swelling in my throat, that Shadow Stalker was willing to trust me with who she really was.
"Sure," she replied breezily. "You rocked out there today. I can't think of anyone I'd rather share my secret identity with."
I nodded. "I kinda feel the same way. But you know, we've only been partnered for a week. Less. Besides, I want to get home and fix my mask." I indicated the broken lens. "Raincheck on that movie?"
She nodded easily. "Sure. Baby steps. Save each others' lives today, unmask tomorrow."
"And if it follows the usual sitcom formula, it turns out that we're best friends already," I noted with a grin.
"Can't be," she replied with a chuckle. "Wrong colour hair. Anyway, see you tomorrow?"
"See you then, tough girl." I offered my hand. "And … thanks."
"For what?" She took my hand and shook it anyway.
"Saving my life, doofus." A handshake wasn't enough; I grabbed her and hugged her.
"You saved mine, too." Slowly, her arms crept around me. It felt good.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't gonna let some ABB goon shoot the coolest girl in the Wards."
She chuckled as we disengaged from the hug. "Good point. See you tomorrow – tougher girl."
The warm feeling stayed inside me all the way through the verbal report that I gave Renick, and all the way home on the bus to home. Dad greeted me, and I gave him a blow-by-blow account of what had happened.
I spent the evening fixing the mask, then I watched TV with Dad. It was a good evening; I was finally content, for the first time in weeks. I was in the Wards, I was kicking ass, and I was carrying my weight. And I had a partner who respected me, and who I respected in turn.
Maybe I should've taken her up on unmasking and meeting her bestie. A night at the movies would've been nice.
"So is this Buzz person really all of that?" Emma reached across and stole some of Sophia's popcorn. "Bug control doesn't sound like much."
"Keep it down," Sophia warned, even though the soundtrack of the movie had mostly drowned out Emma's voice. "Yeah, she's all of that. She's tough. She's strong." She shook her head. "And bug control … yeah, it's more than you'd think. You gotta see it to understand."
"So when are they gonna sign you on with someone else? All I've heard this week is Buzz this and Buzz that. Usually they move you around a lot."
Sophia tilted her head. "You sound jealous. Holy shit, you are. You're actually jealous that they've finally got someone in the Wards who's worth partnering?"
"I dunno," jibed Emma. "When's the engagement?"
Sophia threw a handful of popcorn at her.
I went out on patrol with Shadow Stalker twice more over the weekend. It was relatively quiet; we stopped a few muggings and a convenience store robbery, but nothing of consequence. Shadow Stalker would go in while I held back and supported her with what she called 'bugpocalypse'. I objected to the term, which of course ensured that she used it all the more.
We didn't bring up the idea of unmasking, although it certainly crossed my mind more than once. I tried to figure out why I didn't want to do it; eventually, I decided that while I definitely trusted her, I wasn't sure if I really was the right person for her to reveal her secret identity to.
And then Monday rolled back around and we were too busy to think about things like that. We went on to night patrols, and while I took the bus home or got Dad to pick me up, Shadow Stalker always went home in costume, roof running all the way. So we didn't get to share a ride, where the topic might come up again.
More to the point, Emma and her friends were stepping up the pressure at school. They hadn't managed to pull off a successful prank in days now, and it seemed almost as if they felt threatened by my ability to evade them. My email accounts continued to fill up with abuse, and I couldn't help running afoul of Sophia in physical education, but my tactic of tagging them with bugs tended to work on the whole, and I actually managed to hand in two assignments without outside interference. Powers, I decided, rocked.
The new tactic, I figured out, involved recruiting more patsies – I mean students – to keep track of me, until it seemed that half the school was sending a text as soon as they saw me. Emma must have convinced them that it was part of some new game or other; I was pretty sure that most of them didn't even know who I was.
Still, I managed to stay ahead of the three bitches until Friday, although it got that little bit harder each day. They were starting to learn my routine and the devious routes I was taking through the school to get from class to class, and it got harder simply because there were only so many ways I could get from point A to point B. I was reduced to using bugs to distract some of them in subtle ways, so that I could slip past; technically a use of my powers, but not in a way that could really out me.
As it was, come Friday night patrol time, I was itching to get out there and cause problems for someone. I clasped hands with Shadow Stalker as soon as I saw her; it was good to see a friendly face, so to speak. Friendly mask, anyway. We had worked well over the week, refining our tactics, so that we barely had to speak in order to communicate our intent to the other. Aegis, fully recovered of course, was coming along with us once more.
"We'll be looking at the Merchants tonight," he told us. "You know the drill. Observe, report, but don't engage unless civilians are in danger."
"Aye aye captain," I agreed; Shadow Stalker muffled a snort.
"I don't know which of you two is worse than the other," he observed. "I see that Buzz is picking up some of Shadow Stalker's lack of respect."
"I'm totally respectful," I objected. "Just, you know, happy to be going out. Kicking ass."
"Taking names?" he finished.
"What do we want their names for?" asked Shadow Stalker, and I high-fived her.
Aegis rolled his eyes. "Let's get moving. I'm intending to cut you two free to do your own patrols next week, and I want to get this done before I change my mind."
Shadow Stalker nodded. "Let's do this."
The first part of the patrol was relatively routine; little nothing crimes that we broke up, securing the perps and calling the cops to pick them up. But things began to warm up, a couple of hours in.
"There's a report that the Merchants have set up a good old-fashioned drug den slash bordello," Aegis informed us. "Downstairs, they hand out the drugs. Upstairs they've got girls that the Merchants have gotten addicted to the drugs, servicing customers to pay off the drugs that were forced on to them in the first place."
"Okay," I growled. "This is the sort of place that needs a visit. From us."
"Bugpocalypse time," Shadow Stalker supplied.
Aegis winced. "Must you call it that?"
"Bugageddon?" she suggested; I chuckled.
"Please stop," he requested, then cleared his throat. "Okay then. We'll be going in to support the police on this one. We don't think any Merchant capes will be in evidence, but stay on your toes just in case. And don't screw this up; some of those girls are younger than you two, and we want to get them out of this situation."
"Got it." I pretended to crack my knuckles. "Kicking ass, taking names, and saving the innocent. All in a day's work."
Shadow Stalker checked her crossbows. "What she said."
Aegis dropped us carefully on to the roof of the building. To the casual eye, it seemed to be partially abandoned, with just a run-down takeaway on the ground floor, but my bugs told me a different story.
"Windows are all boarded up," I reported. "The place is horrendous. Bugs everywhere, the rooms are tiny, and the girls don't seem to have much chance to wash, or even sleep. Downstairs, it's even worse."
"Drugs?" asked Aegis.
"Basement," I supplied. "Big cache of it. At least, the bugs that I've got burrowing into it are going loopy."
"Right," he agreed, and passed the information on to the police. "Okay, when you're ready."
I took a deep breath. 'Bugpocalypse' was a technique that Shadow Stalker and I had evolved. I would inflict the target with bugs, and the target would leave cover, to be taken down by my waiting partner. She got a kick out of it, as the target often gave up as soon as she confronted him. Having bugs crawling into places that one did not know bugs could crawl into tended to seize one's attention.
"Top and bottom. Let's do this."
Sophia loved watching Buzz at work. She was so utterly casual about it, not making any particular bones of the fact that she had tens of thousands of bugs at her beck and call. The 'top and bottom' comment was to do with the fact that she would swarm the men on the top floor, and those in the basement, first, then move the two swarms together.
From all around, clouds of bugs moved inward, entering the upper storey via chinks and cracks in the boards covering the windows. As the first sounds of distress began to filter outward through the walls and roof, Sophia took the cue to ease her way down into the building.
There she found men in all stages of undress, covered in literally thousands of crawling, biting and stinging bugs, while the painfully young girls cowered in their tiny beds, untouched by a single insect. Sophia didn't have much time for the girls; if they couldn't help themselves, she wasn't about to help them.
On the other hand, she was there to deal with the men, which she did, with considerable enthusiasm. One after the other, she took them down, subdued them, and secured them. And looking at the girls now peering out of their rooms, she was damned if she didn't feel a certain amount of satisfaction at a job well done.
"They should be coming out the front door any moment now," I reported to Aegis. "There's a lot of them, but they're pretty well covered in bugs. Once you've got them subdued, I'll debug them."
"On it," he confirmed, and lifted off of the roof; I didn't need him up where I was, and the police would likely have need of another pair of strong hands. I was content to observe Shadow Stalker at work, and ensure that nobody slipped past her, or sneaked up on her.
Someone kicked the boards out of a window on the second floor, and I frowned. Shadow Stalker was at the wrong end of the building to intercept, and the police were all around the other side, awaiting the expected exodus.
Screw it, I thought. I've been wanting to hit someone all week. And I'm not letting this sonovabitch get away.
Even as the would-be escapee finished clearing the window, I was hurrying down the fire escape; as I reached ground level, he began to slide down the drainpipe. I kept track of the harried denizens and staff of the drug house as they attempted their escape, even as I watched Shadow Stalker deftly subdue yet another patron.
My own personal escapee reached the ground, looked around to get his bearings, then began to hurry down the alleyway. He was looking over his shoulder, and didn't expect for someone to step out from behind a dumpster and trip him; with a most satisfying thud, he went sprawling in the garbage.
"Hi," I told him, letting the bugs buzz in time with my voice. "The name's Buzz. Give up or things get worse."
He looked up at me, seeing a skinny teenage girl in a costume. He should have looked harder.
Just as he lunged at me, I swept a swarm of moths into his face and stepped aside; as he stumbled past me, I smashed my baton into his kneecap. He cried out and fell, rolling on to his side as he clutched at his kneecap.
"One more time, dirtbag," I told him. "Give it up."
He swore at me; normally I would have ignored it, but he chose to insult Mom. That, and I was already feeling particularly on-edge. This time I targeted the hand he was using to support himself, then kicked him in the face as he went down.
Sophia found the small corner room and the window that had been kicked out. The rest of the floor was clear; she could hear the police coming up from below. Outside the window, however, she could hear the sounds of a scuffle. Jumping from the window, she drifted to the ground in shadow form.
She was just in time to see Buzz kick the man in the face.
"Now are you going to stay down?" demanded Buzz. All she got in reply was a groan.
Well now, mused Sophia. Buzz has interesting depths. She moved up behind Buzz. "Building's clear. You want to kick him again, feel free. I figure he's asked for it."
I shook my head. "He didn't ask for this. I've got this thing -" I paused, not willing to go on. Abstractedly, I closed the baton.
"Let me guess," Shadow Stalker commented. "Civilian life problems. No-one knows you're a Ward, and you're just not getting the respect you deserve?"
"It's more than that," I told her. "There's this girl -"
"I know, right?" interrupted Shadow Stalker. "Bitches just not knowing when to give up. I've got the same problem myself. I just need to -"
"Ahem."
The police had everything well under control around at the front; Aegis took off once more, looking for Buzz. She wasn't on the roof, but a quick search located her in a side alley, along with Shadow Stalker and one more man. The man appeared to be somewhat the worse for wear.
Great, he thought. Here I thought Buzz was a good influence on Shadow Stalker. I have to nip this in the bud.
Shadow Stalker and I turned as Aegis continued. "I'm disappointed, Shadow Stalker. I really am. While a little excess of force can be tolerated while subduing suspects, to beat them up once they've already been captured is not permissible. I'm afraid that this will be going on your record -"
"Wait, wait," I objected. "Shadow Stalker didn't do this. I did."
He stopped, frowning. " … what?"
I stepped forward, showing him the baton in my hand. "I saw him running down this way, so I … intercepted him."
His frown deepened. "You're a Master, not a Brute. You should be staying back out of fights. You should have called one of us to deal with him."
"You were around at the front, and Shadow Stalker was busy inside," I evaded. "He might have gotten away, so I basically ambushed him."
He examined the prisoner, and his lips pressed together. "He was hit on the face after he was already on the ground. The blood has only trickled sideways."
I grimaced. "He said something about my mom. I … I lost my temper for a bit."
Another long searching look, and then he jerked his chin upward. "Right. I'll let this one pass, but don't do it again. Stick with me; I'll fly you back to base after the police are done here. And then we're going to have a talk."
I looked at Shadow Stalker; she looked back at me and shrugged slightly. "Talk?" I asked. "About what?"
He gestured at the supine form of my prisoner. "You'll see."
Reaching down, he picked up the man by the back of his belt and flew back down the alleyway, discouraging further questioning. Silently, I followed, with Shadow Stalker at my side.
"So talk."
I glanced at Shadow Stalker, and she looked at me. Everyone else had been shooed out of the Wards base; it was just Aegis, her and me. We were seated on either side of one of the communal tables; Aegis had a soda. I hadn't gotten one, and nor had Shadow Stalker, given that we both wore full-face masks.
"Talk about what?" I asked cautiously, when it became clear that Shadow Stalker wasn't going to ask the question.
"About what's bothering the two of you," he replied. "Especially you, Buzz, but you're also pissed off, Shadow Stalker. I can tell. So what's going on here? Is there a problem between you two that I don't know about?"
I shook my head; Shadow Stalker did the same. "No, god no," I exclaimed. "Shadow Stalker's not part of it at all. It's a non-cape thing. Civilian identity problems."
"Yeah, like Buzz says," Shadow Stalker chimed in. "I've got no problem with her. She's kickass. My problem's elsewhere. Nothing to worry about; I'll have it dealt with soon enough."
Aegis shook his head. "No, this isn't good enough. Is it a home thing or a school thing? Are your parents giving you trouble?"
"No, Dad's great," I assured him. "He's not so thrilled that I'm a cape, but he's right alongside me being in the Wards and all. It's a school thing, not a home thing."
Shadow Stalker nodded in agreement. "Mom's okay with it, I guess. No problems there. It's something at school. No biggie."
"I'm inclined to think that it is a biggie, from the way you've each been acting. Now, you both say it's a school thing." Aegis paused. "Now, I have to ask your permission for this. Does either of you mind the other knowing which school you go to?"
I shrugged. "Not a real hassle with me." Turning to Shadow Stalker, I continued, "Arcadia, right?"
She chuckled. "I was gonna say the exact same thing."
Aegis shook his head. "No. Each of you is from Winslow. And as you're both from the same school, I was thinking that maybe you're having problems with the same person – or persons."
I shook my head. "No. I can't see it. Nobody I know is having as much a problem with these bitches as I do."
Shadow Stalker chuckled lightly. "Maybe I can help you with that. Throw me some names, and I'll pass the word for them to back the fuck off. For their own protection, of course."
Aegis frowned. "I'm not so sure that this is the best approach."
"Sounds better than anything else that's happened so far," I pointed out. "Sure. Emma Barnes. Sophia fucking Hess. Madison Clements. You know 'em?"
Silence fell over the table. I glanced at Aegis; his face had – amazingly, given that he was somewhat swarthy of skin – gone quite pale. With Shadow Stalker I couldn't tell, but her eyes were now boring into mine from behind her mask.
"What?" I asked.
"What … the … fuck?" Shadow Stalker's voice was ragged, a ghost of itself. "No. No fucking way."
"What?" I asked again, but a creeping suspicion was starting to make itself known. Little tiny hints, gathered over nearly two weeks of association, were coming together in a picture that I just couldn't believe."What?"
Aegis opened his mouth, went to speak, but Shadow Stalker beat him to it. "No fucking way. Not you. You can not be Taylor fucking Hebert."
It was her voice that did it. Overcoming the muffling sound of her mask, those sneering tones pronounced my name in a very particular fashion. I recognised it, and I wished to God that I didn't.
"Sophia Hess?" I screamed. "You're Sophia Hess?"
I didn't know if she just didn't see me move, or if some part of her recognised what I was doing and accepted it, letting me carry it through. But I had the baton out and, before Aegis could intervene, I swung it in a short arc which terminated at her face. Her mask shattered, and she fell off the chair; I stood so fast that my own chair went over backward. I wasn't sure what I was going to do then, but Aegis got there first.
"Hold it!" he snapped. "Not another move!"
Numbly, realising what I'd just done, I let him take the baton from me, and I stumbled away a few steps and sat down on another chair. He knelt beside Shadow Stalker – Sophia – and checked her pulse.
"She's alive," he reported, "but I'm pretty sure you broke her jaw." Touching his radio earpiece, he added, "Medical personnel to the Wards base. One casualty, unconscious."
"Good," I muttered peevishly.
"No," he told me. "Not good. This is very not good at all. You're a Ward, and you injured another Ward on a personal matter which should have been aired long since. And I was here when it happened."
At first, I thought that he was talking about himself being a witness, but then it dawned on me; he felt responsible for having us sit down like this, only to discover our real relationship with each other. Shadow Stalker – Sophia – had been hurt on his watch.
"Oh," I muttered. "Sorry."
He grimaced; it could almost have been a smile. "That's all right. Now, Shadow Stalker needs to go to the infirmary to get checked out; that was a hell of a hit you laid on her. Once the medics get here, I'm going to report this incident."
I lifted my head. "What happens to me?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. You'll probably be placed in a holding cell while I discuss this with Armsmaster and the Director."
I swallowed. "Am I ... am I under arrest?"
"Only if you try to get away," he assured me. "What you did to her didn't come out of nowhere. After I finish telling them what happened, we'll all sit down with you -"
"Can Dad be there too?" I asked.
He smiled faintly. "I was about to ask if you wanted him present; not all Wards do. We'll all sit down, and find out exactly why you just did that."
I looked him in the eye. "Is this going to be some sort official cover-up, a whitewash because Sophia's a Ward?" That explains so many things.
His jaw set grimly. "Not hardly. For one thing, you're a Ward too. For another, I really do want to find out what's going on here."
"Yeah, well," I told him. "It's not going to be a fun story."
I knew I wasn't looking forward to telling it.
End of Part Seven
[A/N: Due to much (constructive) criticism, this chapter was considerably rewritten from the original. Therefore, comments may not match the text.]
Part Eight
Part Seven: With Friends Like These
Aegis knew that Shadow Stalker didn't get along with many people; as the leader of the Wards since Triumph had stepped up to join the Protectorate proper, he also knew why. It had begun when she joined the Wards; the public had been told that she had decided to voluntarily give up her lone-wolf vigilante ways and become one of the good guys as a bona fide superhero.
The truth was less appealing; her record of violence had kept her on the watch list, but action had not been taken until a gang member had been found, nailed to a wall with one of her trademark arrows. The man had almost bled to death; he survived, but the deed had been done. Shadow Stalker was tracked down, arrested, her real identity uncovered.
The offence would have had her sent straight to juvenile detention – secret identity intact, as far as the general public was concerned – except that someone stepped forward to plead her case. That someone was Alan Barnes, divorce attorney; apparently, Shadow Stalker had saved his daughter's life at some earlier point. He proposed instead that she be placed in the Brockton Bay Wards, where she could continue her crime-fighting activities under supervision, as opposed to simply being locked up.
Such was his eloquence, his testimony toward her character, that the review board was swayed, and Shadow Stalker was granted probationary status in the Wards. More to the point, she was on probation until her eighteenth birthday, and any further serious offence could put an end to her freedom. But all the same, she chafed under the restrictions which had been placed on her, and took it out on everyone around her; or perhaps she was just an unpleasant person to begin with. Whichever it was, Aegis surmised that if she didn't have those restrictions on her, she would be a lot nastier.
As a result, she had not formed any friendships within the Wards. She tolerated them, and they her, but there was no closeness, no sharing. Until now, that is.
Buzz was an interesting case; also starting out as a lone vigilante type, she had immediately fallen afoul of one of the stronger capes in Brockton Bay. Her life saved by Armsmaster, she had agreed to join the Wards as an alternative to hanging up the cape for good. She didn't have much in the way of self-esteem and was eager to please, which would normally have set her up as a target for the rough edge of Shadow Stalker's tongue. But her competence in helping rescue the other ex-vigilante, and the sheer scariness inherent in the ability to control tens of thousands of bugs at once, had earned her the grudging respect of the problematic Ward.
And so the two of them had formed an unlikely friendship, one which left Clockblocker and Kid Win scratching their heads. Aegis didn't bother wondering about it. He was just pleased that Shadow Stalker wasn't going to be a problem for their newest Ward, and that Buzz actually seemed happy to be partnered with her.
He just hoped that the situation would not end up shooting itself in the foot, as had happened with the last patrol that Shadow Stalker had been on. But, amazingly enough, it seemed to be working out so far.
<><>
Aegis took point, flying above the buildings and looking around for obvious signs of trouble. Shadow Stalker ran the rooftops, turning to shadow so that she could traverse the spaces between buildings that much more easily. Down on the ground, I did my best to keep pace without wearing myself out; in the meantime, I used my bugs to survey the surroundings out to the limit of my range, gathered a swarm to use in case of emergency, and stewed about the day at school.
Since the initial run-in with Sophia and Emma, I'd had to be more careful than usual. Deciding to be more proactive with my powers, I had started using my bugs to scope out the school when I arrived in the mornings, as well as my bag, my seat and surrounding classrooms as I moved around the building. As soon as I detected Emma, Sophia or Madison, I put bugs on them, and made sure to keep out of their way between classes. Sophia definitely had it in for me, and to begin with, she kept me on my toes; no matter how careful I was, she always seemed to be on the verge of catching up with me just as each class started.
After a few close calls, I had figured it out; when the three main bitches lost track of me, they were getting their cronies to keep an eye out and text them with my location. So I tagged them as well, and did my best to keep out of their line of sight. In a way, I supposed that it was good practice for evading villains during a battle, but I wished that just once, they'd give it up and leave me alone.
The most irritating aspect of it was that I was a Ward, a superhero, and that I was having to dodge common school bullies. I couldn't use my powers to defend myself, for fear of outing myself at the very least, and getting into all sorts of trouble to boot. And I couldn't just tell them, because that would out me, and I didn't want to know what they'd do with that information.
I knew that Principal Blackwell was aware that I was a Ward, and had apparently told the teachers to pay even less attention than normal to me, so that I could come and go as needed. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to extend to protecting me from bullies; the assumption was probably that, being a Ward, I wouldn't need any such protection.
Yeah, that was working out so well for me. A few days in, I had it pretty well figured out, but it was still a pain, having to dodge the bitches while at the same time trying to get an education. If it was still happening by next Friday, I was going to have to say something to someone.
In any case, there was another issue that I needed to raise, but this one was with Aegis, and now was as good a time as any.
<><>
"Aegis."
"Yes, Buzz?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did."
" … okay. I need to ask you a question, and I need a truthful answer."
"It depends on the question."
"Do you trust me as a Ward?"
Carlos paused, looking down at the figure of Buzz, jogging steadily along between the buildings. Where's this coming from?
"Yes, I do. I trust you as much as I do any Ward. Why?"
"Why did you hold me and Shadow Stalker back from that bank robbery yesterday? If we'd been there, I'm pretty sure I could have shut the lot of them down."
"You know, she's right," Shadow Stalker added. "Between me and Buzz, we could've had the Undersiders calling 'uncle' in about one minute flat. As it was, they made you look like idiots."
"You know very well why I held you back, Shadow Stalker," Aegis admonished the other girl. "I just didn't want to air the reason."
"What, because I've got a mad-on for Grue?"
"Grue?" asked Buzz. "Who's Grue – oh, wait, the Undersiders guy?"
Aegis sighed and drifted down to land next to the bug controller. Shadow Stalker took this as her cue to leap down from her building; she turned solid just before she landed, her cloak flaring dramatically. He had no idea how long she must have practised to get just that effect.
<><>
"Yes, that guy," Aegis told Buzz. "Shadow Stalker doesn't like him, and goes after him every chance she gets."
"I do not," objected Sophia.
Aegis merely folded his arms and gave her a steady look. After a few moments, she sighed and threw her hands into the air. "Okay, fine, so I don't like the guy. His powers creep me out."
"Creep you out?" Buzz seemed to think about it. "Darkness generation, right?"
"More than just darkness," Shadow Stalker told her. "Radios don't work. It just plain stops light. And when I get in there, it screws with my powers. And he can see through it, so if he gets me into his darkness, he has the advantage."
Buzz nodded. "That sounds like a problem, all right."
"Yeah, well, I don't accept that. So I don't run from him. I face him."
"Which is the problem," Aegis interjected. "Every time it looks like we might encounter Grue, Shadow Stalker aggressively pushes to confront him. This could have a problem when it comes to teamwork, so this is why we had to pull you from that particular incident. Okay?"
"Okay." Buzz nodded. "You know, you could've just told me that, then."
"I was told to not fill you in unless you asked." Aegis sounded uncomfortable.
He couldn't see her facial expressions, but she appeared to be puzzled. "Why?"
"Because we didn't want to prejudice you against Shadow Stalker."
She sounded even more puzzled. "Why would that prejudice me against her?"
He paused. "I'm not sure. In any case, there seems to have been nothing to worry about. Shall we continue?"
After a long moment, Buzz nodded; Aegis lifted into the air.
Sophia took the opportunity to step up alongside Buzz. Clicking her mic off for a moment, she asked quietly, "Do you really mean it when you say it doesn't bother you?"
"No," Buzz replied, just as quietly. "Why should it? You've got to face your fears."
She frowned. "Wouldn't say I'm scared of the jerk, but yeah, if anyone's gonna take him down, it's gonna be me." She ran toward the nearest building, shifted to shadow, and began to climb it swiftly.
I'm beginning to think that this thing with Buzz will work out.
<><>
"Heads up."
I looked up as Aegis came down for a quick landing beside me; moments later, Shadow Stalker landed, only a few yards away.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Just got word," he told us tersely. "There's a fight going on near the Trainyards. Bakuda's there, along with a lot of ABB thugs. They want me to scope things out."
"Crazy bitch," muttered Shadow Stalker. "Who's she fighting? Merchants? ABB?"
"That's the problem." Aegis' voice was grim. "She's fighting the Undersiders."
I felt as much as saw Shadow Stalker come to attention beside me. "So we're going?"
"Easy, tiger," he advised her. "You are going back to base, or continuing the patrol. I am going to see what's going on, make sure no civilians are caught in the crossfire."
"But -" Both of us spoke at almost exactly the same time.
Aegis flashed us an exasperated look. "But nothing. I take you there, you'll zero in on Grue, even if I tell you to hold back."
"What if she doesn't?" I asked. "Shadow Stalker, surely you can put it aside just this once?"
She clenched her fists, turning away from us. I stepped forward, caught her shoulder. She shook my hand free. "Leave it."
"No." My voice was firm. "I might be new to this, but I know that partners work together. You know I've got your back."
"And Grue?"
I shrugged. "I find him, I'll keep track of him. When we get the go-ahead, I'll introduce him to my little friends. I'll have him covered in bugs before he can say 'where's the Raid'?"
"And his darkness?"
"Lead boxes don't stop my power," I reminded her. We had actually tested this out. "I doubt a little darkness is going to matter all that much."
She turned back to me. "Okay, fine, this I have to see."
Aegis frowned. "You're saying that you won't go after Grue?"
Shadow Stalker shrugged slightly. "Buzz says that she'll take care of it, when the time comes. And I kind of want to see him covered in bugs. Preferably the stinging, biting type."
He sighed. "Okay, fine. But if you disobey orders and go after him anyway, it's monitor duty for a week."
"Whoo!" Shadow Stalker raised her hand; after a moment, I high-fived her. "Let's go kick some gangland ass!"
<><>
"Whoa, holy shit."
I wasn't quite sure who had voiced the comment; at least one of us had, maybe two. From high above, we looked down at something that could have been a war zone; storage sheds crumpled and blown apart, with smoke rising here and there. There was even gunfire going on, faint pops in the distance.
"Buzz." Aegis. "Can you pinpoint where people are? Specifically, anyone who doesn't look like they're a part of this?"
"Working on it, but I could do with being a bit lower." I had already started gathering bugs in the area. "I've got a vehicle, and lots of people on foot. Who else is in the Undersiders?"
"Regent is a kid with a face mask and a frilly shirt," Shadow Stalker supplied. "Tattletale's got a sort of purple costume. And Hellhound just wears clothes, but she's got dogs with her. She makes them grow."
"No dogs in range," I replied immediately; dogs had fleas, and there were no fleas talking to me. "Ah – right. Got some people in -"
"Incoming!" yelled Aegis, and let go. We fell.
Well, I'd wanted to get lower.
<><>
Comic books get it wrong all the time, and even TV shows don't really demonstrate how awkward it is for even a strong flier to carry two passengers. I had been dangling from his left hand, and Shadow Stalker from his right. It had been rather uncomfortable on the shoulder muscles, but I suspected having him hold us around the waists would have been uncomfortable on a whole other level; he was, after all, somewhat built, and such close proximity might just have fried every circuit in my brain.
However, being dropped from a height is a whole new level of unpleasant. I would have ridden on his back horsey-style to avoid that. No matter how uncomfortable it made either of us.
Even as we fell, I quickly discovered the reason for his dropping us. Down below, in the open-topped vehicle, someone had fired a shoulder-mounted missile. This was tracking in on Aegis, who was doing his best to evade it.
Well, first it went for Shadow Stalker, who turned shadow just in time for it to lance through her body, then it went after Aegis. But I had other problems. Really pressing ones. Problems that started with 'G', ended in 'D', and rhymed with 'imminent crushing impact'.
Of all the bug powers I didn't get, 'fly like a bug' would be favourite right now.
"Buzz!" screamed Shadow Stalker, and grabbed my ankles. "Curl into a ball!"
There was no time for panic. I did what she told me.
<><>
I wasn't quite sure what she did, but as the ground rapidly approached, we tumbled over one another, faster and faster, until I couldn't tell which way was up. The ground and sky whirled around one another; I felt nauseous, and concentrated on not throwing up in my mask. There was a distant explosion.
The wind whistled in my ears; the ground was coming up really fast now. And then, instants from impact … Shadow Stalker became shadow.
While I was on the top of the loop.
<><>
It was too much to hope that the upward momentum from the spin would totally overcome our downward velocity, but it certainly reduced it from 'fatal' to merely 'painful'. As luck – or Shadow Stalker's aim – would have it, I landed on a tilted wall, remnant of a storage locker. I glanced off of this with bruising force as it gave under the impact.
Still curled into a ball, arms covering my head, I skittered sideways for some distance across cracked concrete, losing momentum – but fortunately not skin, thanks to the hard work of thousands of black widows – as I went. Eventually, I fetched up against the side of another storage shed with a resounding clang. This knocked the wind out of me; my consciousness decided to take a brief leave of absence.
<><>
"- uzz. Buzz!"
I was back on the rooftop, with pain lancing in from every part of my body. One of my goggle lenses was smashed. Lung loomed over me, shaking my shoulder -
"Buzz! Hey! Are you okay? I can't tell with this stupid mask in the way!"
Blinking, I focused. It wasn't Lung; it was Shadow Stalker.
"Yeah," I managed. "'m okay. I think. Hurts."
She settled back on her knees. "Thank fuck for that. Where does it hurt?"
I took a tentative breath. That hurt. Doing anything hurt, but breathing hurt more than most. "Everywhere. Mainly ribs, I think. Maybe cracked or broken."
"Fuck. Don't move much. You might have a punctured lung."
"Don't think so," I replied. "Had one of those. Doesn't feel the same."
"If you say so. Look, you can't lie out here in the open. I've gotta get you under cover."
"How long was I out?" I asked, apropos of nothing.
"Minute or two," she told me, helping me sit up. Then she took hold of my arm to help me to my feet.
"Ow. Fuck. Arm."
Stopping what she was doing, she checked my arm. "Fuck, that definitely feels broken." Shifting to my other side, she grasped that arm. "Not broken?"
"Not broken," I agreed. Nor was my back or my legs, though they were certainly sending me enough pain messages; slowly and painfully, she assisted me in getting to my feet. As she did so, I was rebuilding my awareness of what was going on around us.
And just in time, too. As I regained my balance, I grabbed Shadow Stalker and pulled her sideways, so that we collided heavily with the storage shed. Her protest was drowned out by the scatter of shots that whipped through the air, just where we had been standing. More shots were not forthcoming; my hastily-assembled swarm fell on the two shooters, and they went to their knees, screaming and clawing at their faces.
Staggering slightly, I regained my balance. Shadow Stalker stared at the two thugs, then back at me. "You saved my life."
"Hey, you saved mine, so we're -" I broke off, as she was pointing one of her crossbows directly at my midsection.
"Don't. Move." Her voice was low and deadly.
There was no way I could dodge; she couldn't miss me if she tried. My eyes widened. "What -"
She pulled the trigger; the arrow whipped out to strike me in the chest.
Only she had flickered to shadow form for just an instant as she did so; being similarly ghost-like, the arrow went straight through me, and out the other side. I heard a groan and a clatter; painfully, I turned my head, to see another ABB thug crumple to the dirty concrete, his gun having preceded him to the ground.
"You missed one." Her tone was light. "And you should really learn to trust me."
My tone was wry. "I do now. Thanks -"
"Save it. We need to see if Aegis survived."
"We also need to call in backup."
"My radio isn't working. Yours?"
I tried it. No joy.
"No. What did they hit us with, anyway?"
"Some sort of missile. Must've been a, whaddaya call it, visual signature thing. Went for the largest thing around. Me, with my cloak, then Aegis."
"I've never been so glad to be skinny."
She put her arm around me, carefully, to help me along. "Skinny but awesome. Never forget that."
<><>
There was a lot going on, but I was able to figure out where Bakuda was; or at least, the person in the open topped vehicle who had shot the missile at us. I wasn't able to do much physically, and Shadow Stalker was busy assisting me to move, but my bugs were up to the task. Everyone who came near us was swarmed to the ground; Shadow Stalker disarmed them, secured them, and we went on.
We weren't after Bakuda; we were looking for Aegis. And we found him, soon enough.
"Someone up ahead," I managed. The stabbing pain in my side wasn't going away any time soon, but I was pushing past it. "People. Over a body. I think it might be the Undersiders."
"Let's go see." She helped me around the corner, and there they were; the Undersiders, all right. Three of them, anyway. They looked somewhat the worse for wear, but not as bad as the body on the ground.
It was Aegis, or at least, most of him. As we came into sight, I heard one of them, a girl, saying, "Okay, that goes there. Push it into position -"
"Hold it!" shouted Shadow Stalker, letting me go so that she could aim both crossbows. "Step away from him slowly, and let me see your hands."
They turned to face us, caught on the back foot. I hobbled closer, careful to keep out of her line of fire. It was Aegis, all right, but … "Oh god," I muttered. "I'm so sorry."
He had taken the hit in the lower abdomen; both legs had been blown off, along with one arm. Half his face was missing, and one eye was gone. I could see where intestines had been gathered and stuffed hastily back into place; blood was smeared over everything.
Shadow Stalker moved closer, her crossbows aimed and ready. One was pointed at the guy in motorbike leathers – Grue, as I recalled – and the other at the boy in the Renfaire outfit. I couldn't recall what Shadow Stalker had called the other two. "Don't even think about it," she ordered them. "What were you doing to him?"
"Putting him back together," the girl in the purple costume answered simply. "He's got a better chance of survival this way."
"Survival?" I choked out. "He's dead. Nothing could survive that."
"Not … true." The voice was raspy, almost inaudible.
I stared downward, and gaped. His one eye had opened, and was vaguely focused on me.
"Aegis! You're alive!"
A very faint nod. "Yeah … just gimme … moment."
The eye closed again.
"Aegis!" I went to my knees, wanted to shake him, but decided not to, as something might fall off. "Aegis!"
The girl in purple put her hand on my shoulder. "He's alive. But he'll need someone like Panacea to get himself all back together."
I looked up at her. "How do you know that? And who are you? Your voice is familiar."
Expertly, she helped me back to my feet; Shadow Stalker moved closer still, one crossbow aimed at Grue, the other at the boy in Renfaire clothing.
"Don't you remember me? I -"
"Wait." I frowned. "Something's wrong."
Shadow Stalker glanced at me. "What?"
"I've been swarming Bakuda and her thugs to keep her occupied, but I can't see her any more. Or her car."
"That's a bad thing, isn't it?" Shadow Stalker glanced around. "Where was she, last you saw her?"
"About fifty yards that – oh."
I had turned to point, and just then, the jeep rolled around the corner. With it came a hemisphere of clear air, about twenty feet across. Every bug that hit the surface of the hemisphere ... vanished.
Fuck.
<><>
"Ha!" crowed the woman standing up in the back of the vehicle. "I thought I hit something with that!" Even with the mechanical monotone, I could hear the triumph in her voice.
"Bakuda?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth.
"Yep," agreed the girl in purple, just as quietly.
It figured; the woman had dark hair and wore some sort of elaborate gas mask, with goggles and breather. My bugs hadn't been able to get into her eyes or mouth, and so she had obviously Tinkered up something to keep my bugs at somewhat more than arms' length.
One of her minions was driving; the other was pointing what looked like a very nasty machine-gun of some sort at us. The implication was clear; if we made a hostile move, we would become ground zero for a lot of lead. Shadow Stalker would be fine if she shifted fast enough; the rest of us, not so much.
"Well, then," Bakuda went on, when no-one answered her initial sally. "All my enemies in one place. Such a pleasure to meet you all."
"The Wards have got nothing to do with this," Grue stated unexpectedly. "Let them go."
Bakuda shrugged. "They interfered, they die." She rolled a couple of golf ball sized spheres around in her hand. "I'm wondering what these two will do if they go off in conjunction with each other. Even Shadow Stalker there should feel the effects of this, I think."
"I'll give us cover," muttered Grue. "We all run."
"But Aegis," I protested, just as quietly. In any case, I couldn't run. And Aegis was alive. I wasn't going to abandon him.
Before we could say any more, Bakuda tossed the balls over the windshield of the jeep, toward us.
Or rather, that's what her intent must have been.
Instead, she tossed low. They struck the windshield and bounced back into the vehicle, disappearing from sight. "Fuck!" she screamed, still in monotone, and dived into the footwell, obviously trying to retrieve the bombs.
"Everyone down!" shouted the girl in purple. Grabbing me, she pulled me to the ground, rolling under me so that she took the main impact. My ribs still protested, but it could've been a lot worse. At the same time, blackness rolled over us. Grue's darkness, I realised a moment later.
There was a shudder through the ground, but I heard nothing, felt nothing. After a long moment, the darkness faded, and the girl in purple helped me sit up. Shadow Stalker was first on her feet, her crossbows still aimed at Grue and the other guy.
I wasn't paying attention to that; I was looking where Bakuda had been. My one eye was fuzzy, due to the smashed lens, but the other could still see pretty well. And Bakuda was ... gone. As was the jeep, and the two guys who'd been in it with her. Even the concrete was gone, in a perfect circle. In its place was a smooth expanse of rock, grained here and there with odd textures.
"What the fuck ... ?" muttered Grue.
"Lava flow," the girl in purple explained. "I'm guessing that those bombs set off something else she was carrying, and that did something to her bug disappearing field. It disappeared her. Swapped her to another world."
"Wow," I murmured. "Did she even survive?"
"Now that I can't tell you," the girl replied with a cheeky grin. "I don't believe that we've been introduced. I'm Tattletale, that's Regent, and tall-and-dark over there is Grue."
"And you're all my prisoners," Shadow Stalker snapped. "Buzz, move away from Tattletale. And don't listen to her. She's got a way of twisting your head around."
"Wait a minute," Grue protested. "We didn't even start this. Bakuda ambushed us."
"Yeah," agreed Regent. "And she abducted Bitch, too."
"Probably locked up somewhere," Tattletale put in. "She'll starve if no-one finds her in time."
I wasn't quite sure who 'Bitch' was, but they sounded concerned about her. Or at least Tattletale did.
"We can look for her," Shadow Stalker stated remorselessly. "After you're behind bars."
"But we didn't even commit any crimes. We're the victims here," Grue pressed.
"Don't care."
I could sort of see their side of things, but I didn't want to argue with Shadow Stalker over this; besides, we did have them dead to rights. And helping bring in the Undersiders, in my first week as a Ward, would look awesome.
"I bet I could say ten words that would convince you to let us go," Tattletale suggested impishly.
"If she talks again, Buzz, fill her mouth with bugs."
"No, I want to hear what she has to say."
"She's dangerous, Buzz. She's a Thinker. You never let a Thinker talk."
"Okay, I get it," I told her. "I've been duly warned. She's not a Master, is she?"
Reluctantly, Shadow Stalker shook her head. "Just a Thinker."
"Right then." I turned to Tattletale. "I accept your challenge. What are the ten words?"
Tattletale cleared her throat. "Hang in there, bug girl. Help is on the way."
"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" demanded Shadow Stalker.
But I knew. And I knew that Tattletale was right. I was going to let them go. "You were the ones, on the roof, that night." My voice was quiet.
"We saw you in trouble," she affirmed. "Lung was about to stomp you. Rachel brought her dogs in, hammered him into the ground. You probably don't remember, but I sat with you and held your hand till Armsmaster showed."
"He said he got an anonymous tip ... " I murmured.
Grue nodded. "That was us."
I took a deep breath, and turned to Shadow Stalker. "They saved my life."
"They're villains." Her tone was harsh.
"They've done their best to save Aegis' life, too." I indicated the recumbent form.
"If he survives." But her tone was wavering.
"And if we take them in, their partner might die."
"Not our problem." But then she shook her head. "Fuck."
"You know it's the right thing to do."
"Fuck," she muttered again. "You're gonna make me do this, aren't you?"
I shook my head. "I can't make you do anything, Shadow Stalker. What you do is your choice. It always has been."
"Fuck, I can't believe I'm even considering this." The crossbow she had pointed at Grue wavered, and for a long moment, I thought she was going to pull the trigger. But then it lowered, as did the one pointed at Regent. "Go on, get out of here. Fuck off."
They didn't need telling twice. Darkness billowed over them; the last I saw of the Undersiders was Tattletale winking at me. And then they were gone.
Shadow Stalker turned to me. "So now we - fuck, are you all right?"
I was swaying on my feet, and flashbulbs were going off behind my eyes. "Don't think so," I mumbled.
She caught me as I fell.
<><>
The first to arrive was Velocity. He surveyed the scene; Aegis lying there like the aftermath of a botched autopsy, Buzz in the recovery position, and Shadow Stalker guarding the both of them.
"Are they alive?" he asked.
She nodded wearily. "Yeah. Aegis has a really weak heartbeat, but it's there. Buzz is breathing, but apart from that, I have no idea."
"So what happened?"
"Bakuda," she replied simply. "Crazy bitch took on the Undersiders. Shot us out of the sky. Had a Tinkertech malfunction." She indicated the circle of lava flow. "Last known position."
"Why haven't you called for assistance?"
She tapped her ear. "Radios went dead when she shot Aegis down. I think it was some sort of EMP."
"Right. Okay, I'll call for the medics. Anything else? Where are the Undersiders?"
For a long moment, she hesitated, then she shrugged. "Fucked if I know. Haven't seen them."
"Okay then. Are you hurt?"
She shook her head. "The medics?" she prompted. "I'm worried about Buzz."
"Got it." He pulled out his phone and dialled. "It's Velocity," he reported. "You're never going to believe this … "
<><>
I gradually surfaced once more, feeling a distinct sensation of deja vu. Instead of a hospital room, I was in the PRT infirmary, but the bed was much the same, and I was once more lacking my costume and mask.
"How are you feeling?" asked Panacea.
"Pretty good, now," I replied, then my eyes opened wider and I sat up slightly. "Aegis. He -"
"I've already seen him," she assured me. "He barely needed any help at all. Last I saw, he was headed for the cafeteria, to eat his body weight in steak."
"Oh, good." I began to climb out of bed. "That takes a weight off of my mind." I paused. "Shadow Stalker?"
"Waiting outside." She handed me my costume. "She was pretty worried."
"Worried? Why? It was only a broken arm and some cracked ribs, right?" I climbed into it and she helped me zip it up the back.
"Not hardly. Is that all you thought it was?"
I pulled the mask over my head and ensured that it was seated right. I'm going to have to replace that lens. Again. Ugh. "Uh, yes. What else was there?"
"Well, let's see." She opened the door, ushering me out before her. "Fractured patella. Ruptured spleen. Three cracked ribs, two broken. You knew about the fractured ulna and radius; your wrist was also badly broken. Ruptured liver. Fractured spine."
Shadow Stalker rose from where she'd been sitting. "And you told me it was only some cracked ribs and a broken arm. I thought you were okay to walk!"
"I told you everything hurt," I retorted. "And it's not like we had a choice in the matter."
"Well, you're all right now," Panacea told me. "Don't make a habit of this, all right?"
Impulsively, I hugged her. "Thanks. And if you ever need to talk to anyone, remember that I'm there, okay?"
For a moment, she leaned against me. "Yeah, thanks. I might take you up on that, soon."
I rested my forehead against hers for a moment, before I let her go. "Any time. See you later, Panacea."
"See you later, Buzz. And you too, Shadow Stalker."
<><>
As we left the infirmary, I glanced at Shadow Stalker. "So what's happening?"
"Well, Renick wants to see you for your report on what happened today," she informed me. "Aegis and me have already done our reports. After that, we're off duty. Want to come meet my bestie, take in a movie or something?"
I blinked. "I … you want to unmask?" Unmasking was a big deal. The amount of trust involved was enormous. I felt a swelling in my throat, that Shadow Stalker was willing to trust me with who she really was.
"Sure," she replied breezily. "You rocked out there today. I can't think of anyone I'd rather share my secret identity with."
I nodded. "I kinda feel the same way. But you know, we've only been partnered for a week. Less. Besides, I want to get home and fix my mask." I indicated the broken lens. "Raincheck on that movie?"
She nodded easily. "Sure. Baby steps. Save each others' lives today, unmask tomorrow."
"And if it follows the usual sitcom formula, it turns out that we're best friends already," I noted with a grin.
"Can't be," she replied with a chuckle. "Wrong colour hair. Anyway, see you tomorrow?"
"See you then, tough girl." I offered my hand. "And … thanks."
"For what?" She took my hand and shook it anyway.
"Saving my life, doofus." A handshake wasn't enough; I grabbed her and hugged her.
"You saved mine, too." Slowly, her arms crept around me. It felt good.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't gonna let some ABB goon shoot the coolest girl in the Wards."
She chuckled as we disengaged from the hug. "Good point. See you tomorrow – tougher girl."
<><>
The warm feeling stayed inside me all the way through the verbal report that I gave Renick, and all the way home on the bus to home. Dad greeted me, and I gave him a blow-by-blow account of what had happened.
I spent the evening fixing the mask, then I watched TV with Dad. It was a good evening; I was finally content, for the first time in weeks. I was in the Wards, I was kicking ass, and I was carrying my weight. And I had a partner who respected me, and who I respected in turn.
Maybe I should've taken her up on unmasking and meeting her bestie. A night at the movies would've been nice.
<><>
"So is this Buzz person really all of that?" Emma reached across and stole some of Sophia's popcorn. "Bug control doesn't sound like much."
"Keep it down," Sophia warned, even though the soundtrack of the movie had mostly drowned out Emma's voice. "Yeah, she's all of that. She's tough. She's strong." She shook her head. "And bug control … yeah, it's more than you'd think. You gotta see it to understand."
"So when are they gonna sign you on with someone else? All I've heard this week is Buzz this and Buzz that. Usually they move you around a lot."
Sophia tilted her head. "You sound jealous. Holy shit, you are. You're actually jealous that they've finally got someone in the Wards who's worth partnering?"
"I dunno," jibed Emma. "When's the engagement?"
Sophia threw a handful of popcorn at her.
<><>
I went out on patrol with Shadow Stalker twice more over the weekend. It was relatively quiet; we stopped a few muggings and a convenience store robbery, but nothing of consequence. Shadow Stalker would go in while I held back and supported her with what she called 'bugpocalypse'. I objected to the term, which of course ensured that she used it all the more.
We didn't bring up the idea of unmasking, although it certainly crossed my mind more than once. I tried to figure out why I didn't want to do it; eventually, I decided that while I definitely trusted her, I wasn't sure if I really was the right person for her to reveal her secret identity to.
And then Monday rolled back around and we were too busy to think about things like that. We went on to night patrols, and while I took the bus home or got Dad to pick me up, Shadow Stalker always went home in costume, roof running all the way. So we didn't get to share a ride, where the topic might come up again.
More to the point, Emma and her friends were stepping up the pressure at school. They hadn't managed to pull off a successful prank in days now, and it seemed almost as if they felt threatened by my ability to evade them. My email accounts continued to fill up with abuse, and I couldn't help running afoul of Sophia in physical education, but my tactic of tagging them with bugs tended to work on the whole, and I actually managed to hand in two assignments without outside interference. Powers, I decided, rocked.
The new tactic, I figured out, involved recruiting more patsies – I mean students – to keep track of me, until it seemed that half the school was sending a text as soon as they saw me. Emma must have convinced them that it was part of some new game or other; I was pretty sure that most of them didn't even know who I was.
Still, I managed to stay ahead of the three bitches until Friday, although it got that little bit harder each day. They were starting to learn my routine and the devious routes I was taking through the school to get from class to class, and it got harder simply because there were only so many ways I could get from point A to point B. I was reduced to using bugs to distract some of them in subtle ways, so that I could slip past; technically a use of my powers, but not in a way that could really out me.
<><>
As it was, come Friday night patrol time, I was itching to get out there and cause problems for someone. I clasped hands with Shadow Stalker as soon as I saw her; it was good to see a friendly face, so to speak. Friendly mask, anyway. We had worked well over the week, refining our tactics, so that we barely had to speak in order to communicate our intent to the other. Aegis, fully recovered of course, was coming along with us once more.
"We'll be looking at the Merchants tonight," he told us. "You know the drill. Observe, report, but don't engage unless civilians are in danger."
"Aye aye captain," I agreed; Shadow Stalker muffled a snort.
"I don't know which of you two is worse than the other," he observed. "I see that Buzz is picking up some of Shadow Stalker's lack of respect."
"I'm totally respectful," I objected. "Just, you know, happy to be going out. Kicking ass."
"Taking names?" he finished.
"What do we want their names for?" asked Shadow Stalker, and I high-fived her.
Aegis rolled his eyes. "Let's get moving. I'm intending to cut you two free to do your own patrols next week, and I want to get this done before I change my mind."
Shadow Stalker nodded. "Let's do this."
<><>
The first part of the patrol was relatively routine; little nothing crimes that we broke up, securing the perps and calling the cops to pick them up. But things began to warm up, a couple of hours in.
"There's a report that the Merchants have set up a good old-fashioned drug den slash bordello," Aegis informed us. "Downstairs, they hand out the drugs. Upstairs they've got girls that the Merchants have gotten addicted to the drugs, servicing customers to pay off the drugs that were forced on to them in the first place."
"Okay," I growled. "This is the sort of place that needs a visit. From us."
"Bugpocalypse time," Shadow Stalker supplied.
Aegis winced. "Must you call it that?"
"Bugageddon?" she suggested; I chuckled.
"Please stop," he requested, then cleared his throat. "Okay then. We'll be going in to support the police on this one. We don't think any Merchant capes will be in evidence, but stay on your toes just in case. And don't screw this up; some of those girls are younger than you two, and we want to get them out of this situation."
"Got it." I pretended to crack my knuckles. "Kicking ass, taking names, and saving the innocent. All in a day's work."
Shadow Stalker checked her crossbows. "What she said."
<><>
Aegis dropped us carefully on to the roof of the building. To the casual eye, it seemed to be partially abandoned, with just a run-down takeaway on the ground floor, but my bugs told me a different story.
"Windows are all boarded up," I reported. "The place is horrendous. Bugs everywhere, the rooms are tiny, and the girls don't seem to have much chance to wash, or even sleep. Downstairs, it's even worse."
"Drugs?" asked Aegis.
"Basement," I supplied. "Big cache of it. At least, the bugs that I've got burrowing into it are going loopy."
"Right," he agreed, and passed the information on to the police. "Okay, when you're ready."
I took a deep breath. 'Bugpocalypse' was a technique that Shadow Stalker and I had evolved. I would inflict the target with bugs, and the target would leave cover, to be taken down by my waiting partner. She got a kick out of it, as the target often gave up as soon as she confronted him. Having bugs crawling into places that one did not know bugs could crawl into tended to seize one's attention.
"Top and bottom. Let's do this."
<><>
Sophia loved watching Buzz at work. She was so utterly casual about it, not making any particular bones of the fact that she had tens of thousands of bugs at her beck and call. The 'top and bottom' comment was to do with the fact that she would swarm the men on the top floor, and those in the basement, first, then move the two swarms together.
From all around, clouds of bugs moved inward, entering the upper storey via chinks and cracks in the boards covering the windows. As the first sounds of distress began to filter outward through the walls and roof, Sophia took the cue to ease her way down into the building.
There she found men in all stages of undress, covered in literally thousands of crawling, biting and stinging bugs, while the painfully young girls cowered in their tiny beds, untouched by a single insect. Sophia didn't have much time for the girls; if they couldn't help themselves, she wasn't about to help them.
On the other hand, she was there to deal with the men, which she did, with considerable enthusiasm. One after the other, she took them down, subdued them, and secured them. And looking at the girls now peering out of their rooms, she was damned if she didn't feel a certain amount of satisfaction at a job well done.
<><>
"They should be coming out the front door any moment now," I reported to Aegis. "There's a lot of them, but they're pretty well covered in bugs. Once you've got them subdued, I'll debug them."
"On it," he confirmed, and lifted off of the roof; I didn't need him up where I was, and the police would likely have need of another pair of strong hands. I was content to observe Shadow Stalker at work, and ensure that nobody slipped past her, or sneaked up on her.
Someone kicked the boards out of a window on the second floor, and I frowned. Shadow Stalker was at the wrong end of the building to intercept, and the police were all around the other side, awaiting the expected exodus.
Screw it, I thought. I've been wanting to hit someone all week. And I'm not letting this sonovabitch get away.
Even as the would-be escapee finished clearing the window, I was hurrying down the fire escape; as I reached ground level, he began to slide down the drainpipe. I kept track of the harried denizens and staff of the drug house as they attempted their escape, even as I watched Shadow Stalker deftly subdue yet another patron.
My own personal escapee reached the ground, looked around to get his bearings, then began to hurry down the alleyway. He was looking over his shoulder, and didn't expect for someone to step out from behind a dumpster and trip him; with a most satisfying thud, he went sprawling in the garbage.
"Hi," I told him, letting the bugs buzz in time with my voice. "The name's Buzz. Give up or things get worse."
He looked up at me, seeing a skinny teenage girl in a costume. He should have looked harder.
Just as he lunged at me, I swept a swarm of moths into his face and stepped aside; as he stumbled past me, I smashed my baton into his kneecap. He cried out and fell, rolling on to his side as he clutched at his kneecap.
"One more time, dirtbag," I told him. "Give it up."
He swore at me; normally I would have ignored it, but he chose to insult Mom. That, and I was already feeling particularly on-edge. This time I targeted the hand he was using to support himself, then kicked him in the face as he went down.
<><>
Sophia found the small corner room and the window that had been kicked out. The rest of the floor was clear; she could hear the police coming up from below. Outside the window, however, she could hear the sounds of a scuffle. Jumping from the window, she drifted to the ground in shadow form.
She was just in time to see Buzz kick the man in the face.
"Now are you going to stay down?" demanded Buzz. All she got in reply was a groan.
Well now, mused Sophia. Buzz has interesting depths. She moved up behind Buzz. "Building's clear. You want to kick him again, feel free. I figure he's asked for it."
<><>
I shook my head. "He didn't ask for this. I've got this thing -" I paused, not willing to go on. Abstractedly, I closed the baton.
"Let me guess," Shadow Stalker commented. "Civilian life problems. No-one knows you're a Ward, and you're just not getting the respect you deserve?"
"It's more than that," I told her. "There's this girl -"
"I know, right?" interrupted Shadow Stalker. "Bitches just not knowing when to give up. I've got the same problem myself. I just need to -"
"Ahem."
<><>
The police had everything well under control around at the front; Aegis took off once more, looking for Buzz. She wasn't on the roof, but a quick search located her in a side alley, along with Shadow Stalker and one more man. The man appeared to be somewhat the worse for wear.
Great, he thought. Here I thought Buzz was a good influence on Shadow Stalker. I have to nip this in the bud.
<><>
Shadow Stalker and I turned as Aegis continued. "I'm disappointed, Shadow Stalker. I really am. While a little excess of force can be tolerated while subduing suspects, to beat them up once they've already been captured is not permissible. I'm afraid that this will be going on your record -"
"Wait, wait," I objected. "Shadow Stalker didn't do this. I did."
He stopped, frowning. " … what?"
I stepped forward, showing him the baton in my hand. "I saw him running down this way, so I … intercepted him."
His frown deepened. "You're a Master, not a Brute. You should be staying back out of fights. You should have called one of us to deal with him."
"You were around at the front, and Shadow Stalker was busy inside," I evaded. "He might have gotten away, so I basically ambushed him."
He examined the prisoner, and his lips pressed together. "He was hit on the face after he was already on the ground. The blood has only trickled sideways."
I grimaced. "He said something about my mom. I … I lost my temper for a bit."
Another long searching look, and then he jerked his chin upward. "Right. I'll let this one pass, but don't do it again. Stick with me; I'll fly you back to base after the police are done here. And then we're going to have a talk."
I looked at Shadow Stalker; she looked back at me and shrugged slightly. "Talk?" I asked. "About what?"
He gestured at the supine form of my prisoner. "You'll see."
Reaching down, he picked up the man by the back of his belt and flew back down the alleyway, discouraging further questioning. Silently, I followed, with Shadow Stalker at my side.
<><>
"So talk."
I glanced at Shadow Stalker, and she looked at me. Everyone else had been shooed out of the Wards base; it was just Aegis, her and me. We were seated on either side of one of the communal tables; Aegis had a soda. I hadn't gotten one, and nor had Shadow Stalker, given that we both wore full-face masks.
"Talk about what?" I asked cautiously, when it became clear that Shadow Stalker wasn't going to ask the question.
"About what's bothering the two of you," he replied. "Especially you, Buzz, but you're also pissed off, Shadow Stalker. I can tell. So what's going on here? Is there a problem between you two that I don't know about?"
I shook my head; Shadow Stalker did the same. "No, god no," I exclaimed. "Shadow Stalker's not part of it at all. It's a non-cape thing. Civilian identity problems."
"Yeah, like Buzz says," Shadow Stalker chimed in. "I've got no problem with her. She's kickass. My problem's elsewhere. Nothing to worry about; I'll have it dealt with soon enough."
Aegis shook his head. "No, this isn't good enough. Is it a home thing or a school thing? Are your parents giving you trouble?"
"No, Dad's great," I assured him. "He's not so thrilled that I'm a cape, but he's right alongside me being in the Wards and all. It's a school thing, not a home thing."
Shadow Stalker nodded in agreement. "Mom's okay with it, I guess. No problems there. It's something at school. No biggie."
"I'm inclined to think that it is a biggie, from the way you've each been acting. Now, you both say it's a school thing." Aegis paused. "Now, I have to ask your permission for this. Does either of you mind the other knowing which school you go to?"
I shrugged. "Not a real hassle with me." Turning to Shadow Stalker, I continued, "Arcadia, right?"
She chuckled. "I was gonna say the exact same thing."
Aegis shook his head. "No. Each of you is from Winslow. And as you're both from the same school, I was thinking that maybe you're having problems with the same person – or persons."
I shook my head. "No. I can't see it. Nobody I know is having as much a problem with these bitches as I do."
Shadow Stalker chuckled lightly. "Maybe I can help you with that. Throw me some names, and I'll pass the word for them to back the fuck off. For their own protection, of course."
Aegis frowned. "I'm not so sure that this is the best approach."
"Sounds better than anything else that's happened so far," I pointed out. "Sure. Emma Barnes. Sophia fucking Hess. Madison Clements. You know 'em?"
Silence fell over the table. I glanced at Aegis; his face had – amazingly, given that he was somewhat swarthy of skin – gone quite pale. With Shadow Stalker I couldn't tell, but her eyes were now boring into mine from behind her mask.
"What?" I asked.
"What … the … fuck?" Shadow Stalker's voice was ragged, a ghost of itself. "No. No fucking way."
"What?" I asked again, but a creeping suspicion was starting to make itself known. Little tiny hints, gathered over nearly two weeks of association, were coming together in a picture that I just couldn't believe."What?"
Aegis opened his mouth, went to speak, but Shadow Stalker beat him to it. "No fucking way. Not you. You can not be Taylor fucking Hebert."
It was her voice that did it. Overcoming the muffling sound of her mask, those sneering tones pronounced my name in a very particular fashion. I recognised it, and I wished to God that I didn't.
"Sophia Hess?" I screamed. "You're Sophia Hess?"
<><>
I didn't know if she just didn't see me move, or if some part of her recognised what I was doing and accepted it, letting me carry it through. But I had the baton out and, before Aegis could intervene, I swung it in a short arc which terminated at her face. Her mask shattered, and she fell off the chair; I stood so fast that my own chair went over backward. I wasn't sure what I was going to do then, but Aegis got there first.
"Hold it!" he snapped. "Not another move!"
Numbly, realising what I'd just done, I let him take the baton from me, and I stumbled away a few steps and sat down on another chair. He knelt beside Shadow Stalker – Sophia – and checked her pulse.
"She's alive," he reported, "but I'm pretty sure you broke her jaw." Touching his radio earpiece, he added, "Medical personnel to the Wards base. One casualty, unconscious."
"Good," I muttered peevishly.
"No," he told me. "Not good. This is very not good at all. You're a Ward, and you injured another Ward on a personal matter which should have been aired long since. And I was here when it happened."
At first, I thought that he was talking about himself being a witness, but then it dawned on me; he felt responsible for having us sit down like this, only to discover our real relationship with each other. Shadow Stalker – Sophia – had been hurt on his watch.
"Oh," I muttered. "Sorry."
He grimaced; it could almost have been a smile. "That's all right. Now, Shadow Stalker needs to go to the infirmary to get checked out; that was a hell of a hit you laid on her. Once the medics get here, I'm going to report this incident."
I lifted my head. "What happens to me?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. You'll probably be placed in a holding cell while I discuss this with Armsmaster and the Director."
I swallowed. "Am I ... am I under arrest?"
"Only if you try to get away," he assured me. "What you did to her didn't come out of nowhere. After I finish telling them what happened, we'll all sit down with you -"
"Can Dad be there too?" I asked.
He smiled faintly. "I was about to ask if you wanted him present; not all Wards do. We'll all sit down, and find out exactly why you just did that."
I looked him in the eye. "Is this going to be some sort official cover-up, a whitewash because Sophia's a Ward?" That explains so many things.
His jaw set grimly. "Not hardly. For one thing, you're a Ward too. For another, I really do want to find out what's going on here."
"Yeah, well," I told him. "It's not going to be a fun story."
I knew I wasn't looking forward to telling it.
End of Part Seven
[A/N: Due to much (constructive) criticism, this chapter was considerably rewritten from the original. Therefore, comments may not match the text.]
Part Eight
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OmniTracker
Only 85% hilarious.
- Location
- Maybe on Earth, Maybe in the future.
That was... cathartic.
NICE. You know, I was afraid that either the reveal would be underplayed and papered over, or more likely just so overdramatic and violent it felt OOC. This was perfect. Taylor comes across as understandably emotional but not going crazy.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Piggots not going to give a shit.
Xexilf
Oblivion Sempiternum Daemonis
She very much will, probably. Shes not gonna take sides and hate both of them, probably, but not caring is the wrong wording. She may want it hushed up though.
Subrosian_Smithy
endless
- Location
- Washington
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
I don't know, I can't imagine her not bringing down the hammer, at least a tiny little bit. She (understandably) thinks parahumans are dangerous and would be pissed that one of them was essentially walking around with free reign.
pheonix89
Wants to be Seven Of Nine
- Location
- North American Plaguelands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Piggot has ISSUES with capes using their powers to lord it over normals.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Personally, I don't think she will care at all besides the fact that she might have one less body out in the field, or the PR nightmare if it ever gets out that a ward got away with bulling like that. She would definitely want it all hushed up though.
Realistically, she has more important things to care about. Like the power keg that is Brockton Bay. She would probably still punish Sophia though.
And this could be used as prime propaganda material if it ever leaks out to them. Or be used by Coil. Heh.
Honestly doubt it would go like I say though. I am just used to Piggot generally not giving a shit.
-edit-
She will also punish Taylor though, because while understandable.
Taylor assaulted another Ward and broke their jaw.
Realistically, she has more important things to care about. Like the power keg that is Brockton Bay. She would probably still punish Sophia though.
And this could be used as prime propaganda material if it ever leaks out to them. Or be used by Coil. Heh.
Honestly doubt it would go like I say though. I am just used to Piggot generally not giving a shit.
-edit-
She will also punish Taylor though, because while understandable.
Taylor assaulted another Ward and broke their jaw.
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The Stormbringer
Worm Fanfic & Crack Connoisseur
- Location
- Spaaaaace~!
Holy shit that was perfect. Sophia was stunned and Taylor went full Hebert Rage Mode on her. WABAAAM! One-hit K.O. God damn that was beautiful.
Wonder how Sophia will feel after this? Especially since she was all labeling Buzz as a badass, scary predator mofo who she could even respect a little. I expect her to be faster at changing her mind about Taylor than Taylor would be for her.
Wonder how Sophia will feel after this? Especially since she was all labeling Buzz as a badass, scary predator mofo who she could even respect a little. I expect her to be faster at changing her mind about Taylor than Taylor would be for her.
Technically, they were off duty at the time so Taylor assaulted Sophia Hess, not Shadow Stalker.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
They were in costume. And still in the base. They were still technically on duty. Therefore, Buzz assaulted Shadow Stalker.
NorthSouthGorem
To Walk Down Every Path
- Location
- Maplewood, NJ
It was worth it.
Right, I missed the part where Taylor shattered Sophia's mask.
Skelethin
Barebones Writer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
My biggest issue is... Aegis, the team leader, is forcing two team members who have NOT shared civilian identities with each other... air issues they are having in their civilians lives... in front of each other.
Aegis is in more fucking trouble than Taylor is.
Aegis is in more fucking trouble than Taylor is.
- Location
- Texas
I don't know, I think it makes a lot of sense from his perspective. We've seen in canon that the Wards normally end up unmasking to their team members, so he's likely assuming it's only a matter of time until Taylor feels comfortable enough to do the same. Meanwhile, here are these two teammates who seem to get along well, and he knows they go to the same school so they probably have overlapping social circles. He was probably hoping to get them to unmask to each other so they could become friends in civilian life too, and help each other out with their problems.