Brockton Bay, Earth Bet, Feb 6, 2011.
Jewelry store robberies were almost as cliche a crime for a cape as holding up a bank, but Weymouth Mall was mostly filled with clothing and assorted home goods outlets, with the only other alternative being a single electronics shop. And while that would score some really useful parts, I didn't yet have a pressing need for digital systems. Not that there was the power for much either.
What made me decide on hitting Silver Dawn Jewelry over one of the outlets that might have possibly had some useful things was the fact that Emily knew the owners thanks to her parents. More specifically, the fact that they'd admitted having Empire connections at a dinner party at the Jacobs place, safe in the certainty that they were wholly among friends of the cause…
Also, the already processed gold and silver would be very useful in tinkering up a few things to make our lives easier, like an electric stove and a bread oven. I'd probably also be able to get what I'd need for a decent smelter, but that wouldn't be of much use until more electricity was available. Maybe I could also see if they had any wire in the back, and throw together something out of those power tool batteries so I could get more power? It'd mean needing to crack the vault most likely, but it'd certainly help with the annoying 'you need power to make power' problem.
Nodding to myself, I gave Emily the signal.
My friend promptly shoved the door open and strode inside. I couldn't help but grin at the sight of her sauntering over to the counter with the tassels of her riveted leather dress swirling around her legs and the fluorescent light gleaming on the beaten copper of her mask. The outfit we'd come up with for her as Askā was stunning and did a surprisingly good job of displaying the meaning of her cape name despite the simplicity and lack of available material even compared to my own. The small deposit of native copper my drones had discovered had been very useful in that, as the metal does look rather like solidified flames when properly shaped and polished.
Paying our by-now standard introduction no mind, I slipped into the store with my drones and made a beeline for the display case containing an assortment of necklaces. Mom had taught me ages ago how to spot some of the more subtle Nazi symbology so I could better avoid accidentally falling into a trap, and the jewelry before me was rife with some of the more obvious examples from those lessons. That cemented Emily's intel rather nicely, and proved that her gene-donors associated with some less than sensible people. You'd think the Nazi money laundering front would avoid anything that might draw them attention like that, but that's Nazis for you.
"Ah, gold. This will prove useful, though it escapes me why people would waste twenty karat on tasteless crap like this." Saying that out loud was probably unnecessary, but it was all part of the presentation.
As Emily continued into the back for the vault where they kept supplies, I bent over to study the case and hummed softly. The windows were too thick for me to shatter, and I had no idea if I could pick the lock, but the case itself looked a bit less solid. Drawing my knife, I gave the frame around the lock a firm tap with the butt, only for the half-inch slab of polycarbonate to fall out of its mounting.
Well, that was unexpected.
Reaching in, I started pulling various necklaces out from under the pane of transparent plastic, focusing on the gold and platinum ones. The latter were less important at the moment, as I didn't have much immediate use for that metal even if it'd be good to have. It could always be traded to Toybox for other stuff for example. I outright ignored the handful of pearl strands entirely, as those were worthless for anything but being pretentious. Not nearly enough metal in them to bother with.
Halfway to dropping the gathered jewelry into my bag, I froze as a wave of something I'd only once before felt but would never forget. Glory Girl. Because of course she'd be at the mall when I had to rob it. There went all our plans, and the only thing I could hope for was that Emily had managed to empty the vault of what we needed. Losing the necklaces I'd just collected wouldn't be a problem so long as she'd gotten the real objective. We wouldn't be hitting anything else tonight either, but that was why this place was first.
Half-turning, I looked to the door, where Vicky, in civilian dress but clearly gone hero mode, was floating with her arms crossed.
"Jewelry stores aren't your normal MO Hausōs, why are you here?" the platinum-haired girl coolly intoned. "I'd be rather annoyed if you're moving into general villainy…"
Fighting to remain calm in the face of her aura, I held up one of the necklaces. "Oh, I'm just needing some materials for higher performance conductors to get some better electrical generation going. And I figured I'd come here because well, look at this thing."
Pointing at the three interlocking triangles of the pendent, I continued on "This place is pretty clearly connected to the local infestation of hostis humani generis, so I figured it was a good place to get what I needed without inconveniencing decent people."
The older girl just raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that's not actually evidence of anything, right? They could well not know what that symbol means. I sure don't."
I snorted. "Mom taught me how to identify this shit when I was eight so I could avoid it. And we have the internet for finding this sort of bullshit too. Besides, my friend helped me pick this place out based on stuff she knows because of things behind the mask that I've long been led to believe we don't talk about. If not for that, I'd probably have gone for the national brand outlet on the next floor. It's owned by the company and not a franchise, so robbing them wouldn't have as much of a local impact."
"Or you could've joined up with New Wave instead of going villain," she retorted. "I've heard about you not liking the PRT, but that doesn't eliminate your options for heroism."
While it was lost on her because of my visor, I gave her a flat, unimpressed look. "Do you really think that New Wave could actually support a tinker? And even if it could, I'd have to unmask, which would lead to a host of other problems for me that your mother could not, or possibly would not help me with. Frankly, villain was the best option, and that was before Little Miss Police Brutality joined up. Having to make nice with her wouldn't be worth the entire PRT budget, let alone whatever scraps I'd get as a Ward or affiliate tinker."
That was, to my surprise, met with a shrug. "Well, worth a shot. I figured I'd at least say it after the PRT briefed us, even if it wasn't likely to go anywhere. Still, please put the jewelry back and come with me. Regardless of your reasons, you've still a criminal and I can't just let you get away. The PRT does have programs for capes in your situation, and I'm sure your restraint means you wouldn't even need to spend time in the Wards."
Well, I guess that's that then. I didn't particularly want to fight the Alexandria Package, but I didn't really have much choice. My location favored me, as she couldn't really use her mobility here, and she seemed to understand that going all out would be a bad idea. Which meant that I actually had a chance to hold out long enough for Emma to blunder in and allow me to disengage. Lasting five minutes before retreating would be simple after that.
A chime sounded in my ear. Emily must've finished then. Good. At least we'd be getting something out of this raid. Smirking at the knowledge that my friend had bugged out with a sack of loot, I flung the necklaces I was holding at the girl who had helped me get some basic camping gear mere weeks ago.
Vicky, it seemed, had no idea how to react to having jewelry thrown in her face, allowing me to retreat further into the store. Which was looking like it might've been a bad idea, as there was far less cover than I'd been thinking there was, and the only places I could really go were the vault, which would mean getting cornered, or the employee access door the place had. Not being stupid, I dove through said door without a second's hesitation. This set off an alarm, as it seemed like it might've been rigged as a fire door if a keycard or code wasn't entered first. Presumably for reasons like this.
Shoving a random convenient water cooler over the door to buy me a moment's time, I sprinted down the narrow hallway before slamming myself through another door into one of those overpriced clothing stores aimed at stereotypical teenage girls that were everywhere for no discernible reason. Seriously, I'd never actually seen any girls going into or out of one. But that oddness aside, it was a much better place to play cat and mouse with Glory Girl than the jewelry store if she caught where I'd gone.
Carefully weaving my way through the racks of impractical-looking underthings, I also sent off a command to my drones, to position themselves in the atrium so I could watch for Emma's arrival. Best to not miss the Queen Bitch showing up. It would also hopefully keep them out of the way when things started getting messy.
Much to my surprise, there were no signs of Vicky having followed me into the store even though I shouldn't have had much of a lead on her and her flight would've made up for it. Maybe I'd bought just enough time for her to have not noticed which door I'd gone through in the hallway? Regardless of that, I needed to keep moving and hope I wasn't being stood up here, as playing hide-and-seek with an Alexandria Package for twenty-five minutes didn't sound all that appealing. The opposite of appealing, actually.
Maybe I should talk to the doctor about the rules again, to see if there was some way I could avoid that happening again?
Quickly making a note of that, I kept moving through the store, occasionally dodging middle-aged women and teenage boys. Well, that explained things better about the store. Still, it wasn't that important, so I shifted some attention to the drone output feeds as I found a display that looked like it'd provide decent cover without restricting my ability to relocate.
Vicky, it appeared, had so far declined to actually pursue me, likely out of a desire to minimize damage. Seemed her reputation was overblown then, or at least she was holding back owing to my status. Didn't matter much which, but it was of note. Especially not with Emma likely not following the other heroine's lead.
With that in mind, I settled into a position that would allow me to rest without preventing me from moving quickly. Might as well get a bit of relaxation in after the first encounter before the main event started.
Several minutes passed with there still being no sign of pursuit. Which was odd, Glory Girl not engaging in a damaging high speed chase was one thing, but it looked like she hadn't even left the store yet. Was she securing the scene or something? Selecting the feed focused on her for closer examination, I found her talking, or perhaps arguing, with the manager of Silver Dawn. Not having a microphone or audio pickup on the drones was something I should probably correct at some point…
Making a quick note of that, I turned my attention back to the feed from the drones watching for the Wards. Lasting the requisite five minutes shouldn't be too much of an issue, but it also wasn't entirely clear if I had to be actively committing a robbery when my nemesis confronted me or not. Erring on the side of caution was the best bet, but there was the matter of what to grab, and whether to be serious or make a game of it. There were pros and cons to both approaches, but they were fairly equal. Maybe I should go for something to fuck with her head while still be useful?
A quick check of the feeds again showed it was still clear, and a grin found its way across my lips. There was a place here that fit the bill, and would hopefully also mess with whoever was unfortunate enough to be patrolling with her today. Suppressing the urge to giggle like a crazy person, I slipped back out of my hiding place and made my way out of the store.
Why there was a cosplay and live action roleplay shop here, I had no idea, but sweet Kyne was I grateful it was…
Continuing the string of surprises, barely anyone even so much as glanced at me as I walked across the mezzanine to my latest destination. Being considered a non-threatening villain was definitely paying off here, both with Vicky not acting as her reputation indicated and with people just being chill around me. How long it'd last was up in the air, especially with the Empire's interest in me and Emma's seeming obsession with making me suffer, but I'd make the best of it while I could. And even with that in mind, there were still things I could do to preserve my standing if I was careful and deliberate. Being now able to actually have a PHO presence would definitely help with that, as would the eventual recruiting drive I'd be starting once I had full-fledged farms up and the start of an actual proper settlement built.
I almost burst out laughing as, the moment I strolled through the door of Leonard's Medieval Ware, the Wards entered the mall. Next to the gaudy figure of 'Zenith' was the leonine Triumph. Honestly, I kinda felt bad for the poor guy. He was not going to come out of this looking particularly good, no matter how it ended up going down, as he was the leader of the team and there was no way he'd be able to keep Emma on a leash.
Happily, it didn't take long for me to find something I wanted, as the store was pretty well laid out. Specifically, a pair of really nice light-weight blouses made of linen that looked like they'd do well in Kairafon's climate. Checking the sizes, I then grabbed both, plus a third that I thought might suit Amy, before checking the drones again. Triumph and Zenith were now on the same level as I was, but clearly were headed towards Silver Dawn. Which meant they were likely meeting up with Vicky, rather than immediately searching for me.
Well, that meant I had more time to find more things.
Wandering over to another aisle, where I grabbed several string bags and a more fantasy-style leather backpack. That one probably wasn't the best choice, but it was convenient and that was what mattered at the moment. If maintaining it was too much of a hassle, that wouldn't be much of a problem. Normal backpacks would be something to grab later anyway, and we'd have more options there.
The Bitch and her handler were still at my initial criming spot, so I moved on to look for other useful things. I'd probably miscalculated just how long it'd take them to do their thing, but it was proving to actually be beneficial to me at the moment. A pair of leggings that'd look nice on Amy, two tunics for Emily, soft-soled shoes for me, and some sturdy belts were promptly collected, before I got bored waiting and recalled my drones. That, it seemed, got their attention.
Rolling my shoulders, I quickly stuffed everything I could into the backpack and donned it. Amusingly, the girl at the counter just waved at me before abandoning her post for the relative safety of the employee hallways I'd used earlier. Smart of her, and showed that she was paying more attention than the heroes.
In the hopes of minimizing damage to the store, I stepped out before the Wards could reach it and began to 'make my escape'. Triumph then cut me off.
"Well hello there shouty boy," I drawled. "I see you drew the short straw today, going by your current patrol partner. Tell me, how many homeless people has she blasted this week?"
I wasn't exactly homeless these days, but Emily and I hadn't gotten an actual house built yet, so eh.
Emma glowered and opened her mouth before being cut off. "Please don't antagonize her Hausōs, this does not need to turn into a fight. Just put down the stolen goods and come with us, there's options for you that don't require being a criminal. You wouldn't even need to be a Ward if that's an issue for you."
"Options such as being a pet tinker for the PRT? Or are you talking about carceral slavery for some big corporation under a glorified form of house arrest?" I asked, deftly ignoring Emma's scowl. Not reacting to her was a long-practiced skill after all. "Because that's the alternative for capes too useful to toss into prison. And I for one have no desire to provide any support to the fascists in DC or their donors. Starting over from scratch on a completely virgin world would be preferable to that."
A lunge from my gold-and-blue nemesis was trivially dodged, and in an amusing reversal from school, she was the one to wind up flat on her face. Not intentionally on my part though, she'd merely over-committed herself.
"Well," I commented with a tone of amusement. "You didn't jump straight to assault with a parahuman ability. Progress!"
A bit over three minutes, and I could disengage and retreat.
Triggering a command, the portable anchor I'd managed to splice into one of the drones activated, taking the three back to base with an odd crackle. That done, I leaned over and grabbed Emma by her collar before yanking her vaguely upright. She promptly fell to her knees the moment I let go, as she'd apparently not prepared herself at all for standing.
What on earth were they teaching her, if she was this incapable?
That cold golden glow flared to life, and I leapt backward just in time to avoid a blast. Welp, looked like the brutality was still there. And if that was how she wanted to play…
A/N: Emily's cape name is reconstructed Proto-West Germanic for 'ash'.
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