Sprawled out on the Undersiders couch I was at least nominally practicing my solid illusions. More realistically I was using them to create bouncy balls I tossed into the air and tried to catch with my screwed up depth perception. Rachel's dogs seemed to enjoy chasing after all the ones I missed. It was a way to practice compensating for my lost depth perception, and my solid projections. It was also a way to kill boredom and annoy Alec by distracting him from his game.
"You know, if all you wanted to do was toss balls up and down you could have done that at home." Alec snarked as he mashed buttons.
"Well I could have. But now I can do it here and make you suffer at the same time. Win, win."
"That is not how that works."
"Sure it is. I'm winning twice over." Alec scowled lightly as another fist sized bouncy ball sailed in front of the tv with Angelica racing after it.
"Can't you just conjure up an eyeball or something so you can actually catch them?" I sat up and blinked. Then I smacked my forehead and started to curse. "Wait, seriously? You've had your powers for months and you never thought to try that?"
"Shut up! I only learned to see through Illusions, like, six weeks ago! I was already used to the idea of only having one eye." I grumbled and started shaping the illusion in my eye socket even as I reached up to pull away my eye patch.
Depth perception is a subtle, insidious thing. Close one eye and look around. It all looks the same doesn't it? Reach out and pick something up. That wasn't very hard right? Maybe you had to reach a bit farther than you expected but that's not such a big deal, yeah? Now pick up something small and toss it into the air. Try to catch it. Maybe give it a few tries, don't just bounce it a few inches above your palm, really toss it. Starting to get the idea, now aren't you? And that's just half the issue, you're range of vision gets killed by only having one eye.
Sure, I'd been seeing through my illusions on and off since I worked out the effect, but that's a whole different brand of disturbing. Watching through an owl's eyes as it flies just feet above the rooftops while my body is standing still can be seriously vertigo inducing. Having two eyes set in my own head after three months of doing without? There really wasn't any way to properly describe just how good that felt.
"Hah! Oh, that's fantastic why didn't I think of this?!"
"Ughh, dork? Not to rain on your parade too much, but was it meant to be glowing like that?" Alec asked, cutting off my celebration.
"What?" I looked at Alec for a moment not understanding before rushing to the bathroom in search of a mirror. Sure enough, my new eye had a glowing indigo iris. "Oh, come on!"
A half hour of testing later I finally conceded temporary defeat. For whatever reason my eye just insisted on glowing. I wouldn't be able to use it out of costume but the intimidation factor of having a single glowing eye beneath the shadows that hid my face in costume would be great for intimidation, so it wasn't a complete loss.
"Taylor, you in there? We need to talk the boss just called about a new job!" Lisa called from the kitchen area.
"Yeah, coming." I called back and put action to words. "So, what's up?" I asked sliding into the only open seat around the kitchen table.
"Ugh, Taylor, what's up with the glowing eyeball?" Brian asked.
"It was Alec's idea. No more depth perception issues. Only problem is I can't get it to stop glowing. For now it's only good when I go out in costume." I explained with a shrug.
"Huh, cool." Lisa murmured as she leaned in to get a better look. Then she shook her head and tapped at the table. "Right, so, the boss thinks it's high time we make ourselves a bit more high profile. He wants us to pull something big."
"How big?" Brian leaned forward.
"Front page, if we can manage it. He didn't really have any preferences beyond that. Now normally I wouldn't have recommended this, but I haggled with the boss a bit and he promised to triple our haul if we rob Bay Central in the early afternoon this Thursday." Lisa's grin was downright smug.
Alec whistled long and low and Brian leaned back in his seat looking contemplative.
"OK, that makes this at least interesting, but that's going to bring some serious heat down on our heads. No way the Protectorate won't respond in force. Decent money is good, but only if we get away to spend it." Brian gave Lisa a pointed look.
"Ah, that's actually why the boss is pushing for Thursday. Turns out the Protectorate have a PR event out of town. That immediately cuts the city's hero response down to the Wards and New Wave, plus Bay Central is firmly in the Wards jurisdiction. If we hit it in the middle of the day most of them will be stuck at school. Now they won't just let us get away with robbing a bank so they'll pull some of the Wards out of class to come stop us. Luckily, they shouldn't be able to pull them all, so we should only have to deal with three or four of them." Brian nodded thoughtfully.
"Much better odds than I was expecting… What do you really think we'll be looking at for individual takes?" Lisa hummed thoughtfully.
"Well, it is the biggest bank in the city, and serves as a distribution point for most of the city and a few places outside of it. Then with the boss matching us… ten to fifteen thousand each, I would think. Maybe a bit more if we get lucky."
"I'm in." I was sold on this idea. Ten K for an afternoons work. Sure, it wasn't even close to what I really needed for my plans, but it was a hell of a start. Bitch gave an affirmative grunt and Alec threw out a thumbs up.
Brian took longer but eventually nodded. "Alright but were planning this out in exact detail. I don't want to leave any room for screw ups with something this big."
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The rental van rumbled lightly as we headed to the bank. Lisa was driving, her costume on under her regular clothes while the rest of us and Bitch's dogs were seated in the back already in costume hidden by tinted windows.
"So Tay, sorry Morganna, you are in costume after all. I never did ask, or get around to working it out. Why do you need cash so bad?"
"Really, Tattletale, you're doing this now?" Grue asked, his voice a touch distorted by the darkness starting to seep out of his helmet.
"Eh, I'm curious. Not a lot of teenagers genuinely decide that robbing banks is a good career choice. I could work it out but why strain my power when I could just ask, besides were still halfway across town. We've got time."
"It's fine, it's not like it's a big secret or anything." I took a moment to gather my thoughts. "When I first got my powers I was all set to go out and do the hero thing, right? Every little kids' dream and all that. So, I jumped into researching everything cape. One of the first things that comes to my attention though? Shadow Stalker got transferred out of the city to a punishment detail at one of the Ziz containment zones. That was only a few days after I named the girls who cost me my eye. No explanation given, and no records of what happened to one the girls but she vanished at the same time. Oh, and about a fifth of the faculty at my school got canned."
Alec, bless his black and shriveled heart actually chuckled. "So, a psycho Ward cuts out your eye and the PRT covered it up? Then you decided to say 'fuck it' and go villain?" I shrugged.
"Lost the eye to an infection actually, but it was her fault. There were a bunch of other little things that clued me in, and when I built up a timeline a lot of other things started to make sense. That put me off working with the Protectorate, ever, but it was the other stuff I figured out that convinced me to go villain."
"Oh, do tell?" Lisa asked sounding genuinely curious.
"Well… How much do you know about the Fallen?"
"Endbringer cultists, crazy morons who use their powers to hurt people as part of their pseudo religion." Lisa rattled off. I nodded. She wasn't wrong after all.
"Right, they're all off their rockers, no doubt about that. But when I was looking into them something about their whole ideology got me thinking. Not," I rushed to clarify, "The whole hairbrained concept that the Endbringers are Gods or servants of God or whatever. Just, the idea that they are here to end the world and bring about the apocalypse."
I fidgeted nervously. If asked most people would no doubt believe that our odds of outright killing an Endbringer any time soon were slim to none. At the same time there was a contradictory belief that humanity had cobbled together out of old monster movies and a refusal to give up; that if we held out long enough someone, somewhere, would trigger with the power to kill the damn things. Or that some tinker would magic up a device to destroy them. We all knew we were dying inch by painful inch, but not many people were willing to admit it or think about just what the long term consequences actually were.
"...What do you mean?" Brian was the one to finally break the awkward tense silence.
"The average Endbringer attack costs the government somewhere between the costs to repair after a major natural disaster and the estimated aftermath of a nuclear attack." I answered sticking to the blunt truth. "Every three months some country has to handle that. And that's on top of the costs of damages from regular cape fights that happen everywhere. That's not a small amount when it all gets added up annually either. Sooner or later we're going to lose too much infrastructure and the whole world is going to collapse into smaller chunks of civilization. Or some country is going to try and prop itself up by invading a neighbor and kicking off World War III, with the added bonus of cape soldiers. Think about a war with some of the more destructive powers out there?" I shook my head. "Even if everyone holds off on the possible world ending options it'll be a war like nothing anyone has ever seen. I had to dig to find information on it, but there have been a few hushed up estimates, ten years, maybe twenty, before things really go to hell." I shrugged. There wasn't much else to say honestly.
"Fuck." Lisa breathed out. "You actually believe that, but can you prove-"
"No." I cut her off. "I can't prove any of it. But it makes sense. Brockton Bay might have it worse than other parts of the country, but we're practically divided up into fiefdoms here already. Sooner or later the rest of the world is going to end up like Africa. As far as I'm concerned, I need to find a hole where I can ride out the end of the world. But that's going to take cash to buy and to get it set up with the essentials for it to be self sustaining and defensible. So, the plan is to do research, make cash, and work out the rest as I go."
"...Lisa?" Brian asked leadingly.
"I don't know. I'm trying not to think about it too hard right now. I don't want to give myself a migraine before we even get to the bank." Lisa grit out. Her grip on the steering wheel was white knuckled. "It's definitely worth looking into later. If she's right…" She trailed off and shook her head.
"Way to kill the mood, dork." Alec grumbled.
We were all silent for the rest of the ride. I did regret that it came up now of all times, but I had wanted to get the idea circulating in their heads. No matter how I had phrased it I wasn't going to be a one woman nation. I would need other people's help. They might not be ideal but they were a start, and we still had plenty of time to learn valuable skills.
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Our entrance into the main lobby was led off with a wave of darkness that settled over doors and windows from Grue and followed closely by Bitch's dogs, we humans brought up the rear. Grue and Bitch's large builds radiated strength and intimidation. Regent and Tattletale followed on their heels the very picture of cavalier indifference; smirking and favoring our captive audience with little waves. Finally, I entered, my cloak the same indigo as my illusion flames, hid my body from view. The hood of my cloak cast a shadow over my face, hiding all but my mouth and my new glowing eye.
Then Grue launched into his short, prepared speech on proper hostage etiquette and how we would be gone shortly. That was my cue. Showtime.
Stretching out my right hand parted my cloak. The observant might have caught a brief glimpse of my new kevlar vest before the cloak settled once more. Indigo fire blossomed in my outstretched hand growing into a thin vertical pillar of flame. I raised my hand slightly and brought the pillar down on the floor with an audible clack. Instantly the fire burst into small flames revealing my six foot partisan spear. Taking the weapon in both hands I raised it a bit and moved the blade in a small circle over my head keeping the staff vertical. The globes of fire launched by the summoning of my spear started to circle me in a tornado of small flames following the motion of the spear head. Then the small flames grew and started to take shape. The small tornado of fire became a small flock of ravens the birds were mostly illusion but with a bit of focus I supplied enough flame to make their beaks and talons real and sharp. I doubted they would need them, but it did not hurt to be prepared.
My impromptu flock, on near silent wings, circled above our crowd of captives just as Grue's speech ended. Though I kept a single raven back to settle on my shoulder. I had chosen to style myself after the mythical sorceress, I might as well play up the motif further with a raven familiar.
"Regent and Morganna," He gestured towards us each in turn. "Will be keeping an eye on all of you. Quite a few eyes in fact." He gestured to the circling birds. Obligingly I cracked my spear against the floor again and each bird's left eye glowed to match my own. I allowed myself a cruel little smirk I had learned from some of my former tormentors. Sure, I couldn't actually see through all those birds simultaneously, but they had no way of knowing that. In a fit of whimsy I reached up and stroked the head of the bird resting on my shoulder. Its pleased caw causing some of my audience to wince and making my smirk grow.
I couldn't quite deny that at least part of me was enjoying being in a position of power for once. I'd have to watch out for that, or it might become a habit.
Alec and I both kept a careful watch on our captives. I made a habit of cycling through the eyes of my birds. So far no one had tried anything but I figured it was only a matter of time. Maybe a minute later Lisa came and replaced Alec sending him off to help load cash onto the dogs.
Lisa and I noticed the girl at almost the same time. She was a mousy thing about our age with short brown hair. The crow who's eyes I had used to spot the girl settled right in front of her face where she was sprawled out on the floor and cawed. A small application of my power made the sound stretch on for almost ten seconds and amplified the noise to the point that our captives slapped their hands over their ears. Another crow swooped down and laid a clawed foot on the now abandoned cell phone. Gripping it tightly the bird took wing and flew to me dropping the phone into my outstretched hand. A quick glance showed the girl had yet to send her text so I tossed the phone aside.
"None of that now." I gently chided the girl. "Honestly, the less trouble we have escaping the safer everyone here will be. The middle of a cape fight is no place for civilians after all. I can understand wanting to play the hero, but it's not really fair to everyone else her who just want to get out of this safely."
"Ahh, but Morganna, she's not just playing." Tattletale said, eyes locked firmly on the girl. "Amy Dallon, truly an honor to meet the famous Panacea." Tattletale bowed dramatically to the girl. My head snapped back around to focus on the girl.
"Ah, you're right, Tattletale. I didn't recognize her with the new hairstyle." I tilted my head a bit to the left as I considered the girl. "But, shouldn't she be in class?" It was only noon after all. I'd been called out sick the past couple of days to cover my tracks. But here she was in the middle of the day at a bank of all places.
"Glory Girl dragged her out. Which means our escape may have just gotten a bit more complicated."
"Between Grue and I it shouldn't be a problem." Tattletale hummed noncommittally, which I ignored. It wouldn't be easy per say but frankly Glory Girl was a blunt object. A bit of the more subtle style of illusions would take care of her nicely. After all, affecting an individual's senses was more delicate than my projections, but it was arguably a superior way of controlling an enemy. And I wasn't certain this would even require that from me.
Maybe ten minutes later Tattletale groaned as she did one of her periodic checks out the windows.
"Honestly how they get here so fast… I mean sure the police can mobilize whenever and be somewhere in minutes, but the Wards? If they didn't have Vista we could have been gone before they ever got here." She complained.
Not taking my eyes off our hostages I landed a crow on Tattletales shoulder and borrowed its sight. Sure enough, arrayed outside the bank were the Wards. All the Wards.
"Tattletale, that is not four people. That is the entire Wards team." Lisa winced.
"I'm pretty sure Glory Girl is on the roof as well."
"Lovely. Go tell Grue. I'll keep watch while you come up with a plan."
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Once we were ready the doors of the bank were blasted open. Grue's Darkness creating false shadows hid the banks interior from view, and slowly seeped out of the doorway spilling languidly into the street like a fog bank of night. I couldn't help but grin. I only wished we weren't pulling this in the middle of the day pulling it at night would have made the whole thing so much more dramatic.
I gave it a count of five before my flock of illusions burst out of the bank cawing loudly, their beaks and talons, and right eyes alight with red fire leaving glowing tracers of sparks in their wake. The flock numbered close to a hundred birds and as they circled the Wards I moved in for the kill. A massive raven large enough to rival bitch's dogs stuck its head out of the shadowed entrance eyes the size of bowling balls alight in indigo and red. Red fire trailed out of its beak in little breaths of flame. As it stepped fully out of the bank it's talons which also glowed red sunk ever so slightly into the concrete as the flames ate away at it. Then it spread its wings and let loose a cry which shook the nearby windows before taking flight to circle above the main flock. Only then did we exit the bank already on the back of Bitch's dogs.
There were a few cries from the Wards about stopping us, but we were already moving. Alec made sure to distract Vista by causing one of her legs to go out from under her. I made the smaller birds a general nuisance diving into the Wards faces and leaving shallow cuts on legs and arms. Gallant got off a few blasts of emotion, that all went wide before I could set the birds on his power armor.
The Wards only two fliers took to the air at that moment. Aegis and Kid Win blew through my flock ignoring their small injuries. In response I let disintegration effect fade from my monster raven and had it pluck them from the air with its talons and slam them into the street.
Glancing back, I was just in time to notice Glory Girl come flying out of the bank, presumably having finished checking on her sister only for her and all of our surroundings to disappear in a wave of Grue's darkness.
I kept the birds harassing the Wards for about thirty seconds more before letting all my illusions start to fade. Especially the monster bird which was draining my reserves faster than I was entirely happy with. I did keep one solid for a bit longer. I landed the final bird in front of Aegis and had it make a repetitive warbling caw that was the nearest any bird came to laughing before it to dissolved into indigo fire.