Escapades 5.5
Silently Watches
Professional Stalker
- Location
- Right behind you
[ ] Plan Khazinthedark (modified with permission)
Escapades 5.5
You keep your nervous swallow mostly silent. Your plan to convince Purity to stop attacking the heroes and return to the side of the angels was still a good one, you feel, but maybe you underestimated how difficult accomplishing that would be. Just a little bit. It doesn't help matters that considering her intentions, her actions are understandable. Not how you would have chosen to go about things, but you see why she made the choices she did.
How are you going to reconcile her goals with the Protectorate's when they seem to be mutually exclusive?
This would be so much easier if you actually had some pull with the national hero group, but as much as staying merely affiliated had made it easier to be treated as an adult rather than being pushed into the Wards, right now you would be happy to have some influence in the group's decisions of how to treat heroes' families! Purity was trying to turn her life around, and she's powerful enough that the Protectorate should be happy to have her in their ranks, but because of their….
Your eyes brighten. That's it. That's the answer!
Purity takes one look at your maniacal grin and scoots away.
"Hey, Purity?" The glowing woman nods in acknowledgement while moving another five feet back. "You said you were doing all this to help your daughter, right? Is there anything you wouldn't do for her? Even if it was inconvenient to you personally, if it would protect her, would you put up with it?"
"Yes…?"
The smile on your face broadens even more. "Then I might just have a plan."
It takes a few more minutes to hash everything out, not to mention reminding the other heroine that this is probably the only chance she has to get out of this mess alive and together with her daughter, but finally you and she fly side by side back to the fight. Which is not going well for the Empire capes, you can't help but notice as you watch twin lasers and colorful explosives zap down towards the carpet of mist below. Fog and Night are trapped on the ground, and while Crusader can fly, it is only by being carried in the arms of his ghosts. With all three heroes airborne and no civilians to be careful around, they clearly have the advantage. That isn't to say that the fight is entirely one-sided; the quirk of Crusader's powers that makes it selectively intangible is forcing the heroes to be careful of the floating specters, each of them breaking off at different times to engage the ghosts in hand to hand combat for long enough to shatter the fragile constructs.
Time to break this impasse. A score of Flare Shooters race between the two groups, arranging themselves in a wall before they explode into brilliant orange flashes that are bright enough to leave everyone blinking the stars out of their eyes. Even the projections are affected, just as Purity assured you they would be.
You trusted her to tell the truth, but it's nice to have that trust validated.
"Hey, hey, hey!" you shout, getting your allies' attention. "Let's all just take a breath and calm down. We really don't have to keep fighting."
The other heroines stare at you in utter bewilderment, but it is Laserdream who finally puts words to her confusion. "What are you talking about— Behind you!"
A couple of Crusaders, apparently taking advantage of your group's division, have leveled their spears and shields in preparation to stab you in the back. Their charge stumbles to a halt when Purity's shout cracks like a whip through the air. "Crusader! That's enough!"
The duplicates turn to look at her with the same expressions your own allies gave you, and one of them points at you and makes a complicated twirling gesture.
"I said, that's enough," the shining woman repeats, moving forwards to float at your side. "Back down."
"Calamity Witch?" Revel asks slowly, her eyes darting back and forth between you and the bright aurora that only you can see through. "What's going on?"
You give her a faint smile as the words of the Earth Aleph pirate movie some of the Privateers insisted you and your dad watch come back to you. "Parley?"
"What."
"Purity and I had a nice little chat and came up with a possible solution that doesn't have to involve us spending the rest of the night blasting each other all over the sky. Purity, you want to take it from here?"
She nods and moves ahead another few feet, no longer using you as a human shield against your allies. "Call your headquarters. I would like to speak with someone in charge in regards to the conditions for my surrender and defection."
"You… want to join… the Protectorate."
"That is correct."
"Revel, please tell me you are not actually considering this insanity," Lady Photon hisses through clenched teeth. "She's a goddamn Nazi."
"If you used your eyes, you would know that I left Empire Eighty-Eight a year and a half ago. The only reason I worked alongside them today was because that was what offered me the best chance of escaping the walls around Brockton Bay."
"Walls that were built to keep you and all the rest of you villains inside where you couldn't hurt anybody else." Golden light pools around hands belonging to the leader of the now much-reduced New Wave. "You're a Ziz-bomb. We all know it, or you wouldn't have been stuck there."
"How could you 'know' whether I'm the Simurgh's tool when I was never screened for her influence in the first place?" asks Purity in a pleasant voice. "Revel, I am of course happy to be screened and my right to leave Brockton Bay proven prior to meeting with anyone in person regarding my request."
Poor Revel had been glance back and forth between the arguing artillery capes, but you can see in her hesitant expression and weighty gaze where she is leaning. "Are you serious about turning yourself in and working with the Protectorate?"
"I am." She twitches, her arms coming across her body to wrap herself in a hug, but her voice betrays none of her nervousness. This is the part that has the second-biggest chance to blow up in your faces. "And as a show of my good faith…." She turns to the myriad of ghosts. "Crusader, tell Fog to return to normal. We're going back to Brockton Bay."
The spirits move away to give Crusader, the real one this time, the space he and his palanquin of ghosts need to rise up where the rest of you are. "Purity, you can't be serious about this. After everything you went through to get out, you're going to let yourself be put back in?" She nods, but that just seems to be the proof he needs. His ghosts whip around to point their weapons at you. "You! You're a fucking Master, aren't you?!"
The former villainess darts between you and him. "That's enough. You remember what I told you, don't you? My reason for doing all this?" He watches her a moment before jutting out his chin in defiance. All that bravado dries up when she continues, though. "Calamity Witch isn't a Master. She just convinced me that this had a better chance of succeeding."
"So it is all a trick!" exclaims Laserdream.
Purity glances at the younger Pelham Blaster before switching her gaze to Lady Photon, who appears just as unconvinced as her child. "Is there anything, anything at all, you wouldn't do if it would protect your daughter?"
"Is that a threat?"
She waves away Lady Photon's growl. "No. Not in the slightest. I am just making sure you understand the reasons behind my own actions."
It takes a moment for Lady Photon to see the implication, but when it does, her face turns into a morass of conflicting expressions. Several tense moments pass before she averts her eyes and glares at the distant horizon.
With that crisis defused, Revel drifts closer. "If your teammates will stand down, and if Calamity Witch will reverse whatever it is she's done to trap us all here, I'll get in touch with someone at the base. Radio can't seem to get out of this pocket dimension of hers," she explains, though her unimpressed look is aimed at you.
You just shrug. If this fight had continued, cutting off the group's routes of escapes would have been invaluable. It isn't your fault you didn't have definite plans to make this a diplomatic resolution when you cast the spell.
Everything around you blurs once the other villains have returned to normal, and then the vibrant hues and sounds and smells of the real world seep back in. The convoy of refugees is already a decent distance from your positions, the drivers reluctant to return to their prison but unwilling to go against the flying Brutes without capes of their own backing them up. Revel waves for all of you to stay where you are, and then she pushes a button on her wristband. "Control, I need to speak to whoever the highest-ranking cape is who is part of the Thinker group."
Several seconds later, a tinny voice replies, though the volume is too low for you to make out what was said. "Arbiter, glad to hear it. We have a bit of a situation over here." She shakes her head at whatever the reply was. "No, not that bad. Almost good. Purity surrendered and asked to join the Protectorate. Yes. Yes, I know. I actually think she is serious. I have no idea. She says she was never screened in the first place. It pertains to her secret ID; that is all I am comfortable divulging." Revel glances back at all of you before turning back to her wristband. "If it were a trick, she would have made a break for it by now. And you think this is in my pay grade? She is a Blaster 8, remember. …Yes, that should work. That should work just fine. Okay. See you when we get there."
Ending the call, Revel shakes her head. "All right, everybody. Let's go back to Brockton Bay before I realize what a terrible idea this is."
The trip back to the city is much slower than was the one to the fight, partly because the cars you are escorting cannot reach the same speeds as your flight and partly because the tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. The soaring Brutes had to be warned multiple times not to attack the ex-Empire capes, and the look of betrayal Strapping Lad shot you when he first spotted you flying at Purity's left side was all you needed to know that he considers you nothing more than unprincipled pond scum.
It probably gave him and Laserdream something to talk about during the flight.
Once you reach a certain distance from the walls, another group of capes move into view. For a moment you are justifiably worried that you are going to have to stop yet another fight, but they simply direct Purity's group and you to a small clearing a short distance from the road. They take up defensive positions around you, but Purity by and large ignores them and simply reclaims her baby from Night's arms.
You aren't sure how long you wait, whether it is half an hour or more than two, but eventually the guards move away to allow three capes to descend to the ground in front of you. The first pounces on you, shifting into a raccoon just before she lands in your arms.
The second crosses his arms and watches your neighbor with obvious suspicion. "Purity."
"Legend."
The caped hero shakes his head and turns to you. "I hope you realize just what kind of a mess you've caused."
"A smaller and less bloody one than there would have been otherwise?"
He sighs and nods. "Fair enough. Let's get the easy part out of the way. Blackjack, chances she will act to further the Simurgh's plans?"
The third cape tilts his head, the green visor and domino mask matching the smoking vest of his casino dealer theme. "Five high."
"That she'll stab her team in the back if we let her in the Protectorate?"
"Two pair, jacks and threes." Blackjack hums to himself. "Clubs are wild, hearts trump spades."
Legend makes some sound, and it takes you a second to recognize it as a huff of reluctant amusement. "Las Vegas is right out, then, isn't it?"
The Thinker shrugs his shoulders. "He would have it coming."
"Don't remind me. I'm still figuring out what to do with him." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Legend sighs once again. "Thank you again for the help, Blackjack. One of the fliers can take you back to Misstep." The other cape departs, leaving him, Purity, and you and Samantha alone. "Well, you're unlikely to be influenced by the Simurgh," Legend allows, "and so long as everyone acts like responsible adults, you probably wouldn't betray your team if I let you join the Protectorate. So." He stands straight and crosses his arms behind his back. "Make your pitch. What do you want, and why should I give it to you?"
It's now or never. You meet Purity's eyes, a pure white domino mask concealing her identity now that her glow is switched off, and give her a nod. While you were waiting, you talked to her about some of the restrictions she could offer herself; hopefully, by acknowledging that she had made mistakes and was willing to endure some punishment for them, the Protectorate and PRT at large would cut her some slack and actually let her climb out of the hole she had dug for herself during her time as a villain.
"What I want is simple," she begins. "Your own Thinker has proven that had I undergone screening immediately following the fight, I would have been allowed to leave. The only reason I did not is that I have a young daughter, and by leaving her behind, not only would I have abandoned her, I would have left her in Kaiser's clutches, where she would have been groomed to be the third hereditary leader of the Empire. That is not the life I want for her. As no one has ever proved that infants can be affected by the Simurgh's Scream, I want permission for us to leave without tattoos or other restrictions that we would have to suffer were we processed out of the quarantine zone as civilians.
"As for why you should give it to me. I have earned my rating of Blaster 8. I will not be so arrogant as to say that I am as good as you"—ah, it looks like the Triumvirate's artillery has also heard about the 'evil Legend' description—"but I am still one of the most powerful in the country. My abilities would be an asset to any of your branches. You don't need to worry that this is some elaborate plot to take advantage of your generosity only to betray you, either. I have tried to be a hero for the last year and a half, doing everything I could to whittle away Lung's support base. Due to my history as a villain and the se— and other issues, those efforts were ignored. Should you give me the chance to build a new reputation somewhere else, or even just to work on fixing the reputation I already have somewhere the distrust is not so personal, I would not squander the opportunity.
"I know you don't trust me," she admits, meeting Legend's eyes. "I don't blame you. I spent ten years as a villain, and from your perspective, it probably looks like I'm trying to coerce you into ignoring the crimes I committed. But I am not asking you to give me your trust. I am asking only for the chance to earn it. I am willing and happy to be placed under whatever restrictions you think reasonable. Continuous oversight, docked salary to be transferred to those I have injured, house arrest or community service when not on duty; whatever you think is necessary to determine whether or not I have really changed and want to make up for my crimes, and for however long you think is deserved. I will not challenge it or ask for leniency. And," she adds in a soft voice, glancing down at the bundle in her arms, "if you decide that what I deserve is to spend time in prison first, I ask that you put my daughter with a trustworthy foster family until my sentence is complete."
You whip your head around to stare at her. That was not in the script!
"Just… stop," Legend finally says, rubbing both temples with one hand. "You have certainly put some thought into this, I'll give you that much. If I didn't know better, I would think this was your plan from the beginning rather than something Calamity Witch supposedly came up with on the spur of the moment."
A weak, embarrassed smile is all you can offer the world's premier Blaster.
"Volunteering to be placed under heavy restrictions was a nice touch, and the plea about fostering? If you love your daughter only half as much as I love my son, I know giving her up would be suffering of the highest order." He sighs. "But that is the issue. It isn't just you we have to be concerned about. No one has ever proven that infants are vulnerable to the Simurgh, true, but neither have they been proven to be immune. No one survived Lausanne, and the infants and toddlers exposed to the Scream in her attack on London are just turning nine and ten this year. They are still too young to have the influence and power her long-term plans are suspected to require. To ignore completely the threat your daughter has the potential to pose would be a disservice to everyone the Protectorate has sworn to defend."
Purity lights up, and it is only the cries of her child at the sudden brightness that forces her to let go of her powers. "So that's it? A baby might become a threat, so go ahead and kill them all? Deny any of them any kind of life when the chances of them being the Simurgh's weapons are so small? You claim to love your son. Would you force that fate on him like you want to do to her?!"
For a moment, you are afraid they are about to come to blows, but although Legend's eyes spark with fury, the hand he raised has a warning finger pointing at her face. "You want to join the Protectorate? Lesson number one: think very carefully before you make accusations you can't take back. Do you think I haven't laid awake at night with that exact nightmare running through my head, wondering what I would do if I had to choose between my son and every other child in the world? Do you think I like the idea that there are children growing up who will never know what it is like not to be feared for something they can't even remember? No matter how much I dislike it, there are times when the needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few."
There is silence in the clearing for nearly a minute. Glancing around, you notice Crusader intently listening to the conversation, though Night and Fog seem to be off in their own little world.
A breath, and Legend takes a step back. "That being said, this situation is somewhat different than most involving the so-called Ziz-babies. There are not enough psychologists to work with every child who was potentially affected by the Scream, but if you join the Protectorate and live on base, there would be a child psychologist already available who could monitor and evaluate her as she grew up. You would be extensively tested to make sure you were not being used as the vector for the Simurgh's plots. If she triggers, she would join the Wards where her activities and use of her powers could be likewise monitored. These restrictions might eventually be lifted, but there is a good chance that wouldn't be until she is nearly or really is an adult."
The ex-villain frowns, but after a long few seconds she nods. She knows, just as you do, this is likely the best she is going to get.
"One more thing. You said that I would not have to worry that this is a trap. You're right. I won't. You want a chance to be better than you were? You'll get one chance. You slip up, you even look like you're going back to your old ways, and a life sentence in a maximum security prison where you will never see your daughter again will be the best-case scenario." He fixes her with an intent stare. "Is that understood?"
Transferring her infant to her left hip, Purity sticks out her right hand. "I accept."
It takes only a moment before Legend clasps her hand and gives it a single pump.
"As fucking sweet as this is, I think you're forgetting something." Legend and Purity turn questioning to Crusader. The armored villain has not moved from the fallen tree he claimed as a bench, but there is a tension to his body that wasn't there before. Your grip tightens on Perfect Storm as you ready yourself to get into yet another fight. "What about the rest of us?"
Purity cringes. "I… I'm sorry, Crusader, but—"
"But what? You think you're just going to run off and leave all of us behind? That we'd let you do something as fucking stupid as sticking your head in a lion's mouth?" He shakes his head. "You got room for her, Rainbow Man. You got room for another."
Legend crosses his arms, his disbelief obvious. "You want to be a hero?"
"Nope." Crusader pushes himself to his feet and walks over, a hint of swagger to his steps. "Purity, I think you're nuts for doing this. Completely fucking crazy. But if you're not going to watch your back, I'm stuck doing it for you."
"And what is the cause for this altruism?"
Crusader shoots Legend an unimpressed look. "I owe her the kind of debt you don't just forget about. And I don't trust you. That's reason enough for me."
"You're willing to be under the same restrictions and penalties as Purity?" The villain nods. "Fine. Maybe you'll surprise me and won't immediately find yourself in prison." Legend's voice reveals how unlikely he considers that. "Life in New Orleans will certainly be interesting, even for that city. That just leaves what to do with your other allies, and no, they will not be accepted onto any Protectorate team. Not with their crimes and their body counts."
Purity hesitates for a moment before bowing her head. "I understand. But if I may suggest something, you might have them professionally evaluated before you decide what to do with them. Their training with Gesellschaft left them… broken, and while I won't say they aren't responsible for their actions, someone who knows what he is doing should determine if it wouldn't be appropriate for them to be sent to an asylum rather than a prison."
«Come on,» Samantha whispers in your head. «You've helped her as much as you can. The rest of this is for them to figure out on their own.»
Nodding in resignation, you walk over, interrupting the trio's argument, and lay one hand on Purity's shoulder. She looks back at you and gives you a weak smile. Legend, after looking you up and down, huffs softly and tilts his head towards the sky, an unmistakable signal that your job here is done.
And that's that.
Rising into the air, you begin the short flight back to base, your Guardian Beast hanging off one side of your jacket. "I take it Lung's dealt with if you're accompanying Legend to a negotiation?"
«I wish. Shortly after sundown, he took off back into the ruins near the hole he made, and for all that he's a giant fire-breathing lizard, he's really good at hiding. He grew a lot faster than I expected,» she admits, «but I was right about Shredding Claw. I couldn't get enough hits in to make him squishy, but his resistance didn't grow like the rest of him. Alexandria decided to hold off trying to fight him while he was in hiding because he'd start shrinking once there was no one fighting, and Legend wanted me to come along because you went and made everything more difficult for him.» There is a smile tinging those thoughts. «We're splitting the group when we get back to work tomorrow. Some of us going after Lung while the others hold off the Fallen and the Teeth, and Alexandria and Legend both said they want me there when they enter the city to track him down.»
Hunting down Lung in what are presumably ruins where you never know if he's going to pop up around the corner you just passed? You shudder as the terror of that thought runs down your spine. There are a number of reasons you've become attached to your ranged powers, and the much decreased chance of something stronger than you stalking you is definitely one of them. Searching for something to say in response to her enthusiasm, though, you finally come up with, "You sound like you had fun."
The raccoon gives you a smile full of sharp teeth. «I am a Guardian Beast of the Sword. Getting up close and personal to defeat powerful enemies is what we were designed for. Join us tomorrow, and I'll show you what I mean.»
"Uh, let me think about it."
PURITY QUEST
COMPLETE
That worked better than expected.
As you can see, I cut out the part of the original plan that called for Purity actively betraying her teammates because that just didn't fit her personality or canon actions, and helping to calm things down cast her in a better light when she talked to Legend. It also means Crusader was alive and could volunteer to keep her safe while she dabbles in heroics (from his perspective, anyway). As for the various restrictions Purity and Aster will have to endure, those bear more weight coming from somebody who actually has the authority to decide what the Protectorate will and won't enforce.
And with this, the first day of the Escape from Brockton Bay is over. Tomorrow's a new day, and since you wrapped up one quest a lot faster than I thought you would, you get to choose what to do next.
Escapades 5.5
You keep your nervous swallow mostly silent. Your plan to convince Purity to stop attacking the heroes and return to the side of the angels was still a good one, you feel, but maybe you underestimated how difficult accomplishing that would be. Just a little bit. It doesn't help matters that considering her intentions, her actions are understandable. Not how you would have chosen to go about things, but you see why she made the choices she did.
How are you going to reconcile her goals with the Protectorate's when they seem to be mutually exclusive?
This would be so much easier if you actually had some pull with the national hero group, but as much as staying merely affiliated had made it easier to be treated as an adult rather than being pushed into the Wards, right now you would be happy to have some influence in the group's decisions of how to treat heroes' families! Purity was trying to turn her life around, and she's powerful enough that the Protectorate should be happy to have her in their ranks, but because of their….
Your eyes brighten. That's it. That's the answer!
Purity takes one look at your maniacal grin and scoots away.
"Hey, Purity?" The glowing woman nods in acknowledgement while moving another five feet back. "You said you were doing all this to help your daughter, right? Is there anything you wouldn't do for her? Even if it was inconvenient to you personally, if it would protect her, would you put up with it?"
"Yes…?"
The smile on your face broadens even more. "Then I might just have a plan."
It takes a few more minutes to hash everything out, not to mention reminding the other heroine that this is probably the only chance she has to get out of this mess alive and together with her daughter, but finally you and she fly side by side back to the fight. Which is not going well for the Empire capes, you can't help but notice as you watch twin lasers and colorful explosives zap down towards the carpet of mist below. Fog and Night are trapped on the ground, and while Crusader can fly, it is only by being carried in the arms of his ghosts. With all three heroes airborne and no civilians to be careful around, they clearly have the advantage. That isn't to say that the fight is entirely one-sided; the quirk of Crusader's powers that makes it selectively intangible is forcing the heroes to be careful of the floating specters, each of them breaking off at different times to engage the ghosts in hand to hand combat for long enough to shatter the fragile constructs.
Time to break this impasse. A score of Flare Shooters race between the two groups, arranging themselves in a wall before they explode into brilliant orange flashes that are bright enough to leave everyone blinking the stars out of their eyes. Even the projections are affected, just as Purity assured you they would be.
You trusted her to tell the truth, but it's nice to have that trust validated.
"Hey, hey, hey!" you shout, getting your allies' attention. "Let's all just take a breath and calm down. We really don't have to keep fighting."
The other heroines stare at you in utter bewilderment, but it is Laserdream who finally puts words to her confusion. "What are you talking about— Behind you!"
A couple of Crusaders, apparently taking advantage of your group's division, have leveled their spears and shields in preparation to stab you in the back. Their charge stumbles to a halt when Purity's shout cracks like a whip through the air. "Crusader! That's enough!"
The duplicates turn to look at her with the same expressions your own allies gave you, and one of them points at you and makes a complicated twirling gesture.
"I said, that's enough," the shining woman repeats, moving forwards to float at your side. "Back down."
"Calamity Witch?" Revel asks slowly, her eyes darting back and forth between you and the bright aurora that only you can see through. "What's going on?"
You give her a faint smile as the words of the Earth Aleph pirate movie some of the Privateers insisted you and your dad watch come back to you. "Parley?"
"What."
"Purity and I had a nice little chat and came up with a possible solution that doesn't have to involve us spending the rest of the night blasting each other all over the sky. Purity, you want to take it from here?"
She nods and moves ahead another few feet, no longer using you as a human shield against your allies. "Call your headquarters. I would like to speak with someone in charge in regards to the conditions for my surrender and defection."
"You… want to join… the Protectorate."
"That is correct."
"Revel, please tell me you are not actually considering this insanity," Lady Photon hisses through clenched teeth. "She's a goddamn Nazi."
"If you used your eyes, you would know that I left Empire Eighty-Eight a year and a half ago. The only reason I worked alongside them today was because that was what offered me the best chance of escaping the walls around Brockton Bay."
"Walls that were built to keep you and all the rest of you villains inside where you couldn't hurt anybody else." Golden light pools around hands belonging to the leader of the now much-reduced New Wave. "You're a Ziz-bomb. We all know it, or you wouldn't have been stuck there."
"How could you 'know' whether I'm the Simurgh's tool when I was never screened for her influence in the first place?" asks Purity in a pleasant voice. "Revel, I am of course happy to be screened and my right to leave Brockton Bay proven prior to meeting with anyone in person regarding my request."
Poor Revel had been glance back and forth between the arguing artillery capes, but you can see in her hesitant expression and weighty gaze where she is leaning. "Are you serious about turning yourself in and working with the Protectorate?"
"I am." She twitches, her arms coming across her body to wrap herself in a hug, but her voice betrays none of her nervousness. This is the part that has the second-biggest chance to blow up in your faces. "And as a show of my good faith…." She turns to the myriad of ghosts. "Crusader, tell Fog to return to normal. We're going back to Brockton Bay."
The spirits move away to give Crusader, the real one this time, the space he and his palanquin of ghosts need to rise up where the rest of you are. "Purity, you can't be serious about this. After everything you went through to get out, you're going to let yourself be put back in?" She nods, but that just seems to be the proof he needs. His ghosts whip around to point their weapons at you. "You! You're a fucking Master, aren't you?!"
The former villainess darts between you and him. "That's enough. You remember what I told you, don't you? My reason for doing all this?" He watches her a moment before jutting out his chin in defiance. All that bravado dries up when she continues, though. "Calamity Witch isn't a Master. She just convinced me that this had a better chance of succeeding."
"So it is all a trick!" exclaims Laserdream.
Purity glances at the younger Pelham Blaster before switching her gaze to Lady Photon, who appears just as unconvinced as her child. "Is there anything, anything at all, you wouldn't do if it would protect your daughter?"
"Is that a threat?"
She waves away Lady Photon's growl. "No. Not in the slightest. I am just making sure you understand the reasons behind my own actions."
It takes a moment for Lady Photon to see the implication, but when it does, her face turns into a morass of conflicting expressions. Several tense moments pass before she averts her eyes and glares at the distant horizon.
With that crisis defused, Revel drifts closer. "If your teammates will stand down, and if Calamity Witch will reverse whatever it is she's done to trap us all here, I'll get in touch with someone at the base. Radio can't seem to get out of this pocket dimension of hers," she explains, though her unimpressed look is aimed at you.
You just shrug. If this fight had continued, cutting off the group's routes of escapes would have been invaluable. It isn't your fault you didn't have definite plans to make this a diplomatic resolution when you cast the spell.
Everything around you blurs once the other villains have returned to normal, and then the vibrant hues and sounds and smells of the real world seep back in. The convoy of refugees is already a decent distance from your positions, the drivers reluctant to return to their prison but unwilling to go against the flying Brutes without capes of their own backing them up. Revel waves for all of you to stay where you are, and then she pushes a button on her wristband. "Control, I need to speak to whoever the highest-ranking cape is who is part of the Thinker group."
Several seconds later, a tinny voice replies, though the volume is too low for you to make out what was said. "Arbiter, glad to hear it. We have a bit of a situation over here." She shakes her head at whatever the reply was. "No, not that bad. Almost good. Purity surrendered and asked to join the Protectorate. Yes. Yes, I know. I actually think she is serious. I have no idea. She says she was never screened in the first place. It pertains to her secret ID; that is all I am comfortable divulging." Revel glances back at all of you before turning back to her wristband. "If it were a trick, she would have made a break for it by now. And you think this is in my pay grade? She is a Blaster 8, remember. …Yes, that should work. That should work just fine. Okay. See you when we get there."
Ending the call, Revel shakes her head. "All right, everybody. Let's go back to Brockton Bay before I realize what a terrible idea this is."
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The trip back to the city is much slower than was the one to the fight, partly because the cars you are escorting cannot reach the same speeds as your flight and partly because the tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. The soaring Brutes had to be warned multiple times not to attack the ex-Empire capes, and the look of betrayal Strapping Lad shot you when he first spotted you flying at Purity's left side was all you needed to know that he considers you nothing more than unprincipled pond scum.
It probably gave him and Laserdream something to talk about during the flight.
Once you reach a certain distance from the walls, another group of capes move into view. For a moment you are justifiably worried that you are going to have to stop yet another fight, but they simply direct Purity's group and you to a small clearing a short distance from the road. They take up defensive positions around you, but Purity by and large ignores them and simply reclaims her baby from Night's arms.
You aren't sure how long you wait, whether it is half an hour or more than two, but eventually the guards move away to allow three capes to descend to the ground in front of you. The first pounces on you, shifting into a raccoon just before she lands in your arms.
The second crosses his arms and watches your neighbor with obvious suspicion. "Purity."
"Legend."
The caped hero shakes his head and turns to you. "I hope you realize just what kind of a mess you've caused."
"A smaller and less bloody one than there would have been otherwise?"
He sighs and nods. "Fair enough. Let's get the easy part out of the way. Blackjack, chances she will act to further the Simurgh's plans?"
The third cape tilts his head, the green visor and domino mask matching the smoking vest of his casino dealer theme. "Five high."
"That she'll stab her team in the back if we let her in the Protectorate?"
"Two pair, jacks and threes." Blackjack hums to himself. "Clubs are wild, hearts trump spades."
Legend makes some sound, and it takes you a second to recognize it as a huff of reluctant amusement. "Las Vegas is right out, then, isn't it?"
The Thinker shrugs his shoulders. "He would have it coming."
"Don't remind me. I'm still figuring out what to do with him." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Legend sighs once again. "Thank you again for the help, Blackjack. One of the fliers can take you back to Misstep." The other cape departs, leaving him, Purity, and you and Samantha alone. "Well, you're unlikely to be influenced by the Simurgh," Legend allows, "and so long as everyone acts like responsible adults, you probably wouldn't betray your team if I let you join the Protectorate. So." He stands straight and crosses his arms behind his back. "Make your pitch. What do you want, and why should I give it to you?"
It's now or never. You meet Purity's eyes, a pure white domino mask concealing her identity now that her glow is switched off, and give her a nod. While you were waiting, you talked to her about some of the restrictions she could offer herself; hopefully, by acknowledging that she had made mistakes and was willing to endure some punishment for them, the Protectorate and PRT at large would cut her some slack and actually let her climb out of the hole she had dug for herself during her time as a villain.
"What I want is simple," she begins. "Your own Thinker has proven that had I undergone screening immediately following the fight, I would have been allowed to leave. The only reason I did not is that I have a young daughter, and by leaving her behind, not only would I have abandoned her, I would have left her in Kaiser's clutches, where she would have been groomed to be the third hereditary leader of the Empire. That is not the life I want for her. As no one has ever proved that infants can be affected by the Simurgh's Scream, I want permission for us to leave without tattoos or other restrictions that we would have to suffer were we processed out of the quarantine zone as civilians.
"As for why you should give it to me. I have earned my rating of Blaster 8. I will not be so arrogant as to say that I am as good as you"—ah, it looks like the Triumvirate's artillery has also heard about the 'evil Legend' description—"but I am still one of the most powerful in the country. My abilities would be an asset to any of your branches. You don't need to worry that this is some elaborate plot to take advantage of your generosity only to betray you, either. I have tried to be a hero for the last year and a half, doing everything I could to whittle away Lung's support base. Due to my history as a villain and the se— and other issues, those efforts were ignored. Should you give me the chance to build a new reputation somewhere else, or even just to work on fixing the reputation I already have somewhere the distrust is not so personal, I would not squander the opportunity.
"I know you don't trust me," she admits, meeting Legend's eyes. "I don't blame you. I spent ten years as a villain, and from your perspective, it probably looks like I'm trying to coerce you into ignoring the crimes I committed. But I am not asking you to give me your trust. I am asking only for the chance to earn it. I am willing and happy to be placed under whatever restrictions you think reasonable. Continuous oversight, docked salary to be transferred to those I have injured, house arrest or community service when not on duty; whatever you think is necessary to determine whether or not I have really changed and want to make up for my crimes, and for however long you think is deserved. I will not challenge it or ask for leniency. And," she adds in a soft voice, glancing down at the bundle in her arms, "if you decide that what I deserve is to spend time in prison first, I ask that you put my daughter with a trustworthy foster family until my sentence is complete."
You whip your head around to stare at her. That was not in the script!
"Just… stop," Legend finally says, rubbing both temples with one hand. "You have certainly put some thought into this, I'll give you that much. If I didn't know better, I would think this was your plan from the beginning rather than something Calamity Witch supposedly came up with on the spur of the moment."
A weak, embarrassed smile is all you can offer the world's premier Blaster.
"Volunteering to be placed under heavy restrictions was a nice touch, and the plea about fostering? If you love your daughter only half as much as I love my son, I know giving her up would be suffering of the highest order." He sighs. "But that is the issue. It isn't just you we have to be concerned about. No one has ever proven that infants are vulnerable to the Simurgh, true, but neither have they been proven to be immune. No one survived Lausanne, and the infants and toddlers exposed to the Scream in her attack on London are just turning nine and ten this year. They are still too young to have the influence and power her long-term plans are suspected to require. To ignore completely the threat your daughter has the potential to pose would be a disservice to everyone the Protectorate has sworn to defend."
Purity lights up, and it is only the cries of her child at the sudden brightness that forces her to let go of her powers. "So that's it? A baby might become a threat, so go ahead and kill them all? Deny any of them any kind of life when the chances of them being the Simurgh's weapons are so small? You claim to love your son. Would you force that fate on him like you want to do to her?!"
For a moment, you are afraid they are about to come to blows, but although Legend's eyes spark with fury, the hand he raised has a warning finger pointing at her face. "You want to join the Protectorate? Lesson number one: think very carefully before you make accusations you can't take back. Do you think I haven't laid awake at night with that exact nightmare running through my head, wondering what I would do if I had to choose between my son and every other child in the world? Do you think I like the idea that there are children growing up who will never know what it is like not to be feared for something they can't even remember? No matter how much I dislike it, there are times when the needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few."
There is silence in the clearing for nearly a minute. Glancing around, you notice Crusader intently listening to the conversation, though Night and Fog seem to be off in their own little world.
A breath, and Legend takes a step back. "That being said, this situation is somewhat different than most involving the so-called Ziz-babies. There are not enough psychologists to work with every child who was potentially affected by the Scream, but if you join the Protectorate and live on base, there would be a child psychologist already available who could monitor and evaluate her as she grew up. You would be extensively tested to make sure you were not being used as the vector for the Simurgh's plots. If she triggers, she would join the Wards where her activities and use of her powers could be likewise monitored. These restrictions might eventually be lifted, but there is a good chance that wouldn't be until she is nearly or really is an adult."
The ex-villain frowns, but after a long few seconds she nods. She knows, just as you do, this is likely the best she is going to get.
"One more thing. You said that I would not have to worry that this is a trap. You're right. I won't. You want a chance to be better than you were? You'll get one chance. You slip up, you even look like you're going back to your old ways, and a life sentence in a maximum security prison where you will never see your daughter again will be the best-case scenario." He fixes her with an intent stare. "Is that understood?"
Transferring her infant to her left hip, Purity sticks out her right hand. "I accept."
It takes only a moment before Legend clasps her hand and gives it a single pump.
"As fucking sweet as this is, I think you're forgetting something." Legend and Purity turn questioning to Crusader. The armored villain has not moved from the fallen tree he claimed as a bench, but there is a tension to his body that wasn't there before. Your grip tightens on Perfect Storm as you ready yourself to get into yet another fight. "What about the rest of us?"
Purity cringes. "I… I'm sorry, Crusader, but—"
"But what? You think you're just going to run off and leave all of us behind? That we'd let you do something as fucking stupid as sticking your head in a lion's mouth?" He shakes his head. "You got room for her, Rainbow Man. You got room for another."
Legend crosses his arms, his disbelief obvious. "You want to be a hero?"
"Nope." Crusader pushes himself to his feet and walks over, a hint of swagger to his steps. "Purity, I think you're nuts for doing this. Completely fucking crazy. But if you're not going to watch your back, I'm stuck doing it for you."
"And what is the cause for this altruism?"
Crusader shoots Legend an unimpressed look. "I owe her the kind of debt you don't just forget about. And I don't trust you. That's reason enough for me."
"You're willing to be under the same restrictions and penalties as Purity?" The villain nods. "Fine. Maybe you'll surprise me and won't immediately find yourself in prison." Legend's voice reveals how unlikely he considers that. "Life in New Orleans will certainly be interesting, even for that city. That just leaves what to do with your other allies, and no, they will not be accepted onto any Protectorate team. Not with their crimes and their body counts."
Purity hesitates for a moment before bowing her head. "I understand. But if I may suggest something, you might have them professionally evaluated before you decide what to do with them. Their training with Gesellschaft left them… broken, and while I won't say they aren't responsible for their actions, someone who knows what he is doing should determine if it wouldn't be appropriate for them to be sent to an asylum rather than a prison."
«Come on,» Samantha whispers in your head. «You've helped her as much as you can. The rest of this is for them to figure out on their own.»
Nodding in resignation, you walk over, interrupting the trio's argument, and lay one hand on Purity's shoulder. She looks back at you and gives you a weak smile. Legend, after looking you up and down, huffs softly and tilts his head towards the sky, an unmistakable signal that your job here is done.
And that's that.
Rising into the air, you begin the short flight back to base, your Guardian Beast hanging off one side of your jacket. "I take it Lung's dealt with if you're accompanying Legend to a negotiation?"
«I wish. Shortly after sundown, he took off back into the ruins near the hole he made, and for all that he's a giant fire-breathing lizard, he's really good at hiding. He grew a lot faster than I expected,» she admits, «but I was right about Shredding Claw. I couldn't get enough hits in to make him squishy, but his resistance didn't grow like the rest of him. Alexandria decided to hold off trying to fight him while he was in hiding because he'd start shrinking once there was no one fighting, and Legend wanted me to come along because you went and made everything more difficult for him.» There is a smile tinging those thoughts. «We're splitting the group when we get back to work tomorrow. Some of us going after Lung while the others hold off the Fallen and the Teeth, and Alexandria and Legend both said they want me there when they enter the city to track him down.»
Hunting down Lung in what are presumably ruins where you never know if he's going to pop up around the corner you just passed? You shudder as the terror of that thought runs down your spine. There are a number of reasons you've become attached to your ranged powers, and the much decreased chance of something stronger than you stalking you is definitely one of them. Searching for something to say in response to her enthusiasm, though, you finally come up with, "You sound like you had fun."
The raccoon gives you a smile full of sharp teeth. «I am a Guardian Beast of the Sword. Getting up close and personal to defeat powerful enemies is what we were designed for. Join us tomorrow, and I'll show you what I mean.»
"Uh, let me think about it."
PURITY QUEST
COMPLETE
That worked better than expected.
As you can see, I cut out the part of the original plan that called for Purity actively betraying her teammates because that just didn't fit her personality or canon actions, and helping to calm things down cast her in a better light when she talked to Legend. It also means Crusader was alive and could volunteer to keep her safe while she dabbles in heroics (from his perspective, anyway). As for the various restrictions Purity and Aster will have to endure, those bear more weight coming from somebody who actually has the authority to decide what the Protectorate will and won't enforce.And with this, the first day of the Escape from Brockton Bay is over. Tomorrow's a new day, and since you wrapped up one quest a lot faster than I thought you would, you get to choose what to do next.
- Empire – Despite the heroes' best efforts, Kaiser and the Empire reached the small town of Durham, which provided Rune with plenty of ammunition. The plan is to distract the villains while a small strike team sneaks in and beheads the snake.
- ABB – Lung and Oni Lee both vanished, though how Lung managed that no one is sure. Part of the group will hold off the Teeth and Fallen while the toughest of the tough go after Lung in the ruins of Brockton Bay.
- Independents – Most of the civilians have been recovered, but the villains themselves took off while the heroes were busy with everyone else. A small group of the initial attacking force are continuing the pursuit.
- Security – The most exciting thing to happen so far was breaking up an argument between two precogs. Tomorrow promises to be more of the same.
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