Panacea's Remedy (OC/SI into Panacea)

[JollyHippo]

I am JollyHippopotamus on AO3, SB and FF, the names too long for here apparently.

This is an AU, things have changed, some powers aren't exactly the same, it's a different timeline, some people around the world have died, others have survived etc. Some powers are stronger, some weaker.

Also note, Amy vill be a villain, even as she continues to play hero, so yes, she has done many bad things, she will continue to do many many bad things.

I'll be playing fast and loose with powers, continuity and whatever I feel like, don't take this too seriously, or worry about canon compliance at all times.

Also Vicky and Amy is Vicky and Amy if that's a problem why are you even reading this? At least my Amy won't be nearly as crazy, I hope. Only differently crazy.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

---

Thomas Calvert frowned as he put down the phone in his office at the PRT headquarters - He'd been called in to consult again due to a new independent hero that had rebuffed every effort to join the protectorate, his expertise on parahumans had been sought to find another angle and to examine his powerset as the young man refused to come in for testing. Having not so surprisingly some anti government prejudice.

Considering said 'hero' was a young black man and fiercely independent - Coil gave him a week at most before Hookwolf solved the issue - permanently. For all his known murders, the man had at least half a dozen parahuman deaths under his belt that the PRT didn't know about. That's not what had his mind racing however, a new independent showing up and dying was just another Tuesday in Brockton Bay.

What had his mind racing was something different. He'd received a call about a visitor, someone here for him, specifically. He steepled his fingers in front of his face as his mind rapidly processed how he could twist this surprise meeting into his own advantage. As he was thinking it through, as always, part of him was suspiciously pondering if this was possibly enemy action. He kept himself loosely affiliated with the PRT to give himself a flexible schedule where his whereabouts couldn't be predicted, and gave him a good excuse to be in the building when he needed to. So why was anyone here to see him right on time for when he's actually present at the PRT for once. Well… Present in one timeline anyway. So it could be a possible attempt on him or even something as simple as information gathering on his civilian persona.

Granted, the probability was almost nil, Panacea was not someone he'd suspect of any attempt on his life - she didn't have it in her. And precisely because he would not suspect her - Thomas, aka Coil, was suspicious.

Using someone no one would ever suspect as an avenue of attack was something he'd do after all.

No matter, he'd already split the timeline before even appearing at PRT HQ, one timeline had him working in his lair, while one had him performing his consulting job presently. So he was at no risk from Amy Dallon. It piqued his curiosity that she was here at all. Why would the girl seek him out? A simple (hah) PRT consultant, albeit an expert in Parahumans to those in the know. Of which New Wave was markedly not in the know. Curious.

If he could get some strings on Panacea…. The options it opened up, his contacts with Accord and beyond had mentioned the Travelers for one, desperately seeking a healer for some reason. If Coil could get away with disappearing the girl, he'd gain a very strong set of minions for his plans with very little effort. Not to mention the monetary benefit of having Panacea sell her abilities to the various billionaires of the world under the table. Unfortunately, he lamented, actually disappearing her would eventually bring down the Triumvirate due to her usefulness in Endbringer fights, no cape could heal as successfully as her at the moment.

He'd have to find another way, he was well aware of her acrimonious relationship with Carol Dallon, perhaps there was an avenue there to get a working relationship going at least, she was, according to his previous sequences of information gathering around New Wave, although not aimed at her specifically - riddled with issues with both her family and the hero life, giving him options. He'd never gone ahead with any plans in that regard, all timelines where he did so as a test, ended in the PRT and New Wave scouring Brockton Bay to the bedrock to find her. And if they didn't, the Triumvirate eventually came looking when it neared the time for the next Endbringer attack. At those kinds of costs, Panacea's utility simply wasn't cost effective.

But this was different. She was coming to him. Coil would find a way under her skin, find an angle to bend her his way. Even if solely as a paid contractor. If nothing else, using her love for her sister as a lever would achieve plenty.

Thomas Calvert put on a mask of polite professionalism as Amy Dallon walked in without knocking, clad in her cape persona, the red cross standing out against the white all encompassing robe and hood, a look that was internationally recognizable even though she had been active for only two years. The scarf covering her lower face was beyond pointless at this point, since they all went about unmasked. It was amusing that the girl was basically covered head to toe when her sister flaunted herself for all to see. Perhaps body issues? Could he offer her a professional makeover? Her powers didn't work on herself, but surely there were capes he could find and hire that could improve appearances, he'd have to look into it. For a teenage girl always at second best - appearances could mean a lot.

"Panacea, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Thomas asked pleasantly, sorting the papers on his desk, projecting the image of a pencil pusher trying to appear busy. He'd used the cape name for the girl as that's how she'd arrived and it was only proper to adhere to the game. Coil felt some dark amusement at the thought that although New Wave had voluntarily unmasked and paid for it - in losing Fleur. And was now trying to step back from the game - Coil knew the identities of almost the entirety of the cape presence of Brockton Bay anyway, at least on the side of the angels - the whole game was pointless in the face of his power.

Amy Dallon had dark bags under her eyes and slouched shoulders as she frowned at him, she looked exhausted. Coil was already thinking of at least three possible avenues to turn the girl to his side, based simply on her exhaustion at her life. It was so much easier to lead young girls astray when they were already unhappy. And with a family life like hers, and the trauma from doing heavy duty hospital work since 14, seeing the trauma patients and worse. She'd be ripe for his influence.

Really, Coil would be doing them all a favor. Carol Dallon had practically primed the girl to become a supervillain. She'd do much better with some guidance and control.

"I was told to go to you because you're supposedly some sort of expert and could arrange tests." She grumbled, looking unimpressed with both him, and being sent there in the first place.

His contacts in the hospital Panacea frequented the most had reported this was a usual attitude of the girl.

Thomas raised an eyebrow, not having to fake confusion, "Tests? Of what exactly? And sent? By who?" New Wave, while somewhat cooperative with the PRT and the Protectorate, did not make it a habit of going to them for assistance outside of cape battles. Nor should they have much information about him. If Director Piggot had met with, or talked to Panacea at all, he would already be aware through how deeply he'd penetrated the PRT's systems.

As it was, he regularly received PRT reports before Piggot did. The reports showing up in his system at the same time as they were being written, so deep was his penetration.

Panacea made a dismissive motion with one hand, still looking dissatisfied with existence in general, "Some flunky at the desk sent me up when I asked for anyone that could help with testing a possible expansion of my usual powers."

Coil would have to make sure that particular flunky was silenced post haste. No one could know, this situation was his to control. He tapped a notepad with a pen, looking sufficiently intrigued, "What kind of expansion? Can you heal brains now?" He asked politely.

Personally he'd never believed the girl when she said she couldn't, not that he blamed her, if he had those kinds of powers he wouldn't advertise it either. The PRT did not take kindly to those kinds of powers. Perhaps he could leak something of that sort and then swoop in to solve her issues once the PRT got pushy - as they no doubt would - at the prospect of a potential master ability. Oh they'd never birdcage Panacea, but strong armed into the wards or something similar was a possibility. And one where Coil could prosper if he came in from nowhere and solved the situation for the girl.

Yes. That was definitely a possibility he'd have to explore in a timeline soonest. What she could do with brains would be important to know.

There was a reason why most intelligent villains didn't seek out the girl for healing outside Endbringer fights after all. They were as wary as he was. The smart ones anyway.

Panacea made a face, looking like just another grumpy teenager, making Thomas twitch slightly with annoyance, such power in the hands of such a child. Honestly. To think he'd had to buy his, when children like this were handed power for nothing. "Not brains then?" He said, letting none of his annoyance show. Her being a silly child would make it easier for him, so really, he shouldn't complain.

"Not really, but kind of." Panacea said, glaring down at the floor. Not elaborating. Just silently trying to set his office on fire by sight alone.

Coil masterfully stopped himself from another twitch, children! "I think that statement needs further clarification." He pointed out dryly, peering at her with a practiced face of dry amusement.

Panacea shrugged carelessly, "I still can't figure out brains, not really, but I figured out a trick for cells that I think might make someone immortal kind of, and that does affect the cells of the brain." She said tonelessly. Like she hadn't just dropped potential immortality in his lap. Like that was just no big deal.

Powers were wasted on youth.

"Kind of immortal?" Coil parroted slowly, only his mastery of his mind prevented a stronger reaction from him to that bombshell. If it was true… "Want to explain that a bit further, Miss Dallon?" He asked sharply.

"I found a way to make cells regenerate completely and automatically, so that someone would, theoretically, never age." She admitted, lips turning downwards, like it was all simply a bother to her. Boohoo I solved entropy, woe is me…. Thomas wanted to rip her skin off and make her sew it back on. This ignorant child! Luckily he could actually solve his stress by eventually doing just that in a timeline when he wasn't busy with anything else.

"Who knows about this?" He asked carefully, fingers twitching. Like his hands were eager to reach forward and grasp the opportunity that lay ahead of him.

"You and me, I went straight here after I tested it out." She said without care, "Oh, I guess the flunky who sent me up here knows I did something with my power but not what."

The death of the receptionist suddenly moved forward into his priority list by a vast magnitude.

Carefully, Coil thought things over in his other timeline, sitting in his lair at his computer, the potential bounty here was too big to not explore fully. Normally his power worked in a manner where both timelines progressed evenly. But he'd recently discovered that he could push one timeline forward in a simulation, while time hardly moved in his other timeline. It did however force him to only be able to keep his safe timeline, so it was a risk in case something attacked his base, the simulated timeline not being in real time, but a precog simulation, preventing him from actually saving it.

It had its benefits and drawbacks, Coil could learn a lot of information due to this precog ability of his power… To a point. However, the drawback was how utterly unreliable and variable it got the further into the future he peered, especially other actors, the more he concentrated on his immediate surroundings and actions, the clearer the picture was.

The further he got, and the more other variables he focused on, the more the timeline went completely unreliable, not able to handle the future of so many actors.

He'd once tried to see what Brockton Bay would look like six months from now by rushing through a simulation - and his power had insisted on telling him Jack Slash had reformed and was leading Brockton Bay into an era of prosperity. Absolute nonsense.

So yes, it had limited utility if used for anything but the next few weeks. But, for testing one aspect. One tiny matter, for weeks or months ahead. It should not give him any issues. It was worth an attempt.

Coil smiled at the fool girl who had no idea what she had. "Can you test it on me then? So we can look it over and make sure it is what you say it is?"

Normally he wouldn't let Panacea touch him no matter what, but he could do months of testing in this timeline to prove whether she did nothing to him other than make him immortal. So there were no risks anymore, his simulated timeline would ensure it. It was good to be him. In the end, he could just use the simulated timeline, then drop it to create a proper set of two timelines, and seek out Panacea for the same treatment in the timeline he'd keep out of the two new ones.

He didn't feel a thing as the girl with raccoon eyes laid a hand on him, eventually simply saying "It's done." And backing away.

Coil, because at this point he could hardly call himself Thomas, ordered the girl to keep silent while the PRT investigated the matter. No sharing with New Wave or anyone else in the PRT for that matter, including the Protectorate and Wards. The girl easily acquisited to the request. He'd check that later, nothing could be left to chance. This couldn't get out. He'd see how long she managed to keep her mouth shut, to observe at what point he'd need to step in and remove her from play.

Continuing down the timeline far further than he usually bothered, due to its difficulty in parsing future events outside of his influence, he got the best doctors money could buy to run every test on him that they could, hired the few other Parahumans healers around to check him over, he even commissioned a medical scanner made by tinkertech from Toybox. All to confirm what Panacea had said, and all to confirm that nothing had changed in his brain to indicate she'd mastered him in this simulated timeline.

The him sitting at his desk in his lair in his first timeline keeping a watch as the simulated timeline streamed ahead, ready to drop the timeline if there was even the slightest hint he was acting out of character, he couldn't be sure whether even this timeline - that was simply a precog simulation, would affect him somehow when it came to a Master effect.

All tests showed the same thing. His cells were not aging. His organs were in a constant state of regeneration somehow, no one could understand where his body even got the energy to perform such. In regenerative parahumans it was their power behind it, but Coils power wasn't powering this effect. He couldn't get sick now either, couldn't be poisoned, his cells simply returning to their ideal state immediately. It worked. And more importantly, there was no sign that Panacea had changed anything in his brain other than cellular regeneration.

By that time he was fairly far ahead in the timeline, so he contracted the travelers to abduct Victoria Dallon as well as Amy - using Panacea's healing abilities as a carrot for their cooperation. He went through his usual torture routine on both of them, although it wasn't as fun in a simulated timeline as it always felt somewhat dull and fake to him compared to the usual usage of his power. No matter how far he went, mutilation, rape, amputation, the girl never changed her story. She could do it. She could really change someone's cells to renew automatically for eternity, never growing older, weaker, or sicker. To his pleasure, Victoria Dallon as well had nothing to say, she had not been told anything. Amy Dallon kept the secret. Would keep the secret. For at least a few months in all likelihood. It would give him plenty of time to find a way to keep her mouth shut. Blackmail or threats against her sister would likely do it, he'd have time to figure that part out. Endless timelines to test his approach in.

He dropped the simulated timeline at that point. Immediately opening a new proper set of timelines as he did. In one he rebuffed the girl,

In the other, He asked her further questions as he casually typed up a request for his mercenaries, instructing his people to arrange an accident for the receptionist for right after work, a car accident would do. No need to arouse suspicion.

The meeting played out like his simulated timeline, Coil barely able to hide his avarice as the girl approached him.

Ending exactly as it had in the simulation, with him holding his hand out to the teen, asking her to 'test' her abilities on him, and then go about her life, and he'd get back to her if the tests showed it worked. That it was the easiest way to deal with it, saving her the time of arranging tests or test subjects.

He felt a sense of smug superiority as the greatest healer in the world foolishly made him immortal without a single thought on how she could use it, profit from it. And the idiotic girl even would keep it silent on his say so. Carol Dallons dislike for the girl hadn't made her the sharpest tool in the box it seemed, the daughter of a lawyer should have been better than this.

Oh well, their loss, his gain.

This. This would put him above even those annoying Cauldron capes. He'd outlive them all, in the background, pulling strings at first, then in the spotlight, their benevolent dictator.

All because of a foolish child.

Everything is going just as planned.

---

Amy left PRT headquarters, one hand pulling her hood down as she tried not to laugh maniacally. That would be bad. Carol would freak the fuck out if a video of Panacea laughing like a villain appeared on PHO.

… That just made her want to do it more.

She couldn't help the emotion however. She'd just fucking dealt with Coil. Bit over half a year until Canon, and she'd dealt with him. Go her!

It helped that she wasn't Amy. Not really. Being installed into the body of Amy Dallon aka Panacea after her trigger event a little over two years ago had been an unpleasant surprise to her. Exploring a fantastical world, having powers, etc, it was the ultimate fantasy. Except… There were very few world's that were worse to be dropped into than Worm of all places. Not so much an adventure when you know how shitty everything around you is.

And in Panacea of all people, the girl who hated her life and had the Slaughterhouse Nine come knocking… At least they were both lesbians. Although perhaps the original Amy was more of a Vickian? Is that a word? Yeah, she was more mind whammied than anything else. Although that was perhaps a poor excuse, because she hadn't raped her sister. She had more control then that.

Unfortunately she didn't wholly get away from being mind whammied as she'd been stuck with the same love aura washing over her, that her body and brain had enjoyed for most of her life pre-trigger and new her, after. So yeah, she was very attracted to Vicky. Difference was she knew why and could control herself better.

It wasn't love. Not that kind of love anyway. Just pure attraction. Which showed original Amy had other issues because the aura hadn't made this new her go crazy for cocoa puffs, just horny.

Lucky for her, her 'parents' sucked and her lovely sister was incredibly self absorbed at times when she wasn't pounding her head with love me auras. So Amy being a moody and grumpy teenager for the last two years plus didn't even merit comments ( Not that it overly contrasted from original Amy). With Mark's depression, Carols not so low-key distaste of her entire existence and Vicky more concerned with boys or punching things in the face - it left Amy with plenty of opportunities to change some things.

Of course she'd volunteered at the hospital, even if technically she'd been more like voluntold by Carol. The original Panacea had worn herself out, full of guilt and self loathing for not doing enough, not helped by constantly being pushed by Carol and mind whammied by her sister. Also probably hadn't helped having to you know… Deal with trauma patients and rape victims at fucking 14, all alone, because of course Carol couldn't be assed to be there for her, she didn't care how she was doing it or felt about it, as long as it kept New Wave looking good.

The new and improved Panacea saw something different with her 'job'. Unlimited test subjects. Oh, of course she couldn't do overly much, not at the beginning. She needed to build up her reputation before she could even dare to perform anything too invasive in an official setting - also she needed to strike home the whole Panacea doesn't do brains schtick. Because Canary would still be a thing and she definitely didn't want people to know she could basically master people with a touch - Carol would sell her out so quickly it would make the Endbringers heads spin. She'd snuck out instead, and offered homeless people free healing at night. Because no one double checked her work in those cases, it let her power loose to be creative.

And if anyone caught her. Well offering to heal the poor and destitute didn't exactly scream villain - also homeless people were weird to begin with, so no one really noticed it she messed up.

Brains were hard in the beginning, even with how intuitive her power was. She could fix issues fairly easily, that wasn't a problem, changing things around to change their personality was way harder however. But eventually she'd managed. After… A few homeless people ended up kind of messed up. She definitely warranted a Master rating now. She could slave people to her. Mess with their brains until they were addicted to her and her only. She'd had to put those people down, it became too obvious when they got to that slavishly devoted point. Those kinds of things got a girl killed via a kill order. Well… Maybe. Wasn't like anyone bothered to do anything about Heartbreaker.

Not like he could Master a cruise missile strike.

She really didn't need to be thought of in similar veins to Heartbreaker or Teacher though.

Even if the face Carol would make would almost make it worth it. Until she'd start preaching about how she'd always known anyway. Bitch...

Eventually she'd been able to go more subtly through a person's brain. Tweak just what she needed. She'd even brought those people into the hospital and snuck an MRI scan onto them, no proof of anything wrong or changed, she'd made sure to take before and after pictures of course. Her influence was undetectable. As long as she wasn't stupid enough to make people look obviously mastered of course. Anyone running around slavishly obeying her every whim would be hard to explain away.

There was still a homeless man somewhere in Brockton Bay that broke into song about her feet whenever they crossed paths. Very embarrassing. Vicky would sometimes sing along to her mortification. She didn't even know how her feet had anything to do with whatever she'd tweaked in that guy's brain.

She'd have to find him alone at some point and give him a stroke or something. Or maybe a heart attack actually, she didn't want them cutting into his brain in case that revealed anything. Not that homeless people usually got autopsies, too many people died in Brockton Bay to worry about the homeless. But she couldn't afford to be sloppy, just in case. She'd also actually cut some people open to look at their brains, she'd healed them after, but she hadn't found any sign of her influence that way either. But she wasn't a brain surgeon for all that her power could do shit.

She'd gotten quite good at brains in the end, after over two year's practice.

Then had come her first Endbringer fight. Several dozens of capes under her hands. Of course she had hardly had time that first time to try anything. She'd been very busy after all. Her efforts had solidified her international reputation, saving so many capes made headlines everywhere… And once the fight was done, she'd been able to heal those less critical injuries, taking her time this time.

She wasn't stupid. She didn't twist them to her whim. She did… Tweak some things, making the capes under her ministrations more amenable to her, altering their brain chemistry just a tad. To give herself a greater chance to get some of them alone at some point in the future and do more invasive procedures.

She'd see what would come of it. If anything,

She'd done much the same to Vicky. It was only fair after all. The outgoing and beautiful girl that practically blasted her with love me aura everyday was impossible to dislike even with her very obvious flaws. Amy could definitely see how original Amy would have… Feelings, being subjected to that all the time. So to pay her back, she started subtly tweaking her sister, altering things just a little, shooting a spike of arousal and endorphins everytime she hugged her for example. Conditioning Vicky to become turned on at times when they were near each other and got physical (Hugging) - which was often. Her own little payback and homage to original Amy.

Not really fair because Vicky hadn't really been at fault for original Amy being a nutjob.

Amy found some of her greatest amusements over the last year and change, in those little games she was playing with the vaunted Glory Girl. Switching Canon on its head, making Vicky the one who now dealt with guilt and shame for wanting to bone her sister. And oh, how desperately she wanted it.

Amy was mean. And she owned it.

But if she had to deal with an artificial itch she couldn't scratch because, sisters. Then Vicky could suffer too. She'd mostly slowed down on that, not feeling as much of a need to mess with her, now that she'd settled in. Also she did actually love her sister. It was hard not to with how much Vicky loved her. So she couldn't get too mean.

She hadn't only practiced on the homeless of course, she was constantly practicing and stretching the muscles of her power. She'd take plants into school in her bag and mess around with them during breaks. She'd even gone so far as to have flowers and grass in her pockets so she could sit in class and mess around with it until they died, instead of paying attention to the teachers.

She'd hardly created any monstrosities at all. And hopefully if anything weird popped out of the sewers people would assume it was a new biotinker or something left over from Bonesaw. There had only been one tentacle monster okay, and she was almost sure it wouldn't hurt anyone.

All that practice had culminated in that meeting with Coil. If one wanted to really make a difference in the city, a gang was needed. Preferably to become the gang, you couldn't change anything without going the villain route, the PRT wouldn't allow positive change, they were so affixed to the status quo. Going after the ABB or the Empire was something that would take a lot of planning and effort, as well as many more minions then what she had currently, (Vicky counted as one). The Merchants wouldn't be too hard to knock off, but practically useless and would just invite attacks from the other gangs anyway. Coil was the perfect one to suborn. He had contacts with Cauldron, Accord, Toybox, Tattletale, and the Travelers, although maybe not the last two yet, she was unsure on the timeline there. He had a secret base that was actually very secret, some very skilled mercenaries just waiting for a better boss, and reams of information on every player in Brockton Bay, including their real identities. Not that she didn't have that same thing for the last one, future knowledge for the win.

That said, her memory wasn't exactly perfect. She knew Kaiser was Max Anders for example. But that didn't have her remembering Hookwolf or Crusaders identities. She was almost certain Krieg was James something, so Coil's information would still be useful to shore up what she couldn't remember perfectly.

The problem was his annoyingly hard to work around power of course. Amy couldn't just brainwash him, because he'd dump that timeline and go after her full throttle in the other one. She'd never be able to know for sure when he'd started the other timeline, so even when she'd been alone in the room with his civilian identity, she had no idea whether he had another timeline running elsewhere. Knowing him, probably.

It's what she would do too if she had that power.

So she'd prepared. She'd played with her power until she'd found the perfect hook. Cellular regeneration. She had no idea if it was for eternity - she seriously doubted it. But it would last long enough for Coil to test it out and come to the right conclusion , or so she believed from her tests so far. So she would play it off as immortality, whether that was true or not she couldn't really say, although she suspected if she died, anyone running on her power that way would lose that effect. Although with how bullshit powers could be she wouldn't discount it working eternally either. The minute she could touch him she'd be able to subtly twist his brain to her, planting a seed really, that would sit and wait for the right time. But that again would be a problem with those timelines if it went wrong.

If Coil saw himself suddenly beholden to Panacea he'd terminate the timeline and again, go full throttle at her. She'd be dead or thrown in a hole somewhere ala Dinah Alcott. She also had no doubt he'd devote a timeline to torture her or her family to ensure she wasn't full of shit. So she needed to suborn him slowly, to where no matter what he did in those two timelines after meeting her, he would pick the one where he was suborned.

She knew all this because she knew him, and because she'd totally do the same thing to make sure if she had that power. Torture was efficient in some ways, even if not always completely accurate.

She wasn't jealous of his power. Not really. Bio Tinkering at Panacea level was cool. But Coil had a pretty broken power and it was annoying to deal with.

So for starters she had to go so subtle with her power that it wouldn't kick in for months yet, like she'd thought of, planting a seed that would grow slowly over the months until he was hers. So that Coil would end the timeline where he tests himself and tortures her, before realizing he was already hers, she already knew it wouldn't show up on any tests he'd take, she'd already done those tests herself on people she'd healed. All this so Coil would be getting caught 'healed' in the timeline he chose to keep.

Because the second he kept it. She won.

Her secondary concern had been the torture, of course. She wasn't an idiot. Everybody had a breaking point. She'd end up blabbing, because no one could last forever under torture - especially as with the timeline shenanigans Coil could go even harder then normal torture since he didn't have to worry about consequences. If she could find a away to keep the information quiet through torture, Coil would be hooked completely. She'd own him. Because he was an arrogant tool, and he would never believe a little girl kept anything back from him for that long.

It had taken her months to finally figure out how to utilize even a sliver of her power on herself. She still couldn't heal herself properly. But she had managed to reach her goal because she'd done something that wasn't healing. Being able to deaden her nerves, using her power internally, she couldn't really heal herself, but she could alter some things temporarily - she was basically turning something off for a while, with the hope they'd turn back on, on their own, because she couldn't do it. Just hopefully it wouldn't go wrong, because she wouldn't be able to heal herself back up or fix it if the nerve issue weren't just temporary. But it was the best bet she had.

Months of hard work on herself and the best she could do was in lessening a part of herself.

She'd hopefully be able to be tortured, and when she felt she was reaching a breaking point, dull the nerves temporarily, make herself survive the breaking point, and hold on to the end, or so she'd hoped and it apparently had worked. Coil wouldn't have let her touch him otherwise. Not in any timeline she could perceive anyway. Either the nerve thing had worked, or she'd gone completely free from pain permanently - which also would have worked albeit not ideally, or just as likely, because she knew the timeline she was being tortured in was going to be temporary, she managed to hold on.

She shivered as she walked down the street, sending a short wave to Vicky who was waiting for her impatiently, her sister practically bouncing in the air a few inches above the ground, despite being out of costume at the moment. It was very weird to know she'd just probably been horribly tortured in another timeline, simulated or not it was a kooky feeling.

Although she was surprised he'd decided so quickly. She'd expected him to run separate timelines for far longer than the time of a meeting. She wondered how he'd pulled off that surety so fast. Perhaps she couldn't remember his power accurately, but he'd still allowed himself to be healed, so she still won.

Coil would definitely die. And for her own sanity she'd never ask what exactly he'd done to the other her in another timeline. His power was useful, sure, but even brainwashed she couldn't make herself completely trust him. It was better if he died after she got any useful information out of him. Although she'd definitely ask him how he managed to get it done so quickly. Then he could die, she wouldn't take chances.

He was one slimy, tricky little shit after all.

But she'd won. Coil had chosen to be the 'test subject' for cellular regeneration and she could remember that. He chose to keep the timeline. In a few months at the latest he'd wake up one day, completely dependent on her. She couldn't wait for that call. Even if for whatever reason he decided to kidnap her before then… It was alright, because eventually he'd just let her go on her orders anyway. She could deal.

Coil was greedy. He wouldn't kill her. Not when he thought he could use her. So now it was just a waiting game.

Canon was still like a bit over six months plus away, she had time.

"I wasn't gone that long, you're like a puppy, I swear." Amy said with an amused quirk to her lips as she neared her sister.

If she did have a tail it would have absolutely been wagging at the moment.

"Ames, you took foooooorever!" Victoria disagreed, flying forward for the last few feet, glomping Amy into a full hug, almost throwing her off her feet. "You promised to go shopping with me!" She cried out gleefully. "Absolutely no take backs!"

Amy didn't often join in on shopping trips, so she understood her sister's excitement, not that it stopped her from using her power to spike her arousal as she held her tightly in a sisterly hug. She smirked slightly as Vicky broke away a red hue to her cheeks and a slightly guilty look to her face. "What's that look? You better not be taking me to buy anything weird, Vicky…" She teased her sister.

It was one of her few amusements in her everyday life, flustering her sister. The hospital was just… Sick people everywhere and she couldn't even really let loose. Not yet. It was just so much work, even though she felt it had its benefits as she was getting a lot stronger with the constant use of her powers and finding new ways to do things. The shaper shard was infinitely more happy here then in Canon she suspected. At least when she became a villain in her own right she'd have minions, get to order people around, instead of being constantly directed around.

Victoria huffed at her, but led her on towards the new dress shop she had blabbed about nonstop at school these last few days. Vicky really was angling for a fight if she thought she'd get Amy into a dress. At school she'd be lucky to get Amy into anything but jeans and a hoodie most days.

Amy was well aware of the difference in looks between the two of them, she'd not show up at school in a dress and try to compare to Glory Girl. Rule number one on her own evil overlord list - don't pick fights you can't possibly win.

Rule number two - Fuck you Carol. That was actually repeated a lot in her evil overlord list now that she thought about it.

But it needed saying.

No one at school would give her a second look standing next to Vicky. Not that she wanted them to anyway. She had better things to do than school drama. Really. She wasn't bitter.

School which was… Amy had already had another life going through school before even if she hadn't finished by the time she ended up here. So to say she was less than amused to be going through high school again was an understatement. All the New Wave nonsense and PR was also draining, considering New Wave barely bothered to actually do anything. Just as useless as the PRT and the Protectorate.

The Wards alone could clean up the Merchants in an afternoon. New Wave, the Wards and the Protectorate could wipe out the ABB (sans Lung) in half a day tops. But they never did anything like that. Fucking heroes. Yeah right.

Only a villain could actually improve Brockton Bay, they were the only one not so completely hamstrung in what they could do.

And the cherry on top of her current life was of course Cunt Dallon ( Sometimes called Carol for some reason). Dear old mom. She was even more of a cunt than Amy could have ever imagined, she pitied the original for going through it without the benefit of outside knowledge. The new her cared nothing for Carol's rules and attitude - instead of old Amy's general apathy and quiet struggle - her new attitude hardly made Carol an easier person to live with.

Although it was fun to see how red in the face Carol could get sometimes when Amy snarked back enough. Even if she invariably got grounded for it.

So many groundings…

Like groundings mattered when she'd still send her off to the hospital in the end.

Amy couldn't wait to become a villain. Knowing Carol would face the blame from literally everyone did add some extra delicious spice to the decision. She'd made sure to disseminate little comments here and there while doing her hospital work. Once she went bad, the entire hospital would point the finger to Carol. And it's not like Vicky or the rest of New Wave could really come out and say anything different, not really. Besides, Vicky would never move against her.

Ever.

Of course Amy had chosen to become a villain, albeit eventually. She needed some fun in her life. And honestly the power and infamy was pretty attractive too, being able to do whatever she wanted, choosing her own way forward. She was too useful for the PRT to come down too hard on her, as long as she played ball for Endbringer fights - and didn't make them scream Master. And in her backpocket she did have the information to fully stop them, for emergencies. Eidolon.

Perhaps once Brockton Bay was fully hers, she'd give that information out in exchange for the PRT to completely hand her the city in perpetuity.

Maybe if the world was exactly like Canon, she wouldn't be as gung ho about things. But she'd noticed a few differences. The major one being why she was so cavalier about her future villainhood and leveraging Endbringer attacks to keep herself from being ganked.

Scion was already dead. Possibly. She still suspected foul play because she was paranoid like that, but he seemingly had died.

When she'd realized that change she'd practically died from relief. No Khepri situation needed, no mass annihilation. Although she still wouldn't rest easy until the timeline got past golden morning.

All the details weren't publically available. Although she bet Cauldron knew it all, but not like those fuckers would share anyway.

Hero hadn't been killed by the Siberian, only wounded, and therefore he had lived longer than in Canon; that was the major change to the timeline. And eventually Hero had tried to talk Scion down or motivate him or something, not willing to commit to the evils that Cauldron planned as a necessity, or at least that's what she would guess was the reasoning. She had no idea why else he'd try it. Unless it was an actual assassination plot already but she doubted Cauldron would have signed off on that.

Alexandria for sure would have tried to stop him if it had been an 'official' attempt to solve the situation with Scion. They were way too busy scrambling around for any advantage to try something that overt so soon.

Hero must have been an absolute shit motivational speaker or so good that he went entirely in the opposite direction, because the media footage showed the two of them on hovering right above the ground talking with some random normal called Kalvin or something, then what appeared to be a portal appearing literally on Scion - which Hero disappeared into, then a blinding light, an explosion and that was it.

There was a big hole in the ground where York used to be in Britain… Which honestly, they were lucky it was only York disappearing and not the entire island considering what Scion could do.

The official story was that Scion had committed suicide and taken Hero down with him.

Amy was a bit more cynical, and wondered if Hero had used some tinkertech, what with being the best tinker ever, to force a portal open and then blew himself up to allow his friends to not go down too dark of a road with his sacrifice. Although how he got Scion to allow it is the question.

Because how did he get depressed enough to allow it without the convoluted situation in Canon?

She thought Hero was unbearably naive if he thought that would stop Cauldron, Alexandria and Doctor Mother wouldn't stop. She appreciated his sacrifice, as it made this less of a death world now that she wouldn't have to worry about total planetary annihilation. Only the partial annihilation ala Endbringers. She'd eat her uniform if Cauldron didn't just keep doing what they were doing anyway - this time to try and get enough power to take down the Endbringers.

Something which Amy could solve right now. But… She wouldn't.

Villain Amy would never see the Birdcage or a kill order as long as the Endbringers existed. As long as she didn't go full Bonesaw or Nilbog. Once she had amassed enough power to hold Brockton Bay, perhaps she'd be more comfortable. But now, no.

Not nice definitely, many would die. But well, she was a villain really. Besides most people, for all that they cried about destruction and deaths when it happened - didn't actually give a fuck or would lift a single finger to help, unless it was their own people or people they knew.

Ask any random American how many fucks they give about Sudan or something. Most probably wouldn't even care if an Endbringer suddenly wiped it out. People talked a good talk, but the amount of people in the world that actually lifted a finger to help people in other countries dealing with starvation or destruction was a very low percentage, the people that gave a shit was even lower.

Of course with Scion dead and not helping fight Endbringers, there had been a lot more deaths and destruction for a while as the PRT and militaries of the world adjusted to being solely responsible for driving them off now. A lot more deaths.

Well… If for a while counts, as there's still a lot more death and destruction going on.

"Amy, pay attention! Isn't this skirt just adorbs!?" Vicky shook her by the shoulders, wearing a white mini skirt that she'd definitely not be able to get past Cu- Carol.

Not to mention the fact she was a teenager and a famous superhero, wearing that miniscule skirt would get half of PHO banned for making dirty comments. It already happened enough due to Glory Girl being a flier wearing a skirt. And well for being a 10/10.

"I'll give you a hundred dollars if you wear that home." She said seriously, making Vicky bite her lip, eyes flickering with indecision.

"200." Amy coaxed, smiling when she saw the resolve set in her sister's eyes.

Not every villainous act needed to be a large one.

Besides,

Fuck Carol Dallon.

---

School. What was even the point? Amy did her best to hide herself in her hoodie as she was frog marched through the halls by Vicky. Apparently she needed 'friends'. How annoying. She hadn't liked high school kids when she'd been in high school, a second go around didn't endear her further.

"You know this counts as kidnapping." She complained without any heat, there wasn't really much of a point in fighting Vicky on the small stuff. Like any Brute she just bullheadedly pushed forward anyway.

Vicky put her arm around her shoulder, a grin on her face as she kept pushing Amy forward with every step, "No jury would convict me!" She said with full confidence. She tossed her hair casually, ignoring all the looks they drew as they marched towards the cafeteria. Amy was forever thankful that she did not have any form of telepathy as a power - she did not want to know what all the little beasts were thinking about her sister. "Besides, you can't eat lunch on the roof! That's like totally for weirdos!"

"Vicky, I am a weirdo." She deadpanned.

She was mousey and weird, she blended into the background - if it weren't for her fame anyway, not unattractive just… Not anything special either. With her hoodie and baggy jeans she qualified for weirdo even without her personality mixed in.

Compared to amazon Vicky with her perfect heart shaped face, curvaceous body, platinum blonde hair and blue eyes… Well, there was a reason she tried to not compare herself often.

Vicky pouted, hugging her closer to her side as they entered through the cafeteria doors, "You're only a little weird." She flashed Amy a smile showing she was just playing along. Before she bounced forward, dragging Amy with her, happily shouting across the cafeteria, "Look what I found!" Without any effort she lifted Amy up and deposited her in short order in front of one of the lunch tables.

The one filled with the wards. They're all idiots. Amy couldn't help but think with exasperation. She should have pushed a burst of arousal through Vicky and rushed for the roof while her sister couldn't think clearly.

"Hello Amy." Dean said politely with a small smile, the smile widening as Vicky plopped down next to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Drop dead with crotch rot." Amy answered back plainly, sitting down next to Vicky, already done with this whole socializing idea. Her sister was a cruel tyrant.

"Still a people person I see." Dennis joked, sitting across from her.

Amy slouched into her seat, her frown barely visible as she sunk back into her hoodie, "You're all idiots, I can handle normal people just fine." She said dismissively. Clockblocker and her did not mix well. He had a habit of making fun of her, she had a habit of making up plans to make a penis grow out of his forehead.

One day…

"Play nice, Amy." Vicky chided, although her twitching lips and the shine in her eyes told her that Vicky, as always, found her own amusement in siccing Amy on her friends.

"You're the biggest idiot." Amy grumbled. Pointing at Vicky. "Don't flutter your eyelashes at me, I'm immune!" She complained as Vicky tried a cutesy face.

Vicky laughed, leaning into Dean, "You're extra grumpy today, sis." She teased gently.

"I'm allergic to stupidity." Amy muttered, crossing her arms. It was a bit childish of her, but she was tired of people forcing her into things she didn't want. Even if Vicky had only good intentions, she was absolutely horrible at taking the word no without bulldozing over it.

"Who's being stupid this time?" Carlos asked buttering a roll, sighing as Dennis stole it suddenly, right out of his hand, "Really?"

"Well that question kind of answered itself, didn't it?" Chris snarked, stealing the roll back from Dennis and tossing it to Carlos. Amy didn't really like Kid Win and Aegis any better than Clockblocker, they were just too…

"C'mon, it's just a roll, I've totally done way dumber." Dennis bragged.

"What did I do to you to deserve this?" Amy asked plaintively of Vicky, who was watching the conversation with amusement while Dean ran a hand through her hair.

Their relationship was disgustingly new and they were all lovey dovey with each other. How she was supposed to eat lunch with that going on she couldn't understand. Gallant was such a stupid name too. She didn't dislike him for the same reason canon Amy did, she just thought he was so annoying.

"I think you might be exaggerating a tiny bit." Dean aka perfect Gallant, cut in with a chuckle, holding a hand up leaving just a tiny bit of space between two fingers.

"If you want her to stick around and gel with us, maybe cut her some slack and ease down on the teasing." Rory interjected calmly. "We're all the same here, no need to act out."

Amy made a face, hidden somewhat by her hoodie. Triumph as always tried to be the leader but mostly he came off as a tool regurgitating PRT talking points instead of anything worth listening to. He sounded like someone who'd been taught by Armsmaster on how to lead a team. Saying all the right things, but missing everything on whether he needed to say it at all, or when to do it.

"You're all just so… Dumb…" Way to go Amy. Alienate every ward in one sentence. At least she might get the privacy of her roof from now on…

"Ames!" Vicky groaned, although she had to quickly cover her mouth to prevent her snickering to be heard.

"I'm including you in that, Vicky." Amy said, staring her down, "I mean how does the gangs and the whole school not know all of your identities already?" She waved at Vicky, "You have Glory Girl coming and hanging out with you guys, the table of kids with a wide range of backgrounds and ages, who are still strangely tight knit. The group who randomly disappear from school at odd hours. Dragging me along to sit here just makes it even more obvious." Cape identities are supposed to be kept secret, but it was like no one at Arcadia was even trying.

"I don't see why you're worrying, you're unmasked anyway so what's the big deal to you?" Dennis said carelessly before shoving his face with hash browns.

"I'm surrounded by idiots." Amy groaned, "Someone should care. Am I the only one concerned with actual competence?"

"Amy, it's all working fine, don't stress about it." Vicky said, patting her hand, trying to soothe her irritation. Flashing her a brilliant smile, "Let's talk about something else. Like maybe who wants to take Amy for a date?" She chirped mischievously.

"Are you serious right now?" Came out of Amy's mouth at the same time as both Kid Win and Clockblocker said "Hard pass!"

Both Amy and Vicky zeroed in on the boys with harsh glares immediately. "What did you just say?" And "You can't say that to my sister like that!" Coming out of our respective mouths.

"Why don't we all calm down and eat." Rory tried, Dean jumping in at the same time to try and calm down Vicky, "They didn't mean it like that Vicky, they're just intimidated by her."

Yeah, intimidated by actual proof of intelligent life. She thought with some annoyance.

Amy sniffed imperiously, standing up, glaring down at the two idiot wards. "I'm a great catch, not that I want anything to do with you two, you better watch out, you'll definitely pay for that comment." She might have hammed it up a bit, but this was the perfect excuse to disengage and get away from the wards.

She stomped off to the sweet music of Vicky lambasting some stupid boys.

Could she just drop out when she became a Villain? That's possible, right? Supervillains didn't really need school. Although that depended on if she wanted to be a secret supervillain or not…

Ugh. At least with yet another disastrous meal in the bank it will be another week or two before Vicky tries to get her socializing with the wards again. No doubt they all thought she was a complete bitch. But she really just didn't want anything to do with them. They were so… Naive.

To honestly believe they were doing any good. Posing for photos and holding press conferences, patrolling the boardwalk. While they were doing that, women were being raped by the ABB, minorities murdered by the Empire 88, everyone having their lives destroyed by the Merchants and their drugs.

And the wards believed they were heroes? Amy couldn't stand them.

Except maybe Vista. She'd at least do more if she wasn't completely drowned by PRT regulations.

Too bad she couldn't recruit her without brain scrambling. And she didn't really want to do that to the wards, they may be idiots but she had some standards.

No brainwashing heroes. Unless she really really wanted to. It was a decent policy, right?

Just another fun school day… She thought as she sat down on the roof, eating idly while one hand played with a flower in the pockets of her hoodie, poking and prodding it with her power.

Normality was overrated. This life was just boring like this.

Sometime soon she'd have to find an excuse to get to Winslow and deal with the trio of idiots. There was no need in getting Skitter running around this time around, she didn't want to choke to death on bugs, thank you very much.

...

Later that night

Amy snuck back through her window, having left it just slightly opened so that she could open it fully to get back in on her return. Her nightly return to the hospital to practice her powers more was taken with the usual lambasting by the doctors and nurses who were concerned for her well being.

She had her 'official' hours just after school, but like Canon Amy, she went back for more regularly. Like it probably was in Canon, most of the staff thought Carol was pushing her too hard. Unlike that poor girl, the new her was going back to constantly play with and evolve her powers. Compared to when she first started - she could now continue healing for hours on end without stopping and she could do it fast too, no more standing around for minutes, she could heal most things in literal seconds.

Healing to her, was about as interesting most days as watching paint dry.

"Please tell me you've been having a dirty rendezvous with a bad boy and didn't just go do more boring work." Vicky pleaded dramatically, as Amy dropped to the floor, the blonde laying on her bed, her head hanging off it, staring up at her with a cute frown on her face.

"I did technically have a rendezvous with an old man." Amy admitted, taking her sweaty hoodie off and tossing it over Vicky's face.

Vicky rolled over, discarding the hoodie to the floor in the process, her eyes flickering over Amy's body so quickly it would have been impossible to catch it Amy hadn't been looking for it already. "Unfortunately I know you, so I know that isn't as kinky as it sounded." Vicky pointed out with a smirk, resting her chin on her folded hands.

"It was Clockblocker's grandfather, he had cancer, I took care of it." Amy said nonchalantly, as she divested herself of the rest of what she was wearing, after all, they were sisters, no big deal. Muahahaha.

"Wait… Really?" Vicky asked, a blush blooming onto her face as she tried to play unaffected. "Why didn't he say something before today?"

Amy rolled her eyes, amused at the way Vicky's eyes followed her movements as she approached her bed. "Because he's an idiot, he didn't mention it at all."

"Then how did you…?" Vicky trailed off as Amy pushed her face back, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I went over there and healed his grandfather to punish him of course." She said with a smirk, "For his stupid comment earlier today."

"Wait? You cured his grandfather of cancer as a punishment? You've lost me there." Vicky admitted distractedly, poking Amy in the midriff.

"Scoot, it's my bed." Amy said, before climbing in next to Vicky. Giving her a light nudge with her bare foot to move the girl enough that she could get under the covers. "And it's because now he'll feel super guilty for saying that when I went and healed his grandfather of course."

"God Ames, you can be such a bitch sometimes." Vicky laughed, a healthy flush to her and a bit of huskiness to her voice.

Amy patted her on the arm and made sure to flush a cocktail of endorphins and hormones through her body, spiking her arousal sky-high. "Yes I can be, now get out of my room."

"B-but…" Vicky stammered, pupils dilated and with her breathing coming in quick heavy breaths.

"We're too old to be sharing a bed." Amy said blandly, turning the light off and rolling over. Inwardly snickering.

The very keyed up Glory Girl left the room shortly thereafter.

Amy was definitely a bit of a bitch. She was okay with it though.

Besides, Vicky was a big girl, she could handle herself.

Amy was just about to sleep, when the sirens started blaring.

Endbringer.

Fucking of course.

---

She was the last one it seemed when she arrived at PRT HQ. The Protectorate was all there standing outside already, there were no villains offering themselves up today it seemed. Nor were any wards present. And she was the only one from New Wave that would be going. Carol had almost even kept her back, but it would look bad on New Wave if none of them contributed nowadays, so here she was.

It was the Hero-killers turn. Behemoth. Idly she wondered how many of those standing in front of her were going to die today. One of the things that had changed lay behind the full roster showing today. Protectorate capes no longer had the option to say no to Endbringer fights.

"Panacea. Thank you for coming." Miss Militia said with a short nod, her power changing constantly between a large knife and some sort of handgun. Even veterans got nervous when it was Behemoth, Amy couldn't blame her, the death toll was bad before when fighting that particular Endbringer. Without Scion to drive it off, the death toll nowadays for Behemoth fights was around 70-80 percent of all combatants. That was not public information or no one would ever show up - but Amy knew due to being the healer™.

If it kept up like this she'd have to let loose her Endbringer data early just to have any heroes left to mess with. It just wasn't sustainable to keep losing so many. More people outside the Protectorate volunteered to fight the Simurgh and Leviathan rather than face Behemoth - and with Simurgh's capacity for fucking with brains… That said a lot.

Amy would have to see if she could do something about that, being able to catch Ziz-bombs or potentially healing them could net her some good money if she was mercenary about it. She'd have to be away from Carol first for that though. And hopefully keep it quiet. She didn't need the extra fame, it would just make her career switch more annoying.

Amy ran a hand through her sweaty hair, wishing she had a shower before bed at least. She felt way too grungy after so many hospital hours today, "Yeah, looking forward to it." She drawled sarcastically.

At least she'd trained her skin bacteria to destroy anything that would have left an odor so she wouldn't be the smelliest hero on site.

"This is not a joking matter." Armsmaster chided sternly as he fiddled with something on his halberd. "I can understand the need to make light of the situation, but your nerves would be better turned onto more productive things."

Amy scoffed, the leader of Brockton Bays protectorate had never liked her much after that one teeny tiny comment on PHO calling him Assmaster when he was tossed on his ass by Uber and Leet that one time. "I'd make another sarcastic comment but I just don't really think you're worth the effort." Amy turned away, dismissing Armsmaster from her mind.

She also never liked him much because she remembered well how much of an ass he could be from Canon, he wasn't totally bad, just really annoying at times. Definitely not as bad as she'd seen in some fics, this Armsmaster was pretty human, just very focused on himself.

"Some respect for the chain of command wouldn't go amiss." Miss Militia said quietly, eyes flickering over to Armsmaster for a moment, "He's a serious man, Panacea, he doesn't mean anything by it, and we're all on the same side here."

Amy had even less respect for Miss-might-as-well-be-a-nazi than she did for Armsmaster. At least he tried sometimes. She would follow PRT orders even if they said to sacrifice every kid in town. Pretty much what the PRT was doing on the daily here anyway.

Not like any girl out walking after dark could hope the PRT would save them - they never did, not enough to matter. She could ask the girls kidnapped and used in the ABB's brothels how much they felt the PRT cared, she had a feeling the answer would contain some foul language.

"I'm not a PRT stooge, I'm not in your chain of command." Amy said cooly, walking away from the top two and therefore the most useless members of the Protectorate. The two that would always without fail protect incompetence in the name of PR and orders. Who cared how many had to be killed and enslaved as long as the press conferences went well.

God, she hated this world. What was the point of Heroes when they were worse than the villains for the normal population?

Yeah, Jack Slash was bad, horrible even. But more people have died or suffered from PRT (Or Cauldron) inaction or actual purposeful actions - than the Slaughterhouse Nine had ever killed. Especially as Cauldron was actively letting the Nine rampage.

At least people calling themselves heroes should actually do something to live up to that name.

"One of these days someone's going to smack you down, girl." Battery said with visible amusement as Amy parked herself next to her and Assault. The two least objectionable members of the team in her opinion.

Which says a lot about the heroes, as Assault used to be a villain.

Also they sometimes dropped off a frappe to her when she was working - so she'd silently classified them as not objectionable.

"I can give your boyfriend a 3 inch dick." Amy threatened playfully, leaning against the walls of the PRT headquarters, hands hidden away within her robed cape uniform. The wait was always the worst about Endbringers. Once she was busy healing, time just flew away until it was over. The waiting allowed her to think too much.

"Hey, now! I didn't even do anything this time!?" Assault complained, both hands dramatically grasping nothing over his costume - where his heart would be.

Battery grinned irreverently, "Might be an improvement, a whole extra inch, puppy." She put both hands apart as if measuring something, it was not a flattering distance apart.

"Savage. I approve." Amy couldn't help but let a small smirk grow on her face as the two went into their usual routine of mocking and teasing each other. They were definitely her favorites.

Reminded her of Vicky and her just more… Adult. Ugh, she just compared herself and Vicky to a couple again. Stupid brainwashing.

Then Strider was there suddenly with a loud crack, cutting through any further conversation. The independent cape glancing over them all, everyone stepping closer without prompting. Everyone here had been to an Endbringer fight before.

"This everyone?" Strider asked more as a habit than wanting to wait on any latecomers. Armsmaster barely got his mouth open to reply when Strider saw Miss Militia's nod and went into action.

Between one blink and the next, with a loud crack, they all disappeared, just to reappear elsewhere. Amy hadn't even asked where they would be going, but she immediately recognized the skyline. Hard to miss the Eiffel Tower reaching into the sky.

"Really? Paris, the city of love? Romance is dead, thanks a lot Behemoth." She griped, getting another chagrined look from Armsmaster before he marched off, the rest of the Brockton Bay Protectorate following in his wake. "Tch, you're no fun." She mumbled to herself.

She knew it annoyed the man to no end that she was not under his authority when she'd mouth off. Partly why she did it in the first place.

A PRT agent materialized by her side, holding an armband out to her. "Panacea, if you'd follow me I'll take you to your station, please put on this armband an- "

She interrupted him, already closing the armband around her wrist. "Yeah, yeah, it will allow anyone to speak to everyone, all tracked and facilitated by Dragon, it keeps track of our vital signs etc etc and allows our people to locate and save downed heroes, it's not my first rodeo." She lifted her wrist up and pressed the button, "Panacea." She spoke clearly, the armband coming online.

She followed the agent, some tension visible in her frame. She didn't want to stop Endbringer attacks yet. They were too useful for her own future benefit. As much of a cold hearted cunt that made her. But this wasn't Canon anymore. Endbringer fights lasted longer without Scion, and were more lethal because of that.

There was no guarantee Behemoth wouldn't crush the medical area and end her today. She was a hundred times the healer than the original Panacea had been by the time Canon started. She'd constantly played with her power. Gone to lengths the original would have never touched. But she still couldn't heal herself or play around much with her own biology. Two years of effort had allowed her to deaden pain to some extent. That was it. That was the limit she'd hit.

She listened to Dragon as the timer counted down. Standing in the medical area set apart for the few who wouldn't just immediately die upon contact. Behemoth was almost here.

And then he was.

Amy could hear the almighty crash as Behemoth emerged, simply crushing his way through buildings, heroes no doubt firing everything they had to stop him.

Already names were dropping. She'd have work soon. At times like these she wished the PRT had the sense to threaten the shit out of the villains to get people like Othala to be here. Or fuck, bribe them. But that would break the silly little rules they had. Fucking idiots.

"Bastion down, Firecracker deceased, Strider down, Spade deceased, Carousel deceased, Velocity down -"

Amy ignored the broadcast, pressing the button on the armband, "Someone find Strider and get him to medical now!" She snapped. Someone was probably already working on that - but she held no confidence in PRT heroes intelligence.

Without Strider being able to teleport their capes around to save the downed capes, Behemoth would just run through them all in no time, mobility was the key, and the other capes capable of saving downed capes were not nearly as fast as Strider. They couldn't let the bastard wreck Paris. She'd never even had a cliche Parisian lovey dovey date with anyone yet. In either life.

For romance they must win… She could see Vicky actually saying something like that if she was here. Amy wasn't nearly ridiculous enough to say it out loud.

She received an affirmative from someone, and a minute later Strider was dumped on one of the beds by a yellow suited cape who immediately disappeared again in swirling mists saying something french in passing.

Amy laid her hands on the independent teleportation cape. He had more broken bones than whole ones - but he was alive still. She suffused his entire body with her power, taking the opportunity to tweak his brain enough that he'd come see her at some point for instructions later if they both lived, making him see her as his savior. The opportunity was just too great to pass up on. As he woke up once he was healed he immediately went into a teleport with just a short nod her way as a thanks, having realized he was whole again - Amy felt her power expand all of a sudden, a connection forming. It was the biggest trip of her life, and tinker made drugs had some huge trips.

So she heard…

Her mind was everywhere, her power teleporting around, reaching out, her power felt stretched like it was reaching out over everything. She fell back on the ground on her ass even as more capes were being brought in and the medical personnel around her panicked at her sudden collapse.

The two other capes in the medical area with some healing capabilities would have to deal with the influx; her mind was on everything right now.

"Armsmaster deceased, Aurelian deceased, Strider down, -" The armband continued and Amy twitched in annoyance. The bearded idiot had not suffered nearly enough to go now, and fucking Endbringers with no regard for her efforts, she just healed Strider. Hardly knowing what she was doing but just feeling that she could, her power reached out from the medical area to the people named by Dragon. An invisible touch reaching Armsmaster, his rib cage crushed, but he'd only been dead for 3 seconds, Amy healed him up good as new and restarted his heart, her power just regenerating the cape wholesale, she felt herself weakening from it but that was all the apparent drawback, her power teleporting along to Strider, both legs practically gone, crushed to paste, she twitched in annoyance back in medical, but grew the legs back which snapped him into wakefulness again and he was again on the move pretty quick, apparently not even stopping to wonder about his miracle healing.

She could only heal by touch normally, but in this case she wasn't even healing like she normally was. She was just pumping them full of her power and regenerating them. Even the recently dead.

She could only deal with living tissue, but someone dead for barely seconds was essentially still living as far as their cells and tissue mattered. She fixed them with an ease even stronger than her usual powerful healing.

Her eyes stared ahead unseeing as she continued her work. The doctors and nurses around her were gaping in shock as over and over again Dragon came over the comm channel with deceased and downed Heroes, only to just as promptly declare them alive and back in the fight again. Amy felt herself growing weaker but she refused to quit, exhilarating in the powerful feeling of stretching her power across Paris.

To the heroes credit, they didn't question any of it and just jumped back into the fight. There was no time for shock or gratitude.

On and on Amy fought, viciously refusing to let the big stupid thing undo her work. It would all be fine, it would all work out. STOP KILLING STRIDER! She screamed mentally as she healed Strider again. After putting him down for the count twice, alive but seriously injured - Behemoth seemed to have it out for him now. Killing Strider an additional three times already - no, four! FUCK OFF! She raged as she put him back together again, her power sliding over another Hero, one whose head was crushed, coolly she left him dead, she would not reveal she could work on brains.

It wasn't worth it. She was inherently selfish after all. She wasn't outing herself with that capability for some random cape.

On and on it went, until suddenly she wasn't feeling anyone dying anymore. Well not any heroes anyway, plenty of people in the city were dying. But only maybe a few thousand, not the hundreds of thousands at minimum that she'd expect from a Behemoth fight nowadays.

She blinked blearily, coming back to herself. What the fuck was that - how did her power pick up on Striders teleportation? Was it because she did reach into his brain, touched his Corona Pollentia? Had she somehow what? Biologically programmed her own power to add teleportation when it was inside him? Could she do it again? And why was she so woozy, she tasted iron too, she brought her hand up to her lips, then her nose, they came back fully stained red. Oh, that's why.

She hit the floor a second later.

---

"This should be impossible."

It was a small group. They'd convened in the medical area put aside for the Heroes by the Parisian government. For once it was practically empty. Not something Alexandria would have ever believed if she'd been told before today. The only patient, resting in the bed in front of them. Amy Dallon, Panacea. The miracle worker as some were already proclaiming all over PHO.

She'd been unconscious the entire day, the best medical professionals in the country swearing up and down that she'd recover soon, that it was exhaustion more than anything behind it.

"I am living proof that it is in fact possible." Armsmaster retorted stiffly. His armor shattered across his torso, the tinker having had no time to fix it yet, and apparently unwilling to go without it. As Panacea was from his city, he'd been included in this meeting, insisted on it actually. Refusing to let her be alone without someone she'd recognize.

"All data point to nothing short of a miracle," Dragon interjected via video link. "Over 70 percent of the Heroes present today… Died," She said with a grave expression." Yet a majority of them were healed within seconds and brought back." Dragon hesitated for a moment, "Over thirty percent of the Heroes died at least three times."

None of them spoke of Strider who'd died four times and been brought down severely injured thrice. The teleporter had anxiously awaited news of Panacea's recovery, desperate to thank the young heroine. None of them could blame him for those feelings.

It certainly made Alexandria uncomfortable to imagine dying four times. Behemoth deaths were always brutally violent. She'd seen too many of them.

"70 percent is a normal number for Behemoth." Legend said sharing a commiserating look with Alexandria and Eidolon. It's why it was so hard to get anyone in the know to come fight Behemoth after all. Why they had been struggling to save any cities from the Endbringer.

"How many died in total?" Alexandria demanded of Dragon, "Permanently, I mean." She added when she realized that was a thing she had to ask now.

"11 Heroes are so far confirmed dead, and although the death count of civilians is far from completed yet, it looks likely it will not eclipse five thousand." Dragon said a note of wonder in her voice. "Radiation levels are nominal, Behemoth never had time to really get going with so many Heroes constantly on him, returning to fight no matter what he did."

He'd eventually been driven off by the amount of damage the Triumvirate had managed to inflict when the multitude of Heroes could pin him down to allow the three of them to focus fully on damaging it instead of holding actions.

It had left behind an arm, which Alexandria knew Cauldron would be happy to examine and see what they could make of it.

The Triumvirate and Armsmaster took the information from Dragon in with a shared sense of disbelief even though they'd already heard the number before briefly. Eleven dead Heroes was…

"There has never been a death toll that low." Armsmaster said, almost as if speaking to himself, staring down at the pale, raccoon eyed girl they were all staring transfixedly at, waiting for her to wake.

"The French government has already declared her a citizen, instituted a national Panacea holiday and is planning on showering her with medals. Their parliament and president are practically gushing on TV right now." Legend said, shaking his head in wonder, "She deserves all that and more, this is… Big."

"It's only been two hours since they were informed about the particulars, they work fast." Eidolon said quietly. Seemingly discombobulated by something. Alexandria glanced his way, brow furrowed. Eidolon didn't seem happy, despite their huge victory.

"It is not in the news yet, but there's talk in upper levels of government in the states to give her the presidential medal of freedom." Dragon piped in.

Eidolon twitched slightly, drawing Alexandria's attention again, but at that moment Legend clapped his hands together with a wide smile drawing all eyes on him, "Good, we should celebrate her achievement. This will bring hope, it will bring us all together."

"How did she do it?" Alexandria wondered out loud. Panacea's power was well documented with how much she used it to heal people in Brockton Bay. Admirable really, for such a young heroine to have that kind of dedication. Alexandria had never paid much attention to her existence, something that would have to change now.

"We will find out momentarily, she is waking." Armsmaster said, almost robotically. The man did not appear to take his death well.

It was a new world.

For the first time since Contessa disappeared and Hero died with Scion, with the Endbringers becoming almost unstoppable in the aftermath, Alexandria found a sliver of hope in her chest.

It wasn't a way to defeat them. But it was something.

And it was better than nothing.

Damn Hero for being a fool.

---

"Ow." Amy moaned, as she found herself waking, a throbbing pain in her skull making itself immediately known, the bright lights didn't help her eyes any either. "What the fuck happened?" She swore, before remembering what she had been doing before she must have passed out. Her whole body was aching, her power was aching, it was like she had stretched every muscle in her body even the metaphysical ones.

"That's what we would like to know." A stern voice asked from her side.

Amy blinked, scooting up into a sitting position in her bed, blinking again as she figured the lights were messing with her vision. Or she was dreaming, because she was pretty sure she was seeing the Triumvirate in front of her. "I'd say this must be a dream… But none of my many naughty dreams involving the Triumvirate - had lord fuddy duddy there." She indicated Armsmaster with her chin. Of course she was joking anyway, she only dreamed of Alexandria.

She glanced quickly at the other heroine, taking her all in, yep, definitely some future dream material.

Armsmaster looked supremely uncomfortable at her opening gambit. Which pleased Amy to no end. At least Legend had a sense of humor, the sinfully attractive man was laughing brightly while his two colleagues just looked constipated. And when she said sinfully attractive, it was true, because she was gay and she still thought he was an absolute dish.

"At least someone appreciates me." Amy mumbled, wincing as her head ached just from the small movements she'd made.

"I think it's fair to say that there's not a lot of people in the world right now that doesn't appreciate your efforts Panacea." A voice came from nowhere.

Amy recognized the voice of course, she just couldn't see where she was speaking from, and she wasn't going to turn her head and make herself hurt worse for it. "What do you mean?" She asked, a suspicious frown on her face.

"Do you remember the fight with Behemoth?" Alexandria asked her, looking like she'd had a stroll down the Champs-Élysées instead of having duked it out with an Endbringer.

Fucking brutes.

Amy did remember… "Fuck!"

"You're… Upset?" Eidolon asked, a weird look on his face, the man wearing a domino mask instead of his usual get up.

Amy groaned as she rubbed her face gently, not wanting to set off her aches even more, "I love that I healed so many, don't get me wrong… But it's going to be a big deal isn't it?"

"Only eleven people died permanently. That's not even five percent casualties." Armsmaster helpfully offered.

Amy groaned louder, grabbing a pillow and screaming into it, even if it hurt her head she just needed to release it. How was she going to turn to villainy if she was the most well known and loved hero of them all. And if she could make a habit of reducing casualties like this in Endbringer fights then she would be, hands down the most popular hero. Hell, if she tried to turn villain the fucking Triumvirate would chase her down and force her back into heroism.

There's a very big difference between a healer able to help heal the injured in an Endbringer fight - and one able to heal everyone, even the recently dead.

Eleven dead, probably either brain injuries or people that died before her power got boosted. What a mess.

She would need to find a way forward. Like hell she was spending her life like a heal bot.

"Are you… Okay?" Legend asked, one hand on her shoulder, squeezing her gently.

Amy removed the pillow from her face, sighing deeply, "Yeah, no. Not really. The last thing I want is to become more famous. That's not why I do what I do." Well, kind of. Infamous would be fine.

She could practically feel approval of her 'heroic' attitude radiating from Legend and surprisingly from Alexandria too, maybe she wasn't as stone cold of a bitch as she was in Canon.

Armsmaster and Eidolon were practically both competing for gold in the competition of how constipated can you look - while trying to not look upset about such casual disregard for fame.

Fucking glory hounds.

Shit… Eidolon is totally by accident sending an Endbringer to Brockton Bay next for sure isn't he? Amy just kind of wanted to scream again. She didn't even want to be a hero!

"How did you do it? It is what I want to know." Alexandria asked, "Did you trigger again?" She asked bluntly.

"I don't… Think so?" Amy said hesitantly, could that be it? No? Why would she second trigger? She wasn't even in any danger at the time.

"You don't sound so sure?"

"I don't think that was it… I was healing Strider, and he needed intensive healing and it almost felt like my power latched onto his in a way." Amy explained, feeling more sure of herself the more she said, it would be bad to outright lie in front of Alexandria anyway, so she just… Didn't tell her everything." He teleported away before I completely released him and then I could just feel that my power could also move across space like that, so everytime a name got called out, I moved to them with my power."

"Can you still use his powers?" Dragon asked in the ensuing silence as everyone pondered what she'd said.

"I don't know. Everything just aches right now." Amy said, looking down at her hands. I honestly don't know… But I have a pretty good guess. Let them believe I don't. I can say no when I'm not standing in front of Alexandria. Hopefully the fact she literally wasn't entirely sure would hide anything else she was feeling. Once she was up and moving she could showcase some minor improvement if necessary. If like she thought, it worked.

Every adult around her started theorizing about how it could have all happened, Amy listening with half an ear as no one seemed inclined to include her. That suited her just fine.

The longer she could avoid going home right now the better, perhaps.

Vicky was going to murder her for getting hurt without Vicky there to protect her. Not that she could have done anything. But logic and facts were never a real hindrance for Glory Girl.

And of course Carol would milk her new fame for all that it's worth, funny how comfortable she was with that while pretending she didn't exist the rest of the time.

…. Maybe it was time to put Carol down a peg.

---

Authors note:

So Scion is dead? Or is he?

So going villain, because wards and undersiders are so boring to do. Although Amy will still have to continue to play hero for a bit.

Even without Scion (Maybe) you still have Endbringers and guys like the Slaughterhouse Nine and the Teeth. So not like it's utopia either way, it's Worm.

I know the armbands and early detection system is apparently supposed to be new by canon start - but with Toybox around, Dragon and Armsmaster both not being newbies in any way, I just can't see it not being already done. Not like the armbands are complicated compared to other tech in Worm. Especially the early detection system would have had every tinker in the world prioritizing it, with Endbringers hurting the world even more.

I've already read hundreds of fights with Coil in Worm fanfics, didn't really want to do the same already done fight again, so here, even if he can still cause problems for a few months, but there's not going to be a drawn out timeline shenanigans fight.

Cheers,

Spoiler: Patreon

Get more from JollyHippopotamus on Patreon

Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators. Support and engage with artists and creators as they live out their passions!

www.patreon.com

 

[JollyHippo]

Here's chapter 2: Plans within Plans.

So another chapter, here comes the response from the world. Panacea has changed things already, and people of course have their own plans for it.

And she hasn't even begun yet, not really.

In this world there's no Scion apparently, so he's not arriving to kick Endbringers away. So there's a lot more death and destruction and loss of hope than in canon. So the fact the death toll is so low, is a big deal. The fact that hardly any heroes died is monumental.

Imagine it as an atomic bomb exploding in Paris, then someone walks by and goes nah, none of that, and saves everyone from that. That's how she's looked at right now.

Canon Worm was pretty hopeless, but at least the regular people could hope for Scion intervention. Here the regular people had no hope once the Endbringer siren went off - they knew that most of them were going to die. Now they do have some hope, and it's all because of one girl.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

---

Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

You are currently logged in, Panacea

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to
• AND Threads that have new replies
• OR private message conversations with new replies
• Thread OP is displayed.
• Ten posts per page
• Last ten messages in private message history.
• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.

♦ Topic: Panacea the Miracle Worker

In: Boards ► America ► Brockton Bay ► Capes Speculation ► Panacea

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Alright, I don't even know anymore. Usually not even I can get information on Endbringer fights, but this time… This time it's being shouted out loud and clear to everyone and everywhere.

Behemoth attacked Paris yesterday, and it is still standing. The death toll looks to be under 5000 according to my sources and the Hero-killers count of slain heroes? Eleven!

The lowest civilian death toll from Behemoth previously was around 150 000 people. This is huge, people!

We all know that hero deaths from Endbringer fights are never fully released, not even I can get my hands on those numbers. However during the years internet sleuths have been able to approximate the numbers based on how many Heroes never show up again after a fight, and usually Behemoth deaths go to triple digits in Heroes killed or permanently crippled, at least before two years ago when Panacea triggered.

Something like that was becoming unsustainable for obvious reasons.

Paris still stands, our Heroes are still alive. And according to my sources it's all down to Brockton Bay's very own Panacea!

I don't even know what to classify her powers as at this point, apparently her power reached out all over Paris, healing Heroes from a distance, healing deceased Heroes so quickly after their death that they survived. What do you even rate this at?

Panacea day is already a thing in France. And my sources say a Presidential medal of Freedom is coming Panacea's way and that she already has an invitation to the White House waiting for her.

It's not for nothing words like savior are being tossed around.

(Showing page 1 of 278)

►XxVoid_CowboyxX (Temp Banned)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

So Panacea has an undead army of Heroes now? Is she working with the Endbringers to gather up an army? I always knew she was evil! No one's that nice! Someone needs to do something about her permanently, before we all drown in zombies fr.

Also first yah losers!

►Aurelian (Verified Cape) (Équipe nationale de grève)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Her divine touch brought peace and salvation, three times the devil came for me, three times I was brought back to serve by the hands of divinity.

She has come. She is salvation.

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

XxVoid_CowboyxX take a week off, seven day ban for you, do not threaten heroes, not even indirectly or as a joke.

As an aside, Panacea has performed a real life miracle and it should not be dirtied or made into something it is not, it is a disservice to all the heroes who risked their life, and those who died. Keep the thread respectful.

►Free4thighs

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Aurelian - What's a frenchie cape even doing in this forum? You able to read, frog? It says AMERICA!

Also, you died three times according to utube. Loser.

►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

On behalf of the Brockton Bay Parahuman response team and Protectorate, I'd like to extend our sincerest appreciation for the work of Panacea and the lives she saved today. All of our members will be returning to Brockton Bay to continue their good work in keeping our city safe.

►Candlestick

Replied On May 13th 2010:

@Reave Safe? Lol what city do you live in, can't be the same Brockton I live in fam.

Aurelian Someone's had ALL the kool-aid I see.

►Valkyr (Wiki Warrior)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

@Panacea I have no idea how to update your wiki, just gonna put OP next to your name for now.

Bagrat you always know stuff, got any tidbits on her power from the PRT yet?

► Glory Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave) (Temp Banned)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

WHOO! Go Sis! That's my sister basically soloing an Endbringer! Next one we take down together alright!? I'm so pumped right now!

XxVoid_CowboyxX if I find you you're gonna be eating outta a straw for the rest of your creep life!!!!!!

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Glory Girl, 24 hour ban, you know better, don't post threats.

►WhiteHarley (Banned)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Tch, the Hero who can actually hurt someone badly gets 24 hours, while one of us regulars makes an indirect joke and gets seven days, what a suck up moderator.

Aurelian Freak confirmed. Stay over there weirdo!

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

@WhiteHarley Glory Girl has no previous infractions, the same can not be said for XxVoid_CowboyxX. Don't try and start something where there is nothing please and thank you, let's keep this forum clean and friendly for everyone.

►WhiteHarley (Banned)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Removed by moderator.

►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Whoa @WhiteHarley that's uncalled for, and disgusting. Hope mods report your IP dude.

Anyways, so does anyone know what to even classify Panacea as now? Bagrat I agree with @Valkyr, got any more info for us?

Either way holy shit Panacea did a thing.

►DiscoStu (Veteran Member)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Glory Girl, you've been sniffing too much bleach blondie. The real heroes fought an Endbringer. You stayed at home painting your nails, and your sister stayed safe in the back, pipe down.

Bagrat any truth to the rumors that Armsmaster got wasted?

►DockMe

Replied On May 13th 2010:

@Reave Srsly? Are you trying to make this into another PRT stunt? Panacea isn't even one of you losers! She does more for the city than any of you ever have!

Try patrolling more than the boardwalk you hyped up government dogs!

►GloryHole (Banned)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Removed by moderator.

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On February 13th 2010:

Name not allowed, no posting sexually explicit scenarios, especially those kinds. Perma ban, I'm not retyping that name, you know who you are.

►JollyHippo (Veteran Member) (Secret Overlord)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Umm, is anyone else seeing this Church of Panacea thing that's popping up all over the internet? I mean it's been only a few hours and they have like ten thousand members already.

Strangely enough the French cape weirdo isn't one of them, yet.

►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

JollyHippo - Oh man I see what you're saying, the weirdos are out in full force, they're calling her the SAVIOR, and yeah it's supposed to be in all caps.

Like, I'm not gonna join a cult, but I see where they're coming from.

Tbh tho, I'd rather worship Glory Girl, if you know what I mean

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Replied On May 13th 2010:

Valkyr, Brocktonite03, I currently don't have any more information on Panacea's powers but I'm working on it, she's not part of the PRT so I don't know how much I can finagle. (And no this does not mean I'm secretly in the PRT, don't even start.)

DiscoStu Armsmaster has been pictured with his armor completely shattered across his torso, so it's possible that there's some truth to the rumors, it's not been confirmed yet.

Anyways,

Listen to this, there's capes joining the Church of Panacea, I'm scrolling down the members list, ( it's fully public for those that have the time to browse) And there's already three capes that I can see that have signed up. (That's not counting Glory Girl who probably signed up as a joke) The Panacea fan club has also seen an absolutely insane boost in numbers, growing to the fourth most followed cape in the world in just the last few hours.

She's already knocked Armsmaster off the top billet in Brockton Bay according to fan polls.

Reave What is the PRT policy for a cape starting a religion?

End of Page. 2, 3, 4 ... 275, 276, 277, 278

…

"Motherfucker!" Amy swore as she continued to scroll through PHO. It was bad enough that she was being called a miracle worker, but to have a cult start up - there's no way that would end well. And it better damn well be a joke that Vicky joined up!

She switched away from PHO and searched for the Church of Panacea, growing more discomforted as she searched through the webpage, it was pretty professional looking for something thrown together in less than a day. She scrolled through the list of names, grimacing as she came upon Glory Girl as one of the listed members. It was odd that they were publicly showing the members like that. Although if capes were joining maybe that was just a way to entice all the cape geeks to sign up.

"Aunt Sarah nooo, why are you guys like this!" She moaned in distress as she came upon Lady Photon of all people having signed up as well. At least Carol would lose it on more people than her.

She was kind of glad she forgot her phone at home and was using a borrowed one. She didn't want to imagine the amount of texts she had right now. Or how much Carol would be calling her. No doubt this stupid church thing would somehow be her fault. Even if she was unconscious when it started.

She put the phone down, not wanting to read any further, it was only pissing her off. Did no one realize that the more they propped her up the more likely it would be that people like Jack Slash or the Butcher would find it hilarious to come pay a visit? Was she the only parahuman with a working brain? Why was the likes of Alexandria allowing this shit and not stomping down hard?

Especially as she wasn't part of the Protectorate. They usually played pretty hardball with the independent heroes. Even the ones in an independent team.

At least the ache inside her was settling down. She still hurt, but it was more of a dull ache now, even thinking about using her powers made her wince, she still felt sore all over. She had confirmed though that she still had some expansion of her powers. She no longer could stretch across Paris, but the building she was in - she could reach out that far. She could feel it. It made her itch to try and get her hands on another parahuman and see if she could draw out another combination power now that she knew how. Unfortunately it didn't allow for her full capabilities, she could reach and suffuse people with her healing energy so to speak, mostly allowing it to go through the body and make it heal itself. She couldn't do any of her real bio tinkering across a distance, she'd have to actually be touching someone.

Made sense, she supposed. Even though it would have made things a lot easier for her if she could tweak people from a building away.

Both Alexandria and Legend had been back to check on her, interested in having her try and connect to Strider again, to see if she could replicate the feat. She'd had to demur so far due to her exhaustion and aching system. Hopefully she could hold it off long enough that she could get out of here first. She didn't mind testing it out, (She felt like she could for sure replicate the feat) but she didn't want to do it in front of Cauldron. Not to the full extent anyway. Some minor improvements shouldn't be too bad.

She eyed her phone, borrowed from some random nurse who'd been falling over herself at the honor. It had been very uncomfortable, Amy did not look forward to seeing more of that kind of awkward hero worship. She really wished she had a separate civilian identity to go hide in at the moment. Sighing, she picked the phone back up again. The longer she held off on this the more of a headache it would be. She dialed the number. Random nurse was about to get some sucky international call charges on her bill.

"Who's this?" Victoria answered immediately, like she'd been waiting for a call.

Amy let a breath out of her nose, "It's me, Vicky."

"Holy shit! Ames! Are you alright!? Everyone's going crazy about you!" Vicky replied with a note of concern under her exuberance.

"I've been better… It's been a bit much." Amy acknowledged, leaning her head back against her pillow. She'd still not been moved out of the medical area, the large mass trauma room felt very empty with only her as a patient. "Okay, so it's actually been way too much…"

"You're okay though? You're not hurt?" Vicky asked quickly, "They better be giving you the royal treatment!" Amy could practically see her sister pumping her arm in the air. She knew her that well.

"I'm just sore, and annoyed. Why did you join that stupid cult, Vicky? It's a bad joke, people will take that shit seriously!" Amy complained, she was used to Vicky doing stupid things, but joining a cult was a bit much. Besides Vicky was her minion, no stupid cult got to muscle in on that.

"It's hilarious!" Vicky disagreed cheerfully, "They've already come up with a prayer for you and everything, I helped a little." God, why does she sound proud of that! Shitty big sister!

Amy let that statement hang in the air as she hit her head against the phone, taking a deep breath, "Why!?" She groaned, "Vicky, how is mom even letting you get away with this BS?"

There was a pervasive silence on the other line, Amy couldn't help but let out a brief disbelieving laugh, "Oh god, she doesn't know? She's going to kill you!" Well… Actually it would probably be blamed on her instead.

"I didn't think that far ahead." Vicky admitted sheepishly, "She's busy talking with the press and some bigwigs and stuff, did you know we've all been invited to the White House?" She chirped, back to being bubbly and cheerful again. "And like, there's already a toy line being fast tracked for you, mom's on it right now, gonna call it the miracle line, snazzy huh? I'm tots jealous btw, but at least it's you."

Great… Only reason Carol isn't yelling about the church of Panacea is that she's too busy trying to make money off her name. Super. Being underage sucked, having a lawyer as a mom that hated you sucked worse, that should be her toy money, but she knew Carol would funnel most of it to New Wave or charity. Without asking her for her input, of course.

"Vicky… Please for me, just… Leave the cult, okay?" Amy said tiredly. Hearing that Carol would be coming to the White House for the medal ceremony did not exactly bring her joy. And of course the end of an Endbringer attack had her mom looking to capitalize on a toy deal, priorities right? The whole thing was going to be a mess, Amy wasn't looking forward to whatever shit would be dumped on her this time once she got home.

If anything Carol was worse than Canon because Amy refused to be silent and just take it now.

Things would explode once she got back to Brockton Bay. As much as she hated her stupid fame messing up her plans. It did give her some leverage to tell Carol to screw herself.

"Oh, hey Mom, I got Amy on the phone, did you want to speak to her?" Vicky, the absolute traitor, could be heard saying, speaking to Carol.

So much nope!

"Oh, wait, Alexandria needs to speak with me, talk to you later." Amy said bitchily and hung up before Vicky could answer, or worse, Carol could. She put her head in her hands groaning out loud. "Vicky, why? What have I ever done to you?" Well… Except messing with your mind and body chemistry… Was karma a thing? It felt like it was. Which, so not fair. Compared to original Amy she was practically a saint when it came to Vicky.

Had she turned Vicky into a flesh monstrosity? No? Then she was way ahead already, her karma should be excellent.

The phone started ringing, Amy eyed it like she had a live snake in her lap. Of course Carol would call back, she had the number now. She should have waited to call Vicky, why she bothered she didn't know, maybe she felt a bit lonely and stressed out. But it was a mistake, Vicky always defaulted to mom knows best in the end when it came to an argument. At least she knew that when it came down to it, Vicky would have her back in the end, she'd made sure of it. Didn't help so much with the petty shit right now with Carol though.

She resolutely ignored it. She'd pay for it later. But she wasn't dealing with Carol to go with all the rest of the shit going on right now.

Supervillains had it easy, if they had a bitchy mom they could just use a freeze ray or something and take care of the problem.

"I could probably just stay here, I'm a French citizen now…" She muttered to herself. She tossed the phone onto another bed, ignoring its continued ringing, she might as well try and get some rest, it was going to be a rough couple of days.

＊＊＊

The next day.

"She really is something isn't she?" Keith told her quietly as they observed Panacea in action.

Rebecca pursed her lips, not replying to the already too fond tone of her fellow Triumvirate member. The girl would be useful beyond belief that was true, but also dangerous with how quickly she was gaining the public's adoration. In Rebecca's experience, teenagers could not be trusted to make wise decisions, and teenagers with the whole world in the palm of their hands… Were dangerous.

Currently they were both chaperoning the girl as she sat in the top floor of one of Paris largest hospitals, whatever mutation her power had undergone was still available to her, albeit in a more limited fashion - as she healed the civilians injured in the attack, reaching the whole hospital from her position. The girl needed to be brought in for testing on what exactly had happened, it didn't seem to be a second trigger but they needed to know. Unfortunately Keith and David didn't agree on pushing for it.

"She was resistant to being tested." She finally answered Keith, "She's hiding something."

Keith shook his head, "Alexandria you're overthinking things, she's here isn't she? Healing everyone, showing us what she can do now. She's not hiding it. You're so used to seeing the bad hidden parts of everyone, you're reaching." The chiding tone only furthered her annoyance.

Rebecca scowled darkly, Keith was already in the girls corner, he hadn't been exposed to as much of the darkness of the world as she had, they'd deliberately kept him away from some of the more distasteful things Cauldron had to do after all. She hadn't expected him to be this naive though. "No one is this perfect Legend, she's hiding something."

"Well she is a teenager," Keith said with a small smile, waving to the crowd of healed patients that stood at a respectful distance, out of earshot "I certainly had my fair share of things I didn't want to share at that age."

Further conversation was not possible as Panacea stood up, stretching with a tired groan, she'd finished this hospital as well then. It was the fourth one today. Her work ethic was impressive, but also opened up questions on how she was able to keep going for so long having only had her power for a little over two years. Rebecca had combed through her file and set people on investigating every facet of her life. A couple hospital hours after school was not enough to explain this level of stamina.

The majority of powers did not come into being at optimal strength immediately. They usually needed time, practice… Conflict.

She needed to get the girl into the Protectorate, she needed to find a way to push her into the wards. Somewhere where she could keep a thumb on her, keep her contained. Where she couldn't turn down power testing or other reasonable requests.

Her scowl deepened as she saw some civilians wearing white robes with a red cross on them in the crowd of onlookers - a copy of Panacea's uniform. She needed to look into that church, they were growing too rapidly and too professionally to be natural. It's been a day and a half, how did they already have uniforms?

At least from the absolute death glare Panacea sent at them as she walked by - the girl herself didn't seem involved. Good, the last thing they needed was a cape leading a cult or religion. They got enough of those issues from Masters as it was.

She'd be keeping a very close eye on Brockton Bay henceforth.

Cauldron did have an asset there. It would interfere with the feudalism project, but keeping an eye on Panacea took precedence at the moment.

Her instincts were itching at her that something more was going on.

---

Amy was beyond exhausted. She'd spent the entire day healing people all across Paris, not only those injured in the attack, but everyone at the hospitals and hospices, excluding those with brain injuries of course. There was a method to her madness. She knew Alexandria wanted to test her powers, and if she showed that she could at least expand them to an entire hospital, it would hopefully be enough that no one would force her into any power testing or experimentation.

She couldn't have anyone know that it was due to messing with brains that she was able to copy someone else's power, even if not at its full strength. Both those revelations would likely have her locked up by Cauldron and only brought out for Endbringer attacks. For now it was simply a fluke in regards to Strider, as she'd healed over a hundred heroes and she hadn't gotten any powers from them. If they found out what she suspected - that she'd be able to do it to any hero or villain now that she knew how…

She didn't need to be a precog to figure out the results of that revelation.

So she'd spent all day working her ass off to both ward off the Triumvirate and further sell her reputation - as much as she disliked it - to make it harder to force her into testing or being disappeared.

If she thought she was aching before, it was nothing to how she felt now, at least now she could rest in a proper bed, in a suite at Paris most expensive hotel. She really needed to find a way to heal herself, perhaps if she could get her hands on a regenerative parahuman.

Maybe Lung would volunteer, hah.

Unfortunately there was still no time to rest. She wouldn't be able to do so while she was still in France and nominally under the umbrella of the PRT, one more day or two, accept the medals, deal with a press conference, then she could get back home - excepting the quick White House stop for yet another medal and press conference.

At least supervillains didn't have to do press conferences… Another benefit she hadn't known she needed.

Disregarding her aching body as much as she could, exhaustion pressing down on her, she searched her suite for surveillance equipment. Not surprised to find several bugs and cameras. She couldn't say if it was the PRT, nosy journalists or any number of intelligence services behind it. Either way it was creepy, she was a teenage girl after all. In body if not in spirit. Although technically she'd been a teenager when she'd arrived her first too, her combined age counted as an adult though.

Her paranoia led her to spend two hours more on searching the suite over and over again to ensure she'd caught them all. It wouldn't be good for her sleep to miss out on even more hours, but she wouldn't be able to rest if she thought there were still any more bugs around.

Finally she grabbed her borrowed phone, and then in another fit of paranoia, disassembled it. Smiling grimly, as she removed the bug inside the phone, that pretty much confirmed it must be the PRT keeping an eye on her. Maybe that nurse giving her the phone hadn't been so random after all.

So she hadn't been wrong in feeling like Alexandria was giving her the stink eye after she turned down power testing. Cauldron would totally ignore silly things like laws or personal liberty.

Their suspicion wouldn't exactly disappear by her removing all bugs, but it's not like it would go away anyway and she refused to be spied on. It was a bit confusing though. With Contessa around, they hardly needed to mess around with bugs, unless her finding them were some convoluted step in her path to victory. Either way she was bug free now. She put together her phone again, dialing the number she'd gotten during his short visit the previous day.

"Yes?" A quiet expectant voice answered after a few rings.

"Top suite, Rosewood Hotel." Amy said, hanging up. Some of the stress was released from her shoulders and neck, her plans would move so much faster than she had ever expected with this.

With a small crack Strider appeared in the hotel room ahead of her, his black and blue uniform in place, the cap and goggles covering everything but the bottom part of his face.

Amy stepped forward, reaching up and gently touching his jaw, as Strider stood still, head slightly bowed. She let her power suffuse him, wincing slightly at the strain, she'd really put herself through her paces over the last 48 hours. She swept through his system, clarifying her hold on him, tweaking it to be a little less obvious, she'd been in a rush the first time. She could feel their power intertwining again as she prodded at his Corona Pollentia. She could definitely do this again with another cape, the question was, how many times before her own system couldn't take it? She really doubted she could keep 'borrowing' powers without hitting some sort of limit.

It would be fun to experiment on it. Perhaps the next Endbringer attack would give her something interesting. Or perhaps she could be proactive? Strider wasn't a fighter however, he wouldn't be able to really kidnap anyone for her.

That's okay, he had other uses.

"I need you to do a couple things for me, Strider, alright?" She mumbled sweetly, rubbing a thumb across his lower jaw.

"Of course, anything." The independent hero responded, his countenance eager. Already owing his life to her four times over, he'd probably been willing to go pretty far for her even if she hadn't brainwashed him a tiny bit.

Amy had been thinking about ways to put him to use over the last two days, ever since she woke up after the Endbringer attack. "I need you to contact Toybox for me, I need tinkertech that can continuously replicate a biological substance, a drug, for me. Where I can supply the drug and the tech can replicate it thousands of times before I have to resupply it. I'm sure as the largest freelance teleporter in the world you have the funds to commission this for me, hmm?" If Toybox couldn't, then perhaps they knew a Tinker that could, or could get her something similar that wasn't as effective. Worst case Leet could probably do it, once.

"Of course, I will ensure Toybox delivers." Strider rumbled eagerly, almost vibrating with eagerness to be off on his task.

"Slow down, sweety." Amy said with a short laugh, oh how useful this man would be for her future plans. "I also need you to use your funds to get me some warehouses in Brockton Bay and to hire Fortress construction to build hidden lab spaces underground, I'll text you the specific set up, can you afford that much?" No harm in Coil knowing about the labs since he'll be a non issue in a few months, far before I can make good use of them anyway.

Strider nodded confidently, "I am very wealthy actually, many corporations hire me for transportation of precious cargo due to the disruption of trade by Leviathan hitting so many large port cities."

Amy smiled a true smile, "Good… That's very good actually. Keep doing that, in-between your duties to me, and don't let anyone know that we have any kind of relationship. I'll call you if I need you, don't contact me unless it's an emergency, and never approach me unless I am completely alone."

Strider took that as the dismissal it was, and with a last bow, he disappeared with a crack.

Amy stood in the darkness of the suite, smiling through her exhaustion, despite all the unpleasant consequences of her new fame, collaring Strider alone was worth any problems that would come from further PRT nosiness, and issues such as the Church of Panacea.

She headed to bed, she'd need the rest, the morning would arrive too quickly and with it meetings with the President of France and other big wigs for her medal ceremony.

If only she could fake a medical condition to get out of it.

---

Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

You are currently logged in, Vallhala

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to
• AND Threads that have new replies
• OR private message conversations with new replies
• Thread OP is displayed.
• Ten posts per page
• Last ten messages in private message history.
• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.

♦ Topic: Paris fight aftermath

In: Boards ► America ► Brockton Bay ► Endbringer theories.

► Vallhala (Original Poster)

All can see it now, can we not? For almost two decades, a band of heroes and villains of predominantly lesser races have tried and failed to protect us all. Millions died due to their failures and incompetence. Their countries are devolving into something akin to the hunger games, like the late CUI after three straight Endbringer attacks. Even monsters recognize this fact about those that are of lesser worth.

The superior white heroes and villains have tried their best, but have constantly been brought low by the low quality of the mass of supporting characters and their backstabbing ways. Alexandria, for all her supposed strength, has never driven off an Endbringer. Inferior mind anyone? What is she hiding? Is her strength perhaps stolen?

Yesterday that all changed. Panacea. Amy Dallon, an Aryan woman from Brockton Bay singlehandedly supported the entire fighting force against Behemoth the hero killer and succeeded where everyone else failed. Behemoth was driven away, his objective - to destroy Paris - unaccomplished.

Can you now see what we have seen this entire time? There is superiority in using the proper people for the proper task.

Already across the world our brothers and sisters have started rising in acknowledgement of this fact.

Join the wave.

The future lies in the hands of the superior man.

(Showing page 1 of 13) Thread locked.

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

We are all entitled to free speech on this forum, that said I am watching, keep it clean and do not escalate. Vallhala you're already running a fine line right up against what would earn a ban, step carefully.

►Duskwarrior (Veteran Member)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

Alright what's the over under on how long before a thread lock? No one believes the Nazis will keep this clean for long, right?

Also superior man? Funny thing to say when it was a girl doing the job.

► TheGreatandTerribleAisha

Replied On May 16th 2010:

A girl rocked it and now some racist DUDE wants to dump on everyone else not him, and he got the balls to say shit like superior man when a GIRL did all the work, fr Nazi's are just fucking dumb.

Try and say that to white power shit to GG or Pan-Pan's face bitch!

► TheRealBrocktonite

Replied On May 16th 2010:

Jesus, Panacea saves Paris and gets deified by Nazis, talk about doing a good thing and getting smeared in shit for it.

New Wave you guys seen this?

► Vallhala (Original Poster)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

You don't have to adhere to any particular belief system or religion to understand the inherent superiority on display in Paris. Crying Nazi to try and tar us with a moniker to devalue our argument will not work.

► AveryOntheDot (Temp Banned.)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

Yeah everyone, listen to the Nazi saying being a Nazi doesn't matter. Some people just need to be shot. Repeatedly. Slowly. In the balls.

Especially Kaiser, just saying.

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

AveryOntheDot No threats, 7 day ban. It's going to be a perma ban next time.

► AznLife (Temp Banned)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

I don't care about no Naziz, fuck em, but hey, Panacea would look good bent over you know what I mean?

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

AznLife temp ban for seven days, keep it clean people, or I will lock this thread.

► Brandish (Verified Cape) (New Wave)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

New Wave fully disputes any racial statements about the performances of New Wave member Panacea. Her abilities and performance has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the accountability and responsibility that New Wave has championed for the Hero community.

New Wave stands in solidarity with everyone no matter race or creed.

► TheRealBrocktonite

Replied On May 16th 2010:

Brandish Real heartfelt message there, you're not gonna bother the Nazis with a PR message your agent typed up for you brah.

Panacea got any comments?

► HookandCrook

Replied On May 16th 2010:

Like it's hard to figure out, white girl kicked ass, Empire controlled areas are the only clean and safe areas in Brockton, figure it out idiots, ain't hard just connect the dots.

► GstringGirl

Replied On May 16th 2010:

Panacea seems really nice, I don't think it's fair to use her for some sort of agenda.

► Point_Me_@_The_Sky (Temp Banned)

Replied On February 14th 2010:

Hey! You can't use her for Nazi BS, crawl back into your holes you cousin fucking bastards!

The Empire doesn't have 'safe' areas, you fuckers are ruining the city!

TheGreatandTerribleAisha OMG Pan-Pan is so sticking, I'm using it forever!

AznLife Say that to my face and we can play let's find your teeth you creep!!!!!

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

Point_Me_@_The_Sky Seven day ban, next one is going to be a perma ban, you can't post threats, I am aware of what your other account is. Don't do it again.

I'm not warning everyone again, I will lock this thread if you don't play nice.

► FrenchBaguette

Replied On May 16th 2010:

That you even allow Nazis to say whatever they want is just insane, like don't you guys have enough problems already without letting those kinds of people say whatever?

► Vallhala (Original Poster)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

FrenchBaguette It is because we have open minds that your country is saved by the efforts of Panacea, she wouldn't exist in a country of lesser beings, all holding her back and refusing her the ability to grow into the heroine she is.

► MasterBite

Replied On May 16th 2010:

I mean on one hand Nazis, on the other hand, they're right, right? I mean Panacea is hella white, and like look at her sister, couldn't be whiter if she tried.

► TheRealBrocktonite

Replied On May 16th 2010:

MasterBite You're joking right?

My hope in humanity just took a plunge. Tin_mother just lock the thread already before this disease spreads.

► BrocktonChamp (Veteran member)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

TheRealBrocktonite Grow up dude, I mean no one likes Nazis for sure. Not gonna argue that, but like they're not completely wrong on the whole it's white people that's made the most difference right?

I mean Legend and Eidolon are both white, Hero was white too, and now Panacea. Sure Alexandria is like Hispanic, but she's like superwoman and yet never manages to do anything, like the Endbringers are still around and Slaughterhouse 9 etc. Maybe we need more white.

► FrenchBaguette

Replied On May 16th 2010::

BrocktonChamp Do you even read what you write? So you just explained everyone except Alexandria are white so it's the non-whites fault nothing gets done? If anything that should say it's the whites that are failing at doing the job!

► Vallhala (Original Poster)

Replied On May 16th 2010:

FrenchBaguette That is a very racist thing to say, you should get down from your high horse at this point, you've shown your true colors.

► TheRealBrocktonite

Replied On May 16th 2010:

Vallhala That's just hilarious really, you're so deluded, and btw you spelled Valhalla wrong brah, anyone see this link ? Kaiser sent out a video praising Panacea. It's enough to make you puke.

No point arguing with these guys, they got their heads way too far up Hitler's ass…

End of Page. 2, 3, 4 ... 10, 11, 12, 13

...

"It's working, the Empire is taking the bait and running with it." The thin, balding man at the computer said, with a pleased smirk blossoming onto his face. "And anyone looking will think this entire thing originated with them."

"And the Church?" Came the calm voice of his mistress.

"That's taken off past expectations, we're even getting capes, mostly people that either know her, or were revived by her in Paris." He shuddered in happiness as his mistress rewarded his success.

"Good, good, we'll ride the coattails of her fame for now, the Empire connection will ensure she stays in the news until the next Endbringer fight, furthering recruitment, the media will ensure it." There was approval in the voice, and the man shuddered slightly again as he felt a spike of pleasant emotions.

"I don't know how you did it, I wasn't aware you had any precogs that could see this all coming so easily, but damn if it didn't work just as intended." The man at the computer leaned back in the chair, hands behind his head. "It wasn't even hard, everyone scrambling over themselves to follow along." He felt so relaxed and happy, everything was perfect.

"We don't, we used an independent contractor. As long as we keep my father out of the news, we'll eventually end up with millions of followers, he'll attend meetings piecemeal and take control of the whole congregation." The voice in the shadows said pleasantly, stepping forward to clamp a hand on the computer expert's shoulder, "You've done good, pet." She said softly, before slitting his throat while the man was lost in the pleasant emotions she'd filled him with.

He'd been a PRT contractor after all, no need to leave loose ends. They were so annoyingly watchful for their family's influence on their people in Canada. Their conversation was more for the benefit of her brothers who were listening in via her phone anyway, ready to do their part now that she had gotten the ball rolling.

Finally their father had some ambition, to think all it took was some woman in a fedora giving him some advice.

---

If Amy had any thoughts like something as silly as - at least I'll get the morning to myself, she was quickly disabused of such wishful thinking. Having showered and dressed in her freshly washed cape uniform, she was pondering room service when there was a knock on the door.

She sighed, dreading what could have possibly happened while she slept this time - did Alexandria grow a heart three sizes too big? "Yes?" She asked irritably.

"Ma'am, Miss Panacea, sir, uhh… Ma'am." A young sounding voice squeaked outside the door, "Uh, everyone's waiting for you for breakfast downstairs, Ma'am."

Amy rolled her eyes, opening the door after a few quick steps, the poor hotel staffer jumping back with another squeak and bowing several times over, "You can stop bowing now." She said dryly, shaking her head. This better not become common… She thought with exasperation. "And what exactly does that entail, 'everyone is waiting for me?' I wasn't expecting anyone."

The poor girl couldn't quite get her tongue going right, stammering away long enough that Amy took pity on her, "Fine, just… Just show me where." She ordered with a sigh.

After a few minutes of following the easily flustered girl, where she kept looking back to see that Amy was still there and blushing vividly at her dry look every time, they reached a lavish dining room. A full spread set out, and the Brockton Bay Protectorate all standing around.

"I would have thought you would have returned by now." Amy said, skipping right past any pleasantries. "Fight the good fight, and all that." She drawled out, eyes sweeping across them, Armsmaster had somehow managed to repair his armor even with no access to his usual workshop, did the guy even sleep?

"The Endbringer truce is still on for now, and director Costa-Brown asked that we remain until you were ready to return." Miss Militia said calmly, eyes crinkling pleasantly above her American flag scarf, "I'm glad to see you're well, Panacea."

Amy glanced around the other heroes, taking in Armsmaster and the stiff set of his jaw, "Well, glad to have you I guess, the sooner we're back the better." She strode forward, taking her pick of the buffet in front of her. Seeing things she had no idea of what it was, other than it looked like it had a lot of butter, she settled for a flaky croissant and some fruit. Grabbing a plate and sitting down, her action apparently enough to get the rest of them moving.

"Missing Brockton Bay that much already?" Battery said sliding into a seat next to her, plate loaded full of french pastries a minute later.

Amy side eyed her, totally judging her, Battery noticed the look, laughing quietly, "When in Paris and all that," She joked, winking at her.

Assault plopped down in the chair across from them both, his plate loaded with a stack of one third crepes, two thirds whip cream. She was pretty sure all of France was recoiling in horror.

Amy wrinkled her nose, munching on a piece of cantaloupe, "Do you have any idea what that much whip cream is going to do to your system?"

Assault just smirked, pointing a fork at Battery, "What she said, squirt."

"Paris is not an excuse for everything." Amy said, rolling her eyes, idly noting Miss Militia and Armsmaster sitting down, both with relatively conservative plates in comparison. Velocity and Dauntless took the last two seats, Amy had never really had much of an interaction with either of them before.

"So we're having breakfast with a celebrity, that's kind of cool." Velocity said with an easy grin. "Can we get autographs?"

Assault raised a hand, the other still shoveling crepes into his face, "Me too," He mumbled through the food, "They're selling for like 10 grand a pop online right now."

"You can't be serious?" Amy looked around at the group of heroes, groaning as they grinned at her, "Fuck no you can't have autographs, I hate my life!" She put her head down on her arms on top of the table, her hair falling in a curtain over her arms, "I don't want to be a celebrity!" That ship sailed a long time ago… But still.

So she was whining a little… She was allowed, it had been a rough almost 72 hours.

Battery kicked Assault under the table, patting Amy's shoulder comfortingly, "Ignore the boys, they treat everything like a joke, everyone's just excited right now, it will blow over."

"Not everyday you come back from the dead." Dauntless said quietly, immediately silencing the table. The others quickly eyeballed him and the silent and stoic Armsmaster who was eating almost mechanically.

Which might not actually be that different from normal Armsmaster some times, she'd seen him be pretty personable with some people, but when he was uncomfortable he was just a plain dick.

Amy sighed, raising her head and using a napkin to clean up the lingering fruit juice on her lips, "Honestly I was so busy I hardly paid attention to who… Passed." She said delicately, "I'm glad you're all okay if I revived any of you." She was well aware that Armsmaster had kickstarted the process, but it would be rude to point it out to his face, so she refrained for now.

Even she wouldn't tease the guy right now. Not to his face anyway. Later though…

Oh it would definitely come up.

Dauntless shrugged, "Just me and Armsmaster I believe. I think Velocity and Assault and Battery all went down at some point, but you had them up and running again in seconds." He said, flashing her a small thankful smile, wearing only a domino mask on his face." We owe you one, more than one, really."

Amy shook her head, "None of that please, I did my job, you don't owe me anything. I'm already getting enough accolades from everywhere, please don't bring it back to Brockton Bay." She implored them.

"Getting a bit much?" Miss Militia asked compassionately. "We won't bother you about it, will we?" She sent a stare across the table that had every hero there nod their head rapidly, several heroes pale and sweaty for a moment. "Good, you deserve some peace, Panacea, let me know if there's anything I can do." Miss Militia's eyes swept sternly through the assembled heroes again, and no one as much as breathed wrong until she returned to her plate.

"Can you tell the president of France and America to leave me alone…" Amy muttered, nibbling on her croissant, not feeling very hungry. "I'll literally die if I have to do more than one press conference."

"You should take these things for what they are, Panacea." Armsmaster suddenly interjected, "People are grateful. They have hope again. It is your duty to carry that responsibility now." Wow, good on him. He only sounded slightly bitter. Is that character growth already?

Is Assmaster losing the ass part already? She really was a miracle worker.

"Ugh, can we not? Not right now." Amy asked distastefully, "I get it, you know? I really do. But it's inconvenient and embarrassing and it's painting a target the size of Behemoth on my back."

The heroes around her paused in their breakfast at that, Velocity tilting his head questioningly, "What do you mean?"

Amy laughed bitterly, covering her face with a shaking hand. "How long do you think? Before Jack Slash comes?"

Miss Militia straightened in her seat, eyes narrowing a dangerous aura emanating from her, "You're saying the Slaughterhouse Nine will come?" She said sharply.

"Won't they? Tell me they won't!" Amy said tiredly, "It's their entire thing, isn't it? Killing hope."

Armsmaster put his fork down, turning to face her, "It is possible," He said sternly, 'But we will be ready for them if they do. And it's quite likely they won't dare to make that big of a splash knowing what the consequences could be, they're cowards deep down, deploying hit and run tactics."

Cowards were not really what Amy would describe them as. And Armsmaster would be really screwed if he underestimated them like that. Even the Triumvirate didn't dare attack them because of the Siberian.

Well that and they were assholes wanting the nine to create fear and a bunch of triggers in hopes of getting more parahumans to fight the Endbringers and Scion. Well just Endbringers now. They were deluded if they thought Siberian/Manton would do any of that as they were right now.

At least Amy knew the trick about Manton when it came to that potential issue. But that still left the other members who were equally problematic in their own ways.

"We have your back." Assault said with a thumbs up and a cheesy grin.

"Don't be so glum, honey. The whole world will come down on them if they so much as move in the direction of Brockton Bay, you've got nothing to worry about." Battery said, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly.

Amy did feel a little better at their support. Even if she knew they were likely wrong. Jack Slash was exactly the kind of person who would defy any expectations. And she was honestly not ready for the possibility of his appearance.

Hope for the best. But prepare for the worst. As soon as she returned home. She needed to make moves to take over one of the gangs, recreate it in her image. She was going to wait for Coil… Now he'd just be a bonus for after. She didn't want to wait any longer. She needed more capes and minions between herself and her enemies.

Preferably she needed a damn missile strike on the whole lot of them.

Sure the Protectorate wanting to protect her was nice. But she knew from Canon that they failed at literally everything. So she wouldn't let their promises be her only shield.

The conversation moved away from anything heavy after that, everyone concentrating on their breakfast. No one was willing to step on any landmines again.

Amy just wanted this whole thing to be over with.

She needed to start her plans.

Now.

---

After breakfast

Her mind was whirling with plans as she returned to her hotel room, discarding them as quickly as she laid them. She was too hot right now, so to speak. She was thrust into the spotlight further than ever before, making it almost impossible to move forward with most of her plans.

She doubted there was anyone in the world who didn't know who Panacea was right now. She couldn't just turn villain, not right away, maybe not at all. God damn her powers and her own knee jerk reactions. She didn't want the Endbringers to win, but she didn't want to pigeonhole herself either. Her shard should be so much more comfortable with how much she'd experimented with her powers, she wasn't Bonesaw by any stretch, she had better standards, but the conflict drive shouldn't be pushing too hard… Was it her own stubbornness or her shard that pushed her into saving everyone?

She walked into her bedroom, divesting herself of her cape robe, feeling a bit crabby at how badly she'd shot herself in the foot by healing everyone - and at the prospect of a press conference and medal ceremony later that day - when she froze at what she found already present.

There was a cape in her bed.

There was an unconscious cape in her bed.

What!?

Amy's head was on a swivel as she peered suspiciously around the room as she approached the female cape, one in a skintight uniform which she couldn't help but admire, blonde too, which kind of was her type, (damn you Vicky.) Taped to the cape's chest was a note. She didn't touch it, she might be a biotinker, but that didn't mean she'd enjoy purging herself of any potential contact poisons.

You can have your cake and eat it too! Don't worry, Prism will be put back none the wiser after you're done.

The message was capped off by a crappy drawing of a fedora.

Contessa…

Why in the everliving fuck was Contessa kidnapping heroines and dropping them off for her to experiment on?

….Stupid path to victory. Why was she involved? Her healing helped, yeah. But she wouldn't be defeating any Endbringers on her own, and if Contessa knew what information she had… She wouldn't need to do anything, they would have already acted on it.

She looked over the heroine again, and it was a heroine. She recognized the name Prism, even if she couldn't recognize her by sight. One of Legends underlings, a parahuman that could make clones.

Path to victory huh? Here she was grumbling that she couldn't start any of her plans properly because she was in the spotlight too much, and Contessa delivers a parahuman capable of cloning herself, albeit temporarily.

Whatever. I can't predict or stop Contessa. So roll with it. Amy decided. Laying a hand on the heroine, closing her eyes as she examined her system. Prism was a very healthy specimen, she kept fit, very fit, Amy appreciated it greatly, at any other time Amy would be much obliged to touch her all over, but today she just wanted her brain.

There was no way to say that and have it come out sounding okay.

She poked Prism's Corona Pollentia, entwining her power with that of the heroines, pulling at it, feeling it interact with hers just as with Striders. Unlike Strider who teleported away dragging her powers into their new ability by sudden force. She had to work at it this time. Teasing and prodding at it until it finally seemed to just meld with her.

At that moment she just knew.

Just like with Strider. She now had a secondary power. And she didn't lose what capability she had with Striders in exchange either. Prism could create several clones if she remembered correctly, temporary ones. What her power was telling her, she couldn't do that, not like Prism. Not exactly. She could make a copy of herself, one only. With her mind and power but intrinsically weaker in body. A temporary shell.

She stepped away from Prism, mind already on how to solve that conundrum. A temporary weak shell was mostly useless to her. But Contessa wouldn't have put her on this path for something she couldn't use. She was a Biotinker… Could she make a body? Could she make her clone less temporary by having it in a complete shell, a body of its own? Or would that be like crafting an autonomous twin? It was useless to her if she couldn't experience both herself and her clone's lives.

She'd totally go after herself if she made an evil twin.

The idea had some merit, she would have to test it. If it worked…

She could, as Contessa said, have her cake and eat it too. One of her continuing as Panacea, the other as her villain self.

She'd need a lot of biomass.

She'd need a corpse. A fresh one, like really fresh, she couldn't work on the dead after all, her power only affected living things.

She almost eyed up Prism, before she shook her head violently, no, bad Amy. No killing heroes.

Unfortunately just stealing a corpse from the morgue when she worked at the hospital would be noticed and likely not something she could get fresh, so to speak. So she'd have to source her own.

She would have time once she returned to Brockton Bay. There were always some merchants or homeless people around.

If this worked. It would actually work even better than she had planned. She could keep using her Panacea persona to make the world better the slow boring way.

While using her villain persona to improve the world more rapidly. And having a blast doing it.

Yes… This could work pretty well.

Now the only question was what exactly Cauldron wanted out of her that Contessa was helping her along for.

Nothing she could do about that for now.

She could only grow stronger and make plans for the eventual shitshow.

The bill would come due one day. And it would no doubt suck big juicy ones.

---

Later that day, after the medal ceremony.

Press conferences were not something Amy enjoyed. Being part of New Wave had forced her into her fair share of them, but usually Vicky or the older members of the family monopolized the attention in those.

She didn't have anyone to hide behind today. The medal ceremony had been horrendously boring and drawn out. Speech after speech as every important person in France wanted their chance to get a word in and be seen thanking her.

No one could blame her for starting to get her subtle revenge for every handshake in the end. Nothing big, mild case of incontinence here, some light erectile dysfunction there. Well deserved in her opinion. The medal ceremony had taken six hours.

She hoped the first lady of France hadn't been planning on a fun night anytime soon, the president would be incapable for a bit. Luckily no one would suspect her, he was old anyway.

But seriously. Six hours.

Just to give her a medal. It could have been achieved in fifteen minutes if they'd spared all the useless drivel.

And now again, she was the one in the spotlight, at a stupid press conference after she'd just managed to survive a foe equalling an Endbringer - politicians. She tried to keep a polite smile on her face as she was escorted onto the podium, but it likely came out as more of a grimace. It felt like there were hundreds of journalists in front of her, and the constant flashes of the cameras weren't helping her either.

How many articles would there be tomorrow about her hair, or the bags under her eyes or other nonsensical things, she would wager a lot. People loved heroes. But they really loved pointing out their flaws.

The publicist from the PRT that had been following her around all day - likely to keep her polite, (showing that someone at the PRT had her number) cleared his throat a couple of times until the journalists settled down. "We're going to do this cleanly, people. No shouted questions, no talking over each other. You each get one question, you've already received your lots, follow them, anyone disregarding these rules will be escorted out." He watched the press with hawkish eyes looking for any dissenters, waving for them to begin once he was sure they understood the rules. Only Miss Militia had followed her from the Protectorate, still keeping an eye on her from behind the journalists.

The PRT agent who's name she hadn't even bothered to get, pointed to the first journalist.

The blonde woman stood up, almost bouncing in excitement, Amy saw parallels between this woman and Vicky and immediately braced herself for a stupid question.

"Everyone wants to know, is there anyone special in your life, Miss Dallon? A sweetheart? A secret crush, perhaps?" The British sounding reporter asked.

Really? This is the first question? Not about the medals, the Endbringer fight, but do I have a crush? Amy thought with distaste, answering the question, leaning over the microphone, "No."

It seemed everyone was waiting for more, the silence stretching, a snicker could be heard in the back as people realized she wasn't saying anything more, the blonde reporter looking devastated as the PRT agent pointed at the next reporter.

"Is there any truth to the rumor of a tryst between yourself and Armsmaster?"

Amy rolled her eyes, exaggerating the motion, "No, and I'm sure Armsmaster appreciates you calling him a pedophile." She snarked, before smirking slowly, this was actually a perfect opportunity. "That said he deserves some of the credit for what happened. My power literally expanded because he died under Behemoth's onslaught. I found him so rule bound and annoying back in Brockton Bay, and I felt that I hadn't annoyed him enough so far, so I couldn't let him get away that easily, so my power responded, bringing him back."

The PRT agent's smile was somewhat strained as he pointed at the next reporter. Miss Militia did not look impressed at the back of the room. Well fuck her, it was the truth. And if Amy felt a chill down her spine well… She probably wouldn't shoot her, so she was just imagining things.

"So you're saying Armsmaster annoyed you into saving everyone?" The reporter followed up the previous question with apparent glee. Amy had probably given them material to run a month of speculation on. But more importantly it would piss Armsmaster off, and hopefully also take some of the shine of her accomplishment. Besides, he wanted the glory anyway, right? This was her sharing some of the glory with him.

She would wait for her well deserved; your welcome, from the man.

"This is about Panacea, not Armsmaster, no further questions on that subject, please." The PRT agent, whose name she'd never bothered to get, said desperately, pointing to one of the French reporters, no doubt hoping for another direction from someone who likely wouldn't care overly much about a Brockton Bay hero not named Panacea.

"You've received French citizenship, a statutory holiday in your name and the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. What are your thoughts on the honors showered upon you by the French state as the savior of Paris?"

It took a minute before Amy could answer as the question was asked in French and she had to wait for the translator to finish.

"It is an honor of course," Amy said carefully, managing a small tired smile, "I would do it all over again regardless of honors, so it isn't necessary, although I appreciate the accolades and I understand the joy from surviving Behemoth, it's important for people to celebrate, I get that."

The PRT agent looked less panicky as he pointed to another reporter, surely just by happenstance another French one. Amy wondered if she could bring Armsmaster into the answer anyway.

Maybe not. The PRT agent might cry. Also Miss Militia might actually glare so hard she'll develop laser eyes.

"Will you be able to provide the same boost in healing for other Endbringer fights?" Is what she got after a minute of translation.

Amy thought it over carefully before answering. "Although my power has expanded, it no longer covers the entire city, the PRT will surely have answers on how all that works, I will of course always volunteer to participate in Endbringer situations still, but the PRT are the experts on such subjects." There, the PRT can get hounded by questions about it, I'm just a teenager after all, what do I know?

The next reporter she recognized from Brockton Bay, he'd interviewed New Wave enough. She already wanted this all over with. He'd always been a slimeball. How many times had he published that Vicky was pregnant now? Three times? How did he even get a lot for this press conference?

She wondered if he had ever realized his constant problem with gas came after meeting her after his last hit job on Vicky. She'd wanted to do more, but it would have been obvious it was her. Perhaps something for her villain persona to rectify. She'd shrink his penis, but as she'd already found out when she made him forever gassy, he didn't really have much left to shrink.

Poor missus slimeball.

"Are you aware, Miss Dallon, of the praise highlighting you coming from the more controversial parts of America? And do you agree with their sentiment?" The smarmy man asked her.

Amy pondered where he was going with this, it didn't sound like it had anything to do with the Church of Panacea at least, they'd hardly done anything yet to be called controversial. "I can't say I am, maybe you can educate me." She replied with a fake smile.

It was bound to be something stupid and/or annoying.

The reporter smirked, as his colleagues grumbled quietly about him getting more than one question. "Kaiser of the Empire 88 gang in Brockton Bay is on record glorifying how you, as an Aryan woman, have proved superiority in defeating an Endbringer by denying its goals - something never done before by and I quote him here, 'the lesser races'. This has echoed across other right wing movements across the states and the world over the last 12 hours."

Of course he did. Amy thought with disgust. Now she had plans to be a villain, sure. But no one approved of Nazis, and she was very annoyed that Kaiser of all people was trying to leverage her achievements to push a Nazi agenda. As much as she didn't want to be in the spotlight she sure as hell didn't want Nazi's to take advantage either. Well, she had the perfect response for that.

It would come out eventually anyway with how famous she was now… Might as well make it have more of an impact.

Vicky was going to be furious at her though. And Carol. But fuck her. And she'd make it up to Vicky, somehow. Maybe she'd stop making her suffer for like a month or something.

She leaned forward, a smirk forming on her face as she leant into the microphones, the journalists ahead of her all holding their breath. All of them seemingly aware she was about to drop a bombshell. "Well, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised that such despicable people are taking such a stand, disregarding all their normal hate rhetoric…" She paused dramatically for a moment, flashes going off across the room, the PRT agent staring dead ahead like he'd already drafted his resignation letter.

"For a gay woman." As good a time as any to reveal it. Fuck you Kaiser, go ahead and explain to your skinheads how amazing the lesbian girl is again!

Pandemonium erupted as journalists all clambered to get the next question, all decorum forgotten.

---

Authors note:

PRT is suspicious, well Alexandria is anyway, Empire 88 is on the march for propaganda, New Wave is gonna be upset, well, Cunt Dallon mostly. And what's that? Bad guys in the church, who could it be (sarcasm) and whatcha up to Contessa?

Brockton Bay feudalism project is still ongoing as even without Scion annihilation, the Endbringers are still destructive enough that end times is a possibility eventually, society can only handle so much destruction of infrastructure and lives before devolving.

A woman in fedora, hmm. Nothing to see there.

At least Scion is totally dead. Or is he. He is. Or isn't he?

Who knows really.

Cheers

Spoiler: Patreon

patreon.com/JollyHippopotamus

 

[TeamDeath]

Threads broke. Says i can go to chapter 2 which doesnt exist. Very enjoyable first chapter tho

 

[JollyHippo]

Threads broke. Says i can go to chapter 2 which doesnt exist. Very enjoyable first chapter tho

Click to shrink...

Awaiting model approval for chap 2 it seems, so will be up eventually hopefully.

 

[Prince of Space]

Ha 😂 this is amazing keep it up


Watched

 

[JollyHippo]

Here's chapter 3: Big happy family.

Spoiler: Patreon

patreon.com/JollyHippopotamus

Only Worm matters as far as this story goes, so no Titans or any of that apply here.

Amy is selfish, ambitious and a bit of a bitch. And this is still Worm too, so don't expect a goody two shoes here. A villain doing their best to eliminate the really evil and making the city better, is still going to do a lot of evil things as a matter of course.

At minimum, there would be murder and drug dealing and enslavement. So it will definitely get much worse. Although not full out mastering too often, because of; one, that's a kill order just waiting to happen, and two, the story would be over pretty quick if Amy just mastered everyone she met. It would be a boring read.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

＊＊＊

Amy did not enjoy the trip to Washington. Not in the slightest. If only she could have called on Strider but noooo, she needed to fly with the entire Brockton Bay Protectorate to Washington - for reasons. Because apparently they were her escort all the way back to Brockton Bay and would be sticking close the entire trip.

Yeah, Armsmaster was just as excited about that order as Amy was.

He did not get any more personable with her over a transatlantic flight, Amy hadn't even been teasing him… Much.

Fuck Alexandria, because she couldn't see who else would have ordered it. Director Piggot would have definitely ordered her team back immediately if she could, what with the powderkeg Brockton Bay was. So this whole thing was some torture devised by Alexandria.

Because Amy didn't fall all over herself to do whatever Alexandria wanted, she deserved to suffer or something. Fucking Cauldron capes. Maybe her suffering was part of Contessa's path, they'd really been sending mixed messages to her - what with giving her Prism, and then turning around and barking about power testing at her and surrounding her with annoying people to get under her skin.

Or perhaps Alexandria was deluded enough to think that if Amy spent time with the Protectorate capes she'd join the PRT. Becoming another wage slave under the boot of Alexandria did not appeal to her. At all.

Hours and hours she had been shut in a plane with the Brockton Bay Protectorate and she now knew without a shadow of a doubt - that Armsmaster was completely incapable of speaking to human beings properly when he was annoyed - no wonder he got the hots for an AI really... That Miss Militia was actually kind of scary if you'd annoy her - as in omgshutupshesgonnashoot! That Velocity and Dauntless held way too much respect for the aforementioned two and did what they were told pretty quickly, although Velocity at least had a decent sense of humor… Which left Battery and Assault as the confirmed only two members she could stand for a prolonged period of time. When she wasn't gagging at their lovey dovey shit - which she just knew they were exaggerating to mess with her, because PHO had dedicated threads for them that still wasn't sure if they were lovers or siblings or what? So they weren't like that in public - because then there wouldn't be any wondering involved.

Either that or they were some crazy weird siblings. Not that she could throw rocks exactly… She had out of universe knowledge that they weren't siblings anyway, but that was cheating.

Although cheating was winning, so…

Either way, with how many times both Miss Militia and Armsmaster told them to simmer down, looking visibly frustrated, it was pretty clear they didn't normally continue on like that for hours on end. Amy hoped not, because there were laws about public indecency and she felt that in a metal tube with a bunch of heroes - it counted as public enough to not maul each other to the extent they'd traumatize the virgins, cough - Armsmaster - cough.

Personally, Amy was impressed that the top two didn't break when she and Assault - in pure boredom of course - sang the smash hit (It should be at least) 99 halberds on the wall.

They'd managed to get down to 42 halberds on the wall before Miss Militia manifested a very heavy duty cannon of a gun and calmly informed them what height the plane was flying at - and the effects of a basketball sized hole in the hull would have on them. Just as a bit of idle information.

They quieted down.

Didn't quite count as breaking down. But Amy wasn't interested in finding out how much further she could be pushed. Although she was impressed at Armsmaster's self control. Oh, he was obviously very annoyed, but he seemed to do just fine ignoring them all.

Unless he was smooching with Dragon electronically through his visor. Did that make her a voyeur? She was learning so much on this trip. All of it stupid. Like her new favorite song. Although if it didn't annoy Armsmaster enough to deserve a comment she supposed it wasn't a very good song.

Amy acknowledged her singing voice hadn't been that great, but that had made the whole event even funnier in a cringy sort of way. She didn't have her phone after all, her borrowed one had been returned before the flight, and there was no in-flight entertainment for the transatlantic flight. She was a teenager, it was completely their fault for leaving her with nothing better to do.

That's her story and she'd be sticking to it if anyone made a remark. Not like anyone knew about her not being the original Amy - and therefore not actually a teenager.

Either way, the in-flight entertainment she had provided had ensured that when the possibility to debark the plane came. No one lingered after landing. By the time Amy walked down the steps, Armsmaster was already in a PRT van. If he was going to act like that Amy was going to get the impression he didn't like her or something.

Seriously, the tinker had hustled ass, all to get away from her.

Bad news Armsy, she thought with some amusement, after all they were going to the same place in the end, so he wasn't really escaping her.

She didn't get to think on it for long, because near the PRT vans stood her family. All of them. The entirety of New Wave had arrived to welcome her back to US soil at the private PRT affiliated airstrip outside Washington. Joy. This could only end well. At least they weren't in uniform.

To be fair she actually did get along perfectly well with most of her family. It was just the one outlier…

The second she was completely off the airplane steps she was tackled into a hug by a flying Vicky, who lifted her up in the air and spun her, laughing delightedly, "Ames! I've missed you so much! And you've been amazeballs! Kicking so much ass! You've gotta tell me all about it, did you meet any cute french capes? There's like a whole flame war going on online between the French cape community and the American one, all cuz of you!" Then she punched her lightly in the arm, "How could you tell me in a press conference that you're only into girls, Ames! I'm your sister! I'm cool with it though, just in case you were worried."

Flame war? Super. She'd add that to the Nazi propaganda war over her, and the Church of Panacea stuff. Why did the internet suck so much lately? Amy just wanted to sit on a throne and be fed grapes by minions, was that really too much to ask? At least coming out hadn't bothered Vicky, I never thought it would, but she wasn't the one I was worried about…

Amy hugged her sister back, and resigned herself to being carried around as Vicky didn't let go of her, holding her up in her arms as she chattered away, full of excitement and life and love and just drowning Amy in her aura. "I can walk, you know?" Amy finally answered, not bothering to answer any of the dozen questions she'd managed to fire away during that time. She'd save it for when they had time alone. Not when she was right there. Watching her, just waiting for a chink in the armor, so she could sneak through and hit for maximum emotional damage.

Vicky pouted, but floated over to where the rest of the family stood, still holding onto Amy, resting her chin in her frizzy hair. "Mom, I found this weird girl, can I keep her?" She chirped brightly, as she stopped right in front of Carol and Mark. They looked odd together, what with Mark's sweatpants and sweater look, his expression drained and tired. Carol looked perfectly poised and put together in an expensive looking blazer, fashionable blouse and smart pencil skirt combo. Amy wondered how long Carol had spent bitching at Mark for not making an effort to dress up today.

Really a trick question. Because she never said anything in a non-bitchy way.

He'd probably taken the brunt of Carol's bitchiness with Amy in Europe. She'd feel more sorry if he'd ever done anything to really have her back over the years, as it was, she just didn't want to deal with either of them, and just clung tighter to Vicky.

"Is she housebroken?" Mark asked tiredly with a crooked little smile. Amy sent him a dirty look, even if inwardly she was kind of glad he was having a decent day, if he was able to joke around with them he must be on one of his good days. Even if it was at her expense of course. Because who else could be the butt of the joke in the Dallon household. There was no comment made about her newly revealed lesbianism, but she never expected much from Mark.

Vicky shook her slightly as she giggled, and Amy sighed, reaching up and patting Vicky on the check patronizingly, "If anyone is a pet here it's you, butterball…"

"Oooh, playing dirty, Ames, I like it." Vicky retorted, the warmth of her body pressed up against Amy's as she literally felt Vicky brimming with cheer and happiness. "I'm fine with that old nickname…" Amy could feel Vicky smirking evilly into her hair, "~Pan-Pan…"

"No. You are not calling me that!" Amy protested with a pained grimace, but she knew it was too late. Once Vicky got an idea in her head it was impossible to move her with conventional means. Gah, such a ridiculous nickname, it made her sound like she was five!

"Girls, that's enough now." Carol said shortly, looking impatient. "It's rude to ignore the rest of the family like this Amy, especially after dropping such news on us with absolutely no warning, come say hi at least." Yeah, just me right? Not like Vicky is standing here holding me up… Amy thought, but didn't bother to voice it.

At least Aunt Sarah had her back, immediately jumping in with a wave of her hand and an easygoing smile, "No big deal, Carol, let the girls have their fun, we're in no hurry." She gave Amy a compassionate smile, "I'm glad you are alright sweetheart, we're all here for you."

Amy sent Aunt Sarah aka Lady Photon, a smile, she was the only one in the family who'd sometimes cool down Carol before she could get going. Her husband, Neil gave her a wave with a quick accompanied grin, Manpower never stepped in-between the two women, but he'd always treated Amy as well as his own daughter, she'd gone to him for advice more then Mark over the last year and a half.

If she would have come out before that press conference it would have probably been to Neil or Sarah first. Vicky was… Complicated. With both their weird feelings involved. Both artificially created.

Carol, back ramrod straight, sniffed, making it clear she thought otherwise vis a vis the topic of fun, but didn't say anything further. Her pointed stare at Amy told her she better do as asked anyway or she'd hear about it later.

Likely in great detail, with peppered in pearls of wisdom like - only by sacrificing yourself can you truly be heroic. Amy liked that one, no other little idiom more perfectly encapsulated Carol's hypocrisy. Because she sure as hell wasn't sacrificing shit, while she made Amy jump through hoops to even be considered part of the team. And she wasn't even the team leader - that was Aunt Sarah!

Amy elbowed Vicky, not that it did anything to her, but she did release Amy back onto solid ground at the hint, Amy quickly stepped over to give Aunt Sarah a hug. Photon Mom definitely deserved one. Notably she did not hug Carol and Mark, as she sidestepped them both to say hi to the Pelhams, and get her fair share of hugging. Uncle Neil tousled her hair from his great height, grinning down at her. Before he stepped out of the way of his two children.

Crystal and Eric. Laserdream and Shielder. Amy didn't see nearly enough of them with all her work and the expectations on her by Carol unfortunately, but they were pretty cool people.

"You're almost cool enough now that I can admit we're related, only need to fix your sense of fashion still, or maybe find you a girlfriend." Crystal teased her, sharing a grin with Vicky, nudging Amy in the ribs as she held one arm around her shoulder, squeezing them both together. "Me and Vicky have been talking, how do you feel about rebranding from Panacea to Pan-Pan?" Her grin was markedly vulpine as she continued the lighthearted teasing.

Amy only thought about giving her the runs for the next 48 hours or so for one second. Honestly. Like maybe two seconds at the most. She was family after all.

"You're all the worst." Amy deadpanned as she fistbumped Eric. Shielder was obviously too cool to be hugging any relatives in public. It would disturb his masculine rep or something, Amy wasn't really sure how boys thought but it sounded right.

"You sure you're okay though?" Vicky asked softly, quietly. Still hovering right by her other side, one hand interlocked with hers. "You kind of look like… Well…" She hesitated slightly, flashing her a quick smile.

"Shit. You look like shit." Crystal took over bluntly, getting a dirty look from both her and Vicky. She shrugged, letting go of her to raise both hands defensively, a tiny smirk on her face, "Hey, I was saving us time, you were taking forever, Vicky." She knocked a knuckle against Amy's forehead gently, "Just worried s'all."

"She could have been more polite about it," Aunt Sarah said with a chiding look at a completely unrepentant Crystal, "But she echoed my thoughts, you look a little peaky, Amy dear."

"I'm fine." Amy lied, with a practiced smile. "Just didn't get much sleep."

Carol, who'd kept herself apart from the family huddle, glanced at her watch, "I think that is enough of a spectacle on the tarmac, in front of the entire Brockton Bay Protectorate no less, we have places to be, Amy is fine, some makeup will hide her complexion for when we arrive at the White House if she still looks the same tomorrow, we can't have her looking like a homeless person in front of the President."

Amy would have been upset, if any of that had a single line that surprised her anymore.

"Is it time to go already?" Mark asked blandly, blinking like he'd not been paying attention for a few minutes and just realized what was going on. "I'll get the van." He muttered and shambled off.

Amy would have healed him of his depression long ago if he'd ever shown any inclination of being there for her. Even with her wish to hide her ability on the subject. But no matter how she'd tried after taking over from original Amy, Mark just didn't put in any effort in being her dad. Not when it mattered.

Damn, her home life was depressing. Original Amy should have left. She should leave.

Huh… Why not?

"I'm not wearing makeup. They can take me as I am or leave it, someone that worked their ass off healing and is exhausted with their bullshit doesn't need to be prettied up" Amy said distastefully, meeting her mom's eyes stubbornly.

"Ames don't say it like that, you're definitely pretty." Vicky said seriously, turning her around to meet her eyes, trying to show her how serious she was.

"Amy, get in the van, you will be wearing makeup, you're right, you're not anywhere near as photogenic as Victoria, so all the more reason to add some makeup. This is not a negotiation, you are not in France anymore partying it up on your lonesome, here you're part of New Wave and you need to look the part." Carol said with ironclad certainty that Amy would obey her. Not even waiting for an answer, instead grabbing Aunt Sarah's arm and walking over to the vans talking about something quietly.

There was only silence for a moment as everyone processed that tirade. And then like proper New Wave members, they all slid right past the horrible things Carol said and pretended it didn't happen.

Amy loved her family, mostly. But she really wondered sometimes if she liked them.

"I can help with the makeup, we'll make it a sister thing, that will be okay right, Ames?" Vicky said softly, holding her hand still, jumping right past her wishes trying to soften the request from her mom. "She's just stressed cuz of all the press, she doesn't mean anything by it." She tried to weakly defend Carol, Amy didn't know why she bothered anymore.

Crystal and Eric both shared looks, before saying their goodbyes with slight grimaces on their faces, things always got uncomfortable when they were all together like this. There was a reason they were all mostly retired. Mix both the Dallons and the Pelham's together and eventually Carol would find a way to make everything uncomfortable until everyone ran away.

Brandish everyone, the real cornerstone of New Wave. Amy thought sarcastically.

"We'll have to go shopping." Vicky said to fill the silence, trying to enforce a positive atmosphere through pure cheerfulness and bullheadedness. "Get you something other than a burqa."

Amy sighed, pushing her sister away with a palm to get face, getting a splutter and a dirty look in return. "First of all, not a burqa." She said irritably, "Second of all, Carol picked that to begin with, you know that right?" She continued with some bitterness leaking through, no matter how she tried to hide it. "As she pointed out, I'm nothing special to look at, that's why she made you a princess outfit and covered me up in all encompassing robes." Lucky for me that I could train my own skin bacteria to deal with sweat because it's outside my body, or I'd die in that thing, working at the hospital. She thought, thinking back on how pleased she'd been with that first discovery, back when she was new at this.

Vicky grimaced, floating an inch off the ground, looking sad for only a moment before she forced a grin on her face, "Well, she's wrong. You're plenty special and plenty good looking, Ames! You'll definitely have plenty of girls chasing you!" She said with some insistence, cheeks reddening for a moment before she fumbled with her phone.

"Carol will get angry if we don't get moving." Amy warned her tonelessly, not overly affected by her declaration, she'd messed with Vicky's hormones after all, she only thought Amy was pretty because she'd literally been set to it.

Simple as that. She knew she wasn't anything special. She hadn't been in her previous life either, she was used to it. Not everyone got to be pretty people, it was just facts.

"Just a minute, where is it, AH! Here we go, feast your eyes on this, oh, sister of mine!" Vicky declared triumphantly, a cheshire grin on her face that boded ill. "I'll prove to you that people think you're pretty!"

"Do I want to know?" Amy asked, briefly making eye contact with Carol, who'd stepped back out of the van they were obviously going to be transported in and was giving her an ominous look. "Carol is going to give me shit for this, you realize?" She groused, grabbing the phone from Vicky's hand.

Fuck, not another PHO thread about me, how many are there!? She thought in dismay, seeing what was on the screen. No… Vicky…

You absolute BITCH!

Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

You are currently logged in, Glory Girl

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to
• AND Threads that have new replies
• OR private message conversations with new replies
• Thread OP is displayed.
• Ten posts per page
• Last ten messages in private message history.
• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.

♦ Topic: Panacea needs a girlfriend!

In: Boards ► America ► Brockton Bay ► Capes ► Relationship & lifestyle

►Glory Girl (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (New Wave)

My sister just came out on live tv, she's just cool like that amirite!?

But never mind that.

Now to the important matters! Life and death matters! Stuff needing doing right now!

My sister needs a girlfriend STAT, so this is like the super Panacea appreciation thread, girlfriend applications go through me, no pics yet tho, no one needs to see all that, save it for my sis.

Obv be in Brockton Bay or be a teleporter or something.

(Showing page 1 of 63)

►TheGreatandTerribleAisha

Replied On May 17th 2010:

Glory Girl If my brother did something like this post for me I'd rip his balls off, I'm laughing my ass off right now imagining the look on @Panacea face when she sees this thread.

Fifty bucks I don't got says she's gonna request a thread lock! Either way Imma munch imaginary popcorn and look at the carnage, carry on cape geeks and weirdos.

►Aurelian (Verified Cape) (Équipe nationale de grève)

Replied On May 17th 2010:

There is no one in America worthy of the divinity of Panacea. I will immediately contact the female French cape community for volunteers.

She will be worshiped, so I swear.

@Panacea if necessary, you can change someone's gender, correct? As you can even regrow amputations I believe this changing of the body to be the case. I would become a woman for you.

►Circusfreak (Veteran Member)

Replied On May 17th 2010:

I don't think Panacea okayed this, just a feeling, but sure, I'll throw my hat in the ring, she's actually super cute when she's in civvies, a real girl next door look, you know?

And baby got back, all those hospital stairs working for ya girl.

Glory Girl I pmed you, hook a sister up!

►AllseeingEye

Replied On May 17th 2010:

She's cute, sure, but she probably knows everything about your body with a touch, kinda ruins the romance doesn't it? TMI is a thing, trust me.

Besides, Panacea's girlfriend? Can anyone say kidnap bait?

No thanks. But props on screwing Kaiser over with your coming out party, it was hilarious to see online as they all stopped simultaneously, having no idea what to say until they could get direction from the top.

Aurelian Getting serious serial killer vibes off you, seek help. Or at least stay over there.

Srsly, don't come here.

►Applejack (Veteran Member)

Replied On May 17th 2010:

Honestly when she isn't in those robes, she's super cute, and that frizzy hair, doesn't it just make you want to, you know, grab it?

Besides you know girl gonna be good with her hands, right?

►GstringGirl

Replied On May 17th 2010:

I think it was really brave to come out like that, but I think it's a little mean for her sister to post this, she probably just wants to be left alone right now.

►BlackWidow (Verified Cape) (Protectorate NWC)

Replied On May 17th 2010:

I'd date Panacea in a heartbeat, yeah she's cute, but like the balls on the girl, I mean who doesn't want a confident chick like that!

So, gorgeous, check. Smart, check, ballsy as fuck, check. Biggest damn heroine in the world. Check.

And uh, expert knowledge about the body… Do I need to say anymore or am I drooling enough?

Yes please.

Hit me up @Panacea Glory Girl I'll totally bribe you for her number. Name your price.

►Glory Girl (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (New Wave)

Replied On May 17th 2010:

@Circusfreak what kind of name is that anyway? Better not be anything weird in those PM's my eyes are innocent in this you know.

@BlackWidow We'll talk

…

Amy shut the phone down, unwilling to continue on for the sixty three damn pages the thread had so far. "You… Are going to pay, so goddamn much, Vicky." She said dangerously, clutching the phone hard. "You realize I'm sixteen! How did you not get locked down yet?" She doubted many of those comments were from people her age…

"Aww, come on, Ames!" Vicky said, taking her phone back, "They totally think you're super cute, I was right, you should read some more, bask in it." She suggested, seemingly not understanding why it was not okay to post something like that right after she came out. She almost… Trivialized it all.

"I'm not you." Amy said, trying to ignore the wish to set fire to the world. She really, really wasn't happy with the circumstances of the last few days. And Vicky was pouring fuel on the fire. "You earned this." She said, grasping her hand for a moment, before she started walking. Carol was tapping her foot on the pavement as she glared at them both, for once realizing Vicky had her part in delaying them.

"Wait, what did you do? I feel, funny." Vicky hissed, grasping her arm, "It's just a joke, Ames!"

"You'll be peeing standing up for a few days, or weeks, or whatever, just as a joke, you understand." Amy responded blandly, all done with shit and not taking anymore, not even from Vicky.

"Amy!" Vicky whisper-screamed, horrified.

"~Enjoy, Victor." Amy sang quietly, climbing into the van.

Carol would probably make her reverse it soon enough. But it would make her point. Victoria would get to enjoy being Victor for at least a little bit.

She was not taking anymore shit. Online, PRT, New Wave. Her sister.

None of it.

If Carol made a big deal about it. She'd make her bed too and couldn't complain once she set it on fire. Panacea didn't need New Wave. And Amy sure as hell didn't need Carol Dallon.

Fuck around and find out.

＊＊＊

Brockton Bay

Brad leaned back against the derelict wall behind a shit hole gook bar down by the docks, comfortable in the shadows under the rusted awning, feeling the cold metal against his back as he waited, mask on. Feeling more in his skin with the steel wolf mask covering his face. As usual he hadn't bothered with a shirt, the metal under his skin making armor superfluous.

Besides it was a challenge, it was telling people, yeah, you can't even scratch me, bitches!

He was the fucking wolf of Brockton. When he prowled there wasn't a single soul who felt safe. He was a born predator, some people just had it in them, knew how to fight, how to survive, how to kill. Brad had no need to sugarcoat life, he was made to be a killer. He was a savage, he readily admitted it.

Even so, he wasn't quite the hot blooded youth he'd been in the fighting pits. A fight would still get his blood singing, and he was down anytime for a scrap. But he'd realized something, watching Kaiser work his plots, dealing with underlings. Watching them survive - or fail at surviving. Every wolf needed a pack. Brad hadn't expected to give a shit, honestly He really didn't bother with the whole friends thing. Or he thought he hadn't. But he'd accepted Cricket and Stormtiger as allies during his early years fighting, and now it had expanded quite beyond Brad's fondest nightmares.

He let out a grunt of satisfaction as his underlings arrived. They'd listened, so they weren't complete dumbfucks. They'd killed the lights and cruised along slow enough there were no rumbling engines to give them away.

Not that it would matter in about two minutes.

Jonathan jumped out of the passenger seat, the kid was probably eighteen, or close enough, and built like a gladiator, Brad didn't exactly bother with resumes or shit. Him and his buddies had been hanging around Brad's crew trying to get in. It had been pretty boring lately, so he figured he'd blood them a bit, see what's what. Tonight was the night. See if they were worthy of being pack, or were just useless brats he couldn't count on.

Brad couldn't stand useless things.

Brad didn't need people to be as strong as him, there weren't many like that around. He needed people he knew would fight until the last breath, spitting death in the face and trying to knife it in the groin as a last fuck you. He had the smallest group of underlings amongst the Empire 88, even that little kid Rune had more, although just a bunch of posers and pansies. Hangers on and cape groupies. Less than useless.

Hookwolf's crew were different, the elite. The real badasses that didn't shy away from anything, that saw a fight as the proper way to communicate, that knew that the only way to know a man, or woman for that matter - was to meet them fist to fist. The Empire 88 wolfpack was what Kaiser called on when he wanted the other side to leave their body parts behind in the gutters.

There was a reason the ABB and Merchant fucks didn't grow in capes, they fucking tried and Hookwolf and his pack hunted them down and ripped them apart. The PRT had no fucking clue how many disappearances his crew was behind.

"Ain't you missing some, brat?" Hookwolf growled, kicking off from the wall, spotting only six brats In-between the two trucks.

Jonathan, head shaved completely bald and a swastika tattooed on his neck, put a fist to his heart, saluting Hookwolf, "They pussied out." He said, grimacing. "It's why we're late, had to teach them a lesson."

Hookwolf hummed thoughtfully, head tilted as he inspected the group of brats. He could see the blood splatter on some of them, good, a willingness to enforce standards was a good sign. "Alright, whatever, I don't care how many of you there are, we're gonna fuck up some ABB chinks tonight, and I'll see if you're worth my time." He growled out, feeling the battle lust rising, but riding herd on it, tonight was about his guys, not him.

Well… If they performed well enough to earn a spot as his guys. Otherwise he'd have to cut them loose. The wolfpack was an exclusive brotherhood, he wouldn't lower standards for nothing. And hadn't that burned some. Kaiser didn't like it, but Brad didn't give a fuck, people had the balls to try and get into the wolfpack he gave them the respect to end them personally if they failed. Fuck PR, they were Nazis, what fucking PR? Kaiser could go kiss a baby for recruitment or something, wasn't Hookwolf's fucking department.

You couldn't have a more uphill battle then trying to fight a PR battle for Nazis. Hookwolf didn't even waste his time trying to help that angle.

"Oh, yeah, by the way I told the ABB you'd be here, so you got 'bout thirty seconds now that they saw the trucks, since you're late and all." Hookwolf snorted, leaning back against the wall again as Jonathan immediately reacted, barking at his friends, all of them stepping out of the trucks and slipping on knuckle dusters or holding baseball bats. Hookwolf's style was up and personal, his guys didn't do guns unless they were absolutely forced to, like when facing Coil's motherfuckers.

Hookwolf wasn't stupid. Fuck all knuckle dusters was gonna do to mercenaries with tinkertech laser rifles.

Slowly, groups of ABB in their green and red colors streamed out of the surrounding buildings. Hookwolf simply observed as Jonathan's group split into teams of two, using the trucks at their back so they couldn't be hit from the back. At least they weren't retarded, Hookwolf leaned forward, blood singing in anticipation as the ABB came closer, outnumbering his guys 4 to 1. Fair enough numbers.

Only in real life or death battles did someone's true spirit come out. He'd see if they were wolves or if they were sheep.

"You're gonna die tonight you dumb Nazi fucks!" One of the Asians in the front taunted, waving a machete around, gesturing towards the people around him. "There's more of us…"

Jonathan spat on the ground, grinning wildly, "If you counted for shit maybe that would worry us, your blood and guts gonna be in the gutter where you gooks belong."

The Asians didn't like that one bit, rushing forward, although the pussy machete guy hung back. Hookwolf hated that kind of degenerate - the one that dared to order men to fight and die, but didn't get down in the gutter and slit some throats himself.

Only reason he could still respect Kaiser, even with all the corporate shit and respectable persona, Kaiser was still willing to go out and skewer some punkasses, willing to fight and kill with his own two hands.

Couldn't trust a man who hadn't killed up close and personal.

Hookwolf watched as the fight started, the shouting, the screams of pain, the stench of the dying as they voided their bowels, all familiar to him. He watched as slowly Jonathan's guys were whittled down, being overwhelmed. He didn't see anything special from the guys who got swarmed and died, they didn't claw and scratch for every eyeball, didn't draw on that last bit of energy to claw themselves out from death to spit in the enemy's eyes. Just regular scrubs, Hookwolf could find a dozen of them by pissing off a roof, better that they died then continued living on as disappointments.

Everyone in Brockton Bay knew how Hookwolf handled disappointments.

'Sides, Kaiser could just use their deaths to rally the troops and spread some more propaganda, so really, it didn't hurt the Empire to lose some worthless hangers ons like this. As long as more ABB died so they could call it a win, of course.

But that's why Hookwolf was there observing, so that no matter what, the Asians were fucked in the end.

Eventually it was just Jonathan and another guy who's name he hadn't bothered to learn yet left, both of them covered in blood and with several corpses surrounding them. They were barely standing and still doing their best to kill. He chuckled loudly as Jonathan bit a finger off a chink who put his hand to close to his face. He'd seen enough.

"Oy, so who's gonna die first?" Hookwolf growled as he stomped out of his shadowed corner and stepped into the light. The ABB goons all freezing as they cottoned on to his presence. Hookwolf had stayed hidden enough even when talking to Jonathan before that the ABB mooks had never realized who exactly had been there. They realized now, and he exhilarated in the feeling of fear that permeated across the street.

The Asian man that had spoken before laughed, seemingly unconcerned. Which told Hookwolf he was either new as fucking grass or suffered from a brain injury. Either way he'd let the fool shoot his wad, they were already dead after all. He could afford to let them get their last words out. No one got away from Hookwolf once he'd set his sights on them.

"I'm surprised you dare show your face, isn't your boss busy praising all the homos? Is that why you're here, huh? Gonna bend over and lift your tail? It's what Kaiser likes, yeah?" He said smugly, pointing his Machete at Hookwolf.

Hookwolf felt irritation grow, he'd fucking told everyone else that going balls to the wall for a fucking hero was stupid as fuck, white or not didn't fucking matter - it was a hero! And now they were a fucking joke - a damn punchline. He'd heard the same thing everywhere he went today, same fucking joke. He was so damn tired of it. Despite the tattoo's he wasn't really that deep into the whole Nazi thing, but it was what his gang was about, so he represented. And he'd have to kill a lot of people now that Kaiser had made them a laughingstock.

He let his power manifest into his favorite form, several members of ABB breaking off to run, good, he enjoyed the hunt just as much as a good fight, and these mooks wouldn't be a fight. "Run…" He growled to the delusional leader, his wolf form blurring forward, a literal murder blender of blades shredding through everyone that got in his way.

He didn't bother wasting time with the leader, the one who only now screamed in fear, finally realizing what he stood against. New and green, Hookwolf thought with a scoff as he sideswiped him on his way by, his blades and hooks ripping a chunk out of his side. Leaving him alive, but ensuring he'd suffer and bleed out as he continued on after the slightly smarter ones, the ones that had run.

Ten minutes later he'd finally finished hunting down the runners, having spent half that time slowly picking them apart for his own amusement, he returned to the site of the battle feeling moderately pleased at the outcome, two more members for the pack, and he'd gotten to sate his bloodlust, not much of a fight, but a good hunt was almost as good.

He'd need to convince Kaiser to up their attacks on everything. Their reputation was on the line with all the online bullshit coming back on them. Usually people stepped lightly around the Empire 88, even online, no one messed with them seriously. Now because of the damn girl and Kaiser's damn video - everyone was making fun of them.

Hookwolf growled in anger as he made sure to crush the skull of the already dead leader of this pathetic pack of ABB pussies. He wasn't no fag and he was fucking tired already of being made a joke - it hadn't been the first time today he'd heard that. Usually he'd just brutalize his opponents leaving them barely alive, killing them all tended to make the PRT a pain in his ass for a few months, but he wasn't gonna stand being ridiculed, so today everyone died. He'd deal with the PRT being more up his ass than usual.

His mind turned towards the healing girl, Kaiser wouldn't go for it - the precious rules bullshit. But there were people around her, they didn't necessarily have to hurt the chit herself. Yeah, he'd put some of his men on finding that shit out, then they'd pay a visit. No one got to make fun of Hookwolf, or the Empire 88.

Once the deed was done Kaiser wouldn't have a choice but to approve, or he'd look weak.

Hookwolf dumped the two injured men into one of the trucks and set off; he wouldn't bring them to Othala. Part of the test was surviving, besides the scars would tell a good story. Of the time they ran with Hookwolf for a night.

Jonathan had a brother in Arcadia didn't he? He thought he'd heard something like it at some point when they were all making noise at the periphery. Couldn't go after the fucking girl herself? Well she had friends that weren't capes probably, they'd be fair game…

＊＊＊

The Jefferson Hotel, Washington D.C

Once they'd reached the hotel that New Wave was staying at, because naturally she couldn't just get the whole shebang over with today - the medal ceremony was tomorrow - she was forced through the experience of having Carol's undivided attention.

Vicky, Uncle Neil and Aunt Sarah all tried their best to distract her, suggesting family game night, (Uncle Neil) a movie marathon, (Aunt Sarah) and strip poker (really helpful, Vicky…)

In short order, Amy was left alone with Carol in one of the bedrooms. An illusion of privacy only. Because she was sure they were both going to get loud enough the rest of the family would hear them.

Either that or Carol would reach levels of bitch never before seen, breaching the space continuum so that everyone in the hotel would know what she said no matter the sound level.

"So… Say what you want to say." Amy said eventually, arms crossed, leaning back against the ornate dresser with actual gold inlaid in the design. At least they're putting us up in style for this dog and pony show, she thought, eying the rich caramel coloured carpet and the richly decorated and practically ancient furniture.

"As easy as that, Amy?" Carol asked harshly, before taking a deep breath, visibly trying to rein herself in. "Do you even have any idea? Do you care?" She snapped, one hand clenching into a fist.

So much for reining herself in. Amy thought snidely. She shrugged, "You're going to have to actually tell me in what way I've disappointed you this time for me to be able to answer you." She drawled out sarcastically.

Carol shook her head, "The fact I have to ask in the first place is ridiculous. Can you not see the issue, Amy?" Carol took a step forward, almost looming over her as her face reddened slightly in anger, "You came out on TV, without telling anyone!"

Amy scoffed, "So that's what this is about, me being gay. Should have figured." Even so, a tiny part of her, deep inside, twisted in pain. She'd been right in not telling Carol it seemed.

"Stupid girl!" Carol said coldly, shaking her head again, having pulled back her temper slightly, "No one cares about that. You left us flapping in the wind, all of New Wave fielding questions about it and unable to answer. If we said yes we knew? We didn't know if you'd told anyone we didn't know! If we said no we didn't, we would look out of touch, and again - we wouldn't know if you'd said something different to someone else!" Carol laid out, step by step, voice as chilly as the arctic. "You put us all in a horrible position that could have been solved by a simple phone call."

Amy felt slightly better and at the same time worse - at knowing it wasn't being a lesbian that was the issue. It was the PR aspect of it. How it affected Carol. Of fucking course. She smiled bitterly, closing her eyes, refusing to let any tears drop, she'd already given up on Carol long before this, there was no need in trying. She knew she didn't matter compared to Vicky or New Wave. "I'm sorry if the press release didn't get enough time to be prepared." She ground out, hating the slight hitch to her voice.

Amy was older than this, better than this. She wasn't even family. Not really. There was no need to be upset about Carol hating her.

Carol laughed, hard and cold, the sound almost echoing in the room as the tension between the two of them built. "You still don't get it. Blindsiding us was bad for press reasons, yes. And I am upset about it, but you never thought about how any of us would feel, did you?" She asked, before she took a deep breath, speaking more quietly, "How do you think Victoria felt?"

Amy refused to be cowed, staring straight back at Carol, lips pressed together tightly, angry that she dared to bring Vicky into it. "She's fine with it, haven't you seen her stupid PHO thread?" She said with a sneer.

Carol rubbed her face, sighing, "Tell that to the heartbroken girl that was sobbing in my lap about how horrible of a sister she must have been for you to not trust her with this!" She said with quiet rage and hurt simmering under the surface, "She bounced back, because she is Vicky and because she didn't want to upset you or make you think she didn't approve of your sexuality. Because be honest, Amy. If Victoria acted upset with you when you got here, what would you have thought?"

Amy opened her mouth, but no words came out. She would have assumed the worst immediately. She knew she would have. She was testy when it came to her family sometimes. Had Vicky really been upset? "But the PHO thread?" She protested weakly, feeling a stirring of something uncomfortable in her gut.

"Was her way of acting out a bit no doubt. Shunt off some of her hurt and anger in a silly prank." Carol explained, grimacing as she pulled a hand through her hair, "Amy, none of us care about you being a lesbian. You can date who you want…" She paused for a moment looking pained, "No supervillains!" She clarified. "But you can't say you handled this appropriately, you came out so that you could screw with Kaiser and the Empire 88 for God's sake! When were we, or at least your sister, a consideration in all that?"

Amy would have to say something she'd never thought she'd say, ever. "You're right." She admitted. Oh, it burned her. She'd butted heads with Carol so much lately, but she was right. She'd just pushed her family to the wayside and acted out of spite more than anything. And apparently she'd been so self absorbed she hadn't even noticed that Vicky was upset with her. She face palmed, and she'd retaliated for the PHO thread by giving Vicky a penis. Great. Best sister of the year award right there. "I need to see Vicky."

Carol raised an eyebrow, looking deeply unimpressed. "I have yet to hear an apology, a declaration to do better, to act differently, any sign of contrition." She said sternly.

Amy nodded, she was right. This was on her this time. Not that she appreciated the telling off for the press related reasons - because fuck that. But any hurt she'd caused Vicky or the rest of the family, that was on her. "I'm sorry, mom. I didn't think it through, or realize I'd hurt you guys." She said softly, actually meaning the words. Partly at least.

"At least you realize it now. But no, you will not see Vicky tonight." Carol said, putting her foot down her face set in a stern visage. Back to being the cold bitch Amy knew so well.

"What? Why not? I need to!" Amy's back straightened as she stood away from the dresser, anger flaring up again, "You'd just be punishing her as well!" I need to restore her to normal and let her know I didn't mean to hurt her!

"You need this time to get your head on straight young lady. We have the White House and the press tomorrow. You can not be making these mistakes or all of New Wave will pay for it. So no, clear your head and think over what you've done. I will send someone with food for you, but you, Amy, can consider yourself grounded." She bit out, a superior smug look coming forward, the; I just won the case, lawyer look.

Amy hated that look. She hated it even more that for once, Carol had been right about something. Not all the nonsense she'd just said about the press and New Wave, but about Vicky. She'd probably just fuck it up if she talked with her now. Hurt her more.

She'd have to apologize in the morning. And turn her back to normal. And eat a lot of crow.

Because she'd definitely not taken Vicky's feelings into account when she did what she did. Or her family.

She watched Carol leave, watched the door close behind her, she sank down onto the edge of the large bed in the suite, feeling frustrated with herself. She'd been so ready to fight Carol. And almost eager to be honest. She was at the finishing line, ready to take the plunge and leave New Wave and Carol behind. And she couldn't. Because this time she'd been in the wrong…

She wouldn't cry about it. She was stronger than that. But she would… Fix things. Apologize properly to Vicky, to her family.

This hadn't stopped her plans.

But…

Maybe she needed to watch out that she didn't miss the forest for all the trees.

Having tunnel vision would make for a really short lived villain career in Brockton Bay.

Sorry, Vicky. I should have told you. She mentally apologized.

She was still a bitch for that thread though.

＊＊＊

In the end she could only sleep so much, not much, she felt guilty, and angry at herself for feeling guilty. She was especially angry that she'd allowed Carol to be right. Just as she was gearing up to pull the rug under her and tell her to fuck off.

Four hours was enough sleep, right?

So instead of sleeping more, she tried playing with her powers a bit. Manifesting her 'clone' which really was more of a phantasm than a clone. An almost transparent copy of herself. One that disappeared just if she poked it. Utterly useless in a fight. Not even as good as a Naruto style shadow clone.

It also gave her the weird sensation in the back of her head, of seeing things from the clones point of view. She could shunt it away and not pay too much attention, but after some practice she could also be aware of everything her clone did. Unfortunately it was so weak it couldn't even speak, although she could feel it somehow could use her power, so at least that was something. It really was a weaker imprint of Prism's powers. Much weaker. Just as her ability from Strider had actually turned out to have a limited range in the end. She'd thought she'd been clever only showcasing the ability to heal to about a hospital building's worth of range - but when she tried to reach further it turned out she couldn't. So she'd need actual contact with Strider to reach a whole city again.

Still, she couldn't really complain. She was basically becoming a grab bag cape, except with the ability to choose her powers. Prism's power was fairly useless right now, but if she could move the phantasm into a real flesh clone - she'd be getting somewhere.

Theoretically it could work, if she made a brain identical to her own, why shouldn't her clone be able to access it? In theory. Contessa had to have sent her in this direction for a reason.

She sighed as she watched the alarm clock, she'd be exhausted again, as usual. If only she could heal herself. That would solve so much…

Wait…

Heal herself…

Clone…

It can't be that easy?

Can it?

Her clone moved closer, sharing a mind as they did, it had immediately cottoned on at the same time as she did. Amy waited with bated breath as clone Amy put a ghostly hand just a few inches from her face. They both shared the thought of the problem of the clone popping at any physical touch, growing frustrated. But they had to try.

Amy drew in a sharp breath as she felt the cool touch of the ghostly hand. Apparently while nothing could touch her clone without disrupting it, her clone could touch things. Could touch her. Considering she could only heal with her Strider aided distance powers, making the cells of the human body fix themselves with an infusion of her power, instead of proper bio tinkering. She wouldn't be able to do anything to herself with that long distance effect. She needed touch for anything more invasive, this was… If she could…

She watched through the eyes of her clone as she used her power, letting out a delighted laugh as the usual feedback she got when she touched a person and let her power loose, filled her mind. She was fairly healthy all considered, but there was some light damage to her system from the bio tinkered drugs she'd totally never tried, some fat stores around her body that she could repurpose and give herself a more slimmed look, perk up her boobs, her mind ran with the potential improvements.

Oh, this was… Oh god, the possibilities. She forced herself to dispel her clone. Not changing herself at the moment. She had her entire family around, a press conference and the whole Brockton Bay Protectorate around. Now was not the time for improvements. It needed to be more gradual.

Panacea couldn't suddenly gain a brute rating, there were limits to what she could visibly do to herself. But there were plenty of ways to improve her body that were not as visible or potentially outing her powers as more than healing. Strengthening her organs, making her immune system supercharged. Perhaps she could be fixing herself up so she would be a regenerative cape, she could claim it as her powers continuing their expansion. A healer suddenly self healing isn't too odd. She had given Coil regenerative cells, so it was easy enough to do that much for herself - even if that wasn't the same as actual regeneration from injury, like Lung.

With some experimentation she should be able to figure it out.

She gritted her teeth as the urge to shape herself became almost unbearable. Apparently with all the work she'd done, her shard still jumped at the opportunity and wanted her to do more. She wasn't going to let it make her decisions for her. She knew it was there, she could identify the craving as not her own. She wouldn't allow herself to end up like the original Amy.

There was no way she would sleep more at this point either. She manifested her clone again.

She'd test how long it could be out, how long it could use its ranged power, there were plenty of people in the hotel she could long distance heal through her clone to see how much it could do, if there were limitations. Her shard enforced hunger lessened somewhat as she began to test the limits, allowing her some relief.

She brushed up against her family, not doing much other than feeling out their system.

Oh…

She blushed bright red, dropping the feedback. She couldn't blame her. She wouldn't. Of course she'd be curious - it's not like she was a shy person.

She'd still have a hard time looking Vicky in the face in the morning knowing about it though…

＊＊＊

Coil leaned back in his chair, mind whirling, Panacea had truly catapulted herself into worldwide fame this time. Unfortunately it definitely ensured he couldn't use her for anything, she would be too hot.

It made him feel all the more smug about already having taken advantage of her abilities. Although he'd probably have to send her a message in his civilian identity warning the girl of the dangers of revealing what she could do, since he could no longer risk forcing her to be quiet through more underhanded means.

If he kidnapped anyone in her family now, the response would be much more dangerous than before, that's if Cauldron itself didn't appear, that woman popping out with a gun to his head for daring to touch a hair on the new golden goose.

He was immortal now, he didn't need to rush. He had all the time in the world. Eventually someone would get the better over Cauldron, perhaps it would even be him.

With that pleasant thought, he shut down any further plans to poke and prod at the healing cape.

It was a waste of timelines to bother with her anymore now that she had the attention of the world on her.

Coil worked best from the shadows, his abilities became markedly less useful once he became at risk. The fact his base was completely hidden ensuring he'd always have a safe timeline.

Still… It wouldn't hurt to have one last check…

He split the timelines. In one he continued on, researching his opponents in Brockton Bay. In the other he grabbed his phone and dialed the number of his new little songbird. She was busy gathering up a team for him, but she'd answer his call.

He'd made sure she was very well aware of his tolerance level for her ignoring him.

"Yeah, boss?" His Tattletale answered wearily after a few rings.

"Panacea, your thoughts on her becoming an issue in the future?" Coil asked calmly.

"Panacea? Holy shit, really? What's she going to do? Heal that cold empty spot where your heart should be?" Tattletale said irreverently as was her habit.

One he'd need to train out of her eventually.

"I won't ask again, Tattletale." Coil said coldly.

"Ugh, fine, let me get a good look at her last presser." Tattletale groaned, Coil waiting patiently for several minutes as Tattletale found a video of it online.

"Wow, never bothered much with heal bot girl, but she's kind of fucked up." Tattletale said, letting loose a whistle, "Far as I can tell she's about ready to tell her family to take a hike, either going independent or villain, not PRT she loathes them."

Coil raised an eyebrow unseen to his minion, "Really? Anything else?" Panacea leaving New Wave would be a big deal. If she went villain… Coil would have to eliminate her before she became a threat.

"She's sandbagging, like a lot." Tattletale said bluntly, her teeth gritting together, it seemed she'd overused her power again today.

"Explain." Coil ordered, sitting up straighter in his chair. He'd found nothing of the sort when he'd 'interrogated' the girl.

"Not sure, but as far as I can read, she's afraid of letting the breadth of her abilities out, as in getting a kill order afraid, don't bother asking what the abilities are, I'm good, but I can only get so much from a video."

"Make a guess." Coil said coldly, dread filling him, Tattletale picking up on it annoyingly enough because she immediately got a bit of a chirp to her voice as she answered.

"I'd guess full out Biotinker." Tattletale said brightly, before she hung up, already knowing Coil was done talking through her power.

"Shit."


＊＊＊

Author's note;

While yes Amy has fiddled around a bit to ensure Vicky would never turn on her. She isn't a slave, Vicky is her own person still, and will try to be the bridge between mom and daughter sometimes. That said, in a battle, or a scenario where Brandish kicked Amy out or something, Vicky would automatically follow her sister. Basically she can be counted on when the chips are down, but otherwise she's still just the same person really.

Making people slaves without their own personality and wishes and wants - is how you get exposed as a Master and kill ordered after all.

Amy already had preconceptions about Carol from Canon - so yeah the relationship sucks - but this time around it's just as much Amy being a bitch expecting Carol to be one and just creating a vicious circle with their relationship. So yeah, Carol is a bit of fanon level bitchy, but she'd had to deal with bitch Amy for almost two years and other things in the background from her actions.

Of course Coil wouldn't completely be removed from the story in the first paragraph of the story. That's just too easy. He'll still be around even if it won't end in a long dragged out timeline fight.

 

[JollyHippo]

Here's chapter 4: Hero or Villain? Why not both?

Back to Brockton Bay, and the meat of the story finally begins.

Amy is a selfish person, if that wasn't clear already. So you're not reading about a good person, even if many of her actions will help a lot of people, she'll also harm a lot of people.

It is a kind of fix it fic, if you squint, not meant to take too seriously. I play around a bit with her power and things, hopefully they don't seem too weird.

New Wave never seem to have really noticed original Amy hating life, so writing them here as kind of weak interpersonally, falling to Carol's strong personality too easily.

A friendly reminder that this setting has Nazis. So you know, things will be said in coming chapters that isn't very nice.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

＊＊＊

"Good to finally be back in good old Brockton Bay, huh?" Vicky said cheerfully as she floated backwards in front of Amy, trusting her to tell her if she'd fly into something, dressed in her Glory Girl outfit, tiara and all.

Amy snorted softly, the scarf of her Panacea outfit covering her lower face as she ambled along down the street in no particular hurry. "Would be better if my ears weren't still ringing from all the yelling from Carol about how New Wave had suffered in popularity polls due to my reveal."

The White House ceremony had thankfully been much briefer than the French one had been. Which then had led into a thankfully fairly brief press conference. Say what you want about Washington, but they knew how to throw a press conference. Unfortunately, the entire set of questions had all basically been about New Wave and why they had refused to speak out on her properly, hiding away and refusing questions, making no comments other than a minor PHO comment on the subject from Brandish. Were they ashamed of her? And more in that vein. Carol hadn't stopped bitching since.

Only thing returning finally to Brockton Bay had changed - was that now she could get yelled at in her own home instead of in Washington.

Vicky smiled, but it was a sad wistful one, as she floated along, "Yeah… I get why we're doing this, I do, Ames… But it's gonna be hard, you know?"

Amy reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. Thankful for her sister's support, even if some of it had been artificially pushed along by her over the last few years. "We're still family, we can still see them all, you can still go see Carol whenever you want, hell nothing says you have to move out."

Vicky shook her head, not letting go of her hand, a melancholy feeling wafting from her as she bowed her head slightly, "No… I'll come with you, that's how it's gonna be, I'm not abandoning my sister, Ames." She said, raising her head with clear fire in her sparkling blue eyes. A small grin flashed into being as she winked, trying to discard the melancholy mood they were both in, "Besides you probably wouldn't last a day without me."

Amy raised an eyebrow sardonically, "You sure it's not the other way around? Do you actually know how to wash your uniform? Let alone your regular clothes?" Not even gonna mention your 'skills' in the kitchen, so I'm feeding you too from here on out… Wouldn't last a day without you, my ass! She thought.

Vicky winced, letting go of her hand to point at her, "Alright, point. But I can learn, and how hard can it be? Mom does it all the time."

"Turning right," Amy warned, Vicky immediately turned, floating ahead of her as they turned down another street, civilians staring as they walked/floated by. "And that's cute." She scoffed, "You thought Carol was doing all that laundry, it was me you doofus."

"Wow… I feel really bad that I didn't know that." Vicky admitted with a faint blush, looking back at her with obvious chagrin, "Hey, if I get too self absorbed you are allowed to kick me back down to earth you know?"

"If I kicked you I'd just break my toe." Amy deadpanned, getting an answering roll of the eyes from her sister. "It should be the next apartment building." She'd looked it up already on the way back home. Her plans that had been percolating for months now came to the forefront as she realized she couldn't stand to wait a minute longer under the thumb of Carol Dallon.

Her plans didn't really have her pulling the trigger this early, but like she'd been feeling for the past week, she just couldn't stand spending anymore time being used as a PR prop and denigrated for it, she was worth a hell of a lot more then Carol thought, and she'd fucking prove it.

"You sure she's gonna listen, you know, villain and all that." Vicky said skeptically. She shadow boxed quickly, floating a few inches off the ground, going so far as making the sound effects to it, "Pow, pow, smash!" Succeeding in getting a snort of amusement from Amy which brought a blinding grin onto Vicky's face.

Amy would have never even been able to suggest this all to the original Glory Girl. But she'd worked on her for a few years now. And Vicky wasn't quite as black and white anymore. And of course she was completely willing to follow Amy's lead, which she definitely needed for this.

"She'll listen, and she'll go along with it too, because it's the best amongst a bunch of bad decisions, and it brings her a degree of safety she won't find anywhere else." Amy said decisively. Unsaid was the idea that in the worst case, if she got her hands on her for any reason, she could make her see reason. Not something she wanted to rely on, as everytime she did it increased the risk she'd be found out as a Master.

She and Vicky had pretty much spent the entire flight home huddled up and discussing strategy. Well… After Amy had returned her to her original… State, without any questions from her about anything. And after she'd begged for forgiveness for not thinking of Vicky or her feelings before she dropped the news on live TV, which not to her surprise, Vicky reacted to it all by cheerfully accepting it, hugging the stuffing out of her after. It kind of made Amy wonder if Carol had been full of shit after all and had been trying to emotionally blackmail her.

They'd hammered it all out, and now, after spending the night at home, and a couple phone calls from Amy to start setting things up. They were ready.

Brockton Bay wouldn't be ready for them…

A few minutes later found them knocking on the door to one of the apartments. Vicky floating silently behind Amy. Knowing that she was mostly with her to reinforce the point, and to get them both the hell out of there if it went south. Which it shouldn't.

The door opened and a fairly mousy looking older brunette woman peered out at them with a worried expression on her face, "...Can I help you?" She asked softly.

Amy lowered her scarf, smiling politely, "Hello, Kayden, I think it's best we come in for this discussion, to preface it, I promise that nothing said today will be told to anyone else let alone the PRT, we will leave and never come back if you chose that after our discussion, we are not here to arrest you or cause trouble for your civilian persona."

"Take a breath, Ames." Vicky joked quietly behind her, Amy used one hand to give her the finger behind her. Took her 2 seconds to break the let me do all the talking rule. She thought with some exasperation.

Kayden Anders, to some known as the cape Purity, slowly stopped back, leaving the door open, a conflicted expression on her face, "I'll hold you to all of that." She said quietly, waving them forward, "I'd ask that you please keep your voices down, my daughter is asleep." She continued, some steel appearing in her voice, "If I feel you are a threat to her…"

Amy held both hands up, shaking her head, "We will not be a threat, and like I said we won't share anything with anyone about today, I'll even throw in a check up for your daughter if you're comfortable with it." She offered.

Kayden seemed to mull that over, before she sighed, "We'll see." Is all she said as she walked away into her apartment, Amy and Vicky following slowly.

Kayden being a interior decorator showcased itself well in her apartment, it was tastefully done and looked modern without going futuristic or tacky. Kayden led them to the small living area, waving to a small couch; she notably didn't sit down, nor offer them drinks.

Amy sat down, Vicky plopping down next to her, her sister more tense, ready to move at a moment's notice. Which wasn't helping as Kayden held herself similarly, no doubt because of that. Amy put a hand on Vicky's leg, "We're not here for a fight, calm down, she won't attack us."

Kayden raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms, looking dangerous even in just sweatpants and a tank top. "You seem pretty sure about that?" She asked, with pursed lips. "Not scared of the big evil Nazi?"

Amy just gave her an unimpressed look, "Are you trying to start something? God, you're just as bad as Vicky." She bulldozed forward ignoring the twin offended looks, even though they were hilarious. "I know you're not really a Nazi anymore, just as I know you've been trying to be a Hero recently, to create a better world for Aster."

Kayden stared at her, seemingly at a loss, "This is not how I imagined whatever this is, would go." She muttered, slowly sitting down across from them, not relaxing, but not as on edge either, "How do you know that? No offense… But New Wave isn't exactly… Active."

"I'm active." Vicky muttered mulishly, Amy slapped her leg and gave her a look that said shush, only in much worse language than that.

"We're not actually here as members of New Wave… Just as you're trying to reinvent yourself, so are we…" Amy said, hesitating only slightly before dropping the bomb, "We're leaving New Wave."

Kayden looked towards Vicky, some disbelief shining through her pretty well done poker face. "You expect me to believe that?" She scoffed, shaking her head.

Amy waved a hand dismissively, "It will be made official by tomorrow or the day after at the latest, so it won't be hard for you to confirm. We're leaving because New Wave isn't making a difference, they're not making things better. Neither is the PRT."

Kayden laughed suddenly, quietly due to her daughter, but the derision in it was still made loud and clear, "You're here to recruit me!?" She chuckled, "Now I've heard everything. I've been at this for a decade, and you? Some tiny, baby faced, little brats - think you can come and pick me up, just like that?"

Amy tapped Vicky on the leg, just in time to get her to close her mouth with a snap, before she said something unwise. She turned to look at Kayden, radiating nonchalance. "Yes, just like that." She met her eyes unflinchingly, "That's a decade as a villain, you forget. And there's a reason you aren't gaining traction as a Hero. Because the public and the PRT will never let you forget your past as it is right now."

"And I suppose you have all the answers, god you're just like him…" She muttered, a frown on her face, her brown eyes going distant for a moment.

Did she just compare me to Kaiser? What a fucking cunt… Amy thought, but didn't let it show on her face, "I do have the answers yes." She said easily, "I am Panacea." She ignored the rolled eyes she got, staring at Kayden with seriousness shining through her body language, "No, actually listen." She snapped sharply. "I just healed even the dead during an Endbringer fight. If I asked the PRT for the favor of allowing Purity to join an independent hero team, they'd make it happen, once you're on the team the PR machine can go to work in cleaning up your image, much easier when you're on a team with the paragons of all that's good and apple pie, like myself and Glory Girl!"

Kayden seemed lost for words for a moment, just processing, before she shook her head, a bitter frown appearing on her face, "Kaiser knows who I am, he won't let me join, going independent, sure, he's probably hovering in the background hoping I'll come back even now, but joining a Hero team, he'd definitely use my civilian identity against me." She smiled sharply, "Like you two somehow have…"

Amy felt excitement racing through her, the fact Kayden already even spoke up on the possibility of joining was a good sign, "No he won't," She said with surety in her voice, "Because we'll make it clear to him that if he or the Empire goes after you in your civilian identity we release his." She explained. "We aren't the PRT, if he plays dirty, we'll reciprocate." Max Anders would not sacrifice Medhall for Purity. Not in a million years.

"I'm not giving you the Empire's cape identities." Kayden said harshly, a tenseness to her frame appearing that had Vicky stiffening at Amy's side.

"I'm not asking you to, I know who Kaiser is." Amy said calmly, quickly giving Vicky a reassuring smile, "You won't get retaliation from the Empire with us, the PRT will let you be, you'll be allowed to be a Hero, and you'd be working with a team, so you could actually clean up the gangs properly."

Purity could actually fight Lung, so her addition to the team would be a game changer.

"There's a lot more going into a team than just kicking ass." Kayden said dismissively, but she looked to be wavering. "Assuming you're not lying about knowing about Kaiser." She added with some doubt.

Amy grinned, leaning forward slightly in her seat, going for the kill, "We already have one other member as well, Strider. And he pulls in a bundle in transportation jobs across the world." Her grin grew sharper as she continued her pitch, "And how many billionaires do you think there are that want a cure for their cancer? A bigger penis? To look slightly younger? Money for the team is the least of our worries. And of course it also means you have access to my healing as well. For both you and Aster."

They'd be a rogue/hero team really. Doing some paid work and also doing the hero gig around Brockton Bay. Her own abilities alone would be sought after at a heavy price point. People spent millions on plastic surgery for something she could do in thirty seconds. She'd already used Strider as a go-between to contact a few billionaires to sound them out about the capital to set the team up.

Her having saved Striders life so many times was a good cover for why he'd join up, especially as the rogue aspect of the team would allow him to continue on as usual. As long as he was available for Endbringer fights and contract work with the PRT, they wouldn't care.

Kayden was openly gaping at her now, the thoughts about what had been revealed obviously racing through her head, "You've… Put a lot of thought into this…" She said after a minute, in which her brain had rebooted from the information she'd just had dumped on her. "What about my past? You really want to tar the team with a Nazi?" She asked skeptically.

Amy smirked with full out satisfaction, "Well obviously you were mastered by Gesellschaft for the past decade, on loan to the Empire, it's why you suddenly broke free and tried to be a hero, the Master died and released you. The last little bit of you trying to be better will fit the narrative perfectly, and since it's me saying it, people will believe it. There won't be a PR issue, because people will love your story." No one will care what the Nazis have to say about it, if they even bother trying to spoil the narrative.

"Holy shit, Ames." Vicky blurted out, "You didn't tell me all that, that's genius!"

Amy flashed her the victory sign, grinning with exhilaration, she was on the home stretch she could feel it. She turned to Kayden again, "If you join us with all that, even if Kaiser should reveal you at some point, you'll be a Hero by then, you get to keep Aster, no matter what. As you are now, should Kaiser or anyone hacking him, let your identity loose, the government would take her, because you'd still be classified as a supervillain."

Kayden looked taken aback, "But I've been a Hero for a little while now already." She protested weakly.

Amy shook her head, "The government isn't going to care, not unless we go by my plan, and my team." And it would be her team… No one would be holding anything over her again.

Kayden closed her eyes, Amy and Vicky say quietly and let her work it through. Finally she opened her eyes again, determination shining through. "If, and I'm saying if, here… If I do this… What would it look like exactly?" She asked.

Amy grinned toothily, she had her.

＊＊＊

Purity was onboard, which had Amy practically floating on clouds as they left her apartment. She and Vicky split up, her sister moving on for her own minor list of tasks.

For what Amy needed to do now she didn't want her sister around. She had her rogue/hero team, it was time to get started on her villain team. She'd use her gang to control the crime in the city, cleaning up the worst of the excesses - while her hero team would do better than the PRT, hopefully eclipsing them to the point they'd eventually just take over policing the city from them. She'd have the best of both worlds, with best of all - no Carol Dallon or Emily Piggot style person barking orders at her.

Her actions would make a lot of people very unhappy, but it's not like she could really make Brockton Bay worse. As it was the gangs had free rein of the entire population except for the small slices actually protected by the PRT.

Purity wasn't ideal by any means, no matter what she excused to herself, she was at minimum a racist. Although how much of that would fall away if she spent a few years away from Kaiser and co, she would see. But she wanted to do better, and had a very useful powerset. So Amy would give her that chance, because the world needed people like Purity not fucking it up more than it was. And if she let canon go on, that's just what she'd end up doing.

Even if Coil ended up hers and didn't release the Empires civilian identities, Kaiser would reel Purity back in at some point, their relationship was plenty toxic, but the guy was persuasive and Purity was obviously a bit of a idiot, thinking she could just leave a gang and be a hero automatically, not even rebranding.

She walked into a small slice of Merchant territory - if it could even be called that - without fear. It was early in the day for one - so the worst kinds of people of the gang were far from active. She'd also made it a habit of 'helping' the homeless population with free healing. And since a lot of homeless people were actually part of the Merchants - they didn't ever mess with her as Panacea, no matter where she went. She needed a fresh body. Someone who wouldn't be missed, and who better than someone homeless?

Their sacrifice would save Brockton Bay in the end, and Amy didn't really feel all that horrible about what she was doing, the people here had already given up on life, she'd be their salvation, and their sacrifices in helping her experiment with her powers before this, and a body today - would save the rest of them and give them a life worth living again.

As she went, she stopped by every slumped body against derelict buildings, the people laying on benches, gathering around trash heaps - offering to heal them of their ailments. Notably not curing their drug or alcohol addictions, these people didn't want to come clean. And as Brockton Bay was currently, there wasn't much point in doing it when they'd jump straight back into addiction anyway to escape from their situation.

Being seen and healing these people was a great cover for what she was going to do. Because obviously people disappeared all the time - and absolutely no one would think Panacea was behind it, she was walking around healing people, such a sweetheart. Once she'd spent two hours on helping out, while scoping out the area, she ducked into an alley while she wasn't in sight of any of the locals. She quickly divested herself of her Panacea uniform, hiding it behind a dumpster, hopefully it wouldn't be discovered. She'd been wearing ragged jeans and a worn down hoodie under her robes, she quickly put her hair in a ponytail while she kept the scarf covering the lower half of her face. No one would automatically think of Panacea or Amy Dallon if they saw her now.

She carefully entered the dilapidated former restaurant. Just by paying attention as she walked around and healed these people, she'd found out that an older homeless woman made it her home, and regularly chased away the rest, having kept her sanctuary for years, no one trying any longer due to her earlier viciousness. She wouldn't be missed, and no one would know for days if not weeks that she was gone.

As she thought, and had planned for. She found the woman passed out in the kitchens, seemingly a pile of dirty rags, reeking of filth and meth abuse - the woman herself only noticed as a human because of a wrinkled pale hand sticking out of the pile of filth she wore. Amy crouched down, grimacing at the worse than normal filth as she gingerly placed a finger against her pale hand.

Her mind expanded with information, all of it bad, the woman would not have lived for much longer, her organs were on their last legs, heavy drug use, lack of nutrition and several ongoing untreated infections running their course. She was also riddled with STD's which made Amy wrinkle her nose in disgust, who'd touch her as she was? People were that desperate? She started at the brain. Placing her into a coma so she wouldn't wake up and disrupt her. Cleaning out the addiction in her system, then the infection and illnesses. She set the bacteria on her skin to dissolve the filth as she undressed the woman.

Once she had the nude and somewhat healthy, if malnourished and skinny woman sat in front of her. She grabbed her phone, sending a text with the location. Then she waited.

A few minutes later Strider appeared with a crack in the restaurant, striding into the kitchen moments later, carrying half a lamb over his shoulder.

"Put it on the counter there, and help me get her up on the table." She ordered, skipping right past any pleasantries. She wasn't comfortable spending a long time in this territory while up to something that would get her a kill order if found out.

Strider dumped the biomass she'd need on one of the kitchen counters, and took a hold of the woman under her arms as Amy lifted her by the legs, both of them succeeding in lifting her up onto the prep table. Amy breathed out her nose, huffing slightly, god the stench in here was horrible, "Thank you, Strider, please stick around and keep an eye on the place, warn me if someone comes by."

"Sure thing, let me know if you need anything else, boss lady." He answered casually, before he tipped his cap at her, and exited the kitchen.

Amy shook her head with some amusement, she'd ordered him to not call her mistress or act subservient when she talked with him on the phone last night, setting today up, as that was just asking for trouble - and instead he'd started being overly casual, while still doing anything she asked without missing a step.

She clapped her hands together, "Right, let's see what I can do." She murmured, a flash of excitement going through her as she began to shape. One hand on the lamb using its biomass as she changed the homeless woman, fixing her malnutrition, her weak bones, improving her at the cellular level, at the same time shaping her flesh, until she looked down at a copy of herself, looking peacefully asleep.

She took a deep breath, stretching her fingers out. The moment of truth. She created a clone. The phantasm appeared in the kitchen, hovering above the comatose woman. There was no need to speak, she was her, they both knew exactly what was going on. With flesh hands, Amy touched her copy, wiping her brain free of any memories or thoughts, in effect killing the woman while leaving the body alive. With a ghostly hand, her clone touched the body, suffusing it with her power, trying to incorporate herself within the body down to the cellular structure. One ghostly hand gently touched Amy's head, reading her body, her brain, as they molded the comatose body's brain pattern to match. Sweat was dripping down Amy's nose as she stared with concentration at the woman with her face. She could see the phantasm of her clone melding with it the more complete the brain became, until suddenly she was alone in the kitchen with the comatose woman again.

When she'd tested her phantasm clone, she'd found that it didn't disappear at all unless she dismissed it, apart from it being touched and dissipated of course, but with a body that touch issue would be mitigated. So in theory, her clone should be able to work independently for as long as Amy wanted without suddenly poofing away. Now she'd only tested it for a little over a day, but she felt that it was true, and she trusted her powers that much at least.

She took a shuddering breath, wiping sweat off her brow with a shaking hand. That had been intense. Now had it worked? She wondered. She attempted to create a clone again. And she failed. She pushed down on the roar of triumph that threatened to erupt from her. She still needed to check, even as her whole body practically vibrated in excitement. She laid a hand on clone Amy, reading her body, her brain. It all seemed to be right, with a touch she woke her up from her coma.

She blinked, wow, that's a trip. As she looked at herself with her own eyes. She could feel the other Amy in her head, in the back of her mind, could hear the echoing thought from the other her, that this was trippy.

"That's going to take some getting used to…" Clone Amy said, sliding her naked legs over the edge of the table, sitting up facing Amy, "I can feel your thoughts, my thoughts?"

Amy agreed, it was good, because it meant her clone wouldn't be gaining its own personality and end up an evil twin or something, but it felt really weird. Like she was in two places at once, but like, the other part of her felt more distant, a thought in the back of her head unless she concentrated on it.

She didn't worry as clone Amy put a hand on her cheek, she could feel the thought as she thought it. Clone Amy worked through her body, strengthening her muscles and her body, not going so far as giving her a brute rating, but more like an Olympic athlete.

"God this is weird." Amy muttered, her clone agreeing with a silent nod, before she laid back down on the table, already knowing exactly what they were thinking.

After all, they were a biotinker. There was absolutely no need for her villain persona to look like her. That was just begging for her to be discovered. She'd made the homeless woman into a replica of herself thinking it would be easier to take over the body if it was a copy of hers. She probably wouldn't even have believed it could be done, if it wasn't for the note from Contessa.

Clone Amy got knocked out briefly again, as Amy used up the rest of the lamb. Changing her, giving her an extra few inches in height, wider hips, more of a heart shaped face, plumper lips, a more classical nose, a greater bust, she wanted her to appear as an adult woman, further setting her apart from the teenage hero Panacea. With the villain name already chosen, she pushed out a new set of hair for her clone, bright red, her eyebrows appearing at the same time as her clone grew out a full head of hair that flowed down her back, a tweak of her vocal cords would ensure her voice was more of a smoky, husky one.

Of course since this Amy didn't have family and heroes up her ass at all times of the day, there was no need to hide any body modification, so she also strengthened her body, giving her a brute rating with how much she changed, her muscles, bones and even her skin, all of it changed to optimal performance. Add a touch of regeneration, skin bacteria that mimicked a powerful sedative - making touching her skin a bad idea for any would be heroes, jacking up her immune system, making all her organs supercharged and performing at far above a regular human's levels, while strengthening the outer layer of the organs to brute level.

She'd be a very hard cookie to put down. She felt very pleased with her work. Her body practically singing with how happy her power was at what she was doing. With the conflict about to come for both her bodies. Her shard was probably orgasming right now, if an alien shard of a biological supercomputer could even do such a thing.

With another touch she woke her clone up. All the lamb used up to create her masterpiece. She couldn't help but let her eyes rove over her body. She was an absolute knockout, her clone smirking at her as they both realized she was technically checking herself out. And that this whole two body thing opened up some… Possibilities. No, bad mind, stop.

Ivy chuckled, running a hand through her thick luscious red hair, "We better get going, we have a lot to do, at least you do. We weren't sure whether I would work or not after all."

Amy silently agreed, Ivy working out was a hopeful part of the plan she'd wanted to move on before her actions once again put her in the spotlight, her taking advantage of her distasteful fame to create her own team - something that hadn't even been part of her plan until Contessa had interfered in her life with the delivery of Prism. Ivy wasn't really part of the work she needed to get done before tomorrow, but now that she was - it would accelerate Amy's plans immensely. She'd never planned on continuing on as a Hero, but now she could do both, so that fame that annoyed her so much could be put to good use. And in the background use her Hero team to set the stage for her villain to rise to the top. Until they could both come fully in the open.

The other her would get to get infamous instead of famous, something that sounded a lot more fun than pointless press conferences. No reported chased down a villain for interviews. Well... no sane ones.

"You realize we didn't think to bring any clothes, I would be fairly noticeable as I am." Ivy said dryly, looking down at herself, Amy's eyes followed hers, fixating on the perfect breasts that were jiggling slightly, her own lips quirked in amusement as she knew she was doing that on purpose.

Amy opened her phone, sending a text to Strider, she could have called him in, but there was no reason to flash the guy. Ivy laughed delightedly as she and Amy shared the same thoughts. Strider wasn't going for clothes, he was bringing plants.

Poison Ivy the biotinker villain didn't need clothes for a uniform after all, she could wear plants, strengthening the biomass further than any kevlar or armor could provide. Really fit the theme as well.

And as she didn't even have a civilian identity, she could work as a villain 24/7, giving her an advantage. Especially as she was pretty sure her clone didn't actually need sleep. Any issues with the body due to lack of sleep could be fixed easily enough by Amy, who could call Strider to expand her healing across the city and do it, or to have him surreptitiously teleport her to Ivy and do it in person.

Both of them felt very smug as they sat there, their plans progressing perfectly.

＊＊＊

Amy left as soon as Strider dropped off a whole crate of plants, seeds and biomatter for them, her bringing it into the kitchen so as to not give Strider an eyeful of Ivy. She gave Ivy a last giggling message of don't do anything I wouldn't do - which left a lot of possibilities, considering the things they'd done with their power, then she left.

Ivy stood in the middle of the kitchen, naked, hands caressing the plant matter she'd placed around her, she stretched her powers, a sexy set of heeled boots growing around her feet up to right below her knees, patterned like vines climbing up her legs, her power strengthening the plants until it would almost take an anti-material rifle to punch through.

She continued on, her power crafting a pair of shorts out of a similar style to her boots, the material softer and more clingy, sticking tight to her body, the material actually still alive, since she couldn't work the same with dead matter. A green dress growing slowly around her, going down to mid thigh, the dress open in the middle of her torso, leaving her stomach up to her neck bare in a trail, her breasts just barely covered by the clinging plant dress showcasing some spectacular cleavage, a large blooming rose dropped into the middle of her valley hanging from a vine necklace around her neck, some red accents flowing down the sides of her dress, flowers blooming with thorns poking out, her shoulders left bare, a crown of thorns and thistles growing in place on her head, her hair twisted up artfully amongst it, the rest falling behind her, vines flowing down her back with it, studded with thorns, anyone grabbing her hair would get a dose of sedatives for the effort. Lastly a decorated wooden masquerade mask grew into place on her face, leaving her mouth and jaw bare, her forest green eyes clearly visible through the eye holes.

She couldn't feel sexy as Amy, she never had. Maybe she could once she got away from all the bullshit from Carol weighing her down. But this… She felt badass and sexy, a femme fatale, and she knew she'd be a smash hit on PHO. If they didn't outright censor any pictures of her.

Good thing about being a brute is that your costume could basically leave your torso bare and you were still protected - it wasn't quite chainmail bikini levels, but if she wanted she could have gone that route.

Now that the aesthetics and costume defense were invented and done with, she moved on to her offense. She created bangles on her wrists, with seed pockets that would allow her to create whatever she wanted to use for offense. She'd be able to keep hundreds of seeds by her hands in this manner. She also added thigh bands under her dress with backup pouches of seeds, as well as a dark green belt around her waist with several plants hanging off, attached to the belt.

With her powers she could make the seeds into anything really, although she'd stick with the plant and nature theme. No need in making the heroes think she was as versatile of a biotinker as she actually was. Although she'd have to be careful not to grow whole forests at a time or she'd be equated to something like the lost garden.

It would be a tightrope to walk, to be dangerous but not so dangerous she'd get a response she couldn't handle. Once she had backup and a whole gang behind her, then she could go the Lung route - where no one really dared to do too much to go against you.

There was no such thing as overkill in having enough ammunition, and although she had a brute rating she didn't want to count on that unless in a pinch. So there was an overabundance of seeds and plant matter on her, but better than running out and having to resort to fisticuffs.

She stretched out her hand sensually, instantly catapulting a seed forward, growing it into a monstrous tentacle like vine that slammed through the kitchen wall, smashing it easily, the vine following her will seamlessly. Oh, this will work very well indeed. She thought giddily. She still needed to touch it to initiate the process, but that was a minor consideration, considering she could continuously create more and more if someone cut away her creations.

Being a biokinetic was just so cool, no wonder original Amy had been so pent up and broken, to limit herself to healing when she had all these possibilities.

Knowing the smashing of the wall would have alerted someone that something was going on, she concentrated, growing several flowers, tweaking them to have incendiary glands, than she strolled out, letting a conflagration brew behind her, she didn't want any possible investigation finding Amy's prints or anything in a building a supervillain emerged from.

She stepped into the sunlight, smirking with pure delight, finally allowed to do exactly what she'd wanted since she entered this world. Let loose and have fun!

She winked at the gaping gangbanger who held his phone up, filming her, the homeless people around having much more sense, all already legging it away.

"Are you from the Merchants, darling?" She cooed, swaying her hips as she sauntered forward.

The filthy gangbanger worked his jaw but couldn't seem to find the words, still filming her, whether for his boss or for a later post to PHO, it all worked the same for Ivy.

She grew another vine, a thin, thorny and sinousy thing, letting it wrap around her arm before it shot forward to grab and lift the banger by the throat, his hands immediately going up to try and pry it loose, cutting his fingers as he tried to break free, his eyes panicky as his phone fell to the ground, cracking the screen.

"Tell your boss…" She practically purred out, a taunting smirk blooming onto her face, "That his territory belongs to Poison Ivy, now!"

She giggled as he wet himself, the Archer's Bridge Merchants would be first.

She was coming for them.

＊＊＊

Later that night.

The living room was arranged like they already knew what was about to happen. Both the Pelhams and the Dallons arranged around the Dallon living room, all sitting on one side of the room, leaving Amy and Vicky standing in front of them like naughty children.

Amy had not told Carol or Aunt Sarah why she needed to speak with them all. Why exactly all of New Wave needed to be present and involved. With Vicky backing her up, even Carol had begrudgingly backed down eventually and allowed it. No doubt thinking they were about to beg to not be grounded for both of their 'mistakes' that could have impugned New Waves reputation.

"Well, why exactly did you call for this, Amy?" Carol asked, sitting together with Mark in the center of the group, hands folded in her lap. "We all have important things to do." She continued, leaving unsaid, but heard anyways, the implication - unlike you.

The amount of times Amy had needed something and been told that as a lawyer, Carol had important things to deal with, and that Amy needed to take care of things herself were infinite. She'd never tried to be a mom to her, she still had all these memories of trying to earn her love though, weighing down on her. Even if she'd stopped when she'd taken over. She still had the memories. Of trying over and over again...

"Well, I suppose I'll just come out and say it." Amy said, grabbing Vicky's hand, her sister for once not looking cheerful, understanding the gravitas of the moment, "We're leaving New Wave."

Simple and blunt. Leaving no room for misinterpreting.

"The hell you are!" Carol predictably exploded, rising up from her seated position, eyes hard, "You are under my roof and my rules and you're not going anywhere, did Piggot put you up to this? You're not joining the wards!" She said the word with marked distaste. Looking ready to call the PRT director up right then and there.

Crystal and Erik both looked upset, but sank back into their seats, both cowed slightly by Carol's explosion, leaving it to her to handle it. Uncle Neil and Aunt Sarah looked blindsided, the giant of a man blinking dumbly as he sat back in his seat, while Aunt Sarah stood up and grasped Carol's arm, "Calm down, Carol, we can discuss this like adults." She sent Amy and Vicky a sharp look, "And receive an explanation, because this feels out of left field. If you were unhappy with the team we could have talked about it…"

Crystal snorted, drawing eyes, she waved her hands like, don't mind me, but at her mom's hard look, she relented, "Okay, so you say that mom, but how exactly would that discussion have gone?" Her eyes flickered to Carol quickly, but her mom definitely caught the look.

Carol pushed Sarah's arm away, "Fine, we'll listen to their explanation." She said bitingly, eyes zooming in on Amy's, "We know it's you, not Vicky behind this, so talk, Amy." She said sarcastically, her lips turned down in a disgusted frown.

Amy was really thankful that she could live through Ivy at the same time as she did this, it really helped her get through the uncomfortable conversation, feeling Ivy sneak around Merchant territory (what little could be called that), randomly hitting different operations and pulling back after doing some damage, testing her abilities out and trying to draw Skidmark out was cathartic. She focused on her family ahead of her, splaying her hands out in front of her, releasing Vicky's hand, "Whatever you think about it, we're deathly serious, we're leaving, New Wave hasn't done anything for the citizens of Brockton Bay for years, we're not joining the wards either, we'll create our own team, and actually help people."

"It's not only Amy, I'm 100 percent behind her." Vicky piped in seriously, grabbing Amy's hand again, confirming that they were both united.

Before Carol could respond, Aunt Sarah placed her hand on her arm again, and spoke first, sounding concerned, "Amy… Vicky… This is really not a good idea, the PRT is one thing, I wouldn't like it." Carol snorted loudly, Aunt Sarah continuing on as if she hadn't been interrupted, "But I could understand it, your own team… You're too young, too vulnerable, girls, this is a bad idea!" She stressed, sounding worried.

Uncle Neil, spoke up, backing up his wife, gaze intent, "She's not wrong girls, the gangs don't come after us because we're a large established team, you two wouldn't have that…" He hesitated, "Two young girls, alone, without backup… Things happen."

Amy and Vicky both sent him disgusted looks, how was that any different then both of them already operating without backup from New Wave, most of them retired from active heroing. Amy thought, but didn't voice, the attempt at unbalancing them was disgusting, and she'd thought better of Uncle Neil.

"You two can stop, Sarah, Neil, it doesn't matter, because Mark and I won't let them leave." Carol said harshly, Mark nodding jerkidly almost on cue when Carol glared at him. "This is all ridiculous, a silly act of rebellion on Amy's part because she got a little press lately."

Oh, you fucking bitch…

"Ouch." Erik muttered, barely dodging the slap from Crystal, both Carol and Sarah glared at him and he tried to crawl into the sofa cushions and make himself unseen. Amy was surprised he'd even dared to make noise, he was the youngest of the family and Carol together with Photon mom, wasn't a trivial combination to interfere with.

Amy shook her head, not really surprised with the response she got, although she'd hoped for better, she'd pretty much called it on how this conversation would go. "You can think that if you want, I'm not surprised by any of it, you always think the worst of me."

Carol scoffed, "I treat you exactly as you deserve to be treated, Amy."

"Carol…" Aunt Sarah said, shaking her head, a worried frown on her face. "You don't mean that." But it came out weakly, Sarah trailing off in silence. No one else speaking up.

Amy felt Vicky pressing up beside her as her blood rushed to her head, no matter how she tried to ignore Carol's uncaring attitude towards her, it still managed to keep hurting when she did. She took a deep breath, she needed to stay calm, not burn all bridges, the rest of them were still family. "Okay, you got me, Carol. Say honestly, that I am your daughter, that you love me, want me, and that you want me to stay on the team… And I'll stay."

"Carol!" Aunt Sarah hissed in anger after nothing was said in the first thirty seconds. Carol gritting her teeth together in anger, refusing to open her mouth. Refusing to say even one part of what Amy had requested.

Uncle Neil shook his head, stopping Crystal from speaking up again as she looked angry on Amy's behalf. He didn't speak up for Amy, but at least he didn't speak against her again either.

God, the men in this family were absolute pussies!

"You can't, can you?" Amy said, a hitch in her throat, "What have I ever done to make you hate me so much? To push me so hard to sacrifice everything? To refuse to care for me, to always hold me at arms length?" She knew why of course, but she wanted to hear Carol say it.

To blame it on Marquis being her father. To admit it's all because of something that stupid!

"Mom… Please!" Vicky begged, tears in her eyes, her expression heartbroken as Carol refused to speak. "Just tell her! She's my sister!"

Carol pressed her lips together, shaking her head, eventually speaking up, looking towards Vicky, completely ignoring Amy's questions. "Vicky, end this foolishness, you're New Wave, you've always been happy to be part of the movement, to be a hero with accountability."

"I can still be a hero…" Vicky said, wiping her eyes with one hand, the other holding onto Amy's like a vice grip, almost to the point of pain. "With my sister. Acknowledge her mom, she's standing right here! Talk to her!" She implored, her voice breaking.

Carol looked conflicted briefly, staring at Vicky's teary face, but then she looked at Amy and her expression smoothed over, "No. This has gone on long enough. You live under my roof. You are both remaining on the team, you are both grounded!" She snapped out, Aunt Sarah sighing next to her, but refusing to gainsay her sister.

"If necessary, we won't be living under your roof anymore then." Amy said quietly. The quiet words were loud in the suddenly quiet room.

Absolute silence ruled the living room, complete shock all you could see on most of its occupants' faces. Mark, surprisingly, broke the silence, a quiet, "What?" Coming out from between his lips.

Amy stood tall, refusing to be cowed, Vicky sniffling next to her, god this is making me feel like a tool, she thought. She'd dragged Vicky along after all, but she was selfish. She wanted to keep her sister. "You heard us. We are leaving, we are creating our own independent team, and if you don't want us around… We will find somewhere else to live."

"I'm seventeen, Amy's sixteen, we can do it…" Vicky said quietly, still sniffling, "Don't make us, mom?" She begged, "Just say it!"

"Legally, you are not old enough, if you leave this house I will simply declare you as a runaway and the law will bring you back." Carol said smugly, "You think you could make ultimatums to me? Go to your rooms, I will deal with your punishments in the morning." She finished, with absolute dismissal in her tone, already turning to Aunt Sarah.

"And you'd take that hit to New Wave's reputation? Having people ask why exactly Panacea and Glory Girl ran away from home? Instead of wanting to help people more and become more active with our own team? Quite a different perspective, PR wise." Amy said, refusing to drop it, refusing to not push until the very end, lay it all out on the table, so that Carol couldn't say she didn't realize it, when they left.

Aunt Sarah looked sad as she answered, "You're tearing the team apart, Amy, don't make it a PR problem, we're beyond that."

Amy felt like she'd been stabbed, Aunt Sarah never really stopped Carol, but she usually didn't join her either, "I'm breaking the team? But years of putting me down and making me get anxiety disorders on top of my anxiety disorders without a word said about it, and now that I want to leave, it's a team problem?"

"You're just proving Ames right, why isn't anyone listening to us!" Vicky said with disbelief, staring from face to face, finding either no support or people not willing to take a stand.

"We can take a PR hit. You're not leaving." Carol said finally, "You can't see it, Vicky, but I am doing what's best. For all of us."

"Except Ames isn't part of all of us, is she, mom?" Vicky answered back venomously, "I can't believe I didn't see it, that I thought Amy was exaggerating. God, you don't even care do you?"

"That's enough, Vicky." Mark said tiredly, "Do as your mom says."

"We're leaving. Call the cops if you want. But you won't like the consequences." Amy warned, taking a step away, Vicky made to follow her, one last disappointed look at her parents.

"You think you can threaten me?" Carol said, offended, "Do not take another step, Amy, or maybe I will contact the PRT and say Panacea has somehow mastered my daughter."

"Carol, no!" Aunt Sarah said at the same time as Crystal and Erik both gasped out loud, Uncle Neil not stopping them, his own disapproval clear on his face.

Amy smiled, a sad, half smile, half turned towards her so called family, "Your only daughter, heard loud and clear, Carol." She said quietly. "I have one better for you." She mimed taking a phone call with one hand, "Hey, Alexandria? Yeah, my mom won't let me help with the next Endbringer fight, she wants me arrested for leaving my house with my seventeen year old sister, can you deal with her. You can? Thanks, see you when the Simurgh comes to town."

"Somehow I think the Simurgh is going to be more important than you being pissed, mom." Vicky said sadly, shaking her head, her aura spreading a feeling of depression around. "Ames is important, now, you can't just roll straight over what she's saying anymore."

Carol growled, her fists clenched, "If you think you can blackmail me, you're mistaken, Amy." She snapped, refusing to answer her daughter, a vein throbbing in her forehead as she continued to face opposition.

Amy giggled, trying to hide it behind her hand, but eventually she just let her laughter free, getting weird looks from everyone except Vicky. If the laughter was slightly unhinged, well this was a kind of unhinged conversation.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just so funny. Hearing you try and say that you being butthurt over two almost adult heroes moving out, is more important than the PRT's battles against the Endbringers." Amy's smile turned sharp as steel, "Let me lay it out so we're all clear, since you don't acknowledge me as your daughter anyway - as you made clear today!" Her eyes panned around the room, "Which I noticed didn't even really surprise anyone here, but no matter, here's the facts. I will leave with Vicky today. We'll be registering with the PRT as an independent team. We'll be moving out and seeking emancipation. Should you put a single roadblock in the way, I will refuse to use my power. Full stop. No more. And when the next Endbringer murders a million people. The whole world will look at you!" Her smile was cold enough to chill the air in the room, as she let loose fully, holding nothing back. "This will be posted online in that case, New Wave will be done. Your career will be done. You'll have to move into witness protection or get plastic surgery to be able to walk down the street!"

Carol didn't reply, just stared murder at Amy as Aunt Sarah whispered into her ear, looking sick to her stomach.

Finally Carol pushed Sarah away, snapping at Amy and Vicky, "Fine! Leave! Don't come crawling back when you get in over your heads." She turned away and refused to even look at them.

Amy and Vicky both waited a moment, Amy could see the moment of disbelief in her sister when she realized absolutely no one was willing to step up and apologize or wish them luck, or even give them a hug goodbye. Although Crystal at least was looking at them apologetically, even if she didn't dare move against her mom and aunt. It was more than the rest of them.

"For whatever it's worth, this isn't a move against New Wave, not really, we just believe we can do better, that we deserve to be treated better, or at least that I should be treated like an actual family member. We wish you the best." Amy said, before she walked away, Vicky followed her, crying softly.

That had gone both worse and better than she had imagined. She had expected more support from the other members of the family, but it appeared Crystal and Erik didn't dare move against their parents, and Uncle Neil and Aunt Sarah weren't willing to go against Carol.

Lady Photon being the team leader was a joke, not when Brandish could walk all over her like that.

"I guess we need to find a place to live." Amy said, trying to sound optimistic but failing utterly, "It will be okay, they'll come around." She said, hugging Vicky. The two of them standing on the front step of the Dallon house. "We'll be okay." She murmured into her ear, feeling the sadness of her aura permeate everything around them. "You and me against the world, we'll show them!"

"We'll save Brockton Bay."

＊＊＊

As the sun set over Brockton Bay, Poison Ivy sat on a roof not too far away from the docks, letting her legs hang off the edge waving them lazily in the air.

The Archer's Bridge Merchants was a bit of a joke really, while they technically had territory to take, it wasn't the same as the other gangs, where as the ABB held much of the docks on the eastside and the Empire held much of the southside with inroads into the center where Coil was, the Archer's Bridge Merchants were a mass of chaos - befitting an organization run by drug addicts.

The Merchants had buildings and hang outs all over the place, in the cracks between other territories, around junkyards and other shit holes, the absolutely most derelict buildings usually. The kind where the homeless would gather. Sure some of the south east areas as well as some of the north east had a bit of a Merchant presence, but they couldn't be said to own the north or south east by any merit. They weren't organized enough for that.

She'd have to change that.

She wasn't going after them because they were worth much, she was going after them because everyone else ignored them. Which meant when she took over, she could do anything to them, and no one would know, because no one would bother having a spy in Skidmarks crew. If it weren't for their capes they wouldn't even be a gang at all. And that had only been Skidmark and Squealer. Mush was so new that most of the people she'd beat up tonight hadn't even heard about him. The PRT and the public certainly didn't know about him.

Still, a challenge like she had called out as an unknown cape - would get druggies like Skidmark pissed, so she waited. He'd come for her, he'd bring all the capes, of course. Because in the end he was a little rat who only knew how to scramble against the corners of a room, looking for crumbs. He'd fight nastily to survive, but it didn't make him anything but a rat.

She'd been out in the open for the last hour, just waiting. Making no attempt at hiding. She knew why the ABB and the Empire hadn't taken the north east or the southeast area bordering the docks fully, the ABB firmly holding most of the rest of the eastern dock areas. Not because of the Merchants. But because any expansion of that level would induce a full out gang war between the two real gangs - plus the area was filled with the shittiest, most run down buildings, so it was territory that would be costly to maintain for absolutely no monetary benefit. So the Empire 88 and the ABB skirmished at the borders sometime, but they didn't go full in for the unconquered areas. It would be their loss. Of course the center had Coil and the west and much of the north were PRT controlled areas, like the boardwalk just north of the center area Coil controlled, no one really touched either, it wasn't worth the hassle.

She heard the sound of a vehicle speeding, and she perked up. Was it finally…?

A junker of a car with a cannon sticking out of the front and two mounted machine gun emplacements up top - sped into the square in front of the building she was resting on top of. What could only be Skidmark poking out of the roof, hands on the machine guns, the man looked absolutely filthy and was swearing up a storm as he was pushed back and forth as what could only be Squealer spun the car around so the cannon faced her.

A mound of garbage flowed out of the backseat, slowly picking up more of the debris around them as Skidmark stood up, brushing his filthy shirt, stained yellow with actual crust along the edges, a mask covering the upper half of his face, doing nothing to hide the absolute crime against humanity that was his teeth. "Hope you have your puckered, juicy, asshole ready for me, cunt! I'm gonna fire everything right up that filthy fucking thing!" Skidmark called up, before he started laughing, like he'd said the funniest thing.

Ivy couldn't really see Squealer through the windshield; it was that filthy, but she definitely noticed when the cannon suddenly fired, demolishing the building she was sitting on. Unfortunately for her, Ivy was already jumping before that, seeds flowing down her arms, turning into vines that were spreading to the ground, giving her a slide to go down, as she landed in front of the dollar store tank, making a gesture with her right hand, sending the vines forward en masse, slamming into the front of the car and the windshield, crushing the cannon and drawing a shriek out of Squealer as she was dragged out of the broken windshield, getting cut up in the process.

She didn't know why she'd always been able to shape plants without additional biomass but she was thankful as it ensured she could pull this persona off, she only needed to touch a plant to shape it, then as long as it was within her vicinity she still had control over it up to a limit, she wasn't as fast when she wasn't touching the plant.

Ivy, had her vines hold Squealer up in front of her, dangling the vehicle tinker by the arms, like a flag in front of Skidmark and Mush. "I've got something of yours, I think." She called out, even as she kept creating vines, letting them sneak down behind her, tunneling under the ground.

"Mush, fucking do something, you cum guzzling cock goblin!" Skidmark shouted, his eyes having trouble seeing them, Ivy wondered how many drugs he was on at the moment. A moment later he seemed to figure out sight as he got ready to fire, lining them up with both guns, either not realizing, or not caring that Squealer was in the firing line. Nor using his powers. What a waste of a parahuman...

"What the fuck! Watch it!" Squealer, well… Squealed, struggling as the vines held her up, starting to simply scream in a high pitch as the machine guns started firing, hanging limply, in horror.

Ivy let the vines that had slammed into the car rise up, sliding together into a wall, enforcing the material with more seeds exploding into full on trees, further strengthening the wall, the machine gun fire not able to penetrate the material. Not that it made Skidmark stop firing, the completely out of it black man screaming as he fired continuously, apparently not noticing it wasn't doing anything.

Meanwhile, Ivy could have fought with Mush. But really. Why even bother to make all this into a fight, during the noise and spectacle of both machine guns unloading, the vines she'd sequestered underground had resurfaced, under Mush, spearing through the garbage, finding the body in the middle of it, and slamming him into the ground over and over again until the garbage all fell off, the cape completely out of it.

"You guys… Really can't be taken seriously, huh?" She said, giving Squealer a shake with her vines, the captive tinker whimpering, mumbling a bunch of nonsense to herself.

She had plans for Squealer and Mush. The vehicle tinker could be useful, healed up, not addicted anymore, and under her aegis with a new less ridiculous cape name and more resources to tinker with. Invisible cars were nice, but invisible buses or an actual plane would be much better. She'd see what she could motivate Squealer into doing once she was healthy. Although by necessity she'd have to twist her brain to showcase some loyalty, same with Mush.

The benefit of being transmigrated to another universe, is all the metaknowledge she had available. Not only from Worm, but from fanfiction. She'd read somewhere of Mush using sand as a giant sand golem instead of utilizing garbage with his power. And honestly, becoming the Sandman was an improvement. She already had ideas on how to always keep sand available for him too. Tinkers being bullshit as they are.

The machine guns finally clicked empty, so she parted her wall, not even allowing Skidmark to speak before she sent a vine forward, its tip sharp as steel, piercing him through the forehead, immediately killing him. Squealer came alive again as she started to scream in fear and panic.

She could have turned him into the PRT, but why bother. Killing the trash wouldn't get her kill order, and the Protectorate chasing her would happen whether she killed him or not. He was a bottom feeder. She did everyone a favor really.

Her vines collected Mush, dragging Squealer with her as she sauntered off, she needed to find a nice quiet place to do some improvements to her new minions. Luckily enough no one knew or cared enough about either of them to think it too weird that they simply hung on to a new boss with the loss of the old one. And any more competent behavior from them could simply be explained away with the fact they weren't high anymore.

Poison Ivy, the Queen of Brockton Bay sounded quite nice.

＊＊＊

Authors note:

So bit of a curveball eh? But yeah, Amy is way too high profile to pull off an easy route to villainy, so now we'll have her playing both sides instead. And Poison Ivy might be kind of silly to choose as an alter ego, but if all she can do is plants (as far as anyone knows) she isn't rated as dangerous as a villain Amy would be.

The Merchants didn't really deserve a bigger paragraph on their existence, they're literally bottom feeding trash who only managed to accomplish anything at all because in canon everyone else died.

Then they got their ten minutes of fame before they got wiped out too by the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Ivy and Amy are the same person, just with a degree of separation. Both of them can see what the other one is doing if they concentrate - since the clone is simply an extension of Amy.

I as the author handwave any issues due to mechanics of anything I've wholesale made up. So sayeth I, take it or leave it.

Cheers

 

[JollyHippo]

Here's chapter 5: There's no I in team. There's two.

Carol is a bitch, no surprise, but she's had two years of confrontational bitchy Amy instead of sullen quiet Amy, plus other things going on that has made things worse vis a vis the familial relationship.

This is AU, lots of background things you don't know about are also changed from Hero's actions, things you won't know about for awhile.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

＊＊＊

"Soooooo," Vicky chirped, hands behind her back as she swayed back and forth just an inch of the ground, "What are we actually doing?"

Amy gave her sister a tired look, they'd used a motel for the night, and Vicky, still upset about their family being shrinking violets in front of Mount Carol - had not let her have any sleep with her constant nightmares and pointy elbows. On the plus side, she'd gotten some work done online, on the minus side - she now had to spend the entire day tired as all fuck with peppy Vicky, and with where they were going, it was going to get worse.

She knew Vicky was putting up a front, being even more cheerful than normal to hide her hurt feelings from their problems with their family. Unfortunately she didn't really have a fix for that, other than bringing her along and being there for her.

"Recruiting. I reached out to someone on PHO last night, sent a PM and asked to meet in New York today. Got an answer back while you were in the shower hogging all the hot water!" Amy grumbled, checking her phone, she'd send out another text not too long ago, securing their ride.

God, Strider was the most useful person ever.

Vicky just laughed cheerfully, jumping back down on Terra firma, and giving Amy a half hug and a loud kiss on the cheek, "You know I need my me time in the morning, Ames! Don't be a grump! Who are we getting? Oooh, is it one of the wards? Do I know them?" Her face turned sly as she waggled her eyebrows, "Please say he's a beefcake!"

Amy couldn't help the half smile creeping up on her face, "Oh, you've definitely heard of this one." She said, holding the information back just out of pure spite. She had not enjoyed her five minute cold shower. Or the bruises from sharing the bed.

A big plus for her in holding back, Vicky was cute when she got surprised, so it would be worth it to hold back and see her reaction.

They couldn't be too long, they had a long day ahead of them. Amy had an appointment at PRT headquarters in Brockton Bay to register their new independent/rogue team (Apparently being Panacea gets you a same day appointment.) Then she'd scheduled a press conference for the evening - which with her newfound fame had created a frenzy of speculation.

Prevailing theory on PHO was that she was eloping with Vicky, having a dream wedding against the wishes of their evil family. Which… Wasn't that far off, despite being a theory crafted by online perverts. Amy wasn't sure what that said about her, but she didn't like it.

She was just messing with Vicky a bit, they weren't going to do anything like that.

Originally when they'd been pretty much kicked out, she'd planned to go ahead with just Strider and Purity and announce their team - but trawling PHO she'd remembered something important and saw an opportunity at the same time in New York. Plus, Vicky would be thrilled over it.

For the first few hours anyway.

Amy already regretted her choices. But who could turn down the chance of meeting their childhood hero. Even if it was from before she'd become a new person. She still held the good memories.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Vicky pouted, but her lips twitched, and she broke out in a full out grin, pumping her fist in the air, "That's my sis! Evil to the core! I'll figure it out on my own! You'll see!" She declared dramatically, striking a superhero pose from their early morning cartoons back when they were kids.

She was already regretting creating a team where she'd be the one responsible for Glory Girl from now on… She must have crossed a wire somewhere - she didn't remember her being this peppy in canon. Then again, she was likely overcompensating to not appear sad.

Amy just covered her eyes wearily, they were in public for God's sake! "It's too early in the morning for all this…You…" She muttered.

The crack of Strider arriving thankfully saved her anymore humiliation. There were already plenty of motel patrons gawking at them thanks to Vicky's loud personality, cellphones out of course. Considering the motel rented rooms by the hour… She should probably stay off PHO for a few days, she didn't want to read about the fanfics and theories that would run rampant there over this.

"Strider, thanks for coming." Amy said, a thankful smile on her face, "I hope I didn't interrupt any deliveries."

Strider tipped his cap briefly to her, a polite smile firmly in place, "It's all good boss lady, my business takes a backseat to you and the team."

Vicky flew forward, a hand outstretched firmly, as she pretty much grabbed Strider and shook his hand forcefully, all the while grinning excitedly, "Hiya, I'm Glory Girl, or Vicky, so thrilled we'll be on the same team, and do you do teleportation to French boutiques? Asking for a friend. Me. I'm the friend." Vicky rushed out in one breath, still shaking the bemused Strider's hand.

"Down, Vicky. Down." Amy sighed, lips twitching against her will. Seeing how taken aback and amused Strider was, did strike her funny bone just a little. "You have all the time in the world to extort fancy shopping trips out of your teammate." She added, wryly.

"It's nice to meet you. I'll let Panacea decide about any shopping trips, however. She is the boss after all." Strider said, immediately changing Vicky's focus to Amy.

Smart guy, Amy thought, immediately throwing her to the wolves to save himself. Intelligence was a good quality to have in a minion, if it wasn't her that was going to have Vicky nagging at her because of it.

Not that it would markedly change anything from a normal day for her.

"We should be going." Amy hurriedly said, wanting to move along before the inevitable shopping plans were made and she was forced to allow it to avoid a sulky Vicky. Or worse. Forced to come along.

Seconds later they disappeared from Brockton Bay with a crack, the onlookers all still filming from a distance.

＊＊＊

Ivy somewhat envied Amy in her chosen locale of a love motel and its invariable issues.

After leaving Skidmark's corpse behind and dragging Mush and Squealer into an abandoned warehouse and working her magic on them just enough to make them loyal. She'd been led to Skidmark's lair. Which to be honest was just a run down house on the edge of the docks.

Apparently it had been passed down to Skidmark in his civilian persona from his grandmother. Ivy had a hard time picturing any little old grandmother sitting around with Skidmark and having a conversation - but apparently, from Squealer's recollection of his rambling stories when high, they'd been tight.

A roach motel was the Hilton comparatively however to the house which might at some point have been a cute, white picket fence, kind of building, but was now completely blocked off from sight from the street by heaping piles of garbage and debris, the white paint almost completely flaked off, leaving the house looking like it had dirty spots everywhere. Ivy didn't dare sit down anywhere inside, the place was that filthy, areas were covered in a mixture of drugs, garbage and fluids. She preferred not thinking too hard about what those were.

Like she thought really hard about everything else to avoid that thought.

Added to the mess was random crap from Squealer that she kept around to tinker with when she was hanging out with her drug dealer/kidnapper, ugh… Lover. And it made for a deeply unpleasant place to stay in for a night. It was, however, safe. Only the capes of the Merchant's even knew of this place, so there was no risk for anyone coming and hitting the place trying to take out her new minions, or her, based on Skidmark's death.

Mush had barely needed to be artificially convinced to be loyal. With her powers, she could fix what made him end up as nothing but a drugged out loser slumming it with Skidmark in the first place.

Mush, real name Jason Watts, had been ostracized his whole life due to his looks, but it had really taken off after Nilbog took over Ellisburg. Mush looked like a pink skinned scrawny goblin, and with his power making him look like a spaghetti monster when in use - he'd not had an easy time. Living on the outskirts of society, barely able to hang on.

He'd even tried once, as he told her, in desperation, to join the good guys. It happened after a mob in Texas tried to kill him for trying to buy groceries, screeching that he had escaped from Ellisburg. The horrible PR look of his garbage application to using powers and his general appearance - coming off a recent riot/mob, had the PRT agents he contacted, turn him flat down and try to arrest him for disturbing the peace instead.

Needless to say he'd never made another attempt to join the Protectorate.

He'd drifted around, homeless, getting addicted to alcohol and drugs to get away from it all. Performing basic minion work for a variety of minor criminals for money for his habits. Until he ran into Skidmark just a few weeks ago and was conscripted into the Merchants. Not that Mush had much cared, as long as he got drugs.

Ivy had cured him of all the crap in his system, taken away his crippling addictions and made him healthy again. But what really sold her to her new minion, was when she used up the biomass of his potbelly, to change his appearance.

He was still not an adonis by any stretch of the imagination, he was still a scrawny man with long limbs and slightly large eyes, but his face was normal, now. His ears were no longer pointy goblin ears and his teeth and nose were fixed. With Ivy explaining to him the force multiplier he could become if he used a ton of sand instead of various piles of garbage - Mush had enthusiastically accepted the moniker Sandman over his old one.

Ivy had given him a new lease on life.

She probably didn't need the conditioning at all with that all being done for the poor guy. But she wouldn't take any risks with the Merchants, so she'd still mastered him to be fully loyal to her. Mush and Squealer she could get away with - them being more competent and loyal could be explained away with getting them off the drugs, no one was around to say what kind of people they'd been off them, after all.

After this, she'd have to be more careful. Full on mastering people was just too risky. Better to leave it to her light touches for anyone else.

Squealer was just a mess. Her system was completely fucked up. She wouldn't have lasted the decade. To be honest, she probably wouldn't have lasted even five more years if she kept her habits up as hard as she had. Ivy was pretty sure she had STD's that were completely new and undiscovered by mankind. It made her glad that she'd just killed Skidmark and not tried to touch him in any manner.

She felt dirty just from healing Squealer.

Ivy was very curious to see how her tinkering would improve now that she wasn't completely off her rocker 24/7. It appeared Skidmark was worried a sane Squealer could take over the gang easily - so the asshole kept her constantly drugged out of her mind, even when Squealer couldn't take anymore - he'd forcefully inject it to make sure she didn't ever wake up from the haze. Or so Squealer had told her once she was actually out of the constant drug haze she'd been in.

Ivy wanted to go back and kill him again.

As another courtesy, she fixed all the cosmetic damage as well as all the internal damage that Squealer had accumulated, she was a pretty woman, body wise, but she'd wrecked her skin and face with drugs, her nose practically eaten through with chemical damage. Squealer was now down a cup size from the biomass needed to fix her issues. But still ridiculously well endowed.

Squealer wanted to keep her name, once Ivy woke her up. But one mastering later and Ivy forced through a name change. She was not going to run a gang where one of the top capes went by Squealer. In the end she'd given Squealer different choices and the cape had countered with another of her own. Hot Wheels. Ivy had grudgingly allowed it, it was still better then Squealer. She also wanted as little of a connection between her gang and Skidmark's merchants as possible, hence the name changes.

For that reason, she'd grabbed the capes. But she wasn't running around trying to grab all the normals of the small-time gang and putting them under her heel. She could build up a following in time. She didn't want Skidmark's cast offs and a bunch of dealers and homeless drug addicts that all did drugs more than they did anything useful - gang wise. It was not her idea of a proper criminal enterprise.

She could heal them up, but that would be too obvious a link to Panacea. Likewise she could master them and make them stop being useless drug addicts. But again, too obvious and too dangerous.

It would only take the police or the PRT a couple caught gangbangers that refused to talk no matter what, before they started suspecting something. Merchants were not known for their absolute loyalty under pressure.

And the PRT in particular was very quick to cry master for anything that had no easy explanation.

Canary could testify in canon to how nice and cuddly the PRT were with any master they could get their hands on. So she wouldn't be outing herself to grab a bunch of druggies.

The reason she'd found out Skidmark's address from her new minions, had not only been for a good place to fix them up fully, and for a place to sleep - which didn't work out exactly, because she didn't dare lay down anywhere in that building… She'd wanted the house due to the likely treasure trove of information within.

Skidmark was a drug addict before anything else. That meant he would have plenty of times where his lucidity would be in question. A man like that could not run his little sad excuse for a gang, and the drug trade - without writing down the important information.

Like bank accounts. Stash houses. Phone numbers of the actual important minions. Weapons caches.

Ivy had taken one look at Skidmark's room, and ordered Jason and Sherrel to find the information for her. How could one man be so disgusting. That one bedroom had things in it that she hadn't thought possible. And she was a Biotinker! She could have lived the rest of her life happily, without seeing that room and the disgusting immoral things within.

Skidmark was a suitable name for that disgusting man. His room would be quarantined in a heartbeat if the CDC caught wind of it.

She'd really done the world a favor.

In the end, even though she did not gain the manpower of the Archer's Bridge Merchants, deeming them superfluous and too much trouble - outside the capes. She got the bank accounts, and the contacts through which drugs flowed into Brockton Bay, which was more important in the end.

Skidmark spent a lot less than you'd think, the Merchants had quite a bit of a nest egg it turned out, their main expenditure being the drugs they used. The gang hardly spent anything on weapons, or even Sherrels tinkering, most of it being salvaged, explaining how her stuff always looked like crap.

The drug trade could fall to someone else for the near future, Ivy wasn't worried.

She was a Biotinker, she was sure that with some practice and experimentation she could make something even better, something addicting that gave the best high or pleasant feeling ever - but did not ruin someone's body or brain - apart from wanting to continue to use it for the rest of their lives of course. She wasn't fully altruistic. People were always going to do drugs, so if she could make one that kept people at home lost in a pleasurable haze on their couch instead of going nuts, she'd be doing a public service, really.

This was earth-bet. People frankly needed something to escape reality now and then.

Maybe she could even collaborate with Blasto? He wasn't that far away after all.

Wouldn't that be fun?

＊＊＊

Strider dropped them in an alleyway right behind the little Italian Bistro Amy had set their coming 'date' in. With Another respectful tip of his cap, he was gone again with a crack, before Vicky could accost him again.

"You've done it again, another man running in fear for his life - or wallet - from the great Glory Girl." Amy drawled sarcastically as she walked towards the cute little bistro with less than a dozen tables. The reviews online had been ecstatic about the food and the intimacy of the locale. She'd figured it would make for a better meeting place then something large or crowded - less likely to have people able to recognize her as well. Although their recruit would likely show up in full splendor and end their anonymity no matter what.

Vicky giggled, peering around curiously for a clue on who they were there to meet. "I couldn't help it, Ames, he just seemed so straight laced and serious, I had to mess with him."

One of the things the world didn't know about Glory Girl, but Amy had too much experience with - she was an absolute troll most of the time.

"Good luck on catching him for a shopping trip, he's on to you now." Amy shook her head at her sister's antics, as they entered the small bistro, "Three for brunch, please." She said politely to the cute waitress, thanking all that was holy that at least for now, she didn't appear to be recognized. The cute waitress just smiled nicely, a perfect customer service smile on her face as she led them to a window table and left them with menus, Amy demuring any drink orders until their third arrived.

"Soooo, you're paying right? Because I don't think I'll be getting an allowance this week." Vicky said flipping through a menu, lips curling into a delighted smile as her finger stabbed down triumphantly at what she found, "Ames, they have panacotta!" She practically squealed, turning puppy dog eyes on Amy, "Please say we're staying for dessert?!"

Amy sighed, closing her own menu, "Yes I'm paying… And no we're not staying for dessert, busy day, remember, Vicky?" She averted her eyes as Vicky turned on the charm on her puppy dog eyes even harder, not even realizing she was flaring her aura, the waitress at the front of the bistro almost stumbling as she was hit with it, "Ugh, fine we can order some to take home, cool it with the aura before you cause a stampede of fans." She hissed out, looking around surreptitiously to see if anyone cottoned on to their identities.

New York wasn't Brockton Bay, but by now, her as Panacea would have been splashed across the media - which meant Amy Dallon was a very known face as well, which also just as likely meant Vicky was becoming more well known. Especially if she started flaring her aura all over the place.

Vicky did a put upon sigh, rolling her eyes in that overly dramatic way she was such an expert at, but reined in her aura, eyes returning to her menu, scanning it for no doubt the fattiest thing on there. She'd gotten way too used to Amy dealing with any unwanted consequences on her body.

Amy could already see a couple people glancing curiously at them both and let out a deep sigh, hiding slightly behind her menu.

Considering who they were meeting. She didn't know why she even bothered trying to keep a low profile, catching sight of her, in full uniform, out of the corner of her eye.

"The mouse is in the house!" A chipper voice yelled suddenly, a figure jumping through the front entrance, further causing trouble for the already confused waitress, who'd already taken a walloping of Glory Girls aura, making her eep in fright and drop her tray, a hand catching it quickly without anything spilling and holding it up for the waitress on one finger, balancing it perfectly. "Careful there pretty lady, don't want to cheese off your boss with some spilled milk."

"Oh…My…God!" Vicky said, stars almost sparkling in her eyes as she turned in her seat to stare, "You're trying to recruit Mouse Protector!" She whisper-yelled, squirming excitedly in her seat.

Mouse Protector turned their way, striking a pose, "Hohoho, is that the cry of a mouseketeer I hear!" She called out.

Amy rubbed her forehead, giving up on any chance of anonymity, perhaps she should have just picked a large crowded restaurant after all. "Thank you for coming, food is on us if you want to have a seat, Mouse Protector?" She said politely, smiling.

Mouse Protector was wearing a gray and white armor that covered her vital areas and had the look of a knightly suit, but was obviously some sort of kevlar or similar material, just painted over, it wasn't anywhere near as bulky as real knightly armor. The ensemble included a skirt with armored leggings and combat boots. The skirt slit into large strips to not impede movement and just from a glance, appeared to be made of the same material as the rest of her uniform, so could probably protect her fairly well. On her head she wore a knights helmet, only her cheerful brown eyes, and her mouth and lower jaw visible, a nose guard covering the middle of her face, the top of the helmet had mouse ears sticking out, and she even had whiskers on the cheeks of the helmet. Not painted on - but actual whiskers sticking out from the knights helmet. At her waist hung a sheath holding a sword. Presumably.

It was Mouse Protector, so really, Amy wouldn't be surprised if she pulled out a giant salami to mess with them.

Mouse Protector sauntered over to their table, waving idly at some of the patrons as she did, "I never say no to getting some cheddar from some adoring fans, hook a mouse up!" She said as she slid into a seat next to a star struck Vicky.

Amy had some of that as well. They'd watched Mouse Protector cartoons as kids, and even if she'd become a different person after triggering, with memories of another world. She still remembered those cartoons and how they affected their lives. Vicky had practically built her idea of heroism from those cartoons after all. Well… With less campy and ridiculous behavior, but still.

They exchanged some smalltalk as they went through ordering with the still slightly off balance waitress. Amy decided that she'd leave a big tip after all this, and maybe an autograph, as loathe as she was to do those. Vicky cheerfully took advantage of Amy to order four panacottas to go after their meal, sticking her tongue out at her in the process. That went with the full entree she ordered and the arancini appetizers.

Well… Amy would just let it all go to her hips then. Who'd have the last laugh then? As the waitress left with their orders, Amy gave her sister an annoyed look, "I'm not purging you of the fat if you're going to be a pig." She warned, half-heartedly.

Vicky just grinned at her, holding up a victory sign. She knew she'd be able to talk Amy into it anyway, the witch.

Mouse Protector chimed in at that point, "I've never had to worry about what I eat, comes from the exercise of beating up the bad guys, and the sex. Lots and lots of sex." She tilted her head and smiled, "Bad guys optional for that one." The obvious leer was a definite difference from her cartoon depiction and almost threw Amy off for a moment.

"Tell us all about it." Vicky said, hands clasped in front of her as if in prayer, a wicked grin on her face. "Spare no details!"

Amy raised a hand before this could all derail beyond hope, and as she saw the wicked gleam in Mouse Protector's eyes, she knew it would. "Let's… Get to why we're here instead, or we'll be here all day."

Mouse Protector chuckled, "Don't want all the squeaky details, huh?" She nodded sagely, a quirky smile on her face, "But be here all day? I disabrie, I've got places to be, villains to joust with, and a four o clock nail appointment I can't miss!"

"You're even more awesome in person!" Vicky said with a laugh, high fiving Mouse Protector, her aura popping loose again in her cheerfulness. Not too much, but definitely giving the closet table a bit of a bath in a like me/love me aura.

Mouse Protector fanned herself, her grin turning a bit sharper, "Unless you're trying to seduce me, settle that down, little mouse." She warned.

Amy sent Vicky a stern look, "Vicky don't make me put you in the corner." I should have come alone, but I knew how much Vicky would love this, so…. Amy supposed it was her own fault things were constantly derailing.

Vicky sheepishly took a hold of her aura, her cheeks red, mumbling an apology.

Amy cleared her throat, sending one last warning glance to Vicky to not interrupt, "I suppose you're wondering why we asked to see you, Mouse Protector?"

The independent hero grinned at her, pulling a squeaking Vicky into her side with one armored arm, "Well, I was beginning to think for a threesome!" She said wickedly, outright laughing at the matching blushes that were achieved, she let Vicky go, and shrugged casually, "But I guess it's a gouda sign that you're blushing so badly at my innuendos, so innocent and cute, it means you're not here to catch yourself a mouse."

"In a manner of speaking, we are." Amy said after a moment's pause to try and control her blush, "We've started an independent team and we want you on it, and irregardless if you join or not, we're here to warn you about a threat."

They were interrupted by their appetizers arriving already, Mouse Protector cheerfully flirting with the waitress and managing to insert five cheese puns within a three minute conversation. As soon as she left, Mouse Protector turned serious, meeting Amy's eyes, "I'm not really a team player, why don't you cut to the cheese? What's this about?"

Amy took a deep breath and prepared to lie her ass off, "I happen to know a fairly good precog, one who saw an event that would happen involving you and Ravager." Better to feed the story out in piecemeal then start off too strong. Amy doesn't even want to think of what happened in canon.

Mouse Protector looked fairly skeptical as she played with her food, "Ravager? I mean she's good at sticking her foot in a mouse trap now and then, but she's not really shredding my parm out there. Are you sure of your source, Panacea?"

Vicky ate slowly, looking between the two of us, Amy hadn't told her anything about this particular subject before. But a precog friend was a good excuse for Amy's bullshit, one Vicky wouldn't believe for a second, granted, as she knew Amy didn't have friends. She'd be offering a different explanation once they got time and privacy.

Amy took a deep breath, glancing around quickly to make sure they couldn't be overheard. "According to my very reliable source… Ravager hires the S9 to come and take care of you in a few months time."

Vicky's fork clatters onto her table as her eyes flicker to Mouse Protector, her childhood hero, and back to Amy, looking frightened, not something Amy had seen often before. But if there was anyone that could frighten someone like Vicky at just a mention - it was the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Mouse Protector on the other hand looked skeptical, tapping a finger on the edge of her plate pensively. "It's not that I want to believe you're lying to me, Panacea, but that's a bit much to believe. Ravager's been a naughty little mouse before, but that's dipping into Limburger territory."

In other words, you thinks my explanation stinks… Amy again questioned her choice in recruit, would she survive all the cheese puns? But then she thought of Murder Rat again and steeled her resolve, meeting Mouse Protector's eyes firmly. "Jack Slash doesn't do hired killings, he makes a point out of grabbing you of course, but then backstabs Ravager as well, keeping you and Ravager alive." Amy pushed down a slight feeling of queasiness, having a fairly good idea that she could do something similar to what she was about to reveal if she pushed herself, and continued, "For a certain measure of the word of alive - having Bonesaw fuse the two of you together, into one horrible being, calling you Murder Rat."

Vicky pushed her plate back, looking green, before she rushed off in the search for a bathroom, drawing attention from the other patrons and the waitress as she literally flew, Amy waved the waitress off with a fake smile, not wanting them to think the food was the issue or come over and ask questions. Amy felt a pang of guilt at Vicky rushing off, she really shouldn't have brought her sister for this. She still had a somewhat idealized worldview, the Brockton Bay cape scene for all its murderous villains, didn't really have the kind of atrocities that most of the rest of the world saw more often.

For all that Kaiser and Lung, and Coil for that matter - were monsters. They weren't even in the same playing field as the likes of the S9, the Butcher, or the various warlords and monsters across the world like Moord Nag. The worst Vicky had seen or heard about locally, was a few deaths now and then.

Mouse Protector sat in silence, for once not pulling any puns or innuendos as she pondered what Amy had said. Even if she didn't outright believe Amy, hearing about even the possibility of Jack Slash targeting you was no doubt harrowing.

Eventually she spoke, "That's not… Good." She said quietly, not even bothering to switch good to gouda. Considering how she'd barely been able to go through any parts of the conversation without slipping some sort of pun or innuendo in there, it was a sign she was thrown a bit off kilter.

Amy struck while the iron was hot, "I trust my friend, this is going to happen. Even if you don't want to be on a kick-ass independent team, let us help you take down Ravager and stop her from ever contacting Jack Slash at least." She tried to infuse her voice with as much surety as she was able to. She wasn't a good person, not by any measure of it, but the Slaughterhouse Nine were in another league and no one deserved their attention.

Hopefully they wouldn't instead target Amy, because then all she'd achieved was to bring Mouse Protector into the line of fire anyway.

Mouse Protector sighed, "I'm not really a team player as I said, but just in case, we can talk about doing something about Ravager."

Amy reached her hand out, smiling internally, Mouse Protector met her hand for a firm handshake, her fingertips not covered in any material in her fingerless gloves.

Amy only had seconds to utilize her power, but it was enough to make Mouse Protector favorably inclined to listen to her advice.

What's a bit of biotinkering between friends, anyway.

She was saving her life. She was the good guy here.

"Don't you know Miss Militia from your wards days too? She's gotten real uptight…" Amy said casually. Laying out her trail of breadcrumbs… Damn is that a mouse pun thing? She thought, twitching slightly, wondering how quick one could get infected by campiness.

The grin that Mouse Protector flashed held many promises.

＊＊＊

Sarah Pelham, sipped on her tea as she tried to keep calm. It had been a stressful time over the last few days, and now New Wave was falling apart too, they just couldn't seem to catch a break.

"Explain it to me." She said tersely to Carol, the two sisters sitting in her home office sharing a drink. Albeit Sarah had tea while Carol had wine, she needed a clear head to understand this bullshit.

Carol smiled bitterly, "What choice did I have?"

Sarah's fingers clenched around her tea cup, "Plenty better than that!" She managed to say without raising her voice.

Last night was an absolute shitshow. Sarah had been so surprised with how everything went to hell so quickly, that she hadn't reacted quick enough. She hadn't tried to lessen Carol's out of control vitriol quick enough - before everything fell apart.

She'd made a mistake. Trying to reel back Amy's attitude and bad decisions before she went too far. Saving her words for her sister for a later peacekeeping mission to settle things between her sister and niece. Not recognizing in time that they were beyond that. In waiting, she'd been too passive. And now everything had gone to hell.

Carol had always had a temper that was not a surprise to Sarah, she knew her sister after all. But how quickly she lost her temper on Amy had been shocking. Sarah hadn't known it had gotten that bad - Carol had never said anything.

Sarah had a burgeoning feeling that there was a lot Carol wasn't telling her lately.

Carol scoffed, taking a sip of wine, avoiding answering for a minute, before she slowly spoke up, "You haven't seen it. Since Amy triggered… She's been out of control at home. Always arguing with me, fighting back on even the simple rules, the disrespect and gall on her…" Carol sighed, fingers clenched around her wine glass, "She's been looking for every excuse to rebel and fight against me…"

Sarah smiled wryly, even if a bit sadly. "Sounds like a teenager." She pointed out quietly. Trying very hard not to judge her sister. Because so far. That was not an explanation. If Amy had suddenly become combative, Sarah doubted Carol hadn't had a hand in that somehow. With her temper, and her firm stubbornness with sticking to a position and never backing down…

"You have no idea!" Carol spoke up with anger, eyes flashing, "The things I've done to protect her from her stupidity! I've held her at arms length, true. But with everything, she deserved it!"

Sarah shook her head, "Carol… You're losing me here, tell me what exactly you mean, or I'm going to have to admit Amy was right." Vicky already went with her, so I'm inclined to believe they weren't exaggerating. She thought sadly. No conversation can end pleasantly with the phrase - she deserved it.

Carol sighed wearily all of a sudden, looking defeated as she sunk back in her seat. "She's a biotinker. Like… Nilbog… Like Bonesaw." She spat out, "I've been covering for her over the last almost two years as people came to me with their concerns after noticing something odd or catching her playing with a plant." She smiled coldly, "I know you have been raking me over the coals for taking all the money from Amy's toy lines and other means of PR income, but it's needed to pay the bribes to keep those same few people from coming out with the information and dooming any future she has." Carol scoffed again, muttering quietly, "At least now I won't have to pay out of pocket from what I earned as a lawyer for that child's carelessness."

Sarah couldn't even speak for a moment, she was so blown away. Not about the biotinker part, she'd known, she'd caught the girl practicing even if she hadn't told her, or Carol for that matter, about it. She didn't know Carol knew, or the rest of it. "Is that why?" She asked dazedly, "You've been riding her so hard because you've been trying to help her?" This is all because the two of them can't communicate for fucking shit! She wanted to scream in frustration, but held it back, knowing it wouldn't go over well with Carol. No wonder the household had become so bitter, if Carol had to spend her money on cleaning up after Amy, not telling her, other than likely riding her harder… And on Amy's side, seeing nothing but scorn and bitterness falling on her, of course she'd act out more. What a mess.

Carol chuckled bitterly, drinking the rest of her wine in one gulp, "I was trying to install some discipline in Amy, move her away from a monstrous path, and settle her as a healer, someone good, removed from her father's heritage. She can do good as that, no need to draw comparisons with S class monsters." Her lips drew together tightly, "Then the fool girl made herself an international phenomenon, and couldn't stop there… She had to pick a fight with the Empire 88 when she came out, too. No sense in her at all, did she even realize the scrutiny she'd face? How much work behind the scenes I had to do to protect her?" She growled angrily, but it didn't have the usual heat in it, "Kaiser is not a fool, he will find out and he will use it."

Sarah winced, because as much as she hated Kaiser, he was an intelligent and methodical cape, if anyone would find out it would be him, but right now she couldn't think about that clusterfuck… "Carol…Did you ever tell Amy any of that… From what she said last night, she doesn't even think you love her at all!" She gave her sister a tired smile, eyes sad, "She doesn't know about any of this, does she? About you protecting her from behind the scenes?" Even if she did… Would it matter anymore? Compared to love and care, how would that measure up to an upset teenage girl.

It wouldn't have been enough for Sarah if she had to be honest. And right now it seemed like Amy and Vicky had been right when accusing Carol of not caring for Amy.

Silence permeated the room. Sarah sighed as she rubbed her face when it became apparent Carol wouldn't answer her, "So she was right, you didn't act like a mother." I'd known of course that all was not perfect, but I hadn't known that it was to such an extent. For fucks sake Carol! She thought angrily.

Carol sat stiffly, refusing to meet Sarah's eyes, "Who would hug a biotinker." She said defensively, "I raised her, fed her, protected her. She's absolutely ungrateful and even stole Vicky away!" She slammed a fist down on her desk for emphasis.

"Both of you are at fault here, but Carol, you are the adult, you shouldn't have let Amy shoulder all of this without knowing what was going on. You haven't told her about Marquis, have you?" Sarah wished she'd not been so caught off guard last night, maybe if all this had come out in the open then, Amy and Vicky wouldn't have left.

Maybe if they'd been honest from the start. Maybe if they'd told Amy everything…

They could lose them from New Wave, Sarah honestly didn't think it mattered anymore, they were barely active most days anyways. But now they'd lost them to the point they didn't even know where they were living. That was not acceptable. And Carol needed to see that. Did she?

"If you didn't trust her at all… How was she supposed to feel part of the family." Sarah whispered, feeling guilty. She should have been more involved. She should have done better at the meeting last night. So many should haves. Their family, it seemed, was built on should haves and regrets. Like unmasking and Fleur…

Sarah regretted ever taking on the mantle of leading the team. She was obviously unsuitable for it. But the other option was Carol and what she'd seen from her over the last two days… No. Just no.

Carol looked away, face firm, "She wasn't mine. I did what I needed, no more. She chose this."

Sarah looked away, not seeing the point in pushing any further. She didn't see any chance of reconciliation.

What a pair we are… She thought as the two sisters sat in silence. Both refusing to take the steps to fix their family, Carol out of spite. Sarah out of the now honest belief that the girls would be better off without Carol at the moment, until things calmed down.

Good luck girls. Please be good.

＊＊＊

Ivy hummed to herself as she pondered the conversation she was having with Mouse Protector. It was an odd experience, focusing on her other self and hearing what she was saying and thinking at the same time as her own thoughts.

But it did make for quick decision making in times of need.

"Hot Wheels!" She paused, grimacing "Sherrel…. Ugh, are you sure of that name? It's not really…" She floundered for a good word, eventually settling on the silence.

Hot Wheels, formerly Squealer, just giggled as she got up from where she'd been sitting amongst the garbage, fiddling with an alternator. "Hey, it fits, I'm hot, and I'm the best at anything with wheels!" The vehicle tinker bragged, puffing up her chest, of which, Ivy had to admit, there was a considerable amount to puff up.

It was noticeable. She wasn't a pervert. You just couldn't not notice.

Ivy could make her drop the silly name of course, but honestly, where would the fun be if she just completely controlled her minions like that. "Do you have any of those invisible vehicles you guys always cruised along in?" She asked, knowing those were a major reason behind why the Merchants didn't lose any major amounts of drugs to the authorities or other gangs.

Hard to hit what you couldn't find. And none of the gangs in Brockton Bay, ( she was including the PRT in that designation) was willing to put down the resources to track down invisible cars.

Sherrel flashed her a thumbs up, placing a welding mask on her face for lack of anything better in the room, already guessing at Ivy's next request. "Always got one maintained enough to drive, boss, anywhere you want, my baby will get you there, it will take me a mo' to go get it though."

Ivy smirked, at the same time in New York, so did Panacea.

"Take Jason with you and get that car, bring it back here. We're going to New York, we're taking care of a pest control issue." Ivy ordered, already looking forward to it.

Invisibility was key for that. Because she didn't much feel like running into Legend.

The odds were low, New York was a large city obviously. But she had a feeling she'd manage to find just the right odds for that special honor if she went in half cocked.

"Awesome! Road trip, I call shotgun!" Sherrel cried out, scrambling off the pile of garbage Skidmark had used as a couch. Ivy was pretty sure the cockroaches were scared of that couch.

She needed a better place to stay…

"Sherrel… You'll be driving… Why are you calling shotgun?" Ivy said slowly, pinching the middle of her nose as what the vehicle tinker had said filtered through.

"Can we stop for Cheetos, I'm hungry?" Jason wanted to know, his voice still kind of rough from where Ivy had altered his vocal chords. The newly christened Sandman sitting on the only working chair in the building.

"All in gouda time." Ivy said, before stopping and face palming as she realized what she'd said. I've been infected! Luckily neither of her minions seemed to have been paying attention to her at the moment.

"Hell naw! You're not getting cheesy fingers all over my baby!" Sherrel snapped, tossing a wrench at Jason as she shimmied into a pair of jeans with difficulty, hopping on one leg. Ivy wasn't sure why she'd removed her pants in the first place.

She was beginning to wonder if she really knew what she was doing with brains. Good view though. She thought. She hummed appreciatively as Sherrel bent over. Very good view…

"Come on, Wheels, it's a piece of crap anyway, what does it matter?" Jason wheedled. A smirk on his face showing that he knew exactly what he was doing.

"It's HOT WHEELS, don't forget the hot, stupid! And fuck you! All my babies are gorgeous pieces of sex on wheels!"

"It's true what they say about mother's not seeing how ugly their babies are." Jason muttered, a small amused smile on his new face, but not quietly enough.

Sherrel started throwing things again, screaming profanities, which against Sandman, previously known as Mush, was entirely pointless. The cape simply picked them out of the air and added the materials as defensive armor. Which just pissed Sherrel off even more.

Ivy sighed, yep, I'm going to need more practice on brains.

She winced as Jason returned Sherrels wrench, right into the girl's mask, although, maybe it's the source material being… Off. This time… She thought, watching said source material fight over absolutely nothing. Neither of them taking it seriously.

She was beginning to regret the idea of hours stuck in a car between the two of them already.

Would it be terrible if she ordered them to not talk?

Choices, choices.

＊＊＊

Later that evening.

Amy sat in the anteroom, a small smile on her face as she somewhat followed along on the road trip while making plans for the future at the same time.

She'd tested out her power yet again, using Mouse Protector. Confirming what she'd already believed. One. She had a limit, and it seemed three was it. Just like Eidolon had a limit of only using three powers at one time - she could only synergize with three powers at one time. If she wanted another, she'd have to drop one. Which likely would be Mouse Protector's power, because she'd only picked it to test how her powers worked.

The second thing she'd confirmed is that her power worked in synergy with the incoming powers to give her something specified to her, instead of a straight up copy. It's why she received such a weak clone from Prism, instead of a copy of her abilities. Because their powers had synergized and evolved into exactly what Amy needed. A way to be in two places at once, that only she, a biotinker could make use of. A perfect copy of her - lacking a body. Instead of several clones that wouldn't be lasting - to help her fight.

Same with Strider's power. She'd been healing people and desperately wanting to reach out and heal those dropped by Behemoth. So when she'd synergized their powers, instead of a teleportation ability - she'd gotten the ability to teleport her power around at its base state of simply regenerating cells and mass.

Mouse Protector had her own teleportation trick, where she could touch something to mark it - and then teleport to it at any time, plus better than normal agility, flexibility etc.

When Amy had synergized their powers, she hadn't received teleportation this time either. Instead she could mark a person. And heal and affect them from anywhere, as long as the mark remained. A useful ability, but probably one she'd drop if she ran into something better.

Or perhaps not. If she and Ivy could mark each other… She'd be pretty much unkillable. They could heal each other from a distance and even utilize their biotinkering in their defense.

Either way once Ivy got back from New York. Amy intended to get herself some upgrades. She'd held off due to still nominally being under Carol's remit, plus needing to go into the PRT headquarters for the paperwork for her team. She didn't want to risk being scanned and going through master/stranger screening. Now that she was the leader of an independent team - if there was anything strange with her biology she could make something up or flat out refuse to explain without too harsh a consequence. As long as she remained heroic in people's minds anyway.

Her and Vicky's emancipation papers were already sent off, Amy had made sure the PRT would be involved, which would no doubt put things in their eventual favor. They wouldn't want to piss her off right now. And she felt it likely Carol wouldn't fight it at the moment.

She'd have to wait and see, because she could always count on Carol to be a bitch at the shittiest possible time.

She was interrupted in her musings as Glory Girl flew in, almost breaking the door as she slammed it open, in her full splendor, they'd have to change her uniform at some point, but for now it would do to keep her recognizable - even if it was tied to New Wave.

Following Vicky was the rest of the team. Strider, Purity and Mouse Protector.

"Welcome everyone, excited?" Amy asked, feeling a slight tingle of nerves, herself.

"Ambivalent." Strider said dryly, looking around, "Being surrounded by women is a dangerous thing."

"But we could make it worth ~your time~" Mouse Protector purred, sliding up to him, running a finger down his arm seductively. "A big cheese like you… Surrounded by thirsty little mice… Why, we could just… Nibble away at you."

Strider gave Amy a look, one that clearly said - help! Amy smirked and deliberately turned towards Purity, leaving Strider to his fate. A gleeful Vicky floating closer to play off Mouse Protector.

It would be good training for Strider. He'd have to get used to his teammates after all.

Purity was wearing a domino mask, not something she was used to due to simply using her powers to light up so bright no one could see her face. But that would defeat the purpose of a press conference, so Amy had asked her to mask up instead.

"How are you doing? Nervous? Excited?" She asked the reformed villain. She was probably still a racist, deep down. But Amy didn't care as long as the woman wasn't stupid enough to showcase it.

Most people had shitty flaws they hid away from the world. Purity's were shittier than most, but she could make a difference in Brockton Bay, so she mattered more than all the scrubs who couldn't do anything worthwhile in Amy's opinion.

Purity eyed the commotion between their other teammates for a moment, before giving Amy a small smile, looking somewhat comforted by the easy camaraderie. "Both, I suppose. I don't know what reaction I'll get out there…"

Amy shrugged, leaning back in her chair, "Probably mixed, at first. You'll have to prove yourself for the naysayers to believe it. But our story and my support should flip the majority into your favor."

It's not like Masters aren't around and their victims get pardoned for their behavior all the time. Purity being mastered by a Gesellschaft cape is not that unbelievable. Especially when it's Panacea saying it. Her breaking away and becoming an independent hero just a while ago made the story fit even better. Obviously the master either died or needed to reapply it at regular intervals and missed one - and Purity broke free.

And with the PRT refusing to accept her as an independent hero, refusing to even listen to the poor victim of the Nazi's, well here came Panacea's team to the rescue. It would be insanely good PR - at least with the people who'd believe the story.

"I can't believe you got the PRT to sign off on me as a member." Purity said with a slow shake of her head. "I've never known them to be reasonable.

"I did Nazi that coming either." Mouse Protector piped in with a big smile, popping up suddenly beside Purity. Both Amy and Purity ignored her, it was obvious she'd been holding that one in ever since she first saw Purity earlier that day.

Amy smirked with satisfaction, "Oh, they don't know yet." She said, "I'm blindsiding them with it." She continued cheerfully. She'd been to PRT headquarters earlier in the day and filled out the paperwork for the team, Purity hadn't been named as anything but an unnamed provisional member to be determined. So what if she determined so - five minutes later.

Purity couldn't help but chuckle, lifting a hand to cover her mouth as she began to actually laugh. "Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Piggot sees this press conference and you present her with a fait accompli!"

Amy's smirk widened, "I almost want them to protest your inclusion, it will make them look even worse, after accepting the team, hearing your story, and then still creating a fuss because your name wasn't added until later." Not to mention Panacea had more credit to her name now, than at any point. If she said this woman had been mastered. Majority of the world would believe her.

Not Piggot though, but that's why it would be even funnier that she couldn't do much about it. Amy doubted the woman was dumb enough to actually throw much of a fuss. You didn't get so far in leading the Brockton Bay PRT by being a complete idiot. Amy might dislike the PRT and Protectorate in general. But that wasn't Piggots fault. Cauldron had ensured she had nothing more than a roll of duct tape and a prayer to fight Lung, Coil and Empire 88. They didn't want to interfere in their feudal experiment after all.

Idiotic idea considering most of Africa and South America literally was ruled by Parahuman warlords, and although the CUI was basically a hot mess of a constant civil war - they had been another example of parahumans being used to rule a country.

The wards weren't supposed to be used to fight either, so their presence wasn't exactly a force multiplier, which left Piggot with a very low numbered Protectorate team to handle Lung and the entirety of the Empire 88 cape roster and all the independent capes or other capes and gangs that poked their nose into Brockton Bay - like Faultline, the Undersiders and the Travelers eventually.

So yes. Amy didn't begrudge Piggot overly. Even her refusal to be healed was only logical now, considering Amy would definitely twist something to her benefit if she got her hands on the PRT director now. She still didn't like the PRT's overall idea for how to handle everything though.

Mostly because they seemed to have really dumb ideas on how to do everything. Quadruple dumb once you took Cauldron into it. Allowing S9 to live so they could keep creating triggers and create an aura of fear etc, was such a moronic idea for an institution able to literally hand out vials of powers. It's not like it would be that difficult for Cauldron to imitate situations to create triggers either.

Honestly if they had that much of a hard on for keeping Scatterbird or the Siberian as backup anti-Endbringer weapons. They should just get themselves a loyal pet master to master Manton and Scatterbird and then use them against the Endbringers. They should be able to pull that off for a fight or two before the master inevitably betrays them or something dumb. Then Contessa could wipe out the master and rinse and repeat with another.

The world didn't exactly have a shortage of masters. Half the countries in the world had some sort of warlord or cult leader that was a master.

Amy dropped the line of thought. Cauldron just made her mad. She'd get nowhere further on that. Especially since Contessa was running around helping her for some reason.

She really wasn't looking forward to paying the bill for that when it arrived.

"Hey, Ames, Strider wanted to ask something, are you awake in there?" Vicky asked brightly, knocking on Amy's forehead with a knuckle.

Amy pushed her sister's hand away, sending an apologetic look to Purity, because she had literally zoned out while in the middle of talking to the woman. "What's up, Strider?" She asked, curious.

Strider, fiddled with his mask and goggles combo, "I was thinking, since we'll be a team and all. I'd like to unmask." Strider explained, hurriedly adding, "Only to the team, not in the press conference."

Amy blinked, admittedly not having thought much about her team of capes civilian identities, other than using Purity's to her advantage. "Sure, if you're comfortable. You obviously know me and Vicky, after all."

Strider lowered his mask and removed his goggles, exposing a fairly plain face with thin lips, "Hello all, my name is Matthew Connaught."

"Nice to meet you Matthew." Vicky said, giving him a satisfied smug look, "Now that I know your name and face I'll never rest until you take me shopping in Paris!" She declared, pointing at him triumphantly. Drawing chuckles from the group, Matthew raised his hands in defeat, chuckling along.

Mouse Protector who'd been uncharacteristically silent during the last little bit, fiddled with her helmet, before sliding it off completely, "I figure I might as well throw my own hat in the ring, cheese it all, I'm no coward!" She bowed in a sweeping gesture, long curly brown hair falling down without the helmet to hold it back, "I'm Charlotte Turner, at your service." She grinned as she rose up again, showcasing a pretty, girl next door kind of look, with warm brown eyes and a cute button nose, "I mean it. I'll service all of you, any time, with pleasure." She purred.

"We're underage." Amy said dryly, sharing an exasperated look with Vicky. Except her sister was full on blushing. Really now?

"I can wait a year. Mice are patient hunters." Charlotte said flippantly, waggling her eyebrows at the blushing Vicky.

Purity made a sound of amusement, which drew everyone's attention to her, she started upon realizing it, a hand slowly going toward her domino mask, "I suppose it's only fair I reciprocate, I'm the only one with the more distasteful background." She murmured. Taking a moment as the rest of the team hung back, putting no pressure on her, allowing her to make her own choice.

She already had her identity revealed to half the team anyway, which probably helped her come to a decision quicker than she'd otherwise have done.

Eventually she took a deep breath, taking her mask off, "I'm Kayden Anders, it's nice to meet you all." She said with a tremulous smile.

＊＊＊

Emily was doing paperwork in her office, keeping half an eye on the television for the upcoming press conference for Panacea's independent hero team. She hadn't even bothered to check the name, she doubted they'd last long before running back to New Wave.

The paperwork she was working on could likely be done by one of her subordinates, but she didn't fully trust it would be done properly without her hand in it, and she needed the distraction anyway as she assumed the foolish teenage parahuman would be giving her a headache soonish.

When she'd been informed that Panacea and Glory Girl had left New Wave and were petitioning for their own independent team, that they were actually in the building to do so, she'd immediately refused them. Last thing they needed in Brockton Bay was two teenagers with delusions of heroism to go muck things up. At least in New Wave they'd have a proper leash on them to keep the foolishness to an acceptable level.

Above all they were under the age of 18, so it was ridiculous to even entertain the notion.

Except within minutes of electronically filing a report on the matter in the PRT system - she received a call from the Chief Director, bluntly stating that pissing off Panacea was right now not in the PRT's interest. Emily had, without any such words actually being said, been pretty much ordered to accept the paperwork and push it through post haste.

It rankled her, but she was left with not much of a choice. At least the roster wasn't too objectionable. Mouse Protector was annoying by all counts, but an experienced hero. And Strider would be very useful if they could find a way to borrow him for more than Endbringer fights.

She just couldn't help the sense of unease. That there was something she was missing that was going to bite her in the ass.

Panacea, loved as she was - only made Emily suspicious. No one was that nice and selfless. Which the girl had somewhat proved Emily right, by throwing a tantrum and making her own team.

Emily marked another check mark on the evaluation of one of her staff members. Idly glancing up at the screen as the press conference kicked off.

The pen snapped In-between her fingers. There. In the middle of the team she'd been forced to approve.

Was Purity. The fucking Nazi.

She hoped the Chief Director would choke on it!

＊＊＊

Author's note:

Yes, this Amy is perfectly deluded. She is a villain. She's a selfish, villainous person at heart. But like any actual human being, the way you think about yourself, you justify your decisions. So it's perfectly alright to modify Mouse Protector a bit for her own protection. No matter that it also happens to get her childhood hero on her team, right?

And no, she doesn't see how similar, albeit less in scope that is to Bonesaw. She thinks she's being a perfectly nice villain.

Which in some ways compared to what's out there, she is. But her victims probably wouldn't care about the difference if they got a voice.

So Amy for the most part doesn't go for outright mind control because that becomes too obvious. Instead she tweaks this and that, making them more likely to listen, friendlier. That sort of thing.

Except Mush and Squealer, she absolutely brain fucked those two.

Now, with how famous she is, her being a biotinker will absolutely come out, thinkers everywhere paying attention to her, etc. but now she could survive it with her fame and reputation. Carol had been covering for her for awhile because before this - she would not have had the same reception once outed.

Cheers

Spoiler: Patreon

patreon.com/JollyHippopotamus

 

[JollyHippo]

Here's chapter 6: New York, New York!

Don't take anything too seriously, it's definitely not Worm canon, I'm literally just playing around with it, hope it's an enjoyable little lark, even if it's not too serious.

Chapter warnings: Nazi people being Nazi people.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

＊＊＊

Max Anders hated these types of meetings. Disregarding the fact that all of them coming together in one location always left room for a potential decapitating attack, a meeting like this always signified that something was going wrong - to the extent that they all needed to come together and plan out their response.

Of course, it was Max planning out and directing the response, but part of being a good leader was ensuring that your subjects believed they had a hand on the steering wheel.

Hence such meetings.

At least he'd alleviated some of the concerns about the entire Empire 88 cape contingent coalescing together like this by decreeing it would only be done in their civilian personas at Medhall.

If the unwritten rules were discarded to the point they were still attacked - then at least Max could retaliate with the full force behind him.

It shouldn't come to that. Lung had gotten fat and lazy, content with his territory, growing fat on his hoard. And as most of Brockton Bay did, unknowingly… He still served the Empire in the end. Although Lung wasn't expanding at the moment, his mere presence and the openly despicable actions of his people - made the Empire seem a safe choice by comparison. Which neatly advanced Max's agenda without forcing him into unfortunate incidents.

As much as the rabble who fed at the bottom of the Empire's through wanted to be let loose on the minorities of the city. Max was happier to leave Lung and the ABB where they were, until all but Lungs territory belonged to the Empire - then he'd take the final slice, only then. The rampant racism in his subjects was useful to Max, even if it came with the facade he - by necessity - had to share in. Sometimes it could get frustratingly droll, but the power inherent in his position made up for it.

That said, there were only so much one could hear about niggers and chinks and slants and what have you, until it grew very tiring. Max was not a proponent of visible displays of racism, not in front of the general public, anyway. Winning the PR battle was after all how a Nazi organization was still able to thrive in an American city.

He looked out the almost indestructible tinkertech floor to ceiling windows that covered one entire wall of the top floor of Medhall, the pharmaceutical company that he ran and used as a cover for many of the Empire's dealings. Not everyone had arrived yet, so he was free to let his thoughts wander as he looked out over the profile of the city. His city. The coming utopia, once all his plans came to fruition.

The power he'd hold in his own two hands once he grasped it in its entirety…

His only real enemy was the PRT and Protectorate, and they fought with one hand tied behind their backs in a futile effort to not appear too threatening to the general masses. It truly said something of their effectiveness at truly making a difference - when the Empire 88 held more trust from many civilians in Brockton then the PRT did, at least in areas not overrun with filth and illegals.

Max kept his subjects safe, for a nominal fee of course, nothing worth anything in life came free. He kept their streets clean, their businesses prospering, their daughters safe. Why wouldn't the rest of Brockton follow, once the PRT inevitably messed something up again. Once his was the only gang left in the city, and he had the public's backing, a detente with the PRT wouldn't be too hard to achieve. Giving them the PR of a safe city - while letting Max control it from the shadows and rake in the profits. Eventually even filling the city's Protectorate team with like-minded individuals, ensuring his grasp of the city.

It shouldn't be too long until the other 'gangs' were no more than a footnote in the history of his rise. They truly couldn't stand against Kaiser.

The Merchants had barely been a blip on the radar, just recently cropping up, spreading their filth, and now just as quickly disappearing. With Skidmark now dead, they were even more of a non-entity than before. He frowned momentarily as his gaze went over the more dilapidated buildings in the distance, barely visible from the splendor of Medhall. It was regrettable, he thought, that Skidmark had been killed so easily. No one was quite as incredibly useful for Empire propaganda as that drugged out nigger. It made it easier to recruit the younger crowd when his people only had to point to the Merchants as an example of what was wrong with the city.

Frankly, just the appearance of Skidmark had many times been enough to start a conversation on the benefits of the Empire with previously unaffiliated people. The man had been that repulsive in deed, appearance and reputation.

He'd have to see if he could resurrect the Merchants under some other nigger, create the same conditions, it would be a nice income stream if the Empire could supply them with the drugs secretly, use them as a cat's paw, raking in money and supporters as more and more fell to the Merchant filth.

He'd have to think on it, his eyes swept the conference room, and not everyone here could be trusted on that operation. His eyes narrowed as he noticed only Hookwolf was missing now, exactly the person who'd throw a tantrum if the Empire was to begin supplying a resurgent Merchants. Stormtiger and Cricket would likely support him as well, he thought with distaste.

One day, he wouldn't have to worry about division in his own ranks… He returned to the sight of Brockton Bay, and to the thoughts on his rivals.

Coil was a rival in some way, a minor one perhaps, but he'd never seriously stepped up against Kaiser and the Empire. And he'd shown that he could be negotiated with. That in itself was a telling weakness. Coil did not think he could take the Empire, so he negotiated. Max would have no trouble sweeping him aside eventually. The man for some reason did not gather capes to his cause. Utter foolishness.

His mercenaries were, in a word, cute. A nuisance more than anything for all their skill. Only a threat because Max couldn't waste the time of his capes to root them out - without facing potential backlash from Lung waking up and smelling opportunity.

His features tightened briefly as his thoughts turned to New Wave, and their damned daughters, or one in particular... A minor miscalculation of his, trying to use Panacea's achievement as a recruitment tool, it had seemed such a simple thing, an easy PR opportunity, and Max did so like to poke at those New Wave fools that had failed to react to the loss of one of their own, forever proving their weakness. Yet it had backfired on Max, spectacularly so.

They had been made a mockery of when the deviant girl had dared to challenge them in public, in an international press conference, throwing Kaiser's words in his face.

It was aggravating, but Max knew the value of Panacea, and it was not worth going after the girl, not for an insult, as much as that rankled. Not when they were at most a few years away from complete dominion over Brockton Bay. He would have made the girl beg to be re-educated then, Justin or Brad would no doubt be delighted at the opportunity to show the girl what a man felt like.

Then, the news. Panacea had created a new independent team, going by the pretentious name of Starlight, and… Kayden had been there. With the gall to still call herself Purity. Like she hadn't been one of them, a villain, like she hadn't killed in the name of the Empire. Lying, on national TV, claiming she'd been mastered, ruining years of careful maneuvering and PR work from Max and his PR team. And he knew that deviant dyke had orchestrated it all, who else? Kayden didn't have the will, and it certainly wasn't the flying barbie doll that planned this reveal out.

Through his connections and money, the local news reported anything and everything slanted in a way beneficial to Max, and had done so for years. But this had involved the newly internationally famous Panacea, it was beyond his control. His connections could not smother or twist this story.

He had no control over the news that spread like wildfire, painting the Empire 88 as kidnappers and rapists at the minimum, all the kind of things that Max had worked so hard to disassociate their people from in the mindset of the populace. Empire 88 might be a gang, but it was the 'nicer' gang, the one that took care of people, protected them.

Well… The right kind of people.

He had no idea as of yet how hard this would hit their recruitment numbers, nor their retention of the more fringe members. A fair number of their people were not the type who patrolled the streets or hit other gangs - they were normal citizens supporting the Empire with their time or labor - or information, particularly within the police services. They'd likely take a hit there. No one liked Masters, and it was not a good look for them to be outed as using one, however fake the story was. The fact they were being put as simple servants utilizing Gesellschaft for said Master service, made it even worse, at least to Max.

It made him look weak.

It annoyed him how easily the public fell for Panacea's lies, because that is what they were. Kayden had been an avid member of the cause by her own free will. Even if she had left in a fit of misguidance, Max had always known she'd be back one day… At least until she was hoodwinked by Panacea…

She was adopted wasn't she? Might be worth checking if she had a bit of jew in her…

If nothing else to justify to the members and populace why someone they'd just handily praised was now an enemy. That they'd been led astray by a Jew pretending to be one of them.

He noticed Hookwolf enter the conference room at last, the man sitting down next to Cricket and Stormtiger without a care in the world. Max frowned slightly at him, not willing to make a big deal out of such a minor thing. Tardiness always annoyed Max, but unfortunately it was not worth the effort to admonish Hookwolf for it. He was notoriously hard to manage and would gladly cause a ruckus to prove a point - which they couldn't afford right now. Not while the PR storm was still ongoing and being fought tooth and nail - both online and with local and state news networks.

He wished he could issue a blanket ban to keep people off PHO, they were only making it worse. But the adage held true - never give an order you know will not be obeyed.

Max slowly turned away from the window, Fenja and Menja flanking him as he slowly made eye contact with each of the attendants. Once he'd held Brad's gaze until he looked away with a slight grunt, he started speaking, slowly. With measured words, he needed to project a certain calm, that this was nothing, a mere setback.

"We are in a precarious situation with Purity's defection… She knows us all, she knows about Medhall, she knows how we operate." He began, seeing the uncomfortable looks around the table, they'd all known Kayden. "We need to decide a way forward."

At least he'd gotten word Night and Fog were returning to the fold, whatever deal Kayden took to fake repentance, did not involve the two creepy capes. He'd save that news for the end, let the meeting finish on a good note.

Krieg, or James Fleischer, as he was in his civvies at the moment, frowned deeply, "That works both ways, we know of her, and her child, surely she would not be that stupid, Max?"

Victor scoffed, eyes closed, one hand stroking his chin where he sat calmly next to Othala. "Starlight came to be under two ex-members of New Wave, Kayden might simply unmask as well and think it protects her from any retaliation on our behalf." The small smirk on his face that bloomed into being, encapsulated what Victor thought of that being enough of a protection.

Brad barked out a laugh, slamming a fist on the table, making Justin jump in his seat from the sudden noise, giving an annoyed look at Brad. Cricket and Stormtiger both looked bored, and as usual had nothing important to add to a conversation that did not include a raid, or something to fight.

"Ask Fleur how that went?" Brad said with vicious relish, as always delighting in violence and death, Max suspected Brad, for all his tattoos, was not an actual believer - that he just saw the Empire as the perfect outlet for his thirst for battle.

He'd also welcomed Fleur's killer into the wolfpack like a returning champion, which had confirmed certain suspicions Max had about how truly unaffiliated the man had been before his act. Unaffiliated to the Empire at the time, certainly, even New Wave hadn't been able to find evidence to the contrary. But unaffiliated from Hookwolf? Max wasn't so sure.

No matter what else, they could not go down that road again, another breakdown of the unwritten rules that flagrant, and they'd face serious consequences. Max put a stop on any thoughts in that dangerous direction immediately, the sound of blades erupting around him silencing the gathered capes. He turned ice cold eyes on his mad wolf, "We will not go there, we will not even think about it, we are right now in a situation we can still turn in our favor, If Kayden dies in her civilian identity and it's tied to us, even if it isn't tied to us… We lose every bit of reputation we've built up, we'll be considered nothing different than Lung and his depraved gang. Or more likely, with the unwritten rules breached again… We'll be considered worse!"

He was disappointed in Kayden, absolutely. He was enraged at her cowardice. But he would not order her murder. Not for this. It was not yet so unforgivable. Not until she raised her hand against him. And even then, in battle, not going after her in her home like a dirty sneaky Jew.

He looked around the table, the ice cold rage simmering under the surface, there ever since Kayden went public with her betrayal. "I brought you here for options, we need a way forward that does not harm us, but will deal with Purity, "The name tasted like cloying and disgusting ash, as he said it, "And that Jewish bitch Panacea who lured her away, filled her head with lies and concocted this ridiculous story."

"Can we go after Kayden's kid?" Seeing Max's eyes flashing with anger, Justin blanched and rushed forward with his idea, "Legally I mean, not like kidnapping. I mean custody!"

Max had already thought of it, but it held too many risks, he shook his head before one of his people could make an argument out of it, "We can't go after her directly, she'll expose us for sure if we put the newborn child in any risk. We need to find a way to indirectly push her away from that team… Once she is on her own again…" Max let out a breath, tapping his fingers on the table determinedly, "She'll come crawling."

He had her measure. She would not resist him forever.

"Going after Panacea has its own difficulties." James muttered, Max's right hand man smoothly moving the discussion on from Kayden, the law laid down as far as she was concerned now, it would be passed on to the ground troops within the day.

Last thing he needed was some fool foot soldier taking a shot at Kayden and ensuring she came after them. They could win, but it wouldn't be without costs.

"Can't kill her, that's a kill order, right there." Brad said bluntly, scratching his chin, "Probably the same if we maim the girl, they don't like it when anyone useful gets too roughed up." Brad grinned, "Makes me wanna do it more, if I'm honest."

Even Cricket gave him a look at that, and Brad desisted, leaning back in his chair, grinning irreverently, hands behind his head.

Max ignored Brad's irreverence, as he was used to, as he thought on his more useful points. The PRT and Protectorate, who, while fairly useless in Brockton Bay as an organization, were able to push pretty hard when push came to shove. Like if someone hurt the healer able to protect a city from an Endbringer, it was an issue that was hard to overcome.

Max knew well that villains rarely got sentenced to the Birdcage for their crimes unless they became particularly egregious - just for how potentially useful they could be in an Endbringer fight - that usefulness would likely be disregarded in the face of harming someone so useful as Panacea.

No villain he knew, brought as many benefits to an Endbringer fight as Panacea did.

"We don't need to hurt her though? Do we?" Alabaster spoke up for the first time, through the speaker on the table, his particular appearance precluding him from joining them in person in a civilian setting, "So Kayden is off the table, so is the jew bitch, but what if the rest of them team gets fucked up? Or worse? Not gonna be much of a team with just the two of em'."

Max had thought as much, when he'd pondered the issue beforehand. But he was honestly surprised that Alabaster had latched onto the idea first, for all that he was one of their capes, he was a glorified thug really, his power useful in tying up an enemy cape for a time, but not much else. Usually he worked with the non powered members, so he could let them flee if a cape showed up, just by being annoyingly hard to get rid of.

"Glory girl. If Panacea loses her sister she might just plain give up on Brockton Bay. And she'll still be alive for Endbringer attacks, so the PRT won't up the response." Victor jumped on the idea, a glint in his eyes. Othala smiling at him as she laid a hand on his arm.

"Glory girl, huh? That bitch would make for good prey, she could take a couple hits for sure." Brad mused out loud, an excited grin spreading over his face.

"She's hard to put down, but between several of us…" Stormtiger said, trailing off suggestively.

"It would send a message." James agreed stiffly, turning his head slightly, looking for any added instructions from Max.

Max smiled coldly, he so liked it when they'd reach a conclusion he'd already made, although as usual, they didn't grasp the full situation like he could. "We won't be able to do it ourselves, not in this climate." He warned, immediately pouring water on Hookwolf's excitement. There was also the fact that Glory Girl was not an easy person to injure in the first place, it would be left too open-ended if they struck, they didn't have a proper flier anymore - the girl could simply escape into the air.

"We'll have to sub contract this hit." Max said with finality, knowing how much it would annoy Brad, but he couldn't afford anything but perfection here.

Plenty of people in the Americas had reason to come to Brockton for one reason or another. He just needed the right mix of dangerous but expendable. Max would make use of them, and then punish them publicly for hurting an all white team of heroes, bringing the Empire back in the public eyes as saviors and the only ones willing to stand up and fight for what is right, and with it, neatly begin debunking the wild story Kayden and Panacea had spun.

How could they be behind such cruelty in regards to Purity, if they even protected the heroes, going after the killer in such a way.

Surely the Empire wouldn't go for revenge on Starlight's behalf if they'd mastered Purity after all, they'd want her dead, not come to her teammates' defense. And with her sister dead, Panacea would crumble, the team would fracture. The story would fall apart once Kayden returned.

Yes, Max could see it now.

And with the team's demise - Kayden would see the writing on the wall.

Max would have to punish her quite severely, but he'd let her come back.

＊＊＊

Amy let Vicky's blabbering flow in one ear and out another as they walked around and inspected the building she was intending to purchase. A sturdy five storey building not too far off from the Boardwalk, it resembles a cement block more than anything, but they could fix that. The insides were gutted, the building's previous occupants having attempted a rebuild after a fire, but eventually running out of money before they finished, leaving the building empty. Too large for the touristy businesses around the Boardwalk, and too small for anything industrial or office related. Especially in the economic downturn Brockton was in. Or economic freefall if she was to be honest.

The building was perfect for Amy's needs. Or should she say Starlight's needs. A silly name really, Amy hadn't much cared to come up with any fancy names for their group, but Vicky had made it up, and Amy still had a hard time saying no to her sister. Especially after she'd practically arranged things as to ensure a family split and dragging Vicky off with her. They'd still talked to Crystal and Eric over the phone over the last few days, so it wasn't a complete split, but it still obviously impacted Vicky to not be living at home anymore.

"Ames! Are you even listening to me!?" Vicky demanded, floating around her so that they were facing each other, a pout on her face.

Vicky had, perhaps because of her emotional upheaval, gone all in on reinventing herself. Cutting her hair short, barely shoulder length, and styling it spiky, adding an eyebrow piercing for her right eyebrow. She was talking about coloring her hair, which Amy had heatedly argued against.

Amy thought it was all ridiculous, but suffered following along with her sister as she made the changes to her appearance, as edgy and unneeded as she thought they were. But Vicky did love expressing herself openly, whether through appearance or emotions, she didn't hide herself. That's one thing Amy could always count on, Vicky was not in any way duplicitous.

It's why when she'd taken over from the original Amy after the trigger event, she'd never been able to distance herself from Vicky, and had grown so quickly to love her sister. As annoying as she could be sometimes.

"Costumes, right?" Amy said, giving her sister a half-lidded stare, pretty sure she'd heard something along those lines. Vicky talked so much, it was easier to just listen for some key words sometimes and pluck the context out from that.

"Costumes!" Vicky agreed, throwing her hands out, bouncing slightly in the air, "We need to match now! We're an independent team, we can't just be a hodgepodge of Tiara girl and Burqa girl!"

Amy rolled her eyes, "I'm not getting into that argument again, but sure, we can go with new uniforms, but good luck getting Charlotte to change hers."

Amy thought Mouse Protector would love the kind of outfits Vicky would like to wear, but more likely for private use, not public. She was attached to her knightly persona. And she was enough of a tease that she'd definitely use a costume for more personal roleplay, just so that she could tell them all about it and make them blush.

Amy already regretted recruiting her. Vicky got along with Charlotte too well. She eyed her sister, eyes glancing over her new hairdo, something Charlotte had helped with, it did make Vicky look a lot more serious, if a little bit too try hard.

Vicky got a determined look in her eyes, raising a fist in the air, "I'll find a way!" She declared to the heavens, or the roof, in this case, as they were still inspecting their potential team headquarters.

Amy snorted, amused as always by Vicky and her delusions. She shook her head, "You're the fashionista between us, just make sure it isn't skimpy enough to get the youth guard or the PRT to scream at us, and don't pick white and gold for the colors, we're distancing ourselves from New Wave, remember?"

The youth guard has been a pain in the ass enough as is, Amy grumbled mentally to herself. They had not been impressed to have an independent team accepted by the PRT with two underage heroes, for all that their emancipation paperwork was in progress. For all that Vicky and Amy were both 17 and not that far off adulthood anyway, not that Amy was officially 17, Carol having put her at a year younger then Vicky when adopting her to sell the story of them being sisters better to the uninformed.

Vicky smiled brightly, even if her eyes didn't quite match the smile, a touch of conflicted emotions glimmering in the depths, "I'll find us the coolest uniforms ever, and make Mom regret not listening to us!" She swore, before her face turned sly, "Hey, my favorite sister in the whole wide world…" She wheedled, floating in close.

"What do you want?" Amy said flatly, giving her an exasperated look, she'd already gotten the go ahead to design the uniforms hadn't she? They had even gotten a pass from school for the week due to Amy's interference, which she'd insisted on extending to Vicky as well, so she felt she'd done enough favors already.

Vicky held her hands out, her whole countenance almost blindingly cheerful all of a sudden. "Money please!" She chirped.

"I gave you five thousand yesterday, where did it all go?" Amy asked with irritation, even as she reached for her wallet to hand her sister her card. "I'm not an ATM." She added grouchily.

"Costume consultation with this expert LA firm, now I gotta pay for actually designing and making them!" Vicky said excitedly, her fingers snatching out lightning fast to snatch the card out of Amy's fingers. "Thanks sis, you're the best!" She crooned, hugging the card to her chest.

Amy rolled her eyes, continuing the walk around. First thing she'd done after the press conference was announcing that she was available on request, to heal the ultra wealthy, in return for them donating money to charity.

She'd immediately gone ahead and healed one of the richest men in the world, basically resetting his age twenty years with the work she'd done on his organs. With Strider available, going to heal someone was a five minute job at the most. The billionaire had no problem going along with the scheme she'd cooked up either. Happily donating 20 million dollars to charities in Brockton Bay and the surrounding area. The 'payment' for her services, as far as the public was aware. Keeping her faultless reputation spotless.

Despite removing herself from the hospitals, except for a real emergency situation, she'd done the switch in the most PR friendly way she could manage. The millions she was flooding charities with by healing only the wealthy, would probably do more good than her healing ever did. Which is what she'd said in a more flowery way in the press conference to explain herself as well, so far she hadn't seen too negative of a reaction.

So far.

She figured once someone important enough died because she wasn't there, she'd see some blowback.

Carol was probably blowing her lid though, she'd always been so insistent on Amy healing people, even the ones she didn't need to, the broken bones and sprains and other things the doctors and nurses could easily treat on their own with time.

She wrenched her mind away from any more thoughts on Carol, instead thinking of the 100 million dollars in a Numberman account she'd actually received for the job of healing a billionaire, the 20 million extra to charity just being the red herring. The money felt so much better knowing she was pulling the wool over so many eyes, even if she couldn't publically use most of it - even if she was selling her services for far cheaper than she could. Of course her new team, Starlight, was able to take donations, so that she'd be able to use some of the donated money to do team things, like pay for an amazing headquarters.

Between the 5 billionaires she'd healed in the past few days, she'd received enough 'donations' to buy this building a hundred times over. Money was never going to be a problem for their team.

She'd been a little apprehensive on using the Numberman for her accounts because of Cauldron, but since Contessa was running around helping her for some reason, she figured anything Cauldron wanted to know, they probably already knew.

Amy pursed her lips in thought, her eyes staring around her almost unseeing as she pictured how she'd remodel the building. First floor would be a reception and gift shop mostly, allowing the public to access the building somewhat, and generating some goodwill and sales.

Second floor, conference rooms for meetings with the PRT or others when necessary. Anything else they could need for interaction with the public or the PRT would also go on the second floor including a space for press conferences and the like. Then there would be a cutoff, preventing non-team access to the upper three floors.

With the contract she'd already negotiated with the Elite, no one would be able to come into team-only areas of the building without using Endbringer levels of force or a ridiculous power.

So it wouldn't be perfect, but it would be as close as she could get it. She hadn't bought the building yet, but she didn't foresee any difficulties. Luckily the Elite was for the most part, at least the east coast cell, accepted. So she wouldn't catch too much flack from the PRT for getting involved, they used Uppercrusts force fields as well after all.

One floor, likely the top, would be apartments, so that she and Vicky had somewhere to live, but likely it would incorporate most, if not all, of the team as well. Safety in numbers and all that. While they all lived elsewhere in their civilian identities (excepting Amy and Vicky), having a place to crash when needed, or as a safehouse, could be useful.

Kayden might move in any way to protect her kid from possible Empire retaliation. If she did… Amy would definitely push Vicky onto baby duty. She would not be dealing with that. She'd be too tempted to use her power to make it be quiet.

One entire floor would be Amy's lab, nothing too fancy… But she did want to take her power for a spin, see if she could do something healing wise, that would continue to grow her fame and make her untouchable, say like curing cancer. She could fluff that as being her healing power, probably.

Honestly the more she realized exactly how famous she was, the less she was worrying about coming out as a biotinker. She still would prefer not to, but she also didn't think anyone would believe her to be the new Nilbog or Bonesaw right now. The public response she was getting was just too ridiculously positive. She was fairly sure the PRT or Cauldron was actually pushing it to further lengths. Besides, in all likelihood, after Paris… Cauldron and the PRT probably set their thinkers on her and figured out she was one anyway.

Hopefully Ivy would not come up as an Amy clone too easily to a thinker. That could be problematic. She thought it unlikely, thinkers needed something to work on, plant power and a completely different body with different cues should not lead them to - Panacea cloned herself.

Fingers crossed.

She was undecided on what to use the last floor for, but it seemed like this building would be a perfect fit. Perhaps a communal area for the team? A gym? She'd think of something. The team wasn't a democracy after all, only Vicky had the power to make Amy do anything.

"You okay on your own?" Amy asked Vicky, after checking her wrist watch. She had a meeting to go to, finally. The Elite were exhausting to deal with. Far too smug, for people that exercised so much caution and paranoia. At least the east coast Elite did not include people like Bastard son.

The fact he was allowed to run around unhindered showed a lack of sense in the Elite, if anything they should have kept him completely separate from the organization as a cat's paw. Ugh, there she goes again, on an internal tangent, dealing with villains makes her think too much.

Vicky happily nodded her head, still clutching Amy's credit card to her chest. Floating forward to place a kiss to Amy's cheek, her eyes sparkling with warmth.

"Don't buy anything stupid." Amy warned, before sending a text checking Strider's availability, she couldn't quite stop the small smile on her face, or the warmth growing in her chest. Vicky always managed to cheer her up so easily even with the smallest gestures.

"I'd never!" Vicky swore, her smile growing into a dangerous looking grin. The way her eyes were sparkling was a telling sign of a shopping spree.

Amy sighed, shaking her head fondly.

She's definitely going to buy something stupid.

＊＊＊

Amy could feel Ivy's frustration more clearly as she arrived in New York via the Strider express. She put it to the back of her mind, Ivy had her business to handle, she had hers.

"Panacea. Welcome to New York." A crisp yet melodious female voice greeted them, the female cape wearing a dark skin tight suit with no ornaments or zippers visible, only her mouth could be seen, the rest of her face covered by a dark visor, cloth covering the rest of her head, attached to the visor, making it look like she was wearing a headdress, the cloth hanging down simulating hair. Gloom, a member of the New York Elite, and the person Amy had been in contact with over the last few days.

"Glad to be here, or I will be, as long as we can adhere to the mutually beneficial agreement we agreed to on the phone." Amy said dryly, the Elite had been beyond frustrating over the phone. Hemming and hawing, refusing to agree to anything concrete, until finally they did, after Amy applied pressure.

Amy had to force this meeting by bluntly stating she would move on to other avenues if they kept bullshiting her. She had other things to do than talk circles around villains.

Gloom had become much more cooperative overnight.

"If the tests show a positive result, I imagine it will be a fruitful partnership." Gloom said plainly, sweeping her arm forward towards the rooftop entrance, "If you will, Miss?"

Amy turned to Strider, "If I don't text you the codeword every twenty minutes, get the team and turn this building to rubble." She said casually, feeling, more than seeing, Gloom startling slightly in the background.

Strider smirked, tipping his cap, "Your will shall be done, mistress!"

Amy swatted his arm, rolling her eyes fondly, "Off with you, none of that mistress crap." He's gotten worse the longer he's been around Vicky and Charlotte, those two are a plague…

"Of course, mistress." Strider quipped, giving her a wink, before he disappeared in a loud crack. Leaving her alone on the rooftop with the member of the Elite.

She made a show of setting a timer on her wristwatch, smiling at Gloom, "So you've got 19 minutes and 40 seconds before I have to prove I'm alive and well, shall we?"

Gloom seemed to have gotten over her surprise, her black painted lips curving into an honest smile, "You are nothing like the reports say." She said, as she led on, leading Amy into the building, not an Elite building she was fairly certain, but one set up just for this particular occasion.

It wouldn't surprise her if they bought the building just for today's enterprise.

Amy smiled enigmatically, "Oh, you have no idea how wrong they are…" She told the woman. Taking a moment to admire her. Villains, even more than the Heroes, proportionally wore skin tight uniforms. Amy approved. She didn't have the body to flaunt herself like they did, but she definitely approved.

Gloom's uniform could have been painted on, and Amy definitely noticed. Having come out publicly, she was fairly certain Gloom being her escort and point of contact was a purposeful honey trap, a way to entice Amy closer to the Elite. Perhaps she was just projecting, but a young woman likely around her own age? Dripping with sensuality? Seemed a mighty coincidence to have her be the point of contact for the recently public lesbian.

"So… How many hoops do I have to jump through to get this over with?" Amy asked, only letting a hint of her annoyance through as she followed Gloom through the hallways, not making any secret of admiring her perfectly sculpted ass. If they were offering eye candy, it would be rude to completely ignore it, even if she wasn't going to accept the candy from the friendly strangers.

Gloom glanced back at her, her full lips in an amused smile, "Not too many, we're just ensuring the method works, you understand." She demurred.

Amy snorted, "I'm Panacea. Of course it works."

Gloom opened a set of doors, showing a surgical suite inside, a man already apparently unconscious, laying on the operating table. "Love that confidence." She purred, lips still with that amused quirk to them, "But the boss likes to make sure, we got to see that you have what it takes." She bit her lip enticingly, "You could ask for practically anything if you succeed, you know." She breathed out huskily.

Amy giggled, unable to hold it back, "Sorry, I suppose you think I'm just a horny teenager," She managed to get out between giggles, "But that was just…" She giggled again, as Gloom lost her smile, her body posture straightening, "That was just so bad!"

Gloom, now in a more neutral position, her lips pursed in annoyance, sighed, "It could have been fun." She mused out loud, not sounding like she really cared one way or another.

Amy snorted, "If I wanted to stick my tongue in something venomous, I'd go find a snake." She said, somewhat playfully. Like she'd get involved with a member of the Elite. Now if Gloom had chatted up Ivy…. Well, she didn't have a reputation to protect…

A villain had more options after all. Plus Ivy was the sexy part of Amy anyway. She had all the sex appeal that she was lacking…

"So," Amy said, clapping her hands together, "I heal this guy up, then we can get down to the real business?" She asked, moving things on from that embarrassingly transparent attempt at seduction. She was a teenager, not retarded.

Uppercrust truly must have something wrong with his brain if he authorized that attempt. They hadn't known each other near long enough for that kind of thing to work. If it was Amy running things, she'd try to insert someone as a friend first, earn some trust before ever moving on to seduction.

Gloom gestured to the man, a pleasant smile back on her painted lips, "Go right ahead, Panacea, although we will need some time to verify the results after." She warned, seemingly having no hard feelings after Amy laughed at her.

Amy strode to the table, laying a hand on the man's uncovered arm, instantly finding everything wrong with his body. "You couldn't find anyone that took care of themselves worse?" She snarked at Gloom, shaking her head.

The man literally had several organs on the verge of failure and a brain tumor to boot. With the amount of gunk in his lungs, he wasn't far off from destroying those too. With a sigh she got to work, beginning with cleaning out his lungs, filtrating out the garbage through his skin, with a flex of her power.

"Fascinating." Gloom said, as she bent over the man, observing the black gunk that poured out of his pores.

"Yes, I am amazing, I'm still not sleeping with you." Amy said distractedly as she began working on the organs. Restoring them to a pristine state, using some of the fat from the vast reserve in the man's belly as fuel.

"A pity, I'd love to see what your power could do, firsthand." Gloom said, a devilish smirk on her face as she looked at Amy. "So many fantastical things you could do no doubt…"

Amy repressed a shiver, Okay, maybe she isn't too bad at this, after all, she thought. How many times had she wondered what she could do with her power together with a willing participant in the throes of passion. "You really don't want me touching you." She said, but it came out weaker than she intended, she looked away from the smirking villainess, concentrating on fixing the brain tumor. The size of it made it inoperable by normal means. It took Amy all of thirty seconds, and twenty of those were just checking it over.

I'm Panacea, bitch. She thought, smugly.

"Well, if you change your mind… You do have my number now." Gloom said teasingly. Crossing her arms under her bountiful chest, drawing Amy's eyes for a moment.

"Ugh, I hate smug people." She said, tearing her gaze away. "He's done by the way." She added flippantly.

Gloom, straightened, putting a hand to where her ear would be behind the visor and headdress, obviously listening to orders through a communicator.

Amy took that moment to text Strider her code word, noticing that the twenty minutes were almost up, starting another countdown, which she pointedly set exaggeratedly, making sure Gloom noticed.

She really wished she knew what her power was, Gloom could mean a lot of different things, and she hadn't found anything, not even Vicky sweet talking Dean into using the console on the Rig to check - had dredged up any information other than that she was a confirmed member of the Elite in its New York cell.

"We have a room set aside for refreshments while we verify the subject." Gloom said, swaying her hips as she walked ahead, "This way, Miss."

Amy pursed her lips. Before following the tantalizing villainess through another door, leading into a lounge area. It was ridiculously over the top, including an actual chocolate fountain.

Amy gave Gloom a hard look as the villainess smiled innocently at her. The room was full of foods considered aphrodisiacs.

"Just to be clear, all this wasting of my time is going to cost your boss extra." She said grumpily. Refusing to be drawn into the game.

Gloom just smiled wider.

＊＊＊

Ivy took a deep breath, one eyebrow twitching slightly, New York had been one frustration after another, and Amy really wasn't helping her with all the horny all of a sudden.

They really needed to get laid at some point.

With some effort, she pushed all that to the back of her mind again, returning from her latest failed trip, Sherrel opening the door to the invisible humvee they'd been using as somewhat of a headquarters - to avoid attention.

"No luck again, huh?" Sherrel said, tongue poking out between her teeth as she had a panel wrenched open under the steering wheel as she tinkered with the insides. Removing the drugs from her system had sparked plenty of new ideas in her head, but she was limited on what she could do right now, so she constantly tinkered with their vehicle.

Ivy slid into the passenger seat, sighing explosively, "None!" She said with annoyance. "How hard could it be to find one villain!?"

Turns out, it was really damn hard. Ivy and Amy might share a brain, but it was a stupid brain, they hadn't quite realized just how hard it would be to track down Ravager in New York. Brockton Bay couldn't compare at all, they really should have thought of that. The search radius was just too large, too filled with people, other villains, heroes, independents, rogues. Regulars. So many regulars.

New York had been hit by Behemoth when Scion was still alive, so it had survived decently intact, it was full of people.

What was she supposed to do? Go knock door to door? No wonder how even with Legend in charge, New York still had so many villains, it would take forever just to find someone doing a super powered crime, let alone track them through the city.

Their trip had been a disaster from the moment they entered New York. None of them had thought of the fact that New York traffic practically ruined their biggest advantage. What was the point of an invisible vehicle, when traffic moved at a snail's pace? It hadn't helped that Sherrel had picked the largest vehicle she had left either, to travel to New York. There was no way for them to cruise down the streets and avoid everything, they couldn't escape being found if they tried.

It would be pretty obvious they were there if cars kept crashing into them thinking the space was empty… Sidewalk driving was impossible during day time hours, and even night time hours depending on where in the city they were at the time.

So they couldn't really use their invisible trump card much, it was slightly better at night, but even then they had to be careful. The streets were not exactly empty at any time.

So Jason and Sherrel stuck around in the area around the alleyway they'd stashed the invisible, enlarged Humvee in, hitting up local bars to ask surreptitious questions, well mostly Jason, Sherrel mostly tinkered, stole shit, or tinkered. Ivy on the other hand schlepped all over New York, trying every haunt of Ravager's that Mouse Protector had given Amy. She'd been forced to have Sherrel shoplift some clothes for her, because her original plan of just finding Ravager and driving up to her place and letting loose - was so dead on arrival it wasn't even funny.

And she couldn't exactly go around New York in her villain outfit, she'd rather not deal with the absolute shitstorm the New York Protectorate could drop on her if she made waves. She was pretty noticeable.

So she'd been going around New York in a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt Sherrel had helpfully lifted for her, that stated - You are what you eat. The iconography with the t-shirt didn't really need to be so graphic either. She'd definitely gotten several funny looks out and about. Where she'd even stolen this from, Ivy had no idea, with the shit eating grin Sherrel had worn when she'd returned with the clothes, she was sure she didn't want to know. At least the leather jacket she'd stolen mostly covered it up.

Apparently loyalty did not mean your subordinates couldn't tease you. Good to know for future brainwashing sessions, Ivy thought.

"So what's next?" Jason asked, "Been hearing a lot about a place in Harlem." He offered hesitantly. He'd been fairly enjoying himself, able to actually hang out in a bar, shooting pool and talking shit, without people running in fear or disgust.

Ivy sighed, putting the palm of her hand to her forehead, "We might as well check it out, although we'll have to wait for nighttime if we're going to all make it there." Ravager was going to pay for being so annoyingly hard to find. "What's the word?" She asked Jason, Sherrel completely buried inside the panel, sparks flying. Ivy knew better than to bother getting anything coherent from her once she was head deep in machinery.

Jason wrinkled his brow, "It could be nothing," He warned, which drew a snort out of Ivy, all they'd had was nothing, so what was the difference, she waved for him to go on, the man hesitantly continuing, shrinking in the backseat, unsure of himself all of a sudden. "There's an underground arena that does all kinds of competitions, fights, racing, shooting and accuracy and that kind of thing." He wet his lips, always uncomfortable when he was forced to talk more than a few sentences. "It's illegal and moves around a bit, but one of the drunks I befriended knows tonight's venue."

Ivy gave Jason a small thankful smile, "Good work, Jason." She said, meaning it, that was an actual honest to god lead.

The way he lit up at such a small amount of praise was just sad though. She inwardly resolved to praise him more often.

The whole thing served to increase Ivy's disgruntlement with the PRT and Protectorate. Jason could have avoided ever being Mush, joining the Merchants, years before that of being chased around America. He'd been willing to join the side of the heroes.

But the PRT didn't like his look.

Ivy would enjoy embarrassing them. She had so many plans when she returned to Brockton Bay.

Her eyes hardened as she grit her teeth, staring out the window at nothing, As long as I can find this Ravager bitch first!

About then is when the Humvee filled with smoke, because of course. Sherrel shouting between coughs, "It's okay! It was supposed to do that, kind of!"

Ivy let her head sink into her hands, the glamorous life of a villain…. She thought, her headache increasing.

＊＊＊

If Amy had known she'd have to wait two hours for Uppercrust to verify her work, she probably wouldn't have bothered to come, even for the benefits she'd get out of it. She didn't do well with stupidity. They either wanted her to heal him, or they didn't. All this pageantry in-between was just pissing her off.

Gloom stood before the door of the surgical suite, her body tense this time, no more flirtation with the boss in attendance apparently. "He is ready for you. We will watch your every move, if you harm him in any way…"

Amy just wanted this over with, she didn't have anything to fear from these people, even if they hurt her, Ivy could long distance heal her with the synergy she had achieved through Mouse Protector's power. "Just stop wasting my time with threats and bullshit, I can literally do this in 30 seconds, just let me do it before you annoy me enough I make him, a she." She complained bitterly.

She'd been hearing a variation of you better not do this, or don't harm him this - for over thirty minutes now.

Gloom's lips twitched briefly, "On anyone else, I'd pay to see that. But here, now, please don't, I'll seriously kill you." She warned.

Amy snorted, "And two seconds later Alexandria drops through the roof, don't test me bitch. You aren't killing anyone. Now let me heal this motherfucker." She was rapidly running out of patience. This… This exact bullshit was why she was tired of pretending to be a nice person. All the useless talking, double checking, having to talk and talk and tip toe around things.

For once she just wanted to be able to reach over, tap the hot bitch's neck to make her fall to the ground as a paralyzed mess, and then go do her shit, heal the old man, get paid, and get the fuck out. But that wasn't hero behavior.

Honestly, if she wasn't going to get so much shit for this, she wouldn't be revealing to the Elite that she could do brains. For all that she claimed it was limited and only suitable for killing cancerous growths. The Elite weren't stupid, if they didn't realize she was a complete biotinker after this, they didn't deserve their reputation.

Gloom must have seen something in her eyes, because she got out of the way and opened the doors really quickly.

Amy snorted as she noticed the seven capes standing around the surgical suite, against the walls, a bit of an overkill there. "I'm touched that you've all come to see me perform." She snarked, walking forward without a care about who these people were, they wouldn't touch her. Not with Uppercrust right there, not when she was his only hope of surviving an inoperable brain tumor.

They'd even gone so far as to cover Uppercrust entirely with a sheet, only his scalp visible. They obviously didn't realize just how much information about a person Amy got just by touching them, or they'd realized how pointless this charade was.

Just as Amy was about to touch him, to heal his time wasting old ass. A hand grasped her wrist.

"I'd suggest you let go. Now." Amy said dangerously.

What was it with capes? The conflict drive from the shards just had to pick a fight when they're getting everything they want right now? Do they even have that with Scion dead? Amy wasn't sure, even for herself, but she was really pissed off right now either way.

The cape holding her wrist, she recognized him as the New York Elite team's speedster, Nitro. He wore gloves with his silver and black full body uniform. So somewhat intelligent.

Nitro did not let go, instead his grip hardened, as he spoke softly, "You are being too cavalier with this, do not try anything." He said seriously.

Amy smiled pleasantly but it didn't reach her eyes, as she patted the man on the gloved hand holding her wrist, "You should have let go." She said with scorn, her thumb already pressing against the gap between glove and uniform. Not intelligent enough.

Nitro, in a blink, stood at the other end of the room, Amy just smirked at him smugly. Before laying a hand on Uppercrust's scalp. His brain tumor almost down to the inch exactly like the man she'd healed previously, how hard must they have looked to find someone similar enough to test her healing before and after? Within seconds, she was done, stepping away.

For once not doing anything extra. Well… Not too much.

"What did you do to me?" Nitro asked, suspiciously, moving his body back and forth.

"Uppercrust is healed, as promised I expect Starlight's headquarters to be fully protected by his best force field equipment." Amy said, both to the room, and the listening man under the sheet who'd actually be the one fulfilling her requests, she completely ignored Nitro. "Also, without delay, as promised, your south american contractor - able to mold and create materials far superior to mundane ones, will arrive within the week to reform my buildings structure with said materials." Amy glanced down at the sheet covered man, "As a favor, I fixed up your organs so you're essentially twenty years younger. You owe me one, I'll collect that favor one day."

Mostly so he wouldn't die of old age and make his force field generators useless to her. But she'd take a favor anyway.

"What did you do to me!?" Nitro was suddenly in her face, Gloom suddenly there as well, pulling him back, her lips twisted into a snarl, "Nitro stand down, you idiot!" She thundered.

"That's enough, Nitro." A calm voice came, Uppercrust pushing the sheet off, a surgical mask covering his face, not his usual face covering, she knew, but apparently they'd literally brought him from a private hospital bed in just a hospital gown.

"Oh no, the sheet is off, now I know what you look like." Amy drawled sarcastically, making Nitro grit his teeth, only Gloom holding him back. The rest of the capes had either more experience or more sense, not moving without an order from their leader.

Uppercrust chuckled, sitting on the operating table with casual ease now that his aches had been healed down to the pinched nerve in his lower back, "Ah, my subordinates insisted, it was a bit silly, but it made them feel better." He said with humor apparent.

"Sir!" Came from several voices around the room, embarrassment evident.

"You'll have your payment, Panacea, no one will be able to knock down your team's headquarters after this." He paused, amending his statement slightly, "No Endbringer guarantee." He slid off the bed, sighing in contentment, obviously pleased that nothing hurt anymore. "I apologize for the zealousness of my people, they will not bother you anymore. This I swear." He said seriously.

"Good, I'll be leaving then, it's been… Awful. Let's not do it again." Amy said, walking out without a backwards glance at the annoying capes that had stretched out her day with bullshit. Like her healing needed to be checked.

If she wanted to brainwash the old man she could have, no matter what checks they'd put in place. "Oh, by the way, your brain tumor will grow back if you don't actually deliver." She smirked at the looks she got from the capes in the room, "What? You thought I trusted you?" She said mockingly. "If you deliver, I'll tell you where, and any healer or regular surgeon can take care of it before it becomes a problem."

Again Nitro yelled after her, "What did you do, Panacea! Damn it, I know you did something to me!?"

Panacea ignored him, walking away, as Uppercrust laughed, "You'll have your deal, Panacea." He said amicably, seemingly amused at her byplay with his people, and not bothered at all that she'd left the possibility of a tumor returning in his head. Probably because it wasn't anything dangerous, he wouldn't need her help to deal with it if he decided to renege on their deal after all. But she'd been annoyed, so it was more as a warning for any future annoyances than an actual threat.

She could hear the rustling of cloth and some grunts of exertion behind her, no doubt the rest of the team had to hold down the fool who'd dared lay a hand on her, to prevent him from doing something stupid. How did a foolhardy boy like that manage to get into the Elite?

He's lucky she won't tell Vicky, her sister had only one response to anyone that touched Amy without permission. Extreme force.

Speedster or not, her sister would find a away to pound him into paste.

"I made you the fastest man alive." Amy said flippantly to Nitro, lifting her hand for a jaunty wave back at the Elite capes.

"Your welcome~"

＊＊＊

Ivy could almost enjoy this venue. The music had an exhilarating beat, the ambiance was electric with so many people cheering, betting and just having an amazing time. The old hockey arena that had been slightly damaged by Behemoth in an area of Harlem that had been mostly devastated and never properly rebuilt - had plenty of room for the MMA style fighting cage, as well as the areas where people competed in accuracy with every manner of shooting and throwing weapon. With the inbuilt seating and the concession areas already there, someone had seen opportunity obviously, even though Ivy doubted they could pull regular showings without the police shutting it down.

So, yes, it was almost enjoyable.

Except Amy had made Ivy very desirable. And drunk criminals were not very good at taking no for an answer.

With a growl, Ivy grabbed and twisted the arm of the fat and drunk, tattoo covered neanderthal - who had been about to grope her ass, "Come near me again and I break it!" She hissed at the man.

His buddies broke out laughing and the drunk, in a way to save face, tried to leverage his greater size into pushing back against Ivy.

Ivy had enough, she was going to break this man. But before she could, Sherrel stepped in, causally whacking the man between the eyes with a wrench, sending him staggering. The men moving on, lewd comments tossed out as a parting shot.

"Please tell me Jason has spotted Ravager!" Ivy asked Sherrel. They'd been there for three hours at this point. Several villains had been spotted in attendance, betting or fighting. But not Ravager.

Sherrel winced, shaking her head, "Sorry, boss lady, no luck." She commiserated.

"Hey, you two gay or something?" A man wearing a skull halloween mask and a leather trench coat with way too many belts criss crossing his torso, asked them, his words slurred.

"Yes." "Only for her." Ivy and Sherrel answered, one dry as the desert, one cheerfully with a wide smile.

Ivy sighed, "Sherrel, no you're not. Stop that." She crossed her arms, annoyed at her underlings' assertion, then she uncrossed her arms in pure annoyance as the idiot edge lord immediately stared at her chest. "Go away." She ordered, tersely.

She had wanted to be pretty, to be desirable. She hadn't quite realized how many idiots she'd have to deal with because of it. She'd only seen how people treated Vicky at school and wanted that.

This, she didn't want.

The skull masked guy puffed his chest up, thumping it even, as he declared, "I'm a new villain, about to be super famous."

Ivy purposefully turned away from the idiot, trusting Sherrel to warn her if he actually did anything threatening, "One more hour, then we're ending it, I can't take anymore idiots." She growled.

Sherrel shook her head, "Boss, it's like you've been hiding away all your life," She protested, "Gorgeous hotties like us always deal with this, it's nothing new." She smirked, tapping the wrench in her hand against her body, "Got it you flaunt it, you gotta use what you have, boss!"

Ivy twitched, she could hardly say she'd never been pretty enough before. She just grunted instead. Eyes searching the arena floor. The guy behind her was still monologuing, not even realizing they weren't paying him any attention.

"Fucking finally!" She exclaimed, seeing Ravagers black and red cape costume entering the arena, full of swagger, obviously about to compete.

"Oh, want me to tag her then?" Sherrel asked, hands in her pocket, where the tracking seed Ivy had grown was resting, she'd given a similar one to Jason. Ivy would be able to feel it wherever it was, as long as she was within at least a few miles. "If you can do it in a way you're not in any danger, go ahead, otherwise we'll just follow her when she leaves." Ivy ordered. The seed would make it easier to follow her to a less public location for their confrontation. But if Ravager couldn't be surreptitiously seeded, then they'd just follow her when she left. No reason to risk Sherrel or Jason.

Ravager had, like Mouse Protector, enhanced agility and physical capabilities, but unlike Mouse Protector who could teleport short distances via a touch stone of kinds, Ravager, well… Ravaged. Any cut from her would continue growing, widening, deepening, festering. The smallest cut could end up enough to cut you in half with time. So she couldn't have Jason or Sherrel in the line of fire once they engaged. Jason transforming into Sandman could be useful, but she didn't have enough sand for him to truly utilize it yet.

Ivy watched as Ravager eventually easily won the ranged throwing competition, taking home a stack of cash, Sherrel, by then - amongst the group of fans congratulating her. Ivy saw Sherrel move away, a smug look on her face as the group broke up. Ivy could feel that the seed wasn't following her. She'd managed to seed Ravager.

Ivy's grin turned dangerous. Finally, let's end the threat once and for all. She thought with anticipation.

She was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. The halloween masked villain who'd been talking this entire time, interrupting her thoughts, whining, "How dare you ignore the great and mighty Skullbone!"

This guy….

Ivy counted to ten in her head. Then she counted to ten again. Nope. She still had an idiot attached to her.

"You're not even that hot, probably dyed your hair too, stupid slut." Skullbone muttered drunkenly.

Ivy stalked out of the arena a minute later, feeling simultaneously pissed off and pleased. The crying and screaming from the stupid young newbie clutching his broken hand - soothed her mind, at the same time as she was utterly pissed off that he'd dared to say something like that to her.

Now only the easy part was left. The beating.

＊＊＊

Ravager hung out for another two hours, doing god knows what, before leaving. Time that Ivy spent playing card games with her underlings in the Humvee. Both her underlings… Did not have a poker face for shit. She'd have to fix that. They were stupidly easy to read.

Ivy and co, followed behind Ravager as she drove off on a sleek looking motorcycle, driving like a mad woman, or a thrill seeker, barely avoiding death by inches at times.

Only the fact they were invisible and that Sherrel could drive like a formula one driver let them keep up when the motorcycle would cut through alleys - forcing them to speed around, following Ivy's sense of where her seed was.

Finally Ravager stopped, at an old garage in the Bronx. Perhaps her hideout, perhaps just where she stored her motorcycle, Ivy didn't care, she just wanted to finish this, and then get the hell out of New York.

"Pull in, keep invisible, stay out of it." Ivy ordered quietly, having changed into her villainess uniform, well more like she'd taken off her clothes and grown her uniform - but semantics.

Jason had kept his eyes closed as a perfect gentleman should. The less said about Sherrels comments the better. Ivy had no idea how regaining her sanity had made the woman filthier. Even if it was in mind, not body this time.

Ivy stepped out of the car, Ravager immediately turned her way, obviously having heard the car door opening, if not the vehicle arriving in the first place.

"Who are you supposed to be? Plant slut, Flower jugs?" She asked with casual derision, leaning back against her motorcycle, her riding leathers matching her cape uniform, her full face mask on, only eye holes visible.

Ivy was getting real tired of being called a slut. "I'm here to deal with pest control, someone heard a little rat was going to go way above her station and bring the Slaughterhouse to New York…" She drawled out coldly, sauntering forward, vines growing out of her bracelets, thorns prevalent on them.

"Now… How did you know about that?" Ravager hissed out, pulling out a set of throwing knives in one hand, "If you're nice enough to answer, I'll only cut off some fingers!"

"Ravager, stand down, if it is true you are planning on contacting the Slaughterhouse Nine, you can not be allowed to remain outside of custody." A stern female voice interrupted them both.

Ivy looked up to the rooftop of the garage. For fucks sake, I god damn hate New York! She screamed mentally.

What exactly were the odds they'd run into Ursa Aurora patrolling the Bronx, in this particular area, at this particular time?

"She's mine!" Ivy growled. Sending a vine forward towards Ravager. She wasn't going to miss out on her objective now, not when the PRT would just let her out again to contact Jack Slash at a later date.

The fight was on.

＊＊＊

"Fortuna. I suppose something's gone to hell… Or surprisingly well, you only ever show up for either of those." A forcibly jovial voice said, a man sitting on a tree stump, carefully whittling a wooden figurine, the forested area around him littered in figurines, all of them of the same person. There were thousands of the things, scattered around everywhere.

Each figurine had a strangely emotion filled look of anguish on them, perfectly carved. The figurines were almost life-like and had an eerie feel to them.

"Who can say…" Came the quiet soft response.

The man sighed, a small smile playing on his lips as he shook his head with melancholy, old memories on his mind, "You can Contessa, that's literally your entire thing." He chided.

"Maybe I just wanted to see an old friend?" Contessa said, walking out from behind a tree, trademark fedora on her head, her hand free of weapons today, so she wasn't playing the boogeyman for now. Not that it mattered, if he could be killed so easily it would have solved a lot of issues already.

There were many days he wished he hadn't been so full of confidence and ideas for a better future. Optimism had only gotten him here. A pyrrhic victory.

"Ah," The man finally sighed, dropping his latest carving, answering Contessa, "Do I count as that now, as I am?" He'd had a fair handle on his depression, but old friends dropping by always made him maudlin. Not that he ever had one of those drop by, other than Contessa. He'd like to imagine the others would cheer him up more, if they were aware of his existence, but honestly, Rebecca would likely just pummel him, for the little good it would do for her.

"Who knows what the future will show…" Contessa said idly, picking up a figurine and sliding it into a pocket, making no attempt to hide the action. Not that it mattered much around him. He continued to be surprised that she even showed up, made the effort to let him know she was still working on it.

Killing him.

"Well, something good must have happened, you're only this ridiculous at that point." He said softly, another small smile blossoming onto his face, even sadder this time, as he addressed the figurine theft, "Don't tell me your path needs a figurine?" He lightly mocked. Trying to force himself out of his darkening mood.

Contessa refused to answer, which as usual, was a sign that it would indeed be involved in one of her steps on the path to victory for some reason. It had never made sense to him, it likely never would.

He appreciated the distraction nonetheless.

"So… Just dropping by again then, huh? Checking to see if I've gone insane yet?" Surprisingly he held no bitterness at the fact, but it could simply be the relief he felt that the path was still grinding on, and that Contessa was still the same. As frustrating as she was.

"See you around… Hero." She said quietly, stepping behind the tree again.

"I don't go by that name anymore…" He said, to thin air, as Contessa was already gone again. The fact Cauldron still let her use the doors after she'd split from them, showed how utterly dependent they had become on path to victory, that even with her defection, they still didn't dare to move.

The man formerly known as Hero sighed, and with a wave of his hand erased the forest around him. Whittling had gotten boring anyway…

God, he wished he was still just a simple tinker…

＊＊＊

Author's note:

Like I said Hero is dead. And he is, for a certain interpretation of the word. Scion is also absolutely dead. For a certain definition of the word. I didn't want any Golden morning end of world shit for this story, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things going on in the background which could affect the world badly. Just not Scion blows up billions in two years bad.

Nitro is now the fastest man alive. Watch out ladies.

Amy's kind of spiraling just a little bit, jumping out of the Dallon house with two feet, eager to have her fun new life. Taking risks she didn't take before. Just a few weeks ago Amy would have never let the Elite know she can affect brains, even if that doesn't reveal her full capabilities, it's still a hint towards them, as is her affecting Nitro that quickly and efficiently.

Uppercrust isn't stupid. Neither is he the type to tattle to the PRT, but still.

She's a teenager, body and hormone wise, the SI itself is a teenager. Eventually the newness of her situation will kick in and she'll settle down some, but teenagers don't always have the best clarity of thinking, and Amy has been waiting almost two years to cut loose. Having basically a form of immortality with her two bodies able to heal each other even from a distance, certainly isn't making her more cautious.

Carol worked hard to hide the facts of what Amy could do, but now that thinkers everywhere are focusing on her, it won't be a secret for long.

By author fiat, I'm going to say Ivy can't be outed that easily by thinkers, they can't literally read brains to see that she shares a mind with Amy and her body cues, facial expressions and etc would be different with a different body. Also doing plants doesn't need the same biomass as changing a body, again author fiat, if that turns anyone off that's fine, but I wasn't shooting for perfection in this story anyway.

Cheers

 

[JollyHippo]

Here's chapter 7: PSA: Drugs as approved by your local hero.

So here's the next installment, and we're going back to Brockton Bay, yay! Let's see how quickly things will get fucked up.

Also will have the first mention of Taylor in this story I believe. Even if escalation girl doesn't show up herself yet.

Obviously it's worm so drug use, Nazi stuff etc don't read if you don't like that kind of stuff, blah blah blah.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

＊＊＊

Coil was growing beyond frustrated. No matter what tests he'd performed, he couldn't find anything wrong that said Panacea had done anything to possibly convert him.

He certainly didn't feel any loyalty to the girl, or any sudden wish to look out for her or assist her. He'd already gone through enumerate timelines where he tortured her to insanity, both to soothe his own anger at his mistake, and to punish her for the temerity to have lied to him.

But he couldn't ever get the confirmation.

Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling he had, that the whole situation had been a set up from the start. Coil wasn't used to the feeling of being on the other side of a con - he had gotten greedy, had taken risks he normally wouldn't take, had pushed his power too far, even though he knew it was unreliable at those points, and now he was at a crossroads.

Did he take another risk? Go on assuming she did nothing. No… Perhaps before, he could have assumed some manner of innocence in her actions. That the sullen, naive girl with no real life experience wouldn't pull something like that…

Not now, not after her sharply rising levels of competence, newfound international fame after Paris, the split from New Wave, recruiting Purity and Mouse Protector, gaining Uppercrusts support. These were not consistent with her previous behavior, nor were they the actions of a naive girl. The meeting with him had been staged. It must have been.

Which meant somehow, despite everything he'd done to obfuscate the connection - Panacea had known Thomas Calvert was Coil.

Of everyone in Brockton Bay. This girl had broken through the layers and figured out who he was, while the PRT and the Empire floundered, both dancing to his tune, unknowingly.

And if she knew that, then she was more dangerous than his previous risk assessment had accounted for. She still, under torture, refused to confirm that she'd done anything to him, which was as vexing as it was impressive. Even if he was now suspecting she'd done something to herself to prevent torture from being as effective as it usually was.

The timelines where he took her and their consequences were why he was stuck at a crossroads right now. Every time he kidnapped the girl, his base would, within hours sometimes - a day at the most - be assaulted by the new villain Poison Ivy.

It had taken several timelines to finally have a defense in place that defeated her if she attacked his base, plant control being surprisingly effective within the tight confines of his underground base.

Then… If he managed to defeat the villain in one of the timelines - the villain which he suspected Panacea had brainwashed to be slavishly loyal, to come to such a quick defense of her mistress - then… His timeline would end soon after, as Alexandria herself dropped by, not willing to allow him to control or kill Panacea.

Could Coil kill the girl? Yes, she was surprisingly crafty and dangerous with her bioshaping, but a couple of timelines had given him the perfected avenues to capture or kill the girl. But he couldn't guarantee her death would end any potential change she could have performed while she'd had access to his body and brain.

And he'd paid a lot of money to find out…

Hence the frustration.

It was becoming increasingly clear that to gain peace of mind, and ensure his mind was inviolate. He'd have to… Negotiate with the teenager.

Coil felt a visceral aversion to lowering himself to such an action. It felt too much like supplication to even think to go and deal with the slip of the girl like an equal, or worse… A superior.

In the end, he'd gone and spent a third of his liquid wealth on hiring one of the premier precogs in the world in a throwaway timeline. The confirmation in their sight had been the last straw, Coil would have to negotiate with the little bitch.

Because the African witch doctor cum warlord who was also a premier precog, had warned Coil that in the future she had peered through, Coil was alive in the one where he negotiated with Panacea.

And he wasn't in the one where he continued to try and gain leverage or torture secrets out of the girl.

Coil might detest the actions that would need to be taken, but he was ultimately a survivor. He could rebuild from anything. As long as he was alive to do so.

He split off the timelines as he sat in his base, in one case, he contacted the African precog again, spending a third of his wealth to ask her another set of questions.

The warlord's sight was annoyingly mercurial, jumping back and forth from seeing a day ahead to seeing seven months with not even her, herself, knowing at any given time which she would see, but Coil was able to confirm once again, as he had in dozens of timelines over the last few days…

That if he remained in Brockton Bay, he was not alive in any of the precogs' visions past a certain time. A distressingly short amount of time.

In the other timeline, he'd dialed a number, hatred boiling inside him, he could already picture the smugness and derision as his minion would begin to understand his situation.

The phone was picked up, the voice already irreverent and challenging from the get go, "Yeah boss? Having some performance issues?"

…She'd already investigated the situation herself then, must have picked up some clue from his previous call… He'd have to visit her in another timeline sometime soon to work out his frustrations at her disloyalty.

"Tattletale… I need you to do something for me…" Coil said coldly, already calculating the odds he would be able to keep her around after this once he left Brockton.

They weren't good.

…. He'd kill the girl one day for all of this. One day, at some point - she wouldn't have Alexandria coming to her rescue anymore…

This would not be the end of him.

＊＊＊

New York,

If this was a story, no doubt this fight would be a back and forth effort, where the protagonist held on by the skin of her teeth, bravely overcoming difficulties and outsmarting her opponents at the very last second to eke out victory while learning an important life lesson.

Fuck that noise!

Ivy did not want Legend to drop on her ass if this hullabaloo took too long. Ursa Aurora could do force fields, she didn't know how many, what kind of strength, what kind of variety she had in her usage, she didn't want to wait to find out if she could just box her in and wait for a PRT van to come foam her either.

For all she knew, the bitch could force field this entire damn street.

So as she sent a vine after Ravager, she also popped every seed on her body, threading her power through them, encouraging nothing but growth. She didn't know why plants came so easy for her, why she didn't need biomass to effect changes - but she was thankful for it, because now - it allowed her to create a veritable forest within the confines of the street they were fighting in.

Ravager and Ivy immediately disappeared amongst the brush as Ursa Aurora cursed and got out of the way, creating a forcefield in midair which she jumped on-top of, Ivy couldn't hear what she was saying, but with the way she was holding herself - she was calling it in. She needed to hurry.

"What the fuck is your problem, bitch!" Ravager shouted, legs and arms tied up tightly by vines, her agility and speed no match when literally in the belly of a forest completely under Ivy's control. It took an idle thought to have her spread out before her, limbs pulled to their full extent - keeping her from being able to pull off any last minute surprises.

Ivy sauntered up to her, the jungle diverting as she walked to give her a straight path, while still keeping the canopy cover. Ravager went red, her mask slightly off from the brief struggle she'd had with the vines, she kept struggling harder in her bindings as Ivy approached, "Oh my god! I've seen this kind of shit online! Get the hell away from me with this tentacle shit!" She shouted, huskily..?

Ivy stumbled slightly, it did look like that, didn't it? "Like I'd touch you," She called out, sneering at the woman that would have sent the S9 against Mouse Protector, stalking forward quickly to make up the last bit of distance, "Anyone willing to deal with the Slaughterhouse Nine is repugnant!"

"What the fuck do you know!? Fucking plant whore! You're a villain too aintcha? No way you're a hero doing this shit!" Ravager shouted back, posture more relaxed now that Ivy had confirmed she wasn't there to do… That. She also looked somewhat disappointed, which… Ugh, and Ivy thought her and Vicky were weird. She'd never be able to look at her plants the same way again thanks to Ravager. No wonder she wasn't fighting the bindings very hard. Was every cape ever a weirdo?

She thought to the two hiding in an invisible car right now that she'd brought along… The answer was likely yes.

She also wondered apropos the subject matter - if that tentacle monster she'd accidentally created back when she'd been playing around with her power, was still alive in Brockton Bay's sewer… She shook her head, what was she even thinking? What did it matter, as long as it never came looking for her.

Right, time limit, she focused on Ravager, who seemed unconcerned with her situation now, likely thinking with a hero up above the worst she'd see is some time in jail. "I'm debating whether killing you is worth the heat." Ivy told her matter of factly, tapping her lip thoughtfully.

It wouldn't be her first murder, she probably should feel bad about those. Gosh, no wonder she was a villain.

Ravager cocked her head, looking remarkably cocksure for someone completely immobilized and spread eagle in the air. "Yeah, right." She scoffed, "Go ahead, I fucking dare you. Kill me in Legends backyard, you stupid cunt!"

Funny… Coming from the girl that invited the S9 into that same backyard.

"Yeah, that's the only thing making me reconsider growing a tree up your anus to let it bloom out of your filthy mouth." Ivy said casually. On one hand, she was a villain, so killing another villain wasn't the end of the world, although it would be upping her threat rating considerably.

On the other hand, if she just brainwashed Ravager… Would the heroes be able to figure it out? They'd take her, for sure, and no doubt run tests to see if Ivy did anything more than plants, was it worth the risk? Ivy was a plant controller specifically to be distanced from Panacea's healing and shaping power. Would the PRT think tank connect the two if Ivy showed any kind of ability to bioshape people.

Yes. They would, Ivy couldn't help but think. Panacea showing an expansion of her power at the same time a villain shows up using the same kind of power… If they hadn't been so impatient they'd have waited six months before creating Ivy.

"I've killed before, but while exploring my power or doing surgeries to learn new things - never quite like this." Ivy mused out loud.

Ravager's attitude seemed to do a 180 when she realized Ivy was seriously considering doing it. Ivy used a vine to cover her mouth before she could beg or curse or anything else to interrupt her thought process.

This was such a hassle, if Ursa Aurora hadn't interrupted her, she'd just have killed Ravager in a straight up brawl, walking away feeling good about preventing a tragedy, now that she was captive, it felt a little more icky. Even though she'd killed people before.

Maybe it was because she had a great body, was she that shallow? She didn't want to kill her because she looked hot?

Ivy took another look at Ravager, the woman now fully struggling in her bindings, screaming into the plant matter gagging her. Yeah she was hot, from what she could see anyway. Man, she had a problem… She probably needed therapy…

Or super weed again, that was awesome… Alright, no therapy, she'd craft some super weed again when she got home. Well Amy could do it sooner, so that worked too.

There her mind went again on a tangent, while on a time limit…

She didn't have time, she couldn't wait any longer. With a sigh she stepped up to the struggling woman, her decision made.

She put her hand on skin, the motorcycle helmet having been knocked off and the face mask having slipped a bit, giving her plenty of avenues for skin contact - changing only one thing, making the woman existentially terrified of the Slaughterhouse Nine, and the Butcher for good measure. After that she knocked her out, and started moving towards the car at a fast clip, her forest having sprouted around it, so she knew exactly where it was still.

Hopefully the PRT wouldn't notice any changes, she hadn't done much after all, could hardly even be called brainwashing. Her being terrified of the S9 and the Butcher was just common sense after all. Ivy thought it would be okay, she could have killed her, but she'd better save that card for when it was time to clean up some Nazis. Plus Ravager wasn't too bad really, except for the retarded plan to call the S9. And a filthy filthy mouth.

Okay… She needed to stop thinking about this.

She felt plant matter dying suddenly which worked well in switching her focus, her connection fading from parts of the forest. She gulped, hoping she still had time. She put on some extra speed as she practically flew through the last ten feet. It might not be Legend, necessarily, but someone was destroying a considerable amount of her creations, it was time to get the hell out.

"Drive!" She shrieked at Sherrel as she threw herself into the car's passenger seat.

There was enough of her forest cleared off that she could see Legend hanging in the air by Ursa Aurora, carefully cutting and burning away her forest to find her and Ravager. Because of course he'd arrive, why would she think differently, she'd grown a forest in the middle of New York, and Legend quite literally was the first responder in emergencies due to his speed. She'd just hoped he'd been at home in bed - or shacking it up with his hubby or something.

He'd have to be happy with just one prize today. Her abrasive personality should do the rest of the work for her, to cover her minor alteration. Ravager wouldn't be a cooperative captive, of that she was sure of.

Even if they asked her about what Ivy had said… She'd just say she'd never be that stupid now that she had an existential fear of them. Ivy didn't like how much of what she needed right now was based on loose things like - she hoped - or she thought - or they might. But it's what she had to work with.

Sherrel hit the gas, Ivy clearing out a path for them quite easily - as they were already at the edge on that side of the road, Legend having already burned some of the periphery down for them as well.

"Fuck!" Sherrel cried out, Ivy was tossed against the window as the car had accelerated rapidly before it swerved suddenly with screeching tires - and they still only barely managed to dodge a beam from Legend.

In retrospect, opening an obvious path in the forest might have made being invisible slightly pointless for a second there. Ivy wasn't feeling like a very clever villain right now, doing the villain thing and dreaming it up were two very different things it seemed.

Thankfully the supreme blaster and protector of New York couldn't follow them with his cheat beams like he usually would, Sherrel driving away onto a side road as soon as she could reach one, their invisibility holding up and putting some distance between them.

Legend was forced to choose between trying to follow an invisible car, or clear out the possibly still dangerous forest - which they weren't sure might still be holding Ravager or not. To ensure they wouldn't be followed, Ivy concentrated on the connection she still held with the forest, while she needed touch to kick-start her plants in the first place, she could still feel them and effect them to a certain level as long as she wasn't too far away - she concentrated and opened up the canopy just enough to show Ravager still in the forest.

Legend would focus on the hostage, big hero that he was. There. They were safe. Ivy let out a breath, feeling relieved, she hadn't dealt with that the best, she realized now out of the moment. Her and Amy's lack of experience in actual fights was showing.

They needed to get good fast, because their reputations were going to grow rapidly, in Amy's case it already had.

Now that they weren't driving in a panic, there would be no more screeching tires giving them away in case Legend had someone else surreptitiously flying around trying to look for them, they'd made it. By the skin of their teeth.

"I fucking hate New York." Ivy grumbled as she righted herself in the seat, from where her face had been smushed into the windshield.

It was time to go back to Brockton Bay, there was no need to feel any kind of conflicted feelings when fighting Nazi's.

No one even cared if you killed one, really. Well… No one important. Even if the PRT would make noises about escalation and the like, no one would be actually heartbroken about it.

"Can we stop for food, I'm hungry?" Came the cheery voice of Jason, aka Sandman from the back. No wonder he was cheerful, he hadn't had to do a single thing, Ivy thought, feeling exhausted. And slightly naked without any seeds on her person. It had been for the best either way. There was fuck all Jason would have been able to do to fight Legend off, they'd just get bogged down until more reinforcements came.

"No, boss lady wants us back, I can tell, so we're going straight back." Sherrel said, driving with one hand as she raised her other hand without looking and gave Jason the finger. Waving it back and forth an irreverent smirk on her face.

"Oh, suck my dick you bitch, I'm fucking starving here!" He complained, not looking at all bothered, making Ivy think he was picking a fight for the hell of it. Maybe leaving him in a car with Sherrel for so long had a bad effect on him, she thought in hindsight.

"I think he's talking to you." Sherrel stage whispered to Ivy, making a motion with her free hand, her cheek bulging out obscenely.

"Fuck you guys, why did I even recruit you…" Ivy groused, rubbing her face, It's going to be a long drive again…

＊＊＊

Next morning. Brockton Bay, Boardwalk.

"Vicky… Fuck you, why did I ever trust you, why? We're not wearing that!" Amy groused, nursing a cup of coffee, sitting on the patio of a locally owned coffee shop on the boardwalk, joined by Vicky and Mouse Protector - or Charlotte, as she was in her civvies. If you could call wearing all Mouse Protector merch clothing as civvies.

Vicky grinned cheekily, flashing her phone at Charlotte, showing off some of the uniform ideas she'd pitched to the LA based design company. She'd taken some creative liberties in interpreting Amy's wish for them to 'look good'.

Charlotte laughed freely, fanning her face with a hand, a wide, shit eating grin, blossoming into being, as she looked over the uniform as modeled by Victoria. "Is there a uniform hidden somewhere? There's not much room to hide anything?" She teased, seeing exactly what Amy had seen, but unlike Amy she probably approved. The thirsty old biddy.

Compared to them anyway - the hero was practically ancient. It was kind of depressing that heroes didn't tend to see middle age even, and people like Charlotte really were old.

"I don't know whether to classify it as a bathing suit or as lingerie, but it definitely does not pass as a public hero uniform." Amy said, sending a tired glare at her sister who flashed her a victory sign, totally unaffected by her grumpiness as usual. Amy's head was still aching from worrying about the consequences of Ivy's actions, she hadn't been able to sleep because she couldn't stop thinking, all the way back from New York in Ivy's case - and in her case, back in her bed - this one mind sharing two bodies thing becoming a bit of a hassle when she had something on her mind.

They were also beginning to have some separate thought streams she'd noticed, which worried her slightly, at the same time as it offered some relief. This whole clone thing wouldn't really work out if Ivy actually became another person…

"I mean… We'd rake in the cheese on merchandise sales, plus I bet any villain would be too busy drooling to actually fight, you know." Charlotte piped in, leaning her head into her hand as she critically examined Vicky's photos. "Or at least the fights might end in interesting ways…" She said saucily. "I've always wanted to tussle properly with a villain, you know just be a bad mouse for a day…"

Vicky made a face, "Villains are not for playing with, they're for punching." She told Charlotte. "Besides, none of them are cute anyway."

Charlotte chuckled, "Oh, honey, with us supers, the non cute ones are really the exception." She said, giving out an appreciative hum, before scrunching her nose up, amending, "Except for Case-53s I suppose."

"I'm not prancing around naked." Amy put her foot down firmly, ignoring the rest of the byplay. "Do you really want that kind of reputation?" She asked Vicky, because she knew enough of Charlotte to know she'd emphatically say yes just because it messed with people's preconceptions. She'd totally be all for a wet dream squad, it would give her almost unlimited ways to mess with anyone she met. Especially from the PRT and Protectorate. They'd lose their shit, not to mention the youth guard…

Which almost made her want to do it…

Why did Amy put up with these people anyway?

Oh yeah… Because literally anything was better than living with Carol.

Vicky chuckled as she swiped her phone back from Charlotte, "Alright, now that Amy is done having a heart attack, here's the real uniforms." She said, winking at Amy with a satisfied smile, happy to have gotten one over her. In Amy's defense she hadn't slept for over 24 hours. Vicky spent a moment playing with her phone, before she slid it over to Amy.

"Can we still order the other ones?" Charlotte asked innocently, her face cradled in-between her hands, "For private purposes, as cheesy as it is - sometimes you wanna unwrap something nice before you squiggle in and just ~lap it all up~."

Vicky waggled her eyebrows at Amy, which she promptly ignored. She was beginning to think that something with how she adjusted brains was behind everyone being so…

Thirsty.

Then again high school wasn't that different, except most people didn't have the guts to outright say it all the time. Self confidence was the rarity there, not the norm.

Amy didn't even look Charlotte's way as she pointed a finger at her, and not the polite one, "Down girl, you aren't in costume, you got to be able to at least try to not make this weird." She muttered, swiping through the much more tasteful uniforms Vicky had modeled.

"I'll hook you up girlfriend!" Vicky whispered loudly to Charlotte, both of them wearing conspiratory smirks that all but confirmed to Amy that she'd find one of those skimpy slut uniforms within her wardrobe soon enough.

Whatever, she wasn't wearing one either way. Although she'd pay good money to have Vicky swing by Carol's place wearing it.

"I'm not paying for those ones." Amy said dryly, giving them a look, "These ones are fine though, you did good, sis." She allowed, sending her sister a small tired smile. Because she'd actually done really well, the uniforms were well done, looked like they actually had some armor, and they looked cool - which probably had been the major thing Vicky concentrated on, so it was good that she'd managed to squeeze in actual functionality as well.

"Praise for moi? I can die happy!" Vicky swooned dramatically, gaining a cackle from Charlotte, Amy couldn't help a short chuckle herself, Vicky in a good mood never seemed to fail at lifting her own spirits, at least when it wasn't aimed at teasing her.

"Black and gold though…" Amy said, wondering at Vicky's thought process. That was a statement…

Vicky smiled showing off her perfect pearly whites, her eyes glinting harshly as she pumped a fist in the air, "Right! Because it's like New Wave, only better - to shove it in their face!" She proclaimed proudly.

"You know you don't have to do that, they're still family, and even if I don't want to go back, you can still go see them anytime." Amy offered, Vicky being the only person she really felt any true guilt over messing with in any way, so she wanted to make sure she knew she could still talk to them, even if she'd never ever let her go back and leave her. She was too selfish to ever let Vicky go.

Vicky shook her head, the golden tresses of her hair shining in the morning sun as she did, "Nope, I won't talk to them until they apologize to you." She declared, making it sound like more of an oath. Her eyes were still harder than she was used to seeing from her ever cheerful and positive sister. "You're the most important thing in my life, Ames, you and me, that's what matters!"

"This would be so much hotter if you were twins - twincest is wincest." Charlotte said suddenly, letting out a big dramatic gust of a sigh, looking at them both with a leer.

Vicky went as red as a fire hydrant, spluttering at Charlotte as Amy glared her down, stabbing a finger forward, "Alright, I get it, you like stirring the pot! But seriously, calm your tits down or I can totally make you a barbie doll!" She warned, her own cheeks reddening. She knew Mouse Protector worked alone for a reason - but she'd thought it was all the campy one liners, not her humping anything with a pulse!

Vicky was markedly avoiding looking at Charlotte as she stuffed her face with a breakfast pastry to avoid having to talk or acknowledge anything said. Charlotte on the other hand just smirked, tilting her head as she studied Amy, "A barbie doll eh? Sounds pretty hot, why would I complain if you're going to make me the finest bite in town?"

"Barbie dolls have nothing between their legs." Amy hissed out, Charlotte finally blanching and backing off a bit, murmuring a quick apology. But still letting off a snigger right after, showing she wasn't overly worried.

"Now that distractions are over with… Seriously, I need to get a spray bottle or something…" Amy muttered, giving Charlotte a dirty look, the woman just grinning at her, albeit with a slightly pale face, no doubt thinking of her threat. "Uniforms are getting sorted, our building will get done within the week thanks to how much I'm paying for it… We need to decide who we're concentrating on, the ABB or the Empire. Because fighting both at the same time is just going to be pointless. Let the Protectorate deal with whoever we're not fighting."

"Empire." Vicky and Charlotte both said at the same time, Charlotte nodding at Vicky to go ahead, the peppy girl giving her a thankful smile, before focusing on Amy, "The Protectorate can't even handle the Empire anyway, let them concentrate on keeping Lung from taking advantage while we focus on whittling down some Nazis!" Her aura was practically visible, she was that excited at the prospect, no civilians were nearby so Amy didn't bother chastising her.

Besides, at Charlotte's dry look, Vicky turned it down anyway, looking sheepish, so Amy didn't have to do it, she had people to handle her sister now. It almost made Mouse Protector's shenanigans worth it, just to have someone else to rein in Vicky, whenever she wasn't egging her on instead.

Amy was so glad that the boardwalk was practically empty at this time, none of them were being particularly discreet after all. She hummed in thought as she took a long slow sip of coffee. "I get what you're saying, but we can't exactly outnumber the Empire either, and personally the whole sex slave thing the ABB got going on… Major ick."

She hadn't practiced a lot with viruses and the like due to her fear of accidentally depopulating the eastern seaboard, but if she could target only ABB somehow - she'd chemically castrate the lot of them.

She'd have her lab soon, and her other more hidden labs as well, she'd get to really get into drugs, viruses and the like then.

Charlotte scrunched her nose up, wagging a hand in the air like a fifty fifty motion at Amy's words, "I agree with you somewhat big cheese, but if the ABB gets caught in a mouse trap too soon - the Empire just takes over everything - Lung at least only cares about the Asians, yeah?"

Mouse Protector hadn't been fully aware of just how shit Brockton Bay's situation was and had been annoyed Miss Militia hadn't even called her in to help when they were so outnumbered. When Amy had explained it, Charlotte had gone off to harass MM about it, which did give Amy somewhat of a strategy to fob her off when she was being too annoying.

Miss Militia was a big girl, she could take over babysitting once in a while.

Amy nodded mulling it over, "That's true, that's why I'm asking for your perspectives, to strategize a good way forward, I have a habit of just doing the first thing I set my mind on." She admitted. "Why do you want to hit the Empire, Vicky?" She asked her sister.

Vicky licked some strawberry jam off her upper lip, taking a minute to think it over, "Huh, I guess really I only picked them cuz no one will feel bad if I break a Nazi." She admitted shamelessly.

"She's not wrong." Charlotte said, smirking, "Beating up Nazi's is practically a civic duty."

Amy rubbed her aching head, thinking it over, finding a slight snag immediately, "Kayden might be a problem if we leave the ABB sex trade alone to go fight her old buddies." She admitted, not overly caring, because she'd have to eventually anyway, but it was one headache they'd have to deal with if they chose the Empire first.

"So why are you asking us and not Kayden?" Vicky asked, a teasing smirk on her face, "Afraid?" She mocked, giggling at her. Charlotte immediately jumped in, making clucking noises, a shit eating grin on her face. The only thing that saved America from a virulent plague in that moment was that she didn't do the chicken arms, Amy would not have survived the embarrassment - and neither would they.

Okay… Maybe sleep deprivation was a bad thing.

She had a fix for that anyway, two, actually. Ivy and drugs. Drugs were the solution to everything.

But she hadn't broken in a lab yet, so Ivy it was. She sent Vicky an admonishing look, before rising from the table, "Since you two are so chummy, you can both help Kayden in riding herd on the construction workers and manage the fans that won't stop hanging out outside our place." She put on a passive aggressive bitch face, "Kiss some babies, sign autographs, you know all that shit I have people to do for me now. You. You are the people. Do it."

"Aww, work! Amy you can't mean that, aren't I your favoritest sister in the world!?" Vicky pleaded, giving her pouty face number 4, Amy looked away immediately, she was very weak to number 4 and Vicky knew it, damn her.

"Just… Do something productive and don't cause me any problems." She hurried out, exiting the patio, leaving them with the bill, she felt it was only fair. What with Vicky using weapons of mass destruction so casually.

She texted Strider as she entered an alley a few minutes later, stopping just by the edge of where the boardwalk ended and Empire territory started. He would never stop being so utterly convenient, even if she felt slightly ridiculous using him as a taxi all the time. He was in the middle of a delivery but would get to her in five minutes. She sighed, leaning back against the alley wall as she fished in her pocket and pulled out a specially made blunt, seconds later she felt some of the tension leaving her as the genetically engineered super relaxation weed took effect.

She didn't have much of it, so she'd been using it sparingly, because she had only a limited amount of plants she could hide away without anyone finding and destroying them - or smoking them. With her lab(s) coming up, she'd finally be able to really tinker around with drugs and viruses. Improve the human genome perhaps, better healing, better respiratory system, whatever she really wanted at any given moment, she could probably find a way to make it.

It hit her at that moment, she could have just grown as many plants as she wanted with Ivy and been pleasantly buzzed this entire time! At least since she gave herself two bodies. She banged her head back against the wall, letting out a little huffing laughter, taking another drag of her guilty pleasure.

Ivy was immediately working at it right after they'd reached that epiphany, diverting from a card game with Sherrel and Jason, she'd been losing anyway, might as well do something useful and get them their weed. Although the locale of Skidmark's house left a lot to be desired. She'd have some of her special blend grown by the time Amy popped in - she was an old hand at crafting any kind of plant into this blend by now, she was curious what the effect would be on her mind if two of her bodies ingested it simultaneously.

She idly wrote off the rest of the day, because she'd likely not be very useful for much. If she hung out with Ivy's crew for the day it wouldn't be too big of a deal - they were mindfucked anyway, they wouldn't rat her out. She'd just have to make sure Vicky didn't come looking for her or anything - her sister had some sort of bloodhound in her, she could find her way too easily at times.

"Whatcha smoking small stuff? Gonna share?" A put upon, rough voice, interrupted her thoughts coming from the end of the alley. It was obviously put upon, because the voice even cracked embarrassingly - half way through the sentence.

Amy looked them over, her eyes half lidded with her complete disinterest as she breathed out a small smoke cloud. ABB were getting brazen if they were sneaking about this close to the boardwalk and the edges of Empire territory, early morning as well. Was Lung's band of morons going to make the choice for her?

Unlikely they'd piss her off that much, these guys were kind of… Virgin new.

The three ABB thugs, decked out fully in their gang colors, clean in a way that suggested they'd just bought the clothes, strolled through the alley, approaching her with the swaggering stride of the young and inexperienced acting tough. These were practically babies. No wonder they were here, it was probably a hazing, forcing them to experience an Empire beating, toughen them up.

There were probably some older ABB guy a block or two away having a good laugh right now…

All Amy cared about was the fact their stupid faces were ruining her buzz. "Keep walking, faggots." She drawled lazily, crossing her arms under her breasts, blunt hanging from her lips loosely.

The fact they didn't recognize her? With the news coverage lately? Her already low estimation of the general gangbangers intelligence lowered even further than her previous estimations.

"Hey, girl, you can't talk to us like that, pretty white girl like you, you'd make us a nice finder's fee if you get too mouthy." The lead thug said trying to sound tough, his chest all puffed out, he ended his statement by thumping his compatriots lightly, who both giggled at the threat.

"I'm terrified." Amy said sarcastically, pulling in another hit of sweet sweet stress release, checking her wristwatch immediately after, Well, I'll need to handle this in three minutes or less I guess. "Can you get the dick measuring contest over with? I've got places to be?" She tilted her head, an unfriendly grin on her lips, "Considering your ABB, there's no one over 5 inches at the most anyway, right?"

"The fuck, Bitch, what the fuck is your problem?" The chubby Asian boy wearing a red and green baseball cap backwards said, a confused look on his face - like this wasn't how he expected things to work out. Amy gave him a disinterested stare, just continuing to smoke, not moving an inch, nor bothering to reply to the idiot kid cosplaying as a gangbanger.

"My home slice asked you a question you crazy bitch! You better answer him or we're going to have to get rough." The leader said, his other little butt buddy minion giving him an encouraging shove in the back, which had the leader stumbling within two feet of Amy, looking hesitant for a second, before he threw a look back at his buddies.

Peer pressure firmly behind him, he got a stubborn look on his face as he stepped forward the final steps to loom over Amy, his hand reaching out for her arms.

"You really don't want to do that, home slice." Amy said mockingly, giving a little snort at their ridiculous play acting at being gangers - blowing a puff of smoke into his face. At this point just wanting the confrontation so she could put them down.

She'd be gentle. It was their first time after all.

They all hesitated, her complete disregard for them starting to hit something in their hindbrains and giving them a clue they were heading for a bad end. Their leader didn't stop himself though, and grabbed Amy's arm, trying to give it a pull to pull her off the wall.

Amy sighed as she patted his cheek, where he stood absolutely frozen, paralyzed since the moment he touched her. "You're lucky, you know." She said languidly, lazily playing with the boy's hair, tousling it, as he stared at her with wide fearful eyes, locked inside his own body. "If you had arrived just a few minutes sooner, I would have given you a sex change, made you perfect little dolls, you would have enjoyed serving Lung, right? That's all you want out of life, hmm?" She said, continuing her languid tone, the other two new bangers frozen in shock and fear, staring at her and their captured leader.

Amy turned her gaze slightly to look them in the eyes, her blunt almost burnt out hanging from her lips, "If you start running, I might not make you go through that." She suggested, snorting with disgust as one of the boys fell over himself trying to run, the chubby one leaving them all behind as he showed a spectacular speed for someone his size.

"As for you…" Amy said, tapping her statue like captive on the nose, as the last member finally gained control of all his limbs and ran out of the alley, sobbing like a little bitch. Maybe they'll reconsider gang life? These pussies wouldn't survive it anyway. She thought, studying her teenage captive. "Do you go to Winslow, maybe, hmm?" She asked as a crack heralded Strider's arrival.

The sweetie didn't even blink an eye at the situation, as he took up a spot at the end of the alley, watching with an amused little smirk playing on his lips, tipping his cap at her when he saw her glancing at him.

Amy allowed her captive to speak, "Well, answer me, do you go to Winslow?"

"Y-yes…" The teenage ganger wannabe answered hesitantly, silent tears running down his face.

"Hmm." Amy said in thought, shutting off his ability to speak again, "Hmm." She added for good effort. Things were better in threes, so she threw an additional thoughtful, "Hmm." In there.

She hadn't really decided what she would do about Taylor. She really wasn't quite so cuntish as to allow the locker incident to happen. And she definitely didn't want Taylor pointed her direction as Skitter if she did trigger either. The girl lacked any kind of chill in her.

Without gold morning being necessary, Taylor didn't need to be a parahuman.

She needed a delicate touch here, didn't she? Or a sledgehammer. She wasn't sure which one would work the best right now. And maybe making decisions while high wasn't a good idea. More information it was! "Alright, I won't turn you into a little pretty doll if you do me a small favor, I want you and your little buddies to keep an eye on Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes and Madison Clement. Report to me everything they do, where they hang out and at what time, what is their routine like, who else do they spend time with." She patted him on the cheek patronizingly, "Think you can do that without fucking it up?"

Once she knew where they were likely to be at any given time, she could either show up and put a stop to the bullying by simple star power and influence - or she could fuck Sophia up.

One sounded much better than the other.

She took a moment to write down a phone number on a piece of paper she tore off a notepad she'd had in her jacket, placing it in his jacket pocket, the number belonged to one of the many phones Ivy had from Skidmark, "Text this number with all the details daily. Or you'll really know what being fucked feels like from the other side soon enough." She let his paralysis go, the brat running out of there like Lung himself was after him.

Please, she snorted, like Lung could harm you as well as I could. He was far too final.

"Sorry for the wait." She told Strider, "Punks gonna punk I guess." She used her powers to eradicate the last remains of her blunt, she didn't want to leave that kind of stuff around. Her luck, some kid was going to pick it up, it was way stronger then any regular strain.

Strider grinned, "No worries, it's fun to see you scare the crap out of some losers anyway boss lady, can I be there when you pull that paralysis routine on any of the Empire capes?"

Amy snorted, "They don't tend to just stand around, but sure, if I manage." She sighed, wondering if even interfering at all in Winslow was a good idea, but it was already done. "I wonder if they'll report all that." She mused out loud coming to stand right by Strider, ready to use him to save her a thirty minute walk or a bus ride.

Strider chuckled, "I'd be very surprised if Lung or Oni Lee even know they exist."

With a crack, they were off, leaving the alley behind for Skidmark's house.

＊＊＊

The Rig, Brockton Bay,

The atmosphere in the room was tense, not out of any real danger or threat approaching Brockton Bay for once, but due to the seething barely hidden anger in Director Piggot as she waited for their last arrival, glaring at the table like it had done her wrong.

Even Ethan was keeping his mouth shut, not wanting to direct Piggots attention towards him and earn himself punishment duty for a month or two.

He was still working off the last couple days of his last punishment duty.

The entire room seemed to let out a combined sigh as Armsmaster finally arrived, walking through the doors stiffly, a certain hitch to his shoulders telling Ethan they'd either interrupted tinker time - which to be honest was always. Or Dragon time - in which case Ethan felt bad for the Canadian woman.

To be able to draw Colin away from tinkering for a moment - only to be cockblocked by Director Piggot for your efforts. Being Canadian was truly suffering.

The woman needed to just push forward and grab Colin by the balls and growl mine. Autismmaster would get it at that point, Ethan was almost sure.

"Thank you for finally joining us, Colin." Director Piggot said snidely, glaring around the table as if looking for anyone that wasn't attentive enough.

Colin frowned minutely, but didn't answer, simply sitting down next to Hannah. Ethan silently applauded the man, that was the correct read of the room, no words would have soothed the beast at this time.

"In case some of you aren't aware, the scene in Brockton Bay has been altered irrevocably…" Director Piggot barked out, the projector bringing up a hologram of the new Starlight team as they were seen at their press conference.

"Teenagers… Rogues…" Director Piggot's lips thinned and she looked physically pained as she continued, "Mouse Protector." Hannah as well, seemingly uncomfortable at the addition as Ethan watched on, personally feeling that Mouse Protector was exactly what Brockton Bay needed.

Someone that didn't take themselves so damn seriously all the time.

Director Piggot lashed out at the last team member, eyes narrowed in anger, "And of course, the hero -" She spat out, sounding bitter, well more bitter than usual, bitterer?, "Purity."

Ethan raised a hand, almost without thinking, speaking up as Piggot directed a heavy stare in his direction. "I'm assuming from context that we're mad." He said genially, Jamie squeezing his hand in warning under the table, he plowed on undaunted, "But, isn't it good that Purity is not going to be blasting us anymore?" He asked.

Hannah, the ever loyal Miss Militia jumped in before the Director needed to, "One can not be forgiven for murder and just start being a hero like everything is forgiven, Ethan." She said reprovingly.

Ethan grinned, even as Jamie ground her foot down on him to get him to stop, sorry honey, but someone needs to say something else then yes, ma'am in this echo chamber… "Apparently one can." He replied, gesturing to where Purity was indeed part of a hero team. "She's got official sanction, she's a hero now, so… That's good for us, isn't it? That takes a lot of power away from the Empire, and gives the good guys someone that can help in containing Lung if he gets set off."

Before Hannah can do more then give him a hard disapproving look, Ethan got help from the most unlikely of allies.

"Assault is correct." Colin said clippedly.

Ethan just barely heard Robin mutter under his breath, "So this is what end times feel like…" Before Colin continued,

"If she wasn't sanctioned, then I agree that Purity can not simply call herself a hero and expect to avoid arrest, but she is sanctioned, so it is a moot point. For all purposes, until she does something that steps over a line, she is a hero."

"How likely is it that she will step over the line?" Jamie piped up softly beside him, before Ethan could interject again. He settled down in his seat, before he could risk facing the dreaded couch again for a week. Colin being on his side in this, kind of, was already doing his job for him, preventing this from being Piggots little echo chamber of yes men.

Piggot scoffed harshly, "She's a Nazi, she'll do something eventually."

Hannah nodded decisively, "We'll need to keep a close eye on her, so that when she slips up we're ready to handle it." She looked momentarily pleased, eyes crinkling, "She won't have Empire back up this time."

Piggot smiled, and it wasn't a pleasant one, "I'll leave it to you to follow her and ensure she faces justice then, Miss Militia."

Ethan didn't have to speak up this time either, Shawn doing it for him to his surprise.

"Are we really going to do this? Follow her around watching for a mistake? Won't this set us off against Starlight and Panacea? Is that worth it?" Shawn asked, sounding uncomfortable.

Ethan wasn't sure what had been in the food this morning, but it must have been something special - to have so many of the team actually speaking up against overreach this time. "What he said." He simply added, giving Dauntless a thumbs up of encouragement.

"Panacea is likely to take any overt or covert action towards her team badly." Colin added, Piggot was beginning to look ready to strangle them all with all these discussions that went past - yes ma'am, as you say ma'am. Ethan loved it.

"Purity is a murderer, Colin." Hannah said sternly, shaking her head, "There can't just be no consequence for that."

Colin frowned, "We must live in the world as it is, not how we wish it to be, Hannah." He said, impressing Ethan even further, "It is a fact that we let worse go all the time if it benefits the PRT."

As the discussion continued on, Ethan sat back and relaxed, for once not needing to be the voice of reason.

He didn't know what had pushed Colin into being reasonable, he'd seemed mostly the same after his death and resurrection after all, perhaps it was a delayed reaction.

Either way, it could only be good for the PRT ENE if Armsmaster wasn't just blindly doing whatever was good according to the word of Piggot.

＊＊＊

"You… Know Panacea." Sherrel said dumbfounded, staring at Ivy as she let Amy inside.

"Is that so odd?" Ivy said, a smirk on her face as Jason openly gaped at Amy's presence.

"Odd?" Sherrel giggled madly, "Is it odd!? That you, a villain? Is chummy with the Panacea? Savior of Paris? The hero Panacea?" Sherrel stepped back waving her hands, "No, boss not odd at all. Just one question?" She raised a hand looking completely weirded out, "Is it real? Or am I like… Completely imagining it?"

Amy just looked on in amusement, the slight buzz she still had making this more funny then annoying.

Ivy sighed, "Yes Sherrel it's real. But obviously I don't have to tell you either to keep it quiet, this can't be common knowledge, am I clear?"

Jason and Sherrel both nodded rapidly, eyes still wide. "Yes boss!" "Sure thing, boss lady!" Their responses snapped out immediately.

"Don't disturb us, we'll be upstairs in the guest room." Ivy said threateningly, leading Amy by hand up the stairs. The guest room was the only room not absolutely covered in filth, so it was the best place for them to have some time alone.

They both froze at the top of the stairs as they could clearly hear Jason freaking out downstairs, saying to Sherrel in almost hysteria, "Our boss is fucking Panacea!!"

Sherrel hissed back lowly, sounding excited in exact opposite to her fellow villain, "That's so romantic! Hero and villain, sneaking around in secret, their love never able to be revealed due to the consequences."

"Oh, great…" Amy said drolly, before shaking her head, those two chucklefucks hardly mattered, who were they even going to tell anyway.

They entered the small bedroom shortly thereafter, Amy finding a somewhat clean spot on the bed to sit down on, Ivy standing before her, both of them practically vibrating in excitement.

It felt so odd. Amy thought, being the one who's body is being shaped, and also being the one looking into her own body, changing it for the better. Her clone using everything they'd learned to make Amy better.

She hadn't wanted to do it under Carol's thumb, but now she was a team leader in her own right, and her status would likely be revealed in the near future anyway - so she could finally get a few upgrades.

And if Ivy slightly improved things here and there… Smoothing out her legs a bit, a bit of firmness and size upgrade on her breasts, a toned stomach, clearer skin, tiny bit less freckles… Well, it's not like anyone was ever looking at her naked to be able to tell the difference anyway.

Once the cosmetics were done, Ivy dove into Amy to improve everything else, tweaking things here and there, improving muscles, strengthening bones, increased capabilities in her organs, making them practically bulletproof to boot, her skin getting the same treatment, making it harder to get at her insides.

She didn't need an appendix, so she molded it into something new, something better. An organ that would take all impurities left over from other organs work, (and any extraneous fat she didn't need) and transformed it into her own genetically engineered blood cells that would spread across her system, their purpose to gradually induce regeneration in every part of her body. Bit by bit the cells would infect the rest of her, slowly building up her body to handle Wolverine or Deadpool style regeneration.

She'd worked on this literally ever since she first came to in this world, a way to survive anything, but had lacked a good way to make it work for herself, had planned to utilize a retrovirus eventually if nothing else worked, once she had a lab and was out of the Dallon household.

With Ivy, she didn't need any of that. She hadn't given the organ to Ivy because both of them growing into almost perfect regeneration would be too obvious. She was a clone, even if her flesh body died, Amy could just make another. Ivy resurrecting no matter what an enemy did, it would certainly confound her enemies to have her pop back up no matter what.

Or she could make another person if she got bored of playing as Ivy at some point in the future, have her disappear and another villain take her place.

Once Brockton was hers, Panacea could stop playing hero anyway, so who knew what she'd decide to do then. Would Queen Ivy of Brockton be more fun than Queen Amy? It was essentially the same thing after all, but with very different expectations.

Amy shivered as her body changed bit by bit, she didn't actually feel much of anything, but as she literally felt every bit of her body through Ivy she imagined the feel of it anyway from her body's end.

She was definitely a decent brute rating now, and it would take more than a handgun or a dinky knife to pierce her skin, let alone her organs. She'd grown a sort of chitin armor around her most important organs like the heart and kidneys etc, so beyond the organs themselves being almost bulletproof, and beginning to have regenerative qualities - there was also now armor around them that would take a brute to punch through.

Anyone trying to kill her would find it very difficult soon enough. Amy humming in pleasure as Ivy continued to improve her, her eyesight improving to perfect night vision, her hearing attuned to be able to pick out a single breath from 50 feet away in a room full of people. On and on the improvements went.

When Amy was pondering whether to just transform her uterus into something more useful since she doubted she'd ever want kids, she decided to stop.

There was such a thing as too much.

Ivy disappeared from the room for a moment, returning soon after with her weed.

Well… They weren't fucking, as the chucklefucks believed.

But they were going to get absolutely fucking blasted right now.

Time to experiment, to see what it felt like to get high in two bodies, one mind taking the brunt of it.

She was very curious. And admittedly just very interested in getting really high and losing some stress.

….

No… Just smoking, that's it. That's enough stress relief.

＊＊＊

The night had been long and ultimately pleasant, Amy very relaxed, with two bodies on a pleasant high, having spent the night trying different combinations as they both amused themselves in altering the composition of their own weed plants, the effects of the two bodies getting high on different strains sending Amy on the best trip of her life.

The fact she could wipe away any exhaustion from lack of sleep by one touch had ensured she could just relax all night, for once not wasting any thoughts on her plans, on her future conquest of Brockton. Just… Chill and enjoy.

She'd ended up breaking into Skidmark's neighbors house to do so in the end however. Because there just wasn't any way to properly relax inside that filthy hellhole, even the guest room was in the end not up to her standards. She'd also needed the peace and quiet to honestly relax, Sherrel and Jason both snoring hard enough to rattle the walls at that point.

She definitely needed to find a better place to stay in her Ivy persona than Skidmark's house.

All night had been just sitting and relaxing, not having to do anything, just smoking and playing around with their biology, and now it was morning, and soon they would have to get going again. Amy would have school starting up again…

Showing up high to school would be a problem for a hero, wouldn't it? What a bother. She needed her chill if she was going to be dealing with the Wards or Vicky. Or Dean and Vicky. Or Vicky.

She sighed, Ivy smoothly rising from the couch she'd been laying on, ready to come cleanse Amy's system, to ensure she didn't show up at school visibly high.

Amy and Ivy were interrupted in the middle of it by a phone call, Amy pleased to find it wasn't her phone, it was Ivy's. It still ultimately was her problem, but it was slightly more removed when Ivy had to deal with it.

"Yes, what is it, Sherrel?" Ivy asked, even as Amy reached out and cleansed her body as well, since the altered state of mind would work on Amy from either body.

Both bodies became rigid at the same time as her mind went into overdrive at Sherrel's bitching report about a purple smug bitch at the door, asking for Amy.

What the fuck was Tattletale doing here!?

＊＊＊

Author's note:

So they got out of New York okay, Legend not going ultimate powah on a new parahuman with not much information on, and with a potential hostage as well - hope it didn't seem too unrealistic that he didn't put everything in chasing them down.

Amy and Ivy are having wildly different experiences so they're feeling some different things, some at simultaneous times - which makes it feel like they're two separate people at instances for the first time.

Amy hasn't gone deep into viruses and drugs for self improvement and such for a reason. Even though she has pretty perfect control, there's always a risk with something like a virus.

And playing with all that under Carol, had just seemed like an unnecessary risk to Amy. Except for her super chill pot to keep her mellow and non murdery when it came to her dear 'mother'

Apologies for those that will find Mouse Protector annoying. She is. And she will be, although she'll settle down with the team once she's getting more gelled with them, she's used to being a solo act.

Coil won't be the ultimate villain in this fic as he is in many, he is adaptable above anything else, so seeing the writing on the wall, he's attempting to slink off to try again another day.

Cheers

Spoiler: Patreon

patreon.com/JollyHippopotamus

 

[JollyHippo]

Here's chapter 8: Debut with a BANG!

HammerTime is already out on Patreon and should be out soonish.

As a reminder I'm playing fast and loose with Worm in this story, not wanting it to be quite as grim as the original, therefore Amy will win a lot more than a Worm story should be capable of for its protagonist, because usually a win is followed by an even bigger loss and so on.

If you want a more faithful to the original worm grimderp story I have my snippet thread as well as the Worm villain protagonist OC story - A Shadow's Requiem.

Obviously it's worm so drug use, Nazi stuff etc don't read if you don't like that kind of stuff, blah blah blah.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

---

Tattletale…

Fucking Tattletale was here for her. Which meant Coil was here for her.

Amy bit her finger tensely, mind whirling at the revelation, Sherrel continued to talk over the line, but Amy and Ivy ignored her, as plans were formed and discarded and formed again.

Killing her before she opened her mouth felt like a good choice, but she probably shouldn't…

"Send her over here." Was ordered tersely instead, after a few minutes where Tattletale waited for an answer from Sherrel. Amy soothing her nerves with a long draw of her super weed, perhaps being slightly stoned would throw off the other capes super intuition.

Perhaps she could offer Lisa a drag, she though with a flicker of amusement, if there ever was a cape that needed to just chill and leave the cape life behind for a minute - it was her.

Either way, Tattletale could not be allowed to see the two of them together. Ivy was already slipping out the back door to avoid Tattletale - they didn't need that complication.

If she was here, it doubtlessly meant she already knew there was a connection, but there was a very big difference between knowing of a connection, and knowing Ivy was her clone.

Amy made a face, wrinkling her nose, I'll probably have to sell the same bullshit the clowns already believe… That Ivy and I are a 'thing'.

It's not like she hadn't had any thoughts on experimenting a little, it was basically just masturbation anyway - but to play date herself just to throw off the scent of thinkers like Tattletale just seemed… Wrong.

Beyond just being a criminal wrong, to just creepy wrong.

Masturbation was one thing, but to actually date herself, she wasn't nearly narcissistic enough for that. Not to mention how absolutely mortified she'd be if anyone ever found out…

She'd have to go live in a cave in the Himalayas to survive the embarrassment.

Amy took another calming drag of her drug of choice, at least she'd used Ivy to upgrade herself now, so it wasn't like Tattletale was a physical threat to her. She could deal with the big mouth easily enough if it came down to any kind of fight.

But then Tattletale didn't fight like that anyway, she just dug her way deep into the recesses of your secrets and feelings and tore them out gleefully by the stem, to bludgeon you with them.

Tattletale wasn't so much a backstabber, although she was definitely capable of it - as she was someone for gleefully stabbing you in the face with truths and half truths - so she could see the pain setting in herself.

God, she was such a bitch.

Amy knew it was partly her shards influence, as the constant need to dig and search and find out more - was intrinsically tied to her power. But she was also, in Amy's opinion, a complete and total bitch. That made it hard to give a shit about why she was ripping someone apart mentally and emotionally.

She stubbornly pushed her thoughts away from that direction, she would not show fear to the bitch. If anything this could be an opportunity, maybe she could be recruited? There was a lot she could get done with Ivy's gang if she had Tattletale in the mix… Or the entire Undersiders for that matter. If she could stand dealing with her for that long, that was a definite consideration.

She was too much of a bitch herself to stand having another around… The Undersiders weren't so bad though.

She'd probably get along pretty well with Regent… Which probably didn't say much good about the state of her mental health.

There was a knock on the door, the rapping of knuckles against wood, quick and impatient. Amy took another slow drag, not getting up from where she'd taken a seat on the living room couch.

"It's not locked, just get in here." She called out irritably as the knocking continued obnoxiously.

The door opened and she got her first good look at Tattletale, why must all the bitches be cute? She wondered. The girl stepped through the door carrying a telltale smug smile on her face, her eyes filled with mirth. She practically strutted through the door, and like most female heroes or villains, she wore a tight bodysuit that really didn't leave overly much to the imagination.

Amy approved, but at the same time she didn't, because it was very distracting. She could practically picture the other girl naked with how body conforming her suit was…

Tattletales grin widened as she stopped and preened slightly at Amy's look, running her hands down her sides, giving Amy a knowing look, "Like what you see? I can tell, you know? I hate to disappoint though, Amy… I can call you Amy, right? I'm just not into being a plaything."

Amy scoffed, pulling the blunt away from her lips, giving Tattletale a dry look, "Do we have to do this? Can we save the posturing and just say we did it? What do you want, Lisa?"

She couldn't let Tattletale take full command of the conversation or it would just end badly…

Tattletale cocked her head curiously, a spark of something flittering through her eyes, "You know me…" She said, sounding absolutely certain at the same time as she sounded slightly insecure - it was an odd dichotomy. She took a slow step back, shaking her head, staring at Amy, "No… You really know me, like way too much, there's no surprise in you at all, what the fuck!?"

Amy grinned toothily, enjoying Tattletale being on the backfoot, even while knowing it wouldn't last, "You're not the only one who knows too much about everyone, maybe you should step carefully here, hmm?" She rested an arm over the back of the couch as she took another drag of her blunt, feeling much more at ease seeing Tattletale stumbling slightly.

Yeah, you bitch, I know a lot about you… She thought smugly, taking another drag of her blunt demonstratively, because she could see Tattletale seemed surprised at its presence.

Tattletale wrinkled her nose, her eyes narrowing behind the domino mask, "You're making drugs now?" Her grin was back again, looking quite foxy now as she sauntered forward to slide into an armchair across from Amy, notably the chair was well out of touching range. "Of course you are, you've got a criminal girlfriend now, gotta contribute somehow, right?" Except immediately after saying that, Tattletale drew in a sharp breath, focusing on Amy's face, "No… That's not what this is? You're more like… Sisters? How does that work!?"

Tattletale seemed slightly put out that her original hypothesis had so quickly been disproven, especially by something she couldn't understand, the purple clad villain leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, gaze intently on Amy, foxy grin firmly in place, "Wanna tell me how exactly you joined the sisterhood of villainy?" She coaxed challengingly.

Amy blew smoke in her face across the divide between them, making the girl wrinkle her nose in disgust, "No." Amy told her simply, not intending to make things easy.

"Just no?" Tattletale pouted slightly, "Well that's no fun, but you see I'm a bit psychic, so I'm getting enough to figure it out anyway, curious?"

"You're not psychic, Sarah." Amy said with a penetrating gaze, aiming to keep her off balance.

Tattletales' eyes widened minutely, but she had no other visible reaction to that reveal. She slowly leaned back in her armchair, smirk widening imperceptibly as Amy looked on unamused, "Kitty has claws." She said amusedly, continuing on, "You really don't like me do you? Which is curious, because I know we haven't met."

You're just generally unlikeable. Amy told her mentally, for all she knew the girl would pick up on it.

"Why are you here, Tattletale?" Amy pushed straight to the point, not intending to be drawn into any mind games with the annoying cape. "You're probably well aware of at least some of the things I can do… Why are you within reach of me, unless you were forced to come here?"

Tattletale sighed demonstratively, crossing her arms under her bust, "Well you're no fun, Amy, I had so much more we could talk about, but you're all business…" Her gaze turned contemplative, "You know why I'm here, you know who sent me, how the fuck do you know all this?" She sounded both impressed and wary, her posture slightly more tense now then when she arrived.

Amy gave her a half lidded glare, "I could be more fun than you could ever handle." She said, sounding aloof, "You know I can take away those headaches with a touch, right?"

Tattletales' grin dimmed a little, her lips quirking distastefully, "Yeah, I'm not letting you touch me, frankly what I'm picking up of your capabilities is terrifying." She said bluntly, shivering a little.

Amy shrugged, "Your loss, you can tell if I'm lying anyway, right? So I could promise to only fix your headaches…"

Tattletale shook her head firmly, giving Amy a dry look, "I can tell what you're doing, you know. I'm not interested in the ties attached to that offer."

"Fair enough, you know where to find me when you change your mind." Amy said, feeling quite pleased with the way she'd managed to lead this conversation.

Tattletale let out a disbelieving laugh, "Oh, so that's what you've been trying to do." She smirked playfully, wagging a finger at her, "Trying to distract me from your little secrets are we?" Her grin turned very vulpine as she leant forward again, "Why? Got anything even juicier… Oh you do! Oh, this is just gold!"

Amy clacked her teeth together in annoyance, that was her fault, for even thinking of it in Tattletales presence, "Drop it." She warned bitingly.

Tattletale ignored her, stretching sensually across the armchair, "Attracted to your own sister, attracted to Poison Ivy, who somehow is like a sister or something close," She peered weirdly at Amy, "Can't figure that one out quite yet," She admitted, before switching tracks slightly as she leered at Amy, "Will I get any benefits if I call you little sis? That seems to be your thing?" She said mockingly.

Amy really didn't like Tattletale much, for all that she hadn't picked up on the truth about Ivy, she was very annoyingly perceptive, "Tell me why you're here and stop the games." She said coldly, with an undertone of threat in her voice.

Tattletale gave her a superior smirk, looking like the cat that got the canary, "You won't kill me, I can tell." She said flippantly, annoying Amy further.

Amy cocked her head, giving a sharp grin, fingering the remains of her blunt, "No," She agreed calmly, "However, I can make you quite miserable without much effort, I have organic material right here in my hand, I could make an airborne pathogen that binds with you and ensures you never spend time without being ten feet from a toilet, if you'd like."

Or course it wouldn't be tailored to only her in such a short amount of time, so that would be risky to let loose…

Tattletales grin slipped off her face as she looked disturbed, shivering slightly, "Okay, don't do that." Amy continued to stare at her, coming up with ideas on how to make her miserable, Tattletale grabbing her head and wincing, "Okay, okay, truce! I'll get to the point, stop with the disgust train, please!" She asked, her face a little green.

Amy gave a short laugh, shaking her head, "How you even survive if your attitude amongst people more powerful than you is to piss them off and regurgitate their secrets, I have no idea." She waved a hand negligibly, "Get to your purpose here, Lisa, before you annoy me further."

Tattletale sighed, pouting again, "You're taking all the fun out of it, but fine…" She pursed her lips thoughtfully, "You have my lovely boss spooked over something, I'm here to give you an offer."

Amy scoffed, leaning back against the couch, "What does Coil want? Couldn't get enough out of a timeline of torturing me?"

Tattletale froze, eyes blinking rapidly, it was interesting to Amy, to watch the process of Tattletale connecting all the dots. "That's how he does it!" She cursed suddenly, looking chagrined and disgusted, "I can't believe someone got it before me." She whined a little.

Amy wasn't interested in going further down the rabbit hole today, it was better to leave some things unanswered, perhaps it would still draw Tattletale in, she could be useful, even if she was, so. Fucking. Annoying! "What does he want?" She repeated forcefully, trying to keep Tattletale on track.

Tattletale sighed, looking put out, "He's offering to withdraw from Brockton Bay, if you fix whatever it is you've done that has him so freaked out, he didn't provide me with the information and I couldn't quite parse it over the phone…" She smiled coquettishly at Amy, "Couldn't give big sis a hint?"

Amy snorted, "Unless you're planning on putting that mouth to better use, no." She said, smirking at the absolutely disgusted look that marred Tattletales' pretty face for a moment. "Thought so… Now what exactly is his entire offer?"

"You undo whatever you did, while under watch by someone who's power prevents lying, and in return, Coil will leave Brockton Bay, his local resources handed over to you or a proxy of yours to do with as you wish." Tattletale rattled off looking slightly grumpy. "Did you give him super cancer?" She asked abruptly, needling for an answer.

Amy ignored her. She was just annoyed and grumpy at how things were progressing.

No wonder. Tattletale no doubt wanted her own revenge on Coil, and this way, he'd simply slip away, leaving her with nothing.

Perhaps even a bullet through the skull on the way out… Or… He'd take her with him.

Amy wasn't sure what she wanted out of this, but she might have to accept. Because if Coil figured out that she'd left a tiny cluster of cells in his brain that would slowly take over its neighbors until he eventually was her puppet… Then if she turned down fixing him, he would be desperate, which meant he'd go after her and everyone she loved having nothing to lose. It might be honestly worth 'fixing' him if she could get a guarantee he would actually leave Brockton Bay forever - and leave her and hers alone.

"You know… I could do a lot with Coil's resources… I already have an in with his mercenaries, I could even offer my services for cheap for that girlfriend/sister/whatever you are, of yours…" Tattletale offered, putting herself forward as a possible proxy.

The insane balls on this girl. Amy thought acerbically.

Amy raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "If your goal was that, you shouldn't have done your best to annoy me." She pointed out, before smirking, "Revisit the whole, use your mouth better idea - if you're looking to receive Coil's assets."

Tattletale wrinkled her nose again, but actually looked contemplative, "Would almost be worth it…" She muttered to herself, looking like she was trying to psyche herself up.

Ookay, moving on before she actually says yes… Amy did not need that kind of complications, especially through force of any kind, "Tell Coil that I tentatively accept, but I need reassurances." She pursed her lips and gave Tattletale a hard look, "Feel free to tell him that your freedom is part of the deal - you're an annoying bitch, and I don't like you, but you don't deserve a bullet." She said bluntly.

It was likely Coil would force Tattletale to come with him if he relocated, and Amy wasn't quite that much of a bitch that she'd let him get away with that.

Tattletale looked visibly surprised, but it soon turned into what almost looked like an honest smile, "I'll pass it along, thanks lil' sis!" She chirped.

Amy's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "You're not letting that go, are you?"

"Letting what go, baby sis?" She said mock innocently, her smugness dialed up to 9000.

Amy sighed in aggravation, it wasn't even fair to tease her about the sister angle, no one met Vicky and didn't feel attraction to her.

No wonder Coil wanted to put a bullet in her…

---

At the same time,

Ivy stormed into Skidmark's house, "Sherrel, get the car ready! Jason, anything from here we still need, grab it and put it in the car, we're leaving!"

Sherrel pouted, sitting cross legged on the floor, overalls half off and budged up at her waist, leaving her in an oil spotted sports bra up top, "Aww, do we have to, boss? I'm in the middle of something here!" She gestured to the absolute mess of mechanical parts, her hands practically black with oil and grease.

Ivy waved impatiently at it all, having no idea what exactly the entire mess was, it didn't look like car parts, "Dump it in the trunk if you want to keep it, but you have only fifteen minutes, tops, then we're gone."

Sherrel rubbed her face with a slight pout, uncaring of the grease marks she left behind, "Yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going." She grumbled, unfolding her legs.

Jason grunted in annoyance, already packing stacks of cash into a bag, having moved immediately at Ivy's order, like a proper minion. "Is this cuz of that purple bitch?" He asked, moving with purpose, eyes scanning the room for anything of import.

With how much filth and garbage was around - it wasn't an easy task to separate the actually useful from the absolutely useless.

They didn't really have much here to keep, it had entirely been intended to be a temporary dwelling, but that didn't mean they had nothing worth keeping. Skidmark had still been a minor drug kingpin despite everything.

Ivy began assisting Jason in collecting what cash and weapons they wanted to keep, as well as some of the drugs they continuously found. Not to keep and use, she'd cleaned up her minions for a reason, but because the drugs could become useful to Ivy to play with and study for an improved version that wasn't as bad for you. As she did, she explained what was going on, "That 'purple bitch' is Tattletale, whose power is absolutely bullshit super intuition, she can basically figure you out in a conversation and ferret out your secrets." She explained tersely.

Although she knew Canon Tattletale and Fanon were two separate issues - there was no point in taking risks and interacting with the smug villain more than she needed to. Even if she couldn't quite draw out all secrets just by a glance or single conversation - often coming to the wrong conclusions, she could still figure out way too much. Their whole game here hinged on no one figuring out the true angle between Ivy and Amy.

Sherrel nodded sagely, holding a bunch of machine parts against her chest, oil leaking down all over her torso, "You don't want her to find out you and Panacea are boinking, makes sense." The tinker said, thumbing the side of her nose and winking at Ivy exaggeratedly.

Ivy glared at her, "We are no-" She paused, rubbing her forehead, feeling annoyed, it doesn't matter what they think anyway, she told herself, "You know what, it doesn't matter, just get the car going, Sherrel…"

That idea about how they were connected was still better than the truth, and what her minions didn't know, they couldn't accidentally spill or have tortured out of them.

"Anyway, Tattletale also secretly works for Coil, and we're going to entirely stay out of any and all of that business." Ivy finished explaining to Jason, Sherrel already on her way out, hugging her precious machine parts to herself.

Honestly, she was never going to be able to take that girl anywhere at this rate…

At least it seemed Coil was unaware of their entire connection if Tattletale was. She doubted Coil would have approached this the same way if he'd known.

Ivy and Amy still needed to keep separate to a certain extent, even if that was having some odd effects sometimes on their mind. Amy would have to deal with Coil on her own, saving Ivy as the backup - all the better for Coil and Tattletale to continue to be in the dark about exactly how close they were.

Ten minutes later found the trio back in their invisible car, Sherrel in the driver's seat, Ivy grimacing in discomfort as she sat down in the machine oil covered passenger seat, Sherrel had been free with storing her machine parts everywhere it seemed…

She was beginning to wonder if Skidmark was really the reason that house had been a disaster zone, or if it was because of Sherrel just constantly dropping whatever, anywhere - whenever she had a new thought.

"Where are we going then, boss lady?" Sherrel asked, activating their invisibility as she pulled out of the yard, just as Tattletale exited the neighbors house and trotted down the steps, walking with a certain smug swagger that reeked of playacting. She was putting on a show, expecting Amy to watch her the entire way.

"Oops, my bad." Sherrel said, not even trying to affect innocence - as she accelerated madly, (much faster than a car should be able to for such a short distance) and drove right by a puddle of dank muddy water - spraying Tattletale down in a great splash, the mouthy villain covered from head to toe, and from the way she was spitting as they continued on by - the bullshiter had gotten a bad taste in her mouth.

How poetic.

"...Sherrel I know I'm not paying you currently, but you get a raise for that," Ivy said, trying to keep her expression level, even as she wanted to giggle so bad. Her need eased as she felt Amy begin laughing back at the house, watching Tattletale stomp off down the street muttering to herself, looking like a drowned rat.

"I just did what came naturally, boss." Sherrel said easily, chuckling to herself.

"What do I have to do for a raise?" Jason asked, not really sounding like he cared, just wanting to be part of the conversation.

Considering they were hardly even a gang at the moment, let alone had a payroll, it was really a moot point, but she played along anyway. Jason needed all the encouragement he could get to show that he wouldn't be put down for putting his voice out there and asking questions.

She might be a villain, but these were her people, and she would take care of them - plus proper backup meant she had more time to have a blast, enjoying life and the villain life style.

That was the whole reason for this body to begin with - to play and have fun in a way Amy couldn't yet. Oh, would the world be in for a treat once they dropped the act and Amy stepped out as the proper Queen.

Ivy thought about Jason's query, tapping her chin with one nail, "Stop Sherrel from stripping for one day and you'll get a raise." She said, eyeing the tinker and her once again odd way to wear her clothes - as in half off.

Jason grumbled a bit, before he got a thoughtful look, "Can it count if I wrap her in sand the whole day so she can't move?" He asked hopefully.

Sherrel immediately gave him the finger from where she was driving, one hand on the wheel as she drove up on a sidewalk to avoid traffic, breaking a fire hydrant - which immediately began flooding the street behind them.

Ivy nodded, brushing some of her hair from her face, "I can accept that." She said succinctly.

"You guys suck!" Sherrel complained but the easy grin on her face said differently, "Not that I don't love the whole vibe here, but I do actually need directions if I'm going to stop driving aimlessly for shits and giggles." She pointed out, as they turned a corner, and left the cascading mess of people and vehicles stuck amongst the minor flood of water behind.

Ivy thought about it, they needed an actual place to grow, a place to call home - and most importantly, well defended, so the Protectorate or the other gangs wouldn't hassle them too much in their budding state.

With her powers there were opportunities, especially if she cheated a little… It would garner attention, it would definitely garner attention… But it would make for a very defensible location, a very eye catching debut, and give her actual territory.

Yes… This could work. She'd have to experiment a bit to make sure it would work as she thought, but her power seemed to be brimming with excitement at the thought, so it probably would work.

Or the Triumvirate would visit the next day to wipe her out…

Which was okay, because she'd just be back the next day in a new body. She snickered slightly to herself at that, imagining the faces of them all if that happened.

She'd have to break out her minions which would be a hassle, but it's not like the PRT actually made it hard to do that anyway.

Her cheeks gained a light dusting of red as she noticed in the car mirrors that Sherrel and Jason were both watching her snicker to herself while waiting for directions.

She coughed lightly into her hand, "Well… First to Fugly Bobs to eat our fill.. Then… To the Trainyard as close to the boat graveyard as we can get!"

Anticipation was building in both her bodies, finally, she would be able to just let loose and completely play the role of the villain, have fun, do whatever she wanted, the time was here.

Watch out Brockton Bay, I don't intend to use lube when I bend you over.. She thought viciously, a dangerous grin growing on her face.

"I just peed myself a little." Sherrel said companionably, referencing Ivy's dangerous expression, throwing Ivy off her game.

"One minute, you couldn't let me have one minute!"

---

A week later,

"This isn't half bad." Kayden said with a soft smile as she ran a hand alongside the lobby wall in Starlight's finished headquarters.

Amy hummed along, standing in the middle of the bright floor, right in the middle of the golden star laid in relief amongst the tiles.

The futuristic looking building looked like it was surrounded by glass, but it was not, it was some sort of Shatterbird proof material Uppercrust had provided them with.

Instead of walls separating the areas, it was what appeared to be glass screens - looking vulnerable while they were actually not, the material might last longer than a wall against a cape brute. The idea was that once this floor was open to the public each screen would show action shots of each team hero in action, and beautiful landscapes or waterfalls or something when they intended to keep it a bit calmer.

The gift shop would have the most action shots for obvious reasons, selling action figures and posters would not add much to their pockets, but it was expected. And if you did as expected people didn't start looking too hard at what else you were doing.

The front of the lobby held the security office which was not made transparent, and in front of it - was the reception desk. Once they hired some normals to run the 1st floor, this is where those seeking Starlight out could come and make an appointment.

Vicky did a pirouette in the air, laughing triumphantly, "Yes! This is what I'm talking about! This is a hero team!" She crowed, making a sentai pose in the air in front of the large star on the wall. Amy had modeled it from the Nova Corps from marvel, pretty much just stealing it, Aleph could sue if they wanted, she didn't care.

It was cool, and you should always follow the rule of cool as a superhero. Now if only she could recruit Weld and make their team really look like a marvel team…

Charlotte and Strider both looked on in amusement as Vicky swept a protesting Amy into her arms and started twirling her around in the air, flying around the large open lobby of the building. The two adults both testing out the large black couches that were interspersed around the waiting area.

The security measures were mostly out of sight, force fields that automatically kicked in if a certain amount of force was applied - gun turrets in the ceiling for when they had to go lethal, something better to have and not need, then need and not have.

Especially if Jack Slash walked in one day…

As affiliates of the PRT and Protectorate she'd even been allowed confoam sprayers by going above Piggots head and contacting the head office. They were maintained and installed entirely by PRT personnel so Amy didn't have control of filling them or replacing them - just on using them.

Kayden looked emotional as she touched the star on her own uniform as she looked around at the bright, open space, the entire tableau screaming hero.

As a disgruntled Amy was put down, Vicky sweeping up a bemused Mouse Protector in her stead, Kayden stepped up to Amy, hand still gently touching the mark that denoted her a hero.

"Thank you." She said with feeling, putting a million different feelings, hopes, dreams and regrets - into those two words.

The way this changed everything… How Aster would grow up safe from the gangs…

Amy watched her shrewdly, a tiny quirk to her lips, "You're allowed to live, Kayden. You're not dead yet, so move forward and enjoy life as best as you're able, that's what I'm going to do." She brushed aside some of her frizzy hair, looking around at the idyllic scene of the team just hanging out, "I spent to much time worrying about what other people thought instead of living my life, we have another chance now."

Kayden chuckled a little breathlessly, "Just live, huh?" She said with some tension releasing from her body at that simple solution.

Kayden got a thoughtful look on her face, before she gave Amy an impish look that had Amy backing away raising her hands in denial.

In a quick swoop, Purity joined Vicky into her air, a protesting Amy in her arms as they flew around the lobby.

Starlight was officially in business.

---

Trainyards, a few days later.

Ivy sat in the derelict warehouse, concentrating as she sunk her hand into the earth, feeling the roots she'd created beneath - having destroyed the cement floor to get to the ground beneath.

She'd been experimenting almost entirely since setting up, letting her power run wild, she knew Starlight was ready for a debut… And she could both put her own mark on Brockton Bay - while inviting a response from her neighbor that could give Starlight some exposure.

And let them achieve something the entire Protectorate had failed at.

With Coil and Tattletale already starting to catch on to them - even if Coil would be killed or driven out of town… It was time to go big before anymore players started poking around and figuring things out.

The bigger you are, the more preconceptions people will make about you, making it that much harder for them to draw conclusions linking Panacea and Poison Ivy.

Her main issue was in gaining full territory control, and the issue with that was that she could only affect plant matter in her near vicinity and had to be touching it to start the process. So she'd remembered reading once how Skitter's control could be expanded by Panacea creating relay bugs that extended her signal.

So she'd attempted something similar and had been working hard on expanding her root network over the past week - creating relays, a root system that would allow her to access the entire system by one touch anywhere in the territory once it was grown in.

She sat down in a seiza, hands on the roots, taking deep breaths, it was time. She was ready.

She closed her hands and exhaled slowly.

Grow, live, DEVOUR!

---

Across Brockton Bay,

The whole city was trembling slightly, enough to register on the seismological sensors the PRT had access to.

Alarms were blaring throughout the Rig as Director Piggot stared at the reports that were filing in, "Get me an answer on this NOW!" She shouted, PRT personnel rushing to and fro in frenetic activity as reports were flying in from across the city, drowning them in the deluge.

Piggot gnashed her teeth together as she stared out towards the city, I need a fucking drink… She thought, stuck staring and not able to divert her gaze.

Staring at the giant tree raising far above Brockton Bay, from the middle of the Trainyards.

Having flashbacks of Nilbog, of monsters with sharp teeth, of claws ripping teammates apart…

"Call the PRT director!" She barked, even as she held onto her desk to steady herself, It won't happen again, I won't let it!

Not again!

….

Trainyards,

All across the Trainyards a forest spread quickly from the many specially prepared seeds spread across it, Ivy having spent several days engineering them as well as her relay trees, their roots spreading underground and spreading across the entire area, allowing her power to reach a much greater territory, bouncing between all the relay trees, following the roots, touching the seeded areas, inspiring growth with a thought - while she sat inside the midpoint between the trainyards and the boat graveyard.

The warehouse around her cracked and broke away, a giant tree growing out of it with Ivy right up against its trunk, even as Ivy sat still in a meditation position, eyes closed, hands on her root system.

She was feeling the heavy strain as she kept reaching out and altering biology on a giant scale, stretching the definition of touch to its limits, her hand on a root that was now, through her relays - connected to every part of her claimed 'territory'.

While normally she didn't need biomass for conversion with using plants, her plan here was so big that she'd had to send Hot Wheels and Sandman to rob a slaughterhouse for all their carcasses. Enough to grow a giant tree reminiscent of the world tree in many mythologies - having sent them to rob a dozen butchers for more before she started, when she'd realized the tree would likely take up her entire first batch.

The amount of energy needed for all of this was making it so her normal shard bullshitery - avoiding the cost of energy conversion with plant matter - couldn't quite handle it. Forcing her to convert biomass to continue on.

Rusted train carts broke apart as trees stretched hungrily up towards the sun, tall grass specifically engineered to eat through metal, secreting special acids and then eating them up again in a cycle, spreading across the area, cleaning it up - moving like a swarm of locusts as it grew and broke down the debris in the abandoned and dilapidated area.

Here and there she could feel homeless fleeing in utter panic ahead of the swarm of flora, mistakenly believing it would devour them as well.

If they returned she would allow them actual living space as long as they swore to her. Some would likely be brave enough, the homeless not having much to lose.

At an invisible line, but in actuality - right where her underground roots ended, the growth stopped, leaving a clear line between the city and her new forest. The trees were still growing steadily across the dying trainyards. Some would provide free food. Fruits, honey, maple syrup. She'd have vegetables grown as well, in cycles that would beat out the speed of any farm in the world.

Brockton Bay would not be able to starve her territory, they wouldn't be able to intimidate her, she could fireproof everything to a certain extent if needed. Or at least give her territory a regenerative aspect once it set in and didn't need her constantly monitoring it.

Once she had time to personally visit the edge of her territory she intended to plant flowers and hedges denoting her area - that would give off a pheromone that would engage the fear response in anyone approaching.

Whoever she'd take into her gang or to live in her territory would get an antidote - but everyone else would be unable to enter without specific gear - which would exclude the majority of people and leave her to only deal with the PRT and the gangs.

She was pretty sure she could do it, her power didn't seem to be putting any blocks in the way, if anything her power felt more relaxed and easy to use than ever, even eager if she had to put a word to it. It hadn't taken her long at all to grow and create her relay trees and its root system, nor her metal eating grass.

She kept just working with biological matter with a loose idea of what she wanted and the blanks kept being filled in for her. She never would have been able to spread herself this thin otherwise - it would necessitate she stayed in her territory for a while to let it set, but that was fine.

She could have moved slowly, but she couldn't even be killed as she was, so why bother? She had feared the triumvirate, but they already ignored several groups. So she'd actually be in more danger if she was deemed dangerous while moving around on a low or medium threat level. History had shown that if you showed yourself to be on a level that was too costly to remove - you were safe. It was practically Cauldrons motto.

Especially if she went huge, but with no deaths, an actual almost benevolent villain - because then you were an asset for Endbringer fights.

This still wasn't Amy reminding them of Nilbog - she just did plants, honest! And then once Amy took over the villain mantle… They'd never dare touch her.

Of course Piggot would likely get Nilbog flashbacks either way, but she didn't have the resources to evict her - and Alexandria wouldn't be giving it to her, not with how Ivy hadn't harmed a single human.

She'd probably get a pre-signed kill order in case she started to replicate past her borders, but that was fine, she had no intention of swallowing all of Brockton, she was just cleaning up the unused derelict wasteful parts.

She smiled impishly, opening her eyes, reaching out a hand to the mass of animal carcasses, Now this is really going to freak them out, she thought, holding back an evil laugh, since no one could hear it anyway - it would be a terrible waste.

Proper evil laughing needed a proper retinue and audience for the real effect.

….

Boat graveyard,

Ethan whistled lowly, crouched on the rooftop as he watched what was happening. The entire city was going nuts, civilians streaming out of their homes and businesses gaping at the city changing before their eyes.

Showing once and for all that Brocktonites were a special breed, too used to capes to have the sense to get away from the rolling mass of biology eating parts of the city.

Honestly, anywhere else and Ethan would have to worry about protecting people as they stampeded away, crushing civilians under the rush, looting and general destruction spreading in the panic - so he wasn't exactly complaining about the lack of panic, but he acknowledged it was weird.

Welcome to Brockton Bay, where we keep the weird shit. Ethan thought, wryly. Slap that on the welcome sign, it fits too well not to.

All over the boat graveyard a veritable forest was growing - seemingly spreading from the trainyards, large trees reaching over the distance, vines and flora and long reedy grass spreading like a plague across the rusted hulls, trees growing out of them, shattering parts of the ships, some branching off and growing over the bay, meeting other ships with their own growths, creating bridges, between the vessels.

If the churning of the water was any sign, and the small flashes of thick dark wood that he could briefly spy, roots where coming up from the bottom of the bay as well - and honestly it was all scaring the fuck out of Ethan - because this was god damn Nilbog level of shit.

The entire thing was taking place rapidly as well, already ten percent of the graveyard was entirely naturalized - large trees swaying in the wind as they floated on green covered vessels.

Large wooden piers were also beginning to jut out in specific locations, Ethan noted, which confirmed it was an intelligent mind behind this.

Brockton Bay would likely never become a big port again either way, shipping lanes having switched focus to other nearby larger ports. But if the entire boat graveyard got converted - some shipping could come. And whoever this was… Would have sole control.

That would be a fun negotiation… He could see the Mayor tearing his hair out already.

He could only be thankful it all seemed to constrain itself to the trainyards and boat graveyard and did not appear set to eat the whole city, because he had no clue about how he was supposed to stop that.

Hell, he had no clue how anyone was supposed to stop that. He had to sit through a lot of boring PRT classes - but he must have missed the one that dealt with Mother Nature trying to eat your city.

"Is it eating the metal or just growing over it, do you know?" Victor asked, the Empire 88 cape sharing his rooftop. The two had been about to square off, Ethan chasing after an Empire group beating up minorities near the docks, when the city started shaking. Unspoken, a truce had developed like it did during Endbringer attacks or other S - rank threats.

As distasteful as it was, a normal beating - an everyday occurence - didn't quite match up to the current threat.

"Can't tell from here, but if this thing - whatever it is - eats metal, we are going to have a larger issue on our hands if it spreads." Ethan said seriously, "How do you even fight a living forest?"

And didn't they already have a villain like that? Lost wood or something… It was kind of cheating to use another villain's trick like this. He didn't think it was that one though, because they'd have heard about it if they were heading here.

Victor smirked, raising his hand to point towards the trainyards, "With fire." He stated simply.

Fucking Nazi was enjoying this, Ethan thought with irritation. It was all well and good for them, their territory wasn't being eaten up - guess they'd never heard the - first they came for us - poem in their Nazi school lessons.

Ethan looked over to where Victor had indicated, squinting his eyes slightly at the distant glow, realization setting in, 'Oh, shiiiiit…" He breathed out, scrambling for his communicator, "Console, this is Assault, we have Lung on the move towards the forest growing in the trainyards, and he's already ramped up, apparently he had issues with the redecorating."

If Lung burned up that giant ass tree the whole damn city would be covered in ashes for a month, if the fire didn't spread and burn down the whole city… Which was likely if that entire area was set aflame. Fuck…

Victor chuckled next to him, Ethan glaring at him and making a shushing motion. He didn't need comments or amusement from the Nazi peanut gallery.

Especially since the ass didn't look like he was going to be lending a hand.

A stressed sounding Clockblocker replied after a moment, "Copy, Assault. There are situations spreading across that area, Armsmaster and Miss Militia are enroute, the Director is keeping the rest of the Protectorate at the Rig in case this is all a diversion."

Ethan wanted to be snippy, but it wasn't the Wards fault that he was receiving stupid orders. What was Armsy and Militia supposed to do against Lung on their own? "Copy that, console, Assault moving to assist."

He had to hand it to the director, her paranoia really was world class if she could see a decent chunk of the city turned into a forest - and choose to ignore it as a diversion. A diversion from what exactly? What else could happen right now that would be worse?

"Copy that Assault, I'll let Armsmaster know." Clockblocker said, with a hint of relief to his voice.

Ethan let go of his communicator, "You going to be an issue?" He asked Victor, well aware that with the Protectorate tied up like this he wouldn't be able to waste time on the Nazi trying something.

Victor eyed him thoughtfully, before shrugging, "As far as I am concerned we are under truce while dealing with a new threat, if Kaiser orders me differently that's another matter."

"Good enough for now." Ethan muttered, taking off without another look back, heading towards the trainyards.

Whoever set this off has no idea what kind of fire they're starting…

---

Amy smirked as she checked herself over, the black and gold uniform was tight, which usually would have been a problem. With Ivy's help however…Her body was much more appealing now, less pudgy and more slim and fit, which made her bust stand out a little more on her profile - and she didn't mind the image she was presenting now at all.

It was a full body suit, with brute rated golden armor in the shape of a large Nova corps star across her torso - with a visored helmet that let her hair flow freely out the back of it on her head, her mouth and nose free. She checked herself in the mirror again, stretching a bit. She also wore no gloves, so she could still touch someone for an immediate knockout.

It was perfect, a complete rebrand, she just needed to change the name too and Panacea and New Wave would be entirely behind her. Remedy… She'd be Remedy now. A reminder of her healing past while discarding her last tie to New Wave - but also a point of how she'd be the 'cure' of Brocktons Bay's problems, keeping the tie to being a healing cape.

"Hah, you're loving it, I knew I picked the right uniform." Vicky said smugly, having entered the room during her introspection "Your ass looks great in that." She said approvingly, nodding firmly to herself.

Amy glanced at her, sliding the visor up so her face was clear. She smiled at her sister, "Did you get such a tight uniform for me just so you could stare at my ass?" She teased lightly, while taking in her sister's uniform.

It was the same basic armor design, but Vicky had foregone a helmet, or any kind of face covering - instead keeping a golden tiara with a nova star shaped centerpiece. She also continued to insist on a skirt, wearing golden boy shorts underneath.

At this point Amy just assumed flashing all of Brockton Bay was Vicky's secret fetish. Not that she ever personally visited the Glory Girl upskirt sites. She just heard rumors is all.

No matter how quick they were taken down, another one would always pop up. With how quickly it happened she half expected Dragon to be a fan of Vicky's.

"It might have been part of the plan." Vicky said flippantly, giving Amy a cheery bright smile. "So Starlight is ready to take flight, how do you feel?" She asked, sounding softer, her eyes more gentle. "I know fighting was never your thing."

Amy shrugged, going back to staring into the mirror, she was dressed like an actual hero now - funny, when all she wanted to do was to let go of the illusion and just become a villain… "It's… New." She said slowly, not sure how to even explain. "It's not bad." She lamely added.

Kayden popped her head in, smiling softly as she saw Amy in her uniform, "You look very good in that, Amy." She said kindly, stepping fully through, wearing much the same uniform as Amy, except with a golden cape and a simple domino mask, her power would do the work in protecting her identity when they started anyway, but a domino mask was a simple matter to don.

"Thank you, is Charlotte ready?" Amy returned the smile and asked about their last member, Strider would not be assisting unless someone needed emergency teleports back to base and was already sitting in the room, somehow calm enough to read a book while he waited. He was worth too much to risk in a fight. If Amy had her way he'd stop participating in Endbringer fights except for bringing capes to the battle too.

She'd see how much she was willing to annoy the Protectorate when the next Endbringer arrived.

Kayden nodded, starting to glow slightly as she grasped her power, "She's on location, it seems your tip was right, something is definitely going down at the trainyards, trees are popping up suddenly, growing to full height in less than a minute, it's been going on for ten minutes now."

Vicky rubbed her hands together gleefully, "I can't believe we're going to punch out Lung as our first foray into heroing on our own!"

"He might not show." Kayden said somewhat dismissively, although not meanly, "The trainyards and boat graveyard is not technically his territory." She'd fought Lung before, Amy knew.

Amy shook her head firmly, "You are more experienced than us, but I think you're wrong on this one, he can't not respond to whoever is growing an entire territory around him."

Whoever indeed…

"Shouldn't we be worried about the forest?" Kayden asked, seemingly not happy with taking two teens into a fight with Lung.

Amy could understand her hesitation, but between Purity and Glory Girl, and the hidden support by Ivy, they were golden. Amy just needed one touch to shut Lung down if it came to it. And worst case, Ivy could surreptitiously assist her in getting the shot.

In a last resort kind of manner she'd prepared a weapon, one she'd prefer not to have to use.

"The forest is a problem for the PRT, not us." She said decisively, "Lung is a threat to everyone if he ramps up enough, the forest is in areas where there are almost no people, right? So it doesn't take priority."

They're interrupted by Kayden's cell phone ringing, the new hero picking it up with a pinched expression, listening for a moment, "Thank you Mouse Protector." She said clippedly, putting the phone down, turning back to Amy, "Lung is on his way, he's already ramping up at the threat to his territory."

"Strider, put us down by Mouse Protector, then return to base and wait for news on any emergency pickups." Amy ordered seriously, feeling nerves setting in, she knew they'd probably be fine.

Still… This was Lung!

The teleporting cape nodded seriously, his uniform simply the same as his previous one except in black and gold, he placed his book to the side

They all stand in a circle, Strider giving them all a nod and murmured, "Good luck." Then they were gone.

---

They were set down near some apartment buildings, Mouse Protector standing right there on the street, her uniform still somewhat appearing as knightly armor, just now black and gold, the star prominently displayed on her chest, the mouse ears and whiskers still on her helmet.

"Glad you're joining the party, hope you brought a cheese platter, because that bugger looks mighty hungry." She quipped, pointing over her shoulder at the approaching Lung a block away, already over nine feet tall and still rising, apparently not needing a fight when the challenge of an entire living forest appearing in front of him challenged him just by its existence.

"The civilians?" Amy asked, eyeing the surrounding apartment buildings, seeing the edge of the forest just beyond them.

"Fled when the forest popped up, so where all good on that account, maximum property damage is a go!" She said excitedly, giving off a smart salute.

Purity gave her a look, shaking her head before she started glowing, taking to the air, Glory Girl following behind her.

"No property damage." Amy stressed, walking up to the irreverent hero. "Purity and Glory Girl will hammer him, think you can teleport me close with your ability?"

Mouse Protector, shrugged, "I think you're kidding yourself if you think you're going to stop that with no property damage, but I'll get you in close," She tossed a hockey puck into the air, catching it quickly, "It will be only a second or two and then I'll teleport us away again," She warned, "We're the squishy kind, can't tangle with big beastie."

Amy nodded, "I'm aware, although I recently gained a brute rating so I won't die from a love tap."

Mouse Protector cocked her head, "Huh, brute and a healer, sounds super cheaty to be honest."

Their eyes turned to Lung as he entered their street, roaring in anger as Purity let loose from both hands, a bright glowing fuck you beam taking him right in the snout, Lung staggering back, blood dripping even as his face began to char, and then, just like that it all regenerated as he ducked under the beam, Purity swerving out of the way as Lung sunk one large claw into a nearby car and with a mighty heave - threw it at the flying cape.

"Vicky PUNCH!" Glory Girl roared as she flew down under the curve of the car, hitting Lung like a wrecking ball, smashing into his chest, the sound of ribs breaking audible down the street as Lung was ripped off the street and smashed into the wall of the building next to him, crumbling it.

Vicky, Amy thought in embarrassment at the shouted attack, even as Mouse Protector took hold of her arm, her thrown puck already by the staggered Lung.

The world disappeared for a second before she felt the burning intense heat of Lungs presence, Mouse Protector cutting at Lungs claw as it approached, Amy frantically reaching for a spot on his torso that wasn't entirely scaled. He was ramping up too fast!

She could have used her own version of MP's power, but she needed to focus on getting a hand on Lung, while MP could protect her or teleport them both away if the attack was a bust.

Purity fired a beam from both hands, impacting where Mouse Protector had cut, forcing Lungs arm back as he roared in pain, his arm practically flaying apart, Amy's eyes gleamed with triumph - and that's exactly when a clawed foot slammed into her midsection sending her rolling down the street, tearing up the asphalt and putting her uniform and brute power to the test.

Glory Girl swooped in with a panicked cry right before Amy would have hit the wall, managing to grab her and roll with her, tanking the hit to the wall, letting Amy's head rest on her chest.

"Ow…" Amy muttered, pretty sure she cracked a rib, she didn't want to imagine what it would be like if she hadn't gotten the basic brute package from Ivy.

Glory Girl breathed out a sigh of relief, before immediately disappearing as she flew down the street low enough to the ground that everything on the street blew into the walls from the wind tunnel effect her passing created - then she hit Lung, pushing him back once again through simple wrecking ball tactics.

Purity flew in, dropping Mouse Protector down, the woman cradling a broken arm. "She tried to get in the way between you and Lung." Purity explained before flying off to help Vicky, as Amy laid a hand Mouse Protectors arm, healing it, "It will be weaker for a bit, do not break it again." Amy warned her, sweating slightly as she felt the environment heat up as Lung grew even more draconic.

"Holding him still enough to get you to touch him is going to be an issue, we might have stuck our head in a mouse trap here." Mouse Protector said seriously.

Amy nodded, eyes narrowed as she watched Purity and Glory Girl tag team Lung, keeping him corralled between them and doing damage - but Lung was continually ramping up, it wouldn't go well for them if they didn't do something soon.

"You have the pouch I gave you?" Amy asked, not really wanting to give away her capabilities to that extent, but she'd prepared it just in case.

Mouse Protector nodded, touching the cord around her neck fishing out a small leather pouch. "Need it?" She asked.

Amy shook her head, hesitating, "Not yet. We'll try one more time, that's an option that's going to have more eyes on me and it will be troublesome to deal with." She said, wincing as she stood straight, Yep, a definite cracked rib.

She could also lean on Ivy, but again, that was an extreme case because she did not need any connection to appear there now of all times. Not to the PRT.

She watched the fight, trying to find an opening for Mouse Protector to teleport her in.

Glory Girl tanked a full on hit from Lung as he reared forward to swat Purity out of the sky, Purity swerving around Glory Girl and hitting Lung full blast in the face again, the blinding beams crackling with power, pushing Lung back even as flames began to spread throughout the area, transforming it into somewhat of a hellscape.

Lung roared even as his eyes melted in the face of the beams, quickly regrowing as soon as they ended, his jaw snapping loudly in the air as he reared up and almost caught Purity's foot.

Amy could help so much more if she could let loose her full powers and abilities. Her lab was finished now, so after this she'd finally be able to stretch her wings. As it was, she was a bystander yet again, waiting for an opportunity to help.

Glory Girl and Purity both just barely avoided being shot down as Lung tore out half an apartment building facade and threw it at them, and then suddenly one of them didn't manage to avoid it. Glory Girls shield failing for a moment in the rain of continuous debris - as Lung kept throwing it with an enraged roar, Amy feeling her heart stop for a second as Glory Girl took a hit to the chest by a piece of rubble before her shield was back on, smashing into the ground, thankfully her shield covered that, having returned by then.

But that was still a piece of a building impacting her sister.

"To Glory girl." Amy snapped, Mouse Protector having already foreseen the request, tossing a puck to the site. Before they could teleport, Glory Girl flew up again, the armor on her chest had held, looking slightly dented, and she was immediately back in action, flying full speed into one of Lung's claws as it held off Purity's fire - as he grabbed a car with his other claw, Purity already dodging, anticipating the throw, letting the beam go.

As Glory Girl pushed the claw away, unbalancing Lung for a second, Purity took her chance to hammer two beams straight to Lungs chest, pushing him back further, his clawed feet ripping up the melting, bubbling street beneath him, a car still attached to his other clawed hand.

Amy wanted to smack her head at her stupidity, realizing that at this close range, she didn't need to go to someone to heal them, reaching out with her power to ensure Glory Girl was in tip top shape from that hit.

Suddenly Amy was teleported away, giving Mouse Protector a questioning look as they appeared in the small crater left over by Vicky.

"He tossed the car at us, he's almost got wings on him now, looking real dragon like, you sure you can afford to wait any longer?" Mouse Protector asked, sounding worried. Amy wasn't the only one that was apparently feeling worthless at the moment. There wasn't much either of them could do to a building sized Lung - larger than the buildings now..

"Give me the pouch." Amy said, agreeing with her, albeit annoyed that they needed it. If only Lung hadn't ramped up so quick, she'd expected to have more time - figuring the forest would piss Lung off, but not having accounted for just how mad he must be, ramping up as he had.

Or maybe seeing Purity had been enough, they'd tangled before…

She hadn't planned this out nearly as well as she'd thought…

As soon as she had the pouch in her hand, she fished out the small organic lump of matter looking like a small fleshy hand grenade, feeling all the alterations she'd done to it, the fireproofing a major part of it to not have it's contents burn up just by being near Lung.

"Vicky!" She called out, almost unheard over Lungs roars and the crackling of fire and sounds of asphalt melting or getting broken apart by Lungs clawed feet.

Glory Girl swooped down, her face sweaty and red, her uniform burned in patches, any burned skin thankfully healed by her long distance efforts, once she remembered she could do it… "That's it then?" She asked with a nod, grabbing it, "Just drop it on him?" She asked seriously, holding it gingerly to not accidentally crush it before delivery.

That would be… Less than ideal.

Amy nodded, "Just contact is all it needs."

"Purity can't hold on, not on her own." Mouse Protector warned, sounding frustrated as she shifted her feet, glaring at the continuing fight.

Glory Girl took to the skies, and under the cover of Purity dropping off her continuous barrage of beams - leaving herself purposely open - drawing Lungs ravenous attention - she swooped in and dropped the flesh grenade onto Lungs back.

They all looked on in tense anticipation, the grenade exploding, a deluge of greenish thick liquid spewing over Lungs back, making the dragon roar in anger and pain.

Purity and Glory Girl flew back to guard Amy and Mouse Protector as Lung roared to the sky, flames spearing the sky as the liquid bubbled on top of him, moving across his scales, finding access points and seeping into the skin beneath, uncaring about the flames.

Lung threw himself against walls, trying to rub the gunk off, when that didn't work he zeroed in on them, flying forward far faster then someone almost the size of the buildings around him should be able to do.

Purity and Glory Girl swooped them up and took them to the air. And for a second it looked like Lung was going to follow, then… He simply froze. Growling at them, unable to move.

"It's taken hold." Amy said grimly. At least if the PRT freaked too hard she could go hide in the forest, she thought, seeing Armsmaster and Miss Militia in the distance from her height.

Lung began shrinking, the organism within him attacking his brain, specifically his Gemma, the control station for active use of powers. Lung's power was now entirely under her control, or well the control she had planted in the organism - which was simply a cease and desist order for his power, and a muscle lock for his body.

Lung could neither move or use his power as long as Amy's concoction was inside of him, and only she could remove it. Well… She assumed. She didn't know who the PRT had…

"We won." Amy said tiredly, as Lung returned to the size of a normal human, his eyes glaring up at them still in impotent rage.

It didn't feel like a victory.

This was going to be such a hassle.

Director Piggot was going to be a pain…

---

Author's note:

Tattletale is good, but being able to tell that Ivy is a clone of Amy by seeing Amy alone is a leap I refuse to believe she or any thinker can make, so they don't. Not that easy.

So Starlight have made their debut, Amy aiming for an almost Coil like plan for Brockton Bay, getting rid of the PRT - Starlight protecting Brockton, while she would also be the only villainous element. Someone should tell her how that worked out for Coil.

The important question - will the church of Panacea have to change their name?

Cheers

Spoiler: Patreon

patreon.com/JollyHippopotamus

 

[Viloxity]

Well, they still need her for when the endbringers show up again. So what can the director do?

 

[Thicc Shaedy]

Damn. I can't believe I almost missed this gem of a chapter!

Well done, hippo-kun!

 

[JollyHippo]

Here's chapter 9: Overreaction Denied!

Second story to win on Patron so here it is.

With the mandatory PHO segment arriving again, also reactions from Brockton Bay PRT on their new lawn, everyone is super excited about it.

One goblin lawn ornament would probably not get the area nuked.

Probably.

Piggot is twitchy for some reason.

Obviously it's worm so drug use, Nazi stuff etc don't read if you don't like that kind of stuff, blah blah blah.

As usual I own nothing of Worm, Wildbow owns it all, I'm just playing in the kiddie pool, don't mind me.

Enjoy!

---

Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

You are currently logged in, Remedy

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to
• AND Threads that have new replies
• OR private message conversations with new replies
• Thread OP is displayed.
• Ten posts per page
• Last ten messages in private message history.
• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.

♦ Topic: Starlight

In: Boards ► America ► East Coast ► Cape Teams ► Starlight

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Here is the official thread for the new hero team in Brockton Bay, Starlight.

Current roster as of today's date June 28th, is Panacea, Glory Girl, Strider, Mouse Protector and Purity. Edit: July 9th correction, Panacea now going by the name Remedy.

Yes. That Purity.

There's been no official word from New Wave on two capes basically abandoning the team and creating their own, and no word from the PRT on Purity as of yet.

That said, the hero team is verified as an approved PRT independent affiliate with all that entails, and could not achieve that status without the PRT giving them the go ahead for all members.

Edit: As of last posting July 9th, still no official announcement from New Wave.

Link to announcement of the creation of the team here.

Link to first press conference here.

Edit: July 3rd: Link to PRTs statement in regards to Purity here.

Edit: July 5th: Online tour of Starlights headquarters, link here.

Edit: July 8th: LUNG taken down by Starlight, video here.

(Showing page 285 of 934)

►CaramelCoffee

Replied On July 3rd 2010:

Srsly, has there ever been any more milquetoast of a statement from the PRT?

Purity is a fucking NAZI! And their statements basically said nothing!!

They didn't mention her crimes, any punishment, hell they didn't even acknowledge she was/is a damn NAZI!

►XxVoid_CowboyxX

Replied On July 3rd 2010:

#CaramelCoffee, obv a conspiracy, like I don't even have to try or like get banned or anything, PRT is obv in on the whole Nazi thing.

Starlight didn't even try to rebrand the Nazi, like wtf is up with that other than orders from up top, (PRT and Empire in cahoots?)

No wonder no Empire capes ever stay in jail!

Also Pan-Pan not healing at hospitals anymore, C'mon so a Nazi/government plot!

►Kaiserbun (Verified not-a-nazi)

Replied On July 3rd 2010:

How can Panacea stand having a Nazi on the team? She's fucking gay!?

How does this even work!? Why did the PRT allow this!? Wtf is wrong with Panacea and Glory Girl?

Panacea isn't even healing properly anymore, has anyone checked she isn't being mastered?

#Brandish time to be a mom don't you think!?

!!!???

►Aurelian (Verified Cape) (Équipe nationale de grève)

Replied On July 3rd 2010:

#Kaiserbun, do not besmirch the name of Panacea, she is the light that will show us all the path to heaven, if Purity follows Panacea, all is well.

I will be joining the Church of Panacea in Brockton Bay for the grand opening on July tenth with our high priestess, Cherrie Hart, all are welcome.

Praise be to Panacea.

…

(Showing page 298 of 934)

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On July 4th 2010:

Guys, over ten pages of heaping abuse on #Aurelian is beyond the pale, freedom of speech is still in effect, but so are the rules of this board, if it does not end right now, I will lock this thread.

When #XxVoid_CowboyxX is behaving better than everyone else, you should all be taking a look at your conduct.

►TheGreatandTerribleAisha (Temp banned)

Replied On July 4th 2010:

Burn from the great mother of tin! You all suckers suck, big surprise, but like for realz, why is a Nazi on the team #Panacea

Like I saw the presser but that was a load of bullshit!

Also #MouseProtector please autograph my butt!

►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)

Replied On July 4th 2010:

Happy Independence day to each and everyone of you, we should all be thankful yet another hero team is here to help protect and serve, that is the major thing to take away from this. Brockton Bay is safer for their inclusion into the forces of good.

►Vajayjay (Temp Banned)

Replied On July 4th 2010:

#Reave, I can't take that seriously when you're literally whitewashing a Nazi. Fuck off.

Srsly, go die.

Also Starlight is a fake hero team, ain't no hero team with a Nazi on it.

►Meadprovider (Banned)

Replied On July 4th 2010:

Purity is a fucking traitor, how can she even stand hanging around dykes, race traitors, and whatever the fuck Mouse Protector is, probably a Jew.

►Liima1 (Verified Finnish)

Replied On July 4th 2010:

Nazi's are bad mkay…

Also if Mouse Protector is autographing butts, I call dibs!

Dr.Flembo (Verified not-a-doctor)

Replied On July 4th 2010:

Whitewashing is bad mkay…

All of this is bad. Nazi's are bad, why do we still have to say it? And what's the obsession with MP anyway?

No one's autographing my butt, that's for sure…

Except Alexandria.

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On July 4th 2010:

Putting in a 12 hour lock of this thread. This thread is about Starlight, the hero team. Not only its member Purity.

Go here to discuss Purity.

…

(Showing page 782 of 934)

►ComicForBrains (Comic Nerd)

Replied On July 5th 2010:

So, like is Panacea gonna get sued for complete cribbing the Nova corps for the headquarters and uniforms right?

I mean they look awesome! Much better than the Protectorate, but still, isn't it like copyright or something.

►Vista (Verified cape)(Wards ENE)

Replied On July 5th 2010:

The uniforms are cool, the headquarters are cool, totally unserious question, what's the benefits like?

Asking for a friend.

►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)

Replied On July 5th 2010:

#ComicForBrains, I really don't think Panacea is worried about some Aleph comic company suing her.

Cool uniforms tho, definitely, makes collateral damage barbie look more serious.

Still no news at all from New Wave, anyone else think that's weird? Really starting to look like they hate gay people.

Not wanting to restart the flame war, but like, Purity must have given up on Nazihood, right? Or it wouldn't work with Panacea being lesbian.

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On July 5th 2010:

#Brocktonite03 tread very carefully, and that goes for the rest of you as well, we're not restarting this issue.

►Niraada (Verified PRT Agent)

Replied On July 5th 2010:

I'm applying for a job there as soon as they open up! So excited, whoo! Go Starlight!

Kickass heroes is a go!

►Glory Girl (Verified cape)(Starlight)

Replied On July 5th 2010:

To all the haters out there, you keep forgetting Purity was mastered, don't blame the victim, blame the Nazi bastards! Btw Purity gets along great with my sis, so obv not a Nazi.

#TheGreatandTerribleAisha, Good going, I had to sit on MP to make sure the whole team didn't get banned off PHO to prevent her from responding to what you started!

The next villain she faces is going to be pissed when their butt gets autographed with a cheese pun…

#Brocktonite03 Don't go dumping on our family, we left New Wave to find our own way, they aren't releasing any statements because there's nothing that needs to be said.

Butt out.

#Niraada Excited to see you there! Hope you get it! The job comes with autographs! Not of the butt variety.

#Vista, Little V! Benefits is whatever you want I have an in with the team lead, we can hook you up!

Also, on a scale of 1-10, how pissed is the PR department for you even saying that? (jokingly I'm sure) Wink-wink!

►Blind-Monkey (Veteran Member)

Replied On July 5th 2010:

#Glory Girl That was kind of weak tbh, your defense of New Wave, it's obv something is going on there,

Tell us the truth!

I mean come on…

Also don't steal Vista! You monsters! Can't have the Wards be all Sausage no Pie!

(Showing page 889 of 934)

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Replied July 8th 2010:

Just in, Starlight took down LUNG!

Fully rampaging LUNG.

Ahem, it bears saying again. L-U-N-G!!

Call out to the insane #LictorMagnus for getting video of the fight, staying behind to film it all for our viewing pleasure, with no regard for life and limb.

Seriously, that's insane, but good for us.

Link to video here.

►Leeland

Replied On July 8th 2010:

What did I smoke tonight that I'm dreaming up this? What!?

WHAT!?

►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)

Replied On July 8th 2010:

What!?

►DiscoStu (Veteran Member)

Replied On July 8th 2010:

What the fuck!?

►Vista (Verified cape)(Wards ENE)

Replied On July 8th 2010:

At the risk of console duty and PR refresher courses #Starlight kickass job, supes jealous, #Glory Girl, Big V I'll text you uniform sizes, for…

Totally unrelated reasons.

►Irtzval (Verified, just Verified)

Replied On July 8th 2010:

Makes sense, entire Protectorate can't touch him, but Panacea can apparently fucking SOLO him, just nice enough to give the rest of the team a few minutes first.

Did you guys SEE that shit!?

Healer, my beautiful ass!!

►Crackalacking (Veteran Member)

Replied On July 8th 2010:

Shit, can't bitch about Purity now, she helped take down Lung. That's real deal hero shit.

Also, what the fuck was #New Wave doing? Panacea is gone from them for like a few weeks and she's taking down Lung!

Good riddance to that old team of haters if Pan-Pan can do that on her own!

►Leyse (Verified Badass)

Replied On July 8th 2010:

Oh boy, oh boy, ABB is screwed and basically gone without Lung, now we got Starlight the Protectorate and New Wave on the side of the heroes, how's those lederhosen feeling E88?

Getting brown yet?

►JollyHippo (Veteran Member) (Secret Overlord)

Replied On July 8th 2010:

Seems like Church of Panacea is speeding up their opening, seeing lots of activity,

Funnily enough just opposite from Starlights headquarters, someone has a sense of humor!

Taking down Lung isn't exactly going to make all those nutjobs calm down either…

Toppling Dragons seems like something that's going to end up on a stone slab in Brockton Bay somewhere.

#Panacea, look out your window, haha!

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 890, 891, 892, 893

…

Amy accidentally crushed the mouse as she clenched her hand too hard, cursing loudly as she got up from browsing PHO, and all the headaches that induced - and walked over to the window, peering out across the street. At something liable to give her many more headaches going forward.

Sure enough, there was a hive of activity, and the banner that had apparently been put up while she was sleeping, had already been corrected to the Church of Remedy, to her chagrin. Fucking Aurelian, that French weirdo cape was preaching outside the building, in full costume and everything.

Why the fuck are they settling down right across from me? She thought, taking a deep breath to soother her growing anger. Just what she needed, religious fanatics she couldn't beat up - bothering her day and night. Pretty fucking flexible religion too, changing their name so quickly. She'd hoped to avoid all the bullshit by rebranding to Remedy.

Maybe she could get a restraining order.

Against Aurelian at least, major creep factor there…

Well, she'd planned to spend some time cooking up some viruses and such, why not some aggressive mold that would limit itself to their building, and give them all the runs. Hah, I might actually do that. Fuck them.

Or perhaps Poison Ivy would accidentally destroy the building, and then accident them each time they tried to rebuild. Just normal cape on cape action, nothing to see there. It was Brockton Bay after all… Things happened.

Just ask any native.

She debated going back online to check out the hubbub about Poison Ivy and the change to the city, and immediately winced at the idea. No thank you, not right now…

It had been a mistake to go online at all, if there weren't comments on how she looked (pervs) or how Vicky looked, (megapervs) there were even nastier comments about it all that made her want brain bleach. And of course the backlash for Purity was everywhere, which she had very much underestimated and not even noticed until now.

Like seriously she couldn't believe how much she'd underestimated it. She needed to talk to more people who she hadn't subtly changed to agree with her, because this was pretty bad on her part.

She'd thought her story would have at least bought her some sympathy and belief on Purity's behalf. But either no one believed the story she'd concocted about Purity being mastered, or they just didn't care.

Since Brockton Bay was the Nazi capital of America, it's likely that the degree of antipathy from all the non-whites in the city just wouldn't accept the concept of an ex-Nazi.

Once a Nazi always a Nazi or something. Which, fair enough, Purity had killed a lot of people, but dammit, Amy wanted a heavy hitter on her side. She was slightly soiled and stained with racism, but they'd just have to make do. She rubbed her forehead tiredly, maybe the slight positive tint Purity got from helping take down Lung would help…

It shouldn't make it worse at least.

Although now she knew they could expect Empire retaliation at some point, Kaiser took enough of a beating at being humiliated by Amy coming out on top of his video praising her, now that she'd also stolen his top cape - he'd be forced to make a move.

Purity could definitely improve her reputation by taking down some Empire capes, attacking the ABB didn't exactly clear her reputation. Even if taking down a villain must have helped somewhat.

Vicky should have just done what Amy had, and stayed out of posting, she winced at the reactions her jumping in had led to on some of the pages. Her attempted defense of New Wave hadn't exactly convinced anyone, although she'd managed to sway some of her own fans on the Purity issue.

But most of Glory Girls fans would literally follow her if she joined the Slaughterhouse Nine, they were that kind of fanatics.

She wondered briefly what was going on with New Wave, not making any statements at all was weird. She'd have expected them to at least cover their asses…

Vicky really should stop panicking the PRT too, playing games with Vista like that she thought, still staring out angrily at the crowd of church nutjobs. Although good on the littlest Ward to use their possible poaching to get more of a say in her uniform and loadout. Smart, she always knew the girl was the only useful Ward.

At least that's what she assumed it was about. She knew it was a usual complaint of the girl, and this was the perfect opportunity to push slightly.

Amy looked at the time, making a protesting noise, there should be rules about this kind of thing…

No one should have to go to school the day after beating up a Dragon…

She hurriedly finished dressing, throwing a light green jacket over her simple jeans and T-shirt combo, rushing down the stairs from the living quarters to the public areas of HQ.

She met Vicky at the entrance to Starlight headquarters, already this early in the morning she was signing autographs, people recognizing her easily even when in civilian clothes. Living above the headquarters was going to make this a common thing, wasn't it?

Oh no… People aren't going to start recognizing me in civvies are they? She thought apprehensively, eyeing the crowd, and especially the gathered nutjobs across the street, where Aurelian was practically orgasming on his pedestal staring at her.

Gross.

Shouldn't have saved that one's life…

"Ames!" Vicky shouted, breaking off, jogging forward to meet her, giggling as she curtsied extravagantly once she got an arm's length away, "Miss Dragonslayer." She said with quirked lips and a blindingly proud look.

Amy gave her a deadpan look, "So it's going to be like that, huh?"

Ugh, her being proud of me shouldn't make me feel so… Feelings.

Vicky smirked, tossing her head towards the budding Church across the street, "Why not? or mayyyybe you prefer, my goddess?" She said, adding a sultry tone to the last bit that made Amy flush.

Oh, god, imagine if they overheard that!

"Knock it off, it's embarrassing, people are watching!" She hissed, wishing she wore robes still so she could hide her face.

Vicky glanced over her shoulder at the many many photographers, smirking evilly, "Let them ship it!" She chirped, bounding forward to hug Amy, kissing her cheek sloppily, before she scooped her up in her arms, taking off into the air.

"You're in a good mood." Amy couldn't help but note, as they took off towards Arcadia, face still flushed from Vicky messing with her.

Vicky laughed, doing a little pirouette in the air that made Amy almost lose her breakfast. "Why shouldn't I be? We're literally the coolest heroes on the east coast, we took down LUNG!" She got a soft warm look in her eyes, as she leaned down and kissed Amy softly on the lips, lips lingering for just for a second, "And I have the cutest girl in my arms…" She purred.

Amy was lost for words, still feeling the touch on her lips and the taste of peach lip gloss. She'd… She hadn't done that. She hadn't made Vicky feel like that… She'd just… She'd just made her aroused now and then to mess with her… Which she hadn't even been doing lately. What?

How, why, what? Her brain was short circuiting.

Plus… Feelings. She couldn't deal with that.

Vicky took her dumbfounded silence in stride, smiling softly as they flew across town, eventually setting down near the entranceway of Arcadia.

As Amy stood unsteadily, mind still scrambled from the soft, very not sisterly kiss, a chant began around them, the kids of Arcadia all standing around chanting, "Dragonslayer! DRAGONSLAYER! Make way for the DRAGONSLAYER!"

Vicky grinned widely, eyes sparkling as she raised a confused Amy's hand into the air, to the roar of their peers.

All Amy could think was, If Lung escapes, he's really not going to take this well…

---

PRT headquarters, Brockton Bay.

It was an all hands on deck kind of meeting, Director Piggot and Deputy Director Renick both attending, as well as the Chief Director on conference call.

They held the meeting at the PRT headquarters, because having the entire team on the Rig was just asking for trouble if Lung blew up suddenly. Which was always a possibility no matter what defenses they put in place. Especially as they'd forced Panacea to remove whatever biological compound she'd used to make him unable to use his power, as they couldn't have that unknown situation follow Lung into custody, so the dragon was once again awake and aware. Dauntless was holding down the fort for now while the rest of them met and discussed the recent situation.

At least he might have a shot in putting Lung down together with all the confoam sprayers if he began to escalate.

Anger would come easy to the dragon in the situation he was in. Hopefully just anger wouldn't be enough to prevent their countermeasures.

Lung was secondary right now, the one big issue on their mind something different.

Their newest issue that in one swoop had taken over a nice chunk of the city, and turned it all into a forest, the giant tree overshadowing all of Brockton Bay, giving it all a kind of fantasy land look from a distance, but the flex of that kind of power was worrying a lot of people.

It said a lot about the Mayor and the state of the city, that his immediate beef with the situation wasn't the Parahuman taking over parts of the city, but the extra cost in the municipal budget for removing the likely constant detritus of a city encompassing tree, Ethan thought, as he idly paid attention to anything but the report.

The meeting had already been going for a while, but Ethan hadn't paid much attention, since it was just Armsy speaking. A quick elbow to the ribs from his lovely wife, and he once again made an concerted effort to appear attentive, catching the tailend of the report.

" - Dragon has assisted me in measuring from a distance, and the phenomenon does not appear to be growing any further than its current boundaries." Armsmaster finished his report, sounding even more detached than usual.

Then again, none of them had much sleep with Lung rampaging and being taken down, and a forest taking over large swaths of the city. That kind of thing necessitated an all hands on deck scenario that meant no one got to sleep properly. Ethan hadn't ever thought he'd be in a situation where Lung being taken down and taken into custody was the smaller piece of news in the media cycle.

He didn't envy the Director or Armsy, both who'd had to deal with the press while trying to find a diplomatic and PR positive spin to the words - we know nothing!

"So at least it's not spreading, that was a concern that had Brockton Bay at risk of immediate quarantine." The Chief Director said bluntly, which made Ethan sit up and pay a bit more attention.

Quarantine was not something anyone liked to hear. That's what they did to Simurgh cities, surely they weren't that bad off?

They just had some extra park space, and the city hadn't even had to pay for it, the whole thing was almost community service, if one ignored the villain involved.

Director Piggot looked like she'd not only eaten a lemon, but also had them delivered as a suppository, in bulk. "Is a quarantine off the table now then? Could we get more resources to deal with this… Poison Ivy…" She ground the name out, face blotchy with a mix of anger and fear, if Ethan were to guess.

Ellisburg was not exactly openly spoken about, but they all knew about it, partly why even Ethan accepted some of the Directors paranoia and attitude in regards to parahumans.

She had ample reasons to feel that way, and it's not like she was ineffective in her job. Just not very people minded. Made worse by the fact the Protectorates two lead capes was Armsmaster who had never met a social cue he couldn't run over with his bike - and Miss Militia, who although nice enough, would also follow orders to a degree anyone else would be uncomfortable with, and therefore not trustworthy by any metric for someone serving under her.

Ethan couldn't help but critique the villain for simply cribbing the name from a comic book from Aleph though, no matter how apropos her power seemed to be, that was just so lame - not even Uber and L33T had taken names from comic books and they were ultra geeks.

To their own consternation, they hadn't actually known literally anything about her really, until she'd outed herself on PHO as being behind the great greening, fabulous forestation?

He'd find a good name for it, or PHO would, it certainly wouldn't come from the PRT. For an organization overseeing heroes, they ironically lacked imagination.

If it weren't for New York reporting a run in with her, they'd literally have nothing other than her own PHO thread still and some reports from arrested Merchants. Escaping Legend himself didn't exactly paint their new villain as a weakling - neither did the whole growing a tree the size of a small mountain thing.

"No, it isn't off the table." The Chief Director said firmly, referencing the possibility of quarantine, giving them all a gimlet look, "Until we can be certain this metal eating plague does not spread, you will be one phone call away from immediate containment." Several of the heroes reacted with displeasure at that, Ethan included, but the Chief Director stared them down without an ounce of remorse, "If it were to spread, the United States of America could cease to exist. Your personal feelings in this do not matter." She hammered home, before she addressed Director Piggot again, "You'll get Legend for a day or two to confront this villain, but that's all, I can't waste resources that might just end up in containment."

Director Piggot looked even sourer, but not at all surprised. Neither was anyone at the table, it's not like they'd ever gotten reinforcements before, so why now…

Legend of course, would be able to fly away long before the containment walls went up if it came to that. Non metal containment walls to boot, Ethan knew, from the pre-meeting. The national guard was already setting up outside Brockton Bay, ready to go into action to dome them up.

Funny how quickly they could get around to contain a city, but when it came to beating down villains you needed forty forms filled out in triplicate to maybe get assistance next year.

Ethan thought they were all kidding themselves anyway, if this chick could create metal eating plants, surely she could defeat whatever material the dome would consist of. It's why he was very much against Piggots - beat it with a stick avenue of diplomacy.

Legend was definitely preferable and let him breathe a little easier at the idea negotiations would be handled by a reasonable man.

"And if this villain, this… Ivy… Is amenable to negotiation?" Miss Militia asked, her power flickering between weapons, one of the only ways to tell just how stressed she was.

Other then perhaps a flamethrower or nuke, she didn't exactly have a lot of weapons that worked on plants.

Director Piggot scoffed, "She's obviously a biotinker, no better than Nilbog or Bonesaw, we should be sending the triumvirate at her, not sending Legend to negotiate." Her tone only grew more disgusted the longer she spoke.

She'd been arguing for a kill order or an immediate Triumvirate response from the beginning. Miss Militia and Armsmaster backing her, because of course they had.

Ethan liked Hannah, he really did. But he couldn't help but feel that she'd blow up the city if that was the order. She'd feel bad about it, but she'd do it. And Armsy… He'd been better lately, but he was still more interested in taking down a bad guy, then wondering if he should.

Like right now.

The Chief Director gave Director Piggot a chilled look, "And that is why Legend will perform the negotiation, you are too biased in the matter, Emily. We can not afford to make her into an S class enemy, if she wants to hold on to a useless train yard and a dead dock, you'll give it to her and leave her alone."

"It's been my experience that villains are never satisfied with what they have." Armsmaster said carefully, using his - I'm speaking to my superior voice, mark 3. "Negotiation will only give her time to settle in and become unassailable."

Ethan couldn't help but give his two cents at that, leaning casually over the table, immediately receiving a warning look from Director Piggot, it was like she didn't trust him or something! "At the risk of ruining this echo chamber thing we've got going on, but what if she isn't that bad?"

Battery slumped in her chair, a hand going to her face as if to hide it, "Assault…" She murmured painfully.

He'd probably pay for it later.

But that was its own kind of fun.

Director Piggot rose up, nostrils flaring as she glared daggers at him, "I assume you are attempting levity, Assault. If I thought you were serious I might have to enact M/S screening." Her eyes narrowed in thought, "You were only a few blocks away from the boat graveyard during the incident, correct?"

The Chief Director waved a hand dismissively on the monitor, "Leave it Emily, Assault, get on with it." Her eyes flickered to something off screen, "I do have other matters to attend to, you aren't the only possible S class situation going on."

Ethan bet the Chief Director would make an awesome dominatrix with that kind of stern firm voice and no nonsense attitude. But he figured it wasn't worth his life to point it out, so he made his case, "Look, no one even got injured in this whole thing, she cleaned up the boat graveyard and then stopped, yeah we found out she killed Skidmark awhile ago when we looked into it, but honestly… Is anyone even upset? It's a net positive for the city, and to be honest, if we don't piss her off, this whole thing could actually work out for us." He took a deep breath, knowing he'd likely get no second chance at forwarding his point. "She hasn't actually fought us, she might actually be open to cooperation, which would be a hell of a lot more than we have with the other gangs."

Armsmaster shook his head, speaking stiffly, not even looking at Ethan. "Murder is murder, whether the city is better or not is immaterial, Skidmark did not have a kill order, as heroes we do not pick and choose who lives or dies."

The Chief Director nodded, "Armsmaster is of course correct." She allowed the silence to stretch for a moment, before she continued, "So is Assault. If Poison Ivy can be confirmed as not continuing an expansion… And of course be warned about the possibility of receiving an immediate kill order if she does expand, or if she makes self replicable constructs - no further action will be taken. She could be immensely useful in case of an Endbringer attack on Brockton Bay, even better if she will agree to help out elsewhere."

Director Piggot looked apoplectic, "Ma'am," She began, only to be shut down immediately.

"No, this is final, Legend will be there tomorrow, to begin negotiations." The Chief Director said, before unceremoniously disconnecting.

They hadn't even gotten a chance to discuss Lung. Again, it was just odd how low priority he was.

Ethan had been freaked out when the forest had begun taking over, if he was honest with himself - but the results, he felt, spoke for themselves. Poison Ivy hadn't actually hurt anyone. She also stopped before reaching the actually inhabited areas of town. It wasn't the actions of a mad woman. The PRT worked with the Elite, Toybox, Accord, and plenty others, even if they hated to admit it.

Why not Poison Ivy?

This could be good, if Legend could deliver, and if anyone could, it was him. Women always seemed to be fascinated with the pretty man, despite his lack of interest.

Between Nazis and the ABB and her, Ethan would take a plant mistress anyday, as long as she kept them to herself, of course.

And that was the rub wasn't it?

"Assault" "Assault." Both Director Piggot and Armsmaster spoke up at the same time, both with a similar disapproving tone. Although there was more heat present in the Director's voice.

He held his hands up, "Hey now, don't shoot the messenger, it's good to view all the options here, and I'm not wrong, I for one don't want to fight someone that can drop Yggdrasil on me."

What the hell was most of them supposed to do if Poison Ivy grew a skyscraper sized tree under their asses?

Director Piggot glared at him almost hatefully, shaking off Deputy Director Renicks weak attempt to pull her back. "You ever try to defend a monster capable of wiping out Brockton Bay in front of me again Assault, there will be consequences!"

He didn't take it personally, knowing her buttons and PTSD were pressed pretty heavily at the moment, so he just nodded, keeping his mouth shut.

Armsmaster jumped in right behind her, "It is important when facing the upper echelons to be on the same page, your comment only served to make us look divided." The disapproving tone did nothing to change his mind. "Defending a villain is a wasted effort."

Ethan nodded his head genially, not saying he agreed with their views, but also not further digging himself down either, he wasn't stupid. Fighting a lost battle wasn't worth it, he'd made his point to the Chief Director, that was enough.

Then Velocity of all people spoke up, "Technically… Armsmaster and Miss Militia could also lay waste to the city, if they truly tried, it's all about if they would. And Assault might have a point, we just don't know yet."

"Look at what you've done!" Battery hissed at him, Ethan just grinned, feeling pleased to have received backup, even if his lovely wifey didn't agree.

Ethan would love to say that was the end of the meeting and they all went and got some much needed sleep.

But Piggot kept them for another two hours.

Bureaucracy was a bitch!

---

Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

You are currently logged in, Poison Ivy

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to
• AND Threads that have new replies
• OR private message conversations with new replies
• Thread OP is displayed.
• Ten posts per page
• Last ten messages in private message history.
• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.

♦ Topic: New Villain Offers Sanctuary!

In: Boards ► America ► East Coast ► Brockton Bay ► Capes ► Poison Ivy

►Poison Ivy (Original Poster) (Verified Cape)

Hello all the lovely people of Brockton Bay, I figured I might as well introduce myself before the big bad PR(t) machine paints me out as a slobbering madwoman.

I am the villain responsible for the beautification of the parts of Brockton Bay no one was taking care of. My lovely territory (the former train yards and boat graveyard) is now a haven, gangs and the PRT are not welcome - the forest will repel invaders…

You have been warned!

Although I am no hero, the haven I control, under the leaves of my own world tree, aptly named Sanctuary - will offer succor to those of you who want to escape homelessness and addiction, or just want safety from the rampant gangs and their evil.

Food, homes, warmth, healing - it's all on offer within, as long as you come with no thought of harm towards the forest and its inhabitants. To offset any questions on potential mastering or such disgusting comparisons to Heartbreaker - I will be offering a substantial sum to have Panacea independently verify that I do not have that capability - and that the people entering my forest are not under any control. I do plants, not people.

Like I said, I'm no hero. So in return for offering those of you who wish safety from the gangs succor, I will demand tribute, a favor, a task in my name - something to prove your sincerity.

This can be as simple as helping harvest the food my forest is growing for all the homeless.

I might be a villain by PR(t) standards, but I am in no way evil.

Come find me, and find out.

(Showing page 1 of 248)

►Kolerog

Replied On July 9th 2010:

#Poison Ivy "I do plants"

Tell me more…

Link to picture of Poison Ivy here taken by a merchant few weeks ago.

Yum.

►XxVoid_CowboyxX

Replied On July 9th 2010:

Wait, villains can be verified capes here?

How come I haven't seen that before! Is PHO in on the conspiracy too! Are there elves hidden in the forest cuz world tree? #Poison Ivy do you have poisonous lips just like in the comics?

Did the forest eat Hookwolf? Is the PRT covering it up because they're secretly Nazi's?

►Liima1 (Verified Finnish)

Replied On July 9th 2010:

#XxVoid_CowboyxX can't believe I'm asking this, but poisonous lips… Uh, which ones? Just in case, you know.

It's good to have all the info…

Also more pics when?

►BringerOfFarts

Replied On July 9th 2010:

#Liima1 sure, sure, just scientific curiosity right?

Perv.

#XxVoid_CowboyxX

Also, pretty sure this is still America, last I checked being a bad guy (or girl) or even being in jail, doesn't stop you from having the right of free speech.

I guess except the Birdcage. Cuz fuck those guys.

Pretty sure as long as she doesn't like calling for a violent takeover of the city, she'll be fine. Uber and L33T are both on PHO you know, so not like she's the first.

Also, welcome to our new overlady, I will never again forget to water my plants, please do not do plant things to me!

►Monarch (Verified Cape) (Elite)

Replied On July 9th 2010:

Please do plant things to me!

►Whack-A-Mole (Veteran Member) (Girl in the know)

Replied On July 9th 2010:

You know… Managed to get a hold of a report on an encounter in New York, Poison Ivy battled the villain Ravager, she got chased off by Legend.

But let's forget those inconsequential tidbits, and focus on the important things.

Poison Ivy can do tentacles. Tied up Ravager real good.

I ship it.

►Soupguy

Replied On July 9th 2010:

#Whack-A-Mole, there's a lot of Asians in Brockton Bay…

Not saying anything else.

That is all.

Just saying.

►BadDragon (Temp Banned)

Replied On July 9th 2010:

Plants, come on... As if. Lung will be out soon enough again, and then she'll be a goner, you hear that you stupid plant bitch?

Whatcha gonna do against FIRE!

►DockItHard

Replied On July 9th 2010:

I mean free food, healing and a place to stay? It's way better than any of the gangs or the actual government is offering. This is fucking Brockton, not really an abundance of safety or prosperity around, you know what I'm saying?

We're already all being bent over by the gangs and the PRT, so it seems like this would just be the same thing for a better offer.

If you're already bent over, why does it matter if this time it's by plants?

Plants prob gentler than Hookwolf or Oni Lee, all I'm saying.

►GstringGirl

Replied On July 9th 2010:

The important thing is no one got hurt, and the plants and trees look really pretty, especially the plant boats in the harbor, it all looks really nice, doesn't it?

►NotKeanuReeves (Temp Banned)

Replied On July 9th 2010:

So… the plants are all man eaters, right? No way some villain is going - I'll take all your poor and sick routine - without something evil behind it.

Nevermind, just saw the picture, where do I sign up? I always wanted to take up henching.

I'll work behind or under her anyday!

I don't even care if you peg me with plant tentacles, I accept my new plant overlady.

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On July 9th 2010:

This thread is under heavy watch, as is all villain involved threads as a matter of procedure.

I'm putting a stop to the way this thread is already derailing, there will be no more mentions of tentacles, or anything of the sort, there will be no inciting or attempting to draw out the original poster.

No one's getting a Darwin award today, people.

Keep it clean, keep it to powers or general discussions, or I will lock it.

►JollyHippo (Veteran Member) (Secret Overlord.)

Replied On July 9th 2010:

Only in Brockton Bay…

Parts of the city get overtaken by a magic forest, it seems like it would be the talk of the town, right?

But no, it's all about things that should not be spoken about instead, or actual idiots wanting to go there.

You gonna trust her word on it!?

I fucking hate this city…

►BigKahuna

Replied On July 9th 2010:

Am I the only one scared Void hasn't been banned yet?

That's the real horror of the last few weeks.

What's going on there!?

End of Page. 2, 3, 4 ... 245, 246, 247, 248

…

Well… That was pointless, Ivy thought, having gone on PHO since Amy had the thought of wanting to check on it, not having to worry about school, she had more free time to browse.

She'd forgotten that the internet was in fact populated by 98 percent perverts.

Some porn was probably cleaner then the comments online. People thought villains were sick?

Most of them couldn't compete with the perversions in a regular person on the Internet's mind.

Hopefully the news of her Sanctuary would still spread, the homeless didn't exactly surf PHO, so it would have to trickle down to them. She couldn't exactly go recruiting, she had to keep things to her territory for now, to not set off the PRT worse than it already no doubt was.

Emily Piggot wasn't exactly known as reasonable, and that was before she pressed the big red Ellisburg button by transforming part of her city.

She was already prepared in case the response was extermination, and they'd regret it if it was, because her return would be swift, and she wouldn't be playing nice anymore.

With her power, if she really let loose, there wouldn't be any stopping her. So if they decided to play hardball, it would only benefit her in the end. Amy would swoop in to save the day, and then the two of them could play both sides until they were the only ones left.

She wouldn't have to worry about crafting her little slice of Brockton Bay into a proper gang territory, the people would come to her and build it up for her. The homeless, she could heal into perfect health, twist their loyalty, because of course she wasn't a master of any sorts or bioshaper.

It's all just plants doing it.

Panacea said so.

She couldn't help but snort at that. She'd give herself a pass, and most people would leave off with just that, such was Panacea's reputation. Or Remedy now, but the name hadn't had enough time to circulate to be known.

She was currently in one of the labs Strider had managed to purchase and outfit, the location finished just before she reformed the entire territory, obviously she did not eat up her precious lab - that would have been counterproductive, so it was one of the few actual proper buildings in the area, even if most of it was underground.

With Coil probably not getting killed anytime soon - using Fortress construction for the expansion of the building was suddenly a bit of an issue for Panacea. Luckily this lab was in Ivy's territory, and not even Coil would be stupid enough to poke through here after the first few timelines of failure.

She almost hoped he'd send Tattletale in.

With her own territory, she didn't need to play too carefully, and the bitch would make a good minion.

Maybe.

Even her work could probably only fix so much smugness and bitchiness.

Ivy got off the computer, there was no point in browsing anymore of PHO, it was obvious it was just going to continue in the same vein, nothing she needed to see. If she wanted filth, she could just go back to Skidmarks house.

Sherrel ambled in, followed by a filthy old man covered in rags, "Boss, already got one dude that is willing to make a deal." She announced cheerfully.

Ivy gave her a pained look, "My personal lab was not where I remember telling you to take them Hot Wheels…" She chided.

Sherrel shrugged, scratching her left tit casually, "Eh, but you were here, so figure quicker, yeah?"

The homeless man hadn't even looked at Ivy yet, too busy staring at Sherrel, Ivy wondered if he was really here for the deal or if he'd just followed Sherrel after seeing her in the underbrush.

It was unlikely he'd even heard of it, the homeless didn't exactly spend much time online.

Ivy looked at her in defeat and just accepted it with a tired sigh, Sherrel is not going to change, not without more brain scrambling than I'm comfortable with, speaking of… "Sherrel… You realize that although I jokingly called this the Garden of Eden, we don't actually go around naked, right?"

"Huh, my bad then." Sherrel said, while making absolutely no effort to cover up. What's with her and clothes? Ivy thought with annoyance, but she switched her focus to the man she'd lured in.

She wouldn't be caught staring at Sherrel, she had self control.

"I offer you healing, bringing your body up to its best and healthiest it could be, do you accept?" Ivy offered flippantly.

She didn't bother listing the services required in payment for utilizing her sanctuary, because those were for the people that didn't stay permanently. The ones that left her territory and therefore couldn't show up acting differently without ruining her reputation.

This was a homeless man, alone in her territory, there would be no deal, he'd be loyal, she'd make sure of it.

Oh, no full out slavish mastering, because she didn't need the heat yet if he got caught somehow by the heroes. But for a man about to have a much better life, a slow growing sense of loyalty wouldn't be too weird.

"I figure it's either that or die in the winter, so why not?" The older man said gruffly, scratching his dirty beard. He looked at least in his sixties, and like a man that had led a hard life.

Being homeless wasn't easy to begin with. Being homeless in Brockton Bay was like the hunger games.

Murdered by the Empire during an initiation? Drug off by the Merchants, the ABB having some fun while bored, an independent villain needing test subjects, you never knew, but it was never good. Brockton Bay was its own kind of hell for the homeless.

Amy had used them as well for test subjects, just proving the point, they'd all flock to her soon enough.

Luckily, she had lots of biomass around, healing and shaping requiring it, unlike most of her plant shaping - so she gestured for him to sit down in one of the chairs nearby, making a point even for this soon to be loyal man - to call up her plants, making vines grow around the man, flowers blooming and spraying him with their perfume

Mostly all theater, to make him believe the plants were healing him and changing him, as his eyes grew a little slack, from the slight sedative the flowers had exuded. Ivy stepping up and laying a hand on him, wrinkling her nose slightly at the absolute filth on his skin, the smell wasn't all that either.

Since this man would be hers, she went a little above and beyond. She healed him of course, curing many ailments, from arthritis, to a failing liver, to the onset of Alzheimer's she noticed in his brain. She even rebuilt his body to a slightly younger age, his ID might say sixty something now, but his body would look and feel like forty at the most. As he would be one of her henchmen, she also strengthened his bones, his musculature and his immune system amongst other things.

Nothing that would make him truly super human, but it would all in all make him more durable, less likely to die on her and waste a resource. An army of Brutes could wait until she had a firmer hand on Brockton Bay and didn't risk the whole city being firebombed out of existence.

She finally let go, stretching languidly, turning to Sherrel, unable to stop her eyes from roaming as Sherrel stood proudly naked in front of her. Damn…

"He'll be unconscious for a few hours, then you can take him and explain what tasks need to be done and introduce him to Sandman." She said idly, looking away quickly when Sherrel gave her a knowing look, winking exaggeratedly.

"Sure thing boss lady, whatcha working on anyway?" Sherrel asked, strolling up, laying a companionble arm around Ivy's shoulder.

Ivy tried to ignore the feel of Sherrels breast pushing into her side, focus on the work, yes, the work. She thought, clearing her throat, "I'm working on shaping different plants into products I can use to force the city to accept my presence no matter what, until I'm ready to take it over." She explained.

Sherrel hummed in interest, "Like what? Veggie burgers that don't taste like horse shit?" She chuckled at her own joke, drawing an amused smile from Ivy.

"Maybe next time." She said, quirking a half grin at the thought of going into the food business. The amount of people who would screech Soylent green… Heh, almost worth doing it just for that. Except I'm trying to get good PR… For now.

She looked over to where she was testing different synthesized drugs from the different plants she'd played with all night and morning so far. "What I'm working on right now… Is cures for various diseases, ones entirely dependant on only my plants."

Sherrel whistled, looking impressed, "If that works, they can't touch you." She said with admiration, before laughing with pure glee, "We'll be the biggest most kickass gang ever, and the government will have to bend over for us to buy their drugs! Talk about taking over the drug trade!" She whooped.

Ivy smirked, "That's the idea, take over the illegal drug trade, and the legal drug trade, and no one will be able to mess with us." Not that easy, but it certainly will make it difficult to remove me… And of course, Amy will be the governments only hope to 'recreate' the drugs outside of villain hands… Heh.

"We should celebrate…" Sherrel purred, running a hand down Ivy's front, drawing a shocked gasp and a wide eyed stare from her.

Sherrel chuckled, removing her hand, "Boss lady, you're such a virgin." She chided, before backing off, "But I can take a clue, not this time, but eh, think about it okay?"

Ivy watched her leave, a complicated expression on her face.

Perhaps I should.

I exist in this body to have fun after all.

And maybe it will take my mind of Vicky and the complications there…

Not today… She thought, looking towards her experiments.

But tomorrow?

Tomorrow was another matter.

---

Arcadia had been exhausting today. Normally Amy didn't have to worry about being the center of attention, not with Vicky around.

She'd thought she'd be fine, after all, the announcement of leaving New Wave and creating Starlight hadn't gotten her mobbed, so surely nothing would change.

Things had changed. A lot.

She'd really underestimated how much of a pall Lung and the ABB had cast over the city, even somewhere fairly prosperous like Arcadia High.

If people weren't begging her for autographs, they were shooting questions about the fight, or trying to touch her, at least those last ones Vicky got rid off quickly enough for her. The teachers tried to stamp down on it, but there was only so much they could do outside of class without kicking the entire school out for the day.

Because of the commotion, she'd literally had no time to try and get a minute alone to speak with Vicky, to figure out what was going on. She hadn't expected a reversal of the canon situation between the two of them, even with all the teasing and messing with her that she'd done. She'd made her loyal, because she was a selfish person inherently, and she didn't want Vicky to ever abandon her - but that didn't mean feelings, right?

And how did she feel about her? She hadn't really thought too deeply on it, not with everything going on, and not wanting to go down that canon rabbit hole. With the crazy school day of uncomfortableness - she hadn't had a chance to even probe her own feelings on the matter.

The fact such a small inconsequential kiss had thrown all the butterflies around inside her, wasn't a good sign…

She was doing everything she could to ensure canon never happened, for this city in particular, since someone else already took care of the golden morning issue. Her and Vicky was kind of canon if you squinted at it, especially if she had those feelings.

Could she even do that? She was aware she was kind of a sociopath, considering she had no real issues with killing or becoming a villain set to control an entire city, the drug trade, the works. No one could really argue the point… So could she even feel like that for someone?

She needed time to think! And she couldn't even use Ivy's brain for it because she was in the middle of finicky shaping, important work for their plans going forward that she couldn't just drop, not with an incoming PRT response - whenever they got off their asses and picked a way to tackle Ivy.

The school day finally finished, and Amy trudged outside with Vicky, who was still looking all too comfortable and serene for Amy's liking. If she was going to be all neurotic about everything it wasn't fair that Vicky was perfectly chill about everything.

Fucking Glory Girl and her non neurotic ass! She though mullishly, but that only got her to look at her ass… Her jeans were so tight they could be classified body paint and no one would be surprised.

Which didn't help with the situation right now.

Before they could take off, someone called out to them.

"Amy, Vicky!"

Amy glanced towards the parking lot, and her heart sank, so much for time to think, she snarked silently to herself.

In the parking lot was Lady Photon, or as she was in her civvies, Aunt Sarah.

Vicky the traitor of course flew over immediately, even if she kept her face fairly neutral, due to how their last meeting went.

Amy was left with no choice but to begrudgingly trudge over to see what Aunt Sarah wanted.

Infamy is looking a lot better than fame, if his is what fame gets me… She thought irritably, having been harassed all day, without a moment to think. She just wanted an hour to herself and a few minutes alone with Vicky, was that too much to ask?

"Aunt Sarah." She stated with a chilled tone, as she came to stand next to Vicky, her sister immediately laying an arm around her shoulder in support. She immediately felt some tension bleed out, and stiffened right after as she realized just how easily Vicky could make her feel better. That's just sister stuff, nothing more!

Their Aunt visibly winced, even as she gave the both of them a wistful smile, "It good to see you girls, I know we haven't exactly done right by you, but we'd like to talk, at our house, if possible." She hurriedly added, "Carol and Mark won't be there."

"You should have called and made an appointment." Amy said coldly, not giving a fuck. Carol and Mark were the main offenders, but the rest of New Wave had hardly stood up and defended her. Just like they didn't for original Amy.

The whole team was to blame for half her issues.

The other half… Well, Amy wasn't innocent either.

Aunt Sarah sagged slightly, "Fair, I… We really failed you two, didn't listen, didn't pay attention, let Carol run rampant without treating her mental hangups, it's on us, and you should hate us for it. But please… Just let us talk, we'll leave you alone after if you want, I promise." She sounded so painfully earnest that it was hard for Amy to find anything rude to say to wave her off.

Then Vicky turned her big blue eyes on her, face open and honest, "Ames…" She said softly, and Amy closed her eyes, "Fine." She muttered out, not looking at either of them.

"You girls okay to fly? Or want to take my car?" Aunt Sarah asked softly, looking relieved.

Vicky answered that easily enough, scooping up Amy in a bridal carry, "Race you there." She said casually, taking off into the air.

It didn't take them too long too arrive, Vicky and Amy waiting by the door for Aunt Sarah, who flew in shortly after them, setting down on the ground lightly, "Let's head in then, girls, and thank you." She said sincerely, "For giving us a chance to talk."

Vicky smiled brilliantly, "Of course Aunt Sarah." And then reached over and hugged the woman, drawing a quiet sniffle out of her.

Amy watched it all feeling uncomfortable, not offering any words or hugs herself. She was focusing more on her Ivy part of herself, doing actual work, to avoid thinking too heavily about this whole fucked up family situation.

They entered after Aunt Sarah, going to the livingroom, where the rest of the Pelhams were waiting for them. Uncle Neil, Eric and Crystal. Or Manpower, Shielder and Laserdream if they were in uniform.

They exchanged some quick greeting, Amy standing back, refusing to get huggy with the people who hadn't defended her from Carol. No matter that the end result was something she'd engineered and wanted. She had expected at least a token defense, some sign they cared.

She hadn't gotten it. So she wasn't interested now, weeks later.

As soon as Vicky floated back to Amy's side, Aunt Sarah began, running a hand through her hair tiredly, "Look, I don't know how to even make this right, but it has to begin with an apology." She looked at Amy, "I am so sorry for not reacting, responding, hell, for not doing anything, even punching my sister for what she said - anything would have been better than nothing. I should have made sure you knew you were loved, Amy." There was real pain in her voice, and a hitch to it that showed she was a holding back stronger emotions.

Amy shifted uncomfortably, averting her eyes.

Uncle Neil took over, clasping one large hand onto Aunt Sarah's shoulder, "What she said, we behaved terribly, Amy, we should have stood up for you immediately. I can only blame the shock, but it is no excuse. I am sorry. We're all sorry, sweetheart. For you too Vicky, we should have been as vehement as you were, you were the best of us in that moment."

Amy's mouth was slightly open as she listened to the unabashedly complete apology, with no attempts to talk around the issue or blame anyone else. "Thank…You…" She managed to get out, feeling a degree of warmth she didn't think she could still feel towards them.

Crystal and Eric both rushed forward in that moment, almost knocking Amy over in their haste to hug her, Vicky joining in with a teary eyed laugh.

"I'm so sorry Amy!" "I can't believe I didn't stand up and do anything, and I will never forgive myself, I'm so sorry Amy!" Eric and Crystal cried out at the same time, knocking their heads together with Amy's as they crushed themselves against her. If she wasn't brute rated now, that would have probably hurt.

"It's alright… You couldn't go against all the adults." Amy said softly, not as angry with the two, not everyone could be like her, perfectly willing to set out mostly on her own.

Didn't mean she forgave any of them, because she didn't. But she could slightly accept them a bit easier.

"It's not alright." Crystal insisted, smooshing Amy's cheeks together insistently, eyes wet, "We hurt you, and that will never be okay."

"Give her her cheeks back, Cryz!" Vicky laughed, pulling Amy back out of the group with one quick yoink, "Amy is going to combust if everyone keeps hugging her, she's a grouchy teddy bear, remember?"

Crystal and Eric both backed off immediately, although with small chuckles, Amy giving Vicky a pouty glare for bringing back childhood stupidity like the grouchy bear remark.

Aunt Sarah looked happier, as she grabbed Crystal and Eric around the shoulders, just standing there watching Amy and Vicky bicker for a moment, Uncle Neil laughing quietly.

Amy rubbed her red cheeks, giving them all a tired look, it had already been a long day, "I'm not over it, but I don't hate you either." She grumbled, pushing away Vicky as she tried to ruffle her hair. "If that's all, we really got to go, hero business and all that…"

The Pelham family exchanged a loaded look, before Uncle Neil stepped forward, looking unusually serious, "About that… Starlight looking for any recruits?" He asked, gesturing to himself and the rest of the Pelhams.

Amy's jaw fell open.

What!?

No seriously, what!?

A suspicious part of her mind couldn't help but wonder at the same time…

New Wave probably lost most of their sponsors and donors, and it did take them until Starlight was established with the defeat of Lung to apologize…

Is this real?

Or was it all fake?

And more importantly…

Yes

Or

No?

---

The Meathook was a special kind of bar,

It wasn't open to the public for one, and it looked more like a man cave than a bar to boot. The only signs to the outside that it was anything but another run down house, was the bloody Meathook sign in one window.

And of course the people hanging around willing to kill you if you looked at the place wrong. As far as the cops were aware, the place didn't exist. Especially if they were aware - then it didn't exist even harder.

Furs covered the walls and substituted for table cloths on the tables, drinking horns were used instead of mugs or glasses, and there was an abundance of trophies on the wall, of the more disturbing kind, not to even mention the Meathooks dangling from the ceiling with dolls of heroes pierced right through - New Wave in particular featured heavily.

Panacea in particular was a solid third of the effigies pierced through.

Jonathan was having trouble keeping his excitement in, it wouldn't do to grin like a fool and all but call out how new he was to the wolfpack.

Everyone knew of course, but it wouldn't do to call attention to it. All the men and the few women who were attending Hookwolf's bar tonight, had some sort of wolf tattoo somewhere. Jonathan had just gotten his the other day, prominently displayed on both shoulders, one wolf head each.

He'd finally gotten in fully after their run in with the ABB for the initiation to Hookwolf's pack. He'd lost some people, but he was alive, and he was in, and that was all that mattered.

For a Nazi run establishment, there were very few swastikas or paraphernalia around, which made him feel slightly self conscious about the one on his neck. Hookwolf was much more concerned with one's ability to fight and take some punishment - than keeping up appearances. They were all Empire, but these people were a different breed.

There were no wait staff, you wanted a beer, you went and you got a fucking beer, no one in the wolfpack paid at Hookwolf's place - no one not part of the wolfpack entered if they wanted to live. Including Empire 88 capes that weren't suborned to Hookwolf.

If you weren't part of Hookwolf's crew, he'd murder you if you stepped past the threshold. As one hapless new trigger recruited to the Empire 88 last year had found out.

From what Jonathan had heard down the grapevine, Kaiser had been thrilled to finally get a tinker for the Empire - until the man had gotten cocky with how 'special' he was, and had entered the Meathook.

Kaiser had received his tinker in a dozen pieces. Appropriately attached to meat hooks of course, to really hammer in the point. Kaiser and Hookwolf had disappeared for a day, both returning beaten up and angry, but the matter settled.

It was one of the many stories that was part of Hookwolf's and the wolf packs legend. Part of why Jonathan was so excited to finally be here. He'd joined an exclusive club, one where you were in it for life, where every member would die for you, and you'd die for them. Everything he'd ever wanted since he joined the Empire.

He grabbed a drinking horn off the wall and went behind the bar to pour himself a beer, having to struggle to remain unaffected as he rounded the counter, one of the wolfpack women on all fours being railed by one of the older guys. Both seemingly had just dropped their pants and went at it, with no concern for their location.

At least the sounds of the bare chested men fighting in the sand pit in the middle of the bar, and the cheering and betting surrounding it - was loud enough to cover the sound of the two fucking. Jonathan hurriedly poured his beer and stepped away to watch the fight, he didn't know what the etiquette was here, was he supposed to fuck her too? Watch?

It's not like they posted rules.

He drank heavily from his drinking horn, savoring the taste, trying to not think about it too much, as he watched two senior members beat the fuck out of each other to raucous cheers.

As the fight finished with one of the men giving in with a bloody grin as his nose got broken, the room quickly fell to silence, Hookwolf getting off his throne at the back of the bar managing to immediately draw every eye in the room.

"That right there, that's what we're here for, on this earth." He rumbled, stepping into the sandy miniature arena, chest bare, and his metal mask covering the bottom of his face. "To BATTLE!" He roared, "To BLEED!" The people around Jonathan all screamed, howling to the air, Jonathan following along, feeling his blood pumping wildly, he'd never felt more alive, the air was electric as the men and women shouted out their agreement to Hookwolf's code.

"To WIN or to DIE! A Warrior's life!" Hookwolf laughed, "That's what it means to belong to the wolfpack!"

Of course death was more metaphorical in such a simple spar, because they didn't kill each other. But when it came to enemies. There was no leaving someone alive, you killed or you got killed. Capes had different rules, but they were a special sort.

"It's about respect to those ideals, the craving for battle, for proving yourself, for always finding new challenges without giving a FUCK about what anyone thinks about it!" Hookwolf had begun pacing in the sand, a low growl to his voice as he glared out at them. The cheering growing quiet as the pack all realized that Hookwolf was angry.

"Someone here…" Hookwolf growled out, sniffing the air like he smelt something foul, "Has betrayed the pack!"

Cries of dismay immediately rang out, Jonathan amongst them. How could anyone betray this? This brotherhood, I've only just joined and I can't imagine ever leaving!

Hookwolf grumbled, pacing, kicking up sand as he moved faster, parts of him turning metal, hooks and blades forming and deforming with his rising anger. "Come forward now, and I'll make it quick, for your smidgeon of bravery, traitor."

No one moved, everyone watching each other with hard eyes, watching to see who'd done it, who'd betrayed them. No one stepped forward, a murmur of anger going through the crowd as they realized one of them was a coward. Jonathan could emphasize, looking around in disgust - being a coward was almost worse than being a traitor.

At the very least, betraying someone like Hookwolf took guts. Not being man enough to own up to it when called out however… Cowardice.

They should have faced their death with some balls, he thought.

Hookwolf shook his head, greasy hair falling into his face as his eyes darkened. "I'm disappointed, Cole." He bit out, glaring into the crowd, eyes finding a buff seven foot tall white man, wolf and swastika tattoos visible on his bare chest. As the pack all turn in shock and hate towards their target, Cole pushed those next to him aside, and made a run for the door.

Jonathan made to tackle the man, when Hookwolf barked out, "Leave him!" Holding one fist up in the air. Everyone stopped in their place, as Cole rushed outside, such gravitas there was in Hookwolf's words.

No one would gainsay Hookwolf.

Hookwolf laughed, his eyes wild as he began transforming, "The hunt is on!" He barked, "Resume the festivities, I'll bring back the guest of honor…"

Everyone saluted with a fist to their heart, as Hookwolf bounded off after their running traitor. They all knew there would be no need to assist. The wolfpack would get their chance when their master returned with his prey.

Conversation immediately started up, the bloody man from the previous fight, spitting a great glob or blood and mucus into the sand, "Fucking Kaiser again, I bet, always wants an in to the pack."

"We're all Empire, he just needs to trust Hookwolf." One of the others mutters with distaste. "It's a fucking waste is what it is."

Jonathan muttered under his breath, not able to help himself, "Not too much of a waste, guy was a coward."

"Hah, the newbie has it right!" The winner of the previous fight bellowed, putting a large calloused hand on Jonathan's shoulder, "You got spirit boy, wanna go for a round?"

Jonathan looked up at the giant of a man, and could only see defeat in his future. Still, he grinned sharply, eyes flashing with battle lust, "You're on, old man!" He said challengingly.

"Heh, yeah, you'll do alright." He said approvingly, "Welcome to the pack, cub."

…

Hours later, Jonathan was nursing another beer, his head almost done ringing now.

Hookwolf had already returned with a broken Cole, allowing the pack to exact the rest of their retribution. They were all Empire 88, but the wolfpack did not tolerate anyone spying on what they were doing, no matter for who.

Hookwolf called for silence, putting one foot on the broken mess that used to be a person, "Alright, we all know the fucking dyke from New Wave managed to embarrass Kaiser, which normally I wouldn't give two fucks about, but she embarrassed all of the Empire, ain't a chance I'll allow it. The fucking pack is getting called out for loving dykes and homos, and we ain't fucking accepting that are we!?"

Jonathan joined the others as they roared out a resounding, "NO!"

Hookwolf pointed at Jonathan, "New blood here has a brother at Arcadia, he got us a list of all the little friends the dyke and her sister has…"

There were many pats on the back for that, as Jonathan grinned, accepting the fresh beer shoved into his hand, and blushing at the woman who slid into his lap all of a sudden, especially as she slid her hand down his jeans, to cheers from those nearby.

Jonathan didn't know exactly how to react to Hookwolf still addressing him while someone was fondling him, it was a very new experience, scaroused probably applied as a description.

"Hell yeah, show new blood some love!" Hookwolf called out, cackling, "He's set us up to finally get back at the fuckers who dared make fun of us! Hiding behind their fucking pretty walls, led by a healer." He huffed with disgust. "Fucking cheated to take down that dragon too, couldn't face him like a man…"

Hookwolf shrugged, "Good riddance to the subhuman garbage anyway, pity though, at least he was worth a fight." Hookwolf looked pensive for a moment, before shaking his head, roaring out, "Now we gotta deal with the uppity dyke that thinks she's untouchable!"

"Ain't the wards at Arcadia?" One of the men questioned, "You've been telling us to not gut the babies, is all I'm saying." He said when he received dirty looks all around.

Hookwolf nodded, "Yeah, but we figured that out already, with Stalker being a nigger, and Vista being a baby, only possible wards around the dyke are guys, so to save us the headache of PRT involvement, we'll just kill the chicks."

One of the men began going around with lists for the others in the pack.

Hookwolf looked on with approval, and with vicious anticipation, "Tonight, ten girls that made the mistake of befriending Glory Girl… Are going to die, with their families, for choosing the wrong people to follow." He laughed darkly, "Woulda been the dykes' friends, except she doesn't have any!"

Laughter erupted at that, Jonathan joining in, of course she doesn't, who'd want to befriend that disgusting thing?

"You all got your assignments, kill the fuckers, burn their homes, I want Glory Girl and Panacea to wake up in the morning and see what they've done!" Hookwolf barked, gesturing with his arm, groups breaking up and heading for the exit.

Jonathan had been slightly distracted, and just now realized he hadn't been given an assignment, Hookwolf sidling up to the bar right next to him, chuckling at Jonathan's open mouth, "Boy, your assignment is easy." He called out.

The woman sitting in his lap, bit his ear hard enough to draw blood, grinding into him, Jonathan desperately trying to keep a respectful mien towards Hookwolf during all of it.

I have a hard on in front of Hookwolf, he though with mortification.

"Your assignment is to survive this bitch, she's always hungry for new blood." He laughed, sauntering off, heading out for his own target no doubt.

"Don't break him too badly!" Was the last Jonathan heard before Hookwolf left, leaving them alone.

The blonde older woman laughed, looking at Jonathan with an appraising look, "That's up to you…" She purred.

Jonathan really didn't regret joining the Wolfpack, the benefits were great!

---

Author's note:

PHO segments are a pain, formatting is annoying between sites too, but it's almost a necessity for a worm fic when something big happens. Some of the names are patrons of mine, some are just random.

So Lung got unPanacead due to the government not abiding unknown substances in their lock up or such bullshit excuses, I'm sure it will be fine.

Powerful Parahuman takes over parts of the city. Cauldron : Good, keep giving us data. Help the PRT? Heaven's no, send Legend to talk to the villain to get them to play within city limits, so we don't have to quarantine it.

See, all good now.

Still keeping up with their little project due to Endbringers instead of Scion. Poor Piggot, can never get any help for all the shit that happens in her city.

It would help if she wasn't a colossal bitch too.

Pelhams, genuine or taking advantage? Bit of both? Who knows…

Cheers

JollyHippopotamus

 

[Thicc Shaedy]

Awe, Brad done signed his own death sentence. Good riddance.

 

[Splattered Cloak]

ABB territory would not be a fun place to be living right now. Starlight has taken in one who murdered a bunch of them, and has taken out their protector, leaving them at the mercy of E88 on one side and a new forest on the other.

But those schoolgirls are going to steal the news cycle and cause the Empire to fall, especially with Legend in town.

Personally, I'd hesitate to accept the Pelhams into Starlight at this point; Sarah in particular is far too controlling. They can be an associate team. But perhaps their actions in the upcoming Empire campaign can act as a gauge.

Ethan couldn't help but critique the villain for simply cribbing the name from a comic book from Aleph though, no matter how apropos her power seemed to be,

Click to shrink...

It's always sad to me that Bet is so quick to attribute parts of their culture to Aleph. Poison Ivy debuted in the sixties; plenty of time for the local D.C. to claim copyright. Granted, fighting Poison Ivy sounds like it could cost a company more than the price of a few lawyers, and she's riding a line decently close to the character's, so maybe they won't be so quick to litigate.

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

I am liking this story, but this wasn't one of the good chapters. Mainly because you are flanderizing not just a couple of the charcters, but all the charcters. Except maybe VoidCowboy for some reason?

 

[JollyHippo]

Awe, Brad done signed his own death sentence. Good riddance.

Click to shrink...

Well perhaps, killing capes without a kill order is illegal still, while killing tons of civilians is apparently okidoki.

If Hookwolf doesn't even show up to any of these and it's just 'normal' E88 members doing it, he won't get a kill order for it either. Because that's how the fucked up system works.

But hey a metal eating plant thing just went through the trainyard and boat graveyard, who's to say Hookwolf didn't fall into a hole filled with that? Just stumbling into it, purely by chance.

ABB territory would not be a fun place to be living right now. Starlight has taken in one who murdered a bunch of them, and has taken out their protector, leaving them at the mercy of E88 on one side and a new forest on the other.

But those schoolgirls are going to steal the news cycle and cause the Empire to fall, especially with Legend in town.

Personally, I'd hesitate to accept the Pelhams into Starlight at this point; Sarah in particular is far too controlling. They can be an associate team. But perhaps their actions in the upcoming Empire campaign can act as a gauge.


It's always sad to me that Bet is so quick to attribute parts of their culture to Aleph. Poison Ivy debuted in the sixties; plenty of time for the local D.C. to claim copyright. Granted, fighting Poison Ivy sounds like it could cost a company more than the price of a few lawyers, and she's riding a line decently close to the character's, so maybe they won't be so quick to litigate.

Click to shrink...

Well with the ABB practically defunct as far as parahumans go - because a leader Oni Lee ain't. It won't be nearly that bad because unless someone else jumps into town, all the heroes can basically focus exclusively on E88.

Legend won't do shit unless there's a mass cape battle or something, he won't be hitting the Empire he's there to negotiate with Ivy.

Remember it's normies going after the civilians. That's BBPD business. Unless Hookwolf actually takes part, which is a toss up.

That's exactly what Amy is worried about, because it's might convenient that they're suddenly apologizing now. And going behind Carol's back too, which - Amy hates her anyway - but it isn't exactly the sign of a good actor to be betraying their own sister in this case.

I just thought it would be more funny, as if it would be more niche and oh, that Ivy girl is a nerd huh?

I am liking this story, but this wasn't one of the good chapters. Mainly because you are flanderizing not just a couple of the charcters, but all the charcters. Except maybe VoidCowboy for some reason?

Click to shrink...

Can you be more specific on what you mean? Because most of the characters with a lot of screen time are subtly mastered by Amy so they'll be different for sure.

As for New Wave, my read on them were that they were extremely unhelpful even to their own, unless they were in shit suddenly.

I'll do my best to fix anything that's egregiously wrong, but I'll need to know what exactly is wrong.

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

I'll do my best to fix anything that's egregiously wrong, but I'll need to know what exactly is wrong.

Click to shrink...

It's a lot of little things, and you would have to rewrite about 40% of the chapter to really 'fix' it, it is a writeing style that was just really obvious in this chapter, and i did not really see in the story before this. *shrug* I will try to go into more detal;

It's that you went and told us what the sterotype of Miss Milita/Armsmaster/Piggott/Coil/Clockblocker/Lady Photon/Bagrat/Hookwolf is, then played to and expanded their sterotype for the rest of the scene. And then lampshaded it all even further by making the usual walking sterotype (VoidCowboy) being the reasonable one by comparison. Really gets me going, "WTF, is there some chemicals in the city water affecting everyone today?"

Might just be better to accept everyone (including the yourself smilinghippo) was having a stressful day and move on. Don't worry too much about one weird day/chapter. I'm really interested is seeing where all this drama is all going, because this Amy is unique and affecting plot and everyone in interesting ways.

 

[LBS]

I'm amazed people don't torch up the PRT when they slack off on the kill orders. Are they not aware that to the PRT normies are second class citizens?

 

[simianpower]

Unfortunately, he lamented, actually disappearing her would eventually bring down the Triumvirate due to her usefulness in Endbringer fights

Click to shrink...

No, it won't. Because she doesn't GO TO ENDBRINGER FIGHTS! Ever! The only one she is even adjacent to in canon is in her home town, and she's in the Birdcage by the time the next one happens. This is such fanon bullshit!

He'd have to find another way, he was well aware of her acrimonious relationship with Carol Dallon, perhaps there was an avenue there to get a working relationship going at least, she was, according to his previous sequences of information gathering around New Wave, although not aimed at her specifically - riddled with issues with both her family and the hero life, giving him options.

Click to shrink...

That's at least three separate sentences. Commas are not periods, and shouldn't be used as if they are.

If nothing else, using her love for her sister as a lever would achieve plenty.

Click to shrink...

And how the fuck would he know about that? "Investigating" her family wouldn't discover it. And he's not Tattletale.

I couldn't get through more than half of this first chapter because it reads like the author got their knowledge of Worm from fanfiction rather than from reading the source material. Everything feels off. Not in an AU sense, but in a "I don't know what I'm writing about so I just make up stuff even if it doesn't make much sense" way. I was really interested in an SI/Panpan story, but chapter one killed that interest.

 

[LBS]

And how the fuck would he know about that? "Investigating" her family wouldn't discover it. And he's not Tattletale.

Click to shrink...

It doesn't say what kind of love though. If they investigate a bit they will know she hides shit for Vicky, that already tells them what kind of shit they can get by just dragging Vicky into things.

 

[JollyHippo]

No, it won't. Because she doesn't GO TO ENDBRINGER FIGHTS! Ever! The only one she is even adjacent to in canon is in her home town, and she's in the Birdcage by the time the next one happens. This is such fanon bullshit!



That's at least three separate sentences. Commas are not periods, and shouldn't be used as if they are.



And how the fuck would he know about that? "Investigating" her family wouldn't discover it. And he's not Tattletale.

I couldn't get through more than half of this first chapter because it reads like the author got their knowledge of Worm from fanfiction rather than from reading the source material. Everything feels off. Not in an AU sense, but in a "I don't know what I'm writing about so I just make up stuff even if it doesn't make much sense" way. I was really interested in an SI/Panpan story, but chapter one killed that interest.

Click to shrink...

This isn't Canon, SI has been around since Amy triggered, she HAS been going to Endbringer fights. Pretty clear with how she's all this isn't my first rodeo when she gets to the Behemoth fight in the chapter.

Fair enough about those sentences, sometimes miss something in a 12k or plus chapter.

Again, this isn't Canon, Amy's 'love' is different, she's more obsessed about her sister not in the romantic sense at that point, but as her only support and friend. It wasn't mentioned her lust for her sister?

Even if it was referencing canon romantic love, if Coil was kidnapping her in discarded timelines enough to know there was a Triumvirate response, he'd know about her feelings through torturing her for information anyway, not that this is what is going on in this case, someone like Coil can easily figure out how Vicky is Amy's sole anchor and most important person just from outside observation.

You're free to your opinion, but certainly seems your making your own fanon or canon interpretation of the material that doesn't even fit what I explicitly put on the page, so not sure I could do anything no matter what I wrote down in that case.

Either way, thanks for reading, but yeah, if Amy loving her sister being too weird for people to know about (Must be a lot of very shitty families around in BB) is a step too far you're not going to like the next chapters either.