In most other fics, her middle name is fucking. It's always the big reveal, and "Shadow Stalker is Sophia fucking Hess!"
Ring-Maker [Worm/Lord of the Rings Alt-Power] [Complete]
- Thread starter Lithos Maitreya
- Start date
- Crossover Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Firebird Zoom
Pretty Bird
- Location
- Who knows?
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Nice nod to that discussion on this topic that had occurred earlier on either here or SB.
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm curious as to how the Empire managed to recruit a bunch of new capes so quickly. I mean, capes aren't exactly common, even in the wake of Endbringer attacks, and the only ones who are even eligible to join the E88 are white. I can't imagine the ABB has had any successful recruiting, either, considering the recent bombing spree and Bakuda plunging the entire city into a prolonged blackout (and frying all electronics in the city). And a kill order being placed on one of the ABB's three capes.
Also, "I don't think that's how it works."
You and me both, Chris. Still, she gets to do what she wants.
Also, "I don't think that's how it works."
You and me both, Chris. Still, she gets to do what she wants.
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Recruit or also potentially buy vials from cauldron, introducing cauldron to Annatar
- Location
- Somewhere, Maybe
To quote someone from another fic: "That's self-cest."
That line about Hitler was accurate, at least. The man took his country from dead-broke to just a few steps from complete domination of Europe in just 20 years. Granted, he did it through means that we consider horrific now, but that's the value of an absolute dictatorship: IT GETS SHIT DONE.
I'm thinking that a number of the new capes may be out of towners.
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
How and why? I mean, what sort of out-of-towners will be willing to immediately immigrate to a run-down city that recently had an EMP bomb fry all of its electronics and an Endbringer attack, all to join a gang of Nazis?
I'm not saying it couldn't happen eventually, but within a week of Leviathan's attack? It's a bit of a stretch. Unless, of course, it's Cauldron's doing.
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
Don't get too attached to specific chronology. I may sometimes have unannounced minor timeskips. In this case, 7.3 actually takes place about a week end a half after Leviathan's attack.
"FUCK! They found our hideout. We need to scram; lie low for a while."
"How about Brockton Bay? Nobody's going to find us there."
People are rating this 'funny', but I'm quite serious. Not only is Brockton Bay in shambles generally, but it's lost most of its electronic infrastructure. That makes it very attractive to anyone who wants to go 'off the grid' for a while. As for why these newcomers might join the E88? They might be morally flexible enough to see membership as a source of protection once whatever they're running from catches up to them, or they might just have run into a press-gang and not had the option of saying 'no'.
*glances at The Chart*
I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave.
*snaps fingers* ONE letter! One letter from endless jokes! Damn you, Lithos!
And out comes Sophia's knives again....
I... uh... someone check me on this, 'cause I'm not an expert on Tolkien lore. She's... she's not being LITERAL, right? It's not ACTUALLY going to speak for itself, right?
...you know what, now I'm hoping it does. And it's an incurable gossip and soap opera watcher. ("We have to go defeat Lung!" "NOT WHILE DAYS OF OUR LIVES IS ON, WE DON'T.")
And, if Bonesaw gets her way, it'll soon be a gibbon moon!
*puerile giggle*
Sophia: "Well, you could always taaaaaaa*mumblemumble*"
Taylor: "What?"
Sophia: "Nothing! NEVER MIND! dammit, sophia you coward"
Actually, I believe workmen shout at women passing by?
Sophia was paired with Taylor for every patrol, ever since her long talk with the patrol scheduling committee and their subsequent visit to the infirmary.
"I mean, if they were gonna spring a trap, they'd probably do it right about... now."
Thankfully, once she was in the shadows, no one could hear her squeal happily at the chance to be useful to Taylor.
Taylor, I believe that canon will bear out the fact that you can handle TWICE that without a problem.
*looks at a BOOK of possible jokes*
*throws it over shoulder*
*sobs*
I... I need my scotch. Why would you do this to me, Lithos? Why?!
*puerile giggle* "Then I bought Tomorrow another drink and invited it back to my place for a nightcap...."
Well, obviously there's only ONE solution: You need to recruit their recruits out from under their recruiters!
Well, think back to the last place you left those capes and... oh, to shreds, you say? ...all over the city, you say? Well.
At the corner of Cracker McCracken Street and Hitler Did Nothing Wrong Avenue.
Bingo games (E and 88 are always free squares), bake sales (remember: WHITE bread only!), informative lectures on how chins aren't needed for REAL AMERICANS, etc.
I'm... sure that's nothing, Taylor. It's probably just... uh... a Ginsu sales convention?
And THAT'S how Annatar ended up deputizing a random citizen into the Wards....
Also, can I just take a moment to enjoy how Clockblocker just AUTOMATICALLY assumes Taylor's going to try and take down the entirety of the E88? Like, it doesn't even enter his mind that her NOT trying is even an option.
Ahhh, I see Sophia's trying the ol' "make her jealous" approach.
I feel like that Sophia is mentally replacing that comma with a colon.
...I'M COUNTING THAT. THAT COUNTS.
*just... LOOKS at that panic and worry*
*slowly gestures at The Chart*
*puerile giggle* "And if Kaiser ever CATCHES them doing that...."
Awww, look at Taylor, all asking for permission to do things and stuff! ...instead of just going in and
(Assault commandeered an ice cream truck.)
Sophia, I have a GREAT idea on how to do that, complete with an instructional video!
...as opposed to using her radio for the visual and her left big toe for the audio?
And her last name, judging by her school notebooks is either "Hebert-Hess," "Hess-Hebert," or "Taylor's Love Muffin" ...which I think should be hyphenated? It should, right?
I'M COUNTING THAT. THAT COUNTS.
Man, the House of Amber's gonna be pissed that she's stealing their schtick....
..."British accent"? Really, Kaiser? REALLY? Between you and Krieg's shitty German accent, I'm starting to believe that it's a requirement for people high up in the E88.
I know, right? I'm so PROUD!
Slowly, the entire crowd turned to stare at local "exotic novelty" salesman S.L. Aaneesh, who smiled and waved at them cheerfully.
Tagg: "Hold my beer."
Wait, why are we talking about Leafs fans now?
You're right, Kaiser. We SHOULD go back to the moral standards that built this country. In fact, as a symbol of this, I brought you some blankets. Just... rub your face right in them.
Yes, I've seen a few bathroom stalls that espouse Kaiser's ability to... work a crowd.
Says the man standing next to a guy in an SS uniform and a fake German accent.
"us" Uh-uh. Suuuuuuure. That's TOTALLY what you meant. Riiiiight.
Okay, who let Assault play with the matches?
*slowly eyes Browbeat*
You're familiar with the area, you've hinted that you've heard Kaiser's speeches before, you KNOW where the E88 likes to rally... Is there anything you'd like to mention to us, Browbeat? Any swastika'd skeletons in your closet? Were you part of the Kaiser's Youth?
Also, Browbeat just said "I do." to Clockblocker and I've built entire armadas off less. TO THE CHART! ...don't look at me like that, Laserdream. You're on there, too!
Obligatory:
- Location
- new york
why do I have the feeling that the One Ring is getting annoyed she hasn't made it yet?
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
I'm more curious what will drive her to go ahead and actually make the One Ring?
After the Three are all handed out, the Seven are already gone, the Nine the author has indicated he has plans for, she will be reduced to just her armour/weapons and any minor ring she makes for her self. It won't be enough - something has to drive her to take that final step.
There is also another angle - connection with other Nazi organisations. Kaiser could have used his money and favours owned + gone into slight debt to his Nazi fellow travellers to attract / borrow / get assigned some Nazi or mercenary capes.
Old Blaze 7.4, pre-edits
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
THIS CHAPTER IS NON-CANON. THE REWRITTEN VERSION IS AVAILABLE AT THE BLAZE 7.4 THREADMARK.
Many thanks to @Assembler, @themanwhowas, @fabledFreeboota, @Skyrunner, @BeaconHill, and ShadowStepper1300 for betareading.
Many thanks to @MugaSofer for fact checking.
Many thanks to @IAmARobot for assistance with power generation.
Gunfire broke the silence of the streets. The Empire goons had surged forth, and the PRT had met them.
I doubted it was open battle. Neither side wanted that. But I couldn't tell—not from these dark side-streets, where the only sign of combat was the echoing, drumming crack of gunfire, and the audible undercurrent of shouting human voices.
"Empire runners, headed right for you," Sophia's voice came from my radio. "Four of them, one gun. Rifle."
I glanced at Browbeat. "We can take them."
He nodded. His jaw, visible through his mask, was a hard line. "Yeah." He looked at me. "Uh, do you mind if I…?"
"Not at all," I said. "I'll watch your back."
What little I could see of his face looked grateful. "Thanks."
I fell back, away from the sound of gunfire, and unslung Belthronding as Browbeat strode forward, cracking his knuckles. His hands came down to his sides, and his fists were clenched.
Four men rounded the corner. One was carrying, as Sophia had warned, a rifle. Two of the others had combat knives, and the last had what looked like a police baton. Their heads were shaved, and their arms were bare, proudly displaying a latticework of ink.
The man with the gun shouted as he saw us. "Wards! Look out!"
He raised his gun and fired at Browbeat. The bullets skittered uselessly against bone plates with a painful screech, like nails on a chalkboard, and my teammate's stone-hard flesh was left unmarked. Browbeat started to run, his feet leaving minute cracks in the asphalt as he rolled forward like a tank.
The Empire men brandished their weapons, but Browbeat was implacable. He bowled them over like a ball through pins. One he caught with a punch that sent him careening into the wall. He delivered an elbow to the gut of another, sending him sprawling, coughing and gasping for air.
One of the men slashed wildly at him with his knife. The blade cut cleanly through the fabric of his costume over his chest, but was stopped dead before it could break the skin, as though by a barrier. Browbeat took his hand and crushed it in one of his own until the man was howling, the knife dropping from broken fingers. He tossed this man aside, then, and dispatched the last one with a kick to the shin that broke bone.
I watched him for a moment as he stood amid the gasping, groaning bodies. He was breathing heavily, and I knew it wasn't from exertion. Browbeat had faced an Endbringer less than a week ago. This was no great task in comparison.
I jogged up to him. He didn't turn, though I knew he heard my approach. I laid a hand on his shoulder when I reached him. "Are you all right?"
He didn't answer for a moment. "Fine," he said at length. "Just dealing with some demons." He looked at me. "Do we just leave them here, or call it in?"
"Both," I said. "We'll call it in while we move. I doubt the PRT has time to pick them up. I'll make the call, you lead the way."
I nodded and turned away, jogging down the road toward the drumming of gunfire. Behind me, Browbeat began again to speak into the radio.
The sound grew louder as we grew closer. Only a few weeks ago, gunfire would have been deafening to me. Terrifying. Now it was practically familiar, and running towards it seemed perfectly natural. It didn't take us long to arrive.
"Annatar! Browbeat!" Aegis' voice was hoarse as he shouted over the sound of gunfire and the crackle of containment foam expanding. He was taking cover behind a minivan that had seen better days. The paint had been chipped even before Leviathan, and the tidal waves had left it rusting and water-damaged. The bullets had done nothing to help any of this.
I dove out of the cover of a wall and ran behind the van with him. A bullet pinged off of my pauldron while I was exposed, but I was otherwise unscathed. "What's going on?" I asked.
"Kaiser and his inner circle are already on their way out," he replied. "Headed south. Velocity and Vista are trying to locate their getaway car. This is just their rear guard. Where's Shadow Stalker?"
"On the roof," I answered. I had to almost shout to be heard over the cacophony. "She can join the scouting team, and I can try to figure out what I can with Vilya."
Aegis nodded. "Do it!" He made as if to say more, but was interrupted by an explosion down the street. He cut himself off with an oath. "Shit, they're using grenades!"
"You and I can handle that," said Browbeat. "The PRT troops can't."
Aegis nodded. "Come on, let's go shake things up. Annatar, figure out what you can, and send Shadow Stalker to join the others."
I nodded. "Good luck!"
He grinned. "Don't need luck," he said. "Got the Sun on my finger."
He stood up, vaulted over the van, and was off into the fray, charging straight into the Empire line with a shout. Browbeat followed.
I hunkered down and spoke into my radio. "Shadow Stalker, Vista and Velocity are looking for Kaiser's getaway car," I said. "Most of the Empire's capes should be there. Go help them find it."
"On it. Sure you don't need help here?"
"I'm doing the same as you," I said. "In my way."
I closed my eyes for the second time that night and reached out with Vilya. A direction, I pleaded. Just a direction. Where will I find my enemies?
South.
I knew I could follow Vilya's guidance. It would lead me where I needed to go, so long as I didn't stop listening. I raised my radio. "This is Annatar. I think I can find Kaiser, but I don't have mover powers anymore."
"Console here." Clockblocker's voice was harried. "Vista, double back and pick up Annatar. Follow her lead."
"On my way."
Well, now there was nothing to do but wait. No reason I couldn't help in the meantime. I rose, nocked a tranquilizer arrow to Belthronding, and ducked out of cover, firing at an Empire goon who was peeking out from an alley. My arrow caught him in the chest and he went down.
I ducked back as I drew another arrow out of my quiver. One down, too many to go. I glanced out again, shot again. A miss, this time, as the man fell back into cover just as I loosed the shot.
"Annatar, let's move." It was Vista, beside me—and yet, also, several blocks down the street. I took a step towards her, and traversed a couple hundred yards.
"Where do we go?" she asked.
"South, for now," I said, my voice slightly absent. Most of my focus was on the Ring on my finger. "I'll give us directions as I get them."
She nodded, and space twisted around us. I followed her through folded space, down several streets.
"Left here," I said, Vilya having altered its instruction.
"How far?"
"…Three blocks?"
She nodded, and moved, her hands twisting in the air like a dancer's. Space shifted again, and suddenly the three blocks to the left of us were about two steps worth of distance.
I took those two steps, and immediately ducked behind a dumpster. "They'll be passing any second!" I told her.
She nodded, joining me and pulling out her radio. "This is Vista. We've found them. Converge on my position. Annatar, can you—"
I was already pulling out Belthronding again. "Of course."
There was the car. I understood at once why it had been hard to find. The vehicle might have been an expensive-looking limousine, but it was also modified with tinkertech, and nearly invisible. I could only see it by the faint distortion in the air as it sped down the road.
I nocked an explosive arrow, ducked out of cover, and fired at one of the tires. What with the invisibility, I missed my target, but the arrow burst in a fiery blossom underneath the car anyway, sending it spinning out of control.
It stopped, its tinkertech cloak flickering. For a moment the street was still, despite the gunfire still echoing.
Then one of the doors opened, and out stepped a familiar figure. Kaiser's armor was almost as bright as mine. The steel was impeccably clean, and—though Kaiser had likely only created it a few hours ago—seemed to have been polished to a glowing sheen. His visor stared me down.
"Annatar," he said. "I might have known."
My radio spoke—through my earpiece, this time, rather than the receiver itself. "Keep him busy," Clockblocker said. "Help is on the way. Shadow Stalker is already in position."
"It ends here, Kaiser," I said. "Surrender."
"Surrender? Now? To a little girl?"
Belthronding returned to its place over my shoulder, and I laid a hand on the haft of the small blade sheathed behind the small of my back. I pulled it out, flipped it in my hand so the blade was up, and flexed my fingers just so.
The haft Kid Win had built for me expanded in my hand, and Iphannis was suddenly upright and at its full, nine-foot height beside me. The blue light of the blade glinted off Kaiser's armor, setting the whole street around us aglitter.
"Not so little," I said.
"No, perhaps not. But nothing more than a girl all the same, Miss Hebert."
I didn't move. No muscle in my body tensed, even as I heard Vista gasp beside me.
I could hear the smile in Kaiser's voice. "Ah, now you understand. Leverage, Annatar, is far better than any amount of charisma."
"Hold back," Clockblocker said tightly. "This is a mess—the Protectorate are coming. Just hold them there for a couple minutes more. Don't engage until they arrive. Piggot's orders."
Another of the doors, on the opposite side of the car, was opening. I ignored it. My eyes were fixed on Kaiser.
I needed to decide on an approach, and fast. I could attack, but I didn't like the chances a couple of Wards had against all of the Empire's capes. I could try to threaten him back. Could I out-escalate him? Make him back down from the implied threat against my dad? Or could I play dumb? How good was his source? How had he found out?
I cast my mind to Kaiser's history. How had he interacted with unmaskings, in the past. It had to have come up.
…It had. Fleur—Amy's, what, aunt? She had been killed in her civilian identity, by an E88 goon. Kaiser had disavowed the attack. I didn't know all the details, but I could extrapolate enough.
"You don't want to do this," I said. "Unmasking someone? How well did that go for you last time?"
"Typical," said a girl's voice suddenly. "Trying to deflect, to turn attention away."
I glanced at the open door, and at the girl standing up from behind it. Her face was hidden behind a blank red mask with no visible holes for her eyes or mouth. Instead, it had only a single eye in the center of her forehead. She wore long, flowing robes in ornate red and gold.
"I wonder how well you'd deal with someone taking that close a look at you," she said, tucking a lock of vibrant red hair behind her ear with her left hand.
"Oracle," said Kaiser, almost soothingly. "Now is not the time." He looked back at me. "We need not be enemies."
"No, Kaiser, we do," said Oracle. "At least as long as she's fucking that lesbian ni—"
Oracle cut herself off, seemingly choking on the word, as though it didn't come naturally to her. I turned my gaze upon her. "You're new to this," I said. "Come on, Oracle—you know this is wrong, I can tell. You know it's stupid. You know you can do so much better—"
She laughed—a harsh, dark, thundercloud of a laugh. "You're one to talk," she said. "Bit hypocritical of you, to say that I can do better. Then again, I guess you'd be familiar with hypocrisy, wouldn't you, Ring-Maker?"
I found myself taking a step back. I forced myself to stop. "I, at least, am using my powers to help this city," I hissed. "I'm trying to heal it!"
"No," she shook her head. "You're trying to fix. To get tools you can use. You really can't pretend you have the moral high ground on this one, not when you only think of how useful someone will be before helping them. Hell, you've mastered your entire team!"
My eyes burned like fire. "How dare you?" I thundered. "You think you can lie to my face—"
"Oh, sure you can't control them." Her voice was a cruel hiss. "Yet. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we? I wonder, Annatar—Taylor—what will it take to break you?"
"Car's fixed!" The voice came from inside the vehicle, just behind Kaiser—and in that moment, I realized my folly, but it was too late. Kaiser had been slowly readying himself, and the moment the call came out, he moved, pointing at me with his right hand. A blade of steel lanced out, driving towards me. I tried to dodge, but was too slow. The edge neatly cut through the string of Belthronding, and then Kaiser was ducking back into the vehicle. Oracle was already inside.
"Move!" ordered Kaiser, and then the door was shutting, the tinkertech cloak reasserted itself, and I was watching helplessly as the car sped down the road again.
"Did anyone get a tracker on that?" Vista asked beside me.
"Negative," came Kid Win's voice over the radio. "I tried, but they spent a lot on that car. My bugs fizzled once they were on it."
I closed my eyes.
"Annatar?" It was Sophia—and her voice came, not from the radio, but from right beside me. She looked almost worried, as if she saw something in my face that concerned her. "Are you okay?"
I swallowed, looking after the vanished car. My hands were clenched into fists, and I sighed, forcing myself to relax. The anger, still hot, softened from a raging fire to a smouldering ember, but did not go out. "Yes, I am," I replied.
Please consider donating to my Patreon. Many thanks to those who have already donated.
Many thanks to @Assembler, @themanwhowas, @fabledFreeboota, @Skyrunner, @BeaconHill, and ShadowStepper1300 for betareading.
Many thanks to @MugaSofer for fact checking.
Many thanks to @IAmARobot for assistance with power generation.
-x-x-x-
Gunfire broke the silence of the streets. The Empire goons had surged forth, and the PRT had met them.
I doubted it was open battle. Neither side wanted that. But I couldn't tell—not from these dark side-streets, where the only sign of combat was the echoing, drumming crack of gunfire, and the audible undercurrent of shouting human voices.
"Empire runners, headed right for you," Sophia's voice came from my radio. "Four of them, one gun. Rifle."
I glanced at Browbeat. "We can take them."
He nodded. His jaw, visible through his mask, was a hard line. "Yeah." He looked at me. "Uh, do you mind if I…?"
"Not at all," I said. "I'll watch your back."
What little I could see of his face looked grateful. "Thanks."
I fell back, away from the sound of gunfire, and unslung Belthronding as Browbeat strode forward, cracking his knuckles. His hands came down to his sides, and his fists were clenched.
Four men rounded the corner. One was carrying, as Sophia had warned, a rifle. Two of the others had combat knives, and the last had what looked like a police baton. Their heads were shaved, and their arms were bare, proudly displaying a latticework of ink.
The man with the gun shouted as he saw us. "Wards! Look out!"
He raised his gun and fired at Browbeat. The bullets skittered uselessly against bone plates with a painful screech, like nails on a chalkboard, and my teammate's stone-hard flesh was left unmarked. Browbeat started to run, his feet leaving minute cracks in the asphalt as he rolled forward like a tank.
The Empire men brandished their weapons, but Browbeat was implacable. He bowled them over like a ball through pins. One he caught with a punch that sent him careening into the wall. He delivered an elbow to the gut of another, sending him sprawling, coughing and gasping for air.
One of the men slashed wildly at him with his knife. The blade cut cleanly through the fabric of his costume over his chest, but was stopped dead before it could break the skin, as though by a barrier. Browbeat took his hand and crushed it in one of his own until the man was howling, the knife dropping from broken fingers. He tossed this man aside, then, and dispatched the last one with a kick to the shin that broke bone.
I watched him for a moment as he stood amid the gasping, groaning bodies. He was breathing heavily, and I knew it wasn't from exertion. Browbeat had faced an Endbringer less than a week ago. This was no great task in comparison.
I jogged up to him. He didn't turn, though I knew he heard my approach. I laid a hand on his shoulder when I reached him. "Are you all right?"
He didn't answer for a moment. "Fine," he said at length. "Just dealing with some demons." He looked at me. "Do we just leave them here, or call it in?"
"Both," I said. "We'll call it in while we move. I doubt the PRT has time to pick them up. I'll make the call, you lead the way."
I nodded and turned away, jogging down the road toward the drumming of gunfire. Behind me, Browbeat began again to speak into the radio.
The sound grew louder as we grew closer. Only a few weeks ago, gunfire would have been deafening to me. Terrifying. Now it was practically familiar, and running towards it seemed perfectly natural. It didn't take us long to arrive.
"Annatar! Browbeat!" Aegis' voice was hoarse as he shouted over the sound of gunfire and the crackle of containment foam expanding. He was taking cover behind a minivan that had seen better days. The paint had been chipped even before Leviathan, and the tidal waves had left it rusting and water-damaged. The bullets had done nothing to help any of this.
I dove out of the cover of a wall and ran behind the van with him. A bullet pinged off of my pauldron while I was exposed, but I was otherwise unscathed. "What's going on?" I asked.
"Kaiser and his inner circle are already on their way out," he replied. "Headed south. Velocity and Vista are trying to locate their getaway car. This is just their rear guard. Where's Shadow Stalker?"
"On the roof," I answered. I had to almost shout to be heard over the cacophony. "She can join the scouting team, and I can try to figure out what I can with Vilya."
Aegis nodded. "Do it!" He made as if to say more, but was interrupted by an explosion down the street. He cut himself off with an oath. "Shit, they're using grenades!"
"You and I can handle that," said Browbeat. "The PRT troops can't."
Aegis nodded. "Come on, let's go shake things up. Annatar, figure out what you can, and send Shadow Stalker to join the others."
I nodded. "Good luck!"
He grinned. "Don't need luck," he said. "Got the Sun on my finger."
He stood up, vaulted over the van, and was off into the fray, charging straight into the Empire line with a shout. Browbeat followed.
I hunkered down and spoke into my radio. "Shadow Stalker, Vista and Velocity are looking for Kaiser's getaway car," I said. "Most of the Empire's capes should be there. Go help them find it."
"On it. Sure you don't need help here?"
"I'm doing the same as you," I said. "In my way."
I closed my eyes for the second time that night and reached out with Vilya. A direction, I pleaded. Just a direction. Where will I find my enemies?
South.
I knew I could follow Vilya's guidance. It would lead me where I needed to go, so long as I didn't stop listening. I raised my radio. "This is Annatar. I think I can find Kaiser, but I don't have mover powers anymore."
"Console here." Clockblocker's voice was harried. "Vista, double back and pick up Annatar. Follow her lead."
"On my way."
Well, now there was nothing to do but wait. No reason I couldn't help in the meantime. I rose, nocked a tranquilizer arrow to Belthronding, and ducked out of cover, firing at an Empire goon who was peeking out from an alley. My arrow caught him in the chest and he went down.
I ducked back as I drew another arrow out of my quiver. One down, too many to go. I glanced out again, shot again. A miss, this time, as the man fell back into cover just as I loosed the shot.
"Annatar, let's move." It was Vista, beside me—and yet, also, several blocks down the street. I took a step towards her, and traversed a couple hundred yards.
"Where do we go?" she asked.
"South, for now," I said, my voice slightly absent. Most of my focus was on the Ring on my finger. "I'll give us directions as I get them."
She nodded, and space twisted around us. I followed her through folded space, down several streets.
"Left here," I said, Vilya having altered its instruction.
"How far?"
"…Three blocks?"
She nodded, and moved, her hands twisting in the air like a dancer's. Space shifted again, and suddenly the three blocks to the left of us were about two steps worth of distance.
I took those two steps, and immediately ducked behind a dumpster. "They'll be passing any second!" I told her.
She nodded, joining me and pulling out her radio. "This is Vista. We've found them. Converge on my position. Annatar, can you—"
I was already pulling out Belthronding again. "Of course."
There was the car. I understood at once why it had been hard to find. The vehicle might have been an expensive-looking limousine, but it was also modified with tinkertech, and nearly invisible. I could only see it by the faint distortion in the air as it sped down the road.
I nocked an explosive arrow, ducked out of cover, and fired at one of the tires. What with the invisibility, I missed my target, but the arrow burst in a fiery blossom underneath the car anyway, sending it spinning out of control.
It stopped, its tinkertech cloak flickering. For a moment the street was still, despite the gunfire still echoing.
Then one of the doors opened, and out stepped a familiar figure. Kaiser's armor was almost as bright as mine. The steel was impeccably clean, and—though Kaiser had likely only created it a few hours ago—seemed to have been polished to a glowing sheen. His visor stared me down.
"Annatar," he said. "I might have known."
My radio spoke—through my earpiece, this time, rather than the receiver itself. "Keep him busy," Clockblocker said. "Help is on the way. Shadow Stalker is already in position."
"It ends here, Kaiser," I said. "Surrender."
"Surrender? Now? To a little girl?"
Belthronding returned to its place over my shoulder, and I laid a hand on the haft of the small blade sheathed behind the small of my back. I pulled it out, flipped it in my hand so the blade was up, and flexed my fingers just so.
The haft Kid Win had built for me expanded in my hand, and Iphannis was suddenly upright and at its full, nine-foot height beside me. The blue light of the blade glinted off Kaiser's armor, setting the whole street around us aglitter.
"Not so little," I said.
"No, perhaps not. But nothing more than a girl all the same, Miss Hebert."
I didn't move. No muscle in my body tensed, even as I heard Vista gasp beside me.
I could hear the smile in Kaiser's voice. "Ah, now you understand. Leverage, Annatar, is far better than any amount of charisma."
"Hold back," Clockblocker said tightly. "This is a mess—the Protectorate are coming. Just hold them there for a couple minutes more. Don't engage until they arrive. Piggot's orders."
Another of the doors, on the opposite side of the car, was opening. I ignored it. My eyes were fixed on Kaiser.
I needed to decide on an approach, and fast. I could attack, but I didn't like the chances a couple of Wards had against all of the Empire's capes. I could try to threaten him back. Could I out-escalate him? Make him back down from the implied threat against my dad? Or could I play dumb? How good was his source? How had he found out?
I cast my mind to Kaiser's history. How had he interacted with unmaskings, in the past. It had to have come up.
…It had. Fleur—Amy's, what, aunt? She had been killed in her civilian identity, by an E88 goon. Kaiser had disavowed the attack. I didn't know all the details, but I could extrapolate enough.
"You don't want to do this," I said. "Unmasking someone? How well did that go for you last time?"
"Typical," said a girl's voice suddenly. "Trying to deflect, to turn attention away."
I glanced at the open door, and at the girl standing up from behind it. Her face was hidden behind a blank red mask with no visible holes for her eyes or mouth. Instead, it had only a single eye in the center of her forehead. She wore long, flowing robes in ornate red and gold.
"I wonder how well you'd deal with someone taking that close a look at you," she said, tucking a lock of vibrant red hair behind her ear with her left hand.
"Oracle," said Kaiser, almost soothingly. "Now is not the time." He looked back at me. "We need not be enemies."
"No, Kaiser, we do," said Oracle. "At least as long as she's fucking that lesbian ni—"
Oracle cut herself off, seemingly choking on the word, as though it didn't come naturally to her. I turned my gaze upon her. "You're new to this," I said. "Come on, Oracle—you know this is wrong, I can tell. You know it's stupid. You know you can do so much better—"
She laughed—a harsh, dark, thundercloud of a laugh. "You're one to talk," she said. "Bit hypocritical of you, to say that I can do better. Then again, I guess you'd be familiar with hypocrisy, wouldn't you, Ring-Maker?"
I found myself taking a step back. I forced myself to stop. "I, at least, am using my powers to help this city," I hissed. "I'm trying to heal it!"
"No," she shook her head. "You're trying to fix. To get tools you can use. You really can't pretend you have the moral high ground on this one, not when you only think of how useful someone will be before helping them. Hell, you've mastered your entire team!"
My eyes burned like fire. "How dare you?" I thundered. "You think you can lie to my face—"
"Oh, sure you can't control them." Her voice was a cruel hiss. "Yet. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we? I wonder, Annatar—Taylor—what will it take to break you?"
"Car's fixed!" The voice came from inside the vehicle, just behind Kaiser—and in that moment, I realized my folly, but it was too late. Kaiser had been slowly readying himself, and the moment the call came out, he moved, pointing at me with his right hand. A blade of steel lanced out, driving towards me. I tried to dodge, but was too slow. The edge neatly cut through the string of Belthronding, and then Kaiser was ducking back into the vehicle. Oracle was already inside.
"Move!" ordered Kaiser, and then the door was shutting, the tinkertech cloak reasserted itself, and I was watching helplessly as the car sped down the road again.
"Did anyone get a tracker on that?" Vista asked beside me.
"Negative," came Kid Win's voice over the radio. "I tried, but they spent a lot on that car. My bugs fizzled once they were on it."
I closed my eyes.
"Annatar?" It was Sophia—and her voice came, not from the radio, but from right beside me. She looked almost worried, as if she saw something in my face that concerned her. "Are you okay?"
I swallowed, looking after the vanished car. My hands were clenched into fists, and I sighed, forcing myself to relax. The anger, still hot, softened from a raging fire to a smouldering ember, but did not go out. "Yes, I am," I replied.
-x-x-x-
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- Location
- Canada
Eh, not a huge fan of this one. Seems a little forced that mere words can shake her so much as to put a stop to all action? She wouldn't attempt to apprehend them then and there? Letting him leave after he exposes that he knows her identity seems sloppy-- if anything I'd have thought she would have been all the more determined to capture him to keep him from using that information. That's how I feel, anyways.
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
Shit, I missed a couple of crucial steps again. This is Sheen 4.5. Thank you for pointing out the specific flaw that needs fixing. I'll make an announcement when I've finished rewriting the passage.
- Location
- UK
All we need is Maddy to pop up again and we can have a reunion party 
- Location
- United Kingdom
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Well... shit.
Kaiser is aware that he screwed up here, right?
Like, unmasking a Ward is... incredibly dumb. Danny will vanish into protective custody, and the Protectorate/PRT have almost no choice but to go after him hard for this.
And all it gains him is... Taylor being pissed off. What a great plan.
There again, he is a nazi. Not known for critical thinking.
Kaiser is aware that he screwed up here, right?
Like, unmasking a Ward is... incredibly dumb. Danny will vanish into protective custody, and the Protectorate/PRT have almost no choice but to go after him hard for this.
And all it gains him is... Taylor being pissed off. What a great plan.
There again, he is a nazi. Not known for critical thinking.
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
Edits have been made to make the tail end of this chapter less reminiscent of Sheen 4.5.
The edits didn't really help. The situation is the roughly the same.
Worse than that, it feels forced. Kaiser somehow hit a bow's string from what I imagine is quite far away. Vista neither lenghtened the range between them then (which is reasonable consider her power's limitations), or stopped the car from leaving by twisting space in the same time some tinker repaired the vehicle.
Taylor is also strangely upset over the whole Master thing. This isn't the first time she's overreacted to something that she had to have thought about plenty, considering her own fear of forging the ring. And if Oracle turns out to be Emma, she didn't recognize the voice or hair of her ex-best friend.
I guess it's meant to add some stakes back into the story, some danger, but Taylor just came out of an Endbringer fight where you could say she thrived on with some really inspirational stuff, and as reader seeing her get outmanouverd so easily feels off. She's back to facing the great enemy of superheroes, talking until they run away.
I feel overly critical now. I generally like what you've written.
Worse than that, it feels forced. Kaiser somehow hit a bow's string from what I imagine is quite far away. Vista neither lenghtened the range between them then (which is reasonable consider her power's limitations), or stopped the car from leaving by twisting space in the same time some tinker repaired the vehicle.
Taylor is also strangely upset over the whole Master thing. This isn't the first time she's overreacted to something that she had to have thought about plenty, considering her own fear of forging the ring. And if Oracle turns out to be Emma, she didn't recognize the voice or hair of her ex-best friend.
I guess it's meant to add some stakes back into the story, some danger, but Taylor just came out of an Endbringer fight where you could say she thrived on with some really inspirational stuff, and as reader seeing her get outmanouverd so easily feels off. She's back to facing the great enemy of superheroes, talking until they run away.
I feel overly critical now. I generally like what you've written.
- Location
- Behind a keyboard
What Annatar says here doesn't match the action.
Yeah, I'm in agreement here. I only read the chapter after the edit and the sequence felt off. My beef is not so much with what happened, but how exactly it was described. It makes sense for Annatar/Vista not to engage against X number of Empire capes - they'd probably lose, and it makes sense to stall with reinforcements coming. But since there's no description apart from "limo, Kaiser, Oracle" and a very vague "all of the Empire's capes" the situation doesn't feel that dangerous.
I just don't have a good picture of what's happening. Are all the other E88 capes presumed to be staying in the limo? What's Vista doing while Annatar talks? All of the focus in the narration is on the conversation with Kaiser/Oracle, with little weight given to tactical concerns. There's even that line about Taylor ignoring Oracle getting out of the car. In first person the narrative focus obviously reflects what the character is paying attention to, so the takeaway is Kaiser/Oracle threw Annatar off-balance really badly with their talking, and thus escaped.
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SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
What the fuck? Why not just do the same trick twice, tracking them with the ring, and using Vista to stay ahead of them? This makes no sense.
Also, why would she even bother talking to Kaiser? She knows he won't surrender. And if she's going to try to convince Oracle to change sides, best to do that when she's been arrested and is facing a prison sentence rather than seeing a real possibility of just getting away right then and there.
Taylor knows better, but here she apparently forgot everything.
Also, why would she even bother talking to Kaiser? She knows he won't surrender. And if she's going to try to convince Oracle to change sides, best to do that when she's been arrested and is facing a prison sentence rather than seeing a real possibility of just getting away right then and there.
Taylor knows better, but here she apparently forgot everything.
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