PAGDTenno
Verified Warmind. Probably on fire.
- Location
- South Carolina
Really she just needs to forge it in a place of power.
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.
Really she just needs to forge it in a place of power.
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Are you seriously suggesting Heartbreaker moved all the way down to Brockton Bay in the manner of minutes between Coil getting the ring and Heartbreaker arriving?
And besides, why would he attack the Protectorate if his goal was to get Regent back?
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
But where would she even FIND a place of power strong enough for the Ring on Earth Bet?
Not that there ever was any valid excuse not to.
Who knows when Heartbreaker left for Brockton Bay. Could have been days ago.
Taylor, just forge #20 and show these wannabe masters how it's done properly.
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
Regent's identity was accidentally leaked by the PRT way back in Arc 5. People have clearly forgotten that.
BeaconHill
Lost Among Carbon Fields
Thank you!You should make your own thread and continue writing this omake into a story.
I probably won't start a thread, but I do fully intend to continue – expect more soon!
Very astute observations!
The only thing I'd say to this is that there is sort of an extra crossover here, but not really – I borrowed from an original idea I've been mulling over for specifics on how the Choir operates and is viewed by the world at large. Taylor also has some aspects of a character from that story, though most of her attributes come from LotR and Worm.
Well, it has been a while.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ah. That would explain a lot.
Akatsunami
The Bonetatoist
- Location
- Brazil
Now, what dos live in the fountain of all volcanoes, has a lot of power and is big enough that it could actually be called a place?
Thats right, Behemoth, Taylor just needs to get a hold of him to make her ring, pretty simple really.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Not THAT kind of power.
- Location
- not here
Oh boy, has this descended into chaos quickly. Good job, I would have never expected for Heartbreaker to show up and join the party. Now we have a bond-suppervillain with a power-ring, and two top tier masters running around, each with their own agenda. Even Worm didn't do that much of a Worm thing at once
JuliusClonkus
Scatterbrained Speculator
- Location
- Federal Reichspublic of Karlsland
Heartbreaker...well, fuuuuuuudge. If the Protectorate didn't have something even more destructive in the area right now, I'd just advocate for giving BB the Simurgh treatment and possibly dropping an ICBM onto the place.
"Hold still, you stupid thing! The Bright Lord commands it! How the hell am I supposed to forge The One upon your back if you will not cease your panicked thrashing?! Melkor's balls, convincing a balrog to serve as a battle steed has to be easier than this, and you haven't even got a will of your own!"
Coil does ruin dinner every time he shows up, yes.
- Location
- Canada
Yikes. Yeah that made me cringe with his appearance in the story. Dare I say it? Ok. At least things can't get any worse right?
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
"Hi! I'm Riley!"
Of course it will get worse. This is WORM!!
acegunner
Planeswalker - Nicol Bolas
- Location
- Dominaria
Does saran count as worse or better?
Wheee! When we last left our heroes, the Most Hated Man in Brockton Bay had stolen Narya! (Am I talking about Coil or Krouse? Or BOTH? The world may never know!)(Yes. The answer is yes.)
Quick! Sophia! Here's your moment to shine! Just pretend you're Kevin Costner and she's Whitney Houston!
H-handholding? In PUBLIC?! Sophia, you brazen hussy! At least put some pixels over that!
Yeah, that's better.
Also: I'm counting that! THAT DEFINITELY COUNTS. You can't take it back now, Lithos! I mean, sure. Sophia's already pointedly moved her Ring onto the ring finger of her left hand. Sure, she's had multiple deep, heartfelt discussions with Taylor. Sure, even Helen Keller's going "I... I think she's got a thing for that girl? She's got a thing for that girl, right?" But... no. No, it's the HANDHOLDING that proves it! You can't go back from THAT.
*gestures helplessly*
Look at it! Look! Look at the "we'll" she used! Look at Sophia's progression in this fic from "Fuck you all, I don't need or care about ANY of you!" to "Shit, I need to support and reassure my
Eventually, Taylor's going to realize the only person who doesn't firmly believe she and Sophia are a couple is... her. (Again, I estimate this will happen right after their third adoption.)
"Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse." Alexandria blinked several times as everyone slowly turned to stare at her. Just... stare. Awkwardly, she cleared her throat and asked, "Was... was that not my cue? Sorry, I'm just so used to that being my- ...sorry. I'll just... go. ...yeah. Going now."
Allow me to to be your Armsmaster to English translator: "We're going to stomp a mudhole in his ass and then KICK IT DRY."
(Because if HE couldn't get a Ring from Annatar by asking, there's no way in hell he's letting Coil STEAL that fucker.)
*puerile giggle* I'll just bet you DO.
...I've shipped people for less! Much less. Team "Efficiently Smug Robot" is a go!
And THAT is Aegis doing the smart thing and giving the only command he knows will be followed. It's a wise commander who knows enough to NOT give a command he knows will be blatantly ignored, after all.
"After all, I need to take the U-Haul back...."
Taylor's current mental state:
EEERG. I want you all to know, in advance, that I am going to absolutely LOSE MY SHIT about this chapter eventually. Like, just a warning, is all. I AM AWASH IN THESE HUMAN THINGS CALLED "EMOTIONS."
You can trust Sophia on this, Taylor. She's got a LOT of practice sighting on your hind.
*slowly Looks at Sophia*
*just... LOOKS*
!
!!
!!!
!!!!
That's odd. Someone is shrieking like an over-caffeinated schoolgirl at a boy band concert in here.
...oh, it's me. I'm the one shrieking like an over-caffeinated schoolgirl at a boy band concert in here. Good to know! I'll just get back to that, shall I?
"I mean... unless Taylor wants to give it a shot without Narya? I've been doing some research on the internet and it turns out you don't even NEED a Ring of Power for it! ...some specialty supplies are helpful, though."
See that? That's not foreshadowing. That's FIVEshadowing.
"Oh, no. You don't have to call me 'ma'am', Director. Thank you, though."
HUUUURGH. *twitches*
*wild, hysterical laughter*
Again, behold a commander who recognizes how to give an order AND how to make sure it's obeyed.
HUUUURGH. *twitch*twitch* no no you can do this you can hold it together
...okay. Okay. Deep breaths. Relax. Don't go wacky yet. We have more chapter left. You can do this. YOU CAN DO THIS.
"Look, I'm just saying that we could ASK if she's interested in an open rela-"
"No. Just no. SOPHIA IS THE JEALOUS TYPE."
*puerile giggle* I'll take "Lines Sophia's Been Dreaming About Saying to Taylor" for $1000, Alex!
*opens mouth*
*pauses*
*closes mouth*
Scotch. Definitely scotch. ...however, given the REST of the chapter, I'm going to call it Celebration Scotch!
Canon: Taylor (and Sophia) are totally cool with Amy "helping out."
Well... find a septic tank. They'll be the really big chunks floating at the top.
*opens mouth*
*pauses*
Wait. I honestly can't remember if Manpower's still alive in this story. ...and there's no way I'm going back to the Leviathan fight to find out. Ah, well. There goes a perfectly awful joke RE: "mounting."
Valefor is a REALLY bad driver.
*whines*
*just gestures helplessly*
AGAIN: Sophia's TOTALLY cool with this. I mean, I'd feel better about it if I wasn't so sure Taylor was okay with it because she wants to be closer to Nenya again, but... I'll take it!
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Are you SURE? I can help! Let me help!"
"I CAN DO THIS, SOPHIA."
"Okay. ...but as long as I'm already here, why don't I-"
"ARGH!"
*puerile giggle* Look, we ALL know the number of jokes I COULD make here about "quickies." But I'm pretty sure the mods would punch me so hard my spine would auto-eject out my butt if I did, so....
*puerile giggle* Amy has magic fingers!
Ask Sophia for that. She'd be ECSTATIC to get something wet into yo-OH GOD, NOT MY SPINE! PLEASE, I NEED THAT FOR SPINE-Y THINGS!
I'm... pretty sure that was Amy asking Taylor up for a nightcap?
*cough*cough*hatesex*cough*cough*
The Wards are usually forbidden from those feeds, ever since Assault and Battery's "Baby Oil Incident."
I'm sure that fact is in no way ominous vis-a-vis Tolkien lore, right? ...r-right?
Well, Assault... I'm checking these notes that
*slowly glances at Sophia*
*coughs*
Hello, scotch, my old friend! Why don't you just wander on down to my tummy, hmmm? Invite all your friends, while you're at it.
...you know what, Mr. Scotch? Why don't you just wait here for a few. I need to go have a discussion with your colleague, Mr. Rotgut Bathtub Gin.
Right! We made it through the whole chapter and didn't explode even once! That's a victo-FOOLS! YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY 'INCOHERENTLY BABBLE ABOUT THE STORY' CARD!
Seriously, though. LOOK AT SOPHIA'S ACTIONS HERE. Her very first response to Narya's theft was to COMFORT TAYLOR. Not to rage and try to hunt down Trickster. Not to freak out at seeing Taylor showing weakness. Not to snap at other people or try to assign blame or get angry or anything. Her instant response was "Someone I care about is in pain. I need to HELP THEM." Now... wander back to that scene with the van. Where Sophia helps Taylor sit down. Read it a few times. Did you notice anything... interesting about that scene? ...anything at all? Check again. There's a pair of things there that I noticed right away. Let me refresh your memory:
You see that? That's Sophia BEING NICE to her teammates, even when the person she deeply cares about is in distress. This is an UNCONSCIOUS ACTION on her part. She doesn't even notice she's doing it. Nobody even comments on it. Look at later, in the Ward's HQ, when her response to people freaking out isn't getting angry or yelling or anything... it's to ASK people to calm their shit down because they're upsetting Taylor. Notice the way that Piggot doesn't even remark on the fact that Sophia accompanied Taylor to her office for the debrief, despite the fact that everyone else is back in the Ward's HQ. Look at Sophia being grateful that Piggot assigns Taylor's well being to her. Look at Sophia be a REAL FUCKING PERSON. Like, with emotions and shit!
I mean, let's just ignore the shipping for a second an-nononono put down the shotguns I swear I'm not a pod person, this is gonna make sense at the end I swear it it just stay with me here! You have to look at this in context to get why I think this is such a big damn deal, okay?
Start at the beginning, with Sophia and Taylor in that room. The seething
And the more I look at Sophia being supportive and caring and there for Taylor, the more I suspect this is part of Lithos' long game and that it will be an important plot point later on. Because let's be honest here: Taylor pulling Sophia from the brink of her own self-made disaster would have a BEAUTIFUL symmetry if it ends up being Sophia who pulls Taylor back from the brink of making her own disaster.
And that, folks, is how I'm increasingly coming to believe Lithos will resolve the whole "Will she/won't she" question of the One Ring: The power of
Dammit, SV, why will you not let me rate a post as both 'Funny' and 'Insightful'?
Flicker 8.5
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
Many thanks to @Assembler, @themanwhowas, @Skyrunner, @BeaconHill, and ShadowStepper1300 for betareading.
Many thanks to @MugaSofer for fact checking.
"This is Aegis," said Carlos into the console microphone, his voice sharp. "Panacea reports that Heartbreaker is active, and that the north perimeter is compromised."
"Heartbreaker?" Piggot's voice was low and furious. "We're talking about the Montreal villain? What the hell is he doing here?"
"Looking for his son, I assume," said Armsmaster grimly. "Regent's identity was mistakenly released after his escape."
"Damn. Armsmaster, Miss Militia, fall back to the Rig. We need to regroup."
"On our way," replied Miss Militia.
"We'll lose our grip on Valefor," I said, sitting up. "We can't just let him get away."
"I don't think we have a choice," Carlos said, looking back at me. "We need a plan, and we've already lost three Protectorate heroes today. We can't just keep them out there to get picked off."
"Fuck," Sophia swore. "First the Fallen, and now Heartbreaker? What is this, a supervillain convention?"
"We've been escalating," said Sam softly. His face was pale. "Ever since Annatar joined, we've been getting stronger by the day. We shut down the Undersiders completely. We stopped Bakuda from blacking out the entire eastern seaboard. We fought Leviathan to a standstill. We arrested all of the Merchants in a single night." He swallowed. "Now the chickens are coming home to roost. They're escalating back."
Silence fell for a moment as the Wards considered that. I broke it.
"We've come too far to turn aside now," I said. "We can't go back to the way things were. There's no status quo to go back to."
"So what do we do?" Missy asked. "What's your plan, Annatar?"
"Less a plan, and more an intent," I said. "We don't let them win. We don't give ground unless we have to, and we always take back what we lose. This is our city, and we will make them pay dearly for every inch of it they take, and every second for which they hold it."
"Damn straight," Sophia said through gritted teeth.
"But what do we do?" Dennis asked. "How do we start?"
"We need to get Narya back," said Amy. "Without Narya, we're bringing knives to a gunfight. We need a way to counter Heartbreaker and Valefor."
"Narya is how we'll mitigate the damage, but it can't heal what they do," I said. "Unless we can find and beat Coil within a couple of days, we need to focus on the masters."
"Coil's been operating in the bay for years," said Chris. "It'll take more than a couple days to shut him down. More like months, with perfect planning and execution. It's not something we can just throw together overnight."
"We don't have months," countered Sam. "Every day Heartbreaker and Valefor are here, they're going to hurt more people. I have family in this city. I'm not letting him get to them."
"We all have family here," I said.
"For better or worse," muttered Sam under his breath.
"None of us want them put in harm's way," I continued, glancing at him. He didn't seem inclined to elaborate. "That's why it's important that we act quickly."
"It's not that simple, Annatar," said Carlos quietly.
"Sure it is," I replied, a faint, sharp smile coming to my lips. "We're always afraid of escalating with the villains because we're afraid they'll escalate back. This time, they're the ones pushing us. But we're capes too." My smile widened to a grin, with all my teeth bared. "They've stepped on a viper. The bite will be swift."
"What do we know?" Piggot asked.
"Not a great deal," said Dragon.
The meeting was small. Piggot was there, at the head of the table. Armsmaster was at her right, and beside him was Dragon, in a suit of golden armor. I was to the Director's left, and to mine was Aegis. That was all. The five of us were responsible for deciding the fate of Brockton Bay.
It was daunting. But it didn't feel wrong in any way. Who else should be here, after all?
"We've narrowed down the areas of interest to sectors of Brockton Bay," Dragon continued, gesturing over the map on the table between us. "Coil, of course, will almost certainly be located somewhere in his territory south of Downtown. We've marked a general area around the Endbringer shelter Valefor was holed up in as his 'territory', and we're not sure exactly how much of that territory he controls at this point. We're assuming he's not in a position to impinge on Empire's territory to the south, at least for now."
"Probably safe," Piggot agreed. "He's a master. He'll go for easier prey first. Civilians and the like." She grimaced. "Dammit. And Heartbreaker?"
"We're not sure exactly where he's setting up," said Dragon. "Right now, all we know is that he's somewhere uptown, north of Valefor. I've got drones scouting the area, looking for any sign of him, but they haven't turned anything up yet. I expect results fairly soon, even with… well…"
"Even with Velocity, Battery, and Triumph advising him," Armsmaster finished for her. "They have knowledge of our procedures and the particular workings of the ENE branch of the Protectorate and PRT which we can't discount. Dragon isn't technically associated with this branch, however, and so they may not know as much about her capabilities.
"I work with you fairly often, though," said Dragon. "We can't depend on that."
"Okay," said Aegis, shaking his head. "Can someone catch me and Annatar up? What's Heartbreaker even doing here?" He glanced at Armsmaster. "You said something about Regent, on the radio?"
Armsmaster nodded. "When Regent escaped custody, his face and name were released onto the PRT's internal bulletin, according to procedure. While cross-referencing, Dragon found a match for his face in the villain Hijack—Jean-Paul Vasil."
"Vasil," I repeated. "That's Heartbreaker's surname, isn't it?"
Armsmaster nodded. "Regent is apparently his son," he said. "We believe he intercepted that bulletin, or an agent of his did, and that's why he's here now."
"Can we get in touch with Regent?" I asked.
Piggot blinked at me. "You're aware he's a murderer?"
"He's also Fume's former teammate," I countered. "And he must have left Heartbreaker for a reason. He might be more than happy to help us fight his father."
"He was also broken out of prison by the same cape who stole Narya from you," said Dragon quietly.
My head snapped to her. She sighed, the sound layered with static from her suit. "We've determined the thief to be Trickster," she said. "Tattletale provided some assistance. His power allows him to switch the locations of two objects of similar mass. He used it both to extract Regent and to steal Narya."
"So Regent's with Coil, now," Aegis said.
"He always was," I corrected. "The Undersiders were on his payroll. That's what Tattletale said, isn't it?"
"Right," Dragon agreed.
"Which means," said Piggot grimly, "we now have three human-masters—four, if you count whoever's wearing Narya—to deal with. It's getting a little crowded in my city."
"We need a plan of action," said Armsmaster. "We can't let Coil keep Narya, we can't let Valefor continue to terrorize this city, and we certainly can't let Heartbreaker keep three of our heroes."
"We're outmanned," Aegis said quietly. "We have more capes than Coil or Valefor, probably, but if we try to attack one of them, the other might see it as an opportunity. And do we even know how many capes Heartbreaker has?"
"No," said Dragon grimly. "More than just himself, Velocity, Triumph, and Battery, though."
"If we can, I think my highest priority is rescuing our teammates from Heartbreaker," said Armsmaster. "Especially Battery."
The room suddenly seemed to grow colder. I shuddered, partly at the sudden chill, but mostly in nausea. "We might already be too late to, well…" I murmured.
"Of course," Armsmaster said lowly. "But she's my teammate, and my other teammate's wife. I have to try."
"We probably have no way to do anything for her until we get Narya back," said Piggot. "We should probably prioritize that."
"Every moment Heartbreaker is free is another chance for him to scar someone for life," I said grimly. "I'm inclined to let Coil keep Narya, for now—let it burn away at his soul until all that's left is a husk. We should focus on stopping Heartbreaker and Valefor from hurting anyone more than they already have."
"We don't even really have the facilities to keep that many compromised people," said Piggot dryly. "Especially if Heartbreaker has any strong brutes. But we can try."
"In that case, we need to fence him in," said Armsmaster with a grim frown on his bearded lips. "I'd suggest we try to enclose him in this area here." He pointed at an area of the map in the north part of the city, just south of the Docks. "I think we should also try to get in touch with Lung. I don't exactly like the idea of working with him, but he can hopefully help us reinforce the northern perimeter."
My eyes lingered on the map as Armsmaster lifted his finger. There was a sickly feeling of unease in my stomach as I considered his idea, but I didn't know why.
"We need to call in reinforcements for this one," said Piggot grimly. "There aren't enough of us, even considering the Wards' immunity to master effects."
"It's Heartbreaker," Dragon stressed. "We can't call in anyone really powerful, because we can't afford to have them turned against us if they get unlucky."
"We don't have enough people," Piggot snarled, and there was something raw in her voice. "I don't need fucking Eidolon or Alexandria, Dragon, I need people. More than a third of my men are dead or injured. I don't have the manpower to hold that perimeter from a normal cape, and Heartbreaker is so hilariously fucking not-normal that I don't even know where to start dealing with him!"
"We can evacuate," said Aegis quietly.
"And leave all the people Valefor and Heartbreaker have already mastered?" Armsmaster asked. "Even if we did, who knows how many sleeper agents would slip through in the commotion? No, we can't pull out now. Not unless there's no other choice."
"There might not be another choice," said Piggot grimly. "I can't hold that perimeter, Armsmaster. If I ask my men to do it, I'm just sending Heartbreaker more people to play with."
People to play with…
Something clicked, and the bottom dropped out of my stomach. "My dad lives there," I said.
Silence fell for a moment.
"Fuck," breathed Aegis.
"We have men stationed around your father," said Piggot quickly, rummaging in a pocket of her coat. "I'll call Renick, see when we last heard from them."
I was already reaching out with Vilya. Was Dad in danger?
The answer came readily. Yes, he was—imminent danger.
"He's in trouble," I said. "I have to go help him."
"I can't mount a rescue op," Piggot protested. "I don't have the men! We don't even know where Heartbreaker is—"
"He's my dad," I said simply, already reaching to buckle my sword-belt on. "I don't have a choice."
"Annatar, you can't go alone," protested Aegis.
I turned to him and clasped my hands behind my back. "Then send someone with me," I said.
He grimaced. "Annatar—"
"It's my dad. I can't leave him."
"Of course not," said Dragon gently. "We can spare two more Wards to go with her, can't we? It shouldn't be a long mission. Send Vista and Shadow Stalker. With Vista, they can be in and out quickly, and Shadow Stalker is the best infiltrator we have."
Piggot gritted her teeth. "I don't like this," she said. Then her phone buzzed. She looked down at it, and her frown grew even more thunderous. "Renick," she said by way of explanation, looking up at me, "Your dad's patrol just checked in a few minutes ago. They called for reinforcements."
"I'll get them out, too," I said.
"Assuming they're not already compromised," said Armsmaster grimly, "and you're not walking into a trap."
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. "Then that's a risk I have to take," I said. "The last villain who hurt my father is dead. I'm not letting this one get away with it free."
"Okay," said Aegis with a sigh. "Okay. Take Shadow Stalker and Vista. Come back quickly, and be careful. We can't back you up in there."
Piggot put a hand over her eyes. "I can't give that order," she said. Her voice was strained as though she was a hair's breadth from collapsing in exhaustion and stress. "I can't send three Wards into the territory of an international criminal master."
"The alternative," I said quietly, "is for one Ward to go alone."
"I'll stick you in confinement."
"For trying to rescue my dad?"
Our eyes met. For a few moments I held her gaze.
"I'm not running away from this," I said softly. "I'm not leaving him behind."
Her eyes flickered. The silence stretched.
"Do you know, when you do that?" she asked quietly. "Do you know exactly what makes it all fit together, or is it some kind of instinct?"
"A bit of both," I replied.
Her jaw worked for a moment, and then she looked away. "Get going," she said. "Don't get them killed."
"I won't, Ma'am."
Please consider donating to my Patreon. Many thanks to those who have already donated.
Many thanks to @MugaSofer for fact checking.
-x-x-x-
"This is Aegis," said Carlos into the console microphone, his voice sharp. "Panacea reports that Heartbreaker is active, and that the north perimeter is compromised."
"Heartbreaker?" Piggot's voice was low and furious. "We're talking about the Montreal villain? What the hell is he doing here?"
"Looking for his son, I assume," said Armsmaster grimly. "Regent's identity was mistakenly released after his escape."
"Damn. Armsmaster, Miss Militia, fall back to the Rig. We need to regroup."
"On our way," replied Miss Militia.
"We'll lose our grip on Valefor," I said, sitting up. "We can't just let him get away."
"I don't think we have a choice," Carlos said, looking back at me. "We need a plan, and we've already lost three Protectorate heroes today. We can't just keep them out there to get picked off."
"Fuck," Sophia swore. "First the Fallen, and now Heartbreaker? What is this, a supervillain convention?"
"We've been escalating," said Sam softly. His face was pale. "Ever since Annatar joined, we've been getting stronger by the day. We shut down the Undersiders completely. We stopped Bakuda from blacking out the entire eastern seaboard. We fought Leviathan to a standstill. We arrested all of the Merchants in a single night." He swallowed. "Now the chickens are coming home to roost. They're escalating back."
Silence fell for a moment as the Wards considered that. I broke it.
"We've come too far to turn aside now," I said. "We can't go back to the way things were. There's no status quo to go back to."
"So what do we do?" Missy asked. "What's your plan, Annatar?"
"Less a plan, and more an intent," I said. "We don't let them win. We don't give ground unless we have to, and we always take back what we lose. This is our city, and we will make them pay dearly for every inch of it they take, and every second for which they hold it."
"Damn straight," Sophia said through gritted teeth.
"But what do we do?" Dennis asked. "How do we start?"
"We need to get Narya back," said Amy. "Without Narya, we're bringing knives to a gunfight. We need a way to counter Heartbreaker and Valefor."
"Narya is how we'll mitigate the damage, but it can't heal what they do," I said. "Unless we can find and beat Coil within a couple of days, we need to focus on the masters."
"Coil's been operating in the bay for years," said Chris. "It'll take more than a couple days to shut him down. More like months, with perfect planning and execution. It's not something we can just throw together overnight."
"We don't have months," countered Sam. "Every day Heartbreaker and Valefor are here, they're going to hurt more people. I have family in this city. I'm not letting him get to them."
"We all have family here," I said.
"For better or worse," muttered Sam under his breath.
"None of us want them put in harm's way," I continued, glancing at him. He didn't seem inclined to elaborate. "That's why it's important that we act quickly."
"It's not that simple, Annatar," said Carlos quietly.
"Sure it is," I replied, a faint, sharp smile coming to my lips. "We're always afraid of escalating with the villains because we're afraid they'll escalate back. This time, they're the ones pushing us. But we're capes too." My smile widened to a grin, with all my teeth bared. "They've stepped on a viper. The bite will be swift."
-x-x-x-
"What do we know?" Piggot asked.
"Not a great deal," said Dragon.
The meeting was small. Piggot was there, at the head of the table. Armsmaster was at her right, and beside him was Dragon, in a suit of golden armor. I was to the Director's left, and to mine was Aegis. That was all. The five of us were responsible for deciding the fate of Brockton Bay.
It was daunting. But it didn't feel wrong in any way. Who else should be here, after all?
"We've narrowed down the areas of interest to sectors of Brockton Bay," Dragon continued, gesturing over the map on the table between us. "Coil, of course, will almost certainly be located somewhere in his territory south of Downtown. We've marked a general area around the Endbringer shelter Valefor was holed up in as his 'territory', and we're not sure exactly how much of that territory he controls at this point. We're assuming he's not in a position to impinge on Empire's territory to the south, at least for now."
"Probably safe," Piggot agreed. "He's a master. He'll go for easier prey first. Civilians and the like." She grimaced. "Dammit. And Heartbreaker?"
"We're not sure exactly where he's setting up," said Dragon. "Right now, all we know is that he's somewhere uptown, north of Valefor. I've got drones scouting the area, looking for any sign of him, but they haven't turned anything up yet. I expect results fairly soon, even with… well…"
"Even with Velocity, Battery, and Triumph advising him," Armsmaster finished for her. "They have knowledge of our procedures and the particular workings of the ENE branch of the Protectorate and PRT which we can't discount. Dragon isn't technically associated with this branch, however, and so they may not know as much about her capabilities.
"I work with you fairly often, though," said Dragon. "We can't depend on that."
"Okay," said Aegis, shaking his head. "Can someone catch me and Annatar up? What's Heartbreaker even doing here?" He glanced at Armsmaster. "You said something about Regent, on the radio?"
Armsmaster nodded. "When Regent escaped custody, his face and name were released onto the PRT's internal bulletin, according to procedure. While cross-referencing, Dragon found a match for his face in the villain Hijack—Jean-Paul Vasil."
"Vasil," I repeated. "That's Heartbreaker's surname, isn't it?"
Armsmaster nodded. "Regent is apparently his son," he said. "We believe he intercepted that bulletin, or an agent of his did, and that's why he's here now."
"Can we get in touch with Regent?" I asked.
Piggot blinked at me. "You're aware he's a murderer?"
"He's also Fume's former teammate," I countered. "And he must have left Heartbreaker for a reason. He might be more than happy to help us fight his father."
"He was also broken out of prison by the same cape who stole Narya from you," said Dragon quietly.
My head snapped to her. She sighed, the sound layered with static from her suit. "We've determined the thief to be Trickster," she said. "Tattletale provided some assistance. His power allows him to switch the locations of two objects of similar mass. He used it both to extract Regent and to steal Narya."
"So Regent's with Coil, now," Aegis said.
"He always was," I corrected. "The Undersiders were on his payroll. That's what Tattletale said, isn't it?"
"Right," Dragon agreed.
"Which means," said Piggot grimly, "we now have three human-masters—four, if you count whoever's wearing Narya—to deal with. It's getting a little crowded in my city."
"We need a plan of action," said Armsmaster. "We can't let Coil keep Narya, we can't let Valefor continue to terrorize this city, and we certainly can't let Heartbreaker keep three of our heroes."
"We're outmanned," Aegis said quietly. "We have more capes than Coil or Valefor, probably, but if we try to attack one of them, the other might see it as an opportunity. And do we even know how many capes Heartbreaker has?"
"No," said Dragon grimly. "More than just himself, Velocity, Triumph, and Battery, though."
"If we can, I think my highest priority is rescuing our teammates from Heartbreaker," said Armsmaster. "Especially Battery."
The room suddenly seemed to grow colder. I shuddered, partly at the sudden chill, but mostly in nausea. "We might already be too late to, well…" I murmured.
"Of course," Armsmaster said lowly. "But she's my teammate, and my other teammate's wife. I have to try."
"We probably have no way to do anything for her until we get Narya back," said Piggot. "We should probably prioritize that."
"Every moment Heartbreaker is free is another chance for him to scar someone for life," I said grimly. "I'm inclined to let Coil keep Narya, for now—let it burn away at his soul until all that's left is a husk. We should focus on stopping Heartbreaker and Valefor from hurting anyone more than they already have."
"We don't even really have the facilities to keep that many compromised people," said Piggot dryly. "Especially if Heartbreaker has any strong brutes. But we can try."
"In that case, we need to fence him in," said Armsmaster with a grim frown on his bearded lips. "I'd suggest we try to enclose him in this area here." He pointed at an area of the map in the north part of the city, just south of the Docks. "I think we should also try to get in touch with Lung. I don't exactly like the idea of working with him, but he can hopefully help us reinforce the northern perimeter."
My eyes lingered on the map as Armsmaster lifted his finger. There was a sickly feeling of unease in my stomach as I considered his idea, but I didn't know why.
"We need to call in reinforcements for this one," said Piggot grimly. "There aren't enough of us, even considering the Wards' immunity to master effects."
"It's Heartbreaker," Dragon stressed. "We can't call in anyone really powerful, because we can't afford to have them turned against us if they get unlucky."
"We don't have enough people," Piggot snarled, and there was something raw in her voice. "I don't need fucking Eidolon or Alexandria, Dragon, I need people. More than a third of my men are dead or injured. I don't have the manpower to hold that perimeter from a normal cape, and Heartbreaker is so hilariously fucking not-normal that I don't even know where to start dealing with him!"
"We can evacuate," said Aegis quietly.
"And leave all the people Valefor and Heartbreaker have already mastered?" Armsmaster asked. "Even if we did, who knows how many sleeper agents would slip through in the commotion? No, we can't pull out now. Not unless there's no other choice."
"There might not be another choice," said Piggot grimly. "I can't hold that perimeter, Armsmaster. If I ask my men to do it, I'm just sending Heartbreaker more people to play with."
People to play with…
Something clicked, and the bottom dropped out of my stomach. "My dad lives there," I said.
Silence fell for a moment.
"Fuck," breathed Aegis.
"We have men stationed around your father," said Piggot quickly, rummaging in a pocket of her coat. "I'll call Renick, see when we last heard from them."
I was already reaching out with Vilya. Was Dad in danger?
The answer came readily. Yes, he was—imminent danger.
"He's in trouble," I said. "I have to go help him."
"I can't mount a rescue op," Piggot protested. "I don't have the men! We don't even know where Heartbreaker is—"
"He's my dad," I said simply, already reaching to buckle my sword-belt on. "I don't have a choice."
"Annatar, you can't go alone," protested Aegis.
I turned to him and clasped my hands behind my back. "Then send someone with me," I said.
He grimaced. "Annatar—"
"It's my dad. I can't leave him."
"Of course not," said Dragon gently. "We can spare two more Wards to go with her, can't we? It shouldn't be a long mission. Send Vista and Shadow Stalker. With Vista, they can be in and out quickly, and Shadow Stalker is the best infiltrator we have."
Piggot gritted her teeth. "I don't like this," she said. Then her phone buzzed. She looked down at it, and her frown grew even more thunderous. "Renick," she said by way of explanation, looking up at me, "Your dad's patrol just checked in a few minutes ago. They called for reinforcements."
"I'll get them out, too," I said.
"Assuming they're not already compromised," said Armsmaster grimly, "and you're not walking into a trap."
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. "Then that's a risk I have to take," I said. "The last villain who hurt my father is dead. I'm not letting this one get away with it free."
"Okay," said Aegis with a sigh. "Okay. Take Shadow Stalker and Vista. Come back quickly, and be careful. We can't back you up in there."
Piggot put a hand over her eyes. "I can't give that order," she said. Her voice was strained as though she was a hair's breadth from collapsing in exhaustion and stress. "I can't send three Wards into the territory of an international criminal master."
"The alternative," I said quietly, "is for one Ward to go alone."
"I'll stick you in confinement."
"For trying to rescue my dad?"
Our eyes met. For a few moments I held her gaze.
"I'm not running away from this," I said softly. "I'm not leaving him behind."
Her eyes flickered. The silence stretched.
"Do you know, when you do that?" she asked quietly. "Do you know exactly what makes it all fit together, or is it some kind of instinct?"
"A bit of both," I replied.
Her jaw worked for a moment, and then she looked away. "Get going," she said. "Don't get them killed."
"I won't, Ma'am."
-x-x-x-
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Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
This is a one-chapter week. I have completely run through my backlog.
However, I have started both of the next two chapters. Next Monday will be Interlude 8b: Alec.
However, I have started both of the next two chapters. Next Monday will be Interlude 8b: Alec.
- Location
- Earth Prime
I'm curious what Annatar did that sparked Piggot's "Do you now, when you do that?" question. Was it something she referenced, or just Annatar being strong-willed, or what?
And I'm almost hoping he manages to "claim" Annatar. Because a yandere Sauron is something he deserves.
Why would it be bad on SB?
And I'm almost hoping he manages to "claim" Annatar. Because a yandere Sauron is something he deserves.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Speaking of claiming I have a feeling the Black Arrow is going to come into use for its original purpose.
- Location
- Earth Prime
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
No, he is not. He's just a man who can become a smol dragon. But given that we seem to be all out of proper dragons, I think he'll be the one on the shooting range.
