I idly twirled my combat knife, staring out at the city, rain dripping down the van's windows, thinking over some contingencies for the mission that we were about to do. After my tour of Arcadia yesterday, I met up with Lisa and we bought some more utility items. I bought a combat knife, a new can of pepper spray, while Lisa bought a handheld taser.
Because of the rainy weather, we were currently in bumper to bumper traffic, but glancing over at the van's clock, we had more than enough time to reach the bank.
"I'm still a little freaked out by them. I have no idea how future Lisa got used to them." She stated, looking towards the back of the van and grimacing. She was wearing her typical cape outfit: a black and purple bodysuit that had a stylised eye on the chest, and a domino mask that covered up most of her freckles. The black made her bright green eyes even more distinct.
"You'll have too. If it helps, just think of them as an extension of myself. They won't do anything unless I tell them to." I replied, still looking out of the window.
The team was split into two vans, with Tattletale and I in one, and Grue, Regent, Bitch and her dogs in the other. I had gathered as many insects I could that would be able to fit in the van without being inconspicuous.
She hummed non-committedly at that, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, irritated at the slow moving traffic.
"You nervous?" I asked.
"Sort of. Despite all the planning we've done, it's still a cape fight. I know we don't have much to fear with you being here, but…"
I gave her a quick glance, studying the expression on her face. The Lisa I knew always looked confident, mischievous, with that vulpine grin of hers. Rarely, though, she would this serious expression, eyes staring blankly, her face masked by a well practised neutrality. She used that whenever we were dealing with someone with incomplete information, or someone too dangerous to piss off, like the meeting Cauldron set up about the fourth endbringer that appeared after we felled Behemoth.
But this expression, coming from a more inexperienced Lisa, one that hadn't learned how to properly mask herself, was none of those; her fingers drumming over the steering wheel, eyes constantly glancing to the clock, showed me a Lisa I rarely, or never saw. It made me reflect back to the first time I did this, chatting with her about cops and robbers as I tried to hide my true plans from her.
"I wonder if the other Lisa was feeling just as nervous." I muttered. She gave me a questioning glance.
"When I did this the first time, she and I were in the same van like we are now, and we had a talk about how the cape scene works, saying it was something like a big game of cops and robbers." I said nostalgically, looking out of the van's window.
"If she was feeling anything like what I'm feeling now, I think she was trying to put out a front."
"To reassure me, I think. I was a completely new cape at the time, and was completely out of my depth, still trying to be a hero, an undercover one at that."
"And here we are, but with our roles reversed," Lisa said, with a hint of irritation in her voice, "You're the one trying to reassure me."
I leaned over to her side and flicked her on her shoulder. She jumped a bit at that, and rubbed at it while glaring at me from the corner of her eye.
"You don't have to try so hard to be her, y'know," I said quietly, giving her a small smile, "so don't get irritated at yourself for not reaching that impossible bar. Don't try to be like her, just be whatever Lisa you want to be."
She looked at me blankly, as I assumed her power worked to deconstruct and analyse my body language, my expressions. She then gave me a wicked grin and playfully punched my arm.
"You are far too good at reading me, Taylor Hebert."
I gave her a smirk in response, playfully rolling my eyes.
"We can talk about this later. Besides, we have a bank to steal from and kiddie heroes to beat up."
I gave her a nod, and closed my eyes, focusing on my swarm, making sure I was ready for when the bank entered my range. And, after a few quiet minutes, I could feel the various spiders, cockroaches and ants that were inside the walls of the bank. I wasn't able to get any information of the outside using my insects because of the rain, but we were close enough I was able to see it with my eyes. It was still the same, six stories tall and looking like a castle, covered in stone masonry. Gargoyles decorated the corners, iron bars ran vertically across every window, making the entire building look ominous in the current weather.
I touched the communication earpiece.
"This is Khepri. Tattletale and I are within range of the target. Currently looking over the area."
This was a city, of course, so there was no way to completely get rid of all insects in a building, no matter how rich the occupants or owners were. The bank itself was six stories tall. The first story was for the public, with an open area with attendants. Further towards the back was the safe itself, reinforced by six inches of steel on all sides that was completely air-tight when shut to the point of having no insects in it. The other floors had a variety of offices, bathrooms, and break rooms. There weren't a lot of civilians here, and combined with the workers and attendants, who were most likely out for lunch, meant there were only twenty people all up.
"What can you see, Khepri?" Grue asked through his earpiece.
"There are eight civilians in the foyer with four attendants, and eight workers with a single security guard spread across the other floors. Currently blocking all of the outside cameras that show the parking lot and back entrance."
"Does the security guard suspect anything?"
"No, he's currently talking to a female office worker in the breakroom. From what I can gather, most of the other workers are currently out on lunch break."
"Good. Say something if anything comes up." He said, as Lisa and I turned into the parking area that was behind the bank itself, passing the two stone horses that stood besides the front entrance, the second van not too far away from us. Tattletale put on her mask as I did the same, and she gave me a nod as we both opened the doors and got out, rain pouring down and dampening my hair. I walked over to the side and pulled open the sliding door, letting out my swarm and directing them to spread out everywhere, giving me a good idea of the area around the bank. I gathered the rest of them to stick to me, covering the parts in between my armour plates, face and hair. I looked over my range again, and spoke into my earpiece.
"Security guard is finishing his conversation with the office worker. I've stung the back of his neck with a wasp, and now both of them are heading towards a nearby first aid kit. No one else suspects anything."
"Alright. The rest of us are currently pulling into the lot, and we'll get started." Grue said, as his van pulled in, and he did a half-turn, blocking the entrance. Regent and Grue got out of the front seats, and the sliding door opened, revealing Bitch, who was holding a crowbar, with Brutus, Judas, and Angellica.
Regent was wearing his typical outfit, his androgynous mask that only revealed his eyes and mouth, and his loose white shirt that hid a mesh vest behind it. He twirled his sceptre, but held up his palm to the sky, and quickly moved to the side of the bank, which had enough covering to stop the rain from hitting him.
Brian had put on his motorbike helmet, unaffected by the current weather, completely dressed from head to toe in black, his darkness curling around him, much like what I do with my swarm.
Bitch was wearing the same jacket she wore a couple of days ago when I visited her, the dark maroon coloured one with a fur collar that was also starting to dampen from the rain, her cheap, plastic bulldog mask not doing much to prevent her face getting wet.
Her dogs were only slightly bigger, only showing the brief change that her power gave them, with all three of them only showing a small amount of bone and raw flesh.
We gathered close to the back door, as Tattletale began inputting the code to open it without triggering the alarm, talking about the how and why of it, and as soon as she did, I instantly covered all of the cameras with insects, fully blocking them.
"Khepri, update?" Grue asked, his darkness muffling his voice.
"I've stung a couple more people, and they're making their way to the third floor breakroom, where the first aid kit is. They're complaining of a potential wasp nest. All clear from here to the foyer."
He nodded, and we formed a line, with Bitch and him at the front, Regent and Tattletale in the middle, and myself at the back. We walked through the empty office hallways, confident that we haven't even been seen yet, as any of the workers that were here were in the upstairs breakroom, nursing the wasp stings that I gave them, completely unaware.
Just before we reached the foyer, I covered all of the emergency buttons with insects, surprising the various attendants, who looked on in fear as we made our entrance. I flooded the ceiling and walls of the foyer with my swarm, gathering any spare insects I could. The foyer itself was well decorated compared to the offices, with a marble floor that was clean enough to have reflections, various seats that were placed against the walls, which had various ads for banks loans and insurance.
The customers that were there all stood in fear as we entered, excluding one Amy Dallon, who just glared at us. She was standing in front of one of the counters, the same hoodie she wore yesterday damp from the rain. Grue moved over the entrance, staring at them as he walked past, and used his power on the front entrance, blocking it. Bitch followed him, glaring at any civilian who attempted to make eye contact with her, and stood in the corner, her dogs obediently sitting near her.
I stood next to Regent, as Tattletale entered the code for the employee area, and formed a swarm on each floor near any of the employees, scaring some of them who were oblivious to the situation.
"Do not worry, we are not here to take you hostage. I will lead all of you towards the back entrance, and once you exit the building you will be free. We will not harm you." I spoke, making my swarm voice sound more calm and reassuring than threatening.
The customers in the foyer looked at each other in confusion, but all of them raised their hands and started walking towards the back entrance, just as Tattletale opened the door and held the door open for the attendants that were there, letting us in when the last of them left.
As the customers passed us, following the arrows that I made on the walls, Amy had her hood up and was trying to blend in with the others as much as she could. The employees on the upper floors were doing the same, but the guard tried to discreetly enter the security office, so I gave him another sting with the wasp I planted on him, which made him finally realise what situation he was in, so he power walked to catch up with the others.
Tattletale started to work on the computers, getting any information related to the safe that was towards the back of the room, being assisted by Regent. Grue was still standing at the entrance, back facing us while he used his power to cover the entrance while not covering himself so he could still speak, and Bitch slowly used her power on her dogs. After a few minutes, Tattletale had her eureka moment, and laughed as she walked towards the back of the room, towards the massive safe that took up almost a quarter of the entire floor, as Regent and I followed.
"I knew it was a good idea to not take them hostage." I said, moving to help Tattletale and Regent with the giant steel wheel of the safe.
"And why is that, o' sentient plague of a teammate?" Regent asked, leaning against the door as Tattletale started inputting the code to open it.
"One of those civilians was Amy Dallon." I mentioned, talking into my earpiece.
Grue swore under his breath.
"Alright, fuck, keep an eye out for Glory Girl whenever she gets here. We can handle the Wards, but we can't handle her on top of the Wards." He said, his darkness amplifying his irritation.
Tattletale finished with the code, and gave the both of us a thumbs up, and then began to spin it, from left to right and back again, until something heavy shifted from behind it, and the door shifted slightly. I gave a signal to Bitch, who issued a command to Angelica and Judas, and walked over to us with Brutus, still touching his neck, slowly giving him more and more of her power. With the four of us, we hauled open the metal door, and then Tattletale walked over to one of the computers, sitting down on the nearby chair and spinning it as she rapidly started typing on it.
As we entered the safe, Regent and I began filling bags with any of the nearby cash while Bitch started securing Brutus with harnesses and belts for them. With a grunt, satisfied at her work, Bitch started helping us, using her crowbar to open more of the drawers. We had three large bags for the money, and a single bag for important papers, mortgages, insurance forms, deeds and the like.
While we were doing this, I looked over at the civilians, who were now walking away from the bank, not caring about the rain. Most of them were calling or talking on their phones, but Amy stayed behind, crouching down with her back against the nearby wall, desperately typing something on her phone.
"Khepri, update on the surrounding area?" Grue asked through his earpiece.
"The civilians are all walking away, the street has started being emptied out, so the PRT has been contacted, but there's something odd…"
"Which is?"
"Amy Dallon looks upset, and is still hanging around the back entrance. She's trying to call her sister I'm assuming, but it seems as if she isn't picking up."
Tattletale quickly looked over her shoulder, staring at me from where she was sitting, her power trying to fill in the gaps.
"Ok, that's good for us. Means we probably won't have to deal with her. You finished with the cash?" Grue yelled out from near the entrance, his darkness blocking the entrance to the bank.
"Almost done here. Get ready to leave." I responded, gathering the last bits of cash and handing the bag to Rachel, who secured it Brutus. The rottweiler had grown, now the size of a horse, with spikes of bone and patches of flesh growing semi-randomly across his body. I walked closer to him, his bloodshot eye staring at me, and gave the side of his neck a few pats. Bitch, who finished giving the bags one last check-up, walked over to me, and gave him a pat in the same place.
"He's a good boy, isn't he." I said, looking at his master, who gave me a grin with too many teeth in it.
"The fucking best. Now let's get the fuck out." She responded, giving a whistle to Brutus, who started moving out of the safe and back to the foyer with Bitch. I followed, and Regent walked alongside me, stretching his arms.
"Ohhh, I'm going to be so sore tomorrow." He said, in a high-pitched voice, while tilting his head at me, waggling his eyebrows from behind his mask.
"If you speak to me like that again, I am going to beat you over the head with your own sceptre." I responded, not even using my actual voice for it.
He cackled at that, and jaunted off to join the others. I rolled my eyes, and walked over to Tattletale, who was still typing away at the computer, the main screen having all sorts of different programs and tabs open, while the other had the security cameras on, only showing the outside ones that I unblocked.
"Are you almost done here?" I whispered, leaning down to her ear. She grunted, still furiously typing on the keyboard, the main screen filled with things I couldn't understand. After a moment, she slammed the last key, stood up, grinning as she winked at me.
"All done here. Now let's leave before the white hats get here." She said, saunting off to join the others in the foyer as I followed her. The others were already preparing to leave, as Bitch hoisted herself up on top of Brutus, and Brian was helping Regent get on top of Angelica.
"You two done here?" Grue asked, still maintaining the cloud of darkness that covered the entrance.
"Yeah,Tattletale and I are done, now we just need to stick to what we plann-" I said, cutting myself off as I realised that Amy stopped looking at her phone, and was instead looking up, and was saying something that I couldn't hear over the pouring rain.
"Shit. Amy is talking to someone above her, and I can't see anything since it's raining. It's either Kid Win on his hoverboard or Aegis."
Regent shrugged his shoulders, dismounted Angelica and activated the taser in his sceptre, as Bitch did the same with Brutus, bared her teeth in a snarl as she looked around. Grue looked at the front entrance, and then back to me.
"I can see the rest of them outside. Khep, can you give us any more information?"
I nodded, and looked over my range. Aegis finally landed on the ground, still talking to Panacea, donned in his red and silver coloured armour and helmet, and a shield emblem printed on his back. I discreetly landed a fly on Aegis' back, attempting to try and listen into their conversation.
"------cea, —----that you're —-- hurt. —----- about the situation?"
"-----. —-----'cause mum—--------, and —------ Undersiders —-----, —--------bug —--------- leave."
"-----, —----------- hostages? —-----Khepri's —-----?"
"----, —----------. —------,- —---- calling —------- she —- picking up —------."
Aegis responded to this by tapping the side of his helmet with his hand.
"Panacea is talking to Aegis about us. He knows that I'm here now, and Glory Girl isn't coming." I said to my team, and searched around my range for anything else
In front of the bank were the rest of the Wards. Directly in front of us, and slightly to the left stood Browbeat, his spandex outfit looking completely out of place in the gloom of the pouring rain, his fists raised in a fighting stance. To his right was Gallant, the fake tinker who wore a set of power armour, themed to be a modern day knight, to fool the public into thinking he was one.
Clockblocker stood directly behind the two, wearing his pure white bodysuit, with interlocking body plates that were adorned with animated clocks. Kid Win was hovering a couple of feet off the ground, directly to our left near Browbeat. He was wearing his red and gold body armour and visor, feet firmly locked into his hoverboard, aiming his twin tinkertech pistols at the entrance of the bank. However, there was someone missing that I was unable to find.
"Browbeat, Gallant, Clockblocker and Kid Win are outside, but I can't find Vista anywhere."
"Fucking dammit." Grue swore, glancing outside of the entrance, "Kepri, keep looking around for her. Tattletale, any suggestions?"
"Outside of Khepri and Regent, we don't have much of a way to threaten someone at range. Even then, it's iffy. Khep needs her insects and Regent needs line of sight." She muttered, before her eyes widened and she sprinted back to the computer she was using, and tapped the keyboard a couple of times.
"She's on top of the four story tall office building, to our left. Aegis must've dropped her there."
I immediately formed a swarm inside the adjacent building, and willed them to gather at the top floor near any air vents that led to the roof. I discreetly moved a single fly to go through, allowing me to see Vista, her back turned to where my fly was, wearing her green and white costume, with added skirt and body armour covering her chest and limbs. She was saying something into her helmet.
It was almost nostalgic, being here. For the first time in a long time, this was an uncomplicated fight between two groups of capes, a silly game of cops and robbers. It wasn't about the fate of the world, and lives weren't on the line.
"Found her, exactly where Tattletale said she was. She's setting up the street to favour her team."
"Because it's raining, which means you have less control over your swarm, and she's too far away for Regent to mess with." The thinker said, rejoining us at the front.
"I think we need to gun it. Bitch, can you distract Browbeat, and Aegis when he joi-" Grue said, glancing between our teammates and outside.
"Grue, wait a moment." I interjected.
"It's gotta be quick, Khepri, we can't stay here for too long, not with Vista setting this up." He said, looking at me from behind his helmet.
"I've been gathering every insect in my range since we got here. I have a plan, if you can let me take over." I said walking closer to the entrance, and stood next to him. He glanced at Tattletale, who gave him a quick nod, and looked back at me, and gave me the go ahead.
"Right, so here is how we're going to do it: I'm going to cover all of you in my swarm-"
"Wait, you were actually serious about what you said?" Regent said, looking like he didn't want a repeat of last time.
"If she says it's needed, it's probably a good idea to let her," Tattletale added, "Besides, we do need to get used to it, since she is our teammate."
He shrugged his shoulders, and half smiled, half grimaced from behind his mask at me. Grue gave me a quick pat on my shoulder, and nodded at me, as did Bitch and Tattletale.
"On my count, we'll all burst out of here. I'll flood the street as much as I can. Bitch, target Browbeat and Gallant, but switch to Aegis when he joins. I'll handle Vista and Clock-"
"How are you going to do that?" Grue asked.
"Sting and bite him enough that he has to freeze himself. Distract Vista, got enough bugs hiding near her to do it." I replied, "Regent, back up Grue and Bitch. Try focusing on Browbeat and Gallant if they aren't fighting the dogs."
He tilted his head, giving me the impression he was grinning from behind his mask, and gave me a mock salute.
"Grue, go on the offensive. Disorientate, distract, do whatever you can. Tattletale, stay here and get as much intel as you can. I'll make a signal in case you get targeted."
"Sounds like a plan, then." Our leader nodded, happy at my assessment, "Get into positions. We'll start on Khepri's mark."
I gathered all of the insects in the building to cover my teammates, and we got into our positions. Bitch stood in front of us with her dogs, Regent to my left, and Grue to my right. Tattletale hurried over the side with her back to the wall, head turned to see outside. With a pull of my power, I moved the rest of the insects hiding in the surrounding area to be in position to flood the street, making them hide in dumpsters, in the sewers underneath us, in unused cars that were parked on the street. I raised my hand, putting up three fingers.
"Three."
Grue changed into a running stance, rolling his shoulders in preparation. Regent flicked his sceptre, turning the taser on, and bounced from one foot to the other. Bitch sneered, and barked something at her dogs that made them start growling, revealing the massive sets of teeth they all had, and their heads lowered closer to the ground, patches of fur that were close to their tails standing tall. I grabbed the police baton that was hanging from my belt, and flicked it to extend it.
"Two."
The Wards started to look more and more nervous, talking into their communicators, while glancing at each other and the entrance of the bank. Aegis was still with Panacea, most likely thinking that we might leave by the back entrance, or take her as hostage potentially. The Wards looked even more nervous as I amplified the chittering and buzzing of my insects, loud enough that it was audible in the pouring rain.
"One."
With that, I flooded the street as much as I could despite the rain, forced to rely on the land based insects instead of the flying ones, making my swarm seem like an actual flood. I covered most of the street in front of the bank in a layer of insects, only a couple of inches tall.
A moment later, we all burst from the darkness, as I amplified the screeching and chittering of my swarm.
"Judas, Angelica, Hurt! Brutus, Guard!" Bitch howled over the pouring rain, pointing at Browbeat and Gallant.
Judas sprinted towards his target, jaws snapping wildly at Browbeat, who had enough presence of mind to dodge to the side, narrowly avoiding the canine. He then counterattacked with a forceful punch to Judas' side, but only hit his shoulder, which did little to deter him.
Angelica did the same with Gallant, but his suit was too heavy, too clunky to avoid anything. She simply picked him up with her jaws, and threw him across the street into a nearby cafe. With a howl, she ran towards it to continue her assault.
"Gallant!" Clocked yelled out, starting to run towards the two in hopes of being able to save him from Angelica, and I swarmed him with insects, but the rain made it difficult to fully cover him. Just before he could reach the café, he tripped over, allowing me to tear, bite and sting at him until he said something into his communicator and froze himself.
"You're welcome for that, Kheps!" Regent shouted over to me. I was about to say something back when something flew into the nearby cafe, and a second later Angelica was thrown out and landed on her side, limbs flailing. Grue covered me in his darkness, just as I dodge out of the way of one of Gallant's blasts.
"Bitch, Aegis is here, over near the café!" Tattletale yelled out from the bank's foyer.
"On it!" She yelled back, and turned to face Aegis, who had emerged with Gallant, his armour covered in scratches and bite marks, "Brutus, Judas, Angelica! Hurt!"
Aegis and Gallant were standing in front of the now ruined café, and the three dogs, now all the size of a small car, their bodies mostly covered in bone, scales and bleeding muscle had started circling the two; Angellica to the left, Judas to the right and Brutus in the middle with his master. The two heroes stepped back a couple of steps, Aegis putting himself in front of Gallant, who was holding two spheres of energy in his hands, elbows bent in preparation to throw them.
Bitch then pointed at them, yelling out another command, and her dogs started their attack, Angellica targeting Gallant and the other two targeting Aegis. Gallant flung one of his orbs at Bitch, who dodged by rolling on the ground, only to be hit by the second. She stayed half kneeling, and I could feel her fists clenching from my swarm. Her dogs, without the aid of their master to give them commands, had started wildly attacking the two heroes. Judas had flung himself at them, only to be caught by Aegis and thrown to the side. Gallant had still positioned himself defensively, and looked like he was preparing to hit Bitch again.
But he hadn't used his power on the dogs, though.
"Bitch! Use your dogs as a shield! His emotion blasts only affect humans!"
She wildly shook her head, her auburn hair drenched from the rain, and stood back up, ordering the nearest dog to guard her. I was confident she would be able to handle the two heroes, so I turned my attention elsewhere.
"Grue, go help Regent. Bitch can handle Gallant and Aegis for the time being." I said, still in the quiet of his darkness, the chaos of the fight still happening around me, like the stillness of being in the eye of a storm.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and then the darkness dissipated as Grue had started running over to Regent, who was doing a good job with facing Browbeat and Kid Win by himself, with assistance from Tattletale and I; using his power so Kid couldn't use his two pistols effectively, always making his arms jerk away just before he tried to fire. Regent had managed to ward off Browbeat with his sceptre, and from the looks of it he'd already managed to hit him a couple of times.
Regent was now bent over, hand leaning on his knee while the other hung limply, still holding onto his sceptre, panting heavily from exertion. Browbeat stepped forwards to grab him, arms raised forwards, but Grue had got there just in time to cover them both in his darkness, yanking Regent away. From what I could sense from my swarm, Grue had started boxing him, easily avoiding the flailing from Browbeat.
I looked upwards and saw that Kid Win on his hoverboard had aimed his two pistols at me. I prepared myself to dodge, but the two sparks had travelled far faster than I anticipated, hitting me squarely on the chest, scorching my chitin breastplate. I covered myself in my swarm to protect me from further fire, and retreated back into the bank's foyer. I leaned against the wall next to the entrance, but on the opposite side to Tattletale, and reattached my baton to my belt. I pressed down on my chest, and felt a faint warmth from where I was hit.
"Having fun out there?" She asked.
"Vista's manipulating the space above my swarm. I'm going to try and deal with her. Tell the others to fight defensively."
"God, you can at least try and banter with me, Khep. I'm standing here and giving advice to our teammates, and I can't even gloat to one of the heroes!"
I stared at her.
"You're an idiot."
She laughed at that, and repeated what I said into her earpiece as I focused on Vista, who was still in the same place before the fight started. The youngest Ward was looking over the battlefield with one hand on her ear, saying something to her teammates, her blonde hair damp from the rain and her skirt fluttering in the wind. She was crouching, with one hand holding the edge, far too close to the edge for my liking. I wanted to distract her from using her power on the street below her, not force her to fall off.
My swarm emerged from the air duct, hissing and chittering, as I tried to form it into a clone, but the rain made it appear semi-liquid rather than solid. She turned around at the noise behind her, and yelped out in surprise.
"It's Khepri! They know I'm here!" She yelled out, her hand pressing the side of her helmet as she stood up. She gave my swarm a scowl, and made a single step backwards as my swarm approached.
"Listen, please. I know we're fighting each other, but I need you to step forward a bit." I asked as softly as I could, while still audible in the rain.
"Fuck you! You're a fucking villain!" She screamed back at me, using her power to force my swarm back. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from yelling at her, as I checked over her teammates. Aegis and Gallant were still busy fighting with Bitch and her dogs, as Browbeat and Kid Win were with Grue and Regent. Clockblocker was still frozen, covered in my insects.
"Yes, I know I'm a villain, but I really need you to step forward, because you're very, very close to falling off the edge." I repeated again, still trying to convey some softness in my swarm.
"But, why would you care? Wouldn't you want me to fall off?" Vista yelled back at me.
"Because if you fell off now, there's a likely chance you can die from this height, and maybe I don't want you to fucking die?" I hissed in irritation.
"Wha-" She replied, with genuine confusion in her voice, moving ever so slightly to face my clone, but causing her to slip on the wet concrete.
Shit.
"Tattletale, tell the others keep them distracted!" I yelled out to her, as I started running out of the bank and onto the street. I could see her nod at that through the single fly I had on her hand, and she started talking into her earpiece.
Vista realised what was about to happen, and tried waving her arms to regain her balance. She even tried doing something with her power, but that wasn't quick enough to save her as she lost her balance and fell, her back facing the ground. As quick as I could, I covered her back in some of the nearby insects, hoping it would be enough to slow her descent or break her fall. I raced over to the nearby alley, ignoring the chaos around me, and raised out my arms, trying to catch her.
The bugs I had on her did slow her down, if only slightly. As she fell into my arms, I felt my left forearm snap, which caused me to drop her to the ground, and I heard several of her bones crunch from the impact.
"Fucking goddammit." I hissed, clutching my arm. She must've fallen at a slight enough angle that the force went to my left arm first.
I started searching around the alley, hoping to find something to tie to my forearm as I formed a swarm near Amy, who was still anxiously tapping at her phone.
"Panacea. I need your help. Please."
She yelled in surprise at my swarm, dropping her phone. Her head turned to face me, her eyes glaring at me as she bent down and picked it up.
"What? Are you going to take me hostage or something?" She accused me.
"Listen. Vista fell off the office building next to here. I managed to break most of her fall, but part of her spine broke. I can direc-"
She snorted at that, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, sure. This was definitely not your fault, and this is definitely not a trap or anything."
"Yes, it was a mistake on my part. I didn't want her to fucking fall off, and if she doesn't get help now she might actually die, so fucking get over here." I hissed.
She looked a little sheepish at that, frowning and looking away as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Uh, you really are telling the truth, then? That this isn't a trap?" She asked, looking back at my swarm.
"Yes, this isn't a trap. She's just in the alley right next to you, and I'll make sure the fighting doesn't come anywhere near her or you." I said, forming it into an arrow. Panacea still looked unsure, but sighed and gestured to my arrow.
"Alright, lead the way then." She said, following the arrows that I made out of the bank's parking and onto the street, letting her avoid the fighting that was going on, and into the alleyway Vista and I were in.
While that was happening, I was rummaging around the nearby trash, using my insects to find anything useful. I managed to find a thin piece of wood, and used the larger species of ants to chew through it, splitting it into two. I leaned against the office building's wall, and held the two pieces to my broken forearm, and used the spiders I had on me to stick it to together, allowing me to start creating a makeshift sling out of silk, just as Panacea entered the alleyway.
"Oh, you really weren't kidding, huh." She remarked, as she walked over to where Vista was lying on the ground and crouched down. Panacea then took off the unconscious girl's glove, and touched her hand.
"How is she?"
"She's broken her spine in several places, but she doesn't have enough fat on her for me to heal it."
I willed some insects to cover the healer's hand, causing her to hiss and flail her hand around.
"Use some of my insects. Turn them into biomass and use it to heal her." I said, talking through the insects covering my body.
Panacea stopped flailing her hand, and stared at me for a second. She then shrugged, absorbed the insects into her hand, and I felt them die and disappear from my control. I started weaving some threads that hung from my neck to my forearm, spiders robotically working together to make it.
"What happened to you?" Panacea asked, glancing from looking down at Vista, "And why aren't you, y'know, attacking or threatening me?"
"Broke my arm breaking Vista's fall. I'm not doing anything because I'm already injured, she's unconscious, and you're a non-combatant."
She still looked uncomfortable, but stayed silent as she concentrated on healing Vista. I looked up at the building in front of me, the roof of the bank and office building protecting us from most of the pouring rain.
"It's always a bad idea to fight somewhere you can't easily escape."
"...Why are you telling me that? Also, what?" Panacea asked, looking confused.
"I wasn't. I'm talking to those who are going to be rewatching this later."
"What are you talking about?"
"Wards and Protectorate members have cameras incorporated into their costumes, most of the time. For planning and training purposes. Easier to figure out someone's power from a recording, or to see how a situation went wrong. So, Aegis, if you're listening in, that was a fucking stupid decision putting a teammate in a situation like that. And for the Protectorate members…."
I thought back to my own experience as a Ward, and my understanding of the local heroes.
"Armsmaster or Miss Militia, I'm assuming. Don't be too hard on Vista for this. It's not her fault she was put on that rooftop, and it wasn't her fault that a villain had to save her."
Panacea looked extremely uncomfortable at what I said and was about to say something in response, but Vista murmured something and tried sitting up.
"Wha-What happened?"
"You fell off a building and broke most of your spine. Stay still, I'm still healing it." Panacea grunted in response.
"Wait, Panacea? What are you doing here? Is the fight over already?"
"I was here because mum wanted me to do something at the bank for her when the Undersiders started robbing it. Vicky didn't pick up her phone, so that's why I'm here." The healer replied, mumbling the last part.
"Ah, well, thanks for saving me, then." Vista mumbled back, which Panacea snorted at.
"You should probably thank him for it, he's the one who saved you from dying and told me about it."
Vista shot up to a sitting position, and glanced over to where I was, still leaning against the wall. I gave her a wave with my right hand, causing her to recoil further.
"Before you ask, no, I didn't intend for you to fall off. And I'm not going to attack you or Panacea, since she's a non-combatant and you're injured."
"You-you saved me," Vista breathed out, "W-Why? Why did you bother saving me?"
I shrugged my shoulders in response.
"Because it was the right thing to do. That's all."
I stood up from my leaning position, my silk sling complete, and moved so I was in the middle of the alleyway.
Vista looked like she wanted to say something, still sitting upright next to Panacea, just as the rest of her team wandered into the alley. Aegis looked like he went through hell and back, his red and silver armour covered in gashes and bite marks, completely unconcerned about his wounds. Browbeat had a minor amount of the same wounds, his awful spandex suit half-ripped, but his limbs were shaking and jittering. The brute's arm was being carried by Gallant, who had also suffered the same fate as Aegis, but without any physical wounds that I could see, his tinkertech power armour taking the brunt of Bitch's dogs. Kid Win looked the least unharmed, but was missing one of his pistols and hoverboard. Clockblocker was still frozen, in the same place where he fell over.
The rain was still pouring down as Aegis turned to me, and I turned myself back into an expressionless statue again.
"Your new 'teammates' decided to ditch you and run with the money." He said, completely unflinchingly, "So, we need to decide what to do about you."
