Log entry 9 11.27.10 **********************************
Madison
Coming into a quiet kitchen, both her parents sitting at the table with coffee cups at the ready and untouched, was unnerving.
Having her father gesture her to sit without meeting her eyes was worse.
"You triggered."
Not seeing a way out of this. No help in denying the obvious.
"And?"
Mom was still mouthing 'triggered?' and focused on me. "You didn't tell us."
Head tilt. "Did you want me to blurt it out in front of ten cops? What do you want to bet that there were three, maybe four of them in the Empire's pocket."
"The Empire serves a purpose in the Bay." Dad started only for Mom to interject.
"Robert!?" Mom gave him a disgusted look.
"Let me finish. The purpose they serve is to hold on and keep the real monsters outside this city. The Teeth. The Fallen. There are other groups that make them look like kittens. They are hate-mongers but we are not their targets." He took a breath. "But that doesn't mean I want my daughter working for them. Or any other gang."
Mom took a calming breath. "What about the Wards?"
If I didn't jump in here and now, there would be no discussion before there was a 'decision'. Then they would unite against whatever I proposed.
"There are other options." I offered.
That had them both blinking.
"I was saved. Just not exactly in the way you thought." I held out a hand and let my pinkie become a mass of ladybugs that crawled into my palm, ran into a circle then back to reform as a pinkie again. "Shadow Stalker you have heard about. Keptain and Gingembre are new. They've formed a group, all girls so far. They came for me when no one else did."
"Except Skidmark." Dad pointed out.
I shook my head. "The Merchant leader was there but not for me. It was for an opportunity if I was inclined that way –and I might have gone that route in anger if he handed over the scum that left me there to die." The sound of insect wings filled the air as I let my anger show. For a moment my fingers were each giant hornets, jaws clamping. I tried to school my thoughts and returned to my cutesy self. "The Wards have a focus on presenting themselves as family friendly, something I don't think I can do." My own hand shook as I had to force the feelings down.
"Maddie?" Mom shivered. Then she stood and came around to hug me.
All the tension left me with the feelings that warmth brought up. Dad put out a hand as well.
"The ones that saved you. They don't care. They won't treat you differently?" He seemed wistful.
"Dad, they are my …friends." I paused. "I knew some of them before I triggered, and I had no idea they were capes."
"There are capes going to Winslow?" He huffed. "That should have been obvious, not like they all could go to Arcadia anyway."
Mom gave him 'the look'.
"The Wards are moved to Arcadia for the most part. Unless it would be really obvious." He shifted. "I…can't help your group directly. But I have contacts with the government –outside of the PRT. I'm not quite the mild-mannered businessman you know."
Mom rolled her eyes at his posturing. "Don't fib to a fibber. Just because you hobnob with the DC crowd from time to time…" She left that hanging, a doubt showing in her face.
"Dad's secrets aren't the subject here. Mine are." I step back a little to shift fully over to my bug form, taking off the helmet visor to set on the table. "They have another friend in the background, one who can make tech like this." Shifting back to human looks fully, I turned it so that it was facing us.
"Is this thing on?"
***********************
Freyja.
It was just as well her Keptain had spoken with her about this already.
"I hear you Miss Clements. Keptain is otherwise occupied as are Shadow Stalker and Gingembre. How may I assist you?"
Maddison. "This is my mother and father. They know about me being a cape. I would like to reassure them it would be …better to join your group than to go to the PRT."
"We, as a group, have assets that we can call on. What you would call Tinker tech, but without the usually expected limitations. Our health plan includes family members, evacuation in the face of Endbringer events. We will not interfere with law enforcement or take steps against the gangs directly unless they threaten one of our members or their family." Freyja was speaking up, making sure they understood the situation.
"You don't sound like a teenager." Dad noted.
That gave Freyja pause. "It is true. I am older than my Keptain." Freyja looked for a way to explain her feelings. "As she rescued Shadow Stalker from the injuries of street violence. As she guided Gingembre through her school life. She even found me trapped in my own darkness and set me free."
"That sounds very noble. What does she want from our daughter?" Mom's voice was steel.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
The voice coming from the visor chuckled lightly. "My Keptain is a great collector of the wounded that she heals and sets free to follow their own heart. And so far everyone she has touched has chosen to stay associated with her of their own free will."
"Your… Keptain?" Dad steepled his fingers. "That doesn't sound like a name. More like a rank or a station." He touched his chest and I knew he was feeling the dog tags he still wore under his shirt, something that had been true since I was a child at least.
A faint light played out from the visor to where his hand still touched. "Scanning. I … see." Freyja pulled from several public databases. Then from several that sent red flags across areas of the internet. Military. Government. International.
"Major…"
Dad's demeanor changed slightly. "Ah, ah." He wagged a finger 'no'. "Don't spill my secrets my dear… Ah me. We still haven't heard your name."
"I am called Freyja."
*******************
Sophia showed up on our doorstep dressed for a run. Okay, she probably ran here all things being equal.
"I know Blackwood is out so what she said is worth a fart in a hurricane, but we still need to do some running to justify the abs and muscles. Growth spurt would just make you taller and thinner." She turned to Emma who had also come down as I let the dark whirlwind inside. "And you… Gonna lose all those gains if you don't keep working the pains." Is it sad that I recognize her Guy pose from Naruto?
Emma grinned. "We can swing by the dojo and get some time on the bags."
I caught sight of Anne watching from the kitchen. "Ah, the bags. I see what you mean." I had turned off many of the alerts Freyja could give me about the things going on around. Not being startled by almost bumping into people coming around corners got suspicious quickly.
Anne piped up from the door. "You guys want a ride to the dojo?"
Glancing at the window and at Sophia's feet. "No mud. It doesn't look like it will rain later. Sophia here won't be satisfied if we aren't sweating it out on the way there as well as back."
The person in question made a muscle pose. "Pains for gains."
Anne gave us a look. "Right. Well, I have a membership with the parent chain at my college. I will head up alone if I have to. See you three there."
It dawned on me, she must have been about to bring it up anyway. She was dressed for a workout as much as for lazing around the house. Anne was more of a fitness freak than Emma would ever be, but it was hard to realize they were sisters sometimes.
"Fine. Getting my running shoes on, be right back." I took the stairs two at a time.
Emma, the lazy snit, pulled hers out of the cubby by the door, swapping house shoes for her sneakers.
As we left the house at a light jog, I tapped my earbud surreptitiously. "Give us situational alerts and updates on citywide events as appropriate. Monitor and unlock stealth options on a spike of heart rate."
Sophia was all smiles now, getting access to some of the toys was better than school lockdown mode after all.
Jogging downtown at a slow pace put us in the crosshairs of various people. We always had a few of the unaligned assholes watching to see if there was anyone worth waylaying for kicks or cash. Then there are the pretentious skinheads looking to impress the light girl at the same time they cow the dark-skinned person with us. Today, there was a contingent of Asian fellows not quite sporting red and green, sniffing around a contended corner property.
We crossed the road away from them like good little girls should.
And this is where I failed to make my purposes clear to Freyja. I did not intend to run into the Wards patrol.
"Hey look, it's the kiddy patrol, along with Cap… Commander Obvious." She changed her planned quip fast enough to avoid a spark at her earlobe this time.
We held up as the group of three coming across the street skipped the traffic by somehow stepping up briefly to the green bar holding up the light itself –which in turn seemed easily wide enough for them to stand two abreast– then down just in front of us as we slowed.
The one in white clock faces spoke up as if prompted. "Greetings, citizens. How are you this fine evening?"
The older boy with the Lion head shaped armor face-palmed, shaking his head. Triumph?
I must have subvocalized it. "That is indeed Triumph, Clockblocker and Vista." the quiet voice spoke in my ear.
"Clock, don't be such a creeper. Hiya, I am Vista." Green dress, with a bike helmet and a visor spoke up to us.
"Hello to you." I found myself turning to face Triumph, offering my hand to shake. "Congratulations on your induction to the Protectorate."
The part of his face not covered reddened a bit, he straightened up to look up at me. "Thanks.", he croaked out.
Mind you, when someone who's whole powerset is to screech out tones that break walls, you might wince a little when their voice cracks. I maintained composure despite his hitch.
Then I made sure to include Vista, offering my hand to her as well. She seemed to take it in stride.
"Military brat?" She asked in a stage whisper. "They always get weirded out when I greet the ranking officer first."
I lean in a little. "What do you mean?"
She winks visibly through the visor as Emma gushes and works the autograph book she keeps in her purse. Sophia is being jovial yet standoffish about capes. Bored when not sweating.
Vista waved at the others. "They are deferring to you like ducks following the V in air. You must be the alpha."
I felt Sophia perk up in reaction to that, bristling slightly.
Smiling a bit, I step back a notch as Emma plies Clockblocker for a signature now that Triumph is even redder than before. "They don't defer to me. Ems is a raving fangirl and Soph is from out of town –capes don't grow on trees down south."
Sophia piped in. "Not the ones you come up to and say 'hi' that is." She looked down the street. "They look a lot more like those idiots."
Down the street, just outside of the block wide perimeter I'd set for alerts, a giant of a woman in Valkyrie armor with a round shield and a sword at her hip was pushing a panel van backwards with her leg.
The vehicle was undamaged, and the white, clearly New Yorker driver, was yelling back about deliveries.
"Move it yourself. This road is the route for a peaceful protest to the handling of Empire members by ze authoritarian government flunkies."
Hooboy. I was seeing the overlay map light up with red marks. This was not an isolated event.
Triumph was getting fed directions as well. "Ladies, you should evacuate down Park street. Wards, it is time for a tactical retreat…"
I waved my hands in negation. "Not a good option. We came from that way and there were ABB members loitering around the plaza on the corner of Park and 3rd. They might be prepped for an ambush of the marchers or even their minders." I gestured to my left. "We can cut through the service road here and come out a block up without interacting."
Triumph dithered a second. Emma took the moment to offer an arm to Clockblocker. "Oh, please escort us to safety, dear sir?"
Vista huffed in annoyance that cutely matched Sophia's expression. The alley I'd pointed to seemed to compress down to next to nothing.
"Huh? It feels harder to move or keep this up for some reason. I'll go ahead to check if it is clear."
Triumph relayed his new path and escort duty while Clock and Emma did a few steps from the Wizard of Oz together. Wait, if she is Dorothy and he is the Scarecrow, and we already have a Cowardly –well an ex-Wardly– Lion, does that make me the Tin Man?
Sophia laughed at my face but took both me and Triumph by the arm and pulled us along to follow the other three.
Apparently, a bit of Emma's boisterous outlook had infected Clockblocker or unlocked his own I suppose, and then passed along to Vista. Who knew she was a closet Oz fanatic?
Triumph was not so welcoming of the analogy of course and had moved ahead with Vista as she let the third of the blocks uncompress from the straight path and moved to do the passage down the right-hand turn that should put us behind the moving demonstration of stupidity on foot.
Left behind the four, Sophia glanced at me. "Does this make me Toto?"
"Totally." I deadpanned back. "Unless you want to be a Tin Man?"
"Haha no. but you have to admit, Toto pissing on the Witch would have been better than throwing a bucket of water at her." She grinned ferally.
"Never change, Sophia, never change."
A loud voice called out as we waited behind Triumph and Vista. "Hold!"
The telephone pole sized spear lined up from the voice to our little alley made it important to pay attention to.
"Relax! We just went around your bunch to keep out of the mix." Triumph pitched his voice to something like a loudspeaker. "We are running escorts for civilians."
She seemed to lower the spear a notch. "What do you mean, mix?"
Sophia looked ready to say something but Emma tapped her shoulder. Stepping forward, she used those lungs she had from the talent show back in June. "There's a bunch of gangbangers from the Asian side lining up to shoot up your march."
Surprise rocked the thirty-foot woman.
Sophia did jump in then. "Call them up and turn them, you platinum ditz! People live around there! Gunshots don't care about the color of your skin!"
"Fenja" (my earbud whispered to me) looked muleish but reached out to push down on a rooftop, shrinking to a normal human size. I suppose her cell phone wouldn't exactly work the same while expanded as she was in her giantess form.
I couldn't hear her talking, nor cared much. Triumph herded his Wards group down the sidewalk. We only needed to cross the street and enter to reach the Dojo proper.
As we entered I noted there was a Jeep parked to the side, soft top for weather proofing with rock climber tires. Inside were three men watching the last few of the marchers move past. Ugh, a mix of clan and Moral Militia types wearing camo and crosses. Joy.
A couple made like they were going to break off and heckle Sophia or perhaps more. But the guys from the Dojo taking a smoking break quickly focused on us, welcoming smiles on muscular faces –some of them as dark as she was. The would-be-hecklers decided to concentrate on not being left behind the rest of their demonstration.
We entered and found it was bustling as a lot of non-white civilians had taken refuge inside as the marchers approached. Ding. That was why the bigger guys of the dojo were taking a break out front like that. A show of force.
*******************
Alerts popped up on Armsmaster's displays. A myriad of them. Multiple intrusions, some patterned like the previously skittish hacker, and then many, many more all brute forcing their way down the backtrails the hacker had used.
He was turning to engage Dragon's personal line when her voice broke in on his line. "Colin!"
"You see it as well."
Her avatar on his monitors and on his HUD all nodded in agreement. "Our mysterious hacker went for some very dark site data. And there are now a dozen inquiring white hat hackers burning the back trail. Oh, excuse me, Colin."
Dragon cut the call.
***********************
"Brockton Bay Police, non-emergency line, how may I help you?" Female voice, tired chipper mix.
"The white supremacist march heading toward Park and 3rd is going to intersect with a group of ABB gangbangers tagging the Quickie Mart. I passed the one group on the way and had to duck around the street with Triumph and the Wards patrol to get past the sheets and camo."
"Park and 3rd. Thank you for the tip, ma'am. We have units coming from the South side. Please find shelter off the sidewalks and stay safe tonight."
Click.
Yeah, the BBPD took tips and cleared the lines fast. They knew the game.
Emma was calling up Zoe to give her the same news. "There was a rally and a march came past the dojo heading for Park. Tell Anne to steer clear if she is heading this way."
I heard Zoe answer back as Emma put it on speaker phone. "Tell her yourself. She got there ten minutes ago and was calling me to warn you three."
We checked the treadmills after checking in and found Anne jogging along. She looked relieved to see us.
"Told you it was safer driving. The DJ announced the March path just in time for me to go around the longer way." Anne noted.
There was a boom sound and then another from someplace down the road. The guys watching the front hustled in and lowered armored garage door covers over the inch thick plexiglass windows. The electric motors moving them hummed along until they were just over halfway down.
The power to the area was cut suddenly, plunging the whole place into darkness before the emergency lights kicked on. Through the gap left, we saw things like Rhinos go by, the thud of their steps on the ground outside clear. They were going toward the fighting ?
The guys were using the hand crank to close the last bit of covering, for what little good it would do. The narrow remaining gap lit up from left to right, horizontal lightning.
"Keptain, that attack was strong enough to cut through this structure if not demolish it outright. May I suggest a tactical retreat?"
"I don't feel right leaving all these civilians under threat. What is going on out there?" I asked, knowing my words were being blocked from anyone not on my crew.
"Let me scout the situation!" Sophia called. She was already heading to the side, towards the changing rooms and privacy.
I noted Anne was hovering around Emma and a gaggle of the younger kids. "Stalker, go hot and scout. Freyja, disengage privacy on me." I waited for the ping tone and the audible murmuring of voices to increase.
I clapped for attention. "Everyone! Please move away from the windows towards the back rooms. The capes are letting loose and who knows when one will oops in our direction. Do we have basement access?" I focused attention on two of the guys wearing the dojo's staff t-shirts.
They shook off the blue screen moment and started herding people toward the back. Emma waved Anne in that direction and started grabbing up kids who were in the karate classes, urging them to go downstairs.
I headed for the change rooms where Sophia had been. "I'll check the change rooms. Somebody check the spin rooms."
*********************
Shadow Stalker
As soon as she got into the change room and her earbud gave the tone saying she was out of direct sight, Sophia called for her costume with the key phrase she'd set up. "Stalk me."
Trjegul yowled in her ears as he beamed her inside briefly, swapped clothing for costume and beamed her out another three steps further through the room. Going to her shadow state, Sophia lunged through the bottom half of an emergency door to avoid the line of fire where a circuit crossed the door, visible on her visor's HUD.
Her boltcaster already in hand and loaded with a set of spy tips ready, she exited the building and ascended upward using the lift provided by the device. Once she got to the fourth-floor roof of the brick building, she checked around. This was one of the shorter buildings around, older, the others nearby being mostly of glass facing steel girder, she aimed and fired twice. The spy bolts hit and stuck using a field powered suction to stay in place, the camera pods built into the bolt panning around.
Immediately Trjegul located the flying cape above who had fired the blast. Lit like a flare, she was flying in a pattern that kept her moving in a circle above something a block or two over. While she wasn't firing indiscriminately just yet, she had shot up the roads three times.
"Keptain, Purity is shooting at anything moving. New Wave is moving in from the West in formation."
"Freyja, get me outside." I tapped a chord of finger spots that I'd designated to change to my uniform as well as going gray skinned with white hair. Clips that beamed into place mid-length of my hair moved up and locked into place with each other giving the appearance of shorter length while the exposed portion curled into ringlets.
The image of me seemed to go through the wall, but in fact Freyja beamed a tiny plug of the brick out of the way of the ship herself, beaming it back into existence after we passed.
Red and purple pulses of light showed over the rooftops announcing New Wave was coming in hot. A blue field shimmered from overhead, some of the only light showing out here, as the bubble around Shielder crossed the road.
Purity paused in her circles and pointed their way. A line of white with a helix twist to it shot back, presumably aimed high as it deflected off Shielder's bubble.
The smaller red bubble of Laser Dream showed and ducked down into the shadow of the buildings. Photon Lady's more flattened hemisphere stayed above but stayed facing Purity as she resumed her pattern.
I flew up to a few dozen feet from Laser Dream, looking around.
"Shit!" she eeped, catching sight of me. Her hand gathered the red energy for a blast, but she didn't fire. "Friend or foe?" She all but growled out.
"Friend of course. If I was a foe, I'd already be shooting you." Inadvertent Janeway impression aside. "Put it back into your field before you take a stray bullet." I answer.
She did so, partly because it was good sense to push defense in the face of an unknown.
"I'm Keptain. There are people in the building below, civilians. Can you try to keep from being a target directly above them?"
"Laser Dream." She tapped her phone, strapped to her forearm, turning a live call to speakerphone." Lady Photon, civilian group in the brick building. Do we cover it with Shielder or draw fire elsewhere?"
Shadow Stalker's voice came over my earbud. "I can see a sniper setting up three blocks south of you. Get Lady Photon down ten feet or she is a target."
"My teammate has eyes on a sniper south. Lady Photon, evade down ten please."
A shot rang out.
I could see Lady Photon moving down, controlled. She'd apparently taught herself to create a smaller secondary shield over her back.
"Stalker, put a flare on that sniper." I commanded.
Laser Dream side eyed me as she supported Lady Photon into a sitting position on the ledge.
She was breathing in pants. "Thanks for the warning. It was a rubber bullet I think, but heavy caliber." Deep breath. "Knocked the wind out of me right through my field."
I heard the snicker as Shadow Stalker put a bolt into the air. "Cover your eyes now!"
"What?" Laser Dream got out before the flash happened.
Magnesium flare material or something not far from it, with interleaved discs of carbon as it burned so it went from massively bright to nearly nothing to bright again. From the sensors I could tell she'd dropped it right on top of the sniper nest, both illuminating and blinding said shooter.
I flew to the side a ways, popped up over the edge and aimed my hand weapon visibly that way. It was Freyja that was aiming from where my hand would be, as she beamed me in before I fired.
Even as I said "Fire", and sent the stunning bolt his way, I saw the lights in the 'bridge' change to red as the screen I was watching turned white.
Purity had seen us … me.
When the sensors cleared, there was a missing section of the bricks around where my image was floating.
Purity was not looking my way. I was gone. Nothing survived her blasts. She was watching the other building where an ungainly-looking dumpster flew up close, an arm pulling the limp man into the interior.
"Freyja, stun that psycho." My image reoriented to fire a stun pulse at Purity, tagging her easily.
I flew up and we caught her midair. Well my image caught an image of her, while she was beamed into Freyja on one of those beds. A girl in a white dress and tiara flew up, putting herself between me and the dumpster that was flying our way.
"Glory Girl. Rune in the garbage receptacle with Victor and another female." Freyja noted.
"What did you do to her?!" a shrill voice screamed from just inside the dumpster.
Another right on the heel of that added. "And to my Victor!"
The image of Purity in my arms shrank down to a spec in my hand as I hovered there. "I stunned her as I did him. For him it was no more than he deserved for almost killing Lady Photon with that rubber bullet –or did you think about how knocking out a flier six stories up would cut off her flight? As for Purity, she went to killing power level on me. I am considering turning her in for trial on attempted murder."
The dumpster shimmied to the side. "Give her back."
"So she can do that again? Or will she miss the edge and just collapse the building on the hundred or so people in the basement below?" I shook my head.
I could see another piece of junk, a car or what's left of one, flying up at Glory Girl. She was surprised by it coming in and found herself fighting the telekinetic force for leverage to stay in the air as the car form swept around to push her down.
"Stand down or I will be forced to fire on you." I stated.
Her grin was sadistic. "Not gonna work on me."
Freyja opined there "If the woman is Othala, she can grant a short-term invulnerability."
"Fire." I mouthed.
The pulse of stunning energy hit Rune and fizzled.
Her smile got wider. "See."
"Douse the internal lights. Beam her into a block of metal up to the neck. Beam Othals and Victor aboard as well, restraints and stun application until it works."
The dumpster began to fall.
"And bring that down slowly." I was done with this evening's stupidity. My image appeared to move to the dumpster, touching it. Said item following me down to ground level as if held by me.
I could see Fenja and Menja moving my way, anger on their faces. A man wearing a suit of interlocking blades was on one shoulder.
"Kaiser of the Empire", I spoke up, with Freyja projecting my voice clearly. "If you will end this farce and leave peacefully I will return your comrades to you in good health."
The man considered a moment, putting his arm out to signal a halt.
"Return my capes then." He pointed to a vehicle driving up, a black van with a sliding door.
I landed. The door opened. Inside it was multiple rows of seats.
There was a guy in there, dressed slightly like a Roman soldier, his helmet to one side but a mask hiding his features.
"Put the seats back, they are unconscious. They will wake in thirty minutes or so." I told Freyja to put them into the seats, Purity first then Rune, Othala and Victor in turn.
As I finished an alert showed. A ghostly spear emerged from my chest –or rather my image– and I now saw the figure had emerged from the ground behind me dressed like the guy in the van.
"And now you can take a nap as well." I pointed and made the bang gesture. Freyja fired the pulse at a somewhat higher setting. It not only stunned him it tossed him across the van, making it rock on the shock absorbers. The projection of him faded out of existence.
Turning to face Kaiser and the two giant women. "Do you really insist on doubling down on this idiocy? I gave you terms in good faith. I could as easily turn them all over to the Protectorate."
I floated to the side as the twins readied their weapons.
"If Purity couldn't blast me and …"
"Crusader" Freyja noted.
"...that dipshit in hoplite armor that belongs to dark skinned Mediterranean people could not so much as scratch me, what makes you think two oversized Vallejo knockoffs will do better!"
Kaiser himself was taken aback, steadying himself by a harness to the Valkyrie armor.
"No insults for me?" He recovered quickly.
I crossed my arms and my image matched me. "Well, you at least have not taken action directly. So far this has been one bad conclusion jump after another. Can you have one of those two shrink down and drive this thing away? Your previous driver will wake up in maybe three hours. With a headache and bruises to remind him why not to try and stab people."
"And if we decide to push things?"
I gesture upward where New Wave was arrayed. "Pretty sure that they may be considering if four on three would favor the white hats at this time. I am betting you have reinforcements heading this way. But I am also sure the Protectorate is coming too."
"Who are you girl?"
"She is Keptain, and she isn't alone either!" Shadow Stalker reformed in view off to the side, holding a bead on Fenja's head at her eye level.
Gingembre showed up, posing nicely on the corner of the brick building. "Not alone in the slightest with Gingembre nearby."
I winced as that was purely a Freyja projection there. Emma's first big cape exposure and she is phoning it in while keeping Anne occupied.
Shaking his head, Kaiser said something to Fenja, who nodded to Menja. The latter shrank down to human normal, jumped into the van, closing the side door on the way and started it up. She drove away in a hurry, several other vehicles coming out of alleyways to follow.
"We are leaving as you require. But do not expect the Empire to treat you kindly after this."
Rolling my eyes, "Freyja, make sure Trjegul cleans up the bolts. Can we rebuild the piece of building Purity blew away?"
'Yes, Keptain." She paused. "Ah, Keptain, Lady Photon wishes a word."
New Wave flew down and hovered in front of my image.
Glory Girl spoke first. "Why did you let them go! You had them. You could have taken all of them."
I tilted my head, the move echoed in the real world. The image of Gingembre scampered off. Shadow Stalker faded into the brick building, going inside to make it seem she was coming out of a side room.
I pointed to the missing section of the bricks. "For one thing, I am not a recognized LEO here."
Freyja recreated the bricks and mortar using the other portions of the building as a template.
"The Protectorate…" Lady Photon began tiredly.
"Is a revolving door. They catch and release. Or they lose captured capes as fast as they get them. And they do that so there are capes to respond to Endbringer attacks."
That fazed the lot of them.
"You're kidding." that was Shielder speaking up.
I shrug. "Do your own research. I have done mine." I point down to the building. "We responded to prevent the fight from including the civilians. Nothing more. Disasters. Direct threat to civilians. We have healing technology on tap but do not plan to put the medical field in the poor house."
"Freyja, give them a phone number to contact us."
My image pauses when I look at Freyja's puppet.
The four New Wave members present react as their phones ding with incoming text.
Sighing slightly. "That will be our contact number. My assistant is very literal-minded when I asked her to give you a contact."
"Inbound Protectorate assets in one minute." Freyja noted.
I visibly look around as I float to a sitting position on the brickwork. "And that I believe is my cue to leave." Sirens playing, PRT vehicles coming into sight. I could see Dauntless flying in, his shield and javelin sparking. I wave goodbye.
"Wait…"
My image fades, while a chip of brick falls down to the ground. The chip is the ship, which turns at ground level after projecting the puff of dust of a hit, moving into the building the same way we got out. I emerge from the ladies bathroom after washing my hands and wetting my face a little.
Rejoining Emma and Sophia who were offering Anne a water bottle, I noted to Anne that I ..."didn't really like the dark and there was a light in the bathrooms. Forgive me?"
