Competition

"I have a question," I said to Lisa on Monday at my place, when we were going over both the plan and PRT rogue request form while Sveta was busy with T. "Why a bank? I mean, there's quite a few places we could hit that would net us more cash, at least." I didn't have to say more than that, the meaning was clear. The Undersiders and I combined had made more than two hundred thousand dollars just looting the cash off the ABB drug depots.

"There's a lot of reasons…" Lisa explained. "First, this? It's what the boss wants. The bank is actually not his first option. He wanted us to hit the PRT building first. I said no. Even with you and Sveta, that would be a little too dangerous for my tastes. Then came suggestions of various police stations and the like, all during the day. I was actually the one who suggested the bank."

I had to agree that, compared to hitting the PRT building, the bank was much less dangerous. "Why offer that?"

"There's two advantages for the Undersiders at the bank," she answered. "First, money. Especially with what the boss offers, we make at minimum three thousand a head, and that's with six people. And we stand to make a lot more."

"Second is reputation," she continued. "Hitting a bank is a big thing, it's front page news. Right now, the Undersiders aren't much. Just a small gang trying for a piece of the Bay. The bank shows that we're ready for the big leagues. It's a point of pride, too."

I could see that. A well-reasoned argument, as usual. Then a question came to mind.

"Why do you do this?" I asked. "I mean, with your abilities, there has to be a safer way of making money… Casinos, stocks, business analysis… I mean, your power has wide applications. There has to be a less risky and more legal way for you to live your life?"

Her usual smile fell of her face, and she was silent for a minute. Then she looked all around as if to confirm we were all alone, and leaned close.

She didn't have to stress. Both T and Sveta were in the workshop, going over the latter's costume, and had been that way since my clone had returned from school.

"There's some issues with that," she explained. "First, I'm not yet an adult, not for another few years. I can't work legally yet. Second, while my power's all good, it isn't worth much on the streets. I'm no stronger than the normal girl my age, and sometimes all the brains in the world can't fix a situation. And all that's without mentioning the migraines I get when I overuse it."

"Lastly, I wasn't really given a choice," she finished.

I was surprised when I connected the dots. "You mean, being part of the Undersiders?" I asked her. Lisa had always seemed at home with the rest of the group, so I found that bizarre. It didn't fit.

"I'm technically the first of the Undersiders," she explained, her face showing disgust. "The boss, he… bought was the term he used… the fucker bought me while he had people pointing guns at my chest."

Surprised was too little a term for how I felt. "That's… But… Why?" I finally asked. "Why are you working for him?"

Lisa's reply was flat. "Because of his power," she said.

Anger bubbled instantly in me. Lisa was the one I was closest to in the group, and I owed her a lot. She'd guided me, educated me, made me successful as a cape. No way was anyone going to manipulate her, control her.

Not happening.

"Tell me who he is." I said, voice cool. I could feel my hands crisping into fists. "Tell me. No one gets away with that!"

"No, no, no…" she replied, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Don't. Especially don't. His power… It's too dangerous for you to go."

I inclined my head. "Explain."

"I don't know exactly what his power is, you see," she said, voice grave. "I just know the impact it has." She paused. "He doesn't fail, ever."

"Come again?" I said. That can't be, I thought. He'd rule everything already if that was the case.

"I don't know if it's prediction, destiny, reality alteration, time travel or alternate universes," She continued. "I just know that I've never seen or even heard of him failing. That's why I don't want you to go. He might actually succeed in killing you, or…"

She didn't continue, and didn't need to. Worse, he might find a way to break me or control me. I could see now why she'd said before that she'd prefer me as an enemy than as his...

With me on his side, he might become unstoppable.

"That's why I take the jobs he gives; I'm trying to figure how it works, his power, what the limitations are," she kept on her explanation. "Slowly, I'm building a better picture of how it works. I know this time, the reason he wants us to do this job, is because he needs the Wards occupied for another of his schemes. What scheme, I have no clue."

"Tell me who he is," I said after a moment's thinking.

"You're not…" Lisa started.

"No," I interrupted her. "I'm not going to go after him." I took a deep breath. "I understand your reticence. I just want to keep an eye on whoever he is, find out what I can on my side." I had a few tools in my belt. If I knew who he was, I might even be able to get a read on his power, if I could get my father to help.

Lisa was silent some more, then nodded. She withdrew her phone, worked on it for a moment, then looked to me. My own cell vibrated, and I opened it.

She'd sent me an email with a link.

"Look at it later, okay?" she said. "I never told you anything, right?"

"Right." I now saw why she did it. It was nearly paranoid, true, but some of the possibilities for the boss' power were frankly frightening.

"Changing the subject," she said, stopping to take a breath. "Can I ask why you said yes to Brian's offer?"

"Sure, why?" I asked.

"I had you pegged as saying no, even during the conversation. I said the very same to Brian, even before we arrived at your place. He came anyway." She looked at me straight in the eyes. "So, what changed your mind?"

I took a deep breath. I didn't feel like talking about this, but she deserved an answer. "Lisa, you're my friend, right?" I asked her.

"Of course!" she said, looking at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What could I say? I wasn't going to be able to stop you, not after the speech Brian made, and I certainly wasn't going to rat on you, so my two options were either letting you go alone or going with you." I explained.

"I'm not happy with it. I'm not happy with it at all. Robbing a bank in broad daylight isn't the kind of thing I want to be known for. I can understand now why you would want to strike there instead of the alternatives, why Brian would go with this, but while I'm willing to tag along, it's very close to the line I don't want to cross."

Lisa nodded solemnly at that statement.

"You're not the only one who doesn't want to read about her friends being hurt in a newspaper, you know," I continued. "And if I do this, I can influence the situation, make sure all of us at least try to do it right. No hurting civilians, no unnecessary fighting. In, out, as best we can."

"Agreed." My fellow Undersider replied. "That's pretty much what I want."

"Best of all," I said with a mischievous smirk. "You'll owe me one, which I intend to collect on right now. You're better at talking than I am, so you'll be the one who explains all of this to my father." I said. "That way I don't have to."

Lisa laughed a little at that. "Ha, if I was gonna have to explain it all to your father, why didn't you bring that up earlier?"

"I…" I started, then stopped. Why hadn't I?

I hadn't thought of that.

Why hadn't I thought of that? I said inside my head.

"I…" I said. "It just hadn't crossed my mind."

Lisa's eyes turned serious. "You hadn't thought of him, when he was there less than an hour ago?"

"No," I said. "I… I can't understand why." I finally said.

"Go over what you thought, yesterday, step by step. From the moment Brian asked if we could count on you." Her eyes didn't leave mine. "Let's see if I can't pick up something."

I closed my eyes to focus on that conversation. "First, I asked if my not going would change anything." Lisa nodded. "Then I went over the things I said earlier," I added. "I also thought about limiting casualties and danger, and about what would happen even if everything went well, how it could harm your trust."

"Then I said yes." I finished.

"There wasn't anything else?" my fellow Undersider asked.

"Nothing I can think of," I replied. A minute more didn't bring any new memories up. "Nothing important, at the very least. I was mainly focused on what could happen to you guys, and to innocent bystanders."

"Nothing important," Lisa said, clearly thinking out loud. "And your father is important to you, clearly."

"Of course!" I replied. Now that I realized, I was imagining all kinds of horrible scenarios. How would he react?

"So you should have thought of him, but you didn't," she continued. "Importance of thoughts, abnormal behavior, memory lapse..." she pointed out to herself.

"You're being manipulated." Lisa said as she finished. She then realized what she said. "Fuck!" she exclaimed. "It's him, It has to be." She didn't have to say who he was, it was clear from context. "Fuck!"

"Everything fine?" Sveta asked, coming to the table. There was some anxiety in her voice. "I heard someone swearing."

I turned to her. "You're done?"

"For the moment," She said. "I'll have to go back in an hour or so, but right now T's back to tinkering, and I can't follow." She turned to the other person seated. "You okay, Lisa?"

"No," she said. "Taylor's being manipulated."

Sveta's eyes went wide. She turned to me and looked at me with piercing eyes. "Not right now, no."

"How do you know?" Both Lisa and I asked.

"Manipulation is naturally dangerous." Sveta pointed out. "I can tell, with my power."

"More than the typical danger sense, then," Lisa then continued on her earlier comment. "Yesterday," she explained. "When Brian came with the offer."

Sveta kept her glare up for a moment more. "Yes." She finally said. She then turned to Lisa and did the same treatment on her. "It could be you," the asylum escapee said. "Did you?"

"No." Lisa said. "I actually thought she would refuse. That's why I asked and how we found out, actually."

"And you're not lying, good." Sveta replied, then looked at the both of us in turn. "There's… something in your brains that's red," Sveta said after another minute of looking. She moved and placed a finger from each hand on the side of my head. "What's right there, in the middle?"

I looked at Sveta. "I don't know, actually." Biology isn't my strong point.

"The Corona… something. What gives us our powers, somehow." She looked to the sky. "Damn! He's using our very powers to manipulate us."

I nearly said I could remove her powers, but I realized I probably didn't remove that part of the brain, just shut it down. That might not mean the manipulations would end.

And I couldn't remove my own powers anyhow.

"How about me?" Lisa asked, turning to Sveta. "Was I manipulated in the past few days?"

It didn't take long for Sveta to nod.

"Fuck." Lisa swore. "It has to be him. It couldn't be anybody else."

"Shouldn't we can't cancel this job, with that?" I asked.

"Especially not," she said. "That would just show him that we know what he's doing. Worse, finding out might be even more manipulation, just to make us stress more. Or a test of some kind. Everything could be."

"We can't start second guessing everything," I said. "We'll go insane before long if we do that. Trust me, I know the feeling."

"No," She replied and looked Sveta in the eyes. "Sveta, can I trust you to check us for manipulation, a few times every day? Maybe we can find what he's trying to do with enough data."

"You can count on me," The escapee said.

"So we still hit the bank on Thursday, right?" I asked.

"No choice, we can't let him know what we found out." Lisa sighed. "So yes."

I nodded. "Then we go as prepared as we can. The best is we get clean away, no fighting, nobody getting hurt."

"We need to get the Wards' attention, though," She pointed out.

"That doesn't mean anything about fighting, just that they get there," I replied. "You still have yesterday's maps?"

She brought out the very sheet of paper she'd used the previous day. I went over them quickly, finding what I'd hoped.

I smiled. "I have a plan."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

I didn't look at the email Lisa had sent me before she left, just to make sure. I even waited for an hour after she was gone.

When clicked, the link lead me to a page of the Parahuman Online Forums, to a single word reply, dated a few months in the past.

Coil.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"So, let me get this straight," my father said from his place at the table inside my base. It was Tuesday, two days before the scheduled Undersider mission. "You, along with your friends, are going to rob a bank later this week." I nodded. "Because another villain will use that as a distraction to do some other crime, and you want to watch him in the act." I nodded again. "Because you need to figure out what his power is and how it works," he continued. "And all of that because he's been threatening members of your group, correct?"

"That's pretty much it, yeah." Beside me, Lisa nodded.

He lowered his face in the palm of his hand. "Never go into politics, Taylor. Never. You'll be eaten alive," he replied. "This is worse than your explanation that time you burned one of my shirts with the iron. And I didn't even believe that possible."

"That doesn't mean it isn't true," Lisa said.

"Couldn't you just…" He looked for his words for a moment. "Use your power on him?"

"Sure," I replied. "Only thing is I would need to get close enough to touch him."

"And that's the problem," Lisa further explained. "He doesn't tend to show his face, and his power seems to allow him to evade situations like that, somehow. That's why we need more information."

Danny sighed. "Yeah, but, attacking a bank?"

"It is the least dangerous target we could find that filled the other criteria, Mr. Hebert," Lisa said. "The original plan was hitting the PRT building. This is much safer."

His eyes went wide. "I can see that," he said. "Does… Does Taylor really need to be there? And Sveta, too?"

I took a deep breath. "I prefer being there in case something happens. I have a plan, one in which there should be no combat and no danger, but I prefer to be there in case something goes wrong. I'm the one in the group with the most varied powers, so I'm the one who can fix most situations."

"And if Taylor's going, I'm going," Sveta added from her spot at the table. "I want to help, and my danger sense will help make sure everything goes according to plan."

"Danger sense?" he asked.

"I can tell if something or someone is dangerous simply by looking," Sveta answered. "If there's a trap or someone under a disguise planning something, I'll know."

"I... I see you're pretty set on doing this," he finally said, and I could see the sadness in his frame. "Do you need... muscle? I know a few guys that can be trusted and could use some more work, and one of my ex-employees is a flunky for Uber and Leet, so..."

"No need, Mr. Hebert," Lisa interrupted. "We have this under control."

There was a tense silence for a few moments.

"Now for the other reason I wanted you here," I said, changing the subject. "Sveta's new to her powers, and I wanted you to use your own ability on me, so I could find out the specifics and help her with them."

He nodded. "Sure." He then extended his hand toward me.

"That's Gift he's using, right?" Lisa asked as I took his hand. "What does it do, give Thinker abilities?"

"No, it either removes restrictions or adds secondary abilities, but only to capes. On me it expands on my ability to see parahumans, giving me details on their powers." I said as I turned to the former asylum inmate. "Basically, all your powers are connected to your danger sense, Sveta," I explained. "You have a force multiplication ability based off the level of danger, an uncontrolled appearance transformation that tries to protect you from danger, and automatic reflexes against direct attacks. You can also specify what your danger sense reacts to, filtering and refining for specific dangers."

"That's more than I knew," Sveta said. "Thank you, Taylor, Danny."

"My pleasure." Danny said, smiling a little. I simply grinned and gave Sveta a thumbs-up.

Lisa had inclined her head as she did when thinking about something. "Removes restrictions, adds abilities…" Her eyes went wide. "You can cause second triggers!" she exclaimed. "They are temporary, right?"

I just nodded. "Affected by both time and distance," I added.

"Being broken is a family thing, I see," Lisa said.

"What do you mean?" my father asked. "That's not a very powerful power."

"Sure, it's not to the level of your daughter," Lisa answered. "But it's still very powerful. Capes that boost other capes are rare, with maybe a dozen in the entire world. And that, without any side effects…" Lisa looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. "is even rarer. And you have two in the same family."

"Two?" he asked.

"One of my powers allows me to create a zone where powers are stronger or weaker," I explained. "Not like you, though. Mine is more quantity over quality."

"What about second triggers, what are those?" Danny asked. Both Sveta and I leaned forward also, interested in the answer.

"The trigger event is the moment where you get your powers, the moment where you're pushed beyond your limits by events and something answers," Lisa said. "The second trigger is said to be the same, only for people who already have powers. It does basically as you do, Mr. Hebert, adding secondary abilities or removing limits. It's also so rare that it isn't much more than a rumor. Narwhal, the leader of the Guild, is pretty much the only well known example."

My father looked down at his hand. "That's what makes this power of mine valuable, right?"

"Indeed," Lisa answered. "There are capes that have been trying for years to achieve such a breakthrough, and you can just give it at will." All of us were silent for a moment. "Now, can I ask you something, Mr. Hebert?"

"Of course," he replied. "And Danny, please."

"Can you use your power on me, if you don't mind?" she asked. "I have to admit being curious about the results."

He extended his hand. "Go ahead."

She put her hand on his, then stretched her eyes wide to look around. "So much…" she said, a smile on her face.

"So, what does it do?" I asked. My power was still enhanced, but I couldn't see the results with it. I could only get her usual power, increased perception of details along with improved inference.

"More details. Especially for reading body language," she replied. "I'm actually getting a lot of details about your relationships just by looking at you all and how you stand." She inclined her head. "Less headaches too, I think."

My father extended his other hand toward Sveta. "How about you? Do you want to try?" he asked.

Sveta did as Lisa had done and put her hand in his.

"So?" Lisa said after a moment.

"Like you, more details," she replied after looking around. "I can somehow tell what the dangers are, now…" She pointed toward an old, broken lamp in the ceiling. "Be careful about that one, it's going to fall soon."

"Good to know," I said, making a note in my mind to take it down as soon as possible. There was then silence for a minute. "So, everything is going to be okay, Dad?" I finally asked.

He sighed. "I won't say I'm happy about it, since I'd be lying," he started. "But there isn't much I can do about it that wouldn't hurt you more. Just be sure to remember to keep things in perspective. Don't do anything you can't get out of. You too, Sveta." He smiled a sad little smile. "Remember your mother's story, ok?"

That was like a punch in the gut. "Yes, Dad." I nodded feebly. I'd not made the link before now.

My father ended up leaving not long after, and my power went back to normal less than two minutes after he left. I supposed it was the same for the others.

"What did he mean by your mother's story?" Sveta asked.

I didn't feel like talking much about that. "Do you know Lustrum?" I asked.

Sveta indicated no with her head, and Lisa explained. "A former villain. A female manipulator with power over women. Built a women's liberation group, and slowly turned it into an hyper-sexist misandric hate group. She then pushed them to attack and humiliate men everywhere. She didn't last long after that, and ended up in the Birdcage." She then turned to me and nodded, indicating she'd gotten the message my father wanted to pass.

I took a deep breath. "Let's just say my mother made some mistakes about who she was hanging with, when she was around my age," I explained. "It's another way of saying not to get too deep."

"No worries," Lisa said, flashing her usual smile. "I have no desire to make you a career criminal. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't end well for any of us here." She was silent for a moment. "Did you find out what you wanted, scouting the bank?"

"Yes." I'd done a visit to the bank with a few scanning tools in my pocket, just to verify some aspects of my plan. Since Bay Central was my own bank, and had been for the past five years, I doubted it would attract any specific attention. "The plan is doable. Are you sure of the information on your side?"

"Certain," she replied.

"And how is it going with your costume, Sveta?" I said, turning to her.

"Last fittings should be sometime tomorrow. The suit itself and the helm are done, just waiting on the rest. The equipment you wanted is done, too," she replied.

I smiled. "Perfect. Should we have the meeting with everyone here tomorrow, or is there a place the rest of you usually meet?"

"We'll have the meeting at our place, if you don't mind," Lisa replied.

"Fine by me. You?" I looked at Sveta. She nodded.

Lisa grinned. "We've all set then. On Thursday, we're robbing a bank."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[T, Thursday April 14th 2011]

For once, I didn't mind being at school. I understood why I needed to be here normally, if only as an alibi. But after my experiences, I couldn't see school as anything positive.

The one good thing as of yet were the rare times Kid Win and I managed to find some time to discuss tinkering. It only happened twice since I started school, but it was something I looked forward to.

Today, however, I was on a mission.

Taylor might be the one hitting the bank, but I had a role.

I was a lookout.

Specifically, I was a lookout for Vista, whoever she was. As the only girl remaining in the Wards, she shouldn't be so difficult to spot.

I did a cursory scan before going to school, but found no one save a single cape I didn't know. A boy, so probably another one of the Wards.

Then I went to class. I didn't have Kid Win with me in the courses I had today, or the other cape. As such, time went painfully slowly as I listened to the teachers. I nearly counted the seconds until the lunch bell.

I was the first out of the classroom. I waited near the lockers, trying to pick out capes.

Is it just me, or are there less people around than usual? I said to myself. The halls were oddly absent of shining people.

It sure seemed that way. Once classes were over, I turned and went to the cafeteria. Perhaps I had simply missed them, maybe they skipped the lockers today.

They hadn't. There were barely three parahumans in the lunch area. Out of those, only one was a girl.

Young and thin. The age was right for Vista, at least, as was the size, though the hair was off.

Her hair in costume is probably a wig, I realized.

I sat at a table to her left, in such a way that my shadow reached out to her seat. It was too bright here for me to be able to manipulate anything, but my new tactile sense was unaffected. Only then did I take out my phone and text Taylor, the school's signal jamming being offline during lunch hour.

Many C missing. Eyes on girl C, looks like V. GL​

There were still about ten minutes before the scheduled time for the robbery, so I went and took out my lunch. I was close enough that I'd realize if or when she was called.

I was halfway through my food when a man came next to the girl behind me. I was a little surprised. Based on Kid Win last week, I'd have thought a phone call or a text message.

The man was standing in my shadow, so I felt him reach inside his coat and withdraw a cellphone. And there was something else there.

Was that? I wondered in my head. I wasn't sure, so I decided to pay more attention to my senses.

The girl spoke on the phone for only a minute or so, before handing the phone back and packing her stuff. I paid more attention to the man though, and this time felt what I'd thought for sure was inside his coat.

A gun, I thought. He has a gun inside his coat. I'd handled enough guns after all the arms depots to be sure.

I turned a little, just enough to have him in my peripheral vision. He didn't look like a PRT member either. More like a teacher of some sort.

I have a bad feeling about this.

I gathered my own stuff and ran out the door, passing the pair, and ducked in a bathroom on their path. There, I didn't wait for a second, shutting off the lights and falling into shadow. I then swept outside as fast as I could, hiding under a water fountain.

Then I dashed into the girl's shadow as she passed.

I wasn't going to make the same mistake I'd done with Grue, though. As soon as she was under enough darkness, I switched positions, crawling onto her back. It wasn't the best place for seeing things, but it was enough to hide properly.

My ride was quickly guided to a car and, once the man who'd handed her the phone spoke a few words, climbed into the back seat with only minimal hesitation. He called her 'Miss Alcott', so I at least had a family name. He then sat beside her and the driver merged into traffic.

Between the sky being overcast and the lack of light in the vehicle, I could see much better once I stuck out of Miss Alcott's clothes. She was the only kid in the car, which seemed bizarre if she was one of the Wards. I'd have expected at least one or two other teens would be present.

The three other people in the automobile were men. Not wanting to be taken by surprise, I waited until we went through an underpass to do a quick passage inside their coats.

All of them were armed. The one in front on the passenger side even had a pair of uzis inside a heavy coat, something which I was sure wasn't normal equipment for PRT members. A quick look at what I could see of the streets revealed our ride was going nowhere near the Protectorate base or Bay Central Bank.

I'm liking this less and less.

As soon as there was enough shadow to move freely, I shifted back onto Miss Alcott. Whatever was happening, she was the target; I'd likely find out more by sticking with her.

The car finally stopped inside an underground parking area, where the girl starting saying something. She didn't get far, as I heard the man beside her reach out and cover her mouth with something. She struggled for a few moments, then went limp.

I nearly went out right there to subdue these people for kidnapping a young girl, but I stopped when one reached for an handheld transceiver. "Target acquired," he said.

"Acknowledged. Return to base," the voice on the device answered.

That little conversation meant there was more to this, and as such I decided to stay hidden and follow the men.

Two of the three switched cars, but not before putting the girl on a tarp on the back seat. The last went back to the original vehicle and drove off, and I suspected he was going to get rid of the car.

I was still inside Miss Alcott's clothes, so I didn't pick up much. The two men were silent for the whole ride. I did sneak out of her clothes to get a better look, but it was useless as by then the car was underground.

The pair of them carried both the teenager and I inside.

"Perfect. This is Dinah Alcott all right." A male voice said once we stopped. "Follow me."

We ended up in a room that looked like an infirmary. This was perfect as it left me enough shadow to slide under a bed and watch the proceedings from there.

One would be surprised at how much someone could tell by looking at their shoes. Two pairs of military boots, straight laced, which I associated with the two men who'd kidnapped Dinah. The polished Doc Martins with the ends of a lab coat were probably from a doctor or something similar.

And the black skintight suit ending in solid boots, along with a white snake motif, could be only one person. I'd made sure to study that picture extensively once Tattletale had pointed him out to me.

Coil, I snarled inside.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Coil]

I was smiling under my suit. Everything had gone according to plan. The Undersiders had done a perfect job playing decoy. Only thing left was making sure they didn't get caught on the way out. Another ten or twenty minutes, and I'd know for sure.

"Wake her," I said to Mr. Pitter.

The nurse brought out smelling salts and waved them under Dinah's nose. She woke up near-instantly, eyes darting everywhere as if looking for an exit.

"Good afternoon, Miss Alcott," I said, and she turned straight to me. "I'm sorry about the rough treatment you suffered at the hands of my men, but unfortunately I couldn't reach out to help you in public." I did a little bow. "I read the posts about your issues, and wanted to help you with them."

"Are you… Slenderman?" she asked. I shook my head negatively.

"No, unfortunately. But I have other means to assist." Thank god whomever Slenderman was, he hadn't reached out to this girl. Losing someone as potentially useful as her would have been an enormous setback.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but your power forces you to answer questions, correct?" She nodded. "So, if I were to ask: how likely am I to die in the next day or so?"

"Two point three seven seven eight four six zero five…" she started rattling out numbers.

"Good, good, that's enough. Chances the Undersiders succeed in their mission?" I asked.

"I don't know… Who are they?" she answered.

Some form of limitation there, I noted. I questioned her a little more, until she started complaining of headaches. "It hurts," she finally said.

"Mr. Pitter, a light dose please." I turned to Dinah. "This medicine should help you with your headaches. Take it and rest a little," I replied.

I left of the infirmary with the two soldiers following. "Guard this door. Make sure no one gets in or out except Mr. Pitter." The both of them nodded.

I then returned to my office, intent on finding out how the robbery had gone with the Undersiders. Once that was done I could keep this reality and discard the one I'd kept as backup. I took out my phone as soon as I was in the room with the door closed behind me and called my contact in the Undersiders.

The phone had only rung twice when the light turned off behind me, plunging the room into near-total darkness. Only the screensaver on my monitor shone some light in the room, barely enough to see anything beyond a foot from the machine. Being a meter away, I was standing in full dark.

I opened my mouth to say something, only to find my eyes covered and long, thin limbs shoving themselves down my throat. I tried to reach for my weapon, if only to make some form of sound, but I found it slipping out of the sheath on my chest, falling to the ground. Something tripped me, and I found myself in the air, falling back first toward the floor.

I was already blacking out, so I did the only thing I could think of.

I ended the reality I was in.

My other self was seated at my desk, looking at footage from the bank while going over other information. The Undersiders were clearly no longer on the premises, so I closed that window and split reality once again.

In the first, I called my contact at the school. The Wards were still busy, so I might still have a chance to acquire Dinah. In the other I messaged my captains, calling for a lockdown of the entire building. The attack on me might have been unrelated to my acquisition of Dinah, after all.

The call went directly to a message telling me the phone was out of range, so I figured that classes had restarted in Arcadia, and that the signal jamming was reactivated.

Missed my chance.

I cancelled that reality once again, and thought while soldiers went and secured the place. The plan had worked perfectly, only it had attracted some form of attention.

I noted every fact I could: the questions Dinah did and did not answer, the events leading to the attack and the attack itself.

Time to plan for the second try.

I withdrew my phone and called one of my employees. One who could be trusted. "Mr. Bernard, my office please. I need to make changes to the lighting system…"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Thursday, April 14th, 2011]

The six of us Undersiders were inside the bank, courtesy of Tattletale's password guessing abilities. I'd barely gotten the message that T had eyes on Vista two minutes ago, just before we'd gotten to the door.

Brian's darkness was doing a good job of clearing the cubicles on our side of the bank. It was clear he'd been training, as he could tell the instant someone within his energy-draining field fell unconscious. He pointed them out to us as they went down, so we tied them up and left them locked in a storage closet.

The main lobby was pretty much the same thing. Grue filled it with darkness while we waited outside for him to give us the all-clear. It took longer than with the cubicles, for some reason.

"Clear," he finally said, dropping his mist-like shadow from the center of the room. He kept the windows and doors covered, though, along with the cameras.

"That took, what, a minute more than the others?" Tattletale asked. "Any reason why?"

Grue pointed to a girl lying near the front counter. "This one," he said. "She wasn't going down for some reason."

Sveta looked at said girl. "She's dangerous, I can tell you that," she explained, then did a wide glance of the room. "She's the most dangerous person in here, actually."

At those words, Tattletale turned. "Really?" She went for a closer look, and I could see her eyes going wide. "Shit, that's Panacea."

"The healer?" I asked. "I don't see why that's dangerous. Should we tie her up?"

"No," Tattletale replied. "Her power's biology control by touch, so no taking the risk of her waking up suddenly with someone in close range."

"Alert, keep her in sight while we take care of the vault," Grue said to Sveta. "Call me if she wakes up. Tattletale, the vault, please." He pointed behind the unconscious bank employees at her target.

"With pleasure," she said, grinning as she turned the great steel wheel that operated the vault's locks. It seemed to go on forever, but after spinning through a dozen different rotations, the vault unlocked and swung open before us.

"Whoa, that's a lot of money," I said as I saw the stacks of bills resting there. Money wasn't such a hang-up for me anymore, but that was still a lot. I couldn't even guess how much cash was there.

Regent whistled besides me. "Yup, and it's all ours, Blondie." That was his nickname for me, based on my fake hair color.

"Let's get to it, Undersiders," Brian said, withdrawing a crowbar. "Think your plan is still viable, Apparition?"

I went to the door in the back of the vault and withdrew a few tools as the rest of the team got out bags from their backpacks, I went over the whole frame with scanners. "Give me ten minutes, and I'm good to go," I said with a smile.

"We're going with plan A, people," Grue said, then paused to wrench a safety deposit box open. "Regent, Bitch, get the money in the bags. Tattletale, you have cameras. Alarm, the main lobby." He turned to me. "Apparition, our exit please."

I didn't say anything and simply withdrew the most dangerous tool I've ever made, outside of Lucifer. It was basically a blowtorch, true, just a few levels more effective. It just used superhot plasma instead of the flame of a normal blowtorch. It was originally a weapon, a lightsaber-like construct as hot as the sun. I just used it differently, at lower settings.

With this, I made a few holes in the doors, severing the hydraulic restraints keeping the doors from being forced open. It took barely three minutes before I had Brian come over and push the doors open.

The elevator was currently at the basement level, the parking garage, so I cut myself a path after shadow dashing down, then repeated the maneuver on the doors below. Without Brian, forcing them open was somewhat more difficult, but I managed.

And I had everything done under the ten minute mark.

"Doors are open." I said after flashing back to ground level. Regent and Bitch already had a few bags filled, so I carried them down in shadow state.

"We got company," Tattletale called once I was back with the rest of the group.

Everyone moved toward the computer, only to be waved off and sent back to what they were doing. In the end, only Grue and I joined the team Thinker in front of the security monitor.

"Two, four, six…" he counted out loud. "Tattletale, why is every member of the Wards, along with an extra, right there in front of the bank?"

"Two extras, actually. There's someone on the roof, but I can't get who," she added, shrugging. "Three or four was an estimate, based on what we knew."

Grue took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm himself. "We'll have to discuss this later, Tattletale," he said. "Apparition, get us our exit now."

I nodded, only for Sveta to cry out. "Grue, Shadow! Panacea's waking up!" she said, dashing inside the vault.

The leader of the Undersiders reacted instantly, filling the lobby with darkness once more. "Alarm, go help the others with the bags," he ordered and she nodded. "Tattle, what are they doing?"

"Nothing," she replied. "They're covering the exit, that's all. I'd place good odds that they're waiting for Protectorate reinforcements."

"How much time do you give us?" he asked.

"Fifteen minutes, max," she replied. "Let's go with ten, just to be sure."

He turned to the rest of the group. "Double speed, people. We got ten minutes before we need to be out!"

I didn't wait to hear more. I grabbed a pair of bags that were already full and dragged them downstairs to the garage. Then I slipped even lower through the pipes there, into the sewers.

The parking garage under the vault hadn't been part of the Undersider's original plan because the doors were controlled remotely, from outside the bank. Sure, they could be forced open, but the alert would go out quickly, and people would know where to expect us.

I wasn't planning on using the doors.

Brockton Bay was wet and in a valley leading to the ocean; and as such it had an extensive system of storm drains and sewers to deal with the potential flooding. They crisscrossed the entire city, and with my shadow abilities I'd already made regular use of them.

A place like an underground parking garage needed sewer access to drain off the water that could get in. I used the same drains to reach the main sewers.

Then I turned my plasma tool to full strength and started carving a hole. What I used was originally made for cutting into the equivalent of battleship armor; as such it burned deep holes into the sewer wall, which I used to dig an opening. It was a longer job than the elevator doors before, but I was done before the ten minutes were up. I did, however, have to spray the hole with liquid nitrogen before it was safe enough for travel by the others.

That was what I'd checked, a few days ago. I'd made sure that there were sewers directly under the bank, and with Tattletale's help I'd confirmed that the wall between the garage and the sewer was thin enough to cut through. The Undersiders now had a passageway directly from the garage to the sewers, wide enough for everyone.

"Everything fine up here?" I said after dashing back inside the vault.

"We're down to the last bag," Brian said, filling said container. Bitch had taken his place opening the safe deposit boxes. By now, about eighty percent were open.

"Tattletale?" I continued.

She replied without turning from the screen. "Wards haven't changed position, though I'd guess by their body language we don't have much longer."

I heard the sound of a zipper. "We're done then," Grue said. I had to admit, there wasn't much left. We'd taken all the loose cash in the vault, only thing left were the safe deposit boxes.

Bitch looked like she was about to argue, but after Grue focused his gaze on her for a moment, she simply scowled and tossed him the crowbar.

With me carrying the last bags down, all six of us were in the sewer and gone before ten minutes had passed.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"So, how does it feel, being victorious after your first heist?" Grue asked from his place on the sofa, back in the Undersiders' base. It wasn't the first time I was here, and I had to agree it beat my own place in sheer comfort. We were still in costume, though we'd removed helmets and the like.

"Exhilarating," I admitted. It wasn't a lie, even. Everything had gone properly, no damage, not even a fight. The worst that occured were some people who'd gotten some unexpected sleep, along with a few holes here and there. And we'd gotten away cleanly.

"Have to agree, Blondie; your plan rocked," Regent drawled, not turning from his game. Yes, he called me Blondie even when I wasn't wearing the false hair. It grated somewhat. "Easiest money we ever made."

"We could've taken them," Bitch added from her corner.

"Better to have not taken the risk," Brian replied. "We still don't know who our mysterious seventh person was. Could you have taken Battery or Assault? Or even Armsmaster?"

Bitch growled but didn't reply in any other way.

I looked around. Everyone was winding down. "I'll be leaving, then," I said, as Sveta came out of the bathroom dressed in civilian clothes. "Work's done, so I need to get back to my place," I said, ducking into the washroom to change.

"Not staying for a while?" Regent said, pausing his game before turning. "We got the latest Earth Aleph blockbuster here, some popcorn and enough drinks for everyone."

I poked my head out of the bathroom and saw Sveta shaking her head no. Lisa, from her spot, smiled. She knew what I was leaving to do. "Thanks for the offer, but it'll have to be another time. I have a few projects that won't advance if I don't put in the hours."

Alec shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, and he went back to his game as if nothing had happened.

Grue waved as I came out. "See you both then, and good work. I'll send Lisa to your place with your share in a few days." I waved back, then we went down the stairs and left.

I waited until Sveta and I were back to base before speaking again. "So, how was it?" I asked.

"Fun, actually," she replied. "It felt good to be part of a team, to be trusted. Lisa and Brian are good people, and even Alec is fun." She didn't say anything about Bitch, I noticed.

"You didn't mind being lookout?" I continued.

"Nope. With my power, it's an understandable position," she said with a smile. "Only Lisa could do a similar job, and she was much better off on the cameras."

"So why didn't you want to stay over for a movie?" I asked.

"I was starting to crave a little solitude, actually." She looked down. "I'm... not yet used to groups of people like that. For the heist, everyone was professional, so it felt like being part of a team. For social interactions, however..." she didn't finish, not really needing too.

"I get you." I did, truly. I wasn't much into big social gatherings myself. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself at least." I turned toward my workshop. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some tinkering to do," I said as I walked off.

"Mind if I order something?" she asked.

"No, go ahead," I replied. "Nothing for me, though." I was eating supper home tonight, as requested by my father.

"Ok. Good tinkering," she said, then went straight for a computer.

I'd barely done ten minutes' worth of work on a breastplate when the phone vibrated. I removed the ear protection I was wearing while taking a look at the clock.

Three twenty-one… That can't be T, I thought. Too early.

A quick check showed it was Lisa's phone.

"You've got incoming patients!" Lisa said as soon as I had the phone close to my ear. "Please, you need to have everything ready in three minutes."

My eyes went wide. "Want me to dash to your place? I can make it in less than that." Through the sewers, of course.

"Don't bother," she said, and I heard sounds in the background of her call. A car engine starting and… were those explosions? "Our place just got knocked out. The Undersiders are homeless now."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

I dashed into my workshop as soon as Lisa hung up. A quick look confirmed what I feared: I couldn't hide this in what little time I had. "Fuck!" I yelled.

"What's happening?" Sveta asked as she came down from her room.

"We've got incoming wounded. The Undersiders," I said.

"Ouch." She then saw my face and guessed. "And you don't want them to know about the tinkering?" she asked.

It wasn't really that. "I'm just… not sure if they can be trusted. Regent and Bitch, I mean." They seemed like decent people, if a little outside the norm. I just didn't know enough about them to be confident about their reactions.

"You trust my power?" she asked. I nodded. "I'll check them over as they arrive and inform you if I see anything bad."

"Thank you," I replied, smiling. Then I thought for a moment. "Can you bring down your mattress? Some of them might need to rest while they recuperate."

She ran back to her room. "On it!"

On my end, I went, grabbed my healing beacon and dragged it into what I use as a living room, setting it up near the middle. The table there would be another spot for someone to lie down, if necessary.

At least once it was cleaned up.

I cleared off the table and pointed out where Sveta could put the furniture from upstairs. I then sent her to the door to help the rest of the Undersiders once they arrived.

I didn't have to wait long. I was barely done removing the trash and pulling out the first aid kit when the Undersiders began staggering through the door.

Lisa was first, helping Rachel walk. The Thinker had quite a bit of blood on her shirt, but it seemed like it wasn't hers. Bitch, however, was a mess. Most of her clothes were torn, there was blood everywhere, and one of her eyes was swollen closed. She was holding onto something with her one good arm, though I couldn't tell what since it was covered.

Brian was behind them, also hefting something in his arms. He didn't look wounded at all, thankfully.

Alec and Sveta were closing the march, Brutus (I think) after their heels. The boy's arm seemed wrong, but he didn't seem to be bleeding. He was, however, clearly cursing under his breath.

With that, I went to Rachel, trying to lead her to a chair. "Sit, Rachel. We'll have to check your wounds for shrapnel before we do anything else."

"Dogs first," she said, moving her head.

"Huh?" I replied.

"Dogs first!" she yelled this time, making the same movement again. I realized suddenly that she was indicating the bundle in her bloody arm.

"You can't be serious," Brian said, only for Bitch to snarl at him.

I carefully grabbed the bundle and unwrapped it on the table, revealing Angelica. Brian did the same and Judas joined the other canine on the table. Judas whimpered feebly as he was put down, while Angelica did not react in any way. I was afraid for a moment it might be too late for her.

Bitch might look like she'd just lost a match against a lawnmower, but I actually had to take the Angelica's pulse to make sure that she was still alive. She was, though for how long was probably an issue.

"Your power won't help?" I asked Rachel. She shook her head no, looking desperate.

Then there was only one thing to do. "Lisa, you have the best eyes, take Judas here and go over his wounds. You need to remove as much shrapnel as possible before I start the machine, or they might stay stuck there." The female Undersider nodded, and I turned to the others. "Sveta, with me, we'll take care of Angelica. Brian, clean Rachel's wounds as much as possible. No sutures."

"What about me?" Regent said. He didn't look to be in danger of getting worse.

I gave him a quick look-over. "You look like you'll survive, so you can be last. Take a chair and wait."

"Fuck you," he replied, but still went and took a seat.

"Shouldn't we clean our hands before," Brian asked from Bitch's side.

"Normally, yes, but it's not needed in this case," I said, already picking out bits of metal from Angelica's torso. "The beacon kills germs and we don't really have time."

It was a few long minutes before we'd done what we could. Brian had finished his part first then, had gone to fix Regent's dislocated arm. The lanky boy was still cursing over how much setting his arm hurt, even now. He also had a few choice words for being ignored in favor of the dogs.

"That's the best we can do," Sveta finally said. She was my spotter, as she could filter for debris with her power somehow. I nodded to her and started the beacon.

The next minute seemed like thirty, but slowly the two wounded dogs' pulses normalized and their wounds started visibly closing. "They're out of danger," I finally exclaimed.

Rachel did not completely relax at that, but she stopped twitching quite as much. She did, however, keep cleaning the two dogs with a towel now red with blood.

"Anything else?" Brian asked. You could see in his face that he was trying to keep himself occupied.

"Food," I said. Sveta's pizza hadn't arrived yet, but it wouldn't be enough for everyone. "Dog food too. Meat preferably, because of the blood loss."

"I'll take care of it," Brian said. He went to the washroom to clean his hands, then walked right back out.

"How long?" Rachel asked, pointing at the dogs on the table. She'd left her chair and was watching over them carefully, Brutus right beside her.

"I don't know, this is the first time I've dealt with wounds this extensive," I replied. "I'll keep it up as long as you think it's needed." She nodded at that, and I turned to Tattletale. "So, what happened?" I asked since the urgency was gone.

"I don't have all the details, since Brian and I were out when it happened. We'd left barely a minute after you did, transferring the loot to where the boss had asked," Lisa explained. "We came back to find the building down, with a supersized Brutus digging Rachel out, and Alec walking around dizzily. He'd fallen badly as the building crumbled, it seems. Only thing I noticed is that it started from the opposite side of the building to our living room."

"Explosions," Rachel added, not taking her eyes off her dogs. "Three, four of them. Maybe more." She was clearly trying to remember. "Getting closer each time. Then, ceiling comes down."

"I had only Brutus with me, so I made him big. Quick as I can," she continued. "Tried protecting myself, but it didn't work. Woke back up when Brutus dragged me out. Dug out Judas and Angelica with his help."

That's actually the most I've heard out of her ever, I realized.

"Thanks," Lisa said. "That'll help." Bitch just nodded without turning.

"Any clue who it was?" I asked. There would be some retribution for this, I'm sure.

"My guess is, that was the other shoe dropping, and the gang wars are going to start again," the Thinker explained. "I told you earlier Lung was waiting to make his move, right?" I nodded. "That was his move."

"Why go against you?" I asked. "I mean, I'd expect him to go after the E88 first, not the Undersiders."

"If he was really going against us, he'd have been waiting as the building came down," She replied. "I have the feeling we were just an attack of opportunity. Brian and I could hear more explosions all the way back to base, and we had to do a detour to get to your place because of a police barricade."

"It's worse than that," Sveta said from the computer.

"You have anything for this damn pain?" Regent asked from his spot.

"Check the first aid kit," I said as I joined Lisa and Sveta at the computer, where she had the main webpage of the Brockton Bay Bulletin open. "Updated list of targets?" I read.

There were a lot of important places on this list. The PRT headquarters. Brockton Bay Hospital. Various Police and Fire Stations. The Medhall building, home to one of the biggest pharmaceutical corporations in Brockton Bay.

Arcadia.

What about T? I thought, then realized I'd know the moment she died. I didn't, so she was safe.

"Here's the proof that it's a setup," Lisa said, pointing to a paragraph on the page.

"The gang known as the ABB wasted no time in taking advantage of the explosions to strike deep inside rival territory," I read. "With the parahuman known as Lung leading them, the group surged, attacking known Empire 88 businesses and neighborhoods. This was the first sighting of the leader of the Asian gang in weeks, proving that the rumors of his retirement were false."

"He wouldn't have been this ready for it if it wasn't planned," Lisa pointed out. "And it makes sense, too. He's hurting the E88 right in their faces, while the explosions are keeping everybody who might interfere busy. The Empire's not ready for it, and once Lung gets strong enough, there won't be anything they can do about it. They'll have to retreat, and that'll cost them, especially since Lung won't let them go easily. They'll probably have some wounded, maybe even some losses."

I grimaced at this. "The Empire won't take this easily."

Lisa just shook her head sadly. "Of course not. It's gonna be all out war between the gangs for the next month at least."

For the next thirty minutes, the three of us alternated between the computer and the table, checking on the dogs. Rachel didn't move an inch from where she was, and Alec found a beanbag chair to try to fall asleep in. The destruction wasn't done, and every few minutes another name added itself to the list.

I did, however, find time to do two things. First, to talk to Sveta alone. She confirmed that I wasn't in any danger of betrayal coming from any of the Undersiders. It was one thing off my shoulders, at least.

Second, to send a message to T not to come to the base. My tinker abilities weren't much of a secret, but I preferred keeping T's existence unknown for the moment. One thing at a time was better.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It took more than an hour before Brian came back, his hands full of groceries. By that time Judas was fully healed and moving once more. Angelica seemed in full health, but she hadn't regained consciousness yet. He messaged me to follow him back again as soon as he'd dropped his packages, and I did so.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Sorry to drop this on you suddenly," he said, voice low. "I'm pretty sure you didn't expect to be hosting us today. You don't mind, do you?"

"I won't say I'm happy about it, but I understand the need. I did promise you access to my healing beacon too. Don't worry much about it." I grabbed a large bag of dog food from the truck. "Only issue is T and my tinkering. I'm not sure how much I should reveal exactly."

"Don't say anything," Brian replied, hefting his own bag. "I'll talk to them, make sure that they know everything they see here is secret and not to be talked about. At worst, you'll get some pointed questions, but that'll be all."

I nodded, then thought for an instant. "How long will you be there? It isn't like this place is set up for hosting multiple people after all."

"No clue for the moment," Brian replied. "I'll have Lisa talk to the boss, get us a new place to work from. He was the one who arranged for our former building, actually." He smiled a sad little smile. "Thing is, I don't know how much time that will take. Whoever he is, he seems to be pretty much on top of things, but with the state of the city…" He left the rest hanging.

"Yeah, we read," I said. "We've been tracking what's happening over the net."

"It's worse than that," the leader of the Undersiders grimaced as we got inside the base. "You didn't see how it was on the streets. There's looting and fires everywhere. It isn't only about the explosions anymore; every two-bit thief is profiting from the fact that they know the police and the capes can't react. It's chaos out there."

"You're thinking of laying low, then," I asked.

"Until we heal, for sure, but we can't stay out of sight forever," he pointed out, eyes down. "Whatever happens, this won't stop until either whoever's bombing the place wins, or until they get whacked. And in both cases we need to be ready for that. I'm pretty sure the boss will have something to say anyhow." Brian looked directly forward, as if he was seeing through the very walls of the base. "This will change the city, whatever happens."

I nodded. And I'll make sure to be ready for it, I said inside.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Clockblocker]

"Okay people, dispersal pattern four!" Aegis yelled as we exited through the back of the PRT truck two streets away from the bank. Said truck would then circle the building and cover the parking garage exit. The Undersiders, judging by the darkness filling the bank lobby, probably wouldn't exit that way, but better safe than sorry.

Pattern four was the one used for boxing in people with movement abilities, Hellhound's dogs in this case. We formed up in a semi-circle centered on the front entrance, with only Browbeat not reacting instantly. He hadn't trained much for this specific maneuver, so it could be forgiven.

"Do we storm the bank?" Browbeat asked through his earpiece once in position.

"Negative," said the PRT member monitoring the deployment. "Stay in position. Protectorate support will be on site in fourteen minutes."

Great, sent here to wait, I thought. Fun. I had to agree though that surging inside into that darkness didn't appeal to me. My power worked by touch, something which meant close range; it would be near impossible to use with my sight blocked.

"What is she doing here?" Vista's voice rang, this time not on the Ward channel.

After a quick glance at her to see where she was looking, I spotted Gallant's girlfriend standing on top of the bank. I inclined my head toward him. "Might want to talk to her quick," I whispered loud enough for him to hear. "We don't want to blow this op."

The Ward in white armor said something under his breath, and withdrew a cellphone. For the next minute, while we waited, he exchanged texts with New Wave's golden child. "She's here because her sister isn't answering her phone and she was supposed to come to the bank," he finally said in our ear buds.

"You mean, the Undersiders might have Panacea hostage inside?" I replied.

I saw him nod. "Possibly. She agreed not to do anything without our say-so unless she gets an SOS from Panacea."

Looking at Aegis, who was wearing my costume, I noticed him relaxing. "Good enough," he said on the channel. "Everyone, keep your positions and be ready for anything. Console, ETA for Protectorate reinforcements?"

"Nine minutes."

"Stay sharp people!" the Ward leader said.

The wait was agonizing. I kept my attention on the doors as much as I could, but that became more and more of a chore.

"Six minutes."

The worst part was knowing the Undersiders could be coming out at any second. They tended to be scarily well-informed, and I was sure they knew that reinforcements were incoming. They might have even known that the Protectorate heroes would be out of the city at this time.

"Four minutes."

I went over the known members of the team. No one knew exactly what Tattletale's Thinker power really was, but she wasn't a frontline member. I didn't think she'd come against me. Hellhound had her giant dogs, but I could put the freeze on them like anything else. Facing her might cause some pain, but it would be a net win for the team.

It was the other two that could cause issues.

Regent could work from a distance, which meant I probably wouldn't get into touching range. He was a telekinetic of some type, if the rumor was right. Grue however could leave me stumbling in the darkness, unable to do anything. He might even manage to trick me into tagging other Wards. He was the one I'd have to be the most careful about.

"Eighty seconds."

Any moment now, I thought, tensing myself for action.

Said action didn't come. The Protectorate transport appeared in the distance, stopping one street over. Armsmaster wasted no time in coming out, followed by Miss Militia, Assault, Battery and Velocity. Only Dauntless and Triumph were missing.

Now that the adult heroes were there, time seemed to return to normal. Grue's darkness quickly started fading, and Battery was sent inside as fast recon. Her face when she came back said it all; The Undersiders had gotten clean away.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Kid Win]

Finally, I thought. I can get back to my workshop!

The entire thing had been a waste of time, and we'd just stood there while the Undersiders robbed the city's biggest bank. The newspapers would probably have a few comments to make about that, but we'd respected orders, so our PRT bosses couldn't complain about anything. I had to agree with them though that we weren't made for a situation like this one.

There were a few minutes of discussion between Aegis (who was dressed as Clockblocker for some reason) and Armsmaster, but finally the leader of the Wards gave the signal to pack up and leave. He rose in the air, clearly intent on flying to base, and I followed him up.

"Fun mission, eh?" I said sarcastically to him once we were side by side above.

"Yeah, right," he snorted. "What a waste of time. They keep us at base the whole day in preparation for something, only to force us to do nothing once we got there." He sighed. "At least they won't be complaining about what we did."

"Hopefully," I said. "But, knowing them, they might…" I stopped as I saw something in the distance. "Aegis, six o'clock."

He turned in the air, and I pointed toward a column of smoke in the distance. "Might want to call that in, Boss."

"Console, this is Aegis. I'm seeing a column of smoke coming from…" He focused for an instant. "Corner Beachside and Mountainview. Should we respond? Over."

"Negative. We already have people dispatched to the…" I didn't catch the rest, as an explosion rang from a police station not a block from where we were.

I reached out for my ear bud. "Console, we have an expl…" I saw another detonation in the distance, quickly followed by a third. "Multiple explosions all over the place. Please respond."

"Aegis, Kid Win," Director Piggot's voice rang out on the Wards channel. "Take Browbeat and Clockblocker with you. Go directly to Brockton Bay General Hospital. Vista, Gallant; head to Fourth Precinct. We suspect an escape attempt."

Aegis glanced at me and nodded. "Acknowledged." The both of us turned around and grabbed the other two members of our team. Browbeat rode with me, while Aegis grabbed Clockblocker.

Whatever bomb had exploded near the hospital, it wasn't a conventional one. There was ice all over a good part of the building, centered on the trauma ward. Luckily, the building was still stable, as such the evacuation was going smoothly. Clockblocker went directly to the doctors, to use his power where it might help, while the rest of us dove into the frozen part of the building. I mainly worked on getting doors to open, melting the ice there to allow passage. Then the three of us started carrying whoever we found alive back outside.

By our third trip, Panacea was there to go over the people we found. I was tempted to ask about the bank, but this wasn't the right time. In the background, more explosions could be heard from deeper in the city.

There wasn't much more I could do here, so I called the console for further instruction. "Console, I've done what I can here. Where should I go now?"

"Kid Win, regroup with Gallant at Arcadia. There's unexploded ordnance we need a Tinker to dispose of, and Armsmaster is already busy with another such device. Disarm and collect if possible; if not, contain it as well as you can. There's already a bomb disposal squad in place." The PRT member on the other side of line line answered. It wasn't Piggot, this time.

"There was a bomb at Arcadia?" I asked, taking to the air.

"Two detonations, along with at least one intact bomb." Console replied.

"On my way," I say, cutting the comms off. With my other hand, I withdrew my personnal phone and typed.

U ok?​

The seconds were long before I got an answer.

Yes. Was @ other side of building.​

I released the breath I'd been holding. Good, Taylor was alright. I wouldn't want the only person I could really talk to dying or being hurt. The rest of the team were fine as friends, but it was clear that whenever I talked tinkering it went right over their heads. And the least said about social interactions with Armsmaster, the better.

U still @ school? Could use some help.​

Two tinkers were better than one, especially when dealing with another tinker's work.

No. Students sent home. Too much danger of explos.​

Damn, I said to myself. I could have used the help. I wasn't surprised, though. Last we'd talked, she didn't want to be more publicly known.

Thks anyway. Going to disarm bomb.​

​

Good Luck.​

I was landing when I received a last text. I hadn't been expecting another one.

Send screenshot. Maybe I can help.​

I smiled. Good to know I had some backup.

Gallant was waiting for me when I touched the ground. We talked a little, but went directly to the explosive. It had been hidden in an open locker.

"Jamming still up?" I asked.

He nodded. "They kept it going, since it might have been the reason this one didn't activate."

Understandable. "Can you get access to the network? I need to be able to check stuff up at a moment's notice. Cable will be fine. Get me the bomb disposal people also."

He nodded again, this time with a grim smile, and left. I went outside to send Taylor a message, opening a chat with her where we might send each other stuff.

I went to work as soon as Gallant came back with the specialist and a plugged laptop. They had no clue how to deal with such a bomb, so I was the one controlling the robot. The laptop had a webcam, so Taylor was able to see about as well as I did.

And thank god for her.

The bomb had numerous booby traps installed, including a motion sensor, and without her I would have missed a few. She caught the thermal detector hidden under the signal amplifier before I tripped it, and was the one to point out the pressure sensor on the wireless receiver.

After an hour of careful work, I released a long breath as I had the bomb disposal robot remove the secondary detonator. The first had been dismantled a few minutes ago. I cleaned up the sweat from my hands and went on the forum to type a message.

KW: Done. Thanks a lot for all the help. Can I call you if I have to do another one?

T: I can't promise anything, but I'll try. Glad to have helped.

T: See you tomorrow.

KW: If we have school.

T: Yes, if we have school. So long.

KW: Bye.

"So, that's your mystery Tinker friend," Gallant said from behind me. I could hear the smile in his voice. I had sent him away once I started working, but it seemed he'd come back. "First time I've seen you happy to be going to school."

"How did you…?" I started.

"Kid, I'm an emotion reader. It doesn't take much to notice something happened, especially when you're happy to go to a math class," he explained. "I could probably figure out who she is with a little work, but I'll keep silent." He raised his hands in the air, in a gesture of surrender. "She's good for you, it seems. You're more happy these days."

"I didn't say my friend was a woman," I replied.

"You didn't need to, Kid," he said, smiling. "I know you're not into men."

I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it. I wasn't going to argue that I might be gay. He'd never let go of something like that.

"You're done here?" I nodded. "Then let's go. I'm sure the higher-ups will have more work for us."

I nodded again. Today had been a bad day for the good guys, and it wasn't over yet.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Yes, Dad. I'm alright," I said into my cellphone. It was half past four now, and it seemed my father had just learned about the explosions all over the city. The majority of the Docks had been spared from the destruction, which might explain why this call hadn't come earlier.

"Are you sure?" he asked, still stressed, "The news is saying there is still a detonation somewhere in the city every hour or so."

"Dad, my base is an abandoned building nowhere close to anything important. There is no reason why a mad bomber would come here," I explained. "It's probably safer here than home, actually." Especially with the fighting power the Undersiders currently had here.

It took a moment before my father answered, and this time he was somewhat more calm. "Will you be home for supper, at least, like we'd planned?"

"I'll try. I might be a little late though, since I'm hosting people at the moment," I answered.

"The Undersiders, I suppose?" he said with a smile in his voice. "Going over what happened at the bank?"

"No, that's long done," Especially since there wasn't much to say, I thought. "They haven't been as lucky as I was with the bombing spree."

"Are they alright?" he quickly asked. It was good to see he cared somewhat, even if they were criminals.

"Yes, Dad, they're fine," Now, I finished silently, "Their base is just a mess right now, so I'm letting them stay at my place."

He was silent for a fifteen seconds or so. "I'll be waiting for you at home to eat, then. Call me if anything comes up," he said. "Love you kiddo."

"You too, Dad," I answered with a smile, then hung up.

There wasn't much going on right now in my base, now that I'd left the phone. Regent was asleep in a beanbag after taking a painkiller, Grue and Lisa were out purchasing inflatable beds and the like, and Sveta was making a complete check of the building, just in case. Bitch was the only other conscious person in the room.

I went to her. "You okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she answered mechanically, keeping her face down. Her tone was surprisingly low, compared to her usual voice.

"And the dogs, everything's fine with them?" Angelica had regained consciousness less than ten minutes ago and was still much less energetic than usual, so I was concerned.

Rachel simply nodded, not meeting my eyes. I was pretty sure there was some subtle meaning to her actions, but I didn't get it.

"Well, I'll be in the room farther down there…" I pointed toward my workshop. "If you need me, just go knock."

"Ok," she confirmed and went back to taking care of her dogs. I stayed there a moment longer, thinking about what she had done, then walked into the room I used for tinkering. There was work to be done.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dinner with my father was less stressful than I expected. He'd wanted to go over the bank heist, and that subject lasted for our entire meal. While it was clear he didn't really agree with what I'd done, he was content to learn that I'd not even been seen and that my promise of no combat had been respected. He even gave me a toast on my planning, calling it 'a job well done,' even if he clarified he'd sleep better if it never happened again. I didn't promise anything, only saying that it wasn't in my plans.

His questions about the villain we were spying on were more difficult to answer. I ended up saying that, with the bombing, we suddenly had new priorities. He did nod understandly at that. I did clarify that, to the best of my knowledge, he wasn't involved in it, but I wasn't completely sure.

I came back to my workshop a little after ten. T was already there, since I'd sent her to base once I arrived at home. It was a risk with Bitch and Regent being present, but I doubted they'd see the difference, especially since she said she'd sequester herself in the workshop. I had expected to find her there tinkering, but not for Lisa to be present.

"Good evening," I said to Lisa as I returned to physical form from my shadow state. "I didn't think you'd be in here." I took note of what T was working on, and realized it wasn't my newest Slenderman outfit, as expected. "What is that?" I asked her.

"Better jamming device," T said, taking it off the bench. I did recognize somewhere in there parts of the ECM emitter I'd used when I traveled to Sveta's old place. "I suspect we'll need it soon, with what's happening outside."

"If you say so," I answered.

"I went over what happened today, and she did the same," Lisa added from her chair in a corner of the room. "Turns out there's another female parahuman Vista's age at Arcadia, and that's who she had in sight."

I nodded. I'd forgotten about that message with everything that happened.

"There's also something else you should know," Lisa continued.

"What?" I asked, curious.

"I helped Kid Win disable a bomb at Arcadia." T spoke, turning from her work.

"When?" the fact that the Ward Tinker knew was bad enough; I didn't want my real identity being compromised even more.

"While I was at home after classes were cancelled," she explained. "I did it remotely, of course."

"Oh, OK," I had much less an issue with that. In Arcadia she might have been noticed, but I doubted she could have been caught by others while working from a distance.

"That's why I started building this." She pointed to the still-incomplete jammer on the table. "From what I saw, the bomb at Arcadia didn't detonate because of the ECM device installed in the school. I'm pretty sure we'll be planning on visiting our bomber, so I want to be ready for it."

"Right." I couldn't blame her. The same thoughts were running in my head, and had been for the past few hours. I couldn't leave the terrorist continuing his spree.

"That's what I thought," Lisa said, rising from her chair. "Any idea on how you'll do this?"

"Mind if I join the conversation?" Came Brian's voice from the other side of the door. I nodded, and Lisa invited him inside. "I'd like in on anything you do against that mad bomber."

"I don't have anything more than a general plan," I replied quickly. "I'll be sure to inform you once I have something concrete."

His grin was somewhat vicious. "Good."

"Weren't you going home to bed?" Lisa asked.

"Not going to happen, not today. Maybe not even tomorrow," he said, then sighed. "I drained dozens of people earlier, and that energy doesn't dissipate easily. I knew that draining things woke me up, but it seems like it'll also keep me awake." He turned to Lisa. "How long do you think I have?"

"Difficult to say," she replied after a moment of examination. "You look completely awake to me, as if you just woke up from a good night's sleep. I might be able to tell later, but right now I can just say at least ten hours."

"Better than nothing," he said. "Did you tell her about your phone conversation with the Boss?"

"Not yet," Lisa answered, then turned to me. "We'll only be in your way for the next week or so, according to him. He says that, unless something happens, we'll have a new base by next Wednesday. He also told us to make sure to be ready, since he'll have us going against the ABB as soon as he has more information."

I nodded, and the conversation lapsed for a moment. I suspected this was because Lisa had more to say, but didn't want to say it in front of Brian, who didn't know about Coil. As the silence stretched, I went to the closet where my Slenderman suit was stored, and T went back to her jamming device.

"Need any help with that?" Brian asked with a smile on his face. "It seems I'll need to occupy myself for a few hours."

I sighed. "Not really." Truth was, in a normal case scenario, non-Tinkers weren't very useful to have around for this kind of work. There was very little in tinkering that could be left to unskilled labor, which was pretty much every normal human being. Maybe Lisa could pick up something with her powers, but even there I wasn't sure.

"Okay," he said, his smile falling off. "How about your computer? Can I borrow it?"

"Sure," I replied. With the amount of tinkering I needed to do, I wasn't going to use it. "Knock yourself out."

The smile came back. "Thanks." He then walked back out, closing the door behind him.

Lisa waited for a good minute before continuing on the previous conversation. "Coil failed."

"What?" I asked.

"Whatever Coil was using us as a decoy for, he failed. I picked it up in his words and tone," she explained. "Because of some form of interference, I would guess."

His powers had limits then. "What was he trying?"

"That, I have no clue." She shrugged. "What I have I only picked up while I was talking to him. I didn't find any clue pointing toward anything else happening at the same time as the bank robbery."

"How about afterwards?" I asked.

"After that, all the news are about the terrorist bombing, nothing else." Lisa answered, shaking her head. "And I'm ninety nine percent sure he isn't involved in that."

"Could that be what stopped him?" I pointed out. "Bombing in his territory might have simply made him cancel his plans."

"My power says otherwise," the Thinker explained. "I'm not one hundred percent sure about it, but I get the impression that he was attacked somehow, and that's why he failed at what he tried. I don't have much more than that."

"That's at least something," I said after a moment of thinking. Something then came to mind. "His power may be similar to the Steven Wright quote, actually."

"Which is?" she asked.

"'If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried,'" I quoted.

"I'd seen it attributed to Murphy before, but it is possible." She sighed. "And how will we go about proving that?"

"We'd need more information about what he plans to do, that's for sure," I pointed out. "And if he's manipulating us, we'll need to write things down. We may simply forget, otherwise."

"Noted," she replied.

The both of us said nothing for a few moments, so I brought up one of the questions that came to mind. "Can I ask why you haven't told Brian about Coil? I can understand the others, but Brian's loyal and has a good head on his shoulders. I don't see why he couldn't know."

Tattletale gave a sad smile. "He's actually the person I fear learning the most. You know why he's doing this, being part of the Undersiders?" I nodded. "One of the things Coil does for him is make sure that a part of his salary comes from a regular paycheck out of a perfectly normal company he owns. A teenager without a valid job wouldn't be able to take care of his sister, after all."

"Oh…" I said, eyes going wide. "I see. It's…" It isn't good, that's what it is. Forcing him to choose between his sister and the gang? I'd guess his sister would win. He isn't a criminal at heart and simply became one for her sake; abandoning the Undersiders wouldn't be much different.

"Changing the subject," Lisa interjected after a few seconds. "I have a name for you; the identity of our friendly mad bomber." I turned to her, focused. "Bakuda. She took Cornell hostage with a bomb a little more than a month ago, then disappeared from the map. Asian-American, so she fits perfectly into the normal ABB recruitment criteria. The photos of her rampage were clearly indicative of her abilities."

I nodded, turning back toward my Slenderman uniform. "Thank you. That'll help." I'd need to find images or videos of her, but that could wait until I started to scout for her. I dropped the suit on my workbench.

"I see we're done here," Lisa said, leaving her chair and moving for the door. "Good luck with that, and don't stay up too late. I fear we'll have a few busy days in front of us."

I nodded, not looking away from my work. I simply waved with my right hand, then grabbed a pair of goggles to protect my eyes.

Time to get tinkering.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*