18

Beta'd by BigCC

"Damn you Sophia!" - Speech

'Why, Emma?' - Thought

Ripple 2.9

+++Tattletale+++

Van, Backstreets of Brockton Bay

"Park it here, Grue." Tattletale directed her 'leader' from her spot next to him in the front. She'd rightfully won the shotgun seat in a rock-paper-scissors match with Regent (why he even bothered, she didn't know. Her Thinker power made those kinds of games pointless against her), so he was forced to join Bitch in the back with her dogs.

"You sure this is going to work, Tats?" Grue asked, reaching into the bag resting between them and pulling out his demon-skull helmet.

"The plan's solid; so long as no outside factor interferes, we shouldn't have anything to worry about." the villainess stated absently, pulling out her own mask before discarding the jacket that kept her leotard from view. "Even if something goes pear-shaped, we should be able to extract ourselves fairly easily as long as we don't do anything stupid."

"Here's hoping." the shadow manipulator agreed with a sigh, the design of his helmet making the sound echo slightly.

'You're really not suited for this kind of work, are you Brian?' Tattletale thought, shaking her head slightly. For normal street-level crime, Brian was an excellent choice, but he was simply far too cautious when it came to anything bigger than petty robbery. The older teen would be great as an enforcer or even a street-level leader, but he was simply out of his league when dealing with the kinds of risks any serious villain activity would require.

"Trust me, big guy." she offered the dark-skinned man a smug grin. "Now, I just need to get in touch with the Boss and get the go-ahead to start. You make sure that Bitch, Regent, and the dogs are ready."

"Got it." Grue grunted, taking a quick look outside to make sure no one was watching before quickly opening the door and moving around to the back.

Tattletale just shook her head and pulled out her phone, quickly hitting the speed-dial that was assigned to that bastard who had a gun (both literal and metaphorical) to her head. The phone rang twice before he picked up.

Deliberately let it ring, is taking pleasure from the stress and anxiety caused. Her power supplied helpfully.

What a dick.

"Tattletale." Coil offered calmly. "I take it that the Undersiders are ready to begin?"

Voice has undertone of eagerness…no, anticipation. Not directed toward Undersiders or bank job. Is instead looking forward to something that will occur concurrently with robbery. Conclusion: Undersiders are acting as unwitting decoys to draw attention of law enforcement away from his actual objective. Time selected specifically to keep Parahuman interference at a minimum and focused on bank. Protectorate is out of town, New Wave is mostly defunct, only variable is Riptide who has so-far kept to nighttime patrols only. Chances of actual crime being discovered: Minimal.

'Oh, now that's just fucking lovely.' the blonde Thinker groaned within the safety of her mind, fighting to keep her grimace off her face. 'The bastard's using us as goddamned bait. Should probably be grateful he never bothered to ask about our exit plan or the fucking asshole would have sabotaged it just to make a bigger spectacle.'

"Everything is good to go on our end Boss." she stated vocally, keeping her voice as cheerful as possible. The less she told the bastard the better in her opinion. "We are primed and ready, just waiting for your go-ahead."

"You are good to go." the snake on the other end replied immediately. "Do try not to disappoint me, Tattletale."

With one final threat given, he hung up.

"Fuck you too, you bastardized son of a bitch." Tattletale muttered as she shoved her phone back into the secure pouch on her belt. Once again, she silently reaffirmed her vow to find some way to turn this around on that bastard and make him regret, for whatever few extra seconds he managed to weasel away from the reaper, that he had ever even heard the name Sarah Livsey.

In the meantime, she had to focus on surviving to reach that point, and that meant she had a bank to rob.

"Boss just gave us the green light." she called out cheerfully as she got out. "Everyone ready to party?"

"As ready as we ever are." Regent replied lazily. He was leaning against the van, absently twirling his scepter in one hand in a surprising display of dexterity.

Nearby, Bitch was pacing up and down the alleyway, her dogs faithfully sitting nearby, obediently waiting for their mistress' orders.

Grue was simply leaning against the wall near the mouth, cloaked in shadows and keeping an eye out for anyone who might catch sight of them before the job started.

"Bitch, time to start giving your dogs their boosters." Tattletale reminded the volatile canine enhancer.

The canine cape merely grunted in reply before looking toward her three pets; Judas, Brutus, and Angelica. Soon all three dogs began to tremble, their bodies starting to expel muscle and bone as Bitch's power took effect. Within a few moments, all three canines towered over the Undersiders. Larger than ponies and covered in heavy, exposed muscle and with bone-like spikes and armor emerging here and there, the dogs looked more like Dire Wolves out of some fantasy setting than the three rescue dogs Tattletale knew so well.

"Let's get going. We want this over with as fast as possible." Grue ordered seriously. "Mount up."

There were some things that a person can never get used to, Tattletale mused to herself as she climbed atop Angelica, and riding bareback atop a giant, mutant dog running at 50+ mph was one of those things. Gripping onto the heavy metal chain leash that had somehow managed to not get absorbed into the dog's growing mass, it was all she could do was hold on as her ride leapt over the van and charged down the web of alleyways towards the main roadway and their target.

It was an uncomfortable experience, but one that was well worth it in order to keep the cops or heroes from finding their getaway vehicle. The harder it was for the law to follow them, the more time they'd have to get away without risking a police chase.

Coil either didn't care if they got caught or was actually hoping that they would, but Lisa had no intentions of helping the creepazoid accomplish that goal. The getaway plan had been designed to account for all possible contingencies, including the absolute worst-case scenario…that being all the Wards plus Glory Girl showing up at once.

Faultline, that smug uppity bitch, might think that Thinkers like her relied too much on their powers rather than their own smarts, but Tattletale couldn't exactly help it; unless it shut down from overuse, or she actually forced it down (which was not an easy feat), the blond villainess' powers were permanently active. She was almost incapable of not using her powers.

Not that the stupid merc bitch ever considered that.

The point was that she'd taken a lot of effort to shut off her Thinker for as long as she could (ten minutes) and take a good objective look at her plan without her power interfering, and it honestly looked good. She doubted that bitch would've been able to plan one better given that the Undersiders' powers weren't exactly combat-powerful, like a couple of Faultline's Crew were.

'Now all that's left is to throw the dice and see how it goes.' the purple-clad villainess thought as they drew closer to the bank.

Same Time – Coil Timeline A

With Mercenary Team

"This is Command to Baker Team, report location."

"Baker Actual to Command, we are in the AO and ready to deploy on your orders, over."

"Roger that, Baker Actual. You are on standby for green light. Stay alert for orders."

+++Missy Biron/Vista+++

Several Minutes Later, Timeline A

Corridors of Arcadia Middle School

Ignoring the disapproving gaze of the teacher, Missy quickly left the classroom. The teacher had just gotten a phone call from the front office regarding an 'urgent family matter' and that she needed to be report to the main office as quickly as possible.

It was actually a good excuse to leave class for Wards business, since it was no secret that her parents were in the middle of a particularly nasty divorce and were constantly fighting like two dogs over a rib-eye steak.

At least the kids her own age would believe that; all the teachers at Arcadia had to sign NDA's at hiring since it was a Ward School and were thus in-the-know about her being Vista.

That was the reason her teacher, Ms. Agatha Berkeley, had looked so cross. The woman did not approve of the Wards Program, considering it little better than a group of child soldiers. Why she'd agreed to work in a Ward School considering her own views was something Missy still didn't understand.

Unfortunately, when it came to Brockton Bay's Wards, that description was a lot closer to home than almost anywhere else in America.

Quickly swiping her student ID through the keycard reader, she slipped into the 'storeroom' connected to the main office. Quickly opening her locker, Missy quickly changed into the costume within, becoming Vista of the Wards.

Fully equipped, Vista quickly raced out the opposite door and down the hallway connecting it to one of the fire exits, where an 'accidental' blind spot existed in the school's security cameras. She was in daylight for less than a second before she hopped into the back of an unmarked PRT van that had already been waiting. Inside, she found the rest of her fellow Wards, sans Shadow Stalker and Kid Win, waiting for her.

"What's the situation?" Vista asked once she got settled next to Clockblocker and the van sped away.

"The Undersiders are robbing Brockton Bay Central Bank." Aegis stated grimly, the Wards Leader didn't look happy at this situation. "With the Protectorate out attending that big fund-raising event outside the Bay today, we're basically on our own."

"What about Glory Girl?" the Shaker asked with a frown. She wasn't a big fan of the blonde Alexandria-type, but even she couldn't deny the older girl was good in a fight.

"Her phone's off." Gallant replied, shaking his head. "She mentioned yesterday that she and Panacea needed to talk to Lady Photon about something serious and that she'd be busy for most of the day…"

"This is gonna blow." Clockblocker grumbled. "Rules of Engagement will force us to just hold in a cordon outside the bank until the villains are ready to come to us. We won't be able to go in, while the Undersiders'll ransack the whole damn bank! Why didn't at least one of the Protectorate stay behind? Miss Militia or Dauntless…hell, I'd take Velocity at this point."

Vista winced. Yeah, the standard ROE were stupid and pretty much guaranteed to let the villains decide how things were going to go. With every member of the ENE Protectorate out of town, and at least a couple of hours away, it was pretty much guaranteed that Bay's Masters of Escape (as the news had dubbed the Undersiders after their little crime spree) would either flee the scene and get away clean or they'd fight their way out and likely still manage to get away.

"Where's Kid Win?" she asked, trying to divert the conversation.

"He had an out from class today, since someone had to be on monitor duty with the Protectorate gone." Aegis replied. "He was filing for the approval request forms for his Alternator Cannon."

"That BFG that he's been working on lately?" Vista blanched. "They wouldn't really let him use it, would they?!"

She'd seen Kid use it at the practice range and that thing could rip through half-a-dozen steel plates with a single shot.

"I think the Director will limit its usage to the 'S-Class situation only' category." Aegis said diplomatically. "Oh, and Stalker's not here because of her grudge against Grue."

Meaning only if the Slaughterhouse Nine or an Endbringer showed up in the Bay. Vista took cold comfort in the fact that if either of those situations came up, she'd have a lot more to worry about than Kid Win's over-sized pop gun. As for Shadow Stalker, Vista had no complaints about her absence.

As Brockton Bay Central Bank was only a few minutes away from Arcadia High and Arcadia Middle School, it didn't take much longer for them to arrive on scene. The teens piled out to see several PRT Trooper squads forming the standard cordon around the main entrance to the bank, as well as their missing member.

"What's the situation, Kid?" Aegis asked briskly as the Wards spread out in front of the PRT Troopers, forming a half-circle around the front of the bank.

"About five minutes ago, the Undersiders stormed the bank." Kid Win replied with a nod. Vista was thankful to note that he didn't have the Alternator Cannon on him; Piggot must have made him leave it behind. For once, she was actually gratefully that the big boss was such an unrelenting hardass.

Kid Win was a nice guy, but he was still very, very green and she honestly didn't trust him not to accidentally hit her, one of their teammates or some innocent bystander if things dissolved into a real firefight.

"And?" Gallant asked impatiently, eyes darting back and forth between the bank entrance and his teammate.

"And…that's all we know." the young Tinker muttered in frustration. "All of the cameras went down within the first minute of them arriving, and Grue's using that darkness of his to block out all the doors and windows. We literally don't have a clue what's going on inside. All we do know is that all of the Undersiders are in there, the cameras caught Grue, Tattletale, Regent, and Hellhound entering before they were cut, and that they've got roughly twenty to thirty hostages, staff and customers, trapped inside with them."

"Lovely. So we're blind and can't do shit except try and keep them corralled inside." Vista growled in irritation, ignoring the way Gallant moved his head to look at her, probably wearing a censoring expression at her swearing. "Is there any good news?"

"Armsmaster's on his way on his bike." Kid Win replied, looking a mix between nervous and relieved.

"The Armscycle." Clockblocker nodded sagely.

"Clock, please do not call it that when he can hear you." Aegis said wearily. "You know how much he hates that stupid moniker for his bike."

"That's why I said it while he's safely on the other side of the city." the Striker said matter-of-factly, a silent 'duh!' evident in his voice.

Aegis raised his masked face to the sky, as if imploring a higher power for the strength to bear having Clockblocker on his team and being…well, Clockblocker.

Vista actually felt a tinge of wistfulness. If Glory Girl was here, she would have probably punched into the bank by this point and given them probable cause to go in.

'I wonder why she needs to talk to Photon Mom?' she wondered idly.

+++Sarah Pelham/Lady Photon+++

Same Time

Pelham Residence

Sarah Pelham blinked in surprise as she opened the door to the sight of her two nieces. Amy was looking even more haggard and stressed than was the norm for the poor girl, while Vicky was hovering (in both a literal and figurative sense) next to her sister, looking worried and nervous.

"Girls? What on Earth are you doing here? Shouldn't you both be in class?" she asked, concern already beginning to bubble in her chest. Something felt very off here. "Carol didn't mention any functions or that you were going to stop by…"

"Mom…Mom doesn't know that we're here, Aunt Sarah." Vicky admitted, worrying at her lip for a moment, looking around nervously. "It's…look, can we just come in? This is…its really personal for Ames."

'Personal for Amy' and 'Didn't speak to Carol.' There was only one thing that quickly came to Sarah's mind when those two facts were put together. 'Have they found out somehow?' she wondered nervously before shaking her head slightly. "Of course girls, come on in. This…This looks like it is going to be serious."

As the two teens moved past her, Sarah let out a small sigh. She had known that, eventually, one of the their children would figure out the truth behind Amy's birth-father; and she'd been dreading that impending storm for years now. Amy might not have turned out anything like her father, but she knew her sister well enough to know that Carol's reactions to the truth becoming known were not going to be pretty.

"So then." the unofficial leader of New Wave said once she had sat down in her living room, facing her two nieces across the coffee table. "What has gotten the two of you acting like an Endbringer is incoming?"

This time, it was Amy who spoke up, her body tense and her voice faltering. "A-Aunt Sarah? Is…is it true that Marquis is my father?"

Closing her eyes for a moment, Sarah simply nodded.

"…holy shit." Vicky said eloquently. Amy just seemed to shrink in on herself as the truth she'd been dreading was confirmed.

"Language, Victoria." the older woman said automatically as she opened her eyes, focusing on Amy and doing her best to keep her voice steady and calm as she dredged up several old and painful memories. "Anton Lavere was the supervillain Marquis, the leader of the Marquisate or Marche, who had one daughter, one Amelia Claire Lavere. When the Brockton Bay Brigade, as we were known as then, arrested him, he surrendered to us with the sole request that we adopt his daughter so she wasn't misused by the system or by his old enemies and allies. So…we did."

"Carol didn't want to, did she." Amy said dully. Although it phrased like a question, it was spoken as a statement.

"No…no she didn't." Sarah sighed heavily. "To…To make a very long and painful story as short as possible, the person who caused Carol and I to Trigger was someone who resembled Marquis, at least superficially, and she could never trust his intentions or abide him even being in the same city. She was the one who persuaded the rest of us to go after Marquis, to make a big splash to kick-start the New Wave movement by taking down a strong, well-known gang leader. I would have been the one to adopt you, but we had Crystal and Eric already, and money was too tight as it was. I'm guessing that she has been very harsh on you over the years, Amy."

Like Amy, the last part was spoken factually.

"…yes." the healer whispered somewhat brokenly. "I…nothing I've done is good enough for her. No matter how hard I push myself to please her, it's never enough...I-I can't take much more, Aunt Sarah…"

"Mom's been putting even more pressure on Ames recently." Vicky put in, sounding genuinely angry at her mother. "She can barely sleep, and more often than not she's at the hospital healing people! Aunt Sarah, this can't keep going on!"

Lady Photon analyzed the situation and the two girls in front of her for any traces of falsehood and found none. Unfortunately, it fit right in with her sister's thought patterns. No doubt she was 'testing' Amy for any and all kinds of villainous traits, such as selfishness and self-aggrandizement…if she was actually consciously thinking about it at all. It was entirely possible that Carol was subconsciously pushing Amy to the breaking point without actually realizing what she was doing.

"Dammit, Carol." New Wave's leader muttered. "Amy, I am so sorry. If I had known…no, that's noexcuse. I'm the leader of New Wave, and I should have noticed Carol being so unfair towards you. I'll talk to Carol. Hopefully I can get her to realize what a mistake she's making. If not, I'll have you removed from there. Allowing you to continue to be in such a toxic environment isn't in your best interests."

"But…where can I go…?" Amy asked, seemingly lost at this point. "I can't live alone…and there's no room here…"

As Vicky hugged her sister, Sarah's heart twinged. Amy had automatically assumed that any attempt to convince Carol of anything would fail…which was sadly not an inaccurate conclusion, given how pigheaded her sister could be, Sarah knew. So, Amy had immediately skipped to the next problem, that being where she could go once Carol inevitably threw a hissy fit and kicked Amy out.

"I don't know, Amy." Sarah admitted. "But regardless of what Carol says, you are still a member of New Wave and, more importantly, a member of our family. Nothing she says or does can change that fact."

"Damn right!" Vicky chimed in. "You're my sister, Amy, and nothing Mom says can change that!"

As Amy broke down weeping, with her sister continuing to hug her firmly but gently, Sarah Pelham leaned back in her seat and sighed, the memories of the Marquis raid, and its aftermath, going through her mind. Carol hadn't made a secret that she'd wanted nothing to do with Amelia Lavere, and had only begrudgingly adopted 'Amy Dallon' after Sarah had told her to put her dislike of Marquis aside.

'Oh Carol…what have you done?' she bemoaned in her own mind. 'Amy isn't Marquis, and Marquis isn't that bastard who kidnapped us. Why can't you let this go? Well, sister or not, I will not allow you to keep harming Amy, even if it's unintentional on your part. I'll remove her from your custody if need be. I only hope you listen to reason for once in your life…'

Unfortunately, the leader of New Wave had the morbid feeling that Carol Dallon was going to prove just as obdurate and pigheaded as ever, which filled her with the knowledge of what might have to be done to correct her sister's actions.

+++Dinah Alcott+++

Minutes Later

Alcott Residence

Trying to burrow even deeper into her covers, Dinah Alcott winced as her head once more throbbed, her migraine feeling like someone was driving a red-hot rail spike through her head.

She should have known better. She knew asking too many questions would only end painfully for her. But one of the small list of questions she'd ask herself at the start of each day had produced a…very unpleasant answer

The Question?

'Chances of being kidnapped today?'

The Answer?

~99.99999999%~

That number on that question had always been high, the lowest it had been had been 31.4% when she first asked it, and it had been growing steadily over the last month. Yesterday it had been at 63.73% at the start of the day. This was, quite obviously, very unwelcome news. Despite her young age (a very mature twelve, thank you very much), you didn't grow up in a place like Brockton Bay and not hear horror stories about kids becoming Parahumans and then being kidnapped and brainwashed to work for one of the gangs, or the C.U.I., or the Fallen, or some other secret, evil organization.

She hadn't really thought much of those rumors, but when she'd asked The Question on a whim one day and got such a high number back, she'd started to believe.

Granted, her powers weren't the only reason someone would want to kidnap her; she was the niece of Brockton's Mayor, Roy Christner, after all. But the fact that the number had been steadily growing ever since she Triggered meant that she wasn't going to waste a question asking why today.

But her power had almost never given her such a high number for a prediction before, so unless something really big interfered, it was going to happen today. This meant that something had to be done.

She'd long since determined the maximum number of questions she could answer each day without any pain was four. Any more and she'd start developing a headache or a minor migraine. The absolute maximum amount she could ask without giving herself a blinding migraine (which painkillers did jack all to help) that left her next-to-helpless in bed was six.

She'd ended up asking a grand total of five this morning to try and figure out what was going to happen today and how she could stop it.

'Chance that I'll be killed by my kidnappers?'

~0.00456921%~

'Chance I'll be ransomed back?'

~0.000000001%~

'Chance that my kidnapper is a Cape?'

~87.5612902%~

'Chance that I can escape wherever I'm going to be held?'

~2.553410%~

She'd stopped at that point when her head had started to throb, she couldn't do anything if she was laid up in bed. While the incredibly low number on the first of her second round of questions was gratifying, the rest painted a grim picture. Someone, very likely a Parahuman, was going to have her kidnapped and probably force her to work for them.

Just about the only upside was that she was currently home alone; her mother, Diana Alcott, was out shopping for the day, while her father, Arthur Alcott, was at work. The housekeeper had also stepped out to gossip with the housekeeper from next door. This meant that the house was empty aside from herself, which was good in a way, as it meant no one would be hurt when she was kidnapped.

Getting up and going to the bathroom, she had only just emerged when the sound of a boot against the front door made her jerk in shock. She ran into her room and hid in the closet…not that it did much good. The four men wearing black vaguely military-looking uniforms and with holstered pistols on their hips found her almost immediately, dragging her out, zip-tying her wrists and ankles together and gagging her, before throwing a bag over her head, with one then hefting her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

The rough and rushed trip was not good for her migraine, and she found herself whimpering into her gag as she was tossed into something…a van most likely given the depth of the engine's growl as it sped away as soon as the slam of the door was heard.

"This is Bravo Actual to Command, we have the package." one man said. "We're heading on diversionary route 7-Alpha to execute bait and switch plan Tango-Omega, over."

The man must have had an earpiece, because Dinah couldn't hear a reply from whoever the leader of the team of kidnappers was talking to before the man said, "Roger, changing from Tango-Omega to Oscar-Whiskey-Lima. Out. Bravo-5, change to route Nine-Baker and prepare to execute evacuation plan Oscar-Whiskey-Lima."

"Roger, changing to route Nine-Baker and preparing to execute evacuation plan Oscar-Whiskey-Lima." the driver (she presumed) replied.

"Bravo-3, keep and eye on the package. We don't need her trying to get away." 'Bravo Actual' ordered.

"OK, but I think this brat's smart enough to know that she's fucked enough as it is." another man replied, a sneer in his voice.

"When I want your opinion, Bravo-3, I will give it to you." Bravo-Actual snapped. "Now follow your damn orders!"

"Yes sir." Bravo-3 replied sullenly.

There was silence for handful of minutes before something slammed into the vehicle from behind, making Dinah yelp through her gag. A traitorous gleam of hope started to shine through the hopelessness that had started to fill her.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Bravo Actual demanded.

"There's some fricking Cape trailing us! They're fucking flying with some kinda freaky glowing wings!" someone else shouted back. They sounded like they were in the front, so maybe it was Bravo-5.

"Shit…! Bravo-2, Bravo-4, open the rear door gun ports, five-round bursts on whoever's on our six!" the man in charge of her kidnapping team growled. "If the bullets don't work, break out the special attachments!"

The sound of metal sliding across metal was quickly followed by the bark of guns being fired. Seconds later, an odd electric, hissing sound (*tshew* *tshew*) came from the same direction as well. What the heck were they firing?

Then, just as suddenly, there was the sound of metal tearing coming from the same place where the shots and the odd sound were coming from. Then there was a rush of wind, joined by more shouts, cursing, and even more gunfire.

As the sounds of chaos reigned around her, Dinah dared to ask another question of her power, knowing that she was going to regret it later but utterly uncaring at the moment.

'Chance that the Cape in pursuit is a Hero trying to rescue me?'

~97.550285%~

Even as her head started to feel like it was trying to split open, Dinah's mouth quirked as her heart calmed. She ignored the sounds of combat around her, even as the gunshots and shouts were joined by screams and the sounds of bones breaking and heavy impacts.

"Bastards…kidnapping a kid…that's just wrong…!" a mechanical, synthesized voice spoke up from behind her, disgust evident even through the alterations.

Seconds later, Dinah found herself gently sat up off the floor, her bonds quickly and simultaneously cut before the bag was gently pulled off over her head. Looking up, she found herself staring into the glowing blue eyes of her rescuer's skull-like mask, even as they undid the knot securing her cloth gag and gently pulled it off.

"Wh-who…?" she managed to croak out.

"The name's Riptide, kid." the Cape replied, almost gently, as they gently picked her up and carried her out of the van. "You doing OK?"

"Y-yes…" Dinah said as she steeled herself and looked around, seeing the mercenaries who had kidnapped her lying around, covered in some kind of goop that was pinning them to the ground. She had been kidnapped…she didn't want this to happen again…

'Chance that the person behind these people will try to kidnap me again?'

~99.99999999%~

That…wasn't good.

'Chance that asking the PRT, Protectorate and New Wave to help protect me will prevent it?'

~5.7799378%~

That really wasn't good!

Before she could ask another question, her migraine struck her hard, the pain so bad that she whimpered and instinctively curled into a ball while still in her rescuer's arms.

"Whoa! What's wrong?" Riptide asked, clearly concerned.

"D-don't…take...me...home…!" Dinah struggled to get out. "I'm…Thinker…vulnerable…this…happen again…!"

With that, she blacked out with another red-hot throb of her poor head.