Chapter 33: Interlude TT GG Alexandria

Guest - That sounds like something I would do, though Taylor and Dragon would never let a meeting get that fucked up.

Djbernman - Well yeah.

[Lisa's POV after the meeting]

Watching Pantheon ride off into the sunset, even though there was no sunset to ride off into, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. That whole thing had gone better then I expected, way better if the amount of money I was owed was given to me, but it was still nerve wracking. Khepri was one scary bitch, and if Anubis was anything like Alec, then he could go off the reservation without a second's notice. (But I lived, bitch! First Villain to negotiate Pantheon, and I came out smelling like roses!)

Hopping off the wrecked car I was on, I made my way to the closest thing to a changing area this dump had, and changed out of my costume.

Back in my civvies, I hummed a tune, and left the scrapyard. Trainwreck would be back with Chariot in an hour or so, so I had enough time to just stroll my way outta here. (Still, kinda bullshit that The Undersiders were replaced so fast.) I knew we weren't the same, The Outcasts actually fought a majority of the time, only surviving because the PRT was more focused on keeping eyes on the Nazis and Asians, but the comparisons were there dammit! (Doesn't help that Alec is with them.) I huffed at that.

The Human Master had no problems with jumping ship when the time came, and seemed more at home with the sausage fest of the 4 man team... Well, 3 and ? team, no one knew what Circus was or identified as, I was pretty sure Alec would know given his Power, but he wouldn't tell me, so it was up for debate whether or not it was a pure sausage fest... (Unless Circus is both. That's an option.) It would sort of make sense, my Power never gave me a concrete answer since Circus seemingly had mannerisms of both sexes... (How the hell did I get here?) Shaking the thoughts off, I brought out my phone, and started looking at shit to get my mind off of the random things I'd thought about.

I was naturally in a good mood already, I'd thrown Coil under the bus, truck, boat, and fucking space ship, and was getting paid for it. Though I w...- I blinked, looking at the priority message I had on PHO.

Dragon - Payment for your information has been delivered.

A packet for applying to The Guild has also been provided in the event you go through with joining The Guild.

Your circumstances are known, and understood. They will not be held against you should you choose to join our organization.

I just stared at the message, then slowly nodded. (Well... Damn...) My surprise waned, and I felt my good mood rise even higher. (Mama got money!) I speed walked home, gunning it would get me some looks and I'd rather not bring attention to myself, doing my best to reach my flat as fast as I could. If Dragon was being serious, and I had no reason to think she wasn't, I was going to sign myself the fuck up. (Getting out of Brockton Bay would be incentive enough, but getting out of America? Hell yeah! Let's see that snake try to come after me when I'm relaxing in British Columbia!)

Eventually, I made it back home.

As soon as I did, I tossed my bag onto the couch, and went to my room, booted up my computer, and checked my bank account. Seeing a good $100k added to my previous balance, I cackled like a madwoman.

I had a whole shit load of dirt on Coil, not enough to figure out who he was, but enough to earn me a nice nest egg. "That aside..." Looking at the packet delivered to my email, I opened it and started looking through it.

Seeing what was available was a surprise, I hadn't ever really looked up The Guild as an option, they were a Hero organization based in Canada after all, but looking at the benefits and weighing the costs... (Sign me up!) I'd have to rebrand as a Hero, but I was totally fine with that. And if I was reading this right, I could potentially get Pantheon to be my 'Mentors' until I was able to get certified. (Mhm... Midnight black and purple could be sexy.) I grinned, and started filling out the form that came with the packet.

They'd probably figure out what I wanted, but I doubted they'd mind...

Too much.

[Vicky's POV after Amy went to her room]

Hearing my sister's door close, I didn't know what to think. I didn't catch the whole argument, but I heard enough. Mom was always hard on Amy, I knew that, I could see it, but I never knew why. (I mean, she still loves her, Ames is my sister, and mom loves me, so by proxy she loves Ames...) Despite telling myself that, I knew it was off.

Shaking my head, I got off of my bed, and sighed. (Let's just not.) I didn't want to think about this, Mom loved Ames, she loved me, and that was all I needed to know. 'Coward.' I grit my teeth at that thought, making my way to my computer. I wanted to get my mind off of the conversation going on downstairs, and YouTube or PHO were good ways to distract myself.

It didn't take long to log onto PHO, but when I did, I noticed the threads about what happened in lunch, Ames and Anubis talking about... Whatever it was they talked about. (Going to ask her about that later.) My eyes turned to the door, I could go ask right now, but that would mean getting on Mom's bad side...

Chewing on my lip, I started getting up, a loud slam went on downstairs, and I heard Aunt Sarah shouting. "FOR THE FUCKING LOVE OF GOD CAROL, WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Sitting back down, I turned back to my computer. (Nope. Not getting involved in that.)

Mom and Aunt Sarah started to get louder, so I popped in my headphones, shuffled my playlist, and blasted music into my ears. Whenever whatever they were arguing about was over, I'd go check on Ames. Until then, I'd just look over a bunch of stuff to get my mind off of stuff.

...

...

...

My eye twitched.

I'd been on PHO for a while, and I was starting to get annoyed. (Why are they everywhere? Why is he everywhere?)

I didn't exactly have a problem with The Changer, the guy was a badass that made Hookwolf into a joke. Sure, he was an asshole, didn't seem to care if he had to hurt some Capes beyond what was normally accepted, didn't care about causing a scene in public, and was adamant that my Shaker Aura was a Master effect... But he was a good guy!

...

...

...

I huffed.

I didn't trust him.

Didn't trust him as far as I could throw him really. But I couldn't do anything about it. He was The Changer, Anubis, Sun Wukong, Flame of Cataclysm, all that good shit. But I just didn't trust him... (Feeling's probably mutual too...) I scowled at that, turning away from my computer when I saw another Thread talking about whether or not my aura should be labeled a Master effect.

'The Changer said it, so it should be true.'

(It's not! I know it's not! We ALL know it's not!) The PRT would've said if it was, and since they hadn't, and Mom and the rest of the family hadn't said anything about it, then it should've been fine... But then I remembered how he and Khepri would react to my aura.

Shaker effects didn't have negative reactions like that. There were documented interactions between certain Powers and Master effects, and the interactions between the three of us, pointed to Master effects... Biting my lip, I looked back to the Thread, then to my phone, and reached for it. I knew Dean's Power was similar to my aura, and knew the PRT had him labeled as a Tinker/Blaster, despite the both of us knowing he wasn't a Tinker. He should have no issue clearing this whole thing up...

... Right?

[Alexandria's POV hours later]

It was only because of my years worth of experience as Chief Director, and assistance from my Power, that kept me from openly scowling. " ...- eems as if the federal government has finally finished taking stock of our departments. Thankfully, they found nothing wrong with my office," I internally scoffed at that. Armstrong was one of the most competent directors we had, so that was no surprise. "Though I'm hearing that's not exactly the case with everyone, huh?"

That ending had its intended effect, eyes trailing to Tagg, who looked ready to outright murder the Boston Director. "Not everyone can be as soft as you and your little poodles Armstrong! Times are changing, our competitors are gaining more and more upper hands as the time passes, we all see this. They should've understood that combating the threat requires a firm hand."

(Don't kill him. Don't kill him. For the love of god, do. Not. Kill. Him.) It was by design that my hands were hidden beneath the camera, so no one would see me constantly clenching and relaxing my fists.

Tagg was a warhawk, his stances on some Parahumans was useful in order to instill 'Discipline' in the more unruly Capes. It helped that he had contacts in the military that were used in order to supply him and his department with more unconventional weaponry. Though, now those connections were coming back to bite us in the ass as the federal government had made an inquiry in why exactly he was training Parahumans like soldiers, arming them like soldiers, and had military grade ordinances in his possession. (If only he wasn't necessary.)

The loud scoff coming from another director caught everyone's attention, and I raised a mental brow at the sight of Renick, the PRT Director replacing Piggot, being the one to do so. "'Firm hand' he says. What's next, going to say it's all for their own good or something along those lines?"

Naturally, Tagg did not take this well, sneering at Renick. "You think you have any right to critique me?! Your department is the reason we're dealing with this shitshow in the first place!" He had a point.

Had Piggot not decided to throw an oil tanker on the fire, we might've been able to salvage this, but she had, and now inquisitions from the federal government were picking apart our departments. (Just another month. Whenever the next Endbringer attack takes place, we'll have her eliminated.) I usually didn't allow my emotions to dictate my actions, but Piggot was an exception I would gladly handle myself should her removal somehow fail.

"True. Yet, the fact that I'm able to critique you at all should tell you something is wrong." ... An impressive retort.

Tagg scowled harder at that, while the rest of the Director's looked amused. It looked like he was ready to erupt at Renick, but I cleared my throat to get their attention. "Gentlemen." Expectedly, their eyes focused on me, and I looked at them all. "We're deviating off point." Not much else needed to be said, and they all got themselves in order. "Now, are there any surprises I should be made aware of before my meeting with the president?"

The 'Summons' from the head of our country had been an unpleasant thing, and annoyed me more then I liked. And now that the investigations had finished, I wanted/needed to know just what I would be walking into.

If it was too compromising, surrendered us too much power, then we'd need to look into alternatives to our current POTUS.

Coming out of the Director's meeting, I openly scowled. (Tagg is compromised, thankfully no one else is, but he'll need to be removed. Necessity does not trump the sheer amount of complications he beings to the table.) My scowl lessened, and I tapped a finger to my desk as I thought. (The ordinances in his possession can be reclaimed, and made use of though. There's no telling just what Phoenix Evergarden and Taylor Hebert could be capable of.) Finding out Khepri's civilian identity had been child's play, one just had to look at The Changer's first appearance, look up what room he had left before his encounter with Glory Girl, and dig into the girl's life.

The fact she had been reported 'Missing', only for Khepri, who had an identical figure and hair, to make her debut in the Bay a month or so later, made it all the more obvious.

That aside, there would be a convoy to come reclaim the military grade weapons, but it would be a simple affair to have it hijacked. It would be an even easier affair to have a 'Donation' sent to some Villains in Brockton Bay... Yet due to the presence of Pantheon, an experiment to test just what they would do should the elder Hebert die to the resident Neo Nazis was inadvisable. (Coil is a viable asset, but those children would make this a loss if we tried to test that.) My finger stopped, and I hummed. (Speaking of him.)

Taking out the communicator made for members of the inner circle, I contacted the snake himself.

It didn't take long for the call to connect, and the image of the PRT logo appeared above the communicator. "Director." The false deference in his tone was annoying, but I didn't let it get to me.

"Consultant. Status on the package?" Learning about subject: Echidna, had been a marvel to us, and could prove useful for what we had in store for Pantheon.

"Package sedated and in route to the holding cell." That was perfect. "Additionally, Subjects: Skoll and Loki are sedated and ready for transport as well." And that was even better. I recognized what he was doing, making himself as useful as possible in order to ensure he wasn't terminated, but it was working. The sheer devastation that could come from someone capable of creating miniature suns was a useful ace in the hole. "I'm assuming the orders regarding the rest of the team still stand?"

"You'd be correct. The rest of them are unneeded, do with them what you will." A few moments after I finished speaking, the sound of a muffled pistol went off. I mentally rolled my eye at the man, and waited until the mercenaries he hired were done getting rid of the rest of The Travelers. Aside from those three, the rest of the team was unnecessary.

"Now then, I believe that concludes the last of my outstanding orders?"

"You are correct. Until you are called on, you have free reign over your activities." I tapped the desk at that, the sound of creaking wood going across the communicator. "But you'd do well to remember that you are to stay out of the eyes of the Cape Community. Am I clear Consultant?"

"Crystal, Director" Calvert was trying too hard, and it made me want to snap his neck in annoyance.

"Then dismissed." Without fanfare, he cut the call, and I rolled my eye. "Disrespectful man child." Him aside, I leaned back into my chair, and closed my eye. With Echidna, Skoll, and Loki in our custody, we could advance the plan to deal with Pantheon.

It would take time to implement, and resources would need to be allocated to the creation of their inhibitors so 293 could safely work on them, but in time, we'd be able to make our move against Pantheon.

Those children would be removed, and then Dragon would follow.

And that's the last one I've got for ye. I was tempted to add a PHO portion here, but decided to do that later, and give it its own chapter.

Anyway, Tattletale's signing up with The Guild, Vicky is really starting to question if she has a Master Power, and Cauldron now has Echidna, Sundancer, and Trickster... One of those is far more fucked up then the others.