2.3

Laaaaaaaadies and Gentlemen! For your entertainment, please welcome to the stage the next chapter of Revenant, with a guest performance by our dear friend Mush! Also, please give a round of applause for Wobulator for beta'ing this chapter and helping me weed out mistakes, clarify confusing bits, and forcing me investigate the finer points of apostrophe use.

Enjoy!

2.2​

"It's Mush! The guy that ran away was fucking Mush!"

Things just got a lot worse for our joint assault. A fight with nothing but unpowered Merchants should be easy for New Wave, but suddenly being faced with a Parahuman... It seems that it's true what they say; no plan survives contact with the enemy.

I watched Laserdream make her way over to the rooftop where Shielder and Panacea were still standing watching the street. Where she usually flew head-first in any direction like the classic superman pose, she now moved a lot slower and kept upright where possible.

"Fffuck... bastard got my leg, I think it's... Ahh! I think it's broken."

A blue, shimmering field sprang up between her and Mush, just in time to deflect another trash can from hitting the woundedgirl. A bright blue ray of light shot out from the rooftop, causing small bits of Mush's shoulder to spray out into the street. Shielder may be a joker, but it seems he wasn't about to let his sister get hurt.

"I got your back, sis! Amy'll get you patched up and we'll make him pay for that together!"

Manpower and Lady Photon emerged out of the storehouse's front door, and a second laser beam hit Mush in one of his knees. The Merchant kept up his lumbering run towards the other members of New Wave, however, the towering trashpile seemed undeterred by their attacks. The loose rubble and garbage that formed Mush's body did little to resist the attacks, but that also meant each hit only did very local damage and didn't slow him down. Any material that was blasted off was quickly drawn back in by the cape's power.

Lady Photon's voice echoed over the phone, taking charge of the fight and coordination of both the team and myself. She was by far the most experienced person in the battle who could fly, but I even so, New Wave was... well, I wouldn't really call them 'out of shape', but they didn't fight too often. I hoped she knew what she was doing.

"Brandish, finish tying up the goons inside and get them in the back in case of collateral damage! Everyone else, get out here and help!"

Moments after Lady Photon's call, Glory Girl smashed through one of the windows upstairs and joined the others outside. She seemed a bit lost, looking around as if searching for something. Even so, her presence had an immediate effect on Mush. His motions changed slightly, becoming jittery and uncertain as Glory Girl's aura hit him at full strength, yet the man wasn't backing down.

"Call the PRT, Revenant. I don't care if you dislike them, you're the only one not fighting here, and Mush is dangerous."

I had to admit, she did have a point, there was very little I could do here. I opened a new channel on my communications suite and called the PRT's emergency phone number. Fortunately, the number was free to call like most emergency numbers. With how my drone was essentially pretending to be a cell phone, I didn't know what would happen if I tried to call a normal number. I didn't exactly have prepaid credit like this. Hm. Maybe I could wire a regular cell phone into the drone and get a subscription? Something to consider later.

"Brockton Bay PRT, how may I help you?"

"New Wave is fighting Mush outside a Merchant safehouse on Mason street. There are seven more Merchants in custody and one person who might be a Merchant or a victim. Please send help to support their team and take the Merchants into custody."

"To confirm, that's Mason street? Please stay on the line, we will send assistance as soon as possible. Are you safe? Do not attempt to watch the battle if this puts you at risk."

"I'm not involved in the battle, only providing communications for New Wave."

"Providing communications? Are you a cape, sir?"

I briefly muted my end of the communications channels and turned to my dad sitting at the other side of the kitchen table, one of my smaller sensor systems taking up the space between us.

"Dad, can you handle the PRT? I want to see if I can help New Wave with the fight and I don't want to get distracted. Don't say anything about us, just point them in the right direction, okay?"

"Sure, kiddo. I can do that. I guess even superheroes need a receptionist sometimes."

I opened a new line to our own cell phone and connected it to the PRT conversation so dad could talk to the cops without distracting me. He took the phone and sat down on the couch in the living room, out of the way but still within earshot.

Turning my attention back to the drone's cameras, I saw Mush almost effortlessly toss Glory Girl into a brick wall. Mush was usually considered only a weak cape, both due to the disgusting nature of his power and his association with the most downtrodden and reviled gang in the city.

Yet his weakness was only that if he was put against the other gangs, and that made people underestimate him. He wouldn't stand a chance against heavy hitters like Kaiser, Purity or Lung, who were willing to go all out without considering the consequences of collateral damage or murder. Against weaker capes who had to hold back, things were very, very different.

The strength that came from a form that large was nothing to sneer at, and the garbage that made up his bulk was sharp from countless broken bottles, bits of metal, broken tiles and loose screws. And probably more than a few used drug needles, considering the local battleground.

"Vicky, you all right?"

"Yeah, shield took the hit. I'm good, but this isn't working. We need to hit him harder or he'll just keep coming."

"We can't make our lasers too powerful, we'll need to trip him up and scatter his form with our other powers. Mush's real body could be anywhere in there and a direct hit from a laser that's strong enough to blast through the bulk of his form could be enough to kill him."

"Why isn't he retreating? He should be terrified with your aura on, right? So why isn't he running away?"

"We took down the Merchants today specifically because Squealer would not be here until tomorrow. With Mush defending, it's all but guaranteed that he's already called others and is expecting help."

Panacea joined in on the discussion as well. "It's also possible he's on a drug high that makes him more aggressive than normal, like coke or meth. Maybe his response to fear is digging his heels in and standing his ground? I see it sometimes in the hospital."

Manpower's rumbling voice took over as he tried to flank the enemy cape from the other side of the street, leaping over a parked pickup and knocking a chunk of refuse out of Mush's left leg. "Revenant, do you see any other Merchants coming to reinf-"

The connection failed as Mush retaliated and Manpower was physically lifted off the ground by a sweeping blow, the garbage form twisting in a way that would leave a normal person's spine in pieces. The man was slammed into the car he'd just vaulted over, utterly wrecking the vehicle and cracking the pavement underneath. The hero managed to roll aside before the second strike demolished the car even further, but he did seem a little dazed from the blow.

"Everyone, I just lost Manpower's connection."

As Mush's fist came back up, bits and pieces of the wreck were pulled into his form. Laser blasts from the three fliers peppered him from all sides to little effect. Blue energy fields wrapped around his head and shoulders, but while Shielder's shields were remarkably tough, they did little to stop the trash from simply flowing around them. New Wave was good at fighting defensively, but Mush was only getting stronger and they could use all the help they could get. All I had was a weaponless drone, but there had to be something I could do.

"His phone was probably broken in that last hit. One moment."

Lady Photon flew towards her husband, protecting the two of them with a shield bubble when Mush picked up the remains of the car and slammed it into the pair. They were apparently unhurt, and she contacted me again only moments later.

"Revenant, can you track the surrounding streets for reinforcements? We have to assume Squealer and Skidmark know about us and are on their way. We can't afford to be ambushed while we're focusing on Mush. We need to end this quickly."

"I don't know. Nothing stands out on my sensors but I don't know what Squealer might bring with her. I'll keep you updated, Lady Photon."

Anyone moving towards an obvious cape fight was either crazy or intended to join in, so I set my drone flying off to keep an eye out for anyone coming to the fight and maybe find some way to help in the battle. I didn't have any weapons, but the drone itself was pretty sturdy. Maybe I could simply crash into Mush at full speed and knock him down? The drone wasn't all that big though, and it could only fly maybe thirty miles per hour. I need something that packs a bigger punch.

"Glory Girl, grab that broken light pole and hit his left leg. Laserdream, Shielder, the three of us focus on his right leg. Let's see if we can keep him down. Manpower, stay back and catch your breath. Brandish, how are things inside?"

"One of these guys tried to make a run for it. The broken nose should have taught him better, but apparently he needed a bit more motivation to stay put. The rest are taken care of, I'll be there in a few moments."

"Taylor, ten minutes until the PRT gets there with two of their capes. Assault and Battery, two frontline fighters. They're also bringing an ambulance for the wounded, but it will stay back until it's safe."

"Everyone, help is underway. Ten minutes until the PRT arrive with Assault, Battery and an ambulance."

"Good news. Let's see if we can wrap this up before then. The faster we deal with Mush, the less chance this goes bad for us."

Out on the road, I spotted the dumpster that had injured Laserdream not minutes before, and the first shapes of a plan started forming in my mind. I had no weapons, but the drone was built to carry sensors and other bits of tech around. Settling just above the dumpster, I activated the magnetic clamps, causing the drone to be pulled tight against the dumpster's overturned base.

Setting my drone's lift to max, it slowly rose up into the air, struggling to lift the heavy weight of the dumpster. My implant started spewing warning messages at me, obviously from the abuse I was subjecting my drone to.

Huh, it seems there was some limit to the software there, maybe it simply couldn't handle random objects and thought the dumpster was a tank? It hadn't come up when I carried the disguised sensor systems, but those had been light enough I hadn't received any warnings at all. Still, even if it was at a snail's pace, the drone was lifting the dumpster into the air. I set it to move behind a nearby building so it could hide until it could rise far enough above the rooftops that Mush wouldn't see it.

"Everyone, I'm about to hit Mush from above so be careful."

"Hey, I thought your robot thing didn't have any weapons? Have you been holding out on us?"

"Shielder, stay focused and slow him down! Revenant, what are you doing?"

"Actually, I'm using my drone to carry a dumpster and I'll be dropping it on his head in a minute. I figure you could use a hand."

In the time I'd taken to collect my latest weapon, Brandish had joined the battle as well, and it was now a six-on-one battle about to turn into seven-on-one. The woman spent most of her time weaving in and out of Mush's reach, using her Breaker state to survive blows from her opponent and using a serrated two-handed sword to hack at his form in between strikes.

Meanwhile, Glory girl was performing fly-bys, hammering his head with the heavily dented remains of a light pole.

"...wait, what? Oh Christ, you're serious. A hit like that could crush him to death, Revenant!"

"We know his real body isn't in his head, and he can take it. His form was strong enough to lift the dumpster and throw it at Laserdream before, and he's bigger and stronger now than he was then. If we can't scatter his trash form he'll only get worse. It's a stalemate, and if what you're saying is true we might be running out of time."

"I say do it. I can't shoot for shit but if you can disrupt his body enough I can use my shields to stop him from reforming."

"Yeah, my improvised baseball bat isn't doing much against him either. Do you need him somewhere specific? I can go full blast with my aura, hopefully he'll be more likely to move away from me."

"Just keep him in one place for a bit. My drone isn't all that strong, I'm still trying to get high enough up that he won't see it coming. Once I'm at altitude it shouldn't take long."

"All right. Be careful everyone. Panacea, make sure you're ready in case this goes wrong."

At my directions, New Wave moved around Mush to surround him and pin him in place. Shielder formed a large blue barrier behind our opponent, while laser blasts, supernatural fear and Brute-powered blows forced him back into it. Unseen by all but Shielder and Panacea, my drone moved out onto the street from above the building the two were on.

"Everyone ready? Dropping my cargo in five seconds."

"Got it! 5... 4..."

"Kick his ass, Tinker man!"

"3... 2... Everyone, back off now!"

Brandish, Manpower and Glory Girl darted away from Mush, even as Glory Girl flung her bent and battered weapon into the Merchant's 'face'. Moments later, it was joined by the half-filled dumpster as it smashed down into his form, sending garbage and rubble scattering.

Reeling from the improvised bombardment, Mush crashed into the boarded up front of the storehouse, raining bricks and pieces of the old storefront's banner down onto the street. I cried out in joy, causing dad to suddenly jolt up from the couch where he'd sat down.

"Just landed good hit, dad. We can do this!"

A thumbs up was my only response. Well, guess I'll have to celebrate for the both of us then.

My good mood was short lived, sadly. With the height of the fall adding to the blow's power, my attack was probably the strongest we'd sent against him up to now... yet nothing we had done so far had managed to do any permanent damage to the Merchant cape. With every bit of collateral damage he was gaining more material to add to his form. As Mush pulled himself away from the storehouse, brickwork and cracked wooden panelling was drawn into his form and he gre even further. Damn it, the Merchants should have been a safe target, a way to get influence and good reputation without risking everyone involved! If New Wave lost or received serious injuries today, they'd never help with my plan to...

My thoughts were interrupted as Manpower dashed back into the middle of the street. Since his phone was broken and he could no longer talk to his team directly, I got my first taste of just how loud a Brute like him could be.

"MUSH IS IN HIS LOWER TORSO, AROUND HIS STOMACH! I SPO-"

Moments later, Laserdream swooped down with her hands over her ears, and her phone let him continue at a less window-rattling volume.

"I spotted his human body when you dropped the dumpster!"

"All right everyone, time to let loose. Stick to his limbs and blast him to pieces."

Laser beams, force fields and Brandish' energy claymore lit up the night as Mush's form was blasted again and again. Without having to worry about accidentally killing their foe, New Wave was taking the kid gloves off. Where before the battle had been a stalemate where Mush was doing his best Lung impression to overpower the team, that one observation by Manpower had turned the tables on the villain. More and more trash was knocked off him every second, and Shielder was using his namesake shields to literally sweep up the pieces so Mush couldn't pull them back inside his form.

"Taylor, five minutes until the PRT gets here."

At one point, Manpower picked up the dumpster and sent it flying through Mush's right shoulder with an overhead throw that left sparks floating in it's trail. The irony of using Mush's weapon against Laserdream back against him was not lost on me. Serves him right, after what he did. At the same time, I noticed my sensors lit up with a flashing trail of yellow icons that followed the dumpster as it slammed into the asphalt further down the street.

Weird. Something about Manpower's abilities, or did my sensors always do this and that attack was the first time it had happened? Projectile tracking or something? That could be quite useful, but nothing had happened when Lady Photon, Laserdream or Shielder attacked. Maybe there was a lower limit on what my system would recognize, or it couldn't track energy beams?

Still, now that I knew it was possible I could do some tests to find out how it worked, or maybe modify my software to track weaker attacks as well. The programming for my tech was... difficult to work with. Heck, I didn't even know I had projectile tracking software, and I'd written it! Somehow. Without the help from my implant I doubt I could change or even understand any part of it. So far, everything I'd used was put together from pieces I'd copied from other units, like the transport units that gave me the magnetic clamps for my drone. But the code itself just 'worked' after I'd written into the drones, it was just gibberish to me.

"Revenant, any sign of reinforcements?"

"Nothing on my sensors. Everyone's keeping their distance, we don't have any onlookers yet, the noise is probably enough to scare everyone away. PRT will be here in about... three minutes. I can't see them on my sensors yet. Wait... no, sorry. Some traffic at the edge of my sensors, but nothing that's coming this way."

Mush was quickly losing mass now, and with the six-on-one fight he couldn't even focus on any specific attacker without leaving himself open to further attack. Eventually, the constant destruction of his form and the combined efforts of the team made Mush lose his balance, and Glory Girl took the opportunity to dive through the trash heap. She burst out on the other side with a man in torn jeans and a wife beater, bits of trash trailing after the duo. I could visibly see the girl recoil from the man, and I was glad I wasn't there to smell everything in person. By now the whole street must smell like a landfill.

"Oh gross. I am so getting a shower after all this. All the showers. This is just... man, how does he even stand it? And stop trying to grab my - agh!"

Three increasingly loud thwacks sounded over the phone line.

"Sis? I don't care what you say. The guy completely deserved it."

"Suuuuuure, Vicky. Do I need to put him back together again or did you learn a bit of restraint this time?"

"Ladies, if I may interrupt, I've got what I think is the PRT on my sensors now. They'll be here in a minute or so."

"All right. Good timing, let's move the rest of these guys outside and get ready to hand them over. Good work everyone. And please do try to stay at least somewhat professional? Kids..."

"I heard that!"

With the battle over, I turned my full attention on the tactical map, watching the PRT convoy approach our location. The other streets were all but deserted, so we should have... huh. Some of the cars on the road north were moving, but they only moved a little bit before stopping again. No sign of any other vehicles. A sensor glitch? After my problems in Winslow, I did not want to have to redo my entire sensor setup because there were flaws. But Manpower's attack already surprised me, and it's better to be safe than sorry after all...

"I'm seeing something weird north of here, but I can't tell if there's anything going on. Could be nothing, but keep your eyes open."

"Thank you, Revenant. I'm not seeing anything from here, let me fly a bit further up... what...? Shields! SHIELDS! Everyone take co-!"

Lady Photon's warning was cut off as an enormous explosion shook the hurried force field Shielder had put up over the street not a moment before. A second later, the barrier shattered completely as a distorted, sparking mass of light burst through into the torn up street we'd done battle in. The dumpster that we'd been using in our attacks was sent spinning off into the wall of the storehouse, and was buried under the rubble, having played it's last part in the night's conflict. The collision itself was the final straw for the distortion field, and a vehicle became fully visible in front of our eyes. At the same time, new icon appeared on my sensor display, bigger than any I'd seen so far.

Well then. The cavalry has arrived. A pity theirs arrived first, though.

Set: name on target unit to 'Squealer's Giant Tank'

Well, I promised myself to get this chapter done before New Year's and I succeeded! Barely. After this I'm going for fireworks and snacks. Not sure how this happened, really, I was happily writing along and then it just... stopped. Muse took a day off, spontaneous degeneration of my English language skills, zero literature appreciation mind control curse, whatever the case may be I spent over four days trying to write and nothing really worked. Chapter's finished now though, so hurray! It's even a bit longer than the others. Please note, this chapter hasn't been beta'd like the last one, so any mistakes you see are entirely my fault.

To finish, have a happy 2016! May your new year be full of joy, interesting literature and ever-increasing bee-related escalation!

2.3​

Calling Squealer's vehicle a tank might do it justice in the sense that it was built for combat, but it doesn't quite capture the right idea. From the size and shape of it, it may have originally been a pair of eighteen wheeler trucks that had been welded together, but it was modified so extensively I couldn't be sure. It wasn't even possible to see if it used wheels or something more exotic like actual tank tracks for locomotion. Heavy metal plates were bolted across the surface of the vehicle, sloping down to the ground where they left cracks and gouges in the street as the tank moved.

From my drone's vantage point higher up, I could see at least four mismatched gun turrets on the vehicle. A large cylinder, all but strangled by tubing and hydraulics, sat atop the roof and emitted a series of loud clanks and whines. I wasn't sure if it was a rocket launcher or some sort of giant potato gun turned into a mortar cannon, but if the explosion we just witnessed was any indication, it was dangerous.

The menacing, definitely-a-villain look was further improved by several gaps and grates across the rear half of the vehicle that hissed smoke and steam into the cold night air. In fact, some of the parts of the tank didn't look all finished, had Squealer been working on this thing when they were called to help?

New Wave had dashed out of the way when the tank made it's presence known, but they were cut off from each other. Manpower and Brandish were stuck in the alley next to the storehouse, Lady Photon was trapped further behind the tank, and Shielder and Panacea were still on the rooftop they had started on, right above our new opponent.

Glory girl had flown straight up after the first rocket hit Shielder's barrier, and she'd gone fast enough that she was now completely out of my sensor range. The only one who was safe was Laserdream, being the furthest from the tank and closest to the PRT reinforcements that had come to a stop not far away.

And the only one who had any kind of battlefield awareness was me.

"Everyone, the tank has stopped moving right in front of the building! Stay out of it's line of sight, I'll give directions to get the group together again. Laserdream, head south and contact the PRT group. Shielder, can-"

Heavy machine gun fire interrupted me as three of the gun turrets turned to fire at the edge of the rooftop Panacea and Shielder were still stuck on. Brickwork and wood fragments were blown across the street at the impacts, and the duo of teenage capes retreated further down the rooftop to avoid the attacks.

More immediately concerning for me was that one of the tank's guns was now shooting my drone, and I had to send it into a sharp dive to avoid getting shot to pieces. Even worse, the main 'cannon' was also tracking me now. With how thin the armour was, there was no way my drone could survive a direct hit from a weapon that strong, and even regular machine guns would be a major threat. The stealth system should be hiding me from any radar they might have, and my drone should be all but invisible in this light so why were they shooting me?

A glancing shot sent me off course, and a second went right through the left side of the drone. I lost control and the spinning tumble sent it crashing through a parked car down the street a few moments later. Error messages started flashing at me through the control interface.

Well, apparently one of the things I'd accidentally removed to reduce the mass requirements of the drone was a self-repair system. Still, it was good to know I could actually build one of those. I'd need to do some repairs after all this was over but at least the drone was still working. The Merchants had stopped firing at my drone after the crash, probably thinking it was destroyed completely. I had no doubt they'd begin shooting again the moment I moved, so I would need to be careful.

"Shielder, can you get Panacea down from the roof? You can fly, right?"

"No, my flight is far too weak to carry someone. I can't use my shields either, they don't give any traction and she might slip and fall if I try to carry her that way. Where's the fire escape?"

"It will put you in range of their guns, stay put for now. My drone just took a hit but it can still fly and I can help carry her. Lady Photon... ah, I've lost contact with Glory Girl. She's flown straight up and she's out of my range now. Can you find her?"

"I can't fly up there right now, too much chance that I get shot down. Smart of her though, she can't handle heavy gunfire too well and the Merchants can't shoot her without risking Mush. Wait, do they know she has him? Panacea, call her on your phone and warn her to stay out of range. Even if Revenant can't contact her, regular phone signals should still work and we can keep you in the loop with Shielder's phone. I'll help Manpower and Brandish."

"All right. They are just a bit south of you, and one street to the left. When you reach them, take the captured Merchants, head back into the alley and go south until you can see the PRT. Stay away from the main street. "

Right. Everyone's got a plan to follow now, but I still had to get over to the side of the street where Shielder and Panacea were hiding. Plotting my course in more detail, I switched my implant's acceleration up to maximum and felt the world slow to a crawl. Switching the drone back out of it's diagnostics, I re-activated the propulsion system and took off. I piloted the drone into a side street, my enhanced reflexes letting me keep the machine mostly level while avoiding any collisions. One of the turrets on the tank turned my way and started firing, but was too late to aim anywhere close to me. Rumbling, distorted sounds came back to me from the machine gun's attacks. When I reached safety I went back to normal speed, and my communications sped back up into something comprehensible.

"...ly use a hand here!"

"Shielder, grab Panacea and get ready to fly down the side of the building. My drone can do the heavy lifting, but I took a bad hit just now and I don't have the fine control to carry her alone. You're going to make sure she doesn't slip off and fall, all right?"

Now that my drone was safely on the side of the street with the two trapped heroes, I rushed over to the far end of their rooftop to help. Setting the drone at the height of the roof, I waited for Panacea and Shielder to get on. Faintly, I heard the girl's voice through Shielder's phone link.

"Uhhmm, your drone thing is sparking and smoking there, are you sure this is safe?"

"I took some hits from that tank, but I still have half of my engine capacity left. It's plenty to carry your weight, and Shielder will make sure you don't fall just in case. Get on, we're getting you out of there."

"Wait, is... is that smoke toxic? Eric, use your shields to keep that stuff away from us while-"

A loud crack cut her off, and a split second later the part of the roof that faced the street and the storehouse vanished into a gigantic fireball. The two heroes were again scrambling for cover as the blast wave rushed past them, sending flaming debris across their backs.

"Agh! Just hold your breath, come on Amy!"

The blazing inferno behind them making it absolutely clear they didn't have the time to be careful any more, the two teenagers stepped onto the drone and I began the descent. Shielder formed a cylindrical field around them to keep the smoke out, and the two stayed as far right on the drone as they could. The drone wobbled a bit before its systems could stabilize for the off-balance weight, but after that I had no difficulties.

"Oh Christ, what kind of firepower are they using out there? I'm on my way, this is way too dangerous for you. Brandish and Manpower can take care of themselves."

"Lady Photon, stay back! Shielder and Panacea are off the rooftop and safe now. Don't risk yourself with needless heroics. Regroup with the PRT so we can deal with the tank."

I noticed on my tactical view that Laserdream had reached the PRT convoy. With a little luck, they'd brought an RPG or similar weaponry, or maybe something they could use to knock out the tank's weapons. Maybe that foam they use to capture enemies could block the barrels?

"Everyone, I've found the heroes and I'm giving my phone to Assault so you can coordinate with him. I'm hanging back myself until you need me, but I really don't want to go up against a tinkertech tank."

"This is Assault. I'm speaking to New Wave, right?"

"I'm Revenant, I'm providing battlefield information and coordination for the team. Hero, not part of New Wave itself."

"Oh hey, a new face! Always cool to meet someone else fighting the good fight. We're staying out of sight for now, you've got some tank out there I hear? I dunno how much we guys can help with that, we came prepared for collecting some perps, not for heading into a war zone. Myself, Battery, fifteen unpowered PRT with foam sprayers, flashbang and foam grenades, and the usual bullet spraying light weaponry. Ambulance, too, in case you need one. Who's here on your side and what's your plan?"

"Flashbang isn't here, Manpower, Brandish and Glory Girl are currently out of contact but participating in the battle, the others can hear anything you say. We don't have a plan right now beyond keeping everyone safe and regroup. That tank is a major problem right now."

"This is Lady Photon. I've reached Manpower and Brandish, we have the captured Merchants with us. We're coming up from your north-east, so hold your fire please."

A few shouted warnings later, the unfortunate thugs were handed over to the PRT, cuffed and hurried into one of the waiting vans.

"Hey, uh, this is Shielder here. We're heading your way as well. Am- I mean Panacea just called Glory Girl, she's landing in a few moments with Mush. He's unconscious, can you guys handle him in case he wakes up? This guy was a bitch to capture."

"No problems, kid. Containment foam's a wonderful thing! Doesn't sound like we've got anything that can crack that tank, though. I called it in and we can get reinforcements in a little while, but that's about it. Hmmmm. Maybe I can use my power to launch something at them, maybe an I-beam or something. Puppy, think you can charge me high enough for that?"

"Actually, can your foam block the tank's weapons? That might be a way to prevent them from shooting."

A woman's voice answered, though it wasn't anyone I recognized. Battery perhaps?

"That will only work if the foam can harden enough. If they are still firing, it will just be blasted out of the barrel. Blocking their weapons has a significant chance of causing a backfire, and with Tinker weaponry that's a bad idea. It's not very heroic, but the best course of action here is probably to leave them sitting there until they get bored and leave."

"Yep, plus there's gonna be other opportunities, and maybe next time I can get Halbeard to -OW, puppyyy- Ahem, we can get Armsmaster to make some gizmo or whatnot to disable Squealer's latest and greatest next time she shows up with it."

"Right. Anyone else have any- wait."

I spotted two new icons split off from the marked 'Squealer's Giant Tank', heading towards the safehouse. They had to know Mush and the others were captured, were trying to get the stash out instead of rescuing them? Or did they think the others were still inside?

"Two Merchants just got out of the tank, they're heading inside. Might be they they think the captives are still inside, or they're trying to get their supplies out."

"Oh, hey, I can handle that! Wait. Guys, guys, how many of those foam grenades do you have? C'mon! Battery, you're fast too, right? Grab some as well!"

"Laserdream? What are you doing?"

"They're here for the stash, so it must be important for them, right? I fly back there through the alleys with however many foam grenades I can carry, and I foam up the whole building. Two more mooks captured, they can't get the stash out and that tank of theirs can't bust them out of there without destroying what they came for and killing their own guys. But we need to be fast, c'mon!"

The second voice from before answered again. Definitely Battery then, considering her words.

"You don't know how to handle the grenades safely. I'll do it. You carry extra grenades and let me use them. With your flight you're faster than I am, so you can get more from the group here if we need them. Let's go."

Laserdream's icon streaked back towards the storehouse, followed by a second icon that moved a lot more erratically in bursts of speed. Just as I marked the second icon with Battery's name, a third and fourth icon appeared high above the convoy flying down at high speed. I reconnected with the phone held by one of them.

"Hey, it's Vicky. I'm not here at the moment, but you can leave a message after th-"

Hanging up, I sighed to myself. Voicemail. Just great. I dialed again, and this time the girl did pick up after a few rings

"This better be you Revenant, I don't have time for social calls right now!".

"Glory Girl, good to have you back."

"Ah good, it is you. Sorry, didn't hear the phone over the noise the first time. Is everyone all right?"

"Everyone's fine, we're regrouping with the PRT convoy, can you see them? Laserdream and Battery are heading back but we're staying away from the tank for now."

"No prob, be there in a few moments."

Shielder and Panacea were the next ones to join the rest of the heroes, and Panacea quickly went over her team-mates to make sure none were injured. Meanwhile, Battery and Laserdream had reached the storehouse and had apparently begun their foaming spree.

"Laserdream here. Battery just foamed those two guys you spotted when they were heading back. We're giving their drugs a nice containment foam cover, too, they'll never be able to get this stuff out. Hey mom, any chance we can get some of these, too? The sprayers are clunky but these grenades look pretty fun."

"Please stay focused, everyone. Revenant, what's the tank doing?"

"Nothing that I can see, but I don't have direct line of sight so I can't give you much beyond that it's not moving."

"All right. Battery, Laserdream, when you've finished foaming the building, get out of there. We're pulling back and waiting it out."

I had my drone fly off towards the growing group of heroes, but made sure to stay out of sight for now. The PRT were here to help, but even so I did not trust them. I wasn't going to just show myself to them when I'd already taken all these measures to keep my involvement hidden. With some luck, none of the Merchants realized what I'd done to help during the battle, and the PRT wouldn't know about my tech, or anything beyond my cape name and the connection to New Wave.

=======================================================================

Ethan bounced across the street, using his power to change the direction of his leap to land between the gathered New Wave heroes and PRT officers as they landed and got out of the vans.

"S'up, folks? Any changes?"

"The last update was that there's one more Merchant out of the tank, but he's not going inside. They're most likely trying to get their other two guys out, but the foam is blocking their way. It's right outside the tank, so it's too risky to do anything about it."

Ah, Photon Mom. Always the professional, always so boring. At least the rest of the team could be fun from time to time. Heh, maybe he could rope Manpower into a drinking contest sometime. Better not let Jamie hear about it though... make it a guys' night out. Maybe the new guy, if he could find him?

"Eh, let them stew for a while. Armsmaster and Miss Militia are ten minutes out, so if they haven't left by then we've got some heavier firepower on our side. MM's sure to have something that should help, even against a troublesome tinker-tech tank."

He turned as several members of New Wave waved and he heard a thud behind him. He was greeted by Glory Girl dropping a dishevelled looking guy at his feet and a smell that suddenly made him very aware his visor didn't have an air filter.

"One Mush, ready for pickup. Please please please tell me you've got something I can use to clean up. Or let me break open a fire hydrant or something, ugh!"

"Sorry, I got nothing. Better you don't start breaking things though, I think we've got enough collateral damage for tonight. Maybe ask the folks at the Ambulance for some paper towels or such?"

Handing the downed Merchant cape over to the pair of PRT officers, he heard another warning coming from the phone he was holding. At least Lady Photon's phone wasn't bright pink and sparkly like Laserdream's had been. A man like him has his reputation to consider!

"Battery and Laserdream coming up, hold your fire."

A few moments later, the two heroes joined the growing group and he blew a kiss to his wife. She'd been in a bad mood today, better stock up on that lovey-dovey goodwill while he was still relatively bruise-free.

"Well, looks like all the laser-shooting, spandex-wearing good guys are in one piece, at least. Puppy, can you get the phone and take care of Brockton Bay's finest? I'll go check on Panacea and that girl New Wave captured."

With a little power-assisted skip he headed over to the Ambulance that had Panacea sitting in the back while one of the paramedics was looking her over. Her face was adorned with a handful of band-aids and one of her cheeks was covered in small parallel cuts. The bed was occupied by the last captive, though she was apparently unconscious or really out of it.

"Heya Panacea. You all good? I think you've got something on your face there."

"Very funny. I got some scrapes and cuts from when they hit the rooftop we were on. Nothing serious, but it does hurt."

"Well, I'd give you a hug but I got some Mush on me just now and I don't want to ruin your day even more. Maybe ask your sis for a hug if you really want the full experience."

The girl turned away, her face turning a more even shade of red. Yep. Good job, Ethan. Just what you needed to finish your day's work, embarrassing a sixteen year old girl for some inexplicable reason. Well, he thought she was sixteen, anyway. What did he say this time? It could be so difficult to lighten things up from the grim reality of cape fights. Didn't mean he'd ever stop trying though, just meant he had to do better.

"Aaaaanyway. Any idea what to do with that girl your group pulled out of there?"

"Yes, well... uh, she's pretty out of it now. I've checked her with my power to make sure she's not in immediate danger, but beyond that I'm not doing anything. She'll be treated and processed at the hospital, so they can record what she's used and why in case it's needed for court. No sign of... well, struggling or date drugs though, so that's good. Looks like she was there willingly at least."

"Well, at least that's something. Could still be she's a Merchant herself. Ahhh, completely different topic, I can't seem to find the guy on the phone who's been coordinating your team. He's not around and I haven't seen any new fliers going around. Figure I'd buy the new guy a beer, see what's what."

"Oh, well, I really shouldn't talk about that, sorry. We're... it's complicated. It's probably best if you ask Lady Photon, she's the one who's dealt with him the most."

Huh. That was not a reaction he was expecting. Weird. Ah well, the woman should still be around here somewhere. Giving the healer a thumbs up, he walked back to the gathered heroes and police. Five of the New Wave members were in a heated argument, centred around Glory Girl and Brandish, and their voices were steadily rising in volume.

"...is about! This, this is the biggest thing I've done in months! The only thing I've managed to do patrolling the last two weeks is stop a single mugging! Today we've captured Mush, stopped however many dealers from restocking, and know about Squealer's new tank! We can make a difference like this!"

"Victoria, we almost got killed out there. If that tank..."

"That tank would have shown up anyway! If it had been anyone else, without our shields they'd have gotten shot for real and now the heroes knows she's got one so the Merchants have lost their element of surprise! I'm actually thinking of asking for one of those scanner things so I can-"

Hoooo-boy, family dispute. Couldn't he just do stuff like help with a fight against Hookwolf, all this drama was just ridiculous. They called him 'Assault' for a reason, not 'Super-Diplomat' or 'Mega-Negotiator'. Then again, one easy way to get people to work together...

"Ladies, ladies, please, shout a bit louder. I couldn't quite hear that last part."

Five heads turned to face him, and he could see the scowls there get even nastier. Oh, yes. Facing down angry parahumans was something he could deal with. In fact, he practiced it daily against Armsmaster. Mission successful!

"See, now you're all angry at me instead of each other! That's some team building, right there. Anyway, we're still missing a cape here, where's that last guy of yours, the one on the phone?"

The team looked at each other after his question, and a whole conversation of non-verbal gestures and expressions flashed by before his eyes. Some of them even shrugged! Everyone's being so hesitant about it, what was up with this guy? Lady Photon was the only one to answer him.

"I'm sorry, Assault. We made a promise not to discuss him without asking first. The only thing we're allowed to say freely is that he calls himself 'Revenant' and that he's assisting in the current situation because he provided information on the drug stash. Anything else, even the obvious things, you'll have to ask him yourself. I doubt he'll tell you much, but good luck."

She tossed him her phone, having apparently gotten it back from Battery, and he managed to use his power to prevent it from bouncing off when he barely caught it in the dim light. Their vans had kept the emergency lights off so they wouldn't draw the Merchants' attention, but it was still just light enough that the night vision in his visor wasn't much better.

"Hey there, it's Assault. You're Revenant, right? Great that you're helping us out. Now that things are being quiet for the moment, could I ask you a few questions, one hero to another?"

"No."

"Ooookaaay. No offense meant, just wanted to get to know you a bit, maybe invite you to a-"

"Forget it."

"Hey now. There's no need to be rude here, we're all on the same side, you know?"

"Assault, just stop. I'm not discussing anything with you, and I don't need to explain myself to- Look. The tank just started moving again, stop wasting your time with me and do your job for once."

The line went dead after that, though he could hear faint chatter from some of the other phones. Whatever the reason, the guy didn't feel like talking to him. This was getting weirder by the minute. Was that why New Wave was acting like this? Well, it looks like that guys' night out was not going to happen. Hmm. Maybe Miss Militia...

Manpower's shouts echoed past him, driving thoughts of bars and alcohol to the back of his mind.

"Everyone, Squealer's tank is on the move! It's heading away from us so it looks like the Merchants are giving up! We should be safe to head back to their drug store, but stay alert!"

Well, looks like it's back to work. Pity the Merchants left before Armsy and Miss Militia got here, but that's the way it works in this business. No sense being moody over what's in the past, though, there's gonna be plenty of other opportunities to get Squealer. Time to see what New Wave's done out there.

Hmm, better start coming up with a foam joke for puppy, too... that building's gonna be either amazing or horrifying, and the secret to a good one-liner is to anticipate a good opportunity and once everyone got moving he would be too busy. A hero's work is never easy...