3.06 interlude

Furor 3.05

I took a deep breath. I had a lot on my mind, after this afternoon, and as it got closer and closer to midnight... Lisa had left, just a little bit after we'd gotten back to the hideout. She'd said something about having to talk with Brian, but she'd seemed a bit panicked for some reason. After Emma, and that note from my Dad I just couldn't do much of anything else social,so I sequestered myself in my room.

I'd tried to keep busy. I'd gotten my laptop set up and even found a few news stories I'd decided to keep up with--in particular I felt the need to do more reading on the Canary trial when I had less on my mind. But, as the afternoon turned to evening my thoughts turned to back to earlier to day and… One thing at a time. I checked the time, 10:30 PM. If I left now, I'd get there a bit early, but it's been awhile since I've visited Mom's grave.

I was still in the shorts and tank Lisa had gotten me, but I'd ditched the sandals. I'd be leaving through the storm sewer and it was just easier to not have to worry about them. Also, I'd kind of gotten used to the feeling of the ground on my feet over the last few days. I went upstairs, to let Rachel and Alec know that I was about to head out.

I didn't have far to go--I found the both of them in the main basement, in Rachel's kennel. Rachel was sitting in a corner just petting and playing with her dogs and Alec was sort of looking at her.

"Hey," I said in greeting, then turned to Alec. "I didn't expect you down here."

He shrugged in response.

"Well, I just came up to tell you guys I'm heading out, so..." That sounded better in my head.

Rachel patted one of her dogs--Judas if I'm not mistaken, and then looked up at me. "Do you, hmm, do you," she coughed, then looked away from me. "Do you want one of us to come with you?"

"No, this is really something I should do on my own." Rachel looked back to me and I smiled, carefully, to not show my teeth, and continued. "But thank you for asking."

With that said, and no one looking like they were going to say anything else, I turned to head back down to my room, and from there the storm sewers. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I overheard Alec mumble something, then caught the sound of flesh hitting flesh. I shrugged, Alec must have done something to piss off Rachel.

As I walked through the sewers, my thoughts turned back to Dad, and what I might find at the cemetery. I'd robbed a bank and trashed a team of child superheroes… Dad took out the Merchants, would he have found out about the drugs? I hope he didn't get the wrong idea. Would Dad still want me back, if by some miracle I could ever go home again? I mean, he wanted to see me, and Lisa had said that he'd spent the last few months trying to get people to believe I was innocent, but that was before the bank. What if he just wanted me to meet with him so he could tell me off in person? What if it was a trap? Lisa said she didn't think it was likely, but she was wrong about how many Wards would be at the bank so she could be wrong about this, and…

I shook my head. There was no point in dwelling on such things. I couldn't back out now, I had to see this through. I came to a ladder leading up to a manhole. I closed my eyes and felt out with my senses, and when I couldn't feel any emotions near by I climbed up and out into the streets. I was still a bit away from the cemetery, but there wasn't a storm sewer anywhere near it so I don't have much of a choice.

As I walked the rest of the way towards the cemetery, I would occasionally notice people in the streets out late at night--a couple members of the gangs, a couple of prostitutes, and some people who just had really poor judgement. Most people didn't pay me much mind, though a woman I think was a prostitute who saw me ran away, a jolt of fear cutting through her emotions, and at one point I noticed a presence with emotions directed at me with intent from about a dozen or so yards up the street, but when I turned to get a look at the guy they were running away. I shrugged, guessing that it was some thug planning to mug me, who ran when they got a better look at me.

I felt three sets of emotions present when I got to the cemetery, but they were out of my line of sight the whole way to Mom's grave. There was no sign of Dad at the grave, so I just crouched down and sat in front of Mom's tombstone.

I looked at the stone, and read the epitaph for the first time in a good while:

Annette Rose Hebert

1969-2008

She taught something precious to each of us.

"It's been awhile," I said to the stone and the open air. "A lot has happened since the last time I visited." I took a deep breath. "I've got powers now. I'm, I'm so strong now and I'm just gonna keep getting stronger. I wish I could tell you I was a hero, but things didn't work out like that. I know you were part of Lustrum's movement, back before it started getting violent, but..." Like I said, Mom had left the movement before it got violent, back when it was just feminists campaigning and protesting for women's' rights. The worst thing Mom had done was get rowdy during a rally. But, even if Mom had been in one of Lustrum's main gangs before she left, she… she wouldn't have done anything like robbing a bank or stealing drugs from the most aggressive dealers in town. That wasn't the kind of person mom was. I sighed. "I've got some new friends now… They're… They're villains… I'm a villain now." I took another breath to calm my nerves. I'd never get this done if I kept hesitating. "I didn't want to be, but something happened and a lot of people think I'm a monster and, and my new friends are some of the first people to treat me like an actual human being in a long time. They seem like good people otherwise, or at least they're good to me, and I guess that's what counts." That sounded weak, even to me, now that I said it out loud. I think I needed to learn more about my new friends.

"I don't know if Dad's been by, but he's a hero now." I felt a fourth emotional presence enter the graveyard. "A Tinker. He took out the Merchants and he's using his tech to fix up the city. I'm actually here to meet him, and--" the emotional presence was heading my way. I could feel anticipation, hope, concern, and love, and--I jumped to my feet and turned to look just as the presence came into view. The man I saw was wearing a trench coat but even from this distance I could clearly make out that it was "Dad!"

I wanted to run up to him and hug him, but I stayed at Mom's grave. I mean, I could feel his emotions, but I couldn't be 100 percent sure how he'd react or what he wanted with this meeting.

As Dad came up to Mom's grave, I noticed that he'd changed, just slightly, since the last time I'd seen him. He looked just a bit more fit, I guess is the best way to describe it, as though he was getting more exercise. I felt a twinge of guilt as I noticed the dark circles around his eyes and that his hair had grayed a bit since I'd last seen him. Was he losing sleep over me?

The first thing Dad did, when he got to me,was to gesture at my face. "I, I see you're not wearing your glasses anymore," he said awkwardly.

I blinked, then felt at my face for frames that weren't there. "Okay," I said after a moment, "that's really something I should have noticed before now." Dad chuckled, just a bit, and I couldn't help but join in.

"Okay," Dad said, "there's one thing we have to get out of the way: You're grounded."

"For robbing the bank?"

"No," Dad answered, "for fighting Lung." He pointed to his hair and I noticed that he was wearing some kind of armor from the gauntlets on his hands. "Do you see this grey?" he asked in a tone all too serious, "most of this from watching you fight him the other night."

I laughed nervously. "So, you're not mad about… you know?"

"I'm not happy that you've joined up with a band of villains," Dad said, "But I can understand why you did it, and besides," he continued, "I'd be a hypocrite if I got mad at you for joining the Undersiders after I hired Uber and Leet."

I blinked again. "What?"

"I needed parahuman assistance," Dad answered in an even tone, "and Uber and Leet were in my price range. Besides, they've more than earned their pay."

"But… they're a joke," I was still incredulous, "and did you see that Grand Theft Auto episode they did?"

"Would you believe that they staged that?" I looked at Dad and he continued. "You hear about them hiring minions, but you never see them in their videos… except you do. Apparently, a lot of Uber and Leet's more extreme stuff is staged."

"Really?"

"Don't get me wrong," Dad continued, "they made it clear what kind of jobs they were willing to do if the price was right back when I first hired them." Dad shuddered. "They've got standards, but not that many. At least they didn't when I hired them. Now, they're talking about coming clean and becoming heroes."

"Huh, good for them," I kind of wish I could get a chance like that.

"Now," Dad said, back in serious mode, "there is one thing that we need to talk about." Dad took a deep breath and then looked me in the eyes. "I know about the drugs." I looked away. "Taylor, I need to know. Are you using?"

I started rubbing my forearms, focusing on the feeling of the smooth carapace on my fingers. "It's not what you think."

"Then what is it?"

I swallowed. "I-I don't just change on the outside. I'm, I'm adapting--evolving, constantly, and I adapt faster if I have something to adapt to."

"So the drugs?"

"If I take them now, they won't affect me later," I gave a half assed smile, "and toxins in general don't work as well either, once I've adapted to a drug or poison. So, I use the drugs now, and I'm less likely to get hurt if someone drugs or poisons me later."

Dad… His emotions felt weird for a moment, and his expression kept shifting, as though he didn't know how to feel. Then he just pulled me into a hug. "Taylor," Dad said, "I love you, and nothing will change that. If you ever get into trouble over your head, or if you've got any questions, or need my help, I'm here for you."

I hugged him back. "I love you too, Dad. Actually, I do have a couple of questions."

"Shoot."

"Why are you wearing powered armor?"

Dad let me go and we pulled apart. "Because you have super strength and claws, Taylor, and Lacey overheard a few people talking about how you'd apparently hate to accidentally carve people like turkeys the other day."

I blushed. I never expected that to come back and bite me, especially so soon.

Dad smiled. "What else were you going to ask?"

"Are strong liquors supposed to taste like cough syrup, or do I just have mutant taste buds?" There was that shifting expression again.

"So," Dad said, changing the subject, "How are the Undersiders treating you?"

"They're good to me," I answered, more confidently than when I spoke to Mom's grave. I felt some more presences enter the graveyard, but I payed them no mind. This was more important. "They're good friends."

"Good," Dad said, "and how is Sarah treating you."

"Pretty good. She gave me some great advice when I first set out to remake the zerg and--" Wait. "How do you know about Sarah." Sarah had said that the powers from her universe would spread out from me. Did that mean that Dad...

Dad was smiling. "Ask her about Jim Raynor the next time you see her. So," he said carefully, "you're trying to recreate the Zerg?"

"Yeah, my hatchery should be up and running any day now."

"Well, be careful. The last thing we want is an… incident." Dad felt a bit scared when he said that.

"Dad, it's going to be alright." I smiled in a way that I hopped was reassuring. "Honest."

"If you say so," Dad replied in a calm tone, though his emotions hadn't changed. "I've got a communicator for you," he said as he reached into his trench coat, "I want you to use it if..." Dad trailed off, staring behind me, and I could feel multiple presences behind me.

"We hate to interrupt what is probably a touching reunion," came a feminine voice, "but Kaiser has business with the so called 'Empress.' " I turned around and saw a pair of Valkyries and six young men, each with some type of automatic rifle and wearing E88's colors. This day just keeps getting worse and worse.Furor 3.06

My heart skipped a beat when the two valkyrie-dressed supermodels addressed Taylor. One with a sword and shield, one with a spear. Fenja and Menja, Kaiser's bodyguards and/or eye candy if I remembered correctly. I couldn't remember off the top of my head which was which. I wasn't quite sure what they expected the six young men with the guns to do to Taylor… Unless they were meant for me? Just in case, I took my hand from the communicator I'd been about to give to Taylor and placed it on my helmet. I'd have to thank Leet later. His "RPG Hero pocket" technology was just so convenient now that he could make more than one container with the stuff.

With my free hand, I made a discrete signal to Uber. I'd had him camp out hidden in the cemetery just for such an occasion as this. With my signal, he should be contacting Kurt, who'll be calling in the rest of the active Raiders. Afterward Uber would be playing overwatch in case this turns violent before backup arrives.

"Is this still about the name thing?" Taylor asked one of the valkyries. "If it's that important then fine, I'll change it." The valkyries and the neo-nazis behind them stood attentively. "From now on," my daughter continued in a tone dripping with sass, "I'm Super-Kaiser."

The woman with the sword gestured and suddenly six automatic rifles were trained on my little girl. The one with the spear began to speak "That's not--"

"No. Super-Kaiser-God-Empress," Taylor interrupted.

I got the impression that the spear-carrier was annoyed. "Look, child, th--"

"Super-Kaiser-God-Empress," Taylor interrupted again, this time with a lot more annoyance and anger.

"Can we just call you Empress for short?" one grunt asked. The valkyrie with the shield and sword turned to glare at him, a young blonde man. While the neo-nazis were distracted, I pulled out my helmet and placed it on.

"Hmmm," Taylor said, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in an obvious parody of deep thought. "Super-Kaiser-God-Empress allows this."

The sword-valkyrie turned her glare to Taylor. "You don't seem to realize just how serious this is."

"It's serious in the first place? Taylor asked mockingly. "I thought it was a grown man throwing a fit over a name? Dad, does that sound like something to take seriously?"

I shook my head… and made a note to ask what all of this was about. This clearly was not the first encounter Taylor had had with the Empire, and that was something to be concerned about.

"Kaiser doesn't throw fits," the sword bearer continued, "though he does have a problem with little upstarts attacking his messengers." When did this happen?

"Who were telling me that Kaiser was throwing a fit over my name," Taylor replied sarcastically. "Besides, they were rude, and it's not like I hurt them." Taylor pointed to the blonde who'd spoken a moment ago. "One of the idiots is right there." The so called idiot proceeded to turn his gun on my daughter and fired off a dozen shots.

The other nazis jumped in time with my heart's beat stopping. The bullets all seemed to bounce off Taylor and she didn't seem at all hurt. More annoyed as she looked down to her own belly.

She slowly looked up to the blonde idiot. "This is a new shirt," she said in reference to the tank top she was wearing. "It was a gift and I've had it for less than a day. You're very lucky that none of those bullets touched it. Now," Taylor asked, "are you trying to get killed, Blondie?"

The blonde man shook his head, then took off running, leaving only five armed youths supporting the valkyries.

"Is he um… slow?" Taylor asked. "Or is he just a product of a Winslow High education?"

One of the valkyries facepalmed. "He's someone's cousin," she said in apparent explanation of why the young man hadn't been kicked out of the gang or killed already. "Now, are you ready to take this seriously?"

"No," Taylor began. I reached for my pistol. I only had rubber bullets and other nonlethal rounds, but I could sense that this was heading towards a fight. "I'm actually a little angry. You see, this is the first time I've had a chance to talk to my father since I triggered. The first time I've been to my Mother's grave for longer still." I noticed that Taylor's posture had changed. She was hunched over, just ever so slightly, her fingers were beginning to curl, and while I couldn't see her entire face from what I could see her teeth--her fangs--were bared. "And now a bunch of nazi-assholes have shown up to ruin it because the crown prince of all nazi-assholes is throwing a fit over my name. So, I'll repeat my response to Kaiser's earlier message: Tell him to go fuck himself."

I suppose had I been in this situation four months ago, I'd have been filled with both fear and pride at Taylor saying this. Fear of the danger she was putting herself and me in, pride at her standing her ground. Considering that she was bulletproof and I was wearing a full set of powered armor, I was currently only experiencing one of those emotions.

"It's a shame that you feel that way," said the spear wielding valkyrie. "But you did just threaten to kill one of us just a moment ago." The sword wielder made a signal with her hand just as her twin finished speaking. A second later my dearly departed Annette's headstone exploded in a flash of white flame.

The next thing I knew, I was pushing myself back up from the ground and trying to figure out where the exploding shot had come from. I saw a blonde man in red with black Armor, Victor of Empire Eighty-Eight, kneeling at the very far end of the cemetery holding a long rifle. He hadn't been there earlier, he must have jumped the fence around the time the other nazis came in. I noticed that he had what at this distance seemed to be a shaft or stick sticking from his left knee while he was clutching at his right shoulder. Running at him from his left was a tall and broad shouldered man in the uniform of one of my Raiders and holding a composite bow. That'd be Uber. He must have shot an arrow in Victor's knee. As I finished climbing to my feet, I turned, just slightly, to the left to see what appeared to be a young blonde girl in a black and lavender body suit, a pistol in her hand. That must be Tattletale, one of Taylor's new teammates. I wasn't the only one who'd set a lookout, so it seems.

I turned back to see Taylor staring at the shattered remains of her mother's memorial. She was shaking. The five remaining nazi grunts had their guns trained on her and the valkyrie twins had grown to each be about eight feet tall. The one with the sword and shield raised her blade and brought it down on Taylor. My little girl moved with great speed and caught the giant blade. Without letting go, Taylor turned to the giant woman and I could see that her eyes were glowing--the whites glowed blue and her irises a deep purple. It was somewhat off-putting when combined with the rage on her face as she brought her fist--enshrouded in what I assumed to be a psionic aura--into contact with the sword at high speed. Space distorted as the psionic energy erupted in a wave of telekinetic force and shattered the blade. As the giantess stumbled, Taylor leaped at her, fangs bared and claws out, with an animalistic scream of rage.

Bullets wouldn't harm her, but they could pose a distraction. I dropped my trenchcoat to the ground and shot a rubber bullet at the hip of one nazi grunt. He collapsed in pain and the other four turned their automatic rifles on me. My armor might not be perfect, but it provided adequate protection against the storm of hot lead as I backed away, drawing the attention and fire away from Taylor… I'd have to talk to her about managing pent up anger later, at a more opportune time. Frankly, the way she was moving and the ferocity with which she was clawing at the twin giants brought to mind more a particularly sadistic cat than the young girl I'd raised.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Victor struggling to defend himself in a two-front battle with two other Thinkers. A busted knee and gunshot wound to the shoulder will do that to you, I suppose.

The four thugs on their feet had managed to run out of ammunition and apparently did not bring extra clips. The fifth was pushing himself up, however, so I took a shot at the knee of the thug closest to him, causing the standing thug to tumble over and fall upon his prone companion. The remaining three looked to each other and to their downed cohorts before turning back to me, and in their confusion, I charged at them.

One young man turned and fled, but the two who remained standing braced themselves and each tried to strike me as I collided with them and knocked them to the ground. I wasn't too far from where Taylor and the two giants were fighting. The twins were each twelve or thirteen feet by now, and Taylor had a nasty gash in her leg that she seemed to be paying no mind to. She just kept jumping and clawing and cursing at the twin giants. The spear-carrying valkyrie's weapon had a chip missing. Menja and Fenja didn't just get bigger, they became tougher and more durable at the same time. My futuristic pistol with futuristic rubber bullets would be like a fly landing on them and then flying off. Nothing I could do to help my daughter with her fight directly. The thugs I'd knocked over didn't seem keen on getting back up. I looked over and saw that victor was still struggling to fight Tattletale and Uber. Victor was a skill-thief. Apparently, he'd never stolen the skills needed to fight off a psychic and a man with perfect martial arts technique while injured.

I became aware of a presence coming in fast. I turned just in time to see what I assumed to be a muscular young man dressed head to toe in bike leathers, his head obscured by a helmet and what appeared to be the image of a floating skull. Smoke blacker than ink was pouring from his body and trailing behind him, and when he came up upon me it exploded out and everything went dark.

That would have been Grue. The leader of the Undersiders. I'd done my research after I'd found out that Taylor had joined them. His power was supposed to be darkness generation, but this was something else entirely. I couldn't hear the sounds of the fight that was a few yards from me at most. Nor could I hear the ambient sounds of the graveyard, and I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face. I tried to adjust the sensors in my helmet to compensate but even with them all on their highest settings, I might as well have been blind and deaf.

I hated this. I was quite literally alone in the dark while my little girl was fighting literal giants. I'm sure that Grue wouldn't have blinded everyone for no reason… Taylor was psychic. I'd seen her do something telekinetic to shatter the blade. Maybe she's clairvoyant or telepathic? The end result is the same, she can sense the valkyries but the twins are as blind as I am.

So I waited. And waited, and waited. After what felt like a minute I felt something moving up against my leg, so I kicked it. I figured it was a nazi trying to get back up, and I'd rather they not get away. After a few more moments of waiting the darkness began to clear and I could see again.

The very first thing I did was look to see how Taylor was doing. She was standing about ten feet from where I last saw her, hunched over and breathing heavily, and facing a single retreating Giant. I caught a glimpse, as she stepped over the fence, of the giant carrying her normal sized twin, who was, in turn, clutching a bleeding wound, as though she were a baby doll. Then I noticed the fragments of metal on the ground and that Taylor's hands were covered in blood from the tips of her talons up past her wrists. The gash on her leg was mending before my eyes. I sighed and turned to see how Uber and the Undersiders' Thinker were handling Victor. I found Uber dragging Victor by his feet and the purple Thinker following along a short distance behind. Neither of them seemed to be in much of a hurry, and with the generic thugs not seeming to be in any mood to get up and run for it, I walked over to Taylor.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

She didn't answer right away. After a few moments, just as I was about to ask again, she mumbled "M'fine."

"Taylor?"

"I'm fine," she repeated.

She wasn't. I could tell she wasn't and I hated it. I couldn't help her if she wouldn't open up… Who was I kidding, I couldn't help her at all, could I? This whole thing was supposed to be her and I getting back in touch. Me letting her know that she was still loved and that I was still trying to bring her home. Instead, we get attacked by Empire Eighty-Eight and the Nazi bastards desecrated my late wife's grave.

"They're not going to get away with this," I said in an attempt to comfort her. I meant it. The boys and I had already taken out one gang.

"I know," she answered in the same tone as her earlier replies. She was staring at her blood covered hands.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," came a masculine voice from behind us. Taylor snapped to attention and we both turned to Grue. "I need to have a word with my teammate." Taylor looked back down at the ground. "Empress, the next time people from a rival gang threaten you, I'd appreciate it if you tell me yourself instead of letting a panicking Tattletale try and explain it to me."

"I'm sorry," Taylor said. "If you want me to leave the team so that Empire won't--"

"No," Grue interrupted. "You're not going anywhere. You're a member of our team. Even if I wanted you gone--Which I don't" The young criminal emphasized, "After the way you reacted to Glory Girl breaking Bitch's back, anyone with half a brain knows to come after us to find you." Taylor didn't seem as reassured as Grue seemed to hope. "We're gonna make them regret messing with you."

"Thank you," Taylor said quietly. "Now how did--"

The sound of dragging interrupted Taylor. Uber had arrived with Victor, the neo-nazi with a clearly broken and bleeding nose. "We might have to call an ambulance. I did the best I could for his shoulder once he was out cold, but I don't exactly have the tools to treat a gunshot wound" He turned to glare at the blonde following behind him.

"He was going to shoot my friend in the head with a white phosphorus-based anti-armor sniper round," Tattletale said in reply. "I will not apologize." I began debating the merits of kicking the downed Empire soldier in the crotch a few times as the lavender covered villainess addressed my daughter. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Taylor said again. "So..."

"After we got back to the base," the blonde began, "I went to talk to Grue about the pair of messages you got this afternoon. After discussing it for a bit, I googled your civ name, found out where your Mom was buried, and we snuck in and hid out here just in case something like this happened." she gestured to Uber. "Turns out we weren't the only ones to plan for this meeting going south."

Taylor didn't respond. She was looking at her hands again. Then she opened her mouth and slowly stuck out her tongue. It was Gene Simmons like in length and the tip was formed at a sharper angle than a normal human tongue. It was also a bluish-purple color, but that wasn't so odd considering that she was blue on the outside. The fact that she was lapping the blood from her hands, however, was.

"Taylor that's disgusting." Her teammates didn't seem all that shocked at what she was doing.

"They taste greasy," Taylor said between licks. "Lung was savory and filling, like pasta--grains, cheese, meat, and vegetables all blended together in a proper meal." She licked the underside of one of her claws. "Glory Girl's blood was far too sweet and with little substance. Like cake frosting. Fenja's and Meja's blood tastes greasy, like a bacon cheeseburger without a bun. Good, but greasy."

My daughter was apparently a vampire now. That was… I've already accepted that she's not human anymore, I've already accepted that she's trying to recreate the zerg. "Drinks blood" isn't that big of a deal anymore. She is my daughter and I love her.

"I mean, don't get me wrong: Blood tastes like blood. But when I take someone's essence into myself like this I get this… feeling about it. I can't quite explain it."

"You absorb DNA from things you eat," Tattletale interjected. "It might be your power trying to help you tell good genes from bad ones?" Taylor shrugged, and then the blonde continued. "But I'm pretty sure that your Dad called in backup when the fight started, and between the explosion, the fight, the giant Nazi fleeing the cemetery, and the large number of armed dockworkers heading this way, well, the PRT or even the Protectorate is gonna be swarming this place any minute now. So," she finished with a smile, "those of us with felony charges pending against them need to get the Hell out of Dodge."

Without a word, Taylor and her two teammates began heading towards the back of the cemetery. "Wait," I called out, and then went for my coat. They stopped and Taylor turned back to face me. I pulled out the communicator I'd meant to give to Taylor earlier, then walked back to hand it to her.

"This runs on a private com-channel," I explained. "You just turn it on," I gestured to the switch, "and I'll know you're trying to talk to me. Please keep in touch."

Taylor took the communicator and then hugged me. I hugged my daughter back, for what might be the last time in a long while. Then I watched her and her teammates--her friends? Walk to the far end of the cemetery, hop the fence, and disappear into the night.

Uber hadn't left. His Raider uniform covered his face, and I'd bet good money that Kurt and the others would get here before the PRT did. He was in no danger. I turned to him.

Furor Interlude 2

Mouse Protector teleported into Armsmaster's tinker-workshop. The leader of Protectorate ENE was hunched over a microscope, looking up occasionally to check and cross reference a pile of documents. His trademark powered armor had been replaced by a reinforced work suit and a filtered breathing mask. Strewn across the lab were a set of air cleaners that seemed to have been hastily assembled, and there was a decontamination shower that hadn't been there on Wednesday next to the entrance/exit. The rodent-themed heroine coughed in an attempt to get her current boss's attention.

A minute later, she coughed again, louder this time… And again, louder still. Then she said, "there's a naked woman outside your lab and she has an autograph book."

"Call security then," The local protectorate leader replied as he turned to face her. One he had, he tossed a mask similar to what he himself was wearing to her. "Put it on, now." Mouse protector turned around, removed her trademark headgear, and strapped on the mask before returning to face the current leader of the protectorate. "What do you need, Mouse Protector?" the man asked when as she did so.

"There are some things that came up while investigating the incident earlier tonight," The hammy hero explained, "I've already submitted my report to the director, but there's some information I think you need to know. That is," she gestured to the desk, "if I'm not interrupting anything major?"

"Not particularly," Armsmaster replied. "I'm just doing preliminary research for an array of anti-Empress measures. Give me a second to lock this back up." Armsmaster turned back, removed the slide from the microscope, placed it in a tinker-tech looking lock box which sealed itself. "For the foreseeable future," Armsmaster commented, "don't come into my lab without at least a gas mask, just in case."

"Sir, what is that?" Mouse Protector would never admit it, but the heightened security measures in the lab had her concerned.

"Back in October 2009, the Slaughterhouse Nine attacked Milwaukee. During the attack, a tip-off led Alexandria to a warehouse where Jack Slash and Bonesaw were observing two men fighting to the death, with two vials on a table." Armsmaster paused for a moment, the sound his filter mask made indicating that he inhaled deeply. "As soon as Alexandria flew in, Bonesaw released some kind of gas. When the smoke cleared all that remained were two melted men and one of the vials, and it was claimed by the PRT."

Mouse Protector nodded in understanding. "And that slide was--"

"A sample of the vial's contents," Armsmaster interrupted. "They were analyzed and found to be a Tinker-tech virus that selectively targets and destroys a host's immune system."

"And you want to use this super-AIDS against Empress?" Mouse Protector was incredulous.

"God no." The local Protectorate leader seemed somewhat offended at the thought. "Empress does not have a kill order, is just a child, and as far as an approximate third of the city's population is concerned is only a villain because we made a mistake." Armsmaster's tone did not betray his opinion on that subject. "Even if lethal force was required, a Bonesaw plague would be needlessly cruel, and if she somehow survived and adapted there's no telling what could happen. No," the Tinker concluded, "I called in several favors to get this sample and a copy of the notes on it so that I could study it. If I can replicate its effects on a smaller, temporary scale, I'll have a powerful immunosuppressant that could keep Empress from adapting to my new tranquilizer until after she's in custody."

"Well then," Mouse Protector said, "I'll just go through the main points of tonight's event so you can get back to work." The heroine raised a hand and raised her index finger: "I think that Bastion and Empress are in contact." The bird rose to join its sibling, "the nazis are out for Empress's mutant blood." The ring bearer shot up next, "Victor's been captured." And the baby of the family woke up from its nap, "and the skinheads blew up Empress's mother's grave."

Long Live Empress Taylor​

"You blew up her mother's grave!" The warehouse practically shook with Kaiser's shout.

It was quite apparent to Nessa, alias Menja, and to the rest of the assembled Empire soldiers--every active cape in the Empire, that Kaiser was pissed. For a brief moment, Nessa felt that it was only that she was Kaiser's cousin by marriage that kept him from killing her on the spot, but the fear waned soon after. Kaiser wasn't like that dragon-slant or the drug-pushing negro. He was better than them. He didn't punish failure so savagely.

Jessica was resting nearby. Othala had healed her lacerations and punctured organs, but Nessa's twin had some very close to death at the hands of that mutant and needed time to recover emotionally, leaving Nessa alone to explain how the mission to intimidate and/or assassinate Empress had failed.

Kaiser seemed exasperated by all that had happened. "Is there anything else I should know of--are you absolutely certain that no one else escaped the cemetery?"

"Well, that Schuster kid shot the mutant girl unprovoked and then ran away." Schuster was the young cousin of a Medhall employee who had sympathies with the movement and was vaguely aware of the loyalties of the CEO. The young Schuster's father was a deadbeat and the elder had enough pity for his cousin to call in a favor but not enough to do anything about it himself.

After a moment of silence, Kaiser turned to Hookwolf. "My friend, just the other day you mentioned needing someone to clean up after your fighting dogs. If the boy turns up..."

Hookwolf nodded in understanding. "A few weeks of cleaning up shit, blood, and carcasses should teach the little idiot a thing or two."

"So," Kaiser changed the subject, "it seems we've underestimated the so-called Empress. We're in good company--the PRT thought her a mindless killer, the media a frightened child. Lung is coming at it from the other side--he thinks she's monster like himself, but he's wrong too." Kaiser laughed. "She's a cockroach. A difficult to kill pest, that sometimes requires professional help." Kaiser laughed. "I'm going to contact Purity talk to her about returning to active duty. Krieg," Kaiser said as he turned to the as of yet unaddressed lieutenant, "can you get into contact with Gesellschaft? I'd like to talk to them about borrowing one of their specialists." Krieg nodded in understanding. "And we should reinforce any operations we have near the Dockyard, in case the girl's father decides to act against us in retaliation for the desecration of his wife's grave. Menja," he addressed the valkyrie, "you are dismissed, as are the rest of you," he finished as he gestured to every cape, save Hookwolf and Krieg.

Nessa nodded and left. The last thing she heard as she exited the room was Kaiser mentioning something about retrieving Victor before he found his way to prison.

Long Live Empress Taylor​

Skidmark limped into the booth and picked up the phone. The fucking guards had told him he had a visitor but he didn't know who would visit him in this shithole cape prison. Trainwreck vanished before everything went to hell, Mush was in here with him… well, in solitary, and as far as he knew that bastard tinker had killed Squealer. The only good thing about all of this is that the fuckheads let him keep his mask. He looked up, to the person across the glass, and cursed in surprise.

"Holy shit! Squ--"

The blonde woman across the glass cut him off. "Yeah, it's me Skids." She placed a hand on the glass and Skidmark met her on his end.

"Look, since you're on the outside," Skidmark began, "you've gotta get me some speed. All they've got in here are smokes, piss-bowl wine, and one of the Nazis has some smack but he's not sharing."

The blonde on the other end, once known as Squealer, was silent for a moment. "Look, Skids, I love you, but I've got to tell you something and you're not gonna like hearing it..."

And Squealer was right. Skidmark didn't like hearing it.