interlude

1.6

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Warmth surrounds me, suffuses me. My every breath feeds the roaring flames and stokes the blazing inferno that rages inside of my mind, my body... my very soul. I am only distantly aware of the cries of terror and the murmurs that follow my words.

If they had any sense, they would flee. Some do, to their credit. They are the smart ones, though some would brand them as cowards. As for myself, I could care less what they say or what they think of me; I know what I am, with an absolute certainty.

'I am the flame.'

Every tongue of fire is mine, as far as my senses can extend. Two blocks from here, I can feel the ovens of a diner, being used to roast the flesh of a pig for one of their customers. Just across from them, a barrel has been piled with whatever will burn and set aflame, providing heat and protection from the last days of winter's chill, for a small group of vagrant souls.

And before me, I can see fire still. The spark of life that flows through each and every creature that lives. I see it in Mush, muted as it may be through his armour. I see it in each Merchant as they cower, flaring brighter in some and duller in others; tainted by the abuse of the drugs that they live and breathe for.

I even see it in Skidmark as he steels himself and takes a step forward. Is it bravery that moves him, or mere stupidity?

The leader of the Merchants had at last shaken off whatever sensation was holding him transfixed, eyes narrowing as he stepped closer. "Who the fuck are yo—"

Ah, stupidity then. I felt my lips draw back in a sneer behind my mask as I give a command to the flames. They obey, as they should, pulsing through my legs before I have even taken my first step. Whatever foulness Skidmark had been ready to spew is cut off when I surge forward, carried by my legs and the flames that flare behind me. With my speed and their aid, I cross the distance between us in a heartbeat and wrap a clawed hand around his head, squeezing it and lifting him from the ground.

"I am FIRE." My grip slowly began to tighten, muffled screams of pain coming from under my palm. "I am death."

Flames glinted off gunmetal as Skidmark raised his weapon, trying to bring it up in line with my head most likely. In response, I extended my aura of heat towards it, watching the air twist and waver.

Skidmark's next screams were punctuated by the sizzling of flesh as his gun began to glow red-hot in his hand. Credit where it's due, he kept hold of it as long as he could, arm shaking all the while. Inevitably, he prised his fingers free, the gun clattering to the ground as the ammo within finally cooked off, the loud rapport of gunshots filling the air as the bullets inside the magazine exploded inside their casings.

It also took the first few layers of the skin from Skidmark's palm and fingers with it.

Releasing my grasp on the fool's head, I drew back a leg. When the drug-dealing fool hits the ground, I lash out, delivering a brutal kick to his ribs that sent him flying, a scream tearing itself from his throat; one of pain tinged with fear. I felt his ribs deform around my foot, giving way to the force I exerted. It was a wondrous sensation.

Mush, for his part, actually picked up on what was happening and stretched his trash-form out to snatch his boss out of the air. Skidmark's clothing was actually smouldering and catching flame from my kick, resulting in Mush trying to smother the flames. It would have been funny, if it wasn't so futile. I stretched out my hand and fed the flames, making them spread to sections of Mush's form. Panic set in as he began shedding it left and right, the primal terror that fire called forth sending the drug-addled Parahuman into a panic.

Igniting my hands, I held them out towards the Merchants, who had fallen back to the end of the alleyway, ready to flee. Well, I believe the time has come to give them to give them that last little push.

Streams of arcing fire flowed, scorching the walls and floor of the alleyway, inching their way closer towards the Merchants as they backed away. "Flee, or my flames will consume you in both body and soul!"

They broke at that one, retreating en masse as Mush took what little remained of his form and used it to effect a rapid escape. I watched them go, my laughter echoing their flight as the flame-streams died away and… and…

My stomach lurched suddenly as everything I had just done hit me, legs wobbling as I stumbled, slumping against the wall of the alley and using one arm to support myself.

I had terrorised them! I set Skidmark on fire and beat him like a punching bag. His bones had cracked when I kicked him, his skin had burned off and sizzled under my touch. God I could still smell the horrible stink of roasting human flesh as it tinged the air, along with the foulness of burning garbage. It was hideous and worst of all, it was all because of me. I could have killed someone!

Glancing down at the ground, I spied the remnants of Skidmark's gun, along with… oh fuck I could see the burned layers of flesh still wrapped around the grip. It was like someone had wrapped it in over-cooked bacon...

My hands slipped under my hood and grasped for my mask's release clasp. I had to go slowly so I didn't shred it to pieces, but every second was one where my stomach churned and my throat clenched and unclenched. I dry-swallowed over and over, fighting down the impending evacuation of my dinner.

The clasp clicked and came free just in time, my free hand ripping it away from my face as I hunched over, using the hood of my sweatshirt to hide my features as I vomited all across the ground. My throat burned as the wet splatter filled the night air, alongside my hacking coughs for breath in between heaves.

Blinking tears out of my eyes, which evaporated the moment they started making their way down my cheeks, I stared down at the puddle below me and felt bile rise in the back of my throat. It wasn't vomit. There was no trace of the dinner I'd had just hours previous.

I was staring down into an orange-red pool of bubbling lava as it began eating it's way into the surrounding stone with a hiss, throwing up plumes of toxic smoke.

What was happening to me? This wasn't just my appearance anymore. I had felt instinct guiding me when I had moved and spoken moments earlier. Like I had done it a thousand times before; how to break morale, how to decapitate an enemy force. The right words and actions to make them see me as their superior; not as a person but as a conqueror, a force of nature made flesh. It was only the fact that I had wanted to scare them away and not get into a drawn-out fight that had kept things non-lethal. Before I decided on that, it had been throwing me the right moves to slit Skidmark's throat or showing me exactly how to boil him alive inside of his own skin.

And now I was vomiting fucking lava!

"Uhhh… you okay over there?" A girl's voice asked, knocking me out of my spiral of mania. It took me a few seconds to realise it was Rune talking to me.

Spitting a last glob of lava into the slowly-cooling puddle between my feet, I started fixing my mask back into place. It's a lot harder putting it on with these claws than it is getting it off, but I managed it after a few fumbles. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." 'Bullshit. I'm turning into a monster who pukes up molten stone and who can barely control herself. What would have happened if I hadn't been trying to make them run away? How many of them would I have killed without a second thought?'

Rune's arm was still wrapped up in her scarf as she drew closer, giving the still-flaming puddle of molten rock and tar in the middle of the street a wide berth as she did so. Glancing past her, I could see Krieg keeping a pointed watch over me as she paused about ten feet from me.

"You wanna drop that wall of heat thing? Feel like I'm plodding through a goddamn desert out here and this outfit wasn't made for that." She asked, tugging on the front of her robe with a hand. I could see beads of sweat working their way down her exposed skin as well.

Taking a shuddering breath, I drew my flames back in tighter around me, pushing it all back down into a roiling ball of flame at the very core of my being. "Sorry."

The cloaked Empire cape just gave a half-shrug with her one good arm, a small smile on her face. "Hey, kept your word about not roasting our side, so it's not a problem." She chuckled, the laugh cutting off into a groan of pain and a wheezing cough. "Fuck that hurts. I can feel my goddamn ribs grinding when I talk. Don't suppose you've got some kind of magic healing-fire bullshit, do you?"

I gave a shrug in response, trying to keep the manic edge out of my voice. "Not unless you need anything cauterised."

"Figures. No worries, I'll probably be getting my ass dragged over to see Othala after this." She said, glancing back at the black-suited form of Krieg, who gave a barely noticeable nod, before turning back to me. "So… you good with 'Demon-Girl' or have you got a name thought up already?"

Right, that little problem.

I had spent days searching, but there really was no traditionally 'heroic' name I could find that was fire themed. Hotstreak had been a good option, until I found out it had been taken by a pyromaniac tinker who had terrorised Mexico a few years previous. Sunstar had been one I considered for a bit, but I eventually discarded it; I didn't generate suns or anything and apparently there was some group called the Travellers who had a member that did just that.

As I thought it over though, my mind, still filled with a raging inferno kept coming back to the nature of flame.

Fire wasn't good or evil. On the one hand; it cooked food and gave people warmth, it was a light in the darkness, pushing back the shadows and the monsters of the world and keeping those who knew how to control it safe and prosperous. On the other, it was also capable of causing horrible things; wildfires destroyed acres of land and consumed people's homes and lives, a stray spark or discarded cigarette could quickly become a swathe of destruction.

Animals feared it on a deep instinctual level. Even humans, for all we had advanced since the days we lived in caves, still had that instinct ingrained into our minds. A primal fear of fire.

Glancing back towards Rune's face, I gave her a little nod. "Yeah; I was thinking of going with Primal. Fire's one of the primal elements of the world and all… plus it's pretty much the only fire-themed name that doesn't sound like I'm a crazy pyromaniac."

Rune's face turned thoughtful, her eyes rolling up, then around, like she was thinking the name over in her head. "Huh, yeah that's pretty good there." Her lips curled into a grin. "Honestly I thought you were going with Smaug for a bit there, going by what you were hollering."

I opened my mouth, ready to ask her what she meant, before my memory clicked into place. Oh god I had been quoting the Hobbit there for a bit. Guess I had all those nights when Mom would read to me to thank for that. "Yeah, no, just no. There's already one asshole dragon in this city. I'm not painting that target on my back." It took a moment for the second implication to sink in there. "Wait, you read Tolkien?"

"Had to do something while I was stuck in juvie. They had it in the library and it was one of the few books that hadn't had it's pages torn out and used to make a shiv." Another half-shrug. "Once I… got out… I looked up the rest of it out of curiosity. Got some shit for it at first but after those movies from Aleph showed a blonde, blue eyed elf wrecking Uruk ass, it faded out."

Oh wow, she was even using the right name for the race. I might not have been that into the series, but I knew enough to tell that Uruk was how 'orcs' referred to themselves, rather than the translations used by the other races. I never would have pictured someone the PHO boards called 'Sabrina the Teenaged Nazi' as a closet geek. I wonder… "Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo."

That was stretching the limits of what I could remember already and I probably mangled the words like an idiot when I said them. My knowledge of the series was based on years-old memories and a solid day spent marathoning the films when I was still friends with Emma.

Rune's eyes widened behind her domino mask in response, before a huge grin made it's way across her face, showing blood-pinked teeth. "Ta lyenna sina dû."

The two of us pretty much broke down laughing after that, a show of geek solidarity. I hadn't laughed that well in years. Every drop of tension just drained out of me as I sagged against the wall, catching my breath. Rune had a worse time of it thanks to her injuries but she gave Krieg a thumbs-up when he started moving towards her when she curled up, groaning when she lost all of her air.

"Hrrk… yeah, still fucking hurts to laugh." She grunted, using one arm to keep herself from falling over.

"Rune." Krieg's hissing voice cut in, the nazi-officer uniformed cape stalking towards the spot we were standing. "The Protectorate and police shall be arriving shortly. It is time to withdraw."

Rune gave him a nod in response, stumbling her way over towards a black van that had pulled up. Those still able to walk were piling their insensate friends into it, while leaving the Merchants on the ground. Not those unlucky few who hadn't survived though, which there weren't many of...but it was still a sobering sight to see members of the Empire properly folding the arms of their friends in death.

"And you."

I quickly turned my head to lock my yellow-lensed mask with Krieg's own red-lensed one. I was expecting him to threaten me, but instead he simply inclined his head politely. "Your actions ended this before my niece could suffer further harm, as well as avoiding the further injury of my men. You have my gratitude for that."

Being thanked by a nazi wasn't exactly something I would want usually, but after tonight I needed to grab a win where I could get it. "Thanks… but, you know, next time we meet…"

He held up a gloved hand. "I understand completely. You have… heroic aspirations which may lead you to come to blows with members of our organisation. That is for the future; tonight, we leave without further conflict, before the arrival of those who would complicate the situation."

Meaning members of the Protectorate. I could kind of see where he was coming from; here I was, looking all for the world like a flaming demon and having a polite chat with members of Empire 88. I really didn't want to get in another fight like this, not when I was still trying to sort through what happened to me a few minutes ago. "Alright."

Without another word, Krieg turned and made for the van, right as the last gang member climbed in and slammed the back doors shut. I spied Rune sitting in the passenger seat, getting herself strapped in with a bit of difficulty, while Krieg climbed in the driver's side and started up the van.

As for me, I had to get back home before I was seen. My boots thumped against the pavement as I ran, climbing the nearest fire escape as quietly as I could before making my way towards home.

I sat myself down up on a nearby rooftop and let my changes bleed off. It took longer than it had before, so I guess that when I manifest more traits, it takes a bit longer for me to return to normal. It gave me plenty of time to think things over, if nothing else.

Tonight helped highlight just how dangerous my powers could be when I let myself slip. I had still been in control, for the most part… but my mind had been clouded by some strange, instinctive reaction. No worries about morality or concern for human life; there had simply been a step-by-step guide to the coldest, most effective methods at dispersing a crowd without casualties. Well, without fatalities at any rate.

It scared me. Not because it had taken me over like when I first started practicing with my powers, but because it hadn't. Nothing had forced me to do what I did. My power's hadn't acted on their own when I burned my handprint across Skidmark's face when I was squeezing his head like a grape. I made the choice to make his hand burn so badly he lost the flesh from his palm and fingers.

Every action had been guided by anger; anger at Skidmark for hurling abuse at me, anger at the Merchants for not heeding my first warning. Even anger at the world, for letting people like them cling on to life when so many good people were lost every day. Rage, focussed through my will and without morality to hold me back from taking whatever steps I had to, in order to achieve my goal.

Probably a good thing then, that I had decided to leave. If I ran into someone who tried to detain me, in that state, I would have done something terrible to an innocent person just trying to do their job. I might have even attacked a member of the Protectorate!

Even with weeks of training and mental exercises, I wasn't quite there yet. I had gone from a rampaging berserker into a fucking psychopath. 'Big step up there, huh? Progress, thy name is Taylor Hebert.'

Moping about it wasn't about to get me anywhere though. Heaving a heavy sigh, I looked down at my hands to find that my claws were gone and decided to reach up to my face, checking to see if my horns were still there and finding only smooth skin and hair. No tail either, though I couldn't tell if my skin or eyes had quite gone back to normal yet either.

A quick descent and a little sneaking across the way later and I was making my way back inside the house. No Dad waiting to flick the light on in the kitchen or living room, so that was a good sign. After that came the task of navigating the stairs to avoid creaking floorboards and being rewarded with the sound of his snores coming from behind his bedroom door.

Back in my room, I slipped out of my costume and into my PJ's, stuffing everything back into the box in my closet and briefly checking my shoes for any sign of lava-puke that might have splashed onto them. Not something I was going to have to relish doing if that became a regular thing.

They were clean, thankfully, as I didn't know the first thing about how to remove hardened chunks of lava from clothing. With that last task sorted, I let myself flop back onto my bed and wriggled under the covers.

With my fading changes came a deep, dull ache through my body as the injuries I'd taken that night made their presence felt. They might have mostly healed, but I was probably going to have some really nasty bruises for the next few days, which I'd have to take time to conceal. Not to mention that I was going to have to broaden my self-therapy to cover the slipping morality issue…

Sleep mercifully took me before I could think myself into a panic again.

PRIMAL

Interlude 1 - Rune

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Cassie Herren, aka Rune, suppressed a groan of pain as she hauled herself into the black van, her ribs protesting at the motions, along with her arm and various other aching spots on her body. At this point, the teen was pretty sure that there wasn't a single patch of skin on her body that wasn't going to be bruised for days.

On the plus side, the night hadn't been a total loss. Merchant drug-lab smashed, a whole batch of the crack-heads kicked back into the gutters like the filth they were… and she got to see Shitstain himself get kicked halfway across a street, which was always a joy to watch.

There was, of course, the other thing which had happened tonight. Cassie glanced at the rear-view mirror on her side and watched her 'uncle' having a chat with Demon-Girl — Okay, she had called herself Primal, which wasn't a bad name in Cassie's opinion, but Demon-Girl sounded cooler — before turning and making his way to the van, leaving the teenaged pyrokinetic alone.

Krieg wasn't actually her uncle of course. Her biological one, her mother's brother, had been the High King of Douchebags, long may he reign. Krieg was just someone who Cassie had kind of connected with since her arrival in the Bay a few years back. Despite the fact that both in and out of costume, he could be fucking scary as all get out, she'd still rank him higher than her real uncle.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the slam of the driver-side door as Krieg climbed into the van and buckled himself in, starting it up. The deep purr of the engine filled the air for a few moments before it built into a roar as they pulled out of the street and began making for safer ground.

"Your opinion of the new girl?" Krieg didn't even turn his head to ask, keeping his gaze fixed firmly upon the road. They had just slipped away from the scene of a crime. No need to let a stupid mistake like dangerous driving get them on the radar now.

Cassie motioned to shrug, then paused as she recalled the ache in her arm, deciding to shake her head instead. "Seems alright. She calls herself 'Primal' by the way, cuz of the whole fire thing. Total hero-type, but I'm not gonna hold that against her too much considering she literally pulled our butts outta the fire."

The SS-styled cape nodded at this, nothing more than a slight inclination of his head. "And she is…?" Krieg let the obvious question hang in the air, Cassie not even needing to guess; it was the same question that popped up amongst the Empire whenever a new cape showed in the Bay.

"White as the driven snow, but I didn't see anything else under that costume she's got. Only reason I could tell that much was because she had on fingerless gloves."

"Mmmm…" A careful turn as the flashing lights of emergency services began making themselves known in the distance, taking the van on a different route to avoid intersecting with them. "Those heroic inclinations may lead to future conflict with the Empire. Do you believe you could handle her in such a scenario?"

The blonde thought it over; while Primal had some really nasty tricks, Cassie could probably keep the girl on her toes with the biggest hunks she could sling at the girl. At least until the changes starting manifesting when the other teen ramped up. Cassie had felt the heat when Skidmark's gun had started glowing red hot, even from the distance she'd been at. The idea of that being thrown at her full force wasn't a pretty one.

Finally she turned her head to look over at Krieg. "I could tie her up for a bit, maybe. If I hit her hard and fast enough with the biggest chunks I had, then it might be enough to knock her out or pin her down. If she got all fire and horns again? I don't think even my biggest pieces would do much more than slow her down. That girl was liquefying the street wherever she stepped… "

Krieg nodded at this, a hiss of air escaping his mask in what Cassie knew was him sighing. "I see."

The van travelled in relative silence, save from the muffled conversations of those unpowered members of the Empire in the back of the van and the distant sound of sirens cutting through the quiet Brockton Bay night.

Resting her head back against the cushioned seat, Cassie tried to clear her head…. which was a bit hard given the ache that was rampaging it's way through it. "So, where are we headed? Only asking because I don't think I can give a big fu—" She cut herself, knowing that Krieg wasn't one who appreciated the more crude forms of cursing. "Freaking long report to the boss like this. My brain feels like it's been packed full of cotton."

"We," Krieg began, the van lurching slightly as he took a hard turn into an alleyway to slip off the streets and deeper into Empire territory. "Are going to see Othala. While I doubt she will appreciate being woken at this hour, I am not bringing you home to your parents in the state you're in."

Cassie had to snort at that. Yeah, her parents would be so fucking concerned.

Krieg continued, as if he never heard her. "And then, I shall deliver you to them for the night. Kaiser can hear of these events in the morning, when exhaustion and injury are not dulling your memory of the night's events."

With a sigh, the blonde teen slumped in her chair. Whoop de fucking do, her cousin and her parents, all in one night.

---

The visit to Othala and Victor had actually gone better than Cassie had expected; the two were still awake it seemed, watching old movies when Krieg had called them — after finding a place to park, because he wasn't about to dial and drive — so Othala hadn't been roused from sleep and resultingly cranky.

The two had also been interested in the discovery of a new Parahuman in town, one who wasn't just a powerful pyrokinetic, but a Changer on top of that. The only downside of that was that Cassie had spent the entire time Othala was imbuing her with regeneration and then healing, while sitting in Othala and Victor's apartment, being bombarded with questions from the two.

Nothing too different from what Krieg himself had asked, though Victor had been digging for details, probably trying to see if she had any worthwhile skills. Though aside from 'looking fucking badass and setting Merchants on fire', Cassie hadn't seen any.

After Othala had checked her over for the third time and was satisfied by what she saw, Krieg had indeed brought her home — after changing from costume to civilian attire. Even in the dead of night there was a chance someone would see them — to the usual litany of bitching and complaining that her parents gave every single fucking time she came home. It didn't help that even with Othala speeding up her body's natural regeneration, Cassie's arm was still a mess of bruises and healing cuts.

"Cassie! What happened to your arm and why are you outside of your roo—" Her mother cried out, tone snippy, the second the door opened, before noticing Krieg — in his civilian attire of dark blue pants and jacket, with a crisp white shirt underneath — standing behind her daughter. As his icy blue eyes pierced into the woman's own, her expression, which had been cold and hard just a few moments befor, dissolved away into an obviously forced smile and overly sugary sweetness. "Mr. Fliescher, so good to see you once again."

There wasn't a chance in hell Krieg could have missed it, but he didn't do anything more than give a nod and then give Cassie a gentle push to her back to encourage her to enter, which she did… before promptly heading upstairs and slamming the door to her room shut, touching it with her powers so it would stay closed. She had learned years ago that her parents would find away around any mundane locks she used.

Kind of like how Cassie had found her way around all the locks they had used on her. The poetic justice of the situation wasn't much appreciated.

The muffled conversation downstairs came to an end as Cassie slipped her robe and costume out of the gym bag she had stashed it in, looking at the shredded sleeve with a frown. She would have to either find someone who could replace the sleeve — Parian was a no-go thanks to the unpowered members of the Empire harassing her store a few weeks back, on top of Hookwolf's fucking stubborn blustering — or get a whole new costume somehow.

Thankfully, unless you were government funded, most capes tended to pick up how to work a needle and thread. Or for those more inclined, a welding torch.

Cassie was no exception to that, and while in her pre-Juvie days she had thought of sewing as the shittiest, girliest thing in the fucking universe, her time on the inside had pretty much required her to find something to do beyond reading to avoid going insane. The fact that learning how to sew had given her access to sharp needles that she could secret out of the education facilities had simply made it all the more appealing.

Laying the costume on the bed, she began rooting around underneath it, pushing aside boxes until her hand seized the handle of the only item her parents had ever bought her without protest.

The sewing kit was pulled free, dust flaking off of it as Cassie popped it on the bed and opened it up, seizing the needles and thread spools within to get to work on repairing and re-attaching the damaged sleeve.

While the blonde teen didn't have Parian's cloth manipulation, she could still thread the needle and then let her power do the rest, holding the robe and torn sleeve in the air as needles worked back and forth, patching up holes. Cassie held one in her fingers, working on the actual re-attaching process, when from downstairs there came the closing of what sounded like the front door, followed by footsteps on the stairs.

"Cassie!" Her mother's voice, followed by a pounding on the door. "Cassie, you come out of there this second young lady! What in the hell happened to you out there?"

Rolling her eyes, she kept her focus on her needlework. 'The same shit that happens every night I go out mom. Not that you really give a crap.'

Sure enough, the woman on the other side of the door continued, heedless of her daughter's silence. "At least you had the good sense not to show up in costume this time! The neighbours are already wondering why you don't go to school, we're just lucky that… " And here she paused, as if searching for a suitable word. "Your benefactor was able to help you get a G.E.D, so we don't have truant officers pounding on our front door."

Okay, that was the holes fixed. Did she want to add anything to this version of her outfit? Probably not a good idea right now; anything she tried wouldn't be ready before she had to go chat with her 'benefactor' tomorrow. 'Just say it's Kaiser, mom, you might as well.'

And it was true; Kaiser had pretty much footed the bill for Cassie to take the G.E.D exams after studying for them, under an assumed name, of course, the same one that was on her new ID's for everything. Officially she was a 'distant cousin' come to live with her relatives. It was all legal on paper and Cassie herself suspected it was an open secret amongst the PRT and Protectorate to flimsily cling to the Unwritten Rules.

The fact that the help provided in getting said G.E.D was done mainly so that she would be more available to the Empire wasn't exactly hard to figure out. 'I mean hell.' Cassie thought to herself, frowning so hard her teeth were showing in a silent snarl. 'People started using me before I got powers, so why stop now?!'

She winced, letting out a growl of pain, tinged with anger as she dropped the needle she had been holding on to, a stream of blood making it's way down a finger. Licking the blood away, Cassie rose from the seat she had taken on her bed, far too stressed to work on her damaged costume at this rate.

Setting the robe back on the bed and floating the sewing gear into it's case, she released her hold on them to help alleviate the pressure building behind her eyes.

At least her mother had left, probably off to go talk with her father about how horribly their only daughter was failing them… but Cassie could care less right at that moment. She made for her computer, deciding to do a little digging on the newest cape in town.

Twenty minutes later and she hadn't found much. A quick check of PHO found a few folks with Primal in their username, but not a Verified Cape amongst them, or even an Unverified one. That didn't necessarily mean that they couldn't be the girl in question, but checking the posting history of those names whittled the list down; one was into sci fi rather than fantasy, splooging all over any new Tinker cape announcements. Another was a massive creeper who kept trying to e-stalk male members of the Wards and the last was confirmed to have died in Leviathan's last attack.

Which meant there was no easy way to establish contact or even pry into Primal.

And that led to the even bigger question; should she even try?

Cassie ran the night over in her mind, replaying her interactions with the pyrokinetic. She had seemed nice enough; a little too goody-goody in Cassie's opinion, but if she hadn't been one of those sorts, then that confrontation on the roof could have turned ugly, fast. She hadn't expected the Merchants to be able to plan like that; Skidmark angling one of his lines of force and then having Mush launch a diversion at her, so that a second shot hit the line and sent it careening into her while she was busy dodging the first.

Her concentration had been broken during the impact and her crash-landing on the roof, leaving her with nothing but those emergency disks in her costume to fall back on. If Primal had engaged in a fight there, she would have lost, badly.

Instead, the other teen had offered to help, which already put her leaps and bounds above the Wards in Cassie's mind. Especially that crazy savage bitch, Shadow Stalker.

What had really surprised Cassie was when the pyrokinetic had gone all demon-form and instead of tearing the Merchants a new one, tried to convince them to run, which they eventually did after she demonstrated why doing so was a really fucking good idea. That kind of desire to show mercy was going to get the girl killed eventually.

Finally, Cassie made up her mind and logged on to a throwaway account on PHO, typing up a message in the meetup section.

'Hey, Balrog.

Watching you kick the Fellow-shit's asses was pretty sweet. Sorry that this fool had to fly so quick, but you know how it is. Was wondering if you wanted to meet up again, with or without the guises is up to you.

Message me and we'll talk about place and time.'

The references might have been a bit much, but it would throw off anyone trying to bullshit their way into a meeting, since they'd get stuck on the Tolkien. Cassie was planning to ask a few questions only Primal herself would know the answers to, in order to help separate out the genuine article.

It wasn't foolproof but it was better than flying around looking for the teen in question.

Kaiser might raise some concerns about her being so willing to get in contact with an independent but the Empire was always looking for new blood, or even just 'outside assistance' really. Cassie doubted the girl would go for it herself but it was better to have the unholy spawn of Lung and Behemoth on her side rather than against her.

'And,' A tiny, quiet little voice in the back of the blonde's mind chimed in. 'it might be nice being able to talk to someone my own age for the first time in two years.'

Posting the message, Cassie turned back to her costume and sighed, ready to get back to fixing it before she passed out in bed. Having personal meetings with Kaiser was only slightly less fun than dental surgery, but it would be far worse if she wasn't presenting herself as a good little soldier...