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Krouse (Trickster)

"Dance for me, boy." I hammed it up in my persona as Trickster as I spotted my next target to use with the newest arrival in the cape fight. I waited for the moment Gallant fired his bolt of weaponized emotion at a surprised Regent before I activated my power. "Dance."

The people on both ends of my power flickered as they swapped positions with each other, and I watched with satisfaction as Gallant's shot hit the yellow caped-and-spandexed brute. I was just about to send the para-pugilist on another disorienting teleport when a single word interrupted me.

"Shit."

I turned my attention to the ally I was stuck with inside the bank, for a given value of 'ally'. Tattletale was with me at one of the front windows of the bank. But while I was looking out, exposing myself to danger in order to help the fight, she was whimpering and cringing below the window, having ducked out of sight.

Yeesh, talk about cowardly 'allies'. There was 'support powers not suitable for combat', and there was being fucking useless. I cocked my head in fake puzzlement as I dragged out a mocking "Yeessss?"

"We're in trouble," the disappointingly cowardly Undersider tried to say matter-of-factly, but she was unable to keep a slight tremble from her words as she crawled on all fours towards a windowless part of the wall, "Gallant just shot rage at that guy…"

I frowned.

I suspected Tattletale wasn't really a 'psychic, mind-reading' cape as she had introduced herself, but I had found the smug irritant's guesses were mostly surprisingly accurate. It didn't stop me from wanting to claw her pointed smile from her face, but I managed to restrain myself just enough for a working relationship.

I had worked with worse for less, after all.

Then again, her powers were definitely not flawless, and all the proof I needed was right outside the window; she had only predicted at most three or four of the Wards turning up. It was something to keep a note of in future dealings.

But I still paused as I looked back, her words tumbling in my mind.

Tattletale's guesses had matched what I knew about Gallant. I had looked up what the knightly Ward could do from rumors, our boss's information and some online research, but I had also been in enough fights with the Protectorate and their Wards too. The cape-managing government agency of this world always seemed to want to hide secrets, and I wouldn't bet against some nasty surprises hiding in their capes' official powers listing online, in the PHO wiki and elsewhere.

But all I could really do about all that was to be a bit more cautious than usual; I could only work with what I had after all. And if what I'd been told were right and Gallant had just inflicted an emotional debuff on the caped brute, then perhaps...

She said 'Rage' didn't she? I could use this.

I looked back out of the bank's windows. The ludicrous punching cape had already taken a step forward towards the armored Ward, followed by another. On the other hand, Gallant had tried to retreat, but had somehow managed to trip and end up sitting on the floor. He was now leaning backwards as he held both of his arms in front of him, his body language screaming 'don't come here!'

Taking an educated guess, I felt around the battlefield and found what I needed. I attached a thread of my power to both points right at the moment I saw Gallant's arms glow and activated it immediately.

Gallant's colorful bolt hit a mailbox, whatever effect he had in the shot wasted on the inanimate unfeeling object. I switched back the red caped cape as soon as the light started to fade.

It always felt extremely good when things went according to plan.

"Don't!" Tattletale interrupted my smile as she backed away from the window. "Gallant will get killed!"

I ignored her. She was repeating what I already knew, that the Protectorate will come down hard on us if someone died here.

Sheesh, did she think I'm a killer, on top of everything else? I had killed before, true, and I had caused my share of deaths… but those were because of circumstances, not because of… and I was distracted. Good grief, nice help there, 'ally'.

I paid attention to the pieces of my ongoing plan. The spandexed brute reacted to his re-arrival by taking another step forward. For his part, Gallant scrambled to move away from the attention-grabbing brute, kicking and pushing on the ground. But due to his metallic costume sliding on the concrete floor, he did not get much traction, and had moved only a little from his spot.

"Trickster!? Don't! Getting a Ward killed will…"

"Don't worry, we're perfectly safe here." I almost sneered as I interrupted her, as I paid as little attention as needed to shut her up. I needed to concentrate elsewhere after all, and I knew it would be precisely the thing to tick her off. But she was being useless, and so she deserved that. "That's the prefect distraction for us to get away. And it's not even our fault to begin with."

"STAND! UP!" the cornerstone of my new plan shouted.

I continued to watch the scene, a red glove of the rage-filled shouter reaching forward towards the Ward. My target continued his shouting as he grabbed hold of the armor and lifted the Ward up onto his feet with the one hand, while pointing with the other. "LOOK!! LOOK AT THAT!! AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A HERO!?"

Tattletale was just about to say something when I interrupted her again, "It's risky, but I'll be careful. Either way if he roughs up the Wards, or he decides to come after us, well, my powers are a perfect counter to Brutes."

And they were. Brutes, even those with movement enhancement up to and including Alexandra herself couldn't really beat line of sight. And line of sight was how my power worked. Once I could see them, they were in my clutches.

And no matter how much strength a Brute had, they were always all variants of punches and kicks; some of them may be able to pull out additional surprises and tricks from nowhere, but as long as I could see the Brute and had one end of my power's 'string' attached, I was confident I could redirect anything they could do all day long, never giving them the chance to come close to hurting anyone I didn't want to.

Gallant had said something, but his reply was shouted down by a voice which could double as a loudspeaker, "THAT IS NOT WHAT HEROES DO!!"

Tattletale looked back at me as a frown formed on her face. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before she said, "But…"

"THIS! WITH RIGHTEOUS FURY!!" The walking large ham interrupted Tattletale with another shouted statement, shaking a fist right in front of Gallant's helmet.

"No buts," I interrupted her right after. "Just watch and learn."

As long as I have my eyes on that brightly clad, red-and-yellow colored, attention grabbing…

My powers twanged, a feeling I had never felt before.

I blinked in surprise.

I felt at my power. It was still stretched and active, and was still attached between a mailbox and… Gallant.

What? My attached powers lost a connection? That had really never happened before!

Where was the brightly clad, red-and-yellow colored, attention grabbing cape??

"Genesis!" Tattletale cried out from behind me as she dived onto the ground.

I turned my head towards Jess's latest monstrous projection, just in time to see a blur of red and yellow disappear behind its large purple bulk.

I barely had the time to react before everything exploded.

A shockwave of air blasted into the bank's façade. Through the already glassless windows, dust and debris combined into an invisible punch as they slammed past me and almost pushed me flat onto my back. I stumbled, but stayed upright, barely holding on by using a hand on the window frame.

I forced myself to look up against the pressure of the wind… just in time to see a second wave, a shower of power-created make-believe viscera and blood, dissolving into inky smoke even as they slammed into…

***

Taylor

"NOT AGAIN!!"

***

Missy (Vista)

I was released. I landed on my knees. My body shook.

I could still feel the things. I could still feel the stringy things. I could still feel them, wrapping all over and around me. I could still remember trying to get free of them. I could still feel them all.

"ARE YOU…" I heard someone clear a throat, "are you all right?"

I looked up and saw a man. He towered over me as he leaned forward, and he was looking at me. It was obvious he had powers; he had a costume. He wore a yellow, tight costume in the shade of a deep red cape. The sun was just behind his head, blinding me so I could not see much at all, but I thought I could see his clothes wrapping around his head and neck.

It was sort of like Velocity's costume, where his shirt had a hood which was also his mask.

I reacted without thinking, warping space so he was within my reach, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. The words came out in a rush. "Thank you thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou …"

"No problem, miss. No problem. You are safe, you're all right now," he replied.

I continued to tightly hang onto my rescuer, chanting the same words again and again as I hugged him… until I heard annoyance in his voice as he asked, "Can you please let go now? I still have people to save."

Embarrassed, I stammered a half-pronounced grunt of apology as I let go.

He gave me a smile as he leaned down again, and patted me on the head.

I surprised myself by not feeling mad about that as I sniffed, rubbing at my eyes and cheeks.

And then he was gone.

I looked around.

I recognized where I was; I was on the rooftop of the bank. It was built much the same as any other roof in Brockton Bay; I could see a fire escape in the corner, and there was the protruding room of the roof access.

And there was also a recently created hole in the middle of the roof.

A person dressed in white floated out of the hole, carrying another girl in her arms in a bridal style. She spotted me as easily as I identified her, Glory Girl, New Wave's teenage brute. She looked amused as she floated almost carefully over to me, although she had a hint of a frown on her face too. She carefully placed her human cargo down beside me once she reached me.

I recognized Panacea immediately, despite her civilian clothes.

"I'll be right back," Glory Girl said, smiling from ear to ear as she looked my way.

I didn't know why, but I felt like snapping at the New Wave cape. But she was already gone by the time I started saying anything.

Without anyone else to talk to, I turned towards Panacea.

"Hi." I said.

"Hi." She nodded.

And… silence. And awkwardness. And silent awkwardness.

We both looked down. I couldn't think of anything to say, settling for only taking the occasional shy glimpse at each other as we both shrunk into our lonely silent bubbles.

We both jumped when an almost inhuman, high pitched scream reached us.

"DON'T HURT ME, DON'T HURT ME, PLEASE DON'T!! I GIVE UP, PLEASE, I SURRENDER!!"

"...not making sense! You're a Hero, right? I'm a Hero too!"

"Please! I… I…?"

We looked at each other. I was sure my face had the same astonished, startled expression I was looking at. Her expression changed into relief, before she collapsed into giggles.

I realized I was laughing along with the New Wave healer too.

Everything just felt so silly, suddenly.

***

Simon

'Well, that was a thing,' I thought as I stood up. I had finally managed to calm down Shadow Stalker by reaffirming I was a Hero, a fact I had to repeat several times to get the child Hero to understand.

Me! Misidentified as a villain! Imagine that!

I threw out my cape to the side as I turned around. I had already taken a step forward, moving to where I remembered the injured Wards were, intent on carrying them to safety where Vista was. I moved my head, quickly scanning the whole area from left to right, looking for threats.

Something caught my eye.

The body of the monster moved. Its dead flesh jiggled.

I raised my hands cautiously into a guard.

A row of horns protruding from its side collapsed as more of the dead monster's flesh sloughed off.

"Oh," I said, my caution answered and appeased.

But as I was about to turn away, I head something.

Whispers.

" Judas. Fuck, live! Jud…"

And it was followed by an unexpected bark, an unmistakably canine sound. It was however not loud or sharp, sounding as if the dog had a cross between a sore throat and a drowning experience.

And there were more whispers.

I walked forward, towards the voices. I turned around the body of the monster. I looked down.

There was a woman kneeling there looking up at me. Her thick eyebrows were raised above wide eyes and a broken nose, placed on a somewhat square face topped with messy, somewhat short blond hair. She was also big in stature, 'big' as in bulky but not fat, and it was obvious she was also quite well-built, almost athletic.

She wore a shirt and jeans, the tattered sleeves and faded colors a testament to the durable clothing, although it was obvious they had seen much better days. And there was something in her appearance, stance, gruffness, and even how she seemed to ignore the liquid grit, but I had the curious feeling that she was almost like a man.

Oh, and her clothes, her exposed arms, and even her face and unruly hair were slick with some kind of slimy liquid. The dog in her hands was equally slimed, being half in her tight embrace and half buried in a jagged hole in the monster's underside.

It barked again, weakly.

I admit I was a bit curious at what was going on here. I took another step forward.

Her reaction to my step was immediate. She yelped wordlessly as she jumped to her feet. Grabbing the poor dog by both its front paws, she pulled it. But she did not pull at it directly out of the hole, instead pulling the dog at an angle away from me.

The dog whimpered and whined as it was stretched, but with a pop and another rush of liquid, and some additional meaty solid chunks too, it was pulled free.

Ah. I think I got it.

"Oh," I said, "These monster dogs have actual doggies buried inside them?! How evil!! Let me help!!"

"Stay back!!" the woman shouted with a rough voice, again add to her butch-like appearance. She held the feebly struggling dog tightly in her hands as she shouted again, "Fucking stay away!!"

I looked directly at her and added a smile of sincerity, making sure to show my teeth. I lifted my arms in front of me as I said, "There are two other dog monsters, right? I can stop them with no problem at all!"

She turned as pale as snow as she trembled. Poor girl. She was obviously concerned about those trapped dogs, but was obviously unable to deal with those monsters. It must have been hell.

"Don't worry," I added as I petted the body beside us. "One monster-removing punch later, and we can get them! I'll have them out in no time!"

She was trembling so hard by now she almost let go of the dog she was holding. She took a few more steps backwards, away from me.

"There's nothing to worry about at all! I'm a Hero!" I concluded my pitch. "I'll … oh. Shhhh… shhhh…There's one of those monsters behind you... hold on…"

She looked backwards, at one of the beasts, and she looked towards me as I took a stance. Her eyes widened. And suddenly she ran…

…away from me, and towards the monster.

What?

Grabbing the monster by one of the horns on its side, she shouted, "ANGELICA!! BRUTUS!! RUN!! RUNNN!!"

I took another step forward, preparing my jump, filled with worry by the thought of her being dragged alongside the running monster dog.

There was a crunch, a crumpling of hard plastic.

I looked down, and lifted a foot.

I saw a mask on the ground. It was probably showing the face of a dog, but the snout had been crushed beneath my foot.

I looked up, at the monstrous parodies of dogs as they disappeared around the corner.

So, that's Hell Hound. Oops.

I briefly considered chasing after her, and rejected the thought almost immediately. Making sure the Wards were safe came first.

I turned around again, and walked back towards Shadow Stalker.

***

Missy (Vista) (again)

"… ran, didn't she!? Shit!"

"… fucking bust!"

"How… carry all these…!?"

"Grab Tats! Take what you can! Leave the rest!"

"…"

"LEAVE the REST!! I'm… power now!"

"Man! This fucking su…"

Now that I was listening for it, I could hear the occasional loud conversation as they drifted up onto the roof. I was curious how the battle was going, but… I was still a Hero.

And because I was still a Hero, I felt if I stood up, I would have to fight.

"No! Don't move him! He has a broken neck!"

"…then…"

"…"

Not today, not anymore. I didn't want to fight for a minute more today. I didn't want to have to fight anymore…

"Vista?" The hesitant question poked me.

I glimpsed out from the crook of my arms curled above my knees, which were tucked in in front of me. I didn't realize I had curled up into a ball.

"Are… are you hurt?" Panacea asked, a hand hesitantly reached out towards me. "I can help if you are?"

"No. No I think," I replied, unfolding myself into a more open seating posture, a confident position, "I don't need the help."

We looked at each other.

"Thanks," I added.

"…and what The? Shit!"

"Over there! Trickster kidnapped her! Glory, I'm …"

"NO! I'm going after the bastard who threatened my sister!!"

"…K! Go! GO!"

I noticed when Panacea wearily stood up beside me. I watched as she walked over to the edge of the building, where she leaned over the edge to look down. With a little nod, she turned around and looked back towards me.

"Vista?"

"Yeah?"

"You can… can you get me down there?" She waved an arm beyond the edge of the roof.

"I…" I looked at her.

I took a good look at her.

Panacea probably felt as weary as she looked. Her posture was sagging, her arms hung weakly, and there were bags under her eyes as she faced downwards.

But there was also a slight frown bracketing her eyes, little spots of determination and anger looking out into the world. She continued to look steadily at me, her fist clenching on and off as she leaned against the wall at the edge of the roof.

I reached out and shaped the air, creating a corridor of warped space by connecting two points together. "It's done," I said, "Just take a step to my right, and you'll be downstairs."

"If…" she looked hesitant as she looked in the correct direction, and down towards the three story drop. "If you say so…"

"Panacea?"

She turned around. I realized I had called out to the hero before I had thought about it."How do you do it?" I asked.

She gave me a smile, a small bitter thing. And then she left to do her duty.

I stayed behind.

…

I will not stay behind. Not like this. I would not be the kid who stayed behind.

I stood up and used the same trick to warp the space right in front of me. Taking a deep, trembling, slow, calming breath, I closed my eyes. And I took a step forward.

***

Special thanks to (SB) Adin Terim, Curious, Schwep, zergloli, and (SV) YUIOP10, readerboy7, doge for showing up to help with Beta support. And hidden betas Enohthree and Sar.Saraneth too.

They each get a "Type 40 Tardis, 'slightly used' " for their troubles*.

Interlude #4

Director Piggot glared at the Wards. Her expression hardened.

In their turn, they wilted under her gaze.

The glare continued. In Kid Win's opinion it continued far too long. It was only a few seconds according to the chronometer in his visor, but it had felt a lot longer.

Eventually, the Director sighed.

The feeling of impending doom lifted from the corridor. Kid Win let himself relax and without seeing his teammates, he could also somehow feel the other Wards doing the same.

The Director's stern expression returned with a vengeance, hardening even further than before. "I wouldn't relax just yet," she intoned.

Once again, the Wards felt as if they were fish in a barrel caught in the path of a fiery Behemoth. Each of them cringed as the Director's eyes swept across them, focusing on each Ward in turn.

Kid Win couldn't help but think the Director's stare stuck on him a bit longer than the rest. For the first time that day, he felt utter relief he hadn't had the chance to bring out his Alternator Cannon. Piggot would have brought down her wrath if he had; it was still untested and unapproved by the PRT.

Sure, he'd built it with an eye towards A-class threats, especially Lung, but it was obvious the fight hadn't been going their way.

And then there was that cape.

He had to struggle to keep the relief from his face. With Piggot still attempting to burn a hole through the Wards with her eyes, grinning now, especially with his mostly exposed face would be… stupid.

The Director sighed again, closing her eyes. She relaxed, dispelling the subtle promise of disproportionate retribution, her towering presence diminishing despite not moving at all.

The Wards remained alert and tense, not willing to take the Director's bait this time.

"Never mind," Piggot finally said, "There's a tour group in an hour. Get yourselves cleaned up for the pictures that are undoubtedly going to appear in tomorrow's papers." Without waiting for a response, she walked past the Wards and entered the lift they had just vacated, leaving the uncertain teens and their two PRT minders behind in the hallway.

The Wards looked at each other uncertainly. It took quite a while before someone grunted, breaking the spell. "Wards," Ginny, one of the PRT assistants asked, "The base is still in Code Yellow, so Yoncy and I have places to be. You guys OK by yourselves?"

The ever reliable Aegis responded on behalf of the Wards. "Yes. Thank you Ma'am, Sir," he grunted, a wheezing sound accompanying every intake of breath, "We'll be all right."

With a nod and a sincere apology on her face, Ginny gave her partner a pat on his back. They both ran down the hallway, and were soon out of sight.

Left behind, the Wards looked at each other for a while more.

Somehow, despite his earlier thoughts, Kid Win realized he wished Director Piggot HAD yelled at them. It had felt surreal not having Director Piggot lecture them for hours as she usually did, tearing into anyone who had warranted her ire for even the slightest faults.

Her silence had made things feel so much, much worse, somehow.

"Shall we?" Aegis broke the deadlock, prodding Gallant as he asked, "I need a bit of help walking."

"Oh… ok…" Gallant acknowledged blankly, as if his attention was elsewhere. He took and placed one of Aegis's arms around his shoulder, and supported the limping Ward beside him as they moved towards the Wards quarters. The rest of the Wards looked at each other before they decided to follow the leader, shuffling off without comments.

"I need to wash up and patch myself together, so you'll need to debrief the Wards." Aegis had continued, "Go over the fight as usual?"

The deputy leader of the Wards stopped abruptly as soon as the question was asked, forcing the other Ward leader he was supporting to stop too and causing a small pileup as the other Wards stopped behind the pair. Both leaders looked at each other.

Gallant slowly nodded after the pause, his expression hidden behind his helm, but a hint of what he was feeling could be felt through his slightly trembling armor. He started walking once more, almost dragging Aegis along with him as they resumed their trip to their quarters.

"If you're… Scratch that, I'm an idiot." Aegis said, "I wasn't thinking. I'll debrief us, but I'll need some time. So, gather in the common room about... two hours from now."

Gallant only managed a stuttered "I... I..."

"Don't worry about it. I'll debrief us."

He stuttered a little more before he simply nodded again.

After they reached and opened the doorway into the Ward's quarters, Aegis turned towards the Wards again. "It'll be a while before I get myself ready, and there's that tour group, so I'm going to go hide myself. We've got to pretend to be animals in a display cage, so remember to clean up, and make sure you wave with gusto when they come to gawk at us in our glass cages."

There was a little chuckle at Aegis's attempt to lift the mood. Someone coughed.

"Well, carry on then."

As Kid Win entered the Wards quarters, another stray thought hit the young tinker.

'I can't believe I just wished for one of Clockblocker's comebacks.'

'I just hope he's going to be all right.'

***

Chris was probably the first to spot Carlos as he appeared at the entrance to the common room. The Wards leader nodded as he looked into the room, as if to say 'Good, we're all here', before he limped in.

Kid Win knew Carlos didn't particularly like the fit of the clothes he was currently wearing, loose-fitting long sleeved civilian clothing, cheap throwaway clothing the PRT had provided to the regenerator in large quantities. But the reason why he was wearing them was easy to guess at; the loose clothing had the same color used on Aegis's costume, a dark rusty red effective at hiding any bleeding in plain sight.

They weren't as shiny however, and Chris could see more proof of his hypothesis in the small damp patches scattered throughout the shirt and pants easily seen in the brightly lit room. And judging by how Carlos carefully favored his other leg, his previously broken leg may had healed enough to walk on his own, but the injuries probably still hurt a lot.

"Are they gone yet?" Carlos asked as soon as he joined the other Wards in the middle of the room, trying to access the mood of his fellow teammates. The question was clearly rhetorical; the warning lights which was meant 'visitors on the premises' were off, and most of the assembled Wards had also removed their masks for comfort.

"Yes…" Gallant responded tonelessly from the lounge's sofa.

Carlos looked at the still fully armored and helmeted Ward, his uncovered face lined with worry. In Chris's opinion, the concerned expression had had the opposite effect; his torn and half healed cheek only made Carlos's expression macabre, and made him look like a zombie straight out of a game.

"Dean, are you all right?" the team leader asked.

"I think he needs a bit more time." Missy, or Vista as she preferred to be called even out of costume half the time, said protectively. She was seated beside Gallant on the other side of the same sofa, half hidden behind one of the room's large sitting pillows. She shuddered a bit before adding, "Can't blame him."

Carlos looked speculatively at the youngest Ward in the room. "Do you need help yourself?"

"What? No!" Vista replied quickly and vehemently, "I… I just need another bath. All the icky… things…" She cleared her throat, "I'm OK. Oh. Kay. You don't need to get anyone for me to see or anything."

"That's quite a good suggestion Missy."

"What?"

"Seeing someone," Aegis explained, "I'll see if I can request someone from Piggot, or maybe I'll ask the guy Sophia's going to if he can take on a few more."

"I didn't say that." Vista had hugged her pillow harder as she looked pointedly at Carlos.