ggg

I'm useless where fashion and good appearance are concerned, but even so, I could still tell Armsmaster's armor looked way cooler than mine. I'd make a comment about functionality over looks, but, let's be honest - at this stage, he had me beat there, too.

"Are you going to fight me?" Yup, right on cue. I didn't think I looked very villainous, but Taylor was still there. Or maybe he would have asked that of any new capes?

"Of course not," I said in a vaguely-annoyed tone. I kind of expected Taylor to follow by saying she was a good guy, but she stayed silent. Because I had spoken first? Right… she lacked confidence in social situations.

"I don't recognize you," he pointed out.

"Both new. She hasn't chosen a cape name yet. I'm tentatively going by Ad Hoc."

He nodded, briefly excusing himself to incapacitate Lung. "Can you tell me what happened here?"

"Sure. I only arrived toward the end, so, you go first," I told Taylor.

Sounding unsure, she gave her version of events. I suspected she was less shaken than she'd been in canon - she hadn't had to fight Lung on the rooftop, or deal with the Undersiders. Eventually, she got to the point where Lung fell off the building. That was my cue to step in.

"I was heading here because I knew something was going on. Some of my tinkertech guided me. Long story," I said. "I arrived in time to see Lung climbing up the building, so I shot him with a needle full of a potent sedative. Shortly afterwards, the Undersiders arrived. It sounded like they'd been expecting to fight Lung. They didn't particularly want to fight us, and I told them I wasn't going to endanger Lung's arrest by fighting a bunch of small-timers. They left, and then you showed up." I paused, then turned toward Taylor. "Actually hold that thought. Ah… how good is your control over your bugs?"

She flinched a little at being addressed. "I think it's complete control, why?"

"Most venomous spiders only inject a fraction of their poison when they bite someone. When you were using an army of black widows and brown recluses on Lung, how were you…?"

"I… had them use it all up," she said, sounding defensive. "He regenerates; I wasn't sure it would do anything to him, so I went for broke."

"Right, right. That was the right call," I assured her. "But… I think tranquilizers often impede, or even cancel out powers like regeneration." I faced Armsmaster again. "Iiiii recommend hitting Lung with antivenom. All the antivenom."

"Noted," he said. "We want him in the Birdcage, not dead on the way. And while we're looking forward, we need to decide where we go from here. Who gets the credit for Lung?"

I just listened as that bit went on. Not too different from canon, really. He explained the nature of Tinkers (presumably for Taylor's benefit rather than mine), about Bakuda and Oni Lee, about the threat of reprisal, about how our best options were to either fly under the radar, or join the Wards and Protectorate, respectively. That was when I spoke again:

"If I may suggest… There's a third option." I had their attention. "I don't particularly care who receives the credit for Lung. What I do care about is that there's an insane bomb Tinker at large. I mean… wasn't Bakuda's debut holding her university hostage? Over a bad grade?! The way I see it, the city isn't safe while she's around, especially without Lung to hold her leash.

"So, here's my third option: We hunt down and capture Bakuda. Tomorrow, and not a day later. I can locate her, and provide knockout needles. You," I pointed at Taylor, "can use your bugs to hit any number of people with those needles, unless they're armored from head to toe. You," I pointed at Armsmaster, "are a highly experienced, competent Tinker, and the leader of the local Protectorate. You can bring in extra forces. We do this, take care of the problem, and a major threat to Brockton Bay is taken out of the running."

He seemed dubious. "And how exactly are you planning to locate her? What are your capabilities? I'm assuming you're a Tinker yourself, but I'm unclear on your specialization."

I sighed. "OK, see, here's the thing: Once knowledge of what I can do gets out, I'm going to end up on a lot of villains' hit list. Problem is, between Thinkers, Strangers, and a whole lot of bribe money, some villains have access to a lot of the PRT's secrets. That's the reason I'd rather play things close to the chest for now." That was true - if it hadn't been for Coil, I would have been far more open with the Protectorate at that point. "So, I want to help protect law and order, I want to work with the Protectorate, and I'm not going to lie to you… but if anyone asks, I'd be very much obliged if you just said I claimed to have reliable contacts."

Probably not the optimal answer he had hoped for, but he accepted it for now, probably because of the lie detector. Discussion went on for a few minutes. Taylor agreed to help out - she had no desire to keep Bakuda running around, after all. We agreed on a time and place for the following day - early evening, with some time to prepare.

I would have liked to have a chat with Taylor afterward, but that wasn't going to be an option. Lung was right there, Armsmaster wasn't going to leave, the PRT van would arrive any moment, and Gregor was waiting in the car. Still, I would have another opportunity the next day, so I excused myself.

"...You're getting back in that car?" Armsmaster was surprised.

"Yeah. An acquaintance who agreed to come along in case things went wrong," I said. "Also, battery in these things is almost depleted," I pointed at the roller-skis, before getting inside the van.

_______________

The ride back to the Palanquin started in silence. A minute in, Gregor broke it.

"You left in a hurry, with intent, and arrived just in time to defeat Lung, armed with just the weapon you needed. I do not believe it was a coincidence."

I shrugged. He went on.

"You have not been entirely truthful with us."

"I haven't given full disclosure. I haven't lied, either, nor have I misled you in any harmful fashion."

"And what, exactly, are your actual plans?"

"Oh, you know. End the ABB. End Empire 88. End the Merchants. End Coil's organization. Essentially, end organized crime in Brockton Bay, and move on to bigger goals." It was, honestly, an oversimplification of my actual plans. Taking out the gangs was a nice bonus, but more of a secondary goal in some cases, an intermediate step in others.

"You do not think small," he said, keeping his eyes on the road. "What of Faultline's Crew?"

"You helped me out. For a whole lot of money, admittedly, but still. I do not intend to personally go after you, nor the Undersiders, nor Uber and Leet - it's scum of the Earth like Kaiser and Skidmark that I want out of the picture. Now, admittedly… if the Protectorate manages to put away all the major gangs, then more attention will go toward other parahuman criminals. As such, if I succeed, then it might be a good time to lay low and avoid illegal activities." I grinned under my mask. "Admittedly, that would be a lot easier to do if one were to own a machine that could synthesize diamonds."

He remained silent for a while before speaking again. "Why have you come to us? If you wish to work with the Protectorate, why not go directly to them?"

"I wasn't lying when I was speaking to Armsmaster. The PRT is compromised. Their data isn't secure. Beside that… there is another complication." I paused. "From what I've seen, you strike me as a honorable guy. Can you keep a secret?"

"I take matters of trust to heart. As such, if it endangers my friends, then I would sooner not be told, so as not to have to hide it from them."

"Fair enough," I said. "It's simple, then. My complication is… I don't have any legal existence here. I have no ID, no birth certificate, no records of any kind whatsoever. All for a simple reason: I'm not from Earth Bet."

That got a reaction from him. "Pardon?"

"I'm from another world," I said, once again grinning under my mask. "Not Earth-Aleph, another one. Given how twitchy the PRT and the public can get about the subject, I'd rather not have to explain it to them before proving how useful I am."

"And… you came to this world… how, and for what reason?"

"My little secret." I paused. "You can share what I've revealed with Faultline if you believe she'll keep it to herself. One way or another… Thanks for being my backup tonight."

_______________

There were some tense talks at the Palanquin. Faultline wasn't happy, but I imagine that providing her with the goose that lay the diamond egg got me significant leeway. Her main concern was how I'd known where to find Lung, and whether there was some association between myself and the Undersiders. She didn't outright state it, but, if she'd figured out I had a way to track down parahumans, it would make sense for her to be concerned. I assured her that I'd never interacted with the Undersiders before fighting Lung, and dodged the other question. She wasn't happy, but she wasn't breaking our deal, either.

Back to my room and to my tinkering, then. The D-scanner was showing two capes in ABB territory, which I tentatively labeled as "Oni Lee/Bakuda". I made some solvent to melt the "joint foam", removing my armor. I programmed the 3D-printer to make dozens of needles charged with Newter drug - small enough to be carried by Taylor's bugs, but also very sharp and strong.

Next. I put one Tinker charge in miniaturization, and two in robotics. With that in mind, I began designing a special robot. Shaped like a fly. Small like a fly. Armed with surveillance technology, able to film and transmit in real-time. A discreet spy drone, which I would be able to use tomorrow - after all, while Taylor could survey the battlefield with her bugs, she couldn't describe every detail of what she saw. Having a precise view of Bakuda's workshop while using my Tinker powers might prove invaluable.

It would take hours for the precise components to be assembled. With that done, I crumbled into bed.