Are You Afraid of the Dark? [Worm AU fanfic]

[woodzrox]

Oh! It's been a while, thanks.

 

[Avernus]

It's funny that not only does Coil have no intention of actually cutting his losses and staying away from Tattletale, but he's so predictable about it that everyone involved just knows he'll do that.

 

[Ack]

It's funny that not only does Coil have no intention of actually cutting his losses and staying away from Tattletale, but he's so predictable about it that everyone involved just knows he'll do that.

Click to shrink...

Pattern recognition is a survival skill.

Oddly enough, Coil seems to lack it.

 

[SlickRCBD]

One thing that strikes me as odd is that the PRT keep acknowledging that The Dark isn't a parahuman. Given his legendary capabilities, they should be suspecting some kind of combat Thinker along the lines of a discount Contessa. Not that anyone in the Brockton Bay PRT knows about Contessa specifically, only the Triumvirate and the Chief Director. However some kind of subtle Thinker power should probably be on their minds given the mindset of the PRT.

Calvert lowered the phone and let out a ragged breath. Tattletale was looking at him expectantly—she'd know what had happened, of course—and he handed the phone back to her. He had to force himself to open his mouth and utter the next words, but they had to be said.

"Stand down. Let them go. We're leaving." Every syllable tasted of ash on his tongue. He hated to admit defeat and simply walk away from her, even as that irritatingly smug look blossomed on her face. Worse still was the silent (and not so silent) disbelief from his men. Where they thought he couldn't hear them, they were exchanging low-voiced comments with their radios off. Taking a deep breath, he raised his voice. "I said, stand down."

Trading glances, taking their time as though waiting for him to rescind the order, the troopers released the Undersiders from their bonds. For their part, the teen villains did little more than rub their wrists. Their looks of disbelief were directed at Tattletale, most likely attempting to divine how she'd managed to pull that impossible rabbit out of a non-existent hat.

One by one, his men exited the loft; the chopper had moved away on receiving the stand-down order, so they would all have to leave via ground transport. He was the last out, if only to ensure that none of his men did anything to get him killed. At the doorway, he looked over at Tattletale. "You'll tell him?" That I did what he said, he didn't have to add.

She nodded, her smug expression infuriating him almost to the point that he did something regrettable. "Sure, I'll do that. Bye." It was as much a reminder that he should be leaving as it was a farewell.

As he descended the spiral staircase, his jaw was clenched so hard that his teeth were grinding against one another. He took small solace in the fact that the metal door's lock was ruined, and the door itself was hanging off one hinge; the Undersiders would have to find a new base now or undertake serious repairs to that and the window, occasioning no little inconvenience. Good.

"Sir." It was Sergeant Hardacre. A good, solid NCO, he knew his place and how to handle his men. While he was scrupulous to a fault when it came to everything that didn't involve Calvert's business, and had never actively participated in any illicit activity, he'd taken bribes more than once to look the other way. "May I ask what happened up there? The men will have questions, and I'd prefer to have something to tell them from you, rather than let them speculate."

This was one of the few instances, Calvert decided, that the unvarnished truth would serve better than any lie. "Tell them that we were warned off by the Dark." He saw the shock of understanding in Hardacre's eyes. "Dismissed."

Click to shrink...

I somehow missed the alert about the update for this fic.
One thing that stands out is that if these are NOT Coil's men, but more or less honest PRT troopers, they should be reacting by using containment foam on Calvert and calling master-stranger protocols. Also checking with higher ups.
Given that they suspect Regent is one of Heartbreaker's kids (they thought correctly he might be Hijack), and that they don't really know what Tattletale can do, the possibility that their commander had just been Mastered into ordering them to let the Undersiders go seems more probable than him suddenly taking a phone call and deciding to let wanted criminals go for no reason.
The fact that Brian unleashed his darkness meant they knew for sure that those were indeed the Undersiders they captured.

 

[Ack]

One thing that strikes me as odd is that the PRT keep acknowledging that The Dark isn't a parahuman. Given his legendary capabilities, they should be suspecting some kind of combat Thinker along the lines of a discount Contessa. Not that anyone in the Brockton Bay PRT knows about Contessa specifically, only the Triumvirate and the Chief Director. However some kind of subtle Thinker power should probably be on their minds given the mindset of the PRT.

I somehow missed the alert about the update for this fic.
One thing that stands out is that if these are NOT Coil's men, but more or less honest PRT troopers, they should be reacting by using containment foam on Calvert and calling master-stranger protocols. Also checking with higher ups.
Given that they suspect Regent is one of Heartbreaker's kids (they thought correctly he might be Hijack), and that they don't really know what Tattletale can do, the possibility that their commander had just been Mastered into ordering them to let the Undersiders go seems more probable than him suddenly taking a phone call and deciding to let wanted criminals go for no reason.
The fact that Brian unleashed his darkness meant they knew for sure that those were indeed the Undersiders they captured.

Click to shrink...

He's never done anything that could be pointed at as definitely being cape-worthy. He's just really, really good at killing.

It's Coil's men in the base with him. They've all done enough shady stuff on the side that walking away from the Undersiders (even if they don't know why) is something they can do.