Grace 2.2
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The girl was torn asunder.
Her tears dripped into the waters of her stone basin as she stared blindly into space. A hand stretched out and flung magic at an enemy. Two smiling people showed her around and made her feel welcome. All conscious thought was ravaged by indecision as she became lost in a sea of memories. Her memories.
Armies marching to war and crying into Emma's shoulder. Transmuting the sky into holy fire and staring at the wreckage of her mother's flute. Tearing open the bowels of the world to rip out dead gods and being shoved into the locker.
Blind and confined. Staring into the void and the void staring back. These memories were even less her own than the war and death and pain. This was… something else. It was real. She grasped at it and saw again and again and again. Born, raised, praised, pampered, blinded, crippled, bound, possessed, speaking, speaking, speaking, drowning. Again and again for years upon years.
That pain tore her back to the present moment. She was sitting on her living room floor and staring at her hands. Taylor's hands. Not the hands of the blind little girls. Nor the hands of the craftsmen and artisans; empowered for an afternoon to work the wonders of their…
Of her.
"What am I?"
The words slipped out unbidden as she sat and truly thought about her situation. She was not like other Capes. Other Capes didn't have an accurate image of the world floating in their head. She'd checked both counts there; the weather patterns were a little slow to update but they seemed to more or less match reality.
Other Capes didn't see things that weren't there but were actually there. Well, okay, apparently some did but not like her. The gems were real... but only for her. They were a hard limit on what she could do and they were in some way external to her. Then there was her father, and the man she'd rescued…
Taylor blinked a few times. That had been… today. A few hours ago. Right? Yeah. Only… she stared at her hands in confusion. In her head she could see him moving about and it was light outside. Had her… moment really lasted that long? There was…
Well, that was the other point. The other thought. She had memories that definitely weren't hers. They were memories of worship and war, of power and prostration, of faith and fury. She could grow stronger and she knew how. It would work. But… at what cost?
"The new Parahuman calls themselves 'Oracle'. We have reason to believe they have a connection to our own 'Pretender', as well as the theorised individual we've tentatively codenamed 'Vulcan'." Dennis yawned as Armsmaster droned on about the situation briefing. Another new Cape in the bay wasn't exactly hot news. There were a lot showing up recently.
There'd been Browbeat, then Pretender, then maybe this 'Vulcan' guy, then the creepy dude who totally had a stalker crush on Shadow Stalker, of all people, and now this. Actually, come to think of it that actually was quite a lot for just a month or so...
The trouble was that the senior Cape talking about it made it just so boring. Which was strange because he'd skimmed the materials and it really shouldn't be. This one was interesting. Apparently this Cape had gathered a whole bunch of poor migrants and homeless people together in order to feed them. Oh, and demand that they worship said 'Oracle' like a god.
"As you can see in the first attached incident report there has already been an altercation with the Empire. Hookwolf and a group of cronies were observed entering the premises and then leaving with one of their number injured." And that was weird. Hookwolf was a, heh, prickly sort of guy at the best of times. The rest of the time he was just a raging asshole.
"We'll be sending a group over to talk to them. Thinker and Master-resistant Stranger powers only. I've also requested support from Dragon and she's agreed to send us a remote drone to assist. Kid Win and myself will likewise be putting together some telepresence devices." Chris looked quite pleased to be mentioned in the briefing, Dennis noted. All of this was probably moot since there was no way he'd be on this team.
"First priority is determining if Oracle has any Master or Trump abilities. It's also possible 'Vulcan' and Oracle are actually the same entity in which case Pretender can be considered already compromised." Both Carlos and Missy winced at that. They'd both quite liked the girl. Dennis had found her to be a little bit nervous but an alright sort; the ABB incident had proven she was reasonably dependable.
"If any of you encounter Oracle you are advised to immediately retreat and notify it on the Protectorate channel." And that was the sound of sweet, sweet freedom! Meeting over! Victory for Team Clockblocker! "And Clockblocker, I'd like you to stay behind for a moment." Shit!
Everyone else filed out; leaving the two sitting alone in the room. Then, after a moment, Armsmaster removed his helmet and laid it on the table. He looked as tired as ever underneath but there was also a certain shrewdness to his expression.
"Dennis. In light of recent events I need to ask you if there was anything… odd… you might have left out of your report on the… incident." Clockblocker tried hard to maintain his poker face even under his mask. He was sorely tempted to freeze it but that would have stuck him in place. Armsmaster continued; apparently without noticing. "Anything that you may have thought was too strange to be considered… believable." In that moment Dennis almost felt his heart stop.
"... no, sir. Nothing like that." There was a horrible pause as the lie fell from his lips and then Armsmaster nodded.
"Alright. You can go." Dennis fled as soon as possible as Armsmaster put his helmet on. He had no way of knowing that the man's HUD had printed his last statement across the bottom. Nor that the word 'False' was flashing beside it in bright red letters. Even if he had, though…
There was a small, ivory pendant pressed against his skin underneath the costume. He could feel the faint coolness of it as he moved. Dennis remembered a blast that he hadn't seen coming and the miracle of miracles that, at the end, he'd been alive. Burnt, bruised and in a lot of pain… but alive.
In the report he'd credited his survival to freezing anything that touched him; negating the flying debris and managing to crawl free before time resumed. Because who would believe that a tiny unicorn pendant had saved his life?
Nobody.
There was a moment as Taylor held the item she'd just made and frowned. Something was… where was she? When was she? Her hands twitched. She'd seen… a future. From the usual third-person perspective of someone who… followed her. There had been a Ward in it, and a number of... soldiers? And an explosion. She hadn't been able to make out the details. They'd all…
And then she'd had the urge to make this well up from deep inside her. When she had there had been another… moment. Her mind was fragmented. She was losing herself in the… in…
Taylor sat at her desk in the back of the old church with a cold sweat running down her back. She was… yes. This was the present. The moment was here. Her past few weeks had been plagued by these… temporal disconnects. She'd been catching glimpses of the future; distinct and always terrible. But also the past. Her memories felt so real and she felt like she was unravelling.
She was in the old church in Alejandro's neighbourhood. He and Diego were in the church hall nearby and were handing out the daily ration. She could see from the point of view of the dozen or so, out of the hundred people gathered there, that had faith. Real faith. Diego was the firmest in his devotion but Alejandro was a close second. The more she'd done for them the more he'd trusted her until that had ignited into the fire of genuine belief.
Why was she doing this? Taylor had to fight against her perfect memories for a few moments; helped by the prayers that flowed into her over food. That's right. Strength came from worship. She was the Lone Pretender to the Thrones. The more people who called her name in prayer the more powerful she would be. And then…
Part of her memories spoke to her of raising armies, summoning creatures and marching upon the world. That wasn't what she wanted. All she wanted was for her dominion to spread across the Bay and outside of it. There were… powers in her memories that could help fix things.
With absolute clairvoyance she could rout the gangs. When her altars were established across the city her nature would change it. Already she could feel her essence twisting and her strengths changing as her nature tried to match her actions. She wasn't a true Pretender yet. Whatever that… no. She knew what it was.
Someone knocked on the door and a fearful young man entered. He bowed to her first, a habit she was trying to break them out of even as Diego encouraged it, and then began to speak in terrified Spanish. Taylor was quite certain that she didn't speak Spanish. But he was a devout believer so it didn't really matter. She didn't listen to what his mouth said but instead focused on what his heart told her.
"Lady Oracle, there is a big man with many tattoos and a scary mask demanding to see you. He seems very angry!"
Lung. And just like that Taylor remembered a moment.
"See? Feels weird, but not bad. Figured you should know what it's like now in case I have to freeze you on a mission or something." Mission… like what they weren't on now. She'd been scheduled for a few more patrols with the Wards at her request. They probably thought she was considering joining up more seriously. Which…
Taylor couldn't say that she wasn't thinking about it. Because she was. However, the reason she wanted to do more patrols was to build a rapport with the Wards and see if any might be receptive to… well, if she thought about it bluntly the only term she could use was 'converting'. It still made her feel a little dirty.
In the back of her head she saw the man she'd saved desperately praying to his makeshift altar. She could tell he had some minor mental problems and it seemed that his worship had claimed the area for… well, her. In the process his mental state had improved. She knew that was because of his faith in her, and his location, although she didn't quite understand how she knew that.
For every perfect memory there was another vague understanding or confident yet baseless assertion that came with her powers. She knew so many things that made no sense to her at all. It felt… like déjà vu. That was a feeling she was getting more and more these days.
"Right. Ah. Sorry. Just… feel a little dizzy." Clockblocker nodded and pretended to stroke an invisible beard.
"Ja, dat is so. Side effects of time freezing may include nausea, headaches, fatigue, and erectile dysfunction. Please consult your doctor to see if time freezing is right for you." There was a moment of confusion and then confused laughter. "Okay, so I'll admit that one got away from me a bit. I was trying to start with the Freud impression but it became an infomercial in the middle." Kid Win shook his head as their chuckles died down and elbowed his friend again.
"C'mon, man. You're making us look bad in front of the newbie. Don't worry about him, Pretender. Nobody thinks he's funny." As the other Cape did his best over-the-top insult reaction Taylor had a thought and reached into her pocket. In the confusion of the meeting she'd almost forgotten it.
"This is for you, Clockblocker. I made it the other night." The two boys stared at the proffered amulet and then glanced at each other. After a moment of hesitation Clockblocker reached out and took it.
"Oh. Gee. It's so, uh… Unicorney." Kid Win snorted as Clockblocker desperately tried to find something nice to say about it. "Not sure it really suits my, ah, look. What's it made out of?" Taylor grinned under her helmet and felt the urge to be just a little mischievous.
"Unicorn horn. Obviously. What else would it be made of?" It wasn't entirely false, either. She'd actually made it from a piano key that had transmogrified itself into this shape during the construction process but she was pretty sure it was actually ivory now. "It's lucky. And I had a… bad feeling. Just humour me?" After a moment he shrugged and slipped it into one of the pouches on his costume. That would have to do.
Taylor didn't know when her premonition was meant to happen. Or if it would at all. Or if what she'd done would even help. Still. "So, what are we doing today while the heroes are off being heroic?" It was hard to be so jovial but these two seemed to respond better to that. The thought was genuine, at least.
Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Velocity, Triumph, Dauntless, Assault and Battery were all moving out today for a joint event. She knew this because they'd been ordered to go somewhere well away from their altercation. Taylor was pretty sure they were going after the bomb tinker that had broken Lung out last week. Thus it was that she and the two Wards ended up patrolling the boat graveyard and rooting out transients. The worst you could run into here were Merchants and they were… well, to be honest, a major non-threat.
Between Kid Win's laser pistols, Taylor's Frost Pebble Staff and Clockblocker's ability to generate instant cover they could pretty effortlessly take out 'Skidmark'. And Squealer specialised in vehicles. Big, loud, easy-to-spot vehicles. If she was anywhere nearby they'd know long before she saw them. So it was pretty safe. Besides, they were doing well.
The usual process was for them to find a camp of gang members or hobos, or both in many cases, and then Taylor just sort of existed in their general vicinity until they ran away screaming in terror. Anyone with a suspicious bag or bundle was tagged and bagged by her and Kid Win.
If they found anything illegal the tinker had these little balls that he slapped on them which made them float into the sky. He said they were collected by remote drone and delivered to a drop point; in this case the Brockton Bay Police Department: Narcotics Division. Clockblocker seemed mostly around for moral support but he did a reasonable job of that.
Taylor paused mid-step and looked to one side with a frown. Then she sighed. "Guys, we've got a problem." She pointed through the wreckage to the North. "There's a few dozen gang members that way and two Capes." One felt like Squealer. The power surging off the vague figure in her head was relatively small compared to the other; probably Skidmark.
"... well, dicks. We should call it in.." Clockblocker pulled out his communicator and then frowned. "Huh. No signal. Weird." Kid WIn grabbed his and frowned as he messed with it.
"Yeah. That is weird." Then he checked his computer-gauntlet and the frown only intensified. "I can't reach my drone, either. I think we're being jammed." Taylor blinked a couple of times then turned her head slowly. Another mass of entities had entered into the range of her clairvoyance.
"Um. The ABB are here. They're coming from the South." Both Wards froze when she said that and looked at her with faces of abject horror. Communications down and they were very nearly in the middle of a gang war. "I think we should leave. Fast." All three of them began to jog to the West as Taylor felt the people getting closer and closer.
Then a vehicle burst out of the wreckage to their right. It looked like a seven-wheeled tank; three on either side and one big one at the front because, well, why not right? Taylor and Kid WIn broke left but Clockblocker broke right as it opened fire with the heinously large machine guns on top. She hadn't felt it coming!
Kid Win did something and a forcefield like frosted glass burst up around them; it didn't block the shots but seemed to apply a perpendicular force to them that sent them veering wildly in other directions. It lasted for all of six seconds before the device on his shoulder crackled and began to pour black smoke out. Taylor hit the young man with a flying tackle and felt several shots curl around them; the influence of her own amulet twisting some away and a few more slamming into her side.
The hoodie tore but the enchanted metal underneath held; Squealer had clearly gone for lower calibre so she could have more guns. Her side still stung like a bitch, though. They landed behind a piece of twisted metal and bullets sprayed wildly overhead as the tank fired on them for what seemed like an eternity. Then, suddenly, the vehicle was gone; it had kept shooting as it drove off until it was out of sight and moving towards the invading ABB. She could hear the crunch of metal being twisted underneath.
"Nobody inside it…" Taylor pushed herself up and checked her side. That was going to bruise. "I couldn't sense it." Then she glanced around. "Where's Clockblocker?" He'd disappeared in the chaos of the moment; they'd all just sort of started sprinting when the wrecking tank had smashed through.
"Fuck." It was weird hearing Kid WIn swear, but he seemed rather shaken by that encounter. "We need to find him. But…" Taylor closed her eyes and felt. Her senses were vague at the best of times but there was a battle going on now and that made things a lot more complex. She could hear the massive guns on the machine roaring in the distance as unloaded a hail of bullets on the invading gang members.
"I can find him. My defenses seem to work on bullets and I have stealth-enhancing gear. You go call the Protectorate." He looked agonised, hesitant even, until she screwed up her power and pushed it at him. "Go, now!" After a moment of her command ringing in the air he scrambled to his feet and dashed off.
Clockblocker's aura was further towards the group of Merchants now. Her boots muffled the sound of debris beneath her and she could vaguely feel enemies moving all around. Things had become very chaotic very quickly. Then, suddenly, there was an explosion and she instantly knew where he was.
She burst into a sprint and came across the site of it. Clockblocker was partially embedded into the base of a wall from how hard he'd been flung into it and there was an awful mess around him. Dozens of charred corpses littered the area and the epicentre was a surprisingly intact body. It was almost like a statue; frozen in a charcoal visage of pain and terror with a huge hole in its torso where the blast had ripped out of it.
Taylor knelt beside him and went to check for a pulse when he coughed suddenly. Then he turned his head to look at her.
"Anyone get the number of that truck?" She let out a little sigh and resisted the urge to punch his arm. Probably some broken bones in there. Still, if his sense of humour was intact then he shouldn't be that hurt.
"What happened?" She gestured at the blast site; ruined corpses and macabre statue and all. Clockblocker shrugged and then made a noise of pain.
"Tank-thing had guns on the back so I had to keep running. Ran into the middle of this group. Was trying to fast-talk my way out of it when one of 'em started screaming and the next thing I knew his chest was glowing red. Boom." He coughed hard and wiped the blood away from his mouth. The mask and outfit was ruined. He was lucky to be alive. Her eyes flickered to a spot of white on the ground nearby.
"Okay. Just stay down. Kid Win's gone for help, and I think we'll be safe here." Taylor reached out and picked up the unicorn pendant. He seemed to be staring at it. Then he slowly put his hand out and she dropped it into it. "... for luck." Clockblocker nodded slowly, still staring at the thing in his hand.
"... yeah. Luck."
Taylor, meanwhile, was terrified. The explosions that day had occurred when the ABB's tinker had set off a number of bombs in a bid to create enough chaos to escape the Protectorate's attack on her. It had failed and, worse still, irritated Lung enough that he didn't rescue her. The damage had been relatively low; confined as it was to the gangs of Brockton but it had stirred up enough trouble for the man that he'd just let her be sentenced to the Birdcage.
Now he'd come to her. She didn't know why but she would see him anyway. And if he was here to offer violence to her flock… Cool mist poured off her fingertips at the thought. If Lung wanted a fight she wouldn't give him one. A fight implied conflict, two opponents of similar strength clashing with each other.
He might think he was a dragon but she knew what real dragons were like. Some part of her had killed them, too. More than one. Not her… Taylor had never killed anyone. But she knew how easily she could. Even so… if Lung was here to hurt her people?
Then the dragon would find out just how outmatched he was in the face of a god.
Her tears dripped into the waters of her stone basin as she stared blindly into space. A hand stretched out and flung magic at an enemy. Two smiling people showed her around and made her feel welcome. All conscious thought was ravaged by indecision as she became lost in a sea of memories. Her memories.
Armies marching to war and crying into Emma's shoulder. Transmuting the sky into holy fire and staring at the wreckage of her mother's flute. Tearing open the bowels of the world to rip out dead gods and being shoved into the locker.
Blind and confined. Staring into the void and the void staring back. These memories were even less her own than the war and death and pain. This was… something else. It was real. She grasped at it and saw again and again and again. Born, raised, praised, pampered, blinded, crippled, bound, possessed, speaking, speaking, speaking, drowning. Again and again for years upon years.
That pain tore her back to the present moment. She was sitting on her living room floor and staring at her hands. Taylor's hands. Not the hands of the blind little girls. Nor the hands of the craftsmen and artisans; empowered for an afternoon to work the wonders of their…
Of her.
"What am I?"
The words slipped out unbidden as she sat and truly thought about her situation. She was not like other Capes. Other Capes didn't have an accurate image of the world floating in their head. She'd checked both counts there; the weather patterns were a little slow to update but they seemed to more or less match reality.
Other Capes didn't see things that weren't there but were actually there. Well, okay, apparently some did but not like her. The gems were real... but only for her. They were a hard limit on what she could do and they were in some way external to her. Then there was her father, and the man she'd rescued…
Taylor blinked a few times. That had been… today. A few hours ago. Right? Yeah. Only… she stared at her hands in confusion. In her head she could see him moving about and it was light outside. Had her… moment really lasted that long? There was…
Well, that was the other point. The other thought. She had memories that definitely weren't hers. They were memories of worship and war, of power and prostration, of faith and fury. She could grow stronger and she knew how. It would work. But… at what cost?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"The new Parahuman calls themselves 'Oracle'. We have reason to believe they have a connection to our own 'Pretender', as well as the theorised individual we've tentatively codenamed 'Vulcan'." Dennis yawned as Armsmaster droned on about the situation briefing. Another new Cape in the bay wasn't exactly hot news. There were a lot showing up recently.
There'd been Browbeat, then Pretender, then maybe this 'Vulcan' guy, then the creepy dude who totally had a stalker crush on Shadow Stalker, of all people, and now this. Actually, come to think of it that actually was quite a lot for just a month or so...
The trouble was that the senior Cape talking about it made it just so boring. Which was strange because he'd skimmed the materials and it really shouldn't be. This one was interesting. Apparently this Cape had gathered a whole bunch of poor migrants and homeless people together in order to feed them. Oh, and demand that they worship said 'Oracle' like a god.
"As you can see in the first attached incident report there has already been an altercation with the Empire. Hookwolf and a group of cronies were observed entering the premises and then leaving with one of their number injured." And that was weird. Hookwolf was a, heh, prickly sort of guy at the best of times. The rest of the time he was just a raging asshole.
"We'll be sending a group over to talk to them. Thinker and Master-resistant Stranger powers only. I've also requested support from Dragon and she's agreed to send us a remote drone to assist. Kid Win and myself will likewise be putting together some telepresence devices." Chris looked quite pleased to be mentioned in the briefing, Dennis noted. All of this was probably moot since there was no way he'd be on this team.
"First priority is determining if Oracle has any Master or Trump abilities. It's also possible 'Vulcan' and Oracle are actually the same entity in which case Pretender can be considered already compromised." Both Carlos and Missy winced at that. They'd both quite liked the girl. Dennis had found her to be a little bit nervous but an alright sort; the ABB incident had proven she was reasonably dependable.
"If any of you encounter Oracle you are advised to immediately retreat and notify it on the Protectorate channel." And that was the sound of sweet, sweet freedom! Meeting over! Victory for Team Clockblocker! "And Clockblocker, I'd like you to stay behind for a moment." Shit!
Everyone else filed out; leaving the two sitting alone in the room. Then, after a moment, Armsmaster removed his helmet and laid it on the table. He looked as tired as ever underneath but there was also a certain shrewdness to his expression.
"Dennis. In light of recent events I need to ask you if there was anything… odd… you might have left out of your report on the… incident." Clockblocker tried hard to maintain his poker face even under his mask. He was sorely tempted to freeze it but that would have stuck him in place. Armsmaster continued; apparently without noticing. "Anything that you may have thought was too strange to be considered… believable." In that moment Dennis almost felt his heart stop.
"... no, sir. Nothing like that." There was a horrible pause as the lie fell from his lips and then Armsmaster nodded.
"Alright. You can go." Dennis fled as soon as possible as Armsmaster put his helmet on. He had no way of knowing that the man's HUD had printed his last statement across the bottom. Nor that the word 'False' was flashing beside it in bright red letters. Even if he had, though…
There was a small, ivory pendant pressed against his skin underneath the costume. He could feel the faint coolness of it as he moved. Dennis remembered a blast that he hadn't seen coming and the miracle of miracles that, at the end, he'd been alive. Burnt, bruised and in a lot of pain… but alive.
In the report he'd credited his survival to freezing anything that touched him; negating the flying debris and managing to crawl free before time resumed. Because who would believe that a tiny unicorn pendant had saved his life?
Nobody.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
There was a moment as Taylor held the item she'd just made and frowned. Something was… where was she? When was she? Her hands twitched. She'd seen… a future. From the usual third-person perspective of someone who… followed her. There had been a Ward in it, and a number of... soldiers? And an explosion. She hadn't been able to make out the details. They'd all…
And then she'd had the urge to make this well up from deep inside her. When she had there had been another… moment. Her mind was fragmented. She was losing herself in the… in…
Taylor sat at her desk in the back of the old church with a cold sweat running down her back. She was… yes. This was the present. The moment was here. Her past few weeks had been plagued by these… temporal disconnects. She'd been catching glimpses of the future; distinct and always terrible. But also the past. Her memories felt so real and she felt like she was unravelling.
She was in the old church in Alejandro's neighbourhood. He and Diego were in the church hall nearby and were handing out the daily ration. She could see from the point of view of the dozen or so, out of the hundred people gathered there, that had faith. Real faith. Diego was the firmest in his devotion but Alejandro was a close second. The more she'd done for them the more he'd trusted her until that had ignited into the fire of genuine belief.
Why was she doing this? Taylor had to fight against her perfect memories for a few moments; helped by the prayers that flowed into her over food. That's right. Strength came from worship. She was the Lone Pretender to the Thrones. The more people who called her name in prayer the more powerful she would be. And then…
Part of her memories spoke to her of raising armies, summoning creatures and marching upon the world. That wasn't what she wanted. All she wanted was for her dominion to spread across the Bay and outside of it. There were… powers in her memories that could help fix things.
With absolute clairvoyance she could rout the gangs. When her altars were established across the city her nature would change it. Already she could feel her essence twisting and her strengths changing as her nature tried to match her actions. She wasn't a true Pretender yet. Whatever that… no. She knew what it was.
Someone knocked on the door and a fearful young man entered. He bowed to her first, a habit she was trying to break them out of even as Diego encouraged it, and then began to speak in terrified Spanish. Taylor was quite certain that she didn't speak Spanish. But he was a devout believer so it didn't really matter. She didn't listen to what his mouth said but instead focused on what his heart told her.
"Lady Oracle, there is a big man with many tattoos and a scary mask demanding to see you. He seems very angry!"
Lung. And just like that Taylor remembered a moment.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pretender blinked a few times and then shook her head. Beside her Clockblocker grinned and Kid Win looked a little sheepish as he nudged his friend.
"See? Feels weird, but not bad. Figured you should know what it's like now in case I have to freeze you on a mission or something." Mission… like what they weren't on now. She'd been scheduled for a few more patrols with the Wards at her request. They probably thought she was considering joining up more seriously. Which…
Taylor couldn't say that she wasn't thinking about it. Because she was. However, the reason she wanted to do more patrols was to build a rapport with the Wards and see if any might be receptive to… well, if she thought about it bluntly the only term she could use was 'converting'. It still made her feel a little dirty.
In the back of her head she saw the man she'd saved desperately praying to his makeshift altar. She could tell he had some minor mental problems and it seemed that his worship had claimed the area for… well, her. In the process his mental state had improved. She knew that was because of his faith in her, and his location, although she didn't quite understand how she knew that.
For every perfect memory there was another vague understanding or confident yet baseless assertion that came with her powers. She knew so many things that made no sense to her at all. It felt… like déjà vu. That was a feeling she was getting more and more these days.
"Right. Ah. Sorry. Just… feel a little dizzy." Clockblocker nodded and pretended to stroke an invisible beard.
"Ja, dat is so. Side effects of time freezing may include nausea, headaches, fatigue, and erectile dysfunction. Please consult your doctor to see if time freezing is right for you." There was a moment of confusion and then confused laughter. "Okay, so I'll admit that one got away from me a bit. I was trying to start with the Freud impression but it became an infomercial in the middle." Kid Win shook his head as their chuckles died down and elbowed his friend again.
"C'mon, man. You're making us look bad in front of the newbie. Don't worry about him, Pretender. Nobody thinks he's funny." As the other Cape did his best over-the-top insult reaction Taylor had a thought and reached into her pocket. In the confusion of the meeting she'd almost forgotten it.
"This is for you, Clockblocker. I made it the other night." The two boys stared at the proffered amulet and then glanced at each other. After a moment of hesitation Clockblocker reached out and took it.
"Oh. Gee. It's so, uh… Unicorney." Kid Win snorted as Clockblocker desperately tried to find something nice to say about it. "Not sure it really suits my, ah, look. What's it made out of?" Taylor grinned under her helmet and felt the urge to be just a little mischievous.
"Unicorn horn. Obviously. What else would it be made of?" It wasn't entirely false, either. She'd actually made it from a piano key that had transmogrified itself into this shape during the construction process but she was pretty sure it was actually ivory now. "It's lucky. And I had a… bad feeling. Just humour me?" After a moment he shrugged and slipped it into one of the pouches on his costume. That would have to do.
Taylor didn't know when her premonition was meant to happen. Or if it would at all. Or if what she'd done would even help. Still. "So, what are we doing today while the heroes are off being heroic?" It was hard to be so jovial but these two seemed to respond better to that. The thought was genuine, at least.
Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Velocity, Triumph, Dauntless, Assault and Battery were all moving out today for a joint event. She knew this because they'd been ordered to go somewhere well away from their altercation. Taylor was pretty sure they were going after the bomb tinker that had broken Lung out last week. Thus it was that she and the two Wards ended up patrolling the boat graveyard and rooting out transients. The worst you could run into here were Merchants and they were… well, to be honest, a major non-threat.
Between Kid Win's laser pistols, Taylor's Frost Pebble Staff and Clockblocker's ability to generate instant cover they could pretty effortlessly take out 'Skidmark'. And Squealer specialised in vehicles. Big, loud, easy-to-spot vehicles. If she was anywhere nearby they'd know long before she saw them. So it was pretty safe. Besides, they were doing well.
The usual process was for them to find a camp of gang members or hobos, or both in many cases, and then Taylor just sort of existed in their general vicinity until they ran away screaming in terror. Anyone with a suspicious bag or bundle was tagged and bagged by her and Kid Win.
If they found anything illegal the tinker had these little balls that he slapped on them which made them float into the sky. He said they were collected by remote drone and delivered to a drop point; in this case the Brockton Bay Police Department: Narcotics Division. Clockblocker seemed mostly around for moral support but he did a reasonable job of that.
Taylor paused mid-step and looked to one side with a frown. Then she sighed. "Guys, we've got a problem." She pointed through the wreckage to the North. "There's a few dozen gang members that way and two Capes." One felt like Squealer. The power surging off the vague figure in her head was relatively small compared to the other; probably Skidmark.
"... well, dicks. We should call it in.." Clockblocker pulled out his communicator and then frowned. "Huh. No signal. Weird." Kid WIn grabbed his and frowned as he messed with it.
"Yeah. That is weird." Then he checked his computer-gauntlet and the frown only intensified. "I can't reach my drone, either. I think we're being jammed." Taylor blinked a couple of times then turned her head slowly. Another mass of entities had entered into the range of her clairvoyance.
"Um. The ABB are here. They're coming from the South." Both Wards froze when she said that and looked at her with faces of abject horror. Communications down and they were very nearly in the middle of a gang war. "I think we should leave. Fast." All three of them began to jog to the West as Taylor felt the people getting closer and closer.
Then a vehicle burst out of the wreckage to their right. It looked like a seven-wheeled tank; three on either side and one big one at the front because, well, why not right? Taylor and Kid WIn broke left but Clockblocker broke right as it opened fire with the heinously large machine guns on top. She hadn't felt it coming!
Kid Win did something and a forcefield like frosted glass burst up around them; it didn't block the shots but seemed to apply a perpendicular force to them that sent them veering wildly in other directions. It lasted for all of six seconds before the device on his shoulder crackled and began to pour black smoke out. Taylor hit the young man with a flying tackle and felt several shots curl around them; the influence of her own amulet twisting some away and a few more slamming into her side.
The hoodie tore but the enchanted metal underneath held; Squealer had clearly gone for lower calibre so she could have more guns. Her side still stung like a bitch, though. They landed behind a piece of twisted metal and bullets sprayed wildly overhead as the tank fired on them for what seemed like an eternity. Then, suddenly, the vehicle was gone; it had kept shooting as it drove off until it was out of sight and moving towards the invading ABB. She could hear the crunch of metal being twisted underneath.
"Nobody inside it…" Taylor pushed herself up and checked her side. That was going to bruise. "I couldn't sense it." Then she glanced around. "Where's Clockblocker?" He'd disappeared in the chaos of the moment; they'd all just sort of started sprinting when the wrecking tank had smashed through.
"Fuck." It was weird hearing Kid WIn swear, but he seemed rather shaken by that encounter. "We need to find him. But…" Taylor closed her eyes and felt. Her senses were vague at the best of times but there was a battle going on now and that made things a lot more complex. She could hear the massive guns on the machine roaring in the distance as unloaded a hail of bullets on the invading gang members.
"I can find him. My defenses seem to work on bullets and I have stealth-enhancing gear. You go call the Protectorate." He looked agonised, hesitant even, until she screwed up her power and pushed it at him. "Go, now!" After a moment of her command ringing in the air he scrambled to his feet and dashed off.
Clockblocker's aura was further towards the group of Merchants now. Her boots muffled the sound of debris beneath her and she could vaguely feel enemies moving all around. Things had become very chaotic very quickly. Then, suddenly, there was an explosion and she instantly knew where he was.
She burst into a sprint and came across the site of it. Clockblocker was partially embedded into the base of a wall from how hard he'd been flung into it and there was an awful mess around him. Dozens of charred corpses littered the area and the epicentre was a surprisingly intact body. It was almost like a statue; frozen in a charcoal visage of pain and terror with a huge hole in its torso where the blast had ripped out of it.
Taylor knelt beside him and went to check for a pulse when he coughed suddenly. Then he turned his head to look at her.
"Anyone get the number of that truck?" She let out a little sigh and resisted the urge to punch his arm. Probably some broken bones in there. Still, if his sense of humour was intact then he shouldn't be that hurt.
"What happened?" She gestured at the blast site; ruined corpses and macabre statue and all. Clockblocker shrugged and then made a noise of pain.
"Tank-thing had guns on the back so I had to keep running. Ran into the middle of this group. Was trying to fast-talk my way out of it when one of 'em started screaming and the next thing I knew his chest was glowing red. Boom." He coughed hard and wiped the blood away from his mouth. The mask and outfit was ruined. He was lucky to be alive. Her eyes flickered to a spot of white on the ground nearby.
"Okay. Just stay down. Kid Win's gone for help, and I think we'll be safe here." Taylor reached out and picked up the unicorn pendant. He seemed to be staring at it. Then he slowly put his hand out and she dropped it into it. "... for luck." Clockblocker nodded slowly, still staring at the thing in his hand.
"... yeah. Luck."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Oracle stood slowly. She wasn't sure how long her moment had lasted but Lung wasn't in the room with her so it can't have been long. Then she walked over to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder; giving the knowledge of her commandments to him. He nodded and moved out; all fear banished by feeling her voice inside him.
Taylor, meanwhile, was terrified. The explosions that day had occurred when the ABB's tinker had set off a number of bombs in a bid to create enough chaos to escape the Protectorate's attack on her. It had failed and, worse still, irritated Lung enough that he didn't rescue her. The damage had been relatively low; confined as it was to the gangs of Brockton but it had stirred up enough trouble for the man that he'd just let her be sentenced to the Birdcage.
Now he'd come to her. She didn't know why but she would see him anyway. And if he was here to offer violence to her flock… Cool mist poured off her fingertips at the thought. If Lung wanted a fight she wouldn't give him one. A fight implied conflict, two opponents of similar strength clashing with each other.
He might think he was a dragon but she knew what real dragons were like. Some part of her had killed them, too. More than one. Not her… Taylor had never killed anyone. But she knew how easily she could. Even so… if Lung was here to hurt her people?
Then the dragon would find out just how outmatched he was in the face of a god.
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