Quenching 3.4 – Taylor POV
The silence is deafening.
Shirou's proclamation of his intention to take Lung down on his own was something no one seemed able to ignore. I wish I could see the faces of everyone at the table, but besides Assault, everyone had full face masks.
"Well, you certainly do not lack in confidence, Mr. Emiya." Coil eventually speaks up, bringing everyone's attention back to him. I had no idea what this guy's power was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was some sort of focus on me when I speak effect. "But may I remind you, we all saw that recording, do you have a reason to be so confident in your ability to slay Lung? Can these black keys stop something as big as Lung on their own?"
"No," Shirou says simply, unbothered by the doubtful looks I was sure everyone was sending him. I would have too but… at this point, I believe Shirou. He doesn't lie, he never boasts, I don't think I've ever seen him take genuine pride in something. I now knew that if he said he'd do something, he really believed he could do it. "Capture isn't their main function, and I believe the larger a creatures shadow the less effective they are. But that's not the point, I'm not going to capture Lung."
"It would be unmistakably foolish to just run at Lung like you seem to be hinting you will do…" Lady Photon says, her voice much less clipped when not speaking to the villains in the room. I could hear the unhidden concern of a mother. It makes my heart ache. "There are many capes in this city, it won't be a one-on-one fight. It's attitudes like that which cause so many early cape mortalities."
"I'm a foolish man." Shirou says back to her, his severe frown lessening at the genuine concern and instead being changed in an uncomfortable grimace. "I've made foolish choices all my life, you could help me if you want, but I'm going to face Lung the moment he appears. I've spent enough time learning and preparing, I won't let this danger stay any longer than I have to."
I hated how self-deprecating he could be sometimes.
"…" Lady Photon's expression tightens, not in anger, but in pity. I knew pity, I would never mistake it for anything else. It was the only thing others at Winslow would look at me with besides amusement, apathy, and contempt. It angered me, Shirou wasn't pitiable, he was admirable! It felt like an attack on myself.
Coil then addressed the room.
"Then that's our major piece of business concluded tonight. Anything else before we go our separate ways? Offers, announcements, grievances? Nothing to sensitive obviously, we are in the presence of the good heroes."
"Oh, no just pretend we're not here! I'd love to hear all about it!" Assault chimes in.
"I've got a complaint," a man at the side of the room spoke. Heads turned to Kaiser's group. Hookwolf.
He wore a mask that was little more than a piece of sheet metal cut and shaped to resemble a wolf's features, attached to his head with straps of black leather. He had a chain threaded through the belt loops of his jeans, sporting a heavy metal belt buckle. The buckle featured a wolf superimposed on a swastika – the same image he had tattooed on one of his biceps. The opposite arm simply had 'E88' on it. Outside of the mask and the belt buckle, you couldn't really say he had a costume. He was shirtless, shoeless, and hairy. His blond hair was long and greasy, and he had thick hair on his chest, stomach and arms. Harpoon-like spears and metal that curled like fishhooks radiated out from his shoulders, elbows and knees, all bristling with barbs or wickedly serrated edges.
He was a killer, and thought nothing of murdering people if they didn't fit the Aryan ideal.
I also saw Shirou twitch when he turns to look at Hookwolf, or specifically his shoeless feet. He probably wanted to say something about that, but holds himself back for once.
Hookwolf directed his gaze towards the Undersiders table, or more specifically, at Rachel. Who I could tell has been snarling back under her mask from how tightly she was wound up.
"What's the issue?" Grue's voice was calm, but it looked like he was generating a bit more darkness around him than he had been before during the meeting, making himself look a fraction bigger. I wondered if he knew he was doing it.
"The crazy one, Hellhound, she-"
"Bitch," Rachel interrupted him, "Only the pansy-ass heroes call me Hellhound. It's Bitch."
"Don't fucking care," Hookwolf growled, "You attacked my business. Set your fucking dog and spider on my customers. Lucky I wasn't there, whore."
What?
WHAT!?
I find myself turning to glare daggers at Rachel, who glanced my way but she looked absolutely unremorseful from her stance alone. I turn to Matty instead, I couldn't be mad at him but I tried to share a sense of disappointment in him. He was smart enough to make his own decisions, but Rachel must have tricked him somehow, right?
Matty just stared at me from the wall, then bounces the ball again, which he had stopped doing during the meeting. He seemed unapologetic; Rachel was corrupting MY SPIDER!
"…Spider?" Assault asks, as if he doesn't understand why Hookwolf was lumping in something besides a dog as Rachel's powers we're pretty well known according to Lisa. No eyes turn to Matty, who was right beside Rachel on the wall, between her table and the Travelers'. Come to think of it, nobody had even glanced Matty's way besides me, Shirou, and the Undersiders since arriving.
Armsmaster looked directly at me, and I feel his gaze burning into my side. I wanted to die in this very moment. His disapproval was immense and I couldn't say if I ruined his day further.
Great, just fucking great.
"I've heard rumors of a giant car sized spider roaming the city at night." Coil admits. "But I haven't been able to find any concrete evidence. I had believed it belonged to Chrysalis seeing as she has bug-based powers. So, Hookwolf, you say it belongs to Bitch?"
"It was fucking doing what she was telling it to do my boys say." Hookwolf growls, staring down coil for a second before he turned back to Rachel. "Makes sense, whore downgraded to surprise attacks so of course she'd need a fucking bug!"
"Arachnid!" I shout out on reflex, my anger forcing me to speak.
"WHO THE FUCK CARES!?" Hookwolf roars back at me, but I don't back down. Shirou gets to his feet, which is immediately noticed by everyone at the table. But he doesn't do anything beyond staring severely at Hookwolf.
Then a rubber ball covered in dog saliva bounces off Hookwolf's mask.
Almost like a switch had been flipped, everyone suddenly turns to Matty, who whistles. Everyone who's face I could openly see shifted into shock, terror, or sudden disgust.
"What the fuck!" I hear Battery wheeze suddenly as she and many others dart out of their chairs and back away, getting into aggressive stances. Laserdream actually throws herself over the counter of the bar with a shriek. Was she afraid of bugs?
"What the hell is that?!" The woman with the sun motif wails as she throws herself out of the booth she occupied next to Matty.
Things were devolving quickly, everyone looked on edge. It was then that I realized that they really had no idea Matty had been there the whole time. How was that possible though? He had literally been right there the whole time!
"Enough."
Kaiser's command surprisingly cuts through everyone's shock, making stances even out when they saw that Matty wasn't doing anything but looking at them with his adorably red eyes. The Leader of the Empire looks around the room, his helmeted head regarding Matty before turning away.
"Do not forget that this is neutral ground." The unspoken 'don't embarrass me' was able to be heard regardless of him not saying it aloud. "Hookwolf had a genuine grievance that must be discussed, we should continue so we can get on our way?"
It was such an obvious power play I was surprised no one called him out on it. He took control of the conversation and now instead of Shirou and Coil being the power players, it was all Kaiser.
I saw Alec start to say something before Lisa roughly kicked him in the shin. She then turned her glare on Rachel, who actually seemed to wilt a bit at that.
"Let's not say genuine." Assault hummed flatly, reminding everyone that the heroes were still here. He was looking at Matty though, as many in the room still were.
Grue turned and gave Rachel a long look, then he spoke to Hookwolf.
"That's the kind of risk you run, doing business in Brockton Bay. Capes can and will get in your way, hero or villain." His answer didn't satisfy Hookwolf however, because his glare is turned from Rachel and Matty to him.
"It's a matter of respect. You want to fuck with my business, and we're not at war? You let me know if you've got an issue, first. Let me decide if I want to move shop."
"You mean give you a warning I'm coming," Rachel spat the words, "That's the dumbest fucking thing I ever heard. Just so you know, moving to a different neighborhood won't be good enough. You open up another dogfighting ring, I'll be visiting that one too."
Oh, that's what she'd done. My anger faded somewhat with the realization that nothing totally illegal had happened. It was actually heroic in a way kind of? I glanced at Lisa, then at Grue. I was getting the impression neither of them had known either. With that knowledge, I decide to speak up again. I couldn't let people think Matty belonged to Rachel.
"The Spider IS mine." I said, almost freezing stiff when every set of eyes turns to me. Shirou's stand out more than all others, his expression stiff, lips tight. He was visibly uncomfortable with any of this attention being on me. It's that worry that makes me continue, to prove I don't need it. "…I let Matty out on walks sometimes, he's very well behaved at all times and he doesn't eat meat, so I never saw a problem with it. He must have met… Bitch, on one of those walks and decided to just help her out or something… right?"
My question was directed to Rachel after a second, I was mentally pleading that she just shut the fuck up and agreed with me to somehow make this work. Luckily, she slowly nods after a second.
"Dumb Spider wouldn't leave me alone… so I used it, so what? I would have done the same thing without it!"
"Excuse me Chrysalis, but are you insinuating that your empowered spider is capable of free thought, decision making, and possesses the ability to identify right and wrong?" Armsmaster suddenly asked me, making me remember that he probably knew I was lying in some way. I idly noticed how all the gathered heroes around me seemed to be looking at me, even Shielder.
Fuck.
"U-Uh… yeah?" I say truthfully, maybe that'd help me here? But no, Armsmaster just lifted a fist to his mouth and beard. He responded, but his voice was audibly strained.
"…And you just let it walk around unsupervised?" He asked, making my eyes widen beneath my mask. I started to panic with one of my brains. That wasn't what I wanted him to think at all! This was awful and all Rachels fault!
"He doesn't eat meat, he eats metal!" I tried to say, desperately reaching for something that could make me sound like less of an idiot.
"We will be having words about this." Armsmaster promised, this time I didn't think me or Shirou would be able to get out of it…
Double fuck.
"Fine, I can't argue about the spider getting involved if it belongs to a dumbass hero…" Hookwolf surprisingly acquiesced after a short stare off with Kaiser. But that fire returned and fell full force on Rachel again. "But that doesn't change that it's your fault 'Hellhound,' we still got a problem."
"Fuck off!" Rachel snarled
"Ok, I think we all see how this is going to play out." Lady Photon spoke up in distaste. "We have just agreed to a truce, this pointless argument only serves to blind you to the bigger picture. You've stated your grievances, now let's keep that in mind for the inevitable second meeting, once this is done. You can have your blood feud then."
"I quite agree," Coil added, having not moved from his steepled fingered position in his chair. He hadn't sounded very concerned to me.
"No fighting here, take it outside or I'll get involved." Shirou spoke up next, having more of an effect then I thought he might have. Though now that I think about it, he had already shown the ability to create blades in midair from a good distance away from him. As well as those Black Key's that could completely freeze a person through their shadow, which seemed wild even for a power as I understood them. It stands to reason that if he attacked first, he wouldn't be able to be stopped easily.
"What do you say?" Grue asked Kaiser, his voice just as measured as before, I couldn't tell if he had been even worried a little bit. "Set this aside for now?"
Kaiser nodded, once. "Fair. We'll discuss the matter further at our next meeting."
"That's settled then. Anything else?" Coil asked, "Issues, negotiations, requests?"
There was no reply.
Coil took that as answer enough. "Then let's conclude the meeting. Thank you for attending. Faultline, could I have a word before you leave?"
There was the sound of chairs scraping against the floor as the people at the table got up, Faultline and Coil excepted. Skidmark's group headed out the door to leave right away, while Kaiser and Purity walked to the table where their underlings sat with their drinks. The Travelers loitered around their table, not quite settling in, not leaving. Shirou gets up and I see him begin to dismiss his Black Key's, I then met eyes with Lisa as Grue started to walk back to the Undersiders. She flicked her eyes towards Shirou, her meaning not lost on me. She wasn't going to be able to watch him as closely as before, so it was my responsibility now. I was almost insulted that she hadn't thought I would do it without being told, I had been doing it since we became friends.
Far longer than her.
Matty took that moment to get off the wall, anyone who wasn't an Undersider gave him a wide berth as he moved. Brutus barked once, moving to follow before a single whistle from Rachel brought him back.
"So, like, he won't hypnotize us or anything or drink our blood?" Shielder asked me, but his eyes never left Matty as he rolled up to the rest of the heroes. Matty chitters a response, before his eyes all simultaneously lid. He was just so cute that I forgot to answer Shielder.
"C-Chrysalis?" Shielder repeats, his voice sounded strained.
"Spiders don't do that to prey. Nor do they have eyelids." Armsmaster said in my place, staring at Matty. Matty stared back, his eyes looked over his armor in some measure of interest that I felt through the bond we shared. He didn't have his hungry look, so I could at least be assured in the fact he wouldn't eat Armsmaster's stuff. "Normal spiders at least, which brings me back to what I said before. You and Shirou are going to have to join us back at PRT HQ. That's an order now, we have a lot to talk about"
"Just because you say it's an order doesn't mean we're going to do it." Shirou cut in as he walked back around the counter, having also removed himself from the table. He stopped near me and Armsmaster before looking down and to the left, where Laserdream was still hidden. Only her head was visible, eyes not leaving Matty. "Customers aren't allowed behind the bar counter."
"You wouldn't kick a terrified girl out into the cold embrace of a spider, would you?" Laserdream asked while Shirou just continued to stare at her. I wish he would, just this one, but that was my jealousy talking. I understood that the fear of spiders could be crippling to some people. I shouldn't be so vindictive; it was undeniably a bad trait.
"...Just don't touch the alcohol"
"Shirou," I spoke up, causing him to turn to me. "You don't have to antagonize Armsmaster, we should go with them."
He frowned slightly, looking as if he wanted to argue further. He must have decided not to though, because he turned away quickly, grabbing the glass he had been in the middle of cleaning before he joined the table.
"Yeah, do you not trust us or something?" Assault added as he made his way over, the last to leave the table. I saw the divide in the bar, the heroes on my side, and all the villains who remained on the other. It had the effect of really showing how many villains there really were in Brockton Bay. It wouldn't be something I forgot.
"It's not that I don't trust you." Shirou assured, making me inwardly sigh in relief that he didn't have some sort of grudge against the Protectorate or something. "I... struggle to put the safety of those I care about into other people's hands."
"Shirou-" I heard myself whine at his admission. In front of all the heroes I wanted to like me. "We'll be fine! If we're going to be heroes, we need to learn to work with the other heroes beyond just working to the same goal."
Shirou clearly still had his reservations from how his lips twisted into a grimace. But he didn't speak up against it again. That wasn't what I really wanted, but it was the best I was going to get, I could tell.
"Your girlfriends got a good head on her shoulders kid~" Assault says in a teasing tone, patting me on my shoulder a few times. I was glad I had a mask, because I didn't trust myself to hide the blush that erupts on my face at the obvious teasing.
I also didn't want to overreact and deny it, for multiple reasons.
Shirou didn't say anything, refusing to react and showing he had far more self-control than me when it came to teasing. He continued his work that he dropped in favor of the meeting like Assault wasn't talking. However he eventually found it in him to respond.
"If we're going with you, it'll be when my shift is done in two hours. And I'll have to add on an extra half hour to make up for the time I stole."
"That's not-" Armsmaster started to disagree immediately.
"That's fine!" Assault cut in, still the apparent leader of the group, because Armsmaster just huffs, before turning away to begin to fiddle with his halberd. Assault took a seat beside the still visibly rankled Battery, who was still watching Matty like a hawk. Assault then took a moment to observe the chalkboard menu behind Shirou before asking. "Is the cheese cake any good?"
Shirou and Selene, both gave each other a look. I was kind of jealous of how in sync they were.
____________________________________________________________________________________
"Fuck, this is good~" Assault happily moaned around a fork as he, Armsmaster, Battery, Manpower, and Lady Photon all sat across a table in what could only be an interrogation chamber from me, Shirou, and Matty. Lady Photon and Manpower both gave soft verbal agreements, a cheese cake tray missing half its slices sitting on the table between them that the three heroes ate at a sedated pace. Armsmaster and Battery refrained, though Battery's helmeted head would take a glance at it every once in a while. Laserdream and Shielder had both been told to fly home by Manpower before the two adult members of New Wave joined the Protectorate heroes in transporting us.
We had left at the end of Shirou's extended shift, the last ones to leave. It was probably better for the truce that way, less chance of betrayal happening so quick. Me and Shirou had piled into a PRT cruiser before we were transported all the way to PRT HQ, which now seemed to be the base of both the Protectorate and PRT. At least until Protectorate HQ was repaired. Who knew how long that would take though? The place was bustling even this late at night. Troopers and what looked like office workers running to and from different doors with files and computers in hand. I could only describe it as a shit show.
"Is the fact we're in an interrogation room supposed to make me feel better that we came along?" Shirou asks as we all took our seats, snark clear. How unamused he was, was also clear.
"Ok, I know it's a bad look! But this is literally the only open room right now." Assault claims, reaching for another slice of cheesecake. "Space is in high demand since PHQ is uh… on fire still?"
"Where have you been the last week?" Armsmaster started off, impatience finally kicking in after I had watched it grow over the course of the night.
"Not your business." Shirou said flatly.
"We've been staying with a friend of Shirou's." I chimed in next, having already thought about what I'd say to most questions I could be asked. The Atlas dagger was just too handy for problem solving.
"...But you won't be able to anymore?" Armsmaster guessed at my tone while I slowly nodded. "We can organize something for you after this. Next, we have to have a more serious discussion about you two being moved to a new city, or at the very least joining the Protectorate for your own safety."
"Optional, he's not saying it, but it's optional." Assault added, calming the sudden panic Armsmaster again made me feel. I had thought that discussion was over and I didn't have to worry about it since Shirou so easily denied them. In hindsight, obviously that wouldn't be let go. "Whether you accept or not has no bearing on us trying to help you out a little. While I'd recommend the Wards, It's not for everybody."
Armsmaster and Battery both frown at Assault, who takes another long and drawn-out bite of cheesecake.
"...It probably sounds dumb but, I wanted to be a hero to escape my real life and help people. Not to join the Protectorate." I explained to all of my role models, people I looked up to. I didn't want to sound ungrateful and unflattered by the consideration. I was really excited that the Protectorate wanted me so bad it seemed. But I'd have to come clean to my dad, even then, Shirou would obviously not want to do such a thing.
More childishly, I wanted to keep the thing that me and Shirou did together to just the two of us for a little bit more. Three, I remind myself when I look to Matty.
However, all I get from the Heroes in the room besides Armsmaster are smiles that just say, 'I get it.' Like it was something they had heard before. It filled me with more comfort then I'd admit at the moment.
"Any reason for not becoming a criminal and deciding to help people is a good reason." Miss Photon assured me, from the smile on her face I believed her. "We, the Protectorate and New Wave, just don't want you to get in over your head, especially from no real fault of your own."
"Helping others isn't wrong, you just can't forget your own wants sometimes." Shirou said after to me, my cheeks lighting up beneath my mask when I felt him take my hand under the table. I didn't pull away at all though. "I think we're an effective enough team together that we'll be fine on our own."
Armsmaster didn't look upset per say, but he was definitely not happy at the very least. He could lighten up a little, his smile was far nicer than his serious frown.
"Ok, that isn't going to get anywhere." Armsmaster acknowledged, before moving on again. "We can move on the more important issue, that spider."
"Matty."
"Hm?"
"His name is Matty, and he can understand you." I repeated, squeezing Shirou's hand once before pulling away so I could lay both my hands on the table. "He can answer yes and no questions."
"But can he speak?" Armsmaster asked slowly, his tone for once made me a bit annoyed.
"No...," I grumbled.
"Then I'm going to ask you these questions. After that, I'm going to need to really dig in and make both of your threat assessments-"
I held in a sigh of regret as I glance at the clock above the cell's door. This was going to take a while, I think. I was beginning to want to go to bed.