"UPDATE : NEW SIGHTINGS
01-10-2011 to 01-11-2011 :
Three (3) interrupted muggings (timestamps of PRT call-ins : 2213, 0146, 0310).
One (1) interrupted store robbery (timestamp of PRT call-in : 0245).
01-11-2011 to 01-12-2011 :
Two (2) interrupted muggings (timestamps of PRT call-ins : 0005, 0423).
One (1) interrupted conjugal murder (timestamp of PRT call-in : 2347).
One (1) interrupted store robbery (timestamp of PRT call-ins : 0245).
IMPORTANT NOTE : several of these sightings occurred at great distance from one another. Lasombra's profile has been updated to indicate that his Mover profile allows him to move through the city faster than a motorized vehicle.
The wolf-like entity first encountered during the fight between Lasombra and Hookwolf was also present each time, but didn't attack any of the criminals present."
From the logs of the PRT file on the Heroic cape 'Lasombra,' accessed on January 12th, 2011.
"Hello ?"
"Hey, Jimmy ! It's me, Frank."
"Oh, Frank. Nice to hear from you. How are you doing ?"
"Good, good. Remember how I complained to you about the neighbours' dog making noise late at night ? Turns out he was sick with something, and I've heard that the neighbours are going to send him to a specialist veterinarian out of town tomorrow."
"Really ? From what you told me, that beast is quite the challenge to move."
"Yeah, they have called some specialist firm on Captain's Hill. Going to move it in the middle of the night, too, cause apparently he needs some treatment ASAP."
"Uh. I'm going to make sure the kids aren't out clubbing, then, just in case."
"Probably for the best. See you next week at the game ?"
"Yeah, see you next week. I'll bring the beer."
Phone conversation between Krieg and one of the Empire Eighty-Eight informants, January 12th, 2011.
"E88 informed of time and location. Ambush will take place."
SMS message sent to one of Coil's burner phones on January 12th, 2011.
Inside his underground base of operation, Coil nodded in satisfaction as he read the message before turning off the phone and throwing it into the disposal bin, followed by pulling out the next one in line from his desk and turning it on. His operative – an E88 mole he'd flipped through threat of revealing his allegiance to Piggot and the promise of more cash to finance his gambling addiction – had managed to pass the information he'd given him to the Empire.
Thanks to the PRT's reputation for leaking information like a sieve, it was unlikely that the E88 would realize that their mole didn't have the clearance for this information. And if they did, they would merely attribute it to their spy being skilled at getting access to intel he wasn't supposed to. After all, the intel was absolutely true : Coil had made sure of it himself.
Acquiring the date of Hookwolf's transport out of town had been more difficult than he'd anticipated : having already lost the E88 cape once, Emily was keeping her cards close to her chest. Coil had been forced to use his power to 'interrogate' Emily herself earlier today, barely managing to extract the information before a squad of troopers had barged in guns blazing and he'd collapsed the timeline before being shot to death (an experience he'd no desire to go through again).
She'd given him the information far more easily than she would have in most circumstances, since she'd thought it wouldn't do him any good since he was about to be killed. His power made it incredibly easy to acquire information so long as he made sure to prepare the terrain in advance. It might not be as visually impressive as Lung's or Kaiser's, but Coil had spent more than enough time risking his life on the frontlines anyway. He much preferred to remain in the shadows and manipulate events from there, never endangering himself in a way that would last beyond a throwaway timeline.
Another useful information-gathering aspect of his power had been used last night, when he'd sent one of his men to watch the Hebert household in a now-discarded timeline. Using thermal imagery from within an unmarked van, the man had been able to confirm that the girl was in the house when Lasombra had shown up across the city to deal with some petty crime. If she was linked to Lasombra, then it was as a Master with a powerful projection and an incredible range. Meaning that capturing her shouldn't be difficult, although of course Coil would make a few test runs before committing to it.
At his orders, the Undersiders had kept their head down for the last couple of days. He'd used his mercenaries to launch a few attacks against the Empire and PRT patrols : it wouldn't do for Coil not to at least try to take advantage of the ABB's collapse, after all. People might start asking questions if he didn't play up to what was expected of a gang leader. And gaining a few more streets of territory could always be useful later, if he ever decided to burn the Coil identity in order to increase his prestige in the PRT (it was amazing what you could get away with by using a convincing body double, so long as he didn't realize you were setting him up to die in your place somewhere down the line).
Throwing the Undersiders at the most probable ambush location (which he could check using Tattletale easily enough) wouldn't serve much of a purpose. For all the talents of the band of misfits he'd gathered under his patronage, they weren't much use in a straight-up cape fight (he'd been looking for a combat-oriented cape to add to their ranks, without success so far), being much more used to heists and escaping dangerous situation. With the promise of enough money, he might be able to sway them (except Tattletale, but if she was outvoted by her teammates she would follow along, he was sure of it), but he wasn't going to risk losing them for so little gain.
What he could do, however, was have a few mercenaries hidden on rooftops with sniper rifles. As long as none of them were unfortunate enough to end up on the same rooftop as Victor, whose own skills at long-range sniping were immense if less honestly acquired, they would provide him a good view of the action and the option to intervene if an opportunity presented itself. He could use his power to have his men located at different points to make sure they didn't meet the skill thief in the case the Empire sent him, keep the most advantageous timeline when the ambush started, and then adapt as needed.
The odds were that the Empire would succeed in freeing Hookwolf. Even if they didn't, the mere fact that the transport time and trajectory had been leaked again would be a black mark on Piggot's record – but Coil intended to make sure the murderous thug was back out on the streets if at all possible. Losing a Birdcage-bound villain not once, but twice, would be a significant step toward his goal of having Piggot removed from her position so that he could eventually take control of the local PRT.
No matter what happened, the events of tonight would end up benefiting him. He would make sure of it.
To my surprise, the last two days had been surprisingly calm.
After taking out Lung and Oni Lee on my first self-aware night out as Lasombra, then Hookwolf on the second, part of me had expected things to continue going at this rhythm. In hindsight, that had been somewhat foolish of me. Brockton Bay might have one of the highest cape-per-capita density of the USA, but parahumans were still massively outnumbered by regular people, even just among the criminal element.
Also, the other capes must have started getting worried about Lasombra and were keeping their heads down. Looking at the news during the day, it seemed that the E88 was pulling its horns in after losing Hookwolf. There had been very few sightings of their capes out and about over the last two nights, and PHO was abuzz with speculation as to what that meant. The most popular theory was that the Nazis were preparing a break-out for Hookwolf, but the mods were stopping people from discussing how this might be achieved. Personally, I thought the odds that Kaiser would look to PHO for inspiration were low, but whatever.
The Undersiders were also staying out of sight, as there hadn't been a single report of one of their members reported since our encounter at the dogfighting pit. That was good, because I wasn't sure how I'd act if they crossed paths with Lasombra gain. Compared to the other gangs of Brockton Bay, they were downright inoffensive, and Bitch (it still felt weird to call her that in my mind instead of Hellhound, but Grue had seemed sincere when he'd said it was her chosen name), despite her reputation, had risked her life to save animals from the Empire.
Because that was what she had been doing, whether she'd realized it or not (and I was fairly certain she had). If Hookwolf had been at the building when she'd arrived, she'd have died before Lasombra or her teammates could arrive. And I didn't want to fight someone who was willing to die to save dogs from being torn apart for the entertainment of a bunch of Nazis, or who would hold a puppy in her arms while the last of its life ran out.
Uber and Leet hadn't gone out either, but in their case that wasn't anything unusual : there was always a break between their 'shows', during which they presumably recovered from their injuries and prepared for the next one.
Last and definitely least, there were the Merchants. They too weren't making waves, though the drug trade was still running as strong as ever, poisoning the city and draining its most vulnerable citizens of life and cash. I would have to do something about them sooner rather than later, but I still didn't have enough control over my projection to do some proper investigation with Lasombra (and the thought of going out during the day as Taylor Hebert to find out where the Merchants were storing their drugs and hiding from the cops and the Protectorate was one I'd briefly considered before discarding it as crazy).
Fortunately, my power's ability to detect evil from within the Abyss was a very effective method of locating crime, even if I still had no idea how it worked or how it determined which situation to respond to. Without fighting other capes, I had been able to interrupt several robberies, muggings, and one murder attempt by a man on his girlfriend (or wife, I wasn't sure and hadn't stayed long enough to find out after breaking his legs and making sure the victim had called the police). I couldn't be everywhere, but looking at the PHO threads on Lasombra, it seemed the criminal underworld of the Bay was starting to think I could show up anywhere, anytime (well, so long as the sun was down).
I was also starting to see the effects of my reputation. Several times, the criminals had run or surrendered at the first sight of my projection, and bringing Marchosias out had convinced all but a couple that discretion was the better part of their non-existent valor.
Someone who'd witnessed one of my interventions had gone as far as recreating the noise of my cane tapping the ground and putting it online along with a bunch of white noise and ominous Latin chanting, describing it as 'the closest thing they could come to the real thing'. Someone else had drawn fanart (I had fanart, how cool was that ?!) of Lasombra, which since my projection interfered with all recording devices for some weird reason was the closest thing to an official portrait.
I was also doing better on the health side of things. Dad had driven me to the hospital for a check-up earlier, and the doctor had confirmed that I should be able to start going to school next week. I was … ambivalent about the idea, but I knew I couldn't stay home forever, no matter how much a part of me wanted nothing more than to do precisely that. Arcadia would be different from Winslow, I kept telling myself. At the very least, it couldn't possibly be worse. And the PRT had, presumably, pulled a few strings and called in favors to arrange my transfer. I didn't want to risk drawing their attention by not showing up, not with my secret. I'd spent the last couple of days going over the material that had been sent to our home by Arcadia; judging by my results on the tests provided, it was clear that I'd need to work a lot to get my grades back up to what they'd been before … before.
I took a deep breath and turned off my computer. Enough. I needed to stop thinking about it : there was nothing I could do to avoid going back to school eventually, and stressing over it wouldn't help anything. Of course, that was easier said than done, but one of the benefits of my powers was that, ever since I'd realized I had them, I hadn't struggled to fall asleep at all. Which was a lot more useful than it sounded, especially after over a year of crying myself to sleep more often than not, terrified of what fresh torments tomorrow would bring. And even after a night of remotely controlling Lasombra through town, I woke up in the morning refreshed.
It wasn't as impressive as punching Hookwolf in the face and sending him flying, but I suspected a lot of people would pay a lot of money for that, and the thought made me smile as I laid down in bed, closed my eyes, and …
Plunged.
The first sign Glory Girl had that something was happening was the sound of an explosion. Living in Brockton Bay meant that she had become familiar with far too many sounds related to violence, but this one, while distant at the time, was louder than anything save that time one of Leet's inventions had catastrophically detonated.
She'd been flying over the city on what was, strictly speaking, an unauthorized patrol (it was a school night, after all). But after her latest breakup with Dean, and an argument at the dinner table with Mom about that, she'd wanted to blow off some steam. The city had been quiet for the last two days, but she was sure she could find something to do – and if not, flying for a while would help her cool her head.
She should have known better than to tempt fate, she thought as she descended from the skies to the sight of a ripped PRT van and several Protectorate heroes engaged in battle against a bunch of Empire capes and thugs.
She suppressed her first instinct to jump straight in and took a good look at the battlefield. There was Armsmaster, surrounded by a tide of Crusader's ghosts as well as Alabaster (and holy shit, that halberd of his could do a lot of damage when he didn't have to worry about killing his opponents). Normally, Crusader's ghosts passed through inorganic matter, but the Tinker must have activated some kind of energy field which allowed his halberd to tear them to pieces regardless.
Miss Militia, fighting with a dozen E88 goons at the same time and holding her own, despite being able to kill them all in seconds if she turned her taser into something more lethal. Assault and Battery were engaging Stormtiger and Cricket, and Rune was flying back, throwing pieces of the road at every hero.
And inside the gutted van …
Shit, she thought. That's Hookwolf.
Well, that explained everything. Vicky had heard about the Empire cape's capture, obviously. From what she could see from up here, he was still unconscious and restrained, the heroes forming a vague circle to keep the Empire from reaching him. In the distance, she heard police and PRT sirens : reinforcements were on the way.
But it would take several minutes at least for them to get there, and Vicky knew that, statistically, very few cape fights lasted this long.
Mom was going to be furious. She'd forbidden Vicky from fighting the Empire capes, too scared of losing another family member to the Nazi bastards. And to her shame, Vicky had obeyed, restricting herself to the Empire's unpowered members who were unlucky enough to cross her path.
But Vicky had become Glory Girl because she wanted to be a hero. She wouldn't run from a fight when she could help.
She shouted :
"Hey ! Sabrina the Neo-Nazi ! Why don't you pick on someone closer to your own size ?"
Not her most inspired bit of banter, but it did the job of drawing her attention to her and away from the other heroes. She managed to bring up a shield of dirt in time to keep Vicky from slamming into her. She punched through the obstacle, but Rune had already flown away.
Before the other Empire capes could react to her arrival, Vicky flew into the mass of Crusader clones, breaking them apart with punches and kicks until the pressure on Armsmaster had decreased enough for him to disengage from the melee, at which point she flew up and to his side.
"Glory Girl," he greeted her tersely, barely sounding out of breath. "You shouldn't be here."
"Wouldn't be much of a heroine if I ignored this," she said with more bravado than she felt. Sure, she was invincible, but that didn't mean a lot for the other heroes around her.
"Lay off the kiddo, Armsy," said Assault, his usually joking tone edged with concern. "We need all the help we can get."
By now, the rest of the Protectorate capes had managed to disengage, taking advantage of the surprise caused by her sudden arrival, and regrouped close to the gutted van. Vicky forced her aura down : she didn't want to affect her allies' minds right now.
"This doesn't have to end in blood, you know," Stormtiger called out. "Just let us take Hookwolf and we'll go, no fuss no muss."
"If you think you can take him, then come and try it," said Armsmaster with a threatening flourish of his halberd. "Or you can surrender, if you prefer."
Stormtiger laughed, a sound that made the hairs on the back of Vicky's neck stand up. He started walking forward. Vicky tensed –
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The other capes froze at the incongruous sound which impossibly echoed over the din of battle. Slowly, all of them turned their head toward its source, including Vicky.
And there he was, coming out of a darkened alley with all the poise of a king taking a leisurely stroll : Lasombra. The newest cape in Brockton Bay, who had defeated Lung, Oni Lee and Hookwolf. As a proud cape geek, Vicky had read the threads about him, wondering just what the hell was going on with his powers. She'd seen the fanart, and while the work had been good, it had failed to capture the sheer presence of the cape, who commanded everyone's attention even though they'd been in the middle of a fight seconds ago.
He strode onto the scene of the fight as if he were talking a stroll on the Boardwalk, and as he walked, an enormous black wolf emerged from the ground behind him.
Lasombra stopped, the wolf stalking behind him, and both stared at the Empire forces. At least, Vicky assumed Lasombra was staring at them, what with him not having eyes she could see.
"SURRENDER," he said, and Vicky jumped at the sound of a creepy, booming voice rising from every shadow around them. The descriptions of it on PHO had not done it justice.
The Empire capes flinched, as did the Protectorate ones. The thugs stepped back, glancing at one another nervously. Vicky was used to seeing criminals cringe in fear thank to her aura, but this was something else. Even without her power, criminals were scared of what she could do to them with her Brute strength; but they were terrified of Lasombra. As they damn well ought to be, given what he had done to Lung, Oni Lee and Hookwolf. The only reason they weren't running, she guessed, was that they were more scared of what their own bosses would do to them if they did.
"You think you scare us, darkie ?!" shouted Alabaster.
Slowly, Lasombra turned his head to stare at him. After few tense seconds, he said : "YES."
Vicky couldn't help herself but chuckle at the way Alabaster twitched. If his power didn't make him permanently chalk-white (which, in itself, was a fascinating mutation that would have been much more interesting if it wasn't attached to such a raging prick), she was sure his face would be reddening right now.
"Well, you … you're fucking wrong !" Alabaster shouted back, somewhat pitifully.
Lasombra shook his head, then raised a hand and pointed a finger toward Alabaster, before saying :
"MARCHOSIAS."
The wolf leapt over several meters and smashed into Alabaster. The Empire cape fell to the ground, and then the wolf (which was apparently called Marchosias) lowered its head and went to town on him.
And Alabaster screamed.
It was a sound completely unlike any Vicky had ever heard, one she wouldn't have believed could come out of a human throat. It was full of sheer, unmitigated terror, and the fact it was coming from someone who was supposed to be immortal made it even worse.
She froze, and so did everyone else. Several seconds stretched into eternity, until the wolf raised its head, its maw dripping with pale gore that flickered out of existence as Alabaster's loop reset. It stalked away and back toward Lasombra, leaving behind Alabaster, who was laying on the ground, unmoving. His face was a rictus of pure horror, and if not for the fact that he kept flickering every few seconds as his loop reset, showing that his power was still active, Vicky would have thought he was dead.
What the fuck, she thought. What the absolute fuck ?!
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Everyone's gazes jumped back to Lasombra at the sound of his cane tapping the ground. The shadowy cape took a few steps toward the Empire forces, who recoiled from him (or, rather, from the wolf who accompanied him).
"NEXT ?"
Damn, terrifying or not, you couldn't deny Lasombra had style. For a moment, Vicky thought the Empire was going to break and run (Nazis, as a rule, didn't have much in the way of bravery, she'd found).
It was Cricket who dared to make the next move. She charged Lasombra head-on, brandishing her two kamas. Given that, as far as Vicky knew, the young woman didn't have a Brute rating to speak of, that was more brave than smart, but it did the trick of getting the rest of the Empire troops to start moving. Stormtiger charged behind her, using his aerokinesis to propel himself forward, while a swarm of Crusader's ghosts joined them, followed by the rest of the unpowered thugs.
Vicky was about to jump to Lasombra's aid when a hand fell on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Armsmaster shaking his head emphatically. She was about to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing when the reason became obvious, as Lasombra tore through the Empire's charge like one of Mom's light weapons through butter.
Lasombra blocked a blow from Cricket's kamas with his cane (the handle withstanding the impact of the sharp blades without so much as a scratch), then slapped the villain on the ear with his left hand. She fell to the ground, clutching the side of her head and whining pitifully. The metal cage which covered her face slipped off, but Vicky didn't have time to look at her face, more preoccupied with the ongoing melee.
Without pausing, Lasombra smashed the top of his cane into Stormtiger's chest just as the villain was about to unleash his air claws on him. There was a cracking sound as several ribs broke, and Stormtiger was hurled backward, probably deeply regretting not wearing armor and going into battle bare-chested, with his only costume being that stupid mask.
Then the ghosts began to swarm Lasombra, holding echoes of the spear their original carried everywhere. Lasombra simply … stood there, and let them stab him. None of the projected blades pierced his suit : apparently whatever power gave him his Brute rating extended to his clothes, which made sense given they didn't look like any fabric Vicky knew about. Crusader's projected weapons simply bounced off him as if he were made of steel. After a couple of seconds, apparently bored with letting the Nazi ghosts try their best to inflict any harm on him, Lasombra slammed his cane into the ground, and black tentacles erupted from the point of impact.
Vicky shivered as the dark appendages began to rip the ghosts apart, tearing them limb from limb with unrestrained savagery. The pair which had been trying to drag Stormtiger away were pulverised before they could get further than a couple of meters, leaving the cape groaning on the ground and (if Vicky was interpreting the sound of the wind she was hearing amidst the other noises of the fight) forced to use his power to help him breathe without agonizing pain.
It was too much for the remaining thugs, who broke and ran the moment they realized they were actually going to have to fight the hero who had taken down Lung. Miss Militia shot down a few of them with a taser before they got out of range, as did Armsmaster with tranquillizer darts. Rune was flying away (Vicky checked herself before going after her : she was already going to be in enough trouble without breaking protocol that badly), and was carrying Crusader, who had of course been hiding at the back of the crowd, far from the fighting.
"Thank you for your assistance, Lasombra," said Armsmaster.
Lasombra didn't reply verbally, but dipped his head in acknowledgment.
"That was so cool !" Vicky gushed as she floated down closer to the other independent cape (but keeping her distance from the big wolf, who was looking at her with what she could only describe as a dubious expression on its face). Her caution at what had happened to Alabaster (who was still immobile) was surpassed by her curiosity. "Uh, hi. I'm Glory Girl. I'm a big fan of your work !"
Lasombra stared at her, then nodded once, before lowering into his own shadow and disappearing alongside with his wolf.
"Don't take it personally," said Assault, who for once didn't sound as flippant as he usually did. "Apparently he does that to everyone. Not the most talkative sort, that fellow."
"Assault, stay focused," Armsmaster cut in. "A new transport is en route, along with reinforcements. I have contacted Director Piggot : we'll resume our trip as soon as possible. With any luck, we should be out of the city and the Empire's reach before they can regroup and prepare another attack."
"How did they do it the first time anyway ?" asked Miss Militia, frowning. "I was too busy fighting once I got out and didn't have time to figure it out."
"Rune threw a big rock at the vehicle," replied Assault. "Not something she could have pulled out of a nearby building at a moment's notice either. They knew we were going to pass through here and when, Armsmaster."
"I am aware," the leader of the local Protectorate said through gritted teeth.
"And not even we knew we were going to be extracting Hookwolf until a couple of hours ago," continued Battery, who sounded equally unhappy.
"Shit," Vicky blurted out, then immediately regretted it as the curse reminded everyone that she was here.
"Glory Girl," Armsmaster began, "while we are thankful for your assistance, this is information you shouldn't be listening to. In fact, I'm going to insist that you leave immediately."
"Are you sure ? I can help. I can keep watch for Empire reinforcements and escort the van out of town …"
"I'm sure you could," the Protectorate leader interrupted her, "but I don't think New Wave would approve of us keeping you here. Unless you're telling me that your mother and aunt are aware of your presence here, and are already on their way to assist us ?"
Vicky winced. "I, ah, I don't suppose you could forget to tell them about this ?"
Armsmaster's didn't say anything, and even though his helmet covered his eyes, Vicky could feel the disapproval in his glare.
"Yeah, didn't think so," she muttered. Mom was going to absolutely freak out.
"Good. We will inform your family about what happened here as part of our standard procedure, but that will take some time, so I suggest you tell your parents yourself. Now, I need to make sure Hookwolf won't wake up before the reinforcements arrive. Miss Militia, you're in charge."
"Understood," replied the heroine as the Tinker walked to the gutted van and began pulling tools out of his armor to work on the shattered medical equipment around Hookwolf. There was a flash of emerald light, and she was holding a comfoam grenade launcher. "Assault, Battery, stay on guard."
"Well, I … I'll be out of your hair," said Vicky somewhat awkwardly as she began to fly up. "Good luck, everyone !"
"Thank you, Glory Girl," Miss Militia replied, her smile hidden by her bandana but audible in her voice.
At least someone was happy she'd been here, Vicky thought as she flew back home, knowing that she was going to have to wake up Mom and Dad to explain, which wouldn't do her any favors. But she had helped keep Hookwolf from escaping, so she would take her dressing down with her head held high. It wasn't exactly the kind of acts of bravery most people thought of when they imagined what cape life was like, but she would endure it all the same for the greater good.
The thought was enough to make her chuckle.
AN : You know, after the Grail War arc of A Blade Recast, you'd have thought I'd have learned my lesson about fights with a lot of people - namely, that they are even more difficult for me to write than fight scenes in general. At least the fact that Lasombra is so overwhelmingly powerful means I could keep it short.
(Don't worry : Taylor will end up facing challenges at some point in the story.)
Also, I edited the last chapter to change the dates on the PHO section from the 11th to the 10th of January. Why ? Because I checked the timeline while writing this chapter and realized I'd messed up. Odds are no one would have noticed if I left it like that, but I did, and so I had no choice.
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and look forward to your thoughts and comments.