Chapter 100 - 1

Bao was not happy.

"What do you mean you only got 6? We paid for 9, shithead." He hissed, his hand moving to the gun latched to his side. The drugged-up idiot in front of him blanched, rapidly backing off with his hands up.

"I-it's not our fault! Blame Chojin, he's the one directing the thing! I'm just the middleman, please!" He babbled in panic, but Bao would have none of it.

"Boys, show him what happens when you mess with the ABB." He ordered his fellow gangers. The druggie bolted, but he was no match for a group of vengeful, sadistic gangers.

Bao ignored the pathetic man's cries, and instead stalked over to where the merchandise was kept. The warehouse they were in was a run-down thing, having been 'borrowed' from some no-name whitey in exchange for his wife and daughter not being raped and killed.

Unironically enough, the dark past of the warehouse matched its dark purpose quite well, and it showed as Bao entered the main room.

Six girls, some as young as 13, lay bound and gagged on the cold, hard floor. To the sides stood two guards armed with rifles and knives, watching them with ill-concealed desire.

Of course, they wouldn't touch them. Bao had made damn sure they knew the rules- no touching the merchandise until it was in the whorehouses. Most of the time, the guards behaved, and the few times they didn't... Well, Bao had ordered more than a few people to be buried in some dark hole.

"What's the matter, boss?" One of the guards, Jin, asked. Bao just shook his head, not even trying to hide his impetuous scowl.

"Fucking traffickers stiffed us. We were supposed to get 9, and instead, we only got these 6 fuckers." He grumbled, glaring at the women as though it was their fault more of them hadn't been taken.

"Huh." Shao, the other guard, muttered, looking a bit impressed. "Fuckers have balls."

"Not for long they won't." Bao huffed. "I'll have to call the big boss over this. He's not going to be happy."

"Think he's gonna send the Oni?" Jin asked, sounding excited. A fucking Oni fanboy, Bao thought in amusement. He could sort of understand the sentiment- Oni Lee was the go-to solution for any problems necessitating some quick murders, and in the ABB, only Lung himself held more respect.

Still, Bao had interacted with the man a few times, and in his opinion, he resembled a robot more than a person. He didn't talk, didn't emote, didn't question orders. Just killed, killed, and killed.

"I don't know, I'm not the boss. He'll do whatever he thinks is necessary to punish the fuckers." He said, making sure to keep his tone respectful. Bad-talking Lung was a one-way street to an early grave, and Bao had no intention of dying.

"Yeah, I guess that makes-" The sound of gunshots interrupted them, followed by horrifying screams. The three men paused, looking towards the direction the sound had come from.

"Shit. Did we get found?" Jin whispered, eyes wide. Bao unholstered his revolver, silencing the man with a glare, and quickly ran towards one of the support beams of the warehouse, hiding behind it. His fellow gangers followed his example, scattering through the large storage room.

For a minute, nothing happened. Then, as Bao watched, the door suddenly tore open, the wooden frame literally ripping off as unnatural strength was applied to it.

And then, a young woman strolled in, clad in a green and black costume with a long, green cape. She wore a simple black domino mask that barely covered her face, her distinctive red hair swaying as she strolled in like she owned the place.

Even worse, Bao could see one of his minions, Zeng, being dragged along with her, pale as paper.

"-So I was like, wow! That's a great idea. After all, who doesn't want to be a queen, right? Well, I guess I took it a bit more literally, so- Wait, the fuck?" She stopped her babbling, staring at the six women who were all looking at her with varying levels of hope.

"This is a whorehouse? I thought it was a drug depo!" She mumbled, brows furrowing as she turned to stare at Fang, who desperately shook his head.

She looked at him, then at the women, then at him, then finally back at the women. "Right. Huh." She looked almost thoughtful. "I don't think I've ever felt so disgusted in my humanity." Her voice was flat, a stark contrast to the bubbly tone she'd held coming in.

Almost carelessly, she slapped Fang, too fast for him to react. Bao had seen a lot of violence in his life- He'd seen Lung's victims, and the Oni's mutilated enemies, hell, he'd killed his fair share of people too- But he'd never seen someone's head simply explode.

He gulped silently as the cape turned towards the women, one of whom had started retching at the sight. "Right, hello ladies, I guess I'll be your savior tonight. Let me just..." She trailed off, her eyes zooming towards Bao's location.

Shit. Acting quickly, Bao whipped out his gun, and thanks to years of practice, fired three shots as quickly and accurately as he could at the Cape. To his despair, the woman didn't even react as the bullets pinged off of her.

"... I'm not in the mood for this. Die." She said, her voice filled with annoyance, right before blurring forward.

Bao threw himself to the side, his heart beating like a drum, and with a roar, he pointed his pist-

Maddie was terrified.

She'd heard the horror stories, of women being snatched off of the streets by gangs of Asians. Of how they would be drugged, raped, and killed. She'd thought they were myths.

And yet, here she was. She'd watched her parents die, her last memory of them being of them struggling as the gangsters took her away, watching as they screamed and fought, watched as an annoyed ganger put a round through each of their heads.

Even worse... Her sister. Her sweet, bratty sister, who always complained about doing chores, who never did her homework on time, who always cried whenever she got the smallest papercut... She'd been taken, too, and even worse, Maddie knew damn well where she was.

She was right there with her, as they were loaded onto vans and sent off to be sold like slaves. And Maddie could do nothing to protect her except watch as her normally loud, exuberant sister was beaten bloody for crying, despite being a mere 13 years old.

And... just as they were about to be shipped off to what would more than likely be their final destination, Maddie finally found hope.

Only for it to be taken away.

"Stop! Stop, or I'll shoot the bitch!" The last ganger alive screamed, clutching at Maddie's neck even as the cold barrel of his gun pressed against her temple.

Maddie could hear her sister's strangled screaming, and strangely enough, that only made the situation feel even worse. Terror ran through her bones, but despite that, she tried her best to keep herself from shaking like a leaf as death loomed closer and closer.

Their red-headed savior stared at the ganger with cold eyes. "Pathetic." She murmured. "Don't shoot her. What do you want?"

"L-leave! Go away!" He screeched, pressing the barrel even further. The woman raised her hands, slowly backing away.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave." She said until she was right to the door. "Just don't shoot her."

And then she was out, and with her, Maddie's hope was ripped away anew. The gangster didn't seem to know what to do at that instant, simply continuing to press his gun into Maddie's head.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." He murmured, backing off as well. "I need to get out of here. Need to-"

He never did get to finish his sentence, as the ceiling above him abruptly exploded, and a vengeful redhead descended with impossible speed, slamming into him and ripping the gun away from him.

Maddie screamed, the sound muffled by her gag, but no pain came. Slowly, she registered what had happened, even as she watched as the redhead finished off the half-broken ganger by stomping on his head.

"Coward." She spat at his corpse, before turning towards Maddie and the rest of the girls. "Right. Gotta deal with you girls." She murmured.

And, just like that, Maddie found hope again.

"This the place?" Alec asked as Lisa drove, glancing at the run-down warehouse with a bored look. Lisa nodded, glancing down at the map on her phone.

"Yup, this is it. Get off your lazy ass and go take out the supplies." She simply said, causing Alec to scoff.

"I'll have you know, my ass is the laziest, most beautiful one there is." He boasted. Lisa rolled her eyes, ignoring his usual stupidity and instead got off their truck, walking towards the second one as it pulled in.

She waited until Brian came out, clad in his costume, just as Lisa and Alec were. He glanced at her, his expression hidden by his mask, but not to her power.

Worried. Unsure if the boss was lying, unhappy with the situation. Doesn't want to offend the ABB like this. Lisa's power fed her. And, yeah, Lisa could see where he was coming from. From what the new boss had told her, this might very well have been a rather big operation on the ABB's part. Coming in to crash it like this would set them off something fierce.

At the same time, though, Lisa found that she didn't care, not for something like this. "You alright, Grue?" She asked. The boy nodded, glancing over as Rachel came out from the passenger seat.

"Yes. You know where the boss is?" His faintly distorted voice asked her, but before she could answer him, the boss in question strolled out from the warehouse, six half-dressed girls trailing meekly behind her.

"Right here, Grue. You got the stuff?" She asked. He nodded, and after grabbing a groaning Alec, the two of them started unloading clothes and food from the vans.

When Lisa had been told to stock up on what Lea had called 'minion supplies', she'd been a bit unsure of what exactly she meant. But, after a bit of brainstorming with and without her power, Lisa had just sort of shrugged and grabbed the 50k given to her to grab a whole bunch of essentials, making sure to do so in a way that wouldn't easily trace back to them.

And, honestly, she really hadn't expected that they'd need them so soon, even if they weren't being used for their intended purpose.

"Rachel, do be a dear and make sure no gangers come around," Lea said, nodding at the butch cape, who grunted an affirmative and stalked off to do as told, her three dogs trailing behind her as she did so.

As Lisa walked over to her, Lea turned to the girls. "As for you guys, let's get some clothes on you and some food in you. After that, we can call the police and see about trying to get you in contact with your families."

The girls didn't cheer or anything, but Lisa could definitely see them perking up at Lea's words. The two capes then proceeded to work together to get the six girls decent and fed, with Lea remaining surprisingly silent while not being talked to, and Lisa trying her best to comfort the traumatized girls.

Twenty minutes later, Lisa spotted Rachel coming back. Lea did as well, and waved her over from where she was sitting on the truck's opened hatch "Bitch. Welcome back, did you find any trouble?" She asked.

Rachel shook her head. "No." She grunted out. "A few druggies, but they fled immediately."

Lea nodded with a hum. "That's good." She merely said before turning toward Lisa. "How much longer till the police get here?"

Lisa shrugged. "It depends. They have a habit of taking their sweet time for this general area. Not really rich enough for them to care."

She watched as Lea's brows furrowed at her words. "Annoying." She sighed, tapping her fingers on her thigh.

"M-miss?" One of the girls spoke up, hesitantly walking over to Lea, fidgeting all the while.

"Hm? What's up? You need anything?" Lea immediately asked, jumping to her feet. The girl hesitated again, her eyes darting back towards the group, who'd stopped their silent murmuring and turned to watch her as well.

Lisa's powers immediately told her what the girl wanted to ask, but a sharp look from Lea had her shut up before she could speak. Ignoring her pout, Lea turned back to the girl, smiling encouragingly.

"W-well..." She said, her voice hoarse. "M-my family is..." She trailed off for a moment before another glance back seemed to rally her spirits. "My family is dead." She said, her voice somewhat hollow. "W-we don't have anywhere to go." She finally said, looking at Lea with a pleading look.

For her part, Lea grimaced. "Your entire family? Grandparents, uncles, distant relatives?" She asked, somewhat skeptically.

The girl looked away. "Our parents are immigrants. They're all back in Europe."

Lea rubbed her head. "Right. Of course they are. I'm assuming the little one over there is your sister, yes?" Lea didn't even wait for the girl's response before turning to Lisa. "Tats, grab these two and bring them over to our base. It's not up to my standards yet, but it'll do."

Lisa faux-saluted before doing as told, ushering the somewhat bewildered teen and her sister into the nearest van.

Seeing this, Lea turned toward the rest of the girls. "Anyone else needs a place to crash for a few days?" She offered, receiving muted shakes of head in response.

Lea shrugged before walking over to Grue and Alec, the two of them leaning onto the van. "You two, grab Rachel and get back to base. I'll deal with the police, which speaking of, I can hear arriving, so hurry up."

Officer Brandon eyed the green-black cape with trepidation.

When he'd been informed to go check out a distress call in the area, he'd expected that he'd simply find a corpse or two, call in the specialists, and then go home.

And instead, here he was, just him and his partner, Jean, against an unknown cape with potential hostages.

However, instead of attacking him, the cape simply waved at him as he got out of the car, his hand tensing his holster.

"Finally! Took you guys long enough. These girls here." She indicated to the four girls present, who were all staring at him with wide eyes filled with eagerness. "Need some help finding their homes. Make sure they get home fine, or we're gonna have problems." She said, her voice falling flat at the last word.

Brandon gulped. Shit, why again did he decide to become a policeman? Fucking capes. He hoped Jean had already called the PRT. "R-right. Would you like to give a statement...?" He offered. The cape tilted her head slightly before shrugging.

"Sure, why not. I was patrolling around this area- scouting it out to see if it would make for a good starting location, when I stumbled upon... I think it was 4 gangers beating up a fifth. I beat them up, got told that they were moving 'products' and then killed four. I dragged the fifth over to that little warehouse over there," She waved at the run-down warehouse behind her, "and stumbled onto these lovely ladies. Turns out, this was a sex trafficking operation- nasty stuff, really." She rambled, scrunching up her nose as she said so, and Brandon couldn't help but agree.

"Right... Well, this isn't really our jurisdiction anymore, so if you don't mind waiting for the PRT, they'll want to grill you on the events a bit more." Brandon slowly said, not really paying her much attention as he looked around. His bodycam had audio, anyway. "Although, I'm sure they'll be happy to see another hero in Brockton. We really need more of those." He joked.

The look the cape sent him at his words was a funny one. "... You do know I'm a villain, right?" She asked, voice filled with amusement.

Brandon paused, mouth opening and closing a few times before quickly backing off, unholstering his gun.

The cape, or, well, villain he guessed, simply rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I'm not gonna hurt you- Just help these women, and we'll be golden. While you're at it, though, tell this to the PRT, word for word please." She coughed into her fist before speaking again, her tone purposefully deeper and more menacing. "You guys suck so much, I had to do your job for you. Also, you're all ugly and your mommas smell funny." She broke down into giggles immediately afterward.

Brandon was now certain this cape was insane, which she only further reaffirmed when she immediately stopped giggling and waved at the woman as though she was bipolar. "Well, I'm off. Gotta go do villain stuff, like rescuing puppies and damsels, apparently. Toodles!"

And with that, she jumped into the air, taking flight and speeding off, leaving behind a very disturbed and confused police officer, and four half-amused, half-traumatized girls.381FendOffLightApr 15, 2022View discussionThreadmarks Foundations 1.4 View contentFendOffLightVerified DarklingApr 15, 2022#4"Soo, what are your names?" Alec abruptly spoke up from where he was lounging on the comfortable couch he'd draped himself over, causing Maddie and her sister to flinch violently, their heads swiveling around to stare at him.

Maddie wasn't sure what to think of the people who'd rescued her quite yet. On one hand, they were unabashed villains, happily proclaiming themselves so. On the other hand, however, they had saved her from a fate worse than death, before bringing the two of them to their super-secret lair, which just so happened to be a rather big house in a middle-class neighborhood, completely and utterly incospicous if not for the fact that, well, it was a villain's lair.

It... didn't really look the part. It was comfy, homely, and lacked any sort of spikes or skulls hanging around. It did have some really comfortable beds, though, as Maddie has learned when she and her sister had been given one of the rooms to sleep the night in.

"I, uh, um... I'm Maddie." She stuttered out, nervously twirling her hair around. She felt more than saw as her sister buried her face into her side, holding onto her tightly.

The younger girl still wasn't comfortable around the villains, and thankfully, none of the other teens had so far had any issues with that. Hell, if anything, they'd all been particularly kind to her, especially the older black boy.

"Maddie, huh?" Alec said, his voice mirthful. "Well then, Maddie, what's it like living with some big, bad, villains? We kick enough puppies yet?" He teased her, throwing a smirk her way.

"Um, I, well, uh..." Maddie babbled, terrified about saying something wrong. Thankfully, someone came to her rescue.

"Regent, stop messing with the girls." A stern voice spoke up, causing the three of them to look over and stare as Brian walked into the room, holding two plates filled with pasta and some vegetables. "They're not used to your brand of bull-, I mean, your type of crap." He added, stumbling over his words a bit even as he handed the two girls a plate each.

"Come on then, eat up." He gently offered as the two girls stared at the plate hesitantly. "You two didn't eat anything yesterday, so you've got to be starving. Besides, I've been told the boss wants to talk to you in a bit, and it's best to have a full stomach when dealing with her."

Maddie unconsciously perked up at the mention of the boss. She hadn't seen the red-haired girl who'd saved her since yesterday, and she hadn't had a chance to ask about it since she'd been more or less immediately been put to bed the moment they'd arrived, and she'd only woken up an hour before this.

"S-she is?" Her sister squeaked out, causing all eyes to fall on her. She blushed at the attention and buried her face in Maddie's side once more, a far cry from the usual bubbly, bratty, and attention-seeking girl that Maddie had known all her life.

She... wasn't going to lie and say that she hadn't changed from the experience as well. Maddie was still flinching randomly at shadows, and she still wasn't fully comfortable with having boys around her, although the black boy- Grue, his name was, she remembered- had certainly helped with that fear, his surprisingly gentle and compassionate attitude helping tremendously, especially towards her sister.

"Yeah. She's been busy lately, from what Tats has been telling me. The two of them have been working together to secure some deals with a bunch of rich assholes." He explained, watching as the two sisters dug into their food. "Honestly, I doubt we could've afforded this place by ourselves even if we all worked for years, but the boss is crazy good at making money." He added after a bit.

"Considering she's paying us so bloody much, she better be." Alec piped up from the side, smugly holding his new, extremely expensive and brand new console. "By the way, Grue, what happened with the old boss? Did we just kind of ghost him?" He asked, ignoring the sneaky and curious glances the two sisters were throwing at them.

"I'll admit, I don't actually know." Brian mused. "It was always Tat's job to keep in contact with him, and she hasn't told me yet." He admitted.

"I told him to fuck off, is what happened." A familiar voice spoke up, causing everyone to jump slightly once again and turn to face it, causing mixed reactions the moment they laid eyes on the person strutting in.

For her own part, Maddie felt her eyes going wide as Lea walked in. Part of it was her mere presence, yes, but the major part was the fact that she wasn't wearing a mask!

All of the other teens, although out of costume, had been wearing domino masks and referring to each other only by their cape names when in the sisters' presence, so to see their supposed boss so uncaring about her identity was... odd.

"You did?" Alec gleefully asked, even as he got up from the slouch he'd been in and settled into a less... unrespectful position. He wouldn't admit it, but he really wasn't eager to test the probably-insane girl's tolerance for his bullshit, especially considering how damn well she was paying them. "What did he say? Come on, I wanna hear it!" He whined.

Lea laughed at his words even as she dragged a chair over so that she could sit in front of the four teens. "Well, he made some ominous threats like 'I know where you live' and 'you will regret crossing me'. You know, the usual evil mastermind jazz. So I called him by his civilian name, told him that if he dared cross me I would hunt him down and make what the Nine do look like amateur hour." She gleefully told him.

There was absolute silence in the room at Lea's words. Maddie felt slightly faint at her words, this was her savior? She... wasn't sure what to think about it.

"Sick." Alec finally decided, smirking. Meanwhile, Brian just groaned, burying his head in his hands.

"That sounds like a perfect recipe for ensuring he does try something." He grumbled. "People like him don't take well to threats, from what Tats has been telling me."

Lea was unbothered by his words. "Oh, you're absolutely right, but you see, it doesn't really matter since I'm planning on smearing him over a wall anyways. Besides, my power is a pretty damn good counter to his." She said as she tapped her own head. "Anti-precog abilities come in real handy, even if they don't work quite as well on thinkers like Tattletale, Accord, or Alexandria."

"You have anti-precog abilities??" "Um, what do you mean?" Two people, Brian and Maddie, spoke up simultaneously. Glancing at the two of them, Lea chose to answer Maddie first.

She tapped a finger against her thigh as she thought it over. "Think about it like this, the way I see it, there are two kinds of thinkers. There are precogs, who work by divining the future, past, or present through their power alone. People like, hm... Ah, you know Eleventh Hour? The guy in Watchdog? Yeah, he's like that. Then, there are powers who work by boosting their user's intelligence, like Accord. It's a sort of internal-external difference. My defenses work great against external, but not so much for internal." She rambled on, pausing slightly at the end. "Although I'll admit, I'm not sure where Tats falls on this... She's a mix of both, really. Food for thought, I suppose."

"Oh." Maddie murmured, unsure of what to say in response. Thankfully, she didn't need to as Brian and Lea began to chat about what she planned to do in the coming week, and about how his own efforts to find trustworthy people to work as minions were going.

Not very well it seemed, from what Maddie understood. Apparently, Lea's standards were a bit too high, even if the pay she was willing to offer was very generous. Still, Brian looked confident enough in his ability to eventually find them, but he needed more time, something Lea didn't seem too bothered by.

"You're not annoyed?" Brian inquired, only slightly surprised. Honestly, he'd been a bit afraid about telling her of his failure to deliver, but she just waved at him dismissively.

"Nah, not really. You guys are all teenage villains with no real backing or experience in this sort of work, I'm honestly surprised you've even managed to do this much." She explained. "Besides, I read online that positive reinforcement works way better than simply beating up people for their failures... Not really sure I agree, but whatever." She added, causing Brian to pale slightly at her words.

"Well, other than that, Regent, I'mma need you to come with me when we're done here. I get underplaying your power while you're hiding from daddy dearest, but now that I'm here, there's no need for that." She said, switching over to the other present boy. "I've captured a few low-life racists that were causing Rachel issues, and I want you to get yourself some defense. I'll enhance them so they're not just meatshields for you, and I can get some practice in for when I start upgrading you guys." She explained.

"What do you mean? My power's just-" His mouth clicked shut at the look that Lea sent him. Wordlessly, he nodded, causing a triumphant smile to appear on her own face.

"Great! Trust me, it'll be great." She promised. Then, she finally turned to face the two sisters, who tensed up at the scrutinizing look Lea graced them with.

"Right, boys, go and do your stuff. I'll talk with our cute guests here." She ordered. "Oh, and Brian, be a dear and tell Tattletale to try and dig up some blackmail material on Shadow Stalker. She'll know what I mean."

Brian nodded politely before hurriedly grabbing the smaller boy nearby and dragging him away, closing the door behind him as he left, leaving the two girls alone with the potentially-insane villain boss.

The two girls fidgeted as the silence stretched on for almost a minute. Maddie didn't dare speak, and neither did her sister, while Lea seemed content with simply observing them for a bit.

Finally, however, she broke the ice. "How are you two feeling?" She asked, surprisingly gentle. The two sisters glanced at each other for a few seconds before Maddie hesitantly answered.

"U-um... Well, we're fine, I gue-" She shut up immediately as Lea held up a hand, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Stop. I'm not asking you to be yes-women. I genuinely want to know how you are." She said, her voice soft. "I know I may not seem like the nicest person to you, and I'll admit that even I don't think of myself as a particularly good person, but that doesn't mean I can't feel empathy." She explained.

"What you two went through was horrible. You lost your parents, were almost killed, and had to live in cages for a week, knowing the horrible fate awaiting you." She told them seriously. "I refuse to believe that you are fine." She told them before abruptly floating upwards.

Then, in a move that stunned the two girls, Lea floated over to them and enveloped the both of them in an iron-tight hug. "Come on now, let it all out. You're safe, and nobody will dare hurt you for as long as I exist. I can promise you that." She promised them, her tone solemn.

Maddie shuddered, feeling a wetness running down her cheeks even as her sister latched onto the red-headed villain before wailing, her cries loud and desperate even as she clutched at her shirt like a lifeline.

Lea gently hummed as she rubbed the younger girl's back and gently held the other one, allowing her to bury her face into her neck, not saying anything even as Maddie shook violently, finally allowing herself to release all the pent-up emotions that had been collecting and bubbling for all this time.

Maddie wasn't sure for how long they remained there. It could've been five minutes, or it could've been five hours. However, by the time they finally separated, she felt absolutely spent.

However, she also felt lighter than before. The tragedy still weighed on her, but at least she could face the future head on instead of wallowing uselessly.

Lea patted her sister's back as the younger girl refused to let go. "Come on, kid. Your sister needs you." She gently said before she pushed the girl over to Maddie, who didn't say anything as she simply allowed her younger sibling to latch onto her tightly.

"Alright. Now that that's done with, let's talk shop." Lea spoke, visibly switching gears as her face grew serious. "Do you girls have anywhere to go? Anyone who will take you?"

Maddie shook her head, only stumbling a little as she answered. "N-no... We don't. We've only been in the U.S.A for a year, and m-mom and dad never really talked with others. They were too busy with work." She answered, feeling a familiar tinge of pain at the reminder that her parents were dead.

Lea sighed. "Figures." She murmured as she tapped her thigh repeatedly, a nervous tick that Maddie was beginning to become familiar with. "Right. I'll just go ahead and give you the options that I think I can give you." The redhead said, causing both girls to straighten at her words.

"Option one, I can try and give you to the PRT. The most likely result with this is that you'll end up in a foster home far away from here, and I won't be able to do much for you two." She said, putting up a finger and tapping it.

"Two, I can buy a home and give it to you girls. I'm fully willing to support the two of you until adulthood and a bit beyond, especially since I'm filthy rich. You'll have to live alone and I'll likely have to get Lisa on the case since there'll most likely be legal stuff to deal with, but it shouldn't be a problem." She added another finger.

Maddie's eyes were wide as she listed the second option. She... was willing to go that far for them? Even after she'd done so much?

It was... touching.

"Finally, option three. I'll admit, I really want you to pick this option, but don't take it as me pressuring you." She assured them, leaning forward in obvious excitement as she did.

"As you might've noticed already, I'm building myself a 'gang' right now." She said, staring straight into their eyes. "I don't like the term, but right now, it is what it is. For you see, I have a plan in mind, one that will eventually have me taking over this city, and if it goes well, perhaps even beyond that. But to do that, well, I need people at my side, people I can trust, who believe in me and my plans."

"I want a city, no, a country where crime doesn't exist. Where minorities don't have to flinch away from every bald white man, where women don't have to fear that asians will snatch them away, where children don't have to fear starving to death because the economy is trash." She ranted, getting more and more spirited as she went on.

"I'm not a paragon of justice, mind you, and I'm not delusional enough to think that there won't be suffering or violence involved, but I think it'll be worth it. So, what do you say, girls? Will you join me in my quest of dominance? Will you fight at my side, enforcing my will?" She stood up, offering the two bewildered girls a hand.

Maddie's heart was fluttering at the offer, something within it attracting her to it. Still, she had to speak. "We... Um, we're just normals, powerless and helpless. We couldn't even save ourselves." She bitterly said. "How could we help you, when you're so strong?"

Lea's smirk was triumphant. "A good question, one that I have an easy answer for." She said before reaching out into the air. To the girl's surprise, a dark circle abruptly appeared, Lea's hand sinking into it easily before withdrawing, now holding two glass vials.

"These," Lea gestured to the vials in her hand even as the dark portal vanished. "Are power vials. Drinking one of these will make you a parahuman, and give you powers. They are, quite literally, borderline priceless." She explained.

Maddie felt her jaw hanging wide open. "W-what?" She whispered, feeling a strange mix of emotions at the sight of the seemingly-useless vials.

Lea just grinned. "You are right. As you are now, you wouldn't be able to help me... But who says you have to remain as you are?"

Maddie's heart was thundering in her chest. "Y-you'd really give us something like that?" She asked nervously before panicking. "I-I mean, not that I don't want it, it's just-" She stopped as Lea held up a hand.

"Yes." She said resolutely. "I would. I'll admit, these come with strings attached. If I give you these, I'll expect your loyalty, perhaps not forever, but for a long time. I'll expect the two of you to become my subordinates, although in your sister's case, we might need to decide how that'll work." She mused for a bit before shaking her head.

"However, strings go both ways. Join me, and I will swear my life to your protection. I will ensure you are cared for, happy, healthy, rich, and protected." She stared right into Maddie's eyes, her hard gaze transmitting the seriousness of her words.

"I..." Maddie's mouth opened and closed. She could feel the tight grip her sister held, the way she was looking at Lea as though she was the true Messiah. Hell, she knew that she probably had a similar look herself.

She took a deep breath, and then nodded before trying to spell out her feelings. "I... I don't know if I'm worthy of this." She admitted. "But... I want to try. I don't want to ever feel so... useless... again." She ground out the word as though it physically hurt to say.

Lea nodded, a wide smile on her face. "That's good. More than good." Then, her gaze switched over to the younger girl. "What do you think, Addy?" She asked gently.

"Third option." Maddy's sister murmured, causing Lea to let out a small laugh.

"Well, that's that then. Welcome to the team, girls." The redhead said happily. "Right, let's get you two some sweet, sweet powers. Let's see, ah, yes, this one here." She held out one of the vials. "Will give you the power to teleport anywhere you can see or that you've been to, as long as you've memorized the location well enough. We'll need to do some testing in regards to bringing others with you or objects, as I'm not too sure myself." She explained.

Then, she held out the other. "This one, however, will give two things. For one, it'll make you mildly superhuman, giving you a minor but hardly insignificant brute and mover rating. However, the big part is that it'll allow you to waterbend... Essentially, controlling water. It should eventually let you heal and control blood apparently, but I'm not sure how that'll work."

Both Maddie and Addie listened intently as the redhead rambled on. "Personally, I'd suggest Maddie grab the waterbender one, and Addie grab the teleporter. However, it's your choice." She shrugged slightly. "Talk it out amongst yourselves. I can wait."

There was a second of silence before Maddie did as suggested. "...What do you think, Addie? Which one do you want?" She asked, fully ready to let her sister decide which one she wanted.

Personally, she found she didn't really care. They both sounded awesome.

"Um... Teleport, I think." Addie said, clutching her sister tighter before smiling slightly. "They'll never be able to catch me again, then!"

"Alright, that's fine." Maddie allowed easily before facing their benefactor. "Addie wants the teleporter one, if that's okay?" She asked.

"Of course it is! Here you go, be careful with it. Make sure to drink it all in one gulp." Lea answered as she got up to hand the two of them their vials, which they carefully took. "Drink up, then."

They drank, and from then on, Maddie's life would forever be changed.Last edited: May 24, 2022321FendOffLightApr 15, 2022View discussionThreadmarks Foundations 1.5 View contentFendOffLightVerified DarklingApr 16, 2022#10Dinner was a silent affair. It had been for years at this point, as Taylor and her father drifted away from each other.

In a way, Taylor preferred it that way. There really wasn't much in her life worth talking about, and she didn't want to stress her father even more. It wasn't like there was much he could do, anyway.

He hadn't helped her after the locker, and she doubted he was going to start helping her now.

They were having takeout tonight, something that her dad had grabbed on his way back from work. Two hamburgers and some french fries for the both of them, something that Taylor considered a guilty pleasure.

They certainly weren't helping her with the gut she had, after all, although all the running she'd been doing as of late certainly had.

"Do you want some water?" Her father asked her as he got up to grab some for himself. Taylor shook her head.

"Could you grab me a soda instead?" She asked instead, causing her dad to let out a huff but nonetheless oblige. Right after he'd handed it over to her, however, they both heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll go," Taylor said, taking the opportunity to flee the area and its uncomfortable silence. She felt more than saw as her dad rolled his eyes behind her, but she ignored him.

Taylor took the opportunity to spy on the person outside using her bug senses, something that she was still struggling with. And it certainly showed as all that she was able to determine was that the person was alone, probably female, and older than her but younger than her father.

Promising herself that she'd work on it later, alongside finishing the last few touches on her costume, Taylor opened the door slightly, peeking out cautiously.

She had a small heart attack when she took the person in, and more importantly, their hair. They were a vibrant shade of red, and for a moment, Taylor saw her once-friend-now-enemy.

Then, the moment passed, and Taylor saw all the other differences. She was a lot taller than Emma, for one, and where Emma was curvy, the person was slim instead, a bit like Taylor in a way. Although, where Taylor was frog-like, the woman actually looked very pretty, especially in the black-green sundress that she was wearing.

"Can I help you?" Taylor asked politely yet cautiously. The woman tilted her head slightly as she stared at Taylor, her piercing green eyes boring into her with an intensity that unsettled the younger girl slightly.

"Hopefully, you can. Is this the Hebert household?" The woman asked, her voice smooth and silky. Taylor frowned, but nonetheless gave a small nod, causing the woman to beam.

"Great! You see, I've been conducting an investigation into some... criminal matters, and I was hoping you guys could help me out. May I come in?" The woman excitedly asked. For her own part, Taylor's brows had shot up when she mentioned the word 'criminal', feeling metaphorical butterflies suddenly appearing in her stomach as fear and hope warred with each other within her.

"U-um, sure?" Taylor hesitantly agreed, opening the door fully to allow her to come in, which she promptly did, strolling in as though she owned the place.

"Great! Thanks a bunch, you'll be a great help to me, and I think, I will be of great help to you too..." The woman said, her voice taking a mirthful tilt near the end of her sentence. 

"Taylor? Who was it?" She suddenly heard her father call out before he peeked out from the kitchen and towards the entryway, and she also saw his brows furrow in concern as he took the stranger in.

"Oh! You must be Mr. Hebert, yes? Hello! My name is Lea Green, and I'm here to talk to you and your daughter about some truly horrible things that have been allowed to happen!" She said, deliberately emphasizing the word allowed as she happily strolled up to her father, offering him her hand.

"Oh, uh, hello, Ms. Green." Her dad responded in bewilderment as he shook the offered hand. Lea beamed in response before coughing slightly into her other fist.

"May we go somewhere more comfortable? I feel that what I have to tell you may be slightly shocking, so it might be best if you were both sitting down." She said. Taylor's hurt jumped slightly at her words as nervousness began to build up in her.

Was... Was she talking about the bullying? Something else? Taylor wasn't sure what exactly she hoped for. She didn't want to confront her dad over everything that had happened, and yet, the idea that someone, anyone, had noticed what was going on and was willing to help her had her unconsciously remaining frozen, her emotions a swirling mess.

She was brought out of it as her dad agreed and led Lea towards the living room, rubbing his head sheepishly when her raised brow took in its messy state.

"Uh, sorry about the mess. We, well, weren't expecting any guests." Her dad apologized, but Lea just waved him off.

"Don't worry about it, I understand. Besides, I'm currently the guardian of two girls, a thirteen years old and a sixteen years old. I can sympathize." Lea reassured even as she strolled over to one of the couches and plopped herself down onto it without fanfare.

Taylor felt a brief moment of irritation at the way she was acting, as though she owned her house. Her dad twitched, likely feeling the same way, but said nothing.

"You are? You don't look that old." Her father pointed out, somehow managing not to let his annoyance leak into his voice. Probably all the experience he had at the docks, Taylor thought.

"Oh, I'm not, but it's okay since they're both technically runaways. The ABB murdered their parents and planned on throwing them in a brothel, you see, so the girls weren't exactly eager to be thrown into an orphanage." Lea casually answered, ignoring the way both Heberts froze at her words.

"Oh, uh, that's... awful. I apologize for bringing it up?" Her dad offered after a few moments of stunned silence. Lea once again merely waved him off.

"Don't worry about it, they're doing fine, although I'm still trying to figure out how to get them into a good school without tipping off the system too much." Lea happily told them, something that Taylor could only stare at her for. "Anyway, this isn't about them. I'm here for you! Now, let's start this off with a few questions." The redhead steepled her fingers, leaning forward slightly as her eyes zoomed in on Taylor's own.

Taylor resisted the urge to take a step back, forcefully beating back the sudden nervousness that the stare caused her. Lea's gaze was... intense, to say the least.

"Ms. Hebert, have you shared with your father your school situation yet?" She sweetly asked, ignoring Danny's remark of 'Wait, what situation', and instead continued staring down the younger girl.

For her own part, Taylor had gone completely still as she forced away all of the panic and fear that she was feeling into the small swarm around her house. "There is no situation. Everything is fine, I don't know what you're talking about." She answered calmly.

Lea just kept staring at her. And staring. And staring.

After almost a full dozen seconds, Taylor's will finally crumbled. "No." She mumbled, shifting on her feet. "I haven't..." She admitted, cringing at the look her father sent her.

It was a pained one, one that contained both surprise, confusion, and unsurprisingly, hurt.

The triumphant smile that Lea gave her wasn't helping. "That's not very nice of you, but I understand. I too was a teenager, once upon a time long ago, so I understand. However, to make sense of what I wish for you to help me with, it might be best if you both were caught up to speed." Lea then turned to face Danny, her smirk fading away.

"You see, Mr. Hebert, your daughter here has been facing some... difficulties, over at her school." Lea started, and Taylor dearly wanted to yell at her to shut the hell up, to go away, and to go fuck herself. And yet, she found herself frozen in place as her entire house of cards came crumbling down. "From what I've found, she's been getting harassed quite harshly for the past year or so, maybe more."

"She has?" Danny asked weakly. "I... I was told that it was just a one-time thing. That it had stopped..." He said, almost as if trying to justify or defend himself even as he kept sneaking half-disappointed, half-desperate glances at his daughter, who had a look like that of a deer before a headlight.

"It hasn't. It's actually been getting worse. No repercussions from something as bad as the locker incident must've emboldened them." Lea told him, casually bringing up one of, if not the worst memory that Taylor had.

"Now, normally, I wouldn't be here to help you if it were just that. I lack the capacity to help every troubled teen in this country with their problems, as unfortunate as that is." Lea continued. "However, what makes this different is the identity of one of Taylor's bullies."

As she spoke, she took out her phone from her pocket, quickly opening it and scrolling around a bit. "Now, let's see... Ah, yes, one Sophia Hess." She said, and Taylor twitched at the name. Violently. "A violent bully slash jock who delights in causing pain and suffering unto others, and also a massive fucking hypocrite. I really wonder why that bastard Kaiser or one of his lackeys hasn't skewered her yet." Lea half-mused, half-rambled. "Oh, right, she's a Ward. And she hates it there, too. Too stupid to realize how lucky she is, but just intelligent enough not to leave."

"Excuse me!?" "Wait, what do you mean?" Taylor and her dad both said. Taylor's voice was shrill, her eyes wide while her dad looked torn between anger at her words, confusion, and a good helping of suspicion.

Lea paused. "Oops, hadn't meant to say that yet... Haha, uh... Yeah, one of Taylor's bullies is a Ward, and the PRT is protecting her from the consequences of her actions. The school deliberately ignores Taylor's suffering because hosting a Ward is good PR, and it helps their relations with the PRT." She rushed out, leaving both Heberts too stunned to answer.

"Oh, right. If you don't believe me, well, just watch this video." She added after a moment, throwing her phone at the older Hebert, who stumbled a bit but managed to catch it. "Just hit play and watch."

Despite his disbelief at the situation, the elder Hebert did as told, and a video began to play.

It showed a very familiar black girl stalking through an alleyway, looking around herself cautiously before abruptly turning into black smoke and shadowing through a wall. The video wasn't even fifteen seconds long, and yet, it had somehow managed to make Taylor's entire world collapse.

"No." She muttered. "No, no, no. She can't be a Ward!" She grit out, her fists clenching. She ignored the worried look her father was sending her as Taylor whirled around to face Lea. "You're lying! You're... You're!" She screamed, too angry to realize that she was essentially throwing a tantrum in front of her father and a complete stranger.

"I am not." Lea calmly defended herself, bringing her hands up in a gesture of peace. "And I know you know that too. I know you're angry, but-" Taylor wasn't going to stand here and listen to this. She stormed off towards her room, deliberately ignoring her father's yell for her to come back.

She slammed the door hard enough to rattle the entire house, locked it, and then threw herself on her bed. She could feel tears prickling at her eyes, and she knew that her swarm was buzzing, yet found that she didn't care.

Sophia was a Ward. Sophia was Shadow Stalker. It made so much fucking sense, in retrospect. How she'd managed to always get her stuff out of her locker, how they managed to get away with everything, how Sophia and Emma acted so fearlessly even next to the gangers...

Taylor bit her pillow and screamed, muffling the sound as much as she could. Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it.

She didn't know for how long she simply raged in her own head, with her face buried in her pillow, but it couldn't have been any less than at least twenty minutes.

By the end of it, Taylor was exhausted, not so much physically but definitely mentally. She had no idea what she should do now. Should she even be a hero anymore? All of her plans felt so... hollow, now that she knew what the heroes were really like. Even if they weren't maniacal assholes like Sophia themselves, they still accepted and protected her.

No. She...

"You know, your reaction was remarkably different than that of both Maddie and Addie." A voice suddenly spoke up from right next to her, causing Taylor to literally jump, suppressing a scream as she whirled around to face whoever had spoken.

'How did she get in here!?' Taylor furiously thought as she glared at Lea, who was lounging against the very much locked door casually, staring at Taylor with half-lidded eyes.

"I mean, their experience was different than yours, but from what I could see, their response to trauma was to seek out physical affection. Hugs, little kisses, you know, the stuff. You, on the other hand, fled. You retreated away from everything and everyone, almost as though... you were afraid they would hurt you even more." She spoke. Taylor glared at her even harder, teeth gritting in her mouth.

"Get out! Get out of my room!" She yelled. Lea ignored her, and instead, she took a step forward.

Then, she began to float.

"Tell me, Taylor Hebert." She started, staring down at a suddenly-gaping Taylor. "Will you allow her to win? Will you continue to run away from your problems like a coward, or will you face them head on?" She asked.

"Y-you're a cape..." Taylor said, suddenly feeling afraid as she quickly stepped back, summoning her swarm. There weren't a lot of bugs in range, and she couldn't simply call everything here for fear of outing herself.

"How observant." Lea drawled. "Yes, I am. Not just that, but, fun fact, I'm a villain." She said easily, continuing to float closer to Taylor until the younger girl bumped against a wall.

"You know... When I first planned this whole thing, I wanted to make a big speech about how the heroes aren't as shiny and good as they claim to be, and us villains aren't as evil as they claim." Lea spoke, her voice going dangerously silky. "However, I see now that that's not what you really want to hear, do you? I can see it, you know. You claim to want to be a hero, but... That's not what I'm seeing."

"What are you-" Taylor wanted to scream, but Lea simply held a finger to her lips. Unconsciously, Taylor obeyed. 

"Don't lie to me. I know you're a parahuman too, and I know about your plans. I know about your costume downstairs, about your notebook in the drawer over there... I know a lot, Taylor." Lea told her with a smile on her face. "And... I think you're wasting your time."

"W-what?" Taylor asked, hoping to stall her for long enough for her swarm to arrive. Lea's smile only widened.

"Well... Why do you want to be a hero, Taylor?" Lea asked her, finally setting down onto the floor. Then, she gazed expectantly at Taylor, who stubbornly kept glaring at the woman, refusing to speak.

Almost a full minute passed, with neither side willing to give. Finally, however, Lea relented, and with a sigh, she spoke. "... Taylor, your insects will not be able to hurt me. Why would you risk outing yourself when all I want to do is help you?" She asked.

"Help me!?" Taylor half-yelled, glaring even harder as her fists clenched tight enough to hurt. "You come into my house, reveal all my secrets, out a Ward, and then you reveal you're actually a cape! Fuck you, you're not here to help me." Taylor accused.

Lea recoiled, visibly stunned at the words before her face twisted into one of pure rage. "You little-" Then, she stopped, closing her eyes for a moment.

"This would be so much easier with violence." Taylor heard her murmur before she sighed yet again. "Look, can we start over? This isn't at all going how I imagined it would." Lea asked.

Taylor just kept glaring at her.

Lea tapped her thighs. "Right... Well, how can I prove that I have good intentions?" She asked, visibly switching tracks.

"Go away." Taylor told her without hesitation. "Fuck off and never come back! You've just ruined my life." She grit out.

Lea's jaw fell. "Ruined your life!? What are you talking about?? I just helped you actually talk with her father! I just revealed to you a key piece of information!! How the hell did I ruin your life!?" She demanded, visibly getting angrier and angrier.

Taylor knew that she shouldn't continue provoking the cape, that she should deescalate, but she didn't care. "Leave my dad out of this! He didn't need to know! I was handling it, and you ruined it!"

"You unreasonable, paranoid brat." Lea grit out. "No you bloody weren't! You think Emma was going to stop just because you became a 'hero'? You think getting yourself killed because you have no idea what you're doing would help anyone!?" She demanded.

"STOP TALKING TO ME LIKE YOU KNOW ME!" Taylor outright screeched. Then, she attacked.

Her swarm poured in through the window, a literal wave of flying bugs that buried the two of them underneath their sheer numbers.

Taylor could hear her dad yelling something, but she ignored it as she dumped her emotions into her swarm as she had them bite, sting, and swarm Lea. She didn't care about anything else but hurting the bitch.

Before she could react, however, a hand closed in around her throat, and suddenly, her swarm stopped obeying her.

Taylor choked, kicking and punching at Lea as she holstered the younger girl into the air by her neck. "You IDIOT!" Lea screeched. "Why!? Why did you attack!? Are you so angry at me for telling you the truth?? AM I THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE ANGRY AT!?" She roared at Taylor.

"Fuck..." Taylor choked out. "You."

Lea's visage twisted into a hateful one. "Unbelievable. Bloody fucking unbelievable." She said in a disappointed tone as she dropped Taylor to the ground.

Taylor immediately started retching and coughing, grasping at her throat even as her bugs fought her own control. Then, she felt Lea wretch her up and shove something into her hands.

She blinked slightly as she what it was: A futuristic-looking gun, one that she'd just given Taylor and then proceeded to point at her own temple.

"Come on then." Lea challenged, glaring down at Taylor. "Pull the trigger. Splatter my brains out. Vent your anger out on me. Will that make you feel better? Huh?!" 

Taylor remained frozen, her eyes wide. Lea's glare was hard, what little sympathy it held before completely gone. "Well then, will you do it? You were so eager to sting me to death, but a gun is somehow different? For all you knew, I could've been a squishy normal with flight. You would've killed me then, so how is this different now?" She challenged again.

Predictably, Taylor remained frozen.

"That's just the thing, then. You don't think. You think going to school every day, getting trodded on every single day, somehow means you will 'win'?" She hissed out. "You think hurting me will stop the pain? You think it will cure the crippling loneliness you feel, day in and day out? You think that shutting your father out completely will somehow help him? And then you have the gall to get angry at him for not somehow making all of your problems go away?" Lea's eyes met Taylor's. "You hypocritical child."

Taylor's finger tightened on the trigger. The sound of a gunshot was far louder than it should've been.

The room was silent as the hole in Lea's head quickly began to close. The bugs silently cleared out of the room, directed by a will other than Taylor's.

Someone was banging on the door, screaming. Taylor's head was ringing with the sound of the gunshot, and she couldn't quite register what the person behind it was saying.

Then, she felt a pair of arms circling around her.

"... I'm sorry," Lea said, her voice soft. "I know you're angry. But I don't think you're angry at me. Although after my little rant, you might be." She chuckled. "I'd probably deserve it. Goodness me, getting so caught up in my own issues that I began to project. Embarrassing, isn't it?" She told the younger girl, who'd begun trembling.

She let go of Taylor. "Keep the gun. It might come in handy, and it failed its purpose anyway." She said as she stepped back. Taylor stared at her, numb.

Lea sighed. "Frankly, I think I'm done with you. I wanted to recruit you, but as I see now, I think you might be more trouble than I can handle." She spoke more to herself than to Taylor. "However, if you want to chat some more, maybe discuss how to go about ruining Sophia's life, reach out to me with this." She tossed Taylor a phone, the younger girl barely managing to catch it without dropping it.

"... Well, see you. Hopefully, I'll hear more from you. If not, I imagine we'll see each other again anyway, knowing you. However, know that the moment you set foot on the battlefield, I will not be as nice and forgiving as I've been today. Have a good day, Taylor." She nodded at the frozen girl before abruptly vanishing.

Just then, the door finally gave, her dad kicking it down with the help of a hammer. "Taylor! Are you okay?" He yelled, voice panicked. Then, he paused, taking in the state of the room, the half-crying girl frozen in a corner and the gun lying on the floor.

Before he knew it, his daughter was in his embrace, wailing loudly, body shaking violently, and he couldn't help but wonder.

What the hell happened?330FendOffLightApr 16, 2022View discussionThreadmarks Foundations 1.6 View contentFendOffLightVerified DarklingApr 17, 2022#26"You sure this is the place?" Jeff skeptically asked his brother, Mike, as the older man parked their car.

"It should be, I think..." Mike muttered, not wholly sure himself. "Let's see... Yeah, this is it. Let's go, I guess." He said after quickly checking his phone.

The two of them quickly left the car and took in their destination. The area was a poor one, and a rather uninhabited one to boot, something not at all uncommon in the docks.

What made this area special, however, was that it was apparently a gang hideout. More specifically, a gang that they were trying to join.

When Mike's old friend Brian had contacted him, subtly enquiring about his financial situation, Mike hadn't really known what to think. When he'd then offered him the opportunity to come and work at what was apparently a new gang, one that Brian himself supported, Mike had decided to at least give it a try, especially considering the fact that Brian's pay estimate had been somewhere around 50k yearly at the very minimum, which was more than triple what he currently made.

And, apparently, that was the lowest pay possible, as Brian had also told him that the new boss was paying their lieutenants something like a 100k monthly. Considering the Bay's shit economy, that was practically a billionaire-level kind of pay.

Of course, it wasn't as though he'd ever actually achieve that level considering said lieutenants were capes, but that was outside the point.

Working as a gangster wasn't exactly what he'd thought he'd be doing after he left college, but, well, it was what it was. He was lucky enough as it was that his parents had left him enough wealth to support himself and his brother for this long.

Shaking his head to bring himself out of his own thoughts, Mike refocused on the situation. The building they were told to go to looked as though it had been recently renewed, a stark contrast to the decayed look that the next-door buildings had.

There was a person sitting on a chair next to the entrance, looking at their phone with a bored look. That wasn't surprising, security was paramount in a gang, but what was surprising was the fact that the person looked like they could've been in middle school. And a girl.

Now, Mike was no goose-stepping sexist, but that didn't mean that it was common to see women in gangs. After all, the type of people that ran in gangs generally weren't the people women would want to be next to, added to the fact that they had a lot more to lose than men did should something ever go wrong.

And a kid at that? Well... Mike was already beginning to have second thoughts.

"Uh, hello?" His brother, however, didn't seem to share his hesitation. "Is this the, um, place we were told about?" He asked in a hushed tone of voice. The girl looked up, squinting her eyes at them for a moment before smiling hesitantly.

"Uh, yeah. Are you, um, the new hires?" The girl asked, looking a bit nervous. Jeff nodded, glancing back at his brother, who rolled his eyes but nodded too anyway.

"Oh, that's good." The girl shyly said, looking uncomfortable as she sat up. "Um, please grab my hand." She said, offering a hand to each of the brothers.

The two of them looked at each other with raised eyebrows before hesitantly grabbing the small girl's offered limb. The girl looked even more uncomfortable but nonetheless spoke resolutely. "Sissy tells me that it's really uncomfortable the first time, so, um, be careful!" She spoke loudly.

Mike had a brief second to wonder what that meant before they were abruptly somewhere else. He stumbled, feeling his stomach rise up as he reached for a bit, idly hearing his brother doing the same next to him.

"Okay, um, you guys wait here. I think L- um, the boss wants to do a thing, so, uh, bye!" The girl stuttered out before vanishing once again.

"You two alright?" A kind voice spoke up and Mike felt a pair of arms help him up to his feet.

"Y-yeah, thank you. God, that felt awful." Mike said as he rubbed his head, finally taking stock of where they'd ended up.

They were in a large, very luxurious-looking room. There were almost a dozen couches set around it, with a few dining tables filled with food, a ping-pong table of all things, several water fountains near the edges, and at least fifteen other people milling around the room, some of them nervously staying by themselves while others grouped up.

Overall, this whole place looked more like a very rich kid's party rather than a gang's recruitment drive, and judging by some of the looks he could spot on the other prospective member's faces, he wasn't the only one with that opinion.

"No problem, man. That kid's a sweetheart, but she's hella shy." The guy who'd helped him spoke again, and when Mike looked at him, he couldn't help but do a double-take.

Mainly because the guy was muscular, white, and with a bright and bald head. Thankfully, he lacked any nazi tattoos, however.

"Yeah, I guess she is..." Mike nervously spoke. "I didn't expect a gang cape to be so young. Thought the young ones all went to the Wards?" He asked even as the three of them shuffled away from what Mike thought to be the 'landing zone'.

"Nah, man. Capes come in all ages and sizes, apparently. I mean, just look at kids like Rune." The maybe-a-skinhead said. "She's super young, and yet she's one of the E88's main capes."

"Y-yeah, I guess..." Mike muttered before gently nudging his bro. "Yo, Jeff, could you go and grab me some of those chips over there?" He asked. His brother happily took the chance and left, leaving Mike to do the networking by himself.

Not that he minded too much. Making connections was important, and from what little he knew about gangs, it was especially important here.

The next twenty minutes were spent like that, with Mike slowly yet surely getting to know all the other people in the room. Most were males, often between 20 to 40 years old, with only three women present. Surprisingly enough, almost everyone was rather chill and slightly unsure, a rather telling sign that practically everyone was a newbie to the gangster life.

There were two more dropoffs during that period, with one being a single young man who looked no older than 16 or 17, and the other being two butch-looking women who looked as though they could bench press three Mike's without breaking a sweat.

Finally, however, it seemed that time ran out as, right after the last dropoff, the doors of the room abruptly swung open, silencing all of the conversations that had been going on.

"Hello everyone!" A blond girl in a tight bodysuit and domino mask shouted as she strolled in. "Thank you all for your patience! Our apologies for taking this long, but now, we're going to get started! Please line up in a single row on that wall over there..." She said, indicating said wall with a motion of her head.

It didn't take longer than a few minutes for everyone to do as told. Once everyone was in position, the blonde beamed. "Great! Now, the boss and the rest of the gang should be coming over in a few minutes, so before we get to that, let me tell you all a few rules." She spoke, clearly relishing in the authority she was wielding.

"Number one, the girl outside? The one that brought everyone in here?" She said, her eyes roving over the row of hires. "Yeah, I'd suggest doing everything in your power to avoid doing anything even remotely mean to her. The boss is super protective about her because of her age and the fact that she's her guardian."

"Two, try and avoid Bitch- That's the butch girl in a dog mask, by the way. She's... an acquired taste. Oh, and if Regent tries to fuck with you, just ignore him. He's an asshole, but he's rarely ever serious. Finally, last suggestion, don't piss off the boss. She's been in a horrible mood for the past two days, so if she starts glaring... Well, do whatever it takes to calm her down. Trust me, you don't want her angry at you." The girl shuddered, and Mike suddenly started having doubts about this whole thing.

"Right, yeah, that should be it." The blonde muttered. "They should be coming here right about... Aha, there they are!" She said triumphantly as six people strolled into the room.

They were led by a tall young woman in a green-black costume, her only facial protection being an even thinner domino mask than the other girl's.

And, judging by the way she walked and the fact that she just had a sort of aura to her, she was clearly the boss that the blonde had been talking about. Which, honestly, was a bit of a surprise. She didn't look that intimidating, after all, but Mike knew damn well that looks meant shit when it came to capes.

"Tattletale, get over here." The boss ordered. The blonde, Tattletale apparently, quickly did as told and got in line with the other capes, who'd spread out into a single line just as the hires had.

Then, the boss stepped forward. Her intense eyes roved over the potential gangsters, and the sheer intensity of her eyes was enough to make many flinch or cringe at least a little.

"Hello, my potential minions." She said, her voice venomously sweet. "I am Goddess, and I am here to convince you why you should give me your loyalty." She started as she crossed her arms behind her back, ignoring the looks the hires were sending her at the mention of her cape name. "Let's start this off with a bang, then. Does anyone here have some sort of medical condition, or have a family member with it? It can be anything from cancer to bad eyesight. Come now, don't be shy." She said.

For a few seconds, there was silence as everyone shuffled unsurely. Finally, however, someone stepped forward: Alex, the bald guy who'd first talked with Mike back when he'd been teleported.

"Ma'am." He nodded at the cape, inclining his head as he spoke respectfully. "I myself have a case of baldness due to chemotherapy, and my mom is handicapped as she's missing a leg."

"Oh? A cancer survivor? Starting off strong, huh. Well then, come over here. This one's a freebie." Their boss ordered. Alex hesitated a little but did as told.

She unashamedly poked him. "Abadabada... Hmm..." She muttered to herself. "Aha! There you go, abracadabra! You should be growing back your hair soon, and the residual damage that the chemo did is gone." She said triumphantly, looking at a stunned Alex expectedly.

"I... I feel awesome!" He said, genuine surprise in his voice. "Thank you so much." His words had her smirking widely, a cocky look on her face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm awesome. Now get back in line. Anyone else?" She asked. Unsurprisingly, this time, more or less everyone stepped forward.

It took almost ten full minutes for Goddess to go through everyone, and by the time she was finished, the mood in the room had definitely changed. The awkwardness was long gone, replaced by a sort of awed gratefulness.

"Well, that's the last of it then." The boss said as she shooed away the last patient. "Now, let's get onto the main speech. As I've just proven to you, joining me means that you will never have to worry about your health. As long as you live, I can fix you up. I'm fully willing to extend this benefit to any family you have, at no cost whatsoever." She said.

Mike knew that the boss now had everyone's full and undivided attention, even his. An offer like that, well... In a city like Brockton Bay, where ending up in a hospital would forever leave you in horrible debt... It was immenselyattractive.

"That's not all, however." She proclaimed, the grin etched onto her face completely unchanged. "Should you join me... Well. Regent! Bring out your toys." She shouted, turning back to face the assembled capes.

"Coming right up." The one dressed in renaissance-style clothing said, twirling his staff a bit. A moment later, two more people stepped in through the door.

They were big, bulky, and had no masks on. Without hesitation, they walked forward until they were right beside their new boss, who patted one on the arm affectionately.

"These big boys here are not parahumans. They once were a pair of very naughty gangers, the rape-kill-pillage type. Then, they ran into me." She said casually. "Now, they're Regent's toys. However, that's not the important part. What is important is the fact that they are much stronger and durable than a normal person should be." She said.

As if to demonstrate, one of the men casually picked Goddess up with one hand by the back of her shirt before setting her on his shoulder. She laughed delightfully, patting the man's head from her new position. "As you can see, this too is my work. And, should you join me, you too can-" She abruptly stopped as the other man next to her casually put his hand on her bum. Goddess' face went almost as red as her hair as her head swiveled to stare at the capes behind her. "Regent, stop feeling up my butt. Not in front of the hires." She snapped out.

Regent made a mock salute, and the man's hand fell. Goddess sighed.

"Ugh. Way to ruin a speech." She mumbled annoyedly, giving Regent a stink eye. "Anyways, yeah. If you join, I can enhance you to peak human levels. It won't be as much as these guys, since I won't take chances with my upgrades going wrong and killing you as it might for these guys, but it'll still be significant." She told the stunned normals in front of her.

"Now that I've told you all about what I can offer, let's move on." She said, hopping down from the man's shoulder and shooing the two off. "Let's start with expectations about what working in my gang means." She said, her voice turning serious, causing more than a few to gulp nervously.

"Let's start off with the big one. If you intentionally kill a civilian, or god forbid, rape them, I will hunt you down to the ends of the Earth and beyond. When I catch you, I will skin you alive, keeping you alive through it all. Then, I will crucify you, and have a swarm of specially-made flesh-eating insects slowly burrow through you, making sure you remain alive for as long as possible." She said darkly. "If that civilian happened to be a child, I will do far worse."

Mike knew that many people nearby had frozen, but surprisingly, he found himself actually thankful for her words. There was no hesitation, and the promise within them was clear. She was fully serious about it, and as someone whose girlfriend had once been raped... Well, he himself fully agreed with her words.

"Now, rape will always be forbidden, and expect to face my wrath if you dare try it, but if another gangster is attacking you and you blow their head off, well, no skin off my back. Capes are a different story, mainly because you guys shouldn't really be fighting them in the first place. That's our job." Goddess continued, relaxing slightly as she moved on to different topics. "We'll be discussing rules of engagement further if you choose to stay. Like how to deal with the PRT, when to surrender or when to fight, and all that jazz." She nodded at the group as she spoke.

"Next up, let's talk paychecks. As I'm sure you've been informed, the minimum is 50k yearly, but more likely than not, I'll be paying you more than that, depending on duties, responsibilities, loyalty, and good service. There is no medical insurance needed, since I am your medical insurance. Taxes are also not really counted for, since if things go as I'm planning them to go, we will be the one collecting taxes in the future."

With that last ominous statement, Goddess twirled around. "Alright, guys, come on up." She told the capes, who quickly did as told and lined themselves up behind her as though they were team captains for a basketball team.

Then, she turned back towards the normals. "That's my pitch. If you choose to leave now, I will be giving you a grand for free as a thank you for your time. Please head over there to that wall if that is your choice. I swear on my honor that there will be no repercussions for leaving." She said solemnly.

Surprisingly, nobody took this option as everyone remained rooted to their spots. Almost a full minute passed in silence before Goddess finally smiled. "Good. Seems like my pitch worked great, then." She nodded happily.

"Now, here's how the gang will theoretically work. I'm the big boss, and as far as everyone here is concerned, my word is the law. However, I have better things to do than micromanage everything. Hence, all of you will be assigned to a lieutenant, depending on your skills and preferences."

"Think of it like feudalism. I'm the, hehe, queen." She giggled slightly, and if Mike was honest, a bit derangedly, "And my capes are nobles. They have their own privileges and expectations, and more likely than not, they will rule the territory I plan on conquering for me. You all will be their subordinates, their knights as you will." She nodded happily at her comparison.

"Now, I will give the floor to said capes. Each one will make their pitch, and by the end of it, you all will go to the one you prefer. Keep in mind that this is all very early stage, so things are flexible, and considering our line of work, there might be deaths that will upset things. I will do everything in my power to prevent that, but despite all my strength, I am not omnipotent." Goddess told them before turning to her capes. "Well then, do the thing, guys. Nyx, you're with me."

Nyx, who was apparently the young girl who'd brought them into the room in the first place, eagerly trotted over to Goddess, who quickly picked her up and slung her onto her back, giggling all the while before both abruptly vanished.

There was a moment of silence, but it was quickly broken as one of the capes, a tall, beefy man with a skull helmet stepped forward. "You've heard the boss, but I know she's a bit... much, and perhaps didn't explain well. Does anyone have any questions?" He asked, his voice distorted and intimidating.

Mike saw one of the present women hesitantly step forward, hand raised. The skull cape tilted his head at her, allowing her to speak. "Uh, what's the gang's policy on things like drugs and prostitution? And, well, what about the Empire or the ABB?" She hesitantly asked.

The skull cape nodded. "I do not fully know what the boss thinks of willing prostitutes," He emphasized the word clearly, "So I cannot say. I do know, however, that the boss does not like drugs. I... do not fully know what she thinks about selling drugs, but considering the fact that 99% of our revenue comes from her alone, I doubt it will be an important part of the gang, if it's allowed at all. That is all I can say."

"As for the ABB and Empire, well, if you're asking about if we're going to be racist, no." The cape said before bringing his long-sleeved jacket up a bit, revealing black skin. "Skin color, sexuality, gender, or beliefs, we do not care. If you do, please leave right this moment." He growled.

"If you're asking about our relations to them, then... Well, suffice to say that the boss will take care of it. She didn't really show off much today, but know this. From what I've seen and been told, the boss could single-handedly beat every single cape within the city at once, with ease." He said, crossing his arms under his chest.

That... was a very bold claim, considering the fact that people like Oni Lee, Lung, Kaiser, and Hookwolf existed, never mind the Protectorate.

"Any other questions?" The skull cape asked. There were a few, and he answered them professionally. Things like time off, medical leave, when the paychecks would be given, and where and when they would gather and organize.

"Right. Let's move on then." The cape said after he answered the last question. "I will begin. My name is Grue, and my power is this." He said, holding one hand up, allowing billowing darkness to gather above it. "I can create darkness. During battle, it is my duty to provide cover for retreat or surprise attacks. I am also the sub-boss after Goddess. I organize things and keep everything together while Goddess does her own things." He spoke clearly and professionally.

"If you want to join me, I'll expect professionalism and good standards more than anything else." He added with a nod before taking a step back, allowing the next person to step forward.

It was the butch girl, Bitch. "I don't particularly care about this, but the boss said I had to do it." She said gruffly, clearly irritated at being here. "If you join me, you'll be helping me with the shelters. You'll shovel shit and care for dogs. When we fight, I'm frontline, and you will be there with me." She growled out before stalking back.

... Mike could see where her name was coming from.

Next up was Tattletale, who swaggered up. "Right, I'm Tattletale, and I'm a thinker. I'm not really a fighter, so if you choose me, you probably won't be busting heads. You'll get to be my cute little minion and do as I tell you, and in exchange, we get to sit back and relax while the other boys and girls go out and do our work for us. Toodles!" She cheerfully called out before skipping back.

Regent was next, twirling his scepter around. "Right, I'm regent. I don't really care if you join me or not, I mostly just laze around all day. Not really sure what you'll be doing if you choose me, but hey, your choice." He shrugged, not even bothering to step forward.

Finally, the last one, the girl in a blue dress with a Venetian mask. She looked the most hesitant out of all the capes as she stepped forward. "I, uh, guess that if you join me, you'll be doing a... bit of everything? I don't really know, sorry." She apologized nervously before quickly stepping back.

Grue clapped his hands, bringing back everyone's attention to him. "Right, choose who you'll be working with. After this, we can get started on all the more boring paperwork and assignments." He said with a nod. "Get to it, boys and girls."

"Well, that went rather well, didn't it?" Tattletale asked as she lounged on the couch, idly tapping away at her computer. Lea floated above her, kicking her legs behind her idly.

"It did!" The floating redhead brightly said. "I'm surprised that Maddie managed to get two hires. I was afraid that when she insisted on coming with you guys, she'd get disappointed. She's still a bit too new at this whole thing."

"Eh, it's not really a problem. We'll probably just take her girls and give them to whoever needs more hands." Lisa shot back. She was still testing the limits of Lea's patience, and so far, she had found that working for the maybe-insane girl was a very different experience than working with Coil.

For one, Lea didn't give a shit what Tattletale did in her own time, and she more or less trusted her with all of her money, assets, and intelligence. Tattletale might've been tempted to mess with those, but considering the fact that Lea had her own power, and she could smear her over a wall, she had wisely decided caution to be the best bet.

Besides, Lea was a surprisingly good boss. Whenever she had thinker headaches, Lea was willing to help her out with them, somehow. When she needed something, Lea never hesitated to give it. If she wanted time off, she'd get it. All she expected in return was loyalty and obedience.

Of course, Lisa hadn't given up the hope of getting out from under her thumb, but so far... Well, she hadn't made much progress.

"I suppose." Lea conceded. "Anyway, how's the planning going?" She asked, excitement beginning to fill the redhead as she looked down at Lisa.

"Well enough, I guess. We should be ready by Monday" Lisa answered. "Thanks to the new hires, we'll be able to cover more ground more effectively. We'll still need you to beat back the PRT and gang response, however." Lisa warned.

Lea laughed gleefully. "Oh, don't worry, I'm more than happy to. It will be fun crushing those cute little weaklings."

Lisa couldn't help but smirk. She wasn't really a mustache-twirling kind of villain, but Lea definitely was, if her ambition was anything to go off.

After all, who else would announce themselves to the world by conquering the entire docks?