AUTHOR'S NOTES: READ – Well, as you may have noticed, this came out several hours before my normal posting schedule. I wanted to explain this before the chapters to make everything clear. Okay, to make it quick and simple, I have plans for the next couple of hours. Plans that involve spending the rest of the night out of my house and with no plans to return until very late, if at all—late enough to arrive exhausted and wanting nothing more than to sleep. So, it was either post it now, or very late tomorrow when I could get up. Luckily, I finished the chapters in time to post them now. Bow down before me!
And if you're wondering about plans, some friends and I are going to see The Amazing Digital Circus!! In theaters! Yes, I know, it premiered yesterday, but unfortunately no one could coordinate the times, so we're doing it today! I'm really excited about it!
And well, since the whole group hasn't been able to get together very often, we had planned to go out for dinner after the movie, then go somewhere else and hang out, and then go back to someone's house and continue spending the night, so the overall plan is not to go back home.
Next week, the posting schedule will be as usual. Thanks for reading!
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Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Taylor POV - September 25th.
"And my coffee?" Amy asked as soon as I came out of the locker room in my hero costume. I smiled slightly.
"Hi Amy, good night, Amy, how have you been? I'm fine, and you, Amy? " I replied mockingly, Amy just grunted.
"Fiiiine. Hey Taylor, give me my coffee before I die and it's your fault." Amy grumbled. I chuckled and gestured for her to follow me. I went back into the room, over to my briefcase, and pulled out a thermos, much bigger than the one I usually carried, which Amy immediately snatched from me. "My precious," Amy moaned, clutching the thermos. I burst out laughing.
"Relax, addict," I said playfully. Amy just glared at me.
"This is all your fault," Amy growled. "I'm a doctor, we live mainly on coffee, and you gave me the best damn coffee I've ever had. Take responsibility, you bitch." Amy snarled, and I laughed.
"Then it's a real shame for you, this is my last week in the Bay." I said playfully, Amy grunted.
"Don't remind me, do you really think Strider can bring me coffee every day in exchange for unlimited healing?" Amy asked, almost dreamily. I snorted.
"Coffee, for unlimited healing from one of the best healers? Sounds like a pretty fair deal." I said, chuckling. Amy snorted.
"Oh, believe me, it's worth it, this coffee makes me hate this world less at this hour of the night." Amy grumbled as she opened the thermos.
"Then you shouldn't be awake at this hour, just... why?" I snorted incredulously.
"How else am I supposed to get my coffee?" Amy asked, genuinely puzzled. I gave her a dry look.
"I'm sure I could have left it in the common room with your name on it; no one would drink anything of yours." I said, shaking my head and smiling. Amy shrugged.
"Hot, freshly brewed coffee is so much better," Amy said before taking a sip of her coffee. She closed her eyes with pleasure before sighing with delight. "Delicious nectar of the gods," Amy sighed so softly that it made me snort once more.
"You really should take better care of yourself, Amy." I shook my head while smiling at her.
"I'll just have one cup and then go to sleep in one of the rooms here. The good thing about being independent and having my own clinic is that I open whenever I want." Amy grumbled as she enjoyed her cup of coffee.
"I'm sure the people who are waiting for you to open wouldn't be so happy about that." I smirked, Amy shrugged.
"It's not my job to make people happy, only to cure them. If they don't agree, they can go to a regular hospital. If it's urgent, I'll treat them anyway," Amy scoffed. I shook my head once again.
I really couldn't argue with that. Amy had a private clinic where she charged for her services. Anyone could go and get an appointment with her as long as they paid the price, no matter what their injury was. Even if a millionaire wanted to be treated for something as simple as a sprain, as long as they paid, Amy would treat them.
Even so, Amy still went on several free community patrols at hospitals to treat terminal cases that doctors' medicine and quirks couldn't cure or heal, once or twice a week, but anything minor that could be cured in days or weeks, Amy wouldn't touch.
It really was a good system, and there were people who paid more than necessary for minor things. I was sure Amy had a huge bank account just by treating minor wounds or illnesses for rich people, especially since people came from all over the world to use Panacea's services.
Especially since she was one of the few people with healing quirks that worked on terminal illnesses, in fact, on any illness.
As incredible as Izumi's Round Deer Quirk was at healing flesh wounds and regenerating limbs with ease, it couldn't actually cure something as simple as a cold. And it was the same for many healing Quirks; even S-rank users like Akari Shimizu from Japan or Min Byung-Gyu from Korea were the same—they could only treat flesh wounds or, at most, poisons, but nothing more.
So yes, even with so many really powerful healing Quirks, Amy stood out enormously thanks to her versatility.
"Rest a little, Amy," I said gently. "Now... I have to go on patrol," I said softly, and Amy just nodded. I was about to leave when I heard someone running in our direction with great urgency. The door burst open, startling Amy.
"Taylor! Here you are! It's an emergency! Amy! You're here too! Come on!" Vista exclaimed as she clung to the door, looking slightly pale and alarmed. Amy and I exchanged urgent glances.
"Vista? What's going on? " I asked as I grabbed my mask and Shusui at my hip and started following Vista, who turned around and began walking quickly.
"Someone has just exposed the Empire, all the names of its lieutenants and prominent members have just been leaked on the internet!" Vista said urgently, my eyes widening.
"What?! How did that happen?! " Amy asked, her eyes wide, as she walked quickly past us.
"How should I know! I just got the message when I was on my way to find you. You should have one just like it on your scroll! " Vista said, pulling out her scroll. I did the same. I had a message from Armsmistress marked as urgent; she was calling an urgent meeting with all available heroes at headquarters.
There was also a brief explanation; about 17 minutes ago, someone had just uploaded information about the identities of the most important lieutenants and villains within the Empire.
"Maxine Anders?! The CEO of Medhall is Kaiserin?! " Amy asked incredulously, her face turning pale as she stared at her phone. "I've dealt with that idiot a dozen times!" Amy said, sounding genuinely indignant.
"Medhall!? A pharmaceutical company?" I asked, confused, while looking at the information.
"Yes, it's a complete disaster." Vista said as she took long strides. We encountered other heroes in the hallways and several PRT employees moving about, all solemnly looking at their phones.
We followed the flow of people and eventually arrived at a huge meeting room. Armsmistress was already there, furiously pounding on the keyboard in front of her, along with Miss Militia. She was talking to someone through her helmet; I heard the name 'Director Piggot' more than once. I grimaced but ignored it, following Vista and Amy to the nearest seats.
I could see how all the heroes who were coming in looked really tense as they made their way to their seats or simply leaned against the walls while they waited. Most of us, myself included, were glued to our phones, watching the chaos unfolding online at that moment.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly," Armsmistress said, finally standing up and drawing everyone's attention. "As you may have learned from the message, the civilian identities of the most important members of Empire 88 have been leaked online on various social media platforms and forums. The person or persons responsible used the same username to identify themselves: 'W'."
"We know nothing about them, only that the accounts were created on all platforms exactly 3 minutes before the information leak, and all the Empire information was published simultaneously everywhere."
"The posts were republished thousands of times, so it's impossible to erase the information. We must prepare for the retaliation the Empire will undoubtedly make. They will not remain silent when their civilian identities have been compromised, regardless of whose fault it was," Armsmistress said solemnly. I made a face.
Civilian identity was something truly valuable to heroes and villains in the United States. It wasn't that I couldn't understand them; it was partly to keep both lives separate, and also to protect themselves. There have been many cases of heroes or villains being attacked by unsuspecting civilians, and besides all that, at this point it was almost a cultural thing.
It was something I had also adopted almost out of habit; I hadn't even thought about it when I created my hero costume. I was one of the few people in the class with a full mask.
So I understood how serious it was that identities, especially those of the villains, were being leaked so spontaneously. The question was… who the hell had done it? And why? What would they gain by exhibiting the Empire in that way and in such a… random manner? Why today, every day?
I didn't recall Empire having any problems with any group; in fact, they had been keeping their heads down throughout the whole problem we had with ABB.
More than one hero was sure that when things calmed down, the Empire would try to expand, so we were preparing for that, but… for this? This was completely different.
This had the potential to turn into a gang war against the Empire.
"Thanks to Dragon's help, we were able to quickly deploy surveillance drones over key locations." Dio Armsmistress tapped her computer, the screen behind her lighting up and several cameras flashing simultaneously. "As you can see, all members of the Empire are gathering without trying to hide."
Just like Armsmistress, she could see the different buildings as more and more people arrived wearing the Empire colors; they were simply thugs, but from time to time she could see some villain in disguise entering the buildings.
"The Empire are preparing to-"
"Armsmistress, you have to see this!" Armsmistress's computer shouted in Dragon's voice before the screen changed. We all stared at the screen.
"Is that... Medhall ?" one of the heroines asked, and yes, it was the main building of Medhall, if the large sign and the symbol meant anything. I frowned, trying to understand what I was supposed to see, before stopping abruptly when a mist began to appear slightly on the ground. Finally, something rose from the ground and took shape.
"Sophia?!" a heroine shouted. I looked on in disbelief, because yes, it was Sophia, atop her Apex summon, once again of colossal size. I could see Sophia charge towards the Empire troops that were gathering at the entrance and consume them.
Apex's body enveloped them and massacred them before consuming them. Then Apex turned and plunged into Medhall, destroying everything in its path.
"Sophia Hess, formerly known as the heroine Shadow Staker, now known as the villain Carrion, has begun attacking Medhall and killing all the members of the Empire 88 gang. I don't have access to interior cameras; they disconnected access to the entire network from the outside, so it's not possible to observe their fight from within. But it seems that Carrion has made contact with Hookwolf," Dragon said quickly as she switched from one camera to another. This one was also from the outside; large explosions erupted through the windows and walls, and shadows and large sheets of metal appeared everywhere.
"Have there been any sightings of other members of the League of Villains? Emma Barnes or The Travelers?" Armsmistress asked immediately.
"Negative, only Carrion is present," Dragon said immediately.
"Too much of a coincidence that Sophia—no, Carrion—attacked the Empire after their identities were leaked. Sophia has always hated the Empire more than the other gangs, bit too much of a coincidence," said a heroine with a frown.
"Not necessarily, they have a teleporter. She could have simply come when she saw the news, or she might have already been in the city preparing for another attack; this simply made her act sooner," another heroine argued.
"It doesn't matter," Armsmistress interrupted, silencing them. "At this time, we can't confirm whether the League leaked the Empire's identities, and unfortunately, it's not important right now. We need to go and stop Carrion and contain the Empire."
"If the fight spills out of Medhall —and it will—especially if Kaiserin or Purity themselves get involved, the resulting destruction will be far greater, and civilians will be in danger," Armsmistress said solemnly. Then she began barking orders.
I could see how she quickly separated all the heroes into several groups; some would work with the police to evacuate and save everyone around the fight. Others would work with the PRT soldiers to apprehend the gang members and minor villains.
Meanwhile, a group was preparing to fight on the front lines to stop the fighting. All orders were given immediately, and within minutes we were running towards the transport vehicles.
"Skitter! Go with Vista! Use the same trick to expand your range; I need you to disable as many villains and members as possible! I'll send you the locations! " Armsmistress said as she mounted her motorcycle, I looked at her in surprise.
"Don't you want me to go directly against Sophia and the Empire?" I asked, surprised. Armsmistress shook her head.
"No, we need to neutralize their regular members immediately. We'll be more focused on the main fight and their other lieutenants, so the gang members will be the ones who cause the biggest problem if they aren't controlled quickly, especially if any hero is distracted during a fight. We need to prevent them from reinforcing each other. Once that's done, we can concentrate more force where we need it."
"Once they're finished, you can join the fight." Armsmistress said without hesitation before starting her motorcycle. Miss Militia approached and mounted the back; they both shot off immediately.
"Let's go." Vista said urgently as she dragged me towards the motorcycle. I started it and did the same.
"This is Dragon. I'll be in charge of this line. Each person has a designated group and objective. Be careful. The Empire will be desperate and agitated. Expect them to attack with all their might. Don't let your guard down at any time. Dragon out." I heard Dragon's voice in my earpiece. I started the motorcycle and felt Vista sit behind me. I started it too.
Just like the other vehicles that the PRT heroes and soldiers were riding in, we had a clear path to leave at any time, so I simply accelerated to top speed while dodging the trucks.
Once we arrived in the city, I stopped momentarily.
"What?! Why are you stopping?! " Vista asked, confused, as I shook my shoulder.
"Do you want to do this quickly so you can go to the fight?!" I asked Vista over my shoulder with a wide smile behind my mask. Vista stopped momentarily.
"…I'm listening," Vista said slowly. I smiled broadly before accelerating again and driving to my destination, stopping in front of a rather tall building.
"Can you give us a lift?" I asked Vista. She just glanced at me quickly, but nodded.
"You'll have to jump," Vista said. I nodded. I watched Vista leap forward and appear at the very top of the building. I mimicked her and, feeling a bit disoriented, stepped onto the roof. "Now?" Vista asked, confused. I pointed in a certain direction.
"Can you take us to one of the buildings there?" I asked her.
"Downtown?! The city center? Isn't this where Medhall is?! " Vista asked, confused. I smiled broadly.
"We need a high place," I told Vista with a wide smile. Vista grunted, looked at one of the skyscrapers that dominated Downtown, and closed the distance. I could feel my reach extending easily to the skyscraper. Vista simply took a step and disappeared. I followed her immediately.
"Now?" Vista asked, looking around.
"Now... compress as much space as you can, give me as much reach as you can, and make sure those locations are close to Empire hideouts and locations. I'll take care of the rest." I said with a sadistic smile beneath my mask. Vista stopped and grinned widely.
"Ohhh, now you're speaking my language, Skitter, yes, I really like this idea." Vista said sadistically, took out her scroll and began to look at the locations and then raised her head to orient herself, as if she were creating a mental map, she turned her head several times while continuing to look at the map every now and then, finally she nodded to herself, raised her hands and breathed deeply.
I could feel everything around us compressing; no, I couldn't feel the space itself, I could only feel my range increasing exponentially every second as Vista controlled space like her bitch, and the number of insects under my control increased rapidly.
Vista began walking along the building while continuing to manipulate the space; sometimes, her steps sent her to the other side of the building before she returned and went to another corner. Finally, when she finished, I could feel all the insects in a large part of the city.
I took a deep breath and began to control them all at once. All the insects began to fly and crawl, all heading towards specific points. My enormous and colossal swarm quickly began to neutralize all the gang members I saw; many of them attacked with weapons or their quirks, but the insects easily overwhelmed them.
I didn't hold back too much, I let the insects swarm the villains and cover them from head to toe, although I didn't bite them, but having insects all over their bodies was enough to make more than one of them give up.
Then I took hundreds of spiders and began tying their arms and legs together with spider silk, strong enough so that none of them could move or stand up properly.
For those I saw that had more dangerous and annoying quirks or wouldn't lie down, I proceeded to bite and sting them, with nothing poisonous, but still very irritating. Luckily, none of them had an allergic reaction that required me to apply an Epipen. Finally, I wrapped them completely in spider silk, from head to toe.
Among them, I could see several of the Empire's most important villains. I was almost certain I had captured Rune, Alabaster, Stormtiger, and Cricket. All of this lasted at least 15 minutes. I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I finished." I said to Vista as I looked at her; she had been holding the whole space with ease.
"Finished?" she asked, surprised. I guess I couldn't blame her; she really couldn't see much from here. I nodded. I put my hand to my ear.
"This is Skitter, all targets neutralized, I request permission to proceed to Medhall, over." I said cheerfully into my earpiece, the other end remained silent for a few seconds.
"Armsmistress here, could you repeat, Skitter, and clarify? What do you mean by ALL targets neutralized? Over." Armsmistress said. I smiled even more.
"This is Skitter. All targets neutralized. All the points and locations you gave us have been secured and neutralized. All villains and Empire members are awaiting transfer. I request permission to proceed to Medhall. Over." I said once more, and the silence grew longer.
"Dragon?" Armsmistress asked, almost uncertainly.
"Dragon here, what Skitter said is true. All 17 confirmed Empire locations and 483 members have been neutralized, accounted for, and the number keeps rising. Five, no six, major members neutralized." Dragon said, sounding genuinely impressed. Hmm, I might have missed two of them; I didn't recognize them during my swarm's attack.
"How the hell..." I heard a heroine's voice come through the earpiece, and I smiled broadly.
"Permission granted, Skitter. You and Vista may proceed to Medhall. Await our arrival before making contact. Armsmistress out." Armsmistress finally said, and I smiled broadly.
"You heard the boss, we have permission." I told Vista cheerfully, Vista just looked at me in shock.
"You're a damn monster," Vista said in amazement, a smile growing on her face.
"And you too, Vista." I said cheerfully. Vista laughed out loud and raised her hand; I gave her a high five.
"We're going to stop the Empire." I said cheerfully, and Vista nodded.
Author's Notes: Well, the second part of Brockton Bay has begun! As I said, this is planned to be short, so don't expect too much!