VT - Chapter 25 : Glory Girl POV... (Patreon)

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Brockton Bay

–Victoria “Glory Girl” Dallon–

“Fuck off!” She screamed into her phone and threw it away, uncaring of the clattering noise it made. It must be used to it now. Stupid Dean and his stupid responsibility. It was always Vicky this, Vicky that, and never Yes! How hard was it to just say fucking yes to a plan she made on the fly?

Was a routine Patrol that much more important than hanging out with his hot girlfriend? Especially since crime in the city had dropped to a ten year low or something, due to that new cape flying around the city at night. The PRT had never been as unneeded as they were in the past week or so.

She snorted at the fear that the city’s capes had about the mere possibility of Grand Chariot somehow dropping into the city and erasing all the villain groups in one night if they so much as touched the blue tinkertech suit that was doing flybys at night. She had seen it in action only once, and was just about to break her mom’s orders about never engaging that particular cape until the situation cleared up, only for the cape to realise they were being made and shoot straight up into the air, disappearing from her view soon after.

The suit was really fast, to the point that even at full tilt, she had no idea if she could match the suit in speed. The suit also had energy blasts, was clearly durable, and had super strength. It was like a mishmash of all of New Wave’s powers, all crammed into a tinkertech suit. She could just bet that they were the inspiration for the suit.

She didn’t tell Mom about that, though. She would just try and sue the group that had killed the S9 and Heartbreaker with just as ease as she would have with a gangbanger with no weapon. It really was no wonder why the entire city was waiting with bated breath for something to give.

Either it would be the villains who were busy restraining the worst of them, or maybe it would be Grand Chariot with a public announcement. So far, the entirety of PHO was of the opinion that it was Grand Chariot, or atleast tangentially related to Grand Chariot. Just that they were waiting for something. 

Repeated messages to the public profile of Grand Chariot had yielded no results, and the one druggie who was brave and stupid enough to camp out in the docks for a whole week to get more information on the suit had lost all contact after the cape told her that it was dangerous to do so. After that, the cape had stopped flying low enough to be visible to discourage people from actively camping in the Docks.

Either way, doing the same thing those civvies did seemed far better than just sitting her in her bed and sulking about the fact that her boyfriend, a Tinker who could somehow shoot out emotion altering blasts of force, could not understand his girlfriend’s moods. Grumbling, she put on a comfy pair of pajamas before subtly cracking the window open and flew out. She knew that Mom was going to find out and that she was going to get chewed out for it, but at the moment, she did not care much. It was a problem for later Vicky, who could go screw herself, something she planned on doing now that she no longer had a boyfriend, or, in Amy’s words, a boy toy.

Snorting at the thought of her incredibly abrasive sister merely rolling her eyes at the news that she had once again broken up with Dean, she flew straight up and kept on going. Tonight, she was going to meet with the newest and hottest cape on the block. After all, the blue suit was the talk of the town. 

From what she could tell, Piggot was having a fit and had already called for backup and more capes when the inevitable fight that reshaped the entire city’s cape landscape broke out. From her limited experience with villains in the city, she knew that this was just the calm before the storm. Villains never gave up and blacked down, especially since it had been weeks since they were waiting for something from Grand Chariot.

Chances were that many capes, period, villain or rogue, would skip town the moment it was confirmed that Grand Chariot was making the Bay their base of operations, or even have a small presence stationed at all times, as no one, villain or otherwise, was stupid enough to try and take on an organisation that probably stared down the Triumvirate and made them back down. 

Alas, there had been no public announcement, and she knew first hand just how many villains and gangbangers had to scratch that itch of crime. It shouldn’t take too long to find some of the stupider gang members who would try and commit some small crime, without the usually flashy tactics, just to get that fix they seemingly needed. 

If she couldn't find the cape, then she could atleast—

Her eyes squinted as she swore she saw a faint glow in the distance. Curious about what it could be, she shot up, right past the clouds, and a smile instantly appeared on her face as she saw the same cape she was looking for.

They realised that as well, and the moment it looked like they were about to bolt, she flew forward. Unfortunately, they were faster, much faster than her, despite her natural durability allowing her to weather the inertial forces that came with accelerating and decelerating way too fast. Sure, she had to weather the wind blasting at her face for a bit before her forcefield came back online, but it was worth it if she could meet the new cape.

She was so tired of reading stuff on the PHO without confirming any of it or seeing any of it in real life. She was such a big fan of their work and how they exterminated the villains from the surface of the planet. 

It wouldn't hurt to be the first to ever get an autograph from a member of Grand Chariot. She did not have pen and paper on her right now, but that was only a matter of seconds. They were still in the city after all.

“Wait!” She shouted over the wind as she struggled to catch up with the cape. They were likely a Tinker. Some of the wilder theories on PHO suggested that they were just a regular civilian who was given a suit and told to go ham on the Bay.

Now, that would be ridiculous. The most conservative estimate she had seen about that suit was in the Billions, with a capital B, so who would be stupid enough to hand over such an expensive, important, and dangerous piece of technology into the hands of a non cape? They would have no idea how to use it and…

The suit abruptly dove down into the city, through the clouds, and she did the same, glad they were slowing down. Following the cape became much easier, but she had to slow down as well, as the suit wove through the streets, seemingly towards a specific location. 

A moment later, she groaned out loud as she realised what was happening. This was the Docks, so of course there would be an active crime happening somewhere. 

It also sent a thrill of excitement into her, as she got ready to whip out her camera and—

Another pained groan left her lips as she cursed Dean once more, as she had stupidly forgotten her phone back home. Now, how was she going to film the first ever hero action of the newest cape on the block? Hell, she could even have scored a longer conversion.

Fuck!

Swearing profusely, she turned around the corner and stopped as she watched three criminals kneeling on the ground, their weapons molten to slag, as the cape floated in front of them. She spied the convenience store owner calling the cops, or maybe even the PRT, as it was pretty well known to all residents of the Bay that if a cape was involved, the BBPD got off their asses and got to work swiftly.

Slowly floating forward, so as not to spook the new cape, even if they probably had dozens of sensors in that suit tracking her every move, she cleared her throat loudly. “Excuse me?”

They thankfully turned around and did not flee, likely because they were a responsible hero who waited for the cops to arrive before leaving the area with a bunch of restrained criminals. Well, now she was just starting to sound like Amy during one of her nagging sessions on their way home.

“Yes?” She resisted the urge to squee as the obviously modulated voice came from the suit. The eyeholes were lit up, creating a rather cute and adorable face. Of course, the molten slash of metal at the cape’s feet told her plenty about the lethality of that same adorable looking face.

Deciding to just rip the band aid off, she thrust her hand forward, trusting her innate charisma to take care of the rest, “Hi! I am Vicky. You might know me as–”

“Glory Girl, yes.” The suit felt very hard in her hands as the cape replied, “I have heard of you, yes. What can I do for you?”

She twirled her hair before replying, “Oh, you know, just flying about. I just wanted to say hi to the newest cape on the block. I, for one, am glad to have yet another hero in the Bay. The Bay can always use more heroes, with the villains outnumbering us.”

“Yes, I am aware. I hope I can help the city in any way I can.” The cape replied, taking all of it seriously, as if it were her duty. So, they were the serious kind, huh. Still, she had to ask.

“So, I know this is uncalled for, but can I ask if you are a girl or boy? I mean, I don't mean anything by it. I just would love for there to be another active female hero in the Bay, you know? We are so underrepresented in the city. I mean, there is only Militia, me, and Vista.”

“There are capes in your family as well, if I am not wrong.” The cape pointed out, and she waved them off.

“Yeah, but they are not active heroes. Mom and Aunt Sarah are both too busy with their day jobs. Crystal is more focused on her career and college. Amy basically lives in the hospital, plus she is never going to see active duty anyway. That leaves just me, Miss Militia, and Vista.”

“Ah, I see your point. And yes, I am a girl.”

“Great!” She squealed, floating in place.

Just then, the cape tilted her head, as if listening to something only she could hear, before the sound of the BBPD arriving entered her ears as well, cutting short their meeting. As Armsmaster must not be far behind as well, and if she stayed here any longer, then she would have to follow the man to file a bunch of paperwork, which would get her an additional hour of scolding from Mom.

Honestly, the PRT probably used the paperwork required for a non-PRT affiliated hero to file for any hero act as a weapon to force the independents to sign up to become part of the full time PRT cape roster.

Honestly, while it would be incredibly entertaining to see how the meeting might unfold, given that the entirety of PRT was told to treat the cape with kiddy gloves and treat her as a goddess basically, but she really had to go.

She really could not bear to sit and file paperwork using pen and paper for an hour. Before she left, though, “What is your name? Cape name, I mean, obviously."

The cape seemed kinda distracted before she replied, “Uh, yeah. Ahem. My name is BLUE SHIELD.”

……

Crickets

She deadpanned at the girl, “Really?”

“Yeah?”

“Alright,” She shrugged. “Good Luck.”

She really did not have a good sense of naming, incredibly lethal suit aside. Oh well, not everyone could be as lucky as Glory Girl.