Duellist 34 (Patreon)

AN: I got hella stuck writing this chapter. Then my mind went back to a discussion I had on QQ and I thought: "You know what, maybe I can do this as an interlude!". Maybe it's not my best, but I don't want to stall anymore. Apologies for any grammar issues, I let Grammarly expire and relied on my eyes - so I'm sure there's a few problems along the way.

Interlude - Gallant:

Gallant was sure that some cosmic god was having a laugh at his expense today - one problem would crop up, he'd idly wish it to be resolved and he'd get his wish in a way worse than ever dreamed. Over and over and over.

It had all started innocently enough. Vicky threatening to drag him shopping for swimsuits? Any guy would think they would be lucky to go on such an adventure, but he knew it was a trap by now. That was one date that always ended badly, always ended up with the wrong thing said, the wrong assurance given, not enough compliments, too many compliments, dangerous questions asking him about his opinion on the models lining the shop walls, posters and magazines, expressing interest, not expressing interest - there weren't any right answers there either. He'd prayed for an excuse.

He'd gotten one. Speech duty for a press event, another friendly face in the Wards showing support to their newest teammate.

Fine. He could do that. Smile. Look pretty for the cameras. The usual. It wasn't really the excuse he was looking for, rather than spending an hour ogling Vicky, spending another hour apologising for whatever argument they'd had and the remaining time hanging around with his still-fuming girlfriend - his entire evening was now block-booked out by an event with absolutely no enjoyment to be found anywhere. It was worse. It was definitely worse. Alas, he'd accepted the request before asking about the full details of the event, and it was technically for the benefit of his new teammate anyway so it was hard to find another excuse... but, still. Was it so wrong to want a bit of excitement in his schedule?

Yes, yes it was wrong. But he'd gotten exactly what he'd asked for anyway. He'd been caught outside when the ABB attacked, not even in his costume yet - he hadn't been due to make an appearance until later in the evening anyway, he'd figured that he wouldn't be missed. Well. He hadn't been missed, except it might have been better if they had kept him closer to hand. Things weren't clear on how exactly things had gone down at the moment of the attack, but he can't rule out the possibility that an emotion-sensor and a Blaster could have done something to disrupt whatever attack had happened on stage to freeze Armsmaster and his two teammates in time.

Sitting outside, near-powerless to help, no costume - just scrambling to get away from the ABB roadblocks and panicking civilians so that he could get a clear line to the PRT - he'd felt useless enough then. Only to find out that the Empire was attacking halfway across the city, and his girlfriend was already there - recklessly wading into the violence like she always does. That only redoubled the frustration. Two places where he wanted to be, to make a difference - and he wasn't achieving a thing at either of them.

Even Shadow Stalker was doing more than he was, and she was just sitting on console duty. Absolutely livid that they weren't authorising her to leave and join the rest of the Wards on account of the danger travelling through the city - but she was still contributing as much as she could, biting commentary aside. He wanted to do something to help the heroes out too.

Again, he'd gotten his wish. The hostage situation, after some panic, was eventually deemed to be the work of one new Tinker and some accompanying goons. Lung was confirmed elsewhere, so the Wards were deployed on what should be a simple mission: Sneak into the building when the Tinker wasn't looking, break out all the hostages, leave. No combat, unless the Tinker was exposing themselves or looking vulnerable. As a bonus, his costume was in there - and unless the PRT could spare a van to do a supply run back to HQ, that was the only way he was going to get some real protection in this situation. His only concern was how to approach this heavily-fortified building that seemed to be covered in traps and patrolling drones, any reinforcements that the heroes could spare would be valuable here - though of course, he understands that the Empire and Lung are the main threats.

But the devil laughs, because his unspoken wish was heard once more. They do get reinforcements. Velocity was greatly appreciated, Triumph was in the area too. He was grateful for their presence. What he wasn't grateful for, was the other arrival. Void Cowboy.

Now, he didn't hate the vigilante. Not really. There was, admittedly, an instinctive dislike there - someone with a reputation for excessive violence, someone who hadn't run to join the heroes the moment they had powers and, of course, the fact that he was a power copier.

He's sure he isn't the only one to have all kinds of feelings about that last one, even if his feelings on it aren't quite the same as his teammates. They would be annoyed that their powers were being copied by someone who didn't go through their trigger event, but he was a bit different in that he didn't have a trigger event. But, he did have to live with the constant knowledge that his powers were bought - and that fact alone would be enough to upend his friendships if it came out at the wrong time. The fact that someone had the potential to just scoop up his power by pure proximity, looking to become an improved version of Gallant without a shred of the guilt, shame and anxiety that came from the origin of his powers? Sure. He had feelings about it too. He wasn't sure he really had the right to have those feelings, but he had them all the same.

But he's a professional. He can put mild distaste and discomfort aside and work with a neutral party against the villains. He's not that petty. He may have been more than happy to follow the advice of avoiding the vigilante and rerouting patrols away from areas where he'd been seen - just to mitigate the chance of having his powers copied - but none of that mattered now. This was important. Lives were at risk. This was a chance to see Void Cowboy's true nature for himself, overcome his instinctive bias and see what the truth of the vigilante was.

And once again, the monkey's paw had curled.

Because Void Cowboy wasn't a hero.

Maybe that was too dramatic, but he wouldn't say he was wrong. Void Cowboy wasn't a plucky young teenager too rebellious to bow to authority. He was just dangerous - it was obvious to him within moments of interacting with him for the first time. It had started out fine. The emotional aura around the younger teen when he was talking with Velocity had been chaotic, spiking from greed and excitement to cool contempt and anticipation as the hero discussed the situation. That alone wasn't a cause of alarm, wandering thoughts could do a lot to a mental state - Gallant knew that. The flicker of awe and enthusiasm at the sight of the Wards leaving the van and coming into his view was something more standard, and for a moment, Gallant had been content to relax at the additional help they'd received. Everything was standard here. The occasional flicker of other emotions was normal, not too different from his teammates own anxious-yet-excited state.

Until, in an innocuous part of an otherwise pleasant conversation - Void Cowboy had happened to glance at him, and everything changed. The jumpy, flickering emotions resolved into a tidal wave of bloodlust, a conflagration of something close to rage and decisiveness - that perfect combination that he'd relied on for years as the signal that somebody was about to attack. It had never failed him. The pseudo-precognition of knowing someone had mentally prepared themselves for violence, the murky colours of anticipation transforming into conviction, excitement and decisiveness... he trusted it with his life.

So, still not understanding exactly what had triggered the fight - Gallant had sprung into a defensive posture. As nothing happened.

Absolutely nothing. In fact, he hasn't even brought his arms fully up before the emotions that concerned him were just gone. Not fading away and replaced by others as a new train of thought dislodges them, but literally gone between one blink and the next as if abruptly deleted. Replaced entirely by what he would have to describe as 'smug triumph'.

And then, within seconds of that, it happens again - the bloodlust returns, except it doesn't vanish entirely this time. This time, the angry dark reds of sullen anger, the purple-green of disappointment plus the orange of spite were the dominant emotions - added to the thrumming pulse of murky red that indicated a desire for violence was still there underneath it all.

As he continues holding the conversation without so much as a tensed muscle or stutter in his speech. If not for the roller-coaster of emotions he was witnessing - there would be nothing to say that Void Cowboy was anything other than what he seemed, a helpful, if somewhat misguided hero looking to do his best for the city. He was the only one who could see underneath the mask. Who could see... whatever this was.

By the time he realises that, to everyone else, there isn't any reason to be alarmed - he's already made a bit of a scene. The lances of amusement and confusion lancing through his teammates auras were frustrating enough, presumably thinking that he had gotten jumpy over a movement in the shadows or a distant explosion. But he could live with that, he could explain things later. That isn't what annoys him. What annoys him is the real icing on the cake: The absolute tidal wave of derision and contempt from Void Cowboy as Gallant reluctantly settles back into a more neutral posture.

Gallant isn't going to challenge him on it. Not now. This part of his power is one of the best-kept secrets of the Wards, an edge he's reluctant to let go of - and right now, that kind of edge is what might be needed to unearth the mysteries of Void Cowboy.

At first, it's just a distraction - he assumes the boy must have a split personality, or that he's got a hyperactive imagination, or that his power just completely throws an error against his through some quirk in biology. But it soon becomes apparent that nothing along those lines is happening. His power is working just fine, it's just telling him that the 'real' Void Cowboy is hiding his real feelings.

Sometimes. The emotions match up with the words sometimes. When he gets pumped about the mission, when he gets excited about seeing other people flex their powers - and, annoyingly enough, when he absent-mindedly insults Gallant's powers. He'd half-heartedly not-quite apologised, but the exact same flood of contempt and derision had swept away any illusion that he was sorry. Right. He hates this guy. It's decided. He would have settled on that answer even if he wasn't constantly looking at his teammates like a serial killer assessing his victims. The bloodlust, the greed, the possessiveness, the lust - nobody should even dare to look at his teammates like that with those emotions with that level of determination in their aura.

He's still not entirely sure what's going on here, but he is sure that Void Cowboy knows. What he was seeing was real, and now that he knew what he was looking for - it was impossible to overlook that the bloodlust was always there, even underneath the more natural, pleasant emotions. This isn't a moment of inflamed passion or drunken rage, it's deeper and more intense than anything like that. It was calculated - both the aggression, and his ability to hide it. Masking his desire to fight, to kill, to dominate, to fuck - in no particular order either.

Needless to say, Void Cowboy was one fucked-up individual.

He knew that now. But, nobody else did. Nobody else could see what he saw. Everyone else saw an admirable hero. And he didn't have anything to change their minds on that. Just flashes of colours, and he knew what they would say to that - wondering thoughts, a mental disorder, a power interaction or just a 'user error' on his part. There have been mistakes and failures through his powers before, they won't take him at his word - nor had he done anything that inspired a reason to not trust him. And that was before considering that the PRT had special orders to soft-ball him to lure him into the team. He had nothing, no justification at all that would be listened to.

Which meant that there was nothing he could do but watch in horror as Velocity agrees to include the vigilante into the Wards mission, something that fills said vigilante with a fresh fountain of glee, smugness, bloodthirst and greed. And... more lust? Not just when looking at Vista or when the conversation turned to the new ABB Tinker, but when looking at Clockblocker or himself too. It was so odd and ill-timed to the conversation that he wasn't even sure he was reading it right. Needless to say, all of that combined was hardly the standard emotional profile that come with a chance to work with your heroes.

There was little he could do about the enthusiasm of his teammates towards the new arrival. And, again, some god out there was laughing at him. Not even a few weeks ago, he'd been praying for Vista to get over her feelings for him and find someone more appropriate. It was a constant source of discomfort for him, but also something that would be a huge breach of privacy and trust to even hint about. If his teammates understood the depths of the emotional spectrum he could comprehend, it could cause some issues. When Vista's feelings towards him had started to wither and dull just a few days ago, he'd been overjoyed.

Now, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he wished she was still chasing after him. Not because Gallant would ever reciprocate himself, but because at least he wasn't Void Cowboy. There was something uniquely terrifying at realising that the soft-pink tones in the air between those two were coming from Vista, even as the boy returned the look with renewed waves of dark-red bloodlust amid the lighter yellow of some probably-fucked-up form of affection and protectiveness. Needless to say, the stronger emotion was overpowering every other aura in the vicinity.

Vista. No. Please find someone else.

Naturally, he'd done all he could to keep the two separate, hopeful that this would just be a temporary, quickly-forgotten moment. The twin bursts of sharp-green annoyance and derision coming from both in front and behind him when getting between them highlighted that it would take more work than that - while also highlighting that any lingering rapport he had from Vista's crush couldn't be relied on any longer. Unfortunate, but this time it doesn't matter - the tables have turned. He's the one doing a normal action, and neither Void Cowboy or Vista are willing to say the truth of what's on their minds. Crisis... not averted, but delayed.

And with that, the mission would begin. Two missions, in fact. Because there was the first one, to rescue the hostages and perhaps take out the Tinker if they could be found - and, if he was being fair, which he wasn't - he might even have admitted that Void Cowboy was an excellent addition to the team for that specific mission.

But then there was the second mission. His mission. His crusade. He couldn't contribute much to the team in the overall scenario, but he was the only one who knew something close to the truth about Void Cowboy's true self. He'd made it his self-appointed task, there and then, to not let Void Cowboy out of his sight. When the team had split up, he'd ensured that he was paired with the teenager and Vista was sent off to help the hostages - earning himself another frustrated pulse of anger from a fuming Vista that hadn't managed to think of a reason to stay together with the vigilante fast enough.

He could take her anger. This was important. This was how he had chosen to contribute. He was the only one that was ready for the mask to slip. It wasn't just about his team either, it was about the Tinker they were moving to confront. If he was left alone with her... they'd probably be left with nothing but a corpse. And that wouldn't just be bad for general heroic reasons, but also specifically because of the threat of a dead man's switch. He needed to be there to both protect and attack this potentially-vulnerable Tinker. If anyone was going to fall victim to the barely-restrained violent-tendencies that practically dripped off of the supposed hero, it was going to be him.

Things didn't quite go as expected. The Tinker was more prepared than any intelligence had led them to expect. Openly psychotic and violent. She had far more in reserve than anticipated, certainly not just a regular pushover once confronted in person. Void Cowboy had actually saved his life. Not out of kindness or comradery, but in a bland, near-emotionless way like he was ticking off an objective on his to-do list and feeling mildly annoyed at the effort expended to do something so minor - the omnipresent contempt that seemed to be there whenever he looked at Gallant never shifted for a second, even as he donated a speedster power to help him escape the ambush.

Gallant... wasn't sure how to take that. But, in this case, Void Cowboy's desire to engage the Tinker in combat was genuine - and helpful to everyone else in the building. He'd made a beeline to his costume, the hostages had been saved and he'd managed to score some hits on the drones flying around to help in the fight himself. He was feeling better about his utility. The Tinker was handled. Void Cowboy had beaten his low expectations and exercised considerable restraint - even if it was tainted by the naked disappointment and boredom emanating from his body after the rush of battle had ended. The bomb was stable under Clockblocker. Those frozen on the stage were already being freed. Things were looking up.

That summarises the situation up until now - this very moment.

The point where, naturally, things had all gone to shit. The entrance of the Undersiders, barely allowing even a few sentences of conversation before racing towards Bakuda - attacking anyone in their way. The frantic, agonised warnings from Triumph that Lung was already in hot pursuit of the lesser-known gang and nobody was in good enough shape to stop him - the begging for them to just step aside, reluctantly conveyed as a 'run away if you're a gutless coward' by Shadow Stalker. The slow realisation that they were in a completely unenviable position, to stand aside and let Lung through - spelling the death of the Undersiders, the complete victory of the ABB and placing themselves as the new 'hostages' of the scenario. Or, getting played like a fiddle and squaring off against Lung - hoping to buy just enough time for reinforcements to arrive, the Undersiders to leave and the rest of the ABB Capes to be secured away somewhere safe.

But the choice wasn't up to him. It was already made. The howling, swirling bloodlust and competitive spirit at his side tells the story for him before the first mocking taunt escapes from Void Cowboy's mouth - for a moment, he considers slamming the younger teen with a blast of some kind of calming emotion... but he isn't even sure that would work. After all, he seemed both capable and willing to dive into combat like it was just boring routine - and he certainly didn't want to give him the excuse he needed to direct his violence towards the Wards.

Nor did he expect to have much luck convincing his teammates, not with Kid Win giving frantic progress updates on how quickly Armsmaster would be freed, with Vista practically glowing with the desire to show off, with Aegis and Browbeat psyching themselves up for battle as if the suggestion to stand aside had never been uttered, with Shadow Stalker saying...

Ahem.

He's going to ignore Sophia's comments about the size of his genitalia and what she's going to do to him if he 'chickens out now' and lets Void Cowboy fight to the death alone. He probably shouldn't be surprised that she's a fan of his methods. Was Browbeat the only female Ward that actually had good taste in men? Maybe he was speaking too soon on that, but she seemed like a sensible girl. It would be fine.

Probably. Maybe it would still be a good idea to give her an introductory crash course on the sizable list of incidents and injuries directly caused by Void Cowboy on his 'friendly patrols', and maybe a few of his worst posts on PHO too. He might not be able to satisfactorily warn people about Void Cowboy via his power, save for a few quiet discussions with Armsmaster or Director Piggot - but helping people realise the truth of who he really was? That the friendly persona was just a mask, tossed aside whenever it didn't suit him? That was just common sense. The PRT might want to play things slow with him because his power might be useful, but Gallant will be damned before he lets anyone - anyone - look at his friends and colleagues like that and decide not to do anything about it.

Breathe in. Breathe out. He's getting distracted. Which was bad, because right now - the enemy right in front of him wasn't Void Cowboy. It was the man-turning-dragon that was racing across the room, alight with both the metaphorical flames of ego, wounded pride and fury - as well as the literal flames that blasted them with heat from across the room, only compounding with the building inferno the fire-breather had made parts of the building into already. Lung, the nigh-unstoppable force of nature that had stalemated the wider Protectorate for years now - and had clearly already knocked Dauntless and Triumph out of the fight to even reach this point.

"I have him." Vista's excited tone echoes in his ears through the comm-piece. "Stay back!"

The ground in front of the group buckles, then curves as if forming a bowl - the loping charge of the half-transformed Lung stumbling as the ground turns uneven, then into a near cliff-edge. Gallant peers over the edge and fires off a half-hearted string of blasts at the centre of the pit. A deep pit, one that had neatly merged itself with what seemed to be some form of basement or perhaps a maintenance tunnel. It's a good idea. After all, the best method of fighting Lung is simply not to fight him - forcibly settling him into a trap like that and waiting for him to lose steam would be an excellent idea.

But Lung isn't the type to just sit around and let someone do that to him. Void Cowboy obviously knows that. There's barely even a flicker of hope, surprise or jealousy at Vista seeming to win the fight in the first move - just a steady, patient anticipation as he works on his own preparations. Vista's bubbles of excitement and pride slowly bleed away into matching strings of nervousness, the slowed rate of her power closing the lid of the trap reflecting the fact that Lung was likely clambering closer and closer to the top - interfering with her power due to his pure proximity. "No good." She murmurs, hastily backstepping. "He's coming through!"

Gallant ducks to the side as the trap all but explodes outwards in an eruption of flame and molten debris, ducking lightly behind Void Cowboy's armoured minion - batting away a questing 'limb' that tries to wrap itself around his armour and weakly pull him closer. No thank you. He pulls away from it to stand with the rest of the Wards as the vigilante who had been most keen on starting this fight-

-struck a pose and pointed his sword at Lung? Could that thing even be called a sword? Where did that even come from? It unfolded to be taller than Gallant, and Gallant was pretty sure that he had a solid year or two of growth on the vigilante. The loosely-hanging exoframe covering his suit was clearly supposed to provide support to power it, but Gallant knew a thing or two about power armour and equivalents - and he could say with one-hundred-percent confidence that the frame wasn't even being used right now as the teen waves around the oversized block of metal one-handed.

Found a Brute rating somewhere. Great. Just when he was starting to think that he had a clear weakness. And a Tinker rating. Obviously. They'd already suspected that, but it was good to have proof. There was nothing natural about that weapon, nor the glowing purple orb awkwardly clipped to his chest. And the Master rating, because that thing off to his side had never stopped growing - the limbs had become distinct now, a figure that stood twice his height and loomed protectively over the Cape.

When Lung barks out a mocking laugh in the vigilante's face in response to something he hadn't quite managed to hear, the response is immediate. The black-costumed figure lunges forward, the frame surrounding him whirring and hissing to life as Lung matches his approach with enthusiasm. As the sword winds up for a telegraphed attack, a draconic limb is raised in response - already distinctly inhuman and coated in scales.

A half-second later, that same limb practically crumples as it fails to block the raw speed and power of the initial sword swing. The sword continues through, smashing into Lung's downturned lizard-like face - the collision generating an agonising screech of metal-on-metal.

And Gallant can do nothing but watch as Lung rockets backwards - skidding and tumbling across the room, a trail of muted flames left in his wake. He turns to stare at Void Cowboy, aglow with a feeling of smugness and self-satisfaction - albeit with the same omnipresent lust for battle that had underpinned his every emotion since their first conversation outside the building. Still ready for a fight. He knows that it wasn't enough. But he seems far too happy anyway. He mimes a few test swings, the exoframe around him once-again disengaged as he does so.

"Don't sit directly behind me, by the way." Gallant listens as he murmurs loud enough for the Wards to hear. "This thing's got a... critical hit function, of sorts? It's Leet-tech. Can't control when it hits, but, uh - yeah. It slams everything into reverse. Turns my hits into a circular AOE-" What was that supposed to mean? "-and the range is way longer than just the blade. Supercharges the power too. You'll die if you get hit, so just make sure you keep some distance or stay at an angle. Pure vertical, pure horizontal - that's all it can do with that effect, so you'll be fine if you're paying attention."

Gallant hadn't planned on getting anywhere close to the blade anyway, but he dutifully backs further away. Looking at Lung slowly regathering himself, the bloodied metallic 'faceplate' that his head had transformed into - he felt it was pretty obvious that nearly anyone in the Wards would die after getting a clean hit from that. And that wasn't the 'critical hit'? He didn't see any obvious sign of a cooldown period for the Tinkertech either, the sword looked just as capable now as it did when he first saw it.

A fact that is proven as Lung finishes his regeneration and lets out a roar of challenge, loping towards them again as the swordsman mirrors the charge. There's less fury from Lung this time, a sliver of enjoyment in the aura - a sense of pride in the test of strength that was ongoing. Lung could dodge, they likely both knew that. But some twisted sense of honour demanded that strength be met with strength. This time, Lung's limb doesn't snap entirely - some scales buckle and crack, but in the end, the dragon is the one that wins the clash. Void Cowboy ducks under the claw, swings yet again at Lung's comparatively fleshy body - biting deep into his torso before kicking away with the sword as the attack stalls, his chest flashing purple as something scatters around him before he ducks to the floor - resting the sword against the ground and activating the attack yet again to spring himself back to safety.

A second later, Lung practically seems to explode - a selection of grenades erupting from beneath his growing bulk in a flash of light and fury. Lung lets out a roar of pain in response, followed by a broken, unintelligible string of words that fails to leave his distinctly-inhuman mouth in an understandable form. But already, he seems ready for another round - shaking away fragments from the blast as they cling to the scales creeping across the rest of his body.

Gallant swallows drily. He's not happy to see the display of strength from either fighter. The sentiment was likely a common one when seeing Lung shrug off attacks, but it should at least have been good to find out more about Void Cowboy's capabilities - a few more tricks unearthed that he could be ready for later.

But it wasn't making Gallant feel any better, or any more prepared. If anything, he feels more useless than ever. What, exactly, was Gallant supposed to do if Void Cowboy had chosen to attack the Wards? He'd given himself the self-appointed task of keeping an eye on the obvious dangerous nutcase, assuming that, in the worst case scenario - a few solid hits from his stronger physique and his taser would take him down, the obvious underestimation and lack of respect the teen had for his powerset working to his advantage. And, since retrieving his power armour - that confidence in his ability to handle the Cape if his tenuous control over his emotions snapped at the wrong time had only grown. The electricity in the armour would neutralise Shadow Stalker's powerset if he tried to phase through, and it was very apparent that his assumed replica of Glory Girl's forcefield was simply a shadow of the original. He could have done it.

That's what he had thought. Looking at the situation now as Lung tries to trap the blade - taking a gouge to the eyes for the trouble - it was painfully obvious that there was never a chance of that working out. He was a liability here, unable to help even when he was perhaps the only person in the world with the knowledge of what was coming.

And the worst part was that, with every passing second, his ability to warn people was slipping away. He knew that this was just a battle of egos, that the reluctance to jump into the fight was feigned and that Void Cowboy's act as a hero was simply a paper-thin mask to cover up a level of deranged psychopathy that he hadn't even seen in seasoned serial killers.

But to everyone else? This looked like genuine heroics. The bold knight, refusing to allow the dragon to pass - not to his injured and vulnerable teammates, not even to his enemies. Not swayed by fear even in the face of the most unstoppable force in the city, getting up again and again to try another angle - just buy a little more time. Vista had split off to ward away some ABB footsoldiers that had tried creeping through the hole that Lung had made in the wall, but even from here he could see the giddy pulses of light-blue and pink in her aura as she looks back at the fight. Even Aegis, Browbeat and the select few Undersiders that were visible at the back of the room arguing with Bakuda had various shades of respect coating their otherwise-varied emotional auras when he noticed them glancing at the ongoing battle.

He can't blame them. Every now and then, the thought crosses his mind that it might be a mistake - a bad power interaction. That, somehow, those emotions aren't really his. But as strange as the spikes and fluctuations are, everything else is perfectly logical, happening at appropriate times and changing in predictable, understandable ways. Everything was normal, except for the parts that he was hiding - the times when there were consequences to acting out. That was when he held himself back.

It didn't escape him that, so far, he was blaming the Cape for a thought crime. Thoughts were not actions, no matter how worried he was about his intentions. But... at the same time, this didn't look like someone restraining intrusive thoughts. There was no flash of guilty recrimination, no self-loathing or horror, no panic at what they might have done - just a moment of indulgence before a flicker of some other emotion that was never quite enough to sate the ambition lurking underneath. There was something terribly, terribly wrong with his head.

It was a terrible thought, but the problem could solve itself soon. Most Protectorate engagements with Lung ended with both sides mutually agreeing to walk away - the actual danger to the Wards if they chose to back down was relatively minimal based on his established behaviours. But in a pitched battle like this? Lung wasn't the type to hold back - and Void Cowboy's powers were known to be cheap-copies, no matter the performance he was putting on combining them today. It was more than likely that, as Lung grew to a certain point - Void Cowboy just got in over his head and ended up at his limit, dead in one blow before he realised his powers had failed him.

Gallant grits his teeth. No. As a hero, he can't cheer for a result like that - not even if he's doing it out of fear of what might happen to his teammates if the potential serial-killer-in-the-making continues to thrive.

But at the same time, there's a reason he's on the sidelines right now. Because it isn't his decision anyway. The PRT tried his emotion blasts against Lung once before, hoping that a rage dragon without the rage would be easier to handle - and once it had been proven that Lung's emotional state didn't diminish his power, and in some cases only strengthened it, Gallant had never been pulled into a fight against the man again. Even the kinetic aspect of his powers didn't help here, not at this level - good enough to knock around baseline humans, but nothing to a Brute. Useless.

He was just a spectator here, stuck to vapid observations on how Lung was still transforming. Where Void Cowboy's sword had initially crushed a limb like cardboard and left a gaping wound in Lung's overly-armoured face, it had just found itself halted in an attempt to bisect Lung's torso. That he'd managed to escape that situation was impressive, but the previous wound he'd made was already healed - already gleaming with the glint of silvery scales that continued to race across his body. All the efforts from the Protectorate to disengage and force him to shrink down when he was waiting outside were being reversed by the damage he was taking now, the steady growth of his serpentine form highlighting that the slim chance of victory from the start of the fight had already slipped away.

It wasn't purely because of his physical strength and durability. It was the heat. The flames. Void Cowboy had already been limiting himself to brief clashes before creating distance once again, but the flames had only grown hotter since then - the scorch and singe marks on his seemingly-new costume told the tale of how even the limited exposure so far had established the limits of what he could take. It was obvious - his Brute rating didn't protect him from the heat. The same reason why Browbeat had gone from looking for an angle to close in and assist, to hanging back just like him - hovering protectively over Aegis as their leader literally pulls himself back together.

This was the problem with Lung. Most Capes just didn't have an answer to the complete package.

Except Void Cowboy, again. The Cape himself might be discovering the reason why Lung was still active all these years, but that metal knight by his side was still weathering Lung's assault without much issue. Not the flames, nor the increased physicality was making a notable difference. It wasn't winning, not at all. In fact, it was being readily torn apart every time it stepped forward to intercept the dragon-man - the ready sacrifice to ensure that Lung couldn't move freely. But it did two things well - first, it pulled itself together again just as easily as it was torn apart.

And secondly, the Manton limit clearly didn't apply to it. Vista lets out another gleeful warning as the ground buckles again, the ground around Lung crumbling while he takes a moment too long to rend the knight apart - yet another pit-trap having been formed under his feet, only revealed at the last moment. It might not have been possible in a short timeframe with multiple fighters dancing around getting in the way of her power, but with only a single 'real' person to account for whenever Void Cowboy retreats she seems to be having better luck manipulating the area.

It won't hold. It can't hold. Lung isn't even recognisably human anymore. He doesn't clamber up the walls this time, he slithers - the pit walls closest to him left glowing from his mere passing.

His eyes snap around to a flare of colour appearing in the corner of his eyes. Confusion. Concern. "Kid Win, I'm seeing Armsmaster reacting to the fight, but he's not moving."

"Still working on it." The distracted voice comes back. "I was hoping I could shrink the field down enough to keep him out without switching the entire thing off with him inside - but it's just not going to work. Turning it off is a delicate thing, it's set-up like a, like a vacuum, but for time. Well, that isn't exactly right-" Gallant clears his throat meaningfully to head off the Tinker talk. "-right. Uh. I mean, if we stick with the vacuum talk - I'm just bleeding off some of the differential in how time passes to ease the transition back to real time, make sure there's no sudden, uh, explosion."

"Just do your best, Kid Win. We could really use the help up here." Aegis speaks over the channel coolly. "Does that mean he's able to hear us?"

"Um. Sure? Well. No. He could, but he's not on this channel, he's got this cool alert system in his helmet but it's something he needs to actively switch to-"

"Shut it, morons. I'll swap channels and fill him in while he's stuck in place." Shadow Stalker's annoyed voice squawks over the comms. "Just keep sitting there, looking useless. You're doing great."

As much as he'd like to issue a retort, he can't. This isn't the Empire, where he could put up a respectable fight against most of the roster - Lung was... Lung. Aside from Vista and perhaps Aegis up to a point, the best the remainder of them could do was simply avoid becoming collateral damage or future hostages.

He casts an annoyed glance at the Undersiders. They still haven't left. He's sure they aren't stalling, the majority of them have lost their collars by now - but the process is taking too long. Probably deliberate on Bakuda's part, despite the 'encouragement' from her captors. If they were gone, this situation becomes so much easier - the Wards could just leave, take the entire reason Lung was even here away with them. The fight would just end. They could engage them right now, but starting a second fight when they didn't even have an advantage in the first seemed questionable - and the overall logic of the situation hadn't changed yet.

Yet.

He turns back to Lung as another purple flash illuminates the room for a split second, blinking as he's just in time to spot Void Cowboy throwing a containment foam grenade directly at Lung's head. Where the hell did he get that? Had he robbed the PRT at some point? Was it wrong for him to hope that he had, if only to have an actual crime to point to? Lung weaves his head away, not just strong - but fast as well.

But not the fastest. Half-a-dozen other hissing grenades explode a moment later, the blur of a slightly-scorched Velocity momentarily pausing to watch his handiwork is all he can catch before the Cape is gone again - likely to return to suppressing the rioting gangbangers outside.

On most Capes, that would be enough. On Lung, at this level of his transformation? It was only enough to slow him down. The foam resists heat well, but Gallant can already see it starting to smolder and turn black in places - and Lung is physically strong enough that he can rip the foam away with the rest of the wall and keep on moving. It has limited his movement, but the fight isn't necessarily any easier.

A point highlighted by Lung opening his mouth wide and, for the first time in the fight, blasting the room at large with his fire breath. Gallant hurls himself to the ground along with Aegis and Browbeat, Vista lets out a girly shriek and propels herself upwards and away on a pillar of rock. The Undersiders barely even react, the darkness-wielder - Grue? - shifts the cloud slightly to block the stray attack that reaches them, seeming to suppress it immediately on contact.

But they weren't really the primary target. Void Cowboy was. As slippery as he'd been so far, there was no way to dodge around the concentrated blast of heat.

He'd used his shadow state, and both the sword and the frame that held it had clattered to the ground around him. Lung doesn't give him a moment to recover it, racing forward at his fastest pace yet and bringing an entirely-draconic claw down on the Tinkertech - pulverising it into pieces in an instant as Void Cowboy can do nothing but beat a hasty retreat - diving into the ground with Sophia's power and reappearing at a safer distance a few seconds later. Annoyance coats his aura at that, but half-a-second later as a followup wide-angled firebreath blasts him harmlessly - Glory Girl's forcefield? - that transitions to alarm, for a reason that takes a few more seconds to become apparent to Gallant.

The metal knight had frozen, seeming to start collapsing in on itself between one step and the next as it chased after Lung. Not a hint of movement, or any sign of the immediate recovery it had shown off earlier. The exact specifics of the power and why it had suddenly deactivated weren't clear, but without his Tinkertech and without the knight - it was clear that there was nothing left. Once Lung closed the gap again, Void Cowboy would die - and he knew it.

It's over.

But nobody told the other Wards that. With their complete misunderstanding of Void Cowboy's motives, they're inspired - irrationally willing to put it all on the line for their fellow hero in his moment of vulnerability. Aegis crashes down on Lung's elongated neck from above, while Browbeat - muscles bulging as she swells to twice her usual height - comes in to echo the attack on the dragon as he is momentarily knocked down. Gallant starts firing too, naturally. Except, his contribution isn't in trying to win - it's trying to manage Lung's response. He knows that those attacks are near-meaningless at this stage. Being able to move the dragon or force him to the ground momentarily didn't mean that you had done any meaningful damage. Gallant had a clear role here - to dull the furious reprisal that's coming, dampen the murderous response to Lung's insulted pride that would have him focus his full attention on the weaker Brutes in front of him with lethal consequences. Instead, Lung is filled with feelings of dismissive contempt and superiority. Aegis is batted aside, getting up immediately and seeking another angle - Browbeat is met with a barrage of flames and inelegantly hurled into the nearest wall while she's blinded.

After a moment of pause, Lung prowls onwards - directly towards the Undersiders. The growl of the engine serving as an unspoken promise-

Wait. Engine? That wasn't Lung growling, certainly not. Gallant turns again, just in time to catch Armsmaster diving through the air far above him, linking up with the ArmsCycle as it slams through a cracked window to make its entrance. Then, together - man and machine descend upon the flaming lizard - adjusting mid-air to ensure the first strike connects despite Lung's attempt to dodge without even needing to look behind.

"I understand the situation. Wards, stand down - reinforcements are inbound." Armsmaster's gruff voice takes over their comms. "Engaging."

The confidence is earned, Gallant knows that much. And immediately, the difference in Tinkertech quality between Void Cowboy and Armsmaster becomes apparent. Void Cowboy had a powerful weapon, but that was all. Armsmaster had everything. A defence sufficient to ignore the flames, mobility that didn't need to sacrifice any other aspect of his kit, offensive power in the halberd that was every bit as potent as the blade - except wielded with far more dexterity and skill.

Not for the first time today, Lung finds himself harried in melee combat by an elusive opponent that seems to refuse to get hit - except, this one isn't forced away by the surges of heat or periodic flame blasts. It doesn't take Lung long to realise that brute force won't work - as flame jets and basic swipes of superstrength fall short, he turns to more unorthodox methods of attack. He collapses a nearby wall and flicks the flaming debris at his new opponent - a full-body tackle with his entire serpentine bulk, knowing that any damage inflicted can simply be regenerated. Some hits connect on both sides, halberd gouging into scales while Armsmaster's suit lights up in protest at being tested by the Brute's attacks.

"Hey, Browbeat! Aegis! Uh, I guess Gallant too. Help me out." Void Cowboy is back, seeming unaffected by his close shave with death. No sign of lasting panic, fear or giddiness - nothing that seems like it might eventually manifest as PTSD. If anything, he's enthusiastic - excited. A bit of awe? Perhaps it was just the presence of Armsmaster, he was supposed to be a fan - if Gallant remembers rightly. In other circumstances, it would be a good emotion to see. In this situation, it's just another sign that something is wrong with his head. "Maybe he took the first one out with a cheap shot, but what's he going to do about the second? He even left it all in one place for me."

Before anyone can ask what he means, he marches over to the ruins of his previous blade, extends a hand over it and-

"Bro! I need that!" Kid Win's drone squawks, peering over their shoulders. Not the Ward himself, had he opted to stay with Clockblocker to work on the bomb? "Can you do that whenever you want? What are the limitations? Can I borrow you for a project-"

"I get that reaction a lot." Void Cowboy chuckles, re-equipping his weapon. "And there's a few restrictions on it. It's a charge-based system, so I'm done for the day. Aside from that, I'm happy to rent it out at some point. I'll need the next few charges myself to get back into top condition, I think I ruined my teleporter in the heat - and I've promised a few uses of it to a friend already, but I'm definitely intending to let you guys get some mileage out of it too. We're all on the same team, right?"

"Of course."/"Naturally."/"Obviously."/"Sure!" His teammates agree enthusiastically.

"I'd like to hope so." Gallant reluctantly adds, his late answer drawing some looks. "I mean, he doesn't want to be in the Wards for a reason - right?"

"Shut it, Gallant! Don't ruin this for me! You have no idea what I just witnessed as a Tinker!" The drone does a spin. "He's a Ward in spirit and that's what counts, right - right?!"

"Right. And I really do intend on joining the heroes properly at some point, just not right now."

Behind his helmet, Gallant frowns in challenge. "Too much oversight?"

"Oh absolutely. I'd never get anything done. They'd definitely panic over people getting the wrong idea about my power. Better to wait until the cat's already out of the bag, right?" He probably shouldn't have aired his real thoughts, but Void Cowboy seems to have interpreted it in his own way. "Anyway, I had an idea for Lung but it's not something I can set up easily on my own - and my knight falls apart when it tries it, but with you here, we've got a real shot at taking him down."

"I hate to break it to you, but you weren't even making him bleed at the end there - your sword isn't going to cut it. Literally." Gallant interjects, earning himself a flash of annoyance and contempt for his entirely correct observation.

"The sword was blunt at that point, and I wasn't even trying to hit him normally - I was trying for the critical hit. If it got lucky, we'd be calling Amy to come and save his life right now." A chill inches down his spine at that. Amy? Calling the Bay's top healer by her first name wasn't some wild taboo, but it did imply that there was a personal connection there - had they met? Thinking about the defenceless, well-meaning healer being stuck in a room alone with Void Cowboy at the wrong time... that could end terribly, especially with her penchant for often not even telling people where and when she was going on her hospital trips. "But, I didn't get lucky - but I've got an alternative, one that doesn't even need the frame to activate to work. See, I've got a crappy copy of Skidmark's powers. I can't make the fields in the air, but I can put them onto objects."

As he says it, his hand ghosts across the oversized blade - leaving traces of glowing arrows pointed towards the edge in his wake. Without anyone touching it, the sword inches forward.

"You see?" He continues the motion. "It's going to apply that force constantly. Always wanting to speed up. I've done some pretty impressive things to tires and balls before - because the force always follows the arrow, right? So if I hold the blade, it will always be trying to pull the edge forward and if we don't hit anything, we'll just rotate and go even faster. And faster. And faster."

"But you can't keep the blade in place while you're applying the rest of the arrows." Browbeat nods in understanding. "It would just slide off somewhere before you had gotten anywhere close to the force that the Tinkertech stuff already does for you." She holds the back of the blade with both hands. "But if we do this, you can take all the time you need."

"That's right. Honestly, I thought I'd never be able to do it practically when I found out I can't use this power on Clockblocked objects - but, teamwork does have its perks. It should be pretty weak at first, but with all three of you holding it in place it will get to the point where you can't hold it anymore. You all let go, I start spinning and then - Vista."

"M-me? Yes!" She straightens at the mention of her name. "I'm here!"

"You'll need to aim me towards Lung. I'm not going to have much control over my direction, so just try and twist the path in front of me in Lung's general direction." He falls silent, continuing to place more and more of the arrows onto empty parts of the blade - at one point requiring Browbeat and Aegis to move their hands to give him more unused space. The moment it starts to shift, Gallant joins in himself - his power-armour wasn't the best for this type of work - but he was still far stronger than an average human.

Truthfully, he isn't happy about this. There weren't any other suggestions for ways to assist, but he'd prefer Aegis to be the user of this weapon - or perhaps Browbeat. But at the same time, Aegis wasn't fitting into the support frame that came with it, and without that - it wasn't clear that the weapon would be possible to manipulate at all. Browbeat could, but she'd have to slim herself down and weaken herself to do it - on top of the obvious fact that using this would place her into melee range with an enraged Lung.

No. This had too much potential to go wrong. It was good that Void Cowboy was the one taking the risk.

A small, treacherous part of his mind was concerned that Void Cowboy could kill all three of them with a casual movement right now, it wouldn't even have to be deliberate - if the blade slipped and he applied just the slightest bit of acceleration it would come around so fast that none of them would have time to dodge. He didn't have any reason to do that, but... he had no reason to have any of the violent surges of thought that he'd been having all evening, so that didn't comfort Gallant much.

The thunder of oversized footsteps and a distant crash draws everyone's attention for a moment. The Undersiders, finally making their escape. They'd left Bakuda behind - still cuffed as she was before they'd arrived. Good. She could wait.

"It's going to go!" Aegis is the first to utter the warning.

"Alright, alright. Keep it steady." Void Cowboy mutters. "Move your hands before this touches you. Vista, get ready." He leans over the blade. "Bleurghhh." Orange drool drips from his mouth onto the blade, erupting into flame mid-air and spreading across its length rapidly. The power of, what was her name - Spitfire? Not an imaginative one, but effective all the same. Gallant pulls away, tugging back Browbeat with him as Aegis does the same. The sword slams around in an arc, shimmering through the air where there hands were just a moment prior - but before they can even register the threat, the swing is echoed again. And again.

"All you Vistaaaa~" The call comes from the hurricane of force building up, one leaving a trace of napalm-like flames in the air with every rotation. The attempt to run, then walk and then simply jump towards Lung sets him on a weaving, sporadic path that eventually veers completely off at an angle.

But even without the ability to direct himself, the decision to attempt to move vertically was working well - between Vista's efforts and the blade's rotation, every jump became longer and higher than the last. When he reaches a certain height for the first time - he doesn't float down as much as he seems to stretch directly down and across to the frenzied melee between Armsmaster and Lung - a spiralling wheel of flame clearly visible even through the distorted space of Vista's power. The impact is titanic, and this time - there's no roar of rage, no cry of anger from Lung. Instead, Gallant learns what it sounds like when Lung screams in pain.

And exactly what it takes for him to do that. The lower half of Lung's body is completely severed, and the blade had even continued through to cleave into another part of his body further up on the second full rotation - not quite cleaving through a second time, but not for a lack of trying. For a moment - Gallant wonders if that's a lethal blow. He's never seen Lung that injured himself.

Then an inferno blooms within the room. Fire. Not directed as a breath or even as a protective cloak, just a pure aura of fire in every direction simultaneously - as he blinks the spots out of his eyes, he sees nubs that seem to grow out of Lung's back. Gallant realises then, to no small amount of horror, that the answer is no. This isn't enough to kill Lung. Not at this stage of his transformation.

Armsmaster dashes to the gaping wound in the dragon, driving the reverse-side of his halberd into the injury. "Deploying countermeasures." The radio crackles again. "Wards, leave the area. Secure Bakuda and pursue the Undersiders. I will handle Lung alone. New Wave and Velocity are already on an intercept path."

"Go ahead, I'll grab our friend." Aegis murmurs. He flies forwards, scooping a scorched-looking Void Cowboy up and away from the half-molten blade and the shattered frame holding it.

"Derd igh geddim?" The teen slurs his words incoherently, costume half singed away with the other half still ablaze - something that the Wards frantically put out as swiftly as they can.

"Sure, you got him." Aegis tells him with a bemused grin. "It's Lung though, so he just got bigger and angrier. Damn good hit though."

"Ferk." The teen says, but the pulse of pride in his emotions is proof that the encouragement worked. "Germ me erm momentsh." His body disappears into smoke for a second, then reforms. A failed use of his power? It seemed deliberate, but also didn't seem to do anything.

"I'll stay here, find him a safe place to take a breather - and I'll do the same for Bakuda too. Get out of Lung's line of fire." Vista volunteers. "You heard Armsmaster, you need to go after the Undersiders - there's probably going to be a fight and you'll be more useful than me with three teams worth of people running around."

Gallant can't find the energy to shoot down that convenient excuse. This is just her indulging in her crush... but at this point, he can't even find shaky grounds to argue against it. Void Cowboy hadn't actually taken an action that would warrant his mistrust, his dazed and confused aura was genuine and there was no reason for him to try and do something right now when the net of the heroes was closing around the area. If New Wave was here, the situation with the Empire had ended - anyone that wasn't Lung making trouble at this point wasn't going to make it out.

It's logical. He still hates it.

"Fine. Let's go!" Aegis doesn't share any of his concerns, surging away at full throttle towards the distant sound of angry barking. The Undersiders hadn't gotten far. Gallant sprints after him, the ground literally warping around him as Vista gives him a boost forward.

"-uck right off, Glory Hole! If we wanted any advice from you, we would have asked. And you know what, we've taken a fair few knocks to the head this week but not nearly enough to think that an intelligent thought was going to come out of your mouth." That was Tattletale. He rounds the corner and comes across the scene - New Wave arrayed in a semi-circle blocking off the street, the Undersiders atop their three snarling dogs, Velocity kneeling loosely off to the side and Aegis already in position overhead.

"Oh yeah? I'm the one with stupid ideas? Well I'm not the one that broke a convicted serial killer out of prison for your friends and attacked the heroes. Somehow, stupid little me, has managed to avoid that kind of situation!"

"The holier-than-thou speech really works on people who had literal bomb collars around their necks until just a few minutes ago. It's working so well! Why don't you try it again, I'll take a recording - I could use something to fall asleep to tonight."

"Oh, right. You're just the victim. Tell me, what law-abiding activity did your oh-so-innocent self happen to get up to that ended with you in a situation like that?"

"Everyone! Calm down. Can we talk about this like adults?" Velocity interjects loudly. "Undersiders. We appreciate your situation is special, and I can personally assure you that we - and the law - takes such things into account. As young offenders who got in over their head, it's highly like that this simply ends in a probationary period in a Wards program somewhere. It doesn't have to be any more serious than that."

"Sorry, most of us have special circumstances and reasons to not get tied up with the law. We're not interested." Grue responds. "We just want to leave, and we're willing to offer Oni Lee as our peace offering towards that end. You know he's far more of a serious criminal than us, be sensible about this."

"We'll take Oni Lee off your hands." Brandish agrees. "That, at least, we can agree on."

"We haven't agreed to a thing yet." Tattletale snaps. "I'm psychic, you see. I know what happens here. Oni Lee is our only leverage, so if we hand him over - one of you will look the other way as the other goes after us. Here's how it's actually going to work. You're going to watch us leave. You aren't going to follow. Tomorrow morning, at nine-oclock - we'll drop a bound and gagged Oni Lee off at the police station and everyone gets to walk away happy."

"That isn't going to work, Tattletale." Velocity sighs.

"It is going to work. You think it won't, because the PRT is embarrassed and humiliated after losing across the board today? Well. Too bad. As bad as your day might have been, it's been nothing compared to mine. But you know, if we can't come to an agreement here? It's going to be a lot more comparable - because Oni Lee here is probably never coming within fifty feet of Grue again. We're going to be just fine. But he's been listening to all our conversations so he knows exactly how much his boss needs him to cause havoc right now. You'll be very, very busy if we set him loose, I assure you. Far too busy to come picking a fight with five Capes and three dogs, I don't consider us fighters but I promise we won't go down that easily." The assembled heroes bristle at the threat.

She continues, emotional aura flaring wildly in distress, fear and a growing sense of anger. "This is just game theory, isn't it? If you don't agree to let us go - I throw this problem into your laps. Everyone loses - we don't want him to be free either. But I'll bet anything we'll have much better luck escaping when you're trying to keep the murderous serial killer away from your throats. You can enjoy that. Or, you can be sensible. You can let us go, and in the worst case - you don't get Oni Lee, but tonight still ends without bloodshed. Or, best case, you get Oni Lee hand-wrapped in a gift basket and can ship him off to the Birdcage before lunch."

She pauses, looking around at the assembled heroes. "But, again. I'm psychic. You're refusing to agree to anything, because you have more reinforcements on the way. Dauntless is getting patched up already, is he? And once he's here, you won't have to compromise at all."

"Last chance. Stand aside." Grue shouts out, darkness billowing out from behind him.

"Stand down, Grue. Whatever you're afraid of about the PRT, I can assure you it's not that serious - I can guarantee your safety personally." Aegis calls out. "If you release that man, you'll share in the responsibility for everything he does from that point on - you don't want that on your conscience."

"I could say the same for you forcing us into the choice of being captured, or possibly being captured. It didn't have to be like this - but this is what you wanted." A figure is hurled off from the central dog, collapsing wetly on the ground below. Then, as everyone takes a frozen moment to watch - it fades into ash.

"Ach, you bast-" Glory Girl flails at nothing, scattering ash in the wake of her fist - a half-dozen other Capes react in the same way, Oni Lee's movement in the twilight of the streets hard to track even at the best of times.

"He's on the roof!" Gallant points out the faint emotional aura as it vanishes.

"I'm following!" Velocity barks out.

"Not exactly flying to your defence, Undersiders. That didn't work out for you." Shielder blocks the path of the lead dog. "It's over. Stand down."

The clown-guy, Regent, leans down. "Oh, is that what you think? No, he's just grabbing his favourite weapons. Plenty of his friends around to arm himself. Now, if you oh-so-noble heroes could go and safeguard all those innocent lives as you love to do-" The noise of a distant explosion races through the street. "-we have somewhere we want to be."

With that, Grue's darkness envelopes all three of the dogs completely - threatening to engulf all of New Wave as well. After a moment of hesitation, they split off - the fliers lightly pursuing above the cloud.

What a mess.

"ee- tech- clear-" Static buzzes in his ears..

"Didn't catch that, Velocity. Repeat?" Aegis is the first to respond.

"I repeat, Oni Lee can duplicate Bakuda's Tinkertech!" Velocity's voice comes sharply through the radio. "Get fucking clear right now!"

He barely has even a split second of warning as the familiar deadened emotional blur settles into the darkness of the alleyway across the street - he raises his hands, firing a trio of blasts in that direction, as much to hit the target as alert everyone else to the threat.

It doesn't matter matter. His emotional sense tracks the teleports better than anyones eyes every could. One next to Shielder, the next up above Aegis, the next in line with Laserdream and the next just in front of him - before vanishing somewhere behind him, towards the utterly destroyed building that Lung was fighting in. He's the only one to notice the grenades dropping to the street, firing off a set of blasts to at least knock them away from their intended targets.

And then, between one instant and the next, all hell breaks loose at once - as the street all around him is engulfed in beautiful patterns of purple-white fire.

---

"-d, Gallant, are you okay? Wake up already, do you need me to get Ames-"

Gallant shakes his head, clearing the lights from his vision. "What the- I'm fine. I think. Great, actually. What happened? Where's Oni Lee?"

"Gone. All of them are. Lung got too big, Oni Lee went nuts and Piggot gave the order to throw in the towel." She sounds annoyed. He peers up at her. She is annoyed. And concerned. And a whole host of other emotions. "Can't believe they just get to walk away after all of that, one day - someone in the Triumvirate is going to come down here for just one day and send them all packing. They can't keep getting away with it."

"The others? Are they okay?" He pushes himself upright.

"Mostly. Some burns and bruises. You were the worst off, but you started healing on your own. You looked- well. It didn't look good for you, but you seem fine now. Did you, second trigger or something?"

"What? No." He flexes his arm, focusing on the buzzing energy underneath his skin. "Feels like... the last time I got healed by Othala, actually. Was she around?"

"Pfft. No. The Empire-" She gives a disgusted shake of the head. "Enough about them. No, is the answer. But if it wasn't you, then I guess it was that guy - Ames did keep complaining that her hospital-buddy could hand out regeneration, I just figured he would have to do something to make it work. He's been walking around here, he was fixing up our burns earlier - kind of ironic for someone as torched as he is, but he didn't seem that bothered. What was his name again? Forgot it already."

"Hospital-buddy?" He straightens. "Void Cowboy?"

"Oh, that was it. Knew it was something stupid like that." Vicky nods. "I heard he was involved in the fighting, but, we didn't really have time to get the full details when we arrived and just - well. We just spotted the guys who broke Oni Lee out and jumped them, they set him loose and I guess he's got an upgrade or two because he never used to be that much of a handful. Usually he just tries to stab us with knives a few times and then gives up, not sure how much I like this bombing-run tactic he's going with now." She pulls a face. "The Undersiders got away too, of course. It's annoying, if we'd known that the PRT was going to let the ABB go we could at least have gotten those guys. Something positive for the day."

"I was there at the end, right as it all kicked off." He heads her off. "What about Void Cowboy." He repeats urgently. "Was Vista with him?"

His girlfriend erupts into a crooning noise. "Oh my gosh, yes. It's sooo cute, don't you think? He was just walking around, complaining about critical hits and stuff and she was hanging off his arm listening to every word like this-" She flutters her eyelashes at nothing. "-I kind of wanted to cheer for her, but I was kind of worried about you so I came here instead once I was upright again. I remember having my first crush at that age-" The smile slips from her face. "-but you don't seem so happy?"

"No, I-" He sighs. "Vicky, listen. I'm going to try and tell Piggot about this, but I've got no proof. It barely makes sense even to me. They won't believe me, they won't want to - it's too convenient to start drama over just my say-so."

"I'm listening to you." She says diplomatically. "Whatever it is, I'm here."

"Good. Because it might affect Amy too, if they're hanging around. It's Void Cowboy. There's something... fucked up, about him. Inside, I mean. Outside, everything is perfect - he does the right thing, he says the right words, he plays the part well. But inside, it's like he's a completely different person." He lets out an expressive sigh. "Just... overflowing malice, everywhere. Greed. Jealousy. Hate. Lust. Superiority. He always, always wants to fight - even in the middle of a casual conversation you'll just see his aggression spike to the moon and he'll keep the most placid smile on his face as if he didn't look like he was a half-second away from strangling someone to death. I've seen people actively in fights that aren't as high-strung as he is at a natural baseline sometimes." He waves his hands in the air. "The emotional swings, I've never seen anything like it."

"That guy? Really?" Vicky's aura matches her confused expression. "He makes some of the dumbest posts on PHO you've ever seen for fun, as far as I know - he's a dork, not a psycho. Amy can back that up, and I think she's a good judge of character too. Aegis sounded pretty complementary when he was filling us in a moment ago too. I'm not saying you didn't see what you saw, but is it possible that this is... something else?"

"I thought it could be a bad power interaction at first, but it lines up so well most of the time-" He sighs. "This is what I mean. I know it sounds irrational. You think its irrational. I'll talk to Armsmaster, and he'll say it's irrational. They'll look for explanations that suit them, because he's strong - and going to get stronger. And, what can they even do - make enemies with him out of nowhere just because I said so? It's just, so hard to explain, it's all an act to him. He doesn't mean any of it. The act, it's- it's too perfect."

His words aren't landing. He can see that even without her saying anything. She's nodding along, but there's a generally mystified aura around her that tells the truth. Some sadness, some caring. She's sad to see that he's upset, but she doesn't feel the same way herself.

He drags a hand across his helmet as if to claw at his face. "I don't know how to explain it to someone without my powers. It's all wrong. It's just wrong. I don't know, Vicky. I don't trust him. I know it doesn't make sense to you, or to anyone - but it's like having a lie detecting power, and someone saying 'I'm your friend' and 'I'm not going to hurt you' and the lie result just exposes them but they don't actually do anything. How do you respond to that? How do you warn other people, when they can't verify your 'lie detector' power themselves?"

"I see." Vicky stays quiet for a moment. "So, what. You think he's just, biding his time? Waiting to do... something?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. That's the worst bit. I know what I'm seeing, but I don't know what it means. I know he wanted to attack, he was right there - on the brink of doing it. Maybe even past the brink of doing it, and then he wasn't. Like it never even crossed his mind. What do I even do with that information. But I know if he wanted to, he could have gotten us all killed pretty effortlessly. I don't think he was working with the ABB or anything. He's just... blending in."

"Let's talk with him." Vicky decides.

"What? Now? No, Vicky. You can't tell him any of this." He shakes his head. "If I'm wrong, or if I'm right - confronting him about it isn't going to help either way."

"You can't tell me not to worry about the guy that Amy couldn't stop talking about the other day after saying you're worried that he's secretly a blood-crazed psychopath." Vicky frowns.

"That's not what I meant. And, I don't know if that's what he is." He looks upwards at the sky. "I'm just, I want to be wrong. Obviously. I'd like to just be the idiot that didn't know how his own power worked. Or joke with him about how I used to think he was a nutcase, but actually he just uses Tinkertech drugs that make his emotions display strangely. Or that he's got some Thinker power that throws everything off, and we all laugh about the misunderstanding and go home. I want that. But, it just doesn't line up with what I'm seeing."

"Then let's talk to him." She repeats.

"Vicky-" Gallant starts.

She wags a finger in the air. "I'm not saying that we pick a fight. I'm saying we hold a conversation. Say that we should get to know each other more, as fellow heroes. Ask about his plans for the future. You've only met the guy in the middle of a crisis with gunfire and explosions everywhere, with Lung breaking faces in the background and a mad Tinker running around. Things are settled now. See what he's like when he's normal. If it's something to worry about, if it isn't - either way, we can keep an eye on him in the future. Put your mind at ease a bit, right?"

Gallant looks up at her, then pushes himself to his feet. "You're right. We should do that. I'm... sorry. I've been thinking about this a lot."

"Of course I'm right. I'm a pretty girl. It's in my blood." She grins. "And, really, you've been worrying about this? Didn't you have the mad bomb Tinker and the angry lizard to worry about rather than psycho-analysing the weird vigilante hanging around the squad?"

"The Tinker didn't really last long enough to be a problem, in the main fight at least." He glances around at the devastation around them, pulsing crystals and flames that refused to be put out littered the street. It was a small miracle that nobody had died in the end. The Tinker's debut may not have gone well in-person, but their impact on the overall fight proved how much of a problem the ABB was going to be going forward. "And Lung... well. There's a certain freedom that comes from knowing you can't do anything about him no matter what. I was pretty useless back there, had a lot of time to think - and the more I thought, the weirder he looked. Just made it worse, really."

"Ah, I'm messing with you. Got to lighten up before we talk to him or you'll give the game away." She spins around and lightly floats forward. "Come on. Let's go find him."

He jogs after her. "Remember, we don't-"

"Not starting a fight because you could be wrong." She nods. "I want you to be wrong too. Amy seems to have found a friend in him, you know?"

Vicky guides him around the corner, then into an alleyway. Ahead, voices emerge - coming towards them.

"-actually, the frame is designed to manage that kind of rotational force already. It doesn't fall apart when I trigger it's little quirk, right? It's always still ready to go. It's the squishy meatsack inside that's the problem. I'd give it to my knight, but it doesn't actually do limbs like that - it just looks like it does. It would twist itself apart rather than turn. I was definitely the best choice, but at the end, I was starting to lose it a little - the G-forces I suppose. I had to drop my head and parts of my body into the shadow state, if we'd hit even a second later I'd have had to duck out entirely. Clockblocker's power and then shadow state, that would be the only way to stop it - but what a waste that would have been. My vision wasn't really doing much after I connected, but I couldn't mistake it - went straight through him like butter."

"It was a pretty impressive combo attack." Vista nods in agreement. "We should find a way to experiment with it more often, just in case we ever need it again. Maybe-" She looks up at the approaching pair of Capes and comes to a halt. "Oh. Hello."

"Hi Vista! And Void Cowboy too, thanks for patching me up earlier." Vicky waves. "We were just looking around, seeing if anyone was caught up in any trouble. You know how it is."

"There's nobody else around." Vista shrugs. "He just treated Lady Photon, she flew off to sweep the area - but this whole place was evacuated when the rumours of a bomb first came out. A good decision, in the end - there isn't really anyone left - I can flex my power from here to halfway across the block. Nobody in the way."

"Right, I guess you've been up and about helping people before we were in any shape to be up and walking. How did things happen on your end?" Vicky probes innocently.

"Oh, well - Void here was recovering from this really cool attack that we did that literally cut Lung in half-" She pauses, as if waiting for applause that doesn't come. A faint flicker of irritation that appears around her head is quickly smoothed over. "-so we were taking a breather near Bakuda, watching Armsmaster fight Lung. He seemed to be doing pretty well, Lung was actually shrinking for a while there, I'm sure of it - maybe even he was getting tired?" She shakes her head. "Anyway, long story short - Oni Lee appeared out of nowhere. We tried to stop him from grabbing Bakuda, he tried to slit my throat but Void was feeling better at that point and he was all over him - punched his arm straight through him like this!" She mimes a heart-tearing gesture with enthusiasm. "Can you imagine? It was pretty cool-"

"I can imagine." Gallant nods with a pained smile. It's an all-too-easy to picture image. Except, his imagination involves the target being his friends rather than a few annoying ash clones.

"Anyway, he tried to do it again but got hit out of nowhere right away - knocked him right into the wall, and he didn't teleport again for a bit so we realised it was the real one. Almost took him out in one hit!"

"I have a power that leaves an echo of an attack in a location, he walked right into it." Void Cowboy makes a dismissive gesture in the air. "He just wasn't respecting my growth. He's too tough an opponent to go down that easily again, and I didn't have a way to blind him - so he shook himself off and got away anyway."

Vista nods excitedly. "I was getting to that. We were going to try and cuff him, but he slipped away. He messed with Armsmaster while he was fighting Lung, and Armsmaster got mad and said 'Target has reinforcements, the window of opportunity for target suppression has closed - advising retreat to minimise material damage to the city''." She mocks a gruff, military tone. "And then Piggy said to just let them take Bakuda. I'm not sure who was more upset, her or Armsmaster."

"It's a tough day for the PRT." Void Cowboy nods. "Pretty normal when Lung makes this kind of scene though, nobody ever got fired by deciding to let Lung walk away rather than burn down the city fighting him."

"Anyway. They all left, Armsmaster left. Void decided to go and see if anyone needed healing over here, which a bunch of you did, and now we're just-" Her cheeks turn pink along with her aura. "-just taking a walk."

"I was explaining the Tinkertech sword I use, it was originally intended to be used by a mech - not a person, so it has a few disadvantages-"

"No point explaining it to me." Vicky cuts him off immediately. "Blonde. I wouldn't get it at all."

"Probably not." He agrees easily.

Vicky purses her lips. "I feel like I should be offended at how easily you accepted that." Vicky complains.

"Beauty over brains isn't a bad thing." He offers. Gallant does his best not to clench his fists. He wouldn't be thrilled about the comment even under normal circumstances. The pulsing waves of naked lust and possessiveness that came with it would have been hard enough to tolerate from civilians. From a guy like this... sometimes he hates being a hero.

She raises one delicate eyebrow. "Careful, my boyfriend might get jealous."

"Oh, that's true." A wave of an amusement, then his eyes turn to Gallant for a second. "I suppose he would. But, you surely don't need to worry - I'm sure your relationship is strong enough that neither of you should be worried about the other being stolen away by some nice compliments and a pretty face."

He's not apologetic. The storm of disgust, derision, contempt and jealousy - all topped by an edge of knowing, mocking amusement - reveals the insincerity of his words. He wants to punch the smirk-that-isn't-a-smirk right off his face.

Except he can't. Because he's too weak. Useless.

"That's true enough." Naturally, Vicky can't see what he sees. "I'm just messing around. I know I'm beautiful. A tragic curse, I know." She adjusts her tiara. "Anyway. What's your plans now, hotshot? Joining the Wards now that you've made a name for yourself?"

"No, but I might work a bit more closely with them in the future - today was a good experience. I've got a partner I patrol with, but its a very different experience to a larger team. My partner and I are pretty impressive in a fight, but we couldn't have achieved everything the Wards did today on our own. Something to think about, maybe." He shrugs. "But not until the ABB and Empire have been beaten back down. Can't let the gangs think they can get away with things like this, I'm surprised we didn't get any out-of-town reinforcements given how badly things seemed to go."

"That's always the way in Brockton Bay." Vicky nods glumly. "And you've just tangled with Lung and Oni Lee, and you're already thinking about the next fight? Isn't it a good time to kick your feet up and watch them kill each other for a bit?"

"You only need to think like that if you don't think you can win." He grins. "The Empire hasn't fought me yet. To the point that I've got some trolls making memes about my target choices on PHO. It's as much about my reputation and pride as it is about the balance of power in the Bay." He gestures at himself. "I'll take a few days to repair my kit. The costume. Link up with a few friends that I've been meaning to get a hold of. At some point, the ABB will start their campaign of retribution for all the gains the Empire has been making - and every criminal Cape in the Bay is going to have to poke their heads up above the parapet. I'll be there, cutting them down to size."

"Very heroic of you." Vicky adopts a thinking posture. He just nods in agreement. "I guess I'll have to keep an eye on you, you might not have time to hang around my sister anymore - she might get lonely, or start getting worried you only care about getting into fights."

"I'll make sure not to let that happen. I appreciate her company." He tilts his head from one side to the other as Gallant stares at the air above his head. "Though... I'll admit. I'm not a saint like her. Healing people is just an obligation to me. I won't lie, I'm more of a 'punch people to make the city better' kind of guy. I do like to fight. Honestly, I'd like to be in a fight right now - you have no idea! But, I'm kind of beat for the day. As much as it feels like a waste, I don't really have another one in me. I'll throw up if I try, I'm pretty sure. Like I said, a few more days - I'll be fighting fit, and looking for the next round."

"I suppose I can't really blame you for that, given my own preferences." Vicky looks around. "Well. We should probably get going."

"She's right. Vista, let's go - the transport is waiting for us." Probably. If it wasn't, it would be on the way soon. The important thing was that he didn't want to leave these two together. It had already been long enough.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll go on ahead." Vista mutters. "See you around, Void. We should- sometime- uh. See you soon!" She practically flickers on the spot, stretching to the other end of the alley in a single step and vanishes around the corner in the blink of an eye.

Vicky turns around to follow her. Gallant half-turns too. "Oh, Void Cowboy." He acts as if he just remembered something. "You don't have a communicator, so I'm not sure if Vista told you - the Empire completed their breakout today, the ABB escaped with all their members and the Undersiders have gone to ground too. Nobody got caught in the end."

"Oh, that sucks. I kind of assumed that was the case, but thanks for letting me know." He gets a serious nod in response.

Gallant says nothing, taking a moment to gather the waves of cheer, satisfaction and celebration emanating from the teen at the confirmation. He follows Vicky silently.

"He seemed alright. Kept staring at my tits, but if I judged people for that I wouldn't have any friends at all. Or a boyfriend, for that matter." Vicky remarks, bumping into him playfully. "What about you? Feeling better about him?"

"Worse than ever." He admits.

"Ah." Vicky frowns. "That sucks. But there's still nothing to pin on him, we can't just act rashly without him actually doing anything wrong. Actions speak louder than, uh, thoughts. Something like that?"

"I know." Gallant stretches his arms above his head. "Hey, is there any chance that he's in a relationship with Amy? I was definitely picking up feelings like that when the topic came up. Definitely different from the general lust he feels towards, uh, everyone."

"H-huh!? No. There's no way- I mean. It would explain a few things-" Vicky trails off in thought. "Gallant?"

"Yes?" He turns his head towards his girlfriend.

"I've changed my mind. No need for a trial. We've got to kill this guy." She slams a fist into her palm, generating a meaty smacking sound.

A rare smile reaches his lips. "We can't do that."

"But, my baby sister!" She whines. "Just let me break a few bones, he won't even miss them - or, just one in particular-"

"It could have just been coincidence." Gallant admits. "Like I said before, he gets some weird swings at weird times every now and then - although, I didn't see any of that when we were talking just now. Not to the usual extent, anyway. Lots of emotions I'd rather not have seen on someone who is supposed to be a hero, but not the... absurdity of mood swings I saw earlier. But it's still possible I misread it, or it was some weird chain of thought he went on at the same time as the topic came up."

"No dropping bricks on his head?" She pouts. "I'm joking, mostly." She coughs that last part.

"Even if it would make things easier, no. I'll see if I can get Armsmaster and Piggot's attention about this, but otherwise-" He trails off.

"Otherwise, it's just you and me." She nods. "That's fine. We make a good team. If he's hiding something, the best thing to do is keep him in the spotlight and wait for him to slip up. If we catch him picking wings off flies or kicking puppies or something as an outlet, we'll know he's a weirdo and pass that along to whoever needs to know - and if it's just a weird coincidence with a reasonable explanation, then he'll continue to defy expectations and just be a fairly average hero. Amy's met him at the hospital a few times, it should be pretty easy for me to lead the conversation into me meeting the guy she's spending so much time with. Especially if I make some noise about this so-called relationship. You can keep an eye on him from the Wards side of things, especially if he starts working with you more or interacting with patrols."

"Right. We'll do that. Just... be careful. The way he looked at you... I really, really didn't like it." Gallant shakes his head. "Like you were a thing that belonged to him already. The way he found the existence of your 'boyfriend' funny. The hate he had for the idea of it. The confidence he had in himself when he looked at you - I know it sounds silly, Vicky but I'm worried-"

"Why don't you think about what you're about to say first, because if you're implying that there's a chance of what I think you're implying - I'm going to get really, really upset with you." Vicky smiles menacingly.

Gallant swallows. "...right. It was silly. Forget it."

She nods primly. "I'm going to link up with Ames, and ask some pointed questions about a certain guy I just met. Maybe imply he said some things - we'll see what she says." She smiles mischievously. "Depending on what I hear... I'm still open to the brick idea."

"Honestly, if I catch him looking at you like that one more time... I might just find a tall building and join you." He lets a smile cross his face at the idea as they split apart, going their separate ways.

The smile slips from his face as Vicky vanishes into the skyline. There should be nothing to be worried about, but nevertheless - he knows he won't sleep well tonight.

One more report to the Director - hopefully, she of all people would understand.

---

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♦ Topic: Statement and Summary On Recent Gang Violence Outbreak - April 5th 2011

In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay

►PRTENE_OFFICIAL (Original Poster) (Verified Official)

Posted On April 5th 2011:

The Parahuman Response Team, working with the Protectorate and local law enforcement, is providing the following update on the series of parahuman incidents that took place across Brockton Bay today. Beginning around 17:30 this afternoon, multiple threats unfolded from several different criminal elements at once.

Firstly, the ABB launched an unprecedented and unprovoked assault on the charity event dedicated to the debut of our newest Ward, Browbeat. It immediately became apparent that this action was led by a dangerous and unhinged Tinker by the name of Bakuda, who specialises in explosive devices and is believed to be the Cape identity of the failed 'Cornell Bomber'. In her opening ambush, several heroes on stage were temporarily restrained - in contrast to public speculation, we can reassure all parties that all of the individuals caught up in the initial assault by the amateur villainous Tinker were swiftly freed by more experienced PRT-aligned Tinkers and remain in excellent condition. The Tinker issued several threats to the population within and without the building, stating her intention to take the hundreds, if not thousands of hostages for no clear purpose - and claimed to have a powerful bomb ready if opposed. We took these threats extremely seriously and issued an evacuation order and quarantine of the surrounding areas while considering our best response.

At the same time of this assault, Lung launched a vicious assault on secure PRT holding facilities elsewhere in the town. Protectorate heroes, led by Dauntless, went to combat the threat and drive the Cape away from his intended target. They were able to successfully prevent Lung from progressing further into the building, entering into a protracted battle to pin the Cape down and prevent him from reinforcing his new Tinker partner.

In addition to this, the Empire Eighty-Eight launched an assault on a prison transport to free several of their captured members. This drew an immediate response from Protectorate forces with the assistance of New Wave and an independent vigilante. This team prioritised the preservation of innocent life and successfully de-escalated the situation despite being significantly outnumbered, we thank all parties for their efforts in preventing the situation from getting out of hand in a time of crisis elsewhere in the city.

Finally, the previously small-time criminal team 'The Undersiders' assaulted a secure holding parahuman holding area and kidnapped the ABB-affiliated Cape 'Oni Lee' from detention. Due to the speed of the attack, the powers involved and the critical events requiring a response elsewhere in the city - manpower was not available to stop this attack at the time.

These events all occurred within an exceptionally narrow time-frame, indicating a combined, cross-gang effort to stretch and exhaust Protectorate and PRT resources across the city.

PRT leaders made the decision to activate the Wards to perform a limited, low-risk mission to end the hostage situation from the rookie ABB Tinker. With the aid of another independent hero, the team was able to successfully defeat Bakuda, free the hostages and their fellow heroes without issue. At this stage, both Lung and the previously-mentioned Undersiders approached the scene - resulting in a standoff and a brief confrontation. This concluded with the Undersiders and Wards escaping the building while Armsmaster engaged Lung alone. At this stage, the Undersiders released Oni Lee - who demonstrated an ability to replicate Bakuda's Tinkertech and use it to unleash a devastating bombing spree. Oni Lee's presence created immediate chaos, severely disrupted Armsmaster's capture of Lung and resulted in the release of Bakuda from custody. With that window of opportunity missed - leadership reassessed the situation and the best path forward from there.

With civilian lives suddenly at greater risk, PRT leadership ordered all hero teams to stand down and allow both the ABB and Undersiders to withdraw. This decision was made to prevent loss of life and limit additional damage. The PRT is proud and relieved to report that despite the scale of the fighting and the dangerous powers involved, no civilian deaths occurred. All injured individuals, whether hero, villain, or bystander, received prompt medical care. Property damage remained largely confined to the areas where combat took place. The PRT and Protectorate continue to prioritise the safety of Brockton Bay and its civilians. Full investigations into today's coordinated attacks, the circumstances surrounding the prison breakouts and the new parahuman Bakuda are already underway. We will provide further updates as they become available. Citizens are urged to report any suspicious activity through the PRT tip line and to stay clear of any areas still designated as active scenes until authorities declare them safe.

(Showing page 5 of 13)

►AllSeeingEye

Posted On April 5th 2011:

[Redacted by moderator]

User was warned for this post (Do not wish harm on other users).

►OurLastOffal (Cape Groupie)

Posted On April 5th 2011:

You just let everyone go? Everyone?? What was the point of you all even going to work today?

►IAmTheLaw3

Posted On April 5th 2011:

Piggot should resign for this. All three of those Capes should have been in the Birdcage on the same day that they were captured.

►XxVoid_CowboyxX (Verified Cape)

Posted On April 5th 2011:

Hey, do any of the Wards have helmet footage of my fucking-amazing fight against Lung? Some random trolls in the other thread don't believe me. We're kind of buddies now, so you can share things like that - right?

►FinalBoss

Posted On April 5th 2011:

XxVoid_CowboyxX Just stop, dude. You're embarrassing yourself. Nobody believes you. You're a clout chaser. Hiding in the corner while the big boys fight doesn't mean that you 'fought Lung' or 'Saved the day'.

►AegisOfficial (Verified Cape)

XxVoid_CowboyxX Sorry dude. I asked, and I was told no. Unlucky.

I can at least vouch that Void was an immense help to us today. I don't want to spill too many secrets about his capabilities in case he's trying to keep some tricks up his sleeve, but he easily surpassed all my expectations and went above and beyond the call of duty on multiple occasions today. I appreciate everything you did today Void, I hope to see you in the Wards soon so we can work together again.

►XxVoid_CowboyxX (Verified Cape)

Posted On April 5th 2011:

AegisOfficial My man. I appreciate the vouch.

FinalBoss There we have it. Suck my dick, bitch.

User was warned for this post (Vulgarity).

►PRTENE_OFFICIAL (Original Poster) (Verified Official)

Posted On April 6th 2011:

Notice: We have removed the mention of a recent series of kidnappings occurring at the same time as the above events as we now understand that this activity was unrelated. After pursuing and interrogating several suspects, our lead on the case - Consultant Thomas Calvert - was able to confirm that this was an unaffiliated, unpowered smuggling gang taking advantage of the chaos in the city to try and ransom victims back to their families for quick cash.

Several arrests have been made and the majority of the teenagers have been released to their families - although some girls have not yet been located, we are confident that it is only a matter of time before they are reunited with their families. The details of the case, as well as our remaining leads on the whereabouts of the last few kidnapping victims have been handed over to BBPD for further investigation and we have absolutely confidence that they will bring this terrible case to a close. There will be no further update from this account.

►XxVoid_CowboyxX (Verified Cape)

Posted On April 6th 2011:

Alright guys. The Bakuda thread got locked, so I'm posting it here. What do we think?

Bakuda

Primary classification: Tinker 3 (Bomb Tinker).

Secondary ratings: Blaster 2, Shaker 3.

Here's my reasoning for each rating in order. First up - Tinker. Bakuda? Total pushover. Honestly, I beat the shit out of her and I wasn't even really trying. Can you imagine me doing that to Armsmaster? Hell no. And I'm with you on that! On these forums, we lowball Armsmaster to a 7. He's actually an 8 with 9 potential, but we can have that argument another day. Anyway, the point is - these ratings are supposed to be based on threat, and we've established that the threat is nowhere even remotely close to a 7. And the Tinker rating? It's how much threat you're supposed to feel from her actual Tinkertech. The equipment. But... half of her stuff is just stuff regular gang members use! Hobby drones. Rocket launchers. Grenades that do less AOE than normal grenades. Like, how is a PRT trooper supposed to be scared of this? If it wasn't for the weirder effects and the super-bomb in the basement, I might have been forced to give her a negative number here. As it is - pretty embarassing for her. If it was me, I'd have stayed in the basement until I had something I was proud of.

Blaster... I felt like I had to include it, just because she fights at range most of the time. I felt absolutely no threat from her, let me be clear. I was just so much better than her in every way, it was almost painful. Really, I think you've got to think about this rating by comparing her to a regular loser with a rocket launcher and some pocket grenades. Is she a little above that guy? Sure. I guess. That's why we give her the blaster rating and a basic Tinker rating. She could use one of her special bombs and hit something in a way that a normal missile couldn't. Fine. But, let's be real - she's not doing much more than that. And even then, I'd argue that a rating for that special effect doesn't go under Tinker or Blaster - but under Shaker.

Speaking of Shaker: Using the bombs to get those Shaker effects? Yeah, that was pretty cool. Seemed to work pretty well, actually. She's still a pushover in a fight, but I do respect the exotic effects she'd cooked up. She could definitely sneak a win in against a strong Brute if she got lucky or caught them off guard. Deserved rating. Could even go higher, but I think it needs a better showcase than some random buildings - I'll come back to this if she turns Hookwolf into a lawn decoration and admit I was wrong.

Aside from that, what do we think about giving Oni Lee a Tinker (5) rating? I know it seems weird because he isn't a Tinker - but he really just magnifies Bakuda's tech by so much with his power. One fairly-useless grenade suddenly becomes something that can be replicated a hundred times and glass an entire street. And it's definitely a Tinker rating, because if you take the grenades away - he's just going to go back to ineffectually stabbing half of the Capes in the Bay. But with it? He's a menace. Definitely needs a bump in the ratings, looking forward to hearing all of your thoughts.

►BakudasOnFire (Verified Cape)

Posted On April 6th 2011:

[Redacted by moderators.]

User was temp-banned for this post. (Do not wish harm on other users + Vulgarity)

End of Page 5.

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