At least in the Wards, it would be possible for the Protectorate to keep a eye on her.
As the caravan turned a corner I reached up to adjust my headset just as there was a loud explosion from the rear.
"All forces, we are under attack by a Tinkertech aircraft." Armsmasters voice said through the headset. "I am engaging. Convoy is to continue to waypoint Gamma."
"This is Car Three. That first rocket took out our engine. We are alive, but dead in the water."
Hannah.
The armored car jerked to the side like the drivers was avoiding something and I dug my claws into the bench to avoid being thrown from my seat. At least the PRT troops was strapped in.
That's when the phone Skitter left me started to ring.
Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.
AN// Large thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Skidmark was laughing and swearing as the armored car swerved back and forth across the road, the driver keeping control while trying to avoid the obstacles or whatever it was that he was avoiding like the professional that he was.
I clung to the bench and handles, being thrown back and forth. I couldn't strap in either... I needed to be free to move in case things came to close combat fighting.
There was shouting from the troops in the cabin, Armsmaster was calmly reporting what the tinker helicopter was doing as Skitter's phone was buzzing in my pocket.
Resisting the urge to swear like a sailor I dug my left hand's claws into the bench while fishing the phone out of my pocket, flipping it open as I was thrown of the bench, hitting the floor by Skidmark's feet.
"Hydra." I answered while climbing onto my feet, only to be thrown into the other wall.
"...are you alright?" I heard Skitter's voice ask.
"I can talk. Just having some company so be a bit quick about it. Aggressive company." I said as I clung to the handle in the wall, keeping myself from being thrown of my feet again.
I actively kept myself from adapting as I had no idea what would happen if I did. I was in a closed contained with other people, for all I knew I would adapt by slamming spikes into all the walls to keep me from moving, regardless what was in the way.
The PRT troops were staring at me.
Well I couldn't blame them for that.
"I can't join the wards. I have to finish this." Skitter said.
I braced as the armored truck screeched to a halt before quickly accelerating again. What the hell were they doing out there!?
"Bad choice. You are going to end up getting a Bad End if you go down that path." I said, sitting down on the bench, holding on to the handle tight. "This is not the way to become a hero."
"I can't let this go. There is something I have to do."
Oh for crying out loud.
"Look, there is no way that thi..." I started, but I was interrupted by a spear of metal slamming through the roof of the armored car, before expanding into a three pronged hook and pulling up, throwing me off my feet as it started to haul the car away.
The phone slipped from my grasp, clattering to the floor of the car as I went tumbling across the car into the back door.
Fuck this shit. Fuck all of it.
"Foam him!" I ordered the PRT troops as I tapped the com set "Armsmaster, this is Hydra. What's going on!?"
"The Tinker aircraft got you with a grappling hook and is pulling you airborne. Can you dislodge the hook before you get to high? It is currently pulling you along the street, trying to gain altitude!"
I looked at the hook as I was almost knocked of me feet again. "I'll try."
With that I shifted to full armored form, dropping agility for full musclemass power. My pants was made to be able to handle some stretching, but that was not possible with the leather jacket. It was however made to fall apart and so it did as I hulked out.
Growling, I reached up and grabbed hold on the closet claw before pulling HARD. The metal groaned but held firm.
With a roar I flipped, putting my feet against the ceiling, and pulled hard. No mere metal will defeat me!
The metal groaned and shifted, but didn't bend.
With this this form I could flip cars with one hand.
Fucking Tinkers!
I snarled and dropped back onto the floor of the armored car, almost getting knocked of my feet again as I roared at the hook.
Needed to weaken it.
Needed to get the car free.
I felt myself shift and I suddenly knew I could do something new.
Opening my mouth, I spat a stream of green liquid at the hook and the metal started to smoke along with the roof.
"GAS!" The PRT troops in the cabin yelled and they scrambled to get their NBC masks on.
I simply growled and took a hold again, pulling hard as my muscles strained. The weakened tinker metal groaned, and this time it bent.
As soon as it started to bend, it snapped with a loud groan of metal, the rest of the hook disappearing through the hole in the roof with a loud crash and tearing a large section of weakened roof out with it.
For half a second we were in free fall, but then we hit the ground with a loud crash and everything turned to chaos.
AN// Many thanks to Blackout for betaing this section and not eating me.
It was lucky I was where I was. Instead of squishing the PRT soldiers or Skidmark, I was thrown out of the hole in what remained of the armored car's roof when it hit the ground and started to flip. I hit the ground hard, the armored truck slamming down on top of me before continuing on it's way.
Whimper.
Being able to regenerate or not... armor or not... getting five or so tons of truck slamming down on you and then continuing on its way did not feel good.
At least my armor kept me from becoming a stain on the road. Instead I was just compressed to half my normal thickness, all my bones broken, organs squished and my armor cracked. I was bleeding everywhere.
Funnily enough, Skitters bugs hurt worse before.
I still groaned as I slowly picked myself of the ground though. Fucking. Ow.
I cracked my neck as I stood, my vertebrae reforming as I did. I hated regrowing my spine. It made the creepiest sound.
Taking a quick look around, I stalked over to the overturned armoured truck where it was on it's side, leaning against a wrecked parked car.
That's gonna be expensive.
"Everyone okay in there?" I called out as I shifted back a bit so I could talk, reaching up to tap my headset only to find it missing.
Damn, dropped it somewhere.
There was a moment of silence before somebody called back. "We're fine, just knocked around a bit. Harnesses held. Villain is secure."
"Roger that. Hang on to something," I answered as I shifted to full power form and walked around the truck before I grabbed a hold, making sure to try to get the strongest parts to push it back up onto its wheels with a crash.
Walking to the rear of the truck, I encountered a problem. The door was still locked.
I could break in... but...
Shifting to my human movement shape I jumped onto the roof of the car and dropped back inside. Skidmark was covered with a thick layer of containment foam. The two PRT troops were still strapped in their harnesses but they had taken their gas masks off.
Shit, the right one was bleeding.
"You okay, dude?" I asked as I dug the small medical kit from the small locker under the bench.
"Yeah... I'll be fine sir." he answered. "Just banged my head. Head wounds always bleed a lot." he said, pressing a hand against the side of his head.
I nodded and pulled a coagulant spray from the medical kit, tossing it over to his partner.
Tinker gear is sometimes fucking great.
"You guys okay in front?" I called out to the drivers.
"Fine! But stuck! Fucking CF compartment burst!" one of them yelled back, sounding very muffled.
That caused the other two to burst into laughter.
Chuckling I looked down at myself. Huh, nice. The pants held nicely.
I could handle walking around bare-chested and without boots after a fight, but without pants things get embarrassing. Pulling out a spare headset from the small emergency locker I punched in the code to connect me to the network... and I was suddenly rather happy not to be a girl. That would have made things even more problematic.
Then again, then I would likely have gone with the entire Witchblade style. Bet Glenn would have loved that.
Shaking the rather irrelevant thoughts from my head, I tapped the headset. "HQ, this is Hydra. What's going on out there? We are disabled, but the tinker craft is nowhere to be seen. Requesting backup."
"Hydra, Armsmaster. Held up by Mush. ETA: Thirty Seconds. Alternate transport is en-route with Miss Militia."
"Roger that, sir." I said with a nod, giving the headset a tap to close the channel.
"You guys sure you are okay?" I asked the two PRT troops.
The one tending the head wound of the other nodded. "A bit knocked around. Will be good after a check-up."
I nodded and jumped up onto the roof of the armoured car to keep a look round. Man... what devastation.
As far as I could see along the street there were smashed cars, lamp posts ripped from the ground, and fucking fire hydrants spraying water into the air like something out of a cartoon.
But this wasn't a cartoon. There were people in some of those cars. Some were still climbing out. Other cars were burning.
Others had people screaming, trapped in them.
As I looked over at the street that looked like it had an armoured car dragged across it by a super helicopter, all I could think of was that I hoped that none of those burning cars had people in them.
I glanced back into the truck."You guys got this? We got civilians trapped in cars. I can help."
"Go!"
AN// *Hiver press a button on his desk. A trapdoor open under Amberion and drop him into a vat full of thanks*
"Miss, are you alright? I'm Hydra, I'm with the Protectorate." I asked as I skidded to a halt by a crashed car. The passenger side was very damaged and the front was collapsed but luckily the woman in the drivers seat looked relatively undamaged.
"I-I'm stuck!" she answered. "My leg!"
I pulled at the handle but the door didn't budge.
Crap. Well, I needed to get her out of there.
"I'm about to look a bit scary, Miss. Please don't be afraid," I quickly said and shifted to maximum muscle and armor before grabbing hold of the door and pulling.
I ripped it out of the frame like if it was made from cardboard.
She stared at me with wide eyes, but at least there was no screaming.
I rumbled softly as I peered at the car. The front had shifted from the impact, working as the crumple zone it was meant to be, but it had shifted too far, trapping her leg between the dashboard and the seat.
Mostly plastic and some metal.
I started with using a claw to cut the seatbelt of her before I put one hand against the frame of the car where it met the bottom and the other at the part that had been pushed out of place.
Hope she was ready for this because this might hurt a tad.
I pushed. Hard.
The car groaned and deformed around my hands, bending as she bit back a scream before I slowly eased up and shifted back. "Try it now."
"M-My leg... it's broken." she finally said "But I think I'm free."
I nodded and carefully helped her out of the car, letting her sit down on the curb a couple of meters away, before grabbing a blanket from the back seat of her car and draping it over her shoulders. "Please remain here, Miss. Medical assistance is on its way. I need to go help others as well."
She stared forward and nodded slowly.
Damn, she is in shock.
Unfortunately there was nothing I could do about that, I needed to help others as well. Crashed cars are deathtraps... if the gas tank took damage, they could burst into flames at any moment.
Fire took precedent over shock.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Armsmaster to Hydra. We have reached the courthouse. Report." Armsmaster ordered through my headset.
I reached up and tapped the button on the earpiece. "Medical personnel is on the scene, boss... but things are looking bad. The Director will not like this one little bit and neither do I... we have dozens of people hurt, some seriously. Luckily nobody has died... yet."
At least I got everyone out of the cars...and nobody had been in the ones that were on fire. There were a couple of cases of smoke inhalation, but...
Things had gone as well as could be hoped.
Fucking drugged up Tinker bitch.
"Report to the courthouse, Hydra. The assignment is not over and you have done what you can," Armsmaster said and closed the connection.
I looked around and sighed. He was right... I had done what I could. The Medics along with PRT and normal Police were already at the scene and everyone that was trapped had been released.
Squealer.
She did all this.
...and there was little any of us could do about it. Not even Armsmaster or Miss Militia could stop her in time.
Some heroes we were.
At least E88 and ABB tended to avoid public disruption like this. They were bad for business. The Merchants, however, gave no fucks.
They hurt people. For no reason.
They needed to be taken down. Put away. Stopped.
We had Skidmark already.
Squealer. Mush.
They were left. Without the capes in the gang to keep them together, the gang would fall apart. According to their files, neither of them had ever gone to an Endbringer fight. The primary reason the Protectorate went easy on Villains was invalid.
I started running before I jumped, grabbing hold of a light pole for some more upwards momentum, swinging myself up on the closest roof and starting off towards the direction of the courthouse.
None of the others would approve of me going after them this hard. Not even Hannah.
Almost none of the others. It was not what the PRT or Protectorate did. Even the search for Lung had started to die off after just a couple of days.
The Endbringers were a thing... but letting people like this walk around freely was not something Heroes should do.
I needed to talk to Shadow Stalker.
AN// Several thanks to steamrick for betaing this section.
"You want to go after the Merchants?" Sophia asked with a frown, drinking from the straw in her milkshake.
We were in a booth at the local pizza place instead of the local hamburger place that the Wards used to frequent much more often.
"I'm saying that you were not... completely wrong." I answered with a small sigh, crossing my arms and leaning back against the red nylon covered couch. "The entire deal downtown a couple of days ago kind of hammered that in. The PRT are not wrong either... with the Endbringers around, we need as many capes as possible... criminal scum or not. But none of the Merchant capes have ever gone to an Endbringer fight. There is no reason not to smack them down. Hard."
She put her milkshake down and nodded. "Yeah. But good luck convincing Armsmaster or Piggy of it. No kill order and not having done anything Birdcage worthy mean that they only do a token try to take them down. Fuck, look at what happened with Lung! And he is actually dangerous!"
Lung... even having escaped from a prison transport, they called off the intense search after just a couple of days. He was the leader of one of the biggest local gangs and they went 'meh' when he was broken out of a PRT transport withthe help of another crazy Tinker.
Well, maybe not exactly. We did try to find him, but after a week the patrols died down to almost nothing.
Squealer was currently getting the same treatment. All those people hurt... sure, we were looking for her... but it would be called off too.
If they didn't do more than a couple of days for Lung of all people...
The Protectorate and PRT might be heroes and keeping people safe from the Villains... and there were a ton of good people there. Armsmaster, Miss Militia... hell, even Velocity.
But they had other goals as well. To keep the maximum number of Capes available for Endbringer fights.
I could see their point... but some things could not be tolerated. All the gangs in the city were a large problem, but you had to start somewhere. The Merchants was the logical point at this time.
But if the PRT and Protectorate wouldn't do something...
"Which is why we are not going to Armsmaster or Director Piggot." I said, taking a sip from my own soda, pushing the half eaten pizza to the side.
I wanted to talk with Miss Militia about this, but even if I did like her I couldn't help but feel that she would disapprove.
Sophia hesitated, looking down at the table as she slowly rotated her milkshake in her hand. "Look... I want to take these bastards down as much as you do. Maybe more. But I'm already hanging on by a thin string with Piggy. If I fuck up..."
I nodded. "That's why we would do it by the book. Just... focus in the areas of city where we might happen upon Merchants. But we need to stop these people. They are worse than the E88 and ABB. At least they usually try to keep bystander casualties down to avoid Protectorate attention. We need to hunt them down. When we got them, we do an arrest. Legally."
"So how exactly would we find them?" She asked with a shrug. "The PRT are looking for Squealer. How would we find her when they can't?"
I grinned slightly at that. "We ask for directions. I have been told I can be intimidating at times." I said before I shook my head. "Besides... I have a contact. Just need to get a burn phone to give her a call."
The phone Skitter handed me didn't survive the crash but I had memorized the number on it. I just needed a cheap phone to use.
Hopefully she kept the phone on her end.
Sophia nodded, sipping on her milkshake again. "You really think we can get away with this?"
"If we plan it right. Honestly, I think the hardest part would be to be scheduled to patrol together after the entire thing with Skidmark." I said and shook my head.
"It's like they don't trust us or something." She snorted.
"Heading out in costume during our off hours would be a good way of getting caught though." I said with a shrug.
She grinned briefly at that. "I might be getting away with it but you would kind of stand out."
Huh?
I raised my eyebrow at that. "Getting away with it? As in currently?"
She got a sudden 'oh crap' look at her face and I simply shook my head.
"Damn it, Sophia. You didn't stop, did you?" I asked with a sigh.
Sophia clenched her fist on the table but didn't answer.
Bloody hell.
What the hell was I even thinking getting her involved in this?
But she had also been doing this for longer than me. She was good at what she did... better than me. She had experience. I could not do this alone and none of the others would go for this, they played The Game. Even Hannah.
Shadow Stalker is the only one that would consider this.
"...What kind of ammo do you use?" I finally asked.
She seemed surprised at the question. "My sleep darts. I take their drugs, money and weapons and drop them in the bay."
I looked at her across the table. She didn't seem like she was lying.
I nodded with a small sigh. "I guess I can't really blame you for wanting to make a difference. But you've got to stop it, Sophia before they catch you... and you know they will at some point. I'll talk to MM about giving us patrols together. We can do our thing then instead."
She looked like she relaxed slightly before she nodded. "...Fine." before she then frowned slightly with a smirk. "I would have thought you would rather patrol with her though?"
I blinked and snorted. "You are right. But Hannah and I are just friends. Besides, she wouldn't approve."
Shadow Stalker raised her eyebrow before picking her milkshake up again. "...If you say so."
Brat.
"...Wait... You are saying that you 'want' to patrol with Shadow Stalker?" Dennis asked, his eyebrows raised. "Missy, call Piggy. We need a lock down, I think we are under Master/Stranger attack."
Vista rolled her eyes and went back to her book as she relaxed, sitting on one of the training mats, her back leaning against the wall behind her.
"Come on, she is not that bad," I said idly while taking a step back to avoid Aegis's kick before stepping in and getting a fist to the throat and suddenly finding myself on my face on the carpet instead of punching him in the face like I planned.
Ow.
I rolled out of the way of his follow up kick, getting back onto my feet and avoiding another punch before I caught his hand. "Our powers have great synergy," I continued and threw him across the gym with a popping and snapping sound coming from his shoulder.
Aegis stopped himself mid air and grabbed hold of his shoulder with his other arm, pulling the joint back into its socket.
"What the hell do you mean, great synergy? Your powers are nothing alike. At all," he said as he landed, rolling his shoulder.
"Yeah. Exactly." I said with a nod, motioning for him to go again.
Carlos instead shook his head and wandered to the side and picked up his water bottle.
I shrugged and continued. "Basically, I keep their attention, she knocks them down. We can both move at similar pace across the rooftops and together we should be able to handle nearly any threat, just because our varied powers and skill sets."
"I thought it was some kind of punishment when Miss Militia gave us the new patrol schedule this morning," Clockblocker said with a confused frown. "But you actually want to spend time with her?"
"Look, I don't get what you guys have against her. I mean, she can be a bit bitchy at times..."
"Try all the time."
"BUT!" I quickly injected. "She is also quite funny when she want to be. Give her a chance guys."
Vista looked up from her book. "You know she is only here because she is forced to be. You know what she did, right? We tried to be friends with her but she is just a jerk."
"Yes. She tried to do something for the city, to stop the violence in the streets. Yes, she screwed up. She had no training, but she tried anyway," I said before I shrugged. "Look, I'm not saying that she is a saint or anything. Just... give her a chance."
Dennis looked at me like I was nuts.
I shook my head. "Whatever, it's your choice. I'm going to get some rest. See you guys later." I said and grabbed my bag before leaving the gym.
At least I was able to talk Miss Militia into the schedule change and she helped get it past Armsmaster. Apparently I earned a few points managing to stop Squealer from getting away with the truck.
Not that I did much.
Anyway, the team arrangement was on a probationary status. Honestly, I was surprised it was even approved in the first place. Miss Militia was too professional to allow our friendship to affect her with this kind of thing.
Besides, Armsmaster also approved it.... and he and I were definitely not friends. Hell, I could barely stand the guy. Way too uptight.
Walking into my quarters in the Protectorate area of the station I dropped the bag on the floor and peeled my shirt off, giving it a look.
Another ruined shirt. To much damn blood for it to ever really wash out completely. Well, at least It wasn't mine. I never did get around to that shopping trip.
Sighing I dropped it into the bin and headed for my shower.
I was almost in the small bathroom when there was a knock on the door so I changed course to the entrance to my quarters instead.
"Hey, Hannah," I said with a smile as I saw who it was. She was in her civilian clothes so no Miss Militia.
She blinked when she saw me. "Oh. Hey... uh..." she said, seeming distracted.
I glanced down at myself, following her line of sight. "Oh, it's my blood, it's fine. Was sparring with Aegis earlier. I might have twice his strength but the damn kid can still throw me around."
Hannah cleared her throat. "Yeah. That's good..." she started before she continued. "Anyway... I was about to head into town. Do you still need to pick up some che... shirts?"
"Yeah, actually. I was kind of distracted last time by that pesky robbery and I never did get around to it. Mind waiting a couple of minutes while I grab a quick shower?" I said, glancing back into my quarters.
"I can wait, I'm not in a hurry."
I grinned. "Just a moment. Have a seat or something." I turned to walk back inside.
This was gonna be great. Once I actually picked up some clothes of my own... maybe I could gather the courage to ask her out or something.
Yeah, right. Like she was really interested in me.
AN// *Throw a bucket of thanks over Steamrick*