If you lived in Brockton Bay, you knew the sound of Armsmaster's motorcycle.
Armsmaster, perhaps the most famous Cape in the city. A Tinker who waved around a Halberd that was so stuffed with technology that it would make Batman envious.
He was also one of the most famous Tinkerers in the PRT.
A Tinkerer being a type of powerset of Parahumans that allows them to create Technology that shouldn't work. Like it was plucked from the future and somehow things just work with modern components.
I mentally went over the information I had of him.
His over engineered Motorcycle getting closer to the school.
It had its own 'sound' to indicate his coming.
Apparently, it reduced crime rates with just him driving around the city during his patrols at night. Obviously, he could turn it off if he wanted, but in a case like this, where a school is attacked, presumably, the priority is getting the perpetrators away from the kids.
The regular sirens of police cars were somewhat drowned out by it, but I could hear them as they got closer.
My Circuits were on fire, but I grit my teeth.
"Second Revolution." I pictured the Earth completing a rotation around the Sun, and Immediately, a surge of pain shot through my body, like I had just been hit by a bolt of lightning.
My Magic Crest flared to life.
Across my chest and up my neck before it stopped.
Unfortunately, I couldn't handle using it in combat. My dad once told me that it took him over a decade before he could handle using it in stressful situations without it being debilitating and a hazard rather than a benefit.
It was because the amount of information that suddenly flooded my head when I used it.
I couldn't compartmentalize it yet.
But it would suffice for my purposes in this moment.
I was out of Mana otherwise, I just needed a tiny bit.
"Lancer, Destroy all remains of the Dead Apostle other than the last bits of its body." I ordered her.
She looked at me in worry.
It was one of the most genuine expressions of emotion I'd seen of her yet.
I don't think even she realized it.
She didn't argue with me, a nod and she moved to destroy the blood stains thrown about, and what parts of its flesh I had destroyed.
I dabbed my fingers into the pool of blood that belonged to me, and I began to draw out a Constellation onto the ground.
"Auriga, Charioteer of the Northern Sky,
He who steadies the reins of Heaven –
Capella, Shining Guard-Star,
Cast your Light upon this Threshold."
I connected the hastily drawn stars I had drawn on the ground and established a boundary line.
"By the Circle of the stars, define the inner world.
By the Shield upon your arm, deny the outer foe.
By the Strength of your seat, anchor this ground in my name."
I stepped back and the Stars connected, and the full form of the Constellation appeared across the ground, as if coming alive.
"I draw upon your path, star by star –
Let this place be held.
Let this Boundary be Closed.
Let no trespasser pass unburned."
The spell fully actualized, and a firm Bounded Field climbed upwards, engulfing the area around not just me, but what remained of the actual body of the Dead Apostle. As a side effect, or rather, a benefit in this case, I used my blood intentionally because my blood acted as a catalyst.
The Spell actualization utilized all the discarded blood in the area, igniting it and drawing out of the Magical Energy in the remnants before pulling from what was stored in my Crest.
That meant, I didn't need to worry about leaving behind blood samples. Well, the actual puddles of blood and blood splatter remained, but what constituted my 'DNA' both mundane and Magical was now destroyed.
"Second Revolution, Return." I breathed out and felt a surge of blood and bile bubble up as I threw it up onto the ground.
My Crest Flickered and turned off as I keeled over, nearly collapsing.
I felt a hand catch me as I looked up to see Lancer holding me steady.
I couldn't just destroy the remains completely just yet; I needed to make sure I had evidence secured to properly protect my ass because this was going ot be a shit show.
I should call the local Church organization, I think they operate out of Boston.
"Master, you are severely harmed, I will take you home."
"Can't." I said between pants. "Clean up. I won't die." I reassured her even though I felt my vision nearly go black for a moment.
The Adrenalin was wearing off, the pain was kicking in fully. The concussion was almost certain, along with several lacerations, torn and gouged flesh, broken bones, sprains, muscle pulls.
My body was a mess, but I wouldn't die.
"Parahumans! Cease all activity, surrender yourself into the custody of the PRT immediately!" The roar of Armsmaster's motorcycle followed quickly as he drove it right into the courtyard, barreling through a locked gate like it weren't even there.
He was wearing a futuristic blue suit of armor that pricked on my senses as a young man.
In any other situation, and if I didn't know about the man himself, I may have thought it was cool.
He jumped off his bike, surveying the surroundings.
He saw the 'body' of the Dead Apostle.
He saw Lancer, and there seemed to be a look of…. recognition?
[Have you met him before, Lancer?]
[The creatures have been cleared and contained within the city, but I fear I was not able to remain unseen during the chaos.]
Right, I'll deal with that later.
He tried to step forward and ran right into my Bounded Field, bouncing off it slightly.
The look of confusion quickly disappeared as the shimmering shield of Energy had disappeared from sight. He reached out, touched it again, and a flicker of energy pulsed across the outside of the barrier, clearly showing that it was there.
It didn't stop him from going to the Cafeteria where everyone else was though.
"Parahuman, remove your powers that are preventing my approach, or you will be deemed a hostile entity." He sounded kind of robotic, not physically, but his prose.
Huh, he didn't immediately consider me hostile.
I guess, the picture painted here was…obvious.
I opened my mouth as if to respond, but then I realized.
What's the point?
I ignored him.
Even as Police poured in to secure the area, I ignored further demands, tuning it out.
"Lancer, destroy the last remnants please." I said to her again as I fell to my butt.
She nodded, seeing that I wasn't going to die.
She moved around, destroying blood, pieces of flesh, and what have you that remained. Other than the last big chunks of its full body.
She left the pieces impaled into the wall, but my Bounded Field covered those, so it was fine.
"Cease your actions, you are destroying evidence!" He shouted, and swung his sci-fi Halberd at my Bounded Field.
The last thing I want to do is give the idiots in the PRT access to a Dead Apostle's blood for 'experimentation'. Likewise, if I didn't do everything I could to prevent that, my ass was going to be thoroughly fucked by the powers that be. At the very least, I needed to do what I could to contain the situation.
His 'attack' didn't do anything.
He seemed surprised.
He pushed his Halberd against it. The Barrier flickered with Magical Energy and repelled his attack again.
I think…he was offended?
Well, the Bounded Field repelled physical intrusions mostly, that's the design of it compared to the plethora of Bounded Fields available.
It took the Cafeteria door slamming open, on the other side, that seemed to knock him out of his stupor as he realized that there was another priority here.
The actual Police poured in, as a bunch of crying and shouting kids ran out.
It became a chaotic mess, but it was being….contained, a bit ways away.
There were plenty of them that just booked it too. Plenty of Gang Members, if I had to guess.
"We need medics in here immediately, Ward down, Ward down!"
Armsmaster's head snapped as people dressed in both medical wear and looked like they were going into a war zone and run into the courtyard and pushed crying kids out of the way unceremoniously before getting Shadow Stalker up on a stretcher.
It wasn't only her, plenty more flooded in and they were doing their best to tend to the other kids who were hurt by what happened.
With a flash, another person joined.
Wearing a red suit, and moving at high speeds, I do believe that's 'Velocity'.
A Flash Knockoff.
He can't even touch things when he's moving at 'high speeds'.
"Armsmaster, what's the situation?" He said, looking clearly out of breath and like he had been running around for hours.
"Shadow Stalker is being taken in for Emergency Care." He immediately informed him. "Unknown Parahumans refuse to respond to lawful orders and have destroyed evidence. They will be taken into custody immediately."
"Woah woah." Velocity stepped in front of Armsmaster as he readied to attack my Bounded Field again, as he seemed to glance at Lancer. "Hey, you're the lady from the city that helped with the BioTinker terrorist attack, right? New Cape? Can you take this um…barrier down? You're clearly a heroic Cape, this is a misunderstanding. Let's just talk this out."
Lancer looked at him, but didn't speak a word.
I did not have the mental capacity to deal with this at the moment.
But I knew I was up shit creek without a paddle.
Armsmaster went still for a moment, as if he was listening to something.
"Name, Frederick Verde, age 17, parents deceased, status: Legal Emancipation." He looked at me. "You are ordered to cease use of your Parahuman powers at once. Submit to custody and you will be routed to Brockton Bay Hospital for immediate care."
Well, looks like I was already identified.
"Wait, the barrier is the kid's?" Velocity spoke up. "Alright, kid, listen, I don't' know what's going on, but you don't seem to be a villain, right? You stopped the attack? That makes you a hero, let's just get you healed up first and we can clear up this misunderstanding later."
Were they playing good cop bad cop?
Actually, from what I recall, Armsmaster was just….not very good at handling people without a script.
I have the right to remain silent, anything I say can and will be used against me by the Clock Tower and possibly demand my execution.
[Lancer, can you go get my bag in the cafeteria, quickly. I need my Phone to call the closest Church to report this incident.]
The faster I get it reported, the more I can get ahead of things when they eventually blow back on me.
Look, I did everything right, it's not my fault that it all went to shit.
[There's no need.] She responded. [They are already here.]
The casualness of it took me aback.
It took me a moment to process what she just said, and I followed her gaze.
My anger immediately flared up to the peak. Because standing on the roof was someone I recognized. Not because I knew them, but from my memories.
"You motherfucker." I shouted, looking at her right in the eye.
It was Ciel, the Burial Agency member.
With her were other Executors.
[I did not have the time to report to you, but members of their group were involved, secretly, in destroying Ghouls within the city. I encountered some of their numbers while I was assisting.] She informed me.
I couldn't fault her of course. I couldn't be distracted in my 'fight'. It could have gotten me killed.
My shout seemed to startle the two heroes with us too, because they knew what I was looking at now as well.
"Unknown Parahuman, identify yourself!" Armsmaster pointed his weapon at her and Velocity looked like he was ready to fight.
I shouted at her, because I understood what was happening.
There was no way she just 'suddenly appeared'.
A Burial Agency member doesn't hunt down lowly Dead Apostles like this.
Any random Executor could have managed, or a group I suppose.
But the Burial Agency, it would be like using Lancer using her Noble Phantasm to hunt squirrels.
Therefore, they were already here in my city.
Ciel jumped off the roof, and several other Executors came into the courtyard. The thing was, the school was no doubt surrounded by cops, yet they came in so casually.
"Good heroes of the PRT, please stand down. We'll handle it from here." Another Executor, a man in a priest garb, he smiled warmly at them as he approached.
Though, the two heroes weren't about to just listen to a random Priest who walked up and told them to 'stand down'.
It looked like Armsmaster was about to argue, but his face went blank again, and I'm sure he heard something in his earpiece before his expression change.
"Console, please repeat. What do you mean stand down and pull back?" He tone was anything but pleased. "Orders? Who's Orders? I have a Ward in the hospital, and several students dead. A Parahuman –"
He immediately shut up.
"....understood, Console."
"Wait, what's happening?" Velocity asked.
"Orders from high up. We are told to pull back." He said through grit teeth.
"What do you mean pull back? What?"
"Please don't make this harder than it has to be." The Smiling Priest said politely.
"Who the hell are you? Some Capes from Haven? Why does he have jurisdiction, Armsmaster?" Velocity complained, but Armsmaster didn't seem to have an answer for him.
It was painfully obvious to me that the Church pulled some heavy-handed means to assert authority here in a haste.
I couldn't blame them for that at least, this was an unprecedented event in the scale of reveal.
The Priest just completely ignored him from that moment further.
And I stopped caring too.
"You." I hissed as I willingly stepped out of my Bounded Field and walked up to Ciel. "You were hunting a Dead Apostle in MY City, and you didn't even let me know!?"
The only way they were here already is if they were already hunting the Dead Apostle.
That means they were hunting in my city, and they didn't inform me.
The Executors immediately went combat ready.
"Lancer, if any of them make a move, kill them." I said plainly, fully for them to hear.
"What? Dude, you can't just say something like that!" Velocity blurted out.
"Young man, perhaps –" The Smiling priest tried to reply, but I cut him off.
"Be quiet." I snapped at him. "I'm not talking to you; I'm talking to the Burial Agency member. I am the Second Owner of this City, and you failed to inform me of your arrival."
I got up into her face.
Her eyes narrowed.
She overstepped.
They overstepped.
"I don't answer to you." She returned with the same arrogant tone I was using. "This was a sanctioned mission; your affiliations are irrelevant to me."
In any other situation, she may have had a case.
"Well, maybe you'll answer to the Cardinal I have on speed dial. Let's see what he has to say about the Heretic among their number that have so directly fucked my city." I threatened.
She scoffed. "As if one of your kind could pull rank on me."
"I am the head of the Verde Family. The Church owes my family a big debt. Test me, please. I will call it in. Now answer my damn question, Why is a Burial Agency member in my city without informing me?"
The thing about debts is that even if the Church hates the holder of it, they likewise have to respect it just as well.
I think she was debating on if she should just kill me.
But also, she took a glance at Lancer.
The small flicker was one of weariness.
I don't think she recognized Lancer as a Heroic Spirit, but she recognized Lancer as a threat. That was more than enough for me to use.
Another person in a Church garb walked up and whispered in her ear during our little standoff.
Again, there was the tiniest flicker of emotion across her face.
Like a dawning realization before she steeled herself.
She fucked up.
She just realized she fucked up. I don't know what he told her, but I think she now realized I wasn't a random Magi in fucking nowhere that could only just stomp my foot and throw a tantrum.
The funny thing is, she could run roughshod over Magi in normal situations. The Church will have the backs of their agents when dealing with Dead Apostles. Doubly so for someone who's a member of the Burial Agency.
However, my family has ties with the church.
Old ties.
The kind that are mentioned in very old stories that come with words like 'blood debts'.
A long long time ago, one of my ancestors saved a Pope who was fleeing from the Vatican. The Pope promised a debt to my family, and it has been recorded there since.
My family actually has a friendly relationship with the Church.
And Ciel just shat all over it.
From ignorance, mostly.
Arrogance as well.
But I knew who she was, she despised Magi. She wouldn't give two thoughts about doing the same thing in another situation.
"There was no time to inform you, The Dead Apostle just arrived –"
"Bullshit." I immediately cut her off. "I've been turning over Ghoul Nests for a week."
She clicked her tongue because she knew I had her caught in her very obvious lie.
"Alerting Second Owners is a courtesy." She countered immediately, changing tactics.
Technically, she was right.
The Mages Association and the Church were separate entities.
Entities that were technically enemies.
But also, we shared common goals and had sort of agreements.
"Let's see if everyone else thinks the same when I report your negligence and throw this mess at your feet." I turned on my heel. "This is your mess now; you can clean it up."
My legs trembled, I could barely stand up anymore.
[Lancer, grab me. Take me home immediately, I'm about to collapse.]
Just as I said that I felt her hands on me and she whisked me away.
"Wait, where are you going!?" I heard Ciels' surprised cry.
Nope.
I am taking the one out I was given in this gigantic cluster fuck.
I am putting all of this mess at the feet of the Church.
I was furious that they had been in my City and not informed me. It was a gigantic breach of protocol and courtesies. The kind that would drive a wedge between our two organizations in the future once it got out.
And yet, it was also an opportunity.
Now, I had someone to blameeverything on.
Rather quickly, I felt my eyes close and darkness took me as the last of my strength left my body.
[Line Break]
A/N
Why was a Burial Agency member chasing a lowly Dead Apostle like this? Well, that'll be answered later. Frederick just took the opportunity to get away and lay the blame at the feet of the Church.
But at this point, things are beyond fucked. Hundreds of kids saw and heard everything. Recorded everything too, no amount of hypnosis is putting this genie back in the bottle.
Lancer will talk about what happened on her end, maybe some other POV from the PRT, and some other stuff coming up next.
If you want to read 1 chapter ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
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