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Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandoms:
Parahumans Series - WildbowVampire: The Masquerade
Characters:
Taylor Hebert | Skitter | WeaverLasombra Antediluvian (Vampire: The Masquerade)
Additional Tags:
Canon-Typical ViolenceAlt-Power Taylor HebertCompetent Parahuman Response Team | PRT
Language:
English
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Published:2025-06-22Updated:2026-02-11Words:157,182Chapters:25/?Comments:650Kudos:1,401Bookmarks:538Hits:75,819
Abyssal Escalation
Zahariel_Scholar
Chapter 10: Mistake
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The gates of Arcadia stood before me, seeming impossibly tall. Unlike Winslow, there wasn't even a hint of graffiti on the walls or the surrounding buildings, let alone a gang tag, the courtyard was clean, and none of the windows were so much as cracked.
Other students were making their way inside, despite the early hour : I guessed they had club activities or something else which was only available to children in wealthy schools. Dad had driven me to Arcadia, since this was my first day. In the future, I'd have to take the bus, but he'd insisted he accompany me for today, and I hadn't had the heart (nor, truth be told, the will) to refuse.
I took a deep breath of cold January air, and stepped inside Arcadia High School. First, I needed to go to the vice-principal office to get my books, locker key, and class schedule. Then I'd have to introduce myself to my new classmates, who would no doubt be delighted to hear they were getting a transfer from Winslow this late into the school year. I half-wondered how many questions about the knife-fighting, drug-dealing, and other general delinquent activities I was going to get before the day was done.
It said something about me that I'd been less nervous facing off against the E88's team of would-be rescuers. What, exactly, I wasn't sure (or at least didn't want to admit to myself), but it said something.
To Dean Stansfield, also known as the Ward Gallant, reading people was a lot easier than it was for most teenagers. That was because of one aspect of his power that wasn't known to the general public, which allowed him to see 'auras' around people whose color indicated their current emotional state. From what he understood of his talks with his handlers in the PRT, that ability by itself wouldn't have been enough to warrant being hidden from the public : it was the fact that he could affect emotions, a Master power with potentially disturbing and villainous implications, that had led to him being promoted as a Tinker instead, even if it meant he'd to rely on Armsmaster and Kid Win to repair and maintain his suit of power armor.
Still, his power wasn't some kind of master key to interacting with people well : knowing someone's emotions was entirely different from knowing why they felt that way, and he didn't have any Thinker ability to help him figure out what to do in response to the information his power fed him. If he did, he would have been able to help Amy through her ongoing depression.
He couldn't just turn it off, though, so he made do and did his best not to act on what his power told him in his civilian life. And, as he ate lunch with Vicky and a bunch of other students – some of whom were Wards, but not all of them, because that would have been incredibly stupid of them – it was only this long practice that kept him from visibly reacting as a girl he'd never seen before walked into the cafeteria. She was tall, with long black hair and a pair of glasses, and she moved with her tray held close to her chest like she was expecting someone to bump into her at any moment.
Dean's emotion perception wasn't a reliable too to detect parahumans : while people with powers tended to have increased emotions simply as a result of their lifestyle, there were plenty of unpowered people who had the same.
But this was different.
The girl's aura was a massive circle of pure black, surrounded by a bright corona. It reminded Dean of pictures he'd seen of the Sun during eclipses when he was younger, and he'd to force himself to ignore it if he wanted to see the rest of the real world around the girl as she sat down at a table with a couple of other girls.
That was not normal, and the only explanation he could come up with was that the girl was a parahuman of some kind, whose power was interacting weirdly with Dean's. It wouldn't be the first time : Vicky's aura made her almost impossible to read, which was part of why he'd first become interested in her – well, alright, it had been one of the reasons, but it had been important in his eventual decision to ask her out, no matter what Dennis said.
The corona was in colors Dean associated with nervousness, but not outright fear or panic. Still, the last time Dean had seen someone that tense had been when he'd been deployed alongside a squad of PRT troopers after Uber and Leet had launched one of their stupid games on the Boardwalk while he was out there on patrol. For someone to feel like that in a school … well, the only reason he didn't immediately trigger an alarm was that he didn't see any anger or aggression.
An idea struck Dean, and after a few seconds of reflection, he decided that he had to make sure, just in case. As discreetly as he could, he took out his cellphone and snapped a photo of the girl while pretending to check something on it. It was as blurry and unfocused as one might expect, but crucially, it wasn't full of static. If the dark-haired girl was Lasombra – which was a big if : Brockton Bay was a city that constantly caused new Triggers – then the PRT's theory that the Stranger effect that prevented the cape from being recorded by all electronics was something that could be turned off was correct.
Dean wasn't going to tell anyone about what he'd seen, though. Morality aside, outing someone like this was just plain illegal, and being thought of as someone who could identify other parahumans on sight would get him on the shit list of every gang in the city. Besides, Lasombra hadn't done anything that would warrant the Ward going against even the spirit of the law by sharing information that might be used to out him.
Also, in the case that his theory was correct and not just a wild guess based on flimsy evidence, he didn't want the cape who had punched Lung out and taken on a whole team of E88 villains and come out on top to be pissed at him. With all that Vicky had told him about how that fight had gone down, that seemed like a singularly poor life choice.
He was going to keep an eye out for the new girl, though. Just in case. And if someone asked him why, he could always tell them he was sensing her stress and wanted to check she was okay. Looking out for other people was what heroes did, after all.
As I walked out of Arcadia, I reflected that things had gone much better than I'd feared this morning. In fact, the day had gone just about perfectly : the other students had been welcoming without crowding me, and being able to pay attention in class without needing to keep an eye out at all times for someone tossing a spitball at me or stealing my work was even more relaxing than I'd anticipated. It was clear that getting my grades back up to what they'd been would take time : my intense studying at home had barely gotten me to a level where I could keep up with the lessons.
Eating in the cafeteria instead of hiding in the toilet had been a lot more nerve-wracking than I would like, but I'd forced myself to do it, seating with a couple of my classmates. Supposedly, there were Wards in Arcadia, but I didn't want anything to do with them and hadn't gone out looking for them. I was sure they weren't like Sophia, but the idea of being dragged into superpowered teenage drama filled me with a deep sense of dread. I'd also stayed away from Victoria Dallon, not wanting to risk slipping and revealing something only Lasombra knew. How that would've worked given we'd interacted for all of maybe twenty seconds, I didn't know, but I had read enough comic books to avoid tempting fate like that.
I waited at the bus stop, then got on when it arrived. Most Arcadian students lived in nicer areas than me, but there was still a line that would drop me close enough to home that going back and forth on my own would be possible. The journey passed in a blur, and I was nearly home when a black car squealed to a halt right next to me, with a scream of brakes that nearly made me jump out of my skin. As I turned my head to look at it, the front-right window lowered, revealing a man in body armor and wearing a gun which was pointed right at me.
"Miss Hebert," he told me in a voice that was entirely too polite for this situation, "you're coming with us. Don't do anything foolish now."
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck !
The back door of the car opened while I stood there frozen, and another man stepped out, this one dressed in clothing that wouldn't immediately draw attention in a public space. He went to me and said something I didn't register, gently but firmly ushering me into the back of the car. I let it happen, too shocked to even think to struggle, to scream, to call for help.
I couldn't believe I had been this careless. I knew my human body was vulnerable : it was my power's major weakness. But I'd never thought someone could be as reckless as to abduct me in broad daylight. Was this the Empire Eighty-Eight ? Had they figured out my identity somehow, and were seeking revenge for getting Hookwolf arrested and then thwarting their rescue attempt ?
The Nazis were the only ones I could imagine pulling something like this. The ABB might also try to do it as revenge for Lung, but none of the men were Asians, and in any case the gang had completely collapsed in the last few days. Besides, everybody knew that the Empire didn't care about the Unwritten Rules : the tale of what had happened to Fleur of New Wave had painfully etched that fact in the city's collective memory, stopping the hope of a nation-wide movement to bring capes to accountability dead in its tracks.
No matter who these men were working for, there was still a gun pointed at me. I could call Marchosias, and for a brief moment I nearly did it. The sun was still out, but I felt confident she could endure it for long enough to deal with these thugs, and the moment I thought of her, I felt her stir in the Abyss, picking up on my terror and rousing herself from her slumber, waiting only for my call to spring out of my shadow.
The problem was that I had a gun pressed against my back, and I didn't think Marchosias could take out the man holding it quickly enough to guarantee he wouldn't have time to get a shot off. If he did, then unless Panacea was within shouting distance (and, given I'd seen her in her civilian identity back at Arcadia, I somehow doubted that), I would most likely be dead by the time I got to the hospital.
And I didn't want to die. The vehemence of that thought actually surprised me : I'd never been suicidal, if only because taking the easy way out would have felt like admitting defeat to the Trio's endless suggestions that I do precisely that. But right now, with a gun pressed against my side as I mechanically sat down and put on my seatbelt, I realized that I wanted to live.
Also, my death would destroy Dad (which a treacherous part of my mind whispered was the real reason I hadn't taken the Trio's advice, no matter how tempting the release of death had sounded at times).
So I stayed silent as the car drove through the streets. I didn't struggle when the man next to me put a black cloth over my head, keeping me from watching where we were going through the tinted window, reducing my world to the vibrations of the vehicle and the gun pressed against me.
I did nothing, except listen to the breathing of the men in the car with me, and cling to my tie to Marchosias like a child to a security blanket.
Inside his office, Coil watched the security screens as his men brought Taylor Hebert down from the garage and into the prepared interrogation room. He noted that none of the cameras were glitching and all of them showed the girl properly as she was led into their field of view, which, after a few seconds of reflection, he decided to take as a good sign.
"She's secured, sir," said one of his men over the radio once Hebert had been sat on a metal chair in an otherwise empty room, still blindfolded.
"Good," he said. "I'll be handling things from here."
"Sir …" the mercenary hesitated, but continued : "Are you sure about this ? I don't have an issue with it, but it's still an escalation from our previous modus operandi."
"Don't worry," he replied, making sure his smile could be heard in his voice. "I have it handled. I assure you it won't be a problem."
He couldn't exactly tell the man that this timeline would most likely be dropped before midnight – a few experiences early in his supervillain career had shown that people tended to react poorly to that – but the mercenary trusted him enough not to push (or feared him, which was the same thing as far as he was concerned).
The mercenary sounded convinced, which was all he needed, and Coil made his way to the interrogation room, slamming the door behind him loudly enough to make the restrained girl jump slightly. With a nod, one of the two mercenaries still in the room removed the girl's blindfold.
She blinked several times, adjusting to the brightness of the lightbulb which provided the room's sole source of illumination, and froze when she saw Coil standing before her in his costume.
"Hello, Miss Hebert," he said affably. "Or should I say, Lasombra ?"
"I've no idea what you –"
"Ah-ah-ah," he cut her off with a raised finger. "None of that now. I assure you, there is no point in trying to deceive me."
She looked at him, as if trying to figure out whether he was bluffing. But even without his mask, the day Thomas Calvert couldn't bluff a fifteen-years old girl was the day he gave up on his dreams of ruling Brockton Bay and retired to grow coconuts or something else equally asinine.
"I am Coil," he said once she appeared properly convinced. "Do you know who I am ?"
"You're one of the Bay's supervillains," she replied.
"Ah, you've done your research," he nodded. "Good. That will make this quicker."
"Do you really think you'll get away with this ?" she said, with more heat in her voice than Coil had expected. He made a mental note of it for later analysis. "Kidnapping me in the middle of the street, so close to my home ? That's got to be against the Unwritten Rules."
"You'll find, Miss Hebert, that the Unwritten Rules are really more guidelines than anything else."
He chuckled as she glared at him, clearly recognizing the reference to the Earth-Aleph movie and not impressed with his flippancy. Then he realized something : she was looking straight at him. He knew from her file that she needed glasses, but they'd been removed when the bag had been put on her head to keep her from injuring herself with broken glass. And yet, she was looking straight at him, not appearing to be vision-impaired in any way.
He told himself that it meant nothing : he hadn't bothered to check precisely what her prescription was. For all he knew, she could see him because he was close enough to her. But there was something in her eyes that made him uneasy.
Coil checked that his other timeline, the one where he had never told his men to go capture Taylor Hebert, was still safe. In it, he was sitting at home having dinner : a quick check of his security measures showed him that everything was perfectly fine.
Good. He could continue.
"Let's cut to the chase, Miss Hebert : I want you to work for me. You haven't had your powers long, yet you've already achieved more than many capes will during their entire career."
"No," she replied immediately. "I'll never work for you."
Ah, the conviction of youth. It would be admirable if it wasn't so very, very foolish.
"Maybe a clarification of your position here is in order," he said, nodding to his men. They'd known what to expect : he'd selected them for the task, knowing from experience in discarded timelines that they both wouldn't object and had the skills required.
"I'm sure you'll be more open to my offer once the consequences of refusing have been made obvious," he said, dropping all pretence of warmth and letting some of his ruthlessness peer through, causing the girl to turn satisfying pale.
It was time to start figuring out just how to break Taylor Hebert so that she'd never even think of defying him. With her powers, anything else was unacceptable : she wasn't like Tattletale, who needed time and information to be a threat to him, and who could always be neutralized by the simple application of a bullet to the head if she got too cocky. Given Lasombra's Mover capabilities, even a flicker of defiance could end in Coil's death. So he'd need to be extra thorough in studying her limits.
Fortunately, he could try as many times as it took.
The two mercenaries advanced toward the tied-up teenage girl from behind, taking slow, deliberate steps to ratchet up the tension. One of them reached out to touch her shoulder –
Suddenly, an enormous black wolf leapt out of nowhere and fell upon the man, its jaws going straight for his throat. The man screamed in pain and horror, a sound so terrifying it made the other man freeze.
Much as he wanted to, Coil couldn't blame him. The supervillain had read the description of the beast Lasombra had first summoned for his fight with Hookwolf, but seeing it in person was completely different.
"Miss Hebert –" he began as he reached for the pistol at his hip, intent on threatening the Master to get her to call of her beast.
But the young girl was already moving. With what could only be Brute strength, she had broken free of her restraints, tearing through cable rated for industrial purposes as if it were paper. Black tendrils wrapped themselves around her, forming something that was half an armor and half … was that a suit ?
She wasn't a Master, Coil realized immediately, or at least not just a Master. How that made sense with his previous investigation, he didn't know, but didn't care about figuring it out right now.
With a scream, she turned around and punched the mercenary who wasn't being savaged by a giant wolf in the chest, sending him flying. He hit the wall of the cell, and Coil didn't wait to see if he rose again : he ran out, going straight for his office, leaving his men to be devoured by the beast. As he ran, he shouted for reinforcements, and the noise of an alarm soon began to echo into the underground lair, along with the sound of footsteps converging on the interrogation room.
Moments later, Coil burst into his office. The cameras were still working, except for several which displayed only static. That would be the Stranger effect : it seemed it didn't extend solely to Hebert's Lasombra projection. However, the radio was still working, and things didn't seem to be going great for his men, judging by the panicked shouting he was hearing.
Sitting in his chair, Coil tried to make sense of what was going on. The girl had only had her powers for less than a month : Coil was fairly sure she hadn't even known she could do some of the things she was doing right now. Which meant that, once he collapsed this timeline, she wouldn't know how to do it, at least not immediately. In his experience, nearly all parahumans were driven to experiment with their powers, finding out their limits through trial and error. But knowing more about the girl's abilities than she did was something he could use, he was sure of it.
Heart pumping, he considered dropping the timeline immediately, but decided against it. He could still extract valuable data from this one, if only by testing Hebert's resilience. Acting on impulse, he moved to his desk and typed the sequence of twenty-nine alphanumerical characters that started the base's self-destruct sequence.
That done, he turned to the wall that held his escape tunnel. He was going to get out, go to a point where he could observe his base from outside, and see whether the explosion and collapse of the underground complex were enough to kill Hebert. If they were, then he'd have an upper limit for Lasombra's toughness. If they weren't … then he would have to resort to more indirect methods of bringing the girl under his control, which he might need to do anyway. From what his intelligence suggested, she was close to her father, so kidnapping him should –
Suddenly, there was pain, and he was pushed to the ground, breaking his nose as his mask slammed against the concrete floor. Rolling on his back, he saw the black wolf towering over him, blood, his blood, dripping from its maw.
He tried to move, to reach for his gun, but the wolf was quicker, and buried its fangs into his chest. Agony exploded through him, blackening his vision, and in that blackness, he saw …
He saw …
Beasts, numberless and horrible, crawling through the darkness. Hungry maws and wicked claws, and eyes that glowed with unearthly malevolence.
Thomas screamed as the horrid visions dissipated, leaving him back on the ground underneath the beast, just like before. He swore the wolf smiled at him for a moment, before turning away and leaping into the shadows at the corner of the office, disappearing as if into a pool of black ink instead of the most solid construction money could buy.
Coil blinked, and realized to his horror that his other timeline, his safe timeline, had collapsed. He was trapped in this one, which he'd meant to discard the moment he'd learned everything he could from Hebert. Trapped in the timeline where his men had abducted a teenager in broad daylight, and he was stuck in his base with a monster and an activated self-destruct sequence. He tried to move, to get up, to escape down his secret tunnel or to get to the keyboard to input the cancellation sequence, but he couldn't move. It didn't feel like his spine had been broken (he knew that feeling well from a discarded timeline he tried very hard not to think about), but his body simply refused to answer the commands of his mind.
He screamed, he cursed, he wept and he begged for someone to rescue him. At this point, he didn't care if it were his men, the Protectorate, the Empire, or even Cauldron itself. But nobody came, and he spent the last moments of his life laying down, trying and failing to move his body as the countdown to his death drew inexorably closer to zero.
Then there was fire, and pain – and then, darkness. But, perhaps more mercifully than Thomas Calvert deserved, the latter was far more tranquil than the dark, haunted pit he'd glimpsed while staring in the eyes of Marchosias.
I ran, wrapped in shadows and possessed of inhuman strength. The doors of the underground maze I found myself into broke at my slightest touch, as did the bones of the men who stood in my way, while their weapons broke uselessly against the darkness around me. Marchosias stalked ahead of me, scouting a way out for me to follow.
I gasped as I reached the surface, bursting out into some sort of construction site. The moment the descending sun touched my skin, I felt the unnatural strength that had filled me since I'd freaked out in the basement desert me, and the shadows I'd wrapped around myself disappear. I cried out in surprise and pain : the shadows being burned away by sunlight hurt, a kind of pain I had never felt before. Thankfully, though I braced myself on instinct for it, the light didn't hurt my actual human body.
I kept running, though, and no sooner had I cleared the construction site than it caved in. I bent in two, hands on my knees, gasping for air to fill my burning lungs. As I did so, I realized that, at some point in my flight, I'd grabbed my school bag. I'd always thought the cliché of guards keeping their prisoner's belonging next to their cell was a narrative contrivance, but it turned out real-life bad guys did it too. I wasn't going to question it : I certainly could use a lucky break after today.
So, I thought to myself as my heart slowly calmed down. It turned out that I wasn't as helpless without my projection as I'd thought. That was … that was something I would have to think about later. Right now, I needed to get back home, preferably before Dad got home from work. I didn't think he would take 'I got kidnapped by a supervillain on my way home' as an excuse. Well, he would if I unmasked myself to him, but that would open a whole other can of worms I wasn't in a mood to deal with now – or ever, if I'd anything to say about it.
I looked around, and though I didn't recognize the street, I did recognize the shape of a few buildings in the distance, enough to orient myself. With one last look at the collapsed ground behind me, I started walking, ducking into an alleyway as the sound of sirens grew closer.
This wasn't the way I'd seen my first day at a new school going, but the worst part of it was that I couldn't even find it in myself to wish I was still at Winslow.
Lisa watched the TV, eyes wide. The screen was displaying one of the local channels, a result of Alec messing around with the remote after getting bored of his latest round of gaming. On it, a man was standing in a street, with a huge hole in the ground behind him, the area of the collapse blocked by police tape and numerous rescue personel working on the rubble – and there was Armsmaster, along with a couple of Wards.
"… heroes are still on the scene of the collapsed street, but several bodies have already been pulled out of the rubble," the reporter was saying, but Lisa didn't pay attention.
Holy shit. That had to be Coil's not-so-secret underground base. She'd been trying to locate it for some time, and was confident she'd have managed it with a few more weeks of taking every opportunity to glean more information than her 'boss' was willing to give her.
How had that happened, though ? The bastard was as paranoid as … well, as someone who was forcing a Thinker to work for him under threat of death and was plotting to take over the Bay.
She looked at her phone. After a few moments of hesitation, she picked it up and called Coil's number, something she had almost never done : far more often, it was him calling her.
"The number you're calling is currently unavailable …"
She hung up, and considered her next move. She needed answers, that much was clear. She fired up her power, letting it absorb the crumbs of data from the news report and put them together with everything else she knew.
Coil always knew more about the PRT's activities than he should even with agents in the organization. Coil's power let him obtain information from Lisa she didn't volunteer. Coil knew about the possible link between Lasombra and Taylor Hebert. Coil tried to kidnap Taylor Hebert to check the hypothesis and gain control of Lasombra. Hypothesis was right, but Coil failed to control Taylor Hebert.
Coil didn't intend to capture Taylor Hebert – Coil did capture Taylor Hebert – Taylor Hebert is Lasombra – Taylor Hebert isn't Lasombra – Lasombra killed Coil – Lasombra didn't kill Coil – Killing Coil was an accident – Escalation from previous encounters with capes – Lasombra is a projection – Lasombra isn't a projection –
She forced her power to stop as it started rambling again after running into whatever anti-Thinker effect was part of Lasombra's absurd grab-bag of powers. After some experimentation, she'd found that her power could work at the metaphorical edges of the subject, but the moment it focused on Lasombra, it started giving out contradictory, nonsense information. Or at least she hoped it was nonsense, because the alternative – that all these things were somehow true at the same time – was far more disturbing than she liked.
Then something else occurred to her, without her power's prompting, and she jumped to her computer. She didn't have long : even with the damage of the collapse, the Protectorate had access to enough Tinkers that they were likely going to get something from Coil's computers.
"Tats ?" asked Grue, who she just now realized had been staring at her warily for the past few minutes. "What's going on ?"
"Our boss just got killed," she replied, already typing. "And now I'm going to everything I can to get as much of his money into our pockets as possible."
"Our boss just what now ?" said Regent, suddenly sounding a lot more alert than usual as he straightened on the couch.
"We were working for Coil," she absent-mindedly answered even as her power fed her logins and passwords. "He was bankrolling our operations in order to use us as deniable operatives. Grue got recruited with a promise of getting custody of his sister, I got recruited with a gun to my head, Bitch got recruited with promises of cash for taking care of her dogs, you got recruited with … well, you know."
She didn't need her power's help to know that casually revealing what Coil had promised Regent in return for him joining the Undersiders wouldn't go over well.
"Wait, we were working for Coil ?" said Brian, disbelieving. "And you didn't think to tell us ?!"
"What part of 'recruited with a gun to my head' didn't you get ? I was informed in no uncertain terms that if he wanted you to know who he was, he would tell you himself. Now it looks like Coil fucked around with Lasombra and found out," she continued. "That's his secret base on the news, and they aren't mentioning any survivors or that Coil got arrested. Plus I can't contact him, so I'm assuming he's dead. Also, remember that he knew all of our civilian identities. It's not certain that the PRT will be able to extract them from the ruins of his base, but it isn't impossible either."
"What are the odds of that happening ?" asked Grue, suddenly a lot more tense.
Is worried about his sister – no shit, power.
"I …" She hesitated. "I don't know. I never went into his base, so I don't know what precautions he's taken. But he was definitely enough of an asshole to setup some kind of deadman switch to fuck as many people as possible if he ever got killed. I'll try to find and disable it, but we should plan for the worst-case scenario anyway."
"So we should skip town as soon as you've gotten the money, is what I hear," said Alec. "If they don't get the info, then we can always come back later."
Isn't planning on returning. Now that Coil isn't there to keep him hidden from his Father, is considering going back on the run. Can be convinced otherwise, doesn't want to go back to living on the run, but will if he doesn't feel safe.
Lisa wanted to call him paranoid, but given that his Father was Heartbreaker, there was no such thing. She would have to handle this with care : despite the circumstances in which they'd become a team, Lisa actually liked her teammates, most of the time. She'd rather keep the Undersiders together, if for no other reason that her forced recruitment by Coil had taught her the importance of having someone to back you up.
"That's one option," she admitted, "but not the only one. We can leave town, stay but change our identities – I think I'll get enough cash for it to be doable, and I know people we can go to for help in that regard. Or …"
"Or ?" asked Grue.
"Well, let's just say that depending on how this hacking of mine goes, we might have other options available to us," she said with deliberate vagueness.
"Wait a sec," said Alec. "You said it was Lasombra who took down Coil, but the news are saying the collapse happened during the day. I thought he could only come out at night ?"
"Just because he didn't come out during the day before doesn't mean he can't," Brian pointed out. "Most crime takes place at night, after all."
"True," said Lisa. "Also, if what I suspect is correct, then he has other reasons not to show up during daytime."
"If what you suspect … Tats," said Brian with growing horror, "did you give our boss Lasombra's civilian identity ?"
"What ? No !" she protested. "Of course not. Do I look like I'm crazy ?"
"Well …" began Alec, and Lisa didn't need to look at him to know he was grinning.
"Shut up, Regent," she snapped. "No, Grue, I didn't tell Coil anything about Lasombra's identity. He'd me run some analysis for him on Lasombra's powers, but I didn't give him everything I found. I didn't want the cape who took down Lung to be pissed off at me."
She didn't say that, according to her power, Coil had somehow known her deductions anyway, and that depending on what he'd told Lasombra before getting his comeuppance, the unaffiliated cape might already know that Lisa was involved in getting her kidnapped and dragged into an underground base.
"Okay, so," Grue sighed. "Bitch is at her shelter right now. Do I need to go pick her up, or should I at least call her and tell her to be on the lookout for the PRT ?"
"I …" Lisa hesitated. "No. No, she already knows she needs to keep her head down with the gang situation right now. That should be enough until I get more information."
"Alright. Then, once you've shared the money you got from his accounts, we can decide what we're going to do now that our boss is dead. As a team," said Grue, stressing the last word.
Well, at least he wasn't jumping to disbanding the Undersiders yet. Lisa could work with that.
"Results of Thinker analysis by Appraiser.
Keywords : 'Marchosias', 'Lasombra', 'Brockton Bay', 'Fallen'.
Recording starts at 18:15 EDT :
[Yellow … yellow … What ?! The eyes ! The eyes, they see me ! They – Black ! Black ! Black black black black black black black ! Endless, depthless, all-consuming black !]
Recording ends.
Addendum : Appraiser had to be carried to medical after the analysis, having suffered from what the medics determined to be a sudden and violent panic attack. It took him several hours to calm down, and when questioned about what had happened the next day, he claimed not to remember anything but a vague sense of dread when trying to think back to the analysis. Medical advised against making another attempt. Our checks revealed that the standard precautions against the known anti-Thinker measures of the Fallen were in place, and the effect is completely different from what happened during previous attempts at using Thinker powers on that group.
File marked for sending up the chain of command."
Watchdog internal report, logged on January 18th, 2011.
Notes:
AN : Thank you to Kylia Quilor for helping me figure out what the Undersiders knew of their employer at this point in time. That was far too complicated for a minor bit of the chapter.
The most important thing is that Coil is dead, and somewhere in Brockton Bay, a little girl is going to be very surprised when she wakes up and ask herself whether she is in danger of being kidnapped.
Regarding the fate of the Undersiders in this fic : as of right now, I haven't yet decided. I'm inclined to let the characters decide (that is to say, give the Muse the wheel and see what I end up writing). So if you have suggestions, now is the time to shout them as loud as you can in the hope that She will listen.
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and look forward to your thoughts and comments.
Zahariel out.
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Teen And Up Audiences
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No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandoms:
Parahumans Series - WildbowVampire: The Masquerade
Characters:
Taylor Hebert | Skitter | WeaverLasombra Antediluvian (Vampire: The Masquerade)
Additional Tags:
Canon-Typical ViolenceAlt-Power Taylor HebertCompetent Parahuman Response Team | PRT
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English
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Published:2025-06-22Updated:2026-02-11Words:157,182Chapters:25/?Comments:650Kudos:1,401Bookmarks:538Hits:75,819
Abyssal Escalation
Zahariel_Scholar
Chapter 11: Reputation
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"Say that again, Armsmaster, please."
"Yes, ma'am. We found the body of Mister Calvert in the rubble of the collapsed unregistered Endbringer shelter. It was badly damaged, but DNA testing confirmed his identity. He was also wearing a costume similar to the one reportedly used by the supervillain Coil at the time of his death."
"… So I didn't mishear you, then. Fuck. That god-damned, snake-faced son of a – [pause] Alright. Let's think about this rationally. No matter how unpleasant this revelation may be, we're still better off than we were yesterday. Do you think he was the source of the leaks ?"
"It seems the most likely scenario, yes. Of course, Calvert didn't have access to some of the information that made its way to the gangs : certainly he wasn't in the loop for Hookwolf's transport. However, if we assume he was a cape, then there are any numbers of way he could've used his abilities to gain information beyond his clearance level. There was some speculation whether Coil was a parahuman at all given his lack of public appearances, but if we assume that he was, then an unknown power within the walls of the building could potentially access every single piece of information whose leak hurt our operations since his arrival in the Bay."
"Let me check something … Yes, Calvert was tested for a Corona Pollentia when he first joined the PRT years ago, same as me and everyone else. It says here that he tested negative."
"I know, but the test isn't completely reliable. There have been several instances over the years of people who were marked as negative for parahuman potential developing powers anyway. Calvert's head was … damaged, when we found his body, but it might be possible to determine whether he possessed a Corona Pollentia at the time of his death."
"Brilliant. I'm sure the labcoats will be very happy to hear it. [pause] Onto more immediate matters : do we know what caused the collapse of the base ?"
"We're still investigating, but I have a … theory. Something else happened over the last day, which might be unrelated, but might also be relevant."
"What is it ?"
"There were no Lasombra sightings last night. I checked both our records, those of the BBPD and PHO, and while the later contains some rumors, Dragon assures me none of them are based on fact."
"… You think Lasombra was involved in the death of Coil ? Really ? [pause] You wouldn't suggest that without good reason. Go ahead, explain."
"We already suspect that there is a time limit on his Changer ability, that he can only be active for so long each day. If he used his time to deal with Coil, that would explain why he didn't go out last night."
"Lasombra didn't kill Hookwolf, though, and Coil barely had a rap sheet due to how slippery he was. Why would Lasombra escalate to murder in his case specifically ?"
"I don't think he did, ma'am. We've pulled footage from local surveillance cameras, and the collapse of the base was too clean, too immediate to be caused by a rampaging Brute. Rather, I think it was the result of a self-destruct. Also, Coil's autopsy has been complicated by the state of the body, but it looks like he died from being crushed to death. Of course, it's entirely possible Lasombra broke his neck and left his body behind. But do you remember what happened to the E88 thugs at the dogfighting ring, and to Alabaster ?"
"… you think Lasombra set his wolf on Coil, Coil panicked and activated the self-destruct, and got caught in it ?"
"It is a possibility that fits what little evidence we have, though it would imply that Marchosias – the wolf – has several 'settings' of terror it can inflict, as the Empire thugs and Alabaster were completely paralysed by fear, while Coil was presumably able to activate the self-destruct."
"He might also have thought he was already screwed and tried to take Lasombra out with him. Or he thought he could escape in time, but failed."
"Yes. From the report we received from Watchdog, it's clear that Lasombra's Stranger power extends to providing some protection from Thinker powers, which seem like the most likely option for Coil's still-hypothetical parahuman abilities."
"… Which might also explain how he got to Coil despite the bastard's precautions which have confounded us for years. Is that it ?"
"Precisely. Of course, this all depends on Lasombra being involved to begin with, which might not be the case. He didn't reappear for several days after my first encounter with him, after all. For all we know, he did go out last night, but no one contacted us to report it. Our sample size of nights with Lasombra active is too small to be sure one way or another."
"Hmm. In any case, that leaves us with the Empire and the Merchants as the two main gangs in town. Someone is going to do something stupid, I'm sure of it. The only question is whether Skidmark or Kaiser will be the one to blink first. Any idea on which one it will be ?"
"I'm afraid I lack the data required to make a proper analysis, ma'am."
"Heh. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make a call to the Chief Director to inform her of how we've apparently been compromised for years. Hopefully the evidence will be enough to justify sending someone from out of town to check everyone in the building for links to Coil's organization – I don't believe for a moment that Calvert didn't use his access to set up other moles."
Notes from the meeting between Director Emily Piggot and Armsmaster, recorded by the latter's armor, January 18th, 2011.
Going back to school the next day after being kidnapped by a supervillain was a somewhat surreal experience, but unless I wanted to tell Dad about Coil's 'recruitment pitch', I had no choice. He'd already noticed I was exhausted by the time he came home, but I'd managed to convince him that was just from going back to school, and that it would go away once I got used to it and the greater academic pressure compared to Winslow. That had led nicely into a discussion of how things had gone at Arcadia, which I'd been able to answer truthfully when telling him that everything was going well so far.
After dinner, a few quick experiments in my bedroom had proven that I could still conjure shadows when awake, and use them to protect and strengthen my body. I hadn't been able to do too much : I didn't want to draw Dad's attention, and I had been very, very tired, to the point that I hadn't manifested Lasombra throughout the night (which had probably something to do with me using my abilities during the day, too).
Discovering that aspect of my powers was almost worth the stress of being kidnapped at gunpoint. According to PHO, the main weakness of all minion-summoning Masters (and all Masters, really) was the squishiness of the parahuman in question. In my case, being able to reinforce my body by covering myself in living shadows would take care of that vulnerability – as long as I wasn't under the sun. And, as a bonus, I also apparently no longer needed glasses : Dad had remarked I wasn't wearing them at dinner, and I'd blurted out something about having removed them while laying down after school and forgetting to put them back on. Thankfully, I'd a back-up pair : I might no longer need them, but suddenly revealing that fact was a sure-fire way to out myself as a cape.
But useful as all this was, I wasn't going to go out crime-fighting at night in my actual body. For one thing, I couldn't reproduce my Lasombra look : the moment the shadows wrapped around me, I stopped having a reflection, so fine-tuning my appearance was off the table. Also, looking into a mirror and not seeing your own reflection was far more disturbing than I would have thought, and I'd ended up dismissing the shadows in a bit of a panic just so my reflection would return and I could reassure myself that I was still here, still real.
More importantly, I would be stupid to risk my actual body when my Lasombra projection was a lot stronger than my enhanced body, could teleport across town, and, oh yes, could potentially be destroyed without me dying as a result.
The thought reminded me of how close I'd come to dying yesterday, and I suppressed a shiver. Coil's kidnapping me had shaken me, I didn't mind admitting it. Well, no : I very much did mind. It felt like an admission of weakness, and I hated feeling weak and vulnerable. After discovering my powers, I'd thought I was done with that kind of crap, which was probably stupid in retrospect : capes got involved in a lot more dangerous situations than the average person, after all.
As I made my way to class, I forced myself to think of something else, but my mood was morbid enough that it didn't shift very far. The PRT had announced the death of the supervillain Coil, along with several of his mercenaries. I felt conflicted about it. On the one hand, they were the first deaths I was responsible for; on the other, I hadn't deliberately killed any of them. When I'd let Marchosias loose in the base, my instructions to her had been clear : she was to clear a path for me to get out, and not kill anybody while doing so. That latter part hadn't been that much of a hindrance, given my familiar's abilities, but I could easily imagine how it had led to several people, including Coil, being paralysed and unable to escape in time to escape the underground complex's self-destruction.
That was another thing : I hadn't done anything which could have led to the base collapsing like this. For some reason, Coil had installed a self-destruct in his underground lair, and activated it when I had broken free, like some second-rate Bond villain. In truth, given his attitude throughout this whole mess, I couldn't understand how he'd managed to stay under the radar for so long. Someone who was willing to kidnap a superpowered teenager who had defeated Lung off the street and bring her directly to his secret lair in order to meet her in person shouldn't have survived in the Bay that long. There had to have been something else going on.
Maybe the Stranger power which made my Lasombra projection impossible to record had another aspect to it, and Coil had possessed a Thinker power which he'd grown too dependant on ? He hadn't shown any parahuman abilities when we'd met, and my research on PHO had revealed that those who even knew of his existence weren't sure he was a cape at all.
Regardless of how exactly it had happened, people had died. And I … I couldn't find it in myself to feel bad about it. Coil had kidnapped me with the intent of forcing me to work for him under threat of death and torture, and his men had all been willing to work for him despite that. Whether they deserved death for that was a question for wiser heads than mine, but I didn't feel guilty for being party to their demise. If anything, I felt bad about the fact I didn't feel bad.
Perhaps things would be different if I'd actually seen the bodies, instead of heard about their death on the news this morning, or if I'd deliberately killed them instead of leaving them to die when their own boss had caused the base to collapse on them and himself.
God, I hoped they would. I'd read a theory that powers affected the minds of parahumans – that it was the reason why they all seemed to fight each other all the time – and I didn't want to think about mine making me some kind of cold-blooded sociopath.
Lisa tried her very best to stay calm as she sipped the overprice coffee she'd gotten at a shop that just happened to have a view of Arcadia's gates. If nothing else, the caffeine helped keep her awake and alert, which she definitely needed after the last twenty-four hours.
It turned out that Coil did have a deadman switch that would have uploaded all of the naughty secrets the bastard had gathered over the years to the Internet if he didn't input a delay command regularly. The Undersiders' civilian identities were among them (Lisa wanted to be pissed off at this, but she was honest enough with herself to know that there had always been good odds that she'd be responsible for Coil's death, even if she hadn't in the end). There were also a number of various scandals involving members of the city council and other wealthy individuals in Brockton Bay, as well as the names and addresses of the fucking Wards – how he'd gotten his hands on those, Lisa preferred not to think about.
Fortunately, she'd managed to disable the program with plenty of time to spare. Otherwise, their only choice would have been skipping town (which would've been easier said than done, what with their identities being outed, but they might have made it amidst the chaos) or surrendering to the PRT and hope for a plea deal to join the Wards, which would have been … challenging. The reveal of the civilian identities of the Wards alone would have thrown the city into chaos, and anyone even loosely associated with Coil would have been made a pariah for such an egregious breach of the Unwritten Rules. Assuming they managed to strike a deal, they'd probably have been scattered across the country under new identities, both cape and civilian.
She was confident Grue would fit in well : he had a thing for discipline and self-control, though his issues with authority would have made it a trial for everyone involved. Alec and Rachel would have been more difficult, though, neither of them being what anyone would call 'normal' even for capes.
And then there was Lisa herself. She was self-aware enough to know that she wasn't exactly the easiest person to work with, and putting herself under someone else's control after what had happened with Coil would have been difficult.
The option was still there if they ever needed it, but for now, they had all decided it was off the table – right after they'd decided to stick together for now, mostly thanks to Lisa convincing them that they all could use other people watching their back. They'd all agreed to keep their heads down and enjoy the spoils for the foreseeable future : thanks to Lisa managing to empty most of Coil's accounts before they were found and frozen by the PRT, they had enough money now to stop their criminal activities and live in comfort for the rest of their lives so long as they didn't do anything stupid and let Lisa invest some of their ill-gotten gains. Widespread manipulation of the stock market may draw Watchdog's ire, but mere good investment wasn't going to trip any alarms.
Lisa was going to work to help Grue get custody of his little sister; Rachel was spending more time at the shelter and less hunting Nazis now that Hookwolf was behind bars and nobody wanted to risk drawing Lasombra by running dogfighting rings; and Alec … well, Alec was perfectly fine playing video games all day in their communal lair, so long as he felt safe from his Father.
For the first time in far too long, things were looking up in Lisa's life. Which made what she was doing right now even more stupid, because she was risking it all – but she was certain it was the best option. Because, if Lasombra figured out later that she was the reason Coil had known to go after her civilian identity, things would go … poorly. Exceptionally poorly. She had spent the day doing research, both online and through old-fashioned sleuthing, and the picture her power had painted of Taylor Hebert wasn't one of someone she wanted angry at her.
Better to give her side of the story early on, which might get her some kudos for honesty. Also, the other cape wasn't likely to drag her to the PRT by her collar if she approached her while they were both unmasked. It was clear that she didn't want to get involved with the PRT, and considering all that she'd achieved while on her own, it was hard to argue against her approach.
Lisa's power was clear that this was the best strategy available to her, and though its record was spotty where Lasombra was concerned, she'd decided to trust it in this.
Eventually, just as she was finishing her cup, school ended for the day and the students of Arcadia began pouring out of the gates. She kept a disinterested look on her face as she watched, forcing her power down – it would have made finding her target a breeze, but she'd a feeling she was going to need all the use she could wring out of her Thinker ability.
Fortunately, finding the dark-haired girl amidst the crowd wasn't too difficult. Physically, there was nothing striking about her – she wasn't ugly nor beautiful – but the moment Lisa's gaze passed on her, her power immediately activated, despite her efforts to suppress it.
Doesn't actually needs her glasses. Change of vision discovered recently, related to her Trigger. Is still wearing her glasses to avoid being identified as cape. Values her civilian identity greatly. Is relieved to leave school. Is frustrated that she feels relieved. Bad past experiences with school system. Experiences linked to her Trigger.
Not exactly an Earth-shattering revelation there. The files Coil had given Tattletale on the whole Shadow Stalker's debacle were more than enough for her to piece together what had happened to turn Taylor Hebert, ordinary schoolgirl, into Lasombra, the most powerful independent hero on the East Coast.
Really, everyone in Winslow was lucky Armsmaster had seen through Shadow Stalker's pathetic attempts at hiding her crime and arrested her and her accomplices. Even, or rather especially the people who were currently awaiting trial (or, in the case of one of the instigators, in a mental health institution) as a result. Otherwise, Lisa couldn't imagine Taylor Hebert not using her powers as Lasombra to raze that miserable excuse for a school to the ground – and somehow, she had a feeling Shadow Stalker's power wouldn't have held up against Lasombra's own tenebrous abilities.
A shame that bitch would never know that the girl she used to torment for her own petty amusement had become so much more powerful than she would ever be. From what Lisa had pieced together of the broody vigilante's twisted 'philosophy' based on Brian's account of his encounters with her, that would have absolutely destroyed her.
Lisa finished her coffee, tossed a few bills on the table, and stood up.
"Hello !" she said with the sunniest smile she could muster. "May I ask for a moment of your time ? It's about a certain cold-blooded acquaintance of ours."
Well, judging by the look on her face, she'd certainly gotten Taylor Hebert's attention. Now to be her best diplomatic self so that she didn't finish the day in a PRT cell.
I was really hoping that being accosted on my way home from school by someone who knew my secret identity wasn't going to become a habit, though this time it was certainly going better than yesterday.
The blonde (she'd introduced herself as Lisa) had led me to a tea shop a couple of streets away from Arcadia. There were several other customers inside, none of whom appeared interested in a pair of teenage girls showing up after school had ended.
According to her, the place was good for discreet conversations, and she'd picked it up at random, so there shouldn't be any surveillance in place. I was willing to believe her when it came to the place's discretion, but I didn't believe for a moment she'd truly picked it up at random.
"So," she said once our order had been brought to our table (I'd asked for an Earl Gray, she had asked for some black tea with a name I didn't recognize). "First things first : I'm Tattletale. Thank you for helping out with Hookwolf back then. We might have been able to get out if you hadn't shown up, but not without leaving the animals behind, and Bitch would have been miserable about it."
"What about you ?" I asked. "How would you have felt about it ?"
"Eh," she shrugged. "I wouldn't have felt good about it, but I'm not nearly as dog-focused as Bitch is. There isn't anybody on Earth who is. My priority was getting my teammate out before she got gutted by Hookwolf."
That was fair, I decided. Nobody who wasn't a bastard wanted pets to be ripped apart for the enjoyment of a bunch of Nazis, but there was a difference between that and being willing to risk being ripped apart by Hookwolf yourself in order to rescue the animals. And it shouldn't have been the job of a bunch of young villains to do it, either.
"I see," I said. "How is Bitch doing ? She wasn't … she wasn't doing well, the last time I saw her."
That was one way to put it. I remembered the young woman kneeling in the freezing room, cradling a dying puppy and blazing with grief. I had taken the pain of the animals to call forth Marchosias, but that wouldn't have done anything for her.
"Better now," Lisa replied, her smile turning smaller but also more sincere. "With Hookwolf behind bars, she's been able to spend less time busting out dogfighting rings and more time working at the shelter she runs. It's a lot better for her mental health."
"Good. I don't think you would have unmasked to me if you just wanted to say thank you, though."
I could think of several reasons why a young villainess (though really, compared to the likes of the ABB, E88 or Coil, the Undersiders were small change) would confront me out of costume, and few of them were good. Unless she wanted to surrender, but somehow I doubted it.
"No, it's not," she said. "It's, well, it's tied into how I knew who you were. See, us, the Undersiders ? We were working for someone. Specifically, Coil."
My grip on my teacup tightened, and something of what I felt must have shown on my face, because Lisa paled and raised her hands in surrender.
"Not willingly !" she hurried to say. "At least, not for me, and the others didn't know who we were working for until yesterday. He recruited me with a gun to my head and put me on the team when he assembled it to use as a proxy in his plan to take over the Bay."
That … that did sound like the man I'd met yesterday, I was forced to admit. His mercenaries had clearly been experienced with the whole process of kidnapping me.
"What does that have to do with you knowing my identity ?" I asked, forcing myself to stay calm.
"I'm a Thinker, and a damn good one," she replied with unashamed pride – bordering on arrogance, really. "Coil used me to get information on his rivals and other threats. When you took down Lung, he sent me a bunch of files he'd stolen from the police and the PRT and asked me to figure out everything I could about you. You were in the files due to …" she hesitated, then continued : "due to what happened at the start of January. The PRT had it registered as a potential Trigger Event. And Lasombra showed up for the first time that very night, while you were still in a coma at the hospital. After that, he didn't reappear again until you were released, and presumably, had access to the news again, at which point you … figured out what had happened, and used your power again, leading to your fight with Lung. Wow, that was your first conscious use of your powers ? Talk about a big debut."
I blinked. "That's some impressive deducting," I said slowly. Lisa smiled, clearly pleased with the compliment.
"As I said, I'm a good Thinker. Anyway, when Coil asked me for the results of my investigation, I didn't tell him my theory about you. But somehow, he figured it out anyway. I'm not sure how; it wasn't the first time that happened. I suspect his power was involved somehow."
"Speaking of, if you were working for Coil," I asked, "don't you know what his power was ?"
She shook her head. "I have been trying to figure it out since he forced me to work for him. It had something to do with probability manipulation : once, he did a trick where he flipped a coin and kept predicting which side it would flip. Of course, a power that just amounts to always winning' would be waaaaay too strong : it was obvious that it had limits, but I was never able to figure them out. I might have, in time, but thankfully that's no longer a concern."
"That might explain it," I thought aloud. "I haven't been able to make sense of his actions, but if he thought his power would ensure he could make me work for him, then what he did was merely foolish instead of self-destructive." I blinked as something else hit me. "You said you are a Thinker, right ? Do you know if my Stranger power affects those too ? I thought it did, but you were able to figure out my identity."
"Oh, there's definitely some strong interference at play here," she winced. "If I try to use my power on you directly, or on your projection, it starts giving me … let's say, confused returns. It did the same when I tried to make a profile for Lasombra, and it's even worse in person. I keep getting contradictory information whenever I try to use it on you. It's not a problem as long as I stay on the edges, so to speak : I can draw conclusions from information related but not directly linked to you. But the moment it jumps from your actions to you, things start going weird."
She winced, and took a sip of her drink while massaging the side of her head.
"Your power messing with Coil's sounds like the best explanation either of us is going to get for what happened, unless he wrote the details of his power in a journal and hid it somewhere," she half-joked, before sobering up. "So, that's how I learned your secret identity. I figured it was only fair that you get to know mine." She gestured at her unmasked face. "As a sign of good faith, as it were. After what happened yesterday, not only do I owe you another one for getting me out of under Coil's thumb, but to be frank, I also really don't want you to be angry at me."
"What do you think happened exactly ?" I asked, frowning. She looked … not exactly afraid, but certainly nervous, and it was a weird experience to have someone be nervous because of me instead of the other way around. Oh, plenty of people were afraid of Lasombra, but I didn't exactly exude the same aura of unspoken menace my projection did.
"I think he tried to kidnap you and force you to work for him, and you escaped," Lisa began. "You didn't intend to kill him or any of his men, but he … huh, he activated his base's self-destruct and didn't stop the countdown in time ? But why … ah, your not-so-little pet got to him after he'd activated the self-destruct and stopped him from turning it off while you made your escape. Huh, I wonder if he was still conscious enough to realize what was going on while the timer ran out."
Her smile turned vicious, but I couldn't find it in myself to blame her for it. I had spent a very short time in Coil's captivity, and I already didn't feel bad about his death : if what Lisa said was true, then she'd spent months under his control. She had the right to feel happy about his death.
Of course, that was if she was telling the truth. I hadn't done as much research on Thinkers than on the other power classifications, since the most dangerous villains of the Bay didn't use them – or if they did, they were smart enough to keep them secret from the public – but even I knew they could be consummate liars. I didn't feel like Lisa was lying to me … but then, I wouldn't, would I ?
"This has been a very interesting conversation," I said, taking another sip of my tea (which was excellent : I'd have to come back to this place later), "but I can't help but think there's another reason why you wanted to talk to me. What do you want from me, Lisa ?"
"You're right, I did have another reason for arranging this meeting. Coil's gang is collapsing," she began. "It was all centered around him, his base and his computer. Not all of his men were inside the base, but the remaining mercenaries got out of town as soon as they could. The moles he'd in place in the PRT and police are still here as far as I can figure it out – I was working on identifying them all, but I know there are some I missed – but they weren't really part of the organization, just controlled through blackmail or bribing. Which leaves us, the Undersiders, with a problem."
I raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to continue.
"I was able to get enough of Coil's money from his secret accounts that we won't have to commit crimes in the future, but most capes are vulnerable when they are on their own," she winked at me as she said that. "We're planning on sticking together for mutual protection if nothing else, and we want to know if you're okay with us staying in the city. Most of us have ties to the Bay and would rather stay here if possible."
I blinked. "Okay with me ? Why would you need to ask me permission ?"
"Because you're the strongest cape in the city ?" Lisa shrugged. "Well, actually, it's more because as I said, we don't want you angry at us. You already took out two of the Bay's major gangs, even if people underestimated Coil's operations, and dealt a rather huge blow to the Empire. If you decide to come after us, the best we can hope for is getting out of town before you catch us, and with your Mover rating, that's a dubious proposition at best."
Huh. That … made sense, now that I thought about it. I'd never really thought about what Lasombra must look like to other capes, but I could see why someone with a criminal past wouldn't want to stay in the same city as him, even if they were giving up their wayward ways.
I thought about it. The Undersiders hadn't been violent criminals even when under Coil's thumb : even Bitch had only hurt Nazis and animal abusers, and both categories deserved it as far as I was concerned. Apart from Bitch's murder charge (and having met the young woman and seen the echoes of her mind in the Abyss, I'd a feeling the story there was a lot more complicated than PHO made it seem), their rap sheet was even smaller than Uber and Leet's : at least they'd never run around town beating up prostitutes.
"The money you took from Coil's accounts," I said after a moment. "I understand that you can't exactly give it back to the people he stole it from, especially if most of it came from drug trafficking. But I want you to reinvest it. I am not expecting you to give it all to charity, though I certainly won't stop you from doing so if you want, but I'd like for it to go toward helping some of the businesses which were hurt by the gangs, in Coil's and Lung's territory."
"That's … that's going to draw attention," she replied cautiously. "I was planning to invest the funds in the stock market, using my power to make sure me and the other three could live off the dividends. Investing locally is more likely to raise some eyebrows."
"You said you're a good Thinker," I replied drily. "That sounds like the kind of challenge to keep you occupied without doing anything sinister."
"Hmm …" She rubbed her chin in thought, but I could tell she was intrigued by the idea. From my research, all parahumans wanted to use their powers : the number of capes who simply didn't use their powers somehow was so low as to be statistically negligible. And I had a feeling that a bored Lisa would be bad for everybody, herself most of all. "I guess I could use fake identities, and the city's economy is messed up enough that nobody would look at things too deeply unless I was careless. Yeah, that should be fun. Anything else ?"
"I might ask for your help at some point with my work cleaning up the Bay," I said, surprising myself with the words even though they made sense in retrospect. "Nothing physical : I've all the muscle I need. But if I need Thinker support, I will call on you. If nothing else, it should help get the PRT off your back."
"I can definitely do that," she nodded eagerly. "And you're right : the PRT won't want to mess with anyone even remotely associated with you without a very good reason."
That wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it would have to do.
We shook on it, then Lisa gave me her PHO info and phone number. She didn't mention the fact I didn't have a phone of my own : presumably her power had told her why that was the case.
After that, we each finished our beverages and left, Lisa paying the tab on the way out. A look at the bill made me reconsider coming here on my own later : the tea had been good, but vigilantism hadn't done much to help with my finances, and asking Lisa for a cut of Coil's money felt distinctly unheroic.
As we went our separate ways, I found myself bemused by what had just happened. Becoming some kind of shadowy patron to a cabal of young villains as they went legit by throwing lots of drug money at struggling businesses wasn't what I had in mind when I had discovered my powers.
But cleaning up Brockton Bay and getting the city back on its feet would take more than just punching criminals and sending villains to jail. And besides, if Lisa hadn't lied to me, then I'd just taken another gang off the streets.
"You're sure of this ?" asked Max Anders.
"Yes," replied James. "The PRT made a public announcement, and our people on the inside confirmed it. Also, I've sent a few folks into Coil's territory to cause a bit of trouble, and there was no response from his mercenaries. Nothing major, just a few broken windows, but his organization has always responded swiftly to such transgressions in the past. Instead, they got arrested by the BBPD – I'm already working on getting them out on bail using our contacts."
Good. Max didn't care about a few soldiers, but the Empire's reputation of taking care of its own was a powerful tool, and one they needed now more than ever before. They had already enough problems without the rank-and-file starting to question their loyalty to the cause.
"It might be a trick from Coil," Max said, returning his thoughts to the news of the collapsed underground base and the death of one of the Bay's other supervillains.
"Yes, but I've read the preliminary reports," said Krieg. "Building that underground base and making sure nobody knew it existed can't have been cheap. If Coil wanted to fake his death, there were ways that wouldn't set him back several million dollars."
"I see. Then we'll proceed on the assumption that Coil is dead. Without him, his organization is probably going to collapse, unless he'd a lieutenant he managed to keep hidden all this time."
In any sane reality, the death of Coil would have been good news for Kaiser. It was one less rival for control of Brockton Bay's underworld, and the slimy snake had always been far too slippery and lucky for his tastes.
But now, the E88 was the sole remaining major criminal faction in the city. Faultline's crew were still out on a job for Accord somewhere in Boston, having been lucky enough to be out of town when Lasombra had made his debut. And according to Kaiser's informants, Skidmark was only just waking up of his latest bender, and wasn't too happy about Lasombra taking down Lung and making such a big splash in the Bay's cape scene – but only someone who'd sampled too many of the Merchants' products would believe they could make a difference in the greater picture.
Oh, there were a few more minor gangs in the city : bit players who had recently formed around recently-Triggered capes that none of the bigger gangs had gotten around to absorbing or crushing yet. But half of them had gone to ground since Lasombra's debut, and the rest were too insignificant or stupid to bother with.
More would come in time, of that Kaiser was certain : the Boston Games had demonstrated conclusively what happened when the a power vacuum appeared. But even the most ambitious groups would take time to prepare before venturing into a new city, and Lung and Coil both had been removed from the board in less than two weeks.
It was entirely possible that, by the time there were other gangs the Empire could use to draw the PRT's and police's attention away from them, there would be no Empire left. Especially if Lasombra kept going after them. Already, Kaiser knew, many of the E88's soldiers were scared to go out at night, afraid that they would cross paths with the independent cape.
"We need to move soon," he said out loud. Krieg nodded.
"I will call Kayden and persuade her to rejoin us for this," the leader of the E88 continued. "But that won't mean much if we can't arrange a fight with Lasombra."
He left unsaid the fact that he wasn't sure he could convince Kayden to stay with the Empire for long. Convincing her to join forces to take down Lasombra was one thing, but their relationship had soured greatly in the months leading to their marriage's end. In his opinion, it was a coin flip whether the prolonged company of the other Empire capes would bring her back into the fold fully or drive her further away. In other circumstances, he might have been willing to take that bet, but not when his focus needed to be on the threat to his organization the independent cape posed.
"I have … let's say, the beginning of a plan on how to achieve that," said Krieg cautiously. "It still needs some polish, though. I'll have it ready for you in a couple days : I need to make some calls myself to verify a few details. That may involve calling our friends in Europe for Thinker help, though, in which case they're likely to ask a favor in return."
Kaiser hesitated. The ties between the E88 and Gesellschaft had served both organizations well over the years, but he was reluctant to give them any more leverage over his Empire. However, given the circumstances …
"Do it," he ordered. "Whatever price they ask in return, we can afford it more than we can afford Lasombra to keep interfering with our operations."
Dinah's head hurt. It always hurt, these days, because she kept pushing her power beyond what she could handle, asking more questions, hoping that a way out would present itself. It never did, but she kept asking, because it was the only thing she could do.
Chance of something bad happening to Mom and Dad over the next month ?
She had asked that question every day for the past two week, and the numbers had always been bad and getting worse.
Five percent.
She blinked. That was … that wasn't … The numbers had never been this good. Something must have happened to the bad people who wanted to take her. But what ?
She frowned, trying to think past the headaches. There'd been something in the news this morning, she remembered. Something about a collapse in the city, and a supervillain who'd gotten killed.
Was this the man who had been trying to get her ? The one who sent the men who watched her from across the road but left whenever she tried to warn the adults around her, who called home to threaten her when her parents were both outside ?
Chance that I'll be kidnapped by the end of the month ?
Seven percent.
Not great, but better than she'd ever gotten before. The number must be because even if the supervillain who'd known her powers was dead, someone else might find out and try to get her instead.
She'd just about enough left for one more question before the headaches got so bad she wouldn't be able to sleep all night. She thought about it for a long time, before asking :
Chance that things will be fine if I go to the PRT ?
Before, every time she had asked that question, the odds had been very, very bad; same as with the Protectorate or the police. But this time …
Eighty-seven percent.
Alone in her room, huddled on her bed, Dinah Alcott cried in relief, her stress and fear leaking from her with every tear, until she finally fell asleep.
Notes:
AN : Me, while writing the scene between Lisa and Taylor : Oh gods, I have just recreated Ciaphas Cain from first principles, haven't I ? Specifically, the Ciaphas Cain from my two fanfics rather than the canon one.
Oh well, I can live with that. So, Taylor has gained ... a minion ? Still not quite sure how things will settle down between Taylor and the Undersiders.
Next up : the Empire Eighty-Eight execute their Evil Plan™. I am sure Krieg's friends in Europe will give him sound and useful advice which he and the rest of the E88 will put to good use.
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and look forward to your thoughts and comments.
Zahariel out.
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