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Walk by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural, Words: 110k+, Favs: 19, Follows: 24, Published: Aug 12, 2023 Updated: Aug 14, 2023
3Chapter 12
Rebecca sighed as she took a seat in one of the old metal chairs that was set around a plain wooden table that looked like it had started life as a dining room table.
In truth it had, Contessa had pathed to the yard sale it had been in when they were first setting up Cauldron. Unfortunately Doctor Mother was the one who got the chairs, and she had found these uncomfortable metal things.
Just because they were a secret organization didn't mean they all sat around a mahogany table with velvet high backed chairs.
Note to self, ask Contessa to path to one of those, these steel chairs were even worse when she was in her uncomfortable 'Chief Director' costume. Who ever came up with business suits for women with the stupid skirts should be drug into the sea and fed to Leviathan.
The suit and chair were in the back of her mind however as the others took a seat around the table. Eidolon was staring at her, still in costume, with Number Man and Doctor Mother looking over stacks of papers they had brought with them. Contessa looked bored, like always.
A virtual read out ran through her vision from her cybernetic eye, showing the visible stats and abilities on record of those around her.
The information was annoying in truth as she didn't know how to shut it off and due to her memory she remembered everything about everyone she ever saw.
Still it was one of Hero's inventions, she was quite sure it hadn't been designed for her, but at the time she lost her eye she wasn't going to be picky when Contessa pointed it out for her. It was too useful to discard despite the annoyance it brought at times.
It couldn't read everyone of course. Certain individuals she got a bunch of error messages from, End bringers as well and it was iffy at times with Eidolon.
Alucard gave the same results as the Endbringers, nothing.
That was the current theory around the table, that the Vampire themed cape was a proto Endbringer. Even Cauldron only had speculation as to what part the Endbringers played in everything, or how they formed. The popular theory was they were humans absorbed by their powers, maybe Alucard was something that went right. Number man was almost certain he was sandbagging in Endbringer fights.
It was as good a guess as anything else, but at the moment there was something more pressing to focus on.
"You are going to ruin the experiment." Doctor Mother huffed.
"And how would I be doing that?" Rebecca smirked.
"What do you mean how? ENE was supposed to be a check on what would happen if capes were allowed to run wild." Number Man offered.
"And how exactly have I changed that?" Rebecca smiled more. Playing dumb was petty, but she didn't care at the moment. Having to deal personally with Piggot because some one else fucked up annoyed her
"By putting a competent leader in charge of ENE you have changed the dynamic. I've gone over her files and she is quite capable of completely unhinging every data point that comes from ENE." Dr. Mother stated.
"Please. The results of that experiment were suspect when we couldn't place another warlord there. Lung, Skidmark, and Kaiser are doing exactly what we thought they would do with their powers, carving out their own territories. Faultline isn't playing ball and none of the other independents are the sort that would play the game like that."
"There is always Accord..." Number Man offered.
"Accord wants nothing to do with ENE and you are the one who brought that up last time this came up." Rebecca snapped. "With Meadows death, there needs to be someone put in charge of the ENE. "
"I understand that, but why Emily Piggot?" Doctor Mother asked looking to Contessa who simple listened to the argument." I feel she has been the center of far too much of our concerns as of late."
"You have read her file correct? Emily Piggot is an unflinching beast of a woman when she gets it into her mind to do something. The situation with the Teeth proved that more than anything else, but also remember that when she survived Ellisburg, she's the one who killed Calvert. That man was our choice for overlord of ENE. He was easy to manipulate and getting him to try and rule the bay over all the others would have tested how quickly we could regain control over a feudal system of power that could be set up. We know what power Thomas wanted and it would have been easy to give it to him. He would have used trickery and playing all them others off each other to accomplish his goals."
"You gave the man too much credit, the power he was to get is currently being used to cheat in video games and avoid getting kicked from online forums." Number Man sighed. "Why did we even leave the vials there for that child to pick up?"
"It reduced the steps to victory by over a thousand." Contessa stated. "One of the key steps only had fifteen percent chance of happening. That chance is now sixty five percent."
Everyone stared at the woman as she took a sip of tea.
"You have not mentioned this before." Doctor Mother stated.
"You have not asked." Contessa smiled.
Rebecca raised an eyebrow at that smile, brief as it was. Contessa had been some what snarky as of late and it was a little odd for her. Still nothing to worry about now.
"In any event that plan scrapped, I decided to go another route. We need to see how quickly we could retake an area that has fallen to parahuman control. Putting some one like Piggot in charge of the local branch at ENE is a good way to test to see if agression and skill can win out. " Rebecca stated.
"If she accepts." Eidolon hummed.
"She will." Contessa stated. "Despite what happened in Boston she is very much loyal to the PRT."
"If we needed someone like that we should have just gotten Tagg." Eidolon stated.
"You just want to get him away from where you call home." Rebecca snarked.
"And?" Eidolon chuckled.
"Tagg is too ridged and would have no compromise at all. The man thinks the only way to protect everyone from the para humans is to arrest, enslave, or kill all of them. He has no give. Emily has no give as well, but she's not against hitting an issue from different sides or negotiating where Tagg would simply keep hammering the same spot until it broke or he did." Rebecca shrugged. "Besides Piggot has Alucard and Druid."
"Who?" Number Man asked.
"Her daughter, Amy Piggot, now also known as Druid. She chose the name as a cape persona when she went in for testing. The paper work isn't very thorough but it seems she's a Biotinker, any where from six to nine. She's been volunteering at a number of hospitals and thus far has been able to cure anything she's put against unless it's brain related. That isn't a limitation, so much as a self imposed rule. She claims to be afraid if she messes with some ones brain they won't be who they are."
"Ship of Theseus?" Doctor Mother asked.
"Possibly, the report doesn't go into it." Rebecca offered.
" Why Druid?"Numbers Man questioned.
"Probably something to due with that cat she made." Rebecca offered.
[ South Carolina]
"WHAT THE FUCK DID I SAY!?" Amy screamed into a headset. "I said don't pull! I am out of mana. And what did you do? Uou shot the boss in the ass and aggroed him on everyone before I was ready to heal any one. So of course we wipe! "
Amy's eyes narrowed.
"Bad healer? Bad healer! Bitch I am the BEST healer in the guild and I have the numbers to fucking prove it! Don't you even dare ThongChaser, your stupid ass priest can't even get a quarter of the heals I can with BOOMCow." Amy growled.
There was some typing on the screen and Amy twitched.
"BULLSHIT. Listen here HorseFace, I told you that your stupid tank was to hold up with your usual impossible pace. But nooooooooooooooooooooo." Amy ranted. "And now you're dead."
Emily pushed open her daughters door a little more one eyebrow raised at all the screaming coming from the room. Must be raid night."I thought you said these games helped you relax after a trip to the hospital. This doesn't sound like relaxing."
Amy clicked the mute on her headset glancing back at her mom.
"Trust me it is. I can't call out people in real life for their crap like this." Amy smiled.
"Ahh, rant therapy..." Emily shook her head, this was why she preferred single player strategy games if she did play anything.
"Crimson F died?!" Amy blinked. "ALUCARD You're supposed to help me with these dumbasses not become one to add to my torment!"
From another room the vampire laughed.
"I am NOT rezzing you!" Amy yelled." Corpse run your own ass back!"
"Awwww."
"Cat?" Number Man asked.
" I'm getting to that. Amy Piggot has also shown to have been able to boost individuals making what seems to be temporary brutes. If you've seen the report on the after effects of Slayer versus Feral, what happened to Slayer is likely an result of this power. Testing was done, but the power increase was minor and subjects claimed to be very hungry and thirsty but not to the level Slayer was." Rebecca explained. " She also has altered a life form permanently. "
"How?" Legend asked tensing.
"From the reports Amy had a kitten that was diagnosed with feline leukemia and was not expected to live long, Amy fixed that and turned it's fur green and purple. It's also now the size of a tiger and Amy can ride it."
"Shit." Eidolon muttered.
"Testing was done on the animal and given she was spayed as a kitten and that seems to still be the case, nothing was really done about it. The report places her as being fairly intelligent for an animal and surprisingly loyal to Amy, and to a lesser extent Emily. Other wise the reports just list her behaving like a normal, if large, house cat."
"Not sure I'm comfortable with a bio tinker that young being uncontrolled." Eidolon offered.
"Given Emily and Alucard's track record with Bio-tinkers, I can't think of any where else she should be."Rebecca stated.
Doctor Mother hummed. "Can we bring her in as an asset?"
"The three steps to your painful demise are as follows. Fuck with a Piggot. Piss off Alucard. Die." Contessa spoke up. "There are one hundred and thirty steps between when he starts killing you and when you actually die. Would you like me to list them?"
The rest of the table stared at the white clad girl.
"This is uncomfortably close to doing what I said was a bad idea. The number of steps along the path have reduced considerably since Alucard appeared." Contessa continued, standing up and heading towards the door of the room. She paused at the door. "Do what you will, but if any of you do something to interrupt the path we have set by poking this particular bear, I will lather you in honey and toss you to the beast myself."
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Walk by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural, Words: 110k+, Favs: 19, Follows: 24, Published: Aug 12, 2023 Updated: Aug 14, 2023
3Chapter 13
Brockton Bay PRT office
Emily Piggot sat back in her chair rubbing her eyes. This had already been a pain in the ass an she had only done the initial meet and greet with some of the support staff.
The Director's office took up half a floor near the top of the PRT building near the boardwalk of Brockton Bay and was all windows. The rest of the floor was a server rack, a security office a janitorial closet and a small armory/ panic room.
Emily hated it.
She immediately dropped most the armored steel shutters closed in the office and locked them, save for a few that didn't have any clear views into the office unless someone was flying. She had then moved her desk against the inner wall to the left of the main office door so her back was to the concrete armored inner core of the building.
She could still see out easily enough, but a flier or sniper looking in might have a hard time spotting her even with thermal through the tinted glass in her desks new location. She had also moved some file cabinets in the way as line of site blockers and done the same with the few guest chairs and a large peace lily plant to break up any clear shots any one might have. The new position also hid her from the front door of her office.
When everything was set up the way she wanted she started going through the files left by the previous director, Meadows.
Emily was not sure if she was happy with this or not. Alucard had wanted to shoot the Nazi's he had heard lived in the bay so he was all for it. Oddly Amy too had wanted to go, she claimed she wanted a place they would actually stay put and was a bigger city than they were in so she could visit more of the vets and hospitals to help.
Emily wondered if she recalled that she was born in Brockton Bay.
In any event, the weekend was over despite them not being unpacked in the new place. Amy and Alucard were finishing that up now as Amy didn't have to start school until next week. Her daughter also wanted to join the Wards though that was more to help with any injuries and get a pay check rather than any desire to go out heroing. The possible lab that could be offered to her for some very careful Bio Tinkering was just the icing on the cake.
Emily had some rather choice words with Deputy Director Renick for pressing the sale to get Amy into the Wards, but Emily had stated she was going to leave it up to her daughter to decide. She knew she would have no say over what Amy, or Druid, did to avoid favoritism for family. Not that many knew Amy was her daughter, not directly any way. Renick did and so did some others with the clearance. Emily suspected there would be some Wards who would learn sooner or later as well.
If she was placed in the Wards, Emily was going to watch over her closely and if anything got screwed up, she would have Renick's balls for a door knocker on her new house.
She made sure he knew that.
Then she made sure that he knew she was not joking in the slightest.
Emily let out a long breath trying to calm down and shift her thoughts away from the random string of thoughts that she had whenever she thought of Amy as a cape, then she worked to breath normally again.
She didn't like it, but it was Amy's choice in the end.
Smacking the mouse on her desk to wake the computer up, she picked up the first of the hard files she had stacked on her desk. She was going to look through what Meadows had saved on her computer and compare it to the hard copies on file. Meadow's pc was specifically designed to not have any network connection at all. Another computer set up in the office was linked up for the day to day.
The woman had also set up a spot for a shot gun to be quick drawn from under the desk, so Emily somewhat approved of the departed Meadows.
Emily had spent the first part of her morning changing the woman's old passwords out and changing the screen saver and back ground images to random PRT approved PR images and away from the collection of cute baby animals Meadows had left.
The files on the main support staff were pretty straight forward. None of the troopers nor medical or pencil pushers really had anything of note in their paper files.
Meadows had left notes for certain ones
Renick's file was one of these. The man had been a PRT officer until a injury sidelined him and he was shuffled into the paper pushing side of things. He eventually made his way up the ranks to his current position, but he didn't seem to have the drive or the interest of rising all the way to the top.
Meadow's notes labeled him the sort who liked to be 'the power behind the throne, but not high enough to lose his head if shit hit the fan'. The former director went on for a few more lines about despite all that, he was good at what he did but he was somewhat lax in certain things. If it wasn't broke he didn't try to fix it, or look to hard as to why it worked.
Emily considered that keeping it in mind but planned to see for herself before she trusted the words of a dead woman.
None of the others had any real comments from Meadows save for the PR director, Glenn Chambers, who had a small note that only said 'Creepy'. Emily made a mental note to accompany Amy when she was to talk with him about her costume.
With the PRT out of the way, it was time to look at the Protectorate side of things.
Armsmaster was the current head of the division here in the bay, high level tinker specializing in miniaturization. Decent hand to hand combatant, very meticulous in his job in filling out the proper paperwork. There was a stack of notes on file requesting more funding for his projects. Noted to pretty much live in the bay Protectorate headquarters. And a rather large stack of traffic violations on file in regards to his custom motorcycle.
Meadows described him as an annoying, but by the book uptight asshole, who didn't know how to talk to people properly, coupled with a massive ego and a tendency to get offended when his work or skill was questioned even slightly.
Despite this, the man had several commendations to his name from his time here.
Something else to keep an eye on.
Next up was Battery, a Mover, Breaker, who had a number of commendations for her work and was an example of a dedicated hero, almost to a T. Her only problem seemed to be her partner.
Assault, formerly Madcap, was a Striker that due to some deal or another was always paired with Battery as well as forgiving his previous crimes. Emily frowned at that, though given his record he had held his end of the bargain and remained a hero, despite a large list of minor offenses from other employees, and several individuals whom he arrested.
Meadows made notes that the pair were more than partners and actually married, though she also made note that something was odd about Battery and that she was trying to keep an eye on her.
The only comments about Assault was a page an a half of curses and comments about knowing he did something, but not having proof.
Mouse Protector, Mover, possible Brute/Thinker. Emily winced as she picked up that file, she had seen some of the campy cartoons the PR department put together for the the short girl, and everyone she had ever worked with in the Protectorate or the PRT had a Mouse Protector Story.
The woman was very extroverted and a popular with the kids. She was currently in charge of the ENE Wards. Her PR pull was almost as high as Slayer's had been and her merchandise consistently sold well. Despite that, the list of citations and write ups on the woman was longer than her entire bio. She also had three pages done by Meadows ranting about certain things she had done or suspected to have done.
Emily sighed, just looking at some of the complaints Meadows had left about Assault and Mouse Protector, it was small wonder the woman had had a heart attack.
Alucard was going to get along with the two like a house fire.
She picked up the next file reading over it curiously.
Moon Dog, Mover, Brute, Thinker, Possible Master[See below] Case 53.
Appearance: A 7'2 navy blue furred humanoid feline/canine cross with retractable claws, a tail, cat like ears, but a sharper muzzle more like a wolf or fox. The tips of his ears and tail glow with a soft silvery light reminiscent of natural bio-luminescence. His right forearm has the odd omega symbol associated with Case 53s.
He was found in North Carolina after Leviathan hit it with a hurricane and is thought to have triggered during the attack, or been left there by who ever is creating the case 53s. Like other 53s he has no memory of anything past the point he woke up, stuck in a tree over a flooded area in what was Bear Creek, near Jacksonville. Having nothing else he agree to join the Protectorate when questioned.
Due to the shape of his muzzle and throat he is unable to speak in an intelligible tone, his words coming out as little more than barks or meows, though he cannot speak or understand normal cats and dogs. A electronic text to speech device was created for him to aid in communication, though he has also picked up ASL.
The name Moon Dog, as well as his on file 'real' name of Rahs Sparkle, were both pulled from a story online that his assigned case worker favored.
Powers: Brute 6, a basic Alexandria package, minus flight.
Mover: 3 Moon Dog is able to teleport himself and a mass up to, or equal, his body weight any where within three miles of his starting location. There does not seem to be a limit to how often he can do this, preforming the act several score of times without any error or any feeling of exertion more than some one briskly walking.
Though there are limitations which put his rank so low. He is unable to teleport if any one or anything is watching him. This includes people, animals, bugs, cameras, motion sensors, microphones that can pick up any sounds he makes while moving, it does not however seem to have a issue with pressure sensors or thermal sensors. This limitation is also what has given him a Thinker 1 rating as his powers can be used to determine if a room or location is bugged or not.
Master[ Speculative] This rating is here as a precaution in case the recorded events are not coincidence. Despite being a tall feline creature, Moon Dog has gained a rather sizable following of Fan girls and boys who all seem very interested in courting him both inside and outside the PRT. While Moon Dog has shown a preference for women, this seems to have no bearing on those that become interested in him.
While those affected show no signs of any typical master effects, they are willing to go to almost childish crush extremes to gain his attention. If Moon Dog does have a master power he is unaware of it as he has no clue that any of these potential suitors are anything but being friendly, possibly a bit excessively due to feeling sorry for his existence as a case 53.
Meadows notes mention some thing about the next evolution of the crazy cat ladies, and Moon Dog being a typical clueless male when it came to relationships. Though there was no other notes about this effect There was a small investigation that he might have been a mole for the Empire 88 due to him having know contact with one of their capes.
Observation of the pair however has shown no collusion and the two simple chatter about movies, theater and other basic things. No intervention was done as it remains a possible source of information about the Empire 88 or even a possible way to recruit a cape from their ranks. Current status is observation only.
Emily glanced through the file for Slayer and Alucard, not noting anything she hadn't seen before, and Meadows had no notes about them.
Slayer was supposedly fully retired, though Emily kept the costume in case she needed it.
Emily sighed, looking at the next stack of paper work for the Wards, and the three extra files.
No one had bothered her in an hour so perhaps it was best to push on and finish this.
Vista, Shaker 9...
Emily looked over the information on the girl her eyes widening and the ridiculous power the 12 year old had.
She tapped the mouse to bring up Meadow's notes.
Vista has been in the Wards the longest having triggered at age six. Is considered a media darling by both the PRT PR department and Youth Brigade.
Has vocally expressed her hatred of them both.
Vista is generally unhappy with the state of things and thinks that she is being held back from doing anything simply due to her age. She is correct in this assumption.
The Youth Brigade is quite adamant about not letting anyone younger than 16 so much as look at anything dangerous. Vista does not like that in the slightest. The girl wants to do something more than PR patrols and with her power set it's a surprise that she hasn't gone rogue on her own to take down criminals.
Thankfully she has a healthy respect for authority, though that is growing more and more strained as she is refused for team leader or any other important task simply due to her age. I pity her caretakers when she becomes an actual teenager.
Emily sat back looking at Meadows opinions on the girl. Someone that potent being dissatisfied could end badly. Emily made a note to address the issue, or suggest Amy look into it when she joined to see if she could find out more.
Emily frowned rubbing her temples, she was already planning to use Amy to help out. She needed to stop that and simply deal with it herself. On the other hand, Amy and Alucard were the only two she completely trusted here right now, and that was questionable with Alucard.
She had a number of problems so far just from reading these files, while she couldn't discuss some of the information due to Amy not having the clearance, she could get some help with some possible fires. She had some ideas already.
Sighing she picked up the next folder.
Gallant, Blaster 5 Master 2 Thinker 3.
Emily frowned at another master rating in her department, but reading on how it was mostly emotional manipulation and the ability to cancel the same effect caused by others eased the worry a bit. The thinker rating was for much the same reason as Moon Dog with his inability to be snuck up on or spied on by most anything with an emotional output.
He had several commendations for his help with search and rescue missions.
Meadows didn't have much to say on him, only noting that he had a tendency to act like a white knight, and she had the same distrust of him that she did of Battery, though again there was no reason for this.
Aegis, Brute 6 Mover 3 .
Emily blinked as she read the boys file. The redundancies his own body had and the ability to push himself to the peak and beyond of human possibility was quite impressive. Emily figured Amy would be interested in looking him over to see what his physiology was like.
Meadows didn't have any notes on him aside to remark on why she had him placed as the Wards leader, after a good showing in leadership testing.
Clockblocker, Striker 7.
Emily rubbed her temples at reading his name.
"Fuck... there's three of them."
Reading on, Emily had to admit the boy's powers were indeed impressive, but he had almost as many infractions as Mouse Protector and Assault. He also had a somewhat overprotective/ big brother style streak involving Vista, one that the younger cape grudgingly accepted.
Meadows also had two full pages bitching about him.
The last one she had in the pile was a probationary ward and former vigilante cape.
Shadow Stalker, Breaker 3, Stranger, Mover 1.
Emily marveled at the girls list of powers that was written, though that turned into a frown at the list of write ups and issues with her The girl was grating and had more complaints against her due to attitude and discipline issues than even Clockblocker.
Emily noticed Meadows notes continued with the issues, mentioning about how Shadow Stalker would disappear on some patrols after breaking contact with Control. She claimed it was due to how her power worked, and given the head sets assigned were damaged from said power, nothing could be pinned on her.
Most of the other wards did not like going on patrols with her with Clockblocker actually refusing right out after one notable patrol where his usual joking mannerisms resulted in an altercation between the two that cracked Clockblocker's mask and had Shadow Stalker frozen in place for twenty five minutes.
Given that it was out of sight of the public, both were reprimanded, though Clockblocker referred to her as psychotic and sadistic during his debrief. Further punishments were ineffective in getting Clockblocker to continue patrols with her, and he has also been overheard telling Vista that if Shadow Stalker goes off the reservation while on patrol with her, that Vista should put her down hard and fast.
There was also the lawsuit from when Shadow Stalker tried to kill a member of Faultline's mercenary team. It was expected she would be sent to juvie, however people higher up the chain than Meadows saw her powers as a possible Endbringer killer. As such she was to be kept under observation and monitored until she turned 18 at which point her powers would be clear to use without breaking any of the established rules set up involving such conflicts for Wards
Meadows had assigned some people to keep an eye on her when not with the Wards to make sure she didn't pick up her vigilantism again, or cause other issues with her attitude, but she had not received any reports that were worth noting.
Emily did not like this at all. The Shadow Stalker situation bore looking into a bit more thoroughly when she had the time.
There were three other files left, one was of Dragon, the Canadian Tinker. There wasn't much on her aside from listing her as being extremely agoraphobic, and being friends with Armsmaster.
Meadows notes had her as friendly and surprisingly cheerful given she supposedly triggered when Newfoundland sunk.
The other folder was for a full Protectorate member who was on loan from Seattle, Miss Militia. The document stated she should be returning home by the end of the year, she was brought out to try and iron out some issues with Mouse Protector as the pair had been Wards together.
There was no note from Meadows about the woman or what the issue that needed to be ironed out was. Emily considered it might just have been Mouse Protector being Mouse Protector.
The final one was another possible Probationary Ward who was currently being held in a cell on the oil derrick.
Rachel Lindt, aka Hellhound, aka Bitch. Master 6.
Emily frowned at that, though the description of her power made her relax a little. It wasn't much of a description as evidently the girl had been mostly uncooperative and in some cases violent with those keeping her contained.
The report went on about how she showed signs of being a feral child, following mannerisms that were more canine than anything else. Those assessing her considered it may have something to due with her powers.
Reading on Emily was fairly impressed with what little information they had on her, though the reason they had her caused her to let out an annoyed huff.
She was wanted for murder, because of course she was.
Meadows notes pointed out how good the girl was at training dogs even without her powers, and had a small list about training dogs for drug, and bomb detection to aid with the issue of the merchants.
Meadows also pointed out a few things about the story about the murder that didn't seem to make sense. Like the attack seeming to come out of the pool as the cover to it was destroyed from the inside out. The animal that was rampaging was eventually put down and was found to be a coyote, not even a dog.
Another inconsistency was how quickly the case went through trial even without the girl being present.
There was also a rather sizable file of complaints from foster children about how the woman who was killed treated them. Meadows thought it was likely some sort of abuse trigger, but without Rachel's cooperation there wasn't much that could be done.
Emily sighed sitting back in her chair. Meadows had set up a few things here before she died. Emily would need to get her house in order before she could start to work on fixing the city.
"More work... Well, best get started." Emily Piggot grumbled.
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Walk by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural, Words: 110k+, Favs: 19, Follows: 24, Published: Aug 12, 2023 Updated: Aug 14, 2023
3Chapter 14
"The alert sounded...
...and it sounded like a ding from the instant messenger. But no matter the sound, the call to justice was ever to be answered, after a brief screening to make sure that it wasn't some one trying to sell a car's extended warranty. But no matter, once it was properly approved the call to justice would be answered..."
"You're narrating again."
"...Vista called from the Ward's couch where she was fiddling with some Pokemon game or another..."
"It's Soul Silver!"
"Despite the naysayer in the rooms interruption, which should be over now unless someone else was going to say something."
"Nah you're good."
"Clock Blocker smirked as Vista rolled her eyes, and Shadow Stalker grunted menacingly despite the fact she still had her English homework to do."
"I've got the rest of the damn day!"
"LANGUAGE."
"Shadow Stalker growled again likely grinding her teeth to the point she would need massive dental work before she hit twenty. In any event the call to justice has been sounded and as such we shall sally forth to do battle with the forces of evil..."
The door opened and Miss Militia stuck her head into the Wards room.
"Mouse! stop narrating and get moving, the new director has called a meeting."
"Mouse Protector away!" Mouse Protector sounded, following Miss militia out her arms in the air like she was flying and doing her best to make her cape billow behind her as she made whooshing sounds.
"So if I adjust this I should be able to get an additional .004 percent increase in power, as well as allow space to increase the range on the wifi..."
There was the sound of movement.
"Yes, yes, I understand you just want it repaired, but it wouldn't take me long to make improvements as well." Armsmaster offered glancing to the blue furred case 53 sitting nearby moving his hands.
Armsmaster nodded. "I suppose you are correct. It would be more efficient to just build a new translator from scratch with the new improvements. It would do well if you had a spare as well, something to work on later. Until then please be sure not to tear your way through any more drug den walls until I am able to armor the translator up more.
Moon Dog rolled his eyes under the mask he wore, not that he needed a mask, being a large blue canine, feline mix of a creature, no one was going to mistake him for any one else, but he always wore the domino mask when he was doing cape things.
He took the bracer back from Armsmaster closing it on his left forearm. The screen lit up with a standard QWERTY keyboard and he quickly typed into it.
Alright, there we go. Thank you for that. However I will point out my intent was not to go through the wall, that was an assist by one of Skidmark's vectors. " Moon Dog typed.
While the response was a bit slower that normal speech, Moon Dog refused to use L337 speak or text shorthand if he could help it. Granted there were a few shoulder buttons on the device with preprogramed phrases for hot moments, such as 'Look out!', 'Duck', Stop in the name of the law' and a fifteen minute rant about how Star Trek was better than Star Wars.
The last was put on the device by Assault and thus far Armsmaster had yet to figure out how to disable that button.
Moon Dog didn't think Armsmaster was trying very hard, as the tinker agreed with the rant.
"Noted." Armsmaster considered. "Was there anything else?"
"No, that should do it." Moon Dog nodded , his ears perking up as a loud beeping came from one of the councils Armsmaster had in his lab."What's going on?"
"The new director is calling a meeting." Armsmaster explained as he looked at the alarms read out.
"Already? Didn't she just start yesterday? I figured it would have taken a week to get all of Director Meadows stuff sorted." Moon Dog typed.
"Seems she is efficient. I appreciate that. "Armsmaster rose. "We should get ready. Traffic might be an issue getting down town."
" So when am I gonna get my own bike built?" Moon Dog questioned.
"When you can pass the drivers safety course." Armsmaster stated as the pair left his lab heading for the ferry to take them to the mainland.
"I'm not even supposed to be here today." he whined.
"Yes you are, I've seen the schedule."
"You are too cruel Puppy."
Battery rolled her eyes at the nickname, she had tried years ago to get him to stop calling her that to no avail. At this point she simply rolled with it.
"Mondays are supposed to be our days off, I had absolutely nothing to do today and I was gonna enjoy it." Assault continued.
The pair of them were currently on patrol downtown, out showing a presence in the late afternoon. The new director coming in had thrown everything into disarray almost as much as Meadows passing had done. Thankfully everyone, excluding Mouse and Assault, were professional enough to get everything back in order then.
Director Piggot's arrival was significantly less chaotic, but at the same time no one had ever heard of her, and most of her files were sealed. A few people claimed to have heard of her and swore she had been in Ellisburg as a member of the S.O.T. as the team sniper. Little was known other than that, though both Armsmaster and the Deputy Director knew more.
This sort of thing bothered Assault, he was like a twelve year old who had to know everything he was getting for Christmas, only unlike a twelve year old he was also running a betting pool on the side.
The chime of her com alerted Battery to the time.
"Alright, time to head back, new director has a meeting scheduled in an hour." Battery offered.
"Ooh can we stop and get ice cream?" Assault grinned.
"Only if you're buying." Battery responded.
"I always buy." Assault chuckled.
"Because you always want ice cream."
Emily looked over the masked faces before her as Renick called everything to order at the front of the room. The deputy director moved to the side and Emily took the position at the podium rustling the sheet with her notes before she scanned the room. Most of the capes were sitting patiently waiting for her to start.
Mouse Protector had some how gotten a hold of a computer chair and was spinning in it.
Assault was helping her spin it faster.
Both Battery and Miss Militia looked ready to kill the pair.
Emily was considering throwing a foam grenade at them to get them to sit still, though that would be a bad first impression.
Maybe later.
"I am sure by now you have all heard of me, but if not, my name is Emily Piggot. I was a former member of PRT SOT. Rumors, from my understanding, have placed me at Ellisburg during the Nilbog incident, that is correct. I left the PRT after that and have been recently brought out of retirement at the behest of Chief Director Brown. Now that I've addressed the rumor mill about me, let me get down to it. I am still reviewing the situation in ENE and I will be speaking with all of you one on one to address some possible issues as well as get you views on the state of Brockton Bay. I will also be speaking with the Wards on the same. As things stand right now I am not going to change anything until I get settled and see how things here work or don't work here." Emily announced. "That said and out of the way there are some roster changes. The Protectorate will be getting a new member in the form of Alucard."
"Are we getting Slayer as well?" Assault asked, still spinning Mouse Protector despite Battery having belted him at least twice. Miss Militia was currently holding a shotgun of some kind.
"Slayer is reported in the city, but will not be rejoining the Protectorate. We don't know yet if she will continue as a Rogue or is fully retired. Secondly Miss Militia we have been given clearance to keep you around until July unless you have an objection to that, I'll bring it up when we talk one on one. Finally, the Wards will not be receiving Browbeat as he will be transferring to New York at his request. We will however be receiving a new Ward by the name of Druid. Armsmaster will present the relevant data on her to Mouse Protector and any one else who needs her information."
Emily shifted her gaze over those present a moment, staring a bit longer as Mouse Protector fell out of the chair crashing to the floor. Her gaze shifted to the others in the room noting none of them other than Assault was paying attention to the woman directly.
Emily wondered how long she could keep Alucard from meeting Mouse Protector.
"Right, that's it for now. Armsmaster stay here, the rest of you head out, I'll call you in when I'm ready to talk to you. Dismissed." Emily ordered. Time to get this show on the road.
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Walk by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural, Words: 110k+, Favs: 19, Follows: 24, Published: Aug 12, 2023 Updated: Aug 14, 2023
3Chapter 15
Emily Piggot regarded the blue armored man before her, the head of the Protectorate ENE, a man well respected in his field as a tinker, some even regarded him as the possible next Hero.
He was supposed to be her equal, two branches of the same organization Protectorate and PRT. Instead she was his boss, legal loopholes put the PRT as the ones in charge holding the leash of the capes. Those who cared, took offense to the leash, some rallied against it while others didn't seem to mind so long as there was a paycheck.
Emily had seen both sides of the leash and thought they both kinda sucked.
Still the politics of capes was not her concern at the moment.
" I'm gonna ask a few questions Armsmaster, I'd like you to answer as best you can. " Emily mentioned, taking a seat in one of the chairs in the room. " While this is official , it's not formal, take a seat if you want."
"Of course Director., though I am not sure any of these chairs are rated for my armor."
"Alright. So then, what is the current state of the ENE area, in terms of gangs, crime, and the team build?"
There was a slight shift in the mans exposed face as if he was surprised at the question while he remained standing in front of her.
"I was under the impression that the relevant data was already available to you Director." Armsmaster deadpanned.
"It is, but seeing a report summery doesn't carry the nuances or additional insight that a one on one conversation with someone who is actually out there in it, carries."
"Understandable. The Protectorate and PRT are both still recovering from the death of the previous director, though we are back on track for the most part save some of the paperwork and orders as you well know. The situation in the bay itself is unchanged from the last few years. Aside from the basic crime a high population urban area produces there are also four gangs of note."
"Four? The documents only listed three."
"The Archer's Bridge Merchants, The Azn Bad Boys, The Empire 88 and the Church of the Angel."
"There's a fucking Church of the Angel in Brockton Bay?! Why the fuck wasn't that in the report?" Emily snapped.
"Because thus far it is only speculative. There have been gang signs and some activity which follows the known activity of the cult in other areas, but thus far we have no hard evidence that they are present. With nothing concrete it was not put in the report." Armsmaster offered. "I believe the data points however and feel that the Church does have a presence in Brockton Bay. Whether it is a full sect or just a small group is unknown."
"Send me all the info you have on this when you get the chance." Emily growled before muttering to herself. "We need to find out about this before we become the next Eutaw. I'd almost rather deal with the 9."
"Of course Director. Though we have the advantage here in that we know of them."
"Moving on. Do you have anything to note about the other gangs?"
"The Empire 88 has the highest cape count of all gangs we are aware of and are the biggest threat to the Protectorate and PRT here, with the Merchants following. The ABB only has two, Oni Lee and Lung."
"With Lung they hardly need any one else." Emily sighed. She hadn't known the damn dragon lived here when she took the job, it was becoming clear why Meadows had a heart attack the more she heard.
"Indeed. The Merchants are the source of most of the drug trade, though the Empire 88 are responsible for some of the higher end drugs on the street. The Merchants are also responsible for most of the lower level crimes such as armed robbery. They are considered a gang in only that they have a leader and some capes. Skid Mark is widely regarded as an idiot who is high on his own supply, but at the same time he has lead this gang for several years and they easily get new recruits. They may be the largest of the gangs, but their turn over rate is also rather high."
Emily nodded.
"The Empire 88 is a neo Nazi group lead by a cape called Kaiser. They have the highest number of known capes and likely the second largest of unpowered supporters. Unlike the Merchants their supporters can be found in every part of society and they are known to have ties with the Nazi group that sprung up in Germany in recent years, Millennium."
"Not surprising the Nazis all know each other, what I've read on Millennium shows they are surprisingly organized and despite Germany's best efforts to stomp them out since the wall fell, they have only grown in power." Emily muttered having gotten a history lesson of them by Alucard.
"The ABB is likely the smallest gang in both cape count and unpowered members. Their main focus seems to be protection rackets, illegal casinos and brothels, though there is a rumor they are involved in a slave trade with the Yangban. Like the Empire they also have their own raciest views, though ones that favor Asians rather than just Caucasians."
"Any one else of note?"
"There is also Faultline's mercenary group, though they tend to avoid taking any jobs in Brockton Bay, they are wanted for questioning in several other countries and a few states, but nothing we have the power to enforce." Armsmaster continued. "She does have quite a few capes under her flag however as well as some case 53's. She also tried to recruit Moon Dog at one point, though she accepted his refusal."
"Pretty much a non entity in the local scene then?" Emily questioned.
"Or at least no one has met her price for working in her own backyard yet."
Emily nodded at this.
"There is also New Wave a local Rogue group that have had middling success since their formation. They are not well trusted by any of the other groups due to their policies and an event that happened some years ago." Armsmaster continued.
"When they went after the Marquis' civilian identity and completely disregarded the unwritten rules to do so." Emily sighed.
" I am surprised you are aware of that, PRT has ... not covered it up, but let it die out."
"I had a personal stake in that event." Emily muttered.
Armsmaster paused for a moment to consider before he tensed up.
"I see. Then that would mean Druid is..."
"Yes. Don't let that get around. Particularly to those idiots at New Wave."
"I will not. Though may I ask why 'Slayer' is not returning to the Protectorate?" Armsmaster questioned, his words a bit stilted.
"Because she doesn't need to... Colin..."
Armsmaster considered then nodded. "I believe I understand, but won't this cause issue if it ever came out?"
"Why would it. I'm not a cape, no gemma or anything. There's hardly a conflict of interest with my being a baseline human is there?"
"Not at all." Armsmaster seemed to stare at her a moment, though it was impossible to tell with his helmet on. "Still moving on there are two more groups in the bay that might be worth note. Uber and L337 are borderline comedy villains, and would be considered as such had not some of their crimes caused serious harm, and others massive property damage. Still they are low priority overall."
Emily blinked wondering how the hell Armsmaster managed to say the leet speak.
"The final group is a Rogue named Parin, she is running a clothing shop near the boardwalk and seems to be making an effort to stay neutral. It is rumored however that there is one other cape in her employ as while her powers are in fabrokinisis, there have been signs of thinker's work in some of her methods. She always seems to be able to close shop before trouble arrives, and easily navigates through the labyrinth of paperwork and legalese needed for a cape to even own a shop."
"If all she does is sell clothes then she's not worth more than a cursory glance to see if she's signed up for the MIRIS program and finding out if she wants to or not." Emily sighed.
"I was unaware that program was still functioning."
"It is, and it's something i support, it's just those in the top keep trying to cut it and destroy it for their own agendas or pocket money." Emily explained. "Was that everything?"
"At the moment that is the best summery i can produce without time to prepare."
"It will do , though i still want anything you have about the possible Church of the Angel in the city." Emily nodded. "Now then is there anything i need to know about your coworkers, or the Wards?"
Armsmaster frowned a little. "Nothing that would be outside of their files and any reprimands that have been issued. All of them are competent and decent enough, though i do wish some of them would take the job more seriously, as some of their activities are rather inefficient."
Emily blinked, the man said inefficient like it was a swear word.
"As for the Wards, that is more of Mouse Protector's department than mine. While it is still under my command as the Head of the ENE protectorate, Mouse Protector deals more with the day to day."
"Doesn't she report to you with the patrol schedules and any changes?"
Armsmaster sighed, a deep exasperated one that was the first real emotion that Emily had really noticed that didn't require her de-escalation training to spot.
"Mouse Protector does indeed send me the reports of the week. I think."
"You think?"
"What she sends me are exceedingly long and complex almost novel length reports that to date, have been in Fairy Tale format including princesses, dramatic prose, set as a stage play, written out like a role playing message board, or in one particularly infuriating report, done entirely in Haiku."
Emily blinked. "I'll have a word with her about that."
"Thank you."
"There is one other thing about the Wards and I wanted to ask you this specifically. I noticed that there is very little in the reports about the mentor program being implemented. The Wards have their own patrol schedule and rarely interact with the Protectorate adult staff beyond Mouse Protector." Emily stated. "Policy for Wards states that any division that has them needs to have rotating patrols with the Wards 'Side kicking' for the heroes. All of them. I see no record of that any where."
Armsmaster stiffened. "My apologies, there has been quite a lot going on, and a project I am currently working on has taken most of my time."
"Armsmaster. I have been to Chicago, Boston, and New York. All of them are swamped with villainous capes, and yet all of them still manage to follow the Ward program as it is written. We have six adult capes here, soon to be seven and five Wards, soon to be six. You will be setting up a rotation with the current staff to sidekick the wards, and that will include yourself."
"Director my work..."
"Should come second to showing the next generation of heroes the proper way to do things." Emily frowned at the man. "Unless what ever you're working on is more important than that, I suggest you remember that I am the one in charge of your tinker budget."
Armsmaster returned the stare before he took out a device and turned it on, sweeping around the room.
Emily raised an eyebrow at it before the armored man nodded.
"A bug detector?"
"Something like that. Director Meadows had her room swept often, but the conference room is open to any one."
"So you are working on something important."
"Yes."
"What is it."
"I call it Nano thorn, it's a molecular adjustment to..."
"High School terms."
Armsmaster blinked as he worked to process that." He pondered a moment before nodding to him self. It is a new type of armor piercing. Theoretically it should be enough to cut through an Endbringer." Armsmaster stated.
Emily was silent for a moment before nodding. "Alright I'll give you a pass on a Ward patrol while you work on this. However I would like to see results. I would also like to see if this could be replicated for standard rounds."
"I do not think so. At the moment it requires a large power supply to function." Armsmaster considered." Though I think I may be able to reduce that enough to fit inside a larger round. Perhaps a point five zero round, though the slug would be reduced in size the damage output should be much higher when used against armor. It may need adjustment to relearn how to fire the weapon."
"Alright it's something to work on. Keep me updated on your progress, we're due another Endbringer attack soon if they keep their damn schedules." Emily sighed. "If you see Mouse Protector send her to my office, I've still got a lot of people to talk to and I'll have her set up a schedule for this while you focus on your project. But I want to see results Armsmaster, and for something more than just your halberd. Something that can harm an Endbringer needs to be spread out to more than just one mans arsenal."
"Of course Director."
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