Projections in Worm Part 5 (Patreon)

Assault grinned as the clip of the new cape dropping off a hogtied Skidmark and Mush at the PRT finished playing on the monitor. "Nice touch with the ribbons and making it look like Shadow Stalker took them out while 'out' of costume."

Battery shook her head. "It's not like Shadow Stalker's the only cape that wears a hockey mask."

Armsmaster scowled as he thought about the amount of paperwork the new cape had caused him by pointing the cops at Hess in such a public manner. "We can look into her background with Hess later, how did she take them out without anyone noticing?"

"She might have a stranger rating," Triumph suggested.

"Or she just hit them hard and fast and no one heard anything," Miss Militia suggested.

Armsmaster nodded. "Everyone certainly remembered her at the school. It's more likely that she has a Mover rating and used it to slip inside."

"What did she tell the agents?" Velocity asked, knowing the agents should have asked about her powers.

"Just that Squealer left the area and that she was telling the police that the Merchants don't have any capes left," Armsmaster grumbled.

"Which means the police will be calling in SWAT teams and raiding the Merchants as soon as they can get the manpower assembled," Battery pointed out.

"Which makes us look ineffective," Assault added, trying not to laugh at the glare Armsmaster directed his way.

"If we'd committed resources, the Empire would have taken advantage," Armsmaster argued, trying to convince himself that ignoring the Merchants had been the right call.

"What happens when she pokes the Empire?" Assault mused, knowing the new cape wasn't going to stop.

Battery sighed. "She'll probably get themselves killed."

"Maybe, maybe not. They managed to slip in and take out Skidmark and Mush without anyone even noticing until they were dropped at the PRT, so there's a chance that they can deal with some of the Empire capes," Dauntless said thoughtfully as he brought up a list of the Empire capes on the wall monitor. "What do we know about Myst's powers?"

"We know that she rescued a student from being trapped in a locker without ripping the locker apart and that she was carrying a student without any apparent strain which probably indicates a Brute rating considering the Hebert girl had to weigh at least 145 given her height and she wasn't holding her close," Armsmaster mused.

Assault scowled as he thought about Shadow Stalker. "Considering the crap she was covered with, I wouldn't have either. Please tell me Hess has a one way ticket to a containment zone or jail."

"She's currently in a holding cell at the station, they refused to release her or the other two girls until they finished their investigation or until they legally had to," Armsmaster explained, less than happy about the entire experience.

"How are they expecting to keep her from escaping?" Velocity asked.

"They tied her up with an extension cable and implied that if she tried escaping they'd bring in a sniper and put several bullets between her eyes as soon as they found her," Assault explained, having heard the unofficial story from a buddy on the force.

Dauntless frowned as he considered the risk of Sophia accidently using her powers. "What happens if she twitches and uses her powers? She could kill herself."

"I doubt we'll be that lucky." Assault absently ducked Battery trying to swat the back of his head.

"That's cold," Velocity said, staring at Assault.

Assault turned to look at Velocity. "I've known people that would happily shoot gang members then go home and hug their grandmothers and be reasonable people the rest of the time. I don't know anyone that locks people in lockers filled with biowaste that are remotely sane."

"We don't know she did it," Velocity pointed out.

"Which is more likely, that our antisocial ex-vigilante that 'used' to like shooting people with crossbows decided to torment a girl she knew or that some random person decided to do it and Sophia wasn't screaming and tearing things apart to find out who did it so she could cut them?" Assault asked, knowing she should have been looking to punish someone if she was innocent.

"This isn't helpful," Armsmaster cut in. "Any guesses what Myst will do next?"

"She'll probably take out some of the Empire capes when they show up," Dauntless suggested.

"Kaiser?" Velocity asked.

"There's a big difference between going after Skidmark and Kaiser," Armsmaster argued.

Assault let them which Empire cape she'd be going after for a couple of minutes then cut in, "You're forgetting Lung, there's an outside chance that she'd go after Lung."

Miss Militia turned to look at Assault when everyone went silent. "What makes you think she's going after Lung? You'd have to be insane."

"Several reasons but you're missing a possibility for her powers," Assault said with a grin.

"What's that?" Armsmaster asked.

"A couple of things make more sense if you assume she's a Changer. It would explain how she 'showed up' out of nowhere and why she wasn't remotely concerned about hiding her face. It also explains how she walked right into Skidmark's base without anyone noticing anything weird."

Velocity shook his head. "That doesn't explain why she'd go after Lung."

"Everyone on the street knew where the Merchants were or at least the general area to avoid, you could say the same about the ABB, unlike the Empire."

"The Empire has territory," Velocity argued.

"Not the same way," Battery said, trying to think about it from the point of view of someone without the PRT's resources. "It would be a lot easier to find Lung and if you could look like one of his people, you might be able to get close enough to shoot him in the head before he ramped up enough to burn you to ash."

"That's a big if, you'd have to be insane to go after Lung," Velocity argued.

"Or a new cape that's riding high on her success," Armsmaster said as he pulled up the map of the area the ABB claimed. "As much as I'd like to think it was just luck, she took Sophia apart without having to take a swing and knew things about her power she shouldn't have."

"Thinker?" Miss Militia asked thoughtfully.

"Or she can impersonate people that Sophia trusted," Armsmaster mused, not particularly happy to have a Changer in the area. "We're going to have to be more careful. I'll let the Director know that we have a possible Changer running around."

"We don't know she's a Changer, she could just be a Mover," Velocity pointed out.

"We ran her face, outside of a partial match for an Earth Aleph actress and a 89% match for a girl in Texas with brown hair and a rock solid alibi for the times we know Myst was active, the computers turned up nothing usable," Armsmaster said, still a bit annoyed that he hadn't been able to find anything on the mystery cape. "No one came forward on the boards with anything useful or claimed they knew her either."

"Worst case, she gets herself killed going after Lung or the Empire, what happens if she succeeds?" Assault asked, curious if they'd be able to keep the Empire from expanding without Lung to keep them in check.

"We'll have to be ready to keep them contained," Armsmaster said, already thinking about ways to counter the Empire's various capes.

"We should probably offer support to the police for dealing with the rest of the Merchants," Velocity pointed out.

Battery shook her head. "I can't see them taking any help, they're going to want to push hard and fast before more capes show up."

"Do we have any idea what happened to Squealer?" Dauntless asked.

"Just that she left town," Armsmaster said, wishing he had more information. "Which means Myst talked to someone in the Merchants or found her shop. She wasn't particularly forthcoming."

"Can you blame her?" Assault asked. "You tried to arrest her for rescuing a girl. Either way, we should probably fly the flags and make our presence known."

"If nothing else it should remind people that we're here," Armsmaster agreed.

0o0o0

Alec glanced away from the video game he was playing and over at Lisa who was currently staring at her phone and had been for the last couple of minutes. "New job?"

Lisa glanced over at Brian as he walked in from the kitchen. "Maybe, it's not from the boss, it's from the girl that rescued the girl at Winslow."

"You mean the girl with the smashing set of tits and no modesty?" Alec asked with a grin.

"Or at least someone claiming to be her," Lisa said, trying to figure out how much the other girl's plans would complicate things for the Undersiders.

"What did she want?" Brian asked.

"She wants help making sure the court doesn't get away with railroading Canary and she wants information on the location of Hookwolf's next dog fight and information on their average security in exchange for a cut of whatever she can recover from the dog fights," Lisa explained.

"Bitch would probably love the chance to hit another dog fighting ring," Alec pointed out, going back to playing his game.

"You're not a lawyer, what is she expecting?" Brian asked, curious why some new cape had reached out to Lisa.

"A couple of phone calls and leveraging my 'psychic' powers. I doubt it would take me more than a couple of hours to spike the case or at least get her someone better than a wet behind the ears public defender that won't even fight for her basic rights. I should be able to get the location of the next fight with a couple of well placed taunts on PHO or some bribery," Lisa said smugly.

Brian frowned. "That sounds too easy, how much of a cut did they offer?"

"They didn't, they just offered a cut which means I can probably ask for a decent amount," Lisa said as she composed her response, wanting to nail the percent down and get a couple more details before she wasted her time talking to lawyers.

"Is the boss going to complain?" Brian asked, not wanting to screw up a good deal for a side project.

"He shouldn't," Lisa replied, seeing no reason to tell Coil about the side job unless he asked.

0o0o0

Taylor wasn't quite sure how to feel as she watched Myst dump a plastic bag filled with cash into a metal wash tub filled with soapy water. [When people talk about washing money, they don't normally mean actually washing it.]

[Most people don't have to deal with drug dealers, you could get a contact high off some of this shit], Myst replied as he used a broken spatula to swirl the cash around in the water.

Taylor took a sip of her hot chocolate, keeping watch on the other customers in the cafe and trying to ignore the voice in the back of her head that kept telling her that an actual hero would have reported the cash they'd recovered from the Merchant's stash house. [How much do you think we made?]

Myst glanced at the phone that he'd misappropriated from one of the Merchants when he'd grabbed Skidmark and Mush, wishing the Travelers would get back to him on his offer of help with Noelle. [Less than you'll probably get from the PRT and school but enough that we should probably look into buying a section of the docks. Speaking of the docks and cleaning, when are you going to come clean to your father?]

[When hell freezes over?] Taylor asked hopefully, knowing that wasn't really an option but not looking forward to broaching the subject with her father.

[I can see waiting until he's done talking to the police but eventually you're going to have to tell him and the longer you wait, the worse he's going to feel.] Myst reached over and answered the phone when it rang, "Hello?"

"Is this Myst?" a female voice asked, sounding nervous.

"Yes, how can I help you?" Myst asked, fairly sure he was talking to one of the Travelers because he doubted Lisa would sound that nervous and she was the only other person he'd given the phone number to.

"Can you cure Noelle?" Sundancer asked hopefully, thinking about the cape's offer of help.

"I can certainly try. I'm a Trump with the ability to permanently manipulate powers in various ways, including giving people an off switch on their powers," Myst explained, trying to give her enough information that she'd show up but not enough that she'd worry about how he knew more than he should.

"How much?" Sundancer asked.

"For an off switch? Nothing, giving her an off switch on her powers is a public service, completely fixing her powers, I'm sure we can work something out. Either cash or your team's help taking out some villains."

"By taking out, you mean?" she asked warily.

Myst frowned as he realized he could have phrased that better. "I mean knocking them out so I can drop them off with the PRT or keeping some people busy while I hit other targets. I'm not looking for much, just a bit of help making the city a better place. Worst case, you come and get an off switch for Noelle and listen to my pitch for helping the city then walk away."

"We can be there in two hours, where do you want to meet?" Sundancer asked, feeling a spark of home for the first time since they'd found out about her friend's powers.

[Any ideas?] Myst asked, not all that familiar with the local area.

[That's getting close to dinner, which means it has to be close to the house unless I want Dad scouring the city looking for me. If you don't mind a little trespassing, there's an old garage that should be in range], Taylor suggested, not particularly happy about inviting a group of villains anywhere near her house but willing to risk it if it meant getting some useful powers.

"There's an abandoned garage that should work for a meet and greet, I'll text you the address," Myst said, figuring that would be easier than trying to give directions. "Don't worry, we'll get your friend fixed up and everything squared away, you'll be on a beach by sometime next week enjoying yourself."

"Thank you." Sundancer ignored Trickster when he gestured for the phone. "I've got to get ready but I'll see you in two hours." She ended the call, looking forward to having her friend back and moving on with her life and knowing that Trickster talking to them would just screw things up. "We should have a cure by tonight or at least a fix for the worst of her problems, she might even be able to fix Oliver's issues."

"Where do we have to go?" Trickster asked, hoping it wasn't across the country but glad that they wouldn't have to deal with Accord.

"Brockton Bay, we should be there in an hour and a half, maybe two depending on traffic," she explained, hoping that Noelle wouldn't cause trouble now that they had a lead on a solution to their problems.

"How much is it going to cost?" Trickster asked warily.

"Giving her an off switch for her powers is free, anything more and we'll have to help deal with some villains or pay but I'm not going to complain, we've done worse for less reasons," she replied, knowing they'd taken some bad deals since they'd arrived but hoping this would let them turn their lives around.

"I'll tell Noelle," Trickster said as he headed for the warehouse, eager to share the news.

0o0o0

"Gotta go fast!" Myst said cheerfully as he sprinted down the twisted track, gleefully shooting any of the various deranged athletes that got close.

Taylor sprinted across the intersection after glancing both ways. [You're having too much fun.]

[If you can't enjoy your work, you're doing something wrong.] Myst phased through a fat girl with overly tight gym pink shorts that was swinging a tennis racket around like a lunatic then spun around and shot her in the back, causing her to turn into motes of light and vanish. [Joking aside, this was a lot more fun when I was fighting gremlins.]

[At least they vanish like monsters], Taylor said as she avoided an old lady walking toward her on the sidewalk. [How many laps do you think you'll have to do before the monsters stop spawning?]

[As many as it takes.] Myst scowled when he pulled the trigger to shoot a skinny guy wearing a pink speedo and the gun jammed. [This is why I hate guns.]

[To be fair, I doubt it's been cleaned or serviced in years], Taylor pointed out as she reached the sidewalk and dropped back to a more comfortable speed.

[Fair point], Myst admitted as he swapped his malfunctioning gun for his copper sword and charged a man holding a baseball bat, figuring he'd get to the other guy eventually.

Taylor jumped and nearly lost her balance when Myst's phone beeped at her, indicating she'd received a text message. [You just got a text.] She slowed down to a walk and checked the text message. [TT is asking how much of the cut you'll give her for the information.]

[Ask her what she thinks is reasonable, I'm willing to settle for thirty percent, mostly because I don't want to have to do the leg-work and she should have the right contacts to sink the case against Canary.] Myst smiled when he saw a group of goblins in tennis shorts appear further down the track.

[I'm not saying you shouldn't but why do you care?] Taylor asked as she worked on typing in Myst's message.

[She had a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, he shouldn't have been anywhere near her, let alone listening to her concert. The fact that the judge didn't throw the entire thing out of court as self defense or a tragic accident annoys me, so I'm going to deal with it the only way I can without taking a trip to Boston and slapping the shit out of a judge], Myst replied as he charged the goblins.

[Yeah, let's try to avoid that], Taylor replied, fairly sure she'd be grounded until she was eighteen if she 'randomly' jumped on a train and left the state, especially if her father found out the actual reason involved assaulting a judge.

[Thus why I'd rather have someone else deal with the mess legally], he explained, dodging to the side as one of the goblins tried to hit him with a glowing hockey stick then stabbed the goblin holding a racket when he gave him an opening.

[It still feels weird working with a villain], Taylor complained, not entirely comfortable with the idea even if the PRT and Protectorate had turned out to be less than completely heroic.

[Villains are people, some of them are horrible people and some of them just had a couple too many bad days and don't know how to pick up the pieces. Picture growing up as the daughter of a villain with only a vague clue of right and wrong or a guy with a valuable power that their parents see as a cash cow. You run because you can't stay but now that you've run, you're a runaway without a decent safety net or a means of legal employment.]

[Why wouldn't they just go to the police?] Taylor asked, reading Tattletale's response.

[Because the police would toss you to the PRT and the PRT would toss you into the Wards which puts you in a database which basically ruins your chances of using your power to make a profit without the PRT making it their business to keep an eye on you], Myst explained as he finished off the goblins. [I'm not saying some of them wouldn't be better off walking into a police station and asking for help but teenagers aren't always the most rational of creatures.]

[I'd object but you've got a point], Taylor admitted, thinking about her own issues with Sophia and Emma. [Tattletale said she'd give you the information for twenty percent of the take.]

[Take the deal and tell her we'll give her a bonus if everything works out], Myst suggested as he headed over towards the next group of athletes.

[What type of bonus?] Taylor asked as she typed in her response.

[Leave it vague, I'm sure we can come up with something], he said, knowing he had several bits of information the Undersiders would appreciate, namely, Coil's civilian name and how his power worked. [How far are you from home?]

[Maybe twenty minutes if I walk or eight or nine if I run], Taylor replied as she sent off her response and started running, knowing she needed to work on her general level of fitness even with the Brute package Myst had given her.