Wyrm Lord of Brockton Bay, Interlude: Arrowfish (Patreon)

Interlude:
Arrowfish

To be honest, he’s been only a cape slightly longer than he’s been part of the Dragonteeth. 

When Boston got hit by Leviathan, the Endbringer did very little damage compared to other instances of its assault. However, anything Endbringer-related was ridiculous in proportion; the little damage that Leviathan had wrought in its latest attack had destroyed hundreds of homes, flooded Downtown areas, and broke multiple critical junctures of the highways leading in and out of the city. 

The home of twenty-five year old Tyler Hakins was one of those collateral damages forgotten in the aftermath of a stunning victory against the Endbringers. He triggered when Leviathan ran from Wyrm, which involved the endbringer stomping right up to and then passing by him in its haste to leave Boston behind. 

Tyler thought he was going to die. Most people would have if they saw the goddamn ENDBRINGER running towards them.

That’s when he triggered. 

Ironically, his power was hydrokinesis. 

Yeah, talk about reminders of the worst moment of his life. Well, he got that every single fucking time he used his power. 

“Arrow, it’s your time for shift, bro.”

Tyler looked up from the table he’d been playing poker with the boys and saw that it was Cegalia, other Dragonteeth cape who was assigned to guarding this place with him.

“Alright,” he replied as he got up, folding his hands. It wasn’t a good hand anyway. The Dragonteeth soldiers on break booed at him as he took his earnings and left with a grin on his face. 

He left the break room and stretched a bit in the hallway before leaving the air conditioned space with a shudder…

… into the sweltering indoor facility of the Dragonteeth’s third ore crushing and smelting site. 

Arrowfish saw the smeltery, the forges, and the rock crushers, and sighed. Unlike most of the criminal cape organizations around the world, Wyrm’s Dragonteeth differed in that their primary income source depended not on oppressing and extorting the people but from mining.

Mining!

Yes, sure, Wyrm didn’t pay any sort of tax to the government, which was part of the reason why he was considered a criminal, but Wyrm and Tattletale, the former’s secretary(?) had word about that. They had a whole short speech about that for the whole organization. 

‘Governments exist to provide the people with public good, but the federal government of the United States of America is currently incapable of insuring the commonwealth of the societies it governs, including the safety of the public from internal and external threats. This alone should invalidate its legitimacy, yet what goes further is the fact that our America is corrupt, led by individuals who care not for its safety, prosperity, and society. They ignore the threats that shake the foundation of society because it was much more convenient to let those threats be. 

‘Why else would the gangs roam the nation so freely? Why else would the criminal syndicates that make a living extorting the people get away with barely a hundredth of their numbers struck down?

‘Endbringer truce is a farce, but most of you don’t know it. It is completely understandable. There are more villains who do away with the truce when it suits them. There are heroes who do away with the truce when it suits them. The government cares not for these and punishes none. During the Endbringer battles itself, who shows up? It is not villains but heroes who show up in mass. However, the ones who make up the majority of these heroes are the government funded Protectorate, which is the largest cape organization in the world, but the independent hero and their teams! What do these Protectorate heroes do inbetween the Endbringer attacks? They watch their cities burn. They do nothing to curb the criminals killing and extorting their people because they have been told that supporting the facade of stability is their job, not catching criminal parahumans. 

‘I have no reason to give my money to a corrupt government. I have no reason to support an ineffective government. I have no reason to support federal super soldiers who do not even perform their jobs.’

It was, as Tyler’s grandma would say, a fancy way of saying fuck you to the government. Wyrm also made sure to remind the soldiers and the capes of the Dragonteeth that any sort of disruptive behavior would not be taken lightly. Tyler thought that it was a bit hypocritical of Wyrm, considering that he killed a lot of people and there were rumors of him forcing himself on both of his girls, but Wyrm was also his boss so Tyler zipped his mouth and said nothing.

“Aw, it’s your turn, Stickfish?”

Arrowfish grunted and turned to glare at the owner of the annoying voice calling him out. 

He looked at Henry, the manager of this facility, who stood not too far from him with a safety helmet and fire-resistant suit. The sharp and square jawed, six foot three inches tall, muscular, multi-scarred, and bald man grinned while looking down at him.

Arrowfish, with his five foot eight inches, scrawny arms, and clunky blue costume-armor, looked like a kid next to him, even though he was twenty-five years old and Henry was twenty-three years old. 

Henry also called him ‘Stickfish’ because he was a stickler for Dragonteeth rules. Was it his goddamn fault that he didn’t want to be eaten or blasted by Wyrm? No… but apparently, his adherence to rules made him a man with a stick up his ass.

“Yes, Henry. I’m just gonna get to it. Please don’t bother me,” he replied as he walked pass the manager. 

The manager just laughed before going back to the processing floor. Arrowfish walked out of the facility, sighing in relief as the oppressive heat gave away to the cool, breezy summer night. 

Vroomm…..

‘Hmm?’ Arrowfish looked around. That sounded like a car, but it was 3 a.m., who would be around here? Precaution was the better part of valor, so he unclipped his radio and held it up to his lips. “We may have a possible intruder on an automobile, please be alert,” he reported in.

“Copy that, Arrowfish,” Manager Henry replied. 

Vrooommm….

It was getting louder.

“The sound of the automobile is getting closer…” he added as he stepped further outside. While still on the premise of the facility, he looked around. He didn’t see anything beyond the marked lands and the flat structure-less plain between this smelting site and the closest buildings of the city. 

Vrooommm….!

It was … very close-

VRROOM-!

Arrowfish’s last thoughts before he died, crushed under an invisible truck, was how obnoxious the sound was. 

-VB-

Brockton Herald

Breaking News!

The Archer’s Bridge Merchants raid one of Wyrm’s smeltry!