Magnetic Attraction 12: From No One to Wanted (Patreon)

“So we know for sure that this villain is the cause of this catastrophe?” Director Piggot asked the Thinker Tank representative on the projected screen. Although the members of the Thinker Tank were notoriously unreliable, they were - at the end of the day - a resource ready to be tapped by any of the directors and those who filled out the right paperwork. 

In the following days since the Boardwalk Explosion, she had been given priority access to find the villain or rogue responsible for her city’s plight. She’d met with them at least twelve times so far. With each meeting, she gained more and more insight as to her city, her people, her work, and her enemies.

This meeting and the last two had been focused on finding who was exactly responsible for the Boardwalk Nuke. 

“It’s him or Calvert,” Appraiser, the more reliable member of the Watchdog, replied. “I’m getting green with a hint of yellow.” 

And hadn’t that set her off like nothing else. Calvert was a complicated package, being not only the only other survivor of Ellisberg but also someone who left the PRT to become a consultant and business magnate. 

“And Calvert used to be Coil, who’s been killed by Eisenfeld so…”

“Does this mean that Eisenfeld is responsible?” Miss Militia asked from the side of the meeting room. 

Appraiser shrugged. “I’m paid to use my power and interpret the answers, Miss Militia. Cause and effect outside of my jurisdiction is not something I’m going to comment on.”

Piggot hummed briefly while drumming her fingers on the table. “So he is someone, at the very least, linked to the Boardwalk crisis.”

“Yes.”

“Threat rating from Watchdog?”

“8, minimum. Also, dark red.”

Red mixed with dark was bad. It meant that the person in question was very likely to retaliate in escalating fashion if not stopped immediately. 

“Thank you for your help, Appraiser,” she said after a minute. 

“We’ll be in touch,” the man replied before the video conference ended. Piggot turned to Armsmaster and Miss Militia. 

“How powerful do you think his Shaker effect is?” she asked Armsmaster, who was ever the data collector. A quirk of being a Tinker.

“Powerful, though I do not know how well Eisenfeld is in control of it.” 

She thought about it. She had a killer on the loose, who proclaimed to some random businessman who happened to have been with Calvert that he killed Calvert in retaliation to Calvert’s violation of the Unwritten Rules, but it was a video evidence she had yet to show the Protectorate. It was not a crucial piece of information, not when it was compared to the fact that Calvert was Coil and Coil’s base had been the cause of the Boardwalk Explosion.

So she knew her order. A loosen cannon was in her city and had caused, indirectly, the Boardwalk Explosion. “... As soon as he appears, take him in however you need to. Take no chances.”

-VB-

Magnetic Attraction
Chapter 12: From No One to Wanted

-VB-

I looked around and raised an eyebrow.

Not a second later that I turned my head, they fired.

Unfortunately, they were all using regular guns on top of the foam launchers. I reacted faster than bullets, having prepared for the worst. The bullets fired … and stopped in my magnetic field like fish to net. 

“Oi oi oi, what the hell is this? Why the hell are you lot shooting at me?” I asked angrily. I hadn’t expected something like this. They didn’t even say anything!

“You are under arre-” one of the PRT goons spoke up.

“Arrest? Seven of you tried to shoot me in the head,” I growled. I released iron dust into the air and immediately made blades. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t chop you all up right here right now.” With spitting out the last word, I condensed all of the iron dust I just made into a thousand slick blades no bigger than a pinkie finger and no thicker than a piece of paper. All of these blades floated, vibrating angrily, all around me, around them, and behind them. 

The civilians who were just trying to help each other quickly ran away upon seeing the PRT and myself in standoff. 

I felt someone in a lot of metal approach. It was an armor and … It was Armsmaster. 

I turned to look at him as the PRT troops parted to let Armsmaster through.

“You killed a PRT-affiliate consultant, Eisenfeld.”

“Is that how you’re going with this?” I asked spitefully. “That bastard broke the Rules, Armsmaster. I got rid of him in response, the end. You intend to fight me on this?”

I didn’t think they would push this hard against me. No choice left to me but to meet them head on, verbally and in combat if need be.

Instead of verbally replying to my question, he hefted his halberd and lowered himself into a combat stance.

“You idiot.”

I crushed the halberd in one go.

Armsmaster jerked back, releasing his prized possession. The troopers watched in horror as Armsmaster’s iconic weapon crumpled into a tiny ball that would easily fit into a toddler’s palm. Then I dropped it unceremoniously. 

“I will ask you and you will verbally respond, Armsmater,” I replied slowly and firmly. “I acted upon a Rule breaker and retaliated in kind. Regardless of their civilian identity. Do you intend to fight me, someone who got rid of an Unwritten Rule breaking villain?”

“That villain’s disappearance is directly tied to the Boardwalk Explosion.”

“That’s not an answer.”

I sliced the head off of a trooper, keeping the severed head with its face set in pain floating by the metal components in the helmet while the body fell limply. 

“Next time you don’t answer my question directly, I will kill two more. You came at me with the intent to kill. Be thankful that I am being gracious.”

Though his face was covered by his helmet, I could feel the metal vibrate very lightly from the grinding of his teeth. 

“Well?!”

“... No. We will leave, but you will labeled a villain for this.”

“You came at me with the intent to harm and kill. Did you expect anything else?” I broke apart the condensed iron dust blades back to dust while keeping it afloat around the street. “One warning, Armsmaster. If you or the PRT try to break the rules, then I will not show mercy.”

Then I twisted all of the guns into useless pieces of metal. 

With but a small handful of iron dust around his head, I made it vibrate into a screeching whisper. “You are warned, Colin.”

He jerked back as if burned, and I couldn’t help but feel satisfied by that shock.

I flew away. 

‘What a good mood they ruined,’ I grumbled as I disappeared.

-VB-

Ring ring.

I stopped high above the sky and pulled out my phone, and read the name of the caller.

It was Kayden!

I quickly answered.

“Kayde-”

“{I thought you were better.}”

“...What?” 

“{You just killed PRT troopers.}”

I blinked. “You saw that?”

“I saw the end of it.”

I let out an aggravated sigh. “Can I explain myself first?”

“{... Okay. You deserve that at least.}”

“There was a bit of information you don’t have, and it’s related to another cape. His name was Coil.”

“{Coil? The mercenary hiring small-timer?}”

“I didn’t know at the time, but I learned his identity by accident. I was willing to ignore it, but then I also found out that he’s been gathering the Empire’s civilian identities. They already had yours, Kayden.”

I could almost hear the shock. 

“{B-But that’s-}”

“He never cared about the rules, Kayden. As soon as something disrupted the scale of balance, he was going to release it. So said as much to his lieutenants. So I killed him first. What I didn’t know was that the bastard had his base on dead man’s switch. It blew up when he didn’t come back.”

“{... The Boardwalk Explosion.}”

“Yes. And now, the PRT came after me because I killed him, and he was Thomas Calvert, a consultant for the PRT and CEO of Fortress Constructions.”

“{A-}”

“And do you know what they tried to do the moment they surrounded me? They tried to shoot me.”

Silence.

“{A-Alright. I think I get the picture.}”

“Thank you for hearing me out. So?”

“{So?}”

“You are still trying to be a hero, right?”

“{I am. The Boardwalk crisis did create a lot of issues.}”

“Anything you can’t tackle yourself?”

“{No.}” There was a bit of hesitation in her voice. It was only natural; Purity may be strong, but Lung, the boss of the ABB, was another matter entirely. She may be the strongest Blaster north of New York City, but Lung was the strongest Brute in all of the East Coast. 

“If you need help…”

“{I’ll call.}”

And the call ended. 

I regretted not extending the offer more insistently… but then I also squashed that thought. Kayden was wary right now. If I pushed too hard, then she was more likely to react harshly to me. Just by being there in the back for her to fall back on was the best I could do. Unlike Jessica, Nessa, and Claire, I had no leverage of any kind over her. 

“Just my luck…” I grumbled as I headed back home. 

Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.