One More Trigger Pt 14 (Patreon)

Piggot and Armsmaster watched Team Samaritan set off along the Boardwalk. Stepping away from the bank of monitors, the Director turned to the head of Protectorate East-North-East.

“Do you think I was a little heavy-handed there, a little too unsubtle?” she asked him.

He smiled slightly. “You have a reputation for being heavy-handed,” he reminded her. “It got the result we were looking for, I think.”

Perhaps I’m asking the wrong person about subtlety, she pondered.

“Tattletale will know, of course,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

“Of course Tattletale will know what we’re doing,” he replied. “I have a theory that the girl’s a clairvoyant of some sort. But she’s also very good at keeping secrets, if she considers them worth keeping, and if the Coil threat is as imminent as she says it is, she’ll keep it secret that we’re also making a move.”

“Manipulating a team of teenage girls into being a stalking horse, to draw the attention while we set up our own operation,” said Piggot. “I have to say that I’m not totally comfortable with this.” Capes or no capes, she added silently.

“You’re not comfortable with putting Vista in the line of fire,” Armsmaster corrected her. “Her service in the Wards has been exemplary. It’s unsurprising that you don’t want to risk her.”

She nodded, but continued. “They’re children, all of them. The Wards, I mean. We take them in and try to protect them as best we can, while we also try to instil morals and teach them to be superheroes. But still, just children.”

“Children with super-powers,” Armsmaster reminded her.

“But still,” she reiterated, “just children. Sometimes, despite all our care, they get into the line of fire. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they get hurt too badly to continue.” She paused. “And sometimes, we get one like Shadow Stalker.”

“Shadow Stalker was an aberration,” pointed out Armsmaster. “She had already been getting around as a vigilante for two or three years before we finally got enough evidence to bring her in. She had learned to hide what she was, to convince even herself that she was being heroic.”

“Hm,” said Piggot, frowning. “Go through Tattletale’s data on Coil. Make a copy, but don’t put it on any device that’s not standalone. We don’t want even the fact that we have it getting out. On the quiet, see what you can verify, what you can build on.”

Her lips thinned. “Tattletale said she didn’t think there was anyone dirty on the Protectorate side, but we can’t assume she’s infallible. So, background checks. On every one of our heroes that’s been around since after Coil started operations. The usual; money troubles that suddenly cleared up, that sort of thing.”

“Or lone wolves that suddenly joined the team?” pointed out Armsmaster.

“Good point,” agreed Piggot. “I don’t think Shadow Stalker could have been a Coil mole, but anything’s possible. And certainly, if we get anyone else that fits that profile, we look really hard at them.”

Armsmaster nodded. It was a tall order, but he was good at multitasking. And he could ask Dragon for assistance. “I’ll get right on it.”

The Director nodded, but her eyes kept straying back to the screen. “I can’t help feeling that we’re throwing them to the wolves.”

“Team Samaritan is solid,” Armsmaster assured her. “I’ve seen their work. They’ll protect Vista.”

“I hope so,” she said, and pressed a button; the screen went dark. “I most sincerely hope so.”

***

“”Right,” said Sparx, once they were off the Boardwalk proper and in between two of the larger buildings. “We need to get off the streets, into privacy, where we can talk.” She glanced at the other two members of Team Samaritan as she pulled her phone out.

“But I wanted Chinese,” protested Aerodyne, but she was already digging out her phone.

“We can get takeout,” Ladybug reminded her.

“Oh, yeah,” agreed Aerodyne. She opened her phone, and typed a short text, then closed it again.

Ladybug, conversely, didn’t move. A muted beeping sounded from within a containment pouch.

Vista blinked. “Two questions. One, did you just send a text using bugs? And two, what’s this in aid of?”

Ladybug grinned. “Yes, and you’ll find out.”

“Wait, wait,” said Tattletale. “You’ve planned for this?”

Sparx nodded. “And practised it, a few times. Now. Down this way. We’ve got half a block to go.”.

***

The five of them walked down the street in phalanx; there was a park on one side, and brownstones on the other. Sparx and Ladybug flanked Tattletale, the one’s hair and the other’s swarm of bugs keeping up a visual distortion that made it hard to see who was really in the middle of the group. Vista and Aerodyne walked just in front of them.

Just up ahead, a car pulled in to the curb. The driver got out, opened the trunk, and heaved two garbage bags into the mouth of an alleyway. Vista peered at him; he was tall and skinny and somewhat baldng, but otherwise nondescript. Slamming the trunk closed, he got in the car and drove away.

“Did everyone else just see that?” Vista asked as the car disappeared around the corner. “That guy just dumped his litter and left again.”

“’That guy’,” said Ladybug cheerfully, “was my dad.”

“I thought as much,” murmured Tattletale. “Clothes?”

“Exactly,” said Sparx. “I asked for a set for me, and one for Aerodyne. Figured they’d be about the right sizes to be going on with.”

“How do you know no-one’s in the alley?” asked Vista.

“Trust me,” said Ladybug. “I know.”

“Oh, right,” replied Vista. “What’s your range like, anyway?”

“Two and a half blocks, three on a good day,” said Ladybug. She grinned at the younger girl. “Bad news: there are seven thousand, three hundred and fifty-four cockroaches in that alleyway. Good news: not one of them is going to bother you.”

“Better news,” chuckled Aerodyne. “We have a walking bug zapper just in case Ladybug wants to be a smartass.”

“Ew, ew, ew,” protested Sparx, giggling. “I’m not touching a bug with my hair.”

Vista looked from one to the other as they entered the alleyway. “You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?” she said suspiciously.

Sparx extended her hair and picked up the two trash bags; one found its way into Tattletale’s hands, while the other went to Vista. She turned and grinned at the Ward.

“Yup,” she confirmed. “It’s not really my hair, after all.” As she spoke, other tendrils were moving the worst of the trash aside, so that they walked a clean path through the alley.

“Seriously though,” said Ladybug, “if you have problems with bugs, don’t look at the walls.”

Vista, of course, looked at the walls. They were covered in cockroaches.

“Christ!” she said involuntarily. “That’s a lot of roaches.”

“Only about seven thousand,” said Sparx. “It could be worse.” She stopped as the others passed by a dumpster, then took hold of it with thick tendrils of hair. With a scraping sound, she turned it and moved it down the alley a ways. It ended up sideways on, blocking the alley, and the line of sight of anyone potentially walking past. Not coincidentally, it also cleared a swathe of the alley of all trash.

“Okay,” she said. “Time?”

“One minute thirty, more or less,” Ladybug supplied.

“Good enough,” said Sparx. Opening her backpack, she pulled out a pair of jeans and stepped into them. Ladybug looked at Tattletale and Vista, and said, “Don’t freak.”

Vista was about to ask why when the swarm descended. In seconds, it was like she had seen Ladybug do in the bank, but from the inside; she was surrounded by a buzzing, humming curtain of flashing wings and chitin that quite effectively cut off all vision from outside.

She said one minute thirty seconds. Right.

Hastily, she began removing her costume, leaving the bodystocking underneath in place. The visor and the body armour, as well as the skirt, went into the duffel that she found in the trash bag. To replace them, she had a sweater and a long denim skirt. Someone had thoughtfully included a belt as well. She was just stepping into a pair of sandals when the bug-curtain dissipated.

Looking around, she saw Tattletale, now unmasked and wearing ordinary clothes, wiping at her eyes. Black streaks showed where she must have used makeup to cover her eyelids. She grinned at Vista and said, “Hey. I’m Lisa.”

“Hey,” responded Vista. “I’m Missy.” Really not sure if I should be telling her my name, but then, she told me hers.

The other three girls looked ... ordinary. Sparx was obviously the pretty redhead; by process of elimination, the tall girl with the dark curly hair and glasses was Ladybug, and the petite brunette was Aerodyne, but she would never have picked them from a crowd.

“Okay,” said Sparx. “All ready? Let’s go.” She nodded to Vista. “Hi, Missy. I’m Emma, and that’s Taylor, and that’s Madison.” She led the way down the alley and around a corner, moving at a fast walk.

Missy trotted to keep up; she looked at Taylor’s face, and then Madison’s again, frowning. “I’ve met you two before, haven’t I?” she said.

Taylor nodded. “We toured the PRT building, just after Shadow Stalker got taken away. I had my powers then, but didn’t know what to do with them.”

“Ah,” replied Missy. “I remember now.” She looked over at Madison. “And did you have your powers then?”

Madison shook her head. “No,” she said. “I got mine later, when Lung attacked that school dance.”

“Oh, right,” Missy replied, the pieces falling into place. “That was you guys, wasn’t it?”

Ladybug – Taylor – nodded. “We were still working out what we wanted to do. It was only after that, that we started training in earnest.”

Missy was going to ask more questions, but then they emerged from the alley, just as two cars pulled up at the curb. Emma turned and gestured to Lisa and Missy, and said, “Front car, back seat. I’ve got the front seat.”

Without hesitation, Taylor and Madison were heading for the rear car; Madison got in the front seat, and Taylor in the back. Missy looked at Lisa, shrugged, and climbed into the back seat of the car in front. Lisa climbed in after her.

Both cars pulled away from the curb at the same time; Missy was impressed.

“You practise this sort of thing a lot?” she asked.

“We make them practise for everything,” said the man behind the wheel; red-haired, heavy set. He turned a genial face to them, offered them a nod and a smile before returning his attention to the road. “Afternoon,” he said. “Alan Barnes.”

“The attorney,” said Lisa; it was the first thing she’d said for a while. “I find myself impressed.”

“An attorney,” repeated Missy. “Wow.” She looked from Emma to Alan, at their similar features, the matching hair. “So you’d be ...”

“Yup,” said Emma. “This is my dad.”

“And that would be Madison’s dad driving the third car,” observed Lisa.

“It would indeed,” agreed Alan. He looked to Emma. “So, fill me in,” he said. “I have the basic details, but why exactly do we have a Ward and a supervillain in the back seat?”

Emma grinned. “Well, Dad, it’s like this ...” she began.

***

The story took a good while; part way through, Lisa asked Missy if she could braid her hair for her. Missy agreed, but continued listening with half an ear. Emma’s reporting of the incident in the bank was concise, factual and very interesting. Lisa also seemed very interested in how Team Samaritan had taken the Undersiders down so easily.

Missy had no doubt that Madison and Taylor were at that moment filling in Madison’s father on those same details.

Once Missy had finished braiding Lisa’s hair, the supervillain returned the favour. By the time she was finished, Missy’s hair looked quite nice.

***

The two cars pulled into the parking lot atop Captain’s Hill. There weren’t many people around, and it was easy to spot the tall gangling man who had slung the bags into the alleyway.

Taylor moved forward and gave him a hug, which he returned with interest. “Hey, Dad,” she said. “I want you to meet Missy and Lisa. Missy is apparently our new liaison from the Wards, and Lisa ... well, Lisa wants to join the team.”

“I see,” her father said, large eyes twinkling behind his glasses. He nodded politely to the girls. “Call me Danny.” Looking intently at Missy, he frowned and lowered his voice. “I would have to say ... Vista; am I correct?”

Missy nodded. “And Lisa here,” she said, “is otherwise known as Tattletale. She’s kind of one of the supervillains who tried to hold up the Brockton Bay Central Bank today.”

Danny blinked, and raised an eyebrow at Taylor. “And she’s joining the team because ...?”

“Yeah, that’s a bit of a story,” she told him. “Come on; let’s grab a picnic table, and we’ll fill you in.”

***

Danny had picked up Chinese food, and set out the buckets of noodles and rice on the table. Sitting four to a side made it a little cramped, so they occupied two separate but adjacent tables.

The first part of the conversation involved filling Danny in on what had gone on in the bank and afterward; while this was going on, everyone who wasn’t speaking was eating. No-one came close enough to pose a serious risk of eavesdropping, but they kept their voices low just in case.

“So let me see if I have this straight,” said Danny eventually. “Lisa here is a member of the Undersiders, but gave herself up to you, for the specific purpose of defecting to the side of goodness and light, and also for taking care of the threat that’s hanging over her head.”

Lisa nodded. “That’s about right,” she agreed.

“And Missy here is a member of the Wards, who, through an entirely separate chain of events, has been volunteered as a liaison to work alongside you, effectively as a member of the Samaritans.”

“Essentially correct, yes,” agreed Missy. “Director Piggot, Armsmaster and Aegis are all quite impressed by your level of capability, and how you work together so well. I’m starting to see what they mean.”

Danny nodded, with a faint smile. “It’s a team effort,” he said, “and it’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s paid off.” He paused, looking directly at Lisa. “And the reason that you, Lisa, have even defected is that your shadowy boss, this supervillain called Coil, has you under sentence of death if you ever quit his service. But you think that the Samaritans can take him down, and end the threat.”

Lisa nodded again.

“And finally,” said Danny, “the Protectorate isn’t going to try to arrest you, and has accepted your tentative membership in the Samaritans, but isn’t going to do much else to assist.”

“That’s what they said,” agreed Lisa.

“Well, I think it sucks,” Missy said suddenly. “Lisa’s in a really difficult position, and she’s only trying to get out of it, and they’re just worried about how bad they might look if it goes wrong.”

“Life is quite often about compromises, sadly,” said Alan Barnes. Missy belatedly remembered that he was an attorney. If anyone would know about that sort of thing, she mused, it would be him.

“Screw that,” said Emma bluntly. “If the Protectorate isn’t going to deal with Coil, then I say we do it.”

Despite the fact that roughly half the people there knew of her intentions in that direction, she was still the focus of all eyes.

“And how,” asked her father carefully, “do you propose we do that?”

Emma grinned. “Teamwork,” she said.

And then she explained.

Part 15