Confrontation Pt 5 (Patreon)

"Christ," muttered Shadow Stalker. "Could Aegis have possibly saddled me with a more useless partner?"

She paused on the corner of the roof and tapped her radio earbud. "Are you going to be catching up any time soon?"

There was no answer; she tapped it again. "I said, are you going to be -"

He puffed into view. "I heard what you said," he replied. "I'm doing my best, all right?"

"Oh," Sophia responded, belatedly realising that he'd heard her 'useless partner' crack. "Well ... hurry up, okay?"

"Doing. My. Best." He didn't say any more, but she saw his pace improve a little.

Turning, she leaped and shadow-glided across to the next rooftop.

<><>

Aegis stepped though into the Wards base; I followed, gawking at the interior of the room. It was shaped like a big dome, with partitions blocking off areas from view; I guessed that was where the more private areas were. It wasn't much of a guess; my bugs had already located bathroom facilities and what felt like bedclothes.

"Everyone, your attention please," Aegis announced. "I've got someone for you to meet."

I gulped; it was nerve-wracking enough to meet the Wards, much less meet them as one of them. A formless terror rose in me; what right did I have to even presume I was good enough to be a Ward? These were all heroes; what was I but a kid in a homemade costume -

"Hi!" called out a tall blond guy, wearing T-shirt, jeans and a domino mask. "It's great to meet you."

I blinked as he strode up to us - to me - with a wide, genuine smile on his face. Almost, I looked behind me to see who he was talking to. But no, it was me. Reaching out, he took my unresisting hand and shook it firmly. "It's awesome to have someone else on the team," he assured me, almost as if addressing my unexpressed concerns. "And hey, that's a pretty cool costume. Must've cost you a mint."

"I, uh, made it myself?" I ventured.

His eyes widened behind the mask. "No kidding? Holy crap, that's seriously impressive. I'm Gallant, by the way. What's your cape name?"

"I, uh, Buzz," I mumbled.

"Well, let me tell you, Buzz, being able to make your own costume? Hella useful. You see Kid Win over there?" He jerked his thumb at the brown-haired kid sitting at the computer terminal, who offered me a friendly wave. I saw that he was wearing a visor that obscured the upper half of his face.

Gallant lowered his voice conspiratorially. "He's the one who actually made my armour and maintains it for me, which basically means that whenever he gets distracted, which is basically a daily occurrence -"

"Screw you too, Gallant," Kid Win interjected, though I could tell from the tone of his voice that he didn't mean it. "Hey, Buzz. Nice to meet you. And he's right. It's a pretty impressive costume. You some kind of cloth Tinker?"

“Cloth Tinker? Is that even a thing?” asked a red-haired boy in casual clothes, wearing another domino mask.

“Well, isn't that what Parian is?” retorted Kid Win. “Buzz, meet Clockblocker. Yes, the name's deliberate. Yes, he picked it himself. And yes, that does tell you everything you need to know about him.”

“I, uh, thought that Parian animated cloth with her powers,” I objected timidly. “Not Tinkered with it.”

“Yeah, but that's no fun,” Clockblocker argued cheerfully. “I just love the idea of someone stitching together cloth golems and sending them off to do her bidding.”

While I was still trying to get my head around the idea of 'cloth golems', a door opened in one of the partitions, and a girl poked her head out. “Did I just hear – hey wow, who's this?”

She, alone of the Wards who had been here to greet me, was costumed up; I recognised her immediately. This wasn't hard, given that she was young, female, and not black. Her costume was teal and green, with a skirt.

“Uh, hi, uh, Vista,” I greeted her, offering a bit of a wave. “I'm Buzz. I just joined.”

Space distorted, and she was right there in front of me. Even as I blinked, trying to process what had just happened, she put her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “Yay!” she exclaimed. “We've got another girl!”

“Um … I thought that Shadow Stalker … “ I ventured, tentatively returning the hug. Of all the ways that I had envisaged being welcomed to the Wards, this was not it.

Kid Win snorted in response to my comment. “Yeah, but according to Vista, she doesn't count.”

“You gotta admit, though,” Clockblocker observed, “she is kinda -”

“ - not here, and you're not going to talk about her behind her back,” Aegis interrupted sharply. He turned to me. “Well, these are the Wards on base. The others are on patrol; you'll meet them sooner or later. I've got to get going, so I'll leave you to their tender mercies.”

I blinked. Somehow, I had expected him to wait while I got to know the others. But of course, he was the team leader, and had other duties apart from me.

“I should be fine,” I told him, with more optimism than expectation, “but, uh, about unmasking … is there a requirement … ?”

He smiled and shook his head. “All the Wards here know each other, and they've unmasked to Shadow Stalker, and vice versa. Browbeat hasn't unmasked, so they stay masked around him. You can opt to not unmask to all or some members of the Wards, but if you do that, you're expected to keep track of who knows your face and name, and who doesn't.” He paused for a beat. “Got it?”

I nodded. “Okay, yeah. Thanks. I appreciate it.”

He offered his hand. “You're welcome. And in case I forgot before – welcome to the Wards.”

I shook it; his grip was firm without being overly crushing. “Thanks,” I told him. “It's good to be here.”

With a nod and a smile, he turned and hit the panel to open the heavy doors. They whooshed open, he stepped through, and they closed behind him. With a sudden feeling of loneliness, I turned to face the Wards, fully expecting them to have lost interest in me.

Far from it; Vista, who had released me from the ambush hug, grabbed my hand and towed me to a table. “Come on, sit down,” she urged me. “It's been so long since I had another girl to talk to in here. What TV shows do you like?”

“Whoa, wait up a moment,” chuckled Gallant, bringing the excitable young Ward to a halt with an outstretched arm. “Give her a moment to breathe, will you?” He turned his amused gaze on me. “I can see that you're a bit overwhelmed by all this. So take a moment if you have to. Look around. We've got sleeping alcoves, places you can store your stuff, spare costumes and the like. If you're interested in computers, Kid Win can show you the monitor console.”

I blinked. “I do like computers, yeah,” I replied. “But those look a bit out of my league.”

“Ah, it's all pretty easy to learn,” Kid Win told me cheerfully. “We all take our turn on monitor duty.”

“Yay,” Clockblocker and Vista retorted in near-perfect unison, their voices flat and robotic. “Monitor duty.”

“Hey, I like monitor duty!” Kid Win protested.

“Which only gives more credibility to my idea that your armour cuts off the flow of blood to your brain,” Clockblocker asserted. “Monitor duty is perhaps the most boring job on the face of the earth.”

“I can think of fifteen other things that I'd rather do than monitor duty,” Vista added. “And fourteen of them involve rearranging my underwear drawer.”

“Not going to ask what the fifteenth one is, then,” Clockblocker observed in a teasing tone of voice. “I – oof!”

I blinked again; Vista had done her space-twisty thing, and had neatly elbowed Clockblocker in the ribs, despite the fact that she'd been over five yards away from him at the time.

“Medic,” he wheezed, hamming it up, staggering dramatically. “You're all witnesses. She assaulted me.”

“All I saw,” Gallant told him firmly, “was you asking for it. So don't go trying to play the sympathy card with us. And Vista?”

“Yes?” she beamed, turning toward him.

He could not help but smile at her enthusiasm. “Don't do that in front of our new guest, okay? It might give her the wrong idea about how we do things.”

“Or the right one,” Kid Win put in dryly. “Buzz, quick tip? We're not like this all the time. Just, you know, most of it.”

I nodded. “Right. Thanks. Got it.”

“So sit down,” urged Vista. “Talk to us. What do you do?”

I frowned under my mask as I sat. “Uh, do?”

Vista seated herself, looking my costume over with intense interest. Gallant also took a seat, as did Clockblocker. Kid Win did something to the console, and came over as well.

“Yeah,” Clockblocker clarified. “Your powers. How come you're in the Wards?”

I looked carefully at him, but the question didn't seem to be critical or derogatory. He honestly wanted to know.

This was a new experience for me; a bunch of people who I looked up to were interested in me. So I said the first thing that came to mind; "Wait, the Wards? You mean this isn't sale day at Macy's?"

There was a frozen pause, then they all burst out laughing. Kid Win slapped Clockblocker on the back, and even the redhead was grinning ruefully as he chuckled at my feeble joke.

“Nicely done,” Gallant told me. “Clock, looks like you've got competition.”

“Uh, sorry,” I apologised almost at once. “It just slipped out.”

“That's what – oof!”

I looked at Clockblocker; he had finished his statement almost before starting it, courtesy of an elbow via Vista.

“You were going to make a crude joke,” she informed him primly. “Not in front of the guest.” She grinned at me. “Well, not until we find out if you'd be offended, anyway.”

“I'm fine,” I assured her. I wasn't going to tell them about it, but I'd grown up around dock workers, who weren't always careful with their language. I was pretty sure I could match them for off-colour jokes. “Anyway, you were asking me about my powers.”

Kid Win nodded. “Going by the theme … I'm thinking something insect related.”

“Basically, yeah,” I told him. “I sense and control bugs. Insects, arachnids, earthworms, crabs -”

Clockblocker perked up. “Do you mean -”

“Both types,” I informed him hastily.

“Aw.” He subsided, apparently mildly disappointed that I'd spoiled the incipient joke.

Gallant spoke into the subsequent silence. “So, uh, when you say 'sense' -”

I looked at him. “I mean that I know where they are, to the millimetre, and I can sorta-kinda tap into their senses. Bugs, by the way, have crap senses.”

Vista was nodding. “And you can control them? How precisely?”

For an answer, I had a beetle fly over from where it was lurking in the corner. It circled her head twice, landed on the table in front of her, and walked in a circle. She looked somewhat taken aback.

“Wow,” she managed. “That's pretty impressive.”

Kid Win was rubbing his chin. “I'm guessing you can control more than one bug at a time.”

I nodded. “Yup. I have a radius of about two and half blocks at the moment.”

“And how many bugs can you control in that area?” asked Clockblocker.

I didn't even have time to answer; Gallant got there first. His jaw dropped. “Holy shit. All of them?”

My jaw dropped in turn. “How did you know that?”

“You were feeling so pleased with yourself, it couldn't be any other answer,” he replied with a grin.

Clockblocker rolled his eyes. “You realise, if you keep doing this, you're going to have to turn in your not-a-telepath card.”

“Wait, what?” I protested. “You read my mind?”

“No,” he corrected me. “I saw your emotions. I see everyone's emotions. I can't not see them. It's what I do.”

I frowned. “I thought you were some kind of Tinker.” I paused. “Well, I did, until you told me that Kid Win made your armour.”

He shook his head with a grin. “No, I'm an empath, and I can fire off bolts of light that give people a mild stun, and alter their emotions. The armour's just for personal protection.”

“Actually, talking of that,” Vista put in, reaching out to feel the sleeve of my costume, “what is this made of?”

“Well, actually, we were just talking about that,” Clockblocker put in. “You see, apart from controlling bugs, she's also a cloth Tinker.”

Vista blinked. “Wait, what?” She stared at me. “How does that even -”

Gallant chuckled, shaking his head. “Ignore him. It was something that came up before. Buzz made the costume herself.” He looked at me. “Would I be correct in assuming that it's something bug related?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it's black widow dragline silk. The armour panels are insect chitin held together by more spider web.”

Vista stared at me, then at the costume. She pinched a bit of sleeve between her finger and thumb. “You had spiders weave this for you?”

“Took me months,” I confirmed. “But it's the toughest thing I could get hold of.”

“Okay,” she declared. “It's a bit edgy and dark looking -”

Clockblocker coughed into his hand; I caught what sounded like 'Shadow Stalker!', but he looked innocently back at me when I glanced that way.

“ - but,” she continued, “it's also the coolest costume here, by a wide margin. The coolest costume in the Wards. Easily.”

“I, uh -” I began.

She looked at me with puppy-dog eyes. “Could you make me one too?”

“I, uh -” I began again, but then Gallant cleared his throat.

“Vista, you did hear her when she said 'months', right?”

“I can wait,” she protested. “Have you felt how smooth that is?”

“Uh, the other problem?” Clockblocker put in. “Buzz, I'm guessing that you need more than one or two … what was it, black widow spiders?”

I nodded. “Second strongest webbing in the world. I'd need a thousand or more.”

“Right, right,” he agreed. “Black widows. A thousand black widows. Where were you thinking of keeping them while they wove your new costume, Vista?”

“Oh,” she told him with a sweet smile, “I was thinking your room.”

He shook his head violently. “Oh, hell no.”

“The point is probably moot anyway,” Gallant noted. “We'd have to run it past the Director.”

“And Miss Piggy would be all 'nope',” predicted Clockblocker.

“And we'd have to smuggle them in anyway,” Vista added.

“And we'd get caught, and we'd be stuck in probation until we reached retirement age,” concluded Kid Win. “You're right. Bad idea.”

“I know,” Clockblocker replied with a grin. “Let's do it.”

I couldn't help smiling under my mask. They were just chatting, being serious and silly by turns. In other words, being typical teens. “Wait a minute,” I protested. “Did you really just call the Director -”

Gallant rolled his eyes. “It was Clockblocker's idea. Her name's Piggot, and you have met her, right?”

I had, for a very brief interview, and I had come away with the impression of an overworked bureaucrat. One who was, I had to admit, noticeably overweight. Her blonde bob, almost certainly a dye job, didn't help her image, as far as I was concerned. Apart from that, I hadn't actually formed much of an opinion of her, either way.

“It's a bit mean, and disrespectful,” I ventured.

“My point exactly,” Gallant responded. “She's not the nicest person in the world -” He paused, apparently waiting for someone to challenge his statement, but no-one seemed to want to take the bait. “ - but she's fair.” Clockblocker looked like he wanted to object, so Gallant amended his words. “Tough but fair, okay?”

Reluctantly, Clockblocker nodded. “Yeah, okay,” he mumbled.

I tentatively raised my hand. “Uh, I feel kind of silly all costumed up. I mean, you can't even see my face. Is there some place I can take my mask off? And can I borrow one of your domino masks?”

Gallant chuckled. “Sure. In fact, they're your domino masks now. They're there for anyone to mask up, if and when the door buzzer sounds.” He nodded to Vista. “Go ahead and show her where she can change masks.”

“Okay!” she replied eagerly, leaping to her feet. “Come on,” she urged me.

I got up and followed along; she showed me to a small alcove with a bed and a chest of drawers. “This is mine,” she informed me proudly. “We'll get you a room too, so you can leave stuff here, like Gallant said.”

I looked around. “Cosy,” I commented.

She grinned, and the walls began to recede. The bugs in the area gave back weird readings; I wasn't quite sure where they were, in relation to me.

“Better?” she asked, her expression mischievous.

“Wow,” I commented. “Just wow. How do you do that?”

“I manipulate space,” she explained, confirming my suspicion. “I can expand or shrink it, but not if there's people in the way.”

I looked around at the suddenly-cavernous area. “I'm really impressed.”

“Hey, I'm impressed with your bug control,” she replied. “You can affect a wider area than I've tried working with so far, and there's lots and lots of bugs in Brockton Bay.”

I grinned at her. “Oh, I know. Trust me – I know.”

She looked up at me. “I'll leave you to change your mask, but I want you to know, it's really great having another girl on the team.” Quickly, impulsively, she gave me another hug, and then she was gone, the door closing behind her.

How old is she, anyway? I wondered. She can't be more than twelve.

I dismissed the speculation. Age, in this case, didn't matter.

Sitting down on the bed, I lay back and breathed deeply, taking a moment to de-stress. This had, I realised, been the intent all along. I didn't need to go to another room to change masks; all I'd really needed to do was turn my back. But Gallant had seen in me the need to be alone for a few minutes, so he had made the suggestion, and Vista had picked up on it.

I appreciated it; I hadn't noticed the tension in my shoulders, but it was draining out of me as I relaxed in the quiet. It gave me time to think, to adjust.

So I'm in the Wards now, I told myself. How am I doing so far?

The Wards were … nice. Aegis had been friendly, welcoming. Gallant was making a particular effort to live up to his name, probably with the help of his emotion sense, and it was working. Even though I knew now that he could see what I was feeling, he was still succeeding in at putting me at my ease.

Kid Win was a nice guy, and Vista was just sweet. Clockblocker, on the other hand ... he was obviously a bit of a jokester, but I already knew that from his name. The fact that he was a redhead ... it didn't change matters. He didn't really remind me much of Emma, and his brand of humour wasn't mean or vindictive.

I think I could get to like these people.

Sitting up, I pulled off my mask and ran my hands through my hair. Holding up the domino mask to my face, I considered it. Should I just unmask to them right now, and get it over with?

I wanted to, I really did. I wanted to have the knowledge that I could trust them with my deepest secret. I wanted to be able to associate with them outside of the Wards. Going shopping with Vista … now that would be an interesting experience.

But I couldn't chance it, not quite yet. There was too much hurt, too many issues. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Taking a deep breath, I fitted the domino mask to my face. Then I pulled a pair of glasses from a pouch and put them on over the mask. I must have looked a little silly, but I didn't care.

<><>

Browbeat increased the capacity of his lungs yet again, and fine-tuned his leg muscles once more. Shadow Stalker seemed intent on pushing him to his limits, or maybe beyond them. He didn't know if this was personal, if she had some reason for doing this, or if this was a kind of initiation; send the new guy out with Shadow Stalker.

He wasn't going to complain, not yet. Not unless the hazing went past what he personally considered to be unacceptable levels. Right now he was getting a good workout, so that was okay. But if she ditched him in some rough neighbourhood, to let him make his own way home, then he might consider putting in a complaint.

He still didn't know whether she'd meant him to hear the 'useless partner' comment. It may well have been just an impulsive outburst on her part, or it may have been calculated to wear down his morale. Either way, it had stung, just a bit. Just because I can't rooftop run like she can …

Still, he must be keeping up with her, and not holding her back too badly, because there had been no more comments like that, cutting or otherwise.

But something else was starting to bother him. He wasn't as knowledgeable about the gang territories as he'd like to be, but he'd looked at the map when he had found that he was going to be on patrol. And it seemed to him that something was off.

“Shadow Stalker,” he stated.

The dark figure on the rooftop up ahead paused. “What is it, Browbeat?” Her voice was sharp, impatient.

“Uh, haven't we kind of overshot the patrol area?”

She sighed, clearly audible through the earbud. “Have we stopped any crime yet?”

“Uh, no. It actually looks pretty quiet.”

“Which means we haven't gone far enough to find it yet. So we keep going.”

“Is this a good idea?” He didn't think it would get the response he wanted, but he had to ask the question.

“If I wanted your opinion, Browbeat, I would have asked. Did I ask? No. Now, if you want to go back home to mommy, feel free. I won't stop you. But if you're on this patrol, you're on this goddamn patrol. Is that understood?”

He almost flinched, from the anger that came through with her words. “Uh, yes. Understood.”

“So are you on this patrol or not?”

The way he saw it, he really didn't have a choice. “I'm on the patrol.”

“Good. Now, keep quiet unless you've actually got something to say. And try to keep up.”

Her voice cut off, and he saw her leap to the next building over. Grimly, he kept going, working to keep up with her.

<><>

When I emerged, there were several cans of soda sitting on the table, including a Coke at my place. “This is mine?” I asked, picking it up.

“Sure,” Gallant told me. “I wasn't quite sure what you liked, so I got you that.”

“Because everyone likes Coke,” Kid Win added dryly.

“I'm more of a coffee or tea drinker,” I offered, “but sure, I'll drink soda.” Pulling the tab, I took a drink. “So, what else did you want to know?”

“Who are you, and what did you do with the scary bug girl?” quipped Clockblocker. He grinned at me. “No offence, but you look a lot nicer when we can see your face. Nice glasses, by the way.”

I didn't feel offended; in fact, I felt a slight flush start on my cheekbones. He said I looked nice.

“Oh, uh, thanks,” I replied, and took another drink of soda, to hide my confusion.

“May I see?” asked Kid Win, holding out his hand. After a moment, I realised that he meant my mask, and I handed it over. Putting down his drink, he examined the mask carefully, looking at it inside and out.

“Spider silk as well?” he asked.

I nodded. “Armoured as well as I could. I was going to make it fully enclosed at the back, but then I decided that I was just stalling, so … “

“Got it,” he agreed. “Sometimes you've just got to go out there and do it.” He held up the mask on his hand, fingers spread, and looked into the empty goggle lenses. “You need glasses … lenses set in the goggle lenses?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “I have several spare pairs.”

He turned the mask around, running a finger over the detail. “I am really, seriously impressed. I especially love the mandibles. They give you a real don't-screw-with-me look.”

“No, that's the whole costume,” Clockblocker interjected. “Actually, you know what that costume would be great for? A villain.”

Silence fell, as everyone looked at Clockblocker. Everyone except Gallant, who was looking at me. Who could detect, I was pretty sure, the sudden feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt that Clockblocker's words had awakened in me.

“Armsmaster said that too,” I told them in a very small voice.

“Clockblocker, you idiot,” Kid Win snapped, scathingly.

“But hey, what do I know?” Clockblocker went on brightly. “You know what? One person's villain costume is another person's ultra-cool hero costume. And seriously, are you gonna take my word for anything? Come on. You've met me.”

“He's right,” Vista told me, putting her arm around my waist. “I've been on this team longer than everyone but Aegis and Gallant, and I've seen some pretty good costumes. That one is super awesome.”

“But Armsmaster -” I began.

Clockblocker snorted. “The day I take fashion advice from the Halbeard -”

Kid Win and Gallant both sprayed soda on the table; Gallant started coughing, and Kid Win patted him on the back.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I'll live,” Gallant rasped. He stared at Clockblocker. “Where the hell did you get that from?”

Clockblocker rolled his eyes. “Someone used it on the PHO forums. I thought it sounded about right.”

Gallant shook his head emphatically. “You do not use that name again, ever. Ever. We don't use it in public, and we don't use it in here. Calling Director Piggot Miss Piggy is bad enough; we don't let anyone hear us using a nickname like that for the head of the Protectorate here in Brockton Bay. Am I understood?”

Clockblocker frowned. “Aegis is in charge, not you -”

“Aegis,” declared Gallant, “would come down on you twice as hard if you used that name in front of him.” He eyed Clockblocker. “Tell me I'm wrong.”

“But it's funny -” began Clockblocker.

I took a deep breath. “Armsmaster saved my life, last night,” I stated, my voice firm. “Please don't disrespect him.”

All four of them turned to look at me. “Last night?” asked Gallant. “Last night, Armsmaster brought in Lung.”

I nodded. “I know. He also brought me in.” The air in the base wasn't that cold, but I shivered anyway, and wrapped my arms around myself. “I took Lung on, and nearly died.”

Four sets of eyes were fixed on me. “Holy shit,” Vista managed. “You took on Lung? And survived?”

I nodded, and reached out to take my mask back off of Kid Win. “Yeah,” I managed, past the lump in my throat. I held up the mask, so that the opening in the back was visible. “Those stains? Burnt hair. My hair.”

Silently, Vista squeezed me. I leaned in to her support.

Clockblocker frowned. “But wait, if your hair was burnt -”

I shrugged. “I got lucky. Panacea was there. She grew my hair back, after.”

“I'm guessing your injuries were more extensive than burned hair.” Gallant's voice was quiet.

“Yeah.” I glanced at Clockblocker. “And the only reason – the only reason – I'm sitting here is because of Armsmaster. So please don't use that nickname for him.”

Clockblocker sighed. “Damn puppy-dog eyes get me every time. Okay, not using it any more. Happy?”

I smiled wanly at him. “Thanks.”

Kid Win turned to me. “So how -” he began, but the question was never completed. Something blared on the computer console, and he leaped from his chair and trotted over to check on it.

“So about your favourite TV shows -” Vista began.

“Guys,” cut in Kid Win. “We've got trouble. Shadow Stalker and Browbeat need assistance.”

Vista rolled her eyes. “Dammit. Every time.”

“Aegis has been notified,” Kid Win went on. “He'll meet you on the roof, Vista. You guys go ahead – it'll take me too long to put my armour on.”

Gallant nodded, and turned to me. “Feel up to going out?”

I nodded, although I didn't feel anywhere near as certain as I tried to look. “Might as well get back on the bike, right?”

Clockblocker slapped me on the shoulder. “That's the spirit. Let's buzz off.”

Vista gave him a disgusted look. “You've been just waiting for an opportunity to say that, haven't you?”

He tried to look innocent. “Who, me?”

<><>

Sophia wasn't sure what she hated more; being in this sort of danger, or being forced to call for help. On balance, she decided that it was having to call for help that was the most distasteful; after all, she had been in many dangerous situations in her career, and had emerged from most of them unscathed.

Of course, sometimes the odds caught up with you. As they had in this case.

She wasn't sure what Browbeat was doing; maybe growing bony plates on his arms? In any case, the newest Ward was also bulking himself out, his muscles growing with inhuman speed. Whatever it was, she hoped it was good. Against Stormtiger, they were going to need it.

If she had been on her own, she could simply have put some distance between her and the Empire cape. But Browbeat was here, and he couldn't outdistance Stormtiger.

Normally, this would not have been an overly problematic dilemma. But Browbeat was known to be out with her, and he had a phone too; if she simply abandoned him, he would certainly be able to notify the PRT of that fact. The reception that waited back at the base for her would certainly not be pleasant.

When the pair encountered Stormtiger, he'd had five mooks with him. Browbeat had wanted to hang back, but Sophia had pushed in for the attack.

It had not gone well; while she had taken down three of the mooks, and Browbeat had dealt with the other two, Stormtiger had not been idle. Sophia had taken a nasty slash on her left arm that had rendered the limb effectively useless, and Browbeat was limping.

The shirtless man, his face covered by a blue and white tiger mask, gestured, and Sophia felt odd breezes blowing around. “Bit off more than you can chew this time, Shadow Bitch,” he taunted. “Your partner's big, but size isn't everything - “

“Is that what you tell your girlfriend?” Browbeat broke in, trying to circle around behind the man. Stormtiger turned to face him. Sophia moved to reload the one crossbow she could use at the moment.

“Very funny, Ward,” Stormtiger sneered. “I'll be sure to repeat that joke to Kaiser when I see him next.” His hand slashed down, and Browbeat tried to throw himself out of the way. He almost succeeded; the blade of air meant for his face hit his shoulder instead, and he fell sideways with a cry of pain.

Sophia brought up the crossbow and loosed the arrow; without seeming to even look, Stormtiger reached out with a gust of wind, and caused the tranq arrow to fly wide. Another blade of air slashed out at her; she went to shadow form, and it smashed through the centre of her. It couldn't touch her, not really, but she could feel the immense kinetic force behind it. The swirl of air disrupted her as it passed through her immaterial body

She rolled sideways, still in shadow, and reloaded on the way. Coming back to solid form, she went to take aim -

- and a second blade of air slashed into her leg. She fell, trying to track him with the crossbow. Too late and too slow; he came in hard and fast, kicking at the crossbow with one booted foot. The weapon went flying, and his follow-up kick would have taken her head clean off, but for the bulky figure that tackled Stormtiger at the last instant.

The two figures rolled over and over, then separated. They came to their feet, the Empire villain and the teenage Ward. Browbeat was unsteady on his feet, and blood ran down his arm from the wound in his shoulder, but the limb itself was still operational.

Sophia gritted her teeth and pulled out her knife. If she could cut a bandage from her cloak -

A thick buzzing cloud of bugs surrounded Stormtiger, covering his face and eyes. The neo-Nazi staggered back, conjuring winds to clear them away, but more and more swarmed in. He stepped back again -

- and froze solid, as Clockblocker seemingly appeared out of nowhere and touched him on the back of the neck.

“Well done,” Aegis told the white-clad teen as he swooped in from above. “No other Empire capes around. Browbeat, how you doing?”

“Been better, sir,” the bulky teen replied. “But I can fix the damage. Shadow Stalker's hurt worse than me.”

Sophia, for her part, was looking up at the tall, skinny insect-themed cape who had stepped up to her. Bugs swarmed around the girl, and when she spoke, they added their buzzing noises to her voice.

“Hi; the name's Buzz. I just joined. Need a hand?”

Part 6