Alea Iacta Est Pt 21 (Patreon)

Backlash

[A/N 1: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]

[A/N 2: The Empire Eighty-Eight appear in this, and slurs will be uttered. Said slurs are in no way the opinion of the author.]

[A/N 3: Apologies for how late this came out. It's been a horrendously hectic month.]

Taylor

The council of war opened in our living room. With the sofa bed tucked away, Kayden sat on the sofa with Aster on her lap, with Janet and Andrea beside her. Arms folded, Dad leaned against the wall, while Amy and Annette claimed the armchair and the rest of us fetched chairs from the kitchen. At one year old, Aster was apparently following the conversation alertly, but I wasn't betting on her staying awake the whole way through.

Browbeat wasn't here for this, mainly because it was one thing to show up to one apartment in a building full of them, and totally another to actually go to someone's house in the suburbs. The address of Kayden's apartment we could obscure, but it was a lot harder to do with our house. While we could've technically done something like blindfolding him, that would've alerted both him and the PRT that something was wrong with their plan.

Even Lisa, as scornful of the PRT's general intelligence as she was, had conceded they might begin to suspect that we were on to him, so it was easier all around to simply not tell him.

Annette opened the discussion. "This is bad. And by 'bad', I mean 'catastrophic'. The Empire Eighty-Eight knows that we exist, and they've picked up valuable intel on our capabilities. Worse, they've decided to eliminate us as a threat by direct action."

Lisa poked a finger in the air at that. "We can't exactly say we didn't draw this down on ourselves, at least partially. We took down Coil in his own base, and attacked the Merchants in their flophouse. Worse, we got complacent, expecting that we could keep chipping away at the gangs while they floundered around blindly."

"I don't care." Kayden thrust out her jaw. Her features were fairly mild, but she managed to make it work. "If you were going to refer to the whole thing about capes not attacking each other at home, I couldn't care less. But they specifically went after Aster. And if they've tried it once, they'll try again. I've only got one answer for that."

Andrea reached across behind Janet to squeeze Kayden's shoulder. "That's the problem in a nutshell. We're going to have to come back at them with the same amount of dedication, because otherwise they're going to capture or kill some or all of us before we know it. And the more they know about us, the harder they can hit us."

Vicky grimaced. "I'm all for punching Nazis, but this sounds uncomfortably like we're at war with them. Not just ordinary cape-versus-cape antagonism but full-on kill-or-be-killed war."

"That's the situation as I understand it," Dad agreed. "When you've got two sides and at least one of them can't be persuaded not to keep attacking the other side, then you have either a massacre or a war on your hands. Now, from what I can see, you've got three options in front of you."

Kayden lifted her chin. "If any of those options is 'surrender', then we've got two options, not three. Just saying."

"Hardly." Dad straightened up from where he was leaning against the wall. "I'm union, remember? We don't surrender, we just retreat when necessary. The three options I can see are simple, but none of them are going to be fun. First option, we go dark. Cease all operations, let them punch fog for a week or two, then hit them from behind again. Second option, we come back at them just as hard as they came at us. Third option, we apply for affiliate Protectorate membership and dare them to come at us when we've got the full weight of the PRT behind us."

Amy shook her head. "Just getting affiliate status won't be enough. Aunt Jess—Fleur—was murdered by some kid who was looking to join the Empire. He cried in court and everything. Once he got out of juvey, they welcomed him straight into their ranks. Nobody outside New Wave cared. We'd have to go for full membership to get the level of protection you're talking about, and that just isn't going to work for us."

"No, it's not," Janet agreed. "I'm truly not comfortable with the PRT finding out exactly how powerful I am, or being able to tell me what to do and where to go. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one." She glanced sideways at Kayden.

"No, you're not." Kayden bounced Aster on her lap. "Right now, even if the PRT suspects that it's me—and I'm sure some of them do—the way we're going about it gives them enough of an excuse to pretend it isn't. And going under the radar instead of broadcasting to everyone what we're doing lets me get stuff done that I couldn't do before when I was trying to go hero."

"And going dark is problematic," Dinah added. "Victor isn't a Thinker like me or Lisa or Taylor, but he's got lots of skills from lots of places, and now that he knows about us, he'll be trying hard to track us down before we can regroup and come back at them."

Lisa nodded. "Yeah. Because even if we did want to stand down and leave them alone, they'd never accept or believe it. We're a danger to them and they are going to keep pushing. Taylor?"

I already had dice in my hand, rolling in the small tray. "Chances that they find us before the week is up … fifty-seven point nine one three percent."

Theo sighed. "Yeah, I can totally see that. And Lisa's right, of course. The Empire's whole mentality is based around attacking anything it sees as a danger, so they think everyone else thinks that way. They can't imagine anyone as powerful as we've shown ourselves to be just standing down voluntarily, so even if we did it sincerely—even if I personally told them, as Kaiser's son—they wouldn't believe it for a second."

"Maybe I'm being naïve here," Vicky ventured, "but wasn't Kaiser the lynchpin—hah—behind the Empire Eighty-Eight? With him gone, with Kayden defected, with Hookwolf dead and Alabaster and Cricket and Stormtiger captured, won't the rest of the gang … well, fall apart? They've lost a good chunk of their heavy hitters, and as much as I despise Kaiser, he was charismatic as he— as heck."

"He was." Kayden gave her an approving look for the amendment of her language. "He was the reason so many capes joined. But he was also the reason they moved on, once they'd had a year or so to realise that he was a self-absorbed narcissist." She smiled wryly, and not a little sadly. "It took me a little longer to pick up on that aspect of his personality, unfortunately."

Dinah nodded. "But they'll stick together for the moment because Krieg is making the effort. He's not the leader Kaiser was, but they're also already there, so there's a little inertia already in place. The reason he's doing this is because the Empire is a pipeline for Gesellschaft to funnel drugs and weapons and capes into and out of the States, and if they lose Brockton Bay as a convenient port of entry, things get a lot harder for them."

Silence fell over the room as we all digested that information. It wasn't a revelation as such; I'd kind of known most of it already. But to have it presented so baldly was a minor shock to the system. Worse, Gesellschaft wasn't 'just' a gang. Per Theo's information from earlier, they made capes, then brainwashed them into some semblance of loyalty. I didn't want that happening to any of us.

Annette cleared her throat. "So … just to float a proposition … what happens if Krieg is taken out of the equation?"

Dad glanced at her sharply. "I hope you're not proposing assassination. They might be going for blood, but we shouldn't be."

"It might be the only way." Kayden lifted her chin as he looked her way. "Yes, I get it, we're trying to be heroes. But if we hamper ourselves too much, we give them the leeway to win." She met his unrelenting gaze. "Okay, fine. Suppose we took him out of the picture non-lethally? Handed him over to the PRT and by some bizarre course of events, they actually managed to keep him? What happens then?"

I reminded myself that Kayden loved Aster fiercely, and Krieg had almost managed to have the infant kidnapped. Kayden's current ire toward him probably didn't reflect her usual state of mind. At least, not from what I'd seen from her. Squealer and Lung had survived their encounters with her, anyway.

"Hmm." Dinah frowned deeply. "I've just done a check. Asked a question. 'If Krieg is no longer available to lead the Empire Eighty-Eight in Brockton Bay, who is the next best choice for leader?' Menja and Fenja are powerful enough, but they aren't leaders. Neither is Othala; her mindset leans more toward support. Rune is a believer, but she's too young and she lacks the family connections. Crusader thinks he's got a shot, but he'd be a terrible leader, mainly because he's only used to telling his ghosts what to do. Night and Fog can follow someone else's plan, but on their own they display a staggering lack of intuition and flexibility. The only real contender is Victor."

"Bingo," agreed Lisa. "Like you said before, he's got all the skills. He could totally keep that herd of Nazi cats heading in the same direction, if Krieg got captured. But if he goes ..."

I rolled the dice. "If both Krieg and Victor were out of the picture, there's a sixty-one point seven five two percent chance that the rest of the Empire would fragment within the week." They clattered again. "Within the month, ninety-six point four one four percent."

"So we need to take down both Victor and Krieg," Vicky concluded. "Not impossible, but not easy either. Krieg's got that dam— that darned can't-touch-me Shaker effect going on, and if Victor's going into a fight, he's likely to get Othala to power him up. And we've got no real way of knowing what she's giving him until he shows it off, and by then it's too late to plan around it."

Theo shrugged. "Hit her first. She can't protect herself with her powers, and the effect drops if she's unconscious. I was there when they tested that out. Father insisted on it."

"This is getting more complicated by the second," Andrea objected. "First it was just Krieg, but now it's Othala, Victor and Krieg?"

Annette shrugged. "Othala is a force multiplier, mom. But she doesn't need to be captured, just put out of the fight so she can't reinforce Victor while we're trying to take him down. She should be the easiest, and Krieg the hardest. Victor won't be easy, either. Physically, he's only a guy, but he's a really skilled guy, so we can't afford to get complacent with him."

"Definitely," agreed Lisa. "Most of us are pretty darn squishy as well. I can outthink him, but he can punch my face in. In fact, the only really punchy one among us is Vicky."

Janet took a deep breath. "If it comes down to it, I can immobilise him. You know how much I dislike using my powers on people, but I'll give him a full-body muscle cramp before I'll let him hurt any of you."

"No," Dinah said thoughtfully. "If we're going to pull this off, we need to make a coordinated move before Victor figures out what we're doing and devises a counter. We also have to assume that they'll have all water sources locked down so you can't pull off Operation Building Tsunami all over again. So, they all need to go down at the same time, and Vicky has to get Victor and Krieg out of there. Nobody else can reach Krieg, Janet, so you're going to have to take him down. Can you reliably lower his blood pressure so that he faints?"

"Remember how I said I'm not comfortable with using my powers on people?" Janet gestured with her hand. "I'm really uncomfortable with using my powers on the organs people are using to stay alive. I can make water go from zero pressure to beyond firehose in less than a second. If I gauge this wrong, I could pop his head like a grape. Or his heart."

"And nothing of value was lost," murmured Annette without moving her lips. Amy, on her lap, elbowed her gently. "Okay, fine, popping Nazi skulls is off the menu. It's a pity you can't …" A moment later, she sat up, eyes going wide. "Wait, I bet you can!"

"Can what?" asked Andrea. "And I will remind you, young lady, that we've already had the talk about when and where it's appropriate to pop your enemies' skulls like grapes. Do I need to go back over that?"

Annette rolled her eyes. "No, Mom," she said with an exaggerated sigh. "But what I was saying was, what if Janet did what I said she could maybe do to Armsmaster that one time. Fill his bladder so full that all he can think about is how bad he has to pee."

"Just so you know, bladders can burst too," Dad cautioned her.

"Yeah, but he's not gonna die instantly, or even before Amy here gets her hands on him." Annette rubbed her head affectionately alongside Amy's. "And once she does that, it's lights out."

"Well, I could do that, I suppose," Janet nodded thoughtfully. "It would be a lot more survivable than an explosive brain hemorrhage. But how are you going to deal with Victor and Othala while I'm doing that?"

Lisa smirked, and Dinah high-fived her. Observing this, I picked up my letter dice, ready to roll. "Well, first we have to figure out what Victor's going to be doing."

They clattered in the tray. My eyes widened as they came to rest on the letters S-N-P-R. "Oh."

<><>

Director Piggot's Office

Browbeat

Lawrence liked to watch people, mainly so that he could figure them out for future reference. He liked to think he could understand most people, at least superficially. Director Piggot, though, came across as either extremely calm or extremely pissed, or maybe both. Irritation seemed to be her ground state, but he didn't think it would be smart to make any kind of reference to that.

"I've read your report, and Deputy Director Renick's attached notes," she said. These were the first words she'd spoken since curtly inviting him to sit down.

He wasn't sure how to answer that. She wasn't giving him any kind of signals; did she want an excuse for how badly it had gone, or for him to shut up and listen? In the end, he essayed a hesitant cough, to see how she reacted.

"Did you have something to add?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Uh, no, ma'am." He was relieved that she'd invited the response, but not so thrilled that he had to answer in the negative. "All my observations are there in the report."

Piggot put her hand flat on the Manila folder apparently holding the report. "I've read your observations. Now I'm interested in your thoughts and assumptions. We already know that the apartment was leased by Kayden Anders, widow of Max Anders, who we now know was Kaiser. From what you saw of Ms Anders, do you believe she could be Purity?"

Lawrence frowned, thinking hard. "I didn't see her powers in action. The most impressive power use that happened there, as far as I know, was Storm Surge literally washing the villains out of the building."

"Understood." The Director changed tack then. "Did Storm Surge give any indication as to why she's not eager to use her powers? More to the point, do you think she might be open to recruitment by the Protectorate?" She didn't sound eager about such potential recruitment; more like it was a box she had to tick off.

"Not really, no, and I honestly could not tell you, one way or the other." Lawrence figured openness was the best policy there. More to the point, he doubted any good would come out of trying to lie to the Director. "I got the impression she was uncomfortable about having me in the group. She didn't look suspicious of me, just … touchy around strangers."

"I see." Her lips tightened slightly. "Do you believe it is safe for you to rejoin the team after that near-debacle? From your description, the Empire was out for blood."

He drew a deep breath. "And yet, they were driven away. Literally within seconds of the team realising there was a potential problem, they'd verified it and formed a threat assessment. Anyone else would've been caught flat-footed when the door got kicked in. The one they called Management was right on top of it from start to finish."

"So, you think this team has the capability to defeat the Empire Eighty-Eight in a straight cape battle, despite having fewer combat-capable capes?" Her tone evinced a level of mild disbelief.

He paused, thinking, before he answered. "My presence may have tipped the balance in this instance, ma'am, but my impression was that they don't normally do straight cape battles. Their hand was forced this time, by the Empire. From what I could tell, their standard MO is to use their Thinkers to analyse the situation ahead of time and send in the capes most likely to succeed at a particular endeavour. The Uber and Leet thing, for instance. I thought Aeglaea was going to be the primary hitter while I backed her up, but as it turned out, she was there to act as a distraction until I could get in the right position to beat them both."

Piggot nodded slowly as she digested his words. "That could be a worthwhile strategy, though I'm still personally wondering if that will allow them to defeat the Empire in detail, as opposed to merely driving them off."

"I honestly don't know, ma'am, but considering how well they operated even when they were seriously on the back foot?" Lawrence shrugged. "I wouldn't make any bets against them, not once they've had the chance to make solid plans to hit back."

Her gaze hardened. "You believe that's what they're going to do?"

"Evenstar dotes on her child. So does everyone else in the team." He paused, searching for words. "I mean, the kid's a cute enough little tyke as babies go, so I kind of get it. The Empire made a solid effort at kidnapping her, so they could blackmail Evenstar into surrendering. Which means that whatever rulebook they were still playing by, they've just torn up and thrown in the fire. Even if the team were inclined to back down now, I don't think they can do so safely. Krieg and the others made that plain enough."

"Granted, yes." The Director nodded to acknowledge his point. "However, do you think it's possible for this shadow team to devise a plan to take down the Empire? Even missing six members including Kaiser, the Empire's still got a formidable lineup."

Lawrence frowned, thinking. Eventually, he nodded. "If anyone's got a shot at it, they do. I didn't even see most of them in action, but the four Thinkers I saw doing their thing—Management, Random, Athena and Archive—worked together like a well-oiled machine. They're really good at what they do. And even though they were recruiting me for muscle, they've still got at least three heavy hitters that I know of, and maybe more that I don't."

"Hmm." Piggot tapped the folder again, her neatly trimmed nail making a gentle thap sound on the cardboard. "Thank you for your insights. Let us know when they contact you again."

After a moment, Lawrence realised that was her version of telling him the interview was over. "Ah, right. I'll be sure to do that." He got up from the chair.

"Good. Close the door on the way out." She had the folder open and was reading the contents again as she spoke.

"Yes, ma'am." He did as he was told; outside, in the corridor, he heaved a deep sigh.

He wasn't sure when (or even if) they'd contact him again, but it was for damn sure not going to be boring.

<><>

Director Piggot

Emily browsed through the report again, focusing on the capes making up the mystery team.

Management organises people, Random rolls dice for precognition, Athena deduces conclusions, and Archive knows about things. It's a versatile setup. She could see how they'd done well so far. And for the heavy hitters, they've got a Blaster, a Shaker and an Alexandria package. Melee, ranged precision and area effect. More versatility.

It was an enviable lineup. For all her dislike of capes, she'd seen for herself how well they performed under competent direction. She strongly suspected that Athena and Random would be invaluable additions to WEDGDG, if they could somehow be recruited into that organization. Archive and Management would be less so, though their powers would still be useful to the PRT in a consultancy role.

Absent Browbeat pulling off a miracle, they were unlikely to do any of that, so their role seemed destined to remain as it was: a massive pain in her ass.

<><>

Rune

"The question is," Victor mused, "how do we draw them out? They actually have a grasp of strategy beyond the usual thuggery espoused by most cape teams. And from their performance to date, their Thinkers are somewhat competent."

Crusader stepped forward, holding up a finger and opening his mouth.

Krieg grimaced. "You're not wrong. And somehow, I don't think challenging them to a showdown on Lord Street like in a cowboy movie will work. So think of something that will."

Shutting his mouth and lowering his finger, Crusader stepped back again.

"So long as they've got a moment to think, they'll be able to react intelligently." Menja frowned as she considered her own words. "I saw them grab the initiative back from us the instant they had an opening. We can't give them time to think. We have to make them react on an emotional level."

"The redheaded woman," Krieg said flatly. "She was masked, but there can't be too many short redheads that were associated with Max Anders. Max was obsessed over her. He had all her details—including where she lives. If we take her, they'll have no choice but to dance to our tune. And while we're pretending to negotiate a ransom, Victor can be lining up the shot."

"Which means we can't do this in Somer's Rock, unless I shoot Purity on the way in or coming out," Victor mused. "Also, I spy another difficulty. How realistic would it be for us to show up at a negotiation without me there to do the negotiating? And how suspicious would it be for me to not be there at all? Purity knows I have a sniper rifle."

Tammi finally had something to add to the discussion. "So, we don't do Somer's Rock. We don't do a negotiation at all."

Krieg tilted his head. "Go on."

Shit. She'd expected someone else to take up the idea. "Um … when we go to this woman's house … she's got a daughter, right? We grab both of them, but we let them get an SOS off to their friends. But when Purity shows up, we're still inside and Victor's outside with the sniper rifle." She made a finger-gun. "Bang."

Victor blinked. "I … that could actually work. Okay, then. We need to work out details. The redheaded woman was masked, so that means she's probably a cape. Did anyone see what her powers were?"

There was a pause. "Don't look at me," muttered Crusader. Tammi got the strong impression he was still pissed off at being punched off her platform by Mr Muscle Beach 2011. Seriously, the guy could've outbulked Hookwolf.

Krieg frowned. "I didn't see her use any, but that doesn't mean much. It could be that she's a low-level probability enhancer and just makes her teammates luckier, or something of that sort."

Othala nodded. "It would definitely explain why they've pulled off as many wins as they have. Nobody could maintain that level of cooperation and integration without some sort of cape power helping them out behind the scenes."

Tammi knew what she wasn't saying out loud. Even at his best—and his best had been pretty good—Kaiser had never been able to keep all the capes in the Empire pointing in the same direction at the same time. After a while, he'd stopped pretending to even try. He'd just let them go their own way and only called them together for the big jobs.

This mystery team, however, seemed to have capes she'd never heard of on their roster, none of whom had broken cover and gone public with their own exploits. Someone who could keep that many people marching to the same beat had to have something backing them up, and luck as a power seemed to fit the bill as well as anything.

"Yeah," said Fenja. "If that's how it is, they'll totally want her back. And if Victor's up on a building somewhere, they'll be looking in the wrong direction when Purity's head explodes."

"They do have an Alexandria package," Victor reminded them. "I'd much rather not be out in the open when she gets to me. Glory Girl is bad enough. I'm just glad the two of them haven't chosen to team up together."

"Exfiltration is mere detail." Krieg rolled his head on his neck. "Draw up a plan, based on taking the redhead and her daughter hostage, and sniping Purity when she attends. Make sure we all have primary and secondary escape options. I'd rather not leave anything to chance when it comes to dealing with this group."

"Gotcha." Victor paused and raised a finger. "Am I just sniping Purity? Is this a targeted hit against her, or the whole group? What's happening with the redhead?"

Krieg stopped and ran his thumbnail over his lips. "I'll get back to you on that one."

Victor smiled slightly, probably picking up the same unspoken meaning that Tammi had. They sided with Purity against us, they die. "Gotcha."

<><>

The Next Morning

Andrea's Apartment

Bacon sizzled in the pan, wafting a delicious odour throughout the apartment. Andrea leaned out of the kitchen nook and smiled at Janet. "One strip or two, hon?"

Seated at the table, Janet looked up and blinked. "Oh, uh, two, please." As if expressing a nervous tic, her index finger tapped several times on the table.

"Two it is. How about eggs? Sunny side up?"

"Uh, yeah. Yes, please. Sunny side up." Janet's finger tapped on the table again.

"Coming right up!" Andrea ducked back into the nook and started plating the eggs and the bacon. "So, did you need a lift anywhere today?"

"No, no, I should, uh, I should be able to … uh …" Janet's voice trailed off. When she spoke again, her tone was somewhat higher. "Andrea?"

"What is it, hon?" Switching the stove off, Andrea left the plates where they were and leaned out of the kitchen nook, then stopped. Very slowly, she raised her hands.

This was mainly because she was looking down the muzzle of a pistol, held in the hand of a man wearing a stylised Nazi uniform, with goggles over his eyes. Behind Krieg, she could see Janet holding very still with a sword across her neck, wielded by one of the armoured women who'd invaded Kayden's apartment. Other members of the Empire Eighty-Eight had also crowded into the apartment, but the door was now closed. Although she couldn't see him, Crusader was somewhere around, because she could see his ghosts here and there.

"Andrea Campbell?" Krieg's tone was as arrogant as it had been the previous time she'd heard him speak. She could totally hear him say something along the lines of 've haf vays of makink you talk' in her head.

"Yeah, that's me," she responded gamely. "Look, I can make bacon for everyone, but someone's going to have to run to the store—"

"Shut up," he snapped.

There was a time to keep blathering on to irritate the opposition, and a time to shut the fuck up. Andrea shut the fuck up. To emphasise this, she nodded, and raised her hands a little higher.

"Kid's not here!" called out Crusader from the general direction of Annette's bedroom.

Krieg jerked the pistol slightly; Andrea's eyes never wavered from it. "Where is your daughter?"

There was also a time to be a smartass and refuse to talk due to the 'shut up' command, but right now Krieg didn't look like a man whom it was smart to push. "Sleepover," she said. "Friend's place."

His lips tightened, then he jerked his head toward Janet. "And who's she?"

It was good that he hadn't recognised the hydrokinetic, but then again, her clothing was different from the previous occasion, and Andrea had given her hair a temporary pink rinse job. Taylor had given less than five percent chance that someone would make the connection. "She's a friend. Staying over for the night. You can let her go. She's got nothing to do with any of this."

There'd been exactly zero chance that Krieg would let Janet go anyway, but his smile indicated how much he enjoyed exerting control over the helpless. Paradoxically, this reduced the danger slightly. Giving Krieg the chance to bully them would make him happier, and less likely to murder either of them out of hand.

"Friend, huh?" Crusader emerged from the corridor leading to the bedrooms. "I read your file. She a dyke like you?"

"Last I checked, that wasn't a crime," Andrea countered. "And I'm certain the Empire Eighty-Eight didn't break into my apartment just to critique who I sleep with. So, what can I help you with?"

Crusader's eyes narrowed and a couple of ghosts surged forward, but Krieg put up a hand and they stopped. "You don't seem overly worried about our presence." He frowned. "And you haven't even asked how we got in."

"I'm fucking terrified," Andrea retorted. "I just don't show it very often. And Max had a spare key. No doubt you found it if you read his file on me. But that still doesn't explain why you're in my apartment, and what I need to do to get you to leave."

"That part's easy." Krieg gestured at the table, where Andrea's phone lay. "Take that and send a message to your friends. The ones you were with last night. Tell them that the Empire Eighty-Eight is breaking into your apartment and to come quickly. Is that understood?"

It was Andrea's turn to frown. "… kind of? They kicked your asses last time. I didn't even have to do anything. What makes you think you can beat them this time?"

The tone of her voice was more curious than defiant, specifically so that Krieg would take the bait. Pride was at stake here, and Krieg was a proud man. "Last time, you caught us unawares. This time around, you and your team will learn not to cross the Empire Eighty-Eight."

That was Janet's cue. "Um … I don't know anything about this … can I just go ...?"

"Shut it, pinko!" snapped Crusader. "You're staying right here." He eyed her left arm, where it was buried in her bathrobe pocket. "Let me see your left hand. What've you got there?"

"N-nothing." Janet lifted her arm, showing the stump where her wrist should be. "Now can I go, please?"

"You stay right the fuck where you are." Crusader stomped away, muttering to himself. "Fucking dykes and cripples. What a fucking day."

Krieg gestured at the phone, and Andrea obediently picked it up. Carefully, she typed in a text to Vicky's number, though the name came up as Kayden. Empire Eighty-Eight is trying to get in. 1 innocent on site. Pls come now .

"Is this what you want?" she asked, holding the phone out to Krieg.

He took the phone, scanned the text and nodded, then hit Send. "Smart. I like that. Just don't try thinking you're smarter than us."

She shook her head vigorously. "Nope. I know my limitations. Are you sure you don't want some bacon?"

"Yes, I'm sure I don't want bacon!" Krieg turned away and strode to the nearest window. Carefully, he pulled the blinds down until no light gleamed through. "Cover the windows," he told the others. "We don't want them seeing who's not here." Taking a radio from his pocket, he keyed the button. "Message sent."

Yeah, thought Andrea. Message sent.

<><>

Rune

The radio clipped to Victor's belt crackled out two words. "Message sent." Without looking, he reached down and pressed the button twice in acknowledgement.

"Okay, everyone, keep a lookout all around," he said tensely. "When Purity hears that we're attacking a teammate of hers, she's going to be coming in hot."

Tammi nodded, then rolled her eyes at her own slip. "Right," she agreed, scanning the sky. It wasn't like Purity was exactly stealthy. The only way I'll miss her is if I've got my eyes closed.

Of course, once Victor sniped Purity (along with the hydrokinetic kid, if she showed up too), it would be time to go. That was what she was there for, along with the chunk of concrete they'd flown up to the rooftop on. Othala was there to give Victor invincibility, just in case the Alexandria package came after them while they were getting off the roof.

And of course, unless the Alexandria package was truly bulletproof, they'd regret it, because Victor was a really good shot—

"Hey."

Tammi whirled around, because that voice had not belonged to either Victor or Othala. At the same time, there was a sickening crack and a scream from Victor, because—as she rapidly found out—the Alexandria package had landed on top of Victor's leg hard enough to break it. Othala tried to lunge toward him, only for the big asshole who had punched out Tammi the last time to grab her. One punch to the jaw, and Othala sagged to the rooftop.

While Tammi could've tried to help Victor against the Alexandria package, she figured it was a lot better idea to let the others know what was going on. So she lunged toward her slab of concrete as it slid toward her, already powered up and ready to go. It was already beginning to lift up as she clawed her way on to it.

And then the hand latched onto her ankle and dragged her right off again. "Put it down!" yelled the guy who had hold of her. Frantically, she kicked at his hand, trying to get loose. In the next second, there was an almighty yank to her ankle, the world spun around her, and his hand closed on her throat. "Put it down," he repeated, his face two inches from hers. "Now."

Very carefully, she lowered the slab back onto the roof. She'd already been punched out by him once before, and didn't want to experience it a second time. "Where the fuck did you come from?" she demanded, trying not to sound like she was whining. "We were looking for fliers."

The Alexandria package came over to them, dragging an unconscious Victor by the scruff of the neck. His sniper rifle was slung over her shoulder. Even wearing goggles, she looked insufferably smug. "Haven't you ever seen any war movies where the enemy ace comes at you out of the sun? We've been hovering up there for an hour, waiting for you idiots to get in position."

"And it was way too cold," muttered the muscled boy.

"Oh, suck it up. It worked, didn't it?"

The revelation rocked Tammi's world like nothing else had. "You were waiting for us? You knew where we'd be?" This whole thing was a trap? We were the ones who were supposed to spring the trap, not them!

Laying Victor down, the Alexandria package began securing his hands. One of his arms seemed to be broken, but that didn't stop her. "Honey, we knew about your plans before you did."

As muscle-boy put zip-cuffs around her wrists, Tammi closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Fuuuuuck.

<><>

Storm Surge

Janet couldn't figure out how Andrea managed to stay so upbeat. No fewer than six supervillains had invaded her apartment, any one of whom could easily murder them out of hand, and she had remained chirpy through it all. It was all part of the plan, certainly, but plans could easily go awry. It didn't help that they apparently knew Andrea was bi, and thought she was too; Nazis had never been tolerant of alternate lifestyles at the best of times, and homosexuality was one of the things that had gotten the death penalty.

For the moment, there was no overt threat to them, but Janet knew that once Victor sniped Purity the plan was to murder her and Andrea before getting out of there. Determined to be the good host, Andrea had offered the eggs and bacon around a third time. This time, Night and Fog had taken her up on it. They were seated on the other side of the table, passing utterly inconsequential remarks while mechanically eating the food.

Krieg's radio crackled. A hoarse male voice hastily whispered, "Incoming," then the transmission cut off.

"Places, everyone!" snapped the Nazi-uniformed cape. He pointed at Andrea, who was at the sink, scrubbing at the frying pan. "You! Sit down!"

Andrea spun both faucets to full on, then turned and threw the pan, hard. It hit Crusader on the back of the head with a loud clang, dropping him to the floor unconscious. All his ghosts winked out at the same time.

Janet slid out of her chair and went under the table. Night and Fog, already groggy from the sleeping pills Andrea had ground up and dosed the eggs with, went out like a light when she dropped their blood pressure just a touch. Slumping down, they began to snore.

She felt Krieg beginning to pull his pistol; in desperation, she gave him the same kind of full-arm cramp that she'd inflicted on Alabaster. His arm spasmed and the pistol clattered to the floor. Fenja or Menja, one of the two, heaved the table out of the way and the other reached for her. The water blasting into the sink turned into a tentacle that lanced across the apartment and wrapped both their heads in an ever-growing globe of water.

Diving for the pistol, Andrea grabbed it with both hands and pointed it up at Krieg, who was still grimacing with pain over his arm. He pointed toward her with his unafflicted arm and she gasped, choking. Janet grimaced, rolling away from Menja and Fenja. Reaching into Krieg's body with her power, she grabbed all the water in the blood vessels surrounding his lungs and forced it through into his air passages.

He choked in his turn, hand going to his throat. Andrea didn't hesitate; the shot echoed through the apartment. It punched into Krieg's chest and he stared down at the spreading bloodstain, as though he couldn't believe what had just happened. Then he fell to his knees, and toppled onto his face.

With Janet's lapse in concentration, Menja and Fenja were able to breathe again. Sopping wet and furious, one came after Janet while the other launched herself across the room at Andrea. Both were increasing in size, even though the apartment wasn't all that big to begin with.

Janet tried the cramping trick again, but it was far less effective against their increased muscle mass. Desperate to get to her feet so she could beat a more hasty retreat, she rolled aside again as an oversized foot smashed down right where she'd been. The water tentacle began to grow again, but not as fast as they were.

The front door smashed open as Vicky came through it at full pelt, carrying Browbeat with her. Letting him go on the full, she tackled one of the giantess twins across the room and halfway through the wall. Browbeat hit the other one and they tumbled down the corridor that led to the bathroom and bedrooms.

Hauling off, Vicky slugged her opponent once, twice, three times. Armour flew from each impact; on the third hit, the blonde giantess went limp in her grasp and began to shrink.

Able to focus on one opponent now, Janet concentrated on slowing down the woman Browbeat was fighting. The fight was anything but one-sided; he was strong and tough, but so was she. However, when Vicky got down there to lend a hand, it was all over.

As Vicky and Browbeat trooped up the corridor again, the latter carrying the villain over his shoulder, Andrea got up and looked around at the scene of utter chaos. Janet could only imagine what she was thinking; furniture was shattered, there were full-body dents in the walls, the front door was in pieces, and the fight at the other end of the apartment must have done even more damage.

"Well, dang," Andrea said, looking at the pool of blood oozing out from under Krieg and shaking her head. "I'm never getting that out of the carpet, am I?"

Janet just shook her head. Andrea was definitely one of a kind.