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Rating:
Mature
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandoms:
Parahumans Series - Wildbow亜人 - 三浦追儺 & 桜井画門 | Ajin - Miura Tsuina & Sakurai Gamon (Anime & Manga)
Characters:
Taylor Hebert | Skitter | WeaverDanny HebertBrockton Bay WardsLisa Wilbourn | Tattletale
Additional Tags:
Canon-Typical ViolenceCanon-Typical Body Horrorshard-altered psychologytags to be added as we go
Language:
English
Collections:
Timballisto's Curated Works
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Published:2019-05-24Updated:2020-03-11Words:99,568Chapters:29/?Comments:226Kudos:730Bookmarks:266Hits:29,370
(Restricted) The Shadow Over Brockton Bay
Temeritous
Chapter 14: Lich 2.8
Chapter Text
I used to come to this place after school with Emma.
After my mother died, her mom would pick us both up from school and take me home. The Dunkin was on the way and I suppose she felt guilty or wanted to bring some small happiness into my life. She'd let me order a donut or another snack, and once had let me try her flavored coffee. Months after the funeral, it had become a habit. She paid, and I never told my dad. I wonder where he thought the wrappers in the garbage were coming from, or if he even noticed.
I stood across the street, waiting patiently for the light to change despite there being almost no cars, lost in thought and kind of regretting this meeting place. The brightly lit sign mocked me with memories of happier times.
It was open twenty-four hours, though, and it was as close to neutral ground as I could get. I pulled my wallet out of the hoodie pocket and checked my remaining cash: enough for a drink and a donut.
The light changed. I crossed, pulled open the door, and went up to the counter.
The young woman manning the cash register was leaning against it, one elbow propped up while her other hand scrolled through her phone. She glanced up as I approached, then did a double-take at her phone.
I sighed. I'd managed to forget for a while that my face was both public and hot news.
"Hey, aren't you…?" she began to say.
"Can I get a tea and a glazed donut before you call the media circus?" I asked.
She stood up and slid her phone into a back pocket. "Uh, yeah, hang on… it's on the house. For heroes. Store policy." She started tapping at the register.
Might as well take advantage while she still thought I was with the heroes. "Thanks. And, if you could hold off on telling anyone until I leave, that would be great."
"Um… oh, shit. Hey, what's going on? This is all pretty crazy, I don't keep up with cape news all that much. Did you really kill that Empire cape? And capture the other ones?"
"Don't really want to talk about it," I told her.
She turned around and started on the tea, then got my donut out while that was going. I started eating as soon as it was in my hand, suddenly ravenous. Resetting could keep me from starving to death, but it didn't make me feel full .
"That's fine. Um, I won't tell anyone… but can I get a pic with you? Or else nobody will believe me."
I didn't point out how that would be a good thing for me; judging by the way her face was starting to turn red with embarrassment, she had realized.
"I'm not posing," I said. She was giving me free food.
She beamed at me. "Awesome! Just, stay right there." She turned her back to me and whipped her phone up, getting both of us in-frame on the front-facing camera. She snapped three pictures rapidly, holding up a peace sign in one of them. Turning back around, she said, "Thanks so much! Here, have a muffin."
I took my muffin, donut, and tea to a table in the corner and prayed for Tattletale to show up soon.
"That girl behind the counter is just itching to post about you," Tattletale said as she sat down across from me.
I didn't look up from the blueberry muffin I was taking apart. I don't like blueberries, so I had to eat the muffin around them. "I know, I've been watching her phone. I stopped her once already, but she thinks she just dropped it and accidentally deleted."
Tattletale nodded slowly. "That explains it. Do you want to talk first or call the Empire now?"
"I need you for information and maybe, possibly, backup. Mostly I need you to tell me if they're lying and where my dad is. Can you do that?"
"I'll do my best, which is very good. Can't make promises."
That was as good as I could expect, and more than I'd dared to hope for. I pulled out my phone and stabbed the number into the keypad, every stroke an effort. My gut twisted as I hit call and put it on speaker.
Kaiser picked up after three rings. "Taylor, I was beginning to think you weren't going to call. It seems you do care for your father."
I'd prepared for this, clearing my mind and pushing all the useless emotions back. "Kaiser. You wanted me, you got me. Let's trade."
He clicked his tongue, all casual and superior. It only reminded me that I wanted to rip it out. "So eager, don't you even want to haggle ? It's not smart to show how much you want something. I'm surprised your masters even let you make the call."
Tattletale pushed a pad of paper across the table. On it she'd scribbled quickly, he wntd to trd his ppl 4 dad maybe .
So his opening maneuver had been a bluff?
Of course, it made sense. Why would he want me ? Even if he made an example of me, he'd be hurting a Ward. He'd bring the whole Protectorate down on himself, more so than the rest of this stunt.
I said to Kaiser, "He's my dad, I'm not going to pretend he means nothing to me. I'm not a fucking psychopath. Do you want to trade or not?"
I didn't mention that I'd left the heroes behind. You never have to try to take back something you didn't say.
"Captain's Hill, an hour from now. Don't bring any friends, or your father will find himself with rather more than the recommended amount of lead in his body. Make sure your little minion is visible."
Kaiser hung up; the whole thing had taken less than a minute.
I flipped the phone closed and moved it back to my pocket. "You get anything from that?"
Tattletale's brows were drawn together in thought. "He'll bring your dad to the Hill, but he'll keep him in a car or some kind of transport ready to get away fast, since that's his only bargaining chip. I think he had two plans, one for if you agreed to trade some prisoners for your dad and another for if you agreed to trade yourself. The Empire has connections to Gesellschaft, who it's rumored are able to artificially trigger capes or force a trigger, and then brainwash the parahumans."
I suppressed an incredulous laugh. "You think he wants to hand me over to some European Nazis to brainwash ?"
"Hey, it could happen," she defended. "If they knocked you out… no, your power works when you're asleep, doesn't it? Damn, you won some kind of lottery."
"They're probably making the same assumption," I agreed.
"What about if they drugged you up? Made you loopy?"
I shrugged. "Just reset myself. Clears out whatever's in my system, it worked on an infection so I assume it would work on drugs."
Her mouth twisted as she thought. "Teleportation cape. Gets you instantly across the ocean."
"I start hurting people until they agree to bring me back."
"They teleport you into a metal box, though."
"Coryn rips us both out, then we rampage."
"Box's too thick for her to get through."
"I make more Dust until she's strong enough to break through, and meanwhile she keeps trying. Anything breaks under enough pressure."
She gave me a look, and I was brought back into the present with the reminder. I'd almost been having fun for a minute there, while my dad was in the Nazis' hands.
"I don't know enough about Gesellschaft to guess at their plan, but if they think they can hold you they must have one. Does your power come with a resistance to Master effects?"
"Depends on the type, I'd think. Some would probably be disrupted when I died."
She sighed. "Let's just try not to let it get that far, then."
Tattletale drove to Captain's Hill, parking in a lesser-used side lot.
I was above her being carried by Coryn, in contact through a sensor in her car and an open phone call on the flip phone. The phone was tucked away in the utility belt of my costume, its bad mic transmitting every noise around me.
Coryn was somewhat in-costume, although not as neatly as usual. I'd stolen some spraypaint from an art supply store on the same block of Lord Street, and I had still had her tabard tied around my waist under my clothing like a sash. She was visible, which was the important part.
I'd taken off the stolen hoodie and sweatpants, revealing my hero costume. Tattletale had watched me stare at the mask for a few long seconds, silent.
Eventually, I put it on and pulled the headband down around my neck, letting the mask hang under my chin. They needed to be sure that it was me, but I didn't want to lose my mask. I did have to layer some Dust over my eyes without the prescription lenses, but that was invisible.
"Remember the range on your phone isn't great, only about ten feet."
"I know, I'll be in range. Just do what you can."
I allowed myself a moment to wish, powerfully, that I had other backup. Aegis to fly my father out, Vista to bend the battlefield to our advantage, Kid Win raining blasts down from above, Gallant to send them into a blind panic.
Clockblocker to rewind my dad if….
But you work with what you have, and I couldn't ask them to follow me on this path.
My hour was almost up, and I could see lights on top of Captain's Hill. Coryn flew us closer and landed so that we could approach on foot. I took a calming breath, cleared my mind.
Showtime.
Coryn and I walked out of the sparse woods, into the broad flat area at the top of the hill. It was lit up tonight with bright camping lanterns placed in the grass, casting long shadows everywhere. Standing among the lights was Kaiser and three more people I didn't recognize.
They had come in a large, rectangular truck, somewhat like a moving van. The back of it was still open, revealing that the walls were thick armored panelling, and a metal cage inside. Its engine idled, a dull undercurrent of sound.
I let my eyes travel over them and their paltry preparations, my disgust growing. This was the best they had to offer? They thought this was enough?
"Where is my father?" I asked, pitching my voice to carry across the distance still between us. I stopped at the first lantern.
"Safe," Kaiser called back. He was swaying from one foot to the other, like he had been standing for a while and his feet hurt; or like he was nervous, but he didn't sound as though he was. "For now. He'll be released if you cooperate."
Tattletale said, "He's not nearby, but Kaiser has a visual on him. A camera feed being streamed to him. Ask for proof."
"I want proof that you have him, and that he's okay," I demanded, finally taking a step past the lanterns. My shadow was flung out in front of me, adding to the patchwork all around us.
"Of course." Kaiser pulled a smartphone out of his pocket and tossed underhand; I only barely caught it. What would he have done if I'd dropped it?
Dad was on the little screen, tied to a metal chair and gagged. A dried trickle of blood from a split eyebrow, a freshly-forming bruise around it. He was conscious and staring dully at the camera. If he was afraid, he was hiding it well.
"I'm going to assume he showed you something," Tattletale broke my reverie.
I clenched my hand around the phone and dropped it to my side. "Okay. Fine. What now?"
"Fuck," Tattletale whispered. "I need to be able to see them."
"Now you get in the truck and we go for a little trip. When we get there, your dad goes free."
I scanned the others; they were too quiet. "Who are they?"
Kaiser tsked . "No more questions. Will you come quietly, or do you want to see something unfortunate on that phone?"
"Lazarus, I found the stream they're using, I can see him. It's not as secure as whatever they used for the phone call but I can't… I can't trace it." Tattletale took a deep breath. "Okay, I can figure out where they're keeping him. Stall."
"If I go with you, what guarantee do I have that you'll let my dad go?" I asked.
"I give you my word." Kaiser said. I thought he might be smiling.
"Oh, you're asking me," Tattletale's voice was very low. "He… I think he'll let him go. Taylor, that's a bad thing . That means he thinks he has another way to make you behave."
I wasn't really listening. There was something strange about the way their shadows were cast on the ground, swaying and overlapping.
"Why don't you get into the truck now?" One of the other men suggested. Actually a woman, going by the voice.
I didn't really see a reason why not to, so I started walking towards the truck. The shadows weren't that interesting anymore.
"Lazarus? Taylor? What's going on?" Tattletale's voice sounded strained. I knew that there was a good reason for it, that something was wrong, but I couldn't quite summon up the need to do something about it.
"Watch your step," the woman said graciously, lending me a hand to step up into the back. "Here, come inside. Bring your friend." She closed the door to the cage behind Coryn.
"Do you have her?" Kaiser asked, watching me the way hawks watch mice.
"Completely. Easier than most, even - usually fear or high emotion makes them more resistant, this one fell right away."
"Of course. Night, Fog, I'm happy to say we didn't need your assistance tonight. Will you be riding back with us or make your own way?"
"It's a lovely day for a walk in the park," another woman said, her voice strangely lilting. "Isn't it, dear?"
"That it is."
I stood inside the cage with Coryn beside me, looking around the interior of the truck. There were benches lining the sides just like the PRT trooper transports; Kaiser and the nice woman took a seat across from each other. Kaiser knocked on the wall between us and the driver, and the idling engine grumbled into gear.
"I suppose we don't need the hostage anymore," Kaiser mused. He leaned forward, gesturing at the woman.
"Hand the phone to him," the woman told me.
I held up the smartphone still in my hand, wondering why it was important. I knew that it had, just a few moments ago, been a lifeline. It was nothing now. I held it out through the bars.
Kaiser tried to take it, but my fingers wouldn't let go. He frowned and tugged harder, and eventually it came free. I let my hand fall empty to my side and stared at him.
"Are you sure she's completely under?"
"Not a peep. Actually, it's kind of weird how easy it is, like she doesn't have emotions at all. Usually we only see those kind of results after the training."
I became aware of another voice, talking from far away. "Lazarus, if you don't respond right now I will call the PRT and give them your location. Please don't make me call the damn heroes."
I tried to speak, to tell Tattletale that I was fine, but the words wouldn't come out. How strange.
Kaiser had called someone from the phone he took back, and was talking while I concentrated on Tattletale. He smiled as he hung up.
"Here," he said, holding it up in landscape with the screen faced toward me. "You should watch this."
I watched. I didn't have anything better to do.
My dad was still there, bound and gagged in a room with a poured cement floor and walls. As I watched, a man in a black balaclava came into frame holding a gun.
My fingers twitched.
The woman said, "There's some life."
The man in the balaclava raised his gun and shot three times into dad's chest.
Kaiser frowned and jerked the phone back, turning it around to look. The woman behind me murmured, "Oh, shit."
Every molten drop of the endless fury I'd pushed away came crashing through me, a volcano, a hurricane. Cracks in the world ripped open, spilling in more Dust than I'd ever seen, all of it shaped like Coryn. I felt like I was on fire again, dying in the flames.
I screamed, not because it hurt but because words weren't enough and if I didn't do something I'd rip apart at the seams. My body was numb, my knees collapsing so fast I barely caught myself on my hands.
The flood of Dust poured into the truck. One of the Coryns ripped Kaiser's head from his body just as a sword grew up from the floor and stabbed me in the stomach. The Dust in my blood clotted instantly, redirecting flow around the wound.
The woman died when another Coryn wrapped her claws around her neck and squeezed, slicing through the soft flesh instantly. There were two people in the driver's cabin, helpless humans, and the Coryns worked together to rip the doors off and pull them out. They shouted and wriggled, trying to break the grip of a hundred hands and claws.
They could see us, we realized as one of us wielded a spear made of Dust and plunged it through one man's open mouth, pinning him dead like a butterfly. The other tried to beg but we couldn't hear him over the roaring of meteors crashing down around us. The whole world was ending.
It wasn't enough, nothing would be enough. There was such rage, such a font of infinite madness within us, these deaths could not satisfy. We ripped into the bodies with our claws and with a million tiny blades of Dust, flaying them to bones and grinding bones to nothing. We shredded the truck around us, tearing panels into strips into shrapnel, and it still wasn't enough.
We dug our claws into the grass and kept going.
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