Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Betad by
The Game Master
Chapter 18: The New World
– Emily Piggot –
It seemed that their branch of the PRT held a different meeting about Azuth every single day. Once again, a teenage boy had whimsically changed how the entire cape scene worked and all they could do was bend over backwards for him.
She would, if forced, admit that Azuth was… good for the city. He was mostly heroic in his intentions, even if he would empower villains if they won his ridiculous games. But, at the end of the day, with Costa-Brown breathing down her neck, she couldn't actively act against him even if he was murdering people in the streets.
"So… what the fuck are we doing?" Assault finally asked, crudely asking the question everyone was thinking. Because while they were used to dealing with odd scenarios, a wizard randomly deciding to turn the entire Brockton Bay cape scene into a legitimate game while also unmasking himself was certainly a new one, even for them.
"I have just gotten off a call with Chief Director Costa-Brown, and she has… suggested that we play along with Azuth's latest game, and help enforce his rule of cape and gang crime no longer being permitted outside of the 'game map," Emily answered, and every single person there knew that 'suggested' meant 'ordered'. "Armsmaster, you've already accepted fourteen emergency quests, correct?"
"Yes, Director," Armsmaster said calmly, in his new black and silver armour to match Aron. The monster itself sat on the table in front of him, perfectly still and as serious as its trainer. She'd even heard Armsmaster was arranging Tinkertech metals to serve as Aron's food as its diet consisted of metal and ores and he wanted his new partner to be as well fed as possible.
"Describe them, in detail. I know several of you have already accepted them, but I want to know what Solomon is getting my capes into," Emily ordered.
"As you know, whenever a gang crime is committed within Brockton Bay, it creates an 'emergency quest' that is sent to the opposing faction. In this case, Us, New Wave and Independent Heroes like Sere, Dovetail and Mouse Protector. The Quest appears as a transparent blue box that only we can see, explaining the crime in progress, the victims at risk, the identity of the 'combatants' and the location. It offers a set amount of points based on the difficulty and crime, and accepting causes a Mover effect that delivers you directly to the scene of the crime. Once complete, it also offers a secondary Mover effect to send you back," Armsmaster explained calmly, his pleasure clear. "Additionally, you can see who has already accepted the Quest, with the points being split across those who took part. Likely to prevent every hero from showing up at the same petty crime."
Ah yes, like the first emergency quest on record, as several people hid their laughter.
Some Empire thug deciding to smash the windows of a corner store owned by an African American man, only to have the entirety of New Wave, half of the Protectorate and most of the Wards teleport behind him. She'd heard Clockblocker joking that the thug was a poor level one goblin, whatever that meant.
"I have pertinent information, if I may," Gallant spoke up, getting their attention. "It's not just crimes. Panacea and Fleur get emergency quests for situations that require healers. It works more or less the same way, but the quest instead explains the current injuries and how soon medical attention is required, any present dangers and other required information. If there is current danger, it gives them a chance to select members of their faction to take with them. Vicky mentioned Amy picking her for one."
"So the quests go to those who have the capabilities to handle them? I noticed that no Ward got the invite to Krieg's attempted trap," Miss Militia pointed out.
Krieg was the first to try and weaponise the system against them, sending low level thugs to commit minor crimes while waiting in the wings with Night and Fog to ambush the heroes who answered the call. The Quest box listed all three of them and their reinforcements, and marked the quest as high-risk with an equally high reward. Now, Krieg, Night and Fog were sitting in a cell because they expected a single hero not the entire Protectorate.
Iron Rain didn't seem to be involved, and had made no effort to rescue them but it was possible she was waiting for them to be moved outside of Brockton Bay, the new 'play area', before making any attempts to prevent a new Quest from being formed. She wished Iron Rain was dumber, but the psychopath had kept the Empire as the strongest gang in the city for years through more than just incredible violence. She was as cunning as she was brutal.
"There have also been reports of quests that require certain skillsets only going out to the people who possess them. There was a fire in one of the derelict buildings in the Boat Graveyard that endangered several homeless living within it. The Quest only went out to those who could reasonably either deal with the fire or enter the building without major risks," Solarflare pointed out. "And no serious quest has gone out to a Ward, even if they do have the power to handle it, though I noticed that I had the option to summon a Ward along with me if their skillsets would help with the current quest. Vista was of great help in one of them."
Well, Youth Guard wouldn't bitch too much if Azuth was taking precautions, at least. Oh, who was she kidding, they'd bitch no matter what. They were already throwing a hissy fit over Astera and the Wards who were taking part in the Adventurers Guild but luckily Costa-Brown had turned her scowling face towards them for a change so it wasn't her problem.
"We've also seen the gangs responding to their own quests. If rival capes or gang members try to enter another gang's territory, it creates a quest that the gang can respond to. Oni Lee decimated a Ronin attempt to infiltrate ABB territory," Battery pointed out grimly.
"And Iron Rain herself reacted to a Sons of Samedi push. It doesn't trigger if Heroes enter their territory unless we are specifically looking to attack the gang, fortunately, but this system works both ways," Velocity agreed. "I felt my powers weaken when I was in Empire territory, but no quest started because I was just doing some shopping out of costume. Azuth wasn't joking about debuffing people in enemy territory. At the same time, I feel stronger than ever when I'm in 'our' territory."
"Which brings me back to my question. What the fuck do we do?" Assault asked again. "Because I don't know if you've checked the map, but the PRT territory is small. The Boardwalk, and some of Downtown. The worst part is that I can't even say the wonderful wizard of Brockton Bay was wrong to only give us that slice. Even New Wave have a nice big slice around their home."
"And as I said, the Chief Director wants us to play along. My current orders are to indulge Azuth and his game. The simple fact is, our job hasn't changed. We fight the villains, only now we're going to be fighting them in a copy of the city where everyone can let loose without risk of civilian casualties. As the good guys, we've always had to hold back, but in that world we have no reason to. Our goal is to play this game and win, taking as much territory as possible," Emily said, only a little pissed off to have to play some teenage boys game. "Death is not permanent inside the Turf Wars map. If a 'Champion' unit is 'killed', they are taken off the board until the leader of their faction can pay enough points to revive them. Regular units simply have a respawn timer. As such, the rules for engagement while inside Turf Wars are far more lax."
She knew capes well enough to know that no matter how 'good' and 'heroic' they were, being told that their new job was to go and cause as much damage to the enemy as possible was always going to get them hyped. Capes were, no matter what alignment, driven to fight and cause mayhem. Being told they didn't have to hold back was always going to send them into a feeding frenzy.
In truth, she was mildly grateful to Azuth because for once, their chaos wouldn't affect regular men and women. He was putting all the conflict loving capes into a big time-out zone and for that, she could be ever so slightly grateful.
She still hated that a random teenage boy was dictating the rules to the rest of the world.
"However, we have one more… complication to discuss. Colin, Dean, Dennis and Kate," Emily said, stressing their name as the four offenders stiffened. They knew exactly what they had done and why she was using their real names. "Would you care to explain why you all thought unmasking on PHO was, in any way, a good idea? Without even bothering to discuss anything with the PRT first?"
"It was simply… efficient," Colin answered, unrepentantly. "I have no family left, and my friends and acquaintances are heroes. I endangered nobody but myself, to greatly increase how much I can purchase from Astera."
"Same," Kate spoke up. "We all know my identity is a public secret from my less cautious, pre-Wards days, and I'm an orphan anyway. Azuth, Solomon, promised to extend the protection he has on his family to the loved ones of anyone who unmasked. I decided it was worth the risk."
"I spoke with my family about it, and like Kate, my identity is only a secret because people pretend not to know who I am. I trust Sol, and I am sure that whatever protections he has on his family will keep mine safe. Honestly, it's… a relief to not have to play pretend so much," Dean admitted.
"Sol is a good guy, he wouldn't do this if he didn't know what he was doing," Dennis shrugged lazily. "I trust him. If he felt safe enough to unmask, with his aunt and cousin living with him, then he took every precaution possible. And honestly? I like the idea of my family having those same precautions."
"I plan to do the same, I just wanted to discuss it with Puppy first and she was on patrol at the time," Assault cut in with a shrug of his own. "Besides, even Legend joined the trend. Times are a-changing, and all that."
"I've agreed with Ethan about us both unmasking, but planned to discuss it with the PRT first," Battery agreed, taking off her mask at the same time. "We don't have many civilian friends, because that is always a risk even with a secret identity. I doubt many heroes do. Even New Wave, already unmasked, sticks to the Cape scene besides Brandish's job."
"I'm still deciding, but for those who aren't paying attention to the thread, Faultline and her entire crew unmasked. Obviously, half are Case 53s but she came out as Melanie Fitts," Velocity explained. "And Lung came out as Kenta Toyama. Though his message was more 'Here I am, come for me if you dare.' He unmasked Oni Lee in the same message."
"The villains are playing by the same rules we are, and taking advantage of the same offer," Armsmaster pointed out. "The Ronin have prided themselves on their secrecy. Even we aren't sure how many, if any, capes they have. They can't do the same without risking exposure to Lung who certainly wants them dead for how they've been nipping at his heels for years. With Lung and Oni Lee having access to Astera, they can take quests and get points to get upgrades to use against their enemies."
"Marquis came out as Armand Lavere, as well. Though it is worth noting that as a Birdcage inmate, his name was already in the system… and New Wave attacked him at home, before the rules were so firmly followed," Miss Militia pointed out.
"Right. We have him lurking in the city somewhere," Emily grunted. That was a gang war waiting to happen. He didn't come home because he missed the salty seaside air. "Armsmaster, I want you to handle arranging an efficient patrol of our territory and to work out how these battles work. As the game is low risk, the Wards have been permitted to take part at our discretion. Work out what 'games' are safe enough for them, and where they are best used."
"Understood, Director," Colin agreed simply, giving her a firm nod.
– Amy Dallon (Panacea) –
"I can't," Vicky shouted back, clearly getting increasingly frustrated at the spitting match between her and Carol. Aunt Sarah and Jess continued to try and peacekeep but with no real success as Carol was truly pushed to unreasonable levels. "Yes, I know Sol. No, I can't dictate that he do anything. Even if I wanted to, he has zero reason to actually listen to me and I don't want to put my friend in a position where he is forced to blacklist New Wave."
"Carol!" Sarah said, cutting off Carol's rage. "I understand, I truly do, but demanding that Azuth sabotage Marquis isn't going to work. We have no influence over what Azuth does, and trying to force him to do anything is going to end poorly. If he could be influenced so easily, the PRT would have done it already."
"So we just watch as that bastard reclaims his old territory? Several of the Birdcage inmates that were apparently in his 'block' have been spotted, so he's brought the worst of the worst with him to try and take back the city," Carol snarled, hands glowing with energy. "And it's only a matter of time until he comes for Amelia."
"Amy," Aunt Jess stressed. "Is a member of New Wave. Amy, any desires to run off to rejoin your birth father?"
"No," Amy replied honestly. As part of the Birdcage Bounty system, Azuth had listed the complete list of crimes every escapee was guilty of. She'd read her 'father's' file. It told her everything she needed to know about him.
"Oh really? And we should just trust that when you're making deals behind our back? What did you give Azuth to get this… White Mage power?" Carol asked, eyes narrowed with paranoia. "You're claiming Azuth doesn't do things for his friends, and yet Amy had a short talk with him and walked away with a power up? What did you agree to? What did you ask for?"
"Mom!" Vicky shouted, putting herself between Amy and Carol. "Amy has already told us what Sol did. She gave Azuth permission to make two copies of her power."
"Without consulting any of us! And don't pretend she hasn't been evasive over why she suddenly wanted a new power," Carol spat back. It wasn't like Amy could admit that she was scared of losing control, or that Azuth had confirmed that there was a reality where she did. The Red Queen hung in the back of her mind, a fractured mirror of herself.
"There's nothing sudden about this," Amy said, before Vicky could speak up. "I hate my power. I hate being stuck as the healer. I have for years, but you just never paid enough attention to notice, or care. So yes, I went to Sol and asked if there was a way for me to change it. I didn't know what he'd want, and I'd have agreed to a lot more to get what he gave me, but he does help his friends. Vicky didn't say he didn't. But there's a difference between being generous with a deal, and actively sabotaging someone in a way that would break the trust in Azuth and his system if it got out."
"Amy isn't wrong," Aunt Sarah cut in. "Azuth's games work because the villains see that he doesn't overly favour the heroes. They play along because they can benefit just as much as we do. And we can't deny that he is benefiting the city. Amy's White Mage Class started at a high enough level that she hasn't lost any healing capabilities while gaining access to buffs, shields and attacks. It is a blatant upgrade, and we can all agree Solomon was very generous with it. Yes, I would have preferred she talk to us first but only so we could support her in the negotiations."
Carol went to respond, before she huffed and stormed off, with Sarah gesturing for Vicky to not follow her.
"Don't. She needs to cool off, before she says something she can't take back," Sarah sighed, sitting back down. "Instead, lets focus on our strategy moving forward. I have never seen New Wave as holding territory, but I can't deny that the slice of the city Azuth handed us is where we patrol primarily. And the buffs to our powers while within it, which happens to include our homes, is extremely welcome."
"No-one can sneak into it anymore either," Crystal pointed out. Her college was in the PRT territory, but New Wave and all the Independent Heroes were classified as allies to the PRT and got a minor buff while in their territory. "But that only lasts as long as we protect it."
"We share a border with the Empire, Ronin and the ABB. Fortunately, we also share a large border with the PRT who have already reached out about an alliance in Turf Wars," Sarah agreed, with a thoughtful look on her face. "And we also have a natural advantage. We're all unmasked capes, which means we all get the 25% discount. Or, in simpler words, we can grow 25% faster than other capes who stick to the old rules."
"Astera offers resurrection," Crystal said quickly, the room going silent for a moment. "You need to be high rank for it, but it's there. Dad… Uncle Mark and Mike."
"I doubt we're the only ones thinking that. The simple reality of cape life is that everyone has lost someone," Jess agreed. "I wouldn't be surprised to see deceased Protectorate heroes beginning to reappear now that the faction system allows point sharing. Maybe even All-Father and Kaiser."
"But if we save all our points for that, we fall behind on growth, right?" Eric, the gamer of the family, asked. It was a shitty situation. Stuck between wanting their family back while also needing to keep up with the other factions in growth. If they just saved up, the gangs would surpass and beat them, taking their territory and driving them out of the game.
"There's no point trying to save up before New Wave has reached a faction rank high enough to purchase resurrection. Resurrection requires Mythril rank, and we have no idea how long or hard it will be to get that to begin with," Sarah agreed, with that incredibly conflicted expression on her face. How could she not be when she just had to argue against trying to bring back her husband as soon as possible.
"It's also a skill in the White Mage class," Amy said quietly, getting their attention. "The equivalent would be True Resurrection, because regular Resurrection has a time limit that's long since passed, and that's at Grandmaster level, while I'm at Adept. Who knows what rank I'll be when New Wave hits Mythril?"
Sarah smiled gratefully at her, as the room warmed up a little more.
"But none of that is going to matter if we lose our territory to the gangs, is it?" Vicky asked, vibrating with both excitement and concern. "This is our neighbourhood. We've been keeping gangsters out for years, now it's just a little more official."
"Agreed. Azuth marked me as the Faction Leader for New Wave, and I have to agree that playing his game does seem our best path forward. At the very least, we have to stop the Empire, ABB and Ronin from encroaching on our home," Sarah agreed. "Any objections?"
"Just one, but she stormed off," Vicky muttered, and Sarah just huffed.
"I can handle Carol, don't worry about her. She'll come around, once she's cooled down. Marquis is just a sore spot for her. For us both, in truth, but Carol has always been more… emotional when it comes to such things. If nothing else, Carol is never going to argue against opposing the Empire."
"Are Faultline's mercs even involved in the game? I saw they didn't have any turf but Palanquin is marked as a Stronghold on the faction map," Eric asked. The nerd had probably poured over the map a thousand times, and his excitement was clear.
"Kinda," Vicky answered, surprisinging them. "They're Independent Mercs. Palanquin can't be taken because it's one of the neutral zones, and they can be hired to fight for any faction. What? I asked Sol. I do have his number."
"Fair point," Sarah agreed in amusement. "I'm surprised they're involved at all, Faultline has always prided herself on not getting involved in the city itself but I suppose Azuth has changed far more than just one merc group's operating policies."
"She has multiple Case 53s, and Azuth's store has upgrades that can fix them or increase their control/quality of life," Amy pointed out. Faultline had tried to hire her on multiple occasions, first to try and fix her capes and later to use her powers as part of Faultline's research into Case 53s. Amy refused, because she already knew she couldn't fix them and didn't plan to become a villain's research assistant, even one as professional as Faultline.
"Yeah, that'd do it," Sarah agreed, well aware of Faultline's requests as they usually came to her as the de-facto leader of New Wave. "I think the best way for us to move forward is to use the points we earn to diversify. I don't want anyone spending their own points on power upgrades or modifications until we've had a chance to properly go through the store and work out what role each of us should be trying to fulfil. Jess' new Stranger power gives us a good step in the right direction, and now Amy's buffs give us an answer to Othala, but New Wave has always had very similar power sets with only minor variance. If we intend to play this game seriously, we need to spread out our talents so we have no gaps for our enemies to exploit."
"Dibs on being the frontline brawl tank," Vicky said instantly, grinning as she flexed.
"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that," Sarah agreed fondly.
"I won't leave you to solo tank, cuz. Shielder, the Shield Tank, is on the job. My shields are already the strongest in the family, and I uhh… already went through the store and laid out all the early upgrades I want to synergise with my build."
"Of course you have," Crystal snorted. "...do the same for me. My eyes glazed over before I got through page one."
"Oh, I was already going through and marking the best skills for everyone but if we decide which roles we want to fill, I can min-max the sh- er, crap out of it," Eric said excitedly as the discussions continued.
– Samantha (Uber) –
The cape scene was one big game.
They'd been saying that for years, and nobody listened. Well, who was laughing now?
In truth, this game was not suited for them. Two nerds did not a faction make, they didn't have a guild backing them up and when the announcement had been made she was dreading having Leets workshop raided in some fun new quest where the heroes or the villains kicked their asses and kicked them out of the city.
But as it turned out, all that panic was for nothing.
Because Azuth had a plan.
"I'm thinking we make an Assault map for this sector," Leet agreed, looking over the map with a thoughtful frown. The first objective can be here, and if the attacking team caps it, the defenders get pushed back to… here?"
"We can run some simulations. Just leave fucking Lung out of it. The Raid Boss keeps fucking up our data," Uber agreed happily. "The Escort Boardwalk map needs adjusting. The attackers basically never get past the second point. It's too easily defended. If the PRT are on defence, the troopers dig in and its just con-foam and bullets for everyone."
"Yeah, I thought that might be a problem. Too many vantage points with way too much cover," Leet agreed.
See, Azuth didn't really see them as villains. Sure, they'd had some… stupid ideas over the years but for the most part they just streamed and had fun. Maybe robbed some insured places along the way, yeah, but usually if anyone got hurt it was because Leets tech decided now was a great time to self-destruct. So, while they'd been panicking, a nice little message slid into their DMs and changed everything.
Azuth was making the cape scene a game… and who better to help with that than the two biggest gamers in Brockton Bay?
"Hey, girls. How's it going?" Sol asked, getting their attention from the large table they were using to design the next new map. He wasn't dressed up as the wonderful wizard for once, but he was actually kinda cuter without the elf ears.
"Hey, Sol!" Charlotte said, beaming at him. "It's going well. The data for the new Control map is looking good, and we've been brainstorming some new modes. So, you know the PvE missions?"
"Yup. What about them," Sol asked.
"So, we've been thinking about how to keep factions on their toes and we had an idea. What if players, capes, could invade another factions' PvE quests to try and eliminate them? Basically becoming a member of whatever enemy the quest is against," Samantha explained, seeing him pause and stroke his chin.
"I see the vision. We might have to put limits on them, because nobody wants Lung jumping into every quest. Maybe make it something the quester can turn on to increase the payouts, allowing invasions for a point multiplier?" Sol mused, nodding to himself. "Yeah, I like it. We'll workshop it and see what we come up with."
"Sweet. Oh, I noticed something while going over the gangs. Sister Calypso and Rougarou aren't marked as members of the Sons of Samedi? and Baron Samedi is when I thought he was still in Haiti?" Charlotte asked.
"Yeah, that's deliberate. Baron Samedi has snuck into the city with all that is going on. He was angry that the Sons didn't find one of the tickets and came to take over for himself, displacing Mr Sunshine," Sol confirmed. "As for Calypso and Rougarou, they defected. Insight got into Rougarou's head and convinced her that being the Sons only access to Astera when Baron Samedi arrived would be bad for her health, and even worse for her hopes of gathering enough points to resurrect her brother. Calypso unmasked as Celia Laborn, and the two are living in Astera to prevent the Sons from getting to them. I'll give Insight credit, she knows exactly which buttons to press. Realistically, she just wanted the Dark-type trainer and the city's strongest Stranger in her clan and she got exactly that."
"Thinkers, man," Samantha snorted.
"She means well, in her own, twisted smug way," Sol shrugged. "She is planning to help them get their son/brother back, but she's also getting them to unmask to get the discount without having to do it herself. Might have to patch that in a future update."
"But her actions have cost the Sons their Stranger and a very strong Changer, right before Marquis starts the first true Turf war," Charlotte agreed. "Baron Samedi is strong, especially with the Faction Leader buff, but Marquis has half a dozen Birdcage escapees at his back."
"It's going to be a slaughter, and the Sons will almost certainly lose most of their territory or be pushed out entirely. That's not even mentioning the likeliness of the PRT and the Empire pushing in on their borders during the chaos," Sol admitted. "I'm planning to introduce several GM-controlled factions in an upcoming event, but I think it's best to wait for the chaos of the first Turf War to end. I won't be shedding tears for the Sons."
"I doubt anyone will," Sam agreed easily. "After all- err, boss?"
"Yeah, what's up?" Sol asked, seeing her staring at the map.
"Is the Faerie Queen and Damsel of Distress meant to be listed as part of Marquis's faction?" Sam asked quietly.
Sol paused, checking the map himself before he cursed.
"I'm starting to get really tired of Ciara, and I've never said a single word to her yet," Sol sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The faction system is automated, but it is accurate. If it is listing them, they intend to fight for Marquis. I don't know how Damsel snuck in, but if she got around my eyes then it's the Faerie Queen's fault. Ugh, I don't have a legitimate reason to stop them but there's no way Damsel intends to remain a mere lieutenant in Marquis' faction."
"I think the Laborns are going to be thanking Insight on bended knee, because this is going to be a massacre," Charlotte agreed.
"Ciara is playing games, but I'm the game master here. Fine, I can work with that. Girls, I need you to continue handling the set up. Talk to Moxxi, because her Thunderdome is going to be a big part of the PvP, and see if Overdrive needs anything else for her races. The Rollerz have proven useful enough to be promoted from gang to employees. Yes, they can sell tickets to civilians, I've finished setting up the spectator rules already," Sol sighed, frowning to himself. "I have some calls to make, because whatever the Faerie is doing, I don't intend to let her have her way."
"Got it, boss!" Charlotte agreed, and Sam was quick to do the same. Why wouldn't they? Being an employee of Azuth was the best thing that had ever happened to them.
— Bonus Scene — Eleanor Anders (Iron Rain)
Some of the Empire took great offence to Azuth's game.
Hookwolf and his faction, mostly. His warriors honour took great offence to being told that he had to commit his violence inside the new 'map' and his faction acted out to prove that they had to do no such thing.
Now the Empire had a bunch of penalties applied to it, and most of those idiots were in holding cells. If she hadn't demanded Hookwolf, Cricket and Stormtiger stand down, they would likely be with their thugs.
Krieg immediately tried to use the system against the heroes, as if Azuth's eyes were so easily blinded. Now he, Night and Fog were in captivity and Iron Rain didn't know if she could save them. They might be sent into Azuth's prison realm, a far lighter sentence than the Birdcage as it could be undone, and as such it was something that the PRT was far more willing to throw around. If that was the case, there would be no rescuing them. She couldn't attack the holding cells without triggering a quest, and even the Gesellschaft had agreed it wasn't worth the risk.
She was their best way in with Azuth, and they didn't value Krieg that highly. Night and Fog were useful tools but tools all the same, not worth risking the defeat of the Empire for.
The fools crying about Azuth were far too shortsighted.
Looking over the map, she smiled at the large swath of black and red territory, the Empire Eighty-Eight emblem standing proud above it. The largest territory in the city, only challenged by the Sons of Samedi… and that was only because the Sons held such low value territory that they were rarely challenged for it. Who would fight them for control of the Boat Graveyard or the rotting Trainyard? The actually valuable territory they held consisted of a piece of the Docks, far smaller than her own chunk of the southern side of the Docks, closer to downtown and in better shape.
Azuth had done something no-one else could. He legitimised their control. Now, every single civilian and cape of Brockton Bay could look upon a map made by what might just be the strongest cape and see the reality.
The Empire ruled Brockton Bay.
As the Faction Leader, all this territory was hers to control. To mould as she saw fit. Already she'd bought an upgrade that placed Empire Eighty-Eight banners and flags across her territory, granting a buff to all non-champion units when fighting in their territory. She'd also bought an upgrade to put her thugs in proper uniforms, rather than the dirty wifebeater tops and ripped jeans some thought were suitable for a soldier of the Empire.
She had the most 'champions'. The most territory. The most men. Yes, the Wizard had demanded that they play the game his way, but he had given them legitimacy in a way nothing else could have.
So she would play the game and she would win.
As she poured over the map, a manic look in her eyes, she paused as she got a notification.
A Turf War has begun!
Marquis has challenged the Sons of Samedi for the Trainyard!
Oh, really now?
Looking back at that valuable dock territory, bordering her own docks turf, Iron Rain smiled as she sent out a summon for her forces.
Well, it'd be a shame to let Armand have all the fun.
Author's Note:
Written: 14/05/2026