… Elias Mercer
Taylor and I were walking through Downtown in normal clothes on a Thursday morning, trying to act like two regular teenagers while blending into the flow of people moving through the streets.
But this was less about sightseeing and more about tasks, even with the milkshakes in our hands. It might've looked like we were just wandering around, but Taylor was actively controlling her swarm, spreading it across nearly two city blocks… which seemed to be the limit of her range.
Taylor didn't seem to have a real "quantity" limit, but there was definitely a "distance" limit. As long as everything stayed within that range, she could basically manage hundreds of thousands of insects at once like it was the most natural thing in the world.
…Which was honestly pretty damn impressive.
The level of multitasking she pulled off was insane, since wasn't just simple commands like attack or retreat. It was basically insect control turned into a full-blown biblical plague.
If I had to compare it to the Roulette… it'd probably rank at least Legendary.
With that range, she was monitoring streets, alleys… any place where some nazi asshole might be hiding something, or any warehouse controlled by the Empire. And she could do that because she had some kind of rudimentary sensory feedback through the insects. Something she didn't fully process yet, but enough to detect movement or presence in an area.
So yeah… we were taking a walk while Taylor had her bugs scanning for every possible hidden Empire base I could log and investigate.
…Way more efficient than anything I could've done alone. Just like I thought, Taylor was the right person for this.
Even if thug movement and cape activity dropped during the day, they were still active. So as long as we found the right trail, Taylor could track it with her power.
Just like now…
"You need to get a phone," I said, breaking the silence as I noticed a few people glancing our way. "Even if it's a burner."
She turned to look at me, surprised, but I gave her a subtle signal to answer. They could see us, but not hear us from this distance. The important thing was to look like we were just talking and walking, not scanning the area… and conveniently, there were a few things I actually wanted to talk to her about.
Good thing Taylor could multitask like a machine.
"A phone…?"
"Yeah," I continued, keeping my tone casual while taking another sip of my milkshake. "Calling your house every time I need to reach you isn't exactly a great plan."
Taylor didn't even have a computer at home, so PHO contact wasn't reliable either. And even if we assumed she'd always be home to answer, a call here and there wouldn't matter… but if it happened often enough, her dad would start noticing.
And while Maki could pass as a friend over the phone, she wasn't someone who could just show up without drawing attention. Especially now that she already had a Cape page on the Wiki.
There were pages for me and Taylor too, but we were harder to recognize without our costumes.
Taylor hesitated before answering. "I… I can do that… I think."
She didn't sound convinced, and I frowned slightly. Was she low on money? Thinking about it now, she had been interested in the cash Tattletale offered that time…
'…Do I need to start paying her? If that's the case, I'll need to start making money too…'
Amazing. Just another variable to add to the ever-growing list of problems I had to deal with.
"I think it's important," I said, not pushing too hard since I didn't want her to overreact. "Even just for texts and calls, it's enough."
She nodded again, but still didn't look fully convinced. If I had some kind of Thinker power, I could probably figure out what was bothering her about something as simple as getting a phone. Unfortunately, I didn't... so this would remain something that only Taylor would know.
"And what about school?" I asked, changing the subject while adjusting my walking pace so we didn't stand out from the people around us. "You okay skipping class to wander around the city with me?"
Taylor Hebert let out a small huff. "I've been skipping more and more anyway… so it doesn't really make a difference."
She shrugged in a way that wouldn't convince anyone.
"Besides… as long as I pass the finals, Winslow won't hold me back," she continued, giving me a quick glance before looking back at the street. "You do the same thing."
"Yeah, that's true," I muttered, letting a small smile slip.
To actually fail at Winslow, you'd need an impressive combo of academic incompetence and total absence… and even then, they'd probably just shove you forward so they wouldn't have to deal with you another year.
That place wasn't exactly focused on creating good students…
"And your dad?" I asked after a few seconds, letting my tone drop a bit. "He's not gonna have a problem with it?"
Taylor went quiet for a longer moment this time, and I realized I'd hit another sensitive spot.
"He… he's always busy," she said, staring straight ahead. "With work… with other stuff… he hasn't really been paying much attention to me lately. It won't be a problem."
I nodded slowly without commenting. We turned another corner and stepped into a narrower street, where the crowd thinned out.
Taylor subtly adjusted her pace, probably following what her bugs were showing her.
"Ever thought about telling him you're a Cape?" I asked, slowing down and stepping closer, placing a hand on her shoulder and stopping her so she stood almost pressed against me.
She froze for a moment, then lowered her head when she saw three thugs turn the same corner we'd just passed, looking at us briefly before walking off laughing.
'Yeah… nothing sells it better than acting like horny teenagers,' I thought, keeping my eyes on her and nudging her to answer.
"I… I don't know," she said quietly, looking away. "I don't know if I should."
"Why not?" I insisted, even though I found his choice of words quite ambiguous.
"Because it could put him in danger," she said, firm enough to make it clear she'd thought about it before. Probably hundreds of times. "If someone finds out… if some villain decides to use that against me…"
She didn't finish, but I knew exactly where she was going.
"Keeping him in the dark could put him in danger too," I pointed out, keeping my tone neutral. "If something happens to you and he has no idea… it won't be easy for your dad to deal with that, Taylor."
She pressed her lips together, clearly uncomfortable.
"It's not that simple," she said after a few seconds. "Stuff like this… isn't easy to decide. I'd rather he didn't have to worry about it."
"Being a Cape isn't supposed to be easy," I said, letting go of her shoulder and motioning for her to keep walking while lowering my voice even more. "Pull your swarm in closer and watch the area around us."
She nodded, probably realizing this part of the city was quieter. I pulled my hood up, and she copied me, wearing a hoodie similar to mine.
We kept walking while Taylor did her thing with the bugs, the sound of our footsteps echoing faintly on cracked concrete. After a while, she was the one who broke the silence.
"And Maki? What's she doing?" Taylor asked, glancing sideways at me.
"She went to check something else out," I replied, keeping my eyes forward. Maki had gotten a bit interested in what was going on at the Trainyard, so she took the chance to look into it herself.
Taylor frowned. "Alone?"
"It's easier that way," I shrugged. "Besides… I have a lot of faith in Maki's strength."
There was no way not to do it, since she's basically a walking tank. And additionally, I couldn't think of anyone in this city who could actually stop her if she decided to bail.
Taylor went quiet again, probably remembering the last fight. But then her posture shifted suddenly, her attention snapping forward.
"There's something happening ahead," she muttered quickly. "There are men chasing a… little girl?"
"…Sorry, what?"
… Coil (Thomas Calvert)
Coil remained perfectly still in his black leather chair, his hands clasped in front of his chin while the monitors spread across the desk cast a cold glow over his masked face.
Since the beginning of the day, his power had already been running across two separate timelines.
In the first timeline, the distraction plan was unfolding exactly as designed. The Undersiders were already positioned around the Bay Central Bank, ready to play the roles Coil had assigned them.
In the second timeline, the same plan repeated… but Coil was paying closer attention to the data coming from the other front. A house in Downtown where Dinah Alcott was supposed to be, a target far more valuable than a few thousand dollars.
A critical piece for his future plans.
The bank heist was real, and all the money would still be taken, serving both to appease the Undersiders and to raise their profile. The PRT's public image would take a hit, one strong enough to create instability where Coil could gain leverage against Piggot.
But all of that was still a minor objective... the real objective was Dinah. With her precognitive ability, she would be the perfect complement to his own power.
The bank attack was a flash of light meant to blind everyone while he reached from the shadows to grab his true target… or at least, that was how it was supposed to go, until something started to feel off. Both timelines began to register deviations from the intended outcome… and the most critical flaw was that Dinah wasn't in the expected room, where she always been in during all the prior test runs Coil had simulated while preparing for this kidnapping.
In the second timeline, Coil slowly turned his chair and spoke into the intercom with a calm voice. "Perimeter two, advance. Beta team, flank coverage. Execute with minimal lethal force. The target must remain functional."
Each command was delivered with the same precision as always, but behind that controlled exterior, Coil tightened his fist.
Dinah was already moving… which meant she must have predicted he would come for her. If she was as powerful a precog as Coil believed, she had likely sensed his intent... even across timelines he had already discarded.
That only made it more urgent for Coil to capture her as soon as possible.
Still within the second timeline, he watched his teams breach the house, sweeping every room… and finding nothing.
Dinah had anticipated him and had run.
Coil took a slow breath, his posture still perfectly composed beneath the mask of control… but inside, his thoughts were racing. He redirected his teams to sweep every possible street, deploying tracking dogs, launching drones into the sky, and scanning the area with thermal sensors.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, calculating. The bank operation was still proceeding as expected, with the Wards being prepared to go into action, driven by the need for a public response. But the second timeline had failed to deliver results, so with the necessary data gathered, Coil exhaled and discarded the less promising timeline.
Everything collapsed back into a single timeline where the bank was being robbed, where his Capes still held the attention of the public and the PRT. An effective distraction and now, a necessary one.
Back in the remaining timeline, he opened another branch and issued a new command sequence. "Initiate contingency protocol. Target is in flight. Shift priority to pursuit and capture. Find the girl."
There would not be a better opportunity than this to capture Dinah. The Protectorate was out, the Wards and even part of the New Wave were committed to the bank, the other gangs had their own problems to deal with… some of them carefully engineered by Coil himself.
The entire city was looking in the wrong direction. It was the perfect moment... so he focused all his attention and timelines on Dinah.
One way or another… he would have her. Dinah was his pet.
… Lisa Wilbourn (Tattletale)
The Bay Central Bank was a hell of a lot quieter now than when they first stormed in, and so far the heist had gone almost exactly as planned… but only almost.
Grue kept the entrances covered with his darkness. Regent stood near one of the side pillars, eyes half-lidded and his fingers making small movements that sent the nearest guard into a sudden convulsion, dropping him to his knees with a low groan. Bitch stayed near the rear with her war dogs. They prowled the bank lobby like wolves on the edge of a feast, growling at every hostage.
Lisa handled the heavy bundles of cash, stuffing them into reinforced bags. Everything was going exactly how it should… until the emotional limit of the operation started to crack.
The performative cape, Circus, spun knives in her hands, the tips humming inches away from a middle-aged woman's trembling face.
"Fuck, Circus…" Lisa muttered into the comms, turning slightly. "Remember what we agreed on?"
The reply came with the same energy as a kids' TV host. "I'm entertaining the hostages!"
The smile in her voice didn't make Lisa feel any better. She had planned to use chaos… but actually standing in the middle of it made it a lot harder to keep her own nerves under control.
"The hostages are bored! Look at this one! She almost lost his nose just now! You know what this place needs? Laughter!" Circus went on, making both Lisa and Grue grunt in irritation over the comms.
The woman let out a panicked sob, raising her arms to shield herself. Lisa squeezed her eyes shut, jaw tight.
Her power kicked into the background, analyzing every hostage at once. Heart rates above safe thresholds… panic patterns and imminent collapse… one of them was about to pass out from hyperventilation…
"If one of them dies, I'm personally stuffing you into one of these bags," Lisa muttered under her breath as she turned to run another sweep... and froze mid-step.
A young face with fair skin dusted with freckles. Curly brown hair falling over her shoulders, half-hidden among the hostages… but impossible to ignore once you saw her.
She wasn't wearing the hooded robe, but Lisa would've recognized that girl anywhere, powers or not. That was the fucking Panacea.
"Fuck," Lisa hissed, barely holding back the urge to shout.
Among all Capes, there were a few who basically lived on their own damn shelf… and Panacea was one of them. The only reason half the city still had aligned bones, functioning organs, and a halfway decent life expectancy was because Panacea was always around to fix the damage.
And now, there she was, right in the middle of the hostages. And if she was there…
"We've got a Cape among the hostages," Lisa said into the comms, shifting her body slightly so she wouldn't draw unnecessary attention. "Panacea, the real deal. She was probably mixed in with the crowd when we came in."
Grue answered, his voice muffled through the communicator. "Is she a problem?"
Lisa hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "She isn't… but her sister is."
Because if Panacea was in danger, Lisa didn't need to be a Thinker to figure out what was coming next… it was basically a law of nature at this point.
And then, like the universe had just listened to the script of this disaster… the ceiling above them gave way. Concrete split with a thunderous crack, glass shattered into fragments, and a cloud of dust dropped like a curtain over the bank as one of Bitch's dogs lunged forward with a snarl, shielding part of the group.
The hostages screamed in panic, and Circus spun in a dramatic flourish, ducking at the last second as a chunk of broken ceiling passed right over her head. Lisa rolled back behind one of the service counters, feeling shards scrape against her costume while bits of concrete slammed into her shoulder hard enough to hurt.
Taking a deep breath and pulling herself together, Lisa looked up and found the silhouette hovering among the debris like the goddamn cereal commercial heroine she was, blonde hair flowing in a wind that only she seemed entitled to summon. Her aura immediately pressed down with that familiar psychological weight.
Glory Girl, the fucking collateral damage barbie.
Lisa couldn't help the bitter whisper. "Glory Hole… of course you showed up."
She pushed herself up slightly behind cover, scanning the room while forcing her power to work through the pounding headache building in her skull. The Wards were already surrounding the place outside, probably scrambling to fix the plan that had just been thrown straight into the trash by Glory Girl's dramatic entrance.
Lisa turned toward Grue, eyes sharp. "We need to figure out how to get the hell out of here. Fast."
Grue didn't blink. "And how do we do that?"
"I don't know," she shot back, voice dry. "But we need to figure it out now."
Because this was the setup for the worst kind of disaster… the kind that had already started and that nobody could stop.
And even with all that, Lisa found herself waiting almost impatient to see if Bug and Hoarder would show up.
… Dinah Alcott
Dinah ran, her feet throbbing against the uneven asphalt, every breath shorter and more painful than the last. Her legs weren't responding very well anymore, but stopping wasn't an option anymore.
She had already seen that her future would be even worse if she got caught after trying to run… her chances of being rescued… of seeing her parents again… all of them were way lower now. Dinah could only throw herself toward the path with the highest odds of surviving.
"What are the chances I escape if I go through the market?"
13%.
The answer hit her head like a blow. Dinah squeezed her eyes shut, biting her lip until she tasted blood while she kept running on her short legs, stumbling without even noticing. "What are the chances I escape if I go through the alley near the old laundromat…?"
31%.
"What are the chances I escape if I go into the parking lot with the green van…?"
57%.
She turned without hesitation, running that way while jumping over debris, her hands shaking more than they should. Inside the covered parking lot, the echo of her own footsteps sounded amplified, bouncing off the walls like an alarm giving away her position.
Dinah looked over her shoulder but didn't see anything… not that it meant she was safe.
"What are the chances someone finds me and helps me if I keep going?"
12%.
"What are the chances someone finds me and helps me if I stay and wait?"
08%.
"What are the chances someone finds me and helps me if I run to the street with the ribbon trees?"
15%.
"What are the chances someone finds me and helps me if I climb into the red building through the broken window?"
14%.
The options piled up, but each one felt worse than it should. Dinah felt her head pounding harder as she kept asking questions, already knowing she had pushed past her limit.
"What are the chances someone finds me and helps me if I go to the antique shop…?"
51%.
The answer came, and Dinah felt her legs give out as she dropped to her knees, her hand going straight to her head like she could hold her brain in place. The sound of blood rushing in her ears drowned out the rest of the world for a second.
"I… I can't stop now…" she whispered, her voice breaking.
Dinah forced herself back up and made her body obey, running again even as her balance faltered… and even when she saw three men turning the corner behind her, moving way too fast.
Dinah pressed her lips together and kept running, ignoring the panic rising in her throat. "What are the chances I escape if I stop now?"
16%.
"What are the chances I escape if I keep going three more blocks?"
14%.
"What are the chances I escape if I turn right?"
52%.
She turned immediately, crossing the street at a run, her breathing already ragged, every inhale louder than the last. Her head buzzed constantly with a low noise that wouldn't stop… but then she heard something strange and saw a boy stop beside her.
He had his hood up, hiding part of his face. Brown hair slipped out from the sides, and a thin scar marked his left jaw.
They looked at each other in silence while Dinah felt her heart climbing up her throat.
Uncertain, she tried another question. "What are the chances he protects me if I ask for help?"
Dinah waited, but no answer came, even though her power usually responded quickly.
"What are the chances he protects me if I stay close to him?" she tried again.
Once again, Dinah didn't sense any of the probabilities coming her way.
"Is he… good?" she whispered.
Her power seemed almost irritated that she kept asking questions it couldn't answer. But when Dinah looked to the side and saw another hooded, masked girl with bee eyes appear after the boy clapped his hands, she felt her power awaken to answer a question.
"What are the chances… they can save me…?" her voice came out low, almost fading away… but this time, her power answered.