Chereads / Fanfiction I am reading / Chapter 1950 - 51

Chapter 1950 - 51

Summary:

You get this almost a week late, because Ao3 kept eating my formatting whenever I'd paste it here.

Several bits of Quest artifacting if you look for them. Rolls leading to slight weirdness.

Chapter Text

SUN MAR 6

My dreams were odd. These ones weren't training, so much as they felt like history. They were old, in a way that was difficult for me to quantify. A world before nations, before cities, before tribes.

A world on the backs of turtles and lions.

Guardians and homes both, granting their power and blessing to travelers who left their protection. And then taking it back should they return.

It didn't quite fit together with the world I'd dreamed of until now. It gave me a lot to ponder as I woke and drifted through my morning by virtue of ingrained habit. I started my workout a bit early, as it was possible there would be some sort of fighting today. I just gave myself a bit more time to rest before that happened, especially keeping it light to not wear myself out. Cass met me down there partway through. After that we hit the kitchen for breakfast, sausage-egg scramble with mushrooms, after I'd confirmed neither of us hated those. I brought up protein powder while thinking out loud, which started a debate that left us deciding not to bother. I was already eating at least one protein-heavy meal a day, and putting on muscle. Actively getting jacked wasn't really appealing, and too much of a time commitment besides.

Going upstairs to get ready for the day, I found my notes from yesterday and sent Kara a text asking if any of her girls in my year knew the homework I would have gotten Friday. I'd hoped they wouldn't have gone either, but if someone had already called to ask, this was less effort on my part.

After that, I started sending messages to coordinate with Amy and Vicky. If we were meeting with their aunt today, I needed to know when, where, and what I should be doing for it. That took a while to get a reply, likely coordination lag with their aunt, since they said they'd be picking me up to head to a neutral office space New Wave used sometimes. Then we made arrangements for where to meet, and I grabbed my stuff to head out after checking in with Cass.

I took a light jog toward downtown, trying to keep from getting too sweaty for the meeting. I dropped Cass' letter in a postbox on the way, and swapped to my costume at the first viable alley-ish hidey-hole I could find. Vicky and Amy were waiting on me when I got to our pickup spot, so I got in the car and tossed my backpack to the floorboard on the other side.

The atmosphere was a lot more tense than yesterday, and I couldn't help but think neither sister had really talked to their aunt about their plans for the future. There was only so far back you could push things though, and it would come to a head today. I hadn't signed up for this drama, but fuck me, right universe?

We came to a stop in the parking lot for a local bank, Brockton Central. "The foundation side of New Wave is run from here, so we can request conference rooms and such for meetings." Vicky explained.

"I honestly just expected a home office meeting."

Vicky was walking out front, and I would have missed her flinch without my senses. "Well, this is more business than casual…"

Slightly ominous. I hummed in response.

Into the bank we went, my costume drawing attention the whole way. We waited on an account assistant in the lobby chairs for maybe a minute before one freed themselves up and noticed us. Then we were led back to the offices and other rooms and let into a small conference room, where we found a slightly worn and ragged Lady Photon. Her costume was still immaculate, shining white with accents of royal violet, but her hair was slightly oily and she had small bags under her eyes.

She looked up from her papers, glanced at the laptop closed beside her, and shuffled things into a semblance of order. "Terraform, hello. Sorry about the mess, it's…" She bit back a sigh. "Things are somewhat chaotic at the moment, are you sure you don't want to reschedule this?"

I winced, mostly for my part in the current chaos. I wasn't going to apologize for taking Lung off the street, though. "I have a couple reasons for not wanting to do that. First, that I'd rather get this out of the way before things get bad instead of waiting for things to cool down. We have no idea when that might be. The second is…" I glanced at Amy. She narrowed her eyes back at me. This was going to be the hard part, and I wasn't sure it could wait. "There's a… recruitment drive… later today. I have it on good authority that'll go better if we can be a bit more open about some things, but I wanted to talk with you, first."

Lady Photon was confused and wary, with a growing apprehension. "Girls, what's going on?"

I turned to the sisters. This was their discussion, really. I focused more on Amy. Vicky did the same after a moment of pensive thought. I sidled closer, bumping Amy's shoulder with my own. Her hand snaked into mine, and she took a shuddering breath. "I'm quitting."

Her aunt hid her alarm well, only showing her concern and confusion. "What do you mean?"

She stopped, choking on the words. I squeezed her hand. She took another breath, and continued. "I don't want to stay with New Wave. I don't… like it." She shook her head, considering it more deeply. "I mean, I love my family. You, and Vicky, and even Carol. I just… hate New Wave. I feel like, like I never had a choice. I got powers, and I had to join, and I had to heal people. You said I didn't have to, but there was this pressure, from everyone. Even Vicky." Her sister backed up a bit, looking sheepish. "That I should join up. And from Carol, that if I didn't join I wasn't a hero, and if I wasn't a hero, I might as well be a villain." Amy started curling in on herself, and I nudged closer to help prop her up. "I hated healing. Not at first, but after a few months, when things didn't get any better, I realized Carol was never going to approve, no matter what I did. I started resenting it, and New Wave. I hated being a public celebrity, and all the pressure to keep healing no matter what I wanted." She looked up, nearly glaring at her aunt. "I hate Panacea."

Sarah Pelham stared at Amy. Her face was flat, her emotions chaotic. Worry, shame, indignation, confusion, fear, shame, resignation… I couldn't pick everything out. Finally, she took her own deep breath. "Carol does love you." She held up her hand. "I know, she's bad at showing she cares, but she does. We all do. We love you, you're family. And family… supports each other. Wants what's best for them." She felt like she was trying to convince herself, as much as trying to put Amy at ease. "If you feel that… New Wave isn't for you… we can't stop you from leaving. Not after you're an adult, at least. Can I ask you to stay that long?"

"I was…" Amy choked, cleared her throat, and tried again. "I figured I'd have to, anyway."

Sarah wrung her hands a bit under the table, chewing her lip in the same way I'd seen Vicky do sometimes. "If you're having problems, we- I'd let you go sooner. It's just difficult to consider the blow it would be to New Wave, to have you quit with no warning." She turned to Vicky. "Are you leaving, too?"

She shook her head. "I'm planning on joining Amasia with Amy, but I'd like to stay with New Wave too, if I could."

Sarah pondered it for a moment, and I could read 'damage control' in her unnaturally long but relatively small wince. "That should be possible, but you'll be in charge of managing your schedule to prevent conflicts."

"I can handle that!" Vicky chirped excitedly.

She turned to me, after that. "I hope you don't mind, I mean no offense, Terraform. But I do worry, you can support the girls, correct?"

I nodded, trying to hide the gulp at her pointed attention. "That was the original plan for this meeting, actually. I'm sorry it's kind of… turned to drama, really. Was hoping to avoid that, but it couldn't be helped in the end." Amy gave me a sharp look, but I very intentionally didn't glance her way. Sarah noticed the interaction anyway, and some of the tension bled out. Whether that was because I wasn't throwing her niece under the bus, or because this was recognizably an Amy thing, I couldn't tell. "I asked for this meeting to see if you had any advice or suggestions for setting up a heroic non-profit team. New Wave is one of the better examples, and have the benefit of being local to ask. I was hoping to build Amasia on a similar model."

Her head dipped, acknowledging, then tilted. "That's the second time I've heard that name, 'Amasia'. What does it mean?"

"The world, coming together." I answered immediately, as I'd practiced maybe a little too many times in front of the mirror at home.

"Projected supercontinent." Vicky answered almost as quickly. She gave me a sheepish smile. "Which, yeah. Coming together. Heh."

I shook my head, sharing a small smile with Sarah, though she could only infer mine. "I was hoping to have a basic plan before the meeting later today. We've managed to contact a few indie capes, and I'm hoping to recruit some of them. Actually, Shatterpoint- our Thinker- says having one or both of these two there will help with that, but couldn't give a reason why." I gave a small shrug, as if to say 'Thinkers, what can you do?' Because downplaying Dinah's powers hadn't stopped being important.

Lady Photon frowned, but nodded. "I can see how it might… however, Glory Girl might be required for patrol and combat later today. We'd already be out there if this wasn't already scheduled."

"I'd expected as much, and I'll try to not take up too much of your time. Amy though, is almost as good standing by with me as she would be at the hospital. I can get her there in two or three minutes from anywhere in the city."

She thought it over. "If it means keeping them away from the gangs, or from becoming desperate enough to turn criminal, then… recruitment efforts are important enough that I have no problems, so long as you're available in emergencies." She checked the clock. "Well, unless something comes up, I can spare an hour or two to answer questions. Then we'll need to continue via email or other correspondence. What'd you want to know?"

"Well, the first was how taking commissions, contracts, and other forms of pay are affected by NEPEA-5 and other such laws. I'm hoping to shelter Rogues from the gangs, and playing middle-man to hire them out on commission so that they can actually make a living. I just don't know exactly how that wouldn't just get us in trouble instead."

Sarah stared for a few seconds. "You don't play by halves…" She muttered, then shook herself. "Well, we get around that on a technicality. Margaret here at the bank runs the LLC, but is always subject to immediate dismissal and replacement via a vote from the public active team. I lead the team, not the company. Technically."

I hummed. "But that might not hold up against efforts to shut us down on account of accepting pay and commissions, unlike New Wave which doesn't."

"I wouldn't say it's impossible, but the additional layers of separation between capes and company leadership that come to mind to fix the problem are why corporate teams exist."

"I'll need to think on it. Next, healthcare. Amy can fix a lot, but if there's anyone that needs all the therapists, it's capes…"

"Well, that might be trickier with hidden identities, but…"

We spent another hour and a half talking. Usually it was LLC or non-profit questions, things like paychecks, taxes, owning property (coughSecretBasescough), and things like that. It turned out the zoning laws for an underground lair were sufficiently labyrinthine that New Wave gave up on the idea back when they were the Brigade. I got the feeling that Vicky had never been so disappointed in her family.

The Dallons were quiet for most of it, only popping in occasionally for the business talk. Near the end we started discussing personal options, such as promotional material and branding. I was a bit surprised to learn how much of New Wave's money came from merchandising deals. Apparently Vicky was in several video games? Seriously? I wasn't sure how to feel about it.

She confirmed she's actively thinking of rebranding, though. Wanting to give her new name and image more consideration than 'Glory Girl' got. Amy's response was more noncommittal, she definitely wanted options besides her robes, but I don't think she was planning to change her name. Privately, I was wondering if making a new identity was an option. Just having three of them, something with less pressure attached to it. I'd discuss it with her later.

They introduced me to Margaret, who was a non-profit specialist with the bank. I got her contact information, and sent a text off to Gram to see if she could investigate just in case. Trust but verify, and all that. After that the meeting was over, Vicky and Sarah leaving to meet the rest of the family, while Amy and I took the car to get lunch. This led to me learning one of her darkest secrets.

Amy drove like a grandma.

She hated driving, and wouldn't have gotten her license if Carol hadn't forced her to. It went so far as her vetoing lunch options based on distance. If it wasn't close by, or on our way to the meeting near Captain's Hill, we weren't going. We pulled through an alley early in the trip so that I could change in the back seat, then we wound up stopping at a mom-and-pop diner in the nicer part of the suburbs. Rather literally, as an old retired couple had converted the first floor of their large house into a diner, mostly just for something to do with their time. Naturally the parking was terrible, and I imagined their main customer base were people who happened to live in easy walking distance.

Of course, after we'd eaten and fended off the chatty old woman running the floor, that still left several hours until the meeting early this evening. Now that we weren't keeping an eye out for food, I turned my attention to my phone. Kara had replied, saying that we could meet up whenever to hand over homework I'd missed by skipping Friday. Given I was busy today, and didn't want to bother Amy too much… I asked to meet up either very early or fairly late tomorrow. Given I had that meeting, and wouldn't be going to school. We settled on sometime after school, while Amy was looking for somewhere to park. I also poked Kara about checking on Tracy, maybe dropping by for lunch or dragging her to the cafeteria. I felt weirdly bad about breaking my streak of dropping by every Monday, even though I'd only been doing so for two weeks. Then, because feeling guilty is a spiral, I also sent dad a text to update him on my progress today, as that was a thing I should be doing more often.

I grabbed my bag, and Amy and I found a spot in the park to meditate. Well, she was meditating, and occasionally poking me with questions. I was looking deep underground at her insistence. Checking under the hill for good places to build. Most of it was a park, with the less severe slopes at the edge having some streets and houses built on them. To the northwest those houses were more like manors, the townhouses getting less opulent as you went east around the hill. To the direct west was a small forest that survived the urbanization of the east coast because it wasn't worth the effort, and later got slapped with the 'nature preserve' tag to stop all the requests to city hall for the city to pay for yet another development plan survey. It was full of craggy rocks and creeks, and a good third of it turned to a bog during the spring flood season.

Honestly I was just glad it was pretty dry today. There would be no tromping through mud at the meeting, even if it was still a bit damp. I tried to ignore my anxiety and focus back on checking the ground. Past the forest was a thin strip of tamed land for the highway, then more forest and unpalatable terrain leading into the tall hills and short mountains that started a few miles inland. Just to be thorough, I was also scanning those over for stable places to stick a building underground. It was harder from this distance, but that just meant more focus and time.

Some forty minutes later, I got a text from Lisa. She wanted to set up a meeting soon. I tentatively scheduled that for tomorrow evening, as it was probably important enough to deal with while burnt out from the meeting. Today I still intended to keep free just in case. That and I didn't think introducing her to Amy so soon after the arguments about Rune would end in anything but explosions, and I wasn't completely sure whether they'd be figurative ones. I shuddered hard enough that Amy asked if something was wrong. I started listing off what I could only assume to be kinky sex acts which I was sensing with my powers until she told me to stop.

Joke's on her, I've become nearly immune to that shit as long as no one implied I should try any of it. We were pretty close to the rich part of town, where people actually had enough private space and money to make sex dungeons a viable thing. I made a mental note to swing by more often and double-check that everything seemed consensual, just in case.

We spent a couple more hours like that, with me listing off potential places in the mountains or near the highway, while Amy meditated unless she was writing them down. Then we moved to the woods for me to suit up and keep an eye on the park while we waited. The gazebo that Sue was talking about was pretty close to the treeline, and not seeing much use as a dry or shady spot on an overcast day that isn't currently raining. It was on the far side of the hill from most of the city, and the smaller side of the park from the peak. The pavilions higher up the hill had a much better view of the forest in the clear weather, and were thus more occupied.

Picnics were more of a lunch thing though, and the park started to thin out before the appointed hour. The first pair of figures I felt meet up at the gazebo were female, one in baggy layers and the other in a concealing outfit and what felt like a mask. They had a brief argument before settling down. I figured I should go head off any explosions, and made my way there.

A third had joined them by the time I had eyes on, a boy awkwardly shuffling about in bulky stripped-down football gear. It had to be a powers thing, since he was wearing almost nothing under his incredibly uncomfortable-looking unpadded makeshift armor.

I had to pause when I realized the first girl looked literally homeless. She was sitting apart from the others, giving them untrusting glances and half-glares. I could guess what their argument was about now. I took a fortifying breath and finished my trek. "Hey, there. Hello." Great start, Taylor.

The boy tried to stutter something out, but it was the girl in the mask who spoke up first. "Oh, hi. You're Terraform, right?"

"That I am."

"Neat. I'm Spitfire." She held out her hand.

I took it. The girl who could spit fire. Very literal name. "Good to meet you."

"Uhh, Aah, erm…" The boy muttered. "I, ah, don't have a name, yet."

"Very new, huh?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not really? Just… haven't done much, and…" He trailed off anxiously.

"It's fine. We can workshop names later." I tried to sound reassuring. I turned to the last girl. "Uh…"

"Terri." She stated in a cold monotone.

I felt a need to stall, which might have been an urge to avoid talking to or confronting this girl. I could tell there were more capes on the way, and we were still a ways off from the actual meeting deadline. Still, I couldn't avoid it forever. "I'm sorry, this is a cape recruitment meeting, I'm going to need some confirmation that everyone really is a cape."

She turned a hardening glare my way. My skin started to prickle. It took me a moment to figure out what was wrong, shortly after which I felt like I was starting to sweat. The air felt like it'd jumped fifteen, twenty degrees, and was only getting hotter. I held up my hands. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry. I had to check."

She scowled and nodded. "So, what now?"

"Now, we wait for anyone else to show up. We still have ten or fifteen minutes." I nodded off to the side, drawing attention to the more visible of the two capes that I was sure were capes. A veritable mountain of a young man, who looked to be wearing tights crudely sewn together from many smaller sets of tights resulting in an odd patchwork motif.

The others were quiet after that, anxiously waiting for someone else to speak up first. The other cape stopped nearby, inside the treeline. This left just the patchwork man approaching. "Terraform?" He asked, and I gave an affirmation to being me. "I had a few questions before I seriously consider joining your group."

It looked like he was just going to barrel right on through to the questions, so I tried to stop him, holding up a hand and trying to think fast. "Can they wait until everyone shows up? We're still a few minutes until the meeting is set to start, and capes can be the skittish sort who'll want to see the group first and be the last to actually approach."

He frowned. "It's just a few questions, and shouldn't take long."

"And I don't want to repeat myself, if I can help it…" I sighed, glancing to the others. None of them looked likely to interject. "...but, okay."

He nodded. "What do you know about powers?"

"Less than I'd like. How do you mean, specifically?"

"Where they come from, why some people don't get powers, why we get the powers we do, and why they have the limits they do." He listed rotely.

"I… would also like to know the answers to those." I stated, trying to maintain momentum, and well aware I was failing. "As, I imagine, would everyone else."

He hummed, then frowned, then nodded, each action distinct and almost robotic. "Do you at least have training facilities where these can be tested?"

"Those are in the planning phase."

He nodded again. "Then I'm afraid I already have a better offer from the Wards." He turned to leave, walking several meters before perking, as if remembering something. Then he briefly turned back to us. "But, good luck with the recruitment?" He offered awkwardly, hesitating for a bit before giving himself a nod and continuing off into the distance.

All I could do was stand there, staring after him incredulously. It was Terri that finally broke the silence. "That has to be one of the three biggest tools I've ever seen."

"Only top three?" Spitfire asked.

Terri shrugged. "Don't wanna talk about it."

"That's fair." She'd obviously had a hard life, and I wasn't going to push for details she didn't want to share yet. I glanced back up the hill, and sure enough there were people heading this way. Rubberneckers looking to snoop, I'd bet. Most of them paused sheepishly when they noticed my mask pointed their way. "Just a sec."

I stepped forward into a stance, dropped my hands in front of myself, took a breath as I turned them back upright, and then completed the step with my other foot. I raised my hands sharply in the same moment, drawing a long and relatively thin wall of dirt up from the ground between us and the civilians. A giant half-circle, to dissuade anyone from barging in.

"Cooool." Spitfire muttered. She felt more anxious than awed, however.

As I'd intended, the cape in the trees took the wall as a sign the meeting was relatively private now, and stepped from cover with long, loping strides. The unnamed boy in the football gear noticed him first. "Whoa."

The suit was big. It was about the size of a small car, looking stocky and squat despite being nearly eight feet tall. The body was barrel-like, capped in a bulbous metal sphere with portholes that made it look like a giant old-timey diving helmet. This had to be that tinker that was running around. I could feel him in the suit, a big guy leaning forward into the metal canopy. His legs were fully inside those of the suit, but his arms only reached to controls near the suit's elbows.

I waved at him and he paused, before continuing towards us. He slowed well away from the wooden structure that most certainly wouldn't hold his suit. "Terraform?" He asked, speakers turning the calm question into a surprising squawk of noise.

"That's me."

He nodded, and his suit tried and failed to articulate it. It would have seemed like an imposing silence if I didn't have my tremorsense. "So, is this a job interview, or…?" Again his speakers killed a lot of the inflection and humanity to his tone, but the words were clear enough.

"More like a job fair?" I hedged. "Not that I've ever seen one that went well, but…" Winslow was the sort of shithole that could never host any successful event, and I couldn't remember the days before the riots that crashed the city's economy. "Today is about feeling each other out and seeing if we're a good fit together. If you decide to join the team, that's great. We… still need to figure out if there's paperwork for that. We can sort out everything but dental later."

"...you guys have dental?" The boy asked incredulously.

I held up a finger, then thought about it. "You know, I was joking. But actually yes. Yes we do." Thank you, Amy. "I'll explain in a bit. So, if this is everyo-"

A flash, followed quickly by the crash of thunder. A body dropped out of the air nearby.

I struck out immediately, ripping chunks out of the turf and throwing them. The target vanished in another flash-crack. I felt the body off to my side now, stomping my foot upended the ground under them, sending them into the air. "Whoa!" Several of the flash-cracks went off quickly. "Whoa, whoa, stop!"

My body froze up in the motion I was going to use to knock the earth out from under him again, landing him in a pit this time. "What?"

"That's… whoa. Like, whoa." The guy jittered anxiously. "Nice reaction time, but… ahhh, ha, haha."

Now that I got a decent look at him, he seemed scruffy. White, short messy sandy-blonde hair, dressed in normal street clothes with a pair of bandanas covering most of his face and forehead. He was… probably just another indie, here for the meeting. "Sorry about that. I… do not handle being surprised very well." Everyone else shifted awkwardly while I tried to calm my breathing and get my heart to slow out of rabbit-mode. It seemed they were still waiting on me. "And to be fair, you did kind of explode a little."

"Ah, uh… er." He looked to be in his early twenties. Easily the second-oldest here. Why was he acting so much like a scolded child? "Riiight. Thunder. Sorry, I don't hear it when I do my thing. And… it kind of slips my mind, sometimes?"

"What did you do?" I was starting to feel a bit awkward about how we were half-shouting at each other, with him still well off into the grass.

"Oh, this." He pointed his hand off to the side of me, and there was another flash-crack of lightning. He appeared standing on the opposite side from the Tinker, a few meters from the gazebo. I jumped, trying not to show how startled I was. …fucking Blasters. "I can shoot lightning! And show up somewhere along it. That's how I got over the wall." His words were spilling out faster and faster. "I don't think it's as strong as regular lightning, but I don't really have a good way to test it. Maybe too much power and I wouldn't be able to control where it goes, so the power doesn't let it work that way? I don't know, but-"

"Hey!" I called, snapping him out of it. "That's great, we can talk about our powers later. Are you here for the team-joining-meeting-thing?"

I nearly slapped myself, but refrained because I couldn't afford to ruin my image any further. "Yeah. That." He agreed, more hopping over than walking closer.

"Well." I took out my cape phone, flipping it open to check the time. Note to self, add a watch to my costume. Sure enough, it was a couple minutes after meeting time now. "Assuming no one else is going to be doing a last-minute Mover rush to make the meeting on time… we should probably get started." The phone went away, and I took a deep steadying breath. "So, first thing's first. I understand if this seems silly, but I feel the need to ask and make sure everyone answers. Does anyone else already have a 'better offer', or are already signed on with some other group? Nobody's spying or reporting back, or anything like that?"

As expected, everyone gave some version of a denial, most of them muttered.

What was interesting was that Spitfire was lying.

Thinking about it, I did recall seeing something on PHO about her and Faultline. I suppose it made sense for the mercenary sort to snoop on potential competition. That, or she was hedging bets on who to wind up with. Being labeled a villain, even however loosely that crew were, was the sort of black mark you have to live with for quite a while. I already knew we were going to be working on Cass' image for years, and I couldn't blame anyone wanting to avoid that. Though admittedly there were degrees, someone like Tattletale wouldn't be anywhere near as hard to spin positively as Rune. Spitfire, at least so far, didn't compare to either.

Really, the only options were to wait and see or confront her, and I didn't want to start accusing her of anything now and derail the meeting. Since there was nothing to be done yet, I tried not to care about it for now. "Alright. Sorry about that, had to ask. Let's get out of view before I drop the wall. People are starting to snoop." In particular, there was a girl who'd already made it to the end and was peeping on us. Others weren't terribly far behind, most looking at the wall or just getting close enough to take pictures of it.

We made it through the treeline without incident, and I stopped to force the wall I'd raised back into the ground. I didn't want to leave it standing for the next rain to melt it into an unappealing muddy track, after all. Then I led them to the semi-clearing where I'd left Amy. She was sitting on a fallen trunk, picking away at her phone.

The others paused as they each caught sight of her, so I turned back to them. "Everyone, this is another of our current members. Amy Dallon, better known as Panacea." Amy finally looked up at my voice, giving everyone a grumpy wave and slowly moving to stow the phone.

"Aren't you with New Wave?" The tinker rumbled.

Amy stared for a bit, and I could feel her taking fortifying breaths while she stalled. "I 'joined' New Wave as a minor with basically no autonomy. They've been informed that I intend to leave when I'm legally able to. Until then, I'm acting on both teams."

"Don't spread that around." I added. "We haven't told many people yet, and it'll be pretty obvious it was someone here if it leaks."

"Ohhh." Armor-pads mumbled. When most of us looked at him, he started stammering. "D-dental. I get it now."

Amy turned a gimlet eye my way. "Dental, huh?"

I flushed under my mask. "It slipped out while I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." Then she addressed the others. "None of you look hurt, but if you're messed up, I guess I can fix it."

Some shuffled, but none spoke up. "Well, okay then." I said into the silence, then cleared my throat. "We are Amasia. A better world for those willing to come together and work towards it. Our goal is to help people; the city by fronting a hero team, and capes by welcoming anyone who doesn't want to be a villain and sheltering them from those who'd prey on them. We're not the government, we aren't New Wave, and we certainly aren't the gangs. I'm sure you all have your reasons for coming today, and it's probably in relation to some of those facts." Speech given, I took a slow deep breath, and let it out. "So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you all here?"

The boys glanced at each other, Spitfire started fidgeting, and the tinker stood silently pondering. "Fuck the pigs." Terri spat into the awkward silence.

The tinker gave a startled and somewhat offended cough, which no one actually heard because his speakers were off. I gave him a side-eyed once-over, before speaking to Terri. "Care to elaborate? I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's a fairly broad sentiment."

"Shit like Broomhandle McAsswedge." She waved back towards the gazebo, and started almost literally growling with her next words. "Everyone working with the government is either a poser, pansy, patsy, or a prick. Fuck all of that." She huffed, trying to get her breathing back under control. The air around us had become stifling near the end. She was getting it back under control and hadn't hurt anyone yet, so I clamped down on my immediate urge to act.

"Why us, instead of New Wave, the gangs, or some option in another city?" I asked.

She scoffed. "New Wave," she spat towards Amy, "would just treat me like a charity case and dump me on the PRT. They're no better than signing myself away to the Wards. And the gangs…" She ground her teeth, breathing deep. After half a minute of calming down and steeling herself, she continued. "All I want is to earn a roof over my head without involving the government or sex work."

"And what's your stance on Nazis?" Amy asked in a cold tone.

Terri spat off to her side. "Dad was Jewish."

Amy gave a half-impressed hum. She pondered for a bit, then turned to me. "We're keeping her."

I snorted quietly. "Okay."

Spitfire softly coughed. "What… what about Faultline?"

Terri and I both narrowed our eyes at her. "The mercenary?" Terri asked, and received a shy nod. "Anyone willing to do crimes for money has a price for everything and anything. You can't trust someone like that."

That just made Spitfire feel sad. "What about you, then?" I asked her.

She froze up, put on the spot. "Well… I… I was… in a place like Terri, not too long ago. I suppose I just wanted to see what my options are." Half-truths. "I don't… like fighting. Would I have to, if I joined you?"

At least there, she was being honest. "No." I stated firmly. "We need fighters, but it doesn't have to be everyone. If you just want to find some way to use your powers that doesn't involve fighting, we'll support that. Though, I'm not thinking of what that might be off the top of my head."

Spitfire nodded and stepped back, looking at the others and apparently done speaking. "Alright, next?"

"Ooh!" Lightning-guy waved his hand, like an overeager child. I nodded for him to continue. "It's 'cause you're fucking awesome!"

I took a step back. "What?"

"You! You're the bad bitch who took out Lung! Who wouldn't want in on that?"

This had me feeling many, many uncomfortable things. "I… don't think that's fair. I could stalemate Lung, and I ambushed him once which felt like a draw, but I'm not sure I could actually beat Lung without a lot of help… which I got from Legend and Armsmaster."

He briefly had a poleaxed look, before his emotions transitioned from shock to a complex mix of shame, pride, joy, anxiety, and hints of a few other things. He scoffed and chuckled. "And she's humble! Isn't she great! Now that's a boss-lady!"

I had a very determined cape fanboy, and had no idea what to do about it. "Who even are you?"

He seemed to stumble a bit. "Well, uh… I haven't picked a name." Terri snickered at him. "Hey! You come up with a good 'lightning' name that isn't norse or 'blitz' or whatever!" He slunk back to grumble. "Fucking speedsters taking all the 'lightning' names…"

I tried to ignore him as he trailed off. "Just a second, we have a guest." I took the slim excuse to not think about this for a bit, heading out towards the treeline where that girl was still trying to sneak up and snoop.

"Wha? Ta-erra!" Amy shouted, following behind. The others trailed after at varying speeds.

When I got to within a few meters of the tree the girl was hiding behind, I spoke up. "Hey!" She jumped, but kept her back pressed against the tree. I squatted down to look less intimidating. "It's okay, I'm not mad. You can come out, we're not going to hurt you." She anxiously peeked around the tree, 'eeked' back behind it when she saw I was staring right at her behind my mask, then built up determination to look again. I waited patiently, letting her feel comfortable and confident enough to step out from behind it. She wore a puffy brown jacket over a white and blue sundress with long shorts peeking out the bottom, and was carrying a large stuffed bear. Her straight dark hair being black rather than brown gave me the impression she had some south or east Asian heritage, when she otherwise looked rather white. "There we go." I continued, as if the prior exchange hadn't taken a couple of minutes. "Now I understand that capes are interesting, but…"

"You're capes?" She asked quietly, and I tilted my head. "You are capes?" I wasn't sure I understood what she meant to get across with the additional emphasis, so I just nodded. "Then, um…"

When she was quiet for a bit, I went back to my prior point. "I know capes are interesting, but you can't trust that you'll be safe sneaking around, even if we look like heroes. Capes take secrets very seriously, and can be… very…" Something was wrong. Off, but I couldn't… and then I noticed the bear.

Which was waving at me.

It seemed like a normal bear. Just cloth and fluff, no motors or puppet sticks. Her hands weren't positioned properly to be doing it without those. It could be something I just wasn't thinking of, but… "You have powers." What the hell was my luck? First Dinah, then Tracy, and now this kid… there couldn't be enough capes in the city for stumbling on three of them to be statistically likely. I tried to ignore the welling anxiety that karma would insist on dropping several shoes soon. "You shouldn't tell just anyone about this. It's not… ugh." This kid clearly didn't understand how dangerous cape life was. "Come on, we'll explain things." I stood and held out my hand.

She watched me cautiously. So, not entirely devoid of survival instincts. After a few moments, she strode up and took my hand. "Okay."

A bit of my heart broke, as I thought of how I was going to need to shatter some of her illusions of security. It had to be done. I led everyone back to the clearing, and knelt down in front of her. "Now, I'm very sorry, but I have to ask… are you safe at home?" She seemed confused, which was a good sign. "Your parents don't make you scared, or hurt you?"

Her eyes widened, and she stepped back, shaking her head. "No, no. Home is… okay. Mommy tries, but Daddy… he… he's…" Her voice cracked, her eyes tearing up. The bear covered its face with both paws. "...gone."

"I'm so sorry." So, that was probably her trigger. A loud thought came to mind; her protector was gone, and so her power replaced him. "I had to check. Are you going to be okay? You don't have to stay here if you don't want to."

She shook her head. This whole time, the others have been quiet. Half of them were just watching awkwardly, while Terri and the tinker seemed to be silently assessing me, and Amy… was feeling some very complicated things that I was trying not to translate properly. Maybe I should have a talk with her about that, soon.

"Well, first thing, the next time you do anything as a cape, you should wear a mask." I explained. "It protects your identity, and your family. You don't want someone hurting your mom or following you home, right?" She nodded, wide-eyed. "That's what the masks are for. They don't always work, seems like every other week someone else is figuring out who I am… but that's always people I know in my other identity." I tapped my ceramic mask. "Full face covering. I have another mask under it in case it gets knocked off or something, too." I thought for a moment. "Honestly, someone your age, and with your… what is your power, anyway? Do you control dolls, or things shaped like animals? How many things?"

"Just… just the one thing. Anything smaller than a person."

I grunted and stood. I stomped, compacting the dirt into a sedimentary stone, then pulled a slab of it up from the ground. It was about as tall and wide as I was, but rectangular. "Can you control that?"

She paused, considering. Then she walked over to it and closed her eyes. The bear slumped slightly enough that I wouldn't have noticed without my earth sense. The slab bent, falling over since it wasn't actually connected to the ground, and started inching around like a cartoon worm. It bent but never compressed like a real worm would, and the bend was vertical unlike the horizontal motion of a snake's slithering. There were no cracks from deforming the material, as there should be.

"Can you change its shape?" I asked. She gave me a confused look and it wiggled more vigorously. "No, I mean like breaking arms and legs off of it. Making it person or animal-shaped."

Her face scrunched up cutely as she considered it, then took on a look of focus as she closed her eyes. After a few moments while the slab sat still on the ground, she shook her head.

"Okay." I made two human-shapes, one from stone and the other from packed dirt. Then I considered it, and also added a prone dog made of disconnected clumps and rocks that weren't actually packed together. "Could you try controlling these?"

"...kitty." She muttered.

…well, I thought it looked like a dog, anyway.

Still, she took a few moments to stand near each in turn and focus on it, animating them. The first two were no problem, but the third fell apart. Almost immediately after, her bear started moving again, and she felt surprised, scared, and ashamed. …maybe an animal shape was the wrong choice for the disconnected test.

"Hey, you're okay. I'm sorry. But, this is good information." I said, getting her attention again and taking her mind off what'd just happened. "So, last question… can you see through them?" She shook her head. "Hear? Feel?" She took longer with those, but also indicated negatively. "Yeah. Okay. At your age and with your powers, I think I'd actually suggest joining the Wards." That got everyone's attention. "They have more resources for support, and could protect you now if needed. We're going to need some time to build up to being able to keep everyone and their families safe at the drop of a hat. That, and I don't think you actually want to fight people, right?"

She hugged her bear tightly. "...no."

I nodded. "Until we set up somewhere you can hide, and take your mom, and… any siblings?" She shook her head. "The Empire is going to get a little rowdy soon, if they haven't started already. We're going to need to focus on that, and the people who don't want to fight are going to have to hide. Without a safe place, that means staying home and pretending not to be a cape at all." I waited until she seemed to understand. "After that, we'll be able to look into a team base or secret headquarters, or something. Until then, the Wards would be safer for you. Or, you could join our team, and we'll do what we can. If you're interested?"

"You've been nice, so far."

I gave her a smile, and showed it with a small chuckle. "Most heroes are, I think. I've met a few of the Protectorate, and most of the Wards already. All the Wards have been nice, so far. But you don't need to make a choice today, okay? I can write down my phone number…" I paused as she dug into a pocket and pulled out a flip-phone.

of course the ten-year-old has a cell phone. Why wouldn't she?

I was only screaming a little, inside.

I gave her my cape phone's number, as well as numbers for the PRT's emergency and non-emergency lines. "Call or text me if you need anything. But also call the PRT if you need help immediately, okay?" She nodded. I hadn't missed that Spitfire and lightning-guy had both taken the opportunity to put my number in both of their phones when they thought I couldn't see it. The tinker had a pad of paper in his suit, where I assume that was what he'd been writing down. "Okay. Now, you should probably head home. It's getting late, and you should take some time to think about things before deciding. And… I'd strongly suggest talking to your mother about things, if you can."

She was still anxious and ashamed when she nodded, so I wasn't sure how likely it was she'd actually talk to her mother, but I'd said all I could without making it less likely. So I shooed her home, and watched her go until about twenty seconds after I lost sight of her. Then I turned to the others. "Well, now that the surprise is dealt with… where were we?"

"Oooh! Ah," I didn't want to call him 'sparky' in my head. It brought back memories of the stoner kid from Winslow. Entirely different sort of social dysfunction. Lightning-bandanas paused, dropping his hand. "Uhh… never mind."

Well, we'd talked to him and the girls already. "So, what are your powers?" I asked the guy in the stripped armor. "Some sort of Striker, right?"

He flinched, trying and failing to hide it in his helmet. "How did you know?"

I pointed down at his chest, constructing a half-lie. "I can see skin through the edges. You stripped the padding out, and didn't wear any comfort layers. Your power must need skin contact."

He stopped to inspect himself. "Right… well, yeah. I, uh… I make hard things harder, and sharp things sharper. Except I have to be touching it. Doesn't work too well on clothes or… just hard things."

"Hard things, huh?" Terri needled in a droll tone.

"No! Not…" He blushed and paused, trying to calm down. "It wouldn't work right, even if my power worked on people."

"Which it doesn't." Amy stated confidently.

"Right." He confirmed. "Soft things get… rigid, and brittle. In weird ways, sometimes. Clothes just kind of… shatter, if I try to move in them."

I hummed. "But you pick when to use it, right?" He nodded. "So it doesn't make basic living difficult. What about 'sharp things'?"

He shrugged. "Anything that has an 'edge' to it. Even blunt ones, like butter knives. Points work, but not as well as edges. So I can't really sharpen a pipe unless it was already pointy or broken, or something like that." I gave another 'thinking' noise, and he perked up again. "Oh, it lasts longer than the hardening does. They won't dull while I'm doing it, but they stay sharp-ish. Making things harder goes away… as fast as I've been able to test. Instantly?" He offered, hesitantly.

"And you don't have a name, either."

The boy began to fidget anxiously. "It's… uhh… hard to find good 'armor' names, and 'sharp' names… tend to offend…" He lowered his voice, until I could barely hear it. "...Jack Slash."

I bit back a sigh. It was entirely reasonable to be scared of someone like that, but saying a name wasn't going to magically summon the psychopath. "Alright…" I nearly groaned, then took a moment to compose myself. "Okay, so you're going to need better armor that meshes well with your power. Possibly some utility knives, but we might wind up mostly ignoring that facet of your powers due to injury concerns." While I was pretty sure knife skills were in my 'retraining' list somewhere, I wasn't sure I knew anyone skilled enough with them to train us to use them, and I still wasn't sure how fast I could train skills by myself.

"Ah, yeah…" He hesitantly muttered.

"Maybe the tinkers can fix something up for you." I shrugged.

We all glanced over to the bulky armor suit, if some only by side-eye. "Tinkers, plural?" Terri cut in.

I gave a non-committal head waggle. "Team isn't just Amy and I." They paused to consider that. "So, why us?"

He kept fidgeting. "I… uh… didn't…" I tilted my head, and he paused. "I haven't done anything yet. I'm not… a hero. Not really. I didn't want to join the Wards without… y'know…"

"And we're different." I stated, only implying the question.

"Nobody knows who A- Ama…"

"Amasia. Ah-may-xia."

"...Amasia even are." Which was a fair point. We hadn't announced anything, and hadn't even written our name down anywhere yet. "They're not all… staring at you."

"Less spotlight. Yeah, I can understand that." I turned to the Tinker. "And then there was one."

He stared from inside his suit, quiet and assessing. "I have reasons I can't join the Protectorate."

"Are you a criminal?"

"No." He replied immediately. I didn't get the sense he was lying.

"It isn't a complete deal-breaker if someone is. We understand that people can't help the circumstances they were born into, and how that can lead to… problems. We just insist that any criminal activity stops, and hope you understand that we won't make exceptions for anything truly heinous." As far as I knew, the only people Cassie'd killed were rival gangsters, and I was self-aware enough to realize that I wasn't trying very hard to prove that assumption wrong. I still thought she had the potential to outweigh what she's done with future heroism, and could extend that same stay of execution to others who wanted to be heroes. "Anything you'd like to share about your reasons or your powers would be appreciated."

He grunted and thought for a moment. Then he patted his metal fist against his suit's chest. "Got tech, and… someone to live up to. I just want to make the city safer. Don't much care how."

Cagey, but not lying. I could work with that. "Alright, then. That's everyone." I turned back to the group as a whole. "So, we're recruiting. We might not be taking everyone we've met today, but I'm willing to extend trial periods and work with people. Which brings me to the next point." I took a steadying breath. "Lung is down, and the Empire is stirring. That's two gangs that are gearing up to lash out, if they haven't already started. I'm hoping the police can handle the ABB without the threat of Lung or Lee hanging over them. The problem being that the Empire still has a dozen or so capes." I tried to meet as many eyes as I could while I let that sink in. "If any of you are willing to help us keep the Empire on the back foot, speak up. That's what we're going to be focused on, until it stops being a problem. I'm not sure when that'll be."

Most of them stared, shocked. "Hell yeah, let's kick some Nazis!" Bandanas cheered.

"You're… taking on the Empire? We can't beat the Empire…" Pads muttered.

I sighed. "I'm not trying to 'beat' the Empire. Just keep them from expanding. Fighting for territory is when the gangs do the most damage, at least when they're not out to kill a specific cape." My mind turned back to Lung and Bakuda, but a lot of those buildings had been empty. A lot of people hurt, but not many dead. "Right now they're at risk of doing a lot of that damage. They should settle down eventually, and we can keep a better eye out for their other crimes once they do. So, I want to know who's willing to fight, so that we can start coordinating immediately."

"I'm in!" Bandannas cheered, between rounds of muttering excitedly and pumping his fists.

"Sure." Terri stated, firm but otherwise bland.

I looked around at the others. The Tinker was still staring, which was making me a little uncomfortable. The other two seemed to be thinking. Eventually, he nodded. "How sure are you that you can even fight the Empire? I've been sticking to the Merchants because they're nobodies with shit coordination. They don't want to fight, and won't chase you if you run. The big gangs are different."

"Well we certainly won't be running around alone, if that's what you're worried about." I sharply replied. "We'll be sticking to larger groups with better chances of retreating if it comes to that, and I'm sure the PRT and New Wave would be happy to coordinate on patrols and reinforcements. It's only been a couple days, and I need to know what we have to offer before trying to fold us into any plans that might not even exist yet."

The tinker shrugged, his suit unmoving. "I'm in."

"Yeah." Shoulder Pads muttered, just loud enough to be heard. "Yeah, I can… I can do that."

I turned to Spitfire, the last who hadn't answered. "I don't like fighting… I don't want… er…"

"It's fine. I just wanted to know who would. I'm not trying to force anyone." I cut in. "That goes for the rest of you, too. You don't have to feel pressured into it. Honestly it'd be great if there were more capes who didn't have to fight, or didn't want to." I gave them all a few seconds to back down. Pads looked most likely, fidgeting again, but stayed silent. "Alright, then. Who doesn't have a burner phone? Something to keep cape and civilian things separate." It seemed like Pads and Bandanas were the only ones, after another few moments. I was a bit surprised that Terri hadn't said anything, but she didn't really have any disconnect between the two. "Get at least one. If you don't have the money, call me from a payphone or something, and I can pass along a phone, or some cash for one." I gave out my cape phone's number again, and got back as many numbers as I could in exchange.

Once that was done, with a bit more chatting about cheap phones, I continued. "I'll contact the PRT in the next couple days. If anyone wants to opt out, you can at any time. Once I know the plan, I'll let all of you know. Until then… stay safe. I'll see you soon." Then I turned to Terri. "I don't feel comfortable leaving you on the street. Do you have a couch for a couple days, or should I arrange something?" I didn't want to promise my place while I already had Cassie staying over, but… I would if I had to.

"Um, well…" Spitfire spoke up. "I… have a place now. I can put her up for a while, maybe?" Terri gave her a suspicious half-glare. "Just… paying it forward, is all." Given she'd mentioned similar living conditions, Terri seemed to accept that. I still wasn't sure who she worked for, but all the signs pointed to her just wanting to help, and from what Terri said it wasn't likely she'd jump ship to any of the other groups coming to mind.

"If that's okay, it sorts everything for now." I offered. Terri nodded, and Spitfire agreed. "If that's everything, I need to get back to planning things." I added, to the group.

The Tinker's suit shuddered, and started loping off to the side. This prompted the others to start scattering into the trees, even though he stopped short of leaving. When it was just the three of us left, he came back and we stood awkwardly for a bit.

"So… uh. That offer," His metal arm waved toward Amy. "is it still on the table?"

I glanced at Amy. "You know I need skin contact, right?" She asked pointedly.

He thought on it for a moment, then pulled what looked like a refurbished emergency brake. The suit hissed and clanked as the hatch popped open. He winched it open farther, just enough to stick a large dark-skinned hand through the gap. Amy stepped up, took it, and settled into deep thought as she looked him over. She frowned about twenty seconds later, perking up to glare silently at the suit, feeling surprised, confused, and furious.

A few minutes later, she let go. "There. Your leg's fixed."

"Thank you." He stated, then turned to me. "I'll be in touch." And then he also left.

Finally alone, I let the tension flood out, nearly collapsing against a tree. "That was so stressful…" I groaned.

"Your idea." Amy prodded, and I couldn't refute it. "So, making plans with the PRT behind my back?"

I shuffled awkwardly, blushing behind my mask. "Honestly… I just said whatever sounded best at the time. I mean, it's a good idea, but…" I waved it away, not wanting to talk about it. "What about you? Something pissed you off, there. Is it something I should know?"

She pursed her lips and looked away, debating it with herself.

Eventually, she nodded and told me.

I couldn't help the startled exclamation it prompted.

Notes:

To be continued in Interlude 5.

Which should be out in a few days.