I just finished tying up one of the ABB thugs and stood up, grabbing another zip tie from my pocket. Soft, cold pinpricks tickled my face, snow starting to drift down in lazy spirals that caught the streetlight.
I glanced at Sophia, a smile twitching on my face.
She was going through their pockets and robbing them blind. Pretty thorough about it too. Checking inside jackets, patting down their pants, even checking their shoes. A small pile of cash and coins was growing on the ground next to her.
What a girl.
The smile slipped off my face as I moved to zip-tie the last thug. The man was sprawled on his side and unconscious like the others, but breathing too quickly and shallowly, chest barely rising with each breath and a crackling quality to the sound that raised alarm bells in my head.
Uh-oh.
I quickly reached for the Light, letting it wash over his torso in a gentle flash. His breathing returned to normal immediately, deeper, steadier, and that crepitus disappearing.
"Why bother?"
Sophia's voice carried that familiar edge of disdain. She'd paused her looting to watch me, her head tilted slightly.
"You broke his ribs, and it punctured a lung." I shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."
She scoffed but didn't argue further. Just went back to rifling through pockets in full loot goblin mode.
Her anger was simmering again beneath the surface, that familiar cocktail of irritation and aggression bubbling just under her skin. I chipped away at it some more, nudging those hostile feelings like slowly lowering a dial.
Smiling in satisfaction, I crouched down and finished tying up the thug, making sure the zip-tie was secure but not cutting off circulation.
"What else can you do now?" Sophia poked the closest tied-up, unconscious goon with her foot. "This trash was too weak to even break a sweat."
She had a point. These guys folded like chumps to anyone with a Brute rating.
"Got some cool new tricks, but we'd need someone who can really take a punch." I stood up, idly brushing snow off my jacket. "Sadly for us, most villains seem to be celebrating New Year."
Sophia let out a disappointed sigh, her shoulders sagging slightly.
"Hey, if we accidentally stumble across Lung, I'll put on a good show for you."
Sophia's mask turned towards me, a beat of silence stretching between us. A sharp bark of laughter escaped her after a moment, a tinge of amusement bubbling through that simmering anger.
"That confident, huh?"
"Didn't you compare me to Eidolon and Dauntless? I gotta live up to that."
I could just punt that lizard into the ocean as a last resort. Portals were overpowered like that.
"You have to beat him when he's ramped up for it to count, though."
Ugh. I'd rather not.
"That'd be a little tough."
"No shit." She scoffed, stuffing the handful of cash into one of her belt pouches. "Anyone could drop Lung with a tranq shot from the back. In a straight fight, though? He made the ENE look like a joke."
I cocked an eyebrow at her. "So, you want me to let him grow just to prove a point?"
Sophia gave a lazy shrug, leaning against the brick wall behind her. "You're the one who bragged about putting on a show for me. Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now?"
I could almost hear the smirk in her tone.
This little brat.
"I'd have to get him in a big enough open space. A fight like that would toast a whole city block."
"Probably. You can heal, but at that size, his flames would just melt people like wax."
She didn't bother saying it, but the unspoken message was clear. She thought I couldn't fix a little death.
A confident smirk twitched on my lips. She had no idea what I could truly do.
The memory of that tall golden pillar breaking through the heavens flashed to mind. True resurrection. I'd already proven it once with her, even if she didn't know the full extent of what had happened.
But she'd find out soon enough.
"If he breathed fire like a normal dragon, I'd just shove some con-foam down his throat. Problem solved." His bullshit level pyrokinesis was a bitch to deal with, though. I'd probably need straight up fire resistance, just to be sure.
An amused sound came from beneath Sophia's mask. "And where'd you get con-foam, smartass? The convenience store?"
The sarcasm in her tone was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"I guess the PRT don't exactly sell that stuff?"
"Of course not." She scoffed. "They're not that stupid."
"Not even to affiliated heroes?"
"What? Not gonna join the Protectorate?"
"Nah. I'll stay independent."
"Good call. They'd just put a leash on you." She sounded a little bitter, fingers tapping against her crossbow.
"Yeah, that's a huge turn-off for me. I could probably get a good deal as a Trump, but I like having the freedom to do things my own way."
No boring patrols. No PR media crap. Actually getting shit done.
Sophia gave a slight nod and went quiet, that restless energy still coiled in her posture.
"Solo? Or making a team?" she asked after a few moments. "It wouldn't be hard with a power like that."
Oh? Curious, was she?
"Why?" A teasing smile came to my face. "You wanna join?"
She scoffed. "Don't tempt me."
"That a no?"
Making a team with her would be pretty awesome. We had pretty good chemistry already, but... she'd probably get in trouble with Piggot.
There was a way around that, though. I just had to make a big enough splash first.
Sophia crossed her arms, her mask angling down as she tapped a finger on her bicep.
"Nah, I just can't. Not like this."
She gestured at herself with a hand, and it took me a moment to get it.
Ahh.
The probation thing.
I fought down a smile as a thrill shot up my spine. She wouldn't have minded joining if she could’ve.
"Did they strong-arm you to join?"
"Something like that." She hesitated, her eyes pinning me with a steady gaze. "I'm on probation."
I quirked an eyebrow, a smirk pulling at the corner of my mouth.
"Been a bad girl, huh?"
A derisive scoff came from beneath her mask. She eyed me for a quiet moment, gauging my reaction, then shrugged.
Silly girl. I wasn't going to judge her for something like that.
"I nailed a shithead to a wall, and he 'almost died'." She made air quotes with her hands. "Big deal."
"To be fair, that's kinda reckless." But I'd point out the mistake. She wouldn't learn from it otherwise. "You shouldn't do that unless you know exactly where to stab people without killing them. The human body is paradoxically tough and fragile."
"It was somewhere in the stomach. Wasn't even bleeding that much."
A quiet, exasperated sigh escaped me. How much anatomy did this girl even know?
"That's a pretty bad spot to stab someone. You could nick their aorta or vena cava, and they'd just bleed to death in minutes," I said. "If you really wanna nail someone to a wall, just do a good old crucifixion. Hands and feet. It's historically proven."
Sophia looked away. "Whatever."
We lapsed into silence. A little awkward, but she seemed more irritated than angry, and I'd take that as a win. Super Therapy was the real MVP, as usual.
Sophia pulled out her flip phone, the screen casting a pale blue glow on her mask as she tapped some keys. I slipped my hands in my jacket, looking around the empty street. Snow was falling heavier now, white flakes catching in her dark cloak.
She rattled off an address to what I assumed was the police dispatch, all the while keeping her voice low and her words clipped.
"Do we go deeper into the Docks or go back to Downtown?" I asked as she ended the call.
Sophia looked up from the screen, flipping her phone shut with a sharp click.
"I gotta go."
A flicker of disappointment hit me at her words. I didn't let it show on my face.
"Alright. It's been a lot of fun."
"Mm-hmm."
Before the awkward silence could return, I opened a Portal to the coconut island, the bright daylight spilling from the other side illuminating the dark alley.
Sophia stared at the gateway for a long, quiet moment.
"Of course you can make portals too." A mix of disbelief and resignation tinged her voice, and I could only smirk. Her reactions would never not be funny.
"See ya around, Shadow Stalker."
"See ya." She grunted out in a gruff, Batman-worthy impression that nearly made me laugh.
I stepped through, smiling happily despite the abrupt goodbye. I had her PHO handle and phone number now. I could meet her again whenever I wanted.
A pleasant, tropical breeze hit me on the other side, warm and humid, and carrying the smell of ocean. I closed the portal and stretched my back. I still had a few hours before morning, and Emily was probably asleep by now. I'd rather not bother her.
I could just chill here and finish that Ring of Protection before going back.
<[]>
Ethan walked out of the conference room, the bright, fluorescent lights in the hallway stabbing at his eyes. His shoulders sagged with a tired sigh, mouth twitching in displeasure.
Today, of all days...
What kind of weirdo went out to catch villains on New Year's Night? Didn't they have a family? Friends?
Rapidly approaching footsteps came from behind. A moment later, Battery fell in step at his side, throwing him a sideways look through her visor, a hint of disapproval in her eyes.
A lovely wife to cuddle?
"Stop being so grumpy," she said, a frown showing on the exposed part of her face. "You pissed the Director off again."
Ethan couldn't hold back a snort. He cocked an eyebrow at his wife, some of his irritation bleeding through. "Can you blame me? It's 6 AM on New Year's Day."
"We're heroes, Ethan." Battery's tone carried that familiar note of gentle reproach. "Our job is more important than a party."
Ethan smiled thinly at his wife. She was right, but that didn't make it any less annoying. Not when that party was going to end with an amazing round of bedbreaking—
"So, I don't want to hear you keep complaining about it, okay?"
Another sigh escaped him.
"Hey, I'm not complaining that they did our job for us." A smirk twitched on his lips despite his exhaustion. "I'm complaining about the incredibly poor timing." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively, watching her posture stiffen like she was fighting down a smile. "We had so much planned for tonight. Don't tell me you're not a little disappointed, too?"
Battery elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "Don't be a pig."
"Ow." He gave a playful, exaggerated whine, smirk widening into a grin. "That's battery, you know?"
The namesake rolled her eyes. She didn't take the bait, sadly. His puppy had gotten very good at ignoring his terrible puns over the years.
They rounded the corner towards the elevator, their footsteps echoing in the empty hallway.
His wife threw him another sideways look. She didn't say anything, though. Just walked slower, like she was lost in thought.
"Something on your mind?" he asked, slowing to match her pace.
Battery was quiet for a moment, worrying at her bottom lip. "What if it's a new Master?" Her voice came out clipped. "And that mention of golden light... what if they already got that new healer? Beacon?"
Ethan grimaced. Masters. Everyone's favorite boogeymen.
"Not everything is a Master." Sure, Hookwolf had started raving like a loony about god and holy fire as soon as he woke up in the holding cell, but these nazis weren't exactly right in the head to begin with. "Maybe Hookwolf was just high as a kite—"
"Armsmaster's scan came negative," she said blandly.
Ah. Right. It did.
Ethan shrugged. "Maybe that fire had a Shaker effect. It wouldn't be the first time." Powers were weird like that.
He'd seen plenty of strange shit over the years. A pyrokinetic who could make you hallucinate barely got halfway up the list.
Battery gave a slow nod, some of the tension bleeding from her shoulders. "That would explain how they took down Cricket and Stormtiger without injuring them."
A fire that melted metal or made you hallucinate things. Fun.
He really hoped this person would stay on the side of the angels. The last thing they needed was another troublemaker setting up shop in the Bay.
"As for that golden light thing..." Ethan made a vague gesture with his hand. "Maybe we're dealing with a new team in town. Couldn't have been a single cape. The evidence doesn't add up."
Three Empire capes taken down in short order. No signs of struggle beyond the initial fight with Hellhound's dogs. All villains wrapped up like Christmas gifts. No sighting of whoever was responsible.
Couldn't be a single guy, unless they had some really good Tinker gadgets.
"A Stranger or tinker-tech, a strange fire, and that Beacon guy." Battery shook her head, a quiet sigh escaping her. "They should just join the Protectorate if they want to be heroes. They'd help us make that much more of a difference."
"Yeah, that'd be nice."
But seeing how they'd just ignored Hellhound when they could've probably taken her down too...
He had a feeling that things wouldn't be that easy.
<[]>
I found myself standing atop a large expanse of fractal, dark-red crystals that glowed dimly beneath my feet. The light pulsed in rhythmic waves like a heartbeat, casting my shadow in a dozen different directions at once.
I looked around in confusion, trying to make sense of my surroundings. The crystals stretched endlessly in every direction, an alien landscape that made my vision swim the closer I tried to inspect it. The geometry was wrong; angles that shouldn't connect somehow did, fractal surfaces that reflected light in ways that made my brain itch.
Then something caught my eye.
Looming in the distance, massive enough to dwarf everything else, stood a tall, spindly being. It looked like a faceless Buddha sculpted from white, sitting in a meditation pose with countless multicolored arms unfurling around its body. Like an incomprehensible lotus flower growing on a patch of red crystal.
As I stared dumbly at it, memories suddenly filtered back. The warm tropical air. The soothing sound of waves. Dozing off on my beach chair.
I blinked, eyes drifting around the crystalline landscape.
Oh.
Shardspace. That thing was my Shard, and I was inside its Firmament.
I looked back at the creepy Buddha.
It sat there just as still.
Huh...
My lips pressed in thought.
How was it doing this? Wasn't my Shard supposed to be ‘dead’?
Were those out-of-context vials different? Like a ‘domesticated’ Shard or something?
Suddenly, those myriad arms all extended, slowly reaching out towards me, upturned as if holding a gift.
Something brushed against the edge of my consciousness, gently like a butterfly landing on my hand. A strange feeling ghosted over me. Like a silent voice. Or an unspoken word whose meaning I could somehow still understand.
Gift.
Growing.
Expanding—
I woke up with a gasp.
The night sky filled my vision, stars scattered across a black canvas like diamond dust. My head felt stuffed with cotton, thoughts sluggish and disconnected.
I hit myself with a quick Flash of Light and immediately felt refreshed. The grogginess vanished, replaced by crystal clarity and the pleasant buzz of magical healing.
Stretching my legs, I sat up from my beach chair, eyes drifting to the ocean. Dark waves lapped gently at the shore, rising and falling like rhythmic breathing.
That vivid dream still lingered in my mind, like an itch at the back of my head that I couldn't quite scratch. A persistent buzzing that hadn't been there before—
My eyes widened a fraction as I took in a sharp breath.
Now way.
Could it be...?
With a quick thought, I unfurled the Endow catalogue before my mind's eye. The familiar mental list bloomed into existence, except—
It had twice, maybe thrice as many powers as before?
The fuck.
I scrolled through, jaw going slack as I took in the additions. New entries scattered throughout, some of them upgrades on existing powers, others completely novel.
A power that enhanced the skeleton to Wolverine levels of durability.
A power that strengthened the muscle fibers to superhuman efficiency.
Another that granted accelerated muscle gains.
One that gave me a friggin’ Dating Sim affection meter for people.
And another that gave me discount technopathy.
Hell, even photosynthesis.
And many, many more. Some useful, some niche, some downright weird.
Dude...
I shook my head in disbelief.
My Shard came up with more powers on its own. Was it was evolving? From all the data it collected?
I kept scrolling through the mental list while staring idly at the ocean, watching moonlight dance atop the waves. An eager smile stretched across my face.
This Shard was more busted than I thought.