We made it to the hospital without incident. The girl and I were left in the patient lobby while the EMS team took the girl's mother deeper inside. The little girl had taken to latching onto me in her emotional state and I was forced to hold her to my chest if we wanted to go anywhere.
"Take a seat wherever you like," the man toting the gurney said as he took the woman wherever they were going. "Someone will be by to check on her as well."
"Thanks," I said, settling onto one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room.
The girl clung to my jacket with desperate strength, her face pressed against my chest. Every time I tried to shift her to a more comfortable position, she would whimper and tighten her grip.
I sighed, but didn't push the issue. She'd been through a lot today. A little comfort wasn't too much to ask for.
The lobby was relatively quiet, occupied by only a handful of other people waiting for their loved ones. A few of them had looked up when we entered, their eyes lingering for only a moment before looking away.
A nurse approached us after a few minutes, clipboard in hand. She was an older woman with graying hair and a tired smile.
"We need to get some information for the girl," she said, glancing at Sarah with a furrowed brow. "Is she going okay?"
"She's just scared," I said, keeping my voice low. "Her mom got caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout."
The nurse's expression softened with understanding. "Poor thing. Let me see what I can do about getting her seen quickly."
She asked me a few basic questions—names, ages, contact information. I answered what I could, which wasn't much. I didn't know the mother's name or their address, and I certainly couldn't give any information about myself, not that she asked. The paramedics probably told her about the fight with Oni Lee.
"Someone will be by to check on her soon," she said as she finished the intake. "In the meantime, try to keep her calm."
"I'll do my best."
The nurse left, and I settled back into my chair. The girl had quieted down, though she still hadn't released her grip on my jacket. Her breathing had slowed, and I thought she might have fallen asleep until she spoke.
"Are you an angel?"
The question caught me off guard. I looked down to find her staring up at me with wide, watery eyes.
"No," I said, managing a small smile. "I'm... just someone who happened to be nearby."
"You have wings," she said, then looked over my shoulder. She seemed perplexed. "Where'd they go?"
"I can put them away," I explained, a little endeared by the way she seemed to search for them on my back. "It would be kind of annoying trying to get around with them, so I make them go away so I can get through doors and stuff. I almost got stuck once before I learned how to."
My rambling explanation served its purpose in distracting her from the current situation as she let out a small giggle. I smiled, happy to hear the sound.
"What's your name, sweetie?" I didn't want to keep referring to her as "girl" in my head.
"Sarah," she mumbled into my jacket.
"That's a pretty name," I said. "I'm Lucia."
"Your name is pretty too," She looked up at me, her eyes still red from crying. "Is my mommy going to be okay?"
The question made my heart ache in a way I hadn't expected. I'd known this girl for less than an hour, and already I felt a connection to her that I couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was the way she'd clung to me, or the trust in her voice when she asked if I was an angel.
"She's going to be fine," I said, making my voice as reassuring as possible. "The doctors are just giving her a check-up, okay?"
Sarah nodded, seeming to accept my answer. She settled back against my chest, her grip on my jacket loosening slightly as the exhaustion of the day finally caught up with her. I adjusted my hold on her, shifting her weight so she'd be more comfortable.
We sat like that for a while, me and this little girl I'd just met. I had little to no experience comforting children but I'd like to think I did okay considering she was soon snoozing peacefully in my arms.
I must have been sitting there for about twenty minutes when I felt a presence approaching. I looked up to find a very familiar girl approaching.
Clad in white robes and wielding an expression of overbearing exhaustion, Panacea looked pretty much exactly how I imagined. Curly brown hair framed a freckled face set with deep lines that spoke of years of constant exhaustion and stress and not very much reason to smile elsewise.
I attempted a light smile as she stepped toward us. "They're busting out the big guns, huh? I thought we'd be getting a regular doctor, not miss cure-all."
"I was coming back from lunch," Panacea said in a bored tone. Clearly, she wasn't in the mood for chitchat.
Panacea's attention shifted from me to the girl in my lap, and for a moment I might as well have not existed. She knelt down, bringing herself to eye level with Sarah, and her expression softened into something gentle.
"Hey there," she said in a surprisingly soft tone. "Are you alright?"
Sarah stirred in my lap, rubbing her eyes as she looked up at the newcomer. "Where's my mommy?"
"She's sleeping right now," Panacea said. "But she'll be awake in a few minutes. You can go see her soon, I just need to check you over first. Is that okay?"
Sarah hesitated and looked up at me with uncertain eyes. I gave an encouraging nod.
"It's okay," I said. "She's a hero. She helps people feel better."
Sarah seemed to accept this, turning back to Panacea with a muffled "Okay."
"Can you stick out your arm for me?" Panacea asked, already reaching out.
Sarah extended her arm, watching with wide eyes as Panacea placed her hand on the girl's skin. A moment passed in silence, and then Panacea pulled back.
"All done," she said, offering a tired smile. "You're perfectly healthy."
"Can I go see my mommy now?" Sarah asked, already scrambling off my lap.
"Yes, I'll have a nurse take you to her room." Panacea stood, gesturing to one of the nurses nearby. The woman approached, and Sarah turned to me, wrapping her small arms around my waist in a move that surprised me.
"Thank you," she mumbled into my stomach before pulling away and following the nurse down the hall.
I watched her go, a fond smile on my face. She was a sweet kid, and I was glad she'd be okay.
I turned back to the healer, only to find her staring at me intently. It was a little unsettling; that deep stare compounded by the dark circles around her eyes made her almost intimidating.
"Yes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Panacea's gaze was intense. "The paramedics said you healed that woman. Is that true?"
Ah, right. I suppose I should have expected this.
"Yeah," I admitted, wincing slightly. "I know it's kind of taboo to use your powers on civilians without testing, but I didn't really have another option. She would have died if I hadn't stepped in."
Panacea's expression shifted at my admission, her brow furrowing slightly. Then, she sighed.
"At least you had a reason," she grumbled, not unkindly. "Please don't make a habit of it until you've been tested in an official capacity. Good Samaritan Act or not, it's still technically illegal."
I nodded, somewhat relieved that she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. "I only did it because it was an emergency. I don't plan on going around testing my powers out on random strangers."
"Good to hear," Panacea nodded, seemingly accepting my words at face value. "That being said, if you do decide to get tested, don't hesitate to come back and help out. Lord knows we need it."
"I'll try to keep that in mind," I said.
Panacea frowned but didn't say anything about my non-committal answer. "While you're here, do you want a check up as well? I know powers like ours don't tend to work on ourselves."
Though surprised by the offer, I shrugged, not seeing the harm. "Sure, I guess."
Panacea lifted her hand in askance and I held my arm out, pulling up my sleeve so she could get at my skin a bit more easily. She reached out, pressing her bare fingers to my skin... And froze.
It was then I realized the mistake I made. Panacea's power, despite the public perception, didn't just heal; it allowed her to freely manipulate the very building blocks of biology with some skin on skin contact. A single touch pretty much gave her the source code of whatever organism she was touching...
Which meant she was seeing everything right now.
I jerked my hand back like it was burned but the damage was already done. Panacea stared at me with wide eyes, her hand frozen in the air where she had been touching me.
I stood abruptly, my mind working for an excuse to get me out of the situation. "I---uh, just remembered I have to... Go return a library book. It's due today and I really don't want to deal with the late fee."
Flawless.
“Bye!” I squeaked, then practically jogged away, leaving Panacea staring after me.
I would have liked to say goodbye to Sarah and her mother once they recovered, but I didn't want to linger for whatever questions had been spawned from Panacea's little peek into my biology.
That's gonna come back to bite me; I just know it, I lamented as I made my way back home.
~~~
After that lovely welcome to the city, the rest of the week turned out to be much more quiet.
I mostly kept to myself, spending my days exploring the city and my nights experimenting and practicing with my abilities. I didn't go out on patrol or anything like that, but there were probably a few pictures of my silhouette flying around the city somewhere.
Any time not spent actively training or trying to get a bead on the Nine's location went into learning more about Brockton Bay and the general state of affairs therein.
What I learned was that despite everything I'd read in fanfiction and the source material, it turned out that most of the time, Brockton Bay was just another city. Granted, one with a few more villains and gangs than most would care for, but it somehow wasn't quite as noticeable as I imagined it would be.
While some of that may have had to do with the fact that I had divested the infamous Oni Lee of his second most useful method of transportation, thus rendering the ABB quite a bit weaker, there was no obvious recourse to my actions. The Empire didn't come out in force to capitalize on the moment of weakness, nor did the PRT.
All in all, it was just kind of... Quiet. People went to work, children went to school, and life went on with only the occasional disruption.
After my first day here, it was honestly almost disappointing. Almost.
Barring that, while I waited for my inevitable confrontation with the Nine, I focused on refining my powers and dipping into the repertoire of spells waiting for me. Given the nature of my abilities, there wasn't really a limit on what I could learn, but I wanted to make sure my time was well spent. The Slaughterhouse Nine weren't pushovers, and I needed every advantage I could get.
It took a lot of deliberation, but eventually I settled on a subsect of sympathetic magic that I had dubbed Curse Magic.
It was a bit esoteric, but the applications were many. I could curse someone with pretty much anything I could think of, from something as benign as hiccups or a throat tickle, to specific changes to their body and soul. With proper preparation, I could curse an entire room so that whoever crosses the threshold would simply forget how to blink.
If only I could curse Scion with a burning need to dive into the nearest black hole, I mused as I bustled around my kitchen, preparing breakfast.
Unfortunately, the curses I could apply required an amount of magic that scaled linearly to the severity of the effect. Weaker curses were simple, able to be performed with a word or gesture, while something more complicated required entire rituals to accomplish.
Something simple like cursing someone to speak in rhyme or never lie in my presence would be as simple as a light touch and spoken word, while cursing them to never draw breath again would require much more time and effort and perhaps even an object tied to the individual I was cursing.
So not exactly a cheat code. More like an exploit. One that I was going to use maliciously.
I finished my breakfast which was just some eggs, yogurt, and toast because I couldn't be bothered to make anything fancy, and headed out for the library. It had become something of a routine for me, checking the message boards and news sites for any information on the S9's movements.
I expected to find nothing, like usual. The Nine's modus operandi usually consisted of performing unspeakable horrors in one unfortunate town and then going to ground so thoroughly, one might think they'd dropped off the face of the earth.
So one could imagine my surprise when I opened PHO and was immediately met with an exclamation in bolder letters right at the top.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE NINE SPOTTED IN PHILADELPHIA
I stared at the screen, processing the title. Below it were links to various news sites and sources that would tell more of the story, but that wasn't important right now.
The Slaughterhouse Nine were in Massachusetts.
I was also in Massachusetts.
And just like that, my week of quiet was over and done with.
I clicked on the first link, my heart pounding in my chest as the page loaded. The article was from a local news station. It turned out that the PHO title had been misleading. The Nine hadn't hit Philadelphia proper. They'd hit a small town just outside the city, a place called Millbrook. Population somewhere around two thousand, now significantly less.
The article detailed the devastation. Four hundred and twelve confirmed dead, with another sixty-seven missing, presumed dead. The survivors had been evacuated to nearby shelters, those who could be moved. The ones who couldn't...
I stopped reading. I didn't want nor need to know the specifics.
My hands are shaking, I noted idly even as I clicked through the article.
It was strange. I'd spent all this time preparing for this exact moment, but now that it was actually happening and the confrontation was almost upon me, it felt so much more real.
Four hundred people. Men, women, children. All dead because no one had been able to stop them. Because every hero or villain who tried had failed or died or been broken so thoroughly they wished they were dead.
And I was going to walk right into that?
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to steady myself. This wasn't a story. These weren't characters on a page that I could read about from the safety of my own home. These were real people, real monsters, and they had done unspeakable things to countless innocents.
That was why I had to do this. Not just because Jack Slash was going to one day end the world, but because these monsters were killing day in and day out and nobody else could stop them. People were dying and would continue to do so for months unless I put my foot down.
I looked at the name of the town one more time, burning it into my memory. Millbrook. Just outside Philadelphia. Fairly close compared to the distance I was prepared to travel.
I calmly closed the browser and stood up from the computer. The librarian looked up as I approached the front desk, offering me a polite smile.
"Thank you for letting me use the computer," I said. "I'll be back tomorrow."
Hopefully, I added silently.
"Have a good day," she replied, already turning back to her book.
I pushed through the glass doors and out into the afternoon sun. The day was bright and clear, the sky a perfect blue with only a scattering of clouds. It was a beautiful day.
It felt wrong, somehow.
I slipped into the alley for a thin veneer of privacy, spread my wings, and took to the sky quicker than ever before. The ground disappeared behind me as I left the earth behind in favor for the domain above.
The wind rushed past my face as I climbed higher and higher, the buildings of Brockton Bay shrinking beneath me until they were nothing but tiny rectangles and dots. The Rig was visible in the distance and beyond it, the endless ocean.
I turned south, toward Philadelphia, Millbrook, and the pack of monsters no world would ever miss.
And hopefully not a very painful death.