Duellist 26

AN: Wanted to finish Merchants entirely this chapter, but it got too big. Chopped it in half. Here's the first half. 28K.

"This is so stupid." Sophia repeats for the third time straight. "Like, top ten-"

"Yes, yes. You've said." I agree testily. "And yet, it's working, isn't it?" I glare in the direction of one errant partygoer straying too close to our route around the edge of the compound, swinging my gun around aggressively with the motion. The man quickly finds another corner to piss in after sending me a foul look.

"It shouldn't." She grumbles. "Just one person saying something-"

I snort, keeping my voice down. "And who would do that? There's a hierarchy here. Capes. Guards. Everyone else. We don't see any guards, because they're all either sitting in their one position or following the same patrol route as us. Squealer is tinkering in her workshop. Mush is... not the kind of person to willingly talk to anyone. And Skidmark, if he even knows who his guards are and what they look like, isn't exactly outside right now to spot us."

"I get all that." Sophia kicks away a discarded bottle in our path. "It's just-"

"Just what? We haven't even done anything difficult or risky yet. This is the equivalent of walking into an employees-only room with a high-vis jacket and a clipboard, except we also have an escape route that they can't stop." I look at her doubtful expression with a confused look. "Your power is perfect for this sort of thing. Even my discount version is amazing for it. Going through walls or just peaking, blending into shadows, general weightlessness, the lengthy glide - I do this sort of thing all the time, even with the cooldown problems that my version has. As long as you don't mess up and land on something as you come out of the shadow state, you've got all the time in the world to slip around like you own the place. Feels like everywhere has space in the ceiling to hide in and peer through, and literally nobody ever looks up - or would even recognise the slight wisp of a sliver of your smoky-face peeking through the bathroom wall."

"Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a risk." She argues. "You're risking your life doing this, waiting for one thing to go wrong."

"Isn't it the same every time you try and punch a Nazi in the face? They could have a gun, or a taser - or a sniper could be waiting to take a shot from across the street. Doesn't stop half the Wards from being deployed to minor gang scuffles." I counter.

"We can practice for that. We train for that. Funnily enough, strolling into an enemy base isn't something that you can safely train for. You're just looking at the fact that you haven't been killed yet, and assuming that means you must be so smart and so skilled that nobody can stop you." Sophia shakes her head. "And, like. I get it. I get it! It's me! I felt invincible too. Random girl one day. Trivially beating up a guy twice my size the next before I even knew how to fight. But, you can't let it get to your head. You need experience." I snort. "I'm serious. You're going to keep testing for your limits, and instead of finding them you're going to get slightly unlucky and end up dead. No retries."

If only she knew. "I appreciate the concern, but you're making this into a bigger deal than it needs to be." I come to a halt and cast my gaze around sternly for the benefit of anyone looking our way. Our act as guards wasn't exactly Oscar-winning, but it wasn't like the people we were imitating were professionals anyway. "I know what I'm doing here. I've spent-" Days. "-hours mapping this place out and seeing how they organise themselves. I'm more prepared for this than any other time you've seen me." I clear my throat. "And, sure - the original plan was to attack them as a three-man unit later on - but that doesn't mean that everything I know is useless now."

Now it's Sophia's turn to express disbelief. "Sure. You walked around licking the dirt off of Skidmark's boots for an hour or two, now you're qualified to star in a shitty spy movie about breaking into their little party - except instead of shit ratings, you just die. But don't let me talk you out of it, I'll say something nice at your funeral." She sends me a harsh look. "Look at it this way. I wouldn't do this. Why do you think its a good idea for you to do it, with a worse power and less experience?"

"Less experience? Do you have any idea how many times-" I cough. "I mean, come on. I'm pretty sure I have the edge on you there. It isn't like you ever get the chance to do anything relevant with your powers since joining the Wards."

"The fuck does that mean?" She hisses, voice low only as we pass by a smoking partygoer seeking a moment of solitude away from the crowd. I wait for us to gain some distance, the music in the distance providing an extra layer of soundproofing despite the open-air of our surroundings.

"Just that the PRT have taught you everything they know about being cautious, taking no risks and generally doing nothing that will get the Youth Guard breathing down their necks." I continue for her. "I won't say that you've gone soft-"

"Better fucking not." Sophia mumbles darkly.

I shrug. "-but you've been working with them for a while now. The PRT doesn't do infiltrations. They don't do sneaking around and ambushing people. They would never dream of sending you into a base of armed hostiles like this. And so, you don't practice for it. Instead, they teach you how to fight in a team, rescue people and stand up to villains in a fair fight. They've encouraged you to patch up your weaknesses rather than exploit your strengths, because all of your strengths are useless to them."

I direct her down to the side of the fence. A pair of guards had been lingering around the fence line here the last time I found a current-time WRLD modifier - I wanted us to be in the shadows on the approach, so I would see them first if they were there.

I continue. "And now you've let them gaslight you into thinking that something like this - too dangerous for a generic superhero to do - is something that you aren't capable of either. This is- this is you. This is your element. A base of oblivious hostiles, some VIPs to reach and take down somewhere in the middle of it all and no real help coming if you set off an alarm." I wave a hand at nothing. "Hell, we're actually making it harder than something you could do on your own. You could just shoot Skidmark once you find him, rather than dragging things out to teach him a lesson." I knew exactly what I wanted to do to Skidmark. But if I told her now, she would probably back out. "Every security measure in this place is designed around the fact that humans have to walk through certain checkpoints and entrances to get anywhere. Your power tramples all over that from the very first move, never mind what happens when we actually reach the building."

"All we did was phase through a wall." She dismisses my words. "Don't try and make it any more than it was."

Is she actively trying to miss the point? "It's not about that. Half of the Bay could get in here. It's everything else. It's about the stealth, mobility and options you have. Glory Girl could fly in here just the same, but she knows that her forcefield is unreliable once bullets start flying."

Sophia pauses for a half-step at that, then resumes walking. Did she not know she wasn't invincible? Or was she surprised that I knew?

As she doesn't voice a question, I elaborate on my point. "But you? I'm pretty sure you could get onto the roof of that building without me from this point, poke your head through the roof, plant a crossbow bolt through Skidmark's head and leave before anyone even realised you were here, let alone thought of looking for you in particular. There's not a single person here who could stop you from sprinting out of the centre of this camp and out into the city, even if everyone was chasing you. Stealth. Lethality. Dexterity. Mobility. It's an assassin build. You knew that when you named yourself. There's a reason you aren't called Shadow Brawler or something." I gaze towards the central building, noting the rotating lights periodically illuminating it - and at the far edge of the visible area, the shadows of two distant guards ambling towards their next destination.

"And that's where the theory ends and reality kicks in." She argues. "Yeah, if the fate of the world was at stake - maybe I would be pretty well suited for a mission like that. But day-to-day bullshit? I've only got one life. A guard rounds a corner a few minutes early when I'm not looking? Some electrician made a mess of the wiring in the wall and I go through it too fast? It's over. I got a sensor of sorts in my helmet after joining the Wards, that's the thing that would enable me to do something like this on my own if I wanted - unfortunately, it came with a collar attached." She shakes her head. "Not that - as a vigilante - I ever found a place where serious Capes were hiding anyway. Some warehouses, sure - but never anything where I knew, for certain, that there was someone inside worth risking my life to get at. The PRT gets info like that sometimes. But, again, the timing of it all - everything I need to be effective, and the promise of juvie if I dare to use any of it."

I consider that for a moment. "Suppose I can't really blame you for looking at it like that." I was used to Shadow Stalker's power being near all-powerful within the constraints of a building like this. The idea that Shadow Stalker wouldn't share the feeling of near-invincibility that I did with a dozen escape options available to me was a novel one. I suppose, without the benefits of my first few dozen deaths teaching me all the right and wrong ways to infiltrate any given building and where electrical cables should be expected, that this must seem a little insane. Still pretty safe, but it was a dice roll every time. Hitting a natural one was unlikely, but if you kept on rolling... "So does that mean you've never done something like this before?" I take her silence as a yes. "I'm sorry. If I'd known this was your first time, I'd have been more gent- ow!" I send her a wounded look as she kicks me in the shin, barely breaking her own stride.

"Don't go getting an ego, thinking that you're better than me with my own power. I've got months and months of experience over you-" Probably not true, actually. "-and the fact that you were stupid enough to risk losing your life in a random drug den to one misplaced power cable doesn't change that."

"You know, for once, I really wasn't trying to be mean there." I raise my hands as she sends me a disbelieving look. "I'm serious! I was joking around a little, but I respect the point. I mean, if I hadn't already scouted out this place thoroughly - and if I didn't have a host of other powers to fall back on if needed - I wouldn't have risked coming in here, Cape or not." I only ever needed to find one person with a challenge based on the area or with a WRLD modifier to know absolutely everything about a building. Which walls were safe to run through, where I could access the ceiling, or dive down into a basement level - not quite as effective as just being able to see electricity though. I needed to steal that design at some point, it was probably Armsmaster's - would I be able to interpret it with another Tinkers power, or did it lean on his speciality too much? "But I get the feeling that you'd have been more willing than me before the PRT came along."

She's silent for a moment. "Honestly speaking? Yeah. Maybe I would- could have done something before I got this leash on me." She grunts bitterly. "Too late to do anything meaningful now. I'm not going to juvie to get one loser off the streets." She shakes her head, adopting a wistful tone. "I used to have a list. Every villain in the Bay that would die to a crossbow bolt appearing in their skull. Used to imagine what the scene would look like if I could just do that in one night, pair up with some Thinker to point me in the right direction - eliminate most of the villain population overnight. Wouldn't even have to do the rest myself, the PRT would just sweep up the rest for me if they weren't outnumbered - right?"

"Love the faith in the PRT. Must have been early days." She snickers at that as we near the corner of the compound and turn to follow the fence line. Regardless of her own feelings on the matter, her plans wouldn't have changed much, at a guess. Most likely, the big gangs downsize their territories and the Teeth would have seen some prime real estate to move back into with their main rivals gone. They didn't seem to be loving their time in Boston, based on what I've seen in the news lately. "Not Lung. Not Alabaster. Fifty-fifty on the other Brutes. Not Krieg. Maybe not Cricket. Everyone else dies." I offer after a moment of thought.

"Something like that. Thought Krieg wouldn't be able to do anything to a fast enough bolt. I was thinking I could maybe handle Lung if I had a larger payload. Even tried timing some explosives and attaching chemicals to the bolts, which didn't really go that well. I'm not a Tinker. Or even particularly good with DIY. Obviously, it didn't work out - never even saw the guy. Probably for the best, after seeing the PRT's folder on him - he definitely would have shrugged it off." She clears her throat. "But, yeah - spent a lot of time thinking about how much I was going to achieve - do what nobody else seemed to be able to do. And then, the minor details in between started to become my problems. Sure, I can shoot Kaiser - how do I find him? Fine, Oni Lee dies if I catch him unawares - how do I do that? What patrol is good? Should I patrol? Is it good for people to see me, or does it just scare my targets away? Everyone knows the ABB is in the downtown area - but you could run for an hour and not even check the outer perimeter of an area as vague as that. Where do I go? How do I find them, so I can shoot them? That was the problem."

Sophia sighs loudly. I opt not to interject, sensing her desire to continue.

"I guess you're new to this, you got lucky with a partner who can search for trouble in such a wide area, and you only did a few patrols before you stumbled on Oni Lee by sheer luck - but... Brockton Bay is big." She makes an expressive motion with her hands. "And not everybody is a full-time Cape. You can go days, weeks of patrolling and just never meet another Cape. Even when you're really trying. Even if you cause some chaos deliberately, try to scare some low-ranking members to get their big guns to come after you - they usually won't bite. They can just give it up as a minor loss, hope that someone kills the nosy Cape with a lucky bullet. And then, one day, all of a sudden - they all bite at once. Ambush. Almost got myself killed trying that with the Empire. Not to mention how Armsmaster got me within a week once he started looking. Still don't know how he managed that when I change streets every patrol."

I nod in understanding. "It's a lot for one person. I get it." I really did. "You hear about a Cape fight just starting and by the time you get there, everyone's already gone home. I've got speedster powers now and I still have that issue."

"Yeah." She scowls. "If I'd known about a meetup like this back then - even just once - I could have done something. Done more in one night than I managed in weeks on my own. Now, the PRT has all the information I could ever ask for - and I can't do a fucking thing with it."

"Until I came along." I hum. "Plausible deniability is great, isn't it?" A ghost of a smile appears on her face. "And you were so annoyed when I showed that I had your powers the first time." The smile disappears as fast as it arrived.

"I'm still annoyed, don't get it twisted." She levels a scowl at me. "I had to go through real trauma for my powers. And some shut-in nerd gets them by manning up and talking to girls for once in his life? Anyone would be mad."

"I think you're being a bit uncharitable there. My power isn't quite that simple." Sure, I hadn't exactly explained the full details for obvious reasons - but it did grate a little bit to have people minimising my own efforts and struggles that went into acquiring new powers. There was nothing I could really do about it, being honest would be a complete disaster - but... still. Anyway. I probably shouldn't be trying to defend myself too hard here. Time to deflect. "We did way more than talk."

"Yeah? How many extra powers did you get in the few hours you were in there today?" She jerks her head towards the courtyard and buildings across the path behind us.

I pause. "Okay, I did get all three-" I concede. "-but that doesn't mean-"

"See? Absolute bullshit." Sophia crosses her arms for a moment as she walks. "You won the power lottery and you're complaining you have to walk to the desk to get your numbers checked."

"At least you're admitting I won the power lottery now." I grin. "Feels like only yesterday that you were praying for my downfall as a useless grab-bag Cape that could only hold a few useless powers at once."

"I'm still praying." She tells me shortly. "You'll run into a limit one of these days. Sooner, when Armsmaster drags you in for powertesting and a forced induction into the Wards after catching you jaywalking."

"I feel you might be a little biased." I tell her drily. "Time to face it. I'm going to be Triumvirate tier eventually. Beyond that, even." I wink. "Don't worry, I'm the humble sort. Never one to forget all the people who helped me along the way." I squeeze her ass as we continue along the patrol path. "I'll find a use for you, I'm sure."

"Keep dreaming." She looks a little mulish at my actions, but words can't entirely hide her body language. Try as she might... Sophia couldn't hide the fact that she liked it when I was arrogant and possessive. "Besides, you'll never make it to Triumvirate if you get shot in the face today because you don't realise that you're walking too fast." She tugs me back.

I click my tongue, following her gaze to note the shadowy figures in the distance - figures barely illuminated every few seconds by the rotating lights of the party. I hadn't noticed them in the lengthening shadow of the main building as nighttime descended on Brockton Bay. We would probably have passed without challenge at a distance... but getting too close might have caused a scene. "Thanks."

She shifts, almost not knowing what to say. "...just pay attention."

I give her a simple grunt of agreement. "Once we round that corner, it's a straight-shot up to the building that the main party is in. Guards are watching the back entrance and the lit-up areas of the path heading out, but naturally - there's nothing to stop someone from just lurking in the shadows around the edge of the building and slinking up to the roof. The hall that most of the guests are sitting in doesn't share the attic, so don't drop through in the wrong place. The back half of the building is no different from breaking in to your standard office." I pause at the lack of acknowledgement from Sophia. "I mean, you know those square-tile things that you can lift away from some ceilings? And the little runways you can walk or crawl on while you're up there? How do you think the aircon, pipes and electricity cables get around buildings like that? There's a whole mini-floor up there that you don't get to see, minus the headroom." She shrugs. "You need to get out more."

"Rich, coming from you." She snorts.

I adopt a smug expression. "I know you'd like to think that you're the real go-getter here, but you're the one looking like a complete novice at navigating a building like this. What were you even using your powers for, up until this point?"

"Beating up criminals. Saving innocent people. Training with the Wards." She rolls her eyes at me. "Not much time on the agenda to practice breaking in."

"It's called Urban Exploration, Sophia. We're not criminals." I chide her, resuming on the patrol path at a slower pace as the distant shadows start to move on.

"Is that what you call perving on the female showers at Winslow? It's not like you have any more reason to be using your powers around buildings than I did - especially without my mask to help out." She frowns as I stop dead. "What?"

"I never did that." I stare straight ahead.

"Sure-" She tugs my shirt and keeps walking, half-dragging me along as we go.

"No, really - like, never." She almost looks uncomfortable for the accusation after seeing my expression. "What was wrong with me?"

"Can't believe I was about to apologise." She snorts and increases her pace.

I race to catch up. "I mean, take me back a few months - that would be right at the top of my to-do list the second I got a power that could look through walls or floor like that. Go peek on the track team as they come in from their practice. Rows upon rows of soaking, naked girls enjoying a bit of skinship-"

"That absolutely does not happen." Sophia denies. "And nobody uses the open showers, the hot water doesn't last. Everyone uses the cubicles."

"Don't ruin this for me." I ignore her. "And that kind of thing, it's basically what your power is built for. The same kind of tier as invisibility, right? Ask any guy-"

"That is not what my power is built for." Sophia denies the truth. "Can we not have this conversation?"

"-and I was no different. Yet, the thought of peeping never occurred to me until now." I tilt my head to the side. "Has my perversion been robbed from me? Has my power taken that away, somehow?"

"I'm bringing a taser into the showers from now on." Sophia levels a glare at me. "And I cannot believe that you just tried to suggest that you aren't still a pervert. You're the most degenerate soul I know."

I return the look. "I'm not the one that gets off on violence and has a defeat fetish a mile wide." I dodge the kick at my shin this time.

"Not even going to dignify that with a response." Sophia states icily. "Focus. The guards are gone."

"Alright, alright. I'll stop." I grin. "Just making pleasant conversation. And you've stopped worrying about the guards running into us, at least."

"I was never worried about the guards." Sophia scowls. "Your plan only gets stupid once we get into the building and look for Skidmark. This bit was always simple and easy."

"That's not what you were saying a few minutes ago." I sing-song. "You didn't even want to go through the wall until you verified the route for yourself and saw the first few patrols go past in person."

She bristles. "That's because only a moron would trust your memory and sense of timing. You should be happy that at least one of us has the good sense to have a bit of caution when walking into enemy territory. Now we know the gaps between patrols, and we know you weren't entirely full of shit about their pathing. And all we lost is a few minutes of time that we had plenty of anyway."

"So little faith in me. I haven't been wrong yet, have I?" I guide her up an incline.

"Yet." She stresses. "There's still plenty that can go wrong here."

"There is." I admit. "But that's why we take it slow. Like I said, if we don't get the perfect opportunity... we leave as quietly as we came."

"I don't know about that." Sophia hums, hefting the gun in her hands and peering down the sights. "It's only a problem if we get noticed as Capes. If it looks like we can't get anything done, no reason why we can't just act like a lone Merchant took a shot and did a runner."

"We're not doing that." I shake my head. I didn't really have any personal compunctions about killing him, but the prize of eventually getting a more complete version of Skidmark's power was enough to tilt the balance in favour of keeping him alive. "And we're looking to hit the entire gang at some point, remember? If we don't get anything done, it isn't like we'll just be letting them off scot free. It's just... an opportunity to teach Skidmark a lesson without necessarily tying it to our Cape identities." I breathe out steadily then gesture at the path ahead. "Come on. Straight up the side of the building. You can turn pretty much weightless with your power, so you should be able to jump up to the roof from that corner-"

"You forget who you're talking to." Sophia sprints past me. I follow behind as quickly as I can. I frown as I find myself slightly outpaced anyway, the light wisps of smoke streaming behind her enough of an indication that she was doing... something, to run faster. Or perhaps, to ignore the uneven ground to an extent? Hard to tell in the poor lighting around here, not something I'd seen her do in any of her challenges. Perhaps another thing that she only learned after power testing with the PRT? If I thought she would tell me, I'd ask - but I doubted I'd get any use of it anyway. It was a minor gain in speed, far inferior to my speed state and I'd never sacrifice my precious shadow state charges just to run a little bit faster. Maybe I'd look into it once I was free of the limitations of the nerfed Shadow Stalker powerset - but by that time I'd probably have better movement powers anyway.

Shadow Stalker practically flies up the wall, a level of parkour that I could only hope to match in the weightless world of my speed-state - as it is, I expend a charge to land soundlessly on a discarded pallet, surging up in a glide with the next charge and then sinking the final one into, once again, landing without making a sound on the rooftop. I doubted anyone would notice a commotion with the music and general atmosphere of the party, but good habits die hard - or whatever it is that people say.

This time, there's no banter between us as we both pause - waiting for any sign of someone noticing anything, or some alarm being triggered. When the thrumming of the music beneath our feet is the only response to our movements, we both relax - sinking low against the roof as I lead the way towards my planned entry point. Sophia even starts to lose her tense posture, perhaps realising that the theatre of security around here is just that - a theatre. This wasn't a movie villain's base, where a spotlight would be turned on us at any moment. This was a temporary, throwaway party location picked on a whim with 'guards' that were too high, too lazy or too incompetent to hold down a real job. There was a reason that the guards only started looking mean and focused around the areas Squealer and Skidmark were hanging around in, but were blatantly indulging in the drugs and 'dancers' the moment their patrol took them away from the central building.

Not even cameras. Skidmark wasn't even bothering to wear his mask half the time.

Which meant that I had absolutely no fear that anyone was going to be looking up at all, let alone inspecting the outlines of a worn-down dark roof against a deepening night sky for anything that shouldn't be there. And that lack of fear gave me the courage to go sticking my head through the roof without worrying that I was going to get shot.

"Storage room." I whisper quietly. "We need to be further along that way, following the corridor."

"Shouldn't you already know that?" Sophia looks unimpressed.

"Roughly, just want to be precise about where I drop in." I whisper back. "There's mains electricity all over the bit where I want to drop in. Pushing my head into a lightbulb isn't as painful for me as it is for you, but I still don't want to touch a cable because I was a little bit further off than I thought. There's not much in the ceiling around here, so I've got a good idea where to go." Ideally, I wanted to stick my head through and not see any room at all. I wanted to see the great expanse of twisting wires, pipes, sketchy flooring and metal grids that defined the usual area between the roof and the 'ceiling' in buildings like this.

She peers out across the courtyard, settling back into a low crouch as I start moving again. "How would you even know how painful it is for me? You've got nothing to compare against."

"Not important." I wave her off. Awkward questions. Separating my challenge knowledge with my 'real life' knowledge was hard sometimes. It didn't help that I was less on-guard around Sophia. "Let's keep going."

I'd have to wait a few seconds before dropping in again. The one-second limit per charge was a pain here, because that was barely enough time to finish the motion of getting my head through the floor - let alone getting a grip on what I was seeing and where I was in relation to my mental plan of the building. And simply bursting my head through at max speed was a dangerous kind of thing, that kind of sudden movement might be spotted - especially if I left more of my head out than my plan to just peek the edge of my face out - a smoky mark on the ceiling that anyone would think was a trick of the light, rather than a blatant Cape power staring right into someone's soul. Anyway. That all meant using two out of my three charges. I could wait for the fastest-recharging charge and try again right away, but that would leave me - momentarily - without a shadow state charge to spend in an emergency.

I'd died too many times in challenges to one moron with a gun because my shadow state was on cooldown after using it for simple expediency. I wasn't going to risk it in an area as hostile as this. Twenty seconds to wait for the second charge, not that big a deal.

Four charges later, I've found a good spot. "Here it is. Solid flooring just below us, not much headroom - just mind the cables running across the planks. Don't need anyone trying to work out why the lights are flickering." I tell Sophia. "Pretty dark inside at first, but once we get going the gaps in the wood give you enough light to work with once you adjust."

"What do you mean, once you adjust? You were there for half a second." Sophia scowls. "Stop trying to sound smart and knowledgeable. You just look stupid."

"That's just how eyes work, Sophia. Didn't they teach you any of that in school?" No sense in trying to justify how I knew that navigating the glorified attic-slash-crawlspace below us wouldn't be that hard. Insults were always the best way to distract Sophia. "Leave the guns. Too bulky, pain in the ass if we accidentally fire them. Keep your voice down inside. It might look like a mini floor all on its own, but it's not all that insulated from below."

"Get on with it. You crash through the ceiling the moment your weight settles, I'm not coming to save you." She makes a gesture at me, I can't make it out in the dark - but I can probably be safe in assuming it was rude.

"It's not that fragile, just watch what you're stepping on - grab onto the larger pipes if you have to." I shake my head. "Actually, just shift into your shadow state anytime you fuck up your footing - I'm sure you'll manage. I'm the only one that really needs to be careful." For a moment, I forgot that she wasn't limited in her charges like I was.

I slip through before she can respond. Down, through, spread flat across the floor - hand coming to grip a pipe with Clockblocker's power ready to create a perfect handhold to save me at any moment - but it isn't needed. The floor is sturdy enough, and my weight sufficiently spread out, that no precaution is needed.

Twenty seconds later, a slight rustling noise and a clank indicates Sophia settles on top of a large pipe next to me - at a guess, something to manage the air flow of the building. I pause for a moment, momentarily worried that she might be putting too much weight on it - only to notice that her outline was too dark to be normal.

Cheating her body mass away with a partial usage of her power. I'd still love to know the limits on that, but now was not the time. I phase my head through the floor, gather my bearings - and then slowly crawl in one direction. Follow the pipes. I'd be relying on my mental map of the building for this last bit. I could have dropped in a little more accurately, but there were barely any electricity cables to worry about in this particular section - so it makes more sense to get in first, then slowly make my way across to the target in the dark.

In the dark. I glower at the weak, purplish that illuminates the path in front of me. "Really?"

"What? You think I'm going to wait for you to make one wrong step and punch a hole in the ceiling? Admit it, you can't see a thing." She smirks, angling the light up to her face specifically so I could see her expression.

"When the lights in the room below are on, you can see fine." I insist. They were on in the WRLD challenges I did before this. And they were on a few hours ago. I would have been fine. Someone was probably just being eco-conscious.

"Yeah, well they aren't - are they? Dumbass. Just admit you didn't think of bringing a light." Her smirk widens. "Or, did the little nerd not even think he could bring a flashlight along and still use that stolen power of mine? Not everything needs to actively use electricity to keep running, you know. How do you think Armsmaster got my phone and tinkertech arrows to work without knocking me out of my power?"

"All very well, up until someone asks why the ceiling is purple now." I retort.

"Hate to break it to you, but this isn't that bright. But if you're really that concerned, I suppose I'm happy to leave you scrambling in the dark praying that someone turns the lights back on." She practically slides along the ventilation shaft in the direction that I had started to clamber towards, using her power to effortlessly glide - taking the minute light source with her as it also fades into smoke.

...I'll just get a power that lets me see in the dark. Cricket has echolocation, right? I'll just get that. "Don't need a stupid flashlight." I grouse. One foot over the other. Follow the pipes. Mind the weight. Don't fall through the ceiling like a moron. "My eyes were just getting used to the dark too."

There were still walls up here too, each of them warranting another usage of my power and some inelegant shifting in the narrow confines of the space - something that Shadow Stalker seemed to take an inordinate amount of pleasure in watching judging by the casual ease with which she floats through the area to wait for me.

This time, when the soft glow illuminates the path ahead once more - little more than that of a glowstick that might be handed out at a fair - I hold back the instinctive complaint. Fine. It was moderately useful. Congratulations, you put the same care into packing your Cape-bag as Taylor with her epi-pens - and I will take great joy in telling you that one day.

She flits ahead again. So much for only following behind me. Apparently, all that caution doesn't matter when it comes to proving that her power is better at this than mine. Well. Velocity's power would be great for this - the reduced mass and speed would have me flying through here, at least up until the next wall - but I wasn't risking the paralysis and the effect of suddenly regaining all of my mass on a spot that I hadn't tested was capable of holding me.

Two more walls later, and we both pause at the sound of rushing water. Sophia ducks her head down first. "Women's restroom. Maybe doubling up as a storage room, judging by how much trash is next to the door."

I nod, make to move on, then stop. A moment later, I poke my head through just like Sophia just did. Sophia was right, that was a lot of trashcans and debris stashed by the door. Blocking it, even.

I re-emerge to face the disgusted gaze of my partner. "It's not like that." I tell her, gesturing at the pipe next to us. "Look. Water is on, the only door is blocked. Trashcans everywhere. Thinking of anyone in particular?"

"Mush?" I can't make out her expression in the dark with her light turned off once again, but I can feel the edge enter her voice. A hint of suppressed violence - the idea that maybe this trip wouldn't be a complete waste of time after all.

"Maybe, we should check. She's not our main target, but she could be a backup if all else fails-" I had no interest in that, but if it kept Sophia appeased - so much the better. "-and it could be useful to know where she is, in the event that everything goes tits up."

We clamber across the room together, making our way to the sound of rushing water. Sophia beats me to it, only to emerge with a slightly confused noise that she swiftly stifles. I follow a few seconds later.

And immediately pout. No sighting of a nude Mush today. Instead, I find the girl hiding in the disabled shower cubicle blasting a set of trashcans from range with the shower nozzle on max power. I check back a few seconds later, only to see her in the exact same position - firing at the same exact angle at what looks to be a practically gleaming trash can - all while sitting in a slowly growing puddle of water, apparently oblivious to the splashing water that was reaching her. One plate of half-eaten refreshments that had obviously been stolen from the party. The wet shirt was a nice look, but overall the sight was... hm. Well.

We retreat a safe distance silently.

Sophia clears her throat. "That was-"

I feel oddly obliged to defend the girl. "At least she's being hygienic about her choice in accommodation?"

"-pathetic. Don't even try to defend that." She finishes. "I thought I was looking at Taylor there."

"It was a little bit sad." I concede. Mush was never the most intimidating figure once you got past the 'powersuit', and from my understanding of her personality - I was pretty sure that she was barricading herself into a restroom to pretend that she was busy 'cleaning' her trashcans and therefore unavailable to socialise. That was definitely not helping her image. The fact that she was practically huddled against the cubicle door as if afraid it might open again, coupled with the slightly bedraggled, drowned-rat kind of appearance caused by the shower water splashing back from the trashcans and forming a puddle across the floor made it even worse.

She was definitely just hiding from Skidmark. Or, just from people in general.

"And she's a Cape." I raise an eyebrow at Sophia's tone of voice. "I thought you were exaggerating about her but..." I make out the vague motion of a headshake. "This is why we need bullying in schools."

"I think we already have that." I tell her in a dry whisper. Do I need to point that out? To her of all people? Or was that her attempt at humour?

"We need more if it, then. Maybe we'll get a higher-class of Cape out of it, if this is some of the best the city can offer." Sophia leads the way on to the next room over, apparently confident in following the direction that my original path was taking us in before this detour. "Can't believe I thought she was kind of cool for tossing you out like that."

I roll my eyes. "I'm telling you, she was getting kind of into me. She's just more scared of getting yelled at by Skidmark than the possibility that throwing people over a rooftop and into a trash heap might kill me. Like, at least she felt bad about it - even tried to cushion it a little. More than I get from you, just saying."

"Oh, well if the villain protecting the murderous drug lords of the Bay felt bad about killing you - that changes everything." Sophia throws her arms up in the air. "All can be forgiven, as long as they have a nice rack - isn't that right?"

I adopt a considering look. "I mean..."

"I was joking, then realised that that is exactly the kind of sad mentality that you would have." She scowls. "I don't care what kind of sob-story you fell for, a villain is a villain. She could have walked into a job with the Protectorate day one if she wanted. Truth is, she wanted this life. She liked the money. She liked the power. Exactly the kind of cancer making this city worse." She fades to smoke and moves on once more, clearly not interested in hearing a counterargument.

I just sigh and follow. There was probably some interesting insight into her character in that conversation. In the way that she elevated simply having powers as a mark of being strong and worthy - rather than the result of genetics, ending up in a generally terrible situation or just being able to get a certain organisation's attention. In the 'all villains are bad and chose to be that way' kind of thinking. But I wasn't about to delve into that rabbit hole. She probably had her reasons behind her thinking, and I probably wouldn't understand them.

"Here." Sophia's whisper reaches me from up ahead. "Still think this is a shit plan."

"He's been drinking like a fish and throwing up every few minutes. Trust me, I was following him around for long enough to notice." I mutter as I catch up. "He'll show up. Only questionable part is how long we have to wait. It would be just our luck if he just left and doesn't come back this side of midnight."

"Not talking about him being here. Talking about actually getting him." She shakes her head. "What are you even planning to do? Break his legs? You've been real quiet about the details, don't think I haven't noticed." I make out the faint outline of her twirling an object between her fingers. "You even got a plan to take him down? I'm not letting you use my tranquillisers. Too distinctive." She didn't leave them behind with the rest of her costume? Whatever.

"Oh, that's easy. He's not all that much even in a fair fight. He needs distance or some time to prepare, I'm giving him none of those things." I dismiss. That was the part I was most confident in. I'd seen Skidmark at his best, and as impressive as him remaining upright and lucid was - his best was still several hours ago, when he was still almost sober.

In many ways, that was the nice thing about my power. I got to find out exactly how well I measured up in a 1v1. And with every twist of the scenario in their favour? Every modifier stacked against me? That was just a sign of how much harder I would win in real life - in a truly fair match. The real version of Skidmark was even weaker than the very first challenge that I'd made against him - without even the surprise factor or the range advantage, and he's even intoxicated already!

"Seeing a few fights on PHO really giving you that much confidence, huh?" She probes.

"He lost a 2v1 against Circus. I'm a better Circus, without the hammerspace - and I get to ambush him. Relax." I take a peek through the floor. Nothing. "Keep an eye out for new arrivals. Skidmark isn't always in costume, so I'll have to check each one. Might get a little difficult if we have to deal with more than one guy in here at once."

"If there's more than one guy, we call it off and go and beat the shit out of Mush instead." She counters.

"If you have a way of beating her without killing her, without allowing her to weaponise the mass of debris and trashcans that she has laying around in that room, and also a way to explain how someone even got into that room while it was barricaded to attack her in the first place - go right ahead." I huff. "She might be a pushover on the social battlefield, but I'd rather go ambush Squealer than her."

"Sure. Attack the Tinker in her lair. Smart idea." She snarks.

"Don't let a few made-up PHO horror stories scare you off, it only becomes a problem if the Tinkers actually build defences. I've been in there. There's not a thing worth talking about. Her real base isn't here." I peer through the floor again at the sound of rushing pipes. Random merchant. "And I didn't say it was a smart idea. I said that I'd rather go for her than the only one in the gang that could get a Brute rating with access to the very materials that she's practically sitting on right now."

Sophia snorts. "Please. Did you even see her? She'd collapse in a stiff breeze. Can't believe I'm saying it, but I think Taylor would do a better job as a Cape."

"Zip it, and get on with the one job I gave you." I don't trust my acting skills to respond to that. Sophia will definitely twig onto Taylor eventually, but I didn't want to be the cause of it. "Or is that too much of a strain on your power? I suppose I could do it instead."

"I'm not falling for that, dipshit." She flips me off. "Save your charges for putting your money where your mouth is. I'll take some pictures when they're pissing on your body." She ducks her head below the floor before I can respond.

I settle in to wait. This could take a while.

And it does. After a few minutes, I decide to track time by challenging Sophia again, getting sniped out of nowhere and then watching her challenge timer tick down. Twenty-seven minutes of uncomfortable shifting, with the occasional petty snipe and exchange with Sophia while we waited.

And then, just as ordered, Adam Mustain - AKA, Skidmark - staggers into the room below and makes his way towards the urinal.

I let a pleased smile reach up to my face. Here he is. I'm a fucking genius. Or maybe his bladder is just so shot that you can time a watch by it. I don't say anything to Sophia, simply slipping through the ceiling in an instant - settling noiselessly on the floor as my ash clone stirs to life next to me. Transfer Clockblocker's power, I task the clone to killing the lights and clockblocking the door while I rush him - the start of my approach masked by the shadow state.

Skidmark half-turns towards the sound of my final footstep, unwilling to stop mid-piss despite the unexpected noise, but it's already too late. His legs sweep out from underneath him, the lights flicker out a moment later leaving only the faint indicator light of the fire alarm and air-conditioner units to illuminate his outline - my ash clone racing to join me in the one-sided beat-down that he wasn't at all ready for.

"Hi Skidmark." I keep the same tone of voice I used for our previous meeting. "Missed me?" I slam his head onto the floor twice, the slightly wet noise of the second highlighting the fact that he hadn't been done pissing by the time I knocked him down. Gross, but I wasn't the one with my face in it.

"Cunt!" He swears and rages, a light green glow fllickering on the floor for an instant to momentarily provide a source of light for both of us - only for me to slam his face down again and again - the glow slowly fading as he's forced to turn his head away to protect himself, a wild, incoherent scream muffled by his own body and the floor. "Fucking whore, I'll kill-" My clone rams a foot into his stomach, cutting off the threat before he can finish. A green flash surges around the clone, sending it hurtling away in my senses into the dark corners of the room - I stomp down on his face, aiming kicks and punches at his eyes to limit his line of sight. Killing the lights hadn't been completely effective - apparently even slight outlines and dark rooms were enough for him to work his power - but he still needed to know what he was doing.

He wheezes breathlessly, curling up into a ball under the assault. Too winded to even scream properly. Pathetic. He put even less of a fight than I thought. The fact that I was stuck on his challenge when he was this weak was still infuriating.

But that's enough fun. "Scream too loud and you die. Fuck around with your power and you die." I press the knife against his throat, and his fury momentarily stills. It was a bluff, but he had no reason to know that. I'd kill in a life-or-death situation, and I'd probably be a lot happier to kill if it was a basic powerset that I could pick up somewhere else. This was neither of those things. I wanted Skidmark's power, killing him was the last thing I wanted - even over revealing the 'James' identity as Void Cowboy, if it came down to it. I could shout down a few Merchant whiners on PHO with a dozen alts and nothing serious would come of that reveal. I couldn't undo death. Couldn't find a way to get those upgraded powers later on.

"You-" Skidmark snarls at me, recognition in his voice. Good. No need to elaborate on who I was. Guess I had made an impression after all. "-the fuck do you think you're doing, shit for brains? You're fucking dead for this, you understand that? We're going to run a train on your fucking corpse, you know that?"

"You tried to kill me, I think this is only fair." I press the knife into his neck, just for fun. "I figured, I just couldn't let that go unanswered - so I thought I'd teach you a little lesson." My ash clone cooldown comes back, having dispersed after crashing into the wall. It silently reforms just outside of Skidmark's vision - and then applies a kick for good measure. I have the clone jerk his head back, and roughly covers his eyes with reams of toilet paper - then a makeshift gag of the same material. Not the greatest blindfold, but enough that we could turn the lights back on in a moment and see what we were doing properly without him being able to see that my ash clone was obviously a Cape power rather than a second collaborator.

"'w d'd 'ou-" Skidmark attempts to spit the gag out. "-even get in here?" Skidmark still sounds winded from the earlier hits. I have the clone repeat the task again, stuffing his mouth and holding it closed this time. Another set of footsteps announces Sophia's arrival, and after a moment of exploration in the dark - plants a kick into the Capes crotch, eliciting a groan largely muffled by the flawed gag. Good. It works. No screaming for help for you - your only chance for that was right in the opening second. And even then, it wasn't like anyone came to investigate his yells earlier. Loud music damages your hearing, don't you know?

"Why wouldn't I be able to get in here?" I taunt. "You think you're that popular in the Merchants? Everyone wants to see you knocked down a peg, it's not hard to find a few people willing to look the other way and help a guy out when he needs it." My ash clone kicks him again. "Even brought a few friends, thought you would put up more of a fight. Easy mistake to make."

"Nghhggh-" He lets out an unintelligible growl around the massed wad of toilet paper. I slam him face down in his own piss again, taking a perverse pleasure in the action. Fuck you, Skidmark. Serves you right for having such a pain-in-the-ass challenge. And for not having the good sense to stay single in my city. I'm not sharing with another dude and I won't apologise for that.

A third set of hands puts Skidmark into a painful-looking armlock. I grin at Sophia's wild, almost joyful expression. Well. Glad someone came around to seeing how easy this was. And this was definitely Sophia's kind of thing - something she would never get the chance to do with the Wards. They'd never be allowed to kick a guy while he was down, no matter how much he deserved it. I lean in to taunt Skidmark some more. "You're telling me that you didn't even realise? That's funny. No wonder you needed me to point out such basic stuff to you earlier." I mock, directing my ash clone back to the door. "What a moron."

"Mphhnnghhhmh-" He tries to sound dangerous. It doesn't work.

"Mmpphh?" I sing-song back at him. "Sorry, didn't quite make that out. I'll assume it was a threat, which would mean you still don't understand the position that you are in." I sigh to myself. "Killing you would be too easy. Breaking a few limbs would leave you with an excuse to go crying about an ambush to the gang, and it just doesn't feel personal enough. People will look at you and think, 'huh - guess being the leader of the Merchants makes you a few enemies'. Bah. What do I care if you go around in a wheelchair for a few months?" I pull the knife away, only to place it lower on his body. "Need a lesson that will stick. Something a bit more permanent to remember me by, even when I'm long gone. And, just my luck, you've already whipped the perfect target out for me." My ash clone seizes his dick in a vice grip, lining it up for me as an ideal target. Sophia's eyes widen as a feral expression takes over her face, even as Skidmark realises my intentions and starts to struggle in earnest a second later.

Too late. Shouldn't have gone to the urinal. You really made it all too easy for me.

I ram the knife cleanly through his balls, a wild, hysterical scream that drowned out any of the others before is my reward - Sophia slams his head down onto the floor again for good measure while the ash clone holds him down. As for me, it's time to cut. To saw. Every motion drawing a fresh litany of agonised moans, a dark mirror of the upbeat tunes thrumming through the walls from the partygoers.

This wasn't a spur of the moment thing. I'd thought about this for a while. Most of my issues with Skidmark came from the fact that he was a dude. I wanted to hurt him without killing him, and in a way that couldn't be entirely solved via a simple hospital visit - and also didn't give him an overt amount of sympathy from his gang after the 'ambush'. Broken limbs were out. Death was out. Petty humiliation and forcing him to beg were out. But chopping his dick off? That was an idea.

Unmanning him, even as I laid the foundation to steal away both 'his' girl and his gang? Perfect. Knowing that he wouldn't be fucking Squealer while I was busy elsewhere? Perfect. A suitable response to the humiliation he'd put me through earlier? Perfect. The fact that Sophia looked like she wanted me to impregnate her on the floor right now? Perfect.

And his screams really were music to my ears. I didn't get to savour my wins a lot. Personal grudges I developed in challenges tended to end in a quick, violent death - or sometimes the 'personality' of the subjects just stopped working once they started to lose in the fight. I could count on one hand the amount of times I'd been able to really savour the feeling of power over someone that had wronged me. Tattletale during the bank challenge was a standout that I still remembered even now. This felt like that, except in real life. A festering grudge, repaid in violence. I slice and maul harder, his screams and cries reaching even louder volumes as Sophia tries her best to silence him. The gag had been effective earlier, but these higher-pitched squeals were clearly in a different class of noise than his previous anger.

Finally, my 'trophy' comes away in a small torrent of blood mixing in with the urine on the floor. I slip the bloodied remnants of his tool into my back pocket - if only to deny the option of a doctor reattaching it - and step away with a grin. Making a somewhat disgusted expression, I take a step away from the struggle to step over to the sink - hastily washing my hands of the general filth that they'd touched over the last minute or two. I take a moment to admire the sight of the beaten man, landing a few more kicks and punches along with Sophia for fun.

At least, until I find myself pressed into the wall over the sink, the sudden kinetic field fading to nothing just a second or two later as my ash clone covers his eyes again. A brief struggle later, we regain control - covering his eyes once more.

How did he even...? I spot a glowing green glow around the original pseudo-blindfold on the floor, slowly inching towards the corner of the room all on its own. "He used his power on the blindfold. Cant rely on it. We're done here anyway. Dunk him then leave." I make a sharp gesture, and Sophia instantly clues-on. We grab his bloodied, half-broken figure and drag him over to the toilets - ramming him head-first down into the toilet water.

Honestly, I was impressed he was still conscious enough to start a fight - I tended to be a bit of a mess after losing body parts, struggling to even stay conscious. But, at the same time, I didn't have a cocktail of drugs surging through my body. I'd wager Skidmark was in far worse shape than he realised. There was a reason I hadn't knocked him out - the same reason I do my best to avoid closing my eyes after losing a limb. You fall asleep with a wound like that, maybe you don't wake up. Fortunately, Skidmark was very, very awake - and 'help' was just a minute away for him so long as I left him conscious and free to move while we made ourselves scarce.

I point up. Sophia propels herself up and into the ceiling, while my ash clone hits the lights. I release Skidmark and sprint away, making certain to make loud footsteps to retreat before jumping - combining my momentum with a hefty pull on the cubicle door frame - using that extra power to follow Sophia, using all three of my charges to match her rapid ascent back into the ceiling space we emerged from.

Finally, my ash clone kicks open the door and disappears in the wind.

Sophia and I don't dare to take so much as an overly-large breath, tucked safely away in the ceiling space. I blow through my shadow state periodically to check in on Skidmark's response. It takes ten, twenty, thirty seconds for the enraged leader of the Merchants to free himself, spit out the remains of his gag and soggy blindfold, stagger through the dark out of the cubicle and towards the distant light peeking through the doorway. The light turns on, revealing the trail of blood and piss streaking across the floor as Skidmark howls bloody murder into the noise of the party just half-a-building away.

He doesn't leave immediately though - he pauses at the restroom exit after seeing a distinct lack of anyone to pursue in the corridor, taking a moment to - with no small amount of agonised grunting and groaning - re-settle his clothes in an attempt to hide the extent of his 'wound'. I grin at that. That's right. Hide it. I figure the Merchants wouldn't exactly be the sympathetic sort to a guy that just lost his cock. There would be jokes, laughter - and from that, disrespect. Disloyalty. If someone could do that, why couldn't they stick a knife in his throat?

He had to keep the full details quiet, known only to those inside his circle - and whatever doctor he found to try and help him. But somehow, I doubted his ability to get treated by Panacea or Othala - getting a healer wasn't exactly easy as just a regular person. As part of an enemy gang? Even less so. He'd have to learn to live with it for now. And that made it a lot more personal than simply breaking an arm or a leg - knowing that it wasn't really about attacking 'the Merchants' but rather, hurting him personally. All while leaving him with the impression that it was just a small group of unpowered people that had quietly betrayed him and escaped successfully. I wasn't even sure what part of that he would hate more.

Besides, it was a temporary thing. It's not like he'd need a cock by the time I was done with him. It did raise the question of what kind of history my power would cook up to cover or hide this incident when the time came... but, let's be honest - he was always going to be one of those cases that were the same in name only. There was too little there that I'd actually find appealing to simply do a few tweaks or add a pair of tits and call it a day. It would likely be the same as Alice - a transformation that just represented my triumph over a hated enemy, with little true relation to what came before save for a common theme.

And I was fine with that. The old Alice. The current Skidmark. Both of them were trash and nobody would miss them. My power had good enough taste that I was sure I would enjoy the 'reimagining', and the destruction of everything they were and the things they stood for was only more satisfying for how thorough it was.

He's still audible even when the door closes, the furious timbre of his voice only going further as the music peters to a hasty halt in the face of his rage.

"Guards! Squealer! That fucker just- I've been fucking attacked by that bootlicking cunt! I want him found! Get everyone, everyone! Call everyone out! Lock this place down! You fucking useless cockbags, anyone leaving this building is to be shot on sight!" Skidmark's voice disappears down the corridor. "No, fuck that. They'll already be running. Get all the trucks, call out the extras - and form a perimeter. All the way down the street, and all around the block. All the way around. You see anyone, anyone at all - you bring them to me! He was- he had a fake uniform. Don't trust anyone, if they aren't with you - drag them back or gun them down, I don't fucking care. I want everyone! Everyone! Go!"

"We should probably hurry up and leave before they finish organising that." I murmur. "I don't expect Skidmark to be rational about how much noise it will make. We can leave over the rooftops before he starts sweeping the area."

"Last place he'll look is up here." Sophia says, creeping a little closer as she talks. "Let them have the immediate excitement of interrogating the guards and trying to stop people from leaving. Once they realise we aren't hiding in a storage closet, everyone spreads out and we have all the time in the world to leave without worrying that one sniper was lucky enough to glance our way."

"Pretty sure the Merchants don't have snipers." I shrug. "At least, not here."

"Fuckers! I'm going to kill them. We're going to kill them. Squealer, you stupid fucking bitch where is-" We pause the conversation as Skidmark becomes audible again. A wild, almost hysterical shriek injects itself into his speech that I know is just a pure response to pain piercing through the drugs. His rant continues in the distance, slowly growing quieter as he enters the hall proper. "-at the fuck are you standing around for, shitbags? Find me that fucking blonde cunt that was thrown out earlier - he's snuck back into this compound and now he's running. I want an explanation on how he got in, along with his fucking head on a fucking pike! Five- no, ten million dollars to the person who brings him to me, dead or alive! That goes for all you fuckers in the party too, inside and out! Parties over - find that little shit and all his friends! I'll pay better than you could ever imagine if you know anything at all-"

The rant fades away, replaced with the distant squeal of tires and then the start of another rant to the crowd outside. "It's impressive, actually. I really figured the bloodloss would keep him down, but he seems better than ever. Adrenaline is crazy, huh?" I turn conversationally as the voice completely fades.

"Sure, if you say so." There's something odd in Sophia's voice, the dim glow of her light source becoming active once again - barely enough to illuminate her face in the darkness.

"I told you, he was weak. Barely even a risk at all. I was more worried about someone else coming in, the clockblock can be inconsistent and if they really tried to force it I might have gotten exposed as Void Cowboy. But, you know. What's the enmity of Skidmark compared to Lung, right? I can accept that risk, especially when I could just- mmph?" I blink at the taste of the girl on my lips, a hungry, needy tongue wrestling with mine. I relax into it, only for both of us to freeze at the warning creak of the flooring below us. Sophia phases away, but only long enough to reposition and drag me up to lie over the ventilation shaft instead. I prepare to make a witty joke, only to find my tongue busy once again.

"Just shut up." She growls the next time we separate - and, for a moment, I think that she's done. That thought lasts for all of a second before one hand makes itself known - shoving aside one layer of clothing after another before coming to rest on my cock.

"Not complaining-" I murmur as she takes a firm grip on my shaft. "-but we could probably find somewhere a little safer - and a little more comfortable - if we waited for a few minutes and slipped out in the confusion."

A quiet growl is her only response as her lips melt into mine again, as if wordlessly repeating her previous request.

Objectively, I should force the issue and insist that we make our exit. The chance of Squealer pulling out some kind of super-scanner was low, given her speciality, but not zero. The odds of someone thinking to start knocking holes in the ceiling to see if someone was hiding up here was also low, but not zero. With our disguise and the obvious lack of coordination from the Merchants, sneaking out in the frenzied mess to get ahead of the 'runners' that had attacked Skidmark would be easy.

But I was never that good at saying no to attractive ladies throwing themselves at me. More than that - this was Sophia doing it. Even if our relationship was very sexual, it was also usually violent and aggressive. This Sophia? The one practically melting into my arms as she jerks me off, acting for all the world like she was just naturally submissive this entire time? Well. The novelty certainly had its appeal.

And, really, who would really be looking for us up here? It wasn't like you could just take a ladder to our location. This was a perfectly good space to relax, and really savour my victory. Skidmark was somewhere outside trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, crying and seething at his minions to find me while trying to find some drugged-up hack of a doctor to try and salvage his crotch - and I was sitting up here, not even a few metres away from the scene of the crime, getting jerked off by a cute, angry girl that finally seemed to be showing me some of the deference that I was due.

Well, knowing Sophia - she'd struggle to characterise her behaviour right now once the heat of the moment had passed. But I'd enjoy it while it lasted, and then continue to enjoy her ongoing struggle with the realisation that this is the 'real' Sophia after meeting her ideal man.

It was just a shame that we didn't have a better place to do this. There was too little space around here, and it was a little too cold to ask her to start stripping. I make a sound of annoyance as my questing hands fail to find much give in her borrowed clothes. Too bulky and tight to really allow me to slide under and appreciate her curves. Nothing I can do about that. And Sophia didn't seem worried about reciprocation right now anyway.

In fact, if I had to guess from her general demeanour - I'd call this her idea of a reward. Maybe she thought this streak of violence was me taking in some of her philosophy - rather than the cocktail of pettiness, spite and opportunity that it was. She was probably imagining that we could do this to someone like Kaiser the first chance we got - but I couldn't see that happening. He seemed the type to be single - or, at worst, the kind of guy only interested in one-night stands. I wasn't going to get jealous over a guy like that. Especially not unprovoked. Kaiser would probably be pretty keen to win me over, knowing that I was white. I still had that open invitation from Viktor, and I doubted a bit of vigilantism would be enough to rescind that.

Something to chase up when I felt like it was safe to visit those guys. The Empire didn't seem like the type to take 'no' for an answer or play fair. I'd need to try and string them along, without ever leaving any problematic blackmail that could compromise my hero career or get back to Sophia or Taylor. That, all on its own, was half the problem. One bit of CCTV footage could become a PR nightmare and close countless doors to me for the foreseeable future.

...I probably shouldn't be musing over how I can stay in the good graces of the Empire while Sophia is jerking me off. Makes me feel like I'm the bad guy. Which, I kind of am, admittedly - but I'm not the 'actual Nazi' kind of bad guy. Sophia was one of my favourite girls! I didn't think she was any lesser than me- well. Hm. Actually, I did - but only because I was the harem king with the Master power in the relationship, not because of any particular ideology!

Sometimes, my thoughts run away with me a bit. There was a reason I had so many bans on PHO. My stream of thoughts sends me into a corner sometimes.

Sophia pulls me from my mental tangent by redoubling her efforts to jerk me off. And while she's doing an excellent job of it, there was such a thing as 'too good' in this case. I was about ready to explode, and the choices were to erupt all over her, leave some suspicious smells and stains up here in the room around me - or make a polite suggestion that Sophia might want to use her mouth for this one.

Not that polite suggestions had ever been a keystone of our relationship. My motion to reposition her the next time we break apart, pressing her down without a word needed, had little that was gentle or caring about it. It wasn't the tentative, cautious movements of someone still unsure of their partner's boundaries - nor one where I was worried about how they might react to me being too rough. I didn't need the feedback from her that this was acceptable - ideal, even - the kind of man that Sophia was trying to reward and encourage didn't need to worry about something like that.

It was nothing less than what a predator deserved. And, in this moment - in her mind - it was what Void Cowboy deserved too. The part of her brain telling her that I was also Greg, part-time pest and one-time nerdy waste of space, was shoved to the side for now. So her reaction to the dynamics of this encounter being inverted from how it started, to a man arrogantly directing her to suck the cock being pressed at her face without even bothering to address her - was simply to submissively kneel, tongue and lips taking over from the work of her hand without a whisper of protest or even the slightest of sullen looks.

She was hot like this. Not just in the usual way either. The main thing was just how eager she was to please. The way that her eyes glittered in the faint light, a strange mixture of desire and something approaching reverence.

Unsurprising, and certainly not undeserved. Sophia had never been quiet about how much she chafed under the restrictions of the Wards. Never been one to shy away from criticism about their inability to do anything to the villains. Vocal about how a real hero would take the kid gloves off, give them something to fear. And while I hadn't exactly linked my actions to Void Cowboy - this afternoon had been a taste of the forbidden fruit for her. Something more meaningful than anything she'd done in months of sanctioned patrols. I didn't need to push further with my power to grease the wheels of our relationship to have her looking at me like this after what we'd just done. All I'd needed was the initial trust, the push for her to acknowledge me as more than just Greg - someone capable of delivering on his promises.

And now? Putty in my hands. Literally. Her eagerness hadn't done much to improve her oral skills, but simple repetition over the last few days seemed to be working out for her. There was less gagging this time, more focus and a slightly faster pace - but I was nothing if not spoiled. She'd take a lot more practice to get up to the well-practiced levels of Emma or the raw talent of Taylor.

Not that I had a problem with that. There was something of a delicious irony about me - Greg, of all people - being condescending and encouraging about the sexual abilities of my partners. Imagine that, just a few months ago? Unthinkable, but here we are - with one of the hottest girls in the school on her knees to suck me off, happily accepting my hands as they take hold of her head and set the rhythm for her. Making eager noises of approval as I turn it from a passionate, earnest blowjob into an energetic skullfucking session where all she can do is simply accept her role as my sex toy until I'm done.

And that doesn't take long. Just because Sophia hadn't quite found that critical union of tempo and sensation that would drive me over the edge, that didn't mean that her efforts were for nothing. I'd been basking in the feeling of her hands, tongue and mouth for long enough now that I was ready to blow three times over - and that's exactly what I do. I slam her fully down on my cock as I cum, the brief noise she makes cut off by her own eager swallowing and slurping as my load pours down her throat. It's not entirely perfect, a few pearly dribbles escape from the seal around my dick - but we both know that she doesn't have the best track record of containing cumshots anyway. There was a reason she started bringing tissues and a change of clothes to our Winslow sessions by the second day.

"Clean it up." I murmur to the satisfied Ward as she finishes swallowing and regathers her breath. For a moment, I wonder if she hadn't heard me - then she dips down once more, tongue snaking along and around my balls, around the base of my shaft - and then circling up and around the shaft to lap up every trace of what we had done here.

She pulls away, eyes glancing up to meet mine - and we hold each other's gaze for a moment.

She looks away first. "Don't read too much into it." She mumbles. "It's just- that was cool. Kinda hot to see. And we had time to kill anyway."

"Sure." I opt not to voice any witty comments as I fix my clothes.

Sophia straightens, regaining some of her usual attitude. "I'm serious. I was just- giving you a reward for being... more than just talk. I figured you were bluffing before, honestly I only came along to watch you humiliate yourself trying, failing and then running away - or to just get shot. I didn't think you had the balls to actually do it, let alone succeed. I'm... impressed." That last part comes out reluctantly. "Which is rare, considering how much of a fuckup you usually are."

"Yeah, I get it. Violence gets your nipples hard. Tell me something I don't know." I roll my eyes.

She pauses, sending a level look at me before her breath comes out in a loud huff. "Way to ruin the moment, jackass."

"We were having a moment?" I tilt my head. "Was I wrong? Because I feel like our relationship is built on top of me winning in a fight - usually against you - and you getting horny about it and jumping me."

"What?!" Sophia stifles her own outraged yelp at that. "You're the one who keeps jumping me!" She hisses.

"Only because you're into that." I hiss back.

"I'm going to fucking murder you one of these days." Sophia stands up and paces away. "Don't know why I bothered, message doesn't get through anyway."

I make a face. "And you were wondering why I wasn't taking you that seriously earlier. You were just about ready to have my babies thirty seconds ago, now we're back to death threats. I'll beat you in a fight on Monday, and you'll be back to my little cumslut. When's the cycle going to end?"

"When you learn to appreciate a girl's feelings." She replies shortly, face flushing darkly. "No wonder Taylor dumped you."

I gape at that. "Hang on, hang on." I protest. "She did not dump me. We weren't a thing."

"We need to get going." She ignores my protests and starts inching across the crawl space, shifting halfway into shadow at an ominous creak from a weak-looking patch on the 'floor'.

"No, hang on - we really weren't an item. I've never been dumped!" I insist.

"Fine. You were never dating in the first place. Was that because you didn't want to date her, or because she didn't want to date you?" She asks innocently.

"I-" My jaw clicks shut. "Okay. Fair point, I'll admit. But things have changed a bit. Taylor would have come around by now if Emma hadn't done her thing."

"Sure thing, loverboy." Sophia drawls. "Come on, stop whining about the one that got away - start focusing on finding an opportunity to leave. She waves a hand through the roof above us experimentally, then raises her head up once she verifies the lack of cables. She returns a moment later. "Still busy. Busier, even. Courtyard is crawling with people. Guards everywhere, all the lights are on full blast - don't think we can just slip through the shadowy side of the building we came through without being spotted."

"And we can be one of those people in the crowd. Not too hard to blend in, if it comes down to it." I offer.

"I can - Skidmark doesn't know what I look like, doubt that you can though. I'd bet anything that your description is the only thing that mob out there is looking for. I'd hate to be a random blond in that crowd right now." Sophia crosses her arms. "I was thinking that crap he was yelling about sending people out to guard and search the surrounding streets would empty this place out, but with the amount of people here... he either chickened out because the police or PRT might object if he made too much noise - or the Merchants are a far larger organisation than expected."

"Calling them an organisation would be a mistake." I grunt. "It's really just a big collection of smaller gangs tied together with duct tape and a common name. Let me see." I poke my head out of the roof as well, the edge of my shadow brushing close to a live wire and trembling in protest. Close one, that would have been painful - and while I was pretty good with my pain tolerance, I wasn't sure avoiding a yelp or a scream was a certainty with that particular shadow state interaction. Play it safe, Greg. I glare across the courtyard below with my limited time. "That really is a lot of people, huh. They're not all searching though, just standing around - talking to the guards."

"Auditing the people that were supposed to be in here." Sophia concludes. "Seeing if they can find the odd-one out in case we were stupid enough to sit around rather than run."

I spread my hands. "Hey, I wanted to leave. You were the one that decided-"

"I wasn't suggesting anything, just saying that's what they were looking for." Right. Maybe I jumped the gun there. In fairness, I was used to criticism coming from Sophia. "They're searching for a normal group that smuggled a guy in. They get confirmed as being on the list, they go and start playing hide-and-seek with the people outside this compound."

"Lot of people interested in that reward money, especially in a group like this." I muse. "Kind of wish I had a proper cloning power. Turning in my own corpse would be kind of cool."

"Mhm." Sophia pokes her head through the roof again for a few seconds. "I'm just surprised that so many of them are still here. What are they waiting for? Nobody's even trying to sweep the building yet."

"Most of them came here for the party. Too drunk or high to follow orders all that well, if I had to guess." I smile. "There's a good reason I'm not worried about professional search parties being sent in to find us. Most likely, they finish checking those guys outside - kick them out to look for us in the streets, meanwhile the guards that just finished auditing can run in here and start knocking down locked doors to see if anyone was laying low. They'll probably pack it up at that point. That might suck. We might have ruined our grand plan to attack the Merchants if they all leave, guess it depends on Skidmark."

"You can break the news to Arachne. Serves her right for being so slow. What was she doing, waiting for the bus? Two hours..." Sophia grumbles.

"Not everyone has a mover power, you know." I shake my head. "And, honestly, I could have been faster. I knew where this thing was for hours, could have let everyone know in advance. Just got caught up in doing my thing."

She takes a peek again, waiting longer this time before ducking down. "Might have a problem."

I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"I don't know if they're really looking to send in anyone to bust down doors and search supply closets." She sounds concerned. "Because Squealer's got some cobbled-together junk that looks an awful lot like a half-dozen construction vehicles and a tank combined."

I verify her words myself, letting out a quiet swear at the crowd circling the machine in question. "They can't be serious. The PRT ignores these meetups because the only fallout is a bunch of litter and graffiti. They won't tolerate someone bulldozing random buildings on the offchance of finding someone they're after. What's Skidmark even thinking?"

"Probably focused on finding the guy that chopped his balls off." Sophia snarks. "Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but I'd guess he's pretty mad and not doing much coolheaded thinking right now. I don't see him in the crowd anyway."

"Probably trying to get someone to patch him up. Could still be his orders, or maybe Squealer's just going wild on her own." I frown. "We can still escape, but probably not without using our powers. Too many people watching the building, too many lights - even with potential dust and debris once she starts up."

"Gotta be a better plan than that." Sophia growls. "I can get away with pretending to be your clone, but Arachne is going to be rightfully pissed if you get a second gang out for your blood without her being involved."

"You didn't care about that the first time I mentioned the possibility, why bring her up now?" I snipe sourly.

"It's getting more relevant now and you sounded like you had a plan before. Is that really the best you've got?" Sophia probes. "Gonna be honest, I liked the idea more when Squealer wasn't in the Tinkertech vehicle pointing right at us. A big taser isn't that crazy as far as Tinker weapons go."

"Lasers work on your power too." I nod. "She can do those, but I doubt that thing has any. Doesn't really matter, we could just run from the opposite side of the building."

"How did you even have the chance to find out-" Sophia trails off. "Whatever. You don't have any other bright ideas? Because otherwise, I'll run first. You don't have enough uses of my power to make it to the fenceline - I'll get them all chasing after me and you slip out in the chaos."

"Don't rush into anything. She's not rushing to knock this place down yet, for whatever reason. And that idea sucks anyway. It won't look like it's me and my clone unless we run together." I sigh. "Didn't think this part would be difficult, honestly. Figured if there were any problems, it would be some other part of the plan first."

"It was a pretty stupid plan." Sophia acknowledges.

"You were just saying how much you appreciated me for it a second ago."

"It was fucking awesome. Still stupid." She corrects.

I bite down on my lip. "It wasn't stupid. I had good information, and a good gut feeling. And it worked." I click my fingers. "And I might have another one."

"Don't say it worked until we're out. How does any of that help us now? What does your deep research and almighty instincts tell you about sneaking out of here unnoticed? Secret tunnel in the basement?"

"No. Listen." I fall silent. "Now that the music's stopped. Hear it?"

"No." She tells me bluntly.

"You can hear the pipes. Water. Maybe there's a few stragglers in the building that they missed the first go around, but I'm betting that one person in particular has been doing their best to ignore the shouting outside and definitely didn't fancy unblocking the door when people started knocking."

"Mush." Sophia's eyes light up. "Brilliant. I forgot all about her."

I nod. "We just head over there and-"

Sophia nods as well. "-take her hostage."

"-recruit her to-" I blink. "What? No. How would that help? Be serious."

She makes a face. "Made more sense to me than thinking she would help you after throwing you to your presumed death last time you saw her."

"She didn't mean anything by it." I explain, ignoring Sophia's expression of disbelief. "No, really - she's kind of sweet, actually."

"The hardened criminal has a soft spot just for you. I'm sure." Sophia snarks.

I hold up one hand. "Let's see if she's even there first. The argument is pointless if she's already slipped out."

"I know I'm going to hate this plan. I swear you have a deathwish." She grumbles.

"I don't have a deathwish. I just know my limits better than most. I've done way riskier things with way less confidence." I gesture behind me as I rapidly retrace our path across the building. No sense in showing up on the rooftop now, not with the searchlights pointing this way and that and a few hundred people all slavering over the prize they might get for seeing a suspicious outline. "Tell me, that whole thing we did just now - you thought it was risky before, didn't you? Knowing what you know now, seeing how easy it was - you know you could do it again, if we time-travelled back just an hour ago. You'd be confident." I let the considering silence hang for a moment. "It's just like that. You don't know what you can do until you try it, and I've tried a lot more than most. I know what's too much, what's just routine." I grin. "That's why I know, I've got nothing to be afraid of in this compound."

"...why did you have to start flirting with Emma first after getting your powers?" That almost sounded like I wasn't supposed to hear that.

"Why, jealous? Your inner Taylor is shining through." I taunt.

She makes a disgusted noise. "Don't even compare us. Please. We're nothing alike."

"One attractive girl, two attractive girls. Similar enough to me." We clamber over another pipe. Almost there.

"Yeah, if you're blind, sure. Or into twigs." A smirk enters her voice. "Actually, I shouldn't be surprised you like her - now that I know you like men too."

"Huh?" I actually pause at that.

Sophia seems amused. "It's just I saw you grabbing Skidmark's dick earlier. Kinda gay if you ask me. Besides, I'll bet he's a quickshot. You reckon you made him bust while you were jerking-"

"You are repulsive. Don't even joke about that." I make a horrified face as she devolves into laughter. She stifles it a moment later at the sound of a loud revving engine and the distant sound of enraged screaming and loud orders. "Was that Skidmark?" We focus on the distant voice for a moment. With no immediate roar of an engine, it looks like we're safe for the moment.

Sophia returns to the topic with a shrug. "Right. Felt a little gross coming out of my mouth, to be honest - but I'm just happy that it bothers you more." She investigates ahead as I stick my head through the floor, moving purposefully at a familiar angle. "She's still there. I left my stolen gun on the roof, I could go grab it - we still have time to threaten her-"

"Sounds like a disaster of a plan. I don't think Skidmark values her enough for her to even use as a hostage, and certainly wouldn't just let us walk out. We'd end up no better than just sprinting out of here with our powers anyway." I stretch my arms out. "No. We ask nicely. Besides, isn't this far more of a win? Escaping from this situation because one of his own Capes helped us, while the rest of the gang thinks he's lost his mind chasing after ghosts? That seems like a more complete victory to me, even if he doesn't realise the extent of what we've taken from him."

I liked that more. A lot more. And that was even before we got into my longer-term aims out of this. I'd never gotten a chance to try and get close to Squealer. Skidmark was obviously never going to have any interest in talking to me again. But Mush? Mush could be my foot-in-the-door for the Merchants. But that would require more of a connection than we already had from our previous, all-too-brief conversation. No matter how lonely or antisocial she was, she'd barely remember me if I didn't take the opportunity to build on it. Because she didn't know I was anyone special - didn't know I was Void Cowboy. When 'James' disappeared, I needed to make sure the only friendly relation I had with the Merchants didn't go with him.

And if that meant letting her know that tonight's activities were orchestrated by Void Cowboy? Fine. That was the identity I'd be using from now on in our interactions anyway.

"You're talking like it's already a done deal." Sophia growls. "What's the plan when she tosses you at Skidmark's feet? Did you forget how she sided when it came to you versus Skidmark last time? You can't trust someone like her."

I give her a knowing look. "You're letting your biases get to you. Not all villains are the same, you know. She's the type to take the path of least resistance without a trace of shame. If I had to put it in your terms, I'd say... she's everything that you think Taylor is." I grin. "You'll see what I mean pretty fast. I think you'll hate her. Just watch."

And with that, I phase through the floor before she can make any further protests.

I settle on to the tiled floor of the women's restroom - the steady sprinkling of a shower still running in the far cubicle. I sidestep some fallen debris, the pile by the door had shifted slightly - the shape almost reminiscent of her previous trash-frame, except now it was slumped and lifeless - with bits and pieces fallen on each side according to the whims of gravity.

At a guess, she'd animated this with her tentacles just like my ash clone had in my last challenge against her. Remote-piloting, except instead of an invincible, self-repairing suit - she'd most likely just used it to scare off whatever Merchant had tried to get the door open to tell her that everyone was being ordered outside. Did she even know what was going on? Or did she know, and that was precisely why she was staying hidden well out of Skidmark's way?

Doesn't matter. Because I was inside the room now, and she couldn't pretend I wasn't here. I just needed to social-fu my way into getting her on-side. An impossible task? No. She was more introverted than even me. And if I was still vulnerable to any pretty girl insisting that I help with this thing or do things this way, then I was willing to bet that I could bulldoze through any arguments and do the same to her as well.

I don the brightest smile in the world, and race towards the final cubicle - the enthusiasm in my voice probably matching something out of her worst nightmares. "Mush! Mush!"

"W-wha-" The sheer horror in her expression as I pull the exposed lock open from the outside and push it open to send her sprawling is worthy of framing. Terrible lock. Exactly the same type as the ones at Winslow. Why even make locks that you can open with your nails from the other side?

"There you are." I beam. Stay confident. Bulldoze over her. I didn't even need to try and act. I felt invincible right now. I had a pretty good handle on Mush, and on the social battlefield... this girl was absolutely out of her element. "I need your help."

She gapes wordlessly for a moment, panic overtaking her features. "Is- is this about the ambulance? I- I really did mean to call them, but- I figured, hey! What if they asked me awkward questions about how it all happened, or if anyone involved is a gang member - a-and, well, I kind of talked myself out of it, but I really did mean to get someone to help! Eventually, at some point-" She babbles.

"Nevermind that." I dismiss. "Long story short, I snuck back in - caused some trouble for Skidmark, and now he really wants to kill me. He's lining up everyone outside to try and spot me in the crowd, and he's sending all of his goons out on a manhunt - and, in the process, it looks like they're going to knock this building down flat in case I'm hiding in it. Which I am. I need you to help me." I step forward, well into her personal space. "I need you."

"E-ehh? M-me? Against Skidmark? N-no way, I can't do it." She shakes her head frantically. "He'll yell at me again-"

I press forward. "That's exactly why I had to do it." She falls backwards on to the wet floor as I loom over her. "He disrespected me, sure. But I couldn't stand the way he disrespected you, after you didn't do anything wrong. You deserve better than that. I had to make sure to teach him a lesson that he wouldn't forget, for your sake."

I catch her nodding for a moment, before she starts shaking her head again. "W-wait, wait, wait. Th-this is a bit sudden. W-we don't really know each other all that well for you to do something like that-"

"How long do you really need to become someone's friend?" I pressure. "We've got a connection. A bond. We don't need a reason to help each other out." I cup one of her hands with both of mine. "I came back because it would have been wrong to leave you in this kind of situation forever. I empathise with you. I've been there - I know what you've been going through. Shared experiences like we have - that's the reason that we got on so well earlier. That's the reason we're going to keep on getting along. We're friends now, whether you like it or not."

"Fr-friends?" She looks a little wide-eyed at that. "W-wait a minute. If he's after you, and he finds you in here with me-"

"Then you'll be caught up in this too." I acknowledge, trying not to smile as her face goes sheet-white. "But he doesn't have to catch you, or us. You hide us in your trash cans, build up your usual frame - and you join the hunt for us at Skidmark's request. You get to land on his good side, we get away the moment you get far enough from the compound - and you get your revenge on Skidmark for being so mean to you without him even having a clue you did anything wrong."

I smile widely as I continue. "And that's the thing, isn't it? I'm sure this conversation would be pointless for any of the other Merchants - but you're not like them. You don't like Skidmark, you're just here for the easy ride. When's the last time anyone stuck up for you? What's the downside to making some friends in case this gig all falls apart? Is anything - anything at all - positive going to come from you turning us in? I'm sure Skidmark will be delighted, he might make you his chief enforcer-" A pained expression crosses her face.

"I'm dead. I'm actually dead." She echoes listlessly. "This is really the end for me now. Maybe if I run to him and start apologising now-"

"I think he isn't going to listen. We've made him... a little bit mad." I phrase delicately.

"We cut his dick off." Sophia voices. Hadn't expected her to emerge from the ceiling. I glance aside, seeing her leaning agains the wall outside of the cubicle - just outside of Mush's vision.

"W-wha-" Mush stammers. I'm not sure what set her off worse, the words spoken - or the fact that she was now interacting with twice the number of people as before.

"We did. And he went ballistic." I acknowledge. "Which is why we came to you. Because everyone is scared of you, nobody's going to ask to search inside the piles of trash making up your frame. You can walk out of here and get nothing but a bit of praise for helping out when you didn't need to." I clasp one of her hands between mine. "We need you."

"I- I-" Mush looks around frantically for help and support that isn't coming. An excuse for her to say no without having to actually stand her ground. I give her an encouraging smile as her panicked, helpless gaze meets with mine again. "I'm really going to die."

"If it comes to that, I'll defend you." I promise gallantly.

"We're both going to die." She amends quickly. But her fingers snake out all the same, looping through bin handles and then snaking across to the other side of the room. The frame slowly starts to form, scattered debris wrapping around the trash cans that are already being drained of water as fast as possible. "This is definitely blackmail, isn't it?"

"This is friendship." I state confidently. "Because friends don't let friends get mistreated by their bosses like that. I'll bet you anything that Skidmark will be too busy worrying about his personal health and getting revenge to even consider shouting at you for slacking anytime soon."

"Th-that's true. That is true." She brightens at that. "N-not that I was slacking. I have a work contract. Kind of. I only have to do something when we're fighting Capes. And-and I don't see any Capes around here, right? You both could have gotten into this sealed room in all kinds of ways! And those marks on your face might only look like they've disappeared because of makeup! And your leg probably wasn't all that injured in the first place! And- and- why did I say all of that out loud? You're going to execute me after this to keep your identity safe, aren't you? That's just my luck-"

"Ahem! Right. No Capes here, no costumes - see? Nothing for you to worry about." I affirm, getting a frantic nod in response. "And even if, hypothetically, we were Capes - we'd both be heroes - and we'd look at you, and see that you aren't a bad person at all. We're good guys, and we're friends. And we keep our word. Both today, and in the future. I'm sure there will be a time in the future where you need our help, and we'll come in to save you too."

"...you're not going to kill me?" She seeks clarity on that single point.

"I would never kill such a beautiful woman." I confirm, ignoring Sophia's mock-gagging in the background. It's romance, Sophia. Not every woman gets turned on by threats of violence and being beaten to a pulp.

"I'm- well." She looks a little pink at that. Weak to compliments. "W-well then. I- I don't really have a choice, right? Skidmark will yell at me if he finds you no matter what happens, so he's really the only one to blame. And- and- even if you did lie to drag me over to see Skidmark..." The shifting of her fingers is the only indication that the growing, hunched-giant behind her is ready to move. She pushes herself up, clinging tightly to me as we're practically scooped up into the 'cockpit' together. A trashcan. Of course. It was empty, at least. Relatively clean, too. But, still a trashcan. Two people standing up in it was... tight. And I wasn't complaining about that. "...I did like talking with you. I don't really want you to die."

"Trying to ditch me?" Sophia approaches as writhing tentacles heave us up into a hollowed-out portion of the 'mech'. I raise an eyebrow at the girl as she holds a discarded piece of debris up to her face to disguise herself.

"O-oh! I forgot about your friend. N-never!" Mush babbles into my chest, apparently seeing no urgency to break away - not that there's much room to even do so in here. "I wouldn't deliberately- it's just, delicate - consent is, is a thing. Picking up someone without, you know. Um. Do- do you want a ride?"

"That was a joke. Stop crying and apologising. It's pathetic." Sophia snarls.

"S-sorry." An annoyed grunt, and a sheepish yelp. "S-sorry! I mean, sorry-no. Um. I-"

"Stop." Sophia hisses.

"Right." A trash can is pressed towards Sophia. "Y-you can travel in this. I can make some space in the arms, they shouldn't move too much if we're just walking..."

Holding the slip of metal over her face means I can't see her expression, but I know that she's glowering at us. "What's wrong with being up there with you two? Just make a bit more space in the middle?"

Mush waves her arms around in an exaggerated motion. "This one is already a bit cramped, a container makes it easier for me - I don't have to worry about accidentally crushing anything when making limbs move." Mush explains. "And, the symmetry of it- I lose balance a lot if I'm not in the middle or if the shape is too different. I don't really try and improvise a lot with moving other people around, so this is the best I can do." She swallows, her voice becoming quiet. "A-and, you're a bit scary."

"What was that last part?" Sophia has already begrudgingly stepped into her assigned trashcan.

"N-nothing!" Mush shifts against my chest again, glancing to the side out of a narrow viewing port. "I'll- I'll just get moving then. In a very, non-suspicious way." I quietly whistle to myself as the entire frame somehow shifts and contorts itself through the double-doors that make up the fire-escape. Guess that explains how she got in here. Impressive flexibility on display. It's easy to think of this as some kind of powersuit or mech, but that's not it at all - it's a few long tentacles extending out of her body, latching on to whatever they touch with great strength and moving as easily as a cat moves its tail. There's no reason the tentacle needs to watch its centre of balance or keep the arms attached to the torso - it's just a giant muscle, of sorts. Even dropping parts entirely and hoovering them up via another part of her power is a viable route to increase her options against an obstacle like this.

She was downplaying her abilities and flexibility just a moment ago. This was absolutely impossible for me to fight in a fair playing field without an ambush. The light bridge earlier had been a stroke of genius, but I needed more powers before I could ever progress the fair one-on-one that was her next challenge. A challenge that was available to me right now.

But what the hell could I even do against a CAGE modifier? My only real tool against Brutes was abusing Clockblocker's power - like against Glory Girl, using their own strength to impale themselves on something sharp or small and overcoming durability like that. Repeating the trick on Mush wouldn't have any effect. I'd mildly damage a single 'limb', and absolutely nothing would happen. The damage wouldn't be real. Even slicing something off entirely would be pointless - another 'limb' would pick it up within seconds. There wasn't even a point in trying the challenge. I needed a game changer to progress here.

"Oh no, here they come." Mush quails at the approach of a pair of guards. "This is it. I never got to write my will-"

"Guess you're Mush? Heard someone tried telling Squealer you were still in there, but she was really about to just drop the building around you. Never seen her so mad." One guard coughs. "Uh, anyway. Guess I'll pass along Skidmark's message - have you seen that fighter from earlier? The one you threw out? Skidmark thinks he's snuck back in, sounds fucking livid about it. Heard he was looking for you specifically to see if you knew anything about them or how they got in."

"Uh-uhm." Mush barely whispers the words, utterly inaudible to anyone but me. "I-uh, m-me? Aha, n-no, I- um."

"....Hello? Mush?" The guard tries again.

"Do you think I don't know what's going on, moron? Just what do you think I've been doing in there? I've been looking for them, and I didn't find a fucking thing. I should ask, what are you doing? Do you really think that you can walk around telling me what to do? Why aren't you doing anything productive? Do I need to talk to Skidmark about how you don't seem to care about the search?" Sophia snarls through the viewport. "Get the fuck out of my sight and never talk to me again, or I'll kill you!"

"Oh noo-" I press Mush deeper into the chest to muffle the horrified moan.

"I-I apologise! I'll get back to work right away!" The man beats a hasty retreat, his companion already ahead of him from the moment Sophia started talking.

"They hate me, they really hate me!" Mush blubbers. "I'm not like that! Should I apologise? No, I can't do that. They'll know right away! How can I ever show my face here again?"

"Have some fucking pride and stand up for yourself. You are a Cape, for fuck's sake." Sophia snarls, voice carrying through the thin layers separating us. "Why are you scared of some literal nobodies? You're walking around in a giant that could stomp them flat in a second. Look at them running, look at them!" We both glance through the viewport at the rapidly retreating figures. "That is how it should be. Fear, and respect."

"I don't want that! I just want to be left alone!" She complains.

"Nobody's going to leave a complete doormat alone. Nobody. As long as you're a pushover, they'll just keep coming back and asking for more - knowing that you're an easy target. You've got to stand your ground. If someone pushes you, you have to bloody their nose - even if you lose." I hide a smile as Mush pilots us to a distant part of the courtyard while Sophia quietly rants. Mush must be her absolute nemesis. Taylor, except more hopeless and also with powers - at least, powers that she knows about. This affront to her ideology is probably going to keep her awake at night for months. "You are strong. You have to be strong. And above all, you have to make sure that everyone knows that you are strong - you get that? Every single Merchant around here needs to fucking quake at the idea of challenging you over something insignificant. You're a villain. Pretend that you're going to fly off the handle and kill someone at the drop of a hat. Take advantage!"

"Are-are you really a hero? You sound a bit-"

Sophia interrupts. "Of course I am! You think I'm the kind of worthless leech that would stoop to villainy?" An awkward pause. "Present company excepted-"

"Okay, guess we're not pretending we aren't Capes anymore-" I cough.

"No, no. I get that a lot." Mush admits as they both ignore me. "It's fair, if I have to be honest."

Sophia growls. "No, no, no! This is what I'm talking about! I just insulted you, and you just sat there and took it! Don't do that, it's pissing me off." Sophia knocks on the walls of her trash can insistently. "Get mad! Do something about it! Threaten to drop us both!"

"I can't do that, Skidmark will actually kill me at this point. And, and the guards might notice if I start acting up. I-it's the point of no-return, right? No way Skidmark buys that I didn't know at this point. He'll fire me out of a cannon made with his power, and I'll splat against that forcefield thing by the docks and people will take their children on a day trip out to point and laugh. They'll say, 'that little smear was Mush - she never really did anything of note and nobody misses her. Study hard at school or you'll end up like her-'"

"Skidmark won't kill you, not if I get you first." Sophia rages in a furious whisper. "Grow a spine. What are you even afraid of? You're a Cape. An actual fucking Cape. You can pick yourself up, go almost anywhere in the country and be one of the top-ten most important people in the area. Even here, you still rank in the top fifty. What are you doing quaking at what a guard might do? Why are you worried about Skidmark, one of the most useless fuckers in the entire city - when you could join any team you wanted before today is even over? You can fix your entire life in three minutes, easily! I hate to advocate for the Protectorate, but they'll recruit anyone at this point. An easy job, and it has nothing to do with the fucking Merchants."

"I don't want a job, I want to laze around and not interact with anyone." Mush protests.

Sophia is momentarily stunned by the response. "How- how can you say that with a straight face? How dare you say that with a straight face?"

"Not the best time, ladies..." I murmur.

"You're just content to be a failure? In the worst gang in the entire Bay?" Sophia almost seems like a broken record, unable to process what she's hearing.

"Y-yes?" Mush attempts meekly. "W-well. Actually, I don't think we're the worst, statistically speaking-"

"But you could be a hero in the Protectorate! Or you could join this moron's team. You have options!" Sophia is sounding a little desperate now.

Mush makes a noise. "I'd have to patrol?" I grunt in agreement. "Talk to people?" Sophia nods. "I wouldn't be allowed to stay covered by my power all day?" Another nod. Probably difficult to avoid having to look normal at some stage. The Protectorate wouldn't like someone stomping around and destroying the roads and cars with every step, and Taylor and I would never catch anyone if our every movement was telegraphed by the Iron Giant over here - even in her 'smaller' frames, subtlety wasn't on the cards. "Sounds terrible. I mean, I'm a loyal member of the Merchants. So loyal, so dedicated - I would never even consider anything else-"

"So loyal and so dedicated that you're hiding your gang's two most-wanted targets from your boss." I murmur. "Don't worry, I get it. It's not really about the Merchants, it's about getting what you want out of life - if exploiting the Merchants gives you the best outcome, I support you in that. Even though I would love to have you on my team - and the offer is always open, if you run into any trouble with your current arrangement."

"Th-thanks." She was definitely pressing into me more than strictly necessary in this space. Deliberate? Accidental? I was leaning towards the former, but I was a porn addict for years and maybe I was overestimating how easy it was for her to create a larger-than-usual hole in the centre of her not-mech for us to hide in. Was this me blowing up something innocent into something perverted? Was this the female equivalent of me pressing my face into a pair of breasts and breathing in with all my might? Maybe I'm being quietly molested here, or maybe she's just completely oblivious about the effect of her body on other people. Either way, I don't mind. Molest away, ladies.

"And really, even though I think I was a little pushy about it - you did make the decision yourself. You chose to oppose Skidmark. You knew that he deserved everything that was coming to him, and deep-down, you're happy that you can inconvenience him in your own small way - consequence free. That's courage too, even if my partner here would disagree." I ignore the exaggerated scoffing sounds next to us. "Honestly, if Skidmark wasn't in charge - the Merchants wouldn't even need to be anything worth fighting over. I'm sure Squealer and yourself would be happy to be left in peace doing your own thing, it's only really Skidmark driving you all forward into conflict with the other gangs, right?"

"That's right." She nods. "It's not like I enjoy being a criminal or anything, it just worked out this way somehow. I'm a victim of society-"

"I will hurt you." Sophia promises.

"It's all my fault." Mush backtracks without a trace of shame. "But I can change! I've been inspired by your heroism, and I'm going to become a new me! Starting from tomorrow-"

"Pretty sure you said the same thing earlier." I drawl.

"...It's still today?" She offers a weak excuse.

"Mhm, I guess so." I smile. "But don't worry about that. You don't need to make any grand promises. I was just pointing out that, really, Skidmark is the problem. If he could be sidelined, keeping the Merchants as a passive, controlled force - that would be the kind of Cape that nobody would be interested in screwing with. The PRT won't feel the need to come down hard on you, the gangs won't care - and, personally speaking? I'd love to have a working relationship with you and Squealer to keep you out of trouble. Sounds like everyone is happy in that scenario, right? You don't have anyone to yell at you, you don't have to do anything other than exist-" And be my obedient lover, quietly controlling this part of the Brockton Bay Underworld for its new master - but never mind the small details. "-and we don't have to run around fighting a third gang trying to carve out territory."

As if the Merchants would ever be in that kind of position, but I doubted Mush had a solid enough grasp to understand just how impossible it was for the gang to get that kind of support. Skidmark was absolutely delusional. The only way the Merchants were going to become a major player is if they got a half-dozen more Capes or if Lung got arrested and they linked up with the now-Capeless ABB.

"That would be perfect." Mush admits. And that admission is all I want, really. Because taking his manhood wasn't all I wanted from Skidmark. I wanted his things to become mine. And planting a seed of thought that really, Skidmark shouldn't be the leader - and eventually, the idea that perhaps I should be instead - was ultimately the direction I wanted this to go in long-term. Turning Skidmark into an obstacle to work around, rather than the obvious choice of a leader. It's just as we were saying when I was still following him around - it's the small acts of disrespect that lead up to people getting ideas. A petty act of rebellion that goes undetected, slowly forming the seeds of a coup.

I shift as movement flickers in the corner of my vision, out of the sole viewing port I could see without turning around. "Well, a dream like that takes some working towards - but if I had to say where it started, I'd say it starts with managing to lie to your boss when he asks you about the people he's hunting down."

"What?" She turns, spotting the same approaching figure that I had noticed already. "Oh, oh no."

"It's fine. It's not a crime to not know anything, right? You just have to sound oblivious, maybe even try and be helpful and proactive about the search. He'll swear a bit, but he won't do anything." I wrap my arms around her, lower arm linking up at her waist as my upper arms squish her breasts. "I'm right here. Be confident. You don't have to volunteer anything. Not saying anything at all is a win, something that sabotages him and his position in the gang - and brings you one step closer to your ideal life." I like to think I'm a pretty good motivational speaker, because all of my best lines come from imagining I'm some harem protagonist in my collection of cultured video games. Sophia would insult me and laugh if I ever admitted that out loud, but it was working - wasn't it? It's not stupid if it works.

"You-you're right." She leans back into me, pulling my arms around her a little tighter. A moment later, the area holding us shifts slightly - metal walls pressing in ever so slightly. An unconscious sign of nervousness, or a silent ploy for someone that very much seemed to be enjoying our physical proximity? "I-I just have to-"

"Mush, you useless little rat!" Skidmark roars up at us. "Where the fuck did you run off to? That fucking shitstain you brought in with you, have you been working with him? Did you bring him back inside?"

Mush practically slumps into me as if struck. "We're dead." She mumbles.

"He doesn't know, you moron." Sophia hisses quietly. "Just act confused and stupid, like normal."

"He's just looking for someone to blame, he would already have attacked you if he knew." I add in a dead whisper.

"Well? Answer me, cunt! What did he promise you? Who did he bring with him? Where did he go?" Skidmark continues to rage on.

"U-um. I don't really know what you mean?" I give her an encouraging squeeze as she calls out in a voice he can actually hear from our elevated position. "I only met that guy when he said that you wanted to meet with me. I've never-" Her voice falters. "I mean, you know me. Not much of a talker, ahah..." She trails off with a weak, awkward laugh.

Skidmark seethes silently for a moment, although the usual effect of his murderous expression is lost when we have to peer down at him from this high up in the air. Like leaning over a balcony to talk with someone on the ground level that's used to intimidating you with the height difference. The effect just wasn't there. "That figures." He grunts finally. "Too fucking useless to be of any use to anyone other than me." Skidmark still looks furious. "How about you make yourself fucking useful for once, go and find the cunt and bring him back here. Search the streets with everyone else. I don't want to see your ugly face until that guy or his corpse is mounted on the front of Squealer's truck. Got that, bitch?"

"U-um. Yes! I've got it! I'll- I'll just- I'll just leave then, if that's... okay?" She trails off.

"Fuck off already! Useless shit for brains, do I have to do all the thinking for you? Useless fucking whores in this organisation, can't fucking get anyone with a blip of sense in this shit gang." He storms off.

"Nicely done." I whisper.

"Don't compliment her for the most basic task possible." Sophia grouches.

"She could have exposed you, a bit of gratitude wouldn't go amiss." I jab back at her.

"Something that was only at risk anyway because you completely fucked up the plan." She hits back. "Should have knocked him out. If you'd actually laid the plan out ahead of time, I would have told you that."

I concede that. "Maybe." I hadn't quite expected the 'removal' to be quite so bloody - I'd been a little bit worried that if I knocked him out with a wound like that, he might never wake up. I could only compare it to the times where I'd lost limbs and body parts myself - and while I'd clearly made a mess, it was definitely less severe than the times that I'd lost a leg or an arm. And I tended to survive that, if I managed to stay conscious and get myself help. Going unconscious due to blood loss usually was the same thing as death in my simulations, so I didn't really have the same grasp on what was 'lethal' in that way. Maybe I needed more experience. An easy thing to test, with my power - just a little... bloody. Gruesome, might be the better word. It wasn't like I enjoyed hurting random people for science. "Still, it all worked out. He does a pretty good job hiding it, don't you think? Voice might be a little shrill, but he's really trying to keep appearances up. I think he's a lot less intimidating when you know."

Despite herself, Sophia snickers. "Do you think he stuck a little plaster over what's left? He got back to business pretty quickly."

"Didn't need that image in my head." I smirk. "What's the alternative? Maybe he can get by with tampons now." This time, Mush is the one that can't prevent a yip of laughter from escaping - although perhaps that was partly a bit of nervous energy escaping. "Come on, let's get out of here before he decides to circle back around."

"I'm going!" Mush enthuses, apparently losing the nervous edge that had been hanging over her for the last few minutes. The hulking trash frame groans and shifts as it bowls through the nearest fence line.

"Wasn't so bad, was it?" I probe Mush as we race through the street.

"Easy for you to say." She huffs. "But... I'll admit, it worked out. Started out like a nightmare, but of a bit of a dream in the end. Everything's perfect."

"Don't sit there with a smile on your face like you've achieved anything." Sophia immediately shatters the peace. "Don't think I'm done with you. This cannot be the extent of what you want. You've got to want more. Where's your ambition? Your dreams?"

"I really am being honest with you. I don't really care about all of that." Mush pouts, shifting her weight around - the action only serving to press herself up against my groin.

I bite my lip as Sophia starts a rant that I quickly tune out of. Was she being deliberate about this? Or was I reading too much into it? She seemed too shy to be this aggressive, but with this situation... she had a viable excuse for any 'accidental' movements. If Sophia wasn't here, I might have considered trying my luck - getting a little handsy myself - but my power had already warped Mush so much in so few challenges, that I couldn't really rely on her accepting everything I did without a blink. Perhaps, for her - this was a bit of naughtiness that she could get away with unchallenged and consequence-free, but still wouldn't be ready for the lewd behaviour that my other girls were used to by now.

Or maybe I was overthinking it, and I could be dicking her down in ten-minutes flat the moment Sophia left the scene. I don't know. All I knew was that my dick was complaining about me not doing anything about the nubile girl clad in a still-wet, oversized T-shirt grinding up against me and pretending to have no idea about the effect that was having on me.

Alternatively, this was Taylor again - and I was backing away from an open goal out of a fear of rejection. A fear that, oddly enough, becomes a lot worse when you're basically mastering people to like you. Getting rejected anyway would be embarrassing, right? That would follow me as a core memory for years, long after I'd triumphed over everyone involved.

Frustrating. But... if I stopped thinking with my dick for a moment, this wasn't a bad place to leave it at. Mush was my only 'in' for the Merchants. I couldn't risk ruining that by pushing too far because I was impatient. The prize was already guaranteed, the moment I unlocked a viable way to attack her in her frames. That was a nicer way to look at it. I wasn't holding back because I was afraid of rejection and consequences, I was playing it safe because I had patience and confidence in my abilities.

If I repeated it enough, I could almost believe it.

"Look." Mush's words cut off Sophia's increasingly incensed speech to a girl that was far too honest about her ambition to be a NEET living out of a literal trash can. My attention is directed out of the thin slit that makes up the viewing port. "They're raiding houses... Skidmark hates people acting out like this. Gets too much attention." Mush murmurs as we prowl past a half-dozen Merchants barging their way through a doorway as a furious resident berates them.

"We'll chalk it up to exceptional circumstances." I drawl. "I'm guessing the order came right from him this time. Assume that they blocked off the street in time with the fleet of trucks, then search every building wee could be hiding in."

Sophia steps in to the conversation. "Whatever the case, those are homes and businesses - even if they're sketchy ones. Only a matter of time before the police get called. They'll back up when Squealer shows her face, then they'll send out a hero or two to politely ask the Merchants to leave the ransacked homes and go home. What a city. Only a one hour response time to get the murderous thugs out of your home." She sounds bitter. "Take the next left, we're almost there."

"Huh? You don't want me to take you past those guys?" She shifts the mech to point towards the distance, where a junction is entirely blocked by a collection of run-down cars and at least a dozen armed men lazing around on top of them.

"No, it's fine. We can take it from here." I assure her. "And we wouldn't want anyone to ask you any strange questions about where you're going while everyone else is searching."

"Definitely not." She agrees easily.

"Here. Can you drop us off just down there?" I point out an alleyway to redirect Mush. The end of our alliance, for now.

No need to rush. I'd have both her and Squealer in due time. This wasn't purely about my challenges, either. This was real power, in the real world. When I returned to the Merchants - alone - I could pick up right where I left off here, with a third of their Capes already near-ready to cede control to me. And, sure, Mush wasn't thinking about it quite like that. I couldn't expect ready obedience or for her to look to me for leadership like Sophia and Taylor - but the idea that the current leader was annoying, and that someone else with the right mindset could offer change... that was all I needed to start with.

If I could do the same to Squealer, that would be perfect. A pair of loyal toys for me to return to whenever Sophia and Taylor weren't around, and both of them would, in turn, give me access to Skidmark too - it all just worked. A set of Capes that was just weak enough that turning them all was a serious possibility. And from that, I could finish what I'd half-started in the party - bring over the rest of the unpowered leaders of the organisation and establish the start of a loyal underworld for myself. The rest of my team wouldn't understand, but they didn't need to. As far as they would be concerned, my friendliness here and my hope in them becoming passive, do-nothing players in the Bay was just an easy way to wipe out a villainous gang without needing to fight.

I'd made some pretty good steps towards that front. What was important was establishing some kind of ability for me to meet up with them again, preferably under a flag of peace.

Honestly, hadn't I kind of already done that? I could hardly imagine Mush attacking me if I just showed up in front of her again. The only issue was finding her. I'm pretty sure she doesn't have any real input over where the Merchants go - and the lack of a phone or any other method of communication was pretty obvious as well. I could buy one, but I didn't have anything to hand - and honestly, at this challenge level, I wouldn't trust her to pick up the phone when it rang anyway. If she even kept it on at all.

I needed Squealer. The Merchants couldn't organise a thing without looping her in. She was the de-facto second-in-command. And she was a Tinker. No way she would have any trouble with modern communication or arranging a meetup.

...was it even worth attacking the Merchants at this point? Really, I could just back away - appear entirely uninvolved with this situation, and find a way to get eyes on Squealer just once more. If I could come to some kind of arrangement... maybe even 'leak' the fact that I had healing powers that might work on Skidmark to arrange a few 'healing' sessions. Clearly, showing my face properly was out - even if my actions had made it obvious, Mush hadn't taken long to connect my costumeless-but-healed face with the scarred visage of 'James' and even if Skidmark was an incoherent mess of a human being, I wouldn't bet on him being any slower to make that connection if we met face-to-face before the memory had a chance to fade.

But then again, why would Squealer trust me with that if they were otherwise in a good position? I was a hero, they were villains. They didn't have a reason to even entertain my offer, a twin lack of both desperation and trust. Was it worth leaving them alone, just in the hope of keeping an amicable relationship with people that I was mastering anyway? And what did I say to Taylor and Sophia, both jumping at the bit to strike a blow against the minor gang? What did I say to PHO, after telling the boards to just sit tight and wait for my next move after the relative silence since Oni Lee's capture?

...I don't know. Maybe it's a good idea to hit the Merchants here, get one last set of challenges attempted and call it a day - or maybe I was being an idiot. But I was here now. If I fucked it up, there were other fish to fry in the Bay. I wanted to kick the anthill here. If we lost or drew, we could just retreat and brag on PHO about starting a fight. If we won, we get to drag the Protectorate out of bed to arrest them - for however many days they'd manage to keep them under lock-and-key - and I'd get another set of challenges to try from whoever they sent to investigate. Plus, the PHO bragging rights again. The actual rank-and-file Merchants getting a taste of Arachne would work against Skidmark and his attempt to stoke enthusiasm towards turning them into a rival gang to the Empire and the ABB. I'd- we- would get our second big feather-in-our-caps as local heroes since Oni Lee.

I wanted to fight. Or, I wanted to win. To be seen to win, at the very least. To get a last round of challenges in against Squealer and Skidmark. Squealer first, naturally. It didn't really need to make a difference - sending the gang scattering into the wind with their tail between their legs was probably the most likely outcome, seeing how most of Squealer's 'fights' usually went. But that was good enough. I'd get an opportunity to shit on the PRT not doing anything about it, they'd most likely send someone to investigate even if we didn't truss anyone important up as long as enough noise was made in the process.

Yes. This was still a good idea. The absolute worst-case, ignoring any random, unexpected deaths - was that the Merchant Capes all got arrested. And that was still something I could work with and adapt to. They were all low-priority and bound for low-security prisons, someone would probably break them out in return for favours or cash. And if I was wrong and they didn't, great - they were all stuck in one place just waiting for me to come and visit one day. But it probably wouldn't come to that. They just didn't have the rap sheet that someone like Hookwolf or Oni Lee had. Mush might even just get recruited by the Protectorate given her lack of criminal history - and while that was slightly awkward after seeing our faces, I doubted she was the type to volunteer information.

Although she could absolutely ruin Sophia's day by describing the girl at my side. She might have gotten away with being guessed as Arachne at a glance, but Taylor's new suit didn't cover all of her skin - and she definitely wasn't black.

But that would be Sophia's problem. I never told her to blatantly announce herself, or even show up in person before I was done talking with Mush. Hiding her face only went so far when her abrasive personality was still on full display. I could easily have kept her out of sight if she'd been patient, made some kind of excuse about needing a container for my ash clone to travel in - but either she was a bit too trusting of my plan, or perhaps just had faith in Mush not to spill the beans.

Or, maybe something else was at play entirely. Sophia and Mush were both affected by my power - did that impact their approach towards each other as well? Did it matter?

Whatever. As I said. Sophia's problem. If things got that far, I'd leave it to her to work it out or coach Mush into saying the right things. If it didn't work out, I'd just fix the consequences when I take charge of the PRT.

Amazing how simple it all ends up being. Just keep fighting. Keep getting stronger. And all these silly questions about the optimal path and the concerns of other people just melt away. Who needs ethical conundrums and lasting consequences when you're strong enough to have the final word? And maybe that was still a way off, but I wouldn't knock my efforts today. I'd walked into a gang and walked back out with a copy of every single power on offer. If I could just repeat that with the Empire, or the Protectorate... game over.

"H-here?" Mush pipes up, finally halting at the edge of the building where we stashed our costumes. "There's still people running around looking for you, I could take you further if you wanted... Skidmark said he didn't want to see me anyway, so I might as well just stay away for as long as I can, right?"

I separate from Mush, almost tripping as I escape the confines of the lowered cockpit and get back on to solid ground. "This place is perfect. We'll make sure not to let anyone find us that easily. Wouldn't want to get our new friend into any trouble after all you've done for us. Right?" I eye Sophia as she sourly escapes from her trashcan, still making just a token effort to hide her face from Mush's view.

"Speak for yourself."" She mutters darkly. "Not my friend, I have stand- ouch!" She lashes her leg back out at me in response to me deliberately stepping on her toe. "Fuck you!" She narrowly sidesteps a falling trash bag, filled to the brim with drink bottles.

Mush settles back into her home of choice, taking a seated position once more as Sophia glowers up at her. "Sorry, this thing falls apart over time - I don't usually use my power in a shape like this." Mush is absolutely lying, but neither of us can prove it. Not that I want to. My girls being catty towards each other is kind of hot. I didn't even think Mush was capable of it. "It's my fault."

"Don't worry about it. And try not to pay too much attention to her, she's got certain expectations for how a Cape should be and she's built her entire personality around being a bitch. You're doing fine." She preens under my words. Compliments seemed effective before, so why stop? I wanted to be her pillar of support - to such an extent that when I'm not there, there's no way she couldn't notice the difference. I wanted her reliant on me. I wanted her to look forward to seeing me again. And I couldn't entirely trust that my current challenges would do all of the work for me at this level.

Maybe taking advantage of her attention-starved nature and obvious loneliness was a dick move, but if it's all in the name of getting her into the harem eventually - I was really just doing her a favour. Picture how much happier Taylor would have been if I'd pushed her a little harder at the start. I'd bet anything Taylor would have been a lot happier about my ideas if she had the confidence that I liked her and her body too - rather than me 'being seduced' by Emma before she could even work out her own feelings.

Damn, I really wanted to see how far I could push Mush. But not in front of Sophia. I didn't want to form too much of a pattern too fast. Leet was one thing, but doing the same with the very next villain she sees me with? Maybe she wouldn't care, or chalk it up to the natural response of some predator/prey bullshit - but equally, she might think it was strange. Maybe she'd start being suspicious about my confidence and 'luck' with women, or even if she didn't - maybe she would just make the wrong kind of comment about me towards someone more inclined to start investigating.

But I had to get over that hurdle eventually. Would this be a bad place to start? Mush latching on to me would be a lot easier to explain that Glory Girl dumping that one guy for me. I was aiming for the harem end here, at some point I needed the kind of reputation where someone saw a new Cape fawning over me - and instead of suspicion or consternation, they would just shake their fist at the heavens and scream 'He can't keep getting away with it!'.

It could work out. But, it also might not. That was the test, really. There were A-class threats that were too powerful to antagonise or hunt down. I knew my Cape lore well. The level of power where people wouldn't want to ask those questions - or, even, where they would already know the answer and choose not to do anything about it - I wasn't there yet. I wasn't even close. I needed to be... Lung. That was the level. Not just strong enough to beat him, but known to be strong enough that I would beat him. I couldn't undo a clash with the PRT if they started throwing accusations around.

So I do nothing, letting Mush nervously peek out across the street as if waiting for Skidmark to round a corner and start screaming at her for associating with us at any moment. A comical sight, considering it was done in a mech that could stand and be almost as tall as the building she was hiding behind.

Sophia crosses her arms, looking less irate than before - but still wearing her usual scowl. "So, what now? You're really going to go crawling back to Skidmark like nothing happened?"

"That-that would probably be best, right? I mean, saying that something happened would be bad for everyone." Mush hastily elaborates as Sophia's glare deepens. "I-I mean, I'll admit that I kind of liked that you seemed to piss him off - and I like seeing him lose, but it doesn't change anything for me personally, you know? I'm not going to run around chasing after you or anything, I'll just find somewhere to lie low until Skidmark cools off and then..." She shrugs. "Back to normal."

"It doesn't have to go back to normal." The frustration is plain in her voice. "You don't need to act like this. You're strong. You've made it."

"But I want to go back to normal!" Mush insists. "This has been a dream come true, but this is enough excitement and socialising for today. And the rest of the month, honestly."

"That was a dream come true?" Sophia adopts a sceptical look. "You need better dreams."

"No, really! It was great!" Mush brightens. "Skidmark was bullying me again, except this time a hero swoops in to punish him - and then the hero needs to rely on me to escape safely, and I get to be useful without any lasting commitments, consequences or responsibilities. And along the way, Skidmark tells me not to show my face until I've done the task that I know is impossible - so I could drag this out for weeks if I can work with Squealer to keep out of his sight. And the hero in question seems friendly and cute, and he seems to have really low standards which is great for me because I'm no good at making friends. And the hero and his sidekick-" Sophia flinches as if struck. "-don't really care about arresting me or starting a fight with the Merchants, so Skidmark can't even yell at me for not defending everyone from Cape attacks like I'm supposed to."

"Stop." Sophia looks pained. "First of all, he isn't- no. I'm not-" She pauses for even longer this time. "I'm not his sidekick."

"Huh?" She looks surprised. "But aren't you Arachne?" She glances towards me. "I just assumed that you were Void Cowboy and his partner in disguise, but did I get that wrong?"

Sophia twitches as I stifle a grin. I step in to save her. "That's right. This is my sidekick, and I'm Void Cowboy. I'll admit, I didn't expect you to guess our names. You don't seem very..." What was the right word here? Worldly? Well-connected?

She replies as if I said those options out loud. "O-oh, I'm not super smart or anything. But Squealer makes flashcards for most of the Capes in the Bay and I was scared that Skidmark would ask a question that I wouldn't know the answer too, so I memorised them well-enough that he wouldn't yell at me."

Organised. Not something I would have expected from the Merchants. Did the other gangs do the same? Somehow, I found it hard to imagine Hookwolf clicking through slides on his laptop, trying to give a presentation to the younger Nazis. "...did he ever ask?"

"...no." She admits. "But, I'll be ready if he does!"

"Getting off-topic." Sophia sighs. "Ignoring my... identity." It's a flimsy defence, particularly as Arachne's current costume actually shows skin - but it was a misunderstanding that suited her. After all, Shadow Stalker had no business being here at all - and certainly shouldn't have had anything to do with making Skidmark into an eunuch. Maybe my status as a grab-bag could be used as a shield - one power that helped disguises wasn't that much of a stretch - but it was best not to push it. "He is not cute."

Mush tilts her head. "You don't think so?"

"I do not!" Sophia injects some heat into her voice. "And you shouldn't either. You can definitely do better than him. Have some self-respect-"

"Oh. Oh! Don't worry. I'm not trying to steal him away from you." Mush waves her free arm around as Sophia's expression turns flat. "I'm just appreciative of what's in front of me. I wouldn't even know what to do in a romantic relationship."

"Neither would he." Sophia seizes the opportunity to complain about me. "He's a complete manwhore. I know, for an absolute fact, that he's actively sleeping with four girls right now - maybe more. That is not someone you should be pining after, especially not as a Cape with all the options in the world to pick from!"

"And you're one of them?" A rosy flush on her face as she turns is illuminated by the nearest streetlight as Sophia shrinks away from the question. "Wow. That's amazing. And, honestly, maybe that's even better. I could just be a side-mistress or something who gets kept in the basement, and all of the wife-stuff and socialising could be done by other people-" Mush adopts a panicked expression at Sophia's twitching expression. "N-not that I was seriously considering it! I know it's not on the cards, just thinking out loud! I promise! He's all yours!"

"Stop being so pathetic, stop putting yourself down like that! It disgusts me." Sophia hisses. "And I don't want him, get it into your head - he doesn't deserve you. Or me. Or anyone! Honestly, he should die single and alone."

"Fuck you." I flip her off with a merry expression. She didn't mean that. Classic tsundere behaviour.

"I didn't want to start a fight." Mush makes a pained expression, the wall of metal and trash at her side inching forward to partially enclose her. "Sorry, I- I don't talk with people much. It's not like my social situation could get much worse, so I kind of just say whatever comes to mind these days. Not much of a filter, I guess." She fidgets with her hands. "And- and you don't mean that. You seem worried about him too, I think that-"

I wince. Mush is really doing a good job at hitting all of Sophia's sensitive spots here.

"Are you trying to start a fight?"

"No! Never! In fact, I'm going to run away right now so I don't have to fight! I-it was nice meeting you all, I should get going now!" Mush babbles as a tentacle surges out of her shoulder, looping back into the mech and pulling her back in - the action also serving to eliminate the 'cockpit' area and replacing it with the more familiar trashcan that she had made her home in previously.

But Sophia is grinning like a psychopath now. "Right. I remember hearing something like that. Your lazy, do-nothing lifestyle is entirely supported by your promise that you'll fight on the side of the Merchants if a Cape fight breaks out, right? So, if that ever happened - you'd have to grow a spine and start fighting back, wouldn't you?" Sophia smiles beatifically. Mush takes a half-step back in her frame at the sight. "Otherwise, you'd find yourself kicked out again. You'd have to get a job. Maybe the Protectorate would grab you, force you to do public interviews and patrol through the busy streets of the Boardwalk - singing songs for little kids and giving speeches to the masses."

"U-um." Mush sounds more nervous than usual. "I-I suppose that isn't- isn't entirely wrong? Maybe a few key details-"

"Oh, don't worry." Sophia looks far, far too happy. "Just checking I remembered correctly. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Mush. I look forward to meeting you again soon."

If Mush has a response to the thinly-veiled threat, it's too quiet for us to make out. The trash golem hastily retreats and sprints down the road.

"Did you have to chase her off? I was going to try and get her hooked on PHO, if she isn't already. You know what kind of magic I could do with regular contact with a girl as isolated as that? Tell me that it's impossible to poach her away. We need a tank in our party, you know?" I send a bemused look to Sophia as she steadfastly ignores me. "You know, if you do try and hunt her down later - she's going to realise pretty quickly that you aren't really Arachne."

"I don't care. Let me have this." Sophia hisses, smoky hand reaching into a nearby wall and retrieving our folded costumes.

I shrug. "I'm just saying. Fleeting moment of joy, then you have to explain to the PRT why you were anywhere close to where the Cowboys were operating - or why Mush's story doesn't add up if she gets arrested and interviewed."

"Firstly, we are not called the Cowboys. That's... no. You don't get team naming privileges. Ask Arachne for one if you need one. She's smarter than you." Sophia tells me woodenly. "And, secondly - villains don't get interviewed or debriefed like that unless there's some other threat we need to know about. Kid gloves all the way. You know us." She tilts her head down the street we came from, where the roar of voices and the rumble of unprofessional demolition can be heard. "And third, what do you mean? Look how much noise the Merchants are making. I don't even live that far from here. If anyone asks, I just came to see what all the noise was about. I have every right to be here."

Oh? "Would the PRT agree?"

"Tch." Sophia sullenly works her way into her costume, evidently unbothered by her momentarily uncovered state as her previous disguise is cast aside. I follow suit - except, my costume is barely a costume. I'm basically just throwing on a few different layers and a mask. Still need to go and catch up with Parian about that. It's just not really been a priority - or, rather, the priority was always about meeting Parian, rather than any special need for a well-made costume from an independent supplier. Hell, Taylor could probably do a better job if that was all I needed.

Sophia tosses my phone at me. I miss it, fumble the attempt to save it with Vista's power and have to settle for Clockblocking it with a hasty kick before it can hit the ground. I send her a glower. "You'd be paying for that if it broke."

"Oh no, not your cheap dollar-store phone." She makes a show of yawning as she peers at her own. "What a terrifying threat." She pauses, then smirks at the screen - typing away quickly in response.

"Did Emma say something funny?" I cross my arms.

"Shouldn't talk about civilian stuff in this guise out here, but no. Arachne, actually." She stretches vertically and peers around the corner of the alley, glancing down the street in both directions. One way, a Merchant blockade. The other, a group of drunk Merchants apparently intent on going house-by-house to get that reward money.

"Care to elaborate on that?" I kneel down to cup my frozen phone, waiting for it to drop as she continues to type.

"Nothing much. Seems like she arrived ahead of schedule, and was flitting about all worried that you weren't answering your phone." Sophia smiles at a distant howl in the wind. "Only, the Merchants suddenly started making a scene and she wanted some advice on how to approach them."

"Really not sure about the lack of details I'm getting here." I sigh. A few seconds later, my phone drops harmlessly into my hand.

PHO Mobile:

New message from: Arachne, theDARKESTshadow

Arachne: I'm on my way.

Arachne: I'm here.

Arachne: Void?

Arachne: I'll just patrol on my own for a bit around here until you get online.

Arachne: Think I can see the place you were talking about, but I can't get too close - too many guards around, and I'm not exactly well-suited to hiding. Gonna try and find a spot with good coverage over the area, send me a message when you get back online.

Arachne: Merchants suddenly lost their minds. Looks like a complete street takeover around here. Just watching them build an actual barricade on the crossroads now. Anything to do with you? Worried about you.

Arachne: Merchants are clashing with the police here. I don't know what you're up to, but I'm going to help out.

Arachne: Don't worry if you're trying to keep our presence quiet, I won't let any get away.

Arachne shared a location! 

Arachne: I'm here. Police don't know what's going on, but there are civilians in trouble. They don't want to do anything because Squealer's driving in circles around the block with some monster of a truck. Will you be okay if I start making a move on the Merchants now?

theDARKESTshadow: Why, do you really need permission? If you're a fan of sitting and watching, just stay with the nice policeman and ask for a gold sticker for helping out - I'm sure someone from the Protectorate will be along to process you into the Wards at any moment.

Arachne: If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked.

theDARKESTshadow: Big words for someone who showed up so late. You missed the exciting part.

Arachne: You're here too?

theDARKESTshadow: Obviously. Why do you think the Merchants are so angry? While you were waiting for your babysitter to fall asleep, the two of us were hitting them where it hurts.

Arachne: Void is with you?

theDARKESTshadow: He can't type right now, but yes. In fact, we were both here before he ever sent that message to you.

Arachne: Void?

theDARKESTshadow: Don't worry about it. I'm sure he had his reasons for leaving you in the dark. We're just about ready to take the Merchants out now. You can sit back and keep letting us do the hero work. You must be used to it by now, right?

Arachne: I was only contacting you to try and avoid accidentally taking you out. All I need from you is to stay out of the way. We don't have any use for a floating cloud today.

theDARKESTshadow: Would have liked to see you try. What, did you bring out the extra-sparkly butterflies today?

I send a withering look to Sophia. She looks unapologetic.

XxVoid_CowboyxX: Fight it out in person another day. This isn't the time. If we want to hit the Merchants, now is the best time - they don't know that they're looking for us (the Cowboys) in particular. We didn't use our powers in front of them, so they're making a scene for nothing. The PRT can't ignore them going on a rampage like this, so we'll get reinforcements at some point. Can you track Squealer? She'll be responsible for the escape plan, whatever it is.

Arachne: I've got tags on all of their Capes, and most of the gang members. We can take them all out today.

XxVoid_CowboyxX: Perfect. Can you handle the gang members? Your power is the best for that.

theDARKESTshadow: Just to let you know, if someone panics about your bugs and starts shooting - and they hit someone? Your fault. They'll totally throw the book at you for it.

Arachne: Most of their guns don't work anymore. But I appreciate the advice. I'll handle the grunts. Skidmark is with them, so I'll take him out as well.

XxVoid_CowboyxX: I'll send our location. Don't bite us.

Arachne: I already know where you are.

XxVoid_CowboyxX: You didn't need to make that sound so ominous. Are you here?

Arachne: No, but some of the bugs are attracted to lights if I let them go mid-air - that gives me a map of every phone and screen within my range. Then I just need to feel you typing, and its easy confirmation.

Shadow Stalker makes a noise of complaint, flicking unseen bugs from her gloves.

theDARKESTshadow: Gross.

Arachne: Sorry to scare you. Thought you would be made of sterner stuff.

XxVoid_CowboyxX: Ladies. Later! I'll go take on Squealer. If you can point me in the right direction?

Arachne: Sure. I can't help you inside her truck, it's all sealed up pretty tight.

theDARKESTshadow: I'll take the last one. Point me towards Mush. Got some choice words for her.

Arachne: Missing a key word there. Try asking politely.

XxVoid_CowboyxX: Remember, the Merchants aren't a big deal like the ABB. The city won't change much if these guys all get arrested or not. Today's just as much about making a statement about our group as it is putting criminals away. It's fine to let them escape if it's more convenient - they'll be just as valuable telling horror stories on the streets about the vigilantes that are actually hunting criminals down as they would be crying in jail.

XxVoid_CowboyxX: We'll head out once you make your move Arachne. Don't fancy taking the rooftops with this many gunmen around.

Arachne: Already started.

I click my tongue. Don't know how much of that message got through to her. It was hard to know what the best angle to take was. I hadn't expected the Merchants - or, Mush - to be so... approachable. I'd assumed I could just manhandle them all, leave them to rot in prison - collect the rest of their challenges at will. Easy win for our reputation. A hit on the distant-third-place criminal gang not too long after crippling the second - we'd have made more of a splash in a month than New Wave had since taking down Marquis.

I was just getting greedy. Seeing the chance for more. Eating my cake while still having it. The reputation of beating - crushing - the Merchants, while keeping them around as a potential force to co-opt for my own uses. The best lie to take with Taylor to that end... I don't know. Maybe I'd just see what happened. Roll with the punches. If they all got packed up today? Whatever. They'd make trash underlings anyway. They made it out? I could work with that too - especially if I made my boundless mercy the cause of their escape without my team realising I'd let them go.

That was the problem with heroism. With my team. Part of my ultimate goal and the prize - being the number one hero - but also a shackle. This would be easier if I never invited them, but that would invite its own questions.

What a pain. I should have planned this better. Thought about the potential outcomes more. I'd do better next time. With the Empire, or maybe Lung. One of the two - my major 'criminal' targets would be quite slim after this.

A distant screaming and a prattle of gunfire draws my attention. A horrified gangster backpedalling wildly as a dark, chittering figure crawls towards him at a disturbing pace - humanoid, but very much not moving like a human.

"The fuck is that?" Shadow Stalker whispers next to me.

"Bug clone." I nod in recognition. "Looks like a person from afar. But its just a bunch of cockroaches, spiders and flying things carrying other bugs flying in a person-shaped pattern." The version in the challenge versions were a bit more realistic and human-like - used for deception, not combat. A swarm was a better tool for killing, so that's what I usually faced in her later challenges.

This? This was a horror movie. The fear was the point.

Sophia watches as a hail of bullets passes through the dark figure harmlessly. "Oh, I see it. Nasty. That's-" She trails off as the chittering horror finally catches up with the man and completely covers him - while barely visible layers of string pluck the gun from his unresisting hands. "-could she do that before?" I shake my head. She nudges me, and I direct my attention towards where she's pointing. Another. Then another. "Does she have a limit?"

A half-dozen shambling swarm-people let loose a synchronised roar into the night, before rushing the hasty barricade that the Merchants had erected down the street - before half of the vehicles start to break away in a hasty retreat, the gangsters on the ground left behind as they find themselves tripped, addled and harassed by a legion of bugs and fliers - the loud and obvious arrival of the swarm-clones only serving to hide the fact that the true threat had already arrived minutes ago.

Looks like Taylor was taking the opportunity to vent any frustrations about that conversation with Sophia on the poor Merchants. They kind of deserved it... but I still felt bad. Bugs always sucked, even if they weren't trying to kill in this case.

"Only in the number of bugs she has to hand." I finally reply. "I guess she spent her time gathering up a fairly sizable batch of bugs to work with - I'd wager that's a scene happening all over the block."

"...that's pretty cool." Sophia reluctantly concedes. "Don't tell her I said that."

"She wouldn't believe me if I did." I hold out my hand as a butterfly dances in front of me - a compass, pointing me towards a target. "Enjoy your scrap with Mush. I'll be honest, I think you'll be surprised if she stops crying long enough to fight you." My shadow state did exactly fuck-all against Mush in her frames. Shadow Stalker could try and shoot her, but honestly, the 'core' was hidden and layered enough to not be an easy hit at the best of times - and Mush moved fast and unpredictably even against me, and I didn't even give her a reason to dodge. If Mush decided to fight seriously, Sophia wouldn't be able to do much other than run and hope for an amazing connection with a containment foam grenade - if she had those with her. Maybe a special arrow? Whatever.

"I don't even want to fight her. I just-" She pauses. "Fine, I do want to fight her. But just to prove a point. It's not about-" She waves a hand at nothing. "Forget it, you wouldn't understand. Just beat the shit out of Squealer. Shouldn't be hard. You think you could steal that tank of hers once you win? We could use a nice method of transportation around the city."

I pull a face. "What would I even do with it? Park it on my drive? I don't think the PRT will let me leave it on the street, and anywhere close to me is just going to be a neon-sign highlighting my real identity."

"Details, details." Sophia concedes the point. "It would have been nice though."

"It would." I sigh. "You've got the idea in my head now. Better hope I get a better version of her powers, or I'll spend the next month sulking that the best thing I can tinker up is a glorified push bike." She snorts at that. "Alright. Think that's enough stalling - the small fry have bigger problems now. Let's go."

Sophia goes right. I follow the twirling butterfly to the left, letting it rest on my hand as I dip into my speed state to cross the distance.

Things had been a bit more chaotic than I'd expected tonight. I'd... maybe gotten a little carried away. Got a little too petty and spiteful over things that I shouldn't. Took a few risks. Got a lot of rewards. But just because I'd won big, didn't mean I couldn't win more. Squealer was the prize - the target - that I was looking for. Our time together had been all-too-brief back in the compound. If I could have stalled for a few more minutes, I'd probably already have the current challenge completed.

But it wasn't just about challenges. It was about real life too. Getting her alone, away from Skidmark - and away from my own teammates - that was everything I could ask for.

And when I look across the street to see the wild movements of a towering behemoth of a vehicle, with armoured slats thicker than my fist and turrets bigger than my head? When I see the convoy of lesser vehicles skidding and sliding around in her wake? When I see the shuddering blasts of flame, water and electricity smashing away the swarm clones getting too close to the terrified batch of Merchants unfortunate enough to not be safely inside a vehicle?

I'd never seen someone so vulnerable. She might as well have wrapped herself up for me.

After a moment's thought, I grab my phone - flicking it on and resting it against a nearby wall, setting it to record in the process.

Nothing wrong with a bit of self-promotion for PHO. Solid footage meant a lot to those who were interested. People like me - or, how I used to be, at least.

I slowly walk towards the behemoth. To my left, my ash clone stirs to life - falling in lockstep with me. To my right, a hidden tentacle snakes past my foot from the ash clone - barely visible even under the streetlights. The knight that forms on my right side isn't as flawless as the one I made against the challenge version of Mush. There wasn't enough metal in the nearest dumpster. It's a humanoid mess of cardboard and plastic as much as it is wood and steel - but the details aren't important for Mush's power. It doesn't have the materials to properly appear to walk like my ash clone and I - but the rhythmic slumping is close enough.

"Cape!" FInally, one Merchant notices my approach. I brace myself for a hail of gunfire, ready to shift from the momentary protection of Glory Girl's forcefield into the shadow state - already selecting the target vehicle I intended to dash towards.

Perhaps, because the regular guns were in such poor shape - and the non-regular ones were somewhat busy with the swarm - no such assault comes. Instead, one Merchant makes my decision for me. He takes his truck, and slams his foot on the pedal in my direction.

Thirty feet. Twenty. Ten. Five. Shadow state. Glory Girl's forcefield to eat the sudden 'acceleration' from landing right in the driver's seat, right in the face of a horrified driver that hadn't thought this far ahead.

"Hi." I whisper. I wrench the steering wheel sharply to the side, without breaking eye contact. I'm already out of there with the shadow state by the time the car careens off the road, flipping onto its side as the driver tries and fails to regain control in time to avoid a crash.

I grin widely towards the remaining vehicles, more of which were now directing their attention at me as the car behind me ignites - a terrified Merchant clambering his way out of it and sprinting away - getting all of a dozen metres before being mobbed by yet another swarm. My ash clone - with Mush's power active - seems to have found a good spot to secure itself, using the 'knight' formed by Mush's power to literally rip the closest barricade to shreds to reinforce itself. The knight was invincible so long as the ash clone stayed alive, and I doubted any of these guys would ever discover that fact.

This is what life is about. This is power. I wasn't a top-tier yet. But all the challenges so far meant something. I didn't need to be afraid of petty gangsters. I could trust my survival instincts. Trust my powers. Trust Taylor, watching over me with a mastery of the battlefield few could match. Trust the fact that I had a version of Squealer's power, and the briefest glance with it active told me that I had little to fear from her 'construct' save for the slow-moving turrets at the top.

Five vehicles, plus the juggernaut and the tinker inside. A dwindling number of Merchants that had no reason to have made it this long into Taylor's onslaught, save to give Squealer a reason to stay in place to defend them. Guns, webbed up - not quite as non-functional as Taylor probably thinks - but spent and incapable of being reloaded at least. Let alone aimed, given Taylor's omnipresence.

I can do this. I will do this. And when every Merchant blocking the way between Squealer and I lies broken at my feet... it will be time to have a long overdue chat with the Tinker of the Merchants.

First things first. I make a beckoning gesture to the next closest car.

"Next."