As Bronwyn manages to get back close to the factory after the crowd runs off, she does manage to find the drone that was dropped in the ensuing panic - trampled and broken to pieces, its flashing bits dull and lifeless now. It's around this time that she hears a terrible wrenching of metal occurring inside, and sees Sideswipe scrambling outside with a limp and looking very worse for wear.
He seems to try and speed away, but his limp is preventing him from using his power effectively, so he hobbles towards Bronwyn and gives her a look up and down. "You a member of the pajama party too? Because your friends are fighting some nasty customers in there. And I can't run, so I feel my only chance now is if you guys beat the snot out of them and send them running..."
Mercy's tendons were all severed. They could tell that it would take at least a minute fully focusing on their healing to get back into the fight. But they were fairly worried that there wouldn't be a minute to have with the battle going on above them.
Wingblade had the disadvantage in numbers, but it was also obvious to her that these two had never worked together before. So her efforts to continue to put them into each other's way worked to give her enough space to avoid their blows, while her wings cut out and managed to baffle Chimera, who had to land, seeming to hesitate continuing this fight.
Wrath on the other hand was still in full swing, and his superhuman speed allowed him to run in gravity defying ways around Wingblade. "You know, I think I remember you were killed once before...yes, by one of our other teams," He mentions. "You think you can come back again after the second time? Though, it will be hard to do so with your head severed from your body."
He was suddenly there in front of her, blade clashing with her wings. The number of blows was too fast for her, making her whole body quake from the repeated strikes. He would land back down next to Mercy on the ground after that, looking up at her in that faceless helmet. "You must feel the thrill of the dance! I love it...though a little less against someone who can't match my speed."
Mercy struggles to get back to their feet, as Wrath pays them no mind. "Let's settle this in one stroke then. Give you a fighting chance." He settles into some kind of quick draw stance, facing her. "Come on. This is the best shot you'll ever get. I promise not to move my feet."
Wrath is arrogantly challenging Wingblade - what does she do?
Wingblade disliked Wrath from the moment the cocky douchebag opened his mouth at the competition. As much as she wanted to put him in his place, she had resolved to not play his game. To let go of her ego and avoid a confrontation when it wasn't necessary.
She didn't really see a way out now, with Mercy at Wrath's... well.
Problem was, this guy was good. But he had an ego, and that was his weakness. She didn't trust him but he was probably right that he was giving her her best shot. She had to make it count.
Wingblade dives at Wrath, coming in at an angle away from Mercy. The hero was probably the fastest opponent he'd ever faced, but he was faster. His talk about cutting her head off must have stuck, since as she approached her wings were up and protecting her neck from any sort of strike that could decapitate her. But her legs were nicely exposed.
He steps to the side (oops, guess he's a liar, but oh, well -- no one could track him anyway) and severs Wingblade's Achilles tendons as she blows by. He then taps her metallic wings with his sword, giving a nice shower of sparks to make the clash look good.
Wingblade crashes to a stop, collapsing to her hands and knees as her feet fail to support her weight. It was a perfect pose, her head and neck nicely exposed for a quick, clean stroke and no one will ever doubt that Wrath is the best.
He moves up to her in a blink and raises his sword. His arm, however, doesn't listen to him as he tries to bring it down. He looks, and sees a long pinfeather jabbed into his shoulder from her wing that had predicted his approach. Wingblade's head snaps up to look at him.
"Checkmate."
Skewered on her wing, Wrath can't move away in time as she pushes off the ground with her other wing with superhuman strength, shoving him to the ground and landing on top of him. Her free wing jabs at him as two pinfeathers splay out and land on either side of his neck. He can feel their sharp edges scraping on his skin.
Wingblade's fist moves in a blur and strikes, and Wrath's world goes black.
Wingblade dives at Wrath, blades flashing. She doesn't try to match his ferocity; she doesn't play the game of "who's the better killer?" She keeps him busy, stays alive, and gives Mercy the time to recover.
"So was it everything you'd hoped?" she asks, taunting him as she blocks or evades anything but glancing or superficial blows. "Have you trained for this? Spent months watching, waiting for a chance at me? Since I haven't spared you a thought."
Wait really? They're not even trying to retreat like the plan? What happened to 'abort abort abort'?!"Fine, but you're coming with me. They're sneaky and if you can't run, you definitely aren't going off on your lonesome to get bagged by the B-team."
Triggering her comm as she headed towards whatever part of the building was shaking most, she griped, "The way out's clear by the way, not that that's still the plan anymore?? Whatever. Give me a target and I'll make my own door."
Bronwyn hears Mercy speaking on comms, pained and stilted. "Try the west windows. They should still be accessible..." They told her, as they watched the fight. Flexing and trying to make a fist and get themselves ready to join in, healing up as much as they could.
"So was it everything you'd hoped?" she asks, taunting him as she blocks or evades anything but glancing or superficial blows. "Have you trained for this? Spent months watching, waiting for a chance at me? Since I haven't spared you a thought."
Wrath laughs as he parries her attacks, obviously enjoying himself. Something about her words though seem to edge underneath his ego."Hardly trained myself to fight you. But the past months have been so wonderful for testing my limits. Proving myself against former tutors. It was really their own fault for drawing attention to themselves. I didn't want to have to punish them, but isn't it the duty of a student to overcome their masters? A shame that he will be the last - but it just proves that no one can match my speed. "
Mercy flexes and manages to slowly get up from behind Wrath. Things clicked into place for them. It was his fault. It was always his fault!
It was just bad luck, or bad timing, or not thinking straight from the furious realization of what Wrath had done that pushed Mercy to charge so recklessly. So it was impossible for them to stop when Wrath's blade suddenly shifted and pointed at them, Mercy impaling their torso and clutching onto Wrath's arm.
"Oh, Mercy...I do love your passion. But I'm trying to have a duel here. Stay out of it," He insisted, shoving them off. "I don't have much more time to play. Chimera, bring them to the tank," He directly the mercenary. She swelled in mass and grew horns as she landed down by Mercy, dragging them towards the tank.
Bronwyn manages to enter just as this point, still hidden from view, but can see the scene - Wingblade harrying the sword wielding armored soldier, and a brutish tattooed woman with horns now dragging Mercy towards their tank, leaving a smear of blood it their wake.
What do the two of them do?!
"No!" Wingblade shouts as Mercy is impaled on Wrath's sword. She reengages immediately, pressing forward and forcing him to block her own attack while the sword was still in Alexis' gut.
Wingblade redoubles her efforts, fighting much more recklessly because she had to now take out Wrath and then go rescue Alexis from Chimera. Her wings fly into a blur as she pulls out a pair of escrima sticks from her back and uses them to batter through Wrath's defenses. Her far more offensive approach left some openings that the Triakosian took advantage of, but as it turned out Mercy was able to damage Wrath's sword. It shatters against the armored dyna-cloth that made up Wingblade's new costume.
She continued the attack unabated. "Chimera! You're next unless you leave right now!"
"I mean it! Don't make me come after you!"
Bronwyn gave a quiet cough to clear her throat as she sized up the situation. Gotta add filters to the mask for wall dust if I'm going to keep breaking through these...
Okay, Shayera's got that guy, but I don't know what Goat Girl's power set is. Even Alexis probably doesn't want to be in the middle of whatever that fight will be like, especially while their hurt so...
Take her escape-tank away.
The tank was big, bigger than her car-bells, or the old school bus, or any of the other junk she used to train, but she didn't have to lift all of it at once. All those tracks make it easier to angle, but they won't let it run upside down.
"You! Wiseguy! Stay here where they can't see you."
Leaving Sydney near the new hole in the wall, Bronwyn shot towards the side of the tank, taking the barest moment to center herself, before bringing all the strength in her body to bear, using every scrap of technique to get every ounce of muscle and bone and leverage and magic all oriented towards one goal.
The tank shuddered, tilted, and with a final surge of strength, flipped like a tortoise.
There was some confusion with the retreating Triakosia troops as a new person came in and grabbed onto their tank. There were shouts as they tried to engage defenses, but Bronwyn's push worked as she lifted the tank up onto an angle where its treads could no longer move it.
Chimera looked at Wingblade, hesitant to abandon her job especially without concrete assurance she could get away. But then the easiest exit for her was suddenly flipped on its tail by the Acolyte, making it all but infeasible for her to leave. So she settled back into professionalism, letting Mercy go and shifting her body yet again, suddenly obtaining a ten foot long reptilian tail and a mouth full of razor sharp fangs that oozed some noxious liquid. She charged at the Acolyte, blocking her from coming to Wingblade's aid!
Wrath groaned, obviously not pleased with how everything was shaking out. His sword destroyed, he was using a shorter combat knife now to fight, though the reach made it much harder for him to strike at Wingblade effectively while standing still. "You know it would be easier to kill her instead of convince her to run away," He comments. The change of numbers does give him pause, considering his options - and coming to a conclusion.
"Dammit. Well, there's no escaping it," He sighs. ducking underneath her wing's slash and speaking into his helmet comms. "Mission Fiasco, WR-7 requesting severance package. Coordinate on delivery. Acknowledged."
He shifted back twenty feet from Wingblade. "I'd really love to stay and keep going, but I do have to run - the mission is more important than my satisfaction," He says, before like a bolt he races towards the tank and into the tunnels behind it, too fast to track as he whips up dust behind him - and the whole building shakes again, the foundation now cracking under their feet!
Mercy manages to get back up shakily, a lot of dried blood across their chest and arms and legs, as the factory starts to crack and collapse all around the team!
What do they do?
"You know it would be easier to kill her instead of convince her to run away," He comments.
"Then you're an idiot and a psychopath," Wingblade hisses.
When Wrath bugs out, she checks to make sure the weird gun is still in its pouch where she'd stowed it underneath her wings. Assuming that it's still there, she lets him go and watches to make sure that everyone is getting clear of the factory.
Great, now **everyone** wants to fight instead of getting out of here...
"Look, I really-" Bronwyn vaulted over Chimera's tail, leaving Gae-Dearg shrunken and out of the way. "-think we should both get out of here before you get hurt or- Eeuugh!" Green, viscous spittle sprayed at the front of her armor as she caught the shapeshifter's jaws. "Oh forget it!"
Hoping that Chimera didn't take advantage of the drop in her guard, Bronwyn snagged her tail and with a quick spin hurled the scaly merc through a newly minted exit.
Mercy looks concerned as the building starts to crumble around the group, even as Bronwyn tosses her opponent to safety. She looks baffled by Bronwyn's action, before glancing up as a massive steel girder falls, landing across the Acolyte's shoulder and pinning her to the ground!
Chimera wastes what precious time she has and her legs elongate and bend backwards, as she sprints off after Wrath down the tunnels and the rest of the Triakosia squad.
Wingblade confirms that she's got the device - however, she also sees that it's been damaged in the fight purposefully, punctured and leaking fluorescent fluids.
"Hey! HEY! Help!" Sidney calls out from the wall - apparently some of the rubble has caught him as well, the villain unable to lift the stone that's pinned him to the wall. He flails, concerned and fearful for his life.
Mercy's priority was Bronwyn, coming over to try and lift the heavy beam off of her!
Despite their normally impressive strength, Mercy's severe blood loss and slippery grip made it near impossible for them to grip the metal properly!
What does everyone do?
Wingblade flicks the fluid off her fingers, leaving the gun-thing in its compartment to worry about later.
"Come on, we gotta go!" she shouts as she beelines for Sidney. She slashes at the rubble that's pinned him, cutting deep into cracks of the stone to break it apart so he can free himself.
With Sidney freed, she moves back deeper into the structure to help Mercy.
"You're all getting out. I promise."
Wingblade succeeds in getting Sidney freed from the rubble, the villain in distress scrambling out through the new gap in the wall to escape the collapse. As she turns to aid Mercy, calling out to them, Mercy finally manages to get Bronwyn loose enough from the steel beam for her to get out.
At the same time, Bronwyn's been storing up energy for one big push, and that's what she does, a burst of strength that manages to catch Mercy hard in the chest with the beam, sending them flying off towards the tunnel, tumbling out of sight - as the tank topples over and falls in front of the tunnel, blocking access to it from the others!
"Can you hear me? I'll find my own way out!" Mercy calls from the otherside. "Get out of there!" They shout.
The whole building is about to collapse - what do they do?
"Promise!?!" Wingblade shouts at Mercy as she grabs Bronwyn and pulls her out of danger. They dive out of the last gap before the entire structure gives way and pancakes to the ground, sending a blast of dust spraying over them.
"Dammit," Wingblade mutters in between coughs. "We-- we gotta get Sidney to safety. Defender's HQ, there's a high-dollar hit on him. He's not safe yet." She looks at the collapsed structure, clinging desperately to Bronwyn. "I'm sorry."
Trapped by a steel beam... It would have been laughable if the angle she was trapped at didn't make it so serious. I just need, like, any leverage - I'm strong but not like, lift this with my fingers strong.
The shaking and trembling of the building was working with her, mostly. There was just enough movement that she was able to keep inching her way towards getting free, when suddenly a shadow was standing over her, the beam was shifting, and she shoved hard even before she saw her own face looking back at her.
"¡Dios! Mercy, I had it! Can't you ever stay in your lane?!"
The beam practically flew off of her, catching Mercy hard in the chest. They vanished quickly down the tunnel, but not before Bronwyn saw the look of hurt on their face.
Oh. Crap.
The tank fell on top of the hole.
"Oh come on!"
She paused for a long second before sprinting out of the collapsing building. They'll be okay. They're tough. They'll be okay for a little bit at least.
She felt Shayera grab her and grabbed right back, trying to spread as much of her weight out as she could to help with her balance.
"We-- we gotta get Sidney to safety. Defender's HQ, there's a high-dollar hit on him. He's not safe yet."
Bronwyn shook her head, discovering in the process that her left temple hurt, a lot.
"You get him out of here. The Triakosia don't have much for air power, and you dodge better without carrying me anyways." And I'm not taking a jumpy speedster Elsewhere.
"I'll get to Mercy. I have a- Well, I'll have a plan."
Can't just dig them out. If it was just the tank, I could pull that free, but there's going to be all kinds of other shifty debris, and I don't have big backhoe scoops for hands to get it out of the way...
Okay, can't go down after them. Come at it from the side. We're in a major city and that drill was huge. That tunnel has to intersect something somewhere... And I know who'll be able to figure out where.
Reaching up to her comm, she crossed her fingers, just hoping he'd pick up. "Hey Machina? I need a 3rd act miracle."
Wingblade looks at Bronwyn, uncertainty on her dust-caked face. She had expected her to insist she stay, to help look for Mercy, and probably would have relented.
But Bronwyn has a plan.
"Okay," she says, and then nods with more confidence. "Right. Okay, right." She gives Bron's hand a squeeze, then turns to get Sydney to safety.
"I'm not going to say anything about how much this could have been avoided if you'd have just come with me right away. But I can't promise I won't be thinking about it. Now, hang on." Wingblade slides a couple harness-style straps from her superhero outfit and snaps them around Sydney's chest, then puts her wings hard to work to take off.
Once in the air, she orients herself toward the center of Halcyon and Defender's HQ, and pushes herself to her top speed.
"Ugh, I hate flying," Sidney grumbled as he was picked up. "Yeah, could have gone with you. No telling where they could have set up a nest to pick me off if I'd tried to rabbit before," he argues. "But after this clusterf*ck, they're all probably gone."
Indeed, as Wingblade takes to the skies, she notes the number of emergency vehicles - police, fire department, and emergency medical - only now making their way towards the scene of the battle.
When she finally lands down at Defender's HQ, there's already personnel waiting for her at the rooftop, taking Sidney from her and doing some first aid on the bleeding man. He seems more at ease on the ground now, looking up at Wingblade.
"Probably going to jail again after this - but, I'll tell you what I know. Some snooping kid came around, sniffing after an employer of mine. Scared me, especially since I found out the others who were similarly employed were all dead. So I went to confront him at his high society event. Didn't even get close, but I did hear things. Someone's building up an army, getting them trained to fight and arming them with tech like that thing I nearly shot you with," Sidney tells her. "Not my former employer - they're just the hired muscle and trainers. But I got discovered and barely booked it out alive with only a small piece I thought I could use as leverage."
"There's one thing I know for sure, though. That crazy witch Selene seems to be in on this. She seemed like she was definitely giving orders...but I'm far out of my league now. Gonna leave black ops and mystics to those who know what to do about that stuff." He winces as his cuts are cleaned and taped up, before being escorted to a holding cell inside...
Mercy had to beat a hasty retreat from where the tunnel had began - or ended, depending on your perspective. In either case, it had collapsed about fifty feet in, fully preventing even them from managing to dig their way through. It was just bad luck that they'd broken their rib from Bronwyn's outburst, and it was not healing quickly after their multiple injuries. Add to that how dark it was in here and they hoped that they could find their way out.
But Wrath had also come down this way. What if they had to face him again? It boiled their blood, but they had to keep calm. They were a mess right now, not in any condition to fight. So they kept stepping slowly through the tunnel, working by feel alone.
"¡Dios! Mercy, I had it! Can't you ever stay in your lane?!"
They'd been helping her. They had tried to help her. And she just...lashed out. It was confusing and hurtful and they didn't understand why she hated them now.
They would put it out of their mind for now. They just needed to keep going. Though the tunnel curved, and the ground and surface was very uneven so they had to go slow to avoid tripping. And it was getting hotter and stuffier and they could tell that they were heading on a downward slope.
"...Can anyone hear me?" Mercy tried the comm again. It seemed hopeless, since it didn't seem like a signal could penetrate the bedrock around them. Maybe Machina could if they knew, but Mercy figured they were done with the team now. And they'd promised to find their own way out.
"Ugh, I hate flying," Sidney grumbled as he was picked up. "Yeah, could have gone with you. No telling where they could have set up a nest to pick me off if I'd tried to rabbit before," he argues. "But after this clusterf*ck, they're all probably gone."
"Give me a little credit," Wingblade rolls her eyes and groans in the back of her throat. "Like a sniper'd ever draw a bead on me." She dives abruptly and weaves in between some buildings erratically for a short demonstration. She quickly levels out so she doesn't aggravate Sidney's injuries and quietly fumes for the rest of the trip.
At Defender HQ, she also drops off the strange gun device into a containment unit for safety and eventual analysis. "Matrix, you should check that out as soon as possible," she says before listening to Sidney's information.
As the speedster is secured, Wingblade extends her senses to make sure there's no hidden assassins waiting for him.
Shayera normally wouldn't have detected it, but her state of hyper-vigilance gives her the heads up she needs for the large invisible object that's displacing the air. It shimmers into view, an AEGIS airship that hovers before doors open and agents drop out. The woman in charge is dressed in a dark tan suit and shoes that seem to try and make up for her disadvantage in stature as they walk over.
"Special Agent Nadiya Hassan of AEGIS. I want to thank you for your hard work, Miss Wingblade," she introduces herself to the young hero, while other agents come up to Sidney and talk quietly with the staff before helping him to his feet - and putting him into handcuffs.
"We'll be handling his processing from here," She explains to Wingblade. "Sideswipe has been under surveillance for months during his parole as part of an ongoing investigation. While the details are currently in discovery, I am certain that he is in violation of his parole in willfully involving himself with super-criminal elements again," She tells her with cool professionalism. "I would also like to have you come in for a debriefing of events, but I believe I require your guardian's consent first. We will however need any materials that he was in possession of as evidence," She finishes, glancing at Matrix.
Matrix shrugs and steps in front of the portable containment unit set down on the roof. "AEGIS doesn't scare me with their intimidation tactics. But in the interest of cooperation, you'll get my report on whatever I uncover."
Agent Hassan looked unfazed by the resistance to her demands, turning back to Wingblade and handing her a business card. Behind her, Sidney was lead towards the airship, ashen faced and terrified. "Please see about scheduling an interview at your earliest convenience, Wingblade. Unless there is any information you would like to volunteer right now?"
What does Wingblade do?
Bronwyn is still waiting for an answer from Machina when she spots the AEGIS cars rolling up, emblazoned with their shield and setting up a perimeter around the site of the collapsed building...
...A building that suddenly shifts again, the rubble sinking fast into the ground. A tremor in the ground comes as it subsides deeper into a sinkhole, until it's twenty feet deep of rubble and sand. What Bronwyn notices though is that any sign of the tank that had been inside seems to have vanished - either sunk deeper than what she could see on the surface, or it may have managed to get away.
There's a sudden burst of static in her ear - and Mercy's voice comes through, a weak signal that somehow manages to connect. "-Hear me? No, I - kkkkkk - myself. Keep moving - kkkkkkkk - deeper. Hot, must be under - kkkkkk -"
The signal's getting weaker by the second - what does Bronwyn do?
Wingblade smirks when Matrix decides not to turn over the gun-device over to AEGIS. When asked about an interview, she rolls her shoulders. "As you said. If Whip says it's okay, I'll squeeze you into my schedule sometime."
She gives Matrix a nod and extends her wings. "I still don't know the whole story behind this mess. But I've got some team members who might still need my help. So I'll catch up with you later."
With that, Wingblade takes off and returns to the scene of the demolished building at her best speed, in case the search for Mercy was still ongoing.
Kaoru was currently stuck clinging to a statue as if his life depended on it. Which it did. There just wasn't really much of a risk of him actually falling. The real problem was figuring out how he'd reach the mechanism that had suddenly reversed gravity so he could then get to the schematics of the weird machine that had healed him so he could figure out what else it had done to him. Because that magic guy Xan had taken him to was a quack (apparently quite literally given a recent accident that had occurred at the magic academy) and clearly didn't know what he was talking about. It was, of course, just his luck that the device had been magic fused with technology and that magic users seemed morally opposed to storing their data online like a normal person, instead opting to keep it locked up behind some kind of series of magical traps.
He was surprised to hear Bronwyn's voice coming across his comms. Not only for the obvious reasons but also because he had been about 90% sure he had been transported to some kind of pocket dimension. But apparently the evil magicians who had set up this little trial had found some other way to cram a seemingly endless series of hallways and rooms into what had clearly just been a closet in a long-abandoned building. That or apparently they had wanted wifi for their breaks while creating this monstrosity.
After hearing Bronwyn's request, he responded, "Couldn't you just look up sewer maps yourself? They put them all in the public domain." Which he definitely didn't already know because he'd been working on faster, traffic-free routes across the city (arguably less dangerous than hijacking the city lights system). "You're probably a stone's throw from at least half a dozen sewer entrances. There's also a maintenance tunnel not too far away that's currently closed. Though scuttlebutt is that it has something to do with hitting a magma pocket, which is weird since there's not supposed to be one in the area. Or if you wanted to trek out a bit, there's a water processing plant that connections to one of Halcyon's major aquifers that's said to have a cave system that connects most of that area. Alternatively, if you believe the Halcyon Inquirer, there's a colony of mole men who have taken up residence in a nearby park that you could 'coerce' into loaning you some digging equipment." The last one was mostly a joke. Sure, it had been in the Halcyon Inquirer. But he had also sent them the most absurd article he could think of without absolutely along with a 'donation' and they had published it. Which was totally worth it to win that bet with Chloe. He send a few map pins over to her corresponding to the mentioned locations.
Bronwyn breathed heavily out her nose "Yeah, why didn't I just look those up myself? Mole men and magma pockets are totally all in the public domain. Silly of me, really."
Without acknowledging the approaching AEGIS squad cars, Bronwyn started trucking towards one of the pins. Automatically dropping her voice she added. "Seriously. Alexis is losing signal and I don't have time to let AEGIS or mole people or anything slow me down. I'm heading down the sewer entrance without the lava. Whatever directions or AEGIS-stalling, or anything you can help with... I'm not leaving them down there."
Hmm, Kaoru was quite good at causing distractions. He could probably hack into something AEGIS-y. Though that might be tricky without his computer.... He stared wistfully to where his bag was sitting on the once-floor-now-ceiling of his temporary prison. Wait, why wasn't *that* affected by the gravity reversal? There was probably something there he could use to get out.
Though for now, the fact that comms were coming through at all, meant he did at least have something to work with. He removed his watch, unfolding it into a phone and started typing up a text through one of his fake accounts to his contact in the Halcyon Inquirer.
> Hey, you hear about the collapse downtown? I heard the mole men army is invading but some government goons are trying to cover it up!
He added the address and sent it. While HI was hardly what one would call a reputable news source, they were persistent. A pretty high percentage of them were also conspiracy theorists, meaning that they considered resisting authority to be rites of passage, collecting arrests like badges of honor. They'd come out in swarms at the barest hint of a government coverup.
After her conversation with Kaoru, she notes that the AEGIS convoys on the ground at least veer off to create a wider perimeter - judging from the sudden influx of news vans that are arriving, it seems that they're caught between doing their job and public relations. By the time that she manages to locate the sewer entrance that Machina had managed to find for her, they had their hands full as what appeared to be a full blown protest against AEGIS by people waving signs saying 'RELEASE THE MOLE MEN' and 'NO WEAPONS TESTING IN HALCYON'. It seemed that AEGIS was not prepared for a response of this magnitude this swiftly and are having difficulty maintaining order.
After leaving Sidney to his fate and returning to help with the search, her view from above gives a full perspective on the new sinkhole that was once the factory, as well as the growing number of people below that are protesting AEGIS, diverting most of their numbers towards keeping them away. So far the crowd is protesting peacefully, but she can tell that tensions are rising as more come out. Some she thinks are people from that homeless encampment nearby, probably frustrated by not being able to return.
She also spots Bronwyn, removing a manhole cover as she looks prepared to go underground. A small burst of static from a signal too weak to actually transmit any voice sounds out in her comm as she approaches. It might be from Mercy, but the weakness must mean that they're deep underground...
Wingblade circles around overhead for a few passes. She wanted to jump down the manhole immediately behind Bronwyn to help, but held off. She didn't have the strength to hold off a cave-in like those two did. She needed to provide more options, not less.
She hits her communicator. "Hey, boss. Yeah, I'm at the warehouse collapse. It was a cluster. Triakosia, Baudica and Chimera all going after a two-bit speedster named Sideswipe who stole some magitech gizmo from Selene. They're all at-- okay, sure. Figured you'd know.
"Anyway, I'm back at the site with AEGIS crawling all over it, and Mercy's trapped underneath the rubble in the tunnels below and Bron's heading down to help. Any ideas on what I could do that won't make things worse?"
Whippoorwill had already heard about the factory collapse - it seemed that everyone in fact had heard about it, because there had been reports of a localized seismic disturbance centered where the pit that was once a building resided.
She seems very disturbed by the mention of Selene - as far as she was aware the villainess hadn't been seen in the public eye in decades. Her last appearance had her against a whole former generation of heroes from the Silver Age, when she attempted to start a new ice age and rule a kingdom of snow. Activity coming from her now, possibly already going on, could be catastrophic.
Her advice to Wingblade on how to help Mercy was succinct - ask AEGIS for help, inform them there is someone on her team that is possibly trapped underground. They had resources, tech and manpower to help with that, even if they would expect cooperation from Wingblade and the others in their investigation.
"Copy that," Wingblade says to her mentor. She stops circling and drops out of the sky, landing hard in the middle of the AEGIS agents.
"Hi. Be advised that there's one of my team that got trapped underground when the building collapsed. Another's gone down to help get them out. I'll coordinate with them topside through our communicators. I assume you've got some equipment that can help with the search?" She put Whip's training to use, speaking with authority and not expecting 'no' for an answer.
As Shayera gives an AEGIS agent the situation, one of them turns to another, speaking into his comm device. "Agents be advised, we have a IAE trapped underneath the wreckage of the site. We need ground penetrating radar and signal boosters..."
Within minutes, Wingblade gets a front row seat to a big machine with a monitor that hums and products a green image indicating the area below the neighborhood. A tech specialist asks to borrow her comm to try and boost it to catch Mercy's weaker signal. The only thing that the AEGIS agents can't provide is manpower, as they have their hands full with the protest and keeping it as civil as possible.
Wingblade can see the mess of tunnels underneath, criss-crossing the sewer system. Using the radar, she can pinpoint the closest point to where the tank's tunnel had passed through it, a couple of manholes away from where Bronwyn had sought to enter. There's a signal, faint but close within it.
When the pair manage to get underneath and search, they find what they are looking for - an unconscious Alexis, pinned by a tunnel collapse that's left them buried halfway under concrete and brick. They seem to be breathing at least.
Wingblade helps Bronwyn up as she carries Mercy to the surface. "Want me to fly them to the med lab?" she asks. She gauges the weight of Mercy plus their armor and shrugs with a grin. "Honestly, you'd be able to get them back as quick as I could. How 'bout I get it ready?"
Mercy didn't wake up for a while. The injuries they had sustained were healed up already before Wingblade had even managed to get them to her apartment. In the med lab, vitals appeared to be steady, though they were suffering from malnutrition. An IV feed was recommended for getting back their energy.
Alexis didn't wake up still until close to evening, eyes fluttering open. They looked to one side, before glancing at their hands. Flexing and extending the fingertips while pushing back on the cot to get more comfortable.
"...I guess they found me in time." They said to no one in particular.
"Of course we did." Bronwyn stood from her chair in the corner, quickly shoving her phone back in the pocket of her leggings.
"You hungry? I know you had a lot of regrow and repair to do. I'm sure you can get all you need from a paste, but I figured dinner, like, food-dinner, might be more enjoyable. I can bring you a plate in here."
"...Food would be all right." Alexis replies to Bronwyn, continuing to stare at their hands for a few moments.
They shudder, and wrap their arms around their knees, tucking them up under their chin. "...I'm sorry. I thought that when the tunnel collapsed, I would have a new body. But I still look like you." They bite on the inside of their lip. "I tried to go back to my lane like you said, but that didn't work."
They turn their face away from Bronwyn. "...do I still belong here? Do we still have a team? It's just you and me and Shayera now...I don't know if that's enough. If maybe I should...should get out of the city for some time. Try to find out more about why I am like this."
When Alexis wakes up, Shayera is curled up in her oversized chair at the main Abacus console. She's scrolling through news articles, files, and incident reports on Selene and her minions, a steaming cup of tea in her hands.
Her enhanced hearing catches the conversation in the med bay and she pauses in her info dive. She frowns, debating about butting in. Setting down the cup, Shayera gets out of her chair and moves to the edge of her balcony.
”Okay, first, I feel like I've been super clear that I don't want you getting hurt as a way to change what you look like, okay? NO GETTING YOURSELF HURT BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE FEEL WEIRD!
“Now food.”
She spun quickly on her heel and went to get Alexis some food. Nothing really fancy, but plenty of protein and carbs.
She wanted to deflect and avoid their question., to just overwhelm it with positivity – especially since there were other things she really wanted to address. But that wasn't what Alexis deserved.
She handed over the food and gave Alexis a moment to nosh while she figured out what she wanted to say about The Team.
”I guess... I guess it's really up to you. I think this kind of thing is mostly good for you, and I want you here, but if we're not enough by ourselves, then I guess we're just not. I think your answers are here though. Triakosia's spending a lot of time around Halcyon, even when things get hot, and if you run into them while you're out wandering the lonesome byways or wherever, I'm worried it'll only be on their terms. I don't want you to be alone for that.”
Alexis slumped into their shoulders from Bronwyn's angry concern that they were trying to get themselves hurt. They were quiet as they received the food, listening to Bronwyn as they ate the flatbread, cheese and chicken. Once they had cleaned off the plate, they pushed it to one side to reply.
"I...I didn't always have a body that could repair itself," Alexis said. "I'm ready to talk about it. I think. I..." They took a deep breath and let it out. "I've been remembering things in my dreams. How there were people who loved me but were scared I could lift up a couch to get my toy. How I ended up being taken by people who said they could help me with my abilities. But the stronger I became, the easier it was for me to hurt myself. Muscles broke down and tore and I would be in bed for weeks.
There was another kid with me. They had a similar problem, being so fast but hurting themselves and breaking bones. We were paired. Like the other Triakosia," Alexis tells her.
"They had a solution. Found a solution, I think. A big black tub that looked all patched together, filled with water from these old clay jars with ancient pictures painted on them. And they took us both, and they put us both inside and held us down until we drowned. But we survived. I woke up and the water was gone and we were able to do all the things we could do before but better because our bodies healed quickly.
But then in a training exercise, my partner killed me. I don't know if it was an accident or on purpose, but I changed the first time then. That's when they decided I needed to be studied. So they repeated the conditions, then altered them, again and again, to try to understand. And my partner... Wrath, they were given special treatment. 'The control', I think." They tremble, recalling the past with the vividness of reliving it again.
"If you think there are still answers here, about why I have the ability to die and come back different, I'll stay. You and Shayera have been better to me than anyone else I've known," They say. "I just hope that we can get more allies. The Triakosia outnumber us by a lot. And Wrath is...better than me."
A smile grows on Shayera's face as she listens to Alexis. She tucks her phone in her pocket, having read the message that had just popped up. With a graceful move, she hurdles the balcony's railing and drops to the first floor and lands next to Alexis and Bronwyn.
"I think the odds are about to change," she says with rising excitement. She looks at Bronwyn, her eyes sparkling. "Dad's called the Daughters in for another fitting. We're going to have the advantage in numbers.
"The Triakosia are about to be crushed."
Two down, one to go, Shayera thought, unable to suppress a giddy feeling. The sensation of flying with three sisters together was impossible to quantify. It was like their first fight together -- the unity, the coordination, the oneness. Only now, they were in the air, where she belonged. Once their fourth sister was airborne, they would be an unstoppable force.
Shayera was dressed in a pinstripe skirt and blazer for school today, feeling powerful if a bit overdressed. She did her own makeup this morning, under the watchful eye of Tiffany who gave it her approval. She strutted through the hallways, flanked by the other fashionistas, and reveled in the stares, turned heads, and surreptitious glances as they strode by.
At lunch, she was sitting with her sisters, chatting animatedly in Mandarin about what they would do when all four of them had wings. Her senses detected her girlfriend the instant she was in the cafeteria. "Ni hao, Bronwyn!" Shayera shouts and waves her over as she makes sure there's room next to her.
"We'll slow down so you can keep up," she says excitedly, then switches to Mandarin. <The latest fitting worked just as well as the first one! Three of us flying! You have no idea how great is was!>
She meets Bronwyn's eyes, a sudden pang of sadness hitting her as a desperate yearning to fly with her girlfriend pervades her being. "Ojalá hubiera una máscara para ti," she says softly.
Bathing in ancient spooky water to gain invulnerability... Well, it certainly rings a bell.
"Yeah, I think there are definitely answers to find, as well as a question we should put Abacus on. If any of the previous faces you've had also belonged to other people first, we might be able to fill in some blanks." Especially if they've also spent a bit of time in the Underworld.
***
That suit! Daaaaang.
I swear, getting surprised by her outfits is taking years off my life. I should have her send me a selfie in the morning so I can brace myself.
...And be on a low simmering boil all morning.
Maybe not my best move.
"<Hey Shayera, you look really great! Hey gals. Who drew the short straw and had to wait on her wings?>" The idea of flying with Shayera using her own wings brought up a lot of confusing churning thoughts that Bronwyn really didn't want to get into over lunch so she gratefully clung to her revulsion at the wings' source and continued with small talk.
The four Daughters exchange a glance with each other. <Yin Ying's still waiting,> Yu says.
Yin shrugs. <It's not like I can't feel what it's like. We're still one when the others have them.>
<Right,> Yu Hiu agrees. <We were talking about how often we should use them for our work. They are distinctive, and... painful to take on and off. And, we are dependent on Xiu -- I mean, Xai Ara's -- powers. We lose her, and we all probably die.>
Shayera grows solemn next to Bronwyn. "I won't let that happen," she says softly.
After a lengthy silence at the table, Shu Zi turns to Bronwyn, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to play Assault: Legends of Mayhem? My league needs another player, and we're doing a raid tonight."
"...I'll need my armor ready. But I'm grateful," Alexis said, bowing her head at Shayera. "Preparation will be needed. Can...can either of you see if you can't get Kaoru to help?" They ask. "I would feel better even with one extra person helping on our side. Maybe even Whippoorwill."
Alexis felt the new pendant around their neck. It was good to have a way now to summon their armor in a pinch rather than having to take precious time to suit up for a fight. But what was the most amazing part for Alexis wasn't that, but the other piece of technology that Matrix had given them.
"I understand it's been difficult for you because of how your powers alter what you look like - this won't physically change you, but it will hopefully help for going to school."
So it was that everyone in the cafeteria would now notice Alexis - as in, the very odd girl from weeks before, wearing a simple green dress and leggings and currently with a tray of food piled as high as it could physically carry, walking towards Shayera's and Bronwyn's table and setting it down next to them. They smiled, before showing off the holoprojector bracelets they were wearing.
"I like Matrix," They said matter-of-factly. "My armor is great, too. I really like being back in regular classes again." They definitely seemed to have gotten to a better mood now that they weren't always showing off Bronwyn's face.
"I've reached out, but I don't know if K's gonna join. It'd be great if he did, but counting on him to save our bacon would definitely be a mistake."
***
Bronwyn instinctively smiled when she saw Alexis approach, gratified, and and then slightly guilty at how she didn't tense up in the same way now that they looked like their old self. Well, one of their old selves...
"So what's the plan re: the Tri? Or should we not talk about that here?"
Shayera peeks her head over the group at the table and looks around at the other tables closest to theirs. Then she leans in toward Bronwyn. "Doesn't seem like there's anyone listening in. Besides, you think the Triakosia would try to slip a spy here into Halcyon High? Doesn't seem like their style."
She gives Shu Zi a look, who doesn't seem to be appreciating Bronwyn ignoring her. "Besides, all we're talking about is a... Mayhem Legends raid. Right?"
"Assault: Legends of Mayhem. And we'd kill if we all used our masks," Shu Zi pouts.
Yu Hiu looks at her in a chastising way. "We don't use the masks to play video games."
"Anyway," Shayera interrupts, "speaking of our upcoming raid, we wait for our last set of wings to come in. Then there's four of us, and the two of you. We hit them hard from multiple angles, take control of their computer system, shut off their lights, and systematically dismantle their operation.
"What do you think?"
"Was the Mayhem Legends raid not metaphorical? Sorry, don't have anything leveled up."
"And I think if you count the number of people in this cafeteria who have at some point been employed or enslaved by a shadowy organization, it's not unreasonable to think you might need both hands. Speaking of large numbers of unknowns though - do we have any sense of what's waiting for us in there? If everyone's home I'm not sure the six of us are gonna be enough.
She looked over to Alexis for confirmation. "And isn't this just one base. What do you think we're going to find in there that will help us dismantle the whole organization?" And why did He pick this moment to strike?
Alexis takes a bite out of their food, which shows some of the limitations of their disguise tech - that they ate it and it seemed to go through between their eyes instead of their mouth showed that the physical form was still taller. They looked to the group, before gesturing to the table as they start to line up some bits of food. Croutons, carrot sticks, and pieces of cookie become a rough map on the table.
"This is the general layout for a forward operations base. The Triakosia will not operate out of anywhere that would be hard to liquidate in an emergency, so it is not likely that they would set up on known property. More likely that held by shell company after shell company. But We have a barracks, training area, armory, vehicles, and the comm center," They point out each section to them.
"It's guaranteed that some of the Legion will be there. Standard protocol would dictate a guard of a dozen." They put out two little salt packets in the center. "Invidia and Humanitas - the Legion. Invidia copies powers and makes them better - Humanitas copies himself, up to a hundred at a time. But paired together, they are a literal self replicating army. The only downside is the more copies there are the less they are able to think individually - and they can't be further than a few miles from each other," Alexis adds.
"Other than them, protocol has two pairs on stand by when they are not on mission. So it would be most likely an even pairing would we all go together," Alexis says. "But, this is the important part." They point to the celery stick that was the comm center. "This hardware is specially design to access the mission network. You can view records of all operations, in the past and current, using the briefcase computer here. It is also where new missions are sent out to the Triakosia. This would give us all the information that we would need to dismantle them," They tell the group.
"There are other problems though. The briefcase is on a biometric lock, randomly selecting a different on site member to be the only one to be able to unlock it. You also cannot record anything from it, but I think that you could take pictures and video of the screen. And it also has a failsafe to destroy it once discovered missing. So to get the data, we would need to find out who currently has access, have them unlock it, and then record secondhand as much as we could before being discovered and the failsafe being triggered," Alexis finishes as they take a bite of an apple.
"What do you think? How do you think we should proceed?" They ask everyone.
Shayera bounces her knee in something akin to excitement as Alexis talks about the threats arrayed against them. "Copies, huh? Given how they experimented with you, I have to assume they tested to see what happens when one or more of Humanitas' copies are killed. What do you think? Can we go all out?" She suppresses a shiver of anticipation over not only herself but all four of them slicing flesh with abandon -- especially something not truly alive and therefore guilt-free... she tries to make sure it doesn't show up on her face.
When Alexis moves on to the hardware and security systems, Shayera shrugs and looks to Shu Zi. "It'd be nice if Kay joins us. But if not... Shu?"
The technopath cracks her knuckles. "Doesn't sound too hard. We can each bring a simple hard drive with us. Drawing in that much data into our minds is hard to maintain, so having something to immediately dump the data into will be nice. And briefcase computers are nice, but they have to have a central server somewhere. We'd only need a brief connection to do enough damage that they'll be back to Windows for weeks while they rebuild their OS."
"The worst thing you could do is kill or knock one of the Legion out," Alexis warns Shayera. "A cluster will know nearly immediately when one of their number is taken out, and everything they experienced before that. But I know that it takes a longer time for further members of the Legion to feel that. So we would have probably five minutes before they would realize, if we can knock out their communications as well," They inform the group.
"When one of them dies or loses consciousness, their body vanishes like an illusion, but the weapons and armor they wear are still real. That could be used to our advantage. I think there's a chance to infiltrate if we can first get a set of their armor - if there's any that was taken from the factory fight by those agents, for example," They suggest to Shayera.
Shayera thinks on that. "Well, it's less than ideal, but not much more than heart rate monitors and body cameras. Might even be less useful; we could use pressure points and nerve strikes to incapacitate them while leaving them awake."
She stands up, getting ready to bus her tray. "Sounds good. Our last set of wings won't be ready for a few days. We'll use that time to finalize our plans. Keep remembering everything you can. The more we know about their capabilities, the better."
Nobody seems to notice until it's too late how something is wrong in Halcyon. The whole city from the North End to Rustside has settled into quiet. There's nothing but petty squabbles in the streets and traffic accidents to keep the police busy. For the young this is a welcome reprieve from chaos that seems to occur week after week. For the veterans, they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Halcyon never stays quiet for long.
Should any of the team manage to go on patrol, the worst offenders they find are fools drunk behind the wheel or some abusive partner who couldn't keep it out of sight. But it feels like Halcyon's criminal element has gone underground, with not even attempted robbery by powered punks being a problem.
It's the day that Shayera expects that the last set of wings will be ready for her and her sisters. Alexis has been giving her updates, narrowing each day the area that the Triakosia's base of operations will be located, tightening around the same six blocks that happens to also house their high school. It's unnerving to realize how closely they must be watching.
The last class has ended for the day, and Alexis' text blips onto Bronwyn and Shayera's devices, in the same chat with Shayera's sisters. I know where they are. Meet at Bruno's Deli for the details. It's cagey, but the longer they've worked on this plan, the more they seemed to be nervous. Despite their happiness over the week of being able to present themself properly, Alexis is under the illusion a sleep-deprived wreck pushing towards a full end of the Triakosia.
At Bruno's Deli, they sit fidgeting at a table near the window, glancing out at the large brick building across the street, before taking another bite of the plate of fried pickle chips they had ordered, wincing at the sour, salty taste.
"...So right in front of the window?" Bronwyn sat down and grabbed a chip.
"I assume that's them over there?" She pointed with her head.
Alexis looks at Bronwyn as she sits down. "...It was the delivery order," They tell her. "All of the Triakosia have their favorites. Only the main bodies of the Legion eat, but I noticed a delivery getting dropped off at that door," They indicate with their head. "Thai, Greek, Indian. Hokori and Pokora are probably at the base. Not sure of the other pair. But it's left on the stoop, and five minutes later another van pulls up, grabs it, and takes a circuit before heading into an underground parking area under that building," They tell Bronwyn.
"I have been watching the past two days to make sure that it was not a fluke. To be sure. I am..." Their eyes droop briefly, leaning against the counter a little more. "...I will be good to go once the others are here."
They look at Bronwyn. "...I don't want anyone to die today. You'll be careful, right?"