Novice 1.B - Interlude (Director Piggot, Skidmark, Coil, Tattletale)

January 5th, 2011. Brockton Bay.

Director Piggot

The year had not began with good signs, the gang activity had been on the rise despite Armsmaster's constant patrols around the city, something that the Protectorate tinker was less than pleased about. There had not been too many clashes between capes thankfully, but that didn't mean that the gangs weren't on the move, and there had been more than a dozen bloody fights involving a number of gang members armed with guns.

The merchants had stirred the hornet's nest provoking the Empire, but the Empire had been creeping around what Merchants considered their turf, so both were provoking one another and it was really causing a mess. There had been a fight breaking out at the boat graveyard over what had been thought to be a freshly triggered tinker, though no evidence remained of such. It could have been a mere scavenger but the fight had got bad enough the PRT had to react when unconfirmed reports of Hookwolf and Alabaster being on the scene along with Squealer's battletruck had reached them.

The devastation certainly lent some credibility to the rumor, but there had been nobody there to capture by the time they'd arrived.

As if that hadn't been bad enough, there had been reports that a new healer had shown up at the local hospital, and when they called the PRT to inform them of this and were delaying the cape through an interview the dispatcher had directed news about it to Assault and Battery, who were on the other side of the city.

By the time they reached the hospital the healer was long gone, apparently having displayed aggravation at being directed at the PRT. The hospital staff had not tried to hold him there, not knowing if he would be able to use his powers offensively, and not wanting to provoke him. Assault and Battery had moved quickly but not quickly enough, and the dispatcher in question was facing a number of questions like why had he not contacted someone else who would have been able to get there faster.

As if that wasn't enough of a headache, the reports that came two days after mentioned that Palanquin was seeing a few more VIP clients showing up to it, some of whom were known to be criminals, who had reportedly suffered serious injuries in the past. There was no confirmation yet but the thinkers in PRT employ were of the opinion that Faultline had somehow snatched up the stray healer and added them to her group.

Wonderful. The city had three healers, one of them a nazi, one of them an overworked girl running herself ragged, and the last one had turned mercenary. Then again the report from the hospital had suggested that he had volunteered to help, and had only requested a small amount of whatever payment hospital received to help cover his own costs of living, having mentioned in passing the healing left him more hungry than normal so he needed to eat more, to provide a reason.

If that was true, then the healer in question might possibly be someone that burnt calories out of their own body to fuel their healing power, while Panacea's ability seemed to utilize the reserves from the body she was tending to. It was a possibility, but she was somewhat doubtful of the claim. It could have been a mere excuse to try and squeeze out some money, if this person was a mercenary beneath in the first place.

There was also a theory that the mystery healer was not another new trigger, but the same one that Triumph had brought in briefly. The thinkers were not certain about this, having been able to squeeze out some information on this healer but not having managed to do so with the minor brute in question. Still, brute and striker powers could happen together, and both seemed to be focused on healing.

The fact that would mean there was a brute healer there who affected himself and others did make that theory somewhat suspect, but it had been listed on the file as a possibility.

Letting out a heavy huff, she shook her head in frustration. Capes were like big children, completely caught up in their powers and unthinking of the consequences of their actions at times. She had seen at Ellisburg how they ran like frightened children when reality came down on them like a wrecking ball, shattering those fantasies of power and being in control.

Considering the information laid out before her she had to wonder if it was possible to salvage this situation. Having a healer in their own employ would be a coup worth some effort. While the healer had decided to work with Faultline so far, there were no actual crimes to their name yet, meaning they could perhaps still be brought in.

It might require some negotiating, but she would rather have a healer even as a rogue who was willing to offer their services to the PRT rather than in service of the criminal underworld. Panacea was helpful, but dealing with Carol Dallon was a headache each time she was called upon. Having additional options would be a welcome possibility, as it would weaken Carol's own position as the guardian of the sole healer available to PRT ENE at the time.

Skidmark

It had been one fucking horror of a week. The Empire had been sniffing around Merchant turf where their new shipment of produce had come in, and there was no way in hell Skidmark was going to let that shit fly. He had gathered up some boys to round up some of the usual crowd to keep watch and gun down the Empire scouts to teach them not to mess with him, and the last year had ended up with tension.

Empire had in turn decided to run an attack at a nearby neighborhood with mainly black residents, spreading terror and attacking an area supposedly under Merchant protection. Provoking them again. So Skidmark had told Squealer they needed extra wheels for a hardass reminder to teach Empire not to mess with the best that the Archer's Bridge Merchants had at their disposal.

Only for those cock-wrangling jizz-soaked coke-sniffers to mess up the whole thing and break up most of Squealer's new cars banging into things and seeming to have forgotten how to drive, and getting Hookwolf to attack them had just made the whole mess even worse.

Fucking horrible time that had been too. There had been a brief bit of curiosity when one of their clients had shown up to tell them about a guy who sounded like a useful addition, but someone who had to be snatched up fast before those ass-sniffing Empire assholes would snatch him up, what with the guy having obviously been white. Despite only wearing a simple mask for a costume, the guy had managed to slip away however, and the motels that had been mentioned had turned out squat.

He hadn't wanted to just send boys to kick in doors, instead, he had a couple of trusted lieutenants to ask some questions while offering small bribes to the motel keepers, mentioning they were bounty hunters in the lookout for a fugitive they suspected to be in the area. The guys running the places had sung like canaries, but the few white guys they'd spied leaving those rooms later were just a couple of Johns playing with whores, and didn't seem to match.

They had caught up the one who seemed closest to what they were looking for, but a brief interrogation later the guy had been hit with an experimental little blend of drugs and tossed out without his wallet and a couple of bruises, not too badly roughed up as he hadn't been who they'd looked for.

"Done!" Squealer shouted loudly all of a sudden catching his attention, before a grin spread on his face.

Their battletruck now boasted a front mounted cannon, a couple of turrets on the top with guns strapped in place, and a few proper firing slots in the sides. Taking a few men in the back and in the turrets it could turn into a moving nightmare if they hit the Empire with it.

"Fucking finally! You put up one monster of a truck, that one's gonna tear the empire bitches a new one for sure! Got a fucking battle boner already!" Skidmark grinned wide as Squealer laughed.

"Are we going to attack right away?" She asked while wiping off a few oil stains on her hands, though ignoring the rest over her figure, it could wait for a shower later anyway. She just needed her hands clean if she was to put anything down on paper about this thing for later improvements.

"Nah babe, we need to wait another day or so. They got one big fight coming up and I'm planning on crashing it and delivering Hookwolf and his group of cock-suckers one big surprise. Speaking of which, how about the battle-bus?"

"Sorry Skid, it's a no go. We don't got enough armor around and the thing's gonna be a slow enough to make a very tempting target until it gets going. The ramming blade is good to go and the hydraulic pistons will make it punch like a king, so it ought to make holes in any walls but driving it in, the boys inside would get perforated without armor to the sides." She shook her head while Skidmark snorted.

"Just have some of the junkies get us scrap to use for armor for now, the boys inside will be doped up clients rather than good old boys for the attack, they'll make a hole and fuck it up, if they get fucked doing it, shit, that's just the way it splatters." He rolled his eyes unconcerned.

Coil

Thomas Calvert was dressed in his costume and resting inside of his base, while nursing a mother of all headaches. He had been keeping tracks on the new arrival ever since his peculiar effect on his personal timelines had caught him off guard, and he had been grateful that he had done so.

The young man appeared capable of not only shapeshifting, but rendering others unconscious at a short distance, as well as healing. Hiring Circus to keep track of him had paid off, and Circus wasn't someone who was easily fooled by simple change in appearance, not when their mannerisms did not change to match.

An attempt to identify the man had not provided any results however, and he was still not sure if the man's usual face was his real one, or just another mask. Getting to know that would require more effort.

It had been a small surprise when one of his pets had been at the same place that the young man in question had visited, and after hearing Circus' report he was debating whether or not bring her in to interrogate her about what she had learned about him, or if she had encountered the same kind of a headache that he had.

Confident that he would be able to capture him by attacking in numbers, he had split the timelines and ordered an attack once the man had left the shopping district area in one, while using a safe timeline where they cut their observation short and retreated as a backup.

What had awaited was beyond his expectations. The men in the van were covered up in case it was a biological agent he used, given the fact his apparent knock out power could be some form of biological agents spread rapidly at a close by target area. They had been suited up to counter any biological or chemical attacks.

Except they had not been prepared to handle the man spreading his fingers and pressing his thumbs together in a fanned out gesture, suddenly causing a stream of what seemed to be napalm rushing out of his hands, covering the team and resulting in his channel turning into a mess of screams of agony. The gunshots fired at the man had hit and he had gone down, only for a shimmering shield to appear before him before the men realized he was not out cold.

Circus had been told to stay back and observe, and had reported to him that the two men who had not worn the suits had been hit next, while the guys in the suits were struggling to put out the fire. The guy had just coldly turned towards them and turned up the heat again, burning them and the suits and equipment before Coil had been forced to drop the timeline because of the massive headache it had been causing him.

Half a dozen skilled mercenaries dead, two more burnt beyond recognition, by a power that the man had not displayed earlier. Whatever the hell he was, the man had more powers up his ass than Coil had expected. If he was a grab bag then his powers made no sense at all, he couldn't find a single unifying theme, and he'd expect there to have been others involved as well, and there had been no evidence of such so far.

It was troublesome enough that he would have to wait and observe a little longer. Thankfully the man had been courteous enough to hole up in a place he could keep an eye on, at Palanquin. Perhaps he should contract Faultline to a job out of the city later, and move in on the man when he stepped out the next time around.

The fact Faultline had been making inquiries about people in need of a healing and willing to pay for it showed that she was likely making a profit off of him, so offering to just pay for her to set him up would probably not work. She was too proud and stuck to a code that was rubbish in Coil's eyes, even if he could respect her for holding onto it. Still, it made her somewhat predictable, and foolish.

He would have to seriously consider things before proceeding. The man would have to enter his employ at some point, or be eradicated from the board. He was a disturbing element that had no place in the plans that Coil had in mind, unless he could be tamed and made obedient. Thankfully, his number one had already began to prepare a drug regiment that ought to help with that, though getting a mixture that would not cause serious damage but would result in an addiction that could not be easily overcome would take some time still to perfect.

Tattletale

Sitting before her laptop and browsing on PHO at the time Lisa was trying to put together the clues she had, and the ones she could gather from a little while browsing. The man she and Brian had noticed earlier was some sort of a blank. She could observe him without having her power gathering up a number of details that would be both helpful and migraine inducing, but in turn it also meant she was on her own gathering the information she wanted now.

Using the backdoors to the PRT database, she soon had a report of a shooting and the possible trigger event, followed by a power testing that was supposed to be in secure files but opened up easily enough. A note on the file suggested there was more but that part was not available to her, frustratingly enough.

It had to be on paper file, or possibly behind one of the upgraded systems Dragon had in place. Coil would likely get access to it, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to mention this newcomer to Coil, not unless the man asked her first.

The reason for this was simple. If his power was capable of no-sell to thinkers, then it might be something that Coil too would have trouble plotting around, which would make the man somewhat more vulnerable. She was still angry about her gun-point recruitment, and the fact that Coil's smug person seemed to scream to her that he had used his power to know things that he should not know and the fact was that it disturbed her at a rather deep level.

Brian was curious about the fact there was someone walking around who stumped her power, and when they had returned to their hideout she had to warn him not to tell Alec a word about it. The last thing she wanted was for him to start taunting her about it. Not when she prided herself on being able to root out everyone' s secrets and turn them against them.

Not having any answers made her want to know more, but the information she gathered wasn't much. She did note that he had retreated towards the Palanquin's direction towards the end, which made sense. If he had powers, then he probably wanted to seek a group to work with, and he did not seem too keen on PRT or any of the other gangs.

That was before her phone began to ring, making her quickly pick it up. Seeing it was from the boss she answered with some reluctance, but too curious to ignore it.

"Tats here, what's up?" She answered with a bit of fake cheerfulness, since she knew he disliked it.

"..."

"You want us to what?" She blinked, looking at the computer screen showing the latest PHO article, before narrowing her eyes.

"..."

"I don't think I can convince the others to do that, boss."

"..."

"HOW much?" She asked in surprise, wanting to confirm she wasn't hearing him wrong. If he was serious, then holy crap it just might be worth it.

"..."

"Right, um, I need to plan that out, a couple of days at most, but are you sure boss? I mean that is going to send out all sorts of red flags all over if we do this and I thought you wanted us to keep it quiet for most part." She was more than a little befuddled by these latest orders, but given the price he'd pay, she considered it.

"..."

"Brian might need additional convincement." She decided to press on that part. She had her doubts about Coil holding on to his end of the bargain, but it would give her a powerful chip in getting Brian to agree to this if the boss was at least willing to give it a try.

"..."

"Okay, a couple of days to make it happen, a couple of days to plan, perhaps it is best to prepare to have this happen on the 9th if everything goes well until that point?"

"..."

"Nice talking to you too, boss." Her sarcastic reply went unheard of as Coil had already hung up on her after his answer, leaving Tattletale to consider the latest bit of news. It was going to be a mess, either way. Getting Brian to agree might mean pushing for his sister's liberation from the awful parents the two had, but whether or not Coil would pull the strings to make it happen remained to be seen. If he did, it would come with a hook that kept Brian present, like needing continued reports from Brian's "employee" to confirm he was gainfully employed and able to provide for himself and his sister at the very least.

Still, if it would secure Brian's loyalty it was worth doing.

Quietly her thoughts moved onto the question of how could she take the best advantage of the current circumstances without adding too much undue risk on her own part.

Author's Note: Last update for this week, wanted to squeeze this part out. I may or may not post 1 additional chapter before the Hunters begin to arrive, but once Novice changes to Apprentice, the Hunters delay will be over and the games will truly begin.

In response to an earlier comment, I like the concept because of the stated reasons and have used some variants of it a few times in different ideas of a story to write, but ended up deciding to put it to a test with the hunter concept, as well as a few limitations that have been in effect.

In response to the point about the main character's choices and the stupidity behind them, suffice to say that the main character is not making smart decisions but there's also limitations and obscured memories present until the time the Hunters arrive. I'll say this much though, without the ROB and a few other things, he would not have picked those choices.

Lastly, on the matter of cantrips? I had some thoughts of using them, particularly since some of the cantrips are quite useful in small ways that don't require bigger spells at all, but the main character was ignoring them and going for the stronger power of leveled spells instead when starting, rushing through without bothering to look around more carefully. It was only when he found himself needing a cleaning spell that cantrips and orisons came to mind for him.