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Interlude 1: Lisa

Many people could say they hated their boss. It wasn't an uncommon sentiment, especially when the economy was down in the dumps. Some people were so desperate for work that they took any job offer, no matter how sketchy it was. People took whatever abuse their bosses dealt out under the threat of being fired. They were too afraid to quit because they couldn't be sure if they could ever find work again.

Lisa was in a similar predicament. She, too, hated her boss. She, too, was afraid she wouldn't be able to find work again if she tried to quit. What most other people couldn't say, though, was that they hated their bosses because they would be murdered if she tried to quit. And it was very difficult to look for alternative employment with a bullet in your brain.

That being said, though, her boss at least paid very well. Still, she didn't mind trying to get a little minor revenge wherever she could. Nothing overt, of course. Her boss dealt with sabotage the same way he dealt with betrayal. Murder with a good helping of torture.

At least, that was what her power told her. Her boss was a narcissistic psychopath; she could have figured that much out without her power. Sadism was par for the course with people like him, as well as being easily slighted. It was difficult to get the cues over the phone, but her power did manage to tell her that much. She was walking a very fine line.

One thing she would never do, however, was submit.

The good thing was that he was level-headed enough to tolerate minor failures. Whatever his grand plan was, at least she could try to slow him down from the inside.

Her current mission? Recruitment. Expand and improve her team. The people Lisa had helped recruit so far seemed haphazard. She'd intentionally done a slightly worse job than she could have. Their heavy hitter, Bitch, didn't even have direct control over her living weapons, and she was maladjusted and antisocial, but powerful. Even better than Lisa had anticipated. Lisa recruited her in favour of Serratus, an independent who could form lizardlike scales all over his skin, a Changer-Brute who was basically a discount Hookwolf.

Grue was a bit of a necessity, Lisa needed a level head and possible ally within the team. Bitch didn't like her and it was extremely difficult to convince her to do anything, regardless of how well-reasoned Lisa tried to be. Bitch wasn't exactly dumb, but she had relatively short-term outlook on life and deferred to strength. Lisa, being relatively short and barely over a hundred pounds soaking wet, was not the type that Bitch normally listened to. Grue was that person. Tall and nearly two hundred pounds of lean muscle, Grue looked like he should be the heavyweight of the team, although he was actually primarily the support cape.

Regent, on the other hand, filled a "sniper" role on the team. He certainly wouldn't have been the boss's ideal pick. His power was weak, and he had little to contribute to a large fight that a normal person holding a taser couldn't. Though with a bit of luck, good timing, and careful targeting, he could make a huge difference, taking out large threats. That wasn't really the issue with him, though.

The issue was that he was a lazy slob who took quite a bit of money to motivate.

Lisa liked Regent for that reason. He wasn't the best, and he gave her more reason to bleed her boss for more money. Not that her boss seemed to be running short on cash any time soon. She knew how to use Regent to full effectiveness to prove her own worth, but she knew Regent himself wasn't too interested in self-improvement. If she had put in a proper effort in recruiting she might have tried to get Manicurse on the team or something, but combine her and Grue and they might have been a bit too gung-ho and start working for her boss directly.

Lisa needed to stay as the go-between, not just to keep a bit of power over her team, but also to ensure they never felt too sympathetic to her boss. If... when she cut ties, she wanted to take the team with her.

That was harder said than done, of course. The boss would never welcome anyone without some additional insurance. Whether it was debt, family, warrants... he always needed some additional collateral. If all else failed, a gun to the head always worked. Like it had with Lisa.

The boss had just told them about another new Cape that had arrived in Brockton Bay – Spitfire. Another potential heavy hitter, one that was more precise and had better control than Bitch and her dogs. She would definitely be a big boon to the team – and her boss. The types of jobs they'd be able to do if she signed on would expand dramatically.

Which is why Lisa really didn't want to succeed.

"Where's the mark, Tattletale?" Grue asked.

"Let me talk to her alone first," Lisa said. "You know, just a little girl talk."

Lisa couldn't see Grue's face through his skull-patterned motorcycle helmet, but she could still tell he had an eyebrow raised. "You know she's got a strong power. I heard she melted through metal and concrete during her trigger. She could incinerate you in a second if she wanted to. You need backup."

"I'll be fine. Trust me."

Lisa donned her mask and walked out of the alley to the dimly-lit street. She approached a slim figure wearing a modified gas-mask.

"You must be Tattletale." The voice was heavily muffled by the mask but still identifiable as a young woman. Probably a similar age as her.

"Right in one. Spitfire?"

"I suppose that's as good a name as any," came the reply.

"If you don't like the name, you'd better make some noise and establish your reputation before the PRT name sticks," Tattletale suggested.

She received a shrug in response. "You promised me money. Let's see it."

Lisa pulled out a small envelope. "Five hundred. Just hear me out and it's yours."

Spitfire grabbed the envelope and crossed her arms impatiently. "Well?"

"Okay, so maybe you already know, maybe not. But new capes don't last on their own. They need support. You're not looking to join the Wards, or New Wave-"

Spitfire snorted in disgust.

"Yeah, exactly. And I'm guessing you're here because you turned down a Nazi invitation..."

Lisa didn't mention the fact that she probably could have joined the Azn Bad Boys, despite being neither an Asian nor a boy. The ABB were actually far less discriminatory than their name suggested, but she didn't want Spitfire to feel like she had more options.

"Well, we, as in the Undersiders, could definitely use you. We keep to low-level stuff, mostly stealing from the other gangs. Eight jobs so far, one hundred percent success rate. Not to mention the fact that we've got a backer who's willing to help pay for equipment or bonuses, depending on the job. Is that jacket fireproof?"

Spitfire looked down at herself. "No."

"Our boss would probably be willing to fix that. Wouldn't want to set yourself on fire with your own power, would you?"

"I'm fireproof, anyway. Not a problem."

Lisa smirked. "I suppose, if you enjoy streaking after a job. At least Grue can hide you if you have a major wardrobe malfunction."

"Alright, good point. When do we start?"

"How about tonight? We've got an eye on a Merchant distribution center. Mid-tier, probably none of their capes, but a bunch of guys with guns. We get in there, steal the cash, get out. Quick and easy, we can probably walk out with two grand each. You in?"

"Let's do it."

"I distinctly recall you saying two grand each," Spitfire said. "Not two grand total."

Lisa herself had been puzzled. Her power wasn't infallible, but she had estimated that there would be closer to ten grand being stored there, not two. And less resistance, too. It was supposed to be a good intro run for a new member, to shake out how well they would work with the team. She hadn't heard any news of changes to the Merchants' movements or strategy.

Merchants recently targeted. More frequent collection. Reduced inventory at peripheral locations. Moved cash to Squealer's workshop. Increased security. Her power managed to appraise the situation with the Merchants. After the job had been done, of course.

Skidmark and Squealer must have moved the money out of that location last night. No wonder they were low. The increased security was annoying, but not too much of a problem.

Spitfire had definitely done well for herself, spitting out napalm hot enough to melt through cinderblock walls. She also had enough control to give a few of the Merchants some nasty but not life-threatening burns. A heavy hitter with a power that also had some utility, and good precision, which would only get better with practice.

Grue had to use his darkness more extensively, which stopped most of the Merchant guards from firing wildly without being able to aim. Even so, there were some close calls, if Regent hadn't been there. Even the tweaked-out gangbangers could tell they were outmatched and gave up, though not before they called for reinforcements.

In short, Spitfire was a strong addition to the team, one which would allow the boss to take bigger and riskier jobs. As much as Lisa would like the extra money that harder jobs would entail, her boss would undoubtedly be profiting more. As mysterious as his orders were sometimes, he obviously didn't pay for jobs that weren't worth the cost to him. And recruiting Spitfire would accelerate whatever plans he had too quickly for Lisa's tastes.

"Look, it was still easy money, right? You get to keep the five hundred and your share either way," Lisa finally responded unapologetically. At least she could use this situation to her advantage.

"And you think we'll get away clean?" she responded. "We're still in Merchant territory." Add to the fact that they were all still in costume, not trusting each other enough to unmask, also meant they were easy to find. Every squeal of tires could have been the Merchants searching for them.

"Bitch is on her way," Grue said. "She's our quick getaway."

The girl was hard to miss. Or, rather, her three massive dogs. Spitfire nearly attacked in surprise and fear, held back only by Grue's calming hand.

"Who's this?" Bitch asked as she jumped off Judas.

"Our new recruit," Grue said. "Come on, get us outta here."

"She looks weak." Bitch walked straight up to Spitfire and stared her down. Being a taller, butch girl, she easily had fifty pounds of muscle over Spitfire. She shoved the girl back, who stumbled into Angelica.

The massive dog snarled and snapped at her. Spitfire, in her panic, used her power and shot a jet of napalm at the dog. Angelica yelped as the liquid burned through her exoskeleton.

Bitch screamed and went to throw a punch at Spitfire, only to be held back by Grue. "The FUCK! Don't hurt my dogs!"

Spitfire looked like she was ready to fight this time. "Fuck you, I thought you were supposed to be on the same team?"

"Stop it, Bitch!"

"She attacked Angelica!"

"It attacked me first!"

"If she was attacking, you'd already be dead! That was just a warning! Why the fuck would you..."

"Damnit, Bitch, stop! We need to get out of here," Grue said. He flooded the area in darkness, which hid them and muffled the sound slightly, but even then they would be attracting the attention of any Merchant gang members in the area.

"She ain't touching my dogs," Bitch spat.

"Like I'd want to. Fuck this, I'm not joining a team with this psycho bitch," Spitfire shouted back. "Gimme my money, and I'm out of here."

"I told you guys I didn't want anyone else on the team," Bitch yelled.

"We voted on it, three to one. That's not how voting works, Bitch," Grue said, still holding her back.

Regent was just sitting back and laughing.

Lisa quickly counted out the Spitfire's take and gave it to her. "Sorry about this. Bitch can be tough to get used to. If you're still looking for a team, I think Faultline might be hiring," she whispered.

As she watched the new cape walk away, she had to suppress her smirk. One failure for the boss, courtesy of Bitch. A perfectly reasonable explanation. She wondered why the boss didn't tell her to get rid of the antisocial girl, but that would mean she would need to recruit another heavy hitter.

Maybe she'd have to recruit the cape that managed to steal from the Merchants.

Solo cape. New cape. Multiple locations hit with no evidence left behind. Whoever this cape was that had set off the Merchants, her power told her they were strong. Stealth-focused, maybe? Not enough evidence to tell. However their powers worked, they had managed to do solo what it took most of the Undersiders to do. No doubt the boss would want her to recruit them, whenever they showed up.

Author's Note: Short chapter today, but I'll upload another short-ish chapter sooner