21

Vault 4.3

-April 13, 6:15 p.m., The Rig-

I'm not so proud to say that I could've made a better base out of cardboard and chalk, but I wasn't impressed. The utilitarian approach they had used for the actual inside of the Rig was adequate, it still left several easily accessible defense gaps, namely naval bombardment, but I suppose given that Brockton was fucked from the word go, I shouldn't be surprised.

Regardless I pretended to be impressed, saying wow at the appropriate time and not mentioning that they were still hacked by Belle and Quinn. The troopers all seemed nervous and very dedicated to not looking at the nearest exit. Clockblocker was hidden by the staircase and I could hear Sophia phasing around. I didn't sense Dean so I'm guessing I'm safe from that bitch's emotion reading.

"We're taking you to the interview room. Armsmaster and the Director will be with you shortly." Militia said professionally, I could almost taste her hesitation and nervousness. I wonder why… Still can't outright ask her, so I guess I'll just play the parahuman.

"Good, tell Piggot and Halbeard 9000 that they have 15 minutes before I get bored and start making fixes to the rig." I state as I enter the interview room, very simple and clean, 2 chairs, one desk, and a glass that I'm guessing is reinforced. I place my feet on the table and close my eyes. I can tell that Dean is now in the building given that I can feel his shard pinging everything. Honestly he's shittier than Vicky in terms of stealth.

[Wretch is there as well.] Sylph says, interrupting my own thought. Or is it our thoughts now?

" Don't call it that. At the very least it loves Vicky. " I reply and she asks, manifesting in front of me,

[And I don't love you?] Her hands gently caress my brow to the point I can actually feel the pressure.

" Do you? " I ask her and she frowns for a moment before saying,

[What is love and how is it expressed? From your own memories you've shown me examples of pure and twisted. From my own databases I have seen billions of examples and even now I'm not sure of what it is. However I can determine that you are my host, I will protect you.]

" I guess that's a form of love. " I think to myself even as my heartbeat spikes slightly. I hear heavy footsteps and open my eyes. Sylph disappears from my sight and Armsmaster enters the room, behind him an overweight woman with steel gray eyes. Both of them look grim and I guess I'm supposed to be intimidated by them. 

"I'll be blunt and say that I'm surprised you surrendered so quickly, Maeve." Piggot says with not so hidden venom, "Out of all the parahumans I've had the disgust to meet, you are one of the worst. Not only have you interrupted numerous PRT operations but you've destabilized this city!"

I ignore her and stare at Dean, who is now in the other room and let go of a bit of my control over my desire to rip him a new one for being about as useful as cardboard socks. I hear him take a step back and I say, "Emily, tell Gallant that if he doesn't stop trying to figure out what I'm feeling, I'll get angry."

"How do you know my name?" She asked with some of the wind taken out of her sails.

"Calvert, or Coil. However you want to call him, he had a nice portfolio. Lots of juicy information, including the identity of empire 88. Which by the way, is still alive. Care to explain how the fuck haven't you taken them down?" I said taking over the conversation.

"We've been busy tracking Oni Lee and Bakuda. As well as making sure that reconstruction goes smoothly." Armsmaster quickly said stopping Piggot from trying to piss me off.

"Armsy, beard of steel, that's a shit excuse. Unless Noelle killed most of your men, you should outnumber the Nazis 2-1. In terms of parahuman help, you also have an advantage. Flechette alone could deal with several of them."

"We are not in the business of making child soldiers." Piggot said with some heat. A lie? No it didn't sound right, she was hiding something.

"Could've fooled me." I replied letting the venom drop from my tongue, "Especially given how Shadow Stalker acts. But let's not get into that failing, tell me Armsy, who do you have looking into my slate?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Armsmaster replied with some guilt? Apprehension? Did someone call him out recently? More for me to push then.

"For a man with a lie detector in his head, you're a shit liar. I came here with a rather small slate on my hips. I willingly gave it up upon entering the building, thus effectively disarming me. And I know Tinkers, you all love to check, especially you." I accused him and to his credit the most I got as a reaction, was a small twitch from his upper lip. "Now given that you're here, mostly because Piggot doesn't trust Militia, that would leave Kid Win. But you don't know his specialty, so he's too much of a risk. I doubt that you've acquired Blasto or anyone from the other branches of the PRT. So that leaves 2 people, one of which is Dragon. So, I ask you, is she messing with my shit downstairs?"

"What are you?"

"Human. Or are you talking about power classification? If it's that then, shouldn't you have a dossier already?"

"We did. Your little stunt with Lung made us throw it away."

"I'll send a chocolate brick to the eggheads over at the thinker tank. Just to save them the trouble of trying to classify the pain that I've become. Oh and if you have any precogs here, knock them out. Thinkers already have issues with me, no need to cause them to have a stroke or two." I added with no small amount of smugness. Piggot was angry, but she was keeping a tight lid on it and Armsmaster was not far behind in terms of anger. "Anyways aren't you going to give me the pitch for your wards or something or do we skip to me trying to find some decent food and stopping Nazis?"

"Is your home life that bad?" Armsmaster asked. Surprisingly he didn't say I lied, then again full body control is one hell of a counter to lie detectors. Still better answer them before my smirk gets me into trouble.

"Fuck no. It's just easier to run around with a mask on since I don't have to obey the speed limits and I can change out of it in an instant."

"So you say, fine. Mind telling us what happened today?" Piggot said, bringing the conversation back to their original excuse. Nodding, I replied.

"Like I said, food-run, heard some explosions, trapped them in a box, got shot at, stopped a possessed rune and killed Trickster."

"And Parian?" Armsmaster interjected once I finished talking.

"Didn't get involved until the end and I did go and ask her for permission. Also really good cookies, the woman could make big bucks if she sold them as well." I replied with a smile on my face.

"And what about Coil?" Armsmaster asked after Piggot gave him the go-ahead.

"Pedosnake-in-your-boots Calvert was an idiot that thought that he was safe because he hid in another timeline. Turns out trying to harm a friend of mine is grounds for dying while screaming. And before you ask, Hookwolf broke the rules first and the only reason why he's still alive is because Legend pleaded for his life. Noelle was… I didn't want her dead. Not truly in any way shape or form. But her shard, the source of her power, was broken." I mentioned candidly, turning my gaze to Armsmaster, I added, "And had you not interfered I would've killed her before she became a problem."

"So according to you the only reason you've killed is because they threatened your friends and family?" What if one of the 9 got to them, would you kill everyone?" Piggot asked, and I noticed that her earpiece was rather quiet. She has someone feeding her questions, couldn't be Becky. Mostly because if she were here then I would be headed towards the birdcage out of spite for outing her.

And Eidolon. And Contessa. Or because I decided to fill Rebecca's lungs with so much air they explode. Regardless, someone else was listening in, and I had a god-given duty to piss them off. Especially since they seem to want to see what I'm willing to do.

"Yup. That and Krouse swore to kill me on account of me helping Kill Noelle. Or Echidna as you know her. And as far as the nine go, they harm anyone I give a vague fuck about… Ask Coil what happens." I state with a smile, it unnerves them and I continue, "If your pitch is we can keep your family safe, I can tell you to stuff it. If your pitch is to join us or go to the birdcage, then send me there. You'll die screaming my name as I leave with the Fairy Queen and an army of undead parahumans. However, Piggot, Armsy, I am willing to join the wards under certain conditions."

"And what would they be?" Both ask at the same time. I lick my lips and breathe deeply, time to change the future.

"A few concessions. A few kill orders and a lot of freedom to create something that can keep the endbringers in stasis." 

"You're telling us that you can stop the endbringers?" Armsmaster asked with something akin to anger in his voice. He must be thinking of the costs of this war.

"Yes. I just need the right tools, which is what I'm hoping you'll be willing to provide. That said condition #1: Shadow Stalker is moved away from Brockton Bay." I replied with absolute confidence.

"Why?" Piggot asked. I could see the wheels turning inside her brain and the unvocalized question of: what did Shadow Stalker do now? Oh piggy, if you only knew…

"She broke the unwritten rules. She attacked my family, the only reason why she's allowed to breathe is because I was asked to not take it out on her. Ship her to Canberra, put her in a cage and fill her with lead, sell her to Kaiser or drop her in the birdcage. I don't care." I replied flippantly, I could hear her heartbeat and I turned my head to where she was. "And also if even a hair on my family member's head is hurt by you or your two idiots nothing short of Scion will stop me. And even then I'll kill the golden idiot before killing you." I could tell that I had shocked them well and truly, and now they had something to try and hold over me. Not that it mattered, they couldn't stop me from leaving if they tried.

"You are aware that you just threatened a ward, right?" Piggot said after a few heartbeats.

"It's not a threat, it's a promise. Besides, let's not pretend as if you weren't looking for something to use against me. Hookwolf at worst would've gotten me an interview with Glaistic. Or a medal for nearly killing Nazis. Echidna would get me a medal or 3 and Coil? He would get me a couple of nods and a thank you. And since I'm in such a good mood, Piggot, stop being a dumb bitch, get Panacea to fix your ass, you're better than the alternatives. Armsy, your Nanothorn project isn't strong enough, plus much like Noelle Endbringers have cores that you need to target to harm them. Your shaving razor at most would've tickled it."

"And you can do better?" Armsmaster said with clear annoyance at me talking about his secret project. That's good, the more angry he is the less he questions now.

"Yes. I can say without any arrogance that you are the second greatest living Tinker in the world, while Dragon will always be the first. Given enough time and microwaves you could build a nuke that can make the eastern seaboard a crater. I can barely qualify as third or fourth. However at killing things that refuse to die? I'm the best. That sword I used? It'll kill them all." My voice was just a degree away from being glacial.

"Yet you couldn't kill Echidna or Noelle as you've called her." He replied as if he had caught me in a trap. And it is true, I didn't kill Noelle, but without me they wouldn't have killed her.

"True, but a bit longer and I would've, the only reason why I failed to do so at first was because of what you and the others did. Besides, without me binding her Flechette would've missed."

"You still threatened a ward. Give me one good reason to not have you in a cell." Back again with this? I didn't hold back my contempt when I replied,

"Is this how you intend to force me into the wards? Adorable. What's next, threaten to unmask me? Or ask little-miss-bitch-with-a-crossbow to try and kill me? You're pathetic, both of you. Don't worry, I won't kill anyone. I'll swing by Sundancer's cell, pick up my slate and leave you alone." Standing up from my seat I saw Armsmaster stand in front of Piggot who had drawn her gun on me. Militia probably had something aimed at me, but that didn't matter. I had wasted enough time as it was.

I tapped the floor with my foot and electric sparks danced, Piggot fired. Three shots, straight into my chest. While I had given my shield to them when I left my slate, my suit was more than tough enough to resist small arms fire. The alchemy was finished and I dropped to the floor below. Another quick transmutation and I sealed away the hole. The trooper next to me raised his rifle and said something. I didn't pay much attention beyond dashing into him and making the rifle into foam.

Knocking him out with Alchemy and afterwards using it to analyze the rig, I found Armsmaster's lab and made my way there. Strangely enough even with me turning the walls into doorways, Armsy had arrived at the same time as me. One of Dragon's suits was quickly tapping away at the slate and I approached her. Armsmaster threw a damn halberd at me in response, as if I would harm Dragon. I ducked beneath it and sprinted to grab my slate. Dragon spoke, I didn't listen.

"Quinn, bring your sister here." I said and the slate glowed in response. Equipping my shield while dodging Armsmaster and Dragon wasn't the easiest thing in the world, yet I managed. Amidst the swings I noticed that Dragon was hesitant to actually harm me, either that or the suit she had was crap at close quarters.

"I assume my associate gave you a number, when you're willing to let me talk with him, call us." I whispered at her, grabbing her extended arm and pulling her into crashing with Armsmaster. Fuck she's heavy, clapping my hands I touched Dragon and Collin's armor. Fusing them in such a way that movement was next to impossible. I looked at the slate and saw that Quinn and Belle had marked where Sundancer should be and where they would pick me up. Rushing past the PRT soldiers I quickly made my way to the Ward's quarters and kicked the door down in a metaphorical sense. 

Realistically I turned the metal into dust and was met with several angry wards and a very scared Sundancer.

"Right, so Sundancer. I apologize for scaring you last time we met. Vista, Gallant is a moron and he'll never have eyes for you, you can do far better. Clock if you try to stop me I will duct tape you to the ceiling. Kid Win? Modularity is your specialty. Good luck, good bye and if any of you trust Sophia to not fuck up then please change your name to gullible." I quickly said before they all attacked. 

Drawing out Fi, I sent an energy wave to counter the laser shots, Vista warped space so that Clock could touch me; too bad he was too slow. Ducking beneath him and rolling to the side I erected a wall using the floor between him and me. I quickly transmuted chains into existence and grabbed Clock with them. He stopped several of them but he was quickly overwhelmed. Vista called me a bitch and changed the dimensions again. But that's to my advantage in this case, tapping the floor I make several walls between her and me. Within seconds they twist, Vista looks murderous. I smile and tap the floor again. The walls explode into dust, I use the lack of visibility to rush forward and land a solid hit on Vista. Using alchemy I force her to sleep. She should wake up in a few minutes given the discomfort, but I'll be gone by then.

Kid Win had hit me several times with his lasers, but given their low power my shield took them with no issues. Then I felt a familiar flame, Sundancer was warming up.

"Hey, bad idea. Environment's too enclosed and if you use your power here, your friends will be caught in the crossfire. Let's try to keep everyone alive Marissa." I tell her and the flame goes out, and she looks at me with a pale face. Her lips quiver as she asks.

"How do you know that name?" Too bad telling her that I read about her wasn't a valid answer. Instead I approach her slowly, keeping my body between her and Kid Win's lasers. Though he stops as soon as I am within arms reach of her. Slowly I pull out a small earpiece and hand it to her.

"Well to be honest, we have a seer with us. She told me of what the travelers would do. Krouse was a Zis bomb, Noelle was broken due to sharing that vial. If you can get to talk with your old friends, then tell them that I'm not interested in killing any of you." I say as she takes the earpiece, "One day you might require my aid, call out my name and I'll come. That is my promise as Maeve." 

As soon as I finished telling her that, Aegis rushed in and I smiled. I snapped my fingers and fire danced around me, I took in the heat and jumped towards him and through the ceiling. Fi was lodged deep in Aegis as we busted through the rest of the rig. Floor after floor of me stabbing him and he responded by punching me with hysterical strength, in the end I kicked him off my sword when several stood on the roof of the rig. The waters around us were calm and the forcefield bubble was down. In the distance I could hear the sound of gunfire and explosions.

"Stop, villain!" He said through a stabbed lung, standing up again as if what I did hadn't hurt him. His wounds had sealed themselves, fucking adaptive biology. I really hate regenerating bastards.

"First off: Haven't done anything but self defense so far, so very specifically not a villain. Secondly," I see a glint in the distance and it's moving. On what I can only call a small boat a man in red and black raises a rifle and takes aim. I know what it means and my body moves and shoves him aside as an anti tank round hits my shield. 99% chance of bullet absorption… Fuck.

The first shot rips my left arm apart, the second shot hits center mass. I automatically start feeding off the heat around me, clutching a stone I burn it to force my healing to activate. My arm regenerated within seconds and I drew out the Krakatoa and took aim, Victor is aiming at me and fires. Our bullets meet mid air, fire and metal form little orbs of lava that fall harmlessly into the sea.

"Aegis, find Militia and tell her that Victor has a fucking Tinker tech rifle!" I order at him while trying to kill Victor. My shots land on him, but he seems to not take damage, that means Othala gave him invulnerability. Why was the empire… Oh right, Rune. These bastards must be thinking that attacking now will allow them to rescue their conscript and gain more notoriety. Better than the option that they're here because of me.

The forcefield bridge glimmered as the PRT heroes fought Kaiser's cronies. That explained why I hadn't met any of the older protectorate heroes. I had a choice, deal with Victor or help the heroes. Aegis had followed my instructions and left, I jumped. Victor fired again and again, they missed me as I rolled down the buildings heading to the bridge. I felt the slate vibrate,

"Take care of Victor!" I ordered as I continued my fall. I had little to no time to waste, I took aim and fired. My bullet hit Alabaster in the head, covering the unsuspecting Battery in his gray matter. He regenerated, but by then, she had turned around and driven a charged up fist into his chest, caving it in and launching him backward. I heard Victor firing and cursing as a familiar humm filled the air. 

Floating above the water, two figures dressed like Harlequins danced between Victor's bullets. One held a giant hammer, the other a repurposed halberd, each swing from either of the weapons glowed with Sheikah Blue energy and stopped bullets with ease. I couldn't help but feel pride at them keeping Victor busy. I turn my eyes away from that battle to focus on the one that I'm heading towards. Fenja and Menja are tearing distracted as Dauntless, Triumph, and Velocity focus on them. I dropped my rifle, letting it dissipate into my inventory, and drew out the Hellwalker.

I charged in, laughing like a mad woman all the while. The Nazis took aim and fired, but that didn't stop me. I fired back, the entire top half of one of them became a fine red mist, the other screamed as his arm was shredded. Music to my ears, and Alabaster stood up again, I shot him in the crotch and he squealed. He couldn't feel pain, but he definitely couldn't speak normally after getting his pelvis turned to dust by a shotgun.

"Fenja, Menja! Look at me!" I screamed and they turned their gazes towards me, I fired my shotgun again at Alabaster. "Tell Kaiser this, since you bastards broke the rules, I will enforce them." They ignored the heroes as they tried to get to where I was, Alabaster regenerated and I fired again, his chest exploded. "For every day he doesn't surrender, 1 parahuman Nazi scalp!" I tossed the Hellwalker towards Assault and laid my hands on Alabaster. My left hand glowed with a golden light, I could feel Sylph synchronizing with me, 

"[Die, regeneration.]" Our voice was like thunder.

He didn't scream, he had no mouth, nor vocal cords capable of doing so. We severed everything we could in an instant, for a brief moment we saw a planet glow gold and then turn white like ash. We heard the cries of danger from the other shards, but it was too late. 

We silenced that communication, our eyes glowed blue as our sight landed on Belle and Quinn. The broken body of [Skill theft] was a sign of victory for us. [Gigantification] roared and we drew out the Master Sword. However the confrontation was not meant to be, the familiar song of [Queen Administrator] deafened everything. She was worried about us… We could feel ourselves slipping away, we-I coughed and felt something wet. Blood dribbled out of my mouth as Taylor's swarm tore into Fenja and Menja. Millions of insect corpses lined up in front of me and I smiled.

I snap my fingers and fire blocks the view of the heroes, one more bit of alchemy later and a giant Varkid stands freshly hatched before me. It screeches for a moment before I feel an ungodly pressure. It stops, stretches a bit and goes into a cocoon. My slate vibrates and Lisa's voice fills my ears.

"So boss, care to explain why we now have several terabytes worth of PRT data? And why did you choose to be the one that dealt with Rune?"

"Well, like I told you in the morning after I took the spice, we needed more information on how far they were with the endbringer prediction algorithm. Using the prediction engine we have with Belle we should be able to better trace them. And because if I hadn't been there Parian would've been their scapegoat." I quipped back as Fenja roared in pain as several poisonous bites tore through her. Menja tried to get to her but the protectorate heroes managed to force her back through Dauntless's weapon.

The Varkid broke free of its cocoon. It was now the size of a car, and glaring at me. I guess Taylor wants me to deal with the Valkyries. 

"Anyways, how soon until you arrive?" I asked and created several gouts of flame which danced along the swarm, marking Fenja's body.

"5 minute tops. Weaver is having fun with our ally's creations against Kaiser." She replied, and I swear I could see her smile through her tone.

"I heard that! And Maeve, we are finishing that talk after you come back." Taylor shouted back as the Varkid lifted me onto its back and we flew up. I felt alive as the wind hit my face, the swarm of insects had rendered Fenja blind and deaf to my approach. Once we were almost a hundred feet above her I jumped. As I fell I began absorbing heat, and transferring it all to the Master Sword, which ignited even as ice formed around my body.

" Faster ." I thought as more ice formed. I kicked off from it and accelerated. " Faster. " I begged as I repeated it again. And again until her giant form was clear; her shaker power meant that I shouldn't damage her as much, however the master sword was a weapon designed to kill demon gods. To seal Malice and stop curses, it could grow infinitely in power. So I drove my sword through her shoulder, chopping her arm off. Using it as a floor I kicked off and aimed at her knee. She screamed as more insects entered her mouth. 

Within seconds she stopped screaming, her body shrunk and yet she still lived. I would have driven my sword through her, I should've, leaving villains alive has only caused me pain. Yet he was once again there, the only member of the triumvirate that I respected. He had to have cut his way through New York, Boston and Taylor's swarm to arrive.

"Stand down Maeve." Legend said. I had my blade on Fenja's throat, one thrust and that would be it. "Please, let us take her in. She can pay for her crimes in jail." He implored, I stared into his eyes. I could see guilt in them, I could see sorrow and how tired he was. I had been denied my vengeance and yet I felt a desire to not disappoint him.

I sheathed Fi and said, "This is the last time. The next time you try to stop me from killing a villain, they die, and I don't care how many puppy dog eyes you use against me."

"That's… fair." He said with some joy eking through. Menja roared and swore bloody murder, which was when a Varkid the size of a bus rammed itself into her back. I heard the crack as she fell down. On top of several giant dogs Taylor, Lisa and Bitch arrived. From the other side of the forcefield bridge I saw Aisha with her sniper trained on the heroes. 

"Hey, she's still alive." I mentioned and saw Armsmaster arrive with other heroes. "Anyway Legend, pleasure working with you on testing the PRT base's security." I added cheerily as Belle and Quinn arrived with Victor's mostly broken body. He was still unconscious so I approached him and used my circle and seared away his Corona, severing his connection to the shard network permanently. I wanted to also remove several higher brain functions but unlike Hookwolf he might know things, so I kept those.

I looked at the twins, the combat model version 2.0 was a massive success, both Sheikah and Holtzman energy generation worked in tandem to produce nearly infinite energy. Their bodies could emit suspensor fields as well as proper shielding. However thanks to Borderlands tech they could also have a normal shield without the fear of Purity accidentally causing a nuke. I still felt that they were missing things, like rocket punches. 

"Maeve… Thank you for your help." Legend eventually said, and he was loud enough that the other heroes quickly shut their mouths. "I'll admit that your request was unusual, but I'm glad that it was accepted. I assume that you'll deliver a detailed report?" The man played the lie well.

"Of course." I replied, dreading the stack of papers in my immediate future. Oh well, no vision is perfect, especially when I get involved. 

-4.3 end-