1.x

Armsmaster Interlude.

Tonight was rather quiet as I patrolled the ABB territory which in of itself was rather surprising. Not even a single robbery to break up. It was common knowledge that Brockton Bay had a higher than average Cape population never mind crime rate. Thus it was to equal parts dissatisfaction and relief that the patrol was coming to an end.

Driving through the streets on a semi randomized route I shifted gears to head back to base for a night of coffee, paper work and most importantly more Tinkering with a capital 'T'.

"Console, this is Armsmaster, everything is-" I was cut off before I could finish.

"Disturbance near the warehouse district Armsy." It was Assault. "Reports say there's a lot of explosions and some big dogs, you're the closest guy there so how about you go break a leg?" It was informal but it was probably the best I'd get out of him. "I'll send the details to your helmet."

"Received, I'll investigate." I grinned in anticipation. Explosions in this area generally meant Oni-Lee and 'Big dogs' likely meant that the Undersiders were involved. Catching either of them tonight would be a great boon. The only thing that would pull me away from this encounter would be reports of Lung.

Gripping the handle of my bike tighter I willed it to go faster. The machine ran smoothly and soon the sounds of battle began to make themselves known. I almost felt it first, the low rumbling reverb of multiple explosions rocking the air. Suddenly there was a flash of light in the distance as something smashed into a concrete wall.

I was near.

Skidding around the corner I came across several ABB gang members unconscious and in some cases bleeding on the ground. Nothing instantly fatal if my scanners were correct.

"Console, we have wounded ABB members, send a PRT wagon and an ambulance." Better safe than sorry.

Normally I'd stay behind to make sure the proceedings would go smoothly but today I had criminal capes to catch. Following them was no issue, the grenades presumably used by Oni-Lee just made it a matter of going towards the explosions.

As I continued the hunt I noted that there were less and less gang members around and more and more debris. While the bike was Tinker tech even it couldn't navigate the area without either slowing down or damaging something important. I knew I could catch them, it was almost galling how a boulder here or a crater there slowed me down. It was starting to get to the point where going on foot might be quicker.

I should've packed the all terrain gear.

Eventually an opening presented itself allowing me to accelerate. Using another fallen piece of debris as a ramp I managed to bypass many of the obstacles before coming face to face with a very surprised Oni-Lee.

Ramming him full force (by accident might I add) midair with my bike he exploded filling my vision, beard and mouth with ash.

"BLARGHUHA!" I coughed. The disadvantage of an open mouth helmet had quickly made itself known to me. Despite my vision impairment, I managed to stick the landing.

Wiping my face I quickly scanned my surroundings, Oni-Lee was nowhere to be seen but one of the Undersiders, Tattletale my mind provided was diving into a nearby alley way. Driving after them a large shape emerged forcing me to steer myself out of the way as three large, lizard like dogs dashed out of the hiding spot. Turning around my helmet calculated trajectories as I began my pursuit.

I grinned, they wouldn't get away from me this time.

I flipped a switch on my bike and pressed a button. A soft sound not unlike someone quickly exhaling was drowned out by the sounds of the chase. The heavy foot falls of the dogs and the loud hum of my engines. Well technically my engines were near silent, the sounds were all synthetic designed to warn pedestrians to get out of the way when I was close.

While my machine was undoubtedly faster the three dogs had the advantage here. With all the debris around they could just step and hop over the larger hazards. I on the other hand had to keep steering around them losing precious seconds. Seconds which I gave them on purpose. Regent in theory could throw me off my bike with one well placed application of his power but as far as we knew it was based on line of sight so I kept swerving to give him a harder target.

Earlier I had deployed my tracking dart from the bike which managed to hit one of the animals in the leg. Technically calling it a dart was inaccurate, it stuck to the target with adhesive. No pain would be felt from the subject. If things went according to plan I'd soon find the Undersiders base of operations.

Suddenly darkness flooded from one of their members, Grue the alleged leader. I grunted and swerved to a stop. It was one thing to drive full speed through wreckage but another to do it blind.

Everything was going as planned.

I grinned at that checking my scanner.

The grin was short lived however as I found that no signal was coming through. Did they have a localized jammer? Unlikely, the tracking dart was Tinker tech, anything they used would have to be on that level as well and last I checked none of the group was a Tinker either.

It was also possible that they stole or purchased one illegally however another thought crossed my mind.

According to my logs the loss of signal coincided with the appearance of darkness. It could have been a coincidence but nothing could be ruled out including one of the members being a Tinker.

Regardless with no signal to follow I resorted to good old fashion tracking. Old fashion if it wasn't for my high tech helmet with top of the line forensics software I had programmed myself that is. With all the smashed debris it was difficult to tell which parts of it had three large animals passing through it and which parts were simply blasted apart by grenades but the software managed it albeit at a slower pace than what I would've liked.

Eventually the signal to the tracker had reappeared and to my pleasant surprise I found that I was going in the right direction. It seemed that the Undersiders had stopped, presumably to either rest or hide.

Drifting around the corner I already had my halberd at the ready before my helmet notified me that only one combatant was present along with a single unconscious ABB member.

The tracking dart was on the ground next to him, it looked like any other pebble. TV shows and movies that showed the audience an obviously blinking and beeping tracker weren't realistic at all. Sliding to a stop I dismounted, no clue to where the rest of the criminals were, the ground was plain old concrete.

The man standing there made no aggressive movement but he had clearly noticed my entrance. Long dark hair, darker clothes with a bandanna to hide his face and reflective yellow goggles. It was cheap amateur costume that you'd expect to see on a thug.

A tall intimidating thug.

Still, diplomacy would be given a chance.

"You gonna fight me?" I called out unwilling to go any further without confirming if this was a trap or not.

"I'm a good guy," He said with my lie detector confirming the truth. No, it was a she. The voice was young and feminine. Now that I looked closer I found that yes, she was a girl.

Stepping closer to her I made the obvious comment, "You don't look like one."

She flinched at that. "That's… not intentional, it's not like I had the material to build what I needed to build."

I paused for another moment, my lie detector wasn't quite perfect yet and it took some time before it revealed the results.

"You're telling the truth." Build? That insinuated that she was a Tinker yet none of my scanners picked up anything electronic on her person, not even a phone.

"Do you need a hospital?" I asked.

"No, wasn't even touched and I can regenerate even if I was." She seemed proud of that fact. She was a brute perhaps?

"You're a new face." If she was a new trigger then perhaps I could induct her into the Wards. It was no Undersider or Oni-Lee arrest but new recruits were always valuable.

"I haven't really come up with a name yet, I have too many powers to pin it down." She was a grab bag then, possibly a trump.

"You can always try using the wiki." I suggested hoping to build some camaraderie, it was at this point I had put away my weapon. "Type in a name and if it successfully finds someone try another." While I couldn't see her smile because of the bandanna I got the impression that my words had the intended effect as her posture relaxed.

"I'll have to book some more time at the library then." She grimaced. "I uhh, have a gang member for you to take away?" She awkwardly presented to me pointing out her prize on the ground.

I was wondering about that. "Typically the police handle arrests unless there's a Parahuman element. Speaking of which what happened with the Undersiders?" She frowned at that.

"I just got away from Lung and scared off all his men when they turned up, they thought I was on their side because of the costume so they left me alone and thanked me." I raised an eyebrow and reached for my Halberd.

"If Lung is still nearby we might need to move." I was confident that I could take him down before he ramped up with the equipment I had brought, however fighting him with another unknown cape no matter her affiliation was just asking for an accident to happen.

Her eyes widened at that. "Uhh sure, let's get out of here."

I climbed onto my bike and handed her my spare helmet. Grabbing the gang member I managed to secure him on the harness with another helmet. We weren't quite rushing to leave but an air of anxiety lingered.

As I drove away towards the police station to drop off the girl's first arrest I spoke up.

"You should come up with a name soon." I mentioned. "The Protectorate are fond of saddling people with one and as soon as it gets into the public consciousness it becomes impossible to dislodge."

There was another pause. Turned out neither one of us was a good conversationalist. I only really enjoyed speaking with other Tinkers.

Hang on.

"You mentioned that you wanted to build your disguise correct?" She seemed to pep up at that. "I take it that you're some sort of Tinker then?"

"Sort of." She began. "I need an anvil to make my costume, it's actual armor, medieval stuff you see." That didn't seem very impressive and by the sounds of her voice she knew it to.

"But I can make it efficient I think, refine it!" I grunted for her to continue. "Also I can make potions! I made myself temporarily invisible!" Okay that was more impressive and I didn't have to fake my sounds of approval.

Despite driving with her behind me I could almost imagine her eyes light up.

"OH I have an idea for a name! How about Brewmaster?" I chuckled at that.

"Would be fine but the alcoholic connotations would be bad for PR." I told her.

"Oh I know VIM!" She announced undaunted. "Because my potions make people stronger or tougher like Vim and Vigour!" She was a bit of a chatterbox once she started I noted. Almost carried the whole conversation herself in contrast to her shy beginnings. "Stuff that makes you invisible or make my other powers even better! I bet I could even come up with something that makes you Tinker better!" That sounded great but it seemed that we were reaching the end of this journey, thus I reported in.

"Console, this is Armsmaster." I yelled over the sounds of my bike. "I have a new hero with me by the name of Vim, I'll be dropping her off before reporting in myself." I stopped next to a street sign that she had pointed out to me earlier.

Hopping off she seemed to embody her name quite nicely.

"OH MY GOD You just called me a HERO!" Her enthusiasm was almost infectious. "I can't believe this!"

"Hold on now." I raised my hand. "Before I go back I need to make sure you know about the Wards, think about joining us alright? It would help with your lack of materials and let you build what you need and get you a budget for your potions." She seemed to light up at that but before she accepted she pulled back.

"I uh, I wanna try flying solo for a bit, let everyone know that I can pull my own weight but I'll keep it in mind." I nodded understanding her feelings, her desire to be acknowledged.

"If you change your mind or have any questions then don't hesitate to call." I said handing her one of my cards. I couldn't see her eyes behind the goggles but it was safe to assume that she was a fan of mine.

"I'll see you later." And with that I drove off.

Edit: Apparently I keep switching from first to third person. GAH! I swear I fixed that! I had not. Thanks for pointing it out peeps.