“They’re doing that because of us,” I adjusted my grip on my costume top to free a hand so I could point it at the TV.  The cameraman was retreating from the scene, and the image was wobbling as the camera rocked with his movement.  The spark of light that was Purity was moving in his general direction as she leveled more buildings.

There’s also this side of it – Taylor feels partially responsible for this happening in the first place. Her heroic instinct is thus compounded by the impression that if she doesn’t do something to stop this, she’s complicit.

“Because of Coil, not us.  The heroes will be the ones to take care of it,” Brian retorted.

Well. They’re doing it because of Coil, but attacking that specific neighborhood because of the Undersiders.

“They could be hurting innocent people.”

“Given who these guys are, I’m pretty sure they’ve been hurting innocent people for a long time.”

Valid point.

I turned to frown at Brian, “You know what I mean.  We-”

“Undersiders,” A female voice cut into the conversation.  “Protectorate.   Take note.”

Oh shit, a message. From Purity, I guess? We haven’t been told she had the side power to make her voice loud, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Or maybe the Empire hijacked the TV channels.

My need to hurry overrode my modesty.  I stood and pulled off my top, leaving just my bra on, making sure to keep my back to Brian.   I removed the sweatshirt I had tied around my waist and untied the arms of my costume.

“What are you doing?”

Well, that’s one out of two for feeling the need to do something about this.

“Getting ready,” I put my arm through one arm and worked my fingers into the gloves.

Brian walked around the couch and I hurried to raise the top half of my costume and clutch it to my chest, covering myself.  He put his hands on my bare shoulders and exerted enough force to push me back down to a sitting position.  I complied, stiffly, reluctantly.

Taylor may have officially decided to stay a villain yesterday, but she still has the heroic instinct. Brian, on the other hand, is very aware of how little a chance the Undersiders really stand in this, even if Purity doesn’t call in reinforcements the moment she spots Taylor.

He pulled his hands away a little more quickly than he might have a day or two ago, jamming them in his pockets.  I hunched my shoulders forward self consciously.

Brian took a deep breath.  “Not your job.”

It would’ve been if she’d never met the Undersiders, but she might’ve promptly gotten herself killed in the process. She’s cautious, but that seems to have been somewhat overridden by her heroic instinct in the heat of the moment.

It took her less than a minute to level the building and pulverize any part of the structure that stood higher than the sidewalk.

She paused, and hovered there in the midst of the dust and the motes of light that had followed in the wake of her power.  She turned and shot the next-closest building, directing a smaller, tighter beam at one corner where the structure met the ground.

Hm. Did she notice the lack of dog corpses and start wondering if she got the wrong building? Or is she just taking out more aggression, maybe?

She hit the next corner, then swept the oscillating shaft of light through the ground floor to obliterate any supports that stood within.  The building toppled messily with brick walls sloughing off and cresting plumes of dust.

The building hadn’t even finished falling down before she started work on the next two, devoting one beam to each.

RIP entire neighborhood, I guess.

“Were there people in there?” I asked, horrified both at the idea and at what this woman was capable of doing. “What about those other buildings?

Brian was behind his couch, watching, “There might have been, and there might be.”

Yeeah.

So much for Purity being sympathetic.

Purity floated above the docks, an oversize firefly against a blue-gray backdrop of sky.

Oh shit.

Hi there.

So, uh, is this something being shown on TV, or are we having the first instance of a non-Taylor POV outside an Interlude?

She came to rest over a building that had been half built and left abandoned, a small crane jutting out of the middle of it.  A building I recognized as Bitch’s place.  Her improvised dog shelter.

Ah, okay, still Taylor’s POV. I suppose she might be seeing this in person?

“Brian!” I called out.  “You want to see this!”

The cameraman tried to zoom in and focus on Purity, but only intensified the lens flare effect that followed her.

TV confirmed.

That’s like trying to film the sun.

He zoomed back out just in time to see her take action.

RIP doghouse?

The beams of light that blasted from her palm weren’t straight.  There was a bit of a spiral to them, as they formed a rough double helix.  The end result was wider than Purity was tall, tearing into the building to topple the crane against one wall.  She turned the light on the other walls, obliterating them.

RIP doghouse.

Let’s hope Rachel had gotten all the dogs out in time.