“Tattletale,” Brian spoke, “Did you talk to Coil?”

“Coil says he told Kaiser straight up that he was responsible for the emails.  I believe him.

Hm. But Kaiser hasn’t informed Purity about that?

If Purity and Kaiser’s other subordinates don’t know, Kaiser either hasn’t seen fit to tell them or he’s intentionally keeping them in the dark.”

“What?  Why would he do that?” I raised the phone closer to my mouth to ask her.

Maybe he actually appreciates his subordinates targetting the Undersiders. This gives Kaiser an excuse to attack the Undersiders as well, which he may have been actively looking for in the Hookwolf case. Coil is the bigger enemy, but the Undersiders are also in the way of taking over the Docks.

“It makes a warped sort of sense to me,” Brian answered for Lisa.  “He lets his people believe we’re responsible, with Purity’s group gunning for us and the Protectorate.  Hookwolf hates us anyways, because of Bitch, so he goes along.  Kaiser lets them deal with us, with all that fury and hate and no-holds-barred torture, murder and maiming that comes with blaming us.  When we’re dealt with, or when it’s convenient, he tells them the truth, turns that bloodthirst against Coil.  His people won’t ever be scarier or more vicious than they are right now.  Why not maximize the damage?”

Ah, right, that’s a good point, too. He can turn it around and hit both enemies.

“Doesn’t that fall apart if Coil admits, publicly or to the members of Empire Eighty Eight, that he’s responsible?”  I asked.

Yeah, but is he willing to go that far?

I suppose telling it directly to Kaiser wasn’t that different, given the assumption that Kaiser would send the information along.

“Yes,” Lisa’s tinny voice replied, “But Coil won’t.  He was willing to talk to Kaiser, fess up to the man himself face to face, but going with a more public route risks putting him in the spotlight, drawing attention to himself, and he’s not going to do that.  I suspect Kaiser knows that and is accounting for it.”

True, Coil is more the type to sit in the background, controlling the puppets and chess pieces in the foreground but being out of focus himself.

I feel like I’m probably just being dumb about the J…S thing, by the way 😛

“Bumblebee S,” she replied.  “No immediate danger, but the situation doesn’t look good?”

“Right,” I replied.

I guess they found somewhere with a TV too. That, or Lisa Knows what’s happening, maybe.

Or maybe they’re yellow for other reasons.

J…S – Jonas? Julius?

Wait, could they use one of their surnames? If that’s the case, it’s one of the two I don’t know yet, though.

Brian put the cotton wipe aside.  It was a red-pink with flakes of my dried blood on it.  He prepared another to continue working.

“You see that bit on TV?” I asked her, “Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker for Grue.”  I’d used his codename for security’s sake.  I fiddled with the keypad to get the phone to speaker mode.

Yeah, probably a good idea. You never know who’s listening in – the code system makes it so they’re secure against listeners each speaker knows are there, but even if you discount wiretapping, there could easily be a parahuman with the power to listen in on any phone call.

Lisa’s voice was tinny through the low quality speaker.  “Purity?  I saw the bit on TV.  From what I picked up, child protective services and a contingent of capes went into her place and walked out with her baby while she was at work, before she even had a chance to hear about the email.  Mama bear snapped.”

Yeeah, kind of understandable, really. I mean, it doesn’t excuse any of what she’s doing (it’s a little… over the top), but it’s a reason that fits with everything we already knew about Kayden.

Hm, to be fair to the channel execs, cutting the feed might’ve drawn Purity’s anger towards them.

Purity dropped the camera, and the view spun lazily as the camera hurtled to the ground.  There was the briefest of glimpses of the trail of light that marked her departure, before the camera hit the ground and the television went black.  After a moment, the ‘BB4 News’ logo appeared on the screen against a blue background.

“Crap,” Brian said.

So, uh

Where were the channel execs? It seems like they should’ve cut the feed when it became evident there was going to be an on-screen murder.

“So.  If you’re not going to go after them to save people,” I wasn’t able to keep all the bitterness out of my voice.  “Maybe you’ll do it for our rep, after we got called out like that?”

“That’s not- Taylor, I don’t want people to get hurt or killed, either.  I’m not a villain that aims to hurt people.  I’m just being practical.”

Yeah, going out there would very likely lead to the Undersiders suffering a similar fate to the cameraman.

On the other hand, it’s the thing that would allegedly stop Purity’s onslaught, at least for a moment. It’s a classic ultimatum for the heroes.

“You didn’t answer my question.  What are we doing now, after hearing that?”

“We’re calling Lisa.  Or you are, and I’ll take care of your ear while you do it.”

Yeah, better keep everyone in the loop.

I nodded.  I took the opportunity to get my top back on while he got the first aid kit, and grabbed my cell phone.  Brian used saline and a wet cotton wipe to wipe around my ear, and I dialed Lisa.  She picked up on the first ring.

“Lemon J,” I told her.

J? I guess they’ve switched from the system that used their names.

The fog moved as though it had a mind of its own, congealing into the man once more.

That’s because it did.

When he had fully pulled himself together again, there were only a few spatters of blood six or so paces from where the body had fallen, and Night, standing in the middle of the road.  No body, no clothes, no blood remained where the fog had passed.

Jeez. Must be good for cleaning up crime scenes.

“We are not the ABB,” Purity spoke, not bothering to turn the camera back to herself, “We are stronger, both in powers and in numbers.  We have discipline, and thanks to you, we have nothing left to lose.  I will have my daughter back, and we will have our restitution.”

Yeeah, the Empire seems to be going all out – or at least Purity is.

Our heads turned back to the television screen.  The camera showed a brilliant glare that could only vaguely be made out as a face.  The view shifted, and I heard her command, “Hold it.”

Ahh, looks like she was actually chasing that camera man down so she could give this message.

The camera steadied and focused on Purity’s face, from ground level looking up.  I suspected the cameraman was on the ground.

“You took the most important thing in the world from me,” her voice was without affect, flat.  “Until she is returned, this doesn’t stop.

Oh

Oh no

Did Max take Aster to motivate Purity? Or did the Protectorate or child services take her because they found out who Purity was?

I will take this city apart until I find you or you come to stop me.  My subordinates will murder anyone, everyone, until the matter is settled.  I don’t care if they are genetically pure or not.  If they haven’t allied with us already, they missed their chance.”

Damn. I wonder, if it’s the latter case, is Kaiser on board with this, or is he losing control of even his closer subordinates?

She bent down to take the camera.  While the image swayed wildly, Purity spoke, “Night, Fog.  Demonstrate.”

Well fuck. Good night, camera man.

The camera steadied, fixed on a man and a woman in gray and black costumes, respectively, featuring cowls and cloaks.  Behind and to the side of them was an unnaturally pale and white haired young man.

The man in gray evaporated into a rolling cloud of white-gray fog, moving toward the camera.

Mister Fog, I presume.

Purity took flight, moving up and above the scene, keeping the camera focused on the cameraman.  As the camera rose and the view of the scene expanded, I could see Crusader off to one side, leaning against a wall with his arms folded.

Hi.

As the mist enveloped the cameraman, Night strode forward, disappearing into it.  The timing of what happened was wrong, too soon after she entered the fog.

The power of invisibility, presented as being hidden by Fog for dramatic effect?

There was a ragged scream, and then blood sprayed out of the mist to paint the surrounding road in dozens upon dozens of long splashes of crimson.

RIP.

“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.