“But if Grue uses his power-“

That, my man, is a damn good point.

Shadow Stalker turned, then fired another dart into Grue.  “Satisfied?”

Heh.

We’d drained the darts of the sedative, of course.  Still, I was betting Grue would have words for Regent after this was over and done with.

Pffft.

The uniform didn’t back down, “No.  I want to know why you don’t want them fully contained.”

This guy is smart. He knows that when someone’s being adamant about not following protocol, something’s up.

I like him, even though he’s a bit in the way.

“Because I’ve been up since five in the morning, it’s well past midnight now, and I’m going to have to start doing fucking paperwork the second we get these guys in a cell.  I’m not allowed to walk away until they’re in custody, so if I let you foam them, I’m going to have to wait another half an hour to an hour for the solvent to get mixed and brought to them, five or ten minutes for it to work.  Fuck that, they’re down.  Listen to the hero who just took down a whole fucking team and get them in the truck.”

Nice argument, fairly in character too.

It took three minutes for the PRT to arrive.  I saw the green and white flashing lights and heard the splashing before anyone stepped into my field of view.

Good work, “Shadow Stalker”, you took down the Undersiders singlehandedly! 😮

“Holy shit,” one of the PRT uniforms spoke.

“Restrain them and throw them in the van,” Shadow Stalker ordered him.

Yeah, “holy shit” is right. This feat is practically unreal!

“Jao, get the containment foam,” one uniform spoke.  The captain?

“They’re tranquilized,” Shadow Stalker spoke, sounding disinterested, “Don’t waste resources.”

Fair enough. If “she” successfully convinces them not to use the foam, that’s one less hurdle to get out of later.

“Protocol states we use containment foam, especially when there’s an unknown.”

Ah, right, Imp. Yeah, I’d like to know more about that unknown myself.

“The girl with the horns?  Mover three, teleports through shadows,” Shadow Stalker lied.  “None of them can escape restraints on their own.”

Well, at least we know that’s not her power.

Also I suppose someone with this power would need to have their whole body, or at least a significant portion, in shadow for it to count. Just standing on shadow isn’t normally enough, because everyone’s always standing on their own shadow.

Take it easy, Regent.

Alright, I guess that confirms who’s controlling Sophia. Nice work, Alec.

So what are Imp’s powers, then?

Bitch managed to scream an order to her dogs before she ‘passed out’, “Go!”

Looks like that thought was the cue for the narration to stop pretending they’re not all acting.

The three newer dogs hesitated, but Angelica didn’t.  She huffed out a snarl as she passed them, and the others took her lead and joined her in stampeding down the street until they disappeared from sight.

Ah, smart. This way, when “Shadow Stalker” “arrests” them, “she”’ll have a good explanation for where Bitch’s (note to Regent, remember to call her Hellhound if you’re going to impersonate Sophia) dogs are – they ran away on Bitch’s order.

I laid in the water, aware of how cold it was, trying to ignore how dirty it was.  My lenses afforded me an advantage in that I could watch what was going on without my open eyes giving anything away.

Nice.

I saw Shadow Stalker touch her ear, then murmur something.  Tattletale had gone over everything Regent needed to know as far as that particular routine and the orders to give.

Tattletale knows how the Wards operate. Taylor knows the girl he’s impersonating, and anything she doesn’t know, Tattle can help fill in with her power. This team is better equipped than most to pull off a plot like this.

I still have no clue what the goal is, but things are coming together a bit.

So is this box taking us back to the present, or to a second scene in-between?

Now

Ah, well, that’s helpful.

There were so many ways this could go wrong.

Tattletale held a pair of binoculars and scanned the building in front of us.  “There’s movement.  We’re good to go.”

Hmm. Is “now” not quite the “now” of the previous chapter? Did we jump forward to the next part of whatever plan they’ve laid?

“Go,” Grue ordered.

Hitting the target wasn’t so hard.  My bugs flowed in through windows and Bitch took the entrances.  Angelica had free rein, slow as she was, while the other dogs stayed on leash.  Grue hung back with Tattletale, Regent and me, while Imp moved forward, not charging in, but staying close.

Alright. So what is this building?

The tricky part would be balancing this.  Too far one way or the other, and this got really ugly, really fast.

Our targets were looters, and they were well armed, though bullets were getting to be in shorter and shorter supply.

Ah, I see… so they’ve taken it upon themselves to stop looters and such now, or?

Coil had sources, and the Chosen did as well, but these guys were from the Merchants.

Ahhh. Coil mission, I guess, now that the situation within the Undersiders has been resolved one way or another. So is Coil calling shots against both E44s and the Merchants now?

They were vagrants, addicts and people who subsisted by mooching off the system.  When the system had failed, they’d latched on to the only group that would take them.  

The group that subsists by mooching off the addicts.

More had joined because it was safer and easier to be among the thugs, looters, scavengers and thieves than it was to be among the victims.  Safety in numbers.

People Sophia would call predators.

“Okay,” I replied.  But he was already walking away, leaving me standing alone at the entrance.

I had told myself I would rise above the likes of Sophia and Armsmaster.  I was all too aware of their flaws, and first and foremost among them was arrogance, pride.

So you’re embracing the opposite, humility, then?

So I’d swallowed mine.

■

Sounds good. 🙂

Bitch threw the piece of chipboard she was carrying into the wall, hard.  One of the dogs started barking in response or in alarm.  She spat in my general direction and then stalked over to the far end of the room, her dogs trailing after her.  The metal stairs clanged with the impacts of her boots as she ascended to the next floor.

Besides the more Taylor specific reasons for this outburst… I think Rachel is sick to death of being outvoted on things that matter to her.

Lisa hesitated, then followed after.  Alec glanced at us, then put a hand on Aisha’s shoulder and led her away, leaving Brian and me alone.

…

…

…

Just doin’ my part as awkward silence.

“Thank you,” I said, quietly, to Brian.

Brian shook his head, “Don’t thank me.  Alec’s right when he says that we’ll probably get over this.  Maybe we’ll even become friends again and get to the point where we can talk about it.  But that isn’t going to happen today, and definitely not right here and now.”

Yeah, that’s fair. 🙂

“It costs us a lot,” Brian said, his voice low, “If mistrust and tension fucks up our team chemistry, especially if we start fucking up in the field, because of it.”

He also has a point.

“So you’re voting no?” Lisa pressed him.

“Do I get a vote?” Aisha cut in, before he could respond.

Ah, might be time for them to break it to Taylor that Aisha’s on the team now?

“No,” Brian and Lisa refused her in unison.  Aisha made a face, but didn’t seem too bothered.

Fair enough. Even if she is on the team now, which hasn’t been confirmed, she doesn’t quite have the

necessary perspective, not having been around when Taylor was on the team.

“I don’t want her on the team,” Bitch spoke.

Brian shook his head, “I don’t know what to tell you, Rachel.  Alec’s right, for once.  We need her.  We need the firepower, out there, at the very least.  Looking at this objectively, I think I’d have to say we should keep her.”

Nice!

“Which is three votes for, one against,” Regent noted.

Y’know, this is also kind of familiar… “Rachel always votes against recruiting new members.”

“Because I’ve been to the shelters, I’ve walked the streets and seen what the Merchants and Chosen are doing out there.  I want to resolve this thing with Dinah.  Whether I like it or not, I know that the fastest way to get to that point where everything’s okay again is working with Coil.”

Alright so she did repeat it in dialogue, but at least she gave the abridged version.

Lisa spoke, “I want her back on the team, obviously.  If we’re voting, that’s where my vote is going.”

“Mine too,” Alec said, “You’re wound up, Brian, maybe it’s Taylor being gone, maybe it’s Aisha and your dad getting attacked, maybe it’s the general situation with the city, but it’s getting miserable to be around you.  

This sounds… familiar.

There seems to be some paralleling going on here.

• Brian here is Clockblocker – wound up, situation involving his dad, hostile to the “newcomer” (a returning newcomer in Taylor’s case, but still).
• Taylor is Weld. Coming into the team with good intentions, to a hostile-to-lukewarm reception.
• Alec is Kid Win. The seemingly laid-back one who probably feels like the fifth wheel of the team.
• Lisa is Vista. The understanding one who tries to help mend relations with Taylor/Weld.
• Aisha, if she’s Imp, is Flechette. The other newcomer, who is somewhat more welcomed to the team.
• Rachel is Shadow Stalker. The hostile, aggressive one.

Taylor was always the one who was on the same page as you, she’d be someone you can work with and talk to, at least.  You’ll be happier in the long run if she’s around.  And we’ll be happier if you’re not so fucking crabby.  ‘Sides, if she’s giving up her pay, then it doesn’t even cost us anything.”

He has a point there. I mean, she does still require some food and such, but yeah.

Lisa had convinced me.  I would only solve this by getting in Coil’s good graces, talking to him as someone he could respect and listen to.

Hm. Succeeding at that seems a little far-fetched knowing his current attitude towards other people, but I suppose that makes sense.

I couldn’t do that without convincing these guys to let me back on the team.

Ah, right, yeah, let’s get back to that.

“No,” I answered Brian, “You’re right.  It’s not that easy.  But if you’ll have me, I’m willing to work my ass off to make it up to you.  I’m pretty good as a member of this team, you know it.  If you want to monitor my every move, fine.  Any restrictions you want to put on me, fine.  I’ll even give up my pay from Coil and any jobs we do.  Whatever you want.”

Sounds good, although giving up the money might only cause him to wonder more about your motivations. Granted, you just told us about your intentions re: Coil and Dinah via narration, so I doubt Brian’s about to make you repeat it in dialogue.

He shook his head, then asked me, “Why?  Why come back?”

In which case… what are you going to say here? That they’re your friends? That you had fun? That you have nowhere else to turn?

That you have a plan to make things better?