Pausing, Weld glanced at Clockblocker, as if expecting a response.  When Clockblocker only nodded assent, Weld’s eyebrows rose a fraction in surprise.

I think this is a mixture of what I just said and the resolve to go easier on Weld.

He continued, “Gives us a chance to talk about our recent patrols, fears, concerns, ideas.  Or hell, just talk, because I’m seeing this trend where we only see each other in passing, while patrolling or in class, and some of you are going out of your way to spend time together and hash stuff out, even at the detriment of stuff like school.”

Socialization is important when you want the team to work well together.

“You’re talking about class, earlier,” Clockblocker said.

Ah, right… I’m not sure that’s quite exemplary, but to my knowledge, Weld doesn’t have the full picture.

“More or less.  Not saying it’s a bad thing, but we can restructure our schedules, make time for it, instead of detracting from an area we need to pay attention to.”

Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.

“Sorry,” Vista muttered.

“It turned out okay,” Flechette smiled a little.

It’s not Vista’s fault that she was asleep when the information was needed, but I suppose she should have reported it in so that Kid Win could’ve given it to Flechette without having to have Vista available.

But hey, it turned out “okay”.

> :]   >:]   > :]   >:]

“Right.  It’s okay, it’s understandable, given all we’re trying to handle,” Weld reassured her, “But we can’t miss out on details and updates on the overall situation.  The Protectorate have their hands full with the gang wars between Fenrir’s Chosen, Purity’s group and Coil,

Oh right, Coil is up against both of them, as established in his Interlude.

they’re now dealing with this serial killer or serial killers, and they’re still updating the records.  So here’s what we’re going to do, I’ve checked it with Piggot, she agrees.  I’m picking up an extra patrol shift, and I’ll be adjusting your patrol shifts down by twenty minutes each, moving them around slightly.

To make room for communication training?

With the downtime that creates, we’re going to have meetings like this, every day.”

Ah, nice. Sounds reasonable enough. Not sure Clocky’s going to like it, but at least it’s actively supposed to help them deal with the situation better.

Right.  Great.  Pressure.

…yeah.

“Now, onto a more serious topic.  I’m seeing that this team is really disorganized, these days.

That wasn’t a serious topic?

…

Okay yeah, recruitment is kinda trivial compared to stuff like Slaughterhouse Nine and Endbringers and the state of the city and so on.

I have no problem handling the brunt of the paperwork, it gives me a degree of insight into what’s going on that the files don’t.  I don’t even mind cleaning up the kitchen and showers here when the janitors are off duty.  But we really need to communicate.

Hm, yeah, he’s right. Both in and out of combat. There was almost no communication between the Wards while fighting the Travelers.

That said, that’s kind of the norm in this story, to some extent. This isn’t typically a story with a lot of combat banter.

Last night Flechette went on patrol and ran into a situation with Parian she should have been briefed on.  It could have turned hostile.”

I wonder exactly how much she told them about what happened that night. Evidently she told them about Parian’s role as bouncer of the neighborhood, at least.

“There’s a kid calling himself Chariot.  Been racing around the city with a powered suit that lets him move a hundred miles an hour.  

Chariot, good name.

Speaking of people named Chariot, I finished watching the Little Witch Academia anime series the other night. It was epic, highly recommended.

Assault finally caught up with him last night, brought him into custody.  Wound up calling the kid’s mom, got him to agree to talk to our recruiter.  You.  You’ll be meeting the kid in his home.”

Oh, okay. No ridiculous Roadrunner sequence with Kid Wile E. Fair enough.

“Why me?”

“Shared interests.  You’re both tinkers.  You have the best idea of how he thinks.”

On one hand, that makes sense. On another hand, we just had a whole bit about how Kid Win feels like an inadequate tinker.

This might be an uncomfortable experience for Kid.

Kid Win nodded.  He couldn’t quite put his finger on what he was feeling.  A measure of excitement at the idea of getting to talk to another tinker that wasn’t Armsmaster?  Sure.  Fear?  Would he be replaced by a new tinker?  It was an immature thing to be spooked about, he knew that, but that didn’t make it any less real.

I mean, it’s not really how this team works, is it? But yeah, I get it. Fears aren’t always rational, I know that well.

“Cool,” he spoke, by way of agreement.

“You convince him, it’ll look good to the guys upstairs,” Weld informed him.

Hey, that’s a neat bonus, at least. And also a bit of additional pressure.

“Clockblocker, you and I will handle the night’s shifts after that.  Your call if you want to patrol with me or not, we can cover different routes and go for a wider area if you’d rather.”

Hey, nice. Weld is practically reaching out a hand to Clockblocker and saying “Work with me, but you decide how much you’re willing to give me for now.” I’m not sure how deliberate it is, but it’s a nice gesture nonetheless.

Maybe Clocky will decide to work with him directly as part of his decision to go easier on Weld. 🙂

“Alright.  We’ll figure it out.”

Fair enough.

“Leaving Shadow Stalker.  You okay with the late-night, Sophia?”

“Yeah, fine,” Sophia didn’t look up from her laptop.

Seems like her time of day, honestly.

“And me?” Kid Win asked.

“Special duty, tonight,” Weld smiled, “You’re recruiting.”

“Recruiting?”

Oh shit please tell me (don’t tell me) we get to watch Kid Win try to catch the mecha speedster without a hoverboard

“Not one killer,” Kid Win answered, “Nine bodies, each for different killers.”

I see. Which means nine killers. Still fits with the Slaughterhouse Nine.

“The Slaughterhouse Nine,” Clockblocker leaned back in his seat, groaning, “Fuck, that’d be all we needed.”

If I remember correctly, the Slaughterhouse Nine was introduced alongside Nilbog as examples of the really dangerous motherfuckers.

Judging by the state of those corpses, that seems justified.

“Wouldn’t be the first time they’ve arrived at a location in the wake of an Endbringer event,” Flechette pointed out.

I feel like that counts as taking advantage of an Endbringer event.

I mean, it’s not like the other things they’ve been up to wouldn’t land them in the Birdcage anyway, but yeah.

“Maybe it’s them,” Weld conceded, “And maybe the Protectorate figured that much out, with the clues they have from the other two scenes.  It could be someone or something else.  Either way, it’s not our case, not even in our league, and we should stay as hands off as we can manage.  We need to talk about patrols and tonight’s duties.”

Yeah, fair enough. They’d only get in trouble if they meddled. They don’t even have a dog.

Vista leaned forward, “Maybe a serial killer?”

“We should focus on what we do know,” Weld shook his head. “As far as tonight’s patrols-“

I mean, yeah, this evidently is some form of mass/serial killer, just by virtue of killing multiple people, but that doesn’t really tell us much.

Random thought: What if that mecha speedster who’s been running around is responsible? If that’s the case, I have a feeling they might not want to become a Ward after all.

“Actually,” Kid Win cut in, “Sorry.  But I have one theory.”

Lay it on me.

“What?” Clockblocker asked.

Kid Win glanced at Weld, checking to see if their leader was ok with it.  Weld didn’t say anything, which he took as assent to continue.

“There were two other crime scenes, right?  Any idea if there were the same number of bodies at each crime scene?”

Nine in total, in that case.

Does that mean anything to you?

“Same number-” Weld raised an eyebrow, “Why… Oh.  Shit.  I think I follow.”

I don’t.

Smarter than you’d think, given his brute-force power and his appearance, Kid Win realized.  Or I’m just that bad with numbers.  The connection took me twenty minutes to make.

Yeah, poor Weld, getting underestimated all the time for being a Brute.

Although that could be beneficial in a battle.

“Three crime scenes with three bodies each.  So it’d be nine bodies?” Clockblocker asked, “Each killed in some different way?  I don’t see what killer that would fit with.”

Slaughterhouse Nine?

Took me a moment to remember that their association with the number nine was not something I made up from a name involving a Fellowship. It was the other way around, the number nine causing me to joke about the “Fellowship of the Meat”.

So are they the victims? Are these villains killed by other villains or an anti-hero?

“Got word from the Protectorate.  They’re handling the case with the bodies, we’re not to touch it or get involved in any way,” Weld spoke, folding his arms.

Alrighty, then.

He had what looked like acne – blisters of extra-shiny metal on his face where the remainder of the darts hadn’t yet been fully integrated into his ‘skin’.

Heh, nice.

He reclined in an expensive, custom-made office chair, capable of supporting his dense, heavy body.  Everyone else had found seats in the central room of their headquarters.  Everyone, that was, except for Glory Girl, who had gone home.  She wasn’t yet an official member of the team.

See ya, Glory Girl!

“No word on what’s going on?” Clockblocker asked.

“They’re staying quiet on the subject,” Weld spoke.

Huh.

Let’s get back to this Kid Winterl– wait, no, this is a regular chapter. Kid Wchapter?

Whatever it is, let’s just get back to it!