2.X Interlude 2

Coil, for he always thought of himself as such - Thomas Calvert was just a costume he wore to fool the sheep - was not pleased that his toy had once more slipped his grasp. That Dinah Alcott had now aligned herself with this newest hero team was problematic. He had used a disposable timeline to confirm that was indeed her behind the Spinner costume. He used the simple expedient of reaching across the table and pulling off her mask. The speed with which the others Guardians had reacted to his act was frightening. The Protectorate had been moving to stop him as well. Even dear old Emily had grabbed his jacket before he had dropped the timeline.

He tried to use the same trick to unmask the others, only to find Weaver and Nike's helmets did not slip off as easily and neither Icon nor Sentinel were wearing masks.

Icon was becoming quite the thorn in his side. She had thrice interfered with his acquisition of the precog. She had ended the ABB threat before he could coax it to heights great enough for him to successfully gather the villains of Brockton Bay under his command to counter them. Finally she had coopted the sister of Dauntless who he had been planning to collect into his fold.

His agents in the PRT PR department had started the effort to drive a wedge of resentment between Ms. Jones and the heroes. This had been the first step in a plan to convince her to eventually turn over her brother's enhanced gear to him for study. He had confirmed with Tattletale the likelihood that Miss Jones had the goods after the explosion. By Icon's recruiting her into this new group, that was not likely to happen now.

He needed to find out more about Icon. He had tried using facial recognition software to match her face against all the faces on the internet. The closest he came was a model named Arizona Muse. That was frustrating, but he chalked it up to power bullshit. She obviously had some sort of Changer ability so she was not presenting her real face. Her interactions with Miss Jones and Dear Dinah suggested she was known to one or both in her civilian identity. But there was no proof. He could only find two common acquaintances between the two females, a classmate of Dear Dinah's and the classmate's father, a biophysicist for Medhall. He would have to see about suborning him in the near future. Even if there was no connection to Icon, it would be good to have another agent inside the pharmaceutical giant.

Not even Tattletale could tell him more about Icon's identity, after observing the pestilential hero as she patrolled the Boardwalk. He vaguely wondered if she had a Stranger power which might somehow effect Thinkers, then discarded the idea as too foolish to pursue.

Still, he decided, some good might yet come out of this mess. Firstly with all the ABB capes in custody, that left a power vacuum he could exploit. Perhaps he could find new leadership for the masterless mob. Leadership that would be under his control. Or perhaps he could use the certain chaos that the other gangs fighting to take the territory would produce to maneuver elsewhere, all the time making Piggott and the PRT look worse, leading to her eventual replacement.

Another bright spot was that, despite the kill order, Bakuda was captured alive. This meant that she would be sent to the Birdcage. He would ensure that she never made it. Such a genius would be far too useful under his control. Either the Undersiders or the Travelers would take her from the transport. The other could be used to create distraction by enticing the Guardians into battle. He was interested in testing their abilities before moving further against them. Which team did what would be determined by who was escorting the transport. Bakuda was the primary mission and the snatch team would have to be able to take out any opposition.

He split the timeline. In one he logged into the PRT system to gather information on the transport. In the other he had a lovely early dinner at Regiano's.

#####

"What do you think? Have we lost them?" Emily Piggott asked the two team leaders. They were back in her office following the unfortunate ending of the debriefing with the Guardians. Armsmaster and Miss Militia had accompanied her at her request. She wanted their thoughts and impressions. Collin was pretty much useless with people, but he knew this and had developed technology to get around that fact. This gave him an occasionally useful perspective. Hannah was the most socially ept of the three of them. She also had her memory to call upon to review details. This made her handy in such situations as well.

"I think we might say we've lost them for now," Hannah replied. "That does not mean that at some time in the future, after they have blunted their youthful enthusiasm on the realities of heroing in Brockton Bay, they will not be more open to a repeat of our offer."

"I agree," Collin added. "My system tells me that Icon skated close to untruth a couple of times, mostly when talking about the identity of her precog, but that she was basically honest with us. I got almost nothing off of Sentinel on my social systems, and only a bit more off of Weaver. Dauntless' helmet still confuses the facial reading algorithms. I have not yet cracked that problem. But otherwise Nike is easy to read."

"So we need to look at them, individually and as a group, as potential problems," Piggott said. "How dangerous are they? And how might we take them down if we need to?" She looked at the team's main tactician.

"I've asked the classification think-tank to look at them based on their actions against the ABB and any other footage or reports we have," Armsmaster began.

"We have the most on Icon. She is getting stronger and faster with each incident. It seems to confirm her claim that she grows her powers like Dauntless did. She is officially a Trump 8 or better. But she presents as a Brute 5, Mover 4, Thinker 3, Blaster 2, and who knows what else."

"That's up from two weeks ago," Piggott pointed out.

"Exactly. And may be up again next week."

Piggott frowned. Dauntless' growth was worrying. This woman's was frightening. "What about the others?"

"Sentinel is the one with the next most record. The thinkers set him as a Brute 8 or better with Mover 4 added. He tossed that bomb into orbit or higher. That is Alexandria level strength, or near it."

"How did he move the bomb if it was frozen by Clockblocker? I thought nothing known could overcome his power." Hannah asked.

"We think the most likely is that some temporal manipulation tech in the bomb caused Clockblocker's freeze to release more quickly than expected. It has always been a variable power in terms of duration. Sentinel simply grabbed the bomb right after it had become unfrozen."

Colin continued down the list. "Weaver, earlier reported as Swarm we believe, unless that was Spinner or another bug master, is initially set at Master 5, Thinker 2, Brute 2-4. They added a Shaker 2 for her webs, but that is very preliminary. We saw almost nothing of Spinner, but they are extrapolating a Brute 1-2, Mover 1-2, and Shaker 2, again for the webs."

"And Nike?' Piggott asked. Seeing that metal lance squirm over her body had been more disturbing than the Case 53 spider cape.

"Given the last known spec for Dauntless' gear, plus recorded observations from this morning's battle she is being listed as a Shaker 3, Mover 3, Blaster 2. Her ability to animate and enhance objects gives her a Striker 4 at least and her armor gives her at least Brute 1, maybe more."

"So we have a group of versatile, in some cases powerful, individuals outside of our control. I want a plan to take them out with Protectorate and Ward resources by tomorrow EOB. Include a plan to integrate them into Endbringer defense efforts. " Piggott slapped her table. They had to be prepared to deal with whatever came.

#####

"Thanks for meeting with me," Danny said. "It is really helpful to have someone in a similar situation to talk with about this stuff." He took a moment to look around the Havisham home. When Taylor had let slip that Dr. Havisham was also aware of her identity, and those of the other capes in her group, he quickly arranged this meeting.

"We're both fathers with daughters who seem to share a dangerous destiny." Dr. Havisham was soft spoken and obviously intelligent in the same was Anne was.

"I don't know about destiny, but they've made choices I am not completely comfortable with, but need to support all the same."

"I concur. Even though Riley is younger than Taylor, she has had her powers much longer. I don't think it would be right to forbid her from her new path. Nor do I think she would listen if I tried."

"Exactly." Danny took another sip of coffee. "The question becomes how we can best support them. I think they were more shocked than anything when the PRT gave them that reward check. I know Taylor has never had anything like that kind of money and had no idea how to manage it."

"Riley has some … inheritance money from her family." Havisham seemed reluctant to talk about the topic. "She says she wants to put some towards supporting the team. The reward money could also go towards that end."

"Taylor and Nonie have been talking about a base." Danny grinned. "They said something about digging a secret underground tunnel between the Jones' place and ours. I can see the need for a headquarters, but I think we want to provide them with better options."

"Indeed. Have you something in mind?"

"Maybe. There are a several abandoned warehouses and office buildings near the docks that could be purchased for almost nothing and converted to something useful relatively cheaply. I could get some of my workers to provide labor. I might even be able to provide some non-cape staff, something they will likely need and may not have thought of."

"That seems reasonable. Might I suggest you put together a proposal on base options and we can present it to the girls? I would be able to match the $57,000 from the reward, so that gives us a budget to work within. We need to take long term operating costs into account. They should probably consider setting up a non-profit organization. They will need to consider some sort of ongoing revenue stream. Rewards may be a part of it, as well as donations. Possibly licensing biotech and their images as well. I have a few attorneys I might recommend for contracts and licensing. I can put something together to present."

"You agree the final decision has to be theirs?" Danny confirmed.

"While that may not be the case legally," Dr. Havisham replied, "it is ethically correct. Given her powers, I have always stressed ethical behavior to Riley. It would be foolish for me to change now."

The discussion continued for hours.

A/N: I think this story is going on Hiatus for a while. I have reached a stopping point with the defeat of the ABB and the formation of the Guardians. I have the next arc plotted, but I feel the call of a different story. I think I will work on that for a while and come back to this one at a later date.