Laura padded quietly down the street, hood drawn up against the light rain. It wasn't exactly her favorite weather to be out in, but it was ideal for what she planned to be doing tonight.

Namely, robbing a Check 'n Go.

She scowled as she paused across the street from the place. She didn't feel guilty over the choice - these payday loan places preyed on the poor and the needy and strangled the life out of them. This was just a bit of karma. No, it was just that it felt so small. So petty. She'd been a big name back in Hartford. Not the sort of big that could stick around to tangle with Legend, sure, but she'd been respected. Feared. Then Mouse Protector had apparently decided that the on and off clashes they had weren't enough and had made it her personal mission to bring Laura down.

Every time she went out to rob a place, Mouse Protector was there. Every time she and her friends fled back to a safehouse, Mouse Protector followed. They'd left for Providence and Mouse Protector had still shown up!

So here she was, in Boston, with the rest of the gang split up, robbing some piddly place to get the cash for food because she couldn't seem to get rid of the bitch. God, she didn't even know what excuse she'd be able to give Karen about having moved again when she called next time.

How long until Karen pieced together that Laura was actually the Villain who kept moving to all the same cities at the same time Laura did?

She sighed and strode up to the door. Locked for the evening, but that had been expected. Breaking the glass would trip the alarm and send the police scrambling, but she hoped she'd be done here by the time they arrived. It'd taken a careful two days and a papercut on the manager's finger to figure out how to open the safe here.

Laura raised the brick that she'd brought to smash through the door. Before she could however, a pebble bounced off the door and hit her in the forehead. What…? No. No, no, no, no!

"Halt evildoer! Though the city may sleep, Justice never does!" A woman stood atop the building behind her, the mouse ears of her helmet stark against the night. She swept an arm back, letting her cape flutter in the breeze.

"No! How? How did you find me?! How are you already here?!"

"A mouse is small and can go unnoticed: but there is no limit to what a brave heart and a fearless spirit can achieve."

"No, fuck you, that's not an actual answer! Just go away and leave me alone already!"

Mouse Protector tossed a small pebble down, and with a small pop, appeared in front of Laura with sword and shield in hand. "I mouse ask you a question, Ravager. Do you remember that bank heist you pulled last year? The one where your whole group managed to disappear right out from under the Protectorate's nose?"

She did. The crew had actually pretended to escape while hiding themselves as hostages. She'd had to give herself a scar to sell the part. "What of it?"

"You hurt a friend of mine, Ravager. I'm bringing you in this time." Mouse Protector's voice had gone deadly quiet, a marked change from her usual bluster and cheer. The silence afterwards stretched out for a long, tense moment before she spoke up again, her persona returned. "So I suggest you surrender yourself now, Ravvy! We can do this the easy way… or the Mouse way."

Fuck. So Mouse Protector did have a grudge. Laura took a step back, carefully drawing the machete she kept at her waist. "That wasn't even a pun, you idiot. Anyways, get lost already. I don't care what happened to your friend, and I'll do worse to you if you keep coming at me like this."

"Aw, I knew you loved the puns, Ravvy. Be warned however, that if you continue down this path, then I shall be forced to use my weapons of mouse destruction."

Laura squinted. "Wouldn't that mean they'd be hurting you?"

"...Well, nevermind that. En garde!"

With that, Mouse Protector threw a scattering of pebbles at Laura. She knew it was largely a distraction, as the Heroine appeared behind her with a faint pop a moment later. Laura had fought Mouse Protector enough times to anticipate it though, and her machete was ready to meet the Heroine's sword.

"Not bad! But you can do cheddar than that!"

"Do you ever shut up?" Laura growled and kicked out to try and sweep Mouse Protector's feet, only for the Heroine to disappear again with a faint pop. Laura immediately threw herself to the side, dodging the sword strike that came from behind. God, that teleportation was bullshit to fight against. She just needed to score one good hit though. One good hit and Mouse Protector would have to fall back to treat it, keep it from festering. One good hit and Laura would have a tag on the Heroine, letting her know whenever she was coming.

Of course, Mouse Protector's power made it incredibly difficult to land that hit.

"Never! Mine is the mouth of Justice, and my words are Wisdom."

Laura waited for the small pop before spinning to intercept Mouse Protector's sword, parrying it aside and driving her knee up into the Heroine's gut. She popped away a second later before Laura could follow-up, but it was still a moment of vindication. "Yours is the mouth of a moron. Just crawl back into whatever hole you came out of already."

There was a pop and… Wait, Mouse Protector was in front of her this time? And not attacking? There was a wide smile on her face… "You did it Ravvy! You punned!"

"No. No! That wasn't a pun!"

"It was! I'm so proud." Mouse Protector wiped a nonexistent tear from her eye. Laura responded by punching her. She barely skimmed Mouse Protector's chin however; the Heroine fell backwards into a handstand and held the pose for a moment before flipping to her feet. "Now that was just rude."

"Your face is rude."

Mouse Protector stared at her and Laura fought to keep the blush from her face. "Uh. Wow. Are you fur real?"

"Yeah, that was uh." Could she just rewind time and get a do-over? "Maybe we should just - SNEAK ATTACK!"

Laura lashed out as she shouted. Mouse Protector seemed like she was taken more off guard by the sudden shouting than the actual attack. Just as planned. It totally wasn't to cover up the stupidity that she'd just engaged in. Not at all.

In fact, it was such a good plan that the tip of the machete just barely managed to nick the Heroine's arm as she jumped away. Laura grinned as the small cut began to smoke and she felt an awareness slide into her mind. Mouse Protector teleported to the side and Laura followed with an instinctive knowledge of where the Heroine was.

Another stroke and she cut across Mouse Protector's thigh. The Heroine was on the back foot now, each of her teleporting strikes anticipated by Laura and countered with a swift slash. Behind, two feet to the right, now to the left, the right again. Mouse Protector was trying to regain the offensive, but Laura knew exactly where she would be now and that made countering… Not easy exactly, but it still gave her the advantage in their exchanges.

Another pop and Laura spun, her fist coming around to smash into Mouse Protector's face. The Heroine went down in a heap and Laura immediately took off running for where she'd left her bike. Fuck, that'd felt good to finally do. Hopefully the cuts she'd left Mouse Protector with would delay any sort of chase long enough for her to lose the idiot this time. If Mouse Protector was stupid enough not to get them treated, they'd fester and rot and leave her with one less arm and leg to fight with.

The question was where to go now?

She could head west, try to make her way to Albany or maybe even towards Canada. Or she could double back south, lose the Mouse in New York. Laura shook her head at that. Mouse Protector was one of the inaugural Wards. Even if she'd left the Protectorate, she'd still have Legend's backup if things came down to it, and that was one thing Laura didn't want to deal with.

No, the further away she was from that the better. Brockton Bay was supposed to be a mess with the amount of villains they had running around right? What was one more added to the pile?

Laura ran into the deepening storm.

"Enhanced reflexes of some sort for sure. She's dodging hits, but it's just speed, not training. Some sort of enhanced senses as well. She dodged that guy who came at her from behind… Wait, she started dodging before he even moved. Some sort of combat precog, maybe."

Thomas Calvert frowned and leaned back in his chair. Enhanced speed, precognition, and telekinetics was a potent combination for a grab-bag cape, even if they clearly hadn't refined their technique yet. It made the possibility of her recruitment by the E88 all the more concerning. "Any prior connections to the Empire?"

"...No, I don't think so. Has aspirations at being an Independent Hero. Didn't really want to step in to help the Nazi until after she saw Rune get shot, at which point she felt obligated." A useful lever, though not sufficient on it's own. "Of course, with Victor carrying the two of them off in the aftermath, it's hard to say if that will stay the case."

That was the crux of the issue, wasn't it? Victor and Othala were likely to try and give the new Cape a soft sell, especially in the wake of her saving Rune, but even that could be troublesome down the line. The Empire was already stronger than he'd like. It was a delicate balancing act, keeping the gangs of the city powerful enough to make Piggot seem ineffectual, but weak enough that his eventual strike would remove them all.

"Sorry Boss, I think that's all I got. It's harder to get stuff from a video like this."

She was lying, the annoying girl, but that was fine. The PRT had seen the video and done it's own analysis on it as well. They had failed to pick up on the precognizance - they had concluded enhanced senses - but they didn't fail to notice how whatever the new Cape had done had caused Rune to wake once again. Healing of some sort, was the going theory, though it clearly required consciousness, so it wasn't gifted in the way Othala's was.

A potent combination indeed.

"Very well, Tattletale. You will receive payment to the usual account."

He waited for her acknowledgement before hanging up the phone and closing his eyes. A second troublesome element to add alongside the ticking time bomb that was Sophia Hess and the Hebert case. The activities of Shadow Stalker had always been meant to come to light. When combined with how Piggot had decided the mandatory therapy sessions for Protectorate and Ward members were an unnecessary expense, it would be one more black mark that would see the damnable woman out of office. However, Sophia Hess had managed to outperform all his expectations.

As it was, things were set to explode early.

So he'd been forced to delay as best he could. He'd slipped Hess the information that the police were after her and sent her to ground. He'd continue to feed her information on the various gangs, help her with her vigilante streak, in the hope that it would distract her from doing something as stupid as going after her civilian victim again.

He didn't anticipate the situation would hold very long.

In the meantime however, he needed his agents to delay the court date for the Heberts' suit against Winslow. The entire situation would require more media coverage. Soon, one of his lawyers would offer to take the case pro bono, or at least, that would be what they would inform the Heberts of.

In the meantime, he would have to keep an eye out for any other troublesome elements that could intrude upon the city. The Slaughterhouse Nine had apparently last been sighted in Winslow, Arizona, which thankfully, was close to as far as it was possible to be with them still in the United States. There had been some sort of meteor strike near Toronto that Dragon had cordoned off, citing radioactive material. Not so unusual, though he would have expected it to be a cover for one of her factories being in the area, except for the files in the PRT that were classified even above his moles' ability to access. That was worth a raised eyebrow, but was ultimately irrelevant to Brockton Bay.

No, the largest difficulty was timing. It felt as though he were a juggler tossing spinning plates in the air hoping they did not fall and break. His plans were coming to a head however. A few more months and he would cleanse this city of the gangs and make it the safest place in the United States. A few more months and he would rule this city.

The phone rang. He checked the caller and allowed it an additional two rings before picking up. "Ah, Mister Andino. It's good to hear from you again. I trust you've reconsidered my job offer?"

Strictly speaking, gambling was illegal in the state of New Hampshire unless operated by the State. Strictly speaking, that only mattered if the government had the manpower to enforce its laws. It was an open secret that the Ruby Dreams Casino operated just outside city boundaries, but with the amount of gang activity that went on in Brockton Bay, no one really had the time or effort to spare for shutting it down.

There were bigger fish to fry than a modest sized casino.

That's what they were counting on anyways. With the Ruby Dreams' distance from the city, response time by the cops and the PRT should be slow. Their in-house security was enough to deal with random gangbangers who wanted to enjoy a night squandering whatever cash they had scrounged up, but it wouldn't stand up under a raid.

Or so Lisa had said.

"I dunno, Tattles, their security is looking a bit beefier than you described them."

"Please, they're just there to look big and intimidating. They're basically Mall Cops."

"Yeah, no, these guys look a lot closer to fucking John Kimble than Paul Blart, Tats. Pretty sure they're packing heat too."

Brian cut in. "Chill, Regent. We've got a plan. As long as we stick to it, they won't even know what hit them."

"Fine, fine, just don't blame me when things go tits up." Not that Alec actually cared. It'd probably be fun if it did. He just wanted the excuse to bitch at Lisa for it later. Lisa rolled her eyes. Alec flipped her off from the comfort of his own mind. Lisa smirked back at him. Fine. You win this one, you mind reading bitch.

Lisa actually let out a laugh at that. "Don't you forget it either. Now come on. We've got a paycheck to steal."

"Dumbasses."

Alec flashed a grin at Rachel's comment. "My ass is brilliant, thanks."

Rachel growled in response, but the team was already moving, darkness spreading out to cover the casino. A guard panicked and raised his gun, firing blindly into the darkness. He wasn't anywhere close to hitting them, of course, but still, it was better to avoid that. Alec waved his scepter and the man's hand spasmed and dropped the weapon.

The guard went down a moment later, pinned by the weight of Rachel's dog. Alec casually kicked the stupid fuck in the balls as he walked past. Brian looked at him. Alec was pretty sure he was frowning under his helmet, but he couldn't see it. So, eh. Not like Brian actually said anything. He began sauntering up the stairs.

Inside, there were another set of guards, but at least these ones weren't dumb enough to blind fire into darkness. Alec forced them to stumble and fall and Brian hopped on top of them to tie them up. Heh. Maybe he could rag on Brian later for tangling with big, sweaty men.

Lisa led them down another hallway, down a flight of stairs, and finally to the manager's office. There were only another five goons along the way. Pretty disappointing, all in all. The manager himself was a vaguely Asian looking man, probably why the casino got so much business from the ABB, who was cowering under his desk. Brian cleared the darkness in the room and Lisa sauntered around the desk. "Why hello there, Mister Kato. I'm afraid this is a robbery."

"Look, you won't get anything here. Other gangs have tried before. I've already triggered our alarm. Everything's been locked down. Even I couldn't open any of the cashier's drawers or our vault downstairs until the owner has verified that we're clear from a remote location."

"Oh, don't you worry about that, Mister Kato." Alec raised an eye as he watched Lisa subtly insert a USB into the man's computer. That wasn't something they'd talked about during the plan. A second objective from their "Boss," maybe? "I'm not too worried about the sham vault you have to show off downstairs. No, what I'm more concerned about is what the code is to the vault you have hidden behind your bookshelf over there."

The man went pale. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mmhm. Good thing I'm a psychic then." Lisa tapped the side of her head with a grin. "Let's see… One two zero eight seven three four seven? Aw, it's your daughter's birthday and the last four digits of her phone number? That's sweet, Mister Kato. Terrible security, but sweet. I'm done with him now, Grue."

Ah, there was the moment that the guy pissed himself in fear. He'd been wondering how long it would take. Lucky for him Grue wasn't the type of thief to kill his loose ends. Didn't want the sort of heat that would bring. Neither did Alec really. Less attention meant less chance of any of his family finding him. Anyways, it seemed they were just about done here. Grue was finishing tying the guy up, Lisa was cracking the safe, and…

"Shit."

Grue's head snapped up. "What's the problem, Tattletale?"

"Seems like Mister Kato here was something of a naughty boy. He's been funnelling a portion of the profits over to the ABB."

"Protection money? Or is he a mole?"

"A mole. The owner wasn't aware. Fuck, he's going to get outed after this. The ABB's going to be pissed."

"Best we clear out and lay low for a couple of weeks then."

Lisa was moving, scooping everything into a set of duffle bags they'd brought along. "Yeah, we'll talk it over back at base."

"Right. Might be good to look into recruiting if we're going to start pissing off the bigger gangs."

"Back at base, Grue. For now, we need to get moving. We've got maybe five more minutes before the Protectorate starts showing." Lisa tossed a duffel at Brian before shouldering one herself. A quick grab of the USB and they were out the door. Alec hung back to hit the manager with his taser before following. A guy's gotta have a hobby, right?

Outside, Rachel had already gathered the dogs and Lisa and Brian were mounting up. Alec hopped up behind Brian and wrapped his arms around their leader. "Hey there, honey. No homo, am I right?"

Brian looked back at him, gaze inscrutable under the skull-faced helmet. Yeah, Brian was totally into it, he could tell. Brian finally shook his head after a moment and looked back forward as the Undersiders took off into the night.

Lisa spoke up, shouting to be heard over the wind. "Grue, you're going to want to spread your darkness two blocks south! Velocity's going to be the first responder and we'll need to lose him fast!"

"Got it!"

The world fell into silence as darkness enveloped them. They would still be able to hear each other, Grue could control his darkness to an extent, keep things visible and audible for his allies but not his enemies; but everything else was cut away. There was only the roiling mass of muscles under their legs, the small grunts every time a dog jostled one of them. Not the smoothest of rides, these dogs, but they did in a pinch.

"Alright, veer west now. Velocity's about to catch up, so it's your turn, Regent. Make him take a spill."

True to her word, Velocity came charging through the darkness. He was obviously blind, hands stretched out in front of him, searching. He would have completely passed them by even without Alec's interference. Still, the nature of his power gave him an advantage in this sort of blind search. According to Lisa, it wasn't actually increased speed, so much as changing how time affected his body. So to him, the sixty mile per hour sprint through the darkness was actually a careful walk as he searched for a way through.

Regent made his leg spasm and sent the Hero tumbling. It wouldn't make a huge difference, but it would confuse Velocity's sense of direction, especially as he made the man spin a bit to the left while falling. By the time the darkness dissipated enough for him to see again, the Undersiders would be long gone.

"Piece of cake, Tats."

"You suck at nicknames, by the way."

"Le gasp. That hurts me right here. Right in my heart."

"Cut the chatter, you two," Brian said, sounding exasperated.

Alec laughed but stopped talking, letting the Undersiders travel in companionable silence, riding under the high of a well-done heist. It was another forty minutes of winding paths, not travelling straight back to their base, but instead twisting and turning through the city to lose any would-be followers.

When they finally came to a stop, Alec hopped off and rubbed at his ass. Really, not the smoothest of rides, these dogs. "So how'd we do anyways, Tattles? What sort of haul did we get?"

"Not counting the bonus from our Boss? Close to sixty. Not bad for a quick and easy job, eh? Think you'll have enough for your loot boxes?"

"As a preeminent whale, I'm sad to inform you that there is never enough cash to fill the hole that gacha has left in my heart, Tattles."

"Yeah, well, try not to spend it all in one place at least."

"Mm, we'll see." He started up the stairs towards the loft, only to find Rachel standing in the doorway looking inside. "Hey Bitch, some of us want to get to sleep sometime tonight."

Rachel growled in response. The fuck? He tilted his head and saw dark hair draped over the side of the couch. The double fuck? Had someone found their base?

"Oh good, you guys are finally back. I was getting tired of waiting."

The dark hair lifted and turned itself, and Alec spotted a red streak dyed through its bangs as its owner looked at him. "Hey little bro, I'll be crashing here for a while. You don't mind, right?"

Dinah rested with her face buried inside her pillow. She wanted to get up, get an ice pack from downstairs, but she didn't want to move either. The headache had been steadily growing, a throbbing tension that radiated throughout her skull. Like something was trying to escape. Like a firehose that had no release. It just built and built until she felt like exploding.

It'd been going on for days now. Her parents had written it off at first - people had headaches now and then. Migraines, even. But it had persisted. Now they were talking about taking her to the hospital, getting an MRI scan.

73.42% chance of being kidnapped if her brain was scanned.

She winced, her headache intensifying for a moment. It was hardly anything though. A grain against the mountain that was already piercing her brain. She had powers. She'd figured that out. The flickers of vision, the numbers that clarified, all of it was enough for her to know. If only she knew what her powers were trying to tell her.

Another spike of pain and Dinah curled up, whimpering. There was another vision there. A future with thousands of parahumans gathered in one place.

And then every single one of them died.

How?

Another future. The world was barren of all life.

How?

She looked and parahumans were fighting something she couldn't see. And then everything died.

Why?

She stood there, ankle deep in snow. She slowly walked through a crowd. Everyone was scared, nervous, pent up, excited. They were expecting a big battle on the horizon. They were fighting for their future against an implacable enemy. But they would fight nonetheless.

Then someone pointed at the sky. Dinah followed their gaze and saw, one by one as the stars began to go out.

[FEAR]

[DESPAIR]

One by one the stars went out. The world was consumed by darkness. And everything died.

Dinah shrieked. Her headache was gone, but it didn't matter.

99.78% chance that the end would begin within three years.