Undersiders' Base – Morning
Coffee.
Brian needed coffee. The poor boy stumbled out of his bed in a tired daze. Lazily, he threw on a shirt and some pants and shuffled his feet towards the door. He managed to silence his alarm a few minutes before it was due to go off, but that didn't make him feel any more awake than usual. He pushed his door open and was immediately greeted with a far too happy face.
"So, we have a problem."
Lisa poked her head into Brian's bedroom the second the boy opened his door. Brian let out a long yawn, still in the middle of waking up. It took him a few seconds to realise Lisa was even there.
"Wha?…" Brian mumbled back. "What time is it?"
"Seven twenty-six," Lisa answered, far too chipper for that hour.
Brian inspected the girl with his tired eyes. She looked to be dressed in exercise gear, sweatpants and a tank top. He guessed that Lisa had been up for some time now, he was aware that Lisa was joining Taylor on her morning jogs but he didn't expect Lisa to become such a morning person.
Brian considered himself to be rather punctual. Always waking up around seven thirty to start his day, regardless of any work that happened at night. Even he thought the idea of waking up every morning to meet Taylor at sunrise was a step too far. Doubly so when Taylor didn't live on base.
"Can't this wait till after breakfast?" Brian grumbled while shuffling out of his room.
"We can walk and talk," Lisa suggested, following alongside him as they moved down the hallway.
The Undersiders' base, formally Coil's, had an entire section dedicated to just the team. A small collection of makeshift rooms that the team had turned into their new second home. It allowed members of the team to sleep, eat and relax at the base without the need to worry about being masked up and professional around the mercenaries.
Not that every member of the team cared too much about that aspect. Rachel and Lisa were more than willing to walk around the base maskless when the mood suited them. Everyone important already knew who Lisa was and Rachel never cared about her secret identity to begin with.
Aisha's power made it easy for her to wander around out of costume, regardless of how many times Brian told her that she still showed up on the cameras. And while Alec did care about his identity, he was hardly the type to act professionally. Taylor continued to act professional and keep her cape life and personal life separate while on base, but Brian had to wonder how many of the mercs had figured her out by association with Lisa.
"So what's the problem?" Brian asked as they headed towards the kitchen. He thought on the words for half a second and sighed. "Smooth sailing. It hasn't even been twelve hours…"
Lisa chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Murphy's Law. It's actually three problems. And they're not that big of a deal."
Brian reached the kitchen counter and pulled out some instant coffee. He started boiling some water while Lisa sat herself down at the counter. To his surprise, Lisa only handed him the one mug, no doubt already had her morning coffee with Taylor… or knowing her, morning tea.
"Alright, let's hear it." Brian yawned as he waited for the coffee to brew.
"First we have Circus," Lisa said, pulling out her phone to read her messages or notes. "They assumed we would be paying them the same as Coil did. But we haven't. We've already paid them for the upcoming job and cover fee, but they want back-pay for… the work they did? I don't know, it sounds like typical extortion to me."
"How much is it?"
"Barely a drop in the bucket. Especially compared to what we're paying Faultline. But it's the principle of the matter."
"Just pay 'em."
"But…"
Brian sighed as he took in his first sip of coffee. His mind was finally kicking into gear, enough to handle Lisa before nine in the morning. He knew the real issue. Lisa was far too prideful and stubborn to just let the extortion slide.
"A one-time payment," Brian said, cutting Lisa's complaint off. "We'll back pay them for that and then all future payment needs to be confirmed. We don't need to start a fight when we can easily pay them off. What's next?"
Lisa huffed a little. She wasn't happy with the compromise, but she was willing to concede for the time being.
"Second," She continued. "Uber and Leet want to know what theme they should use?"
"Their what?"
"Theme," Lisa said again, clarifying nothing. Brian blinked as he drank more coffee. "You know. What game are they gonna parody when they do their job? Their theme."
Brian groaned at the stupidity of the issue.
"I don't know?" He shrugged. "What game does Alec play all the time? Call of Honor?"
"Wow…" Lisa said with a sarcastic chuckle. "Even most Dads know about Call of Duty."
"Shut up," Brian snorted.
"And no," Lisa said, turning back to her phone to read. "They specifically stated, don't give us Call of Duty or any of this modern day trash. We only play retro games around these parts."
"I really don't care…"
"Why don't we ask Alec? He might have some ideas."
"No," Brian shut that down, fast. "I think we both have had enough of Alec's ideas," He thought to himself for a moment. "We just need them to do the job quickly and then get out," He started clicking his fingers, trying to jog his memory. "What's that game Aisha always played on her Gameboy… The blue guy, who runs fast? Mario?"
Lisa stared back at Brian in disbelief.
"Mario?…" She asked slowly. "You're f*cking with me, aren't you?"
"You know the one," Brian said, giving up and returning to his coffee. "I don't play video games, Lise. You know that."
"Everyone knows Mario!" She sighed exasperated. "Geeze, I thought you were seventeen going on thirty. But nope. Turns out you're actually seventy years old at heart."
Brian shrugged.
"Whatever…" Lisa muttered under her breath. "Sonic, we'll go with Sonic." She typed out her response into her phone, unaware of the sly smile Brian was giving her.
"And the final thing?" Brian asked.
"Hmm?"
"The final problem?" He clarified. "You said there were three things."
"Oh, right," Lisa nodded. She put her phone away and turned back to Brian. "You remember Bakuda? The bomb tinker we talked about hiring for this."
"I remember you telling me that you handled it," Brian said back, already expecting another stupid request that Lisa was too prideful to complete.
"Well, she got herself arrested."
Brian choked on his coffee.
"What!? When?"
"She got into an argument with a local restaurant last night and bombed it this morning. Protectorate took her down. About an hour ago or so?… Heard the news on the radio."
"What the f*ck, why didn't you start with that?"
Lisa shrugged. "There's not much we can do. We're not gonna break her out of prison. She doesn't have any worthwhile info on us. It's just bad timing."
"Why the hell would anyone bomb a restaurant? That's the dumbest thing to go to prison for."
"If it helps, it was in Empire territory. And Bakuda is rumoured to be half-Asian so… do the maths on what happened there."
Brian let out another exasperated sigh.
"Okay… Alright," He rubbed the bridge of his nose before adding. "What are our options?"
"Well," Lisa perked up with a smile. "Bakuda is out of the picture. But we do know where she was staying, part of my deal with her let her use a safe house to tinker in while she got ready. So, I was thinking that you, me and a couple of guys drive over and see if she has any toys left for us to use. Preferably before the PRT work out where she was staying."
"You want us to enter a bomb tinker's safe house, unannounced. And loot around inside it?" Brian asked, with a heavy emphasis on the word 'bomb.'
"Sure," Lisa said with a smile. "What's the worst th-"
Brian put his hand over Lisa's mouth.
"Don't."
------------------------------------
Undersiders' Base – Midday
"We have a problem."
Dimitri knocked on the door, alerting the trio inside. Skitter and Parian were inspecting the latest bundles of silk produced in Skitter's workshop. Deimos was standing at the far wall, not daring to move any closer to the hundreds of spiders that were scuttling along the walls.
Skitter turned back to the door and motioned for Deimos to open it.
"Report," Skitter ordered.
"Sentry teams eight and nine have spotted the Archer Bridge Merchants moving quickly. Heading towards the docks." Dimitri read off a tablet before showing it to Skitter. "Looks like they're preparing for a fight."
Every spider in the room started to vibrate in response. Parian flinched away from the wall in surprise as the hundreds of arachnids started moving erratically.
"What teams do we have in defence? Are the Merchant's capes getting involved?"
"Squealer and Skidmark were confirmed to be leading the charge," Dimitri said back. "It's possible they brought more, but we only have eyes on four trucks," Skitter looked off into nowhere, planning her next move.
"Grue and Tattletale are occupied across town," Skitter said, more to herself. "Bitch is nearby, but busy with personal matters keep her in reserve if needed. I'll bring Regent and Imp with me. Parian-"
"I'm not a fighter," Parian spoke as her hands raised higher in alert. "I'm sorry, but combat isn't my-"
"I know," Skitter said back cooly. "I wasn't going to ask that of you," She glanced back to Dimitri, "Parian can stay here, give her access to my workshop whenever requested," Dimitri nodded back as Skitter turned towards Deimos. "And Deimos, I won't force you. But if you could assist in-"
"I'll do it," Deimos said, nodding back quickly. She knew exactly what had Skitter so rattled. Taylor's father was about to be caught in the crossfire of the Merchant's advance. "Let's go. People need our help."
"We're already prepping your E Squad," Dimitri said, backing away from the room. "A car is ready for you."
Skitter moved quickly out of the room. Deimos was quick to follow behind her, leaving Parian and the spiders behind. Her body language held the usual cool, calm and intimidating aura, but Deimos could sense the underlying emotions of panic in Taylor's pace.
Victoria herself was worried on two fronts. One, for Taylor's sake. The girl would be devastated if something happened to her father. But there was a second more selfish reason. This would be Deimos' first public appearance. No longer fighting in the dead of night or hiding in underground bases. Deimos was about to unveil on the streets in broad daylight, and all the implications that came with it.
A public villain…
Victoria shook that thought away. It wasn't like she was about to rob a bank or anything. She was responding to an attack on civilians. This was her job, this was textbook heroism. No mask or false name would change the fact that she was just doing what she did best. Being a hero.
"Deimos."
"Yes?"
"Thank you," Skitter said, barely slowing down to look over her shoulder.
----------------------------------
Docks, Midday
Skitter's bugs continued to vibrate and squirm in nervous anticipation. Even the ones hidden in her hair would move, dispelling the illusion they were just harmless strands of hair. None of the other Undersiders said a word beyond "Yes Ma'am" and "No Ma'am." More afraid of Skitter's disposition rather than the upcoming fight.
Regent and Imp in particular were uncharacteristically quiet after noting the mood Skitter was in. Something Skitter herself was very grateful for. She didn't need any additional comments or remarks right now. Not when the Merchants had started their assault on the docks.
"They just parked up on 43rd," Dimitri reported. He was back at base, feeding intel directly into the Undersiders' earpieces. "They made no demands, started kicking doors down and sending men inside. No casualties reported yet."
"Seems overly aggressive," Deimos noted. "Any idea what they want?"
"Which buildings did they enter?" Skitter asked on top. 43rd Street was on the edge of the docks, far enough away from her father's place that she could relax, albeit slightly.
"Looks like a couple of small warehouses, mostly commercial businesses. Offices and such," Dimitri said. "One warehouse in the area was an old ABB stash-house. Tattletale and Grue had the contents removed and destroyed shortly after we annexed the territory."
"So they're raiding old ABB sites," Skitter thought aloud. "They won't find anything of value but they don't know that..." Taylor recalled the map in Lisa's office that marked all the buildings controlled by the ABB prior to their collapse. She remembered one in particular stood alone in a rather rundown section of the docks, a perfect place to avoid civilians. "Have our men gather around the building on the corner of 37th, the big one. Looks like it was a factory once. Give the order on an unsecured radio, and have them repeat the command verbally. We'll have the Merchants think it's the valuable stash."
"That's a gamble," Deimos argued. "Do you really think they'd fall for that?"
"Skidmark," Skitter replied. Her disproving tone said all she needed on the matter.
The rest of the Undersiders nodded in agreement.
--------------------------------------
"It worked," Dimitri reported a short time later. "Three out of four trucks are moving towards the targeted site. Should we defend the factory or prep an ambush along the streets?"
"Negative," Skitter said back. "Let them raid the factory. Set an ambush there instead," She considered to herself for a moment before adding. "Do we have any explosives? We could gather the assault inside and drop the building on them-"
"Skitter!" Deimos gasped.
"Unsure if we have that kind of firepower on hand, but I can ask-"
"Belay that order," Skitter said, looking back to Deimos. "Let them inside. Have them see that there are no drugs, no money and no valuables. Then open fire, chase them out of the territory. Minimal to no casualties if possible."
"Understood Ma'am."
"Give us an update on the fourth truck, send someone to intercept," Skitter ordered.
"Wait one," Dimitri said before a long pause. "Fourth truck is Squealer's personal vehicle. Skidmark confirmed to be in passenger. Both driving off towards center docks." That sent Skitter's bugs on edge again. The heart of the docks was exactly where she wanted to avoid fighting. "Suggest Undersiders intercept that one. Suspected third cape in back."
"Confirmed," Skitter said, tapping the window between the back seats and the driver, signalling them to change direction. "We'll head them off."
"Should we call in Bitch?" Imp asked.
Skitter shook her head. "No need. They're here for a hit-and-run. No a long siege. Deimos can take out the truck. Regent will assist me in subduing Skidmark and Squealer if their still fighting. Imp, focus on the men they brought with them. Disarm and disable. Keep them from attacking civilians."
"Disable?" Imp asked herself before fishing into her pocket. She pulled out a pocket knife from her suit. "Ah, the ole leg stabber. I got this."
----------------------------------------------------
Squeeler's truck was a monster of a vehicle. A huge tank-like frame with six wheels that were each three times the size of the average car. A pair of large pipes sat at the rear of the vehicle, spewing smoke into the air, while the front was fitted with a plough made from solid steel.
The Undersiders' SUV caught up to the vehicle in no time, parking at the end of the street that Squealer was turning onto. A small mass of bugs had already formed and was attempting to attack the truck, Skitter eventually settling for blocking the front windshield entirely and blinding the driver. All four Undersiders exited their car, standing in defiance of the incoming vehicle, even as its horn blared down the street.
Civilians were running for cover. Many already taking shelter off the street. Regent and Imp stepped aside, giving way to Skitter and Deimos who took up the centre of the road.
"You have this," Skitter said, stepping aside for Deimos as the truck sped up to meet them. It wasn't a question or an order. Skitter had absolute faith in Deimos' ability.
She watched as Deimos stretched out her neck and arms, taking a few steps forward towards the oncoming vehicle. While Victoria could've easily flown up and pulled the truck to a stop from behind, her powers were far too recognisable. Taylor, Lisa and Vicky had already talked about potential Deimos' reveals and agreed that flying and using strength would be a dead giveaway. The Alexandria package was just too distinct to hide.
Thankfully, Deimos had spent her time with the Undersiders practising for such an occasion. It was a common practice among the PRT to hide a cape's true power, usually by pretending they were a different type of cape or handicapping capes with overly destructive abilities. No one was in favour of handicapping Deimos, but she could pretend that she wasn't a flyer.
The truck barrelled towards them, its horn blaring and lights flashing, threatening the Undersiders to get out of the way. Deimos made the effort to crouch slowly, readying herself. She didn't need to do this, but it did help sell the act to the handful of bystanders who were no doubt filming this.
With a mighty leap, Deimos jumped straight into the path of the incoming vehicle, planting a fist on the hood and stopping the truck dead in its track. From the Skitter's perspective, and everyone else, it looked like Deimos launched herself through an act of strength, rather than the gentle glide of Glory Girl.
The glass of the truck shattered, as a man and a woman came crashing out. Skidmark and Squealer, both covered in cuts and shards of glass from the impact. They rolled onto the ground and began groaning in pain.
"sh*t. Was that too much?" Deimos muttered, Skitter only hearing it through her bugs.
"Damn," Regent chuckled. "Why the f*ck are we even here?" The three remaining Undersiders approached the Merchant couple who were bleeding across the asphalt. Regent poked Skidmark with his sceptre, confirming that the cape was still alive. "Hey Skidmark, wakey wakey," He nudged the man gently, eliciting another groan.
Surprisingly, most of their wounds were cosmetic. There were no arms twisted in the wrong direction, no punctured ribs or horrifyingly mangled faces. It seemed Deimos had managed to control her impact enough to leave the Merchants in one piece. They were still in a lot of pain, however.
Skitter couldn't find the empathy for either cape, they were two streets over from where her Dad worked and looked to be heading directly for the building. While she had no idea what their goal was, hers was the defence and protection of her father.
Her bugs alerted her to movement in the back of the truck. Several armed men were wobbling out, no doubt in shock from the sudden crash, but that wasn't the movement that alerted her. The rubble and debris of random metal shifted in the back of the truck, forming onto one person in particular.
"Deimos, watch out!" Skitter warned.
A metal fist formed and struck Deimos from the side. The blow launched her across the street and onto the nearby sidewalk. Skitter, Regent and Imp readied themselves for battle, the latter disappearing to chase after the straggling gang members.
Mush, a cape covered in, what Skitter assumed to be, a tiny mech suit of trash. He climbed out of the truck and taunted Deimos to hit him back. His entire body was encased in a pile of rusted metal and junk. Seemingly at home with the swarm of bugs that tried and failed to crawl up his armour.
Deimos stood up and launched herself at the cape, however, her fighting style wasn't as refined as Glory Girl's. Narrowly missing the cape in favour of slamming into the building across from him.
"I need a bigger swarm," Skitter growled. "Regent, can you help?"
"Working on it," Regent said, "His legs twitching but it doesn't affect his movements, I think his body is too dense."
Deimos struck again, this time landing a blow on Mush's arm. It exploded, sending junk scattering across the street. But the human arm was unharmed and already in the process of redistributing the remaining mash of junk. Skitter knew that Deimos could easily beat Mush with a solid hit to the chest or head, but the girl was holding back, probing Mush's strength before making a decisive blow.
"Never mind, help Imp then," Skitter ordered, letting her swarm run interference until Deimos was confident enough to finish this. Regent nodded, running off to chase after the handful of fleeing gang members who hadn't been stabbed in the leg yet.
"Fu... hn... ooot."
Skitter looked down to see Skidmark, trying his hardest to lift his head and say something. He was trying to shake Squealer awake, but the woman was probably concussed.
"Skidmark," Skitter said, crouching down and meeting the man's eyes. "You came into my territory and attacked civilians, unprovoked," She stared him down, her tone as serious as ever. "If you don't want me to make an example of you, tell me why."
"D... fckr..." He struggled to say. "Gn... nghh."
"Speak up," She ordered, leaning closer and picking the man up by his shirt collar.
Skidmark spat on her face, a mix of blood and saliva. "Fu...ck you."
Skitter let go, dropping Skidmark to the floor. She wasn't too sure what to do with the pair, or trio, once Deimos was finished with him. Tying them up and leaving them for the authorities ran too many risks of them getting away. As well as handing them over to the PRT directly. It was a problem.
The problem.
Not just for Skidmark and his gang. But the Empire. None of the Undersiders had yet made a clear plan on what they would do to their enemies. Victoria obviously had a strong preference for prison, and it wasn't like they had anything better that they could do with them. Relying on the PRT or the police to do the job they constantly failed to do over decades just didn't fill Skitter with a lot of hope. But then what else was the alternative?
'Shoot them.'
A stray thought. Intrusive. Skitter hadn't meant to consider that. Didn't want to consider it.
'They're down and out. End the threat.'
A major gang leader lay at her feet. The Merchants were only just getting their footing and now Skitter had the chance to cripple them.
'You've done it before. Remove the head of the snake.'
She shook the thought away, trying to focus on the task at hand. She needed solutions, not violent fantasies.
'You already have blood on your hands. What's a little more going to do?'
Skitter's hand reached for the gun hidden behind her. If only to double-check that the safety was still flicked on. Deimos ripped the junk arms off Mush and pushed the man away before his remaining debris reformed. The cape slammed into the crashed truck and decided not to stand up again.
'She knows you're a monster. Prove it to her.'
Hesitantly, Skitter removed her hand from the gun and walked away from Skidmark. She wasn't going to make any rash decisions. Not when Victoria could see.
'You'll live to regret this.'
"Report," Skitter called out into her radio. Deimos was no doubt smiling under her mask as she fist-pumped towards Skitter.
"Ambush was a success, minor injuries and no casualties," Dimitri said back over the comms. "Merchants are fleeing as we speak. Some may be heading your way to check in on Skidmark."
"Copy, we'll stay alert," Skitter said, before looking towards her team. "Deimos, put Mush with the others. We might have some stragglers attempt a rescue. Regent, Imp? You good?"
"All good, Boss!" Imp said sarcastically as she appeared beside her. "All weapons disarmed. No injuries... For me. There's a lot of bleeding legs, but they'll live."
Skitter nodded before doing a quick survey of the area. Deimos was throwing Mush on top of Skidmark and Squealer. Regent was tasering a man with his sceptre, mostly for laughs. No civilians were injured, still content to hide inside the various buildings. Even further out, Skitter could see her Dad, on a cell phone of all things. He'd given in and bought one shortly after Taylor's kidnapping attempt, there had been a long talk about how he needed a faster way to contact her in case of emergencies and had spent half an hour promising Taylor that he'd never use it in the car. She still felt the guilt over what she had done to him back then, she always would.
"Yes, yes. I called the PRT, and the police," Skitter heard her Dad say through her bugs. "But we both know how reliable they can be. How far out are you? Two minutes? Thank you."
There was only one person who Taylor could imagine her father calling in this kind of situation that wasn't the police or the PRT, and hearing that they were two minutes out did not fill her with joy.
"We need to leave," Skitter said to her team. "Now. Dimitri, send the car. Tell the rest to fall back. Do not engage."
"Understood."
Skitter motioned to the team to wrap up whatever they were doing. Namely Imp and Regent who were rifling around inside everyone's pockets for whatever they could find. Deimos was trying to find the optimal spot to leave the three beaten capes as Skitter tugged on her arm to get her to leave.
"Wait," Deimos said, looking back to Skitter. "We can't just leave? We should at least clean up around her. Make sure everyone's alright."
"The civilians are fine. Now move," Skitter ordered, pointing towards the approaching SUV.
"They're terrified," Deimos countered. "And we have this huge ass truck blocking this street."
"We'll pay for the damages and repair later then. Just go." Skitter snapped.
The cars had already parked up next to them. Some members of E Squad got out and secured the area, ushering Imp and Regent into a vehicle while waiting for Skitter and Deimos to finish their little argument.
"No," Deimos said, firmly planting herself in front of Skitter. "We should help. We can do more than beat up some people and pay off the rest. What about the first few locations the Merchants attacked? Surely they need our help too?"
"We did help," Skitter said back, trying to push the brute into a car. "We can talk about it later."
"People need help now, they need to know that we'll protect them."
"sh*t..." Skitter groaned. They ran out of time. Even if Deimos didn't complain, there wasn't enough time. Skitter placed a finger over Deimos' mask and shushed her. "Don't say anything. Just get into the car. I'll handle it."
Deimos was about to argue back once more but picked up the seriousness in Skitter's change of tone. Skitter turned back towards the wreck of the truck as Lady Photon and Brandish dropped down from the sky, the latter being carried. Deimos let out a small gasp as her family touched down.
"I knew we'd find you here, Skitter," Brandish sneered as energy blades formed in her hand. "Haven't you and your kind done enough to the people around here?"
All the mercenaries still on the street turned their guns towards New Wave.
"Don't-" Deimos almost cried out.
"Stand down!" Skitter barked to her squad. Her hand extended out to stop Deimos from doing something. "I said do not engage. Everyone get in a car. Now!"
A few mercenaries were hesitant to put their rifles down, but the squad quickly obeyed and shuffled into their vehicles. Skitter stared down Regent and Imp who also complied and sat back inside.
"Surrender, Undersiders," Brandish called out from her end of the street.
"We have no intention of fighting you," Skitter called back. "Squealer, Skidmark and Mush are here. Taken down. You can have them."
The Lady Photon looked to Brandish, discussing something between themselves. Brandish didn't take her eyes off Skitter for a second.
"What game are you playing, Skitter?" Lady Photon asked out.
"No games," Skitter shook her head. "This isn't worth it. Take the villains and go."
Brandish didn't trust the situation, Skitter could tell by the look in her eyes. There was anger there, a rage that was building inside the woman. Brandish hated the Undersiders for whatever reason and the very act of letting them walk off was like spitting in her face.
"You think we'd just let you go, Skitter?" Brandish called back. "We both know the Merchants are small fish compared to you and your ilk."
Skitter could see the fight coming. The Pelhams might've taken the deal but Brandish was stubborn and out of blood. There was no way that Brandish was just going to let them leave. Her mind flipped from de-escalation to damage control. The Pelhams could fire energy beams. How much damage could they do to the cars? Could they get away? Would they need a distraction? How large a swarm did she need to build?
"We can still do this the easy way," Skitter warned, her swarm already gathering in the corners of the street. "Is this really what you want?"
"What we want," Brandish growled back. "Is for you and your team to come with us and face justice."
"Um!" Deimos tried to say. Skitter looked back in concern as Vicky debated on how obvious her voice sounded in the muffled mask. Her fear of fighting New Wave beat out as she stepped forward. "I think what you really want... what we all want, is the safety of everyone here. Right? No one needs to fight. Let us go so you can focus on the people in need."
Of course, New Wave were heroes, they needed to focus on public safety, over the fighting capes. Brandish thought on it for a moment. Her scowl moved from Skitter to Deimos, taking notice of Deimos for the first time. Lady Photon whispered something in Brandish's ear that the woman didn't like.
"How dare you..." Brandish finally growled back to Deimos. "You dare pretend to care about these people when you are the cause of their suffering?"
"N-no," Deimos weakly denied. "We were protecting them."
"You're new," Brandish stated, pointing her blade towards Deimos "I don't know if you've naively bought into Skitter's bullcrap or if you're just as corrupt as the rest of them. But villains like you don't protect anyone. Villains like you don't help anyone. And villains like you all face justice in the end."
Deimos took a step back towards Skitter, the girl was trembling. Brandish was completely unaware of who Deimos was. Unaware that she was berating her daughter, threatening her, and condemning her.
Skitter turned towards the sound of engines running. Her bugs could tell that it was the Merchant's truck. One that fled from the mercenary ambush to check on Skidmark. Lady Photon picked up on the incoming sound too, alerting Brandish to the presence.
"Reinforcements are coming to back up Skidmark," Skitter said. "One truck. Two motorcycles. Maybe more. I suggest you deal with them first. Or you can try and capture us and risk a fight on two fronts. Your choice."
New Wave stared her down, there was no doubt in Skitter's mind that Brandish would've chosen to fight. But it was Lady Photon's team, and she had the good sense to recognise prioritises.
"Get out of here..." Lady Photon spat with a similar, but less intense anger. "We have people to help."
Skitter took a protective step forward, grabbing Deimos and leading her towards the car. They drove off the second she was in, speeding away from the scene as New Wave began their search for any civilians needing aid.
Victoria was a mess in the car, hyperventilating and tearing at her face to get her mask off and breathe. Skitter made sure that they had privacy in the back seat before helping Vicky with her mask.
"I can't..." Victoria whimpered out, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm not a... I'm not…"
Taylor didn't know what to say. Didn't know what she could say to make Victoria feel better. So she hugged the girl tightly, hoping that she could offer at least a bit of comfort.
"I'm a hero..." Vicky said, burying her head in Taylor's chest.
----------------------------------------
Squealer's workshop – Night
Today was f*cked.
It was supposed to be a simple in-and-out job. Steal a few bits and bobs and then get the hell out. That had all gone to sh*t thanks to those damn mercs. And then there was the f*cking Undersiders. They brought in some new guy who completely f*cked up any chance of salvaging the situation.
The truck was totalled, Squealer was knocked the f*ck out, Skidmark had more cuts and bruises than the tweakers he sold to. And Mush ended up getting arrested by goddamn New Wave of all people.
In truth, all three of them were arrested by the cape team. But quick thinking of Squealer's part when she finally came to and back up from Skidmark's men meant that the couple lived to see another day.
"Who the f*ck thought that this would be a good idea?" Skidmark groaned out as he collapsed onto a couch.
"Y-you did, Sir," The man who carried him off the bike and onto the couch answered back. Trying hard not to sound smug about it.
"Did we at least find f*cking anything at that place they were defending?" Skidmark asked, ignoring the smart-ass comment.
"Besides a sh*t load of guys waiting for us with guns?" The man asked, still being a smartass. Skidmark punched him in the balls for that.
"Fuuuuuck...." He groaned, noting how his hand had a long rash from sliding across the pavement.
"I f*cking told you..." Squealer moaned as she walked over and threw a beer into Skidmark's lap. "Coil's crew already moved the sh*t. We have reports of them f*cking burning it. There are no more drug staches in the docks. Alright?"
"And I told you," Skidmark moaned back as he opened the beer. "There ain't no way in hell, an operation as large as that motherf*cker don't have drugs in it. Whoever 'eard of organised crime that doesn't do drugs? That burning all the sh*t is just that, sh*t."
"Well it ain't f*cking there," Squealer growled back, pointing at the map. It had all the known ABB safe houses circled, the plan they used today. "So either they burnt it, or it's magically disappeared some other f*cking way."
Skidmark sat up and motioned for Squealer to hand him the map. She dropped down and sat in his lap before passing the map back to him. The man drank his beer as he inspected the map.
"We've already searched a dozen or so locations," Skidmark noted. "Let's assume that it's not in the docks... Where would they move it? Not into the city. Too hot, police would find it. Can't be too close to Empire. No one's that stupid. What about…"
He needed to find the perfect place. One that wasn't obvious. Or so obvious, everyone was stupid for never even considering it. The docks weren't the only way to transport illegal contraband. Trains would work fine. A stash in the train yard made too much sense. There weren't too many buildings one could house a pile of drugs, especially if it was a collection from several smaller stashes. Either you'd need one really big warehouse and risk law enforcement. Or you'd hide it in a large business. Especially one that would be expected to house legal drugs in any way. Like a clinic, a vet or…
"There," Skidmark grinned as he pointed the map towards Squealer. "That's where our drugs are."
What better place to house a bunch of drugs, than some random ass dog shelter at the edge of the city.
