Chapter Text
[Taylor]
“Ahh, trouble sleeping?” Lisa asked, concerned. She then turned her head and added, “Alec, if you say what I think you’re about to, I will hurt you. Bad.”
“I wasn’t gonna say anything,” he replied with a disingenuous smile. Of course, nobody believed that.
I simply nodded. While falling asleep hadn’t been much of an issue, I'd woken up drenched in sweat multiple times due to barely-remembered dreams. I had a good idea what those were about, and I was glad not to remember them.
It was near 2 o'clock the next afternoon when everybody met once more at my base. Power was still out in a lot of places throughout the city due to blown power substations and downed power lines needing replacements, but the generators I had built with that at least.
“So, does anybody have anything urgent to bring to the table before we start?” I asked, looking around at the seated capes. My gaze went from Dad on my left to Sveta standing at my right, looking at everyone in turn.
Nearly everyone shook their heads, not saying a word.
“Weren’t we getting new powers?” Regent questioned... with an unusual degree of interest, “‘cause I can’t wait to stop having to walk everywhere.”
“That’s why you want to fly?” Sveta asked, turning toward the lackadaisical Master.
“Yeah, and?” he countered.
I shook my head. “That’s for later,” I pointed out. “There’s a few steps necessary before that, and even then Brian will be the first to have his power changed.”
“I will?” he countered, while Regent inched forward. “Why Brian?”
“Given his situation,” I explained, “he’s the one who needs the most solid cover. As such, I plan to have him go out as a vigilante cape before being ‘recruited’ to Arsenal’s group. Given that I plan on that happening before the Undersiders’ last sighting, that should help muddle the tracks.”
Brian and Lisa nodded in agreement.
“So, what steps are necessary?” My father wondered.
I sighed. I didn’t like the idea, but it was the only way I’d figured out that would let me go forward. “People,” I said. “We need more people. I have too many powers right now to do anything, and I need to give some away before I can work things out for the Undersiders. So, I need people without powers who wouldn’t mind joining this group.”
“More combatants?” My father asked.
“Not necessarily,” I replied. “I just need people who can hold my extra powers while I work on those who need their power changed, and maybe a few powers I can’t match to anyone once I’m done. I’m fine with them being part of our group in name only, and not fighting at all.”
There was a moment of silence as everyone digested that.
“Five would be best,” I added, “given that this would free all my extra slots for sure. Three is probably the least I'd need to actually work things out.”
"Slots?" Regent drawled in a querying tone while lazily raising his hand as if to get a teacher's attention.
"Um, that's kind of a complex topic," I stuttered. "It has to do with how my power works."
"Mind if I field this one?" Lisa interceded with a grin. "I think I can boil it down to the basics pretty fast."
An affirmative gesture from me and Lisa got into the meat of things, "Taylor has five slots for stolen powers, which manifest differently when transferred to new people. Going over that limit is unpleasant. Skidmark's power allows Taylor to make an invisible zone that enhances powers, including her own capacity to hold powers, so that lets her safely hold ten powers so long as one of her bodies stays in the zone. Powers can also be jigsaw puzzled together into bigger powers, so Taylor can fit one super-power into a single slot provided all the pieces fit together. The problem is that Taylor is holding way too many powers Frankensteined into too little room to properly sort them out."
"About that," Regent interjected with a bit more animation than normal, "I thought Slenderman needed to touch his victims? It didn't look like our creepy crossdresser was touching anyone when she had her little freakout yesterday. And it certainly would've made the news if a whole bunch of capes got Slenderman'd at the Endbringer fight."
"That was kind of a shock to me as well," I admitted. "Apparently I automatically gain the powers of any cape that dies near me, even if that takes me over my limit."
Everyone digested that bit of information for a moment before Sveta raised her hand. “I… might have a possible. I’ll have to see him beforehand to make sure he can be trusted to keep our secrets, but given what I know, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was perfectly happy with getting powers.”
“I can probably find a good four also, at least,” my dad pointed out. “Leviathan’s water shadow did a number on the dockworkers’ union building, and I’m not sure it’ll ever be rebuilt, given the city council’s opinion of the union...”
“That would be perf…” I started, then noticed Brian thinking. “You have someone in mind?” I asked him.
“You… can control what powers you give, right?” he sought to confirm.
“Somewhat…” I replied. “It’s not an exact science, but given the number of options I have, whoever joins up will have a lot of choices.”
“Your sister,” Lisa said with a nod.
“Yeah, Aisha,” Brian replied. “I don’t like the idea that she might get mixed up with cape stuff, but I’d feel a lot better if she had something to protect her from whatever my mother and her boyfriends could end up doing to her. It would be a weight off my back.”
I nodded. “As long as she passes through our screening…” I waved at Sveta, who nodded. “I have no issue with that.”
Brian thought for a moment, then nodded. “That makes sense.”
“So, since Brian’s going first…” Alec said after a moment. “I call dibs on second!” he exclaimed.
I automatically began to counter Regent’s assumption, then thought for a moment. Brian was first for certain, but the order after that wasn’t something I’d thought about. Sveta didn’t need her power changed, since she'd barely been seen three times with the Undersiders and her powers weren’t the flashy kind. Dad’s power needed not to change, given he was already known outside the group.
Which meant three candidates for second.
Rachel was in no hurry. In fact, I was certain she feared what could happen. Making her go second didn’t seem like the right idea.
And about Lisa… I thought, turning to her.
“I’m fine with going third or last,” she said, clearly having guessed the thoughts going around in my head.
“Fine,” I sighed. “You’re second, Alec.”
“Nice!” He exclaimed, extending his hand for a high-five.
“Anything else people want to discuss before I start?” I asked, ignoring his shenanigans.
This time, nobody said anything.
“Ok. First, communications,” I said, taking out five of the devices I’d built yesterday. That was enough for everyone, given that Sveta, T, and I already had ours. “With the phone networks down for the moment, we need to be able to reach each other in case of emergency. These are water-resistant, inconspicuous, and have a large enough range to cover the entire city.” If not the entire state.
I then explained how to work them for the next ten or so minutes. Lisa, of course, caught on near-instantly, and Brian wasn’t far behind. The rest had more issues (or were less interested).
“Next...” I started, only for Lisa to interrupt me.
“Sorry,” she said, “But how are you planning for the Undersiders to ‘go out’, per se?”
“I was about to get to that,” I replied. “Everyone here agrees that Coil won’t let the Undersiders fade away without a word?”
“Coil?” Brian said, surprised. He then turned toward Lisa. “Coil was our boss?”
I cringed as Lisa nodded. With all that had happened, I’d forgotten that Brian and the rest of the Undersiders hadn’t been aware of their Boss’ identity.
“We weren’t the only ones,” the Thinker added. “The Travelers are also under Coil’s thumb, and I know for sure that he has moles in the PRT, if not in all the groups in the city.”
Brian took a deep breath, then continued. “Based on the man’s reputation on the Boardwalk, I’d say no. I wouldn’t risk it, anyway.” Sveta also nodded to that, and none of the others said anything against.
This launched a good hour-long discussion on how to go about it, along with when and where to do so. Lisa ended up in charge of the last, as per Slenderman’s usual pattern he needed to be seen on camera.
The meeting broke up shortly after that, with everyone going their own way. T claimed the base’s workshop, which was fine with me.
I had something else planned.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
“Good day Dragon,” I spoke out to my laptop using Arsenal’s gruff voice. Rebuilding my suit’s voice modulator had been the issue of ten or so minutes, even if as a separate part.
Checking the state of Arsenal’s Lab had taken longer. It was much closer to Leviathan’s path of destruction than my base had been, and I’d found the place had an inch of water covering most of the floors. No power, either, though whether that was due to the water or the ruined state of the surrounding street was something I didn’t know yet.
One advantage of all this was that I had no fear of Dragon seeing what I looked like; my laptop was the only object with power in the building, and I’d physically covered its camera beforehand.
“Good day to you also, Arsenal. Glad to hear from you. Judging by the tone of your voice, your recovery is going well.”
“Somewhat,” I answered. “Still not back to one hundred percent.” That was the truth, though not in the way the Tinker probably expected.
“I have at least some good news for you,” Dragon offered. “Your mace has been found, and seems to be in relatively good shape considering what it was used for.” Indeed, I would have been surprised if it wasn’t damaged in some way at least; blocking Leviathan’s attacks wasn’t conducive to remaining in good shape.
“Indeed, that’s good to hear,” I replied. “Anything else? I’ve been pretty much cooped up at home so I could recover a bit, and it’s not like my place currently has power.” Another incomplete truth: my father’s house currently had neither power nor phone, but my base was in a much better state.
The Canadian Tinker sighed. “Nothing good, unfortunately. Most of the eastern side of Brockton Bay is in ruins, and close to two-third's of the city is currently without power. The sewers are also not working, and most of the city's water purification facilities are offline.”
"On the cape side, even worse news: the Teeth have returned to Brockton Bay,” Dragon continued. “They’ve made their presence known by impaling Kaiser in front of the Medhall building, and taking over the skyscraper as a base of operation. They’ve already hit two of the convoys carrying supplies from Boston, and the last was taken over by Hookwolf and other members of the E88.”
I shivered. While the Teeth hadn’t been an issue in Brockton Bay as long as I’d been alive, I’d read enough about them to know that they made most of the gangs look nice in comparison. Kaiser and the Empire at least pretended to possess civility, and even the ABB were more about controlling territory than fighting. The Teeth, from what I’d read, were the equivalent of the Merchants, if the Merchants’ prime drug had been violence, and were led by a monster that somehow survived his own repeated deaths.
“Yeah, that won’t… help the current situation much,” I replied.
“I’m sorry,” the Tinker said. “I forgot to ask for the reason why you contacted me.” She visibly thought for an instant. “You require materials, I suppose? Metals, electronics and the like?”
“I do.”
“Unfortunately, given the current state of Brockton Bay, sending valuable materials is a risky proposal. Between the gangs and damage to the infrastructure, I doubt I could get anything to your workshop reliably.”
I scowled, then something came to mind. “Do you have any warehousing company that you’ve used and trust close to Brockton Bay?”
She typed a few commands. “The closest one to Brockton Bay I’ve had business with is in Boston. Would that do?”
I grinned. “Perfect. I was planning on going to Boston in the next few days anyway, so receiving my order there wouldn’t be an issue.”
Dragon smiled. “I’ll be waiting on your order then. Anything else?”
I thought about discussing the Leviathan battle, but decided not to in the end. She’d been close to Armsmaster from what I’d seen, and his death was probably too fresh. “That will be more than enough. Thanks.”
“Glad to hear from you, Arsenal. Take care of yourself, and good tinkering.”
“The same to you,” I replied. “See you.”
The window showing the Canadian Tinker faded to black, then closed. I quickly shut the laptop down, given that I didn’t currently need it, and it wasn’t like I could plug it in to recharge.
Anyway, I had work to do. This place needed quite a bit of applied elbow grease, and it wasn’t going to fix itself without help.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
I unfortunately didn’t do as much as I expected. My father called me an hour into my cleanup operation, and asked for me and Sveta to come home in the next thirty minutes. I wondered for a moment what he wanted at my base, before I understood he meant our house.
Realizing that I felt more at home in a formerly-abandoned building than in the house that I’d been living in for all my life was a bizarre feeling.
Still, I shadow-traveled to the base and grabbed Sveta. She was unsure of herself, given it would be the first time she’d be at my father’s place. I told her not to worry, given that it wasn’t any place special, and we made our way there using my Shadow abilities, dodging all the broken streets and the enormous puddles therein.
We both appeared in a shadowed corner of the back porch, and quickly made our way inside. “Hi, Dad!” I called out as I entered, suspecting he wasn't alone. Sveta added, “Good day, Mr. Hebert,” as she stepped inside behind me.
“Hello Taylor, Sveta,” he called out from the living room. “I expected you both later.”
Oh, right. He had said thirty minutes, and that was barely ten or so minutes ago.
“And, Sveta, no need for the mister treatment,” he added. “Call me Danny like everyone else.”
Sveta nodded as we entered the living room, which was illuminated in candlelight. As I'd suspected, my father wasn't alone there; four more people were seated on our couches, three I recognized and another whose name I could guess. I turned to Sveta beside me, who nodded after a good look around the room. No risk there, at least.
“Hey Taylor,” Kurt called from his spot, while his wife Lacey waved. “It's been a while, hasn't it. Ever since the…” He then stopped, realizing what he'd been about to say.
Ever since the funeral, I completed mentally.
There was a moment of silence as no one knew what to say. My father was looking down, Kurt was holding his mouth as if he was afraid of saying something else, clearly kicking himself for ruining the mood, and Lacey had just slapped him on the shoulder.
Luckily, Alexander came to the rescue. “Your father is saying you're looking for workers?”
I nodded, happy to have something else to talk about. “Yes.”
“What kind of job can a girl your age offer?” The last person in the room asked. Judging by the voice, this was Mike, who'd been Dad’s secretary for the past two years. “You're what, fifteen?”
“Nearly sixteen,” my father countered before turning to me. “As you probably guessed, this is Mike Johnson, who's been answering the phone for me for a good while.”
“I recognized the voice,” I pointed out.
“Can I echo that question?” The curiosity was thick in Lacey’s words.
I took a deep breath and thought. How do I bring the subject up?
“It’s not anything… illegal, is it?” Kurt asked during the silence as I worked out how to tell them.
I shook my head. I wasn’t even planning on them fighting or doing anything other than maybe some clerical or janitorial work around the base. The main qualification they needed was trust. “Nothing illegal. Actually, I could pretty much get anybody for these positions, but the fact that my father trusts you all is a big bonus.”
“I did notice however that you didn’t actually say what these jobs were,” Lacey pointed out as the others watched.
“Uhm-” I responded as eloquently as I could.
“Just spit it out Taylor,” Alexander said, exasperated at my reluctance and hesitancy, while dad, traitor that he was, rolled his eyes and laughed at me being put on the spot like this.
I took a deep breath as Sveta put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I’m a cape,” I finally said.
I could see Kurt and Alexander blink. Lacey stopped in the middle of what she’d been about to say. “Huh?”
Mike, however, was thoughtful. “The locker, I suppose?”
I nodded, surprised. I wasn’t expecting a non-cape to know this kind of thing. The Protectorate and PRT tried to keep mum about such information as much as possible, and capes didn’t like talking about it.
“You want us to join a gang?” Kurt exclaimed.
“No, not at all,” I quickly retorted. “When I said a job I meant a job. With how my powers work, I need a number of non-cape assistants to help me manage things.”
“That’s bizarre,” Lacey pointed out.
Mike sat forward, his gaze piercing. “What is it your powers do? We need to know this if we’re going to be helping you with whatever it is you need help with.”
“Go ahead,” Sveta said in support from her place beside me.
“I can take and give powers,” I quickly explained, watching the four dockworkers stop as if frozen. “In fact, I can even grab powers without wanting to, when a cape dies close enough from where I am.”
“Leviathan,” Mike muttered, realizing the cause of the problem.
I nodded. “Yes. I have a limit, and Leviathan’s visit means that I’m currently overloaded. I need to give away powers right now.”
“And that’s not something you can just drop on anybody,” Danny pointed out.
It was surprisingly Kurt who responded first. “I can see why you’d want to keep that part secret. If the gangs heard...” he let the words hang.
Lacey’s eyes went wide as something clicked in her head. “Taking powers... Holy shit, you’re Slenderman!” she exclaimed.
I cringed, somehow expecting the world to crumble around me.
But no such thing happened. “You’re the boogie man of all capes?” Alexander replied, covering his mouth to hold back laughter. “The number one most feared cape in the entire Bay is Taylor Hebert?!”
“Fifth in the entire US actually,” Sveta said with a smile.
I couldn’t help but drop my head in my hands and mutter.
Everyone had a good laugh about that, even my dad. I just blushed and hid my face.
This wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted to be famous for!
Still, that one comment lightened the atmosphere. There were smiles all around when the laughter faded, and the panic I’d been fearing was nowhere in sight.
Mike was the first to get back to serious stuff. “OK. Levity aside, how is this going to work?” he asked. “I mean, I really wouldn’t mind helping, but with the state of the city we need real jobs, jobs that’ll pay enough for our families to live on.” He shook his head. “I like you kid, always have, but I have my own children to think of. And I don’t see either you or Danny here…” he waved in dad’s direction, “having the money to hire the four of us long-term. And right now, that’s the kind of jobs we dockworkers need.”
Kurt and Alexander nodded to that, and Lacey clearly wasn’t disagreeing.
I turned to my father. “What’s Mike’s yearly salary?”
“A little more than thirty thousand dollars a year,” he quickly answered. “A little more for Kurt and Alexander, a little less for Lacey.”
“Hey!”
“I’ll give you a raise to fifty thousand a year to work for me,” I quickly put on the table. “And include whatever health benefits you want with that.” I could pay that for two years just using my share of the bank job, and that was not even talking about the money from my contract with the Protectorate and PRT.
“What,” both Kurt and Lacey exclaimed in chorus. The two others said nothing, clearly having no words, though Mike had this look on his face as if he realized there was more here than what was said. Alexander was just sitting and watching, curious and kind of anticipating what was coming next.
Of course, I wasn’t going to point out I’d attacked a bank. “I have more than one identity as a cape, given that I can’t go out as Slenderman all the time. I’m working with the Protectorate as Arsenal, and I have a contract worth millions with them to provide tinkertech medical devices for their use.”
“You fought Lung,” Alexander pointed out.
I nodded. “I wasn’t alone, and I wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for the Ward present or the Protectorate heroes arriving. But, yeah, I fought Lung.”
“Girl, if you weren’t underage, I’d buy you a beer for that alone,” Kurt said, and was glared at by my father as Lacey and Alexander laughed. “You don’t know how bad it was when the ABB came calling in the docks, and I’ve seen the guy once; I wouldn’t want to take him on even if he wasn’t a cape.” All the dockworkers nodded at that.
Then something clicked in Mike’s head. “Wait, didn’t you grab and take that singer’s power over in Boston? On the same day?” I nodded. “Sheesh, you work fast kid.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that.
Lacey looked around at the rest of the group, who nodded. She then turned to my father. “Danny, we’ve trusted you about salaries for years. Tell it to me straight; can we trust Taylor to put her money where her mouth is?”
He looked at her straight in the eyes, and nodded seriously. “I’ve seen the device she built, and the hospital workers nearly fought me to keep the one I’d brought. I was there when Leviathan attacked; because of those and Panacea, every person who arrived still alive at the triage table survived the experience.”
“Damn,” Lacey whistled.
It was Alexander’s turn to figure something out. “You’re a cape, Danny?”
My father did pretty much as I had, and hid his face in his hands.
“What do you...” Lacey started.
“Would Taylor have gone to us if there was a better choice available even closer? Would Danny be in on it and so sure of himself if he hadn’t already gone through the process?” Alexander explained. “Hell, what was he doing outside a shelter during an Endbringer battle if he wasn’t a cape?”
The dockworkers turned to Danny in an instant.
I decided to rescue my father from that. “I’m to blame for that,” I pointed out. “I learned I could give powers to non-capes by doing so, and I don’t think you need three guesses to figure out how that happened.”
“When was that?” Kurt asked as the rest sat forward in curiosity.
“Weeks ago,” my father muttered, head still in his hands.
The four union members looked at each other. “I didn’t see any difference,” Mike pointed out.
“Same here,” Kurt confirmed, and Lacey beside him nodded.
“The process doesn’t have any effect that anybody noticed,” I explained. “Dad didn’t notice he had powers for more than a day after I gave them to him by mistake.”
“More than a day?” Lacey exclaimed. “Danny, what kind of power did you get? I don’t see how someone could manage to miss punching out walls, firing lasers or flying around.”
“His power only works on parahumans,” I added as an explanation.
“I boost capes, okay?” my father exclaimed, still hiding his face. From this angle, I could see him blushing up to his ears.
Payback, I thought with a smile.
“I suppose that’s rare,” Mike pointed out. “I’ve never heard on anything like that, at least.”
“Very rare,” Sveta added. “He’s assuredly in the top ten Trumps in North America. Maybe even worldwide. Especially as his power doesn't include the sort of drawbacks normally seen in similar powers.”
“Gee Danny! You’re moving up in the world!” Kurt exclaimed.
“Oh god.”
Everyone laughed at that, even my father a little.
Then there was a moment of silence. Thankfully it wasn’t one of those awkward silences though.
“How does this… power transferal process… work?” Lacey finally said, pointing out the elephant in the room.
Danny’s head rose, and he had a mean smile on. “What, afraid?” he said, looking right at her. “It’s literally indescribable,” he added, faking a shiver.
She gulped. This clearly wasn’t the answer she’d been hoping for.
I shook my head at my father getting his own revenge, and strode forward. “Tag, you’re it,” I spoke as I poked her in the forehead. I instantly transferred my Earth/Horde/Spectre trio, which I supposed was the least lethal powerset I could currently grant her.
“Wait, wha-”
I’m Slenderman
“You’re now a cape,” I exclaimed.
There was a moment of silence. “That’s all?” Lacey asked.
I nodded.
“Well, can you describe it?” my father pointed out with a smile.
“There wasn’t anything to describe!” she countered as she glared at dad.
“Exactly,” he replied.
Lacey quickly figured out she’d been had. “You… You mean, mean man! I should hit you for that!”
“I offer you a better, higher paying job and this is all the thanks I get?” My father muttered out loud. “I’m so disappointed.”
“I also feel very disappointed,” Alexander said, interrupting the two. “I was expecting flashy lights, explosions, maybe even confetti.”
“We could always go with ominous gestures, monks chanting in the background, gothic costumes and the like if you prefer,” Sveta said, smiling brightly.
I turned to glare at the former Case 53. Clearly, she’d been playing too many videogames lately. Either that or spending time with Alec. Yeah, I could always blame Alec for things like this.
“No need, no need,” Alexander quickly added. “I was just… expecting different.” He turned to Lacey. “Any issue?”
“I can… feel something below us, but nothing outside of that,” she quickly replied. “Nothing that’s a deal-breaker, at least.”
“Mike?”
“I trust Danny,” the man answered. “And I can’t say I couldn’t use an extra twenty thousand dollars.”
Alexander nodded. “We’re all in then,” he confirmed to the nods of everyone.
I released a long sigh. That was a lot of pressure off my chest, right there. “I’ll need your help tomorrow, when I’m modifying the powers of the rest of my team,” I explained. “I’ll have your first paychecks, in cash, ready by then.” I hadn’t placed the money from the bank heist into a bank account yet, especially given that I had no way as Taylor Hebert to explain where I got it. After the payout from the Protectorate, it had remained in the base as a hidden slush fund.
I then gave them an address and a time to meet, waved and walked out. Last thing I heard behind me was Kurt asking his wife, “What is this new power of yours anyhow?”
Maybe I should grab back that last power before I leave? Another day at full slots wouldn’t be an issue now.