Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Please state your name and occupation for the record."

The girl on the other side of the glass was silent. Eerily so. Stewart chewed on his pen as he took his finger off the button so his colleague could speak.

"Do you really think this is going to be helpful?" Misany asked, hunched over the desk, hands poised to dance over the keys of her keyboard.

"Command already knows we won't have the chance to interview them tomorrow." He remarked. "And they were told to cooperate too. Power Testing thought it would be ideal to take the opportunity while it was here to learn what we can."

"I don't think she's an 'it'." Glory Girl frowned. She wasn't supposed to be here normally, but had managed to sweet-talk her way in by virtue of having relevant experience. Frankly, Stewart thought she was just going to get in the way.

"It still feels a bit premature to me. It's hard to feel safe knowing she could bust out if she really wanted to." Misany said. "What's she feeling?"

"She's Cautious." Gallant remarked. He wasn't, strictly speaking, necessary, but having a lie detector who could double as security was ideal, and given what they were dealing with, Armsmaster's lie detector was potentially unreliable.

He was also the other reason Glory Girl had managed to squeeze in. If he hadn't been so adamant about not helping unless she came with, he wouldn't have had to entertain the girl.

"Is she going to answer?" Misany asked.

He held down the button.

"Witness?"

"I heard you the first time."

"Slight hostility." Gallant said.

No, you think?

"Your answer?"

"My name is Metis." The machine replied, sitting at the table calmly though with visible signs of agitation. "As for occupation… I am a member of S.E.E.S."

"Elaborate."

"Do I have to?" The machine said, crossing her arms.

Technically, that was rather complicated. With the kid here, it didn't seem like a good time to lie. Gallant seemed the type to object to such a thing, even if it would be productive. Besides, she wasn't going to last the night anyhow. Not like they could pressure her at all.

Better to play good cop.

"It would be appreciated as part of your statement, but no."

"Alright then." Metis said, uncrossing her arms and kicking her leg up on her knee. An entirely too human motion.

"Standoffish." Gallant remarked. Glory Girl was silent at the very least. Not much reason to hear her first year psych student level speculation.

"S.E.E.S was created to fight shadows."

"And S.E.E.S. stands for?"

"Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad."

He pulled his hand off the button just in time.

"Extracurricular? I mean, I guess she does look young enough…" Misany muttered.

"You're in a room with two high school super heroes." Gallant pointed out. It was a fair point. World was all kinds of fucked up these days. He pressed the button.

"Define Shadows."

"Does it even matter? It's not exactly actionable information for you."

"Humor us."

"Shadows. Beings born from suppressed emotions. Again, not actionable information. I've only seen one other shadow, and it was another one of hers."

"Her being Henchmistress."

"Yes."

"Describe the one you've seen."

"The woman on the bed of roses. That one I remember."

Misany hurried to type on the computer. Glory Girl seemed oddly invested for some reason, though he couldn't exactly blame her. It was interesting stuff, even if most of the words are things they lacked the context for.

"You've encountered this one before? Elaborate."

"There isn't much to say. I just remember it. That's not to say I personally encountered it, but I know it."

He unpressed the button.

"She's being honest." Gallant said. "I don't see a reason why she would lie."

"Fascinating. Utterly fascinating."

"Stewart, I understand it's interesting that she has her own history, but other powers are known to operate with separate dimensions already like Labyrinth and Scapegoat." Misany pointed out.

"The difference, Misany, is that almost every other power expression that applies to can't tell us anything about their home dimension directly. We've learned some information purely through observation, but it has its limits." He said, twirling his pen in his hands. "Henchmistress's power provides us a wholly unique vector through which we can learn about the wider multiverse. And she's using it to give pony rides and shoplift Rice Krispie Treats."

What a waste. For as much as he studied powers, he would never understand why capes used them for what they did. Misany snorted but conceded the point and continued typing up her analysis. Glory Girl had more to add, however.

"Shadows are repressed emotions… do you think that has anything to do with…"

She trailed off.

"Care to share with the class?"

"My family gave a report to the PRT." Glory Girl frowned. "That thing in the Arcadia gymnasium."

…it was a good point, actually. He had privately scoffed at the report. It was hard to tell whether it was a part of the summon's apparent hallucinatory abilities not having been there himself, though Panacea and Glory Girl's testimonies did match up with each other. If it was all hallucination, then it was damn convincing.

More connections.

"More than that, she mentioned the woman on the bed of flowers… it had a mask if I recall." Misany suggested as she pulled up an image of the thing on the computer, as well as others. "Several observed summons have had masks similar to it. We've already proposed the hypothesis that her power pulls things from other dimensions, but if all of these shadowy masked projections of hers come from the same place, then it's possible-"

"That Henchmistress is pulling from a select set of alternate dimensions." He concluded. "It's a solid theory, but just a theory for now."

Privately, he was almost certain that was the case, but he had scientific standards to uphold. Cape Science was already a litany of speculation and maybes, so it was extra important to head off that instinct in his coworker before it led to unproductive conclusions. She had a tendency to get excited.

Misany typed it down. Stewart pressed the button.

"Tell us about where you're from."

"I come from the other side."

"That's not very specific." He frowned.

"No. It's not."

"...could you tell us what you are?"

"I could."

Obstinate. But she was under orders to give a statement. He had to be direct, it seemed.

"Do so."

"What I am… I am an Anti Shadow Suppression Weapon in one sense of the word. Though to be more accurate, I myself am a Shadow."

"How does that work?"

"Which part?"

"Both, if you don't mind me asking."

"Shadows are suppressed emotions. I myself am no different."

"Excuse me." Misany interrupted. "I have to ask: If you are suppressed emotion, that would imply that someone or something suppressed you. Is that the case?"

Metis looked down at the table. Gallant pulled Stewart's hand off the button.

"She's afraid."

Kind of the boy, but he needed answers.

"She's my sister." Metis replied with a slight delay, her posture shrinking in on itself. "Aigis. She's the one who suppressed me. I can only hope that she comes to accept me again."

He pressed the button. Before he could ask his question, Glory Girl interrupted.

"What happens then?" Glory Girl asked. "When she accepts you, you would no longer be 'suppressed', and you said Shadows are suppressed emotion."

"Then I would return to her." Metis replied. "We would be one and the same. There would be no need for me to be a Shadow anymore."

It irked him that the girl interrupted him, but he knew it was good information. Applicable? No. It was hardly practical as a means of countering Henchmistress's summoned Shadows, but it was useful in the abstract. Glory Girl muttered something to herself before settling back down.

Good.

"Nevermind that. S.E.E.S., you called it. Are they all weapons like you?"

"No. They were mostly human."

"Mostly?"

Metis didn't respond. That was fine. He could get exact information out of her later. He changed tracks.

"How did they fight Shadows?"

"Personas. If Shadows are suppressed emotion and inner thoughts, Personas are Shadows that have been accepted and tamed. Psyche is my Persona."

"Psyche is its name? Did you name it that?" Glory Girl asked.

"It's my Persona. I just know its name. Anyone with a Persona would."

"Can anyone learn to do this?" Gallant asked.

"Hypothetically, yes. But not everyone can face their darkest emotions." Metis frowned. Glory Girl shifted uncomfortably.

"Could you summon your Persona briefly?" Stewart interrupted.

Metis nodded. Her body jerked in place as the sound of shattering glass emanated through the soundproof walls. The shape of Psyche loomed over her for several long moments before fading into blue. Glory Girl held her breath.

Stewart took his hand off the button.

"It's her." Gallant said. "Before it appeared, there was a rush of determination, and when it did, I saw them both. Psyche's emotions were the same as Metis's. She's being honest."

"Isn't it a contradiction though?" Misany remarked. "If Shadows and Personas can't coexist at the same time, then how does a self professed Shadow have one?"

"Well, she might be a special case." Gallant hummed. "She mentioned she's an Anti Shadow weapon. We don't know what all that entails…"

The room went quiet at the thought. Stewart made a mental note to ask about that later, though he suspected the answer would be as convoluted and detailed as it would be vague and useless.

"The wider multiverse is incredible to think about." Misany mumbled, a smile catching at the corners of her mouth. "Shadow robots with psychic powers. It's like the dawn of capes all over again."

"Let's hope that it's not." Stewart remarked as he leaned back in his chair. "Wouldn't exactly call that a net positive…"

"With all due respect, we're interviewing Metis about what happened, right?" Gallant piped up.

"We got most of the information already from Sister Twister." He shrugged. "I doubt our two projections here saw all that much. Really, this is more about learning what we can from the opportunity that about an actual statement."

"We really should get on with it." He frowned. Stewart privately wondered if it would really kill the boy to be less of a stick in the mud, but he had a point. The sooner they got through the meat and potatoes, the sooner he could get to the interesting stuff.

"Fine, fine… though we're coming back to this. If I don't, the Power Scientists are going to be quite cross with me."

Press.

"Describe what you witnessed tonight."

"In how much detail?"

"As much as you need."

"I appeared-"

"Describe what that was like." Misany interjected, a fascinated gleam in her eyes.

"I just appeared." Metis snapped. "I fought some guys, got shot in the head, got back up, fought some more guys. It really wasn't anything that special."

"Any unique observations?"

"No. Anything I saw, other people had the chance to see."

He took his hand off the button.

"Not quite what I was hoping for..."

"She's being honest." Gallant shrugged.

"She's being very… lax. Henchmistress told her to give a statement, and she's worming her way around that order when it suits her…" He frowned. "It seems while Henchmistress's powers give her plenty of power and variety, she lacks in fine control, though the PRT has long been aware of that little wrinkle..."

"Meaning?" Gallant asked.

"Well, let me put it another way for you." He said, twirling his pen between his fingers the way he learned to when he was in high school. "When the cat is away… the mice will play."

"Lead the Charge. Play it safe. Don't get yourself shot. If you run out of baddies to brain, listen to Margaret."

Standing over the fallen form of an ABB gangster, Baron von Bats twirled his staff as he recalled his orders. The words had gone in one ear and out the other… notably so considering the lack of brain between the zombie's ears.

He stood idly, looking around the road for any other gang members as per his orders. It was fortunate that Mina's power had a firm hold on him, because otherwise, he was liable to get bored. As Margaret ushered the women into the building she'd cleared out opposite the brothel, he bemoaned the order preventing him from killing or maiming anyone.

…then again, some of the ABB members had been shot and killed by the escaped women. Surely that didn't count, right?

He couldn't see a reason why not.

He swaggered (zompires do not 'walk') over to the nearest cooling corpse, already salivating (not slobbering) over his coming meal when a snapping sound caught his attention. Margaret was scanning the road and beckoning him over.

"If you run out of baddies to brain, listen to Margaret."

Hmmm… well, as a zombie, he didn't "brain" people so much as "de-brain" them. There was no creative interpretation of that. Baron von Bats cursed his luck and sauntered (zompires do not 'amble' either) over.

"Hey uh… what do I call you?"

"Brrrrains~!" He said primly.

"...okay Dracula, here's what I need you to do: Get help."

Baron von Bats tilted his head in confusion.

"Fuck, you're stupid." Margaret cursed. "Okay, if you find a hero… shit, you don't even know what a hero looks like do you?"

Ridiculous. He was quite well acquainted with Super Brainz. He nodded.

"Okay, just… find a hero, and listen to them, then bring them back if you can… nonviolently. We'll be able to hold out here until the PRT gets here, so just… fight any ABB members you come across."

What a broad, vague set of orders.

Baron von Bats wasted no time, turning into a horde of bats and flying into the air. Baron von Bats wasn't quite sure why wearing a vampire costume he stole from a Party Zity enabled him to turn into a swarm of bats, teleport, and fire lasers, but he wasn't gonna ask questions about it. His many eyes scanned the road, bumped into signs, and looked for help.

What was the help supposed to be helping again?

Fighting the ABB members he came across wasn't a challenge. Sure, they had guns, but he'd been shot by Peashooters before. That tended to hurt more than bullets. He had descended on a car full of them by appearing directly in the passenger's seat. Several broken bones, one crashed car, and a newly acquired half eaten container of Kung Pao chicken and French Fries later, he was back to patrolling the streets when he spotted the… giant bug thing flying back to the building the boss was in.

A girl was following behind it. She was wearing a hoodie and had curly black hair. Baron von Bats recalled Super Brainz. His favorite party trick was to pretend to be an ordinary brown coat before ripping off his outwear to groans of applause. He was too buff to fit into an actual browncoat though. Chemist had suggested a hoodie (I.E. pushing one at him while moaning). Baron von Bats thought it didn't matter. None of the browncoats could recognize him despite his terrible disguise work.

What was he thinking about again?

Help. Right. Maybe this girl was help? Or a hero? She could be wearing anything under that hoodie. Baron von Bats snuck (he did not skulk, thank you very much) over to the girl as she hid around the corner of a building, standing behind her as she watched the building with intense concentration.

He offered her a French Fry.

She wasn't paying any attention. Maybe he should-

Oh, she abruptly turned around and shoved him over. Her face was stern and emotionless, and her glare filled with quiet determination. His second eye rolled in its socket as he got up.

They did not have staring contests in Zomburbia.

"Who are you?" The girl said evenly, glaring at him.

"Brainzzz~!" He bowed.

Bugs started crawling up his body. In his ears, up his nose, over his eyes. He could just turn into a swarm of bats, but he didn't have nerves to get bothered by the bugs, so this wasn't that bad. He pretty regularly had to pick flies out of his cravat… and his ears, this was just the same thing plus or minus several million bugs.

From his uncovered eye, he took a closer look at the girl.

Her jacket was grey. Grey was not green and/or red. She also wasn't what his boss thought "Asian" looked like.

Look, race was a new concept to Baron von Bats. Most of the stuff in his home dimension was green.

So not ABB. Ergo, he did not have permission to beat her up. Baron von Bats mentally patted himself on the back for successfully using the word "Ergo" in his internal monologue (It made him feel fancy). Was she help?

…how was he even supposed to ask?

Would people consider being covered in thousands of tiny spiders helping? Baron von Bats considered it.

This was too complicated. He could just go look for ABB members to beat up. That sounded much easier. He turned into a swarm of bats and flew into the air, the bugs sliding off him, leaving his leftovers on the ground. One of the bats swooped down and took a piece of Chicken in its fangs.

Delicious.

He idly flew through the skies, looking for a hero. Not too long later, he found some.

He could only assume, since they were wearing costumes, but costumes were a pretty good indicator of being a hero. They were a few blocks over on a burning street fighting some oversized snapdragon.

Baron von Bats flew down next to a man with metallic armor and a big pokey stick. The man swung the stick at him, lopping his head off. Baron von Bats fumbled for his head before catching it and planting it on his neck again.

It would hold for now. Maybe the hero had some duck tape?

"Are you one of Henchmistress's summons?"

"Brainz~!" He nodded, holding his head to make sure it didn't fall off. Finally, he was getting somewhere!

"You were sent to help?"

…that sounded right. Sure. He nodded, holding his head so it didn't slide off.

"Create a distraction." The man ordered before charging at the dragon. Baron von Bats didn't have a brain, but that didn't seem like a good plan.

Oh well.

He charged the dragon. Not like he had a life to preserve in the first place. Everything was going great until the Dragon turned to him and unleashed a torrent of fire.

Baron von Bats did not die (again) screaming. He was a Zompire. No, he-

"-got the stuffing beaten out of me." He said as he finished recounting his tale.

At the time, he'd thought the fight was closer, but in hindsight, even when he rematched the lad, he was well outmatched. His past self truly got the raw end of it.

He was man enough to admit it.

Mark put a commiserating hand on his shoulder. Johnny wasn't the type who needed comfort, but he appreciated the gesture for what it was.

"He sounds like an interesting man."

"He was!" Johnny laughed. "Much better than Smithy's dishonorable ilk. I may be a scurrilous scallywag myself, but I know who I am. I'm a warrior at heart. Mario was simply the better warrior that day, of that I have no shame."

"Ahem."

Ah, the lass. Carol didn't seem quite the sport Mark was, but she was a fighter too. He could see it in the tone of her muscle and the confidence of her stride. If he hadn't been told not to fight, he'd enjoy a good spar with her and Mark. Much easier to get a sense of someone's mettle than through words in his opinion.

"You got somethin to say?"

"You wouldn't mind answering some questions, would you?"

"Not particularly." He slurred as the cat woman walked back into the kitchen and started rummaging around the freezer. Mark got up to stop her from tearing open a TV dinner as Carol sat down. Her posture was demanding and controlling. He liked the cut of her jib at the very least.

"My daughters didn't get into anything dangerous upstairs, did they?"

"Nothin more than some gossip and some canoodling."

Carol's eyes narrowed. Johnny let his eyes very obviously move over to Nekomata, who was pressing against a very uncomfortable Mark as he physically dragged her to the table with the promise of fish sticks. He'd let the woman come to her own conclusions. He wasn't sworn to secrecy, but he wasn't a bilge rat neither.

Mark, noticing the tense air as he sat back down, decided to change topics.

"You're one of Henchmistress's summons, yes?"

"Indeed I am, as is the cat."

"Yup yup, nya…" Nekomata hummed as she licked the fur on the back of her hand. She was so silent you often forgot the lass could talk.

"I'm not sure if you'd know the answer, but I figure it's probably worth asking." Mark began. "But have any of Henchmistress's summons had… permanent effects on other people?"

"What makes you ask?"

He truthfully had no idea what they were going on about, but it was interesting enough, so he decided to pry a bit. Not much else he had to do now that the kids were upstairs.

"Well, after the gymnasium incident, Victoria's forcefield-"

"Mark!" Carol snapped.

"Johnny here is going to disappear before the morning, honey, it's fine." Mark said, talking the woman down before continuing. "Well, it's invisible mostly. Lately though, I've noticed that it developed a blue sheen to it if you look closely enough."

"A blue sheen? Wouldn't know anything about that myself." Johnny frowned. "What about you, lass? This sound like something you know?"

"Nah." The catgirl said between licks. "Demon stuff is usually red."

Mark nodded, but didn't look satisfied. Carol spoke up in his stead.

"Permanent effects. Let's go back to that."

"Well, sure." Johnny said, grabbing his bottle of ketchup. "I eat this, or the cat here eats a popsicle, the popsicle remains eaten. I break a man's arm, I imagine it doesn't un-break when I disappear."

Carol motioned for him to keep going.

"I ain't magic myself, but I imagine if something magicked up a bottle of rum… I'm not sure. This is outside of my dockyard." Johnny hummed. "Just because I'm not around forever don't mean I can't leave a lasting impression though. Mario left an impression on me, and I've made an impression on you. That's life. People of all walks of life affecting each other till they meet their ends."

He shrugged.

"Mario made an impression on you?" Carl asked.

"That he did. I'm still the same man I always was, but now I know there's someone out there whose stronger. I've still got a reason to get stronger meself. He challenged me. Made me-"

"-realize something about myself?"

The horned demon woman smiled at me. It wasn't quite the veiled, sinister smile I would have imagined. Sure, there was a certain dark satisfaction she was taking at the situation, but there was something honest about it too.

It unsettled me.

"That's right dear." She said as we walked through the halls of the side building. "I can tell you aren't like those old men. I sense a bright romance in your future, but only if you reach out and take it."

I couldn't think of any men that had caught my eye lately. Something in my expression must have amused Ishtar, because she tittered with laughter as we walked through the empty hall.

"What's so funny?"

"I just adore how oblivious mortals can be sometimes."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, take your 'venerated elders' from earlier. They were bundles of contradictions. Powers are gifts from God, but only the ones who use them kindly. Then they become 'tests' when that doesn't fly, then he changes tracks entirely when his reasoning starts to falter. Really, they were just saying whatever made them feel right, and everything else was just excuses they've accumulated over their long, sad lives."

I resisted the urge to jump to their defense. Not because I agreed or disagreed with her assessment, but because it felt like rising to bait. I strove to be better than that.

Before I could think of how to respond properly, Ishtar grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me into the ladies' room.

"What are you-"

She slammed a palm right by my head and looked intensely into my eyes as she gave me an impish smile. I felt my power swirling over my skin in anticipation, but I held myself back. I didn't want to erode the bathroom tiles, and Ishtar wasn't making any further aggressive movements. That, and I trusted Henchmistress enough to know her summons wouldn't hurt me.

Ishtar simply leaned in. My eyes tracked to her nearly exposed chest. Through an effort of practice, I pulled them back to her face, and I could have sworn her smile had grown wider in the moment I looked away. She was unbearably close. I held my breath, curious and honestly a bit scared of her intentions before she stepped away.

"See? Look at you waiting in anticipation…"

Her words raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

"That's not what I was doing!" I snapped.

"You can make all the excuses you want, but you froze up like a deer on the hunt." Ishtar laughed. "You could have pushed me away, but as long as it was happening to you and you pretended you didn't have any agency, it was fine to… indulge yourself, wasn't it? You can't feel guilty about it if you can convince yourself it was forced on you."

"Be quiet." I said, surprised at the venom in my voice. "You were tempting me. Intentionally."

"Most women wouldn't find such a thing tempting like you did."

"That's why they call it 'resisting temptation'." I said carefully and evenly, doing my best to control my turbulent emotions. It wouldn't do to lose my cool. I was better than that. "The world tempts me to sin, as it tempts many. I honor God by resisting temptation and staying on a righteous path. The path he laid out for me."

"Sure, sure, have you said as much to your 'temptation'?"

"...what are you talking about?" I said, confused. Ishtar simply laughed and floated out of the restroom, leaving me behind still flushed with embarrassment. I followed after her, mind ablaze with frustration. I had a responsibility to keep an eye on her, regardless of her ill intentions.

It was clear she didn't respect my relationship with God, or respect God at all really. I felt a surge of irrational anger that I did my best to keep a lid on. I couldn't trust that her words were spoken with any intention other than to deceive me. Lead me astray. Her behavior was a mix of bad faith and shamelessness bordering on downright malice, but I withheld my judgements.

I wasn't like that. My admiration for Mary was born out of respect. She was strong, moral, driven, kind… any man would be lucky to have her. It wasn't her fault I struggled to control my emotions. If I didn't keep a tight handle on them, I frequently made a fool of myself, and grew attachments to unhealthy levels. I was an inherently irrational person, and only through immense effort of will and faith did I mold myself into a woman of strong principles and a firm sense of self.

It still concerned me how much I cared about Mary, however.

I tried my best to comport myself, but found Ishtar's words uselessly banging around the inside of my skull. Worse was that I found the thoughts slippery. Any attempt to decipher the words and what they meant were met with only impotent frustration as they slipped through my fingers.

It was impossible to focus when the thoughts themselves filled me with such frustration. I breathed in, and breathed out. I knew I would be thinking about this for hours, possibly days now that they'd had time to settle.

I'd long gotten used to the way my brain worked, even when it was agonizing like it was now.

I walked into the main hall, spotting Henchmistress and her two summons in the front row. I walked over, eyes boring into Ishtar with a concealed spite that was unbecoming of me as I sat down next to Mary.

She leaned in close, close enough to force me to steady myself to prevent myself from squirming away, and whispered in my ear.

"Did something happen?" She asked in concern. "You can-"

"-tell me anything, alright?" The woman's voice asked over the intercom.

Ikki thought the whole setup was a little ridiculous, pretending to sit in a room with one way glass like she couldn't just fly through walls whenever she wanted.

Well, being dead, she was free to think lots of things were ridiculous. When you didn't have to worry about dying and had about as much time as you could ever want to do nothing, it was hard not to be amused by the things living people worried about. She found it funny though, so it was fine.

It was like watching a little kid whine about not being allowed to eat dessert before dinner. You knew what it was like, and it was cute to watch from the other side.

Literally in her case, ehehe~!

The voice came over the intercom again.

"Can you talk?"

Ikki nodded before pausing. Well… she could talk, but she needed to possess a living body in order to actually do so. Otherwise, people would see her lips move but hear only indistinct, spooky noises. Obviously, ghosts and mortals weren't able to talk to each other.

She was honestly surprised they could see her. The only person she'd managed to find who could see her before was that stripper with the massive purple ponytail. Then again, she didn't know how the whole superhero superpower thing worked.

It seemed fun though!

Well… when they weren't using it to be so violent. Sure, she liked throwing spectral weapons at people as much as the next poltergeist, but that was just boredom, not malice! Not a lot of new faces swung by the castle…

"When you were summoned, witness, explain what happened in as much detail as you can please."

Ikki smiled mischievously. She had to comply!

She phased through the glass with a ghastly shriek, causing all four people in the room to jump in alarm.

That was so satisfying every time!

Still, she had an interview to give! Eeny Meeny Miney-

You!

She phased into the man's body and let her will take hold. Sure enough, the man's voice became a whisper and she felt the kludgy lumbering sensation of having a physical weight again. Her iconic glasses appeared over his own, turning four-eyes into six-eyes.

"Testing tes- woah, he has a deep voice! I sound like a beefy town guard. Stop right there!"

She laughed. Possessing people was so fun! Why didn't I do it more often? She did a little dance in the guy's body, carelessly whacking his limbs on stuff. Oh, he'd be very upset if he was awake right now~!

The other three shared wary glances, but the guy in the armor seemed to puzzle out what was going on.

"You can't talk unless you possess someone?"

"Yup! Ghost thing, don't worry about it big fella!"

She was thankful for it too. It'd be so annoying if they had to constantly swap notes or something.

"Is this really okay?" The girl at the clacky-board asked.

"Well, it's probably fine?" The princess girl responded. "I mean, we're both heroes, so the director wouldn't want her possessing us, and you're the note-taker, so this works?"

"...I really should page someone." The girl frowned, tip tapping away at her little board as I kicked my feet and rifled through the man's pockets looking for funny things I could stuff in the guy's mouth before the knight guy grabbed my hand and stopped me.

"The question?" He asked hopefully.

Right! Her summoner did say she had to give a statement! And it was simple enough. The woman at the clack-board asked questions, I'd answer, and she'd clack her board some more.

Was it an instrument?

Ah well. Everything was going mostly fine so far.

"Did Henchmistress tell you to kill Stormtiger?"

Victoria and Gallant both tensed up, and Ikki could tell this was a more serious topic, so she tried to answer slightly more seriously.

"No. She gave the order to let me actually hurt him though. I got the sense she was really scared of dying."

"You possessed Krieg." Gallan began. "Did he want to kill her?"

"It's possession, not mindreading!" Ikki pouted.

If possession let her get that kind of gossip off people, surely she would have figured that out by now.

"And you were able to use his power anyways?"

"Well, yeah? I dunno, I just knew how?"

That was probably how superpowers worked, Ikki had to assume. She wasn't an expert.

"Nevermind that. So you killed Stormtiger intentionally?" Misany asked.

"Well, I sliced off his arm." She said. "But like, I didn't think that would kill him. I've seen people walk around without arms before."

Silence. Did she say something wrong?

"Ikki." Victoria said diplomatically. "That can kill people."

"To be more accurate, it was a combination of losing his arm, shock, blood loss, and the fall that killed him. Panacea wasn't able to give a diagnosis since he died before she got to him, but one of his ribs punctured his lung, which only exacerbated things."

Medical mumbo jumbo. Sounded smart though!

Just because Ikki had glasses did not, in fact, make her a nerd.

"Uh, oopsie?" She said, rubbing the back of her head.

Gallant put his head in his hands.

"Haven't you died before? Shouldn't you know that can kill people?"

"I don't remember how I died."

Victoria just sighed.

"A ghost. We're sitting in a room, interviewing a ghost, world first, and she's saying stuff like 'oopsie' about killing a guy."

"I mean, it worked out for me!" Ikki rebuked.

"And the reason Stormtiger didn't turn into a ghost is?" Gallant asked.

"Iunno."

Like she said: Not a nerd.

Misany just… pressed onwards.

"So Stormtiger's death was an accident?"

"Yup!"

"What about Victor?"

"Whozat?"

"The man on the floating platform." Misany pressed.

"Ohhhhh that guy! No, uh, that wasn't me!" Ikki denied, waving her hands back and forth. Gallant frowned.

"She's telling the truth."

Misany motioned for her to continue.

Ikki ahemed in Stewart's deep voice and continued her tale…

Ikki zoomed through the air. Her body's power was so fun!

Sure, chopping off that guy's arm was a little messed up, but he'd be fine!

Probably.

She saw the platform in the distance, and it seemed like a good place to go, so she did. Ikki could tell it was a tense situation, so she made haste, and it seemed like the guy on the platform was shooting around her rather than at her.

BANG!

A blast of purply energy shot by her ear faster than a bullet. The figure pulled back on his weird contraption. The gun's barrel started to glow as it charged up. The air around it sizzled, then the weapon itself started to hum, the sound growing in volume before-

BANG!!

And that's all the time he had before she was upon them. She could make out three bodies on the platform. The guy with the big gun, a young girl in a skintight, red bodysuit, and another young girl in a red and black outfit that reminded her of Hypno Baron's.

In between her and the platform was a guy in a set of hot looking metal armor with a spear and a bunch of copies of himself that moved to intercept her. She flew around, kicking and punching them as they got close like a fun little dance!

The body she was possessing must've been a friend, because that guy summoning the fake ghosts was trying really hard to hem her in rather than add more stab wounds to her meat puppet. If she didn't have a funny superpower, it probably would've worked, but she was getting closer and closer.

The air around the sniper's gun sizzled.

Boom. Bam. Pow. Kachow! Punch, Kick, Zoom! The fake Ghosts were no match for her spectral martial arts skills... in combination with a literal superpower. Knight Guy was backing up, but she managed to grab him by the collar. She tried punching him in the shoulder, only for the fist she threw to break like she had punched a wall. It hurt!!!

She was half tempted to just ditch the body she was in right there.

The weapon started humming.

Whatever! I grabbed the guy who my body and power apparently weren't strong enough to hurt, and casually tossed him into a nearby streetlight before flying right at the guy with the laser blaster.

And before my eyes, magic happened.

The woman in the red bodysuit transformed into a big doll. Did a nearby wizard turn her into a puppet? No sooner than the question crossed my mind did the entire rocky platform transform into a semi-truck. The girl in the wizard outfit let out a scream as she began to fall, reaching for the truck with her hand while the gun guy turned around, noticing the doll falling with them.

Then they disappeared.

CRASH!!!!

No, that wasn't right… they snapped back into the air as the truck hit the street. The girl who was reaching out for the truck was now reaching for empty air. A second later, before he hit the ground, the man was aiming down sights again and lying on nothing like a cartoon character. His sniper rifle was still where he was before, clattering to the ground.

He began falling again.

I flew higher, trying to get a better idea of what was happening before spotting some costumed figures on a nearby roof.

And then I was lower.

What was happening?!

CRACK!

I looked back around. The girl in the Hypno Baron cosplay had hit the ground. Her legs were at a really bad angle. I looked back at the guy falling to the ground. I flew close, and I felt like I could slow the man down or speed him up if I wanted as he stared at me.

And suddenly I was looking into empty air. I'd been displaced again. I felt the man falling behind me…

Did we get swapped?

I turned around as he left the range of my power.

CRACK!

He landed bad. I'm pretty sure you weren't supposed to land on your head like that. I was also pretty sure his head was partially caved in.

It's been a while since I died, sue me!

Where was that ghost guy anyways? I looked around and saw him on the other side of the fallen truck. Something had torn through his neck and shorn it mostly from its shoulders. Yeah, that guy was dead.

The other guy's head was leaking over the pavement. The girl was dying. The doll was gone. The tinkertech gun was gone. The girl in the red bodysuit was gone…

I rose over the roofs, trying to see where they could have disappeared to… and barely caught a top hat as it vanished around a corner. I considered following after it, but I didn't want to go too far away from the boss.

I looked back over, and saw things were pretty much over. I pouted a bit as I saw all the costumed baddies caught or unconscious as I idly floated back over.

I guess we're-

"Done." Trickster said as he frowned, arms folded and expression guarded.

"Well done, Trickster. It seems Accord was not lying about your capabilities."

He did not preen at the praise, and he did not expect him to. He was not the kind of man who would do such a thing. If anything, his frown only deepened.

"He didn't." Trickster groused. "And you're sure you needed her?"

Coil needed Othala for a great many things. Access to healing for his mercenaries not only made it easier for him to retain their services, but it was an enticing benefit for hiring more, nevermind the many logistical benefits. It would take some time and investment to get her cooperative, but with Toybox, her compliance was a matter of time.

"Indeed. Noelle's condition is unique, as I'm sure you are no doubt aware."

Hideous and disgusting, he thought inwardly. Repulsive. She was little more than a monster at this point, but she was useful, if only to keep the Travelers on his payroll. He enjoyed the way Trickster's shoulders bunched up as he continued.

"Othala is merely a first step in the process of healing her." He lied. "Her regeneration effect is rudimentary, as you already know, but it can heal an impressive amount of damage. Noelle's power makes finding a solution risky, and will require trial and error. I suspect the issue is not one of injury so much as mutation, but either way, Othala's powerset makes experimenting on a solution much less risky, even if she can't solve your problem outright."

It took little more explanation after that for Trickster to leave. Not happy, but satisfied that he was making progress.

Trickster was almost painfully simple. He was someone who wanted nothing more than simple answers to complicated problems, and Accord had already appraised him as such. Simple to manipulate if you had the right levers.

Untrusting of authority, desperate for help, and willing to do anything to get it.

Such as acquiring his new pet healer.

When his men had reported the Empire mobilizing, he had known his opportunity to grab her was fast approaching. As Henchmistress and the Advent cape mucked around in the restaurant, the Empire was mobilizing their ambush.

It was not Coil's usual modus operandi, but he was nothing if not flexible.

Before they finished getting into position, he had ordered one of his men to fire into the restaurant, shattering the window and alerting the capes before the Empire had the chance to set up, ruining their element of surprise. With the Empire's rank and file being spread out, it was all too easy for all of them to rationalize the shot as being one of theirs in their current frame of mind.

And Coil began to make splits. In one, Henchmistress flew out on a gorgeous blue bird, and in another, she jumped out of the window on the back of a Tyrannosaurus. The latter timeline did not last long, as with Sister Twister having to stay at low altitude, she was an easy victim for Cricket's scream, getting her heart ripped out by Krieg in a matter of moments.

His concentration was on distracting the Empire.

When the bird was shot by Victor, he preemptively split timelines again. In one, she summoned a large fish which did nothing to break her fall, while in the other, a winged fairy woman managed to arrest it. He didn't bother keeping the first after he heard the hideous crack over the microphone.

And wasn't Henchmistress an interesting case. Several individuals knew or suspected that she had no control over what her power summoned, but few people knew just how little. Coil knew more than most, perhaps even more than her. Because even in timelines where he did nothing different, what she summoned was never the same.

It was truly, purely random.

When Krieg came in, in one timeline, the fox stopped him. In the dropped timeline, a cloaked wizard struck him with lightning… or tried to. It was attracted to a nearby vehicle, causing another failed attempt when Krieg plowed through the creature and tackled the girl.

He didn't want to bother organizing a rescue. Even if the Empire intended to capture her alive so they could kill her on video, it risked far too much exposure for him to get her out than he cared for.

At first, he too had been tempted to kill her. He did not like chaotic elements, especially ones that had the potential to mess with his power… but that was before he gave it some thought. His power allowed him to attempt missions as much as he liked until they succeeded, a fact he took full advantage of, but these failed missions still took time.

Henchmistress was inconsistent… but that was exactly what made her so valuable, he realized. If he had her summons, he could brute force anything with enough attempts. Her power presented an unprecedented level of luck, and luck was something that Coil was in firm control of.

Such as when Cricket closed in on his asset. In one timeline, she summoned a Banshee, and in another, a puppet creature, who was unable to stop Cricket from simply jumping over it and stabbing the girl with her Kama.

No. Ideal as it would be, she was not so easily cajoled. That did not mean, however, that she was useless.

Far from it.

He began to think of the girl less as a controllable asset and more like a bomb that detonated differently every time you set it off. This framing was proven more than correct when he had his men kidnap her and plant her in one of Lung's businesses. The building had gone up in smoke, Oni Lee had been killed, and Coil got the igniting spark to the all out gang war he'd been looking for.

And part two had been quite simple to arrange after the girl's impromptu declaration in the church. Between that and his plan to spirit Hookwolf out of the city going off without a hitch, the Empire had no choice but to respond… and when an operation wasn't allowed to fail, Victor was never far behind.

His Travelers were in position. Things were going quite poorly for Henchmistress overall, but he knew time was running out for the Empire. Krieg was advancing on Victor's position, having his body taken over. He knew his window of opportunity was closing. In one timeline, Henchmistress summoned a mechanical girl, and in another, a simple rotting corpse.

He radioed the Travelers to begin, then picked the first timeline. Victor managed two more shots, one landing on the Advent cape, but she was an acceptable loss.

And from there, things went as he had planned.

Isolated and distracted, Trickster was able to extract Othala with ease using a pre-prepared dummy. Swapping Rune's platform with the truck was a stroke of luck, but even if it was too big, Ballistic or Sundancer could have done the job instead.

Besides. Coil had been feeling lucky lately…

Perdition rewound Rune to prevent her from catching the truck with her power, and Trickster made excellent use of Krieg's height to drop Victor in a believable accident. Othala has used her power on Crusader, an attempt to protect him from a potential long ranged summon, and with a well timed ambush, her invincibility ran out at the ideal time. A steak knife launched by Ballistic made short work of the man. Victor, for all his skills, was only human, and a well shot bottle cap ensured he would not survive the fall no matter what technique he used.

And wasn't Victor a pleasant piece to remove from the board? The Skill Thief had benefitted greatly from Coil's presence in the city, so it filled Coil with no small satisfaction to see his hard-stolen skills spill over the pavement.

Sister Twister was an acceptable loss as well. The only cape whose survival impacted his plans was Henchmistress. As she had proven, however, give her enough time and she'll eventually come out on top.

Though his call to New Wave certainly didn't hurt.

Another feather in his decisionmaking cap at the PRT over Emily alongside his suggestion to sneak Hookwolf out of the city by boat, and it wouldn't be the last. Already, his name was coming up more often for promotion with only a few planted whispers here and there.

Emily could seethe, but she couldn't argue with results, even as his own, unorthodox suggestions and actions began to yield fruit. It was not the humiliation he needed, no, that was merely yet to come.

Whether Henchmistress joined the Wards or not, Coil was in position to take full advantage of her.

Speaking of, his new pet.

For now, she would be of little use to anyone. He had yet to place the necessary order, but she would be easy to move around. Coil could keep her, and soon enough, Director Calvert could have Panacea. His Undersiders and Travelers could begin taking territory, and soon enough, the city would be in the palms of his hands.

That being said, none of this meant she couldn't make herself useful.

In one timeline, he remained in his office, contacting mercenaries and securing investments. In another, he left his office and walked down the hall, the clack of his shoes echoing under the fluorescent lights of his base.

The ABB and the Empire were both weakened and reeling. A lesser man would have been elated at these victories, and while Coil was satisfied, he was not sated. This was not the end of his ambition, no.

This was just the beginning.