Orb Weaver: Plague, Chapter 8

Tattletale, thinker. I’d never seen her in her skintight black-and-lavender outfit, which indicated she was very confident in her appearance, but I’d seen her once before, and she had either not noticed who I was, or was keeping it secret. Far beneath me, bugs started to twist as it stilled my face. I could not afford to give anything away.

Regent was a very low level master, with the ability to introduce spasms in people. There had been some videos on PHO about him and the other…

“A new member,” I said. “I take it you are recruiting.”

“Don’t mind Chariot,” Tattletale replied. She frowned for a moment, then the smile was back. “And it’s The Investigator. I’m surprised you’re here… especially following dear Madison through the tunnels.” Her eyes flickered over my shoes. “It must have been terrible, being so closed in.”

I didn’t flinch, but deep below, insects tore teach other to shreds.

She is letting me know she knows my identity… and referring to my trigger event. Why? The answer was plain. She wanted me off balance, angry, likely so she could use my reactions against me. Did she know I had used my--no. Tattletale had looked at my shoes. I'd walked through the muck on the surface, but I hadn't gone into the tunnels. She'd drawn the wrong conclusion from my feet. Unless she was downplaying her abilities.

Madison was looking nervous. I had to return the favor, and quickly. I knew the general source of most thinker triggers, but not her specific trigger. I would have to be vague.

“Being closed in is terrible,” I said, hefting my walking stick. “But well, not knowing an answer is the most terrible thing of all, wouldn’t you agree?”

For a moment her face twisted, then she smiled, but the tension in her voice was clear.

“Do you think that’s funny?”

“No more than talking about closed spaces, so let us cease this banter of secrets we shouldn’t know.”

Another flicker on her face. Whatever her power was, it wasn’t letting her reveal all my secrets. She didn’t know.

And if there was one thing my research agreed on, is that not knowing was intolerable to Thinkers. Good. She was off balance.

“Right.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s the thing, Madison. I bet The Investigator wants you to go back to the PRT. What do you think is gonna happen then? Half the newspapers in the city are talking about the Birdcage.”

Madison hunched in, and one claw clenched, passing through the concrete sidewalk like it was butter. “Maybe I deserve—I’m ug—“

“Bup!” Tattletale said. “No you don’t. In fact, I bet The Investigator agrees since you really didn’t do that big of a crime. Right?” Madison went still. So did I.

Bugs went berserk and some part of the emotion must have touched my face. Tattletale smiled.

And now I had her measure. She hadn’t expected to find me. She was trying to get Madison on her side, and I expected the mysterious “boss” was involved. She was attacking. Me revealing my identity, or getting angry would drive Madison away, and if she could get Madison alone and talk to her…

That was probably her go-to tactic, to break others down so she could take advantage of the situation.

A good, but limited tactic, given failure was likely to end up with her facing murderously angry people.

And she had another problem. She hadn’t spoken to Rosita or Madison’s social worker. She had documents I bet, but as a book once mentioned: “The map is not the territory.”

“Madison,” I said. “She is right. There are worse crimes. Many. But what would Rosita say to Tattletale?”

“Doesn’t matter. You gotta own it. Own up for it.”

“Wow,” Regent said with a grin. “I bet that plays really well in front of a judge.”

“Regent, shut the fuck up!” Tattletale snarled, but too late. Madison was crouching down, getting ready to run. “Look if you come with us, we can help you. She can’t help you, not if Piggot changes her mind, we can.” Her mask did little to obscure her fury at Regent’s words, and Chariot looked confused.

Your power told you, just as his words came out, that was the wrong thing to say. But there was no certainty that Tattletale couldn’t find something else to say. Every second we were here she was gathering more information, on me, on Madison. I had to…

Oh. Oh yes.

“Madison,” I said. “Tattletale is right. I can’t tell you coming back with me will make everything okay. But I don’t think that’s the point. You followed Emma. I expect most of your life you’ve found someone to follow, to be the cute shadow of.” Madison was looking at me, but I forged on. “But you can’t be a follower here. You have to decide. You have to make this decision. I can’t, Tattletale can’t. So I’m not going to say anything else. Just think, and decide, and I will respect your choice.”

Now Tattletale was glaring at me.

How to defeat a thinker. Never talk to them. Or put them in a position where if they open their mouth, the listener will not trust them. I’d told Madison I wouldn’t talk and try to influence her. If Tattletale tried to use her words, I’d set her up to lose.

“I think… I think I’d like to go with you,” Madison finally said, looking at me.

“Very well,” I gave her a short bow, then turned to Tattletale and her companions. “I believe our business is done, here?”

“I—“ She fell silent as I looked down the street.

My bugs, at the far end of the street had picked up something. I didn’t need to turn and see them, but well, the Investigator did not have bugs, and Tattletale would not miss such a foolish mistake.  

And now Tattletale was looking in the same direction. “Fuck…” she muttered. “E88.”

“Well, have fun with the Protectorate!” Regent said, and gave a casual wave as he got back into the van.

“No, wait! Fuck!” Tattletale said. “You can ride with us. Just until we’re out of here. No kidnapping attempt.”

Well, against a Brute 8, that was an easy promise to make.

“I… they can’t… what if I stay?” Madison asked.

“They might not be able to hurt you, but Madison, you have a much greater chance of hurting them,” I warned her. “Much of the Protectorate training at your level is how not to hurt people. Come with us.”

She nodded, and got into the van, barely fitting into the rear, and we pulled out just as two carloads of E88 soldiers appeared. Chariot did something to the controls and the van just shot ahead.

How did they know we were here? A parahuman power? Corruption? Bad luck? I would have to investigate that. But the closer we got to the downtown regions the less likely the Empire would be to continue their pursuit. In fact—

Ahead, bugs came into my range. But there were several odd voids, in the street ahead of us. Like a place where living—

“Chariot, stop the van!”

He almost didn’t respond in time as we took the corner—and standing on the street in front of us were ghosts, holding spears. The van screeched to a halt.

“Outside,” I ordered. “The van is no obstacle to Crusader.” Who do you send against a Brute 8? Someone they can’t touch.

Damn. It.

I checked the taser on my walking stick and verified that I had all my toys with me.

Not that I’d expected to use them against over 12 E88 gangers and a man who killed you with ghosts.

Then I thought of something else. I cursed.

“What?” Tattletale asked.

“I promised my father I wouldn’t get involved in fights with capes. So far… that promise has been mostly honored in the breach.”

Now everyone was looking at me.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Chariot asked, his eyes wide behind his visor.

Before I could answer, one of the gangers stepped forward, his eyes were a little dilated. Drugs. stimulants.

So that is how the Empire will get their thugs to attack a Brute 8.

It was time to talk.

“We get the Jew Bitch and you get to leave,” he said, tattoos on his face doing little to disguise his worry.

“Wow, your bosses must be brave, sending you, all alone,” Tattletale said. “Did they tell you she’s in the same league as the Siberian?”

 Madison flinched, but so did many of the gangers.

“That is why Crusader is here—or rather, not here. I expect he wants to see if his ghosts can bypass her defenses. And of course, he’s completely safe.” I had bugs out, but so far, either he had a greater range than I did or didn’t have to do anything when controlling his ghosts that set him apart from other people.

“Ain’t your fight.” One gestured at her. “Look at her.”

“On the contrary,” I said. “It very much is my fight.” I looked up at them, without Orb Weaver’s terror behind me, and found…

I really didn’t give a fuck. It didn’t matter what identity I wore, I would never back down to these strutting bullies.

“So I will give you an offer. Turn around. Leave. And I will bring her to the PRT. Or fight, and what happens is on your head.”

It almost worked. I could see the worry—what kind of cape wouldn’t be afraid of them, or of Crusader, without good cause? Had I convinced Madison to fight with us? Were they about to face an unknown power or the Bay’s very own Siberian…

Almost.

Not quite.

“Shit, duck!” Tattletale shouted and I did, as the attack she saw a few seconds early started. Several gangers pulled guns, and others reached into their cars and pulled out Molotov cocktails, lighting them and throwing them at Madison—not us.

Either they were just more terrified of Madison, or they had orders to focus on her, but now a band were coming for us, even as Crusader’s ghosts converged on Madison, ignoring the shots and firebombs.

The first firebomb hit Madison as she shielded herself and splashed her with burning fluid.

She panicked, and spun around shaking her hands, shaking her body, and the fluid just flew off of her, and I could feel the wind from her spinning. Her tail spun out, the serrated end slicing ghosts into non-existence, right before it sliced through a street light, the thick metal parting instantly as the light toppled over onto a parked car.

The gang members who had been charging Madison, changed their mind, firing on her, but bullets and fire alike did nothing to her, save distract her as the main attack hit.

Crusader’s ghosts.

Then I had other problems. The gang was charging us. Chariot was backing off, looking terrified, while Regent was laughing and what was wrong with him? I had bugs on my attackers, ducking under one and tasering him in the stomach, before I kicked another one in his knee, the joint bending backward as he screamed. A baseball bat caught me in the ribs—I’d seen it coming, but had no way to avoid it.

Underneath, bugs swarmed, but I wasn’t that desperate, not yet.

“Close eyes!” I shouted out. Not waiting to see if Tattletale and the others heard, I tossed out my flash bombs.

Once, twice, three times the brightest flashes I’d been able to make illuminated the street, and gang members screamed. I took advantage, ignoring everyone else, smashing jaws and joints. I was just a skinny 15-year-old, and playing fair meant I’d lose. I sprayed one in the face with my own pepper spray mix, and kicked him before he started crawling away, clutching at his eyes.

On the other side, Tattletale was dodging people like she knew what they were going to do before they did. One man charged her, and her pistol barked once, twice, and he fell to the ground, screaming in agony, clutching his leg.

Only lethal weapons? Tch. She needed more options than talking or going straight to lethal force.

Regent was standing in front of the van, gesturing with his scepter, and gang members fell over, tripped, hit each other. One fell in front of him and he jammed the scepter into his back.

We were actually doing fairly well.

Are the gangers that incompetent?

Madison was a blur. Ghosts were just flying apart around her and their weapons did nothing.

“Fuck! Grab the bitch!” the order came.

What is Crusader…

Then Madison saw the gang members approaching her, and just hunched back and stopped attacking.

She’s terrified of her own strength. I couldn’t give Crusader a chance to try every possibility. I didn’t know if her eyes or mouth was vulnerable…

I dove into them. Slamming into one with my walking stick, kicking out at another.

I needed to tell Madison what to do, and if I’d had time, I would have laughed myself silly over the irony in that one sentence.

“Madison, jump back, fast!”

She listened and the ghosts behind her shredded as she jumped away from the living humans trying to dog-pile her, trying to take advantage of her reluctance.

If they managed to grab her and panic her…

The Empire would have its PR win and could always find more idiots.

“Madison, hit the ground, as hard as you can, hit it now!” Tattletale screamed.

What was she—

Madison brought both hands down in a blur and I was flung back by the sheer force of the blow, as the asphalt under her was shattered, the street deforming in a wave, windows breaking up and down the street, and the gang was flung back—now they were looking at her, wide eyes, and all the reassurances of Crusader didn’t mean much as Madison rose up in all of her shifting, chitiny, glory, nearly eight feet tall. She’d hit so hard that some of the asphalt had caught fire from the heat generated by her blows.

“You can leave now,” I told the gang. “Just go and I—“

Another wave of ghosts appeared, but this time they weren’t heading for Madison, but me. I dropped down, kicked out with one foot, and one ghost vanished, the sensation of its form against my skin, even when I was wearing a boot.

They weren’t as durable as humans. That was good to know. A punch got another one—but I couldn’t evade them all and a spear stabbed into my side, ignoring my armor and driving into my lung.

Fu-shit!  The bullet-resistant fabric of my costume was helping, some but I still had a big hole in my side and it hurt.

“Chariot, get the van!” Regent was running to the van, Tattletale looking back and forth, trying to decide—and then the ghosts around me were shredded by a fluttering gesture from Madison.

“I’ll—I’ll help you!” she said. That evidently decided things for Tattletale and she jumped into the van.

“Go, Chariot, Go!”

The van rocketed down the street, as Madison grabbed me in a bridal carry.

I tried not to moan in pain, sending it to my bugs.

I also sent the even more horrifying thought of what PHO was going to make of this as Madison took a tremendous leap and we left the ghosts and gang behind.

“PRT!” I shouted. “Not the hospi—hrugh…” Madison hit the ground and my kidneys tried to visit my shoes. It almost took my mind off of how much blood I was losing, or the fact that a punctured lung was bad.

Another leap, and I had a flash of a shocked teenaged girl walking a yapping poodle.

Another leap, from a parking lot. That was good.

The another, us landing in an elementary school playground, students staring at us.

And then the PRT and…

Fuck. Me. There was a tour group out there with Vista and Clockblocker.

“Madison, don’t do anything. Let me do the talking. But don’t run. Remember you can’t be hurt. So just stay behind me.”

Then we landed, and the tourists, including a Jr. High School class were backing up, as an alarm hooted. I had one chance…

I got out of Madison’s arms, and stood up, ignoring the way blood was running down my leg and puddling on the ground.

“Congratulations for being allowed to see this moment,” I said, a rasp in my voice. “Despite the flagrant defamation by some, this young girl was eager to come here and see about joining the Wards to help make the Bay a better place. I…”

Suddenly the world started swirling. I tried to push it into my bugs, but it didn’t help.

Ah. Blood loss.  

“I think maybe I should see a medic. The Empire 88 tried to murder me.” I almost fell, but before I did, Clockblocker reached out for me. As his hand neared me, I wondered if I’d feel anything.

And then it touched me.