Aisha Saves the Day! Armsmaster's Blood Pressure Goes up!

Aisha was walking along the street. The PRT had finally let her out.

So long as she didn’t go beyond the block and didn’t spend too much time out and didn’t get in trouble.

Kill joys.

But they couldn’t do anything about her Krewe. Aisha was at a diner, eating some stuff—good stuff. Better than what she had at home.

But that wouldn’t be home much longer. Bro had told her something was going on. But she had to wait.

So she sat eating and practiced pulling her Numbers out where people couldn’t see them. On the roof, and in the alley beyond the diner.

“Hey little girl…”

Number 2 was looking down the road, and you could hear it. A woman and a teenage girl, wearing “BROCKTON BAY FUN!” T-shirts.

Tourists. Who didn’t realize that only a few blocks out of tourist trap town put you in E88 town.

And they were… Mexican American? Not white. They were not white.

Officially Aisha was supposed to call for help.

Fuck that. Besides, she’d been told she couldn’t fight.

And she wouldn’t.

Aisha sat back, but all of her Numbers started running for the woman and her daughter, who were now backing up against the wall, a bunch of eggplant pale E88 morons advancing on them.

God they’re stupid. Half the E88 capes were still in hiding.

On the other hand, Aisha figured that maybe being smart wasn’t what you needed to join up with the E88.

Okay, gotta be careful. I’m too far away to just respawn my Numbers if they get killed. Problem was, Aisha knew someone was watching her. If she got up, or vanished, yeah, everyone would be pissed, and getting yelled at sucked.

Well, if anything bad happens, I’ll just go over there anyway.

What to do…

She couldn’t pull off Orb Weaver, because Orb Weaver made you piss your pants by just saying hello. Her Numbers weren’t super strong—they were about as strong as Aisha was, a bit more resistant, but nothing special.

Heh. Just gotta make ‘em look stupid. As one Number ran past a store, it grabbed some items. “Protectorate Business! Bill Director Piggot!” it called out.

****

Our capes go under cover for a few days, and these types start thinking they can come into our territory… David thought.

“So, you were probably looking for something to steal…” he said, the four guys hemming in the mom and her girl.

She’d be a nice lay, if she wasn’t a Mexican.

“No—we were just taking a shortcut back to our hotel and—“

Suddenly, something went splat on the back of David’s neck.

“What the fuck?”

He reached back and came up with… broken egg?

“Who the fuck did that—“

“I did,” the figure was a shadowy form, juggling eggs.

“Who the fuck are—“

Splat, another egg hit him in the fucking mouth!

Everyone was staring at the cape, and then suddenly anothercape touched Greg on the back and when Greg turned around, he got an egg in his face.

“Now, see, I’m here to let you know that you’re um, besmirching our fair city. So you can sit down and wait for the PRT, or I… I can get nasty.”

“Fuck you! Do you know who we are?”

“Um… Association of Inbred folks? The egged upon?” the figure tilted its head and then another fucking shadow figure came out. That made three of them. How the fuck many were there?”

“Fuck, she’s like Crusader…”

Greg pulled his knife and started slashing away. The shadow figures jumped away, but another egg zipped into Greg’s face. Again.

“ARGHH!” Greg screamed. “I’m going to kill—“ The shadow figure stepped aside and then tripped him, and Greg went falling on his face.

“Fuck!” he screamed. “By nodes!”

“Oh man, that’s really bad,” the shadow bitch said, all of her speaking in unison. “Might want to get that looked at.”

The other two gang members took off running, like cowards, but David wasn’t gonna let the lesser races see the Empire running. “I’m gonna fucking kill you.”

“Okay,” one said. She stepped in front of him, walking back until the wall was at her back. “One free hit.”

“One’s all I need.” David charged the bitch. He’d get her and—

And then she vanished, and he had just a second to realize oh, fuck the wall— when he hit it, and went lights out.

****

Aisha brought Number 4 out after Number 2 had vanished. No sense in letting everyone know how many she could have at once. That was what Taylor said.

“I can just respawn when anyone makes one of my Krewe vanish,” she told the mother and her kid.

“Thank you, oh, thank you. I just thought that this would be a shortcut…”

“Yeah, you’d better stick to the main areas,” Aisha said. “We’ve got a little, um…” She stared at the guys, the one moaning where he’d hit the ground and the unconscious one, the other two Numbers using the zip-ties she’d gotten. “Pest? Dummy? Dunno, what kind of problem, but it’s a problem. But…” She looked at the woman. “Could you do me a favor?”

“Yes.”

“Good, because see, I have to give these two their rewards! And I need it documented.” she held up the rewards, and suddenly the daughter wasn’t scared any more. She was laughing. Hard.

****

When Colin got to the site, he saw Krewe’s Numbers standing around.

“Well,” Assault said. “I don’t see Krewe, so she did abide by the letter of her agreement.”

He slowly turned to look at his partner. “And will Director Piggot see it that way?”

“Hell no. But that’s your job, mine is… Oh holy shit. Oh holy shit…” Suddenly Assault started to laugh so hard he was wheezing.

Colin looked down. The two gangers had been ziptied and were sitting on the corner, with people walking around, taking pictures.

Pictures of their faces, covered with the rub-on tattoos so popular among children.

Pink Unicorns, little rainbows, festive snowmen.

And in glitter pen, on the bruised face of one.

I AM A SMART BOY AND I WILL NOT RUN INTO WALLS ANYMORE.

He sighed.

He was not looking forward to the meeting with Director Piggot.

“What’s up, Boss!” A number said.

“His blood pressure,” Assault said, and high-fived the person who Colin had a feeling was going to become his least favorite Ward.

On the other hand, as he interviewed the mother and her daughter, you couldn’t say the E88 didn’t have it coming…