From the roofline above downtown Brockton Bay, the city looked like it always did to me.

  A little wet, somewhat broken, and tired with itself. and beyond them the Shantytown sprawled like an infection the uppercrust of downtown Brocton bay can't seem to get rid of, either to simply ignore the infection with traditional remedy or placebo effect medicine without fixing the cause of the issue, its easier to turn a blind eye to the poverty in one of the poorest regions of Brockton Bay, The tarps stitched from garbage bags, half-collapsed plywood walls, barrel fires glowing dull orange shows the tenacity of the inhabitants but even so, Gangs were a thing, this is E88 territory. The Bay’s rot pooled there, where the city pretended not to look, that's how the Empire took control of these part of the town.

  I did took notice.

  Began to took notice of it once I started transforming the abandoned docks, The Merchants were gone but I dealt with the infection to the best of my abilities, But people tend to notice that I should do more for the city. Started looking into things, started noticing things too. A little late for that, but better late than never. Right now, this is probably the right catalyst to sweep up Brockton Bay laterally and engaged with the main gangs of Brockton Bay.

  “Ana, confirm overwatch,” I murmured into the comm, checking in with the resident Sniper of our crew. Her voice came back calm, textured with age and experience with her restored youth and eyesight. “Sightlines are clear. I have visual on your perimeter teams. No capes moving in yet...other than those four. My daughter has eyes on the skies?”

  I didn’t need to look up, but I knew where she was, somewhere higher, further back probably atleast a kilometer away, a ghost with a rifle older than most of the men below. Overwatch Ana. The woman didn’t miss, didn’t rush, and didn’t waste words when it comes to marking her prey. I’d don't need to work with enough soldiers to know what that meant.

  Below me, Empire 88 crews moved through the shanties in disciplined lines. Boots splashed through puddles and sewage, batons knocking on doors that weren’t really doors at all. The homeless came out slowly eyes down, hands visible. Some cried. Some stared with flat, dead hatred. Most just looked tired.

  “Section C is lagging,” I said. “They’re hesitating.”

  Ana exhaled. “Fear makes people inefficient Commander, You haven't seen the world enough.”

  “Imagine that, Never thought i'd see real time slavery out here in the west. I guess I've lived a sheltered life,” I replied.

  One of the squads dragged a man forward, too young to even hit puberty, wrong skin color for the armband they were offering him. kid was forced to kneel the knife glinting under floodlights. So I guess this is Initiation. Blood as proof of loyalty. Or blood as a warning. Either way, the message spread fast, colored people getting culled, Makes you wonder why they even live in that part of the city if it's E88 teritory, then again...everywhere else is pretty fucked up, or as I learned from my scouting stint from before, people were barred from leaving.

  I didn’t flinch. That part of me had burned out years ago I supposed.

  “Sniper movement, three blocks east,” Ana said quietly. “Civilian rifle, he seems rather nervous. Amateurs.”

  “Handle it,” I answered, E88 had their own sniper units, mooks with guns.

  A pause. Then “Sleep dart deployed.”

  Somewhere unseen, a body folded without a sound. I let my gaze sweep the operation. Trucks idled at the edge of the zone, cages welded into their beds. Labor for the factories. Bodies for leverage. Brockton Bay always needed something ugly done, and tonight it was us doing it.

  Static crackled in my ear. A different channel.

  “Commander,” came a new voice, synthetic calm edged with steel. “ETA five minutes.”

  Genji Shimada made the call, Thought he would be a no show since Mercy seems to fuss about his injuries and whatnot. He wanted to come, wanted to make himself useful. The compassionate swordsman who found inner peace after what happened to his past.

  “Copy that.” I said. “Approach from the rooftops. No engagement unless I authorize.”

  Another voice cut in immediately after, sharper, colder. “Hanzo reporting. Wind is unfavorable. I will compensate.”

  Hanzo made his appearance finally. He's been busy doing his own thing with the ABB, I would like to know what sort of inroads he made over the North but that is a discussion for later. For now, this operation is far more important.

  Ana spoke again, softer now. “You’re drawing attention, Jason. The Capes will notice.”

  “They always do eventually, A team this size participating, someone bound to spot somethings amiss soon.” I said. “That’s why you’re up there, mitigating interference.”

  Through the scope, I watched the Shantytown empty. Fires kicked over. Tents slashed. People herded like cattle, their shadows stretching long and thin across the broken pavement.Genji and Hanzo would arrive soon. Ana already had her finger on the trigger. The Empire moved on my command.

  Brockton Bay breathed in the dark, and for tonight, at least, it breathed when I told it to.

  The city answered Krieg’s words the way it always did with movement. My tac display lit up as new icons slid into place along the perimeter.

  “Torbjorn online, Ready for action, just say the word.” came a gravelly voice, irritated but professional. “I don’t like this city. Smells like evil has its grip on its people.”

  A heavier thump followed, metal on concrete. His turret deployed somewhere below, its barrel tracking automatically, servo whine steady and patient. "They won't be able to leave, not while I'm on the perimeter. The place is lockdown for good"

  Another voice followed, younger, tighter. “Commander… I’m here. But I don’t like this one bit, dragging in my papa like this.”

  Brigitte, didn't think she made it too as well. “She won’t be in the line of fire,” Torbjorn added immediately, defensively. “She stays with me if that’s alright with you.”

  “That was the agreement,” I said. “You’re on logistics and denial. Nothing else, leave the rest of the cleanup to us.”

  There was a pause, then Brigitte again, reluctant but resolute. “Understood.”

  She didn’t belong in this kind of operation, and she knew it. But she’d come anyway, because her father had, because the world didn’t wait for comfort even when she's internalizing, heroes step up I suppose. Can't say the same about me so I respected that.

  Below, Krieg was reaching the crescendo of his speech.

  “-and when history looks back on Brockton Bay,” he declared, voice echoing off brick and steel, “it will not remember the weak who clung to chaos. It will remember those who had the will to cleanse it.”

  That was my cue.

  “Phase Three,” I said calmly. “Begin roundup.”

  The square shifted instantly as our crew began to circle in,Floodlights swung. Trucks revved up to transport the people away. Empire squads tightened formation with their mook running a tight ship around the perimeter rounding up the non white folks while corralling the homeless to side with them, their movements no longer theatrical, no longer for show. Consolidation work for recruitment among the homeless? I suppose the Empire is quite desperate. They have been quiet lately and suddenly this?

  Something aint right.

  And that was when the capes stepped forward other than Krieg.

  Othala emerged first, glowing faintly gold as she brushed past her men, power already flowing into them strength, endurance, fanatic confidence layered on top of ideology. Victor followed, taller than most, eyes sharp and hungry, scanning the crowd like a a protective husband.

  Can't believe these two are married. Alabaster brought up the rear, expression empty, movements slow and inexorable bored out of his mind with his unnaturally albino white skin. Ana spoke once, clipped. “New hostile capes identified. I have firing solutions.”

  “Hold,” I replied.

  Krieg noticed the shift too. His speech faltered for just a fraction of a second as Othala stepped onto the truck beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. The crowd read it as unity. As strength.

  Hanzo came in just in time “Ready whenever, They’re forming a protective cluster,” he said. “Krieg at center. Victor is watching rooftops. My arrows will take Krieg down.”

  Dva came from the Northside and comes in with her coms. “North side secure, we can begin anytime, it’s game on!”

  “Genji,” I said.

  “I am ready,” came the reply, calm as his body coiled for action, ready to jump in.

  “Shit, wish I could join in” Shadow Stalker grumbled as she moved closer behind me, posture no longer idle but I felt her attention narrow, predatory. For tonight, she wasn’t a Ward, wasn’t a hero. She was just here watching the operation with me and is absorbing everything she can. Pharah’s shadow passed over the square again, lower this time. Some noticed it.

  “Torbj?rn,” I said. “Seal the east exit.”

  “Already done,” he grunted. A moment later, the sharp bark of his turret echoed, not hitting anyone, just chewing through asphalt and steel, collapsing an alley mouth into rubble. Panic rippled through the crowd.

  Krieg raised his hands again, trying to regain control. “Stay in line!” he shouted. “This is my order!”

  Victor’s gaze snapped upward too slow.

  “Now,” I said.

  Genji dropped like a falling thought, green blade flashing once as he cut through the floodlight rig. Darkness swallowed the truck in an instant, cheers turning to shouts. At the same time, Ana fired not to kill, but to disrupt. A dart struck Othala in the neck, her glow flickering as she stumbled. Sleep dart is a success.

  Pharah’s rockets hit the far barricade, not the crowd, exploding concrete and cutting off retreat. D.Va’s icon flared from standby to active as Tokki powered up, her voice chiming in bright and lethal. “Boosters hot. Just say go~” and her mech barrelled into the oncoming gun fight up North.

  Krieg shouted an order, a slogan, a Nazi propaganda bullshit,but it was lost in the chaos.

  “Primary objective,” I said, voice steady despite the noise. “Take down the Empire 88 Capes. Secondary: neutralize Empire mooks.”

  Alabaster was already moving, Pharah grenades and Ana’s Darts tearing through him uselessly as his body reset again and again. Victor lunged toward a fleeing Empire soldier, hand outstretched, stealing skill, strength, anything he could grasp and tried to counter sniper Ana.

  And through it all, the crowd scattered homeless, recruits, true believers all breaking apart under the sudden weight of reality. I watched from above as the square became what it always was , a myriad battlefield.

  “This is Jason,” I said into the open channel, every Overwatch member hearing me now. “ Capes are scattering out, PRT is on the move, shut them down now.”

  Brockton Bay screamed below and the hunt for Krieg and the rest of the cape had begun. I kept my distance and watched the fight through magnification via my helmet, letting the noise of the square fall away until there was only the focus of watching everything on the higher ground.

  Alabaster met Genji head-on in the shattered street, pale skin already torn and knitting itself back together where Genji blade had slice him earlier. He smiled when he saw the sword.

  A slow, ugly smile.

  “Well, look at this,” Alabaster said, spreading his arms as another bullet punched through his chest and vanished as time rewound itself. “Empire’s finest nightmare. Some kind of bargain-bin samurai ninja? Thought your kind only did tricks and took orders like delivery?”

  Genji didn’t answer to his provocation, his mind was laser focused on taking the perp down..

  Alabaster kept talking anyway, voice loud, performative, meant for the Empire soldiers still watching from cover. He mocked Genji’s armor, his accent, his heritage, reducing centuries of discipline and culture into crude stereotypes and sneering laughter. He gestured at Genji’s armor aesthetics as if it proved something.

  “You japanese always have a weird sense of fashion, Are you supposed to be a Ninja or a skintight model? I can’t tell.” Alabaster continued. “After what you fuckers did to Nanjing,. You get rebuilt when we bomb you to shit, Still never recovered from that whole ordeal huh?. Still going on about that honor nonsense, how’s that working out for you?”

  Genji, He didn’t rush. His martial arts flowed with the sword of the dragon, The first slash took Alabaster’s arm clean off. The limb hit the ground and dissolved backward into his body as time snapped back, flesh re-forming, bones clicking into place. Alabaster laughed.

  “See?” he said. “Doesn’t matter. You can’t kill me! You can’t-”

  Genji stepped inside the reset and sliced off the tendon from re-attaching, and separated the arm again, this time sending it flying.That was the part most people never understood. Alabaster’s power wasn’t invulnerability. It was repetition. A loop he couldn’t control, couldn’t pause, couldn’t adapt.

  Genji adapted for him and gave him a wake up call, the Man, whose’s pupil, skin and hair is white, I didn’t think I get to see a whiter man turned paler, its almost comical.

  He struck again not where Alabaster was, but where he would be. Each cut landed just before the reset completed, forcing Alabaster’s body to reconstitute into damage already in progress. The timing was perfect. Surgical. Relentless.

  Alabaster’s grin faltered, already missing two limbs,

  “Cheap tricks! I don't even feel the pain!” he spat, still trying to sneer, still trying to reduce Genji to something smaller than what he was. “You’re nothing but a fucking- ah!”

  The final cut wasn’t flashy.

  Genji reversed the blade and drove the hilt into Alabaster’s sternum with precise, crushing force, pinning him to the pavement. Then he followed it with a strike at the base of the neck, disrupting the nervous system at the exact moment the reset triggered.

  Alabaster’s power fired.

  And brought him back unconscious.

  Again.

  And again.

  His body twitched, locked in a loop it couldn’t escape, regenerating, and completely neutralized. With a sleeping dart time perfectly from Ana, taking the shot. He went asleep almost immediately.

  Genji stood, blade clean, posture calm. He didn’t look down at Alabaster. He didn’t acknowledge the words that had been thrown at him, the hatred that had tried to provoke him into something sloppy or emotional.

  From my vantage point, I exhaled slowly.

  “Target neutralized,” Ana said over comms, already tracking something else.

  I kept watching Genji for a second longer as he turned away, moving toward the next objective without hesitation. Alabaster lay on the street behind him, reduced not by fancy Terran tech gear,

  I could just disable his powers with a well time power damper or neutralizer, but Genji too kim down by precision and discipline. Sometimes, that’s all you need. No need for party tricks. I marked the threat eliminated and shifted my attention back to Krieg’s last known position.

  The evening wasn’t done yet.

  My scope swung upward as the sound signature changed jets, controlled bursts, vertical movement. Pharah had found Krieg.

  He’d broken from the square during the blackout, Othala at his side, her power flaring brighter now as she poured everything she had into him and she somehow recovered from Ana’s dart although she does seem a little drowsy,. Strength, durability, a fanatic’s clarity. He looked almost mythic under it, muscles taut, movements sharper than they had any right to be.

  Almost.

  “Air unit!” Krieg shouted, raising his voice even as he raised his weapon. “You think the skies belong to you?”

  Pharah answered with a rocket that turned the street behind him into a crater. She hovered above the intersection, blue armor catching firelight, rocket launcher steady against her shoulder. “I don’t think,” she said coolly. “I enforce Justice!”

  Krieg laugheda harsh, barking soundand started talking even as he moved, words spilling out like doctrine he’d rehearsed his entire life.

  “You’re a symbol of decay,” he shouted up at her. “A foreign power, with foreign blood, foreign ideas imposed from above! This city needs purity, order and discipline! not a jackboot from the sky! Illegals and Immigrants like you have no say in what goes on in this country!”

  Another rocket screamed down. Krieg rolled, impossibly fast under Othala’s boost, coming up firing. The rounds sparked off Pharah’s armor as she twisted midair, thrusters flaring to keep her aloft.

  “I’ve heard better speeches from tinpot dictators,” Pharah replied. “And they fell just as hard, especially Nazi’s sympathizers!.”

  Krieg surged forward, leaping farther than a normal man could, slamming a reinforced fist into a parked car and hurling it skyward. Pharah dodged, but the impact forced her higher, closer to the buildings.

  Othala stayed behind him, glowing like a beacon, hands clenched in focus. In my periphery, another duel played out.

  Victor had found Ana.

  He was using stolen marksmanship I reckon, hard to tell if any of the skills he owns is his, a power stealer, now rifle steady, breath controlled, every shot calculated. Ana returned fire from a distant rooftop, her movements economical, never wasting motion. The crack of their rifles overlapped, echoing between buildings.

  “Victor is attempting to suppress me,” Ana reported calmly. “He is prioritizing Othala’s safety.”

  “Noted,” I said, watching as Victor shifted positions again, always placing himself just enough in front of Othala to intercept any clean shot.

  Back to Krieg.

  He planted his feet and shouted upward again, voice carrying even over the engines. “You fight for nothing! Your culture is inferior than us! What makes you think the people of this city would be glad to have you?! We fight for destiny, for blood, for legacy! For the betterment of our people!”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Pharah hovered directly above him now, shadow falling across his face.

  “Oh shut up!,” she said. “Just eat a grenade and stay down!.”

  She fired straight down.

  Krieg leapt again, Othala’s power flaring as he twisted in midair, the rocket grazing him instead of hitting center mass. The explosion still threw him hard into the street, concrete shattering beneath his back. He rolled to his feet with a snarl, battered but standing.

  “Is that all?” he shouted. “Is that the might of-”

  Pharah cut her thrusters and dropped, this time decending down with the full weight of her Armor.She hit him like a meteor, armored knee driving into his chest, carrying both of them into the ground. The impact cracked the pavement in a spiderweb pattern, the sound dull and final.

  Krieg coughed, breath knocked out of him, still trying to spit words through broken rhythm. Cough* You will never replace-"

  Pharah didn’t let him finish and put a boot to his face, She brought the launcher around and pressed it to his sternum.

  “Operation command,” she said into comms. “Primary target secured.”

  She fired.

  The blast didn’t vaporize him,it didn’t need to. It shattered the power Othala was feeding him with sheer force, leaving Krieg broken, pinned, and unmoving in the smoking crater.

  In the background, Ana finally landed her shot a clean dart into Othala’s shoulder as Victor fired a fraction too late. The glow around Othala sputtered and died as she collapsed, Victor cursing and retreating under covering fire as he manage to scoop up Othala and flee, and he was fast as well.

  I caught the movement at the edge of my display before anyone spoke it aloud.

  Victor was running.

  Hanzo was doing mooks control taking down all the E88 member with guns, one of them manage to climb up to where Jason is and tried to shoot at him, only for his shields to activate and hold those bullets in the air as if gravity did not exist and drop to the ground, Shadow stalker reacted immediately and went into her wisp form to take him down, even snapping the guys leg “Agh!”

  I didn’t care what Shadow did to him and lowered my gaze slowly. Krieg was down. The speech was over. The symbol broken in the street where he’d preached certainty minutes earlier.

  “Good work,” I said evenly into the channel.

  He had Othala slung over his shoulder, her glow gone, body limp from Ana’s dart. He moved fasttoo fast for a man carrying another personskills stolen and stacked, borrowed legs eating distance as he cut through alleys toward the old rail yards.

  “Victor has the asset,” Hanzo said, voice tight. “I am in pursuit, He’s a tricky one.”

  “Copy,” I replied. My scope tracked them for three seconds before buildings swallowed the line of sight. “He’s not fleeing blindly, He’s buying time.”

  Hanzo vaulted onto a rooftop and loosed an arrow without breaking stride. Victor twisted at the last second, the shaft grazing his shoulder instead of pinning him. He laughed actually laughed as he kept moving. Victor seems rather confident that he can escape Hanzo’s chase.

  “I remember this,” Victor called back. “This stance. This is a draw. Such beautiful form.”

  Hanzo landed ahead of him, blocking the alley mouth, bow already raised. Victor skidded to a halt, setting Othala down behind him like cargo.

  “So much discipline,” Victor continued, circling. “So much training. And now…” His smile widened. “Now it’s mine.”

  They clashed.

  Arrows flew faster than human reflex should allow from Hanzo. Victor matched Hanzo shot for shot by deflecting it with ease, his own movements growing cleaner by the second. Each exchange sharpened him, his posture correcting itself, timing tightening as he drank in Hanzo’s skill. Somehow, Victor is able to parry arrows shot by Hanzo by his hands, the man is skilled I’ll give him that.

  I watched Hanzo’s next draw hesitate, just a fraction.

  That was the tell, He’s using his skill thief ability on Hanzo and it’s affecting him.

  “Jason,” Hanzo said quietly, breath controlled but strained. “He is learning. Rapidly.”

  “Yes,” I said. “And you’re letting him by getting close to him.”

  Victor closed distance, knocking an arrow aside and striking with stolen martial precision. Hanzo parried, but his counter came slower than before.The erosion of skill every second can be felt by Hanzo as Victor wasn’t just copying him. He was diluting him.

  “Your hands shake,” Victor taunted. “Do you feel it? Years of practice thinning out? You should be able to feel the strain now.”

  Hanzo retreated to higher ground, but his movements were no longer pristine. Victor followed easily now, too easily.

  I keyed my mic. “Hanzo. Stop trying to outskill him in close range, get away from him..”

  A pause. Then, “Clarify.”

  “He can’t steal your martial arts if you’re far away, the man is a skill thief. Takes your experience and knowledge and make it his, don't get close to him” I said. “Use the range to your advantage.”

  Hanzo exhaled once. Long. Centering as he got away as far as he can from him, but still his next shot seems a little jittery.

  His next shot wasn’t elegant.

  It shattered a fire escape instead of aiming for Victor. Steel screamed as it collapsed between them, forcing Victor to leap back. Hanzo followed with two arrows into a steam pipe, flooding the alley with hissing white vapor.

  Victor cursed, vision obscured, But I can tell that Hanzo is having a hard time maintaining his skills as it is getting worse every second while Victor is sapping away his Archery skills, or skills pertaining to his martial arts.

  “Sloppy,” Victor mocked, then hesitated as Hanzo didn’t respond the way he expected.

  “Now,” I said. “End it before he adapts.” He should end this or else, Victor will be able to escape with Othala.

  From within the steam, Hanzo’s voice rose, not calm, not refined, raw and resonant with finality as he understood the assignment..”Fine, I wasn’t intending to use this but..special circumstances calls for the dragon.”

  Hanzo use his signature Yamagami technique to scale the wall and bounce off away to newer heights, he angle his aim towards Victor away from Othala so it wouldn’t drag her into it, the perfect shot, Victor gaze towards Hanzo, before something clicked, a realization that he didn’t steal quite enough to understand the meaning, but enough to understand that…this will be dangerous.

  The man tried to dash away,but too late.

  “Ryū ga waga teki wo kurau!”

  The dragon burst free, not down the alley, but through the walls, tearing brick and steel apart in a howling spiral of force. Victor tried to run, tried to compensate with his knowledge and speed,but there was nothing to steal from an elemental onslaught.

  The dragon caught him mid-stride.

  When the steam cleared, Victor lay broken against the far wall, unconscious, body very much his own again. Othala was still alive, pinned by debris but breathing, just at the edge of the skill so she wouldn’t get caught within the eye of the dragon, but the damage was done. The dragon is sated.

  Hanzo stood amid the wreckage, bow lowered, shoulders rising and falling. “It is a little overkill, The thrill of vengeance is brief, but this is unnecessary.” he said quietly.

  “Uhuh..I forgot the damage you can inflict when this comes out, uhh nevermind, good job.,” I replied. “Extraction team is en route." Shadow stalker saw that as well and her mouth was wide open with shock and envy “What the hell was that?”

  I turned to her and just said “Kungfu. Wanna learn it?”

  She just stared at me as if I was making a joke, okay, it was not Kungfu, actually? I haven’t the slightest Idea what it is, Chi? Is chi real? Martial arts bullshit then.

  I marked Victor neutralized and finally allowed myself to shift attention away from the chase.One more threat removed. One more lesson learned the hard way.Well, now to wait for the PRT busybodies to come and interfere.

  Sending in the SCV’s for cleanup.

  ………….

  Fifteen minutes.

  That was how long it took for the PRT to arrive after the city had already bled, burned, and settled into submission after I dealt with it,. Sirens announced them long before their vehicles did, those armored vans carrying PRT trooper and containment trucks rolling in like the aftermath pretending to be the response.

  Late as ever…again.

  I started to think that the response time couldn’t get any better than this, They don’t have a flier, could have sent Velocity, but that guy is probably unavailable again.

  I stayed where I was, standing on the rooftop edge with Shadow Stalker a step behind me, just taking in the scene as we stood on the highground watching everything, she even snorted and said “ You’re right, they took their own sweet time, probably fussing over safety protocol first before dragging their ass into action”

  Below, The Overwatch guys were already ghosting out of sight.

  Pharah climbing beyond radar and blast off, I told them they could leave once everything is done, leaving the cleanup to my SCV’s and whatever cleanup to me., Genji vanishing rooftop to rooftop probably heading towards Angela at the Brocton Bay General,, Torbj?rn dismantling his turret with practiced efficiency along with her daughter and got back to the docks, just walking away. . Hana Song flew first just like Pharah. As for Ana? She came and left like a ghost. Snipers are unseen anyway, Either way, they dont need to be here for this.

  They wouldn’t be here when the PRT finally realized how many players had moved on their board.

  PRT troopers fanned out, weapons up, containment foam launchers primed. A few capes followed faces tight, eyes scanning for threats that had already been neutralized. A man in a long coat broke from the group and looked up at me. Middle-aged. Tired. Command bearing. I’d seen him before.

  “Dreamhack,” he called. “You did all this? with…Is that?.” noticing Sophia beside me,

  “Someone had to be, PRT response time is late as usual.” I replied, not raising my voice.

  He sighed and rubbed his face. “We had chatter. Empire Eighty-Eight activity. You could’ve waited for authorization.”

  “Then Krieg would be giving that speech to a bigger crowd,” I said. “And Victor would be halfway gone escaping..”

  That got his attention. His gaze flicked to the crater where Krieg lay bound and unconscious, to the med teams already loading Othala and Alabaster into containment vans.

  Shadow Stalker shifted just enough to be seen. A deliberate choice.

  “I see you brought backup,” the commander said carefully. “Unofficial backup.”

  “You already know about her,” I said. “Everything else is handled.”

  He studied me for a long moment. “Handled by who?”

  I smiled thinly. “My team of course. What? Didn’t see them?.”

  He didn’t like that answer. I could tell by the way his jaw set. “We’ll take custody from here,” he said. “PRT jurisdiction applies once we arrive.”

  “Of course,” I replied. “You’re very good at arriving.” One of his subordinates approached, datapad in hand. “Sir, we’re accounting for Empire capes. Krieg secured. Victor secured. Alabaster secured. Crowd dispersed. Casualties… lower than projected.”

  The commander glanced at me again. “Lower than projected how?”

  “Nobody got hurt…uhh. Zero casualties sir” he said.

  I tapped the side of my comm once. Somewhere far away, Ana disconnected cleanly. “Check up with HQ, if that’s all? We’re done here.” I said casually.

  He frowned. “I didn’t authorize you to leave just yet… we need to bring you in.”

  “Not this time” I cut in. “That’s the whole point.”

  Silence stretched between us, broken only by the hum of engines and distant medical calls. Around us, Brockton Bay tried to look normal again, like it hadn’t just hosted a private war. The commander exhaled slowly. “You’re going to write a report.”

  “I don’t work for you though?” I said.

  The man just sighed “look, how am I gonna explain this to the higher up? The capes? Work with me here kid”

  “ No need, Miss Militia is here..”

  He held my gaze, measuring risk against results. He didn’t like me. That was fine. He didn’t need to as he noticed the Capes are finally here. Strange, that this man is sent to talk to me. Wonder what his role is. I looked past him, at the city lights reflected in puddles and broken glass. “Next time,” I said, “try being on time.”

  I stepped back from the edge. Shadow Stalker followed without a word. Behind us, the PRT took control of what was leftpaperwork, prisoners, explanations. Ahead of us, the night swallowed everything else. The operation was over. The capes was a little late, Wonder what they are up to if they send the response team first and they came later, something happened elsewhere?

  They caught up to me two blocks from the perimeter, right where the streets widened and the sirens thinned into background noise.

  Miss Militia didn’t raise her weapon. She never did unless she meant it. Armsmaster, on the other hand, stopped just far enough away to be deliberate, halberd resting against the pavement like a punctuation mark with his really nice high tech motorcycle.

  “Dreamhack wait,” Miss Militia said. Her tone was controlled, but the displeasure underneath it was unmistakable. “We need to talk.”

  I stopped. Shadow Stalker faded half a step back, still present, still listening with her sulky face.

  “What are you…doing here?” Armsmaster turned to Sophia first, confused as to why she was here and then turned back to Dreamhack flatly. His visor tilted slightly as data scrolled across whatever he was reviewing. “Need to ask you about..all of this. How?”

  I turned to face them fully. “If this is about the Empire being down a leadership tier, you’re welcome.”

  Miss Militia’s jaw tightened. “This is about you running a multi-cape operation inside Brockton Bay without PRT authorization, and you Shadow Stalker, you’re supposed to report for duty today, not…galivanting away with him!”

  I raised my hand and said “Ah, that’s my fault, as of this day, she’s no longer part of the Wards, check the documents, I’m sure you are aware what happened to her school”

  Miss Militia wanted to refute but she couldn’t rebuff me “You don’t have any authorization to do that, That responsibility lies with the PRT”

  “Authorization from the PRT? The government? Look, Sophia’s issue aside, Your response time really need some work, Must we do this song and dance again?” I said. “Operation is done and over, and you get to play cleanup. Isn’t that always the deal?”

  “That doesn’t give you the right to act unilaterally,” she shot back. “We have procedures for a reason.”

  I let the silence stretch before answering. “That procedure doesn’t apply to independents like me.Your procedures start with confirmation, escalate through committees, and end with all sort of excuses. Krieg was already mobilizing. Victor was present. Othala their premier healer is here, By the way, this probably happened a long time ago, why haven’t you acted upon it? Don’t tell me…no intel? Bad intel? Its only when I acted that suddenly..oh great, you’re suddenly claiming that this is suddenly your operation?”

  Armsmaster stepped in then, voice colder. “You deployed unknown assets. Air support. Heavy armor. Advanced weaponry. You created a situation we couldn’t fully assess when we arrived. How many capes you deployed?! Ordinance in civilian territory?! What were you thinking!”

  “Those are my assets not yours, and also zero casualties” I replied, “you arrived to a secured battlefield with active Empire command, no civilian got hurt permanently, All Empire Capes taken down with non-lethal means including that Albino bastard.. Minimal injuries even towards the Empire 88 goons, I kept it clean and- ”

  “That’s not the metric,” Miss Militia said sharply. “The metric is control. Accountability.”

  I nodded once. “Then account for it? To me, it seems like I did a good job overall, Everything is done quite well if I say so myself” The SCV’s are already going around restoring the roads, the walls, and any damaged buildings that were caught in the battlefield.

  Miss Militia pointed to the SCVs “Those things aren’t authorized for cleanup!”

  Her eyes flicked away for a moment toward the SCVs..what the hell did my poor bots ever do to you? They are helping., When she looked back, the anger was still there, but tempered.

  “You’re walking a very thin line,” she said. “This was close to vigilantism.” Armsmaster warned me.

  “Vigilantism is reactive,” I rolled my eyes. “This was preemption. This has happened for a long time and I was waiting for any of you to react to it, I gave it a week, and nothing was done to it, Until I came here and find out things were really that bad, they were offering homeless people as initiation sacrifices, forcing the homeless to be hold up here with no food, no recourse to seek help.”

  I pushed even harder “Where were you when this happened?”

  Armsmaster’s visor angled toward Shadow Stalker briefly, then back to me. “You’re also undermining the chain of command. If every capable actor decides they know better then-”

  “Then you’d have competition,” I finished. “I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in the results and doing well so others don’t suffer any longer.”

  He didn’t like that. I could tell by the way his grip tightened on the halberd. “You don’t answer to the PRT, Does it make it right to do whatever you feel is right?” he said.

  “No,” I agreed. “But I don’t work against the PRT either. Don’t force me to? just don’t make me do paper work. I will never do that.”

  Miss Militia studied me, really studied me now not as a problem, but as a variable. “You could’ve coordinated. Even partially.”

  “And risk leaks?” I shook my head. “Empire Eighty-Eight got their nose on yours if I’m not mistaken, hasn’t Dragon found out about your leaks? Tonight worked because they didn’t see it coming, I came here to scout things out, and call in my team for clean up”

  Arrmaster asked “Who’s the team? Why haven’t I seen them before?”

  I just laugh it off “Oh you seen them probably, you probably didn’t think much of them probably due to obscurity”

  Another pause since they can’t refute me. They knew about the leaks of course when Dragon came to Brocton Bay, Monica made sure she knew about it and everything going inside, except coil. Everything else was open game. Not to mention they knew I ran with a crew these days, they just can’t tell who’s with me and who’s not.

  Finally, she spoke more quietly. “You can’t keep doing this. One night, someone misreads a move. One night, an innocent gets caught between your ‘collaborators’ and a cape like Victor. And then what?”

  Armsmaster straightened. “The PRT will file this as an unauthorized intervention. There will be reviews.”

  Miss Militia sighed, the fight draining out of her posture. “For what it’s worth,” she said, “I don’t like how this was done…but Brockton Bay is quieter tonight.”

  I inclined my head slightly. “You’re welcome. I’m still not doing any paper work nonsense, you’re gonna have to wait for my adjutant to come back when- uhh..she’s supposed to be here soon.”

  Well, Monica was supposed to appear in this operation, guess she couldn’t make it. That really derailed some of my plans away.

  The PRT would debate this for weeks. Protocols would be revised. Lines would be redrawn. Empire Eighty-Eight wouldn’t be doing anything for a long while, I have a feeling that these guys will be bailed out later when they transfer them. Not my problem.

  The night had almost finished settling when the sky tore open.

  It wasn’t dramatic at first, just a low, unfamiliar hum that didn’t belong to helicopters or jets. Armsmaster’s head snapped up instantly, visor flaring as he scanned. Miss Militia followed his gaze a half second later.

  Then the clouds above downtown Brockton Bay split apart.

  Blue fire burned downward as a dropship punched through the overcast, heavy and angular, nothing like any aircraft the PRT had on record. Its thrusters rattled windows three blocks out as it slowed, hovering with deliberate confidence over an empty stretch of street the PRT had just cleared.

  Armsmaster’s halberd came up. “Unidentified hostile-” as he read to aim at the Dropship.

  “Stand down,” I said.

  Both of them looked at me.

  “I know that ship.” Oh yeah, I know that dropship alright.The dropship’s ramp slammed open midair. The first thing out was TracerLena Oxton laughing as she blinked down in a flash of blue light, boots hitting pavement like gravity was optional.

  “Oi! Wow, you really know how to roll out the welcome party,” she said, hands on her hips, chrono-accelerator humming cheerfully. “Missed us, Commander?”

  Behind her, the street shook as Trainwreck landed hard on the pavement caving it in, Marauder armor screaming as hydraulics absorbed the impact. The suit was scorched, dented, and very clearly fresh from combat shoulder-mounted cannons cycling down with a mechanical growl. He didn’t point them at anyone, but he didn’t power them off either.

  “Ooops, my bad. SCvs can fix that, yeah? Sorry for the drop” He said feeling a little guilty for it. Then the last figure descended controlled, precise, boots touching down as if she’d stepped off a stair instead of dropped from the sky.

  Monica, My adjutant. PRT troopers panicked and of course, weapons came up. Containment foam launchers whined as they charged towards us. I just rolled my eyes at the over reaction, they really need to learn how to chill out.

  Tracer noticed immediately and raised her hands. “Whoa! Easy there, love. We’re friendly-ish.”

  Monica didn’t bother with humor. She stepped forward, posture straight, eyes already cataloging everyone present.

  “PRT command,” she said clearly. “I’m here to mediate... Jason is under my authority for this operation.” I snapped my head towards this cheeky little bugger, you wot mate?! I’m the Commander and I’m under your command?!

  Armsmaster turned his visor fully on her. “You just violated multiple airspace”

  “And prevented an international incident,” Monica replied calmly. “We’ll trade paperwork later.” Yay! No need paperwork from me!

  Miss Militia stared at the dropship, then at me. “You didn’t mention this level of backup.”

  “I didn’t know they were coming late honesty, or else I’ll tell the rest of em to bugger off except Monica., Sup Monica, how’s New York? Any cool villains out there?” I said truthfully. Monica stopped in front of me and finally allowed herself to exhale.

  “New York was worse,” she said quietly. “Much worse.”

  That got my full attention.

  “A little snippet of report?,” I asked.

  She nodded once. “Empire-linked cells attempted coordination with local extremist capes. We broke it before it reached critical mass. Collateral minimal. Trainwreck took a beating holding a choke point in Queens. I think you might heard of them, the …Gesellschaft? Well, there’s more underground elements over there compared to Brockton Bay, it is…difficult getting the independents to even negotiate.”

  Trainwreck gave a thumbs-up with an armored fist. “Worth it though, got to punch Nazi’s. Over there. Lots of different type of weird powers if you ask me.”

  Tracer leaned in. “You should’ve seen him, Commander. Absolute unit. Bit grumpy, though…Nothing we couldn’t handle in New York!”

  Monica’s eyes flicked back to the PRT capes. “We received confirmation of the Brockton Bay operation midway through extraction after securing our main objectives there, preliminary off shore objectives have been prepared and we were preparing to head back when Jason was summoned us back for an operation,I thought we could make it back with the dropship but…”

  Lena seems rather offended when Monica glared at her “H-hey, don’t shoot the messenger love! Not my fault the dropship works a little bit different from the dropship I’ve piloted with! It certainly didn’t have this many bits and bops, my calculations were a little off, this thing isn’t nearly as fast as the craft I used to pilot!”

  Monica just stares back “ Well, it didn’t matter. Things ended well over here” Guess I made the correct call sending her directly. New York confirms what I needed to know and plan for later.

  Miss Militia wanted to chime in but..decided not to, Armsmaster was flabbergasted and tired and just grunted “ I need my coffee, The PRT doesn’t pay me enough for this”

  I just pat the man, he’s a little overworked “Come on, cheer up, I’ll shared the Dropship schematics if you’re interested”

  That seems to cheer Armsie up, even if he is apprehensive towards what I just did, possibly because he’s gonna be swamped in paper work, and I really don’t do paper work. ugh..How could Monica stand it, I can’t relate. Glad she’s back again. She’s also the reason why I don’t operate actively while she’s gone.

  Can’t stand PRT paperwork.

  I looked up at the dropship still hovering above us, at the unfamiliar tech, the unfamiliar allies, the widening scope of the board we were playing on. Seems like she was able to pull off another base in New York. Knew she could do it, Cant wait to see where it is once we operate in New York.

  "It's good to see you again Commander,” said Monica with her signature fox smile.

  I just laugh it off and nodded as well “Yeah, good to see you, didn’t think I would miss you while you’re gone, I guess I’ve been leaning on you too much while you’re here.” and isn’t that the honest truth? I really do rely on her too much, feeling her absence was really dampening my thoughts and plans around Brockton Bay, not being able to have someone to talk shop with is another matter as well.

  She met my gaze. “I wasn’t planning on staying away. Now..How do we deal with this issue?”

  It’s good to have her back.

  Mostly due to the paperwork issue..ugh.

  **********************

  A/N

  And Monica is back, gonna change things up, leave Brocton Bay and wrap up Coil and then later ABB shenanigans and…viola, we’re off to New York. At least that’s what I wanted to do like 10 chapters ago, but here we are still stuck here, getting derailed by stuff. It’s probably 10 more I reckon give and take knowing my pace and how I write.