Monday— April 18th, 2011.
OPPORTUNITY.
1:45 PM.
This was an opportunity.
What was stopping Tattletale from ditching the Undersiders and the Iron Spider? Was it because of the nanite trackers in her bloodstream? Was it out of fear of the Entomancer? Was it for her loyalty and love for the Undersiders? Her answer to all of these questions was all the same— no.
If she read the Iron Spider right and she was always right, then she would be able to escape him if she put all her effort. For one, the Spider didn’t know her ‘real civilian’ identity. For two, the Spider wasn’t as vindictive and controlling as Coil. For three, she had enough resources to cut a deal with a Tinker to get rid of the nanite trackers in her bloodstream. For four, Tattletale was prepared in more ways than one on how to leave Brockton Bay without outing herself.
Years of paranoia, thinking, and creating countermeasures had pushed her to create all sorts of egress points all over Brockton Bay. This was wholly ineffective against Coil since Coil would always know her thoughts, but Coil was no longer here.
What was the reason Tattletale stayed?
‘This was an opportunity, and I sure won’t screw it up,’ Tattletale grinned as she revved up the engine of the appropriated bike. ‘Don’t let Bakuda get too far away or my powers won’t reach her. Just stay on her six and track her from outside her line of sight.’
The passersby scattered at the sight of Tattletale. The Boardwalk was almost empty of people… The last time Tattletale saw Bakuda, she was similarly riding a bike. According to her powers, the bike wasn’t tinker tech. That was a silver lining to this situation, meaning Bakuda’s tech creation wasn’t as broad as she initially thought. Judging by how creative Bakuda’s bombs were, Tattletale feared for the worse.
The dynamic between Iron Spider and Entomancer was unclear. Tattletale felt the two had co-leadership in their relationship, but her powers told her that Entomancer was the better leader, which was reflected in Entomancer’s powers to control lots of insects. But the Spider was still the ‘better cape’ of the two… It was very vague, but Tattletale’s powers felt greatness from Peter Parker.
Tattletale swerved her bike to avoid the incoming bullets as ABB members riding a truck outflanked her.
“Fuck,” She cursed as Bakuda revealed herself from an elevated position.
Bakuda wore large, opaque goggles perched on her forehead, ready to be pulled down at a moment's notice. Her face was obscured by a menacing metal mask, equipped with a gas mask filter, hinting at the deadly weapons she could unleash. A braided cord of black, yellow, and green wires draped over her shoulders, adding to her intimidating presence.
“I knew someone was tailing me,” hissed Bakuda, her voice was distorted and had a robotic monotone ring to it. “Get her!”
ABB goons peeked from over the windows and rained hell on Tattletale.
The sound of gunfire filled the air as Tattletale skillfully maneuvered her bike through the chaotic streets of Brockton Bay. Bakuda, with her bazooka in hand, aimed and launched its deadly payload towards Tattletale.
‘Timed. Napalm. Incendiary with an amplified radius,’ Tattletale analyzed her situation while keeping an eye on her surroundings. ‘Time lag of roughly 0.02 seconds. Almost an instant. I have to be fast.’
With quick reflexes, Tattletale veered sharply to the side, narrowly avoiding the missile head. She swung her arm and slapped the payload to the sides. It didn’t explode immediately. With precise timing, she let go of her hands from the bike and flew at a 35-degree angle to a stall with crates of cabbages.
The payload exploded in a spray of flames, landing on three buildings and a good chunk of the street.
Debris scattered across the road behind her. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, while her blurry vision returned to focus. Tattletale forced herself up and winced as a few bullets grazed her. It was either she was lucky or she was just that good at dodging bullets… Of course, it was the latter.
Dark smoke blasted everywhere— this power was familiar.
Tattletale felt a hand on her shoulder, “Grue, took you a long while. Where are the others?”
“I never knew you for someone who would put this much effort into confronting danger,” Grue took her by the hand and guided her under the dark smoke. “I thought you liked staying in the back?”
Tattletale let him guide her, though she didn’t need it since she could see under the dark smoke to a derivative extent. “This is an opportunity. Without Coil, I would be able to restart my Cape career…” And maybe while at it, take advantage of the Spider and what ‘Undersiders’ would soon become.
Grue led them through the dark alleyway where Angelica awaited them, her monstrous form looming in the shadows. Grue effortlessly mounted the terrier, extending a hand to help Tattletale up onto the creature's back.
"We need to come up with a plan," Tattletale said, her voice firm with resolve. "Bakuda won't stop until she gets what she wants. Intentions are still unclear. However, short contact made it possible for me to surmise her destination is the Rig."
Grue nodded in agreement, his expression masked by his helmet. "We know as much," he replied. "Spider told us she’s most likely to attack the Rig with Oni Lee and steal Armsmaster’s technology."
“Hello? Grue? Tattletale? Anyone? Bitch was tracking Bakuda… Lots of ABB thugs in here with guns…” Their comms buzzed as Regent updated them on what was happening. “We are losing them fast, I am going to split from Bitch, decoy vehicles were scattering, and we cannot see clearly where Bakuda is. Maybe if the dogs have her scent, we’ll have it easy.”
"We need to intercept her before she reaches the Rig," Tattletale stated to the comms with a decisive tone. "Regent and Bitch, head to the coast. Ping us your location if you find her."
Grue nodded in agreement, his voice grim beneath his helmet. "We'll split up. Regent, keep tracking Bakuda from the ground and ignore the ABB thugs. Bitch, if you are hearing this, then please don’t kill anyone. We’ll ping you our location once we confirm the visuals of Bakuda. Tattletale, tell me where to go."
“Straight,” she replied, “I’ll tell you if there are any ambushes in the way. Let’s hunt this wench, and prove everyone the Undersiders aren’t some small-time villains, yeah?”
Grue smirked, “You always know what to say to raise morale, let’s go.”
Tattletale tightened her grip on Angelica's fur as Grue guided the monstrous terrier forward. They raced through the streets, the sound of gunfire and explosions echoing around them. Tattletale's mind whirred with possibilities, calculating their chances of success.
For once, Tattletale liked her odds.
They reached the Ferry Station North. It was anti-climactic since Tattletale thought the ABB would have a secret warehouse and secret docking area. To think they were thinking of taking hostage a place as public as the Ferry Station. Bakuda stood over a medium-sized vessel while ABB thugs milled around and threatened civilians on the boat. Tattletale's eyes narrowed as she observed the scene, quickly analyzing the layout and potential threats.
"We need to move fast," she murmured to Grue, her voice was low but urgent. "Bakuda's already making her move. This is a multiple-stage plan, and we don’t know what else is at play. We are yet to confirm visuals of Oni Lee."
Grue nodded, his jaw set beneath his mask. "I just pinged our location to Regent. They should be here soon… What are the odds that Oni Lee can multiply Bakuda’s bombs?”
“Tell me, was it one of Regent’s conspiracy theories?” Tattletale scoffed but inwardly, she grimaced as she didn’t think of that possibility. “I am a ‘Thinker’, and not a fortune teller…” She bit back the words of annoyance as she slipped off Angelica's back trying her best not to aggravate her wounds. Her wounds weren’t so deep, but they were getting annoying.
She scanned the area, searching for any weaknesses or vulnerabilities they could exploit. The civilians on the boat were in danger, and they needed to act quickly to neutralize the threat.
“We have two options. Option one, infiltrate and wait for it to sail then we confront them. Pros: Bakuda would be strapped on what kind of bombs to use because she risked sinking the boat with her. Cons: We won’t have any backup with us, and we risk the hostages.”
“The second option?” Grue asked, and Tattletale complied.
“We attack now, sabotage their engine, and pin them down. Pros: We’ll have a backup on time, and an opportunity to free their hostage as long as they are docked. Cons: Bakuda wouldn’t be afraid to use more creative bombs.”
Grue nodded in agreement with Tattletale's assessment. "Option two it is," he confirmed, his voice becoming firm with determination. "We can't risk letting Bakuda have any more time to execute her plan. We'll take out their engine, neutralize the threat, and ensure the safety of the hostages."
Under Tattletale’s guidance, they reached the dock where the boat was moored without getting spotted. They left Angelica hidden from the prairie because she was too eye-catching. Tattletale scanned the area for any signs of surveillance or traps. “Give me a boost.”
They were on an adjacent boat, and Tattletale estimated they should be able to make it. Grue squatted, layered his palms under his crotch, and then Tattletale ran to him. The second she stepped on Grue’s palms, Grue pulled and propelled her upwards. At the last second, Tattletale jumped from Grue’s palm and ascended to the other vessel where the ABB goons weren’t looking.
Tattletale rolled, thus softening her momentum. The second she recovered, she pressed her earpiece and talked. “I’ll deal with whatever needs disabling. Create a distraction, and free the hostages if you can.”
“Copy that,” Grue responded with a hint of exhilaration in his voice.
.
.
.
Monday— April 18th, 2011.
GRUE’S REPUTATION.
2:05 PM.
Walking in broad daylight towards the elevated entrance of the boat was a power move that surely attracted the attention of the ABB gangers.
Every thug that dared raise their weapons to him was blinded by his power, making them panic and blindly firing their guns. It created enough chaos for him to walk right through their defenses. It was a far simpler trick than it might appear. Step one, send black smoke to their faces. Step two, hide and let them empty their bullets. Step three, walk to them and then clock them in their faces.
He was yet to enter the vessel, but he was already facing quite the opposition.
Grue walked to the upper deck of the vessel unimpeded. He unleashed the dark shadowy smoke at full force the second he arrived at the upper deck. There were a lot of tied hostages and ABB thugs carrying guns on the deck. He counted 20 hostages and 30 assailants, but that didn’t scare him.
“Don’t fire,” shouted one of the thugs. “Gather on me, it is a fucking cape!”
Replies either in Mandarin or Japanese resounded back, not that Grue cared what they were crying for… Grue simply drew a knife under his belt and began untying the hostages. He would gently tap them on their shoulders and point them toward where to escape.
Grue hoped they wouldn’t end up in a stampede.
“This is Regent, do you copy, Grue?”
“Yes, where are you?” Grue pressed his earpiece while he proceeded freeing more hostages.
Regent replied, “Doing fucking crowd control just outside the ship, seeing to the escaping hostages.” I don’t know I might get used to playing the crowd from now on. Hey you! Yes, you! No running! Do you want me to snap your arm in the wrong direction? Look out for the dark shadows in your back, man! No running!”
Grue sighed with relief, “That’s good,” With Regent’s powers, it wouldn’t at least end up in a stampede. He continued, “Bitch, do you copy? Do you see the boat adjacent to this ship? Launch yourselves from there and attack from the other side of the ship.”
“Copy that,” Bitch tersely replied.
There was a reason why Grue was the publicly recognized leader of the Undersiders.
Before Undersiders had been founded, Grue already had a reputation as a B-list villain. For Grue, reputation meant everything to those who were in his line of business. “Let’s finish this for good.”
