Dragon made an odd sound in my ear and then she sighed fairly loudly. “Alex, you need to see this. Check your phone.”

It beeped at me and I took it out of my pocket to check it. On it was a notice from the PRT of a cape incident at a junior high school with almost a hundred witnesses seeing a teen girl matching Vista's description casually walking away from the building as the ground around her rose to match her steps.

“Dammit.” I said and stood. “I'm sorry, Carol. I have to break my promise to stay inside. Vista needs me again.”

Mark's gaze moved from the television to my face. “I'll let her know you didn't have a choice.”

“Thanks, Mark.” I said and patted his shoulder, then I ran for the upstairs balcony at the back of the house. I leapt out through the still open patio doors and flew at my best speed to Vista's school. It had been several minutes before the alert had worked its way through the system and I needed to see what direction she had headed away from the school.

Unfortunately, when I arrived at her school, a lot of people were freaking out over the practically destroyed classroom Vista had wrecked and all of the students that had been altered and killed. I knew better, however. A quick use of Nilbog's power told me they were all still alive and they still had all of their parts, just they were twisted and distorted by Vista's spacial manipulation power.

“Dragon, I think she triggered again.” I said and didn't bother hiding myself as I went to each twisted desk and touched the exposed flesh. It only took me a few seconds to diagnose them and use both Nilbog's power combined with my own damage absorption ability to restore them back to their real bodies and left the twisted metal and wood of their desks and chairs where they were.

Everyone that saw me undo the things Vista had done, stared at me and at each of the students that I restored to perfect health. The only one to say anything was the teacher when I returned her to her voluptuous form.

“I want my clothes, too!” She gasped and covered her breasts with an arm and her crotch with a hand.

“I'm sorry, I can only heal flesh and bone.” I lied and flew over to the perfectly formed door at the side of the room. I looked at where the ground had odd patches where Vista had unconsciously used her ability to give herself a flat surface to walk on and I turned my gaze to where it headed. “She went home.”

“Alex, you need to get there now.” Dragon's voice said in my ear.

“Traffic cameras?” I asked and flew off at my best speed.

“No, cell phone recordings posted on social media.” Dragon said. “She's... oh, no.”

“Mother or father?” I asked and poured on the speed.

“Both. They had a meeting to discuss the latest restrictions placed on their daughter by the PRT.” Dragon informed me.

“Fuck.” I said and tried to go faster. It wasn't fast enough.

I came to a stop over Vista's civilian home address and the large house had been compressed into a ball the size of my fist. A touch of Nilbog's power told me there were two small biological sources within the compressed ball and both were dead.

“Which way did she go?” I asked and looked around at the pavement and didn't see any differences in the surface to tell me which way she went.

“I'm not picking up anything.” Dragon said in my ear and then she gasped. “The PRT!”

“Solid evidence?” I asked and took off towards the building in the middle of the city.

“Basic extrapolation. She's going after the people that hurt her the most.” Dragon said.

“She can move faster than I can fly if she triggered again.” I told her and poured on the speed. “Her Manton Limit was that her power wouldn't work around people. She is definitely not limited by that anymore.”

“No, she isn't.” Dragon said in my ear. “She just tore open the top floors of the building.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I repeated Amy's cursing from that morning and flew at my best speed towards the PRT building. I came to a stop beside the half-destroyed upper floor and sighed. Weld was a smear on the side of the director's office wall and he looked like he was having a difficult time trying to pull himself back together.

He was still alive, though. Beside his smear on the floor was a bloody mass that was the size of a bowling ball. Director Armstrong's face could be clearly seen, as could his dead eyes and the shocked look on his face.

“Dragon? Any ideas on where she could be?” I asked and looked around. Nothing stood out to me and I tried to not freak out over Vista acting like this.

“There's only one place that she could go after this.” Dragon said.

I didn't need more of a hint than that. “Taylor.” I said and took off at my best speed to head to Arcadia High School. I didn't even have enough time to text Vicky and Amy about Vista going there. Dragon had beaten me to it, thankfully. I heard a beep on my cell phone and I checked it as I arrived near the main building. “Oh, thank god.”

The campus had been evacuated, thanks to Dragon's warning. Taylor, Vicky, and Amy were in the middle of the athletic field behind the school and they were confronting a much more powerful and pissed off Vista. I couldn't hear them talking over everyone's screaming and panicking, so I flew by and slapped my hand on Vista's ass.

Vista yelled at the hit and twisted around at a supernatural speed to face me, only I was already past her and my hand slapped her ass again in the exact same spot. My knockout power kicked in and Vista crumpled to the raised dirt platform she was on and it slowly sank back down into the ground where she had pulled it from.

“She is definitely getting a Birdcage sentence after this.” Dragon said into my ear.

I wanted to protest, except Vista had intentionally killed her parents and Director Armstrong. Weld was a special case, since he was mostly made of living metal and there wasn't much that could kill him, except maybe melting him in a vat of molten steel or something.

“They aren't going to give her a trial, are they?” I asked as I landed beside her.

“Not publicly.” Dragon said as Taylor hugged me and cried on my shoulder. “The sentence is pretty much guaranteed after a rampage like that.”

“What happened?” Vicky asked me.

“I think Vista had a second trigger at school and it removed the Manton Limit on her power.” I said and Amy gasped. “Yeah, it's that bad.”

“Who...” Amy started to ask.

“Her entire class by accident and I saved all of them before they could die from their injuries. Her parents and Director Armstrong were deliberate and I was too late to save them.” I said and Taylor cried harder.

“How could you tell?” Vicky asked, almost as if she had to.

“They were at different locations.” I said and she nodded. It had to be deliberate if you hunted them down and ended them.

“What... what do we do?” Taylor asked.

“We wait for reinforcements.” I said just as sirens blared in the distance. “It won't be long now.”

Taylor cried and both Vicky and Amy hugged us. I looked down at Vista's unmasked face and saw the anger there. Whatever had been said between her and our friends, Vista hadn't liked it.

*

Rebecca Costa-Brown cursed and swore when she saw the report of what had happened in Brockton Bay. Apparently, her reaming out Armstrong hadn't been his only punishment for screwing up with Myriad, because he had been brutally murdered by Myriad's ex-girlfriend and she was being shipped off to the Birdcage. Her conviction was guaranteed with two civilian deaths on her record, too.

It would be a massive public relations hit when it came out, and it would, because there were too many public sightings of Vista tearing across the city. The cell phone videos alone were already generating a lot of views and comments, despite Dragon's attempts to contain the spread. Barely an hour after the incident, everyone had chimed in with their opinions and Vista was publicly convicted before her trial.

“I'm never getting him to sign back up.” Rebecca admitted to herself and she sighed at losing one of the best assets the PRT and Protectorate could have ever had.

The system in place would convict Myriad's ex-girlfriend without question and she would be sent to adult prison, despite her age. The Birdcage didn't have any age restrictions and she would be tossed into the general population without a second thought of what a teenager would suffer in there with hardened criminals.

*

Before the authorities showed up to haul Vista away, I knelt by her unconscious form and took her hand. She didn't have any damage for me to absorb, so I used my copy of Nilbog's power to change her brain to not rely on her Corona Pollentia or Gamma for her powers. It was a cheat I had discovered, because the powers I could grant didn't rely on creating or altering those structures.

When the PRT squads showed up to inject Vista with sedatives and to cover her in containment foam, I finally figured out what I was going to do. I was going with her. I stopped them from keeping her unconscious and they yelled and shouted at me to step aside and to let them deal with the dangerous rogue cape.

I laughed at them and picked her up in a princess carry instead. I didn't run away with her, though. I calmly walked over to the containment vehicle and the trooper beside the back door opened it for me. I climbed in and sat down on the hard steel bench mounted to the wall and held Vista in my arms.

What none of them realized was that I had defeated her with her new unlocked power, so I had gained it as well. If I had to describe it with words, it used to be like using a foot to grab things and now it was like I could use a fully functioning hand with articulated fingers to do the same thing. It was so much more versatile that it was shocking. I didn't tell anyone I had gained it, though.

When Vista was eventually tried and summarily sentenced to the Birdcage, she wouldn't be going in there alone. It was the least I could do for her after everything that had happened. Surprisingly, the troopers that climbed into the back with us only halfheartedly tried to convince me to let her go and to get out.

We arrived at the PRT's main building and the transport's doors opened. I wasn't surprised to see most of the Brockton Bay's Protectorate members were there waiting for us. A cape going villain was a huge thing and they all looked angry and upset, especially Miss Militia.

Someone must have called ahead, because none of the capes said anything to me and I followed a trooper inside to the holding cells. It wasn't until I sat down inside the cell as well that Miss Militia spoke up.

“Alex, you have to exit the cell before she wakes up.” Miss Militia said.

“No, I don't.” I responded.

“Alex...”

“It's the PRT's fault she triggered again.” I said and she caught her breath. “You don't think it's a coincidence that the day after they screw her over and cut her off from the people she loves, she loses it and confronts the people she held responsible?”

Miss Militia sighed. “Alex, you... you didn't do anything to warrant...”

“I arranged Hookwolf's disappearance and subsequent murder.” I interrupted her and she gasped. “Armsmaster's lie detection software can confirm that I'm not lying.”

“Why?” Miss Militia asked.

“He was a blight to decency and he had to be put down.” I said to her and she sighed. “I didn't do it under the purview of the Wards, because I wasn't under contract since just before the S9 showed up.”

Miss Militia didn't say anything else and shut the door of the cell. “Don't try to escape.”

“Why would I escape? I'm staying here with Vista. Neither of us are a Ward and don't have anything restricting us from being together.” I said.

Miss Militia nodded and walked away.

“Do you mean it?” Vista asked in a whisper. “What I did worked?”

I smiled down at her. “I believe you topped Vicky's normal reaction to being upset, which is minor property destruction. If she's not happy, everyone needs to know about it, apparently.”

Vista smiled back at me. “I didn't mean to kill the students in my class. My power...”

“I know. I healed them already.” I said and she looked surprised. “You don't think I'd let you suffer the guilt of so many accidental deaths, do you?”

“My parents...”

“...are still inside the ball that used to be your house and Director Armstrong is still a bowling ball.” I said and she nodded. “Weld is metal, so he was partially reformed when I last saw him.”

“How do you kill a pile of sentient metal?” Vista asked. “I couldn't do anything to him except squeeze him together, which did nothing, so I spread him out and he stopped moving.”

“You dismember him and melt him down in a vat of molten metal, preferably steel. The liquid state and extreme heat would stop his powers from absorbing anything.” I told her.

“Oh.” Vista said and smiled. “That would work. Thanks for the idea.”

“It's no trouble.” I said and then chuckled.

“What is it?” Vista asked as her hand reached up and she caressed my cheek.

“I went to the Dallons to get Carol to work on my ward of the state situation and she offered me her guest room. She also told me to stay inside the house and to not get into trouble. I told Amy I would look for it and avoid it.”

Vista's hand moved down and her fingertips slid across my bottom lip. “You technically did.”

“I ended it, yes.” I said and looked into her eyes. “I'm sorry about what I did.”

Vista looked back into my eyes and sighed. “You don't mean about the fight we didn't have.”

“No.” I said and leaned in close to whisper. “I had sex with someone else this morning.”

Vista opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She didn't stop staring into my eyes for several minutes. “It wasn't Vicky.”

“No, she's fairly deep into Amy's pocket and I wouldn't ruin that, even if her claim of having fantastic tits is true.” I said and Vista softly laughed. “It was Carol after I healed her of nearly two decades of depression, fear, and anxiety.”

“She jumped on the first available dick after you made her so happy.” Vista guessed and I nodded. “Why am I not angry at you for cheating on me?”

“Carol said we were no longer together and we both know she's right.”

“Even now?” Vista asked me.

“Especially now. Neither of us should go right back into the same problems we had before.”

“Me. I'm not ready.” Vista said, sadly.

“Me, too. I shouldn't have pushed you into moving so fast.” I said and used a hand to cup the side of her face. “I just love you so much that I wanted to express it.”

Vista looked thoughtful for several seconds. “Even Taylor thought it was too soon and she loved it.”

“She did have two people that love her, go at her with everything they had.” I let her face go and put it back under her knees to continue holding her.

Vista smiled. “We did have a lot of fun making her squeal.”

“You did it a lot more than I ever did.” I reminded her and she blushed. “I wasn't accusing you of anything, Vista. You love her and you needed her to hold you when I couldn't. I could never be angry about that. She kept you safe.”

Vista looked away from my face and at the secured cell door. “They took both of you away from me.”

“They did and you made them pay for it.” I said and she looked back at my face. “You're probably being sent to the Birdcage for it, too.”

“I know, Alex. I... I just...” Vista's voice trailed off.

“Nothing else seems to matter?” I guessed and she nodded. “I've been sitting on Carol's couch all day staring blankly at the television because I had no idea what I was supposed to do.”

Vista tilted her head slightly. “What do you mean was?”

“I know what to do now.” I smiled at her. “I'm going to the Birdcage with you.”

Vista blinked her eyes at me several times. “Wh-what?”

“Dragon told me what it's like in there and there is no way I am going to let you go into such a dangerous situation alone.” I said and she stared at me. “There is a minor problem with living arrangements, since the men and women are supposed to be held in different parts of the facility...”

“...then we'll make our own space inside.” Vista said. “That's assuming we get to keep our powers.”

“There's no restraining collars or anything like that. Some of the cape powers are so bullshit that there's no real way to keep them contained, except by tossing the capes into a deep dark hole and hope they don't all kill each other.”

Vista looked at the cell door and back at my face. “Why can't they just leave?”

“There's a reason the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center is nicknamed the Birdcage.” I said and her eyes widened. “It's inside a hollowed out mountain in the Canadian Rockies and it dangles by an elevator shaft that is the only physical connection it has.”

“But... wait... how...” Vista stammered.

“Dragon won't give away any secrets, not even to me. I can only guess that it's surrounded by either compressed space or vacuum with traps spread all over that are so elaborate that any cape would die if they breached the outer walls.”

“That is a remarkably accurate guess, Alex.” Dragon said in my ear.

“Dragon said my guess is accurate.” I said to Vista.

“You can talk to her?” Vista asked, surprised.

“Sure, I can. I open my mouth, words come out, and she hears them and responds. It's amazing.”

Vista smacked my chest with a hand. “You know what I meant.”

“I agreed to always have her in my ear and she gave me one of her sub-dermal implants.” I said and Vista looked at my ears to find out which one it was. “Whatever ear you choose, it's the other one.”

Vista huffed and smiled at me. “We're going to prison for murder and you can still joke?”

“Well, one murder on my behalf might not be enough, so when they transport us to the courthouse for a hearing, or rushed trial if they are feeling antsy, I'll make sure I have enough to guarantee myself a one way ticket.”

“Alex, you don't have to do this.” Vista said.

“No, I don't.” I said and leaned down to give her a soft and tender kiss. “It wasn't until I saw them coming to take you away from me forever that I realized I never want that to happen.”

“But... all your money... your freedom...” Vista whispered.

“It's all meaningless without you in my life.” I said and Vista looked flattered. “So, I'm sticking by you, my dearest Vista, for as long as you can stand to have me.”

Vista blushed briefly and then smiled. “We are going to rule that place.”

I couldn't help saying what I said next. “Fucking right we are.”

Dragon's soft cursing drifted through my ear implant and I grinned.