A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!
A pn is decided upon and then enacted.
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"… We can't just leave them down there, whoever they are. Especially not if they know we're here and are asking for help. Call Vicky… and then call Fletchette too for good measure. See how fast she can get on the phone with Legend. One way or another though… we're going in."
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Coil was not having a very good week. He'd certainly had better ones. Such as the week where he'd finally dispced Emily Piggot and taken over as Director of the PRT in Brockton Bay. Now that had been a very, very good week. And since then he'd had nothing but win after win, really.
It was all thanks to the two young dies he'd picked up all those months ago, of course. Lisa Wilbourne, aka Sarah Livsey… and Dinah Alcott, the Mayor's Niece. Grabbing Lisa off of the Boardwalk and Dinah away from Brockton Bay University in the early morning had been quite the coup on Coil's part. With the two of them reinforcing his own abilities, he'd been able to effectively simute and pn out the perfect path to victory, one that had led him to where he was now.
Not just the PRT Director of Brockton Bay, not just a vilinous power in the city with a sizable chunk of territory… but both. He was pying both sides against each other at this point and so long as he didn't misstep, it should have been impossible for anything to stand in his way.
Should have been, anyways. The past week… Coil had been reminded that in a world of parahumans and esoteric abilities, there was always a chance of something going awry. In this case, his test very literal headache came in the form of two new Independent Heroes that had shown up in his office a couple nights back. Portent and Weaver.
Normally, Coil wouldn't have cared all that much. Independents in Brockton Bay came and went and their life expectancy was even lower than in other parts of the country due to how violent the Bay could get. He would have pushed harder to recruit them to the Protectorate under normal circumstances, maybe even giving them the hard sell or strong arming them if he thought it possible.
There was one simple reason he hadn't, however. The moment Coil had id eyes on Portent and Weaver for the first time, his power had immediately shut down and left him stranded in just one timeline with a splitting headache.
Fortunately for the sake of his cover, the first time Coil had perceived the two Independent Heroes had been through a security camera. Everything had been just fine when he'd been told about them and that they'd captured Hookwolf and were on their way to the PRT HQ.
But the moment that he'd gnced at them through the security cameras in his office, Coil's hidden parahuman ability had failed him and left him with no choice but to hunker down and handle things very, very… diplomatically. He could tell that the likes of Armsmaster were surprised by just how soft of a sell Coil had wound up going with for Portent and Weaver. The truth was his strategy had been twofold.
One, he didn't know what exactly was going on with his power and didn't want to risk everything by acting hastily. Two, he didn't necessarily want either of them to join up with the Protectorate anyways, especially if the mere act of perceiving them was enough to cause his power to fall apart.
Of course, it was worse than that. Over the st couple of days since meeting with the two Independent Capes, Coil had done some experimenting. What he'd discovered so far had its ups and downs. On the one hand, he now knew for a fact that Portent specifically was the problem. Weaver controlled bugs and that was it.
On the other hand, that didn't help as much as it should have. Any attempts at interacting with Portent sent his powers on the fritz. Any attempt at asking direct questions about Portent gave Dinah a nosebleed and put HER powers on the fritz.
Lisa's power was a little bit more merciful in that it simply remained silent when he presented the man to her. As far as her abilities were concerned, he simply… didn't exist.
This, obviously, wasn't good. Coil had already sent a message to Accord looking for unique solutions to his problem. The sooner he got rid of Portent, or failing that, drove him out of the city, the better.
For now though, it was business as usual. He'd left his office at the PRT Headquarters as Thomas Calvert and come here to his main base where he'd changed into his costume and become Coil once more. Meanwhile, his body double had changed into his clothes and taken his car to his home where he would stay for the rest of the night while Coil got some work done.
Living a double life could be exhausting at times and living it across multiple timelines was something else entirely. But it was worth it. All of it was worth it. Having arrived in his office deep underground in the bunker that nobody else in the city even knew existed, Coil had taken care of some minor things at his computer for a bit before splitting his timelines once more.
In one, he'd stayed at his computer and began working on rger tasks. In the other, the one he intended to throw away, he'd descended into the depths of his underground base to where Dinah and Lisa were waiting for him.
As it so happened, Portent was not the first instance in which Coil had discovered his power had… limitations. When he'd first had Dinah Alcott kidnapped from the university all those months ago, Coil had initially believed himself to be unstoppable with her power at his disposal.
After all, his own power should have been perfect for getting around the physical limitations she dealt with. Too many questions in one day and she was rendered useless… but he could have as many timelines as he wanted, right?
Well no, as it turned out that had been wrong. Asking Dinah multiple questions in multiple timelines turned out to be a losing proposition. Her daily allotment of questions before she became unable to speak from the pain was shared across every timeline he tried to open.
It was a shame, but even if he couldn't ask her endless questions all day long across dozens of timelines, having her was still better than not having her. In fact, of his two Thinker tools, Coil definitely preferred Dinah over Lisa. The tter could be far more… snarky at times, despite the regimens they were both on to keep them docile and compliant.
Unfortunately, Lisa needed to be able to talk more and expin more while Dinah only needed to be able to answer his questions with percentages. As such, Lisa was on a lower dose than her fellow Thinker.
"I-It hurts…"
Sighing, Coil shakes his head at Dinah. He's already asked her most of the questions he has for the day, but like always, he's going to push for one more because that's just the type of man he is. It's always better to test the limits of his tools, after all.
"Just one more question, my dear, and then we're done. What are the chances that anyone within the Protectorate or PRT will find out my true identity in the next week?"
Dinah scrunches up her face in a grimace, the question clearly causing no small amount of pain for the coed. Finally though, she shudders and gives him a gasped answer.
"One… o-one hundred percent."
Coil's eyes widen at that and he immediately goes stiff. One hundred percent? He only ever got an answer like that if the true answer was that they already DID know. Initially, he almost reaches for Dinah and demands to know who it would be, but he manages to hold himself back on that front. She wouldn't be able to answer such a question after all, something he knew full well from experience.
No, that kind of question… was exactly why he kept his other tool around. Whirling about, Coil snarls.
"Lisa! I know you heard her answer. Tell me who knows. Who among the PRT or the Protectorate would have possibly been able to find out who I am?!"
Lisa doesn't answer. She's hanging halfway out of her bed at the moment, her one hand cuffed to the bed board in a way that has her arm twisted behind her. Meanwhile, her other arm is off the bed, tracing something on the floor. Brow furrowing, Coil walks around the bed with a growl, determined to get into Lisa's field of view.
"Lisa. Lisa, I know you can hear me! You little bitch, what are you-!"
That's when he sees it. There on the floor, Lisa is tracing with her index finger. It looks nonsensical at first, but then he notices the ant resting on the tip of her finger as she… as she traces letters.
H… E… L… P…
Over and over again. Coil's eyes widen and he immediately rushes forward, grabbing her finger and crushing it at the same time that he kills the ant. As Lisa screams in pain, Coil snarls and prepares to end this timeline… but he never gets the chance.
There are shouts from the guards in the room with him and Coil whips around to behold a portal opening in midair. For a single, heart stopping moment he thinks its THEM… but no. Instead of THEM, its Portent and Weaver who step through into his underground base, where they have no business being and should have no knowledge of its existence.
Immediately, the timeline where Coil was sitting in his office a few floors up, the timeline he'd intended to keep once he was done questioning Lisa and Dinah for the day… winks out. A shaky gasp leaves his lips and his hand goes to his head as a splitting migraine takes the pce of his power, leaving him unable to so much as shout orders while Portent and Weaver take down the guards before either can even fire off a shot.
By the time Coil's Thinker-induced headache subsides enough for him to function like a normal human being again, his guards have both been frozen in pce by the same ability Portent used to take down Hookwolf. The room is also bnketed with chittering bugs covering the walls, ceiling, and floor, coming out of the portal that Portent and Weaver have stepped through and swiftly converging on Coil himself.
He'd intended to get anti-bug technology from Accord along with a permanent solution to his Portent problem, but he hadn't had the time. It'd only been a couple days, for fuck's sake!
Just as Coil is considering his options, the entire room, no… the entire bunker suddenly shakes. Portent and Weaver look up and then at each other before looking to him.
"That would be Glory Girl. Surrender Coil. You're not getting out of this."
Behind him, Lisa begins to giggle… and to his fury, Dinah joins her a moment ter, both young women giggling at his expense as he stands there, shaking with impotent rage.
This… this was not how things ended, damn it! This was not how he went out!
But even as that thought burns hot in his mind, the base shakes around him some more and Coil has to admit… the situation has become quite dire, quite fast.
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The Vote:
[ ] Stick with Coil's POV - 10%[ ] Switch to Jason's POV - 13%[ ] Switch to Dinah's POV - 17%[X] Switch to Lisa's POV - 60%
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A/N: Will try to keep this up to date at the end of every chapter, get on me if I forget please. Though if it gets too out of hand, might have to change it at some point.
Jason's current banked points:
100 Celestial Points
Jason's current banked power:
= Lucky Charm (200 Points)
Jason's current powers:
= Fsh Air (Gained in Chapter 1= Transformation Pendant (Gained in Chapter 4)= Keen Eye (Gained in Chapter 4)= Blood, Death, and Demons (Gained in Chapter 6)= Alchemical Prodigy (Gained in Chapter 8)= Staff of Magnus (Gained in Chapter 13)= Bind and Seal (Gained in Chapter 17)= Hero of a Hundred Faces: Everyone's Leader (Gained in Chapter 20)= Minor Regeneration via Blood Empowerment Ritual (Gained in Chapter 23)(Taylor got Major Agility, Vicky got Major Intelligence)= Restraining Order (Gained in Chapter 25)= Focus (Gained in Chapter 28)= Scarborough Fair (Gained in Chapter 30)= Chaos Magic (Gained in Chapter 36)= Major Regeneration via Blood Empowerment Ritual (Gained in Chapter 40)(Taylor, Vicky, and Amy all got Minor Regeneration)= A Collection of Magic Rings (x6 Cursed Rings, x12 Drawback Rings, x6 Buff Rings) (Gained Chapter 44)= Jason: T3 Armor Ring + Blue Ring, Taylor: T3 Armor Ring + Expert's Ring, Vicky: Red Ring + T2 Heart Ring, Amelia: T3 Armor Ring + T2 Heart Ring (Handed out Chapter 46)
