Between my hanging threat and the approaching promise of violence from my golems, the majority of the Merchants surrendered almost immediately. A few tried to make a run for it, only for Crow to phase out of the shadows and take them down pretty quickly, smacking them around with her crowbar.

The gangers that didn't run or surrender immediately focused their ire on me, firing whatever guns they had. It was only after I stood there, bullets slapping against my overcoat's armor and deforming, before falling to the ground uselessly, that even they surrendered.

Weapons were gathered, and the police were called, as were the PRT, since we had both capes and regular civilians on our hands. I stabilized Skidmark, just making sure he wasn't dead or my electric attack didn't upset his heart, before sinking a knockout spark into his chest to confirm he would be out for several more hours.

Once we had everyone on their knees, with the golems and Crow watching over them, I went inside the bus to make sure it was clear. I half expected Squealer to be waiting inside, setting up some sort of tinker ambush or last-ditch escape attempt. Instead, I found her with a shard of shrapnel in her stomach and a cut along her head from when I zapped the bowling ball cannon. In all likelihood, she also had deeper trauma as well, so I quickly patched her up enough to be safe to move. When my scan came back at an acceptable level, I dragged her outside and laid her next to Skidmark before slapping her with a knockout zap as well.

It wasn't long after that that the Protectorate showed up. Assault and Battery arrived first on foot, using their powers to quickly traverse the city. Not long after they showed up, Armsmaster arrived on his overly loud Motorcycle.

I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting the highly regarded tinker yet, but I had done enough research to recognize him on sight. While Assault and Battery focused on first scanning and clearing the perimeter, the blue-armored hero immediately made his way to me. I was standing beside the two unconscious Merchant capes, keeping an eye on them in case they needed another knockout dose. I was pretty sure neither of them had a regeneration or brute rating, so it was doubtful they would wake up early. Still, better safe than sorry.

"Arcanum, Crow," The bearded cape greeted confidently, nodding to each of us with his halberd affixed to his back. "Are the suspects stabilized?"

"Yes, they are safe to be moved," I assured him. "Skidmark has some exterior bruises and a few hairline fractures on his left arm, and Squealer has some internal bruising and at least a few fractured bones in her hands."

As far as I could tell, Squealer had been manning the bowling ball turret when I energetically disabled it, putting her in the blast zone for when its charge cooked off. The kickback did the damage to her hands and threw her across the interior of the modified bus.

"Very well."

I looked at Crow when he said nothing beyond that, simply bending over to run a scanner over the capes before nodding and turning to the bus. Immediately, he began to examine and scan it, carefully cracking open a hatch I hadn't even noticed to look inside. I cocked my head to the side and opened my mouth, only for Assault to pat my shoulder.

"Don't mind him, he has a bit of a one-track mind when it comes to… well, everything," He explained with a wince. "The standard procedure for any Protectorate tinker is, after the criminals are reasonably secure, to confirm that no tinker tech is unstable or potentially threatening."

"Gotcha. Well, As far as we know, it's just Squealer and Skidmark for capes," I said with a frown. "Unless you know of anyone joining up with them?"

"Nope, no news there," He confirmed. "Our wagon will be here shortly, and the BBPD shouldn't be far behind."

"Good. We should do this fast. I don't know how long the ABB is gonna stay quiet with all of us grouped up like this," I pointed out, getting a sympathetic wince from the red-themed cape. "We also saw at least one other group of Merchants beyond the one Manpower and Laserdream were dealing with."

"Yeah…Okay, good point… I'm gonna go see if I can't get Halbeard to speed things up."

Assault walked away, waving to his partner Battery as she kept an eye on the perimeter. I made my way to Crow, who was still keeping an eye on everyone we had captured.

"Crow, do me a favor and go up somewhere and keep an eye on the area," I requested. "And get in contact with Manpower and Laserdream, see how they are doing."

"That third group I saw could be anywhere by now, Arc," She pointed out.

"I know, and I'm worried what sort of shit they are going to start," I said with a frown. "If Laserdream is free, ask her to fly straight up and see if she can spot any issues."

Crow nodded and faded into a nearby shadow, heading towards a fire escape not too far away. Barely a second passed before Assault and Armsmaster returned, the blue and red armor clashing quite a bit as they approached.

"Arcanum, are you aware of the intent behind this attack?" Armsmaster asked, standing rigidly beside his compatriot.

"Beyond pushing into new, more profitable territory?" I suggested. "No, I don't. Why?"

"Simply attempting to establish motive and investigate the scene," Armsmaster responded.

"Oh, that's easy," I responded, looking around the crowd and picking out one of the gangers who still looked very confused. "Let's just ask."

I waded through the gangers, who had been behaving so far, all of them warily watching the golems who stood around them. I grabbed one of the clearly high Merchants, trying my best to ignore the smell, guiding him around the other side of the school bus.

"Arcanum, what are you doing?" Armsmaster asked. "We cannot interrogate before we read them their rights, and we cannot-"

"The PRT or Protectorate can't," I pointed out in response before shaking my head. "Besides, I'm just asking some questions."

I got the guy to sit on some of the ruined track systems attached to the bus before flashing the man with my palm light, casting it wordlessly and flickering it on and off quickly. It took a second, but the man came around enough to focus on me, his yellow, bloodshot eyes heavily dilated.

"What do you want?" he asked, his body jittering as he looked at the two heroes behind me. "I'm not talking."

"Of course you aren't," I agreed easily, nodding along as I reached forward to brush off the dust and dirt off his shoulder. "That would make sense. Both of your gang's capes are lying in a puddle of drool, cuffed and blindfolded. No one is coming to break you out, and you don't strike me as someone who can afford bail. Face it, buddy, your team lost, and now you are screwed. However… If you tell me what is going on, I can put in a good word for you."

"You… really?" he asked, his addled mind latching on to even the hint of coming out of this unscathed.

"Of course! That's how it works, right? Criminal helps the good guys catch a bigger criminal, everything works out," I assured him. "Haven't you ever seen a movie?"

"I… I don't know…"

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"Look, if you can't help me, that's okay," I said, patting his shoulder. "I'll just bring you back and grab the next guy. I'm sure someone is willing to speak up and take what I'm offering. I mean, everyone else will be screwed, but that guy will be fine."

"Well…No, I want it, I'll tell you," he said, looking over his shoulder at the rest of his gang. "See, Skidmark said it would be easy. The ABB doesn't have anyone to protect them, so they are easy pickings."

"That's… an opinion," I stated, shaking my head. "So this whole caravan was on its way to rob an ABB drughouse?"

"And to hurt em before they can fight back!" The man declared a bit more fire in his voice. "They always look down on us, everyone does, so we were gonna show them they aren't no better than us without their big bad dragon fucker."

"Well, congrats, you proved nothing, and now you're going to jail," I said, shaking my head before turning to Assault and Armsmaster. "See, now we know what's going on."

"And potentially damaged the case that the police will bring against him," Armsmaster pointed out with a frown.

"The worst they could do is throw out the info we just learned since it was under questionable circumstances," I pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "He is already at the scene of a crime, is clearly high, was armed with a gun which I'm sure isn't registered to him, and whatever else the cops can get on him."

"You don't plan on putting in a good word for him?" Assault asked, a frown forming. "That's not good for your reputation."

"No, I'll let the BBPD know," I assured him. "Not eager to make myself out to be a liar, not over this."

In truth, how much my "word" would do was questionable at best. I wasn't planning on saying anything beyond telling them he had been helpful in figuring out what was going on before passing on what he had told me.

It took another eight minutes for the PRT and Police wagons to show up and start loading people up. First was Skidmark and Squealer, both of them blessedly still unconscious as they were loaded up and driven away. After that, the police started loading up unpowered gang members, throwing them in the back of police cars and driving away. It took about forty minutes in total for everyone to be cleared off the scene, during which Crow and I both gave our statements.

By the time we finally left to meet up with Manpower and Laserdream, the PRT was beginning to load up and tow away Squealer's bus and the four armored trucks. Armsmaster was on the scene the whole time, shaking his head and watching the process. The man was incredibly stoic. The only emotion I had seen clearly on the exposed parts of his face was annoyance as he examined the scrap vehicles Squealer had made.

As we met up with our New Wave allies, I quickly made sure to give them a quick check-up, healing bruises, scrapes, and one minor laceration. Once they were healed, we had an impromptu meeting on a rooftop near where they had intercepted their group of Merchants.

"I'm glad we managed to take down two groups, as well as the Merchant capes… But I'm concerned about what happened to the third," I admitted, shaking my head. "They just up and vanished."

"They must have been spooked when you ransacked the main group," Laserdream suggested. "Sounds like you handled them pretty well. You started after us and finished before us."

"To be fair, having four bulletproof brutes on hand to coordinate with gave us a pretty big advantage," I pointed out. "Plus, with Crow stopping anyone looking to cut their losses and run for it… I mean, how much time did you guys spend running down people?"

"Not as much as you think, but we appreciate the kind words," Manpower responded with a smile. "But I agree with Laserdream. It's likely they folded and retreated when they realized their leader was down. Unorganized gangs like the Merchants don't last very long when their primary leaders are torn out."

"Okay, so hope for the best, but plan as if the other merchants aren't giving up," Crow said, getting a nod from the older hero. "Sounds like a plan."

We continued on patrol for another two hours before Manpower and Laserdream switched off with Glory Girl, Shielder, and Lady Photon. After sitting down and giving them the short version of our intercepted attack, Crow and I left the rest to the Manpower and Laserdream. We had been patrolling for several hours by that point, and we were both ready for a break. After a quick jump to the PRT to finish healing, I took Olivia out for the promised lunch, though it was actually getting a bit late for it.

Once we were both out of costume, we walked around the city for a bit before ending up at a pizza place that she was familiar with. We ended up getting a pizza to go and taking it to a nearby park to eat.

"So… you and your guys did well today," Olivia said vaguely. "I was just kind of sitting and waiting on the sidelines."

"Maybe, but today was pretty straightforward. Who knows what might happen next time. I mean, think of it this way. We would have been useless if we were trying to keep a low profile," I pointed out. "Different strengths and weaknesses. Besides, just because you got less done doesn't mean what you got done wasn't important. You stopped the… stragglers, I couldn't have done that without you."

"Sure, sure, alright," She responded, taking a big bite of her pizza and chewing it for a moment in silence before talking out the side of her mouth. "So what's next?'

"I'm going home, getting Troy, and then going back to ABB territory," I explained quietly. "I'm going to ride back and forth and scour every inch of their territory for the Farm. This fight taught me I've been underestimating my tools and my allies. We are capable of doing this, and I want the Farm gone. I don't care if I have to spend the rest of the week awake looking for it."

"Okay… I'll ask around, see if I can't narrow down your search area," She offered. "But you better not be planning on attacking it yourself. I know it's horrific, but even with your golems and your powers, you can be overwhelmed with just numbers if they are insistent enough. Not to mention the fact that even if they can't hurt you, they may start taking hostages instead. Find them, then bring me and New Wave in. We can take them down quickly before they have a chance to start getting stupid.

"Yeah, yeah, alright. I'll find it, and we can make a plan together," I agreed, nodding my head.

"Promise me," She said, looking at me sternly. "Not 'cause I think you're stupid, but because I think your noble ass is going to push you to go in immediately, and you'll end up hating yourself for rushing in and not waiting for backup."

"That… Yeah, okay, fine, I promise," I agreed, leaning back on the bench. "Pretty sure I'm going to hate it either way, but yes, I promise to leave it until I have adequate backup and a plan."

"Good. Now eat before it gets cold," She finished, both of us going silent for a while before she finally spoke up again.

"I'm with you on this one, Will. The Farm is an abomination, and if you can find it, we can shut it down."