Radha
Radha scarfed down the sandwich she'd made for breakfast. She was alone in the kitchen - from the looks of things, Monica and Camilla had already eaten. Monica was probably in her workshop by now, while Camilla was most likely busy with administrative stuff.
With Hamilton causing trouble again, they'd need both capes and the militia ready to fight. Radha and Monica had little interest in coordinating with the mundane soldiers or the other Cincinnati capes, but thankfully Camilla was happy to take charge of that.
Radha thought back to the previous day's fight. The good news was, that shithead Nitroforce was apparently dead. But he'd caused plenty of damage before going down, including unleashing... that thing. Radha wasn't sure what the monster was or what had happened to it, and that worried her. It had come from one of the men Nitroforce dropped the building on, but that didn't mean it was still human.
Best case scenario, there was a man running around the city who could turn into a wolf-beast, had fled the city's protectors with no attempt to reestablish contact, and had been perfectly in control of his monster form when he ate a redcape alive. That didn't sound good, and the possibilities only got worse from there.
Radha checked her messages for developments on the situation. Nothing about the monster, but there were reports of Cygnus being spotted in the area after the fight. Which meant the Alchemists might know more, but... reaching out to them would likely be more trouble than it was worth.
Backing out of the broader Cincinnati cape chats, Radha returned to the one for her own team.
> Wrath_Mechanic: Cam, I'm almost finished with those upgrades. Should be ready by this afternoon.
>
> Burning_Lips: Looking forward to it! <3
>
> Burning_Lips: Just finished my meeting with Rudianos. Going out now, you nerds need anything?
>
> Wrath_Mechanic: I'm getting low on WD-40, could use some if you find it.
>
> Wrath_Mechanic: Like, not low, but if we can't get any for a couple weeks and a bunch of things break, I might run out and then where would we be?
>
> RAD-ha: I've got everything I need.
>
> RAD-ha: You know, I still don't get why your new outfit is another one of those tight catsuit ones.
>
> Burning_Lips: I don't have the right powers to wear heavy armor like you. All I'd do is melt it.
>
> Burning_Lips: So I may as well look good, you know?
>
> RAD-ha: Looking good doesn't have to mean looking like you walked out of some pinup magazine. I'm proof of that.
>
> Burning_Lips: You look like a nerd.
>
> RAD-ha: I look like a badass sci-fi knight. Monica, back me up.
>
> Wrath_Mechanic: You look like a badass sci-fi knight and a nerd.
>
> Burning_Lips: What you don't look like is a woman, not in that armor.
>
> Burning_Lips: Point is, I take pride in my body.
>
> RAD-ha: So do I, I'm just not interested in looking like an object for male consumption.
>
> RAD-ha: And *being* female has nothing to do with clothes.
>
> Burning_Lips: So we should all just cover up because our bodies are so shameful and what matters is what men think of them, huh?
>
> RAD-ha: You KNOW that's not what I said.
>
> Burning_Lips: I know, I know. Just teasing!
>
> Burning_Lips: We'll get you to loosen up one of these days.
>
> RAD-ha: Bet I can get you to start wearing proper clothes first.
It wasn't the first time they'd had that argument, and Radha doubted it would be the last. But there were bigger concerns right now.
Radha returned to her quarters and began to change. With her nemenon bodysuit on, she glanced in the mirror. She was clothed, sure, but in an outfit this form-fitting she still felt naked, still could feel leering eyes crawl across her skin. Why the hell would someone dress like that, unless they were forced to? Or tricked into feeling forced to. Internalized misogyny was insidious.
Radha turned back to the rest of her outfit, and began to put on her armor. As each piece snapped into place, she felt herself relax. With her silver armor on, she was Artemis - the hunter, not the prey. She checked each piece of the equipment Monica had built for her, making sure it was all in order: laser cannon, wrist blade, grappling hook...
Only one of Radha's friends had ever really understood. But she didn't anymore, hadn't for years. Not since... Radha didn't want to think about that.
With her helmet on, Radha activated the comms. "I'm going on patrol. Gonna try to catch a wolf."
Monica's voice replied, with the whir of some machine in the background. "Have fun. I'll let you know if I hear anything useful."
Radha stepped outside, and made her way to a rooftop. No trouble in sight, but it was out there, and she'd find it. That was her job.
Her job as one of Cincinnati's bluecapes, to keep the city safe from conservative scum. And her job as part of Labrys, alongside Cybermind and Inferno, to keep women safe from dangerous men - including the crossdressers who called themselves women.
Radha jumped from roof to roof, using the enhanced strength and senses that made hauling around her armor a breeze. She had work to do, and she was good at it.
----------------------------------------
Isaac
I stared into the mirror at Nitroforce's face as I shaved off the obnoxiously full beard he'd given me. I hadn't told Cygnus about my dream yet, or anyone else for that matter. Wasn't even sure what I could say.
"Hey, I had this dream about powers spilling out from... sort of inside the Earth, but sort of not, and I think it was this message from someone trying to warn me about capes, like, getting everyone killed somehow. Okay yeah it might have been just a dream, but just in case, we should, uh... well, I didn't actually get a solution, so..."
Yeah, this wasn't getting anywhere right now. But if it was someone trying to contact me, maybe they - she? - would do it again. Maybe then I'd finally have a chance to ask questions.
At the very least, I could try to look for corroborating evidence, and that wouldn't even require telling anyone. Could just try some searches - origin powers inside earth - and...
Nothing helpful. Either no one knew anything about this, or anyone who did know was keeping quiet about it. Or all my sets of search terms had been bad. How the fuck does Tameka find things so fast?
Of course, with how Tameka seemed to know everything, she could probably offer some useful information. I returned to the lounge, where she was back on her laptop.
"Hey, uh, Tameka?" I asked. "Do you have a moment?"
She glanced up. "Sure. What's up?"
"How much do you know about powers? Like..." I tried to illustrate with my hands, then realized I wasn't even sure what my gesture was supposed to be. "Where they come from, how they work."
Tameka sighed. "Well, unless there's been news since last time I checked..." She glanced back at her laptop, did some more clicking and typing, and frowned. "...We don't really know much. They just kind of pop up wherever, then people notice they have them by stumbling into using them. And I've got even less about the how. They do all sorts of different things we can't really explain."
"Ah," I said. "Well, thanks."
"Oh, hey." Cygnus's voice, from behind me. "You two talking about powers?"
A grin spread across Tameka's face as her eyes returned from Cygnus to me. "Looks like you get to hear this rant."
"So, look," Cygnus said, grabbing a chair and dropping down into it. "I majored in physics. Thought I had a pretty good idea of how things worked. Then all this happened."
A laugh escaped my mouth. "That, uh... must have been quite a surprise."
"It was," Cygnus continued, "but at least my power is nice and simple. I send out some sort of signal, and it puts a multiplier onto one major physical relation. Just tweak gravity up or down. It's not something regular physics would allow for, but like, not totally ridiculous. Turns out there's some other factors we didn't have a way to interact with before, using something we don't yet know how to really measure or detect. Sure, whatever."
"And the other powers?" I asked.
Cygnus let out a groan. "I like to think there's similar things going on. Helps me sleep at night. But hell if I know what most of them are supposed to be. Sirona can, like, mess with the energy required for reactions somehow? I'm not sure about the specifics but it makes sense to her. As for your power... I don't know what the fuck is going on there, and I don't want to know."
I snorted. "That's fair."
Not much helpful information, but it kind of fit. If the powers came from cracks that formed in enough different places around the same time, that could match the distribution. And powers allowing things that had been theoretically possible but out of our reach could fit with the source having been sealed away and inaccessible, maybe? It was all kind of abstract, though, and didn't really add up to anything actionable. Which meant that for now, all I could do was tag along with the Alchemists.
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I didn't have a proper costume of my own yet, so before long we were trying to piece together something I could wear in cape mode, on top of Nitroforce's nemenon bodysuit. I ended up sticking with the dark green sweatshirt I'd bought yesterday, alongside jeans and a bright green bandana. Cygnus found a four-foot metal rod and offered it as a weapon, and we rigged together a harness that could hold it on my back. Not a particularly striking look, but Cygnus said he'd seen worse.
Once I had the outfit on, Cygnus - in his own costume, now - lead me to an empty room. "So," he said, "do you know how to fight? Like, without powers, just fists."
"I think so." I glanced down at my hands. No point in trying to hide this part of it. "I've been adapting to Nitroforce's body pretty well, pretty sure I got some muscle memory from him."
Cygnus blinked. "Huh. Well, no substitute for real experience, but let's see how well it works."
Cygnus backed up until he was about six feet away. He met my eyes and formed a fist with his right hand, and I nodded in assent. A moment later, his fist was flying towards my sternum.
Instinct took over. I shifted left and batted his fist away with one hand, while the other punched towards his face. Before I could make contact - or pull back to avoid it - he ducked out of the way and swept my right foot out from under me. I grabbed at his shoulders, pulling him down with me - and noticed we were falling more slowly than expected. He used his power on both of us , I realized.
We crashed down to the floor in a pile, a lighter landing than it would have been. Cygnus withdrew his gravity effect, and we both returned to our feet.
"Not too bad," Cygnus said. "Let's try some other things."
We continued through several different scenarios, taking care to pull our punches. I handled some better than others, and all of them better than I should have. Creepy fucking power.
After a while, Cygnus paused, focused on his headset. "Got it," he said into the headset. "I'll be right over."
He looked back to me. "Have to run. That was good for now."
I nodded, then followed him back to the lounge, where he split off to what seemed to be Tameka's quarters.
With not much else to do, I checked back in on my messages.
> madison: sorry, not sure if im making any sense
>
> SHARK RACER: no yeah i get what you're saying
>
> SHARK RACER: never thought about it that way before
>
> carlos: yeah agreed
>
> carlos: whatever works for you
>
> madison: thanks
>
> madison: on a lighter note we finally got hot water back
>
> carlos: thats good. better use it while youve got it
>
> madison: hell yeah. all the showers
Guess Shane changed his display name again. That guy goes through names like potato chips.
Although it had been a while since I'd seen potato chips sold around here. Maybe people who liked them were savoring any remaining supply. So many metaphors fell apart these days.
Before I could make any more sense out of the conversation, Cygnus stormed back into the room.
"Hamilton's back!" he announced. "Bunch of redcapes showed up, picking another fight. I'm gonna go help."
"I'll go, too." The words were out of my mouth before I'd fully processed them.
Cygnus gave me a quizzical look. "You sure?"
"I can fight," I said. "You saw that I have Nitroforce's skills. And I saw what those assholes are willing to do to us. Any more bystanders they kill probably won't come back."
This was my life, now. Even talking about death required qualifiers. No wonder capes go crazy.
Cygnus nodded. "Okay, then. Just be careful."
We already had most of our costumes on - or as close as I was going to get - so it didn't take long to prepare. Brian joined us, and the three of us headed back out through the maze of hallways to the car we'd arrived in. From outside, it looked like the place had been part of a college campus, although I wasn't sure which one.
"Do you always drive to fights?" I asked as I sat down, this time behind Cygnus.
"Not glamorous enough for you?" Brian replied, his voice dry.
"If they're far enough away," Cygnus said.
Brian accelerated, and we zipped from street to street.
"Stay close to me," Cygnus continued. "That'll help you stay safe, and make it clear which side you're on. And be careful with those powers. Nitroforce could fight, but we don't need collateral damage."
"Understood," I said.
Before long, we were close enough to hear the sirens. Brian stopped the car long enough for Cygnus and I to get out, then drove off.
Cygnus tapped me, and I felt myself become lighter again. "Follow my lead."
He began to scale a nearby building. I followed, trying to use the same handholds as he had. I was moving a lot slower - Cygnus was used to climbing walls in reduced gravity, and Nitroforce's skills didn't help me with that. When we reached the top, we could see signs of battle a few blocks away - Artemis's silver lasers, plus other bursts of light.
"This way!" Cygnus shouted.
He dove off the roof, using his wingsuit to catch the air and swoop ahead. I didn't have a wingsuit, but... I ran forward and jumped, my reduced weight getting me partway across the gap to the next building. I aimed my power into the air below me, and fired. The recoil knocked me upward again, enough to clear the gap.
If I mess it up, at least I won't fall as hard.
I repeated the trick, crossing more buildings to follow after Cygnus. As the battle came into view, he dropped to the ground, started to run the last few hundred feet towards Artemis...
A flash of light, and the sound of an explosion. When it cleared, Cygnus was staggering away from the wall he'd been flung against. He looked dazed, but not too badly hurt.
Energy mines. One of Hamilton's redcapes could make those, and one of Artemis's opponents had the right yellow and orange outfit to fit. I was pretty sure her name was Radiance. She must have been responsible for the other light flashes. We'll have to be careful.
Artemis glanced back at the noise, then turned back to firing at the redcapes further down the alley. A drone hovered near her, joining in with its own energy cannon. The drone probably belonged to Cybermind, another one of the assholes on Artemis's team.
The redcapes were taking cover behind a large, dark green shield. I recognized it as the one used by Carapace, a redcape who could reinforce it with his power.
I caught up and ran to Cygnus. "You okay?"
"I'll be fine." He dropped the reduced gravity from me. "Let's do this."
A glowing ball arced towards Artemis. It exploded in a similar flash, blowing Cybermind's drone out of the air. The three redcapes charged forward - behind Carapace, I could see Radiance to his left and another redcape, Bladewhirl, to his right. Carapace was big and had a heavy-looking brown and green outfit, while Bladewhirl's costume was lighter and mostly black and red. Bladewhirl held a long, curved sword - from what I'd heard, she was fast, and could cut through pretty much anything.
As we reached Artemis, Carapace slammed his shield into her stomach, denting her armor. Bladewhirl raised her sword for a finishing blow, and I leapt into action. Extending Nitroforce's power into the rod I was holding, I jabbed forward at her, sending out an explosive wave of vibrations that knocked Bladewhirl out of the way.
Cygnus's whip lashed out, towards Carapace. He couldn't reach the cape himself, but the whip struck the shield once, twice, three times, and Carapace's movements grew sluggish as the shield's weight increased. Artemis jumped back, and fired again to shoot one of Radiance's energy mines out of the air. She glanced over again, this time at me.
"He's with me!" Cygnus called out.
Carapace raised his shield, preparing to bring its weight down onto one of us. I struck again - my weapon exploded against the shield, and it tumbled out of his hands. With the redcapes' protection gone, Artemis opened fire with her laser, finally scoring direct hits. Their costumes began to burn away where she struck, and further hits damaged the nemenon armor beneath.
A noise cut in. An engine, approaching from... behind us? As I processed the thought, Cygnus tackled me to the side, and Artemis dived the other way. A motorcycle burst through where we'd been standing, coming to a rest by the trio of redcapes.
The rider wore all black, including his helmet, with an iron cross on his jacket. I recognized him as Roadripper - Hamilton's tech cape, and grade-A scumbag. He fished a metal ball out of a pocket and tossed it to the ground next to him, where it grew, unfurling into another motorcycle.
Love to hear a physics explanation for that one. Are pocket dimensions a thing?
The sounds of fighting were fading, but I could hear footsteps approaching. Hopefully people on our side.
Radiance tossed two more energy mines at us as Carapace and Bladewhirl hopped onto the new motorcycle. I struck upward towards the mines, trying to blast them as far back as I could, while Artemis fired at the motorcycles. I did my best to shield my eyes as the flashbangs went off - when the light cleared, the four redcapes had disappeared down the alley.
They'd all fled, and we were safe. I took a moment to catch my breath. I just... fought in a proper cape fight. And did pretty well, thanks to all the stuff I got from Nitroforce. Even helped rescue... Artemis, of all people.
Before my brain could finish spinning, Artemis whirled around. She looked straight at me, and pointed her energy cannon right at my face.
"Next order of business," she hissed. "Who the fuck are you?"
I dropped my weapon, raising my hands in surrender as I backed up. Even without seeing her eyes, I could feel Artemis's glare digging into me like knives.
"I'm... I'm Sonicboom," I stammered. "I'm with the Alchemists."
"Yesterday, a man turned into some sort of wolf monster." Artemis spoke louder now, announcing to everyone present. "He killed Nitroforce, ate him, and then ran off without giving an explanation. Today, another unexplained cape appears. You have the same powers as Nitroforce, and you've got a nemenon suit that fits you perfectly, but no real costume. I'll ask again: who the fuck are you?"
Didn't have another explanation for that. I let out a sigh, rough against the mesh over my face. "Fine. Yes, that was me. Call me Fenrir."
A lot of capes had been taking mythological names, and I didn't think I had any competition for this one. At least it's not another Greek one.
Cygnus spoke up. "Artemis, lower the weapon. There's no need for this."
"Are you sure?" Artemis asked. "This man - Fenrir - how well do you know him?"
"I met Cygnus yesterday," I cut in. "He found me after my power showed up, he's been helping me figure out what to do with it. I didn't try to talk to you about it because you shot at me, while I was trying to help you!"
"I didn't ask for your help," Artemis shot back. "Not today, either. If you want to be some knight in shining armor, I've got it covered. You looked dangerous and out of control, and I still don't know what damage you might cause next time you transform."
"So that's your policy, now?" Cygnus asked. "You see someone who looks dangerous, shoot first and ask questions later?"
"I do what it takes to protect my city," Artemis said. "We're not the bad guys here, Keisha."
Wait, who's... oh.
"For fuck's sake, Radha," Cygnus snapped. "Are we doing this now, of all times?"
Artemis finally lowered her wrist cannon, turning her attention fully to Cygnus. "You're always doing this. Running around without coordinating with the rest of us, dealing drugs, mutilating yourself so you go from beautiful to-"
"I never owed femininity to anyone," Cygnus interrupted. "You used to understand that. But once I realized I didn't want to be a woman at all, that all went out the window and now I'm a traitor, huh?"
"All you're doing is hurting yourself," Artemis growled. "And perpetuating lies that will trick other girls into doing the same thing. And telling men that they can be women and barge into any of our spaces and-"
"Artemis!" someone shouted. "We don't need to pick a fight with the Alchemists!"
I turned, recognizing the source of the voice as Rudianos, leader of Cincinnati's bluecapes. Or George Hoffman, when he wasn't in costume. Thankfully not part of Artemis's team, but it wasn't like they'd want him anyway.
Rudianos strode towards us from the way we'd come, his hands empty but a crossbow on his back. I got the impression he'd been watching for a while.
"Of course," Artemis scoffed. "What I really needed was three men talking over me."
I'm just standing here!
"Huh," Cygnus mused. "So I only count as a man when it's convenient for you?"
"You don't count as a man," Artemis snapped. "But you sure are set on acting like one!"
"Enough!" Rudianos called out. "Cygnus, Fenrir - thank you for helping out today. You're both free to leave."
He's better than Artemis. But not good enough to actually challenge her.
"Leaving, huh. That's a good idea." Cygnus started to walk back past Rudianos, nodding at me to follow. "See you around, Rudianos."
I gave Rudianos a nod of my own, and without another word, I followed Cygnus out of the alley. Artemis fumed silently as we left.
When we got out of earshot, Cygnus let out a sigh. "I'd hoped she hadn't gotten that bad. So much for that."
"Mm." I wasn't surprised - Labrys made no secret of their views - but I also hadn't known Artemis before her cape days.
"For the record," he added, "my name's Andre. Or Cygnus, of course."
"Gotcha." It was hard to imagine calling Cygnus by a civilian name, but it was nice to know, regardless. "How long has she been... like this?"
Cygnus sighed again. "We were best friends in high school. Gay brown kids gonna stick together, especially if they like the same games. Until it turns out too much of that was based on being gay girls, specifically, and one of them turns out to be a gay guy instead."
He looked away. "Once I figured out what I really wanted, it turned into a big wedge. Radha's idea of queer progress was too different, and we drifted apart. She found people who'd echo and reinforce her worst bullshit, and... now we're here."
I nodded in acknowledgement. "Damn."
"Yeah," Cygnus said. "That about sums it up."
Before long, Brian's car found us. We headed back to the rest of the Alchemists, to figure out what the hell to do next.