The Major was atop the second-largest building in Montreal, assembling her rifle carefully before slotting five rounds into the oversized magazine of the Tinkertech rifle that Harry sourced for her.
She had chosen the location for the vantage and sight lines it provided on her chosen target. Heartbreaker would be waking up soon given how late he slept, and she would have a short window from taking her shot to get to the next target. She had come to the decision she was going to kill Kaiser after what happened with Rune, and it was better to get both her targets crossed off and only deal with the guilt once.
That was her excuse at least, not that she truly believed it herself. Taylor doubted she would feel much regret over it, and all the regret she had felt for Crusader was long since dead after her afternoon. Kaiser knew Rune was missing and he had already blamed it on her, claiming she had covertly killed an upstanding pillar of their community.
Tammi was safe however, currently in New York under Legend’s direct care. Jacob had insisted that she would be taken care of with him and Taylor trusted him to be honest with her. Amy was taking a few days to herself at Jacob’s insistence, not having done anything of the sort before and in sparing Tammi the truth, she had brought a new burden upon herself as a result. Melissa had spent a good few hours with her after that, and Taylor hadn’t pried.
Before the Nazis were more of a means to an end, even with the things she had learned about her mother. Now, she had a personal investment in seeing them uprooted for good. She had inadvertently removed Rune’s abuser, all by chance. It was one thing to understand what the Nazis did, it was another to see it right in front of her, and done to one of their own no less. Rune was one of their capes, their propaganda painted them as the new gods or some tripe, and Kaiser just casually handed one to another like a prize. Given Heartbreaker was already on the docket, it was easy enough to slot Kaiser immediately after him.
Taylor was back at Toybox along with Lisa and Vivian, playing Monopoly of all things with the Striker. It helped Amy keep her mind off things, which made it a fine use of their time. The Major was thus cleared to carry out some spring-cleaning.
“This is too good for him,” the Major said.
She had eyes on the man, who was currently being attended to by his thralls. Breakfast in bed, among other things that made her skin crawl. She performed one last check and chambered the first round. Four miles, that was the distance to his manor, the curve of the earth drastic enough at that distance to severely alter the flight path of the bullet.
That did little to stop her software from compensating for things, of course. Lisa was also watching, adding adjustments that her software was missing along the flight path the bullet would take. Even with a Tinkertech payload and rifle, bullets still needed to obey the laws of physics.
“Mostly,” Lisa hummed. “Vivian can be vindictive though. Did you ask her what the payload was?”
“I didn’t want to know. This one has Heartbreaker’s name on it, so she likely got creative all the same.”
Taylor glanced up at the woman, who was presently fist bumping Amy over her latest hotel. The couples had quickly settled into teams, pooling resources as needed to hold out when one had a spot of bad luck, and as a result the game was in a rather spirited deadlock.
Vivian had a cyber brain, so she too was watching the feed, though she was offering no feedback, Taylor wasn’t sharing the audio of their conversation with her. All Vivian had conveyed was that anyone near Heartbreaker was at risk of being collateral.
The bullet’s path adjusted in real time as she looked down the scope of the rifle. She was on her stomach, rifle buried in her shoulder. The recoil was monstrous according to the spec sheet, and any normal human that tried to fire it would see their body shattered.
The Major wasn’t normal.
She kept the dot on Heartbreaker as the women left him, and once he was momentarily alone, she fired. The recoil punched her harder than she expected, sliding her body back even with the absorption coils built into the rifle. She would need to find an upgrade if she intended to use the rifle for anything but long range stealth kills.
Three seconds from initial shot to impact, she just had to hope he didn’t move. The man was currently laying out on his bed, cigar in mouth and looked rather content. That look continued right up until the bullet removed his pelvis from existence, that moment of wide eyed comprehension before he burst like a pinata seared itself into her memory.
Then he was whole again for all of three seconds as the bullet ripped through him once more. The scene repeated on a loop, all color having faded from the image by the second loop. Taylor felt a sickening pit open up in her stomach, and yet, it felt just in a twisted way.
Taylor looked up at the explosives Tinker, conflicted on if she should say anything. The Major picked up her rifle and stepped through the shimmer in space, arriving back in Toybox in Dodge’s lab. The man himself grimaced at the view screen, and shut the portal off. An example of his stoic professionalism, he already had a second portal opened which the Major stepped through without a word.
There was one special bullet left, this one built for Kaiser, and three generic bullets remaining for if she needed them. Vivian no doubt had gotten more of the story from Amy than anyone save for Melissa and the therapist Jacob mentioned. Kaiser gave the order that Tammi was Crusader’s, for that, he would die.
She was just three blocks from Medhall on top of the building she had chosen, and Max Anders was seated at his desk going over some sort of paperwork, a man standing beside him. She couldn’t actually see through his tinted windows, but she did have access to the cameras in his office. It wasn’t hard to get into position and line up the shot.
The Major pulled the trigger, and the glass practically dissolved on impact. The bullet slowed, and Kaiser was shoved aside by the man, who had to be Krieg. The bullet caught him center of mass, and knocked him back despite his power. He was still intact, but that lasted for only an instant before his flesh began to constrict and contort. Bones twisted, flesh tore and she watched. One of the twins ran inside, and promptly screamed.
The Major brought the rifle around, pulling the action back and chambering another round even as she aimed at Kaiser who was already encased in his signature armor. She fired again, the bullet shearing into his armor, but it wasn’t a killing blow. Blades rose to block the window even as she got another shot off. Her last round was sent at the man, but it hadn’t been enough. They were retreating deeper into the building.
She could go after them, but the alarm was raised. Snarling, the Major returned through the portal, feeling oddly detached. Two monsters were dead in less than five minutes. How was it so easy, and yet nobody else had ever taken such action?
Harry gave her a fragile smile as she stepped back into his lab, but he wasn’t alone, Jacob was there waiting. She wasn’t in the mood for any bullshit, so she set the rifle aside and began to break it back down for later cleaning. She dropped the magazine then ejected the expended shell from the chamber.
Nobody said anything to her till she finished.
“Taylor,” Jacob said, not betraying a hint of emotion. “We should talk.”
The Major didn’t answer, she just fell in beside him as he walked from the room. Taylor wasn’t quite sure what he was up to, and back with her original body, the game had ended with Amy and Vivian’s triumph. At that, Amy made her way home discreetly, ready to play her part while Vivian returned to her lab to go over the data being sent her way on the munitions deployed.
Lisa just held Taylor close, and she knew that her girlfriend would soon be an outlet for whatever this session with Jacob was going to be.
Arriving at a small room, Jacob gestured to the couch while he took an armchair instead. The Major flopped down and sighed. “So, you came to speak to me about all this?”
“I was actually here to speak with Amy, give her an update on Tammi,” Jacob said with a shrug. “So imagine my surprise when I’m told you’re off on some mission to kill a few people.”
“They were monsters,” the Major hissed. “How dare you try to say otherwise.”
Jacob raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t a criticism, I’m not that much of a hypocrite. No, I’m here for you, to talk or whatever else you need to work through the fact you’ve killed three people in cold blood in the span of a week. That affects someone, and to be blunt, I don’t want you to become a remorseless killer. I’ve seen enough of those to last a lifetime.”
The fight fell out of her, because Jacob wasn’t the enemy, he was a friend of Toybox, if not a full member. She wasn’t sure if the man was a cape, though there would be no bet against it. Just because the Number Man was his husband, and Surgeon his daughter, did not mean anything.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Then what do you suggest?” she asked.
“We talk,” he said with a soft smile. “I will keep everything you tell me in confidence, and I can assure you, I possess knowledge of National Security level secrets, so I know how to keep them.”
“Isn’t working for Toybox a contradiction then?” the Major asked, tilting her head. “I have issues with the PRT, you no doubt know this, but you have the influence to have something done.”
“You’re wondering why I seem to allow a conflict of interest?”
The Major nodded.
Jacob leaned back and smiled. “Well, I have been cleared to tell you this much I suppose. Toybox is backed by Hero; the entire idea was his baby.”
The Major blinked. Hero. One of the original founders of the Protectorate, the hero team that gave their name to the organization they helped the US Government form in the face of Behemoth. Even still, they carried that name. Each time an Endbringer came to reap a city, those four stood on the front lines. Be it Behemoth, Leviathan or Cerberus.
“That explains why the recruitment talks slowed, but didn’t stop,” the Major said. “That isn’t widely known, is it?”
“Less than thirty people are aware of it,” Jacob said with a nod. “Security Level Eight and above, since you seem to be familiar with those.”
“How did you—”
“Kurt likes to talk over dinner,” Jacob said with a smile. “I’m not chiding you for it, just letting you know that people are aware of what you can do. Lisa is also rather dangerous now that you’ve removed her limits. My daughter was extremely proud of that achievement.”
The Major couldn’t help but grin at that, because Lisa was awesome and deserved to hear it more, even if it did inflate her ego. Back at her old body, Taylor hugged the girl tight. She wasn’t feeding this conversation to her girlfriend, or letting her watch through the Major’s eyes. No, she needed to do this on her own, Jacob was right about that much.
“I killed three,” the Major said, getting back on topic. “I don’t regret ending them, but you’re right, it has affected me all the same. I wasn’t wrong to do so, I refuse to let anyone even imply that. Their victims deserve better.”
“The Empire will go to war, but you destabilized their command,” Jacob said, drumming his fingers across the arm of his chair. “Expect Kaiser to rally the troops and for multiple courses of action to follow as they vie for revenge.”
He was right, of course, and Taylor was already planning for a level of retaliation. Krieg wasn’t going to die right away, that was one of the requests Taylor made of Vivian when requesting her munitions. As a result, the request was made to New Wave to have Panacea offer emergency healing to James Fliescher.
Amy was very public about her refusal.
It didn’t take long for rumors to start spreading, and Taylor was watching all of it in real time. James Fliescher died twenty minutes after she pulled the trigger, torn apart by a bastardized take on Vista’s power.
Lisa worked overtime, making sure rumors spread quickly, timed out for maximum damage to the Empire’s reputation. Krieg was killed in violation of the supposed rules, much as Fleur was nearly a decade prior. A slight repaid. Their involvement with Marquis and Lustrum’s capture was repaid with blood. It wasn’t justice in full, but it was a good start.
Up in Montreal, Dragon had arrived with the Guild to Heartbreaker’s compound and began to take people into custody. Many of the children were also human Masters, which complicated the endeavor, not that the splash damage was her problem. They should have removed him sooner rather than allow things to build up to such a degree.
“Don’t worry, Jacob,” she said. “I may be green, but I’ve already started the next stages of my plan. The Empire won’t recover, you have my word.”
“That was what I was afraid of,” he said. “Switching gears, what do you plan to do about Coil? I know you’re after him too, and you are going to overextend at this rate.”
“Just waiting on a phone call,” the Major said. “He at least, will be easier to uproot given the proper opening.”
“You certainly have the mind for this sort of work,” Jacob answered. “So, let’s talk things out and make sure that you still recognize yourself in the mirror once the blood stops flowing.”
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The Major laughed as she parried another strike from Shadow Stalker, the girl growled and kept close, striking with well honed precision. She was good, the Major could admit, but she couldn’t keep up with her predictive algorithms. That didn’t stop her from trying, and on occasion, she got creative.
The Major had to backpedal from a knife strike that she had phased. Just because Stalker couldn’t pass through her, as she learned in a rather painful lesson, she could phase objects. Worse, Stalker revealed if she unphased them inside someone it made for a rather lethal method of attack.
The only reason she didn’t do it more often was because of how obvious it was. An arrow stuck in a Nazi could be anyone, but one phased into their neck wasn’t something the PRT could ignore. Still, that didn’t mean the Major lacked options. She moved close, twisting to avoid the blade and grabbed Stalker’s arm and twisted to pin her.
“Fuckin’,” Stalker muttered, her face pressed into the ground.
She quickly tapped out, and the Major backed off. “You’re getting better.”
“Not good enough,” Stalker said, rotating her shoulder. The Major tossed her a bottle of water and Stalker caught it before shifting her mask aside and drinking half of it down. “I can definitely buy the combat thinker rating you have, that shit’s unfair.”
“You can beat a combat thinker easily,” the Major said, sitting down beside her. “Their powers do all the work for them, and learning to go against those instincts is difficult, so focus on fakeouts, stuff they can’t see coming.”
“Like what?” Sophia asked.
The Major grinned, recalling a few of the techniques that Melissa had drilled her into the ground over. “Alright, I’ll show you one.”
Stalker huffed, getting back to her feet with a bit of a groan and cracked a few joints. Unfortunately, Stalker would be limited on upgrades due to her own power. No cybernetics and no implants that used or generated electricity. Still, between Amy and Riley they could still do work on her, but that brought up other issues.
Namely, that Taylor hated her.
The Major had finished with Jacob a few hours prior, and now he wanted to talk to Taylor for some reason. She didn’t quite understand why he was stressing the distinction so much, they were the same person after all. That she had asked Sophia to spar with her just hours after killing two men was just proof that Taylor needed to vent some aggression…
Then why was the Major enjoying herself?
“Alright, guard up,” the Major instructed. “Now, try to follow my movement.”
Stalker sighed, but did as told. The Major moved in, throwing several well telegraphed blows, keeping herself to human output as she did. Stalker blocked them easily, and soon fell into a rhythm. That was when she struck. Stalker moved to block, only to take a hit below her chin.
The Major grinned as Stalker rubbed at the cowl under her mask. “Where did that come from?”
“I distracted you with obvious hits, got you to block and focus on something to where you couldn’t see the hit coming,” the Major explained. “It will only work once against a Thinker, but it can be a way to even the playing field.”
“Show me,” she said.
The Major smiled, taking her stance up once again. “Alright, watch closely.”
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Taylor did her best to focus on anything but the Major at that moment, and even Jacob sitting across from her wasn’t enough to draw her complete focus. Jacob was eyeing her carefully, his eyes seeing more than she thought they should. It reminded her of how Lisa could see right through a person, and it was more than a bit off-putting when it was being directed at her.
“I take it the Major is up to something you aren’t completely okay with?” he asked, making a note on his pad. “I’ve noticed you tend to disassociate when in such circumstances.”
Taylor tried to casually shrug, to play it off. “I can multitask almost perfectly. Running around as two people isn’t even a strain on that.”
“I wasn’t talking about that,” Jacob said with a sad smile. “You’ve been presenting the Major as a completely different individual, and given the actions she’s taken, I wonder if you’re not pushing so hard in an effort to push the acts of killing off on another persona as a coping mechanism.”
Taylor blinked, about to argue when she realized she had been doing exactly that. Even then, the Major was having a cheerful conversation with Sophia Hess of all people, friendly in a way Taylor never would have been. All of that was coming without conscious input on her part, the Major was just acting on her own, and that alone sent a chill down her spine.
“I think you’re right,” Taylor said slowly. “I am responsible for those killings, no matter how justified they were, I decided to end multiple lives. Whatever division exists between the Major and I, it was still me that made the choice to pull the trigger.”
Jacob’s smile grew as she spoke and he clapped once. “I am pleased to hear you come to that conclusion without much prompting on my part. That is exactly what I wanted to be sure of, because believe me, you don’t want a murderous second personality bouncing around in your head. Disassociating as strongly as some do when killing can fracture the mind, or the mind will create an extra persona to shelter the core self from trauma.”
“Huh,” Taylor said, blinking. Was that happening with the Major? She looked down at the Major’s hand, flexing it. That didn’t seem to be the case, but she could also see that happening if she kept pushing things she disliked off on that persona. “I’ll admit, I’ve not looked much into that, but you’ve given me a good reason to.”
“As part of that, I’d like to start seeing you twice a week if possible. Once as Taylor and once as the Major,” Jacob said. “Whoever isn’t seeing me at the time will be meeting with Melissa.”
Taylor blinked, wondering why Melissa would be assisting with what seemed to be a proper therapy session between her personas. Did Melissa have more than one personality? A few quirks that Taylor noticed would make more sense if that was the case, but it seemed a bit against the spirit of therapy if he was revealing her secrets like that.
“And before you ask, I had permission from Melissa to mention some things,” he said before she could voice the question. “Yes, Melissa is plural, I’ll leave it to her to tell you more, but I was cleared to say that much.”
It was a lot to consider, given Melissa was her staunchest supporter in Toybox, and she couldn’t help her drifting thoughts on the subject. If she had multiple personalities, which one or ones were the ones that stood up for her when no-one else would? What prompted them to take that chance? Why did she seem to have so many fragments of other people’s lives decorating her room?
There were so many questions she wanted the answers to, but she would wait until she could speak with Melissa before voicing them.
“Now, how about we discuss something a bit more cheery,” Jacob said. “Just how serious are you and Lisa?”
Taylor blushed, looking away. Was it bad that she would rather talk about a potential second personality with the man than her love life?