The words on the paper blurred and Coil, for the moment acting as Thomas Calvert, had to lean back, pressing his thumb and forefinger against his eyes. He tried to refocus but met with little success. Waving a hand through his hair, he forced his right leg to stop tapping the ground and reached for his coffee.

He missed the handle, nearly pushing the mug out of the table.

Pausing, he took a second to gather himself, then took a sip of the hot liquid and adjusted his seat. Where was he again?

…Living two timelines, what a joke.

“Mr. Calvert, are you feeling well?” Armsmaster said, after finishing his own work. “I’ve noticed a decline in your focus and performance lately. Your dedication is commendable, but perhaps you should rest.”

Coil fought down the urge to pull out his sidearm and shot the man in his self-righteous face. He had done it before, but he couldn’t afford such luxuries anymore.

In his simulation and miles away from the Bay, in a warehouse in Concord, Recluse called one of his employees to his room, his padded skintight black costume covered his entire body, masking his real dimensions and not leaving any part of his skin exposed, a web design on his chest.

The man had been selling information to several nearby gangs so he wouldn’t be missed. This SHOULD be the simulation, so the death wouldn’t even be noticed, but the time when he could simply act as he wished was long gone.

Coil had never intended to use Recluse, he barely paid the identity any attention through the years, just making sure the gang was alive once every two or three months, but it was a last resort in case he, as ‘Coil’, needed to disappear. A way of not having to restart from zero.

He was never going to leave Brockton Bay without a fight or salting the earth behind him, but it paid to have options, even unpalatable ones. Coil hadn’t gotten to where he was by not having backup plans.

In the main timeline, he said. “It’s nothing. Susanoo's operation is just taking a lot out of me.”

He wasn’t lying, it wouldn’t do to trigger the Tinker’s damn lie detector. His problems were all about Susanoo and the delay in the plan, even if not just for the PRT.

“I see. Your analysis of his power is appreciated,” Armsmaster said, no doubt reading from a script on his mask. “Unfortunately, we didn’t acquire more support.”

“Dragon’s presence should be enough,” Coil nodded. “Victor’s arrest does delay the operation a little, but it gives me more time to refine the plan. And how’s the new Ward?”

“Rune is not a Ward yet, she is in isolation because of his Master effect, but she appears to be entirely willing. Her transfer should happen in a few weeks.”

“I see,” Coil said, sensing some satisfaction in Armsmaster’s voice. “Having one less villain in the city is always appreciated.”

And wasn’t that a surprise? Coil had expected all four attacking parahumans to die along with the normal gunmen. Susanoo restricting himself to mutilating Victor was entirely unexpected.

Honestly, when he learned the Empire was thinking of provoking Susanoo, he had used one of the moles in his own organization to leak his assessment of the bastard’s power to the Empire, bolstering their confidence enough to guarantee the attempt in a small hope they’d get lucky.

Everything he knew indicated the Empire was going to be slaughtered but, like most of his plans, the attack served more than one purpose. The resulting deaths should have finally drawn enough attention to the murderous Parahuman to force the PRT’s hand, sending them temporary reinforcements while also weakening the Empire for later.

Carefully, Coil pried his fingers away from the coffee mug, avoiding smashing the thing against the wall, or Armsmaster's face. Sighing, he stretched his aching joints.

He really needed to sleep.

Probably feeling like he had fulfilled his duty to check on a co-worker and hating to be away from his workshop, Armsmaster nodded. “Indeed. If you’ll excuse me, I need to make some adjustments to my equipment, it’s not properly geared towards repelling a rescue attempt by the Empire.”

Coil nodded back, Armsmaster was an attention-seeking fool, but at least he didn’t normally waste the secret crime lord’s time. That was mildly appreciated.

He was just about to turn back to his computer when the silent alarm hidden on his wristwatch started vibrating. For a second, Coil froze, his mind taking a little too long to register the implications of what was happening.

Carefully, he turned towards the door and saw Armsmaster had briefly paused, clearly speaking with someone through his equipment and reaching for a device on his armor.

Now fully awake, Coil scrambled for his sidearm, pushing himself away from the chair and putting the metal table between them.

Miles away in what should have been a simulation, Coil —acting as Recluse— twitched, the actual simulation collapsing and leaving him a few hours away from Brockton Bay.

Stepping back from the tied-up informant, he quickly drew his weapon and shot the man once between the eyes, causing the back of his head to explode in a shower of bone and brains from the exit wound.

Shaking his hand to get rid of the blood, he kicked the body, toppling the chair away from him, then discharged his weapon a few more times to unwind. Moving quickly, he pulled out a second magazine and reloaded the weapon.

With care, he glanced from side to side, then briskly moved towards his desk, making sure to keep his handgun ready as he checked the cameras around the warehouse.

Finally, when he was sure nothing was wrong, he pulled out the chair and sat behind the desk, feeling his muscles relaxing, his body aching from the scare.

Fuck, he was in dire need of a computer. Coil had made all the necessary plans in the simulation and remembered their content, but they still needed to be typed in the real world. He needed the paperwork trail.

Focusing on his computer, he hurried to check on the silent alarm still warning him something was wrong, going directly to one of the many Tinker programs he had bought.

It seemed like one of his backdoors to the PRT servers had been found and there was an attempt to trace it back, one that his program had caught in time to disconnect, blocking any chance of tracking him down.

For a full second, Coil just stared at the screen.

He… had gotten spooked. No, his power believed he’d have been spooked enough to drop the simulation before finding out everything about the situation. It almost made him laugh.

Coil had always been a careful individual, he even avoided meeting with any parahuman in person regardless of ‘timeline’. But Susanoo had left him on a hair-trigger, he HAD to kill the man.

The girl was supposed to have changed things, their powers combined would give him the confidence to act freely. With only two tries, he didn’t dare take too many risks but, if he knew there were minimal chances of something going wrong, he could be far bolder.

She could have accelerated his plans by months, perhaps even years. Instead, he now had to worry about her interfering with his power and her new guardian breaking it altogether.

If he hadn’t been working on Brockton Bay for so long, he’d seriously consider just leaving. Causing as much damage as he could on the way out.

Sitting at his desk, he did his best to get rid of the fog in his mind and struggled with a few seconds of indecision but, finally, he activated his power again, starting a new simulation.

In the simulation, he sat behind the computer and continued to work on his gang.

In what should now be the real world, he washed his hands and walked out of the room.

“Clean this up,” Recluse growled towards the guard at his door. “I hate snitches.”

“Yes sir!” the man said and quickly looked inside the room, grimacing at all the blood.

“Something came up, I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“I understand. Sir, do you need me to gather the boys?”

Coil pretended to think about it, but shook his masked head. “No, I’ll suffice.”

Getting in the car, he drove away from the warehouse. Pausing briefly in one of his hidden safehouses only so he could change clothes and vehicle. Looking once more like Thomas Calvert, he drove back to Brockton Bay.

Hours lost on the road because of a fucking scare!

There was a time Coil believed his power split the world in two, allowing him to live two lives, that time was past.

After his power had failed so many times against Susanoo, it was inevitable he learned the truth. He couldn’t split the timeline, merely simulate a single different course of action.

Worse, while he could generally tell which was the real and which was simulated, if something unexpected happened, he could be left in the wrong location or the simulation could be completely wrong.

Coil still remembered when his troubles started, it should have been so easy...

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Coil had first learned about Dinah Alcott from a routine report; one of his employees in the hospital had flagged her file as possibly being a parahuman despite no obvious trigger event.

Constant complaints of headaches, strange actions, and having more knowledge than she should… It was inconclusive, but one of his operations against the Empire had just failed. If he was going to discard the timeline anyway, he could keep it active for a few more minutes and send someone to check on the girl.

When the girl managed to perfectly avoid one of his mercenaries, she had his attention. Still, she wasn’t important. He had a city to take over and he couldn’t spend his power on just any parahuman.

When she avoided his men another two times, he dedicated a full timeline to getting her. His mercenaries burst into the house, kidnapping her and her parents before bringing them to the shelter.

Such blatant action against the niece of the mayor drew far too much heat upon him, but he still had a full afternoon with her and two hostages. Pain is a wonderful motivator, pain to one’s loved ones equally so. The information he got was illuminating.

His pet’s power seemed tailor-made to complement him. Coil could split timelines, but he could only create two at any one time. Operations took time, money, and resources even when he didn’t go through with them. If he already knew how likely something was to fail or succeed too…

He didn’t NEED her, his plans were progressing regardless, but she would be a force multiplier, allowing him to personally meet with his pawns without danger and be far more active without much risk.

Making adjustments, he managed to bribe someone into taking the Protectorate out of town and had his Undersiders act as a distraction for the Wards while one of his disguised mercenaries took the girl.

Sitting several meters below ground in his Endbringer shelter, Coil split the timeline. In one he immediately left for another hideout —It wouldn’t do to be in the same place for too long— and, in the other, he waited.

From his desk within the Endbringer shelter, Coil watched his Tattletale tracker leaving her little hideout. Picking up the phone, he called his ready mercenaries. “The operation is a go.”

In another timeline, he called Tattletale. “Cancel the heist.”

“They won’t like that,” she said in warning.

“I’ll still pay 2 000 each. Cancel the heist.”

Tattletale spoke away from the phone for a second, then uncovered the speaker and spoke. “As you wish, boss.”

Leaning back in his chair on both timelines, he monitored the result / Kept one of his computers open in case it was needed, but started working on Fortress construction paperwork.

The heist went down. There were complications, but the result was satisfactory, then his mercenary contacted him. “Possible parahuman interference.”

Coil quickly looked towards his second monitor / Blinked, his vision going hazy for three full seconds, the world seeming to lose focus before he dropped the Fortress paperwork and started looking at his computer for more information.

The entire Protectorate was still out of the city, New Wave was having a family meeting and, while he couldn’t risk monitoring every parahuman, none of the main villains was anywhere close to the girl… it was either someone new or a minor villain.

An acceptable loss. His men were professional, if they didn’t hold back they could eliminate a single parahuman without much trouble and he may still be able to keep the girl.

“You have permission to eliminate the interference. Be quick.”

“Understood, engaging.”

Coil had sent a single man dressed in civilian clothes to grab the girl, but he also had an entire team tailing them just in case. Chances were, if they had to interfere, he’d drop the timeline anyway.

A single pre-teen disappearing was one thing, a team of heavily armed mercenaries kidnapping her was completely different and would draw unwanted attention.

Regardless, it wasn’t like Coil needed the girl immediately. He had been planning his actions for years now, slowly infiltrating the gangs and police departments. He could drop this timeline and try again another time if the damage was too much.

Really, having them interfere was more to gather information than anything else. If the girl had managed to get help it was best to know as much about it as possible before closing the timeline.

Watching the live feed from several body cams, Coil widened his eyes as he saw the man stop a laser in the air, the shaft of light seeming to freeze in front of him without any effort.

Then the other mercenaries acted, somehow recognizing the danger the parahuman represented. Coil didn’t know of any parahuman in the city that could survive a team of mercenaries with Tinkertech weapons, not if they were well-positioned and willing to kill.

This man could, easily.

Some kind of Shaker effect ripped the street apart. There was no hesitation, no pause as the man slaughtered his team and left as if it hadn’t even registered to him.

For a second, Coil just stared through the two body cams that had survived, a little stunned.

…Well, that was a little more resistance than he had been expecting.

With a sigh, Coil put away the Fortress paperwork and started to try to gather information on this new parahuman in the city. Depending on his proclivities, such a powerful Shaker could be useful.

The man clearly had little concern about causing death or destruction, but he had also acted to save the girl so, was he a villain interested in her power or a ruthless vigilante?

In the soon-to-be discarded timeline, Coil adjusted his seat within the Endbringer shelter and called Tattletale, sending a copy of the files and ordering her to check the video.

He wanted as much information about his enemy as he could get before losing the videos.

Five hours later, Coil collapsed the timeline… and was left still inside his Endbringer shelter. A full team of mercenaries was dead and he had done nothing to prevent their discovery or interfere with police investigations.

For the second time in a day, he just stared at the computer with a confused face… What?

Then he burst into motion, immediately starting to call in all his favors with the police and PRT. The mercenaries shouldn’t have anything that connected them to him or revealed his location, but he had to make sure.

Oh, with the Tinkertech weapons they had, it would be obvious who they worked for, but law enforcement needed proof, not just knowledge and the most important was to make sure nothing revealed any of his connections or safehouses.

In a rush, Coil split the timeline again and started working.

A couple of days later, he thought about the latest information he had and almost wanted to laugh. It seems fate really was at his side.

At any other time a dozen men dying in a parahuman fight would be news for weeks but, when an insane explosive Tinker started a string of terrorist attacks on an entire city not even a day later, nobody had any time for dead mercenaries.

After two days of work, Coil was far more relaxed. His men were shaken by their first real taste of failure and he’d had to burn some of his favors and blackmail, but things were far from irrecoverable.

He was still wary of his power’s failure, but the girl had been interfering with his timelines from the very beginning, which meant her power was far stronger than she believed or he could test in the short time he had her under his control.

Yes, if her power was going to interfere with his, getting the girl in his hand just became a much higher priority. At least her new guardian’s brutality, coupled with his weak Master power, might yet work in Coil’s favor; it meant the Protectorate would also be trying to take him out.

He would try to manipulate things as Thomas Calvert, and he was already leaking information to the Empire, but Coil needed this solved soon. Not knowing when he could be left in the wrong timeline was not a comfortable experience.

Unfortunately, that meant he needed more firepower than he currently had. The Undersiders were a powerful tool, but they weren’t made for direct confrontations and he didn’t have any other heavy hitters.

Dealing with Accord had been hard. Canceling a meeting with the Thinker in a timeline always drove him into a near-murderous rage, there was no point even trying. As a result, Coil only had two simultaneous tries to get a good deal.

Fortunately, he had managed to get what he wanted, mostly because Accord himself wanted them gone from his city and wasn’t willing to spend the resources necessary to kill them… Yet.

A session of interrogation with his men later, just to make sure none of them had any desire to betray him, and he was ready for the meeting. Granted, it hadn’t been as gratifying as seeing one of his plans work out, but it was still a good way to let out his frustrations.

Leaning towards the microphone, Coil spoke, his body double repeating his words and cutting off whatever insipid thing Trickster was going to say. “Let me be honest, Trickster. I’m not completely unsympathetic to your plight, but my loyalty is first and foremost to my own employees.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“I spoke with Accord. I know what you’re capable of and how… difficult to contain your problem can be,” steepling his fingers, Coil sighed in sympathy. “I happen to have a safe place to keep Noelle and the means to, possibly, help her, but I will require a service to even consider it.”

“Great, you want us to work for free and can’t even compromise.”

“You’re certainly welcome to reject my offer,” his body double shrugged on camera before his voice became warmer. “I just recommend finding another place quickly because Accord will not tolerate you for long.”

Trickster traded a glance with Ballistic and Sundancer, the two other members with him in the meeting. “Fine. Not like we have much choice, what do you need?”

“Like Accord, I currently employ several parahumans in my city. Some are working entirely under me, others are simply temporarily contracted but, contrary to the Thinker, I tend to take care of them.

“A few days ago, I became worried when one particularly vulnerable girl stopped contacting me. She was too young to work directly with me, but she traded the use of her power for safety, some comfort, and a not inconsiderable college fund…” Coil trailed off as if barely containing his anger.

At least the anger wasn’t a lie.

“What happened?” Sundancer asked behind Trickster, getting a glare in return.

“I take it this is going somewhere?” The man himself turned back to the body double and tapped a foot against the ground.

“Indeed, it seems the girl has fallen victim to a Master/Shaker who has taken the name Polaris,” he paused, letting his words stretch. “When I first organized a rescue, the man dispensed with any subterfuge, killed a dozen well-equipped mercenaries and kidnapped the girl.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure we’re willing to fight someone like that,” Trickster lied, even though the monitor Coil could see he was desperate for the deal. “We’re not assassins and it doesn’t sit well to risk death, particularly as a free sample.”

“Let me be clear,” Coil said. “The priority is getting the girl to safety, not killing or even fighting the parahuman. If you could use your power to swap the kid away from him and run I’d be perfectly happy. I’ll also offer you all the support I can.”

Ballistic was the first one to nod, then Sundancer. Trickster took a little more time, taking a drag of the cigarette through the mouth hole in his mask. Finally, he puffed out some smoke. “I don’t really buy the whole ‘caring for your employee’ thing —Dealt with plenty like you before— but yeah, we’re in.”

Inviting the Travelers into his city had been something he didn’t want to do, but they would be necessary to deal with the new parahuman and, once he had the girl in his hands, he’d be able to control them with ease going forward. Coil would just have to be careful until then.

Over the course of the next few days, Coil used his power extensively. Instead of immediately going after the man, he probed him, doing all that he could to study his powers and abilities.

Coil sent more mercenaries after him, had the Travelers or the Undersiders try to take the girl away and manipulated things so he’d be attacked by the Empire, the Protectorate, ABB, the Merchants, even New Wave.

Then he adapted his plans and did it again… and again.

Some of his simulations had ended in his complete loss, others had the girl die in the crossfire and some he had won, killed the parahuman or escaped with the girl.

Unfortunately, unless he killed the parahuman first, the escape was never clean… Also, no matter how many times he tried it, he never managed to kill the man without destroying at least an entire city block.

Sweating, he threw away the covers and sat on the bed, breathing hard, a hand massaging his chest almost expecting a plasma sword hole to be there. Fucking Polaris.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

After so many probing attempts, Coil knew the full extent of Susanoo’s power, it was impressive but not limitless. He was almost ready to act for real, drop the probing attempts and have a real try at the girl.

Still, Coil hated to admit it, but the sheer brutality Polaris showed... It was a bitter reminder of how far a parahuman could go when he didn’t care about society or its rules. Yes, Polaris had to die.

Looking around his house, he couldn’t help glancing at the windows and going over the security features all over again, a gun firmly in his hand. The Endbringer shelter had always been so much safer but, with Neolle there, he didn’t dare be too close.

Grabbing a mug of coffee, he collapsed the timeline where he had been reading the PRT’s data and split it again, putting on his outfit and starting to adapt his latest plans / drove out of the city and towards Concordia.

Perhaps it was about time to start getting his backup plan ready. Nilbog had taught him many things, amongst them the fact that, no matter what you do, sometimes one just has to retreat.

As a result, he had long since established a minor presence in several cities. Places where Fortress Construction had worked and where he controlled a minor gang.

Despite parahumans’ wide dominance, some purely normal gangs would always exist. Offering his services to one of them once every two months kept them in his debt in the unlikely case he needed to escape and start over.

Later, from his safehouse in Concordia, Coil coordinated with the Travelers.

“I thought you wanted the girl away from him, why won’t you let us act?” Ballistic said, pinching Trickster’s shoulders to keep the man from cursing more.

“Must I remind you?” Coil’s double said, playing with a coin in his hand. “My power influences Fate, but like any parahuman, I have limits. It was not the time to act.”

When the Travelers had asked for a demonstration, he had used the old coin trick. Throwing it up and calling the correct side every single time. It was simple but very effective, particularly when he let his audience flip the coin and still managed to be right.

Anyone smart could make the connections to his immaculate track record with complex operations and, for those too stupid to connect the dots, Coil simply had to point it out himself.

His recent losses to Polaris hurt that image, but he still had years as a parahuman, a single failure could be overlooked.

“Fuck, I don’t know if we still want to do this,” Trickster shrugged off his teammate’s hand. “With or without support, every fucking time we’re ready you call us off. Are you saying we can’t beat him no matter what?”

“Quite the contrary, I believe you’d have won in nearly every engagement,” Coil said in a sad voice. “Unfortunately, Polaris is not the usual parahuman, he WILL attack with deadly force at any provocation. You’d win, but I felt at least one of your fates would end with him.”

They all stared at him, Trickster with a very frustrated look on his face. With a snort, the irritating parahuman took another drag of his cigarette. “No wonder you don’t control the city.”

Coil felt the corner of his eye twitch. Had he chosen Boston instead of the Bay, he’d be in Accord’s place right now. Unable to keep the frown from his face, he answered. “Indeed, I’m not omnipotent.”

“What about tonight? I can just swap the girl and run, have Genesis keep him occupied? No need to invite him for the meeting.”

“I will be in constant contact and using my power. I just hope you can pull back if I tell you to, I don’t think Noelle would take your death well.”

In hindsight, Coil shouldn’t have taken the risk of such a badly planned assault. His power had already failed once against the girl and, while it was working well now, it was not impossible he’d be left with the Travelers dead and Noelle rampaging.

Still, watching Ballistic get crushed under a car and Trickster bisected with a plasma sword was oddly satisfying before he collapsed that timeline.

The next day, when he heard Polaris was going after Lung, Coil could hardly believe his luck. The Rage Dragon was one of the few that could stand as an equal against the parahuman… at least if he was properly motivated first.

He had seen the full extent of Polaris power’s and killed the man several times in discarded timelines, it was finally time to see it through.

Faultline defending the girl was a challenge, but her crew couldn’t stand up to the Travelers, not when they were properly supported by his power. Still, it was always best to hedge his bets.

From his safehouse, Coil split the timeline and left for Concordia; it wouldn’t do to be in the same location. / leaned back on his chair and considered his next move.

In both timelines, he opened a connection to the comms of the monster’s cell.

“Good evening Noelle,” he said in a caring voice.

Noelle was a beast, her upper body was that of a young, petite girl, but her lower body was a giant, semi-independent mass of flesh weighing several tons and capable of changing shape.

It was also exclusively carnivorous and seemed to crave human flesh, parahumans above all else.

Out of curiosity, Coil had tried to simply cut off the excess in a timeline, but the mass reacted autonomously, striking back at any perceived enemy and, if the girl wasn’t conscious, even her own allies. If it touched someone, it would release an aggressive clone loyal only to Noelle.

Worse, she regenerated at incredible speeds, from a seemingly endless source of mass far beyond what should be visibly contained in her lower body. Perhaps the Travelers were right and the girl really was on the way to becoming an Endbringer.

“Coil, I-I’m…” the upper part of her said, her lower body rippling, the shapeless mass releasing a long arm that hit the reinforced door with surprising strength. Swallowing hard, she regained some clarity and asked. “Where’s Trickster?”

“He is getting ready to attempt rescuing the girl,” Coil said. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t guarantee the result. The girl is under Faultline and her crew’s protection, but there’s a chance Polaris will return if the fight takes too long.”

“... Faultline?” the girl asked, her mind focused for once. Coil had kept her well fed, not daring to take any risks.

“A local mercenary. Has the power to separate molecules.”

“Right, five members, a Striker, two Blasters, a Striker/Mover and a strong Shaker, professional,” Noelle commented, her lower body settling back, the arm retreating into her flesh. “We… should be able to handle them easily.”

“That’s my assessment too, but I have been wrong before. There was no time to check with you before, but I wanted to ask for your help coordinating the assault.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” she answered, seeming to gain some confidence. “We agreed they could act without my help if there was a chance, but is there enough time?”

On one timeline, he nodded. “Good, I’ll have one of my men configure the equipment and send it to you. The rescue will be in an hour.”

On the other, Coil grimaced and avoided her eyes. “I’m afraid I have to ask for more.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I have been holding your team back from any engagement with Polaris, my power indicates any confrontation with him ends in at least one of their deaths… that has not changed.”

For a moment, Noelle just stared at his mask on the screen, her mind working overtime to understand him. “... He’s going after the dragon, but you think there’s a chance he’ll be back sooner?”

“Unfortunately, I do not know,” Coil said, doing his best to seem tired, haunted. “Polaris has cost me a dozen men before, a dozen lives lost because I was wrong. I don’t want to take that risk again.”

“You want me to be there? I can’t,” Noelle immediately shook her head. “I won’t be able to stop.”

“Noelle, contrary to what I said, I’m not waiting until your team rescues Dinah and proves yourselves. I have been working on helping you, I have been using my contacts and stretching my power for a while now, but your condition is simply too dangerous.”

“I know, but you said…”

“Yes, I said I could help you…” Coil sighed as if revealing something he didn’t want to. “The truth is that the girl is not only important to me, but she’s also essential for your recovery and the only reason I could even offer you a place here. Her power allows me to eliminate much of the danger involved.”

“Alright…” Noelle said. Noticing several appendages extending from her body, she moved away from the door and pressed her back against the wall. “Alright, what do you need?”

“Your clones,” he finally said. “I have managed to hire a cape by the name of Circus, he’s a mercenary, a thief and a Grab-bag with a dimensional storage, minor pyrokinesis as well as weak Mover and Thinker powers. It wouldn’t be enough against Faultline or Polaris, but if you clone him enough…”

Noelle just stared at the image, her mind working overtime to think about the situation. The girl was smart, smarter than Trickster at least, but she was also desperate and her power was messing with her mind. Coil had little doubt she’d agree.

“I don’t know if I can stop myself,” she finally said, not refusing.

“Circus won’t even be in your room, you can simply make contact with him through the hatch on the door,” Coil continued. “If it’s any consolation, while he’s not an assassin, Circus is extremely selfish, he has killed more than once and hurting him may save your friends’ lives.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Good, he’ll be at your door in a few minutes.”

Coil didn’t like the theatrics, but it was necessary. Noelle’s clones were insane, impossible to control and hated the originals, but they were also utterly loyal to the girl. As long as they believed her best interests were to get Dinah and that Coil was helping her, they could be… directed.

He wished he had enough time to order suicide collars to be made, but he hadn’t thought of it before and this was a last-minute assault.

Turning off the comms, Coil stretched his back and scratched at his tired eyes. Even with two timelines to do things, he didn’t have the time to sleep.

Polaris was a problem, but the priority was getting the girl, not eliminating him. It was likely the man would die against Lung anyway, so Coil would use his power on the kidnapping, not the battle.

Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the show. Seeing Polaris getting burned to death or ripped apart would be very satisfying. Picking up the phone, he ordered some of his men to film the confrontation, then contacted Leet for a more impressive camera.

In one timeline, he watched Noelle organize the assault. The girl had a talent for it, managing her team well, but Faultline was not a pushover and Dinah was clearly helping her, blocking several moves before they were even made.

In the other, Noelle was far more brutal and reckless. She had managed to preserve Circus's life, even if his arm would need time to recover, but making the clones had affected her.

Still, at every moment, it became clearer that the second timeline was the better one. Against Faultline, they had needed enough brute force, not finesse.

Leaning back, Coil turned on a secondary screen and started watching the video from the Snitch. A sense of vertigo hit him, his first timeline collapsing as if shattered into a million shards that all pierced through his brain.

Turning aside, he managed to keep from puking and turned disbelieving eyes to the image.

That wasn’t supposed to happen! Polaris just didn’t have that level of power! Again and again he had tested it, the man had died several times for fuck’s sake!

Releasing a stream of lightning from his hand, Polaris forced Lung’s head high and pulled his plasma sword back, nearly decapitating the Endbringer-sized dragon, with a pull of his Shaker power, he pulled the head off and finished it with a sword to the brain right in front of Miss Militia and Velocity.

Gripping his chair tightly, his head killing him, Coil watched the man point at the fires covering at least four blocks and simply… willed them out in a show of both power and control he had only seen from Eidolon.

That was impossible!

He was unable to think, his breathing coming faster as he realized he couldn’t even split the timelines, his exhausted power only making the headache worse and forcing his eyes to tear up.

For a minute, he watched Polaris leave the heroes behind and actually locate the Snitch. The recording device’s demise finally snapped Coil out of his daze.

Scrambling for his comms, he didn’t even care how he looked while contacting the Mercenaries and Noelle. “Retreat, retreat now! Lung is dead and Polaris is on the way. drop everything and retreat!”

“We almost have her,” one of Circus’s clones said on the comms. “Five minutes and I’ll have her out from under the rubble!”

“Polaris will be there in two,” Coil grit his teeth, swallowing the desire to curse.

Turning off the comms, he leaned back, his mask digging into his face, cloth blocking his nose and mouth until he desperately pulled it off and took a deep breath. Holding his face with both hands, he felt the cold sweat running down his skin.

What the fuck was that? Running a hand through his head, he reached for some medication and stuffed three pills into his mouth, hoping to alleviate his killer headache. Then he ran an arm over his desk, throwing everything to the floor in a fit of rage.

Finally, he managed to get himself under control. Finding his phone, he started watching Polaris fight from the beginning, he needed to know what the hell happened.

Two days, it took him two days and Tattletale’s help in a discarded timeline —no, he supposed they weren’t timelines but truly nothing more than simulations— to understand what went wrong.

Coil had assumed Dinah was the one responsible for his power’s failure, he had been wrong. Polaris, now renamed to Susanoo by the Asian population, was almost immune to Thinker powers.

After experimenting, the only conclusion he could make was that he couldn’t split into two timelines, his power simply simulated a different set of choices and showed him the result in real-time.

While he could simulate Susanoo, the man’s immunity meant he couldn’t be certain any information was accurate nor discover any powers he hadn’t shown before.

In hindsight, the only reason he hadn’t been screwed by the attempts on Susanoo’s life was that they were always intended as probes. Coil would never keep the simulation unless there was a perfect victory, Susanoo dead, the girl in his hand and no proof he was the one to do it.

The realization that his power was far weaker than he’d first believed was a bitter pill to swallow. Oh, it was still incredibly useful, but much less impressive than he ever thought.

It also meant he couldn’t take as many liberties as before, mostly because there was always a risk goddamned Susanoo would block his power and force him to make a wrong choice. And the man wasn’t the only Trump out there.

Coil had also become far more careful in both simulation and real life, he didn’t dare take risks in either of his timelines, after all, he didn’t know if it was simulation or reality. He could guess and plan but, until the very moment he ended his simulation, he wouldn’t really know.

The next few days were spent remaking all of his plans, Susanoo had just gone from a nuisance to an absolute priority, to the point they couldn’t exist in the same city. His escape to Concordia also became a far more realistic possibility.

Coil still wanted the girl, her power was even more important now that he wasn’t as confident in his own abilities, but he NEEDED Susanoo gone. By any means necessary.

Thankfully, both the Empire and the PRT were already planning against him.

Unfortunately, Armsmaster had managed to arrest Bakuda, so Coil had lost his convenient distraction, having to burn a lot of influence to keep out of the limelight, but the attack wasn’t a total loss.

Three of Circus’s clones had survived. One had disappeared into the city, but two others were under his control, Tinkertech collars keeping them from causing damage and the authorities had found the remains of the girl’s hand.

That had gone well with the PRT.

The fact hadn’t been announced, but it had drastically accelerated their plans and secured Dragon’s support.

Finally, he returned to Brockton Bay, stopping at the PRT’s parking lot and entering the building to continue his work. There was a lot of information he had to register, the paperwork being essential to keeping his identity safe.

Opening his work email, he saw the meeting with Director Piggot and the Protectorate. He had to be ready and his planning adjusted in two hours.

“Mr. Calvert, are you feeling well?” Armsmaster said, looking at him from the door and reading from a prompt fed through his mask. “I’ve noticed a decline in your focus and performance lately. Your dedication is commendable, but perhaps you should rest.”

Coil looked up, remembering all the times he had killed the man. Somehow, the fact it had always been a simulation took a lot of the satisfaction out of it. He sighed. “I’m fine. If you’ll excuse me, I have to finish this before the meeting.”

“Of course. I have sent some new information to your account. It seems Cassandra’s power is confirmed.”

“Thank you,” Coil nodded politely.

Opening his email, he found a list of compromised PRT systems, nearly all of them his backdoors. Fuck, he had hoped some had escaped their swipe. Pressing a hand against his aching eyes, he started working.

The meeting room was packed. Almost every Protectorate hero was present, even the affiliates like Sere and Dovetail, as well as Piggot and Dragon. Looking at them all, Piggot started. “Dragon, I want to thank you for your help.”

“I’m glad I can be of help, Director,” the woman said from the monitor. “I already have four suits in the city and am prepared to provide support as needed.”

“I see. I assume you all know why we’re here?”

“Susanoo, the new leader of the ABB,” Miss Militia said, her voice filled with disappointment and a hand glued to her weapon projection.

Leaning against the wall, Triumph glared at her and almost growled, arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Yes. Mr. Calvert,” Piggot pointed at him. She managed to keep her disgust hidden behind a mask of professionalism, but Coil saw through her. “Has been working on the case since it started, but now that we have Bakuda under control, we’ve shifted much of our focus towards it.”

“I believe we all watched the latest video and read the information provided?” He started and saw several nods. “I have been going over the video and there are several points I’d like to highlight.”

“Sorry, I just have to ask,” Assault interrupted, getting a glare from Battery by his side. “And don’t crucify me, but didn’t we just find out a LOT of security breaches? Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, fix them first before going after the Thinker Parahuman that said she was safer away from us?”

“You want to…” Triumph started to say and visibly stopped himself, taking a deep breath. “Cassandra is with a stranger, one that doesn’t have a problem killing or mutilating people, including her… and you want to just leave her there? Again?”

“I’m just playing devil’s advocate here kid, calm down.”

“Answering your question,” Coil said, refocusing the attention on him. “First, I have to point out that Precognitive Thinkers aren’t exactly the most reliable or clean-cut. If Cassandra’s power works as expected, she’d probably be the most powerful we know of.

“What is far more likely is that it doesn’t work exactly as portrayed. Her numbers could have completely different meanings, the questions could be limited in scope to her own understanding or the chances could completely change once she speaks them out loud.”

“So, the chances she’d be kidnapped with us could have changed as soon as she said something?” Triumph pushed away from the wall and glared at Piggot. “...If people even believed her.”

“I admit we were too busy with Bakuda and I did not fully believe her,” Piggot said. “But I did order a swipe for security failures and I would not completely ignore the girl's safety. Were she in our custody I’d have immediately taken her off the city,”

“Did that lead to anything?” Dauntless said. “Have we found out who else is after the girl?”

Dauntless was considered a rising star in the city, but Coil never paid him too much attention. The man was mildly tempered, always doing his best to appease Armsmaster's ego and never taking the initiative. Despite his potential, he was not Triumvirate material.

“Unfortunately, while I have found several programs in the PRT and Protectorate’s servers, I’ve been unable to track their source back to anyone,” Dragon said, frustrated. “Whoever installed them was very careful, putting on several levels of defense and immediately cutting the connection when they detected any interference.”

“We have been able to arrest several moles,” Armsmaster said. “But as we suspected, they didn’t have much access and worked for all three major gangs.”

“Shit,” Assault said.

“There is another point. The girl said she’d be safer with Susanoo, but what exactly does her power consider safe?” Coil said. He had to make sure they were all interested in the girl's rescue. He also liked to see Triumph squirm. It was petty, but he needed to vent. “Is it being alive? Not in physical or emotional harm?

“Clearly not the last. She’s already lost a hand, so she’s not entirely safe with him, but did her power consider the chance of losing a hand safer than risking death or getting kidnapped by another person? By what percentage? Was she mastered and started to consider being by her master’s side being ‘safe’?”

“Calvert, enough, getting the girl away from Susanoo was never in question,” Piggot cut him off. Then she glared at everyone in the room. “Contrary to what some might expect, I did not enjoy having to prioritize Bakuda, the same way I don’t enjoy letting the gangs run free in the city. With Lung and Bakuda gone and Dragon’s help, we can at least do this much.”

“Very well,” Coil nodded, he had hoped she wouldn't cancel the operation, but Piggot did hate parahumans. In her place, he’d simply write the girl off. “In the material you received, Susanoo was classified as a Shaker 9, Tinker 5, Blaster 3, Master / Mover / Brute / Thinker / Trump 2. The wide range of effects he’s able to use makes him incredibly dangerous but, what some of you may not have noticed is that he’s not as versatile as he seems.”

There was no reaction, everyone had read the same report and, while Assault had whistled when he first read the ridiculous amount of classifications, they had had time to get used to Susanoo.

“You’re saying he’s like Eidolon?” Miss Militia asked, leaning forward. “Actually a Trump that can choose which powers to use but is limited in how many?”

“No, after analyzing the available footage, I believe most of his abilities come from different expressions of a single power, mainly, his Shaker one. It doesn’t really change his ratings, but how we plan around them. In both his confrontation with Lung and the Empire, Susanoo did not use more than 4 abilities at the same time and the more he used, the less precise he could be with them.

“For example, he’s not truly a Brute or Mover, but he uses his Shaker power to mimic those effects. When he’s defending himself, he’s not as effective attacking and if he’s caught by surprise, he’s no faster or more resistant than a normal human.”

“So we’re not fighting Eidolon 2.0,” Assault couldn’t help commenting. “Just someone that can act almost exactly like him. That makes things so much better.”

“It does,” Armsmaster said. “Eidolon can dedicate a single power for defense, usually a Brute rating strong enough he can ignore any attacks. He’s then free to use two powers entirely for offense, we also can’t know which powers he’s going to choose. With Susanoo, that isn’t a problem.”

“Indeed,” Coil gave the man the recognition he so craved. “Susanoo has an impressive but limited ability to multitask. As Lung found out, it’s challenging to do one-on-one, but if we can pressure him to defend himself in different ways, he’ll be unable to go on the offensive.”

“I want everyone to understand, the priority is to separate Susanoo from the girl,” Piggot spoke again. “Arrest him if possible, but he doesn’t have a kill order and is acting as a stabilizing factor in ABB territory. If he flees, we CAN let him go and take our time analyzing his abilities, but we can’t let him keep the girl.”

“He’s not going to start making mistakes,” Miss Militia said. “Even if we press him, he was a soldier, he’s not going to collapse or give up. Don’t let your guard down even if we’re winning.”

“Yeah,” Velocity said. “When he was fighting Lung, he wasn’t really desperate, he didn’t kill the man because of adrenaline or something like that, he kept his calm. Guy like that isn’t going to panic even if we do find his weakness.

”And who’s going to rescue Cassandra?” Triumph said.

“One of Dragon’s suits is already equipped with sonic weapons,” Armsmaster said, reading the details on his screen. “You will not be as effective in the confrontation.”

“I also brought a suit fitted for search and rescue,” Dragon offered from the screen of a computer. “It was being used close by and won’t be very effective in a direct confrontation, but can escape with the girl.”

“Dragon and Dovetail will attempt to rescue the girl, they’re both Movers and can act fast,” Piggot said. “If we manage to separate Susanoo enough, I’ll also deploy the Wards for the rescue attempt, with Triumph leading them. Velocity will be kept in reserve for emergencies while the rest will engage the target.”

With that decided, it was time to plan the entire operation.

Hours later, Coil was sitting on his desk again. His spyware had been discovered and most of his access to the PRT database could now be traced, but he still had access to some things. Including the schedule of prisoner transport.

Bakuda had been sentenced to the Birdcage and she was going to be taken out of the city soon. At the same time, Piggot had managed to get Victor sent to a detention center outside the city until his judgment.

Tapping his finger against the wooden desk, Coil considered his next move. His mercenaries refused to work anywhere near Susanoo, but a successful operation could rekindle some of their trust in his power.

“Mr. Andrew,” Coil spoke to the mercenary in front of him. “Tomorrow, the PRT will be transporting two prisoners out of the city. The Empire will obviously make an attempt to rescue Victor, but I want you to be ready to assist the other prisoner if the opportunity presents itself.”

“Will you be providing extra support?”

“As usual, I’ll be in command,” Coil hated that he couldn’t see the usual confidence on the man’s face. “I have also secured a Tinkertech suit from one of my other employees. It will give you the necessary mobility to escape pursuit.”

Chariot was not a very strong Tinker, but his specialty was transportation, the suit was extremely fast and capable of taking more than one passenger. Bakuda made for such a nice distraction, it would be a pity to allow her to be sent to the Birdcage if he could help it.

“Understood sir.”

“Also, ask for Trickster to come in.”

With guards around the room, Coil was confident enough to meet the Travelers’s leader. Trickster’s power wasn’t offensive in nature and, while he could be dangerous, Coil was certain he couldn’t disable four men before they killed him.

Entering the room, the Mover sat down in the chair and put his feet up on Coil’s desk, his long hair tied in a ponytail and his body relaxed, pretending to be comfortable in Coil’s presence.

Coil just stared at him for a minute, letting the silence uncomfortably stretch between them until Trickster couldn’t keep it anymore. “Alright, what do you want?”

“I had one requirement, get the girl. It was simple, uncomplicated,” Coil said, putting his elbows on the table and crossing his hands. “You failed, again and again.”

“Yeah, nope, you only gave us one chance and it was your side that failed,” Trickster snorted.

“Really, is that what you believe?” Coil looked into the man’s eyes. This time, Trickster managed to meet his stare. “Regardless, I’ll give you one last opportunity to...”

“So, I’ve been thinking,” Trickster interrupted before Coil could continue. “I don’t see you doing anything for Noelle, no help or a plan to start helping, you even forced her to use her power so… Perhaps it’s time we renegotiate our agreement?”

Coil took a breath, his eyes never leaving the parahuman. He had hoped this wouldn’t be necessary. “Very well, I can admit you have made a serious attempt at the girl and the failure wasn’t entirely your fault, perhaps I can pay you for this new attempt?”

“No, see, I don’t know if it’s in our best interests to keep antagonizing the guy. We already broke the agreed truce and have to stay huddled in your little villain lair, maybe we should just cut our losses and leave. We’re the Travelers after all.”

Leaning away from the desk, Coil felt the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, the skintight costume seeming to dig into his body uncomfortable and his anger started rising. Still, he tried again. “I assure you, I can help your companion but, as I informed Noelle, the girl’s power is necessary for that.”

“Damn, that really annoys me about you,” Trickster snorted. “That nice persona you’re putting on. I know about putting on a mask, I’ve done it enough to keep my team together. If you didn’t act so nice, maybe I could believe you but… Yeah, I think we’re leaving.”

Coil stared at the man… This, this was why he needed the girl. Sometimes, even when his power didn’t fail, he could miss things cropping up in the long run. By interrogating the Trickster in a simulation, he could mitigate that but, sometimes people changed their minds or didn’t know their own wants.

With more time or the girl’s help, he could have known exactly how to approach the Travelers, what they’d believe, and how to best convince them but, without her, he had tried appearing well-meaning. The sane option among Nazis and raging dragons.

Apparently, that hadn’t worked now.

Time for the stick then. With the girl, he may still be able to fix this, it would be a pity to have to get rid of them after the job was done.

“Very well, let me be honest,” Coil said, his voice immediately changing from sympathy to a cold, hard one. Around the room, the four guards grabbed their weapons and started getting ready. “It seems you’re under the mistaken belief you have a choice. I brought you into the city under the condition that you bring me the girl. I was willing to pay you for it, but that’s still what you’ll have to do if you ever want to leave.”

“And what’re you going to do if I say no? Kill me and have Noelle go on a rampage?”

“Did you know Bakuda had many interesting Tinkertech bombs?” Coil commented in a conversational tone, his voice lacking any emotions. “After her arrest, I was able to secure at least some of them. I believe one is capable of turning an entire room into glass, another can disintegrate a dozen men into dust, and those are only the ones we’re sure of. I don’t think Noelle going on a rampage is a problem for me.”

Trickster took his feet off the table and sat straighter in the chair. “There, that I can believe,” he said, only a hint of anger in his voice. “Were you even planning to help us?”

“A broken tool is far less useful than an intact one,” he said in a cold tone. In truth, he may have helped her… if it wasn’t too difficult and they proved useful enough. “Noelle’s power is impressive, I’d hate to lose it.”

“Fine,” the parahuman finally said. “You said there’s another chance to grab the kid?”

“I’m glad you see things my way, Trickster,” Coil said, no longer trying to appear sympathetic. “In a few days, the Protectorate will be attempting to rescue the girl from Susanoo, most of them will keep him busy while they try to use movers to rescue her, the Wards may also get involved. Will that be a problem?”

“No, we can deal with two movers and the kids.”

“Good, I’ll send you all the information you need in a minute,” the smile returned to Coil’s masked face. “And, Trickster… If it appears as if the girl will escape again, I will also accept her gone, am I clear?”

“... Crystal.”

“Good, your girlfriend’s life depends on it.”