"Two flyers in one day? They're getting way too common."
"It's worse," the commander informs them, "South Karlsland got hit with three at once. We're taking Lytee's express and sleeping there. You can sit out if you absolutely need to, but Freya's still recovering so we could use you as a comms relay."
"No, I'll come. I just reserve the right to complain about it."
The 42nd United Forces Witch Wing takes off and assembles into a perfect synchronized formation as Lytee charges her teleport power.
...This is not South Karlsland wilderness.
[note: halfway through this thread I created a unique account for Grendyne. Do not be alarmed by the change in account. -Rockeye]
She turns to Gren, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, especially if it turns out not to be a mere misunderstanding. Dismissed."
She more or less ignores Shadow Stalker as she walks back to the Wards area to put her purchases away unless the latter re-initiates conversation.
She runs into another Ward or two on the way. "What was that about with Stalker?"
"I was out shopping, ran into some thugs. She was on a nearby roof. I shot stunbolts at her 'cause I didn't recognize her and thought she was a villain at first and we had a little fight. No lasting harm, I hope."
"They wouldn't let me wear purple 'cause she's already got dark-and-broody covered. But all's well that ends well."
Except, you don't just attack everyone who looks villainous, do you? I hope?"
"I will probably still attack people who look villainous and watch a crime unfolding without doing jack about it. The stunbolts are nonlethal, you know."
Stalker does that sometimes, she likes to see if the victim is going to fight back. It's messed up. She does go in eventually either way, though. At least every time I've seen."
"Well. Yeah, that's messed up. This is faint praise, but at least she doesn't go around attacking people to see if they fight back, just failing to rescue them. Still. Even if nobody got hurt because she waited, probably dozens of them had a traumatic event last longer than it needed to."
"Yeah. No fun for us, but it beats having her as a vigilante as far as the city's concerned."
"I helped track down a vigilante who liked turning criminals into animals, once. No fun for anybody involved. She got off relatively light, ten years plus a gaes, after undoing all the ones who were still alive. Irritating, but at least she can't hurt people anymore."
"A gaes. A binding. She swore to never again turn someone into anything, and then she literally couldn't. There's a few, ah, capes who can do gases on my world."
"That kind of power exists here, sometimes, but never that neatly and there's always something else that can mess with it. I don't think they'd trust it over regular prisons even if some master volunteered to help."
"They're pretty ironclad from what I hear. But I understand the sentiment - anyone who manages to get around a geas gets put away, or put down, for good."
"It's a lot more conventional here, most of the time. Anyone who isn't put in the Birdcage for good gets treated as much like any normal criminal as they can manage."
"It'll be a change to fight nonlethally most of the time. You don't have to hold back against literal, city-burning monsters. I Hope I can find the balance between too much and too little."
I can't wait until you join us in the field."
"I have at least one definitely non-lethal thing. Stunbolts. Made a special trip just to copy them from someone. I don't have any bolts between stun and lightning though. Yeah, fieldwork with new powers should be fun. The two of us could probably be almost excessively mobile if you ride along while I fly."
Before any actual cape business, the PRT has to take care of some setup. The costume, of course. It's finished in short order, complete with gold and gems. (Smaller quantities than Coil supplied.) Aside from that, there's further power and basic combat training, and of course PR. Don't threaten people, don't swear in public, don't give away important information, don't conspicuously display destructive might unless the point is to display destructive might, the point is never to display destructive might, and so on. It boils down to "talk less, smile more" being a safe option to start out with.
Eventually she's cleared as ready for duty.
The first charge of Dauntless's power gets put into a particular amulet, one with a large citrine set into the middle. So does the second. It'll probably be a while before this has any useful effects.
Her official unveiling speech was mostly written by someone else, but she manages to deliver it with reasonable amounts of sincerity.