Chapter 192 - My SI Stash #92 - A Glitch in the Cycle by Digsjin1 (Worm) (2/2)

”Thanks,” Brian muttered. He was unsure of what to say as he realized all of those corpses pooled at the entrance of the warehouse were his fault. Sure, Glitch shot them, but he was the one who made them run out, he was the one-

A meaty three-fingered hand was placed on his shoulder. Newter was utterly ignoring the fight and looking at him with concern etched on his features, ”It's not your fault.” He said seriously.

That was the last thing he needed to hear as he turned on his heel and looked for the fire escape.

”Dorothy Chisholm,” Newter said, his voice lacking the mirth Brian had come to associate with him and even the appropriate seriousness of his boss. It sounded sad, broken even.

”What?” Brian asked, but he stopped.

”Dorothy Chisholm,” Newter repeated, ”She's the reason I joined up with Glitch.”

Despite himself, Brian was interested, ”and,” he thought with a sigh, ”he's just trying to help.”

”Who is she?” Grue asked, and Newter ran a hand through his dyed hair.

”She was a Cape groupie, so no one you would know,” he began, ”do you know the basics of what Case-53s go through? Cause otherwise, this is going to be one hell of a confusing story.”

Grue nodded crisply, he did know. He had researched it extensively before agreeing to work with Glitch's Crew.

”Well, basically, I never got the chance to have my situation explained to me by the government, so I thought I was a monster. I stole food, I lived in the sewers and more often than not scared the living hell out of people that got close.” He chuckled fondly, but an undertone of sadness was still there.

”Not her though, she was this teenage black girl. Walked up to me all nervous as I was eating some chicken wings, I'd fished out of a dumpster and asked me for my autograph.” Newter laughed, ”Can you believe it, there I was. A freak of nature who didn't know what or who he was. And someone wanted my autograph. I didn't even have a signature yet! So, I made one up and asked her why she wanted it, and then she explained the common knowledge about Case-53s. She kept coming around my sewer every so often. She was my first friend, and how I learned, I wasn't a monster.” The last part was spoken quietly, almost hesitantly.

He didn't know where it was going, but he could guess. ”What happened to her?”

Newter scoffed, ”Some prospective E88 members kicked her a_s_s to prove themselves to Victor, I don't know if they were trying to kill her, but she didn't make it in the hospital. Glitch told me later that Panacea was home at the time.”

”I'm sorry,” what else could he say?

Newter laughed, but it was hollow, ”Don't be, it's not your fault. Anyway, that's not the end of the story, after I found out I got angry. Real angry. I didn't know exactly what my powers did, but I wanted to kill some Skinheads.”

Brian felt himself nod in sympathy, entranced at the view of what was one of if not the most unique private lives that a Cape in Brockton Bay had.

”So, I hear they're having a rally, and I go over, not sure about what I was going to do. That is until I see this guy dressed in a T-Shirt and probably the cheapest mask you could possibly buy, throwing Molotov c_o_c_ktails at panicked Nazis. I'm all bummed out but grudgingly impressed, so I climb the building 'cause I want to get a closer look at the guy. To thank him, I suppose, and before I can get a word in edgewise, do you know what he says to me?”

Brain shook his head.

”Hey, you look too jaundiced to be a Nazi, want to join my guild?” Brian laughed, that sounded exactly like something he'd say.

”And you said yes to that?” He asked incredulously.

Newter snorted, ”No, of course not I just left on the spot. But later, he kept visiting me in my sewer, challenging me to silly games like Rock-Paper-Scissors and claiming that when I'd lose, I'd have to join him. Long story short, he never won, and eventually, I realized that he was letting me win.”

”Why?” That sounded nothing like Glitch. Über and Leet may have streamed their fights. But Glitch occasionally streamed himself playing Earth Aleph games, and Brian had rarely seen a more competitive person before.

”I asked him that myself,” Newter said with an understanding look, ”And he said, 'you looked sad, so I wanted to cheer you up, and nothing cheers me up like winning at a game.'”

”That's…” he wanted to say that that was nothing like Glitch, but he didn't know him nearly as well as Newter, so clearly it is.

”That's when I joined him, he let me crash at his place, taught me martial arts and how to properly use my power. Now we fight for people who pay us to fight and steal things people pay us to steal. Though,” he paused thoughtfully, ”I guess if no one pays us, we steal anyway, but hey, details!”

Brian couldn't help himself; he laughed, a full guffaw coming from deep in his stomach. This is so surreal, he thought, when's the last time I laughed like that?

”So,” the normal upbeat Newter interjected, but there was still a hint of concern in his voice, ”don't torture yourself over people like that, trust me, they wouldn't do the same for you. But more importantly, don't feel sorry for them, you're disrespecting all the people they've wronged whom they've never felt sorry for.”

Brian nodded gratefully if still, a tad put out.

”Now, do you or do you not want to watch Hookwolf get his a_s_s kicked?”

”Yes,” Grue said with a smile, and though Newter couldn't see it, his smile widened in return, ”I'd like that very much.”

Both of them simultaneously neared the edge of the building, where they saw that Hookwolf crashing into the spot where his opponent presumably used to be. Glitch silently reappeared behind him with a-

”Newter?” Brian asked, staring at Glitch, holding the long sparkling steel spear hooked up to what looked like a car battery.

”Yes, Grue?” Newter responded as both Capes stared at the scene with looks of horrified fascination. The kind you would see on people gazing at but not bothering to stop an impending accident.

”Is your Boss going to shove a plasma torch up Hookwolf's ass?” Newter didn't have to respond. The incoherent howl of rage, pain, and if only because it would be funny if it was true p_l_e_a_s_u_r_e. It managed to answer his question well enough.

Newter quickly swept Brian up bridal style and leaped off the roof to land near Hookwolf, who'd passed out, probably from the pain. The blades that made up his body were receding, and Newter flicked his tongue out at the man's exposed skin. Hookwolf's muscles twitched in agitation before relaxing completely.

”Nice work, boss,” Newter said.

”You… too,” Glitch responded, panting and probably slick with sweat, ”I take it I wasn't invited for the nuptials?”

Brian blushed, not that they could see it, as Newter laughed and unceremoniously let him fall to the ground in a heap. Suddenly he could see Glitch stiffen and Newter following in due course.

”Armsmaster and Miss Militia are about to show up in three minutes give or take probably along with some PRT troopers, call Mr. Blonde, and tell him to meet us at the Loft.” He said seriously, his tone not brokering delay or much less, disagreement.

Newter nodded and did as he was told, though neither of them seemed to be in a rush. Despite his instincts screaming at him to flee the scene as fast as possible, he now trusted Newter and knew he should defer to the pair of more experienced villains. And besides, he didn't want to leave Hookwolf's carcass behind and let all this work be for nothing.

”Shouldn't we be heading out?” He asked, instead.

”Yeah, just give me a second,” Glitch answered, getting his breath under control before laying a hand on Hookwolf's body. With the sound of a s_u_c_k_i_n_g vacuum, it promptly disappeared.

Brian jumped.

”Relax, Grue,” Newter said after finishing his phone call. ”He has a Pocket Room like Circus where time is frozen, people can enter it if they want to or are knocked out, or dead too, I suppose.”

”Yeah, now come on,” Glitch said urgently, extending a hand, ”we should skedaddle. I really don't feel up to fighting Halbeard and Miss Milf right now.”

Grue gulped audibly.

He could practically feel Glitch rolling his eyes in the same way he could see Newter rolling his before he vanished. Presumably into the Pocket Room.

I'm f_u_c_k_e_d anyway if they catch me, he thought. He summoned up his courage, grasped his employers' hand and-

And the next thing he knew, he was sitting on a perfectly comfortable white couch inside of what of a sparsely decorated living room. Newter was quietly nursing a beer, Corona, Brian noted, with an animated smile on his face recounting the fight to Mr. Blonde while Glitch occasionally threw his two cents in. He looked around for a bit but tried not to make it obvious that he'd woken up. Most of the walls were red brick and a few of the windows of the building were boarded up. Distantly Grue could smell the ocean, abandoned Warehouse near the docks then.

He could also notice quite a few pieces of furniture, most of which looked extremely worn, but well taken care of. They probably took them from the street and fixed them up, he thought. It was almost funny that they did something kind of admirable like that because Glitch almost definitely stole the many large Arcade machines that littered the room.

Hanging on the wall directly opposite him was a poster with a dark outline of a woman wearing a suit and fedora, the words ”My Goddess Looks Like Carmen Sandiego,” were written bellow with a permanent marker. He took a closer look at the brick walls and actually laughed at the dissonance when he realized that most of the fine art that formerly hung in the Museum was now proudly on display in a place where it had no business being in.

Only with the laughter did Glitch notice he was awake, ”Sorry, Grue, the first time in my Inventory kind of messes with people, you were out of it for about ten minutes.” He said sort of sheepishly while tossing him an Eidolon backpack clearly meant for kids that had the words 'You too are a Hero!' boldly printed under the face of the Founder. And isn't that just the textbook definition for irony?

”We'll take Hookwolf to the Police Station to collect his bounty tomorrow, but for now that's your cut from our client, should be 31250 bucks, you can count it out if you want-”

”No,” Grue cut him off, ”no, it's fine. I trust you, boss.” Strange as that is to say.

”Listen, Grue, I already told you, don't-” Glitch began but was cut off when Newter punched him in the shoulder. Glitch seemed utterly blindsided by the action for a moment. ”Oh,” but only for a moment as he spoke in dawning realization, ”Oh, you want to join us?”

”I wouldn't be averse to it, but I have some questions.” Frankly, this independent stuff was getting kind of old, mostly doing odd jobs for other supervillains.

He didn't like to think about it, but he had no real plan if he got severely injured or if his identity was outed. And his usual clientele wasn't the most trustworthy. Glitch and Newter, at least from what he'd seen so far, wouldn't leave him out to dry.

The pair had been operating for a little over two years now, meaning they had more experience than he did. And they were obviously tough enough to contend with the toughest Capes the Bay had to offer.

”Bold of you to assume we want you here.” Glitch's sharp voice was like a bucket of ice-cold water. Suddenly he was reminded of the fact that he was a newbie villain with a power that wasn't that useful for combat in a team while trying to join what was mostly a Cape PMC.

In short, he felt like he'd just applied for a management position with a very shitty CV and was being interviewed by a hard-ass CEO. If that CEO could kill you in the blink of an eye anyway.

”I-I,” he stuttered out but was interrupted by Newter who'd come back from another room, probably the Kitchen, with more beers.

”Oh, come off it, Glitch. With the way you were going on about his power's potential uses the other day... Well, I almost thought you wanted to suck his d_i_c_k instead of hiring him,” he said, rolling his eyes. Mr. Blonde half chuckled, and half nodded in agreement.

Glitch looked, for lack of a better word, shell-shocked at the proceedings before a massive sigh escaped him, ”Yes, thank you for that, and here I wanted to negotiate properly.”

The Case-53 shrugged unrepentantly.

Glitch turned to him and flippantly said: ”No, we don't have a dental plan or a 401k,”

Brian was taken aback by the man's sudden change in demeanor, Mr. Blonde seemed to have picked up on it as he silently mouthed 'you get used to it.'

”Not what I was planning on asking, but good to know,” Grue said drily, ”my question actually concerned my yearly salary.”

”That…” Glitch began and reached a hand to rub his chin in thought, momentarily forgetting he was wearing a mask, ”varies considerably. Keep in mind we work by commission, and the number of jobs we do get tends to vary. To be fair, though, we are on retainer for one of the minor Villains in the Bay. So, we do have a steady income of about 10 grand a month total, so at least 2.500 grand a month, and that's without any extra jobs.”

”Which villain if I may ask?” Grue was positive it wasn't Kaiser, but he hadn't heard of Glitch ever fighting the Merchants, and he didn't want to be contractually attached to those sc_u_mbags.

”Coil.” Glitch answered simply

Grue had to wrack his brain for information on the villain, coming up with nothing at all. Glitch must've noticed as he elaborated.

”First of all, he's a paranoid bastard, so don't go spreading this shit around. But he's a minor player by the docks, fancies himself a sort of chess master. No one knows whether or not he has powers, but he definitely has the most well-trained and equipped NPCs. Most members of his gang are ex-military, and they carry Tinkertech rifles. Some friendly advice if you ever go up against him. Be extremely careful, ever since he showed up, he hasn't suffered one major setback, and that's saying something in Brockton.”

Grue processed the information, ”Can he be trusted to pay on time?”

Glitch, Newter, and 'Mr. Blonde' all shared a brief glance, ”He wires the money to our accounts individually, and at least in my case, he's never missed a day.” Newter stated.

Both the other members nodded their assent, the old man, seemingly without a stake in the conversation seemed to be staring into space.

”What does that entail exactly, having us on retainer?”

”It means,” Mr. Blonde began, ”that we're strongly encouraged to accept any job he gives us. And if he gives us a job while we have another contract, we should drop the other one if he pays the same or more.”

”Also, we can't harm him or his, but considering how most people don't even know about him, it's not a problem,” Newter added, and Glitch nodded at the explanation.

”Alright,” he took a deep audible breath. Decisions like these can make or break Cape careers, ”There's one more thing I need to know, but it'll only make sense if I explain something from my personal life.”

”Juicy,” Glitch said, steepling his fingers together and leaning forwards, ”don't worry, we can keep a secret.” The gesture filled Brian with the opposite of confidence, but he knew his prospective boss was doing it on purpose. Probably.

”I'm sort of about to be locked in a custody battle, and I need to prove to the court that I have a steady income if I'm going to win, so I need some kind of legal income.”

Newter wolf-whistled, ”Wow, I didn't think you'd be the kind of guy to knock someone up at your age.”

Grue shook his head, slightly embarrassed, ”It's my sister, actually, our family situation… isn't the best…”

Glitch put up a hand. ”You don't have to explain even if you join, private stuff can stay private as far as I'm concerned so long as it doesn't affect your performance in the field. Still, as far as your salary goes…” He trailed off, before sharply turning towards the older man, ”Hey Connor, do you think your uncle can 'employ' him as a cook?”

”What do I look like?” The now named 'Connor' asked rhetorically, ”Your money-launderer?”

”Well, all things considered…” Newter muttered.

”Yup,” Glitch said, nodding his head, ”That's exactly what you look like, and don't let a lawyer tell you otherwise.”

”I get no goddamn respect around here. Alright, kid congrats, you're a chef now.” The Irishman said sarcastically but boasted a small grin on his features.

”Does that mean...?”

”Yeah, I'd say it does,” Newter said, saluting with his mug of beer.

”Welcome, I'm glad you decided to join us,” Glitch said simply, and Grue saw one part of his mask click open with a sharp hiss. ”I suppose we should introduce ourselves properly…” Glitch continued cheerfully while removing his creepy mask. His new boss had a genuine though small smile plastered on his pale face, it was all Brian could do to hide the flinch at seeing the rest of his features.

Glitch without his mask was somehow even creepier with it on.

He was a disheveled-looking older teen who sported large dark bags under his blue eyes. Eyes that glinted with a sort of craziness you'd only see among the more unhinged Capes in the bay and when he spoke, it attracted attention to his lips. Lips that were scuffed and chipped from what was probably excessive picking or chewing. What surprised Brian the most, however, was his skin or rather its color. He half expected Glitch to be black, but truth be told his features were so characteristically Aryan to the point where his mind subconsciously associated them with Empire thugs he'd rather avoid on the street. He probably dyed his hair too, Brian thought with a small frown, his boss' dark hair somehow didn't mesh with everything else and he'd bet every dollar he'd earned today that his boss had some history with the Empire, maybe they tried to f_o_r_c_i_b_l_y recruit him because he looked like one of them?

”Oh, can I do the thing?” Newter asked in the same giddy fashion one would expect a child to ask whether or not he could open his Christmas presents seemingly completely oblivious to Brian's reaction and thoughts.

”I don't see why not.” Glitch answered with a sigh, ”Just refrain from trolling Grue too much, he might yet decide to leave once he realizes how much it actually sucks here.” That was probably a joke.

Newter rolled his eyes at what he probably saw as an unnecessary remark and then proceeded to loudly clap his hands to get everyone's, but more specifically Grue's attention. ”Alright, so the boss showed me this tradition for team members to introduce themselves to each other when they first meet. You start by unmasking and saying your full name, then list some of your likes, dislikes, hobbies, your goals for the future and lastly explain your powers to the best of your ability, get it?”

Grue nodded, he was honestly kind of impressed. It seemed like a pretty efficient system to quickly get all the information across that one would need to know in order to trust your team members. Instead of waiting for it to be shared by a gradual if more organic process during the weeks it would presumably take, by which time it might be too late if problems arise. Newter said it was a tradition, was Glitch a member of another group before? Was he an E88 member, and if so, what the hell happened?

”I'll go first to demonstrate,” Newter said with an all-too-grandiose flourish and Brian felt himself smile. The Case-53's enthusiasm could be truly infectious. ”I'm a Case-53 so the name's just Newter, I like pranking people, sleeping with freaky girls who want to see what a Case-53's like in the sack.” Brian blushed, and Glitch snorted at that particular remark. Newter continued speaking regardless. ”My hobbies include beating Glitch at any and all video games…”

The statement was naturally followed by Glitch's indignant grumble about unfair superhuman reflexes and Newter giving him the finger in turn, ”I dislike Nazis and people who judge by appearance. My goal for the future is to find out where Case-53s come from and as for my powers…” Newter trailed off, ”well, you probably already know the basics, all of my body fluids are like LSD on steroids, yes even the one you're thinking of,” he added with a wink and Brian despite himself imagined what s_e_x with Newter must be like if that was the case, ”also, I have a few minor Brute and Mover capabilities, basically like a monkey with really good reflexes as our supreme leader oh so kindly points out almost every day.”

”Go f_u_c_k yourself Newter,” Glitch intoned monotonously, but there was no heat behind his gaze and the small smile never left his face.

Newter shrugged and said, ”Well boss, is that an order? Because I'm sure I could figure something out with my anatomy…”

Connor burst out laughing, only to be joined by himself a few moments later, Glitch staying stonily silent throughout it all, but he looked vaguely amused.

”Ok, ok,” Glitch began as his fit of laughter died down and pointed at the Irishman, ”Your turn, otherwise we're going to be here all night.”

Mr. Blonde, no, Connor shook Brian's hand in a firm grip with a terse expression, uncomfortably reminding him of his father, but he pushed those thoughts aside. ”The name's Connor Sullivan. I enjoy Earth Aleph doc_u_mentaries and my hobbies include brewing beer and doing Magic Tricks. I'm not a Parahuman and my dream… I guess I'd like to see my old boss one more time, that's Marquis by the way,” he added casually but was clearly bragging.

”You used to work for Marquis?” How high up the totem pole were you? Went unsaid.

”Yeah, I was just a dealer though, but Marquis,” he said nostalgically, ”Marquis was something else. I only joined up with these two losers when they saved my Uncle the trouble of getting mugged and I haven't felt fulfilled ever since.”

”Yeah, yeah,” Glitch muttered, ”sorry I can't give you a boner like Marquis.”

Newter and Connor both g_r_o_a_n_e_d and it took a moment for the frankly terrible pun to register for Brian, but when it did, he joined his compatriots in their lamentations.

”Wow, really not even a chuckle?” Glitch asked rhetorically and the groans of frustration only increased. ”Huh, tough crowd.” Glitch muttered cl_i_c_k_i_n_g his tongue.

”You're putting your introduction off Boss,” Newter grumbled good-naturedly, but even through his sky-blue inhuman eyes, there was something in his gaze that Brian couldn't quite identify.

”Alright, alright,” Glitch said rolling his hand in a dismissive gesture. ”Good to meet you, Grue,” he started with an exaggerated bow, ”My name's Johan Liebert and please for the love of all that is good and holy don't call me Joe.”

Brian snorted and feeling extremely brave at that moment teasingly replied, ”Sure, Joe.”

Glitch g_r_o_a_n_e_d as if in physical pain and both Newter and Connor chortled at their boss' misfortune.

”At any rate,” he continued, ”I like Cooking, Anime and Earth Aleph media in general. My hobbies include playing Video Games-”

”An excessive amount of Video Games,” Newter interjected quietly but was ignored.

”and practicing Martial Arts.” So, we at least have some common interests, Brian thought. ”I dislike Nazis as well and as for my future goals…” He trailed off before gaining a determined glint in his eyes, ”I want to get World First on the final boss of Outside.”

Connor coughed, ”Mind translating for us non-v_i_r_g_i_ns, boss?” Gl-, Johan glared. Without the mask it was Johan, Brian would have to get used to that.

Despite the question, Johan proceeded as if Connor hadn't said anything. Still, knowing his new boss it probably wasn't important. He was almost definitely talking about some really difficult video game he wanted to get an achievement in or something like that. Though maybe I should start learning some gamer-lingo so Newter doesn't have to constantly translate…

”My powers are very simple,” he said smugly breaking Brian out of his momentary reverie and summoning a large golden coin while rolling it around his knuckles all the while. ”They allow me to create anything I want in limited amounts.”

”Bullshit.” The word escaped him before he could stop himself, but to his surprise, none of the people at the table were angry that he was accusing Johan of lying if anything they all looked smug.

”Oh, how so?” Glitch asked with a knowing smile, further highlighting the state of his lips.

”Well, you can teleport, and you have some kind of Pocket Dimension. So, you just store shit and pretend you can create them, don't you?” Brian asked a tad more hesitantly especially as Newter chuckled, clearly at his expense.

”You got it backwards,” Johan explained seriously, ”I pretend I can teleport and have a Pocket Dimension I can store stuff in and pull stuff out of, but I'm just a very powerful Shaker. Shaker 12 if I had to give myself a rating.”

”That doesn't explain, how you can teleport or made me disappear,” Brian said more forcefully than he'd intended.

”It does if you pay attention,” Johan said in a sing-song manner, ”I said I could create anything in limited amounts, that includes a Pocket Dimension, it was your mistake to assume I was limited to material things.”

What the f_u_c_k? ”Ok, even if that were true, how on Earth can you teleport?”

Johan's smile widened, ”I create more time.”

”What?” Brian asked quietly, completely focused and dumbfounded at the same time.

Glitch nodded, picking up his glass and letting it fall to the ground. Suddenly the area around him turned gray, stopping just short of his side of the table. The glass stopped in mid-air, but Glitch could still move as demonstrated by his waving his hands around in a 'spooky' manner. Grue would've been uncomfortably reminded of Gray Boy had he not been entranced by the casual demonstration of a power the Ancient Greek gods would've killed for.

Johan continued speaking even after the effect faded and he effortlessly caught the glass, ”I can freeze or slow time in a pretty large area, though the more I slow it down, the area I can do it in gets smaller. So, like I said anything I want in a limited amount.”

”So, that's why you're tired after teleporting. You actually have to run!” Brian said in realization. Glitch's teleportation was a subject of hot debate on PHO boards dedicated to him and presumably among Parahuman Experts too, as no other known Mover power made the user tired.

Johan nodded approvingly, ”Yup, my Cooldown for that is also pretty shit if I completely pull a full-on Za Warudo, so I mostly slow it down just enough so that it seems like I'm teleporting.”

”So, wait.” Brian understood exactly none of that sentence but decided to press on with his more important questions, ”Does that mean you can basically use every Shaker power ever on top of freezing time?!”

Glitch nodded with a large, some would even call it a deranged smile on his face. ”Now you're getting it.” He said and punctuated it by enveloping the room in the same darkness that Brian used, he quickly made it disappear and elaborated. ”There are some limits, however, I can create anything, not manipulate it after its inception beyond making disappear again and I'm always the epicenter of what I create. So, I can't say, for example, make a giant piano fall on top of someone like in a Looney Toons Cartoon unless I'm above them.”

Grue nodded, so Glitch wasn't just a flat-out god then, ”But then if you can create darkness like me, why did you hire me in the first place?”

”He can create it,” Newter said, ”but he can't see through it like you can and that's a problem, since he's inside it once he creates a lot of it.”

”Oh,” Brian muttered pondering the implications of what was probably the strongest and frankly strangest power he'd ever encountered.

”There are a few more limits,” Glitch added, ”I can't create other powers or things that don't exist, so, for example, I can recreate Tinkertech like this.” he said casually, and Brian used that term very loosely here, summoning what he immediately recognized as Armsmaster's Halberd, ok what the f_u_c_k had he gotten himself into?

”But I can't just magic up some potential Tinkertech that no one has built yet. The same goes for very vague things, like 'Health' I can't just will my power to create 'Healing' or 'Health' and fix up my injuries that way.”

As he processed the implications of Johan's power, he could only come to one conclusion, ”That's Bullshit.”

Johan raised a somewhat bewildered yet unimpressed eyebrow. Brian's cheeks darkened. ”I mean, not in the sense that I don't believe you. It's just that-”

Glitch cut him off with a chuckle, ”Yeah, I get what you mean. My ability is really OP, but hey them's the brakes. The first rule of Parahumans, powers are bullshit.”

Connor nodded emphatically at this and Newter shrugged in tacit agreement.

Brian nodded and bit back a million questions he wanted to ask about Johan's power. But there was one thought that had absolutely nothing to do with it. There's no going back now, but honestly, he didn't even want to, because now he knew his Boss was possibly the strongest Shaker on the planet. A Shaker who could tango with the strongest Capes in the Bay and sandbag against them like there was no tomorrow. He removed the gas mask to reveal his face.

”My name's Brian Laborn,” he began, ”I like…” what do I like? ”Martial Arts and my Sister. I dislike irresponsible parents and druggies, I guess. I practice boxing and work out at my gym and sample coffee around town. And I guess you already know both my goal and my power.”

To his immense surprise, everyone clapped at his introduction.