The Protagonist System

217 Knocking Things Down

Lisa Wilborne, aka Tattletale, sat at her computer and watched the feed from Leet's drone as Narwhal finally found Bad Canary. Her eyes widened as her new power split the Timeline and her binary choice was to interfere or not in what was going to happen.

-

Timeline Alpha:

As Lisa sat there to watch the upcoming confrontation, Narwhal smashed through the closest window and part of the wall as she tackled the sleeping capes and destroyed the couch. Bad Canary opened her mouth and started to scream with an excessively high pitch, because her arm and leg were broken.

Narwhal's ears rang, so she slapped her hand over the cape's mouth to shut her up and stop her from using her powers. Unfortunately, she slightly misjudged how much of the other woman's face her larger hand could cover. The sheer strength she used in her desperation to quiet Bad Canary had crushed her nose, both cheeks, shattered her jaw, and snapped the much smaller woman's head back with a loud crack.

“Thank god I stopped her from controlling me.” Narwhal said and stood up with a bit of blood dripping from her palm where she had pulped Bad Canary's face. “Don't worry, Atlas. I'll get you into Master / Stranger protocols right away to break her control over you.”

Atlas stared at the body at her feet. “You... you attacked an unmasked cape in her home... for no reason... and killed her.”

“I didn't hit her that hard.” Narwhal shook her head in denial. “She's just unconscious and Panacea can fix her up in a few minutes. Even her snapped neck won't be any trouble.”

Atlas slowly stood and the few drops of blood on his chest shifted and looked like teardrops. “Panacea can't fix dead, Narwhal. You sent six shards of bone through Paige's brain with that slap and it killed her instantly.”

“What? No, that's not true. You can see she's just faking it.” Narwhal said and knelt on one knee and put a single finger on the body's neck to check for a pulse.

“I can sense powers and Paige's body doesn't have any.” Atlas said, his voice calm.

Narwhal's heart plummeted when she couldn't detect a pulse on Bad Canary's neck. She felt bad about it; but, she had just saved her fellow cape. “Well, it's no big loss. I stopped her from using you in her villainous schemes and... HRK!”

Atlas had her by the throat and his eyes were full of anger. “I wasn't being controlled.”

“You clearly are!” Narwhal shouted and tried to pry his hand from her neck and couldn't. How strong is he? “You're... acting like... a villain now!”

“I'm the hero here. You're the one that attacked an unarmed civilian and murdered her.” Atlas said and his hand squeezed.

“She's... a villain.” Narwhal said as she actually felt like he was choking her.

“No. You are.” Atlas said and floated up into the air as he took out his cell phone. “Dragon, can you send the footage of Narwhal murdering my girlfriend to the PRT?”

“Belay... that!” Narwhal ordered.

Dragon's voice sighed. “I'm sorry, Greg. She's my nominal superior and I have to follow her orders.”

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Nominal? Narwhal thought before she felt her mind floating in a happy place and a voice telling her what to do. “Dragon, please send any and all records of my crimes to the Chief Director and to all the other PRT directors.”

Dragon didn't respond for a moment. “Greg? What did you do to her?”

“I didn't master her, if that's what you're wondering.” Atlas said and didn't tell her it was the Imperius curse. “It's a temporary effect from one of my abilities that forces people to comply to my orders.”

“That's the definition of mastering.” Dragon responded.

“She's not fully under my control and she knows what just happened. The closer to her own morals and mentality, the more willing she is to do it.” Atlas told her.

“That's still within the definition of mastering.” Dragon said.

Narwhal woke up from the trance and looked horrified. “Dragon! Cancel...” Her words stopped coming out, even though she was still speaking.

“What was that?” Dragon asked as Narwhal looked like she was ranting and gesturing wildly.

“I silenced her.” Atlas said. “Will you comply or do I have to make this more personal?”

“More personal? How?” Dragon asked before she realized what asking that meant.

Atlas reached up and tore Narwhal's horn from her forehead and crushed it, making Narwhal silently scream, because part of her powers had been ripped from her.

“I'll do it!” Dragon said with a panicked voice and then sighed. “I'll do it.”

“Thank you.” Atlas said and floated there in the loft as he easily held a struggling Narwhal like she was nothing. “Hopefully, the justice system will work this time. If not, I think a world without self-righteous capes sounds like a good one.”

-

Timeline Beta:

After Lisa sent the text to warn Atlas about the upcoming confrontation, Narwhal smashed through the closest window and part of the wall as she tackled the sleeping capes and destroyed the couch. Bad Canary opened her mouth and started to scream with an excessively high pitch, because her arm and leg were broken.

Narwhal's ears rang, so she swung her hand at the villain to shut her up, only for her wrist to be caught and Atlas' other hand slammed into her elbow and snapped it, making her briefly scream. She rolled away from the pair of capes and cradled her broken arm as she prepared to fight the villain and the hero cape she clearly controlled.

Atlas knelt beside Paige and he touched her, making Paige go quiet as her broken arm and leg reformed. Paige gave him a look filled with love and her hand lightly touched his bare chest.

“Just rest there and recover, Paige. I have a villainous hero cape to discipline.” Atlas said as his costume appeared around him.

Paige smiled warmly. “Show her that you really shouldn't break the unwritten rules by attacking capes in their civilian identities.”

“Don't worry, I plan to make her regret it by giving her a broken leg to match yours.” Atlas said.

“You can't do that.” Narwhal said and stood up. “I'm here to save you from her control.”

“You could have called first, knocked on the door, or even hollered through the window. Instead, you broke into a civilian owned property, wrecked the loft, and severely hurt the owner of said property.” Atlas said and stood up. “You don't have a warrant, let alone a valid reason to attack a civilian.”

“I already told you she's controlling you!” Narwhal said and braced for a fight.

“Where's your proof?” Atlas asked and disappeared.

Narwhal's hair flew out to the right and she turned to stick her elbow out to the left and hopefully catch Atlas on the head or neck. There was a sickening crunch as her left knee was shattered, despite her powerful crystalized forcefields protecting it. She screamed as she dropped to the floor and her sole working arm cradling her leg.

“This...” Narwhal said through teary eyes, although she refused to sob. “...is proof.”

“What? Me defending my girlfriend from an unprovoked attack by a cape that broke into her home and grievously hurt her?” Atlas asked and took out his cell phone.

“What are you doing?” Narwhal asked.

“I'm calling the PRT.” Atlas said and dialed the number he had. “Hi, Miss Militia. I'm sorry for bothering you on the weekend. A powerful cape broke into my new girlfriend's apartment, assaulted the both of us, and broke her arm, leg, and crushed three of her ribs.”

Narwhal groaned and tried to not think about what a disaster this was going to be.

“We don't need medical help for my girlfriend. I triggered again and can heal now.” Atlas said and both Paige and Narwhal gasped. “No, I don't mind coming in for testing.” “Uh huh.” “Well, the cape is well known. In fact, she just showed up in town recently and has a unicorn horn.”

Narwhal could hear a loud curse over the phone and sighed.

“Oh, and I broke Narwhal's elbow and knee. Shattered them, actually.” Atlas said. “No, I didn't heal them.” “She's being taught a lesson about breaking and entering.” He sighed. “I've been dancing around what happened because Narwhal broke the unwritten rules and attacked a cape in their civilian identity and in their own home.”

There was silence for almost a full minute.

“Paige has the footage and can share it with you after whatever PRT squad you send here to collect the criminal that trespassed on her property.” Atlas said. “Bodily harm alone should have her arrested. Attacking without provocation, proof, or a warrant of execution, considering her super strength and Paige almost dying from her wounds, rates a minimum incarceration of 3 years.”

Both Paige and Narwhal heard Atlas sigh.

“Yes, I know it has to go through the courts and I don't have an unbiased opinion. However, I was also tackled and if I wasn't as resilient as I am, Paige would have immediately died if I wasn't in the way and took the brunt of Narwhal's attack.” Atlas stated. “No, she didn't know for sure that we would survive her assault. She just attacked through the window and wall without warning.”

Narwhal saw Atlas frown and didn't think things were going to go her way.

“I was nice enough to call you directly to handle this mess, Miss Militia. I could have just pretended nothing happened and you would never know why Narwhal suddenly disappeared.” Atlas said and paused for a moment. “Do you still want me to do that? Because I can.”

Narwhal tried to pray that Miss Militia listened to common sense. She did not want to be disappeared like a distant memory and no one would ever find out what happened to her.

“If there's no evidence of a crime, did it actually happen?” Atlas asked. “No, this is all hypothetical. Should I stay here and wait for the PRT to arrive and gather evidence or should I go home after making sure nothing at all happened here?”

Please, please, let her accept taking me into custody. Narwhal prayed.

“That's fine. I'll wait right here for you and won't move from this spot.” Atlas promised. “Fifteen minutes? All right, I can stay still for that long.”

-

Lisa didn't hesitate at all as she sent off a text to Atlas to warn him of Narwhal's impending assault. There was no way she was going to allow a cape that powerful decide to remove all other capes from the world over the death of a girl he barely knew. That was just pure idiocy.

She sighed as her second vision came true and leaned back in her chair to watch how it played out. Atlas warning Miss Militia that Narwhal getting off for the attempted murder of the civilians Greg Veder and Paige Macabee would make him take matters into his own hands, ensured that Narwhal was going to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

She might only get a couple of years, probably suspended for her previously clean record; but, that alone would ensure no one else went after either Bad Canary or Atlas in their civilian identities, even if they were publicly known. Taking down the head of The Guild and a PRT director would give both capes a lot of leeway when it came to being held accountable for any future crimes.

Not surprisingly, Lisa was perfectly okay with that. Paige was a good source of income and didn't mind throwing absurd amounts of money at her for information. Atlas on the other hand, seemed to actually like her, even though he knew who she was and what she had to do to survive. That alone was a rare thing to find in another person, let alone another cape.

It also kept her safe, because Atlas was a surprisingly effective deterrent to anything that could cause her trouble. Just the hint that he might intervene on her behalf, was enough to make everyone back off from her and leave her alone. Lisa really appreciated that, which was why she used the powers given to her by Atlas to ensure his life ran a little bit smoother.

It was a small price to pay for her personal safety and security, which Lisa was quite happy to pay. Plus, if he ever had the inkling that she might like his direct attention, she could let him know everything she had done for him behind the scenes, specifically because he had left her alone. Lisa knew he wasn't an idiot and would understand what she meant by that.

The scene when the PRT squad showed up to take a severely hurt Narwhal into custody, made Lisa laugh. Miss Militia used a guilt trip on Atlas and he used his healing power to fix Narwhal and only Lisa and Atlas knew he hadn't fixed her completely. She would always have a minor ache in both her knee and her elbow for the rest of her life and no one would be able to alleviate it.

After the PRT took Narwhal into custody, Atlas sent her a text to thank her for the warning, because he didn't know what he would have done if she hadn't given him a heads-up about the attack. Lisa did and she suppressed her shiver at the thought of Atlas removing everyone in the same manner he had dealt with the villains he believed were a threat.

“You are more than welcome, Atlas. More than welcome.” Lisa said and sent it. The heart emoji in response almost made her smile. Almost. She knew better than to assume she was safe after seeing both outcomes.

Atlas was only one bad decision away from wiping them all out and Lisa was the only one that knew it.

*

I agreed to go to the PRT during the week to have my 'new' powers assessed and Miss Militia left with a quite unhappy Narwhal to be booked and charged with various crimes. They had taken a lot of pictures of the crime scene and Paige handed over a copy of the video Leet's drone had recorded, as well as the security camera footage she had installed.

“You've had me followed?” I asked Paige after the door shut.

“Of course I had you followed.” Paige said with a roll of her eyes. “How else was I supposed to figure out how to approach you and feel you out about the possibility of us being together?”

I gave her a pointed look. “The Mexican restaurant?”

Paige huffed and took my hand to lead me back to the stairs and we went up to the loft. “I can only watch the drone footage from my laptop, which is right there.” She said and pointed to where there was a small desk and a pile of papers. “It needs a solid data connection for the signal strength to not degrade.”

It took me a moment to get it. “You went out to get lunch and just happened to meet me?”

“Yes, and I couldn't have been happier.” Paige said and stopped walking by the remains of the couch. “Dammit, where the hell are we supposed to cuddle now?”

I stored the mess and replaced it with a very nice comfy couch that was twice as big as the last one. Paige shook her head at me and pushed me down onto the thing and climbed on top of me. I hugged her close and she started to softly cry as she clung to me.

“I'm sorry.” I whispered to her and she shook her head as she continued to cry. “Paige, if it wasn't for me...”

“No.” Paige said and lifted her head from my chest to kiss me. “I told you about what happened at the hotel. It was only a matter of time before she jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

I opened my mouth to refute that, then nodded. It really was like that and I couldn't argue that it wasn't. Sometimes, all people can see is the bad in others and that almost never works out well for anyone.

“The members of New Wave are going to freak out when they learn you're a healer, too.” Paige said and gave my lips and cheeks a few kisses all over.

“Yeah.” I responded. “Do you want a picture of Amy's shocked face or Vicky's?”

Paige paused and stared at me for a moment before she laughed. “Both, please!”

I grinned at her and pulled her in to kiss her passionately. Tomorrow was going to be quite the day at school and I was looking forward to seeing how things turned out. It was going to be fun spreading 'the love' around and see how both Amy and Vicky react to other people getting my attention.