7.07

Purity, a luminous cape, wreaked havoc on the Docks, leveling buildings with powerful energy beams. The Undersiders, watching from their hideout, saw her destroy Bitch’s makeshift dog shelter.

“Were there people in there?” Skitter asked, horrified.

Brian, from behind the couch, replied, “There might have been, and there might be.”

Skitter, spurred by a sense of urgency, began to change into her costume, but Brian stopped her. “Not your job,” he said, arguing that the destruction was Coil’s fault, not theirs, and that the Protectorate should handle it.

Purity, through a commandeered news camera, declared her intent to dismantle the city until her kidnapped daughter was returned. She introduced her subordinates, Night and Fog, who demonstrated their lethal abilities by killing the cameraman in a gruesome display.

“We are not the ABB,” Purity stated, “We are stronger, both in powers and in numbers… I will have my daughter back, and we will have our restitution.”

Skitter, upset by the violence and the threat to innocents, confronted Brian, “If you’re not going to go after them to save people… Maybe you’ll do it for our rep…?”

Brian, however, remained cautious, “I’m just being practical.”

They contacted Lisa (Tattletale), who revealed that Coil had admitted responsibility for the emails that led to the kidnapping to Kaiser, leader of Empire Eighty-Eight, but Kaiser was keeping it secret.

“He lets his people believe we’re responsible,” Brian explained, “…When we’re dealt with, or when it’s convenient, he tells them the truth, turns that bloodthirst against Coil.”

Lisa confirmed that Coil wouldn’t publicly admit fault, as he preferred to stay out of the spotlight. Despite Brian’s initial reluctance, Lisa’s report of Purity’s continued rampage and the threat posed by Night, Fog, Alabaster, and Crusader convinced him to act.

“Fine,” Brian conceded, “We go. But no direct confrontation until we have a game plan…”

They arranged to meet with Lisa and Bitch at the Trainyard, and Brian contacted Coil for a vehicle and to confirm his conversation with Kaiser. While Brian tended to Skitter’s injured ear, Lisa warned them about the danger they were facing.

Later, while traveling in a modified ambulance provided by Coil, Skitter and Brian discussed her anger and his perceived inaction. Their conversation was interrupted when the ambulance was attacked by Hookwolf, Stormtiger, and Cricket, members of Empire Eighty-Eight.

Hookwolf, a parahuman with the ability to transform into a mass of blades, was a former cage fighter with a brutal history. Stormtiger and Cricket, also former fighters, were equally dangerous. The villains had their backs turned, walking towards a police blockade.

“We have guns,” the driver suggested, “We shoot them from behind.”

“No,” Brian said, “It won’t hurt Hookwolf… We retreat.”

Using Grue’s darkness to cover their escape, they fled the ambulance. Stormtiger, however, pursued them, using his aerokinetic abilities to create powerful gusts of wind.

“Don’t need to see you, sweetie,” Stormtiger growled, his voice amplified by his powers, as he closed in on Skitter.