ספרות המעריצים של אוקטו3112

Amelia sat down on the bench, lighting up her cigarette and leaning back.

 

It was the middle of the day in the busiest part of Brockton Bay, the Boardwalk and yet people gave her space, glancing worriedly at her direction.

 

But she was determined to have a smoke break before...

 

The sound of a loud engine got closer and closer.

 

Before that. Armsmaster parked his bike and stood before her, ignoring the smoke she tried to blow at his face.

 

"Amy, I need you to come with me to the rig, I'll try to take that off you." He gestured to the collar on her neck, the one that kept beeping ominously every few seconds.

 

Not Amy, Amelia." She said in a flat tone, covering the fact that it did anger her, a Wardens' hero should not be calling her by a nickname.

 

"Amelia then," he offered his hand and she took it, mostly because she had no choice, she didn't want her head to blow up after all.

 

They drove to the rig in silence, he didn't ask her why she had a bomb collar on and didn't seem stress to be so close to the bomb while he drove her.

 

They passed the hard-light bridge and got into the Protectorate ENE HQ.

 

He placed her in a chair in a lab and probably used all kind of weird tinker magic to figure out what she already knew.

 

"You can't take it off." She needed another smoke break.

 

Armsmaster just grunted and went out side the lab to make a phone call, leaving her idle in the chair.

 

He came back after a bit and took a chair, sitting himself Infront of her.

 

"Who are you?" She could feel his glare, this situation sucked.

 

"Amelia Claire Lavere, I'm 22 years old, born in Brockton Bay but moved away from the city when I was younger, and now I'm back in this shithole. I need a smoke break."

 

He was silent for a bit, she always got the not talkative vibe from him.

 

"Do you have anyone you want us to call for you?"

 

"No."

 

He nodded at that.

 

"Currently we can't take the bomb off or disarm it without putting you at risk,"

 

"Yeah yeah, I also don't want my head to be blown off."

 

He continued as if he didn't hear her. "But as long as we don't try to remove it we are certain it will not activate."

 

"Figures you wouldn't be talking to me in the same room if you thought it might explode." Her words just dripped with contempt, he deserved it.

 

"Can you tell me about what happened?" He asked her, simply.

 

"Oh you want to know who put this thing on me?" She smiled, showing white teeth.

"You did. You and your girlfriend did this to me. Probably why the tinker shit looks all familiar to you, why you can be certain it wouldn't explode and how you found me in the first place. You tried wracking your little smooth brain in that dumb skull of yours to figure out who replicated your shit, well no one did. You build this bomb." She tugged at the collar, uncaring for the beeping noises it made it protest. "And put it on my neck."

 

He got up and left, leaving her in the lab alone again.

 

She tried opening the door but it was locked, obviously. So she just popped out a cigarette and smoked for a bit.

 

It took maybe an hour for the door to open again, it wasn't Armsmaster this time, but a PRT officer in full gear and a helmet that covered her face.

 

"Amelia, I'm agent Shaf, please come with me." She got up and followed her, again not like she had much choice.

 

"He put himself in a master protocol shtick didn't he?" She asked while walking.

 

"Armsmaster have been admitted to a master stranger screening, as will you."

 

"Great." Yeah really, this was shaping up to be such a horrible day and what she needed was being forced into what the PRT thought was a good way to vet people. "Not like I mastered him anyway, can't use my power with this beauty on." She tagged at the collar and unlike Armsmaster Shaf tensed at the intense beeping noise.

 

The agent led her to what was essentially a cell; at least here she didn't have to share it with anyone. Shaf locked the door behind her, leaving Amelia alone with her thoughts again.

 

She was in that cell for two days, they let her out so she could shower once, and gave her some generic clothes to wear instead of the white T and jeans she had.

 

And than after two, very nostalgic days she found her self in a small interrogation room with Armsmaster and a PRT agent.

 

"You are from another dimension." It was an exclamation, as he already confirmed it.

 

"Ding ding, you found it in one!" She faked a smile. "You win the grand prize of existential dread!"

 

"There are tinkers who could make that bomb, but it is unlikely and we..."

 

"I really don't care." 

 

Again he pretended he didn't hear her. "Took your DNA from the cigarette stub you left at my desk and found full match; she is your local version and after of a quick confirmation with her and..." She stopped listening at that point.

 

So they had a local version of her, probably in prison, probably why they had her DNA.

 

Armsmaster stopped speaking at some point and just looked at her.

 

"We can try to send you home."

 

"Pfft, no you can't. You push me through a portal and your gonna have fun time cleaning grey matter of the ceiling."

 

That shut him up.

 

"What happened?" It was the second time he asked her that right?

 

"Oh? You want to know why you put this bomb on me? Maybe it just because your an evil villain back home, part of the Slaughterhouse Nine, you and your partner both. Caught me on my evening stroll and did this." She guestured to the obvious bomb attached to her neck.

 

Amrsmaster didn't seem to like that answer.

 

-Break-

 

The next time she got out of her cell Shaf pushed her into an empty room. She sat down in the interrogator chair with her back to the door.

 

She heard the door behind her and steps of someone getting in the room, she spoke without bothering to look. "Here for anoth round, monst..." The word died in her throat as she saw who walked in.

 

Platinum blonde hair framed a heart shaped face, blue eyes looked at her with a softness to them, a softness she didn't knew they were able to project.

 

Amelia didn't even think as she moved, her hand grabbing Victoria's, only stopping her self from using her power in the last second. And for a moment there was silence in the room.

 

"Ames..." Victoria's voice was full of worry.

 

"Shut up whore. I'm thinking of I should use my power and kill us both." That apparently was not what the blonde expected to hear.

 

"Shit, you would probably survive. Bitch."

 

She let go of her hand and sat back down, glaring at the young heroine.

 

"Why are you here?" Her voice was sharp, and she could tell Antres was already confused by the whole situation.

 

"I volunteered, I thought it would be good for you to see a friendly face." She took the seat left open, the one that suppose to be for the criminal being interrogated.

 

"Well fuck off then, your ugly face is the last thing I want to see."

 

"I don't know what the me you know did to get you so angry but I just thou..."

 

"You killed Bianca!" Amelia was losing it, seeing Antres here was driving her off the edge. "You drove a metal spike in my girlfriend throat while your team held me down, stopped me from healing her, I had to watch her bleeding to death and then you grabbed me and threw me to the wardens to be chained up like a rabid animal with a fucking bomb on my neck! The only time I ever wanted to see you again was when I split your chest open and dig your heart out!"

 

Victoria just sat there, dazzled.

 

"Fucking leave! Leave me alone, Cunt!" Finally it seems she got the subtle clues and left.

 

-Break-

 

"It worrying, to think that we are villains in another dimension." Hanna nodded at that, the picture of Armsmaster in the Slaughterhouse Nine was something that would hunt her nightmares if she could still dream.

 

They watched the recording of Amelia interaction with Victoria Dallon. It didn't ease any of their concerns for the young, displaced woman.

 

"Her stories don't match, she told you she was caught on her 'evening stroll' but now she's saying it was Victoria and her team that brought her to you."

 

"The evening stroll thing was probably sarcasm." Dragon chimes in through the call, "and if she had a loved one die Infront of her j understand why she might not want to share with us, especially not if we are responsible for her situation."

 

"How close are you to being able to get the bomb off her safely?" Renik asked the two tinkers.

 

"12 days I would say." Dragon voice answered him, "I will of course update you if anything changes."

 

"All right, for the time being move her to a nicer room, see if there is something we can get her to ease her time. Get someone more friendly to replace Shaf and give her some clothes, maybe ask the Dallon girls what clothes she might like. Make sure she knows she is not a prisoner, we just can't let someone walk around with a bomb." So basically a prisoner Hanna thought.

 

-Break-

 

Amy was looking through a magazine they gave her, this one had some really nice perky redheads on the cover, when someone knocked on the door.

 

"Yeah, come in"

 

The door opened to reveal her babysitter agent with Armsmaster right behind him.

 

"Hi Amelia, Armsmaster got some good news for you."

 

"Oh? They'll allow me to bring girls over to my room?" She didn't even bothered to put the porn mag away because she was sure the room had cameras and they saw everything she did anyways.

 

"We can get the bomb off."

 

She quirked an eyebrow at that, "really? I thought it was impossible."

 

"Hard and expensive and required the attention of some of the world best tinkers yes, but not impossible. We will schedule it for sometime this week but wanted to let you know beforehand."

 

"Appreciated, thanks."

 

-Break-

 

Two days later she wore a hospital gown that she felt barely covered her and layed down on an operation table with three tinkers buzzing around her and another own giving directions through a mic.

 

"Nice tattoos." One of them, the girl with the purple hair told her nonchalantly.

 

"Thanks, got them in prison." Amelia deadpanned and the girl laughed a bit as if it was a joke.

 

They explained the theory to her, instead of doing anything to the collar it self and risk it activating they were going to teleport it into a small pocket space they created where it will explode without bothering anyone, hopefully.

 

They set up parge machines around her head, and there was a large metal ring rotating fast around her whole upper body.

 

They did something and then something else and suddenly the weight at her neck that she was already used to was no longer there. A few minutes for the tinker to make sure everything was safe but as she reached her hand up finally, she touched the skin of her neck, she was free, she probably had the most awkward tan line but she was free.

 

She felt much better when she wore her clothes again, puffing smoke from a cigarette at Armsmaster's face.

 

"So what now?" She asked him.

 

"Now, I would like to extend to you an official invitation to join the Protectorate, we can offer yo..."

 

"Pass." She cut him off, "I couldn't care less for your version of the wardens." She brought the cigarette up again when she noticed Armsmaster was tense. Oh? Did she say something wrong?

 

"The wardens? The one you said put the bomb on you?"

 

"Ah shit"

 

He moved but it was already too late, it was already in the air. There was a reason she puffed the smoke in his face after all, except for being annoying.

 

"Ah, thanks moron, for helping me." She said as he fell to the ground.

 

And then the Red Queen turned to leave, a hero writhing on the ground behind her.