FLASHBACK


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_{A Lunch to Remember.}

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)(A...A)(

The small moment of comfort Presido offered meant a lot to ⁴Sight, and he smiled in appreciation. They boarded the helicopter as a group, and transit began. The sensation was always alien, acceleration seeming to come from nowhere lifting them into the sky. Slingshot had a white knuckle grip on his straps to match his paling face. Not used to flying then. ⁴Sight kicked his foot lightly, offering a sympathetic tight-lipped expression. The boy nodded, seeming equal parts comforted by the expression and uncomfortable with the environment. Presido spoke, asking about the squads powers. ⁴Sight took the initiative in answering the actual question for the currently muted Slingshot. "Slingshot can throw himself forward in a manner similar to Dart, but it's by changing his gravity. He can also do it to others if they're in range." He said, before glancing over to his right at Dart. The pilots announced to everyone that they'd be landing soon, and ⁴Sight took that in stride. SWAT asked about getting Presido's assistance in the upcoming fight, and ⁴Sight noted that mentally. Some sharp maneuvers brought Slingshot further to losing his sparse breakfast, the turbulence picking up as they started to lower into the actual city amongst the skyscrapers. ⁴Sight assumed it was coming from the wind the helicopter was pushing down reflecting off of the buildings, but he didn't know for sure.

They quickly landed, and the pilot announced over the comms that they were half a block away from Spindle, before giving them the go ahead to unstrap and evacuate the vehicle. ⁴Sight let Slingshot go ahead of him, following close behind him. The area they landed was an intersection, yellow tape surrounding it, with the 'normal' police redirecting traffic nearby. As they climbed out, an officer jogged over. He didn't try speaking over the helicopter, which was already beginning to take off again. Instead he just pointed down the street. The sight was a strange one, dark shadows interlacing around a small helicopter. ⁴Sight couldn't make out a person, or even the thicker wire intel had suggested she was sitting on. That couldn't last. ⁴Sight yelled over the helicopter blades. "I'll direct you guys as best I can, Slingshot will help me move towards the battlefield while I do recon." His voice was gritty, and straining at the volume.

⁴Sight had a strange relationship with his power. Most people had their powers for a year or two before they passed, the lucky ones gettings a decade. ⁴Sight had gotten two decades of normal time, but his power didn't actually get explained by that amount of usage. ⁴Sight closed his eyes, focusing on a point right above the helicopter. Slowly his eyes opened, taking in the scene, metal wire surrounding him. His physical body hadn't moved, and it took great effort to move said body while using his power. It became harder when he used the tertiary part of his power. ⁴Sight could see the woman now, walking a tightrope of wire. Her dress was being whipped by the wind, eyes squinted almost closed. She was crossing the wire to see better who had arrived via the helicopter. The wind slowed to a zephyr, and her eyes opened fully. Legitimate joy colored her expression, a grin with eyes wide. She seemed to be searching those present, watching the arrivals as if she were looking for someone in particular. After a bit of watching, she seemed not to have found who she was looking for. Seeming disappointed but not surprised, she made a hand motion and some wire fell to the street below her.

Seconds started to drag longer as ⁴Sight focused, drag and drag until every second for him became two. The wire was tumbling in mid air, and uncontrolled descent that was slowing for ⁴Sight alone. Then every second for him was four. It kept going until it took minutes for a second to pass, the wire almost frozen in mid air. Then 5 minutes, the wire now shifting almost imperceptibly. It took thirty seconds for ⁴Sight's power to slow his perception down to 1/100th the speed. That was more than slow enough, time to consider the situation. The battlefield was open, but that wasn't actually a good thing in all reality. The more Spindle could see, the more control she could exert over the battlefield. The street was around fifty feet wide, a commercial area like this demanding accomodations for the heavy traffic.

⁴Sight glanced down at the helicopter pilot, about ten feet from where ⁴Sight had placed his third eye. They were wrapped in wire, face warped in fear. They weren't talking, metal wire cutting into their mouth prevented them from doing that much. Spindle had dangled the man over the city street, the only thing preventing the fall being her good grace. That was why First Guard hadn't made more solid moves, they were too scared after their first assault's utter failure. ⁴Sight glanced over at that failure, the soldiers being wrapped in wire methodically, with one starting to be dragged up.

Spindle wasn't looking at the people she was wrapping up, which was a bit strange. Could she queue commands for her wire to that extent? A formidable enemy, even in the face of eight parahumans ready to fight her head on. Was it possible that they would lose this fight? How long would ⁴Sight have to drag this battle on before he could give them a perfect plan? Thinking back, ⁴Sight remembered the first time he had used his power, despite his attempts to stop it. They had been fighting a dug in insurgence for hours in an urban area. Unexpectedly, their enemies had begun firing mortars. ⁴Sight had made that last shell take three weeks to fall, spiraling towards the ground at a glacial. He and his AAR, Joel, had barely survived. Battered, bloody and shell shocked. ⁴Sight teleported them to a sort of safety. It had ruined the bond the two of them had been forming. Every time he looked at that man, he saw the faces’ of his squad slowly being torn apart by the shockwave, the heat burning their arms.

⁴Sight stumbled forward, almost falling to the ground in front of Slingshot. Thrown out of his power by losing concentration. He was so tired of war, tired of endless fighting. People like Spindle were the reason he couldn't sleep at night, the reason he had almost a century of power usage under his belt. He spoke into his comm now, voice sounding shaky. "Spindle seems to be able to control wire she isn't even looking at. Be very careful within these buildings, and out in the open. Do not make acts of aggression immediately, she has at least two hostages attached to a deadman's. Be careful. We've really gotta win this fight without any casualties, that is an order."

Dart meanwhile stepped forward eagerly as she looked up at the woman high above them. A hint of a smile crossed her face before she turned to the Junior Guard members.

”You heard ⁴Sight, no casualties and no acting suddenly. Take it slow. We want to keep this from becoming a fight.”



A wire shifted inside the lining of Spindle's clothes. A moment passed, and a second wire shifted. Two people on buildings nearby then, capes if she were to guess. In the distance Spindle could hear another helicopter, quickly arriving. It was pretty far from her, in the opposite direction of the helicopter she trapped. After a moment it began to retreat, and a small smile crossed her lips. Were they going to bring him right to her? It had been years since they'd seen each other. After a moment she traversed her wire and looked down at the procession of capes. The wind forced her eyes shut, but it faded rather quickly to a gentle breeze. No civilians were with the Final Guard, so he wasn't present. The grin that formed on her face faded a bit, but she couldn't suppress that small smile.

Idly she tugged at the necklace of wire hidden by her dress, running her fingers underneath where it was scratching her skin. Sighing, she glanced down at the squadron being tied up. Spindle thought about it, then began actively participating in tying two of them up who weren't getting as much attention. A negatory movement came from her power, a wire shifting underneath her collar. Giggling audibly, she raised her hands in surrender, before looking around. Almost immediately she spotted a neon figure climbing a nearby building. Spindle let her eyes stay for only long enough to confirm, before letting them drift over the rest of her surroundings. Wire was slowly scaling the crevices of another building, detectable by her power but not her sight. That was where the other one was hiding, apparently more of a threat.

It had been so lonely. Being in a crowd, being the center of attention was a huge change of pace. The last couple of people she'd seen before this event were paid to see her. All but her other half. Spindle glanced down at the ground below, wondering where she was hiding herself. The warm night of holding each other was the last physical contact Spindle could remember, before that was at least a year long gap. Had she gone crazy? Had her other half? It was so so hard to tell, she didn't feel crazy. In fact she felt in control. Of everything, in fact: her faculties, her future, her surroundings.

Without waiting for the signal, she swept her arms out. Wires lifted off the ground, below her by the hundreds, large thick pieces and thin razor sharp pieces. In two motions, they swept across the recently evacuated street. The wire swept out towards a central point before slamming into the buildings on both sides. Glass shattered, metal even tore against metal as a piece of wire cut a third of the way through a car. The approaching heroes wouldn’t be close enough, and those who covered unexpected distance would find the wire avoiding them. Spindle let the wind calm before raising the megaphone and turning it on.

"Let's talk." Spindle demanded, before letting the megaphone fall to the ground around 150 feet below her.

_{The Hunt}