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Villain of the Void by a-shifty-sword

Dishonored & Worm Xover Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Adventure, Words: 134k+, Favs: 3k+, Follows: 3k+, Published: Jul 3, 2021 Updated: Jun 1, 2022

615Chapter 2: 1-2 Induction

Today had been a pretty productive day. After leaving the junkyard I headed back to the library. My plan was to spend the majority of the day there researching a few things and then, once night had fallen, start looking around for charms and runes. It was a lot easier to find them with my mask on, but walking around during the day with it on would draw too much attention.

I spent a good bit of time on the computer. I had three objectives. One, research more about Brockton Bay and memorize the layout of the city and a few key locations in it. Two, research more about the capes in the city. I discovered even more people I knew that weren't meant to be in this world but were. Seriously, this place was turning into a clusterfuck of super powered anime characters.

The last thing I looked up, and the one that took the most time, were guides on how to pick locks. I wasn't able to become an expert, there were too many types of locking mechanisms for that, but I got a good grasp and I was confident I could pick some of the more common ones, given enough time and the right set of tools. The tools were a problem, but one I'd try to fix.

One of the places I looked up was the junkyard I had slept in last night and I discovered it was usually empty. It wasn't officially shut down, but it may as well have been. The previous owner died and hadn't left behind a will. The owner's two children had then entered a protracted legal battle for the rights to it, but neither of them really had the funds for that kind of legal battle, and the case had stalled for years. It couldn't reopen until the case was decided, but it was starting to look like that wasn't ever going to happen.

Which meant I could start using it as a temporary base, so long as I was quiet about it. I'd scavenge parts from there to get myself a simple set of lockpicking tools. I looked up at the sky and the setting sun. Well, tomorrow morning I'd do that. By the time I get back it'll be pitch black in the junkyard.

Night had well and truly fallen by the time I reached the north part of the city, the part known as the Trainyard. The streets around me were empty and there were only a handful of lights on in the windows of the nearby buildings.

I ducked into an alley connecting two streets, slipped my mask on, and pulled my hood up. As far as costumes went, it wasn't much. But I didn't need anything fancy. The mask was distinctive enough.

I raised my head and turned in a slow circle. I wasn't sure before what the range of this finding ability was, but I found out quickly as I discovered another aspect of it. Charms weren't the only thing it highlighted, I could see people highlighted yellow in my range. The detail was pretty good too, I could get a general sense of their body shape and what they were wearing. Most were sitting down in their homes and I spotted a few people that looked like they were arguing.

But down at street level, just a couple blocks over, there was a large group of people that was big enough that the other edge of them was outside of my range. I could see highlights appearing and disappearing as people entered and left my range.

Though it seems my range for people and other things weren't the same, because just beyond them was a bright shining spot. It was like the one that led me to the charm this morning, but bigger. Did that mean it was a rune?

There was only one way to find out. I took off my mask and headed in that direction. It wasn't long before I heard the crowd. Men talking loudly and laughing, and the sound of dogs. I had a gut feeling I knew what I was headed towards.

I rounded the corner, spotted the crowd, and my guess was confirmed. There was a building bustling with activity, and out front was a large crowd of men. All of them were white, and most of them had shaved heads. I'd bet my few possessions that this was an Empire 88 event.

None of the gangs in Brockton Bay were pleasant, but in some ways, the E88 was the worst. The Merchants were in it for the drugs and the money, and the ABB were racist in the insular sense. But the Empire was made up of Neo Nazis, and while I didn't have a patriotic bone in my body, I agreed fully with the 'fuck nazis' sentiment.

To make matters worse, the cages, smell, and sounds of dogs barking and growling made it clear what this event was. A dogfighting ring. What they said was true, the only good nazi was a dead one.

But I set aside my distaste. I didn't have the power or the ability to do anything about them. My only goal tonight was the rune, and blending in was my best chance for getting in there and getting it.

I let my shoulders relax and put on a mask of confidence, trying to blend in as much as possible. Thankfully I wasn't the only one arriving on foot, and I had plenty of examples to follow. I mingled with the crowd easily, and no one gave me a second glance. I was just another white teen looking to see some action. A little younger than most of the crowd here, but not the only teen present.

I get to the door and I'm stopped by a couple bigger dudes standing there. "Entry fee," they state. Time to put my acting skills to the test.

"There's a fucking entree fee?" I asked, surprised and annoyed. "No one told me about that shit."

"Tough," the other bouncer replied. "This ain't a charity event. Twenty bucks if you wanna see the fights."

Dammit, that was most of my money. That'd leave me with only a few dollars. Whatever, I'd just have to consider it the cost of the rune, and that was worth it. I could steal some more money tomorrow and I still had a couple burgers left. Or maybe I'd find someone here I can grab some money from.

"Fine," I grumbled, shoving my hand in my pocket and using [Pocket] to pull the money out. "There goes all my betting money."

The first guard laughed. "Twenty bucks is barely enough to get you into the kiddie pool bets, you're not missing much." He double-checked the money as I handed it to him, counting the amount before he nodded and shoved it into a lockbox on a nearby table. "You're good to go. If you leave you gotta pay again to get in."

"Whatever," I replied. I moved past the guards and into the building proper, and it was all that I could do not to drop my mask.

I didn't consider myself to be an especially empathetic or moral person. I hadn't lost a single wink over stealing that drunk man's wallet, and I suspected I could do a lot more without regretting it. I didn't care about the suffering of others, I just wanted to look out for myself.

But the sound of these Nazis cheering as two dogs ripped into each other, blood spraying as teeth and claws broke skin...that got to me. But I didn't let it show, I couldn't. Instead, I turned my eyes away and headed around the edges of the pit to deeper in the building. I made a note to see if I could find a match and some gasoline or something. This place deserved to burn, and all the people in it. But I wouldn't search too hard for it, the rune was most important. I can rid the world of some Nazi scum once I'm stronger.

I had a vague idea of where the rune, or what I hoped was a rune, was, but I needed to double-check. I spotted a bathroom and I entered it. It smelt, unsurprisingly maybe, of piss and shit, and it was more crowded than it should have been. Thankfully most people in here were more interested in shooting up drugs than using the toilets, so there was a stall open.

I tried really hard not to think about how fucking gross the bathroom was as I put on my mask and actually pulled down my pants to piss. The last thing I wanted was some drugged-up skinhead wondering what I was doing in a stall, silent and alone.

I looked around as I did my business. There it was, a little deeper into the building. I wasn't far from it now. I finished peeing, took off my mask, and exited the stall. I glanced at the sinks. Half of them were broken, the basins shattered or missing, and the others had people sitting on them.

I shook my head and left the bathroom. Not washing my hands would honestly probably keep me cleaner than staying in there any longer.

The din of the dogfighting washed over me again as I entered the main room, but I didn't pay it any attention as I headed deeper into the building. I wasn't sure what this building used to be. An office maybe? I could see hints of places where walls used to be, but the floor was so torn up I couldn't be sure. The center was even dug up to make an actual pit for the dogs to fight in and there were stands all around it.

But it wasn't completely hollowed out, and I spotted a door a little further down the wall that should take me to where I wanted to be. It had a sign on it that had 'No Entry' handwritten on it, but I ignored that and confidently walked in like I was allowed there.

There was no one on the other side, something I had guessed from my look around with my mask on. In fact, there was no one in this entire section of the building. I decided to put my mask on, both to make the search easier and in case someone came across me. This was a restricted area, and I wasn't confident I could talk my way out of it, which would lead to a fight anyway.

I walked down the hallway, head on a swivel and looking for people, but no one was close. Good. I head straight for the rune, and I'm sure it's a rune now. It's so much brighter than the charm was.

Following it led me to a room that was in a bit better shape than most of the building, and it confirmed that this was an office building of some kind. This room even had a desk in it. It was badly broken and upside down against the wall, but it was in here.

But the rune was not in here. It was in the wall, under a thick piece of plywood. Uncaring of the noise, I took a broken bit of metal off the desk and started using it to pry the plywood off. It was nailed into the wall so it took some effort, but after a few minutes I managed to pry it off, sending the plywood crashing against the ground. I couldn't bring myself to care though, because my attention was purely on what it had revealed.

I had expected a small hole in the wall with the rune nestled inside of it. But that's not what I got. Instead, a huge section of the drywall was cut away, and in its place was something I recognized but didn't think I'd ever see with my own eyes. Barbed wire and thin metal beams radiate outward from a small ledge. On that ledge were a few candles, long burnt out, and a round slab of bone, the Mark of the Outsider etched into it and metal bracing it and keeping it together. A shrine to the Outsider.

I felt the air change and grow more stagnant as the distant sound of people faded away. Then I heard a sound to my left, a soft noise of air being disturbed, but deeper. I turned and once again saw the smiling face of the Outsider.

"Last time we talked, you asked me a question. You wanted to know why runes and charms exist here." He motioned towards the shrine. "This is why. The Void is everywhere, it connects all things. I amused myself for thousands of years by observing the world I was born in, and as all things eventually do, it died. So I turned my attention outwards, and out there among the infinite nothingness, I found so many more worlds to observe."

"Some already knew of the Void, but some were ignorant. This world was one such world. I nudged it slightly, inspiring select individuals with knowledge of the Void. These worlds are so different from my home, but men are the same everywhere."

He turns his gaze to me. "You know this world, but at the same time, you do not. You are familiar with the pieces, but not the arrangement. But this place? This place you do know. It's where men seek bloodshed and money passes hands, a place of sin run by those whose primary occupation is hate. Places like this can be found wherever men gather. Yet you strode in here without any hesitation, all for the sake of power. And you found it. I look forward to seeing how you use it."

With those final words, and before I could say anything in reply, he vanished. The air went back to normal and I could hear the muffled sound of the people in the dog-ring again.

I turned my attention back to the shrine and the rune on it. I should have expected the Outsider to make an appearance once I found a shrine, that was normal behavior for him for those that he Marked.

More importantly, I found a rune, and I didn't want to waste any time using it. My pocket space was nice, but it wasn't enough for me to get by in Brockton Bay. I reached out and grabbed the rune and discovered it was cool to the touch. I spent a moment looking at it, turning it over in my hands. I couldn't discern any secrets from it though, or methods of making more. I wondered if I could find someone who knows how to make them and get a source of them? My gut said no, but I filed the thought away to look into later and I used [Pocket] on the rune.

Once again I don't feel it enter my pocket space so I pull up the screen showing my abilities.

-x-

Name: Cain

Race: Human

-Skills-

[Void Soul] - Passive. Prevents many forms of esoteric detection and targeting.

[Pocket] - Store small objects in an extra-dimensional pocket space. Has a medium amount of total storage room.

1 Minor Upgrade Available

1 Power Upgrade or New Power Available

-x-

Just like before it showed me my options. The description of [Pocket] had two keywords highlighted, indicating I could use a Minor Upgrade to increase them like I already had with the total storage room. But now there was a new line, offering me a new Power or Power Upgrade, and both of those were highlighted as well.

I hesitated. I wanted to see what Power Upgrades were available, but what if it didn't pull up a menu and just upgraded a power? I didn't want that, I wanted a new one. So I selected Power.

Thankfully it did indeed pull up a menu.

-Choose a new Power-

[Hide]

[Drain]

[Blink]

[Hypnotic Gaze]

[Disguise]

[Shadow Kill]

Annoyingly, none of them had any details about what they were. And once again, I wasn't sure if selecting one would provide details or just choose it. Thankfully I recognized two of them. [Blink] was a short-range teleport and a staple of the first Dishonored game. [Shadow Kill] would disintegrate enemies into ash when they were stealth killed. There was an upgrade that extended it to all enemies though.

At least, I could only assume they were the same abilities as in the game. It tracked with the Outsider giving me Corvo's mask.

The others I could guess at. [Hide] probably let me do exactly what it said, hide. Something stealth related at least. Useful, though if it started out as weak as [Pocket] then it would need some upgrades to be usable. [Drain] was harder to guess, but considering the sort of stealthy assassin theme of the abilities, it was probably something to be used on people. Maybe a knockout? Or a killing move? Or maybe it was like Victor in that it stole abilities? It was likely something offensive though, which made it tempting.

[Hypnotic Gaze] was also straightforward. Eye-based hypnosis. And I wanted it. Masters were pretty feared here in Worm, but they had good reason for that. It's a powerful ability. Granted, it would probably start out weak, which puts a damper on things, but in the long term, it could be an invaluable tool. And lastly [Disguise] was also easy to guess. Through some means, it would likely let me disguise myself. Through mundane means, illusion, or shapeshifting most likely.

All of them were pretty good, but I closed that window and went back to see what powers I could upgrade, just to make sure I wasn't missing out on something amazing.

-Choose a Power to Upgrade-

[Pocket]

Huh. [Void Soul] really couldn't be upgraded at all, could it? Something about it was special apparently. Pocket could, and I got the feeling it would do more than just increase its size. But sadly, it didn't tell me exactly what it would upgrade. Either way, I had to make my choice mostly blind.

I deliberated for a few minutes on it, but there was only one I really could choose. Mobility and utility were important, but right now I didn't have any way of fighting or protecting myself. So I needed an ability that allowed me to protect myself while I hunted for more runes.

With my mind made up, I chose [Drain]. Sure enough, when I selected it, it just chose it and didn't show me a description. But when I look back at my status window, I see it detailed there.

-x-

Name: Cain

Race: Human

-Skills-

[Void Soul] - Passive. Prevents many forms of esoteric detection and targeting.

[Pocket] - Store small objects in an extra-dimensional pocket space. Has a medium amount of total storage room.

[Drain] - Gradually drain a target of their stamina, restoring your own.

1 Minor Upgrade Available

0 Major Upgrade or New Power available

-x-

It was indeed a knock-out skill then, good. I didn't like the sound of 'gradually' though, so I went ahead and selected it and used the Minor Upgrade point I had saved. The description changed from 'gradually' to 'slowly'. Not quite the improvement I hoped it would offer, but it would have to do.

It was then that I heard the door behind me open, and I froze.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?" a gruff voice called out to me. I cursed at myself, I got too distracted with the skills and stopped paying attention to make sure I wasn't about to be discovered.

I turned my head to see him, and I saw him reel back as he caught a glimpse of my mask. The man himself was like everyone else here. White, bald head, fucked up teeth, cliche tattoos on his exposed arms, which were thick with both muscle and fat. One tattoo stood out, the symbol of the E88. This guy was likely an official member then, especially considering he was in a restricted area.

The gang member got over his surprise quickly and his expression quickly turned angry as I turned around completely to face him.

"I don't know what you're doing here freak," the man spit out as he raised his fists threateningly. "But you've fucked with the wrong crew."

"I've done nothing except maybe trespass a little," I replied, hands raised placatingly. Huh, the mask also modified the sound of my voice, it added another layer to it, distorting it ever so slightly and made it sound more sinister. "And I guess I broke the wall a little bit, but with how fucked up this place is, it's barely noticeable."

"I ain't buying it," he shot back. "Cape as creepy as you sticking your nose in where it don't belong?" He shook his head. "Nah, you're up to something. So you can either come with me the easy way, or I'll beat the stuffing out of you first. But either way, I'm taking you to Hookwolf, he'll figure out what to do with you."

Shit, Hookwolf was here? Of course he was, this was a dogfighting ring, and he ran those. That was definitely one person I didn't want to run into yet. So I shoved down my fear and bluffed.

I chuckled darkly. "Beat the stuffing out of me? The cape that you've never heard of before? All by yourself?" I laughed again, louder this time. "Oh my dear friend, you're the one who has fucked up."

He hesitated for a moment at that and before he could do anything else the entire building shook with the sound of a distant crash, quickly followed by two more. The muffled sounds of the dogfighting ring grew louder, but instead of cheers and the sort of yelling you'd expect at a sports event, it turned into panic and there was a deep booming, like dogs barking but deeper and louder.

The skinhead turned to face the wall, eyes wide as he tried to figure out what was happening, but I didn't bother with that. Information can wait, victory goes to he who struck first. I quickly leaned down, grabbed the thick bit of metal I had used to tear the plywood off the wall, and rushed the man.

The motion caused him to start turning back to me even as he backpedaled, but his distraction had bought me just enough time so his arm was too slow to block my wild swing at his head.

The metal bounced off of his skull with a sickening crack and the man stumbled. The reverberations jarred my arm but I ignored it, he wasn't completely down yet. I hit him again, this time from the other side, and he fell down. He was still conscious, but he was moving slowly.

It was a chance to try out my new skill. I kneeled on his back and put my right hand, the one with the Mark, on the back of his head and started using [Drain].

I could feel a rush of energy flow through my veins as the struggling of the nazi beneath me grew weaker and weaker. In less than a minute he went still and I felt the flow of [Drain] cut off. Out of curiosity, I checked his pulse. It was surprisingly steady. Huh, I guess I didn't do as much damage to him as I thought. Maybe I should fix that?

The building shook again. No, there wasn't time for that. I needed to focus on getting the fuck out of here. I got off the unconscious gang member and grabbed the metal rod I had been using as a weapon. It would do for now. I finally took a good look around, and what I saw wasn't pretty.

Out in the main hall people were running about in a chaotic mess, most of them headed for the exit, but not all of them. Which was stupid, considering the three monsters running rampant. They were massive quadrupeds with my head barely reaching their shoulders. It was hard to tell from the silhouette, but they looked spiky and one of them had a rider.

I frowned. Wait, spiky monsters with a rider attacking a dogfighting ring? That had to be Bitch and her mutated dogs.

Okay, so I understood the situation, but that didn't help me much. Bitch was just as likely to attack another cape she spotted here as Hookwolf was. Should I take the mask off again, try to blend in with the fleeing crowd? No, being mistaken for an E88 gang member posed just as many risks. Better to find an alternate exit entirely, surely this place had a back door, right?

Before I left I dug through the man's pockets and found a wad of cash and a cell phone. The cell phone was tempting but I decided to leave it. Don't want a number associated with the E88 and I wasn't sure I could disable all the tracking and still leave it usable. I could do it on a phone back home, but I knew that the technology was subtly different here, and those details could make a difference. Not worth the risk for something I couldn't keep charged anyway.

I stash the cash in my [Pocket], deciding to count it later. Though to my surprise, as soon as it entered my pocket space, I instantly knew that it was $234. That was convenient, and now I had some money to play with. I looked around again, focusing on the back of the building, where I intended to go. There were some people in that direction, and they looked like they were standing guard.

I looked the other way. Bitch and her dogs were fighting a whirling silhouette of blades. Yeah, fuck that, I'd rather chance the guards and hope that they're not near the door.

I headed for the back of the building, eyes peeled as my head was on a swivel, looking for more gang members. Thankfully the only ones I see are the three standing near the back. I reached the back wall and started looking for an exit. The windows were all barred of course, and in fact the entire wall was sturdy. They didn't seem to care much about the inside, but the walls and windows were reinforced it seemed.

Though probably not enough, since the rumbling earlier was probably Bitch busting through them.

Still, getting through wasn't on the table for me, and I wasn't having any luck with finding a door. I sighed. It was almost definitely in the room with the three guys. Why they were guarding the exit when Bitch was attacking was beyond me, but it was something I had to deal with.

I approached the room and took a closer look at the three of them. All of them were standing and tense. One was facing the door that led further into the building, another was watching what I assumed was the door outside, and the third was watching the two of them.

I checked the walls leading into the room, trying to see if maybe I could disable the one watching the other two since he was near the wall. But no, it was too thick. I could break through it most likely, but not fast enough or quietly enough to get the jump on the guy.

I took a moment to consider my options, though the sounds of the two capes fighting encouraged me to act quickly. I could act like an E88 member running away from the cape fight. But none of the others had run this direction, not that I had seen at least. The Empire, or at least Hookwolf, had a boner for honor and fighting. Going that route might get me thrown into the cape fight. There were some normal people mixed up in there but...it wasn't going well for them.

Which meant running or fighting my way out. Also risky, but in a way far simpler. I was a threat they didn't know to expect. I could take one or two of them out if I rushed them, and then it was just one or two gang members to fight, or even just run past.

That felt better. Far from perfect, but the crashes behind me made it clear I was on a time limit. Their fighting wasn't contained to just the main area, and finding a hiding spot was too much of an unknowable risk. And I would rather take this known risk where I had a plan of action over a gamble over which I had little control.

I studied their positions carefully. Too bad I could only see people, and there were no hints of any objects that might be in the room. All three men were standing straight up too, none were leaning against anything. For all I knew they could even be outside, and the door leading to them was the door leading out. It was a metal push door, but many of the doors in this building were the same.

I positioned myself in front of the door anyway. This was my best shot at getting out, and I had a heavy weapon. I could slip past a few skinheads, especially with them moderately spread out and after I took out the one facing the door I was about to burst through.

Plan set, I took a deep breath, then I rushed through the door. The guy watching the door was caught off guard, and thankfully he was close enough that I was able to get into range quickly. My metal rod impacted his throat directly and he went down clutching it.

I immediately turned my attention to the next guy, the one standing with his back to me and was facing the other door. And it was a door he was facing, though I couldn't tell if it was outside or not. It should be, based on the dimensions of the building, but the windows were covered.

My swing missed though, and I switched all of my focus to him. Despite having his back turned, he was able to react in time. The element of surprise was gone now, which meant this was a two-on-one fight.

"Fuck, it's a cape!" the man I swung at yelled.

The other guy approached us, a bat in his hand. Not good. "Who the fuck is this guy?"

"You with that dog slut?" the first man asked.

"We're unrelated," I say. "Let me by and there won't be any more trouble."

The second guy spat. "Fuck that, cape or not, you're going down."

Well, I gave them a chance. Seeing that negotiations have failed, I swung at the first guy again, but it was sloppy, and without the element of surprise he backstepped it easily. He didn't have a weapon, but that didn't stop him from stepping towards me and punching me in the chest while my guard was open.

The wind is knocked out of my lungs and I take a few steps back. Okay, maybe fighting wasn't a great option. Running sounded good. But before I could make a break for the door I had to scramble out of the way of the swing of the second guy's baseball bat.

He kept swinging at me, and I had to keep backstepping. Each swing dodged put me further from the door, and the other man positioned himself between me and the door. Fuck, I couldn't let them control the pace of the fight like that.

I met his next swing with one of my own. My metal rod met his wooden bat with a loud cracking noise and my hands erupted in pain as the rod was torn from my grip. But on the bright side, the man dropped his bat as well. I rushed him and clawed at his face, trying to get contact with his skin. He grabbed my arms and tried to pull me off, but I had already activated [Drain] and he wasn't able to muster the strength.

I kept an eye on the other guy who seemed hesitant to approach me when I was obviously doing something to his buddy, but I knew from his face that it wouldn't last long. Still, if I could take him, I had a good chance of getting around the other guy.

But my entire world erupted in pain as I felt a lance of fire shoot through my arm. I yelled out in pain and let go. I turned around to see the man I had hit in the throat back on his feet, fury in his eyes.

The man I had been draining collapsed to the ground, conscious but struggling to move. I barely paid him any mind though, distracted as I was by the sheer agony my right shoulder had erupted into. I could see the knife still sticking out of it, the blade buried several inches deep. Shit, that was bad.

My mind went into full flight mode. I bolted for the door. I raised my left hand at the face of the brawler guy, who flinched and took a step back at the threat of doing what I had done to his buddy. I used that to rush past him and out the door, running away into the night.

I kept running, each step sending a jolt of pain through my arm. I gritted my teeth and kept running though, not stopping until I got a few blocks away and I could see that no one was following me.

I took a moment to lean against a wall and catch my breath. That had gone to shit really fast, but at least I escaped with my life. I grimaced as my wound twinged. Well, mostly at least. I turned my attention to the wound. My jacket sleeve was heavily soaked with my blood. This wound was really bad, wasn't it?

I didn't know a single thing about first aid. Was it better to leave the knife in to stop it from bleeding? Or would it do more damage as I moved around and jostled it? The idea of the latter sounded worse to me, especially since I was already bleeding, so I gripped the knife with my good hand, braced myself, and yanked.

I was unable to stop the scream that erupted from my lips. Fuck, that hurt worse than running with it in my shoulder. I stored the knife in my [Pocket] and slapped my hand over the wound. Keeping pressure on the bleeding part was important, or at least that's what TV had taught me. It probably wouldn't hurt, so I did it as best I could.

I considered my options, and really it came down to two. Deal with this wound myself, or get help. Dealing with it would mostly mean bandaging it as best I could, getting clean clothes, and laying low for however long it took to heal. Or maybe finding another rune and hoping that [Drain] upgraded to something that took health rather than stamina.

I didn't like the sound of those options. The wound was deep, deep enough that even attempting to move my arm caused massive amounts of pain and didn't even work in the first place. He probably cut into the muscle, I pulled at least four inches of steel out of my arm.

If I went back to the junkyard with a wound like this I was nearly guaranteed to get an infection, and that would be a death sentence. And banking on the [Drain] upgrade was a gamble and would require me getting a rune, one that was probably just as hard to get as this one was, down an arm and covered in blood. Those were both assuming blood loss didn't get me in the next few hours.

So the other option was to get help. I didn't have any villain contacts or any way of finding a back-alley doctor, barely had any money to my name, and was basically on my own. Getting help would require going to something public, the heroes or a public hospital.

I shook my head. Can't go to the heroes, I'd be trapped within their system. They wouldn't offer to heal a random cape they'd never heard of before without getting me to agree to join them or something. It would only be made worse by my lack of identity here.

My best option was a public hospital then. I could pretend to be a victim of an assault. Me not having any ID was still an issue, but there wasn't much I could do about that. They'd heal me, at least enough so I wasn't at risk of dying, and I could run after that. It might interfere with my life, but I wasn't planning on having much of one outside of my cape duties anyways, and running from some hospital bills was a small price to pay.

Thankfully I had memorized the location of the biggest hospital in Brockton Bay. There might have been a closer one, but without knowing where it was, it was useless to me, so all I could do was head in the direction I knew to go.

Clutching my arm in an attempt to slow the flow of blood, I slowly stumbled my way towards the hospital.

I wasn't sure how long it took me to get there. An hour? Two? My head was starting to get fuzzy, it took all my focus just to keep going in the right direction. But I managed to make it without running into anyone. I stopped at the exit of an alley and looked towards the hospital. I was still wearing my mask, hence my caution, but I'd have to take it off in order to pretend to be a civilian.

But, to my annoyance, I found myself at the back of the hospital. I'd have to go around to the front. I started to step out and do that before a small bit of light caught my eye. I focused on the area and I saw it, a person standing out back and leaning against a wall. They lifted a cigarette to their lips and it lit up orange as they took a pull.

Now that I was looking at them, their profile seemed strange. They weren't wearing normal clothes or scrubs or anything like that. They were wearing something bulkier and more flowing than that. I blinked. Were those robes?

I moved closer, taking care to remain hidden. It was getting harder to focus though. But once the figure was in the range of my mask's highlighting ability, I was able to get more information. Yes, it was a girl, and she was wearing robes and smoking.

Unusual clothes combined with her being at the hospital...was that Panacea? Real name Amy Dallon, healer of New Wave, and honestly one of the best healers in the entire fucking world. Capes being able to heal others is usually more of a side effect. Panacea was a full-fledged biokinetic though, which meant she could do more than just heal, but she was also very good at healing.

Wasn't it kinda late for her to be here? Doesn't she have school in the morning? Or no wait, what day was it today? Was it a weekend?

I shook my head. I could worry about why she was here later. For now, I needed to change plans. I'd approach her as a cape, a newbie hero who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn't even that much of a lie. The 'hero' part was questionable, but I hadn't done anything that would mark me as either hero or villain, especially not anything public.

So I didn't remove my mask, and instead, I stumbled out from my hiding spot and approached Panacea.

She stiffened as she saw me approach. "Who are you?" she called out. "Don't come any closer! What do you want?"

I stopped and raised my good hand placatingly. I could see her eyes focus on it, the light of the hospital enough to make it clear that it was covered in blood. "Please," I replied. "I'm hurt, I came looking for medical attention."

"And why should a villain like you get healing? Unless you're turning yourself in?" She asked, still wary.

Villain? Why would she think I'm a villain? I thought about it and realized it was almost definitely the mask. It was fairly sinister looking after all.

"I know the mask is a little edgy, but I swear I'm not a villain," I replied. "It was made by a friend of a friend, and he was going for the 'strike fear in the heart of villains' sort of look. I'm a good guy."

She thought about that for a moment, probably deciding whether or not she believed me. "What's your name?" she asked.

"I kind of haven't picked one yet," I said. "First night out. Was scouting an Empire gathering, turned out to be a dogfighting ring. Was just gonna get information and leave, but then Hellhound attacked." I used her more PR friendly name, the one given to her by the PRT, hoping it would help sell me as a hero. "Shit went sideways, I accidentally drew some attention in the chaos, and a skinhead stabbed me as I was trying to get out." My vision was starting to get blurry. "Please, I've lost a lot of blood."

She sighed heavily. "Fine, but stay right there and don't move."

My shoulders slumped in relief. I wasn't going to die, not yet. "Thank you," I replied.

"Hold out your hand, face down," she said, and I complied. "Do I have permission to touch you and heal you?"

I wonder if she had to ask that when healing capes or if it was just a habit at this point. "Yes," I answered. I didn't want to waste time asking.

She reached out and placed two fingers on the back of my hand, her brow furrowing. I took a moment to look her over. Her robes were white with red accents with a few red plus signs, crosses, in key spots. Her hair was curly and a plain brown, and her face was covered in freckles. She was a little plain but in a cute way. Like the normal girl next door instead of the slutty cheerleader kind.

"Major trauma to the deltoid muscle, cut deep down to the bone," Panacea narrated as she assessed my wounds. "The bone is nicked as well, but barely so. Both are an easy fix. Early signs of an infection, it must have been a dirty knife. I can encourage your own immune system to kill it before it becomes a problem. Significant blood loss, can't do much for that other than tell your body to make more blood." She looked at me. "Dangerous and life-threatening, but easy for me to fix. But before I do, I want you to answer some questions."

I tensed. This bitch was really going to hold my healing hostage? "I'm not really in a position to refuse," I spat out, voice filled with annoyance.

"No, you're not," she said, uncaring. "Were you telling the truth earlier?"

"Yes," I answered. "My goal was to scout out the E88. Maybe do some damage if I saw a chance, but I didn't plan on fighting them."

"What was your plan?" she asked. Her eyes were a little unfocused. Was she checking my body for signs of me lying?

"Gather what I could in order to help me, or others, take down the Empire," I said. Thankfully for me, telling misleading truths was something I was good at.

"This was really your first night out and you haven't picked a name yet?"

"Yes," I replied.

"And you're not a villain?"

"I am not," I said. That was the closest thing to a lie I had said, and it was still technically true.

Panacea's shoulders slumped. "Sorry about that, I really am, but I had to be sure."

"It's fine, I understand," I said, not wanting to sour things. Though I was sure she could feel the anger still in my system. I knew Amy could be a bitch, but I thought that was something earned.

The pain in my arm disappeared. "I'm starting now, it should only be a few moments," she said. "I've numbed your arm in the meantime. Muscles stitching back together doesn't feel good, or so I've been told."

"Whatever you think is best," I replied with a sigh.

"Why didn't you just go in as a normal person?" She asked as she focused on healing me. "It would have saved you the suspicion."

My head was starting to clear up, making it easier for me to think. Which was good, because I needed to come up with a good story on the fly, and I needed to believe it.

"I'm a runaway minor," I started. She didn't give any indication that she noticed I was lying, so I continued. "I was going to, but then I saw you, and I thought I'd try. My foster parents...they don't like me. On the good days, they ignored me. On the bad ones, they blamed everything on me. I hated seeing them look at me, hated being looked at like I was a piece of garbage that didn't belong. They barely fed me and clothed me, they did the bare minimum as parents. Not even really. So I ran away as soon as I could." I shook my head. "If I went to the hospital as a civilian, they would be called. And it would be better than dying. But not by much."

She was quiet after I finished talking. Good, I had designed the story to appeal to her. She was also adopted, and there was bad blood between her parents and her. Not quite like I described in my story, but there were hints of neglect, of being the outsider in the family. That sort of thing built up. But my story was just different enough that it should resonate with her without seeming like a parallel.

"I see," she finally said. "Do you have a place to stay?"

I blinked, not having expected the question. "I found a safe place to sleep, yeah," I answered.

She looked at me, annoyed. "That's not what I meant, I mean a proper bed and a shower. If you go sleeping on the street you won't last long and I'd have wasted my time healing you."

"I don't exactly have any other options," I said. "Unless you're offering me a place to stay?"

She shook her head. "No, I can't do that. But I know someone who might."

I frowned. "And you'd ask them to? Just like that? Despite the fact that I'm a villainous-looking cape?"

She winced. "Look, consider it an apology for almost letting you bleed out while I interrogated you. And I don't make any promises she'll take you in. But she's helped troubled teens before. There is one thing though…"

"I'd either have to unmask to you or her," I replied, to which she nodded. "To you if I wanted to act like a normal teen, to her if I wanted to keep doing hero stuff while I lived with her." I sighed. "That's fine, I'm not too worried about it. I'm going to keep doing hero stuff though, so I'll unmask to her if it's all the same to you."

Unmasking wasn't ideal, but it wasn't that big of a deal either. As I said, I didn't have a real identity nor did I have plans for having a non-cape life. A proper place to stay was worth someone knowing my name and face, and if it became a problem later, I could take care of it then.

Panacea nodded and removed her hand from my own. "Alright, you're good to go. You'll be a little hungry for the next few days as your body replenishes the blood it lost. Listen to your body, eat as much as it wants you to." I nodded. "And wait right there. I'll make a phone call to that friend of mine." She glances at my sleeve, heavy and dripping with blood. "I'll ask her to bring a sweater or something as well."

"Alright," I complied. "Thank you."

Panacea stepped away and moved back to the wall as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She dialed a number and held the phone to her ear. She was half facing me as she talked, keeping me within her line of sight, but I just stood still, watching her.

My luck seemed to be swinging wildly from good to bad, but the final result wasn't something I could complain about. I'd established an okay relationship with Panacea, one of my primary targets. I needed her on my side desperately, her potential was far too high to ignore. But I couldn't rush it either. I wasn't the only one that knew she was valuable, and going after her would draw a lot of heat.

In addition to that, I was potentially getting a place to sleep. That would be welcome for sure. Even if it was just a couch and a shower I could use, that would be enough to keep me going until I get the funds to get my own place. My mind went back to the list of skills I could choose from. Specifically, [Hypnotic Gaze]. That could open up a lot of possibilities.

Amy hung up her phone and walked back to me. "She's on her way, I told her you would wait for her right here. I have to go though, my sister is going to be here to pick me up in a few minutes and neither of us wants her to run into you. If you thought I assumed you were a villain quickly, she'd punch first and ask questions later." She shot me a sharp look. "So I won't be here when my friend gets here. You stay right here, mask on. And I swear to god, if you hurt her in any way, I'll make you regret it."

"I won't spit in the face of your kindness like that," I reply. "Worst case scenario I walk away and spend another night on the street."

She looked at me as if she were trying to peer under my mask and see my expression. "Fine," she said eventually. She pointed at a place on the wall nearby. "There's a spigot of water there, you can wash some of the blood off there."

"Thank you again," I replied. "For everything." Being appreciative here was important, I needed her to have a good impression of me."

"Just don't make me regret it," she replied coolly before turning around heading into the hospital without another word.

Taking off my jacket without removing my mask was annoying until I used the knife I grabbed to just cut it off of me. It was ruined anyway and trying to take it off normally would just get blood all over me.

My shirt was also pretty gross, but I wasn't going to go completely topless. Brockton Bay was warm for the time of year it was and how far north it was, but it was still early spring at night. I washed the blood off my arm and hands as best I could. Once that was done I found a shadowy place and waited.

I expected more activity considering this was a Brockton Bay hospital. But maybe I was wrong and this wasn't a back but a side door. Panacea had been out here on a smoke break after all, she wouldn't choose a place that would have a lot of traffic.

I frowned. She had been smoking for sure, but now that I thought about it, I didn't remember smelling any smoke. Did she have something as ridiculous as scentless cigarettes? Or did she have some other trick to get rid of the smell? I knew it wasn't my sense of smell because I've smelt everything just fine so far, including the blood and my own body odor. Just two days of homelessness had built up more grime and sweat than I would have liked.

Maybe ten minutes after I finished washing I saw a pair of headlights approach the area I was in. I assumed that it was the person Panacea called so I stepped out of the shadows and waited, hands in my pocket.

An old SUV that looked like it had seen better days rolled to a stop a dozen or so feet away. The engine stayed on as the driver-side door opened and a person stepped out. The headlights made it hard to make out details, but as they stepped towards me and in front of the headlights, their features came into view.

"So you're the kid Amy told me about, huh?" A bored-sounding voice said.

My eyes widened and I smiled under my mask as I recognized her. A lab coat over a blue and black punk-styled dress and fishnet leggings was a very distinctive look.

"My name is Tae Takemi," she said, eyes looking me up and down. "Looks like you could use some help."

Maybe this world wasn't so bad after all.

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AN: This chapter should give you a better hint as to what kind of story it is. Things aren't gonna be easy for Cain. He's gonna try to be sneaky and smart, but sometimes you fuck up or get unlucky(or both) and get your ass kicked. He's still barely more than a baseline human, and ignoring his potential for growth, he's on the low end in terms of threat. That'll change over time, but the path will be difficult. Plus, he's still a newbie here.

Honestly, I fall too easily into that path of making things too easy for my protagonists and have things go well for them. That was fine in GotV because that was pure power fantasy from the start. But that's not what I want this one to be. I'm going to use this as a learning experience to try to make things tougher for my protagonist.

Also, a note about his list of powers, that's not the full list. I've come up with more than that, but he won't have access to the full list right out the gate. This is so he doesn't choose abilities I want him to have later, and also so I can come up with new power ideas down the road and add them to the list without having to come up with a narrative reason to justify it.

By the way, yes I know the lore I introduce here for the Outsider contradicts the Dishonored 2 DLC/spinoff thing. I never actually finished Dishonored 2, and it doesn't matter anyway. This is a different version of the Outsider.

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