Beast of the Bay 2: Worm

The Zoo, by all intents and purposes, was a dump. Hastily constructed homes littered what once used to be a monument to Brockton Bay’s dead shipping industry, made from whatever their inhabitants could find lying around. Garbage littered the streets, cardboard boxes, old soda cans, empty trashbags, the sort of things you’d expect to see in a dump. And the citizens didn’t seem to care at all.

It was dirty, dark, and if given the choice, most people would rather live anywhere but here. And yet, given who it was beholden to, the people who chose to make the Zoo their home were some of the safest in the bay.

As she and the rest of her team made their way further into the Zoo, Tattletale became increasingly aware of the eyes watching them warily She moved her gaze about the street as they walked forward, watching as the civilians around them stared daggers into their little entourage, clearly untrusting of their presence here. Which was understandable all things considered. From what Tattletale could remember, capes were a non entity in the Zoo as only Menagerie was allowed within the wooden walls.

In the small alleys between the hastily constructed buildings, deep into the darkened shadows of Menagerie’s power, light glinted off of the red eyes of various shades; cats, dogs, rodents, all things you would come to expect in a place like this, as well as…bigger animals. Hyenas, wolves, lions, hell Tattletale was pretty sure she saw a bear somewhere in there. And all of them were gazing at her with the same unblinking intensity, practically daring her to try something.

Menagerie’s power is likely potent throughout her entire territory

Tattletale gulped and turned her gaze back forward, increasingly aware that the warlord’s previous threats were in no way bluffs. The Undersiders rode on in tense silence for what felt like a few minutes before Regent decided to pipe up.

“So where exactly are we going? Hopefully somewhere with a doctor? Maybe some air conditioning?” He asked hopefully. Menagerie was silent for several long seconds, and as Tattletale was about to give him a piece of her mind, the cape spoke.

“I am taking you to my home.” The warlord spoke gruffly, “There is only one doctor in my territory and he does not treat capes unless I specifically ask him to.” She looked back at them, yellow eyes piercing, “Your friend will be treated, have no doubts about that. I do not go back on my word once I’ve given it.” And with that, she turned back forward as she continued to lead the Undersiders to her home.

“Well ok then. crazy bitch…” Regent muttered just loud enough for Tattletale to hear. She shot him a look, waving her hand in front of her neck to tell him to knock it off before he got them all killed. Luckily, it seemed Menagerie didn’t hear Regent’s comment, or if she did she couldn’t care less. Seems they wouldn’t be torn apart by the angry cape just yet, lucky them.

Up ahead, further along the road was a building that was noticeably bigger than the rest around it. Where all of the other dwellings in the shantytown were one story hovels, this was at least two stories, made of concrete and noticeably more decorated. A large deck wrapped around the front of the home, on which there were several animals.

There were two dogs and…a tiger. There were two dogs and what looked like a fucking tiger lounging on the front porch, seemingly content to laze around until their owner returned.

Menagerie’s base

‘No shit.’ she thought sarcastically as the woman in question brought them to a stop a few feet in front of the door. The animals lounging on the deck perked up and, once they noticed Menagerie, rushed to her side, making various noises of excitement.

One of the dogs and the tiger were normal, not a part of Menagerie’s power as far as Tattletale could tell. In fact, she was slightly surprised at just how normal they were, just a Dalmatian and a Bengal Tiger, nothing weird about that. Nope.

The other dog, on the other hand, was clearly part of Menagerie’s power in some way or another. It was a husky, mostly solid except for its front left leg, right eye, and a good portion of its muzzle. Those parts of its body were composed of the same material that all of Menagerie’s shades were. And yet, despite its condition, it was clearly the happiest to see the warlord as it was still jumping up to lick her face long after its compatriots had gone on to stare at the Undersiders in barely concealed hostility.

“Scratch, that’s enough!” Menagerie stated gently but firmly, placing a hand on the dog’s lower back and pushing down lightly. Scratch made a disgruntled noise but obeyed, sitting on his haunches as he stared up at his master, panting in contentment.

As the Undersiders slid off of their respective mounts, Bitch made her way over to Menagerie, ignoring the growls and snarls of the other two animals watching her warily. She stood beside the warlord, staring down at Scratch who lolled his tongue happily at the new person, she leaned down to scratch the top of his head before turning to Menagerie who was watching her silently.

“What’s wrong with him?” She asked bluntly and Tattletale nearly facepalmed at the lack of tact as she moved to get Grue down off the back of Brutus.

Menagerie continued staring at Bitch before turning back to Scratch, “He was present when I triggered. He was hurt by some bad people and my power saved his life. Nothing wrong besides his excitable nature.” She stated simply and Bitch nodded as she continued to scratch him behind the ears eliciting small grunts of pleasure from the canine.

“Hey, not to interrupt your little animal loving session, but can I get some help with this?” Tattletale asked as she struggled with the unconscious body she was carrying, knees wavering as she struggled with the heavy load on her slight frame. Beside her, Brutus emerged from the carcass of the massive monster as Bitch deactivated her power, shaking himself off and making his way over to his master.

Menagerie made her way over and grabbed Grue from her, effortlessly heaving all two hundred pounds onto her own shoulders. “Come.” She stated as she made her way up the porch into the home, the rest of them, and Scratch, following close behind.

The interior of the house was modest. The room that they were currently in was clearly the living room if the two couches facing a small television were any indication. Through a doorway at the edge of the room, Tattletale could see what looked like a kitchen peeking through.

Menagerie placed Gure on one of the couches, propping his head up on a pillow before stepping back and turning to the rest of them as they entered and spread out throughout the room. Bitch had taken the couch for herself

She waited for them to get comfortable before addressing them all.

“I am going to retrieve the doctor for your friend. You are not to leave my home until I get back.” She stated firmly, roving her slitted yellow eyes across the room, stopping on each of them individually before turning back to her Tattletale specifically. “And to endure you do as you are told, I have created several shades outside of this building. Should you step foot outside…”

“We’ll be torn apart. Yeah, yeah, whatever, you got any video games here?” Regent asked, seemingly completely unconcerned with the threat. Menagerie stared at him silently for a moment before turning away.

“I will be back shortly. Heed my warnings or don’t, it will just mean less mouths to feed.” And with that, she left, leaving Tattletale and her team alone in her home.

“So was that a no!?” Regent shouted after her and Tattletale made her way over to him silently. “I guess not. Hey Tats, can I borrow your pho-OW!” He was interrupted by a harsh slap to the back of the head for his stupidity.

As Tattletale walked out of the room, ears deaf to Regent’s complaining, she had a single thought. That felt much better than she thought it would, she’d have to do it more often.

~~~

‘Three days. I’ll give them three days to recover before kicking them out. No longer.’ I thought to myself.

As I made my way through the dimly lit streets of my territory, my mind whirled with the thought of what I’d do with the money I would receive.. Forty thousand dollars was a good chunk of change, enough to solve quite a few problems. Infrastructure, water and food supply, defense, there was so much that my territory was lacking that I didn’t know where to start.

“I will need to consult someone else.” I decided, “This is too much money to process by myself.”

Truthfully, I was still extremely leery of letting capes, villainous or not, into my territory. I had gone nearly a year rebuffing all attempts by interlopers to get into the Zoo, and yet I had just let the Undersiders enter the moment they flashed cash at me. Why?

I knew why, that much money could fix a good number of my problems if used properly. I had sworn to protect the people who called my territory their home but I couldn’t do that if I did not have the funds to see to their basic needs.

And so, despite all my instincts screaming at me not to, I let them in. I only hoped I wouldn’t come to regret it.

“Angela! Angela honey, come here for a moment!” A voice called out to me, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked over to the speaker and was met with an elderly woman wearing a large fur coat with a kind smile on her face beckoning me in her direction. I knew this woman, Maria Glover, one of the first people to ever inhabit my territory and one of the sweetest besides that. She was always fretting over me, wondering if I’ve gotten enough to eat, worrying about my physical health, the sort of things a mother would do. And despite my mother having died years ago, I couldn’t help but see Maria in her place, something I'm sure she noticed but didn’t seem to mind.

She waved me over, smiling happily as I made my way towards her with a grin on my face.

“How are you honey?” She asked, reaching out and pulling me into a hug as I came up to her, “It’s been forever since you’ve visited! The little ones miss their Auntie Angel you know.”

She reached into a pocket in her coat and retrieved a handkerchief. She brought it up to my face and rubbed my cheeks with it, tutting as I scrunched my face at the feeling, “Angela honey, your face is so dirty! And your beautiful red hair is a mess! Please sweetie, you need to take better care of yourself. I know you have to worry about everyone here but don’t forget to take some time for yourself.”

I waved off her ministrations, bringing a hand up to rub my cheek as she backed away, “I don’t have time for that Maria. I’ve got too much to do, this place isn’t gonna run itself you know?”

“Then delegate sweetie.” She tutted, “You’ve been running this place by yourself for nearly a year and it’s wearing on you. You and I both know that the people who call this place home would be more than willing to take some of that burden off of your hands whatever way we can.”

I thought for a moment about what she had said. She was right that running my territory has been exhausting, whenever I fixed one problem another seemed to pop up to take its place leading to a never ending cycle of work. Not to mention the constant need to patrol the edges with my power to ensure my territory was safe. It was all so much and I was slowly being run ragged.

And yet despite that, I still wasn’t sure I could trust someone to take some of the load off of my shoulders. When I had set out to create a safe haven in the hell that was Brockton Bay, I had resigned myself to placing all of the burden on myself. Nobody else should have to sacrifice themselves so long as I was here. No, I would just rest more, keep myself energized for my duties, no need to get anybody else involved.

“I’ll think about it.” I lied and Maria stared at me for a moment before nodding in defeat.

“Please do sweetie, you know we all worry about you.” She put the handkerchief back into her coat and I was silently relieved that she wouldn’t try to rub at my face some more, “So where are you off to today? It’s rare for you to come through this part of the Zoo unless there's been a fight. And I haven’t heard any commotion recently.”

“No, I’m looking for Doctor Reeves. I’ve got injured in my home.” I said and she gasped.

“Oh, well why didn’t you say so? He’s in his hut as usual doing who knows what.” She tutted as she began walking back toward her home, “I swear. That man has more than enough energy without all that coffee he drinks. He should be careful, it’s not good for him! One of these days he’s gonna…” Her voice trailed off as she walked out of range of my hearing. I shook my head in exasperation. That was Maria all right, always worrying about everyone no matter how old.

I turned and made my way toward a small hut isolated from the rest. There was a large fence around the home to ward off uninvited guests, an issue I solved by simply jumping over it and continuing on my way to the front door.

I knocked on the door to the hut, calling out to the person inside, “Doctor Reeve? I require your services.” I spent a moment waiting for a response before the door cracked open slightly and blue eyes peered out at her suspiciously.

They stared at her for a moment before widening slightly, “Oh! It’s you! One moment please.” The door closed and there was the sound of clinking chains and turning locks before it opened once more, this time fully allowing her to view the man she had come to retrieve.

Doctor Jared Reeve was a tall skinny man. His hair was dark and noticeably thinning on the top of his head. Bags hung under his blue eyes which were wide with caffeinated energy. He was wearing a white lab coat with numerous coffee stains on its surface.

“Miss Menagerie!” He clapped his hands together excitedly, “To what do I owe the pleasure? Finally here for a check up?”

I shook my head, Dr. Reeve had been trying to get me to come in for a check up since he had settled in the Zoo seven months ago and I had rebuffed his attempts every time. I was in perfect health, no need for anybody to tell me otherwise.

“No, I’ve got an injured cape in my home. I made a deal with his compatriots that I would get him help in exchange for a large sum of cash. I’ve come to you to ask you to lend your services.” I explained.

He hummed, looking me up and down in suspicion as I stared back with a placid expression. He sighed, “Very well. I’ll gather my things and make my way over. I’ll be there within the hour.”

I nodded, “Thank you Jared, and I’m sorry for making you do this. I know how much you hate capes.”

He waved me off as he made his way back into his hut, “Not all capes Miss Menagerie, just those who do more harm than good.” He looked back at me with a smirk, “If that just happens to be most of them well, that is hardly my fault now is it? Now shoo! I’ve got to gather my things.” He slammed the door in my face, which some would see as rude but I knew it was just him being his usual eccentric self.

I snorted at his actions, bidding him goodbye as I began to make my way back to my base. Hopefully the Undersiders hadn’t tried to leave the property, I would hate to have to clean up the mess they made.

~~~

Luckily nobody had tried to leave the property. Bitch was sitting on the porch, her dogs lounging around her. Scratch was laying happily in her lap, tail wagging as she ran her finger through his fur. She gave me a nod in greeting as I approached.

I nodded back, “Bitch, Scratch has warmed up to you quickly. He must like you.” She looked down at the dog in her lap momentarily before nodding in agreement. I looked around, spying Regent laying on the couch opposite to Gure

“She went off into the house, muttering to herself about something. I wasn’t listening, never makes sense to me anyway.” Bitch grunted, not pausing in her ministrations.

I gave her a nod in thanks before walking from the house to search for the errant Thinker, passing the napping Regent as I did so. The bathroom door was open so she was unlikely to be there. The door at the top of the staircase was locked and only I had the key so she couldn’t be there. That left the kitchen.

I made my way over to the room to search for the Thinker, only to stop as I heard a voice. I strained my ears to listen, recognising the voice as Tattletales.

“...-re you insane? We barely got away from Lee and you want to start shit with someone he wasn’t willing to fight?” She was talking to someone on the phone. Not only that, but they were likely talking about me. I crouched down beside the doorway as I listened in on the conversation with steadily increasing anger.

“Listen, if we try anything, she will tear us to pieces and there’s nothing we could do about it. Hell, I’m not sure Bitch will even fight her! Menagerie cares for animals just as much as she does and she picked up on that. She almost likes her just as much as us at this point. And with Grue down, we couldn’t even get away, not that I think her power wouldn’t work in his smoke in the first place. We’re sitting ducks until the deal is done.”

“Yeah.” She paused as she listened to the person on the other side of the phone, someone I was increasingly sure was her boss, “No you couldn’t. Her power covers her entire territory, anyone you try to send will be torn apart. That’s not even mentioning the people here, they’d probably take up arms if you did anything to her.” Another pause as the person on the line spoke, “Sure Bossman, I’ll see what I can find. And try not to get killed in the process. Bye. Fucking asshole.”

As she hung up, I took that as my cue to make myself known. I stalked out of my hiding place silently, coming up behind her and grabbing her by the shoulder as I forcibly turned her to face me.

“Wha-oh shit.” She startled, green eyes widening in fear as they met my own furious yellow ones, “Wai-!”

I didn’t listen, grabbing her by her throat and lifting her bodily off the ground before slamming her against the wall behind her. She choked in my grip, hands coming up to grab at the one around her throat. I loosened my hold a bit, not letting go but also not suffocating her as I reached my other hand toward the phone clutched in her hand.

I snatched the phone from her shaking fingers and clutched it in my grip. I stared directly into her wide green eyes before squeezing down, destroying the device with the crunch of plastic and a spray of sparks. Tattletale squeaked, as I leaned in closer, forcing her to look me in the eyes. Her pupils were dilated and her breath was coming in short gasps. She was scared, terrified even.

Good. It would make my message even more clear.

“I let you into my home.” I began lowly, watching as her face paled even further, “Possibly endangering those I swore to protect just so you could receive the help of someone I think of as a friend, despite my misgivings.”

I held up the remnants of the phone, releasing my grip and letting it fall to the ground with a small thud, “And you repay me by relaying information on me, on those I care about, to someone who would likely do us harm. I am beginning to regret our deal Tattletale.”

“I-I can’t-” She tried to choke out and I just shook my head, shushing her lightly as I tightened my grip on her throat.

“Understand this,” I leaned in, letting my power loose just enough to make the edges of the room darken, whispered snarls coming from the shadows. Her eyes darted around as I spoke, “There will be no second chances. The next time you go behind my back and endanger those I have sworn to protect, I will have no choice but to take action. Are we understood?”

She nodded, practically shaking in my grip.

I nodded in satisfaction, letting her fall back to the floor and deactivating my power, the room going back to normal as the shadows disappeared, “Good. Now where is the money?”

She clutched her throat for a moment, glaring up at me angrily, before pointing toward the living room, “Bitch had it last. It’s in a duffle bag.”

I nodded and went to leave the room but not before looking back at her, “I would rather not have a fight break out in my territory. Please do not make me make good on my threat.” And with that I walked out, leaving the Thinker sitting on the floor rubbing her bruised throat..

As I walked into the living room to retrieve the cash from the only cape in this group that seemed even slightly tolerable, I couldn’t help but wonder if forty thousand dollars was worth the trouble.