The Sound of Chains

Summary: Before she drew her last breath, she cursed them all, and now something horrible stalks the nights of Brockton Bay.

Shadow Stalker let herself fall for a few moments before activating her power and letting herself transition into a gaseous state, reforming only a few steps ahead of where she'd been, having travelled enough to land safely on the roof she had jumped to.

She frowned beneath her mask.

She had not meant to murder the Hebert girl. It was not something she was entirely proud of, to be certain. Not because she had killed the girl. After all, the girl was little more than prey, little more than a worm to be stepped on, to be used as food for a predator such as herself. No, the reason she wasn't proud of it was because she had overestimated her prey, and that could get her killed. Both overestimating and underestimating her enemies was deadly, just in different ways.

It also didn't help that she was on the run right now, because of course everything had pretty much gone to shit the moment the Hebert girl died. The people Sophia had put out of everyone's misery were usually worthless lowlives, people nobody would miss. Gangbanger scum, mostly, with the occasional unaffiliated shitstain in the face of society.

Turns out that killing a white girl that's not a criminal in her school through a method that had been described as 'cruel torture' is a wee bit different, and the same people who were perfectly willing to sweep the other skeletons under the rug so long as she beat up criminals on their orders were not exactly happy with covering for her now.

So she ran. It stung to have to run with her tail between her legs, but it was either running now or being sent to juvie, and likely prison when she was done there. All the while some imposter would play the role of Shadow Stalker.

She growled low in her throat. The last person she had expected to betray her, the survivor she had found long ago... Emma, perhaps her only friend, had apparently not been as much of a Predator as Sophia thought she was. Apparently she was still weak enough to feel something for the worm. Weak enough to feel guilt over putting the garbage where it belongs.

Sophia still remembered how Emma fell into denial the very moment that someone said that Hebert wasn't breathing. Sophia had been on the run since then - since the very moment she realized Emma would fall apart like a poorly constructed house of cards. From that moment, it became evident that Emma would likely confess everything.

Sophia jumped again. She would have to leave Brockton Bay. She could say she didn't want to, she had family here - but she didn't exactly like her family, and besides, they would both be better off without each other. She didn't need them dragging her down, and they would be better off cutting ties with her entirely.

She couldn't leave today. She knew they'd be watching all the potential exit points. The PRT and Protectorate both knew who she was. She would have to lay low for a short while, likely using her power to commit petty crimes so she could eat, and as soon as the watch relaxed, she'd have a chance to escape from Brockton Bay.

She chose a particular alley, one that she remembered well because one of the walls lead to an empty room that was sealed off except for a few windows way too small for even a child to crawl in. The building had once been a factory of some sort, and this appeared to be some sort of manager's room. The lack of food present meant there weren't really any pests, and she could store a lot of spare things for herself. Bolts, a spare costume, medical supplies and a mattress.

She'd be safe there for a while. As soon as night fell, she'd have the opportunity to go out for food. In a way, it was sort of refreshing and even exhilarating. She was a true predator now, going out to hunt for food and prey, unburdened and unfettered, along against the world.

She chose to ignore the great part of her that realized that she was thoroughly and absolutely screwed. The part of her that knew to be afraid was ignored. She was Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker, Hunter, Predator, not someone to be scared just because she no longer had support from the authorities.

She took a nap.

Night fell some time before she woke up. An alarm clock would be nice, but not only could she not afford the noise it would produce, she also couldn't exactly afford to keep a cellphone where the PRT could track it. She had smashed both of hers already, and made sure that every piece of electronics was ruined through a bath, then tossed the pieces in separate places.

Never too safe with Armsmaster's bullshit Tinkertech.

She had also discarded the pieces of her costume that she could, until she could throw away the rest by replacing it with the clean spare from her hideout. She had thrown out everything, including her underwear. Again, never too safe with Armsmaster's bullshit Tinkertech.

She had the night's plan ready. She would hit a super market for food and other useful supplies and a clothing store.

She used her gaseous form to go through the brick wall that separated her from the alley and, making sure none could see her, she decided to make sure that the entrance was hidden from prying eyes. She'd need to mark it on the other side as well, just to be safe. She hadn't really thought of using this place as an actual hideout.

"See? What did I tell you? Right where I said she'd be."

That voice... she knew it well.

"Tattletale," Shadow Stalker growled, turning around to look at the purple-costume wearing supervillain. Next to her was a boy - no, a man, she mused - wearing biker leathers and a skull patterned bike helmet. Behind them was a boy in ren-faire reject gear, idly twirling a mace - scepter? hard to tell in the crappy lighting - that Shadow Stalker knew was a taser in disguise.

Behind him was a monstroisty of exposed muscle, bone plates and spikes that might have at one point been a dog.

"Don't bother going through the walls," Tattletale said. "We've come prepared. We want to talk."

Shadow Stalker growled. "Then talk," she said, gruffly.

"Naughty naughty Shadow Stalker did a bad," Tattletale said, her voice in a sing-song tone that nearly boiled Shadow Stalker's blood. "Killing an innocent little girl like that? Just to prove that you're a big girl!" she said, her tone turning nasty. "Honestly, I have half a mind to just empty a couple magazines in your skull and call it a day."

There really wasn't much she could answer to that. Tattletale had all the cards.

"But you're lucky. You get to live today and, who knows, maybe you'll even get to escape. Because the big badass predator is a scaredy kitten and running from the consequences of her own actions," Tattletale said.

"Tattletale, make it short," Grue said.

Nodding, the blonde looked at Sophia with extreme contempt. "You've got one shot. Two thirty AM, there'll be a van waiting for you. Pull your big girl panties on - even if you're not wearing any - and get to it," she said, sticking her hand inside one of her pouches and pulling out a cellphone. She tossed it at the former hero. "You'll get the address from that."

"... What the hell is that noise?"

It was the ren-faire reject. Regent, if Sophia's memory served.

Tattletale's lower face spoke of annoyance. "Regent," so she was right, "what do you mean?"

"You can't hear it? It's like someone's dragging chains against the floor," the boy said. "Grue can you- well, fuck it, you're wearing a helmet so you probably can't."

Sophia blinked. "I hear it," she said.

The sound of chains. Chains, hitting together, chains, dragging against the floor. Metal on metal, metal on pavement, metal on concrete, metal on brick.

"It's getting louder," Tattletale mused. "I hear it too," she added. "... Does anyone else feel kind of weird..?"

"It's like there's a pressure in the air..." Grue muttered.

"This is what being under your power feels like," Regent said. "But this shit is starting to creep me out. What the hell's going on?"

"It's likely we're under attack. There are estimates for about two dozen independants, three of which are violent vigilantes, that are currently running loose in Brockton Bay," Tattletale said. "It could be any of them."

"Or none of them, it could be someone new," Regent said, his tone jovial despite the situation. "You think they're coming for Couch Ruiner here?"

Sophia blinked. "What?" she asked, accusingly.

"You ruined our couch, it was a great couch," Regent said.

"It's not important. What's important is that we're gone. Run or hide, I don't care which, you got one shot, and if you want to do me a favor, fuck it up and run into the empire," Tattletale said, before she turned around and went for the massive dog.

The sound of chains was getting pretty annoying, Sophia mused. She wouldn't run. She had her crossbows, she would face whatever was coming head on.

As soon as the Undersiders were all mounted on the massive dog, however, an incredibly loud gunshot rang out and half the dog's side exploded in a shower of blood and gore, knocking the dog flat on its side and tossing the mounted villains into a nearby wall. They all grunted as they tried to lessen the impact.

The alley was filled with mist not moments after, and the sound of chains increased in tempo and volume.

The Undersiders seemingly saw something and scrambled to get out of the way. They seemed to grab what appeared to be a wounded dog of regular size from the corpse of the bigger dog and then took off running.

Sophia was petrified and stuck to the ground. Another loud gunshot rang, and all three of the Undersiders just fell on the ground.

She didn't know if they were unconscious or dead, but they weren't moving.

Sophia opened the eyes that she didn't know she had closed, and she looked at the abomination that stood at the mouth of the alley.

It had no legs. It floated on fluttering coat tails. Coat tails that were a faded black and covered in old blood. It stood, or floated, perhaps eight feet tall. Its face... it had no face. It had a bloodied sheet that might've once been pure white.

In its left hand, it waved about a revolver, barrel as long as Sophia's arm.

Its right hand was brought forward. Sophia nearly went cross eyed as she focused on the massive revolver's barrel right in front of her face.

"Ssssoooophiiiaaaaa."

She knew that voice.

And soon enough, she knew no more.