Capítulo 1278: 39
Interlude 4.a
A black van pulled up beside the abandoned warehouse, and what appeared to be a man in Coil's costume came out, flanked by five mercenaries.
The group walked inside where Bakuda was standing in the center of the warehouse, waiting. She was in her full body costume with the gas mask, goggles, and wires. She was wearing black metallic armour overlaid with a red jacket and yellow boots. Seven men in ABB colours were visibly standing near her.
The warehouse was large and had many shipping containers lying around. There were no lights on except several flashlights positioned in strategic places and a single portable light behind the ABB gangers. All set up by Bakuda, who had been waiting here for Coil to arrive.
"Bakuda. You have quite the theatrical flair," said Coil once he stood only five metres away from her.
"Coil? Fuck, you're skinny. Seriously, your ribs are showing," said Bakuda.
"It's not easy being a crime lord in Brockton Bay. I'm sure you've gotten familiar with that over the past few days."
"Tch. So, how's this gonna work? We going to make small talk until we have a good enough 'rapport'?" Bakuda asked, making air quotes with one hand, holding her grenade launcher pointed to the ground with the other.
"A crude way of putting it, but that is correct. If our alliance is to be sustainable, we must be comfortable with each other's goals, methods, and personalities," said Coil.
"Look, I don't give a flying fuck about any of that. I need money and materials to build my bombs, and some help to break out Oni Lee and Lung. You want to use my bombs for yourself. Seems simple enough to me. What else do you know want to know?"
"The exchange is simple, yes. But you have a preference for doing things in a way that isn't good for business, getting the wrong kinds of attention to our fair city. I find your methods of…recruitment…distasteful, but I can understand it. Yet, I now find myself concerned as to what you might do with even more firepower. You have been lashing out, dealing damage, but you haven't been able to hold on to any territory. This is not sustainable. Are you truly capable of being the leader of the ABB?"
"I'm a fucking genius, there's nobody better to be in charge. Weren't you the one who said I should be a queen of my own? The hell are you—"
She was cut off by a strangled cry from behind her. She turned around to see six of her guys slumping to the ground and the last one clutching his neck before joining them.
"What the fuck?! Coil, you—"
"This meeting's been compromised! Retreat!" Coil yelled and ran for the exit.
Suddenly a vast swarm of bugs emerged from the shadows, blocking the way to the exit.
Like a locust, the bugs came from the ceiling, walls, shipping containers, and every dark crevice.
Bakuda ran for the other exit and started firing grenades at the bugs. "ABB with me!" She yelled. When there was no response, she swore.
Coil's men were firing their laser rifles already, cutting through the swarm but any losses were simply replaced by yet more bugs.
Their vision was blocked by the dense gathering of insects, and they were unable to get to the door.
Bakuda's grenades exploded into balls of fire and ice, destroying large sections of bugs along with the walls of the warehouse, but bugs were already climbing up her costume.
She dropped another grenade on her person, and this time its invisible explosion stunned all of the bugs on and around her. She barely moved two steps before tripping over a spider silk wire, and then spiders the size of soccer balls dropped on to her, eliciting a scream.
Another pain grenade stunned the spiders as she hastily attempted to crawl away, leaving a large canister behind.
Coil and his men were already completely covered in bugs and screaming when the huge spiders got to them. Half the spiders proceeded to spit sticky goo on them while the other half started spinning very thick silk to wrap them up.
When Bakuda's canister exploded, this time the explosion was massive and flash froze half the warehouse.
Bakuda herself apparently survived by detonating a minor heat grenade right beside her, forming a small sphere of protection. She scrambled back up and dashed for the door again when it blew open from the other side, ice shattering.
Vines as thick as human arms burst in. One vine went straight for Bakuda's chest and unfurled at the tip to reveal a sharp extrusion that speared into the base of Bakuda's neck, going straight through her armor, while the vines massed around and wrapped her limbs and neck, holding her in the air. Bakuda went limp, seemingly paralyzed or unconscious.
On the other side of the door was Araliac casually walking in, with Polychromic right behind her.
Shortly after that, the unconscious and silk wrapped bodies of many more ABB were dragged out of the shadows from their hiding places.
Skitter entered from the opposite door where Coil and his men were lying down, also unconscious.
All of the defeated criminals were rounded up.
Araliac started removing the bombs from inside of the ABB members. The camera angle moved and flew towards Skitter, who held out a hand to receive the thing that was carrying the camera and flipped it.
Then the camera shifted to Polychromic's POV watching Araliac remove bombs from the ABB, with Skitter standing to the side, in her hands a palm sized beetle with a camera attached to its head.
The voice of Polychromic began narrating with subtitles. "When CRUCIBLE attacked ABB assets earlier in the week, we uncovered that Bakuda had been forcibly recruiting innocent civilians, installing bombs inside of them and their loved ones to ensure their cooperation. We knew then that continuing to engage Bakuda's ABB head on was not an option. While Bakuda was hidden, they were hostages that could be executed at any time."
The video shifted to the scene right when the ABB weapons cache exploded, from the POV of Araliac, complete with tumbling and shaking, ending with turning to see Skitter and Polychromic struggling back up and the flaming ruins of the building.
The voice then changed to Araliac's.
"These people were victims, not criminals, and they needed to be saved."
That sentence coincided with the display of a girl in Immaculata uniform. She was unconscious and laid on the ground, with Araliac's hand holding her head. A tumor-like bulge appeared at the back of her head, the hair moving aside and flesh expanding out until it split through the middle, bone and flesh wrapped around thin wiring and a small black device with a blinking red light emerging from the crevice. The bomb was carefully ejected while the bone, flesh, and hair were molded back into the right shape.
The video flashed again and again to different scenes of other ABB victims, then to a view of a basement of a hideout with ABB members patrolling around.
The voice changed to Skitter's.
"We changed tactics, investigating Bakuda's activities. We found that she had recruited over a hundred victims this way. Even worse, she had allied with Coil, who was now funding her bomb creation."
The video flashed momentarily back to a cut of the earlier scene with Coil talking to Bakuda, the part where he said "Are you truly capable of being the leader of the ABB", the volume playing at a lower level, before changing to a map of the USA.
"But even her ally Coil became nervous when he learned that Bakuda was creating a nine-thousand kiloton bomb that would wipe out the US east coast. An EMP that would take out a fifth of North American electronic infrastructure."
A red dot appeared on the location of Brockton Bay, and a dark wave expanded from the dot, drawing out the estimated radius of damage.
The voice changed back to Araliac.
"We learned about this meeting between Bakuda and Coil, and we knew this was our best chance to prevent a terrible catastrophe."
Now Polychromic stood with Araliac and Skitter in front of a dark background.
"As soon as Bakuda was defeated, CRUCIBLE swept through the remaining ABB strongholds, and rescued all the victims!"
The video flashed numerous times to different ABB facilities and shots of unconscious, captured ABB and victims with Araliac and Skitter standing over them.
"Coil too, was defeated, and his own organization has already scattered to the winds without their leader!"
Then the video flashed to a short scene where the CRUCIBLE three were looking around what appeared to be a small basement bunker.
"It's empty. There's nobody here," said Araliac, coming out of a room not on-screen.
"Looks like they ran away pretty fast. They left the drugs," said Skitter, pulling out a bag of powder.
"They were all hired mercs, not loyal mafia. I'm not surprised," Polychromic said, rifling through some papers left on a desk.
The view turned back to the team standing in darkness.
"The ABB and Coil's Organization are no more! We, CRUCIBLE, have destroyed them for their crimes, and their ill-gotten gains will now be used to advance our mission! Today, we have taken another great step towards our goal of making Brockton Bay a safe and crime-free city. But the fight is not over. Let this be a warning to all those who continue to prey on the helpless, and an inspiration for all those who wish to join us in the fight against evil!" My voiced boomed as I made dramatic gestures.
The view faded away.
Text floated up slowly.
Shortly after midnight on April 17th, CRUCIBLE defeated the supervillains known as Bakuda and Coil, taking them into custody.
The same night, CRUCIBLE dismantled the criminal gang known as "Azn Bad Boyz".
The criminal gang known as "Coil's Organization" fled and deserted their hideouts before they could be apprehended.
Both gang's contraband have been seized pending processing with local authorities.
All captured gang members and hostage victims are currently being held in a secure CRUCIBLE facility. We will be organizing and coordinating the release of the hostage victims to their families and loved ones with BBPD. In the mean time, all victims have received emergency care and will have their basic needs met.
Bakuda's bombs were recovered or disabled, and are now being held in a maximum security facility so that they may be deployed against future Endbringer attacks and S-class threats.
We have taken a great leap forward in the war against crime in Brockton Bay. But it is not enough. We shall remain vigilant.
Do your part and help us spread the message.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Please like, follow and share.
The text flashed on screen with CRUCIBLE's social media account handles as the video ended.
O O O
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