Twisted and Accursed, Chapter 27

“What the hell do we actually know about her power?” Piggot sighed as she addressed the gathered ‘Heroes’, most of whom were from foreign PRT branches who were sent here to help with the chaos – at least, officially. Unofficially, they all were sent here because Taylor Hebert, now given the tentative name of Ruination, was the latest S-Class threat, who was probably even more dangerous than the Slaughterhouse 9, despite being a teenager. Honestly, that girl had clearly been mentally unstable and so she had no idea what the hell the Chief-Director had been thinking when she ordered her to be chained up for Legend to interview – or interrogate. Clearly, Costa-Brown hadn’t been thinking at all, because Hebert escaped and could’ve disappeared entirely if it hadn’t been for the fact that her father was still in the Bay.

Personally, she would’ve handled it very differently. Taylor Hebert was a scared teenager and kids were bound to lash out when they felt trapped. That was just how things were. But, that was kind of a moot point already. The damage was done and now Taylor Hebert probably thought she was bound for the Birdcage or had a Kill Order on her head.

She did not.

If she hadn’t been watching the news, which was entirely possible as she was probably on the run in her few short days of absence, Lung had taken the brunt of the blame. In fact, only very few people, relative to the general population of America, were even remotely aware of her existence or her involvement. And, even then, those who did know didn’t really blame her that much. Sure, she made things worse by escalating, but it was Lung who was ultimately responsible for burning down a huge part of the Bay. And it was Lung who was now in the deepest pit of the Birdcage, in solitary confinement.

That said, the abilities Taylor displayed against Lung were... worrying, to say the least – not to mention the destruction of Winslow and the gang members she slaughtered. All of which sharply contrasted her identity as Asclepius, a healing cape, who healed the poor and the efficacy of whose power was confirmed by a Doctor Halsey. Her destructive capacity aside, Taylor’s healing power, which – according to witnesses – was able to restore entire limbs and missing organs in mere moments, made her far more valuable than most capes could ever dream of. That, Piggot figured, was probably the reason why Costa-Brown wanted to recruit the Hebert girl.

Well, the Chief-Director’s approach sure was the shittiest possible one, antagonizing the girl instead of going for the soft approach. But, who was she to argue?

Emily sighed, massaged her temples, and turned to Armsmaster, the one who was responsible for identifying Taylor Heber to begin with, using some kind of Tinker program that was co-designed by Dragon herself, which allowed them to recognize Taylor through her disguise... or something. Emily really wasn’t sure how their little doohicky worked and, like most Tinkers, she assumed neither did they. “I assume you have a few ideas.”

Armsmaster, otherwise known as Colin Wallis, nodded. Piggot gestured for him to face the gathered crowd of capes, all of whom, she mused, were likely just as curious, because Taylor’s abilities were odd. Colin turned to face the crowd, coughing into his hand, even when the capes weren’t particularly noisy or distracted, which made things kind of weird. Emily sighed again and nodded at him just so he’d start.

“Let’s start with her basic offensive ability,” Armsmaster said, turning on the projector to display an image of a building, some derelict warehouse, that’d been sliced in half – cleanly, perfectly. Those who’d seen the handiwork of the leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine reacted first, eyes and mouths widening, soft gasps. But even Emily knew it was different, because Jack Slash’s ability was not nearly as destructive. “Ruination possesses some sort of Blaster or Shaker effect that can slice any material apart very quickly and without material constraints. Based on the video evidence that we’ve procured, which I will show shortly, she can activate this ability without having to move or make any gesture, though there were many instances wherein she did so, which I believe can be attributed to some form of necessary visualization, which is far easier when performed with a gesture. Here-”

The image shifted to a very brief and somewhat blurry video feed, lasting only five seconds, of Taylor Hebert speed through a few buildings with Lung surging after her, wherein she snapped her fingers and Lung’s arms and legs came flying off in a single instant. Gasps came from the crowd once more. Armsmaster paused the video as it began replaying. He then switched to a series of pictures, which showed several bodies, cut down or sliced apart into pieces so tiny they were hardly recognizable.

Emily’s eyes narrowed. There were theories that Ruination could perform her slashing ability in a very wide area around herself, affecting everything within range, which was – as Armsmaster and Dragon figured – how she destroyed Winslow from within her locker, which was likely done entirely by accident as she triggered, a commonality among parahumans.

Armsmaster then played another video, one wherein Taylor kicked a heavily-transformed Lung hard enough to send him hurling into the sky, breaking off several of his scales and armor plates. Anyone who’d ever fought Lung before knew how much strength it took to do that. The act broke Taylor’s leg, but the shattered limb healed nearly instantly moments later. Regeneration.

Taylor Hebert was a brute with regeneration and the fact that her leg survived that and was only broken meant she was also insanely durable – to an extent. But not invulnerable.

Armsmaster continued. “Here, we can see that Ruination also possesses what appears to be a very powerful brute power. Anyone here, who has fought Lung before, would know how heavy he’d be once he reaches that stage of his transformation. But Ruination sent him above the buildings with a single kick. That is a Brute Rating of no less than 6. With her regeneration, her Brute Rating becomes a strong 8. I’ve taken the liberty of giving her a Blaster and Shaker rating of 6, respectively.”

More gasps and murmurs echoed among the crowd. Honestly, Emily mused, if Taylor Hebert turned out to be violent, aggressive, and unhinged, hundreds of capes would’ve instantly died when they surrounded and arrested her a few hours ago. That the girl surrendered at all, despite her ability to kill at least most of them in an instant, spoke volumes of her willingness to reach a peaceful resolution. And it spoke of the fact that she was not at all an unhinged monster.

“However,” Armsmaster said, the video feed shifting once more. This time, it was during the day, revealing a cape who wore an amateurish costume that was mostly white. Emily recognized Hebert immediately. This was her in her very brief showing as Asclepius, the healing cape. The particular video, just as blurry and grainy as the others, displayed a man without legs suddenly regaining them at Asclepius’ touch. The video ended after six seconds.

Several of the gathered capes gasped. And Panacea, who’d been silent this whole time, appeared visibly disturbed, even when she was among the first to know of Asclepius’ existence and abilities. Emily figured, it was shocking to see it the first time as it was the second or third time. The looks on the faces of the other capes was predictable – confusion was the common theme. “Ruination also appears to possess healing powers. And she possesses the fastest healing ability ever seen on a Parahuman, requiring no additional biomass to restore lost limbs.”

Unsurprisingly, it was Assault who suddenly stated the very obvious. “So, she’s a super-duper scary grab bag? We all knew that.”

Emily sighed and massaged her forehead hard. “What you did not know, Assault, is that she displayed yet another power against Purity – or did you not see her... remains?”

Crushed against the ground so hard and with such intensity there was hardly anything of her left. Her bones and her flesh and even her blood were flattened into the very pavement and at such speeds as to partially cook her. Taylor Hebert had never displayed that ability before. But she was the one who did it, at least, according to the witnesses. Hookwolf had been sliced to pieces, which was in accordance with her slashing power.

So, she somehow had a crushing power now too.

At that, Armsmaster continued. “Indeed, I have come to the conclusion that Ruination’s Shaker-Blaster Power may be some form of extremely fine gravity manipulation.”

“And her healing power?” Assault asked.

Armsmaster shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed. They hadn’t even discussed or mentioned that other theory that was circulated only among the original capes of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, which was that Taylor Hebert might literally have some kind of split personality – Asclepius and Ruination, each one having a completely different set of powers. Because that was the only way to explain her very unusual behavior during her fight with Lung.

---------------------

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Topic: Lung vs. Ruination – What Really Happened?
In: Boards ► Discussion ► Recent Events ► USA ► Brockton Bay

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

Alright, everyone. By now, we’ve all heard the rumors. There’s a new S-Class cape on the scene, and she’s been tentatively named Ruination. I’m talking about the girl who fought Lung, wrecked half of Brockton Bay, and left both him and parts of the city in pieces. And here’s what we know about her, so far.

- She has a Shaker-Blaster power that lets her cut anything she wants, like Jack Slash but better.
- She’s a very powerful brute with regeneration.
- Some kind of gravity control thing.

I was going to wait until more info dropped, but I’ve already gotten PMs from witnesses who claim to have seen parts of the fight. If you’ve got anything to share about what happened or saw her fighting Lung, go ahead and spill. Let’s get the facts straight.

►WeRideAtDawn
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

I was there, man! I was at the docks when it went down. Lung was chasing her – but the thing is, she wasn’t even running! She just stood her ground, in nothing but a mask, covered in blood, and when Lung went full dragon mode and towered over her, she just snapped her fingers. BAM! His arm came clean off. It was so fast I almost didn’t believe it. But she kept doing it. Like, she wasn’t even scared of him.

I don’t know if it was bravery or straight-up insanity.

►HarryBotter
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

Wait, she cut up Lung just like that? Are you serious? I thought Lung was nearly indestructible once he got enough fire going. No way she’s just some random cape if she did that. Holy shit.

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

Yeah, I can confirm the Lung getting sliced up thing. The PRT released some footage from security cameras in the area, and a bunch of Lung’s body parts are definitely gone at several points during the fight. There’s a lot more that’s still being pieced together, but it’s clear Ruination’s powers are dangerous to everyone around her.

►GeminiChaos
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

I didn’t see the fight, but I was working downtown when the fires started. Everyone panicked, and we thought it was just Lung doing his thing, but then there were these insane shockwaves. You could feel them even blocks away. I’m telling you, whatever she was doing wasn’t just cutting him up. It was like the ground itself was being torn apart. We all ran. Half of us barely made it.

The thing is... I don’t even think she wanted to fight. That’s the vibe I got. But when Lung went full dragon, what choice did she have?

►WhiteRabbit1979
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

What choice did she have? She could have left! Instead, she escalated it and now half of the Bay is in ruins. Hundreds are dead. Families destroyed. People have lost everything. I don’t care if Lung is a monster – she’s just as much to blame for not backing down. Heroes don’t start fights that level cities!

►RaiderDave
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

Dude, really? I hate to say it, but Lung was already out of control. You can’t just let him torch everything. If Ruination hadn’t stood her ground, maybe he would’ve done worse. It’s not like she could’ve known how bad it would get. Besides, Lung’s the one who escalates every fight. Blame him, not her.

►PRTCensor
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

Lung’s always been a known quantity, though. Yeah, he’s dangerous, but people know how to handle him, even if it’s just running in the opposite direction. Ruination’s a wildcard. Look at the way Winslow collapsed – if that was her doing, she killed hundreds of kids without even trying. She needs to be contained before she kills anyone else, even if she didn’t mean it.

►SplicedPenny
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

I’ve heard rumors she wasn’t even wearing any sort of costume, just a bone-white mask? That makes her even scarier. Like, she didn’t care about being recognized or caught. People are saying she’s practically a force of nature, like Behemoth or Leviathan. I can’t believe we have someone like that in Brockton Bay again. What the hell did we do to deserve this?

►AlleyCatBB
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

I was near the boardwalk when Lung went full-blown dragon and set everything on fire. The smoke was everywhere, but I caught a glimpse of them fighting through it. I couldn’t see much, but I heard this screeching sound – like metal tearing apart – and the ground was literally shaking. Everyone thought the Endbringers were attacking, but it was just those two going at it. It’s surreal to think one cape could do that kind of damage, but... now that we know more? Yeah, she’s terrifying.

►DroneJunkie
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

I feel like the narrative’s going to get away from us here. Brockton Bay’s always been a mess, and now we’ve got another powerhouse on the scene. But if she took Lung down, maybe that’s something we needed. I’m not saying it excuses what happened, but the fact is, Lung’s been a terror for years and no one could do anything. If Ruination can stop him, who or what else can she stop?

►XylophoneMan
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

I saw her. I was one of the few who didn’t run fast enough, I guess. I remember her standing in front of Lung after she sliced him apart. And... she looked like she was enjoying the while thing while she waited for the big dragon man to put himself back together. She looked like she was having fun.

►WhiteRabbit1979
Posted on Jan 9th, 2011

If the PRT doesn’t take her down, I guarantee more people will die. We can’t afford another unchecked cape running loose. And this one’s going to be an even bigger headache because she seems even stronger than freaking Lung.