Brockton Bays Marvelous Mage

It didn't take long for the police to confirm my call, and only five minutes longer for them to arrive. A single police vehicle, one of their big SUVs, rolled up, stopping along the curb on the opposite side of me as the young men who had chased Taylor. Two officers stepped out, approaching slowly but confidently. I met them halfway, reaching out and shaking their hands as I did.

"Officers, thank you for coming," I said, greeting them with a polite nod. "I was patrolling the neighborhood when I spotted these fellows chasing this young woman."

I gestured to the five high school boys, still sitting where I had told them. They had progressed from being nervous to nearly full-on panic.

"Is that right? You saw them chasing her?" The older-looking officer asked, looking over the boys and shaking his head in disappointment.

"I did."

"I'll get them bundled up, sir," the younger-looking officer volunteered, stepping forward and pulling out a pair of zip-tie restraints. "You can take their statements."

"Gonna need a Maria too," The older officer commented. "I'll call it in. Watch out they don't stick you with anything. If they go to Winslow, they are probably armed."

The older officer pulled out his radio and quickly spoke into it, talking to dispatch and requesting a transport van. When he was done, we both approached Taylor again, who was watching everything with wide eyes. Now that I wasn't worried about the boys making a run for it, or the police arriving, or someone else walking by the abandoned road and making an issue, I could get a good look at her.

Taylor was rather thin and tall, with long curly hair that she let run free, though it was obviously well maintained. Her face was not what most would call classically beautiful, but she wasn't unattractive. With large eyes and a wide, thin mouth, it seemed more like she hadn't finished growing into her features. She was also clearly tired, with circles under her eyes and a slight gauntness to her face that spoke of sleepless nights and lots of stress.

"Hello, Miss Hebert, my name is Sergeant Reynolds," The older officer said, stopping a few feet from the young woman, giving her plenty of space. "Are you alright?"

"I… They never caught up to me…" She admitted, looking down at her feet. "They can't get in trouble for that."

"Actually, just chasing someone enough for them to flee in fear is enough to get charged with assault," Sergeant Reynolds explained. "Did you get hurt as you ran?"

"I… I slipped and fell a few times," She responded. "Why?"

"Because now it's assault and battery," The policeman explained, looking at me. "Did you heal her? That's something you do, right?"

"I scanned her to confirm she was okay and wasn't in shock or adrenaline washing away something serious," I explained. "I left her bruises alone when I confirmed she was fine."

"Good, those will be key evidence," He responded, turning to watch his co-worker zip-tie another young man. "Miss, I'm going to need your statement, is that alright?"

"Y-yes?" Taylor responded, a current of confusion running under her words.

Sergeant Reynolds nodded and pulled out a pad of paper and a tape recorder, hitting start on the small device before beginning to ask questions. Taylor answered everyone as clearly as she could, her confidence rising a bit as she calmed down. It wasn't until the officer asked if she had any idea why they were chasing her that she went silent, looking back down at her feet.

"I don't know," She said, her voice barely even audible.

Sergeant Reynolds and I shared a look, the older man nodding when I gestured to myself. I gave him a thumbs up before stepping forward, sitting on the steps on the opposite corner of the young woman. She tensed when I did but relaxed after glancing at me.

"Taylor… when I scanned you, I could tell you have been recently healed by Panacea," I said softly. This caused her to tense up again, looking at me with shocked eyes. "I could also see you've been physically assaulted within the last few days."

For a long moment, she was silent, staring at me, her eyes wide as she studied me. Before she could say anything, I continued.

"I know something is going on, and I plan on helping because it seems like it's something bad," I explained. "You telling us what is going on would help a lot."

I felt like I was under the lens of a microscope, the user flicking from one intensity to the next. The young woman's stare turned cold, her expression surprisingly blank, enough so that I was worried she had slipped into shock.

"....It doesn't matter," She finally said, finally looking away from me. "Nothing will happen to them anyway."

I shared a look with Sergeant Relado, who frowned before slapping his forehead and shaking his head.

"Dammit, I should have recognized your name," He admitted. "You're that poor girl who…"

"Yeah, I'm locker girl," She responded with a shrug. "Nearly died, and the BBPD just dropped my case."

"No, we didn't," he responded almost instantly, shaking his head. "We were forced to hand it over to the PRT under suspicion of parahuman involvement. Detective Sheryl nearly quit on the spot when the Captain ordered her to drop it. They were supposed to reach out to you to conduct a follow-up interview. Are you telling me they didn't?"

"We never heard from them."

I heard a crunching sound from behind me, so I turned around to look, finding the sergeant had accidentally crushed his notebook and broken his pen.

"Young lady, could you give us a moment?" Reynolds asked. "And could I have permission to tell Arcanum your story?"

She nodded wordlessly, looking down at the ground where a trail of ants was shredding a leaf rather aggressively. I followed the Sergeant away, keeping one eye on her and the other on the clearly pissed-off policeman. We stopped by his patrol car, where the man had to visibly restrain himself from slamming his hand against the door.

"I'll keep it short. That young lady was shoved into a lock filled with… rotting, used feminine hygiene products. She was left there for hours, and when she was finally released, not a single person knew what happened," He explained, taking a deep breath before he could continue. "The whole school somehow saw nothing, despite the poor girl having shredded her vocal cords screaming for help. Now, we had hardly even started wading into the investigation when the PRT stepped in and took over. Detective Sheryl was ordered to drop it and move on."

That... was horrific. For a long while, I stared at the police officer at an utter loss of words. It was... almost too horrific to imagine. I could feel Alya pull in close around me for a moment, comforting me as best she could. It took a minute for me to calm down and think logically again.

"Sergeant… what is the likelihood that this is just an innocent mistake? Someone put the wrong file in the wrong pile, and somehow it all got missed?" I asked, quickly holding up my hand to stop him from shouting his response. "I need to know before I start smashing down doors and demanding explanations."

"Oh… well, it's not very likely," he responded, pulling back his first reaction, nodding in understanding. "Unless someone was completely incompetent, there should have been things in place to prevent someone from being overlooked. At the very least the case should have been released back to us if no parahuman involvement was uncovered."

I nodded in understanding, turning to look around, watching as the other police officer helped the first of the high schoolers into the back of the police van. It must have arrived while we were talking to Taylor, because I completely missed it. The situation had also spiraled way past that by this point. I could feel the quest pushing me on, not that I needed the incentive. Whatever the fuck was going on, something was rotten, and I wasn't about to drop it at this young woman's feet.

"Okay. First off, I need to get in contact with Taylor's parents," I said, giving him a look. "Is that something that can happen?"

"You think we would just let her walk away without contacting them?" he asked, shaking his head. "That's the next step, after I finish getting her statement. If you happen to stick around long enough for that to happen…"

He finished his sentence with a shrug, and I nodded. We went back to Taylor, and Sargeant Reynolds finished getting her statement. This time, she opened up a bit more, revealing the names of the people she assumed had instigated this."

"Usually, I would say Sophia Hess. She is the one to get physical," She explained. "But she hasn't been in school lately. I thought that might mean I could get some peace, but… Emma is just doubling down to fill the void."

"Emma…?"

"...Emma Barnes."

That statement seemed to have some sort of weight to it, like admitting it had taken a toll on the young woman. She shook her head, her long black curly hair hiding her face, though I could still see the tears falling to the ground.

"It doesn't matter though. Nothing will change. Sophia will come back, those guys will come back, and…" She wiped her face, pushing her hair back out of her eyes to look up at me. "Then they'll make me regret trying to get them in trouble."

I could feel a rage bubbling in my chest, one that I quickly had to stamp out. I needed to keep my head calm if I wanted to do this right.

"Taylor. I don't know everything that is happening here," I admitted, the girl looking at me with large eyes and dirt smudged on her face. "I can't promise you that everything is suddenly going to go your way. Sometimes, the world is unfair, and sometimes, it just doesn't work out like it should. But I can promise you I will get to the bottom of this. I will not stop until I know exactly what is going on."

For a long moment, she looked up at me silently, her expression shifting to the same calculating look that it had been before, her emotions blanking out completely. Eventually, she nodded.

"Okay. But I won't hold my breath."

I nodded in return before stepping back, letting Sergeant Reynolds finally finish the statement, capping it off by taking pictures of her legs, both the torn pants and the bruises underneath. He also helped her get in contact with her father, something easier said than done, as neither of them had a cell phone. The sergeant ended up getting in contact with him through the station, dispatch calling a number Taylor provided, which was then routed through the phone in his vehicle. Both Taylor and Sargeant Reynolds talked to him, explaining the situation. I stepped back for a moment so I could talk to Alya without them hearing her, but I could still make out a few frantic words from the man.

Fortunately, Alya had very little to say, reporting what the boys had talked about while we were waiting for the police to first arrive. It wasn't anything he could use since no one knew Alya existed yet, but it did confirm Taylor's assumption that Emma and Sophia were responsible. Apparently, the plan had been Sophia's, but with her absence, Emma had been the one to convince the boys to chase her down and rough her up. They had all been eager to do it for some cash and a few vague, sultry promises.

By the time Taylor's father arrived, the van was long gone, and Sergeant Reynolds had sent his junior officer back with them. The rushing man pulled up, going a bit faster than he probably should have, his beat-up old truck jumping the curb with one wheel before coming to a stop. He nearly jumped out of his truck, rushing around to sweep Taylor up in a deep hug. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could see Taylor's expression shift to one of… not quite disgust, but unhappiness.

After a minute or so, Danny stood, stepping closer to us, giving me a good look at him. He was a lanky man with thinning dark hair and glasses that made already large eyes stand out even more. I could feel the calluses on his hand as he shook mine right after shaking Sergeant Reynolds'.

"I can't believe… Thank you for stopping them," He said, a rising anger coloring his face. "Those bastards insisted that they would keep an eye on her-"

He took a deep breath, glancing over at Taylor with a frown.

"Then again, I was also under the impression they were," He admitted, shaking his head and looking at the both of us. "Sergeant, you mention something wrong with the police investigation?"

Sergeant Reynolds explained what he knew about the process, as well as what should have happened. Danny Hebert confirmed that no one from the PRT had ever contacted him, which to the Sergeant all but confirmed that something was going on.

"What possible reason could the PRT have for burying something like this?" Danny asked, now pacing back and forth on the broken, abandoned sidewalk.

"There doesn't have to be some grand conspiracy, Sir," I pointed out. "It might be as simple as passing a bribe or owing someone a favor."

He stopped, leaning back against the stair railing, nodding ruefully. After a moment of collecting himself.

"What should we do?" He asked, looking from Taylor to Sergeant Reynolds and then to me. "We… I signed a deal with the school to stay quiet in exchange for them covering the medical expenses."

"Sir, I'll admit it's not my expertise, but if I'm reading what your daughter has been hinting at correctly, anything you signed is worth about as much as the ink you used to sign it," I pointed out. "Your daughter appears to be the victim of some sort of situation involving the PRT and the school itself. Now, she hasn't said exactly what has been going on, but I get the feeling this is not something you can sign away the right to talk about."

"You said you didn't think it was a conspiracy, but now you think they are working together?"

"I didn't want you to latch on to the idea that Armsmaster and Miss Militia are cackling in a dark room somewhere, pulling strings to make your daughter's life hell," I explained, putting my hand on his shoulder. "But it could very well be a PRT agent working with someone at the school for some sort of racket. What type? I have no idea. But it's possible."

He let out a long breath, eventually nodding.

"Alright. But that doesn't answer my question."

"I know. But before we can do that, I want to hear everything," I said, looking at Taylor, who winced and looked away, unable to meet my eyes. "Once I know the whole story, then I can set up a meeting."

"With who?" Danny asked, glancing at Sergeant Reynolds in confusion.

"Someone who will listen to us and will take us seriously," I responded confidently. "I may not be a member, but I have enough pull to make that happen, at least. Even if I didn't, I have enough of a reputation that if I claim to know something corrupt or broken inside of their system, they will at least pay attention."

"You… You're really going to make something happen?" Taylor asked, looking up at me with wide eyes.

"Of course I am," I said with a nod. "I already promised I would, remember?"