Sneaking into the meta tech store was no problem, though it was different than she'd expected, not that she had a frame of reference for one. The only reference she had for meta tech was the tech built into the towers, such as the teleportation arrays. Not a store so clearly catering toward the rich, like a luxury clothing brand, the few pieces on display locked behind cases she had to imagine were more than just glass.

None of it was real. She had to remind herself of that fact as she crept through the store, clinging to the shadows cast by countertops and patrons speaking in low tones to the suit-wearing clerks there to answer their every question. Whatever was being used to create this faux city was impressive, leaving her with an odd sense of unreality as she moved through the space. It was a living, breathing thing, and yet, none of it was real. If she tried to move inside one of these bodies, what would she find?

Not that she had the time to try such a thing. Her target, a man dressed in a pair of frayed slacks and a suit jacket two sizes too big for him, had grabbed one of the clerks. A forceful hand on the shoulder guided the clerk toward the closed and presumably locked door at the far end of the showroom. With both faces turned away from her, she couldn't make out what they were saying.

Which was where her training came in handy.

While most of her focus over the past week had been expanding her support skills with her shadows, Inkwell hadn't taken any excuse from her to slack off in her training under him. Every night, drilling her endlessly, forcing her to stretch her own understanding of her power. As annoying as she found him at time, he was an effective teacher.

There were shadows everywhere, not just the obvious puddles she often hopped between. The shadow tucked into the corner of a countertop, where the light just barely didn't reach. The shadow between a person's arm and their body as they turned away from the light. From a hand reaching out. She used all of them, extending her senses out as what she usually perceived as her body in this form split in multiple different directions. She still wasn't entirely used to the sensation of her form being split, but she pushed the discomfort aside, focusing on her hearing.

Crawling along a shadow formed between a crease on the man's pants, Vivainne could make out the threats directed at the clerk, demanding him to open the door to the lab he knew was upstairs and remain quiet, or his cronies on the floor would make short work of the other clerks.

With a start, Vivainne looked back over the room, noticing what she hadn't the first time. Her target was obvious. He didn't fit here, he was too ragged, too poorly dressed for a place like this. The others though, they fit the bill, and she'd been willing to accept they were just hapless customers. And maybe some were, but others…

She couldn't underestimate her enemy, not when he was clearly smart enough to at least mostly pull off a bank heist, all in preparation for this.

I need to tell Florence and Pip, she thought, and at the same time, cursed at herself because she couldn't. In shadow form, she didn't have a way to use the comms, and couldn't risk being overheard. She could always sneak out, but that would leave the criminals inside to do whatever they pleased. While her job was support, it was also information gathering, and she couldn't afford to do that.

Pulling herself back together, she phased slightly into the floor to obfuscate her form, staying close to who she'd decided was the head of operation as the clerk opened the back door and led him inside. Directly beyond the door, which she all but jumped through as it closed, there were rows of locked boxes that must have held more of the devices on display out in the showroom. That alone would have been a score, but it wasn't what the man was after.

The clerk led the way with glancing looks at the man behind him, fear evident on his face. How much of this is playing out because I'm here? Vivainne wondered as they reached a set of stairs leading up to the lab.

Vivainne followed behind, reforming into a shadow version of her full body as they reached the stoop in front of the lab's door. As the clerk fumbled for a set of keys, she made herself tangible enough to interact with the world around her.

"I think that's far enough," she said, trying for a voice as strong and commanding as she imagined a hero's would be. She cringed at the sound. I'll need to work on that.

The man jumped, spinning in place. Vivainne didn't wait for him to finish moving, striking out with her shadow fist, casting him in the ear as he turned to face her. Shock registered across his face a moment before her fist connected, so hard she could feel it even in her shadow form, and he toppled.

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The clerk stared at her in open relief as she lifted a finger to her ear, the comm turning on with a quiet buzz. "I've stopped the leader but the whole shop is full of his buddies, and I don't think they're going to take kindly to that knowledge."

"On it." Pip's response was fast and immediate. A smile crossed Vivainne's lips as the line went quiet once more. Out of anyone she could be on a team with, she was glad it was Pip. She never had to worry that Pip wouldn't be there to have her back.

She looked up, opening her mouth to reassure the clerk that everything was under control, and caught the flash in his eyes a moment before the man she thought she'd knocked out kicked her square in the stomach.

All the air whooshed from her lungs, then the ground dropped out from beneath her as her heel went over the edge of the step. Flailing, she toppled backward, only remembering to phase into shadow after hitting the first step.

The pain throbbed through even in her shadow form, rising slowly from beneath the staircase.

"Fuck," she muttered, and jumped to her feet, leaping through the stairs above her.

She grabbed the man's feet as he tried to run past, his shout carrying down the stairs before he landed with a sickening crunch. He moaned something as Vivainne climbed out from beneath the stairs with a curse, the noise of the room beyond already reaching her. She should have done something to silence him, but it was too late for that now.

The first scream from the showroom brought a queasy feeling to her stomach as she summoned a pair of shadows, twining them around the man's wrists like handcuffs before taking off toward the door. He dragged behind her like a sack of flour, occasionally letting out small sounds of pain. Well, that was mostly his own fault.

She swung the door open, already summoning shadows around her to try and mitigate the damage as best as she could, only to pull up short. A pane of glass swung into place a few inches before her nose, and she thought for half a second it'd be thrown at her, before it caught a blast of something that would have knocked her on her ass at the very least. The crackling energy reflected back of the glass as it titled slightly, striking one of the now armed robbers in the chest.

He went down with a scream, and he wasn't the only one.

Pip was a whirlwind, managing the attacks in the small space like she'd been born to do it, wearing her suit of armor and wielding a sword nearly as tall as she was. It was all Vivainne could do not to stand in shock, watching her battle multiple opponents without so much as a hit.

The rocking explosion from outside sent her into action. Apparently one of the crooks had decided it would be a good idea to escape through the open front door, and Florence was there to meet them.

She jumped into the fray, summoning more shadows as she did so, despite the strain. The clerks were still in the room, some ducked behind countertops, one laying on the floor in a growing puddle of shockingly realistic blood.

Vivainne grabbed him first, wrapping shadows around him as gently as possible and lifting him from the floor. She knew it was a bad idea to move someone who was injured, but better that than get stepped on.

Sliding him behind the register, she pressed her shadows to the wound on his side, making them as solid as possible. The strain was setting in, the familiar throbbing in her core that usually caused her to pull back. But in the field she wouldn't have that privilege, not with lives on the line. And she'd come to the conclusion that she was capable of a lot more than she'd ever believed.

Summoning still more shadows, she hopped out from behind the register, grabbing onto the nearest assailant. A few shadows around his feet and he was on the ground, face first. The clerks who'd been hiding rushed behind her, joining their colleague behind the register.

Pip was already almost done with the rest of them. Their guns were demolished, the last one shattering as Pip struck it with her huge glass sword. A bullet struck against her armor, filling the room with noise and a ringing in Vivainne's ears, but Pip didn't so much as pause. She kicked his feet out from beneath him, then slammed a glass cage around him.

The only one left was a man with the clear build of a strength based meta. Pip turned to him, and despite the helmet covering her face, Vivainne knew Pip was smiling. The first fist that threw her way did nothing, merely glancing off her suit of armor. The man tried again, managing to get one more punch in before Pip grabbed him by the throat, lifted him up, and slammed him to the ground.

He continued to struggle, until Pip placed one of her huge glass boots on his chest, effectively pinning him to the ground.

Florence stepped into the shop, looking around before nodding. "Looks like you might need a bit of help with that one," Florence said, nodding to the criminal Pip was pinning to the ground. "Mind forming a dome over his head? This shouldn't do too much damage, but…"

He trailed off, leaving Viv a bit worried about what he meant, but Pip clearly didn't feel the same way. She obliged, summoning a small dome of glass around his head. The moment it was in place, he snapped his fingers, and a small shockwave filled the tiny dome.

The glass shattered, disappearing before it could cut into the man. Blood dripped from his nose as Pip stepped away.

"What did you do?"

"Should have just given him a concussion," Florence said with a shrug. "Is that everyone?"

Pip looked to Vivainne, who nodded. "That's everyone," she said, a smile gracing her lips. "We make a good team."

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