Everyone who had been a cape or worked with them for more than about a week knew that any Tinker worth the name never used the same gadget twice. Some had even theorized that it was a peculiar drawback to that class of capes in an attempt to explain why Tinker would spend months or even years on a project, come up with the perfect counter to a particular enemy, and then scrap it after using it against someone completely different. That was pretty rare, though. Usually, each time a Tinker went onto the field, their gear would be a little better, a little more efficient, have a couple new tricks.

An entire room full of computers connected by a web of wires was a bit excessive, even by Tinker standards.

"What the hell, Chris?" Dennis asked, dumbfounded.

Chris glanced up briefly from the screen labeled '23-A-DevEid-ES-CBR'. "Oh hey, babe," he said. "Working on something."

"Do I even want to know," Dennis asked.

"Secret," Chris mumbled. "Sorry." He hit a few buttons, transferring a file a few computers over to '26-A-ObsAle-EL-KKJ' and '26-B-DevLun-EL-KKJ'.

"Can you leave?" Dennis asked, knowing better than to question a busy Tinker. "I'm calling a team meeting."

"Give me two minutes," Chris said, directing one of Armsmaster's little intern bots to attach another cable between computers and typing on two different keyboards simultaneously.

Dennis shut the door and walked back to the open space where the Wards spent most of their time. The rest of them were already assembled. Weld stood in the center of the wooden floor in a way that probably would have looked annoying regal if someone who definitely wasn't Dennis hadn't accidentally put in an order for all their chairs to be replaced with metal stools. Missy had warped her stool into an armchair shape, which she sat in sideways, legs swinging over the arms of the chair.

"Flechette's out on patrol," she said before Dennis could comment. "To see Parian, of course. It's really pretty sweet of her."

"Chris is Tinkering," Dennis replied. "We should just get started."

"Agreed," Weld said. "The Merchants will be vulnerable tonight, right?"

"That's what I heard," Dennis confirmed. He had gone straight back to base after his meeting with Skitter. He had gone to Miss Militia with the news of the Merchants and she had told him in no uncertain terms that the Protectorate were absolutely forbidden from spending the manpower in an attack on that many supervillains while the city was still unstable. She had also mentioned that she had been overworked enough that she was forgetting to sign some disciplinary reports and that none of the Wards had taken their offered trauma leave yet.

Using trauma leave to go out and pick fights with gangs was pretty much the exact opposite of what it was designed for, but they had the closest thing to permission that they were ever going to get. Dennis had expected Weld to disapprove of obeying orders, but Weld was the one who had put in the trauma leave requests, gotten all the paperwork signed, and even came up with their cover stories.

It took them the whole afternoon to hash out their plan and the sky had started getting dark by the time they moved out.

Dennis wasn't exactly comfortable with waltzing into a Merchant gathering without his bulletproof costume, but he had committed himself. Shadow Stalker walked next to him, silent and grim. Her usual temper had calmed somewhat, but Dennis was just as unnerved by the complete lack of emotion on her face.

They were the only two Wards to arrive as a pair. Technically speaking, Shadow Stalker was still in custody, but she couldn't leave Dennis's side without risking being taken over by Regent. Dennis would stop her if she tried anything.

As they approached the mall and the thundering, awkward sound of too many out of sync speakers thudded into Dennis's ears, Shadow Stalker slung her arm around his shoulder, pulling him uncomfortably close. He tried to remind himself that it was all part of the ruse as Shadow Stalker laughed with the Merchant at the front doors of the mall.

As Shadow Stalker dragged him through the masses of drunken and drugged people, Dennis watched the crowd for any sign of other capes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman lounging against a trash can, playing with bursts of color. A group of obviously intoxicated teens swayed around her, their eyes locked on her hands.

"Cape, 9 o'clock," Dennis slurred as Shadow Stalker laughed uproariously at something a Merchant had said.

A few seconds later, a hooded figured slipped behind the woman and slapped a tiny patch on the back of her neck. The woman reeled and fell. Her audience dispersed in twos and threes, wandering in search of better entertainment.

"Cape in custody," Weld confirmed, Vista drawing him and the woman back into the shadows. "Nice idea, by the way, buying Newter's saliva."

"Thanks," Dennis mumbled. It hadn't come cheap, but Faultline was just as eager to see the Merchants gone from the city as anyone else.

The night wore on and Dennis got more and more nervous. They had managed to bring a half dozen minor capes into custody but hadn't seen any sign of the real targets: Skidmark and Squealer. Just before Dennis called it quits, Skidmark's voice sounded over the intercom.

Shadow Stalker pushed through the crowd, dragging Dennis behind her. They got there just in time to see the floor tilt upward, enclosing part of the throng.

"Two steps back," Vista said into Dennis's comm. He tapped Shadow Stalker's shoulder twice to relay the message.

Two steps brought them to the very edge of the mall, tucked away in a dark corner next to Vista and Weld. Vista had pulled her hair up to make herself look more boyish and she was dressed in a torn up Star Wars shirt and cargo shorts. Weld had settled for covering all his metal skin with dark clothing.

"Looks like it's getting hairy," Weld noted as Skidmark whipped the crowd into a bloody frenzy. "You guys want to call it a night?"

"I think we should stick around," Vista said. "We might learn something."

"What would we be learning?" Shadow Stalker scoffed. "The Merchants don't have strategy or tactics or any of that. We know what junkies are like."

"We've struck some pretty heavy blows even if they haven't noticed it yet," Weld pointed out. "I don't mind staying but maybe we should quit while we're ahead. I don't think we're gonna get a clear shot at Skidmark or his flunkies with that crowd."

"Let's just go," Shadow Stalker said. "I'm fucking sick of having this moron clinging to me."

Dennis seriously doubted that. This little adventure was her first time in days out of a tiny cell. But they had been stuck together all night. He knew how scared she was of Regent.

"How many did we get?" he asked.

"Seven capes," Weld said. "But no one on the record. So either their powers aren't anything special or they've just triggered. Still, we captured a lot of their potential tonight."

"Okay. Let's go."

But before they could leave, Skidmark's grating voice reached a volume they couldn't ignore. "We won the lottery when we found this shit!" he screamed. "Superpowers in a can!"

Dennis and the rest of the Wards glanced at each other.

"So, we're staying then?" Vista asked.

Weld nodded. "We stick together," he said. "I don't know if Skidmark's legit but he sure seems to think he is."

"Could be all the drugs," Shadow Stalker suggested.

Ahead of them, the crowd turned on each other, fighting everyone and anyone they could find. Vista used her power to keep them away, turning them back towards the thick of the fight if anyone drifted too the corner where the Wards were hiding.

"I doubt that," Weld mused.

"Want to call the big guns in?" Dennis asked.

Weld shook his head. "This is all off record, remember? It wouldn't do to get caught." His grim expression twisted into a wry smile.

Dennis grinned back. "Didn't know you had it in you, tin man," he laughed. "So, we just gonna watch and wait?"

"Unless someone brought popcorn," Weld affirmed.

Dennis honestly wished he had brought some as the fight dragged on. Shadow Stalker was starting to get twitchy and retreating into herself and all of Vista's attention was on keeping them safe without anyone realizing what she was doing but Dennis and Weld watched the scene carefully.

"Two o'clock," Weld pointed out. "See that group in the black clothes? Mercenary maybe?"

Dennis looked over to a cluster of tall, burly men armed with tactical knives and military grade firearms. They were in a loose circle, fighting off anyone that got close but not initiating anything. "Probably. Wouldn't surprise me if Coil had eyes here."

"I doubt they're in the crowd though," Weld said. "I bet he has a cape in the Merchants. It's more controlled that way.

Before Dennis could respond, Skidmark's shrieking voice brought the fight to a halt.

A young man with some uncontrolled blast power walked slowly up to the platform. "Huh," Dennis mused. "I didn't notice him before. Did he trigger during the fight?"

Weld stared at him. "You- you didn't see that?"

"See what?" Dennis asked, perturbed.

Weld shook his head. "Nevermind." Dennis noticed that he was holding onto the railing of the stairs with one gloved fist. "Let's get out of here."

"Wait, what?" Dennis demanded. "There's a guy here giving people powers in a can and you just want to leave?"

"I've seen everything I need to," Weld said. "Assault patrols here and he should be by in a few minutes with one of Legend's team. We don't need them catching us here."

"I think Legend would make an exception for this," Dennis insisted.

Dennis watched as Skidmark insisted that the boy, Scrub, couldn't share the vial of powers with both of his friends.

"We need to go," Weld said. "Vista, get us out of here."

Vista nodded, her forehead covered in a sheen of sweat. The wall of the building split in two and Weld strode through it, not even checking to see that he was being followed. Dennis nearly protested again, but he saw the rail Weld had been holding onto. It was squeezed to about as thick as a pencil.

Dennis slipped out of the wall, pulling Shadow Stalker along with him. Weld got into the passenger seat of the PRT van that Flechette had commandeered. Dennis, Vista, and Shadow Stalker piled into the back with their Merchant prisoners. The Wards didn't exchange a word as they drove home.

Dennis put Shadow Stalker back into her cell while Vista and Weld handled the Merchants.

"You know what's got the boy scout so pissed off?" Shadow Stalker asked as Dennis closed and locked the electrified door.

Dennis shook his head. "I'm not sure I want to know."