''Mmhm. We're really, really good in both not dying, and coming back from dying. It makes overconfidence very, very easy.'' ''It's not overconfidence-'' ''-if we'll come back anyway!'' ''And it's not like cuffs really work on us either.'' Three of the four other heads chime in, to a sigh from the main one. ''As you can see.''

The moth creature's landing has all four of the spare heads crowd around it to inspect it and barraging Cruach with questions. An annoyed look from the main head being followed by the lot of them pulling back a bit. Now taking slightly more orderly turns asking about what the moths do and what Cruach is for a type of person, if not moth.

''It is actually our collective power.'' The main head explains. ''And we can be serious. It's just a bit hard when we've got the senses and thoughts of five people going all over without a focus.''

The mention of striker powers has her sigh. ''Yes. I am aware. Sadly, they think they're immune to consequences because of our powers, and can get very excited about meeting interesting people. They've been talking my ear off about the 'cool maybe-moth-person' for the past minute now.'' The rest of the heads are silent, but glare daggers at the main one for seemingly having spilled that fact. Who is, going off of her own words, currently likely being screamed at.

''Two isn't.'' One of the heads states. ''The rest of us are! Kind of.'' Another chimes in. ''It's kiiinda weird with memories.'' Yet another chimes in. The main head hasn't spoken since the introduction. Though they do seem pleased with the statement of not being new. ''We just don't care for people going about all those silly mannerisms. That's why Two is in charge for when we need to business-y stuff!''

The maws grin unsettlingly wide, then they come up to her. Grabbing Cruach's hand from her side and shaking it excitedly And... limbs are NOT supposed to bend like that.

''Nice to meet you, miss Cruach! We are Hydra two and six through nine.'' They introduce themselves in unison. Then lets go to slide to one of the chairs. Depositing herself into one of the chairs, then watching Cruach. Unblinkingly. Bobbing slightly in place, but not letting her out of their sight for even a moment.

Once the other cape arrives, it is immediately obvious. Most people do not have a bony white, perfectly smooth complexion and a prehensile hair equivalent that ended in deep purple hound-like maws, after all. Or the guts to wear pretty much just enough to be decent, for that matter. Moving with inhuman smoothness towards the meeting room. The only noise they're making being excited babbling amongst the heads, and a few greetings towards the moth creatures whenever one of the heads spotted one.

Then she(?) steps into the room, five heads staring directly at Cruach. ''Hi there!'' ''Hello.'' ''Greetings.'' ''Hi.'' ''Heya.'' The heads greet at once. Cheerful in comparison to their looks. Smiling broadly with maws full of needle teeth.

She lets the breath that she hadn't know she was holding. Untensing a little. Tucking that tidbit away for later. She wouldn't have expected a neutral meeting location to be at a fancy restaurant. More something seedier, really. Especially not a place she'd been to before as a reward for scoring a perfect grade on an important test, earlier this year.

''Ah. Makes sense. I figured they were somewhere, just not... right there.'' A vague gesture at the van with her good arm. ''Either way... Now that we're here, what next?''

A grateful nod confirms that he had it in the right. Checking one of her other pockets for if some ingredients survived. Retrieving a crude glass thing filled with powder. It wasn't proper healing, not really, but by the time the eventual mixture would have run its way through her system in preparation, she could start fixing her arm proper.

''Say... Is that van yours, by any chance? Getting a bit nervous here...'' The tinker asks, not looking towards the van in question. I got a couple 'potential danger' pings when I looked earlier.''

''The utility door by the north side. Got it.'' A nod that she understood, with the paper being deposited into the same pocket as the address. ''I'll have a list of stuff I'll need with me too when coming by.''

The tinker sends a worried glance to the van coming to park besides them. Trying to divine if it meant trouble.

She waves off the concern with a mutter about how she hadn't braced herself properly.

''Is there a way to get in without, well, being seen?'' She asks after looking the address over. Carefully stuffing the paper into a pocket. Which is a little awkward with the frame. ''I can probably make the frame smaller to make it less obvious, but it's not going to be subtle for a while at least.''

The tinker hisses softly as the car turns, having forgotten to brace her arm for the turn. Shrinking a little as they turn into downtown. She wasn't exactly a subtle presence for anyone who saw them go by.

''Most of the stuff I'm thinking of isn't that bad for exotic stuff, I think.'' She replies. Going through her mental list of things she'd need for projects. ''And if cost isn't an issue... would a room I can sterilise be possible? I have a solution that I use for sterilisation, but it's very painful to use to clean wounds. So the less of that I need to clean before closing things up again, the better.''

That seems to give her pause. Tilting her head slightly while in thought.

''For now? Milk or pork, ideally a banana, but vitamin supplements would be good too. It'll help my bones set back more quickly. I can bend the frame back into shape without too much trouble after that, and a couple days of rest will let the bone heal properly. It's going to be more of a shopping list for stuff after that.'' The tinker replies sheepishly. ''I can make do on some parts to cut down on costs though.''

Another nod. ''I should probably also look at the data that the program has gathered first. That feels important, somehow.'' She looks a little put off by being unable to explain the feeling, but continues regardless. ''Keeping myself low while running was a little awkward too, so getting a range on how much weight a ranged weapon can be to balance myself first sounds good. Then something like a barrage of projectiles for making someone need to run for cover, or at least move from their spot. It'd give me time to close the distance to disorient and take them down.''

A firmer nod now. ''When I thought about how my arm blade didn't do that well to hook into the pavement earlier, my head went a bit haywire with how to change it for the better. There were also ideas for ranged weapons to store in my arms since I couldn't get close, but those feels... less important than the changes. The same feeling as when I was making the arm blade originally, now that I think about it.'' She looks down at the weapon in question with a frown beneath her mask.

''I hadn't picked out something yet.'' She admits, shifting a little awkwardly. ''I wanted to pick something fitting once I figured out my specialty, you know? I can do a lot with putting stuff in myself, but with one exception it's all just... kind of bad if you compare me to other tinkers. That one does data processing and helps me with awareness while fighting. It doesn't feel like something is missing there, just that I could add more.''

''Okay I'm... definitely fixing this... after my arm.'' She mutters to herself. Trying to get seated somewhat comfortably. Then gives a small thumbs up with her good arm.

She very awkwardly tries to get in after an uneasy nod. Needing several tries and half a dozen scratches on the paint to somewhat get in. The design flaw of it not allowing her to sit easily being evident, and only having access to one arm was NOT helping.

A small nod. She'd... probably have done exactly that if it were her looking on at this discussion.

''Will it be okay if I get in? I'm...'' A gesture at all the metal around her. A little sheepish.

Steel hesitates for a long moment, then slowly reaches over to shake his hand. Her grip similarly unyielding to one a brute would have if Sovereign ever shaken hands with one before.

''Alright... I'm not killing anyone or dealing drugs though, okay?'' She demands, trying to put some fire into her voice. ''I still have school and such too.''

Steel digests this information. Staring back with uncertainty, before hardening her resolve. Enough strength to limit the hurt. That... was a goal she could work towards. And in a way, the money to power correlation from before held truer than with most to her as a tinker.

''You want me to work for you?'' She asks. Not sounding entirely happy with the idea, but not entirely hating the idea either. Steel didn't like the idea of being a villain much, but it was likely to be the fastest route to her goal.

She looks to the armblade on her good arm as Sovereign mentions how power can protect you. It hadn't worked well. Failed. That word sticking in her mind. Ways to Fix it briefly flashing before she shakes the thought away. Visibly pulling dragging herself out of her power's clutches.

''How does having more fix that people hate you? Is there a way that isn't hurting them more?'' A hint of hope from the teen. A poorly hidden underlying goal.

There's a pause as Steel thinks over that statement. Trying to process it.

''Power for power's sake?'' She asks to confirm. ''I can understand money, even if I don't like it. Wanting stuff to be peaceful too. But wanting power sounds... kind of weird? People start acting different around you. Mostly worse.'' Steel states, speaking from some manner of experience there. Remembering a knife coming towards her chest with a shudder. ''Why would you want something that can make people hate you?''

She sets her mouth into a thin line. And thankfully, she seems to actually be listening now. Not the skepticism and hostility from before. Getting up more carefully now, not making any motions to actually strike at or rush at Sovereign.

''If you want to push back the chaos, why not turn to heroics? A united front from the start to push out the evil would be much better than small groups working on their own, right?'' Steel asks naively. ''That would be much better than hurting people's income and gettin them in trouble, money wise, right?''

She hesitates for a moment, but realises that the bottle had been sealed and takes it. Doing as asked, and letting the man see to her arm. A confused frown visible once she stops drinking and pushes her mask back into place.

''I can fix myself. I've done it before. And I'll... I'll be fine.'' She mutters quietly. Halfway to convince herself, and much more normal this time. ''Why would you bet on me joining you though? I haven't said anything that might mean I'd want to join. You're criminals. You hurt people and ruin lives.'' Her accusation doesn't have much fire behind it anymore.

The words have her pause, or slow down a bit at least. The thing was broken, but seemingly already held in place by something subdermal, as far as Sovereign could see. And the man with the first aid kit would be able to say the same once he'd arrived.

''Why?'' She demands in a voice that clearly had to be power fuckery, going by how it was steady, rather than pained or stuttery as it should've been between rapid breaths and pained noises. Confused to hell and back now. Looking between him and his men. ''I just tried to grab you.''

Steel glares once she's reminded of Sovereign, her tech pumping happy chemicals in to soothe her emotional state as she quickly pushes herself up in preparation for some defiant statement. Then intense pain shoots up her arm mid motion, and she cries out in pain mid motion. Staggering and grabbing at her messed up arm in panic. Hyperventilating as it's drilled into her mind again that effort wouldn't just cut it. Whimpering pitifully as her power informs her of her broken arm.

Emma lets out a little cry of alarm as the world shifts. Quickly digging the tip of her weapon into the pavement to remain standing... Except that left the motorcycle to start tumbling towards her. And even though she pulls her weapon back to slide away and gain some time to think, acceleration isn't so kind. The motorcycle smacking into the cape and eliciting a cry of pain despite her attempt to shield herself and push it aside. Ending up on the ground with the frame around one of her arms being bent. Breathing heavily. Panicking. What the hell what the hell what the hell!?

Emma scowls. ''Protection from yourselves, yeah. And forget it. All I would end up doing is hurting people.''

She takes a gamble then. Sovereign's power obviously made things lighter, as far as she could see, so she had to figure out how to work with that. Rather than talking further, she dashes forward suddenly, low to the ground, hoping she'd manage to be launched towards something she could use as a jumping board.

She tenses up further. No way that she had been that predictable, right? Right? She'd not make that potential mistake again regardless. Though from the outside, the way she has to stop herself from running into a cape's power again seems to suggest new and naive was the answer.

''Well intentioned?'' The tinker scoffs. ''Maybe if your definition is anything better for you, specifically. Or are you actually arguing that being extorted is a good thing.

''Maybe some people aren't going to be happy to be getting extorted for daring to try and make a living?'' She answers angrily. Trying to figure out how to come at the man without being sent flying into a building next.

''Why are you here anyway? You weren't here any other time?'' Emma demands. More annoyed at that than anything. The armed gunmen that would no doubt spring into action soon, or maybe as a contingency in case she managed to beat Sovereign were a major issue too.

Emma stumbles as she lands, the fall messing her up, but thankfully she'd reinforced her body and could partially catch herself.

''You're seriously analysing someone who just tried to hurt you out loud?'' She asks incredulously after managing to bring herself around again. Taking on an amateurish fighting stance that showed the arm she hadn't readied earlier to strike at him encased in some sort of bracer-esque device. Wary of the gravity effect now.

The moment she steps foot in the boundary, she lets out a little cry in surprise as the next step sends her sailing way over Sovereign's head, with how much force she was exerting to be able to lift all the metal on her body and having no time to slow down. The noise giving the man a bit of nausea with the lack of focus, but that's it.

Nothing happens at first. Though once she's got some distance from where she was before, a purple figure with far more limbs than a regular person slinking out from under a car with inhuman grace, then slipping through shadows to the next one. Watching and following her.

What that...? Yes. Yes it fucking is. Holy shit. Her first cape encounter!

Still, she couldn't just stand still and figure out a strategy with the gunmen behind her. So Emma doubles down, bringing her fist that wasn't handling her armblade in low in preparation for a hit that wouldn't kill a man. Crossing the boundary of his power, and at current speeds, would be on him in a second.

As she jogs, Calvin hears something behind her. A sort of rapid slapping noise like someone running barefeet across the pavement. Though when she looks, there wouldn't be anyone there.

The source of said noise meanwhile, hides beneath one of the cars parked along the sides of the street. Excitedly whispering amongst themselves. It was a cape! Probably. Nobody else would be out at night looking like this, right? Right. And their current entirely deep purple color helped hide in the shadows while following her to whatever Calvin was planning to do. Very exciting, indeed.

She turns to look... and her eyes go wide. Those were assault rifles. Who the hell brings a fucking assault team to shaking down a random ass store!?

Regardless of that, she had to move. Maybe carry off one of the other fuckers for the police to get a lead on the gang. Bursting out of the alleyway, she rushes towards the sound of the footsteps, starting to charge up a full on scream to disorient what she thought was another gang member.

Emma notices the people noping out of the way. Curious, but that was probably because of the rather obvious gang members, or her own appearance.

Dragging the man she'd incapacitated out of sight so he wouldn't potentially get shot, she retakes her previous spot. Lower to the ground to be a smaller target and to better leap if they went around the longer way. Listening for what was happening around the corner, and lamenting how she hadn't made herself anything to scale buildings with.

That... was unfortunate. She'd hoped to get two of the nerds for the police to deal with, but- Actually, she had a new plan. Waiting for the man to pass by the corner between stores before he is grabbed and manhandled behind said corner like an unruly child. Emitting a noise that utterly disoriented the man to more easily manhandle him down and try to tie him up before he got backup.

Emma had been creeping around in her free time, the past two weeks. Mostly to stop random criminals, but occasionally she'd tail some of the fodder doing their rounds, extorting the people for daring to try and have a business in the area.

She was sick of it.

So she was lying in wait. Having lucked out that the closest available parking spot wasn't directly in front of the store she'd chosen to lurk nearby. Some lower end furniture store she'd honestly already forgotten the name of.

Waiting around a corner, she peers around to see the usual car coming around. Hiding as she listens to the sound of the car doors opening. Listening for the extorting gang members' footsteps and letting her insight flick on. Estimating the distance between them and her as they came closer.

An observer sneaks over and under the van as the criminals get to leaving. Having quietly crept over from the side inhuman grace while the parahumans were distracted. Then as they realise that their new observation spot was about to vanish, clings tightly to the underside of the van. Babbling amongst itself as they watch the heroes grow distant... And accidentally thunking against the underside of the van as they need to quickly readjust their grip to not scrape against the asphalt when the van hits a speed bump.

''We'll get you around to liking them some day.'' Hydra replies alongside a series of chuckles. Glad to at least have distracted her somewhat. ''You're nice to hug and be close to.''

The tentacles start letting go of her then. The mutated cape swimming lazily by Alex's side.

''We didn't.'' They agree. ''Don't like seeing you upset though.'' ''You've helped us.'' ''We like you.'' Hydra adds earnestly.

''So we hope that a hug will help you feel better.'' ''We liked them before.'' ''We have more arms for hugs, too!''

''Ah.'' A look of what probably meant understanding comes over the assorted heads. Joining her in the pool.

The squidlike cape is apparantly very fast in the water, making a circle around her beneath the surface to bleed off speed, then coming up to speak. Offering a hug with their many arms now they've had a moment to remember how much force to use. ''We'd like to apologise regardless.''

The collection of heads looks to one another, then nods in agreement after a moment.

''Fair enough!'' ''You are really cool.'' ''And pretty.'' ''Wish we could've seen that.''

Hydra reaches out with a tentacle. Stretching towards her hand. ''Could you show us sometime later? When we're not about to go swimming?''

A set of blinks in sync.

''You did?'' They ask in sheer confusion. ''How?''

''We are like, really, really heavy. It's why we aren't that strong despite all the stuff. We're all muscle-y bits everywhere. Like how snakes are, but instead of bones and organs we have more muscle. And moving all that without bones takes up a lot when we're like this.'' She explains, a faint purple tinge on the main head's cheeks from the embarassment.

''And well... This is what we look like when we don't keep ourselves looking like a person.'' A deep breath, then Hydra seems to collapse into almost some kind of pale and purple flesh goop. Though the four serpentine heads remain. A fifth coming back out as tentacles form out of the main mass. Looking like a very large eldritch squid.

''Being a person is more comfortable, but this is better for moving and swimming.''

Her many eyes light up upon seeing the tattoos and just more of her in general once letting Alex go again. Various mutterings about how the tattoos were cool and she was pretty while the main body moves to take her hand and lead Alex to the pool.

Then she stops. ''Oh umm... We should probably ask, but are you okay with it if we do something weird? Swimming like this is kind of awkward because we're pretty heavy.''

Hydra emerges from beneath one of the sun chairs. Happy to see her back... And minus the revealing clothes she'd been wearing earlier. Bouncing on their feet in excitement.

Thankfully for Alex's sanity, the cape also had a serious case of barbie doll physique. Giving her a more normalish hug this time. ''You're back!'' The five of her exclaim happily in unison.

A nod, and they disentangle from her. A nervous smile on their 'main' head.

''Okay...'' ''We'll wait for you.'' ''Find a spot to hide until you're back.'' A pause. ''And sorry for being so sudden...'' ''We've been a mess since...''

A long pause. ''Both sounds nice.'' One of her whispers. With the others soon following suit onto the newly offered topic. Still sounding a little shaky. ''You feel safe... And we can't swim anywhere normally.'' ''It's always contaminated.'' ''Dirty.''

''Do they let you? After work.'' They look at the pool, then up at her. Silently hoping she'd say yes. ''Don't want to cause you trouble because people hate us...''

The 'hair' feels very warm, even with how long Hydra must've been outside prior to coming in for her. A less give to the flesh than a usual person's skin would have.

''We tried to fight back, but out fangs scraped off.'' ''Even when we grew big and squid.'' ''She kept coming. We had to run...'' But above all of that, one thought reigned. ''We were helpless. It kept hurting and hurting and the sixth's screaming...'' The grip on Alex grows tight. ''We hate that feeling.'' ''Don't know what to do.'' ''You know lots of stuff.'' ''Please...'' The plea at the end sounds genuinely pitiful. Not belonging to someone who could seemingly shrug off anything.

''We died.'' One of the heads whispers. ''A hero killed us.'' Another joined in. ''There was another us, yelling in our heads.'' ''They stole another us too... We can't hear them.'' ''It hurt.''

''We were hired to be somewhere, just be in public.'' ''She attacked us for looking different.'' ''Wanted to arrest like we were doing something wrong.'' ''We hate her.'' The actual serpentine hissing coming from each head at once is only partially suppressed as the memories come back.

''We saw you here, and there was a person smoking there when we looked.'' One of the heads replies.

A few nods at her directions. And now that the mutated cape wasn't trying to be fast, it's almost eerie how quiet she moves after her. Their heads not even bobbing a little. That ends when the two enter the pool area. And after a bit of investigation reveals nobody else there, she's suddenly hugged. The stalks holding Hydra's additional heads also wrapping around her while they cling to Alex.

The head focuses on her, and four more plus the main head join it in looking at her.

''We wanted to see you.'' ''Talk about stuff.'' ''Hang out.'' ''Hug you.'' ''You were lonely before.'' The lot of Hydra answers, partially over one another.

''Things went bad too.'' They hang their heads. ''We don't know what we did wrong, and you're smart.''

Alex hears the front doors slide open, and sees movement out of the corner of her eye. Only when she looks, there isn't anyone there.

A second time once she's presumably written it off as someone walking past, and this time it's accompanied by a sort of halfway skittering, halfway meat hitting the golden sheened flooring. Being able to see a familiar canine-snake mixture head peeking around from behind one of the potted plants in the lobby. Taking in the opulence while its mouth slowly moved as if whispering.

''So your first reaction was to try to arrest us because we look scary? That's illegal in its own right!'' The head complains. ''How would you like it if you got attacked for showing your face in public!?''

And as GK approaches the body, the body seems to be more or less explode. Meat being launched off and splattering around to make place for a new, much larger mass. Looking like some sort of eldritch horror squid. Two tentacles whipping out towards GK to smack her with all the force their greater mass can muster. Six heads screaming in rage at having been so close to death again.

The pile kind of just... sits there as GK looks. No movement beyond the boiling meat.

''We were hurt! You killed most of us!'' The head under her arm accuses. Trying its best snake impression to try and wiggle out. ''We were just told to just be here since we look scary and you hate us! You're awful! Just assumed we were evil from the start!'' More insults follow.

They don't seem all that fazed by the slam, but they are by the sudden drop. Especially as the sudden shift in momentum makes them lose their 'footing' and get dragged down along by the much heavier cape.

The momentum shift doesn't help this much either. Being both above GK and not affected by the armor directly. A wet 'snap' followed by a loud smack as the neck that GK had been holding tears. Followed by Hydra impacting the pavement in a pile of limbs. Unmoving. Flesh seeming to almost boil. Though the head she was holding was moving. And it was silently screaming and very pissed. Lashing out with actual ferocity towards GK now.

Hydra pauses. The constant slight motions of their additional heads stopping as well. ''You do know that that's not the same, right?'' ''Puppies are made to be cute.'' ''Saying it to a person is a compliment.'' ''Why are we accepting this anyway?'' ''Shush, you party pooper.''

''You complimented the way we looked.'' ''We aren't cute.'' ''It doesn't make sense.'' ''People hate us.'' Four out of five mutter. Moving along up the steps.

''We don't get it. And then one of us suggested something weird when you talked about wanting something from us.'' They explain. Making their way up onto the roof as well. They needed to watch less romance shows, it seems.

''Doesn't seem like much of a difference to us, when that is what we do regardless when we get out to where the people are.'' The other heads seem eager to chime in as the main one's shrugs. ''Hate us.'' ''Fear us.'' ''We're different.'' ''Proved it by attacking.''

Hydra's limbs start worming their way between the two of them. Brute strength pressing the two apart while maws tried to wrench GK's fingers off one of their necks. Seemingly uncaring for the fall it'd cause.

There's a moment of surprise as GK leaps away, then they laugh as they realise what's happening. ''Hey, we're flying!'' ''Think we'd be able to fly if we shifted wings?'' ''Maybe miss knight can teach us!'' ''She's trying to arrest us for existing, dumbass. No way she would.'' The heads babble, the main one still grinning at her. Starting to work on getting their limbs inbetween them so they could leverage their strength to work themselves free.

It ended up being less writhing, more wiggling and pulling their thinning lower half through. And more importantly, Hydra had her heads try and grab onto GK's arms to interfere with her ability to grapple. Struggles getting more fierce as the bruises and road rash Hydra had received since the start of the encounter brought more strength with them. The monstrous cape grinning wide.

The heads let out a mixture of cackling and pained noises. Like it was somehow funny that their middle was being crushed. Then the one that she'd burned earlier seems to almost split open as new flesh bursts forth. Somewhat larger now as it goes for the eyes on GK's helmet. Trying to blind her for the moment ''Well, go for it!'' ''We came here for a fight you after all!'' ''We're down, but not out!'' The heads declare and cheer. Then they use the leverage from holding onto GK slip out from under her legs while she's hopefully distracted with the attack. Their body bubbling and growing bulkier as they attempt the strategic retreat.

Hydra launches towards her as Alice comes in for the shoulder charge. Wrapping around her with limbs that could apparantly full on bend backwards while the jaws scraped over the steel and tried to bite and/or find chinks in her armor to exploit. Vaguely hoping she'd manage to tear something loose or panic/piss the cape off for greater retaliation.

The shield is seen approach, and one of the heads snaps forward to intercept it. Catching it like a dog would a frisbee. Which earns it a fiery smack that left its skin blistered and... bubbling(?). Letting go of the shield as the five each yelp in pain.

The slide similarly works on the less experienced hydra cape, only it doesn't seem to actually slow them down. As the heads now no longer have to move around a humanoid body to attack at her. Shooting forward to attack her with open maws. Trying to latch onto her limbs and shoulders while the main body was getting up in a stomach twisting display.

Five heads turn to look at her. Each tilted slightly to the side in curiousity. ''Oooh~ Fancy!'' ''Knight aesthetics are so cool...'' ''Think we can get one of those shields too?'' ''They want to fight us though, so square up, you four!'' ''Fiiiine...'' They then babble amongst themselves, before pulling themselves into some sort of fighting stance. And that was... not how joints were supposed to work.

Hydra grins to themselves, razor teeth on display on the head that had been shifted to humanoid. This was their first job, and it was already going well so far, most of them thought. A hero had come for them to distract! And one that was fast too. She even knew their name! Perfect.

''We meant what you said earlier.'' They mutter, but move to follow her. Movements inhumanly fluid as they climb up onto the dumpster. The metal groaning under Hydra's weight just as before when following Atlas onto the fire escape.

They huff. ''We aren't weird because of something you said. But yes, that sounds easy.'' A nod.

''Oh...'' ''You didn't mean...'' ''Even with saying we were-'' A hand shuts that last head up before it could finish their sentence. ''A favor is good.'' They reply with a double thumbs up. Still a bit flustered.

''Well. We could just stay back and watch how you go about it maybe... We still don't really have anything to give you though. Except I guess if you wanted...'' Their cheeks flush purple once more, looking away. They had called them cute earlier. ''Nevermind.''

A series of slow nods before they decide to just go for asking the first thought they all had. ''Can we come with you when you go for another bounty then?''

''She... We, were very focused on other stuff. Cape stuff was never a priority. It didn't really occur to us.'' Hydra admits. Shrugging. ''We can probably do it. We don't have to worry about being hurt for it at least. Where did you like, find the people who would pay you for it though?''

A pause. ''Actually. Could you introduce us, maybe?''

''Hmm... Well, we can't punch with steel, but we have our jaws!'' They declare, grinning as well to reveal sharp teeth on each mouth/maw. Grinning ''That works too, right? How do you get paid for it though? We've been continuing Caitlyn's day job from home so far.''

''We're trying!'' They protest, pouting. At least the one head that looked humanoid was. ''And if you're so high and mighty about it, what do you do then for it?'' Hydra demands.

''Right. We can do that. Show people that we have a right to be here too! We'll... We will...'' Hydra's enthusiasm falters as none of them actually manage to come up with a way to actually do that. The tentacles holding their additional heads writhing slightly in frustration. ''Give us a second. We'll figure something out.''

They blink in unison. ''What do you mean, 'fuck it, we ball'?''

Stuff like that would keep most of us in the dark. We'd be exposing ourselves even more just to see.'' They argue, before letting out a sigh. ''It's not fair. You look good, both with and without your powers, and we want to, too. But we look like this and clothes just... don't work.''

Their cheeks light up with a vibrant purple hue. Averting their gazes from Alex in embarassment. Their voices coming out soft. ''None of our old shirts still fit, okay? We need pretty much the whole back open just to make it work without tearing. And... And we can't deal with lots of people staring anyway. Even if people were okay with how we look. Especially if they would make 'requests' for our looks.''

They cover their nonexistent chest with their arms. Feeling self conscious. ''We aren't strippers! Clothes get really restrictive for us, but people stare and complain if we aren't wearing anything. And it's not like people like the way we look anyway.'' Caitlyn complains. Getting muttered agreements from the other heads.

They did have a job that was earning them money, but the whole 'did not bring their wallet' issue was making that hard to use here. Not without opening them up to a whole new round of teasing by inviting Alex home with them, anyway.

''We were Caitlyn before the Split.'' They admit after a moment. Caught up in a memory, then collectively shaking their heads to dispel it.

They hold up a hand to ask for a moment, then turn around. ''Did we bring our wallets?'' ''It was on the dresser last I remember.'' ''You know that we can check our pockets, right?'' ''Oh.'' The pockets of their not so covering outfit are checked, and come up empty sans phone. Their whole body quite literally sagging in disappointment as they let out a sigh.

''Well uhh... We're sorry, but we didn't bring our wallet to buy you some.'' The mutated cape admits as they turn back to her. ''We don't always bring it since it can feel really bulky and uncomfortable in some positions...''

They groan. Shaking their heads. ''That was the point, and-'' A sigh. ''Nevermind. If you want our name from before... all this, we want yours first. Deal?''

''Names are hard, okay? And apparantly tons of capes do it.'' They huff, annoyed that they were back with the 'freak' moniker. ''How about I start calling you 'tin can' or something dumb like that, huh? I bet you'd love it, going by how easily you toss out insults.''

They chuckle a bit. ''Guess so.'' ''And we've been thinking of Hydra because well...'' A gesture at the five heads staring at her. ''Probably will go with that. So you can call my Hydra instead of variations of 'freak'. Alright? And in our defense, you were kind of spooky, and the fire escape made too much noise, so we had to hide somewhere...''

The cape's wrist feels squishy. More like rubber than a normal ass hand.

''Aww... But it's so cool...'' One of the heads mutters in disappointment, before bouncing back. ''And really now? What do you like, do then, miss tall, cool and metal?'' They tilt their head in curiousity like a bird would. ''Besides be rude to people who don't look like people.'' Another head adds.

''We're still a person.'' They huff, a bit annoyed. ''And you looked interesting, that's all. You have a really cool mask. You know that?'' They ask, poking Atlas' mask with said now half-tentacle, half-hand. ''So we wanted to know what you were doing!''

''Rude!'' ''We're not a freak.'' ''We kind of are...'' ''Koriti?'' ''Shut your mouth!'' Come some immediate protests from various sources. All with the same voice. The mutated cape rising to their feet with an odd fluidity to their limbs. ''We.'' They pause for dramatic effect. ''Are a person. That's what we are.'' All five heads nod in agreement with the statement.

There's a series of cries of distress as the bin is shoved away... and the cape is dragged along with it. Letting go partway through and ending up rolling on the floor a bit before coming to a stop.

''Umm... Hi?'' One of the serpentine heads on the mutated cape offers awkwardly. Being dressed... very minimally over off-white skin that gradiented to purple as it went to their limbs. All of the five total heads on them looking very sheepish. Tentacle arms with suckers shifting to sloooowly form hands and the beginnings of fingers again.

Hydra tries veeery hard not to make a noise. Their little cry of surprise having been hidden by the screeching of metal. Then they're betrayed by the wheels on the garbage bin as Atlas gets out. Briefly being squished and turned into a stress toy before falling to the floor with a thud. And in a panic, lets their arms return to tentacles to try and pull it back using the suckers on them.

They watch her climb up. Five heads horizontally stacked as they hang halfway around the corner.

Seeing her near the top, they skitter over to the fire escape as well. Slowly starting to regain their proper humanoid-ish form Starting to climb up, then cringing as it creaks a bit under their weight. Panicking, then letting go to try and awkwardly squeeze themselves between the garbage bin and the wall. Ending up making more noise in the process.

''Cool mask, seven o' clock.'' One of Hydra whispers. ''We can see through your eyes too, dumbass.'' ''She has nice hair. I wish we still had hair.'' ''I wish you shut up for once.'' ''

Coming to a consensus that yes, cool weird mask lady was cool, they start to crawl from underside of the car to another. Dashing along the ground like they're imitating some sort of lizard. Using how the cape was drawing all the attention from what few people were still around to sneak after her. And when those ran out, dashing into an alley when they hoped people weren't looking.

Caitl- Hydra now, was people watching. Having squeezed themselves underneath a car and watching the occasional person pass by on the sidewalk... If not particularly stealthily, given that rubbery snake-adjacent heads occasionally poked out and upwards slightly like periscopes. As well as the occasional excited babbling from multiple voices as the others got too excited to remember to think, rather than speak.

It was kind of nice, in a way that would have horrified them the way they had been before the Split. Though conversation soon turned to if they should pick a new hiding spot or head back home and order take-out. It was starting to get dark.

We do a bit of testing.