Editing Shadow 5.8

{{Infobox Ward chapter
| work       = Ward
| book       = [[Shadow]]
| number     = 5.8
| dateposted = 22 March 2018
| link       = https://www.parahumans.net/2018/03/22/shadow-5-8// 
| previous   = [[Shadow 5.7]]
| next       = [[Shadow 5.9]]
}}'''{{PAGENAME}}''' is the ninth chapter of [[Shadow]]. The Fallen showcase how dangerous they can be when they try.

==Plot==
Faced with gunfire, the team takes cover, with Victoria activating the Wretch; Victoria realizes the gravity of the situation, recognizing that the Fallen and the Hollow Point villains aren't interested in sticking to the [[unwritten rules]]. The team decides on a plan; Capricorn and the kids stay behind the cover of Capricorn's walls, while Victoria and Sveta go ahead separately.

Continuing forwards alone, Victoria encounters a Fallen biker; evading his gunfire, Victoria pursues the biker through the forest, eventually catching up and disarming him. After some unsuccessful attempts at interrogation, she abandons the biker atop a high tree and approaches three other bikers, one of them a cape with a disorienting [[Breaker]] state. She successfully disarms one of them, but has more difficulty apprehending another, a [[Changer]] capable of exchanging the positions of body parts. With the Wretch, Victoria disarms the Changer, who appears to lose control, collapsing into a mass of features not dissimilar to the Wretch itself.

Using her aura and the Wretch, Victoria tries to get the Breaker and remaining biker to stand down; eventually, with help from Sveta, Capricorn uses his power to trap the biker and force the Breaker back into her human form. Victoria tries to interrogate the Breaker, who responds with messages and warnings of hostages from [[Mama Mathers|'her']] before collapsing to the ground, writhing in pain. Capricorn uses his power to restrain her, before the three of them depart, leaving the incapacitated bikers behind, and exit the forest, fighting in the distance.

==Characters==
{|class="mw-collapsible -mw-collapsed wikitable"
! scope="col" |
|-
|
===[[Breakthrough|Team Therapy]]===
*[[Capricorn]] brothers
*[[Looksee]]
*[[Victoria Dallon]]
*[[Sveta Karelia]]
*[[Ashley]] (undercover, mention only)
*[[Chris Elman|Sneaky Chris]]
===[[The Fallen]]===
*[[Fallen#Crowleys|Crowley's]] Bikers
**Bat-themed Thinker
**Optical Illusion Breaker
**Hekaton Changer
**Normal armed guy
*[[Fallen#Mathers|Mathers]]
**[[Mama Mathers|''Her'']]
===Mentioned===
*[[Miss Militia]]
*[[Prancer]]
*[[The Undersiders]]
**[[Hellhound]] (mentioned)
***[[Bitch's_Dogs|Monster Dogs]] (mentioned)
**[[Tattletale]] (mentioned)
**[[Parian]] (mentioned)
**[[Foil]] (mentioned)
**[[Imp]] (mentioned)
|}

==Trivia==
*In this chapter, Victoria expands on the nature of the [[unwritten rules]] introduced in Worm, explaining why capes use other weapons over guns, despite them being just as lethal. Her description of 'the game' also mirrors Tattletale's perspective on parahuman dynamics as a game of cops and robbers. <ref>"That was the game.  It was the walking of the line between the selfish things we did for ourselves and our teams and what served the greater good.  Secret identities were to be left alone.  Families weren’t to be touched.  The day to day of the city and civilian lives weren’t allowed to be disrupted.  No killing; no guns.<br/>[...]<br/>It came down to symbols, to what the gun meant, and whether the person with the gun was playing along.  With a sword or bow, the assumption was yes.  When a gun was drawn or fired, barring any context, the assumption was –had to be, even- no.  Carrying a gun as a cape and using it implied things that other weapons didn’t." - Excerpt from [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/03/22/shadow-5-8/ Shadow 5.8]</ref>
*Victoria references the PRT strategy for dealing with [[Breaker]]-class capes, to avoid fighting them in their breaker state.<ref>"The rule for fighting breakers was to not fight them in their breaker state, because the breaker states tended to cheat the rules." - Excerpt from [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/03/22/shadow-5-8/ Shadow 5.8]</ref>

{{Reflist}}

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