//------------------------------//
// Empire: Good Deeds 
// Story: InFamous: The Unusual Conduits 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

The first thing that Cole, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata did after the first substation was back online, and had given Cole some new powers in the progress, was check out the phone that Cole was carrying, where they discovered that Moya was sending them optional objectives that they could do, to better the situation of the people in the Neon District. The only one that she knew about was right near their current location, meaning that she was either taking her time in finding new things for them to do or there was something they needed to do in order to assist her in finding those objectives. Since there wasn't anything else to do, since Moya hadn't figured out where the second substation was yet, Cole and the sisters decided that they might as well see what sort of task they would be given when they reached the coordinates that had been sent to them after the first substation was turned on. As such they walked over to the area that Moya had sent them the coordinates to, where they paused for Cole to heal the severely injured that were along the way, and was thanked by the few people that didn't believe he was responsible for the Blast, before they reached their destination.

When they stopped beside the building that the coordinates were next to, as they weren't actually on top of the building for once, the group paused as Cole accessed his phone once more and connected to Moya, as right now none of them could see any Reapers and it didn't look like anyone was interested in calling for assistance.

"I'm getting word that there are people out there who can offer some help, but I can't locate them." Moya informed them, revealing that one of the group's thoughts had been correct, though they remained silent so they could hear the rest of her statement and see what orders she had for them, "If you can re-activate the satellite uplinks, I'll be able to track them down and mark their locations on your GPS."

"Sounds easy enough." Sonata said, though she knew that Cole was the only one that could do something like that, especially since she and her sisters didn't have electricity based powers.

Cole had to agree with that statement, as the first uplink happened to be at the top of the building that they were standing next to, so he started climbing the pipes and ledges so he could reach the roof, while at the same time the sisters followed after him so they could see what he needed to do and if they could offer him any assistance. It didn't take them long to reach the part of the roof that the uplink was on, though when the group reached it they discovered that it, like some of the things they had found so far, were Cole's area of expertise, as while the uplink was a little busted he could drain the electricity from it. He would then, as Moya explained, have to run past the other uplinks in the series in order to resynchronize them, thus allowing her to find the people that needed help so she could send them the coordinates of people like the medic they had helped out. As such Cole approached the uplink and started draining the electricity from it, filling his own powers back up, before the entire thing was spent, though instead of sticking around he jumped off the roof that the first uplink was on and ran over the lower roof so he could reach the second one.

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata followed after him, as his powers didn't conduct along the various grind rails that rested around the Neon District, meaning that they could follow him to their hearts content while he raced through the area they were in and ran by five more uplinks, restoring their connection... though once the last one was restored Moya informed them that she was already receiving the information, indicating that they had done a good job. What they discovered was that there was someone nearby who actually had a task for them to do and the coordinates were already provided, to which the four of them jumped over to the building that was across from where the final uplink was and dropped down into the balcony area that the concerned man was standing in. For a moment he seemed surprised to see that the group of four had come to him, as if he never expected someone to actually take him seriously, but he calmed himself down and explained the situation to them; a courier for the Reaper's was going to come through this area soon and, if they wanted to know what their enemies were up to, they would have to follow the courier.

It sounded like an interesting mission, different from what they had done so far, though as they told the man that they would look into it they heard the sound of the courier arriving, where they watched as a suicide Reaper started running down the street, heading away from the area they had come from. As such Cole and the sisters waited a few seconds for the suicide Reaper to pass the area the balcony was in before they made their move, which was Cole and Sonata using the train tracks to follow him from above while Adagio and Aria stuck to the ground, hiding behind things to prevent their target from seeing them. Normally Adagio would have been worried about someone spotting their ears or tail and assume that she and her sisters were nearby, but since people in this world seemed to turn a blind eye towards their unique features she didn't even worry about being found out at all. It held true for the suicide Reaper they were following, as while he turned around and looked at the area around him from time to time, to see if someone was following him, he was also pretty blind and didn't notice the duo following him on the ground and the duo that used the tracks and the roofs to spy on him.

Fortunately the suicide Reaper didn't go too far, as he used an alley to reach a delivery area that was vacant of cars at the moment, before he pulled out a package and slipped it under the dumpster that was in front of him, though once that was done he started walking away the moment the task was complete. Adagio and Aria waited a few seconds, to be sure there was enough distance between the suicide Reaper and the dumpster, before they emerged from their hiding places and grabbed the package from it's hiding spot. They then backtracked to a more secluded hiding spot, which would keep them out of the suicide Reaper's line of sight, and beckoned for Cole and Sonata to join them, who jumped off the roof they had been using to spy on their target and landed on the ground near them. Once they were all back together Adagio carefully opened the package and smiled when she discovered that the suicide Reaper had been carrying five Blast Shards on him, no doubt to be delivered to whoever their boss was... but, since they figured out what the package was, she handed them over to Cole, as while she and her sisters couldn't make use of the energy the shards contained Cole could gain a little extra power to help them out.

While they paused for a few moments, to let Cole take in the power of the Blast Shards, Moya called and informed them that each optional objective they completed also seemed to decrease the Reaper presence in that area, meaning that they knew that someone was fighting against them and didn't want to intrude on that person's territory... and, oddly enough, she included a map for Cole's phone, one that showed the three districts and how they changed due to their collective actions.

As the four of them walked away from the dumpster they spotted a lady waving at them, though when they approached her the sisters discovered that she had a slightly red tint to her eyes and seemed to growl at them, to which Sonata promptly pulled them away from the lady and moved into an alley.

"What was that all about?" Aria asked, as that was the first time that anyone in the city had done something like that to her and her sisters, because if anyone was angry at someone it was usually directed at Cole and not them, which made her wonder what else was going to change.

"I think there's more to this than just helping the citizens out," Sonata said, remembering what she had seen back in Archer Square, when they gave the food to the people, and at Stampton Bridge, when they drew the gunfire to themselves to protect the innocent people that followed them, along with what happened in the sewer a few minutes ago, "Every choice we make seems to have either a positive or a negative reaction, as when we gave food to the people our auras flickered blue for a moment, and when Cole tried one of his new powers out... well, the aura flickered red for a moment. This might sound strange, especially since it's coming from me, but I think the blue flickers are good actions and the red ones are evil actions... and that lady, who had a red tint in her eyes, likely had an evil mission for us and chased us off when she realized we weren't on her side of the law."

"Wait, you mean we're fighting on the side of order at the moment?" Aria inquired, though while she agreed with Sonata, about this sounding strange, she didn't know what to think about that fact, especially given what they had done before coming to this place.

Adagio thought about it for a moment, as it made as much sense as everything else in this place, before she raised her right hand slightly and stared at it, where she willed her aura back into existence and looked at the faint blue color that now flickered around her hand. Sure, she and her sisters hadn't been the best of creatures before Starswirl banished them to the planet they had been thrown to, but she never once considered that they would ever be on the same level as the Rainbooms or their Equestrian counterparts. Now that she thought about it she wondered if the power of the human counterparts of the Elements of Harmony had not only shattered their old powers, but also their decision to be leaning more towards the evil side of things... as if they wiped the slate clean and were offering them a second chance, one where they were good instead of evil and helped the people of Empire City out, instead of trying to enslave them. As if some force wanted them to be heroes, saviors of the people, instead of villains that people hated and wanted to see torn down so they wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

She didn't buy it, as there was no erasing what they had done, and yet her aura didn't lie, they had made some 'good' choices since they started helping Cole take out the Reapers, all because Sonata wanted them to share the food with those that needed it more than they did... and yet she found herself smiling a little, as Sonata was always the purest of them and made these decisions easily, which might have been why she understood this more than they did.

"This doesn't prove anything, not yet anyway." Adagio said, causing Aria and Sonata to glance over at her, where she canceled out her own aura, before she turned towards Cole, who had been studying his phone and the other coordinates that Moya had sent them, "Are there any other optional objectives available at the moment?"

"Yeah, there's a few more we can do before we do anything else," Cole replied, though he was slightly amused that Adagio, who could clearly see her own aura was pointing towards order and towards being a hero, found it hard to accept that sort of thing, while Aria seemed surprised by that fact and Sonata... well, she was much more accepting of her statement, as she believed it made total sense to her.

Fortunately there happened to be a pair of objectives nearby, ones that Moya even labeled as 'good' and 'evil' based on what she read about each one of them when contact was made, that Cole knew he could use to see how Adagio really reacted to changing her viewpoint. As such he beckoned for the sisters to follow him as he returned to the street, where he walked over to a building they had run by when they were following the suicide Reaper a few minutes ago, though before they reached it a pair a Reapers fired at them from a nearby rooftop. Instead of wasting time, and running for cover or something, the sisters reacted and hurled a small volley of faint blue colored blasts into the air, which raced into the first Reaper and knocked him on his back, giving Cole enough time to take out the second one when he was distracted by his partner's defeat. Cole then restrained them to the roof, knowing that the surviving cops had seen the battle and could come here to investigate what happened, before he jumped back down to where the sisters were standing and continued towards the objective he had selected.

When they arrived beside the building, and the sisters saw no one to talk to, Cole's phone went off for a moment, to which he smiled for a few seconds before accepting the call, knowing that the person calling was likely watching this area and contacted him the moment they were in place.

"Cole, this is Warden Harms." the voice said, one that Cole immediately recognized, though at the same time the sisters gathered near so they could hear what was going on and understand whatever objective he was going to ask them to complete, "I know that you and your friends have your hands full, but from time to time I'm going to need your help in handling some things."

"What do you have in mind?" Cole inquired, though he had the feeling that he knew what the Warden could ask of him and the sisters, especially considering the part of the Neon District that they were in.

"My men have captured a few Reapers," Warden Harms explained, causing the group to wonder if they were any of the Reapers they had fought so far, but knew that it would be impossible to tell since their attacks left no marks on the bodies of those they fought, "and I need the four of you to escort them back to the station so we can interrogate them."

Cole and the sisters walked back to the alley they had found the package in earlier and followed the path that the suicide Reaper had taken, but instead of turning left the four of them turned right and found the area that the cops were holding the unarmed Reapers in. As they took possession of the Reapers, and the few cops started to pull out of the area, Warden Harms apologized for pulling his men out since they were stretched too thin at the moment, while at the same time telling them that they didn't have to be afraid of being rough with the Reapers. What Adagio got out of that was that they could hit or punish the Reapers to get them to move, which was demonstrated when Cole blasted one of the Reapers in the arm with a light blast, prompting the Reapers to start moving. Cole, knowing where the closest police station rested, took the head of the pack and had the girls stand behind him in a diamond formation, meaning that while he lead the way it was their job to make sure the Reapers didn't slow down and, if any of their prisoners tried to break formation, blast them every now and then to prevent their escape.

It was also so that if any Reapers came to attack them, to get their guys back, they could see the attackers coming and have two of them go on the offensive to make sure their prisoners weren't taken from them... something that the sisters seemed to understand as they fell in formation and started following the path that Cole was taking.

Of course the moment they left the alley that they obtained the prisoners in was when two of the Reapers attempted to make a break for it, only for Adagio and Aria to catch them in the act, preventing them from escaping and making them fall back in line as they continued moving. As they walked around Archer Square the other two Reapers tried the same thing, only to fail the instant they tried to run, as Sonata forced the two of them back in line from where she was standing and the line started to move once more. From there it was a simple matter to cross the street and approach the police station that was in front of them, where the officers that were inside the building came out and let the group release the prisoners into their custody. As they watched the pair of cops take the prisoners inside the building, to be interrogated like Warden Harms said, Zeke made a quick call to inform them that they were doing good work in cleaning up the streets, and that they should keep it up.

From there Cole directed them to an alleyway where they found a lady wearing a medical mask over her mouth, one who told them that the Reapers had put surveillance devices on her building and asked them to remove every device they could find. As such the group headed over to the building in question and found that the devices the lady wanted them to destroy had blinking red lights, so while Cole climbed around the building and shocked them apart, on the side of the building that he took, the sisters separated and took the three remaining sides, where they blasted the remaining ones apart. They found it interesting that their blasts did nothing to the actual building that the surveillance devices were attached to, while at the same time destroyed the devices like they were nothing, causing them to wonder what they could destroy with their new powers and what they couldn't destroy. Since the four of them were working together it didn't take them too long to take out all of the devices, earning some thanks from the lady that had called upon them for assistance in the process, before they went out and looked for another objective to do.

Cole then showed them his phone and the remaining tasks that they could do, though the one that interested the sisters the most was the one that was near the first uplink, to which the four of them headed back towards the area in question and found the man standing in a small cemetery... which immediately screamed that this was a trap in Adagio's mind, to which they approached the man with some caution.

"Hello Terrorist," the man said, though at the same time he started to back up towards the square structure of the small cemetery, while Adagio and her sisters didn't like the sinister smile at was on the man's face, "my bothers and I have arranged a little party for you and your friends."

That was followed by the man being shrouded by a electric pulse for a few seconds before he transformed into a White Reaper, to which Adagio tackled Cole to the ground before he could be shot, causing Aria and Sonata to start firing at the other Reapers that were coming their way. Adagio, on the other hand, remembered what happened while they were trying to find Brandon earlier, when the last White Reaper shot her in the shoulder, and she growled as she got back back onto her hooves as she targeted her foe. As Cole got back up, and joined both Aria and Sonata in firing at the Reapers, he watched as Adagio charged after the White Reaper, firing blasts that were focused on hitting the one Reaper she wanted to take out before someone else got hurt. It was in that moment that Cole realized that Adagio was really upset and angry over being wounded in such a manner, though while she seemed to be angry her attacks were focused and didn't seem scattered... indicating that she was focused on not doing any harm to those that were around her at the moment, while maximizing the damage she did to the Reapers.

Unfortunately during she pursuit of the White Reaper her target loosed a few shots in the process and actually hit the civilians that were on the streets that he had flashed over to, to which Adagio focused her mind and suddenly she flashed through the air as well, but instead of questioning it she slammed her fist into her target's face and knocked him to the ground. That was followed by Adagio landing on top of the White Reaper and she rested her palm against his chest, to which the area between her palm and her target's chest flashed as she loosed a blast, knocking him out in the process, allowing her to sigh before she climbed off her foe.

"Adagio, what did you do?" Aria asked, as while she, Sonata, and Cole had dealt with the other Reapers they had watched her sister chase down the White Reaper, only for her aura to flash around her body and propel her through the air, like she had taken flight for a few seconds.

"I... I don't know." Adagio admitted, as she had no idea what had happened to her, but she knew what she was feeling and wondered if there was a connection between the two, "All I know is that I was getting tired of that White Reaper shooting and wounding people in the process of trying to take me out, and then, as I focused on wanting to take him out, I suddenly found that I was in front of him as he came to a stop. After that I took him out so he could stop hurting the innocent people that are around us."

Cole smiled as he tended to the wounded civilians, as it sounded like Adagio might, just might, be understanding that saving the innocent civilians that were around them was the right thing to do, especially when he saw a small flash of light blue in her aura earlier. He guessed that it would be some time before Adagio fully accepted that everything they were doing was making them heroes in the eyes of the people, as he saw a few of them cheering them on for taking out a pack of Reapers, especially ones that were gunning for the group to begin with. He also found it interesting, if not a little amusing, that Sonata took to being a hero like she had one for years, while at the same time Aria seemed to not care all that much, but went along with it because of her sister... and Adagio, who had been their leader, appeared to shy away from being a hero, as if there was something wrong with wanting to protect people.

Instead of saying anything he beckoned for the sisters to follow him to another objective, one that was nearby on a small roof, though the man they encountered informed them that the Reapers happened to be abducting people off the street for some reason. As it turned out the Reapers and their hostages were going to pass by in the next couple of minutes, though when they moved to the other side of the roof, so they could look at the ground, the group found the Reapers in question slowly marching the group of people down the large alley that was behind the building. Cole counted one Reaper per hostage, though since the Reapers hadn't noticed them they could easily get a good vantage point and fire down at their targets, forcing them to separate from each other and allowing the innocent civilians to escape harm in the process. The four of them were able to clear out the small group of Reapers in a few seconds, to which they turned their attention to freeing the civilians of any binds that had been put on them or healing any wounds they might have been given as encouragement by their captors... who in turned thanked the group for their good deed, where Cole, once again, noticed Adagio shy away from being called a hero while her sisters accepted it with ease.

He was sure that he would figure out what Adagio's deal was and why she seemed to resist wanting the praise of the people they had saved, while her sisters were happy to accept it, but for now they worked well as a team and he'd ask her why she didn't want to be a hero later... once they found a moment to take a break later on, after helping Moya and the people a little more.