So… uh, wow. That was a very positive reaction, and I hope I can live up to your expectations. I'll respond to reviews beneath the chapter.
Armsmaster, Taylor decided, was a bit of a dick. The first thing he'd done after showing up, in an admittedly badass skid on his motorcycle, was ignore her to contain Lung, jabbing him with some kind of tranquilliser. Then he pulled out a spare Halberd, which transformed into a steel cage, pinning Lung to the sidewalk. She could sort of understand that. The making sure Lung didn't back up, that is, not the Halberd-cage thing. Fucking Tinkers. The next thing he did was turn to her, adopt a loose fighting stance, and ask "You gonna fight me?"
Taylor had been so caught off guard she nearly sputtered. As if a villain would just stand there in plain sight, waiting for him to finish. Also, Armsmaster mistaking her for a villain… really stung. It was like John Cleese telling you your jokes sucked. Or Batman showing up and saying you looked Dorky. And it was really wounding for her already deflated ego. Did she really look that villainous?
"I'm a good guy," Taylor replied. Armsmaster relaxed his stance a bit, but still seemed wary and ready to fight, but after a second adopted a far more casual pose.
"You're telling the truth," Armsmaster said confidently. Did he have a lie detector? "Need a hospital?"
She was surprised for a moment, before she realised how logical the question was. "Oh, uh, no. I regenerate."
Armsmaster nodded. "I hope you didn't get hurt too badly. Still, always a pleasure to see a new face. First night out?"
"Yeah. I… uh, don't even have a name yet," Taylor admitted, embarrassed. Now that she'd been in a fight, she realised she probably should've spent more time preparing. She hadn't even brought anything to tie people up with! If Armsmaster hadn't shown up, anyone she beat could've just walked away.
Armsmaster chuckled. It seemed genuine, warm, and normal. Taylor felt some of the tension ease out of her. "Want a hand choosing one? I need something to call you on my report, even if it's only temporary."
Taylor practically fainted. Armsmaster, one of her childhood heroes, wanted to help her. "S-sure, I mean, if it's no bother." And she was stuttering again. Great way to impress people.
"I assume you're a brute of some kind?"
"Sort of. When I reach a certain threshold of damage, my body resets. And I feel less pain."
Armsmaster cocked his head to the side. "Useful. I take it the same goes for things in your possession?" He asked, gesturing to her intact clothes. Taylor swallowed my embarrassment and nodded, making a mental promise to test my power more as soon as she got back. She'd just kind of… taken that for granted, and hadn't really thought about it. Armsmaster seemed to notice her embarrassment.
"That's why we have the Wards program, to help you discover the limits to your powers." There was no pressure, nor any judgement. He was just making a statement. I nodded, but not really out of agreement, just to show I was listening. Luckily, Armsmaster didn't push the issue.
"So, the first thing people would think of for that kind of power set would be 'Phoenix', but that's been taken… six times. I'd suggest Khepri, or Renewal, for now."
Damn, those were both really good names. He was either really creative or had some kind of program in his helmet to help him. "I… think Renewal?"
Armsmaster nodded, a smiled lightly. "Before you leave, could you give me a recount, in your own words, of what happened? Nothing formal, I'd just like a better idea of what happened."
"Okay, well… I was just walking around, looking for something small to stop, you know? Get the hang of how things work, figure out what I need to work on, that kind of stuff. But I stumbled across Lung and a huge group of ABB, and Lung said something about killing kids so I figured, he can't really put me down, I can just distract him for a while."
Armsmaster frowned a little. "That doesn't sound like his usual style, so he was probably referring to another gang."
Taylor nodded sadly.
"But still, what you did was still noble. You put yourself at risk to save others, and managed to apprehend a dangerous criminal. It was a bit reckless, because Lung could've gone on a rampage, but your heart was in the right place." I winced. Crap, I hadn't even thought of that.
"He seemed to stop growing pretty quickly, but I see your point. Sorry."
"Your powers probably don't mesh well with his, which is good to know for the future. And don't let it weigh too heavily on you. You did a good thing, it's just important to keep an eye out for what you did wrong, because it might not go so well next time. Anyway, please continue."
"Right, so he had his gangers shoot me, but when that didn't work he started beating on me and most of them ran away. He lit me on fire and tossed me around a couple of times, even kicked off my head at one point," Armsmaster looked like he wanted to interrupt, but gestured his hand for me to keep talking.
"Then after ramming me into the ground, he was tackled by these huge… monster… things, and the area was covered in darkness," This time, Armsmaster did cut me off.
"The Undersiders? Was there a man in motorcycle gear with a skull mask who made the darkness?"
"Yeah, he said his name was Grue and..."
"You spoke to them?" Armsmaster asked.
"They mistook me for a villain, and said I'd helped them because Lung was after them, before one of them said a Protectorate cape was coming and they bailed."
Armsmaster grimaced. "They have a thinker, then. I'd suspected, given how easily they've evaded us, but it's good to confirm. We have so little information on them, anything new is helpful. Grue and Hellhound we have at least a basic grasp on, but Regent and Tattletale are unknowns."
"So yeah, their beast things jumped on Lung, and I joined in, hitting him until he started shrinking. He seemed pretty caught off guard by the beast things."
Armsmaster had stiffened slightly. "Are you sure you don't have enhanced strength? His scales are known to shrug off gunfire even at their weakest."
"I… don't think so? I tried lifting and throwing around stuff, but I could do much."
Armsmaster scratched his bear lightly. "Maybe it's combat only, or has something to do with your… Renewal," He said, cracking a light grin, and Taylor chuckled, feeling a lot more at ease. He really was a Hero, and even though she was star struck, hearing him make such a lame pun made him feel more personable.
"I'll be sure to test it out. But yeah, after that, the Undersiders introduced themselves, then you showed up."
"Normally I'd suggest you have tried to take them in, but you seem fairly melee oriented, and don't have a mover rating?" She nodded confirmation. "But it's your first night, and it was a good call to not get too caught up in fighting and make enemies. Plus, even the Protectorate has trouble taking them down. They seem to always perfectly know when to run and when to fight. Now just one final thing before we go." At this, Armsmaster's voice took a more serious edge, and she gave him her full attention.
"Who gets credit for Lung?" Immediately, Taylor opened her mouth, but he cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Like I said, you did a great job. A major criminal is in custody thanks to you. But the ABB would almost certainly want revenge, and as an unaffiliated cape, they probably wouldn't hold back against you. I don't doubt you could survive Oni Lee, if you took some hits from Lung, but they recently recruited a new member. Bakuda. A bomb tinker."
Oh… oh wow, she could see how that could go badly, and fast.
"Glad to see you understand. She has bombs that lock someone in time, or turn them into glass, all kinds of ridiculous things. Her first appearance was her taking a University hostage because she got a bad grade."
Taylor winced. Sounded like a Grade A Psycho.
"I don't doubt you can shrug off physical hits, but our preliminary research indicates Bakuda is a hard counter to brutes and regenerators. If you were in the Wards, she likely wouldn't go that far because it would mean an instant kill order, and on top of that you'd have teammates to help bail you out if she tried. But if you want to stay independent, it might be best to let their attention fall against me."
He certainly made a good point, as disappointing as it was to admit. She didn't really want to join the Wards, because it'd just be more high school drama, and while she doubted they let people like Sophia in (they were heroes), she just didn't need any more of that in my life right now.
But that didn't mean she couldn't see Armsmaster's other motive. Him getting credit for bringing Lung down would be huge. Still though, he'd been pretty nice to her so far, and he did have a point.
"I… would like you to keep my involvement in capturing Lung a secret." It pained her to say it.
He smiled. It was a very, very nice smile.
"I'm sure you'll look back and realise this was a good decision. Fame is nice, and an important part of being a cape, but it isn't worth making an enemy of such a strong gang just yet. If you're ever in a pinch, call the PHQ," He said, handing me his card. It had his emblem on it, as well as the PRT's, with two phone numbers for their respective organisations.
Taylor smiled. He was basically saying he owed me one, without admitting it.
Perhaps she'd reconsider the Wards, or at least put more thought into it. Sure, it could be high school drama, but the emphasis there was could. At the least she could perhaps get a tour of their base, see what they were like as people. If they were anything like Armsmaster, it'd be fun to join them. Sure he was a bit of a glory hound, but everyone had their faults, and at least he was forthcoming about it.
Taylor was practically beaming as she made her way home, her mood not even tempered by the fact that tomorrow was a school day. She'd met Armsmaster, and made a good impression on him! And he was genuinely grateful to her, and had given her advice, and oh god it was so cool!
Taylor forced herself to calm down. Yes, it wasn't every day you met your childhood Heroes, but she needed to actually walk home, and be careful not to wake her dad. Armsmaster waved goodbye as he rode off with Lung, rather comically strapped to his motorcycle. Well, perhaps one minute of being excited couldn't hurt, so Taylor let herself enjoy the moment.
As always, any feedback is appreciated greatly. Even if it's just telling me I messed up and his chapter has a completely different tone to the last one and is thus ruined, or just 'You're an idiot'. I have a tendency not to notice my mistakes unless people point them out, so please do.
~T