Outsider Chronicles: Slash Dog
Getting reborn as the son of a notorious supervillain in an equally notarius world should have been the start of a fight to remain on the side of light. Fortunately for me, this version of the world is a lot more Shonen than I was expecting.
And we're back. Since this chapter includes a minor altercation with Empire thugs, expect some foul language. Enjoy!
Chapter 4
"So, where exactly are we going?" asked Aisha as we walked through the Docks.
"To find our next recruit," I said, "I'd like to try and use Odin's connections to sort out a friend of mines problems."
"You mean Bitch, right?" asked Aisha.
I glanced at her.
"Thats right," I said.
The Shadow user grinned.
"In that case, I think I know some other people who might be interested."
I raised an eyebrow at her. I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but I couldn't exactly cut her off with suggesting her Brother. I had no doubt that Aisha made a habit of hiding in the Undersiders loft, listening in on their 'secret' meetings. It seemed like something she'd do.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, Bitch is part of my idiot Brothers Villain team," said Aisha, "The moron decided that the best way to try and get custody of me from Mom was to get a job as a superpowered goon for a wannabe Bond Villain with a hard on for recruiting people at gunpoint."
I blinked. OK, so she spied on Coil as well.
"I bet that all four of them would be willing to work for you and the Pervy Geezer if you offered to help them out."
I raised an eyebrow. I knew that Imp wasn't big on authority, but it was a bit of a difference between a teacher and a God. Then again, her nickname for Odin wasn't exactly inaccurate and I suspected that Odin would just laugh and flip her skirt up when he heard it.
"Plus, they did kinda piss off Lung the other day, so they'll need someone who won't abandon them the moment they become inconvenient," continued Aisha, "Plus, their pretty good and I like screwing with Tattletale."
Aaaand that was the more likely reason she wanted me to recruit the Undersiders.
"You do know we're going to be acting as...perhaps not Heroes, but at least neutral, right?" I asked, "Having known Villains along would make things...difficult. I can deal with Rachels problems because they won't stand up under scrutiny, but if they've done to much then…"
Aisha snorted.
"They're only Villains because the PRT doesn't like people stealing from Villains without arresting them and Armsmaster got a bug up his ass when they refused to listen to him," she said, "So far, they've only hit Villains or places that were fronts for the gangs."
"Fair enough," I said, "I guess it couldn't hurt to ask."
Aisha grinned and pulled out her phone.
"By the way, did you hear about the giant lion that was seen running through town last night?"
I nearly tripped over my own feet at that.
"What?!"
"Yeah, its all over PHO," said Aisha, "Some folks are saying they know the girl in question. Tin Mothers swinging her Banhammer like Thor fighting Frost Giants, but its pretty much pointless by now."
I stared at her, completely stumped. Where the fuck did a goddamn lion come from? Also, what was with that simily? Oh whatever, I'd deal with it later.
"By the way, does your brother actually know you have powers?" I asked.
"Are you joking?" said Aisha, "If he knew, he'd probably try and get me into the Wards. Or his own gang. I have no interest in working with stuffy adults looking over my shoulder thought."
"Um, hows this any different?" I asked.
"Well, the Pervy Geezers hardly what I'd call stuffy and you're much too interesting to pass up the chance to get to know you," said Aisha with a grin, "Although I could do without him trying to peek on me…"
I twitched. Why did I suddenly get a feeling of impending doom? Oh yeah, Tattletale wore a skintight suit and would probably ask to meet Odin personally.
"By the way, how did you meet Odin?" I asked.
Aisha snorted.
"My Sacred Gear activated when one of my Mom's 'boyfriends' decided he wanted to try the younger model," she said, "I thought I'd Triggered when my shadow came to life and took his head off, but Odin and Sketha were in the area and apparently sensed it. They came and helped me get away. I didn't really believe them at first, but then Odin took me to Asgard and introduced me to Eir and Frigg and, well, its kinda hard to argue with something like that."
I snorted. That was an understatement, although I wasn't sure why Odin would do that considering that Night Reflection was a normal Sacred Gear. Then again, Sacred Gear users were technically rather rare, so most of them would get snapped up by whatever faction encountered them, so maybe that was it.
"By the way, Bitches kennels just a couple of blocks away," said Aisha, "If we want to talk to her, we should hurry."
"How do you know shes there?" I asked.
"I can use my shadows to sense the locations of people within my area of influence," said Aisha.
"Huh, neat trick," I said.
"Yep," said Aisha with a grin.
"Although, if you could locate Rachel, why haven't you mentioned the idiots who've been following us for the past ten minutes?"
"Because I knew you'd already noticed them."
"Fair enough. So, shall we deal with them before we meet up with Rachel?"
"Sounds good."
We both stopped and turned to face the small gang of Empire skinheads who had been following us. There were 20 of them, all armed with everything from bats to pipes and a couple of guns, but nothing that high calibur. I had to wonder just what they planned to achieve with just that considering I wasn't exactly hard to recognize and it was well known that I was a Cape. Guess they thought numbers would help them? Or maybe they were under the mistaken impression that Aisha was powerless. As we turned, the thugs faltered slightly, before slowly spreading out and attempting to look big and intimidating. They were certainly the former, but not so much the latter.
"Can we help you gentlemen?" I asked as Zwei started growling and Aisha's shadow started to shift unnaturally.
The apparent leader of the thugs, a hulking man with a shaved head and bulging arms covered in obscene tattoos, sneered and spoke up.
"You know, I didn't think you could sink any lower Meadows," he said, "Not only do you turn your back on the cause, but now we find your fucking a fucking nigger!"
I blinked.
"Um, shes not my girlfriend," I said.
"Damn right, I don't swing that way!" said Aisha with a grin.
I shot her a look.
"You do realize I was hoping to get out of this without having to cut these idiots to pieces, right?" I grumbled.
"Really? Cus I didn't," said Aisha, "Come on Dog boy, wheres the fun in letting idiots run free when we can clean out the gene pool some?"
I sighed.
"Alright, fine, just don't kill them," I said, "Plus, it'll be nice to see what you can do."
Aisha smiled radiantly at me, before turning back to the thugs and starting forwards. The skinheads seemed a little taken aback, before they burst out laughing.
"You think you can take all of us little girl?" sneered the leader, "HA! What can a nigger bitch like you do?"
Aisha stopped, her smile not disappearing.
"Quite a bit actually," she said, "Like this."
She tapped her foot and the shadow below her feet rippled and started climbing up her legs, forming into boots, trousers, a belt, a shirt with built in gloves, a scarf that rippled and snapped in an unfelt wind and looked like it was made of jet black smoke and finally, a hood/mask that completely hid her face, leaving nothing but glowing yellow eyes. I raised an eyebrow. That was actually a pretty neat trick. It wasn't a Balance Breaker or anything, just an application of her ability to control shadows.
Then, the shadows around the thugs rippled and more figures emerged, each one identical to Aisha. Now that was really impressive and showed just how smart she really was under her impulsive nature. I had to wonder just how long she'd spent working with her Sacred Gear to be able to use it like that.
"Still think I can't do anything?" asked Aisha, her voice issuing from all of the shadowy figures.
"Shit, shes a cape!" yelled one of the Skinheads.
"No shit Jackass," said Aisha, "I'm Imp, make sure you remember it!"
Then, the darkness fell over the gang like a wave. Thanks to my own connection to the Shadows, I could get some idea of what was going on, but it was mostly just Aisha taking down all the goons quickly, efficiently and painfully, starting with those with guns and then moving onto the others. It was clear that she was somewhat skilled in unarmed combat, on top of being quick and incredibly strong.
One of the interesting things about Sacred Gears is that all of them, with the exception of those that could only affect the Human World, affected the body in some way. Just having one in your body, even an inactive one, put strain on your body, making it naturally stronger than a Human without one. You would never find an overweight Sacred Gear user, especially not if the Gear was activated. Many also served to basically remove the natural limits of the Human body, which is why it was possible for people like Siegfried to match a Knight's speed in combat, even taking into account the fact he was technically an Artificial Human. The stronger the Gear, the more the effect, with a Longinus having the most affect. That was also the reason why I was able to match Victoria in our spar. I wasn't superhuman and wouldn't be beating a Rook or a genuine Brute in an armwrestling match anytime soon, but I was definitely a lot stronger than your average 15 year old.
I glanced at my watch and sighed.
"Oi Aisha, hurry it up!" I called, "I want to get this done before the sun goes down!"
Instead of responding, the cloud of darkness seemed to bulge slightly, before it imploded, sending the thugs slamming into walls, lamposts and sliding across the ground, each one covered in bruises and minor cuts and completely unconscious. Aisha rose out of the shadows next to me, her shadowy costume melting away as she stretched.
"Man, that was fun!" she said with a grin, "Now I know why so many Capes go out and beat up morons in dark alleys!"
I rolled my eyes.
"Please don't do that," I said, "Or at least, make sure you aren't caught. I'd hate to lose my first teammate because you did something stupid."
"Awww, nice to know you care Doggy!" said Aisha with a grin, hugging my arm between her breasts.
I sighed and pinched my nose with my free hand as I tried to keep from blushing. From Aisha's giggles and the heat in my cheeks, I didn't succeed.
It didn't take much longer to reach the warehouse Rachel had taken as a kennel for her dogs, which apparently held rather a lot judging from the noise. As we approached, I raised a hand to knock, but before I could, the door opened to reveal Rachel with Angelica at her heels. She glanced between me and Aisha, before stepping back and indicating for us to come in. I raised an eyebrow, but did so. How had she known we were coming? I couldn't think of a single reason that she'd know unless Aisha had told her through her Shadows, but considering the Night Reflection holder looked as surprised as I was, that wasn't likely.
The inside of the wearhouse was surprisingly clean and didn't smell that much considering the large number of dogs present, although it was rather noisy. A large part of the room was fenced off, giving the dogs a large area to roam free, and was full of various dog toys and bowls of water and food. Dogs of all breeds, most of them baring signs of past abuse, were running around the area, playing and generally having a grand old time. Another area was taken up by a few large cages that held more dogs, these ones obviously untrained and likely still to feral for Rachel to allow in with the others.
I was broken out of my examination of the warehouse by a startled intake of breath from Aisha. I turned and was rather surprised to see Rachel had got right in Aishas face. For a moment, the red-headed dog user stared at Aisha, before she backed off.
"Your Brians sister," she said.
Aisha looked surprised.
"Um, yes, but how did you know that?" she asked.
"You smell like him," was the reply.
Aisha and I glanced at each other as Rachel padded over to where bags of dogfood were piled up near the enclosure.
"Smell like him?" whispered Aisha, "Whats that supposed to mean? I thought her power was just to enhance dogs?"
I shrugged.
"No clue," I said, "Maybe theres more to it than that?"
It wouldn't be the first time after all. Hell, the PRT got the basics of Rachels power wrong, would it be that surprising to know they screwed up more than that?
"What do you want?" asked Rachel suddenly, making me shake my head and get my thoughts back on track.
"Right, think about that later," I muttered.
I cleared my throat.
"I have an offer for you Rachel," I said, "I've been asked by a family friend to put together a team to…"
"I'm in."
I blinked. Well...that was easy.
"What? Just like that?" asked Aisha, "You don't even want to know what its about?"
Rachel glanced back at us and frowned.
"I'm not an idiot," she said, "I know I can trust Sam, but I can't trust my current boss. So long as I can keep my dogs, I'll happily work for you Alpha."
Alright, where the hell did that come from? I didn't think I'd made that much of an impression on her!
"Why Alpha?" I asked.
Rachel stared at me, before looking at Zwei.
"You are the strongest dog," she said simply, "Perhaps not yet, but you will be."
Then she turned back to the dog food. I stared at her. Did she know about my Sacred Gear? How? She wasn't connected to the Supernatural world, was she? Damn, this was so confusing!
"A-anyway, that wasn't all I wanted to ask," I said.
Rachel looked back at me, once again giving me the impression of a big dog.
"I was hoping to recruit the rest of your current team," I said, "Mainly because Aisha wants to keep her Brother out of trouble, but also because they seem like they'd be good teammates. Would you mind introducing me to them?"
Rachel stared at me for a moment, before she nodded.
"Help me finish and we'll go," she said.
Aisha and I glanced at each other again, before I shrugged and headed over to join Rachel with Aisha following a moment later.
Lisa Wilbourn groaned as she sat back in her chair, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to shift the headache she could feel building. No matter what she tried, she just couldn't figure out what Coils power did, other than the fact it was some kind of Thinker ability. She was starting to get desperate.
Up until now, they'd been hitting low level targets that belonged to Villains, which put them relatively low on the totem pole, but it was clear that Coil was slowly increasing the difficulty and thus, visibility of their heists and eventually, that would make them far more vulnerable if they stole from the wrong person or they became enough of a threat for the PRT to actually put some effort into catching them. Once that happened, they were fucked and Coil could easily have them...disposed of as soon as they were no longer useful.
Lisa groaned again and got to her feet. This was getting her nothing but a headache, so it was best to take a break before she pushed her power to far and incapacitated herself again. She left her room and headed for the kitchen, nodding to Brian, who was reading through some paperwork at the table, and glancing over at where Alec was staring at a pot noodle that was steaming lightly.
"Wheres Rachel?" she asked.
"With her dogs I think," said Brian.
"Hnn, I hope shes not going after Hookwolfs Dog Fighting rings again," said Lisa, "She nearly died last time…"
She trailed off as the buzzer connected to the front door went off.
"Huh, guess shes back," said Alec disinterestedly as he peeled back the top of his meal and picked up a fork.
He had just taken a mouthful when their last teammate entered the room and glanced around at them.
"We need to talk," she said shortly and walked back out again.
The other three Undersiders glanced at each other in confusion. None of them were particularly close to the dog-girl, her standoffish nature and short temper prevented that, and as a result, none of them had ever seen her do anything quite like that before. After a moment, Brian stood and headed for the living room with Lisa following him. Alec sighed and picked up his noodles to follow his teammates.
The three Undersiders entered the living room and immediately froze when they saw the little black and gray corgi sniffing at Alecs console collection and the teenager leaning against the couch, looking around with some interest.
"Rachel…" said Brian, his smoke already starting to leak from his hands.
However, before he or any of the others could properly react to the stranger, something dropped from the ceiling and landed on the Undersiders leaders shoulders, making him stumble as a pair of dark arms wrapped around his neck.
"Hey big bro!" said the figure with a wide, pure white grin.
"Wha...Aisha?!" spluttered Brian as he tried to regain his balance, "What are you doing here?!"
"I'm here to make you a better offer than what your current boss has," said Aisha, "Or rather, Slash Dog is."
Lisa froze.
"Wait, how do you know that?" she asked.
Aisha snorted.
"Why wouldn't I want to know who my Brother worked for?" she asked, "Incidentally…"
She bopped Brian on the head.
"You got a lot of nerve telling me to stay out of trouble while running around robbing people!" she snapped, before letting him go and dropping to the floor.
Lisa looked between the younger girl, the ceiling and Slash Dog, who was smirking at the looks on their face, before groaning and rubbing her eyes.
"Your a Stranger, aren't you?" she asked.
"Whatever gave you that impression?" asked Aisha with a smirk that would normally grace Lisa's face.
Slash Dog cleared his throat, drawing attention back to him.
"Now that the family drama and paranoia's out of the way, how about we get down to business?" he said.
Brian scowled.
"Alright, what do you want?" he asked, "And why are you with my sister?"
Slash Dog smiled and pushed off the couch he was leaning against.
"I've been contact by...an interested party to acquire my servicers in exchange for certain privileges," I said, "He's given me carte blanche to recruit who I please, with the exception of Imp here."
He patted Aisha on the head.
"Since Rachel is my friend, I decided I'd see if she was interested and Aisha suggested you lot, so I figured I might as well see if your interested."
Brian frowned.
"You do know we already have a boss, right?" he asked.
"A boss who'd happily kill you all if you every outstayed your welcome," I said.
"Plus, the bastards got a torture chamber in his basement and I'm sure I saw him looking at pictures of little girls," said Aisha.
"More to the point, my boss can offer you a heck of a lot more than Coil ever could," said Slash Dog.
Lisa flinched as Brian pasued and slowly turned to her.
"Coil?" he growled, "Our boss is Coil?!"
Lisa flinched.
"Yeah, he is," she said.
There really wasn't any point in pretending otherwise. Brian took a deep breath and visibly pushed down his anger.
"Alright, we'll discuss that later," he said as he turned back to Slash Dog, "What can your boss offer that...Coil can't. More to the point, who is he?"
Slash Dog shrugged.
"What do you want?" he asked, "Custody of your sister? Freedom from a yoke around your neck? To disappear and never be found?"
"The old geezers a pervert, but hes connected and powerful," said Aisha.
"As for who he is, well, you might have heard of him," said Slash Dog, "Some of his names are Alfordr, the Wise One, Wotan, the One Eyed God, Pervy Old Man…"
"Alright Samuel, I think they get the picture."
Slash Dog trailed off as the Undersiders jumped at the unexpected voice, only to stare in shock as a blue circle of runes and sweeping lines appeared on the wall and opened like a door, allowing an old man with an insanely long beard to walk through, followed by a beautiful woman with silver hair, clad in armour that looked like something Fenja and Menja would wear.
However, Lisa wasn't interested in her, not when all her focus was on the old man. She recognized the names Sam had listed of course, researching the Empire Capes and their allies had led her to a good deal of information on the Norse Pantheon and all the names were those attributed to Odin (other than the thing about him being a pervert) and for a very brief, crazy moment, she had thought that Slash Dog was talking about Allfather, the maniac who had started the Empire, but he was long dead and would sooner murder Aisha than have her work for her.
However, now that she was actually confronted by the person behind the names, she'd almost have prefered Allfather. Her power actually seemed to stall for a moment when the old man had appeared, only to start screaming at her that he was, somehow, much more dangerous than any single being in the City. Then, the visions started. War, death, blood, a towering figure in golden armour astride an eight legged horse, a gleaming city of gold atop a mighty tree, two ravens flying over battlefields soaked in blood, a huge wolf baring his fangs, a pool of black water that seemed to draw her in…
A large hand on her head suddenly drew her out of the visions and she found herself staring into Odins single eye.
"Tis best for Mortals not to look into the truth of the Gods," he said, "Your minds are not meant to see the enormity of the Nine Realms like that."
Lisa swallowed shakely as Odin removed his hand. Her legs were shaking and her skin felt hot and feverish as she slowly sank down to the floor before she collapsed.
"Are you OK?" asked Brian as he knelt down beside her, keeping a weather eye on Odin and his Valkyrie bodyguard.
Lisa gave a slightly hysterical laugh and shook her head as her power 'helpfully' made some connections that really, REALLY didn't help her current mental state. How was one supposed to take the fact that Gods and, by extension, Mythical beings of all stripes existed? Hell, if her power was right, Odin alone was strong enough to whip Brockton Bay of the face of the earth. And he wasn't even the strongest!
"What did you do to her?" growled Alec, narrowing his eyes at Odin.
Then, his eyes went wide and he took a step back.
"Wha…"
"Sorry boy, but your power won't work on me," said Odin, putting a hand out to stop the Valkyrie at his side from ripping the Masters head off, "And I did nothing to Miss Livsey. She simply saw something she really shouldn't have."
"Thats not my name," mumbled Lisa.
"Ah, my apologies," said Odin.
Lisa shook her head and took a deep breath. Then, she tried to stand up, only for her legs to not support her weight. Brian caught her before she fell and helped her to the sofa as Odin sat across from her.
"Alright, so you want us to work for you and I'm pretty damn sure you can deliver whatever you promise," said Lisa, "Next question, why us?"
Odin looked over at where Slash Dog was stood. The blonde shrugged.
"Aisha thought it was a good idea and I know for a fact that you guys are good at what you do," he said.
Lisa frowned slightly. That...wasn't entirely true. It wasn't a lie, but it also wasn't the complete truth. Still, it wasn't worth bringing it up now. Later though…
"Wait, how can we be sure hes on the up and up?" asked Alec, "I mean, I kinda like our current arrangement…"
"With a man who would happily put a bullet in your head if he had a bad day or, more likely, use us in his Bond villain style plan to take over the city?" asked Lisa, a little snidely.
"Ah...good point," said Alec.
Lisa hid a smile. Alec was just barely above a sociopath and had a great appreciation for money and doing as little as possible to get it, but one thing he did value greatly was his life and freedom.
"I can pay you well," said Odin, "However, I think I have something that you would like far more than meer monetary compensation."
"And what would that be?" sneered Alec.
"The ability to destroy your Father."
Alec froze.
"How do you…"
"I know a lot young man," said Odin, "That is my nature, my privilege and my burden."
He turned his single eye on Brian.
"For you, I can offer the chance to be more than you are," he said, "And the chance to...try and protect Aisha. I wish you good luck though, shes even worse than Loki was at that age."
"And don't you forget it!" said Aisha with a grin.
Slash Dog looked like he was having a minor existential crisis at the idea that a Human could be worse than the God of Mischief at causing, well, mischief.
"So, what do you say?" continued Odin, ignoring Aisha, "Will you agree to join my little team?"
The three Undersiders glanced at each other, before Brian sighed and nodded.
"We're in," he said, "I'm...not entirely sure whats going on, but I do know we can't stick with Coil unless we want a 9mm lobotomy. However…"
He pointed at his sister.
"I do want to know why your on the team. You don't have powers...do you?"
Aisha just grinned as her shadow stood up and started making faces at her Brother.
"You tell me," she said, "I'm not a Parahuman though."
Brain faulted.
"What?"
"Its my Sacred Gear, Night Reflection," said Aisha.
Slash Dog sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
"This...is going to be a loooong conversation," he muttered.
"Oh, before we start making Lisa's head explode, we need a name," said Aisha, "For the team."
"Baskerville."
All attention turned to Rachel, who had been quietly petting Angelica while watching the conversation unfold.
"Why Baskerville?" asked Slash Dog.
Rachel pointed at the teens jacket, which had a patch on the back depicting a snarling black hound, before pointing at Zwei.
"Black dog," she said and went back to what she was doing.
Everyone stared for a moment longer, before Lisa snorted.
"As much as I hate to admit it, she has a point," she said, "Slash Dog is the most recognizable one of us, so its only right we use him as our rally point."
Everyone thought for a moment, before nodding.
"Sounds good," said Brian.
"Eh, I can't think of anything better," said Alec.
"Hehe, I don't mind," said Aisha.
Slash Dog sighed, but nodded.
"Sure, why not?" he said, "Baskerville it is."
And I'm going to leave this here. Next time, we'll catch up with Taylor and find out whats going on with her. Should be pretty interesting. Oh, and see if you can guess what I have in mind for her and her Sacred Gear. Hehehe.
I'm not sure why Odin was in the area of Aisha's home, but I imagine it was looking for a titty bar or something. As for why he got her out, well, any Sacred Gear would be a massive boon to whoever controls it and Night Reflection isnt weak from what I can see. Don't forget, they are supposed to be rare.
Before I forget, Aisha probably isnt actually gay, she was just trying to get a rise out of the thugs. That was probably pointless to say, but I dont want to get any comments about contradicting myself later if I decide to make her straight.
Speaking of pairings, any suggestions from the peanut gallery? I still have no idea what I should do with this and, well, it IS a DXD story, so...
I think my idea of Sacred Gears naturally making the barer stronger and able to take their body further than normal Humans is fairly sound. Most Human Gear users seem to be able to pull of feats normal Humans wouldn't be able to after all.
Incidentally, Aisha has about a year of training with her Sacred Gear and with the Norse Pantheon, which technically makes her the strongest, or at least most skilled, member of Baskerville. That will change pretty quickly though. If your wondering, her shadowy costume looks like her canon one, only with a generic ninja style hood instead of her mask.
So, any guesses as to the real reason Rachel's so good with dogs and keeps bringing to mind images of dogs yet? Probably not since I havent started with the really obvious hints yet.
Odins not perving on Lisa and Rachel, will wonders never cease. In all seriousness, Odin has shown that he can be serious and this was definitely a good time to be so. Lisa won't get hit like that every time she encounters someone on the upper levels of power, but it won't be the last time she gets taken aback. Especially when she meets Lucifer and Leviathan. The Magical Girl, not the seamonster...huh, wouldn't that be an odd image…
Anyway, time to sign out. Don't forget to leave a review!