1.4

Her fingers drummed across the table as she sat in the outdoor cafe.

It was a small place she had found a while back, the owner had been the one to help her get on her feet when she had arrived, the whole getting a job and place to live thing had been as difficult as it normally was. Compounded with her situation the time, she really doubted that she would of made it without her help. It was one of those things that she really didn't think she'd ever be able to pay back, it held that much weight to her.

To separate herself from her normal hero attire for this specific hero, she had changed outfits. A red cold shoulder blouse, a tan pleated skirt, and a pair of high heel flats gave her a nice casual look, whilst still looking good. The adjustment to dressing feminine was… hard, to put it simply, but she'd say that she'd gotten it down for the most part. Though, beyond basic stuff like lipstick, make-up was a bust. A part of herself was annoyed and uncomfortable by the looks she got, but well, she was getting used to it. That was really the only thing that she could do in a situation where she was quite literally not in her own skin.

Besides, it did come with the downside of making her a bit weaker than normal. This was strictly a casual attire for the hero she was impostering as, and her power downgraded her strength by a bit. A vague number in her mind letting her know she was operating at about 40%, much weaker than she normally was, but strong enough that there wasn't too much that she couldn't deal with so long as she saw it coming.

Regardless, she had other things that she needed to deal with.

Madison.

She had marked down in a notebook, which she really needed to just put on a flash drive instead or at least something more secure than a notebook really, a list of notable dates that she remembered in canon. Things such as when Annette was supposed to die, when Taylor was supposed to leave for summer camp, when Emma was supposed to meet Sophia, when Lung would inevitably recruit Bakuda, and more. The most important of those was of course the dates when the Endbringers were supposed to be attacking.

The keywords being supposed to.

It was entirely possible that everything she did was entirely worthless and ultimately going to fail if the angelic bitch could see her well enough to plan around her. It was a terrifying thought, because if her efforts to obscure herself were worthless than that meant she was already someone's piece on the board. Just existing in the world could be enough to change Contessa's path, and if she so much as decided to look and see what made the change it was very unlikely she could do anything.

Whatever path she made, the ones not involving Scion or the Endbringers and a few other parahumans if she remembered right, would always work. If there was even the slimmest chance of things going her way, she could do it. She was sure that on a physical level she was definitely stronger, of this she had no doubt, but the fact was that such a thing a thing really didn't mean much.

If Contessa could beat her, she would.

She clenched her arm to stop the trembling of her body.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Instead of letting her paranoia creep in on her, she tried to think of less heavy things.

For example the thought of her black and white cat, Duo, well it wasn't really hers but the stray cat sort of lingered around in her area and was always so happy to see her and was just the most adorable creature that she had ever laid her eyes on and had the most softest fur you ever could imagine and the way it purred when you scritched it behind its ears just right was so cute that she was sure that there if there was such a thing as a cuteness singularity, than her cat would probabl-

"Ahem."

The sound of someone clearing their throat was what drew Noel away from her thoughts.

"Are you gonna just sit there with your head in the clouds, or what, bitch? I didn't drive out here for nothin did I?" The snarky, feminine, voice said as they took a seat across from her with no real heat in their voice.

Turning her eyes up to meet the newcomer she smiled, the girl was college aged, probably in her early 20s if one was to do a rough estimate. She had a distinctly Asian look to her, long black hair and pale skin being the notable tells, however the pale blue eyes that she had gave away the fact that at least some part of her family was Western in origin. Her clothes were casual, choosing comfort over style, going with a simple tee that had some Japanese text on it in a big and bold red styling and a pair of blue jeans with a wallet chain hooked to it and black boots.

"Just because I was distracted doesn't mean I didn't notice you Alice," Which was the truth because paranoia was a cruel mistress and required her to keep a small part of herself paying attention to her surrounding at all times, "Anyways, I thought you said you'd tone down on the cursing? Seems even the perfect Alice Kanda has her flaws~." Noel replied after a moment, her words light despite their teasing nature.

Alice snorted as she pulled out her phone, and fiddled with it, her thumb swiping the screen up, down, right, and left.

"Bitch, you wish. I'm beyond you normal people standards, I'm a genius, thus I don't gotta listen to your shit."

"Hmm, and this has nothing to do with Kaoru ri-"

"What did that idiot text you, huh? Did he tell you how apparently, I'm too "intense" for his cowardly ass? Or how he suddenly realized that he liked dick? Or the fac-"

"Well, he didn't text me anything besides the fact that you two had a falling out and to try and put a good word in for him, though I can see that there's more to it than that. If you want to vent though, you know I'll always lend an ear." She cut in quickly, stopping the tirade that Alice had been about to go from picking up too much steam.

Alice was an obsessive person, a genius by her own word and someone who did not really deal well with people due to being about as abrasive as steel wool most of the time. It was a very fair assessment to call her intense, especially with her ego only having shrunk slightly since the two had met a couple months ago.

Noel, however, understood how to deal with people like that.

Kaoru, Alice's boyfriend for the past few years, was not and she could see where this was going.

"I found the bastard taking it in the ass from some random ass dude in our apartment, and when I get all offended and shit like I'm supposed to because ya know, this is my first committed relationship and shit, he tries to turn the tables on me and act like I'm the fucking problem. As if, because I want the person I date to be successful like I am and not be like wet cardboard in terms of personality and backbone, I'm the asshole! I paid for our apartment, I helped him with his classwork, I bust my ass learning medical shit so that I can help him study for his exam, I paid for his shitty car to be repaired, I did so much for him and he repays me with this shit! I'm just so fucking done!" Punctuating her last words was the slam of her fist against the table they sat at as she vented.

Sitting there taking it all in as her friend breathed heavy from her rant, Noel was the picture of calm as she picked up her tea from the table, thankful that it hadn't spilled, and took a sip.

Why the hell did the world have to make her deal with this?!

Like seriously, she already had enough crap on her plate, can't she just get a break for a day? She knew going down to Boston to try and preemptively nip in the bud a situation that could occur a few years down the line was a good thing, she had spent a good while even trying to find the girl to try and do… something. It was apt to say she hadn't had much of a plan beyond go find the half-Japanese girl that should be Bakuda and then befriend the shit out of her or try to curb her ego slightly, but things had worked out in such a way that when she had found Alice, Noel found her to be not nearly as bad as she knew she could be.

Alice didn't have many real friends, she did have people that looked up to her however, praising her and riding her coattails like hanger-ons. All they did was bloat the girl's ego, and because she was doing extremely well in all she did, well her ego was justified. Her boyfriend Kaoru had seemed tired of her, but was pulled along by Alice's willingness to make things work and lacking the spine to go against her wishes. It wasn't hard to see how she could end up in another 3 years of such treatment, but as it stood she was merely a rather intelligent and driven young woman with a mildly inflated ego.

Don't ask her how she'd done it, but she managed to become friends with the girl, and well they were really quite good friends. Noel wasn't willing to simply be pulled along by Alice and in her own way, Noel could tell she appreciated it. Thus, as probably the only friend that she could actually speak to about this, Noel had to deal with this as a good friend would.

"Wanna go somewhere and trash some junk? Nothing is quite so soothing as destroying wreckage that no one cares for."

Alice was silent for a moment, as her pale blue eyes stared at me unblinking.

And then she grinned widely.

"Fuck, you know what, you know me too well you sunnovabitch. Let's go break some shit! Better than wallowing around like some sad sap over some asshole that's not good enough for me anyways." As if the previous moment had never happened, Alice was up from her seat walking over to her Jeep in a flash. "Come on, finish your tea, and get your butt moving, Noel! We're heading to the Trainyard!"

Shaking her head, she smiled. That went better than expected, she pat herself on her back for her quick thinking. Letting out a sigh she pulled out her wallet from the pockets on her skirt— seriously pockets are awesome, why don't all clothing have them— and leaving it on the table along with a nice tip for the waiter who was eyeing her up from behind the counter. He looked nervous, probably due to the fact that Alice had just vented rather loudly in public in a rather explosive manner, so it was understandable. Giving the poor guy a sincere smile, she walked quickly over to where Alice had parked and hopped in the front passenger side.

The Jeep was a dark black, and notably clean despite being some years old. Alice was a stickler for such things, she was the type to her items cleaned and orderly if she could, not liking the idea of having a mess if it wasn't something she could sort through. She'd call it something like an orderly chaos.

"Buckle up, or don't, you'll be safe with your powers 'Buki. Probably." Taking a second to buckle up herself, we sped off.

Shaking her head, she took a moment to buckle her seatbelt as they drove through the traffic, which was surprisingly light. Probably had to do with the fact that it was a pretty hot day. No one liked the heat, well not reasonable people anyways. She noted that the Jeep, at least the backseat, was still filled with all of the half-finished projects, papers, and just general junk that Alice worked on. On the dashboard was a honolulu girl, and the radio blared with some punk music that sounded vaguely familiar. All in all, it was a contrast to the genius girl, perfectionist that was Alice, but it wasn't strange really. She'd be more surprised if the people she'd known as characters weren't people beyond what she had read.

"So, how's the cape shit going? Heard you been 'round with the C and D-listers even though your powers make you one of the baddest bitches in the city, the fuck's up with that? If I were a betting gal, I'd say you're building up for something big." Alice's eyes were focused on the road as she spoke, but there was a notable amount of interest present.

"Something like that, making connections and figuring out the overall cape scene in Brockton is at least part of it." Noel answered after a moment, keeping things vague and acting as if she actually as if she had some bigger plan beyond trying to do good stuff where she could. She wasn't the type to want to rule over people, or be in a notable position of power, despite the hero that she was cosplaying being quite the opposite. Though there was a push to consolidate power under herself, it was mostly ignored through crippling indecisiveness and a general disdain for such a thing.

"The way you say that makes me think you got something real big going on, if it has to do with those Nazis, fuck 'em up for me alright?"

"As if you had to ask."

Alice, was an unplanned thing in her now life, really.

She was her confidant, someone who knew at least the partial truth. Not enough to ever use it against Noel, just enough to know that she had her normal self and then Blizzard, or more aptly, Fubuki. She had needed to explain something after Alice had caught followed her and found practicing with her powers when she was still getting the hang of them, and going with a partial truth was better than denying the obvious. Things hadn't changed too much between them after it, weirdly enough. Mainly because watching someone crush a sizable amount of steel wreckage with a wave of a hand was, in Alice's own words, "fucking terrifying".

Understandable really, but not the worse she could do. Not that Alice needed to know.

Though... maybe it would get her to stop sniping at the fact that her guy form was "girly looking".
Hmm... nah wasn't worth it.

Besides that, she did consider the girl a friend, and while there was always the chance that she could go off the deep end one day and become the person that Noel knew she could be, she'd feel scummy if she was one of the reasons that she was pushed to be like that. Someone that could be bad, evil, or malicious, didn't mean that they were always that way nor that they were destined to be that way. At least, that was her thoughts on the matter anyway. She'd deal with it if things ever got out of hand.

As they pulled into the area right outside the Trainyard, she decided to put the thoughts out of her head. She needed to currently be there for her friend, she really needed to stop getting caught up in her own thoughts so much.

"Alright, where the hell did I put it?" Parking the car off the actual road, Alice unbuckled her seat and hopped into the back, rummaging through the various clutter on the floor. Noel took the executive decision to look away, as she noted the black thong and felt a slight blush form on her face. "Ah! Here we go!"

In her right hand was a red metal bat, with the kanji for Zantetsuken written on it. In the left, a 9mm.

"Do you even know how to fire a gun, you idiot?"

"Firstly, don't call me a fucking idiot got it? Secondly, no, but hey there's a first for everything, ya know?"

Snatching the gun from her hand, Noel quickly put the safety on in a fluid motion that came from years of proper firearm safety drilled into her head.

"Well then, first thing you should know is to keep the safety on the gun if it's not in use, or if you're not planning to use the gun anytime soon. Also, and this one's more obvious, don't point a loaded gun at someone you're not going to shoot." Her words were stern, being paraphrased from her instructor at the gun range she used to frequent.

"Sheesh, are you gonna lecture me, or are we gonna break some shit?" There was a hitch in her voice, that made Noel sigh. She wasn't okay, and this wasn't the time to act all hard, she needed to remember that.

"Alright, come on, I'll show you how to fire the thing and not accidentally shoot yourself." Noel said as she got out of the vehicle and moved deeper into the Trainyard, it was still in use so they needed to go to where all abandoned junk was.

"Sick!" Quickly following after her, soon Alice fell into step with her as they made there way further into to the Trainyard.

The two walked in silence for a bit before Noel spoke up.

"Wow, you're vertically challenged."

Alice stood at a rather modest 5 foot 2, or 167 cm if you're a heretic who uses the metric system. In comparison, Noel, towered over her at 5 foot 9, or 175 cm if you're into heresy like that. Despite their relative similarity in age, there were loads of differences, the most notable one at the moment being their height.

"And you're mentally challenged if you really think that."

"No, try again. You're short Alice."

"I'm perfectly average height, miss super-power assisted supermodel body!"

"More like perfectly tiny, miss superiority complex."

"It's not a superiority complex if I am superior to most of those mouthbreathers in Cornell."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say flat chest."

"Shut up, you goddamn cow!"

As they reached the jungle of wreckage that was more aptly a junkyard that just so happened to be connected to the Trainyard, they both snorted as the atmosphere naturally lightened from their comments at each other. It was this bit of mutual trust and respect between the two of them that let them get away with the sniping comments, Noel knew if she was literally anyone else that hadn't earned Alice's respect than it was very likely they would've been on the wrong side of that bat very quickly. She didn't take shit from people, especially those who she thought were beneath her, and in some ways, that was admirable.

"Alice, look over here, bet I can shoot that window out first try!"

"Maybe you should try something easier first, I mean, if you miss and the bullet ricochets off of something there's a chance you could hit yourself or me." Her words were filled with the concern of someone who'd seen something like that happen and would rather not witness such a thing again. Being hit in leg by your own bullet was dumb, being hit because you hit something at just the right angle for it to decide to just fuck you up was unlucky and embarrassing.

"Sheesh, are you doubting my skills? I'm fucking amazing! Watch thi— Oh shit!"
Noel let out a sigh as a blue glow stopped the bullet that had indeed ricocheted and had been merely a few inches away from tagging Alice in the arm. Turning to her with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression, Alice turned away quickly with a blush of embarrassment spreading across her face.

"Okay, that was… probably not my smartest idea. So, uh, want to show me how to use this thing and not actually shoot myself like some sorta idiot?" Her words were sheepish as Noel crushed the bullet finely, and then flicked it away into the junk.

"Well, that was what we're here for anyway, well that and to "destroy some shit". Remind me why I agreed to do this again?" Her words were light as she walked behind Alice and adjusted her grip on the gun that she sure the girl had acquired illegally.

"Because you love me, 'Buki. Obviously."

"Bitch, you wish."

"Ouch, shot down just like? You hurt me, ya know? Anyways, it's so just in-case some idiot gets the idea to fuck with me again, I can pull out this baby and be all "You decided to fuck with the wrong girl tonight shithead". Or, if someone decides that they'll go after your social life and shit, and trust me I've heard it happens, I won't be completely defenseless. I refuse to be defenseless, to let some weak idiots that just so happen to have a gun pretend like they're better than me."

She made some good points, but that last thing? There was something more there, that needed to be unpacked.

"Alice, you do know everything isn't about proving your better than others, right?"

"That's what the idiots want you to think 'Buki, everything in this fucked up world is about proving you're the best, that people should know you're the best even when you ain't doing anything amazing. Look at me, I'm a genius, but I don't have to tell that to everybody that I interact with in Boston, they just know because I proved I'm smarter than they are."

"Sure, but what happens when you stumble?"

"I won't stumble."

"Okay, but what if you do?"

"Then I'd just prove that it was a one-time thing, and that I'm still the smartest fucker they know. Can we just no—"

"That'd be harder than what you're thinking it is. Keeping up a look of perfection means when it comes crashing down, you've lost the mysticism surrounding you, you become human instead of something that think is unreachable. And it's almost impossible to get back to where you were, because that thought will now linger in everyone's minds, that just because you looked superior didn't mean anything. You could fail just like them, and that means you're not something to truly fear. And that's not even dealing with the fact that there is always going to be someone out there in the world better than you, or that superiority can mean absolutely nothing depending on the situation." Noel's word were succinct, and piercing as Alice stilled in-front of her.

"Can… can we just drop this for now?" Her words were quiet, and bitter.

"Yeah, of course, you… you know I'm only saying this shit because I care right. I don't want you to work yourself up to this big podium where you stand alone only to fall because something takes you by surprise," Her hands gripped Alice's tighter where they met on the gun, "I care about my friends, even the bitchy ones."

There was silence for a moment.

"Y-you're a real fucking sap, you know that saying shit like that almost makes me think you really do love me or some shit."

"I do love you… like a friend." She added after a moment, a cheeky grin stretching across her face.

"And people say I'm an asshole," Alice groaned before snorting, "Anyways, are we gonna break some shit or what? If I have to have any more of a heart-to-heart I might gag."

"Sure, make sure to not almost accidentally shoot yourself again, I might not catch it next time~."

"Uh huh, whatever ya say, 'Buki." The elbow to Noel's ribs was rightly earned, even if her body was more than strong enough at just 40% to shrug it off.

There was a period where there was no other sounds, besides those of nature, gunfire, and occasionally glass shattering.

"Noel?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks, hero."

"No problem."