In Wildbow's Worm, it's indicated that the powers a Shard manifests is dependent on personality, circumstances and nearby active Shards (the latter allowing for a Ping effect that changes the supplied power somewhat.
So I thought, what would happen if Taylor's Shard was a bit broader in "Ping" Radius and two other Capes were around as well as Sophia?
Of course, since "Being Taylor Is Suffering", I had to set up a screwed situation for her…
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Scales Of Injustice
"So. Why have you not encouraged more to join?" Kenta rumbled threateningly, his already nerve-wracking presence magnified by the presence of his primary assassin, Oni Lee.
"Sir, it's tricky." Ahito tried to excuse himself. "Most of those who want to join already have and… sir?"
Lung staggered, catching himself against the nearby wall and his head snapped round as Oni Lee pulled himself back up to his knees.
"A new Cape has appeared." He stated. "Find that cape. Now!"
Ahito sprinted into the school and Lung frowned.
"To have powers shaped by both yours and mine, Oni Lee… this Cape will be powerful. He will join us. I decree it!"
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Emma frowned as her savior and role-model suddenly staggered, dropping to one knee.
"Sophia? What happened?"
Sophia used Emma's shoulder to pull herself back up to her feet, swearing.
"Sophia?"
"Come on!" Sophia growled, pulling Emma back to where they had shoved Emma's former friend into her waste-filled locker. "If I'm right, and I hope I'm not…"
Sophia slammed to a halt as they rounded the corner and Emma almost plowed into her as the shorter girl stared in horror at the straining locker door.
"What's happening?" Madison asked from behind them even as Sophia fumbled in her pocket for a phone. Before them, the door continued to bulge outwards, then it ripped itself out of its frame and a shape apparently formed from smokey-silver scales poured out of the locker, the thing obviously far bigger than the locker could have contained.
"Sophia?" Emma asked for the third time, terror evident in her voice despite her best efforts and ahead of them, a glowing golden eye opened, its slit pupil narrowing as its gaze transfixed them.
"She's a Cape!" Sophia shouted, causing the nearby pupils to stare at her rather than the uncoiling beast. "Hebert's Triggered!"
Emma stumbled backwards as Hebert continued to unfold herself, one claw-tipped foot crashing through a reinforced-concrete wall as if it had been nothing more than paper. Madison screamed and ran off, her action galvanising Sophia into hitting an app on her screen, then pushing past Emma as she also fled.
"Wait for me!" Emma screamed as she turned and ran from the person she had betrayed almost two years prior.
Sophia cursed as she ran for the stairs. If she could get to the janitor's room fast enough, she could retreive her spare costume and the hunting bolts that she had stored in the small space behind the wall. If she could get a good shot off,she could take down Hebert before the bitch used her newfound power to strike out at her. After all, that's what happened when the helpless got power, they lashed out at everyone who had kept them in their place to begin with.
As Sophia ducked into the office, her phone rang.
"Yes?" She snapped as she flung open the cleaning supplies cupboard.
"You sounded the alert. What's happening?" Clockblocker's voice said, his normal (and extremely annoying) levity replaced by pure professionalism.
"Unknown Cape, destroying Winslow." Sophia half-lied as the sound of falling masonry and distant screams reached her. "I'm arming up, but I'll need backup, and lots of it. This new Cape's a frigging monster!"
"Understood. Velocity is vectoring in now and Armsmaster is three minutes out."
Another crash echoed and Sophia paused before reaching through the base of the cupboard to pull out her uniform.
"There might not be a school left by then." She said before de-activating her phone. "Not that it'll be a disaster or anything. Fucking gangs are all over this shithole."
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I felt myself getting compressed as the locker tightened around me, then suddenly there was the sound of something tearing and I was free! The sudden light almost blinded me and I reflexively closed my eyes as I landed on the ground, my body absorbing the impact and coiling…
…wait.
…what?
I concentrated on myself and for a long moment, I couldn't believe what I was feeling. My body had lengthened and become incredibly flexible, I could feel it pressing on itself as I slowly uncloiled. My limbs felt different, their joints had changed but at least I had the right number of fingers. the presence of two more limbs was a shock and from how one of them felt, trapped under me, I guessed it was a wing.
Was I a… a dragon?
Shifting again to try and free my wing (and that was a sentence I hadn't even considered using before now), I opened one eye to see if anyone had seen my…
Oh crap.
The Trio.
For what seemed like an eternity, all I could do was stare at them, then the discomfort of my position made itself felt once more. Reaching out, I tried to brace my hand against the wall so that I could…
…wow.
The builders of Winslow really skimped on quality control, didn't they?
Tearing my gaze away from the hole I had just made, I turned back to face my torme…
Where'd they go?
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Velocity halted at the gates of Winslow, staring at the sight of a draconic tail slicing through the upper storey of Winslow, causing that part of the wall to fall outwards.
"Control, this is Velocity… we're going to need backup." He stated with the type of calm that only occurs when it's obvious that everything is about to go to hell. "Where's Armsmaster?"
The answer, if it came, was drowned out by a weird, undulating roar which in turn was the signal for the alarms to start ringing. Velocity dashed to one side as the panicked students flooded out of the building, then he saw a familiar figure vanish.
"Shit!" He cursed, keying his comm again. "Oni Lee confirmed on site! This might be the initiation of a new ABB cape!"
"Understood, Velocity. Miss Militia is on her way, ETA five minutes. Armsmaster should be on site in two minutes. Assault and Battery will be heading out via copter in a few minutes."
"Moving in now. Any other assets on the scene?"
"Shadow Stalker has just indicated that she is costumed up and moving in."
Velocity nodded. "Then I'm moving in to aid with evacuation."
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I twisted and finally managed to get my tail out from underneath me, only for the ceiling to land on me. What the heck was with this? I knew Winslow was bad, the events of the last two years had proven that beyond doubt, but for it to be falling apart like this?
A shrug of my shoulders and flexing of my wings pushed the debris off my back and I sighed in relief as sunlight finally started to warm my flex and I was finally able to stretch to full length as something bounced off my scales…
What?
Looking round, I caught a glimpse of movement and then another fast-moving thing bounced off my chest.
Was that… Shadow Stalker?
Why was a Hero attacking me?
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Shadow Stalker ducked back into cover as her second bolt simply bounced off the scales of the monster that had once been the useless Taylor Hebert. Although she would under other circumstances be happy to admire the lethally-sharp claws and sparkling fangs of her adversary, the fact that it was the one who should rightfully be happy to lick her boots clean simply added more fuel to her rage. Slamming another bolt into her crossbow (and wishing that she had had the foresight to stash an auto-cocking one at Winslow rather than her old windlass one), she frantically cranked the handle, trying to ignore the growling snarl emitting from her target.
With the bolt finally in place and the string taut, Shadow Stalker activated her power, darting out of concealment to loose the bolt so that it would reform inside Taylor, hopefully forcing her to revert back to…
…FUCK!
How the hell had the bitch done that?
.
The realization that Shadow Stalker was trying to actually kill me came with her third bolt, this one in shadow form. As it slipped through my scales, I could feel its passage and that it was about to solidify inside me, then a reflex I didn't know I had activated and the world turned grey for an instant, all colour vanishing. The bolt skittered off the wall behind me as color returned.
What the heck?
Had I just used Shadow Stalker's power?
What else could I do?
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"Fucker just countered me!" Shadow Stalker all but screamed into her microphone. "My bolts have no effect on it! No fucking effect!"
"Copy that, Shadow Stalker. Drop back into support and let Velocity take lead."
Shadow Stalker blinked behind her mask, then suddenly a clangour of metallic impacts sounded as Velocity blurred past her and attacked.
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Grabbing a pipe that had been knocked out of the collapsing wall, Velocity accelerated and ran up the almost-deserted stairs, easily dodging the few remaining students trying to make their way out of the building. Rounding the corner behind which Shadow Stalker had taken refuge behind, Velocity took in the size of the corridor-filling dragon that he was facing, a dragon thatwas showing a lot of pointed teeth and sharp claws. Shifting his grip, he darted forwards and swung at the dragon's lower jaw, reducing his elapsed-time rate for a greater ability to deliver a solid hit. The steel pipe in his hands rang as he slammed it into the dragon's head, the impact almost causing him to drop it, but he persevered and delivered another dozen strikes before retreating.
"Fuck me." He whispered. "It didn't even daze it!"
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I blinked as for an instant, bells started to ring around me. The impacts were barely noticable and I looked round to see what was going on, then I spotted the one who had caused it.
Velocity.
Another Hero? What the fuck?
Was I going to end up fighting the entire Protectorate?
I needed to get out of there. Through the massive hole in the wall that I had created, I could see the Medhall Building and I thought longingly about hiding on it's roof until…
I blinked and looked round in shock.
I was on Medhall's roof!
What. The. Hell?
.
Sophia's jaw dropped as Hebert simply vanished with a sound similar to a quiet explosion. Her absence was reinforced by the sound of Armsmaster's bike pulling in through the gate outside.
"This isn't going to look good on our report." Velocity noted and Sophia bit down the urge to make a sarcastic reply.
"Console, be aware that the enemy Cape has disappeared, I repeat disappeared." Velocity stated, one hand cupped over his ear to indicate that he was using his comm. "High probability of teleportation."
Sophia scowled at the empty space where her target had been.
First it was that bastard Grue with his power that slowed her down and weakened her, now Hebert could do even worse.
The Bitch had just joined Grue on her needs-to-be-killed list.
Now, how to report it so that Hebert's status as a villain would be beyond doubt?
And how to keep Hebert down? Direct attacks were out of the question, but…
…wait.
Sophia smirked with triumph. She knew she'd hidden that gang-member's gun for a reason and now it was time.
She knew Hebert's address from Emma.
It would only take a single bullet…
And maybe a match or candle…
And after that, she could see about destroying the little that remained of Hebert's reputation.
.
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PRT Internal Threat Assessment Report - Security Level 2 access required
Protectorate ENE - Brockton Bay, New Hampshire
Reporting Officer – Velocity
Codename: Yazi
Designation: Independent Villain
Identity: Taylor Hebert (Orphan) (Publicly known)
Appearance: Yazi resembles a smokey-silver-colored winged chinese dragon over ten meters long (estimated, from nose to tail-tip) with five talons on each foot. Her eyes are golden in color with slit pupils.
Brute 7: Yazi was able to destroy reinforced concrete walls with ease and didn't bother to react to Velocity attacking her with a steel pipe.
Shaker 3+/-?: Yazi is reported to be able to turn into a "ghost dragon" via intangibility. This is a solid counter to Shadow Stalker's power and as such, SS should not be deployed against Yazi if possible.
Mover 6+/-?: Yazi disengaged from combat via teleportation. It is unknown what her range is at this time.
Changer 5+/-?: Yazi's combat form may or may not be her default form.
Profile: According to records obtained from Winslow High School and which have been confirmed by Shadow Stalker (who attended the same school as her), Taylor Hebert was known to be an antisocial loner with a persecution complex who made multiple false allegations in an ongoing attempt to get attention. She occasionally resorted to self-inflicted injuries to seek sympathy, but such events were rare due to her low pain threshold.
Taylor Hebert's grades at Winslow were significantly below average, putting her in the lower twentieth of the school. Earlier records indicate that she was either specially tutored or highly intelligent at the time of joining Winslow, but the steady decline in her grades indicates that the former is the most likely.
At this time, a Thinker rating is seen as non-applicable.
Taylor Hebert's mother, Anette Hebert was a former follower of Lustrum who died several years ago in a car crash. Although apparently an accident, Taylor's Triggering indicates that Annette may have been one of Lustrum's Capes prior to the organisation disbanding. Potential identities are Castrator, Woman's Fist, Mother's Wrath or DoubleX.
Taylor Hebert's father, Danny Hebert (see also Dockworkers Union) was killed by an unknown person the night his daughter Triggered, killed by a single bullet to the head and the house subsequently set on fire in an attempt to hide the evidence. Until further notice, Taylor Hebert is to be assumed to be the perpetrator. Evidence provided by civilian Emma Barnes (friend of Sophia Hess and one-time friend of Taylor Hebert) indicates the possibility of sexual abuse.
Notes: At this time, a Kill Order is not authorised, but should Yazi try to resist capture by means of violence, lethal force has been authorised.
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Thomas Calvert read the data appreciatively. Although a twenty-meter-long dragon would be hard to hide, she would be quite a force-multiplier for his cats-paw team, even if she didn't have any other powers than that which she had shown. And with her being both an orphan and a wanted criminal, there wouldn't be anywhere she could really hide without being discovered and forced to flee.
Coil leaned back and steepled his fingers in thought, then he pulled his mask on and picked up the phone, scrolling through to a specific number.
"Ah, Sarah." He said as soon as the phone on the other end was picked up. "I have a mission for you. See what you can discover about this new cape, Yazi, and try to come up with a way to get her onto your team…"
"Why yes, I think that her demonstrated abilities will mesh wonderfully with your team's."
.
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Max Anders gazed thoughtfully at the pictures on his desk. several of them showed a black-haired teenage girl, half-hunched against the blows that the world kept landing on her, every part of her body language screaming depressed defiance and a belief that things would never improve.
The final couple of pictures, taken by those who were seeking to join the ranks of the glorious E88, showed her new form, that of a silvery dragon effortlessly destroying the building she was in.
"While her form is unfortunate in its connotations, her power more than makes up for it." Kaiser finally decided.
"According to a statement released by the PRT, this Taylor Hebert is a villain." Victor noted from his desk in the corner. "Her mother's been linked to Lustrum and was probably a Cape too."
"A Second Generation Cape." Max mused. "And with such a power set. Even if she could only teleport one person with her at a time, it would totally change the course of battle and if her powers are even more… we must find her. Find her and recruit her. Maybe through her family?"
"She's an orphan." Victor supplied, still scrolling through the data on his computer. "Her father died the day she triggered, but that wasn't the reason. He died after. Bullet in the head and then the house set on fire."
"Find out who did it." Kaiser snapped. "I don't care who it was, just find out. If we can offer her revenge…"
Victor nodded in understanding.
"It shall be as you will."
.
Lung looked at the pictures that one of his lieutenants had placed on the desk in front of him.
"She was not asian." He noted, picking up the first picture, then igniting it with a flexing of his power. "It matters not. Her true form is all that matters. She is a dragon, she is now asian!"
"Her father was recently killed, Lung-Dono." The Lieutenant reported. "She is an orphan… my people are still searching for clues as to who killed him."
Lung nodded. "Good! We can bring her to our side by offering her vengeance. I approve! But her name… is there any evidence that she has indeed learned how to kill?"
"Aside from her father's death, which we do not believe to be due to her actions, no."
"Then why name her after a dragon which brings death?" Lung muttered. "Go. I wish to know more."
"As you command, Lung-Dono."
.
"You asked for a meeting, Director?"
Emily Piggot nodded and waved for her guests to be seated. In preparation for this meeting, extra chairs had been brought in and she watched as the people she had summoned sat down.
"I assume that you are aware of the newest Cape in Brockton Bay?" She asked and Lady Photon nodded.
"We are."
"Then you know that as the PRT have only a few fliers. Dauntless is our only PRT flier in Brockton Bay and while Aegis and Kid Win are both flight-capable, I would much prefer for them to avoid being anywhere near Yazi at this time, especially since Aegis lacks the power to take her down while Kid Win's reliance on technology would be incredibly easy for her to counter."
Several of the New Wave members nodded in understanding.
"Since she has wings, we are assuming that Yazi can fly, so we need fliers who also pack a strong attack." Piggot continued. "Unfortunately, the strongest flying blaster in Brockton Bay happens to be on the wrong side."
"Purity." Brandish growled and Emily nodded.
"Correct. Lady Photon, the PRT are interested in temporarily deputizing you, Laserdream and Glory Girl to back up Dauntless as the aerial component of the task force we are going to assemble to take down Yazi. We will be happy to provide you with secure communicators for the entire team but we will expect your three to join Dauntless for training at least once every three days."
"But we already know how to use our powers!" Victoria Dallon burst out ad Emily hid a sigh.
"Individually, yes. But what about together? Do you practise moving in formation? Have you a set pattern for Laserdream to fire her beams in so that you can approach your target under their protection? Do you know the difference between a breakout and a diversion?"
As each question was fired at her, Victoria wilted and Lady Photon nodded.
"Your points are well taken, Director. Very well… we accept. You have your air support."
.
The sunlight lanced in through the open hatch of the ship that I had turned into my lair, bouncing off the inside of the hull, warming me despite the dampness of the air and filling me with energy.
As the sun illuminated the clouds in shades of red, my mind flashed back to the sight of my home burning, a black shadow flitting away from It as the flames finished engulfing the structure and the smoke rising to form a pillar which, when I flew through it, held the faint scent of burning flesh.
With the last of my family dead, I flew away, seeking a place where I could mourn, a place I found on the furthest ship in the Boat's Graveyard, a ship grounded on a rocky shoal and which remained fairly untouched as none could reach it on foot.
Ripping out most of the inner partitions had taken several days, especially since I had to do it quietly, but the result was a space where I could stretch out or curl up as the urge took me and using one of the bits of metal as an impromptu mirror, I could see the Medhall building, allowing me to jump to it and with my enhanced vision allowing me to see the mirror from there, I could jump back into the hold with no sign of my passage.
Now that I had a safe place for myself, I could move on and find out just who had killed my father.
And when I located that person, they would learn why one should not anger a dragon…
Of course, things would be easier if I could actually speak!
I wonder what they're saying on PHO right now?
.
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Topic: A Wild Dragon Appears!
In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay
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TheGrinningWriter (Original Poster)
So, we have another Cape in Brockton Bay and it started out by demolishing Winslow High School! Not that I can blame it, the place really is the classic hive of scum, villainy and gang recruitment.
The actual damage to the school is surprisingly low (little more than a corridor and a classroom or two) but as for what caused it…
[Link][Link][Link][Link][Link]
Yep, that's a Dragon!
Word on the street is that the identity of the new dragon is publicly known. Hell, I know it, but out of respect for the Board's rules, I'm not going to post it and neither should you. So, the new cape destroyed part of the school, apparently fought off Velocity and Shadow Stalker and then vanished.
How the hell does a fifty-meter dragon just vanish?
Comments please!
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(Viewing page 1 of 215)
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► XxVoid_CowboyxX
[Post deleted]
[Until the cape in question is officially named, the assumption is that they are not to be named. Have a seven-day ban to think about your actions and just remember you are crunchy and might taste good with ketchup! – TinMother]
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► ImpossibleGolfer
XxVoid_CowboyxX – Dammit, Void! The OP said not to name the Cape!
Edit – Wow, Strangered by TinMother already! Nice one TM!
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► Bagrat (The Guy In The Know)
I was just in the middle of starting a similar thread when TGR posted this one. It isn't often that I'm beaten to the punch.
What I know is speculative as heck, but my contacts in the PRT say that there'll be a statement tomorrow at noon.
in the meantime, the new Cape has been given the Codename Yazi. For those who are interested, a Yazi is a type of Dragon that loves to kill, so you can see how dangerous they think she is.
Current classification is villain with a note that non-capes should steer clear of her. Preliminary ratings are something like Brute 6, Changer 5, Shaker 4, Mover 7 (unconfirmed at this time). If true, that's one hell of a grab-bag. Mover 7 for instance means more than simply flight.
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► TheGrinningWriter (Original Poster)
Bagrat – Thanks, dude. You got more than I had. Brute 6, huh? Given the damage she caused, I can see that.
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► AllSeeingEye
If she's that powerful, the gangs will be fighting for the right to count her as one of their own. Whichever one gets her will get one heck of a boost.
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► WalksInTheShadows (Verified PRT Agent)
Thanks. Just when I thought the Bay couldn't get any scarier…
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► TheOnlySainMan
It's a sign! Three Dragons now walk the Earth! When the fourth one comes, it'll mark the Apocalypse!
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► WalksInTheShadows (Verified PRT Agent)
…wot
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► PartiesLikeTheresNoTomorrow
Ignore him. So. Flying Dragon That Kills. As if Fiery Rage Dragon wasn't bad enough.
I'm seriously considering moving.
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► InnocentCriminal
Judging from those pictures, I don't think that she's fifty meters. From the spacing of the windows on the floor below and where you can see her head and tail, I'd say somewhere between 15 and 25 meters depending on how she's standing…
...and this was not a sentence I ever expected to type.
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(Viewing page 42 of 215)
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►MartiansAreAwesome
Look, we've been arguing in circles and until more information is released, we aren't going to get any further.
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► Bagrat (The Guy In The Know)
Ask and you shall receive! Here is a [Link] to the PRT statement but briefly, Yazi is Taylor Hebert, both parents deceased and a second-gen cape whose mother worked for Lustrum.
Oh, and the ratings are currently Brute 7, Shaker 3, Mover 6, Changer 5.
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► Aegis (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Okay, us wards have been released to post on this thread now that we don't have to keep quiet. Most of the info is in the release, so let's not rehash it. However, you may be interested to know that New Wave has received PRT-approved comms in light of the threat that Yazi presents. Good thing too, I don't want to face her without some serious backup.
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► GloryGirl (Verified Cape)
What Aegis hasn't mentioned is that Aunt Sarah, Crystal and myself are part of a team being trained to take that flying lizard down. With Dauntless, Aegis and Kid Win, we'll be able to smack her right back to where she belongs!
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► AllSeeingEye
Okay, I've gone back through the thread and just why is Yazi a criminal? Far as I can tell, all she's done is less damage than Gloryhole in one of her rampages, defended herself against a pair of so-called Heroes attacking her without attempting communication and become an orphan. What part of that necessitates the smack-down?
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► TheGrinningWriter (Original Poster)
Re-check the fourth picture. See the guy in the corner?
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► ImpossibleGolfer
Holy $%^&! That's Oni Lee! What the fuck is he doing at Winslow?
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► WritesAndPaints
Perhaps he's a substitute teacher there? According to my cousin, several of them are total douchebags, especially the ones who try to be popular.
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► WalksInTheShadows (Verified PRT Agent)
Our original assumption was that it was part of her initiation into the ABB. However, our sources have told us that Yazi isn't currently a member. Nevertheless, the presence of Oni Lee is highly suspicious and cannot be ignored.
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► AllSeeingEye
Any idea if Lung was there too? I expect that he was since it's a well-known phenomenon that when a Cape Triggers, their powers can be shaped somewhat by nearby Capes. Let's see, dragon form from Lung, teleportation from Oni Lee and intangibility… Shadow Stalker perhaps? Her powers may be because those Capes were there, in which case, what was Shadow Stalker doing meeting with Lung?
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(Viewing page 215 of 215)
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► Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
HighlyStrung – No, I don't have any idea either. However, it doesn't change the fact that Yazi tried to attack us last Saturday. I have never been more terrified in my life and I've faced Hookwolf! Thank god for New Wave!
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► GloryGirl (Verified Cape)
Vista – You're welcome. Although it did seem that Yazi was targeting Shadow Stalker. Any clue as to why? Other than her charming personality, that is?
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