2.4 Val
She's questioned by higher ups frequently through a thin veneer of subtlety, but she's managing.
The Wards themselves are each a source of interest to Val and she loves trying to learn what makes them tick. All except Shadow Stalker have given their civilian names, claiming that they were bound to let them slip in the common room anyways, and that she was part of the team now.
Carlos, Dean, and Chris are the least interesting to her, but she knows that most people have hidden depths, so she waits before finalizing her opinion.
Dennis is the 'funny guy', and she knows that this should rarely be taken at face value. She keeps an eye on him.
Missy comes off as pretty normal and seems to be one of the members with the strongest source of traditional ethics, along with Dean. The obvious crush is both amusing and painful.
Shadow Stalker is, of course, the most interesting. She alone has refused to share her civilian name, though one of the other Wards let it slip a few days in. Val suspects this to have been a power move or some other kind of game. She is easily the most antagonistic member and Val has no doubt that she will be willing to bend or break the rules if it should fit her purpose. She keeps this in mind.
/* - */
She has a meeting with one of the designers to discuss her new hero persona.
It's a comfortable, spacious office with arts of various different mediums hanging on the walls and resting on shelves. There's posters of many of the big-name Protectorate heroes, action figures, and even actual costumes. It fits her perception of what someone's office who works in PR or design might look like.
The woman she's speaking to is short, fashionably dressed, and friendly. She wears thick-rimmed circular glasses and when she smiles it seems to light up her whole face. Upon her arrival, Val is offered water, coffee, or tea, her choice. She declines. The woman's name is Liza, and after pleasantries have been dispersed, she opens with:
"So, costume, personality, and name are what we want to get started on today. You'll have plenty of time to finalize these things, so don't stress too much about what you say because nothing will be set in stone. We'll work with you on finding something that everyone is happy with. Do you want to share what ideas you have or should I start?"
Val is almost always comfortable taking the lead.
"I'm not set on a costume, but I know what I want my name to be. Wander."
This is something that she's put some thought into, and the choice seems obvious to her. It's a word that she finds easy to associate with, and she likes the way it sounds. It doesn't describe her skill set, but many cape names do not.
The woman across from her blinks.
"That could work with one of the personas we want to push, but only kind of fits with the other. How set are you on it?"
"Set."
Liza takes the certainty in her voice in stride and moves on. Val suspects near constant attempts at persuasion could possibly be in her future.
"Okay, cool. Is it just the name you're set on or?"
"The name, and having something in my costume to cover my eyes."
"That second part definitely won't be a problem, so don't worry. What about personality and costume design?"
Val shrugs, not especially invested in anything beyond what she's mentioned. She'll still provide input when she feels a particular way about something, but the rest just doesn't matter as much.
"I'll hear what you have to suggest," Val says.
"Awesome. The first persona the team is excited about is "mischievous rogue", which works great with your daggers and natural proclivities. Though the director has mentioned we really shouldn't encourage it." Liza lets out a laugh at this and Val's lips twitch upwards as well. "This one could work with all kinds of color schemes, but we think we'd want to go with darker colors, either blacks, dark grays, or a dark primary color. We normally go with bright, flashy colors to set civilians at ease, but we don't think that's the best fit here. Working with durable capes is always a pleasure because we don't need to worry nearly as much about packing in functional armor, so we have a lot more options when it comes to design. This is the one that your name choice could work, but it wouldn't be ideal."
"The second persona that the team agreed on presenting is 'mysterious and aloof'. We think this could really work well with you if we keep the cloth around your eyes and dress you in white or gray. Really fosters a sense of intrigue. This one is especially good if you aren't great with PR events, because it'll be expected for you stay somewhat removed or to otherwise not be especially charismatic. It's also worse for that same reason, though, since if you're good at PR then you'll be missing out on all kinds of opportunity. This is the one that would go better with your name choice, since Wander has a certain air of mystery to it that could blend well with the image we'd want to present."
"There's also tons of generic hero personalities we could work you into, but the previous two are the ones that we think really shine for your skill set, appearance, and observed personality. Any thoughts?"
She's tempted to just throw in with the second option right away because it's more likely to allow her name, but the first is also interesting. Having an excuse to banter constantly sounds like something she'd enjoy. She doesn't think she'd be great at PR, though. She has no problems being around people, but her particular personality isn't exactly suitable for public image. She'd have to moderate what she says which she thinks might be harder than forgoing completely.
She shares these thoughts with Liza, and they spend some time talking it over. There's still plenty of time until her reveal, though, and no plans are made concrete.
/* - */
It's a bit past a week into her acceptance into the Wards when her favorite hero comes to visit. She's laying down on one of the couches watching Dennis play one of his games, and the alarm indicating that a visitor is entering begins to blare. There's different sounds to the alarms, and this one indicates that it's a known friendly. Val doesn't need to do anything, but Dennis and Chris throw on domino masks.
"I'm baaaack" a voice announces, "Heard you guys got a new Ward. Where is she?"
Val has never been happier. She rolls off the couch and stands, revealing herself and opening her arms widely as if to say, "I'm ready for your applause".
Glory Girl stops walking and stares at her in horror.
"No." She's shaking her head. "I refuse."
The reaction has gathered the interest of everyone in the Wards common room.
"This can't be happening. Not you."
The girl looks like she's going to fall over. Val's honestly impressed with herself, she's not usually this good. She must have really left an impression.
Dean, who had accompanied Glory Girl in, is the first to say something, "You two know each other, Vicky?"
Val answers for her. "Oh yeah, Vicky and I go way back. Practically best friends." She makes sure to use the nickname.
Dean, unfortunately, has learned early on that most of what comes out of Val's mouth should be ignored, so he waits on Victoria.
She struggles on what to say for a few second.
"It's that girl I was talking about a few days ago, the one on the rooftop."
Dennis perks up. "The one you tried to assault just because she was being rude?"
Victoria shoots him an angry glare.
"That's not fair and you know it."
Val comes to her defense. "Yeah! She lasted through almost four comments. You can't expect more than that."
The glare is on Val now.
She puts on her best innocent expression. She's been told it's pretty terrible.
Dean steps between them, always the peacekeeper.
"Look, Vicky, I'm sure she has her reasons." He seems doubtful while saying this. "Give her a chance to explain."
Val is nodding her head in agreement. "Yeah, totally, I do,"
Everyone waits.
"I wanted to see how angry she could get."
"I'm going to kill her," Victoria says.
Dennis is laughing now, and Dean shoots an exasperated look towards Val.
He takes Victoria by the shoulder and guides her away in an attempt to calm her down, speaking to her quietly.
Dennis has returned to playing his game. He asks, "So you're the nutjob that jumped off a building for no reason?"
"I wouldn't say no reason. I wanted to see what she'd do."
He's nodding his head. "A worthy cause. She was ranting about you for hours. She really wasn't happy you managed to give her the slip. Makes sense how, now."
Val feels a bit smug at that.
She gestures towards Dean and Victoria and asks, "Those two friends?"
"They have some kind of off-and-on-again thing going. They're actually off right now but have stayed friendly anyways. Which is rare."
Dean walks back looking supremely resigned. Glory Girl follows.
"Victoria wants to know if you want to spar her. But only spar," He emphasizes this while looking between them. "No injuries. Are you okay with that? You definitely don't need to."
He's obviously subtly asking for her to refuse, but there's no way that's happening.
"Yes. I accept. To the death?"
"Yes!"
"No." stresses Dean.
/* - */
Dennis and Chris follow to watch the unscheduled evening entertainment. The other Wards aren't currently at the HQ, either out on patrol or having chosen to go home.
They've made their way to one of the Wards sparring rooms, which is a medium-sized enclosed space with a concrete floor that has a large viewing glass on three sides for spectators. Dean had said that they have other, padded, sparring rooms, but thinks this one better suited. Since both of you have brute ratings, he had said, this room should be used, since the walls and glass are rated to handle low level brutes. He tells Victoria to be careful because the room won't hold up if she uses her full strength, and she looks mildly annoyed at the instructions. Dean has practically radiated reluctance the whole time and she wonders how Victoria has convinced him to support this.
Val already knows how she's going to approach the fight. She doesn't plan on revealing more than she has shown the PRT, but she doesn't think that will be difficult. While Glory Girl is strong, has flight, and can manipulate emotions, none of these things should be a counter to Val's speed and reflexes.
The 'spar' begins with Victoria and Val standing in opposite corners while Dean, Chris, and Dennis watch through the reinforced glass. There's no official countdown and the match begins with a nod and an implicit understanding. Victoria rises into the air and watches warily. Val sticks her hands into her pockets and starts to stroll towards the center.
Victoria floats over and begins to throw some tentative attacks her way. These are, of course, a simple matter to avoid, and she makes sure to do so while keeping her hands in her pockets. She can see the expression on the other girl's face tightening.
It's obvious immediately that the hero is holding back, because she starts way slower than Val remembers on the day of their meeting. Fortunately, Val's very good at breaking through such moderated behavior.
The constant high ground provided by Victoria's flight is a serious advantage, but it's not nearly enough to matter. Val is required to constantly give ground, but doesn't find it difficult to weave her way through the girl's telegraphed blows. She makes sure to wear a smile that borders on taunting while doing so. It doesn't take long before each of the blonde girl's successive strikes are being sent faster and with less restraint. The bursts of fear that Victoria strategically sends are certainly noticeable, but Val has long moved past freezing up during a fight. Val doesn't have a lot of experience in dealing with mages who manipulate emotions, but she does have some, and this helps her.
Victoria touches back down onto the surface of the training arena and continues her assault. This comes off as strange to Val, but she's having so much fun she doesn't pay it too much attention. She allows Victoria to close the gap even further and continues to twist her way between her blows, remaining untouchable despite being an arm's length from the other girl. Victoria has a look of growing fury on her face.
She can't help it. She starts to laugh.
The hero does something she hadn't expected.
She smashes her foot into the training arena with devastating force, and the ground pulverizes in every direction.
Val suddenly has no traction, the ground powder beneath her feet. There's only so much she can twist while effectively mid-air, and she sees Victoria's kick rocketing towards her like an angry comet. She could get out of this situation using her magic, but she's no cheater.
She just thinks: Well played.
The blow hits her like a freight train. She catches it on her left arm instinctually, and Val is transformed into a projectile. She shatters through the protective glass surrounding the training arena and embeds halfway into the wall on the other side.
Victoria's face is flushed and smug with her victory. She looks around proudly, still high from the fight and triumphant smile on her face, only to realize that the spectators are staring at her in horror. She comes down quickly.
She sums it up in a word.
"Shit."
She's the first to begin moving towards Val and the triumph has quickly turned to terror. That's not one of the reactions she likes to incite, so Val pulls herself out of the wall, pieces crumbling and falling away, and indicates that she's fine.
"Oh my god, I'm – I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. Are you okay?" She has a distraught look on her face.
Val looks at the pulverized training floor, glass, and wall.
"Yeah, fine," She waves it off, "But that looks like it's going to be expensive."
Victoria looks around and takes in the structural damage. She goes pale again.
She opens and closes her mouth a few times.
The others have made their way over by now and Dean has his hand on his forehead, looking twenty years older. He doesn't seem to have any words.
Dennis says, "That was awesome. Round 2?"