It had been a few days since the power testing with Armsmaster which meant that today was Wednesday.
Which meant that Verity's appointment with Glenn Chambers had finally arrived, which she was currently on her way to which meant that she had to leave the Rig as he was at the PRT HQ with all of his stuff, her first time really leaving since being brought there in the first place. When they had left, Verity had been hoping to maybe see the sights a bit.
The only real thing of note was that after the initial power testing and her medical check up with Panacea they ended up doing it again, though for this one was just to test her blood type, and for allergies, and other stuff like that which had slipped everyone's minds in light of the more bizarre stuff present at the first test. Neither of the teenagers were able to keep their composure in regards to her second womb (and really, neither was she).
"So Verity how has your time on the Rig been so far?" Hannah asked as they sat in the back of a PRT van like they had done before the first time they had met, which had dashed her hopes of seeing anything new as they went.
"It's been okay." Verity said noncommittally. It wasn't bad, per se, it just… wasn't home. She'd also had a breakdown upon realizing she didn't have her cross on Sunday (the less was said about, the better), which didn't help.
"Well good to hear it hasn't been terrible," Hannah replied. "Have the others been behaving while I haven't been present?"
"Yeah, everyone's been really nice so far." Verity said. They really were quite nice, it gave her hope that maybe this was one of those 'everything sucks, so make it better' kind of superhero worlds instead of the run of the mill 'crapsack' impression she'd gotten at the local criminals. Or at least what she thought of as those categories.
"Again that is good to hear, or else I would have needed to give some stern words," Hannah said. "So I know you haven't been able to go out yet, but from what you've read, what do you think of Brockton Bay so far?"
"Not as nice as the team, to be honest." Verity said. It was honestly a lot like Gotham from what she'd been reading, and not in a good way. "Is there, like, anything good about this place? My views may be skewed a bit because all I've been reading has been the worst parts."
"Well Arcadia High School is actually one of the best performing ones on the East Coast, there are some tourist sights, but yeah the city has been in a very bad state for a long time," Hannah answered. "White Collar work is up but, Blue Collar has been slowly dying since the harbour got blocked up when a strike happened due to fears Leviathan caused regarding shipping. And also public transport got a hit when the ferry got decommissioned due to a lack of funding."
"Oh. I take it this place doesn't have any specialities or anything?" Verity asked. "Not even, like, celebrities or anything?"
"Only our Capes, and in terms of Parahumans we have the highest number of those in terms of population density," Hannah answered.
"Not exactly a selling point, though." Verity pointed out.
"No I guess not, we don't really have much," Hannah admitted.
"Well, I guess that's why I have to stick around, huh?" Verity asked with a grin.
"Seeing yourself as a positive for the city already?"
"Well I mean, if I'm gonna be a hero, I might as well try to change this place for the better." Verity said, having more or less come to that conclusion already. This place sucked. "I live by the philosophy that if the world sucks, it's your job to make it better."
"We try as best as we can but it is not easy when the very universe seems dead set to stop you," Hannah replied.
"Welp, no one said doing the right thing was easy." Verity said. "Speaking of the right thing, when am I going to get to read up on and meet the Wards?"
"You can meet with them after you're done with Glenn, but their personal files will only be made available till after your debut as a Protectorate Hero, as only then have you signed the appropriate NDAs," Hannah answered.
"That stands for Non-Disclosure Agreements, right?" Verity asked, never having been very good with acronyms.
"It does, and they are the bread and butter of PRT paperwork," Hannah said in a humorous tone, but in a way that said she wasn't exaggerating very much with that statement. "And speaking of PRT, we have arrived." And just like that the van came to a stop. Verity wasn't sure how since there were no windows.
And a second later the van's doors opened up, showing that they were in an underground parking lot. The two Parahumans exited the vehicle and quickly went into the elevator that would take them to the appropriate floor.
"Glenn is waiting for in the room at the end of the hallway, I will see you in a few hours when you're done," Hannah said as Verity exited the elevator on her own, as Hannah had a meeting with the director a floor up at the same time as her meeting with Glenn.
"Okay, see ya then." Verity said before heading to said door and knocking.
"Come inside," Replied the voice of who Verity presumed to be Glenn Chambers. Verity responded by opening the doors and going inside.
And behind an industrial desk sat a slightly overweight man that had the most controlled looking, yet chaotic attire Verity had ever seen. Giving the impression of someone who didn't care about his appearance despite it looking very deliberate.
"Good day Verity, the name is Glenn Chambers as you may already know, I am the head of Image and PR for the PRT," The man introduced himself, his eyes squinting hard even behind his rectangular glasses as he gave her a look over.
"Hallo Mr. Chambers." Verity said. "I've been told you're the best guy in town for costumes?"
"The town? More like country, and not just costumes but everything related to cultivating the perfect heroic image of you," Glenn replied.
"Meant it as the phrase, but I'll take you for your word, Mr. Chambers." Verity said. "I suppose you're the one who I talk to about my venom and such as well, right?"
"That is more for Director Piggot to give permission to use, but I will always be against using it as a hero putting her fangs in a person is a rather bad image," The man said. "Now you have suggested Medusa to be your Hero Name, correct?"
"To be clear, I meant through other means, I don't want to bite anyone either." Verity clarified. "But yeah, Medusa's what I've been running with. It seems like a good fit, that or Gorgon."
"Ah, well if you have a way that does not involve biting then I will think about it, and yes it does," Glenn said. "Though I am striking Gorgon as that emphasizes the monstrous and villainous part of the legend. And despite your status as a Case53 you are neither a monster or a villain."
"Thank you?" Verity said, not quite sure how to respond to that. "And I was thinking of nail polish for the venom, or like darts or something."
"Nail polish can work as that is not nearly as viceral as sinking your teeth into somebody, and shallow cuts heal easily. And it will also give you a better option to constrain villains," Glenn said. "If Armsmaster is able to make it work, I am willing to accept that, as darts would require a thing for them to be fired with, and that would clash horribly with your image as an unstoppable juggernaut."
Verity blinked at him in confusion. "Is. Is that the image we'll be going for?"
"Yes you're a high level brute capable of dishing out and taking a lot of punishment," Glenn said.
"Ah, I see, I'll be the tank." Verity nodded in understanding. "I'm assuming my costume will have bright colors to draw attention to me, make villains more likely to target me instead of my squishier comrades?"
"Ah somebody who knows how this works, and yes, your costume will have bright colors though only those that compliment your natural color scheme," Glenn said, sounding like he had just found the only sane Parahuman in the world.
"I've made some fan designs for hero teams in my day." Verity said proudly. "Oh, but, on the note of the costume proper, we're gonna go over my preferences, right?"
"Your preferences may be taken into account for the design," Glenn replied.
"Okay, it's mostly just two things." Verity said. "One, no pants. Shorts are okay, tights or whatever are okay, but no pants. And two, no boob socks. Most of what I've seen so far has been really sensible with that, but just… absolutely no to those."
"I was not planning to include any of that in the first place, as they did not look good on the sketches me and my team had made," Glenn answered. "No, your costume will consist of a skirt of some kind, along with some kind of chest covering."
Verity waited for the rest of the sentence, which didn't come. "Is there more? Or are those the only definites?"
"The definites so far, there are a lot of design variants, those lean towards the more sensual side of things, as even if you want it or not are going to fill the minds of a lot of teenage boys," Glenn said. "To the more practical side of things." And then from his bag withdrew a large stack of papers.
"Ooh, lemme see, lemme see." Verity said, eager at the idea of her own superhero costume.
"Take a seat and we will go over them so that we can find the perfect one," Glenn replied as he began to spread them out.
And so, they spent the next few hours looking through the existing designs, Verity finding a few she would be okay with and several that were immediately axed (she did not want to fight crime in a bikini, thanks), and generally giving both Verity a better idea of what to think for, and giving Glenn more ideas to work with.
While they hadn't figured out the costume quite yet, both of them felt they had a good path forward.
"I will send the info to my team and have them draw up new ones they will be sending to your e-mail," Glenn said as he began to pack his drawings and notes. "You're excused for now."
"Alright, thank you for your time Mr. Chambers, this was actually really fun." Verity said with a smile.
"It has been for me as well actually Miss Mendax," Being respectful as well now, that she seemingly had not thrown a hissy fit regarding costumes and actually cooperated with him, contrary to what was apparently his expectation, which really made no sense to Verity, costume design was some of the most fun parts of superheroes.
"Have a nice day." Verity said as she left, feeling content that she had made some good progress on this today.
"You look like you had a good time?" The voice of Hannah asked, bringing Verity's attention to the woman herself standing by the door with her smartphone out.
"Yeah, it was really fun." Verity said, still smiling. "Costume design's been a bit of a hobby of mine, so it was extra fun to put it to practical use."
"Really? Well I assume Glenn was ecstatic to work with someone who appreciated his craft," Hannah said.
"Yeah, he's really nice." Verity said. "Looking forward to when we get the design down, talking to him is really fun."
"Well," Hannah said as she put her phone away. "Now do you want to meet the Wards? They are all currently present."
"Oh sure!" Verity said excitedly. "I've been wanting to meet the rest of them, and properly thank Vista and Kid Win for bringing me in here."
"Good to hear," Hannah said. "Now just follow me, the Ward's area of the PRT HQ is two floors up."
And Verity followed the gun wielding Cape without complaint, the two going up two floors and entered a hallway/area that was a little bit different from the other she had seen in the building, as this looked a little bit more similar to how the Rig looked.
Hannah went over to the heavy duty looking door and entered a code into the keypad next to it that caused it to open up revealing what kinda looked like a decontamination chamber.
Verity followed Hannah as she entered the room. "So this to make sure when tours happen and guests arrive the Wards have a few seconds to put on masks."
"That's understandable, don't want anyone risking their identities." Verity said with a nod.
"A thing you sadly won't benefit from," Hannah said. "But as a side effect you're basically constantly 'on the clock' so to speak and react to emergencies faster when you're home. Get higher pay from that too," Hannah explained as the door opened and they entered into what looked like a homely lounge area with an attached kitchen.
And inside were several teenagers wearing costumes, who were all looking at them. "Hello Miss Militia we didn't expect you," One of the teens, a boy wearing a white and red bodysuit said. "...And who is this?"
"Hello! I'm Verity, soon to be the Hero, Medusa." Verity introduced herself. "Thanks to Vista and Kid Win, in fact."
"Hey, Medusa, glad to see you again, and it's great that you decided to join," Vista said as she removed herself from her chair and walked over to her.
"Glad I made a good first impression," Kid Win said.
"Yeah, you two really did." Verity said with a smile. "Though I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the rest of you, would you care to introduce yourselves?"
"Well, I am Clockblocker, master of time, oh great snake lady," The boy in sick white armor with clocks on him introduced himself first.
"I am Gallant," The boy in silver power armor themed like that of a medieval knight.
"And I am Aegis, the current leader of the Wards," The boy in red and white said. "And that over there is Shadow Stalker," He said as he pointed to the female teenager that was leaning against the wall in the most broody of poses as she looked at Verity through her dark mask that was shaped like a woman's face. The rest of her costume was just as dark looking like somebody had taken the PRT outfit and just added a cape with a hood to it.
"Hmm," She grunted dismissively.
"Well, hello Wards! Once again, I am (going to be) Medusa. Hopefully you all will be able to learn a thing or two from me." Verity said with a grin.
"What can we learn from a total beginner?" Came Shadow Stalker's voice- at least, Verity assumed it was hers as she had been the only one not to speak before. And Vista sounded nothing like that.
"Shadow Stalker that was out of line," Aegis said.
"Oh no no, she's right." Verity agreed.
"Huh?" Came the sound of confusion from all the Wards, Shadow Stalker included.
"Wait, you agree with her?" Vista asked.
"Well, yeah." Verity said. "As of right now, you all have more experience in the hero biz than I do, since it's currently 0. I'm a total noob when it comes to this stuff. But that doesn't mean I don't have insights to teach in the meantime." She shrugged. "Plus, I'll be doing this full time, won't take too long to be someone respectable. And who knows, some of you might still be better than me by then."
"That's obvious," Shadow Stalker replied.
"So… To utterly change topics," Clockblocker said. "What can you do Medusa? Everything a snake can but better?" He asked in a joking manner.
"Something like that." Verity said with a grin, easily picking up Clockblocker to be the jokester of the team. "If you've met a snake that can shoot lasers, of course."
"Wait, you can do that? That is so cool," Vista said already enamoured by the cool snake lady.
"Ayup." Verity confirmed. "Technically not clear to use it on normie villains, because we haven't figured out how to reverse it yet, but I can shoot lasers from my eyes that turn flesh to stone and melt anything not flesh."
"Wow so you're an actual Medusa?" Gallant asked in fascination.
"...That is actually badass," Verity heard Shadow Stalker mutter.
"So anything else?" Kid Win asked. "Like can that tail of yours do things? And is that snake hair only for intimidation purposes?"
"Yes, no, and I'm also strong enough to bench press cars, plural." Verity said, as she picked up a nearby sofa with her tail, and the table with two of her hair snakes. "Also, I can't die."
"Like Aegis? His powers give him redundant stuff that allows him to survive stuff he shouldn't," Vista said.
"Not quite like that, more like…" Verity thought for a moment. "More like it's hard enough to injure me that if you do, my healing factor will fix it up and I'll be fine, and I don't age, kind of 'can't die'." She nodded towards Aegis. "Yours sounds cooler honestly."
"Wow so that was what Vicky was saying was unfair to all female capes in the world," Gallant said.
"And how do you know that?" Verity asked. "Did she go blabbing about my powers?"
"She is my girlfriend, and she just mentioned that a new Protectorate cape was going to look good forever, and it was so unfair to the rest of them, nothing else," Gallant said quickly, earning an understanding nod from Verity.
"And I guess Lung just got dethroned as Brocton Bay's most unkillable Brute," Clockblocker said in compliment.
"Eh… I think we'll see how that plays out eventually." Verity said. "Anyway, enough about me, how about you guys, if you don't mind sharing? What can you all do?"
"You're allowed to tell her what your powers are, the only thing she is not cleared for yet is your civilian identities," Hannah said.
"Well, as mentioned my power gives me adaptable redundant biology, with minor strength enhancement while also allowing flight," Aegis answered.
"I am a Tinker, though I don't know what my specialisation is yet," Kid Win answered.
"I can time-stop anything I touch," Clockblocker said as he demonstrated by picking up a pillow from the couch, holding it in the air, letting go, and she watched as it just stayed there.
"Woah, okay, how long does that last?" Verity asked. "Do you decide when you use it?"
"I have to activate first, as for duration it can last between 30-seconds and ten minutes," Clockblocker answered.
"That's pretty neat." Verity said appreciatively. "How about the rest of y'all?"
"And I am Blaster that can make bolts of concussive force, though people think I am Tinker thanks to the armor Kid Win made for me," Gallant explained.
"Why the knight theme if you do bolts?" Verity asked, curious to the reasoning. "Are they shaped like something?"
"Because the dude is a real chivalrous gentleman," Clockblocker said.
"And proud," Gallant replied. "One should always strive to be the most honorable person in the room," Gallant said, laying it on a little thick.
"And I make space my bitch," Vista said with a grin on her face which caused the others to admonish her.
"Language." Verity scolded lightly. "But also… to what degree?"
"Well it takes a while to get started, and living things can interfere but the more I stay in an area the more I bend, stretch and compress it, I am not rated Shaker 9 for nothing," Vista replied. "Like this," Vista said as the room suddenly got a lot, lot higher than before, while still seeming natural.
Verity whistled in appreciation as she looked up, trying to find the point where the space started going wonky and where it stopped, but as far as she could tell it was as if it had always been this big. "Very non-euclidean, I like it."
"Working on doing more McEscher stuff, and I can also anchor my power to objects making them shrink and grow," Vista said as the room returned to its previous size.
"Ooh, sounds like your going to be moving up in the hero world girl! Pun completely intended." Verity said with a grin.
"Hehehe," The girl laughed in response.
"And how about you, She Who Stalks in the Night?" Verity asked, turning her attention on the clearly stealth-based hero, the name 'Shadow Stalker' and that color scheme practically screamed it.
She just demonstrated by having her body seemingly become living gas that phased through the wall she was leaning against.
"...Is she coming back?" Verity asked after a moment.
"No," Aegis answered.
"Well, that's a shame, but I can understand not wanting to talk to some strange snake lady." Verity said, making the mental note that she was definitely some flavor of loner, probably trying to be the Batman of the group, and then she checked her watch. "Oh, okay, that's why. It was really nice meeting you all, but it's probably getting close to your respective bedtimes and/or curfews, I'd assume, so I'll get out of your hair."
"Yeah that is rather true, you all need to get back home now," Hannah said. "You will all be able to interact with Verity after she has made her debut on Guardian Patrols."
"Yeah that will be great," Vista said. "Talk to you some other time Verity."
"Hopefully I'll be seeing y'all soon." Verity said with a smile, before she and Hannah left the area back through the airlock again. "They seem like good kids."
"They are," Hannah replied. "And you actually seemed to have made a good impression on Shadow Stalker, she is usually much more aggressive when talking."
"Yeah, like I said before, I'm really good with kids." Verity said with a smug grin. "Also, I've got even more experience with broody emo loner-types."
"Really?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah, you're looking at someone who used to be one." Verity said. "And friends with similar people, too."
"...You miss them don't you?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah." Verity said, grin faltering a bit, before going back. "But I'd be a real hypocrite if I ignored my own advice and was sad about it all the time, right? Gotta just roll with the punches and keep on smiling."
"That is a good attitude to have," Hannah said. "Though perhaps one day you will meet them again," She stated as they went into the elevator.
"One day."
Xxx
Verity sat at her desk as she continued to go through all of the filles she had been given, reading them over and over again to memorize all the protocols and laws she had to follow and obey.
Though right now she was going over all the high level threats that existed in the country and beyond, with the most prominent and known in the world being the Ash Beast, a walking nuclear explosion that walked all across Africa, though due to being slow it was rather easily avoided. In Russia was the one known as The Sleeper, a being nobody knew anything about beyond that it was a person that created a storm around itself that then just killed everything that entered through high level matter manipulation. And then there were the Three Blasphemies, a group of villains made from Tinker Tech, by Tinkers who seemingly operated independently of one another.
All in all the international High-level threats reminded Verity more of SCPs than standard supervillains. Or even people. With the only US one being the one known as the Machine Army, a self-replicating robot army controlled by an AI that was hostile to all humans and contained within the town of Eagleton, Tennessee.
The other big name threats in the USA were Nilbog, the Goblin King, and the Fallen, which were Endbringer cultists because of course those existed. Nilbog was a guy that had taken over the city of Ellisburg, by converting all the people within it into monsters or Goblins as it were, and did so in the span of a week. The PRT and Protectorate tried to take him down but were defeated by Nilbog's creations every single time, with the last attempt leaving only two survivors. One of which was Emily Piggot, her new boss. And according to the filles nuking the city had been discussed but Thinkers had warned against saying that there was a high likelihood of them surviving and then spreading across the country in the form of a highly infectious disease.
As for the Fallen, they were a large Endbringer Cult that separated into various different branches. Most of the members were just ordinaries posing no real threat, but the Parahuman members, those that controlled the Cult and seriously believed in their self-contradictory bullshit, were some of the most dangerous villains in the country. With the guy that controlled the Simurgh Branch, being one of the most dangerous of them all. A man named Valefor who was a high level Master that could implant hypnotic commands into a person without their knowledge and would then carry the orders out when given the appropriate trigger word.
But even with all that, they were not the most dangerous villains in America. No, that title belonged to the group called the Slaughterhouse Nine.
And it was their file Verity was currently going through, and going through quite closely.
Simply put, they were a gang of murderhobos that liked to cause as much death and destruction as possible in every town they visited. And so they were actively hunted, having lost many members over the years, but they were quickly replaced with people they had mentally destroyed and tortured into insanity to follow their current leader.
Said current leader was a man by the name of Jack Slash, in Verity's opinion it was like looking at Johnny Depp with the personality of the Joker. He had the power to project the edge of his blades so he could cut people over long distances (she really hoped that was all he could do with that).
The other members were Mannequin, a former Heroic Tinker known as Sphere who specialised in constructing what amounted to life-support and was seen as beacon of hope as he could basically create an environment that protected life from anything, but he became a villain after his wife and children had been killed by the Simurgh.
Next was Hatchet Face who was basically a slasher villain brought to life, a Brute with a power negation field. The most simple of the bunch but also rather terrifying to face for those that did not have what could be called permanently acting powers such as Case53s like her.
Then there was one of the more dangerous members of the group, Shatterbird, a middle eastern woman who had the power to control silicone. Her opening act when the nine attacked was a scream that basically shattered all glass in a city, making it explode. Her first act of this happening in Dubai where she murdered thousands. Verity mentally marked her as the one to take down first to prevent that, with stoning power if necessary.
Next was the literal tank of the group, an adaptive regenerative Brute by the name of Crawler. Nobody knew what he used to look like but now he looked like a certain indestructible lizard's half-brother. Verity did not like the image that was provided in her files especially when it said below that the 'man' was currently the size of a minivan.
The next female member of the group was the Siberian, a perpetually naked woman striped like a zebra who was known as one of the strongest Breakers in the world, as her powers made her utterly indestructible. She was the unmovable force and could even apply the effect to others, which was how Jack kept surviving all the shit he did, according to the files. She was also a known cannibal and had been the one to kill the greatest Tinker in the world, Hero, one of the original Protectorate heroes, and was also currently the only known being to have damaged Alexandria's own indestructible body.
And as she continued to read Verity was utterly disgusted by all of them, but also a bit fascinated as they did have cool powers. They were just attached to terrible people.
The seventh member of the group was another woman by the name of Burnscar, a powerful pyrokinetic that could even teleport to sources of fire, even those she created herself. And according to her profile she was a former resident of the Parahuman Asylum Center in Philadelphia as the more fire that was near her the more psychotic she became to the point of almost having DID. She had the most sympathy from Verity, since obviously she probably wasn't in real control of herself.
And then there was the eighth and currently final member of the Nine, as the ninth member had been killed a few months ago and so had not been replaced yet-
And as Verity stared at her profile picture she almost felt her heart break. Since the eighth member of the group was a twelve year old girl by the name of Bonesaw who had been with them since she was six-years-old.
"...Six?" Verity had asked aloud when she got to that part of the file, before immediately reading deeper.
Apparently, she was one of the most dangerous members of the nine as she was a Bio-Tinker that created all sorts of John Carpenter things with other people, stitching them together while they were still alive. No one knew her real name, but Thinkers had concluded that she had been traumatized by Jack Slash to be very loyal to him via her parent's death. And she was actually the only one without an actual Kill Order on her as Thinkers had determined that her body was filled with various plagues she had designed that would be released the second she died.
Reading through the profiles, Verity came to three conclusions about the Slaughterhouse Nine. First, and the most obvious, they needed to be taken down, permanently. Second, she needed to at least try to help Bonesaw and maybe Burnscar if possible.
And the third, and probably most important revelation, was really the first step in both.
"I'm going to kill Jack Slash."
xxx
"So, have the science people figured out what my special sauce does?" Verity asked. "Or how to de-stone the pig? I've been thinking they might be related."
"Not yet," Collin answered as he poured a vial of her paralytic venom into a mixture that would hopefully end up being her nail polish as it had been approved. "And no the two of them do not have a correlation to each other. It has only been a week and such experiments take time."
"Collin is quite correct Verity, one does not get scientific answers so quick, even I am a bit baffled by your second venom," Said an unknown female voice from the large computer's speakers.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm just eager to learn, Miss…?" Verity asked.
"Sorry for interrupting, my name is Dragon, a Tinker based in Canada that works closely with the PRT and Protectorate. Though I am primarily affiliated with the Guild," Dragon answered sounding apologetic about her sudden intrusion into the conversation.
"No it's fine, honestly I'm honored… I think?" Verity said, saying the last part very quietly and more at Collin.
"It's fine Dragon, we're just going over various mixtures," Collin said. "Now how have you been? Been having trouble with the Dragonslayers?"
"No they have stayed down since they stole one of my suits two months ago," Dragon answered. "Birdcage has been running smoothly and no pop-ups from any high-level threats in the last two week besides Heartbreaker taking another one." Verity could easily hear the downward tilt to her voice towards the end.
"Coward," Collin replied as he began to blend the current mixture.
"Uh, sorry for asking, but what do any of those terms mean?" Verity asked, not having really seen those in her read through yet.
"Well the Birdcage is the nickname for the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center," Dragon said and that name made it click what they were talking about, as in her files it had said that it was basically the ultimate supermax prison for Parahumans, and those that got sent there were sent there for life with no chance of parole. "And Heartbreaker is Canadian supervillain that lives in Montreal and is a Master that can manipulate emotions. And uses them to make women slavishly devoted to him."
"And currently responsible for one of the biggest hostage situations in Canada," Collin added.
"Oof, that sounds nasty." Verity said sympathetically.
"Yes, a real piece of shit," Collin said in a totally serious tone of voice as he stopped the blend and dipped a needle into the mixture, which he used to poke a mouse with that was in a cage to the left to see if the blend was good enough. And after a few seconds the little guy stopped moving.
"Ah it seems that you were successful," Dragon said in genuine praise.
"So does that only work wet, or will it work dried?" Verity asked. "Not the best with this kind of thing, to be honest, I don't know how poison works."
"Venom only works when it is wet, but that is why I put it into this mixture, it basically makes it not dry out as fast it normally would." Collin answered. "It now has the duration of an hour at minimum."
"That's pretty good." Verity said excitedly. "And for the equally important question: can you make it in different colors?"
"Why?" He asked.
"...Wait, is it gonna stay clear? I only just noticed it was clear." Verity admitted.
"Yes," Collin answered.
"Then there's no problems here, boss man." Verity said happily.
"Hmm, I will start making containers, just fill up the vials before you leave," Collin said.
"Sure thing boss." Verity said with a salute.
He just grunted aprovingly.
Xxx
It was Saturday again, which meant that Verity had a new meeting with Glenn Chambers regarding her outfit where they could finalise the design.
"Hello again Miss Mendax, I've got the last drafts, and I would like to know what you think of them," Glenn said as he took out five large sheets of paper and placed them on his desk in front of him. "Which one appeals more to you?"
"Hmm… I'm really liking the color scheme, but… hmm…" Verity said, torn between two in particular. "Definitely between these two."
"I see, yes these two are quite similar, though one is a bit more revealing than the other," Glenn said as he put the others away.
"Yeah, that's the thing…" Verity said. "I'm not really sure how much I'm willing to show off, but the other one just looks too… stuffy. Could we maybe find a middle ground between these?"
"So... a knee length skirt, but sleeveless?" He asked.
"That could work." Verity said, picturing it. "Yeah, that could work really well. Still would have the modesty shorts, right?"
"Of course," The man replied.
"Then, yeah, let's go with that midpoint." Verity confirmed. "It seems perfect."
"That it does, and the primary orange color works very well with your scales, and makes you seem less threatening while drawing attention," Glenn stated as he nodded in happiness as he rolled the two sheets. "You will have your finished costume on the fifth of April, your debut will happen on the sixth alongside the new Ward, Browbeat."
"Good to hear, Mr. Chambers." Verity said happily. "Though I hope we can speak again in the future, it's honestly been really fun doing this with you. Maybe I can help out down here part-time?" She joked.
"Sadly you won't have time for that," The man replied.
"Hero's are that busy around here, huh?"
"Yes," Glenn replied.
"Well, here's hoping we'll reach the point I can come around here to help sometimes." Verity said hopefully.
"Well if you ever get transferred to New York I will be happy to have your assistance, but until we won't meet again for a while, as from now on you will have to deal with Miranda regarding PR and Image," Glenn said.
"It was nice working with you in the meantime, Mr. Chambers." Verity said, going for a parting handshake.
"I will say the same Miss Mendax, no Medusa, and I expect great things from you," He said as he took the handshake.
"I'll do my best to live up to those expectations."
Xxx
"So are you ready to present yourself to the world?" Hannah, or rather Miss Militia as she was in costume, said as the two of them were in the backroom that connected to the PRT's conference room. Since, as it turned out, Verity's and Browbeat's debut was more in the vein of a press conference than anything more on the spectacular side of things.
"No!" Verity said cheerily. "But I'll do it anyway."
"That's the spirit," Miss Militia replied. "Anyway you're up soon, Browbeat will be done with his interview in a few minutes."
"And that's why I'm not ready." Verity said with a nervous smile. "It's not, like, that bad right?"
"No, the first interview is rather curated so you will only have professionals, so no tabloid journalists or anything like them," Miss Militia responded.
"Oh okay, I just… I just really don't want to say anything too stupid right out the gate." Verity said, nervously adjusting her outfit for the umpteenth time. The finalized design was simple, but in her mind quite effective. A sleeveless, knee length orange dress (the skirt of which didn't meet in the back to easily allow her tail through) with a stylistic red eye matching the ones on her snakes but inside a red triangle, some simple sandals (for practical reasons), and a pair of fingerless gloves that matched her skin tone and were mostly because she didn't like touching things but needed her claws exposed.
"Simple questions with no wrong or right answer for the most part, so you can say something stupid and play it off as comedy," Miss Militia said reasurance.
"Oh, good, that's what I'm best at." Verity sighed in relief.
And as she did the door opened up and Browbeat entered, and even with his full face mask Verity could tell that the kid was drained by the experience by how his shoulders slumped.
"You did very good out there Browbeat, now it's your turn Medusa," Miss Militia said as Armsmaster's voice was heard.
"And as mentioned we also have a new Cape joining the Protectorate ENE today," The Tinker in question said. "Please come on stage, Medusa."
"Good job kid." Verity whispered to Browbeat as she passed him, before walking out onto the stage and heading to the podium between Armsmaster and Director Piggot, looking out on the thankfully only like 10 reporters, and swallowing her apprehension as she put on her showmanship. "Hello Brockton Bay! I'm Medusa, and you could say I'm here to rock this city."
Which elicited a chuckle from the reporters and sighs from Piggot and Armsmaster.
"Now, obviously under normal circumstances, no hero would ever say this, but my name is Verity Mendax." She said, getting into the groove of it now. "As for why I'm announcing that on live television, if it's not already obvious-" She'd prepared the whole speech, including putting her hair across her forehead to block her C, which she revealed by brushing it aside with her hand. "I'm a Case 53." She then let her hair move back.
"Yes, Medusa here is a Case53 and as such can not enjoy the privileges a secret identity provides," Director Piggot said. "Now she will be able to answer questions, you in the second row, third seat."
"Adam Charleson, Brockton Bay News," The blond haired man said. "Medusa why did you decide to join the Protectorate?"
"Well y'see Adam, when I woke up I had no idea what was going on." Verity said truthfully. "Thankfully, these two wonderful young heroes, Vista and Kid Win, were the first to find me, and with how helpful everyone had been from there and how bad the paracriminal situation is around here... well it was the only choice that made sense."
"Yes, and we're very glad to have her among our ranks," Armsmaster added.
"First row, seat four," Piggot said.
"Miranda Lawson, Fox News ENE," Verity tried not to let her face do more than a single involuntary twitch as the brunette introduced herself. "So what do you wish to accomplish as a member of the Protectorate?"
"Well, obviously I'm hoping to help curb the more violent criminal elements of the city." Verity said. "But, more than that, I as an individual believe in reform and second chances, so I'm also hoping to help the people forced into criminal actions onto a better path, parahuman or otherwise."
Piggot picked the next reporter. "Are your powers capable of helping with that?"
"Assuredly for the violent elements, but I as an individual am averse to violence. Whenever possible, I prefer a nonviolent situation- but I can also tank tank shells, and maybe toss those around too, so in an altercation it's not like I'll be a pushover." Verity paused. "But if you're asking if I have powers to help reform, no, I'm just optimistic and believe in the best of humanity."
"And the PRT and Protectorate will assist her in that endeavor as best as possible," Piggot said. "Now next question."
"What does the eye on your costume represent? Is it your personal symbol?"
"Well…" Verity said, holding out a hand, whereupon one of her snakes rested its 'chin' to bring its 'eye' in full view of the cameras. "It's partially inspired by these little guys, but yes it's going to be my personal symbol. On that note, I will be needing a tattoo artist in the near future to turn my C into this, so if anyone local feels up to the job." She left it hanging as she continued rubbing the 'chin' of her hair snake.
"And to add to that anyone that wishes to have a tattoo of Medusa's mark should be eighteen and over, for those younger temporary ones will be produced and bought at the PRT gift shop," Armsmaster added.
"Now let's continue on," Piggot said as she chose the next reporter.
"Medusa you said you wish to help those that have been forced to be villains, what do you consider the point of no return for said people?"
"Now that- that's a dangerous question." Verity said. "Probably... willingly, while of sound mind, killing enough people to get a kill order, or, and I'm about to say a rather disturbing example here, rape or anything involving kids. I'm gonna stop there for the sake of the viewers at home. Next question please?"
Piggot chose one with a much easier and light hearted question, thankfully. "So besides Brute powers as mentioned before, are there other powers you have you can tell us about?"
"Well, other than being able to keep pace with a steaming locomotive and leap tall buildings in a single bound, I also have paralytic venom-" She tapped a tooth with a nail. "-as well as my hair. Unless you would count my personality as a power?" She joked.
"So what is the idea behind your costume? It is rather light on the accessories compared to your fellow heroes," Another reporter that Piggot picked asked.
"Now there's a very good reason for that, actually." Verity said with a snap. "Simply put, I'm not fully sure what I might end up needing in the field. We intentionally designed this first iteration of my costume with potential additions in mind for the future based on what I find myself wanting while I'm actually doing things, while also being something nice to look at in general." She then motioned to the scales on her arm. "Plus, it's not like I'm really all that wanting for armor."
And after that the questions continued to roll on in, for another ten minutes until Piggot finally declared the QA over with. "Thank you for the questions, and thank you Medusa for answering, we at the PRT expect great things from you."
"As does the Protectorate," Armsmaster said.
"Well I'll be doing my best to live up those expectations." Verity said, having actually quite enjoyed this, much to her own surprise.
"And you may take your leave for we will be now moving on to the monthly action report," Piggot said.
Verity nodded and returned from whence she came, Miss Militia waiting for her.
"Well you handled yourself very well and even managed to give good responses to some of the more difficult questions," Miss Militia complimented her.
"Giving speeches was always the most stressful, but most fun part of college, so I've had a bit of experience." Verity said, riding the high of success. "Also, was Armsmaster serious about the temporary tattoos? No one told me about that before."
"Our Merchandise is usually not run by us, or else Armsmaster panties wouldn't exist," Miss Militia replied.
"Snrkkkk." Verity snorted and tried very hard not to laugh.
"Yeah, that is the usual reaction and has been the same reaction for the past three or so years," Miss Milties said in response.
"Is… is it possible for us to like, actually talk and work with those people, at least occasionally?" Verity asked, still trying not to laugh. "Just wanna make sure before I see my face on something and have an existential crisis."
"That is what you talk to PR about, they are the ones that send merch ideas to be approved," She answered. "Now let's get back to the Rig, the others probably want to celebrate your official joining."
"Sure!"
Xxx
"Congrats!" The members of Verity's new team and coworkers said at once the second she and Hannah entered the Rig's cafeteria. Their table flooded with cakes and other sweet goods.
"Oh, wow, is this- is this called for?" Verity asked confusedly, not thinking it was worth this much celebration.
"Yeah," Ethan said. "The last one to join was Triumph but that was a graduation party, the last one who actively joined us was Robin and that was a few years ago."
"And besides we take every opportunity to party," Shawn said.
"You know, that's some pretty solid reasoning right there." Verity said with a grin.
"That it is," Ethan said.
"Also we need to give you this," Laura said as she took out a box from behind her and held it for Verity to take.
"What is…?" Verity, who was kind of at a loss for words at all the sudden kindness, asked as she opened the box.
And within it she saw papers, legal papers apparently going by the Id card she could see on top of the stack. And by it there was also a key.
Verity stared at them in confusion before turning said look to the eager faces of her new team, incomprehension clear on her face.
"Congratulations," Rory said. "You're now once again a legal citizen of these United States of America."
"Took too long in my opinion," Shawn said.
"Yes because while her status as a Case53 allows a lot of red tape to be cut, there is still red tape that can't," Hannah said. "And there is also the key to your new house, the lease to it is among the papers."
"I… wow." Verity said, unsure what to really think of this. "I… I have a house?"
"Yeah, we couldn't find any apartment building that was willing to rent, so we had to go with a house," Hannah said.
"I ran by it a few days ago, small and old down in the South Docks, but we got some guys to do some renovations," Robin said.
"But I have a house?" Verity asked, her zillenial expectations for life blown out of the water in that one sentence.
"Yeah you have to live somewhere," Ethan said. "Can't live on the Rig 24/7 despite how Armsmaster wishes he could."
"...But there's a house… and it's mine?" Verity asked, still not fully comprehending this. Truthfully, this was the most fantastical part of her new life so far.
"Yes, that is what having a house means," Shawn said.
"...As soon as I have it under control, everyone's invited over for cookies." Verity said resolutely, as if she had had some grand revelation.
"I accept that request," Ethan said.
"And remember to only go to her place in uniform," Laura said.
"Yes puppy, I am not an idiot," Ethan replied, but everyone gave him that eyebrow that said 'Are you sure?'
"Wait, is that going to be a permanent thing?" Verity asked. "Like, is everyone I have over going to be under media scrutiny or something?"
"A bit, but that is going to die down after the first two months or so, it's just to avoid having our identities revealed. As most are probably going to be suspicious about you having civilian friends already," Hannah answered.
"Oh, okay, so I'm like allowed to talk to people outside of these circles, right?" Verity asked.
"Yes, just not us in our civvies," Rory said.
"Gotcha." Verity said, before the cake once again drew her eye. "...Cake?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Hannah said.
Xxx
It was a wet seventh of April morning as Verity stood out front of her brand new house, the fact that she had one still a bit unbelievable.
And like Robin had said it was old, looking like something that had been made in the eighties, and small compared to the two story house on the right and the broader three story one on the left. But not only had she always liked ranchers, it was hers.
"Ahehehe." Verity giggled as she stared at what was now her house, before going up to the door, unlocking it, and heading in to get a sense of what it was like.
Verity entered into a front hall that had two doors, one left into the connected living room and kitchen -oven and a fridge but no other appliances, which sucked, but was better than nothing- the other led into the freshly renovated bathroom that could fit her long tail, while the bedroom was connected to the living room. Which also contained the mostly glass door that led to her backyard which had a terrace big enough for a grill and a table. The yard itself was nothing to write home about (ha!), there was only grass and a singular tree that had the remnants of a swing on it.
"Well doesn't this just look like a lovely little fixer-upper!" Verity said with a grin as she took in everything, looking around the yard- and saw doors leading to a basement. "Basmante?" She said, eagerly going over to open it-
And ripping the doors straight off the hinges.
Verity stared at the door in her hands for a moment. "...Shit, right, super strength. Okay, okay, gonna have to get that fixed later, lets just check this out real quick…" She said, resting the doors very very gently against the side of the house before heading down to check out the basement.
And while the house itself on the inside looked like it had been renovated at least once in the past decade, the basement decidedly did not, it was old and dusty, with a non-functioning boiler over in the corner. And besides that it was just sadly empty.
"...Well, at least it's finished!" Verity said, before turning tail (ha!) and heading back up, very carefully putting the doors over the hole she'd made to hopefully block any rain if it picked back up, before heading back through the house, and out of the front door.
"So is the place to your liking ma'am?" One of the two PRT Troopers that had driven her here asked.
"It'll take some work, but yes absolutely." Verity said happily. "Though, um, the basement doors were kind of broken off? Not sure how that happened, but it would be great if we could get someone to fix that."
"Yeah that is strange, well that has to come out of your paycheck," The man responded as the other one came over and held up the bags that contained Verities meager belongings. Showing that she had to go shopping for casual clothes and the rest of the things her house needed alongside food. Thankfully a mall was close by, and going by the map there was also a market close to what was known as the Boat Graveyard.
"Aheheh, yeah I guess so, thank you." Verity said as she took the few bags. "Are you two going to be sticking around at all, or was this just a drop off?"
"This was just a drop off, you will be on your own for now, you will start your first patrol this Sunday," The female of the pair said.
"Alright, well thank you both for the help, have a good day." Verity said with a smile as the two troopers went into their van and drove off. She turned around to head back in but as she did she saw on the street in front of the house to the right a rather tall (for a kid) teenage girl with long brown-black hair. A pair of glasses on her face that slightly hid her green eyes.
"Hi!" Verity said, waving the edge of her tail at the girl (since her hands were rather occupied). "I'm Verity, I think I might be your new neighbor!" She said as friendlily as possible.
"Hello," The lanky girl replied with a wave of her right hand. "I'm Taylor."
"Hi Taylor!" Verity said, still grinning. "Are you on your way to school? Don't hold up cause of me, I'll be here whenever I'm not on the job." Verity said, figuring this was probably the closest the teen had been to a hero.
"Yeah," She replied. "I saw your debut."
"You did?" Verity asked as if that were surprising. "I wasn't lame or anything right?"
"No, no you were cool," She replied with a rather nervous tone. "And I'll see you around." She said as she turned around and began to walk away.
"Have a good one!" Verity said cheerful as she headed inside and began to unpack, a sort of giddiness filling every fiber of her being at the fact that she had a house. "Ooh, man I really need to go shopping." She said upon realizing she had literally no furniture beyond her bed, and worse no obnoxious but meaningful knick-knacks decorating the place. "Welp, to the store we go!"
Xxx
In just one day of shopping, Verity ended up getting a table large enough for her along with chairs for other people, a microwave, a nice but cheap grill, a murphy couch (again, for other people, she was planning on ordering a custom chair for herself in the future), some nice curtains for the back door, a host of silverware, cups, bowls, plates, and so on (mostly paper dishes for now, she wasn't fully used to her strength so she didn't want to break anything), and the food she considered the 'essentials'.
Throughout the entire shopping experience (which was to several locations and trips, carrying the furniture back and forth in particular being a 'fun' experience) she was stopped no less than 10 times by random passerby who wanted an autograph or a picture (which made her realize she would need to carry a marker or a pen or something for autographs in the future), not at all including the amount of workers at the stores she was buying at asking for the same.
It had taken her entire morning, but Verity was more than satisfied with having done all that in just the morning.
"Well, seems like I'm already getting a handle on this." Verity said to herself as she finished very very carefully putting away the food she'd bought, taking very special care with the bottle of vodka she would be saving for a very special occasion that was sequestered away into the cabinets, having specifically avoided anything else that was in glass containers.
She then stared at her handiwork. She now had a table to eat at, a microwave to quickly make food, a half-stocked fridge and a partially stocked spice cabinet… "Lunch time."
Xxx
After she finished eating, Verity decided to go pay her neighbors a visit, starting with the big one on the left, seeing no one outside it but a car parked in front, so she shrugged and carefully went up and rang the bell, not very keen on her first impression being damaging her neighbor's property.
And after a few seconds the door opened up and in front of her stood a boy about five years of age looking up at Verity with wide eyes, the sight of which immediately caused her to grin at him. "Wah dad there is a scary snake lady at the door!" He said as he immediately ran away from her and went through the door she could see on the right, forcing her to suppress a chuckle.
And a few seconds later a bald man came through the same door and approached looking like he was chuckling at his son's antics. "Ah you're that new cape I saw on the news yesterday. What can I help you with?"
"Well, I was just coming to say hi, cause I'm your new neighbor." Verity said, motioning with her head towards her house (she probably wouldn't be over that for at least a month). "I'm not really sure how this really works, I just thought it would be polite to tell you I'll be there when I'm off duty."
"Well welcome to the neighborhood, I hope you find your stay enjoyable, and that is good to hear, that probably means this will probably be one of the safests streets in the city," The man replied. "Well the name is Eric."
"Nice to meet ya, Eric. You can call me Verity." Verity said with a smile, happy that having a hero around was seen as a good thing, made her hopeful things would go well in the future.
"Yes, I know and I am pretty sure most of the Bay does," The man replied with a cheeky smile on his.
"Well, I've been told I tend to repeat myself." Verity said in good humor. "Who was that little scamp?"
"That was my son Albert, he will turn around and think you're cool in a few days, and then probably want your merch," Eric answered.
"Heheh, if you're willing to wait a bit I can give you some stuff for free, probably." Verity said.
"Well I guess that is the benefit of having a Cape as a neighbor, free merch."
"And cookies, once I get into the swing of things." Verity continued. "Well Imma let you get back to whatever you were doing, if you ever need anything and I'm off the clock, just knock."
"I will be sure to do that," Eric replied as he closed the door.
With a nod and a quiet "Yes!" at the successful social interaction, Verity headed for the other side and her other immediate neighbor, figuring word would spread pretty quick that she was here as she went for what she was pretty sure was Taylor's house and walked up the small set of wooden stairs that lead to the front door as it was a bit above the ground level. She rang the bell and just like before it took a few seconds for it to be answered.
And the one to open it was Taylor, the teenager looking up at Verity in surprise.
"Hi again!" Verity said with a smile. "I was just going around and saying hi to everyone. Is a parent and/or guardian home?"
"No dad is still at work," She answered.
"Alright, that's fine, I just want to make sure everyone knows I'm here so no one's caught off guard seeing me walking around." Verity explained.
"So exactly what happened with me this morning?" Taylor asked.
"...Yeah basically." Verity said. "I didn't hold you up at all did I? You weren't late because of me right?"
"No," She answered with that perpetual frown on her face that Verity was just starting to notice.
"Well that's good then." Verity said. "So, anyway, I'll get out of your hair, if you or your family ever needs anything while I'm off the clock, you can always knock."
"Really?" Taylor asked, sounding highly skeptical of that, and Verity was sure she heard nearby insects buzz extra aggressively at that, but that was probably just her.
"Yeah! I'm always happy to help." Verity said. "With normal problems, too, I'm still really new to… well, everything, really, but I like to think I can help with anything you need." She paused. "Unless it's chemistry. I'm really bad at chemistry."
That got Taylor to give a small but temporary smile. "I'll keep you to that," Taylor said as she closed the door.
"Have a good day!" Verity said as it closed before heading off the porch and continuing in her quest to introduce herself.
The next three encounters went mostly the same, with the other three families reacting mostly the same. With the only difference really being their demographic.
And so after that Verity returned to her house to see what kind of paint she wanted to get and other decorations. And essentials, probably, but she hadn't thought of what those were yet. Regardless, she spent the rest of the day (and a bit of the night) figuring out what else she wanted or needed for her house to either order in the future or buy herself in the short term, making lists of all of it and doing some online browsing.
She continued to do that after she woke up until noon where she heard the doorbell being rung.
"Just a second!" Verity called out as she finished putting the store bought pizza in the oven, before heading for the door and answering. "Hi, how-"
Verity's words stopped in her throat as she saw Taylor before her looking like she had been drenched in something purple-hopefully grape juice and not something dangerous- her expression hard and stewing with anger, but Verity could see that there had been tears running down her face.
"So, you promised to help?" She asked.